Finally.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

I'm almost surprised this didn't happen sooner, what with white being Apple's primary color scheme. We all give the iphone a hard time, but how long now do you think it will be until we start seeing white be a more "regular" color on other smartphones?

... you monster.

Before I write this, let me clearly identify that I'm going into it with a pretty strong bias.  I'm a huge fan of Valve - their games are top notch, I love the way they approach story, and I envy the evolving, always changing, nature of how their company was created.  That's not to say I've personally liked everything they've ever made, but at the end of the day, its hard for me to deny that anything they made was shoddy.

Portal 2 had some pretty big shoes to fill overall, and for the most part, I think they filled them, just not in the way that some gamers might expect. Those of you that haven't played the first Portal... leave.  I can't talk to you. This breakdown also won't make much sense - its next to impossible to talk about Portal 2 without comparing it to the first.

Side note:

For those of you that don't know Portal 1, like many of Valve's titles, originated as a mod of another Valve title.  This is kinda Valve's MO... make a game, allow other gamers to use it do do something else, and if it gets good, flush it out a little bit further.  Its almost like saying, "we think this is good, but we might be a little bit off... What do you think?"  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Portal, definitely worked.  Long story short, a couple of geeks used HL2 to make a computer science project and portal came out of it.  Valve, who was working on Episode 2 around the same time, loved it and adapted it into a full game and structured it loosely into the Half Life universe.  They even referenced it in Episode 2, so I would expect to see more of Aperture Science in HL3/Episode 3 (Whenever that comes out...)

- Story - 

Being a full release that didn't immediately originate as a mod, Portal 2 has a complete story.  It introduces characters in a dramatic format, and those characters grow and develop as the game continues.  It's really well done... I just don't know if I prefer it that way.  Portal 1 threw you into a crazy isolated place with no other guidance than an "encouraging", ominous, computer woman.  Glados was barely a character in the first one... she had a one track mind, a simple approach, and nothing but creepy things to say.  Portal 2 lets her off the rails a little bit, and it definitely takes some time to get used to.  Overall, I like Glados in 2... she may feel more approachable, but amidst Portal 2's overall storyline, I would consider her a success.

A bigger "issue" I had was having the presence of other characters.  Valve is pretty much the pioneer for the silent protagonist, and Portal 1 followed suit, but it made sense - I was alone, why would my character talk? Portal 2 has a couple of different characters, some that ask direct questions.  Albeit, those moments can be pretty funny ("say apple..."), but those moments really remind they player that they're playing a game.  The characters they introduced were well done, but it was hard to feel like I wanted them there.  The first game was so immersive and isolated that any inclusion of new characters felt forced.

I thought the ending was pretty epic too.  For the sake of spoilers, I won't address it here specifically, but I thought it was a very clever choice, but well planned choice.

- Puzzles - 

My favorite thing about Portal's puzzles is the overall simplicity of the premise.  I can't count how many times I've been stuck, or slowed down, and looked around... "How am I going to - oh yeah, I have a portal gun."

Portal 2 introduces some new elements in the mix as it structures it's puzzles.  Different gels that can be spread over surfaces change the way the player interacts with their environment.  Funnels allow the player to suspend and move things mid air.  Springboards launch the player across the map at high velocities without needing to create momentum.  All of these things freshen up the puzzles because they require the player to think differently than they did before.

It does make them feel easier though.  Often times, I instantly knew the solution to a puzzle, and the only thing I had to do was figure out how I need to put those tools into place.  There definitely is a real steady learning curve to them all, easing you into the next one and introducing the new elements with deliberation.  New elements aside, I'm gonna have to give the credit to Portal 1 in this category.   "Breaking out" of Aperture was a much better way to introduce more gameplay without forcing it down the player's throat. It allowed the player do more unique things with the portal gun, but made the player learn how to do it.  A much greater "challenge" overall.

