A New Addition!

Hey everyone, so I've gotten behind on this blog because my wife had the baby early! It's a baby boy and he and his mom are both doing well. For internet purposes we're going to refer to him as Mark Rypien Jr. He's three weeks old now and we're starting to settle back into a schedule.

So how has this affected my pile of shame? Not as much as I thought it would honestly. He sleeps almost all of the time and there's a lot of late nights waiting for his next feeding. I'm too exhausted during my free time to do anything more productive than watch TV or play videogames.

During the hospital stay I did make some more progress on Pokemon Platinum. The DSI XL was very handy in that situation and I was even able to do some web browsing from it.

I've also still managed to keep playing Rock Band 2 which I thought would definitely stop. I play it during the day when he's sleeping to much to wake him up. So I've made some more progress in the World Tour mode and finally unlocked a few more achievements.

I've also continued my obsession with soccer games by continuing to play 2010 FIFA World Cup and FIFA 10. I've started playing FIFA's Utimate Team mode which has the same appeal of Fantasy Football. You buy packs of cards that will give you random players that you can then put into multiple teams. There are bronze, silver, and gold level players. This is important because some tournaments you can enter have requirements like all players must be silver or the maximum player level is bronze. There is a team chemistry aspect that doesn't seem to work very well.  Players from the same club team, country, or league have a "chemistry" together. The more players from the same club in proximate positions the better your team should play together theoretically. It doesn't to really work though. Fielded the best players seems to give you a better team than fielding a team with the best chemistry.

I've also been playing Darksiders. It's has been billed as Zelda meets God of War and it lives up to that description. It doesn't have the complexity of either  Legend of Zelda puzzles and dungeons or the combo system of God of War. It still ends up being a good combo of mechanics. The gameplay is polished and the level design is varied enough. I'm having a lot of fun with it though its one of those games that's hard to describe what makes it so enjoyable.

I've also recently bought Prince of Persia 2008 to add yet another game to my pile of shame. I've only played it a little bit but I've enoyed it so far. I like the cel-shaded art design and the easy to pick up controls. Many people complained about the "no-fail" mechanic of the characer Elika saving you everytime you fall and returning you to a spot just before you fell. I have no problem with this, I actualy like it a lot, it takes away some of the frustration of failing at the same jump over and over.

So, that's it for the past few weeks. I'm going to keep plugging away at Rock Band 2 and Darksiders. Catch you all later.

Pokemon Platinum and DSiWare on the Go

So, once again no time to play Rock Band 2 last week Still reviewing Red Steel 2, playing through Mass Effect 2, playing with my DSi XL, and Bioshock 2 came in the mail from Gamefly as well. So, I'm all about the sequels right now. I've also been playing quite a bit of NBA 2K10 because March Madness and the NBA Playoffs got me in the mood for it.We took a trip up to NJ for my Grandma's birthday so I ended up putting a chunk of time into playing DS and DSiWare games.

Its funny, when I was younger, even in High School, I was being driven around a lot more and had much more time to play Gameboy and DS. Since that time has passed I've tried a few things to get some more portable gaming in but it hasn't always worked.When Pokemon Fire Red came out I tried playing it on my GBA during workouts at the gym. It made the treadmill less tedious, but also made me queasy. When I first got my DS I tried playing it in bed before I went to sleep. Unfortunately, it often got me too wound up, especially while playing intense games like Contra 4 or Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. I bus commute to work everyday and that would be an ideal time to bust out the DS, but I like to use that time to catch up on my sleep. Also, after staring at a computer screen for 8 hours, I really don't feel like staring at another LCD screen. So now the majority of portable gaming happens on long family trips or long trips were my wife and I switch off driving.

Anyway, a few thoughts on the DSiWare shop. The majority of my DSiWare gaming has been with Art Style:Pictobits, Starship Defense, and the previously mentioned Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again.

It took me a while to wrap my head around Pictobits and not approach it like Tetris. I think I've got it down now, but I'm still getting overwhelmed at the end of levels. I may need to adjust my play style once more.

Starship Defense is Tower Defense game where you try to protect your ship. It has a cool Study Hall activity look with line drawings over a graph-paper background. It is a more accesible Tower Defense game than most as well. It teaches you weapons and strategies slowly and has a fast-forward button so you're not wasting away waiting for the next wave.

I would have spent more time with the DSiWare titles but the road was very bumpy and that made it hard to look at the shapes and react quickly. Couldn't play those games effectively because of that. So the majority of my time was spent with Pokemon Platinum. Before the trip I traded myself between my Pokemon Pearl and Pokemon Platinum games. So now on Platinum I have two starter Pokemon.

I think it was a success pile of shame wise. I acquired my 6th badge,my Monferno evolved into an Infernape, and my Prinlup evolved into a Empoleon. I did spend quite a bit of time wandering around wondering what to do. Then I realized that since I had just acquired the HM Surf I had to Surf somewhere. It's a bit funny how little direction there is sometimes in what is supposed to be a kids' game.

Anyway, this is starting to be too long of a post, so I'll save my Pokemon history for another post. Back in the normal pile of shame, I am looking forward to some Rock Band 2 this week!

Update on No Updates

So, I didn't have time this week to play any games on my pile of shame. My currently playing list is growing to the point were my pile of shame will be growing larger soon as well. I am still playing through New Super Mario Bros. Wii from last November.  I just got to the World 8, and it's getting pretty interesting. I recently bought Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass Effect 2. I also got FIFA 10 and NBA 2K10 as late Christmas presents two months ago which I want to put more time into before the next versions come out. I also just got Red Steel 2 in for review so most of my gaming time has been spent on that.

Oh, and I just bought a  DSi XL. Which I'm enjoying. I really like the bigger screen. The camera stuff if  a fun distraction, even if it's not very capable. I also really like the DSiWare shop. I've only downloaded a few games, but I've enjoyed them so far. Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis is especially clever. I was disappointed in the Dr. Mario Express game. I was really hoping it would have stylus control. After playing the version of Dr. Mario on Brain Age 2. That felt like the most natural way to play the game. All I really want is a full version of Dr. Mario with stylus control. Is that so much to ask from Nintendo?

Anyway, so sorry, no update this week. I don't expect to be playing any Rock Band 2 this week. But  since I am currently enamored with my DSi XL and I'm going away next weekend I may play some Pokemon Platinum this week.