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Jan. 7th, 2008 07:34 amTwo nights ago, right before I asked about calling Uncle Robby, Mom asked me how it went with capturing that Pokemon [Misdreavus]. I told her that it failed because of that double-5 (which I explained in yesterday's entry). This is relevant to a conversation we had yesterday while in New Jersey.
Yesterday, while we were getting ready to drive down to New Jersey, Mom asked me to pull the car out of the garage so that Dad and Brian could fill the gas tank and the tires. While I was backing out, I accidentally scraped the right mirror against the garage threshold, and it cracked the glass and the plastic. Good thing it didn't get knocked off the car. I told Mom about it right away, and she came out and checked it. She got slightly more upset, but told me that everything will be okay between me and her because this was an accident. Ten minutes later, I apologized to dad about the mirror, and he then went out to examine it. He didn't take it as well as Mom did, and he explained that this was just pure recklessness. An accident, as he explained to Mom, means that something is beyond one's control.
On the way down to New Jersey, Mom told me that I don't have to spend the whole day feeling guilty. I told her I wasn't. I really wasn't, even though I was mostly silent, but I then brought up that time two and a half years ago when Mom accidentally drove the car right into the garage door, an incident that did much more damage to the car (and the door) than this time around. Mom then suggested that, when we get home, I offer to pay Dad money for the damage done to the car, mainly as a gesture.
When we got to Uncle Robby's house, Robby was the only one home, but he was in the shower when we got inside. Grandpa Bob came home shortly, and told us that Cousin Adam has yet to get picked up from his friend's house. It was only a few minutes before Adam did arive.
When Adam did come to the house, I asked him if he has Pokemon Diamond or Pearl. He said that he has Pearl, but it's at Aunt Dawn's house. He did, in fact, bring his own Nintendo DS, but only with some Mario Kart game. I suggested that he bring his DS next time we meet with him and his folks, which will be on Robby's birthday next month.
In some respects, it's actually a good thing that Pearl is what Adam has. I didn't bother staying up further late to capture a Misdreavus or evolve Wurmple into Cascoon, so if he had Diamond, I would be unable to give him anything in exchange for any Diamond-only Pokemon. Also, I don't have any Pokemon that can evolve by trading right now. Probably next month will be a better time to trade with Adam, when I have more Pokemon. Mom also asked if I would want Pokemon Diamond for my birthday. I told her that it would be okay as a secondary gift, but primarily, I was thinking of getting either some anime DVDs or the newly released first DVD of the Angry Video Game Nerd (the latter of which has stuff not available on YouTube or ScrewAttack). Still, having physical contact with other Pokemon Diamond/Pearl players is the only way to complete the process of unlocking Spiritomb. There's also the Capture the Flag minigame we could play if we both save up enough traps to lay in the Underground, but I'll have to call Adam to see if that interests him. If so, I'll have to set a block of time to stockpile some traps. If not, then doing so will be a waste of time.
For lunch, we all went to the same Chinese restaurant that we went to last year on Robby's birthday. One thing I didn't notice (and Brian later said he didn't either) was that Mom was getting annoyed with Uncle Robby. When we were in the car, she said that even though Robby wants us to have a good time, he doesn't need to spend so much money on more food than we can consume. Furthermore, he was spending Grandpa's money, not his own.
While we were driving from the restaurant to a Barnes & Nobles store, Adam asked if he could play anything on my DS. I let him play one of Marie's Sims games. We then had the following conversation:
( Read more... )
[Reflection of the conversation]
Only two things to comment on with this convo. First of all, I'm not sure why I brought up Game Tengoku. I think it just came to mind randomly, but more accurately, what I would really wonder is, why didn't I also bring up Makeruna Makendou Z for the PC-FX as well? I think I might have verbally referred to the Saturn in the past when primarily talking about Sonic Xtreme (did I?), but I never referred to the PC-FX or its predecessor, the PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16. Even though Game Tengoku, along with a lot of other Saturn games, were only released in Japan, the Saturn itself did get an American release. The PC-FX never was released outside Japan, which means neither were any games ported on that console.
The other thing to comment on is about my gaming style with Pokemon games (and other RPGs). The reason why I enjoy the "statistical" strategy so much is because it's more fun when you don't know which Pokemon you're going to bring to a given area or battle, which ones will evolve, etc. This is why I'm able to post records of special moments in Pokemon games onto this blog (i.e. Red, Crystal, Sapphire, and LeafGreen; Pearl will come when I complete that one). To use the same team of Pokemon each time you play a certain version of the game would just be boring, especially since most Pokemon available in-game would normally go completely unused (if even captured).
If you don't know what I'm talking about, let's use a non-Pokemon example of where the items already are random: Dark Cloud. On each floor in any dungeon, there is a certain number of treasure chests. Even though the odds of getting some items in a single chest are higher than for others, you don't know what you'll be getting from that chest, whether it be a block of Cheese, a Repair Powder, the dungeon's backfloor key, or whatever else possible.
