I have some consideration to do some commissions once in a while. I'm not entirely sure yet, though. What do you guys think?

If I were to set up a livestream, would anyone be interested in watching?

Many of us get that feeling right? The feeling of joy when we play something we loved as a kid, yes almost all of us get that. There are cartoons and video games and what not that we grew up with and loved. Some of us may forget about them for years, only to rediscover them later, perhaps even seeing them in a whole new light. As you get older, some things you didn't understand before suddenly make sense now, and you can appreciate that old media more completely now.

The nostalgic feeling can either be painful or joyful, depending on the situation. For instance, if you loved arcade places, passing by an empty building filled with arcades may make you fill up with sorrow. It could be sad for you not to see the many people that used to line up in arcades, pockets lined with quarters, ready to play. Other times, though, it could be a rediscovery. Like, you could find an old game you haven't played for so long, and you sit down and play it and remember all the times as a kid when you loved to play the heck out of the game. This may make you feel happy, bringing back fond memories.

A lot of time, nostalgia can be a good thing. There's nothing wrong with enjoying something from your childhood, even to today. There are things from my childhood I still have interest in, even if it's not as strong as it used to be. And sometimes bringing old ideas to the present can be done well.

But nostalgia can also be the bad guy. Nostalgia can bring harm and deal damage rather than make things better. How? I'll explain: There is a clear line between feeling nostalgic and playing an old game or watching an old show and wanting the present to become like the past.

Sonic is a perfect example, in my mind, of what happens when nostalgia becomes the problem rather than the solver. Sonic has gone through a lot of changes and his newer games haven't had as much success as the old ones. But based on what I've seen and heard, the problem isn't really the games themselves. I've seen gameplay footage, even played a game or two at least once, and the newer 3D games are fine. I see nothing wrong with them. The reason he's suffering I feel has a lot more to do with the fans than any perceived bad decision on Sonic Team's part.

Spyro is another example. I can't tell you how much bashing I've seen regarding Legend of Spyro and Skylanders. Both game series have been attacked not because of any problems with gameplay or any of their own merits, but because both have Spyro in them that don't look and act just like the classic Spyro from the Playstation era. I've played and beaten all the console Spyro games and have enjoyed them for what they were. There was really nothing so horrible about them and it seems the only reason people hate them is because they are associated with Spyro.

The problem with both I see are the fans that are unwilling to accept change and want things to stay the same all the time. And this is when nostalgia becomes the bad guy. It is okay to feel nostalgic from time to time and miss some old ways of doing things. There's nothing wrong with leaning back to old ways in newer games, but to completely revert back to the old ways isn't always such a good idea. Letting nostalgia control the future of games isn't how you become innovative; it's exactly how you destroy it.

When a franchise goes on for a long time, doing the same stuff over and over would increase the likelihood of that franchise going stale. Now reinventing a franchise completely doesn't need to be dome constantly, but incorporating new ideas, new interpretations, etc, is how you keep a franchise alive and kicking. It's how you draw in new fans. Sonic, for instance, has gone through many adventures and has seen many changes, and this is a good thing because it helped him gain new audiences. Even today, he is still popular, so that begs the question: Are the newer games really such a failure state if the fanbase of Sonic is still huge? If they were such a bomb, wouldn't his popularity have gone way down? From what I've seen, it hasn't lessened that greatly.

Nostalgia is problematic when you allow it to cloud your judgment. If you hate new games, shows, etc, is it really because they are that bad? Is it because of the decisions the creators have made? Or is it because you impaired your own judgment with a set of nostalgia glasses, longing for your past to be in the present? Are you judging the new stuff fairly or are you comparing it to the old stuff?

New things should not be judged by comparing them to how things used to be. That is like comparing apples to oranges. They should be judged by their own merits. It isn't fair to say a new game or new show or whatever sucks just because it isn't just like what you grew up with. Nostalgia can get in the way of progress, and if it's allowed to do so, nothing new would come. While some new things can be bad, other new things can be good.

Nostalgia can be good. Don't get me wrong. I do not hate nostalgia. My point I'm trying to make is that don't let nostalgia control your judgment. Nostalgia can be good or bad depending on the way it is utilized.

No offense intended to anyone.

The Nostalgia Critic is returning. It's official. February 5, he'll be back to review Life Of Timothy Green. If you go to the official That Guy With The Glasses website, you'll find a video called The Review Must Go On.

I have....admittedly mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, I do love the idea of him coming back. I do miss his reviews. I used to love going to the site to see what the latest movie NC would review, and if it would be something I saw or at least recognized. I loved the humor in the videos, the way he kept changing things up as time went on to keep it fresh and hilarious.

On the other hand, though, I don't want him giving up on Demo Reel either. I don't like it as much as his NC stuff, but the idea of him leaving Demo Reel to come back to Nostalgia Critic leaves me feeling..I guess you could say guilty, even though I was not involved at all, obviously, with him coming back. I never voiced a complaint about him ending NC. He mentioned that he was looking forward to Demo Reel for so long, so I personally hope he does not abandon it.

What I personally hope is that Doug does Nostalgia Critic once in a while if he gets inspiration to do so, while keeping the main focus on Demo Reel. It's a compromise that would allow him to give his NC fans some new NC material while not depriving fans of his newer show, Demo Reel, if that work as well.

Time will tell.

I have officially moved out of my parents' home. I am currently living in my own apartment now.

I might start doing some commissions. Here is the information I have thought of so far:



Payment Chart (may change)

Single Character:

Sketch-$3
Lineart-$5
Traditional Color Without Background-$7
Traditional Color With Background-$10
Computer Color Without Background-$9
Computer Color With Background-$14
Character Sheet-$15
Avatar/Icon-$2


Multiple Characters(after 2, an additional $1 per new character) :

Sketch-$5
Lineart-$7
Traditional Color Without Background-$9
Traditional Color With Background-$12
Computer Color Without Background-$11
Computer Color With Background-$16
Character Sheet-$17
Avatar/Icon-$4



Will Draw:

Dinosaurs
Dragons
Most Mammals
Most Reptiles
Unicorns
Sharks
Aliens (non-human)
Some Blood/Gore
Fanart (as non-humans if human)


Will Not Draw:

Humans
Sexual Situations
Weight Gain
Vehicles
Humanoids



Payment method will most likely be Paypal.

Well good news. I got that apartment and I now have the keys to it. I'm having internet installed this Sunday and on Saturday I'll be moving the rest of my stuff over hopefully. Depending on how things go, I may be fully moved out by this weekend.

If I were to do some dinosaur tutorials, with steps written out, what dinosaurs should I do?

There's a chance I won't be able to attend Magfest this year. My brother and I are kinda low on money. We might still go but it depends on how things go. It would be easier if we can find a couple people to come with us to help split the cost of the hotel.

At some point in the not so distant future, I will be moving to a new place. It's not far from here. The apartment is nice and pretty modern. I don't know how long I will be without internet as everything is set up, but hopefully it will not be for too long.

This was inspired by a recent chat with a friend of mine.

One of my favorite shows is Spongebob Squarepants. I watched it for years and still enjoy it today. I prefer the older episodes, but I enjoy some of the newer ones as well. I like the characters. I like the humor. I like the world set up around them. There isn't much I don't like, other than the degrading characterization and grossness of later episodes, but that's the besides the point I'm going to get at.

I also started getting into Viva Pinata. Granted I don't like it as much as Spongebob and it's more of a time waster for me, it's still not a bad show. It makes me laugh sometimes and I do like some of the characters. I would recommend it to anyone looking to find a new show to watch. If it's not your thing, that's fine.

Both Spongebob and Viva Pinata are what some would say a "random crap" show, meaning there is no solid storyline; it's just characters doing whatever the heck they want. Understandably, not everyone likes that type of show, so these shows are not going to be of everyone's taste. There are other shows like them as well. I don't know if there's an actual name for the type of shows they are. I'm sure "random crap" isn't the official name. Anyway, moving on.

Some people do prefer a story to go along with the show. They want a continuous storyline to be followed through, for the episodes to have some kind of continuity, and that's fine as well. There are shows I like that have a story to them and may also have chronological episodes, episodes that cannot be watched out of order or you'll get confused. I like shows with and without chronological story-driven episodes. I can enjoy both because they are two styles of doing a show.

A story is not really necessary for a good show, nor is having the episodes be chronological only. It's not bad to have a story throughout the show and I'm not trying to downplay it. But there is another aspect one mustn't forget, and that's the interactivity of the characters. Some shows are simply "slice of life", "day in the life of" type shows. These are shows that don't have to be watched in chronological order strictly, and these shows don't have a single storyline to follow through. They are shows focused on the interactivity of the characters on the show and the consequences (both negative and positive) that results from that.

I would say that The Simpsons fall in that category. The Simpsons doesn't have a single story and it does not have to be watched in order. It's a "slice of life" cartoon that focuses on the interactions of these characters as different scenarios are thrust upon them. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic also qualifies here. Just like the Simpsons, FiM does not have to be watched in order and it does not have a single storyline. It's just the ponies interacting with each other in different scenarios. Both shows have well developed characters, some of them iconic.

