The Gaming Journal 1/2/2012

Another slow day in gaming today.  Did manage to score most of the achievements on uDraw: Instant Artist, and got to get greedy with Wario on my lunch break.  Here is how it broke down...

Game Played uDraw: Instant Artist=Xbox360: Time logged: Around 2 Hours

Unlocked the following achievements:

• COLOR CRAZY-30GS
• JUST A WARM UP-20GS
• GET INSPIRED!-20GS
• SIT BACK AND RELAX-20GS
• CANVAS COUNTRY-50GS
• ACCOMPLISHED ARTIST-20GS
• LOOK, NO MESS!-10GS
• FANCY PANTS-10GS
• SPLAT SUCCESS-10GS
• STROKE OF LUCK-10GS
• IT'S CUSTOMARY-20GS
• ANIMATED ARTIST-20GS
• MY PERSONAL EFFECTS-10GS
• LOCKDOWN!-10GS
• PLACE YOUR MARK-30GS
• TILTING HERO-30GS
• LOST IN PAINT-20GS
• ART CAMP CRAZY-50GS
• DOTS TERRIFIC!-5GS
• I'VE GOT YOUR NUMBER-5GS
• COLOR FILL CRAZED-5GS
• ARTIST IN TRAINING-10GS
• COLOR CONUNDRUM-50GS
• REMMY'S APPRENTICE-50GS
• INTERMEDIATE ARTIST-30GS
• BEGINNER ARTIST-30GS
• ADVANCED ARTIST-30GS
• GREAT START!-20GS
• PICTURE THIS-50GS
• PERSONAL MASTERPIECE-5GS

Tried for the minigame ones, but found the tilt controls too frustrating, and the alien splat game almost painful.  uDraw is a neat concept, but you have to push down on the stylus too hard to make it fun to draw, and the tilt controls are too awful to have fun playing.  Strangely enough, I enjoyed painting by colors the best and found it slightly relaxing.  Unlocked 30/39 for 680/1000GS bringing my Gamerscore to 104,607.

Game Played Warioland 4=3DS Virtual Console: Time logged about 8 minutes

Got through the intro cinematic and the first level while on my lunch break.  I never beat this on the GBA, so I'm going to try to go all the way this time around.

Game Played Mario Kart 7-3DS: Time logged about 5 minutes

Further customized my Mii and attempted to get three stars on my last 50cc circuit.  Only had time for one race though.  Nothing unlocked today.

Game Played Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword-Wii: Time logged about 40 minutes

Started a couple of side quests, expanded my wallet to now hold 900 Rupees.  I can now carry one more item in my pouch.  Caught a few bugs today and generally ran around delivering Pumpkin Soup and trying to find a missing child.  Still loving the game :)

That was it for 1/2/2012.  I'm off work tomorrow, so hopefully there will be more gaming activity :)

Nintendo Loves Fanboys

While Nintendo is still celebrating the 25th anniversary of their phenomenal Legend of Zelda series, they want to celebrate their happiness with you.  For a limited time, 9/28/2011 through 2/20/2012, you can experience the multiplayer hit for the Game Boy Advanced, Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures, for FREE!  You heard correctly. Nintendo knows how to show their fans they love them as this is the 12th free game so far available on the 3DS.  The download is simple, head over to your DSi Ware or Nintendo eShop and download the title gratis.  

But, so you won't forget that Nintendo also wants your hard earned cash, they have also added some mouth-watering 3D game play videos for their upcoming first party hits including Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion 2, Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Paper Mario and Mario Tennis.  All these trailers look incredible and prove that the mustachioed plumber still has plenty of game left in him.  Until then, enjoy your free Zelda and play with your friends on this chapter of one of gaming's most beloved series.

How To Get Your Free 3DS Ambassador Games

Earlier this month, Nintendo announced the 3DS Ambassador program, a program meant to reward the early adopters of the handheld who paid the $250 price tag before their price drop to $169.99.  The incentive has been a bit vague and the release dates and instructions on how to attain these games has been scarce.  After a bit of digging, I found how to get them and that the first ten NES games are available as of today!  So, here is a quick guide to walk you through the steps into a nice collection in your Virtual Console.

First go into the e-Shop

Go to Settings and Other

Select Your Downloads

The games will show on the list with a download again option

You will now have access to the 10 free NES Virtual Console Games

The games being given to ambassadors so far are:

BALLOON FIGHT

DONKEY KONG JR.

ICE CLIMBERS

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

ZELDA II: THE ADVENTURE OF LINK

METROID

NES OPEN

SUPER MARIO BROS.

WRECKING CREW

YOSHI

(Remember, to qualify, you must have purchased your 3DS before August 11th, 2011.  The second set of 10 will be GBA titles and will be available for download sometime before the end of the year.)

Zelda 25th Anniversary Flipnote Contest

by jose martinez

Break out the ol' DSi

For all you Zelda fans out there, Nintendo announced a contest that will put your creative skills to the test.  The Make Your Own Zelda Flipnote contest began on August 8th and will run through September 9th.  The object is to create an animation utilizing Zelda characters to tell a short narrative using your DSiWare Flipnote Studio.  You will be able to download a soundtrack for your epic 20 second masterpiece.  The trick is that if you traded in your trusty DSi for a 3DS, you're out of luck, as this application is not on the new handheld.  You can still do things the old way and submit a hand drawn entry, but that just screams carpal tunnel.   In any case, I'm glad I held on to mine, because you better believe there will be an Elvis0fTheDead entry in this contest.  For more details and tips on how                                                                          to draw Link, check out the official site HERE.