MineCon 2011

Minecraft's recent updates have brought us new items, and better worlds. Worlds used to be mostly pretty flat, with some hills, but now there are mountains the size of the clouds.

Minecraft 1.8, also known as the "Adventure Update" is the newest, and possibly one of the most hyped updates so far, as it includes randomly-spawned villages (which are actually very well made), a new monster, strongholds (one per map) and other great things. For full details, check out Notch's blog or PLAY THE GAME.

Some other exciting news for those of you who are REALLY into Minecraft or have too much money and need to spend some of it and have some fun, MineCon 2011 is coming up in about two months from now, from November 18th-19th, and if you're one of the first 500 registrants (which by now there are probably a lot more, but it's still worth a try):

"First 500 registrants will be entered to win “The Ultimate Fan Experience.” One lucky winner will receive a Mandalay Bay hotel room for MineCon, VIP seating to Keynotes and Classes, and a meal with Team Mojang." 

 In my opinion, MineCon looks like a lot of fun, but watch out for Creepers!

Future of the Nintendo 3DS

When the Nintendo DS first launched, it was revolutionary. Gaming's first touch-pad gaming console. The launch titles were filled with amazing games that are still fun to play today.

When the Nintendo 3DS first launched, it was not revolutionary. It wasn't the first 3D console, as the PC has already gone there with NVIDIA. However, it was the first 3D gaming console to not require 3D glasses.

The DS, DS lite and DSi consoles all sold very well, and the games that came out in the first few months of its launch are amazing games that all received high scores overall.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the 3DS. It was supposed to launch with all kinds of amazing titles such as Mario Kart 7, Animal Crossing 3D, Kid Icarus Uprising, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 3D - these were all games people were expecting to be released at the launch of Nintendo's 3DS. We knew they wouldn't all be released at launch, but at the time they had all been announced and at some time, developers and gaming news sites had told us to expect these to be released at launch or close to launch. Not a single one of those games launched with the 3DS. In fact, only two of those have released to date (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Star Fox 3D).

The fact of the matter is, the hype for the 3DS wasn't nearly as big as any of Nintendo's other consoles, except for a few. It also didn't turn out as unique and amazing as most of Nintendo's other consoles, which is why it didn't sell very well. On launch date, only a few stores were sold out of Nintendo 3DS consoles and games, but the vast majority still had plenty that were left-over after its original launch.

I went to EB Games on the day it launched to pick up something else, and there was no line-up for a 3DS, and they had a big pile of them. When I went to get a Nintendo Wii a few weeks after it launched, all of the stores I went to were sold out. I tried and tried for two years, but stores never seemed to get them in, and at the time I couldn't order one online, but I finally ended up getting one when they started to get more in stock at my local Future Shop.

Nintendo's Wii was in high demand for many years, but the 3DS couldn't even sell-out on the first day. What happened, Nintendo?

At least there's a good line-up for 2012 for the 3DS, because currently the only game with above a 90% average (Metacritic) is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, which isn't even an original game - they just remade an amazing game and naturally, it got good scores. The highest scoring new game is Star Fox 3D, which just came out yesterday and has an 83% average. There are really only five or six good 3DS games right now, so hold off on buying the 3DS until next year, when it will likely get more good games and drop in price further.

Top 11 Video Game Trailers Of 2011

#11: Batman: Arkham City Trailer

This Arkham City trailer is definitely the best of the ones that there are, and the thing that makes me the happiest is that it looks like they have changed up the game world a lot and the enemies even more - but they've kept the key essentials the same, or improved them even further.
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#10: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Reveal Trailer

I'm a pretty big fan of Call of Duty, and the trailer impressed me quite a bit (though I didn't freak out over it like I did with some of the other ones). Although it didn't show too much, it is a very theatrical trailer that gives me further hope that Modern Warfare 3 won't flop.
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#9: Star Wars: The Old Republic Trailer
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#8: Halo 4 E3 2011 Announcement Trailer
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#7: BioShock Infinite Debut Trailer
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#6: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Announcement Trailer
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#5: Dead Island Announcement Trailer

This is probably the trailer that brought the most hype in 2011, and unfortunately the reason Dead Island didn't score all that well. IGN and GameSpot are normally the places I go to for reviews, as IGN is usually very generous with scores, and GameSpot is usually quite harsh with scores, as I mentioned in an earlier blog. I usually read both of their reviews for a game I'm interested in (but usually it doesn't impact my verdict on buying the game or not), and in my opinion IGN's review was better this time.

