E3, the best time of the year for gamers. My wish list/ predictions of the upcoming news

Well folks, its that time of the year again. The time of the year that, to gamers, is better than Christmas even though you get less from it. That time of course is the Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3for short). With all the theories circulating around the internet at the moment. I thought I might join in on the fun and post a list of games I want to see this year (in some form). This list is in no order, its just what pops into my mind as a write this definitely not filler while I work on the Transformers marathon opinion piece on the matter. With that out of the way...

1.      Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: in the form of a actual game play trailer. The big thing for me for this game is that I want to see how Brendan and May look in 3D. The only other announcement that I want is a Emerald Story mode of the game, seeing as the first Pokémon game I owned was Emerald Version.

2.      A new Metroid game: I was only introduced to the series recently and, even though I haven’t played the 3D games yet, the series is a really nice adventure game. I would prefer it to be for the 3DS as I don’t have a WiiU at the moment (soon...), wether its 2D or 3D doesn’t matter to me. It would be a new Metroid game, something that hasn’t existed since Other M.

3.      A release day for Bayonetta 2: Bayonetta is another game that’s gotten my attention recently. I haven’t played the original (because I haven’t found a copy of it), but Bayonetta 2 does look, from a gameplay perspective, taking out the way she gets her powers... I don’t care if there’s a trailer for it, the main thing for me is a release day.

4.      Sonic Boom: There hasn’t been a lot of concrete news concerning Sonic Boom since it was officially announced earlier this year. A new trailer showcasing Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles and maybe some other characters would be nice, and maybe a new teaser for the show itself SEGA?

5.      Kingdom Hearts III: This is another, “I just want more info please” game. Square Enix is holding back a lot of information on the game at the moment, and seeing as the last trailer was from the D23 expo, new news would be greatly appreciated.

6.      “Poken Fighters”: Only shown off once as a teaser in a timeline of the Pokémon games last year, Poken Fighters, while hasn’t grabbed my attention like the other games on this list, is still interesting because this would be the first of its kind (officially) in terms of Pokémon Spin-offs, possibly being a Tekken inspired Pokémon themed fighting game.

7.      New Smash bros 4 news: but seeing as there’s going to be a 90 minute press conference on it, I’m guessing it’s a given.

Those are the games on my wish list of E3 News, its alot of Nintendo games, but that’s because I don’t have as much interest with the other companies. I still watch all of them (and give you all my impressions of them) and see what comes out, I might be pleasantly surprised.  Keep checking here when E3 is on to see all the new news (as soon as I find out) and all throughout June for the Transformers Marathon. Up first for it, Transformers Generation 1: First strike

Another update, going into the month of June. What to expect from Blaster's Reviews and Turnabout Smash

So what's the plan for June on Blaster's reviews?

Transformers Marathon: The first review is halfway done and planned to go live Monday 2nd of June with 11 reviews planned for the marathon, it might go into July but most of the reviews will be in June.
E3: While I won't be going to E3 (maybe someday...) I will be doing impressions of the trailers that interest me in some form and the press conferences (all of them). I doubt that they will go up the moment after the press conferences finish as I live in a different time zone and chances are, some of the conferences will happen while I'm asleep, I will get them up as soon as I can.

And what about the story on Turnabout Smash? The prologue chapter is in proof reading and work has begun on the next two chapters (thanks to a second writer). I'm hoping to go into production during June but that depends on the proof reading and producers (including myself).

Time for another rant. Tier Lists

There is one thing in competitive gaming that infuriates me to no end, the concept of Tier lists.

For the uninitiated, what is a tier list? A tier list is, most of the time, a fan made list of characters in a game that's sorted in a way that shows how powerful they are. I'm only going to be sticking with Pokémon and Super Smash Brothers as those are the games I play competitively every now and then.