Other decisions to make usually require different odds. For example, each time I knock out a wild Pokemon or defeat an enemy trainer, I aim for a single 6 or flip a coin respectively to decide whether or not to rearrange my Pokemon and what items they're holding. When it comes to selecting which Pokemon to take (most notably at the beginning of each game) or which ones to withdraw from "Someone's PC," I give all Pokemon available an equal chance to be selected. However, to describe every detail of how I play any given game, especially a Pokemon game, would require a completely separate blog entry (or two, the first one being exclusively for Pokemon games), and I doubt anyone really cares. The few that would (or already do) enjoy the "statistical" strategy (which I'd also call, the "mystery box" strategy) will probably come up with their own rules.
[End of reflection]
Upon finishing that conversation with Brian, I had the deep urge to walk around outside the store while I would play the conversation through my head a number of times. I resisted that temptation, and instead, spent some time looking for the Graphic Novels section. Upon finding it, I picked out Gakuen Alice, and read the first chapter before putting it back and allowing myself to hang around outside. While I was outside, though, Mom asked me to help Adam decide which Pokedex book to pick out. There were two of them; one is the same one I previously got at GameStop, but the other one was smaller. I soon noticed that the latter didn't have any info on fourth-gen Pokemon, so it became an obvious decision: get the former guide.
When we got back to Robby's house, I paced around on the driveway for a few minutes, but then Brian and Marie walked with Adam to some schoolyard playground. Adam was on his bike, while the other two walked. I decided to come with them. When we got there, we spent the first, maybe, ten minutes watching Adam ride around on the blacktop. Marie had her camera, and took pictures of Adam riding. We then went onto the playground, and just did stuff such as watching him climb up the slide. I was the first one to head back to the house, though, before the other three decided to do so.
When I got to the house, Mom asked me if I wanted any cream puffs (which she brought from home after buying from a store). I suggested that we wait until the other kids come back, but she told me that she, Robby, and Grandpa already had some. When the other kids came home, they had their share of cream puffs, but Adam said he didn't like them. We also watched part of this movie called I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Not sure if I got the names right, but it was this movie about these two firefighters who have to pretend they're the gay parents of two children in order to receive certain benefits for the kids. We didn't see the beginning of the movie, but we did see the ending before we all left.
Not much happened on the way home, but Mom did listen to A Child's Christmas in Wales. Marie didn't want to hear it, but I didn't care what Mom wanted to listen to.
When we got home, I asked Dad if I should write a check to compensate for the car damage. He jokingly requested $2,500, but I nearly took him seriously even though I don't even get paid a tenth of that at any job I ever had. He did tell me he was pulling my leg before I could enter my room and retrieve the checkbook, but of course, mechanics and dealerships can charge pretty much whatever they want for any amount of damage to a vehicle. Dad then told me just to let this be a lesson to avoid any further incidents like this in the future.
Yesterday, while we were getting ready to drive down to New Jersey, Mom asked me to pull the car out of the garage so that Dad and Brian could fill the gas tank and the tires. While I was backing out, I accidentally scraped the right mirror against the garage threshold, and it cracked the glass and the plastic. Good thing it didn't get knocked off the car. I told Mom about it right away, and she came out and checked it. She got slightly more upset, but told me that everything will be okay between me and her because this was an accident. Ten minutes later, I apologized to dad about the mirror, and he then went out to examine it. He didn't take it as well as Mom did, and he explained that this was just pure recklessness. An accident, as he explained to Mom, means that something is beyond one's control.
On the way down to New Jersey, Mom told me that I don't have to spend the whole day feeling guilty. I told her I wasn't. I really wasn't, even though I was mostly silent, but I then brought up that time two and a half years ago when Mom accidentally drove the car right into the garage door, an incident that did much more damage to the car (and the door) than this time around. Mom then suggested that, when we get home, I offer to pay Dad money for the damage done to the car, mainly as a gesture.
When we got to Uncle Robby's house, Robby was the only one home, but he was in the shower when we got inside. Grandpa Bob came home shortly, and told us that Cousin Adam has yet to get picked up from his friend's house. It was only a few minutes before Adam did arive.
When Adam did come to the house, I asked him if he has Pokemon Diamond or Pearl. He said that he has Pearl, but it's at Aunt Dawn's house. He did, in fact, bring his own Nintendo DS, but only with some Mario Kart game. I suggested that he bring his DS next time we meet with him and his folks, which will be on Robby's birthday next month.
In some respects, it's actually a good thing that Pearl is what Adam has. I didn't bother staying up further late to capture a Misdreavus or evolve Wurmple into Cascoon, so if he had Diamond, I would be unable to give him anything in exchange for any Diamond-only Pokemon. Also, I don't have any Pokemon that can evolve by trading right now. Probably next month will be a better time to trade with Adam, when I have more Pokemon. Mom also asked if I would want Pokemon Diamond for my birthday. I told her that it would be okay as a secondary gift, but primarily, I was thinking of getting either some anime DVDs or the newly released first DVD of the Angry Video Game Nerd (the latter of which has stuff not available on YouTube or ScrewAttack). Still, having physical contact with other Pokemon Diamond/Pearl players is the only way to complete the process of unlocking Spiritomb. There's also the Capture the Flag minigame we could play if we both save up enough traps to lay in the Underground, but I'll have to call Adam to see if that interests him. If so, I'll have to set a block of time to stockpile some traps. If not, then doing so will be a waste of time.
