Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a ghostbusters style video game where the protagonist is definitely afraid of ghosts! When he and his friends—Mario, Peach and Toad—are given an invitation to a lavish hotel, little does he know it’s a trap. Everyone is captured (frozen into a painting) and it’s up to Mario’s brother to save the day.
This sequel to the original GameCube program and Dark Moon (part two) picks up some days, if not weeks after his last Scooby-Doo adventure. After more than a week of casual play, I’m still not done. I’m enjoying exploring every nook and cranny. On a big screen, this game is very richly detailed. On Nintendo’s latest handheld (I tried it on the lite and first edition), I was squinting to admire some of the details. I’ve (pardoning the pun) switched over to the latest handheld just because of this game. Continue reading →
With the games of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon are slated for a November release on the Nintendo 3DS system, it only makes sense there would be an anime to accompany it. Pokémon Sun and Moon anime is coming but the new series takes a departure from Pokémon‘s traditional art style of hard lines and embraces more fluid animation. Of note is Satoshi’s (Ash Ketchum in North America) softer and more youthful appearance. This may suggest a change in animation production company. We can’t seem to find any animation company’s credit on home network TV Tokyo’s Pokémon page, nor can we find a news piece (as of yet) that suggests a change in animation production company, but we suspect Toei is handling this one.
This new series brings the Pokémon adventure to the Alola region where we see Satoshi adjusting to life as a transfer student at a new school.
Have a look at the trailer that premiered on Japanese TV today. We here at Otaku no Culture would love to hear your thoughts.
Ever since PokémonGO officially released July 17th in Canada, it has nearly taken me away from the movie theatres and television. I have played the game for at least three hours a day, wiping out my previous data plan and upgrading to the next package, only to realize that moderation is required to stretch out play over the month until the cycle resets. There’s a portion of cellphone users using unlimited and while they are getting the most out of this game, others are playing this game on a casual basis and not levelling up as fast. In the part of the game that’s fully enjoyable is to be rid of the indoor life and to be interacting with fellow players outdoors. Some folks are more friendly than others. Where this game really succeeds is in finding new people to hang with — as long as folks are sociable and cool with sharing tricks. The competitive play can get a few players aggressive with trying to keep a Pokémon Gym under their control.
When compared to other Pokémon games, there’s a missing element that will be addressed in a future update. Trading is coming. As for how I feel it should be implemented is through in-person contact. I feel real-time player vs olayer battles are needed too. With another mobile type game, I almost stopped obsessively playing Pokémon Shuffle where I was mostly grinding for coins and waiting for the next set of Pokemon to be added into the game so I can continue my quest to catch them all. Honestly, this Nintendo 3DS game is safer without spending real world money when compared to the micro-transaction game where you really have to spend some amount of real world money to get Lures, Incense or upgrades to the virtual backpack I’m carrying to contain them all. The game does offer opportunities to get the coinage during play, but I feel the parameters are lopsided.
Yes, I admit to having an obsession with Pokémon Shuffle. It’s colourful and cute. I play it far too many times during the day trying to catch that pesky Genesect. The many fauna created since this franchise’s inception just keeps growing and I have to wonder if the world is going to explode from overpopulation. The concept of gotta catch ’em all really works for this game because once a Pokémon is caught, he or she can be used to make an earlier stage feel like a breeze to S rank. That is, to defeat a certain number of moves.
The music is feel good and there’s a track which reminds me of Spongebob SquarePants. When I want to get silly and start surfing to find water Pokémon, I visit these stages to play again until all those levels are ranked. A new patch released early this week adds more goodness and enhancements to the game’s early stages less boring to play. There are goals to reach. With this update, a lot of information is presented. All the data now available to find can be overwhelming, but they are included to make both the 3DS and mobile version look the same. The data junkie in me approves.
As expected and predicted by Otaku’s Vintage Tempest, Nintendo’s New 3DS — the non XL version — is getting a facelift in the form of an eloquent faceplate to have Zelda fans lusting over. The sleek black on muted black, with only a golden emblem is far more sexy to croon over than the gold brick with a painted on mask. This newer design has more of an emotional appeal to it than the fan service item that Nintendo of America is offering in its limited edition Majora’s Mask Nintendo 3DS XL model.
Sadly, this item is only available for the Japanese market, but soon, either on eBay or through online resellers, this item can become obtainable through alternative secondary sources.
No. 056 is a different design featuring the Skull Kid looking rather forlorn in misty forest. Even this design shows a love that not many other collectible art models demonstrates. Maybe it’s time to move to Japan. At least over there, the company is showing an appreciation for what fantastic art is supposed to be.
Our goal is to follow the pop culture scene of the Pacific Northwest (Victoria, B.C. especially). This can range from the arts to books to cinema to television. Our content also includes peeks into what's coming out of Asia–but even more importantly, in what we love to populate our book and video shelves with!
All textual and watermark content produced on Otaku no Culture are copyrighted to their respective rights holders. Permission may be granted for republication elsewhere, in print or for promotional use. Please contact us at otakunoculture at gmail dot com for further information.
By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
