Personal Blog

[Kriven]

I'm going to do something a little unorthodox with my advertisement where I'm not just going to link you guys over to my blog in this first post, but I'm going to update with subsequent posts which will contain my blogs. I do this over at a few other sites (such as ScrewAttack, where at least one IMT member has commented on one of my articles) and I'd like a thread to do it here as well. Forums are, IMO, one of the better modes of relaying ideas, so this is something I'd like to do. Hopefully this won't be against any rules or annoy anybody too much.

Oh, and as a minor warning, I do swear a bit in some posts. I'm hoping the censor will catch them, but if it doesn't let me know and I'll come around and tone it down to something more PG.

I'll end this post with a link to my blog:

http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/

[Kriven]

Some of you might have noticed a dramatic decline in productivity this week, as well as a staggering lack of fiction showing up. This makes me sad, and I'm sure it makes you sad. However, I have a very good reason for my silence this time. You see, unlike previous times where you hadn't heard a word from me, I'm not super depressed. Nope. On this day, April 1st 2013, something happened to break the silence. Something which has been keeping me occupied for the past week or two.

This silence was spurred by the closing of a chapter of my life. The past two weeks have been spent... adding the finishing touches to my new compilation book "Adolescence". While the book isn't yet available for print (I'll make it so if it garners enough sales on Amazon), the Kindle version is ready and raring to go. Remember, it's not a big deal if you don't actually own a Kindle. You can still read the book. There are Kindle apps available for most major tablets and phones, Amazon offers a free app for PC and Mac users, and of course they also offer a browser-based Cloud Reader. So it doesn't matter what technological limitations you have; if you can read this post, you can read my book.

Of course, I don't particularly expect you to. Just in case you do, though, I'll just give you a link to the purchase page. Oh, and don't forget to rip it to pieces in your review on GoodReads!
 

original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-bit-of-honesty-and-truth-on-this-day.html

[Kriven]

Brrda, Savage Savior of the Secret Land

Deep in the frozen heart of Canada lies a small pocket of forest that looks as though it is a child of the great Amazon, separated from its mother by centuries of ice and civilization. Protected from satellites by forces that mankind will not soon grasp, this land has remained largely untouched by modern humans. To many it is just a myth, but to thousands of magnificent monsters and beasts it is home.

To others it is merely a place to rest and catch an exotic bite to eat. Every year, when Summer has taken the chill from the air, they make their journey North from the forests of Washington and Oregon. Neither man nor ape, but mistaken for both. Orange beasts with savage tempers, and a taste for brutalized meat.

Even the bears know better than to set foot on the paths cut by these beasts. Their numbers and versatility make them dangerous enough, but these are no small beasts. Their muscle is packed so densely that they are unable to swim, trapped in the river murk by their own elephantine strength.

A number of these monsters are gathered now in a rare clearing of the forests of the Secret Land. Despite their shaggy coats, the humidity does not bother them. The array of orange hues sewn into their fur helps to hide them from the eyes of their quarry. In this case a small monkey with bulbous eyes more accustomed to the winter's endless night than the blinding rays of summer.

Unfortunately for them, this monkey happens to be under the care of Brrda the Savage, the only man to set foot in the Secret Lands for forty years. He watches them from above, quickly climbing from branch to branch of the ancient trees. There are three beasts, all of them males. If even one notices Brrda before he strikes it will be over in a matter of seconds.

He is very cautious with the first, dangling from a low branch and strangling it with his legs. It tries to bite him, but its teeth merely slice the flesh. The struggle begins to take a turn for the worst as Brrda realizes that its neck is thick for him to choke or break. He releases the tree, using his powerful legs to sit himself atop its shoulders. It roars desperately. Not a threat. A call for help.

They arrive before the call is even complete. Brrda knows he must end this quickly, or they will eat him alive. He grabs the sabre tooth that dangles from a thin string around his neck and drives it into the eye of his perch. It hollers for a bit, with such terror that its fellows dive into the bushes. Then it collapses, silently heaving its few last breaths.

The others return from the brush as Brrda retrieves the tooth. They're on him before he can turn around. But it's a ruse! Brrda lashes out, shaving the flesh off the chest of one beast and rolling between its staggering legs.

The unharmed monster, too slow to change the course of its actions, crashes through its hunting-brother. Their attention turns, and Brrda knows to make for the trees. The two beasts toss one another through ferns and thickets, gouging eyes, ripping noses, and snapping away fingers like twigs. Their cries carry through the Secret Lands like thunder.

Brrda allows himself a moment of relaxation. They won't be back. The forest is safe. For the moment.



original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/brrda-savage-savior-of-secret-land.html

[Kriven]

Fantasy Smash Bros.: Scyther

Scyther appears ready to rumble! Not as a playable character, though. This bug burst from a Pokéball to serve as a spiritual successor to Hitmonlee and Scizor's roles from Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee respectively. However, their code of conduct has been outmoded. Leaping twice around the stage just doesn't cut it these days.

Get it?

To compete with the fancy shmancy and new-fangled Assist Trophies, Scyther has decided to take the Knuckle Joe approach to things: by serving as an impromptu combatant on the arena! This bug's got one bad 'tude, and he'll hunt down your enemies without mercy. They shouldn't worry too much though, because while his blades will hurt, Scyther doesn't have any kill moves. Instead he slashes up the competition, bringing their damage on high and letting somebody else make the finishing blow.

Additional Note: As of this point, all combat-type assists can be damaged, battled, and KOed.



original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/fantasy-smash-bros-scyther.html

[Kriven]

Pokéball vs. Assist Trophy

I'm sure you all know that I've been really into Super Smash Bros. lately, and it's gotten me thinking about the way things are represented within the franchise. Specifically, I've been thinking about how Pokémon relate to the other characters. In the first two games in the franchise, the Pokéball was the only item which could summon other characters into the battle. These characters (Pokémon, obviously) would appear for a short time, perform a special attack, and then vanish. Despite their relatively short term on the stage, a Pokémon's appearance could mean the difference between failure and victory.

The Pokéball item saw a spiritual successor in the form of the Assist Trophy, which appeared, so far exclusively, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. While the Pokéball item could only summon Pokémon, the Assist Trophy item could summon any kind of character from any Nintendo universe. The item gave cameos to all kinds of characters, from the Legendary Starfy, to Samurai Goroh, to Sonic's dark doppelganger, Shadow the Hedgehog. These characters performed similarly to the Pokémon which came before them; they were largely indestructible and the majority of them performed a signature attack which could totally change the tides of battle.

The Assist Trophy was an awesome idea, and I look forward to seeing how it evolves with the franchise come the release of the 3DS and Wii U additions in the next year or two. However, something happened when the item came about. Its predecessor, the Pokéball, kind of became overshadowed. I don't mean to say that fans only acknowledged one item over the other (although there  was a cultural [in the Smash Culture] shift towards giving priority  to the Assist Trophy), but that the Pokéball and its Pokémon seemed to be downplayed by Nintendo themselves.

Of course, Brawl downplayed a lot of other elements as well. Just stay with me, here.

