Dear Santa....

1. 5.1 speakers, Mains B&W (Bowers & Wilkins) 800D series, center B&W HTM2D, rears B&W DS8S, and sub JL Audio Gotham g213
   
2. In order to drive those sick speakers, a Classe CA-5200 Power Amplifier with a Classe SSP-600 offering balanced outputs for higher quality sound and less noise in your system
3. As far as video is concerned a Panasonic TH65PH10UK 65" plasma (sorry couldn't find a link)
4. Playstation 3 to complete my console collection
5. Metal Gear 4
6. 2008 fully loaded double cab Toyota Tacoma (Black)
   
7. HD drive for XBOX 360
8. Gibson Custom inspired series David Grohl DG-335
   
9. custom DW drum kit with exotic twisted walnut finish
   
10. Monster HD cables for all my sources
11. Assassin's Creed for the 360
12. something along the lines of the Passive Technologies Life Station Media Center
13. I'm all over that MAC as well
14. Crestron PRO2 Processor and a TPMC8x web tablet controller to integrate system
    
15. Mario Galaxy
16. Mass Effect
17. Falcon Northwest Mach V tower with Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9650 3 GHZ Processor with 8GB Ram, 4TB HD (4x1), and an nVidia GeForce 8800Ultra 768MB Video Card x2

Thats all I can come up with off the top of my head so I'll leave it at that.
Merry Christmas.

Wish wish wish wish...

Like I'll get these, but here goes...

1. Dodge Charger
2. Smash Bros Brawl
3. Metal Gear Solid 4
4. 40" BRAVIA XBR series LCD flat panel HDTV the model number is KD-40XBR5 just incase anyone wants to buy it for me =)
5. A Sony home theatre system to match the TV I'll never get.
6. The same Mac Pro that Batmyke wants.
7. Starcraft 2
8. FFXIII
9. FFversusXIII
10. Student loans to take care of my film school dream.

All I Want For Christmas... (part 1)

Okay, I promised a Christmas Wish List, and here it is!

1. Gold Zelda-themed Nintendo DS Lite
2. Zack & Wiki
3. Pioneer Elite PRO-110FD Kuro Plasma TV (Gizmodo's pick for best tv ever)
4. Mac Pro with dual Quad Core Intel Xeon processors, 1.5 TB of storage, 16 GB of RAM, two 30" Apple Displays and dual Super-drives. (yeah, it's a WISHLIST)
5. Early release of Smash Bros. Brawl
6. iPhone
7. JVC Everio HD camcorder
8. Fender Buddy Miller Signature Acoustic Electric Guitar
9. Batman: The Animated Series on dvd (all seasons)
10.Batman Beyond on dvd (all but season 1, which I already own)
11.Justice League and Justice League Unlimited on dvd (all seasons)
12.An external HDD for the Wii
13.The DS Lite Compact
14.A puppy

Well, there you have it. Not entirely game-related I know, but jeez, a guy can dream, can't he?

ANOTHER mouth to feed...

Oops, that's supposed to be Boombalad, not 'Little Lad'...

Last week I proudly introduced you all to Bane, the first of our growing stable of writers (and also my brother). Today I am pleased to introduce you to the third of our little family, John Foster, a.k.a. Boombalad.

John was a member of my staff for the 2+ years that I managed a Game Crazy store, and we have remained friends since. He brings some solid knowledge of PC, PS2 and PS3 gaming to the table, as well as the requisite Wii and DS love. You will start seeing his posts here pretty soon, so let's all give Boombalad a big Cascoretopia hug!

Anticipation...

Welcome to another new weekly feature, Anticipation! Anticipation will be our weekly post about games we are looking forward to...

This week: SH'MUPS! I am a HUGE fan of classic scrolling shooters like Gradius, R-Type and Life Force, and you'd better believe that I have Ikaruga in my Gamecube collection!

So when I hear about awesome stuff like Nanostray 2 for DS, Raiden Fighters for Xbox 360 and Castle of Shikagami III on Wii, I get hyped!

Wait a minute, Castle of Shika-wha?

Yep, several of our favorite sites posted a press-release today by Aksys Games, announcing the porting of popular Japanese arcade sh'mup 'Castle of Shikagami III' to the Wii this Spring. While this series is new to myself, the screenshot above (courtesy of Infendo) says it all. This game looks nutso, and I mean Ikaruga INSANE!

So, for all fans of sh'mups, start counting the days until this one is relased stateside!

