Damn Nintendo

I am a fan of Pokemon and I have been since I was first introduced to it in primary school, even now I always make an effort to play the latest version that Nintendo comes up with despite all the conservative pokefans on message boards ranting about how Pokemon has been DESTROYED FOREVER with each new release. However, I absolutely refuse to purchase an actual Gameboy/Nintendo DS and play legitimate pokemon games. Instead, I would rather download them and play them on emulators, for one simple reason. Event pokemon.

With each new generation, Nintendo releases a bunch of new pokemon while retaining all the old ones. The goal of each new game remains the same- catch them all, a task which becomes increasingly more difficult as each generation adds new pokemon. A few of those new pokemon will be event pokemon, pokemon which are only obtainable through official Nintendo sponsored events. There is no way to get these pokemon in the games without downloading something from a Nintendo event. The problem is, Nintendo events are only held in specific countries and specific locations in those countries. If you don't live in an area where an event is held, then you will never get those event pokemon, and it is unlikely that you will be able to catch them all.

Obviously event pokemon has prompted a lot of criticism from fans and Nintendo's response? Go to this page and read the first entry.
http://www.pokemon.com/#mailbag_03152005

Nintendo does not care about those who play their games. I am certain that there are fans of pokemon in other places besides America and they too would love to get their hands on those event pokemon. It's just too bad that Nintendo doesn't bother to have pokemon events in Malaysia or even in Vancouver which is so close to Japan. Until I can get an event pokemon of my own, I will never buy anything from those bastards at Nintendo. Judging from their current response to complaints, I don't see change happening anytime soon.

The Final Countdown

At last summer is coming to an end and I can finally meet up with my old Dungeons and Dragons clan for some exciting dungeon –crawling after one semester of boredom. First, I need to get over the final exams and this time; all of them are either take-home papers or open book exams. From experience I know that take homes are bad…because the professors expect you to write so much more and come with considerably better arguments than if you were to do an in class exam. This time was no different- the questions were exceptionally hard and although I was given a few days to complete them, having to rush several papers together in that span of time was not easy. Even now while writing this, I am waiting for another take home final to be emailed to me…and I’m still waiting….it’s supposed to be emailed to me 5 minutes ago but I haven’t received it yet…this one’s special because I only get 3 hours to write it and I have to submit a hard copy within 4 hours and email the soft copy in 3 hours….hopefully it will arrive soon…still waiting…

Here Be Dragons

About 2 weeks ago, Wizards of the Coast released the 4^th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the role playing game that actually involved role playing. The local game store held a DND Game Day and a free RPG Day to promote the new books and I got a chance to sample some of the new rules through a short game with pre made characters. Before the actual release, I was quite skeptical about 4^th Edition, thinking it was just another unnecessary gimmick to make money for Hasbro. After playing it for a bit, I slowly came to like the new changes and even though I still believed that it was another money-making scheme, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

A bit of history about Dungeons and Dragons: It was created by the now defunct company TSR which was bought over by Wizards of the Coast in the year 2000. Before the Wizards’ acquisition, DND (as the game is commonly abbreviated to) had already undergone several revamps or editions. In 2000, Wizards decided to revamp the game once more with 3^rd Edition, quickly followed by 3.5 Edition less than 2 years later. Now in 2008, we have 4^th Edition. In the 8 years or so since 3^rd Edition was released, Wizards published hundreds of supplementary books for the game, all of which are now useless unless you want to continue playing 3^rd Edition, which I assume most people would until the price for 4^th Edition book drops.

So what does 4^th Edition offer to the game? Watching Wizards’ pre-release press session for the game on YouTube is an excellent example of a bad presentation. It is so bad, that if I were not already a DND player, I would never consider trying, let alone buying this game. Now that I have played a little of it, I can say that one major improvement that they made was to give each class its own selection of special powers that can be used at will, once per encounter or once per day. Previously, in 3^rd Edition, only magic using classes like Wizards had any form of special power. Furthermore, the ability to use certain powers repeatedly means that Wizards and Clerics are no longer able to completely run out of spells, unlike in 3^rd Edition where the party had to stop and rest whenever the Wizard was out of magic. Even the races have special racial powers that they gain when leveling up. One criticism of the game that I heard from the other players was that the new rules strictly defined the roles of classes (e.g. the Rogue is the striker; the Fighter is the defender, etc.). This strict definition of roles shapes the abilities that the classes have and limits their duty in the party to the pre-defined role.

