The 3DS, The Vita, and the Ports

Let me say this up front, I have nothing against either consoles or ports, I'm all for anything gaming, this is just an observation I have seen through Twitter and other sites.

OK, now to business.

When the 3DS first launched, some people were complaining at the amount of ports the system was getting. I can see wanting original games for a system at launch, bit at least games are there for it I say. If the ports are of good games, what is there to complain about? You are getting the same great game, just with a few slight modifications.

Now, look at the Vita, you seeing what I'm seeing? Ports, a good bit of ports as well. Like I said earlier, I don't mind that, but what has got me a bit irritated is that nobody was complaining about the Vita getting all those ports like they did with the 3DS.

Now, does this seem fair at all? Excusing one system over another for doing the same thing seems unfair. Either complain about both or be fine with both. I say it's all good. What are systems meant for? To play games. Games are there, so play them.

YouTube Series Preview: The DK Bongos Challenge and Dance Pad Challenge

I am starting two new series of YouTube videos, The DK Bongos Challenge and The Dance Pad Challenge. In these two series, I will attempt to play games these devices weren't meant to be played on, which will be a difficult task. I will be attempting to be getting a High Score, Fast Time, Completion Percentage, or some other goal I set.

Let me break both devices down.

DK Bongos: These were meant for use with Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2, and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. There are 2 Bongos, a Start button, and a microphone (which is useless for all other games). For the games not mentioned, the Bongos function as the A, B, Y, X, and Start buttons. You can see, no way of movement, so this may be harder since most games require movement.

Dance Pad: This was meant for Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix. It has a 4 way Directional Pad, and the A, B, Z, and Start buttons. You can only move in games that let you use the Directional Pad, and you don't have all the face buttons, which makes games which use all the face buttons more of a challenge.

So, suggest some games you want me to try with either or both devices, and it has to be a game where I can do something with it to.

Here is the Intro video on my YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0hlXrZmszM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Game Rant: Mario Kart 7

Release Date: December 4th, 2011
Platform: 3DS
Genre: Racing

Nintendo's flagship racing series comes to the 3DS with the same enjoyable gameplay as before with some new additions to the formula.

It's Mario Kart, it's the same entertaining and satisfying racing craziness you come to expect from the series. The racing action is as solid as it's ever been. You drive around a track and be the 1st to get to the finish line using items to aid you in your struggle. The controls handle well and the graphics are good. The 3D effect is also pleasurable to look at, and the 1st person view and Gyro Controls are functional enough to not be a hassle. For the game modes, you got your Grand Prix, your Time Trial, and the two battle modes, Balloon Battle and Coin Runners, in Single Player. There is no separate Vs mode like the two previous entries, which is a small snag, but isn't crucial. The new tracks are well designed and the selection of retro tracks are awesome as well, it really brings a nostalgic feeling when you play the re-designed retro tracks. The characters in the game are mostly the ones you expect, but you can unlock a few surprise characters as well along with your Mii. There are a few new items as well, the Super Leaf gives you a tanooki tail to seat away opponents and items, the fire flower allows you to shoot fireballs forward or backward to burn everything in your path, and the Lucky 7 item, which gives you 7 items in one, a star, Blooper, green shell, red shell, mushroom, banana, and a Bomb-omb. They also took out the Fake Item Box, which has been in all the other games. Everybody's bane, the blue spiny shell, has lost its wings and travels along the ground so it smash the others along with 1st place. To mix the formula a bit you can customize your kart, you unlock parts as you earn coins while you race, you can unlock bodies, wheels, and gliders and each part will affect the overall stats of your Kart. I said gliders in the last sentence, and yes, this installment allows you to glide through the air for short bursts or time. You find a blue glider panel and you take to the sky, you can find alternate routes that allows you to overtake your competition. In addition to air, you can also travel by sea as well. If it's one thing we learned in the other games, it's "don't drive into the water", but this time you can race underwater as well. Your Kart sprouts a small propeller in the back and off you go. Lastly, the online features. Online you can play against the world in either Vs races or Battle games. The online handles great with little to no lag. When a room is full, you are put in spectator mode, which is nice, but sometimes nobody wants to leave and you are stuck in spectator mode for a long time, and the only way to back out is to reset the software. Also, you can see which friends are online and join their game right away, which is nice. The community feature is a new addition to the series. It allows people to play only with friends in a private room. The communities are customizable to allow different types of play. One example is a Battle community with only Bomb-ombs as items. Also, you get Street Pass and Spot Pass with other 3DS systems. Spotpass downloads Ghost data to race against and community updates, and Streetpass exchanges data and ghost times with the other system. You can choose to race Spotpass or Streetpass ghost data don't away to see if you can beat the time.

Bottom line: Mario Kart 7 is an enjoyable addition the the series with satisfying gameplay and is highly recommended.