The Odd Year of 2016: 3DS

Not my image, but it fits way too well with the subject material. Yes, this is a real game.

Note: I wanted to write this whole thing in an evening. That didn't happen. I'm posting what I've got anyway. (MY HANDS!)

I remember back in 2013, that things looked pretty great for the 3ds. The system had finally thrown off the plague of its mediocre launch and was becoming a veritable hit factory. 2013 brought games like Fire Emblem: Awakening, Pokemon X & Y, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and Shin Megami Tensei IV. I did, and still do believe it to be the best year for the 3DS, bar none. 2014 was also a good year for the 3DS, but the exclusives were drizzling out and there were 1st party failures like Yoshi's New Island. 2014 still had blockbusters, but the number was dropping. I took this as a lean year- perhaps certain developers need time to create big games for 2015.

Namcot Famicom Cartridge

So, as the first part of what is a (potential) series about famicom cartridge variation. Now, videos and pictures have been made before, but uh... Hmm. Well, now with more minute details?

The first (and only) cartridge we look at in this article is Valkyrie No Bouken by Namcot.

Now, in case you didn't know, A lot of third party developers on the famicom made unique cartridge casing for their games. Why? No idea, but most of them do look cool, or at least are more interesting than the generic NES cart. Namcot, the name namco went by for some famicom games (multiple theories exist as to why this was done), created a uniform (to my knowledge) cart design for most of their games.

Review of a bottle.

Seen here, majestically overlooking a table.

So when I recently went to CSUB for some advising stuffins, I got a free bottle. It seemed to be basically uninteresting, holding really no value, but I kinda like having it. So in order to fully look a gift horse directly in the mouth, here is a review.

Random Adventure

So, as our two heroes were traveling to punch YOU in the face, they stopped for no reason, to have pointless exposition.

“Hey, I think I should become a pokemon. What do you think?” Daniel asked.

“LET IT RIP!” David yelled.

And with that, David launched a spinning a top at high speed into the rear of daniel’s cranium.

“Um, ow. ALSO THAT’S THE WRONG FRANCHISE.” Daniel yelled.

Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Ramblings

Yup, another Pokemon post. It was either this or me rambling about food(again). For those who don't know, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (ORAS for short) Are remakes of a duo of Game Boy Advance games released in 2002, with the remakes coming out in 2014. So why am I talking about them, more than a year later?

I just played it. As you may have gathered, this blog typically follows whatever I am interested in at the moment. Such is what is happening now.

So, Pokemon ORAS. It's good. As in, REALLY good. First, some history. I liked the original Ruby & Sapphire, but never enough to actually dedicate my time to beat it. This pattern had pretty much held for all Pokemon games, until X & Y. Even for X & Y, I didn't really beat it because I adored the game, I beat it because it's a really easy game to just play occasionally. That's great and all, but my I never felt like X & Y ever left much of an impact. So, when I first played ORAS, I was afraid the change back to a more traditional Pokemon would push me away from playing it.

Top 11 Favorite Pokemon!

It's been a while since I made a list, so I thought, why not? The recent trailer for Pokemon sun and moon have reinvigorated my interests in the series, so I'll be doing a list of my personal favorite Pokemon. This is 0% based on stats, 100% based on sheer personal bias. Also yes, I DID accidentally put 11 Pokemon on the list.

#-1000: Dunsparce: I hate Dunsparce. It's just so... pointless. I also remember, even as a kid, thinking it was ugly.

Ahem, my attempt to post on this blog (Long title, which I hope none read all of the way to the end)

I clip my toenails today. I went for a walk, since I had that written down on my schedule. I got a Minnie metal pin on the bottom of my shoe. I did other stuff. I hope this was random enough and worthy of being call back to post more entries.

GARDENING!

Yes for once it is time to stop, turn off our brains, and look at pictures of plants. Today's plants will plants that I have planted. Plants.

Yup. Beans, The 2 giant stalks in the back is where the giants live. Also, it's 2 sunflowers.

Mystery Story Teaser

Another day, another story. (This means in no way that I am posting a story a day DON"T HOLD ME TO THAT! also, I called this a teaser because I was to lazy to create "chapters". Oh and yes, the name Jael IS a reference to the book of judges. Foreshadowing.)

“It’s suicide, they’re saying.”

I sighed.

“Same basic piece then. Guess I’ll schedule an appointment with the family. I should have the piece done by next week.” I said.

“Sounds good, Jael. That’s all for now.”

“OK. See you later boss.” I responded.

I had been working for the school paper for about a year. Nothing too interesting, just trying to get something to put a resume really. School wasn’t big enough to have any large controversies, but there was usually something interesting every now and again. I’d written a couple pieces about students who had committed suicide. It was so odd at first, It’s not something you really think you ought to really talk about. Meeting with the family is going to be hard, but I can at least take solace that I won’t have to ask any of the real hard questions. A basic sort of positive “he was a good kid” message would suffice.

Blog Update 5/11

Yes, I changed the background. The hexagons got old. Now would be the time to protest if you hate the new style. As for the future, I dunno, stuff's gonna happen. The end.

Sega 3D Classics Collection Review

Power Drift: This game, while not really a "classic" is certainly fun, and interesting in how it presents its pseudo-3d tracks. It's really an interesting looking game, with plenty of variation and verticality in its track design. At the same time, the extreme speed combined with moving through a 3D area on sprites and with hazards also being sprites, the hit detection is really strange at times. Prepare to fall through bridges you appeared to be mostly on and slide through trees you directly drive into.

The quagmire of portables.

Alright, I realize this is a bit different (see: the random in the title), but this is something I've been thinking about for the last couple of months. It might seem odd and over dramatic to the outsider, but I think it is semi-safe to say portables (as in portable game systems) are dying.

Some history is required. Sales numbers have seemingly peaked in the 7th console generation, the generation dominated by the DS and PSP. the combined sales for the 2 is around 223 Million units for all models. Contrast this with the current 8th generation, dominated by the 3DS and PS Vita. Those sales come out to around 70 million units for all models. Certainly, you could argue this is due to the generation not being over, but even at this time, there is a huge gap in sales.

2016!

Woooooow.... I left this blog dead for a LONG time... I was planning on doing this big article, but it never really came together... So here this blog remains... Eh. As a consolation, have some haikus:

Night of the third day,

All who lived cowered in fear

For what was to come

Only in the end

Too few of us realized

It was our own fault

So cower and hide

No pity will be given

Your guilt, your lone gift.

Yup, Majora's Mask-related haikus don't really make sense as a "gift". Eh. As for the future, I'll try to post SOMETHING in the next month. No promises.