Monday, July 30, 2012

Pachter: "Sometimes, I add two and two and get seven..."

Original photo credit - Hot Grill
Coffee Beans
Michael Pachter continues to make news in the video game world. On July 16th, Edge-Online.com published an article where they quoted Mr. Pachter as saying, "Activision never said anything to me, but I know that [for] big games like Call of Duty they said, 'No, we're not putting it on there [the Wii U*] if you don't give us a conventional controller'. So they [Nintendo*] gave in." *bracket text added for clarification

Was Michael Pachter's opinion on this topic of Activision, or even another third party developer, basically demanding Nintendo make the Wii U Pro Controller or they would not support the Wii U console a well informed opinion? Was it an opinion based around the known facts of the Wii U's controllers and the history of Activision's support of the Wii, as people should expect coming from a "Managing Director" at an "Equity Research" firm?

Well, when I saw the quote I decided to contact Mr. Pachter for clarification because I thought it might have been out of context, and wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. After a few email exchanges with him, and pointing out what I thought was one obvious flaw in his opinion on this subject, Mr. Pachter replied, "Sometimes, I add two and two and get seven, but I still add two and two."

What was the context of this quote, and what flaw did I see in Michael Pachter's original statement? More importantly, did Mr. Pachter explain his statement after I mentioned why his original opinion made no sense, in a way that made sense? Brew yourself some coffee, and take a look at one partial email exchange with Michael Pachter below, as well as a visual aid I hope can help with Mr. Pachter's bad math!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

SOCK! POW! ZOK! LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Debut Hours Report


Coffee Beans
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes was released on June 19, 2012 for the Wii with a MSRP of $39.99. The game was developed by Traveller's Tales Games, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. 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 running around LEGO Gotham with the Dark Knight in LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes since the game released? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Instant "Coffee" Video Game Award!


Coffee Beans
     What is an "Instant 'Coffee' Video Game Award"? I'm glad you asked! I write many data posts and usually put many hours into each one reading about the games, looking for a trailer and/or game-play video, and often getting distracted reading about the developers and publishers of the games.
     While I do use older data reports as templates and to keep the layouts similar, every word and number in each data post is typed out and not copied and pasted from older data posts.


     So, back to this "Instant 'Coffee' Video Game Award". According to Dictionary.com, instant coffee is, "dehydrated coffee that can be made into a drink by adding hot water; 'the advantages of instant coffee are speed of preparation and long shelf life.'" While instant coffee isn't part of this instant giveaway, it might be in future giveaways.

     What about the "Video Game Award" part of the title? It simply means this award is video game related.
     Being that some have defaulted to referring to me as "Coffee" or "Mr. Coffee", that's where the "Coffee" part comes from in the title with quotes around it.
     I have done a few contests and giveaways over the last few years and the winners have usually been selected by dropping the entry names into a coffee container, shaking it up, and then drawing the winner outWith an "Instant 'Coffee' Video Game Award" though, the award is instantly awarded to the first person that responds either knowingly/unknowingly, with no coffee container drawing necessary.


     Who is the winner of the first "Instant 'Coffee' Video Game Award" and what did they win, and more importantly how did they win it? Make yourself some coffee, instant or not, and let's take a look!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Is Gotham City falling to pieces? LEGO Batman: The Videogame Hours Report

Somebody blinked during the photo!
Coffee Beans
LEGO Batman: The Videogame was released for the Wii in the U.S. on September 23, 2008. The was a multi-console release, and the Wii version released with a MSRP of $49.99.

The game was developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in conjunction with DC Comics. It received an ESRB rating of "Everyone 10+" with "Mild Cartoon Violence" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

How many hours have U.S. Wii owners spent running around Gotham City in LEGO Batman: The Videogame, trying to put the pieces back together? How does the average play-time per session played compare to The Dark Knight Rises' runtime? Brew yourself some dark coffee, and let's take a look!

Drinking coffee from a Mario castle? Not exactly.

Sorry Mario, but your coffee is in another castle?
Coffee Beans
     Mario has a history of visiting castles, but often leaving them in worse shape than when he enters them. Super Mario World is a perfect example of this as Mario not only goes in and removes certain castle residents, but he then destroys most of the castles making sure the residents can't return.
     We have been playing Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64 a lot over the last month and seeing many castles in the games. Bean 1 says things like, "Let's go to the castle!", or "Mario goes to the castle!", or "We beat the castle!". Anything to do with the castles seems fun for Bean 1, and he really enjoys playing/watching the castle levels in the Mario games.

