Super Mario Maker has a GameTruck

September 13, 2015 by 2 Comments

After providing a truckload of ink-flying action to parties across the country this summer with the Splatoon game, GameTruck is once again partnering with Nintendo to bring the Super Mario Maker game to its fleet of game trucks. Starting on Sept. 18, more than 100 GameTruck vehicles will feature the upcoming game, launching exclusively for Wii U consoles on the 11th of September. Super Mario Maker lets players create their own Super Mario Bros. levels, share them online and play a near-limitless number of levels from people all over the world.

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GameTruck delivers a fun video game experience to major metropolitan areas in 27 states around the country. The trucks bring gaming experiences directly to private consumer events and parties with more than 100 trucks fully equipped with the latest video games. There are even game experts on board to give tips, tricks and training. The trucks roll right up to the location of the party to provide a no-hassle way for party planners to give their attendees a fun experience they’ll never forget. To date, GameTruck has brought the Splatoon game in all of its inky glory to more than 5,000 parties and nearly 1,500 large events, while entertaining a total of over 600,000 guests.

Party guests who play Super Mario Maker in the trucks will experience a variety of imaginative levels created by people all over the world – even some created by Nintendo! GameTruck’s onboard experts will guide party guests through the level-creation process so they can get a taste of how easy and fun it is to create the Super Mario Bros. levels of their dreams. Attendees will even be able to submit their best levels to GameTruck at the end of their party, for a chance to have their level shared across the country. Once a month, GameTruck and Nintendo will select the best created level and feature it on http://play.nintendo.com.

The trucks with Super Mario Maker won’t hit the road until Sept. 18, but party planners can start reserving them now. For more information about how to reserve a GameTruck featuring Super Mario Maker, please visit http://gametruckparty.com. For more information about Super Mario Maker, visit http://supermariomaker.nintendo.com/.

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Shovel Knight Gets His Own amiibo!

August 28, 2015 by 1 Comment

First Indie Game with amiibo Compatibility

During a presentation at Nintendo’s Nindies@Night event at EMP Museum in Seattle, Nintendo made several announcements about the future of independent games on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS systems. These announcements included the reveal of a Shovel Knight amiibo figure from Yacht Club Games that unlocks exclusive features for the hit game on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, making it the first indie game to support amiibo technology. Other reveals at the event include the upcoming launch of Kerbal Space Program for Wii U early next year with exclusive features and functionality, first-look Wii U debuts for Hive Jump and FAST Racing Neo multiplayer game play, along with exciting details concerning each of these anticipated Nindies.

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For the first time, exclusive to the Wii U version of the game, players can scan the Shovel Knight amiibo and take on Shovel Knight’s quest cooperatively with a friend. (Photo: Business Wire)

“Not only do we have a robust slate of indie games launching in the Nintendo eShop, but these games also contain features that can only be found on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS,” said Damon Baker, Nintendo of America’s Senior Marketing Manager of Publisher and Developer Relations. “Creating an amiibo that’s compatible with all current and future Shovel Knight games shows that our strong relationship with independent developers is constantly evolving.”

“It’s been a great honor to work directly with Nintendo, creating a Shovel Knight amiibo that sits beside their most beloved characters,” said Yacht Club Games. “We are elated to expand the world of Shovel Knight, and to keep developing unique game-play experiences on Nintendo’s platforms.”

For the first time, exclusive to the Wii U version of the game, players can scan the Shovel Knight amiibo and take on Shovel Knight’s quest cooperatively with a friend. On Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the amiibo can be used to level up and customize Shovel Knight with new visual enhancements, relics and abilities. These abilities can then be used in new, exclusive amiibo challenge levels. To top it off, the amiibo figure will be supported in future Shovel Knight games.

Yacht Club Games also revealed that the free DLC for Shovel Knight that lets players play as fan-favorite enemy Plague Knight will launch in September. Shovel Knight can be purchased in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS for $14.99. Packaged retail versions of the game for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS will also be available in North America this October.

Graphite Lab and Black Lantern Studios showcased the first playable version of Wii U-exclusive Hive Jump, demonstrating exclusive features for the platform. Hive Jump is a fast-paced multiplayer action platformer for up to four players. Players engage in run ’n’ gun combat with swarms of aliens, all the while avoiding traps and collecting resources. The developers discussed how the Wii U Game Pad would be used in the game, as well as plans for amiibo support, which will be included when it launches in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U in early 2016.

