GameCube Adapter for Wii U discussion

What a nice surprise for unsuspecting Smash Bros fans! For those of you who can't play Smash (or prefer not to play) without the tried and true GameCube controller, you can dust yours off and give this adapter a shot for Wii U. Listen to the reactions from GameXplain in this discussion video.

Mario Kart 8 - 8 "Secret" Speed Boosts

I don't think these are necessarily secrets as much as they are just plain needed to win at the higher levels of racing and especially online mode.

Don't forget that if you're on the West Coast PST, you will get to download the game at 9pm tonight since Nintendo is putting Mario Kart 8 on the eShop at 12 Midnight EST.

Pushmo World Announced for Wii U

This is great news! Many loved the Pushmo games on the 3DS (including myself) and now a new game in the series is coming to the big screen on the Wii U. Nice to see some Gamepad enhancements as well.

James & Mike Play Nintendoland

James and Mike playing more Wii U? I like. I also appreciate how they easily peg the current situation in gaming and why there are no games worth playing on a system like the Xbox One.

The Best X-Men Games Ever Released

With a brand-new X-Men film just reaching the cinema and with several critics saying or implying that it's the best superhero film in years, now seemed to be a good time to look back at some of the very best X-Men gaming experiences we've enjoyed over the years. And make no mistake, Nintendo has helped to roll out some excellent X-Men games, which in my opinion tend to be more engaging than most other superhero games, for whatever reason. At any rate, in the spirit of getting excited over the new film, here's my look back at some of the best X-Men gaming experiences from the past few decades.


I'll start with the most modern X-Men games I've enjoyed, because in this particular situation working backward through time (mostly) means getting to better and better games. The first game I'd include on my list is without a doubt X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which accompanied the film of the same name and came out for the Wii (and other consoles) in 2009. You'll find some pretty lousy reviews at metacritic.com for this one, and it's certainly not the most inventive superhero game I've ever played. However, the truth is it's by far the most advanced X-Men game out there from a pure graphics and visual standpoint. The game's a little limited in its scope (being more of a Wolverine game than a full-on X-Men game) and its action is slightly repetitive, but it's fun for a while and it looks beautiful, so it's worth a play.

As a sort of side note to modern X-Men gaming (because there really isn't much to speak of on Nintendo or any other console), I've had a bit of fun poking around of various low-key X-Men arcade experiences as well, and for any hardcore fans out there this is worth mentioning. Playtech has developed a pretty complex but oddly engaging X-Men slot machine game that operates via matching up iconic character cards (rather than traditional slot items). You can play the game with actual cash on the line (provided you're not in the U.S.) at casino.betfair.com, but it's also available for free elsewhere if that's more your style. I'd also point out that for the true comic fans, the newly updated X-Men: Battle Of The Atom card battling app game is pretty awesome, if only for its depth of content and characters.

I can do without the slew of mediocre X-Men and Wolverine games released in the early and mid-2000s, quite honestly, with the notable exception of the X-Men Legends franchise from Activision (including the 2004 original and the 2005 X-Men Legends II: Rise Of Apocalypse for Gamecube). The most iconic X-Men gaming experiences remain old-school arcade and side-scrolling options, but when you really think about it, superhero teams are perfect for action RPGs. And that is what these games delivered, in spectacular fashion. Nothing beats assembling a team of your favorite mutants to battle through storylines, and these games are more complex than so many arcade options that simply involve mashing your A and B buttons. Both were excellent games, though I have to say Legends II may be my favorite X-Men gaming experience of all time. And IGN seems to agree.

Finally, there are the older games that still come to mind first for a lot of gamers when they think about X-Men experiences. There were numerous arcade experiences involving X-Men characters that were a blast to play, but because these are harder to access and play again, I'm going to focus on X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, Capcom's legendary 1994 Super NES game. Yeah, I just kind of bashed side-scrolling combat in favor of RPGs, but this still ranks among my favorite X-Men experiences, because sometimes you just want light, mindless, beat-em-up action with your heroes. In this regard, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse delivers. It's right up there with the Legends franchise for best X-Men gaming experience.

That about rounds it up. There are literally dozens of other X-Men games that were released over the years, but most were fairly forgettable. If you're looking to get psyched up for the new film, these are the games I'd recommend you dig up and play!

Hyrule Warriors Wii U - More New Screens

Hyrule Warriors Wii U - New Screens

More screens here!

Ali-A Plays Mario Kart Wii #26

This is the end of Mario Kart Wii for any Online play, I hope you enjoyed watching Ali-A playthrough some races one last time. Did any of you have a good time with Mario Kart Wii's online modes? This was a great game but now it's time for the next Generation of Mario Kart to come out and I hope to see you all Online.

Mario Kart 8 IGN Video Review

Mario Kart 8 seems to be getting universal appeal, combined with similar criticisms. Battle Mode, character roster and the complaint of the Voice Chat being limited to Friends in lobby only, has been common among the reviews.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Last Day

Here is Ali-A playing his first Call of Duty game, little did he know back when he started on the Wii, that he was going to become the biggest Internet Call of Duty player on YouTube. The last day of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is today, so there should also be a final Mario Kart Wii play session coming up soon as well.