Something I really liked about Portal 2's design was the simplicity of placing portals.  This probably contributed to the "ease" as well, but it's so much smoother.  I forget where I read/watched it, but someone from Valve talked about what made Portal a challenge in the first place.  Most folks didn't struggle with finding the solution, but actually getting the mechanics too cooperate.  You can see it in the portal placement...  the game sort of "predicts" what you'll want to be doing after you place your portals, and automatically determines which way is "up" if you were to jump through.  They tightened up the "flip" that happens if you happen to come out of a portal upside down.  They wanted Portals difficulty in finding the solutions, not struggling to reach them.

 - Extras - 

Coop is the bomb.  I haven't quite finished it yet, but the puzzles are pretty great.  The coop puzzles are definitely more challenging than the single player, but that's mostly because you need someone else to succeed.  I definitely don't like the story in the coop though... it's very heavy handed, and Glados treats the robots differently than she does the humans. Maybe it'll make more sense in the end, but right now it just feels kinda forced.

I love the song at the end of the game.  Not quite as good as "still alive", but a great follow-up, and a pretty good conclusion to the experience.

- Verdict - 

I definitely got my money out of Portal 2.  I will definitely be playing through it again (here's hoping for challenge rooms like in the first, or maybe other dlc updates).  I think one of the reasons I love Portal so much is much of why I like Myst.  I'm so jealous of the world that exists... I want to be a part of it.  How awesome would it be to have a portal gun?  It's all very childish, but I'm so attracted to the concepts that they've created, I like playing it because it allows me to be a part of it.  I think that's something I really like about gaming, and Portal scratches my itch.

It would be silly for me to recommend this game to everyone though.  Portal 1 players should give it a play through at least, but even then, consider the buy.  It's shorter than most other single player experiences, and there are little to no gameplay based reasons to play through again - achievements and enjoyment are all that's there.  The story can be hit or miss too... it caters to those who love the half life universe, and those who just enjoyed the first for it's "creepy" vibe, but the characters do come off as very forced.  Just approach with caution.

Understood by it's own merit and gameplay, Portal 2 is a huge success, but it's impossible to play and analyze without the context of the first game.  Compared to that, Portal 2 is a little bit disappointing.  It's hardly a bad experience, but it just can't compare to the joy and hilarity that the first one created.

PSN Security Breach

I'm sure you've all read it by now, but the reason the PSN has been down is because someone hacked it and had the ability to steal tons of info.

Basically Name, Email, Address, Screen Name and Password.

I already changed all my passwords and took the liberty of reissuing the card that was on file.....just in case.

I'm upset that it took Sony so long to let us know what the real problem was. Also, I wish I knew more about the infrastructure of internet security stuff like this, but this is a big deal to have this happen to them.

Did they have good security stuff in place that just got beaten? Did they make a crap security system? I don't have the answer to this, but I'd like to think it was a good system that just got beaten by a bunch of hackers.

It seems that no matter the latest and greatest.....the mouth breathers will always find a way.

Or PSN is full of holes.

Claptrap's Proposal

This was pretty darn funny...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fii-KPEmcMw&feature=player_embedded

Open Discussion

I was reading on a few sites about the current outage of the PSN.  Normally I would just laugh a little to my self, mutter a little "you get what you pay for", and move onto my 360, but I wanted to play Uncharted 2 multi! I'm also not quite sure about to address the paying issue as... Most people don't pay, but what about PSN Plus members?  In any case, the whole thing stinks.

It was interesting to read though, that some people out there are theorizing that the "external intrusion" story might just be a cover up.  I think it's cute how people online play detective, but one of the points had some merit.  Recognizing that the internet is made up of quite a few lies anyway, what would a hacker gain from lying?  Most of the time, the hacker, or at the very least the identity of the hacker, wants to be known. The whole idea behind maliciously stopping someone else's service or business is merely for the sake of doing it.  These geeks hacked the PSN, not a banking website...  Sony has a lot more to lose by not saving face.  On the one hand, I would like to hope that a publicly recognizable company would feel the obligation to be honest with their consumers, but really, a random three-day outage is not something Sony needs.  I haven't read the latest numbers, but I don't think PSN members are close to approaching Live. (I tried the research on this one, but the numbers are way to skewed... PSN's free accounts make it so hard to track, and of course, all the companies are going with their largest numbers, regardless of how they are inflated.)

