SNES Classic Announced! I'm Kind of Worried...

Though the salt wounds have not healed from the NES Classic being discontinued (and my eyes still have never laid on one) , Nintendo announced the successor, the SNES Classic! This rendition comes with less games, but it has some heavy hitters. Games on it include Super Mario World, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mega Man X, Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, Star Fox and the unreleased Star Fox 2! It is missing Chrono Trigger, however, and I would probably put Kirby's Dream Land 3 on it, but this is a fantastic list of games with many amazing RPG's. And it's set to launch for $80 on September 29, days after my birthday.
This sounds good and all, but I'm worried about scalpers ruining the SNES Classic. They ruined the NES Classic, rigging the prices to $200-300 for a normally $60 console. I scoured all over town to find a NES Classic, but I never saw one in person, or console. So, I want Nintendo to handle this better than they did the NES Classic. Though it looks like it might receive the same fate as the NES Classic, I want Nintendo to market the SNES Classic better, like the Wii U to the Switch, ship out more consoles to stores, like Walmart and GameStop, actually listen to the fans, and provide more info on shipments on Twitter and Facebook.
I want this to do better than the NES Classic, though I may never recover from the wounds from that experience...

A Rant on Nintendo NES Classic Being Discontinued

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, but this drove me up the wall. On April 13, Nintendo made the decision to discontinue the NES/Famicom Classic after 5 months of production. When I heard the news, I got so incredibly salty. Not long after, the NES Classics shot up to $300+ on eBay and Craigslist. This is, simply put, one of Nintendo's worst decisions they ever made.
As it stands, I am one of the many unfortunate souls that doesn't have one in their collection. I've wanted one ever since it was released back in November. The NES Classic sold 1.5 million as of December 31st, 2016, but most of them went to scalpers. What I hate most is that there was very little marketing for the NES Classic. I only remember seeing some promotion in stores like Walmart and Toys R Us, but that was it. There were no advertisements on TV,  not even during the Super Bowl. Most parents won't be able to see their children play these older games in HD.
Nintendo issued a statement to IGN about this issue. This is what they stated: “NES Classic Edition wasn’t intended to be an ongoing, long-term product. However, due to high demand, we did add extra shipments to our original plans.”  Oh, okay. You think Nintendo would've known this would sell like hotcakes, produce more, and market it properly, much like the Switch, Nintendo could've made millions of dollars more. They don't cost that much to make, so they were making bank anyway.
This just baffles me so much. I have gotten in touch with a friend who works at GameStop and he's looking out for NES Classics for me. Let's hope something comes out of this. If you're still on the hunt for one, I hope you can find one eventually.

Christmas Movie Series: How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

For a new series, I'd thought I'd look at some of my favorite Christmas movies due to the holiday season.

For today's fix, I thought I should start with How The Grinch Stole Christmas from 1966. Noticing something here? I'm doing this one in rhyme because Dr. Seuss' rhyming style is held very dear. Based on the book of the same name, this TV special didn't get at first that much fame. Reviews initially were just okay and it didn't make people yell Hooray! However, this special did make people smile overtime, after candy costed less than a dime. 

The story is about The Grinch who hated Christmas with a passion. His plan was to steal the Who's trees, presents, and their food ration. He thought Christmas would stop, but after realizing what Christmas meant, his plan was a flop. He ultimately gives back what he stole, and finally felt whole.

The story isn't deep, but it has no reason to be steep. This telling of The Grinch is better than the one from 2000 which is quite odd. That film is very flawed.

Universal is trying again in 2018. We'll have to see if it can surpass this version when it hits the big screen. For now, though, we have this great movie. This version is very groovy.

This was hard to make sure it kept rhyming. I'll stop for now.

NES Classic Mini Announced!

Nintendo has announced a new pseudo plug and play, called the NES Classic Mini. This mini console will be released on November 11th for $60, supposedly. You can buy an additional controller for $10 if that's up your ally.
The set comes with the little NES, a controller, an HDMI cable, and a USB cable to power it. If it comes with an AC adaptor is unknown for North America, but it won't in Europe. That is easy to get around with a USB charger. The controllers are like classic controllers and use the same connector, so you can use a Classic Controller with the console, sold separately of course.
Most importantly is it's list of games. I'm not going to list all of them, but here are some highlights:
Double Dragon II, Final Fantasy, Mega Man II, Super Mario Bros. trilogy, and both Zelda games.
I'm glad that they'e doing this because my NES has seen better days. With this, you can play classic NES games in (hopefully) 1080p with save states and relive the glory days of Nintendo. I can say already that this will sell like hotcakes this holiday season.

Finding Dory Review

One of Pixar's best sequels.

Sorry for not posting anything in quite some time. I will make up for it. 

Anyway, the original Finding Nemo came out in 2003, almost 13 years ago. I've always felt like they could do more with the story and characters. When this was announced on Ellen, I wondered how they could pull off and improve upon the story. I'm glad to say that Pixar has made another great sequel.

Plot

The plot is similar to the original, for better and for worse. I noticed it early on, but it made me anticipate how they would go about doing these events. To freshen the plot, new characters were added and the new characters work well.

Characters

As I said, new characters were added in Finding Dory. From some of Dory's old friends to new acquaintances, they are well developed.

Humor

Finding Dory is also very funny. It uses jokes that anyone can get with the recurring theme being that Dory has short-term memory loss.

Presentation

The film looks gorgeous and Pixar, as usual, pays attention to the smallest bit of details. The music and voice acting are also excellent. Ellen DeGeneres reprises her role as Dory and is hilarious.

Verdict

While not as good as the 2003 original, Finding Dory is a worthy sequel to a Pixar classic. If you love Finding Nemo, you'll have a good time with Finding Dory.

Final Score:

9/10

Game Mechanix

Game Mechanix in Monroe and West Monroe is not only my favorite place to shop for retro games, systems and accessories, it is also a great place for repairs for all sorts of electronics. Steve, over at the West Monroe shop, recently replaced the cracked screen on my iPad Mini. Thanks!

It finally happened!

I was Masuda methoding in Omega Ruby and after the 316 eggs, this happened:

I hatched a shiny Skiddo! I have been doing this on and off for a few months and it was the first egg of the day! RNG is so nice to me sometimes. I don't know if I'll evolve it or keep it as an Skiddo. Either way, I'm a happy man.