Once upon a TCPS Holiday Guide

The holiday season is rapidly approaching and lots of people are thinking about gifts. Whether it be the person who's going out to buy them or the person being asked (or pestered) by their family for gift ideas because they can't come with something right away and they go through the same thing every year, and they're forced to make a- Sorry. Point is, it's the holidays. So what should you buy or want? Well, I Could give you a few ideas, but let me just run through some of the things that came out recently, so if you haven't picked them up yet, and you feel that you can wait until present opening time, you have something to tell those pestering persons of interest. (Also, I live in the US, so everything I state is based on availability and prices here.)

While the Nintendo 3DS didn't recently come out, it did get some awesome titles for it recently, and that enough should be enough to go out and pick up the handheld. If you're feeling lucky, or generous go and pick up one of the special editions or bundles. The new Flame Red bundle comes with Super Mario 3D Land, while a new Pearl Pink version has shown it's pretty face bundled with Nintendogs + cats. Of course there is the Cosmo Black Legend of Zelda Special Edition 3DS, detailed with gold art on the outside and gold buttons on the inside, and bundled with The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D. That's my personal favorite, but we've already clarified that I'm biased towards LoZ. You can pick all three of those up at your local GameStop(.com). (Please call ahead before you run in there saying TCPS told you so.) Walmart stores will have the Pink bundle, while you're local Target will be carrying The Pink and Red bundles. Both the Mario and Zelda 3DS Bundles will run you about $200, while the Pink puppy bundle will run you the regular price of $170.

But you're going to need something to play on your 3DS if you don't get a bundle! Well, just released is the new Mario Kart 7! Swim and Fly in this installment, and experience the fun that you know from the Mari Kart series. Also why not pick up some other Mario games, like Super Mario 3D Land, and the DS Mario games New Super Mario Bros, Super Mario 64, and many others. Not wanting to play as the courageous Link running around Hyrule in Ocarina of Time 3D? Got you covered. Do a freaking barrel roll in Star Fox 64, or spin dash into Egg Man in Sonic Generations. All of these games will run you between the sweet wallet spot of between $30 and $40. And don't forget to pick up those accessories for your games and handheld! You'll need a case to protect your pretty new 3DS, maybe a car charger, and a travel charging base if yo're gonna take it on the road. You might want to think about picking up a case to carry all of your games in to so you're not toting 10 to 15 big plastic cases with you in your bag. You'll need that space for the accessory to turn your 3DS into a controller for easier handling.

If we're gonna talk about Nintendo we can't forget the Wii. It's had some pretty good releases and so far the best selling release would have to be The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword. This isn't just my bias talking, it's gotten some amazing reviews. Nintendo really took advantage of their Wii MotionPlus with this game, and it's paid off. Again, if sword fighting isn't your dig why not take a break and dance with Just Dance 3, or maybe some fighting in WWE '12. Maybe Spyro is more your likes and you want to pick up some Skylanders. It's all there for the range of $30 to $70.

I know, you're really interested in the other consoles, right? Xbox 360 and Playstation 3? Yeah, they've had some amazing releases, too. Like Skyrim. If you haven't picked it up, and you think you can wait that long, go ahead and put that at the top of your list. Then when you open the gift and thank the person who bought it for you, tell the rest of your family and friends goodbye while you immerse yourself in a game that's going to easily last more than 90 hours. It was nice knowing you. Don't want to disappear for quite so long? Yeah, I don't blame you, (even if it is a really good game.) Why don't you ask for the newest installment in the AC series with Assassin's Creed Legacy. I hear that Ezio is older and searching for something, something that may or may not have to do with Altair. Just a hunch, I'm not actually sure. *ignores blatant AC ad playing in the background* Don't forget about Sonic, he's not just on the Wii and 3DS, and of course Batman Arkham City. New DLC coming out for that one. Or maybe you're more of a FPS person, yeah we've got you covered there, too. Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. You're welcome.

