Saturday, December 24, 2011

Welcome to my blog!!!

Hello!!! How're you? Welcome to "The Informed Gamer" blog. I'm a highly competitive, single, male gamer and I'm currently a full-time university student. Here I intend to discuss upcoming video games, movies, and (to a slightly lesser extent) books. I will most likely discuss the recently announced games for the consoles and devices that I myself already own. Thus, a majority of my posts will be covering Nintendo related game software. Below is a list of all of the titles I currently own (as of December 23, 2011) for the seventh generation of consoles/handhelds.


Non-Digital Nintendo Wii Games (In alphabetical order): 
  1. Animal Crossing: City Folk
  2. Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII
  3. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Traded in for Store Credit)
  4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex Edition (Traded in for Store Credit)
  5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
  6. Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
  7. Excite Truck
  8. Mario Kart Wii (Traded in for Store Credit)
  9. No More Heroes
  10. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
  11. Pokémon Battle Revolution (Traded in for Store Credit)
  12. Red Steel (Traded in for Store Credit)
  13. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Traded in for Store Credit)
  14. Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition
  15. Super Mario Galaxy
  16. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
  17. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom
  18. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
  19. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
  20. Wii Sports
  21. Wii Sports Resort
Nintendo DS Games:
  1. Animal Crossing: Wild World
  2. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes A Day!
  3. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!
  4. Chrono Trigger
  5. Clubhouse Games
  6. Custom Robo Arena
  7. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
  8. Drawn to Life
  9. Kingdom Hearts: 365/2days
  10. Kirby: Squeak Squad
  11. Lost In Blue 2
  12. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
  13. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
  14. Mario Kart DS
  15. Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
  16. Metroid Prime: Hunters
  17. New Super Mario Bros.
  18. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
  19. Nintendo DS Browser
  20. Nintendogs: Daschund & Friends
  21. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
  22. Pokémon: Black Version
  23. Pokémon: Diamond Version
  24. Pokémon: SoulSilver Version
  25. Scribblenauts: Write Anything. Solve Everything
  26. Sonic Classic Collection
  27. Sprung: A Game Where Everyone Scores
  28. Tetris DS
  29. Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land
  30. Warioware D.I.Y
Non-Digital Nintendo 3DS Games (In alphabetical order):
  1. Dead or Alive: Dimensions
  2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
I've been playing games ever since I was about nine years old. I can't quite remember exactly what my first video game experience was, but I know that it was between either The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past or Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the Super NES). I've never actually had the opportunity to play the The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but I plan on purchasing the title via the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console service at some point. I owned the console myself (as well as a SEGA Genesis), and I was very happy with both of them, but I didn't play very often. However, for my ninth birthday, I received a Game Boy Color with a copy of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe and I've been hooked on gaming ever since that day. 


By telling you a bit about my own experience regarding video games, I hope to establish some sort of credibility and basis for my thoughts. I like both Nintendo and SEGA as well as all of the other companies involved in the industry. Bottom line, I like gaming...period. I don't really wish to be labeled as a "fanboy" (an overt enthusiast of a particular system or company) because most of the games I own come from Nintendo but, I will try to maintain some sense of neutrality in my posts, if possible.

Regardless, the most incredible aspect of video games is that most of the more elaborate ones (namely role playing games) have truly compelling stories. Essentially, video games are a lot like books. They just allow you to act as the protagonist as the story unfolds. (At least that's my own perspective of them). Some of the decisions one makes are beneficial, while other have disastrous results. A person can learn quite a bit through play. Many games are surprisingly educational even though they are not intended to be categorized as such.

It pretty much goes without say that if a gamer likes video games, they probably like books and/or movies too. That's why I wish to cover a multitude of new media so as to keep you, my readers, up-to-date and well informed about potentially interesting forms of entertainment. I plan to offer my thoughts and opinions on these  titles and encourage you to do the same. I may also incorporate additional information from the news and other sources with reviews of them as well. I will have to warn you though, that I can be a tad bit cynical at times and you should use your own discretion with regard to accepting my thoughts on the matter or disregarding them completely. I may throw in a joke or two, but I'll try to keep them "PG-13".

In addition, it may be possible that I will shift my focus on this blog as it grows and "evolves" (so to speak) and as such, it may become vastly different from what it once was. I hope that those of you reading this will continue to check up on this site from time to time and offer feedback whenever possible. I reserve the right to edit, change, and/or modify any my posts (with or without notice) as I deem fit and appropriate at any given time. I heartily encourage constructive criticism and positive feedback.