How I'm spending my 'Black Friday'

So, it's "Black Friday" here in North America.

For those of you who don't live here (I should mention, by the way, that I'm not at all sure if folks in Canada or Mexico "celebrate" this day, too), "Black Friday" is both the day after Thanksgiving and the first day of the holiday shopping season in our neck of the woods.

In regards to the latter part of that description, retailers here tend to open their doors extremely early on "Black Friday" (as early as midnight) and also promote rather insane deals in order to woo customers into their establishments.

Although a good number of Americans are braving the crowds, traffic and weather today, I am not one of them. What will I be doing instead of shopping? Why, playing games, of course. (OK, so I'll probably do a few other things, too--like put up some Christmas lights and, uh, contemplate my existence.)

As for which ones, here's a little rundown for all who are interested:

* For starters, I'm going to spend some time rearranging all of the "Harvest" furniture I spent two hours obtaining from Animal Crossing's Franklin the turkey last night. I'll probably also write lurid love letters to my newest neighbors: Cousteau the frog, Savannah the zebra and Tangy the cat.

* I'm also planning to make a good dent (not literally) in the copy of Paper Mario: Sticker Star that arrived on my doorstep last week. I've only spent about two hours with it so far, but already I'm loving the writing, the soundtrack and, surprise, the sticker-centric battles.

* Should I still have a bit of energy left for gaming after all of the above, I may pop my copy of Style Savvy: Trendsetters back into my 3DS and give it a go, too.

* Finally, I'm itching to download UFO Interactive's just-released PSP dungeon-crawler, Elminage Original. Considering I'm a bit broke at the moment (more on that in an upcoming post), though, that may not happen this weekend.

How are all of you planning to spend this holiday (if you're in the States) weekend?

Acquisition #145: Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone (3DS)

Two weeks ago, I mentioned (in this post) that I'm eagerly looking forward to a number of 3DS games that will be released in North America before the end of the year.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star is just one of those titles, of course. A few of the others: Crosswords Plus (which hit the streets on Oct. 1, actually), Freakyforms Deluxe (due out on Nov. 5) and even Style Savvy: Trendsetters (Oct. 22).

Oh, and let's not forget Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone, which also arrived on North American store shelves on Oct. 1, interestingly enough.

Did I pick up the copy seen in the photos shared here on day one? Actually, I would have, if I could have found one in any of the stores near my home. Since I couldn't, I ordered a copy from Amazon instead.

As is far too often the case these days, I've yet to put through Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone through its paces--although that has nothing to do with any kind of lack of interest in it on my part. Rather, I've just been too busy with other things (work, mainly) to pop it into my 3DS.

I promise to give it a go soon, though, and as soon as I do I'll share a few impressions (or maybe even a full-blown "Great Gaymathon" review) here.

See also: Previous 'Acquisition #123' posts

Let's Play: 'Which Box Art is Better?' (Paper Mario: Sticker Star edition)

Although there are a number of 3DS games I'm looking forward to getting my grubby hands on next year--the next Animal Crossing, Etrian Odyssey IV and Fire Emblem: Awakening, among them--I'm eagerly awaiting quite a few 2012 releases, too.

Sitting atop the latter list: The latest (and hopefully greatest) chapter in Nintendo's Paper Mario saga.

As many of you likely already know, this 3DS title will be known as Paper Mario: Sticker Star when it's released throughout North America on Nov. 11. Here is the art that will grace the covers of said release:

The game will sport a slightly different name--Paper Mario: Super Seal--when it hits the streets in Japan on Dec. 6, and naturally it'll sport a different piece of box art, too.

Although I'd love to show you the cover art that'll be used on the Euro version of this Intelligent Systems-developed game, which also will be called Paper Mario: Sticker Star and will arrive on store shelves on Dec. 7, Nintendo of Europe has yet to reveal it.

Given that, I guess we'll just have to judge the pair of illustrations showcased above.

Personally, I much prefer the North American cover art to its Japanese counterpart this time around. Granted, the latter option does a much better job of depicting the game's sticker-collecting aspect, but that isn't enough to trump the former's bold use of color.

Now that I've had my say, what do all of you think of the box art that's been prepared for this portable RPG?

See also: Previous 'Which Box Art is Better?' posts

Goodbye, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon; hello, Style Savvy: Trendsetters

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Nintendo of America revealed earlier this morning that Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon won't be released in this neck of woods until "the first half of 2013."

Although that makes me all kinds of sad, I won't be shedding these salty, bitter tears for long. That's because Nintendo's North American arm also announced release dates for a number of 3DS games that will take the place of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon on store shelves between now and the end of the year.



