amiibo Touch & Play

amiibo Touch & Play is a free piece of software for Wii U, allowing you to unlock NES and SNES demos by scanning your amiibo figures. Each demo is random and is not based on the character you scan, for instance we scanned a Yoshi amiibo and unlocked the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

The demos allow you to play a total of nine scenes from different sections of a game for a total of 3 minutes a scene. The peculiar thing is that Nintendo have allowed access to the final stages of a game, I was able start Super Mario World from the Valley of Bowser?!

amiibo Touch & Play is great for those who have invested in Nintendo's world conquering toys, enabling you to further your collecting addiction by chucking in these demos. It's a good idea for those who haven't played these classic titles before, but since I already own most of the original cartridges it's kind of wasted on me. If they throw in some GBA demos however, that'll be awesome.

Happy Birthday

It's one year to the day since I posted my first blog. 

\ ^_^ /

We've come a long way since that first post, and while there's been some stops and starts, I've had a blast putting the blog together and I'm looking forward to doing so much more over the next year. I'm currently busy working to restart the YouTube channel, hopefully sooner rather than later, and I'm also going to be updating my Soundcloud. :) The epic clear out is still going on but soon we'll have our studio space, and once it's ready everything should start to move a lot faster (I hope).  

On the gaming front I'm currently addicted to Super Smash Bros on Wii U, and I'm determined to collect every trophy in the game (I have 355 at the moment... only 364 to go). Meanwhile my 3DS has been commandeered by my wife to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3D... perhaps we'll have a little interview/review blog all about it. :P

I finally caved and pre-ordered Splatoon. I chose the bundle with the girl amiibo so I can look dashing in my school outfit. Only 25 more sleeps and the mayhem can begin!!!

And finally we must remember that it's May 4th; Star Wars Day! I have been working on a blog about the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront, originally how I was so looking forward to playing it. After much research however, it's looking like EA may have strayed to the dark side. More on that this week.

Mewtwo returns and amiibo woes

It's a been a while, so what's been happening?

Mewtwo Strikes Back!

Last week the Mewtwo download codes finally arrived for those who picked up both the Wii U and 3DS versions of Super Smash Bros. Mewtwo is just like I remembered him back in the days of Super Smash Bros Melee, but now of course he has a final smash!

If you manage to outwit your opponents and nab the smash ball thingy; Mewtwo will transform into his Mega Evolution and blast his opponents with a devastating orb of energy (awesome). My characters of choice have usually been Bowser or Little Mac, but Mewtwo is slowly making his way into the fold.

No Squiddy amiibo for me :(

I left pre-ordering Splatoon a little too late and all of the Squiddy amiibo bundles are sold out. I'm holding out for another batch to appear on the Nintendo store, but if it gets to the final week and there's no joy then I'll grab a different bundle.

I must admit I'm pretty stoked for Splatoon finally arriving next month as it's shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of the year. The Wii U has been starved of an online shooter, but now prayers have been answered and Wii U owners are being treated to one of the most unique shooters I've seen in a long time.

Studio Progress

We've been clearing out some more stuff and you can finally see the floor, check out the photo! I'm hopeful the room will be cleared by June, but I may be holding off getting new kit until November...to coincide with the release of Star Wars Battelfront. :P

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer

Speaking of Star Wars; I was dreading the upcoming film was going to be terrible however, the latest trailer has done it's job and I'm bloody excited. Drop whatever you're doing now and watch it if you haven't done so already!

A Quick Studio Update and Nintendo Direct

The new studio space seems to be on course for the June deadline, a lot of space will be cleared this month to make way for new furniture and kit. The only thing putting the deadline in jeopardy is the last Nintendo Direct. It was a non-stop roller-coaster of excitement as Nintendo pulled out all of the stops by announcing a huge variety of new releases, updates and more! Here's some of the highlights...

Super Smash Bros: Mewtwo and Lucas join the battle!

