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BBBBalta

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  1. BBBBalta

    PRAISE RNJESUS

    By BBBBalta,

    Got this on my eleventh summer box. I actually wanted the Champion skin (ie the white version of this), but I'll take it if it means I don't have to spend the rest of the month grinding levels for loot boxes
     
    Game is Overwatch for those unaware.
  3. BBBBalta
    A friend and I have been doing a randomized playthrough of Pokemon Fire Red and a couple days ago I came across this guy:
     

     
    Less than a day later, this:
     

     
    BUT I can't use either of them since it's a Nuzlocke run.
     
    AND I can't transfer them because it's on an emulator.
     
    THANKS NINTENDO
  5. BBBBalta

    Re: Smash Bros.

    By BBBBalta,

    Last Smash Bros. Direct yesterday.
     
    Cannot believe that yet another Fire Emblem character is being added, and one from a game that's not even out yet, no less. I was pretty upset at first, but now I'm just disappointed. Corrin is the last Nintendo character to be added to Smash 4. This would've been a great opportunity to put in an iconic/classic character from Nintendo's rich history - looking at you, K Rool and Isaac - but instead they went for what's pretty much a blatant cash grab with FE Fates being released soon. As far as I know, pretty much nobody cares about this character. The very faint silver lining is that his moveset looks somewhat decent. No excitement for or interest in this character whatsoever.
     
    I am excited for Cloud, though, who's actually an iconic character who a lot of people have wanted in Smash as a pipe dream for years. Haven't bought him yet, but I plan to do so soon. I thought it was kind of dumb that so much time in the Direct was spent showing off his moveset (and the movesets of the other characters) - the important thing to show in the Direct is that something is in the game in the first place; I'd rather read detailed information on the website later. Eh.
     
    Bayonetta looks cool; she's someone I'd been hoping would make it for a while even if I've never played her games. I was pretty disappointed that they only included one character from the ballot, though, since there were doubtless dozens of characters who did well in the ballot and would fit very well in Smash. Ah, well, guess there's always Smash 5.
     
    I guess there was a "goodbye" closing sequence but I was too busy being sad about Wolf not making it to pay attention. Back to Project M we go.
     
    too bad PM died for a Knuckles Mii costume
  10. BBBBalta
    So I read The Fault in Our Stars about a month and a half ago maybe and I thought it was pretty good and whatnot. One thing that really bothered me about it, though, was the title. Minor spoilers to follow.
     
    The title is lifted from a line of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Speaking to well-respected public figure Brutus, senator Cassius states:
     
    This quote's relevance to Green's novel is explained as such within the work:
     
     
    This passage is presented as an e-mail from reclusive author Peter Van Houten to Augustus Waters, protagonist Hazel's love interest, in an analysis of the relationship between these two main characters that includes a pretentiously unnatural volume of references to Shakespeare's works. Van Houten's point is fairly clear: Shakespeare (or, more accurately, Cassius) was wrong in his analysis of fate; there is indeed "fault in our stars," and that's what the book is about.
     
    Except not quite. Let's take a closer - or rather, a wider - look at Julius Caesar's text. The context for Cassius assertion: Caesar's popularity in Rome has grown immensely. As Brutus and Cassius speak, the Roman masses attempt to make Caesar their king. Neither Brutus nor Cassius desires this, and though Caesar denies the people's offer, both are concerned. Cassius has already decided to take matters into his own hands and has organized a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. He desires Brutus' support for his plot, primarily because Brutus is a widely-beloved and well-respected public figure who is also a close friend of Caesar's: presumably, he would be able to sway the population in favor of the conspiracy following Caesar's death by convincing them that such a sacrifice was necessary to protect their freedom.
     
     
    tl;dr (even though you should actually read it since Shakespeare's kind of a decent writer) Cassius once saved Caesar's life by rescuing him from drowning in the Tiber River. Caesar, Cassius asserts, is just as mortal as Brutus and Cassius themselves - not a godlike being as the Roman masses seem to believe. He goes on:
     
     
    Cassius has just established that Ceasar is not intrinsically greater than either himself or, more importantly, Brutus, whom he is clearly attempting to flatter. It stands to reason, then, that Caesar has no more claim to the throne than does Brutus - the only reason Brutus and Cassius are politically beneath Caesar - his "underlings" - is that they have not yet done anything about it. There is no "fault in [their] stars" that stands in the way of their halting Caesar's rise to power.
     
