On Pokemon: 20 Years, Seven Generations

So, I may have kept this a secret, but probably not a very good one: I like Pokemon. I’m a fan. I’m a competitive player (Not a great competitive player, but I can hold my own, thank you very much.). I’ve been a part of the fandom since I was little-little. That was my very first video game: Pokemon Yellow. I was atrocious at it. I was so much better at Pokemon Blue, because you didn’t have to start with that ridiculous Pikachu (Honestly, it colored my entire opinion of Pikachu – still don’t particularly like it.).

I mean, come on, you’re giving 8 year olds an immediate type disadvantage, here. Not cool, bro. Not cool.

I digress: we’re here to talk about Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon. Now, I know this isn’t my normal topic. As an author of books, I don’t see other authors as my competition: I see video games and Netflix and The Walking Dead as competition, since we’re all vying for your time. Drawing more attention to them is a bit terrifying. But I’m coming to you all as a fan rather than as an author, and as a fan, I’m going to make a statement about our new seventh generation games.

They’re going to be the best of the bunch.

I know that’s a bold statement, and especially with all the generation one and two love out there… well, let’s just say that some people might have a difference of opinion. But I’m standing by this until something comes along to prove me wrong, and by God I hope that never comes. I want these games to live up to all the hype, and surpass it by a whole hell of a lot.

But it’s not just blind, fanboyish hope that’s making me say this. The game developers are dumping everything they can think of into this game. You all liked generation one? Cool, we’ll give you gen one Pokemon, but cooler. Cooler how? Well, we’ll light Marowak’s bone on fire. And we’ll make Exeggutor a million feet tall. And a dragon! And Raichu’s a psychic type! Also, let’s make it so you can fight against Red and Blue.

You wanted HMs gone? Nifty, here you go.

You think the formula’s getting stale? Well, all right, screw using gyms. We’ll send you into… trials! And there’ll be giant Pokemon you have to fight! Yeah!

Our evil teams are too extreme? Okay, here’s one that just wants to steal Pokemon.

It’s proof that Game Freak are massively in tune with their fan base, and also proof that, no matter what anyone might say about them, they aren’t “running out of ideas.” There’s lots of new ideas in Sun and Moon, and that’s not even counting everything they haven’t revealed yet, which I’ll guarantee are in the game somewhere. They definitely haven’t played all their cards quite yet, which is impressive since they’ve released approximately a butt-ton of trailers so far.

I guess this post isn’t the most interesting thing to everyone. It’s just… it’s very exciting for me, and we’re less than three weeks from the launch date. I needed to put all this anticipation somewhere, so you’re receiving the brunt of it. If you’re not a fan, then I apologize. Your regularly scheduled programming will return shortly.

If you are a fan, which version are you playing (I’m Team Moon for sure.)? Which starter (It was always Rowlett, but especially now that they’ve released the final evolutions.)? Which new Pokemon are you most excited to see (Mimikyu!!!)? Let me know and let’s geek out together while we wait.

Voss

This Message is Brought to You by... Someone Else

Today, I’m going to talk very little. I know, I know. Words are kind of my thing. I’m an author, for fuck’s sake. But I’m going to step aside after a bit and just let you watch something. Hopefully, it’ll touch you the same way it touched me.

So, as a bit of backstory: I have a bad habit when it comes to Youtube. I know the first step is admitting I have a problem, but I don’t know the other twelve. All right, it’s not that serious (yet). I still manage to work. it popped up when the insomnia did. I was too tired to work, which would have been the ideal usage for all that time. But no. I wouldn’t have produced anything of actual quality. So I took to watching Youtube videos, and I eventually stumbled over to the gamers of Youtube.

I would spend hours and hours just watching other people play video games. I don’t play that much anymore. The occasional foray into Pokemon (More on that in a later blog post!) or a silly online game. I sometimes play solitaire, and I judiciously care for my dragons in Dragon City. But in all, that’s maybe an hour of my time a day, and if I miss it, oh well. I don’t Game with a capital G anymore. It’s just not something that stuck with me the way it did for other people I know.

Now, I was failing to sleep one night, so I thought I’d put on a video. Just something simple in the hopes that it would lull me off into dreamland. I saw that jacksepticeye had put up a new one, and that it was massively long. About 2 hours. I didn’t think I’d make it through the whole thing, but I know that long gaming videos are normally slower paced, so I wouldn’t be invested. Take a couple melatonin tablets, turn it on, and shut it off when my eyelids started to droop. Not the first time I’d done the exact same thing.

Cut to two hours later when I’m still wide awake. I’ve got chills, and I’m just staring at the screen and reading theories about this game I’ve never actually played, because it dug under my skin that much. Dug in and really took hold of me.

