If you've never heard of Mr. B, he is my favorite new thing from Britain. A banjolele-playing, pipe-smoking gentleman rhymer, his songs are just awesome:



How can you not love that? Consider yourself getting an introduction to chap-hop.

And speaking of things to get, that's what we're all here for, right? It's another weekly edition of What'd You Get, where you get to talk about all the new games and such you got this week. Like Borderlands. Or Borderlands. Or Borderlands. Well, at least that's what my friends list tells me you all got this week.

This week: nothing new. Picked up Forza 3 on Tuesday and have been playing it off-and-on for the last week or so and am really, really enjoying it.But since that should do me for a while, haven't had the need to get anything else, honestly. Oh, and I got some new hats in Team Fortress 2, so I'm happy about that. And that Left 4 Dead 2 demo thing I had to wait for that came out while I was at work.

So that's all for me this week. What'd all of you get?

It's been just about three years now, and the Wii has been something of a let down for me. Most of that has to do with the software the console has: 90 percent of the games on the Wii range from "doesn't live up to its full potential" to "absolutely putrid." Only a handful of developers — Nintendo itself, Suda 51, Capcom and EA among them — have even put something on the Wii worth writing home about. Most are content to half-ass it in graphics, in game play and in just about every facet, preferring sales over quality. And even those who are doing things right aren't putting enough attention to the hardcore gamers ... well, actually, there is no strong hardcore Wii userbase anymore. It's gone to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 and it's maybe never coming back if things continue as is. And though I do play my Wii still, I'm slowly drifting into that group, too.

To say I'm displeased with the way the software side of the Wii has gone would be an understatement. While I have played some great Wii games, they have been far and few between not because there aren't any good games, but they just aren't being released on a regular basis to any fanfare. Combined with some confusing statements from Nintendo, it just makes me feel that even though they seem to want to do the games the core wants, they're hesitant to pull the trigger on developing them.

Maybe that's why I'm so hopeful about Epic Mickey, the game Warren Spector's leading the charge on. Disney's become a surprise as of late, having first shocked me with how good Split/Second is turning out to be, and then not only creating this Wii-exclusive title, but giving a damn to start promoting it at every turn. And on top of all of that, after watching Warren's recent talk about the game, I feel like both he and Disney get it. They get what the Wii core gamers, the few of us left, need in a game. And that, more than anything, makes me excited about this game.



If you're at all interested in this game, I'd suggest listening to what Warren has to say about the game.
It's absolutely fascinating to hear his design philosophy, what he's hoping to get out of this game, and to see some of what the final product might look like. Sure, there's a good chance the game's not going to be the prettiest belle at the ball. It's not going to run circles around what the PS3 and Xbox 360 can do with their graphics. But for the first time in a long, long time, I am genuinely excited about a Nintendo Wii game, and I hope this lives up to what it's suggesting it'll be. Disney needs it. Mickey Mouse needs it. And most of all, Wii owners need it.

Hey folks. Sorry I've been absent, but life has kept me busy lately. I've been tending to Tomopop as we grow and I've been taking on a lot of work with that, plus I had some personal stuff go down, but it's all ok now. I'll try and get back in the swing of things with writing, though :)

To start, let me once again do a weekly installment of What'd You Get?, and this week, I've got a ton. And a few excuses to where I'll be in the future should I disappear for a few days. Trust me: I've got a good reason.

That reason? At 10 a.m. tomorrow, Forza 3 will be in my hands. At 10:30 a.m., I will be playing it until I have to be dragged away to work. Repeat as necessary.

I also picked up Left 4 Dead 2 on PC with three buddies and I'll be checking out the demo tomorrow. Looking forward to that. I might eventually buy it for 360, too, so I can play with those of you on that console. My Steam ID is NihonTiger, if you want to add me for future zombie-killing fun.

Add in that Champions Online is free this weekend (I haven't bought the game only because I know I will get sucked in and the monthly fees are going to kill me) and I might not be around much until next Monday. Oh, and I have Tomopop to tend to, as well.

