Club Nintendo Gift 2012

I woke up today and found a small package waiting for me. I wasn't sure what it was since I haven't ordered anything lately. It wasn't until I opened it, I realized what it was! It was my Club Nintendo gift for being a PLatinum member!

The nice thing about Nintendo is that if you join their club and buy their products, almost all of them come with registration codes which earn you points. You can redeem those points for online download games or for some other rewards such as pencil cases, cards, etc. You can get something using 10 points, up until 1200. (On average, a game will probably get you only 30 points).

To reach Gold member status, you need 300 points and to reach Platinum you need 600. @(*o*@)''

Club Nintendo Platinum Playing Cards 2012

At first, my reaction to the initial gifts did not appeal to me since there were better gifts in previous years. The options were posters or calenders, or you could get some classic games for your DS/3DS/Wii. I just opted to get the playing cards since it was practical (the calendar was also practical, but was a Gold member award, the cards were Platinum only.) From the prototype picture and description it was Super Mario themed playing cards on clear plastic and it looked fancy. However, I have to be honest, I didn't have too much expectation for it. Plus, I submitted my choice in July/August and it didn't arrive until today. The fine print on the site did say that it would arrive before Christmas though. . .

Mario!

After I opened my package and took out the cards, I was really surprised! The metallic print on the plastic is very sharp and has a great sheen to it. The cards are done on clear plastic and the designs have void spaces in the design to accent that fact. My camera had a hard time trying to capture the designs on the back of the cards!

Mario, Peach and Luigi

Mario, Princess Peach, and Luigi are the King, Queen and Jack, and Bowser is the Joker! I am really amused with these cards and I'm not sure when and if I will use them because I really like them. It kind of defeats the purpose of it being practical, right? >3<;

All in all, Nintendo, you've impressed me! This gift exceeded my expectations and although it took almost 4 months for it to arrive to my house, it served as an unexpected Christmas gift. It's nice that Nintendo awards it's members for their loyalty though. They don't have to but it is a nice gesture. 

Anyone want to play cards with me?

♥

Addiction: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

I've been raving about this game ever since they had announced and revealed the trailers for it at TGS and other events in Japan earlier in the year. It was one of those random games I wanted to play because it was cute but since it was for the Nintendo 3DS, it wasn't going to happen since I didn't have one...

Fast forward a few months later, I have a 3DS and I also have Theatrhythm. I got into a funny argument at work with a co-worker about how you pronounced the name of the game. Really, it's not hard at all!!

Theater. Rhythm. 

Not, Tee-at - rhythm. >_>;;

The pre-order of the game came with a stylus for gameplay, and a sheet of cute stickers, where you choose one to stick on the limited edition stylus.

I've been addicted to this game! It's really fun to play and not particularly hard at the beginning, but the songs on ultimate mode are crazy intense! It's basically a rhythm game modeled off the idea of Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Where all the main characters of each Final Fantasy game from I - XIII are represented. As you clear stages and certain modes, you can unlock characters. Currently, I have 8 unlocked! There's 16 un-lockable characters in total! So I have a long way to go if I want to get them all!

It's Theatrhythm time!

Comparing styluses.

Why is it so cute?!

The sticker sheet is super cute but I'll probably never choose one to stick on the stylus. I won't even use the special stylus since I have a DS pen! It makes playing much easier, and when you compare the sizes of the 3DS stylus to the other ones, you can see why. The first weekend when I was playing this game for a significant amount of time, it felt like I had arthritis! And that's just using my normal ergonomic pen too... I don't want to know how it felt using the other ones..

I also wanted to mention that the inside of the game case is super cute too!

There's 3 types of game play in this game. One is called FMS (Field Music Stage), which mimics the feeling of traveling through the world map in each game. If you pass a certain part of the music, you can get a chance to ride on a chocobo in this mode! You might also meet a moogle, who will give you an item!
There's BMS, which is the battle mode. You tap, slide, hold to the rhythm of the music to defeat monsters that appear in this mode.
The last is movie mode, where iconic movie moments of each game are played on the screen and you tap to the cues given. It's actually quite distracting, because you end up engrossed in the movie clips and miss everything!

As you play through the game, Cosmos asks you to earn Rhythmia points, and when you reach 10,000 points,  you are challenged by Chaos, and when you beat him the game credits roll. The game isn't over since you can continue playing and try to unlock characters.

At a certain point you will get a Chaos Note, which are special game levels in the Chaos Shrine. You can earn special items in this level, and as you clear one note, you will get a new one. It's a good way to train, besides doing all the Challenge songs.

My party in Theatrhythm

My main team I used was Terra, Bartz, Cloud and Zidane. I went for a party that would be quick and agile, Cloud was the brawn! :3
You can also see some of the secret characters I have unlocked along the way too!
I've already maxed my main team to lvl 99, so I'm working on a 2nd team while I try to clear more challenges.

This game is really cute, and addictive. If you love the music of Final Fantasy, and like rhythm games, this is something for you! There's not much of a storyline, the game play is really simple and casual.

Now, I just have to figure out how to unlock Sephiroth and Kain!

♥