Poll #12 results

My twelfth poll is over and done. The results are as follows:

On a scale of 1 to 5, what do you think of World 1-1? (22 votes)

• 5 - Awesome blog, great work. - 18% (4 votes)
  
• 4 - Pretty good blog, nice work. - 59% (13 votes)
  
• 3 - Average blog, nothing special. - 13% (3 votes)
  
• 2 - Bad blog, needs work. - 0% (0 votes)
• 1 - Horrible blog. - 9% (2 votes)
  

It's nice to know most people like my blog. 4 out of 5 was the most popular choice. While only 9% of people voted unfavorably. And a shout out to those voters: constructive criticism is more than welcome. Why'd you vote that way? I'd love to know.

And now for the next poll. No doubt you've all owned a Nintendo system, most likely more than one. This is a Nintendo blog, so I'm expecting a lot of readers to have Nintendo consoles and handhelds. But where did it all start for you? Maybe it was back in the NES or SNES days? Or maybe you're a more recent Nintendo fan, with the Nintendo 64, GameCube, or even Wii being your first Nintendo console. That's why the latest poll's up, and the question is, "Which Nintendo console was your first?"

Comments or questions? Drop an email to kylehogg@gmail.com or leave a comment below...

Nintendo's latest press release

Being the sneaky ninjas they are, Nintendo did a press release early yesterday morning. There were several new game announcements and some clarification of dates. The standout items (in my mind at least) are announcements of Excitebots: Trick Racing and a WiiWare game titled Night Game, and a release date for Punch-Out!!

First up is Excitebots. This one's really interesting. And since very little was announced other than the title and a small tidbit following that, it becomes even more intriguing. Does the "bot" part have something to do with modifying and customizing vehicles, or is it more of a Transformers vehicle/robot hybrid. I don't know if it's been confirmed, but I'm guessing this is the top secret game that was rumored to be worked on by the developers of ExciteTruck for the Wii. Since this is one of those games that Nintendo announces a few months before it's release date (which is April 20th to be exact), I'm sure we'll be getting a lot more info in the coming weeks.

Down the press release were some WiiWare games. The first two I recognize and am excited for: Eduardo the Samurai Toaster and BIT.TRIP BEAT. But then I scroll down a bit more and read, "Night Game, developed and published by Nicalis: Exclusively for WiiWare..." and I think, "What the"? Reading on I become more and more interested. From how it's been described in the PR, Night Game is a really unique game with it's physics and combination of action and puzzling. The premise is guiding glowing spheres through various locales. From the description of how it is a really unique and pushes the boundaries of design, I'm feeling another game perfect for WiiWare. With it's unique, experimental take on games, I can see this being something like World of Goo or even LostWinds to a lesser extent.

While those were the two big announcements, there were also several release dates confirmed. The biggest being Punch-Out!! for the Wii, which'll be shipping out to retailers on May 18th. This is good to hear, and I'll definitely be checking this one out. Another new release date we got was for New Play Control Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (or NPCDKJB for short). It's already seen a release in Japan, and us in North America will finally be getting it on May 4th, which is a little less than two months after the NA releases of NPC Pikmin and NPC Mario Tennis. Another of the big announcements was Starfy finally seeing a release stateside, which is a pretty big deal for a lot of Nintendo fans. The release date on that one is the 8th of June.

There wasn't much else except games we already knew about and release dates that have already been announced. Though it does seem the list was incomplete. Some may have wondered where Wii Sports Resort was, as there were many games with June release dates, but no mention of the Wii Sports sequel. But I think this may just be due to this not being a complete list, I mean, there's not even mention of Sonic and the Black Knight, nor MadWorld. Whatever the case may be, Nintendo's latest PR brought some big news for Nintendo fans. And I'm especially excited to see what Excitebot and Night Game turn out to be.

Comments or questions? Drop an email to kylehogg@gmail.com or leave a comment below...

Poll #11: "In the Legend of Zelda games, what do you name your character?" results

The results for Poll #11 are as follows:

In the Legend of Zelda games, what do you name your character? (37 total votes)

• Link - 48% (18 votes)
  
• My name - 24% (9 votes)
  
• Other/random name - 24% (9 votes)
  
• I don't know - 2% (1 vote)

Most people choose "Link" as they're character's name in LoZ games, as is evident from said choice getting almost 50% of the votes. Following that, it was a tie between people choosing their own name and a different, random name. And bringing up the rear is a single person who doesn't know. Why the person doesn't know is something we'll never know.

I almost always put in my own name at the save slot creation screen, though occasionally I'll choose Link. I can see why more people choose Link, since it goes with the overall story a bit more, and it's supposed to be his actual name.

