Klax

Klax

Publisher: Atari Games/Tengen

Developer: Atari Games/Tengen

Consoles: Arcade, Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, TurboGrafx-16, Sega Genesis, and various others

"It is the nineties, and there is time for Klax."

It's odd that not many people know of Klax. It won the Best Mind Game award at the 1991 European Computer Leisure Awards, gained the seal of approval of the Parents' Choice Foundation in 1990, and was named the Best Cartridge Game of 1990. It was considered a major arcade hit, had ports not only to the systems above but also to Playstation, Playstation 2, PSP, XBox, Gamecube, Amstrad GX4000, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Commodore 64 and Amiga, DOS, Windows, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and more. It seemed like this game was everywhere. Yet, I can't find hardly a single person that's played this game before.

Klax was an arcade follow-up to Tetris, because Atari was in legal troubles over the latter at that time. It's hard to truly explain Klax, so let me try my best to explain the gameplay:

The game is made up of a conveyer belt, or a staircase, or something along those lines, and has tiles tumbling down towards the playing field. You control a little white machine or ship just above the playing field, where you catch the tiles. You drop them down into the playing field, a 5x5 area, and attempt to match up three or more like-colored tiles, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. This is called a "Klax," and getting four or more (either in a row or as two connecting Klaxs) counts as more than one Klax.

What most of the game will look like. Only exciting.
So the idea is to make as many of these, right? Well, not necessarily. See, what made Klax interesting was that each level had a specific goal. One level may have you performing a specific number of Klaxs. Another may have you do the same thing, but only vertically, horizontally, or diagonally completed Klaxs count. Other modes include simply catching a certain number of tiles, hitting a certain score, and so on.

Your ship (or device or whatever the hell it is) can only hold five tiles at a time. You dump out the top most, or recently caught, tile onto the field, allowing you to hold onto tiles for a later time. There is no way of shifting through these tiles, however, so if the tile you need is at the bottom, you need to dump out the four tiles on top first to get to it.

So let's say you try to catch a tile with five tiles already piled up. The tile falls off the stairway to hell and takes one hit off of your Drop Meter. You have three, four, or five chances in your drop meter (depending on if you warp; more on that later), and any tile that plummets off the end of the highway counts against you. Deplete the meter, and it's game over.

Warp screen example, at the start of the game.
At the start of the game, and every five levels afterward, you're given the option to skip five or ten levels ahead. These warps give you either four or five drops, depending on how far you warped, as well as bonus points. The catch is, obviously, the game is harder the further you go. The game has 100 levels, the last of which is to get a large high score of 250,000 points before you're able to win.

Some levels may have special criteria, as well; for example, one level may ask you to complete an X-shaped Klax that spans the entire field of play. The reward? A warp that takes you 45 levels ahead. And it's not easy, neither - I tried for nearly two hours recently before giving up, frustrated.

Pausing the game gives the player the option to change the current song being played, as well. This is nice, because there's a lot of different styles to the songs, from a dirty grungy metal sound to a more pop, maybe even new wave sound. It's nice to have an option, too, with a soundtrack of five songs that can be changed during play is nicer than going 15 levels of hearing the same song. I even like the titles of the songs - "Led Fut," "Giganticus Breathalizer," "Dance of the Fairies," "Rottweiler," and my personal favorite, "Caverns of Cthulu." It's really catchy, and I suggest anyone to YouTube them.


Most of the screens all look the same, so here's a bonus song for you guys.

The game's been released recently with the Midway Arcade Treasures for PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox. I suggest anyone that likes puzzle games to at least rent this compilation to try this game out. It may not be the nineties anymore, but there is always time for Klax.

Tecmo Bowl

Tecmo Bowl

Publisher: Tecmo

Developer: Tecmo

Consoles: Nintendo Entertainment System, Arcade

Football's back in season, which means every frat boy in the nation is, when not playing Halo: Reach, hooked on Madden again. Just like every other year. However, before there was an annual franchise release, before EA Sports owned the rights to the NFL and the NFL Player's League, before created players and realistic stadiums and replay footage and other forms of realism were presented for us to feast on... There was Tecmo Bowl.

