My Thoughts: WiiU and other Next Gen consoles.

Sorry guys, this isn't the next story update yet, but it's coming soon, trust me.

Anyways, today I'm giving my thoughts and predictions about the next generation of consoles coming out. I'm going to start off today talking about the WiiU.

First off, I have heard before that some people thought that a whole new system, was stupid, and the tablet should've just been a new Wii Remote.  Well, granted, that's what they've advertised, but ironically enough, they haven't really advertised it's main capabilities.

You see, the remote isn't the only part of this system that's different.  The graphics got a MAJOR overhall, and I mean major.  If you look in stores, you can now get Assassin's Creed 3, Black Ops 2, and all kinds of high graphic quality games.  The WiiU has equal graphic capabilities to the PS3 and Xbox 360, probably more, actually.  And I've seen gameplay footage, these games are cheap cop-offs of the originals, they're the real deal.

Also, the internet.  The internet of the original Wii sucked, I believe we can all agree on that.  Way too glitchy, way too slow, and you didn't use it very often unless you were browsing or for Netflix (which somehow actually worked really well).  However, I believe that the WiiU will have changed that.  Dragonquest 10, the next game in the series, is supposed to an online game, where you buy the game, play a little bit on your own, and then the rest is online bits (kind of like Phantasy Star).  If they're planning on running whole online games on this thing (and now that I think of it's, Black Ops 2's online), chances are, it'll be a huge step up.

Now, I agree, the price is a little high, but I'm sure they'll lower it eventually.  When the 3DS sales went low, they changed the price almost instantly.  And sure, there aren't any fabulous games out quite yet, but we all know they're coming.  No one wanted to buy the 3DS when it first came out...we all thought it was too expensive and a stupid concept....THEN the games came out...and we basically taped our own mouths shut.  You have to remember that the majority of Nintendo's games they make themselves, unlike Sony and Microsoft, so you can't expect them to send out a major amount of games after just finishing working on a whole system.  Give them some time, the games will come.

Now, what about the other consoles?  Well...I'm honestly a little worried about the other ones.  More about Sony than Microsoft, but I'm kind of worried.

Sony has been doing some really stupid things recently, and I don't get it.  I'm sure you've heard of the PSP Vita that came out, do you want to know how many have been sold?  Less than 5 million.  In fact, the 3DS sales have over TRIPPLED the PSP in sales.  Also, not a single game has reached the 1 million sales mark, NOT A SINGLE ONE!

Why?  Well, let's look at the system. It's overpriced, has next to NO good games for it, and uses their own special kind of memory cards that are overpriced as heck.  In short, unless games start coming out for it (which they very well could), the system is ruined.

So yeah it's failing...and Sony is RESISTANT to lowering the price!  They lowered the price in Japan, but have REFUSED to in America.  Your system is failing...and you're not even lowering the price a little bit?  What on earth are you thinking?  It's $250, in case you didn't know, the same price as the 3DS used to be.   It didn't work for Nintendo, so why does Sony think it will?

"Yeah, but Sony's got good games!"  Well, don't give Sony too much credit for that.  We often forget while Microsoft and Sony have quite a few major games, they didn't make them.  Third party owners did, not themselves.  They're not like Nintendo, they depend on other companies to keep them going, and provide the systems to process their games.  

My biggest worry about the PS4 is something that the company appears to be thinking of doing...something completely outrageous in my opinion...an Anti-Used Game Program.  Yup, you heard me right.  There is the possibility that Sony may make it so that once you buy a new game, it literally becomes hooked to you system.  Bring it to a friends house?  Nope, it won't play it.  Buy a used PS4 game?  Won't play it.  Now I don't know about you guys, but about 80% of my games are all bought used.  

Granted, they may not use it, and honestly, I hope they don't.  But they have to deal with something every game company does...the reason to buy the system.  Those of us that already own a system will obviously question "Why buy a PS4?  I already have a good game system, why should I buy a new one?"  Nintendo has been good at this in the past, using completely new concepts to interest customers.  Microsoft has done a good job too, focusing on their internet capabilities more than the other companies, and focusing completely on "gamers", and succeeding.