I'm also considering buying Borderlands on PC via Steam, so if anyone wants to go foursies with me or needs someone for a four-pack, let me know.

That's all for me this week. What'd all of you get?

NOTE: NihonTiger's XBL Gamertag is NihonTiger90. He is taking on all challengers in Forza 3 looking for a good race. This will probably continue until he either tires of it or Forza 4 comes out.

So, sorry this is late tonight, folks, but I was at work late. That's what happens when your co-workers screw up, then you catch their mistakes and you all have to correct it. Except instead of getting a pat on the back tomorrow, I'm going to get yelled at for not getting it right the first time ... even though I had no clue the mistake was made until I saw my co-worker's work because they never bothered to show me it when it was finished. Fun. *sigh*

But yeah, this is why I have games. They help me forget stress about things, like being stuck at work or getting older. And What'd You Get? is where you can tell us about the games you got or are getting this week. It's free to join in. Just post a comment. That's all.

Anyways, nothing new this week. Just waiting for the 27th to get here so I can play Forza 3. So no reason to pick anything up yet that will interfere with that, right, guys? Right?

So I got nothing this week but bitched at by my boss. What'd all of you get?

I think those of you who know me know that there's a game coming out this month I'm interested in. It's something I've been putting a little money away for and something I'll soon be able to add to my collection. Putting off purchases and all that jazz. So let me tell you about what I got:

This week? Forza 3 pre-ordered. No, I didn't get a free copy or anything like that, and honestly, that's not such a bad thing because I can go out and get the limited collector's edition instead with all those nice little bonus cars. Yay!

I don't know if I'll be getting much else once I get Forza 3 because it ought to be enough to keep me entertained for the next couple months, but I might get a few small games here and there.

What'd all of you get this week?

[i]Full Throttle is a series of posts from NihonTiger about racing games and the racing genre.
Sometimes, it'll be news. A lot of times, it'll be opinion. Sometimes, maybe both. And other times, maybe a look back at good old racing games. Enjoy.[/i]

Forza 3 comes out in just a few weeks, and while I'm drooling with anticipation, a little bit of somewhat significant news came out recently and no one noticed. It probably was because Turn 10 didn't write it up and send it out as a press release, but I digress. That's something for another time.

The news was that Forza 3 will have *gasp* stock cars in the game from Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge (Toyota is notably absent), based off the design of the NASCAR stock car before they revealed the Car of Tomorrow (CoT) a few years back. I'm assuming this is the case because they don't have NASCAR's license and the CoT is NASCAR's creation. These stock cars, though, are run in several different series, including some non-NASCAR ones, so I'm guessing that's why they're in the game instead.

It doesn't take away from the fact that Gran Turismo 5 has the NASCAR license and at least Daytona and Indianapolis (with many more likely to follow), but it does take some of the punch out of that big exclusivity that Sony thought they had locked up. After all, with the amazing custom livery creator and the ability to send other people liveries without having to send them cars, there's nothing that will keep the best of the best from painting almost the entire 2009 Sprint Cup field and sharing it with the world. Having been a regular on the Forza Motorsport forums during the Forza 2 era, I can recall several threads filled with customized cars that featured paint jobs based off those of NASCAR teams. With these new cars, they're not only going to be appealing to the NASCAR fans out there who might not want Forza because of the licensing, but those who paint cars for others are going to be happy they won't have to squeeze Jeff Gordon's #24 Dupont flame pattern on a Chevrolet Cobalt any longer. And there's nothing Sony can do about it.

Still, there might be some painted cars in the future, most likely as DLC: the Limited Edition crew gets a custom Charget stock car with an Xbox 360 paint job on it just for buying the game. This all might not mean much to you, but with no EA NASCAR titles being produced and with the PS3 being the only home right now to the license, it's a shot across the bow of Sony and Polyphony Digital that Microsoft and Turn 10 aren't going to let them just run away with what is actually quite a lucrative market.

And hey, with Gran Turismo 5 still off in the 2010 horizon, this is the only racing game stock car fans are going to have to satisfy their needs this holiday season.