Tecmo Bowl, obviously by Tecmo, was originally an arcade title, which did pretty good, but the game was really spotlighted and became popular on the NES. While not the first football video game, it's considered to be the best early football game released. Even without the use of real NFL team names (opting, instead, for the Indianapolis Swordfish, the Cleveland Dinosaurs, the Seattle Knights, the Chicago Penguins, and so on), the teams' rosters at that time were still accurate, and even had stats.

Getting ready for the kickoff...
For instance, Denver's John Elway, Miami's Dan Marino, and San Francisco's Joe Montana will deliver better passing games for more yardage. Likewise, teams with a better defense will be able to stop runners a lot quicker than others. Speaking of runners, each team has its own set of pass and run plays, as well. It's pretty interesting to see what made certain teams work, both in terms of players and the plays on the field.

There were a few things that were different in the game than in actual football, however. The clock always stops after each play. No need to go out of bounds or throw an incomplete. Also, there's NO fumbles. This means run plays are ALWAYS safer than passing plays. There's also no substitutions, no injuries, no touchbacks, and no onside kicks. Hey, give them a break, it was the mid-to-late-80's and they still made a fantastic football game for its time.

Believe it or not, THIS was cutting edge at one point.
SO fantastic, in fact, that it warranted ports to the NES, Famicom, Game Boy, mobile phones, two different versions on the Virtual Console, and had two remakes: one on the DS, and one on the 360 and PS3. It was quite the success, and is still considered one of the best football games ever, warranting several sequels on several consoles, as well. I personally think it's a lot better than the "change one little thing and update stats and it's a brand new game" formula of Madden each year.

I also have to note the music of Tecmo Bowl. This motherfucker is catchy as hell. I find myself singing along on offense, raping asses with Washington, running the ball down the field. There's a different song depending on player one being on offense or defense, as well as jingles for the title screen, getting a first down, and getting a touchdown. It's simple, but I find it to be enjoyable.

GOOOOOOOOOAALLLL!! ...Wait, wrong football.
There's not many people that haven't played this title, but even if you don't like football, I suggest giving it a shot. Sure, it's dated now, but it's still entertaining. Just try to avoid passing too much - you don't want to be on the wrong end of an interception.

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Consoles: Nintendo Entertainment System

Three Capcom titles in one week? Sorry, but I've gotta say that The Little Mermaid is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies. So how could I not review the game? Well, sadly, I shouldn't have played this one. Not as a kid, and not again as an adult to refresh my memory.

The graphics are pretty good for 1991 NES graphics, but that may be the only thing "good" about this title. It's not the worst game I've ever played, but it's probably in the bottom 20% or so. The game starts out over halfway into the movie - Ariel has already met Eric, and they fall in love, and they plan on getting married. That's when Flounder and Sebastian come to shit all over their plans and tell Ariel that Ursula is "controlling all the fish" or something stupid. So then Ariel tells Eric - that's right, SHE FUCKING TALKS TO HIM - that she's a mermaid, and needs to go save some fish. Being the selfish douche that he is, he pretty much tells her those fish can fuck themselves and that she should stay with him. She declines, and uses HER OWN MAGIC TO TURN HERSELF BACK INTO A MERMAID TO SAVE THE SEA. Wow.

They sure do make keys differently these days...
So yeah, you play as the mermaid and swim around through the sea, with the almighty bubble that you shit out of your tail as a weapon. Intimidating. You have to hit every fish twice unless you upgrade your bubbles with orbs found in treasure chests, which are unlocked with sea shells. That makes sense. Apparently I can find forks and pipes at the bottom of the ocean, but keys do NOT exist. Oh, and did I mention YOU DON'T EVEN GET TO START WITH FULL HEALTH?! What a load of shit.

The bosses aren't hard in this game, either, though most of them are characters from the movie; the shark in the sunken ship, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Ursula, while others I don't really know why they're there, like a musical conductor fish that controls cannons that shoot fish out, or a walrus that gives you ammo to use against him. It's pretty dumb.

