Posts by Alisha Karabinus at Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Alisha Karabinus
Little Rock, AR - http://nintendowiifanboy.com

Alisha Karabinus has been both writing and playing video games since she was very young. Sometimes she even does them both at the same time! She is a Castlevania nut, a college student, a hair dye fanatic, a killer cook, and she enjoys the occasional board game, too.

Virtually Free: It's like the wind

Posted May 16th 2008 9:05AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Contests / Giveaways, WiiWare

Don't forget that in our latest Virtually Free, we've got a copy of LostWinds up for grabs for one lucky reader! Want a crack at it? Just head over to the original post and get your comment in. Remember, you can enter once per day, so you've got several more chances before the entries close.

No Penny Arcade adventures for Wii owners after all

Posted May 15th 2008 11:00AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: News, WiiWare

The dream was nice while it lasted, guys. It looks like that there's no chance for the Penny Arcade game to make it to us via WiiWare, at least, not unless something changes. After comic co-creator Mike Krahulik gushed about his hopes for the game to appear on Nintendo's service last November, Vlad Ceraldi of developer Hothead Games has axed the possibility. "Until the size restriction is increased, the game will not be going to WiiWare. Sorry."

Penny Arcade Adventures is apparently pretty large even among XBLA releases, so this isn't terribly surprising news, but it is a little disappointing to know we just missed bringing our Wii remotes to Gabe and Tycho's party.

Wii Warm Up: So who's buying it?

Posted May 15th 2008 8:00AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Wii Warm Up

There seems to be quite a bit of ill will and even more apathy toward the release of Wii Fit among Nintendo fans. Whenever it's mentioned, there are always a few people aggressively against the exergaming title ... and yet, preorders have been huge. So who's buying all these copies? People who want the balance board for later titles, or people genuininely interested in Wii Fit? More importantly: did you preorder? Did your friends?

Virtually Free: Slightly to the left of normal

Posted May 13th 2008 10:15AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Contests / Giveaways, WiiWare

This week's a little different for the Virtual Console, so it's a little different for Virtually Free as well. What's new? Well, for starters, we're not giving away a Virtual Console game. Instead, we're celebrating the release of WiiWare by giving away LostWinds (1000 Wii points/$10)!

So what do you have to do to win? First of all, you have to leave a comment (with a valid e-mail address) on this post telling us what you're looking forward to most of the announced WiiWare titles. Second, you must be a legal resident of the United States with an American Wii (sorry, Canadians, we have to leave you out of this one; blame the gifting system and not us!) and 18 years of age or older. You may enter once per day between now and Monday, May 19; the contest comes to a close that night at 11:59 PM Eastern time, and we'll select a winner in a random drawing the next day. Questions? Check out the official rules.

My Impressions as a King

Posted May 13th 2008 9:30AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Reviews, WiiWare

Like a child counting down the days until Christmas, I've been looking forward to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King. I'm a sucker for Square Enix anyway, and the prospect of a $15 game (even if there is pricey DLC) was too much to resist. That's why it was so shocking to discover that my first few game days in Padarak were ... well, boring. Everything was very controlled and linear, and I couldn't run around and explore. Instead, I sat through cutscenes explaining more than I wanted to know at that point, when all I wanted to do was flex my new architek power. And then, once I was free, I had very little in the way of resources! Frustrating.

Several hours later, since I was still playing, I realized that maybe I wasn't so bored after all. The simple directive of get more stuff sucked me in as soon as I had a free hand with the game, and before I even had time to think, I was obsessed with building up my little kingdom. Without my even realizing it, My Life as a King had gone from boring to fun.

Gallery: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King

Continue reading My Impressions as a King

Wii Warm Up: Getting together

Posted May 12th 2008 8:00AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Wii Warm Up

Now that a weekend (and a holiday weekend at that) has come to an end, we thought it might be a good time to ask: when was the last time you got together with friends and/or family for a little group Wii gaming? Do you get together on a regular basis for a little Mario Kart, Smash Bros., or Wii Sports? Do you rarely play together with folks? We're curious about how much multiplayer action you're getting.

Behind the scenes with Mushroom Men

Posted May 8th 2008 2:15PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Video

We may be limited to sporadic updates from Red Fly Studio's Mushroom Men, but they're usually worth the wait. Today, we've got a little quality time with the developers, who sound just as excited about working on their project as we are about playing it. They also manage to work in a little humor, which we're also big fans of around here.

The game footage included looks as great as ever, and Q4 is looking further and further away. Though, honestly, we could just stare at the concept art all day long and probably be satisfied.

Wii Warm Up: Cowboy Jed vs. guys who want to play

Posted May 8th 2008 9:00AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Wii Warm Up

This morning, we've got a very simple question for you: which commercials do you prefer, the new Cowboy Jed ads (minus the hilarious remix footage), or the Wii Would Like to Play guys? It's a tough decision. Cowboy Jed is off the proverbial chain with those extras, but extremely annoying on the actual television. The Wii Would Like to Play guys are great themselves, but some of those ads are not. Have an opinion? Or do you just skip the commercials anyway?

Virtually Free: This Kart's for you

Posted May 6th 2008 9:20AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Virtual Console, Contests / Giveaways

Another edition of Virtually Free has come to an end, and we've learned one thing: you guys really like Mario Kart Super Circuit and want to see handheld games on the Virtual Console. We're right there with you on that one! Considering this, however, it's no surprise that today's winner chose the GBA kart racer as his winning answer:

Someguy: another vote for super circuit

And that vote won! Congratulations to Someguy (hilarious name in this situation), and for everyone else: check back next week for an all-new shot at free Virtual Console games.

