E3 Day 3 Couch Coverage: Nintendo's 3DS Presentation Edition

You're... welcome?

I'm torn.  Really torn.  Part of me wants to scream and yell and throw thing.  Hit things.  I want to cry and get angry.  My anti-anxiety medication works like a charm, it seems, because I'm not doing any of that.  See, everything they showed us at the 3DS presentation were things we knew (and they left out a rather big one, the English release of Fire Emblem) and things they already talked about yesterday in the brief 10-20minute cut-to of the 3DS.  Nothing new, really, for the eShop besides the Pokemon stuff (Updated - and paid - Pokedex 3D and the Pokemon Face Raiders thing, which I'll get...), though they did give a nod that today is the one year birthday for the eShop.

Here is why I am torn.  No big reveal, no amazing news that we didn't know, the entire thing was uncomfortable and put together oddly (they showed off Paper Mario: Sticker Star by having the guy talking about it play it at the same time.  I want you to sit down with a video game and try to sell it to me while playing it.  Now, do that and sound professional.  Doesn't work) and every joke made missed.  BUT, with all that... I want about 90% of what they are selling.  Paper Mario: Sticker Star?  Yes please.  Epic Mickey 2: Power of Illusion?  Oh, so much.  Scribblenauts Unlimited?  In my 3DS/Wii U NOW! New Super Mario Bros. 2? Loved it.  Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon?  Fantastic.  Heroes of Ruin?  I'm thinking about it.  Pokemon Black/White 2?  Not a... not a 3DS game but I still want them.  The eShop stuff ties in so, I see the connection.  I want all of these, and will be buying them all (Except maybe HoR, which I'm going to consider, and Scribblenauts U I'm not sure if I want on 3DS or Wii U, or both).  And nothing new hardware wise for the 3DS.  No big update to Mii Plaza (I get that Kat, Jerry, Collin and I may have moved through all the puzzles and mostly all the hats pretty fast, but I'm ready for an update) and no interesting apps besides the two pokemon ones, which they really didn't talk about.  They could, at least, hint at some VC releases happening the next couple of months.

Reggie Mii I found on Google.

See my conundrum?  They didn't tell me anything new but they showed me all kinds of things I am excited for.  No big reveal, but videos of beautiful games I WILL own.

The real kicker, though?  The thing that gets me down so much that I am, even with my new medication, a little depressed?  No information or date on Animal Crossing 3DS.

Now, the reason they didn't say anything about Fire Emblem: Awakening is because it isn't coming out this year.  Today was all about 2012.  Does that mean that Japan's Fall launch of Animal Crossing 3DS doesn't mean a US simultaneous launch?  Maybe they aren't sure?  I've never played an FE game, but I understand their appeal and I know people who will be excited for that.  Heck, I have Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on my 3DS, I could play it.  I should play it.  Not my point.  Animal Crossing.

Animal Crossing.

Let me describe my love for Animal Crossing to you.  There was a time when I was thinking of selling my Wii.  I didn't play it, didn't care for it, and was upset with Nintendo for selling me something that seemed so useless.  Whenever I'd say "I'm going to hock this thing." I'd remind myself, "Wait, they are bringing out an Animal Crossing for it, aren't they?" and thus, it stayed.  A few weeks, maybe a month later I'd go through the same thing.  I even packed it up to take it in to sell once, then remembered, "Oh, Animal Crossing."  and thus I kept my Wii for that one game.

Kat and I played a combined 462 hours and 21 minutes.  We played nearly even so you could say we each played 231 hours and, about, 10.5 minutes.  AT LEAST an hour a day each, but often much more.  I.  Love.  Animal Crossing.  DS version?  Doesn't keep track but I kept a schedule for that game.

I'd set an alarm so I could wake up, do my morning chores in the game, go to work (this is when I worked at Wal*Mart).  Play as much as I could sneak during work, which was a bit here and there.  First 15min break was dedicated to a snack, drink, and Animal Crossing: Wild World.  Hour break was me eating in 10 minutes and playing the rest of the time.  Last 15min break was the same as the first.  Come home, hit the net, play before bed.  Get in around 3.5 hours a day.  When animals wanted to visit my house or there was another scheduled event I'd make it on breaks, and if I couldn't I'd just hide in the restroom while I did it.  I should also add that I worked really hard at Wal*Mart, so I sound terrible when you read this but I worked by butt off at that place.  A little sneak here and there and a few bathroom breaks when I didn't need the bathroom is not nearly as bad as what some people were doing there.  I, at least, did my job and came to work.  Anyway...

Animal Crossing for GameCube was bought simply for the memory card it came with.  I needed another memory card and AC came with one, and was cheaper than buying a card on its own.  The reason for this is because Animal Crossing on GameCube was such a large game it took THE ENTIRE CARD.  The card may have also been slightly smaller than a normal one, but the idea was that that card was for Animal Crossing and nothing else.  I never did save my town to that card, though.  Anyway.  I decided to pop the game in and fell in love.  Managed to convert a few friends along the way.  I played that game like crazy, so I really don't remember it as well.

