Mike Wieringo passed away yesterday. I have admired his work since I was a kid. I wish I could say I knew him but I honestly didn't. He didn't know me either but he still helped me out a while ago and I was extremely appreciative.

-Gabe out

"John Woo Presents: Stranglehold" is pretty great, much better than I thought at first. The demo presents a single level in Hong Kong, and not even a complete one, but once you've played through it you earn another level of difficulty and a new special manoeuvre. You can then complete it again for another ability and difficulty level. I played long enough to see this second technique, and did not finish it a third time, but presumably you could go on and on like that - hauling up its riches - until you revealed the deepest secrets of the universe.

I can really do without a lot of the corporate sniping that happens in this industry. Plus, as a licensed demagogue, they're horning in on my territory when they say ridiculous things or make baseless verbal assaults! I mean, I have mouths to feed. Seriously, I have more than one mouth.

After yesterday's brutal visit to the dentist, the intense pragmatism of the denture plate stands crisp and full in my mind. Brushing my teeth in the dishwasher each night strikes me as very modern, and I endorse it. Apparently those mouth criminals have decided what's best for my craw is to meter out the pain via a kind of agony payment plan.  The hygienist raised her hand at this suggestion, enthusiastically, apparently waiting for the "high five."  It was declined.   

I've been plugging away on our Assassins creed comic but I wanted to poke my head up and make a quick post about San Diego. I really want to thank everyone that came by the booth, especially those of you that came by to play or trade Pokemon. The event was actually super good for my Pokedex. I got a bunch of old legendaries as well as a shiney Darkrai that I'm sure was acquired via illicit means. Besides all the trading that went on, I also got to play a bunch of you in some three on three battles.  I think I won more than I lost which was nice but I'm pretty sure some of you were going easy on me.

While I was there I happened to see the new Pokemon trading figure game. I guess this game hit Europe like a year ago but they've retooled it and polished it a ton for the US release. The first thing I noticed was a large glass display case full of tiny Pokemon figures. They were a little bigger than the average Hero Click and incredibly detailed. The figures actually looked so good that I assumed they were special demo figures only meant for display. I asked one of the guys there in the booth if he had any of the actual production models on hand and he said I was looking at them. You can check out some really nice photos of the figures over at the official site but even those don't do them justice.

I sat down for a demo of the game and was pretty impressed. I played a three on three version of the game and it was fun if a little to simple. I'm not much of a tabletop gamer, in fact I'm not a tabletop gamer at all but this was cool. They weren't demoing it at the show but there is a six vs. six version of the game that sounded like it had a little bit more depth. The game plays out less like a standard Pokemon battle and more like a game of chess or maybe checkers.  You're Pokemon start on your side of the board and you need to move them via multiple tracks with spaces over to your opponents side. The goal is to get one of your guys into the enemies goal space. When Pokemon meet up on the board a battle starts. The base of the figure is actually set up like a little Wheel of Fortune wheel except instead of cash and prizes your wheel has attacks and blocks and that sort of thing. The battle plays out as each of you take turns spinning your figures to determine moves. Normally I don't go for games that rely so heavily on chance but the spinning mechanic was fun and like I said the six vs. six game sounds  a little more interesting. I didn't get to play it but besides adding three more Pokemon on each side it also adds Pokemon trainers with the ability to play cards with some cool game altering effects. The game is set to hit in September. What I saw was interesting and I'm looking forward to picking up some figures and giving it a try.

The highlight of the show for me was probably getting to play Eye of Judgment. Tycho already talked about it so I'm not gonna go into any detail. I just wanted to say as someone who does not play CCG's I was able to pick it up fast and have a really good time. When this game hits in a couple months find some way to check it out.

-Gabe out

Talking to an Atlus Operative at San Diego, I was able to secure for myself a copy of Persona 3. Yes! This is the game where your characters shoot themselves in the head repeatedly in order to succeed. They aren't real guns, but I doubt opponents of the medium will be looking that closely.

I spent some time talking to the Unshelved guys in the airport after the convention, mostly about Lois McMaster Bujold and Gene Wolfe, who are people I have very little opportunity to discuss in the space of a day. When I meet a person who wants to discuss books at length, I'm sure they can sense my desperation. They may even be able to smell it. My first thought is to cripple them, so they can't escape.

Eye of Judgment is founded on a gimmick - but it's a great one, and the game they've built atop it is fantastic. If you like tactical games, CCGs, or tabletop wargames, you should turn your attention to it as a flower tilts toward the sun. We've provided a helpful list of the things you'll need to really get underway. The Hood of Gra'a'kul is not strictly necessary, but it does set the tone.

That's Spanish - it means that today is the last day to preregister for PAX, exclamation point!  If you're planning on coming, it's a really, really good idea. 

(CW)TB
 

Thus endeth the The Tournémon! That is to say, with grim undertones. Also: overtones. We could, without error, suggest that it is a grim sandwich - malevolent breads flanking sinister meats.

Gabriel's actual defeat was - as Penny Arcade can now exclusively reveal - a tender affair that was largely concerned with ceding the torch of our pastime to the next generation. There are sharp disparities between the truth and our depraved fiction, as there so often are.

We keep entertaining ourselves at Pork's expense, but I think he's largely come to terms with it. To the extent that any thought can germinate in his mind's arrid clime, I'm not sure our repeated betrayals persist very long. At any given moment, snips of old G.I. Joe commercials or wholly imaginary animals might hold sway.

I just got this email and I had to share it with you all.


