Cameron's Blog | iGamer

I have finally completely renovated my staff blog to my liking! Now that that buisiness is all said and done, time to move onto allof the posting I haven't made yet!
Hope you all our still reading this staff blog!

The Game: Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

The Console: The Nintendo DS

The Rating: 10/10

The Good: Awesome graphics, story, and characters. Expansive story and mission modes

The Bad: Camera( people say they are having trouble with this but I haven't discovered any problems)

The Review:

When you first load up up the game, you get the title screen with the oprtions to start story mode or mission mode. I jumped right into the story mode and created a new file, instantly after a great intro started to play using the same song from the Kingdom Hearts 2 intro. The intro displays and talks about all 13 members Organization 13, the main characters of the game. Afterwards, It goes to Day 255 and shows a cutscene between Roxas and Axel(to of the Organization members) talking about why the sun sets red. then aftermthat, it goes immediately back to Day 7, when another cutscene was shown, this time about a fourteenth person joining the Organization. Her name is Xion. The first couple of days give you tutorials on the basics like the command menu and limit breaks where as the rest of the missions can range from "Investigate the New World" to "Defeat Six Giant Heartless" each having there own difficulty levels. Grasping the controls are easy, like using the d-pad moving your character, x scrolling through the command menu, etc., which makes the game very much comparable to its Playstation2 counterpart. The gameplay is fantastic whether you are fighting a small heartless to a big boss. Now whe =n people first heard that this game would be based around a mission mode, people thought it would ruin the franchise. It didn't. As a matte rof fact, it made the game suit the Nintendo DS even better. It also incorporated a new customization system involving panels that could be used to change your characters weapons, items, abilities, and usable magics. That was a huge success too. The system is very simplistic, not have any guidelines like "two of the same color panel cannot touch" or "two of the same panel can't be in the same row or column." Instead of that, all you need to do is arrange the panels how you please to attain abilities and such! Now that I have explained all of the stuff I could think of that you really need to know about story mode, I will move on to mission mode.
For mission mode, just go back to the title screen and select the option mission mode. From here you can either select solo or multiplayer both of which requiring you to load a save file or load the guest file. In both modes of mission mode you can play as all 13 members of the Organization and equip all your panels from story mode to any of those characters. Starting with solo mission mode, you can play as any of those characters and play any missions you unlocked in story mode. In multiplayer mission mode, you can do all of the same things, except you can also play with and compete against up to three friends, making this form of mission mode one of the best.
After you clear the game, you unlock yet a nother mode on the title screen, theater mode. This mode allows you to watch over and over again all of the cinematic cutscenes that took place in the game.
That concludes my review for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Please check back for my next review!

Yesterday as you all know I released the little known information about Super Mario Galaxy 2. Now it is said to have a release date in 2010 because... Mario makes his first side-scrolling Wii debut in the 2009 holiday season.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Kinda has a ring to it, no? Well that is the name of Mario's second Wii game(excluding Mario and Sonic)and the reason we won't get our hands on Galaxy 2 for a little while.
This game looks amazing. In the trailer it is revealed that it will have new forms of Mario and Luigi, its 4 player, and that it has surpassed the expectations for a Wii side-scroller that Wario Land Shake It set. Be ready to see a lot more of the famous plumber in the rest of 2009 and all of 2010!

At a recent conference, Nintendo has announced the anticipated game, Super Mario Galaxy 2. Yes, it is true. In the teaser trailer on gametrailers.com, Mario is riding on Yoshi and it looks like Bee Mario is make a comeback. Now this game is supposed to have a lot of new levels and it also seems that it might sort of be like Super Mario World. Not much is known but I will keep you informed.

We all know that familiar, red fluff-ball of a creature named Elmo. As a matter of fact, most of us probably have very fond memories of learning the alphabet or something along those lines, all because of him/her/it. But, did you all know of....The dark side of Elmo???
"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."
-Rod Serling(1948-1975)
Those exact words describe how I will show you how evil Elmo really is... You have just entered, the Twilight Zone...
This story will be described in first person, as I was there, and, I am telling the story.

