Star Wars: Battlefront 3 + Disney Infinity 3.0 + Nintendo... Nintendo

Hope everyone is providing plenty of feedback to the developer that's actually constructive (during the beta)... for the best experience in Star Wars Battlefront 3. The missions should contain some seriously good Star Wars missions, because there is too much gold there, don't sleep on it. Missions should rival multiplayer so that both are appreciated.

Here is the Deluxe Edition & Standard Editions... along with the PS4 Limited Edition Bundle the one and only Darth Vader on it. That PS4 is nice, and what I love about the design is that its not labeled with the title of the game. Why is this important to me? Well... that takes a dated look off the system, because the game won't be new forever and having the title of the game would be like a timestamp (kind of like how some gamepads and fight sticks have the titles of games on them).


                                                              

It would've been great to see an all white PS4 with Luke Skywalker on it too, but this totally works.


For Wii U gamers (though its a different feel)... there's always Star Wars action through the Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition. What gets us about Nintendo is that they seem to just roll with whatever they get. At least the game is available on the console... but it's just the standard edition. They still aren't exactly opening up the way they could and we haven't been presenting much Nintendo news (even though there is a little), mainly because there is a lot of repeat repeat repeat. There has been an even bigger shift in interest towards PC because companies have been a bit more open and a willingness to provide content, beta codes, etc (with or without us reaching out to them).

What content would be shown at that point? Yep... you guessed, PC content! We're going to continue covering news for the big N though... that's just something that had to be expressed. :p I'll end this on a lighter note: Out of all the Star Wars characters, Ahsoka Tano is actually ranked #1 for all of us at SDGT Studio. It may just be the amount of story surrounding her (but it's good and we like her personality), and there is enough for her to actually have her own story from youngling to Padawan and beyond. The crap she went through prior to walking away from her path to Jedi... was enough for her to get our vote on that decision. Anyway... game on!



Enjoy Star Wars action in Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition



Poker Night 2... reviewed!

This game is great for… a non-multiplayer Poker experience.

Poker Night 2 delivers a… (hmmm) neat NPC experience for poker fans, people simply learning how to play (for whatever reason), or seeking DLC for other games.

You get to enjoy the company of Borderland’s Claptrap, Sam (& Max) from… Sam & Max, Brock Samson from The Venture Bros, and… Ash Williams from Army of Darkness as fellow players (without overlooking the dealer, aka GlaDOS the robot from Portal).

You get to earn different chip, card, and table designs… in addition to the DLC for Borderlands 2 and Team Fortress 2, which help stand out in those games (so if you don’t like looking like the standard characters in the game, you have more options thanks to this game).

Poker is poker, there isn’t much to explain beyond what the game already lays out in the “How to Play”, but I really like the way the NPC’s interact according to the hands played and stories discussed (they aren’t just sitting there lifeless during games, their personalities are on the table just as much as the cards and chips).

The bounties add another element that can be appreciated also, and you get various objectives that include winning showdowns between multiple players, and so forth. So you aren't just playing standard poker (even though you're playing poker)... because it then becomes objective based poker that goes beyond winning hands (if you wish to play that game. Get it? Okay, now that I've added some cheese to this review... I'll get back to it). 

Speaking of winning, I won’t even tell you what this means, but when you “unlock” and select 3 of a kind… something will happen.

Overall, for the price of $4.99… it’s pretty good because you have this chill poker experience for the days (or nights) you want to just kick back and play something that doesn’t require fast reactions, and if you have Borderlands 2 and/or Team Fortress 2... the DLC is good reason alone to give this game a shot if you're cool with a stand-alone poker experience. This game has been out for a while, and of course I have a few concepts that come to mind with this game that would be great for updates or… a new Poker Night 3.

Since were no strangers to contacting game developers… this too shall pass. :p

Overall the game does what it does… well, visually nothing is expected (from me with a poker game), but… they made it happen anyway (because it is a poker game that lacks the multiplayer experience). This is in addition to the comedy, and actually taking the time to explain what poker actually is because… it makes sense to actually be able to play the game if you’re trying to enjoy it (I think it’s a great tool to teach future pros how to play… in a way that’s not drop dead boring).

Fun factor: 4

Visually: 5

Replay value: 5

Price: 5

4.75 / 5 Cool Points

SDGT Ent: Long live great gamers!

We can't speak for any of the charities you see here... but we can say that it is an honor knowing that we've been able to help people through these charities (beyond our own positive endeavors). We don't have our own charity, but it doesn't stop us from helping others when we get the chance, and... that grows bigger with the support of supporters like you (which could birth our own type of charity). Long live great health, great charities, and great gamers! (Now if you'll excuse me... there's a PB&J sandwich calling my name after I make a pit stop to Planet Spark!)

