Reallife Pokemon Tournament with Cash Prizes

Hey, guys. Wanted to highlight something I've been working on recently that I think is really cool. You may or may not be familiar with King of the Couch (KOTC) tournaments. They're an organization sponsored by Gamestop to run gaming tournaments. Their past events have had great success running competitive tournaments for various games including Madden, Call of Duty, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and more. My friend and I were recently contacted about expanding this to Pokemon tournaments. If interested, it'll be in Morristown, New Jersey on May 7, starting at about 11 am. Even if you aren't competitive but just a fan of Pokemon, it should be worth your while to show up. After all, they'll be plenty of people around to battle / trade with casually. Or you could enter any of the other tournaments they'll be offering that day. If interested, here are the Pokemon rules for these tournaments:

KOTC now offers Pokemon tournaments. Pokemon tournaments will be Round Robin, with a number of rounds determined by the number of players. After the Round Robin, the top players will enter a single elimination tournament to determine the winner. We will offer two types of tournaments, free “Casual” tournaments with no prizes and pay-to-enter “Competitive” tournaments with cash prizes determined by the number of players who enter.

$20 to enter – Up to $500 Grand Prize

In order to play KOTC tournaments, you must own a Nintendo DS with working wireless connection and your own copy of Pokemon Black or White. Default KOTC tournaments use Level 100 Single battles with the following restrictions to teams & in-battle rules:

Your team must not contain any of the following Pokemon:
Mewtwo
Lugia
Ho-oh
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza
Deoxys
Dialga
Palkia
Giratina
Manaphy
Darkrai
Arceus
Shaymin-Sky
Zekrom
Reshiram
Keldeo
Meloetta
Genesect

Sleep Clause – You cannot select a move that causes sleep on an enemy Pokemon if one or more of their party is already asleep by one of your effects (Note: If the opponent is asleep by his own effect, such as Rest, this does not count towards Sleep Clause).

Species Clause – You cannot use more than 1 of the same species of Pokemon in your team.

Evasion Clause – You cannot use moves that raise evasion, such as Double Team or Minimize.

OHKO Clause – You cannot use moves that have a chance to one-hit KO the enemy Pokemon, such as Fissure.

Hax Items Clause – You cannot use the following items: Quick Claw, Focus Band, Razor Claw, Scope Lens, Razor Fang, King’s Rock, Brightpower, and Lax Insense.

Self KO Clause – If a tie occurs, the controller of the effect that caused the tie loses. This is the case with Explosion, Self Destruct, Perish Song, Destiny Bond, Sandstorm, Life Orb, etc.

Static Teams - As you enter the tournament, you must register a 6-Pokemon team and a 3-Pokemon substitute team. In the middle of rounds, you may swap substitutes with Pokemon in your main team at your discretion. However, you may not switch Pokemon with Pokemon that are not registered.

45 Minute Timed - Each round will last 45 minutes to ensure the tournament runs smoothly. If at the end of the round some games are not completed, stop play and seek a tournament official. Then, overtime regulations will apply. Each player will receive and additional 3 turns. At the end of these 3 turns, the player with the most Pokemon remaining is declared the winner. If they are tied, the player with the Active Pokemon with the highest HP is declared the winner. If this is tied, the match continues until the first change of either of those conditions.

Please note that all teams in KOTC tournaments must be able to have been obtained through normal gameplay. Using moves, abilities, stats, etc. that are not possible through normal gameplay or have not been released are not allowed. For example, using unreleased Dream World abilities or items that are unobtainable in Black and White like Soul Dew is not permitted. Our stance on hacking is currently a don’t ask, don’t tell approach. As long as hacked Pokemon do not exceed what is normally possible, we will allow them.

As a courtesy, it is strongly recommended that players interested in our Competitive tournaments research and are aware of mechanics like IVs, EVs and breeding if they do not already know them. These mechanics are vital to competitive success.

Infractions policy:

If at any time you have a question during a match about tournament rules or want to report your opponent for breaking a rule, you may call a tournament official during your match. The tournament official will make a judgment based on our infractions policy. Note that a tournament official's judgment is final. If you believe the tournament official made an incorrect judgment, you may after your match report it to the head tournament official.

Game Rules Policy - Sometimes, either accidentally or purposefully, a player may break a tournament rule highlighted above. This includes but is not limited to the Gameplay Clauses listed above, or even something like arriving at your match for a round more than 10 minutes late. Breaking any of these Game Rules will result in a match loss. In some cases, the player may have to change their active team to adhere to the Game Rules again (in such cases as Species Clause, Evasion Clause, OHKO Clause, or Hax Items Clause).