It was a while ago. I mean, why would I still have dreams like that? Every night, when I fall asleep, it's always the same. In my dream, I am a news reporter. I always get as far as announcing the score of the Phillies game and then the ground ALWAYS starts to shake. But because my mind is slowish, I never realize I have just had the same dream until I well, wake up. As if the ground shaking isn't scary enough, the earth beneath my feet shatters and then I remember how much I hate the circus...
Surrounding me are clowns. Each one armed with their own "playful" make-up and miniature cars. But what freaks me out the most, and almost always makes me wet myself(JOKE,) is the fact Elmo, yes the one who sings about his goldfish, is their gruesome ringleader. It's not even that he looked scary though, it was his physical presence. I would always, and I mean always, I wake up before I get killed...By Elmo.
I told you about the dream because it is key to his- I mean, my, survival story.
About a morning after that same dream occured, I smelled something burning. Now because I was only half awake, I didn't bother and fell back asleep. As my eyes closed and soon re-opened to the circus, the devilish ringleader's face met mine.
"Hello, little boyyyyyyyyyy!" He said in a sing-song voice, for only a second disguising the bloodlust in his eyes.
"Elmo...." What was I supposed to say?
"You have been a very very BAD boy, Mr. Cameron!" The demonic ringleader twisted his head as he spoke.
I backed away. "What are you talking about?" I guess I never knew I was even dreaming.
The creature who has called himself my childhood friend lifted a fish bowl out of his bloody cloak. The fish inside, Swimmy I believe, was dead. Its cold body floating upside down. "This was your fault, Mr. Cameron! You must pay the price, you will!" With that, Elmo smashed his friends glass tomb on the ground and picked up, well, a piece of glass."Pay the price o' get Elmo a mocha!" The sing-song tone was replaced with that of a vicious creature.
I looked around. I was surrounded by the clowns and about to be killed by Elmo, Count of The Clowns. I backed away. Reality came to me, but I still wasn't awakeIf this was a dream, I thought, then I could do anything. "Here is your mocha!!!" I drew, out of thin air, two sub-machine guns, fully loaded.
"Dat ain't no mocha! It-" Before the psychotic muppet could finish, I began to unload my lead into his fur.
The creature began to scream. Suddenly, the environment changed. It was only me and him/her/it, Elmo facing the edge of a cliff, me in front of him.
With the final release of the piercing bullets, I walked over to my most hated puppet. "I hope you get lead poison!" I shot my foot out to meet his face. He fell. So did eye. What happened was, as I slammed my foot into his mouth, he/she/it clamped its jaws down, taking me down.
As we fell, the scene changed again. We stood, facing opposite to each other, on a large rock flowing down a stream of lave. Before I could do anything, Elmo drew...A lightsaber.
Yes, he did just grab one of those dangerous weapons from StarWars out of thin air. Did that mean he could control the dream. But so could eye.
VRROOOOOM!
Oh how I love the sound lightsabers make when they are turned on.
Elmo, seeing I was also armed, jumped at me. No...He flew! What the heck? Was he as fast as that unamable green midget from StarWars(Yoda,I think)? That didn't matter. As he came down with his lightsaber...Mine went right through his chest.
Light came to my eyes as I woke up. Just a dream, I thought.
But it wasn't. Because in front of me, was an army of Tickle-Me-Elmo's...Max version...
(To be continued)

Okay. So, a while ago I asked the main site master if he could, well, spruce up the staff blogs a little. Remember, this was a while ago. So anyway, his answer was no. Not because of the fact he didn't want to, but the fact there was no point. You have all probably realized next to no one has visited the staff blogs. So why add anything cool like a chatbox?
That is actually a pretty good point. But, if you really want some nice additions to these staff blogs or even to the main site, then, to all of you reading this article, tell all your friends to visit the staff blogs!
Try your best to get them all to visit the staff blogs too.
Thanks,
A staff blogger...

There have recently been rumors about SquareEnix in current development of a MMORPG(MassiveMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame) for the PS3, xbox360, and of course, the PC. Now, no one knows at all if this is reliable information but, I will keep you updated anyway.

Just to let you know, if you don't know already, I have installed a music playlist to my staff blog, similar to the one Chris has on his staff blog. If you already knew that, then you might like to know this.
There are now 25 different songs on the playlist you can listen to.

Hey all you readers! Its time you check out the forums set up on the mainsite! There, you can do anything you can do elsewhere on a forum. Have fun!
By the way, the forums have been around for a while and the posts are slow so I am just reminding you all that they are there and please use them!

Here is some information for anyone with a PC:

Microsoft has announced an exclusive free upgrade to Windows 7. When you purchase a PC on or after July 1st, 2009, with Windows Vista preinstalled, you are eligable for a free upgrade to Windows 7 as soon as it is release.
For more info, go here:


Sounds interesting. I guess I will keep you all updated with some more information soon.

Maybe there will be some news after all. Well maybe not real news. As you all know, iGamer has almost been around for a year maybe a little more. What would you like to see the staff post for the one year anniversary?

Don't plan on really posting on anything today. To me, there isn't anything cool to really post on a nice weekend like this. But if there is anything you would like to have news on, please comment under this topic.

Most recently, various rumors about a new MacBook have been floating around. What makes this rumor possible though is that Apple is said to have asked a company(Name currently forgotten) to produce touchscreens for them about 10inches in size each. Will there ever be a touchscreen MacBook? Who knows. But what is already known is Apple is possibly in the works of a netbook to be sold for a low price. Could the netbook have the touchscreen? Wait and see.

You've seen the colors of the staffblogs, somewhat boring and bland. Would you like these new blogs to have new looks and themes? Comment with any ideas you have for it!
Also, I am working to get shout boxes for the staff blogs.