Not only did the Pokémon seem to be downplayed, but the act of calling them forth from a completely separate item seemed to create this divide between the Pokémon and the rest of the Nintendo characters.  It was as if Nintendo was saying that Pokémon aren't really a part of the big Nintendo family, that Pokémon don't have the significance of the other characters. It got me wondering about a few things. I mean, the Assist Trophy item exists because the characters in the Super Smash Bros. franchise are trophies (dolls in the first game) which can be animated by rubbing the trophy base, kind of like a genie's lamp.

The Pokémon are also trophies in this universe. We know this because you can collect their trophies, and boy, there are a lot of them. So wouldn't it make sense that Pokémon could also be called forth from an Assist Trophy? Now, I know that Pokémon Trainer is shown sending his Pokémon in and out of Pokéballs, and even shown capturing two of them, and that both Pikachu and Jigglypuff emerge from Pokéballs at the beginning of each round. So obviously while every character is a trophy, the Pokémon trophies can be captured and manipulated in the same ways as their organic counterparts.

I also know that, thematically, the Pokéball is a cool idea. It represents the Pokémon franchise in a lot of ways, and has become one of the most prominent items in the Smash Bros. franchise. Yet I can't help but feel the divide created by the Pokéball and the Assist Trophy is just too apparent. I'd like to feel that the Pokémon are treated as equal members of the Nintendo family, and not like a bunch of generic animals designated to fill in some background roles.

Now I know a lot of this has to do with my own weird way of viewing the games. After all, Gulpin's role in Brawl has become a bit of an internet meme and the Pokéball item contains a whopping thirty characters representative of the franchise while the most represented franchise as an Assist Trophy would be the Super Mario series with only three representative summons (four if you count the associated spin-off franchise, WarioWare). Despite this, I still can't help but feel that by not becoming Assist Trophies, the Pokémon aren't regarded among Nintendo's superstars. And that makes me sad.

There is one other little thing, though, the separates the Pokéball and the Assist Trophy, although it's really minor. The Assist Trophy immediately shatters upon being grabbed while the Pokéball can be held and thrown. This makes the Pokéball a weapon in its own right and allows for strategic timing to release its power. While this is a valid distinction between the two, it really isn't beyond the realm of possibility, or even simple programming, for Nintendo to give the Assist Trophy the same item properties as the Pokéball. I'd like to see this happen. Maybe they could even sub-divide the Pokémon assists by having the actual Assist Trophy be the Pokéball, which pops out of the shattered Assist Trophy and then lands, summoning one of the random Pokémon from its roster. Just something to think about, I guess.

What do you guys think? Do you think the Assist Trophy has overshadowed the Pokéball, or do I have it backwards? Are the Pokémon considered lesser to the other Nintendo superstars, or is my perception just a little bit weird? Would you prefer them to merge the Assist Trophy and Pokéball items or keep them separate?

What do you think?



original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/pokeball-vs-assist-trophy.html

[Kriven]

Super Smash Bros. U Predictions - Non-Fantasy Edition

Of course, as I play through Melee (which I'm almost finished with, by the way. Expect that review soon) I can't help but think about what the future of the Super Smash Bros. franchise holds. The past three have been somewhat magical experiences, but in hindsight Brawl was a much more predictable game than it seemed at the time. Looking at Brawl I realized that the previous two games used the same kind of logic to decide who would be in and who would not, and how they would be represented. Sadly, I realized that Super Smash Bros. wasn't the glorious celebration of Nintendo's history that I thought it was, but actually a celebration of the previous generation and of the early days of the game's current generation. So before I get into predicting what Super Smash Bros. U might hold, let's take a look at some of the previous games.

First let's look at Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, which doesn't have two of the primary tropes that Melee and Brawl were sure to include: there are no classic characters, and there are no "system" characters (Mr. Game & Watch and R.O.B. respectively). It's been argued that all of the characters in Smash 64 are classic, so there isn't a need for that (and that Donkey Kong represents it besides) and that Ness serves as the "Out-of-the-Box" or "Weird" character. But that's not how I see it at all.

When I look at the roster for the original Super Smash Bros. I see a roster comprised of Super Nintendo-era all-stars with just the slightest hint of the Nintendo 64. Mario and Luigi of course represent the Mario franchise as a whole, which experienced great success on the SNES console with titles such as Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, and Super Mario RPG, but the Mario franchise in this game is actually one of only two examples where their driving influence is the N64 incarnation. While Luigi is there simply because of the fame of the Mario Bros., the stages and character actions of both brothers are heavily inspired by Super Mario 64, the first Nintendo 64 game.

Donkey Kong here is representing the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, which was as highly regarded at the time as it is now. Similarly, Samus represents Super Metroid and Captain Falcon is representing F-Zero. Although F-Zero X launched prior to Super Smash Bros., I don't think it influenced Captain Falcon or his portrayal very much, although advertising for the game might have been one of the deciding factors in his inclusion. The final character in the top row is Link, who is the only character in the Smash 64 roster to not represent anything from the SNES era. The Link seen here, and the stage he plays on, are 100% Ocarina of Time.

The bottom row is entirely SNES and GB all-stars. Ness is there to represent the sleeper hit Earthbound, and probably to push promotion for the eventually-cancelled Earthbound 64. Yoshi is pure SNES, as he originated on the console. Here we see him representing both Yoshi's Island and the early N64 platformer Yoshi's Story. Kirby had great success on the Super Nintendo, and Kirby 64 wouldn't be released for another year, so it's safe to assume that he's representing as Kirby Super Star, Kirby's Dream Land trilogy, and the few spin-offs the character saw on the console (such as Kirby's Avalanche.) Fox McCloud, like Yoshi, Mario and Link, plays the double roles of a SNES and N64 pilot. This is even more important for him as the franchise was technically rebooted with the launch of Star Fox 64. Rouding off the roster are Pikachu and Jigglypuff, who obviously represent the SNES era super-franchise known as Pokémon.

Looking at the Super Smash Bros. roster I see 12 SNES all-stars. Now let's look at Melee.

[Kriven]

Welcome to one of the earliest GCN titles and one of the best selling games of all time. Super Smash Bros. Melee builds on the formula of Super Smash Bros. and introduced the "Classic Character Revival" and "System-Type" roster tropes continued in Brawl. Like its predecessor, Melee has a roster which is largely comprised of the previous generation (in this case the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color) with a hint of its own. Additionally, all previous characters return. This could be seen as continuing the series with what it already had, but it could also be seen as representing the previous generation by incorporating the elements of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. Regardless, I'll be skipping over the veterans and only talking about the new challengers.

First off is Dr. Mario, who was a bizarre pick but one which I greatly appreciated, and still do. His inclusion has remained controversial, but I think it's pretty well-known that he was there because of the out-of-the-blue release of Dr. Mario 64. Bowser and Princess Peach join the ranks of the Super Mario super stars and represent Super Mario 64 as well as the numerous Mario franchise spin-offs which were born on the N64. Additionally, with two exceptions, the Super Mario stages featured in Melee are both inspired by Super Mario 64.

Ganondorf, Young Link, and Zelda/Sheik all appear to bolster The Legend of Zelda ranks, and all of them are in their Ocarina of Time incarnations. Falco shows up as a representative of Star Fox 64. The final members of the middle row are the first inclusion of a revived classic character, the Ice Climbers. They were another weird inclusion that nobody saw coming, but we're all glad to have them.

