the-game-doctor

[the-game-doctor]

Definitely a different light put on an iconic boss! Love it! 

[the-game-doctor]

Star Wars Games: The Forgotten Frontier

Let’s talk about one of my all time favorite things ever.

Star Wars

(Membeh Star Wars, Membeh chewbacca…oh oh oh and Jawas…Membeh when Star Wars games actually released? I membeh!)

*Click for reference*

‘Scuse me. Let me put those away.  Let’s talk the Star Wars. My life-long obsession. J.J. Abrams brought Star Wars back to the limelight, but what about Star Wars games? I can’t bring myself to talk about the movie. Even months later…I still have some repression going on.

BUT! Star Wars games are more fun to talk about! If your gaming childhood was anything like mine, the feeling of frying  your enemies alive with Force Lightning as you pummeled through Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was one of the closest moments you ever had to feeling like you were in the Star Wars universe.

Prior to that, the feeling of going up against Black Sun as a mercenary in Shadows of the Empire expanded the feeling of the game past the Jedi vs Sith dichotomy that is the focus of the movies. That exhilaration after you finally beat IG-88 on a moving train is what made the game FEEL like the Star Wars universe.

This is what Star Wars gaming meant to me. The time where the games bled Star Wars and the games expanded the universe in some real way. This is what made me want to grab a blaster and pretend to be gunning down Stormtroopers late at night on a deserted street when I was 12.

Even Star Wars: The Old Republic is still going strong, but in my present status, and even back then working multiple jobs, I didn’t have the time to really appreciate the complexity and depth of a Star Wars MMO. (This may be one of the most depressing things I have ever said)

AND then

*EXPLOSIONS?!* <– The sound of the *Non-Canon-declaration Act of 2014* goes off.

Star Wars games became more ethereal. Game Shows/conventions (i.e. PAX, BlizzCon) show huge promise, but little follow through with items hitting the market.

So…what happened?

Let’s take a look at a case study. Star Wars Battlefront.

The game had a HUGE amount of hype. It had been years since we were able to take a dive into the Star Wars universe as the ground troops. The promise of jumping back into the force-enhanced shoes of our most loved heroes and enemies was overpowering. SW:B2 had been a huge success, but had been limited by the hardware.

The next generation of consoles was able to let us visualize the Star Wars universe in a way that had been limited to film up to that point.  The Beta hit to huge responses. Video postings everywhere. The response was nearly fanatical.

The game itself hit and……………*crickets*

What happened?

The game had forgotten what it meant to capture the feeling of the Star Wars Universe. The game was a successful Battlefield game, with an attempt at sky combat, but had forgotten what it was intended to be, a Star Wars game. Instead of bullets flying, there were lasers. Rocket Launchers were commonplace, but eventually you ended up with Battlefield, Titanfall and Call of Duty Black Ops 3 thrown into a blender and poured into the Star Wars mold.

The same went for Star Wars Commander. The attempt at a Clash of Clans remake with a shaky storyline explanation for poor decisions and benefits made it difficult to want to continue playing.

I want to pay my respects to Star Wars 1313 which died before it had a chance to shine.

…

…

…

The reason 1313 had the potential to be great was that it didn’t show off the iconic Light Side vs Dark Side struggle. The game was going to be about a bounty hunter scrounging a living in the underbelly of Coruscant. Within the movies, there is little talk about the lower levels of the city-wide metropolis, but the Extended Universe has spend quite a bit of time there.

Let’s take the scene from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy where they spend time in Knowhere. Remove the Guardians themselves, and you have a gritty, guttural, lawless pit festering with dangerous characters, illegal activities, and black markets for anything you could ever wish for. Throw in some Mandalorians, dysfunctional droids, and some threats about Thermal Detonators, and BAM. You have Level 1313 on Coruscant.

I’m not trying to bash on these games too much. They are a large part of the Star Wars Universe, but I feel like they have been sadly neglected. In some cases, even completely ignored. Star Wars Rogue Squadron for N64 was masterful for what it did. Put you in the cockpit of the iconic starfighers, and actually play through a storyline, not just dogfight incessantly.

The games were more or less folded into other games as time went on. Star Wars : Starfighter ran into some issues and the last Rogue Squadron game was released for the Gamecube. Since then, each of the games has had some component of starfighter combat, but the game focus is lacking. Air combat is unrefined and feels tacked on. An Eve: Valkyrie of Star Wars, please?

This gets me to the point I intend to make. The real star of the Star Wars universe isn’t Luke Skywalker, Han Solo or Kylo Ren. The really star is the Universe itself. The vastly different worlds that the stories survive in. The rich culture and relationships between entities developed over years of fine-tuning games, books and other Star Wars related media. This is where the life is Star Wars lives. Not in Rebels shooting Stormtroopers (although, I have to admit, it is a LOT of fun to take down the Emperor with a grenade. I mean…why didn’t they think of that? Come on rebels!)

As 2016 starts to move into the holiday season, there are a few positives and a few negatives forthcoming. The Star Wars landscape has a few jewels on the horizon. The potential release of Battle Of The Sith Lords sounds promising, but there is speculation that this title will never see the light of day. With the buyout, and subsequent closure, of LucasArts. This title also comes with a large amount of concern. Assuming we just go with the title, this may be a conglomeration of random Sith battling each other. While this could be sweet, it would probably lose the atmosphere and sense of the Star Wars Universe.

