I’ve become an advocate for no stuffed animals - but if I ever found this Ditto-Pikachu stuffed animal, I would buy it in a heartbeat.
Just in case you haven’t been following me on Twitter (@Nicktrunks) - I’ve been cleaning out my closet and room and found some treasures.
Olly Moss will release some new art prints today, all inspired by his favorite kid-friendly RPG franchise. “Generation One Starters” is a series of three 5″ x 5″ giclees for $25 each. Just like the game, you can only choose one, multiple orders will be canceled. As a bonus, 100 Pikachu prints will be randomly included. These go up today (Wednesday, March 7th) at 5pm GMT (that’s 11am Central Time here). They will be available as a timed-edition for one hour. Visit his shop.
(via omgposters)
Although I highly appreciate the idea, I feel like the “only one” goes against the whole “gotta catch ‘em all” mentality of the Pokémon genre.
Nostalgia Overload
I’ve recently been thinking about my early roots of gaming and the games I used to play when I was younger. I’ve been thinking about how exciting it always was to play these games, and everything was so new and different - I think one of the best examples and probably the one that I think about more than others was Pokémon.
I still remember when I got Pokémon. It was my birthday and I had soccer practice. Right before practice my dad was going to drive me to Toys R Us and buy me a new Gameboy Color (my first gaming system aside from an old Nintendo that we got rid of when I was in grade 3), and Pokémon. I remember trying to decide which version to get. After some deliberation I decided on the Blue version, but the Toys R Us informed us that they were sold out of both versions anyway (due to my Birthday being so close to Christmas and a close September release date for the game). They told us that the game was sold out everywhere and the chances of us finding a copy was nearly impossible.
My dad didn’t give up though. We drove around Hamilton, Burlington and Stoney Creek looking for a copy of the game and after a couple of hours we finally found one. I remember starting my game in the car, still wearing my shin guards and trying desperately to read the screen against the dark sky as I entered my name into the game. We never made it to the soccer game.
From then on, I remember being so incredibly engrossed and amazed about everything in the game. I had bought the strategy guide in order to read up on how to evolve my monsters, but never reading too far ahead in the game. I remember staying up all night at a sleepover in order to beat Lavender Town. I remember how my new neighbour, Steve, beat the Elite Four three or four hours before I did and warning me about how strong Lance was. I remember trading with him, because he had the Red version of the game, and managing to collect all 150 monsters without cheating. It was quite the feat.
It’s sad that these types of feelings and emotions don’t really exist in my gaming world any more. After half a dozen iterations of the Pokémon franchise, I stopped caring. I didn’t have to catch them all. I didn’t have to even complete all the side missions or fight all the trainers. It just lost it’s magic.
I’m glad I have my memories of what once was, but it’s such a shame that Pokémon will never have the same impact to me that it once did.
Day 7 - Top 10 Favourite Video Games
There are a lot of video games that I have enjoyed playing, but to make a top 10, I’ve had to include some sort of criteria. These are all games that I have beaten, and ones that I would play again. If they are part of a series, I have most often than not played additional titles in the series which I have enjoyed.
Without further delay - here it is:
10 - Diablo II
Diablo 2 and the original Starcraft could have tied for this position, but after reviewing how much I used to play Diablo 2 I couldn’t help but let it squeak in on its own. When it came out over 11 years ago I can only think back to how much time and effort I put into it. My original playthrough character was a Necromancer and I could summon the dead, have golems follow me around, and cast really complex spells. When Lord of Destruction (the expansion pack) came out, I tried out a Druid and found that I preferred characters that could create team mates to fight along side you. Since then I’ve played a bunch of other characters and collected a lot of unique equipment. Even last summer I re-installed this game to play with my friends and made it to Hell mode in two days. A great game with a lot of staying power - definitely looking forward to Diablo 3. Gameplay video
9 - Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
It’s weird to put this game on a list like this, but I went through a Guitar Hero stage pretty hard. I played it for the first time at a friends house and I was blown away by how difficult it was to control. When Meg got me Guitar Hero 3 for my PS2 on my birthday a couple years ago, I sat down and overcame my confusion. I beat the game on easy and medium, but got stuck on the final level on hard, and four songs from the end on expert. I’m nowhere near an expert at it, but I remember how hard I tried to actually progress, cramping my hands in the process. I beat Guitar Hero I and II on expert and thoroughly enjoyed playing the Rock Band games as well. This is a fun party game, and a puzzle game of skill that I loved playing if only to test my own abilities. Gameplay video
8 - Batman: Arkham Asylum
I’m a sucker for superheroes as you may know by now, but the only superhero game that I’ve ever felt was successful was Batman: Arkham Asylum. All other games seemed to fall short and not do the characters and canon justice. In AA, Rocksteady sticks closely to the fandom and brings in characters that fans of the series want to see, and includes dozens of references to characters you CAN’T see through hidden easter eggs and decorative pieces laying around the asylum. I felt a sense of accomplishment after beating the game and went back and made sure to find every single hidden reference just to see them and relate it to the canon of the game. The voice acting was perfect, using the 90’s cartoon actors to bring the characters to life. It was a game that I can’t recommend enough, and with Arkham City coming out soon, I can only hope it lives up to the hype. Gameplay video
7 - Monster Rancher