Mewtwo was a force to be reckoned with back on Super Smash Bros Melee for the Gamecube, and now he makes his long awaited return to the Super Smash Bros series this April! Mewtwo will arrive on April 28th for a fee, but if you registered both the Wii U and 3DS versions on Club Nintendo by March 31st; you'll receive a download code on April 15th.

Not only that but Lucas from Mother 3 will be making his way to Super Smash Bros on Wii U and 3DS in June! No price has been mentioned, so here's hoping Lucas will be part of a free update.

Super Smash Bros goes to the polls

Another huge announcement was the Super Smash Bros Fighter Ballot; where you can vote for a Nintendo character to appear in Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS. Peppy Hare gets my vote, do a barrel roll!

New Amiibo waves in the Super Smash Bros series

May 29th- Charizard, Pac-Man, Wario, Jigglypuff, Greninja, Ness, Robin and Lucina

July- Dark Pitt and Lady Palutena

September- Bowser Jr, Dr Mario, Ganondorf, Zero-Suit Samus and Captain Olimar (YAAAAAAAY)

Amiibo's for Mewtwo and Lucas are also in works. ^_^

Super Mario Bros 30th Anniversary and Mario Maker

This year will mark the 30th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros, so to celebrate Nintendo are releasing Mario Maker; a game that will allow you create your own Super Mario Bros levels.

You can choose themes from a variety of Super Mario Bros games including Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros Wii U. Not only that, but you can upload your created levels for everyone to enjoy.

Yoshi's Wooly World and New Yoshi Amiibo

Yoshi will be making his return in Yoshi's Wooly World, a platform game where the entire world is made out of yarn and wool. It's a quirky idea that's already been used with Kirby however, Nintendo will also be releasing special Yoshi amiibo's alongside Yoshi's Wooly World. They're so cute!!!

Octodad and Don't Starve?

It's certainly been a long time coming but it's also a pleasant surprise. Octodad Dadliest Catch and Don't Starve will both be making their way to Nintendo eShop very soon.

Octodad sees you play as an Octopus trying to make his way in the human world and not reveal to everyone that he is in fact an octopus. This means you have to carefully guide Octodad through a variety of levels without smashing everything up or making a fool of yourself.

Don't Starve is a survival game where the objective is...don't starve. You have to guide your character through a world filled with monsters as you try to scavenge, farm and fight your way to survive. Also each purchase of Don't Starve will net you two copies of the game, so you can send one to a friend and survive together online.

This is only a handful of the many big announcements Nintendo made, so if you haven't watched the latest Nintendo Direct just click this link. ^_^

New Amiibo

Look who turned up in the post today!

Ever since I heard Bowser was included in the latest amiibo wave I've been trying to get him pre-ordered as he's my favourite Smash character. 

Bowser's brimming with attitude and he's certainly one of the fiercest amiibo's of the bunch. My wife and I still debating I've who looks more awesome; Bowser or Fox? 

Highlights from Nintendo Direct

It's getting pretty late here; so I'm going to do a roundup of what I feel were the highlights of the latest Nintendo Direct!

New 3DS and New 3DS XL arriving February 13th- Yup, the New 3DS lineup will hit European shores on February 13th 2015. The smaller model comes in Black or White with customisable faceplates, while the XL comes in Black or Metallic Blue. I think Nintendo just gave me an idea for a Valentines Day present. ;-)

There's also going to be a limited edition Majora's Mask XL model and a Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate XL model. The MH4 console looks gorgeous but I can't help but think the Majora's Mask console should have been purple instead of gold, it would have been much more striking!

New Amiibo's- Still no word on Captain Olimar ( ; _ ; ), but instead we have Wario, Robin, Lucina, Ness, Pac-Man and Charizard to keep us company in the meantime.

There's also going to be new versions of Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach and Yoshi, alongside a new Toad amiibo, with their designs being in-line with the Super Mario universe rather than Smash Bros.

Splatoon- This is shaping up to be one of my most anticipated Wii U titles for 2015. Nintendo revealed updates for their colourful new shooter including; customisation options for your characters, new weapons and a huge plaza allowing you to interact with other players while you gear up for your next battle.

