Tag Archives: Video game

The 3DS: your mobile entertainment hub for when you’re sick

by

Waking up at 4 AM with the stomach flu is never fun, but when I’m experiencing catastrophic abdominal pain and confined to my bed, I know I can always count on my Nintendo 3DS to carry me through the day! And why, do you ask, is the 3DS so useful for when I’m sick? It’s simple: it’s the mobile hub everyone wants!

My revelation about the wonders of the 3DS came to me this morning when I woke up and its bright screen was glaring at me, ready to play the next episode of How I Met Your Mother on Netflix. I thought to myself, “I can lay here and just continue to watch How I Met Your Mother, and I would never have to turn over to grab the remote and turn on my TV.” It hit me then: when I’m sick, moving around = bad, and with the 3DS in hand(s), I can play games, watch Netflix, and even browse the Internet without really moving at all. If it had a thermometer and a way to dispense food I’d never need another device again!

And when it comes time to bring myself out of bed and to the kitchen or the bathroom, my 3DS comes with me. That means when I’m feeling nauseated or hungry, my 3DS can sit neatly in view, allowing me to enjoy Netflix while also fighting nausea or microwaving a nice bowl of chicken noodle soup.

In conclusion, next time you’re sick, grab your 3DS and download Netflix (and if you don’t have Netflix, get Netflix) – you won’t be disappointed.

Just sayin’

Geek ‘Til Dawn 9 Recap

by

Last Friday, DePaul‘s game club, DeFrag, hosted an event called Geek ‘Til Dawn (GtD), which is an all-night gaming event. From 8PM to 7AM, students at DePaul (and guests brought by students) can play anything from board games to video games. There’s anime viewing, group games, and even a raffle! It’s a very fun event, and this Spring’s (this was the 9th time they’ve held this event), instead of playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl all night, I went out and did more, and it was a lot of fun!

Here’s a quick recap:

– I hosted an impromptu single-elim Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament and found someone who wants to be part of the competitive scene at DePaul! That’s almost 4 people I’ve found this year who really want to improve, and that’s awesome to me. I won the tournament in style, and found out that you only get a silver trophy for winning Brawl’s in-game tournament. What a ripoff! Even though I won, I was (not so) secretly rooting for the girl playing red Link and the guy whom I chose the Marth color for (he actually faced me in the finals. LOL).

– I found someone who doesn’t think Yuzu from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is horrible character (but her ending does suck unless you play OverClocked)! I could write a paper on the cast of that game and I guarantee 2 pages would be dedicated to Yuzu and how she’s not a bad character.

– I finally beat my friend Pat in Snowboard Kids 2, which we’ve been talking about playing to see who’s better for the past year. He won game 1, then I won games 2 and 3. Swag hat coach with Balance Board lvl 3 da bess!

– I played 3 games of League of Legends, landing with friend who went AP Soraka. I went Support Ashe, and we won all three games. 3-0 Support Ashe/AP Soraka!! In the last game three of the five on the opponents team disconnected! LOL It was kinda sad, but at 5AM none of my team cared.

– I played Anime Name that Tune and won 1 point off of Clannad. At least I got a point off my favorite show! LOL.

– And then… AND THEN… the most hype match of Jenga I have EVER SEEN! I can’t even describe it, so here’s a video of the last six minutes of Game 3:

Jenga Game 3

And that was my GtD! Now it’s time to finish my one month left of school and begin Summer Vacation!

Just sayin’

Why Super Mario 3D Land has the perfect difficulty scale

by

1


My girlfriend recently started playing Super Mario Advance 4, and as I watched her play I noticed something – she was having a much harder time playing Super Mario Bros. 3 (which is what Super Mario Advance 4 contains) than Super Mario 3D Land (SM3DL), a game I had suggested to her a while back. I began to wonder to myself why she was having such a hard time with Super Mario Bros. 3, when a thought came to me – Super Mario Bros. 3 has a high learning curve.

To the gamers out there who played the Super Mario Bros. franchise, this may seem a little off. I myself remember Super Mario Bros. 3 to be extremely easy – maybe a little long for my younger self, but definitely not difficult, and when I played it as Super Mario Advance 4 it was even easier. So why, I thought to myself, did Super Mario Bros. 3 have a high learning curve?

I thought back to Super Mario 3D Land (SM3DL). She had almost no experience playing, yet has been able to make it to World 5, and I realized why she’s been doing well: SM3DL has the perfect difficulty scale.

Let me explain. If you die 5 times on a single level in SM3DL, you are given a Tanooki Suit with infinite invincibility. This is for those who are having trouble dealing with the enemies and natural hazards in the game. Now, if you die 10 times on a single level, then you’re given a P Wing (I didn’t know this existed until she played the game), which takes you to the end of the level, no questions asked. This includes boss levels, and this can help alleviate a level that requires platforming that is too great for the player.

The Invincible Tanooki Suit

Mario in the invincible tanooki suit.

This may seem like a cop-out, but keep reading. At a certain point, levels start becoming blocked off unless you have a certain number of special coins. You can collect 3 special coins per level, and you must collect them without dying to obtain them.

When I was playing, I thought to myself, “this is stupid. Why would they impose these limits on players? It’s busy work.” But as I watched my girlfriend play, it dawned on me – they’re to stop the really bad players from breezing through the game with the super-powerful items. They’re forced to go through those levels that they may have used the P Wing for and get those coins, otherwise they won’t be able to progress at all, and hopefully, by the time they’re forced to collect those coins, they’ve improved to the point where they use those items a little less. It forces improvement while still allowing them to progress slowly so they don’t stop playing in frustration.