    Cassius' quote is a situational one that applies specifically to his and Brutus' sociopolitical status; it is not, as Van Houten suggests, an overarching analysis of the nature of fate. It's not like this is a major deal or anything but it just kind of irked me ya feel.
  11. BBBBalta
    So this past week Best Buy had a buy-one-get-one sale on a handful of 3DS games: Bravely Default, Mario Golf, Disney Magical World, Yoshi's New Island, Tomodachi Life, Zelda: ALBW, Mario Party, Kirby Triple Deluxe, and Pokemon X/Y. As an added bonus, the white Wii U Pro controller was on sale for $30 - $20 off its MSRP. I heard about these deals midway through the previous week, but I was out of town through this Tuesday and was decidedly too busy Wednesday and Thursday to worry about expanding 3DS library.
     
    Come Friday, however, I decided that grabbing Nintendo goodies on the cheap is always a good thing and headed off to Best Buy with the intention of picking up Bravely Default and Yoshi - the former because I've heard little but positive reports about it from the cool people on this website and others, and the latter because I'd played the GBA rerelease of the original Yoshi's Island back in the day and had rather enjoyed it. I already owned Zelda and Y, and the rest of the games weren't of any real interest to me. I also planned to spring for a Pro controller, since I anticipated playing Mario Kart, Smash, and other stuff (Zelda, Mario, Metroid?) with it.
     
    Naturally, both of the games I wanted, as well as the controller, were sold out. No problem - I'd just order them online.
     
    Heh.
     
    Got home, went to Best Buy's website, and found myself unable to purchase the controller - no shipping options available, it said. Moreover, it also told me that no stores within reasonable driving distance had the item in stock. As for the games: I had, in fact, looked up the sale on Best Buy's site earlier that week and found a category within their online store that displayed the games involved in the sale. When I navigated to this page again, the only thing on the page - inexplicably - was Mario Golf.
     
    I then decided to research the price matching policies of Best Buy's competitors and found that Target would match both online prices and printed prices in sale sheets. Walmart and Toys R Us would only accept the latter, though Walmart's website noted that they would match printed prices even if one did not have the ad in question with him - which was good, since, as I noted before, I was out of town last weekend and thus did not receive Sunday's paper and the Best Buy ad contained therein. I drove over to Walmart - which is just down the street, fortunately - and found that, while they had both Bravely Default and Yoshi in stock, they lacked even a space on their shelves for white Pro controllers. Hoping to accomplish all of my purchases in one fell swoop, I headed back home and looked up the controller on Target's website to ensure that the store I went to had them in stock. However, the white controller was not included in their online catalog (though the black one - which was not on sale - was), and I can only assume that they no longer carry the item. TRU's website produced similar results - though there was a page for the white controller, it was out of stock at all locations. I decided to call it a night.
     
    The next day - today, that is - I had a plan: I would go to Best Buy and request a rain check on the controller deal, grab one of this week's ads, and head next door to Target, where I would purchase Bravely Default and Yoshi. Best Buy, however, was unable to grant a rain check: they could not guarantee that the controller would be in stock again, and, after searching two different systems of inter-store shipping, determined that the item could not be shipped to the store or to my home from any of their locations.
     
    Somewhat disappointed, I headed over to Target, ad in hand, but - as it turned out - Target was out of stock of Yoshi, which made the BOGO pointless. Fortunately, I knew from my adventures yesterday that Walmart did have both games, and so later in the day I returned to Walmart and requested a price match on the deal. After the employee I spoke with asked her manager about the situation - and after her manager asked her manager about the situation - they agreed to match the deal and I headed home $40 poorer and two 3DS games wealthier.
     
    That left the controller. As no physical retailers in my area seemed to have it, I researched online retailers' price match policies and found that Tiger Direct would match other online retailers' prices, including Best Buy's. However, upon calling their customer service, it was revealed that this particular price match would not be honored because it was below the "actual price" of the item - that is, they wouldn't make a profit on it.
     
