Malik
(9/6/11)
I am finally back from
my vacation. I wish I could say I'm still out, but no such luck
exists.
While on vacation, I
spent a fair amount of time with my 3DS. Between a few DSware titles
I've accumulated and needed to play, some virtual console titles,
and the NES games given with the Ambassador Program (for those of us
who bought a 3DS and got hit by the price reduction after the fact),
I had a fair amount of 3DS time. I also am finding more fun from the
Netflix application on the 3DS (great thing to use when you're
cooking BBQ at 6am and the rest of the world is asleep, but you must
tend a BBQ pit).
The one thing that I
really noticed, however, from all the 3DS time is that I am really
not happy with the free-for-early-adopters NES games. Ok, I could
complain about the games, since the list includes Wrecking Crew, Ice
Climbers, Balloon Fight, and an antiquated golf game that has no
rights to even be remembered in the modern age, especially when a
good 3DSware golf title (Let's Golf 3D) is freshly out on the 3DS. I
mean about half the games are too old (as in "they did not age
well") to be considered worthy of wasting time on them. I can also
complain that one of Nintendo's flagship franchises was entirely
ignored (Kirby). However, my issue is not with the titles. As I said
in the past, if you want to be an early adopter, you will face a
price cut and a shortage of games...still, you can opt to not be an
early adopter. I have no regrets with that and the games are free
and Nintendo really doesn't owe anything.
My problem is that these
virtual console NES titles are missing a single feature. Each and
every virtual console title I've played in the past on the Wii or
the 3DS had a save state feature. While these 10 NES games have the
ability to save progress when you quit, you don't have a save state
you can ever return to after you've moved on in the game. While this
may not seem like much, when you're playing a game like Metroid and
cannot remember the layout at all after all these years, it is a
really cool feature to have in place. Yes, it wasn't on the original
game, but it sure as hell is on all other virtual console games I've
played. Why couldn't Nintendo keep this feature in? It can't be that
hard to implement when previous VC titles all seem to have it.
On a final thought
before I call it quits for today...it will be really fun to see how
badly the Seahawks do this weekend when the NFL season gets into
it's full swing. I really cannot see anything good for the 'Hawks as
long as they keep T-Jack as the starting QB. Watching him play is a
lot like watching a good high school QB playing against an NFL
caliber defense.
Malik |