So, I’ve not really been doing much gaming for the last year or two. Just fiddling with a few titles here and there. It’s a bit of a recurring ennui, really. I can pin-point pretty much where this lengthy slump came from. It pretty much coincides with the end of the Gamecube era and the start of the Wii era.

Throughout its life, there was a steady stream of seriously good (to my eyes – I have odd tastes) titles appearing on pretty much a monthly basis on the cube. A fair few of them I still pull out every now and again. More than a few have gone in my gaming top-ten-of-all-time.

So, to say I was disappointed with the Wii is an understatement. I’m sure there were some good titles released, but the sheer volume of utter shovelware pumped onto the system did a damn fine job of masking it. Even the first-party titles didn’t particularly shine for me (with a few exceptions). Something I’d normally consider unthinkable happened. Skyward Sword – a Zelda game – is sitting on my shelf. I haven’t played it. And I LOVE Zelda.

Anyway, things appear to be looking up. I have a 3DS and it’s starting to get some damn good titles. Titles of a quality that it’s beginning to feel a bit like the Gamecube era. In the last six months or so I’ve bought Ocarina (again :)), Cave Story, Harvest Moon, Fire Emblem, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Donkey Kong Country Returns and Luigi’s Mansion 2. Without exception, they are magnificent.

In fact, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is SO magnificent that I’ve just bought a Wii-U to play it on. Thank God, it looks like Nintendo are getting their act together.