Everyone interested in the new Pokemon games, Black and White, has more or less dabbled in some part of the games by now. Even in the anime blogsphere, lots of reviews and daily gaming logs have been popping up. But since I’ve already written a review of the game when I got the Japanese version, and I don’t have that much to add after playing the English version, I decided to focus this post on the specific conflict of the games’ storyline. It’s a conflict that has intrigued players because it does something unexpected – it questions the very morality of the Pokemon world…

The antagonists in Black and White are Team Plasma, led by Ghetsis and their appointed “king” N. Their goal is to liberate pokemon from the cruel treatment of human trainers. There are many events throughout the game that feature Team Plasma questioning the morality of pokemon training and how cruel it is for the pokemon to battle and be confined in pokeballs. Although it turns out that Ghetsis’ real goal is to rule the world using pokemon just for Team Plasma, N truly believes in the idea of liberating pokemon.

Many players have likened Team Plasma to a kind of PETA of the Pokemon world. But the controversy of Pokemon and its similarities to cruel animal sports like cockfighting has been around since the franchise began nearly fifteen years ago even though it’s only now being discussed “officially” within the franchise through Black and White.

So my question is, does what Team Plasma (and no doubt real life anti-Pokemon enthusiasts) say about Pokemon condoning animal cruelty, hold any merit?

I’ll start with addressing the whole pokeball thing. One of the issues brought up by Team Plasma is the cruelty of catching pokemon and confining them into pokeballs. The Pokemon anime stresses numerous times that if certain pokemon don’t want to be captured, or if their capture would be bad for the habitat they live in, as is the case with legendary pokemon, then it’s not considered good training to selfishly capture them. For the sake of gameplay, the Pokemon games can’t emphasize this issue like the anime does, but they do make it so that captured pokemon will not obey a trainer until they respect them (which can be done by earning gym badges).

As for pokeballs being cruel confinement, the anime shows that when in a pokeball, a pokemon is in a sort of “suspended animation” though they can be conscious of what’s going on around them. There’s no evidence that they’re being squished, starved, or cruelly restrained in any way like real animals in cages. The anime also shows many pokemon easily coming out of their pokeballs at will, so you can’t really call it confinement. And if a pokemon doesn’t like to go inside pokeballs – Ash’s Pikachu being a prime example – they’re not forced to. Again, for the sake of gameplay enjoyment, the Pokemon games can’t touch on this issue like the anime does, but pokemon are show to be put inside pokeballs for their own safety so they can quickly be withdrawn from battle or safely and easily travel around with their trainer. Thus, often times in the games and anime, only pokemon that are mostly used in battles stay in pokeballs while those that are pets, companions, or helpers to humans rarely do.

But the main reason why some believe the franchise advocates animal cruelty is because of the huge emphasis on pokemon battles. Anyone who really knows about pokemon battles knows that they’re nothing like the cruel bloodsports of cock, dog, or other animal fighting. First of all, pokemon want to battle. Unlike fighting animals who are raised in such a way that they know nothing but fighting, pokemon are capable of making choices. I feel that pokemon battles are much more similar to sports like wrestling and boxing than animal fighting; like wrestling and boxing, pokemon battles revolve around violence and the competitors get hurt naturally, but the competitors know that they’re in the game and enjoy it for whatever reason. In the case of Pokemon, it’s because the pokemon and trainers enjoy growing stronger and developing new strategies and attacks. Animal fighting on the other hand always revolves around money, and often illegal drugs and gambling.

As I mentioned, pokemon battling revolves around skill and strategy using the unique effects of pokemon attacks and abilities, and even if one loses, lessons are learned for both trainer and pokemon as they grow stronger. Animal fighting is the opposite of this – all that’s emphasized is to make your animal as vicious as possible to tear its opponent to shreds, and if it loses a fight, get rid of it.

Numerous times in the games and anime, if a pokemon doesn’t want to battle or doesn’t respect its trainer enough, it won’t obey him/her and never is it considered good training to force a pokemon to battle or cruelly punish it for being difficult to handle. Pokemon battles revolve around a pokemon obeying the precise commands of its trainer rather than doing things on its own, and the sole reason for this is because there’s mutual love and trust between the trainer and pokemon. No such bond exists in real world animal fighting. If a pokemon is too weak to battle, a good trainer will heal it with an item or bring it to a Pokemon Center. If a fighting cock is too weak, its abandoned without any treatment for its injuries.

In conclusion, unlike cock and dog fighting that revolve around money with no regard for the well being of the animals, pokemon battles revolve around trust and love between trainer and pokemon, with both desiring to grow stronger together, and like wrestling and boxing, they enjoy the thrill of violent competition despite the pain. Pokeballs give trainers a place to keep their pokemon safe and easily portable, but it’s not considered okay to force pokemon to go inside them, or to force them to do anything for that matter without considering their feelings.

So to Team Plasma or anyone else who believes training pokemon is a cruel practice, I have the above to say to them. I can understand how it seems cruel at first, but after examining the message of love and trust in the Pokemon world for twelve years, I can safely say that cruelty is something that the franchise certainly does not condone. And people who berate Pokemon for being violent disregard its much more uplifting and obvious theme…

…cuteness~

ポケモン・歴代主人公 by ムリエのデカパン

Pokemon Black and White, the latest games that begin the franchise’s 5th generation, just had their U.S. release yesterday. Ever since I’ve become an older Poke-fan, when new games come out I tend to reflect on the franchise’s past and how it’s evolved (no pun intended) over the years. Pokemon just recently had its 15th anniversary, and even after all this time, it’s still so popular even outside Japan – the recent mall tours to promote the new games, as well as the fact that there were lines at stores when the games were released yesterday, are just some evidence that Pokemon is certainly more than a passing fad. So how has it gone from the days of Red & Blue to the Black & White of today…

Below I’ll be taking a look at each generation of the Pokemon games, particularly how the fandom has changed along with the games:

Generation I

Years: 1996-1999
Main series games: Red, Blue (GameBoy), Yellow (GameBoyColor), Pokemon Stadium (N64)
Region: Kanto
Total pokemon: 151

The generation that started it all, and naturally the one that people have the most fond and nostalgic memories of. Since it was the first, this generation defined Pokemon’s popularity, especially outside Japan, and it’s the one that nearly everyone around my age has played a bit even if they later lost interest in Pokemon. Sure, since Red and Blue (Green in Japan) were the first games and quite innovative ones for a system like the GameBoy, they had a ton of glitches and limitations, but at the same time that gave them a lot of character that players won’t soon forget. The original 151 pokemon have had the longest amount of time to endear themselves into the hearts of millions, again even those who outgrew actually playing Pokemon. Whether it’s purely for nostalgia or not, from what I’ve seen, the majority of people believe Generation I to be the best.

