What I've learned from Nintendo 3DS Blog

http://3dsrumors.com/

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDmABHXVw_SPvvdHICntN9w

 

 

            David Turnbull has been blogging for over ten years now.  He started his first website when he was twelve, and he started blogging the year after.  David started blogging as a result of his interest in building websites.  Blogging allowed him to speak his voice in the digital space since he was very quiet in school.  Now, at twenty-three years old, David is a professional blogger living in Sydney, Australia and managing a blog, a YouTube channel, and projects that he wants to focus on for his career.

            David is the creator of Nintendo 3DS Blog, a blog dedicated to giving readers the latest news about the Nintendo 3DS handheld video game system in a way that is easy to read.  The site generally gets 100,000 visitors a month.  He gets paid for his blog through Google Adsense ads and Amazon links.  Since there was no blog about the Nintendo 3DS at the time of the system’s release, David decided to take matters into his own hands and start one in 2011.  Nintendo 3DS Blog is unique because it was the first blog to focus on the Nintendo 3DS, and he updated the site very quickly and frequently when the Nintendo 3DS was still new.

            Another unique element about Nintendo 3DS Blog is its YouTube channel called Nintendo3DS.  David recaps all of the latest Nintendo 3DS news at the time on this YouTube channel.  David wanted to do something new for his blogging experience, and since YouTube was becoming so big, this was a huge opportunity for himself and his blog. This YouTube channel has brought several people who may not have found the blog on Google to Nintendo 3DS Blog.  David also has been able to connect with others on the blog and has been showing his face and speaking his voice to his viewers.

            David believes the blog’s strength is the fact that it is solely focused on the Nintendo 3DS and was one of the fastest sources for Nintendo 3DS information.  He feels that the blog is relatable and appealing because it is just him doing the blog and not a big corporation.

            David believes that his blog’s weakness is him having all of the responsibilities of running the blog.  This resulted in David wanting a break, but this would result in him not working on the blog or not having the break.  He also believes the blog’s success depends on the Nintendo 3DS’s success because it only focuses on the Nintendo 3DS.

            David better understands how he wants to work.  He doesn’t like tight deadlines, so now he will work on projects that allow more time.  He also feels the blog was egocentric because he wanted a big audience, but now he doesn’t have that stress.

            His advice to bloggers is to create a blog that the blogger wants to read. Everything that he does for the blog is based on this advice.

Thoughts on Facebook acquiring Oculus VR

Facebook acquire Oculus VR on Tuesday, March 25 for $2 billion. Oculus VR is the company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. You can read the article on IGN for more information.

Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook acquiring Oculus VR will allow them to expand further with Oculus Rift by reaching "new kinds of experiences."

"By feeling truly present, you can share unbound spaces and experiences with the people in your life," said Zuckerberg. "Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures."

To be honest, I haven't been keep up too much with the virtual reality news, but I find what Zuckerberg said to be very fascinating. From everything I've heard and read, Oculus Rift was mainly for gaming, but what if this technology was used for something beyond gaming? Just think about what Oculus Rift could do if these bits are implemented into it.

While I only see virtual reality as sort of a gimmick in terms of gaming, I here Oculus Rift has great potential. I agree that it does have potential, and with what Zuckerberg said about Oculus Rift expanding, who knows what it could have in store for the future. If Oculus VR can manage to meet these new experiences now that Facebook is helping them, they may have something cool to look forward to.

The PS4-demand struggle

It's no secret that the PS4 is very difficult to find right now. While IGN has stated that the PS4 is available on Amazon, retail continues to have a scarce supply of PS4's.

What's surprising is Sony won't be able to keep up with the demand for PS4 until this summer, as stated by Sony to The Wall Street Journal at GDC this year.

This is why I purchased the PS4 at its launch. I didn't want to go through the stress and hassle of going out to retail stores only to find that they don't have the PS4 in stock. Remember the Wii? That was a pain to get back when it was released, and I was lucky I even got one some time early the following year after its original release of 2006. It seems I made the right decision to buy the PS4 when it came out.

It's a shame that the PS4 is not in an abundant supply at retail. I know that there a ton of people who want the PS4 over the Xbox One, and it's easy to see why. It's cheaper and more powerful than the Xbox One.

Of course, I can also see why some people would wait before buying a PS4 or even an Xbox One. Right now, there aren't that many games out for either system. Both systems just recently got their first games worth buying in the forms of Titanfall for the Xbox One and Infamous: Second Son for PS4.