The bottom row starts off with Pokémon. Mewtwo is simply building on what is already there, although he could also be there because of his large role in the first Pokémon movie, while Pichu appears as one of the mascots for the second generation of games (Gold, Silver, and Crystal). We carry into Mr. Game & Watch who not only represents the early days of Nintendo video games, but also serves as a representative of the Game & Watch Gallery franchise, which really took off with Game & Watch Gallery 2, which was a Game Boy Color title outside of Japan. After him are Marth and Roy, two very bizarre entrants who break every established rule. Marth hadn't been seen outside of Japan at all, and even there his last appearance was in a Super Nintendo title. Roy, on the other hand, hadn't appeared anywhere yet, and was simply an advertisement for an upcoming GBA release. Fortunately the popularity of both characters has led to the localization of the Fire Emblem franchise in the States and elsewhere.

Next came Brawl, which did something horrible to the franchise: it removed characters. Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Roy, Young Link, and Pichu were all cut from the game. Mewtwo, Dr. Mario, and Roy have been found by hackers, so they were at least intended to return, and Young Link evolved into Toon Link. Arguably Pichu also evolved... into this game's Pikachu, but that still means a character was cut (Melee's Pikachu), so the point is moot.

However, what it took away was made up for by what it added. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the first game in the franchise to introduce third-party characters. Since I've already started with them, I guess we'll talk about that column first and move our way from right to left. Sonic the Hedgehog shows up for a few different reasons. Primarily because he's the secondary mascot for the entire gaming industry, but also because Sega and Nintendo became best buds during the GCN era. There were so many Sonic the Hedgehog titles being released on the console that rumors began to circulate that Nintendo was in talks to buy up Sega completely, or at least purchase Sonic. Unfortunately that never happened, and I think the rumors eventually became that awful Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games franchise.

Solid Snake is a weird character to put here, because he doesn't really fit. The story of his inclusion is just as weird, as his only real reason for being there is due to a friendship between Kojima and Sakurai. The column ends with Mr. Game & Watch, whose return is simply due to series tradition.

The next column are the RPG heroes. Marth returns as the figurehead of the Fire Emblem franchise, but Roy has been cut completely. In his stead we received Ike, the hero of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for the Nintendo GameCube. Below them are the returning Ness and the newcomer Lucas. Lucas represents Mother 3 (or Earthbound 2) which was the GBA-era adddition to the Mother/Earthbound franchise.

Mewtwo has been replaced by Lucario, whose role is to represent both a movie and the fourth generation of Pokémon games, which makes him the first equal-generation representative so far. The other new Pokémon character is the Pokémon Trainer, also known as Red, who uses Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard to battle. While at first it seems that he represents the early days of Pokémon, this is wrong. Pokémon Trainer is actually representing the third generation of games, specifically Fire Red and Leaf Green.

Fox and Falco return and are joined by Wolf, who represents both Nintendo GameCube's Star Fox Assault and the Nintendo DS flop Star Fox Command. Captain Falcon also returns, probably due to the popularity of the GCN's F-Zero GX. The space theme continues to the left where Kirby is joined by both King Dedede and Metaknight. This makes sense as the Kirby franchise saw a revival on the Game Boy Advance and became extremely popular with a new generation. This popularity hasn't waned, and Kirby has continued strong through the DS and into the 3DS genertions. Below them comes Captain Olimar, the star of the highly popular Pikmin games which originated on the Nintendo GameCube and were later ported to the Wii.

Samus returns sporting a style and tone which screams Metroid Prime which first showed up on the GCN. She can also be played wearing the Zero-Suit, which first showed up in the GBA remake of the original Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission. Beneath her are the two classic characters. The Ice Climbers are now joined by Pit who hadn't been seen since the original Game Boy. This incarnation of the character would later go on to star in a new 3DS title, Kid Icarus: Uprising. R.O.B. appears as the "System-Style" character for this generation, being the next step in line. This is actually interesting, because it shows that the "System-Style" characters are moving up with the progression of Nintendo's actual history. Mr. Game & Watch represents the company's early forray into handheld gaming while R.O.B. represents the original NES. From this we could guess that the next "System-Style" character will have something to do with either the Game Boy or the Super Nintendo.

The Legend of Zelda characters have all been updated to match their GameCube couterparts. While Young Link transformed into the Wind Waker's Toon Link, Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf all took on the personas featured in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

The Mario spin-off characters occupy their own column here. We finally get introduced to Wario, who here represents both the WarioWare and Wario Land franchises, and probably with a small touch of Wario World for good measure. Diddy Kong's inclusion is actually a little weird, but it can probably be chalked up to the revival of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy on the Game Boy Advance.

There are now no Mario characters added other than Diddy or Wario. So now that we've covered the past, what can we say about the future?

Well, actually a whole lot. We can make a safe assumption that Super Smash Bros. U will feature a roster increase of 15-20 characters from Brawl's 35-man roster. This can be assumed by the steadily increasing number of new characters per installment, and the fact that Nintendo is doubling their production power by working with Namco, who is really good at handling large numbers of playable characters.

Looking at the pattern (Smash 64 is SNES, Melee is N64, and Brawl is GCN) we can assume that the majority of the characters will be inspired by Wii and DS titles, with early 3DS and Wii U games for good measure. It's probably safe to assume that Xenoblade's Shulk will show up in some capacity, as well as either Isa Jo or Kachi from Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. It's also possible that Isaac of the Golden Sun franchise could be promoted to a playable role due to the release of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn on the NDS.

It's possible that we'll see the Fossil Fighters games for the Nintendo DS represented in some way, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it. I also wouldn't be holding breath for Starfy becoming playable, as he only had one international release and it didn't do so well. Likewise, don't bet on any characters from a Mario RPG game appearing as a playable representative, with the possible exception of Geno whose star status might just be enough to push him into the running this time.

Where the Mario franchise is concerned, though, I do think we'll be getting at least one new character, and maybe even two. Nintendo has, in the past generation, released three New Super Mario Bros. titles, Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel, Super Mario 3D Land, and a very large number of spin-off titles. I don't think we'll be seeing Rosalina as a playable character, but she might claim the Assist Trophy spot she was planned to have in Brawl. It's also possible that Mario's FLUDD attack could be replaced with an attack styled on Super Mario Galaxy.

I don't think King Boo will appear as a representative, but it's always possible with the release of Dark Moon for the 3DS. I think more likely we'll be seeing Bowser Jr., whose significance has really been cranked up in terms of exposure and down in terms of who actually likes, and finally Toad, who would owe his inclusion to the Blue and Yellow Toad characters who are playable in the more recent Super Mario titles. It's also possible for Boom Boom or one of the Koopalings to make an appearance, but that isn't very likely. I do see them as likely Assist Trophies, however.

I don't think we'll be seeing Daisy as her popularity has waned, and it seems as though Miyamoto is attempting to phase out Waluigi. The lanky loser wasn't even in Mario Kart 7. It's possible that there might be enough of a fan base to warrant upgrading his role in the franchise, but I really don't see it happening.

More on what I don't see happening: new Donkey Kong characters. If there is a new Kong character I expect it to against the grain and be K. Rool, who hasn't been up to his criminal mischief for a while. I don't think the Tikis would appear as anything more than cameos, and I don't feel like Dixie or any other Kong has been important in the past generation. Like with some other characters, though, there might be enough fan sway to see them in.

