Voice Like A Nova

The sights, sounds and happenings in the life of Chelsea's Tail frontman and Geek Happy Network manager.

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Project: Hairy Potter

It’s been 2 years since my last post, and so much has happened... I’ve gotten married, adopted 2 silly cats, changed professional fields, and took up another hobby: cooking.

Now that I’ve given a small synopsis of my couple of years, we move on to my main story: the Thursday before Black Friday, I was one of the many converts to The Church of Instant Pot.

As with the beginning of numerous online reviews and videos, I too was originally skeptical of how much it would change my kitchen life. Maybe I was afraid of how simplified it would make cooking, as I do enjoy the process. I was pretty happy to find out that my creativity was not traded in for the speed of which I can actually create things.

Now, I’m Filipino-Chinese (a combined culinary heritage I do not take lightly), so I immediately tried Instant Pot Chicken Adobo, and am readying myself to tackle Cherry Pork and Sweet & Sour Pork next. I’m loving that because the Instant Pot does dishes within 30mins-1hr, I can quickly turn out 2 dishes a night, all ready for the week!

So I guess this is the main reason I started writing again. I have this new kitchen toy that gives me more free time, and with it more time to write, research, plot and scheme for my next crazy, ambitious Instant Pot adventure.

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'Coz we're all about the chase, 'bout the chase, no Toadstool. Follow us: Facebook ► http://facebook.com/geekhappynetwork Twitter ► https://twitter.com/geek_happy_hour Listen to the Geek Happy Hour Podcast released every Monday: On iTunes ► http://goo.gl/B34o5p On BuzzSprout ► http://www.buzzsprout.com/29890 Like, Subscribe, and Share my friends!

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Geek Happy Network | The Happiest Place On The Interwebs

A venue where geeks talk about geek things, from pro-wrestling to comics, video games, and even an unsettling obsession with video games, we've got you covered!

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The Geek Happy Network is now on YouTube! Check us out here: http://goo.gl/J10LYz #gaming #letsplay #geekhappyhour #geekhappynetwork #youtube #geek #videogames

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How The Apple Store is Actually An RPG

"Oh god, I just want to check if they have the Elgato HD Game Capture Card physically in-stock. So many people in blue. It's okay, just hug the rightmost wall and be ready to dodge."

Sound familiar? Yeah, that's anyone who just legitimately wants to browse, and not kill time fiddling with the iPad Air, or actually have questions to ask the staff in blue. Sometimes just knowing that you'd be approached is a source of anxiety. For me, it's always more that I have my moods and it's usually the "don't talk to me" one, especially after a long work-day.

Yesterday, when I actually uttered the quote above, I realized that The Apple Store is a Role-Playing Game. And here's why:

Dungeon Crawling

Yeah, it's a maze of tables and gadgets in there. You've got the basic layout, and once you've entered one store, you know what you're getting from the next. As with RPGs, dungeon crawling has always been the most grueling segment. You don't really want to venture into uncertainty, but there's that 1 item that you've got to cross off your list. It's a simple in-and-out operation, but somehow you feel like you may never make it out alive (or with your credit card intact).

Non-Random Enemy* Encounters

See those blue shirts? They're out to get you like enemy* monsters in a SaGa Frontier game. No random encounters, and most battles are totally avoidable. But make the wrong move, the wrong turn, and they're on you like Pac-Man's Ghosts. Some of you don't let your guard down, but sometimes there's just that one n0ob RPG player who backs themselves into a corner... Boom! Critical Hit. So heed my warning: once you enter the dungeon map, hug a wall, keep your path straight and true, and hover over the dodge/run button just in case.

*I must say that they really aren't your enemy, and most of them actually want to help you. Heck, I've got friends who work(ed) at Apple. Go with the joke though, okay?