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Generation II

Years: 1999-2001
Main series games: Gold, Silver, Crystal (GameBoyColor), Pokemon Stadium 2 (N64)
Region: Johto
Total pokemon: 251

Despite being the shortest generation with the fewest new pokemon, many of the nostalgic fans from Generation I continued to follow Pokemon into its second generation. Despite the Johto games having a ton of new features, they still had enough old-school worth (and glitches!) to appeal to fans of the original games since the new things were more of improvements rather than complete overhauls. Nintendo implemented a feature that allowed players to transfer their Generation I pokemon into the Generation II games, as well as putting the Kanto region in the games together with the new Johto region, further increasing the connection between the two generations. Also, Pokemon Crystal become the first game where you could choose to play as a female protagonist, indicating that the creators were finally reaching out to us female fans XD The 100 new Johto pokemon held a lot of charm for fans, though not as much as the original 151.

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Generation III

Years: 2002-2006
Main series games: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen (GameBoyAdvance), Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD (GameCube)
Region: Hoenn
Total pokemon: 386

The longest and most unpopular of the Pokemon generations. There are many reason why Generation III defined Pokemon’s period of losing its former glory. Even though it introduced a ton of new pokemon and new features by moving up to the GameBoyAdvance system, one of the biggest blows is that there was no way for players to transfer their pokemon from the first two generations into the new games. Fans were outraged that their hard trained pokemon would become useless now. Another major complaint was the designs of the Generation III pokemon, with many fans calling them “ugly” or “unoriginal,” perhaps because Satoshi Tajiri, the original creator of Pokemon, stopped working on the Pokemon designs starting with these games. Yet another blow came from the anime side, with the main female character, Misty, being replaced with a new character. And of course, many fans that grew up with the original games had simply reached an age in these years where all but the most dedicated become too old for Pokemon. None of this affected yours truly however, whose love for Pokemon never wavered, but most fans my age never made it to Generation III. Even the remakes of Red and Blue – FireRed and LeafGreen – weren’t enough to save Generation III from being a let down. And just an FYI, the “Gotta Catch ‘em All!” slogan retired in this generation, probably because of the amount of pokemon and inability to catch all of them unless you have many different games.

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Generation IV

Years: 2006-2010
Main series games: Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver (DS), Pokemon Battle Revolution, My Pokemon Ranch (Wii)
Region: Sinnoh
Total pokemon: 493

After four years of Pokemon’s popularity dwindling in Generation III, especially among older fans, the release of Diamond and Pearl rekindled interest in the franchise like never before. I was pleasantly surprised at how many past fans who had cast away Pokemon were compelled to get into it again with the DS games. I believe a couple of things are to thank for this, one being that Nintendo rectified the mistake they made last time and allowed players to transfer pokemon from the previous Generation III games into the Generation IV games. And secondly, the DS’s online capabilities; with these games, fans can now battle and trade with people online, even those in other countries! The 107 new Sihhon pokemon were also better received than the Hoenn ones. Vastly updated graphics and other new features, as well as the DS remakes of the old fan-favorites Gold and Silver – HeartGold and SoulSilver – made the fourth generation a blast for the franchise. The only major complaint here was the lack of a good console game, with Pokemon Battle Revolution being poorly received.

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Generation V

Years: 2010-?
Main series games: Black, White (DS)…and more to come!
Region: Unova
Total pokemon: 649

And here we are now. Rather than give the games a complete overhaul like they did in Generation III, Black and White are still on the DS, and even though they have many new features, it’s not an overwhelming amount. Most of them are just improvements, such as better graphics and new items. Once again you can transfer pokemon from the previous generation into Black and White, and all the online capabilities that made the Generation IV games great are still intact. In fact, there’s even more online features in Black and White, such as the Dream World and C-Gear, that I have yet to explore. So far, Generation V is off to a great start and I hope it continues!

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So what can we conclude? I believe the DS and its online features helped restore Pokemon from a “semi-popular” franchise to a “decently-popular” franchise. The ability to transfer pokemon all the way from Generation III into the new Black and White games are another major plus. Because of this, I’ve been using pokemon I’ve had since 2003 in the current games of 2011. I don’t know of any other game that allows you to keep using characters over the years like that. This obviously makes you become very attached to them, and if I were to lose these old pokes of mine it would be like losing an old friend.

And of course, no matter how much the games have advanced over the generations, their overall style, gameplay, and setting remain the same – a charming and thrilling world where sentient, magical creatures live alongside humans, and the power and mysteries surrounding them are waiting to be discovered – not to mention all the challenging strategy involved in pokemon battles! Despite being marketed as a children’s game, there’s a lot of wisdom, universal, mature messages, and uplifting life lessons in Pokemon games, especially in the later games like Platinum and Black & White. Of course, we all know that Pokemon is an “Everyone” game and not a “Children’s” game ;)

During February and March, mall tours promoting Pokemon Black and White are being held at various shopping centers across the U.S. in anticipation of the games’ release on March 6th. This weekend, the tour hit a mall not too far from me in Arcadia, CA. Being the hopeless Pokemon fan than I am, I of course had to go check it out…

Reshiram and Zekrom welcome visitors!

Couldn’t resist taking this picture ^^

The tour started at 10am, though there were already people lined up when my friend and I arrived around 9:30am. Besides buying merchandise at the Pokemon Center booth, the tour was completely free and was conducted as a “stamp rally.” Everyone participating received a pamphlet that had information and images about the games, as well as a page where they would need to get a total of five stamps from booths set up at different locations in the mall. Once they got all five stamps, they could spin a wheel and get a free prize.

