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Hey, there, myign! Eric, Jake, and myself do the podcast out of Eric's pickup in the sun again this week! Check the tags below for the topics covered!

If you're a 3DS owner, check out the 3DS achievements system I've made, 3DS Flags!

Also, check out my new project that's in the works, a Wii Send Off Film! < Send me game suggestions!

Ps: Please help us by creating a free DropBox account using this link, it will get us more space for our drop box account, meaning more podcasts can be up for download at once! Thanks

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Send us questions etc. on myign, our Twitters, our PSNs or the official email!

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(On this episode; below)

Steve's: (myign: schwinnschwinn)  (PSN: Schwinn33) (twitter: schwinn3) (3DS: 2878-9590-7704) (Steam: psn_schwinn33)

Eric's: (myign: poolboy121) (PSN: poolboy121) (twitter: boyp00l)

Jake's: (myign:Manguss44) (PSN: immanguss) (YouTube: manguss4)

Wanna listen to an old CSP? Here's the archive!

 

Have am amazing day

When I was a kid, I used to play my cousin, Scott's N64 in his room when we went to parties at his house - be it birthdays, or Christmas. I still go there today and it's fun to reminisce about when I was a little kid. About when I discovered amazing games that my older brother didn't have for us to play on his N64 back home, games like Turok, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Rampage World Tour, Mario Kart 64 - I even tried out The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time there for the first time, even if I didn't fall in love with it and really love it until years later. By far my most prolific discovery there, though, would have to be none other than Super Smash Bros.

I must not have heard about it before or had any prior knowledge of its existence. All I know is, I quickly fell in love with it. I'm not sure of my age or how many times I played it there (see: countless) but I know that I must have been in early elementary school as I remember bringing my Yoshi plushie (I loved that thing until I lost it, Yoshi's my favorite character) and having him "watch" as I played, as him. I remember using his (↓+A) move where he ducks, and swipes his tail 360 degrees. It was pretty powerful and would send my foes careening into a ring out K.O. resulting in the cool zoomed up black and white "newspaper" style photo of my character in his current position along with my stats for the round. I believe this might even be the first game I had bought, myself. Not that I payed for it (I probably didn't really have money back then) but I think this was the first time I brought my mom to the store and had her get a game that was for me. I don't even think my older brother was interested in it, and I think he's the one who got all of the other games for his N64. I'm not sure if it was the Wal Mart or now defunct K Mart (or somewhere else, entirely) but I have some of those questionable single-frame memories you have of really, really old events, before your memory fully developed, I guess - of being at the store. This is the game that sits in my N64 right now, I believe.

I would also periodically run into the kitchen (where all of the adults were conversing) and grab some M&Ms my aunt had in a dish on the table, I believe I was teased for eating so many of them - they just tasted so good. I eventually realized they weren't just really good tasting M&Ms, but a different kind of M&M - Crsipy M&Ms! We'll come back to that, though.

Now, through the years, Super Smash Bros. has continued to be one of my favorite series, I got Melee for my birthday from my other aunt (it was probably the first time a more distant relative gave me a really cool birthday present - probably the best I've ever gotten in that regard). I played the heck out of that game and then (regretfully) it became what was probably the last game I used a strategy guide on (I hate them, same with looking these things up on the internet, it is cheating, in my opinion). I found it at some kind of flea market or garage sale. I remember funny things from being so young while playing the first two games like how I didn't want to play as every character. Link, for example, I thought was stupid, I judged that book by it's cover and I don't know why, because I love The Legend of Zelda, now. I remember having to pretend he was Robin Hood to have fun when I was playing as him... which is funny because I find Link to be a way more interesting character, now.

Dr. Mario was cool!

I waited for Brawl to come out since its announcement, visiting the Smash Bros. Dojo everyday in anticipation. Before and after this game came out, it was an obsession, in the best way. My friend, Emilio and I would talk about it on the playground at recess in middle school, about our past experiences like him playing melee with his brother. The day it came out, I remember going with my mom to Dunkin' Donuts to pick up breakfast (like we did every week, back then) and when we stopped at the GameStop it wasn't open yet. We returned and there was a sharpie sign saying there was another hour delay due to cash register problems. It felt like we waited around and went back at least three times before we finally got in and right before I got my copy, I saw the Dunkin' Donuts employee who always sold us breakfast picking up his day one copy of Brawl, too and thinking that was awesome! Emilio and I have played multi-player with each other in Brawl on numerous occasions, it surprises me how everyone has this game. It's not surprising that everyone has Wii Sports or Wii Fit - but the fact that just about everyone of my friends (completely non-gamer friends) has this game in there house, is awesome. I consider this to be a hardcore game, say what you want, it is. Not that it isn't casual-friendly, too, for sure, but it's a gamer's game. All of my friends, though, girls and guys alike have it, even ones who are really XBox or PS3 gamers and look down on Wii.