Cheating Policy - Cheating is strictly forbidden and enforced in KOTC tournaments. This category includes but is not limited to using a hacked Pokemon beyond the normal limits of gameplay, watching the opponent's screen to see what move he/she picked, seeking gameplay help from others during a tournament game, using an unregistered Pokemon, or tournament fraud. Breaking the cheating policy will result in disqualification, no matter what the offense.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct Policy - Participants of KOTC tournaments are expected to display a certain amount of sportsmanship. This category includes but is not limited to using excessive foul language, verbal abuse to other gamers, or offenses like trying to stall for time (not in gameplay, but in move selection to try to stall for the 45 Time Limit, moves are expected to be selected in 30 seconds at the longest). Breaking the sportsmanlike conduct policy will first result in a warning. The second offense will be a match loss, and a third offense will be disqualification.

If you have any questions regarding these POKEMON rules, feel free to contact me at pokemoshpit@gmail.com.

More info about the event and such here on KOTC's website: http://kotcnation.com/kotc/2011/04/genes-oct-2nd-v-17-nj/

RSVP on our Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=180316818682411

Hope to see you there!

NSFL: Taco Bowl!

Follow the NSFL here: http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=433824 

Well here it is at last, the NSL Taco Bowl. Who will end up champion with the Guacamole Trophy and who will end up going home with the painful runner-up trophy? Find out here:
Eastchester Bay Jokers (13-3) vs Las Vegas Casinos (11-5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u2zTwigW8M

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Forte was the Taco Bowl MVP.

Really, now. No peeking. Unless you want to:
Eastchester Bay Jokers 27, Las Vegas Casinos 30

Super Bowl MVP:
Matt Forte: 76 yards on 18 attempts (4.22 YPC). 3 touchdowns and 0 fumbles. 11 yards on 3 catches (3.67 YPC). 0 touchdowns and 0 fumbles.

Although Forte won MVP, my personal opinion is that Reggie Bush was the real game-changer. While the Jokers seemed to dominate on both sides of the ball the entire game, it was Reggie Bush's constant good returns that gave the Casinos the edge they needed to overcome the Jokers.

If you're interested in playing next season as a GM, there may be slots opening up. So keep an eye out for that. Thanks for watching, everyone. ;)

Nachomon: Revised Pokemon Type Chart

Thought I'd share this. Been working on and off on my own Pokemon game (actually called Nachomon) and one of the things I decided to do is a major type revision. A lot of the types are still there but renamed, but I've also added/expanded on a few. I also changed the weakness/resistance/immunity table by like, a lot. Maybe this will interest someone. Any suggestions would be neat, too.

Normal

Strong: none

Ineffective: Rock, Metal

Worthless: Incorporeal

Weak: Melee

Resist: None

Immune: Incorporeal

Notes: Begging-level Nachomon like small animals are of this type. Base stats are generally below average, but specialize in either Attack or HP normally. Attacks of this type are generally weak, but also contain buff and debuff moves. Normal is strong against no other type, but is also only weak to a single type, Melee.

Heat

Strong: Plant, Cold, Insect, Undead, Metal

Ineffective: Heat, Rock, Dragon, Space, Water

Worthless: None

Weak: Water, Cold, Wind, Earth, Rock, Space

Resist: Heat, Plant, Insect, Metal

Immune: None

Notes: Heat Nachomon specialize in Heat and Fire moves. They typically have high Magic Attack and Speed. Attacks of this type are generally Magical and offensive with a chance to inflict Burn on the enemy. Heat is disadvantaged with usually low defenses & HP and a large amount of weaknesses.

Water

Strong: Heat, Acid, Earth, Rock

Ineffective: Water, Dragon

Worthless: Plant

Weak: Cold, Thunder, Plant

Resist: Water, Metal, Heat

Immune: None

Notes: Nachomon of the Water type use Water to their advantage. They typically have good Magic Defense and HP. Their moves are typically Magical, and contain some defensive buffs for the user. Water is disadvantaged by having low Attack and Defense stat usually.

Thunder

Strong: Water, Wind, Dragon, Metal

Ineffective: Thunder, Plant, Light, Technology

Worthless: Earth

Weak: Earth, Technology

Resist: Thunder, Wind, Metal

Immune: None

Notes: Thunder Nachomon use Electricity, Lightning, and Thunder to overwhelm enemies. They typically have a very good Speed & Magic Defense stat. Their moves have chances to inflict Paralysis on the enemy. Thunder is disadvantaged by having low Defense.