But the more I think about it, the more I realize that Viva Pinata and Spongebob Squarepants do not belong to a "random crap" category. In fact, they belong in "slice of life". There is no fundamental difference I can gather from those two shows from Simpsons and FiM, in terms of show structure. Why? Well I'll explain.

Both shows do not have to be watched in order. Both shows do not have a single storyline that is carried over from one episode to the next. Both shows derive the focus instead on individual characters and interactions with one another. Both shows focus plights on more "worldly" matters to the characters, such as Spongebob wanting to get his license or Fergie succumbing to guilt when he refused to share a chocolate bunny with his friends.

This is the same formula you'll find in shows like The Simpsons and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. So the conclusion that I have come to is that they are all on the same playing field.

However the characterizations may not be as strong in Spongebob or Viva Pinata as they are in Simpsons and FiM. The Spongebob characters are tropes, not completely 3 dimensional characters. Granted I do feel they were more 3 dimensional in older episodes, but they are so 1 dimensional nowadays. Viva Pinata characters are, in general, smarter than the characters on Spongebob, but they still can't compete with the characters on The Simpsons and especially not My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, in terms of character development and such.

So are shows like Spongebob and Viva Pinata truly worthless? I don't think so. I feel they do still fulfill a niche of sorts in television, and that niche is "casual". I view these shows and others like them to be sort of the "casual games" of the tv world.

Casual games are fun, but they generally have no real point to them other than just to have fun. They are meant to be played in short bursts. I'm not saying they're bad games. After all, I like some casual games such as Zaz and Bejeweled Twist. I enjoy casual games because there is no story I need to pay attention to, no obstacles I must overcome to stop an evil villain. I just play them and they help me relax, mellow out, or kill time.

This is exactly what Spongebob and Viva Pinata are. They're supposed to be fun, stressless watches. You don't truly have to pay close attention to what's going on. Unlike in story driven shows where you have to pay attention to what's going on, to what's happened, with shows like Spongebob and Viva Pinata, you can relax your mind. You don't need to focus so much on what is going on. I like putting Spongebob on at night because, without a single plot hovering over the show, I can relax and go to sleep without being worried of being distracted.

These shows, the ones that some may call "random crap", help me relax. There's no real drama going on, no fear of what might happened. I can just turn them on and relax. That is their purpose. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am. The "random crap" shows serve the purpose of letting you unwind and relax without needing to keep your eyes glued to the screen to see what happens next.

Keep in mind, this is my opinion. If you don't agree, that's fine.

I do like Dino Squad, but I will admit it does have its problems, caused, in my opinion, mostly by poor writers. After talking with some people about this show, I decided to write this, though it took me a while to complete. It's a rewrite of the show, attempting to fix some of the problems it had.

So far, I only wrote episode summaries rather than full episodes. I might get around to writing some roughdrafts of the full episodes, if I get enough ideas.

Here's what I came up with-



Veloci and Moynihan come from an isolated valley where dinosaurs lived into modern times. He and Moynihan are the last ones to survive when a mysterious plague wipes the others out. They took up an interest in human science and experimented themselves until they accidentally obtain human forms. Veloci and Moynihan go on seperate paths, with Veloci wanting to bring back the age of dinosaurs and Moynihan wanting to educate humans on how to live in harmony with nature.

Kids get perfect dinosaur forms due to extra materials that were accidentally spilled in. The identity of these materials was never discovered, leaving Veloci scrambling to find the right chemicals to make more perfect dinosaurs.

Moynihan refuses to de-ooze the children because the new materials made it too dangerous to do so. Plus she wants their help to fight Dr. Veloci, who had gotten harder for her to combat. Moynihan comes off as mysterious and the Dino Squad do not know how she knows Dr. Veloci so well. She does not tell them that she's a Velociraptor herself until in the finale.

Veloci uses threats and promises of power to entice people to his side. He despises humans due to their large numbers and how they are affecting the planet. Despite his hatred of humans, he doesn't mind if his primordial ooze infects them or not. He sometimes even engages in experimenting on his own men. Dr. Veloci is not fully aware of everything about the Mesozoic, resulting in experiments that are far too risky. He injects a special syrum that acts somewhat like a mind controller, making his men more obedient and more willing to go along with his schemes, no matter what they involve.

The primordial ooze is filled with tiny nanobots that work one a molecular level. They bind with the host's body, more efficiently in the Dino Squad, and can be activated by mere thought. The nanobots are capable of transforming cells to dinosaurian versions and back again an infinite amount of times. The nanobots repair themselves and use the host body temp as a fuel source.

Max elected himself leader because of his form being a T-Rex. He dislikes being a dinosaur but makes the best of it by guiding the others. He is often bossy, thinking only he can get the job done right. This results in him giving the others very easy jobs while he hogs all the hard work for himself.

Buzz is a lone wolf who doesn't want to be in the Dino Squad at first, despite loving his pteranodon form. Overtime, he comes to appreciate the others as friends and becomes protective of them. He is sometimes cowardly, but when his new friends are in danger, he'll swoop in to save them. He has a love of animals, preferably insects.

Fiona has a love of speed and is an accomplished technician. Her love of the environment entices her to work with the other Dino Squad members to stop Dr. Veloci's plans. She builds each member a motorbike that has two forms, a normal motorcycle-look and a stylized version that represents their dinosaur forms. The normal form is used if Veloci and his men are nearby.

Caruso is very egocentric and often only thinks for himself. He wants to use his dinosaur form as a means of getting fame and fortune, despite the consequences it will bring. Despite his selfish nature, he has come to enjoy being with the others and will even give up fame for them. He can be very clever and is the best strategist of the team.

Rodger is the smartest of the group, but is not a good strategist as he tends to lean more towards brains than muscle, creating an imbalance. He puts his talents to creating new weapons for the Dino Squad to use. He spends a lot of time with Ms. Moynihan. They work together to track new mutantsaurs and to improve de-oozing.

The Dino Squad use a multitude of weaponry, the most common being the chiller and the spiller. The nanobots' weakness to cold due to their reliance on heat causes them to surface and the spiller sucks them in, reverting the animal back to normal. Other weapons include nets, guns to defend themselves, and miniradars to help locate mutantsaurs or alert them of Veloci's approach.

Veloci is aware the perfect dinosaurs are human. He suspects this very early on. But with no leads as to who they are, he has no way of finding out who they are. He has his men try to obtain blood samples from them or capture them whenever they see him. He is equally interested in all 5 of the Dino Squad members. He doesn't want to kill them, but will if he has to. He wants to force them to join him and help him create more perfect dinosaurs. He promises a huge reward if they join, which entices Caruso, who only holds back because he doesn't want to betray the others.

The Dino Squad are cold-blooded in dinosaur form, as well as Moynihan, Victor, and Rump. They all require a special device attached to their bodies to keep their body temps regulated in cold weather months. Moving around helps the device to operate more efficiently.

The families are initially unaware of their children's condition. Overtime, they all find out. Fiona, Caruso, and Rodger's family is understanding and supporting. Buzz's family is suspicious but promise not to act unless something terrible happened to their son. Max's family is outraged and end up as antagonists, working with Veloci to have the Dino Squad captured and taken to his lab. Victor promises them to de-ooze the kids, but is secretly planning on forcing the Dino Squad to join him. He is unaware the parents are related to any member of the Dino Squad.

Terri is jealous of her sister and often tries to join missions to prove her worth. While Moynihan does allow her to help, she forces Terri to stay at the lighthouse and keep an eye on the equipment. Terri disobeys one day and tries to help the team, but this results in her getting hurt. She is temporarily banned for a few weeks until the Dino Squad is captured and Moynihan needs Terri's help. Terri is an accomplished hacker and is the only one tenacious and brave enough to hack into Veloci's system. Over time, due to second-hand exposure to ooze, she eventually develops a baryonyx form. Even after this, she is forced to stay back most of the time by the others because they underestimate her fighting ability. She proves them wrong later.

Veloci's men are well trained in combat and have a lot of items useful for capturing mutantsaurs and dinosaurs. They do not have a lot of fear and will go up against the Dino Squad or mutantsaurs no question. The Dino Squad often run into trouble with them and are forced to attack them to escape. Several times, Veloci's men managed to capture them and they barely escape. Peter is one of the most fiercely loyal to Dr. Veloci. He is Veloci's second-in-command and often leads capture attempts against the Dino Squad or mutantsaurs. He got hit with the same ooze that transformed the Dino Squad, giving him an apatosaurus form. Veloci genuinely respects Peter.

