I am still alive?!

Wait, I'm not dead? Maybe I am a zombie! Hmmmm, no I do not feel any desire to eat your brains. Ok so if I am alive then what possible excuse could I have for not posting since November 2007?

Well I have many excuses so there. My main reason is that I can not seem to get any WYSIWYG editor to work with blogger. Back when I started this site I used WLW (Windows Live Writer) and it worked great and all was well with the world. But then it stopped working and I have been unable to fix it, or find an acceptable replacement. What I am currently using is the terrible default editor on blogger.com (I really really hate it).

So until the happy day comes that either blogger.com offers a better way of publishing to my site. Or Microsoft gets there act together and stops telling me they will fix my WLW trouble, only to never respond again after my multiple attempts of contacting them (in angry voice). Then sadly Nintentoad.com is pretty much dead (for now).

At some point soon I do intend on making a few updates to some older articles that are no longer accurate. But other than that your guess is as good as mine on what the future of this website is.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Feather Stylus Pic

For a few days I have not posted due to being busy/lazy. But a few days ago I received a package containing a Phantom Hourglass Feather Stylus. Sadly when it arrived I was out for a few days. So I have been a bit delayed on getting up some pic's and info. But I am back home now so enough with the excuses and on to the pic.

I was actually expecting it to be unusable, but in stead it is only almost unusable. As cool as this is for a freebie, it is really only good as something to add to your collection. I don't think Nintendo really made it to be used as a functional stylus.

While it does work there are a number of reasons to not use it.

1. It does not fit in the DS Stylus slot (Duh).


2. Due to its feather like shape it is not really as comfortable to hold as the standard stylus.


3. The plastic feather piece on the back is a little to sharp for my liking.

But despite these issues a few things it does have going for it, are its size which is about the length of one and a half normal DS Lite styluses. There is also the fact that it is a cool looking plastic feather, but the best part is of course its price which is completely free.

If you have still not gotten one go check out this post before it is too late.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Stage Designer!

Completely design your own Super Smash Bros. Brawl Stages. If you are any thing like me now is the time to wipe the drool off your shirt and say oooohhhhhhhhhh! Aaaaahhhhh!

Last week when they showed the Picto Chat Stage my fist thought was why not just let the player drawl there own stage. Apparently Nintendo had a similar idea but instead of just drawling on that one stage they made a full stage creation tool.

I think the official announcement at the Dojo pretty much summed up all of my thoughts with this:

"You can create your own stages this time?! No way. REALLY?! With a feature like that, won’t I be able to play this game forever?!"  (you can see the rest of the article here)

Assuming that these custom stages can be played online Brawl is going to have way more replayability than Melee did, and I haven't stopped playing Melee yet.

I am beginning to think  that the SMBB's delay is a positive thing.

Spore Confirmed for Wii

Ever since the first time I saw a glimpse of the PC version of Spore I have been hugely excited about it. I am a huge fan of games like The Sims and Black & White, I don't know if it's because those are great games or if I am just a control freak. But whatever the case Spore has the potential to be amazing and I cant wait for it.

Now the long hinted at Wii Version of Spore has been confirmed by Will Wright it's creator (announcement can be found here). 

I am actually a little reluctant to get my hopes up for Spore on Wii. On the one hand there is my love for the Wii, but on the other hand there is the massive list of crappy ports that call the Wii home.

My Sims is the type of remake I am worried Spore could become. Don't get me wrong I really liked My Sims as a stand alone title, but to me it just did not hold up the The Sims name. I will keep an open mind with Spore on Wii. But because of the Wii's hardware limitations I just don't see how it could possibly compare to the other versions without significantly changing the gameplay that I am so looking forward to.

Romulation.net is Dead!!!

For years NES & SNES Emulation has been continuously growing more popular. But for those years Nintendo was not loosing any money from people Emulating there old games. But with the Wii's Virtual Console, suddenly Emulation becomes a guanine threat to there swimming pools full of money. And sadly it seems that they are cracking down and taking out that threat.

