Friday, November 15, 2013

WORD OF THE DAY! 11/15/13!

octonary [ok-ton-uh-ree]
adjective
1. Concerning, pertaining, or leading to the number 8.

EX. Most people don't remember the octonary form of our favorite Time Lord. Played by Paul McGann in the 1996 TV film, the Eighth Doctor was a co-production between American Fox Studios and BBC meant to stir up interest in Doctor Who, on both sides of the pond, and set into motion the first Doctor Who TV series since the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) made his last main series appearance in the episode Survival in 1989. Unfortunately, the 8th didn't get much of chance and his introduction would also be his final appearance...until now.


This is a pretty nice little special short that makes me wish we could've experience more of the Eighth Doctor. Then again, I've never seen his film. Maybe I should fix that...

Thursday, November 14, 2013

WEEKLY ROUND-UP! NOV. 4- NOV. 10 2013!

WEEKLY ROUND-UP PRESENTS
PSYCHIC MEGA-EVOLUTION WEEK!

BTW, why don't we have a Mega-Reuinclus escapes me. The Mega-missed out there.

7. WORD OF THE DAY! 11/5/13! ESP!

If I had psychic powers, I probably would use them for the good of mankind. I promise not to use them to win Jeopardy, perform magic shows, and partake in INCEPTION-style voyeurism minus all of the high-concept, little explanation equipment.

6. WORD OF THE DAY! 11/10/13! POKÉBLOG X #4 WONDER TRADE.

I need to get my butt in-gear breeding decent Pokémon so I can Wonder Trade them away like a Russian orphanage with bills to pay... Wait. That was a depressing simile. There is nothing funny about neglected children. Now I'm sad. Way to go Wonder Trade!

5. WORD OF THE DAY! 11/4/13! POKÉBLOG X #3 FROM VANIVILLE TO SANTALUNE!

Um, seriously, don't google Professor Sycamore or his perfect hair & perfect abs.

4. WTF WED! IT'S MADE OUT OF F***ING POKÉMON & CHIN CHIN !?

The internet. It's made out of f***ing cookies...

3. MUSIC MON! BEST VIDEO GAME DAYMAN NINJA SEX PARTY IN PHILLY!

If I learned anything from Ninja Scroll, Ninja Sex usually involves snake-gina jutsu.

2. WORD OF THE DAY! 11/6/13! (魔法少女) Mahou Shoujo / Majokko.

I'm afraid the episode I linked in the article is no longer available but, remember, google is always near.

1. TABLETOP TALES! COMMANDER FORMAT! (WORD OF THE DAY! 11/9/13!)

I was really quite proud of myself for conjuring up this article after a long week that included five days in a row of early morning work, hurting my back, passing out a couple times by accident, etc.

As for the Commander experience? It's pretty awesome and I can't wait to play it again soon.

WORD OF THE DAY! 11/14/13!

zip-line [zip-lahyn]
noun
1. Consisting of a pulley mounted on a cable between two poles or platforms set on an incline, they are designed to allow a person to use gravity to travel downhill, and can either be made short and low to the ground for children or progressively higher and steeper for fast speed travel & recreation for adult thrill-seekers.


EX. Mega Mewtwo Y's head does seem to inspire some weird and embarrassing explanations in the minds of Pokémon fans. For example, this artist saw an opportunity for Kangaskhan and her joey to have some fun on a zip-line designed in the image of Mega Mewtwo Y.

Unfotunately, Mega Mewtwo Y is not amused by such petty and limited perspectives.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

WTF WED! FINAL FANTASY XXX: ATTACK ON TIT-AN DESU!


First off, nope. Nope, I have not yet watched any of the Attack on Titan anime. Yet, I still thoroughly enjoyed this new Abridged episode from the geniuses over at Team Four Star. This hilarious parody of an overtly disturbing anime that took the internet by storm this last season will have you in stitches before you can say "potato".

Well, that's probably a slight exaggeration.


