My first StreetPass tag notification in all its glory

I got my first StreetPass tag almost a week exactly after I purchased my Nintendo 3DS. Like, I bought my system two Sundays ago around 5:00 P.M., and this last Sunday I passed someone else with their system on around 4:00 P.M.-ish. How freaking weird is that? I had almost given up hope of ever tagging anybody, too.

Anyways, his name is Dominic, and he was definitely at the Rockaway Mall on April 3, 2011, doing some spring shopping. His birthday was pretty recent on March 2, and his dream is “…to master an art!” Sadly, his favorite game title is, um, activity log. I immediately used him to spice up the two minigames within the Mii Plaza: Puzzle Swap and Find Mii. Sadly, he didn’t have a puzzle piece to share, but I did have him take some sword swings at ghosts. He’s now hanging out in my Mii Plaza, looking lonely, looking bored. I guess that’s all these Mii tags are good for–a one-time use.

I’m very curious to see if my system gets any more love while I’m in New York City over the weekend. I’ll be selling Supertown comics at MoCCA 2011, as well as walking around the city a wee bit. If I really come back completely StreetPass-empty, I’m gonna give up on the function entirely. I can earn my 10 Play Coins easily enough by the lunch hour, and after that then there’s no reason to be constantly carrying it with me.

Have you gotten your first StreetPass tag yet?

Chop their heads off with Munchkin Axe Cop

Don’t worry, I just double-checked, too: it’s March 11, not April 1.

Anyways, big announcement time from Steve Jackson Games as they have just thrown into the limelight their very first licensed Munchkin game. It’s Munchkin Axe Cop, based on that hilarious webcomic series that exploded on the Internet last year. Written by Malachai Nicolle (age 5) and drawn by his older brother Ethan Nicolle (age 29), Axe Cop has all the workings for a Munchkin game: it’s random, it’s erratic, it’s funny, it’s beyond belief, and it’s all about fighting enemies with whatever one can. I’m still a littled bewildered over this, but also curious to see it pan out. Munchkin Axe Cop will be a third quarter release.

This gives me hope that maybe one day, my very own webcomic (Supertown–please go read it!) could be turned into a Munchkin core set. I just need to fill it in more with crazy adorable characters…

Three Strikes and You’re Out, Unlimited SaGa

While compiling my backlog–and figuring out which games I’ve beaten and which I haven’t–I stumbled across a game that really gets on my nerves. And I’ve never played it for more than twenty minutes. Total. After three attempts to get into it, as well. Crazy, right?

I’m talking about Unlimited SaGa, of course.

A gorgeous looking game, much like previous entries in the series, with such heart devoted to style and character design and color tones. It’s hard not to be initially intrigued, really. Alas, Unlimited SaGa looks too good to be true. The gameplay is tedious, the once-involved battles are now confusing and dominated by luck and the spin of a wheel (which I never really understood, and this Reel system isn’t just assigned to combat, frustratingly), and moving around within the world–if you can call it moving–is just annoying and unclear.

I can’t really be completely objective though. I’ve never gotten far into the game, and heaven knows I’ve tried to at least three times. Each time I power on the PlayStation 2, grip my controller, and think, “Okay, this time we’re doing it!” Yet it never happens. No matter who I start with, no matter which plotline to follow, within the first few battles and inching around on the boardmap I’m already angry. And games shouldn’t really make people angry. They are entertainment, after all; entertainment paid for, expected, desired for something.

But yeah. Pretty horrible game. Can’t get into it, never will. Maybe it’s too old-fashioned, if that makes any sense. It’ll be the bane of my backlog, along with Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, another RPG that tries something new and ends up being a crawlfest.

Penny Arcade sums it all up pretty well, actually. Well, panels one and two that is.