Obligatory ice stage!
Also, can't forget the stages - and what's a video game without the typical stages found in most games? It's harder underwater, so there's no sky or forest stages, but there are a few points in the sunken ship that causes Ariel to leave water and flop around on land. That's funny. Also, surprise surprise, there's an ice level that causes the mermaid to slip around when she hits land. Of course, ice level. But what about fire? How could there possibly be a fire level in a game that takes place in nothing but water? AN UNDERWATER VOLCANO! THAT'S RIGHT, HOW COULD I FORGET THAT?!

I think what makes the game so bad is how poorly the story is done, the swimming controls are kinda stiff, hitboxes are too big, the weapon sucks, and the bosses are too easy. I lost lives to shrimp and angry fish than the bosses. The final fight with Ursula is a joke, Flotsam and Jetsam were harder. And when you finally do beat the game, Ariel cries like a little girl because she can't be human again. Apparently, she only has magic to turn herself into a mermaid and not back into a human. So King Triton, being the Father of the Year that he is, zaps the shit out of her with his trident to give her legs, and then it literally says:

Seriously? This and "The End" are the last screens of the game?
This game took me 20 minutes to beat, while not even trying hard. I believe the speed run is 7 minutes and 26 seconds. If I paid $50 in 1991 for a seven to twenty minute game, I would've been pissed. DuckTales was amazing. Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers was fantastic. Why did the Little Mermaid suck so bad? Why? WHY?!!

Super Mario Kart

Super Mario Kart

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Consoles: Super Nintendo

A little late of a post this evening, haha. It's RTF again, I haven't been here in a while, and I hope to get back into the swing of things with relatively little ease. My first October Flashback review will be Super Mario Kart for the SNES.

Super Mario Kart is one of the most well-loved titles from the SNES library, and rightly so. It kick-started an insanely popular spin-off series that is both still going today and, in essence, created a whole new genre. I feel, however, despite its being well-loved it is often negelcted and terribly overlooked, as many people got their introduction to the series through Mario Kart 64.

The game itself is very easy to pick up and play on the 50cc difficulty. Its difficulty wildly increases when jumping to 100cc, and when playing the highest difficulty, (you guessed it) 150cc, you had better pray to whatever god you believe in that you play everything with the accuracy of a machine because it is a VICIOUS MONSTER. 150 cc is not available from the beginning of the game, you have to unlock it. That should tip you off that there's trouble in paradise.

NO THIS IS NOT OKAY
The game has several playable modes. First, the actual meat of the game, the Grand Prix/GP mode. This mode can be played alone, or with a friend. You (and your friend, if playing) face off against CPUs, with a grand total of eight racers. Each racer can only be selected once, so if both of you want to play as Princess Toadstool, rock paper scissors for it, or fisticuffs may ensue. Games have gotten fucking nasty over who gets to be the princess, believe me. You pick a Cup from Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup, and the Special Cup. Each cup has five races, each more difficult than the last. Time Trial is a separate mode (but who the fuck likes time trials anyway?), which is pretty self-explanatory. You race a track versus a ghost racer that follows the exact route of the current best time. Also featured is Match Race, which is one vs. one racing, available only in the 2p mode. The last mode set Super Mario Kart aside from every other racer at the time- with a second player, you can duke it out in Battle Mode! Your karts are adorned with three balloons apiece. Using one of nine different powerups, your objective is to pop the other guy's balloons. The first racer to pop all three of his or her opponent's balloons is the winner. The prize? Sweet, sweet fucking glory. Priceless.

Okay, okay. So who can you play in this bad boy? All the biggest Nintendo stars at the time were available as racers! You can play Mario or Luigi, both of whom are in the average/balanced class. Their stats are basic/an average of everyone else's so they're well-rounded and pretty good for beginners. Yoshi and Princess Toadstool round out the speed/acceleration class with their ability to zoom by at the start with their extremely high acceleration- they're good for intermediate players, though their top speed leaves a bit to be desired. Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. (... Jr.? the FUCK?) are your heavyweights with low accel and the highest speed- they're definitely for advanced players because when you hit a wall, their speed plummets and you gotta start all over again. They also cause the greatest knock-away when bumping into someone. In the final class is Toad and the Koopa Troopa. They have good traction and are easy to steer around. They're great for learning tracks and practicing sliding, and are good for beginners.