    Mildly disappointed, I gave up on the hunt, assuming that Nintendo would eventually drop the price of the item in question, given that $50 for a game controller is fairly ridiculous. Besides, I reasoned, it's likely that the cheaper Gamecube controller set to be rereleased alongside Smash 4 will be compatible with most of the same games as the Pro controller in the future. I could just get that instead - and it would serve to replace the malfunctioning Gamestop-brand (bad idea) GCN controller I currently own.
     
    On a whim, I looked up the Pro controller on eBay, expecting perhaps some slightly lower prices that usual from those who had bought them on sale with plans to flip them.
     
    New Black Wii U Pro Controller:
     
    $20.98.
     
    Free shipping.
  13. BBBBalta
    So last weekend I found a new NSMB/Luigi deluxe set Wii U on eBay for $250 – a good deal, and since I was planning on picking one up eventually for Smash 4, Mario Kart 8, Zelda, and 3D Mario (among other games, of course), I ordered it. It arrived Thurdsay, I set it up yesterday, and I decided today to bore you all with my thoughts on it.
     
    One of the first things I noticed pulling the system out of the box was the console's length – it's longer than I'd expected, which seems kind of a weird thing to notice now that I'm writing it down. Hm. I set the console up vertically using the provided stands. They're much sturdier than the Wii's, which is a plus. I also appreciated the inclusion of an HDMI cable – the only other HD console I own, the PS3, didn't come with one.
     
    Setup was fairly simple until I got to the part where you have to make a user account for the system. Transferring my Mii from my 3DS took several attempts since I apparently didn't have the correct share settings selected for that particular Mii. Then it asked me if I wanted to link the account to a Nintendo Network ID. I said yes. It asked if I wanted to create a new Nintendo Network ID. I said yes. It said I couldn't because I had to install an update first.
     



     
    I briefly postponed the installation of said update to sync one of my Wii Remotes to the Wii U. This process is much, much easier than it was with the Wii – whereas with the Wii you had to hold down the button on both the console and the remote simultaneously, with the Wii U you press the button on the console and then press the button on the remote. It may not seem like that would make a major difference, but it does.
     
    I proceeded to scour the settings menu for the system update button. I found it and was told that the download would take 01:26. (At least that's what I think it was. Close enough.) At first I thought that this meant one minute twenty-six seconds, as that's how I've always seen downloads measured in the past. I soon realized, however, that this was one hour and twenty-six minutes. Not only is this somewhat counterintuitive (shouldn't it be 01:26:00?) but it's also pretty frustrating to have to wait over an hour for the console to update before you can actually use it.
     
    Fortunately (unfortunately?) I didn't have something awesome like Mario Kart or Smash that I was anxious to play. I lost interest in NSMB after NSMB Wii – the only reason I bought the NSMB bundle was because at $250 it was $80 cheaper than the $330 Mario Kart 8 bundle, which means I could still buy MK and come out $20 and one game ahead. (The MK bundle also includes a Wii Wheel – haha no thanks). Anyway, I of course tried out NSMBU with my dad and my sister. Like all NSMB games, it's fun enough, but nothing special. Basically the same game with some new level designs and a fresh coat of admittedly crisp-looking high-definition paint.
     
    One thing that bothered me though was the control options. You can play the game with the gamepad, the Wii remote held sideways, or the pro controller. What's not on that list is the control scheme I – and everyone else in my family – used for NSMB Wii: the remote + nunchuck. I realize that I'm probably in the minority in my appreciation for that particular control scheme but I don't really see any reason why it shouldn't have been included. I expect I would prefer the pro controller – but at fifty bucks a pop I don't see myself getting one anytime soon. So I decided I'd try out the gamepad – only to learn that, in multiplayer, you can't use the gamepad to actually play the game but only to assist the players in what the game refers to as “boost mode.” I really don't understand why you can't choose to do either.
     
    I poked around Miiverse a bit, looking in particular at the Smash and Mario Kart boards. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's not something I see myself spending much time on.
     
