Takin' a break from the blog

Hey y'all. Just letting you know that it's time for a break! Despite the fact that I've only got a quarter of the amount of credit hours I normally have in a single semester of school, I'm feeling more stressed than ever this summer. I'll be free from school in two weeks. In the meantime, I need to focus on class more than I have of late, and that means something's gotta go. Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, it's the blog.

But I'm not gonna leave you without something Nintendo-related to think about! I'd like to highlight some of my favorite content from E3 2012! Prepare yourself!

The whole hour-and-ten-minute-long presentation from Tuesday morning can be viewed right here. Though it felt rather less than exciting, Nintendo fans shouldn't miss out!

Favorite Trailers
Rayman Legends (Wii U)
If you like music as much as you know I do, do yourself a favor and watch this trailer for Rayman Legends on Wii U.

New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U)
My brother'll tell you that this was my favorite trailer in Nintendo's presentation. I'm particularly fond of the music. And did anyone else think it funny that getting mini Yoshi to shoot bubbles out of his mouth takes the shaking of the remote?

Project P - 100 (Wii U)
I have no idea what this game is all about, but the trailer for it was pretty entertaining.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)
I love the music in this trailer! Aaaand it looks like a good game too. I've never played Paper Mario, but I will get around to that some day!

New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
Coins galore! Return of Reznor! New gold-related power-ups! Return of the P-wing! And...this trailer has great music too!

Well, good-bye my friends! I'm trying to sound optimistic here, but truth be told, the future of this blog is uncertain. I'll keep you posted regardless, even though it might be a while before you hear from me again.

Nintendo's E3 presentation: Nintendo Lifeline weighs in

Welcome, Nintendo fans, to one of the many excited places on the internet at this joyous time of year! Nintendo kicked off E3 2012 with a presentation that began at 9:00 a.m. PT this morning (that was 10:00 for me). As always, it was full of surprises, important people, and bad jokes.

Here we will focus on the stuff that matters, however, the bad jokes not being in that category. Pikmin 3 dominated the first part of the presentation. I have never played Pikmin before, but I look towards Pikmin 3 with all of the optimism in the world, especially after what I saw today.

Is anyone out there getting tired of all the New Super Mario games? Well, I'm not. And New Super Mario Bros. U is the second game that has me all excited. So the Mario franchise is more than 25 years old. Is that the reason people complain about new ones? I have come to trust Nintendo to make each new Super Mario game bigger and better than the last, providing new reasons to own every last one. New Super Mario Bros. U can't come soon enough!

I really enjoyed seeing all of the third party support for Wii U, as well. Most of those games I probably won't ever play, but a few got my pulse pounding. Rayman Legends looks great, Just Dance 4 seems worthy, and Scribblenauts Unlimited might be worth checking out. I think it's great that the Wii U will have a great variety that includes, as Reggie Fils-Aime put it, "the hardest of the core", but that's not my realm.

A Wii U game called Nintendo Land also made its debut at today's event. I have to say, I was less than impressed. The limited look we got at the game made it seem far too Mario Party-esque, which was an instant turn-off for me. It looks like a game that will deliver only cheap thrills, but only time will tell on that one. I'm expecting to be disappointed, but Nintendo may prove me wrong.

All that said, I think potential is the word that comes from all of this. I'm in love with the Wii U hardware. If developers think creatively, I believe the Wii U system can ultimately provide more than a few mind-blowing experiences. Just think of how it might change and evolve some of our favorite Nintendo franchises: Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Pokemon, Super Smash Bros. and more come to mind. Who knows what the future holds!

What were your favorite or least favorite parts of Nintendo's E3 presentation?

Ohmigosh! E3 is tomorrow! Nintendo Lifeline gets excited

Here's a riddle for you all:

I'm the biggest gaming event of the year.

I take place in Los Angeles, CA.

I'm full of exciting news.

I start tomorrow.

Haven't guessed yet? I'll just go ahead and tell you, then! The answer is: "I am E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) 2012." How 'bout that? Nintendo Lifeline has a thing or two to say about this year's expo, so read on!

