Archive for the ‘Wii U’ Category

27 Aug

Game Review: Pikmin 3

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Wii U. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

As of today I’ve had this game for a month, so I think it’s about time I posted this review. To be honest, I wish I could spend some more time with it, but hey, there are actually more Wii U games to play now! I finished the story mode this morning.

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Platform: Wii U
Developer: Nintendo
Rating: G
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What adorable little murderers.

What adorable little murderers.

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Finally!
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Here, dear readers, is the first brand new, single player Wii U game that might actually have a case to justify a purchase of Nintendo’s newest home console by itself. It’s taken almost nine months to appear, but Pikmin 3 is a reminder of why Nintendo fans love the quirky Japanese company so much. It’s beautiful, it’s charming, it’s an absolute blast to play and, over a decade after the first game in the series debuted on the GameCube, there is still nothing else quite like it.

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11 Jul

Game Review: Game & Wario

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Wii U. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

My first-ever Wii U review! Starting now there will be at least one exclusive Nintendo-published game worth playing, at least in theory, released for the content-starved console each month until year’s end. Is this one of those? Uh, well…

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Platform: Wii U
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Rating: G
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That devious entrepreneur wants to charge $80 for this.

That devious moustachioed entrepreneur wants to charge $80 for this.

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Games.
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The Wii U needs them. Pretty badly. Barring Lego City Undercover and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate back in March, admittedly both good titles, there has been a whole lot of nothing released for the console since December last year. But starting with Game & Wario, the gaming giant is set to release a relatively steady stream of quality leading all the way up to Christmas. Whether you enjoy Game & Wario will depend on whether you think it’s worth paying full price for a game that packs just as much fun and imaginative content as it does dull and lifeless “ideas”.

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7 Jun

Retrocity

Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, Games, Wii U. Tagged: , , , , , , .

To think I have the nerve to call myself a Nintendo fan.

I’ve never played either of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle games.

Also, I’ve never played Super Metroid.

And, uh, um, I’ve never played Super Mario World.

012115sad_mario

Yeah, I know, I know.

And by that what I mean to say is, I hadn’t played them until very recently.

You see, there’s this console called the Wii U that Nintendo released at the end of last year. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It hasn’t had a lot of games released for it in the last several months (that’s an understatement) and I haven’t used it much, but it did recently unveil its new online Virtual Console service, which does give Wii U owners some actual content to enjoy. Old content, sure, but content nonetheless.

So, starved of reasons to pick up my Wii U gamepad, I had the best excuse I’ve ever had to delve into those two critically untouchable supposed gems of the Super Nintendo era: Super Mario World and Super Metroid. I downloaded the pair for the grand total of ten dollars and seventy cents. I played them.

And my self-worth as a Nintendo fan plummeted.

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11 Apr

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Beginner’s Guide

Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, Games, Wii U. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

We kick off the first Vagrant Rant guest writing week with a guide piece written by ZaonTheFirst, a JRPG afficianado with a taste for the grind. Having played over six hours of the new Monster Hunter myself, I can tell you that the game is hella confusing for newcomers and these tips have already helped me immensely.

—Written by ZaonTheFirst—

—Edited/formatted by Vagrantesque—

So, you’ve just picked up your copy of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on 3DS or Wii U. You’ve jumped into your first boss monster quest and immediately you think “HOW THE *^@!$ DO I PLAY THIS GAME?!”… If this is you, don’t worry. I used to be like that too… many years ago…

ANYWAY, you’re in luck because because this is a list of tips on “How newcomers can make the most of their Monster Hunter playthrough”.
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1. Have the correct mindset.

This is arguably the single most important tip. If you charge into even the lower rank boss monster quests with the God of War, Devil May Cry, generic-hack’n’slash-game mindset, I GUARANTEE you will have a bad time. Unlike the aforementioned games, you’ll be focusing on something a lot more than actually attacking. What is that, you may ask? See below.
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8 Dec

U Ready? – Wii U Review

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, Wii U. Tagged: , , , .

I think it’s clear that desperation is now the main driving force behind my choices of post titles.

The Wii U, Nintendo’s new home console, launched in Australia and Europe about a week ago, and after spending as much time with it as my current lifestyle would allow, I present this, here, now.

Icy blue

Day One haul, clockwise from bottom left: Screen Protector Kit, Facepad & Stylus Pack, Wii U Premium Pack, Pro Controller, Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Assassin’s Creed 3 Join or Die Edition, New Super Mario Bros U.

Yeah, if you haven’t already guessed, I enjoy throwing money at console launches.

I’ll be structuring this piece much like my Playstation Vita review from earlier this year. Here goes.

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13 Sep

What I Think of the Wii U

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, Wii U. Tagged: , , , , .

I’ve been asked this question too many times to count in recent months, but since there just wasn’t enough information on the console before today, I could never consider any answer truly reasonable. Well, Nintendo’s simultaneous American/European broadcast has just wrapped up and now most of that information gap has been filled, so I thought I’d commit my knee-jerk reaction here.
I’m not going to cover all of the freshly announced news because that isn’t what Vagrant Rant is about, but I will lay down my opinions as always. It’s just past 1am in the morning and I can’t promise this will be terribly coherent. It’ll probably be my “rantiest” post yet.

This colour is apparently now considered “premium”.

Well here we are, closer than we’ve ever been to the latest Nintendo home console, knowing more information than we ever have. As a gamer who once devoted a sizeable chunk of his childhood to the revered Japanese corporation, I have always expected big things from Nintendo, and I certainly am not alone. Of course, recent years have not provided the greatest signs that Nintendo is looking out for fans such as myself. Though I have some amazing memories of playing the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube, the Wii just didn’t provide quite as many great gaming moments. They were there, for sure, but they were so spaced out due to the company’s newfound focus on the casual market that the console left a bit of a sour taste in many a fan’s mouth. 2008 and 2009 were so infamously dry of Nintendo quality that I barely played any games in the former and branched out to Xbox 360 and PS3 in the latter.

I may be an all-console owner and lover of shiny new things now, but part of me still wants to return to the days where all I needed was one console to provide for my gaming needs. Now, that just flat-out isn’t going to happen, because I doubt the Xbox 360 is going to suddenly stop its stranglehold on a superior online experience, as much as I doubt that the PS3 will stop coming out with brilliant exclusive titles. But it sure would be nice to have a reason to think about which console to turn on during my free time and have a Nintendo product as a legitimate option. That’s all I ask for.

So, is what I’ve seen enough to convince me to buy a Wii U on launch day (November 30th in Aus)?

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