2010 is here

Happy New Year everyone!!! We're already seeing some good looking games coming in 2010. Natural Selection 2, Metroid Other M, Pokemon HeartGold and Soulsilver...to name a few. 2009 has had some good games too, the most notable being New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Pokemon Platinum, The Legend of Zelda: Spririt Tracks, and others. This blog got started October 13th, so it has not been around very long, but I'll still continue to post the latest news, secrets and tips, and the Flashback that I've only done about twice now. I'll say it again...Happy New Year everyone!!!

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon Hard 5 tips

The word "merciless" next to the 5 stars when choosing a Hard difficulty on Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon...dude, it isn't called merciless for no reason. That difficulty is a video game player's nightmare. Not kidding. Despite my large amount of gaming experience, it proved to be too tough for me to handle. Therefore, you're probably gonna think these tips are slightly untrustworthy. Well, I have at least played through all other difficulties in the game, so you can trust me.
Rule #1...play through all the other hard difficulties first. Just jumping into the dreaded Hard 5, you obviously don't know what you're getting yourself into!
Rule #2...while playing through all other difficulties, figure out which characters are good and which ones are not good. Believe me, people like Ogma and Abel can and will make it easier. That's probably why I failed in the first place...
Rule #3...are you capable of doing online shopping? If so, then on weekends, go to the online shop and get a brave weapon. These weapons are very good, and will be useful. You can count on it.
Rule #4...While in most all the other difficulties you can save your strongest weapons for later, this one, you can't. Enemies with forged weapons come much sooner than in Hard 4 or 3. In fact, they first appear in Ch. 10! Kinda soon, huh? Therefore, equipment is vital. This goes back to online shopping. The online shop has silver weapons, along with killer weapons, mends, and other things. Get what you can. You'll need it.
Rule #5...Use those arenas! I know in the Ch. 4 and maybe 8 arena this it tough, since your guys are weak and the arena's guys are strong, but try your best. Always try to get at least 3 level ups. Heck, go further. Keep training till you feel ready to move on. This was another thing I failed to do. Don't make the same mistakes I did.
Finally...know your strength and weaknesses. For instance, I found out Cain reclassed into a Mymirod isn't so bad. He had higher strength than other characters of this class. However, I had to be pretty careful, 'cause his defense was pretty low too. In fact, by Ch. 10 I'm pretty sure his defence was still around 4-6. He at least had enough defence to live at least 1 attack (sad huh?), so I used him as a lure. It worked too, so long as only 1 enemy would attack him. Know your units stats, and use them to your advantage.
Playing Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon on Hard 5 is almost like playing chess against a computer. Those who have tried to do that know what I mean. If it becomes so tough that you just need to restart and try again, making sure you get what units and equipment you need, than you might as well do it. Heck, you may even play a different difficulty and get a little more game experience in if you must. I trust this difficulty on Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon will challenge you to play and think in a much more different way.

Flashback: Doom

I've never played Doom, and I doubt I will for a long time unless I want nightmares, given I can find it. Doom is noted for being the #1 video game. Quite a title indeed, which should be enough to convince someone to buy the game if they were deciding if they should or should not. The game is set on Mars, and the character you control, which is actually meant to be you, is a space marine. One day, some UAC (Union Aerospace Corporation) experiments go wrong while on Mars, and quite a few things begin to happen. Computers on Phobos, one Mars' moons, malfunction, and Deimos, the other moon of Mars, disappears entirely, and "something fragging evil" pours out of the gateway of teleportation things. Reports go to the Martian marine and is sent to Phobos to investigate, where the player is left to guard the hanger with only a pistol, while the rest of the group proceeds inside. A few hours later, the player hears assorted garbled radio messages, gunfire, and screams, followed by silence: "Seems your buddies are dead".
Kinda creepy, right? Doom was so amazing that the first-person shooter was created. Without Doom, we may never have seen games like Halo, Call of Duty, or Half-Life.

Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver versions

It's been almost ten years since any Pokemon trainer has set foot on Johto soil. That will change when Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver come out in the Spring of 2010. It will be released for the Nintendo DS and DSi systems. It is a remake of the original Heart and Gold versions released in 2000, so players of those games will be at least a little familiar with this. I would imagine that they have added some kind of GTS as seen in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, but no news on that has come out yet, but I would think they would, or at least something similar. Really, I'm only really making a big deal out of this because players of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum very well know by now that, without some kind of cheat code or something, it's virtually impossible to complete those Pokedexes. Not anymore. With these games being released, it will become much easier to catch them all. That's what I feel is the biggest reason for this game. Ho-oh will be found in HeartGold, and Lugia will be found in SoulSilver.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Scheduled to come out Dec. 7th, 09, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is much like Phantom Hourglass. Not much really, but still. The first difference I feel necessary to point out is that you can control Zelda. She doesn't fight (aw...), but she can possess Phantom Guardians which therefore allow you to control them. Phantom Guardians are mostly used to protect Link, but as far as I know, they do not do some really cool thing. This time, instead of a boat like in Phantom Hourglass, it's a train that you use for transportation. It can shoot cannons to fire at enemies, and comes with a whistle to use for other enemies on the track. The entire game is played with the touch screen, with minimal, if any, buttons being used. Also, similar to the Ocarina and Flute in a couple other Zelda games, you can play an instrument called Spirit Pipes using the touch screen and microphone. I think it should be noted that The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks received the "Best Handheld Game" award at Gamescom 2009. It was also chosen by IGN as "Best of Gamescom 2009" winner for Nintendo DS. That last statement said, we now know that this game is for the Nintendo DS.

