Is Pokemon Go Dead?

Seems like no one is playing this anymore... Kinda funny how big of a craze this turned out to be. I was reading an interview with the Niantic guys and what was supposed to be a gradual roll out of features and content ended up being condensed into like a 2 or 3 week span.

They're not done yet tho... There is Gen 2 pokemon still to come as well as trading and battling that needs to be implemented. I'm not deleting my accounts or anything but i just dont see myself opening the app as much as i used to. Netflix has resumed its commute consumption and i have 2 untouched pokemon games that i received for my birthday that i would still like to play... Sun and Moon are rapidly approaching with new pokemon and game mechanics and none of that stuff even includes the Xbox One games coming into the picture.

Hopefully Gen2 pokemon reinvigorates the declining user base... Only time will tell.

Level 23 (late post)

So I hit level 23 and took a SS of the animation when it happened... but for some reason forgot to post it. So here it is... Things don't feel real different from the update but we will have to see what happens.

Finally... Level 22 + Avatar Change

Ok so it took me a lil longer to hit 22 than i anticipated but I finally got there. Thanks large in part to the lucky egg that I popped and then evolved like 40+ Pokemon. Well, I don't think it was that much. Maybe a lil less considering some of my evolutions were new pokemon. The reward for hitting 22 wasn't nearly as big as I would've liked considering my current lack of balls but I'll take what I can get. Also, with the latest update they've added the ability to change your avatar on the go. I never really liked the one I made and I've played with changing him but even then he never came out right and I was never ok with it. I decided to switch to the girl avatars. I have to say that they look so much better than the guys. At least they could've given us Ash or something. Sate our thirst for Pokemon goodness. But whatever... Here's the new avatar and my level up picture. 

W00t w00t level 21!!

Ok... Still at this pokemon go stuff... Been doing better with my pokedex you could say and now I'm up to level 21. I have a bunch of pokemon ready to evolved and a lucky egg ready to help me. I think I'll probably do that later today and see how far along that gets me. I have at least 10 to 12 pidgey's ready to go no to mention a few others that are actually going to be new pokemon for me. They will give even more XP when I evolve them. Finally was able to catch a Scyther. That shit was elusive as all hell. Even with berries and ultraballs he was bailing every time I tried to catch him.

Level 19!

Finally hit 19 after a couple days of light hunting. Ran into a few people at random that okay on the train today. Pretty cool having something in common with absolute strangers. 

OMG Fuck these Zubats!

All I see it feels like all over is Zubats! Whether I'm at work or on the way home. I saw an article about how there's a guy who has caught 142 types of Pokemon and I'm not even half that. True as it may be he also apparently put in two full 50 hour weeks and traced over 95 miles. That's crazy but the fact he cracked open 300+ eggs is also insane. 

Read the article here:

http://m.ign.com/articles/2016/07/21/someone-has-completed-the-us-version-of-pokemon-go

Poke Radar?

So I've been cruising the subreddit for Pokemon go and someone posted about a Pokemon radar. Currently only available for iOS but coming soon for droid.

Personally I've only had it for a few hours but it has a lot of promise. If you consider that the "3-steps away" issue is currently plaguing GO players and no immediate relief in sight this is a legit tool to find what you want. Now wandering around can be fun too and a lot of people enjoy that. But the completionists are going to use this to find exactly what they need to fill their pokedex. 

I'd recommend taking a peek at it but just be aware it's extremely slow sometimes in loading and that was even while on good wifi.

Lol skipped a level

So I used one of my eggs and skipped an entire level. 16 is just a memory and I'm half way through 17 already. 

Pokémon Go

Ok, so it's officially a phenomenon. This is the game that everyone has been waiting for since they teased it with a CGI trailer late last year.

[Wikipedia Link]

The premise... To be able to catch pokemon in the real world, so to speak. The trailer and the actual game aren't as close as we'd like but the out come is still pretty awesome. Using your phone's or mobile device's camera and some Augmented reality overlay you get to see the pokemon as if they've appeared in our world. Then, using your items, pokeballs and such, you'd capture them and add them to your collection.

The whole process is pretty slick and works really well. The only problem is that its become the biggest mobile game launch of all time and the Niantic servers (developer of the game) were slammed and continue to be slammed at almost all times. This leads to the game freezing and dropping out and other bugs. Hell, nothing is perfect but for a game thats barely 2 weeks old its pretty good. Not all the info has come out about how many are available or how to get any of the legendary pokemons but I'm sure we'll hear more in the coming months.

At level 5 you become high enough to attend Gym Battles and also you need to pick a team!