Plant

Strong: Water, Earth, Technology

Ineffective: Heat, Acid, Dragon, Metal, Space

Worthless: None

Weak: Heat, Cold, Acid, Insect, Space

Resist: Thunder, Earth, Rock, Technology

Immune: Water, Light

Notes: Plant Nachomon have the power of Nature on their side. They typically have good defenses and are aided by two immunities. Attacks of this type inflict several different status effects & debuffs to opponents, while using many support moves to help themselves and the team. Plant is disadvantaged by being a poor offensive type & typically low attack stats.

Cold

Strong: Heat, Water, Plant, Insect, Rock

Ineffective: Cold, Dragon, Metal, Space

Worthless: None

Weak: Heat, Melee, Metal

Resist: Cold, Insect

Immune: None

Notes: Cold is the opposite of Heat, focusing on freezing enemies using Cold & Ice. Nachomon of this type usually have good Magic Attack & Magic Defense. Moves of this type have a chance to freeze enemies. Cold is disadvantaged by usually low Attack & Defense stats.

Melee

Strong: Normal, Cold, Rock, Metal, Dark

Ineffective: Melee, Acid, Arcane, Insect, Undead, Light

Worthless: Incorporeal

Weak: Wind, Arcane, Undead, Light, Technology

Resist: Melee, Acid, Insect, Rock, Dark

Immune: None

Notes: Melee Nachomon use their Fighting abilities to aid them in combat, whether they are Warriors or Martial artists. Melee Nachomon usually have good Attack and Defense. Moves of this type are usually quite powerful and physical. Melee is disadvantaged by low Magic stats usually.

Acid

Strong: Plant, Insect, Metal

Ineffective: Melee, Arcane, Undead

Worthless: Acid, Technology

Weak: Water, Earth, Arcane, Technology

Resist: Plant, Melee, Insect, Undead, Metal

Immune: Acid

Notes: Acid uses a variety of Acids & Poisons to overwhelm opponents. They typically have above average defenses and attack. Acid moves usually focus on destroying opponents in other ways, like Poison. Acid is disadvantaged by a large amount of types that Resist it & two types that are immune (including itself). One note is that Acid Pokemon have a special ability that they are immune to be Poisoned.

Earth

Strong: Heat, Thunder, Acid, Rock, Metal

Ineffective: Plant, Insect

Worthless: Wind, Space

Weak: Water, Plant, Wind

Resist: Rock, Metal, Technology

Immune: Thunder

Notes: Earth Nachomon use the power of the Earth as their offensive tool. Most have very good Attack and good HP. They focus usually on damaging moves and moves with secondary debuff effects. Earth is disadvantaged by having two types immune to it and typically having low speed.

Wind

Strong: Heat, Melee, Earth, Insect

Ineffective: Thunder, Rock, Metal, Space

Worthless: None

Weak: Thunder, Rock, Space

Resist: Melee, Insect

Immune: Earth

Notes: Wind Nachomon use the power of Wind and Flying abilities to evade attacks and deal damage. Wind Nachomon have outstanding Speed. Several Wind moves are based on evading the attacks of opponents. Wind is disadvantaged by having below average stats aside from Speed.

Arcane

Strong: Melee, Acid, Space, Technology

Ineffective: Arcane, Metal

Worthless: Dark

Weak: Insect, Dark, Incorporeal

Resist: Melee, Acid, Arcane, Space

Immune: None

Notes: Arcane Pokemon use magic and mind abilities to overwhelm opponents. They typically have outstanding Magic Attack & good Magic Defense. Arcane attacks usually are quite offensive, but also have several support moves weaved in. Arcane is disadvantaged by having very low physical stats & HP.

Insect

Strong: Plant, Arcane, Dragon, Dark

Ineffective: Heat, Cold, Acid, Wind, Rock, Metal, Incorporeal

Worthless: None

Weak: Heat, Cold, Acid, Wind, Rock

Resist: Melee, Earth, Technology

Immune: None

Notes: Insect Nachomon are some of the first Nachomon a new Trainer finds on his journey. They evolve early on, but typically have below average stats. Many types resist & are strong against insect. Still, Insect has some key strengths notable against Arcane & Dragon, which are hard to hit with other types. Insect moves are generally physically offensive and rely with debuff moves & secondary effects.

Rock

Strong: Heat, Wind, Insect

Ineffective: Melee, Earth, Metal

Worthless: Metal

Weak: Water, Cold, Melee, Metal

Resist: Normal, Heat, Wind, Insect, Technology

Immune: None

Notes: Rock Nachomon are Rock-hard! They typically have outstanding Defense and having several useful resistances. Rock moves focus on mostly buffs and moves that indirectly damage the foe & help themselves. They are disadvantaged usually by having low Special and Speed stats and having some inconvenient weaknesses.