Since there hasn't been a new F-Zero release for the Wii or DS, don't expect Captain Falcon to have any running mates. Samus, however, will probably be joined by an Other M-inspired Ridley. This is actually extremely likely, in my opinion. Additionally, the Zelda characters will be upgraded to correspond with Skyward Sword, and we might even finally get a Toon Zelda in the form of either Tetra, to represent the Wind Waker Wiimake, or as a ghost to represent Toon Link's latest adventure, Spirit Tracks. Tingle might also appear representing his own game for the DS and possibly as a spin-off character to the Zelda series.

Where Pokémon is concerned I see Mewtwo returning to represent the new movie, although he could be pushed out by Genesect. Zoroark is also likely to appear, and there may or may not be a character representative of the upcoming Pokémon X and Y generations. I don't think any Pokémon characters will be cut this time, due to the negative reaction to the removal of Mewtwo and Pichu before.

Actually, I think there's a possibility of the Forgotten Five returning to Super Smash Bros. U with no cuts being made to the Brawl roster, because of how negatively the previous cut decisions were received. It does stand as a possibility, however, that characters with no significance to the previous generation of Nintendo could be cut from the roster. This could be seen with Captain Olimar, who might be cut in favor of utilizing one of the newer captains from Pikmin 3.

I don't think Kirby will be joined by any new characters, but if he is I expect that it will be Prince Fluff. I don't think the Bandana Waddle Dee has quite the uniqueness about him to show up, and Return to Dreamland didn't make quite the splash that Epic Yarn did.

As much as I'd like Krystal to appear, there hasn't been a Star Fox game since Command other than the 3DS remake of Star Fox 64. Because of this, I don't think we'll see any new Star Fox characters. I expect Roy to appear to the Fire Emblem characters, although I also expect that he'll be sporting his outfit and dual-swords from Fire Emblem: Awakening. Speaking of Fire Emblem, I think it's likely for Micaiah or Sothe to appear, but more likely for a new FE rep to be one of the original characters from FE:A. That seems pretty possible.

No new Earthbound characters. Sorry, Mother fans.

I think there's a good chance the classic character could be Little Mac due to his revival on the Wii, but there's also some samurai character which Sakurai seems fond of. I don't think Mach Rider or Balloon Fighter will be appearing, unfortunately. We might also be surprised by Professor Hector of Gyromite appearing as a second R.O.B. rep, but I doubt it.

Earlier I mentioned the natural progression of the System Style characters, and I expect Diskun to at least be in the running for the next one. We could also expect the Satellaview mascots, but I'm really thinking it'll be Diskun.

For new characters, I do think Dillon from Dillon's Rolling Western could appear, although I'm not sure how deep Nintendo is in that franchise, if they own any part of it at all. Similarly, Professor Layton might show up (this was teased some time ago on the character's official Twitter page) due to his popularity and closeness to the Nintendo consoles, but he isn't really a Nintendo character.

Where third-party is concerned, I do see a new Sonic character joining the ranks. Either Tails, Knuckles, or Eggman. Granted, it's also possible that Sonic could be removed from the game completely, as there does seem to be some distance between Sega and Nintendo these days. I also don't know if Snake will be returning, but it's likely that he will. For new companies getting in on the action, I expect at least on Namco character to join the mix. It will probably be Pac-Man, due to his significance as a gaming icon. I also think it's likely that we'll be seeing either Mega Man or Ryu from Capcom showing up. Capcom seems to have embraced the crossover spirit these past few years. But like with Sega, there seems to be a rift growing between Capcom and Nintendo.

If Nintendo can manage the rights to Geno, I expect a Square character to appear as part of the compromise. While this could be anyone, it's most likely going to be Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, as that is Square's biggest cash cow.

A quick side before I wrap this up: Miyamoto has metioned that Yoshi will receive a new sidekick for the upcoming Yoshi's Epic Yarn (unofficial name). It's possible that this new sidekick character could apper in Super Smash Bros. U to intice players to purchasing the new game.

I don't think there will be non-game characters added. While Nintedo has broken the third-party rules, I don't see them crossing media types. To wrap it up, here's what I think the final roster for Super Smash Bros. U will probably look like:

• Mario
• Luigi
• Peach
• Dr. Mario
• Bowser
• Bowser Jr.
• Yoshi
• Yoshi's New Sidekick
• Donkey Kong
• Diddy Kong
• Wario
• Skyward Link
• Skyward Zelda/Skyward-Styled Sheik
• Skyward-Styled Gannondorf
• Toon Link
• Tetra or Spirit Zelda
• Samus/Zero-Suit Samus
• Ridley
• Captain Falcon
• Ness
• Lucas
• Fox
• Falco
• Wolf
• Pikachu
• Pichu
• Jigglypuff
• Mewtwo
• Pokémon Trainer
• Lucario
• Zoroark
• Possibly Genesect or an X/Y Pokémon
• Marth
• Ike
• Roy
• Shulk
• Isa Jo
• Pit
• Ice Climbers
• Little Mac or Samurai Guy
• R.O.B.
• Mr. Game & Watch
• Kirby
• Meta Knight
• King Dedede
• New Pikmin Captain
• Solid Snake
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Tails or Knuckles
• Pac-Man
• Diskun
• Dillon

original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/super-smash-bros-u-predictions-non.html

[Kriven]

Film Review: Chernobyl Diaries

Last Friday night I had the pleasure of viewing a little 2012 picture called "Chernobyl Diaries" which combines many things which greatly interest me: large urban areas which were abandoned due to some catastrophic event, and zombies. Some would argue that the mutated humans here aren't zombies, but they'd be wrong. Dead wrong. (Couldn't help it.)

Going in I was afraid that Chernobyl Diaries would simply be "The Hills Have Eyes (2006) Russian Edition". I was almost right, as the movies share very similar situations, and people who have seen both movies will immediately be able to spot the similarities. However, Chernobyl Diaries is a very different movie, and that's a very good thing.

I actually do have a couple of issues with this movie that I'm going to get into a little bit later as they come up. First issue and first topic: the characters.

The only likable character in this film is Yuri, the Russian tour guide who takes the rest of the cast into Chernobyl at all. It's actually not too much of a stretch to say that Michael is also a really cool character, and that Natalie was a good character before she was reduced to "The Screamer". The other characters are all unlikable for one reason or another. The brothers and primary protagonists, Chris and Paul, are both pretentious dicks. There isn't any question about this, and you'll immediately want to punch both of them into tiny, shivering pieces. Paul is the worst of the two, going beyond being a typical dickhead into the realm of creepy bunghole, as his main motivation for the first half of the film are simply to bone Amanda while she's getting over a break up. Amanda doesn't garner too much sympathy, though, because for most of the film she's the "Stupid Slut". And by that I mean, she's stupid, and she's dressed entirely inappropriately for the situation. She's more concerned with drawing attention to herself than actually being part of a group. By the end of the film she does become a more sympathetic and likable character, but her four minutes of fame are sadly overshadowed by all the crap leading up to it.