Sony just seems to be in the direct middle, trying to be everybody at once.  Nintendo comes out with a portable, Sony comes out with a portable.  Nintendo comes out with motion controls, Sony comes out with motion controls.  Microsoft focuses on graphics and internet, Sony focuses on graphics and internet.  They seem to always try what everyone else is doing, and while the PS3 was a success, the PSP and motion controls were both considered utter failures.  The PSP had some good games, and it looks sweet, but in selling and market standards, it didn't make the cut.  And as for motion technology...we pretend that never happened.

Now, as for the Xbox 720...I've got nothing.  None of my news sites have gotten much information about it. We know it's coming, but we don't know when it's coming or what exactly it is.  However, I have a little more faith in Microsoft.  While they don't make good games (may Rareware rest in piece), they can certainly make a system.  The Xbox 360 was phenominal, even I've considered getting one.

So, to sum it all up, I've got high hopes for the WiiU and Xbox 720, and hoping that the PS4 isn't a flunk.  Granted, the PS2 was the greatest selling console ever, but you can only bank on previous successes so much before people start getting bored and want something new and interesting.  I'm hoping it will be awesome, and I plan on watching the first display of the system ever today at 5 PM.  Show me what you got Sony!

My thoughts: Pokemon X and Y/Fire Emblem Awakening Charas.

Pokemon X and Y
     My Thoughts







   So as most of you probably expected, Pokemon X and Y have been quite the topic for Pokemon Gamers recently.  The first generation of Pokemon to completely immerse itself in a 3D world, and who knows what kind of new features there will be in this new release.

   However, this game has actually been viewed pretty negatively so far, and I'm kinda saddened by it.  Not because they are true, but because people are just "assuming" that "Oh no, it's going to be just like Black and White, it's going to suck and Pokemon will be destroyed".

   Okay, first off, just how much has been released about this game?  A single trailer, and a few pictures.  You are basing all of this information off of a few pictures, and a trailer?  Really?  I saw both of them, and nothing really stood out as terrible.  Heck, I actually like the new starters, and the Legends look pretty sweet as well!

   Second, yes, Pokemon Black was a little disappointment, but Black 2 was awesome!  It made up for all of the problems from the previous game, and I loved it.  There are so many little fun things to do, and it actually had a pretty good story.  In fact, it's probably the best story that's been done yet (I mean, not that Pokemon games are exactly known for having extensive story material).

   And finally, the standards they measure the game at is a little messed up.  While Pokemon Black wasn't so great by POKEMON standards, by REGULAR GAME standards, it was still pretty good.  If Black and White were the first Pokemon games ever released, they probably would have been a huge hit!  And it still sold a lot of copies.  Yes, it MAY not have been the best, but a company can only go so high without going a little lower.

   So, if you didn't figured it out by now, I'm pretty optimistic about this.  The Pokemon so far seem to have somewhat of a mystical feel, and I wonder if Pokemon is heading more towards a serious kind of story and gameplay...which would be AWESOME.

   But enough about that, here's a list of Fire Emblem Awakening characters that I find particularly cool!

	Chrom	Lord	Tomokazu Sugita	27th May
	The prince of Ylisse and descendant of the Hero-King. Though of royal blood, he leads a militia known as the Shepherds to defend his nation. Appears unsociable, but bursts into enthusiasm whenever things get interesting. Breaks the most things during practice.

The "main" hero of this story.  I said "main" that way because, when you get closer to the end, you basically end up the main character.  Anyways, Chrom was this game's "Blue-haired Hero", once again, similar to almost all Fire Emblem games, and he's probably my favorite.  He's kind of a mix between Marth and Ike, not quite being a brute fighter, but not exactly a girlish fencer either. He's generally cool and calm, and fights with both skill and strength.  He has some pretty sweet lines, and is a really cool guy.