Veloci's vehicles tend to consist of whatever is up-to-date at the time, and he has everything from submarines to helicopters to huge trucks. He uses a distinctive marking on them so he can recognize them from the other vehicles around him. While he does have red dino-like vehicles, they are more for show. He drives those around when he's off duty as a way to divert attention. The people are unaware the normal-looking vehicles are where he does his real business. The Dino Squad themselves have had a hard time telling if the next vehicle they saw was Veloci or his goons or not. That is, until Rodger was able to identify the symbol, though they did their best to make Veloci believe they didn't know how to recognize it was him.

A lot of the devices Moynihan and Veloci create tend to have a dino-like head on the front. This draws attention and that was their purpose. They didn't want to lose their creations and found a way to make them stand out from the crowd. They aren't as worried about these being discovered by people because they both have a remote they can press to make the devices transform into something inconspicuous. The reason they both have this is because this was one of their last projects together before they split off from each other.

At one point, the Dino Squad meet two other people they reluctantly share their secret with: Liam and Ms. Krell.

Liam is a high school student suffering from Asperger's Syndrome, making him behave in ways the Dino Squad, especially Max, see as abnormal and they are not able to understand it. Liam is smarter than he appears to be and has a quick wit. After he helps the Dino Squad deal with mutant bees, he's declared an honorary member of the Dino Squad and he promises to keep their secret. Moynihan is especially happy because she had felt bad for the kid not having many friends before this. Liam, however, is hiding a secret, and it's later shown he was acting as a spy.

Ms. Krell is the Flagstaff's neighbor. She's grumpy and cold from years of taunting from fellow peers, causing her to become mostly a hermit. Without much outside world contact, she becomes a great painter, which Terri sees for the first time and comes to admire. Ms. Krell had been friends with Moynihan in the past, and when she learns of what has been going on, she is shocked but still willing to resume friendship with Moynihan as she was the only person willing to stay friends with her after her "I saw a dinosaur" mishap.

Moynihan is able to keep her dino form a secret from the kids until one mission where the Dino Squad go to contend with mutant puppies that are unusually hostile and powerful due to enhanced mutations. With the help of Max's own parents, Veloci is able to capture the Dino Squad and informs them he intends on finding out who they are so he can properly contend with them. Moynihan jumps in to save them, but even after a particularly nasty fight with Veloci, she ends up captured herself.

The sudden reveal of Moynihan's dino form shocks the team. Some are confused as to why she never told them before, while others become angry and distrustful towards Moynihan, wondering why she would keep this secret from them and even wonder if she had ulterior motives. Moynihan tells them that she didn't want them to fear her and apologizes for not telling them before.

After a series of events, the team does manage to escape, but not before doing huge amounts of damage to the lab. Veloci is pissed off about this, seeing his precious equipment destroyed and setting him back many years. Interest in recruiting the Dino Squad fades and he is now only interested in destroying them after acquiring samples of their blood.

Episodes:

Episode 1-Eager to try out new nanobots designed by Peter, Veloci unleashes a batch that seeps its way to a tide pool where Moynihan is conducting a class. Five of the teenagers, who don't particularly get along well with each other, are exposed, forcing Moynihan to train them how to control their new found abilities, which she said would take a few weeks to completely master. In the mean time, the ooze infects a shark and turns it into a kronosaur. Without full control of their dino forms, the teens must work together to restrain and revert the beast to normal.

Episode 2-A week has passed and the teenagers have gained some control over their dinosaur forms. Enough to finally make use of them went contending with squirrel mutants and aggressive mutant plant life. Rodger has not been feeling appreciated lately after the team criticizes him for his inventions failing in their mission. He momentarily leaves the group to do some thinking, but encouragement from Moynihan makes him go back to help his team mates just as they're being overwhelmed by the mutant plants.

Episode 3-Veloci is getting more curious about the group of five dinos that have been interfering with his plans lately. He begins to wonder if they are really human with how they disappear and reappear so quickly. As a method of trapping one, he has one of his female employees host a fake TV show revolving around talent to see if at least one of the dinosaurs was interested in fame. The plan almost works when Caruso tries out, but an escaped spider mutant appears, ruining not only Caruso's chance at fame, but also Veloci's plan. Caruso's parents find out the truth.

Episode 4-Caruso is determined to win a football game to impress his parents, so he uses his dinosaur abilities, despite still not having full control of them. This attracts the attention of Veloci, who sees the signals on his radar. Thinking this further supports the idea of the dinosaurs being human, he goes to Kittery Point to locate the human in hopes of recruiting them. Unleashing mutant raptors, he's able to flush out the dinosaurs, but is unable to capture them and his helicopter is destroyed in the process.

Episode 5-On one particularly bad day, the team's personalities clash so strongly against each other that they refuse to speak to one another for the rest of the day. However, when Fiona forgets to shut the door, Rump runs loose. The team's refusal to cooperate becomes a problem, and they all wind up captured by Veloci's goons. Veloci himself confronts them and tells them he knows they are human and offers a huge reward in exchange for their services, with Caruso showing interest. Interference afar from Moynihan helps them to escape.

Episode 6-Buzz was never much of a team player. After he is the first to gain full control of his dinosaur morph, he becomes disinterested in taking orders from the others. However, he begins to see things differently when he is bullied by McFinn, a new kid in school. The experience leaves Buzz to feel guilty about his treatment of the others and begins to make an effort to change. In the mean time, Veloci experiments with mutating seagulls to see if he could recreate ancient birds species.

Episode 7-The kids confront Moynihan about how she knows Veloci so well. Instead of answering, she takes them, except Buzz, to a frozen lake where she has the team try out her thermal regulators so they can operate fine in the cold. Buzz is playing an online game unknowingly with Veloci. Suspicious of the kid, Veloci uses a special sound that causes Buzz to mindlessly go dino and fly to a designated spot. When the others return and find him missing, they must track the sound before Veloci gets Buzz.

Episode 8-Max's bossy nature is not something the others are used to. It causes Caruso to get in contact with O'Reiley, believing that the famous reporter could get him a spot on the show so he wouldn't have to listen to Max anymore. But when O'Reiley turns out to be even more controlling and gets footage of Max transforming, Caruso must choose between his new potential life or go back and help Max. Things get worse when Veloci shows up in the area to study his recent rat mutations.

Episode 9-Angry at how the others laughed at him when his invention failed in front of the class, Rodger explores practical jokes to get back at them. But despite scolds from the others, including Moynihan, Rodger finds himself unable to stop. His addiction to practical jokes causes their plan against Veloci's infected rain to fail. Feeling guilty, Rodger apologizes to the others. They find another way to stop the rain and are successful, although just barely. Rodger swears off practical jokes after that.

Episode 10-After hearing Fiona talk negatively about his favorite reporter, Zoom, Buzz decides to enter a contest to prove her wrong. He alters a photo of himself with the head of a famous singer. But when he and the others learn the photograph has an image of their lighthouse, they race to where Zoom will meet Veloci to get it back. Buzz ends up meeting the singer and finds that she's not as bad as he had believed her to be. He confesses what he did and apologizes. The photo is obtained and destroyed.

Episode 11-Fiona is upset that she's not able to join the others in the latest mission against Veloci as she's stuck on a family trip with her family into the woods. Fiona's sister, Terri, is especially difficult, asking her why she's suddenly hanging out with the very people she had once seemed to despise so much. When mutant moles show up, Fiona is forced to call the Dino Squad over to their place, where, despite efforts, her family finds out she's a spinosaurus. Surprisingly, they are understanding.

Episode 12-The Dino Squad, with Veloci seemingly inactive, decide to take a vacation in the woods. But a mishap causes their equipment to fry. Left defenseless except for their dino morphs, which they all finally have full control over, the team are unaware that Veloci is also in the woods, observing a fossil remain. When Buzz, Caruso, and Rodger transform out of fear, Veloci smells them and begins to track them down. Max and Fiona, who often clashed for leadership, must work together to save them from Veloci's clutches.

Episode 13-Veloci becomes determined to flush out the dinosaurs and infects a store full of pets. In response, the Dino Squad, in dinosaur forms, show up to take care of them. But circumstances lead to Max accidentally exposing his secret to his parents. Outraged, his parents tell him they're going to disown him until he gets rid of his dinosaur self. They join forces with Veloci to stop the dinosaurs and Max is forced to move in with Moynihan, who has an extra room available.

Episode 14-Moynihan takes pity on Liam, a student with Asperger's Syndrome, after he's constantly bullied by a couple of other students. She assigns Max to help Liam out, although the jock is unwilling at first due to not understanding anything about the condition. Things are complicated when a leftover ooze spill mutates a local bee colony. Due to the sheer numbers, the Dino Squad are unable to contain the mutants until Liam, having found out their secret, offers assistance, proving himself to be more intelligent than they realized.

Episode 15-The Dino Squad are growing wary of Rump's increasingly wild behavior, which Moynihan attributed to the dog slowly losing control of his mutant side. After Fiona yells at Rump for a mishap, the dog escapes, losing his tracking collar in the process. Taking responsibility, Fiona heads out to locate Rump. While she's gone, Veloci, upon suggestion of Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell, unleashes mutant seaslugs near the Kittery Point lighthouse to draw out the Dino Squad.