Long story longer, I love Animal Crossing.  My favorite Nintendo franchises are Pokemon, Zelda, and Animal Crossing*.  I have every Animal Crossing item Club Nintendo of America offers and I want the ones offered by the CN'o Japan.  My friend Ed gave me a K.K. Slider key chain and it is one of my prized possessions

My Animal Crossing collection.

So, when there was no announcement of the game, in any way, I was bummed.  The games sell well.  Animal Crossing: City Folk was nearly always in the top three most played games on the Wii (Kotaku, maybe, used to list those numbers every month.  It was always up there with Smash Bros. Brawl and maybe Mario Kart Wii).  I know so many people who enjoy the games.  Not nearly as obsessively as I do, but people who will be happy to have the new one none-the-less.  People WANT this game, so where is it?

Alright, I think I got off topic a bit.  The presentation today was disappointing but also featured a lot of games Kat and I both want.   So, regardless, Nintendo gets my money.

E3 Day 2: Couch Coverage.

I haven't played my Wii in, probably, six months, but I do have games to play for it.  I take my 3DS everywhere with me and I get giddy like a school girl when I have a street pass - even though you people never have puzzles pieces for me.  I love Nintendo but the Wii was, kinda... I enjoyed it when I played it and I do have a pile of games to play (and buy) but it is far from my favorite system.  But I do love Nintendo.

Many people seemed disappointed with Nintendo's Wii U presentation today but I was really excited and impressed by it.  I really hope Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition comes with the stuff in the Game of the Year edition, because I'll just wait for that version.  Mass Effect 3 is exciting for Wii U, though I wouldn't buy that since all my data is on my 360.  I wouldn't buy it for PS3, either, though.  I... I should probably play that game, since I got the collector's edition when it came out - and didn't have the money to spend at the time.

I know people who aren't huge fans of platformers probably look at Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Mario Bros. 2 3DS and think "Same damn game!" but I can see that they are pretty different.  I am excited for both.  The Wii U pad control looks like fun... and Collin is not alowed to be in control of that.  For anyone reading this but unaware (who would that be?  I'm guessing Kat and maybe Jerry read this) the Wii U pad lets a player place blocks in the game to help, or hinder, the player.  Can't make a jump?  Place a block to cover it.  CAN make a jump?  Place a block to knock them in.

ZombiU looks exciting, even if it is another zombie game.  I'll get it.

Nintendo Land looks like a lot of fun, like Wii Sports was.  It will be really enjoyable for about a month or so, but lose it's luster after a bit.  It has an Animal Crossing world so I have to have it, even if it means a separate purchase, which I doubt it will for America and Europe.  Did you know Wii Sports wasn't packaged with Japanese Wiis?  They had to buy it separate.  One interesting thing I (and I'm sure others) noticed about Nintendo Land?  One of the icons for game worlds looks A LOT like Jack Frost from SMT.  I'm not saying it's Jack Brothers but... who knows?  Would be a sorta strange thing to add but I really can't think of a Nintendo property that also resembles Jack Frost.  I've probably just been playing too much Persona.

Nintendo also announced that you will be able to transfer all your saves and downloads, all of it, from the Wii to the Wii U.  I mean, I never thought they wouldn't but that is a nice addition.

Okay, I'm done.

E3 Day 1; Couch Coverage

Okay, since nobody asked, my impressions of today's E3 coverage.  Let me preface with this, I own a 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, and every Nintendo handheld, on top of an iPhone, so I play everything.  I also play all types of games, for the most part.  I don't care for sports titles, but I do play a mix of everything.  Anyway, here I go.

Let me see what I can remember.  I did watch the entire thing...

I have no interest in CoD, MoH, Farcry, Halo... or really any shooters BUT I was impressed with how much game play they showed.  We got to see how the games worked, information on what makes them new compared to the last iterations, and so on.  That was nice.

Over all Sony was bust for me.  Sony Smash Bros. looks fun enough but I don't care enough about any of the characters (except MAYBE Parappa) to warrant a purchase until it gets cheap.  I like that Sony is doing cross-play and cross-save with PS3 and Vita but (If I owned a Vita - which I may one day) I'm not going to buy two copies of a game.  I can leave the house without having to play Street Fighter x Tekken.

I don't care about sports titles at all so... moving on.

What else... what else...

I'll move onto x-box.  X-box didn't really seem to talk about anything of value to me?  Mostly connectivity and kinect.  I guess Microsoft hasn't gotten the memo yet, Kinect's fans are few and far between.

