And they said it would never happen: I (finally) got a Switch!

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Instagram likely already know this news, but for the rest of you: I finally got a Nintendo Switch!

Shocking, I know. Especially since I never bought a Wii U despite regularly saying I would do just that. Also, back when Nintendo revealed the Switch, I declared I likely wouldn't purchase one until its price dropped to at least $250. I've also suggested on more than one occasion that I'd prefer to wait for the inevitable hardware revision to be released before I pick up a Switch.

Well, all of that went out the window after a Super Mario Odyssey Switch bundle was announced during the most recent batch of Nintendo Directs. (Read this post for some of my thoughts on those broadcasts.)

That's not to say this bundle caused me to go weak in the knees or anything like that. I'm probably as interested in Super Mario Odyssey as the next Nintendo fan, but I'm not so interested in it that I'm champing at the bit to own a pair of "Mario red" Joy-Con controllers or a Super Mario Odyssey-themed carrying case.



However, when I realized this bundle was going be pretty widely available--you can still pre-order it via gamestop.com--I couldn't help perk up a bit.

So, I pre-ordered it. Within days, maybe even hours, though, I discovered Walmart had almost surreptitiously started selling a Splatoon 2 bundle.

This same bundle--featuring a copy of Splatoon 2 as well as a set of neon green and pink Joy-Cons and a Splatoon-branded carrying case--has been available in Japan for some time now, but Nintendo of America's never even breathed a word about it since the game's late-July release, so I assumed it wouldn't be an option for me. (To be honest, I'm not entirely sold on Splatoon 2. I am, however, sold on the pink and green Joy-Cons.)

Anyway, everything changed once I knew about the availability of this Splatoon 2 bundle. I kept an eye on it for a few days and after it became clear it wasn't going to sell out immediately, I canceled my pre-order for the Super Mario Odyssey bundle and pre-ordered this one instead.



It arrived yesterday, but I've yet to even open the box, let alone turn on the Switch and give it a go. Don't worry, I plan on doing that soon, though perhaps not for a few more days. I want to wait for the screen protector I just bought to arrive (and be applied) before I put this lovely piece of hardware through its paces.

Once that's out of the way--watch out! The first thing I'll do is make my way to the Switch eShop and download the Octopath Traveler demo. (See the latest Octopath Traveler trailer and read some of my thoughts on it here.)

After that, I've got to decide what I'm going to do with the Splatoon 2 download code that's packed inside the pretty box seen throughout this post. I want to play the game at some point, don't get me wrong, but at the moment I think I'd rather use whatever money I could get for it on something else (like a physical copy of Super Mario Galaxy).

Do any of you have a Switch? If so, what do you think of it? Also, do you have any advice or recommendations to share with a newbie like myself? If you do, please share them in the comments section below.

Photographic proof I may be more obsessed with the PC Engine than I am with the Wii at this point

And that's saying something, as I'm really into the Wii right now thanks to all the fun I'm having with Opoona and Tabemon. (Here are some Opoona impressions, for the curious.)

So what do I mean when I say I'm obsessed with NEC's little white wonder, aka the PC Engine? Well, I mean that beyond playing the many PC Engine games I've owned for years now, I've been buying new ones over the last month or two.

In fact, I've bought at least 12 PC Engine games in that time. All are HuCards. Most are RPGs.

Their titles aren't completely visible in the snapshots included to the right, so I'll spell them out for you (in order, from top to bottom) while also sharing little descriptions for those who aren't so versed in PC Engine HuCards.

War of the Dead--A post-apocalyptic RPG from 1989 that features battles focused on side-scrolling action rather than selecting options from drop-down menus. Oh, and War of the Dead's badass protagonist--a woman, amazingly--uses guns, grenade launchers and the like rather than swords and magic to mow down the ghoulies that get in her way. Given all of that, is it any wonder I've wanted to play this since I first pinged my radar?

Necros no Yōsai--I told you early I was really into HuCard RPGs right now. Well, here's another. This one was released in 1990 and offers players slightly more traditional battles than War of the Dead. I say slightly because they're (said to be) far more cinematic than what's typical for the genre and for the time. Not that I've played it yet, mind you. The Brothers Duomazov have, though, and I always trust their judgment.

Susano Oh Densetsu--Surprise! Another chip-based role-playing game. This one is based on the Japanese manga, Susano Oh, created by Go Nagai. Again, word on the street is Susano Oh Densetu isn't your typical RPG. Enemies are visible on the overworld screen and the fights they pick with you via your avatar seem to be pretty strategic. Toss into the mix the ability to use everything from axes to rocket launchers against your opponents, and you've got a game I'm very much itching to play.

Double Dungeons--I can't say I've been itching to play this HuCard dungeon crawler, but I have long thought it looked interesting, so I went ahead and purchased a copy when I came across a cheap one while perusing eBay recently. The differentiator here is two people can tackle a dungeon at the same time. I'll likely never have the opportunity to experience Double Dungeons that way, of course, but hopefully I'll enjoy my eventual playthrough all the same.