For Pokémon, the tier lists are based on the Pokémon's stats and useability. For example, most legendary Pokémon (Mewtwo, Arceus, Darkrai ect) are in the Uber tier, these Pokémon being banned in competitive play. The next tier down are the Over Used tier, these being the strongest, legal Pokémon and are seen ALL THE DAMM TIME!!! I have respect for players who use the Pokémon that they like, not just for power. A team that I use often are Blaziken with Speed Boost and Blazikenite (legal in Nintendo run tournaments) Lucario (Uber in Mega form, OU normal), Weavile (Borderline), Gardevoir (Borderline in Mega form, Under used without), Hydreigon (Under used) and Foretress (Underused), yes there are some that are Over used and Uber tier, but there are more under used and borderline Pokémon. I don't care about Tier lists, I like using my favourites. My main complaint with the Tier list for Pokémon is the people who only use over used Pokémon because they are the strongest in the game. I'm getting sick of the people who go "I use "Insert Pokémon here" because he's powerful. I hate it but I like its brute strength". It takes away one of the core parts of the game, using your favourite Pokémon. No team is unbeatable and when you use the over used, everyone has a counter, its actually hinders your chances more then it helps.

My complaint stands with the Smash bros players, and tier lists in general. I learned how to play Brawl by playing as Meta Knight, did I know the tier lists existed? No, did I like being over powered? Yes, I'm power hungry in games like Smash bros, with my other main charactes being Luigi, Peach, Kirby, Samus (not Zero Suit), Captain Falcon and Sonic (with Lucario and R.O.B being the runners up). The reason why is because they fit my play style. Fast, can deal a hit, but also funny. I always laugh when I get the chance to yell "ZA WARLDO", when I get the chance to land a Falcon Punch, zipping around as Super Sonic and getting everyone into Kirby's Pot. I don't like people that take Smash bros seriously as it is intended to be fun. Smash bros isn't Street Fighter, its not Tekken. It shouldn't be taken seriously because of the source. How can you take a game that has Mario fighting Sonic in a Animal Crossing village? You can't, and the people who try are the reason why "Final Destination only, no items, Fox only" memes exist. I can play competitive and I do so every now and then, but I still like having fun in my games. For Fun or For Glory? For fun, but every now and then For Glory for me at least.

Check Blaster's Projects to find out what's coming up for Blaster's reviews throughout June.

Upcoming project for Blaster's reviews. The Transformers Marathon

With Transformers 4: Age of Extinction next month (maybe...), I'm going to do my first marathon of reviews, a Transformers marathon. In this marathon of reviews, I will be looking at the seasons and games of Transformers that I've watched or played. I will be missing several seasons and games, but that because I have no prior experience with them. I'll go back to those at another time. But right now it will just be the ones I've had experience with. Feel free to suggest ideas for the name of this new (and a first for me) marathon.

Farewell WFC

I know I made a post about it before, but even still. Farewell Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. You will be missed. Your greats like Pokémon, Golden Eye and Mario Kart, your flaws like Super Smash bros Brawl. Farewell old friend.

