Nintendo 3DS price drop!

I guess Nintendo finally realized that people don't consider their system to be worth $249 just because it has 3D effects. The sales have probably been terrible if I had to guess. But anyways, it's a pretty good price drop too. No flimsy thing. $80 bucks~ So that puts it more in a good price range for me at $169. This is why you don't buy things right out of the gate. You never know what will happen price wise with these things. Wonder what Sony will do now considering they were being all competitive by putting their new portable Playstation Vita at the same price of $249. But then again the features they're offering on that thing are probably actually worth the price.

Anyways, it'll be interesting to see what happens. Starting August 12th is when the big price drop goes into effect. And this makes the 3DS even more of a future purchase for me than it already was~ And the line up of games is getting better and better too. This fall and Christmas will be a big time to be getting one of these babies. So, good stuff for sure~ Looking forward to having one someday ^_^

Adventures in TN: A Two Year Anniversary to Remember~

Back from a very nice 4 day weekend~ And I describe it as an adventure because it kinda was xD Especially at the end. But can't beat getting to be with the one you love and having a great time together~ Putt-Putt and sitting around chilling. And most importantly celebrating 2 amazing years together ^_^ In person~ Glad we finally got that chance. That milestone has been reached. And I'm glad we won't be having to wait another year before the real big day ^^; Got about 3 months left now. At least August 5th will mark 3 months exactly. I can't believe it's already almost August. But it just means we're that close to the day we've dreamed about for so long~

Artie, I miss you right now ^^; And it's hard to say goodbye after a nice weekend like this but the day is coming where we won't say goodbye anymore. We won't be so far apart. We'll see each other every single day. And we'll build a life together finally. Make our dreams a reality. Your dreams are my dreams and my dreams are your dreams. And you didn't need to do anything to deserve having me in your life. You've always deserved to have someone who loves you for who you are. I have since the first time I met you and always will~ We are literally a match made in Heaven and we were meant to be together. No matter what, through thick and thin, now and forever. I will always be by your side and I'll do anything for you. Always~

So, I hope you had a great time, Artie~ I did my best to make it so ^_^ And even though yesterday turned out to be more adventurous than we thought, it still turned out for the best xD We got to be together longer and it was fun~ So, next stop November, right? It's getting closer and I can't wait. There's so much I want to do with you. So much I've been waiting for. We've got so much life to look forward to and share together. And beyond. Tis just the beginning~ So, till we're face to face again in November ^_^ The big day and with no goodbyes at the end. I love you and Happy 2 Year Anniversary once again~

Ar tonelico 3~ Comments Part One

So yeah, I actually beat this game on the 3rd of this month ^^; Been busy and not really in the mood for commentary posts such as this but here we go now~ I will split my comments into more than one post. Cuz this will be long for more than one reason and I want to keep these relatively short for reading purposes and for my own sake in typing them up. So, I'll start off with my beefs with the game which some are probably obvious and we'll see where it goes from there.

Number one, the stripping. I mean, seriously. It added nothing game play wise and it just looked ridiculous. Not as much with the reyvateils I guess but it still was unnecessary in my opinion. Regardless of whatever storyline reason they had for it. The purging aspect is fine it's just how they went about it that I don't like. Never the less, I did my best to push past this aspect and enjoy the game for what it was. And I did I will say that. Very much so.

Second, freakin' hades NISA. Pretty much all yours games have a freezing issue. Luckily there was only one time when it did this that I lost alot of time on. Mainly cuz I saved like a crazy person all the time. And there's actually a trophy for this funnily enough xD And I got it too. But anyways, technical stuff and what not. It happens as usual.