Episode 16-Peter creates a new type of ooze for his boss, but the ooze has an unexpected dangerous side effect and he ends up dumping it. The ooze ends up hitting a cargo ship full of zoo animals that were in transport. The resulting chaos causes the ship to eventually crash on a deserted island. When Moynihan finds out, she sends the Dino Squad out. But the mission won't be easy when Rodger gets a huge ego from both Moynihan's praise and a science award he had won the previous week.

Episode 17-Although an honorary Dino Squad member for her computer knowledge, Terri is jealous and upset that the others won't let her go on any missions with them. To prove her with, she sneaks out one day when the team is dealing with mutant beavers in a local park. She encounters one of Veloci's men and, in an attempt to get away, she ends up hurt. Shocked by what Terri did, Moynihan banishes Terri from the lighthouse as punishment. But when, a couple weeks later, the Dino Squad is captured, Moynihan calls upon Terri's help.

Episode 18-Max has gotten unusually bossy lately. During a mission to the Arctic Circle where Veloci is attempting to melt the ice caps and growing mutated vegetation, Max becomes so controlling over the others that they are caught off guard when a mutant walrus shows up and attacks them. Things are further complicated when they realize they've wandered into a trap and are infected by a virus engineered by Veloci himself. Slowly getting sicker, they must defend themselves when Veloci comes to 'collect' them.

Episode 19-Terri hates her neighbor, Ms. Krell, and the old woman isn't exactly fond of her either. During a party, the Dino Squad learn that a spider had been mutated by one of Veloci's henchmen and has wandered into Ms. Krell's house. However, during an attempt to capture and de-ooze it, Fiona is bitten and the others become trapped. Terri must work with Ms. Krell to stop Veloci and to rescue the others. Terri eventually learns that, due to secondhand exposure, she has a dino mode of her own.

Episode 20-Veloci has taken a break from trying to capture the Dino Squad and sends Peter out to infect a randomnly chosen farm with ooze that he hopes will recreate, as close as possible, something like a tyrannosaurus out of the farmer's chickens. The Dino Squad respond to this, however, and arrive to take care of the chickens. Things are complicated when Max and Caruso get into a competition with each other and a pet parrot is oozed as well and flies off in another direction.

Episode 21-Veloci mutates a swarm of locusts, but when they accidentally escapes, he lets them go to see what they are capable of, in hopes of producing better mutations. Fiona and Rodger are forced to work together on a science project involving alternative fuel transportation, and their equally stubborn natures make them clash constantly. When they are separated from the others on a mission, they have to deal with the locust mutants by themselves.

Episode 22-When Moynihan realizes Veloci is conducting strange experiments in Hawaii, she sends the Dino Squad to investigate. The team splits off in different directions. During their scuba diving to look for clues, Fiona and Max happen upon Veloci's submarine and are captured by Veloci. While their masks protect their identity for now, it's only a matter of time before Veloci learns their secret identities. With their leader figures missing, the remaining team members must learn to work together.

Episode 23-Caruso accidentally messes up his friends' school projects and, feeling guilty, decides to go leave for the day. While at the mall, he notices that Liam is there talking with one of Veloci's men. Suspecting Liam of being a spy, Caruso informs the others, but they find it hard to believe. When the others fall for a trap laid out for them and with no way to contant Moynihan, Caruso must track them down and rescue them by himself, all the while avoiding being spotted by Liam.

Episode 24-Rodger is feeling down due to his recent experimental failures. He feels especially awful when he accidentally gives Buzz an infected snake Moynihan had been studying. With the worry of the snake mutating and Veloci locking onto its location, the Dino Squad must race to locate the train and intercept it before its too late. Veloci showing up only makes things worse. Assistance from a rogue Raptor Dyne operative, the same one Liam was talking with, provides the edge they need.

Episode 25-Liam comes up with a plan to capture one of the Dino Squad members, but before he can give names to Veloci, he hits his head and loses parts of his memory. Going on what he has, Veloci sets up a meeting and has one of his henchwomen host it. Random names gathered up are announced and one of the names drawn is Buzz. Although he's nervous, he attends, with help from his friends. When they spot Veloci there, they realize it's a potential trap and must try to get out before suspicion falls on them.

Episode 26-The Dino Squad respond to a strange signal in a pet show area and find that Veloci has unleashed hostile mutant puppies in the area. With their claws full, they're unable to properly defend themselves against Veloci's men, who, under Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell's orders, are ultimately captured. Moynihan hears the commotion and, realizing what has happened, transforms and reveals to the Dino Squad that she's also a raptor and attempts to free them, only to be captured herself.

I beat Skylanders the other day. I would have beaten the game sooner if I had paid more attention to it. But I had been busy and unfortunately couldn't play on a regular basis. The final boss battle was a challenge, too, but it wasn't as hard as some other boss battles I had to deal with in the past.

Skylanders is a great game. From my experience, I've had more fun with this game, I mean genuine fun, than many other games I played before. This doesn't mean the games I didn't think were as fun are bad; but I wouldn't recommend them if you want a truly enjoyable experience.

Yeah the game does get cheesy at times. It's quite predictable, the characters repeat animations in-game, and there isn't that much depth to the characters. No surprises or anything. The game itself is not very complex. The plot is very simple and straight forward.

But I do feel this game is worth a chance. If you get a chance to play it, go for it. You won't regret it. The Skylanders are all unique with their own powers and abilities. Your strategy will depend on which Skylander you use. Some are better at long range, some short range, and some are at a middle ground. Some are weak but fast, and others sluggish but powerful. They really did take the time and effort to make each Skylander stand out as much as possible.

If you're a fan of the original Insomniac Spyro, go for this title. While it's not entirely about Spyro, this game comes much closer to recreating the gameplay of the original. That's right, Skylanders is more of an Insomniac Spyro game than Legend of Spyro is, despite the fact that Skylanders is not a Spyro game; he's just part of it.

I've come to love the idea of having Spyro taking a backseat for once. This allows for other, equally colorful and interesting characters to come forth. So far, my fav Skylander I've used is Zap. He's a water dragon raised by electric eels. I love his moves and the way he can zip around the way he does. I find him more fun to play as than Spyro.

And the villain is just awesome. Kaos is such a funny villain and acts much like Zim, which makes sense since he has the same voice as that green alien. I admit I didn't like Kaos at first from the first trailer, but as I played the game, I came to enjoy when he was on screen and couldn't wait to see more of him. His dialogue is great and funny and I like his interactions with his goblin butler.

So this is my final verdict: this game is MUCH better than people thought it was going to be. And I highly recommend it to anyone. If you're looking for a deep, more complicated game, skip this title. But if you want a game to play for fun and enjoy yourself, then try this game out.

I've known about Skylanders for a long time, about since they were first announced online. I admit that I wasn't really excited about it. I hated Spyro's new look and when I heard there were 32 (I think) playable characters, I thought it would have been a horrible game.

Likewise, I wasn't the only one who felt this way. Many other people were upset with the direction they've taken Spyro, removing him from being the main character and reducing him to be just one of many, not standing out as much as he used to.

Part of me wasn't sure if I even wanted to give this game a chance, especially after learning about how you have to buy the characters to play as them. This felt like nothing more than a ploy to make more money, and I'm sure it was. A clever scheme you could say.

But my brother bought it for me for my birthday. I didn't want to be rude, so I figured I'd give it a chance. I did have some intention to anyway, at some point whenever I could afford it. So I sat down and played the game for a while, eventually gaining more characters to use.

And I have to say I am quite surprised with the game. It is not very complex, but it is still enjoyable. It's kind of akin with something like Angry Birds. It's so simple anyone could do it, but it still manages to be fun to play and addicting even.

Skylanders has a ridiculously simple plot: the main villain, Kaos, destroys something of great value to the Skylands and you have to gather up elements and recreate the light to push back the darkness and then fight Kaos. That's about it, from what I'm seeing. It's not very complex at all, which means that young kids could easily understand it, which makes sense, since that's the audience the game makers were going for.

The main villain, Kaos, is a lot of laughs. He's voiced by the same guy who does Zim from Invader Zim, so you can expect a lot of similar speaking mannerisms from this guy. He tries so hard to be evil, but he ends up just looking silly and he's such a denialist when it's losing that it's hilarious. Sometimes I play just to listen to this guy talk.

While the gameplay is simple, they make up for it and found a way to make things more challenging. Some sections are closed off to all but a Skylander of a certain type, Skylanders of certain types can do better in other places, and some areas may require you to have more Skylanders at hand just in case (such as boss battles).

For instance, when I was in my first battle, I was surprised at how much Spyro sucked at it, but how Trigger Happy, whom I've neglected earlier, fared much better. That's the thing about Skylanders; sometimes the characters can really surprise you and pull through when you thought they would not.