To talk about FAST Racing Neo, Shin’en Multimedia joined the presentation to discuss multiplayer game play. FAST Racing Neo earns the title “Fast” by throwing players into a futuristic racer with hyper-fast anti-gravity vehicles. Up to four players can race against each other in split-screen local multiplayer, with up to eight racers able to participate in online multiplayer. (Additional controllers are required for local multiplayer.) FAST Racing Neo will launch exclusively in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U before the end of the year.

Squad’s Kerbal Space Program, with the help of Flying Tiger, was announced for Wii U and will launch early next year. A physics-based space flight simulator, Kerbal Space Program allows players to manage their own space program by building and flying spacecraft. In the Wii U version of the game, players can control their ship from inside the cockpit using the Wii U GamePad controller, as well as create flight plans with the touch screen and steer with motion controls. The critically acclaimed Kerbal Space Program will launch in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U.

Remember that Wii U and Nintendo 3DS feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu or http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

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Stretchmo and Puzzles and Dragons

August 3, 2015 by 1 Comment

Available now for the 3DS system is a fun new free-mium game in the -mo series which started with Pushmo, then Crashmo and Pushmo world.  The newest in the series is Stretchmo.  This game starts out as a free download where a minimum of levels and the tutorial stages are available giving the player just enough game to want more and more is indeed available in the form of 4 new sections.  These sections are Playtime Plaza, Sculpture Square, Fortress of Fun and NES Expo.  All unlock a total of 250 Stretchmo puzzles ranging from animals to shapes and even familiar NES characters from their 8bit days.  In total, this game is a blast once you get the hang of it.  Getting into the proper state of mind to solve each puzzle can take some time, but once you figure it out, it is quite fulfilling. My son, who might not figure out each puzzle as quickly as Daddy,thoroughly enjoy the game because the controls are easy and the main characters are cute little creatures.

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Xenoblade Chronicles for the new Nintendo 3DSXL

July 27, 2015 by 8 Comments

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Xenoblade is a relatively unknown game series but not among those who are fans of RPG’s on Nintendo systems.  The game was originally going to be passed over for localization to the United States on the Wii, but instead was one of the shining gems for the Nintendo Wii.  The story follows Shulk and his friends as they battle Mechon killer robots with the help of the Monado sword.  The game play style is real time RPG which means there are heavy RPG elements but the action is there as well, so keep on your toes.  Xenoblade Chronicles is a huge open world game which emphasizes exploration.   The story is big and fun, with lots of drama, action and excitement.  I love it when a big RPG get a more accessible portable version making it easier to play on the go or at a few off minutes here and there instead of trying to carve up hours of time to enjoy with a TV screen.  The game also takes full advantage of the new 3DSXL.  In doing so it can ONLY be played on that system.  It uses the new ZL, ZR and C-stick for various controls as well as the added processor power to really move.  What I find most fun is the face following 3D effects.  Instead of setting and resetting the 3D view the system now follows the user’s face so immersion into the game is way easier.
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Splatoon Video Game Review

July 6, 2015 by 6 Comments

Disclosure- We have received the below in order to facilitate this review.  All opinions are our own and honest.

In the world of gaming, there are a variety of genres and types of games including role playing, action, adventure, and shooters to name a few. The last one often times involving one team fighting another with violence and fun. This is all fine if you are into that type of thing, but let’s say you want a shooter with less violence. This is where Splatoon steps in.

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Splatoon is the newest franchise by Nintendo, and is a paint based shooter. Instead of simply shooting your enemies, you also paint the area around you in order to win the game. The main characters of Splatoon are Inklings, which can instantly change into squids and swim in ink.

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As an inkling, you can only swim in your color’s ink which not only allows you to hide from the enemy but also refill your ink. Ink is used to either splat the enemy into a puddle of paint or to cover the area in paint. Splatted players then respawn at their original spawning point.

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There are a few different online multiplayer modes which are broken up into two categories- regular battles, and ranked. Regular battles are just played for fun, and you can join any you wish. These are based on the Turf War game type. In Ranked mode, you are able to play Splat Zones and be ranked based on your winning and splatting. In Turf War, players try to cover the most area of the map in paint. Splat Zones is similar to king of the hill where a team tries to control a certain area by keeping it covered in paint.

Battle Dojo lets players play local multiplayer and compete in a balloon popping competition, by spraying the balloons with paint.

