Mendon

Online play. I've been playing against my son and daughter-in-law who live 900 miles away. And then there are the online State vs. State battles going on as each state has a club and members of that state take on other states for bragging rights. $10 was a very cheap price for the fun I've been having!

I couldn't care less about another console war, but I am still surprised at the numbers of units that will be sold that are being predicted by those-in-the-know. Prices for the new systems aren't cheap: $400 for a PS4 and $500 for an XB1, $60 for an extra controller, $60 for a new game, $50 per year for online usage. And with all that, millions of units are being predicted to be sold in a month and a half. Makes me wonder where all the complaints came from that the Wii U price point was too high at $350. Tis a crazy world we live in.

Seems like several early recipients of PS4 systems are having problems: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/11/14/broken-playstation-4-systems Not sure what Sony means when they say "Its only a small percentage of units shipped". Ummm, does that mean of **ALL** units shipped (since the vast majority haven't been picked up yet, how can you tell?) or of units shipped early to customers? Anyway, congrat's on getting another system. As for me, I'm happy I cancelled my PS4 and XB1 pre-orders.

I will sometimes buy a collectors edition of a game, depending on price, content, and my addiction to that game world (Halo is an example). But $250 for Titanfall for the Xbox1 is waaaaaaaaay to pricey for me, even if I was totally interested in the game: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G2HSX86/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789kCode=as2&tag=atariage&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00G2HSX86&lin

I signed up.... just in case. But to be honest, my interest in BL2 has about completely left me and I think the last time I even looked at the game was when the Tina DLC released.

I have a launch day PS4 on pre-order from Amazon but am about 90% sure I'll cancel it. I was excited during the E3 presentation but then got to thinking about what the system will bring to my life for $400 that I can't already do with my current systems and I can no longer justify it. Since I already have a HUGE backlog of games to play and there are no PS4 titles on launch day or soon after that grab my attention at all, I'm pretty positive I'll pass. And there is nothing XB1 is offering at $500, either in software or hardware, that interests me at all.

I happened to be in Target over the weekend and was able to pick up all 6 figures. 3 of them were for Wii U pre-order and 3 were for 3DS pre-order. Not sure if all 6 are available for each system or if you have to mix & match systems to get all 6. Hehehehe... clerk pointed out I had two different systems on the figures and I said " I realize that". He then looked at me and said "You are going to buy all these games????".... I said "Nope, just collecting these figures" He replied "Oh". He proceeded to ring me up with a most puzzled look on his face and I left.

Batman: Arkham Origins for the Wii U has everything that the Xbox360 and PS3 versions have except for online multiplayer mode. So Warner Bros. has decided to price the Wii U version of the game at $50 instead of the $60 Xbox/PS3 versions. While some may moan & groan the lack of a feature on the Wii U version, I find the fact that I'm not paying the same price for a game lacking features of the other versions to be an excellent alternative. I play very few games online so I'm happy I get a $10 price break for something I wouldn't use anyway.

Thanks for the input, Moycon & Austin; much appreciated! I can't really explain it but while playing Pikmin 1 & 2, it seemed like I accomplished something every day towards finishing the game. But in Pikmin 3, I have played days where I might only find one fruit and nothing more as the day would quickly end. It seemed to me that I should be moving forward every day on the main mission, but instead I was spending a lot of time wandering around trying to find how to get to objects or which path I should take or fighting enemies and poof, the day would end and I felt I wasn't accomplishing much. I'll try not to sweat it and just go with the flow and see what happens.

I've been really, really busy the past 3 or 4 weeks and haven't had much time at all for gaming. I've tried to squeeze in some Pikmin 3 when I find the rare opportunity to sit & game, but have found I've run into a problem: I played Pikmin and loved it. Played Pikmin 2 and loved it. Now playing Pikmin 3 and enjoying it but find I'm not as good playing this game as I was with Pikmin 1 & 2: I just can't seem to find my way in the game and solve the puzzles in a timely manner. I have restarted a couple of the levels several times because I've been either unsatisfied with what I've discovered on that game day or the number of Pikmin deaths I caused or both. I peeked at a Walk-thru and it seems to indicate that I should have a LOT more accomplished than what I have. As an example, I just completed Day 6 and built the bridge and reunited with Brittney, found a couple fruits, have 6 juices in stock, have discovered the juice that increases Pikmin power, and got the cell phone, But when I looked at the Walk-thru, it says I should have accomplished all of that and more by the end of Day 5. Maybe its because I'm not devoting enough time to the game, or maybe its because I now control 2 characters and haven't learned the "rhythm" of using both at once, or maybe something else entirely. But it just seems I'm not very good at playing Pikmin 3 as I was 1 & 2.

