Amiibo Watch with Rarity Guide!

The hunt for Skylanders in 2011 was real...

Alright, this is bad.

I'm could be falling into my 2011 Skylander Dad hunting mode. This mode is scary. It involves driving to multiple locations (within reason), hunting for hard-to-find, sought after electronic action figures! NO, I will NOT succumb to this! I will fight the urge!

At least, that's what I'm trying to tell myself as I collect some more of these awesome Amiibos. I've done well, avoiding characters that I don't really care to own, trying to keep Micah's attention away from wanting all of them. (We bought just about all of the first series of Skylanders by the end of 2012...)

You will be mine, Marth...Oh yes.

So far, so good...but there are several figures out there that I really want and they are REALLY hard to find. Marth, Ike, Shulk, Sonic...just to name a few. Luckily, there are several that I could care less for...so I don't think I'll fall into the "MUST HAVE THEM ALL" frame of mind.

But I must have the few I listed above (as of right now...haha).

So, I made a couple stops this week, just to check in at a local Target and two different GameStops. I haven't looked for figures in a few weeks, mostly because of the discouraging news of Marth being so hard to find, so I was a bit surprised when I saw Target's large collection.

Most of them were duplicates of easy to find toys, like Luigi (I love Luigi, but hate his pose), Donkey Kong, Zelda, etc. But they did have one copy of both Sheik and Toon Link. YOINK. They are mine.

Couldn't resist! #amiibos Last one of each!

A photo posted by MnM Gaming (@mnm_gaming) on Feb 24, 2015 at 10:19am PST

Then, my stop at the first GameStop. Solid selection, but a lot of duplicates, similar to Target. Only thing of interest here was Samus, who I'm on the fence on buying...I'd rather have some of the other figures...so let's check the second GameStop.

WOAH! This second GameStop had a very large selection, still had some duplicates of the common figures, but they had several that I hadn't seen before. Bowser (I think he will be more common soon), Diddy Kong and Megaman. MEGAMAN! YOINK. I got the last one of him as well. This GameStop had an incredibly solid collection of commons that I don't see often as well, very impressed.

Snagged the Megaman Amiibo on the way home today, today's been a good one!

A video posted by MnM Gaming (@mnm_gaming) on Feb 26, 2015 at 4:05pm PST

So, our collection went from a wimpy four, to a solid seven, with the additions of Sheik, Toon Link and Megaman. I was pretty pleased with my finds, and more pleased with my discpline to not just buy the entire store's worth of Amiibos.

IGN put together a useful Rarity Guide for all of the Amiibos. This has helped me out a lot on trying to plan my next attack...I mean purchase. Notice the four figures I listed above that I want are all considered "Rare." Great. I actually love this part. LET THE HUNT BEGIN!


All that said, let's rate some stores and their availability of Amiibos!

GameStop: Definitely seems to be the best place, IMO. Large quantity, not many duplicates
Target: Large quantity of Commons, but most are duplicates
Wal-Mart: Very disappointed in their selection, only four different characters, a lot of duplicates. (That could change with the Gold Mario exclusive...which sold out pre-orders already, btw.)
Toys R Us: I haven't frequented Toys R Us, but I do know that they did a great job with Skylanders when they were so hard to find...if anyone has tried there, let me know what you think.

Any success at other stores?

Fable Legends Will Be Free to Play!

Free-to-Play Models are getting popular!

The Fable franchise has been very successful in the gaming industry. The newest installment, Legends, unites the classic gameplay that players have come to love from the series with next-generation gaming capabilities. For the first time, players can grab your friends and go on adventures together. Heroes can cooperatively discover the quests and stories of Albion. Or, play the villain and mastermind the game in real time.

This sounds incredibly intriguing, especially for those veterans of Fable lore. But you know what the best part of all this is? The game will be available as a free-to-play title on the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, as confirmed by Microsoft.

Lionhead, the creators, has been inspired by the PC game League of Legends, with the heroes available rotated over time or able to purchase for permanent use with in-game currency or real cash.