We can't forget the exclusives, like Kinect exclusives, or PS exclusives. Looking for fun for the whole family? Pick up Disneyland Adventures, seriously, I'm almost 24 and I kind of really want that game. Of course you can dance with the many dancing games, like Just Dance (1,2 or 3) The Black Eyed Peas Experience or Dance Central. Want to just kick back, or kick something? Kinect Sports season 2 is out, or kick some alien animals with Raving Rabbids Alive and Kicking. And the one Playstation 3 exclusive game worth buying is the next installment in the Uncharted franchise, Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception. Perfect for any Nolan North fan. Seriously, that guys voice gets around. Did you know he was in Marvel vs Capcom 3? No? Well go get that game, too!

Then for you PC players, you can pick most of the games mentioned above. Probably through Steam. Assassin's Creed Legacy, Sonic Generations, COD: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, Saints Row The Third, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, and many many more. You could also play some Terraria and Minecraft which just came out with their own releases! Minecraft is official people, and Terraria is 1.1! You should think about picking up Bastion also, and maybe look into Trine and Trine 2.

Whatever you play this holiday you now have some idea on what to those gift hounds, and what to pick up for those that just have too much on their list, or too little. Whether you're going to stop at GameStop, Walmart, Target or Best Buy, at least you're not going to go in blind. Happy shopping all! Thank you for letting TCPS add a little more confusion into the busy season of shopping.

No More Heroes and the Waggle War

*Presses Start*

Suda 51 is the shit.

For those of you who don't keep up with your game directors, Suda is the wonderful director for games such as Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, Killer7, Fatal Frame IV and the wonderful No More Heroes. To give you a brief summery, you play as Travis Touchdown, a nerd whose new mission is to defeat the top ranked assassin in his new job of killing everyone in his way. It's rude, it's vulgar and best thing of all time, I love and it's one of the best games on the Wii. Hands down.

PS3 is getting a port of the wonderful part one this summer, so I gave the Japanese version a shot.

But before I get into that, let me give a little bit of info on the waggle war.

Back in 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii, the thing that would soon single handedly destroy their competition for at least 3 years. With it's innovated motion control gaming, it stood on the top of the mountain and laughed at Sony and Microsoft. Both Sony and Microsoft came out and called the Wii's gaming "cute" but none of them could topple the giant. That is, until 2010. Sony released the Playstation Move. It looked just like the Wii, but with wireless nunchuks and a ball on top of the remote. Microsoft released the Kinect the same year touting the tagline "You are the controller." The Kinect sold a lot more then the Move did, but aren't we all forgetting that Both competitors came up with such technology to cut into the Wii's success? And whatever system has the better games is completely to the eye of the beholder because the three consoles have their quality games:

Kinect has Dance Central, a pretty big flagship of a game.

Move has Resident Evil, SOCOM, NBA2K, Killzone, and a few other games that can use the move.

Wii Has your Mario, Zelda, Metroid and other misc games that are just awesome.

At the end of the day, it all depends on what you are into. I, personally, have a Move and a Nintendo Wii. There's nothing that interests me on the Kinect. I don't care for Dance Central and that's just about it as far as "good" games. I have a Move and Killzone was awesome to play on it as well as Resident Evil 5. The Wii gets the most playtime just because I like the quirky games to come out on it. Trauma Center Series. Madworld. TVC. Brawl. Other M. No More Heroes.

*Sigh* No More Heroes.

I love the game, but it doesn't flow as well as it should on a system on the ps3. It struck me as colorful, vibrant, and just as cartoony as the world that it was depicting. On the PS3, The graphics are much better, but it became a darker world in the process and I found myself missing the little things in the game. The Control scheme for this game should have been easy, but it just feels like they were a compiled mess. The game was indeed, made for the motion controls and it should have never been stuffed into a controller. Towards the end of the first boss, I just felt frustrated and mad that half of the moves that I could easily pulled off on the Wii were getting me killed on the PS3. I can see this being playable for US audiences only if you're going to be using the PSMove. If you're looking for getting this one, make sure that you have the move.

Travis Touchdown fumbled on this port. If this is the way that we're going to handle ports from now on, we should have No More Heroes.

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