themblan's blog

This post on Reddit really bothered me. It was about "finishing" games. Here is the response I began typing, after which I decided to turn into a blog-post instead of a comment: What does "finishing" games really mean? It depends on the game and the person. Some people are content with going through the story once and that's it. If that is true, would you consider playing through the story on the easiest setting sufficient? I don't know about you, but if a game is too easy, I find the experience to be extremely boring. Although based on this definition of "finishing" a game, it would suffice, I would not enjoy the experience, which would defeat the purpose of playing the game to begin with. Why sacrifice your enjoyment of playing a game, just for your satisfaction of saying you "finished" a game, or more probably and accurately, for your left-brained, egotistical satisfaction of a adding another game to your pile of "finished...

Have u ever noticed how physical gamers always feel the need to say that physical games are superior to digital games? They don't just stop at saying that their personal, subjective preference is for physical games; no. They must take that extra step, make a judgment, and proclaim that physical games are better, implying that they are objectively so. Isn't that asinine? Shouldn't they just stop at expressing their opinions? Why must they take that asinine next step and try to imply that their opinions are facts? I must surmise that one of these reasons is that they are stupider, and thus, more prone to irrational affirmations. They are like racists or sexists. There is no race or sex that is better than another; they are just different, but the same. Racists and sexists, on the other hand, hold an obstinate belief, that a race or sex is objectively inferior or superior to another. Yes; people who say that physical games are better are operating from the same level of int...

I am done buying new games and consoles. I have been far too disappointed since the launch of the Nintendo Switch. Granted, I haven't been only disappointed, but I have been disappointed with the overwhelming majority of the games I have purchased, not to mention the Nintendo Switch itself. Recently, I decided to cut as many costs as possible - no more buying useless junk. I do not feel happy anymore after I buy a new game. I play the game, get disappointed, and then never play the game again. It doesn't matter if the game is universally praised or not; I seem to not like it. Maybe there's something wrong with me, or maybe people don't know how to make games anymore. I decided that enough is enough. If I don't spend money, I can't be disappointed. I am perfectly happy with playing the games I already have, not to mention the thousands I have access to via emulation, CD-backups, and flash-cartridges.

Original article: GOP lawmaker pulls out loaded gun in constituent meeting "Republican Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina pulled out a loaded handgun during a meeting with constituents on Friday to make the point that guns are not always dangerous." Sure, that is logically true. An unloaded gun is not dangerous, but a loaded gun is always dangerous, which is precisely what he brought to the meeting. He managed to contradict himself immediately. If he wanted to make a point that guns were not dangerous, he should have brought an unloaded gun. What is his point? What is he trying to accomplish? Is he trying to make people unafraid of guns? Is that really a smart thing to do? Do we really want adults, teens, and children to be so unafraid of loaded guns that we are playing with them like they are basketballs? It is true that guns are just inanimate objects and should not be feared in and of themselves, but the reality is that guns are usually owned by people, a...

I love the Nintendo Labo song, especially this little tidbit. NintendoCade used it in the background of one of their videos, and I really liked it. It is really uplifting, hopeful, and happy. It inspires creativity and innovation, two things that Labo exudes in spades.

I was having a little bit of trouble falling asleep last night, so I decided to play Rondo of Blood on my PSP. I had been struggling to get through Stage 7 for a long time, but I finally beat the stage. The boss-demonstration I bought in-game (on the Wii-version) really helped me beat the boss. Stage 8 was much easier because it was just Dracula's two forms. It was pretty much the same fight as the prologue of Symphony of the Night, except for minor differences. I have always wanted to beat Rondo of Blood. Now I feel like I can play Symphony of the Night (although I have already beaten it) knowing I beat its prequel.

0:14 - Damon Baker Introduction It was very nice to see Damon Baker again. He has a nice voice, and is a nice person. 0:55 - Mark of the Ninja: Remastered This game looked interesting, but they didn't show any gameplay, assuming everyone knew what it was already, because it is "remastered." 1:37 - Kirk Scott Introduction It was interesting to see another person on a Direct at the same time. It was interesting to see the dynamic of two people interacting with each other instead of one just monologuing. Seeing this new guy, I thought that this guy was probably the technical guy and Damon was more of the spokesperson for Nintendo's independent-games relations. 2:00 - Fantasy Strike This started off promisingly, but then it revealed itself to be an ugly mix of polygonal graphics, cel-shading, and too much texture-work. Cel-shaded games look better with very plain textures. If the textures are too detailed, it just looks ugly - like taking a 3D model and...

This is so weird. You know how people have been getting unsubscribed from channels? Well, not me. Today, the opposite happened. I look at my subscription-feed, and I’m seeing channels I have been unsubscribed from for a long time. This is wild. YouTube has gone wild.

Sonic Pocket Adventure, Fantastic Night Dreams: Cotton, and SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium

The Kirby-series of games was conceived as a game that was more accessible and inviting to new gamers, young children, and gamers with less skill. Despite this, it was celebrated by everybody, including seasoned gamers. It was fresh, new, and innovative because you could do new things like suck enemies into your body, and fly forever. The game ran slowly, but you also moved slowly, kind of balancing the game out. For example, the enemies were slow, but you were slow as well, so dodging attacks and enemies could be difficult. That was 1992. It is now 2018. Kirby Star Allies is set to release on the Nintendo Switch tomorrow, and the early-access reviews are out. The general consensus seems to be that it's a fun co-op game, but the game is not very fun as a solo-experience because it's too easy. The allies are not always mandatory, but are for some puzzles in advancing the game. That is quite unfortunate. If you wanted to play with just Kirby 100% of the time, you are out of ...

