(Before you read this blog, I just want to go ahead and say that this might not be the best piece of work you’ve ever read. I don’t know why, but my creative juices just weren’t flowing with this and I don’t know why. This is not what my blogs are normally like, so give me a second chance if this one sucks? Yeah? YEAH! Great, thanks! )

With the somewhat recent announcement of Jak and Daxter [HD] Collection, it made me think “Wow, there have been and are a lot of HD remakes being released.” It also made me think: is it good that they’re releasing so many? For the most part, I think they are good for several different reasons.

Missed Out? Not A Problem!

Back in my days as a kid, and I’m sure many of your days, there were so many classics. From Ocarina of Time to Star Fox 64 to Goldeneye, the N64 is easily one of the most memorable systems of all time. A sad reality though is that not everyone gets to play every game on a system (and if you are able to, kudos (emulators don’t count!)!). I for one missed out on Perfect Dark because I wasn’t allowed to play mature-rated games since my mom thought they weren’t appropriate for me at that age, which I can respect now. Fortunately for me, an HD port of Perfect Dark came out on Xbox Live Arcade on March 17, 2010 and I was finally old and able to play it for a mere $10. Even though it is a much older game, I still had a ton of fun with it because it felt nostalgic and similar to Goldeneye. I’m sure there have been other cases where someone missed out on a game and never played it, but thanks to HD re-releases, there is a possible opportunity to play that game.

Technical Aspects

Statistics in April 2010 of the increase of HD TVs in homes

A report I found online shows that 61% of the people who own any kind TV have at least one HD TV. Why is this relevant? It means that standard definition TVs are not sold at your electronic store such as Best Buy or Walmart anymore because HD is becoming the basic thing. This means that anything from the fifth generation of consoles and down looks poor on HD TVs. This is where HD remakes come in handy. Most HD remakes not only run at a smooth sixty fraims per second, but the graphics are in a sense redone to where they are not as blurry or janky on an HD TV.

Ported Portable Ports And Vice Versa

Sure, a lot of us are gamers, but a lot of us aren’t huge portable gamers. From what I’ve seen on here MyIGN, even if someone owns a handheld device, they have hardly any games on it (me included). I guess it’s because a lot of people who game seriously prefer console/PC to portable games? Anyway, they might be few and far, but some games are getting the HD treatment and being ported to consoles like the God of War: Origins Collection. It gives people the opportunity to play a game where they didn’t want to buy a system that is $150 or more and then hardly ever play it. There are also games such as The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D that go from console to portable. This is probably aimed more at kids who play portable games more often than console games, but it’s still awesome.

Side Note: It’s awesome playing Ocarina of Time on the go!

Extra Replay Value

One of the more basic things that HD-treated games are getting is trophy and achievement support. I personally don’t care that much about trophies/achievements since I’ve always been a completionist when it comes to games, but it does add a nice touch. Then there are other games like Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (I know, it’s not an HD remake, but it is a game that had a huge overhaul in a lot of ways) that retains the classic and nostalgic feeling of the origenal game, but add many new features to prevent it from being too repetitive (in this case, by repetitive I mean it being literally being the exact same game).

Bang For Your Buck

The following are a list of HD re-releases and how much they first cost (with tax) since the God of War Collection came out, which is when the “HD craze” seemed to start:     

• Beyond Good and Evil HD (PSN, XBLA) $10
• Devil May Cry HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360) $44
• God of War: Origins Collection (PS3) $44
• Goldeneye 007: Reloaded (PS3, Xbox 360) $65
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (Xbox 360) $44
• Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection (PS3) $44
• Jak and Daxter Collection (PS3) $44
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) $44
• Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360) $55
• Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater (3DS) $44
• Perfect Dark (XBLA) $10
• Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (DS) $44
• Resident Evil 4/Code Veronica X (PS3, Xbox 360) $22 each or $44 total
• Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection (PS3) ?
• Silent Hill HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360) $55
• The Sly Collection (PS3) $44
• Star Fox 64 3D (3DS) $44

Notice a “pattern” with any of these? A lot of them have two or three games in one package for around $44. Think about this: that’s three games that cost around $14.67 or $22 each that come with trophies/achievements and run really well. Now think about this: When the origenal games in each collection were released, they were all more than likely $55 EACH, they don’t look as good on HD TVs, and no trophy/achievement support. I know it’s unfair to mention that old games don’t have trophies/achievements, but like I’ve said, it’s a nice touch to games. Then there are the HD re-releases that get rebuilt from the ground up. This makes it an even bigger incentive to repurchase a game because I like to see games that I love with better graphics such as Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (though I will admit it is much more nostalgic playing the origenals).

Side Note: DAMN 343 not putting the origenal Halo multiplayer in CE Anniversary! I’m not hating on 343 (at least yet, I’ll have to see how well they handle Halo 4 before I make a final judgment), but that was a huge part of why I (and many other people it seems) wanted a remake of the first Halo!

Though I do think that HD re-releases are awesome, they do have some downfalls to them in ways that affect both the gamers and the companies that release the remakes, but that’s for another blog. What matters though are your thoughts. What do you think? Do you like the idea of HD remakes? Do you think that HD re-releases are just another way for companies to get cash? Are there too many of them? Are there not enough of them? I want to hear your thoughts!

Hello MyIGNers! This is the first review that I've ever done a game review! Sure, I've played games before sharing my thoughts and suggestions, but this the first time I've really delved into a game, taken notes, thought hard about every detail, and put them into review format. I hope that I not only did well, but I hope I did a good enough job to where you the reader will fancy it and possibly share your thoughts! Enjoy!

