Super Smash Bros 3DS: Demo Review

Last week, Japanese gamers were treated to a free downloadable demo of Super Smash Bros 3DS. This demo contains 5 fighters (Mario, Link, Pikachu, Animal Crossing Villager, & Mega Man), one stage (Battlefield), and 30 uses before forcing gamers to purchase the full game. Nintendo announced on Friday that Western audiences would be treated to the same privilege on the 19th of this month. The announcement also included a bonus: select Club Nintendo members who had hit Platinum status over this last year would be given early access to the demo, but with unlimited uses.

Guess who got chosen?

As you can see, I was one of these lucky members. Nintendo gave me 4 download codes for the demo, one of which I promptly used for myself. The second went to my wife for multiplayer matches (more on that later).

Upon loading the game and bypassing the obligatory health warnings, I found that this demo appears to contain the full game’s menu contents. Most options are grayed out, but Smash is selectable. From there you can choose to play solo or with a group. I went solo and chose Mega Man.

Who else would I be? Source

The game plays slightly faster than Super Smash Bros Brawl. Anyone familiar with the game should not be too put off by the game’s pacing or physics. Tripping is thankfully gone from this title, but I did notice that having an item knocked out of your hands seems to happen frequently. While annoying, it just means adjusting your combat style to dodge or shield more if you really want to keep that item you are holding.

Multiplayer:

My wife and I played several matches over local internet. We didn't experience any latency or frame rate problems. I can’t say how online play will hold up over remote locations, but local multiplayer is just as solid as playing on a console.

Items:

The items showcased in this game are varied and interesting. The Blue Shell from Mario Kart will follow a player, drop down and explode. The Gust Bellows (Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) blows bursts of air that push opponents horizontally across the stage; this is a devastating edge guarding item. The Beetle (Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) grabs players by the throat and carries them skyward; low damage enemies can escape, but high damage enemies will be hard pressed to get out alive. The Flame Bar (Super Mario Bros) is an interesting sword; when fully charged, I think this does more damage than the traditional Beam Sword.

Conclusion:

I’ve put seven hours into the demo thus far and most of my time has been spent playing as Mega Man. He is not the most intuitive character, but I’m quickly becoming familiar with him. I’m including a list of his attacks below. In short, this demo exceeds my expectations for a handheld version of Smash. This game looks to be just as enjoyable as any console version. If the full game holds up to the demo, I would say this is a must own title for any Nintendo 3DS owner.

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Standard attack: His standard attack is his Buster Cannon. These short quick fire shots do 1-3% damage dependent upon proximity. You can fire 3 shots in rapid succession.
• Dash attack: Mega Man spins in one foot in a small whirlwind effect. Mega Man can push enemies along the ground doing up ~10% damage.
• Side-Tilt: Mega Man runs while using his buster cannon.
• Down-Tilt: Mega Man slides along the ground.
• Up-Tilt: Mega Man uppercuts his opponent. It looks a lot like Ken’s Shoryuken from Street Fighter.

Smash

• Side Smash: Charged Buster Cannon. Does 20% damage when fully charged.
• Up Smash: Spark Needle. Mega Man shocks enemies above him. Can do 20% damage when fully charge. This move has decent launching power.
• Down Smash: Flame Jet. Mega Man fires 2 streams of fire into the ground. These streams form a column to the left and right of Mega Man. When fully charged, this move does 24% damage. It has good launching power, but is slow to charge and slow to execute.

Other

• Floor attack: Mega Man does a little spin of his legs while getting up, kind of like a break dancer.
• Ledge attack: Mega Man swings his leg up over the edge in his floor dash position.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Aerial: Buster Cannon again.
• Up Aerial: Mega Man launches a small tornado. These have proven useful in finishing high damage enemies. This move would also be devastating on stages with a short ceiling.
• Forward Aerial: Flame sword. This doesn't do much damage or seem to launch well. I think it’s more of a harrowing move to keep enemies away or off their game.
• Back Aerial: Mega Man does 2 quick backslashes with his hand.
• Down Aerial: Hammer Fist. This move is a meteor smash, but has a very short range.

Grabs and Throws

Mega Man uses his GutsMan arm to grab and throw opponents, so he must be in direct contact with his enemies to grab them. His throws seem weak in all four directions, so it is not an advised finishing strategy.

• Pummel: Mega Man squeezes his enemy in his hand. 2% damage done per squeeze.
• Forward Throw: A standard overhand throw.
• Up Throw: An underhand throw.
• Back Throw: A behind the back throw.
• Down Throw: A football style spike with a small bounce up.

