There was this video game character I grew up with. I sorta looked up to him, you know. We did our first work together, worked our way through several titles. Things were good, we made the most of it. During the N64 era, we collected lums in 3D for the first time… made a fortune, your father, too. As much as anyone, I loved him and trusted him. Later on there was an idea to make a game for him that would be in true 3D for Nintendo’s new portable system. That character’s name was Rayman, and the new game that he intended to star in was Rayman: Origins for the 3DS. This was a great mascot, and the game promised to be one full of vision and guts. And then when it was time for the game to hit store shelves it was nowhere to be seen! Someone delayed it for several extra months. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn’t angry; I knew Ubisoft and the game’s lead designer Michel Ancel, I knew they were head-strong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when I realized I had to wait even longer for a portable version of this game that I loved on Wii, I let it go. And I said to myself, this is the hobby I’ve chosen; I didn’t ask who gave the order, because it was probably a smart business decision!
Behold.
Alrighty, this is the first big video game clay project I took on. Obviously it is power ups from most of the Mario games. It is a few years old. I made it probably about six months after the first Mario Galaxy came out. If I am honest, I am unhappy with a lot of aspects of it. The clouds in the back are not placed ideally. Every single one is covered up with some power up. I wasn’t planning correctly. Also, I could make some of the figures look better if I was making them now. The thin blocks the figures sit on bother me a little too. They are good enough but they could be better. I forgot about the carrot from Mario Land as well and that drives me insane. I made it later but there is no place for it on here. You are probably starting to learn that I have the tendency to be a perfectionist. Don’t think I am too hard on myself, I also think some parts are amazing. Usually when I finish a craft I put it up on the shelf then over the next few days take it down for no reason other than to look at it. It always makes me feel like a bit of an asshole but it makes me happy that I made it. Also I google pictures of other people’s similar crafts and think about how much better mine are than the ones I see. I know that’s terrible and a little pathetic but it’s true and so what? I put a lot of work into these and also other justifications.
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When I started this website over two years ago now, my primary inspiration was Nintendorks.com so I guess it makes sense that the updates haven’t been um…shall we say, frequent recently. But if any of you follow my Tumblr you know that I’ve been online and writing stuff so where are the damn Slist posts? Well, I can answer that for you kids real quick:
I dunno.
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Plenty of words have already been written on this site about Kid Icarus: Uprising and the majority of them have admittedly been negative. But in continuing our grand tradition of professional journalistic integrity, I decided to actually pick up a copy and play it for myself. Using the game notes function of the 3DS, I wrote out bits here and there as I muscled my way through the game. So how did the experience turn out? Read on and find out via Bullet Point structure because I’m really tired of writing and thinking about this thing!
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Nintendo just announced via their Twitter account that to celebrate Kirby’s 20th anniversary, a special Wii compilation of the pink puffball’s classic games is on the way! Also, have a look at the first screenshot from that new 2D Mario game they mentioned was in the works a while back:
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Oh, here you go:
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Aaaahh! My Eyyyyes!
Want to play a fancy, 3D version of the original Kid Icarus on your 3DS? No? Well too bad because the 1986 cult favorite platfomer was just made available on the eShop today and you’re going to download it and you will like it (probably)! The 3D enhanced visuals are the obvious selling point for anyone who may already own a physical copy of the NES cart or have it downloaded from the Wii’s Virtual Console *raises hand on both counts.* But that isn’t the only visual flourish exclusive to this new port! Beautiful new backgrounds have been added to each stage creating a more detailed world than ever before:
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Having gone almost two months without a new entry in the series, it's hard to imagine what Mario and friends will look like on a modern system. One artist posits this bold vision.
After entire weeks without a new Mario title on the horizon, Nintendo finally broke the news last January that a new 2D Mario game will launch for the 3DS sometime before April 2013. There haven’t been any new details yet, but Nintendo has just registered “supermario4.com”. This could just be a bit of legal cockblockery, but on top of that, Miyamoto let slip in an interview that Nintendo will be showing off “a new Super Mario for [Wii U], in which you will combine the TV screen with the screen in the controller.”
