Button Mash This

Animal Crossing from photojunkie on Vimeo.

Back in December, some friends and I were in NYC for a week leading up to my birthday on the 16th. My gift to myself? $200US+ in merchandise at one place and one place alone (literally!): Nintendo World Store. There are only 2 locations in the world, the other resides in Japan (of course). And while I’ve visited the Big Apple on several occasions, this was the first time I’d been able to make it down to Rockefeller Center to check out the scene for myself. Needless to say, I was in pure fangirl heaven.

Thankfully, I got it together long enough to take a few pics and a couple of vids.

chelle @ Nintendo World Store (NYC) - 1st floor from ButtonMashThis on Vimeo.

chelle @ Nintendo World Store (NYC) - 2nd floor from ButtonMashThis on Vimeo.

In honour of Valentine’s Day… it’s all about playing TOGETHER. Sharing means caring with my list of multiplayer favs for love day. So grab your significant other and snuggle up whilst competing in these video games built for two.

RACING GAMES
Guys love cars. And the Burnout series has been satisfying the male desire to virtually destroy expensive shiny things for years now. I love the Burnout games because the focus is not necessarily on better performance, but rather on total and utter destruction… the worse driver you are, the better! So it seemed like an appropriate choice for couples who are always ragging on each other’s driving skills. Take the fighting during rush hour gridlock off the highway and re-direct that road rage into happy co-player explosions instead. There’s loads of different versions to pick up — Burnout 3: Takedown and Burnout: Revenge for the consoles or Burnout Legends and Burnout Dominator for the PSP handheld — each with their own levels of greatness. But if you really wanna blow their minds away and get that heart racing, you may wanna try out the newest game to the franchise, Burnout Paradise.

FIGHTING GAMES
When your girl doesn’t know how to play video games but she makes an effort to play with you (because she loves you!), she’ll just mash her thumbs all over the controller until something happens on screen. For this reason, fighting games are perfect for mutual entertainment. While you’re trying to impress her by remembering some complex intricate button combination for the ultimate finishing move, she’ll just be wailing away relentlessly with little regard to strategy until she wins — and she will because those damn button mashers always win! And you’ll think it’s adorable because you’ll just be glad it wasn’t one of your buddies who totally tore your virtual torso into pieces! Who better to own your sorry ass anyways? When it comes to this genre of games, 3D is where its at. So try a Soul Calibur title. And if you managed to get her hooked onto it long after February comes and goes, then keep in mind Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl comes out on March 9 for the Wii.

RHYTHM GAMES
I have yet to meet anyone who will not try a rhythm game. This genre is a special breed amongst gaming culture because it’s easily the most accessible and it appeals to the masses by seducing you with classic licensed music that puts everyone in the mood. Why not serenade each other in a SingStar duet or bust out your sexiest moves on Dance Dance Revolution. But if you’re both up for the sweaty challenge, than nothing beats neverending rock sessions playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

Still haven’t found the right present for your special someone? Just get them a DS already, seriously. Even if they have never mentioned it before or showed any interest. Trust me. I’m convinced it’s THE best present in the world and no one can resist this handheld king. 5 year olds play them. 35 year olds play them. Boys and girls play them… together even… and online even if they live far away from each other, ideal for the long distance relationship troopers. It’s also perfect for commuters, so they’ll have something keeping them occupied while travelling on the bus or subway to your house. With a HUGE catalog of software currently available in every style and flavour you could possibly imagine, there is bound to be at least a handful of games your love will just adore as much as you. Be warned though, they may end up spending more time with it than with you! <3

I know this is a week late, but in honour of Chinese New Years I thought it might be cool to demonstrate how to arrange your Animal Crossing: Wild World home and items using the game’s feng shui system. If executed properly, you raise your Happy Room Academy points and thus raise your town’s luck and your overall gameplay experience — better items appear at Tom Nook’s store, more bells fall and less bees chase you from shaking the trees, better fish and bugs are found more often and your chances of catching them successfully increase as well. This, of course, can lead to completing your museum donations much faster or earning bigger coin when you go to sell off your discoveries.

But before we dig into the clip below, you may want to check this and this out really quickly. Technically, the guides refer to the GameCube version. But conceptually, the idea is identical. All you really need to remember is left wall = yellow, bottom wall = green, right wall = red. Got it? Good. You’re ready for the tour!

For a highly detailed overview using my own game save, check out the video.

Animal Crossing: Wild World - Feng Shui Me! from ButtonMashThis on Vimeo.

So I’ve been playing a lot of DS games lately, especially over the holidays. One of the games I played and completed was Chibi-Robo!: Park Patrol, really fun BTW.

So should I be completely surprised at this blogging reference half way through the game, right after I finished fixing the computer? How could I not blog this.

For a while, Rannie and I were both ridiculously addicted to Animal Crossing: Wild World. I’d play daily for hours at a time totally ignoring loved ones or the need to sleep or eat. It’s one of those games that you need to experience for yourself to realize just how truly immersive it’s virtual world could be.

But sometimes, people prefer a more tactile approach. Now I’m not sure exactly where or when this footage was shot or what this entire exhibit\experiment(?) was for. But I do know that it all looks wicked… and pretty impressive from a technical standpoint. I would have loved to check this out first hand, but I guess you and me will have to settle for the video below.

I’m not sure about you, but I’m excited about the release of My Sims by EA Games on the Nintendo Wii and DS. Check out the trailer above. So cute. And the game play is supposed to be a breeze and very customizable. Sure it looks a lot like Animal Crossing, but that being said I was a big fan of that franchise. Kill me with cuteness.

The game hits shelves on September 18th.

Nintendo Canada and WestJet have teamed together to provide an in-flight DS gaming experience on random flights until September 30th. Apparently a variety of games will be available in this free service. Note the DS is simply a loaner for the flight, however Westjet is also having a DS giveaway if your register your confirmation number from any WestJet flight purchased between August 15th and September 30th.

Yesterday, I came across the BrainAge 2 / Special Edition DS Lite bundle at HMV. My jaw dropped and lust ensued. It seems from comments on other gaming sites, there is either a love/hate relationship with this new edition of the DS lite which is a Crimson/Black combo. Personally, I love it and am very tempted.

Note to Canadians, EB Games, Future Shop and Best Buy are all selling the bundle for 159.99 while HMV Canada is sells it for 149.99. You decide.

See, now here’s a smart idea — take all the recent gameplay clips from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass that keep being released all over the interweb every 10 seconds! and simply roll them all into one conveniently packaged video. It’s all the Hyrulian goodness you’ll ever need… well until the game is released later this year of course.

[via WiiNintendo]