Undead

Strong: Melee, Dark, Technology

Ineffective: Acid, Light, Rock, Metal

Worthless: Incorporeal

Weak: Heat, Arcane, Light

Resist: Melee, Acid, Dark, Technology

Immune: None

Notes: Undead Nachomon are filled of zombies or ghosts of deceased Nachomon, not quite ready to depart into the afterlife. They are usually very hard to kill, with good HP and defenses with solid attack. Undead Nachomon have a large variety of debuff, status, and support moves to outlast its enemies. Undead Nachomon typically have very low speed.

Dragon

Strong: Dragon

Ineffective: Metal

Worthless: None

Weak: Thunder, Insect, Dragon

Resist: Heat, Water, Plant, Cold

Immune: None

Notes: Dragon Nachomon are the rarest & among the most powerful Nachomon in existence. They are quite useful due to their lack of common Weaknesses and useful resistances & typically above average stats. Apart from themselves, only Thunder and Insect are effective against Dragons. As an attacking stat, Dragon moves are average. They are helped by having only one type that resists it, but they are only good against other Dragons.

Dark

Strong: Arcane, Light, Space

Ineffective: Melee, Undead

Worthless: None

Weak: Melee, Insect, Undead, Light

Resist: Space, Incorporeal

Immune: Arcane

Notes: Dark Nachomon use underhanded tactics to get the edge. They usually have outstanding Attack with good Magic attack. Dark moves are typically physical with several useful secondary effects. They are disadvantaged by having less than average HP and defenses.

Metal

Strong: Cold, Rock, Light

Ineffective: Heat, Water, Thunder, Acid, Earth, Metal

Worthless: None

Weak: Heat, Thunder, Melee, Acid, Earth

Resist: Normal, Plant, Cold, Wind, Arcane, Insect, Rock, Undead, Dragon, Metal, Light

Immune: None

Notes: Metal is one of the best defensive types for Nachomon known. They usually have good defensive stats and HP which is aided by their huge list of resistances. Metal moves contain a few buffs & physical attacking moves mostly. They are disadvantaged by being a poor offensive type due to a large amoung of Nachomon resistant to it & having some annoying weaknesses.

Light

Strong: Melee, Undead, Dark, Incorporeal

Ineffective: Metal, Space, Technology

Worthless: Plant

Weak: Dark, Metal, Space, Technology

Resist: Thunder, Melee, Undead

Immune: None

Notes: Light are a type of righteous Nachomon sticking to law, order, and justice. Nachomon of this type typically have outstanding HP and good Magic defense. Light moves contain many support and buff moves. They are disadvantaged by low attacking stats usually.

Space

Strong: Heat, Plant, Wind, Light

Ineffective: Dark, Arcane, Technology

Worthless: None

Weak: Dark, Arcane, Technology

Resist: Heat, Plant, Cold, Wind, Light

Immune: Earth

Notes: Space Nachomon are not of this world! They use the power of Space and Time to their advantage. They typically have outstanding Magic defense & good attack. Space moves contain a few buff & debuff moves but also some very powerful attacks. They are disadvantaged by having low HP & defense usually.

Incorporeal

Strong: Arcane, Incorporeal, Technology

Ineffective: Dark

Worthless: Normal

Weak: Light, Incorporeal

Resist: Insect, Technology

Immune: Normal, Melee, Undead

Notes: Incorporeal Nachomon are Nachomon who lack a physical shape or body, whether it is due to being a Ghost or even Virtual projection. Incorporeal Nachomon have no usual stats, and their stats are mostly based on their other type (there is no pure Incorporeal Nachomon). Incorporeal Nachomon have the advantage of having the most immunities in the game, 3. Incorporeal moves have a variety of buff, debuff, and support moves.

Technology

Strong: Thunder, Melee, Acid, Light, Space

Ineffective: Plant, Earth, Insect, Rock, Undead

Worthless: None

Weak: Plant, Arcane, Incorporeal

Resist: Thunder, Plant, Light, Space

Immune: Acid

Notes: Technology Nachomon are Nachomon that are artificial, man-made. They typically have above average stats aside from Magic stats. Technology moves vary greatly between powerhouse attacks & a variety of support moves. Technology Nachomon have the added bonus of being completely immune to all forms of status.

NSFL: Conference Championships

Follow the NSFL here: http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=433824

The Conference Championships have been posted. Which teams will play in the first-ever Taco Bowl? Find out:

Queefy Potatoes (9-6) @ Eastchester Bay Jokers (12-3): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQKKXP1mc-I
Miami Dolphins (9-6) @ Las Vegas Casinos (10-5)*: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exAg1gaocNE
*Game of the Week

Jammer's pick six helped ensure victory for the Casinos.