Is it make or break for most consumers? Probably not.  My TV service goes down occasionally, but I don't mind in the long run.  Maybe it's because I'm not in a service war between AT&T and Comcast...  Maybe I'm just tempting fate, but I can't think of a time that Live went down for multiple days.  The last outage I remember was actually when the NXE kicked off.  Is my memory too short?

What are your thoughts? I don't necessarily mean with the quality of the PSN vs Live, but from any angle.  Should 360 users consider this a notch in their belt? Should PSN users even be allowed to be upset that their free service is down?  What about the games that require network connectivity to be played - should developers be restricted to do that? Is anyone going to be on sometime soon to play Uncharted 2 with me?

Activision Scared of Losing CoD

Here.

Maybe the fact that their scared shows that they know what they're doing wrong?

At least update the damn engine so it shows you put some effort into it as opposed to MW expansion packs.

Oh well. I do have a good feeling that the next CoD won't sell like Black Ops did. I think informed gamers are burnt out, but that the masses will still buy it.

Go Brink and Battlefield!

Mortal Kombat

So yesterday I received the newest Mortal Kombat for PS3 and after a solid 3 hours of plays....these are my thoughts:

Like:

Brutality - This game made a name for itself with over-the-top violence and it's back and it's still cringe worthy. Not even just the fatalities, but some of the standard move sets are brutal!

Other Worldy? - This may sound dumb, but I was shocked at how happy I was to see a ton of supernatural elements in the game. The majority of the characters are some kind of magic, evil, demony or machine so the move sets match them. Noob Saibot in particular throws a phantom image of himself around and seeing these other characters do really cool moves is a breath of fresh air from the more standard Japanese fighter where you just punch fast or faster and air combo.

Graphics - While not mind-blowing or having it's own style like SFIV it gets the job done. The MK games have always had a more "real" look to them and it works well here.

Fatalities - I'd argue that the original MK was the start of the "Pooping On Chest" era that we love now. What better way to further humiliate your opponent then after winning you literally rip him in half? Now there's T-Bagging and the oh so over done "CHAINSAW REV BY YOUR HEAD FOR FIVE MINUTES" or the "curb stomp", but I think MK did it first and did it best.

Move Sets - They're not overly complex. Coming from Tekken 6 where each character had around 100 moves and when you couple that with "juggling" it was just too damn much. Maybe I'm a noob, but SFIV and Tekken felt more like button mashers. In MK you have to know combos to some degree to win.

Pacing and Weight - I just like how the game feels over SFIV and Tekken 6. You move with more weight and purpose and when you strike it just seems to have more "OOMFF!"

D-Pad - After playing fighting games on the 360 the D-Pad is a savior on the PS3. I use it over the joystick.

Tag - I only played one round of Tag and it just adds another element of energy and excitement to the match. You pick 2 characters and then go into battle and with the push of a button (and depending on if you're mid combo) you can call in a buddy for support to finish a combo, add defense measure or just swap out for a fresh guy. It adds a very large layer of strategy to the game and will be much harder to master, but works really well from what I played.

Energy Bar - There's an energy bar that fills as you either take damage or perform combos. It's broken into 3 segments and depending on how you use it will drastically alter your outcome in the game. Do you use 1 bar to enhance a combo? 2 bars to perform a combo breaker if you're about the destroyed? Or do you use the whole bar and try a devastating X-Ray move that takes away 1/3 of health? Bad new is if you go X-Ray and it gets blocked you'll have spent your whole bar for nothing. It has saved me and been the cause of my destruction numerous times and it's awesome.