Experience Points

Some of us do our research before going in, which could be some form of pre-dungeon grinding. The level-grind is what makes us stronger, more impervious to the smooth-talking blue-shirts' modus operandi. If you don't have enough experience, well, expect to be destroyed, or stand there silently scrolling through your menu of thoughts, trying to find the right action to get what you want or get out of there. Fleeing doesn't always work, so be sure you come prepped with healing herbs for your dignity. Also, on the rare occasion that you do have something to have fixed, then you're about to level up my friend!

That Architecture Doe

I mean, c'mon, it's enough that the layout is a maze, but some places just push it up a notch. Look at that one above, the Shanghai Apple Store. Nowhere to go but down to B1.

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Top 5 Tips To Start WWE Immortals [Update]

In lieu of the release of WWE Immortals (my review can be found here), I just thought I’d give y’all some quick tips, brought in through my experience with the game for a full day of gameplay:

Don’t be afraid to check out the online challenges first. The daily challenges sometimes have character-specific rewards (3,000 coins per challenge) so you can direct the next step at leveling them up first. This is where your main source of quick cash will come from. [Update]: I cannot stress this point enough; majority of your cashflow will come from the online battles. The challenges don't only give you money up-front, but points earned go towards increasing your leaderboard placement, giving you significant rewards after 5 days.

Progress through the first page of the main menu as normal to farm some preliminary cash and level your cards. Completing the bonus stage (the last on that first page) a few of times over would be the perfect early start for farming XP and cash.

With your first 8-11k, spend it buying another copy of one of your bronze cards. Use it to promote to a Legendary tier (up to lvl.5). Keep doing this, because if you think about it, for the price of 1 silver card of your choice, or even the silver pack giving you too much of a random chance for 1 character, you’re still saving money for the time being by sticking to 1 or 2 promoted bronze ones.

If you’re willing to grind and hold out, skip the silver cards as much as possible and save up for the 75,000 gold pack for a gold card, which will be twice as effective as the one silver character would be. Also, it’s worth the chance of getting one of the stronger, top-tier characters.

As you’re getting your ducks in a row, manage your stamina. Once you know which characters you’re sticking with, buy stamina talent cards to decrease the time it takes to replenish a stamina bar (10mins a pop). Then figure out which stages give you the best cash yield per stamina bar. You’ll have to do a bit of computing once stamina requirements increase per match. Also, cash yield decreases for replaying a stage, so that sweet 5k pot at the end is just a one-time thing.

And there you go, a few tips to tide you bye, at least for the beginning, figuring out how this game plays. As with Injustice, updates are going to balance gameplay, add new features/characters, and change cash yield per match. So at its early stages, start playing and get above the rest to crush at PvP!

[aurevoir-mes-amis-deactivated20]

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The Guest Spot w/ Laura Dub: The New Captain of Catan

Every summer, my family goes up to our cabin, and one of the high points of the trip has always been our board-game nights. Every year when we come back home, we always say we'd organize similar game nights during the rest of the year (despite TV, internet, work, school etc...). But predictably, it never seems to happen. One year, my mom bought a bunch of board-games in an attempt to entice us to play during the year. But again, we only played them at our cabin. There was one game which remained unopened, for no particular reason; we just never seemed to get around to it. 

That game was Settlers of Catan.

I know, I know: it's a super popular game and everyone always says how much fun it is, but it just never seemed to peak our interest...

That was true for me until about a week ago when I played my first game of Catan. And not just any Catan: it was Star Trek Catan. 

As soon as we started, I quickly collected resources to build my Outposts and Starfleets. It became obvious which resources were going to be scarce on the ever-changing board and I soon learned the strategies of choosing whether or not to trade resources with other players. While a couple times I was able to trick players into revealing their resources to me so I knew I could steal them (thank you, Support Cards), it became clear that the other two seasoned players (yeah it was just a 3-player session) were always going to have the largest Starfleet. I was going to need a new strategy to acquire Victory Points to win the game. I began collecting Water and Oxygen so I could turn my Outposts into Starbases, then colluded with another player in order to stop the third from winning on his next turn. Little did they know, the Development Card I had received a couple turns back gave me one Victory Points and I only needed one more Starbase to win (they were even nice enough to inform me that such cards existed shortly after I flipped mine over).

