Saturday, March 31, 2012

More Hardcore Evidence

Saw this in a Walgreens the other day and had to snap a shot (with my 3DS!).  I guess this is how "hardcore" games position themselves in the market?  Next to Bieber, Twilight, Angry Birds and Hello Kitty.  "M for mature" indeed. =)

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Xenoblade Chronicles Reviews

Most of these reviews, I should note, were written last year when the game didn't look like it was going to get a release in NA.  But, there have been a few recent ones.  Most likely we will write a Recom for the game when we are done with it or one of our European  members writes one up.  Anyway, here are some links. I'll put them after the break since there are a lot.


Site chat is happening now!

I am still typing up the review post but site chat is happening now.  Any and all of our twitter followers are free to join in.

Xenoblade Chronicles preorder list and 83 things to know about the game.

So there is 10 days till Xenoblade comes out in the west for the Wii and up till then I am going to be posting news and videos on the front page.

First up if you haven't preordered the game here is some links to where they are accepting preorders.

Oh also in store at any gamestop will be taking preorders. 
 Gamestop.com preorder 
EB Games Canada
Nintendo's online store
Play Asia preorder
 Game Planet.com preorder.
todojuegos Chile preorder
livrariasaraiva Brazil preorder

Finally this store will have it but they are not taking preorders.
zmart Chile

If there is anything added to the preorder list I will update this list.

Next OPRainfall.com put up the 83 tidbits of the day that they have been compiling into one post. If you are in the dark about the game this list should provide you with ample infomation.

83 things to know about Xenoblade Chronicles.


Gonna put up a review post about the game next and should be up before the site chat happens in 3 hours.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Sunday Site Chat!

Sunday Site Chat begins at 6PM EST.

What's on your gaming mind lately? Tell us about it tonight!


Friday, March 23, 2012

Kotaku Still Not Done Wasting Time Bashing Kid Icarus Stand

LINK: http://kotaku.com/5895456/other-uses-for-nintendos-most-pointless-peripheral-in-years

Remember, legitimate articles on Monster Hunter Tri & No More Heroes: 0
Articles bashing Kid Icarus stand: 3+

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Site Chat Tonight!

Site Chat at 8:00PM EST tonight.

Tonight's topics include, but are not limited to:
-Epic Mickey 2 for Wii, PS3 & 360
-The new Pandora's Tower Trailer
-Recoms and how long can the Wii last?
-Why do 3DS games have load times?
-How is Lost in Shadow coming?

New Pandora's Tower trailer

Well a new Trailer was released today for Pandora's Tower 

It currently has a April 13th release date for Europe.

I am actually pretty excited for this game. I think it has to do with the motion controls and the different endings the game has and I think it has a pretty good chance of coming out here. I mean Epic Mickey 2 is coming out this fall for the Wii so surely the Wii still has life in it to have Pandora's Tower to come out as well.

Also for our European members and or importing twitter followers here is the Pandora's Tower topic on the forum.

Nintemple Pandora's Tower Topic

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Smithsonian video game art exhibit



I find these news pieces great since they get info out about the games we love and having this in the Smithsonian is a pretty big deal if you ask me.

For more information on the exhibit check out the link below and the places where the exhibit will be showing up at next.
Art of Video games Exhibit page



Kotaku's Priorities

Recently, I've broken my own rule.  Which rule is that? The one about never, ever visiting the cesspool of "journalism" that is Kotaku.com.

You see, the reach of Kotaku is so far that their articles came to me by infecting Nintendo blogs, general comment sections and forums of other game sites.  So, when this story was brought to my attention I really couldn't believe what I was seeing.  Stephen Totilo works for Kotaku and has, over the years, been largely in charge of their Nintendo coverage.  So, making a 5-minute video about mocking a free peripheral may just be the byproduct of a thorough, thorough journalist leaving no stone unturned, right?

Wrong.

No, Totilo and Kotaku pick and choose when to dig deep in to important trolling subjects like the Kid Icarus stand and when to simply sit on their lazy duffs and ignore instances of quality on Nintendo platforms. These examples may be old (I've adhered to my aforementioned rule fairly well), but they still prove my point.

Kotaku never covered third party block-buster PS3-gone-Wii game Monster Hunter Tri.  Well, aside from this.  Kotaku never covered No More Heroes until it was ported to the PS3 ... in Japan.