Four heroes will initially be available for free. After a couple of weeks, all four will become unavailable and be replaced by a new quartet. This will continue, eventually looping round and starting again. In-game silver, earned through quests, can be used to add a hero to your stable permanently or you can use real money. Thankfully your hero and equipment progress won't be reset each time they get taken off rotation, so you can start where you left off each time your favorite character returns.

The 4-on-1 will make for interesting multiplayer.

So that's the heroes, but what about the villains? On that front, Microsoft reveals those of a more dastardly inclination will have their own story to play through, during which you'll be able to buy additional creatures to use in maps that wouldn't normally support them. Additionally traps and gates will also be up for grabs, along with magical standing stones.

This, sounds amazing! I don't even care if I have only played Fable 2...this has my attention, as do most free-to-play modeled games do. Albion, here I come!

Some Fable games have been rated M in the past, while some were T. The style of this game may determine what it's final esrb rating will be...I'd probably recommend this game to 15+ for now, just to be safe, until more news comes out about the game. 

Final Fantasy XIV Free to Play Week

Massively Multiple Online (MMO) games are great, Final Fantasy is great...however, I've never tried Final Fantasy's MMO: XIV. If you have tried it in the past though, and your account is lapsed...you can get back in there and check out the newly included Golden Saucer DLC (and the rest of the game) for FREE! That's right! FREE!

If you are like me and haven't tried the game before...they offer at free 14-day trial...but...nothing special for us.

Lapsed players though...BOOM! Merry Christmas!

Final Fantasy XIV is rated T, definitely would only recommend this game for 13+.

Here are the details on the free to play weekend from their official website:

≪Free Login Campaign Overview≫

Users meeting the following conditions will be able to play FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn free of charge during the upcoming Campaign:

Eligibility

Users who have previously purchased and registered FINAL FANTASY XIV and whose service account is set as inactive during the campaign period. 

*Please visit the FINAL FANTASY XIV: Mog Station to confirm the status of your service account.

Event Schedule

From Friday, February 27, 2015 at 12:00 a.m. (PST) to Monday, March 9, 2015 at 1:00 a.m. (PDT) 

* Please note that a subscription to FFXIV: ARR is required to continue playing after the event period.

Client Download

If you have yet to install the game, please download the official client software.
(http://sqex.to/ffxiv_client_en)

Don't miss out on this chance to experience Eorzea in all her glory!

Microsoft Announces their Free Games with Gold for March!

Hi, I'm Rayman and I'm free all month long!

I love free stuff.

I think I've said that before, haven't I?

Anywho, if you have an Xbox Gold Membership, you are in for a treat in March! This is probably the strongest collection of games that Microsoft has released with it's Games with Gold program. If you have an Xbox One, Rayman Legends (Ages 8+) will be free for you all month long. On the 360, Tomb Raider (Not for kids) will be available from March 1-15 and BioShock Infinite (Not for kids) from March 16-31.

That is solid! I hope that Microsoft continues in this direction with quality games hitting their Games with Gold giveaway. I know these games are old, but man, they are solid games. I didn't get a chance to try out Rayman, but you know, now is the time to try it out...it's FREE! We may even get a quick review of the game, since it is readily available for you guys.

I would only recommend Tomb Raider and BioShock to our After Hours crowd, (parents/older teenagers) definitely not for kids.

For those counting hard drive space or planning ahead to make room:

• Rayman Legends (ordinary Xbox Live price $39.99) is a 3.4 GB download.
• Tomb Raider ($19.99) is a 6.57 GB download.
• BioShock Infinite ($29.99) is a 6.49 GB download.

Enjoy and thank you Microsoft!

MnM Gaming: Episode 2 - Super Smash Bros. Review

I remember playing this game on the GameCube when it was so popular. It was amazing. Marth and me were tight. I could take anyone down that I wanted to with that blue haired warrior. Until the evil Hand floated on the screen and destroyed everything known to MAN! Gah!

The game was solid. I loved it. I tried SSB on the Wii...I think that was called Brawl? I never purchased because I wasn't a huge fan of the motion controls...I just went back to my GameCube and continued my dominance with Marth. That's not to say that SSB Brawl was horrible, I just never bought into the motion controls on the Wii, and gave up on the game too early. 