Last on the list is Michael's wife, Zoe, who doesn't deserve her own paragraph, but the last one was getting long. Zoe isn't a very likable character as a person, but as a character she actually improves the movie tremendously for a few reasons. She isn't there to be sex-appeal, like Amanda is, and she isn't as brave, adventurous, or bold as the other characters. In fact, you want to hate Zoe because she's a whimpering little coward who can't do a damn thing right. But Ingrid Berdal's portrayal of the character is believable, and she adds a realistic variety to the cast. In this regard, Zoe might actually be my favorite character. Because she isn't brave and because she can't do things right and because you get so frustrated with how incapable she is of doing the simplest little things, she's a positive character. The movie would have been much worse without her.

The primary issue with Amanda and Natalie is their lack of actual development. They aren't portrayed as anything but "The Slut Paul Wants to Bone" and "Chris's Girlfriend". That's it. That is the utter depth of their character (except, like I said earlier, Amanda evolves into something a bit more likable in the last four minutes). Natalie then goes from a blank slate to a screaming, stupid mess. Very typical horror movie blonde here, which is unfortunate.

As for the plot itself, well, it's pretty good if a little typical. Without spoiling too much, the group of tourists are led into Chernobyl by Yuri for an "extreme tour" which goes awry when they find out that Chernobyl is now home to some very hungry zombies. Actually, I'm going to stop right here and put a huge spoiler warning over the rest of this review. I typically try to avoid spoilers, but it can't be helped, because I have some serious gripes with this film's plot and I can't be vague about them.

The plot is generic, but that's okay. I've seen a lot of generic things which twisted them in incredible ways. Chernobyl Diaries comes very close to actually being a good movie, and that's what hurts it the most. It's become a bit of a staple of horror movies not to explain things, but Chernobyl Diaries takes that a little too far. This is a problem which isn't unique to this film. It's something I've seen on the rise since the release of Cloverfield, and this is a very Cloverfield film.

Normally they wouldn't have had to explain too very much about the zombies for us to get the film. Okay, so the reactor meltdown mutated some of the inhabitants into zombies. That's cool. But at the end of the film we discover that the Russian government has known about the zombies the entire time, and even has a large number of them captive in a prison cell. At the beginning of the film Yuri is unable to enter Chernobyl directly because a pair of stationed guards won't open the gates. Yuri says this isn't typical and that he's normally able to get in. They usually let him know if something has gone wrong.

This implies that the zombies aren't always in Chernobyl. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Yuri is also prepared to handle the zombies, at least as far as he knows, and many hints are dropped that he knows about them. The movie's implications draw too many blanks and lead the viewer down too many potential avenues which seem to contradict each other. Are the zombies usually captive and now escaped? Well, that would seem likely, except...

That the zombies have a vast graveyard of modern cars from other victims they seem to have devoured. This doesn't make sense if they're normally in captivity, but if they're not normally captive then why couldn't Yuri get into Chernobyl on that specific day? There's apparently some great accident that changed the game a bit, but we're never told what that could be. All we're left are a pile of clues that seemingly add up in opposite directions. This is a pain.

One of the other issues is the inconsistency of the zombie intelligence. They're often portrayed as fairly typical zombies; slow, shambling, mindless death monsters with an appetite for flesh and an inability to think things through. They also seem to have advanced strength and enhanced muscle development as well as an early on-set of the desire to kill, as the creepiest visual in the movie is a zombie baby crawling across the ground at a pretty good clip. Despite this, they dress in clothes, they know to remove a car's spark plugs without otherwise destroying the vehicle, and they seem to have a complex culture, the ability and instinct to breed, and the ability to set traps. They've obviously at least been at this cannibalism thing quite regularly.

The zombies of Chernobyl Diaries actually have more in common with the "vampires" from I Am Legend, particularly if you've seen the superior alternate ending. They're intelligent savages that seem to not consider their past lives or any relationship to the humans they're devouring. I suppose they're kind of like chimpanzees in that regard. They have the brains, but they'd rather just gorge themselves. It's kind of weird.

At the end of the film we're treated to a government force which, in an attempt to keep the Chernobyl situation under wraps, feeds the barely-escaped Amanda to a horde of starving pasty-skins. So the movie ends, with not a single survivor. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth (and it's another issue which is permeating film recently), but I suppose the ending does it's job. It actually wraps up the story of these characters in a fairly believable fashion, although why they rescued Amanda from the reactor core instead of letting her succumb to radiation poisoning is a mystery to me. Either way, while the character arcs come to a close with this ending, there's still the over-all plot left open-ended, and maybe that's the reason this ending left me so bitter.

The scare and gore factor is pretty low on this one, so if that's what you're looking for I can't possibly recommend it. What Chernobyl Diaries succeeds at is building and exploring an interesting and unique region which seems so familiar but is so very, very alien. If you like to explore your movies and do a fair deal of pondering, I'll recommend this to you. If you want blood splatters all over the place, go watch something else. I will say that this movie would have made a rad survival horror game, and I'll give it a seven out of ten for being intriguing in its location, for the half of the cast that is quality, and a few stars down for its lack of sufficient exposition.

Original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/film-review-chernobyl-diaries.html

[Kriven]

Video Game Review: Super Smash Bros. Melee

Ah, Super Smash Bros. Melee. What can really be said about this game that hasn't been said by the millions of fans and reviewers in the twelve years since its release way back in the infancy of the Nintendo GameCube? Well, how about: "It sucks".

Fortunately, that was a lie. I just wanted to say something about the game which has never been said before. By anyone. Ever. Super Smash Bros. Melee is the glorious sequel to the glorious game known as Super Smash Bros. which released on the N64 and completely changed the course of the video game industry, particularly Nintendo, forever. Melee pulls a few over its predecessor by adding a much larger and more diverse cast of characters, several new game modes, and a much more in-depth multiplayer game, which happens to be the star quarterback of the Smash Team. There's just so much going on with this game that I really don't know where to start.

I guess the roster is a good place. The game offers up twenty-five playable characters, twenty-six if you count Sheik independent of Zelda. Right from the start the game has a lot to offer in terms of variety as each of the beginning characters plays very differently. Who you choose can completely impact the style of the game. Playing as Bowser is a totally different experience from playing as Donkey Kong, and they both fit nicely into the "Heavy Hitters" category of play. Even clone characters (of which there are many) feel largely different from one another. This is a very good thing, and it can make the game feel very immersive.

Fortunately that immersion isn't skin deep. This game has many layers and caters well to the casual crowd, the pro crowd, the hobbyist crowd... there is no member of any gaming audience which wouldn't like Super Smash Bros. Melee with the exception of FPS babies. They probably won't like it. Brawl has more things that suit their speed.

As I mentioned there are a large number of clone or near-clone characters, and by "clone" I mean "Characters which share a large number of attacks and animations with another character". There are at least seven characters like this, but there's an upside to it. While these characters might share a lot of surface similarities, they have very different styles of play. I'll use the pair of Links as an example. At some point in the game you can unlock Young Link whose attacks mirror adult Link's. However, they are much weaker and require a greater ability to reason and plan while adult Link is more of the strike-and-kill variety. To compensate for the weakness, Young Link is very quick. The game is totally different. Link plays the game by charging head first into battle and slaying his foes on a stick, but Young Link has to patiently bide his time and build his opponent's damage to a point where he can make a finishing blow. This is really cool, and it adds variety where most people wouldn't see it.