One of the biggest Nintendo ROM sites on the net Romulation.net, has officially been shut down by the ESA with a cease and desist notice. I am not sure when they officially closed shop, but it is definitely a sign that Nintendo is starting to take action against the piracy of there old games.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) is a very ageing console and it's games have slowly but surly gotten harder to come by over the years. Which of course means that the SNES games that are out there have had steadily rising prices. The result of this is people like me who grew up on the NES & SNES are starved for there favorite classics but don't want to fork out the ridiculous asking prices on sites like e-Bay and Amazon for the original cartridges.

So what options does that leave us? I know that the virtual console has some great games on it but it is mostly only the high profile games that are being ported over to it. And even if all of the games you want are on the Virtual Console there is still something to be said for playing them with the controllers they were made for.

So that leaves only one option, PC Emulation. I in no way do I endorse piracy, but what a mighty temptation it is to just go get all of your favorite classic games for free, no mater how obscure they are. And then you can play them with enhanced graphics, Classic controllers and you can even get mod's and expansion packs for them and that is not even mentioning the ability to play them online.

With Nintendo doing what they can to put a stop to the mainstream availability of NES & SNES ROM's they are also making it very hard to acquire many of there greatest classics. So it is my hope that they already relies this and will start working on more quickly building the VC library and also start offering them at a fairer prices. Or even possibly start offering a PC equivalent of the Virtual Console and still allow all of the gaming community to continue Modding and enhancing the games like any other retail PC game.

The only thing left that needs to be said is give me back my EarthBound, Harvest Moon and Metal Warriors Nintendo!!!!

Send me stuff!

I am relatively new to the whole blogging scene. But during the past few months that I have really started to regularly keep up with most of the latest news from Nintendo, I have come to realize something. And that is that Nintendo pumps out a lot of stuff. A single person can not get every last drop of Nintendo news published without going crazy. So that is why I am reminding people that I do have an email address: Nintentoads@gmail.com.

If you have found something on the net or just have something Nintendo related that needs to be said don't hesitate to e-mail it to the address above. You can either write the article yourself or just e-mail me links and pic's (only Nintendo related stuff) of interesting things that need to be posted. Just give the name you want credit given to and as long as it is relevant to this site's content and family friendly then chances are good that it will be posted. But if for some reason what you submit is not posted please don't take it personally.

I only ask that you do not send me every new Smash Bros. Dojo update that I have not posted, for the simple reason that I do not post every Smash Bros. update because most Nintendo fans just go to the Dojo themselves. I also generally do not post about the Virtual Console updates because I live way out in the boonies and have no way to connect to Wiiconnect24.

Other than the two things mentioned above, send me any thing you find from interesting, new YouTube Videos to big Game announcements that I somehow inexplicitly overlooked (like Runaway 2 DS).

Some things in Life are Free

Due the formally mentioned technical trouble, the time that I am normally writing for the site, I have instead been playing a lot of free games. So here is some of the free ones that I have been playing. Just click the titles of each game to go to the sites were they can be found.

 

Maple Story 

This is a free 2D MMORPG. Like most MMO's the point is to hack & slash your way to the next level-up. The fact that it is a 2D sidescroller gives it a little bit of a different feel than your standard WOW clone. But what really makes it stand out above others is that it does not play like a free game it is something that you would really expect to pay for.

On the downside after a while it does get very repetitive. There is not much variety in the enemy's that you encounter. Another big draw back is that most of the landscape really starts to look the same after a while. But the biggest problem is that the quest's really seem to take a back seat to the fighting which at least to me makes leveling-up seem less useful. But despite it's issues this is still one of my favorite freebies.

 

Narbacular Drop

If you are like me then Portal looks awesome but you are having trouble justifying spending the money on a pack that you already own half of the games in. If that is the case and you need a similar game to tide you over, then you are in luck because not only does such a game exist but it is also free.

Narbacular Drop is actually the game that inspired portal. It was made by some college students who impressed Valve so much with this game that they hired them, and Portal is the result of that.