King of the Hill - I think that when I'm playing alone this will be what I'm playing. It supports up to 8 people and while the 2 people are fighting you're in a theater mode and watching the match. You have an avatar that represents your character and at the end of the match you literally get to rate the winner 0-10! It sounds dumb, but what a blast! If you win you stay. If you lose it's back to the end of the line. I got into one match late last night and I was nervous because these guys literally have nothing to do, but watch you and I didn't want to look like I sucked.....and I just watched the guy I was about to fight use Sonja and he humiliated Sub Zero. I beat him (it was a good fight) with Stryker and after the match it was awesome to see the guys give me scores! I got all 9's and 10's! I won the 2nd match with Noob Saibot and got all 9's and 10's again! The 3rd match had connection issues and the lobby was closed, but King of the Hill had my heart pounding much harder than any other game I've played that I can ever remember. Take the combat and fighting one on one and then throw in the fact you're being watched and judged and want to stay "King" and you've got a really exciting game mode.

Lobby System - If you've played Tekken 6 online you know how bad it is. Basically hit a button saying you want to play and then wait to get matched up. You'll probably be fighting a guy that has over 1000 battles won and has only lost 100 of them. In MK you can join a lobby with over 100 guys in it and scroll through them and see their stats. If you see someone you want to fight you send them a challenge and if they accept you battle it out. After the fight you can choose to play again or go back to lobby.

Dislike:

Computer AI - I feel that last night I got pretty damn good with Noob Saibot and Stryker and the computer will cheat the hell out of you to win in the tournament ladder. A handful of Stryker's moves actually become meaningless against them! It's cheap and it's a dated style of gameplay and it should be gone.

Balance - Jury is still out on this because it could just be that I'm still new and have been out of fighters for a long time, but it already seems like Smoke is the favorite of douche bag players. He has 3 moves that when performed back to back get you in a whirlwind of hurt. At first I thought it was unblockable, but after fighting 4 different players IN A ROW that used Smoke and that same game style I figured out a decent defense, but I just hate guys like that.

LAG! - It wasn't always bad, but sometimes it was pretty terrible. Surprisingly though even when the game was chugging I was still able to perform combos and win matches. I would think that this would be fixed in the near future with a patch.

Graphics - While they do look good overall the effects on the Fatalities can be a little hokey looking.

Overall:

This is an excellent fighting game and one I'm really looking forward to playing with Lead Salad online and working cooperatively against other human players. It's a great return to form for the series and finally shows Japan that the US knows how to make a great fighter as well.

NSFW

So, the other night, I was sitting along by myself.  The wife wasn't home, and I was feeling a bit... frisky.  I made myself a quiet dinner, and just sat around waiting to see what the evening brought about.  Man, was I surprised... I retreated to the bedroom and slipped into something a little more comfortable to the occasion.  I lit a couple of candles and put on some Kenny G.  The part next though, was definitely the most surprising.

I turned on my PS3... the symphonic melody of the OS loading just sent goosebumps down my spine.  Tingling with anticipation, I slipped in Uncharted 2.  I got lost in the excitement when I had to update my software.  I hopped into the multiplayer lobby and was totally blindsided! Another update! What are the odds?

After finally getting into a match, I was getting the hang of everything, and hanging on everything!  It's seamless continuation of the campaign "feel" is something that other game designers should take note of.  It takes advantage of the PS3's raw power and puts it to good use.  Textures are usually something I breeze over without noticing, but in this case, that was a good thing.  "Interactive" wall objects blended in seamlessly, encouraging me to run, jump, and grab at whatever I could.  As I fell in love with the world and weapons, I couldn't help but ask myself, "why is this so good?"  This isn't on the 360... who am I?

Needless to say, my evening went differently than I planned, but I feel better for it.  A little dirty, but better for it.  My favorite part really, was how I felt comfortable going it alone.  Groups are always fun, but sometimes... it's good to have a little alone time.

Gears of War 3 Beta

I got to play 2 games this morning. Even after just 2 games, I've got quite a bit to say, but I'll keep most comments to myself at this time, as I don't have nearly enough time in to make any fair judgments on the game, but I will say 2 things at this time:

1. It looks great. Lots of LIGHT and COLOR.

2. Host advantage is 100% completely gone.

I'm gone this week, so I won't be able to play any more until Friday night, but I just thought I'd put this up in case anyone else manages to get their grubby, Major-Nelson-Twitter-following hands on it (cough cough BRJAHU cough).