    Today I tried out offscreen play and found that my room is about a meter beyond the connection range between the console and the gamepad, which is quite disappointing. Kind of limits the potential there.
     
    One thing I haven't done – and don't plan to do anytime soon – is transfer my Wii save data to the Wii U. The whole “your save data gets deleted from the Wii YOU CAN NEVER GET IT BACK THIS PROCESS CANNOT BE UNDONE seems a bit sketchy to me I dunno. Plus I still have a year to go before I can use homebrew on Wii U without having to worry about voiding my warranty so if I want to play Brawl Minus or something I'll have to use my Wii anyway so
     
    So yeah owning a Wii U has been a bit of an underwhelming experience so far. I'll probably get MK8 sooner rather than later and look into picking up something like Nintendo Land to play casually with my family, both of which I expect will make the console more exciting.
  15. BBBBalta

    Eight years?

    By BBBBalta,

    Logged on today and found by complete coincidence that August 6 was the day I had joined BZPower back in 2010. Thought that was interesting.
     
    Then I looked at my last blog entry and realized that I unknowingly made that one on the sixth of August as well, two years ago.
     
    Weird.
     
    Of course as I write this it's now past midnight were I live.
  16. BBBBalta
    So I was driving somewhere today (that is, yesterday) and American Authors' "Best Day of My Life" came on the radio. I hadn't heard the song in a while - since it hit its peak of popularity in early 2014 - but I really like it. And here's why: it's about perspective. This is gonna be the best day of my life, because I'm going to treat it like it is. And guess what? Tomorrow is also gonna be the best day of my life, and so is the day after that. If I keep my life in perspective of what's really important, things can only get better. Sure, there'll be rough spots, tough days, painful moments. But that's OK, because I'll take the good with the bad and just make the most of whatever situation I'm in.
    Ice Climbers for Smash Wii U
    Naturally, I took the last day of December to look back on 2014 and decided that it was, all in all, a pretty good year. Without getting ... too personal, I learned a lot about myself and started to broaden my horizons. On the other hand, I have some regrets - stuff that didn't go the way I hoped it would, stuff I attempted and failed, stuff I did that I shouldn't have, stuff I should've done but didn't. Yeah, I screwed up a lot in 2014.
    or riot
    But that's just the thing. I can't change what's happened - my mistakes - but what I can do is learn from it and keep things - both bad and good - in perspective. Because it's just like that song, except now instead of days we're talking about years. 2014 was good because I choose to see it that way. And 2015? 2015 is going to be even better because I'm going to make it better and make myself better. And I'm going to keep doing that for the rest of my life - I'm going to learn from my successes and failures and continue to grow personally and learn more about myself and about the world. To never stop climbing, as it were.
    #NeverStopClimbing2k15
    Dunno how much sense that makes. Just the feels I'm feelin' today I felt like sharing.
  17. BBBBalta

    Smash 4

    By BBBBalta,

    So I've been playing Smash 4 basically nonstop since last Friday, time permitting. Absolutely love Rosalina. She's got tons of untapped potential that's been a blast to explore so far. Sheik feels incredibly strong and Ganon feels great as well. Super armor Warlock Punch is a beautiful thing. Ness is okay (lol get it); I'm trying to learn him currently. Thinking of picking up Kirby also.
     
    My FC is 0602-6264-9441. Hit me up if you want to go a few rounds.
  20. BBBBalta

    Smash Fest

    By BBBBalta,

    So the second Best Buy Smash Fest was today. I initially hadn't planned on going, as no Best Buy anywhere near my house was hosting it. Moreover, I was scheduled to take the ACT from eight this morning until one this afternoon. The ACT, for the record, sucked. I took the SAT back in May and found it a much more … intuitive test; I guess that's the best word for it. While the SAT constantly keeps you on your toes with twenty- and twenty-five-minute sections of math, reading, and writing, the ACT smashes all the questions for each subject into four tedious sections which you have from thirty-five minutes to an hour apiece to complete. My brain went dead after about half an hour of math and it was downhill from there, ultimately culminating in my failure to finish the last sentence of a rather mediocre response to the essay prompt, which is the last section of the test. The SAT puts the essay first, which I much preferred, doubtless due in no small part to the fact that with the SAT I wasn't plagued by the knowledge that those who had opted not to take the writing section were leaving just as I was beginning to write it.
     
