NOTICE TO ALL
12 years ago
Thursday, April 29, 2010
NCS 4/15 + I Have A Dream...
Yeah, it took me a while to post this. Sorry about that; I've been under a lot of stress lately. One of my favorite teachers has left my college (NUUUUU MILLER-SENSEI! At least she's getting paid more), and finals are next week. Don't worry, though; I have a few article ideas in mind, and just realized that I have a dream alongside writing books:
I want to rip The Zone a new one by opening my own shop specializing in Eastern merchandise. Electronics, trading cards, anime, manga, the works. I'm sure that somebody has thought of it, but I have found an amazing site that sells AWESOME gizmos (light-up, waterproof keyboards, BLING jump drives, etc.) in bulk, customized, and so forth. It's all based in China, and could VERY well be a sweet business endeavor...
...unless there's some horrible catch.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Care to Play a Little Othello?
No, I don't mean the Shakespeare play. I mean the board game in which pieces change from black to white and back. This happens in card games far too often.
Nearly every monster-based card game has some set in which a few cards from previous sets 'go dark.' For Pokemon, the first set of this sort was the Team Rocket expansion (which came after Fossil); for Yu-Gi-Oh!, Phantom Darkness (although one could argue about Pandora/Arkana's variant Dark Magician). Digimon had a slew of type and color variations from the get-go - MetalGreymon was originally a Virus type.
So, why do companies do this?
There are a number of reasons. The most prominent one is that everyone, at some point and on some level, wants to see heroes go dark. That was why Toei/Bandai changed MetalGreymon's typing to begin with; in the anime, Virus-Type had been almost equated with evil. MetalGreymon's lost identity as a Virus-Type later made a cameo in Season 2. When there are stark 'good' and 'evil' sides, as there are in many of the series that Japanese card games are based off of, there's always a question of what would happen if the protagonist turned to the dark side a la Star Wars.
Unfortunately, this can be cumbersome in card games. For example, in the Team Rocket set mentioned above, one could only evolve Dark Charmeleon into Dark Charizard, Dark Wartortle into Dark Blastoise, and so on. A similar thing happened with Gym Leader and Team Aqua/Magma Pokemon.
Oh, how Gen III abused its ability to make things with more than one type.
Many Team A/M Pokemon were, you guessed it, cross-typed. They were often Dark/Whatever they usually were. If nothing else, they no longer had 'dark' in their names, and had more evolutionary options. I realize that Dark-Type wasn't around when the TR set was released; Nintendo updated that idea in "Team Rocket Returns" using actual Dark-typing, as well as slipping 'Dark' in the name. There was also an outlying Dark Celebi in EX: Hidden Legends.
OK, whatever. Using Dark like that is understandable, right?
Enter Delta Species. The idea behind it was that some scientists in the Holon region (which is not accessible in-game) were trying to locate Mew via electromagnetic waves. This caused mutations in the Pokemon of the surrounding area - namely, type changes.
Game-wise, this was done to make sure that relatively underpopulated types - Fire, Electric, and Steel - got more coverage. Delta Pokemon retained all other attributes of their former types - that is, a fire-type Pikachu (that did not exist, but as a hypothetical example) would still be weak to Fighting as opposed to being weak to Water. It would make a mono-Fire deck a bit harder to counter. Smart idea.
While the Pokemon Company meant well, they really could have done more with the whole 'Delta Species' concept. For example, there was a Grass-Type Dragonair; wouldn't it have been sweet to see a green Dragonair using Razor Leaf? Wait a sec- Dragonair don't come in green.
That's the thing that made Delta Species suck: They diversified the attacks well enough, but did not do so with the art. Black, Dark-type Shiny Charizard was a good move; they also made a Fire-Type Gyarados to coincide with its alternate red coloration. They were already breaking the rules with Delta Species. Why did they not go one step farther and change colors as well? It would have been interesting, challenging, and engaging to see, say, a Milotic using a Fire attack.
While this may seem like an unwise move on Pokemon's part, Yu-Gi-Oh! is the master of atrocities when it comes to giving creatures alternate forms. Othello is no exception to this rule.