Eight star racers! Well...

No, seriously. Who the fuck let THIS guy in?
The game has twenty tracks, all made with at the time (1992) brand new Mode-7 graphics, and it made the tracks pop with a background that rotated, giving the appearance that it was 3D! At the time, this shit was mind-blowing, and, going back and playing again to get ready for the review, I could really appreciate what I was seeing.

The game has several innnovations to the racing series, which are what make it the grandpappy of the kart-racing genre. It had radically wild weapons, including a speed-boosting Super Mushroom, a slippery banana peel, and a thunderbolt that shrinks other racers. It implemented a little known about coin system- if you gathered ten+ coins, you could hit your top speed. Coins also protect you from being spun out when others run into you. If you get bumped with coins on your person, you lose a coin and have a short, slight speed reduction. If you get bumped without coins, you get spun out, which is a SEVERE penalty in 100 and 150cc races. With the shoulder buttons, you can perform a jump and a "powerslide". Press L or R to jump. It's not terribly useful, as you can't jump over weapon obstacles, but you CAN jump small gaps, which is a necessity in at least one race. Press and hold L or R when rounding a corner to perform a "powerslide" during which your character turns their kart hard, sliding it on the ground. In some areas, it's easier and more practical to powerslide a corner rather than steer it. It is near impossible to be competitive without it.

For a game that is nearly two decades old, Super Mario Kart has held up remarkably well. I, among many others, conisder it to be the best incarnation of Mario Kart with later installments nothing but mere graphical upgrades and gimmicks. It is a stellar addition to any game library and one of the most addictive games of all time. So, for a good ol' time with friends, or a good waste of time alone, pick up your copies of Super Mario Kart (or buy it on the Virtual Console!) and rock out with the best kart-racer of all time.

P.S. Undefeated in two states at SMK. Get at me, bitches.

Mega Man

Mega Man

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Consoles: Nintendo Entertainment System

We start off October with not just a classic title, but the title that started what would become a classic series with several spin-off series. Mega Man has over 90 titles in its library, from its Classic series to the X series, as well as the Zero series, the Battle Network series, the ZX series, the Star Force series, and the Legends series, the last of which was just recently announced to finally get a sequel after over a decade. Mega Man has starred in not just his own games, but also in several titles in the Versus series, and has shown up in one way or another in Onimusha Blade Warriors, Cannon Spike, SnK vs Capcom Card Fighters, Gem Fighters, Dead Rising, Boktai 2, and several others.

So what made Mega Man so big? Well, for those of you that have been living under a rock or just never cared about the series, I'll fill you in; the game is about two scientists, Dr. Light (though in the first game in the series he's called "Dr. Wright") and Dr. Wily, who create Mega Man, as well as six other robots. Cut Man, Elec Man, Guts Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, and Ice Man were all created to help mankind with demolition, logging, construction, electrical operations, and work in extreme heat or cold, until Dr. Wily turns against his partner. The scientist turns into a mad man, reprogramming the six robots to aid him in trying to rule the world. Light sends Mega Man to stop Wily and the Master Robots and to save mankind, and so on and so forth.

"Let's see how you do against... KUNG FU CUTMAN!"
But that doesn't really explain what made the game into the multi-series franchise that it is today. It brought in something new to the field at the time; once you defeat a Robot Master, you get to keep their power to use as your own. So if Mega Man were to beat Bomb Man, he'd have the power to throw bombs. If he were to beat Elec Man, he'd be able to shoot electrical shots in three directions. As if this new way to destroy your enemies weren't enough, each of the bosses had their own weakness against another Robot Master's power.

A word to the wise: if you haven't played many side-scrollers outside of Mario, you WILL get frustrated with this game. The difficulty of the games in the classic series is near legendary. These games aren't the hardest games made, but for a first timer, it certainly feels like it. And many of the games continue to get harder, including the newer Mega Man 9 and 10, each of which were made after the original design of the first games in the series.