At E3 2011, along with the reveal of the WiiU, the next Smash Bros. was announced (a little prematurely) for WiiU and 3DS. I thought I was going to have to wait a WHILE for more Smash Bros. goodness but recently Sony has confirmed the Title Fight rumors were true with their announcement of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale - a Smash Bros. clone on PS3 with a huge Sony roster.

Being a huge Nintendo fan, a HUGE Smash Bros. fan, and a huge PlayStation fan, I think that this game is awesome and will be a great game not only to hold me over until the next Super Smash Bros. on WiiU and 3DS (I can't wait, I wanted a Smash Bros. on original DS!!!) but also potentially to show Smash Bros. up in some ways and push this sort of "genre" a little further in some regards.

I call it a "genre" because some people don't consider it a fighting game (while it's certainly not a traditional fighting game, my stance has been that it is, indeed, a fighting game) and consider it a party game (since when was that a genre)? Genre arguments aside, I think we can all agree there's really nothing else like it, and now we're seeing these "clones" a little bit and it's sort of starting to look like a genre in itself. Remember the supposedly decent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up (I need to get around to playing this one some day)?

I'm excited for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (my god, that name's a mouth full, every time) because I love crossover and fan service games. It's always been one of the major draws to Smash Bros. - you come for all of your favorite characters meeting each other and stay for the superb game-play and loads of content. I don't think Battle Royale will struggle with the former, having already shown six promising characters, Sly, Fat Princess, Sweet Tooth, Colonal Radec, Parappa, and Kratos! That's a great foundation, but it's probably fair to expect the likes of Nathan Drake, Cole MacGrath, Sackboy, and so forth. Hopefully, Sony will be open to letting third party characters into the fray, after all, they seem like they'd be more open to this than Nintendo - a company who already let both Sonic and Solid Snake in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Which brings up an interesting point I've been thinking about. Solid Snake seems like a really good fit for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, but he is indeed, already in Brawl. Although he is third party, he is regarded as more of a PlayStation character as that's where the Metal Gear Solid series is firmly rooted, even to this day. So, could Snake be in both games? If he is in Battle Royale, will he be in the next Smash Bros. too? Only time will tell, but while I'd like to have him in both, if I had to choose one for him to be in, I'd choose Smash Bros.

Now, as far as showing Smash Bros. up, this will be tough for SuperBot to do with Battle Royale as Brawl is a fine game, jam packed full of features. Plus, this is the team's first game of this kind, while Masahiro Sakurai practically invented it. As excited as I'm getting, it might not be very fair to expect a ton of characters and stages in Battle Royale - perhaps that's why they're doing two franchises per stage, which is admittedly awesome. God of War mashed up with Patapon is ingenious and it puts a great twist on the stages while emphasizing fan service.

Online is one section where they may be poised to beat Brawl (although not likely the next Smash Bros.) as Brawl is notoriously laggy and at times broken (although my time with it was pretty good). With PS3's processing power alone, this shouldn't be a problem, here's hoping it runs silky smooth, and I believe it will.

I'm also very excited to be earning trophies in Battle Royale, although that won't really have a leg up on Brawl, which had a robust in-game achievements system. Still, I love that Sony has a universal achievements system that can be viewed or compared with friends even if you don't even own the game anymore let alone have it in the console. Here's hoping along with Nintendo Network, the WiiU gets a universal achievements system (wishful thinking: 3DS, too, until then, check out my solution, Flags) which the new Smash Bros. could support but either way, we can probably expect a huge collection of in game achievements in the next Smash Bros. just as Brawl had before it.

Brawl actually had a robust in-game achievements system...

At the moment, as I mentioned on the most recent Cartridge Slot Podcast, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is my most anticipated game because I'm really excited about a PS3 Smash Bros., enough for it to dethrone The Last of Us and Bioshock: Infinite in my mind (for now, anyway).

