“Super Mario World is my favorite Mario game. That said, I’ll probably never play this.”
Ditto.

“I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a Star Fox game, though I’ve played a few. I doubt this game will break that habit. Rail shooters just really aren’t my style.”
StarFox is better the more ‘on rails’ it is, and hence the two best are the original and the N64 entry. The more diffuse and less focused on being an on rails aerial shooter, the worse it was. StarFox Adventures was an abomination. Only furries like that game.

“I’ll care about colors when I decide to get one, but not really until. The only Nintendo handheld models that I’ve skipped since game boy color were the GB pocket, GBA Micro, and the DSiXL. (GBC, GBA, GBA sp, DS Phat, DS Lite, DSi, 3DS, 3DSXL) so I’m pretty sure that I’ll end up with this at some point.”
We’ve purchased the exact same configuration of Nintendo Handhelds, save for the DSi XL (which I got for free).

“I’m curious about playing some of these legendary games. Do I need to play Suikoden 1 first? I’ve only played Tierkries.” (sic)
You poor man. Although you do not *need* to play Suikoden I first, you should. It’s a fantastic game and it leads naturally into Suikoden II. The Suikoden series all take place in the same world, and are chronologically sequential. So, if you play them in order, you will recognise many of the references to the world. But, not playing them in order will not make the games any ‘harder’, nor will it rob you of central storyline details. You’ll just miss out on some flavour.

“It REALLY IS an actual game. It looks really quite bad, but it does exist.”
No, it’s not. Stop lying.

“Babette’s reaction was not at all what I was expecting. I think my expectations of vampiric interactions have been colored by more recent portrayals. It’s also interesting that Louie is having a bit of an existential crisis. That also subverts my experiences where vampires know what they are and enjoy it.”
These are *real* Vampires, not a bunch of twinkling emobois. Consequently they are plagued by doubts, fears about their damned state, vindictiveness, pettiness. Three dimensional, we might say–not remote sexual objects described in perfection for the benefit of tweenage girls. And the result is a brilliant and engrossing drama which surprises and immerses.

“The players probably could have saved him too, so I plan to have him return to the tent in the morning and see how suspicious the players are of his survival.”
Turns out he spent a lot of time preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse, so he made it on his own.

” One of these days it will come and my links won’t be invisible.”
One day! When I am not grading finals or trying to pull things together with my dissertation committee!

Also featuring:
Bup

Upcomming Features
Poetical Reviews
-Paper Mario: Sticker Star
-Final Fantasy X HD
-WoW: Warlords of Draenor
Written Review
-Eternal Sonata

NEWS
Cptn. Cook has slow overs. Gets Banned/fined
Is “slow overs” similar to delay of game? Does it mean that he takes too long to pitch the ball?

Hearthstone Goblins v Gnomes
The most I’ve ever been into a CCG was for a few months at college where I played MtG almost daily. Before that I was only ever really into Magi Nation: Duel. A card game that was awesome but almost no one remembers with a tie-in GBC game that it slightly better remembered.

General Weather Report
42.62*N 82.84*W ele: 576 above Sea Level
Currently: Fog and mist 3*C wind N17 mph 99% relative humidity
Tonight: Mostly Clear low 23*F
Schools: No closures or Delays.
Stay tuned to Info Blast for up to week new on weather and closures.

Mario Maker to include Mario 3 and Mario World styles
Super Mario World is my favorite Mario game. That said, I’ll probably never play this.

Star Fox U
I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a Star Fox game, though I’ve played a few. I doubt this game will break that habit. Rail shooters just really aren’t my style.

Smash Bros Break
Even if this is Sakurai’s last Smash game, there’s about a 0% chance that it will be the last one ever.

New New3DSXL colors
I’ll care about colors when I decide to get one, but not really until. The only Nintendo handheld models that I’ve skipped since game boy color were the GB pocket, GBA Micro, and the DSiXL. (GBC, GBA, GBA sp, DS Phat, DS Lite, DSi, 3DS, 3DSXL) so I’m pretty sure that I’ll end up with this at some point.

Microsoft stiffing Indie devs
They say that this was caused by a technical issue in their payment system. While that’s believable, it shouldn’t take 2 weeks to fix, and if it does MS should pay the devs manually now. This is not acceptable behavior.

Molleneux: “Kickstarter Destructive”
Pot, Kettle, etc.

GTA V Removed from OZ Targets
Ugh. I don’t have time to write paragraphs at the moment so I’ll come back to this later if I have the time.

Suikoden II coming to PSN
I’m curious about playing some of these legendary games. Do I need to play Suikoden 1 first? I’ve only played Tierkries.

