JayronAuron

@CharlieSmile Here here. We really need a combination of the two previous Smash games to be ported over to the Switch. For people who play competitively, they can do so on the go a lot easier. If they want to bring in more casual players, make an HD variant of Smash Run...that exclusive on the 3DS version was addictive. Throw in 2-3 more new characters and all the stages from the 3DS/Wii U versions and you will have something every Smash fan would buy...well, except the Melee-for-life people.

@PlywoodStick I would actually strongly disagree with regard to a decrease of the tournament scene. In regards to the Wii U, I would argue that this is one of the few highlight of the console...it started things rolling on legitimizing Nintendo Esports games.

Prior to Smash 4, the only two Nintendo games played competitively were Smash Bros Melee and Brawl...and even then, Brawl was not overly popular. Major tournament groups were starting to exclude Melee on the grounds of its age and fanbase that wasn't really increasing. But with the advent of Smash 4, the Smash fanbase gained a major boost. Now Smash 4 rivals other Esports in participants at tournaments like EVO, and if I recall Melee has also gained quite a few participants in the process.

And it's not just Smash 4 either. The Wii U brought in the likes of Pokken Tournament and Splatoon, and while Pokken is admittedly dwindling in participants after a decent run, Nintendo is putting in the effort to encourage people to participate in these games competitively, with their regular Splatoon tournaments throughout the past several months, and the recent news that Pokken would be at Pokemon Worlds this year (though they really need to add the missing DLC if they want to save that competitive scene outside Japan).

It is true that games like Splatoon appear to be receiving a larger boost in 2017 with the Switch, but the Wii U made that all possible thanks to Nintendo's excellent work on those games and the console that runs them well. So the Wii U may have had its issues, but I fully believe that it saved and even expanded upon Nintendo's tournament-worthy titles. And that largely has played a role in local multiplayer for the Wii U too.

@KTT They started rolling out a new update yesterday, and after installing it I discovered that it fixed that bug, which is a relief. Gave me a chance to put on some new teal-colored clothes for my avatar too.

A good way for me to distract myself until May I suppose.

...assuming the update doesn't introduce any more major issues. I still can't get into my character profile without the game crashing.

Already preordered the standard edition when it was first announced, and with a price like that, I don't regret my decision.

...and knowing most people, about 30% of the "walked" distance was probably driven.

Not saying that's a bad thing, just misleading.

@ASonic3582 Ah, my bad...for some reason I thought Cptn Zaps was at full HP too, but upon looking at it again, I see that wasn't the case due to Explosion. Apologies for the confusion

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy So I take it Explosion saved Morimoto from one of the -1's? Because otherwise they still technically tied by that definition.

@ShadowLuigi2 It left because Kalos wouldn't let it have its complete form.

...I jest, of course. In all seriousness, I think that was a foreshadowing towards the UB crisis that developed later in the game, since Dexio mentioned that line earlier in the game.

But yea, it would be very nice if it actually had a storyline developed around it (I even felt underwhelmed by the anime one). It had so much potential for story material.

That was confusing...if two players have the same points, same pokemon remaining, and same HP percentage, then how does it determine the winner? Hadn't had/seen a Battle Royale that close before. Grats to Alex for getting so impressively close.

Interesting they kept Martyn out of it. His Ghastly's red card did keep Koko at bay for a bit at least.

Never watched the Anime series' depiction of him, but I will say the way he is depicted here makes me confused how his head works, as well as how much time passes through those events. If he had Yveltal prior/during the release of the Holo Caster, why on earth did it take him so long to finish the task? Was acquiring all the Pokemon really all that delayed him? Also I was hoping we'd get some interaction with him and Sycamore too.

For some reason I tended to like Lysandre more than most Villans in the Pokemon series. Hated the generic nature of his admins and all the red, but oh well.

...really hope next week is entirely about AZ's backstory/redemption. That would be quite cool. Or better yet, make that the last episode and make it a bit longer.

@ultraraichu Wow, that was fast.

Is it bad that my first thought wasn't about all the goodies?

Step 1: Summon airdrop near a boss fight.