In an earlier article, I wrote how satisfying it was to hit someone with a Blue Shell right at the finish line, or Smash them into oblivion. I will now add the following to that (growing) list: having the perfect roll to make my last Starbase, and seeing the expression on the faces of two veteran players as I flip over the Development Card that gave me the last point I need to win the game.

It looks like my family will have a new game to play on our annual vacation. July isn't that far away. 

For more of Laura, click the links below:

Non-Geek Girl Living In a Geek World

Our collaborative review of Mario Kart 8’s DLC Pack#1

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Virtual Productivity: How Games Keep You Hooked, And Why We Complete Them Over & Over Again

In 2001 I finally finished Final Fantasy VII. It took me a while from when I started it, and I remember my PSOne memory card stored it for over a couple of years. 67 hours was how much I clocked in this first time I finished the game. That was a younger me, with the golden decade of PSOne gaming shooting me title after title to play and barely complete. 

Now I've finished FF7 thrice, with the last 2 play-throughs clocking in well over 100 hours.

Why did I clock in over 267 hours on a game that I keep repeating (and will be repeating again soon, as I predict)? Because it was a damn good RPG and I gave some thought into how I grew my characters. Could you imagine how many games I could have played with the extra 200 hours? That's around 4-5 games with main storylines that would last 30-40 hours.

The culprits for me are RPGs that allow you to collect items/boosts and customize your character, enough to change your play-style not just throughout the first game, but for multiple play-throughs as well. These are elements that can be found in other genres as well, not just RPGs. Starting a new career with a different Football Club, besting your lap time with a better car, or even completing the Arcade Mode with a different fighter. All of these implore that completionist or collector in us all, sucking the time and energy from us, keeping us knee-deep in the universe to make us feel virtually productive.

I've beaten non-RPG games multiple times as well, like the 2D platformers Tomba, Tomba 2, and Klonoa. The Tomba series had jobs to complete and items to power you up, similar to RPG dynamics. But what kept me going for more in Klonoa? Each stage had 5 creatures you had to "free"; and if you did so, at the end of the stage you are rewarded with a puzzle piece. This could arguably be the first game wherein I felt the need to repeat stages to find them all.

Pacing is a huge part of how games reel us in. If the whole world was available to us immediately, we wouldn't be too compelled to drive forward with the main storyline, eventually investing in the character you control. Grand Theft Auto 3 in Liberty City cuts you off by having the bridge out of the main island blocked off until you've gotten past a couple of missions (pretty much the same going for Vice City). This threw me off a bit, but I eventually appreciated it because it stopped me from viewing GTA as just the anarchist's sandbox. GTA V was pretty much open to your imagination, but GTA Online gave it even more depth, allowing you to amass cash to buy and trick out your characters and their rides. I personally did a couple of jobs then went straight to a Ponsonbys to buy my character some swank clothes, just because I felt that I earned it.

Grinding is a big part of pacing, as evidenced by countless hours of repetition, only to yield the ever-so-satisfying sense of achievement. It doesn't take a console-awarded achievement to keep me going for hours and hour; it's the sole feeling of not letting one's self down that is priceless. As mentioned above, GTA V, both online and offline, allowed players to grind; completing missions, doing side-jobs, jacking cars and selling them, robbing liquor stores, all of which towards the sole goal of earning unimaginable amounts of cash to spend in-game. It truly is the completionist's dream, to do every single variation of a job, and to buy every single purchasable product. I've clocked in a total of 104+ hours on it.

