Super Mario Land 3D Trailer & Screenshots

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Here is the trailer and some screenshots of the upcoming Super Mario 3DS game. Also here is the details of features.

Super Mario 3D Land reinvents everything fans love about Mario™ gaming with the first platforming environment in true 3D, without the need for special glasses. Players will experience an exhilarating new sense of depth, distance and speed while running, jumping and stomping on enemies throughout the levels.

Trailer


FEATURES:

Tanooki Mario returns! The fan-favorite Tanooki suit makes its first appearance on the Nintendo 3DS. Use the Tanooki suit’s tail to attack enemies or float gently down from great heights. These abilities help players move through the 3D environments with more confidence.

3D visuals make it easier for players to judge the depths and distances in their environments. Players can more accurately judge the jump to the next platform or how far Mario is from a question block.

New and familiar abilities add unique game-play strategies to the adventure. Mario can perform a rolling somersault attack or run fast with a dash move.

The Circle Pad gives players complete control to confidently move Mario through fun and challenging environments.

New enemies include Goombas with tails, tall stacks of Goombas and a Piranha Plant that spits ink to obscure a player’s view.










UPDATE On The 3DS Add On & Monster Hunter 3DS

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Here is an update on the second joystick add-on that is coming out for the 3DS.

Joystiq reports that the add-on will be coming out on Dec 10th of this year in Japan for ¥1500 or roughly $19.50 and its currently called "The Slidepad". It looks to be final too, there maybe some design changes between now and then but that's a maybe. All that is known for sure is that it is coming out this year..... in Japan. It also looks like it will not be some kind of battery life extender because it need a single AAA battery for it work.

The Monster Hunter update is that there are 2 Monster hunter games coming out for the 3DS. Monster Hunter Tri-G (an update of the Wii Monster Hunter Tri) and the New Monster Hunter 4. Both in 3D and it is comfirmed that Tri-G will work with the SlidePad and a list of a few other games those being: Biohazard Revelations (Resident Evil: Revelations everywhere outside of Japan), Metal Gear Solid : Snake Eater 3D, Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble, Dynasty Warriors VS, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance(see what they did there in the title). Monster Hunter Tri-G will come out at the same time of the "Slidepad" in Japan so its easy to assume that Nintendo will bundle the "SlidePad" with not just the a system but with Monster Hunter Tri-G. In case you dont know why this is a big deal, Monster Hunter is like Digital Crack in Japan, millions are hooked and this is one of the best ways I can see Nintendo selling millions of units over there, I can even see there being a special edition 3DS color system with graphics on it.
Lastly here is the trailer for Monster Hunter 4 and thats on the 3DS were looking at.




Links:
Joystic: "SlidePad" Release date and price

GameStop Android Tablet

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GameStop is coming out with an Android GameStop branded Table for the stores as reported by Joystiq. What is known as of right now is that the tablet will be a gaming center tablet and will come with Google Android Os. Many people knew something like this was coming after GameStop brought the developer Spawn Labs and Impulse. If you dont know Impulse is a digital distribution similar to Stream. In the end, this could mean many things for many reason. The one reason that stands out the most is that GameStop is trying their hardest to get into the digital gaming world, competing with Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Store, Steam and On-live. To even reach far out there maybe even competing with Netflix, I am not sure anyone notice this or not but sometimes GameStop sells DVDs its mainly the used ones but I haven't be inside a GameStop in a long time.

I will keep all of you updated as more information comes in.

Links:
Joystiq
Games Industry(original source)

Batman: The Animated Series OST Review

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One thing many of us remember from Batman: The Animates Series besides it's great story, great acting, was the great music. It took a long time but the OST finally released a while back. The OST is still hard to find and Amazon price tag is a heavy one. Is this rare OST worth the price? Find out below.

Review: There is no doubt that the work of Shirley Walker is amazing. However this soundtrack is disappointing. It's not the music that's the problem. It's the way they choose the music, that will leave fans hoping for more. Instead of focusing on some of the best themes in the entire series, fans will get themes from whole episodes, mainly the ones focusing on the first season. For example instead of a Mr. Freeze theme, which was fantastic in the series by the way. Fans will get a theme like "Batman Chases Croc." While the themes chosen aren't bad, Shirley Walker library is too amazing to have mediocre themes on this soundtrack. However the music chosen is a great representation of how great Walker was. Each theme is pack with either a mellow easy listening tone, or an action pack compositions that will really make you feel like your part of the action. With over 2 hours and 30 mins of music, you will surely get enough for your buck. However some melodies are heard over and over again in some compositions. For instance "The Joker" theme is heard all over the soundtrack. It can get a little repetitive and will make you wish they had a better selection.

