Posts Tagged ‘Console’

17 Dec

The Third Option

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

Over the last week or so I have been working feverishly towards getting ten Best of 2013 countdowns up on the site, but before I start I just have to say something…

So the Xbox One and the PS4 are both on Australian shelves now (well, the Xbox One at least – God help you if you’re trying to find a PS4 that isn’t on preorder at the moment). That means they will be on Christmas wishlists and dare I say part of plans for the spending of excess Christmas casual earnings / Christmas gift money. They deserve to be there. They are both very impressive pieces of tech. I like both of them and have thoroughly enjoyed my time with them thus far. I eagerly await the exciting future ahead for both consoles. Games like Titanfall, Infamous: Second Son, Destiny, Watch_Dogs, The Order: 1886 and Final Fantasy XV make me feel lucky to be able to own a next-gen (now current-gen, technically) console right now, with an entertaining future secured. If you are genuinely excited for either console, all power to you – go ahead and jump in. I feel like, if I wanted to, I could leave it at that.

But I would be betraying who I was, where I’ve come from and, heck, where I am now as a gamer, if I neglected to give another mention to the Wii U, Nintendo’s now one-year-old home console. I have been playing just as much of my Wii U of late as I have my PS4/Xbox One, so I feel obliged to point out that yes, there is a third option for you this holiday season if you feel like it’s time for a new console. Here’s why you might find it a decent choice:

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30 Aug

Gargantuan Trios

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, K-Pop, Music. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

I realise this kind of article probably has a pretty narrow audience, but on the plus side there probably aren’t too many like it on the interwebs.

Entertainment media is big business these days. Like, BIG business. Big business breeds big companies who survive because they happen to be the best at what they do. Each of these companies may emphasise its own supposed competitive advantages, but when push comes to shove the entertainment media juggernauts are still around because deep down they are really similar, whether they sell movies, TV shows, videogames or music. This hit home for me recently when I happened to notice that the apparently different worlds of console gaming and Korean pop music shared the phenomenon of a dominant “Big 3” who control market share. And public (read: internet) perception of these companies within their own contexts is kind of unnervingly similar.

So for the hell of it, I paired them up and tried to find as many similarities between the most obviously corresponding members of each trio as I could. Of course they tout many differences as well, but the amount of similarities I did end up finding is perhaps a little scary. For the sake of uniformity I’ve referred to videogame franchises and Korean idols/groups alike as “brands” here, cause that’s what they are, really.

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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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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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30 Aug

Larger Than Life – 3DS XL Review

Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, Console, Games. Tagged: , , , , , .

New console number two out of three for the year!

After a relatively short build-up, Nintendo’s new 3DS XL was released in Australia last Thursday. It retails for $250, which is technically the same RRP as the regular 3DS (although many retailers sell the original model for less). That was the first pleasant surprise it provided me with. The second was how good it felt to hold and play. The third was how good its stereoscopic 3D looked. The fourth was how easily I could recommend it, to anyone, as a system superior to its smaller cousin in almost every way.

Yes, that's a Pokemon sticker.

It’s just a nice-looking piece of tech, really.

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