Other changes include 2 new classes- the Warlord and the Warlock, and the removal of the Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, and Monk. They would be included in supplements (another money making gimmick). Gnomes have been excluded from the race list and transferred to the Monster Manual and two new races- the Tiefling and the Dragonborn have been added. There are also plenty of other technical changes to game play mechanics such as new rules for Grappling, Saving Throws, and the like.

So will I buy 4^th Edition? Maybe, if it’s less than 60 Dollars.

The New Player's Handbook...with the new logo and new artwork

The new badass Dragonborn, about time they had a dragon race for a game called Dungeons and DRAGONS

The other new race- the not so cool looking Tiefling

Poor gnome, once he was the hero killing monsters for experience, now he waits in lairs to give out treasure

V For Victoria

Last weekend was the long Victoria Day weekend, and by long weekend I mean I just get one day off school (Monday). I initially planned to use the long weekend to catch up on a boatload of studying but things did not work out exactly when I decided to go to Victoria for the weekend to watch the parade. On the Saturday before I left, Shenji from Kamloops decided to come down to Vancouver with his Eastern buddies. The last time I met him in Vancouver some weeks ago, I had to leave him for a few hours to check out an apartment that I might move in to. This time around, at least if I had to abandon him again, he would have friends to keep him occupied. I followed him back to the hotel he was staying and met some of his friends (sorry Shenji I forgot their names except for Randy and Maaya(?). Outside the hotel there was some kind of military march with APCs and troops. I expected them to be participating in the parade but that wasn’t the case. Shenji took a few photos that made it look as if he was leading the soldiers and then we went for lunch in a Korean restaurant, probably the first time I ever had a meal in one. After that, we had to part ways because I had to go meet another friend to buy furniture for my apartment.

On Sunday, it was off to Victoria. Victoria Day is a celebration of Queen Victoria, one of the most revered rulers of the British Empire. There are many places named Victoria around the world, such as in Australia. The Victoria I went to is the capital of the province of British Columbia. Unlike Vancouver, Victoria had this European look to it, with many old buildings dating back to the colonial days. I had been to Victoria twice before so I didn’t take any photos (and also because my camera was out of battery and I did not charge it). The rest of my group was new there, so they spend hours, filling up their cameras with Victoria’s beautiful scenery. The long weekend attracted lots of people to Victoria, there were more buskers than I had ever seen in my life and equally as many artisans and street performers. We visited the Legislature building which had actors dressed in Victorian era costumes and watched a marching band competition. After wandering around Victoria for a day, we retired to the University of Victoria (UVic) where we would spend one night. I must say that their residence was so much better than my university’s. Uvic was and is known for its rabbit infestation. There were so many rabbits all over their lawns and they were all so cute and furry. After spending a few minutes trying to catch some rabbits for a photo, we went to our rooms. The rooms were fully carpeted and resembled hotel rooms. They even provided soap and towels. The residence that I stayed in at SFU did not even have bed sheets. Naturally the rooms cost quite a bit, so to cut it down, we decided to share rooms. I shared a room with my friend Yin, who unfortunately snores. Luckily I was used to loud snoring.

The next day, we watched the parade but due to numerous delays, we only managed to catch the last hour of it, and it was raining during that last hour. After that, we went to museum which was the second time I would visit it. I managed to explore more of the museum compared to my previous visit and I even noticed exhibits that I had not seen the last time, like a collection of Indian pipes with figures in questionable poses on them. At the end of the day, we rushed back to the ferry and despite the hundreds of people waiting to go back to Vancouver, managed to get a spot on the ferry. It was an eventful weekend and even though I didn’t do anything productive, I was glad that I went because that’s probably the only holiday I’ll ever have until Canada Day.