Once the focus has shifted back to the Star Wars Universe, and we focus on creating a thriving atmosphere, I think we will again rise into a glorious age of amazing games and the magic of Star Wars will again be recaptured. I mean…Disney did buy them. Share some of that Magic!

In the meantime, Rogue One coming soon! More excited for this than I EVER was for Force Awakens! Star Wars focus OUTSIDE the normal few.

Trailer 1 HERE

Trailer 2 HERE

Star Wars Games: The Forgotten Frontier was originally published on Daddy is a Geek

[the-game-doctor]

New Gamer among us! Forgive the absence!

6 weeks ago, I welcomed my beautiful daughter into the world. And yes, I realize that everyone thinks their kids are pretty/beautiful/whatever, but it is expected. 

Moving on. 

I AM BACK! It has been too long since I have been able to do anything worthwhile on here. Missed out on some amazing Dark souls/Bloodborne/cosplay. The stuff I am really passionate about. I’m back and ready for more games and geek! 

Thank you all so much for following! Updates on the way! 

[the-game-doctor]

A few days late on this one, but it is NEVER too late to appreciate what started my obsession with From Software’s masterpieces. HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNDEAD/Unkindled/hunters......whatever you may be

[the-game-doctor]

There are few things I enjoy more than some good old fashioned Dark Souls Weapons! Great art, amazing ideas. 

Weapons, Dark Souls Design Works. 

[the-game-doctor]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd5yB9Vmd6I)

Normally I stick to Video Games, but having a new addition to the family made this insanely relevant! Our beautiful daughter is going to grow up in a house with a Star Wars nut (me) and a Star Trek Geek (my wife) 

Naturally,. this is freaking awesome! So without further ado, a conversation that will happen many times in the coming years in my house. Done INSANELY well by CollegeHumor! 

Don’t forget to check out the blog! Slowed down a little with the little one having just gotten home, but it will pick up soon! 

[the-game-doctor]

What it means to be an adult gamer. This is an unfortunate reality for more gaming adults than we would like to admin. Amazing games like Elder Scrolls and Witcher are hard to stick with when you only get a few hours a week to play. 

But, gamers will game, or at least collect.  In my instance, my wonderful little daughter arrived Tuesday morning! I’m a daddy! Posts will be slightly more sparse over the coming week, but not completely vacant! 

[the-game-doctor]

Retro-Souls Art!

Unparalleled Retro-Souls art by ZedoTagger over at DeviantArt

Old Iron King...but....Pixelated?! 

HELL YES! 

Welcome back! Very few things get me more excited than IPs getting recreated as games of years gone by. The retro look is something that is special to many of us, and because of that, I feel especially excited about this piece! 

Personally, I feel like the only tagline that should go with this is 

“OH......shit............” But there is so much more. As gamers have grown into adulthood, there is a wont to return to their roots. 

In the infamous words of our beloved Honest Trailers Narrator “ Their brutal, weird-ass Japanese roots” 

At any rate, I couldn’t hold this back! These were too awesome! 

Enjoy! 

Come see me over at my new blog! Daddy is a Geek! Gaming, Geek and Family! 

[the-game-doctor]

Over the past year, I have been trying to stay relatively consistent with my posts, bringing the joy of gaming, appreciation for gamers, and enjoying the finer points of the SoulsBorne series. (I enjoy many other games, but the last year has had huge focus on those games)  The last few days, I have been able to look at how my followers have grown and I can’t say thank you guys enough! I know many are passive followers, but my appreciation for you guys can’t be exaggerated! I love doing this, and being able to share my love of gaming is something I have always dreamed of! Thanks for sharing it with me, and Hope to keep hearing from all of you! 

Even through the transition into the new website and beyond, Loving every minute of sharing awesome gaming content, and the fantastic things that show up in our Video Game Industry! 

Thanks again! 

[the-game-doctor]

Pokemon GO Hysteria! Tips, Tricks, and Tools for the Pokemon Master!

Update: Found a few of the APKs on GitHub. Linked below!

UPDATE 2: Added Pokeadviser.com

UPDATE 8/5/16: Niantic has removed access to their API for most of the Trackers. The only ones available are crowd-sourced at this time. The developers over at PokemonGoDev reddit are working diligently towards a solution, but at the moment, Pokemon hunting is something akin to a deaf game of Marco Polo.

See my previous Pokemon GO article here! Goes over the app in general, and how crazy PokeGO Hysteria has become!

As Pokemon Go has grown exponentially, dedicated groups of people are jumping at the opportunity to

dive into the nitty-gritty of how the game works to understand how to become the very best, like no one

ever was DUN DUN DU…. Sorry, couldn’t help myself… Moving on.

Shoutout to the wonderful development community over at Reddit.com/r/pokemongodev for several of

the tools featured here.

The tips and tricks are going to go over relatively quickly. Every other article has been about “x things

Pokemon GO didn’t tell you” blah blah blah. While this is DEFINITELY the case and Pokemon Go is less

than forthright with several of its features, this article is intended to focus more on the tools that are

constantly being updated and developed to push the community into Pokemon Mastery!

