9 End of 2010 Free Giveaway: Donkey Kong Country Returns

For those who haven't seen, Part One of my End of 2010 Giveaway is located HERE. And for those of you who have a Wii, here's your free chance to win a brand new copy of Donkey Kong Country Returns. The reason why I have a giveaway with this item is that while I love cooking and coming up with new recipes, I'm also a total and complete nerd. I mean, its in my Job Title (Software Engineer). I've always had a love for video games, and in a year of many good video games (2010 in my opinion was the best year for gamers this side of 2000) Donkey Kong Country Returns stood out as the best in my opinion. So look below for the rules and how to enter!

PRIZE:
A free copy of Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Nintendo Wii!

END DATE:
January 3rd, 8pm EST.

HOW TO ENTER:
For each of the following that you do, you'll gain one entry into the contest (i.e. If you do the first, you'll gain one entry, while if you do all three, you'll be entered three times):

1. Follow my Blog using the Google widget on the right sidebar, and comment on this post if you're interested in entering. 
2. Tweet @TRCrumbley is giving away a free copy of Donkey Kong Country Returns at http://bit.ly/fmNucr
3. Share this contest on Facebook or Google Buzz using the Share Buttons on this post. Leave a comment on this post saying you did this (I have no easy way of tracking this like I do with Twitter).

Enjoy, and thank you to all my readers!

0 Donkey Kong Country Returns: Mid-way Review

Image from GameInformer

A few months ago after E3, I posted links and previews to Donkey Kong Country Returns (DKCR), a new Nintendo Wii game, developed by Retro Studios, that brings Donkey and Diddy Kong back to their roots. I personally have many fond memories growing up playing the originals on the Super NES, so I had high hopes and expectations for it. Needless to say, DKCR far surpassed my expectations.

The gameplay in this game is similar to the original Donkey Kong Country, but has enough elements to change it up. The most obvious change is the inclusion of shaking controls. Using various directional inputs and a shake of the remote, you can roll, ground pound, and blow air onto elements in the map to make secrets appear. I was initially worried about this, fearing it would be too gimmicky. However Retro Studios does a wonderful job of making the motion controls fun and inventive. In addition to this, DKCR is perhaps one of the most difficult 2-d platformers I have ever played, rivaling and even perhaps surpassing some of the red plumber's best games. DKCR balances the difficulty making it not infuriating, but enjoyable.

Perhaps even more than the actual gameplay, the atmosphere and presentation of the game blew me away. The visuals look like they could be on the Xbox or PS3, and the bright colors really pop out of the screen. The style of this game is some the most beautiful out there, including some silhouette-drawn levels that left me playing the level over and over just to see the beautiful art style again. 

Image courtesy of IGN.com

Meanwhile, some of the music will cause many older players to reminisce of the older SNES, while the rest of the soundtrack is an amazing addition to the Donkey Kong music library. 


Thus far I'm only half way through the game, but with lots of hidden collectibles and secrets, I foresee myself and others playing this for days to come. If you own a Wii and haven't turned in on in weeks because you aren't sure what to play in it, go buy this game. You'll be very happy you did.

0 Nintendo 3DS Japan Price and Date

Despite rumors that the Nintendo 3DS was being released before Christmas, Nintendo revealed in a conference this week that the 3DS will be released in North America March 2011. No pricing has been released for America, but the Japan pricing comes to 300 US Dollars. Rumor is that the American pricing will be closer to $250, so here's to hoping!

Below is a video containing the release games for the 3DS, along with a flash Mario game (in celebration of his 25th birthday!). What are your thoughts of the system?

More Kid Icarus Uprising Videos

Japanese Nintendo 3DS Concept Video after the jump!

0 Rock Band 3 New Instrument

Rock Band 3 features several new features, one of which is the addition of a keyboard instrument, so now anywhere from 1-7 people can play in a virtual band together.