Pre-E3 Video by Nintendo President Satoru Iwata

Click here to whet your appetite with a video from Satoru Iwata dedicated to the Wii U system. I don't know about anyone else, but it has me excited! Nintendo must have a lot of news about the Wii U if they need a half-hour before the expo even gets started. I'm particularly fond of the connectivity the Wii U will apparently have...Miiverse looks pretty sweet.

Our Hopes and Predictions
New game trailers are the most exciting part of E3 to me. Is that strange? Anyway, I wanna see new trailers for games that have already been announced and, of course, games that will be announced for the first time at E3. If I could have all my dreams come true, I would like to see a new Pokemon RPG announced for the Nintendo 3DS system. I held out on Pokemon Black and White with the expectation that the third installment in this generation would be on the Nintendo 3DS. I was entirely wrong. Even Pokemon Conquest (which got 9/10 in Nintendo Power magazine, by the way) ended up on the DS! I don't care what kind of Pokemon RPG ends up on the 3DS, I just want it!

Maybe it's too early to hope for this, but I want to see a Nintendo 3DS redesign at E3. I have come to dislike the current Nintendo 3DS system design. How the top flap sticks out slightly over the bottom, how the stylus holder is in a very inconvenient position on the back of the system, how the surface surrounding the 3-D screen is unnecessarily reflective and inconsistent with the rest of the system. Ugh...I'm getting worked up now! I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow!

What are you looking forward to the most with this year's E3?

Mario Kart 7 Community Digest: June 2, 2012

Hello, one and all! To everyone who doesn't know yet, the Nintendo Lifeline has an official Mario Kart 7 community:

Community Code: 52-0850-7322-2037

If you own a Nintendo 3DS system and a copy of Mario Kart 7, don't miss out on our community nights, which take place every Saturday (yes, that would be tonight!). We have two separate shifts: one at 7 PM US-Eastern and one at 9 PM US-Eastern. Hope to see you there!

Mario Kart 7 Tip of the Week
The benefits of collecting coins on the race track are greater than you might believe. For one, every time you run into a coin, you receive a slight boost. It's so temporary, it might seem pointless, but don't overlook the chance to shave precious seconds off your final time! Even better than that speed boost, however, is the advantage you win when you have a store of 1 or more coins. Stockpiled coins actually increase your karts overall speed, so be sure to collect your 10 coins and do whatever it takes to keep them!

Language of the gamer: acronyms and other useful information

I was fairly young when I subscribed to Nintendo Power magazine. They should have supplied a pamphlet or something with all of the terms and abbreviations that I would be introduced to by reading it. RPG? FPS? Platformer? Well, I've decided to post this guide to help you understand better the language of the gamer:

Common Acronyms

• RPG = role-playing game
• FPS = first-person shooter
• RTS = real-time strategy
• MMORPG = massively multiplayer online role-playing game
• NES = Nintendo Entertainment System
• SNES = Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• N64 = Nintendo 64
• GCN = Gamecube
• GBA = Gameboy Advance
• N3DS = Nintendo 3DS

Video Game Genres

• Role-Playing Games. In short, RPG's have the player control a party of fighters in turn-based or real-time battles. Characters can level up in one or many skills, some kind of currency exists in the game world, and items with various qualities can be collected and used. 
• First-Person Shooters. FPS's put the player in direct control of a character with at least one projectile weapon at his/her disposal. The player sees as if from the character's eyes.
• Platformers. Super Mario games are generally platform games. The player moves the character to avoid enemies and obstacles by jumping and dodging.
• Real-Time Strategies. Think Warcraft, Starcraft, Age of Empires, or Battle For Middle Earth. In RTS's the player builds a civilization by directing people to construct buildings, training troops to lead in battle, and advancing offensive and defensive technologies. 
• Massively Multiplayer Online Games. Ever heard of Runescape? MMO's can combine with other genres. As you might expect, they just add thousands of other players into the mix. Usually, the ability to communicate and interact with other players is a key feature of MMO's.

Obviously there are many other video game genres, but these were the most confusing to me initially. Still have questions? Or do you want to add to the knowledge? Use the comment form below to share your thoughts.