Aside from just a variety of gameplay, the cast itself is really varied and it's remarkable how natural they all look standing next to one another. Nintendo did a pretty good job of representing their relevant and even B-List franchises at the time. Super Maro Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon all have almost equal representation, although Mario has a few spin-off characters which puts it ahead. I guess that's to be expected from the flagship franchise. However, there are also characters representing Star Fox, F-Zero, and even the old Game & Watch handheld devices filling in the roster, and each one is splendid. Every character is uniquely defined by their personalities, and you can feel this just from watching their idle animations and placing them beside the other characters. Every single character is unique, and that really helps a game out when you've got a great ensemble cast.

Adding to the variety of representation are the stages. There's a lot of them and, for the most part, they're pretty cool. There are a couple of stages which seem kind of pointless or are irredeemably obnoxious with their hazards. The only ones which immediately come to mind, though, are the Yoshi's Island and Dreamland past stages, which are nearly identical to a pair of other stages already in the game (Yoshi's Story and Green Greens respectively). I feel that this was kind of a waste, especially when there were a few more unique stages from the original Super Smash Bros. which could have been revived instead.

The items are a lot less varied than the stages and characters and don't represent nearly the same amount of the Nintendo universe as they should. Out of all the items I counted twelve which were from Super Maro Bros. and related series (Donkey Kong Country) while The Legend of Zelda had two, Kirby had four, Pokémon really only had one (although Chansey eggs will occasionally appear without a Chansey), two come from Earthbound, and one each from Balloon Fight and Panel de Pon. There's also an item which is actually a peripheral for the Super Nintendo. The rest of the items (about eleven of them) are generic items created for Super Smash Bros. (although at least one of them was originally from Perfect Dark, which is something I find very interesting). With the items being predominantly Super Mario related, and another large portion being generic, I can't help but feel there is a lot of wasted opportunity here--especially when you consider that most of the generic items have counterparts from various Nintendo franchises which could have been used instead (the generic ray gun could have been Duck Hunt's famous Zapper, or the crate and barrel could have been stylized more like Donkey Kong Country equivalents).

Where the actual gameplay is concerned, well, it doesn't always work. Generally this won't be an issue, and it really isn't too noticeable in multiplayer matches, which is primarily what this game is used for. In the one player modes, however, there are a few glaring glitches which occasionally crop up. I noticed that on higher difficulties my character was less quick to respond to my commands. I'm not sure if this is because of an increased amount of activity on the screen, but that doesn't seem likely considering the large amount of items and players I've had in versus mode. This causes a number of issues, such as dropping through more floors than you intended to or getting caught up in the relentless assault of an AI opponent. The problem is, and this is something I'll talk about again in another paragraph or two, is that dying at no fault of your own isn't a "fun challenge", it's an infuriating experience which will drive some to madness. Dying at no fault of your own repeatedly will make everybody who attempts to complete every challenge in the game experience hot flashes and a period of time where they will awaken hours later as their flesh burns from the lobster-boiling temperatures of their shower.

At higher levels of play, such as the last twenty of the Event Matches or the Hard and Very Hard difficulties it seems that the developers attempted to make up for the shortcomings of their AI programming by giving the AI opponents skills which human players don't have. The AI will be able to cancel attacks at any point and string together combos which humans can't perform, as per the rules of the game itself, as well as manage to cancel dodges or dodge and attack at the same instance. This can get annoying very quickly as you can be caught up in a flurry of attacks from which there is no escape. AI opponents are also made heavier and stronger than they are during regular play, and it seems that stage boundaries fluctuate a little bit. Further, the AI in Free-for-All matches will team up to target the player character, regardless of how the game should be playing out. This makes the later Event Matches more maddening than fun, although it is very satisfying to have completed them all.

In addition to the increased abilities of the AI enemies and the annoying control glitches are the item spawns. There have been too many instances where I was charging an attack which would have one me the match only to have a Bob-Omb spawn right in my line of fire. Or a capsule, crate, barrel, egg, or party ball, all of which will of course contain nothing but a fiery explosion and a swift death. Like I said earlier, dying at no fault of your own is not a fun experience. After playing the game for twelve years, I have pretty firm grasp on how things work, and this game repeatedly seems to break its own rules in an effort to destroy you. This is not good game design, and it detracts from an otherwise amazing masterpiece.

Stage hazards are sometimes an issue, but I can't think of an instance where one ever destroyed me as thoroughly as the game breakers above. Typically the hazards are predictable enough that you can avoid them, and being caught by one isn't terribly maddening because you know it was your fault for not being able to dodge it. Hit by the lava on the Metroid level? Not an issue, because you know it was your fault. I think there may have been only a couple of times where I really got ticked at the stage hazards, and that was typically when in conjunction with one of the other broken aspects of the game. Never have I gotten miffed at the hazards in versus mode. Despite this, it would have been nice to have the option to turn the hazards off.

Speaking of options, there sure are a lot of them! If you want to start your game over (as I did) you can delete everything, or you can choose to delete only your trophy collection, only your unlocked characters, only your unlocked stages. They give you a lot of choice of what you want to delete, which is cool, because you can delete only the characters and experience other methods of unlocking them without actually losing your game progress. This is awesome, because unlocking new characters is probably my favorite part of the game.

There are also plenty of options when in the Versus Mode. Of course you have the typical standard matches, and you can choose to play timed matches, stock matches, or coin matches, which are all really fun, even though they're kind of basic. Building on that, though, are the "Special Melee" games which let you play under a variety of new conditions. You can play with a manipulable camera, you could play at lightning speed, slo-mo, or with giant characters. Every kind of power-up option is available as a Special Melee with one exception, which I've always wanted: Metal Melee. For whatever reason they gave players a Metal Box item in regular play but didn't include the option to play a Metal Melee. Makes me sad.

Really, though, the Versus Mode is where this game shines. Despite its age and a sequel, Melee has consistently been one of my major party games of choice. While a number of characters are unbalanced and don't make for very good competitive play, the complete roster is perfectly suitable for casual play with friends. The only problem is with people who are hyper-competitive. With people who tend to be poor sports it doesn't take very much of Smash to turn them into compulsive whiners. They'll make you wish you'd never taken the game out at all. Of course, that's not really a fault of the game, is it? My point is, playing this game with most people is a blast. Just know your friends.

Also, players have complete control over how long a match can last, how many points need to be accumulated, or how much money should be obtained in the coin matches. Players are also able to completely customize which items appear and how often they spawn. There's also a list of other rules which can be altered, such as customizing which stages can be chosen at random, which player gets to the choose stage next (Loser Pick, Winner Pick, etc.), and probably a few I've missed. This lets players tailor the game to their particular tastes. Additionally, there's a really cool Tournament Mode where you can technically play as Ditto. Makes me giggle just thinking about it.

The one player game is primarily split up into three modes: Classic, Adventure, and All-Star. Classic Mode is more like an arcade mode which takes the player through eleven primary stages and a few mini-game stages. Every second stage adds a new twist to the regular combat, such as fighting a team of enemies or fighting a giant enemy. This can be a whole lot of fun, although one thing I don't like is the return of the Metal enemy round just before you reach the final stage. This is a hold over from the previous game, in which you battled Metal Mario before the final confrontation with Master Hand. In Melee any character can be your metal opponent, which I immediately disliked. I felt like it cheapened the Metal Mario character which developed on the N64. Also, the metal enemies are much lighter and easier to defeat than Metal Mario was, which always bugged me.