Ugh, Yellow Devil is a bitch until you figure out his pattern...
As for this game in particular, my honest opinion is that it is challenging, but the powers you get from the Robot Masters are rarely worth it. Fire Man and Ice Man have similar elemental styled bullet attacks. Bomb Man's bombs take too long to explode. Cut Man's boomerangs don't do enough damage. And Guts Man is literally like the worst power of all time - he can throw chunks of wall or large blocks. But they rarely show up, and can simply be destroyed by Elec Man's power anyway. Elec Man literally has the best power in this game, and is the only thing more useful than the regular buster cannon.

Like many others, while this title is fun, and brings a beginning to the epic franchise that is Mega Man, later games in the series definitely perfected what this game started. The difficulty of this game (as well as many of them in the series) is high enough that once you finally conquer the game, you're proud of yourself. Recently I've beaten the first two Mega Man games, as well as 10 (which was my first time defeating ol' Doc Wily), and I assure you they were no easy task, especially the second one. We'll get into that later, though.

The PSP recently got the original game in a whole new style.
If you're interested in "story" or wanna be a Classic series perfectionist, start with the first game. If you're simply looking for a fun side-scroller with a high challenging difficulty, you might wanna start with one of the most famous 2D titles ever, Mega Man II.

E3 Press Conferences: Nintendo

So I wasn't here yesterday to work on the articles, and missed the original airing of Nintendo's press conference (which I rarely miss each year). So I caught the end of the conference and looked up a lot of information, so the Nintendo conference won't be as in depth as the Microsoft one, but I will go over what I've researched.

The conference begins with ol' Reggie Fils-Aime coming out with his badass haircut, and hypes up all gaming, including the ideas from Sony and Microsoft, only to say their technology is only a tool. It's kind of odd, considering not only did they start this whole motion control technology craze, but also release ridiculous amounts of hardware (I'm looking at you, Wii Pulse). This year, oddly enough, Nintendo is focused on "the experience."

The first trailer shown is the new Zelda, flashing back to each major console game's Link, before revealing the new title and a bit of gameplay for Zelda: Skyward Sword. The graphics are nice, and Paul has said it looks like a mixture of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker. Next, Shigeru Miyamoto comes out and explains a little about the game, before turning the game over to Nintendo's translater and representative.

After he fails a bit, Miyamoto himself comes out (in a fairly magical manner and with a mass applause) and shows off a lot of Zelda. While Miyamoto has trouble at times (at one point blaming it on wireless interference), the game's 1:1 with Wii MotionPlus is impressive, as are some of the items and their usage. Bombs can be set, thrown, or bowled, and the whip looks pretty badass. I've been out of the Zelda scene for a while, but this game certainly looks good enough to pick up. They said it should be coming out in 2011.

Reggie comes back out and talks about universal appeal, and talks about how sports games can bring that out. He mentions NBA Jam, but sadly shows nothing of it. Reggie announces Mario is doing more sports, and a new trailer is shown, starting with Mario and friends playing volleyball. After a few scenes, it shows the crew playing ice and beach hockey. Next appears to be a game of dodgeball, which looks fun, before changing to basketball, looking very much like Mario Hoops. The title is revealed as Mario Sports Mix, and will be out next year.

Reggie begins talking sales, how great the Wii has sold, how the games have sold, all the records broken, etc. He talks about Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros Wii... He introduces a new "bridge" title involving Miis. New game is Wii Party, looking like Mario Party without the Mario. It looks silly; perhaps boring. Could possibly be the next Wii Music, new first party shovelware.

The Nintendo president introduces us to a new trailer for Just Dance 2. I know a lot of people hated the first game, but even if it was dumb I kinda enjoyed it - I know it's not graphically impressive; hell, I know it's not good. But something about making an ass of yourself in front of friends is always entertaining (or rather, watching your friends making asses of themselves), so with new Dance Crew battle modes and the ability for 8 players to dance in their tiny ass living rooms, I can't say I'm excited, but I'm not disappointed or surprised.

The new Golden Sun game is now subtitled Dark Dawn, and a trailer shows off the beautiful 3D graphics of the title. The battle scenes look wonderful. I haven't played much of Golden Sun, though I have wanted to, so I can't say if it's a remake of the original like it was hinted at last year. The game will be out this holiday.