Regardless of the disappointment of the selection tracks. This is a solid OST that any fan of the Animated Series will love. The OST has tons of action themes, but it misses it's mark on more of the emotional themes, that really made this series special. The OST also includes a track of Sherry Walker giving you her insight on how the Batman theme works, this is a real standout track that shows you Sherry's musical thought process. Final Grade is a B-/8.0. The OST does well by bringing us themes for the show, however it's not the best of the best.


01 - Gotham City Overture - 14:01
02 - BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - Main Title (Danny Elfman) - 1:02
03 - Sub-Main Title / Batwing / Bat Attack - 1:51
04 - Batman Drives To Gotham - 1:00
05 - Batman Investigates / Batman Uses Infrared / Police Rush Building - 1:48
06 - Batman Escapes / Batman Flies - 1:48
07 - Bats / Evidence Goes Up In Smoke/ The Formula / Dr Jekyll And Mr. Bat - 3:01
08 - Gotham From the Air / Ride’Em Batman / Epilogue - 2:16
09 - Sub-Main Title - 1:35
10 - The Submarine / Joker Loots Gotham - 2:35
11 - Alfred Loses It - 0:58
12 - Bat Boat / Batman Catches The Big Fish / Batman Fights The Bad Guys - 2:18
13 - Cliff-Hanger Under Water / Batman A.K.A Houdini - 1:56
14 - Batman The Terminator - 2:01
15 - Batman Vs. Joker / Batman Vs Joker Part 2 - 3:47
16 - Sub-Main Title / Stromwell’s Flashback - 2:01
17 - Batman on Top of Church / Stromwell Arrives At Pete’s / Thugs Exit - 1:20
18 - Stromwell Confronts Thorn - 1:15
19 - It’s Party Time / Batman Carries Stromwell - 0:48
20 - Stromwell Sees Joey - 1:41
21 - Stromwell Tricks Batman / Thorn’s Men Move In / Thorn Chases Stromwell - 3:22
22 - Stromwell’s Flashback #2 - 1:45
23 - Batman Cracks Heads / Thorn Removed - 1:20
24 - Ground Breaking Ceremony / Penitentiary Time Lapses - 1:11
25 - Batman Catches A Chopper / The Chopper Crashes/ Rooftop Chase - 1:58
26 - Batman Sneaks Around - 1:09
27 - A Little Plant Muzak / The Carnivorous Plant - 0:59
28 - Batman Vs. Poison Ivy / Poison Ivy In Prison - 3:52
29 - 14 Seconds Opening / Jingle Bells / The Joker Blasts Off - 1:03
30 - Down the Mountain / Sidewalk Red Herring - 0:51
31 - Pukey Christmas Music / Christmas With The Joker / Game Show Music - 2:18
32 - The Train Crashes - 1:19
33 - Observatory Cannon / Cannon Out Of Control / Robin Blows Up Cannon - 1:11
34 - More Game Show Music / Drive To The Toy Company - 1:39
35 - Nutcracker Suite Medley - 1:24
36 - Pie In Batman’s Face / Dangling Hostages Saved / Deck The Halls - 1:40
Disc 2
01 - BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - Alternate Main Title (S. Walker) - 1:08
02 - Harvey’s Nightmare / Dent’s Soap Box - 2:24
03 - Batman Tracks Dent - 2:07
04 - Split Personality / Harvey / Harv - 4:21
05 - Part One Recap - 0:33
06 - Sub-Main Title / The Heist - 1:49
07 - Bruce Wayne’s Nightmare / Two-Face Remembers - 2:47
08 - Batcycle / What About Grace - 1:58
09 - My Name Is Two-Face - 1:52
10 - The Great Equalizer / Where There’s Love - 4:03
11 - Sub-Main Title / Cussing Out The Joker / I Had A Bad Day - 3:18
12 - Joker’s Hide-Out - 1:19
13 - Charlie’s Neighborhood / Joker Finds Charlie - 1:18
14 - Charlie Arrives In Gotham / Joker Collects His Favor - 0:42
15 - Harley’s Party Source - 0:44
16 - Crashing The Party - 1:33
17 - Batman Saves The Commissioner / Batman’s After The Joker/ Charlie Gets the Joker - 3:38
18 - Sub-Main Title / Conway Is Abducted - 0:43
19 - A Clue / The Crocodile’s Lair - 1:27
20 - Another Clue - 1:19
21 - Croc’s Cave / Killer Croc - 2:52
22 - Batman Chases Croc / Sewer Fight - 2:54
23 - Bullock Gets The Croc - 1:09
24 - Sub-Main Title / The Dream Begins - 0:52
25 - It’s Impossible / Bruce Sees Batman / Bruce Watches Batman At Work - 2:14
26 - My Life Is A Dream - 2:48
27 - Climbing The Church Tower / Belltower Fight - 2:45
28 - Your Own Private Wonderland / Back to Reality - 2:48
29 - Birds Of A Feather - 1:54
30 - That Fine Roman Nose / Penguin vs. Muggers - 2:32
31 - Penguin Takes Veronica - 0:40
32 - The Drop / Rubber Duckie Ride - 1:50
33 - The Penguin’s Opera / High Society - 2:19
34 - BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - End Credit (Danny Elfman) - 0:34
35 - Music Of The Bat 101 - 6:45

