Samias

I also used to golf... I actually had lessons and was at the driving range hitting 200 balls every weekend. I also did some pitch and putt though our local course wasn't too big. It is impressive how much focus and forethought goes into striking the ball but a lot of the power is in technique and not so much strength. Yeah, the pro golfers will want to work out and most of them have physical therapists but it's their job. But golfing is pretty low impact as far as "sports" go. It's a far cry from soccer or even baseball in terms of required athletics. Video games are a different kind of stress though some pros have absolutely decimated their hands and wrists. Mew2King is probably the most infamous example of wrist pain that did spiral out of control out of neglect because no one takes these injuries seriously. It's an occupational hazard but extreme training is needed to stay on top of ever evolving metagames. Every large organization recognizes that fitness is a key part of maintaining player health though, and they can and do hire physiotherapists and employ sport medicine on their teams to keep them performing at a top level. We don't fault runners for pulling their knees or ankles even though they can become career ending injuries. It's an accepted risk of their line of work. Video games might not make you work up more than sweaty hands but tendonitis is a big deal. Note I am not saying it is remotely near the level of other sports that involve running or throwing, but this IS people's livelihoods at stake. You can get forced to retire from injuries.

I assume poker and chess, games with even less physical exertion than pro video games, are considered sports because it makes it convenient for them to travel for tournaments without an employer to vouch for them from within the destination country. You don't have to call the players athletes as there is no athletic requirement, but the games themselves have a sport designation because the job requires travel to multiple venues and multiple countries and with the host country not necessarily being the player sponsor. Also we have a bunch of dumb shit in the Olympics like horse dance that only the super elite can participate in yet they still get the designation. The fact is, we let things like this slide because it makes employers' lives easier when declaring the purpose of why their players must enter the country in a timely manner.

A singular golf club is not that heavy and most players hire a caddy to carry their clubs for them and travel from course to course via golf carts. Yes, the act of swinging the club involves exertion but even a child with no upper body strength can drive a ball 200y with enough refinement of technique. SSBM is at least as demanding on the hands as golf is to the shoulders. Pro MOBA and FPS players practice as much as anyone else would work at a full-time job, if not longer. Most leagues have fitness coaches as well to prevent computer-related injuries. Like I mentioned, this is a multi million dollar international industry.

The game is cheap and seems quickly scraped together. It was a bundle-in for Star Fox Zero on consoles to try and justify the full price despite Zero's short length rather than a standalone release. However the games are separate purchases on the eShop. I've seen some coverage of it from Giant Bomb but it's only mildly interesting. For people who like Tower Defense it might be an ok pickup but even watching the first couple of levels it got very repetitive. For the purchase of SF:Z it should have been actually free, then maybe people would have been less upset by how much SF:Z costs on store shelves.

Leffen has toned down his asshole persona significantly after being picked up by TSM. His conduct is fine. He literally is being held up by visa issues because he can't get a sport visa, and he also can't just use a tourist visa because these tournaments involve cash prizes. He comes on a short term basis so I don't know how work visas would work. League of Legends has had similar problems with formerly Filipino player Xmithie being unable to enter Germany, and many Korean and Chinese players unable to get their visa processed in a timely manner for the EU LCS and NA LCS. A team literally forfeit a game at the beginning of the NA LCS split due to their inability to field a roster with a team full of Koreans and Europeans. Esports is a multimillion dollar industry. The definition of what constitutes a sport should include them for the sake of the players and competitive integrity.

I was actually really happy BW2 had Growlithe and Magnemite as early game Pokemon. Normally they aren't available until mid/late game. Also early game Riolu was cool too. I felt BW2 had really good variety while keeping some of the more unique and good BW areas the same as they were (like the construction zone desert).

This is all i'd want out of Marth/Robin/Lucina/Roy/Corrin amiibos. Ike could just give some assortment of boosters or weapons or some brand new map for Trial maps. And then have them unlock their respective characters for trial maps only. I imagine they'd tie any DLC to trial maps as well, but I feel like guest characters are a bit hollow for the main game. And if there were a remake I'd prefer they'd not add any new characters or bring in pair up. I feel like guard stance kind of breaks the game. I'd rather have them flesh out some of the holes instead in some RD part 2-like chapters. Like what did Tormod do for 90% of the game with Vika and Muarim? Stuff like that.

