Pokémon Archives | Otaku No Culture

[Victoria, BC] Pokémon Go “3rd Saturday” Event To Expand Next Month

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Approximately 130 people attended Fev Games‘ and Vancouver Island Pokémon Go Syndicate‘s “Third Saturday” event at Beacon Hill Park in the City of Victoria, British Columbia, on August 20th. This city was one of six selected to test the waters for a regular event for enthusiasts of this mobile game to engage in and players of various experience levels arrived to test their mettle. This product swept parts of the world by storm, and in who showed up, the hardcore was here trying to catch them all. Another hotspot had its casual players mulling about but for those who want to see their hometown shine, they were at this nesting zone for waterfowl and Pokémon alike.

Other cities included Chicago, Illinois; Melbourne, Australia; Ottawa, Ontario; Riverside, California and Townsville, Australia. The Press Enterprise reported online that “more than 1,200 players took to the streets near City Hall” in Riverside and numbers will no doubt vary, depending on the size of a city’s population.

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Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals — Don’t Poké Park and Drive

pokemon By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

One of the many purposes of Pokémon Go is to get players out of the house, enjoy the weather and make new friends. The release of this game could not be any better. It arrived in the dog days of summer and for the most part, fans of this game have come out of their shelters to enjoy this product. One issue that bugs me are those who behave like Kakunas — they lock themselves in their vehicle and play the game there during the evening hours. I think there’s something wrong with those folks. Chances are hit and miss to chat with those walking around (I’ve seen some wearing headphones, indicating they want to tune out the real world), but for the most part, everyone has been friendly — even during Poké Gym battles.

In the past two weeks, I’ve literally knocked at the window of those players’ vehicles (thankfully they were parked safely on the side of the street) and said hi. A few are surprised by my move — especially when they are playing beside my home next to a park, where a Poké Gym is — and at other places, it’s all about fellow gamers chillin’ and having a good time. Up on Mt. Tolmie, we tried to figure out where that Charizard appeared for one player. Either he had an incense going or that was pure luck. That group also set up the lure there, so I went to do the friendly thing and thanked them.

I’m just a player who wants to socialize and not hide behind a screen. Some gamers do enough of that at home with certain video games, and this habit should not be repeated outdoors.

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Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals — What Needs to Be Fixed and How I think It Should Be Done

maxresdefault By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

I have been playing Pokémon GO for more than two weeks now, and I really have to curb my appetite to catch them all. After filling the Pokedex with a little more than half of the known original 150 pocket monsters, the effort to find and catalogue the rest can fall into any of three options:

a) Simply evolving the set I have now by farming the locally known hotspots of specific Pokémon.
b) Wait for a working minimalist radar to at least point me in the right direction when I’m nearby and the game is running.
c) Travelling off island or venturing into territory to find the elusive types.

The latter is not likely to happen because I do not travel that much. For me, do I really want to be the next Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter or great Detective Holmes? Receiving a clue is needed to at least point me in the right direction. I like to know what I’m encountering and if its close or nearby by 15 feet or 30. Yes, I miss the feature that worked for beta testers and like everyone else, do not like how the feature works now. I feel like I’ve been bitten by an Arbok. Not everyone was enthused at the various changes in the latest update. The only good thing I thought was a change of Pokémon spawning pits.

Continue reading “Ed’s Pokémon GO Journals — What Needs to Be Fixed and How I think It Should Be Done”

Thoughts on the Trailer for Pokémon Sun & Moon!

The Sun and Moon are going to arrive together come November 18, 2016, for this latest instalment of the Pokémon franchise. Unlike previous teases of what’s to come for this video game for the Nintendo New 3DS XL (as featured in the trailer) and the 2DS (unavailable in North America), this announcement reveals where the story will take place, on an island chain named Alola region (this game’s version of Hawaii). Players will be embarking upon an adventure being introduced by a male adult, named Kukui. He says, “Welcome to Paradise, Cousin.”

Immediately, I’m wondering how involved this person will be during the game?

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Pokémon Shuffle Evolves with a New Patch, Reviewed!

pokemon-shuffle-169 By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Yes, I admit to having an obsession with Pokémon Shuffle. It’s colourful and cute. I play it far too many times during the day trying to catch that pesky Genesect. The many fauna created since this franchise’s inception just keeps growing and I have to wonder if the world is going to explode from overpopulation. The concept of gotta catch ’em all really works for this game because once a Pokémon is caught, he or she can be used to make an earlier stage feel like a breeze to S rank. That is, to defeat a certain number of moves.

The music is feel good and there’s a track which reminds me of Spongebob SquarePants. When I want to get silly and start surfing to find water Pokémon, I visit these stages to play again until all those levels are ranked. A new patch released early this week adds more goodness and enhancements to the game’s early stages less boring to play. There are goals to reach. With this update, a lot of information is presented. All the data now available to find can be overwhelming, but they are included to make both the 3DS and mobile version look the same. The data junkie in me approves.

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Pokémon Super Bowl Commercial Has Replay Value

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Pokemon20 If you live in Japan or are knowledgable on Japanese holidays, you’ll know they celebrated recently their annual coming of age day. It’s a day where boys and girls who reach the age of 20 between April 2 of the previous year and April 1 of the new year are official recognized for becoming adults. Local ceremonies are held, gifts are given and parties are had for women dressed in furisodes and men dressed in hakamas or suits. Pikachu himself joins this groups as he like the licensing he represents turns 20 years.

To help celebrate, many events are planned by the company responsible for the merchandising of Pikachua and his friends, Kabushiki Gaisha Pokemon. One such promotion is a 30 second commercial that will air during Superbowl 50 on February 7, 2016. Continue reading “Pokémon Super Bowl Commercial Has Replay Value”