	Avatar	Tactician	Decided by player               Miyuki Sawashiro               Yoshimasa Hosoya               Tōru Ōkawa	Decided by player
	You collapsed one day in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason. Although you have no memories to speak of, it's clear that you're an expert tactician. You're extremely charismatic and can bond with almost everybody. The army's greatest enigma.

Yourself (in my case Brenn), this game's tactician (I'm actually a sorcerer).  The tactician was originally released I BELIEVE in Fire Emblem Blazing Sword.  However, in that game, you only got to name him, and he didn't do any fighting...you were just sort of somewhere in the background, and part of the story.  No sort of character customization appeared again until New Mystery, a Fire Emblem game only released in Japan.  While you could name him and actually fight, you were still stuck as a Lord, so while you were in it, there were still limits.

Now, the tactician is back, and he can fight...good.  You start as a tactician, but through the use of an easy-to-obtain item, you can become almost any class in the game.  You name him, choose his looks and voice, and even choose his better stat and his lacking stat (I chose speed for my positive because I tend to run alot, and luck as my negative because I'm TERRIBLE with dice).  And as I said before, you eventually become the main character, which is an honor, because the story is FREAKING AWESOME.

In fact, the only customization you don't perform is that you can't choose all of the classes (you can't choose a class that doesn't upgrade, and you can't choose Lord), and you don't choose their base stats and growths, but those are so minor that it really doesn't matter that much (although I bet some of you wanted to be a dragon).

	Kellam	Knight	Manabu Sakamaki	24th June
	An armoured knight who serves the Shepherds. He wears a blank expression on his face and rarely speaks. Lacks presence and isn't noticed by people even when he's standing right in front of them. Not that it bothers him much... The tallest person at the table.

What is hilarious about this, is that's, no joke, it's an understatement.  You first meet him during a battle, when he's been there for the past while, yelling and waving, and literally NO ONE noticed him.  He isn't just silent, it's almost like he's invisible.  And he's not just tall, he's a knight, so he's wearing LOTS of armor.

	Lon'qu	Myrmidon	Takehito Koyasu	10th October
	A swordsman from Regna Ferox whose skill with the sword is respected by even Khan Basilio. He's the silent and unsociable type, but gets flustered around females, making a red-faced getaway as soon as one gets near. The best vegetable peeler in the army.

Once again, an understatement.  He's not just flustered by them, he's literally AFRAID of being next to one.  While training one in the art of a sword, he gave orders from afar, because if he was any closer, he wouldn't find the courage to speak clearly.  Plus, he's an AWESOME fighter, and great on any team.

	Gaius	Thief	Shinobu Matsumoto	2nd January
	A thief from Ylisse. Calm, composed and able, he'll basically take any job if the price is right. He's positively obsessed with sweets and has over fifty types of candies hidden all over his body. Nose-bleeds more than any healthy person should.

A man who steals goods, fights well with a sword, has a calm, cool, "I'm the boss" personality, and in his spare time....makes pies.
MOST EPIC THIEF EVAH!!!!!!!!

	Nowi	Manakete	Kumi Tanaka	21st September
	A Manakete unattached to any nation. She looks and acts like a child, but is actually more than a thousand years old. Loves playing outside, like any child would, and is always searching for a playmate. Wakes up later than everyone else.

A two-thousand year old dragon who is more childish than HENRY is.  Always wanting to play with someone, but generally ends up scaring kids away because well...she's a dragon...

	Libra	War Monk	Megumi Yamato	1st July
	An Ylissean saint with a calm and composed nature. Because of his beautiful face, he's constantly mistaken for a female. He's the type of person who tends to pay attention to even the tiniest of details. Prays to god more than anybody.

Yup, he's even mistook for a female by your main character.  Even his VOICE has a female sound to it.  But other than that, he's a war monk...a cleric...with an axe...THANK YOU CREATORS OF FIRE EMBLEM, YOU ARE SO AWESOME!!!!