And finally, we come to the newest poll. I'm pretty sure I've got a few regular readers as is evident from comments and the several people that follow my blog, and I know I get new readers every once and a while from links via other blogs and GoNintendo. And since I've come this far and have been blogging for this long, I have to wonder, what do you think of my blog? Love it? Hate it? I really want to know, which is why I've put up the latest poll, "On a scale of 1 to 5, what do you think of World 1-1?" And if you're not that fond of my blog, please let your voice be heard. Any constructive criticism is more than welcome.

Comments or questions? Drop an email to kylehogg@gmail.com or leave a comment below...

Happy Valentine's Day from World 1-1

(Full comic at 2P START!)

Happy Valentine's Day to all those lovers out there. Hope the temporary banner is liked. -Kyle

Several quick game impressions

Wow. Haven't posted for eleven days. It's been a combination of being sick and not having the enthusiasm that has kept me from posting in the last week and a half. I'll try to post a bit more frequent (that shouldn't be too hard). And seeing as there's been a few new games coming up that I'm interested in, I may also have some reviews sooner or later. -Kyle

I've been playing a number of games (most of them not incredibly recent) and I've decided to compile my two cents of each game into a single post. Enjoy!

Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii)
Boy am I loving City Folk. Many gamers complain it's more of the same, which may be true, but I on the other hand have never played an Animal Crossing before this one and am addicted. I boot it up (just about) every day and play for an hour or so. I'm loving it.

Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii)
I never got around to playing this launch title. I heard it was average at best and steered clear of it. But borrowing it from someone has given me the chance to explore what is an entertaining 3D Sonic game despite it's flaws. When you get going at top speed you'll really see the game shine. There's a lot of clunky mechanics that hold this one back from greatness, but it's still an entertaining ride.

LIT (WiiWare)
I bought this two days ago. It's a fun little WiiWare title. It's not without its flaws, specifically polish. Nevertheless it's a unique and entertaining environment based puzzle game that involves making paths of light by turning on lamps and breaking windows.

N+ (DS)
N+ may seem like a simple platformer, and what it really is a simple platformer that's a load of fun. The basic platforming mechanics of running, jumping, and getting to the goal are present and a lots of fun. I'm so close to beating this one, though the last episodes are increasingly difficult and pretty brutal.

Upcoming purchases
I'm definitely getting House of the Dead: Overkill, MadWorld, and New Play Control Pikmin soon, as I'm very stoked for those. I'm also going to get Deadly Creatures sometime, but not right now as I'll have my money spent for a little while. I also haven't decided on Tenchu yet, it looks to be a fun game but I just don't have the money and play time for it. I'll probably hold out until the summer where I can catch up on my backlog of games.

Comments or questions? Drop an email to kylehogg@gmail.com or leave a comment below...

Gaming Forecast - Febrary 2009

Welcome to an all new, monthly feature on World 1-1: the Gaming Forecast. Here I'll post about the Wii and DS games in the coming month that you should possibly be looking out for. No shovelware here though, I'll just be posting games that are at least halfway decent. So with out further ado, enjoy this February edition. -Kyle

Wii has quite a few games out this month, especially compared to January. As for the Nintendo DS, there's plenty of games to look out for there as well.

Gaming Forecast February 2009

• Rygar: The Battle of Argus (Wii, Feb. 3rd)
• Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (Wii, Feb. 3rd)
• Deadly Creatures (Wii, Feb. 9th)
• The House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii, Feb. 10th)
• OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers (Wii, Feb. 10th)
• Legacy of Ys: Books I & II (DS, Feb. 10th)
• Retro Game Challenge (DS, Feb. 10th)
• Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (DS, Feb. 16th)
• Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DS, Feb. 17th)
  
• Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop (Wii, Feb. 24th)
• Blue Dragon Plus (DS, Feb. 24th)
• C.O.R.E. (DS, Feb. 24th)
• Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (DS, Feb. 24th)

The only one I'm definitely getting is House of the Dead. Though Deadly Creatures and Tenchu are very tempting, and I may have to give in and buy them. Since I don't own a DS (that'll change once April comes around and the DSi's launched), I can't say I'm buying any of those. But if I did own Nintendo's little portable, I'd definitely be all over Retro Game Challenge and Puzzle Quest: Galactrix. And even possibly Fire Emblem.

February looks to be a pretty good month for both Nintendo systems. And I'm sure you'll find something to play in those thirteen games I listed.

Comments or questions? Drop an email to kylehogg@gmail.com or leave a comment below...