Smash Bros. on a console. Where most would agree it works the best. But after the 3DS version serving as a big slice of this generation's Smash Bros. pie, would the WiiU version be able to fight its way out of the shadow of its handheld sibling?
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The year of 2014 was a big one for me. Nothing too fancy, but quite a bit of stuff. 2014 was also a year in which I continued trends which I'd set in 2013. For instance - going to ComicCon. In 2013, it was my first ever ComicCon, up at Telford. Went with a few friends, and ultimately ended up doing little. In 2014, at Birmingham, I went with one of the friends I'd gone with last time. And this time did a lot more. In fact, I met Brian Murphy, star of George and Mildred and Last of the Summer Wine. Though I didn't talk all that much with him [nerves, can't really blame me], I did get a photo with him, as did my friend. And there was also a Star Wars parade. Who can't love a parade?
Since video gaming is one of my most favourite hobbies, I decided to split this from the main 2014 review. That will follow up after, since this is probably going to be longer. I was going to do one of these last year, but messed it up.
Over the course of the year, I've been buying a number of games away from their releases in the hopes of getting them cheaper. Of course, the Steam sales do help, as well as those on Origin, but sometimes you can find games without the help of sales. Both Pikmin 3 and Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics 4 were bought off Amazon at reduced prices. Harvest Moon: A New Beginning was also bought at a reduced price as well. Wii Party U was bought more for the free remote than the game itself, but I've still had fun with the game. Then I bought an official Mario remote later on. That's the thing with me - I hardly ever trust unofficial accessories. So Happy New Year, everyone. 2015 is upon us. There's not much to this update, but I'm covering a bit of new stuff.
First off, there'll be two 2014 Review articles being posted. The first will be my 2014 in gaming. It's a pretty big post, and as such I didn't want it included with my general 2014 review. The gaming review will be posted tomorrow, with the general review next week. Pokémon might look the same to outsiders, but there are numerous changes, whether big or small, that affect the gameplay in some way. Generation 6 of the Pokémon games made one of the biggest changes to the series - with the transition to actual 3D models instead of sprites, as well as introducing the fairy type - and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, the next set of games in Generation 6, offer even more to change up the game.
The game that looked like a reinvention, but failed on all accounts. If you look up a list of all what was promised, you could probably count what was achieved on one hand. Though maybe that's an exaggeration. It certainly doesn't play like a Sonic game, doesn't have many of the elements you'd expect from a Sonic game, thus a reinvention. But in a worse state than better.
As I've always said, the UK holiday season begins on the first and runs to the first. December is when the decorations start to get put up, gifts sorted [although sometimes that'll be a month in advance], and the advent calendars start the countdown. And then we have that major event itself of the 25th. And then six days later the countdown to a new year begins, and the holiday season ends after the first of January. Why would I be saying this though? It's not like I have anything super special planned for you all. Well, in fact, I do. Or should I say did.
What can I say about this series? It comes once a generation, and each one improves the formula in some way, though can oftentimes sacrifice other parts of said formula. This generation though, we have two Smash games - and for the first time on a handheld. The 3DS version handles the basics, but does it really have the power to handle the grunt?
Said I would do this, to give my feelings on the show, and whether the rest of the world should be excited for this when it finally airs elsewhere. The answer is - yes.
I can literally say this is one of the best crafted cartoons of Sonic I have watched. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog felt like it was nothing but a comic fest. Nothing but joke after joke with little story. Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic X felt more serious in nature, a bit too off tone, and relying too much on gimmicky power ups so as not to make Sonic too powerful all the time. And Sonic Underground... It tried to strike the right balance, but it either came off as too annoyingly comic or too serious about itself. Getting it out of the way first - the fan game video. I have the footage ready, and will upload it raw. No voice. I tried recording, and it just doesn't come out very good. At all. I'll do some basic animation and add a voiceover or something to that. You'll see what I mean. And speaking of animation, the Principles video should be uploaded this week. Next Monday is the hand-in date, so it will all be put together during this week.
