11 posts tagged “nintendo”
My twin brother 2 years removed, Harrison (or .harr to some, hehe) is visiting from college for the Zombie-Jesus weekend. Sitting side by side, him with my sister's DS lite and me with my PSP, we began to discuss the variety of hand held games we've been playing over the past few months. Back in the good ol' days, Harrison and I would spend many brain power hours in tandem getting through various puzzle and adventure games on the PC such as The Secret Island of Dr. Quandary, The Castle of Doctor Brain, and Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate. Naturally, our experiences with Professor Layton and the Curious Village surfaced between our discussions.
Harrison mentioned that he had a chance to try a few puzzles at GameStop, remarking that he had a little bit of trouble on a couple of them. I immediately related as I too had run into a bit of a jam on what seemed to be some of the most simple puzzles. Our subconcious sibling connection was revealed when we both brought up issues with the 10 picarats Strange Hats puzzle.
I present to you the exact Strange Hats puzzle below. If there's one thing I hate, it's being told that I'm stupid by a simple mind puzzle on my DS. If there's another thing I hate, it's finding out my super smart electrical engineering brother had the same problem. Here's your chance, faithful reader, to further convince me of my own stupidity by trying to solve the puzzle yourself! If you've played the game already you probably already know the answer, but if you haven't have a go... and don't cheat!
In this day and age, video games have become the scape goat of societal violence in our youth. Replacing comic books, pulp fiction, and metal music, the mass media has taken to pointing the finger at video games to explain the backwards perversion of violence in media (while simultaneously leaving violent news broadcasts, movies, and television shows conveniently out of the picture).
While I certainly think that video games mark an interesting shift in mediated influence when it comes to violence, there are clearly larger societal issues at stake and it's comes off as pure ignorance to blame games exclusively. This being said, the parental responses to the pristine and stylish looking Wii zapper make it inherently clear that a lot of folks just don't know what they're talking about. Besides, with my experience with the Wii zapper, I doubt folks have much to worry about since the peripheral can't aim accurately for beans.
Have to run out to go to a free Blue grass concert at Prospect Park, but wanted to let ch'all know that I will be attending the Wiimbeldon tournament tomorrow at Barcade with my friends Phist, Pidge, and Hushgush (squee!) to represent the Destructoid Army and probably fail major at playing Wii tennis (as I havn't played the game for at least 4 months now). But! I will be there in a little tennis outfit, ready to play. Ready for W1N if it comes my way (we'll see!).
If you're in the area, are a wii lover, or just want to watch a whole bunch of geeky hipsters get all competitive in their various retro tennis outfits, then come!
Violence in video games has become a hot media topic as gory, cinematic fight scenes and guns with chain-saws make more frequent appearances in today's most popular games. Historically, Nintendo has withstood toiling competition with other game corporations by not choosing the violent path, designing playful combat with butt bounces and spinning turtle shells as a refreshing alternative to bullets and hand grenades.
In a recently translated interview, from CNN's TV show Talk Asia this past December, Nintendo's president Shigeru Miyamoto reveals his personal philosophy on gaming violence and his particular concerns for children gamers:
"My personal thought is, and I think it is the same with Nintendo, that before thinking about how to handle violence in video games, I think it is important to think about pain people feel. For example, you would not laugh at people with disabilities. There are bullying problems in Japan. Looking at the overall picture, it is important to understand and feel the pain that people might have. We make our games based on that philosophy, using means other than violence. But we also have to take a careful approach, even in the circumstances when we are not portraying direct violence. I think it is always important to give children a product with a careful approach."
So sorry to dissapoint folks, but I think we can thus safely assume that Marcus Fenix will not make a cameo in the upcoming Super Smash Brothers Brawl (despite floating rumors of his on and off affair with Samus Aran). Seems for now Nintendo will keep its hands clean of the bloodlust.
For more on gaming and gaming culture, check out MTV's Gamedrop!I know Team Vox already covered the phenomenal publicity Saska's personal experience about Nintendo's customer service, but I was ecstatic to see the story show up on Destructoid, the gaming blog I tend to read the most these days. Vox is all over the interwebs!
Congratulations Saska and Vox! Voxers, lets keep up the good work!
Ah, St. Valentine's day. We may all be accustomed to the more
commercial tradition of chalky candy hearts and overpriced roses, but according to
the Legenda Aurea (circa ye olde days of
1260), before St. Valentine was beheaded after refusing to deny Christ, he
valiantly cured his jailer's daughter of her blindness. Sigh. How
romantic.
We may not all have the capability to restore sight to our loved ones, but fear not: there are many other ways to feel the love on this Valentine's Day, particularly for our beloved next-gen consoles. Luckily, the handful of muses over at poetwii have masterfully composed several heartfelt poetic tales of romance, hard love and gamers' lust for the Nintendo Wii. With plenty of haikus and limericks, poetwii evokes some of the most tender moments of gaming, guaranteed to make Wii lovers a little more twitterpated than before.
And now dear readers, a short excerpt from poetwii to set your hearts ablaze:
"Lovers' Quarrel"
Bemused the others all may be
Whenever I press A+B
And dangle you
precariously.
You kicked me out and took my key,
And think you got the best of
me.
But who will save your precious Mii?
For more on gaming and gaming culture, check out Gamedrop!
Well folks, it turns out that I'm getting a little more involved in the larger blog-o-sphere everyday. Following my internship with MTV, the lovely folks over at the MTV Games department have kindly asked me to help them write for Gamedrop, a gaming blog about gaming, culture, n3rds, and all that follows. Since I have a certain tendency to write about gaming on this blog anyway I'll be cross-posting my written work to share with teh Voxers I heart so dearly. Furthermore, if any of you Voxers have gaming tips or interesting gaming culture tid-bits you'd like to share, I'd love to write about it.
Goodies for the Crafty Gamer
To uncover a multitude of gaming treats simply type "video games" or other gaming-related words (Nintendo, Final Fantasy, etc.) in the search bar. My personal favorites include a set of Super Mario Boo coasters, a Bubble Bobble pin, and a heartwarming crocheted Katamari keychain, all of which are sure to receive respectful nods from any passing hardcore gamer. Now its up to you to do the rest of the treasure hunting! Arrrrgh!
What a great way to end a vacation. ^^
