June 2014

Farewell River

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Yesterday a bunch of us video game bloggers and twitter friends and G+ families heard that we lost one of our own. Christopher “River” Cavelle passed away. He was young, and he wasn’t someone I would say I typically got along with – but that doesn’t matter, I followed his posts and opinions anyway because I think a difference in opinion is a good thing, and River was always very vocal with his. I remember one of his final tweets (though I doubt he knew it would be his final) mentioned that he was going to be “streaming his pee” later that evening. A joke about video game streaming. It still makes me giggle. I marked it as a favorite it at the time.

There has been an enormous outpouring of support from friends and family, both in blog posts dedicated to River, and in a facebook remembrance page set up in his honor.  I never got to know him in person, but I read through all of the comments and pictures others shared, and you can just tell that he was an amazing person.

You will be missed.

Farewell River.

Tamodochi Life

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I haven’t had a whole lot of time to game lately, so I was really happy when I picked up this 3DS game called “Tamodochi Life”. I had never heard of it before, but a friend was writing about it on Anook and G+ which piqued my interest. It’s a casual game where you create / import Mii’s to an island where they live. You’re in charge of solving their day to day issues, such as providing them with clothing, food, and playing games with them. It’s a bit like a watered down version of sims, without the building.

It also reminds me a lot of Glitch, because these Mii are absolutely bonkers. You never know what’s going to happen, or what odd dreams they’ll have. You earn rewards for your museum, or items that you can give them. There are two types of items, one goes into their inventory and will add said item to their room every so often as you peek in on them (for example, rent a cat, or a dog, and when you peer into their window they may have a visitor) and the other items are one time uses that provide the Mii with a bit of fun, like the fan pictured above. You level the Mii up as you provide for them, and they’ll lose experience if you don’t give them what they want.

You also unlock portions of the island as you play, there’s an amusement park, a lot of shops, beaches, and a cafe. So far I’ve had a LOT of fun playing this game. Of course it helps that I imported some friends via QR code, and I also imported some “celebrity” Mii from the official site. These Mii are a one time only download, and include people like Shaq (who is best friends with another of my Mii).

If you’re looking for deep thought provoking game play and in-depth story, you probably won’t find it here, but if you’re looking for a casual cute game you can dip into when you’re looking for something light, I highly recommend checking it out.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!