	Anna	Trickster	Saori Seto	11th June
	A mysterious travelling merchant. Has many identical sisters--so many in fact that even she has lost count. Friendly and polite, as one would expect from a merchant. She loves gold and wealthy customers and did I say gold? Has the most secret savings.

A traveling merchant with all her sisters looking not just exactly like her, but having the same name....HALLO NURSE JOY!

	Henry	Dark Mage	Akemi Okamura	13th November
	A dark mage from Plegia who wears an eternal smile on his face. He's strangely cheerful for a dark mage, but also incredibly cruel, having no qualms about placing curses on or killing people. Has the lowest blood pressure among his comrades.

Henry is SO much fun to have on your team, because he never wipes that smile off his face.  Smiling, even while obliterating undead, and constantly spouting bad jokes and laughing at them.  No character has made me laugh as much as Henry has.  Plus, Dark Mages are awesome anyways.

	Morgan	Varies	Depends on Avatar               Yoshimasa Hosoya (M)               Miyuki Sawashiro (F)	5th May
	Your child from the future. Because he/she has next to no memories of his/her life, nobody knows what timeline he/she's from. Has a childish enthusiasm and is quick to play along with others. He/she dreams of becoming a tactician like you. Moves around the most.

Yup, Awakening has TIME TRAVEL!!!!   And yes, you have either a son or daughter, who is basically more epic than you are.   Funny how she dreams of being like you, as she obliterated a boss in one single hit, and taking no damage from being hit with an axe.

	Owain	Myrmidon	Hidenori Takahashi	15th July
	Lissa's son from the future. He likes to stand out and tries to look cool, speaking in a theatrical fashion. Loves giving obscure names to weapons, as well as thinking up names for his special moves. The army's most hot-blooded member.

Okay...I take what I said back...Henry isn't the funniest character, THIS GUY is...he's just so...silly.  He's always confident, always spouting nonsense that probably came out of Shakespeare, and constantly trying to calm his "sword hand" from wounding an ally due to hunger for action.  He's like bad acting, Shakespeare's Hamlet, and Aaron Connell all merged into one being.  Absolutely fantastic XD

	Nah	Manakete	Rei Matsuzaki	29th March
	Nowi's daughter from the future. In stark contrast to her mother, she's extremely mature for her age and accustomed to controlling her feelings. Though still a child, she often questions the intentions of others. She's well aware of her odd name. Has the best teeth.

Okay...it's SO funny how different Nah and Nowi are...it's almost like she's the 45-year old long time mother, and Nowi's the 5-year old child.  What's even scarier is that whenever I use Nowi, I always have her marry Henry, and yet they create this child...WHAT HAPPENED???

Disgaea Update

And here's the next update to our Disgaea story!

Vae Victis (Monstrosity)
 

Vae Victis has now mastered the art of converting magical energy into physical fighting power.  Now, he has two forms, his general destructive Mage form, and a Vampiristic form in which he gains immense physical power.  Able to switch between forms at will, he now has the upper hand on any enemy, always able to find a weakspot and abuse it.

Dioul has officially declared war on Vae Victis, and enemies are now sprouting up all over the place.  Apparently, he had made quite a few allies over the past while.  Ever Prince Laharl himself is now on the gang's tail.  Not that Vae Victis is worried: he is confident that his team is able to handle an army much larger than the one they currently face, and continues to search for the villain behind it all.

Brea (Centurion)


Brea is getting stronger every day, and is currently having the best time of her life.  Equipped with a powerful "Bloody Axe", gotten much stronger, and loving her newfound Prinny pets (much to their dismay), she is loving it.  She is now constantly on the search for more Prinny pets, desiring to have as many as she can get. It's not going to be easy though, as her method of attracting them is more like threatening their lives (which is pretty pointless since Prinnies that die basically get fixed eventually).   She spends most of her time with Vae Victis, her boyfriend, and Brenn, the only Prinny in the company that has gotten used to her.

Enath (Cyborg)


Enath has mastered his gun even further, now able to perform a powerful technique beyond even Captain Gordon's level of shooting.  Not much more to say about him than that though, he's still just as smart, just as ruthless, and NO ONE trusts him.