Dark is one of the strongest types in the game. It has been since the days of the very first set, "Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Despite the set's name, back in those days, everyone was running Fiend/Spellcaster decks (called F/S Beatdown) with Blue-Eyes splashed in if present at all. It only got stronger when Chaos came around (removing 1 Light and 1 Dark Monster for a 3000/2500 BEAST -> Mokey Mokey + Skull Servant = GG). If anything, all other types were unbalanced in comparison.
Then "Phantom Darkness" came out. Then, everything else REALLY became weaker than Dark-Types.
In Phantom Darkness, the super-strong "Dark Boss" monsters were released, along with powerful support cards like "Allure of Darkness." These cards were not just good- they were AMAZING examples of type support done right. For example, Dark Armed Dragon required exactly 3 Dark Monsters in the Graveyard to be Special Summoned. Once on the field, it could wreak havoc with its amazing 2800 ATK and monster-destroying power. It stuck to its grits as a 'retrained' Dark Armed Dragon Lv7, bearing similar stats and abilities. The other Dark Bosses generally followed suit (with the exception of Dark Simurgh, who outshines its non-Dark counterpart in every way EXCEPT stats).
If Dark-Types had really needed the help, this would have been welcomed. Atlantis ("A Legendary Ocean"...up yours, 4Kids) and Daedalus were much-needed Water-Type support. Dark already had a plethora of things making it good. It did not need the help that nearly every other element did.
So, why did Konami do that? For the same reason they do everything: "Because it's cool." Never use Invader Zim logic in the real world. You'll make money, but it will not have a pretty effect on the metagame.
Nearly every monster-based card game has some set in which a few cards from previous sets 'go dark.' For Pokemon, the first set of this sort was the Team Rocket expansion (which came after Fossil); for Yu-Gi-Oh!, Phantom Darkness (although one could argue about Pandora/Arkana's variant Dark Magician). Digimon had a slew of type and color variations from the get-go - MetalGreymon was originally a Virus type.
So, why do companies do this?
There are a number of reasons. The most prominent one is that everyone, at some point and on some level, wants to see heroes go dark. That was why Toei/Bandai changed MetalGreymon's typing to begin with; in the anime, Virus-Type had been almost equated with evil. MetalGreymon's lost identity as a Virus-Type later made a cameo in Season 2. When there are stark 'good' and 'evil' sides, as there are in many of the series that Japanese card games are based off of, there's always a question of what would happen if the protagonist turned to the dark side a la Star Wars.
Unfortunately, this can be cumbersome in card games. For example, in the Team Rocket set mentioned above, one could only evolve Dark Charmeleon into Dark Charizard, Dark Wartortle into Dark Blastoise, and so on. A similar thing happened with Gym Leader and Team Aqua/Magma Pokemon.
Oh, how Gen III abused its ability to make things with more than one type.
Many Team A/M Pokemon were, you guessed it, cross-typed. They were often Dark/Whatever they usually were. If nothing else, they no longer had 'dark' in their names, and had more evolutionary options. I realize that Dark-Type wasn't around when the TR set was released; Nintendo updated that idea in "Team Rocket Returns" using actual Dark-typing, as well as slipping 'Dark' in the name. There was also an outlying Dark Celebi in EX: Hidden Legends.
OK, whatever. Using Dark like that is understandable, right?
Enter Delta Species. The idea behind it was that some scientists in the Holon region (which is not accessible in-game) were trying to locate Mew via electromagnetic waves. This caused mutations in the Pokemon of the surrounding area - namely, type changes.
Game-wise, this was done to make sure that relatively underpopulated types - Fire, Electric, and Steel - got more coverage. Delta Pokemon retained all other attributes of their former types - that is, a fire-type Pikachu (that did not exist, but as a hypothetical example) would still be weak to Fighting as opposed to being weak to Water. It would make a mono-Fire deck a bit harder to counter. Smart idea.
While the Pokemon Company meant well, they really could have done more with the whole 'Delta Species' concept. For example, there was a Grass-Type Dragonair; wouldn't it have been sweet to see a green Dragonair using Razor Leaf? Wait a sec- Dragonair don't come in green.
That's the thing that made Delta Species suck: They diversified the attacks well enough, but did not do so with the art. Black, Dark-type Shiny Charizard was a good move; they also made a Fire-Type Gyarados to coincide with its alternate red coloration. They were already breaking the rules with Delta Species. Why did they not go one step farther and change colors as well? It would have been interesting, challenging, and engaging to see, say, a Milotic using a Fire attack.