Huck Gee & His Gold Life Dunny Series

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So! I'm an avid vinyl toy collector. With goodies like these, there's no excuse why not collecting art is still possible.








During the end of the year, I usually scrpae and save for a special yummy, end of year Dunny collection distributed by Kid Robot. While this year is no different, I'm also scraping and saving for a special blind box collection by artist, Huck Gee. Be sure to check out his latest news if you like what you see!
Huck Gee news















More on Huck Gee's series here

Be sure to buy the goods at KidRobot! Kid Robot

Until Next Time!
~je t'adore!

Professor Layton and The Last Specter Trailer & Screenshots

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This fourth installment of the Professor Layton puzzle adventure series begins a new trilogy that is a prequel to the original games. Three years before the events in the Professor Layton and the Curious Village™ game, Professor Layton receives a letter from his old schoolmate Clark, telling him that "a mysterious giant is destroying the town." The professor heads to the town of Misthallery to investigate, and is joined by Emmy, his new assistant. What is the meaning of all the destruction, and is it related to the village's folklore legend of a "specter"? The unfolding story details how Professor Layton and his apprentice, Luke, met.

Trailer


Screenshots






3DS Circle Pad Add-On

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Hey guys Jeff here and I have some new news for you that just came out about the 3DS add-on from Joystiq and Kotaku.

Currently, it is show in a Japanese magazine call Famitsu and they have leaked photos of what is called "3DS Kakuchou Slide Pad" or "3DS Expansion Slide Pad."


Now what is shown could be final or couldn't be, all that is know it that i looks to be a dock of some kind that has a second joystick. this basically give the system two of them copying modern controllers.


Just from how it looks, it is believed that it covers the wifi switch, and since its a dock it looks like it covers the game slot but from Kotaku, it is said it doesn't cover the light indicators on it. It looks like it doesn't add any buttons for the system but it might also be an official battery life extender for the system, but like I said this all could be rumor. Right now this looks to be real, no date or any other info about it for now I will make sure to keep everyone up dated on this.

Side note it looks like Monster Hunter Tri is coming to the 3DS as Monster Hunter Tri-G and that it will have local wireless play but that had not been proven true yet. I will all so keep you updated on this too as info comes in.

UPDATE:
Nintendo have said that its an official product but there is no release day yet, more details will come out and I will keep updating
Links
Joystic
Kotaku
Kotaku(update)
Photo
Japanese Story(its written in japanese also)

Doctor Who Fanmade Anime Short

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Slowly, but surely I'm becoming a Doctor Who fan. I found this oldie but goodie Fanmade Anime Short on the good doctor on Youtube. This would be a cool Anime. Here is the description: All 13 minutes of the completed fake Doctor Who 80s-style anime. Drawn, animated and partially voiced by myself. Some bits are good, some bits are poor, but on the whole it turned out okay, I think. Enjoy! This is old school Who, so fans of the new reboot show may be confused by the fact that the Doctor is doing martial arts and Cybermen say "excellent." Watch the classics and you'll understand. You'll also become almost instantly more handsome by watching classic Who.



Another Century's Episode R (Import Review)

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If you're not big or don't play heavily on import games. There has been a import series that has been very popular with Otaku gamers since the PS2 days. This game is called Another Century's Episode also known as ACE. ACE will allow players to play with their favorite Mechs from Gundam, Macross to even Eureka Seven in a single universe. Another Century's Episode R is the first for the PS3. Is it worth the import? Or should you not suit up?

Story - Summoned from their respective worlds to the planet of Aria. Our heroes meet up Autumn Four a girl who has lost her memory. Autumn and her ship the Ark Alpha is being attacked by Artificial Weapons by a group called the "Seasons." It's up to the heroes to help Autumn regain her memory and end the threat of the Seasons.

