The Nintendo Hero Returns, or Pokémon Master

So! The new Pokémon games came out a week ago, and I've decided that that is exciting enough to bring back The Nintendo Hero! The new games: Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version. I've only played a small portion of the games so far, but I am very impressed!

The biggest improvement is the graphics. The games keep their 2D sprites for the characters, but they've made the game world a much more 3D environment. They had a pseudo 3D effect in the previous generation, but it's much better done this time around.

The other great graphics improvement is the battle screen. Previous games have included small amounts of movement in battles, but this time around the pokemon are in constant motion in battles. The pretty much just appear to hop around, but when they use sound attacks, their mouths open, and when put to sleep their eyes close. It zooms in and out on the attacking pokémon and has a much more interactive feel.

I've got a lot further to go in the game because I spent nearly a week trading between the two games until I got all three starters in both games. I'm not sure how I feel about the starters in this game. I guess I like Snivy, and I do like Oshawott, but Tepig is pretty lame. But in comparison to the previous generation, I do like these starters better.

The rest of the pokémon introduced in this generation are a mixed bag. There are definitely some nice ones that I do like quite a bit, but it seems like there are quite a few really lame designs. The ice cream looking one, and the garbage bag, and the gear one. They seem very unoriginal, but I guess I don't really have to have them on my team.

I'm curious how difficult it will be to fill the Pokédex this time around. That has always been my main focus of the Pokémon series, the collection aspect. There are all those people that spend endless hours making their perfect competitive battle teams, but I'm really just not interested in that at all. I just want to get every single pokémon possible. On a related note, the only game I've ever completely filled the Pokédex is Pokémon Blue. The next closest is Pokémon Diamond where I'm only missing Deoxys.

So far, I'm really enjoying the game. The graphics are better, there are 156 new pokémon to catch, and the story so far is pretty engaging. I've only just gotten to the second gym, but I'll give updates as I make it further into the game!
Pictures borrowed from Nintendo and Bulbapedia.

Oscars

So, I am currently watching the Oscars. Not how I had planned on watching them, which was decked out in my nicest clothes at my friend Angie's place for her Oscar party. The plan was to dress up and bring some celebrity themes food and whatnot. But! Due to the crazy snow coming down outside, the party was cancelled, so I am sitting here in my Charizard pajama pants watching the Oscars on my couch.

Now, one of the fun parts about watching the Oscars is predicting the winners. Well, it's supposed to be fun. But I never seem to have any luck with the predictions. For some reason, all of the movies that I think look really boring are always the ones that make it into the Oscars. The movies that I think are awesome? Not a one. That's not actually true though, 'cause a few movies that I really liked were nominated, but I'll be amazed if they actually win anything.

It would also help if I actually understood what the categories meant. I have no idea what the eff cinematography is. And how in the world am I supposed to judge sound editing? Or film editing? Sound mixing? Is that different than editing? I've also got this problem with choosing the movies that I want to win versus the movies that I think will actually win. For example, The Social Network is probably going to do really well again, but I have no interest in watching a movie about Facebook. I already don't trust Facebook and think Zuckerberg is a douche.

So it is not surprising that so far my score is two for seven. I'm actually impressed with that score. I'm thinking I probably won't get any more right, but I will update you if I do.

I've never really paid attention to the Oscars before. Last year was the first time I'd ever actually sat down and watched them and did the whole prediction thing, and that was only because I was invited to an Oscar party at my good buddy Andrea's place. Since then Andrea has moved away from the frozen north, so we're keeping track online. Andrea, her mom, our friend Kim, and I all submitted our predictions, and Andrea is tracking them on twitter. Surprisingly, Andrea, the big movie buff, is not in the lead at the moment. Oh, correction, it's just been tied across the board... minus me...

This just kind of proves that I should never be a movie reviewer. I know what I like, but I don't know what makes a "good movie" apparently. I should be the nerd movie reviewer. Is the a geek awards show? There should be. If not, I'm gonna start the anti-Oscars. The awards show for all the movies that are actually good. The categories will be more interesting too. There will be Coolest Super Hero Movie. Best Alien Movie. Best Action Movie. And the best lead actor and actress would be whatever hotties were in those movies and not some boring people like most awards shows. And there would be a Suckiest Movie category. For movies that are lame. Like The Social Network.

Latest update, I am now at three points out of twelve. Rock on. My favourite part about this awards show is the hosts. Anne Hathaway and James Franco are both really awesome. Anne sung a song dissing the sexiest man alive (Hugh Jackman) and James has come onstage in drag. And there was an old man hitting on Anne at the beginning, and I thought he might die before he got through with the category. Apparently he's a big deal so I am probably being rude. But he was actually hilarious.

I think I've rambled on long enough for one post, so I'm gonna leave it here with my score sitting at 5 out of 16! Not as bad as I thought I'd be at! I'll give an extra update with my final score once the show is over.