JackKieser

*dances furiously* ... It would help if it wasn't so damn late. But if the update gods demand a dance, so it shall be done. *dances more* --Jack Kieser

Man, if this isn't the latest I've ever seen Sakurai at updating the Dojo, it's probably a REALLY close second. --Jack Kieser

So... the Ice Climber stage with different textures? And ladders... yay. We've never seen climbing like that in Smash before, though, so I guess that's cool. --Jack Kieser

Aww, Atma... I'm still thinking of you too, man. I really hope they don't plan on adding a last minute storyline to Smash Bros. Not that you couldn't ignore it, but it would detract from the whole presentation a lot. --Jack Kieser

Ok, would anybody care to try to explain just what the hell was up with that? --Jack Kieser

Oh, you can't say that a soccer team winning like that wouldn't at very least be YouTube worthy... I think that would be cool to see, as well. --Jack Kieser

Normally I wouldn't, but I don't think he has ever touched the A-button in his life on Melee... I need to tell him about the Z-charge, though. He'd get a kick out of that. --Jack Kieser

Good ole' Poke Floats... The bane of tournament play. But I meant change your strategy in-fight. Like, see them edgeguard and play differently. --Jack Kieser PS: ^ Wow, that would be super awesome. Imagine if a chain of 4 players could recover like that...

I can see where you are coming with that. I have a friend who uses Falco AND the C-stick. And it BLOWS. He's way faster than me, and for the first 3 or so fights, I bitch like hell. But then I acclimate and get him back. I guess that's the only difference; just try adjusting your own strategy to force them to do things the hard (and more fun) way. --Jack Kieser PS: And, I meant all of you guys who fight about that. I try to stay out of it, because I think its arrogant of me to say there is a certain way to play. Really, only the devs can make that call.

I think what you guys are forgetting is that, unlike WWII, with Columbine, we don't know the exact reason behind the events. I mean, yeah, the guys were crazy; we know that. But, as to what exactly MADE them crazy, people are (apparently) still out to lunch about it. Some people think its the games, some people think its the parenting, some people think it's society in general. What this game serves to do is be a catalyst for the discussion. It presents a point: that the games are not to fault, like a lot of people still think, while also attempting to show that it has never been the games' fault that people are so violent. If it isn't discussed, then we'll never learn anything from it. So yeah, it hurts, sure, to see the game; don't forget, though, that it IS serving a purpose, and a necessary one at that. Oh, and the creator itself said that it didn't glorify the shooters. --Jack Kieser

That's like your favorite word, isn't it? Although I admit, it rolls off the tongue well... Just don't get those "right way to play" guys going again. No one wants that. --Jack Kieser

That's exactly why the comp isn't good for play anymore, at least for me... no challenge. Yeah, I think edgehogging is crap too, but that's because: A) I can't do it well. It's efficient and good at what it does. So, it may piss me off, but it is something I should be prepared for, hence the AI needing to know some adv. techs. Out of curiosity, have any of you seen the CPU tech before, because I can't recall it happening to me; I don't play them enough. If not, they should be able to do stuff like that, but well enough so as to use them to their full advantage, like a human might do. Sure, I'd get frustrated, but at least it'd be a challenge. --Jack Kieser

What about armor? You need to be protected, too; after all, when you walk into a school, you never know what nut is gonna have a gun... --Jack Kieser

Preach, brother Strike911, preach it! So much passion, and aimed in the right direction, too! You don't see that much these days. Really and truly, it's up to the developers to fix this problem. One of the most promising games of Slamdance, Toblo, tried to bow out of the competition in protest for SCMRPG, and unless more mainstream devs start making socially provocative games (and more of the money-gubbing publishers take a frickin' chance on it once in a while), the media and the rest of society will be forced to take not and give a little more respect. --Jack Kieser

