New 3DS

When Nintendo first announced the New 3DS about two years ago, I wanted to get one, along with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, but NOA had to go and screw all that up by announcing - in their infinite stupidity - that the standard-size New 3DS would not be releasing in the U.S.  Instead, only the XL version would be releasing here.

Since I don't want a massive-sized handheld, I decided to simply hang onto my original launch-version 3DS and send Nintendo a nice little email explaining my thoughts on the matter.  I also decided not to buy Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate because 1) for me, it's unplayable without a second analog stick for the camera control, 2) none of my friends seemed to be getting the game, and 3) I was pissed at Capcom for not releasing a Wii U version after they had previously released a Wii U version of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

Well, shortly before Black Friday, Nintendo announced that the black version of the standard-size New 3DS would finally be arriving in the U.S., and it would only be $100!  Now that's a deal!  I pre-ordered mine from Amazon as soon as I could and just now got my system (Amazon's free shipping takes forever, but I wasn't in a rush).  I was surprised by how small the system box was, but it's basically just holding the system and the instruction booklets.  No charger, no charging cradle - nothing else.

Since the system doesn't come with a charger, I bought one separate (only $7, I should note), and I decided to buy a 32 gb micro SD card as well (I was already needing a 16 gb SD card on my original 3DS, so I decided to go even bigger.  The things are dirt cheap anyway)

Also, I had known about a special set of Zelda-themed cover plates, and since I thought they looked awesome, I went and bought a set (released in Japan only) before I even purchased my system.  The Mario-themed cover plates that came with the system really look nice, but the Zelda ones are definitely my favorite.

It took more than an hour, but I managed to transfer all of my data off my old 3DS.  I have never had a problem with the "glossy" design of the prior system, but I have to say, the matte finish on the New 3DS feels really nice.  Also, I really like the slightly larger screens.  The buttons and the D-pad feel better than prior versions, everything is placed in better spots, and overall, the New 3DS is more comfortable to hold.  I think it's just an all-around improvement from the prior model.  I can't see any drawbacks whatsoever.  I hear it also has a slightly better battery life, and the added system memory seems to make software boot up faster.  Hooray!

Hopefully I'll be getting Monster Hunter Generations for Christmas, but in the mean time, maybe I should go back and replay A Link Between Worlds, except this time on Hero Mode.

Oh, here's a better picture of those sexy new Zelda face plates.

Jackal and Super Off Road: The Baja

I picked up two more games off Ebay: Jackal for the NES and Super Off Road: The Baja for the SNES.

I don't think I've played Jackal before (that I can remember, anyway), but it's supposed to be a fun two-player game, so I decided to get it.  I hope to get a two-player playthrough posted on my Youtube channel some time.

My uncle actually owned Super Off Road: The Baja when I was a kid, so that's how I know about it.  I remember that he used to play Top Gear on his SNES all the time, and one day when both me and my cousin were visiting him, he decided to buy another game.  Since my uncle loved racing, he picked up The Baja and he and my cousin played through the entire game together, as I recall.  I don't remember why I didn't play through the game with them (other than it's only two-player at most), but I did play the game here and there.  The one thing that I always remember about this game is how you could run over people who were riding ATVs.  Although you lose money for doing it, I always found it hilarious and so I would run people over anyway.  It was sort of like GTA before GTA.  I look forward to posting a playthrough of this game too.

Nintendo 64 Drawer

I bought another 24-game drawer to store my Nintendo 64 games.  This one came in the box as well, which was really nice.  Now I have two of these 24-game drawers, as well as two 12-game drawers.  That should certainly help me store any additional games that I buy for the SNES and N64.

Duke Nukem 64

It took a while, but I found a complete Duke Nukem 64 for a decent price.  For some reason, Zero Hour is all over ebay, but this game is hard to come by.  Duke Nukem is an excellent first person shooter, and a classic as well, so I had to get it.  I look forward to playing through this one.

Another New Desk

I bought another new desk to clean up my computing setup and give me some more room.  My knee was constantly hitting my computer with the prior desk and USB cables from the captures were running underneath my feet.  Also, the keyboard shelf was off center from where I sat, which really annoying (it was actually designed that way). 

This new desk fixes all of those problems, gives me some drawers, and just flat out looks nicer.  Oh yeah, my prior monitor from 2009 also died on me, so I bought a new 23" Asus monitor.

Clue

I picked up a complete copy of Clue for the SNES about a week or two ago.  This game is dirt cheap, so it's really easy to find a nice copy.  I used to like Clue as a kid, so I rented the SNES version of the game around mid '90s to see what it was like.  The game was a lot of fun and did a great job of conveying the dark, mysterious mansion setting.  If you like Clue, I highly recommend this game.  It's much better than any of the later versions that came out.

