ZombiU menu showing old version number, and new post-patch version number.
Coffee Beans ZombiU released with the Wii U on November 18th, and it was the first Wii U retail game I purchased with our console on launch day. I really enjoyed my first play-through of ZombiU, and disagreed with some of the early "professional" critic reviews of the game, that I found lacking basic information and the reviewers failed to answer simple questions (still). While I didn't experience any game-breaking bugs or glitches in my first play-through of the campaign, I do know some Wii U owners that did (my neighbor being one of them).
If you experienced any of the game-breaking glitches in ZombiU, perhaps you have been waiting and hoping for a patch to fix some issues. As the title tells you, the first ZombiU patch is now live (at least in the U.S.)!
If you want to see how long the ZombiU patch took me to download and install, the patch size, as well as a few fixed issues, then grab your cup of coffee and hit the jump!
Coffee Beans
Did you miss the first Movie Magic Monday feature earlier this month? If so, you can read about a movie based game, that apparently plays some like ICO, HERE!
For this Movie Magic Monday, we are taking a look at how many hours have been reported trying to train dragons!
How to Train Your Dragon was released for the Wii on March 23, 2010, just a few days before the movie it was based on. Surprisingly (to me anyway), this movie tie-in game was developed by Etranges Libellules, the same studio that developed the last Movie Magic Monday game we looked at, but it was published by Activision. The game received an ESRB rating of "EVERYONE 10+" with "Fantasy Violence" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.
About how many U.S. Wii owners have gameplay data reported and how many hours have been reported playing How to Train Your Dragon, since it released just over 3 years ago? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!
Coffee Beans
The Wii U released on November 18, 2012, just over 4 months ago now in the United States. As you may well know, the Wii U system released in two sets: the Deluxe Set with a MSRP of $349.99 and the Basic Set with a MSRP of $299.99.
Sony has already made the official announcement about the PlayStation 4, and while we don't know a price point on it yet, you can already sign up on Amazon.com and at GameStop stores to be notified when they get more information.
Microsoft is supposed to be revealing information about their next console (Xbox, Durango?) soon, and we don't what the price(s) on that new system will be either.
You may own a Wii U and sometimes wonder what the current trade-in value is for it. If you're thinking about trading in the Wii U now and putting the amount you get from it toward a new system, how much can you currently get for your Wii U system? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look at the current trade-in values for the Wii U Deluxe Set and Wii U Basic Set!
Can you guess which one is the most played by total hours reported?
Coffee Beans
Did you know the Wii had six Need for Speed games released for it? Well, at least six in the United States. Six. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6! I didn't realize there were so many Need for Speed games within 6 years, much less six Need for Speed games on one console!
The image above shows the six Need for Speed games that released on the Wii in the United States, at least that I'm aware of. They were: Need for Speed Carbon, Need for Speed: Pro Street, Need for Speed: Undercover, Need for Speed NITRO, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and Need for Speed: The Run. There could have been another that I missed, but these are what I found in my research.
Now, if you're a Wii U owner, like myself, you may be aware (or not) that Need for Speed: Most Wanted U is releasing for the system today, March 19th. While it will be the Wii U's first Need for Speed game, if the number of Need for Speed games on the Wii is any clue, Most Wanted U won't be the Wii U's last.
Before you go off and start playing Need for Speed: Most Wanted U though, what is the Wii's most played Need for Speed game based on the total hours reported played from U.S. Wii owners? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!
Coffee Beans
If you're a Wii U owner and planning on grabbing one of the many new games releasing on the system this week, you might want to visit Target.com or your local Target store. If you haven't seen it already, Target is running a "Buy Two, Get One Free" video game sale, on select games for the Wii U and the other consoles.
As for new Wii U games releasing for the system this week that are included in the sale, there are four from my count:
1) LEGO City: Undercover is available today for the Wii U with a MSRP of $49.99.
2) Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is releasing tomorrow, March 19th, at a MSRP of $59.99.
3) Need for Speed: Most Wanted is also releasing Tuesday, with a MSRP of $59.99 as well.
4) The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct will be finding its way to store shelves Tuesday as well, but has a lower MSRP of $49.99 at most retailers, though you can pre-order right now and get it for just $37.49 from Amazon.com as I wrote about last week.