While this game may be lame when compared to portal it is still a lot of fun. It is short (like 15 min from start to finish), it is ugly and it has a few glitches, but at its core it is a fun free game with Portal style gameplay so check it out.

 

Dungeon Runners

Dungeon Runners is best described as Diablo meets World of War Craft. It is an MMORPG with a lot of hacking & slashing through dungeons for Exp. and items.

It is only partially free, several of the better items can only be used by paying members, and it is only free up to level 20. But despite this there is still much fun to be had as it does take quite awhile to reach level 20.

If you already have a WoW subscription then Dungeon runners is probably not worth your time. But for the rest of us it is a pretty good game.

 

Albatross 18

Last but most certainly not least is my favorite of the bunch Albatross 18. Golf, Anime, MMORPG, that pretty much sums up this really strange yet somehow awesome game.

Some people probably know this game better by the name  it was given on the Wii Super Swing Golf. But what many do not know is that there is a better version of Super Swing Golf and it is free.

I have been playing Albatross 18 for a few years now and while I may get tired of it from time to time I always come back for more. Do not let its strange concept of Golf MMO scare you because I do not like golf, and I'm also not a huge fan of MMO's yet I love this one.

Basically you create a character then earn money called Pang while golfing to upgrade your stats and buy new clubs and accessories. But there is much more to it than that every course has its own unique strategy with lots of crazy obstacles that seem better suited two a put put golf course like pyramids and penguins.

The only real problem I have with this game is that a lot of the premium gear cost real money. I just cant justify paying for a digital hat no matter how cool it looks!

 

Other Stuff

Those are the main games I have been playing. But some other games that I have not really spent enough time with. But still seem fun enough to warrant a mention are listed below with the sites that they can be found at.

• RF Online
• ArchLord
• Trickster
• Sword of the New World
• Portal The Flash Version

 

P.S. Normally I live out in the boonies and have nothing but dial-up Internet, but for the next few days I have access to high-speed. So if you care to play with me in any of these games just I.M. me using X-Fire, you can see my X-Fire profile in the sidebar or e-Mail me using the address in my profile. I also play Counter-Strike source a good bit.

Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle on Nintendo DS

This is apparently old news but Runaway 2: The Dream of the Turtle is coming to the DS. How did I miss this?

I am a massive point & click adventure fan from Monkey Island to Syberia, I love this style of game. From the first moment I put my hands on the DS fat I thought were are the point & click adventure games. There have been a few good ones like Hotel Dusk and Touch Detective and they are pretty good, but there has just not been enough of them to satisfy my appetite.

Now I find out that not only are they putting a new one on the DS, but it also happens to be a port of one that I was about to buy about a week ago. I guess it is a good thing I decided to wait until I had more cash saved up for the holiday season.

I highly recommend you check out this video, the graphics on this game are almost to good to be true, there is no way this game could actually look as good as it does in the video (or could it...?).

I have high hopes for this game, but keep on mind it is a port of a game that got mediocre reviews in the first place. So we shall see and hope. Now I just need an explanation of why they are porting the second one instead of the first?

Okami on Wii (the console it was made for) Confirmed

This news is a bit old now, it is something that happened during my time of technical difficulties. Most Nintendo fans probably already know about it but it is very important so I am going to post it anyway.

At Capcom's recent event in London, Okami was announced for the Wii.  And to Capcom my responses are whoohoo! and also it's about time.

Contrary to what most people think, this is not a port of a PS2 game; No in fact the PS2 version was a port of a Wii game from the future. Okami was originally made for the Wii, but some idiot from the past stole it and took it back in time to put it on the PS2 (at least that's my theory anyway).

I never did play Okami because when it was first released I already had a stack of other games to play and I just kept putting it off. But by the time I got a chance to play it rumors starting popping up that it was going to be released for Wii as God intended, so I have patently waited for it, and finally that patience has paid off.

According to Capcom we can expect it to be released sometime in Spring 2008.