Gamefreak puts two seperate teams on their main games and their remakes apparently. BW and HGSS were in development concurrently, hence some missing features that were in HGSS that were absent in BW. I mean you could make the argument that they should pool everyone onto one team but I speak from experience when I say sometimes you really can't just pile manpower onto one project for exponential gains. It tends to taper off once people start treading on each other's work. Also when Unova turns 10+ it probably deserves a remake too. Maybe one that fleshes out East Unova more. Though Gen 5 is somewhat complicated by the fact that BW2 are not enhanced versions but different games set in most of the same region.

Sinnoh is 10 years old and the engine is super sluggish. I'd love to see the game with all the battle engine improvements and also a more dynamic camera to get some sweeping shots of scenic locales like Floaroma Town and Spear Pillar. What makes Sinnoh any less deserving of a remake than the previous 3 gens? I'd also love to see the return of the Poketch as a gameplay feature. It was definitely my favourite bottom screen implementation.

More after work doodleage.

One of the iconic animals of Hawaii is the monk seal. Popplio is currently a sea lion but that never stopped Gamefreak from totally changing a Pokemon's real life species over an evolution before. Water/fighting monk makes a ton of sense, we just don't know what will happen with the clown motif. Meanwhile there is a lot of speculation that Rowlet will end up like a stilt owl or one of the flightless parrots that inhabit Hawaii. There actually hasn't been a whole lot of pure fire types added lately so I don't mind that Litten will be a pure fire. Honestly I feel the repeat of fire/fighting for Torchic and Chimchar was to give them a type advantage over the first rock gym but then they just went too far with gen 5 where there was no longer an early rock gym.

I say kids but I am thinking somewhere in the 12-13 year old range, since this is bound to be a text heavy game and younger than that might run into some reading difficulty. That's all I can see these changes are meant for. I'm kinda OK with seeing Tsubasa less sexy since I think Kiria is better suited to the sexy look. But unlike in the main series FE, I think the more ridiculous this gets, the better. They already alienated both SMT and FE fans so you might as well embrace what you've done.

Honestly I think Nintendo is just hoping some younger kids might be interested despite there being a T rating slapped on, or at least make it so kids have an easier time convincing their parents that it's not some weird fanservice game I guess...admittedly I like Tsubasa's new outfits though. Just a shame that, even if I wouldn't use them, the stuff they're replacing was removed. I would have thought aging up the idols to 18 would have been fine on its own but seems like Nintendo has a different agenda. Some part of me actually thinks the censorship is trying to find some way to "fix" the general appearance of the game so it will sell better. I think a lot of people initially went "what is this anime waifu garbage??" at E3 last year, though covering up some boobs isn't really going to change anyone's minds at this point. The black flames of censorship on Aversa is kinda cringey though. That's like JJBA levels of pointless. Considering how niche this game is I don't think this was really worth it on Nintendo's part but we'll see.

The sovereignity issues in Hawaii run very deep. In modern day society I think the US occupation of Hawaii would have been deemed unconstitutional. But it's a really complex issue and if Pokemon ever makes a storyline of it, it would just be too politically charged. They should really stay away from anything to do with the Hawaiian monarchy. I think the deepest they could ever go with that kind of idea is "tourism vs preservation", as the destruction of natural habitat and culture in the name of tourism appeal is something that many people can understand and is not strictly a Hawaii issue. Still a bit charged though.

Yeah for all the levels the E4 have in this game, their moveset are very weak. That's the general theme of the game really. Depending on team I think Sabrina may be the only one remotely challenging. Of course this isn't the case in FR/LG where everyone became a lot more competent. But gen 1 is very easy.

