Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of Ball State Daily's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
7 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
by Daley Wilhelm 21 years ago on February 27th 1996, a new title came to Nintendo’s popular new gaming system, the Game Boy. Initially, the two games Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green had modest sales. Creator Satoshi Tajiri never dreamed that his creatures, the titular Pokemon, would take the world by storm. Today, Pokemon (or “poke-man” as some parents like to say) is a household name with over 122 titles, a trading card game, dozens of movies, and the devotion of millions of fans. Fans have encyclopedic knowledge on Pokemon natures, typings, and movesets but are a little foggy as to how this empire was spawned. Pokemon started with frog spawn. Tadpoles, precisely. Tajiri, who lived in the suburbs of Tokyo as a child, loved to adventure outdoors and capture frogs and insects. Tajiri became known as “Mr. Bug” by his classmates, but this wasn’t necessarily an insult. Japan has a history of bug-catching and collecting due to it’s interesting biodiversity when it comes to creepy crawlies. Kabutomushi, Japanese rhinoceros beetles, are an especially striking species that kids and adults alike seek out, sometimes in order to make them fight. Sound familiar? You can see how it wasn’t a stretch for Tajiri, or Mr. Bug, to think up a game based on an already ancient practice. You catch things, collect things, and then make them fight. This didn’t apply to Pokemon until later in Tajiri’s life when he was inspired by the Game Boy Game Link Cable. He imagined bugs running between the cables and thus the first inkling of the Pokemon franchise was hatched. When Tajiri tried to pitch the game to Nintendo, he was turned away. It took his new friend Shigero Miyamoto to convince the company to produce the newly named Pocket Monster game. Pokemon’s origins are often unknown, but to those who look closely enough, there are some clever homages hidden in the series. In the Japanese version of the first games and anime, the default protagonist name is Satoshi, whereas the default rival name is Shigeru. In Pokemon Crystal in the Battle Tower, there is a bug catcher named Tajiri, the spitting image of the young Game Freak founder himself. It’s rather mystifying to think that the series is both very young in being 21, and in how far it’s come from its humble beginnings of nearly bankrupting Game Freak, having a lone artist in Ken Sugimori, and Tajiri’s desire to let kids confined to paved streets the ability to catch creatures.
by Bradley Dean Jones Have you ever been scrolling through Instagram and randomly a few spammed photos from a single person pop up? Instagram hopes to fix this with their new gallery feature. Galleries can be seen as a standard post but in a horizontal-scrolling, carousel-style layout where a user can add up to 10 photographs or videos. This content can still be given filters, edited, and users can be tagged in them, just as before. “With this update, you no longer have to choose the single best photo or video from an experience you want to remember,” said Instagram. Posts will have blue dots at the bottom to indicate that users can see more, and though these posts “are square-only for now”, we will most likely see this changed. The Facebook-owned company has seen new features added steadily after its acquisition in 2012. Purchased for $1 billion, the photography sharing app is estimated to be worth around $50 billion, according to Forbes. Users will need to upgrade Instagram to the latest version in order to use this feature.
by Dalton Martin Marvel Comics for the past few years has attempted to diversify its ever-growing gallery of personalities. Whether introducing characters like the new Spider-man Miles Morales, who is of African-American and Hispanic descent, to even having older characters succeed popular names, such as how Laura Kinney aka X-23 recently took up Wolverine’s cowl and name, it is easy to see that Marvel has definitely stepped up their game. While many of these new heroes have garnered attention and headlines, none of them have quite made the impact as much as Kamala Khan, otherwise known as Ms. Marvel, has in popular culture and beyond. Created in 2014, Kamala was introduced to the world of comics and was quickly adored by fans and critics alike. There was something about the shape-shifting Muslim-American teen that was learning to become a hero that resonated with audiences. In a nation that struggles with Islamophobia, it was refreshing to finally have a hero of the Islamic faith represented. Within a year of her inception, Kamala was not just the first Muslim American superhero to get her own solo title in Marvel history; she had also become a symbol against the rampant Islamophobia that plagues Western countries. In 2015, a street art activist group that goes by the name Street Cred used Kamala’s likeness to fight back against racist bus ads put out by the anti-Muslim group the American Freedom Defense Initiative. Street Cred members covered up the hateful and negative words and imagery with images of Ms. Marvel and hearts as well as including messages to stamp out bigotry and racism. Flash-forward two years and the world is not much different, with a volatile political and cultural climate spreading across multiple nations. No country is probably more tumultuous than the United States after the election of President Donald Trump and his recent executive order that has been called the “Muslim ban” by many. With many citizens outraged and saddened by this order, Kamala emerged to the forefront as one of the leading cultural symbols used to resist this ban along with Captain America and Wonder Woman.