Cerrax, I think you hit the nail right on the head. What I feel is important here is the bigger picture. Yes, I agree that if I had survived Columbine, especially if one of my close friends hadn't, I would be pissed at this game. I'm not doubting that because it is a base human reaction. But are my feelings of hurt more important or hold more weight than the possible social understanding the game can bring to the table? Obviously, that is a question of morality, so there IS no answer to it, but personally? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. If the game can do some good or make a distinct social commentary, than it should be allowed, and if someone has a problem, then they shouldn't play it. I think the problem here is that people don't even let the game get that far; because it's about Columbine, the particulars aren't important. Granted, I haven't played the game myself, but I won't make a judgment call on how far its gone until I do. A lot of people will, though, based on the subject matter, and not the game itself. --Jack Kieser

I really hope they teach the AI how to do stuff like that; after a while, lvl 9's just don't cut it anymore for anything but serious practice. And most of the time, they fail even at that. --Jack Kieser

Exactly. Society (or rather, the preceding generation, because WE know the absurdity of all of this, but those in power don't) will always have a scapegoat for tragedy, instead of taking the blame itself; it's easier to blame Columbine on Doom than on mental insanity and bad parenting... Really, we all just have to wait it out until the USA gets a president who played Halo 3 deathmatch online. When our generation finally gets some say in society, then society will have to move on. What is important is that we learn from our preceding generation and learn how to take the blame for our own actions, instead of finding easy targets and scapegoats. --Jack Kieser

At DigiPen, we had a big classwide debate about this game, so I know plenty about the situation. One of the controversies, for those not up on the game, was that the creator entered it in the Slamdance Games Festival, one of the Northwest's biggest indie gaming competitions. Yes, the creator was trying to make a statement (I'm not sure what it was, because I never asked, but when I saw the game, all I could think is, "Wow, this guy must really think the argument that Doom did this is retarded."). The people at Slamdance, however, saw the word "Columbine" and went, "Oh, no no no. No way." and disqualified the entry. Industry wide, people were split, as many thought that the game should be given fair chance regardless of subject matter, while others thought that the subject was too out there for the competition. Personally, I, as I said, interpreted the game as a cry of senselessness; the game was over-the-top to illustrate the absurdity of blaming violence on games in general and of blaming Columbine on Doom. What gets me, though, is how little respect not only the game, but games in general, get in this discussion. I mean, sure, right now games are entertainment. But so were movies in their infancy (as evident by the Nickelodeons and quarter-shows of the past); now, movies are recognized as being able to make grand statements about society... Why do games get written off so easily, especially when people actively try to make statements using games? Yes, I think a stigma is at work here, especially since we can stomach Saw, Hostel, and The Hills Have Eyes, yet we cringe at SCMRPG and Manhunt 2 (another banned video game based on violence). I think people really need to face the fact that the times, and the standards people live by, have changed. This sort of thing can be welcomed and can even have something to provide to society. Unless we stop banning these things before they can get a word off edgewise, games will never become as respected a medium as even movies, much less music and literature. --Jack Kieser PS: Just read the above post... there are still victims of the Holocaust and WWII alive, and I doubt that they will ever stop hurting from those events... but we still make games about them. Why aren't we protecting them?

Hmm... sounds like you'll be able to switch between pistol mode and whip mode to me. Which would be useful, especially if that affects the rest of her moveset. More direct, close combat attacks in pistol mode, with long-range, more Sheik-chain-style attacks in whip mode... Interesting. Not a complete lack of info, I guess. --Jack Kieser

Everyone onscreen (including DK) holds their heads in their hands, writhing in pain as their damage meters skyrocket... 100... 200... 300... Then... everyone just explodes. The true power of the Rap. --Jack Kieser

Oh, man. I was looking at the pics for the Samus final smash and realized, "Wait a minute... if her beam is on the ground..." You should totally be able to equip Samus' discarded Arm Cannon as if it were a gun item. Sure, nurf it, like take away the charge or something, or let it charge less, as long as you are able to shoot with it. That would be hella cool. (I wonder if the SSBB team reads forums, even if it's just the Japanese ones...?) --Jack Kieser

Oh, I see. That's what you meant. I wasn't clear enough: I have never talked verbally to anyone in character. Yeah, though, even I forgot about that one. Good call. I'll go change that now. Thanks for calling me out on that one, the Damned. I had that one coming. --Jack Kieser