     Perhaps the castles in Mario is what influenced me to finally drink coffee from a castle. What do I mean by "drink coffee from a castle"? Brew yourself some coffee, and then take a look!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Hours spent web-slinging? Spider-Man: Edge of Time Hours Report


Coffee Beans
Is Spider-Man amazing? According to his latest movie's title, The Amazing Spider-Man, he is. I personally find it amazing how much money each movie has made, but that's a topic for another day, maybe on another site.

From my count, the Wii has had six video games with "Spider-Man" in their titles. At least two of the games have been based directly around Spider-Man movies; those being Spider-Man 3 and the recently released The Amazing Spider-Man.

Today, we're taking a look at one of the Spider-Man Wii games not directly based on a movie though, Spider-Man: Edge of Time.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time was released on October 4, 2011 for the Wii with with a MSRP of $49.99. The game was developed by Beenox and published by Activision, and received an ESRB rating of "Teen" with "Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

How many hours have Wii owners spent web-slinging in Spider-Man: Edge of Time since the game released? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

How many hours have Wii owners played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3? Modern Warfare 3 Hours Report

It's not even shiny, but I even noticed it online!
Coffee Beans
     Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 released for the Wii on November 8, 2011 with a MSRP of $49.99. The game was developed by Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision, but ported to the Wii by a team at Treyarch.
     The game received an ESRB rating of "Mature" with "Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

     How many more U.S. Wii owners have reported playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in the last 7 months. Also, how many more "Total Hours" of game-play have been reported since the first data report? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Jump! Run! Kick! Slide! BIT.TRIP RUNNER Hours Report.


Coffee Beans
BIT.TRIP RUNNER released on May 17, 2010 for the Wii, through the WiiWare service. The game was developed by Gaijin Games and published by Aksys Games. It received an ESRB rating of "Everyone" with no content listed for gamers or parents to be aware of, and released at a price point of 800 Wii Points, which is $8.

How many total hours have U.S. Wii owners spent running, jumping, kicking, and sliding their way through the 2D Bit world with CommanderVideo? Does Bit.Trip Runner offer enough hours of game-play to justify its WiiWare asking price of $8? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Is Rhythm Heaven Fever worth $29.99? Initial Hours Report

Coffee Beans
Rhythm Heaven Fever was released on February 13, 2012 for the Wii in the U.S. The game was codeveloped by TNX and Nintendo's SPD Group No. 1, and published by Nintendo. It released with a MSRP of $29.99, and the game received an ESRB rating "Everyone" with "Mild Cartoon Violence" listed as content for gamers and parents to be aware of.

How many hours of game-play can you expect from Rhythm Heaven Fever? Brew some coffee, and let's take a look at how many hours U.S. Wii owners have reported playing Rhythm Heaven Fever since it released in February!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Super Mario Bros. 3 Hours Report & World 5-1 Beaten by Bean 1!

Coffee Beans
What happens when you start playing through Super Mario Bros. 3 with your three old son? Soon, he learns to move around the map and enter levels. He then starts to make slow progress in levels as he learns the importance of jumping, and that Koopas and Goombas are not your friends.

What happens when we complete World 4? The Princess gifts us the "P-Wing" and it is stored in our inventory, where I forget about it like the other items there.

After playing World 5-1 a few times with him watching, he decided he wanted the controller and I went to make some food for Bean 2. As I was preparing the food just a few yards away, I heard a sound coming from the television that caused me to look over. What did I see? Keep reading in the Caffeinated Thoughts section below to find out!

Super Mario Bros. 3 (SMB3) was originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, NES, on February 9, 1990 in the U.S. SMB3 was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console on November 5, 2007 at a price of 500 Wii Points, which is only $5.

The game was developed at Nintendo's EAD studio, and while it originally released before the Entertainment Software Rating Board's rating system was around, SMB3's Virtual Console release has an ESRB rating of "Everyone" with no content listed for gamers or parents to be aware.

How many hours have Wii owners reported playing Super Mario Bros. 3's digital release for the Virtual Console in the U.S., since it released? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

How to survive Lord Vensor the 3rd in Challenge Mode? Rage of the Gladiator Battle!

Can you survive all his magic acts?
Coffee Beans
Magicians never reveal their secrets? Well, at least according to Lord Vensor the 3rd. Over the last 2 years, I have uploaded several boss battle videos from Rage of the Gladiator, and just last month a comment popped up on one of my older videos.

What was the comment? It was a request asking if I would upload a video of a battle against Lord Vensor the 3rd. For clarification on the question, I asked "From the 'Challenge Mode' or the first time you face him?", and Challenge Mode was the battle they were looking for. I checked some of my older video files from the game, and while I had a Lord Vensor the 3rd battle recorded, it was from the normal mode.