    Guess it doesn't help that I got out of school almost a month ago and hadn't opened my SAT/ACT study book since. Heh.
     
    Anyway, throughout the test I was aware that today was the day of the Smash Fest and was contemplating how awesome it would be to go. After eating lunch and taking some measurements for shifting the furniture around in my room, I went back and checked the participating locations on Best Buy's website. Upon plugging the addresses into Google Maps, I found that there was a Smash Fest about an hour from my house. It was about 2:20 at this point, so I texted a friend of mine who's a fellow Smash enthusiast and we decided to go for a road trip. I grabbed my keys--
     
    This was when the problems started. My keys, you see, are not in fact my keys, and it seemed that my dad had taken his car to run an errand. It was about ten minutes before he got back, and I took off around 3:00. Unfortunately – I hadn't figured this fact into my time estimations – my friend lives in the opposite direction of the Best Buy to which we planned to go. Between picking him up and the heavy traffic and heavy rain we encountered on the way, it was 4:30 by the time we got there – the Smash Fest was set to end at 5:00.
     
    We headed to the back of the store where the demo was set up. Some of the aisles had been partitioned off to form a waiting line along the wall – we didn't notice and went down one of these aisles; a Best Buy employee informed us that we had to go around to get in line. Fortunately the line wasn't long – only fifteen people or so. We got in line and waited for about two minutes or so – and then another Best Buy employee supervising the line told us that we had to get out of the line; the people in front of us were the last they were letting through.
     
    I assumed he was joking – we had just gotten there, there was half an hour left, we were, after all, only two people, and it's not like there was a crowd behind us who would clearly push them past the 5:00 end time. After he repeated himself several times – and was backed up by the same employee who had just told us where to go to get in line – we realized he was serious.
     
    In shock, I went and used the bathroom and then we wandered back over toward the video game section – it's not like we were going to leave right away after driving an hour and a half to get there. My friend picked up a Fifa game on a PS3 and messed around with it a bit. It was not, dare I say, a fitting substitute to Super Smash Bros. Around this time we ran into a group of four who it seemed had arrived shortly after us and had also been turned away. According to one of them, an employee had claimed that the game shut off automatically at 5:00, which I found surprising and not wholly convincing. They left; we stuck around – it was quarter to 5 at this point, and I wanted to see whether the remaining line would, in fact, take up what remained of the time window to get through their matches.
     
    And then, like the angels announcing the Messiah's birth, a Best Buy employee brought us tidings of great joy: the last people in line were a party of two and we could join them for a four-player match.
     
    We thanked him profusely and high-tailed it over to the Wii U, where we were handed Pro Controllers. I chose Greninja; he chose Villager; we played against Mega Man and Link on the randomly-selected Pilotwings stage. (You could choose your stage, but we opted for the random button). Playing with a Pro Controller was weird for one accustomed to using a Wii remote + nunchuck for Brawl, largely because I kept dodging when I meant to jump. Greninja was fun to play as – and he pulled through for a victory.
     
    We only had time for one match – after that, two other people who had been there before did a one-on-one match. I'm fairly certain this was not standard practice, but there were no hard feelings – they had, I learned, been waiting for a chance to play a competitive-style match since the demo opened at 9:00 am. As in, they were going through the line over and over again for eight hours. They also managed talk the employees – or possibly the Nintendo rep – into letting them take home the Smash Fest sign, which is pretty cool. Dedication pays off, I suppose. I recorded most of their match on my iPod, and someone from the eight-hour group did the same with his phone. I got the impression he'd been doing so all day, but the Nintendo rep informed us (with about half a minute left) that we weren't allowed to record it.
     
    We didn't get a chance to play the 3DS version, which, now that I think about it, seems a bit odd – no one else was playing it there that I saw; you'd think the employees supervising the event would have offered my friend and I (as well as the group of four who showed up after us) the chance to play the 3DS game if there wasn't time for us to play the Wii U version. Eh.
     
    In any event, guess who's got a 100% win record for Smash 4.
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