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And the scores:

Queefy Potatoes 9 @ Eastchester Bay Jokers 21
Miami Dolphins 20 @ Las Vegas Casinos 31

Players of the Week:
Darren McFadden (EB): 108 yards on 15 attempts (7.20 YPC). 1 touchdowns and 0 fumbles. 23 yards on 1 catches (23.00 YPC). 1 touchdowns and 0 fumbles.
Quentin Jammer (LV): 1 tackles, 4 coverages, 1 interceptions, 1 touchdowns. 

And finally..., the Taco Bowl will feature these two teams:

EASTCHESTER BAY JOKERS (13-3) VS LAS VEGAS CASINOS (11-5)

Who will win? ... Find out Tuesday.

NSFL: Divisional Playoffs

Follow the NSFL here: http://www.footballsfuture.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=433824 

Alright, divisional playoffs time... who will move on and who will go home? Find out by watching this week's exciting games:

Appalachian White Lightning (8-6) @ Eastchester Bay Jokers (11-3): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F-O-NDOWz0
Toronto Assassins (8-6) @ Queefy Potatoes (8-6)*: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDC2P16Wd_g
Miami Dolphins (8-6) @ Motor City Machine Gunners (9-5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UoV0dxhxAQ
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-6) @ Las Vegas Casinos (9-5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GK5Bjvzwko
*Game of the Week

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And here are the scores:

Appalachian White Lightning 21 @ Eastchester Bay Jokers 26
Toronto Assassins 24 @ Queefy Potatoes 27
Miami Dolphins 27 @ Motor City Machine Gunners 21
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 @ Las Vegas Casinos 20 

McFadden helped keep the Jokers moving strong.

Players of the Week:
Darren McFadden (EB): 177 yards on 21 attempts (8.43 YPC). 1 touchdowns and 0 fumbles. 26 yards on 3 catches (8.67 YPC). 0 touchdowns and 0 fumbles.
Tramon Williams (QUE): 5 tackles, 2 coverages, 1 forced fumbles, 1 recovered fumbles. 122 yards on 12 returns (10.17 YPR). 0 touchdowns.
Troy Polamalu (MIA): 5 tackles, 2 coverages, 1 interceptions.
Brandon Marshall (LV): 127 yards on 7 catches (18.14 YPC). 1 touchdowns and 0 fumbles.

Next week's Conference Championship matchups:
Queefy Potatoes (9-6) @ Eastchester Bay Jokers (12-3)
Miami Dolphins (9-6) @ Las Vegas Casinos (10-5)

Pokemon Black / White: A Complete Review

Ever since it first came to the States in 1998 in the form of Pokemon Red & Blue, I have been a fan of the Pokemon series of video games. Being part of the "Pokemon Generation" myself, like all young children of that day, I was completely obsessed with it. I watched the show, collected the cards, and of course, played the video games. While the show & card obsession quickly faded, my love for the video games remained to this day. Even now I find myself digging out my old Pokemon carts and playing through them one more time, because they really were that good. I even have a Youtube channel devoted to competitive Pokemon battling & playthroughs, found here.

I've always felt, however, that the Pokemon games were declining with each installment. Red, Blue & Yellow were classics, and Gold, Silver & Crystal were great sequels to them. But then Ruby, Sapphire & Emerald came out which I felt was a tad weak, followed by another weak generation in Diamond, Pearl & Platinum. It almost appeared to me that with each installment came tons of new features, but the charm that was had in the early generations had all but faded. The games were just not quite as fun to play anymore. And this does not mention the Pokemon getting uglier and stupider on average with every generation after the 1st. While Gen 3 and 4 were saved somewhat by remakes of the first two Generations and Wi-Fi compatibility (allowing a rich online metagame to develop), it still could not match the "fun-factor" of the older games.

On March 6, 2011, Pokemon Black & White were released in North America. Once again, it screamed new features, Pokemon, and other additions. But the question is, will Black and White continue the trend of declining gameplay? Or, will it be the start of a Pokemon revival and return to the classic, charming gameplay we all remember as kids? This review will break down the newest Pokemon games, and attempt to find the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

As an RPG, I will rate the game based on four categories: Gameplay (40 points), Environment (30 points), Story (20 points), and Graphics (10 points). I will use this rating scale for a final grade of the games:

81-100: Excellent

61-80: Good

41-60: Average

21-40: Bad

0-20: Awful

Gameplay

Much like other Pokemon games, the Gameplay of Pokemon Black & White follows a similar mold. You are a child Pokemon trainer given a Level 5 Pokemon, and pushed into a world in which you can explore, gain new Pokemon, battle other trainers, and meet people with the ultimate goal of becoming a Pokemon Master by beating the Pokemon League & capturing all of the Pokemon species. This has not changed in any of the installments, and in fact this is a good thing. Instead of focusing on the exact gameplay as I would for a normal RPG, I will only focus on the changes in Gameplay from Gen IV to Gen V.