Another thing I really liked was how the characters actually felt different from each other. There are no cloned moves that I've seen; every character as their own unique attacks, requiring different strategies that you could come up with. For instance, Zap has a sliding move, making him ideal for darting around quickly and moving bombs that have time limits on them. Trigger Happy is a great long range character who is more powerful than he looks, and he comes in handy in boss fights, at least in my experience.

And I like the touch of the new Portal Master being the game player. While this can be cheesy, and I didn't like it much at first myself, but being talked to by the characters of the game, being the one who is helping them out, being the one that Kaos refers to at times, it makes you feel like a part of that world in a sense.

I won't lie when I said I did feel a tinge of intimidation after some lines Kaos says. While yes it's just a game and he's not really threatening, things feel different when you're literally the one they're talking about (since the Portal Master, the new one, they refer to are the game players). The way they handled making players feel more connected to the game is just great I think, and I'm sure it'll help the kids feel like they accomplished something.

If you're looking for a deep involving story, I'd skip this one. But if you just want to have fun, I'd give this game a try. If you're a fan of Insomniac Spyro, I'd give this a go. While it's not exactly like Insomniac and not entirely about Spyro, this game comes much closer to the spirit of the original trilogy than Legend of Spyro does.

I haven't beaten the game yet, but I'm hoping to soon.

I kept forgetting to post this. Many many months ago, I wrote a Metroid Other M rebuttal statement regarding the criticisms of Samus's portrayal of Other M. I had read the manga and played all the games except for Metroid Prime Hunters, which I watched a video walkthrough of, in order to write this. It hasn't been edited in a long time.
















I will admit that I did enjoy Metroid Other M, but it did give me some frustrations. Some of the gameplay mechanics I didn't particularly like and took me a while to get used to, some of the bosses (especially the final boss) were too easy, the cutscenes are really long at times, and two scenes involving Samus (no not the one with Ridley) needed better explainations. But this doesn't mean I think it's bad. In fact, I do find it an enjoyable experience and I do recommend the game to any fan of Metroid, or even newcomers to the franchise. The combined perspectives of first person and third person would cater to those who have difficulty in one or the other type of view. I like the idea of being able to replenish missiles at any time and recovering one or more energy tanks when low on health. The cinematics are nice and I liked some of the characters, like Anthony.

I am surprised that the game isn't as well recieved as I think it should be. It seems like this is in part due to Samus taking orders from Adam when she's supposed to hate taking orders, Samus being "weak", "cowardly", and "whiny", and her choking up when she sees Ridley. However I have to disagree with all of this. I'm going to make several arguments to defend her portrayal in Other M and explain why it isn't out of character for her. And before you say that I "haven't played enough of the games to understand", I have recently finished a gaming marathon of Metroid. I first read the manga, then I played Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime Hunters (watched a playthrough since I don't own the game), Metroid Prime 2, Metroid Prime 3, Metroid II, Super Metroid, Metroid Other M, and Metroid Fusion to refamiliarize myself with this particular universe. So I do know what I'm talking about.

So I'll bring up some of the common complaints I heard of about her portrayal and offer my rebuttal.


1. "Samus shouldn't be taking orders from Adam. She's a bounty hunter, isn't a part of the Galactic Federation, and has no reason to follow orders from them."

My answer: Well this is only partially true. She isn't a part of GF anymore and she is a freelance bounty hunter. She became a bounty hunter at some point before the first Metroid game. However, the notion she doesn't need to take orders from them isn't exactly true. For one thing, she might not be a part of the GF, but that doesn't mean she is free to disobey them. The Galactic Federation does have a sact called the Galactic Federation Police, which, as one may guess, is able to make arrests. If Samus were to do anything that may be percieved as a threat, then she could be arrested. This could easily include misconduct with a commanding officer and jeopardizing a mission the GF was on.

In other words, Samus would still need to listen to them to avoid trouble. This doesn't equal to her having to agree with them, of course, and she could still go off and do her own thing. But if there's a GF team in the same area, she'd have to make sure she doesn't disrupt them, or there could be trouble. Cooperation would be needed for a better success.

This issue isn't always the case, obviously, as in some Metroid games, she's on her own, such as the first Metroid and Super Metroid. This is how she likes to work, on her own. This has been highlighted particularly in the manga and mentioned a bit in Fusion. Samus is a 'lone wolf', prefering to work alone. But this doesn't mean she always works alone. She may not enjoy taking orders, but that doesn't mean she won't. If she feels she must, she will. And in fact, multiple Metroid games do involve her taking orders from the GF, right down to the very first game.

In the first Metroid game, Samus has been assigned by the Galactic Federation to defeat Mother Brain and her forces on the planet Zebes. In Metroid II, she was assigned, again by the Galactic Federation, to go to the planet SR388 and wipe out the metroid population to end their threat to the galaxy. In Metroid Prime Hunters, the GF tells Samus to investigate the "ultimate power" after receiving a telepathic message. In Metroid Prime 3, the Galactic Federation is even more involved, with Samus taking orders from them multiple times throughout the entire game and even joining in with their fleet. And finally there is Metroid Fusion, in which Samus takes orders from the GF throughout the whole game through the computer on her ship, which she has named Adam. Oh I did forget Metroid: Zero Mission, a remake of the first game. She's still taking orders in that game as well.

In fact, Metroid Fusion follows a very similar formula as Metroid Other M. In Metroid Fusion, Samus follows the orders of the computer, Adam (who has Adam's mind, so it's basically like taking orders from the real Adam). She goes where it tells her, for the most part she only goes to certain places when it tells her to. It controls when she gets certain upgrades. This is almost just like Metroid Other M. Just like Fusion, Samus takes orders from Adam. She goes to certain locations when Adam tells her to. She usually only turns on equipment when Adam gives the okay. Oh did I say "almost"? No, I'm wrong. The formula is just like Metroid Fusion, with the only real difference being how much equipment she gets on her own and what she gets from Adam's okay (the human and the computer) and the setting.

So basically what this means is that people are complaining of Samus taking orders from the GF when she has been doing this throughout most of the games. The only games in which she doesn't take orders from the GF and is basically acting on her own is Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 (well she responds to a GF distress signal but that's it, not really taking orders), and Super Metroid. That's it. Just 3 games, while the remaining 7 (including Other M) involve her taking orders from the GF in some shape or form. So in all honestly, I don't see what the big deal is in Other M with her taking orders from Adam. It's not like she hasn't done this before. *points to Metroid Fusion*



2. "Samus is portrayed as weak, whiny, and cowardly when she never was in previous games."

My answer: And she was never portrayed as such anywhere in Metroid Other M. Honestly, I don't really get why people say this. I have played the game myself, twice, and so far I haven't seen a real instance of her being weak or whiny or cowardly. I try to think of something, but I always draw a blank. If anything, the one word I'd ascribe to her is talkative. She does talk a lot in the game, taking up a lot of the dialogue. But being talktive doesn't really mean whiny.

For whiny, the only bit I can thin of is when Samus is demanding Adam to send her out, both in the flashback and when Adam is about to sacrifice himself. These aren't really particularly whiny. In the flashback, Samus is merely just inexperienced and overly compitent. She's desperate to save Adam's brother and wants to prove herself. Even Anthony points out that she was 'just a pup' back then and she had matured since then. For the other part, she is again desperate, but this time she wants to save Adam. In this case, she's more justified as she has stood up agains the metroids before and managed to defeat them. Her wanting to prevent Adam from going into Sector Zero is what I'd call a more human-like response. If your best friend, someone you care about, was about to go into danger to save you, wouldn't you try to stop them?

She is also never portrayed as weak or cowardly in the game. I honestly can't find any time in the game that would constitute her being weak. And no, getting pinned down by an opponent doesn't equal to being weak, and neither does showing emotion, making mistakes, or having a breakdown. Throughout the entire game, Samus has done a lot of fighting. She is fighting against an endless number of enemies. No matter how much she kills, more just show up. Yet she doesn't allow that to stop her. She continously goes through these infested sections even though she could easily just run away. She doesn't run away at any point in the game, from any enemy. She always stands and fights. Heck, she even jumps on top of enemies, rips out their wings, shoots them in the head, or tosses them aside. Would a real coward or weakling do that? I don't think so.

Perhaps the reason people say she's weak and cowardly is because of the scene involving Ridley. However, that scene doesn't really portray her as being weak, as I'll explain in the next part.


3. "Samus shouldn't have been so terrified of Ridley as she has faced him before."

My answer: True, she did have a more profound reaction to Ridley than at any other boss in Other M. She goes into a state of fear and shock, resulting in her being attacked. She is so shaken up by Ridley that she is unable to fight back or move...because she was suffering from two things. First, post traumatic stress disorder, and second, the mere shock of seeing Ridley again. If fans of Metroid were to look at the situation more carefully instead of with a closed mind, they'd realize that there was good reason for Samus to react the way she did.

First off, PSTD is a real condition that isn't easily overcome. Ask anyone who suffers from it and they can tell you the same thing. It's not something that can be taken away through military training or through being raised by certain types of people. People with it can suffer from it for years, some may never get over it.