Brave New World Revisited

Today I finally leave the SFU Towers Residence to a place of my own…well not quite...I am sharing with 5 other people but anything’s better than the Towers. No more having to spend 1350 dollars within 3 months, no more having to tolerate idiots who just have to sing in the hallways and in their room knowing that some people can hear them through the paper-thin walls and are annoyed by them, no more having to tolerate other idiots who bounce their basketballs on their doors as if they own the whole floor, no more drunkards who pull the fire alarm at midnight forcing everyone to stand in the freezing cold for 20 minutes waiting for the fire brigade to turn it off, no more irritating neighbors who can’t stop giggling, and no mo reliance on cafeteria food with rip-off prices. I actually spent the remaining amount of my 1350 dollar meal plan on chocolate milk and instant noodles because that was all that remained in the cafeteria. Oh well, at least now I have 2 weeks supply of chocolate milk.

As for the new place, the room is slightly larger but less practical. Less shelves, no heater and a desk like a monk’s cell. Still, it’s only temporary until I can find a better place. The bed is soft, like the cheap mattresses from my grandmother’s house. The only good thing I can say about it is the bathroom which is a major improvement over the previous one. I hope I am able to persuade the landlord to add some improvements to my room, like a heater and a bigger desk but the current environment should suffice for now. Cheers to the new room...and chocolate milk.

Spring Into Action

The set they set up (no pun intended). The very first scene they shot (I think) was a bunch of soldiers stepping out of a truck...now I understand just how much work film making is...
The helicopter doing the aerial filming...I'm guessing this scene would go into the opening credits...

At last winter's chill is almost over. It’s starting to rain more often now, so I’m taking that as a sign that spring is almost here, if not here already. In about 4 weeks time, the semester will end and I will finally move to a (rented) place of my own. Since my last entry, I have bought a new computer; it’s a Dell XPS M1530 and even though it wasn’t as powerful as my old Acer, it was certainly cheaper and of a much better quality. It was also considerable lighter, making it easier to carry around.

I have also applied for a transfer to UBC (University of British Columbia) mainly because it offers a better, more prestigious brand name, and it was a much better university overall in terms of quality and facilities. I do not have much hope that the transfer will be successful because I actually applied past the deadline but if it does, I can look forward to a better life over there. Interestingly, UBC still has the information from my last application, so I’m hoping the processing would not take very long.

I visited UBC for the first time some weeks ago for their Festiva Celebration. It was a weeklong celebration of international culture with performances and games. I only attended the last day of the event but even that blew me away. I knew SFU would never authorize such an event. Just watching the performances made me realize how much better UBC was compared to SFU. I would have put pictures up, but I forgot to bring my camera. I actually carry my camera with me every day but for some reason I forgot to bring it on that day, when I actually needed it. The International Office at UBC was more independent and less interested in making money, so unlike SFU. Furthermore, in UBC, the International Students have their own building called the International House where they can have club meetings and even cook their own food because it has a kitchen. In SFU, all the International Students get is a lousy lounge with a pool table and broken pool sticks, a few saggy sofas and no kitchen. The ‘lounge’ even has security cameras in it, ensuring that those who do choose to hang out in there have no privacy. I actually found out recently that it took years for SFU International to even provide the lounge and only after receiving tons of complaints from International Students.

Just a few days ago, there was a major flurry of activity because a movie was bring filmed at SFU. Actually only several scenes were going to be filmed here, but even so, everyone was curious. The movie was “The Day the Earth Stood Still” which was a remake of a movie made a long time ago. The set here at SFU was a military base- Linwood Military Academy. Quite a fitting choice of location considering the fact that SFU looks like a prison. On their first day of shooting, lots of people crowded around the set (probably hoping to catch a glimpse of Keanu Reeves who was supposed to be in the movie). Whether he was actually in that scene I never found out but I did take a couple of pictures. It was exciting to see the actors in military uniform and all the pseudo-military hardware being loaded on to the set. They even brought half tracks but sadly, no tanks.

That’s it for the end of winter, and judging by how late this entry is, the end of spring is also just round the corner.

Gone With the Wind

On Sunday, after months of struggling with a crappy Internet connection, my laptop finally gave up on itself. The hard drive died, along with all my data. It all started on Sunday morning.