Then, SSB Wii U comes out...I'm a bit skeptical. There's now way it could match the magic that was Smash Bros. Melee. NO WAY.

I was wrong. I love this game. And I'm even playing it without the old school Gamecube controller accessory you can buy. Playing this game in full HD is glorious. The animation and action sequences are enough to make me drool. Marth has taken a back seat to Ike at the moment...both of them share blue hair, both have swords...they are practically brothers (they may actually be brothers, I've never really played the Fire Emblem series), so I don't think Marth will get too jealous. 

Find out what Micah and I thought about this game and let us know if you agree!

Overall Scores:
Micah: 4.8 million out of 5 million
Mike: 8.5 out of 10
Appropriate for ages: 6+ if kids can handle the controls, 8+

Weekend Playlist - Mike

Sadly, it is Monday. Goodbye weekend. I'll miss you dearly. You were good, truly. I had several hours of game time allotted to me on your 2 days and one night...most of those hours I flipped through cards with my mouse and one night I ran around a zombie infested world...trying to find my friend.

Haha. That last part is frustratingly true, as my friend Ronnie can attest to. He told me about a game, that is NOT for the kiddos, called DayZ. I downloaded the game and mod required to play and tried it out with him on Saturday night. It was exciting, being in a new world I've never been in...but the game play was foreign to me. None of my WoW controls came to light when trying to control my character in DayZ. Ronnie came online to join me...we ran around for 2.5 hours trying to find each other...but alas, we never did. He recommended that I get a new mod for the game, Epoch, that started to download Saturday night...it is still going as I type this on Monday. So far, DayZ has become DayARRRRRRRGH! We will see if that changes when this newer mod downloads.

I got a little bit of Warcraft time in, and achieved level 99 with my Paladin. Not too much to report here, I feel like the WoW train is leaving the station, unfortunately. Patch 6.1 is releasing tomorrow, so we will see if that changes my mind.

Rexxar be owning some card tables!

Most of my weekend gaming centered around playing cards. That's right. Hearthstone has caught my attention. Why now? I'm really not sure, but I watched a stream of someone playing it on Friday night and decided...let's do this! I got in there, messed around with the crappy cards I had, made the best decks I could...and attacked that Innkeeper with everything I had! 

I started unlocking some pretty solid cards and I become very efficient with the hunter hero (Rexxar) and the multiple beasts I can throw down in front of him. Why not take my talents online and battle other players?! YES! Great idea! It started off as expected, you win some and lose some. Then I went on a streak...got overly confident and thought I was amazing.

That tune changed quickly, though. I noticed that several of the players I battled more recently had WAY better cards than I did. What happened?! HOW ARE YOU GETTING THOSE SWEET CARDS?! Frustration...and 11:30pm on Sunday night caused me to shut the computer down and steam on the couch while Brittany finished watching Teen Mom.

I must research how to get these epicly amazing cards! I must win! FOR REXXAR! So, I googled. And now I will start my career in the Arena.

And that...was my weekend playlist. Boom!

The New Nintendo 3DS XL Releases Tomorrow!

Friday. The. Thirteenth...YES. A day that will live in infamy. A day of horror. A day of hockey masks.

It's also the day that the new Nintendo 3DS XL will be released. Will it be a day of infamy, or a day of horror?

It's totally not going to be horror, trust me.

Nintendo did it right with it's newest handheld system. At least, from what I've read online. I really want to get my hands on the system and try it myself (donations gladly excepted, haha) but everything I'm reading online about its features lead me to believe that this will be very successful.

I thought that I wouldn't want to play a larger 3DS...Who wants bigger things? I thought the cool thing was to go smaller!? Oh...yeah, the new "in" phones are now bigger, inbetween a size of a tablet and a phone...maybe it is cool to go bigger now?

