Resolved / Zelda U Delayed?

For those who read my first post, I talked about my tendency to get obsessed with things.  At that time, I thought that a blog focused mostly on my interests in the video game industry was going to be my next obsession.  Apparently, for me, "obsession" is defined as "something that occupies your every waking thought....for about a week, and then all traces of the 'obsession' disappear from existence."  Sadly, life happens and I just didn't dedicate the time to maintaining the blog.  However, I am resolved to not give up.  As they say "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade!  Make life take the lemons back! Demand to see life's manager!  Make life rue the day it thought it could give [you] lemons!"  Or something like that :).  (Props to those who get the reference).

Anyway, over the last couple weeks I've been thinking of several topics I'd like to write about.  One, however, hit me over the head late yesterday and demands immediate attention.  When it comes to video games, my focus has always been on Nintendo franchises.  It's what I played growing up and those games just fit me better as a person.  So naturally I have been excitedly awaiting the release of the new Legend of Zelda game for Wii U.  While Nintendo hadn't given an official release date, they had said sometime in 2015.  Sadly, that is no longer the case.  Yesterday, March 27th, Nintendo released a video on Facebook in the which Eiji Aonuma (the current producer of the Legend of Zelda series) announced that a 2015 release date was no longer likely.  The delay reasons cited revolved around the Zelda production team's desire to produce the very best Zelda game possible, and as they had recently discovered some new and interesting ideas they wanted to implement their focus was now on making a great game rather than releasing an ok game in 2015.

While this is certainly not the first time Nintendo has delayed a game release, the news certainly took the wind out of my sails for a moment.  But, as they were striving to make the very best game possible I couldn't really fault them for the delay.  However, I became further depressed when a later post on twitter and on Miiverse explained that Zelda U would not be featured at this year's E3.  I still don't fully understand why they don't want to show anything of the game at E3.  They already showed some interesting clips at last year's game awards, perhaps they want the new direction they are taking to be a surprise and as such have nothing new to show?  I guess the real reason this bothers me is because if they don't show anything this year does that mean it won't be ready till fall of 2016, or maybe even 2017?  Some people have claimed that Nintendo are waiting longer to release the game so that they can release it on both Wii U and as a go live title for their next generation console, the NX.  I suppose only time will tell.  No matter what happens, I'm sure the game will be amazing - at least that is what I have to believe to get me through.

What do you all think?  I'm not really mad about this, just impatient and hoping for a really great game.

For the original posts and videos, here are the links:

Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=866919960035802&permPage=1

Miiverst Post: https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAACAAADVHjTtchGZw

And for an interesting discussion of this same topic, check out Gamexplain's video on Youtube.  I have no connection to that channel but I like their work and think their discussions cover ideas and points of view I wouldn't have considered otherwise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5fj6KtPJA0

Leave your comments and thoughts about this delay, or on delaying games in general, below and thanks for stopping by!    

My Toddler is a Mario Kart Racer

So, a couple months ago my wife and my two year old son came down with a really bad cold.  The kind that saps all your energy and hangs around for a couple weeks.  To make matters worse, my wife was near the end of her second trimester and didn't have a lot of energy to start with (our unborn daughter hasn't been very nice to her mama).  I stayed home from work one day to try and help out but we agreed I needed to save as many days as possible for when our daughter was born.  So, to help them get through the day we decided to let our son play his mama's 3DS.  He would be entertained while resting and she could rest next to him.  It worked out well, perhaps too well.

Even after getting better my son continued to play the 3DS (not really surprising), he not only watched Netflix but loved playing Mario Kart 7.  He loves cars and trains, so it makes sense.  In Mario Kart he could drive a car that looked like a train and there was even a course with a train in it (Kalimari Desert, he he sometimes likes to just hang out and watch the train go by).  He wasn't very good of course, can't say I know many toddlers who are.  He drove into walls, off cliffs, drove backwards and even just sat in place.  However, over the last month or so he really started picking up the concept.  Occasionally when I checked his current race's progress he would be on lap number 2, and even though there was a LOT of driving the wrong way, he was able to finish a course for the first time a couple weeks ago (only took 25 minutes...).  As a gamer and a father, I was pretty proud.  But last night truly blew me away.  I look over my son's shoulder and see that not only is he on lap number 2, but he is only 2 minutes into the race.  As I watch him race the final lap, I see him expertly using the circle pad to move left and right and stay on the road.  He hits a wall perhaps once, and finishes the race in just under 3 minutes.  I of course cheer for him, call my wife over and we watch him do it again.

This time, upon completing the race he claps his hands and puts his arms in the air.  He wasn't coming in first place by any means but he was completing races and showing high competency and control in his game play.  My gamer father pride hit a new height.  I know he may not completely understand the goal of Mario Kart yet (come in first) but that's not important.  As he continued to play we had the opportunity to talk about how completing the race and doing our best job is worth celebrating (he even pumped his fist in the air and said "yay I finished!").  So, is this a sign he plays too much Mario Kart?  Probably.  But it has been great to have these fun experiences with my son through a medium I am so passionate about.  Plus I look forward to when he can win against his mom, she is a much better kart racer that I am.    

Happy birthday blog!  I hope your life is filled with happiness, success and excitement.  However, since I'm your blogger, the odds for that are not in your favor.  Try not to feel too depressed though for, while I too am new to the bloggersphere, I will do my very best to keep things interesting around here.  Now, please excuse me while I go and blog......interestingly.





You ever have those days where something you hear slowly worms its way into the farthest reaches of your brain?  To the point where, though you claim to just have a new interest in said topic, you are utterly obsessed and unable to think of anything else?  That happens to me far more than I would like, most recently due to the announcement of the Nintendo Creators Program.  I won't bore you with the details, but in a nutshell it allows for program participants to post YouTube videos with game footage from a Nintendo game (must be on the approved list) and they then share in the profit made from ads on the video (percentages vary).  For more info on the program here is the official site: https://r.ncp.nintendo.net/guide/

The program really isn't the focus of my latest obsession but it was the catalyst for it.  It got me thinking about how I too could make and post YouTube videos about video games, now with far less legal risk than before should I choose to sign up for the program (a definite plus).  I love talking about games, and making YouTube videos would be a fun hobby that would let me do just that - while perhaps making some extra money on the side (yes, because I'm sure it's JUST that easy).  Anyway, once that idea set in I couldn't get it out of my head.  I spent hours looking at game capture equipment, looking for something that would fit my budget and still create a high quality product.  When that failed I moved on to researching how people enable their 3DS handhelds to capture game footage.  I soon found this was actually more expensive than the equipment I had looked at before.  Recording PC games is perhaps a bit more plausible but it would still require a higher initial investment than my budget allows, particularly because my budget for this type of stuff is zero.  I don't have that many PC games to begin with.

So, what do you do when your obsession is just too unrealistic?  What helps you get over it and move on?




..............No, seriously, I'm asking what you do.




So far, for me, repeatedly looking at price tags has helped.  But I've also found that substituting one obsession for a slightly more reasonable one, while not very healthy, is a pretty quick fix.  Look at me right now.  Started a blog and spent probably an hour and a half agonizing over my background image (which still didn't turn out the way I wanted).  And in all that time I didn't think to look at game capture equipment once.  So.....success?