CoffeeWithGames Turns 3!

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Time flies when you're having fun? Well, something is another year older today, and that would be the site! August 29, 2009 was the first day I posted an article on the blog, "Analyzing the Wii Manufacturing Costs in 2009". Today marks 3 years of posting for me on CoffeeWithGames, with only two months being absent of any posts at all over the last 3 years!

If you have been reading the site since I started it back in 2009, you probably have noticed the slight, but hopefully better, changes to the data stories I do on a regular basis. You might even remember when I changed the background to the coffee beans that are currently still there, shocking you awake each time you visit. If you are new to visiting and reading CoffeeWithGames though, you might wonder what you have missed since the beginning.

Brew yourself some coffee, and take a look at some things you might not know about CoffeeWithGames.

Metroid Prime Trilogy turns 3! How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing it?

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Metroid Prime: Trilogy was released on August 24, 2009 in the U.S. with a MSRP of $49.99. The game was developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo, and received an ESRB rating of "Teen" with "Animated Blood, Violence" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of. I reported on January 8, 2010, less than 5 months after the game was released, that Nintendo confirmed they were not shipping more copies of Metroid Prime: Trilogy.

How many hours have U.S. Wii players reported playing Metroid Prime: Trilogy since the game released just over 3 years ago? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Hours spent watching cartoons, or hours spent playing cartoons? Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL Data Report

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Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL was released for the Wii on November 8, 2011, I believe with a MSRP of $29.99. It was also released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 the same day, both with a MSRP of $39.99. The game was developed by Papaya Studio and published by Crave Entertainment for its U.S. release, and it received an ESRB rating of "Everyone 10+" with "Animated Blood, Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor, Tobacco Reference" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners averaged brawling with cartoon characters in Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL since the game released? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption turns 5! How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing it?

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If you are looking for information on the contest/giveaway of BIT.TRIP BEAT, Fieldrunners, SpaceChem, & Uplink you will find the link for more information on it in the "Caffeinated Thoughts" section below.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was released five years ago (today) in the U.S. on August 27, 2007. The game was developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo. It received an ESRB rating of "Teen" with "Animated Blood, Violence" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of, and the game released with a MSRP of $49.99.

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption over the last 5 years? Brew some coffee, and let's take a look!

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing GoldenEye? GoldenEye 007 Data Report

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If you are looking for information on the contest/giveaway you will find the link for it in the "Caffeinated Thoughts" section below.

GoldenEye 007 was released on November 2, 2010 for the Wii, and the game was originally announced as a Wii "exclusive" at its E3 2010 reveal. I wrote a post titled, "Can GoldenEye 007 (Wii) Legally be Ported to the Xbox 360 and PS3?" on November 9, 2010, in which I listed the reasons why I thought the game not only could be ported, but would be ported to the other consoles. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with the subtitle "Reloaded" added to it, the following year on November 1, 2011.

GoldenEye 007 received an ESRB rating of "Teen" with "Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of. The game was developed by Eurocom, and published by Activision for the U.S. release.

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing GoldenEye 007 since the game released? If you're a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 owner interested in GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, how many hours can you expect from the game according to the Wii's reported data? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

The best Paper Mario? Paper Mario Data Report

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First, if you are looking for information on the contest/giveaway you will find more information on it in the "Caffeinated Thoughts" section below.

Paper Mario was originally released for the Nintendo 64 on February 5, 2001. The game was re-released digitally for the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on July 16, 2007 and the Virtual Console version can be purchased for 1,000 Wii Points, which is $10.

The game was originally developed by Nintendo's Intelligent Systems division, and of course published by Nintendo. The Virtual Console edition has an ESRB rating of "Everyone" with "Comic Mischief" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing Paper Mario since it released on the Virtual Console? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Free Games Giveaway! Connect With Coffee

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Do you like free games? Here's a chance for you to win not just one game, but four games! Fieldrunners, BIT.TRIP BEAT, SpaceChem, and Uplink are up for grabs, and each is compatible with Android, Windows, MAC OS X, and Linux platforms.

Not only will you get the games, but you will also get the official soundtracks for each as well. Now, how do you go about entering? Brew yourself some coffee, and take a look below!

Did You Board the Nintendo 3DS XL Hype Train?

Do you have any games you bring with you on the "hype train"?

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Nintendo just released their new 3DS XL model in the United States this past Sunday, August 19. If you don't know, the Nintendo 3DS XL has 90 percent larger screens than the original Nintendo 3DS system (which released last year), as well as longer battery life.

The new 3DS XL model has a retail price of $199.99, and is available in Red or Blue, and comes bundled with a 4GB SD card. Not only did Nintendo release the new 3DS XL on Sunday to entice gamers to stores, but they also released a new Mario game, New Super Mario Bros. 2, on Sunday for the 3DS system as well.

Last year after the 3DS released I did a poll that asked, "Did you board the 3DS hype train?" and you can see that poll and post HERE. Last week, I posted up a new poll that simply asked, "Are you buying a Nintendo 3DS XL?". The poll has ended, but what were the results (and can you guess which one I voted for)? Take a look!

President Obama, Space Camp, & Six Flags Fun Park? How they are oddly connected.

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Bankruptcy, Six Flags Fun Park, President Obama, and Space Camp?

Just about 2 weeks ago, I put together the story, "Curiosity Inspired - Space Camp Hours Report". After I posted the story, a former developer who worked on the game saw the story and sent me an email. While the developer will remain anonymous, they were glad to see coverage on the game and wanted to share information on the "...background on the development process, and also why the game dropped with zero marketing...".

How are Space Camp, Six Flags Fun Park, and President Obama connected? What decision by President Obama is given as a reason to have possibly "killed all the synergy" around the Wii game Space Camp? What about bankruptcy? Brew yourself a fresh pot of coffee, and read the email below to find out!

The Brew
The former 7 Studios developer said, "OK, so back in mid to late 2008, 7 Studios was finishing work on Six Flags Fun Park for DS and Wii, published by Brash Entertainment. Brash had a lot of problems and ended up going out of business right when SFFP was supposed to release. The DS version made it to store shelves -- with zero marketing -- but the Wii title didn't. It had been approved by Nintendo for North American release and the discs, manuals and boxes were all printed and ready to go, but Brash went under before they could actually ship the game to distributors.

So we were all pretty bummed that this Wii game that we'd worked on for a year and half or so, and were pretty happy with, would never see the light of day. At the time our main LA office had only one other project, Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, published by Genius, so we were looking for other games.

We ended up signing the deal with Activision to make Space Camp. It was a very short development cycle, something like 4-5 months, with a small DS team and a small Wii team. How were we able to get a console title done that quickly? We re-used as much of Six Flags Fun Park as we could.

If you check videos on YouTube of Space Camp and SFFP you can see that the interface, engine, even many (maybe even a majority) of the minigames are identical. At the time we weren't too concerned as the DS version of SFFP got no marketing, and the Wii version was never released, so we were still shipping what was effectively a brand-new game for consumers.

When the Space Camp game was signed, if I remember correctly there was an expectation that President Obama was going to work with NASA and announce a new push for another US moon landing. The plan was that Space Camp would ride the wave of publicity around that and we'd be part of the marketing push for both NASA and the real Space Camp -- Activision had licensed their logo and possible new mascot.

Unfortunately due to the economy the President backed off on these plans, which killed all the synergy around the project. My understanding was that Activision had never planned to spend a ton of marketing money on the game, mostly seeking a cheap tie-in to the existing hype which never panned out. So it shipped and disappeared. The office responsible for publishing the game was Activision Minneapolis, which at the time was tasked with publishing the company's low-budget 'value' titles.

The really funny thing is that as we were working on Space Camp, Ubisoft bought the Six Flags Fun Park project from Brash as part of Brash's bankruptcy proceedings. They shipped the existing boxes, which were released to stores in March 2009, just two months before Space Camp! Ubisoft also had us make a version of SFFP for Europe, Fun Park Party. Apparently SFFP did well enough to justify another print run, but 7 Studios wasn't able to work on that directly as we were purchased by Activision.

So that's the story of Space Camp, and the related story of Six Flags Fun Park. Overall the team was proud of what we were able to accomplish on both games, in terms of what we could do with the time and resources we had, and it's always been disappointing that factors out of our control (Brash's bankruptcy, the backtracking of the new moon project) led to both titles underperforming.

Unfortunately 7 Studios didn't ship another title. The Scratch lawsuit happened shortly after we were purchased by Activision. After that we did prototyping and development work on console and iPhone, and we helped out with some tools and the downloadable demo for DJ Hero 2. Then in Spring 2010 Activision shut down their music/rhythm game division and that was the end of the studio."

Caffeinated Thoughts
I was glad a developer was willing to share feedback and an inside story on the development for Space Camp, and Six Flags Fun Park, giving us a small inside look of why certain decisions were made. They did say that, "...there may be a few minor errors..." in the story, but that they had fact checked dates to backup things from memory, and I did look at release dates and other information as well to make sure we were providing accurate information.

I personally found it interesting that Activision gambled on a new Moon mission being promoted by President Obama, even going as far as possibly getting licenses from NASA and the real Space Camp, but then not being able to move forward with their use because of President Obama's decision to not move forward with a new Moon mission; funding instead went to the Mars mission I believe. I can already see a political attack ad being formed, "Obama destroyed the video game industry, and your children's entertainment by cutting NASA's Moon funding!".

As for Brash Entertainment, the original publisher of Six Flags Fun Park, and how it came and went so quickly in the video game industry, here is a great piece on the company and its failure: "Brash fallout a cautionary tale".

Now, let's say you are in a store and you stumble upon Six Flags Fun Park and Space Camp, both at a great bargain price. How do you decide which one to try? Well, I asked the developer and this is what they said, "I can't recommend one over the other, it really depends on the player. If someone is really into NASA, they should go for Space Camp. If they like carnival games, they should go for SFFP. I think SFFP has more content overall than Space Camp does. In terms of the single-player story, Space Camp starts better but gets grindy near the end, while SFFP starts slow but has some really cool moments near the end."

Questions
Have any of you played Six Flags Fun Park and/or Space Camp? If so, what did you think about the games?
Also, what did you think of the story behind the games, and how they both came about? Did you find any details perhaps odd, hilarious, or just outrageous?

You can see links to Six Flags Fun Park and Space Camp below:

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing Pokémon Snap? Data Report

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Pokémon Snap was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in North America on June 30, 1999. Pokémon Snap was re-released digitally for the Wii's Virtual Console at a price point of 1,000 Wii Points, which is $10.

The game was originally co-developed by HAL Laboratory and Pax Softnica, and published by Nintendo. The game has an ESRB rating of "Everyone" with no content listed for gamers and parents to be aware of.

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported snapping photographs of Pokémon on Pokémon Island? Brew yourself a cup of coffee, and let's take a look!

Mutant Mudds gets official PC release date, price, & trailer!

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Renegade Kid, developer of the award-winning Nintendo DS Dementium series, has revealed that their Nintendo 3DS title Mutant Mudds, now has an official PC release date and price (sorry, no Mac version yet).

Mutant Mudds will be available to purchase before August ends, and if you purchase the game within the first week it's available you will save 20% off the regular price. To see what apparent platforming greatness awaits you later this month in Mutant Mudds' PC release, check out the new trailer for the game below!


Mutant Mudds will be available to purchase through several PC distribution partners. Those are currently listed as: GOG.com, GAMERSGATE.com, DESURA.com, and apparently through Renegade Kid's own digital shop, Renegade Shop.

The PC version is releasing at a price point of just $9.99, but as mentioned above, if you purchase Mutant Mudds between August 30th and September 5th, you will get the game for its "Introductory Price" of just $7.99; a 20% savings.

Critics vs. Customers! Best & Worst 3DS Launch Titles

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The Nintendo 3DS was released on March 27, 2011 in North America at a retail price of $249.99. The system had 18 games available at launch, from my count, and most had MSRPs of $39.99.

The Nintendo 3DS XL will be releasing in just a few days, August 19th, at a MSRP of $199.99. If you have not purchased a 3DS yet, but are planning to buy the 3DS XL this Sunday you might be wondering if there are any older 3DS games you should take a look at it when you pick up the new system.

For this first "Critics vs. Customers", we are taking a look at the best third party customer rated 3DS launch title, and comparing it to its critic review score averages. We will also take a look at the worst customer rated 3DS launch game, and show what the "professional" critic review score averages were for it as well.

First, you may be wondering what third party games launched with the 3DS last year. From my count there were 13 third party games available to purchase when the 3DS launched last year. Those were: BUST-A-MOVE UNIVERSE, SAMURAI WARRIORS: Chronicles, Madden NFL Football, Combat of Giants Dinosaurs 3D, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, The Sims 3, SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV 3D EDITION, RAYMAN 3D, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Asphalt 3D, RIDGE RACER 3D, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, and Super Monkey Ball 3D.

Can you guess what third party 3DS launch title has the highest customer review score average, from the world's largest online retail site? What about the lowest? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Is it worth 150 Club Nintendo coins? Fluidity Hours Report

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Fluidity was released through the WiiWare service on December 6, 2010 at a $12 price point. The game was developed by Curve Studios and published by Nintendo, and it received an ESRB rating of "Everyone" with "Comic Mischief" being the only content listed for gamers and parents to be aware of.

If you are a Club Nintendo member, you can get Fluidity right now through August 19th, for only 150 coins. "Is Fluidity worth 150 Club Nintendo coins, and how many hours can I expect to get from the game?", you might be wondering though.

Well, brew yourself a fresh pot of coffee (mine just finished!), and let's take a look at how many hours U.S. Wii owners have reported playing Fluidity since the game released!

Critics vs. Customers! New Review Feature

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What is "Critics vs. Customers"? The image above shows the "professional" critic review score average for a Wii retail game as 48.41%, and the Amazon.com customer review score average for the exact same game as 87.08%. How can there be such a huge difference?

If you have wondered why I usually write professional, as "professional" when it comes to the general video game critics' review score average in my posts, it's because I find most of the critic review scores for games to be so similar to each other, and it's almost like I can get more useful information about games from reading user reviews on Amazon.com, video game forums, and smaller blogs, than I can from reading reviews from sites that are supposed to be considered "professional".

The "professional" critics are often getting paid to play the games they review (either paid for writing the review and/or getting a free copy of the game), while the majority of the user reviews are probably from paying customers that are just trying to inform other potential customers of the good/bad they can expect from the game.

With Critics vs. Customers we will look at a wide variety of games and see how games did with the critics' review score averages from MetaCritic.com and GameRankings.com, and customers' review score averages from sites like Amazon.com. General information and trailers about the games will be provided as well if possible, and maybe even more developer feedback on the posts.

If I have played the game being covered then the piece will probably be titled, "Critics vs. Customers AND Coffee" (or something close to it), and I will try to give my insights on the game and what I thought was bitter and/or sweet about it.

Caffeinated Thoughts
Many times game developers will have in their contracts that they may get a bonus or higher return on their games, if their game can meet certain MetaCritic review score averages. If you were to take a look at the image above and base your opinion on the game just on the "professional" critic review score average, you might not even give that game a try.

Why should developers not get a bonus because the "professionals" apparently are the wrong target audience for the game and perhaps don't even complete the game before writing their "reviews", while the customers that are playing, and paying for, the very same game seem to really be enjoying it?

I wrote a post on this topic of video game reviews, "Should There Be Game Review Standards?", ironically just over 2 years ago (almost to the date of this post being published). I hope this new feature can perhaps shine a spotlight on older games, and even new releases, from a different angle and give potential buyers a different look at what paying customers think about the games, instead of just the paid critics.

Question
Can you identify which game is used my image above, with the critic review score average of 48.41% from GameRankings.com and the customer review score average of 87.08 from Amazon.com?

Played more than Mario? Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Hours Report

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Skylanders Spyro's Adventure now has a higher average play-time "Per person" on the Wii, than either Super Mario Galaxy or Super Mario Galaxy 2. You read that right. Players of Skylanders Spyro's Adventure are averaging a higher reported play-time with the game, than players are with Super Mario Galaxy or Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Skylanders Spyro's Adventure was released on October 16, 2011 with a "Starter Pack" MSRP of $69.99. The game was developed by Toys For Bob and published by Activision, and it received an ESRB rating of "Everyone 10+" with "Cartoon Violence" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing Skylanders Spyro's Adventure since its "Hours Debut" last year, and what is the average time played for the game? If you're a 3DS, PC, PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360 owner interested in the game, how many hours can you expect from it according to the reported data of the Wii version? Brew yourself a fresh pot of coffee, and let's take a look!

Cybernetic Super Heroes? Spyborgs Debut Hours Report

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Spyborgs was released for the Wii on September 22, 2009 with a MSRP of $39.99. The game was developed by Bionic Games and published by Capcom, and it received an ESRB rating of "Teen" with "Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language" being listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing Spyborgs since the game released? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Coffee, or chocobos? FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo's Dungeon Hours Report

Do you have a favorite chocobo?

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     FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo's Dungeon was released for the Wii on July 8, 2008 with a MSRP of $39.99. The game was developed by h.a.n.d. and published by Square Enix, and it received an ESRB rating of "Everyone 10+" with "Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

     How many hours have U.S. Wii owners spent retrieving memories in Chocobo's Dungeon? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing Super Mario Bros.? Data report

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     How does a 3 year old beat Super Mario Bros. World 1-1? Skip to the "Caffeinated Thoughts" section below to see the video play-through.

     Super Mario Bros. was originally released for the NES system in North America in 1985. It was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console on December 25, 2006 at a price point of 500 Wii Points, which is $5.
     The Virtual Console release of Super Mario Bros. was given an ESRB rating of "Everyone" with no content listed for gamers and parents to be aware of. I guess jumping on Goombas and Koopas and shooting them with fireballs can't be described in a proper context?

     How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported trying to rid the Mushroom Kingdom of Bowser and his minions in Super Mario Bros.? Brew yourself a fresh pot of coffee, and let's take a look!

Curiosity Inspired - Space Camp Hours Report

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     Sunday night as I was working on the computer, I was debating on whether or not to open an extra tab to NASA's site for coverage on their latest rover mission to Mars. I ended up opening an extra tab and switching back and forth on the coverage of the Curiosity's landing on the Red Planet. After watching the Curiosity coverage, it made me wonder how many "space" type games there might be on the Wii that I had missed. So, that's how this post was inspired.

     Space Camp was released for the Wii on May 26, 2009 and I believe it released with a MSRP of just $29.99. The game was developed by 7 Studios (now closed) and published by Activision, and it received an ESRB rating of "Everyone" with "Mild Fantasy Violence" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

     The Curiosity Mars rover took 253 days (about 6,072 hours) to reach Mars. How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported training for lunar journeys with Space Camp? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

July Brewed - Coffees Consumed, Games Played!

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     Good Monday evening! July was a busy month for us as a family with a few birthdays, our anniversary, traveling over 900+ miles one way to visit family, and our usual work weeks before our trip. While it may have been busy, it was still filled with lots of coffee drinking and game playing.
     While I didn't get as many posts up in July as I did in June, I did get up a decent number of posts considering I was working off of Mrs. Coffee's laptop for about a third of the month. If you perhaps just skim posts here occasionally, here are some posts you might have missed that I posted up in July:
     THIS is what the 3DS XL should have looked like.
     Super Mario Bros. 3 Hours Report & World 5-1 Beaten by Bean 1!
     Drinking Coffee from a Mario castle? Not exactly.
     Instant "Coffee" Video Game Award
     SOCK! POW! ZOK! LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Debut Hours Report
     Pachter: "Sometimes, I add two and two and get seven..."

     With August now well underway, what games did I play and coffees did I consume in July? Brew yourself a cup of coffee, and take a look!

Coffees Consumed
     July started off with us brewing the Maxwell House French Roast coffee blend that I grabbed during the coffee run in June. After we finished the French Roast blend, we started brewing Maxwell House's Dark Roast coffee blend which has lasted us into August, since we were visiting family for a good bit of July. Speaking of visiting family, our first stop was on Mrs. Coffee's side. Her mom buys Community Coffee, and we enjoyed daily pots of the Community Coffee Medium Roast blend.