by Meghan Duffy Within the first two weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump has signed 13 executive orders. These executive orders range from stepping away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership to waiving the Affordable Care Act and bringing back construction plans for the Dakota Access Pipeline. Perhaps the most frightening of all of these, however, is banning entry to the US from seven, largely Muslim, countries for the next 90 days. Unless you have been lying under a rock for the past several days, it is likely that you have heard of this so called “Muslim ban.” It is a halt on allowing citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen to enter the United States paired up with a suspension of the US refugee program for the next four months. This executive order lays down the groundwork for a return to the early days of Obama’s presidency where only a small trickle of refugees were admitted into the US until 2015 and 2016. This ban has far reaching consequences, from more private -- though not less important -- matters like families being separated while one parent visited family in Iraq and being unable to return, to far more public matters like the director of a Best Foreign Language Film nominee from being able to enter the United States for the Oscars. Asghar Farhadi is the director of The Salesman, a film about a married couple from Tehran whose life begins to tear at the seams after they move into an apartment formerly occupied by a prostitute. As an Iranian, he is currently banned from being able to enter the United States due to the Muslim ban. Yet even if he is granted permission to enter the country, Farhadi announced that he wouldn’t attend the Academy Awards. In a statement to the New York Times, Farhadi said, “However, it now seems that the possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip. I would therefore like to convey via this statement what I would have expressed to the press were I to travel to the United States. Hard-liners, despite their nationalities, political arguments and wars, regard and understand the world in very much the same way. In order to understand the world, they have no choice but to regard it via an “us and them” mentality, which they use to create a fearful image of “them” and inflict fear in the people of their own countries.” Others involved with the film have also spoken out, including the lead actress, Taraneh Alidoosti, calling the ban racist and announcing that she will not attend the Academy Awards in protest. [embed]https://twitter.com/t_alidoosti/status/824578972637954048[/embed] The Academy Awards are not the only things affected by the Muslim ban. According to a NeoGAF thread, the executive order is beginning to bleed into eSports. Ramin Delshad, a dual Dutch-Iranian citizen and top 10 Smash Bros. for Wii U player is banned from entry to the US because, despite living in the Netherlands for the majority of his life, he was born in Iran. [embed]https://twitter.com/Mr_RSmash/status/825859533297872901[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/Mr_RSmash/status/825870835722416128[/embed] Ramin Delshad is not the only one in the gaming community affected by the ban, Rami Ismail tweeted out on Sunday, “Due to the #MuslimBan, I'm working with 5 talented devs that all were coming to GDC, but can't or don't dare to anymore. It breaks my heart.” [embed]https://twitter.com/tha_rami/status/825748522725208066[/embed] Many in the online community are standing out against the ban. Notable content creators like Hank Green are offering to donate to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in support of immigrants, raising at least $6,235 in the first day. [embed]https://twitter.com/hankgreen/status/825471810183503872[/embed] Musician, Sia has vowed to match up to $100,000 to the ACLU, with Rosie O’Donnell following suit hours later. Even gaming companies are pushing back against the Muslim ban. Playdots Inc, the company behind the popular mobile application Two Dots, pushed out an update on Sunday asking players to support the ACLU. The Game Developers Conference (GDC) have also tweeted out their own concerns over the ban. [embed]https://twitter.com/Official_GDC/status/825553192415019008[/embed] Although a small victory was won on Sunday with a federal judge granting a stay over deportations for those who arrived into the United States under a valid visa, but detained on entry, it is only a partial block on the Muslim ban. Time will tell how far reaching the effects of this executive order will be, but the early days of it are concerning.