 



From the source: Nintendo - Nintendo Announces Two New Nintendo 3DS Systems Coming This Fall

Aug. 31, 2015 21:18 UTC

Nintendo Announces Two New Nintendo 3DS Systems Coming This Fall

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- At the GameStop Managers Conference in Las Vegas, Nintendo announced that the New Nintendo 3DS system will launch in the U.S. as part of a special bundle on Sept. 25. The bundle includes the new hand-held system, the upcoming Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer game, two cover plates and one amiibo card at a suggested retail price of $219.99. The more compact New Nintendo 3DS system joins New Nintendo 3DS XL, which has been available since Feb. 13.

On Sept. 25 the New Nintendo 3DS system will launch in the U.S. as part of a special bundle, which includes the new hand-held system, the upcoming Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer game, two cover plates and one amiibo card (Photo: Business Wire)

In addition, a Hyrule Edition New Nintendo 3DS XL system will launch exclusively in GameStop stores on Oct. 30 at a suggested retail price of $199.99, just in time for the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (sold separately) on Oct. 23. The system is gold-colored and features an intricate Hylian Crest on the front.

Other news revealed at the GameStop Conference included the debut of three new Wii Remote Plus controllers inspired by classic Mushroom Kingdom characters Bowser, Toad and Yoshi.

“More than 15 million systems in the Nintendo 3DS family have been sold in the U.S. alone,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “These new models offer additional fun ways to experience some of the great upcoming Nintendo 3DS games launching in the next few months.”

New Nintendo 3DS incorporates all the same enhanced features as the New Nintendo 3DS XL system, including a wider range of controls, face-tracking 3D and built-in NFC functionality that allows for communication with amiibo figures. The compact system also features interchangeable cover plates that can be easily swapped out to change the look of the device*. Two cover plates inspired by Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer are included in the bundle.

Various amiibo cards launch with the Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer game on Sept. 25. Tapping compatible amiibo cards while playing Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is a way to meet favorite Animal Crossing characters with their separate personalities and design requests in the game. People who own the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL or Nintendo 2DS systems can still use the cards to enjoy Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer by purchasing the Nintendo 3DS NFC Reader/Writer accessory at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The wireless accessory also launches on Sept. 25and allows players to enjoy amiibo figures and cards on all other systems in the Nintendo 3DS family.

Joining previously released Wii Remote Plus controllers themed after Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, three new controllers inspired by Bowser, Toad and Yoshi will launch exclusively at GameStop at a suggested retail price of $39.99 each. The Bowser and Toad controllers will launch alongside the Super Mario Maker game for the Wii U console on the 11^th of September, while the Yoshi version will hop on the back of the Yoshi’s Woolly World launch on Oct. 16. Wii Remote Plus includes Wii MotionPlus technology, and works with all Wii and Wii U games that are compatible with Wii Remote controllers.

Bowser, the newest member of the Photos with Mario series of Nintendo eShop Cards, is coming this fall – exclusively at GameStop. Customers can add $10 to their Nintendo eShop accounts and get the new Bowser AR card at no additional cost. With the Bowser AR card, players can use their Nintendo 3DS systems to play and pose with Bowser and other Mushroom Kingdom characters in the free Photos with Mario app.

From the source: Nintendo - Xenoblade Chronicles X Special Edition + Yatagarasu AOC... reviewed!

It feels like its Friday already... but nearly every day feels like a Friday here! Anyway, the Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm (Steam) review is now available at (the main hub) SDGT Ent! We've spoken with a member of the team and they also appreciate the suggestions for potential updates.

Aug. 29, 2015 22:30 UTC

Nintendo News: Xenoblade Chronicles X Special Edition Launches on Dec. 4

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Launching alongside the standalone version of massive Wii U role-playing game Xenoblade Chronicles X on Dec. 4 is a Special Edition overflowing with great content. Perfect for fans who want to experience everything Xenoblade Chronicles X has to offer, players who purchase the Special Edition at a suggested retail price of $89.99 will get a beautifully designed package that contains:

Xenoblade chronicles x special edition

(Photo: Business Wire)

• The Xenoblade Chronicles X game
• A gorgeous book of concept art with more than 100 pages, featuring select art for the very first time
• A unique USB drive modeled after the game’s “Lifehold Unit,” pre-loaded with a selection of 10 music tracks from the game’s memorable soundtrack
• A limited-edition matted 5x7 art card of a painting done for the game by illustrator Takashi Kojo

Unique to North America, this Xenoblade Chronicles X Special Edition is now available for pre-order at select retailers nationwide.