Here's a link to the Nintendo Direct if you want to check it out.

2015 Gaming Wishlist

Red Dead Redemption sequel - One of finest open world games of the last generation. There was nothing better than roaming the old west, hunting down outlaws and generally just causing mayhem as anti-hero John Marston.

I imagine if my prayers are answered any follow up to RDR will be a console exclusive, so this will give me an excuse to buy a PS4 or Xbox One. ^_^

Skies of Arcadia HD Remaster- I'm sure this was announced or rumoured to be in development a couple of years ago, but nothing has been mentioned recently. One of the best RPGs of all time, it was originally released on the Dreamcast and later ported to GameCube as Skies of Arcadia Legends.

SoA has such a beautifully crafted universe that would certainly benefit from a high definition remaster. Some extra features would be nice too. ^_^

I've already posted about SoA before, so click the link if you want discover a little more about it. 

Captain Olimar amiibo- The big question is why hasn't this been announced already?! Captain Olimar is nowhere to be found in the next 2 waves of amiibos, which is quite surprising when Pikmin 3 has still been receiving updates, AND we were treated to the Pikmin shorts a couple of months ago.

Ideally I would like to see Olimar's amiibo with the red, yellow and blue Pikmin, perhaps with Captain Olimar wearing his helmet too.

Well, whatever 2015 brings. I hope you have a Happy New Year!

Day 97 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Amiibo

Merry Christmas everybody!

As you see we got a whole bunch of amiibo's for Christmas; Mario, Luigi, Link, Zelda, Fox and Yoshi.

You scan amiibos into various games using your Wii U gamepad, or your 3DS, to access new features. Smash Bros imports a copy of your scanned character into the game for you to train and do battle against your mates, whereas Mario Kart 8 unlocks additional outfits for your Mii.

We've had a bit of a debate and Fox McCloud is arguably the best one here, there's so much detail on the figure in comparison to the others, Zelda and Link probably tie for second. The only figure leaving a little to be desired is Luigi, why not have him pose with his Poltergust rather than doing a planking meme, it would have looked so much better!

Well, I'm going to go back to stuffing my face with sweets and chocolate, and maybe play a little Smash Bros. Hope you're all having fun. \ (^_^) /  

Day 61 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Amiibo

I am determined to finish 100 Happy Gaming Days challenge even if it kills me, so let's jump right back in with Nintendo's new Amiibo figures as they're now available for pre-order.

I wrote a little bit about Amiibo for my Nintendo at E3 blog back in June, and since then Nintendo has unveiled the 12 figures that will be available in their launch line-up (to be released conveniently in time for Christmas). ^_^

Mario
Samus
Link
Pikachu
Marth
Fox
Yoshi
Kirby
Peach
Villager (Animal Crossing)
Donkey Kong
Wii Fit Trainer

Not a bad line-up (although I can't see many people dashing out to buy a Wii Fit Trainer), but the figures are beautifully detailed and Nintendo are planning to use them with a number of Wii U titles (Smash Bros, Mario Kart 8 and Captain Toads Treasure Tracker to name a few).

They're going to cost £11 each, which is roughly the standard price for new gaming figures, so if you want the whole set you better be prepared to set down £132 of your hard earned cash.

The best part is however, unlike Disney Infinity and Skylanders that require figures in order to play the game, the Amiibo's are not essential but merely add-ons, so you don't have to break your bank if you don't want to.

As I mentioned back in June every Nintendo fan who played Super Smash Bros Melee has dreamed of owning actual figurines similar to the trophies in the classic Gamecube title. Now they're finally here and they look fantastic, a couple of them will certainly be on my letter to Santa, and my advice would be to order quick if you want them to place under the Christmas tree.
 

Nintendo at E3 2014

I spent the majority of yesterday glued to my computer watching the Nintendo Digital Event livestream and I've got to say I was pretty impressed. I don't want to get into the whole 'who won E3' debate, but I want to give you my own thoughts on some of Nintendo's announcements.