Samus has good cause to suffer PSTD at the sight of Ridley. When she was only a few years old, she had witnessed her parents, as well as her home, slaughtered and destroyed by Ridley and his forces. Samus's last sight was almost the sight of Ridley coming at her with his claws and sharp teeth. She was so young at this point, and the event was so traumatic it was both engraved into her mind and forgotten, that is until she meets him again later on in the manga. Memories flooded back to her, causing her to not being able to move as Ridley attacked her, much like Other M. Her reaction was far worse in the manga, as the PSTD almost caused her to kill herself. The Chozo snapped her out of it, but not by being military-like and scolding her, but by comforting her and allowing her to display her emotional grief.

By contrast, in Metroid Other M, her PTSD reaction is more mild. She recovers more quickly from it and does go up against Ridley. Despite her previous reaction, she does fight well against him, able to bring him down and cause him to flee. She doesn't have another attack like this throughout the rest of the game. And in the manga, she doesn't suffer another attack. The next time she sees Ridley, she defeats him.

But some of you may be saying "Well it doesn't matter if she has PTSD or not. She faced Ridley before and therefore she should be used to fighting him." Well true, sort of. But PTSD isn't the only thing that played a role in how she behaved. People are forgetting the shock part of it. Before this game, Ridley was destroyed on the planet Zebes, blown apart. Now one could say that he had suffered near death experiences before and he does have the power to regenerate, and it's true. He has appeared again after seemingly being destroyed by Samus. So it could appear as though she should have no reason to be shocked by his return in Other M.

Except for one thing. Ridley was indeed destroyed for good in Super Metroid. First, he is blown apart by Samus and he falls into the lava. But this isn't what did him in. After all, this happened in the first Metroid, and he does blow apart in Metroid Prime 3 and yet still returns. No, what did him in was another factor that should not be overlooked and that's the fact the planet was blown apart. After Samus defeats Mother Brain, the entire planet is rigged to be blown up, not just a small section, but the entire planet. There's no way that Ridley could have survived this. All of his cells would have been obliterated.

It's even confirmed in Other M that he was destroyed for good, the original Ridley that is. So basically, Samus believed Ridley was finally gone. So when she sees him for the first time after years of never hearing anything from him, of course she's going to be in shock. If someone you thought was dead suddenly showed up after so long, wouldn't you be shaken up? I sure would, personally. Samus was not prepared to see him again and went into a state of shock, combined with PTSD, after seeing him again after several years.

You could bring up Dark Samus, who survived the destruction of Dark Aether and how Samus didn't become shocked to see her again. But take a moment and think about that for a moment. She seems able to easily switch between the light world and the dark world, just like Samus. She can move around freely in the form of particles like she had a few times in the game. She doesn't really need a physical body to move anywhere. She could have easily went through the portal with Samus when Dark Aether was destroyed.

And don't forget, Samus had seen Dark Samus pull herself back together right in front of her eyes in Metroid Prime 2, so it wouldn't have surprised her if Dark Samus came back after being blown up. This is very similar to Ridley, but with one difference. Ridley was organic and Dark Samus was not. She is basically a living suit powered by phazon. So long as there's phazon around, she can use it to recharge herself, which of course Samus is aware of.

So in the end, I feel being hard on Samus for reacting the way she did to Ridley is pretty harsh, especially when you try to look at things from her point of view and look at the facts presented by the franchise. No one is completely immune to breaking down, and breaking down doesn't make one a coward or any less human. Samus is still the brave, strong bounty hunter as she had been portrayed before.


4. "Samus obviously worships Adam because she's constantly worried about his opinion."

My answer: Another common complaint about this game, it seems. People have pointed out that Samus appears to worship Adam on some level as there are some points in the game where Samus is worried about Adam's opinion. There are also a few times where she talks about how Adam must have known this or must have known that, and she sometimes wonders what he would do in a situation. It is easy to see this as worshipping...if you care not to look at it at a deeper level.

Samus doesn't worship Adam. Instead, she respects him. Samus lost her parents at such a young age, and for a time was taken care of by the Chozo. While it is true she saw them as surrogate parents and loved them very much, this doesn't mean she is not able to attach to a human, her own species, in a similar way. When she went to the Galactic Federation for training, somewhere along the lines, she met Adam. As Other M explains, he was her commanding officer for a time. It's obvious that this time was quite a while, perhaps many years, due to the bond they developed, which was similar to father and daughter, not worshipper and worshippee.

Consider Adam's reaction when Samus returns after leaving. His treatment of her, for me, makes me think that he was disappointed in her, but not really all that angry with her. Even though he's upset that she turned her back on the federation, he still lets her tag along. If he really hated her, he would have asked her to leave. After all, his men are well equipped to handle themselves, so there wasn't much of a reason to have Samus stay. He let her stay because he still cared about her on an emotional level. Her leaving may have upset him because, just like Samus looked at him like a father, he may have looked at her like a daughter, if not that, then a friend.

The biggest evidence for Adam still caring about Samus is that he came after her before she could enter Sector 0 and stops her from going in. He even states that he's sacrificing himself to save her so she can live to fight another day. He didn't need to go after her. He could have completed his mission without saving her. But he still does it anyway. You could say that he was only doing it because she's one of the best defenses against Space Pirates and the metroids, but if that were the case, why did he just stop her and leave with her? Why go into Sector 0 at all? There might have been another way to disconnect Sector 0, or at least keep it sealed off. It's also not on the map so it would be difficult to stumble upon. It's also very well guarded so anyone who even finds the secret passage would need to get past the horde of enemies and the laser defenses. And let's add to the fact that, outside the Metroid Queen, the metroids of Sector 0 haven't escaped and are still sealed up inside.

So why even go into Sector 0 if the metroids are locked up and there's little chance that they could be found or escape? I think the answer to that is rather obvious. Adam didn't want Samus to kill herself by going in. He knows that she's stubborn, and it's evident that she is. Samus isn't the type to let other people die for her, and was more than willing to put her life on the line to save Adam. But Adam not only realizes that she's the most effective weapon against metroids, he cares about her and doesn't want her making such a suicidal move. So to make sure that she doesn't have a chance, he puts himself inside Sector 0 and dislodges it from the ship, ultimately preventing her from having a chance to face the Sector 0 metroids.

Watch Samus's reaction when he does finally leave. This isn't the reaction I would expect from a worshipper. It isn't as loud or as exaggerated as I would expect. Samus instead reacts like she just lost a father, or someone very close to her. She obviously disagrees with his decision, but she accepts it. She knows she can't change his mind and eventually accepts the decision that he made and made peace with it. She's able to compose herself and goes through the mission, just like he would have wanted, just like someone close to her would have wanted. This is also another piece of evidence that shows that Samus doesn't let her emotions get to her all the time; that even after the traumatic event of losing Adam, she's able to carry out her mission.

Samus states in the game that Adam was the closest thing she had to a father, and the evidence, for me, is clear. Their interaction is similar to father and daughter, if you look at it at a deeper level. The two had developed a close bond, and Samus even states that Adam understood her better than anyone. He didn't treat her differently simply because she was a lady. Another example of their close friendship is him saying "Any objections, lady?", which is his way of being funny, but not in a hurtful way. He wouldn't do that if they didn't share some kind of bond.

And the respect isn't just one way. Adam respects Samus as well. One of the most obvious examples of this is in the manga where he lets her go on her mission. He didn't have to. He had the authority to stop her. But he allows her to go anyway. You could say that he only did this because she would have attacked him, after all she did hold her weapon up to him. But think about that for a moment. Samus is well aware of Galactic Federation rules, since she had been a part of it for years. And she knows Adam is a high ranking officer and her attacking him would have had severe consequences. Why would Samus attack him if it would put her in trouble? Adam knew this, so he knew her threat was a bluff, so he still could have stopped her. You could say it was out of frustration, that he wanted to see her get killed. But then again, he's never portrayed to be that kind of person. He never makes sacrifices like that unless they were necessary, and there was no reason for him to sacrifice Samus at that time.

So the best explanation for that scene is that he respected her. He recognized her as a capable warrior. He trusted her opinion and felt that she could handle that mission she was putting herself on. So he allowed her to leave willingly. While you might disagree, you have to admit that him letting her go out of respect perfectly explains that scene. It explains why he didn't react negatively towards her threat, why he didn't have her arrested, and why he let her go on what was probably amongst her first real mission by herself.

Now back to the worshipping comment. I haven't seen any real account of her worshipping Adam. And no, asking herself what Adam would do isn't a sign of worship, nor is saying what he might have accomplished. To show an example of why this isn't worship, let's turn to another media story, Avatar the Last Airbender. There are several occasions where one character would say another character had done something, such as when Appa was shedding and Toph said that they were followed that way. There is an instance of Zuko trying to think of what Azula and Iroh would say in his situation when he tries to join the Avatar gang. Yet neither instance, nor any other similiar instance, a sign of worship in the show. Zuko doesn't worship his uncle and definitely not his sister. And characters don't think about what another character or characters did because they worship them; it's simply to understand a situation.

