Skylanders and Disney Infinity toys are alright, but they certainly don’t pull at my heart strings quite like Nintendo’s Amiibo line of figurines. Based on their legendary roster of characters – and a few friends from outside of the family – these figurines are symbolic of my love of not only Nintendo, but video games as a whole. Most of these characters ushered me into the medium as a young child and have continued to provide me with joy ever since.
Having just bought my first Amiibo, I thought it’d be cool to write about the process of collecting these figures and what each one means to me. Let’s start this off with the first Amiibo in my collection, who just so happens to be the first lady of Hyrule.
Thought this one was a particularly strong showing from my Decapre. To be fair, I believe his main character is C. Viper, which he pulled out after this match. However, wanted to share this one specifically because I was proud of my performance on this one.
The Omega Mode version of Decapre is wildly different from her Ultra counterpart. Many of her normal moves have been completely changed. The properties and inputs for many of her existing special moves have changed. She even gets a fireball now! The possibilities with Decapre seem wide open, so I tried to capture a few of those on video for you!
Because having the #1 ranked Rose, #4 ranked Decapre and #7 Rolento in the world on PSN isn’t enough, I continue to play Ultra Street Fighter IV. Despite my obsessive thirst for points, it’s not really the drug that keeps me here. What really drives my play is the fact that it’s still supremely fun and it constantly rewards players for putting in the time and effort to learn and improve. I’ve had a blast learning the nuances of my three mains, though it’s also been fun to play and learn the characters that haven’t panned out. Since I probably will continue to play this game for the foreseeable future, here’s my short list of characters that may be my future projects.
On paper, Dhalsim should be at an inherent disadvantage against Decapre. However, I got the sense that this is his main character, and in this video I’m still learning the ropes. This was one of the first major tests for my Decapre. Can she hang against this seasoned opponent?
I’ve been told on many occasions that I’m horrible to shop for. Ever since I joined the workforce, I would go out of my way to purchase everything I ever wanted as soon as humanly possible. It’s part of the reason why I’ve been able to generate so much content for this site over the years.
This year’s a bit different. While I am not broke or unemployed, my financial situation is such that I can no longer maintain that lifestyle. As such, my wish list is a country mile long. I won’t share the whole thing in this post, but here are a few choice items from my wish list this year!
Capcom recently released a teaser trailer for Street Fighter V. The YouTube video has been made private, but for the time being, you can check it out here on Daily Motion. Besides showing a few fleeting glimpses of Ryu and Chun-Li in action, the end of the trailer states that the game is exclusive to PlayStation 4 and PC.
Fire Emblem first appeared on the Gameboy Advance. It was the first in the series released outside of Japan. Back when this came out in 2003, I was already a fan Nintendo’s turn-based strategy games thanks to Advance Wars. However, I was not ready for how unique Fire Emblem was compared to its sister strategy game, nor was I ready for how freaking awesome it would be.
What separates the two besides the obvious thematic differences is that Fire Emblem is much more of a role-playing game. Instead of managing an army of disposable units, each of the characters in your party has a name and story arc. You equip them with weapons and other gear. Best (or worst) of all, if they die in the game, they die forever. The strategic joy from Advance Wars is certainly here, though it’s only amplified by how high the stakes are when you’re managing a team of characters you care about that could die if you screw up.
Intelligent Systems and Nintendo have improved on the formula over time, though this first international release is still a masterpiece that is as fun to play now as it was in 2003. For die-hard fans of the series like me, owning this new version on the Wii U Virtual Console gives me a way to play the game again on a modern platform. If you haven’t played any in the series yet, this is a relatively affordable entry-point, since the game is under $10 on the eShop. If you’re ever going to give the series an honest try, this is a great place to start!
In Third Person 