The 3 teams are Valor (Red), Instinct (Yellow) and Mystic (Blue). The act of attacking or defending a gym is pretty straight forward. If the gym is owned by an opposing faction then you take a team of 6 to assault the gym. Each win lowers the Prestige points the gym has and if you defeat the leader then the gym becomes vacant. You can occupy a vacant gym by placing one of your pokemon in the gym to hold a place. Gym level determines how many people can actually place pokemon in the gym to defend it. The Pokemon with the highest CP would be the "Boss" as it were and the last one to fight in a defense. To raise the gyms level you need to train and win battles at your own color gym.

As for me, I joined Team Instinct along with the rest of my family. I mentioned it was a phenomenon right? My wife and 2 daughters all play and we're all on the same team. Figured it would make things be more of a team sport. We go out looking for pokemon together and help eachother out. Occupy the same gyms when we take them over. It's pretty fun.

I know I have a long way to go and I'm just going to continue at the pace that I've been moving. When I find a game I like I typically don't like to rush things. I'm currently a Level 15 trainer and I'm about to hit 16 really soon. I've been saving my Lucky Eggs for a quick XP burst from evolving and catching and hopefully I can blow through 16 as if it was never there. Apparently the higher your level the more rarer pokemon they will send at you. I can only hope this is true. The meme's that have been popping up involving GO have been pretty funny and the news stories seem never ending. A lot of people are hailing the game as one that will get us off our butts and out of the house... Others are reporting about the negatives, like people finding dead bodies while hunting for pokemon or that someone lost their life in a car accident when they were playing instead of watching the road. Those stories are heartbreaking but its ultimately the end user's fault. The loading screen implores you to pay attention to the world around you and not the game.

Happy hunting all and I hope to see you in the game...

Rocket League

PLAY IT NOW!!!

Although its a little repetitive its super fun. Just picked this up for xbox to play with my friends and we've been having a blast.

3 weeks into the new season

Seems I haven't posted in like forever. Back in February it was... Not a lot has changed for me. Family still is what it is, Ethan is 7 months old now and my oldest 2 just had their prom. But that's off topic...

Anime is just getting into the swing of this new season and there are some pretty decent shows. I think I've started watching about 7 or 8... actually I'm wrong. Just took a peek at MAL and its 12 new shows I've been watching... not 8.

Here they are in no particular order:

Endride

Onigiri

Terra Formars Revenge

Big Order

Hundred

Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?

Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri

Boku no Hero Academia

Macross Delta

Sousei no Onmyouji

Oddly enough, I also started to read manga again. And now that I got the app working on my phone I think I'll read more during my commutes to work.

Another interest thats gotten really interesting is the TV shows I've been watching. 

The Blacklist just had a game changing event... Liz died. Take that in for a second... Liz actually died. She was believed to be the main character or at least that was the belief that I held. I guess that wasn't the case. At the same time, I'm not sure how the series is going to progress without her. Especially considering that she died literally in child birth and the baby lived. 

The Flash is heating up... or cooling down or... I really don't know what to say about the series. Season 2 villain is Zoom and we find out it ended up being Jay Garrick all along. The Flash from Earth 2. Barry's venture seems to have bore fruit and his speed has quadrupled but he still manages to lose to Zoom over some poor choices made by his character. Now we're at our lowest where Zoom has stolen Barry's speed and Caitlin at the same time and Barry is left without any means to rectify the situation.

Lastly is GAMING!!

One game in particular has been occupying most of my time... The Division.

This game is a decent mixture of genres. You get the shooter aspect, its guns obviously. There is an RPG element with the levels and the gear drops. There is a tactical aspect due to cover being a major part of the action and gameplay. The story is actually a really good one too. I like the pacing as it all unfolds with how you unlock and complete objectives.

App of the Week!

I'm always checking the app store to see if there are any good deals going on (I'll admit I like downloading apps and games frequently) and this week there was a free game that's usually like $3 bux.

The game is called Lifeline.

The icon for it looks like this

This game seems weird when you start but its got a very strong narrative and the story pulls you in pretty quickly. This game is basically about a person (they leave it abiguous on purpose) who gets stranded by some turn of events on a barren planet/moon with nothing. You basically guide them and give them suggestions in hope they survive...

I'm already in my second play thru... (they died my first time) Hopefully I have more luck this time. We shall see.

If I had to rate this game... 8/10 or 4/5 stars yadda yadda yadda. Basically its pretty good and given the chance you should try it. Even if your not into text based games.

Mobile Games

If you're like me then you probably have a bevy of games installed in your mobile device that you could break out at any given moment... Being a gamer really doesn't help much. I'd like to say I only have a couple installed, but the truth of the matter is that its probably close to 20 games installed.