Depending on which Wii U games, or other system(s) games, you are interested in, you could be saving anywhere from $30 to $60 this week, while adding three new games to your collection.
Questions Are there any other stores running a "Buy Two, Get One Free" video game sale this week, or any video game sale that is as good as, or better than, the one on Target.com and in Target stores this week? If so, please share it in the comments below!
Also, are any of you planning on taking advantage of the Target sale this week? If so, what games are you planning on buying? For us, it depends if I venture out to our Target store tomorrow or not. If/when I do, I may end up with two new Wii U games for our collection: LEGO City: Undercover and perhaps The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (still debating on games though).
Coffee Beans
Last week, in the "FPS Friday!" post, I wrote about one reason I find Call of Duty's multiplayer addicting. I said, "...one big reason I often find myself staying for 'just one more battle', is how close some of the battles are."
The video below is of a Black Ops II multiplayer match, on the Raid map. You can see how my team was behind basically the entire match. We were losing by 17 points at one moment in the match , 17 points, but we kept on battling.
Here's the battle:
I have never been a fan of quitting games, just because I'm losing. As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I quit a match just because I (or, we) were getting dominated by the other team. This video, with last week's video, I think shows some good reasons why you should never quit in the middle of a multiplayer match if you're losing, whether that's in Call of Duty: Black Ops II or any other FPS game.
Also, if you aren't aware of it, Black Ops II on the Wii U (not sure about the other versions) is currently have a Double XP weekend in the Multi-Team mode. I haven't tried it out just yet, but I did play some regular Team Deathmatch battles last night. If you own a Wii U and have been playing Black Ops II my Nintendo Network ID is Coffees.
Questions Do you ever quit in the middle of a multiplayer match, just because you're losing and it doesn't look like your chances of winning are very good? Or, do you stick it out and hope for the best, even if the best doesn't look like it will be a "win" at the end?
You can purchase Black Ops II from Amazon.com below:
Coffee Beans Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth released for Nintendo's WiiWare service on December 28, 2009 in the U.S., at 1,000 Wii Points (which is $10). The game was developed by M2 and published by Konami, and received an ESRB rating of "TEEN" with "Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.
A brief description for the game on its Nintendo Channel page reads, "The classic Castlevania game is reborn for the Wii with all-new upgrades."
How many U.S. Wii owners have reported playing Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, and how many hours have they reported playing it? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!
Coffee Beans
Do you enjoy The Walking Dead TV series? Are you interested in the new The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct game that is scheduled to release next week, on March 19th?
If you have been thinking about purchasing the game when it releases next week, but haven't pre-ordered it yet, now is a good time to do so. The game is releasing on the PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and Xbox 360, and has a MSRP of $49.99. Amazon and GameStop are offering different pre-order bonuses, but Amazon has now discounted the game's pre-order price by 25%.
You can currently pre-order The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct from Amazon.com for just $37.49. The pre-order price is for the PlayStation 3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 versions, but not the PC version right now.
You can take advantage of the pre-order price right now for The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct from Amazon.com, with all the versions linked below (again, the PC version is currently not discounted):
Coffee Beans
What is Movie Magic Monday? When I was younger (about 20 years younger), I really enjoyed a show on the Discovery Channel called "Movie Magic". It was a behind-the-scenes type series, that showed how special effects in movies were made. Usually, each episode would cover a specific special effect done in movies, such as model makers building miniature models for movies.
So, this new Movie Magic Monday feature will be about video games, that are based around movies, posted on Mondays. If you have ever wanted to tumble down the rabbit hole, you might enjoy this first Movie Magic Monday.
Alice in Wonderland was released for the Nintendo Wii on March 2, 2010. The game was developed by Étranges Libellules (now closed) and published by Disney Interactive Studios, and it received an ESRB rating of "EVERYONE 10+" with "Fantasy Violence" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of. The game's development was "inspired by Tim Burton's" movie, Alice in Wonderland, which released in theaters on March 5, 2010.
How many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported playing Alice in Wonderland, since it released just over 3 years ago? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!
Coffee Beans Call of Duty: Black Ops II's online multiplayer is addictive. I often find myself thinking that I'll hop on and play one or two matches, then play something else. It ends up though, that I find myself still playing Team Deathmatch battles in Black Ops II an hour (or two, or three) later.