(UPDATE) GoNintendo has a short interview with Michael Manzanares, Associate Producer at Aksys Games, and there is mention of a possible DS version of this game as well!

RERUNS!

Final Fantasy VII, one of the greatest RPG's of all time, is a great game to go through time and time again, and is a great filler game if you're waiting on that next big title. Even though I've gone through this game at least four times I still find myself pulling out one of its three original Playstation discs and powering it up in my slim PS2 for an hour or two of enjoyment.

Although the graphics in this game are well outdated, seeing as it's an original playstation title, the storyline and battle system more than make up for it, which is what makes it such a great rerun game. Unlocking Vincent, tracking down Yuffie, as well as finding and mastering all the materia are just a few of the elements in this game that would keep me up all night in my hardcore days, and now fills up my free time while I wait for my roommates to play their games in our Madden franchise.

So if you haven't played this one in a while you might want to consider giving the Guitar Hero a rest and going back to some classic one player RPG-ing. Well thats it for my Reruns pick this week, be sure to look for more Reruns posts from myself as well our other bloggers every week.

Is it still called a 'Nunchuck' if it's Wireless?

A few days ago (yes, I'm slow), accessory manufacturer Nyko unveiled a wireless Nunchuck controller for Wii, finally freeing everyone's left and right hands from the wire that had tethered them before.

Personally, I'm excited about this peripheral, although hesitant; I'm wondering what the price will be, though Nyko has typically kept things reasonable (wireless Sensor Bar notwithstanding). I'm also curious whether or not the 'chuck will have a rechargeable battery, since Nyko created the best and most popular rechargeable battery kit for the Wiimote...

What do you think? Will you pick up one of these bad boys when it releases? Or are you satisfied with three feet of cord between your hands?

Just for fun, try to imagine a Ninja using nunchaku with NO tether in between... sure to make you grin!

New Feature: RERUNS!

We've all got our favorites when it comes to games, but how often do you pick up a great game that you return to months (or even years) later? Well, here at Cascoretopia, we believe that those games deserve some special mention, so... RERUNS! will be our weekly post on games that we love to play AGAIN!

This week's RERUN: Starfox Command (Nintendo DS)

I picked up Starfox Command when it first came out in August, over a year ago, and found myself properly sucked into the great gameplay immediately. Hours disappeared any time I powered on my DS, and I promptly finished the game.

Now, I'm not a big online gamer, so I've never much valued the replay-ability of a game like SFC, but I did learn that the game has multiple endings and different scenarios, based on mission choices you make as you play.

That being said, I played through the game a second time back when it was still new to me, to finish one of those alternate paths. Then the game card sat quietly in my DS case for months... until today! That's right, I dusted it off and fired up the DS, and much to my enjoyment, played through another alternate campaign!

I guess no matter how many times I beat this game, even if I play the same path again, I just enjoy the mix of dogfight combat and turn-based tactical strategy too much to leave it alone permanently! If only Nintendo had included the 'command' portion of the gameplay in multiplayer...

Starfox Command; if you haven't played it yet, pick it up today!

I Ain't Afraid of No Game!

I'm a child of the 80's, to be sure. I was born in 1970, so by Jr. High I was listening to punk rock and glam metal, watching MTV (brand new) at my friend's house and enjoying some great new movies on cutting-edge VHS!

One such movie was Ghostbusters; great comedy, special effects and a unique story premise came together to provide viewers with a major treat. This flick has stood up to the test of time, too, as I picked up the dvd last year and enjoyed it just as much as back then!

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), I was ecto-static to see that Ghostbusters The Video Game was announced for all platforms recently! My excitement was put on hold, however, when I learned that the Wii version would be geared toward a younger demographic than it's high-def counterparts...

Fortunately, my worries were unfounded! Today, IGN has a brief rundown of the Wii version's unique features, including a heavy focus on multiplayer! There are a few concept art pieces and one or two screenshots as well, all of which showcase a rich, colorful art style that really plays to the strengths of the system, and remind me a bit of cult classic, Psychonauts.

Click on over to IGN to check it all out, and you can also find some video footage of the XBOX 360 and PS3 version here, which looks very nice!

Now with Venom!

With the launch of a new blog and my hopes to expand our audience, I've chosen to invite a couple of new contributors on board, and today I'm proud to introduce the first!

'Bane', better known as my brother Brian, will begin posting to Cascoretopia this week, and brings a wealth of gaming knowledge and interest to the table. While we both share a love of gaming and definitely enjoy some of the same titles, Bane's gaming tastes vary from mine in a variety of ways and I expect his posting to really broaden the value of our little enterprise!