Dear Mister Gabe,

Hi! My name is Nausica (gnaw-sik-ca), I am twelve years old and I love pokemon. My mom got me the Pokemon Pearl for my DS and I love love love it, it is probably my favorite game. I heard about the pokemon tournament at  Gamestop and really  wanted to go, but I am really shy  so I wasn't going to,  but my parents talked me into it and said it would be a good for me and I would have fun.
So I went and it seemed at first like it would be fun, there were alot of really nice kids there who all loved pokemon like me, it was really fun showing off my team of Evee's and seeing what other people liked too.
Then the older guys came, I dunno how old they were but they were much older then most of the other kids there, they pretty much ruined the fun of it for everyone else there. I guess they weren't really mean, but how they acted sounded alot like the boy you described, that you had a chance to beat.  But unfortunately for the kids at the tournament I went too, there wasn't a nice guy like you to set an example for them. Needless to say most of us there didn't have a good chance against them, (I never knew what the special point things were even), and they never really told us nice job or anything. The guy that got me laughed when he saw my line up of Evees.
So afterwards I really didn't wanna play pokemon very much, and I thought I was gonna stop playing, cause I only really play to have fun, not to beat everyone else. Then today my mom (who is a big fan) showed me what you wrote, and it made me feel a million times better!!! :D
I couldn't believe I almost let some jerks take away my love of pokemon!

So I really just wanted to tell you thank you Mister Gabe! What you said ment alot to me and my evees!! You are a great person and I wish I could have been at your tournament to meet you!

Have a great day!!

Sincerely

Nausica


ps! I'm naming my next boy evee after you ^_^

I think I'll probably be smiling for the next week thanks to this.

-Gabe out

Can you believe this is the last week to pre-register for PAX? If you haven't done so already July 31st is your last chance to get your tickets for the special pre-registrant price.

So I ended up attending one of the Gamestop Pokemon tournaments on Saturday. When I told Kara that I wanted to go she told me it would just be a bunch of little kids. I explained to her that Pokemon was no longer just a kids game. That a large number of men my age played Pokemon now. I told her I'd probably be surrounded by guys my age who took it way more seriously than I did. I'm really glad she decided not to go with me. As it turns out I was the oldest person in the tournament by roughly twenty years and the only one not wearing a shirt with Pikachu on it.

I showed up at the Alderwood mall Gamestop and entered my name. As the little kids poured in I became less and less convinced I should participate. The little boys with their Pokemon backpacks and the girls with tiny Pokeballs in their hair seemed to assume I was just someones Dad rather than their competition.  It was actually really cool to see how much these kids love Pokemon. I've been so into it recently that I think I'd forgotten I should be having fun. With my pages of hand written math and charts of carefully plotted out EV training regiments I actually felt sort of dirty. These little kids were showing me teams comprised not of statistically optimal Pokemon but of their favorites. A little girl talked to me for five minutes about why she loved Kyogre so much. When she asked why I used Rotom I couldn't bring myself to tell her that his ghost/electric type meant he had a lot of immunities while giving him some surprising moves that should allow me to cripple sweepers with status effects but still fight off any Dark types I encounter. "I think he's cute." I explained. She smiled and nodded as though this was the reason she had expected to hear.

I noticed one of the kids there was actually quite a bit older than the rest of the group. Still probably half my age, but he towered over his opponents. I watched as he struck up conversations with the other children, inspecting their Pokemon and always finding them lacking. "I've EV trained my entire party." he said to a few of the kids who obviously had no idea what that meant. He showed of his multiple "shinies" to a couple of very impressed young men before explaining that he wasn't going to use them in the tournament because it just wouldn't be fair to everyone else. No, he would dominate them with a mixed bag of EV trained legendaries and obscure all stars culled from every single incarnation of the series. He was essentially being a little Douche.

I had just decided to pull myself out of the tournament in order to let the kids have their fun when Cory, who was running the show told me he'd matched me up against the little loudmouth in the first round. I figured I might have a chance to take him out and then none of the other kids would have to face him. So I stayed in and when it came time to play I synced up my DS and loaded my fairly mundane crew. It worked out that we were standing on the wrong sides of the television so his team showed up on my side and mine on his. The crowd of kids around me cheered and congratulated me on such an impressive roster. I explained that those were his and that mine were on the other side. "You really need to play more." one of the younger boys instructed. I agreed and selected my three Pokemon to take into battle. A few of the kids behind me would shake their heads in disgust as my finger hovered over each possible selection. My opponent, in what I can only assume was an attempt to show off grossly underestimated this old man's skillz. He tried to pull off an extremely risky strategy involving the near sacrifice of his first Pokemon for a "baton pass" maneuver and a quick stat boost to his second in line. This failed miserably as the aforementioned Rotom I pulled in did not give two shits about anything he hit me with. Once I'd taken him out I moved to the next round but really had no desire to continue. I played my opponent but then bowed out and gave him a free pass onto the next round. The young man I played earlier kept approaching me and telling me he could have beat me easy, he just used the wrong Pokemon. I nodded, yes well that's sort of the whole game.

I watched a bit more of the tournament and I was really impressed with the sportsmanship of the kids. I've been watching the cartoon with Gabe and it really stresses the importance of winning and losing graciously. Each of these kids when they lost shook the others hand and thanked them for the match. The winners complimented the losers Pokemon and strategies while impressing on them that it really was a very close game. I know they weren't my kids but as a thirty year old gamer with a kid of my own I could not help but be extremely proud of all of them. Their passion for the game was totally infectious and I've decided to throw away my spreadsheets. I'm no longer hatching five eggs at a time in order to find babies with the optimal natures and stats. I've also brought  Beautifly back into my team. She's not very tough, but I like her, she's pretty.

-Gabe out

Gabriel actually attended a Pokemon tournament for reals, the one you have heard described recently.