If you are tired of seeing the same little tips over and over and want to get to the TOOLS,

CLICK HERE

What Pokemon Go doesn’t tell you.

1. Extra XP from catches.

From the very beginning, the game throws out a few mechanics that it doesn’t explain completely. I

am sure this is for accessibility’s sake. There is a constantly closing circle within the capture circle

when looking at your wild Pokémon prey. If you are lucky en…..I mean, skilled enough to hit inside

the ring, you will gain extra XP. The amount of XP is based on how small the inner circle is.

Nice (Large inner circle) : 10 XP

Great (Mid-range inner circle): 50 XP

Awesome (Tiny inner circle): 100 XP.

As you move forward, these little bits of XP boost definitely help move forward in levels.

2. Color of inner ring indicates difficulty to catch.

The inner circle is a color somewhere between green and red. The closer to red, the harder to catch

the Pokémon with the current ball.

3. Gyms can be taken with multiple players.

The Gyms are the main focus of the game for many. It is the reason to discuss CP at all. But not all

players know that Gym battles don’t have to be done alone. Grab a few players from your Team,

and throw in against a Gym to take it down.

4. Gym battles are not one and done.

As you take down Gyms, the battles only knock down prestige. When Prestige gets to 0, the Gym is

free to be taken. Keep attacking! And don’t forget to heal/revive between battles. As long as you can take down 1 Pokemon with your team, any can be taken down with enough time.

5. There are bonuses for holding Gyms.

Having a Pokémon in a gym is definitely worthwhile. For each Pokémon in a gym at the time of

collection of prizes, you receive 500 Stardust and 10 Pokécoins, which can be used in the store for

backpack and Pokémon capacity expansions! The location of the collection button is on the store

screen in the top right corner. (I either missed this when it was discussed or it was never talked

about cause it took me a while to find it.

***Thanks to the 0.31 update, this no longer works!***

6. Pokéballs are thrown from the location of the camera.

This is not intuitive at first, and might not work every time, but sometimes the hardest thing to do it

hit the Pokémon with your little prison ball. Sometimes the paper-football- esque throwing game can

be avoided with a quick flick as soon as your Pokéballs appear. The first thing that happens with

each Pokémon is a close-up view of whatever you clicked on, followed by a zoom out. Your

Pokéballs are active during this zoom, and are much closer than if you wait. In later levels, this may

not work since the default balls is the basic Pokéball, and the Pokémon are significantly stronger,

but sometimes, it is worth the risk instead of throwing wide over and over.

7. Hidden Stats Matter.

There was a lot of misinformation going around about CP being the biggest factor. Yes it is one, but

there are a few more important ones. If you have the Stardust to spend, it is more important to

factor in Moveset and Individual values (These are discussed later)

In general MOVESET  > IV > CP.

Movesets do tend to change as you evolve, but any Pokemon that you don’t expect to evolve, Moveset reigns king!

8. Don’t level/evolve your Pokemon right away.

This is more of a tip than something Pokemon GO doesn’t tell you. You can play however you want,

but if you were like my during my first go round, you started leveling Pokemon right away. Bad idea.

Powering up your Pokemon uses precious Stardust. Not just that, as you level, the CP of the

Pokemon you catch level with you. This means that if you spent 15000 stardust getting a Pokémon

to a decent level at level 13, you have the possibility of getting the same Pokémon with a HIGHER CP

at later levels, but you are now out the Stardust needed to level the new Pokemon.

BONUS: PIDGEY STACK! – This is discussed later in tools as well!

You may notice the crazy amount of Pidgeys, Caterpies, and Weedles that are EVERYWHERE! You trip over their digital bodies.

Every twist and turn. Nearly every block…you get the point. You may think that they are things to be ignored, but they are actually

a key to leveling FAST! XP is what keeps you evolving, and up until around level 20, it doesn’t take a huge amount to get from

one level to the next. Pidgey stacking is where you use those precious Lucky Eggs for their full capacity! Wait until you have

a crazy amount of Pokemon to evolve, (Pidgey, Caterpie and Weedle are prime targets since they only take 12 candies to evolve)

and do it all at once. Evolving grants you 500 XP every time. If you take all 30 minutes of a Lucky Egg to evolve Pokemon after

Pokemon, optimally, you can max up to 60,000 XP in 30 minutes! That’s huge! And usually enough for 2-6 levels, depending

on what level you start at. Unless you are like me and 15 minutes in, the servers start to glitch out. In which case you throw your

phone out the window and pray you can find if after you stop seeing red.

Pokemon GO TOOLS!

Now for the part that makes my day easier, the amazing community tools! Thanks to the amazing

PokemonGoDev Reddit Community!

***CAUTION: MUST READ***

Until Niantic gives the go ahead for several of these tools, there is a change of being soft or hard

banned from the game. Do NOT use your main account for this. Create either a dummy account at

the Pokémon Training Club, or a dummy gmail account to be able to use these amazing tools. These

may not work in the future, but as of the writing of this email, they are working.

***YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED***

Proceed with elation.

