NES Online Status: Terminated

Well guys, I hate to say it. Today, an offer came up and I have accepted it. NES Online has been great and I loved working on it. I loved all the feedback and help I received from people and I enjoyed this experience. Sadly, I will no longer be updating NES Online. Instead, there is a site called Wii-Live. I will be joining that site and post there from now on. The site is run by a more experienced crew and running this site alone hasn't been easy. I will now be able to post more freely and get more out of the experience. I can even request interviews with game developers. To all those that visited NES Online, thank you. I would love it if you would journey with me to Wii-Live, which can be found here. I will now be posting there under the username DarkWish. If you would like to contact me, my AIM screenname is HAVortexDude and my email is darkwish@live-360.net. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this causes, but trust me, you will now be able to get more news than ever this way. So, farewell to NES Online! It's time I start my next journey.

A Moment of Silence

I don't usually post about these things but 9/11 is a huge deal. Today is the 6th anniversary of the horrible attacks on the World Trade Centers. Please take a moment of your time to pray for those that were killed on that day and for their families. I pray to God that nothing like 9/11 will happen again.

Mario or Metroid Review Coming Soon...

By Mario I mean Mario Strikers Charged and by Metroid I mean Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. My Mom is stopping by Blockbuster to rent a game. My first choice is Mario Strikers Charged because I haven't played it before and I want to test out its online. At first glance, my Mom said they didn't have it, but had Metroid. She's going to ask when she gets to the counter though, so they might have it. Anyways, expect a review in a few days since I only have the rest of today and most of tomorrow to play whatever game she rents.

Nvm, she just called and they don't have either. Apparently she picked up the box cover for Metroid, not the actual game. They do have Super Paper Mario though, so she's getting that. I'll post up a review of that in a few days time.

The News is... Dead

Don't worry, I'm alive and the site is still running. The amount of news lately has just been so scarce. There's nothing worth posting right now, so that's why I haven't posted anything. Hopefully we'll start to get lots of news soon. At least you can count on a Smash Bros update tomorrow.

Reporting from Richmond

Hey everyone, don't worry, I'm still alive. I'm at a hotel right now and I'm getting some wireless internet here so I'll be able to update a bit right now hopefully. Yesterday I furnished my room and tomorrow I'll actually be moving in and staying in my room. I believe my classes start on Thursday. So, anyways, hopefully I'll get some updates in soon.

College Brings Change

Well folks, it's that time of my life: college. Tomorrow morning I move in and classes being on Thursday I believe. I have some welcome week activities I'll attend before that though. So what does that mean for the site? Well, for the next week or two, I'll be adjusting to college life, so the updating schedule will be pretty weird for a while. There are some things though that will have to change. I will be busy studying a lot since I want to be a doctor. It's going to take a lot of hard work to do it, but I'll try my hardest.

Will I still be able to do as many updates as I do now? It's hard to say right now. Some of my posts will now be shorter. For example, the Smash Bros updates from the Dojo site will now contain only highlights and one or two pictures from the update. For the full details, you'll have to go to the Dojo site. Little things like that. I'm sorry for the inconvenience it may cause you, but college is important. And lastly, I don't know when the next updates are coming. You might not see any updates tomorrow because of the moving in process and all. So, on to college!

NES Online's Friends

The news is very slow right now, but that's how weekends usually are. Tomorrow brings us an update to the Metroid Prime 3 Preview Channel, an update to the Smash Bros. site, and more. But, until then, I wanted to let you guys know about two great sites. Both of them have added links to NES Online and I have added links to their sites, which can be accessed in the sidebar.

Falafelkid's Blog is a great place to check out. I've referred to Falafelkid in a few news posts because he is a Television Journalist who reports about games. He tends to get inside information on things and that is very helpful. The other site is GameOnNintendo. GameOnNintendo is a cool site that is all about Nintendo. You can go there and read the latest news and even watch special Game On TV episodes they've made. Both sites have been very helpful and supportive ever since I started NES Online in the form of a forum over a year ago. So, go check them out!

NES Online Super Smash Bros. Brawl Music Player

I present to you a special music player for NES Online! This music player has been added to NES Online to commemorate the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl this year. It will automatically play when you arrive on the site and you can view it at the bottom of this page. This music player will be updated with the latest songs from Super Smash Bros. Brawl whenever the Smash Bros. site adds them. But why Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Because Brawl includes music from many of the best Nintendo games and the music in the game fits the Nintendo theme of this site. I hope you will enjoy the music player. Please leave comments about it. If you want a link to the music player, click the link below. Otherwise, enjoy the music player at the bottom of this page.