As Reggie mentions another "golden" game, a trailer for a new Goldeneye game begins. Looking like a remake of the N64 classic, it's a pleasant surprise for this November, exclusive to Wii. Multiplayer is back (though looks limited to only 8 playable characters), there's new voice acted scenes, and the gameplay looks downright awesome. It'll be out this November - so let's hope it doesn't disappoint.

Next, Reggie talks about Mickey Mouse, instantly alerting the crowd to Epic Mickey. Warren Specter is introduced to the stage to show off the game. Gameplay elements is shown off, showing Mickey in a world called Wasteland that involves rejected movies, cartoons, and theme park locales and rides. The art style looks interesting in the cutscenes, but is shown as a 3D title outside of the cutscenes. Mickey appears to constantly be "dripping", but is armed with a paintbrush and paint and paint thinner. Mickey can erase items and repaint them to make them look better. He'll be able to tear out sections of rock and walls to find items, and you can even erase enemies to defeat them, or paint them to become friends and allies. There's a lot that can be done. The demo then jumps to a Steamboat Willie scene, which is also very exciting and entertaining. Expect to see a lot of characters that have been forgotten when the game comes out exclusively for Wii.

Reggie talks about keeping classic franchises fresh. Reggie hints at a new Kirby game, which is totally awesome. After 7 years, Kirby will be able to star in his own game. While Reggie makes some silly ass cloth and yarn annalogies, the trailer is revealed as the title comes up - Kirby Epic Yarn. ...Wait, seriously? This isn't a joke? Yarn? Gameplay shows a yarn outline of Kirby, using yarn to whip at enemies and throw them, or to manipulate the background (which is made up of other clothing related items, like zippers and buttons). Wait, seriously?! Kirby no longer eats things to steal powers?! According to the trailer, which shows NO instance of Kirby doing what Kirby's KNOWN for doing, he instead uses a yarn whip like a pre-school Simon Belmont, and changes into shit without the use of stealing powers LIKE KIRBY DOES IN EVERY OTHER VIDEO GAME EVER. He randomly turns into cars and parachutes now? Why the fuck is he a surfing penguin or a UFO?! A two player co-op mode for this abomination looks possible. I've argued about this game since I saw the trailer, and sure, I can forgive the cutesy yarn art style. Hell, I can even forgive the horrendously shitty music. But the fact that Kirby no longer does what he's known for doing is a fucking joke. Hell, how about we make Mario wheelchair bound, and he has this new power to smell his enemies to death?! Yeah, that's good! Shit, why don't we make a Zelda game, where Link is a merchant, and all you do is sell shit and not rescue Zelda or save Hyrule or anything? That's a pretty new and clever idea! Fuck it, why even keep Donkey Kong a gorilla anymore?! This trailer is, in and of itself, the worst thing I've seen about E3 so far. And yeah, I saw the Just Dance 2 trailer earlier.

Dragon Quest IX is mentioned for its sales numbers in Japan. It's a Nintendo DS exclusive with 120 mini-quests, 300 monsters, over 900 items to customize your characters, and unlimited randomly generated treasure maps, the game can seek out other players to add new stuff to your game. It seems like a lengthy game, and will be out on July 11. Other than this, nothing else is mentioned.

Metroid Other M, out August 31, shows off a new trailer. The game looks very impressive, and looks to have 2D levels, 3D levels, and first person segments. Cool morph ball sections are shown, a Mega Man X style wall jumping sequence is played out, several puzzles and fights look fun, and even some epic boss fights are seen. It's revealed it will be a more emotional game than previous Metroid titles.

Retro Studios, who has worked on Metroid in the past, reveals it's new work, a new Donkey Kong game. Surprisingly, this game doesn't look like a pile of shit! It appears as though the apes known for their shitty Nintendo titles is finally getting a legit adventure game as the original Donkey Kong Country theme is played. After showing off several really cool scenes and gameplay actions, the title is revealed to be Donkey Kong Country Returns, and will be out this holiday.

Satoru Iwata hits the stage to reveal some information on the 3DS. OH SHIT, A KID ICARUS GAME!! KID ICARUS UPRISING!! The game looks pretty amazing, looking like it could be a Gamecube or Wii title on a handheld. The trailer shows off Pit's ability to fly, his third person shooter bow controls, his close quarters dual knife fights, and as the trailer ends with the title, the eggplant wizard is shown, as does eggplant Pit. Kid Icarus Uprising will be a 3DS exclusive.