I'll just refer you to this recent article: http://dumbledoreshotfirst.blogspot.com/2013/11/word-of-day-11613.html

Then, I'll point out that this nifty little animation manages to cover several bases in it's satire of about a dozen different Anime cliches and tropes.


Lastly, we've got the latest comedic envisioning of the uber popular Final Fantasy VII-- a game I have yet to play and, unless I see something to convince why I should, I don't intend to any time in the future. I apologize if this offends anyone, but I don't think you need to play the game to enjoy parodies of it.

P.S. I have played Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core on the PSP. It was good.

WORD OF THE DAY! 11/13/13!


moving pictures [moo-ving-pik-choors]
noun
1. A sequence of images of moving objects photographed by a camera and providing the optical illusion of continuous movement when projected onto a screen.
2. A form of entertainment, information, etc, composed of such a sequence of images and shown in a cinema, etc.

EX. I love moving pictures. That is all. Happy Wednesday. Happy Harry. This is Dumbledore Shot First.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

WORD OF THE DAY! 11/12/13! POKÉBLOG X #5 HORDE BATTLES!

horde [hohrd]
noun
1. A large number, mass, crowd, multitude, group, etc.
2. A tribe or group of Asian nomads.
3. Any nomadic group of people or animals.
verb
4. To gather into a large number.

EX.  Let me start by saying... I don't like horde battles.

Ideally, in any rpg, when you start out fighting weaker enemies, moving up the ranks of difficulty, until you can take on more and more difficult challenges with each step forward. In a very simple and typical Dungeons and Dragons adventure you'd expect to see a low level party take on, you might start by fighting a small group of goblins, then usually a bigger monster or two like a couple bugbears, then you fight a boss monster like a young dragon they'd been keeping as a pet. That is the progression you wanna see in an RPG. As an added bonus, you have those players fight not just a bunch but a small horde of goblins. Unlike when they first fought they goblins, they now have the tools to properly take them on and, if they use them properly, can dispose of the great number of foes with ease. They can compare their two experiences with goblins and feel as if they have grown tremendously by realizing how they've gone from struggling with a small group of goblins to dominating a small army of them. In 4th Edition, they specifically created minions to help DMs construct this power trip of an experience.

Pokémon is an RPG too. You're supposed to feel that you're team has grown so that, by the time you're the champ, you can believe it. Ideally, horde battles should be challenging but give you the opportunity to feel powerful. While your Chespin once struggled to knock out a Pidgey at the beginning of your journey, your Quilladin should be able to easily handle a gang of Scraggy by the time you run into them but, instead, that is not the case. Rather than taking out several Pokémon at once, you have to usually take them out one at a time while they get five hits on your Pokémon. Rather than feeling like your knocking them out with your raw power, you're instead slogging through several turns to get the EXP and/or catch the last conscious Pokémon. It doesn't feel rewarding because a) there are not many moves that hit multiple opponents and b) it is a tedious affair if and especially if you wish to catch one of the members of the horde.

In the end, what could've been a satisfying part of the experience comes off a frustratingly mediocre addition that may be the weakest type of battle ever introduce.

Think about how satisfying it would be to be able to target multiple targets like, let's say, a horde of Zubats, with Thunder and wipe them off the screen? Maybe you could get rewarded based on your performance? What do you think?

Monday, November 11, 2013

MUSIC MONDAY! POKÉMON X & Y: JAPANESE ANIME THEME!


This week I decided to feature the Japanese opening for the latest Pokémon anime, X & Y, where it appears Ash's journey continues from Unova to Kalos, where new experiences, from meeting friends to catching new Pokémon to overcoming new challenges, await. It is all very French.

This season, our immortal champion seems to have grown just a little bit, maybe a year or two, from his most recent incarnation. Much like the Doctor, in his newest regeneration, Ash will seek out new companions to help him repeatedly save the world from destruction. In fact, early on, Ash performs daring heroics, captured on Kalos's news channel, by stopping a Garchomp on a rampage. It appears this Ash is much more mature, strategic, and competent than the last. This season his companion is, once again, a girl from the region he is exploring:

P.S. Pikachu is still badass and adorable.