Mobile

*****************UPDATE! Niantic Cracked down on these tracking apps  with V0.31! Trying to keep this updated with working ones! ************

GO Extender

The first of the tools is not one that gets you Pokemon, or notifies you of nearby, or sorts by lured

Pokéstops. This makes the application a little more user friendly. One of the main flaws with the

program itself is it is a HUGE battery drain. Not only that, but keeping the application active in your

pocket, which I have done walking around my workplace (Most don’t exactly want you staring at

your phone as you walk around), ends up with button presses that can end up with you dropping all

your Pokéballs all over the ground, upgrading Pokemon you weren’t planning on, and other

generally unpleasant things.

So there’s that.

The main thing about Extender is screen control. Allows you to turn off the screen when you are

holding it towards the ground, which I have had varying degrees of success with when I try to pull it

back up again. The ability to keep it up for extended periods of time helps around the house. Not

having to constantly babysit it to keep it on helps when trying to do things and play Pokemon GO at

the same time. I mean, they aren’t mutually exclusive! Come on.

PokéDetector – Dummy account recommended

PokeDetector is a great application for passively looking for something around you without actually

having the game up. You can set the frequency of the notifications and they will tell you what is in

the area. This works great when you are not moving around, like at work or at home. The

notifications can be tailored to specific Pokémon with the paid version, but either way it works

great! Caught a Snorlax and Magmar using this the other day without draining my battery.

The problem with PokeDetector is that it doesn’t have a huge range. It makes the assumption that

you want to open the game, catch what it tells you is around, and close it again. Which sometimes,

it right on the money.

PokeRadar – Dummy account recommended *THIS WAS REMOVED FROM Google Play Store* Download Here

*In the meantime, another app that allows multiple dummy accounts for faster scanning is HERE.*

PokeRadar is a great utility for finding Pokemon in a specific area. It needs a little polishing, and will

disconnect without warning at times, but the thing that makes it stand out is the standalone button

that hovers over the active application, like when you actually HAVE Pokemon GO active.

I am not sure I would recommend it, because you are broadcasting your specific Device ID at the

same time, regardless of the use of a dummy account, but until Niantic posts more about how they

will be dealing with these tools, everything utilized to seek out Pokemon is a risk…aside from

walking aimlessly…since tracking isn’t working…but ….you know…exercise and all that.

Unlike a few other applications at this time, it constantly updates sectors of the map. Once it has

updated the whole map, it turns right back around and starts again.

Online

Before we get into the web resources, let’s talk about something that has gotten a lot of

attention, especially in the competitive side. Individual Values (IV). Individual Values have

been a part of Pokemon since the beginning of the games, and it can’t be ignored here.

Individual values are hidden multipliers that affect the attack, defense, and stamina of your

particular Pokemon. The IV values, from what has been discovered so far, stay with the

Pokemon throughout its life. For those who are looking to be competitive and give their

Pokemon a reprieve from their tiny spherical prisons will do well to use a calculator to look

for the “perfect Pokemon.” I ran into a perfect Pidgey the other day. I felt like I should have

been excited, but in fact, I was underwhelmed. Imagine that.

Pokemon.Gameinfo

Gameinfo has a lot of very good information, but what I found most exciting was the ability

to look at the Damage Per Second (dps) of all possible attacks that Pokémon could have!

Movesets become extremely important once the gym battles commence. Be aware! There

is also an Evolution calculator and IV Calculator, but I prefer to use the ones listed below.

Granted IVs aren’t everything.

Without further ado, I give you……

The Silph Road

The Silph road is a group of Pokemon Go players that is intended to be a network of in-

person players. While this may be an attractive prospect to some, and I encourage you to

take a look at their Reddit, The gems come in the way of their tools.

Species Stats can help you find the best Pokemon that you are looking for, in addition to

being able to compare them to other Pokemon.

IV RATER helps you determine the possible IVs from your Level, CP Arc Position (This is the

most difficult part), and Current HP and CP.

Moves Ranks the best to the worst moves. Helpful for determining moves between

Pokemon as well as the best Pokemon to keep.

PokeVision  With the new update, Many of these apps are shutdown! Pokevision no longer works!

Pokevision is an online version of the Pokemon Maps as seen from before. Great tool, but it

has its limitations. It has a very narrow scope, and lets you search once every 30 seconds.

Pidgey Calc

PidgeyCalc is a fantastic tool that has a very specific purpose. Lucky Eggs are very rare. You

receive a few while leveling up, and can purchase them from the store. This is also the key

to “Pidgey Stacking”, which has become one of the most effective ways of XP gain.

Lucky Eggs are 30 minutes of Double XP. Those are a precious 30 minutes, and Pidget calc

can show you how many more Pokemon you need to be ready to evolve before you crack

open that Lucky Egg. It averages out to around 60 evolutions, if you have no problems.

Side note. Had a server die while in the middle of a Lucky Egg. NOT A GOOD DAY…

Great tool that tells you how many more Pokemon you should get before evolving, how

many candies you will have after you are done. It is like the night after Halloween!

IV Calculation Spreadsheet – Click HERE!

The calculation sheet is slightly more accurate than the subjective use of the CP curve for IV

calculations, and gives you a range of perfection based on stats entered into the sheet.

PokeAdviser.com – Great resource, but use with caution!

This is an amazing resource. Many items that it pulls save HOURS of time, the IV calcs are one of the best items on the site. USE WITH CAUTION! As of today, there is no support from Niantic for 3rd party applications, and unlike many of the other items on this list, if you want any information of use, you will need to use your main PokeGO account. You have been warned, but this is such a wealth of knowledge.