A page in the pamphlet about some of the new pokemon

The page that needed to be stamped (with my completed stamps)

At each of the five stamp rally booths, there was also a certain Pokemon BW-related activity going on:

Information Booth

The booth most people started with to pick up their pamphlet and get their first stamp. Besides finding out information about the tour, this booth also gave out movie tickets for the dubbed version of the 13th Pokemon movie being screened at a theater in the mall. Since I’d already seen a fansubbed version of the movie (and I haven’t liked the dub since they changed the voices several years ago), I didn’t care to see it. I heard that the tickets ran out quickly and that you could exchange your ticket stub for a large promo trading card with Celebi and Zorua on it. I would have gotten a ticket just for the trading card but I realized too late XD

Activity Zone

The Activity Zone booth had a few events going on. At various intervals throughout the day, one of the three new starter pokemon (or to be precise, someone in a costume XD) would make an appearance and you could get your picture taken with them. You could also get your picture taken by a staff member against a green background and then go online and imprint the picture on a few different Pokemon backgrounds.

Backgrounds you could get your photo imprinted on

I didn’t care to do any of the photo-related things, and there was supposed to be something going on with the TV screen at this booth, but I didn’t see anything when I was there.

Nothing on the TV, just people lounging around playing Pokemon on their DS

The main attraction here was being able to spin the wheel for a free prize after you got all five stamps, which I’ll get to later on.

GameStop

For some odd reason there were two GameStop stores at this mall but they were both giving away the same stamp.

The event going on at this booth was a Celebi you can download into any of your fourth generation games (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver) via wireless Mystery Gift. If this Celebi is transferred into Heart Gold or Soul Silver, you’ll be able to access a battle with Team Rocket’s boss Giovanni. And if the Celebi is later transferred into your copy of Black or White, you’ll be able to get Zorua. It was funny because when I was getting the download, hardly anyone else knew how to do it. I had to show a few people how to use Mystery Gift in their games and get the Celebi. Apparently not as many people as I thought are experienced in getting similar Pokemon downloads from stores like GameStop and Toys R Us.

Game Demo

The fourth booth I went to was letting people play demos of the English versions of Black and White.

View of the game demo booth from the 2nd floor

The line was very long, and since I’ve already played through my Japanese copy of Black, I didn’t feel much of a need to try a demo of the English version. So I just got my stamp here and moved on. I wonder if they’ll still have this booth at the tours that will be held after the games come out on March 6th. Can’t imagine it’d attract a lot of attention then ~_^

Liked the design on this side of the booth

Pokemon Center

This was the most popular booth since it was the place where you could buy exclusive Pokemon BW merchandise!

The line was very long because each person was taking the time to pick out what they wanted to buy and then had to wait until their payment transaction by cash or credit card was completed. Something went wrong with the credit card machine right when it was my turn to pay, but thankfully I had just enough cash to pay for what I bought.

People waiting in line to buy their poke-loot

Plushies!

And more plushies!

View of the Pokemon Center booth from the 2nd floor

The photos below are the signs that showed all the available things to buy – T-shirts, plushies, and figures.

Unfortunately the T-shirts were all youth sizes that wouldn’t fit me (c’mon, they must know by now that adults want Pokemon shirts too XP) So I instead blew my money on plushies and figures.

My haul: plushies of Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivey…

…and figures of Reshiram, Zekrom, Pikachu, Zorua, and Zoroak (along with the styluses I won later)

Spin the Wheel

After getting the five stamps, my friend and I headed back to the Activity Zone to spin the wheel that would determine which free prize we would get. We soon found out that the staff wasn’t quite prepared for the amount of people that showed up at the tour – first we waited in an incredibly long line to get a wristband that would let us spin the wheel at a certain time. After waiting for who knows how long, we realized that they scrapped that idea and just had everyone wait in line to spin the wheel right away (instead of wristbands, they just stamped our hand to show who already got to spin). In order to prevent blocking traffic in the mall, we then ended up waiting in another line outside. Luckily we were in the parking structure but unlucky people at the end of the line weren’t covered when it started raining! After about an hour, it was finally our turn to spin.

The prizes all featured Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivey – a stylus with one of the three on it, a patch of one of them, a phone charm with all three of them, or a free plushie of one of them. Since I already bought all three plushies, and I had no use for a patch or stylus, I really wanted the phone charm. But alas, I won a stylus and so did my friend (she gave me hers =P) A little boy waiting in line next to me wanted to trade his Tepig stylus for my Oshawott one, which I did XD

Took one final photo with the big Reshiram and Zekrom blow-up dolls XD

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To sum up my thoughts, the tour was fun and a fantastic way to promote what’s probably the most unique generation of Pokemon. It still amazes me that even after all these years, Pokemon is still so popular with such a variety of ages, and even an event like this would draw in more people than anticipated. I had brought my DS to perhaps battle people (and show off my Japanese copy of Black, though most people were too engrossed in their own DS to notice XD) but by the time I was done getting all the stamps and waiting in lines, I was pretty much spent. There were a few Pokemon cosplayers at the tour, but not many. There were lots of families with kids, groups of teenagers, and of course older, veteran fans like me. My only complaints about the tour was a slight lack of organization which resulted in very long lines (and probably lack of any activity with that TV in the Activity Zone), and I also would have liked merchandise that featured a better variety of the new Pokemon. I know they’re important and all, but the three starters and two version mascots were kinda hogging the spotlight.

Anyway, the last Pokemon event I went to was almost four years ago, so it was great having this one. I hope there will be further events for this incredible franchise that I can go to ^^

BLACKWHITE by ほう

It’s now a little over a month until Pokemon Black and White make their American debut on March 6th (and, for the first time, Europe will be getting the games two days before America on March 4th). Bits of info have been trickling in about the English release, particularly the English names of characters, places, items, and other aspects of the games…

On this post I’ll be discussing my thoughts on some of the English B&W names, particularly the pokemon themselves of course. I’m not going to discuss every single name – just the ones I feel are worth mentioning. If I don’t mention one of the English names here, I’m neutral to it and didn’t have anything to say about it.

Credit for the info and pictures on this post goes to Bulbapedia and Pokebeach.

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One of the first notable translations is that the new region the games take place in, Isshu, will be called Unova in English, marking the first time one of the Pokemon regions has been renamed.

The Unova region

I’m trying to figure out why they would change the region’s name this time when all the others have kept their Japanese names (honestly I think “Isshu” is easier for English speakers to say than “Unova”). It’s probably because these are the first games that take place in a region not based on a real region in Japan. In this case, it’s based on New York City.