Serena is based on the female protagonist of the region's main series games, much like May & Dawn were from their respective region, and seems to have a very vivacious, outgoing, and friendly personality with a hobby/interest in fashion. Her mother is a Rhyhorn racer who hooks her up with Professor Sycamore to get her first Pokémon Fennekin and meets Ash. Yet, this isn't the first meeting because, while Ash doesn't recognize her, Serena knows him from her past. Perhaps we can discover something about Ash's past? Will we get to see the Ash that fought in the time war? Perhaps we'll learn about his home planet? Am I confusing you?

Last but not least, Ash's other two companions are the Lumiose Gym Leader, Clemont, a nerdy but keen inventor, and his little sister, Bonnie, who wants to help her brother find a bride and become a Pokémon trainer herself when she becomes older. With a Dedenne following our friends on their journey, perhaps she will get her wish soon.

P.S. Team Rocket are still funny.

WORD OF THE DAY! 11/11/13!


Geronimo [juh-ron-ih-moh]
noun
1. 1829-1909, American Apache Indian chief.
interjection
2. A battlecry used by American paratroopers, after jumping out of a plane, during World War II.

EX. Coming to BBC on November 23rd, 2013 is the very hyped up 50th Anniversary special for Doctor Who featuring David Tenant & Billie Piper, returning as their roles as the 10th Doctor & Rose Tyler, and the guest inclusion of John Hurt as the darkest incarnation of the Doctor yet.

As a Whovian, I gotta say I'm excited to see the story that will be the beginning of the end of Matt Smith's run as the Dcotr. Despite some weak and/or repetitive story elements, such as both companions being mysterious/impossiblegirl, every story winding up as a love story, & convoluted solutions to almost every problem, Matt Smith's 11th Doctor, as an ancient and lonely old man in the body of a goofy dandy that went to extraordinary lengths to manipulate and fool his enemies with his schemes, was an interesting counterpoint to the 10th's light-hearted and cheeky manner that could quickly turn into a terrible wrath without mercy for his enemies, as portrayed by David Tennant. As this most recent chapter comes to a close all I can say is:

"GERONIMO!"

Sunday, November 10, 2013

WORD OF THE DAY! 11/10/13! POKÉBLOG X #4 WONDER TRADE.

Wonder Trade [wun-der-trehyd]
noun
1. Pokémon. A system introduced in the 6th Generation of Pokémon RPG titles, Pokémon X & Y, that allows a player to connect to the Pokémon Global Link and trade away any Pokémon for a random Pokémon from a random player that also chose to participate in such a random trade.

EX. Wonder trading is probably one of my favorite new features of X & Y but, like any system that lacks any sort of moderation, the users abuse it.

Ideally, someone puts a Pokémon that is hard to find, evolves through trading, is version exclusive, has good EVs/IVs and/or abilities and/or moves, or is shiny/special in some such manner up for trade in hopes of receiving, at the very least, a Pokémon of foreign origin. Instead? Well, you trade a Fennekin you hatched on Wonder Trade and wind up with a Pidgey.

To be fair, I do accept one other type of Wonder Traded Pokémon-- if you give it a funny name and/or moveset, I would give the trade a pass. It's kind of fun to receive a clever little joke from someone, especially if it can level up faster.

As for myself, I've traded version exclusives, hard to get Pokémon, and about six Stunfisks named "Flat Stanley" after the children's book/activity character where children make a construction paper Flat Stanley, send him through the mail to some business or distant place, and get him back with photos of his "adventure". I dunno, I think it's funny. Shrug.

So far, in Wonder Trade, I've received some really cool foreign Pokémon including a German Tyrunt and a French Fennekin, so it's not all bad. It really makes me think a Wonderlocke challenge could be fun, but that's a discussion for another day.