Happy New Year, everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, got some good gaming in and took it easy (at least for a day or two). I'd also like to extend a special thanks to everyone who participated in my ghostly giveaway.

But the Hat of Fate has had its say, and the two winners who will be walking away with a copy of Gabrielle's Ghostly Grooves 3D and a Gabrielle figurine are...

TMARama

and

Link_Is_My_Homie

Congrats, you two! As for the MyIGNer who's getting a copy of the game along with the highly coveted invisible cookie, that honor goes to...

paleselan

Let's here it for these awesome users, and better luck next time to those of you who didn't win. Again, thanks so much for joining in on my fun and games. I hope 2012 is kind to all of you, that you achieve all of your gaming and non-gaming resolutions and take a few steps closer to becoming the person you want to be. ^___^

If you need to chat, you know where to find me. Until next time, Koopalings - GAME ON!

-Aminka

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Heyhey, fellow gamers!

First, let's start with the obvious. Nintendo. The Zelda timeline. Minds blown worldwide. I'll be honest... I never thought they'd really do it, at least not until I looked like the Old Woman from the original LoZ. A shocking amount of it was in line with my crazy theories. Some of it... not so much (three splits? And WTF's up with the placement of the Four Swords games?!).

If the rumors prove true (still waiting to verify things with my own Aminka eyes!), I'll not only have to immediately drop everything and begin a timeline playthrough of all the games (Yaaa, I'll take any excuse to replay Zelda, what of it? :P), but I'll also have to post my thoughts on everything in this here blog. In any case, stay tuned. ^_~

But now onto SRS BZNZ. The holiday season inevitably means a handful of things. Snow. Misletoe. Gingerbread. Fat dudes in red. Perhaps some lazy days... and most definitely a GHOSTLY GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Wait, what? Okay, maybe that last one's a little out of left field. But the fact of the matter is that in the wake of the Marios and Zeldas, a sweet and unexpectedly fun little 3DS rhythm game fell way off most people's radars. It's called Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove 3D, and while it might not take down Skyward Sword for GOTY, its adorable story and hilarious characters (BEGONE!!) made me smile from ear to ear.

And so, in light of holiday cheer and all the good stuff, I'm giving away three copies of this overlooked title. The first two winners get the game as well as a Gabrielle figurine (pictured below). A third winner just gets the game and an invisible cookie.

I don't know why, but her expression cracks me up. ^__^

To enter for your last chance at free game-age in 2011, just tell me your New Year's gaming resolution in the comments section of this blog post. Don't Tweet it, don't post it on my MyIGN wall - leave it here so I don't accidentally miss anyone. Then you know the drill - I'll put the profile names of all qualifying entrants into the Hat of Fate, draw three winners, and announce who the lucky folks are in my first blog post of 2012.

Oh free stuff. So much better than stuff you pay for. ^___^ You folks have until DECEMBER 31 to enter, so get making those resutions!

Until next year and ever after... GAME ON! >_<

-Aminka

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For us IGN editors (the cool ones, anyway), a new Find Mii adventure means only one thing - StreetPassing. LOTS of it. Check out our handy, dandy 3DS Day Care, where our beloved Guides Team looks over our systems as we wait for them to all StreetPass it up.

The white one on the left doesn't seem to be StreetPassing...

Ah, the beauty of teamwork.

-Aminka

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Hey everyone! ^_~

Before I get to my spoooky Hylian tale, did everyone update their 3DS systems? It's incredible, right? Find Mii II - so fun! I'm not even sure why I love it so  much, but it manages to bring a smile to my face every time. Potions, combo attacks, 57 NEW HATS! How awesome is that?! The new enemies and rooms are wicked too - stupid fire room messing up my hat-collecting plans! *shakes fist*

The new update also means I got to transfer all my data to my shiny new Zelda 3DS. HOORAY! <(^ ^<) (>^ ^)> I was pleasantly surprised by how comprehensive the transfer was. Games, saves, photos, my Mii Plaza population, my eShop wallet balance - it all transferred, so now I don't have to carry around two systems like a total goon. :P

But on to the spookys. This actually happened to me a few weeks ago, before Zelda: Skyward Sword released, I just haven't had a chance to blog about it. I was sitting at my kitchen table eating dinner with the mister, when all of a sudden the Zelda Overworld theme started playing out of nowhere. Eep! I looked all around, and finally tracked the music down to my coat pocket, where my phone had randomly started playing the track. I hadn't even listened to that song recently, and there wasn't anything else in my pocket that could have prodded the music player to life!

*cue X-Files theme*

I snapped the above pic as proof of sorts, but even now I have no idea how that happened. Not that it really matters, as this spook-tastic tale makes for the most epic story ever! I didn't know what caused it, but I knew what it meant. The universe was telling me it was time to drop everything, even my dinner fork, and get back to the amazing world of Skyloft. Needless to say, I obliged.

Weirdness, right? Have any of you folks ever had any weird gaming moments like that? And also, what do you think of the new 3DS update? Let me know so we can chat it up!

Until next time - peace, love, and GAME ON! >__<

-Aminka

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For a lot of us it's been a nice, looooong weekend. And for gamers, that means only one thing: massive, massive amounts of gaming. So, spill! What did you guys game on these past few days, and what did you think of 'em? Get any super awesome Zelda 3DS bundles? Send any swords Skyward? Stomp any Goombas? Shoot any aliens? Prowl the city as a bat at all?

As for me, I've spent the weekend devouring Mario Kart 7 for review (look for said review Monday night at 12:01am PST). Yoshi and I - we're unstoppable! Outside of that I've been watching the bf play through Skyward Sword, sneaking in some Hero Mode time whenever he sets his sword aside. Mostly it's been all Mario Kart, all the time, though. Oh, and I've also been toying with my various Ambassador and 3DS Virtual Console games a bit between races. Goooood times. ^____^

You're going down, King Koopa.

Anyhoo, just wanted to check in and make sure you're still gaming on and such. See ya 'round the IGN/MyIGN block!! ^_~

-Aminka

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