Brendan Namron: Ace Attorney

If you're a fan of both the Ace Attorney and Pokemon franchises, and have ever wondered what it might be like if the two have ever merged, do I have a post for you. If not, then you can ignore this one.

For the past six years, I've been doing off-and-on writing on a series that I call Brendan Namron: Ace Attorney. It takes the Ace Attorney approach to writing (with most cases even being done in a script format, meant to resemble playing the real games) with cases set in the Pokemon universe. I have a few original characters, but those familiar with the Pokemon games will find old favorites as well.

You can read the first case here, and the second one here. The third case is in progress, but lately I've been pushing myself to get the darn thing done already (which is why I'm bothering to post about this now). You can read the completed chapters of case three here.

EDIT on 2016-08-27: Here's a short side-story featuring Skye and Phoenix.

I hope you enjoy them. Please feel free to leave feedback in this post's comments.

Reasons I Love Pokémon Black and White

[It's been a while since my last post, hasn't it ... ?

This is just a small list I wrote about a year ago; I kept it tucked away in my Google Drive and never posted it anywhere. Today, while reorganizing my Drive, I stumbled upon it, and decided it might be fun to share.]

Beware of unmarked spoilers. [EDIT: December 12, 2015: Now with some TV Tropes links.]

• This is the only game (pair) in the franchise where your motivation for challenging the Elite Four is, at any point, not the comparatively self-centered goal of becoming the Champion for glory or ranking. Instead, you challenge them because it's the only option you have to reach and confront N, who at this point has issued a challenge where failure to win - and presumably, refusing to meet the challenge - means separation of Pokémon and humans the world over.
• Related to the above:
• The climax of the game's "Team X" storyline doesn't end before the 7th or 8th Gym badge, as it did in pretty much every other generation - instead, it's the final bosses, just after the Elite Four. This time, prior to the 8th badge is when the player learns of N's ultimate intention, and suddenly the heat is on to chase him to the Pokémon League, making the pursuit of the 8th badge much more purposeful.
• The game's experience system - which is only used in this generation - makes it harder to overlevel a team without seriously going out of one's way to level grind. As a result, many players arrive at the Elite Four with a team roughly equal in levels to the opponents'. This, I think, makes the final bosses much more exciting and challenging, with an increased reliance on good tactics even for veterans. (That Hydregion though.)
• The flow of events after defeating the Elite Four and marching forth to face N has a more-traditional JRPG feel, in my opinion. There's a lot of buildup, and it meets expectations instead of being an underwhelming letdown that's resolved in five minutes.
• Just after the "Pokémon League Under Siege" cutscene comes one of my favorite tracks in the game, "Carrying Out A Mission". It's right up there with "For the Savior" from Lufia 2 as far as heroic "we gotta do this" songs go - but unless you stand around for a bit, you only hear the first ten seconds, and it never plays again.
• The final boss feels like a final boss; that's not to say the Champions were never climactic or challenging or anything, but see my first bullet point - it was all friendly competition, and there was no danger or menace in those fights (with the possible slight exception of your Rival in Gen 1). This time, you're fighting a madman, and as far as you can tell, he's angry enough to kill you (he doesn't exactly try, but still).
• The ending cutscene is somewhat emotionally charged and has a beautiful track to go with it. You don't get the usual Hall of Fame bit, which may leave veterans feeling like they have unfinished business ...
• The game sets up a good ol' Checkov's Plot Trinket, which isn't made terribly obvious unless you play both versions of the game. I'm pretty sure this is the first time in the series that such a thing is done so early in the story, and without a huge neon sign that says "SUPER IMPORTANT THING HERE".
• Bianca, Cheren, Bianca's father, and N all get noticeable character development. This is well below (above? it's a negative thing after all, and in golf you score low ...) par for the course for most stories in general, but for a Pokémon game it's pretty nice, and it's done fairly well. Two of the related cutscenes even get pretty emotional pieces (and there are even more for N, delivered as flashbacks, in B2W2).
• The whole plot related to Team Plasma's purported goal legitimately calls into question the "slave or friend" debate on Pokémon, something that has been on the minds of many fans and Moral Guardians since the series' debut. It's not often that a kid-friendly game examines itself in this manner, and it provides plenty of food for thought. (N's possible backstory does too, though more in the form of Fridge Horror.)
• Despite the first bullet point, you can return to the Pokémon League after the credits and rematch the Elite Four - then properly challenge the Champion. He doesn't quite get the awesome battle theme other Champions have, but he makes up for it by having a pretty tough team at high levels (though keep in mind that, in story, N stomped this team flat), hot on the heels of Red's team. It takes a lot of level grinding to stand a chance if you didn't import a battle-hardened team from Gen 4, so it's a pretty meaningful battle for a lot of players.