     What would the first word to describe our household be if I had kept the Keurig coffee machine Mrs. Coffee gave me as a gift 2 years ago for Christmas? BANKRUPT! I'm not sure if I ever told the story here on CoffeeWithGames, but as a Christmas gift one year Mrs. Coffee surprised me with a Keurig coffee machine. After debating and staring at it for about a week still in the box though, I made the decision that I simply drink too much coffee daily, and that if we kept the Keurig machine we would spend a fortune each month on the coffee pods.
     Well, my mom received a Keurig coffee machine sometime after Christmas and she has really enjoyed using it. When we arrived at her house, she was stocked up with a wide assortment of the Green Mountain Coffee K-Cups. My mom enjoys her coffee with a flavor, so we had a choice of the Green Mountain Coffee Spicy Eggnog, Green Mountain Coffee Gingerbread, Green Mountain Coffee Golden French Toast, or the Green Mountain Coffee Breakfast Blend K-Cups. The Green Mountain Coffee Breakfast Blend was apparently a favorite, as it was the first one we ran out of. After that one flavor ran out though, the other flavors never did, even with us (see me) using the machine quite often.

     For me though, I think sticking with the regular coffee machine is the way to go right now, even after using the Keurig machine for over a week. I definitely see the benefit and how easy it is to simply throw a K-Cup in the machine and not think twice, but with how much coffee we consume in the "Coffee House" monthly, I would probably have to change the name of the site to "CoffeeWithCoffee" because we couldn't afford games anymore.

Games Played
     Being that some of you might be reading this on Monday morning Tuesday morning instead of doing your scheduled work, here is the short list for the games I played in July: Rage of the Gladiator, Super Mario Bros. 3, Punch-Out!!, Bit.Trip Runner, New Super Mario Bros. DS, Super Mario World, Blacklight: Retribution, Cogs, Far Cry 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64, VVVVVV, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I believe it was 15 games in all, with a few others being "played" very briefly, but not long enough that I consider it really "playing" them.