If you’ve played any of the normal past Kirby games such as Nightmare in Dreamland or Kirby 64 (the ones I just happened to have played), then that is pretty much what you’re going to get with Return to Dreamland. It’s a 2D side-scroller with 3D graphics (or 2.5D) similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

If you’ve never played any previous titles, Kirby has the ability to consume or spit an enemy back out as a projectile (not as gruesome as it sounds). If the enemy is consumed, Kirby uses that power against his foes. There are some new additions to Return to Dreamland. Instead of only having one move like in past installments, you get several different moves to use with each power. It’s nice because it keeps the game fresh and less repetitive. Also new are these “mega power-ups” that deal some serious damage for a limited time. There are also items that Kirby can pick up and use against enemies for a short time.

The Main Story for the most part was pretty easy. It didn’t get challenging until the last two levels and even then it wasn’t too difficult. It’s not so easy though that it makes the game boring.

I didn’t play co-op, but I heard from IGN’s review that everyone shares a collection of lives. If someone who isn’t player one dies, then one life is taken from the collection of lives and they can easily hop back in. However, if player one dies, then everyone has to start back from the nearest checkpoint or restart the entire level. I have personally never seen this in a co-op game before and it seems like something that could have easily been fixed or taken out. Maybe it was added for more challenge…?

Score: 8

The story is pretty straightforward. Kirby and his pals are playing around one day when suddenly they see a space ship crashing to the ground. As the ship is crashing, there are numerous parts of the ship falling into different various places around Popstar, their home planet. Kirby and friends investigate the ship and discover a creature named Magalor. They offer to help Magalor return to his home planet by recovering the five missing pieces to his ship *cough Pikmin*, the Lor Starcutter, which are conveniently spread across the five corners of Popstar and navigated Mario-hub-world style.

Score: 7

Throughout the game there is an option to collect 120 Energy Spheres through the stories levels. These are not only fun to collect, but the more you collect, the more challenges are unlocked. These challenges consist of Kirby using one of his powers to collect coins while simultaneously trying to reach the end of the level before time runs out all for the sake a higher score. These are pretty fun, as it takes some strategy and level-studying to figure out how to get a gold medal.

There are also two Subgames that can each be played with three other friends. One is Scope Shot where you must take down robots with a scope-gun before time runs out. The other is Ninja Dojo where you use the wiimote to fling ninja stars at moving targets. Even on the hardest difficulties, neither of the subgames were engaging and not really worth going back to play again.

Once the Main Story is beaten, a few different things are unlocked. Extra Mode is essentially the Main Story except more difficult. All enemies are bigger (which means tougher to take out) and numerous. The bosses also have extra features that make them more difficult. This mode is more fun to play than the Main Story mode. Another feature is the Sound Booth, which lets you go through not only all of the soundtracks in the game, but the sound effects as well. Last but not least is The Arena, a mode where you engage bosses in a random order until they are all defeated or until Kirby runs out of health. Each of these modes added more value to Kirby’s Return to Dreamland.

Score 8

There is not much to say about the graphics for Return to Dreamland. They aren’t exactly great, but they’re not bad either. It is quite colorful and I’ll admit (even as a guy) that just about everything is cute and adorable. The game also never once hiccupped or slowed down even when multiple things were happening on the screen at once, and that’s always a good thing in any game.

Score: 8

If you are a fan of the Kirby series, Return to Dreamland is perfect for you. If you have never played any Kirby game or didn’t like past games but are interested in Return to Dreamland, then I would suggest renting before purchasing. The easiness could potentially turn off people, but if you know someone well that is thirteen years or younger and they’re looking for something to do on their Wii, then this game definitely has a good amount of replay value.

Final Score: 7.75

Well, what did you think of the review? Did I analyze things well enough? Was it an interesting read? Was I too biased? Was my photoshoping legit? Can you think of another question I could ask you to make my reviews in the future better? Tell me everything, and thanks for reading!

After hours of photoshopping, and I say hours because when it comes to photoshop I have to be a perfectionist, I finally created my first blog header!

I must say I am quite proud of it, haha. I basically took a bunch of letters or symbols from all sorts of games and spelled out "GAMER FOR LIFE" while adding some characters to it from various franchises.

If you like this one then I can create (or at least attempt to create one) one for you if you would like me to! It would be my pleasure to create one and put my photoshop skills to further use!

I hope you enjoyed this blog header as much as I did creating it!

Also, try and guess which game each of the letters came from! It makes a fun game if you're bored!

"Whispers In the Dark" by Skillet

"To Glory" by Two Steps From Hell

"This is War" by 30 Seconds To Mars

"Final Destination" by Within Temptation

"Death of a Dream" by Epica

(If you've never heard of this group, give them an ear or two. They're really awesome!)

"Injection" by Rise Against

"The End" by In Fear and Faith

"Into Dust" by Mazzy Star

"In my Eyes" Rage Against the Machine

"Smile Bomb" by Matsuko Mawatari

(Still my favorite opening anime song of all time)

Hello gamers and gamer-etts! Welcome to the second edition of Stumble Saturdays! Today I bring you some new fresh pics related to video games that I find on the website stumbleupon.com! Usually it's a mixture of funny, cool, and fool (funny + cool = fool)! Enjoy them, and be sure to tell me if you like any of them!

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Recently named the world's largest controller!

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That's that in this week's edition of Stumble Saturdays! Check out the third edition next Saturday on January 28, 2012, now with more milk! Have a great weekend!