S.C.G

I bought Oddworld at the time because I genuinely wanted it, even though I haven't played it yet I still wanted to support the developer at the time and I'm glad that I did, this is still good for anyone who hasn't purchased it yet though and its clearly sold enough to warrant it becoming a Plus game so I'm happy. Valiant Hearts on the other hand I never had any intention of parting with any money for because I knew it was almost a dead cert to become a Plus game being that it's Ubisoft... I'll definitely give it a go seeing as it's free. : peace: As for the other games, I don't have any of them so it's a really good month, when I'll find the time to play any of them however...

Now I can consider buying Shantae and the Pirate's Curse! : peace: Not that it wasn't already reasonably priced, there just didn't seem to be much point purchasing it right away during a busy release period, but now I shall snap it up at that price.

New release, can buy it for £6.79 until 19/03/15 it seems, cross-buy on the same NNID is a nice bonus.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. My advice would be to not worrying about rotating characters too much if you're not fussed, my team was Shulk, Reyn & Sharla for all the time I played it, just go with whatever is comfortable. : peace:

Whichever way you choose to play I would say that it's necessary to have either a New 3DS XL or a Circle Pad Pro attachment as it makes hunting infinitely better. I really like the 'C-stick' on the New 3DS XL as it's both intuitive and responsive, no complaints from using it at all, only praise. : peace: This reminds me, I must get back into playing this today, I've missed playing it the past couple of nights as I've just been too tired from work but I'm definitely back in the hunt now. :awesome:

If you are using the same PSN account on both consoles, it should be fine, assuming you already have Plus then you could even use cloud storage for the save file to save plugging in USB storage all the time.

That really sucks Pancake you deserve far better than to be treated like that. I've been single for almost the same amount of time so I have an idea of what it's like. Anyway at least you stood up for yourself so good on you, it's his loss that he'll be missing out on your awesomeness. : peace: Best of luck on those dating sites as I know first-hand how awful they can be, I've given up on them myself lately as they've only lead me to massive disappointment so far.

“Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them.” RIP Leonard Nimoy, you will always be missed and never forgotten.

I'm glad to hear that you're getting right into the game as I'm sure you're aware it's a huge RPG which is said to take around 80 hours or so to finish, and that's a conservative estimate. How are you finding it so far? I loved my first time playing Xenoblade on the Wii even though I only put fifty hours into it, how does the action hold up in 3D btw? I'm hoping it has a really consistent frame-rate as I'm looking forward to picking it up again so that I can play it to completion this time. Tips... I would advise going after all the collectables in each area, I seem to remember there are lots of shiny objects that you will find randomly on the map, if you find all of them in each area and fill in the card for that part then there's some kind of reward which will help you, it also means that you'll need to scour all of the map which is definitely a good idea anyway just to take in the scale of it all. Above all though... the most important thing... and this is crucial... ...enjoy playing the game! I can't wait to hear your impressions on it and I look forward to the full review, it's just as well that review codes are getting sent out so early because you really need a good month to properly complete the game and to have time to absorb all of its amazing moments which make for a truly memorable JRPG which I'd imagine is still one of the best to be released in recent years. : peace:

I'm really sorry to hear that @bryanee I hope things improve as much as they can for your Step Dad, it must be a terrible time for him and you all right now. I hope some good news comes for you all soon and that he manages to make a recovery.

I was going to get on again tonight but then remembered I had reviews to catch up with, only just now getting my fix of Monster Hunter before I sleep. Should definitely be on tomorrow though from about 8:30pm shall we say? : peace:

