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Sunday the latest installment in the multi-billion dollar Super Mario Bros. franchise was released to… Well, I’m sure quite a few happy fans. I can’t say how many exactly, as I don’t have the figures right here in front of me, and frankly I can’t be arsed to look it up. Suffice to say, it was probably more than four.

The important thing here is this is the best Super Mario game since Super Mario World, on the Nintendo Entertainment System. That’s right folks, it’s taken them over a decade to release a game as fun as that old school classic.

I should, maybe, clarify my position on the Mario franchise before I go further: I tend to view Super Mario World as the pinnacle of Mario platform gaming. I loved SMB3, although I prefer SMB2, on the NES – and I enjoyed Super Mario Land 2 on the GameBoy… but I found New Super Mario Bros. DS to be too short, Super Mario 64 too devoid of everything that made Mario fun and entertaining, and the less said about Super Mario Sunshine the better.

Super Mario Galaxy was okay, but it wasn’t the game I wanted – I wanted a true, 2D side scrolling platformer filled with power-ups, jumps, enemies whose heads I jump on, and simple, classic, old school controls.

In other words, I wanted a game that wouldn’t make me shout “GET OF MY DAMN LAWN!” at passers by. Read the rest of this entry →

I realize I haven’t made an entry in the blog for a while – been busy, I suppose.
Also, I just haven’t felt the urge to write for while. It happens, so don’t panic. I’ll write when I write, and when I don’t, well… Read something else. :p

Last night, I found myself controlling my Mac mini (which acts as a media hub in the living room), with my iPhone using two different apps, and wondering how soon this kind of thing might become “normal”. Not controlling a computer with your phone over your home network, but controlling your computer using a smaller, portable, touch screen interface.
Read the rest of this entry →

I recently expressed my desire to write up another State of Gaming Address – but as I was attempting to write it out, I started to question the need for a long post discussing the many nuances and distinguishing factors between the three home systems.

Then I realized that I don’t really need to spend as much time detailing everything – it’d be better for everyone if I just summed stuff up, and moved on to a new post.

So, here’s the short version:

Read the rest of this entry →

The High Cost of Consoles

Thought this was interesting – Someone asked how much I’ve put towards gaming, and so I attempted to the math… The results were a bit shocking. Read the rest of this entry →

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the

State of the Game Address

Please be seated.

As many (can all four readers be called a “many”?) of you know, I’m an avid gamer. Or, rather, I like to think of myself as an avid gamer, but in reality I’m more of an avid gadget whore who focused his skill points on games.

Either way you split it, I enjoy video games and talking about them, and as such I think it’s time to once again update on what I think of the current System Wars situation. Read the rest of this entry →