Adventure Mode's name is a little misleading. There isn't a whole lot of adventuring once you reach the later stages, but the earlier ones do feature some platforming segments which are fun the first time. Unfortunately they get bland really quickly, so doing them twenty-five times to 100% the game can get really boring. However, the Adventure Mode does have some cool throwbacks to the original title for those willing to look. I'll give you guys an example: you battle a team of Yoshis of different colors, later on you battle a team of Kirbies with different hats, and finally you battle a team of generic NPC henchmen. If you aren't familiar with Super Smash Bros., this reflects the Yoshi Team, Kirby Team, and Fighting Polygon Team matches. There are other references to the first title (Giant Donkey Kong), but I won't spoil the surprise (in this post).

There's also All-Star Mode, which challenges the player to battle every character in the game using only one life. This mode is actually way easier than it sounds, even on the harder difficulties. The primary challenge stems from the fact that you don't heal between matches and are given only three heart containers to carry you through the mode. Still, I wouldn't sweat it too much. Players with any amount of skill won't even need to heal very often. Even with Pichu.

Furthering the one player experience are Event Matches and Stadium Matches. The Stadium Matches are actually mini-games, such as a home run contest or the target challenges. These can be some good fun, but they won't hold your attention for too long. My favorite part of the game is the Event Matches mode where you must complete fifty matches each with unique and special conditions. Some of these get really creative, such as having to guard a Yoshi egg from a trio of angry enemies. While the later ones are, as I mentioned earlier, infuriating, the majority of the Event Matches are really fun, and I wish there were more of them.

Visually the game is stunning, even today. Its textures aren't as detailed and its lighting a little different, but the game still holds up really well. I think this is due in large part to the very bright and distinct nature of the colors and visuals. In Brawl everything seems to blend together, and this is the case with a lot of modern games. In Melee everything is distinct and real treat to look at. It's almost like literal eye candy. Like, it makes you want candy to look at this game, and I don't quite know why. There are also some very cool "magic" effects where they're needed, which are very fun and bubbly. The whole game looks splendid and animates very well. I really can't find any fault with this aspect of it.

And the same can be said of the sounds. This game is aesthetically perfect, and while the soundtrack might sound a little stale to some, I assure you that's only because the songs used are classic. We've heard them all before. But I want to let you in on a little secret. Come closer. This game is why half of these songs are classic. I can count on one hand the number of people I know who have heard the F-Zero music outside of Melee, yet everyone knows the tune. And the beautiful thing about this game is that, despite appearing in the era of god awful voice acting none of the characters make your ears bleed. None of them. Oh, it's beautiful.

Do I recommend Melee? Oh, you bet you do. Of course, you all knew that was coming. If you don't know how much I love this franchise... what the hell blog have you been reading? I have to say that even though it's flawed, this game is really one thing you shouldn't miss. It's not the kind of game you should play start to finish, like I just did, because the one player game does stale when you take it in all at once like that. Melee is that wonderful kind of game that you can play, put down, and play again later and finish it at your own pace. Not to mention the treasure trove of trivia that is the trophy gallery. As a kid I spent more hours reading every biography collected than I did actually smashing heads. Of course as a result I spend my early twenties regurgitating gaming trivia and writing reviews and sitting in my parents' house playing video games and wishing I'd read more books so I could write and maybe went outside once in a while and didn't get fat. But who cares? It was worth it.

Unfortunately this game's glitches and inconsistency pissed me off too much to give it a perfect score. I think an eight out of ten is good, though. Let's go with that.

original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/video-game-review-super-smash-bros-melee.html

[Kriven]

Why I Want YOU to Self-Publish

--Ramble Warning: this post rambles a lot.--

Let's get this out of the way right off the bat: I'm not just talking about books and poetry. I'm not just talking about editorials, opinion pieces, or other literatures. I'm talking about everything. Music, video, art, anything. If you make any of this material, if you're an artist of any variety, self-publish your stuff. Of course if you've got yourself a contract with somebody and you're making some serious bank on it, you can feel free to ignore this blog post. You probably don't want to hear it, anyway. But if you've been toiling for a few years on projects, you aren't looking for the fame, or you're just in it for the hobby (or any of a million other reasons close to home) you should put that out there, and put it out yourself.

The Internet has been around for something like twenty years now, probably more, and for at least the past fifteen of those years there has been no shortage of easy to use and cost effective ways for independent artists and hobbyists to get themselves known. However, no matter how popular DeviantArt seems to be or how active the viewer base on YouTube is, publishing on them still hasn't become mainstream. Hell, I doubt most people actually even know what DeviantArt is, despite its massive user base. And that's a shame.

We live in interesting times, people, and it's about time you contributed to making it even more interesting. We live and have been living in a time where any individual person can hop on one of numerous web platforms and open up a blog and write editorials and articles to their heart's content. We have been living in a time where writers and storytellers and poets and all manner of linguist can, at no cost to themselves, create digital books or, if it suits their fancy, physical paperback and hardcover books. Of their work! We have been living in an era where artists of pretty much every medium can upload their art to DeviantArt and sell framed prints if that's what suits their fancy. We live in a time where independent film makers can make their own movies or film serials or animations and opinion programs and monetize these programs with commercials. We live in a time where musicians and garage bands can record their jams and upload them to pretty much any place on the Internet and offer physical disc albums from stores like Amazon or their own website.

There certainly isn't any shortage of indies and do-it-yourselfers taking advantage of this expressive freedom. As far back as the early 2000s creative talent has been plastered all over the Internet, from the pioneer flash animators like Joe Sparks to the breakout successes of the literary field like Hugh Howey. Websites like Newgrounds have existed as enormous digital galleries since the mid 90's. There really isn't any shortage of people utilizing these websites and their services, but there still aren't enough. Too many people visit these pages as viewers and say to themselves: "Boy, I wish I could do that. I wish I could be on Newgrounds."

In their minds that takes powers beyond their means. It takes some representative swooping in and spiriting them away to the mystical land beyond kept gates. This is wrong. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. Every single human alive today with an Internet connection, a percentage of the population which is growing larger with each passing day, can publish their art in whatever manner suits their fancy. They can publish it for money, they can publish it for free, they can even publish it privately and share it with only a few friends and relatives. They can do it. You can do it. And I want you to.

We live in a time where every human being can actually have a voice. More importantly, we live in a time where every human being can have that voice heard. There are millions of people out there who push the agenda that not every voice deserves to be heard, but that is beyond a single load of bull. Why should we leave it to the few self-appointed elite to decide what voices should and should not be heard? Why are we not letting the people decide which voices deserve to be heard?

Your voice deserves to at least be spoken, if not heard. So speak. Speak loud! I want you to speak, I don't care if I like what I hear. We have been given this opportunity to turn the tables. We have been given this chance to finally freely express the opinions of the average bloke. We, as a species, finally have the ability to not let ourselves be censored by the elite forces which have for so long driven the widely accessible media. I'm not saying we can usurp them over night. YouTube movies aren't going to show up in theaters any time soon. But we can make a change. We have this opportunity to build a culture based on ideas and art and creativity instead of one built on bumbling drones. We have the rare opportunity to break the political borders of our countries. We have the rare opportunity to develop a culture of our species, one that embraces ideas and expression.