I addition to the new instrument, there's now a new mode called Pro Mode. With Pro Mode, each instrument now can be played in the traditional Guitar Hero/Rock Band manner, or they can be played just like traditional instruments (however traditional Rock Band Guitar controls cannot be used in Pro Mode, since they only have a few buttons).

Below is an embed detailing the new keyboard features.

0 Donkey Kong Country Returns Boxart

Rambi in the corner

0 Metroids and Flailing Plastics...

Tomorrow the next Metroid game, Metroid: Other M, is released in stores. Across major video game publications, it seems to be received rather well. I guess this will have to subdue my inner Nintendo fanboy until the release of Donkey Kong in November and the next Zelda in 2011...

Metroid: Other M at IGN.com

1up Metroid: Other M review

More Zelda News (Hey, Listen!...)

0 Nintendo dates several of its games for the holiday season!

Nintendo's dated their games out by end of year. Note that the new Zelda game is pushed back to Spring 2011. I personally can't wait for Donkey Kong Country Returns to come out...Full list at GameSpot: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6273669.html

First-party Wii games

Metroid: Other M--August 31
Kirby's Epic Yarn--October 17
Donkey Kong Country Returns--November 21

Third-party Wii games

GoldenEye 007--November 16
Epic Mickey--Holiday

0 More Metroid

Here's a trailer featuring some of the gameplay from the new Metroid game, out at the end of this month. Courtesy of Game Trailers.

0 More Donkey Kong

The original Donkey Kong Country on the Super NES was probably my second favorite video game on that system after Super Mario World. I remember being impressed by the visual quality of DKC on a 16bit system, whose visual style still holds up today years after it was released. Aside from the graphics, the original DKC blended some of the best platforming in a video game with beautifully composed musical pieces.

Retro Studios is in the process of developing another sequel in this series called Donkey Kong Country Returns. This sequel maintains the classic style of two dimensional platforming, the class DKC music, and the spirit of the original games. It also embraces the artistic style of the original while adding new artistic ways of presenting the game.

Below are some impressions of the game thus far:

Games Radar Impression

Cubed 3 Impression

Loot Ninja Preview

1 Happy Weekend!

This video probably sums up my excitement for the weekend after a long week...Happy Weekend everyone!

0 E3: Nintendo 3DS

So needless to say from everything I've read from various sites, this seems to be a pretty impressive piece of hardware that will be coming out at some point in the future...no release date or pricing as of now. Below is IGN's in depth analysis of the 3DS hardware.

More Nintendo DS Videos at IGN.com

2 E3 Nintendo Pwns: Brand new video game trailers

Below I have embedded several trailers of brand new Nintendo Wii video games from IGN video.

Donkey Kong Country Returns

More Donkey Kong Country Returns News & Previews

Goldeneye 007 (Wii Remake!)

More GoldenEye 007 News & Previews

Metroid: Other M (Coming out in August)

More Metroid: Other M News & Previews

1 E3 Nintendo Pwns: Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

So I read a live blog from IGN of the big 3 conferences, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. In my opinion, Nintendo owned E3, with Sony in a close second, and Microsoft in a far off third. The first of several reasons why Nintendo did so well was their premiere of the next Legend of Zelda video game. Video premiere below, courtesy of Wii IGN.

More The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Info

IGN's first impressions of the new Zelda game read very impressive. The game uses the Motion Plus peripheral, which allows the player to have the most precise video game swordplay on the market. The programmers took advantage of this, adding several enemies that require strategy to kill them, and not just mashing of the A button. You can also use the Nunchuck as a shield to deflect projectiles and attacks.

Of course with Zelda comes items, and some classics return to join the new. The classic stables of slingshots, bows and arrows, and bombs return. The new game play added with these items take advantage of the Motion Plus, playing very much like Wii Sports Resort. There is also the addition of new items the whip and remote control bug. The whip can be used to lash enemies and to grab enemies from afar, while the remote control bug allows you to fly a bug that can grab and release items.

For now that is the only new news on this game, and I'm sure there will be more to come during this week.