Pokemon GO Hysteria! Tips, Tricks, and Tools for the Pokemon Master! was originally published on Daddy is a Geek

[the-game-doctor]

Pokemon GO: Hysteria, Server trouble and Eevees.

Flash back to 1998. Pokemon Craze is at its peak. Pokemon Yellow just released to the delight of every middle schooler on the planet. Pokemon cards are being traded, with certain clique hierarchies being determined by whoever had the foil Charizard.

Fast forward to 2016. July 5th opened up the floodgates to what can only be described as an overnight phenomenon. An unprecedented explosion of popularity brought on by impeccable timing. AR technology is still in its infancy, but still close enough to make you feel like a Pokemon Master! Although, for now, it seems that the world is overflowing with Pidgeys and Eevees. So we may have a pest problem, but at least they don’t bite.

It goes without saying, the Pokemon crazy has returned to its former glory, at least in the number of people playing it. The mobile gaming arena has been fraught with games trying to push their way to the top. Clash of Clans dominated the monetary landscape for a while. Flappy bird hit overnight success a few months after a release that went unnoticed by many. Candy Crush has taken over the minds of many and spawned many copy-cats. (We all know Candy Crush did it first. Bejeweled never existed right?) But NOTHING has taken the world by storm like Pokemon GO. But this is not a story without its share of strife. Let’s talk about what became one of the most popular hashtags EVER! #PokemonGoDown

As you may or may not know, the never-ending battle of super popular game vs online servers has been a battle waged since first we discovered that games could be played against people on different electronic devices. Hardly a popular game release goes by without some manifestation of server trouble. Or glitches. Big name games of recent years have been renown, and in some cases made infamous, by incredible and irritating glitches….I’m looking at you Assassin’s Creed: Unity.

GAH! …. That still gives me nightmares.

Back to Pokemon, the extreme popularity has been a blessing and a curse for Pokemon GO. They are making crazy money. And not because the game is the best thing since the internet. It has its fair share of problems. But what it does have is a MASSIVE addiction factor. Let’s ask the Canadian Minister of Mobile Gaming what that means.

Thanks, Minister. There are MILLIONS of people playing this every single minute….that the servers are up. The game is incredibly addiction. If you remember the intro to the original Pokemon show the first lines went. “I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test. To Train them is my cause.” Let’s talk about this. Ever since those of us who were of the age to be drawn in by the first Pokemon phenomenon, catching every one of these pocket monsters was drilled into us EVERY CHANCE THEY GOT! The games were all about collecting them all. Walking in circles for hours to find a Pikachu in the Viridian Forest while playing Pokemon Blue…. That’s right. I admit it. Not ashamed.

Now this has been taken to a global scale. As Niantic pushes the games to more and more countries, the game servers fluctuate. This past week, thanks to my wife discovering how incredibly addicting it is (Night after I caught my Syther! WOOHOO!) Many hours were spent driving back and forth to Pokestops, and walking around parks. (Before you say it isn’t called Pokemon Drive, My wife is 8 months pregnant, so walking long distances is out of the question.) The main problem was that, all too often, the dreaded server message came up and destroyed the mood. The feeling of hatred I had towards this screen was incredible. I am still determining if that was healthy, but for 3 or 4 days, at approximately 3pm EST, servers drop. This happens to fall right as we would be preparing to get out for errands, which has become the daily Pokestop trip. After several instances of this happening, it begins to wear thin. One of two things will begin to happen. Either you will start to accept that the servers are problematic, and it becomes a part of the game. Or you get fed up and decrease the amount you play or quit entirely. Both are bad for a game that is intended to be an immersive experience.

Pokemon GO has also pushed thousands of people outside as well. In the park the other day, I saw a group of fitness buffs taking it to the next level, doing some type of workout every time something in the game happened. Catch a Pokemon – 10 push-ups. Hatch an egg, 15 jumping jacks. You get the point. Getting kids outside has been a major battle for decades. Along comes Pokemon GO, EVERYONE’S OUTSIDE! Thanks Nintendo!

Now, to the game itself. As I have said before, The game is not perfect by any means, but it has brought a decent portion of depth from the other games. One of the largest draws of the game is the Augmented Reality. One of the first games to allow these features, and by far the most popular of the options. Awesome pictures like these are some of the main features of the game. 

The obsession of catching them all is what drives the addiction for this game. But there is so much more! Niantic could have very easily made it difficult to continue the game after the first few levels. Pokeballs could have been purchases only. The same for items that pulled in Pokemon for capture, but the introduction of Pokestops for potions, eggs, and (most importantly) Pokeballs keep the game going for many many people. This allows you to avoid terrible situations like this. Blastoise was laughing at me. I know it…

The Pokestops, along with the draw of new Pokemon, keep people moving from location to location, and allow for a sense of community with players. I have been stopped randomly while playing to be asked what team I am on (Team Mystic) and getting a variety of responses. But each encounter was friendly; spontaneous banding together to take down a gym has happened a few times! Level 5 opens up gyms and battles, this is the overall endgame of Pokemon GO. Gyms allow for you to gain Pokecoins without paying for them, allowing for lure purchases, increase in number of items and Pokemon held. This is fantastic and will undoubtedly assist with the longevity of the game.

