The Stupid Gamer

Flick user fiedldi snapped some photos of Nintendo related exhibits at this year’s Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. In one of those photos there seems to be a Play-Yan type of accessory that’s being called the Nintendo MP3 Player. The accessory, according to the photo, connects to the DS, DS Lite, and all GBA models. The product itself looks to be capable only of playing music (stored on SD cards), but no other details have emerged from Nintendo as of yet. Also, no word on a North American release has been announced at this time.

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Source: Flickr images

Microtransactions is a dirty word in my home. Now that Lumines Live is going to REQUIRE them to enjoy the full game experience I’m about ready to lose it. Lumines is one of the finest games on the PSP and it provides a great gaming experience. The Xbox 360 version, however, looks to provide an incomplete one…unless you’re willing to pay a little bit of extra cash.

When you download Lumines Live you’ll get a game that is fully functional, but is missing stages. You will be able to play up to a certain point and then will either be forced to quit or download additional levels for a price. The whole idea of this really pisses me off and I’ve already decided to pass on the game completely. After spending about $15 for the game, you’ll be forced to shell out a bit more to keep playing. Great.

Quoted from Official Xbox Magazine: You’ll be prompted to buy the Puzzle/Mission Pack (400 MS Points extra)” once you start “getting on a roll with Mission Mode. Also, in the VS CPU mode, when you are “knee-deep” in the VS CPU mode, “you’ll be blocked by signage declaring: ‘You need the VS CPU Pack (300 Points).

Simply ridiculous.

News source: gamingbits.com

According to Mitsubishi UJF Securities, a Japanese analyst firm, Sony isn’t expected to meet the previously expected 3 million system shipments for the November worldwide release. The analyst said that they expect Sony to miss the mark by about 1 million units. The result of the evaluation has caused Sony’s stock to drop 3% today and has excited gamers worried about their chances of picking up a PS3 on launch day.

So what’s an eager Sony fan to do? Well, here are a few suggestions:

• Become the most annoying EB/Gamestop/Gamecrazy customer ever. Call them EVERY day to find out if they are taking preorders and get down there as soon as possible on the day the start. Most speciality stores are probably going to be pretty limited in their initial launch numbers.
• Buy a good tent. If you are planning on picking up a PS3 on launch day without a preorder, you might want to prepare for a lengthy wait outside of Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, etc. on launch day. Even with the high price, I’d imagine that the PS3 will draw in significantly larger crowds than the 360 launch did.
• Get rich. If you refuse to preorder, and you don’t want to wait outside of a store leading up to the launch, you could always pay 3 times more for the system on eBay. I’m pretty sure that there will be plenty of people who are preordering PS3s simply to re-sell them to willing bidders. If you go this route, however, make sure you do it before the holiday panic sets in a week before Christmas.
• Wait. Find a way to hold off and wait for PS3s to become well-stocked in stores. It took the 360 quite some time, but Sony seems to be a bit more committed to get units produced at a faster rate. Waiting can be hard, but I’m sure you all have pretty hefty backlogs to hold you over if you are anything like myself.

News source: gamesindustry.biz

In a recent press release Nintendo stated that New Super Mario Bros. has surpassed 1 million copies sold within the North American region in just 12 weeks. In addition to the NSMB sales data, Nintendo has also announced that 2 new DS Light colors will be released in North America this September. Coral (pink) and Onyx (black) will be the two new colors and should help to propel already booming DS Light sales.

Other tidbits included in the release mentioned that Animal Crossing: Wild World has surpassed 800,000 sales in North American with Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day passing 4 million worldwide and Big Brain Academy at nearly 2 million.

The sales of DS Software and the DS Light hardware have been nothing but impressive. If Nintendo can ride the success of the DS into the next generation of consoles, the Wii could be off to a big launch. Japan definitely has Nintendo DS fever right now, but it will be interesting to see if that translates into console sales this Fall. Strong GBA sales never seemed to spur GameCube sales along in any region, but the DS/Wii philosophy is definitely more similar than the GBA/GCN has been.

PlayStation 3. Xbox 360. Wii. The major players in the videogame industry are gearing up for a major battle. While Microsoft has already launched the first volleys in the war with its Xbox 360, Nintendo and Sony are still stockpiling arms and readying themselves to enter the fray this holiday season with the Wii and PlayStation 3 respectively.

While Sony is taking Microsoft in a head-on full frontal assault, Nintendo is hoping to make strides in the battle by conquering new territories in the land of gaming. The fanboy faithful from each front have begun to dig trenches and prepare themselves to do battle for the next 5+ years; praying that the banner they fly may one day be hoisted above the others.

Typical fanboy recruitment propaganda

There are others, however, that choose to remain neutral in the console wars. A few, like myself, have managed to survive many notable wars (Atari vs. Colecovision , NES vs. Master System, SNES vs. Genesis, N64 vs. PSOne, GCN vs. PS2 vs. DC vs. Xbox, PC vs. everything) without being pulled into one camp. It is these gamers that reap the benefits and harvest the spoils of war. While fanboy factions bicker and blast each other across segregated forums, the neutral gamers simply enjoy everything that appeals to them regardless of the system it is exclusive to. These gamers are able to choose the finest version of each release, and are able to admire and respect the individual attributes of each console on the market.

With a new round of consoles being launched, it’s a great time for fanboys of any faction to venture out of familiar territory and investigate the competition. I’ve already got my 360 resting beneath my TV set and I have space reserved for both the PS3 and Wii. Most people who actually sit down in front of an unfamiliar console and try out some of the more notable releases on the system find that there are features that they like that their preffered console lacks. A Sony gamer will usually find that Xbox Live provides an online experience that they can’t match (currently) with Sony’s offerings. Xbox gamers often find that there is still a valid place for 4-player games that don’t need online play to be enjoyed when they get sucked into a few matches of Super Smash Bros. or some Mario Party. Nintendo gamers usually discover that there is (intelligent) life outside of the Mushroom Kingdom, Hyrule, and Zebes.

So with a major war on the horizon, find a way to fly a neutral flag. You’ll be much happier as a gamer if you do.

Wow. I can’t believe that a dim-witted fellow like myself managed to get this all set up and ready for posting. My name is Jeff Rivera and I’m a writer for Advanced Media Network, a successful media outlet that focuses on videogames and other forms of entertainment. I mainly work on the AMN DS channel, but I’ve been able to contribute to other sections on occasion.

The purpose of this blog is to give me an outlet for all of the crazy ideas and opinions that roll around in my head about gaming, the industry, and related news. I’ll throw in the random review here and there, but the main focus of this site will be to provide editorial content and a comedy piece once in a while.

Just like in any other circumstance in life, once you start sharing opinions you start to gain critics. By naming the site The Stupid Gamer, I figure I’ll save lots of people valuable time. For those that like what they see, I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Enjoy the stay, this should be good.