Now we go back to how this applies to FF7; on top of the epic story, there were other things that had to be done. I'd spend a couple of hours alone staying in the Golden Saucer accumulating BP at the Battle Arena. Mastering Materia (where all magic is derived from), mixing and matching them to characters and weapons, and collecting every single one of them kept me going. It wasn't enough to have completed the story. No, I had to do it all over again to make sure I left no stone unturned. I had to try every character and every ability. My first couple of runs I was heavily reliant on Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII. The last time I finished using Cid and Vincent more, swapping in Yuffie, just because I didn't use them that much before. This decision made it a different game, and a more immersive one altogether. 

I'm currently playing Pokemon Omega Ruby. I have Fire Emblem: Awakening and Monster Hunter Joker 2 that I'm yet to start because of the collective 650+ hours I've had on Pokemon XY + ORAS in the past 2 years (that's around 27+ days cumulatively). I can't move on because, as cliche as it sounds, I haven't 'caught them all'. I haven't gotten all the Mega-Stones, haven't competitively bred all the Pokemon I want, nor have I competed online yet. There just seems to be too many things I feel compelled to do before taking the cartridge out.

I bought a Playstation TV recently to play some PS Vita and PSOne games... I see that they have Disgaea 4, Persona 3 & 4, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy X/X-2, Xenogears, Grandia, Alundra.... If in the virtual realm of the game I play I feel productive, the reality is that I'm as productive as the Earth is part of this universe: I haven't made a dent in it.

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The Game Awards 2014: The Morning-After Roundup!

Live from Vegas last night we have the first annual Game Awards 2014, which rose from the ashes of what was once Spike TV's VGX, ending its 10-year run last year around the same time. This show now becomes even more gamer-friendly and fan-centric, bombarding us with new game announcements on top of the actual awards, and BOY do we have ourselves a brain-full here!

For the awards, here are the categories and winners:

Game of The Year: Dragon Age Inquisition

Developer of The Year: Nintendo

Best Indie Game: Shovel Knight

Best Mobile/Handheld Game: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

Best Narrative: Valiant Hearts: the Great War

Best Score/Soundtrack: Destiny

Best Performance: Trey Parker for South Park: The Stick of Truth

Games for Change: Valiant Hearts: the Great War

Best Remaster: GTA 5

Best Shooter: Far Cry 4

Best Action/Adventure: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Best RPG: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Best Fighting Game: Super Smash Bros. Wii U

Best Family Game: Mario Kart 8

Best Sports/Racing Game: Mario Kart 8

Best Online Experience: Destiny

And for the Fan's Choice categories:

Most Anticipated Game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

ESports Player of The Year: Matt "NaDeSHoT" Haag (CoD)

ESports Team of The Year: Ninjas in Pyjamas (CS)

Trending Gamer: TotalBiscuit

Best Fan Creation: Twitch Plays Pokemon by Anonymous

Really happy with the winners, with really only the surprises coming from Destiny beating out CoD Advanced Warfare and there being not so many strong nominees for a handful of categories like Best Fighting Game and Best Soundtrack.

If you'll notice, Nintendo's latest (more like late, period) push for games this year has really put them up on the map and back to glory in providing their fanbase with what they wanted. Smash Bros. really just beat out it's little brother on the 3DS and USF4, while Mario Kart 8 beat not just its racing rivals, but sports games in its own category as well!

Now, for everyone's convenience, we'll run through each game announcement in the order they blew our minds....

Nintendo headed the pack for the night with more Mario Maker, announcing that Mario Maker would become a "popular series". Mario Kart Maker anyone?

Kojima previews Metal Gear Online, which will be included with Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain. Love the trailer, promising X amount of players working together as stealthy death-bringing soldiers. I mean, really, who's going to be sneaking around passively completing directives when you can TAKE A GUARD HOSTAGE AND TAKE A SELFIE.

From the makers of critically acclaimed indie title Gone Home comes Tacoma, a space-themed adventure to look forward to. If Gone Home made you feel things, this is a definite thing to watch out for.

From Software's Bloodborne was premiered, but to be honest looks more like a rehash of Devil May Cry (which we all know kinda peaked, even with their own retcon game DMC). Honestly, I wouldn't spend $70 on this thing, but I would definitely spend that for Dragon Age Inquisition, which had its hype-video play right after.

