Monday, July 30, 2012

Those who do not learn from history... (Edited July 31, 21:53 EDT)

Rarely do I venture outside of the realm of gaming in my LPs, but one time in Emerald I jumped ship to talk about people who have nothing better to do than bitch and moan about athletes finishing fourth or fifth at the Olympics (which were in Vancouver at the time). I said that we should still respect them for their accomplishments, even though they're missing a chunk of metal to show for it.

And now it seems the home stage curse, as well as the idiotic bashing, crossed the ocean all the way to the United Kingdom. Trust me when I say these people are quick to kick themselves for it, that's what top-level competitors do. They don't need Joe Schmoes to tell them they suck. Did you run the 100-metre dash in less than ten seconds? Did you lift 200 kilograms worth of dead weight? Did you dive from a ten-metre platform without shitting yourself, let alone perform a freaking screw attack while doing it? And more importantly, did you do all the sacrifices these people did, day after day after day, just to do what they want to do? Trust me when I say, regular folks like us have it easy compared to them. We do not have the right to criticize them for anything (bar doping, but that's not what this is about).

Of course, the organizations that are meant to support these athletes are to blame too. Going in, many of them put crushing pressure on the athletes by saying, we want this many medals or we'll have failed. Well, my message to them is, take your objectives and kindly shove them you know where (because what better company for shit than shit itself?). Let these men and women perform to the best of their ability, and if they have an off day, don't crucify them for it. Same goes for the media, where many enthusiastic reporters set targets of 22, 25, even 30 medals for Canada. Three days in, we only have one bronze medal (though we're still ahead of Beijing, where we didn't get ANYTHING for an entire WEEK). And the whining begins anew. And I'm told it's worse in the UK, with one silver and two bronze on home turf, compared to China and the United States which lead the way with 17 total.

Just shut up and enjoy the superhuman feats, regardless of who does them and where they're from. And leave the mindless fanboyism at the door. Thank you for your time.

Edit: Just desserts, anyone?

Edit 2: And apparently the guy was arrested for sending death threats to the athlete in question.

Edit 3: Back in Canada, some separatist fucknuggets are at it again. All of our medals so far were won by athletes from Quebec, and, well, the senseless ROC bashing ain't pretty, and it's getting on my nerves. If there are any English Canadians reading this, remember we're not all pricks like that, and some of us really, really hate them. Thanks for understanding.

Monday, July 23, 2012

New poll: Gender in video games

This question is simple. When you're given the choice of your character's gender in a game, which do you pick and why?

No new videos until at least next Monday

Well, it's time for me to interrupt my LPs temporarily, as previously mentioned. So you're not getting anything until the 30th, and that's the best case scenario. So if there's nothing on the 30th, I don't want you all at my throat, okay? Speaking of which, I still have no idea when Wind Waker is coming back, so if you want to ask me when it is, by all means give it a miss.

I'll still be around, of course, just not uploading any new videos. See you soon!

Friday, July 20, 2012

DW ability poll results

Last poll's result about remaining DW abilities was fairly predictable, with Shadow Tag Chandelure being the runaway winner with 90 of the 240 votes. Seems like Gothitelle isn't lighting any fires, eh? Second place was just as expected, with Contrary Serperior getting 59 votes. The battle for third was much more heated, with Lightningrod Zapdos (21) barely edging out Sheer Force Feraligatr (19). Water Absorb Suicune with 15, Iron Fist Conkeldurr with 13 and Ice Body Regice with 10 also got double digits. Unlike Flash Fire Typhlosion which got 7 votes, and Volt Absorb Raikou, Flash Fire Entei and Intimidate Scrafty which got two apiece.

Now what? To be perfectly honest, I have no ideas whatsoever for new polls, so you get nothing for now. On top of that, we've hit a massive news drought, AND there's nothing I feel like talking about, so this place sort of seems dead right now. I would also like to remind you that my upload schedule might get more scarce over the next couple weeks, so be patient!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Genesect revealed, distribution next month

In an unexpected turn of events, Genesect was officially revealed as early as today in this month's CoroCoro. Usually event Pokémon are unveiled much later than that, so this is surprising. However, the really big shocker is that it's going to be DISTRIBUTED next month! If you know how to count like I do, that's three new event Pokémon distributed in the span of two months. This is odd, as Genesect is poised to star in next year's movie, and event Pokémon are typically distributed while or just before the movies come out in theatres in Japan. Unless it's the same thing as what happened with Victini, who was released through an in-game event as soon as BW1 came out, then re-released later with V-Create? But then, what move would they give Genesect in the second distribution? Techno Blast is already a level-up move, and it's absolutely horrible to boot...

It's also going to be interesting to see how it's going to shake up the metagame (only two days after Shadow Tag Gothitelle, may I remind you), as it's always been a huge favorite in the DW metagame, and an incredibly effective Pokémon overall. Problem is, the DW ladder doesn't have team preview, and since it's a dedicated lead there it might mean bad news for its transition on the regular ladder. Nonetheless. the sheer fact that it's third in use behind Chandelure and Tyranitar hints at a possible suspect test for the thing. This wouldn't surprise me at all, quite frankly.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Poll change: DW abilities, take two

Back in March, I made a poll about the most anticipated DW abilities (though it was only for gen 1-4 Pokémon), and both runaway winners, Ditto and Breloom, obtained theirs in BW2, along with other favorites like Lugia and Ho-Oh. So now it's time for a second take, now that the number of Pokémon without them is much lower, and gen 5 Pokémon started getting theirs! (Note that this factors in the fact that Gothitelle will be getting Shadow Tag next month, so if that fact makes you want Chandelure less it's something to think about.)

As for the previous poll on early Japanese releases, 165 voters out of 321 say they make them want the game even more, 67 say playing yourself is what really matters, 53 claim those releases somewhat dampen their anticipation, and 36 hate hate HATE being spoiled before the international release. Of course, it often depends on the game, but this was intended as a general question.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Shadow Tag Gothitelle obtainable via guidebook promotion

Serebii reported that a Pokédex-type guidebook released in Japan comes with a serial code that gives access to a Shadow Tag Gothorita through Global Link. BW2 has seen several huge changes with the metagame so far, but it just might be the biggest. The good news is that it's "just" Gothitelle, maybe they don't want to wreck the metagame THAT much with Chandelure just yet? Nonetheless, we finally have access to a Pokémon with a foolproof method of trapping that isn't gimmicky like Wobbuffet was. Is it going to break the game even though it's just Gothitelle, an otherwise negligeable Pokémon? We'll have to see about that...

It's only going to be available starting on August 9th, though, so enjoy your last month in a Shadow Tag-free metagame (let's face it, when was the last time you faced Wobbuffet in OU?).

Monday, July 2, 2012

Pokémon Conquest Wi-Fi events reminder

Right now, two events are downloadable, and will remain so for the rest of the year: the special episode starring Ranmaru, and the one that makes Motonari and Motochika available in the main questline once you've conquered both of their kingdoms. The latter is particularly useful, as these guys are some of the best around in my experience, so you want to get it as quickly as possible.

Still no word on when the other downloadable events (Reshiram, as well as the special episodes for Keiji and Okuni) are going to be available, but they're probably coming soon.

After White 2 owners, Gamefreak trolls women

I'm putting this after the jump since these may qualify as BW2 spoilers.