I have seen families with children, elderly and young couples and kids of all ages out playing, talking and laughing! It has been a huge bonding experience with me and my wife as well.

After all is said and done, the game is HUGELY successful, insanely addicting, and going forward, will have a piece in, not only Nintendo and Pokemon history, but in gaming history! Get out and play!

Pokemon GO: Hysteria, Server trouble and Eevees. was originally published on Daddy is a Geek

[the-game-doctor]

Some fantastic Dark Souls 3 art coming, this time a close up with the Firekeeper! Stunning piece! 

57944991

[the-game-doctor]

Dive into the Awesome World of Epic Cosplays: Tina-Kinz Cosplay

This is going to be a short shoutout to an influencer in the gaming community! A whole niche unto itself that benefits from having a few shining stars!

I’ll be honest, not all Cosplay strikes my fancy. The embodiment of putting yourself into the shoes of the games we love, and then having another’s rendition pull into reality can have a striking and lasting effect on how we view the characters.

Unfortunately, due to many different factors, I have not been able to partake in this niche of the geek and gaming, but when I have time, I thoroughly enjoy well done cosplayers advocating for their hobby.

One in particular I have enjoyed since I first found her is Tina-Kinz Cosplay. I have been watching her site, and enjoying nearly every piece, for a long time.

This piece was the first that I ever saw! And let me say, it blew me away. Think of it. Bloodborne DLC : The Old Hunters had just released. It had expanded the game in a multitude of ways, not the least of which was adding new characters to love, hate, or generally despise. (And rip you in half, but you know…the good with the bad)

And this shows up on my feed! Lady Maria done exquisitely, with a layer of atmosphere that is almost tangible! I was hooked. Her quality of pictures, mixed with an incredible sense of humor that is portrayed through many of her cosplays. The pictures are artistic in a way that blends photography with intense gaming passion.

This is one of the more recent pictures, and I have to say, I am loving it! As a long time MtG player, I can’t help be elated at the mix between Dark Souls and MtG, 2 of my favorite new and old passions.

Her focus on the Dark Souls/Bloodborne series has drawn me back to her again and again. Staying true to material, and breathing life into the characters that I have grown to cherish through my gaming experiences over the last few years of Soulsborne gaming. (SoulsBorne is such a fun word!)

But at the end of the day, it isn’t just which games she does, but how the does them. I am looking forward to the Widowmaker cosplay, Linkle was a good but of fun, but every time I see a great FromSoftware inspired one, my heart jumps a little!

As you can see, she expands outside of gaming as well. The Little Mermaid 2 set was enjoyable, as well as showed that cosplay isn’t something just meant for games, anime and general nerd-dom (I am a HUGE proponent of Geek and Nerd, if was not already apparent, so no negative connotation here) but also some great movie adaptation as well!

From myself personally, all I can say is, keep up the incredible work! Love what she is doing, and eagerly awaiting new and awesome cosplays to come! Stay unique! It suits you well!

I am sure I will feature her again soon! I can’t get enough of her work! Be sure to support her at Tina-Kinz Cosplay on Facebook! Many thanks to Tina for allowing this post as well!

Dive into the Awesome World of Epic Cosplays: Tina-Kinz Cosplay was originally published on Daddy is a Geek

[the-game-doctor]

MOON PRESENCE! This is so incredibly amazing, that I can barely stand it. 

Bloodborne art at its finest!

Bloodborne & Soul series collaboration.

I’d participated this collaboration with this pic.

Plz Click here and Check more Wonderful artworks and novels (Korean) !!!

↓ ↓ ↓

http://dramaticctr.wix.com/bornefirelitcollabo

Do Not use these artworks and novels without permission!!

[the-game-doctor]

Death, difficult, and massive following. These define the Dark Souls and related games from From Software. Unfortunately, much less attention is given to the mastery of their art and the spectacle of their landscapes.

There amazing gifs encompass that.

[the-game-doctor]

The Overwatch Phenomenon Introduction.

Before I start this post, OverwatchLF is one of the best resources for finding a team to play with! Period. Describe what you want, and you will receive. My primary gaming is done on PC and PS4. For this game specifically, I have been playing on my PS4. Relevance of this information is determined by you. -End Message-

Welcome to the Overwatch Phenomenon Introduction. I will be completing a quick guide soon with explanation of characters, counters to other characters, and general helpful information! Stay tuned for more to come!

If you haven’t heard of Overwatch by now, you probably haven’t picked up a gaming magazine, opened any gaming website, watched Twitch/Youtube, or visited a Game store in going over a year. Blizzard, that powerhouse in refined experiences (I exclude the first iterations of Diablo 3…but besides that) has once again graced us with one of the most incredible games seen in recent years. Incredibly balanced team play, continuously shifting battlefields and a host of characters you would expect to see if a gaming convention was overrun with monks then visited the local prison.

As a Gaming Professional, I really was drawn in by this game immediately, but it was incredibly intimidating. I had the good fortune of being able to pick it up a week after launch, but as many know, by that time, your top tier gamers have separated themselves from the rest, and the vast majority have become decently competent at the game.