I fired up Rage of the Gladiator a few nights ago, and decided to pay Lord Vensor the 3rd another visit in the arena, and check out his assortment of illusions. How did the battle go, watch the video below for a full Lord Vensor the 3rd Challenge Mode battle to find out!


Are there any hints, or tips, I have to help you survive Lord Vensor the 3rd's assortment of illusions in Challenge Mode, perhaps a little more easily? Brew yourself some coffee, and read the hint/tip I have below with an image, that should give you help for learning how to more easily avoid his "magical" laser show.

June Brewed - Coffees Consumed, Games Played!

Coffee Beans
     Good morning! June marked the start of summer, and I think the temperatures outside confirm that it has officially arrived!  E3 2012 came and went. We now know a little bit more about the Wii U and some of the games for it; Sony showed off two new IPs at E3, and both seem interesting and a bit "different" if that's the word I'm looking for; and Microsoft showed off many of the core games and franchises the Xbox 360 I think has become known for.
     With June having wrapped up, here are a few posts from the month I enjoyed putting together, that you might have missed:
     Zombies Run Nintendo - Zombie Iwata & Zombie Reggie?
     Caffeinated Thoughts on the E3 Conferences - Microsoft's, Nintendo's, and Sony's
     God of War & Punch-Out!! Mixed = Rage of the Gladiator? Arena Hours Debut!
     MarioCare, or ObamaCare? Dr. Mario Online Rx's Reported Hours
     THIS is what the 3DS XL should have looked like.
     A TKO Father's Day Gift! Nintendo Selects: Punch-Out!!

     With July now upon us, what games did I play and coffees did I consume in June? Brew a pot of coffee, and read on!


Coffees Consumed
     June, like May, was pretty simple for the coffees I consumed. All the coffee blends brewed in June were Maxwell House, and the month started us off with the Maxwell House Dark Roast blend continued from May. After we ran out of the Dark Roast, Mrs. Coffee purchased us a container of the Maxwell House Gourmet Roast, and that lasted almost to the end of June. Then there was a coffee emergency, and we ran out of coffee!
     It was last week, I believe Thursday, that I got up and brewed the morning pot of coffee like normal. That afternoon, I brewed another pot like normal, and ended up using all of the remaining coffee for that pot. I brew Mrs. Coffee a cup each night before she leaves for work, but when I used it all that afternoon, it meant no more coffee for that night. It also meant there would be no coffee before I would left for work the next morning.

     What did I do? After getting the little Beans off to bed, I sped to Wal-Mart in a mad coffee purchase run. We fortunately live very close to a Wal-Mart, and I was able to make it back to the house and brew the nightly pot of coffee before Mrs. Coffee left. I ended up grabbing Maxwell House's French Roast in the coffee run.

Do you know what this image shows? I spend too much time on images!
Games Played
     Mario Kart Wii - I played this early in June, racing . While I didn't race but one or two races, our oldest Bean took notice of the game, and I decided to let him give it a try. He was pretty successful at driving backwards, and doing backwards circles, but rarely driving forward.

     PAYDAY: The Heist - I have enjoyed my short time with PAYDAY again, playing it just over an hour on my PC. I really like how Steam shows the amount of time played, and the last date the game was played, as well as any "Achievements" gained in the game. So far, I have 2/51 Achievements on my Steam copy of PAYDAY: The Heist with 75 minutes played.

     Red Steel 2 - I purchased Red Steel 2 in May from Game Stop, after I published the "Did Wii Owners Enjoy Red Steel 2? What Do the Hours Say?" post. I finished the game's story mode on Thursday, June 7. The reported average "Per person" was just under 10 hours, but my Nintendo Channel data was showing my play-time as just over 13 hours. While the game's setting and graphics were well done, and even the game-play was enjoyable, I just don't think the game should have had "Red Steel" in its title. It wasn't a perfect game, with the ending feeling kind of rushed, and I wish there was a way to go back into the main story mode to walk around and complete other missions, but considering I purchased and completed it within 2 weeks, I think shows I enjoyed it enough while it lasted.

     Rage of the Gladiator - I played a few more battles in Rage of the Gladiator during June, using the Wii MotionPlus controls in the game. I created a new file, and am working my way through it using only the Wii MotionPlus controls to see how it goes. So far, I'm enjoying the Wii MotionPlus controls in the game, and appreciate the efforts with the new Wii MotionPlus attack animations put in by the developers. It wasn't something they had to do, but they took the time and made it an option, which I think is great.