What do you like about the Gen 5 games? Please tell me in the comments!

I picked up a used iPod Mini

Wheeeeeeee!

That's all for now. :P

Auuuuugh

This is just a post where I vent frustration over the weird things my tablet does, and argue to no one why I don't want to sell it to buy a new one.

The overly-long video above shows what happens in Chrome 42 when I scroll down the comments in Ars Technica. In version 41 and earlier, I used to make it through several pages' or tabs' worth of comments (I like reading them; they're usually thought-provoking and often educational beyond the article) before any weirdness occurred.

Now? I can't get through half a page before it takes the entire system down.

EDIT: It seems that Chrome in general dislikes Ars. The tabs freeze on my netbook roughly halfway down the comments. At least I can kill those and keep going.

The rest of the video is me showing the boot time (granted, I have a lot of apps installed) and some system info. To be clear, it's an Acer Iconia Tab A200, which has a Tegra 2 SoC and 1GB of RAM. (Device enthusiasts may be raising eyebrows; I'll address that in a bit.) It originally shipped with Honeycomb (Android 3.0), but was officially upgraded to ICS (Android 4.0.3). I am running an unofficial OmniROM with Android 4.4.4 - the only known KitKat ROM available for the device.

This clip demonstrates a quirk that I assume is due to both the hardware and the driver (I had issues with it in ICS). With certain networks, the tablet will often refuse to connect whenever I come in range (or after rebooting), and the one at work gives me the most trouble (sometimes it will be connected as I put the tablet to sleep; when it wakes up, it refuses to reconnect). To connect, I must forget the network, toggle Wi-Fi off and back on, then establish a new connection to the router.

Regarding Chrome, I can only assume that it has something to do with implementing (more?) NEON instructions; a while back, when I updated Google Maps to version 9, it would crash on startup (and logcat made it clear that NEON was to blame; I now run an unofficial Maps 6). The Tegra 2 is one of the last non-NEON chips to be released, lacking an instruction set that current Android devices sport.

Between issues like the above, and the fact that the device is constantly sluggish while running today's apps (software bloat, anyone?), life with this tablet has been rife with frustration. I want to get a newer device - but I refuse to get rid of the A200.

Why? Well, it was a gift, for starters. Christmas present at the end of 2012. It's hard to argue with getting something for free; I could have no tablet at all.

Also, with a Bluetooth keyboard, it's pretty nifty to write on; it helps that my laptops' batteries are all toast, so my tablet is my sole utility for writing in, say, a waiting room. For added productivity, the device has a full-size USB port, letting me plug in a wired mouse/keyboard, gaming controller, or flash drive - without an adapter. (Heck, sometimes I charge my Clip Zip with it.) I doubt whatever replacement tablet I go with will have one (come to think of it, is there ANY tablet for sale with a full USB port that isn't a Surface?).

Also, the ten-inch screen is nice. It's not as vivid as current displays, but I like the extra breathing room it affords over the plethora of 7" tablets on the market (never mind my phone's 4" screen!). The only caveat is that the resolution sucks by 2015 standards; it's 1280 x 800 pixels. Still, it's good enough to read comics or show funny pictures to others in the room.

So yeah, it's often frustrating to use, but I'm keeping this thing until the battery goes under. Hopefully I'll find a good deal before then, though.