Brink

I know that Juniper has already said some glowing things about it and I said I wasn't getting it, but that it does look good.

Well, I just preordered it and will be playing on PS3 with with Silent.

Any and all are encouraged to join us in our new team based rapid jumping and sliding shooter!

Hopefully see you online!

New HD Nintendo Console

BOOM!

Wasn't I just talking about this? Still too late in my book.

They're going to fragment their audience even more and people like us with a PS3 or 360 or both have no reason to buy it.....unless you'd like another Zelda or Mario every 2-3 years.

Welcome to the end of Nintendo consoles. Mark my words.

They'll launch this at the end of next year and it may be as powerful as current consoles, but what will they do when the next big consoles launch in 2-3 years from now?

From all I've ever read and heard Nintendo doesn't throw bags of money around on development like Bethesda, Epic, Valve or those other giants do so how they'll even make something current and competitive is beyond me.

They're gonna be left in the dust....wondering where the hell it all went wrong.

My brain doesn't work like this...

Multitask 2 - I'm not sure who got their score into the thousands, but I'm fairly sure they cheated and did it with multiple people.

Test Your Might

Mortal Kombat on Tuesday!

Salad and I are getting it and I wanted to send an open invite to whoever wants to get their chest pooped on to get it on PS3 as well.

The original MK on Sega was the first fighter I ever played and loved. Blood code: A B A C A B B

"GET OVER HERE!"

Music in Games

Growing up during some of the most crucial years of gaming like the original NES and the PSOne music has come a long way.

From the simple themes of Zelda and Mario to the complex and almost abstract stylings of Mass Effect's synthetic sound music has the power to change the level of storytelling and immersion in a game.

I came upon this interview with the dude that scores Battlestar and scored SOCOM 4. It's a great read about how music impacts games and how to smartly use music to adapt to how you're playing.

My most memorable game soundtrack is hands down Hitman 2. Jesper Kyd was all I listened to for some time after that.

Emotions

I'm currently playing through the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 and I'm actually enjoying it more this time around than on the 360. That's not a fanboy claim, but one of how I chose to play.

Instead of using my long standing "Vanguard" class that relies on Heavy Pistols and Shotguns I went "Soldier." I had to adapt to how Bioware changed the game from ME1 to ME2.

They made it more of a 3rd person shooter so I choose to play like that and it's made the game a lot more fun. Partly because I have access to a lot more guns to use and I don't have to rely on recharging powers of Vanguard that are underpowered, in my opinion, when compared to the lack of ammo and relatively crappy guns you get.

Anyways, on to the point of this post.

Emotions. In games. When did this happen and when did it start being done well?

Not so much character emotions, but getting you, the player, to feel for a situation either good or bad in one way or another.

Last night I was playing through the "Overlord" DLC of ME2 (DLC I haven't played up to this point) and was moved almost to tears at the end of it. It wasn't hamfisted and it wasn't overplayed. It was both visually and audibly disturbing (felt like a haunted house at some points) and it really pulled on my "pity/anger emotions" I guess.

I don't want to ruin the story or plot of the DLC at all so I'll just say that it's about a Virtual Intelligence that goes rogue.

What games have you played that made you mad at some great injustice?

I remember helping some ghouls in Fallout 3 be accepted into Tenpenny Tower as equal citizens to people that weren't "ghoulified" (around 2 hours of hard questing) and being happy that I'd helped a minority show the majority that different people aren't all bad.......I came back to the hotel later and was actually horrified and mad to see that the ghouls killed off all the normal people! HOLY HELL THE NORMAL PEOPLE WERE RIGHT!!!!!

I guess I want to know what games and parts of those games got you more interested in it, for a moment, as an emotional experience over a game?