B/W 3 on 3 battle system screenshot

First, let's look at perhaps the most important part of the gameplay: the Battle system. In respect to Gen IV, which made quite a few significant changes to the battle system, Gen V left it relatively alone. Instead of changing anything significant (although I'll get into less significant changes later), Black & White introduced two new types of battles, 3v3 Battles and Rotation battles. Now, originally, one might think "Wow, they are obviously running out of ideas. Isn't 3v3 battles just an added twist to 2v2 battles?" Originally, that's what I thought, too, but I was sadly mistaken. 3v3 battles was actually surprisingly refreshing. Unlike in 2v2, where either Pokemon could attack any other Pokemon, 3v3 is limited by making Pokemon only able to target adjacent Pokemon (both allies & enemies). This adds a different element to the game, one of skillful placing of Pokemon. This is espessially important when you consider your Center Pokemon, who can be attacked by all three opponent Pokemon! Rotation Battles are a type of 3v3 where a Pokemon can choose to switch places with an allied adjacent Pokemon instead of using a Move or Item. This adds to the strategy even more. Of course, like all other installments, there are many new species to collect, trade, and battle with, each with their own unique combinations of moves, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.

As promised, I will take note now of some minor changes to the Battle System, which in my opinion aren't that great. From a competitive perspective, Black & White introduced a ton of changes that severely screwed up a lot of game mechanics we were used to in Gen IV. The first and likely most important is the changes to Sleep mechanics. Before Gen V, a Pokemon was asleep for somewhere from 1-5 turns, which is remembered if a Pokemon switches out. While Gen V keeps the turn count 1-5, the counter now resets when switching out. This makes Sleep, a mechanic that was already considered Broken in Gen IV (so much in fact that Competitive Rules contains a Sleep Clause, allowing you to only put to sleep one enemy Pokemon at a time), even better. In Gen V competitive, Sleep can be a virtual death sentence, with sleeping Pokemon knocked out for the entire battle more often than not. Another unfortunate change was that Self-KO moves (like Explosion and Self Destruct) were severely nerfed. Before, not only did these moves have massive Base Power, but they also halved the Defense of the defender for the attack, making them virtually double their listed Base Power (the way the math works out, halving Defense does the same thing as doubling Base Power). This makes Explosion, for example, which had a 500 effective Base Power in Gen IV, get reduced to 250, a massive nerf. This change almost makes these moves not worth the sacrifice. While powerhouses like Metagross will likely still run Explosion, special attackers who relied on this movie will likely no longer. Another change that I consider neither positive or negative but is relevant for competitive Battlers is that teams are now displayed at the beginning of the battle, which may reduce the prediction required to predict the opponent's team, but adds less luck to the game too in that regard.

Dream World is an interesting new feature in B/W.

Of course, there are other changes and features to note aside from the battle system. First and foremost, I feel like it is worth mentioning that TMs are now infinite use (balanced by the fact that they are much rarer or more expensive). Personally I love this change since it was a major pain back in the day to have to restart your game every time you want another Earthquake TM. Day & Night and Weather returns as well as Seasons (don't worry, they change every 1 month instead of 4) which change pretty much all the maps in the game as well as change in some cases Pokemon available on each Route. There are also several new multi-player and Wi-fi features including the Dream World, which is a Wi-Fi feature that allows you to obtain Pokemon with alternate "Dream World" abilities. Most of these are quite good and competitively relevant. One major example is the addition of Drizzle & Drought, previously Uber-only abilities now given to non-Uber Pokemon (Politoed and Ninetales respectively). Blaziken gets Speed Boost, Gyarados gets a new ability called Moxie which increases Attack when it KOs a Pokemon... Like I said, a lot of these abilities will shake up competitive play significantly.

Aside from competitive, I felt that the one-player mode was fairly challenging. It is a Pokemon game, and therefore made to be completed by children, but there was enough challenge that I scratched my head for a few minutes at times, or had trouble with a particular battle. While part of Pokemon is a relatively easy campaign, Pokemon Black & White offers a relatively long Pokemon campaign (probably the longest to date) with plenty of challenge that will require you to spend plenty of hours before you play the game to completion. And even then, there is many things to do after you complete the main campaign.