There not all lil rinky dink games like words with friends or angry birds... Although Angry Birds is kind of a big thing in the mobile gaming world. Most of them are RPG related... It seems I'm an RPG junkie... For better or worse I just like the idea of getting stronger to the point that everyone else is irrelevant. There's a few games that kind of sate this desire for me...

Kritika The White Knight [Link]
Zenonia S: Rifts in Time [Link]
Jetpack Fighter [Link]
BattleHand [Link]
Rise of Heroes [Link]
Little Raiders [Link]
Brave Frontier [Link]

These are the games I'm playing right now... There are more but I think these are the RPGs I got running on my phone. There are some other ones like some Tower Defense or TD's that I play plus a few racing type games... but we're only talkin about the RPGs.

Halo 5 is HERE!

So its live now and I've had a chance to spend about 2 hours with the multiplayer...

The new mode... Warzone

It feels a bit like Battlefield with added objectives. Theres more of a sense of urgency with the new mode as you need to cap all 3 points to enable attacking your opponents core but thats not the only way to win. Its more or less the first team to 1000 points is the winner and the NPC bosses that spawn can have upwards of 150 points just for the one unit. Sometimes Hunters spawn that are worth a good deal but killing is usually the main way to earn the points. Capping objectives is also a good way. Expect to hear more as I hope to crack into the campaign at some point and give that a good go. I can see myself losing many hours in the coming weeks to this game which is going to be hard considering I've got a new baby at home as well as 3 others vying for attention when im not plunking away at work.

Halo 5 Is Loaded!

So I bought the pre-order for Halo 5: Guardians the Deluxe version. I cannot wait until this is available to play. Sadly, I have to open at my job on Tuesday so I don't think I'm going to get much play time with the game until I get home on Tuesday or even later into the evening as I usually spend time with the family when I get home from work. After watching some gameplay vids I'm thoroughly stoked about the potential of the Warzone game mode and I may have to hop back into the Master Chief collection and play 4 so I can get a handle on the storyline. We shall have to see...

Star Wars Battlefront Open Beta

Over the weekend that just passed, EA unleashed the beta for its upcoming shooter, Star Wars Battlefront. I had the distinct pleasure of playing it both by myself and with a couple buddies.

Firstly, this is was a very polished Beta. Frame rates were pretty smooth and the controls were just about on point. Not a whole lot of input lag like I found in the Rainbow Six Siege beta a few weeks earlier. There were only 2 playable game modes. One was Dropzone, which is an objective based domination type of game. Only 8 on 8 but the maps werent that big in size that it wasnt hard to get around. The second type was Walker Assault. It was almost like conquest except that you had to activate beacons and hold them to let the bombers do their worst on the huge AT-ATs that were such a menace on Hoth.

There were also only 5 levels to gain to hit max. That let you buy all the extras for the unique equipment system. Instead of 'loadouts' you get a 'hand'. It basically consists of 3 pieces that you can change and that have different abilities or effects. I didnt play enough to earn the credits to purchase all the lvl 5 stuff like the jetpack and the other rifle but what I did play, I liked. There is a very good chance that I'll be purchasing this game but I'm not sure its going to be able to tear me away from the likes of Madden '16 and Destiny... Both of which occupy the largest portion of gaming that takes place on my box.

Another Game? Maybe?

So, 2 posts ago I asked what game I should buy. Without actually replying… Sorry. So, after much deliberation (amongst myself mind you), I decided to go with Destiny: The Taken King. Here’s why…

First up… The amount of people I currently play online with. I share games through Xbox One with my best friend Mike. This is very beneficial for both of us. He gets the games that I buy digitally and I get what he buys digitally. He’s got 3 kids screaming to play the Lego games all the time so he buys them and my son gets to play them. Now, I know what youre thinking, how’s that affect me. He loves Sci-Fi… Is a nut for it… So I thought he’s play with me… BZZZT! Wrong, he wont… but that’s ok with me. You can play Destiny alone, and so I do.

Second… Time invested. I actually, at this point have 3 characters that are hovering 1 or 2 levels around level 30. Granted that its now 40 with TTK expansion so I’ll have to work harder to catch up. Plus I just like playing the game. Yea it’s a year old but there’s no dust on it and it looks like they are changing things and adding just enough to truly keep it interesting.

Thirdly… The other choices were just not as strong. They were good but I think this had more content at the time and I didn’t want to pre-order anything at the time. I know I put them in for a possibility but I leaned more towards what was out right now.