Bianca and Cheren

The English names of the games’ two rival characters are also worth noting. Cheren keeps his Japanese name while Bel is renamed Bianca. “Cheren” is Bulgarian for “black” while “Bel” means “white” in Slavic and “Bianca” means “white” in Italian. Perhaps the English translators thought “Bel” is too similar to the French name “Belle,” meaning “beautiful,” but still wanted to follow the black and white theme of the Japanese names.

Professor Juniper

The region’s first female professor, Professor Araragi, will be named Professor Juniper, keeping up the tradition (in all languages I think) of Pokemon professors being named after trees.

And now we get to the most important English names – the 156 new pokemon. Official sources have revealed about 27 so far. However, a list of English names for all the new pokemon has been circulating and it’s now believed to be at least 99% true, as it contained accurate names that weren’t officially revealed until after the list was made. Going by that list, approximately 21 of the new pokemon keep their Japanese name, or some very slight variation of it.

Below is my commentary on the names I feel like mentioning. Again, there’s still that 1% chance that some of these names turn out to be fake. If that happens later on, feel free to laugh at me. But I don’t think so…they all sound very legit to this long-time Pokemon fan.

Snivy, Servine, Serperior

We’ll begin with the Grass starter pokemon. Snivy and Servine are good while Serperior (serpent+superior) would be good if there wasn’t already a completely unrelated pokemon named Rhyperior (rhino+superior). Did the translators forget about Rhyperior or did they just not care about the similarity?

Tepig, Pignite, Emboar

Next is the Fire types. Tepig (tepid+pig) is okay though, like Serperior, there’s already an unrelated pokemon named Grumpig (I’m sure they could have thought of a different pig-related word to use). However, the English names for its evolutions – Pignite and Emboar – are perfect.

Oshawott, Dewott, Samurott

And lastly, the Water types. Oshawatt (ocean+water+otter) takes some getting used to. Dewott and Samurott are okay…but for Samurott (samurai+otter) I can’t help but think, “Rotting samurai anyone?” XD

Patrat, Watchog

Patrat (patrol+rat) and Watchog (watch+groundhog) – pretty cute names. Watchog is actually a direct translation of the Japanese name, Miruhog (“miru” means “see” or “watch”). These guys are kinda cute it’s just…those eyes 0_0

Lillipup, Herdier, Stoutland

The name Lillipup for a “little pup” is a bit plain for my taste =P Herdier (herd+terrier) is good and similar to the Japanese name (Haderia). Stoutland I assume comes from “stout” and either “Newfoundland” (a breed of dog, though Stoutland’s attributes are of other breeds) or “lander,” which is German for “terrier.”

Purrloin, Liepard

Purrloin (purr+purloin) and Liepard (lie+leopard)…adorable names XD

Unfezant

Unfezant (unpleasant+pheasant) – I’m not a big fan of names that are insulting to the pokemon (like Purugly from the fourth generation).

Zebstrika

Zebstrika is similar to its Japanese name, Zebraika. But I think they should have translated it as “Zebrike” (zebra+spike/strike) instead. Zebstrika is kinda hard to say.

Woobat, Swoobat

Woobat and Swoobat – good names, but we already have a line of unrelated bat pokemon whose names also end in “-bat.” I’m sure they could have thought of something else. These guys are pretty silly looking but they kinda grow on you after a while.

Throh, Sawk

The Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan of this generation. These names will take some getting used to. The names remind me of Seel, Dewgong, and Jynx from the original 150 pokemon; pronounced like real words but spelled with a slight difference.

Liligant

Liligant – pretty name for a pretty pokemon~

Cofagrigus

Cofagrigus (coffin+sarcophagus). Yes, the word “fag” is in it…ha, ha.

Minccino

Minccino (mini+chino cloth) – not sure why they didn’t keep its Japanese name, Chillarmy (chinchilla+charming). The Japanese name just seems simpler.

Gothita, Gothorita, Gothitelle

I love the names of the Gothic trio :3 Almost like the Japanese names but a bit friendlier to the English tongue.

Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure

These guys are three of the most unique new pokemon, so I’m glad their English names do them justice ^^ Litwick (lit+wick), Lampent (lantern+lament), and Chandelure (chandelier+lure).

Axew

Axew (axe+chew) – sorry, it just sounds so much like “achoo!” XD

Braviary

The Japanese name, Wargle, already used English words (warrior+eagle) so I don’t know why they needed to change it to Braviary (brave+aviary).

Deino, Zweilous, Hydreigon

Three of the coolest new pokemon have been given equally cool English names. Deino is dino(saur)+ein (German for “one”), Zweilous is zwei (German for “two”)+jealous or perilous, and Hydreigon is hydra+drei (German for “three”)+dragon. This is similar to the translations of the names of the three legendary birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, except with German numbers instead of Spanish.

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I’ve already written a review of Pokemon Black and White after playing the Japanese version of Black. But I’m sure I’ll write another related post after I get my English copy of White :3

Long before the 2010 film…

For the past few days, I’ve been flashbacking about two decades and reliving my very first encounters with computers, particularly computer games of the early 90s…

The first computer I ever laid hands on belonged to a childhood friend of mine (since I wouldn’t get my own computer until 2001). It was the early 90s and I didn’t have a clue about computers back then. I don’t remember what kind of computer it was or what operating system it had (I’m pretty sure it was Apple). But what I mostly remember that first computer for is that my friend had tons of games on it. I spent many hours of my childhood watching him play all kinds of games (strangely, computers intimidated me back then so I preferred to just watch him play, though I did play sometimes). He had complex games like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Sim City, and old-school World of Warcraft, as well as more simple ones like learning games and level-based games.

A few days ago, I suddenly started thinking about all these old games and that I could probably find them all online, just like how you can use emulators to play old video games. And sure enough, I discovered DOSBox, a program that lets you play old Microsoft DOS games on new computers (even though I’m pretty sure my friend had a Mac, apparently all those games had MS versions too).