Xenoblade Chronicles X comes from acclaimed developers Monolith Soft, the creators of Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii console. In this new game, Earth is destroyed and humanity faces annihilation from an intergalactic war between two alien races. Players must fight for their survival and explore a new planet full of exotic and hostile life-forms. To traverse the planet with ease, players can pilot customizable mechs called “Skells,” which give them powerful weapons. Players can also customize a lethal skill set of combat and defensive skills called Arts to strengthen their strategies and defeat enemies efficiently.

Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition (Photo: Business Wire)


Youtube Stream tests here... (by the way the frame caught in the preview image of this video is awesome... look at the caption in the first one)! 

• Nintendo Wii U
• Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition – Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition now welcomes Star Wars to the ever-growing collection of Marvel, Disney and Disney • Pixar characters, stories and worlds. Together, new heroes can join forces with characters from previous editions and embark on adventures as big as your imagination!

borderlands 2 game of the year

pacman championship edition dx

Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm… reviewed!

This game is structured with tournaments in mind (even more so than other fighting games I’ve seen)… and could prove to be a great starting point for anyone working on creating their own tournament events.

I always welcome fighting games, and I feel that this is a pretty cool one (that will probably kick your butt on normal mode if you aren’t a frequent player of fighting games, but it looks pretty good doing it too)… representing 2D fighting in a way that takes me back (in time that is).

Off the bat… the opening of the game got my attention and made me curious about what it was all about, and I am a fan of 2D fighting games (if I had the means when I was a teen… I probably would’ve been in EVO-like tournaments showing no mercy; I’d still take on the likes of Daigo Umehara... I'm not joking).

The reason I feel that this game is structured with tournaments in mind, is because… the launcher presents you more options based on setting up tournaments more than anything else.

You can create your tournament start date, name, list the host, the venue, as well as tournament results, team registrations and the ability to tweet when you’re a participant in a tournament.

Tournaments can be either online or offline, it’s up to you or whoever the host is. There are a lot of options that may confuse someone  that’s not familiar with setting up tournaments… but for hosts, creating instructions on how to join a tournament would be the thing I’d suggest (if they aren’t local).

I think this is awesome… and would allow anyone to create a tournament if desired. You get the option of uploading your own icon (if your team wants to represent).
Something that stood out in this game for me (beyond the tournament creation aspect)… was the CPU commentators added to the mix. Think of the commentators of fighting game tournaments and how they liven up matches, then… take a few teaspoons of that and add it to a fighting game, and you get what we have here. Thought that was a pretty cool addition.

Beyond the tournament and commentator coolness, it would’ve been great to get a bit more from the story (mainly presentation wise). The background remains the same… and so do the character poses, and as we move forward, even with appreciation of the older fighters it would good to see new things added to the mix (in addition to those mentioned).

I won’t rag on this game for something many fighting games have gotten away with based on illustrations for story (minus skipping out on the backgrounds)… but if I can recommend any updates being made, it would be to update the backgrounds at least, and allow for analog control (thought that was going to be an option with the Xbox controller option). If all my requests were to be met, I’d also request character expressions with alternate poses (or even great 2D animation if it can be pushed to that point), more character, increased resolution. That’s totally if… the developer is seeking a way to deliver even more.

From the standpoint of it being a smaller team, I can understand that it doesn’t have such things… but at the same time knowing that some of the members of this team also played a part in games ranging from King of Fighters… to Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, it would’ve been great to see more (that could’ve gained even more interest from fans of those games). Call it… wishful thinking, but I’m excited to see what they deliver as time goes on (hopefully they continue progressing Yatagarasu… versus jumping to another fighting game).

Another area where I feel the game could’ve delivered a bit more… is the… user interface (UI) outside of the health bars and power meters, because the menus are really plain. It doesn’t make or break the overall game… but just because I can still eat ice cream, doesn’t mean I’d pass up on having whipped cream and a cherry on top. I say that because presentation goes a long way.

Last but not least, one thing the localization team has to beware of… are those pesky typos. Some gamers wouldn’t care less or even notice, but those who want to enjoy a game to the fullest (because it is an investment)… deserve to have the text of a storyline make sense.

One thing I’m making note of is the indie initiative: Fine tuning can take care of those things mentioned, and though it would’ve been great to have such things upon release (if updates come)… this game was funded through a crowd funding campaign. That in itself makes me wonder if they did what they could under the circumstances of getting the game to backers as promised in a certain timeframe but plan on doing updates now that it’s out. (Fingers crossed.) I’ll take these things over game affecting bugs any day, but I could also do without either.