The question is: Will some of these games also take the place of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon in our hearts and minds between now and whenever that much-anticipated (and much-delayed) title finally hits the streets?

For me, the answer is a resounding "yes." In particular, I'm planning to pick up--and thoroughly enjoy--copies of Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! (which will be released on Oct. 1), Crosswords Plus (Oct. 1), Paper Mario: Sticker Star (Nov. 11) and Style Savvy: Trendsetters (Oct. 22).



I'll also likely pick up Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (Oct. 28) and Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive! (Nov. 5), but I'm not yet sure if they'll be added to my 3DS collection this year or next.

Are any of you also planning to purchase one or more of the above-named games? If so, which ones?

My two-word review of Nintendo's 3DS Software Showcase: More meh

Actually, saying that yesterday's 3DS Software Showcase was a "meh" experience is like saying my early teens were enjoyable.

A much more accurate description of the event, in my opinion, would be to say that it sucked. Or, rather, that it completely sucked.

The reason: The folks at Nintendo of America didn't show or even announce a single new 3DS game. Yes, you read that correctly--not a single new 3DS game, first-party or otherwise, was discussed during this so-called showcase.

Because I spent an hour of my time to watch it, though, I've decided to write a blog post about it. Be warned, though: I have almost nothing nice to say about Nintendo this time around.

* I hereby nominate Nate Bihldorff to lead all of Nintendo of America's press events, E3 and otherwise, from here on out--Bihldorff, for those of you who haven't played through games like Animal Crossing and Paper Mario and read their end credits, is a senior localization manager and producer at Nintendo Treehouse. He was brought on stage twice during the 3DS Software Showcase--once to chat about New Super Mario Bros. 2 (below) and once to chat about Paper Mario: Sticker Star--and both times he showed that he has more presence than his superiors, Reggie Fils-Aime and Scott Moffitt, combined. Whereas Moffitt, who headed up this particular presser, was as awkward as can be, Bihldorff was relaxed and even witty. More Bihldorff, less Fils-Aime and Moffitt in the future, please!



* Thanks for offering up such specific release dates, Nintendo!--In a move that will surprise nearly no one, but will irritate nearly everyone, Moffitt reiterated during the 3DS Software Showcase that the numeral-phobic pair of upcoming releases known as Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (below) and Paper Mario: Sticker Star will hit store shelves (and the Nintendo eShop, too, I'm guessing) "this holiday season." Gee, thanks! I'll be sure to circle the entire months of November and December, and maybe even January, on my calendar in anticipation. Really, would it be so hard to provide us 3DS owners with actual release dates? I guess so. At least they didn't leave us hanging in regards to New Super Mario Bros. 2, which will see the light of day--both digitally and at retail--on Aug. 19.



* If Animal Crossing 3DS isn't released before the end of the year, I'm going to make voodoo dolls that look like Satoru Iwata and send them to anyone who wants one--Unexpectedly, the long-awaited (by me, at least), 3DS-based iteration of Animal Crossing wasn't even mentioned during this so-called showcase. Why? I have no idea. I'm guessing it's because Nintendo of America had too many other great 3DS releases to talk about during this hour-long event. Only they didn't. Like I said earlier, not a single new game was announced yesterday. Even worse, only a handful of previously-announced games were given center stage, with those games being Castlevania: Lords of Shadow--Mirror of Fate (what a great title!), Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Paper Mario: Sticker Star (below). In other words, Moffitt and Bihldorff had plenty of time to toss out a sentence or two about the game that's sure to sell as much as each of the aforementioned titles combined.



* That's all right, Nintendo, I wasn't planning on buying any more eShop games this year anyway--OK, so that's a lie; I was planning on buying more eShop games this year. Sadly, Nintendo of America decided to mention just two of them during the 3DS Software Showcase: Pokémon Dream Radar and Pokédex 3D Pro. I'm guessing this means the Dragon-Quest-meets-Pikmin curiosity known as Denpa Ningen RPG won't be making its way to our shores anytime soon? If so, bummer.

I could easily add a few more complaints--such as, oh, the fact that Fire Emblem: Awakening was completely ignored--to the list above, but why bother? I'm sure you get the idea that I was more than a bit disappointed (disgusted may be a better word) by Nintendo's 3DS Software Showcase.

Were any of you similarly turned off by the event? If so, what were you hoping the folks at Nintendo of America would discuss or reveal?

See also: 'My one-word review of E3 2012 (thus far): Meh'