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Early Impressions of Donkey Kong Country Returns

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 The Donkey Kong Country series used to be a staple of Christmas cheer in my household. I received all three Donkey Kong Country games from Santa on the years they came out. Though I have extra-fond memories of the first one, all three games were pretty good. However, ever since Donkey Kong 64 in the late 90s, DK hasn’t really starred in his own platformer. Instead, he’s spent over a decade starring in spin-off titles and making regular guest appearances in games like Mario Party.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is a welcome return to form. Besides being a return to Christmas tradition for me, this game goes back to the series 2D platforming roots. As of writing, I’ve just beaten world 2, but I wanted to share a few thoughts on what I’ve experienced so far.

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Girlfriend Gaming: What She Wants for Christmas

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Last week, my girlfriend and I exchanged Christmas wish lists. Unlike mine, which was comprised almost exclusively of video games, only one appeared on her list. Not to say that there’s only one game she wants, but our priorities are very much different. Santa will do his best to get her what she’s asking for.

She gave me the blessing to share with you some of the games she’s eying this holiday season. Besides the one on her formal list, we’ve gone shopping recently and she’s pointed out a few titles she’d like to get a hold of. Is your girlfriend/boyfriend interested in any of these?

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2010 Year in Review: My Pile of Shame

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When I buy a game, I have every intention of playing it at some point. This is common behavour amongst most gamers. However, sometimes I just don’t get around to everything I buy. As a kid I didn’t have this problem, but as I got more money to spend on games, I had less time to actually play them.

This stack of games that hardly gets played or never gets played at all is often known as the pile of shame. My pile has been accumulating for the last few years now, and 2010 has only made it bigger. Click through to see a few of the games I added to the pile of shame this year.

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2010 Year in Review: Older Games That Rocked My Socks

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When it comes to playing video games, the majority of gamers don’t just play whatever is new and hot. Most of us will play some new releases, but we’ll also go back to older games we may have missed for whatever reason. In hindsight, most of the games I played this year were were not originally released in 2010. If I were to make some sort of defining list of the best games of 2010, it would fall well short of representing the year’s best, as I spent much of the year playing older stuff.

Instead, I present to you this list of awesome, older games that I only got to this year. You may have already played this stuff, but if you haven’t, they’re all worth a look.

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An Open Letter to Santa

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Dear Santa,

Let’s cut to the chase. You know I’ve been a good boy and you’re a generous guy. You know you want to leave me something nice under the Christmas tree, but I’m a terrible person to get gifts for. I have a bad habit of purchasing everything I want before anyone has a chance to give it to me.

It doesn’t have to be that difficult, especially with my help. If you click through to the rest of this post, I’ll give you a few suggestions.

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Tony Hawk: Shred is Out and No One Cares

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I thought things couldn’t get any tougher for the Tony Hawk series. After Tony Hawk: Ride bombed at retail, Activision decided that making the sequel a more kid-friendly experience would help the game move units.

Instead, Tony Hawk: Shred has put up some of the worst video game launch numbers I’ve ever seen made public.

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Girlfriend Gaming – Hands-On With Kirby’s Epic Yarn

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I fell in love with Kirby’s Epic Yarn from the moment I saw the debut trailer at E3. The art style and creative gameplay I saw in that trailer really wowed me. The moment after I saw that trailer, I sent pictures and videos over to my girlfriend, who I thought would love it just as much as I did. Turns out, I was wrong.

She had some concerns about how the art style would translate into gameplay. In particular, she thought that the fabric aesthetic might be gimmicky at best and detrimental at worst, especially since you can see through Kirby and many of the other characters. It’s been out for a while now, but we finally got a chance to play it for ourselves.

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Game Design Talk: Rock Band 3 Career Mode

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Since I wrote up my initial impressions of Rock Band 3, I’ve had the opportunity to play a few more sessions, including one family party where this and Just Dance 2 were big hits. Harmonix did an amazing job revamping the game on all levels, though I’m of two minds about one major change to the game.

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Just Dance 2 Review

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When Just Dance first came out, I did not expect it to be the smash-hit that it ended up becoming. It won millions of people over with its great concept, song list and it was fun to play. Even though I had some problems with the game’s design as far as how it reads inputs, most people were too busy doing the MC Hammer dance.

Though I didn’t purchase the first game, I played enough of it with my girlfriend to know that I would probably have fun with the sequel. On launch day, we both went to her local Best Buy and bought our own copies. Does Just Dance 2 serve up the goods, or does it just get served?

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Early Impression of Rock Band 3

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Earlier this week, my brother and I picked up a copy of Rock Band 3 alongside a Rock Band 3 keyboard. In the past, Rock Band launches have been monumental to us. For the first game, we pre-ordered our bundle four months in advance and were at the store just as the courier dropped of the shipment of Rock Band bundles. For the sequel, we lined up at a Walmart before midnight to get the game as soon as possible.

For the third? I kind of just went to the store and picked stuff up. I can’t speak for my brother, but my interest has waned dramatically in the genre. However, Harmonix is one of my favourite developers, Rock Band is one of my favourite game series and I get the impression that they’re trying to make this the ultimate music game.

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