Crispy M&Ms stopped production in the US back in 2005.

But, they can still be found in Europe, Australia, and Souteast Asia. So, when the next Smash Bros. comes out (it'll be a while, probably at least two years is my guess), I'm going online and buying Crispy M&Ms off of Amazon and having them shipped from Germany!

köstlich

I can't wait for this nostalgic reunion, me, my WiiU, 3DS, and a family-size bag of German Crispy M&Ms. You can probably expect me to do a noms review on them

So what does the myign community think about Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, Super Smash Bros., and Crispy M&Ms? Let everyone know in the comments

Currently playing: Battlefield: Bad Company 2  (PS3), Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)

Remember to listen to Cartridge Slot Podcast

If you're a 3DS owner, check out my achievements system, 3DS Flags

• What do you make of Nintendo's new digital strategy? Do you like the potential of day-and-date digital publishing for video games? Or is a digital download just not as exciting as picking up a new game at the store?

Personally, I think this is an awesome strategy and a great way of showing that Nintendo is serious about online this time around. That said, I'm not really planning on downloading many retail games onto my 3DS and WiiU because I'm a collector and I like having the box, the disc, the manual (or what's left of those). Plus, it isn't always as exciting as going out to the store to the store, but it's exciting in its own right, I like both feelings!

I love the Eshop, but I love buying games at stores, too...

• As far as you're concerned, what are the pros and cons for both of these options? Is it a question of closet space, of loving game manuals, of time and gas money, of lending games to friends? Spill!

The biggest pros for buying games at retail is that I love collecting them. I love having that box and disc and the art that goes along with it. Plus, it doesn't take up a huge chunk of storage space on an SD card or hard drive. The biggest pro with downloading is that you never have to swap discs or more importantly to me, cartridges. This is more exciting on portables to me, like 3DS and Vita, because I don't have to lug around and swap cartridges on the go. I can just close the last game and open this one all from the 3DS menu, like an app on an iPhone. Imagine if you had to swap cartridges to go between apps on your Apple device. It wouldn't be nearly as popular.

It's a good thing you don't need to swap out cartridges for all of those apps...

• Given the option (and putting aside questions of file size and hard drive space), will you still buy retail Wii U and 3DS games, or will you opt to download them instead?

I will still buy retail versions of games, for the reasons I've stated above but the other day I had a revelation. IGN reported that with New Super Mario Bros. 2, all Nintendo published 3DS games will be downloadable as well, when originally I thought this rule only applied to all of Nintendo's WiiU games. Now, I'm planning on buying New Super Mario Bros. 2 at retail, along with most other games but this did bring to light one situation in which I plan on taking advantage of this download initiative.

Animal Crossing 3DS (hopefully) this fall!

Animal Crossing 3DS. I decided long ago that I would prefer if this game was downloadable in the first place. Why? Because, sure, when you first get the game, you get big chunks of gameplay at a time for a while. But this game tends to deteriorate into there only being five to ten minutes of gameplay a day, and I don't want to swap a disc or cartridge anymore when it gets to that point. Hopefully the new Animal Crossing keeps it fresher than City Folk (this game is better suited for handhelds, anyway) but even when there is other stuff to do, it's the kind of game where if you don't have time to play a lot, you at least play your daily ten minutes to harvest fruit, etc. It would be made so much easier if it were just an icon on my 3DS' (and maybe even WiiU's) screen and I didn't have to go out of my way to play the game for a few moments. I'm actually pretty excited for downloading this, I think it's garnered more excitement for the game in me. If breaking stuff like this is coming out now, I can't wait to see what Nintendo has to say at E3!!

Currently playing: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3), Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)

Remember to listen to Cartridge Slot Podcast

If you're a 3DS owner, check out my achievements system, 3DS Flags

Stream CSP (Via SoundCloud)

Download CSP (Via DropBox)

Yo, myign! This weeks podcast is good, but the recording's a little windy! Look to the tags below for what's on deck and look below to see who was on this one!

If you're a 3DS owner, check out the 3DS achievements system I've made, 3DS Flags!

Also, check out my new project that's in the works, a Wii Send Off Film! < Send me game suggestions!

Ps: Please help us by creating a free DropBox account using this link, it will get us more space for our drop box account, meaning more podcasts can be up for download at once! Thanks

___________________________________________________________

Follow us if you'd like!