After my connection failed, I rebooted the laptop to restore it as usual but to my surprise it took a really long time to shut down. When I restarted it, there was a blank black screen with the words UNABLE TO LOAD WINDOWS. I knew at that moment that it was all over. I searched my shelves for my Windows installation CD and popped it into the drive hoping this would solve the problem. Of course, it didn’t, in fact the screen did not even change. With an assignment due on Tuesday, I knew how important it was to get access to a computer, preferably my computer, so I headed for the library hoping to get the technician there to fix my laptop, or at least use the computers there. Unfortunately, it was snowing really badly and by the time I got to the library, they were closing it. It was only 1.30 and they were closing the library because of the snow. I rushed to the main campus hoping to find a computer lab that was open. None were. Finally, I decided to head for the other campus in Surrey where I could use the computer lab and/or find someone to fix mine. At the bus stop I waited for half an hour for the bus before someone came up to us at the bus stop telling us all buses have stopped coming because of the snow. So here I was trapped on the mountain with a broken computer.

As a last resort, I decided to ask a friend who was in the Computer Science Programme to have a look at my laptop. However, I did not have much hope. Just because someone is in Computer Science does not automatically mean he/she could fix computers. It’s like assuming all paramedics could perform surgery. Anyway, my friend looked at my computer, pressed a few buttons and concluded that the hard drive was definitely in bad shape. All I could do now was wait till Monday and get it checked at the computer store.

At 4 pm, the snow started to clear up. I decided to try for a bus once more. The only bus that actually came up to campus was the bus to Metrotown, a mall about 45 minutes away. I decided to take it because the mall has a computer store that might repair my laptop. Unfortunately for me, the bus moved extra slowly because of the snow. By the time I arrived at Metrotown, it was already dark. As the bus neared the station, I glanced at an electronic board outside the mall. SUNDAYS 11 AM – 6 PM. I looked at my watch- 5.30. Wonderful. I only have half an hour till the shops closed. I rushed into the nearest computer store but they told me they were closing already. So my trip here was wasted.

On Monday, I checked with the computer store on campus and they gave the final verdict- the hard drive was beyond repair. The only thing I could do, besides buy a new one was to contact Acer and get them to send me a replacement part. Seems like all my stuff is gone forever. Luckily there wasn’t anything really important on it but still…

Now there’s just the long wait till the replacements arrive, if they arrive. I have never really appreciated the library so much as I do now.

A Christmas Carol

For the recent Christmas celebration, I was fortunate to experience it with most of my extended family even my relatives from Singapore who came to Kuala Lumpur. As usual there was a splendid Christmas dinner which most of us (but me) helped to prepare and as usual, there were carols to be sung. I had never really paid much attention to Christmas carols before, but this year, my mom wanted me to prepare a selection of carols in MIDI format to be sung later on. After looking through the list of songs, I realized that many of them had little connection to the actual meaning of Christmas. In fact most of them had nothing to do with Christianity. I read the lyrics for ‘Frosty the Snowman’ for the first time (really) and found nothing in relation to Christmas. The song was about a magical snowman and him having fun before his time went out. Songs like ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘Winter Wonderland’, and ‘Let it Snow’ are mostly about the season of winter which would be unfamiliar to us living in a tropical country like Malaysia. Perhaps those songs originated in Europe or America where Christmas was during the season of winter but the fact remains that such songs have totally influenced the meaning of Christmas. Most people associate Christmas with snow, Santa Claus and other commercialized features and some even forget why the holiday is significant in the first place. Of course, there are some carols that reflect the Christian meaning of Christmas like ‘Hark now hear the Angels sing’ but they are too few in comparison to the other ‘commercialized’ carols. Even in malls when they play carols for the pleasure of shoppers, how often is it that one hears the carol ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ compared to ‘Jingle Bell Rock’?

I was reminded of another holiday I experienced in Canada- Halloween. Last year was my first encounter with Halloween (which is sadly not celebrated in Malaysia) and I too found it disturbing because like Christmas, Halloween has become over-commercialized. People dress up in outrageous costumes and get drunk all night but how many people know the original reason for celebrating Halloween? It started out as the Celtic harvest festival Sam Hain and people used to believe that at that time, the boundaries between the living world and the spiritual world would weaken, hence all the dressing up was to frighten away evil spirits. I asked one of my friends if he knew how the name Halloween came about and he was clueless. For those of you who are also clueless, Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows (saints) Eve as it was on the eve of All Saints Day- November 1^st. The church intentionally chose that day as it was already familiar to the people as Sam Hain.

I would give a brief history for Christmas too, but I expect more people would know it better than All Hallows Eve. I certainly hope that when I return for 2008’s Christmas, there would be more emphasis on the Christian, rather than the commercial aspect.