Special Moves

• Standard Special Move: Blade Cutter. Mega Man throws a small saw blade causing 6% damage.
• Side Special Move: Crash Missle. Mega Man launches a missile that clamps onto his enemy. It explodes after a few seconds, but it can be transferred to another player (Mega Man included) before it explodes. Does 8% damage.
• Up Special Move: Rush Coil. Mega Man’s dog Rush comes in and springboards Mega Man high into the air. Other characters can use Rush. Rush causes no damage.
• Down Special Move: Leaf Shield. Mega Man forms a ring of 4 rotating leaves around him. If players touch his leaves, they will fade away. Each leaf inflicts 2% damage. The ring can be launched at enemies, causing 3% damage.
• Final Smash: Mega Man fires a slow moving projectile. After crossing a certain distance or hitting another player, the projectile opens up into a small black hole. Enemies who touch the black hole are pulled into Mega Man’s attack. Mega Man summons 4 other iterations of Mega Man (X, Legends, .EXE, & Star Force) and the 5 of them fire beams of energy from their Buster Canons. This deals moderate damage, but has great launching power.

Taunts

• Up: Mega Man thrusts his Buster Cannon toward the screen and then pulls his arm back to his side.
• Down: Mega Man drops to the ground as his teleportation beam shines down on him.
• Side: Mega Man turns his back to the screen and swings his Buster Cannon to the side.

Unfatting Myself: Documenting the Geek Wife's Weight Loss to Stay Accountable

Hello Friends! This is more for my benefit to keep myself accountable. The Alpha Geek and I will still be posting geeky goodness on the primary blog page, but feel free to check the "weight loss" label from time to time to bug me about my progress :)

The Goal:
140 lbs - lose 2 lbs per week
Eat <1600 Calories a day
Exercise >30 minutes a day

The Plan:

I lost 50 lbs on my own in the past, but this time I decided I needed a little more help. Since I got a desk job I found I'm not burning near as many calories as I need to throughout the day, so I ordered the 21 Day Fix that everyone keeps talking about. Several of my friends have already seen great results, so here's hoping it helps!

I'm also going to write down EVERYTHING I eat, log my exercise , and track my weight in this handy-dandy notebook:

Lastly, I'm going to have my husband take a picture of me EVERY DAY to track my progress and keep myself accountable. 

So, without further adieu, here is my shameful "Before" pictures:

Day 1: 238 lbs

Here's hoping that picture looks a lot better soon!

Turning to the Darkside: Nintendo Follows Suit

Some of my earliest memories include gathering as a family on Monday evenings to play something on our Nintendo Entertainment System (that’s the NES for you youngin’s). We’d take turns with Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Eggslode!, Silent Service, Monopoly, and Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers to name a few. I also went even more old school on trips to Grandmother’s house where I could play an Atari 2600 (Pitfall rules y’all!).

When we got a bit older, my father’s parents purchased a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) for us, complete with Super Mario All Stars. Further down the road, I worked for over a year to save up the money to buy a Nintendo 64. In middle school, I purchased a GameBoy for Pokemon Yellow, and later I acquired a GameBoy Color. In high school, I got a launch day Gamecube. I picked up a Virtual Boy at a thrift store. I got the GameBoy Advance for Christmas one year and a launch day Nintendo DS a few years later.

In my “adult” years, I purchased a Nintendo DS Lite, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, and Wii U. I stopped counting my library of games long ago.

I survived the Sega war of the early 90’s, the betrayal/snafu of Sony, and the haphazard entry of Microsoft to the console gaming world. I’ve dedicated countless hours of my life to collecting & playing games. I’ve also spent many hours following the industry news and business trends--I made it a regular point to read the quarterly and annual revenue reports from the various gaming companies I followed.

Where am I going with all of this? 

Well, I feel I’m not out of place when I say that I’m as knowledgeable about the industry as you can be without actually having been employed in it. 

If this is you after reading that last sentence then you need to just calm down and reevaluate your life choices. (Source)

The last decade in general has made me very concerned with the direction the gaming industry is going (that needs to be its own post), but recent events have made me very displeased with the direction Nintendo has decided to turn.

Nintendo is often criticized (sometimes even correctly) for not jumping on the bandwagon and doing the things all the other game companies do. Sometimes these actions--such as a lack of any online infrastructure--have hurt them. Other times, it has let them excel in the industry--the unconventional game stylings of the Wii made them the most profitable 1st party developer of the last console generation. But now Nintendo has taken a turn for the worse by jumping on the bandwagon with some of the things I dislike most in the gaming industry.