While this may seem like an unwise move on Pokemon's part, Yu-Gi-Oh! is the master of atrocities when it comes to giving creatures alternate forms. Othello is no exception to this rule.
Dark is one of the strongest types in the game. It has been since the days of the very first set, "Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Despite the set's name, back in those days, everyone was running Fiend/Spellcaster decks (called F/S Beatdown) with Blue-Eyes splashed in if present at all. It only got stronger when Chaos came around (removing 1 Light and 1 Dark Monster for a 3000/2500 BEAST -> Mokey Mokey + Skull Servant = GG). If anything, all other types were unbalanced in comparison.
Then "Phantom Darkness" came out. Then, everything else REALLY became weaker than Dark-Types.
In Phantom Darkness, the super-strong "Dark Boss" monsters were released, along with powerful support cards like "Allure of Darkness." These cards were not just good- they were AMAZING examples of type support done right. For example, Dark Armed Dragon required exactly 3 Dark Monsters in the Graveyard to be Special Summoned. Once on the field, it could wreak havoc with its amazing 2800 ATK and monster-destroying power. It stuck to its grits as a 'retrained' Dark Armed Dragon Lv7, bearing similar stats and abilities. The other Dark Bosses generally followed suit (with the exception of Dark Simurgh, who outshines its non-Dark counterpart in every way EXCEPT stats).
If Dark-Types had really needed the help, this would have been welcomed. Atlantis ("A Legendary Ocean"...up yours, 4Kids) and Daedalus were much-needed Water-Type support. Dark already had a plethora of things making it good. It did not need the help that nearly every other element did.
So, why did Konami do that? For the same reason they do everything: "Because it's cool." Never use Invader Zim logic in the real world. You'll make money, but it will not have a pretty effect on the metagame.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Told You So.
I hate to be a bitch about my own opinions, but some movie critics just confirmed my thought about dragons losing their edge:
Also, for the record, Clash of the Titans did indeed suck balls. I think I lost brain cells watching it. X.x
Also, for the record, Clash of the Titans did indeed suck balls. I think I lost brain cells watching it. X.x
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Eh, may as well link this.
I need to get into the habit of updating this more often. Once I think of a good topic again (as opposed to one that dies almost as soon as my browser refuses to post it), I'll post it.
Soooo have a NCS post. Both a friend of mine and myself have pulled CRAP from the HG/SS tins thus far. Nintendo, please don't start squeezing your buyers like Konami does. That would make a lot of people sad. T_T
Soooo have a NCS post. Both a friend of mine and myself have pulled CRAP from the HG/SS tins thus far. Nintendo, please don't start squeezing your buyers like Konami does. That would make a lot of people sad. T_T
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Holy **ck, Bandai!
Bandai may not be as incompetent as I thought. They have just released a Digimon MMO:
"Digimon RPG is a free to play micro-transaction supported MMORPG in a setting based on that of the Digimon media franchise, specifically the Digimon Tamers anime. It is currently only available to play in South Korea, but fan-created English and Spanish translation patches exist. In addition Bandai and Digitalic are working on an official English version of the game that is planned for Global launch in March 2010 by WeMade Entertainment."
The game is based off of the Digimon Tamers series, and shows up in a lot of the same places that regular MMO ads do. Currently, the site is offering free beta testing. This looks great; I'd nab it if I didn't need to rid my comp of all PREVIOUS MMO stuff. Still, I do encourage you all to try it if you have the hard drive space. :D
"Digimon RPG is a free to play micro-transaction supported MMORPG in a setting based on that of the Digimon media franchise, specifically the Digimon Tamers anime. It is currently only available to play in South Korea, but fan-created English and Spanish translation patches exist. In addition Bandai and Digitalic are working on an official English version of the game that is planned for Global launch in March 2010 by WeMade Entertainment."
The game is based off of the Digimon Tamers series, and shows up in a lot of the same places that regular MMO ads do. Currently, the site is offering free beta testing. This looks great; I'd nab it if I didn't need to rid my comp of all PREVIOUS MMO stuff. Still, I do encourage you all to try it if you have the hard drive space. :D
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
On Gen III + BRICK OF REVELATION'D!
