Cool Story of the Week: Pokemon Champion Crowned, His Parents Aren't Good At Video Games

11 year-old Jeremy Fan is the World Pokemon Champ, I'm assuming only through video game play (since the PWC is for both the game and tcg). The article Google News shot at me is available here. I didn't think that the article was all that good (half the time, it's about the kid's family... I want to know about his and his opponent's teams, about the event, about Nintendo, ABOUT THE KID WHO WON). I mean, you get that he can't play all that much. No, there's something else here I thought was a great resource:

"Humbly, unlike their offspring, neither Fan parent says they're any good at games. Jian Fan said when he was growing up in Fujian, China, people of his generation were too poor to have time for such things. And now, with full-time jobs in Silicon Valley, he and his wife are simply too busy."

LOL WUT. Thanks, Asian stereotype parents. Who thinks to include this stuff while reporting on a kid winning a World-spanning event. Like... he's the best at something... in the world... And we're talking about how his parents came from China and aren't good at video games.

Official "Cool Story" of the week.

Yeah, this could be a twitter update. What of it?

Something I've noticed in pretty much all American events: there are no Celebi in the U.S. I mean, there are some for trade over on Smogon, but legitimacy is really a big shoulder shrug and a lot of throat-based noises that just sound like you're about to throw up or are choking on something.

With remakes of Gold and Silver coming to DS, the number of legitimate Lugia, Ho-oh and legendary dog trio increase exponentially (particularly if the game works off a similar RNG to the DPP trilogy of games). But what about Celebi? The forgotten plot device of Pokemon: Jhoto, the GS Ball, was given away through special event in Japan, where you could use the GS ball to trigger one of the first in-game unlockable events (in so far as "mystery gifting" was concerened), meeting Celebi in the Illex Shrine.

At present, virtually every other legendary Pokemon is available through some fairly open source (Deoxys had two U.S. giveaways, Darkrai had one with a likely pending item Mystery Gift event... the same is true of Shaymin. Mew is available through Ranch, Jirachi has its own disc from the Pokemon Colloseum demo, FR/LG have Mewtwo, etc), but Celebi has had virtually no exposure in America (particularly since the Japanese equivalent of the Jirachi disc had Celebi... thanks Gamefreak).

Be on the lookout for Celebi rumors to start popping up as more is known about the Gold and Silver remakes, I am sure you will see them.

Neat trinkets from gaming #2: Wobbuffet and Lego DSi

As my struggles with finals continue, it's nice to spend an afternoon with friends in the ole' City of New York. Even better is when you find a bunch of new doodads to write about for your video game blog about video games.

First up is one of the new releases from Jakks Pacific line of Pokemon toys. Previously, I thought the high of Jakk's talking plush line would end at Piplup, which every girl I know is inexplicably transfixed with. Little did I know that during a stop at Toys R Us with friends yesterday that I would find one that is superior in every way (and if you disagree with me you are a liar and a communist): Wobbuffet.

For those of you less-than-familiar with the Pokemon franchise (why are you reading my blog, then, though, since that's all I talk about), Wobbuffet is well known both in the Pokemon anime cartoon for its appearance alongside Team Rocket as a kind of comic relief to the already comical trio (its name in Japanese is based off of the expression, "I don't think so." which is why when he pops out of his ball after Jessie and/or James say something in the cartoon to quip "WOOOOOBBBBAAAAAFFFFEET," it's a lot funnier in context when he's saying it in Moonspeak, where his name is Sonansu). Also it is known in the competitive battling community for being one obscenely broken mother, bringing games to a standstill through stall in the 3rd Pokemon generation when it gained the ability Shadow Tag (which prevented your opponent from switching Pokemon) and battles between Wobbuffet would never end because the "Struggle" matches would never deal enough damage to either Pokemon to make up for the Leftovers recovery.

Anyway, in case you haven't seen my full Twitter picture, it's me wearing a Wobbuffet shirt and I'll be damned if I don't love that endless-battle making miscreant. For $15 at TRU, I got to take the lovable lump home and cuddled with it in lieu of a Jenni (insert Pokemon police officer joke here). It's roughly 15" tall, so it's rather large, adorable and says its name when you squeeze its hand.