Case 1 - Hyrule Warriors:

Nintendo is offering various pre-order bonuses for reserving a copy of the game before its release. Normally, this would not be an issue, but here’s the problem: you get different bonuses depending on where you reserve a copy of the game. Ordering from Gamestop gets you alternate character costumes based on the Ocarina of Time; Amazon will give you costumes from Twilight Princess; Best Buy will give you costumes from Skyward Sword.

They will totally pay more money for this... right? (Source)

Now you’re not going to purchase 3 copies of the game, so how are you to get the other 2 packs? Simple: pay money for them online. And it makes sense, right? You just bought a $60 game, so why not spend $6-12 more for some extra costumes? Extra costumes available on the first day that for some reason are not included in the game. Extra costumes that don’t impact gameplay in any way--they’re just there to look cool. First day paid DLC (downloadable content) is one of the worst crimes of the gaming industry. The game developers purposely remove pieces of the game that should be included only to charge you extra for it later. It’s the equivalent of selling you a car but charging extra for the hubcaps, gas cap, and windows. Until now, Nintendo hasn’t played that game. But now they’re joining in with all the other gaming companies.

Case 2 - New 3DS & New 3DS LL:

In a surprise announcement, Nintendo revealed the upcoming release of two new pieces of hardware. They are an upgrade to the current 3DS models. They come with significantly increased CPU power, 2 extra shoulder buttons, improved 3D technology, and a toggle for camera controls to name a few features. The first announced game for this new hardware is a rerelease of Xenoblade Chronicles. In short, this was originally a Wii game with 100+ hours of content. The idea that this game can be played on a handheld is incredible.

This presents us with two potential outcomes: 

Option 1) The new hardware allows for more gaming options. Since these games need more CPU power and buttons, they will be incompatible with older 3DS models. Effectively, this means anyone who purchased 3DS units is hosed. 

Option 2) The new hardware models will not have a high enough adoption rate to warrant developing games that only work on the new hardware, and so adopters of the new hardware will get nothing in return for their investment.

If we look at the case of the PSP (Playstation Portable--Sony’s handheld), we see that in 7 years, they released 5 models. These models even had differing media types (UMD, Memory Stick Pro Duo, & Memory Stick Micro). Early adopters of the PSP were in essence punished by the release of the later models.

Early adoption pains? I know that feel bro. (Source)

“But wait a minute, Alpha Geek,” you say, “Nintendo had 3 versions of the GameBoy Advance.” Yes, that is true, but here’s the core difference--with the exception of adding a backlight, the later two models only offered a cosmetic redesign. No new functions were added nor were they removed. You could play your GameBoy Advance games on any of the models you liked. Now with the New 3DS and New 3DS LL, adopters of the 3DS are potentially excluded from upcoming games.

Case 3 - Paid DLC in General:

Nintendo has long been the black sheep of downloadable content. The game you purchase on launch day is the same game you’ll have years down the road. The minor asterisk I’ll place on this is the occasional game patch, but you’re not getting new content.

Nintendo has stuck their toe in the water on this one lately with extra missions in both Fire Emblem Awakening and Mario vs. Donkey Kong. Those were small experiments and the game was wholly enjoyable without the extras. Many argued that these extras did not add much to the games.

Now we see Nintendo announce the upcoming release of additional racers, karts, and courses in Mario Kart 8. Honestly, the first 2 should be free. I can see an argument being made for paying for the courses as those require more development resources, but I think in the case of Mario Kart 8, this goes back to my complaint of charging for items that should have been in the original game. Mario Kart 8 is fun, but I remember thinking in the first week, “Huh. I thought there would be more content to this game.” I was honestly disappointed by the short length of the game. Nintendo certainly did not fill the disc with as much data as they could, so there was certainly more room for additional race courses. Nintendo has 7 previous games to pull content from, so the shortness of the games was annoying.

You mad bro? (Source)

Recently, a video was leaked online and subsequently removed. It purports to be an internal Nintendo video showing off some as of yet unannounced Super Smash Bros characters. This is all very rumor heavy and unconfirmed, but the video claims that after the game releases, more characters will be added to the fight roster via paid DLC. This has been done with other games with mixed success (see Marvel vs. Capcom 3).

Conclusion: 
I’ve never been excited about Satoru Iwata as the President of Nintendo. Again, that is the subject of another article perhaps, but for some time now, he’s been facing pressure from investors to jump on the bandwagon with other companies in adopting these and other practices. Until now, he’s stood firm and not given in to these disgusting industry models. Now, it seems Nintendo has thrown in the towel and turned on the gamers. 

Next stop, season passes for DLC, passing off mediocre multiplayer modes as substitutes for solid campaigns, and cutting off your son’s hand when he refuses to join you in ruling the galaxy.