So now I invite you to take a trip to the past and remember how computer games used to be twenty years ago…

Prince of Persia

Many Prince of Persia games have been made, but the original one is what I remember. This Aladdin-esque game is many levels long and involves you maneuvering a nameless prince through various dungeons full of traps and enemies in order to rescue the princess in less than 60 minutes. You have to jump, run, and climb to find your way out of each maze. It’s not as easy as it sounds – the 2D environment and setup of the dungeons makes it easy to make grave mistakes that will force you to have to restart the level. A lot of problem-solving is involved in figuring out whether you need to jump this way, climb down that way, open this gate as opposed to that gate, etc,. Even by today’s standards, the original Prince of Persia is very innovative but also very difficult!

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The Oregon Trail

Like PoP, Oregon Trail has had newer releases but the old 1992 deluxe version is the one that I played. The game takes place in 1848 and your goal is to guide your wagon of travelers across the Oregon Trail from Missouri to Oregon. The game does the work in terms of moving your wagon, but what the player has to do is make choices such as rest for a few days if someone in the party is sick, hunt if food is low, trade with people at certain landmarks if supplies get used up, and ford or ferry across rivers depending on the depth. Random events will happen that will delay or wagon, use up your supplies, or even kill off a member of your party. You want to reach the end of the game in the shortest amount of days with the most people alive. Much of the game is luck-based, but there is skill involved in deciding what actions to take. LOL, when you begin the game you can assign names to the people in your wagon and I would always name them after friends and family, then it would be so tragic when bad things happened to them such as “so-and-so was bitten by a snake” or “so-and-so has cholera” XD

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Lemmings

Lemmings is a unique, completely strategy-centered game. Your goal is to guide a group of lemmings to the exit of each level. Only problem is that they’ll only walk straight ahead and won’t do anything on their own to avoid danger such as falling off cliffs. You have to assign some lemmings certain tasks that will create a safe path to the exit. For example, make one a Blocker that will prevent the others from moving forward while you make another lemming a Basher that will break through a wall in the way, and then a Builder that will build a staircase over a pool of deadly lava. Obviously the levels get increasingly difficult as you have to keep track of what many lemmings are doing at once – I’m currently on level 23 on the easiest difficulty and already it’s getting hard 0_o

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SimAnt

One of the original Sim games, SimAnt has you play the role of an ant that lives in a black ant colony in the front yard of someone’s house. Your goal is to expand your colony by digging to make your nest bigger, foraging for food, protecting your queen ant, and mostly, invading and destroying the neighboring colony of red ants. There are also other dangers such as spiders and ant lions, or death by a human footstep or the lawn mower. As your colony grows and you continue to conquer the red ants, you can even move beyond the yard and into the house! Considering SimAnt was made in 1991, it’s a surprisingly long and complicated game.

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There were many more fun old DOS games my friend had on his computer (a lot of which I can’t remember the names of unfortunately), as well as some I used to play on the school computers at my middle school. These were just four of my favorites. It’s amazing that these games are almost as old as I am yet I still find them enjoyable after all these years. Like with old video games, often I prefer to play my favorite old games over and over rather than check out new ones. Old games like these may be less graphically impressive and detail-oriented than new games, but they’re just as fun, creative, and challenging in my opinion ;)

イッシュ地方、新しい冒険へ by 蒼井

Pokemon Black and White mark the beginning of the 5th generation of the Pokemon franchise, introducing a new region and 156 new pokemon. They’re also the first games that are on the same console as the previous generation, the Nintendo DS, though they contain many advanced features that previous games do not have. Already B&W are top sellers, selling a record 2.6 million copies in just two days and having over a million preorders. The games have now sold 3,761,217 copies in sixteen days, ranking them the highest among Japanese game sales in the past two weeks.

I’ve finally played through enough of my copy of Pokemon Black to write a proper review of it…

One of the first things that fans noticed upon the release of the games is that they’re a lot more story-centered than previous ones. All the Pokemon games have featured a rival for the player and an evil organization that the player must defeat. These characters will usually appear just a few times throughout the game, while the main plot remains for the player to collect all the gym badges and compete in the Pokemon League. Black and White however, feature two rivals/childhood friends, Cheren and Belle, who play relatively significant roles in the story and reoccur to battle the player many more times than previous characters.

Cheren and Belle have already developed quite a fan base =P

❤❤❤ by 白井 風都＠ついった

In addition, B&W’s signature evil organization, Team Plasma, are also more complex, featuring a better variety of characters, from their preachy leader Geechisu and enigmatic “king” N, to the mysterious six sages and N’s bodyguards, Dark Trinity. Like Team Galactic from the 4th generation, Team Plasma is portrayed as having somewhat righteous ideals but twisted ways of acting on them. Team Plasma believes that pokemon suffer under human control and must be free, while the rest of the characters try to convince them that pokemon and humans form lasting bonds that help each other grow stronger together. Team Plasma wants to separate pokemon and humans and create a “black and white” world. I thought Cyrus’ conflict in Platinum was pretty deep for a Pokemon game, but the conflict involving Team Plasma is just as interesting.

Team Plasma grunts

Taking the story-oriented feel of the games even further, instead of the games’ main story ending with the player defeating the Pokemon League Champion, as it has for all the previous games, in B&W the player must have a final confrontation with N and Geechisu instead. Only after defeating them in one of the most difficult series of battles (having to capture your version’s respective Dragon-type legendary, defeat N, and then defeat Geechisu all without saving your game in between) will you be able to take on the real Champion. In addition to Cheren, Belle, and Team Plasma, the eleven new gym leaders of Isshu also have at least a small role in the games’ story outside their gym, which again adds to the games’ heavy focus on story and characters.

The 11 Isshu gym leaders (Shaga’s beard seriously makes him look like an Arrancar from Bleach XD)

Despite all the focus on story, B&W are definitely not lacking when it comes to the typical gameplay we expect of Pokemon games – catching, training, and battling pokemon while traveling to different cities and taking on each gym leader. The first thing to note is that there’s a whopping 156 new pokemon in B&W, more than even the very first games introduced, bringing the total number up to 649. As with all generations, there are always fan complaints about the designs of the new pokemon. I personally am not fussy when it comes to pokemon and think the 5th generation as whole has some of the better designs.

