Busy week with a lot going on...let's get started.
YouTube
1,000 Subscribers!
That's right, 1,000 Subscribers! Not bad for just deciding to start uploading about 15 months ago. Many thanks to everyone who has subscribed and I hope you enjoy the videos. I've got most of what I plan to record planned out ahead of time, and sometimes already recorded (crafty, eh?), but just like with the poll for the next playthrough, I may ask from time-to-time just to try and deliver what you'd like to see the most.
I would imagine I will be uploading Mario Kart Wii videos (as you voted) by the end of the month.
Thanks again for subscribing and I hope you enjoy the videos or get a little info/help out of them...maybe even both every once in awhile.
3DS
Mario Tennis Open and Midnight Purple 3DS
I suppose the biggest "upcoming" news is that Mario Tennis Open (I leave it short in the title for aesthetic reasons) will be here on Sunday, May 20th, 2012. It looks like a great game and it is nice to see Waluigi back in the mix...
Speaking of Waluigi, if you are a fan, you'll also want to take note of the Midnight Purple 3DS that will be available that same day!
If you have held out on a 3DS for some reason, now is a great time to pick one up...Mario Tennis Open, Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, the list just keeps growing.
StreetPassing
Another day of running around town with my trusty Aqua Blue 3DS and another day of being the only "cool" person travelling my route or parking in the same vicinity. I am still awaiting the day of a "local" Street Pass tag...it will be quite memorable.
Find Mii
As you might have guessed, Find Mii and the Puzzle Swap games are a bit more tedious when you don't get Street Pass Tags with random super-Miis having all the hard to get panels etc.
I think I burned through roughly 30-40 Play Coins to finally land a light-blue shirted wandering hero. One would think you would get them at worst once every other color cycle. I know I bought 2 full rounds (I think that is 10 heroes) twice a few weeks ago with no luck...then this past week I did the same when I realized I wasn't seeing the Play Coin Count go up past 300 as I was running on Wii Fit Plus (yeah, that one is on me...it also explains why I was so livid when I thought I had spent 320 down to 290 over the course of a few very late nights, lol).
The good news is, when I got the light-blue shirted wandering hero, I had a white and yellow ahead of it...So needless to say I covered some ground. I am not at the blue shielded ghost stale mate any longer...and if anyone cares I am not in the Mirage Tower 3F...
Skylanders Updates
Gameplay and Recordings
Well, this past weekend I got and unboxed Triple Pack H (Camo, Ignitor, and Warnado). I then recorded and uploaded Camo and Warnado's Heroic Challenges. I also tacked a few more on Warnado's tab as well as recording (but not uploading) the rest of the Heroic Challenges with him.
I had a lot of requests to take one Skylander through all 32, and I figured it just as well be Warnado.
The hold up of course is Wham-Shell, I do not have him and can not find him locally. So, when I recorded the Heroic Challenges I stopped with 3 or 4 left (might have been 30, 31, and 32). I figured once Wham-Shell arrives, I would just record his Heroic Challenge, #25, and then record #30-32 to have a nice, well rounded video and really finish things out.
The only downside to that strategy is the time-frame. I can live without Wham-Shell and don't mind waiting on my Amazon Pre-order to come in, but I don't know if I want to wait on upgrading Warnado, the Skylander I have been looking forward to since October. I might go ahead and record gameplay with Camo and Warnado, or hold out to upgrade them.
I took quite a few through the "hard" challenges this week...and when I do that, I usually just go ahead and do all the speed challenges. I just lack 5 or 6 to get to a point where I can collect cash and record the big upgrade video without having much trouble.
I have also come to the conclusion that the only time you really have an issue is when you have Double Trouble's or Drobot's Heroic Challenge with select Skylanders.
Boomer and Eruptor with any upgrades are a pain to get through Double Trouble's.
Ghost Roaster is literally impossible to get thru Drobot's upgraded like mine is (Skull Master). If I had a box-stock Ghost Roaster, this would be a cake walk. The issue is just that the green chompies turn to ghosts and kill the purple chompies. I don't really care to reset him and suppose I'll just get by with -8 Speed Overall.
I know some people say Zap's is a pain with upgraded Skylanders, but I haven't had that issue...sure you might loose time here and there, but you have 4 minutes and 30 seconds...a Skylander with max speed can make quick work of that...at least in my experience.
So that is where I am at. I will edit and upload the rest of Warnado's Heroic Challenges soon.
After that it will either be "stock" gameplay with Camo and Warnado, or mass upgrades, which I may do by Elemental Class to keep the videos somewhat organized. The only issue is I will want the cash to get most everything...that may take some more time.
Skylanders Hunt
Well, thanks to my phone's camera not working I don't have pics from tonight, but thanks to a photographic memory, here is what I can tell you.