Second on my list of things is something you cannot buy but maybe with a fortune and a lifetime of Lego collection you could possibly make: the Lego DSi at the Nintendo World store. Let me tell you, I didn't even play with Legos when I was a kid but I was taken aback by this construct from the future or space or from space future.

I wish I had stolen a shot when my friend was standing next to it just to establish the scale of this thing. Also I wish the Lego DS stylus that was crafted appeared in my picture, but then again I'm taking pictures for my blog using a 1.3 megapixel camera phone on low battery, so that should be some indication of how quality I am.

Needless to say, this thing is huge and very good looking. The detail given to all of the minute aspects, be it screen graphics to lens on the internal camera (yes, they included a Lego bit that resembles the DSi internal camera lens), work of art, waste of time, welcome distraction while ambling through Rockefeller Center, the Lego DSi is an important piece of video gaming paraphanelia that should be seen at all costs if you're in the area.

Pokemon News - The Acid Rain Glitch

Yet another quick update - the new hot topic in Competitive Battling in Platinum is the weather glitch being called "acid rain," a field weather effect that causes every weather effect to trigger between turns and doing damage to each Pokemon.

The glitch was discovered in the Japanese release of the game months ago, but has undergone some serious testing since its discovery.

The glitch works like this: after a weather condition has been set up, by attack or automatically through a Pokemon's ability, a player's Pokemon is knocked out by using Pursuit when said Pokemon switches out (ex: Player one brings out Tyranitar against Starmie, triggering Sandstorm with Tyranitar's Sand Stream ability. Starmie's controller switches it out while Tyranitar's controller selects Pursuit as his attack. Starmie goes to switch, causing Pursuit to attack first and knock it out). The knocked out player switches in a new Pokemon and, from that point on, Rain, Sun, Hail and Sand weather conditions trigger (not sure of the order, bro), each causing Pokemon to take damage as though it were Hail or Sand (and causing some Pokemon to recover HP depending on weather condition).

Apparently other field effects, such as Gravity or Trick Room, can also trigger the glitch. A research thread detailing every known aspect of the glitch can be found on Smogon's forums.

One interesting effect of the glitch is that it causes an infinite loop for Weather-transformative Pokemon like Castform, effectively drawing the match as neither player can continue battling.

Research has not shown whether this will have any effect on the 2009 Pokemon Championship Qualifiers, though it is possible Pursuit has no such effect in double battles, the format for the championship.

A video of the glitch showing up in the English Platinum game can be seen here.

Really quick post. It's about Platinum. Oh joy.

One major problem I've noticed in-game so far: lag.

In Eterna Forest and Hearthome City, trying to run places causes the game to randomly start dropping in frame rates and slowing down pretty frequently (this is especially true in Hearthome).

I haven't really noticed the effect if you avoid running/increasing your movement frames and the effect isn't too crazy (though this makes leveling in Eterna Forest while walking around with Cheryl much more difficult).

While it's clear Hearthome's new "there are like 800 moving objects on screen at the same time" is detrimental to the frame rate, I'm not sure if Eterna Forest's drop is due to the new "canopy" effect with shadows and breaks for sunlight on the forest floor or if the effect is due to you dragging two bodies around instead of one (coupled with the new visual effects). I guess I'll have an update the next time I'm partnered with another trainer.

Other than that, my progress has stifled in-game due to OCD with completing my Pokedex as well as GRINDAN/power leveling my team between gyms.

Just a heads up for those of you still unsure about buying the game or who've had even less time to play than I have. Kind of mad at myself for not reporting this sooner.

Platinum Release Party: AVAST!

March 21st, aka this Saturday, at Nintendo World in Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, Noon-4. Get ready. It's a party.

Nintendo's celebrating the overly-anticipated (to me, anyway) release of Pokemon Platinum in style with a release party, with giveaways, signings, costumes and, best of all, selling the newest release in the Pokemon series a day early.

Information is available on Pokemon.com, but the real treat is the fact that I'm going and you get to see me. No, just kidding, it's the Pokemon. You guys can see me fanboy over Pokemon like the ridiculous man-child I am. I will demand battles from everyone. No one is safe.

Regigigas and neat Pokemon Platinum News

I am sure you're tired of my harping on Pokemon. Big whoop, wanna fight about it?