The 649 pokemon (I separated the new B&W pokemon with red lines)

*Image credited to Veekun. Click the image for a larger version*

Another difference is that only new pokemon are available in the game until after you complete the main story. After that, many new areas will open up and give you access to pokemon from previous games, as well as areas exclusive to each version (Black City in Black and White Forest in White). Of course, along with new pokemon there are also new attacks, abilities, and items, but thankfully not an overwhelming amount. Also, Pokemon Musicals replace Pokemon Contests, though I don’t have much interest in either. Another plus is that it’s a lot easier to raise up your pokemon in B&W, especially in the later stages of the games. There are a lot more areas with more trainers to battle, you can battle a number of trainers more than once, and you even receive the Lucky Egg early in the game. After you complete the main story, the eastern part of Isshu that opens up contains a ton of trainers and pokemon at much higher levels (LV60s), so that too is great experience.

The very first improvement in B&W that fans will notice is the fantastic graphics. The DS’s 3D engine is used to its fullest in these games. A number of areas such as the skyscrapers and alleyways in Hiun City and the Sky Arrow Bridge that overlooks the ocean, are all rendered in an amazing 3D that I don’t think has ever been seen in a DS game. There are more 3D rendered cut scenes in B&W as well. Just about all of the gyms also make use of the 3D engine and feature fun puzzles, such as being shot out of cannons, riding on roller coasters, and searching for specific books in a library.

The player in Hiun City and Sky Arrow Bridge

The graphics for the pokemon battles have greatly improved. The pokemon sprites are now constantly moving throughout the battle and the camera zooms in and out accordingly during attacks. The battle music is more dynamic as well, changing to a dramatic tone when your pokemon is low on HP or your opponent sends out their final pokemon. In addition to the familiar single and double battles, the 5th generation introduces triple and rotation battles. I haven’t gotten into these very much yet as you’ll only encounter a few in the main story.

A triple battle

With my high intermediate/low advanced Japanese skills, I was able to play through the game while absorbing a good amount of the story and without getting stuck anywhere. These are also the first Pokemon games where you’re given the option to have the text in kanji instead of kana, though I opted to stick with kana XD Since the games haven’t been released outside of Japan yet, it’s hard to comment on their connectivity to foreign versions, but one would assume it’ll be the same as the 4th generation. Also like the 4th generation, you’re able to permanently transfer your pokemon from the previous generation into B&W using the Pokeshifter that becomes available after the main story. Unfortunately unlike previous games, they won’t be able to hold any items or have certain HM moves (it sucks, but it’s probably due to the fact that TMs and HMs have been changed in B&W).

There are many more new features to explore in these games, such as the Dream World, Battle Subway, C-gear, High Link, and uploading your game online. I haven’t gotten around to using these features yet, so I’ll most likely touch on them when I review the US release of the game in spring of next year.

伝説の一戦 by イーブイ松本

In conclusion, Black and White have the potential to be the best Pokemon games in the franchise thus far – not only do they have the usual aspects of the games that we know and love, but the addition of a focused story, developed characters, and amazing graphics make them worth the hype. Looking forward to reliving the excitement of these games again with the US release! =D

Anyone who’s been around the fandom long enough knows that there’s a connection between anime and video games. Just about all of the anime fans I’ve met over the years have at least one video game series they’re into. In this post, I’ll examine the nature of this connection, as well as how I take part in it…

The obvious reason for why many anime fans are also gaming fans simply has to do with the fiction/fantasy/escapism elements of the two mediums. Anime allows you to watch creative fictional stories that present characters and worlds with such detail that it’s easy for one to become engrossed in them. Likewise, video games present the same kind of fantastical stories and detailed worlds, but instead of just watching, you can actually take part and control what happens in them. So whether you’re observing or playing, both mediums offer a form of escapism and enriched fictional elements.

With this similarity between anime and games, it’s no wonder that most anime fans prefer games from Japan, from regular video games like Final Fantasy and Blaze Blue, to niche PC games like visual novels and gal games. The similarities in the designs of the characters, the way the stories are presented, the music, etc., between these games and anime bring a comforting connection between the two fandoms.

It’s also no wonder that most anime fans who like games have a preference for the RPG genre, from MMORPGs to regular single-player ones like Zelda. RPGs share a lot of elements with anime – large casts of characters who often develop, a lot of fantasy, magic, and sci-fi, unique terminology, subplots, and detailed stories that unfold in a chronological narrative. The majority of RPGs are almost like watching an adventure/fantasy anime series, except for all the leveling up of course, and the fact that you’re playing rather than watching.

After RPGs, I would say that fighting games are also quite popular among anime fans. The reason being that they offer two of the rawest appealing traits for fans which are also staples of shonen anime – cool characters with cool powers, and satiating our innate fascination with violence.

When it comes to this anime fan’s thoughts about video games, I used to be much more into games than I am now. In the 90s, I had a ton of Sega Genesis and Game Gear games, with the Sonic the Hedgehog series being my favorite. However, once I got into Pokemon and anime in the late 90s/early 2000s, I started to become more of a video game connoisseur. Anime took over video games as my favorite pastime, and I realized that I no longer had enough time for both, especially since video games were starting to become more advanced and time consuming.

After the Sega Genesis era and starting with the N64 and Game Boy Color, I began buying consoles based solely on whether there would be Pokemon games for them. Hence, the Game Cube, Game Boy Advance, DS, and Wii followed afterward. Of course, not wanting to be a strictly Pokemon-only gamer, I did buy or rent other games for these systems when I felt like it. But for the past ten years, I’ve only dedicated myself to Pokemon and a few other game series, with anime having priority over games in general.

And as much as friends have tried to push me, I just haven’t had the motivation to play some of the most popular RPGs like Final Fantasy and Zelda. Despite the fact that Pokemon is my favorite game series, in general I don’t enjoy playing RPGs. I’ve given them a chance; I’ve played a little Final Fantasy VII and Tales of Symphonia, but I just couldn’t keep them up. Although I enjoy all the anime elements of these games such as pretty animation, fantasy rich stories, and creative worlds, I don’t enjoy all the leveling up and having to memorize all the huge amounts of items, attacks, etc., do. For some reason, the grinding elements of Pokemon aren’t as hectic to me. There are a couple of other RPGs I love such as Okami and Lost Kingdoms (a Game Cube game) because they have the great attributes of RPGs without all the hassle of leveling up and endless inventories. But for RPGs in general, I would rather watch them as an anime series (or watch others play them, minus too much grinding) rather than play them myself.