Game trailers/demos that excited me; The Last of Us, Ellen Page is Psychic, Resident Evil 6, Star Wars 1313, oh, and freaking RAYMAN LEGENDS for WII U!  And South Park: The Stick of Truth.  I am so excited for Rayman and South Park.

That is about it for today's impressions with me, I guess.

Also, Usher sucks.

We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

Not really.  No dinosaurs in this post.

I brought my unread, unloved blog back from the dead?  Why?  Because I am so excited for something that I have to write about it, make it known.  The words must be typed to show how excited I am for this specific thing.  What is that thing?


My Little Pony Con 2012 in Orlando Florida*.

Che, che, check it!

At first I was all "Oh, sweet.  A MLP Con and it's close to me!" and then it kept building and climbing until it has reached critical levels of excitement.  I've been kind of blah lately but this had stirred something inside of me.  I am, for lack of a better word, stoked.  Do people still say that?

On top of that they are selling a limited edition MLPFiM figure of Ditzy Doo (Derpy Hooves to those of you who prefer that name, I don't.)

LE MLPFiM PonyCon 2012 Derpy Hooves

Seriously.  I am so excited for this convention that I can hardly contain myself.

*It took me longer to do the rainbow colored text than it did to write this entire post.

Why Power "Girl"?

I just finished reading the first Power Girl trade (not the first power girl trade I read last week, the REAL first trade). It opens with some old origin stories from the 70s and finishes up with my newest favorite old villain, Psycho Pirate. Dude doesn't even have a parrot! He IS psycho.

In my quest to find the undercover sexism (and so painfully obvious) in these comics I was surprised to find that the older comics treated Power Girl really well. People didn't talk about her bust or try to catch a peek, they thanked her for her work. The press pushed her to talk about herself and she said no, that she didn't need to. She seemed like a stronger character back then. When we get to the updated Power Girl, or Karen Starr as she goes by, even Jimmy Olsen can't help but catch a peek. Sort of.

I don't know. I feel that Power Girl deserves better treatment. I don't know why I like her so much. She's strong and unwilling to turn away from her ideals, but a lot of caped heroes are like that. What is it, specifically, that draws me to her? BESIDES the outfit, since I know anyone reading this going there. What is it about her character? I dunno. Maybe she's just my obsession of the week. Next week it'll be My Little Pony again.

As much as I like Power Girl, and have no problem writing blog posts to the vast internetosphere, I do get embarrassed reading her comics in public. As I read them at work I find myself hiding the trade under some sheets of paper as someone comes in to sign-in. I wonder what that says about the covers and content of these comics? I stash them as if I'm reading something illicit, worried what random people I'm dealing with face to face (rather than you, person reading this) will think of me when they see the art.

I'm not trying to come off as all innocent or above it all, either. I'll fully admit that the first PG trade I bought a few weeks ago I grabbed because of the cover. I knew nothing about it and just picked it up. I did ask the guy behind the counter if it was worth reading and he said he had no idea, so I went ahead and bought it anyway. I HAVE always had this interest in Power Girl, I just never knew where to start. A random dart in the dark, I guess.

On the topic of strong female characters, which seems to be the point of this blog, not nerd things (I didn't intend that). My blog title "Nancy Drew is My Home Girl" comes from both a webcomic artist and an inside joke.

Kate Beaton's Hark a Vagrant comics bring a big smile to my face. Her Nancy Drew comics, though, are my favorite. Go on, little bird, have a look.

Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew, as you know, is a woman detective from a very popular series of books that I have never ever read. I own one of them, bought it about two months ago, but I've only read the first chapter. I like that Nancy Drew is a great role model for girls and a strong, female lead... I like it more when she is nuts and a danger to everyone around her. Not because I want to see her fail, not at all, but because I enjoy the humor of it. The idea of a crazy Nancy running around screwing up more things than solving them, and all on purpose. Or not on purpose, if you consider her actions not her own because she's bonkers.

There was a little joke among friends that I took further. We discussed rebooting the Nancy Drew series with her as a sociopathic nutcase who is suffered by her best friend Bess, who is in reality the one solving all the cases. Kind of a Hong Kong Phooey kind of thing, minus the racism towards Asians. Or with lots more. Who knows where it would have went? I wrote up about two pages worth of notes for the first novel but never really intended to do anything with it. I then wrote up another page for a second novel. I never got past that and I'll never write my crazy Nancy Drew fanfiction, but that is the history of this stupid blog's title.

I wasn't going to write about the title, since anyone who reads this probably already knows all this. I did, though, have a dream that Nancy Drew was wearing those ugly venetian blind shades. I think I have fanart of her wearing those around here somewhere.

Touhou? More like... Tou-no.