Yeah, so I figured you guys were gonna post while I was editing, but I figured screw it, why stop and copy/paste... I'm too lazy for that. So, yeah, I edited that post with a response to Damned. If you could, check it out for me. I'll re-post it if you want or whatever. Oh, and Damned, that quote was totally about the... PPR, sorry had to look it up again... Yeah, I said that because someone on there said they wanted the thread removed. Or something like that. I thought that was a little uncalled for, personally. --Jack Kieser

Oh, wow. So, I looked up that PPR thing, because I had never heard of it and was curious... wow. No wonder I'm getting so flamed here. All I saw was the first page, and really that's all I needed to see; why all the flung crap, guys? Because people want to use the Internet as a place to have a logical discussion? Because that's all I could pull from those posts. Granted DJT, I didn't see you on there, so I'm not really directing this at you, per se... but I did see even Darke. Wow. No wonder the world is so bad off... intellectualism is always under attack; one of the things that history hasn't taught the world. --Jack Kieser PS: It seems that while I wrote this, Damned posted what is right before this. I want to respond to you, because what you just said was said with respect, dignity, and obvious though. I respect and commend that. I don't live my life on forums. I do come to OCR every now and then to read the Smash Bros. thread, but other than that, I'm not a forum kind of guy. Now, you are saying that people are taking lighthearted jabs and that they just wanted to have fun and move on... but even you can't deny that what was posted early on was dripping with sarcasm and the majority (including some of what I said, mind you) sounds, or rather more importantly READS, as if it is intended in an incendiary manner. I value a certain level of respect towards people I don't know, unless I am given a direct reason not to. Hence, the reaction to DJT's dumbass comment, and some of the earlier posts, for instance posts number 13 and 15. Although it can certainly be misconstrued as such, I don't think I am better, per se, then anyone: every person has something that they can do better than me, and vice versa. But I am a realist; I tried, as I said earlier, to correct a misconception with logic and reasoning, and no one has even tried to do anything other than mock me in return. Writing and design is my profession by choice and by passion, which is why I like the premise of this game so much. Yes, I take it a little personally when I try to have a valid discussion and all other people do is mock me in return; I doubt you can say that is totally unjustified. Granted, this IS the internet... but I'm sure you understand the premise of my thoughts. And, I have never role played in my life. The closest I've come to role playing is dressing up for Halloween, which I haven't done in years. I have never talked "in character" to anyone in person, unless you consider my personality my "character", and I've only talked in character on the internet once, if my admittedly bad memory serves correctly. I'm alright with having people poke fun. A laughed at the kitten thing. I laughed at Darke's picture. But, when I laughed at the cat, I was told I needed mental help (post 58 ). And the word "seriously" is used in that context. I'm sorry, but I''m sure any sane person would take that literally. A little ribbing is fine; after all, I said a while back that I would like to put all this behind me. I apologized for and rude remarks I made in post 63. All I've gotten since is more flak. And more sarcasm. You have to at least understand that, if nothing else.

-I warned you about the image cause you said I need mental help. Sounded at the time like you couldn't see humor or sarcasm yourself. -I would say that calling someone a dumbass makes it pretty obvious of how much you respect that person. You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it, so don't try that. -Yes, responsibility. When I took every measure I could, including personally changing the subject, to stop the stupidity, people still felt that they had to make matters worse. Irresponsibility. Just cause you have a right doesn't mean you have to exercise it; the biggest misconception of freedom. -Dime store? They are tenants of good logic and reasoning, which, as you can tell, I'm sure, is important to me. You can't build a good argument without looking for these kinds of flaws. They don't impress you because you can't use them correctly. -Yes, LARPing is LARPing. You people keep bringing this up as though I tried to disprove it. I tried to disprove that TDL was ONLY a LARP, because that is an oversimplification. My reasoning and logic stands and is still sound, as we have yet to have anyone disprove any of it; indeed, nothing I have said has been disproved with any rational form of logic or reason. -I will take a quotation from Jon Stewart's 'America the Book': It is "the eternal fate of the noble and enlightened; to be brutally crushed by the armed and dumb." I believe it speaks for me. --Jack Kieser PS: And, yes; Darke is still awesome.