MnM Gaming: Shortii - News Break!

Join Mike "Burgandy," Micah "FanDana" and Noah "Bluetton" as they bring you some breaking news from the video game industry! The crew is joined by a very special guest who has a video game coming out later this summer and was very kind to take time out of his busy crime-fighting schedule. 

Topics covered include: Amiibos, Batman: Arkham Knight, Final Fantasy, Fable Legends, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Free games with Games with Gold on Xbox for March.

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!