For lunch, we all went to the same Chinese restaurant that we went to last year on Robby's birthday. One thing I didn't notice (and Brian later said he didn't either) was that Mom was getting annoyed with Uncle Robby. When we were in the car, she said that even though Robby wants us to have a good time, he doesn't need to spend so much money on more food than we can consume. Furthermore, he was spending Grandpa's money, not his own.
While we were driving from the restaurant to a Barnes & Nobles store, Adam asked if he could play anything on my DS. I let him play one of Marie's Sims games. We then had the following conversation:
( Read more... )
[Reflection of the conversation]
Only two things to comment on with this convo. First of all, I'm not sure why I brought up Game Tengoku. I think it just came to mind randomly, but more accurately, what I would really wonder is, why didn't I also bring up Makeruna Makendou Z for the PC-FX as well? I think I might have verbally referred to the Saturn in the past when primarily talking about Sonic Xtreme (did I?), but I never referred to the PC-FX or its predecessor, the PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16. Even though Game Tengoku, along with a lot of other Saturn games, were only released in Japan, the Saturn itself did get an American release. The PC-FX never was released outside Japan, which means neither were any games ported on that console.
The other thing to comment on is about my gaming style with Pokemon games (and other RPGs). The reason why I enjoy the "statistical" strategy so much is because it's more fun when you don't know which Pokemon you're going to bring to a given area or battle, which ones will evolve, etc. This is why I'm able to post records of special moments in Pokemon games onto this blog (i.e. Red, Crystal, Sapphire, and LeafGreen; Pearl will come when I complete that one). To use the same team of Pokemon each time you play a certain version of the game would just be boring, especially since most Pokemon available in-game would normally go completely unused (if even captured).
If you don't know what I'm talking about, let's use a non-Pokemon example of where the items already are random: Dark Cloud. On each floor in any dungeon, there is a certain number of treasure chests. Even though the odds of getting some items in a single chest are higher than for others, you don't know what you'll be getting from that chest, whether it be a block of Cheese, a Repair Powder, the dungeon's backfloor key, or whatever else possible.
Other decisions to make usually require different odds. For example, each time I knock out a wild Pokemon or defeat an enemy trainer, I aim for a single 6 or flip a coin respectively to decide whether or not to rearrange my Pokemon and what items they're holding. When it comes to selecting which Pokemon to take (most notably at the beginning of each game) or which ones to withdraw from "Someone's PC," I give all Pokemon available an equal chance to be selected. However, to describe every detail of how I play any given game, especially a Pokemon game, would require a completely separate blog entry (or two, the first one being exclusively for Pokemon games), and I doubt anyone really cares. The few that would (or already do) enjoy the "statistical" strategy (which I'd also call, the "mystery box" strategy) will probably come up with their own rules.
[End of reflection]
Upon finishing that conversation with Brian, I had the deep urge to walk around outside the store while I would play the conversation through my head a number of times. I resisted that temptation, and instead, spent some time looking for the Graphic Novels section. Upon finding it, I picked out Gakuen Alice, and read the first chapter before putting it back and allowing myself to hang around outside. While I was outside, though, Mom asked me to help Adam decide which Pokedex book to pick out. There were two of them; one is the same one I previously got at GameStop, but the other one was smaller. I soon noticed that the latter didn't have any info on fourth-gen Pokemon, so it became an obvious decision: get the former guide.
When we got back to Robby's house, I paced around on the driveway for a few minutes, but then Brian and Marie walked with Adam to some schoolyard playground. Adam was on his bike, while the other two walked. I decided to come with them. When we got there, we spent the first, maybe, ten minutes watching Adam ride around on the blacktop. Marie had her camera, and took pictures of Adam riding. We then went onto the playground, and just did stuff such as watching him climb up the slide. I was the first one to head back to the house, though, before the other three decided to do so.
When I got to the house, Mom asked me if I wanted any cream puffs (which she brought from home after buying from a store). I suggested that we wait until the other kids come back, but she told me that she, Robby, and Grandpa already had some. When the other kids came home, they had their share of cream puffs, but Adam said he didn't like them. We also watched part of this movie called I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Not sure if I got the names right, but it was this movie about these two firefighters who have to pretend they're the gay parents of two children in order to receive certain benefits for the kids. We didn't see the beginning of the movie, but we did see the ending before we all left.
Not much happened on the way home, but Mom did listen to A Child's Christmas in Wales. Marie didn't want to hear it, but I didn't care what Mom wanted to listen to.
When we got home, I asked Dad if I should write a check to compensate for the car damage. He jokingly requested $2,500, but I nearly took him seriously even though I don't even get paid a tenth of that at any job I ever had. He did tell me he was pulling my leg before I could enter my room and retrieve the checkbook, but of course, mechanics and dealerships can charge pretty much whatever they want for any amount of damage to a vehicle. Dad then told me just to let this be a lesson to avoid any further incidents like this in the future.