Movie review: Disney's Frozen. Let it go, for the love of god, let the song go

Disney's Frozen, the love it or hate it title of 2013. You could not go anywhere without seeing adds for this movie. YouTube adds, Trams, and, of course, Let it go: the song that was everywhere. I'm going to be one of the few people to say this, I never saw Frozen at the Cinema. In fact, the first time I saw the movie was Mother's Day this year. Because of my studies last year, I didn't go to the cinema at all, and as a result, I never saw a trailer of Frozen. When the ads for it started popping up all over the place, I couldn't care about it as it didn't peak my interests. I stayed clear of all the reviews but that doesn't mean I missed the hype and the praise for it. Why I mention this? You’ll see latter.
While a lot of people would be willing to shove Frozen into the Disney Princess's section of movies, I struggle to do so because o just how much is different to it. Yes, the princess is the main character in the story (Princess Anna of Arendelle) the movie itself does a lot of things different to the princess movies of old. It takes the concept of "love at first sight", a concept that Disney perfected the art of, points at it, and laughs at it making everyone in the room laugh at it as well, the reason being is because the character Anna falls in love with, Hans, is actually the villain and takes advantage of the situation Anna is in (being that she will turn into a human shaped ice block). There's a happy ending at the end of the movie (like all Disney movies) but no marriage, something that is a staple in the Disney Princess movies (assuming my memory serves me well as I haven't seen a Disney Princess movie in "I don't even know how long it’s been" years), but the biggest change that it does to the formula is one thing and one thing only, something that breaks the formula of, not only the Princess movies, but almost every other Disney movie that uses the same formula. The Queen is not the villain. Queen Elsa, the one who sings the infamous song, that by all accounts according to said song is the villain, is actually more of an anti hero. Not evil, but shunned due to her powers over snow and ice.
Speaking of, all the main characters in the movie are well thought out, with each of them having distinct personalities (again, this coming from the man who hasn't watched a Disney princess movie since VCR's were common and normal) Anna is someone who wants attention, not for any cruel purpose, but because Elsa kept her distance due to her powers almost killing her when they were children, as per the parents decision. As a result, it was worse when the parents lost their lives. I should note, that before I continue, to the people who hate the fact that their princesses even though their parents are dead (like myself to a degree); Elsa does become queen when she comes of age latter on in the movie. Anna also comes off to me as a bit of a tomboy, while she still fantasises of her future husband and the day she marries, she also proves that she's not to strict on manners (at least in one scene) and that she's willing to go out and get things done on her own.
Elsa on the other hand is shy and self conscious of her powers, which actually makes the situation worse but... She's paranoid when she doesn't have a special pair of gloves on that somehow limit her powers. How? How should I know the movie doesn't say, the best explanation I can give is that it’s a Placebo. When she doesn't have the gloves on, her powers are harder to control until she goes out and makes an ice palace and sends the country into a never ending winter... Don’t you just love it when people let their powers control them? She does however become more confident with her powers and once she becomes accepted back into society (even though she is Queen...) she gains full control of her powers. That's actually the closest you’re going to get to a usual happy ending in this.
The other major character is Kristoff who acts as the counter for Anna. He's tamed compared to Anna, a smart ass at times, limiting contact with people except for Sven, his reindeer, and the other major characters of the story. His past isn't explained as well as Elsa or Anna's however because all that we know (or at least guess) is that he was raised to be an Ice farmer and then somehow found a home amongst some trolls. How you ask? It’s never explained.
The movie itself starts off with the impression that it’s going to be a musical, with most of the songs being in the first half. A lot of the songs are quite good (yes, this includes Let it go...) but they do feel forced. It shares this trait with High School Musical in my opinion but I think its executed better here. High School Musical was a mess of plot holes whereas with this, the songs lend themselves better to the story. There isn't anything like, for example, "Stick to the status quo" which stands out like a sore thumb because of the mixed messages it’s sending out. However, while Frozen at the start would work as a musical, the second half on the other hand, it comes off as they gave up trying to write songs for it as there's only one song, not including the credits.
So by the sounds of this, it looks like I enjoyed what I saw and while that's true, it’s only to a degree. The cinematography in Frozen is well done and it’s a joy to see. Frozen's biggest problem however was the hype it had. As I said at the start of this review, I was exposed to a lot of the feedback of the movie; people were calling it a "masterpiece" "one of the best movies they ever saw". On its own, the movie is quite good, but adding the hype into the mix, it drops significantly in quality purely due to expectations. I went into the movie thinking it was a masterpiece, and while it was good, a masterpiece is a stretch. It is worth watching, but don't go in with the hype.

My personal favourites when it comes to Pokémon

So what to do when there isn't a impressions to do for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire? A list of my favorite Pokémon...

While most people would do just a top 10, after nine years of playing the games, its hard to come up with just ten. What might be a favorite Pokémon of mine in a region might not be in my top ten but it still deserves to be mentioned. So instead, I've done a top 10 of each region, this is a Top 60. This thread has been updated since posting (last update 30/9/2014), Original post (19/5/2014)

The Kanto region, a favorite for most Pokémon fans because of its age. And its here that we start.

