Skylanders Monopoly Unboxing and Review

What?  Monopoly: Skylanders by Activison, Hasbro, and USAopoly
Where Did You Get It?  Special delivery from Activision!  Thanks!!
Where Does it Retail?  Amazon.com, GameStop, Hastings, and Everything Entertainment
What Does It Cost?  $39.99
Is It Worth the Price?  YES!!

Unboxing and Review of Monopoly: Skylanders

I was very pleasantly surprised this afternoon when a mystery shipment from Activision came to work.  At first I was thinking it might be the new purple variants, or maybe some E3 Hot Dogs to give away...The box could have housed a TON of Skylanders.  I then got a tip off on the label...Skylanders Monopoly?  Seriously?  I literally tried to find this locally on my lunch hour (I did at least get a 2nd S2 Drobot out of the trip).  What a sweet surprise!  And luckily it came before I ordered it in from Amazon.

I have to say, this is a great collector's piece.  The artwork is the best I have ever seen on a board game.  The details (property names etc) are spot-on and were definitely well crafted.  You could literally just use this as a backdrop for your Skylanders and be set...If you open it, you can utilize the board for a floor mat display to an army of Skylanders.

Or, you can actually play the game...Monopoly: Skylander looks like it will take all the fun of Monopoly and seamlessly mesh the classic game play we all know and love into a submersive Skyland experience.

There are 22 Skylands based locations, Treasure Chests replace the Community Chest, Luck-O-Tron Cards replace the Chance Cards, Houses are Huts, Hotels are Casltes, both the Huts and Castles have Skylander themed coloring, and we get six collectible, metal game tokens, that includes, KAOS.

I am VERY IMPRESSED with the little things on this game...As you know I am a stickler for details and spend time going over things with a fine tooth comb...This didn't disappoint me, but it did exceed expectations...big time.  Again, I can't stress how pleased collectors will be with just the artwork and display potential of the game...It is a nice addition for any collector be they casual, or hardcore.  Hats off to Activision, Hasbro, and USAopoly for crafting this one!

I have to once more thank Activision for sending this out, I appreciate Flynn's Balloon too!  I hope that the unboxing and review will help alert other Portal Masters and Skylander fans to the game and perhaps convince a few that may have been skeptical of the polished web store shots that this truly does feature great artwork.

As for the game itself, I haven't played yet...but I will Saturday night!

Here are a few quick shots to go along with the video...

You can find Monopoly: Skylanders at GameStop (retail stores and online), Hastings (retail and online), Entertainment Earth (never heard of the chain, but I assume in stores and online), and of course Amazon.com.  In addition to these stores, some specialty outfits will stock the game and I'm confident malls across America will have carts and seasonal shops open up that will have it (great to package this with the coming 2014 Skylanders calendar imo!).  It retails for $39.99.  I don't think collectors will be disappointed AND if you play the game, it will no doubt pay for itself in a few rounds of play.

Thanks again to Activision and be on the lookout for KAOS as seen in the last picture...

"BEHOLD MY METAL MINIATURE MONOPOLY PIECE...FEAR IT...FEAR MY METAL MINIATURE MONOPOLY GAME PIECE!!!"  (Swallows Fly)

Mario Party 9 Blind Playthrough

Hey Everyone,

Letsa Party!

Or something like that...

Mario Party 9 is a great group game and in an effort to highlight the boards, bosses, and some of the minigames I will be engaging in a quick and casual playthrough of the game.  I feel like a lot of people just typecast the "Mario Party" series and don't give it a chance.

MP9 is actually a lot of fun and a very nice change of pace.  The real pay off is of course multiplayer mode, but Single Player Mode is great too.

This one won't be too in-depth, mainly just me taking you through each of the game's boards.

Mario Party 9 Toad Road Part 1

Mario Party 9 Toad Road Part 2

Mario Kart Wii Playthrough

Well you wanted it, here it is...the Mario Kart Wii Playthrough!

I was shocked at how this game dominated the blog poll of what you wanted to see...granted, I wasn't surprised it won out, but the margin of victory was astounding and speaks volumes to how great of a game this is to be so popular after 4 years on the market.

That said, I played this game a ton back in late 2009 and early 2010...Some of my first videos were shot with a camera pointed at my TV to capture end scenes etc.  This game was the big reason I wanted to get into recording gameplay, mainly to capture some of the unbelievable stuff that went down in online play with my friends.

However, as fate (and/or a really lackluster ISP) would have it, I started having connectivity issues.  I went from being able to play 2 hours at full speed to connecting, starting a race, and getting tossed...or in some instances never being able to connect.

The ISP was called out, they diagnosed the problem as having "water in the line" and gave me a splitter to put in that would decrease picture quality on my TV, but make the internet closer to the speed that it should be...It took me a while to realize that was their solution...they apparently have no intention or care to dry or replace the line (or find the real reason and drop the lame excuse).  Nonetheless, if you have ever played something online with dial-up just imagine that today, but make the disconnects longer and more untimely.

So long story short, I quit playing the game religiously and kind of got into other things...As much as I'd like to swap friend codes it is pointless since I can't stay connected (before Nintendo Channel stuff with Alison and Gary was canned a 10 minute episode would take like 25-30 for me to watch...if I wasn't disconnected with an error message).  Believe me, if I could play online you'd have been seeing MKW Online matches since I started recording in June 2011.

All that aside, here is the plan...

A basically complete playthrough of Mario Kart Wii.

I plan to complete the 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc, as well as unlock all the karts and characters.  I may or may not record/upload the Mirror Mode stuff, we will just have to wait and see.

The plan of attack is to make this relate to the casual player, not someone that plays daily, has a hacked console, and owns world records.  That said, I am going Automatic and Standard Kart/Bike for the main portion of the playthrough.  I will also stick with a single character for each segment.

When we get to the Time Trials etc I will rotate characters and karts more often.

I started recording this in early June 2012, right as I was wrapping up Skylander upgrade vids etc.  I have currently (July 4th, 2012) recorded all the 50cc and 100cc races...Even have a few of the 50cc vids edited and ready to upload.  I'll start uploading a few each week as I give myself time to complete the remaining races.

As a sidenote I actually started 2 other playthroughs around that same time...one planned, one just out of the blue...I had major game audio issues in the planned one and will probably have to re-record 2 parts...The other doesn't have major issues and I may alternate uploads to spice things up...That is all I will say about it right now...so stay tuned!  And no, the Skylander vids are not over...have a few more to record and/or upload.

This should be a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy it.

Mario Kart Wii Part 1: 50cc Mushroom Cup featuring Koopa Troopa

Mario Kart Wii Part 2: 50cc Flower Cup featuring Koopa Troopa

Mario Kart Wii Part 3: 50cc Star Cup featuring Koopa Troopa

Mario Kart Wii Part 4: Special Cup 50cc featuring Koopa Troopa

Mario Kart Wii Part 5: 50cc Shell Cup featuring Koopa Troopa