I like the Wii U as it has brought many different experiences to the table for me, firstly it's responsible for getting me into Monster Hunter which justifies its purchase alone, then you have all of the fantastic Nintendo titles, the real stand-out examples for me have been Pikmin 3 which had been a long time coming but delivered on all of the expectations I had of it. Super Mario Bros. U provided a decent experience until Super Mario 3D World arrived blowing everything else out of the water, of course you can't mention aquatics without at least dipping your toes into the waters of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD which is easily one of the best looking games I have ever had the pleasure of playing due to its glorious art style which finally matched up to what it was always meant to feel like; a living, breathing cartoon world with the best of the Zelda traits while taking you on an adventure in an entirely new way. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze most certainly evokes the overall vibe of the original DKC games thanks to the talents of David Wise and Retro Studios who well and truly made their mark on the series without sullying the memory of the first games which are still my favourite ultimately but then it was never really a competition. So much goodness but then we got the fantastic flagship title that everyone who has a Wii U simply has to experience which is of course Mario Kart 8 with its anti-gravity antics becoming a natural extension of everything that had been built upon in previous incarnations up to this point, plus it's the first in the series to be presented in HD, the online is always fun as is the local multiplayer which seems even more accessible. This is without taking into account the DLC which expands the fun even further adding in a substantial amount of brilliant and quite honestly unexpected content which we as fans knew we wanted before we even had a chance to ask for it, there it is, all for a decent price but spread out sufficiently so as to keep a buzz about the game for a good while to come. Even the mention of DLC has to lead me onto Hyrule Warriors which intrigued many of us since its reveal, then delighted us with its diverse range of characters, weapons, enemies, locations and even improvised dialogue revolving around the Zelda universe, all wrapped up neatly into a Dynasty Warriors orientated package. Mere months down the line we have been supplied with a myriad of content which would have normally been fit to make up an entire new game and yet we get it all for an incredibly generous one-off payment which turns this serial 'level-up' obsessed title into the game that keeps on giving until you think it has no more to give, then it ends up giving us more or less exactly what we want - or didn't - in the case of Tingle being a playable character! Not to mention all of the other stuff but being able to play as the green-clad, gnome-like thirty-five year old who alas has not yet acquired a fairy of his own... is just simply astounding, worthy of a GOTY nomination right there! How could I forget Platinum Games? I can't, that's how! Not content with bringing us the brilliant The Wonderful 101 which was an amazingly spectacular example of failed diplomacy at its finest but they have also bestowed upon us the beautifully brutal Bayonetta 2 not to mention the original available on a Nintendo console for the first time, I mean this game wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for Nintendo stepping in to fund it and thank the gods that they did because it has always been one of my most wanted games, even after all that time... you'd think it might have suffered somehow during development but absolutely not; it turned out to be the hair-raising, spell-binding, gloriously torturous-themed game that we expected with a healthy dose of over the top humour but still noticeably tight gameplay making it all the more masochistically marvellous. We've also had the best iteration in the Super Smash Bros. series since the spectacular second entry which a lot of us thought would never even be matched, of course it doesn't quite have everything that was expected but you certainly can't accuse the game of being light on content, plus it's still amazingly fun to play; pick a Nintendo or third-party character, pick a stage and fight it out in glorious HD with up to eight players, what's not to love? Most recently Captain Toad has arrived early in the year - earlier still for some - to delight us with his treasure tracking adventures providing a surprisingly deep game derived from a seemingly simple concept, just pick up one of those blue hammers, watch Toad go and try not to at least crack a smile; worth the price of entry just for that moment alone! Of course we've had many more moments of joy thanks to some digital delights in the form of several eShop titles including Shovel Knight which ranks highly as one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played, not to mention its pixel-perfect pacing, as for the dialogue I don't know where they dug it up from but it's certainly gold standard. Even the Virtual Console has seen a fine selection of titles including some previously unreleased that we'd almost given up hope of seeing, most notable of course is Earthbound which would be worth buying the machine alone for anyone who wanted to experience it on a Nintendo console for less than what the cartridge alone and a SNES would set you back, of course there are many others too but in just one recent week we received both Axelay which is a superb shooter, the likes of which I feel privileged to be able to finally experience AND the legendary Demon's Crest which is one of the most atmospheric 16-bit platform games that you're ever likely to play, again available for a reasonable price for a game which really deserves to be enjoyed even more now that it's available to a wider audience further bolstered by Miiverse which is brilliant in its own subtle way. :awesome: Of course I have missed out a fair bit no doubt - Metroid Prime Trilogy needs to be at least crudely dropped in there though like a morph-ball Samus into a kinetic mechanism - but as a console the Wii U has actually offered me a lot more than I expected up to this point and although it has had a turbulent few years to say the least, its been a roller-coaster which I've been enjoying the ride on for some time now and it's still only about just over half-way across the track I reckon so for anyone who may have fallen asleep on the tamer parts of it or who have become perhaps completely derailed due to lack of track in some places, I'd urge you all to get on board at least for the next part as there will surely be a few more loops yet before the end of the line; don't forget to board the hype train at least once more, right now though I'm going to get back on track with the Wii U as I feel it still has a lot to offer before it runs out of steam. : peace: I'll still be bringing my New 3DS XL along for the ride too though, it's going to be a reasonably long journey.

Speaking of all things Rare, as my physical game soundtrack is starting to grow I received Kameo: Elements of Power OST in the post today and am listening to it now. It has been years since I last played the game so hearing it again is once again bringing back fond memories of playing through it on the Xbox 360 launch - I remember having both Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero before even having the system - but as we all know it had been in development since the early Gamecube era; it still has an air of classic Rare to it. Getting hold of Steve Burke to oversee the soundtrack is definitely a master-stroke on Playtonic's part as this will only mean good things for the music as a whole when you combine that with the expertise of Grant Kirkhope and David Wise... it's almost too much! I know it's technically too early to get hyped, especially as we won't be seeing or hearing anything significant about the project for a couple of weeks yet but still, this has huge amounts of potential. : peace:

