(note: next chunk pasted from the original "pokeplans" file on my work computer. Dates left as-is rather than attempting to create back-dated blog entries for each.)
(6/14/2010)
Have done nothing in either SS or FR except try for Entei a few times, and migrate a bunch of FR's random catches to Pearl for transfer to the ranch. I'm still standing outside Victory Road....if I recall correctly, once you leave Jhoto it's a while before you can get back, and I'm not sure I'm done there. For one thing, I should probably nab Raikou and Entei. Only, I kinda want to catch FR's Entei first. HMM.
Been looking at Serebii's B/W information. The region map looks kinda cool, and it looks like the wireless features are way more integrated into the game (GTS available in every Pokecenter, for example). But I'm not that thrilled with the designs of the new Pokemon revealed thus far -- the Water starter is even goofier looking than Bidoof, and they seem once again to have added pre-evolutions just to extend the Pokedex. From the number of new Pokes shown already, it looks like the normal region's worth of new Pokemon will be added to the already-ridiculous National 'Dex. Hopefully they will limit the legendaries this time around.
Worse, it seems as if you can only send Pokemon from Gen IV in a one-way transfer via wireless. Not a good thing, if I want to keep my core team Pokemon in the games they came from. Hopefully the next-gen DS hardware will play the old DS games, which will at least give me trading capability between that and the DS Lite. However, that might mean it's time to transfer everything forward from my GIII carts, or at least to trim down the number of them.
Given that the Terrell cart is hacked, and I now have a fully open copy of Emerald, I should probably sell that cart back after getting anything I've raised off it. Leave it as-is for the next trainer, hacked items, lvl 100 Pokemon, and all. FR, of course, will get cleaned out and sold back as soon as I catch Entei. But maybe I should keep my main LG cart and Emerald, in case I'd like a replay or want to breed/trade/raise stuff.
Not that I've ever been good at resisting temptation; but if I can successfully hold out until they release B/W's third version, that should give me time to clean all this up. And catch that dang Entei, dammit!
(6/16/2010)
Have done nothing in any game but that's not the point.
Lots of info from E3 this week. Among other things, it turns out that B/W will be released for the DS, not the 3DS.
This is unexpected and unwelcome news; I'd been thinking that buying a 3DS for B/W would give me DS trading capability. But now I've got no reason to buy the 3DS as long as the Lite is still working (certainly not for the 3DS remake of OoT). Which would mean no trades or transfers without someone's help.
The other slightly alarming detail: the 3DS apparently is made to constantly ping for other 3DSs, and will automatically connect and download items or goodness knows what else, even if you're not playing. WTF. Do we get to turn off this option? How much battery power does this waste?
Which would explain the C-gear thing in B/W, which is also apparently on a constant lookout for possible connections. I wonder if that's disabled if one plays on a regular DS.
The 3DS is supposed to be fully backwards-compatible with previous DS games -- I didn't see any second slot, though, so it probably uses same-sized cartridges.
Also, a prediction: Autumn asked me, on dA, whether I thought there'd be any new Eeveelutions. My reply: at least two, and they'll keep making 'em 'till they've got ALL the types covered. And these two will probably be poison, ground, rock, or steel -- likely poison and ground because those are opposites like dark/psychic and grass/ice.
How do I arrive at that conclusion? Well, they already have normal, fire, water, electric, dark, psychic, grass, and ice covered. Flying, dragon, fighting, bug, and ghost types seem problematic to me. That leaves poison, ground, rock, and steel; and poison and ground would make a good pair.
It'll be fun to see if I'm right about that.
In unrelated whinging: I am coming to the conclusion that Zelda is burdened with a truly trope-worthy Unpleasable Fandom.
Nintendo releases WW. Everyone bitches and moans about the cel-shading and the "kiddie cartoon" look. So Nintendo releases the Darker and Edgier TP. Fans bitch and moan about the limits of Wii graphics capability and some say it's "dreary". So Nintendo makes Skyward Sword a compromise between WW and TP, and already the fans are bitching and moaning about it looking like whichever one they liked less.
STFU, people. Seriously. Play the damn thing before tossing it aside solely on the basis of the first trailer.
As to the complaint that it's "nothing new" -- what else were they expecting? Miyamoto/Ayonuma/Word of God had already said that the Wii Zelda would be the last Zelda like we were used to. That would tend to imply that, yes, this Zelda would be another iteration of the standard formula -- run around the overworld and kill things, venture into the dungeons to fetch the item and defeat the boss, healthy mix of combat and puzzle-solving, rinse, lather, repeat.
Yeah, so what's wrong with that? If you didn't like that sort of thing, how'd you become Zelda fans in the first place? If you're tired of it, what are you still doing here? If you're such a dang "hard-core" gamer, why aren't you playing f*ing Halo or some other infinitely polygonal "go shoot things" game? Were you looking for "innovation"? First: Remember that whole "last Zelda like we're used to" bit. Second: Remember that the last "innovation" in the Zelda series resulted in the eminently forgettable Four Swords multi-player crap.
The fandom can go hang. Bring on Skyward Sword! But...on one thing I do agree: right-handed Link? No way! ;P
(8/2/2010)
So I haven't picked up the DS in months, except for one event download, and a few Pokewalker connections.
However, the Enigma Stone -- which lets you catch one of the Latias/Latios pair depending on your game version -- is now available for download to HG/SS. Except, you need the National 'Dex to get it, which means not only defeating the Elite Four, but from what I can glean online, boarding the SS Aqua for a one-way trip to Kanto.
So if there's anything I wanted to do in Jhoto before getting stuck in Kanto for awhile, I've got until August 27th to do it, and to beat the Elite Four. This kinda sucks, because even though it'll get me a self-caught Latias to complement my Emerald Latios, I haven't been in anything like a Pokemon mood lately.
B/W information continues to trickle in; most of the GV Pokemon designs continue to be "meh", except for a really cool looking eagle thing that I assume is the final evo of the region's Pidgey equivalent. Annoyingly, it seems that you have to play a lame "shoot-n-catch" minigame if you want to transfer your Pokemon from GIV, and it's a one-way trip. Pain in the ass. And, Team Plasma? Really? It shouldn't be too hard to wait for the third iteration of the games, unless I get swept away by everyone else's fervor.
I -did- break 10,000 steps for the first time since I started wearing the Pokewalker though, from walking around Otakon last Friday! So yay on that! There were also a lot of folks at the con with Pokewalkers, so I stopped some of them to connect; I have a whole BUNCH of Heart Scales waiting for transfer back to SS now.
Plus, getting to meet so many dA folks -- Autumn, Hione, Degrith, and Keaton -- was awesome.