But, that's not all they did. Tons of new features have been added to this system:

• A new C-Stick to control third-person cameras
• Face tracking to better present their 3-D option (eh)
• More buttons for more control!
• Faster processor and better camera
• Improved web-browsing to check out our awesome posts!
• Built in Amiibo Support 

Tons of stuff! To check out more on the new system and to hear Micah and my opinions on it, check out our new Shortii:



Again...donations are accepted for Micah and I to try out this awesome looking new software!

In the words of Mario: Wah-Hoooo!

The Third Rare Pokemon Code has Been Revealed!

In a post that we had on here last month, we announced three rare Pokemon that players could download onto their copies of Pokemon: Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire! Two of those Poke's were revealed as Emboar and Serperior, check their codes out here, while we assumed that the third would be Samurott (it was teased to be announced sometime in February).

Well, guess what!? It is February and Nintendo stayed true to their word. Samurott is available to join your Pokemon army by following these instructions:

• Go into the game, and select 'Mystery Gift' from the main menu
• Enter the code: POKEMON503
• Level 50 water type, with the ability 'Shell Armor,' and the moves Razer Shell, Hold Back, Confide, and Hydro Pump

Go check him out and reunite Sammy with his other two original Pokemon: Black and White buddies!

Amiibos to be Released in Rare Gold and Silver Variants

It's-a-me! MORE MARIO!

Look out! Nintendo looks to be releasing some rare versions of their Mario Amiibo. These versions will be solid gold and solid silver. This news was leaked  in a pair of Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) certificates posted to Nintendo's website. They have since been removed.

Several media outlets have reached out to Nintendo for comment and clarification on how these Mario amiibo figures will be distributed, either at retail, through a giveaway, an exclusive or some other method but haven't received an official statement.

With no official word from Nintendo, we don't know if it will ONLY be Mario figures or if there will be any other variants. However, we do know that this amiibo is in a new pose! This is coinciding with the release of Mario Party 10.

The new Super Mario line of amiibo is scheduled to launch March 20 and includes Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Yoshi and Toad. Nintendo will release another batch of Super Smash Bros.-themed amiibo, which include Robin, Lucina, Pac-Man, Wario, Ness and Charizard, this spring.

Yes, Charizard...you will be mine.

Keep your eyes open for news on these rare gold/silver versions and hope we can get our hands on them!

Dragon Ball Xenoverse Pre-order Available

Dragon Ball! One of my favorite shows going through middle school and early high school. I have proof...ask my wife about my DBZ T-Shirts and my Vegeta button down silk shirt that I used to think was BALLIN' (no pun intended)! Oh man, this show was so good...My first venture into the world of Anime. Countless hours of characters just staring at each other, grunting and panting, waiting episodes before an actual fight broke out.

Viewers of DBZ know what I'm talking about.

It was SO good, though. Remember the epic fight between Vegeta and Goku during the Saiyan saga? OMG. I'm fan-girling out right now. He's over 9000?!?!

Guess what? Now, you get the opportunity to CREATE YOUR OWN CHARACTER IN THE DB UNIVERSE! Yep, I said it. With Dragon Ball Xenoverse, you can  customize and develop your own warrior from 5 races, including male or female, and more than 450 items to be used in online and offline adventures. Create the perfect avatar, learn new skills and train under the tutelage of your favorite Dragon Ball characters. Join 200+ players around the world in the Toki Toki City hub and fight with or against them, and compete in online tournaments!

Doesn't that sound awesome? Come on, who's going SSJ with me? They've opened up the pre-orders for the game, check it:

Pre-Order Dragon Ball Xenoverse from the Xbox Games Store

What Game to Review Next?

Did you enjoy our first episode? We loved putting it together for you! We are interested in what game you may be interested in us reviewing next? We have a poll on the right side of this website (not viewable on the mobile version), where you can vote on a few games listed there. Episode 2 will include a review of Super Smash Bros., so we are looking at the topic to review in Episode 3. Remember, we are trying to keep this family oriented, so nothing over the ESRB rating of Teen. Check it out, vote on the poll or write us a comment with some ideas.