I am glad that gamers won't have to wait to long before having a chance buy a PS4, and let's hope that Sony, Microsoft, and even Nintendo can provide a strong library of games at E3 and beyond.

Award-winning journalist, Mark Mazzetti, comes to UCO

Earlier this week, award-winning journalist Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times came to UCO and discussed the Shadow Wars.

The Shadow Wars are, according to Mazzetti, a "war" that has been waged since 9/11. It's about the CIA's interrogation facility where they did manhunts instead of spying and getting intelligence. These manhunts were orders by President Bush to assassinate Al Qaeda detainees where armed predators were used.

During his speech, Mazzetti answered several questions. One answer he gave was that the Shadow Wars are a battle for influence, and Iran will play a bigger role in the Shadow Wars in a decade.

He explained how an intelligence agency is harder to get sources from, and he is more concerned about surveillance than he did before.

When drones were discussed, Mazzetti said that drones aren't the important point but rather the officials who make the orders.

Lastly, he said that partisanship isn't a bad thing. It can be either helpful or difficult to get information about the Shadow Wars from.

Overall, his presentation on the Shadow Wars showed some interesting information that can be helpful when dealing with this topic.

Are games limited to online doomed to fade away?

IGN's latest Nintendo Podcast focused on the news that Nintendo killed off Wi-fi support for the Nintendo Wii and DS. This means that games like Mario Kart DS, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mario Kart Wii cannot be played online anymore.

One of the main points discussed in the podcast was the thought of so many games that use online (even games that aren't that old) will lose the online at some point, and there will be no way to play modes completely dedicated to online anymore.

They mentioned that Sony and Microsoft went into the next generation of consoles not even bothering to put backwards compatibility in the PS4 and Xbox One. They bring up that there may be the streaming services like Gaikai that could somehow make it possible to keep some of the online features in tact for some games.

Wii U is the only one of the new consoles that has backwards compatibility. In fact, almost the whole Wii OS is a separate mode on the Wii U. Not everything is there like the weather and news apps, but it's practically the same as turning on the Wii and seeing the menu screen.

Titanfall was brought up in the podcast. They said that in the future, there is a chance that playing Titanfall will be impossible because the online may one day be cut off. This is a scary thought when you realize that Titanfall is solely focused on online multiplayer. Without the online, Titanfall is nothing.

IGN then talked about how many MMOs are dead because the servers for those games were cut off.

We are in an age where online dominates a lot of what we do. Video games are no exception. To think that one day, a game that many people love to play online will no longer be. So many people that grew up with online-focused games may have nothing to go back to and relive great moments from the past. They are forced to stick with only newer games. Sure, some games have offline modes so people can play with friends, but in an age where multiplayer is mostly played online, this will hurt many gamers.

If streaming sevices do find a way to bring back some those online gaming experiences, there may be hope, but with Nintendo killing off Wii and DS Wi-fi, there may be some games that will inevitably be left in the dust.

Blogging Advice from Kurt Hochenauer

Today, there was a guest speaker in my blogging class, and his name is Kurt Hochenauer. He writes for the blog Okie Funk. He began in 2004 for and is still blogging, and he blogs about three times a week. He thinks that blogging is here to stay, and there is room for larger media outlets to blog. He gave my class some tips on blogging.

He said that the social aspect of blogging is crucial.

He said that bloggers should find a niche and focus on writing. If you focus on the writing, it will stand out, Kurt said.

Kurt said that if you want to get a lot of traffic you should post all the time and not write long posts too much.

For Kurt, sometimes there may not be that many hits for posts, resulting in a lack of motivation to blog. However, there may be something that comes to blog about, so the interest is still there.

Lastly, he told us that if we want to get better at blogging we should write over and over, allow ourselves to be bad, and have people proof the posts we write.

Possible characters for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U - Part 1

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U is set to be released sometime this year. Twenty-three characters have been revealed so far, but only five of them are newcomers. The games will most likely be released during the holiday of 2014, and more newcomers will most likely be revealed before the games' release. The question is: Who else could be included?

Many people have put together forum posts and YouTube videos about who they want to see in the new games, including myself. But who could realistically and possibly get in?

The following characters are the ones that have a high chance of getting in or are most often requested by fans. I'm going to look at how likely of a chance they actually have of getting into the games and how they could be played. These are in no particular order. Let's begin!

