See you in a week, video games!

I'm going on vacation for a week! Well, that's partly true. I'm taking a vacation from screen time for a week. That includes video games, internet, movies, and TV. I spend a lot of time doing those things each week! All of the posts you'll see here on the Nintendo Lifeline over the next week have been prepared in advance, except Mary's.

Why am I doing this? It's partly to prove that I can. It's also for my poor eyes. Sometimes it's hard to tear myself away from a good video game and, before I know it, it's 11:30 at night. It's time to give my eyes a break!

Can I do it? I don't know...what do you think? No Chrono Trigger for a week. No Zelda for a week. No Wii Sports Resort (great game, by the way) for a week. It'll be a challenge, for sure! Here's hoping I have it in me! See you in one week...you won't want to miss it!

Giant AR Card: A Club Nintendo review

I don't expect many of my readers to be big enough Nintendo fans that they frequently use Club Nintendo, but I regard my precious Club Nintendo coins as very valuable. You don't just spend them on anything!

Today's Club Nintendo item is the recent Giant AR Card. I simply jumped at the chance to get this one for 200 coins. You've seen my regular AR photos: little Mii's on my desk, little Nintendo characters at school. But if you're a regular Nintendo Lifeline reader, you've also seen glimpses of what the Giant AR Card can create: a giant dragon coming to life on the back lawn, a giant Mii rushing down the stairs. (For all that and more, visit this previous post.)

Now that you have an idea of what this thing is, let's get down to business. First of all, this card is even bigger than I originally expected. Sometimes it's a little too big. To get it to register with my Nintendo 3DS camera, I've used a rickety ladder and the top of a high deck, among other things. Don't get me wrong, though: the size is great. Best part about it. There is something valid to dislike about the Giant AR Card, though: it is painstaking to get it to register because 1) it's too floppy and 2) it catches glares all too easily. As if it wasn't tedious enough to set up the regular-sized AR card, this one is even more difficult to work with. But if you can get past that, it's quite fun to mess around with.

So is the Giant AR Card worth 200 of your precious Club Nintendo coins? Well, if messing around with augmented reality appeals to you, definitely. If not, the added frustration might not be worth it. Have a great week, and spend those coins wisely!

Infendo Wednesday: A new way to rank games

Click here to check out this week's Infendo article, which explains one of my ideas on how media (video games, in this case) could be ranked.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: A First

So I finally got my hands on DKC 2! Well I gotta say I loved it! I mean it kept to the original pretty well but it also went off on some of its own stuff. I liked that a lot; every game has to have its own attraction to it. It can't just ride off of the first game, contrary to some peoples' beliefs. Of course a question that I was asked by Holly was: Did I like the first or second one better? Ooooh, tough decision!

Well, as of right now, I definitely like the first one better. Heck I probably always will, though I do have to admit the second one is growing on me. I love how it is its own game! I just can't get over it!! I thought that it'd be a lot like the first but boy was I wrong! Sure it has a new character but there were other things too! Some things were missing (like Candy Kong at the save points) but they still kept some other things (like Diddy Kong and Funky Kong) and of course they added new things as well (like coins to collect).

All in all I was really happy with this game. There was one thing that sort of threw me off though. It was the graphics of the game. I don't know if it was because I was playing it on the Wii or if they were just strange; the point is, I didn't like them. Somehow they were too different from the first one. I don't know why! On the bright side I can now say I have played all four of the Donkey Kong Country's. The first one is definitely the greatest in my mind, but hey, maybe that'll be different in the future!

The tragic story of my first GameBoy

Sometimes I wonder why I've stuck so firmly to Nintendo all these years. Some of my earliest video game memories involve the Super Nintendo, then the Nintendo 64. The NES didn't come until after both of those, if I recall correctly. Unlike most other hardcore gamers, I was by no means "born with a controller in my hand." Heck, my first go at Ocarina of Time was disastrous.

But there was something that bridged me into the world of video games: the Pokemon animated series. Yep, I blame it all on that cartoon show. It was a revelation to me that the cartoon actually stemmed from the best-selling GameBoy games, Pokemon Blue version and Pokemon Red version. That was when I knew I had to get a GameBoy. When that dream became a reality, the GameBoy Color had already hit the market. I got a beautiful GBC with clear purple casing for Christmas one year. The one game I got to go with it was SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula. I struggled with that game, though my neighbor beat the whole thing in about an hour.

It was only a matter of time before I had the money to get Pokemon Gold or Pokemon Silver. Before that time came, however, "it" happened. I left the system on the bleachers in the gym during PE one day. About half way down the hall afterwards, I realized I had forgotten it. I ran back quickly to retrieve it, only to discover that it was gone. Stolen, most likely. I was in fourth grade at the time, and not brave enough to go to the principal's office for help recovering it. To this day, I wonder what happened to that beloved GameBoy Color of mine. Could it still be out there somewhere? Pokemon FireRed, a GameBoy Advance game, would be the first Pokemon game I enjoyed. Have a great week, and take care of your small electronics!