Step 2: Grab Magnesis Rune

Step 3: Beat boss senseless with treasure chest

But seriously, those are some pretty good amiibo rewards. Okay, maybe not what most people were hoping for, but it is exactly what I was hoping for from Amiibo functionality. After all, given all the different recipes we can make, ingredients will be in short supply quite fast.

Confirmation by Niantic:
https://www.facebook.com/PokemonGO/videos/1024568071023084

Disappointing the article didn't elaborate on how to catch it, but everyone above has fortunately. I will add that does transform immediately into the opposing Pokemon when you use it (or face it in a gym), but usual ditto stuff applies...it won't revert until after the battle, moves mirror opponent's moves, etc.

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy Or in my case, we need the "I bought the packs only for the exclusive albeit expensive minifigs."

@mikegamer Be careful what you ask for, or they might add an 8th to fix that issue

I have a list of characters I'd like to see, but won't bother getting my hopes up until this comes out as both actual news and with info about substantial changes being on it. Some of these suggestions seem far out of the realm of possibility with a port. When you start talking stuff like the subspace emissary, that's the kinda material that you may as well design a sequel for rather than a port.

This is indeed nice, but I would be much happier about it if they had not simultaneously nerfed/buffed some things that do more maintenance of the status quo with gyms than anything else. Examples...

Vaporeon (buff) - why on earth did this one get buffed? If anything, it should have been nerfed. Flareon & Jolteon also buffed, but those two I can understand, especially with Jolteon.

Arcanine (minor nerf) - until water types stop dominating every gym around, there is no reason to nerf him...even Exeggutor wrecks him from time to time. Yes he's the most powerful fire type, but buff other fire types first. Even if a minor nerf, it seems unnecessary.

Raichu (insignificant minor nerf) - was hoping for a buff and a retooling of the movesets so that Raichu actually has a remote chance of being decent compared to Pikachu (instead they just nerf Pika). I sense Pika bias.

Dragonite (minor buff) - why?

Wigglytuff (moderate nerf) - again, why? It had a lot of potential as a Dragonite counter, and its defense was nice (though Chansey got a massive buff). Maybe they're trying to conform it more to the games, but idk. Also minor nerf w/Clefable.

Nerfed all starters except Charizard - weird, but I only have Venusaur, so I can't gauge the wisdom of this, except in comparison to the Eeveelutions. In that regard, I'd say this is not ideal.

Exeggutor (minor nerf) - not really enough of one, but okay.

Overall, I'd say that this balancing is a step in the right direction, but in the wrong direction too. It's bringing the eeveelutions back into power too much, which kinda defeats the purpose of working to train/evolve more intensive Pokemon like starters when you can whip out some Eevees and get more power for far less effort. So it's a start, but there is more work to do. On a more positive non-complaining note though, I'm very happy two of my favorite Gen 1 Pokemon are more usable now though. Apologies for the rant-ness.

Honestly, the mii in the main pic looks much more like the fisherman from LoZ:TP. Just the wrong hair.

@penamiguel92 My guess is they're trying to imply a substantial timelapse between his first appearance in Kanto and now.

It's interesting that he has some actual Pokemon now...I can't say I recall him using any before (though I haven't seen him in every single anime appearance).

@allav866 I'm still not sure why everyone is up in arms about this. For games like Splatoon and MK8, if they weren't planning on changing these games any (or making new ones), they would simply be using game footage ripped directly from the Wii U version to save controversy. Maybe this stuff isn't 100% accurate, but there are far too many differences for it to mean nothing.

@maceng That does appear to be indicated in some of the footage, yes...specifically the stuff with Splatoon.

@SniffitisWhiffit 1) As the NL video pointed out, the Splatoon footage shows them playing with the SwitchPro Controller in Handheld Mode. 2) Um...all Pro controllers are wireless. Unless you count the original, and the fact that it was plugged into a Wiimote technically made it wireless with the exception of the cord connecting it to the Wiimote. Personally I WISH we had a fully wired Pro controller, or at least the option for one to be wired. For stuff like competitive Smash Bros, it allows it to be used well in environments that cause wireless interference.