I'm not saying it will be a quick transition, and I'm not saying it will be an easy one. There are forces already at work fiercely attempting to censor the Internet before the generation born on it, the generation that understands it, grows up into the generation that will utilize it. These are the people pushing for such movements as SOPA and its multiple international offspring. You want to know a secret? These are the gatekeepers. These are the mega corporations which have, for decades past, controlled what media the public sees, what media the public believes, what voices are heard, what movies are made, what books are published, what posters are printed, what bands are heard. These corporations know the threat that the Internet is, and they will do whatever it takes to sink it before it leaves port.

You are part of this crew. You must help keep the ship afloat. And you do that by screaming, singing, writing, drawing. This boat runs on an engine of ideas. We live in a world that gives us the opportunity not to let Disney be the deciding factor in what media we consume. We can change the course of our species. You can change the course of our species.

Hell, we could change the economy if we all got on this boat. I don't know which way it would tip, but it would definitely tip somewhere. If every person self-published some piece of art we could end up in a world where we fund each other's lives just by purchasing the art we craft. I know this is a largely fairy land reality, but we could make a change. Maybe for the better. Of course you aren't going to get rich at it. Adolescence has only sold three copies: one from myself, one from my girlfriend, and one from another friend. But if we all got three small sales like that, well, we'd all have the money to eat one other lunch. And here's the beauty part of it: Adolescence will make me more money in the future. It might only be another two dollars, or it could take off and make two hundred. It doesn't really matter, because I plan on having it available until I die. And I'm hoping for at least fifty years on that.

We have this chance to change everything. You need to start taking it.



Original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-i-want-you-to-self-publish.html

[Kriven]

So What's Been Going On With Me Lately?

This is not how I intended to follow up on publishing Adolescence. I wanted to come back with a bang! a crack! a pow! and more than a few new adventures for Brrda, Savage Savior of the Secret Land. Unfortunately a wild cold appeared. Actually, it isn't so wild and I kind of asked for it. Y'know, I'm just sick and done with the winter, so at the first sign of warm weather I decided it would be a good idea to sleep with the windows open. After all, thirty-seven isn't too cold. I can just shrug up some blankets, right?

Lolno. That's not how it works. So of course I caught a cold, and when I catch a cold, that's it, I'm dead. Splitting headaches, mucus too thick to breathe through, on and off fevers, unquenchable thirsts. When I get sick I can't write, I can't play games, I can't read, I can't do anything but lay there waiting to not be sick anymore. Every little action feels like a hammer to the skull. That's not even considering the dizziness. So unfortunately, my own stubbornness has led Brrda to an even longer hiatus than intended, and that makes me sad.

Sorry guys.



Original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/so-whats-been-going-on-with-me-lately.html

[Kriven]

The Treasure Hunter

It fell from the air, swilring metal talons above its bulbous head. The spinning claws caught hold of some leafy palms, ripping their limbs away without mercy. It rumbled, a low whoop whoop sound vibrating off its body. Bizarre legs touched the ground, and then in a moment it was silent and still.

Brrda watched from the brush, Retsis dutifully at his side. The tiger growled softly at the odd creature as its belly swung open and a portly man emerged from within. This was the second of his kind that Brrda had seen in recent weeks, and like the one before, he was causing trouble in the Secret Land.

The mighty Temple of Mrrda had once been a beautiful palace of gold and stone, but it was now defiled and crumbling. The gold had been stripped away, and each week this man returned in his bizarre bird to gut the temple even more. Brrda typically cared little for the treasures of his ancestors. The animals had no use for such gems, and there were no other men with whom to trade. Were it not his sworn duty as the Savage Savior of the Secret Land he would have left the man without bother. But such was not an option.

He and Retsis sat for a bit, waiting for the man to delve deep into Mrrda's temple. Brrda had studied the man's routine, and knew that he would soon emerge pushing a cart full of treasures, and then disappear into the bird's stomach and they would fly away. Gone until the next week. So Brrda made a plan.

Once he was certain that the man could not hear them, Brrda motioned for Retsis to follow quietly. They stalked across the clearing, the short grass tickling between their toes, and cautiously approached the sleeping bird. Its stomach, or perhaps that was a mouth, had been left agape. This would not have been the first beast Brrda had slain from within, but he was surprised to find no heart or lungs inside. Instead he discovered the creature to be made of metal with padded seats and a number of boxes attached to its ribs. From within the bird looked not too different from Brrda's own home.

This is no creature, Brrda realized. This is some kind of flying den. The man must live here.

Quickly he changed his plans. But too late. The man's whistling echoed up from the depths of Mrrda's temple. Brrda and Retsis hid silently beneath a strange brown and black sheet as the man returned. Brrda knew he could easily defeat the man, but for some reason he hesitated. Before he could rekindle his courage the bird's mouth slammed shut, and Brrda found himself laying beside a pile of sparkling, glittering jewels. Retsis thumped her tail impatiently, nudging the savage's shoulder with her head.

The portly man waddled to the front of the room and sat himself in a chair. All at once the bird came to life, roaring and rumbling and stirring most violently. The commotion startled both Brrda and his loyal companion, and they burst from their hiding spot beneath the sheet. The man glanced over his shoulder and spotted his stow aways, giving a surprised yelp as he dove from his seat and reached for a bag on the floor.

The man yanked a gray and white tube from the bag. There was a whistle, something like one of the large flightless birds which stalked the jungle, and at once Retsis had fallen. Brrda leaped away, diving behind the treasure. He looked at his comrade, afraid for her life. Her eyes twitched with the effort to stay open, but the struggle was too much. Brrda's gaze traveled from his friend's face to the dart in her kneck. Rage boiled inside him.

The Savage Savior burst forth, tumbling over and around the pile of treasure. He felt the wind as a dart sailed past his ear. He felt the string as one scratched his face. In an instant he was on the man, grabbing him by the neck. There was a sort of ping sound, a pain in Brrda's gut. Weariness came over him. His eyes traveled down. A dart in his stomach. Then there was sleep.

****************************

Dave Tycoon, world class treasure hunter, returned to his seat and resumed control of the helicopter. He massaged his sore neck and examined it briefly in the mirror. There was a dark red patch where the wild man had grabbed him, and though it would bruise, it would go away with time. Cursing, he glanced at his new cargo.

Then an idea struck him. He reached behind his seat and rummaged through the bag, finally fumbling over his cell phone. He flipped it open, punched in the numbers. Smirked when the other line clicked on.

"Hey there, this is Tycoon," he introduced. "You tell Ringmaster I've found something which might... peak his interest."



original: http://nathandiyorio.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-treasure-hunter.html

[O Ilusionista]

Kriven,
your post was reported because a user told you turned this into a blog.

Even beeing part of IMT core now, I won't make this duty here. But I don't see a problem with what you are doing.

I only suggest you to make a "short version" here and make the whole post on your site, putting a link to the full article.

See ya

[Kriven]

Kriven,
your post was reported because a user told you turned this into a blog.

Even beeing part of IMT core now, I won't make this duty here. But I don't see a problem with what you are doing.

I only suggest you to make a "short version" here and make the whole post on your site, putting a link to the full article.

See ya

Oh, I didn't know that was against the rules.

Primarily I was posting the full versions because, even though I am advertising my site, I didn't want people to have to jump to see the full post. If it's actually a problem, I'll cease the updates.

Sorry :-\