Hazelight, a company from the makers of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, showed a quick teaser of an upcoming game that EA will be publishing. Much feelz expected from this game.

Adrift looks like a really really pretty space-explorer, and it looks to focus on dealing with rescue-missions and space-debris.

Nintendo gives us more detail on Codename: STEAM, and I must say, it comes with a rockin' soundtrack!

Before will be a cool game to look out for, even from its early stages. If you like world-builders and RTS-type hybrids, you'll love this survival game where you're in-charge of a whole tribe!

FINALLY they show us some more of The Order: 1886, which was originally set to be one of the PS4's launch titles. So much for that, a year in delay!

MLB The Show '15 announces that Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers will be 

UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF'S END WILL BE AT THE SONY EXPERIENCE TODAY/TOMORROW!

Until Dawn is an interesting game, announced opening with a blonde woman in a towel being chased down by a killer clown... Think of it as

Lara Croft: Temple of Osiris was teased a bit more, and will follow closely to its predecessor Lara Croft & the Guardian of Light.

THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT HAS A NEW TRAILER!

NO MAN'S SKY is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated ULTIMATE sandbox game. Oooooo, pretty colors! My eyes ust hurt so good after watching that trailer 3 times straight.

I honestly don't know how to feel about the Godzilla announcement trailer... If it's a massive world-destroyer that's just brainless fun and not at all story-driven, then I'd be interested...

King's Quest has an interesting trailer, and looks to be more of a Telltale Games-style of revamping the classic franchise.

Human Element shows us the post-post-apocalyptic side of the world, and is going to be an online multiplayer shooter.

And for the biggest announcement ever.....

THE NEW ZELDA GAME: GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE WTF WTF WTF!!!!!

LOOK AT THAT SUN!!!! LOOK AT THAT MASSIVE MAAAAAAP!!!!!

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO END THIS, IT'S TOO MUCH HYPE!!!!!!!

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The Guest Spot w/ Laura Dub: Non-Geek Girl Living In a Geek World

Mario-Kart, Pokemon, Smash Brothers... no, these are not items on my niece's Christmas list; these are words which seem to have become an extremely important part of my life.

Growing up, I was always the sporty one: soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, track... you name it! Never one to be trapped in front of a TV (unless Scooby-Doo was on), I never really got the whole video game allure. Fast forward a decade or so and I now find myself surrounded by people whose childhood was defined by these very games.  And now that they have the means, why not get that new game that catches their eye! Not one to be left out of the fun, I decided to give some of these games a whirl... And you know what?

I'm damn good.

(Now full disclosure: it's not like I'm some anti-game, anti-geek person. I grew up with Star Wars – the Episode I pod racing game is probably the first video game I ever played. I played my brother's WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain whenever I could and I also dabbled in various 90's versions of NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and FIFA video games.)

I never knew how satisfying it could be to hit people with a blue shell just as they're reaching the finish line, or Smash them into oblivion or win a triple threat match against two WWE fanatics. My fiancée has created a monster, and now there's no going back.

Needless to say, gamers, now I get it.

For more of Laura, check out our collaborative review of Mario Kart 8's Nov. 13th DLC HERE!

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Pokemon ORAS Story Review: A Sky-Pillar Above XY

It took me longer than I thought I'd take, but I finally beat the main story line + Delta Episode + a rematch with the Elite Four, clocking in at 38:40 hours. Boy was it an epic journey!

The first time I played Pokemon Emerald (yes, I skipped Ruby and Sapphire), the last Pokemon game I'd actually fully played was Pokemon Yellow for that sweet Surfing Pikachu (which I wish we could still get as a promo or something). The idea that there was actually a gripping story behind the "Gotta Catch 'Em All" tagline was very foreign to me, and to be honest back then I didn't care for Team Aqua and Magma. Regardless, I held my breath and started a new game on Omega Ruby, with no expectations but much excitement.

[MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD; Read bolded letters to jump topics; you have been warned]

Replaying it now, a lot older and more enthralled with the nostalgic new world Pokemon XY reintroduced me to, I found myself getting into the story more for how they integrated Primal Revisions and Mega Evolution into the story. They weave the topic perfectly into character dialogue, so subtly that it pretty much felt like I was playing an extension of XY (which we all know ended quite abruptly in terms of mega-evolution's storyline). 

To push the story further we have the Delta Episode, which is considered a post-game addition, although playing through it was pretty much mandatory if you wanted to unlock every post-game feature on Hoenn. This part of the game gives more body to the mega-evolution mystery, and gives us a neat package of info to how the megas came to be, how there are multiple versions (and remakes) of previous Pokemon games, and multiple Legendaries in this remake; which brings us to the next thing...

Aside from Mega-evolution and Primal revisions, the addition of a plethora of post-game Legendaries sweetens the deal in terms of storyline. Between both Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, you will be able to capture ALL Legendary Pokemon. Add last month's Diancie special event and that leaves you completing your Pokedex collection of 719! Multiple sites, along with hacker reveals of an unreleased couple of Legendaries, support a future event that further explain the reason behind the appearance of previously-unavailable Legendaries in the Hoenn region.

The implications these add-ons to the 3rd Gen have to the Pokemon franchise in general is exciting:

The Delta Episode opens the possibility of other remakes.

The multi-Legendary Hoenn teases future plans for game content.

The previous note shows Nintendo and Game Freak's trust in the longevity of this installment, and the inclusion of time-based add-ons or DLC to their top franchises.

I've clocked in an extra few hours since I finished the game, and being more of a competitive breeder, this game has an unlimited lifespan in my hands. But without a doubt, this game has the most extensive post-game additions by far that will keep anyone, be you the nostalgic gamer or the enthusiastic kid Pokefan, this game will surely be right up your list of top 2014 Nintendo must-haves.

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Time to Get SMASHED: The Wii U Super Smash Bros. Weekend Impressions

I'm gonna be honest, I've only legitimately played Smash on the N64, probably a week's worth of gameplay on Melee for the Gamecube, and only dabbling in Brawl on the Wii. I bought this season's newest release for the Wii U out of pure nostalgia and curiosity. I never thought I'd miss this much chaos as much as I realize I did while diving head-first into it again.

Watching the intro on the big screen in glorious HD was a treat in itself, and navigating the menus for the first time brought this excitement and anxiety I haven't felt about a game in so long (the last of which was probably Pokemon Red back in 1997). I had to just go straight into Smash mode, because I had no other idea what I wanted to try first.

The character selection screen was huge, even without the unlockables. It's a smart way to ease your way into it with the mentality that you'll probably be spending some time on each and every one of these characters to find your "main". After a good day of testing things out, I'd narrow things down to Meta Knight, Zero Suit Samus, and The Villager.

Getting back into the control scheme wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The A/B buttons on the Wii U controllers weren't as weird to grasp as people used to Gamecube controllers would expect. Playing on the Pro Controller was pretty much like playing Smash on an Xbox 360. Being a 360 owner prior to the Wii U, it was a delight to be welcomed by that familiar bulkiness.

Control-scheme aside, the game handles really well, finding that perfect spot between quality Melee speed and updated graphics. I say this as a casual Smash player, and not at all part of the competitive scene, so I say this from a purely first-impression standpoint. I still find myself struggling to double-jump quickly because of the smoothness of the controller's analog stick; rookie mistake, I'm sure.

What I found a lot more fun was the character customization options, wherein you either make a Mii Fighter from scratch, or edit the movesets of the main roster. This is an interesting addition because it allows players to customize characters according to their play-style. I find myself being more aggressive with moves that extend reach (like Zero Suit Samus' side-smash double-roundhouse kicks), so adding some extra range to other characters is perfect!