What game should we review next? Here's some suggestions:

Pokemon: Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire

"Two 2014 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. They are part of the sixth generation of the Pokémon series, serving as enhanced remakes of the 2002 Game Boy Advance titles Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.  The games were announced on May 7, 2014, in a teaser trailer released by Nintendo. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were released in Japan, North America, and Australia on November 21, 2014, exactly twelve years after the release date of the original Ruby and Sapphire; the European release was a week later on November 28, 2014."

The newest Pokemon game released on the Nintendo 3DS. I grew up playing these games and now Micah gets to experience the wonderful universe I did...only with about 5 trillion more Pokemon than what I had to worry about.

Minecraft

"Minecraft is a sandbox independent video game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson and later developed and published by the Swedish company Mojang. The creative and building aspects of Minecraft allow players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, gathering resources, crafting, and combat. Multiple gameplay modes are available, including survival modes where the player must acquire resources to build the world and maintain health, a creative mode where players have unlimited resources to build with and the ability to fly, and an adventure mode where players play custom maps created by other players."

If you haven't heard of Minecraft over the past few years you are truly living underneath some rock...or maybe a square building block made out of rock. Micah, along with most of this friends is obsessed with this game, especially when it was released on Xbox back a couple years ago.

Mario Kart 8

"A 2014 kart racing game and the eighth major installment in the Mario Kart series, developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U video game console. First announced at E3 2013, the game was released worldwide in May 2014.

Like other games in the series, in Mario Kart 8, players control characters from the Mario franchise and participate in kart racing on various race tracks, using items to hinder opponents or gain advantages. While incorporating game mechanics originally featured in earlier Mario Kart games, Mario Kart 8 introduces anti-gravity sections that allow players to drive on walls or ceilings. The game features multiple single-player and multiplayer game modes. The game incorporates Miiverse functionality and online multiplayer supported via Nintendo Network."

A great addition to the Mario Kart franchise. Micah got this game the day it was released and didn't put it down for months. We would love to go back and give our insights on the game, no problem there!

Hearthstone

"A digital collectible card game (CCG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It is a free-to-play with unlimited paid booster packs, and limited (by daily cap and randomized objective provision) free acquisition of in-game currency used to obtain booster packs. Announced at the Penny Arcade Expo in March 2013, the game was released on 11 March 2014. Hearthstone is available on Microsoft Windows and OS X systems and on iPad, Android tablet and Windows 8 Touch devices. The iPhone and Android phone platform releases are planned for the beginning of 2015.[1] New content for the game involves the addition of new card sets and gameplay, such as from the Curse of Naxxramas adventure and the Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion pack."

An add-on to the World of Warcraft universe. It's a mix of popular trading card games like Magic the Gathering and the fantasy world of Azeroth. Would be a unique game to take a stab at reviewing.

Disney Infinity 2.0

"An action-adventure sandbox video game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Disney Interactive Studios. The game features additional work by Studio Gobo and Ninja Theory. It is the sequel to and successor of the 2013 video game Disney Infinity and was announced on April 30, 2014. The game was released on September 23, 2014 in North America, September 19, 2014 in the United Kingdom, September 18, 2014 in Australasia and the rest of Europe for iOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.1 Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will also be released for PlayStation Vita on an unspecified date in 2015."

The new version of the Disney Infinity franchise introduces Marvel Superheros. Much like Skylanders or Amiibos, this game uses physical action-figure toys to play the game. Very cool concept to tackle.
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Or will it be something else?! Let us know, we want to hear from you!

MnM Gaming: Episode 1 - World of Warcraft

2004 seems like it was so long ago. I had just graduated high school and was starting my journey into the work force as well as college. In 2005 I was an intern at the company I work at today, working with a few graphic designers who played video games quite often. That summer, the topic of conversation was a little game that had just come out, World of Warcraft.

I would sit there and listen to my co-workers go on and on about raids, dungeons, quests, dwarfs and elves. All with a $15 a month subscription charge. YEAH. RIGHT. Game sounds great, but there is no way I'm paying a $15 a month subscription.

A month later I was signing up, using my hard-earned money to handle that monthly fee. I was hooked instantly. I loved it. Wonderful game, wonderful story, huge community. Everything I ever wanted in one game.