Sony - Subliminal Advertisement

I know this isnt really "blog" material but felt his was the most appropriate place to share it. This was a random beer i'd picked up in shopping market and there's something quite familiar about those symbols on the label, pretty nifty bit of Sony subliminal advertisement....or not.

Brink Abilities Trailer

This is the Brink trailer I've been waiting for just because I want to see some of the abilities and unlockables for the classes. Like I've told 3N3MY, I'm a sucker for team-based shooters so I'm pretty excited about May 17th. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcAbkoPndC4

Game Changers

I posted on facebook something about Portal 2, and some pretty funny comments came out of it, some from folks on this blog.  I don't mind - Valve does have it's days, and I think most Valve fans are willing to turn a blind eye to some of the issues in their games, because of the positive things they receive when they play them.  That leads me to my question - what's your game changing game?

For me, I'm gonna point to Half- Life 2.  I'm not about to praise HL2 any more than people already could figure out, but HL2 changed the way that I approached everything else I play.  The main element that blew me away in HL2 was the narrative structure and how it fit into their game and level design - The way this effected me when I played it... well, I've been changed.

The game doesn't even have to be a good one, or maybe one that you even finished.  Maybe something was so horrifically off that you realized what makes the stuff you like fun.  Maybe one game caused you to look at life differently.  I know I made most of the the friends I have through Halo... it's hard not to walk away from that feeling ungrateful.

What came before the NES for you?

I understand and appreciate the fact that the NES basically saved games from total annihilation and that it single handedly created about a billion gaming fans, but what did you play (if anything) before the NES?

I don't mean what you played at a friends house or played once or twice, but what was a system you played a lot and loved? What did you go back to again and again well before the NES was a blip on Nintendo's radar?

As a kid we had an Atari 2600 that I played, but it was a stellar gift from my uncle that gave me and my brother the Coleco.

I played the hell out of that thing and still own it to this day. My favorite game on it by far was Space Fury which played like a Geometry Wars, but with no walls so you could fly thru one side and pop up on the other side of the screen. There were all kinds of power ups for your space ship and the best part was the alien dude that would great you before battle and would rate you as a "worthy opponent" or told you that you basically suck. The ship moved with inertia which was a neat gameplay element.

All in all this was the very first game I ever loved and the theme song when the alien talks with you never ever ever ever gets old to me and still perks up my ears when I hear it. I true classic to this blogger and a game I owe pretty much everything to.

Here's a video that's actually a review some guy did of the game. He's entirely unfunny, but please watch the game for a couple minutes....at least the music and alien greeting part.

Space Fury

Gotta catch 'em all...

... almost out of obligation.  A more appropriate title for this post should read "why a grown man can still play pokemon with minimal shame".  This review is going to go through the simplistic review of Pokemon Black and White, as well as explaining a little bit of my justification.  For the sake of time, I'm going to try and avoid talking about pokemon gameplay, but if anyone's confused, I'll break it down later for you.

Pokemon Black/White (BW) is the fifth generation of pokemon, and it's a good one.  It's well rounded, well paced, and delves into the issues of what makes pokemon what it is, and it does so in gameplay as well as the narrative.

Liked:

Solid Start - This game kicks off at a decent pace that the other pokemon games kinda lack... usually it's a bunch of crap.  Run an errand for this guy, randomly get a pokemon for your own, learn how to fight in the tall grass... This one has those elements, but it doesn't beat around the bush - the game knows it's about those things and kicks straight into it.  No waiting, no pretense - here's your pokemon, now go kick ass.

Smart Trainers - Pokemon's gameplay is basically a big complicated game of rock, paper, scissors.  Certain pokemon are good against others ("It's super effective!") and some are not (It's not very effective..."), and this simple concept is where the strategy is built.  I'm about 2/3 through the main story and have run across some fairly intelligent cpu trainers.  I've always wondered in past games, "why doesn't this guy use a potion, he's just about dead...", and this game addresses concepts like that.  In game trainers will uses items and abilities like you do, adding to the gameplay as well as the challenge.