Please welcome him, and look forward to the next introduction of our expanding team!

Retro Studios Interview

4 Color Rebellion posted a link to an awesome interview with Retro Studios President and CEO Michael Kelbaugh, as well as game director Mark Pacini, by Gamasutra. Those of you who know me are aware of my love of all things Metroid, and thus this interview is a MUST READ in my opinion.

A couple of interesting facts from the interview:

1. Now Nintendo President Satoru Iwata joined Shigeru Miyamoto on a visit to Retro back before the Gamecube was launched, as a translator for Mr. Miyamoto.

2. The morph ball was almost eliminated from Metroid Prime entirely, until Miyamoto told Retro that if they didn't get the transition from first-person view to third-person morph ball right, the game was off.

3. Apparently Retro mandates company-wide naps after completion of a project.

Head on over to Gamasutra for the full interview.

A Loaded Season

I thought it would be worthwhile to start things off with my picks for the holiday season! As some of you probably already know, I am primarily a Nintendo fan, although I have been known to dabble in Playstation and Xbox titles as well, so that will be reflected here...

Below I am listing five games that I think you should seriously consider picking up this Holiday season.


1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) If you don't already own a Wii, GET ONE! There are more reasons now than ever to own Nintendo's crazy little white box, and at the top of the list is this newest outing by the iconic plumber himself, Mario.

2. Guitar Hero 3 (All platforms) Few games have the universal appeal that the Guitar Hero series does, and this latest edition comes to platforms from all three major manufacturers for the first time, including Nintendo! You don't need any knowledge of the guitar to enjoy this game, (although the higher difficulty levels can get intense) just a love of ROCK!

3. Zack & Wiki (Wii) Though I cannot give you a first-hand recommendation of this game (yet), it has been hailed far and wide as one of the finest efforts on the Wii. You control the protagonist, Zack (a wannabe pirate) indirectly by point-and-click, and solve all kinds of puzzles to quest after treasure. The videos that I have watched make this game look like a MUST HAVE!

4. Link's Crossbow Training (including Wii Zapper) (Wii, duh) I picked this up two weeks ago and it has been a blast! Set in the Legend of Zelda universe, the $20 shooting gallery game is tons of fun and a great casual pick-up-and-play game. Fire it up at Christmas, and I guarantee your family and friends will join in!

5. Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (Wii) Again, I just got this baby and boy, does it deliver! A great single-player campaign mode, Wii-Zapper enabled Arcade mode (kinda like playing Area 51 or Time Crisis in the arcade) and 32-player online multiplayer all come together to make one awesome package. Add on the best FPS controls I've ever used (including Halo...) and you've got a winning combination.

HONORABLE MENTION: I should note a few other titles that are vying for everyone's attention here. Halo 3 (XBOX 360)is excellent, especially the multiplayer, and Call of Duty 4 (XBOX 360, PS3) has garnered too many good reviews to ignore. I also read great things about Bioshock (XBOX 360, PC), Assasin's Creed (XBOX 360, PS3), Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3) and Mass Effect (XBOX 360). I could probably spend hours listing other Wii titles that I recommend, but I'm trying to keep it current, here people!

Get out there and buy something great, or ask for it for Christmas!

And So It Begins...

Welcome to cascoretopia! What the heck does that mean, you ask? Well, in recent months a category of gamer that has been around for a long time has moved more into the spotlight as the industry has gone through changes. With a heavier focus on 'casual' gamers, and some unfounded panic about the abandonment of 'hardcore' gamers, some in the industry have begun using a term for a third group; 'cascore'(pronounced caz-core)

Cascore gamers are the middle ground between the casual and hardcore groups, where marathon overnight Halo sessions don't happen (anymore, anyhow) but interest is stronger than merely an occasional bout of Wii Sports. We are very into gaming, but not 'I drank the PS3 koolaid', 'I camped all night for Mass Effect' or 'I'm considering moving next door to the Nintendo World Store' into it.

I myself definitely qualify as a 'cascore' gamer, although once upon a time I was a bonafide member of the hardcore community (often the case for us), and I couldn't help but notice a lack of internet coverage geared toward our demographic. Perhaps it could be argued that 'cascore' gamers don't frequent websites or blogs about gaming (I do), but I felt this would be a worthy experiment nonetheless.

So, here it is! Cascoretopia! If you are a cascore gamer, welcome home...