Thoughts on Mewtwo

I was one of the many people who got to play as Mewtwo in Smash 4 on the 15th. Having only vague memories of trying him in Melee and sucking in the ensuing matches, I was cautiously hopeful that I'd find him more acessible this time around.

Suffice to say that I look forward to using him on my next Smash Tuesday. :)

I don't really remember enough about Melee Mewtwo to discuss the differences (and I am NOT going through the playtime needed to unlock him on my own save file), so I'll just go over some of his moves and what I liked. Hopefully this will tide over any folks who are waiting to purchase him on April 28th.

As one would expect, Mewtwo's all about psychic-based attacks and movement, but his standard attacks mix in physical strikes, focusing on his tail. On the ground, his neutral standard, a quick psychic "punch", does 4% of damage, while his side standard is a swipe of his tail, doing anywhere from 9% to 15%. Mewtwo varies his physical and psychic attacks a fair bit while in the air. Smash attacks are more psychic-based, and they hit pretty hard, with great launching power.

Mewtwo's specials include Teleport (up), Confusion (side), Disable (down), and Shadow Ball (neutral). Teleport is familiar to many Smash players who use the likes of, say, Palutena, but Mewtwo's executes quickly, and he floats for a second if his warp destination is in the air. It's handy for sudden changes of target or tactics. Confusion flips around the target a bit, but it's very short range. Disable will stun an opponent - the more damage, the longer it lasts - but it only works while making eye contact. It's perfect for setting up a battered opponent for a KO. Shadow Ball is a charge move that doesn't auto-fire when fully charged; at any point while charging, you can hit the shield button to store the charge and resume later.

He isn't without drawbacks, of course - Mewtwo has a light body and is quite easy to launch. He's a high-risk yet high-reward character, as a result, so make sure you're skilled with shielding and rolling!

I'm having a blast experimenting with Mewtwo, and although I can't defeat high-level CPUs yet, I don't think it will take long.



Additional thoughts:

I'm willing to bet that players can fight with/against Mewtwo online regardless of purchase status. The download for Mewtwo himself, according to the eShop, is 58 KB on the Wii U and 16 KB (two blocks) on the 3DS. That's impossibly small - and leads me to believe that Mewtwo's data is actually in the 1.0.6 update, ensuring that everyone playing online has Mewtwo's code on their system.

I wonder if Nintendo will use this method for future DLC (meaning game updates when new characters come out), or if it's just for Mewtwo. Unlike Mario Kart 8's DLC tracks, characters probably don't use much disk space, so it's not that unreasonable to push DLC data onto everyone's console. (The biggest caveat, in my opinion, is that each update could break replays, meaning that replays you made the day of Mewtwo's release could be unplayable in two months when Lucas comes out. But then again, that really should only happen when the game balance is tweaked ...)


Anyway, hope to see you fellow Mewtwo fans online!

Review: Sonic CD (XBLA version): A Blast From The Past, Present, and Future

Sonic CD is one of those games that can’t be brought up without half the room going, “… Sonic what?” Released on the expensive, ill-fated Sega CD (a Genesis/Megadrive accessory that was plagued by horrible, FMV-based “games”), only the more dedicated fans will have heard of it, let alone beaten it, and it’s not an easy game to show to fans who are more accustomed to Sonic’s … modern achievements. But underneath its obscurity, Sonic CD is a real treasure, and Sega was smart enough to make sure that treasure feels as beautiful now as it was then, using Sonic fanChristian “Taxman” Whitehead’s “Retro Engine” for all the ports.

For starters, the game now runs at 60 frames per second in all situations, and features true widescreen support. Sprites can be smoothed out to make them seem better to bystanders, but I’m perfectly happy to play with their old, unfiltered selves (granted, I have an old CRT TV). The USA and Japanese soundtracks are included (defaults to JP); while the JP soundtrack is considered to be vastly superior by many, the USA one has its merits. (My two cents: play as Sonic with the one you like most, and then play, with the other soundtrack, as …) Tails shows up in this port as well, as an unlockable character, awarded by beating the game once as Sonic. He features his flying and swimming abilities from Sonic 3, and a few new sprites for situations he’s previously never been in (the Special Stages come to mind). Tails is great for leisurely exploring the levels to learn paths you may have been timid or too much in a hurry to go down as Sonic (that 10 minute limit can be haunting!). Finally, the game saves after each Zone (Act, as it’s called in later games), instead of only after you defeat a boss, and you get four save slots.