Character wise… the men and women in the game are almost even in the amount of male and female fighters the game has to offer, which one of the members of Nyu-Media told me in a tidbit that there’s some degree of gender ambiguity among the characters... so they consulted GLAAD for the localization (which is a non-governmental media monitoring organization founded by some LGBT people in the media).

I’ve experienced characters in numerous games… and even anime shows with unknown genders, so it isn’t uncommon to me. If they felt the consultation from the organization would help the game… more power to them, it would’ve been good to get more characters though. Anyway, get in and play with each character to see what you think, especially if you plan on indulging in some tournament action and want to be known for how much butt you can kick with a specific character. I’m still feeling them out, and for Street Fighter and King of Fighters fans… there are a few characters that will possibly feel familiar to you.

I really like what they did here regarding tournament options, that deserves 2 sore thumbs up (from playing that is). Some of the characters aren’t as memorable as they could be (for me)… but I haven’t exactly played with them a great deal (and it takes time for characters to grow on me). Some characters I do like... and my favs are not only looking the part, but are functional enough for me to be effective in matches. Thinking about the characters, they could be overshadowed somewhat by the commentators… who even shout at the end of matches in my experience (so I couldn't hear the character). Fans have the ability to take characters to that point of remembrance in my opinion though, because... some people fall in love with characters they represent with in tournaments and will (at times) talk about them, their back story, quirks, etc. Curiosity could literally be built in someone else because of the way someone else feels… but I will leave it at that, hopefully you understand what I mean and how it relates to this review. :p

Price wise… I can’t argue with $15, especially if someone can take the offerings of this game and turn them into an opportunity for themselves and challengers looking for tournaments (those are just memorable experiences waiting for action)… and the games not expensive.Fun factor: 4 (One player… bit of a lackluster, but add multiplayer and tournament action and it’s a different story.)

Visually: 3

Replay value: 5

Price: 4

4 / 5

Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition… reviewed!

I originally played this game on the Nintendo 3DS (the initial version)… and it’s one of my favorite games. Being able to enjoy the recent release on Steam is great (which is also available on Wii U).

Since the resolution is better on PC and Wii U… WayForward did the game justice by delivering it in HD. It would’ve been great to see a 3D mode for those with 3D glasses, but… I’ll live.

How I’d describe the game… is a… “Race against the clock, switch it up until you drop… puzzle/platform hybrid”. You’re playing as a switch force officer by the name of Patricia Wagon (aka Patty Wagon)… as she tracks down escaped space vixen’ish criminals in an assortment of stages that will test you to not only complete them, but do so in the fastest time possible. Are you up to the challenge?

What’s cool about this game… is that they don’t just shove puzzles down your throat, you’re playing through a level with enemies that can also take you out. So you have 3 factors… that require multi-tasking, but it’s not a complicated game… just don’t go in expecting it to be a cake walk either.

It’s great to have online leaderboards in this version, and in the Steam version (of this HD version)… you have Steam Trading Cards (that you can save, sell, etc.), Achievements… and Steam Cloud compatibility.

Going back on the appreciation of this game being more than just a puzzle game… you get to progress in the game… for the sake of beating it like you could a 2D platformer. The combination was well executed. They had the option of just delivering levels to complete at the fastest times, but it would’ve felt incomplete without something to reach in the overall scheme of things.

Visually… the game looks great, and the artwork is nice and vibrant. It really excites me to the things the team could do with an even bigger budget. I cannot forget one of the elements that is almost as important to me… as the game itself, that would be the music. Simply put… the composer did a great job, and really landed the style of music this game needed to really come alive. The music is the icing to the cake in this game, and I love a good (hefty) slice of cake every now and then.

The price is just right, and even more so for fans of time trialed games. The Steam Leaderboards have plenty of competition that may leave you wondering… “How in the heck did they get that time?!”, which is a perfect segue (seg-way) into… replay value! The time trials make this game infinitely re-playable if you think you could do better, and believe me… I took a look at little mistakes I’d make so that I could improve to shave down on my completion times.

Tip: Beat the game… and play again. I won’t tell you why, but trust me.

Wayforward, bring Patty Wagon back… in an even bigger game. She has the potential to shine in more than the current (awesome) hybrid genre. She has the character… as well as enough untold backstory to really capture the audience again, and again (look at the occupation she has in this game… and space is vast). Think about it!

Fun factor: 5
Visually: 5
Replay value: 5
Price: 5

"5 / 5"