I've just had an epic night of hunting thanks to @Hero\-of\-Time & his nephew, @kav82 who helped me in getting from HR1 up to HR4 which has really given me a push to keep the momentum going with the game. : peace: We hunted some old favourites including Rathalos, Rathian, even Tigrex and Kirin who I'd never seen before owing to me only getting into the series with MH3U so I really appreciated the chance to hunt such a diverse selection of monsters with some good company and decent party chat on the headset courtesy of the Playstation network meaning we were able to have a laugh while playing, just how Monster Hunter should be. Some of the new monsters were fun to fight as well, being that I'd only got up to 4* quests on single player these were quite the eye-opener as well, indeed I've never seen Gore Magala get taken down so swiftly before, glorious stuff. I seemed to have my moments too with some of the mounted take-downs which are a lot of fun to perform, but credit to you all as it was brilliant to hunt as part of a unit again, seeing how accomplished you all are with your respective weapons and then there's me rocking up with my 'newb' armour... the same in style but several ranks lower, I seemed to hold my ground though as I didn't faint so that's a plus. Anyway I'd just like to say thanks to the N-E Brotherhood as it's always a pleasure to hunt with you all, if you want to carry on with G-Rank quests for a bit then I completely understand but if you can spare an hour or so once or twice a week then I'd love the opportunity to fight alongside you whenever it may arise; then when I get up to G-Rank myself I can of course return the favour if anyone should have need of my help... I will get there, one quest at a time. It's a nice reminder that we do actually have a brilliant community on this forum when we do manage to get together for a proper session and it's a place I'm proud to be part of, especially when it comes to playing games such as this which really bring out the best of this place rather than the beast quite aptly. BAM! Suit up, Huntah! :awesome:

English only voice-over for Xenoblade Chronicles 3D? I wonder what Shulk has to say about this news? 'I'm really feeling it!' I thought as much.

Most likely, I've never really had an issue with it but the power brick is a bit of an annoyance, I have to keep it tucked away down the side of my PC otherwise it just gets in the way. Being that there is a power brick for the Gamepad I think there is definitely scope for a redesign in order to make the unit slimmer even if it would be too little, too late; the size of it is reasonable but awkward to hold for long periods of time I find.

It is up to standard... ... the Nintendo standard. Nextgen! (Personally I've never had a problem with the way in which the gamepad charges but even I won't deny that USB charging would have been a lot easier than having a second brick!)

Seconded, I've enjoyed hearing about you online exploits @Hero\-of\-Time and I'd love to join you for some online hunting sessions if you happen to have any spaces free? I've only played online twice so far despite having the game over a week. I'm free tonight and tomorrow night though as far as I know, I've made it to 4* quests offline, still on HR1 online but I can grind through some of them solo if needed to at least get to HR2 before tonight so let me know if there's space and from what time you're hunting and I'll try and get online after dinner. : peace: Its been too long since we last hunted. I've at least got a full set of Tetsucabra armour and a pair of Chainsaw dual blades which isn't bad for having played less than thirty hours mostly offline.

No problem, thanks to @Shorty and @Ashley for sorting things out so promptly. : peace: I was surprised that my IP came up, I've had to change my passwords as a precaution so I would certainly advise that you do so too Wii especially as it seems that it was your account that was targeted. Anyway hopefully things will get back to normal now for a bit.

It is most definitely worth upgrading to a New 3DS XL to play Monster Hunter on, the larger screens make so much sense plus the C-stick is excellent for camera control. : peace: Ended up clearing a few more village quests last night, hopefully will get some more online time on it over the weekend, I've nearly passed the 24 hour mark; a day in total spent playing Monster Hunter though is time well spent especially as that only just about covers the initiation. The best is still to come!

Literally only just got in from work, so probably not tonight, working tomorrow but Sunday is likely. : peace:

I managed to get them all but only because I was lucky enough to be able to pre-order the amiibo's there and then after the direct. Here's a low-res photo of them - plus Kirby obviously - for now, I intend to take some high-res shots of all the Super Smash Bros. set assuming I can complete my collection, I only have enough space in my designated 'amiibo area' for seven more figures though... this is most disturbing. Anyway here's that pic... Impressions... Meta Knight - Deadly! King Dedede - Weighty! Shulk - I'm really feeling it! Mega Man - Shiny! Sonic - Perfect Blue! I hope everyone's able to acquire the one's they are missing, Nintendo... get on those restocks! : peace:

17 track... :/ I wish it was the 164 track one though.

Agreed, if nothing else the soundtrack at least should be nothing sort of stellar. I'm off to listen to the Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack again right now purely because its been to long since I last listened to it. : peace:

This'll be excellent when it inevitably comes to the Wii U, if they don't release it then it's a missed opportunity, they could sell the game bundled with that arcade controller for £59.99 easily. Add in some amiibo support, heck even a new range of them - can you imagine? - and it would probably do pretty well.