X Zone and Joe and Mac

I picked up two new SNES games complete in box.  One is Joe and Mac, a two-player action platformer.  I used to play this game at my uncle's house as a kid.  It was a lot of fun and the two-player was just awesome.  The giant dinosaur boss fights were also great.

X Zone is a Super Scope game that I looked up but haven't played.  I had thought about getting this game for a while now, but I had some trouble finding complete copies.  I eventually found a sealed copy for a really good price, so I just jumped on that.  Interestingly, the box claims that it's the first Super Scope game to provide a cursor on screen.  I hope to upload playthroughs of both games on Youtube this year.

Replacement Nintendo 64 analog sticks

About a couple years ago I purchased a replacement analog stick for one of my Nintendo 64 controllers.  The original analog stick had gotten a bit loose and worn out, so I picked up one of the reproduction units off Ebay.  After I swapped out my old analog stick for the new one, I quickly noticed a difference.  The reproduction just wasn't the same, and I didn't really like it.

Reproduction Nintendo 64 analog sticks have two distinct flaws that immediately give them away.  First, the top of the stick is totally flat whereas an official analog stick is slightly convex.  That means your thumb won't grip the reproduction stick as well as an official one.

Second, reproduction sticks don't have the same amount of resistance when you move them.  There's less resistance.  Anyone who has played hours on end of Nintendo 64 goodness will probably notice some difference using the reproduction sticks.

I finally got tired of it, so I decided to buy a used Nintendo 64 controller off Ebay with a nice and tight analog stick and perform myself a little surgery.  I bought a controller with a damaged cord that no one would really care about, and removed that sweet analog stick from its carcass.

The donor controller is the Atomic Purple one on the left.  My controller (with the shitty reproduction analog stick) is on the right.

With a small enough Phillips-head screwdriver, you can remove the screws on the back of your controller and get access to the circuit board and everything else.  Just don't lose those tiny screws.

Once inside the controller, you can remove the analog stick by undoing three additional screws holding it in place, and unplugging the blue connector (very carefully) from the circuit board.  Then you end up with this:

As you can see here, both the factory original and reproduction analog sticks look the same at first glance, although a reproduction unit has slightly lighter-colored plastic (you probably won't notice unless they're side-by-side:

However, if you take a good look, you can see how the factory original analog stick is slightly convex on top, whereas the reproduction unit is totally flat:

The factory original stick also has serial numbers printed on the back:

After swapping out the analog sticks, I'm happy to say that my controller is back to 100% factory original condition, and it feels great.  I won't be buying any more of these reproduction items as they're just not the same.

And no parts were wasted either.  I'll be selling the donor controller in a fully functioning condition so that it doesn't go to the garbage bin.  Talk about catch and release.

Here are the results of the successful surgery:

New Nunchuck

The rubber grip on one of my Wii's nunchucks has gotten a bit worn out, so I decided to buy a new one.  Wii controllers are still being manufactured and sold in stores, so they're dirt cheap.  If you need new controllers or just want to stockpile for the future, now is the time to do it.

I picked up a launch version nunchuck with the original blister packaging for only $17.

Nintendo changed to a cardboard packaging for the Wii Remotes and nunchucks a few years into the Wii's lifespan, and I noticed that Nintendo also changed the type of plastic in the controllers themselves.  Later model Wii controllers have a rougher plastic that's easier to grip, as well as stiffer buttons.  The earlier versions have a smoother plastic.

The later versions of the controllers aren't bad at all; they're just different.  But I figured I'd replace my nunchuck with the same version.  These are the odd things you notice when you play video games for hours on end.

Shovel Knight

I went and purchased my first stupid amiibo thingy.  In general, I don't like the figurines because I think they're an overpriced form of micro transactions.  Also, they allow Nintendo to generate absurd profits without making proper games themselves, so Nintendo can simply use them to bail out other parts of the company that are making stupid decisions.

Notwithstanding those facts, I love Shovel Knight and wanted to access the two-player mode, which is locked behind this dumb figurine (okay, it does look pretty cool, but the figurines themselves are dumb).  Since the game itself only cost about $10 or so, I didn't mind paying an extra $14 to get the two-player mode and whatever else the figure includes.  I should hopefully post a two-player playthrough soon on Youtube.  That'll be fun.

I doubt I'll be buying any more of these things though.  There will have to be a really good reason for me to do it.