R-Type I and II--The R-Type II shown and discussed here isn't the arcade sequel (to the original R-Type, naturally) Irem released in 1989. Bizarrely, the company split the first R-Type into two parts while porting it to the PC Engine. Yes, that meant the game was released on two HuCards. Ridiculous, right? Still, I have fond memories of playing the North American version (on my beloved TurboGrafx-16) back in the day, so I picked up both Japanese chips during one of my impromptu eBay shopping sprees.

Gomola Speed--I've had my eyes on this strange, Snake-inspired PC Engine title for ages now, but it wasn't until I had a Twitter chat about it with Snow Kitten that I finally bit the bullet and bought a copy. It sports some great cover art, plus its gameplay looks like good, breezy fun, so I'll definitely give it a go sooner rather than later.

Daichi-kun Crisis: Do Natural--Here's a HuCard with which I've had an on-again, off-again relationship since I first became aware of it. My interest in it should be easy enough to understand once you glimpse its cover art, which shows an erupting volcano surrounded by a bunch of adorable cows. As for why it took me so long to add Daichi-kun Crisis to my ever-growing collection of PC Engine games: its gameplay looks, well, bonkers--and not necessarily in a good way. That's rarely stopped me from trying something, so here's hoping it pays off this time around.

Nazo no Masquerade--This is the kind of game I would've avoided like the plague before I started learning Japanese. (Read about my progress in this recent post.) Now, though, I use such titles as inspiration to keep me going. Not that I see myself successfully completing an adventure game like this one anytime soon. Still, I may boot up Nazo no Masquerade in the coming weeks just to see what I'm able to suss out, as I'm attracted to its "1920s mansion" setting.

Momotarō Katsugeki--No need to know Japanese for this game, which is a side-scrolling platformer starring that country's popular "Peach Boy." (Momotarō often is translated to Peach Boy.) Momotarō Katsugeki looks quite PC Genjin-esque to me, and seeing as though I've loved every PC Genjin (or Bonk) title I've played, I have a feeling I'll love this Hudson Soft-published effort, too--once I finally pop it into my trusty PC Engine Core Grafx II.

Momotarō Densetsu Turbo and Momotarō Densetsu Gaiden--These games also were made and published by Hudson Soft, and they also star the above-mentioned Peach Boy. They differ from Katsugeki in terms of gameplay, though. Both are Dragon Quest-esque RPGs full of turn-based battles and travels across exotic landscapes. The latter's supposed to be miles better than the former, so most would say I should start with Gaiden, but I'll probably do the opposite.

Have you played any of these PC Engine games? If so, let me (and others) know what you think of them in the comments section below.

If it were possible, I'd probably marry my copy of Madou Monogatari A (Game Gear)

It's a good thing my husband never checks out this blog. If he did, he might be a bit turned off by the header that tops today's post.

I'm pretty sure he'd like the contents of this post, though; I mean, how could he not get the "warm and fuzzies" while looking at the photo below, which showcases the copy of Madou Monogatari A I recently picked up?

This is the fourth and final Madou Monogatari title to be released for Sega's Game Gear, by the way. The first, Madou Monogatari I, was released (in Japan, of course) in 1993, followed by Madou Monogatari II and III in 1994 and Madou Monogatari A in 1995.

All of these games are dungeon-crawling RPGs, by the way, and feature a cast of characters (and creatures) that would later show up in Compile's Puyo Puyo series.

Madou Monogatari A usually serves as the start of a second Madou Monogatari trilogy--with the first trilogy consisting of I, II and III and the second consisting of A, R and S--but for whatever reason A was the only one to get a Game Gear port.

Anyway, a funny little story about this pick-up: I'd had my eye on a particular complete-in-box copy of this game (on eBay, of course) for a couple of years, but its $40 asking price was a bit too rich for my blood. 

A month or so ago, though, the same seller switched the listing to an actual auction that started at a penny. I threw my hat into the ring for it, as the saying goes, and ended up walking away with the copy seen above and below for $4 (not including shipping).

That's a pretty sweet deal on such an adorable game, don't you think? I mean, the first page of this game's instruction manual (above) alone is worth about that much to me.

Speaking of which, I'm planning to devote an upcoming installment of "Manual Stimulation" to this game, so keep an eye out for it if you're at all curious about such things. Also, maybe I'll finally finish Madou Monogatari I soon and then write a "Great Gaymathon" review of it.  

In the meantime, have any of you played any of this games many releases? If so, which ones are your favorites?

See also: 'I don't get mad, I get Madou Monogatari'

Photographic proof that my love of the DS has been rekindled, too

I know I've been going on and on and on about the GameBoy as of late, but the ol' brick, as I like to call it, isn't the only system currently pinging my gaming radar. Obviously there's the 3DS, as evidenced by the last few "Shall We Do It?" posts I've published, but there's also the DS.