Here is the kicker. Overwatch isn’t Battlefield. It isn’t Call of Duty. It isn’t Diablo. It is more in tune with the likes of MOBAs than nearly any game on the market right now. But this is why it has been so incredibly popular. Except maybe the inordinate amount of advertising Blizzard did for the game, but props for pushing out a game worth the hype.

Whether or not you picked up OW the minute it came out, and have stopped only to eat, sleep and call of nature duties since, or are finally getting around to enjoying the most popular game so far this year, there are a few things of note that should be reinforced, and seem to be constantly challenged. These have been lovingly dubbed “The Overwatch Reminders.”

3 HUGE OVERWATCH REMINDERS!

NUMBER 1: THIS IS A TEAM GAME!

This is worth stating again, so I will. THIS IS A TEAM GAME! Unlike other popular multiplayer games where the aspect of team combat was intended as a ploy so “now you can play WITH FRIENDS!”, Overwatch was built from the ground up to be played as a team. As such, against a team that is even loosely playing as they should, a single incredible player has a very slight chance of winning a match by themselves. Playing as a team and communicating as best you can with your team is a core principle of how this game works. There is no getting around it.

NUMBER 2: REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN SWITCH CHARACTERS! PLAY WHO NEEDS TO BE PLAYED!

If you end with the same team characters that you started with, you either found awesome balance with perfect counters right away and your team had great synergy, you lost, or you could have won much faster. (I may be exaggerating, but this really is the case most of the time) Over and over, I watch the requests from OverwatchLF, and see “Soldier 76 Main” or “Widowmaker Main”  and this confuses me a little.  I’ll use myself as an example.

This is a picture from early game stats. My favorite character, during my early games, was D.Va. I loved her flair, the stackable abilities, and the second chance at life! But what I noticed, was that nearly every game I jumped in on in Quick Play (prior to the discovery of OverwatchLF) was lacking a support. So I was able to spend a LOT of time as Lucio. But often I would run into groups where the following would happen.

One of the best things about Overwatch, especially for starting players, is that it doesn’t make you guess. It tells you TO YOUR FACE exactly what kind of character your team needs to be balanced. BEFORE THE GAME BEGINS! Let’s analyze this for a second, shall we? Game Mode is Defend. Naturally you would expect a Tank, Sniper, Builder, Healer as the general outline. (We haven’t started a match so counters are not applicable yet). This team thought it prudent to have 3 attack characters. Not 2 for the extra slots. 3! Two of which are the SAME CHARACTER! There are 21 characters! WHY DO YOU NEED TO PICK THE SAME ONE! It’s probably their main. Guess that makes it ok………………

Another example, this one a little more disturbing. We haven’t seen the other team yet, so again, counters are not a part of the equation. There are 2 duplicates here! Soldier 76 and Junkrat. Both of these characters have their place, but very few instances warrant a doubling up of either character let alone BOTH. And once again, we are lacking in several key areas. There is no balance to the team!

Number 3: DON’T TELL YOUR TEAM EVERYONE SUCKS BECAUSE YOUR TEAM LOST! I’m looking at you, guy who played Widowmaker in Attack the WHOLE game!

This really  should not be needed. We should all be able to play the game and realize that we all want to have fun… AH HAHAHAHAHA. Sorry, sorry. I really did want that to be able to say that without laughing. But the truth is that unfortunately, consistently you will find yourself with those gamers who just constantly drag your team down. Every person telling the rest of the team how much they suck, that they were born on another planet, or make some insinuation, or flat out saying, that you need to switch your character.

Here is the thing.

This game, as was said before, is a TEAM game. There are no team captains, no matter what that little number under your character pic is. However, over and over, games have come up where the person on the mic just constantly makes one comment after another about how you should be playing, or why he wasn’t being covered, or that everyone else sucks. I hear “bullshit” called out nearly every minute. Something you have to remember though, Every character in this game can be overpowered in the right hands. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE! A few tend to stand out as winning the Play of the Game, or having their names thrown into the MVP choices at the end. Bastion and Torb tend to take this rather easily in certain modes, but that doesn’t mean for an instant that they are overpowered. Bastion can easily overpower a quick play team where no one is talking or cooperating, but that doesn’t mean that he was played ineffectively, or unfairly.

Sorry I rambled on there for a second, but I will leave you with a bonus!

BONUS:  COMMUNICATE! 

With the  ease that you can get a team together using OverwatchLF, there really shouldn’t be a reason that you aren’t communicating with your team. No, I am not referring to telling them how much they suck, but even the slightest bit of cooperation can help impressively.

“Here, stand here with your shield while I take out this turret that just killed 4 of us. Aaaaaand done. Thanks.” See how easy that was.

Communication can tie a team together in great ways, it also lets you keep your team informed of changes on the battlefield, or to your character selections. If you were the healer, but need someone to take out a Bastion, let someone know that you are changing, or maybe someone else just died and is in a position to do so. In either case, you don’t leave your team high and dry when they thought they had support.

All in all, Overwatch is absolutely fantastic. A pinnacle of creation from Blizzard. Ok, maybe it isn’t that good, but from the console realm, there hasn’t been a game quite like it that has grabbed such a mass of attention in quite a while. It is a major force in the market, and will be for a long time to come. Especially with Competitive Mode just hitting the streets.

