It’s a me… I’m a posting again!

What can I say… I’ve been busy playing Wii, trying out new games, and got really into Flipnote Studio which has taken up A LOT of my time (more on that later).

New Super Mario Bros. Wii came out last Sunday and I have a 14 page review written out on paper for it. For now I am going to say that it is my current favorite Wii game.

Beatles Rockband came out on 9/9/09 and I still plan on doing a wiiview for it soon because it just keeps getting better. Last month they released more Abbey Road songs, and last week more songs from Sgt. Pepper which are some of my favorite Beatles songs. Being able to purchase more songs in the game/music store really makes it feel like a new game over and over again (note to family… need more wiipoints cards).

I never got a chance to review the Nintendo DSi, which I got on its release date. Basically, since it’s so past the release, I’ll just say that I think it’s a big improvement on the DS Lite. When friends consider getting the Lite because of the price difference, I really try and talk them out of it. Just the freeware alone, makes it worth the price difference. I also find myself using it as my main camera (since it’s always with me -haha) I took it to NYC this summer and took pictures with my DSi of the Nintendo store. Which was awesome. So the bigger screens, having an SD reader to hold your games and photos, the sound quality, mp3 usability, the camera, the dsi shop for downloadable games and features really does make up for the price and the loss of the gameboy slot (I’ll just always have to keep my DS and DS lite to play my Gameboy games).

My favorite download so far on my DSi has to be Flipnote studio (a very hi-tech, free animation software for the DSi only) So far I’ve animated a bunch of cartoons plus one music video, Hippo, which is one of my Dad’s songs. Here are those animations and hopefully I’ll do a long review on flipnote studio soon.

The DSi XL was announced recently. Its a larger version of the DSi with larger, 4.2 inch screens. It came out in Japan yesterday with  a new touch pen and Flipnote Studio, a dictionary program, and some Brain Age games already downloaded on it. It was released in 3 colors, dark brown, natural white, and wine red. As you can see by the color choices, Nintendo is trying to appeal to more mature audiences. I think they are trying to help gamers who can’t see the DSi’s screens as well and don’t really care about portability. It should be released in the first quarter of 2010 for us with a price tag at about $200, pretty pricey. My 4 year old sister wants a DSi for her 5th birthday in March, and I think we’re probably going to get her the DSi XL (LL in Japan). I think it might work well for little hands, older people, and a good way to all sit around and see the same screen. Since I already have a DSi and if my sister is gets one, I’m not sure if I will get one. I’ll have to wait until its release to see.

I finished my giant Lego Mario and made some smaller Lego Mario scupltures to celebrate the release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here are the pics. Just making the giant Mario’s shoes out of legos cost me $20, so you see, I really, really, like Mario.

Well I’m going to start typing in my 14 page New Super Mario Bros. Wii wiiview. Hope I don’t get too side-tracked…. hey… what’s that?

New Things in the World of Nintendo

I’ve decided to change my blog slightly. I’m still going to write wiiviews, but, in addition, I’m going to do a lot of Nintendo ramblings.

I know I missed a lot of big releases, (Animal Crossing, Wii Music) but I’ll get around to wiiviewing them.

So, new things in the world of Nintendo. The DSi just got a release date, April 5 this year! They have announced two colors on amazon, matte blue and matte black. It’s suddenly (finally) getting a lot of press, but with all the articles, links, and sites I’ve been reading, I still can’t find out if it has wifi or if you have to be connected to something like your home internet connection. If anyone can confirm whether or not it has wifi, please let me know. It does seem like this time they are really going up against the Ipod touch and PSP.  Of course I am planning to get it on release date, one way or another (and in blue!).

We’re going to New York this year and I can’t wait to see Nintendo World (no, I mean REALLY CAN’T WAIT). They’re supposed to have a huge selection of games, toys, clothing, and everything else Nintendo. My kind of place

Nintendo has announced a new line of games called new play control. These are Gamecube games reworked to utilize the awesome capabilities of the wiimote. So, it’s the exact same game, just with the wiimote control. It’s slightly cheaper than almost all the other Nintendo games at release, being released at $30. So far, they’ve only announced Mario Power Tennis and Pikmin, both with the release date of 3/9/09 (Mario of course is a release date must, I might wait and see with Pikmin).

I can’t wait to see which other games Nintendo will release with “new play control.” I’m personally hoping for Super Mario Sunshine, which is one of my all time favorite games. I also think Luigi’s Mansion would be a good choice. I like to see the vaccum function with the wiimote. And speaking of Nintendo releasing stuff – what is up with Wii Resort????? Wii Resort was showcased at E3, yet they said nothing of the DSi, and here we are with the DSi coming out in April and not a date listed anywhere for Wii Resort. Yet, I found cheats published in National Geographic Kids latest issue, bizarre.

This has nothing to do with video games, but I wanted to put it out there, Disney and Lego have once again partnered and have announced  Pixar’s Toy Story and Cars for January 2010. However, the inferior Megabloks will be gaining the Nickelodeon franchise, which probably means no more Lego Spongebob. Megabloks has also gained Yo Gabba Gabba (one of my sisters favorites shows). Oh, and speaking of Lego’s, I am building a giant Lego sculpture of Mario. I’ll post a picture of it when it’s done.

Mario and Luigi RPG 3 now has a very interesting story line. While a sickness that causes characters to inflate is sweeping the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi get swallowed by Bowser with his new ‘inhale’ ability. During gameplay you control Bowser on the top screen of the DS using the ‘X’ and ‘Y’ buttons, while you control Mario and Luigi on the bottom screen using the ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons. Mario and Luigi are linked with Bowser, such as if Mario hits a nerve inside Bowser, Bowser will react accordingly. Bowser also swallowed Toad who decided to make the most of his stay by setting up a shop inside Bowser. This sounds like it’s going to be a weird RPG, but also really fun.

Currently I seem to be getting my gameplay monies worth with Paper Mario, Animal Crossing Cityfolk, and my new favorite, which happens to be an old game that I never had gotten, Zack and Wiki. Also, another completely fun game worth EVERY dime (Wiipoints) is World of Goo. If you haven’t gone on the Wii Shop Channel, which I am surprised by everyday when someone tells me they haven’t….. go on today spend your $15 (15,000 Wiipoints) and get this game today. Not a ton of levels or anything, but completely addicting and really entertaining. Totally worth a future Wiiview.

Well, I’m off to go finish Lego Mario!

Mario Kart Wii

Mario Kart Wii is the best racing game ever! The second I picked up the Wii wheel (it comes with the game). I felt right at home. It is so intuitive that after about 1/2 minute of driving I was racing effortlessly. The best addition to the Mario Kart series is doing tricks when ever there is a bump or ramp. Just flick the Wii remote up on a bump or ramp and you’ll do a 360, a flip, or other trick and when you land you’ll get a speed boost. The additions of motorcycles is great. They handle like 10X better than karts plus they can do wheelies, which also makes the game more fun. What I’m really looking forward to, is some of my friends and cousins getting the game so we can race through the wi-fi connection. I think I’ll do a separate review on just that experience. I decided against getting the Prima guide this time, because like I said before, I really want to get my money’s worth and have the game last longer, not to mention, it’s not as necessary with a racing game as it would be with an adventure or platform game.
One last note, spring another $15-20 dollars and get another wheel. It’s more fun when you’re playing with a friend. You’ll have the same experience, and you won’t have to share!

Rating 10 stars **********

(I promise not to give every wiiview a 10, but come on, it’s Mario, it’s the Wii, it’s the LONG AWAITED MARIO KART!!!)