So how does this work in Other M? If thinking about what another would do or what they had done isn't a sign of worship, then why has it become that in Other M? Well I think it might have to do with Samus being worried about Adam's opinion. But then this isn't a sign of worship either. As stated above, she sees him as a father, so her being worried about his opinion makes sense in this case. But it isn't just that. Remember that Samus is not the leader of the group, but Adam is. Adam does have the authority to have Samus leave, even if she isn't part of the Galactic Federation. Samus may not be of GF but that doesn't mean that she is exempt from their rules; it doesn't mean that she cannot be forced to leave by a GF soldier. The ending proves this well when Samus was ordered to leave and forbidden to communicate with the survivor. So ultimatley Samus was not only worried about Adam's opinion of her out of seeing him as a father, but also because she wants to help and doesn't want to do anything to wreck the mission or be sent away.


5. "Samus blindly follows Adam's orders. She almost dies because of it!"

My answer: Ah yes, the scene where Samus goes through Sector 3 for a time without her Varia Suit turned on. When she is in the exposed heat, her health goes down. She has every opportunity to turn on her Varia Suit, but she does not. She is waiting for Adam to give the okay, but he doesn't authorize it until just before a boss fight. Why would Samus endure such danger and why would Adam not say anything to her until later?

Well it might seem that Samus was pretty stupid in this scene, but it has been established that she is a stubborn person. If she really has to go somewhere, she will go there. Her going through the super heated Sector 3 areas without her Varia Suit is her way of saying "I don't care what stands in my way, I will go through!" You can also see this as her way of being brave, enduring what has to be huge amounts of pain to get her mission accomplished. This can be used as evidence against the whole "Samus is cowardly" complaint against this game. After all, a real coward wouldn't have gone through this dangerous area at all, even with Varia Suit on.

Still it can be seen as foolish of her. But this is a good thing. Why? It helps her to become more human. You might disagree, but think about it. What's the point of having a human character if you aren't going to treat her realistically as a human? Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect, even if they want to believe they are. So having Samus do something rash like rushing headlong into danger without the proper protection shows that she's as human as we are, that she is capable of making mistakes. Another example of this would be at the end where she goes back to the Bottleship to get Adam's helmet and then leaves with only her Zero Suit, despite explosions and enemies everywhere. Her going back for his helmet not only shows that she had a strong bond with Adam, but it also shows more so that she's capable of making rash decisions based on emotion, making her even more human.

As for why Adam didn't say anything, he may have been trying to discourage her from continuing on so she won't find out about Sector 0. Though this would have been futile given her stubborn nature, so he may have been only impeding her progress. Another reason why he might have been doing this is because he was unaware that she didn't have her Varia Suit turned on. Her Power Suit in this game has the rounded shoulder pads just like Varia, so it is understandable that he would think she already had it turned on. The only difference is that her Varia is orange, not yellow like her normal Power Suit. Exactly why Adam didn't say anything until the boss fight is difficult to determine completely unless we knew whether or not he was the Deleter. Still, this doesn't mean that he had no reason for what he did and it doesn't mean that he didn't care.

There is evidence against the idea that she is blindly following his orders. One part of the game sets the record straight. There is a scene where Samus is giving chase to whom she believes to be the Deleter. She continues following the supposed Deleter until they come to a bridge. He destroys the controls on one end and closes the bridge on the other. Samus stands there for a moment, and quickly makes her decision. Rather than restrain herself because of Adam, she defies him by saying "Any objections, Adam?" and turns on her space jump anyway, without authorization. There is another scene where Samus even seems to, to an extent, doubt Adam when she finds that he signed the document regarding metroid breeding, though this turns out that he was actually against it. But she only finds that out later. This is evidence against her worshipping him. Think about it. If she really did worship him, why would she doubt him, even for a second? Why hadn't she blindly defended him when she had no proof of his intentions?

Ultimately, I feel that the main reason people complain about her blindly following Adam's orders is that they are used to Samus doing her own thing. They want Samus to take orders from no one, to be her own leader. But they fail to realize that, as stated earlier, Samus almost never went on a mission of her own accord. Nearly every game involves her being assigned a mission and taking orders in some form or other. So why they are complaining, I'm not sure. There's little evidence to really support what they claim.


6. "Samus monologues way too much. It ruins her character."

My answer: Well this is true...but only to an extent. Samus does indeed talk, well in monologue, too much. There were scenes where even I admit I got frustrated, but only because I wanted to get back to the game, not because I thought her character was ruined. Far from it, her monologues did offer insight into her character, and what goes on in her mind. It gives better understanding to the player of what Samus's mind goes through when she makes a decision, what her hopes and fears are, among other things.

Samus doesn't really talk verbally so much. A lot of her dialogue is spoken through her head. Yes it does seem strange that she would talk the way she does in her mind. But then, is that as abnormal as some might believe? A lot of people, including myself, do talk to themselves during a situation, some possibly even verbally. It's a normal habit and there's nothing really wrong with it. Though even given that explanation, some can argue that nobody talks in their mind the way Samus does. This might be true, though there's still a rebuttal for that.

Samus is recounting her adventures with someone. If you were to look at the game like a flashback, suddenly Samus's long monologues make sense. It is very likely that she is telling someone what has been going on, and during certain points of the game, we hear her talking to this person. She's telling a story, and explaining what she had felt at the time. She wants to make sure the person she is talking to understands what she is saying, so she makes sure she puts in as much detail as possible.

Samus's monologues help build her character. Her monologues helped me to get her know her better, as well as other gamers. The only way it ruins her character is that it gives her thoughts, emotions, makes her feel more human. But then that isn't really ruining her character, unless you happen to be one of the fanboys who sees Samus as nothing more than an unemotional robot that's always set to kill mode. While I admit that she might talk a little too much, I am grateful that her monologues help show that Samus is not just some killing machine; she is an emotional human being. She is just like you or me or anyone else, in that there are things that frighten her, things that worry her, that she is capable of making mistakes, etc.


7. "Samus is supposed to be an unemotional action girl. She always has been in the past."

My Answer: Um, no. No she hasn't. She has been portrayed as tough, I admit, but this isn't the same as unemotional. There has been numerous times in the past that show that Samus is a thinking, feeling person and isn't as cold as some people might want her to be.

For instance, let's look at Metroid Prime 2. In this game, Samus crash lands on an alien planet where a luminoth, the only one awake, contacts her. He tells her what has happened to the planet and asks her to defeat their deadly enemies, the Ing. Samus has no reason to help him, however. She never met him before and knew nothing about this planet before she came. But in the end, she still helps them out. She puts her life on the line, going into the dangerous Dark Aether, and fights off the Ing. Why? It's not because she was forced to do it. The luminoth did not force her to and he had little power to make her do what he wanted. No, she did it because she wanted to help. She did it because she isn't an unemotional action girl.

Then let's look at the endings of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 3. In the first Prime game, the Chozo structure, after defeating the boss Metroid Prime, explodes. Samus is clearly horrified by this, as evidenced by her expression. Though she says nothing, it's clear that it hurt her deeply that a Chozo structure is destroyed. This makes sense, since the Chozo were her surrogate parents for several years before she joined the Galactic Federation. Then let's look at Metroid Prime 3. At the ending, Samus is seem reminiscing about the other hunters that she had no choice but to kill. Whether or not they are good friends is debateable, but regardless of their relationship, Samus is obviously still depressed that she had to fight them, and sad that they were killed. If she were truly as unemotional as some fans claim she is, why would she look so sad at the end of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 3?

In the manga, Samus, despite being a rookie at the time, attacks Space Pirates in an attempt to defend a girl, one she didn't know anything about. She also did it to save the other children as well as their home. She didn't know them and she had no reason to intervene. She could have just called the GF and let them handle it. But Samus helps out because she is a very moral character and she knew it might have been too late if she just contacted the GF or someone else to stop them. She didn't want to see those people hurt, so she decided to put a stop to it. Her moral conscious would not let her just not do anything. And also, there is another scene later on, when Samus is older, where she saves another from a deadly creature that disguised itself as a plant. She could have easily turned away, and yet she does not.

It's even obvious in games before Other M that Samus had a moral conscious. In all the games I played, I notice one recurring pattern. Samus never attacks unless she realizes what she's looking at is a threat. When she faces something she hadn't before or doesn't recognize, she waits. She might race her arm cannon, but this is just in self defense; she never actually fires unless she is attacked first or she realizes that what she's seeing is a threat to her. You can see this in multiple fights she's in. For instance, in the first boss fight for Dark Samus, notice that Samus doesn't really attack until Dark Samus attacks her first. You can see similar patterns in other parts of the game.