Anyways, back to the point - Dead Island would have scored better had it not been so hyped up by everyone. When games get to a point where everyone gets super-hyped and thinks the game is going to be the game of the year, and it ends up being a great game, but nothing "spectacular", they overlook everything good about the game and just get straight to the bad. That's just my opinion, anyway.
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#4: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Official Gameplay Trailer

I wouldn't call this a gameplay trailer myself, as it's more of a cinematic trailer, but I didn't get to choose that! Either way, this trailer looks awesome, as does Skyrim. TobyTurner made a funny parody of it on his YouTube channel that you should check out if you have time.
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#3: Battlefield 3 "Fault Line" Gameplay Trailer

This is the longest trailer on the list, if I'm correct. It's got cinematics, gameplay, action, etc.... Usually trailers only show about two minutes total, but this trailer is around 6-7 times that, and it really gives you a glimpse of how great this game is going to be, and already is. I think having long trailers and short trailers for games is a good idea, that way you can actually see what you're going to be playing instead of just read about it (that only applies if you're buying it right at release or pre-ordering).
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#2: Portal 2 Co-Op Trailer

I don't know why, but this trailer makes me smile when I see it. Portal 2 elaborated on practically everything that Portal had left open, such as characters and story. The story in Portal 2 was so engrossing, and the Co-Op mode is a blast. Atlas and P-Body are the characters that star in Portal 2's Co-Op, and this trailer shows you these quirky robots in action. It's kind of fun to see them fumble around and become friends, and this trailer made me very excited to try out the game's Co-Op mode.
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#1: Professor Layton and the Last Specter Trailer

For some, this trailer might not mean all that much, and if that's the case - you haven't played a Professor Layton game before. The trailer for the fourth entry to the Professor Layton series is finally being released in North America, and this trailer just shows how epic the game is going to be. I'll do a full blog on it later, but this game is going to have a lot more content than the previous games, as it features an RPG called London Life that will last around 100 hours, and this trailer made us Professor Layton fans smile.
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I decided to make this list a 2011-only list because most of the trailers on it were from 2011. If you want some other good ones that would have been on it if it wasn't restricted to 2011, check out the Left 4 Dead 2, Fallout 3, BioShock and StarCraft II trailers. Also, for the trailers to count towards the list, the trailers must be for a game that WAS/IS GOING TO BE RELEASED in 2011, or a trailer that came out in 2011, like the BioShock Infinite trailer.

I Got the Moves Like Frogger

Let's get straight to the point today - this week pretty much marks the first week of the best few months of gaming in 2011. The reason I say this is because it technically is the start of Q3 (third quarter of the year), and there are at least SIXTEEN great games coming out in the next four months.

So far this week we've gotten Dead Island, which was the last blog's feature, and even more recently: Resistance 3! Star Fox 3D comes out tomorrow, which is exciting for fans of the 3DS who've been complaining about the lack of games and third-party support for the 3DS (I'll get to that in another blog).

But I'd say the third most-hyped game of September (saddling up next to Dead Island and Resistance 3) is RAGE, which recently got pushed back to early October (4th). Some might say it's more hyped, some might say less, but I'm just going by personal opinion and what I've seen and heard. RAGE is yet another game published by Bethesda, who have published quite a few games this year, such as Hunted: The Demon's Forge, which didn't receive very high ratings, and Brink, which also didn't do too well on the critic score.

Bethesda has been publishing mediocre games recently, true, but I'm sure RAGE is going to impress those who've been looking forward to it (and if you're not sure, check out the iOS version and some gameplay videos). However, Bethesda has held off until the end of the year to release their most exciting title, that they actually developed themselves: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim!

Some people think Skyrim is going to win Game of the Year and get 10's from all reviewers, which I don't think is all that likely seeing as it's going to have some competition with Battlefield 3, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Modern Warfare 3 and a few other games that could surprise us. I'm quite excited for all four of those games, but don't overlook Professor Layton and the Last Specter, as it's one of my most-hyped games of 2011, and Professor Layton is one of my favorite game-series of all time.

Dead Island - Alive or Dead?

The 

Dead Island came out yesterday in North America. GameSpot has given the game a 7.0/10 and IGN has given it an 8.0/10. I find that IGN is usually a more generous and forgiving reviewer than the average, whereas GameSpot is more harsh - I like having the two extremes, because then it better helps me decide on which game to buy if I'm choosing between two.

"Dead Island is Fallout 3 with zombies." - IGN

If what IGN said was true, they wouldn't have given the game an 8/10, because Fallout 3 is a superb game. Even if the ratings weren't all that spectacular, who actually believed this game would be amazing because it had a neat trailer?

I'm not saying it isn't a good game, but it's mainly directed at Western RPG audiences and people who just like to let loose and slaughter some zombies. Read reviews, view videos, don't like it, don't buy it. I, for one, plan to buy this game soon, as it looks like a good way to blow off some steam.