What do I find so addicting about Call of Duty's online multiplayer? Well, there are a number of things, but one big reason I often find myself staying for "just one more battle", is how close some of the battles are.
Sure, there are occasional blowout battles, where one team is completely dominating the other, but it's the battles that are close and down to the last second, that I really enjoy.
Below, you will see a Black Ops II match where my team lost the lead with just over 2 minutes remaining, but we kept on fighting. I think the video shows how battles in Call of Duty: Black Ops II can be really close, with every second counting, and why the multiplayer is so addicting.
I played the match above on just the Wii U's GamePad, like the majority of my Black Ops II matches. As for my primary weapon in the video, it was the Mk 48 with the Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) and Target Finder attachments. My tactical weapon was the Shock Charge. It is what I was throwing at the very end of the match to help me stun the enemies in the building, which I was able to clear out with my teammate's help, giving us the win.
Like always, feel free to add my Nintendo Network ID, Coffees, to your Wii U friend list, and if you have Black Ops II, perhaps I'll see you online!
Questions Have any of you been playing Black Ops II recently on the Wii U (or, other console)? Or, have you perhaps been playing other FPS games, such as the recently released Crysis 3?
You can purchase Black Ops II from Amazon.com directly below:
Coffee Beans Mega Man 9 was released for Nintendo's WiiWare service on September 22, 2008, in the U.S., at a $10 price point. The game was co-developed by Inti Creates and Capcom, with Capcom publishing it. It received an ESRB rating of "EVERYONE" with only "Mild Cartoon Violence" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.
How many U.S. Wii owners have reported playing Mega Man 9 since it released, and how many hours have they reported playing it with 1,624 days of data possibly reported? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!
Coffee Beans The Amazing Spider-Man was released on June 26, 2012 for the Nintendo Wii, and was based around the Spider-Man movie of the same name. The game was developed by Beenox and published by Activision, and it received an ESRB rating of "TEEN" with "Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.
A description for the game on the Wii's Nintendo Channel says, "Spidey is back with the return of wall crawling, web-slinging action! Perform acrobatic attacks and stealth maneuvers with the brand new web rush combat system. Uncover the rest of Peter Parker's untold story in the original epilogue to the film."
While we have looked at another Spider-Man Wii game before, how many hours have U.S. Wii owners reported web-slinging in The Amazing Spider-Man since it released last year? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!
Coffee Beans
February was a busy month, but I found my time dominated by one game in particular. I mentioned in last month's "January Brewed" post, that I like the idea, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.", and with March starting up, CoffeeWithGames should get back to a regular posting schedule of a couple of posts each week.
While I didn't post much in February, I did put an unhealthy amount of time into playing a game. If you read the few posts I did in February you probably know that game was Call of Duty: Black Ops II on the Wii U. I even created probably the oddest Black Ops II video yet, at least not just game related, and shared that in my "Drones! What are they good for? Fox News' Charles Krauthammer & Black Ops II?" piece. If you missed the piece and the video, you can see the video embedded below:
March is upon us, and with it new games (and maybe coffees) are waiting in the wings, but what coffees did I consume and games did I play in February? Brew yourself a nice pot of coffee, and let's take a look!
Coffees Consumed
Maxwell House returned in February as our default coffees of choice, but there were a few more that were brewed up during the month.
The default Maxwell House coffees we brewed up were the Maxwell House French Roast and the Maxwell House Dark Roast. We still have some of the Maxwell House Dark Roast, and it has gotten March started off well for us, but the French Roast was finished earlier in February. Both the French Roast and Dark Roast are very similar in flavor, neither has a strong bitter flavor, but each provides a nice bold flavor.
Between brewing the Maxwell House coffees, we enjoyed several other coffee blends in February. One of those blends was the Kona Blend Coffee, which was/is sealed up in the cabinet and used occasionally. It's a a whole bean coffee, that I actually received it last year for my birthday, and I'll grind up some of the beans when we're running low on the Maxwell House, or if we run out. It's more of a mild roast coffee, but is a good backup coffee to have hidden away.
How much caffeine is too much caffeine?