     Rage of the Gladiator - After a Rage of the Gladiator request by a YouTube comment asking for a video against Lord Vensor the 3rd from the game, I played a few matches against him until I had enough decent matches recorded. I was able to use one of the recorded battles for a video to show how to defeat him in Challenge Mode, and I also wrote a post with a few details and even an image that might be helpful if you ever reach Lord Vensor the 3rd in Challenge Mode, and get stuck. You can read the post, and watch the full battle I recorded HERE.
     Super Mario Bros. 3 - Our oldest son beat his first Mario level in Super Mario Bros. 3, and that resulted in me doing an "Hours Report" and video remake of his play-through of the level. It was World 5-1 in the game, and though we made it to World 5-1, and even halfway through World 5, we never tried it again once we left to visit family. We had a blast playing through the levels we did in July though, and we have already started the game again this month. If you missed the post about Bean 1 beating his first Mario world, you can read the post and watch a "remake" video of sorts of his play-through of World 5-1, HERE.
     Punch-Out!! - This was a Father's Day gift to me, and I have really enjoyed my time with the game. I haven't finished Title Defense mode yet, but I did make my way through some of it earlier in July. I believe King Hippo was the last opponent I defeated in Title Defense, but each and every boxer in Title Defense has been a challenge. I wasn't the only one to play Punch-Out!! in July though, as Mrs. Coffee decided to give the game a try one day and she ended up going all the way through to King Hippo, and defeating him. It was hilarious watching and listening to her play the game. She would be insulting the boxers back in the middle of the matches saying things like "Vive la France your face!" to Glass Joe, or just things like laughing hysterically at Disco Kid in the middle of the matches. It was very entertaining.
     BIT.TRIP RUNNER - I completed the WiiWare demo of Bit.Trip Runner a good number of times in July, and really enjoyed my time with the demo. Bean 1 attempted to play the demo as well, but he hasn't quite got the hang of it just yet. After the feedback provided on my "Jump! Run! Kick! Slide! BIT.TRIP RUNNER Hours Report", I added Bit.Trip Complete to my "Wish List" of games.
     New Super Mario Bros. DS - I didn't really think about New Super Mario Bros. DS until July because of our planned "vacation" to visit our family out of town. I figured if anything, Bean 1 could MAYBE fiddle around on the screen and just see Mario and be happy with it. Little did I know he would learn the menu system quickly, finding the matching games with "Luigi", and then go to World 1-1 and get the Mega Mushroom which results in "Big Mario!" according to him. Yes, Bean 1 has completed World 1-1 all on his own with no outside help from me, just using the items in the level. If you have played the game, you probably know why, but the fact he can get the jumping down with the walking still impresses me. Perhaps we will be having some all-night Mario Marathons before the year is over...
     Super Mario World - "We beat it!" is what Bean 1 exclaims now when we finish the game. Sure, it was because we accidentally found the Rainbow Road paths, but he was the one that actually showed it to me by accident one day without me realizing I had unlocked it. Bean 1 can also identify Bowser's Castle appropriately, since it is labeled that in the game and he even knows which doors he can get through easiest in the castle. Now, he hasn't beat the castle all on his own yet, but the fact he made it all the way to the second set of doors to pick, impressed me enough.
     Blacklight: Retribution - What happens when you open a Steam account? NOTHING GOOD! (Okay, that's sarcasm). Money starts leaving your bank account and your wife says, "I was wondering what 'Valve' was in the statement", or something along those lines. Fortunately for me though Blacklight: Retribution did not cost me a dime, and if you have a Steam account you can play the game for free as well. I was actually surprised and impressed with the matches that I played in the game, and enjoyed the match setups of the teams having to capture and hold different points around the maps. I did get confused with how the "purchase" system worked, so I haven't upgraded my character very much; but I'm hoping to put some more time into the game this month and see if I can figure out the upgrade system a bit more. You may not remember, but back in 2010 I did a "Double Interview" feature with the developer of the original BlackLight: Tango Down. While the original game released and you had to pay for it, the developer decided to try the "Free to Play" route with the sequel and I hope it works well for them. If you missed my Double Interview feature from 2010 with Zombie Studios, you can read it HERE.
     Cogs - Why did I get a Steam account? Because a certain video game blog, Chalgyr's Game Room, had a Steam giveaway/contest last year and Cogs was the prize. To win the prize though, I needed a Steam account. I didn't know if I would like it, but I like winning free stuff and ended up winning the game. I finally gave it a try in July, and have really, really enjoyed my time with the game. Mrs. Coffee even watched me play it a bit, and thought the game looked interesting from what she saw. It is definitely a challenging puzzle game from what I have played so far, and I don't think I'm half-way through it yet. If you like puzzle type games, I suggest you look up Cogs on Steam and give the free demo a try.
     Far Cry 2 - I received Far Cry 2 from a good friend when were down visiting family/friends over the Christmas holiday this last year. I haven't made it very far into the game, but I can see why the developers chose the setting they did for the "open" aspect from the first game, but this allowed them to change it up a bit, at least from what I can tell so far. I haven't encountered any of the dreaded "escort" missions I have heard about yet, but I am expecting one to any moment now.
     Batman: Arkham Asylum - What happens when our neighbors and us both own Wii and PS3 systems? Well, we end up trading/loaning games every now and then. I actually traded him Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and he traded me Batman: Arkham Asylum early in July. I haven't made it super far in the game, but far enough that I have done one "boss" battle. I have enjoyed my short time with the game, and I'm looking forward to getting more in it now that we are back from our trip. As for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, he finished the game the very weekend we traded! If you want to see my brief thoughts on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, you can read them HERE.
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - I hadn't played Modern Warfare 3 in quite a while, so I fired up the online multiplayer to see if I could get in some quick matches in July. I didn't have any trouble getting in the standard team matches, and enjoyed my time in them. It was kind of interesting though, as I had seen a few matches from the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex on YouTube showing hacked matches, and I experienced my very first hacked match in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on the Wii in July. I was actually recording the matches that night, and I think I have footage of the entire match as I just ran around hopping way up into the sky and flying around oddly. I'm not sure if the footage would help Treyarch patch it up, or if they are even worried with patching the Wii version of Modern Warfare 3 now, considering they are probably busy getting Black Ops 2 running on the Wii and Wii U. I also did an "Hours Report" on Modern Warfare 3 in July, and you can read that HERE.
     Super Mario Bros. - Bean 1 and I both played Super Mario Bros. a good bit in July. He is making very good progress on jumping and walking at the same time, and the next step I'm going to try and teach him is running at the same time. I don't know if it tweeted it or not, but Bean 1 has completed World 1-1 in Super Mario Bros. now, and I have video evidence floating around my computer. The evidence will surface in the next few days probably, so you might want to keep a lookout for it.
     Super Mario 64 - Another Mario game in July? Why not! Bean 1 enjoys running around in the game, and though he doesn't know exactly what is going on that doesn't stop him from having fun. He gets Mario to swim outside in the moat, and he even knows how to access levels by jumping into the pictures. What does he request I do in the game occasionally? "Daddy, find the key!" What key is that? Well, it's the key to Bowser's door of course; at least we both think it is. He asks me to find it when he tries to open the door, and gets the laugh in return. I'm enjoying playing the game a lot, because while I owned/own a Nintendo 64, Super Mario 64 wasn't a game in my collection and I never completed it when a friend rented it and I played it. So, I'm looking forward to trying and beating the game now.
     VVVVVV - How did I become interested in trying out the demo for VVVVVV? It was an interview on NintendoNation.net that I read that got me interested in the game. Make sure to check out the interview HERE, and if you are interested in VVVVVV but don't own it, definitely give the demo a try. I enjoyed my time with the demo, and it makes me wonder if perhaps the PC or 3DS version is better. Perhaps some of you that own both versions of VVVVVV can provide feedback on the game below and tell me why I need to buy a Nintendo 3DS later this month, when the XL model releases.
     New Super Mario Bros. Wii - What happens when we visit family, and my best friend from childhood pays us a visit? Well, that ends up with my best friend from marriage (see Mrs. Coffee) and I breaking out NSMBW late that night with him. How did we all do? Bowser had no idea the yelling and screaming that would be paying his castle a visit that night, but I should have a post on that later this month, with video. Did Bean 1 play it with us though? No, Bean 1 did not play NSMBW in July. You read that right, Bean 1 did not play New Super Mario Bros. Wii in July. As a matter of fact, it's the only Mario game in our collection I believe that he hasn't played yet.

