Looking ahead: Nintendo's 2012

Games
When thinking about the games coming out this year for Wii, one title and one title only comes to my mind: Rhythm Heaven Fever. Out February 13 (yeah, I was quite wrong before), it's sure to assist with the Wii console's final struggle as the world makes way for Wii U. And at a mere $29.99, this is one game I won't be missing out on!

The future of the Nintendo 3DS system is another story. 2011 saw the portable gaming device gathering steam that shows no signs of stopping in 2012. RPG fans should get excited about Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance and Tales of the Abyss. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3D could prove to be a decent little port of the PC series. Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure will likely jump in from nowhere to steal gamers' hearts. Oh, and there's always the growing list of what are sure to be hard-hitters: Luigi's Mansion 2, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Animal Crossing (name not final), Paper Mario (name not final), Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, and Resident Evil: Revelations.

What I'll Be Playing
At this very moment, I have an infinitely long list of games, old and new, to play. I beat Super Mario Bros., so I would like to move on to Super Mario Bros. 3 (I'm not brave enough for number 2). I received the well-reviewed Okami (Wii remake) for Christmas, and it's simply calling out to me. I'm not sure if I'll ever manage to get away from Mario Kart 7 long enough to take the cartridge out of my 3DS. The downloadable Pushmo is a strong contender in the fight for my time. Oh, and there's those ten GameBoy Advance games I downloaded for free recently. I'm actually working on another entry into my Metroid series with Metroid II: Return of Samus...if I can find time to play it. Kirby's Adventure for the NES rounds out the formidable list. Wish me luck!

What will you be playing or looking forward to in the year 2012?

Shocking news: Animal Crossing is beginning to grow on me...gasp!

Refer back to this post to discover why it's such a big deal that Animal Crossing is now taking up large amounts of my precious video game time.

Animal Crossing: City Folk is still no Harvest Moon or Pokemon, that's for sure. But a new desire is growing in me: a desire to pay off all my debt in Animal Crossing, just to see what happens after that. And collecting as many different types of fish and bugs as possible has become rather addicting. And I can't forget to mention potential. I seem to be meeting new neighbors every time I play. I haven't yet tapped into the designing portions of the game.

It should be interesting to see if Animal Crossing can successfully worm its way into the same league as Harvest Moon, The Sims, and Pokemon. Happy playing!

Animal Crossing: A First

Boy, do I love Harvest Moon/Rune Factory. And The Sims. Can't leave The Sims out. Did I mention Pokemon? Yeah, Pokemon too. What can I say? I'm an easy target for addicting games like that. Animal Crossing should nail my addictive tendencies, right?

Wrong. So I got the Animal Crossing for Wii, and...nothing. If you ask me, a game like that should hook the player right from the beginning and never let go. That's precisely what the games mentioned above did, excluding Animal Crossing, of course. So tell me what's so great about Animal Crossing! Is it the fact that a pile of debt is shoved down your throat right at the start, and you only get more after you pay off the first wave? Is it all the lovely activities you have to do in order to earn money, such as picking flowers and shaking trees? I know repetition is inherent in simulation games, but come on! Picking flowers! I think I'll go play Rune Factory Frontier now, so I can at least get some satisfaction in repeatedly watering and harvesting my crops, thank you.

I know, I know, I'm probably being too harsh. In fact, I know I'm being too harsh. I've only logged a few hours in the game. Still, I have almost zip desire to pop it in again, and that's quite contrary to a game of this nature. By all means, defend this game in the comments, for my sake.