Target
Nothing new...pretty much the same as last week. Darklight Crypt, Stealth Elf Triple Pack, Drobot, Boomer, Eruptor, Wrecking Ball, Sonic Boom, and Hex. I've decided there might be new stuff in the back that never comes out because this stuff doesn't sell. They may have lost "hunters" given the fact that their shelves were bare for so long.
Toys'R'Us
Man, what a disappointment. They have yet to get Wham-Shell, according to an associate, and aside from the debacle "Skylander Day" deals, they haven't had much in the way of Wave 4 or Wave 5.
They did have tons of Darklight Crypt, quite a few Empire of Ice, two Dragon's Peak, 5 rows of Legendary Triples, somewhere around 100 displayed Legendary Trigger Happy singles...the spawner crate needs to be taken out. There are almost as many Drobots as LTH honestly. Booomer, Stump Smash, Sonic Boom, Whirlwind, Wrecking Ball, and Eruptor are up next. There is then slight sprinkling of Hex, Chop Chop, and a few others including Cynder.
GameStop
My local stores still haven't had Wham-Shell. They had a few Double Trouble, Boomer, Wrecking Ball, and Sonic Boom...maybe 2 Eruptors and Stealth Elf. I don't know why, but they always seem to have Stealth Elf singles.
Local Store
The only other place in town that carries Skylanders (remember, I avoid Walmart (scalper lady) and Best Buy (not a fan) most of the time) actually had a nice stock, for their store size anyway. There were 2 stand-outs: Zook and Ignitor! This marked the FIRST time I have ever seen an Ignitor Single Pack in person!! They also had Whirlwind, Drill Sergeant, Cynder, Chop Chop, Double Trouble, Sonic Boom, Eruptor, Boomer, Wrecking Ball, and probably a Hex or Stump Smash. I nearly bought the Ignitor for the collecting side of me, but having just gotten a 2nd last weekend decided not to do so...I'm not loaded and I'm sure they'll eventually be common place, maybe even half-off in a few months etc.
So overall, it wasn't a bad night. You never know what you will find when you go...I assume that my local store would have had a Lightning Rod that sold from that shipment too...maybe even Camo and Warnado to go with the Ignitor. I'll keep checking there for Wham-Shell. I would like to remind you, if not for the scalper family of ebay here in town I'd likely have Wham-Shell, just like a lot of other Portal Masters in my area.
Amazon
It's a jungle out there...no really it is, especially with scalpers and low-life ebay scallywags trolling the stores looking to make a buck as opposed to getting a real job. Then, working class folks like you and I are forced to resort to online retailers to find Skylanders at retail prices. You already know my Wham-Shell pre-order isn't here, but the Camo and Warnado pre-order ARRIVED today! Pretty sweet! Obviously, I'm a bit farther from Lexington, Kentucky than most, but who cares...I got the extra Warnado for path 2 and then the Camo and other Warnado for a friend...the set-up makes for a nice picture:
Currently Playing
Skylanders (Wii) obviously. I plan to take Bash, Double Trouble, and Voodood through the Speed Challenges tonight.
Professor Layton and the Last Spectre: I am in Chapter 9 right now...it has been a great game and a nice change of pace. I am in the market for the first Layton game, "The Curious Village" if anyone has any leads, preferably new and $19.99, lol.
Gold's Gym Cardio Workout: The more I play this, the more I think it is worthy of an upload. I might do this one totally different...I am thinking about recording it and adding post commentary. It is really self-explanatory, and I get a lot of people who e-mail me about how much they enjoy the Wii Fit Plus playthrough and working out with it. I know this woudn't be popular, but the truth is this game registers well (control wise), and is honestly probably the best pure workout game on the market. The post commentary would make it easy to record as well.
Mario Kart Wii: I have spent a few nights going back and brushing up in preparation for the next playthrough. I still need to know if people want to see a full blown walkthru or just a casual gameplay of the cups etc. I may have to make a poll for that. I seem to be picking it back up pretty well.
Wii Fit Plus: Nothing new here, just play daily as usual, but not as much with the effort to get Skylanders wrapped up etc.
Currently Listening
The Eagles (Greatest Hits Volume 1), Taylor Swift (Home Audio-At Home)
Eve 6, Stone Sour, Gary Allan (Auto Audio-In the Car)
Conclusion
That pretty much wraps this up...I am going to post up on the Adventure Pack Blog Polls and will likely release a few more at some point this weekend. I think I'll go ahead and work on the rest of the Heroic Challenges real quick. Oh, also of note, I even responded to a few YouTube comments! I will try and hit them after the Skylanders uploads are nearing completion.
Thanks again for the YouTube subs! I'm also very proud of the 8 Followers here on the blog...I know it is a single digit, but I put a lot of time in on the blog and even though 8 is minuscule to most, I think it is pretty cool, lol...so thanks!