by Meghan Duffy Miss out on the Nintendo Switch presentation? Don’t worry because we’re here to give the rundown for everything announced. The Switch is looking at a March 3rd release date at a $299.99 retail price. Most people had speculated that the price for the console would be around $250, so hopefully the extra $50 will be well spent. The console and games will not be the only things you’re putting money down for. If you want online play for the Switch, starting in the fall you will have to pay for the online service. The final detail about the system is that finally, Nintendo's longstanding habit of region locking their systems will be ended with the Switch. As seen in the Switch’s reveal video back in October, the Nintendo Switch will have several different playstyles. When docked, the Switch will be able to be used with your TV for wired play. For those on the go, it can be held like the Wii U gamepad for handheld gameplay as well as a tabletop version using the kickstand and detached joy-cons. While not charging with the standard usb-c, the battery life for the Switch will last from 2.6-6.5 hours, however it can be used while charging. Two joy-cons will come with the Switch. Additional colors, like neon red and blue, will be sold along with straps. The controllers will be able to sense objects and motions as well as including “hd rumble” which will allow for a greater sense of held objects, like a glass of water with ice cubes, as shown in the presentation. Two new games were revealed that utilize the joy-cons. The first of which is 1, 2 Switch which is meant to showcase the expressiveness of the joy-con rumble while being a new type of gaming experience, that doesn’t need to use a screen at all. Instead, you’re meant to gauge the reaction of the people you’re playing with. The second title, Arms, is a sports game where you use extendable arms to battle, a mixture of boxing and shooting. The game is played by holding the joy-cons in an upright position in each hand. Movement and attacks are controlled by tilting and turning the joy-con. It can be played single player, split screen with a friend, or using two Switch consoles. Splatoon was predicted to get a port to the Switch, however those predictions were proven wrong. Splatoon is instead getting a surprise sequel in Splatoon 2. This sequel will add new weapons, like the splat dualies, brand new special weapons, new battle stages, and new hairstyles. The game can be played with the joy-cons in tabletop mode, in handheld mode, on the tv, and with the pro controller. The game can be played using network play and local multiplayer. It has a summer 2017 planned launch with stage and weapon updates after launch with ongoing ingame events. Mario will take a trip to New Donk City and many other locations, such as a desert town, a lush jungle, and a polygonal pastel food planet in a new 3D Mario platformer, Super Mario Odyssey. There he will face off with old foes like Bower, and new ones like a big mechanical centipede monster. This will be the first large sandbox Mario world game since Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. Mario will have a new cap that will play a large role in the adventure he will have in Odyssey. Its release is currently planned for Holiday 2017. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Fire Emblem Warriors will be coming to the Switch as well. Over 80 games are currently in development for the system. Dragon Quest X and XI are being prepared for release in Japan, as well as Dragon Quest Heroes I & II. A new Shin Megami Tensei is in production for the console. No release date has been announced,as it is still in development. A new Square Enix RPG, Project Octopath Traveler, is also in development. Skyrim has finally been officially announced for the Switch with no release date given. Other games in development for the Switch include a currently unnamed No More Heroes game and EA Sports FIFA. FIFA will be custom built for the Switch and more will be shown in the coming months. The Switch system will include the Switch console, left and right joy-cons, joy-con wrist straps, joy-con grips, the dock, a HDMI cord and an AC adapter. The pro controller will be sold separately. Two models will be sold, one with gray joy-cons and one with the neon red and blue joy-cons. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be launching with the Nintendo Switch on March 3rd. With the release date, we were given a trailer showcasing much more of the Hyrule that players will explore in the game. Previously, we had only seen a small area of the game. The trailer changes that, showing towns, dungeons, boss battles, and giving us our first real peek at the story, which takes place 100 years after a calamity by Ganon felled Hyrule. The lack of launch titles is worrying for the Switch, as Nintendo is going to need a strong launch for this system. Many strong games are coming to the console, but most will come out at least several months after the launch. This will likely lead to an abysmal launch with a surge in the holiday season when Splatoon 2 has been out for a few months and Super Mario Odyssey is released. With any luck, several of the third party titles that are currently in the works will release at launch. Hopefully for Nintendo, Breath of the Wild will be a big enough pull for customers to pick up the Switch at launch.