So long Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection!

Ali-A plays Mario Kart 8 Part 1

So finally Nintendo gave someone permission to post a 20 minute gameplay video of Mario Kart 8 before the release date. All the videos we've been seeing online have been less then 2 minutes usually. Ali-A is one those special cats that gets to try out new games for promotional purposes, I guess 4 million YouTube subscribers will give you that kind of privilege!

Mario Kart 8 - 15 Minute Nintendo Minute

Turns out these Nintendo Minutes can be as long as they would like, with this one over 15 minutes. No complaints here since Mario Kart 8 is just around the corner.

Mario Kart 8 - Hidden Easter Eggs

I can't say that this will truly spoil any of the game for people since during a race you'd be hard pressed to notice these details. Leave it to GameXplain to comb everything closely to find these nice little secrets.

Ali-A's Mario Kart 8 Special

Ali-A actually has Mario Kart 8 already, he is just not allowed to show too much of it just yet. You gotta love how he explains everything, no wonder he has so many subs!

Mario Kart 8 - First TV Commercial

So here we have the first of probably many different types of Mario Kart 8 commercials that Nintendo has planned for the rest of the year. Nintendo did announce a few weeks ago that the advertisement campaign for this game would last all through this year until the end of the Holiday season. 

The Amazing Spider Man 2 - Wii U Review

This game actually looks pretty fun even though some of it looks repetitive. The first game on Wii U was plagued by many technical issues like screen tearing and bad frame rate, but this game looks much better in that respect. Look for this game to be one of those $15 bargains on Amazon not before long and then I'd recommend picking it up.

Wii U No Longer Sold at a Loss & Other News

The Wii U has had a hard time since it launched in November 2012, however finally we have some good news. The system itself is no longer being sold at a loss to Nintendo themselves. They can get back to focusing on making games for the Wii U and not have to worry about the console itself losing them money.

In other news Nintendo announced:

-Full NFP (Near Field Play) Model to be introduced at E3
-Nintendo IP Licencing Details to be announced end of year
-QOL Products launching next year
-More Third Party Wii U games are in development that have not been announced yet
-Nintendo will show software at E3 that is "only possible on Wii U" at E3 2014


E3 that has been quiet for Nintendo the last few years, but after these announcements it seems that this E3 might give fans what they have been waiting for during these last few showings. 

Resident Evil 4 - Was it the Perfect Game?

Here is some gameplay I posted on my YouTube channel a couple days ago of Resident Evil 4 Ultimate HD Edition on PC. While the game barely has upgraded graphics besides some small amount of textures and of course 1080p resolution, the game itself is exactly like it was on the Gamecube from 2005. 

While playing through this game again after so many years, I've come to realize a few things about what makes this game so amazing (besides playing with the Wii U Pro Controller of course):

Ø  The atmosphere is perfect and really draws the player in.

Ø  The pacing of the game is nearly perfect, you are almost never bored or repeating the same type of gameplay, even though the gameplay from a control standpoint stays the same. 

Ø  The game gives the player small goals to reach without really making them known or in objective form. 

Ø  Upgrading your character and weapons is completely done by your choice and is not something needed to beat the game. It's harder this way, but not forced. 

Ø  The game has a nearly perfect difficulty setting on Normal mode, so when the player dies, it is really his fault and not the game. 

Ø  Playing the first level or area of the game is absolutely nothing like the final area of the game, in terms of the art style, narrative and gameplay. 

Ø  The game's story keeps changing and pieces of a larger puzzle slowly come together in a way that is truly engaging and it ends up not mattering that the dialogue is silly or the story is far-fetched and unrealistic since the way it is presented beats all of those criticisms. 

If there was such a thing as a perfect game, I think RE4 comes pretty close to nailing it. It's simply amazingly made and the attention given to make every area fresh and unique is something that you just don't find in many modern video games. 

Mario Kart 8: Grumble Volcano Wii vs Wii U comparison

This comparison between old and new looks to be more of a graphical improvement than any course changes. I was never a fan of the Wii version of this level, I wonder if they added something different that is not being shown here the Wii U version?

A Blast from the 1990's Nintendo Past!

The 1990's were some of the best years for Nintendo, just look at those advertisements for the Super Nintendo! Wow, how much things have changed. Back in those days Nintendo was truly the king and most people not only accepted it but were also apart of it.

Ali-A Plays Mario Kart Wii #24

Darn, I can't believe even Ali-A got shot down by Nintendo for him trying to upload an informational video on Mario Kart 8. Hopefully he gets things sorted out with them and Nintendo will let him post the content in a few days.

Mario Kart 8: 45 Minutes of Gameplay Footage!

After all the news yesterday about everything Mario Kart 8, it's nice to top it off with a giant gameplay video highlighting some of the levels in depth. Enjoy!