An actual impressions this time: Transformers 4: Age of Extinction

Michael Bay... what is there to say that hasn't already been said? While I like the cinematography in his movies, the action scenes are hit or miss for me. Ever since 2007, I've been excited for most of his versions of the Transformers movies as I was, and still am, into the series at the time. Unlike a lot of the older fans of the series, I joined in during Transformers Armada and avidly watched it, its sequel Transformers Energon and the series latter, Transformers Cybertron before the shows stoped airing in Australia (at least on Free TV as my family stoped paying for Foxtel around that time aswell so that might have something to do with it). It was the movies that kept me interested in the series since then and for the most part I think they did it well. The first movie I regard as one of my favourite movies, not the best movie I've ever seen (I'm actually not sure what that one would be...), Revenge of the Fallen wasn't as good to me but still a alright movie but I have a lot of issues with Dark of the moon.

As a fan of the series, I knew what was going on but that doesn't excuse its lack of story or plot. Yes the destruction of Chicago was great, but it had no build up and just felt lack lustre when compared to the battle in Egypt from Revenge of the Fallen with one of the reasons being that the battle was built up better.

But a review of the three of them is for another time, as for now: Age of Extinction, the forth instalment and the beginning of a new trilogy in the movie's universe. From what we know of so far, Humans are now trying to kill off the last of the Tranformers, including the Autobots, however I am not going to speak of how until a review of Age of Extinction (which will be when its on DVD/ Blu-ray, I'm not reviewing movies while their at cinema's). Because of this, I believe that there's going to be a plot that is actually going to have more significance then Dark of the Moon's one did. Known Transformers include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Hound (for the first time), Crosshairs (for the first time), Drift (for the first time), Brains (why???), the Dinobots (Grimlock, Slug, Slog, Strafe, Scorn, Slash and Snarl (all of which are new to the movie's universe)), Galvatron (for the first time), Lockdown (for the first time), Stinger (for the first time), and Junkheap (for the first time).

As for the trailers themselves so far? The movie looks promising and have convinced me to see it at the cinema as I did with the last three. With a new cast of humans, new story, new Transformers and more, it looks to be as good as the first movie was. My only hope is that it lives up to these expectations.

Turnabout Smash: Writer's wanted

While the Prologue is still in the proof reading phase, work has begun on the first chapter "Clash of speeds, Turnabout Reunion Part 2". Because I would like to get the chapters out faster then I would be able to if I was doing this alone, I'm looking for writers who have a interest in these sorts of stories. I will be putting some limitations on (mainly setting and main characters) however these will be vague and you will have creative control over the chapter.

If you would be interested. You can E-mail me here (blaster5426@gmail.com). It would be helpful to see some sort of past work so if you can, please include something that shows you know what your doing.

As a final piece to this, if you don't want to write but feel like you could contribute in some other way, let me know.

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Impressions?

Earlier in the week, the world saw the first trailer for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. As a Generation 3 fan, with Pokémon Emerald being my first Pokémon Game, I was excited. As to why I haven't done a impressions yet... because I can't. With Arkham Knight there was a trailer to critique, aspects to look at, there wasn't any of that in the initial trailer and the only other gameplay I've seen is Groudon and Kyogre coming out of the ocean which might suggest that there won't be a Emerald story mode for both of them, which is a shame. At E3 I'll do a better impressions because we'll hopefully get new information but until then...We'll just have to wait. Until then, let the trumpets be herd, have your Surf Pokémon ready and enjoy the tropical weather, Hoenn is back

Milestone #2

As I said in the reviews blog, I'm not going to do this every 100 but: 200 views!!! thanks to all who read this. both blogs exceeding 200 recently combined with the announcement of Omega Ruby and Aqua Sapphire... I can't even explain how happy I am at the moment, thank you.

200 views

I assure you I won't be doing this for every extra 100, every time it doubles though...
Anyway, thanks for the 200 views everyone who reads these.