by Meghan Duffy Go onto eBay right now and search for Pokemon figures. You’ll find page upon page of listings for “144 pcs Pokemon Monster Action Figures” or “HOT 24 PCS Random 2-3cm Lovely Pokemon Monster Action Mini Pearl Figures Toys” usually coming at you straight from China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong. The prices are low, ranging from $15 to $30 plus shipping for 144 tiny plastic toys. The pictures are all the same, oceans of toys that look okay from afar, only to show imperfections and shoddy paint jobs up close. Just what makes China such a bootleg powerhouse that sells these little plastic monsters for pennies? That goes down to the enforcement of IP law in China, or rather, the lack thereof. China technically has laws in place to enforce IP protection; in fact it has several. Yet these laws are hardly enforced and because of that, bootlegging is rampant in China. According to a report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, almost 70% of all counterfeits seized globally from 2008 to 2010 come from China. That is a mind boggling amount. Now to be fair to China, they have done a few seizures and raids of factories that produce counterfeits. However, it feels more like they are trying to save face and say “look, we’re totally following the laws and cracking down on bootleggers,” more than them actually caring about the laws. They’re putting a bootlegged bandaid on a fault line, solving nothing. So why are there so many bootlegged Pokemon toys on the market specifically? It’s probably a similar reason as to why there were so many terrible shovelware games for the Wii. They take advantage of clueless parents or grandparents who know their kids like games and seeing the comparably low price, buy them. 144 toys for 15 bucks is a great deal and if you have a kid in the thick of their love of Pokemon, well you’ve just gotten them a lot of toys for very little out of pocket expense. A five year old isn’t going to care that their Drowzee toy looks like it was dragged behind a car for fifteen miles, they’re gonna be pumped that they have a mountain of cheap toys. Then there’s people like me who buy the toys strictly because they’re so horrible. For the most part, these toys are laughably bad. The painting is lazy, the molds are hit or miss, and sometimes the Pokemon aren’t even the right color. So without further ado, let's take a look at some of the "best" these bootlegs have to offer. Clefable Starting off strong with this poor neon pink Clefable. Look at its face, it’s begging for the sweet embrace of death. Its colors are so off, why does it have those blue wings? Compare the toy to its official art. As bad as it is, it’s pretty far from the worst these bootlegs have to offer. Slurpuff I don’t know what to say about this guy. It barely looks anything like what Slurpuff should be, instead more closely resembling something far less safe for work. It has no details on it besides the little circle on the top of its head and a little bit of mouth molding. Slurpuff loves baking with pastry chefs, but I’d refuse to let anything that looks like this figure anywhere near my kitchen. Delphox Delphox looked like it tried out to become Ronald McDonald and was rejected due to being too terrible. I think whoever was painting this just gave up halfway through painting. The red paint was lazily thrown on, and instead of having a cute small little nose, it looks like the poor fox was instead thrown into the killer clown phase that swept the nation back in October. Mega Charizard X & Charizard Poor Charizard, poor, poor Charizard. This boy has a bad case of the uglies, especially its mega evolved form. First off, regular Charizard is yellow when it really shouldn’t be. I don’t know if they had just run out of orange plastic when they were filling this mold or if they just didn’t care but it’s pretty bad. His mouth painting is equally as bad, he looks like he just ate somebody and is now covered in their blood. Mega Charizard X is worse, though. They got the body coloring right, yes, but the poor thing looks like it has rabies. Because they didn’t color the flames blue, it looks like it’s foaming at the mouth or has a very long mustache. Nidoking Hoo boy this Nidoking is a gift. If there was any Pokemon that I was hoping to get from these bootlegs for the funny factor, it had to have been Nidoking. Look at his crazy eyes and and weirdly dark coloring. If the Clefable is begging for its own death, he’s begging to rain death down upon the people who created him. Aerodactyl If these toys made noises, I think the Aerodactyl would make a noise that would sound something like “nyon.” It looks like the people making the molds were given access to the Pokemon Yellow sprite for Aerodactyl for a split second and then were told “okay now go make this a toy without peeking again.” It looks like Aerodactyl enough that it’s recognizable among other Pokemon toys, but it also looks like it could just be a regular pterodactyl or something. It’s not the worst toy, but it’s still pretty funny. Palpitoad This thing is so ugly. Maybe it’s the completely incorrect coloring or the lack of black stripes, but its face is just unsettling. With its weird lumpy nose and a lazy eye this child is just not doing well. This is probably tied with Slurpuff for being the least recognizable of the bunch, It has the general shape right of Palpitoad, but pretty much every other feature is incorrect. Slaking Now the mold for this guy is pretty good. The painting is also pretty decent, but it’s the colors on it that are the problem. Why does he have blue hair and why is he so dark? It feels like the people painting this Pokemon were never given an image as to what Slaking looks like and instead were given a color palette and were told to go wild. Pikachu I got a lot of Pikachus in my set, but that’s pretty understandable. Pikachu is the mascot of Pokemon after all. And for the most part, the Pikachus are pretty good. Some of them have pretty bad faces or stray paint marks, but compared to the other figures I got, they’re the closest to official figures that these come by. And like I said, Pikachu’s the mascot, so if you’re gonna do one bootleg right, it has to be Pikachu. Photos: Mallory Huxford