Kotaku, and more specifically Stephen Totilo, stopped tracking monthly Wii gameplay numbers a mere three months after a third party title began to dominate the charts - which would of course shatter the Nintendo-haters' beloved notion that first party titles are the only reason to own a Nintendo platform.

No, Kotaku and Stephen Totilo ignore all that.  But they do make time for a second story making fun of that free stand.

I've given you several unwarranted hits today, Kotaku, but successfully avoided you for years.  Now, please, go out of business, ok?  ...Please?

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Site chat in one hour

Site chat is in one hour.

Topics for tonight.
How is everyone coming along with their backlogs?
Upcoming games everyone are looking forward to?
Finally if we should start back up Recoms again?

See you in the site chat in a hour.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Why Netflix on 3DS is valuable.

"Netflix on 3DS? Pshaw... who cares? I know that service is on every device with a screen, but why would I want to watch things on that tiny little screen? And if I'm in the range of wifi, why don't I just watch on a laptop or a desktop attached to my TV?"

Here's why...

So, last week I was watching through the entire series of Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo on Netflix.  Ultimately, the show was very interesting, and really well done, except the conclusion was a bit unsatisfying.  Anyway, somewhere around episode 5, my laptop began to have trouble with Netflix's video player.  I had no trouble streaming video from youtube or gametrailers or any other site, just Netflix.  The audio would play fine but the video would start to become choppy and eventually start lagging (significantly) behind the audio.  Netflix still worked just fine on our desktop, but that did me no good since Gankutsuou had become my "sleepy time" media distraction (some folks read, I play video games or watch videos).

I tried different web browsers, I tried updating some software... nothing worked.  Then I thought, "hey! I've used my 3DS for Netflix at times when computers weren't available.  This seems like one of those times!"  So, I pulled the show up on my 3DS and away I went.  Over the rest of the week I watched the remaining 19 episodes on my 3DS.

Here are the advantages I found over my laptop and my desktop/TV setups:

1. Portable. duh.  The desktop/TV are not in my bedroom.  Moving on ...
2a. My laptop gets very hot, as many do.  Trying to use a hot laptop on top of bed blankets can be like pouring gasoline on a fire.  I have a tray for in-bed computing but to watch something means I would have to tilt my head at a 45* angle for hours at a time.  That is just plain uncomfortable.

2b. My laptop is a 17" beast.  I really do love it and its screen is ideal for displaying videos.  However, having a 17" laptop on your lap is kind of heavy and unwieldy.  Often times I balance the laptop on one, angled thigh (as I'm doing now) and that works well.  But it's not a hours-at-a-time solution.

The 3DS does not suffer from problems 2a or 2b because it barely heats up at all, and it can rest comfortably on my stomach or chest while I watch.  Moving the screen closer to my face means the difference in screen size isn't that big a deal and since I've never been a resolution junky, I don't really notice the loss in detail.

3. The 3DS has a faster start up/shut down time than any computer I know of.  Making it perfect for when you want to just "check out an episode" at a moment's notice.

Since last week, I've watched a few more items on my 3DS via Netflix.  In fact, I've enjoyed it so much I was looking for a way to play downloaded video files on my 3DS.  No such luck, but I would do it if I could!

So, hey ... thanks, 3DS.  And if any of you find yourselves with similar problems/needs, don't overlook your mighty little handheld!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Site Chat Tonight @ 8PM EST

Wednesday's Site Chat will proceed as usual.  8PM EST is the time to be here.

Tonight's topics include, but are not limited to:
-NinTemple Backlogger's Anonymous on Lost in Shadow
-Any upcoming games you're looking forward to.
-Thoughts on the timing of the Wii U's release.  Any pros or cons that leap to mind?

We'll see you there!

What do our followers want from the site?

I would like to thank all the followers to the new Twitter account for following the new account and I know some of you but I wanted to know what specifically you want as far as content from the site. I know some general stuff based on what I know of you but I would like specifics.  Thanks again for following the site and we will do our best to bring the content to you.

Let me add to this real quick on some things that we used to do that we don't do that much any more do to being busy and lack of participation.

Recoms. Basically this is a review but we don't give it a score and we just go over what we actually liked about the game without dwelling in the negatives to much. We have a few here just use the search feature and search for Recom. Basically if you are a member of the forums you can write a recom and it can be posted on the main blog here and then it will be tweeted out. Mop it up and NinSage would handle editing and posting of it on the site and I would tweet about it.