And for players like myself, the coins serve as a way to increase the difficulty. The game was easy, but collecting the coins in every level was difficult, and doing the same thing in the Special Worlds made it that much more difficult, so the game gave a satisfying sense of challenge, so besides catering to the casuals, it caters to the hardcore, creating the perfect difficulty scale. It can be as difficult as you, the player, make it to be.

Just sayin’.

Kappy’s L4D2 Mod Pack!

by

Hello, L4D’ers!

Today I’m presenting to you my mod pack for Left 4 Dead 2. It’s just a collection of mods I’ve found whilst browsing l4dmaps.com that I now use when playing Left 4 Dead 2 with my friends. The theme is, “A Snake and his velociraptors”, and it comes not only with a velociraptor skin, but a skin where one of them is Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series. The rest are little skin changes to various weapons in the game and the Safe Room and Credits music changed.

It includes (with credit to those who made it – these guys are awesome!)

Solid Snake (replaces Nick) – Mr. Lanky
Velociraptors – Splinks
Gold Desert Eagle – miztaegg
Pinkie Pie Fireworks – Sabre
DJ Pon3 Guitar – Sabre
T-Virus V1.8 – NeoMetalSonic360
Jack Daniels Molotov – Xaxt
Pistol – Springfield 1911 custom gold – K1CHWA (ported by Pappaskurtz)
Digital Camo SPAS – SILKO
Bonk! Atomic Punch (Blutonium) – Canis L. Sapien
HD M4 Super 90 – =DiG= He-Man!
M4 Special Forces – =DiG= He-Man!/SoulSlayer/Kimono
Remington 870 Wingmaster – Twinkie Masta/modderfreak
John Deere Chainsaw – G.I.Joe/K.Tastrophe
Chrono Cross Credits Music – XD001
Pokémon Black/White Safe Room Music – XD001
Target Ibuprofen – miztaegg/Samm5506
Johnny Bravo Tank – ??? (I don’t know who made this one, but whoever did, you’re amazing!)

That’s my pack! I hope any of you who download it enjoy it!!

The Johnny Bravo tank is my favorite.

NOTE: Everything is in .vpk format EXCEPT the tank mods. For those, I have two folders named “tank PLAYER” and “tank MUSIC”. What you need to do is go into your sound folder and replace the tank folder in your music folder with tank MUSIC (and then rename that to just tank), and the folder in your player folder with tank PLAYER 9and then rename that to just tank). Everything else goes into your add ons folder!

Just sayin’.

LINK TO KAPPY’S MOD PACK:

Apex 2012: Meta Knight’s Last Hurrah

by

I would have posted this entry yesterday, but my head decided to transform into an anvil for a cold to strike down upon. I was sick three days before Christmas, and now, 17 days later from yesterday, I’m sick once again.

The other reason was the bracket for Apex  2012 had yet to be completely updated, which is what I’ll be writing about today. In the world of competitive fighting games, Super Smash Bros. has never really received a lot of attention (at least from I’ve seen. I could be wrong here). That ended last weekend when Over 1,300 entrants for both Brawl and Melee came (around 50 of those being international players) to attend Apex 2012, Smash’s biggest tournament in history.

While I wasn’t in attendance (I compete in Brawl), watching the stream was a lot of fun. I watched both Melee and Brawl, with a little bit of SFIV: 2012 and UMvC3 (two of the more traditional fighters that were also being played at Apex 2012). The highlight for me was Nairo vs Otori (Apex 2012’s Brawl champion). I usually don’t enjoy MK dittos due to most players not being too aggressive, but these two put on a show of skill souped up with flash, and it was very, very exciting.

If you’d like to see most of the videos from Apex 2012 (including Brawl, Melee, SFIV: 2012, and UMvC3), the links to those channels will be below!

Now, let’s get into one of the more interesting topics that I felt Apex 2012 really brought to the table: America‘s ban on MK.

Let me catch those who don’t know up. MK is the best character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. As such, a lot of players use him, and a lot feel that he is too good a character. Ever since I joined the Smash community a year and a half ago the debate for MK has been strong, and it had only continued to escalate in the past couple of months. After pages upon pages of debate, a consensus was reached: after Apex 2012, MK would be banned from all URC-run (Unity Ruleset Committee) tournaments.

Now, at Apex 2012 we had two Japanese players in Grand Finals for Brawl: Nietono, an Olimar player, and Otori, a MK player. While Otori plays MK, Nietono ran through many of America’s top MK players. I realize that Nietono is only one player, but this still brings a big question to the front lines of the ban debate – is the ban really the best choice?

I think it is, but not because of how good MK is. I’ll admit, I hate playing against MK, and all around me I saw players put in the work and beat him while I continued to lose to him. Apex 2012 gave me some new insight into how much work you need to put in to be the best of the best, and so I withdrew my stance that MK should be banned because of how good he is. Clearly, he can be beaten. You just need to put in the work. The Japanese have proven that.

However, I still support the ban because of how over centralizing he is. That’s simply it. A lot of players use MK. I believe over half of the players in America either main MK or use him as a secondary. And I believe that’s poisonous to a meta game in itself. I like variety, so I’m hoping there’ll be a lot more variety of characters now. I’m crossing my fingers that everyone doesn’t pick up Olimar.

What are your thoughts on Apex 2012? On the MK ban? Let me know!

Oh, and I think double MK is actually too good in doubles. One MK per team would be brilliant.

Just sayin’.

Link to apextournament:

http://www.youtube.com/user/apextournament?feature=g-u

Link to Jaxelrod:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Jaxelrod?feature=g-u