Third, and not so much a beef with the game, the hymns. I don't know, I am not very much attached to the hymns in this game. I mean, with AT1 and 2 I knew the names and who sang them and why they sang them. Like what the purpose was and I loved them. I seemed to have lost this with this game to an extent. They do have some weird names. And storyline wise they went all over the place to me. But don't get me wrong at all. The soundtrack of this game is still freakin' amazing as always. And the hymns are good they just don't take hold of me as much. I didn't enjoy them as well if I'm being honest. But there are three hymns in this game that I absolutely adore:

Ec Tisia (with lyrics)

Ec Tisia ~Tarifa~ (with lyrics)

Song of the Revolving Star

The first two are at the end of the game. Ec Tisia being the ending song and a dang amazing one for the series as well. I mean, really. And you need to read the translated lyrics for this song because it really brings the ending into perspective in alot of ways. You need to see the second song's lyrics as well. Tarifa plays after the final boss fight and during the special scene with which ever RT you picked. Both are excellent hymns. And Ec Tisia kicks major butt just for the nostalgia factor that plays into it too xD But anyways, Song of the Revolving Star is one of Finnel's songs and you hear it when you beat her CS. It's excellent as well. And yes, Finnel is my favorite in this game~ Not in the series of course cuz Luca takes top prize period for that and always will ^_^

So anyways, provided the links for those songs with their lyrics plus translation. The same person made both videos and has a ton of translation vids like this for the Ar tonelico hymns. Check out their channel if you're interested. And for now, I will call this a post and work on comments for the next one. Not sure how many posts this will take but however many it takes to get out all my thoughts and comments I guess. Anyways, more AT3 stuff to come~

3DS: Definitely a future purchase

Not that I was on the fence about getting one to begin with but I wasn't gonna buy one right out of the gate. Number one there isn't enough games yet and number two there could be issues with the first batch of systems made. Better to wait in all regards. Plus, I want more colors to choose from xD I know I mentioned this with my Tales of the Abyss for 3DS post before. But anyways, I don't really care about the 3D feature. In fact, I'll probably keep it turned off most of the time. At least Nintendo gave you a choice with that. Much appreciated there~

So, pretty much with all the games I've seen announced for the system since E3 and all that definitely got me saying heck yeah, I want one. A new game called Super Mario that brings back an old favorite power up from Super Mario Bros. 3, yes the raccoon thing, new Mario Kart, Sonic Generations, and of course Tales of the Abyss I mentioned earlier. Not to mention a whole range of prospects for more awesome games. Oh and the handheld Virtual Console. It's like the Virtual Console for the Wii where you can buy SNES, N64, Genesis, and other old console games like that except it's one for like the old Gameboy games and other handheld system games that you can purchase and play on the 3DS. And one game I already want from there is Super Mario Land. Man, I loved those games on the Gameboy and they have announced the first one to be on the VC and I'm hoping that 2 and 3 follow.

Anyways, there are other games that interest me for the system as well like Cave Story but we shall see what the future holds for it. Despite video games slowly becoming a lesser part of my life and will eventually become nonexistent at some point I do have more of an attachment to portable stuff. Nintendo's stuff mostly. I don't know that I'll get Playstation's new Vita system. So anyways, this could be the last system I ever buy. I've seen the new stuff at E3 and I just keep thinking I'm not really interested anymore. And my money is just way better spent obviously in the future. But we'll see where all this goes in the end for me. So, till next time~

Tales of Graces F up for pre-order

Amazon already has it listed for pre-order. I'm sure other places do too, I just noticed this one today. No release date attached of course xD Since that'll be 2012 material and it's unknown right now. But I won't be pre-ordering it so soon because my address and other things are gonna change soon enough anyways so might as well wait till all that is taken care of. The game ain't coming out any time soon anyways so doesn't really matter. I'm just glad to see a sign like this that the game is actually coming xD Looks like PS3 Tales of Vesperia is a lost cause though at this point. Ah well, randomness for those who care. Or don't as well.

Also, happy Memorial Day everyone!