Click here for a link to the music player

Update Will Continue Tomorrow Afternoon

I'm going to my grandparents' house tonight and sleeping over there. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, so when I get back I'll update this site with the Smash Bros. update and with whatever other news there is.

My Paper Mario Review

I got the chance to play Paper Mario, but honestly I haven't gotten that far. That's because every time I'm not on Wii, my sister gets on and plays Paper Mario, and she's much farther than me in the game. So, here's my quick and short review:

Gameplay: 5/5
- The game is very fun to play. It's easy to learn and there's many different strategies you can use. It has a very engaging storyline and it even got my sister into it, who doesn't like very many games.

Sound: 4/5
- The game has catchy music, but the problem I have with it is that the music gets annoying after a while. I wish there was a bit more variety in the music, but overall the music is great. I can hear the music in my head right now.

Controls: 5/5
- Me and my sisters have only used the Classic Controller to play and that's because we love it. It feels great to play the game with the Classic Controller and the button configuration is very easy to use.

Graphics: 5/5
- It's a N64 game, so you have to consider that when rating the graphics. For a N64 game, the graphics are great. When I play it, I honestly don't think that it's a N64 game. The thought never crosses my mind because the graphics are good for a N64 game.


I can't think of any other categories or anything more to add. It's definitely worth the $10 if you don't have it already and it's already popular in my household between me and my sisters. In fact, I'll definitely have to look into getting Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario. All in all, I give Paper Mario for the Wii Virtual Console a rating of 4.75/5, which is a really good rating. I heard lots of good things about it, and now having played it, I know exactly why pretty much everyone is saying that Paper Mario is a great game.

Sorry for the Inconvenience

If there's any news before lunch time tomorrow, I'll post it here. Any news after that will have to wait until Monday afternoon to be posted. So, until then, stay tuned. I'm sorry for lack of posts recently, but that's due to two things: severe lack of news and the lack of me being able to get on my laptop. I'll be leaving for college on the 18th of this month, so I've been preparing and doing some other things too, so for a while, the site is going to have periods of barely any updates. I'm sorry for these times, but they can't be avoided. My goal is that in a few weeks time, when I'm all settled in and have some time, this site will be better than ever. I hope to post more reviews, previews, and more fun things too like movies, and music. I hope that people will enjoy NES Online and spread the word. But until then, I'm sorry for any inconveniences.

New Layout

I decided to change things up because the old layout was getting boring. Please leave a comment telling me what you like/don't like about this layout and if this one is better than the old layout.

Smash Bros. Update Later Today

Sorry guys, I won't be able to post about the Smash Bros. Update until later today. It's huge though and there's a video and everything. So, check back later today for details.

I'm back

I'm back... even though I never said I was gone, but you probably figured I was due to the lack of updates. I had my cousin's graduation party last night, which was great, and this morning, my cousins from California flew in and I spent the day with them. So yea, now onto the updates!

2 Notes [UPDATE= Back at Home]

First off, I'm in Michigan and everything's fine here. The reason I didn't post isn't cause of me being busy, it's cause of a drought of news. There seriously wasn't anything of note to post. In the next few days, I'll be setting an email that you guys can send things to, so that I can post them. You can send news, game tips, videos, etc. as long as it's Nintendo related.

The second thing I had to say was that in 2 hours I'll be leaving to catch a flight back to VA, so if some news does come up, it might have to wait.

[UPDATE] I'm back in VA now, just so you guys know.

Heading to Michigan

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you all know what's happening this weekend. Early tomorrow morning, I'll be flying to Michigan for my Aunt and Uncle's 25th Anniversary Party tomorrow night. Then, on Sunday evening, I'll be flying back home. So, I'll still be updating the site, but not necessarily as much as I usually do. Just letting you all know.

Sorry

Sorry guys for the delay in the news for today. I woke up late this morning and forgot I had to go to the doctor's cause I'm volunteering so I had to hurry up and get ready. I didn't have time to update the site. Well, now I'm back and I'm ready to update. Coming up first is the Smash Bros. update, which my sister tells me is a DK stage.

Off to Read the Wizard...