So, 44 days ago I placed an order on etsy for an absolutely adorable Touhou cellphone charm I was going to put on my 3ds. It was a custom made charm that could be any character I wanted from the vast cast of bullet hell ladies. I picked my favorite character, Parsee Mizuhashi. I wanted to buy two, one of Parsee and one of leading lady Reimu Hakurai, but the check out process was a little odd and I ended up ordering only one. I figured I'd wait and see the quality before making another order.

Seems I don't need to worry about quality! I never got the first order. 44 days ago I placed the order, 45 days after a payment is made with PayPal is the limit for requesting money back. Now, the item was only $5. That isn't much. I spend $5 without thinking about it all the time. I also agonize about purchases as little as a dollar. I'm a complicated man with money on my mind, got a $10 in hand and she has my $5 in her's. I was going for something there... didn't hit the mark.

What upsets me is that 1.) this is my first order off Etsy (for myself) and it has gone belly up. And 2.) THIS IS THE SECOND $5 I HAVE GIVEN SOMEONE FOR SOMETHING THEY WERE MEANT TO MAKE ME AND NEVER DID! Get to the second one later.

I tried being nice in the e-mail I sent this girl, I really did. I understand that life gets in the way and that sometimes you just... don't... have... time. I get that. I'm an understanding person. I'm caring. Thing is, she quickly replied when I asked if I could have ANY character (before the order was placed) and about two weeks after the order was placed she changed the style of charm. Which means she was active on the site. I sent a message a week ago via etsy's message system and never heard back. E-mailed her today. We'll see what happens. Come 6pm I'm going to file a dispute with her. Some people.

The second item I paid for and never got was paid for about six months ago, or more. I keep forgetting about it, to be honest. It was a small $5 commission off someone from DeviantArt. A wonderful artist that Kat and I follow who was asking for commissions to afford Portal 2...

...Portal 2? THAT CAME OUT IN APRIL! It's been nearly 10 months! Almost a damn year! Okay, anyway. I paid for a commission of a character of mine from the comic, Karen. I love Karen and she is my second favorite character in the story, behind Effie. I was so looking forward to his very distinctive style being placed over the emotionally damaged little rich girl. Never happened.

Now, he hasn't even been on DA in about 9 months, at least. The guy might be dead* for all I know. He lives in Australia, so there are plenty of chances to get eaten or stung. They also have terrible internet there, so I've heard.

What am I trying to say here? Not much, really. I have bad luck with home-made items that cost $5.

I also never got the package Jeff sent me, but I'm not mad about that. I am so very thankful that I have him as a friend and he is kind enough to buy me a birthday gift, and Pony toys, when I never get him anything for birthdays or gift-giving winter holidays. One day when I have more money I'll try to repay him. I am, though, a bit worried. He sent that thing like two or three weeks ago, I think.

I think I'm working on a theme for this blog. Nerdy stuff. I mean, I'm a nerd and everything I post about is nerdy, so it makes sense. Touhou was mentioned in this so that counts. My Little Pony was also mentioned. And our comic was mentioned and our comic is a comic, so... that is nerdy.

Comic in your comic so you can comic while you comic. There, did it for you.

*I don't wish harm upon him over $5 and I know that joke was out-of-line. I'm frustrated here. I really, really hope he is okay and everything in his life is going well. I also hope he got his copy of Portal 2 and $5 worth of it wasn't playable. Preferably the best $5 worth of it.

The Title is the Hardest Part.

Wolverine is such an over played character that when I decided to get into comics part of me wanted to avoid him altogether. I mean, avoid him as best as a person can while still reading anything by Marvel comics.

I failed in that as I am reading and loving Wolverine and the X-Men, which is best described as Harry Potter & the Wolverine & the X-Men. Also helps that I love the art for the first four issues, done by the talented Chris Bachalo. Long story short, Snicktbub opens up the Jean Gray School For Higher Learning and gets to play headmaster to some mutant kids. Harry, in this instant, is a pink haired omega-level wannabe anarchist mutant by the name of Kid Omega.

There is, of course, a lead up to all this that I have not read. I'd like to, but here is where we enter my problem with Western comics. If I jump back to find how they got there I'll have to go back further to find how they got to that point only to be curious how that happened and... well, I'll be reading X-Men #1, having gone entirely in reverse.

That may be a bit of a dramatization but the fact stands that there is a lot of mythology in western comics and I want all of it. I read the high lights on Wikipedia and friends what they know and remember. Their war stories of Spider-Man and Huntress and other heroes and heroines. Sadly, though, the prophet who used to fill me in is now much further away and only so much information can comfortably be transferred via text message while wasting time at work. Listening to him tell stores about comic book heroes and JRPGs I never had the time or patients to dive into myself was like a child laying on the floor engaged in his grandfather's tales of slaughtering Nazis for Uncle Sam. I miss those times.

By the way, I drew that Wolverine in Swapnote on my 3DS. Mr. Marvel comics, I await your call.