This Sunday, March 8, you too can get your very own Level 100 Event Regigigas at any U.S. or Puerto Rican Toys R Us! Wow!Regigigas is a legendary Pokemon regularly available in your Diamond and Pearl game cart, so why bother? This Regigigas unlocks an in-game Platinum event that allows you to capture the Regi-trio (Regice, Registeel and Regirock), similar to how the Shaymin event several weeks ago allows you to unlock Shaymin's Sky Forme when traded to the unreleased game.The event lasts until March 21st, the day before Platinum is released, so if you're reeling from daylight savings March 8, it's no big deal.From a battling perspective, Regigigas is kind of awful; it has an ability that halves its attack and speed. While its stats allow it to be very bulky (its HP and defenses are wonderful), waiting 5 turns to be a useful attacker is no small feat for even the bulkiest Pokemon. The Regi-trio, however, all make rather good walls or tanks (walling is a defensive play while taking involves taking damage and then being able to dish it out in turn).
In Soviet Russia, Regi-trio unlocks Regigigas. Pokemon.com has all the info you need to know before the event!

FritoLay, a-ok. RapeLay? Not so much.

That is the worst title I have ever written. I'm so sorry.

Anyway, Japanese dating sim "RapeLay," a game that promotes raping women, has come under some fire for its availability in the U.S!
According to the PC World article, New York City Councilwoman Christine Quinn is asking for U.S. retailers to ban sales of the game, which is not available in mainstream game retailers, such as GameStop.

I know back-to-back entries on basically the same thing are kind of tedious (and hey, I could even go so far as to merge them into one!), but games are fantasy. And the game is strictly targeted to adults. A kid would have to go quite out of his or her way to get his or her hands on this game. And guess what? Even if they did, it's still a game.

Can you really quantify whether rape is worse than murder? Yet, despite this, some of the most brutal murder, dismemberment and evisceration is available for viewing in video games aimed at a responsible, first-amendment protected adult audience. Unless Christine Quinn has a room filled with love pillows and has unlocked all of the possible endings for "Let's Meow Meow," she is not qualified to tell someone who has what is acceptable for him or her to play. It's a private safe area to do unspeakable things in. I would be drawn and quartered by PETA if I tried to capture animals in plastic balls to make them battle one another for sport and money.

Coincidentally, SomethingAwful totally panned RapeLay. Maybe if she was basing the ban on game quality she'd have an argument.

More Platinum news.

Nintendo has released the official site for Pokemon Platinum, which wouldn't be spectacular except for the fact that it hints at events for the Rotom-form Key, Regigigas evevnt that triggers the other Regis in Sinnoh, introduces the expanded gameplay available through Battle Frontier and introduces many more gameplay additions.

This is a fairly uncommon mass-reveal (particularly for those of us who are spoiled about the game's contents) on the part of Nintendo, but also increases hype for the game, as previously Nintendo events were few and far between in the US and far removed from their Japanese equivalents.

March 22nd, a Sunday, is when you can get your hands on this. The Regigigas event happens prior to Platinum's release at an unannounced time.
Thanks to Serebii for the update!

Get your Pokemon Diamond and Pearl carts ready

Final summary of NYCC is coming up, I have a lot of pictures to upload before I make such posts.
Before that, though, correction: Konami DID have a booth there, it just wasn't as huge and epic as its booth last year. My apologies to Konami and anyone whose feelings were hurt by my exclusion of them from my coverage. My opinion: it's hard to top back-to-back Metal Gear Solid 4 - Metal Gear Online 2 two years in a row.

This week, as of yesterday, starts the Toys R Us Shaymin giveaway event. Shaymin is one of the new event-only Legendaries from Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, much like Mew, Celebi and Jirachi in previous generations (this generation, we're gifted with two base-100 event Legends, the second of which is Manaphy). The Shaymin has the additional benefit of activating the Gracedia event in Florma Town in Pokemon Platinum (available 3/22, zomg) that transforms your Shaymin into its Sky Form(e), where its stats, typing and learnable moves change. If that's all jargon to you, lrn2playPkmn,bro.

The event ends 2/14 (nothing like catching an event-only Pokemon for your sweetie on Valentine's Day) and requires no purchase. Just be sure to activate Mystery Gift on your Pokemon cart by talking to the guy on the third floor of the Jublife TV building and inputting the phrase "EVERYONE HAPPY" and "WI-FI Connection." If you have 5+driving minutes and love Pokemon, you could do worse with your time.