Evan (Shadow Ninja)


Evan decided pretty quickly that the Healing life just wasn't for him, and became a Ninja...and he doesn't regret it one bit, unlike his enemies.  He now has speed and dodging capabilities even outmatching Vae Victis and Enath, and can punch and kick like no one can.  He can even kick you straight through the atmosphere, and then back through it again (Somehow...).  Of course, you'll get the same results talking to him as you would a brick, but now he has his fists to speak for him.

Jenna (Ronin)


Jenna, like Evan, found out during her journey that there was an even more desirable vocation: the Samurai.  She got tired of the perfect balance of the Rune Knight, due to the extreme limitations that balance brought.  She now has mastered the art of the blade, and fights to prove that's she's the best there is.  Brenn, having similar obligations, is now her sparring partner, and they often train together when they get the chance.

Prinnies

Brenn (Prinny God)


Brenn, through his vigorous training, has now obtained the highest form of Prinny, the Prinny God.  Now his body is capable of containing much more power than he even has now, so he keeps on training.  He is now relaxing a little bit more though, through recommendation of Vae Victis himself, so that the other Prinnies have something to do.  He now spends most of his time being carried around, fed, and continually hugged by Brea.

Aaron and Caleb (Prinny Captains)
 

Aaron and Caleb have been doing just about the opposite of Brenn...nothing.  They have no interest in this war, no interest in fighting, and have only stuck around because, one, if they didn't, Vae Victis would probably kill them, and Brea won't let them out of her sights either way.  They're a hilarious bunch though, and while they can't fight incredibly well, they do keep everyone in a good mood...except Evan.  Then again, has Evan EVER really been in a good mood?

Before I Continue

   Alright, before I continue the Phoenix Wright related story, I have a couple questions that you may have to answer.

Q: Will I be in the story?
A: Generally, when I do any kind of story, I try to include as many of my friends as possible.  Chances are, all of you will have been in this by the end.  However, I cannot promise major roles to anyone.  This is a law-related story, and quite a few of you have absolutely no interest in that sort of thing.  Because of that, it's difficult for me to find a spot for you in this.  At the very least, you will be a witness in court, so make sure to look out and see if there's anyone similar to you in here.

Q: Will there be any Psyche Locks or anything like that?
A: I will state right now that's not my plan.  You see, while this whole thing is reminiscent of Phoenix Wright, I don't want it to look like "fanfiction".  I want it to be like a new Ace Attorney game, just released by the creators.  It will have similar essences, like the step-ladder joke, crazy characters, and such, but those are in every Ace Attorney game.  While my character is in the spot where Phoenix is, he's not going to be based off of Phoenix.  He's going to be based mostly off of me, in a lawyer position.  In other words, I don't want this to look like a wannabe video game, I want it to look like the real deal, and like I actually put imaginative effort into this.

NOTE: I want to make it clear that this doesn't mean there won't be a special thing SIMILAR to the Psyche Locks.  As I said, I want to keep the basic Ace Attorney game elements in, and every game has a special feature, like Apollo's wristband, Phoenix's Psyche-locks, and Edgeworth's Logic.  This story will have one as well, but it's going to be completely original.  I don't know what it will be yet, but it will be in there eventually.

Q: How long will this story be?
A: If what you were expecting was just one case, I am happy to tell you that as far as I'm planning, that is not the truth.  As I said, I'm trying to make an Ace Attorney game, essentially, and every game has more than one case, right?  My plan is that this chain, for now at least, will have 3-4 cases in total.  This is the first case of this chain, so it will have one investigation phase and one court phase.  The next will probably have more phases.

Q: When should I expect an update?
A: I like to do it once a week, but I can't promise anything.  Making a case is quite hard, making the witnesses, creating the evidence, and making everything flow as an Ace Attorney game should.   There will be weeks where I am not ready for a post yet, some when I'm just plain busy, and some where I'm gone somewhere or forget.