The Ten Points to Make a Good Sonic Game

Sonic the Hedgehog, like it or not, is no longer the entertainment juggernaut he used to be. Or at least, that's true as far as gaming is concerned. After some consideration and some analysis of what made the classic Genesis titles be classics, I've come up with ten points to what should constitute a GOOD Sonic the Hedgehog game.

Is Pokemania Back?

Some of my readers might be too young to remember Pokemania, when Pokemon was dominating pop culture and was literally everywhere. Pokemon toys in Burger King, Pokemon trading cards, Pokemon events in Toys-R-Us, the Pokemon movie opening to PACKED theaters, list goes on. Pokemania came in 1999, died out sometime around 2001. But now, thanks to Pokemon Go, the franchise is back again in the Mainstream Media. Question: is Pokemania back?

The Women of Lunar 1

Opponents of gaming, as we as those uninvolved with our culture, like to make the claim that women's roles in gaming are limited. They claim that women can only be sex objects, damsels in distress, or pieces of background furniture. They also claim that femininity and strength in gaming are opposites; a strong female character is JUST a male with breasts. Those of us involved in gaming, however, know better. And today, I want to introduce a few female characters from that GROSSLY under appreciated game franchise, Lunar. This entry will focus exclusively on the heroines of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, but future entries may focus on the girls from Lunar 2, as well as the villains of both games.

A Quick Reminder for Pokemon Go Players

It seems to me like Pokemon Go has become the smash hit of 2016! Half my Twitter feed has been nothing but people commenting on the game. "Oh, I found a Geodude on the plane!" "I found a Magikarp in my backyard!" And honestly, this is good! I'm glad people are out there having fun! This year has been especially hard, and it seems like every other week we're getting nothing but bad news. If it's not a beloved celebrity dying, it's a mass shooting, or a terrorist attack, or a murder. Maybe that's why we distract ourselves with video games.

But remember, people: real life is still going on out there. As you play Pokemon Go, the world still spins around, and life still goes on. The world doesn't stop for you to catch that Vulpix in the church yard, or that Mewtwo in Vatican City, or that Pidgey in your toilet. Life still goes on.

Here's a sobering fact: children are still dying in Syria, Daesh is still killing people, there are still thousands of killings a day all around the world, and you're out there playing Pokemon Go. And why not play? Why not cover our ears and eyes to that which we can do nothing about? We each struggle in our lives; why add the miseries of others to our own?

I am reminded of something I once heard. When God confronted Cain over Abel's death, Cain asked "Am I my brother's keeper?" A wise man once told me that the rest of the Bible answers that question: yes, you are. We all are our brother's keepers. In all of us lays a responsibility to make the world just a bit better than how we found it.

And how can we make the world a bit better? Simply put, we can't; not in a grand scale, anyway. We can't end the war in Syria and the Levant just like that, we can't end world hunger from one night to the next, and racism in the US, Europe, and all around the world will NOT be going away any time soon. But what we CAN do is practice kindness.

A kind word here, a helping hand there, it can make the difference in someone else's day. In a world where cruelty is law, kindness is rebellion. Until next time, take care of yourself, and each other.

Five Outclassed Weapons in Fallout 4

Whereas some weapons are objectively bad in Fallout 4, these are five weapons who serve their purpose well enough. They just simply have the bad luck of not being as good at their job as other weapons; they are outclassed. Each of these weapons has an alternate counterpart that has the same mods, uses the same ammo, but simply does the job better.