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Gaming Rants

I don’t write about Video Games for some time now, but the latest news from E3 kinda triggered this post. So, with no further a do, my rants 😀

Nintendo 3DS

As usual, Nintendo invest more into their portables than the home consoles and this is obvious because the portable consoles have always saved Nintendo from being defeated by the competition. From what I’ve seen so far, the 3DS seems impressive.

The 3D screen is a huge sales factor, but the true value of this console it’s in the kick it delivers. The demos shown on E3 make me think that the 3DS graphics engine is way more powerful than a GameCube and a PSP and until Sony releases the PSP 2, which they should have announced on E3 instead of milking the fail that is the PSP Go, the 3DS will sucker-punch the competition out of the map.

Third party support has never been so strong for a portable that is yet to be released, but still, I can see the 3DS being plagued by ports of old games, like it happened to the PSP when it was launched.

It’s been rumored a few changes to the DS Ware shop, which I hope they do because compared to other console marketplaces it sucks. Another rumor is that the 3DS will feature even more social and network capabilities, which is always good. I really hope they include a faster and more friendly version of their Opera browser and deliver a working Internet experience and not just a gimmick like we have on the DSI.

The future will tell, but I’m betting that this will probably be the best portable Nintendo has ever made. Don’t screw this one up Nintendo!!

What I’ve been Playing

As a BIG Mario fan, of course I bought the new Super Mario Galaxy 2. At first it may look as “more of the same” but Nintendo really managed to improve the game mechanics by including new power-ups and 2.5D levels.

Sometimes it feels you’re playing New Super Mario Bros Wii but suddenly the entire level transforms and you’re back to the full Super Mario Galaxy 3D experience . The basics are still the same and there are common elements between the games, but the new stuff is really fun and has a big addiction level, not to mention that this time you have Yoshi 😀

What amazes me (in a mixed way) is that Nintendo continues to provide tutorials and in-game help for new players. Super Mario Galaxy 2 even comes with a DVD explaining how to play the game as well as the Superguide that plays some stages for you (if you want) when you die more than 10 times in a level… I understand that this is way to get more inexperienced gamers to buy and play the game, but isn’t it part of the fun to find out how to finish a stage???

Old school baby… those were the times 😉

Besides SMG2, I went back to finish Metroid Prime 3 Corruption. Sadly, I remembered that I didn’t finished Prime and Prime 2 Echoes… although I have the games for the Gamecube, I managed to get my hands on a Metroid Trilogy copy and I’m going back to the start!

The Metroid Prime Trilogy games are still 3 of the best games ever made for Nintendo consoles, and the collector’s edition for the Wii allows you to play the 2 first games as the 3rd one, with the wii mote pointing at the screen, and believe me, it’s a all new experience to play Prime and Echoes that way.

And that’s all… there’s not much time to play games nowadays but I’ll have more time next month when I’m on vacations 😀

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Stop Consuming and Create!

My last post was not written out of boredom. I wrote it because I was, and still am, mad at me. Mad because I’m letting myself go, I’m caving in into a state of information overload.

I find myself consuming more information that I should and this is having a downside effect on one of the most important aspects of oneself: creativity.

I can strongly say that I’ve stopped being a creative person, I’m an active consumer but a passive creator… Creativity is like a muscle, you stop exercising it and it goes limp, dull, gray and flat. Your ideas are no longer your own, they are someone else’s ideas because when you come up with a concept, a photo, a text, an algorithm, someone else already did it. And they did it better than you, and the worst part is, you know it, because in your dormant, numb stasis you were waiting. The same information you consumed was also consumed by others, the difference is that they didn’t stopped working out their brains and creativity. The used it.

Remember Polaroids? Those old instant film photo cameras? Most people think the brand died… well it did, but two entrepreneurs saw an opportunity in a market that was being taken by the digital photo technology. They resuscitated the brand and called it “The Impossible Project”, a name that’s suited to what could be considered a failed industry, but they went the extra mile on the road not taken by many.

They innovated, they used their creativity and created a brand that restored a product still demanded by fans of the iconic Polaroid brand. Time will tell if they are successful, nevertheless their products are tools to stimulate creativity.

It’s like a cycle, creativity generates creativity.  I know that the outcome of the creative process is above all else a product of consumption, but don’t take it too lightly, use it as inspiration, learn from it.

Be creative above all things.

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I Need a Wake Up Call…

I took some time to look at my blog and it saddens me to say that I my post count has never been so low, both in quantity and quality.

I still rant and have my own opinions (DUH!) but the need to share my different views with the world (the five persons who visit my blog) has changed. Don’t ask my why, maybe it’s laziness, procrastination or just the “plague” of Twitter and Facebook micro blogging… this or perhaps the excess of information available on the Internet.

Face it. It has never been so easy to get information on whatever topic you want, specially if you’re into technology and video games. There are millions of sites and blogs replicating every bit of news and info that comes up, it’s like an infinite echo of information. What value do we, as bloggers,  add to the flow of information? Our personal opinions? Rants? Sometimes we might even mislead our readers when our posts have little or no quality…

I guess the true reason I stoped blogging is because I “looked around” and found out that I’m not actually creating, I’m not adding value, I’m copying what’s being copied millions of times per second. I’m an echo…

Yup… I need a wake up call. We all do.

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The Years of Nostalgia

He-Man and The Masters of The Universe

I’m 31 years old. If you’re somehow like me, in your 30’s, there’s a big chance that we share some common memories of our childhood. The toys, the cartoons, the TV shows, the video games, stuff that most of us, as kids enjoyed and remember fondly to this day. Looking at today’s entertainment market it’s cool to see, that the ones that were kids on the 80’s and 90’s are now pulling the strings and resurrecting the stuff that made our dreams back then. Check this:

  • The Transformers – Huge cartoon on the 80’s as well as a huge line of toys. Now there’re two big motion pictures on the brand with a third one on the way, a cartoon series as well as two toy lines that were created for both movies and cartoon series.
  • V and Battlestar Galactica – Two of the most rememberable sci-fi TV shows from the 80’s are back with brand new shows (I know Galactica is over but it’s a good example).
  • He-Man and The Masters of The Universe – If you’re a kid back then you probably had a MOTU figure. It was that big! A new cartoon was made in 2003 along with a new toy line but it wasn’t so successful as the original. Now Mattel is creating a new line of figures just for collectors inspired in the classic line. Oh, and there’s a new movie being made!
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Another cartoon and toy line that were everywhere. The brand completes it’s 25th Anniversary this year and to celebrate they’re made a new animated movie named Turtles Forever, as well as a re-issue of the original action figures. A new cartoon was made in 2003 and a CGI movie in 2007 along with a toy line for both.
  • Fame – One of the biggest TV series back then was graced with a motion picture this year.
  • Video Games – Well, I’m not even starting a list here. Remakes from classic games are born every day. Retrogaming is really catching up among developers and it brings the opportunity to new players to play old games.

So, are we running out of ideas or are we just resurrecting our passions from the past? Are we that nostalgic or are we just trying to make old successful formulas work again?

My take is that it’s a little bit of both. What’s your’s?

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MeMe

Following the meme on Nuno’s blog…

Me!
Me!

1. Take a picture of yourself right now.
2. Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair…just take a picture. (should be super-easy with Photobooth)
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.