Super Mario Maker is Wonderful

Seriously. It is probably the Best Video Game.

I have made well over a dozen stages (and I think that most of them are good!), and have ideas upon ideas for more to come. Also, Talking Time is absolutely flush with other people who make great stages, so I don’t necessarily have to dig through the piles of crap stages to find the gold.

I want to write about it at length, so that’s all for today. Here’s a trailer.

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – August 2015

August. What is there to say about August?

Absolutely nothing.

~ Game Over ~

Mega Man 6 (NES) – Typically one of the less-appreciated Megamns. I really like it! The Rush adapters are a lot of fun, and almost make up for the lameish robot master weapons. Also it’s maybe a little on the easy side, making it a breeze to burn through in an afternoon.

Life is Strange: Episode 4 – Dark Room (PC) – I was greatly disappointed by one of the bigger story beats, but enjoyed everything else about this episode. Many times I thought something horrible was going to happen, but it never did. Because they were saving it all for the end. Yikes.

Submerged (PC) – Lovely game about boating around a city that’s half underwater and climbing up buildings. It’s like Shadow of the Colossus, but with a boat instead of a horse, and a total lack of violence.  Only takes around five or six hours to complete, too.

Mega Man 4 (NES) – What? Ryan’s playing Mega Mans? WHAT A SURPRISE. …you know how I feel about Mega Man 4.

Mega Man (NES) – Ugh… this one is pretty bad. Have I mentioned that before? No unplayable, but frustrating and kind of a joke compared to the rest of the NES games.

Mega Man 2 (NES) – And then this one is so good. Not the best, but pretty darn close.

Mega Man 3 (NES) – This one is the best. I’ve even played it so many times now that I only have a little bit of trouble with the Doc Robot stages. Hooray!

~ Now Playing ~

Five Nights at Freddy’s (iOS) – I bought the mobile version because I thought it would be easier to handle if I could play it while in my parents’ living room with people around. Nope! The tension is still unbearable. Also it crashes like nobody’s business. So I’m stuck on Night 2 forever.

Bravely Default (3DS) – Playing over a year after everyone else got bored of it has a certain benefit: a lot of the streetpass/friend list bonuses are totally broken since my allies are all done the game, many of them having maxed out job levels and whatnot. And I’m really enjoying it! I’m already getting hyped for the sequel, though I’m only on chapter 3 of this game.

Picross e6 (3DS) – Mo’ Picross, mo’ problems. Or, not. Because Picross makes me happy.

Fallout: New Vegas (PC) – Don’t know what it is, but as much as I enjoy this game, I find it very difficult to invest time in it. Also, a maxed out Sneak stat isn’t nearly as effective as I’d like it to be.

Earthbound Beginnings (NES) – Honestly, it’s starting to feel a little tedious. If Lloyd and Ana had joined the party at a respectable level, maybe things could have been different… Whatever. I’m nearing the end. Just got to keep pressing forward. Sloooooowly.

Dark Souls (360) – Yeah I went back to this for a bit. Made some progress. Probably going to keep not writing about it though.

Papo & Yo (PC) – A puzzle platformer of sorts. Wherein the boy you play as has a robot for a backpack and a monster for a buddy. Also said monster sometimes goes on horrible, violent rampages after eating frogs. Only an hour in, it’s been enjoyable.

Chrono Trigger (DS) – Logged a couple hours in here. Chipping away at my goal of unlocking all of the endings, one baby step at a time. I currently have four of thirteen.

Secret of Mana (SNES) – Started a new run because my brother had never played it past Spikey. I don’t blame him. That’s a tough (and very cheap) boss. Might take forever to finish, because we usually play Monster Hunter or Smash Bros instead.

Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC) – Started a new run because my buddy had never played it. Might also take forever to finish. Because we have like seventeen million games on the go right now. (We are terrible at finishing games.)

Yep, we’re doing this

And somehow there was an outpouring of contentedness that I uploaded a new Pop-Tarts review for the first time in nearly a year. I am simultaneously delighted and baffled that people enjoy this video series as much as they do. I most definitely appreciate every kind word that comes my way, and I’m happy that people are enjoying these, but… I don’t know. I think they’re pretty dumb videos.

Enjoy!

Smash Love

The above video is about the competitive side of Super Smash Bros. I don’t really care for said scene myself, as I am a much more casual Smasher (I play with items on sometimes. Gasp!), but I thought that this video was fascinating.

It’s certainly worth a watch regardless of who you are. It’s very accessible, and does a very good job of explaining why people are so passionate about the game, and draws excellent parallels to traditional sports that can help people who don’t give a flying fig about video games understand.

I love Smash, and I absolutely appreciate how complex and malleable it is, but I still mostly just like it because it lets me beat up Bowser as Shulk. Or because I can play as Lucina outside of a tactical strategy game. You know, stuff like that. I’ll never understand why people cling so desperately to Melee, but that doesn’t especially interest me.

Canned Answers

The response to my Pop-Tarts inquiry was pretty much exactly what I was expecting.

Thank you for contacting us on-line. We appreciate your interest in our company.

We at Kellogg Canada and our related companies, continually conduct market research to develop new and existing products. Based on the market research results in each country, a decision is made on which product will be enjoyed by the majority of our consumers. Your feedback is appreciated and will be considered when planning future product line improvements.

Also due to international regulations, Canadian Customs policies and our inability to guarantee our quality standards during shipping, we do not ship products directly internationally.

I hope you continue to enjoy our Pop Tarts for years to come no matter where they are coming from.

The usual PR run-around with a sprinkle of marketing nonsense. Whatever. I don’t suspect anyone outside of Kellogg’s marketing team will ever know the real reason why we can’t have Cinnamon Roll Pop-Tarts in Canada. It won’t make any difference, really, but I’d like to see the numbers for myself.

I think the solution here is to make up a million sock puppet e-mail accounts and bombard Kellogg Canada until they decide that there is enough demand in Canada to sell Cinnamon Roll Pop-Tarts here. I must have them!

On the other hand, they did answer the question of why I can’t have fancy American Pop-Tarts shipped directly to me. And I didn’t even ask that question!

So thanks, Kellogg Customer Affairs Lady Who Shall Remain Unnamed.

On The Track of Unknown Pop-Tarts

I sent an e-mail to Kellogg Canada today asking why there are so many more flavours of Pop-Tarts in the United States than there are in Canada.

We shall see what comes of this.

(I probably should have just used Twitter, but I’m old-fashioned.)

(Please enjoy the intended irony of me suggesting that e-mail is the old-fashioned way of contacting a giant corporation. I wrote this post specifically for that joke.)