How else can you explain all of the DS games I've picked up in the last three months, a number of which can be seen in the photos below?



The games included in the photo above, by the way, are (clockwise from the upper-left) Dun-Dam: Dungeons & Dam, Awatama (aka Soul Bubbles), 7th Dragon, Zombie Daisuki, Tomodachi Collection and Tetris DS.

Now, before any of you jump to the conclusion that I'm completely bonkers, most of these DS games were picked up on the cheap. I nabbed Tomodachi Collection, for example, for all of three bucks.



The copy of Noora and the Time Studio (aka Nora to Toki no Kōbō: Kiri no Mori no Majo) seen above and below was a steal, too, at just $12.

Sadly, I haven't played any of these games yet due to the fact that Bravely Default has me by the short and curlies at the moment. I'll start playing at least a couple of them once the above-mentioned RPG releases me from its grasp, though, I swear. But which should I play first?

See also: photos of other recent pick-ups

Next gen, schmext gen: I'll take this copy of Painter Momopie (GameBoy) over the bulk of its 'au courant' counterparts any day

It could be said that I've been a bit obsessed with finding a complete copy of Painter Momopie, a Japan-only Pac-Man clone that was released by Sigma Entertainment in 1990, since I first heard about it early last year.

Unfortunately, even loose copies of this game can be hard to come by, so imagine my surprise when a pristine, complete-with-registration-card copy of it popped up on eBay about a month ago.

I snapped it up the second I saw it, of course, and just about blew a gasket when it arrived on my doorstep last week.

Would you like to ogle a few photos of it? I hope you're shaking your head in the affirmative, because that's just what you're going to get in this post.

Painter Momopie's cover art (above) is nice enough, I guess, but it's nothing compared to the cuteness on display elsewhere. Case in point: the adorable illustration featured on the box's top flap.

Honestly, I wish that drawing had been used on the front of the box, perhaps in a wrap-around fashion à la Don Doko Don 2 for the Famicom?

The back of the box (above) is pretty sweet, too. The characters seen in the upper-right corner, by the way, are the bulk of Painter Momopie's baddies.

I couldn't help but share a close-up photo of a specific portion of the back of Painter Momopie's box--a screenshot that includes multiple examples of giggle-worthy "Engrish."

Sadly, there's no English, or even Engrish, to be found in or on this game's instruction manual, although it does feature a number of adorable illustrations that are akin to the ones seen on the top flap of its box. Don't take my word for it; see them for yourself in this "Manual Stimulation" post.

Speaking of this game's manual, I don't suppose any of you would be able and willing to translate what Momopie is saying in the speech bubble above (which appears on the manual's cover)?

Finally, here (above) is the whole she-bang--box, cartridge, manual and registration card--for anyone who cares.

As I'm sure I've said before, this game is a nice little diversion for folks who are still interested in playing the odd GameBoy title. Copies of it may not be tremendously easy to find these days, but there's always emulation, right?

See also: my Painter Momopie review

A few photos of my latest PC Engine pick-up, Atlus' Mesopotamia

Those of you who've managed to wade through the latest episode of The Nichiest Podcast Ever already know this (well, if you paid attention from beginning to end), but for those of you who haven't: since the holidays, I've gone on a bit of a gaming shopping spree.

Although the bulk of my Christmas cash was spent on a stack of Japanese DS games (I'll publish a post on them as soon as all of the have been delivered), I also bought a couple of GameBoy Advance, Game Gear and PC Engine titles.

One of the three PC Engine games I picked up is the one seen in the photos below: Atlus' wackadoodle Mesopotamia (aka Somer Assault).



I call this HuCard "wackadoodle" because it stars what can only be described as an armed pink Slinky. Actually, here's one of the absolutely adorable illustrations of said Slinky that can be found on Mesopotamia's cover art (as well as inside its instruction manual):

Anyway, you control an armed Slinky while playing this 1991 release. Oh, and you guide him through 12 maze-like stages in an attempt to track down the Zodiac-themed bosses that reside within. Wackadoodle, no?

I've got to be frank: although I've always respected and even appreciated Mesopotamia's off-the-wall protagonist and premise, I've never been much of a fan of its tough-to-come-to-grips-with gameplay. Until recently, I mean. I'm still not very good at it, but I enjoy it a lot more than I did in the past.



That said, the main reason I picked up the copy showcased above now rather than later is its cover art. Sure, it's about as wackadoodle as the rest of the game, but that's part of its charm, don't you think?

I especially like those googly-eyed illustrations of its protagonist. In fact, without them, this import probably would've lingered on my lengthy "to buy" list for a few more months (if not years).

Attention "Manual Stimulation" fans: I'll be publishing another installment of that vaunted column next week and it will focus on Mesopotamia's black-and-white-but-still-fabulous instruction manual.