Smash Bros- Let's get Smash Bros out of the way as this was clearly the focal point of Nintendo's conference, and rightly so because if this isn't a system seller, nothing is.

We discovered that Mii's will be playable characters and it was pretty much expected. It's allowing you to inject some of your own personality into the game, which is a design ethic that Nintendo has been proudly delivering throughout many of their recent releases.

Pac Man was also revealed to be a playable character, again not very surprising seeing at the game is being developed by Namco Bandai. And after all was said and done we got treated to a stunning anime of Link dueling with Pitt, which then turned out to be another character reveal for...Lady Palutena.

My first impressions were "Really??? This is what they're saving till last." Then I saw the amount of effort they had put into this reveal, as previously mentioned the stunning anime, with the well scripted dialogue reminiscent of Kid Icarus Uprising. Lady Palutena then silenced doubters by showing off one of the most impressive movesets of any member of the Smash Bros roster, leaving enemies obliterated and me appropriately stunned.

I was a little disappointed to find that Smash Bros has been delayed from July until October, but I'd rather that the game was polished and performing at its best. We learned that the 'amiibo' toys are going to be an released alongside the game (more on those in a moment), there's also a gorgeous line of Gamecube controllers being released alongside Smash Bros (I'm going to be so bankrupt), and they've even brought back the digital trophy collection last seen in Smash Bros Melee.

There was little gameplay footage during the Digital Event but there didn't need to be any. The Smash Bros Invitational was going to provide a whopping 2 and a half hours of live footage, I'm watching it now as I type, and suffice to say I can't wait for October to arrive so I can finally join the fight.

Amiibo- Ever since Smash Bros Melee was released on Gamecube fans have dreamed of collecting their own Nintendo figurines. Now the dream has finally been made a reality in the form of Nintendo's line of amiibo toys; wallets ready.

The toys can be used in conjunction with Smash Bros, along with other future Wii U/3DS releases, and they allow the character to leap into the game to beat the living daylights out of your opponents...that's when I became confused.

I thought these figures were going to be similar to Disney Infinity and Skylanders; where introducing the figure will allow you to PLAY as the character and not just watch them on screen. They're almost like a virtual pet as you can train them by introducing them to various games, and customise their movesets and abilities to make them your own. Either way the amiibo look fantastic and it's going to be interesting to see how they fare against the likes of Disney Infinity and Skylanders.

Splatoon- The Wii U finally has a first party shooter...but it's not Metroid. Splatoon is a third person shoot em up where two teams of four try and graffiti a variety of levels with their own colour of ink. The team who has gained the most territory ultimately wins, but covering ground also allows you to transform into a Squid so you can quickly traverse your ink and get to where the action is to fend off your opponents.

It's nice to see Nintendo delivering a new IP and I'm really excited to play this one. The art design has a great sense of attitude, reminiscent of Jet Set Radio, with the gameplay style of one of my own personal favourites; De Blob.

Zelda Wii U- We were treated to a cutscene of the brand new Zelda game for Wii U and it was nothing short of stunning. There wasn't much information provided but we do know it's going to be an open world adventure, it has a similar art direction to Skyward Sword and I don't know about you but the weapon designs look amazing. It's scheduled for release sometime in 2015, it's going to be a long wait...

Hyrule Warriors- ...In the meantime however, we have Hyrule Warriors, which I was quite skeptical about this considering it's a hack 'n' slash title rather than a traditional Zelda adventure. The reveals were very persuasive however, as Nintendo revealed there will be four playable characters (Link, Zelda, Impa and fan favourite; Midna), and there will also be two player co-op. Since Smash Bros has been delayed this is arguably Nintendo's biggest release until then, let's hope it delivers the exciting experience it promises.

There's a ton of other stuff I could go into but this blog is already long enough.

Nintendo have come under a lot of criticism as of late, but whether you love them or hate them, they delivered a fantastic performance at E3 2014. In fact the show's still going on as they're still making new announcements throughout the whole of the convention, but will it be enough to persuade the masses to go out and buy a Wii U? Only time will tell.