Questions/Thoughts
     What video games did you play in July? Did any game really stand out to you from the others that you played, and did you perhaps purchase any new releases or just new-to-you games in July? Also, if you have any questions about the games I played in July played feel free to leave a comment/question below.
     As for the coffees, did any of you try anything new in July as I did with the Green Mountain Coffees or did you play it safe with your usual coffee, tea, soda, water, or other drinks of choice?

Charming? Suave? Awesome? Strong Bad's Cool Game for Really Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner Hours Report

Coffee Beans
     Strong Bad's Cool Game for Really Attractive People Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner was released on August 11, 2008 for the Wii through the WiiWare service at a price point of 1,000 Wii Points, which is $10. The game was developed and published by Telltale Games, and received an ESRB rating of "Teen" with "Crude Humor, Mild Cartoon Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes" being listed for gamers and parents to be aware of.

     How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing one of the longest titled WiiWare games released for the service? If you're a PC gamer, or a PS3 owner, how many hours can you expect from the first game in the series according to the Wii's data? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Michael Phelps, or Mario? Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Hours Report

Coffee Beans
     The London 2012 Olympic Games are now officially underway and many exciting competitions have already taken place. Mrs. Coffee and I have been watching a few of the events since they started up last week. Watching Michael Phelps race for more Olympic medals tonight was pretty exciting and the swimming events are probably my favorite right now, though we have also enjoyed several other events as well.
     Being that I enjoy video games though, would I rather play with Mario in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, or would I rather watch Michael Phelps in the real London 2012 Olympic Games?

     Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games released in North America on November 15, 2011 at a MSRP of $49.99. It was developed by Sega Sports and published by Sega for its North American release.
     The game received an ESRB rating of "Everyone" with "Mild Cartoon Violence" listed as as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

     How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games since it released? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!