Author: raymond padilla

Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Ignoring EPS and Overvaluing CP

Pokemon Go is a game full of numbers and stats. Many players overlook important numbers and place too much of an emphasis on certain stats. Two of the most common mistakes I’ve seen from dedicated players (that aren’t quite hardcore trainers) are ignoring energy person second (EPS) and overvaluing combat points (CP). The former is often ignored in favor of damage per second (DPS), while the latter can obscure the value of certain pokemon in some trainers’ eyes.

The Value of EPS

Ignoring EPS is a mistake many Pokemon Go trainers make when choosing a quick move for their pokemon. Some trainers look at the DPS number and assume that the move with the higher DPS is superior, simply because it does more damage. For many pokemon, the point of the fast move isn’t to inflict damage, but to generate energy.

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Pokemusings Pokemon Go Edition: Accounts and Levels

When Pokemon Go players look for raid help on Discord or Facebook Messenger, two of the most common responses are variations of:

On my way with 4 accounts.

and

I can help. Level 35.

Neither response is terribly helpful. While it’s nice to know the number of players that can help out and what their levels are, there’s more useful information. The person with four accounts could have four level 25s, which isn’t the best help for raids. The level 35 players could be a trainer that doesn’t bother to level up his or her Pokemon. Maybe the players on the way don’t have the right counters or they always use Pokemon Go’s recommended raid counters (which are rarely optimal). You’d be better served raiding with four high-level players that understand the Pokemon Go metagame than nine casual players that simply follow in-game recommendations.

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Fatburger Impossible Burger Review (Plant-Based Hamburger)

The Fatburger Impossible Burger recently made its debut at all of the company’s US franchises. The new offering is the result of a partnership between Fatburger and Impossible Foods. If you’re not familiar with the Impossible Burger, it uses a plant-based patty that’s a healthier and far more environmentally-friendly alternative to beef. My friend and I recently tried the Fatburger Impossible Burger and were mostly impressed, save for one major shortcoming. Before I get to that, here are the TLDR bullet points for those of you with short attention spans.

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Nintendo’s Genyo Takeda to Receive Liftetime Achievement Award

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced that Nintendo’s Genyo Takeda will receive its Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 DICE Awards. Currently a Special Corporate Advisor at Nintendo, Genyo Takeda has been with the company since the early ’70s. He’s considered Nintendo’s first game designer. A pioneer in both videogame software and hardware, his achievements include:

  • Creating the first battery save system for console cartridges (The Legend of Zelda)
  • Designing the first successful analog controller for consoles (Nintendo 64)
  • Leading the hardware teams for the Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii consoles
  • Creator of the Punch-Out!! games for arcade, NES, and SNES
  • Director, designer, and writer for StarTropics

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FIFA 18 Career Mode: Gaffer’s Log 2

My first season as manager of Manchester City in FIFA 18 has come and gone. It was a resounding success. Silverware was won, older players were dumped, new blood was brought in, and some pleasant surprises happened along the way. Here’s a brief rundown of Kun RPadTV’s inaugural season.

Missions Accomplished: Man City won the Premiere League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup. The owners were happy. The players were glorious. It was great fun using FIFA 18 to terrorize the entire football world.

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Coffee Talk #674: Should Netflix Be More Social?

Did you ever wish that Netflix had more social features? It’s something that I think about often. In many ways, it seems like a great opportunity; adding a social layer to Netflix would give it stickiness, increase the amount of time people use the service, and help the company retain subscribers. In my head, social features on Netflix would be fun and useful for several reasons.

  • You could get recommendations based on what your friends are watching.
  • You could see when friends are done binge-watching new shows and see who you can have spoiler-free discussions with.
  • You could see what your friends are watching and make fun of anyone that watches Maid in Manhattan.

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FIFA 18 Career Mode: Gaffer’s Log 1

I’ve just hit the January transfer window in FIFA 18 as “Kun RPadTV,” the newest manager of Manchester City. In addition to playing out the football games, it’s been great fun developing new talent, handling disgruntled players, one-upping other coaches, and handling the day-to-day operations. While I’m an ardent Man City supporter, there have been several times I’ve had to turn off the fanboy switch in order to do what’s best for business (Triple H ™). Here are some of the moves I’ve made in FIFA 18 halfway through the season.

Sold Sergio Aguero — Some Citizens would consider this sacrilege. Kun Aguero is a legendary Man City player, holding the club record for scoring and responsible for the most significant goal in team history. That said, he’s almost definitely leaving the club when his contract is up. Aguero wants to wind his career down in his native Argentina. As a fan, I respect that he wants to play his final games for his boyhood team Independiente. As a gamer, I ain’t got time for that. Besides, Gabriel Jesus is set to become the team’s primary striker of the future, but just in case, I…

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How I Learned to Love Man City

My lovely friend Jennie recently asked me how I came to love Manchester City FC. This was an excellent question from an excellent person. Ergo, it deserved an excellent (hopefully) response. Here it goes.

It all started with this Bill Simmons article from 2006. He was figuring out which Premiere League team he ought to support. That seemed like a fine idea, so I followed suit. Following his two-column-spanning logic, I settled on Man City. The following reasons supported that decision.

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Lidwine Sauer Talks Ubisoft Strategic Innovation Lab

Lidwine Sauer is the director of insights and trends for Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab. A relatively new department at Ubisoft, the Strategic Innovation Lab monitors and analyzes trends in technology, society, and business in an effort to anticipate the future and stay on the cutting edge. At DICE Europe 2017, Lidwine Sauer will be discussing how creative organizations can best take advantage of rapid changes and innovations. Here are some excerpts from my conversation with Lidwine Sauer.

On technology from the outside permeating gaming:

We feel that it’s very important for game developers to understand that the industry doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The industry is shaped and influenced by lots of different things. Innovation in technology, of course, translates well into what we do in games. Our gamers are also consumers of other products in other industries. Their expectations will be shaped by what they experience outside of our industry.

One of the trends we talk a lot about it is the development of artificial intelligence — more specifically, the development of machine learning. That’s an example of something that’s developed by the tech giants, mostly the Internet giants like Google and Facebook. They’re very much at the forefront of these AI developments. That’s going to spill into the gaming industry; it’s already changing how we make games and changing how we play games. For example, we have a game that’s called Star Trek: Bridge Crew that offers the opportunity for players to interact with the game AI through natural language. The technology behind the game is derived from things that have been worked on in other industries.

On how societal changes impact gaming:

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Mike Bithell Talks Subsurface Circular and More

Mike Bithell is a British game designer best known for the BAFTA-Award winning Thomas Was Alone. Recently, his company released Subsurface Circular, which was quickly met with positive acclaim. At DICE Europe 2017, he’ll be talking about offering high-quality entertainment through small games with small budgets. Here are some excerpts from my conversation with Mike Bithell.

On Subsurface Circular:

It’s a detective game about robots riding an underground train network. You play as a detective. You have to have various conversation with colorful characters who are also on that train with you. You’re trying to get to the bottom of a series of disappearances. Various robots have gone missing, something seems not quite right, and you’re trying to get to the bottom of it. You play through a series of a dialogue sequences — kind of like a conversational puzzle game, at some level, but with a level of visual polish that hopefully makes it satisfying to a broad audience.

On whether videogame creators can switch between small projects and big-budget products, similar to what movie directors do in Hollywood:

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