The story is pretty interesting if you can understand Japanese. The story manages to weave the main plot of Autumn and integrate it with plots from your favorite Mech Anime that are featured in the game. It does a great job of making you feel part of the series and also bring new life into it.

Gameplay - The gameplay varies depending on what Mech you're piloting. For instant some Mech's like Macross can change modes and transform. Gundamn's have saber swords, faster thrusters etc. The controls can feel clunky for some ships like Macross. I found that piloting it in fighter pilot mode to be sluggish. The fighter doesn't turn as quickly or move as fast as you hope it would. The levels are played like most Mech games, you are assigned missions which usually have you, protecting assigned sectors, eliminating wave of enemies, or defeating a boss. The game can feel repetitive, but the huge cast of Mech's to choose from will take that feeling away. The battle system is broken up into three parts. You have your standard attacks, your combo attacks and secondary attacks. There is also a great level up element as well. Players get to level up the speed, power, defense and more. Winning missions and completing them in a certain grade will earn you more points. The game is challenging on any difficulty. I love how on certain levels you need to choose what Mech you use carefully. Using a Veritech, on a mission design for a Gundam can be costly. This might be annoying for some, but it adds a strategic element to the game, it also ensures that the player uses most of the Mech's in the game. Finally the camera movements can be frustrating no matter what Mech you're using. The lock on is difficult and really effects how you view other enemies around you. Fighting big bosses is a pain when it comes to the camera view. Sometimes you want to target a specific section of the bot, but the camera won't go there, until you fly closer. It can make battles more harder then it needs to be.

Overall the gameplay is fun to play, minus a few setbacks. The controls can feel clunky with some Mech's, but the upgrading, the combo attacks and fast pace action is enough to keep you playing. The story mode is very long since you have to do each route for each Anime Series included. It might feel repetitive but it adds just enough elements in the routes to keep it fresh.

Gameplay Video


Graphics - Out of all the ACE games this one looks the best. The backgrounds, environments and Mech's look good, the graphics can get a little blurry in some environments. The Mech's are awesome and the designs of the big boss battles are a nice on the eyes. The real highlight of the graphics is the backgrounds, such as the water, the sky and when your Mech is going full speed. The graphics won't wow you, but it does capture the feel of the Anime world, and that's what you need.

Sound - The sound is flawless, the reason why is because you get to control the music being played. You can choose your BGM from the files you have on your Ps3. Play your favorite Anime Themes or Anime BGM to bring more realism to your fight. The voice acting is also done in top notch form with the real actors from the respective shows.

Replay Value - The game doesn't add much for replay value. There is no DLC, nothing really to keep you playing. After the tons of story modes are completed. No Co-Op, No Online, however this an extra hard mode if you want to put your full ability to the test.

Final Grade C+/7.5 - Another Century's Episode R has a interesting story. The gameplay is a hit or miss depending on what Mech you're using, the camera movement gets in the way in some battles. It lacks any replay value, but if you're a Mech fan and love Anime, then this game is worth the import. It has enough gameplay time to keep you going for a while, the addition to add your own BGM is welcomed and makes the battles feel more closely to the Animes. Overall if you love Anime Mech's it's time to suit and give Season a taste of what a true Ace is like.

Eminence Symphony Orchestra

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It's Monday which means it's time for some good music surrounding Anime, Videogames and things geeky. Instead of our usual Music Monday countdown, I wanted to post some vids of a great Symphony Orchestra. They are called "Eminence" and I love the orchestration of some of our favorite Anime and Videogame musics. Here is a taste of their talents from past concerts they have done.

The Great Legend - Laputa (Eminence Orchestra)


Cave of Mind - Howl's Moving Castle (Eminence Orchestra)


Final Fantasy VII One Winged Angel (Eminence Symphony)


Shadow of the Colossus - "The Opened Way" (Eminence Symphony Orchestra)



ShoTokyo LA's Toy District

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I couldn't help but revisit some photos of art taken on my awesome trip to LA. There was one wall that I kept going back to & I think it's well worth the share!

Unfortunately, I have yet to find out who the artist is responsible for this great work, but I'm pounding the pavement to get that skinny!

Until then, I hope you enjoy just as much as I did!







 




Until Next Time!
~je t'adore!

The Way Things Work - The NES Zapper

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Hey there people.
I wanted to give you all a little something that explains something else. Now I dont have the zapper anymore myself so am going to let this guy go do from the site Clan of the gray wolf. These guys have a lot of there videos and series but I wanted to look at and point this series out to you which is how things work, in which the host explains how things we use that are video game related works.