Rock Band Track Pack no replacement for DLC, available July

Posted May 5th 2008 2:17PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: News

Rock Band for Wii isn't even ~~screwing you over~~ out yet, and already the downloadable content problem has been solved! All you have to do is buy an additional disc with a whopping twenty tracks for $29.99! No, you don't get to choose which ones you want and spend only a little money. You want extras? Pony up, suckers!

It's one thing -- and an acceptable thing -- to milk customers for a few bucks at a time for additional songs they really want. It's another thing altogether to offer up a full expansion for thirty dollars less than a month after the game is released. That's right: Rock Band isn't scheduled for the Wii until June 22, and this Track Pack is due July 15. And it's labeled Volume 1, naturally ... expect another round not long after that. We're anticipating September.

The only logical explanation for this travesty is that Harmonix is upset that they missed the Wii boat and are now scrambling to scrape as much quick cash as possible. The question is: will Wii owners take the rather unattractive bait? Fume your way past the break to see the full track listing for Rock Band's Track Pack Volume 1.

Continue reading Rock Band Track Pack no replacement for DLC, available July

Wii Warm Up: New storage theories

Posted May 5th 2008 9:00AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Wii Warm Up

Now that Iwata has said that folks at Nintendo might be considering doing something about the storage crisis, it's time to get our speculation on about what will happen. Will we hear an announcement at E3? Perhaps before, or -- gasp -- after? We would hate to wait! And what'll it be? A new model with a built-in hard drive? Considering the continuing difficulty some people have with simply laying hands on a Wii, that seems unlikely, but multiple SKUs have worked for the other systems. Still, that sort of solution seems far, far less likely than an upgrade allowing larger SD cards or additional plug-in flash memory. Do you think we'll see a solution by the end of the year, and do you care to guess just what it might be?

Virtually Free: Get into the race!

Posted May 3rd 2008 2:00PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Virtual Console, Contests / Giveaways

Don't forget to stop by and enter our latest Virtually Free contest, in which we offer up Virtual Console games for the mere price of a comment. If you're lucky enough to be chosen as next week's winner, you'll walk away with a copy of Mario Kart 64 delivered straight to your Wii. It's fun and convenient! Just head over to the original post and leave a comment between now and Monday if you want your shot at the prize.

Virtually Overlooked: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Posted May 1st 2008 6:00PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Virtually Overlooked

So far on the Virtual Console in North America, we've got Castlevania, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and Super Castlevania IV. Now, these fancy-schmancy Roman numerals may confuse the issue a bit, but it looks like something just might be missing from that list. Upon checking and re-checking, only one conclusion can be reached: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is, in fact, missing.

Okay, it's understood that every classic game can't appear immediately, as that would disrupt Nintendo's releases-every-week mojo, and we're only just now getting excellent titles like River City Ransom. But it almost seems as though someone at Nintendo had all the early NA Castlevania titles pasted to a dartboard, and a few drunken tosses determined which would be released and when. Where's Castlevania III? It's a mystery! You might as well tell us the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, or answer the question of just what a man is.

Gallery: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Continue reading Virtually Overlooked: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Wii Warm Up: The worst mini-game

Posted May 1st 2008 9:00AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Wii Warm Up

So we hear that a lot of these newfangled Wii games are really just collections of mini-games. Some are good. Some are bad. And some are just completely, horrifically awful, and those are the ones we want to hear about today. Just how bad is the worst mini-game you've played inside a Wii game? What was it, and what made it is mind-blowingly terrible? From the controls to a simple lack of any sort of fun, the worst of the worst are usually serious offenders. Tell us all about the steaming piles of poop you've experienced while checking out games.

The VC Advantage: How to win at selling lots of books

Posted Apr 30th 2008 4:00PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: The VC Advantage

The VC Advantage is usually geared toward nostalgia -- specifically, evoking the memories of a time gone by, when we were denied resources such as GameFAQs, we had to look up codes in magazines, and we had to walk two miles uphill to school (both ways!). Help was available in other places besides magazines back then. Needed to know what to play and how to advance? You could turn to a book ... and we're not talking about glitzy Prima strategy guides packed with glossy photos, either.

Growing up, I didn't have much access to gaming magazines, and I'm not even sure why. I'm sure I was aware that Nintendo Power existed, and I know I read a few issues, but I wasn't a subscriber and rarely bought it (blasphemy!). I did, however, read many of Jeff Rovin's How to Win books cover to cover.

Continue reading The VC Advantage: How to win at selling lots of books

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Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Virtually Free: It's like the wind

No Penny Arcade adventures for Wii owners after all

Wii Warm Up: So who's buying it?

Virtually Free: Slightly to the left of normal

My Impressions as a King

Wii Warm Up: Getting together

Behind the scenes with Mushroom Men

Wii Warm Up: Cowboy Jed vs. guys who want to play

Virtually Free: This Kart's for you

Rock Band Track Pack no replacement for DLC, available July

Wii Warm Up: New storage theories

Virtually Free: Get into the race!

Virtually Overlooked: Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse

Wii Warm Up: The worst mini-game

The VC Advantage: How to win at selling lots of books

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