I just hope that the fact that they allow their new Pro controller to be used means that older ones can be used...I have a few and don't want that money to go to waste.

@Frank-The-Tank Agreed, although this is the first game footage I have seen of someone getting to the cliffs above either of the skull camps (the one with the hanging cages as well as the one with the windy canyon). Him trying to get across that gorge near the woodshed without trees was also entertaining.

Speaking of which, has anyone translated the journal he found in the woodshed yet? I'm fairly certain that wasn't in the E3 demo, unless I just missed that. I'm curious to see if there's any interesting minor story bits or something.

Just like BotW, I will be that crazy gamer who holds out for limited edition bonuses/variants & stuff like LoZ or Smash editions. I definitely plan on getting this though.

@Sinton My thoughts too, especially with the esports section. Possibly because the only potential new additions to a Smash port would be a character or two, which you can't really hide as easily in the trailer (which now clearly seems to be part of the intention here). Plus Nintendo seems extremely determined to promote Splatoon up to esports status. They tried to showcase the NX in a variety of situations/applications, so I guess Splatoon simply stole the niche in the trailer that would be ideally reserved for Smash.

@Seacliff meh, classes 8:00-11:00 am Central here as well. Darn

Honestly though, I wish they would've given us a slight bit more warning so hype gets back up there a bit. And for the sake of Americans, not directly after another presidential debate, so that it actually gets more attention. But hey, you can't please everyone, and I'll only learn about it 1 hour late...I can live with that.

@ShadJV If I recall, I discovered a battle challenge (beat 3 trainers on the path to the trial & talk to ace trainer at the start for a battle & item) that gives you an item, and there's this one girl (opposite end of the map in town, northeast of docks) who will take you to a mountain path for you to use Tauros to clear. An interesting dude (who seems like a certain Zelda character) gives you an item there as well. One of those is a star piece...can't recall what the other was. But the star piece is traditionally a lot more valuable.

As usual, I'll believe it when I see it. But as for the dongle thing...if that ends up being true and uses the same tech as the Wii U gamepad's communication with the console, that would actually literally eliminate any chance that I buy the console for about 2 years. The communication tech that the Gamepad uses is badly flawed when in a college dorm setting, and if it becomes tied to a full console, I wouldn't be able to play it on a TV due to interference.

@AlexSora89 Yep, Kree reference.

@AlexSora89 No worries, if he does he'll just come back in a future game thanks to some blue Pokemon

@bngrybt Pretty sure their queue for filling gym/stop requests won't show up till they get rid of the backlog of people trying to sue them for Pokestops/Nests/Pokemon/Lack of Pokemon in their area.

@AlexSora89 You sir, are a genius.

@kokirii Not sure it really has anything to do with iconic or not. Mario's simplicity from a gameplay and control perspective makes it an ideal option for a mobile spin-off. But LoZ (particularly 3D variants) would be trickier to invest enough time to give it that epic feel in a mobile game without removing the game's accessibility to anyone experiencing LoZ for the first time (a key component when it comes to mobile stuff selling well). I'm not saying it can't be done, but I doubt that it would be done well enough.

...Now if they ever decided to port the original LoZ to mobile, I would buy that in a heartbeat. I tend to think that would probably work pretty well. Then throw in some new bonus dungeons for purchase and you've got something pretty productive.

@sillygostly Magikarp is actually already in the game as a support pokemon. It's just too hard to make one of those options anything besides a support.

This is my favorite of these episodes to this point by far. The depiction of Dragonite as some sort of bouncer is hilarious. He is not putting up with any crap, and neither is Lance.

...it almost makes up for the poor depiction of the elite four previously.

The biggest thing that limited me on my Wii U was technical problems related to environmental interference and how my Gamepad works (basically the Gamepad was inoperable for half my time in possession of a Wii U due to weird interference). This utterly killed the chance to play a lot of remarkable games to their fullest extent, and I was very disappointed at this.