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Single player campaign is called Octo Valley and includes capturing Zapfish from the Octarians.
As you play more of the game, additional options open up to your player, like gaining clothing and accessories as well as  different weapons. Each piece of acquired clothing can boost a certain trait (as well the fact that it makes your Inkling looks spiffy).

My son thoroughly enjoys Splatoon because of the cute characters and fun multiplayer modes. He also loves the Amiibo support. There are three Amiibo’s available for use with Splatoon, each unlocking new portions of the game. One of the interesting characteristics of the game is that it will be constantly changing with new game modes, maps to explore, and customizations to equip. (So be sure to get in now and grab all the fun stuff

Splatoon is available now at fine retailers everywhere as well as the eShop. Splatoon retails for $59.99 and is for the Wii U.

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Swords and Soldiers 2 for Wii U

July 2, 2015 by 4 Comments

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As Real Time Strategy games go, there are lots of options available today.  There are quite a few of these fun games on the new Wii U system.  Today we are looking at one such game that takes the familiar real time gaming style and adds a 2D art direction.  This art direction also leaks out into a 2D way of playing a classic 3D game style.  Is that enough Ds for you?

Swords and Soldiers 2 picks up where the first leaves off, with an army of unique characters going after another army of unique characters who move toward your opponent until either the enemy loses or you do.  The game play sounds simple, but as your characters start to pile up and strategy start to rear its head in the from of different units with different abilities (such as flight) the game starts to shine.
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Skylanders Day Savings!

June 26, 2015 by 6 Comments

This is a sponsored post program with Mums the Word Network and Skylanders. All opinions are my own.

Skylanders was one of the first games to have something to physically play with that you can use in a video game.  The way it works is the player has a figure from Skylanders and puts it onto the portal.  This figure is then a character in the game they are playing, where their improvements and personalization of their Skylander are saved to that figure to be used again.

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My son has loved Skylanders since “Spyro’s Adventure” (the first game) and beat Trap Team all by himself.  He plays with the toys and has a blast playing as the toys in the game.  I like this game because it is easy to play and something we can play together.  With each game in the series growing upon the last, each game is backwards compatible with the toys so your level 10 Spyro from Spyro’s Adventure can be played with in Trap Team.  Also, the ability to jump in and out of the game on the fly is a great feature.  Sure, your kids can sit there for an hour playing games, but Mom or Dad have responsibilities and such so can’t always.  This feature lets you come into the game for a bit then hop out again causing the least amount of intrusion into the game.

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If you are a Skylanders fan or just curious about the game, be sure to check out the local stores in the next coming days to celebrate Skylanders day on June 27th.  There are some stellar deals with buy one get one free on Eon’s Elite characters, Buy a trap get a Water trap free, and also 50% off accessories for Skylanders.  This promotion is a limited time only, so be sure to check it out soon, from 06/24 through 06/30.

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New Nintendo 3DS XL

June 15, 2015 by 8 Comments

Disclosure- I received the below in order to facilitate this review.  All opinions are my own and honest.

In the realm of gaming, the player always wants that slight edge. The fastest processor, the most responsive controller, the brightest and sharpest screen. With these things in mind Nintendo released their new and improved 3DS XL system, called easily enough the New 3DS XL.

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This system is unique for a few reasons, including more gaming power, faster hardware, improved 3D experience, and even a few new buttons thrown into the mix for more precise control. The 3D XL has been improved upon with face tracking abilities, so now the 3D view the player gets from having the system right in front of them can be seen when not in exactly the right place, adding to both the realism of the 3D as well as the sharpness of the picture.

In addition to the 3D the buttons added is a new c-stick, which acts as a sort of joy stick but is smaller and flat, as well as the addition of 2 shoulder buttons. This brings the grand total to two per shoulder, which is awesome. For those of you who are enjoying the new amiibo’s (and let’s face it who isn’t?) there is built in amiibo support. Something to keep in mind is the new 3DS XL is the future, so new games will support only the new system. So far one of the stellar titles available exclusive to this system is Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, which is an incredible game.  (Have you read my review?)

It also supports easy data sharing (You can transfer your photos, music, and other files between a PC and your system’s microSDHC card via a wireless network. No need to remove the microSDHC card! *as per Nintento) and has better browsing (*The new-and-improved Internet browser lets you watch videos and surf the Web with ease. You can even use the ZL/ZR buttons to switch tabs or zoom in with the C stick).

The new 3DS XL retails for $199.99 on sites like Nintendo and is available everywhere fine games are sold.

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