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Coincidentally, I nicknamed my dorm room 'Project Sex Zone'... it never earned the title. 
Look, it’s not like I really expected this thing to be a white-knuckle survival horror game… but maybe I was hoping just the littlest bit. No, the mysterious 3DS collaboration between Capcom, Namco and Sega is a strategy-RPG called Project X Zone. According to Famitsu, the game is about 50% completed, aiming for a 2012 release in Japan. Even though the game is being billed as a strategy-RPG, I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t still look a hell of a lot like a Marvel vs Capcom-style tournament fighter:
Pictured: STRATEGY!
Combo counters, flashy moves and life-meters all seem to hint that at least a little inspiration was taken from the cross-over beat-’em-ups that paved the way for this weird new mash-up.
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I take it this cross-over game won't take place at the Olympics.
So if you’ve kept your ear to the ground in the game world, you’ve already heard rumblings about a mystery game coming to the 3DS. The big deal being that this game, whatever it is, is a joint venture between three of the biggest Japanese game studios ever: Capcom, Namco, and Sega. Until recently, the only other information that’s been available is this image:
Sweet, they're making an Atari game!
So what the hell are those things? What have they been replaced by?
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No you’re not reading your calendar wrong. Earlier today Nintendo unveiled its new online “home” for their famous mascot cleverly dubbed www.Mario.Nintendo.Com. A webpage filled with lazily written summaries for every retail and downloadable 3DS and Wii title featuring the fat plumber (isn’t this already IGN’s thing?). They’ve even added a little scroll at the bottom of each page suggesting other games you might be interested in based on the one you’re currently browsing. What’s that, guys? If I really like Super Mario Bros. 2 then I might also dig Samurai Showdown IV? Um, ok. There are actually a couple of cool little bits to be found on the site including a fun take on “Memory,” featuring familiar faces from the mushroom kingdom and also a quiz to test your Mario knowledge which you should have no trouble burning through if you’re above 6 years old and have ever played a Nintendo game in your life.
Check out the card game by clicking this and have a go at some Mario trivia right here. I’m positive you have nothing better to do.
Nothing says 'hours of fun!' like numbers on a black-and-white grid. No, I'm serious.
If you’re a Club Nintendo member with at least 100 coins and a 3DS, you need to know that you only have one day left to grab a free copy Mario’s Picross. Seriously, if you even sort of like puzzle games, you need to give this game a shot. It’s kind of like Sudoku, only easier and more fun. When you’re done with a round of Sudoku all you have is a bunch of boxes with numbers scrawled in them and regret for being tricked into doing math for hours. When you’re done with a round of Picross, you have a picture of a doggie! Or a boat! You’ve also lost like four hours of sleep because you kept telling yourself “I’ll do just one more.”
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Nintendo’s been farting around with making retail game demos available on the 3DS eShop for a while now but Mutant Mudds marks the first time a download only title has been given the treatment. Developed by Renegade Kid (the badasses who created the DS first person shooters, Moon and Dementium: The Ward), MM follows the platforming adventures of some bland dipshit with a water pack as he runs around destroying giant floating turds, or mud as the designers would have you believe.
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The angel-boy equivalent to hairy palms. He's been in puberty and unemployed for 20 years, what else was he gonna do?
So like Ray, I’m going to weigh in on Pit’s big 3DS debut, even though I didn’t buy it. Unlike Ray though, I didn’t walk away from Kid Icarus Uprising because I don’t want it, but because I have to be “careful” with my money because I’m a stupid “adult.” Yeah, I’m sure paying my student loans will be a thousand times more fun than shooting hell-monsters out of the sky with the help of a wise-cracking, gun-slinging cherub. Though I agree with Ray that the controls sound rough, I’m still excited to rediscover Angel Land.
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Because despite some heavy praise being piled on top of most of what the game has to offer, the universal criticism seems to be that there lie some deep flaws in the controls. You know, that one aspect of the video game medium that you have an active participation in? Even our old buddies at Nintendolife.com who have a tendency to play nice can’t completely sugarcoat the fact that Nintendo, a company synonymous with excellent and innovative play control dropped the ball with the on land portions of this game (which takes up a much greater chunk than the flying stages):
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