Taking into consideration that some of these games would have been enjoyed even longer had the Gamepad worked, here's my top list:

1. Smash 4 (by far, I still play this very regularly)
2. Splatoon (haven't played this for almost a year sadly, due to Gamepad and Wi-Fi issues. But while I did, it was amazing)
3. MK8 (technically tied for 2nd, a really amazing game)
4. Super Mario Maker (also killed by Gamepad issues...saddening, since I really loved it)
5. Hyrule Warriors (a drastically different LoZ game, but a lot of fun nonetheless)
6. Super Mario 3D Land (Wasn't a major fan of this as a 3D Mario game, but it was still okay)

I'd also put remakes like LoZ: TP & WW on, but left those off to only include new games.

@Tasuki Who ever said they were scared? With the NES Emulator, they didn't have to...Microsoft stepped in quickly and shut it down as they should. It's Microsoft's console, and since Microsoft is perfectly capable of handling illegal actions on their own consoles, Nintendo has no reason to get involved and it makes things easier for everyone.

@KnockKnock Oooh, 3 posts too late

Honestly, I find it more amusing than anything else that people spend that much time trying to break the game. In a weird way it shows the devotion to it...or the devotion to speedrunning, depending how you look at it.

Huh, a Mosquito and a Copepod. I NEVER would have pegged a Mosquito for muscles or a Copepod for beauty, but whatever works. Both look sufficiently alien, so I hope they go farther than the usual "yea, they're really just pokemon" thing.

So far I have not spent any money, mostly because I'm a stubborn person who refuses to spend money on mobile games. However, I do plan to spend some on this game in the future. In general, it deserves it, contrary to everyone's complaints...this new kind of mobile gaming has impressed me (Ingress came before yes, but this took its tech and ran with it) I am able to utilize the sightings function to find Pokemon quite easily with a bit of knowledge of spawn points in the area and some math. While I would certainly love the beta Nearby feature to come to all, I am content with what we currently have.

I only have two general frustrations with this game:

1) They need to make something for rural players to improve their experience, preferrably soon. Create a new mechanic that granting access to rarer Pokemon (like a nest, but spawning a variety of Pokemon in Pokestop-sparse areas...name it a sanctuary or something). Also, they could either create more Pokestops in areas sorely lacking them, or make some sort of daily bonus offering more/better goodies for fewer Pokestops used in the last 24 hrs. It is not hard to integrate some sort of features to balance out rural vs city gameplay a bit. I feel like the buddy system actually was intended partially to help with this, but sadly it cannot help much if a player is unable to get decent Pokemon in the first place.

2) The Gym system...expecting something elaborate is unlikely for a game like this, but what they have needs work. I will give them credit in that they did say that they are working to improve it. But they have some work to do, particularly with dodging and ensuring that warning cues for secondary attacks display well ahead of the attacks...because more often than not, they don't. I would also throw Pokemon (type) balance into the mix a bit, although I am less concerned about that with the exception of the cheesy terror known as Eevee. If I work really hard for a 3rd stage Pokemon not named Beedrill/Butterfree/Pidgeot, I expect it to be able to beat an equally-leveled Eeveelution when using neutral moves.

If they improve these, or at least make an honest effort to begin improving these, I will gladly open my wallet to this game as incentive for them to keep at it.

I would disagree with the article in this regard...Zygarde is actually the last thing that will get people talking on this curious list of info. That said, I am glad that they're making up for lost time to delve more into Zygarde's anime lore of being a hive-mind Pokemon. To be honest I wish they had done a lot more with the concept.

No, as the comments section has already very well demonstrated, the game theories here are with the Aether Foundation, Type: Null, and the Ultra Beasts. Depending on where the development team decides to go with this, it could potentially take a pretty dark turn story-wise pretty fast...personally I would like a depth or change story-wise with the "team ____ is stealing pokemon, stop their plot," but a darker plot might be more controversial.

...or if you really want to sell both games, pull a FE: Fates and unveil the darker storyline in Pokemon Moon with some nefarious secret Aether is hiding, while fending off a pirate-themed plan of Team Skull in Pokemon Sun. You could easily spin the storyline where you miss the key story cues to stop each team due to the 12 hr time lapse.

