The Damned

Everyone, it's the hottest topic about whatever we're talking about at the moment. I can't have a day go by without someone either citing one method as the other, or trying to figure out the ideal display setting for their device/console/TV. Thanks, Gollgagh. Now I can point them towards here and have it all sorted out for me.

Hi thread, long time no see. Did yo guys get to see the letter Nintendo of America sent out to subscribers? It's a bit on the generic side, but at least they made the token gesture, unlike some other canceled publications. Link, because it's kind of big. The Miis are kind of a nice touch, I guess...

Button-mash: To use most, if not all, of the buttons/control inputs at quickly/at once, resulting in random attacks/commands. In most types of games, it will result in quick failure, but in some, like fighting games, it has the potential to throw another player off, or even accidentally execute potentially powerful attacks. "I can't believe I lost that match to someone button-mashing Blanka!" Winner Passes: When playing a two-player competitive game, such as a fighting game, the winner of the round or match passes his/her controller to another player. This give less experienced players more practice, while keeping higher skilled players from monopolizing the game. "Dude, you have to let him play. We do winner passes here."

Man, even I'm getting sick of zombies in video games. It's like the default extra in everything now.

Well, except that Pokémon was released in 1996, versus Digimon's release in 1997, under the Digital Monster name. And even then, those were a response to the Tamagotchi series...

Minecraft Easter Egg. Spoilers if yo haven't gone very far in the game, so don't watch as it mentions certain events and areas found later in the game. !

You playing the PC or console version? I ask because there were parts of the menu and inventory in Borderlands 1 that made me think they did a poor job of bringing it over to the PC, and your experience with the one in Borderlands 2 sounds familiar. I wonder if they didn't adjust it for PC controls. I found Borderlands 1 (got this summer on the Steam Sale) to be a rather fun change up from the usual FPSs., I really didn't think I would enjoy it so much. I plowed through the main game and all four expansion packs within a month, so I definitely enjoyed the whole game. But will I get Borderlands 2? Maybe, just not right away. I could just be burned out on Borderlands 1. But the pre-order stuff isn't terribly attractive to me. Also, from what I've seen, it really is more of the same, but polished and cranked up a bit more. That might not be enough to justify the current price, factoring in the price/game length/expectations equation. It's been on my radar for a while now, so I am interested in it... just not enough to get it right now.

Hmm, good point. I hadn't thought of that.

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/11271/20120917/zynga-montopia-cheat-gamers-mediocre-pok-mon.htm .Might be slightly old, but I just remembered about it and I was thinking over the last while... Is it really a Pokémon rip-off? I don't mean as in it's a totally original idea. That much is obvious. I mean, it is really copying Pokémon, or is it copying everything? I can see where people look at one aspect of it, and swear it's a complete theft of every idea of Pokémon. But when watching it being played, I see more than just one game. I see several key features that aren't used in Pokémon. 1. The grassy fields you encounter monsters in, nor a overworld map you can walk around freely in. Instead, they use a simple graphical representation on a road you "walk" down. Not used in Pokémon, but it is used in other games. Some of the older Fire Emblem games, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a long, long time since I played any of the older ones), used a similar method of "travel" where is was just to show the idea of moving, without actually having to actually travel. You just saw your character/group move along a line to another spot, which represented a town or city. There was no actual traveling of that route. 2. I see how the stat systems works. You get EXP, and the you can put it into one of a few stats. That's not a mechanic used in Pokémon, as EXP is put into your level, and your stats are adjusted by a hidden layer of bonuses you don't have direct control over. But there are lots of RPGs (hell, even RPG hybrids like Borderlands) that do have you select stats and abilities to raise as you see fit. 3. Items and creatures appear from treasure chests you find on the "road" which you have no control over your direction or speed. Once you find one, it's randomly generated as either an item or a monster. You can also use a device that just gives you a free one. It looks like a gumball machine, and is pretty much a reference to Japanese capsule toys. This mechanic does not exist in Pokémon games. In Pokémon, you are given items by NPCs or you have to walk around to find them in the open. Pokémon are also found in random battles, with some given to you by other characters. Not that dissimilar, but also not that close. You don't just walk along and BAM! Stuff given to you for no reason; you have to look for it actively. 4. There's wide-spread fusing of two or more creatures, something that was only done in Pokémon this generation, 15 years after the series started. Meanwhile, Digimon had fusing of monsters for years. Other games had similar mechanics as well. RPGs in general seemed to like the idea of fusion between characters for some time before Pokémon finally did it for only three of its creatures. Yugioh does this all the time, and it's been around almost as long. 5. Your character levels up. Not your creatures, they do level up, yes, but your player character. This is not done in the Pokémon series, but it is done in other games. You have your controlling character and your "army" or team or whatever you want to call it characters. Quite different from Pokémon, but very similar to several other series. A few elements of Pokémon are clearly used, like choosing one of three creatures at the beginning... but that's hardly original in of itself. The fact they are a trio of fire, water and grass typed creatures is indeed very Pokémon-based, yes, but it's pretty much the only solid similarity I have seen so far. Choosing from a list of pre-made characters is also found inthe Mana series. Given that the few similarities that Montopia and Pokémon share are also shared with many other games, it seems that people are only seeing the common aspects and not the specific ones. In which case, they would see far more commonalities with the Final fantasy series than with Pokémon series. With all these similarities to multiple games from across the genre (and even some from other genres and sub-genres), I have to ask myself, why are people so adamant that this is just a Pokémon rip-off when it's clearly only using a tiny fraction of ideas from that series, and lots of ideas from lots of other games? There is little doubt that Montopia is clearly trying to use familiarity to lure people in, that much is obvious. But just watching it, you can see that it isn't really trying to be Pokémon, so much as it is trying to be multiple games, and doing it rather poorly. It's kind of a card game, kind of an RPG, kind of a collection game, kind of this, kind of that... I just wonder why everyone is harping on it forbeing a Pokémon knock-off instead of it just being a generic, lazy, uninspired game.