Bup Talk
What game is Bup looking forward to receiving
Gubs
It REALLY IS an actual game. It looks really quite bad, but it does exist.

Imitanis Literature Corner
Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice
Babette’s reaction was not at all what I was expecting. I think my expectations of vampiric interactions have been colored by more recent portrayals. It’s also interesting that Louie is having a bit of an existential crisis. That also subverts my experiences where vampires know what they are and enjoy it.

Imitanis Gaming Moment
BACK TO D&D! WOOO!

When last we left our Intrepid Adventurers they had rescued some poor villagers from some wildlife and met an unfriendly druid named Fellara. They followed the druid back to the camp where the villagers who had escaped the town (which I’ve decided is named Tarn’s Haven) were living. The whole while, snow has still been falling. Due to the heroes’ incompetence last time the druid had to leave to save their bacon and has not been at the camp to maintain the defensive spells which had been hiding the survivors from the hordes of undead in the woods. Now that the spells were down and the party had left tracks in the snow leading right to the camp, they were found by the necromancers and their defiled servants. The party learned that these forces are likely looking for the tomb of Tarn a retired cleric who was buried with a powerful holy artifact.

The rest of the night was taken up by an extended encounter with some special rules. I wish I’d taken a picture as the map was quite large. The snowfall had left deep patches which were difficult to move through. The heavy falling snow also reduced visibility which makes it hard to find enemies (invisible if more than 3 squares away), let alone try to hit them (-5 to ranged attack rolls). A large tent at the center of the camp contained Fellara the druid who was working to rebuild the spells. Scattered around the map were smaller tents which contained helpless civilians who were unaware of their impending doom. The players could take a couple of special actions in addition to their normal suite.

1: Help Fellara build the wards.
I had one player choose to do this (Arabella the Cleric) and I felt a bit bad because I hadn’t considered how boring it would be to just roll a die with no visible effect in the middle of combat. She had some good RP during her turns, so I don’t feel too bad, but I should have had her rolls be able to push some of the attacking horde back.

2: Retrieve some special spell components from a nearby tent.
If the player does this, then the druid can give them a buff which allows them to walk on, and see through, the snow, drastically increasing their combat effectiveness. I also found a neat Nature Blessing in the 4E online compendium that I also gave them with this effect. It allowed them to heal themselves when they kill an undead. This was key as there were a LOT of zombies and skeletons attacking and I was worried that their healing would run out. I also traded out their cardboard disc for a cool miniature when they did this, to give them more incentive to do it.

3: Awake/herd NPCs: I didn’t really state this one to the players, but 3 of them ended up wanting to do it anyway, so I made it part of the encounter.

They managed to get all but one NPC into the large tent and defend it until the shield went up. That last NPC had slept through all of the warnings and fighting (failed perception checks) and was left outside with the undead horde when the shield went up. The players probably could have saved him too, so I plan to have him return to the tent in the morning and see how suspicious the players are of his survival.

DiceAdmiral Travel Moment
Not a lot of traveling in the last week, but I will be traveling to listen to the symphony tonight.

Final Notes
I’m still looking forward to that site overhaul… One of these days it will come and my links won’t be invisible.

Donators
Cumulative total record holder: Imitanis
Single Donation record holder: Imitanis

Donators eligible for end of year drawing:
Greg H.
John V.
Matthew D.
John M.
Brett W.
Aram Z.
Peter V.
Billy B.
Les E.
Martin B.
Jeremy V.
Simon H.

Gubs is not a real game. Stop lying.

301 is MY favourite episode too! What a coincidence!

Devonshire Cream, also known as Cornish Cream, is basically cow’s milk heated gently, then cooled slowly and integral in various desserts and a tea. It is also what Bup left on a disturbing number of bed sheets on his last trip over seas. Indeed, it is EU protected, and likely won’t see release in the US but pirated recipes can be found around the Internet.

Gubs is a real game, which I have played. I have no opinion on it. It did not wow me, but I did not hate it. It makes an okay filler since it plays quick, but there are far better options if you need one (Love Letter, Sushi Go, etc). The only real mechanic is hand management, and the game claims to be about “wit and luck,” but that’s a marketing way of saying “mostly luck.” You’re drawing from a community deck, trying to protect the Gub character cards with barrier cards, while trying to destroy the Gubs of others with attack cards. Letter cards are placed randomly in the deck, and when all three are drawn to spell “GUB” the game ends, leaving whoever has the most free Gubs in play to enjoy a hollow victory. The artwork is apparently the result of the creators having drawn these creatures since high school and is really quite charming. Decent production value, but for what it is, there’s simply too much randomness in both play and victory conditions for me to give it much more than a polite nod.

301 is my new favorite episode.