Metroid: Other M

Other M? ..................I don't understand that, but aw well. Metroid: Other M is a first person shooter game. In the Metroid chronology, it takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. I don't really need to explain how the game is played, 'cause, well, when I say it's a first person shooter, you already know what to expect. The game is to be released in 2010 for Wii.

Natural Selection 2

I doubt you've heard of this, but if you've seen the original Natural Selection being played, then you have a good idea of the game. Unless they added a single player mode and I don't know about it,(I doubt they have), then it is JUST multi-player, no single player involved, unless you count running around by yourself in a map, doing nothing, single player. If you haven't played Natural Selection, then you're probably thinking "What's the point of a game if there's no single player mode?" Right? Well, I can't quite answer that, only you. The game play combines first person shooter combat and real time strategy, a good mix really. There really is no plot, since there's no single player mode. Those who have played the first Natural Selection know what to expect from the game, and hope to see cool new stuff. The most notable new feature is something called "Dynamic Infestation". It's for Aliens only, but I can't tell you how it works, 'cause I don't really know how it works. It's expected to come out somewhere in 2010.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Well well well...look at this, a Mario game where 4 players can play the single player mode at once. Never seen that in a Mario game. As the name hints, this game is for Wii, and will be released very soon...on November 15th to be exact. It won't be long. As for the gameplay, well, it pretty much goes "old school" with this one, with the exception of the 4 players playing the single player mode at once. Players can ride Yoshis in this Mario, something I love doing, and when 1 player loses a life, they come back in a bubble that someone needs to pop. There's also new items in this game. The Propeller suit allows players to fly, the Ice Flower, which allows players to freeze enemies, and the Penguin Suit...freaky, right? The Penguin Suit not only freezes, but you can do a slide attack, similar to shell Mario in New Super Mario Bros for the DS, and, also like shell Mario, gives you better control in water. What did the critics say? They gave it positive results. There was one guy who says the single player mode is better single player. I don't believe him, but every one's a critic.

Event: Pokemon Platinum version

From Sep. 28th-Nov.8th, you can get the Pokemon Shaymin over Nintendo WI-FI connection. This is available only to Pokemon Platinum players. To learn more about how to get Shaymin, go to www.pokemonplatinum.com

Event: Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

Get this! A new Pokemon event is coming to town. In the U.S. and Puerto Rico from Nov. 7th - Nov. 15th, if you go to any Toys"R"Us in those two areas I just mentioned, you can receive the very interesting sounding Arceus. But remember, ONLY Toys"R"Us stores. This is available to Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum players.

Secret: WiiPlay

Okay, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you knew about this already. But I'll say it anyway. There is a way to do the shooting range game on WiiPlay co-op style. First, choose 1 player. Once you've picked your mii, choose the shooting range. While playing, P2 can press any button at any time to start shooting with you. The targets both of you get will add up in the end, and count as P1's score. This is how you can easily get a gold or platinum medal, but you're going to have to cooperate to do it...I mean serious cooperation.

The point of this blog

Welcome to the Video Game Newsanator (news-a-na-tor). I know it's a weird name, but if I just said plain news, that would sound dull, so I'm saying newsanator. Anyway, this blog is about, well, video game news. I give details such as release date, gameplay, what the critics thought of it, etc. But I don't just display news. I also reveal secrets or easter eggs about games. I don't reveal all secrets, just the ones that you don't have to find, but can find anyway. Hopefully you understand what I mean. I will also do something called "flashback" where I talk about fairly older games. These games could be from the original Nintendo or it could be a not-so-ancient game. The games I discuss in this blog are mostly for Wii and DS, but I'll see to it I get something about the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. One final thing...don't just use the comments as something to express your opinion. Use it to ask questions about any game you want. Me or someone else will answer eventually. Consider it something like a chat room. Speaking of comments, I ask you refrain from using any offensive language, or say anything that could offend anyone else. I mean, think about it, we could have a seven year old looking at this blog. Would you want the kid to learn these words? I didn't think so. So please, for the sake of humanity, don't use offensive language. Understood? In that case, welcome to my blog. Good to have you here.

BRAND NEW BLOG!!!!!!!!

Hey everybody,
I just started this blog, so there is nothing yet. But eventually there will be...