Send us questions etc. on myign, our Twitters, our PSNs or the official email!

[email protected]

(On this episode; below)

Steve's: (myign: schwinnschwinn)  (PSN: Schwinn33) (twitter: schwinn3) (3DS: 2878-9590-7704)

Eric's: (myign: poolboy121) (PSN: poolboy121) (twitter: boyp00l)

Manny's:(myign: EAGLE-EYE419) (PSN: EAGLE-EYE419)

Jake's: (myign:Manguss44) (PSN: immanguss) (YouTube: manguss4)

Wanna listen to an old CSP? Here's the archive!

Good day, sir!

The world of Mario is stirring up quite a bit, lately. Today, Nintendo announced New Super Mario Bros. 2, which surprisingly, has me really excited. I think we can all agree that the New Super Mario Bros. series lacks some of the magic or charm or something you can't just quite put your finger on that other Mario games are known for. So at last E3, when Nintendo showed New Super Mario Bros. Mii and earlier in the year when they announced that a new 2D Mario adventure was coming to 3DS, I wasn't actually very excited. New Super Mario Bros. Mii looked like New Super Mario Bros. Wii HD and the existence of a 2D Mario game on 3DS (likely in the "New" series) was brought up around when Super Mario 3D Land came out. Super Mario 3D Land already feels like a 2D Mario more than a 3D one and that made me feel a little "Mario'd out" at the time. The only other time I was feeling like this was when Super Mario Galaxy 2 was announced and I had just been playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii! Before I go on, don't get me wrong, I love all of these games (especially the Galaxy series and 3D Land) and that's what I'm here to say right now, I'm not feeling all Mario'd out! I say, bring it on!

I have a Nintendo Power poster like this...

Nintendo seems to be kicking their main mascot into high gear, lately. Sure, over the years each Nintendo system sees a smorgasbord of Mario Sports, Party, and other spinoff titles, but lately, they've been making more main series platformers again. Let's break it down.

The home console Mario started on, the NES, had Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3. Three Mario games would prove to be a lot as Nintendo went onward.

The portable Mario started on, The Game Boy, saw Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, and technically Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, but that's really a Wario game. That leaves the GB with just two Mario games.

The SNES had Super Mario World, Super Mario All-Stars, and (let's not count) Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. That's also two for SNES, if you don't count Yoshi's Island, which isn't a Mario game.

The Game Boy Color had just Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.

The Nintendo 64 launched with Super Mario 64 and wouldn't see another Mario platformer ever again.

The Game Boy Advance had a few remakes, Super Mario Advance (Super Mario Bros. 2), Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, and Super Mario Advance 4:  Super Mario Bros. 3. We'll count them as three main series games.

The Game Cube had just one in it's entire life span as well, Super Mario Sunshine.

The Nintendo DS saw two games, Super Mario 64 DS and New Super Mario Bros.

And finally, the Wii had an unprecedented (since NES) three all original Mario platformers in the forms of Super Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Super Mario Galaxy.

So, moving forward, it looks like Nintendo's putting a stronger emphasis on the plumber's main adventures and while at times it seems overwhelming, right now I'm embracing it.

Within the first year of it's release, the Nintendo 3DS has already seen it's first entry in the form of Super Mario 3D Land. This game is great, in fact, I swapped my copy of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D out for it so I could continue trying to 100% it yesterday and plan on playing more today. It's an incredibly fun game (and I wonder if it will ever be a part of Nintendo's DLC program...). That said, it does feel more like a 2D Mario game than a 3D one to me. Now they've announced New Super Mario Bros. 2 and I actually can't wait, despite thinking I wouldn't be very excited... but I'm not entirely sure Nintendo will handle it perfectly...

New Super Mario Bros. 2

Now, I'm not saying this could end up being a bad game... that's damn near impossible. Nintendo makes good games. They've proven they can make great Mario games (New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii are proof alone of this) but that's what I'm afraid of. It's the "New" series especially where I feel like Nintendo tends to rest on it's (admittedly good) laurels. This could end up being just a sequel to New Super Mario Bros. It could feel like it's missing that something like every other game in the "New" series. Worse yet, though, it could drop innovations like co-op from the Wii version and fail to innovate in it's own right.