That game was The Beginner’s Guide.

I won’t tell you what happens exactly. You should experience it. But I want to include this little end note all the same, just to convince you to watch this, or at least click the little Watch Later button in the corner (Which has become my best friend, of late. Yes, I have no social life.). It’s about the creative process. It’s emotional. It’s about recovering from success rather than recovering from failure. It’s unique and wonderful (Did I mention the chills? I got chills.).

If you do anything creative at all, or you even want to, or you just want to give up two hours for a moving experience, I recommend it. I sometimes put it on while I write, which is why I’ve seen it five or six times since it came out. It’s that good.

In fact, I think I’ll watch it again while I work today.

Voss

Video Gamers: Unite!

So, I put this out on Facebook. I'm also going to put my request (read: plea) up on here.

I'm looking for video gamers for a super-secret research project. This is for anyone who self-identifies as a gamer, even just a little bit. If you could kindly leave me some kind of contact information down in the comments (an eMail or Facebook account would be preferable), I will explain the bare bones of the project. If you're still interested after that, I'll send out the next step in the project to you.

This is something that can take as little time and effort as you want. You're free to back out at any point. Or you can get deep into it right alongside me and see what we can discover. Either way is fine, so don't feel pressured that, if you participate, you'll be forced to spend hours each day doing this. I want it to be fun... a fun research project. Yeah. That's not an oxymoron at all...

So, if you're interested, shoot me a comment down below, or on Facebook. Hoping to get some bright, smiling faces,

Voss

Relish

How do you take your hot dogs? Mustard, ketchup, sauerkraut, jalapenos...? Sure, a hot dog is sufficient--it's still food (or something close enough to food to pass), it will still fill you up, but without the relish, the barbecue sauce, or the aioli (what, it could happen), it's just a tube of leftover meat.

The same thing with writing. Lately, there's been an outpouring against the delightful condiments of literature. Everyone says cut, trim, destroy, burn--anything to make it tighter and more concise. And, in theory, it's a good idea.

Not exactly in practice, I think. Tight is good. Fluff-free is food. The conservation of words is a fantastic concept that I fully support. But what's Harry Potter without wizard's chess? Or Pendragon without spinney-riding? Star Wars without R2D2 and C3PO?

The little things are important. Not just to show off little bits of your world, but to give your readers something to latch onto. Let's face it--humans like sparkly things. It's why we have tinsel. It's that same thing that makes us try and figure out what's shining the weird little light on the ceiling. Give your literature some sparkle. Games, sports, food, fashion--it's all good.

And there's no reason it can't be meaningful sparkle. Take The Hunger Games. The couture in The Capitol is opulent to the point of disgust. It tells you about the nature of The Capitol. And it's shiny (often literally). Or Quidditch in Harry Potter--it's used to advance the plot or establish character...all right, sometimes it's just fun.

But when did fun lose it's place in literature, especially in science fiction and fantasy? Who passed down the law that decreed we all have to be miserable? Give it a thought.

Voss

You Got Your Dungeons and Dragons in My Manuscript!

I feel fairly confident that almost every speculative fiction reader and writer have, at some point, at least attempted to read Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy--and I know for a fact that many of them have thrown it away in disgust.

There is a reason they do this.

I promise.

Tolkien's main claim to fame isn't, as we've been led to believe, his writing prowess. It's his backgrounding work. The man created a new language just to give his world a sense of realism for Christ's sake! He was the first in a long run of epic fantasy authors to delve into the world--the difference is, we now know not to do what Tolkien did.

We don't need to know everything about every petrified mushroom. I really don't care if that rock on the ground is the keystone of the Arches of Gerbnazuleth that fell one thousand years ago in the eighteenth war of King Hiloriet when the Orcadian hordes took Princess Yumkollor captive (please, God, don't make me wrte that again!) unless that actually has something to do with the story you're telling NOW! We understand this and Tolkien did not.

A fellow author and I use this as a bit of the evidence that Tolkien was a basement, tabletop gamer geek.

He got to absorbed into the world and, while he set the bar of success for our genre, wanted us all to join him when we, as a majority, didn't really want to join him.

The other piece of evidence we use? He doesn't kill but a single one of the main protagonists over the course of three rather large books. Three. Large. Books! No one dies except Boromir (please, God, let me get that right or the whole LOTR fan community is going to hang me up by my toenails.) and Gandalf--and Gandalf comes back.

Do the research that Tolkien did if you like--the Silmarillian is fascinating to read, so it's good. Just don't share it with the reader unless they need to know.

Love your characters, but make sure they die when and if aproppriate!

Don't mix your D&D with your manuscript--it can lead to bad things.

Voss