What Goes Into a Post

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

When I left, I was inspired.

How to Pokemon 104: I Wanna be the Very Best

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

How to Pokemon 103: Eat Lightning, Crap Thunder

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

How to Pokemon 102: Gathering Minions

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

How to Pokemon 101: Welcome to the Endgame

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

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

Here's what you need to know.

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

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

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

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

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


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


Are you one of them?


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