Review Is Up

The server finally stopped being a dick, so the review for Super Mario Galaxy 2 is finally up.

That is all.

The review for Mario Galaxy 2 will be up tonight, as soon as the sever decides to start working again (a little late, but fuck off). This paragraph was in the review, but for the sake of professionalism, I'll omit it and post it here.

Many of the IGN editors put together a round table of their opinion/excitement for the game. The general concusses was mostly low, which is one of the reasons our medium is not respected: because we don’t respect it ourselves. When one of the finest games in a generation comes out, and the anticipation on the part of the core of our market is apathetic, we have a problem. Jesus Christ, get off your high horses and play a fucking game, guys. Sometimes I think we’ve forgotten to have fun with our favorite hobby.

Super Quick

Just ran through the first world of Mario Galaxy 2 after picking it up tonight. It's awesome.

Expect a review on Tuesday.

Quick PoP Thoughts

As I believe I've previously mentioned, I've never played a Prince of Persia game before. And so far, it's not bad at all. I really like the acrobatic platforming. It's varied and even challenging at certain points, but not beat-your-head-against-the-wall frustrating. The combat is only so-so thus far. I don't know how many times I've said it, but I'll say it again: lock-on is absolutely necessary, people! Seriously, this a lesson that should have been learned on the N64. The camera could use a bit more control as well. I can understand having it locked in certain platforming sections, but for the love of God, I need to see who I'm fighting.

Anyway, I digress. Look for a full review later tonight. For now, feast your minds on some more Mario articles I've posted on the site. You can find them here and here.

Some Problems and Features

I cannot seem to log into the server for the site for some reason. Hopefully the problem is internal with the server and it will be cleared up soon.

As soon as it is back up and running, I'll have a couple of new Mario features to post. Take a look when you get a chance.

Wes is finishing up an article for a new section, "Cheap Thrills". We'll highlight some games from the previous generation of consoles (PS2, Cube, Xbox) and possibly some GBA games as well. It'll probably take the form of a dialogue between me and Wes, but for the first one, he'll be going solo with Okami on PS2. Watch for that this week, and for REmake (Resident Evil 1 remade on the Cube) next week.

The new Prince of Persia game is also now available. I've never played one before, so I'm going into this one blind. Wes is concerned that I won't know what's going on, but that boy is way too concerned with the story of games. Fuck the story.

I'm getting this one through GameFly and it shipped today. So I'll get it anywhere between Saturday and Thursday. I'm really not impressed with GameFly's service thus far (I've had it for about 3 months). They need a new distribution center in the Orlando area. The nearest one to Central Florida is in Tampa, which does terrible things for the turn around on games. If they seriously want to become Netflix for games, they need to work on that.

So, if I ever get the new PoP game, look for a review.

Here We Go

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is still a week+ away, but my excitement is mounting. I've had plenty of enjoyable gaming experiences so far this month, but this is the big one, this first game that I'm super stoked for. It comes out on a Sunday, which means I'll make every effort to work an opening shift at my store and put some thoughts up on it that night, if not a full review. On second thought, I'll get the review up on the site on Monday night.

It's going to be my kind of summer. A super-awesome platformer in May, a Treasure shooter (Sin and Punishment) and a turn-taking JRPG (Arc Rise Fantasia) in June (not to mention E3), and hopefully a new pseudo 2-D Metroid (Metroid: Other M by the end of August. And that's just on the Wii.

I'm going to have to do some searching to try to fill the gap in July and early August, but I'm sure the E3 hype will keep the 2010 train going for a few weeks after.

Carlos is still dragging his feet on posting a Picross DS review. If he put it down for 10 minutes, he may be able to spew out a few coherent sentences about it. He likes it. A lot. and he didn't like the first one all that much. It made his Columbian brain hurt. But now our little boy is all grown up and playing games that make him think. Cute.

UPDATE

New content on the site: top 5 most frightening Mario enemies. I think I'll try to put up some new Mario content leading up to the release of Mario Galaxy 2.

Times Are A-Changin'

So the whole moving process has completely thrown off my normal schedule that I try to follow for updates to here and the site. Furthermore, Carlos is attempting to work himself to death by picking up a second job. But that's neither here nor there because he doesn't do anything anyway. Last I heard, he was trying to write up a review for Picross 3D for the DS. He lacks the suave eloquence that I have come to master, but any effort is appreciated.

Expect a review for Zombie Panic in Wonderland tonight on the site, but it's as awesome as it's sounds. I can forgive its succinctness because of the $10 price tag and co-op, a mode which infinitely increases the replay value of anything.

Welcome, Michael. He's the 4th follower to join us. Hope you enjoy yourself here. Leave a comment or shoot me an email at jon@gamersunanimous.com if there's a game (video or otherwise) you'd like to talk about. It's what we do here.

Where to Next?

If you haven't seen the timeline I threw together for Castlevania, check it out. I've spent the last few hours, as I just stand around at work and then drive home, wondering to myself where the series will go next. Of course, I have my own ideas on the subject.

The biggest gap in the timeline lies in 1999, when Alucard and Julius Belmont obliterate Dracula's body in the Demon Castle Wars, thus preventing him from ever rising again. However, I believe that Koji Igarashi is saving this one for his magnum opus. It will be (and should be) one for the ages.

Iga could also visit Bram Stroker's vision of Dracula and transform the story already adopted into Castlevania canon into a game. Such an adaptation is unlikely.

Alternatively, since the method of Dracula's revival is unclear in both circumstances, the next game in the series could explain how Dracula is revived. It would be a nice twist on the series to play as someone trying to bring the count back, or to have a futile quest. I'm a big fan of the Julius Belmont character, and I think it would be great for his characterization and arc if the Demon Castle Wars were a result of his failure to prevent Dracula's revival.

So, apparently Dracula has a brother or a sister, or an in-law version of either. His "niece", Elizabeth Bartley revived him by triggering World War I and harvesting the souls of the slain. Some explanation of her origins would be appreciated. Perhaps even going back as far as Lament of Innocence could fill in the gap. Maybe she is the daughter of his brother-in-law, the brother of his first wife, who's death pushed him over the edge and made in Dracula.

Anyway, I'll put together some more coherent thoughts and put them on the site.

Starting Right Back Up

2010 is rolling right along with another great month for games.

Both for the DS, Picross 3D ships tomorrow, Dementium 2 on Tuesday.

3D Dot Games Heroes lands on the PS3 on the 11th.

Lost Planet 2 comes out on both the 360 and PS3 on the 18th, as well as Trauma Team for the Wii, and Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands hits all three systems on that day as well.

Super Mario Galaxy arrives on the 23rd on Wii.

Tetris Party will get a DS port on the 25th.

Look for reviews on Dementium 2, Trauma Team and Mario Galaxy 2 on the site. Hopefully we can get Mitch to do a review for Lost Planet as well.

The Jon and Carlos Show was going to be recorded to day, but Carlos ran into car trouble. We'll try to get it done this week.