I’m a sucker for “collecting”. The concept of unlocking monsters and seeing which ones you still need is so up my alley its disgusting. When Monster Rancher came out, it introduced a new concept to North American gamers - while playing the game, you can swap out your game disc and insert a PC game, PS1 game or CD and unlock a brand new monster. I can’t even begin to estimate how many discs I’ve swapped out playing this series - it has to be deep into the hundreds. The thrill of unlocking something unique is really exciting too: suddenly you’re staring at a monster you haven’t seen before that is specific to that one particular disc you’re holding. Then of course you train these monsters, make them fight each other and they eventually die. It’s a tad morbid, but you can freeze your monsters at the peak of their health and then combine them with other strong monsters to create something brand new and much stronger than before. The only thing I wish now would be that a PS3 version of this would come out so I could waste all my time and energy on it. Gameplay video
6 - Kingdom Hearts
I almost put this game much higher on the list! When Kingdom Hearts was announced it was something to worry about - a combination of Disney characters and the RPG elements (and characters) of a Squaresoft game. I had loved both of those things for a long time, but putting them into a singular title worried me. In the end, the game turned out to be great. It was a perfect balance of seriousness and comedy and maintained the right amount of action and difficulty as I played. Sure, the dialogue was cheesy and the game was aimed at kids - but I was a kid when this came out, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I remember collecting every keyblade and hidden item throughout, and playing in the coliseum trying to best my times against certain enemies…Unfortunately, the series has taken a confusing turn, and is now concentrating too heavily in making a plot that is overly convoluted and difficult to follow - I’ve purchased and stopped playing the last three iterations for hand held systems. Hopefully if Kingdom Hearts 3 ever DOES come out, it will stick to its roots and be just as fun as the first two. Gameplay video
5 - Final Fantasy X
Believe it or not, this was the first RPG I had ever finished on my own. It was also my first PS2 game, and made me fall in love with my system and the style of gameplay. It’s sad to say that I didn’t start with what are typically referred to as the “Final Fantasy classics” like 7, 8 or 9, but because I enjoyed this game so much, upon its completion I went out and purchased backwards, playing the others until I either lost interest, or my save files. This was a game that I was fully engrossed in; I followed the plot carefully and went out of my way to collect every single hidden weapon or collect every summonable creature (like the Magus sisters, who single handedly defeated the final boss for me). It was a perfect game for me and came at a great time for me to start enjoying RPGs. I still purchase the new FFs, but don’t enjoy them nearly as much as I did X. Gameplay video
4 - We Love Katamari
It would be silly for me to include multiple iterations of a single franchise on this list, so I had to pick a singular Katamari title and decided on the second. After Katamari Damacy blew away expectations for a game where a tiny alien prince rolls around a ball that gets bigger and bigger, collecting trash and people as he goes - the second in the series went bigger and better. The plot was funnier and more absurd, there were new stages, new obstacles, presents, cousins and cut scenes. The entire games structure was more efficient and easier to enjoy, and enjoy I did. I must’ve sunk hundreds of hours into this game just trying to collect everything, or trying to unlock all the cousins. I even went as far as to sew tiny felt versions of a couple of the cousin characters. I managed to turn loads of my friends onto the game, and I’m just happy the series continued as long as it did - providing me with lots of entertainment. Gameplay video
3 - Portal 2
I literally just beat Portal 2 two days ago and it’s already number three on my list. I had to think about whether or not it deserved to be so high, or if my judgement was clouded by beating it so recently - but its definitely worthy. The concept of Portal 1 was amazing - you’re in a testing facility using a gun that can create portals to solve complex puzzles. The second iteration does the same thing again but much better, laying out a much tighter narrative. It is far more cinematic and has you actually establish a connection with the characters in the game. There’s so much more that I want to talk about, but it would contain way too many spoilers, and if there’s one thing I hate - it’s spoilers. I really loved this game and would recommend it to anyone who likes puzzle games. Gameplay video - some spoilers
2 - Fallout 3
Fallout 3 was the first game in a long time that I actually sat down and loved. I rented it and loved the gameplay, the story, the characterization and expansive world. It is a post-apocalyptic (my favourite) action/adventure/RPG that has a world so large that I still haven’t seen all of it. It follows your character exiting a vault hundreds of years after the bombs dropped, and exploring the wasteland. After the first couple missions, you’re free to explore and do whatever you’d like in the Capitol Wasteland. It’s lots of fun and often very tongue-in-cheek with dialogue; the writing is absolutely ridiculous at times. Like I said in one of my earlier posts - I liked it so much I wrote an entire 20-page independent study paper on it for my M.A. New Vegas may have fallen short of expectations for the series, but Fallout 3 is still a great game despite its bugs and shortcomings. Gameplay video
1 - Pokémon: Blue Version
How could this not be my number 1? Every time a new Fallout game comes out, I’m ten again, and have my mentality of “gotta catch ‘em all”. In grade 5, I had my Pokémon: Blue Version, and my neighbour Steve had the Red Version, and we traded until I had all 150 Pokémon. Soon after there were announcements of new Pokémon and a Gold and Silver version with a new storyline. I promptly downloaded a Japanese ROM of the game and played up to the Elite 4 in Japanese - using trial and error on the Japanese characters in my inventory. I just wanted MORE. I wanted to consume and collect all these monsters and I did. I managed to catch all 493 legitimately in the Diamond version, but there’s something about the innocence and gameplay of the original storyline - the original Pokémon, the music, sound effects, Gym Leaders, the Missingno cheat…everything that makes the Blue Version an absolute classic for kids of my generation - and something that Nintendo will never be able to replicate no matter how hard they try. Gameplay video
Vietnamese Pokemon Crystal.
Give it a couple minutes. I laughed out loud. Constantly. So many more parts…
Thanks Alex!
Early Bird Special: So, that alleged Pokémon live-action adaptation trailer we showed you the other day? Turns out it was fan-made. But now that the full HD version has been unveiled, you’re gonna cry yourself to sleep praying to God there was more to come.
[shogungamer.]
This ended up looking pretty good. The HD versions look great.
(Source: thedailywhat)