Mewtwo

To start things off we have the Melee veteran, Mewtwo. Mewtwo appeared as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but he was not playable in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Since then, many have wanted him to return, and his chances of getting into the new games are actually very good. Mewtwo was in the coding of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but the only thing that shows up in the coding is his name. This shows that he was planned to return but was cut for unknown reasons. The other reason why his chances are high is the fact that he is considered to be one of the poster boys for Pokémon X & Y's Mega Evolutions along side Lucario, who is confirmed for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U. Mewtwo was the first Pokémon to feature a Mega Evolution in the form of Mega Mewtwo Y (right), but GameFreak also gave him a second Mega Evolution, Mega Mewtwo X (left).

With these reasons in mind, Mewtwo may have a chance of appearing in the new Super Smash Bros. games. If he does get in, I don't know if they will use his move set from Melee or give him a new move set entirely. What I do know is that if he gets in, his Final Smash will most likely be Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y, and it would switch every time his Final Smash is activated.

Krystal

One of the characters I see the most on Super Smash Bros. character wish lists is Krystal from the Star Fox series. Krystal debuted in the game Star Fox Adventures.

Many believe that, if Krystal gets in, she'll be a character that doesn't play like Fox. In all Super Smash Bros. games with more than one Star Fox character, all of the Star Fox characters play similarly to each in some way. Wolf in my opinion was different enough, but there were elements about him that made him seem too similar to Fox. Many people think Krystal will use her staff from Star Fox Adventures and have a move set based on that. I don't know what else they could do for a move set because I've never played Star Fox Adventures or Star Fox: Assault.

That being said, I think her chances of getting in are in the middle. I personally would like to see Slippy (he would definitely play different than Fox without question), but Krystal realistically has a better and higher chance. At the same time, however, I think her chances are really low due to the fact that there hasn't been a new Star Fox game since Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS. Star Fox Command was released in 2006, two years before the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Krystal wasn't playable in Brawl, and now, it's 2014. We still don't have a new Star Fox game. This only reduces her chances even more, but she still might have a chance. Sakurai has surprised us before, and if she does get in, she will be welcomed.

Toon Zelda & Tetra

Toon Zelda, similar to Mewtwo, is in the coding for Super Smash Bros. Brawl along with a "Toon Sheik." Of course, many think "Toon Sheik" would've been a transformation into Tetra from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. For those that don't know, Tetra is Zelda disguised as the leader of a pirate group. This information increases her chances of getting in. Another reason why Toon Zelda and Tetra have a high chance of getting into the next Super Smash Bros. is the release of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for Wii U. This is most likely the reason why Toon Link is returning in the next Super Smash Bros.

Toon Zelda could play like Zelda but with a few new moves to make her more than a Zelda clone similar to how Toon Link isn't that much of a clone of Link. Tetra could be similar to Sheik, but she could use the sword she carries to attack opponents.

Even though these two have a high chance of getting in, there is one thing that reduces their chances, and that is this image.

In this screenshot of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Zelda is shown using a Phantom enemy from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, both for Nintendo DS. One thing to note about these games is they use the same cartoon art style from Wind Waker, and the two games are direct sequels to Wind Waker. Tetra appears in Phantom Hourglass, and Zelda (who is not the same Zelda from Wind Waker) appears in Spirit Tracks. In Spirit Tracks, Zelda loses her body and becomes a wandering spirit that helps Link on his quest to get her body back. In certain dungeons in the game, Zelda could possess a Phantom enemy and help Link. The fact that the normal Zelda character (whose design in the new Super Smash Bros. resembles her Twilight Princess design) is controlling the same Phantom that Toon Zelda would control in Spirit Tracks lowers Toon Zelda and Tetra's chances of getting in. However, there could still be a chance that they could get in. We'll just have to see what happens.

Ghirahim

Another Zelda character that could make it into Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U is the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Ghirahim. Ghirahim is a character that many think will be in the games because he was the villain in the latest 3D Zelda title. He left a lasting impression on players with his interestingly weird and evil personality, his frequent appearances in the story, and his three boss fights.

Yes, Link fought this guy three times in Skyward Sword. This shows just how perfect he could be for Super Smash Bros. as a playable character. I've never finished Skyward Sword, but I've seen bits of the other boss fights to have a good understanding of his moves. He can use swords of different varieties, fire floating daggers, teleport around, and use physical attacks without weapons. Though I don't know how I would translate these techniques to a possible move set, this is still perfect for Super Smash Bros.