Why Iwata-san? Why?! (Source)

Charizard Cosplay: Full Costume Reveal!

Salt Lake Comic Con starts on Thursday and we are just about ready!!!

I've had a bunch of people asking me to take pictures of me wearing the full costume, so here it is! I'm still fine tuning a couple of details, but this gives you a pretty good idea of what the final product is going to look like...

I'm almost done with the Alpha Geek's Pokemon Trainer Red costume too - the Pokeballs are for his costume ;) I'm looking forward to seeing fellow cosplayers at the con so feel free to say hi!

Charizard Cosplay: It's the details that make the difference

SLC Comic Con is next week! Fortunately, I'm almost done with my Charizard gijinka cosplay so I had some time this weekend to work on the details:

Shoes - After looking at the whole thing together I decided I didn't like the blue on the shoes so I decided to use basic acrylic paint in Antique Gold to make the shoes match the feel of the rest of the costume.

Taking it to the next level - I got some air dry clay, sculpted claws, sanded them with a nail file, and painted them with a 1:1 mixture of white acrylic paint and modge podge. I glued them to the shoes with super glue and you can kind of see that I went up the side of the claws a little bit to secure them more and to look like cuticles. 

Scale Test - I wanted to treat the pants so they weren't so plain. Even though this is a anthropomorphized Charizard, I want to make sure every element of the costume looks intentional. I'm not just wearing an orange outfit - Every piece is influenced by the dragon subject.  I'm going to do this scale effect on the thighs and calfs so it has a slimming effect as well  as adding cool texture.

Stay tuned for the makeup/hair test and full costume reveal!

Flame on! Charizard Cosplay Progress: Tail

Almost done! Last night I edged my fabric and bustled this sucker up by hand. I'm so glad I took the time to make that duct tape dress form because that made the process sooooo much easier! I just pinned the fabric to the bodice, pinned up where I wanted to bustle it, and sewed a couple of stitches at each pin up. I gathered the tip of the tail and just secured it with a rubber band for now:

Next, I grabbed the EL Wire I got from the SLC Comic Con Cosplay class and threaded it through the bustling of the tail so it came out the tip. I coiled it around the tip of the tail and secured again with rubber bands. I wrapped some sparkly red, yellow, and orange tulle and wrapped it haphazardly around the wire. I secured again with rubber bands so I could check the effect of the lighting before I secure everything. You can't really tell in the picture because There is too much light coming in my window, but the tip of the tail is actually in shadow and the orange glow coming from the center of the "flame" actually looks really cool! 

Tonight I'll attach the tail to the bodice and secure the tip. I still have a couple of details I want to touch up, but as soonas the tail is attached to the bodice I will actually have the whole costume in a wearable state to try on! Yay! 

In Memory of Robin Williams - A beautiful tribute in the actor's voice

Jim Meskimen has been the voice of the Genie from Aladdin that Robin William's originally brought to life since 2008. Since William's death, the other Genie was left to ponder whether or not he should continue his impersonation of Robin Williams or not, 

“I decided to write this poem, to work it out for myself, and to answer the question,” he says. The video below is his tribute to the late actor:

"In Memory Of Robin Williams" by Jim Meskimen

They didn’t burn all the pianos

When Fredrick Chopin died

Didn’t outlaw oil paints

when Picasso took his final ride

No one put a stop to baseball

When Mickey Mantle’s time was up

Or banned all Russian novels

When Tolstoy went belly up

On Shakespeare’s death, nobody said

“Now hath arrived the day —

From this point hence let none dare

Put forth pen to write a play!”

We celebrate what’s left

By the departed, it’s our choice

Yet it does seem sacriligeous

To do Robin Williams’ voice

A voice that was designed to soothe,

Soft, deep tones that resonate

And cascade gently outward

From behind a smiling face

A voice that could accelerate

To catch up with the mind

Like shifting into overdrive

To not get left behind

A voice that could change character

Like seconds on a clock

Or hijack nationalities

For a spin around the block

Shift age, shift viewpoint, shift I.Q.,

Whatever’s not nailed down

Destroy, rebuild, destroy again,

A formidable clown

We’ll hear this voice in future times

In reruns on TV,

It will occupy the world wide web

Live on, digitally

We’ll hear its echoes come

From other mouths and other lips

In tributes and homages, and,

Like psychedelic trips

We’ll think the owner’s back again

With his familiar sound

But they’ll all be imitations —

Just an audible rebound

New jokes aren’t in the pipeline now,

Not that the well went dry —

But the jester who possessed this voice

Just chose to say goodbye

With the wealth of joy he left us

We should probably rejoice

But it’s hard to grasp we lost the guy

Who used to have this voice.