Aletheia's Herald

What Goes Into a Post

2011-01-21T09:43:00.001-08:00

Last year I went to the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston, MA and it was singlehandedly the most epic, captivating, and incredible gaming experience I've ever had, even cooler than my guild-first Ragnaros kill back in 2005, using the super-powered gravity gun to demolish the Citadel in City 17, or the first time I fought the Emerald Weapon without Knights of the Round. I went to a Pokemon-themed bar crawl, listened to a great keynote speech by Wil Wheaton, met one of the creators of Penny Arcade, saw the Protomen, Metroid Metal, Anamanaguchi, MC Frontalot, and Jonathan Coulton, spoke to the boss behind Rock Band, and played tons of new video games. The entire time, I was surrounded by thousands of people who all felt similarly about the whole experience, so it was easily the most supportive gaming environment I've ever seen.

When I left, I was inspired.
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How to Pokemon 104: I Wanna be the Very Best

2011-01-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

You understand how IVs, EVs, and Natures work. You know that picking a pokemon for your team isn’t just about stats. You know how to catch and breed pokemon and how to train them quickly and powerfully. Did you know about the power of a Rain Dance team? Do you know what a mixed sweeper is or how to get through a Blissey that’s soaking up your best attacks? What about the utility of a choice band or a focus sash?

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How to Pokemon 103: Eat Lightning, Crap Thunder

2011-01-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

In sections 101 and 102 we covered the essentials of IVs, EVs, natures, and move pools as well as how to catch and breed pokemon that can grow up to be veritable fighting machines. However, with only an understanding and a collection, there’s still a great deal of work to do be done, namely the process of actually training your pokemon, or making steeled companions out of those adorable balls of putty!

How to Pokemon 102: Gathering Minions

2011-01-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

Last time, I covered the basics of important endgame concepts in pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver (also known as Generation IV). In this installment, I’ll cover how to procure those pokemon that will eventually become that unstoppable team that you want. In order to have a great team, you need to have great pokemon and this is the guide on how to get started.

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How to Pokemon 101: Welcome to the Endgame

2011-01-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

I’ve had several friends talk to me about pokemon lately, all of whom had the same questions that I had before I got into “endgame” material, and with the recent resurgence in HeartGold and SoulSilver as well as the announcement of Black and White I thought it might be a good idea to write up a guide or series of guides on endgame training/battling.

So for those of you that haven’t beaten pokemon Diamond/ Pearl/ Platinum/ HeartGold/ SoulSilver, it may or may not come as a surprise that beating the Elite Four, in whatever incarnation they come in, is really only the beginning of the game, much in the same way that hitting level 85 is only the beginning of World of Warcraft. After that, the real depth of the game comes in the form of collecting, breeding, and training truly powerful pokemon and assembling a comprehensive six monster team from them. I mean, there are hundreds of moves and hundreds of theoretical type combinations, plus several other details that become important only when you’ve trounced the best of the best that the computer has to offer.

Here's what you need to know.

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Jake's Guide to iOS Essentials: iPad and iPhone January 2011 Edition

2011-01-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas just passed, bringing iPads and iPhones to millions of new users. The iPhone is officially coming to Verizon in early February. These are fantastic devices and I'm thrilled that new people are starting to use them, but just how does one get the most out of these cool pieces of technology?

In this post, I'll attempt to round up the absolute iOS essential applications, or those apps that make having an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch that much cooler. These are the applications that save you when you most need it, that make your easier, that accomplish a purpose more elegantly than the alternatives, or that you just don't want to leave home without. Without further ado and in no particular order, here's the unadulterated list:

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Jake's Guide to Awesome iOS Apps: November-December 2010

2011-01-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

I'm surrounded by iOS devices, it seems. The last time I had dinner with friends, all four of us either had an iPhone or iPad. The last party I was at, something like 50-60% of the people there had an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. The presence of Apple's devices, at least around me, is pretty intense.

Many people are picking up new iDevices now, too. The iPad was a pretty popular Christmas present. The Verizon iPhone was just announced and is coming out February 10th. The newest iPod Touch is incredibly popular. All of these people are discovering the app store and wondering what to get.

Are you one of them?

I made a post at the end of October about some great apps that I'd discovered and wanted to share, so you should start there. Since then, the holidays have come and gone and my iPad has been absolutely flooded with new games and programs with the plethora of sales that happened. I spent way more on apps than I should have, but as a result I have a whole bunch of new stuff to talk about. Here's what I discovered on the app store in November and December:

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Jake's Guide to Awesome iOS Apps: October 2010 Edition

2010-10-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

I play video games. I also own lots of Apple products. Consequently, I frequently get asked questions about what sort of apps I use, what people should get for their new iTouch/iPhone/iPad, and so on. I decided it would be a good idea to write a comprehensive guide of the cool stuff I've used so far and what I recommend (in no particular order).

All prices are subject to change and all links jump straight to the iTunes store. Enjoy!

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Review: Apricorn EZ Writer II (Portable Dual-Layer DVD Burner)

2010-10-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

Apricorn recently released a new portable, dual-layer DVD burner, the EZ Writer II and I got my hands on it to give it a try. Here’s what it was like.

iOS Game Sale

2010-10-01T09:06:00.001-07:00

Hey iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users: There's a big sale on games in the iTunes store going on right now. You can get things like Peggle, Castlevania Puzzle, and Need For Speed for $1 each, or something like 50-90% off. If you haven't experienced some of these games,now is certainly the time to get on the bandwagon. No,I do not get paid to tell you things like this.

Do note, however, that in many cases these are just the iphone or iPod touch versions; iPad users will be dismayed to find out that Need For Speed is still $12.99 with the smaller version at $1. Lame, I know.

Anyway, enjoy!

Location:Forest Park Pkwy,Clayton,United States

3DS Launch Date Confirmed

2010-09-29T09:28:00.001-07:00

Via Kotaku, 1up, Joystiq, and the rest of the Internet, the Nintendo 3DS launch date has been confirmed for the end of February 2011 in Japan and March for North America. This is the system that I was geeking out over back when it absolutely dominated the news at E3 not so long ago. We're talking 3D display without obnoxious glasses, much better graphics than all current handhelds, an analog stick, WPA/WPA2 security (current DS owners know why this is big), and a library of games that has the potential to put the SNES to shame (and that certainly says something coming from a huge SNES fan).

So set aside $300, the anticipated retail for the new system, some cash for games like Street Fighter 4, Resident Evil Mercenaries, new Kid Icarus, new Star Fox, and a port of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and a whole lot of time because come March you're going to be needing them.

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Location:NJ Transit

Impressions: New on PSN- Enslaved and Blade Kitten demos

2010-09-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

Just this week, the Playstation Network launched two new demos for the upcoming games Enslaved and Blade Kitten. I downloaded them, had a chance to play, and here's what I thought.

Review: Castle Crashers (PS3)

2010-09-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

I recently downloaded a flurry of demos from the Playstation Store for my PS3, among them a real gem of a game some of you may have heard of called Castle Crashers. The demo was so incredible that I just had to get the full game. I did and this was my experience with it.

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Greetings at Blogger

2010-09-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this, it means that I've decided to move Aletheia's Herald from Wordpress to Blogger. There were some policy differences and, while I do and did greatly enjoy Wordpress, Blogger just ended up having more to offer me.

I'll be moving my old blog at Wordpress over to this one at Blogger soon. Please be patient while I figure out how to transpose everything to the new home.