This episode is mainly about how the Zapper works and the history of it.


I was pretty shocked to learn that light guns like the NES Zapper were originally made all the way back in the 1930s that I did not know, Anyway be sure to check out the other How they work videos, I know you will be pleasantly shocked at how some of our favorite gaming add-ons work.

Summer Superhero Movies 2011: The Hits & Misses

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The superhero movie season is over, and compare to previous years this one left many us in disappointment. Some were great, some were good and some made us wish they let a comic geek be the director. Regardless of critics and box office sales, these movies had it's hit and misses. Let's take a look at Thor, X-Men First Class, Green Lantern and Captain America.

Thor (The Hits) - Thor was entertaining, had a great cast and a wonderful leading man. It got the theme of Thor right, him needing to learn how to be humble if he was to gain back his power. Asgard was beautiful and Loki performance played by Tom Hiddleston was a great addition. Thor kept us entertained, although it didn't pack much of punch action wise, the character driven story kept you interested.

Thor (The Misses) - Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings characters were pointless, besides Portman being the love interest, her character was annoying and took away more time for Loki's development. The constant setting up for The Avengers movie is a distraction, does Shield have to be in every Marvel movie now? However I will say Thor did it less than Iron Man 2. Finally the pacing felt slow, so the movie will get boring at times unless you are invested into the characters, also the 3D was useless.

X-Men First Class (The Hits)- The X-Men returned to the big screen this year. After a horrible X-Men: The Last Stand, FOX looked to redeemed themselves with a prequel. The acting was greatly done by the two leads James McAvoy as Xavier, and Michael Fassbender as Magneto. This movie was purely focus on the relationship of Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr. Unlike the other X-Men movies this one was heavy on character driven. The cameo by a certain X-Men was worth the price of admission. The real hit of this movie is Magneto, nothing is more great than to see a characters transformation.

X-Men First Class (The Misses) - Continuity is a huge problem in this film. If this serves as a prequel to the other X-Men movies then something is wrong. 1. In the first X-Men movie Professor X clearly states that "Cyclops, Storm and Jean were among my first students." If they were his first students why aren't they in the movie as the first class? Certain characters don't get enough backstory, once again we are thrown in Mutants just to please the fans. It's pointless if we don't know who they are. The action was so, so but I expected more in the final showdown.

Green Lantern (The Hits): Green Lantern had great casting. Mark Strong did what he could do with Sinestro. Ryan Reynolds did a good job as Hal Jordan, the voices for Kilowog, Tomar-Re we're spot on. They captured the space feel very well when Hal Jordan was on OA. The constructs was cool.

Green Lantern (The Misses)- Not enough character development on key Lantern characters. Parallax origins, and appearance was a mess and inaccurate. The movie spent too much time on Earth, and for a movie that was suppose to be DC's answer to Star Wars, it didn't have enough space time. The 3D was good in some parts, blurry in others. Hector Hammond's character was pointless and under used. Sinestro was more of a cheerleader for Hal Jordan and didn't really show signs of his future. The action while good, could have been more of. Finally the movie was too short and the editing was bad. The editing would cut from one scene to another.

Captain America: The First Avenger (The Hits)- Wonderful performance by Chris Evans. He play Steve Rogers very well. Great direction from Jim Johnson, the movie felt like The Rocketeer, but better. Out of all the movies that came close to the comics, this one was it. It hit the origin story enough, to make a comic fan very proud. This movie also has one of the coolest 40's theme songs, that I've heard in a while. The pacing was great and we get a balance of love, action and drama as well. Red Skull played by Hugo Weaving was great, his appearance screamed comic book. The ending is the best part, not because of The Avengers movie, but because the relationship between Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter.

Captain America: The First Avenger (The Misses) -
The action is kind of boring, Captain America action doesn't feel tense or epic. He punches, runs and throw his shield around. The set pieces could have been done a little better. Red Skull should had more development and more screen time, and the final battle between him and Capt was disappointing.

Overall the best superhero movie of the summer goes to Captain America. It stuck close to the comics, the theme was great and that ending is makes you feel sorry for him. What did you think was the best superhero movie of the summer? Leave your answer on the comments below.


Don Cheadle As Captain Planet

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If you never visit FunnyOrDie.com I think it's time that you do. I recently saw a video with Don Cheadle as Captain Planet. This is too funny for words, you have to check this out and check out more stuff at FunnyOrDie.com. Also check out our interview with Don Cheadle about the movie he did "The Guard." Interview With Don Cheadle