Another coffee blend brewed up in February was a new one that we had never tried before. It was the Puroast Low Acid Coffee, Dark French Roast blend. The idea behind this coffee is that it provides a great tasting coffee, but has a 50% lower acidity than other coffees. The verdict? To me, and Mrs. Coffee, this coffee seems to be missing the "bite" that makes coffee, well, coffee. While our blend was the "Dark French Roast", which is supposed to be one of the strongest coffee roasts, it had a very light flavor. It actually reminded me of the Starbucks Blonde Veranda Blend we have brewed in the past, which I called "an extremely light blend".
If you like lighter tasting coffees, then I would recommend giving the Puroast Dark French Roast blend a try, but you should know that it probably won't taste like your typical French Roast coffee you have had before.
Games Played
The quick, "Instant Coffee", list of games I played in February is: World of Goo, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mutant Mudds, Balloon Fight, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Trine 2.
Bean 1's stats from a World of Goo level.
World of Goo - I made it through the first four worlds and when I get to the last level I'm not sure what exactly I'm doing in it. Bean 1, in typical fashion, deletes the save files quit often, so I have played through several of the levels many times. Bean 1 beats levels on his own, quit often, and even just completed a level from the World of Goo WiiWare demo we have.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - We are continuing to make slow progress in the game, if the save file can last more than a few days before getting erased! Bean 1 still plays this, and runs around pretty well in the game and even knows how to switch between inventory items now, and I'm always amazed when he beats random enemies running around. Perhaps once Bean 1 is out of his erasing save files mood, we can beat the game. Until then, we'll probably just keep playing randomly and having fun.
Mutant Mudds - Has Mutant Mudds Deluxe released for the Wii U yet? I didn't think so! Bean 1 still opens this up randomly on the PC, and will play through different levels. I, of course, will end up playing through (or attempting to) a few of the levels, with him watching what to do.
My first effort in Balloon Fight.
Balloon Fight - My first eShop purchase, and it cost me a whopping 30 cents. This game is part of Nintendo's Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign, where they are offering certain NES games for just 30 cents, for 30 days (one game, every 30 days). Balloon Fight is definitely simple enough and plays well, but I find the sound effects are a bit on the tinny side. I haven't made it very far in the game, but I did post my first "high score" to the Miiverse community. Was it worth the 30 cents though? Absolutely.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Unhealthy. Unhealthy. Unhealthy. What was the cause of lack of sleep for me during February? Was it two little Beans running around, blogging late into the nights, or creating my next multi-million dollar invention (not sure where I misplaced the first)? No, the lack of sleep in February was because of Black Ops II on the Wii U. After getting the Beans in bed, I would fire up the Wii U and play Black Ops II on the GamePad late into the night, usually with some random Netflix series playing in the background. If any of you own a Wii U and are playing Black Ops II often, please add my Nintendo Network ID, Coffees, to your Wii U Friend List. I'll add you back and perhaps we can play some matches of Black Ops II together. 99% of my matches are in Team Deathmatch, though this last weekend I was playing a lot of Headquarters because of the Double XP being offered in it.
Trine 2 - I'm still playing back through Trine 2's levels, trying to collect all of the items and hidden objects in each level, so that I can access the last level. Trine 2 was on sale (still is in Europe) during February, down to just $14.99, and now there is a demo for the game on the Wii U's eShop as well. If you have been wondering how Trine 2 plays (and looks), definitely download the demo to give it a try. If you own Trine 2 on the Wii U, have you beaten it and unlocked the last level?
Caffeinated Thoughts & Questions
With a new month upon us, I'm actually looking forward to a few games releasing later this month, though I will probably only pick up one initially. While I'm interested in LEGO City: Undercover, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, I'll probably only be grabbing Pandora's Tower when it releases.
Had Nintendo of America actually done their job during Wii's main life-time, and brought already developed games to the U.S., I probably wouldn't be diverting potential Wii U funds, to purchase a Wii game. U.S. Wii owners (and Wii U owners) can purchase Pandora's Tower later this month for just $39.99, thanks to XSEED Games.
Were there any coffees you consumed in February that were new blends, or just stick with your regular blend(s)? Did you play any games in February that you found particularly addicting, like I did Black Ops II, and are there any games you are looking forward to that are releasing in March?