For the first weekend spent playing around with the modes, I leave y'all with some thoughts of mine:

The new mode Smash Tour takes some getting used to. I've only played it once and it hasn't grown on me (yet).

Character/Mii customization is a must-try!

Playing online and having your ass whooped is key in knowing how punishing other characters are.

It's true what they say; Little Mac is overrated.

HOW IS MY FIANCÉE AUTOMATICALLY GOOD AT USING ROSALINA???

LUMA MUST DIE!!!!

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Pokemon XY to ORAS: Competitive Breeding 101 - ... TOO MANY MEGA-WANTS!!!

So I just literally bought Omega Ruby 30 mins before writing up this blog post, and I haven't started it yet for one main reason: there are too many Pokemon I want to competitive-breed before moving over to the new game. 

For those who don't know the frustration around making sure your Pokes are as perfect as they can be, there are 5 things (and a possible 6th I will mention, but I don't really care for it) to keep in check when competitive-breeding:

IV stats - With a perfect score of 31 in each of the 6 stats (HP, Atk, Def, SpAtk, SpDef, Speed), it is the tendency of those stats to grow.

EV stats - With a perfect score of 252 on one stat, and a total of 508 max for all stats, it is the tendency of those stats to further grow in that direction.

Natures - A Pokemon's "nature" can also dictate the tendency of a stat to grow, with a +10% growth on one stat, but with the opposite -10% effect on another stat.

Abilities - A Pokemon can have 1 of around 2-4 possible abilities (some "Hidden" or rarer than others) that affect the battles in significant ways, usually off the bat.

Egg Moves - Certain Pokemon only get these special moves if at least 1 parent (usually from a different species, but in the same egg category) has it.

(Optional) Gender - a Pokemon's gender rarely dictates something totally different for the same species (for example, Meowstic and Latios/Latias), but some competitive battlers want to safeguard their Pokemon from the moves Attract or Captivate.

So here I find myself writing this quick-guide not just to talk more about competitive breeding, but also as a reminder for myself, because although the new game is just sitting on the table right beside me, I can't seem to go for the switch before crossing off my list of must-breeds before moving to ORAS!

I will end this brief Part 1 of Competitive Breeding 101 with a list of Pokemon I still have to breed/EV-train:

Breed

Talonflame (yes, I don't already have one)

Audino (for Mega)

Emolga (I've seen an aggressive speed set before and it was amazing)

Banette (for Mega)

Train

Azumarill

Scizor (for Mega)

Camerupt (for Mega)

Lopunny (for Mega)

Sableye (for Mega)

Heracross (for Mega)

Houndoom (for Mega)

Next up is my list of big tips for breeding in Pokemon XY, for those trying to get into competitive breeding before ORAS!

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Preparing for Pokemon ORAS [FINAL UPDATE!!]

With just a day and a half to go until I get my pre-ordered copy of Pokemon Omega Ruby, I just thought I'd quickly list down my personal checklist for things I want to have done when I switch over. All, of course, I made sure can reasonably be done in a couple of days.

Breed Competitive Azumarill (Apparently I had a 4iv Adamant Huge Power Marill with Belly Drum and Aqua Jet Egg Moves in my boxes already)

Breed Competitive Mega Scizor

Breed Competitive Mega Heracross

Breed Competitive Mega Houndoom

Breed Competitive Lopunny for ORAS

Complete Looker Chapters

Collect All Megastones

EV-train everyone mentioned above

EV-train Bulky Sableye for Mega Evo in ORAS

EV-train Sp.Attack Camerupt for Mega Evo in ORAS

As you can see, Sableye and Camerupt are pretty much the only Pokemon I'm looking forward to mega-evolving. But then I looked up Lopunny's Mega stats + ability and I was like "I WANT"

FINALLY, NOW I'M ABOUT TO SWITCH TO ORAS!!!!

What are your must-do's before the switch?

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Mario Kart 8 DLC New Course Impressions!

The first pack of Mario Kart 8 DLC dropped just last Thursday, and my girlfriend and I had a weekend to play through the courses and analyze each one.

For our comments, we first used one of the 3 new characters and tried out a new kart configuration to see how they fared in a 150cc race in the 2 new cups (#1 after our names). Then we tried the cups again with our standard characters and kart configurations to get a proper feel for the new additions in competitive play (#2). Below are our first impressions and further comments.

Robby: 

Link - Master Cycle - Azure Roller - Hylian Kite

Link - Landship - Azure Roller - Hylian Kite

Laura:

Cat Peach - Cat Cruiser - Azure Roller - Cloud Glider

Rosalina - Biddybuggy - Azure Roller - Cloud Glider

EGG CUP

Yoshi Circuit (GCN)

This course was ridiculously technical, with constant tight turns the first time around! Took us a while to warm up to the course and know when to switch directions. It eventually became easier on our regular kart setups.

Excitebike Arena

It was awesome in its straightforwardness; enough that it highlights item-play and rewards you for perfect jump-boosting. A total stand-out from this cup.

Dragon Driftway

This course kind of feels like the Wii U Mario Circuit from the first cup, with its screen twists and turns, just repacked. It felt pretty short.

Mute City (F-Zero)

This was pleasantly easy to play through, and is less of a shock to play through for people who know their Mario Kart 8. This feels more at-home with the Wii U courses, and reminded us a lot of the Electrodome.

TRIFORCE CUP

Wario’s Gold Mine (Wii)

The big drops are visually fun, and give you a true sense of picking up speed. Like the F-Zero course, it fits in perfectly with the other Wii U courses.

Rainbow Road (SNES)

It was nice to see another classic brought to life in 3D! The star-powered Thwomps were a welcome surprise, although not really adding much of a challenge. The track and its turns are deceivingly wider than they look!

Ice Ice Outpost

Another straightforward course quite possibly made to represent the duality of the Ice Climbers. Stop beating around the bush, Nintendo, and just give us more Nintendo-brand characters to race with!!

Hyrule Circuit (Legend of Zelda)

The reskin on coins, enemies, and sound samples makes this easily the best new addition to the game since multi-colored Shy Guys! This, along with Link, the Master Cycle, and the Hylian Kite glider makes this DLC package one of the best game DLCs I have ever purchased!

And there you go folks, our impressions of the new courses added to the Mario Kart 8 selection. This is a must buy for any self-respecting Mario Kart fan! We can't wait until May when the 2nd pack comes out!

[ctrobby]

Videogame News Round-Up: Cool Stuff From Nov. 7th, 2014

Following today's Blizzcon announcements, here are a handful of stories, not limited to the event:

Blizzard Announces Class-Based FPS Overwatch

One of the bigger announcements is Blizzard's Overwatch, an FPS filled with different classes players can take on. It is immediately likened to Team Fortress 2, where each class has a different role to play in a team's play-style. Here's Kotaku's rundown of all classes available to us, complete with gameplay footage! Personally Pharah seems to be up my alley, with her aggressive gun-centered style, reminding me of the Gunzerker from Borderlands

Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void Trailer

To top off their Starcraft II series of games, they've released the trailer for Legacy of the Void, also showing off some new units to add to the fray.

Hearthstone's Got A New Expansion

And it's called Goblins Vs Gnomes, promising more explosives and tech to change the tides in the current competitive online scene.

Ubisoft Games Disappear and Reappear on Steam Store

Multiple news sites covered this story this morning, but it seems that all is well in the online marketplace as Assassin's Creed Unity and all other big Ubisoft titles have come back onto the Steam store. It was originally thought of to be a move to get players to buy their games on Ubisoft's uPlay market.

And last but DEFINITELY not the least (not to mention this video was published last week)...

Super Smash Bros. 8-Player Gameplay!!

I'm sorry, I just had to.. THE HYPE IS REAL!!!!