Currently, I got an idea to make an iPhone/IPodTouch app that allows you to view news from iGamer as it's posted. For now there is somewhat of a beta. To get the beta of this app, access Safari on your iPhone or ipod and open up the main page of iGamer. From there, keep the webpage in portrait mode and zoom in on the banner of the sight so you can only view the word 'game.' Go into landscape mode on Safari and make sure you are still zoomed in on 'game.' Then, tap the plus button on the bottom of the screen and select re option 'add to homescreen.' Make sure to call it iGamer before you add it to your homescreen. Now go to your homescreen and find your new app called iGamer. You will need will-fi to use the app because all it doesis immediately take you to the iGamer homepage. Hopefully I will eventually be able to develope a full fledged app but the quick link should work fine for now. You can do this for any other webpage too. Happy Easter!

A new game maker was recently released in Japan, its only creator was Enterbrain. It is the next game in the self acclaimed RPG Maker series. In this new installment, you can create action rpgs, platformers, shooters, and demos. Games made in this program can be exported to flash or XNA files which means they can be played on your xBOX360 if you have one. It was released at a price of $108, still yet to be announced for a USA release. I'm excited to finally see something come out like this for the computer. Can't wait for its released. If you want to here more information about this game, go to http://www.actiongamemaker.com/ .

News from NINTENDO:
Making two new game carts: DSi Cart (DSi Exclusive games) and DSi Enhanced Cart (Games for all DS systems with eextra features when played on DSi).
I will post more news on possible DSi and DSi Enhanced games when available.

Hey. just me here testing out the opera browser on my dsi i got today. pretty good actually. no flash or anything but that doesnt surprise me. the browser is working great for me and if you havent noticed, i can update this blog from the system. i encourage you very much purchase this system. you did it again NINTENDO!

...And make room for the DSi, coming out tomorrow. It will have, you all probably know this, 2 cameras, bigger screens, etc. Will the DSi ever run the lite out of business? What do you think?
-Post response in comments-

Tomorrow the DSi is released to the USA. Costing $25 to reserve and $170 overall, I am sure NINTENDO believes it will be a surefire hit. I reserved mine already, did you?

Just a little more time to spend waiting for the DSi...

... Fans ran NINTENDO? I mean, there would be better games, better idea, strong sales, and so much more. Think: If NINTENDO can't except videogame ideas from people who don't work for them, then why don't they just hire them? Think about it...

Only 2.5 days left till the DSi launch day! I will count down from now until the game system's release. Post any questions you have about it under comments :)

Recently, it is suspected that Square Enix released information about a new MMORPG for the PS3, said to have an extensive variety of online servers. If this game is released for any other game systems, then it won't be possible for the different versions to be able to connect with PS3 users, for example, if you are playing on an xBox360. But there is a lot to expect:
-Hi-Def Graphics
-Class/Level Up System
-Fully customizable characters
-and its all an April Fools Day joke that wasn't created by anyone but iGamer!

Here on iGamer and the staff blogs, we don't plan on posting anything CONFIRMED as false on April Fools Day. As a matter of fact, in a way, we post very truthful information on this day and I have many new game previews coming. SO just to be honest, there will be no April Fools Day jokes tomorrow (as far as I know).

With the new DSi coming out Sunday and mixed feelings all around, let me just narrow down the pros and cons to make it easier to understand.

The Pros:
-2 cameras
-bigger touchscreen and screen
-DSiWare
-Opera Browser
-Plays DSlite Games
-DSiShop
-Thinner

The Cons:
-No More GBA
-cameras only .3 megapixel

The Bottom Line:
A great handheld device that shows how strong it is with Nintendo and graphics. Despite the fact of no more GBA, you will (RUMOR ALERT) possibly be able to download GBA games from the DSiShop.


Deals At Gamestop/EB Games:
-$70 credit towards DSi if you trade in a DSlite
-$50 credit towards DSi if you trade in a DS(OLD VERSION)
-$25 credit towards DSi if you trade in a GameBoyAdvance

NOTE: It may not be possible to trade in more than one of the above items to get a bigger discount :NOTE


So will you buy the DSi?

On amazon.com, you can now pre-order your english version of the NDSi! In the post on the main site, it was stated the NDSi's retail price was (in Australia) 299.99AU or something close to that. When you pre-order you NDSi on amazon though, you pay $169.99! You can also buy it in three colors as far as I've seen: BLue, black, white; But hopefully more will come! I will also cover the launch date which I believe is April 5th. If you want to pre-order, click this link:http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=NDSi

This article is the start of a feature on my blog called "RE:". In this feature, I will talk about some recent posts on the mainsite and give you updated information on them. I will read all the comments you post under the article on iGamer and I will read them and include what you guys think about anything Drew posts. Stay logged on for the soon kickoff of "RE:"