We used to do Game nights and or Tourneys but we haven't done that in a while. The last offical one was Tetris Party. All the ones we did are in the extra part of the main site found here. I still haven't won one so I still have to try to redeem myself so maybe we can get things going again if you guys want to get this going again.


Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Mark Rein will be surprised if the Wii U doesn't do well.

Epic VP: "I'd be shocked if Wii U doesn't do well"
Epic VP Mark Rein's comments
Quote
Epic VP Mark Rein will be shocked if the Wii U isn't a hit for Nintendo when it launches later this year.

Speaking to Eurogamer at GDC in San Francisco last week, Rein argued that parents are ready to upgrade their kid's Wii to Nintendo's new system.

"I like the Wii U. I think E3 will be a big eye-opener for people," he predicted.

"I played Batman: Arkham City on the Wii U and they are doing some really cool stuff with the controller.

"Do you remember the Zelda demo they had on it? Would you not buy a Wii U just to play that? Of course you would. That's what Nintendo is all about. Their hardware is the software delivery service for their great content. That Zelda demo was gorgeous and we can do even more than that with Unreal Engine 3. I think it will do great."

Rein added that Nintendo's brand recognition and beloved IP should see it fly off shelves, though he suggested that it might have been quicker off the mark with getting the machine to stores.

"It's a great brand that a lot of parents really trust and they're probably ready to buy their kids an HD Wii that does that much more than just being an HD Wii.

"I'd love it if they'd done it last year, but I'm excited for them to do it this year. I'd be shocked if it doesn't do well.

"Did you play that Battle Mii game? Two players would play with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk and one would play with the Wii U controller?

"I would buy a Wii U to play that game in a heartbeat. And I hope people make those kind of games with our technology. I think we've yet to really see what the Wii U can do and I think at E3 this year they're going to shock us."

Earlier this year Nintendo president Satoru Iwata suggested that, more than ever, the company will be looking to partner with third parties when developing high-spec core games that fall outside of its traditional comfort zone.

Might Epic step up to the plate with a new IP for the system, a la Gears of War on the Xbox 360?

"If I had 10 development teams I'd make a game for every single platform and make that the special game for that platform," replied Rein.

"If you're the special game on that platform you do really, really well. Gears was one of the special ones on Xbox 360. Infinity Blade is a special game on the iPhone and iPad. Shadow Complex was a special game on Xbox Live Arcade.

"But we don't have 10 development teams so it's just a matter of picking and choosing what we do and doing the best thing we can for the idea that we have."
______________________________________________
    As we reported previously this is going to be pretty big news. If Mark Rein is giving high praise for the Wii U it can't be that hard to work with as far as specs go.I think we are going to be getting some top stuff visually from the Wii U. As for the comments I think he is just hyping up his engine which can't be a bad thing. I am not usually a graphics whore but this is pretty impressive.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Nintemple Backloggery Anonymous of the Month game 2

Well it has been decided for this month that Lost in Shadow is going to be the Nintemple Backloggery Anonymous game of the month. All of us here have a large backlog of games and well we are doing this to clear our games before the next batch of consoles are coming out.  If you don't have Lost in Shadow on your Backlog then that's fine we have a topic for that too.

Here is the Lost in Shadow topic for those that have it on their backlog.

http://www.nintemple.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=215

Here is the topic for any other games you may have on your backlog that you want to work through this month that you want to talk about.
http://www.nintemple.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=189


And if you decide to join the forum and want to add your backlog of games to a topic here is the place to do it.

http://www.nintemple.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=188

Hope everyone has fun trying beat their game of choice this month.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Follow us on Twitter!

Love NinTemple? Love buzz-worthy social media?  Then you'll love that we've got a new twitter account, brought to you by Maxi!

You'll find the button on the right.  Do it up! Tweet, tweet!

Site chat in 1 hour.

Site chat will be in one hour from now. How is everyone coming along with Lost in Shadow or your preferred backlog game if you don't have Lost in Shadow? I also went back to my posts and gave the ones with links so that they are clickable. I also brought up something about a bird to Sage and integrating it into the site somehow. He said we can talk about it in the chat so we shall do that in 1 hour among other things.

Pandora's Tower Special Edition for Europe and more info about Xenoblade Chronicles.