3DS will have a sleep mode that will still connect with other 3DS systems and WiFi networks. Nintendogs + cats is revealed to be a 3DS title. A list of companies to work on 3DS titles is shown, including EA, Harmonix, Atlus, Activision, Sega, Konami, Sega, Capcom, THQ, Namco Bandai, Ubisoft, Square Enix, and more. Iwata announces that Activision will have DJ Hero 3D, Level 5 will do Professor Layton, Square Enix will have Kingdom Hearts, THQ will have Saints Row, Capcom will have Resident Evil, Ubisoft will have Assassin's Creed, Konami will bring Metal Gear Solid... 3DS looks promising with software.

A trailer is shown with several developer's comments. Reggie returns to show off every game that's been shown, before talking about 3DS and showing off a trailer of Satoru Iwata walking out to play his 3DS. Mario jumps out and slaps a mustache on him before getting sucked up into the game. Shigeru Miyamoto comes out next, seeing a puppy pop out of the screen before also getting sucked up into the game. Arrows, Link's sword and shield, DK barrels, and an Arwing all jump out of the DS next, and Reggie walks out to the handheld, seeing coins and mushrooms pop out. He picks up the console, laughing at the two japanese guys running from Bowser, before Bowser jumps out and breathes fire on a screaming Reggie. Reggie returns to the stage in a burnt up jacket for giggles.

Reggie, being the man that he is, brings out a shitload of hot women with 3DS systems strapped to themselves for live demo testings in the theatre, and Wii consoles rise from the floors to allow testing of the new Zelda game as well. Reggie ends the conference here, but there's still plenty for the attendees to do. Nintendo, surprisingly, didn't show off a bunch of gimmicky new hardware like they normally do (and like Microsoft and Sony did this year... what the fuck?), and instead surprised in a way they should've been doing for years now - by revealing a load of kick ass games that we've been waiting for.


Excitements:
-Kid Icarus Uprising
-Donkey Kong Country Returns
-3DS title lineup
-The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Letdowns:
-Kirby Epic Yarn
-Some major franchises still missing new Wii titles (F-Zero, Star Fox)
-Nothing on Pikmin 3 or Wii Pulse (both teased about last year)
-Kirby Epic Yarn


Sony also did their press conference yesterday, which I did manage to catch. For those of you who didn't, I'll talk about it later tonight, and stay tuned, as the rest of the week we'll try to talk about some of our favorite games shown at E3!

The Pause Screen: Katie Tiedrich

Katie Tiedrich, formerly known by online persona Hail-Nekoyasha, has been drawing up entertaining video game themed comics for years now. After a good start on deviantArt, she moved onto her own website, Awkward Zombie, where she continued to post comics based on video games, normally the ones she'd been playing at the time, or about things going on in her life, normally school related.

The artist does a lot of art around the Smash Bros. series, especially concerning Marth, Roy, and Link. Since Roy's departure in Brawl, she's done a little more work with the rest of the cast. In particular, it seems Pit at times replaces Roy, not only in looks, but as an ongoing gag.



Other than Smash Bros, she's done a bit of work with World of Warcraft, using in-game humor as an art form. Other comics may revolve around failed raids, and guild chat. Some of these may not always seem funny to those that aren't familiar with the MMORPG, but anyone who has played the online phenomenon will certainly appreciate the humor.



She's done a bit of other game works as well, such as Fire Emblem, Phoenix Wright, Pokemon, the Zelda series, Pikmin, Pokemon, Trauma Center, and more. I've posted several of my favorite comics below. Click the images to make them larger.



















Anyone that enjoys gaming (especially Nintendo titles) humor should DEFINITELY check out her site. There are a LOT of wonderful comics and stories I haven't even gotten to, and I can't put into words the nostalgia factor I get from reading some, or the "THAT'S WHAT I'VE WONDERED" moments that I've thought from reading others. She has a strong following of fans, as well, and you can join them on her forum, or read along each week at her site. Find her at: http://www.awkwardzombie.com