The LAN Adapter shall be here this week as well, meaning MKTV videos should be restarting soon. In terms of games, I'll be getting Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Pokémon Omega Ruby. I know I said I'd cover Smash Bros last month, but I'll be covering Smash this month while the two other games mentioned will be covered next month. It allows me to explore the games more before giving my thoughts. And talking of Sonic Boom, the TV series starts in the US this month - in fact, this Saturday - so hopefully I can catch a livestream of that to give my thoughts. Possibly the shortest update so far, but there's not much I've really got this month. Well, this was interesting. I was already anticipating the release of this, and the forty minutes of greatness has finally arrived. What we have here is two episodes put together to form a season opener, or a conjoined arc, if you will.
The first half gives all the main characters time in the spotlight. The second half expands on them. I'll try not to go into that much detail on plots this time, but it should still be a decent review. It was a real surprise when The Clone Wars ended, though not totally unexpected. Whisperings began as far back as before Season Five even aired. With the change in time slot on American Cartoon Network, some believed the show was to end soon. After all, Disney had just recently acquired Lucas Film at the time.
Season Five airs as normal, and then we get the video of Dave Filoni announcing the end of The Clone Wars, but that the stories weren't finished. Indeed they weren't. So, yesterday. The sneak peek was posted, end of the month like I said, and though the title will stay in its anagram form for now, I'm sure observant people might have seen what it could be already. I won't be saying any more on it yet, and I definitely won't be giving a release date. Not after what happened with the other novel I said would 'soon' be published.
Either way, onto this month. [New Edition Note: This is currently the fourth novel that is being worked on, and while this preview gives an idea of what to expect - it has been rewritten and is circulating in Kindle-published works. A release for it hasn't been set, but once new previews start appearing the release won't be far behind.
Presenting the original Space Race Championship preview. Due to the transition from Weebly to here, and the fact that it has been over a year since I last did one of these, I thought I'd do a recap of what I'd said in my last one, as well as what's transpired since then.
The first game I mentioned I'm waiting for was a new instalment of Sonic the Hedgehog. I mentioned the Adventure games, and where 06 and Unleashed fit into them [06 only part Adventure and Unleashed only in name] before giving a bit of an opinion of Colours and Generations. Key quote from the next part was "Through all of that though, the handheld games never faltered". I know. I know. I haven't carried out any animation during the last month, despite saying I would. Fact is, I've been busy with things outside and inside.
My first year of University over, and I had two animated works complete, and was ready for the next year when I would start the Animation course proper. Both were well within the guidelines of the projects, and both were completed frame-by-frame in Photoshop. Not the best, but it served my needs, and while the works were animated, both were to show off the art in the animation rather than the animation itself.
"If they were to add the Clone Wars, it would almost double the work they would have to do and it would have a negative effect on the game."
Regarding this business that DICE are concentrating only on the Galactic Civil War for the new Star Wars Battlefront, this is one of the most commented quotes I have seen. And I cannot possibly imagine why anyone would even say that. So first off, let me say that I've seen this subject cropping up everywhere Star Wars related, in various forms, and decided I'd offer my thoughts on it.
I don't think this update will be quite as big as the other two. Reason why is - there just isn't much to be said for this month.
Yes, I've been pretty lax on the animation front as, while I've had a few ideas, nothing concrete has been planned. This month though, I aim to really start getting on with it. There was something within my high school years that I made but the files were lost. I aim to try and recreate that as best as I can. But I won't just be doing that. I still will aim for those smaller side projects too. In terms of uploads for this month, I expect to get the usual fan-fic part uploads out roughly every two days. This month will be the one where those two animated university works I mentioned last month will be uploaded. And the teaser for the eBook will also be uploaded this month as well. Mario Kart 8 highlight reels will continue to be uploaded as per normal. And now, I bring on the last point for this month. I will still be keeping CDS Blogs from Weebly open, but there will be no more uploads to be had there. All uploads will be in here, with the main point of the post bracketed in the title. When I get an upload up tomorrow, talking about something I've seen numerous times - and my opinions on it, I think you'll see why that is happening. I might also change this blog page up a bit as well. But I'll have to see about that one. For now, just keep looking out for new content. |