Super What? - My first pokemon game, I didn't have the internet, strategy guide, or even a friend to help me through.  I found a gameboy color and a copy of Yellow in the middle of a big park with no one around.  Not once during the gameplay did the game explain anything about type compatibility.  I thought when things were "super effective" that it was just luck.  This game takes a great step in that direction by educating the player about what works well against what.  It's unavoidable, and written into the storyline - this makes BW a great choice for any first time pokemon players.

Visuals/Sound - This is a minor one, considering the DS's graphical limitations, but they've really kicked it up as best they can.  More 3D (not 3DS) interactive areas, cooler animation for pokemon attacks, and a world that changes appearance with the seasons. (Although I am curious why it says it's Autumn in my game when my DS's date is correct... Maybe its Fall in Japan?)  The soundtrack is also good.  Same basic pokemon melodies redone with new flair.

Pokethical Questioning - For all practical purposes, pokemon are basically animals. They help us, serve us, love us, fight us, scare us, etc.  But the ethics of capturing wild pokemon and battling them against others who have done the same thing has never really been addressed.  One way to train captured pokemon is to go to a gym (one in every city!) and fight them all day long! There's even a sanction league and government to support this.  In BW, the main antagonists are basically the PETA of the pokemon world. Later in the game the payer finds out that their motives aren't as pure as they seem, but it's still pretty ballsy to bring up the ethical dilemmas that basically create the gameplay.

Dislikes

The Pokemon - They really need to hire some more creative artists at Game Freak.  The pokemon of this generation are far and away my least favorite, with a few exceptions.  I feel like they just sat around one day looking at things around them and turned them all into pokemon.  I love Ghost type, and usually make it a focus on my team, but they're all stupid.  One is a pokemon named Chandelure... which looks like a freakin' chandelier - zero points for creativity.

No older Pokemon - This generation of pokemon are all new creatures.  In the previous games, at least a few of the older gen games pokemon would show up, but these are all new.  I have a special attachment to the older guys, and not having them in the game is a little frustrating.  After beating the main game, I can transfer my old ones in, but the main fun of the game is over by then.

Defense

I enjoy pokemon a great deal.  Part/most of it is nostalgia from my younger days of gaming, but part of it is how it breaks up my gaming life.  It's something I can play in short stints on breaks, or something to wind down a day with.  RPGs have always been a bit of an uphill climb but the casual nature of pokemon - save anywhere and keep going at will - makes it possible to put down at any moment.   I also enjoy the large level of customization.  There are literally hundreds of pokemon to choose from when making a team, and each of those pokemon can learn a variety of moves to give your team a sense of balance.  The large level of customization gives the player a sense of pride and uniqueness that can only be said of their select team.  I've been proud of my character before, but bragging about my individual Commander Shepard really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.  My pokemon are uniquely my own, and even have registration to prove it.

I also think pokemon is a healthy game to be playing. Each generation is released as two sister games, encouraging players to interact and trade with one another to complete their games.  The portable systems are usually out and about anyways, so working with other people who play to complete your game is a cool feeling.  It's almost a sense of fellowship, or mutual dorkiness that happens.  It's great!

My only real regret is how much the game is marketed to kids.  The gameplay and strategy is fairly complicated (some moves can only be taught by breeding pokemon together!), and this story in particular is fairly nuanced (I don't think many kids are being effected by the discussions of pokemon ethics in game).  It almost feels like a waste to add it in since the marketing really only draws in kids under 12.  The player plays as a child in the game as well, so it makes it even tougher to justify.

I actually want to play a pokemon game where I get to play as the antagonist, harassing other trainers and trying to take over the world with my pokemon.  It would all revolve around the same gameplay, but would be a new unique twist on the story. It would be dark, and awesome.

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Credit to Penny Arcade. I couldn't get the link to work, so I uploaded the downloaded image.

Sorry for the length here, I hope you read it all.  Sorry I've been so absent from the blog lately.  I've been out of town on vacation and busy the weeks prior.  I did comment on most of the older threads so if your curious as to my thoughts feel free to check up.  Cheers!