Quick thoughts on Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

I've been hopping into Luigi's dreams in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team for the Nintendo 3DS. Here are some thoughts on the game.

This is the fourth game in the Mario & Luigi series, and the gimmick in this one involves Luigi's dreams. It's a fun one, where you hop into dozens of dream worlds filled with surreal colors and music. This opens up a variety of special Luiginary Attacks and Luiginary Works you need to perform to solve puzzles and save Pi'illo characters. While the game plays similar to previous ones, this unique twist on dreams keeps things fresh.

The story takes roughly 40 hours to complete, not including side content like solving picture puzzles and other mini-games. However, it drags sluggishly in the beginning and near the end when you just want the game to finally end. Knocking away several hours of story would have been fine.

Check out my full review at www.theoaklandpress.com.

Get even tinier thoughts at www.twitter.com/JeffHoard921.

Quick thoughts on Pikmin 3

I've been commanding hundreds of cute, colorful Pikmin in Pikmin 3 for the Wii U, which releases Aug. 4. Here are some thoughts on the game.

To simply put it, Pikmin 3 is the best looking Wii U game to date, and probably will be for a while. While the ground textures aren't anything special, everything else is polished beautifully. Fruit looks very realistic, the lighting effects are superb and the frame rate doesn't miss a beat.

While the game can be controlled using just the GamePad, the most efficient way to play is with the Wiimote and Nunchuck. Pointing at the screen to aim Pikmin and round them up with the whistle is much smoother this way. But the GamePad does have its uses. You can see a map of the area on the touchscreen and it's a great way to send your explorers to a location automatically.

Check out my full review at www.theoaklandpress.com.

Get even tinier thoughts at www.twitter.com/JeffHoard921.

Gat is back in Saints Row IV

The lovable Johnny Gat is back and ready to kick some butt in Saints Row IV, releasing Aug. 20 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. I'm very glad he's back. To celebrate, here's a new trailer to watch.

DuckTales: Remastered releases Aug. 13 on PS3, Wii U, PC; Sept. 11 on Xbox 360

DuckTales was one of my go-to games back in my NES-playing days, hopping Scrooge McDuck around various levels, bouncing off baddies and collecting every jewel imaginable. After completing it, I would start it over and try to beat my current high score.

Soon it'll be time to visit Duckburg once again when Capcom releases DuckTales: Remastered digitally on Aug. 13 for the PS3 (PSN), Wii U (Nintendo eShop) and PC and Sept. 11 on Xbox 360 (XBLA). It will cost $14.99, and a PS3 retail version that includes a download code and exclusive DuckTales Disney collector's pin will be $19.99 and release Aug. 20.

Grand Theft Auto V the most ambitious GTA title yet

It's safe to say there will be a lot to do in Grand Theft Auto V, the next addition in the critically acclaimed GTA series by Rockstar Games, when it releases Sept. 17. The recently released official gameplay video gives everyone a good idea of what to expect. Since there will be three lead characters this time around, it shows us in action what it looks like to switch between Michael, Franklin and Trevor -- during teamwork missions and in the open world. It appears seamless with very little loading.

The world looks expansive with lots to do. There are cars to customize, sports like tennis and golf to play, ocean diving, animals to hunt and bounties to nab. Money can be spent on tattoos, clothes, real estate and even the stock market. A tease for online GTA is at the end, and looks very promising.

Get even tinier thoughts at www.twitter.com/JeffHoard921.

Goodbye, Ryan Davis

I never met Ryan Davis. He never knew me, although I tried to get him to. Thanks to Twitter where chatting with celebrities and anyone else is a few keystrokes away, I've replied to him several times on whatever he tweeted about. I can't remember specifics but I think one involved burnt salad.

But I really felt I knew Ryan, the funny, in-your-face co-founder of Giant Bomb. Part of my daily routine is to visit the website and see what the crew of co-founder Jeff Gerstmann, Vinny Caravella, Brad Shoemaker, Alex Navarro, Patrick Klepek and Drew Scanlon are up to next. To simply put it, it's a website focusing on the fun side of video games. Watching their Quick Looks and other videos and listening to their podcasts -- so young and carefree -- I felt a real connection with them, like everybody in their fan base.

That's why after the horrific news on Monday, it feels like something's been ripped out of me. There it was on the homepage: Ryan Davis, 1979-2013. I just stared at the computer screen in confusion. No way, I thought. He just got married. I saw those photos on Twitter of him so happy with life. This has to be a joke. But as the seconds turned into minutes into an hour and so forth, it was no joke. Crap. He's really gone.

A lot of well-deserved tributes and kind words have been written about Ryan, and more still to come. I just wanted to say he was an inspiration to me to start writing about video games, and I wish I got to meet him in person to say thank you for all the wonderful content and sharing his expertise with the world. Through tough times or after a hard day's work, listening to Ryan hosting the Tuesday podcast or performing a Quick Look always brightened my day. My condolences go to his new wife, family, friends and fellow Giant Bomb members for this sudden loss. That awkward cloud is going to hang above the Giant Bomb staff for who knows how long, but I'm confident in saying the show will go on -- Ryan wouldn't have it any other way.

He left us way too soon, and years of memorable moments will not be had. What's my favorite Ryan Davis moment? I can't pick one. There's too many to choose from. So here's a video of Ryan and Jeff cooking hot dogs. They look delicious.



Get even tinier thoughts at www.twitter.com/JeffHoard921.

Celebrate Independence Day with new Saints Row IV trailer

July 4 is coming, and what better way to celebrate it than watching the newest Saints Row IV trailer (mature audiences only). It looks super crazy, just the way I expected it to be. It releases Aug. 20 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.