Another week has done it, and flew by. Unbelievable how fast life manages to pass by, but then it seems I say this every week. It has been busy at work, you may remember I work at a large bank commuting to the center of the Netherlands, Utrecht, three days a week. This week it was even four days, which really prolonged my working week. But, at least that means gaming time on the train.
Lots of people in the Netherlands go to work or school on their bike, the easiest and most versatile way to travel if you don’t have too far to go. Walking from the railway station to my office, I pass a huge office building that they are demolishing. Piece by piece, as this is one of the busiest points in the city, and just taking a wrecking ball to it won’t work. The building used to be surrounded by a mote, that they had drained of water and were cleaning up. This is want they uncovered. Look and see where some of the Dutch park their bikes!
Interesting offers in the eShop
You might remember that I wrote about the Etrian Odyssey series of games several times here on ladiesgamers.com. I really like these RPG with the map-drawing feature, but I do realize they might not be for everyone. If you are still on the fence this might be a good moment to give one of the games a try. If you live in Europe that is, as they are offered at a permanent discount in the European eShop.
– Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan, NIS America – £17.99 (€9.99), previously £34.99 (€39.99)
– Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl, NIS America – £8.99 (€9.99), previously £34.99 (€39.99)
The cross over game with Etrian Odyssey and Persona, Persona Q, is available at a ridiculously low price too, as is Shin Megami Tensei.
– Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, NIS America – £8.99 (€9.99), previously £34.99 (€39.99)
– Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, NIS America – £8.99 (€9.99), previously £34.99 (€39.99)
Almost a pity that I already have all of them!
Atelier Firis: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Journey
We haven’t even been able to enjoy Atelier Sophie yet, and there’s already a new Atelier game being made. They are really churning them out, aren’t they? This game has the theme Journey, so Firis won’t have an alchemy atelier. She will still be able to synthesize on her journey, by using tents in the fields. Depending on how you solve certain challenges, you will have different fields to explore and a slightly different storyline. Isn’t it great when you have a favorite gaming series, and you never have to wait long for a new one?
Still into MiiTomo?
Did you download MiiTomo too a couple of months ago? You know I did, and I found it to be a fun and quirky app. But somehow my attention waned and I find I don’t have the interest or the time to log in anymore. For one thing, it can really be a time sink. And as time has been really precious lately, with a lot of deadlines at work, I find that I’d rather not jump in but spend my spare time on something else. Apparently I’m not the only one: Survey Monkey examined the way MiiTomo fails to keep people interested.
Here’s part of the report:
In Miitomo’s case, this lower-than-peers engagement translates into higher churn. The game’s weekly churn more than 50% means that over half of the users of Miitomo on a given week won’t come back and play it again the following week. For some apps that don’t need frequent use this isnt a problem, but for games like Miitomo that are designed for frequent use, churn at this level foreshadows a quick decline.Low engagement and high churn cause a steady decline in active users for Miitomo. When comparing to the other games it’s not necessarily the lower peak weekly-active users (WAU) that’s of concern, but the fact that Miitomo drops off much more rapidly. Clash Royale’s lowest value is just 22% from its peak, Candy Crush Jelly’s is 32% from its peak, but Miitomo WAU is 74% lower than its peak value in a much shorter timespan.
What about you? Are you still a regular visitor?
More details about Pokémon Go
Hardly a week goes by when there isn’t something new to report about the upcoming mobile game Pokémon Go. It would seem they are really going all out to make the game innovative, I always like that. This free to download game will make use of virtual reality combined with real world locations. You will be able to find and catch more than a hundred different Pokémon in the world around you. When you approach a Pokémon in the wild, your phones will notify you and give them the opportunity to engage and catch the Pokémon using the phone’s touch screen to throw a Poké Ball.
Poké Balls and other special items can be found at PokéStops, which are located at interesting places such as public art installations, historical markers, and monuments. You will be able to battle too, in gyms that are to be found a real world locations too.
I’ve been trying to think of what this actually means. Will it turn out that the bigger chains like Starbucks and Macdonalds will be willing to pay to get such a gym or PokésStop allotted?
Dragon Quest Builders to arrive West in October
A game that I had my eye on since it was announced for Japan is Dragon Quest Builders for PlayStation and the Vita. So it’s good news to hear the game will be released West in October. The game is a mix of a Dragon Quest RPG and a Minecraft-like way of playing, so that should be interesting. Players create a custom avatar and he or she is the one chosen by the Goddess to restore Alefgard. Once you head out into the world, you complete building-related and enemy-slaying tasks to restore the town.
Enough for now, right? Did your notice I slightly changed the name of this weekly blog? Better to make the title gaming-related, so everyone can know what to expect!
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope to see you here again next week!
First things first: I think that picture is posted upside down…
Continuing on: I got bored quicker with Miitomo than I had hoped to. Kind of sad but there’s just not enough to do to keep me interested.
I’ll keep playing Atelier games as long as they keep making them. I have changed how I play them though. I had been buying for the PS3/PS4 but I find that the experience fits me better on the Vita and I try to wait until they’re at a significant discount. I’ve found that they start being offered at sale prices a few months in.
Dragon Quest Builders sounds intriguing! I’ve always been a huge DQ fan but not so much into Minecraft. Then again, my son is more into the latter. Perhaps this game will be one that we both enjoy?
Which picture, David? The one with the bikes? That’s just where they found all those bikes, chucked into the water. They showed up when they drained the water!
Same here, I think I only payed full price for Rorona. But it might just be that I will go for Sophie immediately.
I still play Miitomo, but I think I have the right group of people – close friends that use it regularly that make it worth using. If it weren’t for that, I might do the bare minimum just to get the My Nintendo goodies. Though if I’m being honest, My Nintendo’s rewards aren’t good. Aside from Twilight Princess Picross and WarioWare: Touched, there are only games that are just discounted. If there were a way to eventually get them for free, then it might be worth it. As it is now, getting the My Nintendo coins is just a way to “trick” people into buying their older titles digitally. Thank goodness I actually like Miitomo, haha.
I really hoped MiiTomo would be a way to replace Swapnote. To me, MiiVerse never was as good, as you can’t make a group of friends in there. MiiTomo might give that option, but I haven’t found it yet.
I used Miitomo for about a month. I lost interest because my friends stopped using it so there wasn’t much new to read or show off cute outfits to. I hope I can get Pokemon Go! That picture is funny! I can’t believe so many people ditched or lost their bike there.
Neither could I. And the contractor who pumped out the water arranged them so nicely too!