SnS was always good but had some pretty slow clear times just because it requires you to stick onto monsters like glue with the short range. They definitely wanted to make it more rewarding. Maybe they went too far but to be honest if that's what they put into a new person's hands first they might as well go and make it worthwhile to stick with. Switch Axe seemed very unpopular compared to CB so I can see why they wanted to make it more appealing as well. I don't think IG was BEST weapon, but triple nectar with a final tier bug that was properly fed was definitely ridiculous and probably way too high dps. It is easy to play and extremely mobile but still no shield and some monsters have some wonk areas for nectar collection. Though notably the bug gets way more efficient over time while other weapons don't get that kind of quality of life improvement by final tier. In the long run of player mastery though, CB ultra burst and guardpoints were probably more OP. But people who master HBG and greatswords are both monsters too. The CB nerfs were overboard but it was still something like a top 3 weapon. It isn't anymore though... like that's the one weapon where I shake my head and think "ugh now it's the new bow or gunlance". IG nerfs were more or less fair and put it in the right place.

I think it's important to note that even though gunlance basic damage was nerfed, it was buffed in mobility if you pick up aerial style. It's also encouraging people to mix up shelling and poking to stay in the red. I heard the weapon is a lot more viable than it was in 4U. My friend who imported MHX last year has said he enjoys the new GL much more than before. But yeah, insect glaive and CB got straight up nerfed in damage but tbh they are pretty ridiculous. Maybe they weren't top tier speedrun weapons but CB especially was really safe once mastered. Insect glaive loses part of its niche but apparently it's still a blast to play.

I think the problem is, the design looks cute in 2D but doesn't translate very well in 3D. There's actually some really cute fanart floating around but they all position its nose a certain way. However the very first trailer is a front face view, the most unflattering view you could possibly have for that nose. Also it looks quite dark and drab in game compared to the bright frill it gets in most fanart. Lately I've been thinking it's not quite as bad as Oshawott, who is very strangely segmented by colour, but from Ken Sugimori's concept art that the Pokemon Company posted, it definitely has poses that just highlight how Popplio doesn't look very good from certain angles or with certain expressions. It has to look cute and cheery and it has to tilt its nose up or down fron a 3/4 view, or else it looks weird.

I don't think long haired prosecutor is wearing a hat in that silhouette in the English trailer. I think that is just his scarf.

That may be one reason to change things up, but I think the reason was also that money is a limited resource until you have access to the Elite 4 or have a Pokemon that knows Pay Day. As far as Pay Day goes, Pokemon Blue is the only version with wild Meowth who learns Pay Day without a TM. If you spent all your money there's no rematches. It's rare but you could be broke and then make the game essentially unwinnable. That would be inconceivable to most, but I can imagine there may have been frustrated children. Likewise, the Safari Zone is a mandatory activity in gen 1 and is another potential area where you could run out of money and have to restart.

Well I mean the country is more Chinese inspired but Maya and her clan is very clearly Japanese inspired. I guess they figured they would make the country a different name to make it seem like another language and perhaps make the naming conventions look a little similar to Zheng Fa's, though not exactly the same.

I really hope Popplio (and Litten and Rowlet) evolves into something cool, I remember volunteering in an art class at an elementary school and Oshawott/Samurott was very unpopular. Every kid loved Serperior instead. Then they found Serperior wasn't very strong, so they ended up liking none of the starters and gravitated towards Pokemon like Deerling. Anecdotal, I know, but generally speaking it feels like people were just iffy on Samurott's odd quadraped design, child and adult alike. Likewise, Fennekin is cute but so many people dislike Delphox, so I never see much of it anymore. On the other hand many people were lukewarm on Froakie, saw the evolution, then understood the concept and began to enjoy the design more. However Chesnaught and Delphox fell in popularity drastically from being not as cool in the face of a very cool and unique and competitively strong Pokemon. I think it's much easier for Pokemon to overcome a weak first evolution than a weak 3rd evolution and no one really cares about the in between. Like the Froakie situation, in gen 4 people made fun of Chimchar for having a fire butt until it became fiery Sun Wukong with insane speed and power. This time it seems like the theme may be about animal showmanship for the starters. Kind of a weird concept.

Sun is a problem word for people with lisps. If I'm not concentrating I'll say it as "thun". I've had speech therapy so it doesn't happen often but Moon is certainly more convenient.

I have a lisp so that automatically chose Moon for me before even seeing the legendaries. Poppolio might be the first water starter I skip unless it evolves into something cool. It takes the elements I hated about Oshawott and stretches them out. Ugh. Rowlet is legitimately cool as hell and I hope Litten becomes a tiger down the line.

I will never be done the mountain of work but here's a doodle I did in my off hours.