It has been confirmed that Google has reached a deal to buy Twitch. Twitch is a live streaming service that allows users to broadcast gameplay footage to the public. It has grown in popularity recently and is tied in with this generations video game systems. It will be interesting to see how Google improves the Twitch ecosystem. It is also rumored that Google bought Twitch for 1 Billion dollars. That is a lot of money considering that Google bought Youtube for 1.65 Billion in 2006. I can’t wait to see what Google does with Twitch!
Sony has confirmed that the Playstation Now Beta will be available on the PS4 tomorrow, July 31st 2014. Playstation Now allows gamers to stream old PS3 games on their Playstation 4. Some of the games that will be available to stream include Saints Row 4, Metal Gear Solid 5, God of War Ascension, Ratchet and Clank into the Nexus and Street Fighter 4.
It will be interesting to see how well the service is received and how well it works. I hope that the service works well and I also hope that there isn’t a lot of lag. It probably depends on the gamers internet speed. I would love to see Nintendo come up with a way to stream old classic games. It would be awesome to play some of the classic Gamecube games again.
Super Mario 3D World isn’t just a great game it is an amazing game. Super Mario 3D World is a 3D Platformer for the Nintendo Wii U. The game has nine worlds and each world has levels that the player needs to complete. Each world also has unique puzzles that the player needs to solve using Toad. The game goes a step beyond the New Super Mario Bros Series.
My favorite part of each level is collecting the green stars and stamps. There are three green stars hidden throughout each level and one stamp hidden in each level. It is no easy task collecting the green stars. I also like the power ups in this game. The best power up in this game is the Cat Suit. The Cat Suit allows players to scale walls and pounce on enemies. The Giant Mushroom also returns! Super Mario 3D World has great visuals and the it looks awesome in HD. I also enjoy the music that plays in each level.
The game has five playable characters and one of those characters is unlockable. I wish that the game had more playable characters from the mushroom kingdom. It would be cool to play as Wario or Waluigi. Super Mario 3D World is a really positive gaming experience.
It is the type of game that players can enjoy by themselves or with others. The multiplayer is fantastic in Super Mario 3D World and it is really competitive. The player with the highest score gets to wear a crown. I really like searching for the collectibles in this game. However I wish that this game had a larger cast of characters to choose from. I give Super Mario 3D World a 9 out of 10.
Today Nintendo Revealed three new characters for Super Smash. They revealed Robin and Lucina from Fire Emblem. They also revealed that Captain Falcon would be returning with his Falcon Punch attack. I didn’t expect them to reveal new characters from the Fire Emblem series. I thought that they were going to reveal Rayman from the Raving Rabbids game, because of a recent post on the Super Smash site. I really like the new reveals but I am still waiting for them to reveal Ness and the Ice Climbers. Which new character reveal do you like the most? I think that Robin looks pretty cool because of his unique attacks.
Nintendo specializes in party games and they continue this trend with their latest entry Wii Party U. The game borrows many elements from the Mario Party series. The mini games in Wii Party U are fast paced just like the mini games in Mario Party.
Wii Party U has a mode called Highway Rollers and it reminds me of the main mode in Pac-man Fever. The goal of Highway Rollers is to reach the end first. Each player gets to roll a number of dice based on their mini game performance. For example if a gamer is in first place they get to roll ten dice; if their in second place they get to roll seven dice. There are also random spaces that can send players forwards or backwards. I think that Highway Rollers is more luck based than skill based and this really hurts my overall perception of the game. It is unfair because someone can lose every single mini game and still win the overall game.
I really like the diversity of mini games in Wii Party U. I have played Highway Rollers four times and each time I play I discover new games. One of my favorite mini games is called River Rollin. In this mini game each player gets to race on top of a barrel while avoiding giant logs. The touch based games are unfair and the person controlling the tablet usually wins these games.
Wii Party U is a nice update to the original Wii Party. However I wish that the game was more skill based. It is a great game to play with family or friends, but it is not a great single player experience. Wii Party U has memorization mini games, action mini games and decision making mini games. I enjoyed playing this game with other people and I give this game a 7 out of 10.
Mattina Technology 