For a long time, I have thought that this game would be a port of Smash 4. It makes sense. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was an enhanced port, so why not Smash? I also thought that Sakurai was sick of making Smash, so I figured he would take the easy way out and port Smash 4, not that a port is easy, but it would be easier than making a new game. A port of Smash 4 would be sufficient to satisfy our desires to play Smash on NS. What I didn't take into consideration is the fact that Sakurai is a workaholic and a genius. He would probably not be satisfied with a simple, enhanced port. I believe that Super Smash Bros. for NS will be more of a sequel than a port. To say that each game in the series is a brand-new game built entirely from scratch is not true; there are certainly ideas and assets that transfer over from game to game. If you look at the silhouette of the characters in the trailer, there aren't too many of them. I don't think this was a random silhouette. I think this...

Yoshiaki Koizumi Intro I was glad to see him. It was kind of like the good old days when Iwata would host the Directs. I was also assuming that he was also hosting the Japanese Direct. It's a good use of time - not having to shoot two different Directs. Nintendo 3DS Headlines When they announced that the 3DS was going to go first, I was relieved. Get it over with, so that we can enjoy the good stuff later on. WarioWare Gold WarioWare is a fantastic franchise, and I was kind of glad that this was announced. It combines everything we love about the franchise, excluding DIY, into one game. This might be the last great game for 3DS. Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers Dillon reminds me of Sonic. He's an anthropomorphic animal with an attitude, and he rolls around. I would be more interested in this game if its core gamplay-loop wasn't tower-defense. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey I groaned inside when this was announced. ...

I was watching Easy Allies' video-review of Dragon Quest Builders and the narrator was talking about the story of the game, and used the word "prophesized." I was confused. "Is that the proper way to say it?" I thought to myself. I proceeded to do a little research and this is what I found. Did you know that "prophecy" is the noun and "prophesy" is the verb? Also, many people mistakenly say "prophesize" as the verb-form, especially in the past tense as "prophesized." They say, for example, "The prophet prophesized about doom," when it should be "The prophet prophesied about doom." "Prophecy" is pronounced like "see" at the end, while "prophesy" is pronounced like "sigh" at its end.

Sexism. Racism. It hounds us daily. We hear about it on the news. We see it in our lives. We feel it in our bones. It must be stopped, but the way that radical feminists like Anita Sarkeesian are going about it is all wrong. They vouch for normalization. You can not achieve equality by forcing normalization upon society. That might seem antithetical, but it's true. Males and females are not the same. I'm not saying they are not equal, because they are, but they're different. To achieve equality, we must not try to make the genders the exact same, but instead understand, embrace, and value our differences. We must put equal value on masculine and feminine characteristics. Equality does not come in a broad-ranged stroke where everyone has to be the same. When people talk about equality, in general, they just want males and females to be the same, but that, is in fact, a sexist proposition. In general, gender-equalists want females to be more like males. They generally d...

The newest member of my Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom family has arrived: Yoshi's Island for the Super Famicom! Here it is on my Super Famicom on my trusty 14" Toshiba CRT. I've had this TV for about 17 years. It was in the garage for a while until I realized that it was awesome for playing old games, and it found a home in my room once again.   I particularly love this angle of the game in the Super Famicom:

In today's world, there is the internet. Any time a person messes up, the whole world knows about it, and he or she is castigated. This is too harsh. People are human, meaning they are imperfect. Mistakes are made. Not everything is malicious. In fact, most mistakes come from ignorance or human fallibility. J.J. Redick was recently under scrutiny for a word he allegedly said in a video. Some people were so quick to jump on him. I understand. They come from a place of pain, victimhood, and powerlessness. However, upon further inspection and his explanation, we realize that he was tongue-tied. He did not mean to say anything offensive. It reminds me of Maximilian Dood somehow saying a racial epithet on a livestream because he was trying to conflate the words "ninja" and "dagger," while simultaneously saying it quickly and multiple times. What is most important is the intent of a human being. While it is unprovable on a three-dimensional level, we can feel it...

In the distant past, the Olympics were seemingly created to unite the world in one, big, global competition. Even if you lost, it was an honor to just attend and compete. South Korea, however, has taken the competitive notion of the Olympics way too far. I remember in 2010 when two South Koreans collided into one another, allowing Apolo Ohno to take the silver medal. This year, South Koreans on the internet began cyber-bullying a winner from another country. This is all sick. The Olympics are not to blame. Capitalism is, which breeds competitiveness, which leads to ugliness and disregard for other people. Let us remember why the Olympics were created to begin with, and not take winning so seriously.

I used to have a female shih-tzu companion named Pinky. She died in 2013 while I was away at law-school. Prior to that, she saved my life in the year 2000, but that's another story. She changed not only my life, but my family's, for the better. However, the first dog we had, wasn't quite the ideal story. It was 1995 and I was in seventh grade when we got our first dog: a Jindo/German Shepherd puppy that we named Teddy. It was very cute, but we had never taken care of a dog before, so we weren't very nice to it. Thinking back on it, it breaks my heart. We used to keep him all alone in the garage in the dark, unless we were feeding him or taking him out for a walk. I remember how we would get bored of playing with him and to get him away from the door that we needed to close, we would throw a toy far into the garage for him to catch so that we could safely close the door behind him. I only remember him coming into the house one time, when my mother brought home grocerie...