     Super Mario Bros. 3 - What happens when I didn't want our oldest Bean playing Mario Kart Wii, because of mainly being paranoid about the game running our system's disc drive? He quickly becomes an expert at navigating the Wii menu, and discovering WiiWare and Virtual Console games, and of course recognizes Mario. So, he fired up Super Mario Bros. 3, and while he can't advance very far in the levels on his own, it has been a BLAST playing through the game with him watching/participating. He instructs me well, and has repeat requests for me to go to the "Dark Castle" and "Castle" in general. He identifies the enemies in the game pretty well, but the default "Castle" boss enemies are all "Koopas", because of the Mario cartoon series on Netflix. So far, we have made it to World 4.

     Groovin' Blocks - This is referred to as "The puzzle game.", by the oldest Bean. I played a few rounds of it, and beat one or two of my older high scores, but I'm not very good with keeping the beats in the game, and getting the "points multiplier" to go/stay higher.

     Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - This was a game Keith, of the now semi-retired RespawnAction.com, gifted me. I had played through I believe the first six chapters in the game last year, and wasn't sure how much more I had to go. I randomly decided to give it another go in June, and not only stuck with it, but finished the game on June 20th. If you have a PS3 system, or are looking at getting a PS3 system, I would highly suggest picking up Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. I have now added the sequels of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune to my "Video Games Wish List". I watched the credits all the way through the night/morning I completed the game, and was very surprised to re-learn the game was originally released in 2007. I guess because I didn't get my PlayStation 3 until 2009, I didn't really pay attention to when it was originally released before, but was very impressed with the game considering it was released that early in the PS3's "life".

     Punch-Out!! - This was one of my Father's Day gifts this year, and I have been enjoying my time with the game. I actually won the belts from the Minor, Major, & World Circuits in June, completing the World Circuit on June 30th. My reported time for the game was showing up as 5 Hours 32 Minutes, but that was without starting the Title Defense mode, and only completing two Challenges against Glass Joe in the game's Exhibition mode. You can see me box against Glass Joe in the game's Exhibition mode, in a video from the June post on the game. I have started the game's Title Defense mode now, and getting laughed at by Glass Joe is absolutely hilarious, and almost humbling!

     Bit.Trip Runner - If there is a case for free demos helping "sell" a game, this could possibly be one. I had downloaded the Bit.Trip Runner WiiWare demo last year, but never really gave it a chance. After our oldest and I started our SMB3 adventure, I thought, "I wonder if he only had to push a button to jump, and not concentrate on running also, it would be easier for him?", and that's how I ended up giving Bit.Trip Runner another try. Our oldest knows the name, and now recognizes the menu screen, for Bit.Trip Runner, and Commander Video is known as a "ninja" in our house. While I have not downloaded the FULL version of Bit.Trip Runner, I did look it up on Steam, and I also have been thinking about just adding the entire collection on the Wii, Bit.Trip Complete, to my "Video Games Wish List". Our oldest Bean has given the game a few tries, and can hop over at least the first obstacle, though not every time.

Questions/Thoughts
     What video games did you play in June, and did you perhaps try any new coffee blends/roasts in June (like our French Roasts blend), or just stick with the regular coffee blends? Out of the games you played, would any of them come highly recommended from you, like I would definitely recommend at least Uncharted: Drake's Fortune?
     With me writing out more thoughts on the games I played during the previous month, and the ones I have completed, I may start breaking these posts up into a "Coffees Consumed" and a separate "Games Played" post, so there isn't as much of a WALL-O-TEXT. Also, if anybody has any questions about the games I played in June, or even the coffees I consumed, feel free to leave a comment below or contact me by emailing me at, Scott(@)CoffeeWithGames.com.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

THIS is what the 3DS XL should have looked like.

No. Not exactly.
Coffee Beans
     I reserved the original 3DS model, but then canceled my pre-order on it and I still have not purchased a Nintendo 3DS system. Nintendo announced a new 3DS model, the 3DS XL, just over a week ago now.
     Was the new 3DS XL model shown what I was hoping for, and were the announcements at/since E3 for the 3DS system enough to get me excited about Nintendo's 3D handheld system? Maybe it was Capcom's Monster Hunter 4 3DS reveal today? Actually, neither one yet.

     What should have Nintendo's 3DS XL, or even just a new 3DS model in the future, look like that would get me interested in the console, perhaps enough to even buy one for if/when Monster Hunter 4 releases in the U.S. next year?
     Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look at two 3DS XL redesign options, that are better than the Nintendo 3DS XL's current design...at least in my caffeinated opinion. THESE are what the 3DS XL should have looked like!

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