Hello my friends!  I am so sorry that I went on an unannounced hiatus during the holidays.  I know it’s not a big deal, but I had fully intended to post some cute holiday-oriented photos and had planned to like… wish you all a happy holiday and such.  So I apologize for not doing that.  I’m sure if you look through the blog archives you can find some holiday goodies from years past.

Anyway, so what have I been doing all this time?  Well DUH – when I’m not working, I’m GAMING!  Basically I’ve been too busy being a nerd to fulfill my nerdly duties of writing this blog!  Here’s what I’ve been working on lately:

• Harvest Moon:  Tale of Two Towns – I’m at the end of Summer, Year 2.  Desperately trying to find an in-game husband, attempting to build up my farms, improve my lifestock, and all sorts of farmy stuff.  It’s super fun, but it’s a pretty girly game so it’s not for everyone.  But if you are playing this game, give me your friend code so we can take advantage of the WIFI capabilities!
• Pokémon Emerald – My amazingly awesome friend Vella sent me a copy of the elusive Emerald GBA game, which I hadn’t been able to find in any GameStop in the Tri-State area.  Luckily, she found one in California, and sent it to me for Christmas!  (YOU ROCK!!!  Thank you!)  I’ve never played this particular title before, so for me its like, OMG NEW GAME!!  I’m only up to the third gym, and it’s so fun to start from scratch!
• Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap – I always attempt to play Zelda games, but usually I end up getting stuck and/or frustrated with a particular part and eventually abandoning the game.  Thankfully, this game isn’t QUITE as difficult.  (Not to mention I downloaded a walkthrough guide for my new Kindle Fire which I consult when needed!)  The art style is very cute and it’s one of my favorite 3DS Ambassador games!
• Swapnote – This is a free 3DS game/app that I really love.  If you are on my 3DS friend list, then you already know how much I enjoy drawing up notes and sending them to my friends.  I think it’s so cute!  I can attach photos, sound bytes and draw my own sketches… It’s just a lot of fun.  I’m into this kind of crap.  🙂
• Pushmo – My new obsession.  I honestly just downloaded this game  from the 3DS eShop yesterday and I’m already addicted to it.  Part of me is worried that all my other games listed above will be put on the back burner until I completely beat this puzzle game.  (I am going to try to not let that happen!)  Pushmo really takes advantage of the 3D environment, it’s really cute and allows you to design your own puzzles too.  Plus you can save your designs to a QR code and share it with friends, and you can download other people’s creations too!  Yay!!

In other news…  

Now that the holiday rush is over, there aren’t too many big name games coming out right now.  Most popular is probably Kid Icarus: Uprising.  Honestly I have no interest in this game; it’s just not my thing.  But I did get a lot more interested when I saw that gamers in Japan will be getting a cool 3DS stand as part of a bundle when you buy the game!  Check it out here.

Now for some Pokémon stuff!  I don’t know when this was officially made available but there is now a free Toy Pokémon Collection Guide for Pokémon Rumble Blast that is free to download here.  It’s no walkthrough but it does serve as a checklist and tells you where/how you can obtain the Pokémon you might be missing.  Couldn’t hurt to check it out!

In addition, I’d just like to mention that I picked up a Pokémon TGC pack and I’m thinking about trying to get into the trading card version of the game now.  It’s a lot more complicated than I thought!  Does anyone have any good resources for learning how to play the TCG?  Figured I’d ask…

Now, before I go, there are two Nintendo events that are kind of happening now/coming up soon.  First is the Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses tour.  I would LOVE to go to this concert, but there are none in the NY area scheduled.  So JDubz and I are considering our options and wondering if we’d like to travel to see the symphony.  Any suggestions?  View the Concert Schedule here!

The second event is the Pokémon Video Game Spring Regional Championships.  This event isn’t going to be held at as many places as the event last year, so if I go I will have to travel to Philly.  Which I am more than happy to do!  I have to start building up my team and making some travel arrangements!  If only the symphony was going to be in PA around that same time, that would have been perfect.  Ohhh well.

OK hopefully that was enough Nintendo goodness to make up for my disappearance for a little while.  And now… VENTURE FORTH!