This looks interesting: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/09/sony-reveals-new-hardware-ps-vita-tv I guess this device coupled with the new redesigned Vita (coming in Oct. to Japan, no date here) means Sony isn't giving up on the Vita just yet.

Just curious..... have you experienced any sound issues with Splinter Cell? Some Wii U users are reporting sound cutting in & out during cut scenes, while others say if you change the sound from surround to stereo then there is no problem at all. Supposedly UBIsoft is looking into it and says they will patch if necessary. I was planning on getting the game but when I read about the sound issues I decided to delay and see what developed. Just wondering what your experience has been.

I just pre-ordered the Silver Anniversary Edition of Ys: Memories of Celceta from Amazon. I could not resist a cloth map, soundtracks and a compass!!! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BAWXCP2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&tag=atariage&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BAWXCP2&linkCode=as2

You might be right, Atariboy. I just look at Limited Edition 3DS units like Pikichu and Animal Crossing and those fetch big dollars right now. The Basic Wii U didn't sell for beans and has been recalled, so I'm thinking that within a year or so the Basic will fetch some good prices to collectors. But what I can't grasp my mind around is Nintendo saying the price cut won't take place for another 21 days.... if selling 160,000 units last quarter was a failure, then I can't wait to see how many fly off the shelves before Sept 20th. Just doesn't make sense to me; MS or Sony has a press briefing and says a price cut is happening for Xbox/PS3 and state it starts today. But Nintendo says wait for a few weeks and then buy our product at a reduced price. As I said in another thread, Nintendo is a great gaming company but I really shake my head at corporate decisions by Nintendo since the introduction of the 3DS.

One thing... Nintendo designed the 3DS so that you carried it with you and you earned "coins" for the steps you took. You then spent these coins on games within Mii-Plaza on the system. Nintendo said this was also a way of getting people a little more active. You also carried the system in your pocket for spot passes, which also gave you Mii-Plaza items such as puzzle pieces. Okay, fine. Pretty cool idea, actually. And the original 3DS worked pretty well for this. But then they released the 3DS XL and it didn't work quite so well due to the system not fitting in your pocket very easily. But now they are releasing this big 2DS, non-folding system.... I have to wonder if Nintendo is giving up on the "earn coins" feature as this system will NOT be easy to carry with you. Just seems weird, especially since they recently released 4 new Mii-Plaza games for the 3DS that use coins and then release a system that will not fit in your pocket to earn the coins. Nintendo is cool but damn, I wonder sometimes which direction Iwata is taking them.

Heh... snap up those Basic Set's as they will be collector items very soon!

From reports I've read on two sites, screen size is the same as the 3DS, not the XL.

OH MY..... it was just announced that Borderlands 2 is coming for Vita in 2014. http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/08/20/borderlands-2-coming-to-playstation-vita/ Damn, I'm glad I picked this point in time to buy a Vita as I'm enjoying many current games and the announced upcoming games like Duke Nukem 3D and Borderlands 2 has me excited for the future.

I got caught up with the first Skylanders and bought a few additional characters and sets, but then quickly lost interest when store shelves were empty but eBay and Craig's List were full. If you check out eBay and Amazon, the re-sellers are all over them with inflated prices all ready. Example: $15 Toy's R Us Crystal figures are already being sold with prices at $49.99 and up; one woman on Amazon had 12 of one character to sell at $55 each. I'll pass on Disney as I just won't get involved with trying to complete a set of a particular group but the only place to buy is from a re-seller at re-seller mark ups.

Here's a few more examples of art work:

hehehe... welcome to the Vita owners society, Cimerians. And make sure you check out PJ Monsters Ultimate HD!

Make sure you keep your eye on Amazon! The system I bought came with a 4gb card and after downloading Uncharted and a couple PSP games I had previously purchased, the card was almost full. I knew I wanted to buy and download Atelier Totori and Little Kings Story and a couple others, so I was resigned to buying a 32gb card for about $80. But when I went online to order, Amazon was having a sale on the 16gb sticks for $29. I grabbed two of them at that price.

Has anyone built the Dream Suite? I got it finished and took my first "Dream Trip".... very nice way to view the towns others created.

For those with Wii U systems, have you been checking out the artwork posted in Mii-verse? I've been in awe of what some are doing and today was blown away by the following posted picture from one of my favorite movies:

Though I personally don't shop at GameStop, they do have a hard drive designed for the Wii U that doesn't need external power because it comes with a Y-adapter (plugs into two USB ports on the back of the Wii U). A friend of mine has one of these and has used it for several months with no problems at all. It's 320gig and costs under $70. http://www.gamestop.com/accessories/320-gb-external-hard-drive/106904 If I run into one of these units sold by someone other than GS, I'll pick it up as a backup.