Bottom line: While there were some unfortunate additions to the competitive game with various mechanics changes, it is made up by a fairly strong and long single player campaign and new refreshing battle styles in 3v3 and Rotation. 32/40

Environment

Unova is a large & intriguing Pokemon region.

This is a strong area for Black & White, in my opinion. First of all, let me start by saying that Unova, the region in which Black & White takes place is a HUGE world (by far the largest in the series) and extremely fun to explore. Unova is the first region to be based off a region not located in Japan, and is in fact based upon New York City in America. I was glad to see it was done very well. Each city is unique and interesting and almost every area in the game is a blast to explore and discover its secrets, items, and Pokemon. It's also a very unique region, being based off of New York City instead of pre-industrial Japan. Many cities contain huge skyscrapers, buildings, and much more tech than in previous installments. While some may find this "not Pokemon", I found it quite refreshing.

B/W's starters. From left to right: Snivvy, Tepig, Oshawott

The Pokemon designs, however, are a mixed bag. While most of the designs actually grew on me with time, some of them are just so ridiculous that I cannot possibly fathom how someone could come up with it, stoned or not (Seriously, a TRASH BAG Pokemon... c'mon). I will say one thing... Usually, when I play through a Pokemon game, I use Pokemon that I like. When I see a wild Pokemon I like the design of, I'll catch it. Pokemon is so easy of a campaign that you don't really need "the best" team to clear it. Heck, you could probably sweep the game with a team of Magikarps. In Black & White, I went through the entire game with a team of 5, because I couldn't find a 6th Pokemon I really liked. This isn't to say they don't exist, just that I couldn't really find many. Most of them are "decent" certainly better than Gen III and IV, however. Although much like everyone else, I was extremely disappointed with the Starter Pokemon. I mean, the only one even remotely tolerable was the Grass Snake, Snivvy. Although I actually do like the final form of Tepig, Emboar. Meh, oh well.

EDIT: I ran a two-week poll after this review about people's favorite starter in this Gen. The final results were: Snivvy (64%), Oshawott (28%), then Tepig (7%). As I expected, Snivvy was overwhelming popular. Although how anyone can prefer Oshawott over Tepig is beyond me, oh well. I suppose if you have good taste, you pick Snivvy anyway. Therefore, the remaining are those with poor taste, who are more likely to pick a loser-Pokemon like Oshawott over Tepig. Sounds a lot like politics - oh well.

Bottom line: Unova is beautiful and a lot of fun to explore completely. While the designs of Gen V Pokemon are better than the previous two generations, being better than crap isn't really saying that much. I'd still describe them as mostly "meh". 25/30

Story

Now, usually in a Pokemon game I would never consider rating the "Story", since games before Black & White did not have much of one... In previous Pokemon games, you're just some kid who kicks the crap out of Pokemon gangsters for items & experience and eventually becomes champion. That's it. And honestly, one can call me "old-school" or "nostalgic", that's Pokemon at its best for me. Pokemon has always been a light-hearted campaign of exploration and adventure, and nothing more. Moral dilemmas and complex stories found in other games of the RPG genre really have no place, since it would not evoke the emotional attachment as Pokemon IS so light-hearted. Its a game you play when you just want to kill things.


Unfortunately, in my opinion, Black & White breaks this mold and actually tries to tell a somewhat-complex story with "moral questions" being asked to the Player.

[WARNING: SPOILERS]

N looks upon Zekrom, his legendary dragon or something.

Black & White's story involves the Player's struggles with Team Plasma (hereafter refered to as Pokemon Peta). Basically, their leader, N, has always felt that Pokemon are being abused by Pokemon Trainers by stuffing the poor critters into Pokeballs & forcing them to work and do battle. Throughout the campaign, the Player battles Pokemon Peta quite a lot, as well as N, who views your Player as almost the "Exception to his rule", in that your Pokemon actually seem to like being with you. N eventually catches the legendary you do not (in Black, he catches Reshiram, in White he catches Zekrom) and goes off to defeat the Elite 4 and Champion (right before you do). Once you beat the Elite 4 and witness the defeat of the Champion, N summons his giant Peta Castle he somehow was able to build under the Elite 4 without anyone noticing (WTF?) and declares he will use his new influence as Champion & "friend" of the Legendary dragon to convince everyone that enslaving Pokemon is wrong, and to release their Pokemon. Eventually the player confronts N. But before that, the other legendary dragon comes down randomly and allows you to catch it. Then you do battle with N. Of course, N being the naive fool that he is doesn't realize his top Peta Executive was just using him to become all powerful and once everyone released their Pokemon, he wanted to rule the world or something cliche like that. So after defeating N, you must wipe out that doushebag and the game is over, and Pokemon Peta has lost.