Some people dropped Pokémon after G/S/C; a few stopped at game 1. When Gen III came out, however, a lot of criticism came with it. I have mentioned this criticism before, but a new way of looking at it crossed my mind.
Not only did Nintendo mooch off of Digimon in Gen III, they mooched off of themselves. Mind, they have a right to, but it still reeks of low creativity.
Case in point: Rayquaza and Gyarados. Remember when I said that Rayquaza's fish tail looked a little bit funny? Compare it to Gyarados's tail. Go on. I'll wait.
It's not just the tail, either. The pattern and some of the ridge positioning are also ripped off. I can understand Nintendo mooching off of Digimon (as I've said before, Bandai treats their own franchise like crap), but wow. This feels like some sort of creative low. I can imagine the board meeting now:
"Hey, let's make another Chinese dragon-ish Pokémon that replaces the giant bird from the original Behemoth VS Leviathan story!"
"You mean like another Gyarados?"
*Insert lightbulb of revelation here.*
See, according to a recent interview with Iwata, Pokemon Gold and Silver were supposed to be the finish line for Pokemon. This certainly explains why many of the Gen III and beyond designs don't seem up to snuff. I should link that interview here; the 'great rift' is not some illusion conjured up by veteran players.
*Goes back to wondering when they'll make a gryphon-ish Pokemon.*
Not only did Nintendo mooch off of Digimon in Gen III, they mooched off of themselves. Mind, they have a right to, but it still reeks of low creativity.
Case in point: Rayquaza and Gyarados. Remember when I said that Rayquaza's fish tail looked a little bit funny? Compare it to Gyarados's tail. Go on. I'll wait.
It's not just the tail, either. The pattern and some of the ridge positioning are also ripped off. I can understand Nintendo mooching off of Digimon (as I've said before, Bandai treats their own franchise like crap), but wow. This feels like some sort of creative low. I can imagine the board meeting now:
"Hey, let's make another Chinese dragon-ish Pokémon that replaces the giant bird from the original Behemoth VS Leviathan story!"
"You mean like another Gyarados?"
*Insert lightbulb of revelation here.*
See, according to a recent interview with Iwata, Pokemon Gold and Silver were supposed to be the finish line for Pokemon. This certainly explains why many of the Gen III and beyond designs don't seem up to snuff. I should link that interview here; the 'great rift' is not some illusion conjured up by veteran players.
*Goes back to wondering when they'll make a gryphon-ish Pokemon.*
Sunday, March 7, 2010
New NCS + Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: More than meets the eye?
NIKE! I hate to sound like a TOTAL girl, but pretty horsie is pretty! Pegasi (including winged alicorns) have always been my favorite members of the fantastic horse family, and Nike up there is no exception. Nike's foil is also AWESOME!
On another note, posts on dA and shared links have told me that YGO 5D's is actually a decent series. The first episode and the monster designs did not impress me, but the characters and monsters seem to receive substantial development.
Yes, characters and monsters. Apparently Stardust and BRD have a love/hate rivalry going, and AFD has a backstory. It seems solidly written, but I will try my best to avoid it until it is complete. There is no telling when the writing will suddenly turn sour.
Also, no matter HOW well-written the series is, Konami is handling it the wrong way. You have marketable monsters, good characters with decent, themed decks, and a new game mechanic to pimp, but what do they do with all that? Churn out Yusei product after Yusei product after Yusei product, make cards unrelated to the series crappy, and do not seem to realize how badly their Synchro mechanic has affected the game. They are doing a lot of things right- if only they would go back to slimming the gap between collectors and players.
On another note, posts on dA and shared links have told me that YGO 5D's is actually a decent series. The first episode and the monster designs did not impress me, but the characters and monsters seem to receive substantial development.
Yes, characters and monsters. Apparently Stardust and BRD have a love/hate rivalry going, and AFD has a backstory. It seems solidly written, but I will try my best to avoid it until it is complete. There is no telling when the writing will suddenly turn sour.
Also, no matter HOW well-written the series is, Konami is handling it the wrong way. You have marketable monsters, good characters with decent, themed decks, and a new game mechanic to pimp, but what do they do with all that? Churn out Yusei product after Yusei product after Yusei product, make cards unrelated to the series crappy, and do not seem to realize how badly their Synchro mechanic has affected the game. They are doing a lot of things right- if only they would go back to slimming the gap between collectors and players.
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