Don’t get me wrong…after anime, I would say that video games are my next favorite hobby. Besides Pokemon and other games I’ve mentioned already, I enjoy Harvest Moon, Super Smash Bros., Wario Ware, Nintendogs, and some games based on shows or movies I like, as well as the occasional doujin or anime PC game. I just don’t actively play all the new and popular video games because anime is my main hobby and uses up most of my spare time and money. But I’m the type of person who can play the same games over and over again without getting tired of them. I just finished playing through Okami a second time, I’ve played the same battles in Pokemon Battle Revolution and Smash Bros. Brawl many times over, and I still enjoy playing many of my old Game Cube games, even my old Sega Genesis games on the emulator.

So, how do you feel about the relationship between anime and video games, and how does your game interest compare to your anime interest?

Only in M.U.G.E.N can Shin-chan fight Lelouch in The End of Evangelion

I’ve always dreamed of a fighting game where anime characters from many different titles can duke it out. Unfortunately, the licensing costs and coordination required for such a game would be astronomical. So in the meantime, a fan creation would be the next best thing…

M.U.G.E.N is an unofficial 2-D fighting game engine – once you install it, you manually add your own characters, stages, and music. You can even add your own theme design for the menus, and basically alter any part of the engine to suit your taste.

Fans all over the Internet create and distribute their own M.U.G.E.N characters, themes, and stages for others to download and use in their M.U.G.E.N engine. Most of them include a full range of correct voices and sound effects for the characters as well. There are hundreds of characters and stages available, ranging from anime, video games, comics, and other forms of media entertainment. Thus, like the picture below, you can have major crossover battles.

Haruhi vs Onix on a street in Bakemonogatari

The character sprites (and stages) used in M.U.G.E.N are either ripped from official games or completely fan created. In the picture below, the Inuyasha sprite is ripped from an official Playstation1 game while the Shana sprite is fan made…

Inuyasha vs Shana

Just like doujin fighting games, characters in M.U.G.E.N who don’t have special attacks in their respective anime are given amusing, creative attacks by their creators. Often times, their attacks will involve some quick assistance from other characters. In the picture below, one of Kyon’s attacks is to summon Kunikida, who throws books at the opponent.

Kyon vs Shaoran

For one player, there’s an arcade and survival mode, and for two players, you can battle against each other or as a team. Up to four characters can battle on the screen at once.

Bleach characters Byakuya and Ukitake vs Higurashi characters Mion and Keiichi

So far, M.U.G.E.N is the closest thing to my dream game of battles between characters from a variety of anime titles. Of course, since it is a free, unofficial software, it has its share of flaws.

Sprites of Naruto and Kagami. Notice the size and quality difference

As the picture above shows, one of M.U.G.E.N’s bad points is the inconsistency of the sprite quality. Since the character sprites are created and distributed by many different people from all over the Web, it’s natural that their design and quality is not going to be consistent. The quality of some sprites will be just plain bad, though creators do try to update their sprites. Also, since the character sprites come from many different unofficial sources, there’s a possibility that the creator made errors and they won’t work properly when you use them.

Haruhi summons a Mikuru beam!

The general look of the characters and stages in M.U.G.E.N resemble those of fourth/fifth generation games, with Playstation1 and Sega Genesis quality graphics. So those of us used to the pristine quality of current systems like the PS3 and Wii may be turned off by the old-school graphics of M.U.G.E.N. But the compromise is that the simple graphics make M.U.G.E.N take up relatively little space on your hard drive. Each character that you add is usually less than 10MB, which allows you to add many without using up too much space. If each character was high-quality, it would take up a lot more space and make the system unable to function on anything but fast computers.

Konata vs Sasuke

I haven’t been playing M.U.G.E.N for very long – right now I’m just trying to get better at it and add all the anime characters and stages I want. As of now I have 41 characters from Naruto, Haruhi, Pokemon, Lucky Star, Higurashi, Bleach, and others.

Little Kon punches big ‘ol Snorlax XD

Even though it’s not perfect, a fighting game with the potential to battle as any anime/game/comic character you want is M.U.G.E.N’s main appeal. It’s actually very easy to use in terms of gameplay and adding characters and stages. The ability to alter just about everything about it to suit your taste and to create your own characters, stages, background music, etc., makes it one of the most versatile unofficial games I’ve ever played. The fighting game of my dreams featuring anime characters from many different genres and creators will probably never happen, so at least there’s M.U.G.E.N =)

Last updated: 05/15/10
Last night a magazine scan of the three starter pokemon and two protagonists for the upcoming 5th generation games, Pokemon Black & White, was leaked…

First impressions – I’m pleased with them. I’ve heard fans say that they look more “tropical” than the others, which probably has to do with the new region that the games will take place in.

The Grass one, Tsutaja, kind of reminds me of Treecko (thin, bipedal, and sly looking). And the Fire one, Pokabu, reminds me of a Fire version of Turtwig (a chubby quadruped with a leaf-like growth on his head, though in Pokabu’s case they’re ears and not leaves). The Water one, Mijumaru, is my favorite of the three so far. His face is just so sweet ~^^~ I can’t wait to see their evolutions. I’m imagining a cool raging, flaming boar for Pokabu.

In addition to the three starters, the scan also revealed the two new playable protagonists in the game…

Apparently they’re going to be older than the past protagonists. I usually like the female’s design better but I think I might like the male’s better this time. The girl’s hair is just kinda…big.

And for those who missed them, last month two other new 5th generation pokemon that will be featured in the upcoming 13th movie, were revealed, Dark-types Zorua and Zoroark…

These two together with the three starters now brings the total number of known pokemon up to 498. We’ll be well over 500 by the end of the year.

UPDATE: 05/15/10

Pokemon Sunday showed gameplay footage of what pokemon battles will look like in Black & White. For the first time, pokemon sprites will move throughout the duration of the battle. The camera also zooms in and out during attacks (the footage starts at 1:15 on the video below).

The video also shows some footage of the gameplay field. In Black & White, the field is more 3-D and your character can talk to people without having to press the A button.

Getting more and more excited!