Ok, it was a horrible pun. And actually, I'm not off to read it, I have been reading it. I'm not saying how, but I've read the final Harry Potter book early and it's awesome! I just wanted to post to say that I'm not gone and that's why I wasn't posting much today. Also, I'll be re-reading it when I get my copy of the book on Saturday so don't expect many updates then either. Just thought you guys should know.

A Note about Mondays

As you probably noticed, I haven't updated at all today. That's because I am volunteering at a Doctor's office on Monday's. So, if you want news, you'll have to wait until Monday afternoons unfortunately. This'll only be for a few Mondays though, until I go to college. So, without further ado, it's time for news. I wonder what the Smash Bros. site update was...

My Mario Party 8 Review

It's time for my review of Mario Party 8. I bought the game on Sunday I believe it was and have been playing it since. Overall, many video gaming sites have given the game pretty low scores. IGN gave it a 5.2/10, 1Up gave it a 5.5/10, and GameSpot gave it a 6.5/10, among other sites. Because of all the negative things I was hearing about the game, I decided to not buy it. Then, NES_Shadow-Mario247 on the NES Online forums made a review for the game and said it was worth a buy. I had played all the Mario Party games except for 6 and 7 and thought they were all great, so I decided to buy Mario Party 8. I am very glad I did.


Boards
I was pleasantly surprised to find lots of things to do in the game. The game features a regular party mode that has 6 boards (one of which needs to be unlocked and I have yet to do that). Each of those boards has different ways of getting stars. Only the DK board is like past Mario Party games where you must get to the star location and pay 20 coins to get the star. Even so, I love playing in all 5 of the boards. They each bring a refreshing way to play Mario Party and are lots of fun. I have two younger sisters, both of whom like Mario Party games, and I frequently play Mario Party 8 with them. We all really enjoy the game.

There's also a single player mode. You have to go through the 5 boards and beat all of them to beat the single player mode. Once you do, you unlock something. I am actually on the 3rd or 4th board, so I haven't unlocked anything yet. I don't play this mode much because the multi-player is so much more fun. I really like what I've played so far and I give the boards part a 9.5/10.

Minigames
Overall, I really like the minigames. There are some minigames that are really creative in their use of the Wii Remote. Unfortunately, most of the minigames require you to turn the Wii Remote sideways and just press buttons or just point the Wii Remote and press A or B to do something. Don't get me wrong, those games are fun, but I wish they would have spent more time adding more motion features to the minigames. Also, there are a few minigames that are kind of hard to control. Even so, there are still many fun minigames and I love playing just the minigames sometimes. I give the minigames a 7.5/10.


Graphics
This is probably the worst part about the game. The graphics are in no way bad. They're just not great. I buy games for the gameplay, rather than really good graphics. Even so, I can't help but notice sometimes that this game looks like a GameCube game because of its graphics. There are some things that have graphics that prove that it is a Wii game, but those moments are few. I give the graphics a 5/10.

Sound
The sounds in this game are great, and are especially good thanks to the Wii Remote's speaker. First off, the music in the board games and minigames are great. I also like the music when you get a star or win a minigame. Lots of catchy tunes in this game. Also, when it's your turn in a board game, your character says something from the Wii Remote's speaker to let you know when it's your turn. I just wish there was a tad bit more variety in what the characters would say, since that does get boring and sometimes annoying after a while. For the most part thought, the sound is great in this game, and so I give it a 9/10.


Extras
There are many extra things that you can do in Mario Party 8. For one, you get carnival cards everytime you play a board game or minigames. Using the carnival cards, you can unlock fun things like minigames, sound tests, and collectible figurines. One of the things I've unlocked are the taunts. Usually in Mario Party games you have to press a button (I believe it was the "L" button in Mario Party 5) when it's another player's turn and your character will do its taunt. With Mario Party 8, you shake your Wii Remote and your character's taunt is heard from the speaker on the Wii Remote and the TV. Definitely an added plus, though it is kind of annoying after a while.

Another cool extra is that there are a few minigames that you can use your Mii's in. My favorite is a racing game where you race against lots of characters from Mario games. The best part is that you can use your Mii in the game and it looks so great to have yourself racing against Mario characters. That's definitely one of my favorite uses for the Mii's. All in all, I love the extras that were put into the game, though there aren't too many. I give the extras a 9.5/10.

Final Score: 8.1/10
This game is worth a buy, and is definitely worth a buy if you have siblings or friends that are fans of the Mario Party series. I'm glad I listened to NES_Shadow-Mario247 and bought this game because me and my sisters really enjoy it.