As for his Final Smashes, there are two possible options.

This is Ghirahim's third form. In this form, Ghirahim has physical attacks, has stronger moves, and has more attack possibilities like sword beams. This could be a great Final Smash being a powered-up version of normal Ghirahim.

This is Demise, Ghirahim's master and the ancestor of Ganondorf. The sword that Demise wields is in fact Ghirahim. For Ghirahim's Final Smash, perhaps he could summon Demise, transform into his sword form, and have the player be in control of Demise for a short time. Demise would probably play like Ganondorf but with a sword.

If I had to choose, I'd go with the first option, Ghirahim's third form, because it's a transformation of Ghirahim where as Demise would just be another character.

I personally don't know if Ghirahim will truly be in the new games, but he certainly has a good shot.

Chrom

Out of all the characters shown so far, this character has the highest chances of getting in and will most likely get in without question. This is Chrom from Fire Emblem: Awakening. He is the prince of Ylisse and a descendant of Marth, who is sort of the mascot of Fire Emblem. Marth has already been confirmed for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS/Wii U, and there will most likely be one more Fire Emblem representative in the new Super Smash Bros. games. Every Super Smash Bros. game from Melee on had Marth and another Fire Emblem character along side him, and Chrom is the one with the highest chances because he was the main character in Awakening and is related to Marth.

Even though Chrom is a descendant of Marth, he fights differently than Marth. His fighting style to me looks similar to the previous Fire Emblem newcomer from Brawl, Ike, but at the same time, it's still different from Ike. Chrom looks like he would fight with Ike's strength, but he would have a balanced weight between Marth's weight and Ike's weight.

His move set would, of course, involve his sword. He could use the abilities that are found in Fire Emblem: Awakening as special moves if possible.

In Fire Emblem: Awakening, one of the features in gameplay is the ability to have characters team up in battle and attack opponent units together. I see Chrom's Final Smash being an attack based on this gameplay mechanic where he teams up with a partner from Awakening (most likely Lucina or the Avatar character) and takes out opponents.

Chrom will most likely get in, but the only question is: When will they announce him?

Dixie Kong

There are two Donkey Kong characters that many have requested, and they are King K. Rool, the main villain of the Donkey Kong Country series, and Dixie Kong. Of these two, Dixie Kong has the highest chances of getting in.



Next to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong has been around the longest in the series, and she has even appeared in spin offs in both the Donkey Kong and Mario franchises. But what really increases her chances of getting into Super Smash Bros. is Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, which is set to release this Friday. Dixie Kong appears in this game as one of Donkey Kong's partners along side Diddy Kong and Cranky Kong.

Many believed that Dixie Kong was going to be announced in last Thursday's Nintendo Direct, but that didn't happen. We'll just have to wait and see when she might be announced if they announce her at all.

Her move set would focus around her ponytail. She could use it to whip opponents and use it to fly in the air. I'm not sure what other moves they could give her, but I'm sure they could come up with something.

Zoroark

The last character I will talk about in part 1 is the Illusion Fox Pokémon, Zoroark. Zoroark, along side its pre-evolution Zorua, was one of the first Pokémon revealed for Pokémon's fifth generation (Pokémon Black & White). It was also a Pokémon that got its own movie just like Mewtwo and Lucario. Many people thought that because of this, Zoroark was going to be in the new Super Smash Bros. games with no problem.

However, Zoroark's chances are looking grim. Why? The answer is Pokémon X & Y.

When the new Super Smash Bros. games were announced in 2011, Pokémon Black and White were still very new to western Pokémon players. Then, 2012 saw the release of the sequel to Pokémon Black & White with Pokémon Black 2 & White 2. Then came January 2013 where Nintendo announced the sixth generation of Pokémon in the form of Pokémon X & Y. The games were released on October 12, 2013 worldwide, and the game was received with great praise. This lowers Zoroark's chances entirely, but it's still possible that this Pokémon could get in.

Zoroark's move set would be an interesting one. Aside from the normal punches, scratches and kicks, Zoroark has the ability to create illusions. It can use illusions to transform itself into any living thing it wants. Maybe it can use this ability to transform into other fighters and battle like those fighters until it gets hit.

Zoroark would be nice addition to the Super Smash Bros. roster, but with Pokémon X & Y being released, it's hard to tell if it still has a chance. Only time will tell.

That is all for this part. In the Part 2, I will discuss more characters from Nintendo games as well as some third party characters that could possibly get in.