One could say that Samus does attack first sometimes with creatures she hasn't seen or aren't much of a threat to her, for instance geemers. But keep in mind they still hurt her and apparently do attack Samus as seen in Other M. The smaller creatures are, as established in the manga as well as the games in some cases, that the creatures are hostile. Many creatures throughout the game do attack Samus and try to do her harm. So you can see her attacking them as out of self defense rather than a true act of cruelty. In the manga, when a group of creatures start attacking with guns, Samus doesn't destroy them; only the guns, disarming them. This shows that she didn't really want to kill them; she wanted to end the conflict peacefully.

The point is that Samus is not the type to attack first and ask questions later. No, instead she simply waits and sees if she is actually in any danger or not. The games, as well as manga, strongly support her as being more of a pacifist than a fighter. She only attacks if she realizes that she is in danger. Otherwise, she will not attack. She may be cautious of someone she doesn't know or recognize, but she will not do them harm unless they prove themselves a danger to her. She sees no reason to cause unnecessary harm to others and would rather talk than shoot, unless forced to do otherwise.


There may be other points I am missing or forgetting to bring up, but I think that about covers the basics. In short, I feel Metroid: Other M is an underestimated, misjudged game. The biggest threat to this game are obsessed fanboys who are unable to contemplate Samus having emotions and mistaking them as weakness, and who seem to refuse to see that Samus's behavior in the game is supported within the franchise. The manga became canon to Metroid prior to Metroid Prime 3, around when Metroid: Zero Mission came out (if you played the game you'll know that stills from the manga were used).

While I understand that my comments may not satisfy some people, I hope that it clears up any confusion or misunderstandings some people may be having about the game. I do recommend it (though be aware it is more difficult to master than previous installments), and it has some of the best cinematics and graphics I've seen on the Wii, personally. And I should point out that the style of the story is more similar to anime than american shows. Rather than focusing solely on logic, the game involves a lot of emotion, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It is just another style of story telling. For me it doesn't make the story "melodramatic"; I just look at it as story telling.

Well that's all I have to say on the subject for now.

Recently, a journal popped up on the account of someone I watch, and frankly, I strongly disagree with it.

In the said journal, the user believes Game Overthinker's words about how "evil" used games and Gamestop are and tries to tell the viewers how used games are, somehow, a threat to the gaming industry.

Well sorry but this is a load of crap. It's nothing more than a ploy to get more people, who may not have that much money to start with, to buy new games so the companies can soak up even more dough than they already were. And if used games are to be demolished, well, what if you end up buying a bad game? What can you do with it? Not a whole lot. Either keep it or throw it away (and I'm sure gaming companies would hate the throw away idea).

Here's why used games aren't a threat: they were paid for. Yeah, any and every used copy had to have been bought at one point. So the gaming company has already made a profit out of it. Used games can only exist when they were bought new at one point. And to point out, last I checked, a percentage of Gamestop's profits, and pretty much any store that sells games, do go to the gaming industry, so that includes used game sales. While they aren't getting much, gaming industries are still getting money for the used game copies.

So let's say that Gamestop, altogether, sells about 30,000 copies of one game, 500,000 of another, 2,000,000 of another, and 2,500,000 of another in a year. If the games were sold for only $1, which they're not unless they're cheap cellphone games or something, then that's at least $5,030,000 right there going to the gaming industry. But that's not accurate, so let's increase the price of those copies. Typically new games cost $60, so let's multiply. We end up with $301,800,000 that already went to the gaming industry for those games.

And yet there are people, like the gaming company, who will try to tell you that it's not enough. Really? Over three hundred million dollars isn't enough in a year for those games?

And let's not forget that even more games than that are typically sold in a year. There are many other games to take into account. So that $300 million profit goes way up.

So don't try to tell me used games somehow hurt the industry.

If gaming industries want something to target, it's piracy. Pirated games are illegally gotten and illegally distributed for free with absolutely no money going to the gaming companies. It's piracy that's hurting the industry, not used games.

Okay that's enough ranting.

Rules:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend your cool... and alot of the songs fit with the setting


Opening Credits:
Going Down In Flames by Three Doors Down

Waking Up:
Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace

First Day At School:
Through Your Eyes by Bruce Broughton

Falling In Love:
Mother Earth by Within Temptation

Fight Song:
Nothing I Have Ever Known by Bryan Adams

Breaking Up:
Great Spirits by Phil Collins

Prom night:
What Hurts The Most by Rascal Flatts

Life:
Imaginary by Evanescence

Mental Breakdown:
Breathe Into Me by RED

Driving:
All That I'm Living For by Evanescence

Flashback:
Dust in the Wind by Kansas

Getting back together:
Transformation by Phil Collins

Wedding:
Not Quite Paradise by Bliss

Birth of Child:
Japanese theme of Ginga Nagareboshi Gin

Final Battle:
My Immortal by Evascence

Funeral Song:
Hell by Disturbed

Final Credits:
Animal by Mudmen

Well it's almost that time again. Time to vote for president!

I know people are aware of the two choices: Romney or Obama. Out of the two, I prefer Obama. I heard some of the things Romney said, and I really don't agree with him.

But I don't plan on voting for Obama. It's not because I don't like him. I actually don't mind him. My family all plan on voting Obama this year. As for me, I plan on going for a third option: Jill Stein.

She's part of the Green Party (which is not bought by corporate cash) and, in my opinion, she's the most sensible, rational person in the running. She seems the most dedicated to real change.

Jill Stein has my vote this year.

On ModDB, the online database of all things game mods, a member there is working on a Dino Crisis remake using Half-Life 2's Source Engine.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/dino-crisis-1-source

There is a chance that I'll be a part of the time. I have to wait for his response to my email. If I am accepted, I will be working on 3D models for the game. Which ones? Well I honestly don't know. It could be background items, weapons, dinosaurs, etc.

1.) If your fursona had to be a primate, it'd be: chimpanzee

2.) If your fursona had to be a feline, it'd be: cougar

3.) If your fursona had to be a canine, it'd be: maned wolf

4.) If your fursona had to be a hoofed animal, it'd be: whitetail deer

5.) If your fursona had to be a rodent, it'd be: cottontail rabbit

6.) If your fursona had to be reptile, it'd be: american crocodile

7.) If your fursona had to be a marsupial, it'd be: sugar glider

8.) If your fursona had to be a fish, it'd be: black tip shark

9.) If your fursona had to be an amphibian, it'd be: spotted salamander

10.) If your fursona had to be an avian/bird, it'd be: flying fox/peregrine falcon

11.) If your fursona had to be a creepy crawly, it'd be: praying mantis

12.) If your fursona had to be a hybrid, it'd be: dragon/unicorn

13.) If your fursona had to be a mythical creature, it'd be: an ice dragon

14.) If your fursona had to be a Pokémon, it'd be: Charizard

15.) If your fursona had to be a plant, it'd be: silver maple

I've been wondering. Should I try doing a Livestream session, posting a link on my FA account? I've done Livestreams for friends, but I never put a link up publicly and did a Livestream. If I were to do one, I don't know what I'd do. Hmm, maybe a Dino Squad art piece...

My dad won four tickets to see How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular! It will be next month in Philadelphia, PA I believe. I can't wait! My siblings and I are all going. We're going September 12th.

Well I've been back for a few days now. I was so exhausted from the trip I had to take some time off.

Anyway the trip went fine. The person I went with, who calls himself White Dragon on messenger, was a really nice guy. He even offered to pay for my food a few times, and my brother's food once. He enjoyed the trip as well. He loves Otakon now and wants to come back.

However my brother and I didn't enjoy the convention as much as we hoped. We did see some stuff. But most of what he wanted to see was hard to get to because it was so crowded there. There was over a thousand more people than last year this time around. People going every which way, getting in the way, standing in the middle of the walkway, etc. I was almost tempted to push people out of the way to get to where I wanted to go.

I also almost ran out of money. Due to a hotel charge I didn't know about, I was down less than $100, and I spent quite a bit on food, though that was only because I was trying to 'escape' the convention. I don't do well in crowds, and I get frustrated and stressed out easily.

Because I had little money, I did not buy anything for myself in the convention. I did, however, buy my sister a signed copy of The Last Unicorn. She loves TLU and has been wanting Peter's autograph, bugging me constantly about it. I got her one on the last day and she was thrilled.

I may still go to Otakon next year, but unless they improve things, next year will be the last time. But I'll still be going to MAGFest, a smaller convention, video games and music.

On Thursday morning, I'll be leaving to go to Otakon for the second time. I'll be gone until Sunday night. I might take some pictures while I'm there, but no guarantees. Otakon was so much fun last year, save for the intense heat. I hope it's fun this year. And I am also hoping for cooler weather as well. Ah well, at least I'll be inside a cool building most of the time, so it won't be too bad.

Hello, I'm DarkHououmon, and I'm relatively new to FurAffinity. I have lurked around the site for sometime after a friend of mine, Truttle, tried to show me something that I could not view as a non-member. Well after so many months of just hanging around, I finally decided to spiff things up a little and submit some art, fav some art, etc. I hope I enjoy my stay here!