[SPOILERS END]

Honestly, I couldn't help feeling the entire playthrough that the story was forced & dull. Fact of the matter is, Pokemon does not evoke an emotional response to me. To me, its a lighthearted exploration game. And if you feel the same way, like myself, you can't help but bursting out laughing whenever the game tries to get serious because of how forced it actually sounds. I'm not saying that a serious story in a Pokemon game is impossible, but in fact the story is SO ridiculous in Black & White that it becomes more of a comedy rather than something memorable. Pokemon Peta & N are just one large joke. Sorry, but I just don't care about whether or not Pokemon like being used by people or not. I want a Pokemon story where I simply kick the crap out of Pokemon gangsters for experience & items, then become Champion. Everything else is rediculous and silly.

Bottom line: Black & White's "story" is more ridiculous, annoying, and stupid than it is intriguing or memorable, and seems extremely forced by the game creators. For a usual human being, you will end up laughing or trying to spam the A button more than you will be trying to pay attention to its ridiculous story. I'll give it a 1 for effort. 1/20

Graphics

B/W uses 3d graphics beautifully out-of-battle.

I'm not one to give too much importance to graphics, but its something some people do care about. For the most part, Black and White was an absolutely beautiful game, making great strides in this area from the previous DS titles. The world map uses the DS's 3d capabilities much more than Gen IV, and while I was skeptical at first, it was actually pulled off really well. While it may get some getting used to with 3d Pokemon maps, it really does add to the visual experience of the game. Crossing long bridges, climbing huge buildings, and exploring haunted dungeons are now much more pleasing to the eye, and I believe it is a great positive change.

The game's GUI (graphical user interface) is also improved and more intuitive for the most part. The Start (Well, now Y) menu is classic, but they have many key additions to help the player access things quickly (such as the ability to mark more than one item shortcut). My one grip GUI-wise is the rehashed PC, which I find to be more clunky then its Gen IV version. It uses the click and drag method that Gen IV does, but for whatever reason, its harder to access your Party Pokemon in Gen V. While this may seem like a minor nitpick, for a competitive battler like myself who is constantly accessing the PC to change my party, it becomes a creeping annoyance. The Gen IV PC wasn't broken, why did they have to change it?

In-battle graphics is also somewhat of a mixed bag. The Pokemon battle scene is now also more 3d, but it is my opinion it was not pulled off nearly as well as the out-of-battle graphics. For some reason, Pokemon sprites seem somewhat more pixelated, a major disappointment. Gen IV battle graphics did not seem very pixelated at all. Also, the Pokemon seem to be scaled to be smaller in Gen V then they were in Gen IV, probably to distinguish between sizes of Pokemon easier. Still, this makes already pixelated graphics even harder to make out. Further, the battle camera seems to like to spaz all over the place when idle, as well as your Pokemon who spaz around the screen during a fight as well. This makes it distracting and almost painful to watch when you're waiting for your opponent to take his turn. It's safe to say I dislike the in-battle GUI in general, and would actually prefer the "less advanced" Gen IV in-battle graphics to that of Gen V.

Bottom line: In and out of battle, GUI improvements are a bit of a mixed bag. For the most part, the out of battle graphics and GUIs are great while the in-battle graphics are annoying and probably worse than Gen IV. 6/10

Overall

Overall, Black & White is worth getting, whether you are a hardcore fan of the series or not. Perhaps the game would actually be more enjoyable to newer players, who may not be as nostalgic or "old-school" as myself. While Black & White does not return to the style of gameplay I remember and enjoy from earlier games, I do consider it an improvement over the last couple generations and was ultimately worth buying. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes adventures or RPGs, and of course to those who are fans of the Pokemon franchise.

Final Score: 64/100, Good Rating

The ABCs of The Killer Nacho

Thought this would be fun to do, as a break from the NSFL posts recently. Basically, I thought of a word for each letter of the alphabet of something that either describes me, something I do/enjoy, or something a value. Here's the list:

American Football

Baseball Bashing

Computer Science

Dolphins

Epic

Fantasy

Goblins

Helpful

Intelligent

Justice

Killer Nacho

Love

Methodical

Noble

Oblivious

Philosophy

Quiddity

Roleplaying

Science Fiction

Truth

Unusual

Video gaming

Winning

Xenia

Youthful

Zeal

...Okay, okay, I had to go Dictionary hopping for a few of these.