One last thing that I will say, is have fun. In the end, this is a game. It isn’t going to kill you if you lose a match, your wife isn’t going to leave you, your job will be there tomorrow. It is just a GAME. We all love to win, but in the end, having fun is much more important. This is how we have chosen to spend our free time, something very dear to a lot of us. Let’s keep the game alive for years to come, and not allow the atmosphere to spiral into the toxicity that has infected so many other games on the market today.

Hope you enjoyed these tips into the great game of Overwatch. If you want more stuff like this in the future, let me know! IF you are looking for something else, let me know about that too! I am always excited to hear from you!

The Overwatch Phenomenon Introduction. was originally published on Daddy is a Geek

[the-game-doctor]

Gaming Professional: A Hidden Minority

Gamer. The word invokes a great many feelings when used, some from a time nearly a decade ago.

“Lives in parent’s basement” “Teenager” “Waste of time” “Childish” “Toxic” “Only losers do that”

Unfortunately, all too often, this is the general response to being a gamer in today’s world in general. Video games are seen as time wasters at their core, and because of that, it translates into an automatic response of disrespect for the majority of those who learn about this favorite past-time of many.

Recently, I ran across a piece that discussed items that gamers with jobs really hate. One of the items stuck out to me much more pronounced than the rest.

The story went like this.

“You spent all weekend leveling up your new cleric to where you wanted him, finally geared him exactly the way you wanted. You mention something to your co-workers the next day. The response is ‘There isn’t anyone named Cleric in the NFL'”

Now, I am not one to bash anyone for their hobbies. Everyone spends time doing something because they need the time to unwind. Some work on cars, some build model planes, some explore realms through their imaginations and some run rampaging through maps pulverizing every moving thing in sight. This is just how hobbies work.  Unfortunately, society has deemed that these hobbies will be placed in a hierarchy. This hierarchy will never be outright discussed. It will just be understood.

For Example, Watching Sports > Gaming.

Since before I entered the workplace, since before college, since about as far as I can remember having any type of legitimate structured social interaction, sports talk had DOMINATED the small talk scene. To an overwhelming degree. Fishing and hunting coming in at a significantly trailing second. This has always struck me as odd. Granted, not all sports talk is equal. Statistical sports talk vs “did you see that pass last night” sports talk adds a different level of depth to the passive observation of the modern day coliseum, but, personally, I never had a sense of enjoyment from watching sports.

This does not make watching sports any better or worse than gaming, but it does have an affect on how people view games. A discussion about the longest pass of the game by QB#2 won’t raise any negative feelings, but an excited talk about how in the zone you were this weekend with your buddies and you had a 24 person killstreak going gets you somethings like ……….

This is where it really struck me. How many people actually do enjoy games, but just feel like they are stuck, scared, or barred from talking about them in “polite” company. If you are a person in any respectable company, whether professional, socioeconomic, or even family, playing games ends making you feel like crap because of the general response to the hobby.

It was from this basic and unwanted response that I started thinking about the group of us that I like to call Gaming Professionals.

Now, let me make this entirely clear. This is not saying that we play games professionally, or are even making the assumption that we are GOOD at games. These are the people who care about their perception, but love to game! As with everything, restraints control how much we get to game, what we get to game, and, unfortunately, how we get to game.

My personal story has had many ups and downs as I have attempted to show that what I do in my spare time does not have any effect on who I am as a person (to the extent the reflex negativity would suggest), my work ethic, or how good I am at my job. For the last 4 years, my professional development has been working my way up the chain within the Nuclear Power industry. My first few months on the job, within the industry, my outward appearance was dictated by those around me, as many of ours is. What was appropriate to discuss, how to respond in various instances, what the best way to proceed with the day the instant you arrived at work. Eventually, I started to allow a little more of who I was to show through. By that time, my work ethic and prowess within various areas had been noticed by several in my department, as well as others. I started to bring up my interests to my co-workers. Many had the response described above. Just slightly on this side of repulsion, but eventually, dialogues began to open up between a few who also enjoyed playing games. A few with several kids, who had brought their children in on it. Some who did it on the weekends, or as they had time. Over time, more and more began to appear within my workplace.

The moral of the story itself (We are nearing the end, so I am going to throw in some South Park-esque summations here) is that I guarantee that you aren’t the only one out there, even though it might seem that way. As we have progressed and the teenagers of yesterday are evolving into the adults of today, those who grew up with games all their lives are starting to make it a part of their families. Many have felt, as I did for a long time, that as you begin to move into adulthood, the enjoyment of these things should be replaced by more “adult” past times. That he enjoyment of the old should fade, but this is is one of the most exciting times in the gaming industry! With VR Just around the corner, we are finally seeing the next true evolution of games!

Hobbies are there as a release for regular life, and they always have been. That video games, board games and other fun-focused are gaining traction just means that society is finally getting to the point where it is acceptable. Watching my manager play Candy Crush showed me just how true that is. Gamification is a real thing! It works, and companies all over the world are finally realizing that fun can be a part of any job, and any industry. These are true strides to widespread acceptance of the hobby permeating our culture!

As always, let me know what you think! Have you had experiences like this? Tell me your stories, I can’t wait to hear from you!

Cyanide and Happiness link from title

Gaming Professional: A Hidden Minority was originally published on Daddy is a Geek