Workshop Booze Up V - We're going to the future!

[Marcus]

The premise with pokemon is collecting them and that's about it. In all the games I've played, the plot is pretty shallow and consists of a kid starting out in a strange new world, discovering things and proving himself against gym leaders, and at some point in the middle you have the protagonist defeating a plot by some overtly evil criminals. Eventually he fights the very best and triumphs, and that's about it. Beyond battling other trainers and proving how wonderful you are, it's about trading and collecting as many pokemon as you can. The reason it gets away with it I think is that the original premise is quite an enjoyable one on its own merits, so no matter how shallow the tacked on plot is, it still works. Tbh, the plot is merely a vehicle for collecting and battling pokemon. There's an interesting bit in the first game when you find this abandoned building and through scraps of notes, you learn about the horrific creation of Mewtwo, but when it comes down to it, it's just another pokemon. Nobody expects it have a deep plot, they expect more pokemon to collect, battle and brag about. Sounds pretty shallow, but Nintendo have proved that latching on to a good idea and milking it for all its worth makes an awful lot of money, so I doubt they're going to stop soon.

[Gen_Glory]

i enjoy enjoy them along with many others probably due to the nostalgic value of them and the fact they are fun games, tedious at times (isnt every game though?) but very enjoyable the rest

as with all things you have some people, who dont shut up about how you should all play pokemon or that you should all grow up, actually the worst people are the ones who say that anything beyond Gen I is armadillo

@marcus: you summed it up quite well, its a cash cow with a structure that works (however they have removed proper 'rivals' and replaced them with 'friends' so no Gary Mother portugaling Oak , and due to European law they had to ditch the game corners (slot machines))
In Pokemon Black & White the villainous team is actually trying to free all pokemon and question whether or not they should be captured and forced to fight (apparently its a nod at PETA) however in the end its revealed the bad guys were tricked by their boss who just wanted world domination etc...

[Jubal]

I don't have a moral objection to multiple Pokemon generations certainly, I just guess it's not the sort of game series I inherently see the appeal of without more depth over time. Also whilst I can never remember which Gen is which, I really felt that the rubbish bin pokemon was stretching it rather.

[Gen_Glory]

trubbish!



yeah him and vannillish the ice cream cone of Gen V were pushing it

[Othko97]

I didn't mind until Gen III, then in Gen IV they began to run out of ideas, which meant they presumably had to start finding more obscure real life creatures and adding fancy colours to them. They must have stagnated into foods and everyday objects however, seeing as ice creams and hot air balloons are now pokemon. That said, I still enjoy the old games for pure nostalgia, many an hour was spent on those games: me and SotK racing to beat the pokemon league, me wanting to wake up at midnight for the sole purpose of booting up my gameboy advance and playing on Pokemon Sapphire, teaching the move "surf" to nidoking for the pure hilarity of something what resembles a giant boulder floating across the sea. Those were the days...

[Jubal]

me wanting to wake up at midnight

I remember the days of being asleep before midnight... those were a long time ago.

[Othko97]

I know, bear in mind this was around 8 years ago...

[Silver Wolf]

Dungeons and Dragons 3.
I liked the movie and the storyline, even though the end was anti-climatic.

And Eleanor Gecks is hot.

[Pentagathus]

Yes, she does appear to be. Is Gecks a geek or just an actress in a geeky film? Also are D&D films generally filled with stereotypical fantasy cliches?

[Silver Wolf]

I believe she's just an actress.
She also had a role in Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

And about the movie...
There are a few stereotypical or bad scenes, but they are really rare. (namely, the shop scene, which looked like it fell out directly out of a gaming session)
All together, it's a huge improvement when compared to D&D 1 & 2.
Especially 3d renders. Magic and monsters are quite convincing in this one.
The story is ok and it's actually following a band of murder hobos.
The acting isn't phenomenal, but it's good enough.
The atmosphere is quite good.

Anyways, it's not perfect, but considering movie's budget, you really can ignore most of it's shortcomings.

[Pentagathus]

Whats a murder hobo? Is it something like the hobo from Hobo with a Shotgun?

[Jubal]

Just saw Les Miserables. SO GOOD.

(With a few caveats; they made it too god-ish and Enjolras the revolutionary leader was really un-firey and crap. Also the singing was at times sub-par. However, Anne Hathaway was amazing, Russell Crowe is a surprisingly good singer, and whilst Hugh Jackman couldn't quite deal with the most ambitious songs he was generally a very good Valjean. And it's Les Miserables and the most amazing musical ever.)

[Pentagathus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhxqIITtTtU
The apes are rising!

[Silver Wolf]

Hotel Transylvania, anyone?

I'm in love.
I've made so many doodles in these few last days.

[Pentagathus]

Is the second paragraph in reference to the first or are they separate subjects?
Edit:
I see its animated...