So… in closing… ONWARD TO VICTORY! Or… push back the Darkness… or Time to get to 40! The MMO feel of this Sci-fi shooter add a whole other dynamic that I really like. I mean who doesn’t like to feel accomplished when they get to level up that new exotic weapon or blowing away 3 guardians that were capping one of your points in the crucible. 

What game should I buy?

I think I talked about this recently... Through performance at work I ended up with $100 in Xbox credit ($50 of which went towards my half of Madden NFL 16 Ultimate Edition) and I also received another $50 for my birthday... Being a Madden Ultimate Team player... I couldn't resist the temptation and ended up buying Madden points so I could buy some limited edition packs... Which I got good card from...

I'm now left with $40 in credit and my wife decided to buy me another $25 so I could purchase a game. Thing is... I don't know what game I should buy. There are some options... Not sure what's going to be able to tear me away from Madden though seeing as its football season.

1. Destiny: The Taken King (Bundle) - This option is very tempting but at the same time isn't very attractive as I already own Destiny in digital form. I'd basically be spending $60 to get the 3 expansions and an addon weapons pack. 
   
2. Forza Motorsport 6 - Let me start this options with... I LOVE RACING. That being said, I've owned every Forza released and even bought 2 of them twice... once on purpose. The only downside to this is that the $60 version doesn't include the VIP and expansion pass which really is the bread and butter of this game... FM5 was PLAGUED by microtransactions and it really spoiled it for me... I don't think I've logged 20 hours with 5. Which is really low for me considering the 200+ hours I put into 3 and 4. TBH tho... this is the front runner I think...
   

Those 2 are what is available right now... I also have the option of pre-ordering a game... and there are some AWESOME ones on the horizon.

1. Halo 5: Guardians - If I need to write anything about this game... then you obviously haven't seen any of the trailers or gameplay footage because DAMN!.
   
2. Rise of the Tomb Raider - After the reboot of the game, which I played and loved... this game is firmly on my radar. If they can build on some of the gameplay mechanics and the story that was well done from the last game then this could be a contender for GOTY... but there's a lot of stiff competition.
   
3. Star Wars Battlefront - Sci-Fi is one of my geek out pleasures and I've been a fan of Star Wars since I was a little boy. I loved their last take on the Battlefront series and this looks to be amazing. Not just a Star Wars skin for Battlefield but alot of unique game elements and modes that should remain true to the source material. One to watch for sure.
   
4. Rainbow Six: Siege - This one is on the backside of my watch. I've never really been a huge Rainbow Six fan and i can count on one hand how many times I've played one of the. This one does look rather interesting though... Sporting squad v squad combat with fully destructible environments... not like BF but FULLY destructive. I watched a gameplay video where they were breaking holes in the walls to shoot through... Crazy!
   

MMO News

2 little bits of info for today... I guess technically they are both related but not related. Both involve MMO's that are going free to play.

Thats right... In the not so distant future, Wildstar Online will be going free to play. Although this isn't what you would call breaking news, I still think it's relevant considering its going to be happening soon from what I gathered. 

[FAQ from Official Site]

So apparently Guild Wars 2 is now ALSO free to play... Though for the life of me I simply cannot get an account registered. I'm not exactly sure why either. I've changed the registration information like 3 or 4 times trying to make it adhere to whatever kind of parameters they have set and it just wont take them... Maybe I'll try again another day.

[Official Site News Posting about F2P]

Thats it for the news... not that I do it all that often. Maybe just more when its relevant. But in truth I've wanted to try both of these MMO's after being a long-time WoW subber and nearly played that for about 10 years off and on. Well... 7 years straight and then after I quit I had small times where it piqued my interest again and I would find myself a subscriber again. All good though... I'm really not sure that I'm going to be picking up this latest expansion of WoW as I really have no time to play the game and devote the hours and hours on end that a game like that needs. But never say never... the world is a strange place and I've seen stranger things happen and me resubscribing and purchasing an expansion for to get a gander at some new content.

Games with Gold for September

Everyone likes free shit right? Since June of 2013 Microsoft has been giving away games religiously every month through this program. There have been some really great games along the way and owning them digitally is a real help. You can basically download them whenever you wanted... Even though it started on the 360 its continued its legacy on the Xbox One.

[List of Games]

Just to point out a few really awesome ones...

Halo 3 (360) October 2013
Gears of War (360) December 2013
Saints Row: The Third (360) May 2014
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (360) June 2014
Halo: Spartan Assault (One) June 2014
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (One) July 2015
Rayman Legends (One) March 2015
Bioshock Infinite (360) March 2015
Gears of War 3 (360) July 2015

This month is no exception...

Well, the Deer God game is really weird.. (yea I tried it... its horrible)

The second half of September... Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition