Uncategorized: July 2007 Archives

On Friday I purchased a new Onyx Nintendo DS Lite and Pokemon Diamond. I have not played Pokemon since the sixth grade, in the days of Blue and Red. Since then I've thought that Pokemon was stupid and obnoxious, and I still feel that way. Nevertheless I've become completely addicted to Pokemon Diamond. Now I'm even more excited because Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have built-in online features (accessible via wi-fi connection) to trade or battle people worldwide.

Pokemon has been around for ten years, and it's still wildly successful. I think Diamond and Pearl had around 500,000 preorders in the months prior to its US release. It begs the question: why hasn't an online Pokemon RPG been made yet? I mean, seriously. They've got MMORPGs for everything now, ranging from the Sims to the Lord of the Rings to a Pirates of the Caribbean in the works. Why not Pokemon? It would be genius. The Pokemon series already has features that most RPGs have been trying to perfect for years.

Let's break it down, scientifically:

• A large world map with multiple towns and cities connected by roads and other terrain
• Each city has its own unique shtick; the mining city, the flower city, the "Pokemon Contest" city, and the other ones I haven't been to yet
• Each town/city has a shop, a PokeCenter, and other places
• Little NPCs all over the map will talk to you; some will give you items or places to go to complete quests for plot advancement
• Money and basic economy are present
• Items can be bought, sold, and otherwise obtained
• Rare items and Pokemon can be obtained through various side-quests and other plot events
• The player himself doesn't level or gain skills; everything is done through his Pokemon
  

Let's not forget the entire fucking premise of the game: to collect, raise, and customize Pokemon, gather items, and win badges. Think about it. In the Pokemon MMORPG, each player will start in a little starter town where they can choose one Pokemon to start with. Then you're given some money, a Pokedex, a map, and set free into the wild where you can meet people, gain money, perform quests, explore, and most importantly, catch Pokemon and raise their skills and experience. Badges would be another highlight of the online game, as they could enhance your ability to obtain more items or different tiers of Pokemon. Whatever, I don't know the details, but they could easily be sorted out and an addictive and enthralling game could easily be made. And you know the best part? There's already a massive built-in audience! Thousands of Americans and millions of Japanese still play this stupid game, and I'm sure a large percentage of them would love to play an online version.

My extensive research (quick Google search) shows that there may have been some sort of Pokemon Online in the works, but it was never finished. I say good because according to the website it looks like it sucked. Come on, Nintendo, step up yo' game and make a World of Warcraft-killer. And give me a beta pass.

Today I discovered that I can watch movies on netflix.com as part of my subscription plan. I can watch up to ten hours per month. I find this deal to be quite fabulous. The only downsides are its lack of Mac/Firefox support, and the (currently) small list of available titles.

Mark Zuckerberg was only twenty-one when he launched the Facebook network. I am twenty and I've got nothing to show for it. Maybe the boat hasn't arrived yet...or perhaps I missed it a long time ago.

I once knew what it

is to be a bird. To

fly from tree to

tree, and suffocate

on a plastic

shopping bag.

So far this decade has been absolutely terrible. Not only for me personally, but for the world and cultural advancement in general. I blame 9/11 and the world's reaction to it. I miss the world that existed up until that point. Paranoia wasn't nearly as prevalent. Pittsburgh International Airport was a busy hub full of stores and restaurants that you could actually visit without having to give your left nut. Political scandals dealt with blowjobs instead of outright lies to the American population. I didn't hate the world back then. I didn't want to flush Washington, DC off the map. I actually liked being an American. I look back on events that happened during the 1990s--both good and bad--and everything seemed so much clearer then. I'm tired of living in a world that is angry and terrified of everything.