Co-op

I have to admit, I didn't play New Super Mario Bros. Wii's co-op all that much and I don't believe I've ever played more than 2-player (I only have two remotes) and a lot of this is to do with the omission of online play. Nintendo wanted to bring people together to play in the same house, on the same TV, and I get that and all. It's just that it wouldn't hurt to give us the option. If someone else in my house wants to play, great, we'll play on the same console. If I want to play with a friend that doesn't live with me or maybe even doesn't live anywhere near me, we can't do that without being in the same house. It's all about options, and I don't know why that option wasn't included.

Now, not only do I really hope New Super Mario Bros. 2 includes the multiplayer feature from Wii (maybe only the console entries in the "New" series will do this, who knows) but it had better have online. All multiplayer is wireless on 3DS anyway, so why make people sit in the same room with their 3DS' playing multiplayer. 3DS can handle this and definitely should have it, I'd play as much of co-op as I could if it did!

Other innovations...

This, I don't know. I just want it to feel like so much more than the past entries in the "New" series! I want them to add in a lot more, a bunch of power ups, some really cool worlds (maybe a Galaxy themed one, that could be like a 2D Mario Galaxy, those levels would be CRAZY)! I just don't want this one to have that slightly stale feeling (especially when looked back upon) like the past "New" games do.

And hopefully this second Mario won't be the last we see on this amazing handheld - I'm still holding out for an eventual full 3D Mario game prefferably in the style of Super Mario 64 (direct sequel, please!) or Sunshine, or the Galaxy series!

During the big reveal of WiiU last year, one of the game demos that was shown off was New Super Mario Bros. Mii. Granted, we've seen very little, but it doesn't look to be very interesting. Visually it looks like the Wii version in HD. Premise-wise, all we know is that you can play as your Mii. That's a fun little idea, but doesn't change very much about the game at all. Again, I want this game to have online co-op and to broaden the scope more than previous titles. Recently, it was revealed that this game will be shown again at this E3, let's hope it has some new tricks up it's sleeve since we saw it last year.

Super Mario 4

And of course, what's all this about Super Mario 4? Nintendo registered the website domain for SuperMario4.com. This could just be them protecting their IP but... what if it's more?

What's weird is that there's no numbered "Super Mario" series; it's odd that it's not Super Mario Bros. 4! Number wise, it only makes sense that it would be continuing from Super Mario Bros. 3, though. I'm hoping for a classic 2D sidescrolling Mario but with new hand drawn, HD graphics on Wii U. Think of the sprites and artwork from Wario Land: Shake It!! but in a Mario game. This would looks amazing.

Otherwise, games with "Super Mario ____" are the traditional 3D games in the series. "Super Mario" 64. "Super Mario" Sunshine. "Super Mario" Galaxy (one and 2). So perhaps it's a game more like this and the four means something different than a numbered sequel; highly doubtful, but possible.

New Super Mario Bros. Mii

This is the game that I'm least excited for. It could be a fun launch title, and will undoubtedly be a good game all around but it just looks plain. The multiplayer needs to be online this time, that's all I'm going to say. New Super Mario Bros. 2 definitely has me more excited so far, though, as it seems more interesting from what we've seen and I think this type of Mario game lends itself well to a portable.

I'm sure I'll buy and love this game, too, it's just they're going to need to show us more at this E3 for me to really be excited for it.

Honestly, I don't like the idea of two New Super Mario Bros. games coming out in the same year, but once again, I will get them and enjoy them. I'm much more excited for New Super Mario Bros. 2 but it's a proven fact; it's a safe bet that these games will both be good. And while I'd much rather wait and get a full 3D Mario on WiiU (or 3DS for that matter), that's kind of irrelevant, because we will get at least one full 3D Mario on that system. Without a doubt that game will blow our socks off, but I'm giving New Super Mario Bros. Mii a chance, too. I'm hoping 3DS gets its real 3D Mario game, too, but you can guarantee it on WiiU and that game will excite me more than either of these. Those games are just magical, while these are mostly just fun.

As far as whether or not this is a good decision on Nintendo's part, I think with little doubt that it is. The "New" series sells ridiculously well and is a great way to jump start both systems before they launch other, more technically impressive WiiU titles to garner the hardcore excitement. Sales-wise, launching a console with a New Super Mario Bros. game would be one of the best decisions they've made from a business stand point in a while!

Currently playing: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3), Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)

Remember to listen to Cartridge Slot Podcast

If you're a 3DS owner, check out my achievements system, 3DS Flags