Sonic, of course, is where the action all is, and he’s a joy to control here. I found myself able to peel through stages like they were nothing in Time Attack mode, while able to elegantly explore the stages in the main game, scouring the land for time posts and rings. Sonic accelerates and stops smoothly (contrast: Sonic 4 Ep. 1), and you’re given the option of using the original Spindash (that is, the one in the original Sonic CD) or the Sonic 2-style spindash (the good one, in seemingly everyone’s opinion). Sometimes I really didn’t care if I was moving towards the goal or away; it was just funto move Sonic around, especially on the obstacle-course sections of the Zones.

Sonic CD’s Special Stages – accessed by finishing a Zone with at least 50 rings - have been perfectly preserved as well – maybe a little too well. The pseudo-3D design can be jarring for audiences that didn’t grow up in the Mode 7-esque days, and even old-school fans will have to adjust to the now incredibly-smooth framerate (60 FPS vs. 30 FPS in the original), as jumping timing is a little different. I found it fairly easy to get used to, and before I knew it I had three Time Stones. (Good luck, of course, on getting the other four!) The objective, for those wondering, is to run around the 3D stage and destroy multiple UFOs floating in the air by jumping into them – with a 99 second time limit that drops by ten seconds if you walk into water. Succeed, and you win a Time Stone.

Players of modern Sonic who are used to holding right and jumping from time to time won’t find much of that here. The stage designs are dense, packed with obstacles that ensure that Sonic will rarely reach top speed. There are multiple possible reasons, all benign. It becomes all that more joyous when you can move Sonic at top speed for those precious seconds. Time travel becomes a challenge as you struggle to maintain good speed to start the warp (and it becomes harder to do it by accident). Time trials are more challenging as you struggle to find a fast route (if you find it, you canblaze through most Zones). The slower pace lets you take in the scenery better. Maybe the level designers just got giddy about the extra storage space. Whatever the reason, Sonic CD’s levels can seem convoluted and intimidating at first, but with time they become elegant, beautiful paths that can be tackled without breaking a sweat.

The game does have a few nits, like the score tally at the end of each Zone occuring after the music has played (and feeling like an arbitrary delay if you happen to be playing your own music), but the game offers plenty of redeeming qualities that all the negatives can be brushed aside with ease. And to top it off, this thing is $5 (at least on Xbox Live Arcade). It’s practically an impulse buy. What more could you ask for from Sega, who, at long last, has given a formerly forgotten title its welcome return.

First Impressions: 4.5/5 OHMAGOD SONIC CD IS BACK AND SEGA DIDN’T SCREW IT UP

Gameplay: 4.5/5. The Sonic 2-style Spindash is a welcome improvement. Sonic is fun to control.

Visuals: 3.5/5. They didn’t remake the sprites, just added a smoothing filter. Special Stage looks dated as a result.

Sound: 4.5/5. Is it 18-year-old music? Yes. Is it lossless? I don’t know. Does it sound fresh and exciting? OH YES

Controls: 5/5. Back to basics. You could play this with an Atari VCS joystick. Again, Sonic moves great.

Difficulty: 4/5. I’m not really sure how hard this would be for a newcomer. I’ve technically played this game before (on the 1995 PC version), so I know the game fairly well.

Storyline: 2/5. This was back in a time when Sonic wasn’t about story, so just ignore this number and go play the darn game.

Overall: 5/5.

Sonic and all affiliated characters and elements are © Sega, Sonic Team. Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade are © Microsoft Corporation.

This review was originally published on Tumblr in December 2011. View the original post.
Sonic CD on Steam

Weirdness: Ping TARDIS

I had a time machine!

Original post on Tumblr.