Pokemon Black and White final thoughts~

Been a long time coming for this commentary but lots of stuff has been going on for the past few months ^^; I beat Pokemon White like at the end of March actually. But I just never got around to writing this up. Been kinda busy. So anyways, lets talk about the 5th generation of Pokemon~

First, the Pokemon themselves. I personally viewed this gen as they scraped the bottom of the barrel for these new Pokemon. I mean really. They're not terrible but not very interesting either. But hey, after 4 generations of coming up with new creatures I guess it would get hard. My point is just that the creativity here was kinda lacking. I myself did not care for alot of the Pokemon designs they came up with. The starter Pokemon are fine and some of the others are pretty cool but yeah. If I had to pick like a favorite Pokemon of this gen it'd be Oshawott and its evolution line. Twas the starting Pokemon I chose and I loved it throughout the entire game~

Um, second, just game mechanics in general. Not too much is different with how battles work. Other than some new battle styles like Triple Battle and Rotation Battle. Sure the improved graphics and sprite animations does play an amazing role in the aspect of battles too. They did a great job improving the overall visuals and environments of the entire game really. Which one new thing to these games is changing seasons. And with each season change, you can see the effects on the outside environment. Definitely a good add on. And the season changes every month in real life since your DS keeps track of date and time on its own. What system doesn't anymore? So, for instance this month, May, in the game it's spring. When June comes along it'll be summer and then July it'll be fall. Continuing like that. Which is good the way they set it up so you don't have to wait a long time for a specific season to hit in real life ^^; Since obviously winter is not in August xD

Third, the story and characters. I've said it before but this generation of Pokemon may not have had the best designs of Pokemon to me but it did shine tremendously well in the story department. Pokemon isn't really known for amazing and great stories in their games but this time they put more effort into that aspect. They give you two rivals instead of one this time. Both of which have their own troubles and issues to work through. And the villain group, although they're all really hypocrites for it, had an interesting motive behind their actions. We've come a long way from Team Rocket in the first gen who were just basically petty thieves. Stealing Pokemon from trainers and seeking out the rarest Pokemon as well. So, in the end I was impressed very much so with this part of the game.

Fourth and final discussion, extra features. The game has a ton in the way of this. From lots to do in post game to syncing your game online to access other fun features to trading and battling online, they made sure not to go light here and went all out. And of course the periodic mystery gift and other online events still continue, where you can get certain Pokemon and other stuff this way. Post game in and of itself offers alot for you to do. So, the game will keep most people playing for a while. Even if it's just to keep up with events or whatever. But especially if you plan to complete everything.

So, in conclusion, Pokemon Black and White have definitely ended up as the best Pokemon games to date for me. It doesn't even matter if the Pokemon of this gen weren't the best to me since you can bring over any Pokemon from any gen you want. The point is all the other improvements and additions. So, like I say 5 stars from me. Good stuff. I definitely enjoyed this adventure~ And I'll continue to play it somewhat for events and online battles. In the meantime, my main efforts are focused on AT3 and beating that game. So, till then~

Tales of the Abyss for 3DS confirmed~

Yes, believe it or not Nintendo Power confirmed that this would be getting a North America release at some point. I'm not incredibly shocked considering it was brought over to begin with on PS2 but it just seemed like something Bamco would skip in terms of bringing over again on another console. Just looking at how they've been in general with this stuff. But I guess they've bought into the hype of the 3DS as well and decided go with it. Not that I'm complaining about this. Not at all it's just because it's Bamco and all xD

Anyways, I do want a 3DS at some point but not for the 3D aspect. Like, I could care less about that feature to be honest. It's just eventually I know I'm going to have to upgrade to get games I want. And it's backwards compatible so I can still do all I ever did with my old DS models. Except play GBA games but only the really old DS's still do that. Which I still have mine along with my new DSi xD So, I have two actually. But I won't be getting one anytime soon obviously. Besides, I don't buy stuff like that right out of the gate. I'll let them come out with other models and features as well as more colors. And TotA won't be here for a dang while knowing Bamco so it's all good xD I's got plenty of time~ So, looking forward to playing my favorite Tales game and one of my favorite games in general again in the future. And on a portable system~ Good stuff ^_^