I see two "Deku Links" in that last picture. One is below the yellow T-Rex, just by a man in dark armor, and the second one is just to the left of Paperboy. So... two Deku Links? Or two characters from something else? Unless they went so far as to include two Deku Links because of Majora's time traveling mechanic, which would be a level of detail that is bordering on obsessive (and maybe even just overcomplication), I have to think it's from another game. Now to just figure out what other game had small light-brown people with green hats shaped like that.

You don't have Metal Gear Solid: Pokeable Ops in there. And you call yourself a fan of the series...

OK, so it has lots of new games, about half of which seem to exactly what the "hardcore" constantly say Nintendo is ignoring. So, the bitching and complaining is well underway by now, right?

Same. I got it in the steam summer sale, and I played it to death. Went with the soldier, and dumped all my points into ammo and health regeneration, ammo increases and cover fire for the turret. It works pretty well, but I haven't really gotten to try it out for multiplayer. Also, Krom's Sidearm is fucking awesome, and I still use it, despite there being better guns out there. Borderlands 2 will be bought, but only after I get done with all this work and I have free time again.

Can't we go back to making fun of the name? Those were good days.

A non-Pokémon game from the guys that make Pokémon games. That alone is worth a look, as Drill Dozer was a sleeper hit and showed what Game Freak can still do when they go back to their roots. So it might not be the commercial success that Pokémon is, but it could very well be a damn good game on its own, and thus is worth keeping an eye on.

Is all I have to say.

So, who else is getting the last issue in December?

God damn you, I was going to make that comment. I wonder how sales of the magazine will change with the announcement of a special final issue. Maybe enough to make Nintendo consider some new form of the publication, perhaps like a smaller digital version?

Ah, back when Pokémon was still new and they had a constantly updated section just for it. Things like running a comic book scan of the cartoon, or strategies for the Stadium games. People would send in their teams and the staff would rate them, and actually somewhat correctly. They would suggest type coverage, team diversity and alternate moves, just like most of the fansites do now. It was a haven for early fans, and the best thing until the internet provided far more and much better coverage of all things pokémon. They also had the fun retrospectives that covered old series, systems and the occasional tie-in like the Mario Bros movie. A lot of it was pointless fluff, but there were hundreds of gems scattered about the entire run of the magazine. The best issue I ever got (I didn't have a subscription, I mostly read it in stores or picked up a copy one every few years) was the one showcasing the as-of-yet unreleased GameCube and GameBoy Advance. It showcased all the crazy shit that they could do, like hooking up your GBA to your GameCube to play games on them both at the same time. Good memories. Thanks, Nintendo Power, for all the cool articles, reviews and screenshots over the years.

Ordered on Amazon.ca, will get it around Feb 3rd, 2013. This is the first time in my life I have ever pre-ordered a book. Now, to get more books like this for other series. I'd kill everyone of you (especially Mirby) for an English Pokémon book like this. If only every major series had their own version of Valve's "Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar", perhaps the best video game book ever made.

I also have a Portal 2 coupon. Also, anyone that wants it, just PM me your steam ID and I'll send it out to you.

Can we go back to making fun of its name again? That was was the best of the Wii and Wii U discussions.

Agreed. Thornquist is being a hater. Moving on...

In that case, I'd like to point out that Nazi Germany did that whole genocide (not just the Jews, but also Gypsies and some other groups) as well as horrific medical experimentation, rape, the ransacking of national treasures and the burning of books, in far less time, and the rest of the world has been buddy-buddy with them for decades. Peace has a way of making people not want to be enemies anymore. Sometimes it doesn't work out so well (Koreas, I'm looking in your direction...) but we've had relatively long stretches of peace between major enemies for years and even decades at a time. So really, The Legend of Korra is pretty realistic when you think about it.