This collage contains pieces from most of my 2010 year at Insight and most of them are Pokemon-related, with a few Mario and miscellaneous doodles thrown in. Some of them are cute but none of them are really that amazing as these was more for the purpose of therapy than real artwork.
I had a bit of time last night so I decided to do a small update to the site’s design. I’ve been wanting to do something with the main banner for a while and decided to try using dynamic, rotating background and foreground images based on the time of day and the current season – mirroring some of the features in Pokémon Black & White games (you know, to go with the site’s theme this year).
I’ve yet to implement the seasonal changes, but I did complete the time-of-day based changes and I really like the result. I have the day separated into 6 parts, and each part (based on the current time) has it’s own appropriately coloured sky background, and visiting the website at different points in the day would yield a different background image.
It’s not much, but I still think it turned out pretty neat! I’m probably going to edit the colours a bit, and I plan to eventually create a few different foregrounds (instead of plain old grass) to rotate seasonally, but it certainly adds a bit more flare to the site. :P
Firstly I’d like to apologize for not updating in a while and slowing down on the updates in general. Truth be told, I’ve been very busy in my personal life sorting out employment details and haven’t really had time to write a full post about anything.
Also, as you may have guessed from the abrupt end to the Pokemon White Diary posts, I have discontinued the series. My backlog of events grew faster than I can keep up with writing them, and eventually I stopped keeping track of my progress. I did complete them game, and I definitely have comments, so I will eventually post a more formal end to the series when I have time.
Thank you to anyone who actually reads these postings, and I’ll try to start posting more regular updates again as soon as I can – I already have an idea for a site update…
This is some of the most disappointing news I’ve heard in a while – first Universe, now Legends 3. The MegaMan series is basically dead now, and that’s really sad. I’ve grown up with the blue bomber and followed him through all of his many adventures for so many years, and it’s depressing to see such an iconic character be snuffed out so abruptly and without any real reason. This whole situation feels similar to Nintendo’s treatment of the Mother/Earthbound franchise, and as a big fan of that too, it really stings to see two of my favourite franchises simply vanish because the IP holders no longer wish to support them but legally hold the only rights to use the characters, story, or universe.
The press release doesn’t shed any light on the actual reasons and points to the FAQ for more information, but then the FAQ’s answer to the question of “why” is “it’s in the press release” creating an endless loop of WTF. Does Capcom not realize how much bad PR this is going to create? After SO MUCH involvement from the community and all the contests and promotions and time spent designing characters and assets by the development team, it just seems insane to pull the plug without even letting the demo out. I feel so betrayed as a customer of Capcom, as a long-time supporter of the series even when it was at it’s lowest, and as someone who bought a 3DS full-well expecting to get my MegaMan Legends 3 on after 10 years of waiting for a sequel. It seems like such a ridiculously stupid move. And this is the second time they burned the same group of fans in one year – both times coddling and lying to us for months rather than just letting us know it was doomed.
Or maybe… it wasn’t a stupid move after all? Maybe MegaMan isn’t nearly as popular as the internet would have be believe and Capcom is simply making a defensive financial decision based on current 3DS sales and the vast amount of other 3DS projects getting cancelled lately. It really hurts to think that could be the reality, but it would make sense. The internet has a habit of making us feel bigger than we really are. On the net, an enthusiastic group of 100 fans seems gigantic and influential, but in reality those 100 fans are spread across several continents and in the grand scheme of the world gaming market, 100 isn’t a very large number. Maybe that’s what’s really going on here? Maybe I’ve just been living in a rose-coloured bubble for the last 20 years? Maybe MegaMan really doesn’t matter anymore…
I’d always felt that MegaMan was on of the most amazing franchises in gaming – not necessarily because every game was of the highest quality, but because the characters, universe and lore of the series was so interesting, unique, and so BIG that it was the perfect playground for fun and creative ideas. But I guess the possibilities that I envisioned for the series and what Capcom has actually made the MegaMan brand into in the last 10 years are two very different things. I realize that this specific cancellation might have been a result of Keiji Inafune leaving (despite their protests) but I feel like the franchise’s death was several years in the making – even while Inafune was around.
Who knows? Maybe someday a better company will buy MegaMan off their hands (crossing fingers) or maybe this’ll be the last time he’s ever mentioned again… I just know it’s a very sad day and I feel like crying a bit. :’(
R.I.P. MegaMan, You Will Be Missed
After nearly a year of not having a Wii, we were finally able to play some Mario Kart Wii and were having a blast online, until some douchebags kept repeatedly picking Rainbow Road and winning the “random” vote. We got so fed up, and wanted to quit, but Nintendo doesn’t allow that. The (+) button is completely disabled while racing online, so they actually prevent you from leaving a race, yet there is no system implemented to prevent people from WANTING to rage-quit in the first place – some way to punish or weed out annoying players trolling the course select. We were forced to goof off and race backwards until it kicked us out. (Wouldn’t it have just been easier to let us leave the race, Nintendo?)
Has the Rainbow Road issue affected anyone else? The course is extremely long and painful, and while I can deal with it once… maybe twice… I can't stand when people repeatedly pick it over and over. It’s not like it’s an accident – the game gives you the option to not-vote right up front – so these people are purposefully doing it.
I wish there was some filter/mod to the random vote to insure all other parties have had a chance to vote before letting someone win again. This is just ridiculous… and makes us not want to play the game online at all. :(
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