Source: PokeBeach.com. Visit PokeBeach for all the latest Black & White news

The second part of my review of Heart Gold and Soul Silver, the latest and very popular Pokemon games. My first review covered the basics about the game, as well as the first half of the story in the Johto region. This second review will cover the rest of the main story after that, as well as a few extra additions…

Picking up where my last review left off, after you get all the Johto badges, you’re able to battle the Elite Four. I think the Elite Four in these games are actually the easiest in terms of level, with their pokemon only being between LV40-50. The hardest one to beat is probably Lance and his three Dragonite.

Other than that, as long as your pokemon are in the late LV40s and you nail each trainer’s weakness, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. By the time I got to the Elite Four, my team was already in the LV40s so I didn’t have to do too much extra training before taking on the Elite Four, which is something I usually have to do in other games.

After you beat the Elite Four, the end credits will roll. I should point out that the animation for the end credits in HGSS is the best yet.

Field sprites of all the gym leaders and some other characters, as well as a variety of pokemon, make appearances and do amusing little things during the credits.

The next major part of the game is taking the S.S. Aqua to Kanto.

The S.S. Aqua

After you take the ship to Kanto the first time, you can take it again on certain days of the week and battle all the trainers again. Their pokemon remain in the late LV30s/early LV40s range so it’s good experience.

And now we get to the Kanto region. First thing I’ll point out is that it’s awesome seeing the Kanto gyms, cities, and routes in full 3D splendor on the DS for the first time.

Pewter City in HGSS

Unlike Johto, the Kanto gyms haven’t changed too much. The music is again made of updated melodies of the old tunes, and uses different music for trainer and wild pokemon battles than in Johto. Since my guidebook only goes up to Johto, I used an online walkthrough to help me in Kanto, especially for getting through the caves.

After the Magnet Train is running again, you can also use that to travel between Kanto and Johto, since the S.S. Aqua only sails two times a week. But the easiest way to get from one region to another is to Fly to the border at the Pokemon League gate because you can Fly to either region when you’re there.

The main thing to note about getting the Kanto badges in HGSS is that, besides Blue, you can battle the gym leaders in any order you want. You’re required to do more traveling to get to some gyms, but basically you don’t have to battle one to get to another. Because of this, all the Kanto gym leader’s pokemon are around the same level – LV47-60.

One somewhat negative thing I have to say about the Kanto region is that it was too…easy. As you go through Kanto, your pokemon should reach at least the late LV50 range. However, all the trainers in the region besides the gym leaders never get any tougher than the LV30s or LV40s. Thus, I was plowing through all the trainers I encountered with minimal effort. The gym leaders themselves are pretty easy too, since your pokemon are getting stronger while all their pokemon remain in the LV50s and all you have to do is nail their weakness. The only tough battle I had in Kanto was the final gym leader, Blue.

Once you get all eight Kanto badges, you’re able to battle an upgraded Elite Four. They’re now much tougher than they were before, with some new pokemon and levels ranging from LV58 to LV75. I transferred some of my LV60-ish pokemon from Plantinum to battle them and even then it was still hard..

Around this time, you’ll probably start noticing that, if you recorded trainers’ phone numbers in your Pokegear, they’ll start calling you for a rematch. They can be quite helpful, since their pokemon’s level increases each time you battle them. Some will give you items instead. And unfortunately some just call you to tell you something pointless. The phone calls can get kind of annoying so I should probably delete all the number except for the trainers who want to battle or give items. You can also get the phone numbers of all the gym leaders if you meet them outside their gym and you can battle them again on certain days of the week.

And of course, your final challenge is to beat Red, the protagonist from the very first Pokemon games.

Red’s sprite in HGSS

You’ll have to get through Mt. Silver to reach him. Unfortunately, you need a lot of HMs to get there, so you might want to sacrifice the sixth pokemon in your party for an “HM slave.” I followed a walkthrough carefully for Mt. Silver, and even then it was a bit hard. Red himself has the same team he had in the original games, all LV80-88. He was pretty tough, even for the LV70-LV80 pokemon I transferred from Platinum to battle him (the Hail weather condition is in affect during the battle). Once you beat him, the end credits will roll again and other things will be unlocked. I believe you can battle him again each time you beat the Elite Four.

After completing the main story of the game, I decided to check out the Pokeathlon and get my Pokewalker going.

The Pokeathlon poster

I never got into the Pokemon Contests that were introduced in the 3rd generation games. The Pokeathlon however, is much simpler and doesn’t require you to tweak your pokemon’s stats or moves in order to do well. In the Pokeathlon, you use a team of three pokemon to compete in various events that test their Speed, Jump, Skill, Stamina, and Power. All of the 493 pokemon species has predetermined strengths or weaknesses in each of these five categories.

The Shooting Snow event in the Pokeathlon

I’m not going to go through each of the ten Pokeathlon events. All of them require use of the touch screen and stylus only, which can actually give your hand quite a workout. I’ll just say that most of the events are not too hard or too easy, and the only ones I had trouble with were the Goal Roll and Pennant Capture. I eventually got first place in all five categories either on my first or second try, and I didn’t have to use any Aprijuice on my pokemon. You can continue to compete in the Pokeathlon in order to unlock items and commemorative rooms. Basically it’s a fun little addition to the main gameplay.

And lastly we have the Pokewalker. This extra device allows you to transfer one pokemon from your game and take it on a “stroll” through different routes that are gradually unlockable.

The Pokewalker

Like the Pokemon Pikachu device from years ago, the Pokewalker can be hooked to a belt or bag and count the number of steps you take. The steps give you watts, which allow you to search for pokemon and items on the route. The items and pokemon that you get on the Pokewalker can be transferred back to your HGSS game. The pokemon you’re strolling with can also go up a level if you get enough steps.

Encountering a pokemon in the Pokewalker

I guess the Pokewalker’s purpose is to encourage exercise. I suppose it could work, and the fact that it’s kind of easier to get certain pokemon and items on the Pokewalker may indeed encourage players to take walks with it. Like the Pokeathlon, though nothing that special, it’s an enjoyable addition to the main game.

There are a few more minor things to cover in HGSS, like catching Mewtwo, Suicune, or other legendary pokemon, the Battle Frontier, etc,. But this review is getting a bit too long so I’m going to stop here. Like I said in my last review, Heart Gold & Soul Silver are the longest and most elaborate Pokemon games thus far. From what I’ve seen, even those who are not major fans have been enjoying it :)

Screen shots on this post are credited to Bulbapedia and fan art credited to this pixiv user.