I played for years, on and off, as new expansions came out. My human mage fighting for the Alliance against the nasty Horde led by the orcs. So many great memories in the early game, questing with friends.

I decided that Micah was probably old enough to handle the game, with supervision. So now, he gets to experience the magic. Check out our video review below to hear our thoughts on this epic MMO.

Overall Scores:
Micah: 4.9 million out of 5 million
Mike: 9 out of 10
Appropriate for ages: 10+ with supervison, 13+ otherwise

Sonic the Hedgehog Coming to your Mobile Device

Can't you hear the tune?

I can hear it clear as day. That wonderfully created tune as you turn on that black Sega Genesis. The blue blur runs across the screen and the track really picks up. Dun-Dun, DUN DUN DUN, da da da da da da! Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. That old Sonic the Hedgehog theme.

The fast little hedgehog is ready to jump from your TV onto your mobile device. He wants to be free! BE FREE, FREE WILLY!

As stated on our twitter page last week, Sega is really trying to be more relevant in the mobile market, and this is one of the company's first steps in that direction. This latest Sonic game is dubbed Sonic Runners and it is going to be free to download (with the option of in-game purchases).

The concept sounds a bit nifty, instead of moving Sonic around on the screen, the blue blast will be moving forward automatically through a 2-D world, and you will need to tap the screen to make him jump around. So, essentially, you can play the game with one hand.

If you guys downloaded one of 2014's most frustrating; but popular mobile apps, Flappy Bird, I feel like it will have a very similar feel to this.

Like other Sonic games, he won't be alone in this journey, Tails and Knuckles will be included in the game as unlockable characters. I always liked Knuckles better...I seem to fall for the "gray" characters in entertainment. :)

Look for Sonic Runners in the Spring!

Sonic the Hedgehog has already made a number of appearances on mobile platforms already, including Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Sonic Dash, Sonic Jump Fever, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and re-releases of 16-bit Sega Genesis era games. However, this is the first entry in this market after announcing that they will be focusing more on mobile gaming. I feel like the quality of this may be a bit better than the games listed in this paragraph.

Look for Sonic Runners to hit the  Android and iOS app stores this spring.

Target Not Restocking Rosalina and Luma Amiibo

I'm really not sure what Nintendo is thinking with their distribution of Amiibos. As we reported late last year, Nintendo will be pulling certain characters off the shelf after only being released for a few weeks.

This trend is continuing.

Rosalina and Luma, which in fact is only one Amiibo figure, was exclusively released at Target yesterday with a notice to Target employees...This letter states that they will NOT be restocking Rosaluma (that's my new name for her figure). Period.

There isn't a "Not be restocking Rosaluma for 2 weeks/2 years/2 decades," just...not going to send you more. Period.

Listen, a few years ago Micah and I were Skylander crazy. We would go into just about every video game store whenever we could, just to see which Skylanders they had. It was suspenseful, fun and great bonding time. Honestly, looking back on it, the hunt for those little boogers when the first game came out was more fun than actually playing them.

But if Nintendo is trying to recapture this feeling by only letting certain characters be shipped ONCE. That is insane. The hunt for original Skylanders was fun, hopeful. Conversations while nearing the closest Gamestop would go like this:

Micah: "Man, Two-Dad [that's what he calls me], I really hope they have Stump Smash...or...Dinorang...or someone other than Boomer!"

Mike: "I know, me too! Hopefully they got a new shipment in!"

Micah: "I hope so..."

Yep, this conversation only happens though if there are MULTIPLE shipments of the figure. Not just one. Where is the hope of the hunt? Oh there it is, POOF! Gone.

I'm curious to see how this whole thing shakes out, but so far, I'm pretty content with my 4 amiibo characters. I'd love to add a few to my collection in the future, but I won't be driving around on my lunch break or surfing Amazon to try to find these things. If they are in the store when I need to pick up some milk, then awesome, but I've really lost interest in trying to find these things if Nintendo is going to make it this hard.

We shall see!