Lets start with some Pandora's Tower News. Also it should be noted that Pandora's Tower is currently the 5th best selling pre-order on amazon.co.uk and number 1 for Wii Pre-Orders in general! So that is a pretty good indicator for the west. April 13th is the release date for Europe.

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pandoras-Tower-Special-Edition-Wii/dp/B007C6EQGO/ref=zg_bsnr_videogames_5

Game Informer will be having a preview of Xenoblade Chronicles in their March issue

Here is a short insert from the article.






























Also in the Xenoblade news is the Intend to buy from Club Nintendo. If you do intend to buy it go over to Club Nintendo's site and get some coins for thinking about getting it.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

New Wallpapers

TofuFury asked and he received!

Fragile Dreams and Earthbound wallpapers have been added to the Extras section. Enjoy!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

New Wallpapers Galore!

Check it out, ya'll... I've uploaded a bunch of the video game wallpapers I've made since the last Extras page update.  I've also removed some of the... less awesome... ones.  So! Check 'em out.  Who knows, you might just find something to spruce up your electronic device!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Wednesday Site Chat

Hello, all you cool NinTemplers, you.

Wednesday's 8PM EST Site Chat will take place as scheduled but with a few exceptions.  I, NinSage, will not be arriving until about 9PM.  My excuse? The local arcade has half-off Wednesdays and I have a coupon.  Free gaming!!

Maxi will also be arriving around 9PM as he had an unavoidable commitment pop up at the last minute.

That said, how's the NinTemple Backloggery Anonymous game, Lost in Shadow, treating you? Have you beaten it? Mastered it? ... played it? Regardless, let's talk about it!

As well as my absurd interaction with Nintendo Customer Service!  It's all on the next NinTemple Siiiiiiiite Chaaaaaaaaaat!!!!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Pachy Awards: Wii HD

Welcome to the first installment of a new ongoing addition to the site.  It's a little something I'm calling "The Pachy Awards" or just "The Pachys" for short.  Y'know, like the Grammys or Emmys.

But, instead of an award for great music or television programming, the Pachy is given out for instances of especially short-sighted or foolish predictions/statements from the gaming media that have since proven to be incorrect!  Fittingly, they are named after the king of the short-sighted, the master of the foolish prediction/statement, Mr. Michael Pachter!

I was motivated to create this award because I'm sick of members of the gaming media being able to say whatever outlandish, foolish, thing they want, and then never being held accountable because the fleeting nature of the internet means that by the time the prediction can be confirmed, no one ever calls them on the prediction - if they can remember it at all!!

Now, I'm sure Mr. Pachter will make plenty of appearances on this list, and for the first installment, I think I would be remiss to ignore the Attack man.  So let's get this started with a bang and get the biggest, most-obvious one out of the way first... the Wii HD!

Mr. Pachter's infatuation with the Wii HD dates back to, at least, October 2008.  That's less than two years after the launch of the Wii (November 2006)!  Back in October '08, Pachter was quoted as saying, "A Wii HD would really position Nintendo well, which is why I'm absolutely convinced there is a Wii HD coming." "Business-wise, they can't have people saying that their machine is a toy for my mom."  Oh no, Mr. Pachter, certainly no game company can have a successful business unless people think their console is for agressive, teenage boys!

Through Oct 2008
Wii: 34,073,009
X360: 21,456,002
PS3: 15,790,979

Hmmm, well certainly a year or so later Pachter would swallow his pride and alter his view to reflect reality, right?

“We expect Nintendo to sustain their competitive advantage by introducing a high definition version of the Wii, perhaps as early as the end of 2010, in order to convert its large installed base into true ‘next-generation’ households.”

... why the heck would Nintendo want to convert its own install base? To start losing money on hardware like the other companies?  Also, looks to me like Nintendo's motion control tech put them pretty far out "next" in whatever generation this is...

Through Jun 2009
Wii: 50,429,471
X360: 30,276,094
PS3: 22,700,999

OK, so, by 2010, Pachter gets the picture right?

“I think the biggest surprise [of 2010] will be the introduction of the Wii HD.”

Oh good lord ...
Well, Pach-man, you honor the trophy I've built in your name by having... no idea about the importance of HD during the 7th console generation.

Through Feb 2012
Wii: 95,169,269
X360: 65,040,583
PS3: 61,905,514

Congratulations, Pach! May your award go on to (dis)grace many a fellow incompetent member of the gaming media!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Site Chat Tonight

Sunday evening's Site Chat begins... NOW!