Francis older than one year ago

size = amount of social activity

Yesterday I visited New York City, home of the only Nintendo World in the ... world.  Maybe I could see a 3DS, buy a Mario hat, and Miyamoto would stop by?

Basically the first floor is all DS and the second floor is Wii.  They have a bunch of game systems out to play.  The Wii's had a custom menu where you can select from a bunch of different games, which can be updated with new games from Nintendo HQ.

Other than games, they also sell a bunch of shirts, plushies, and other random trinkets (mostly Mario related).  You can probably buy everything but the NY-specific shirts online somewhere.

Sadly there was no game launch party or anything (Dragon Quest IX was a few weeks ago).  I wish I could be there for the Metroid:Other M launch.  I did get a schweet "this is how I roll" Metroid shirt though, supposedly designed by a store employee.

Nintendo World is worth a visit if you are in NYC, but it's basically just a large Nintendo-only GameStop (but unlike GameStop, the employees are all Nintendo fans and knowledgeable).  There were a few interesting items, but I really wanted to see more rare and classic Nintendo goodies, or some stuff from this year's E3, or Miyamoto.

You can now rate games and write up a review.  Just go the game's profile or board and click "Review".   Select your rating (bad, good, or great) and type what you liked or didn't like about the game.

Your ratings will show up on your played/beat game lists, and you can click the "reviewed" link on a game's page to see all the reviews.

So, played any games lately?  Let us know what you thought!

Zelda Spirit Tracks has Link, a lowly train engineer, tasked with restoring the kingdom's disappearing railroad tracks.  The ghost of Princess Zelda is your sidekick, who hopes to be reunited with her demon-possessed body.

The main quest consists of:

1. Drive train to new temple (sometimes you have to do a side quest to get there)
2. Beat temple to unlock next floor of the Spirit Tower.  Drive back to tower.
3. Beat new floor by using Zelda to control Phantoms.  Unlock new tracks.
4. Repeat 1-3

The temples and tower floors all had enjoyable puzzles offered new experiences new to Zelda.  Some classic items return, and the new items were creative and fun to use.  Thank goodness you dont have to repeat the same temple over and over like you did in Phantom Hourglass.

Driving the train is much better than the boat of Phantom Hourglass, IMO.  Instead of wandering around a vast ocean, you almost always know exactly where to go and how to get there.  You still have to actually ride the train there (which kinda feels like Pac-Man), but usually you get there quick enough to not be frustrating.  Also the wild-west-ish music is catchy.

My biggest gripe is that the gameplay is a little too linear.  There are a few side-quests, but most of them seems to involve collecting stuff and shuttling cargo around the map.  Being restricted to railroad tracks doesn't leave much for exploration.  All the towns are very small with only a few buildings and people.  Maybe a linear adventure is better suited for a portable system, but hopefully the Zelda series is not eventually reduced to just a collection of dungeons.

Bottom line: Zelda:ST improves on Zelda:PH in every way.  It's worth playing just to see the charming interactions between Link and Zelda.

1. It's relentlessly cheerful
2. It's full of small, unexpected details.
3. Mario has lots of new options
4. Its whimsy manages to be incredibly compelling.
5. It takes its cues from the best parts of the older Mario games.
6. It has airships.
7. It makes Bowser Jr. seem actually kind of... cool.
8. It's not just a lot of recycled content.
9. The new material is carefully designed to work with any number of players.
10. It makes tastefully restrained use of motion controls.
11. It has tons of hidden secrets.
12. It's seriously tough.

It's almost here!  The stream of gaming news is steadly increasing as big announcements are made and new games are shown.  Here are the Big 3 press conferences:

• June 14th @ 10AM PT : Microsoft
• June 15th @ 9AM PT : Nintendo
• June 15th @ 12PM PT : Sony

I personally am excited about seeing the Nintendo 3DS, and hopefully we'll finally see a redesigned/slim Xbox 360.  Do you think there will be any surprises this year?

Three years, wow.  Looking at last year's annerversary and the first brings back good memories.  There is no denying that this community has changed, gotten older, and some have moved on.  I feel the focus of the site has become hazy... is it about Super Paper Mario?  Nintendo?  Video Games?  or none of the above?

I still believe overall that this new format, launched last September, is for the best, but I also listen to everything you say.  I have made many changes since that first launch, and will continue to do so.

I would love to rekindle those good memories I mentioned earlier, from ye digibutt of old.  I think by refocusing and in some ways reverting the site will help.  So here is the plan...

I will break the site up into multiple websites, each with their own focus.   One for video games in general, one for Nintendo nuts, and one for digibutter.nerr.  More sites will be added as the need arises, like Crump mentioned having comic or anime sites.  They will all be connected, by sharing data as needed, and you will have the same user account on each.  Digibutter will be freed to focus on community and having fun, and it's look can change too.  Hopefully we can bring back that special something that has made digibutter our crazy internet home for three years.

This change won't happen overnight.  Especially since I will have very little access to a computer and internet all this spring and summer.  But I will have plenty of time to think and plan about the future of the site, and I want to get it right.   What say you nerrs?

*plays Zelda Spirit Tracks in the woods*.  I couldn't resist.  Maybe I'll create some Flipnotes too.

I saw green blocks on top of the mountain and felt inspired.

Beginning this Thursday, April 8, gamers around the world can play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer free of charge during a special Free Weekend promotion on Steam.

The ones I couldn't get were lame.  Here is the full image and solution.  I think if you register and get them all, they mail you an ENCOM badge.

wut

Soon we'll be playing games like this 100% in-browser, nothing to install.  No plugins, no flash, no java

P I T Y  F O O L

Some great contestants this year!  The awards have been given out and the winner of Sammer Bowl III is...

Robo Sammer MK3

Congratulations Slim!  Second place is MeowMixer's Stealer Of Bikes, and third goes to Nastasia's Master of Puppets.  View the winners here.

Maybe they can find a way to increase the size of your nucleus accumben.

Sorry, it's not what you expected.

It's been over 20 years since Golden Axe, and all they added was combos and cut-scenes?  I just played the GoW III demo and while the cinematics are great, the actual game is disappointing...

• Gameplay consists of button mashing the same enemies, move up a screen, repeat.  *yawn*
• Why have unexplained chests of energy everywhere?  Just auto-heal if you are going to be lazy game designers.
• Enemies disappear instantly after you kill them, so you don't get to appreciate the damage you dealt.
• During the QTEs, you don't get to enjoy the cinematics because you have to stare at the corner to see what button to press.

I have only played the demo, and none of the previous GoW games, so is there something else to this?  Why are games like this (Ninja Gaiden, DMC, etc) so highly acclaimed?  </rant>