Great but Unreliable Blogging tool

For the past few weeks updates have been few a far between. The program I use to update this site is Windows Live Writer, but sadly the Blogger.com support has been unreliable at best, and I really hate the web editor. So when WLW is down so am I, and for the past few weeks whether or not it is going to work has changed daily. But despite the problems with WLW it is the best WYSIWYG editor I have ever, used and since it is still just a beta version it's lack of consistency is forgivable.

I intend to start back with daily updates, but I am at the mercy of Window Live Writer, so for now I am going under a we shall see policy on regular updates. Also I am curious if I am the only one having trouble with Windows Live Writer Blogger compatibility, so if are experiencing trouble with it let me know in the comments.

Small Nintendo News

I have not posted anything in a couple of days but I have a very good excuse, and that is that there has not really been much of interest to post about. so I am just going to sum up all of the little stuff in this one post.

1. Mario Kart on the Wii has Motorcycles in it big whoop.
2. You can take snapshots in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
3. It is pretty much confirmed that the picture below is the real box art for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
4. And the best for last drum roll please (imagine drum roll in head now).... 12 player online in Mario Kart is confirmed! Ok that is not exactly small news just news that everyone already knows about.

Hopefully there will be more updates in the near future but so far the weekend looks to be a little slow on the Nintendo news front.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl 2008 Delay

Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been delayed until February 10, 2008(whaaaa!).

I am a huge Smash Bros. fan, me and my siblings have for hours upon hours played Super Smash Bros. Melee to death and we still go back to it occasionally.

Nintendo as far as I know has not given a reason for the delay, but it does not surprise me to much. With so many of Nintendo's big franchises coming out all around the same time I always expected for at least one of them to get delayed until 2008 I just held out hope that I was wrong.

You have to consider that Nintendo does not want there games competing with each other for sales. And all in a matter of just a few months they are releasing Metroid Prime 3, The legend of Zelda: the Phantom Hourglass, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. And that's not even mentioning the new IP's like Wii Fit. So it is not really surprising that one is getting delayed it's just very disappointing. I guess one bright side is that this holiday season will at least be a little easier on gamers bank accounts.

Monster Hunter 3 Wii exclusive

Monster Hunter 3 has been confirmed as a Wii exclusive and the PS3 version has been canned. According to the Capcom managing corporate officer Katsuhiko Ichii, “Due to high development cost of titles for PS3, we have decided to switch the platform to which we release our Monster Hunter 3 title.”

I have actually never played a Monster Hunter game, so I don't really know what to expect form this game but from what little I know about I am looking forward to it. Lets just hope that it does not get the usual cheap treatment that most 3rd party games on Wii do.

3D Desktop Robot Nintendo skins

This is not exactly new, and it is not really Nintendo news either. But nevertheless it is still kind of cool, and sort of Nintendo related.

Long ago I was a regular in this site YummyWorks.com where they have these cool 3D Desktop toys. One of them is a robot named Segmento. What he does is just lifelessly flop around as you beat him & toss him into various instruments of death. It can really be a lot of fun as something to do while your waiting. The Nintendo related part is that you can create custom skins for him and a while back, under the name Ness, I made a few Nintendo skins which you can see above.

Unfortunately the formerly cool site YummyWorks.com no longer seems to be regularly updated. But Segmento can still be found here:YummyWorks - Segmento, and the Nintendo skins can be found here: YummyWorks - Nintendo Skins.

P.S. To install the skins:

1. Download and install Segmento, then download the skin you want.
2. Move all of the pictures that are in the skin you downloaded to the folder C:\Program Files\ydt\Segmento_Alpha and let them overwrite any thing it needs to.
3. Start Segmento and enjoy!

Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Today's Smash Bros. Dojo update is a good one. Sonic will be a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. To me this is much more exiting than the somewhat lame looking Mario & Sonic at the Olympics.

I have been a Nintendo fan since Mario vs. Sonic was still relevant. So to finally bring this long thought dead conflict to rest I really hope Nintendo will include in the opening seen a brief clip of Mario kicking Sonic's butt to a severe degree.

You can find the official announcement here: Smash Bros. Dojo Sonic Announcement