@jpfan1989 Agreed. One area I was in late summer is entirely lacking documentation on its highest density of Pokestops in the area (we're talking a small barrier island that only has about 3 of its 30+ Pokestops, and zero of its 5+ gyms...and considering how valuable the area is in terms of Pokemon rarity, that's significant).

I tried to use the "request region update" button on the site to see if it would let me mark one of the gym locations, but to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what it did, or even if it did anything.

Edit: apparently it did...because now a little while later I checked back and the area is now filled with potential locations that are ready to be verified as gyms or pokestops. I guess all that had to be done was for someone to 'initiate' the area for mapping. I will note that it is clearly pulling these from Ingress's map system though...NOT all may be correct, since not all portals were transferred over to be pokestops/gyms. But that's why they have a voting feature, to weed out erroneous entries.

I really dislike intrusive ads and games that essentially force you through ridiculous difficulty spikes to make purchases to proceed. So honestly, I think this is a genius strategy on Niantic's part, as it pays off well for all parties involved. I have heard multiple stories about how Pokemon Go has greatly helped businesses near Pokemon hotspots or Pokestop-heavy areas. If Niantic could get Pokestop sponsorships established in places outside of Japan, that would be awesome.

I wouldn't say this is Sega-exclusive necessarily. I'm still waiting to figure out why the heck Nintendo UK trolled us with an MK8 tweet.

@Joeynator3000 I imagine it will be a while before any new generations appear. Not all the major issues are taken care of (this new sightings tab is not a tracker by any means) and I'm fairly certain there are still a couple more places the game has yet to reach. Plus there's still the legendaries. I'd imagine that until all of these are met, we won't be seeing any new 'mons.

*Inserts regret that US doesn't have an Online Nintendo store w/cool preorder stuff.

The mousepad looks pretty nice. Too bad I only ever use a laptop touchpad. The figures are quite impressive though.

One of the more annoying arguments aimed at Niantic is that they "don't realize the value of Legendaries, and so don't care if they just hand one out." Sadly, this rumor is way too well circulated. It stinks because Niantic clearly DOES understand their value (and even the value of ditto), hence why they are keeping these Pokemon in hand for the right time. I'm very glad Niantic has shut this rumor down (and that NL covered all of it), but to be honest, it is sad that they ever should have had to.

Not sure why so many are against it...no worse than any commercial out there advertising without discounts. And of the ones I have played, there are some pretty sweet games on that list. I would argue Pokemon could fall under half those categories though

I'm pleasantly surprised by this new regionally-adapted mechanic (Why wasn't this in E3? That would have fit in great with their return-to-the-classics theme they had running). It certainly takes the Shellos/Gastrodon/Basculin/etc concept much farther. I would love to see more of these...plus it does not completely overwrite previous games, since people will still have to pick up previous gen games to receive the originals presumably.

As for the new Pokemon, it's nice to see some really cool new mechanics in their abilities, but hopefully their stats will complement them. I'm always worried that Pokemon-based gimmicks will go the way of Castform and lack the stats to make it a viable option.

Not really a fan of Z-moves though. Gimmicks like Mega Evolutions are always something I'm torn over. They may be cool, but the power creep can be an annoyance that could force you into using it to survive competitively, rather than having as an optional alternative to other mechanics. I hope the limitation of 1-use keeps it in check, and that they have some limitations to keep Pokemon like M. Rayquaza from getting its hands on this. Though I do find it somewhat strange that Mega Evolution has not been discussed at all in this Gen yet...

...so, does this mean they'll let Lego have Marvel and Star Wars for Dimensions now? That would be an effective next step if Lego Dimensions continues to do well.

I'm up to 105 out of 108 seen...not too bad for being unable to travel. Stupid Kabutops keeps showing up just to taunt me and dash after the first ball thrown. I really hope they fix the Grimer bug though, because I am locked out from catching him until they do (fortunately he doesn't appear much in my area).

Cool guide, thanks. It should also be noted that Pokestops can occasionally give you double XP anytime it gives you 6 or more items from the stop, which is a nice surprise bonus

@MitchVogel That too. I seem to recall there was also some episode in the Pokemon anime where a Whiscash outright ate a Masterball someone chucked at it.