No shops in Cork seem to sell Pokémon Typing...

It's a good thing I ordered it online!

Before the game came out I asked a couple of shops if I could preorder the game and they looked at me funny, thinking it was for the PC. Natural mistake I suppose, considering it's about typing. Anyway alarm bells went off in my head and I ordered it online instead.

I looked up a thread on boards.ie and it seems that other Irish Nintendo Fans are having no luck finding it in Dublin even. Yikes. Another thing, if you're ordering it online make sure to order the English version. Different countries have different versions of the keyboard and also have their own names for many of the Pokémon. This would affect the pacing and difficulty of many of the levels I'd imagine so localisation must've been a very big project for this game.

Pokémon Typing: All silver medals achieved!

It took ages but I finally got all the silver medals! The game gets unbelievably hard in some stages. Just remember when you're trying this out for yourself that accuracy begets speed!

One method I have though is to look at the following Pokémon while I'm typing the present one. That's what finally got me a silver medal in the Tab stage.

Pokémon Typing is getting really difficult

I've gotten all the bronze medals in the game and now I'm after the silver ones... Some are ok to get but some are really tough, especially the Tab endurance stage. I'm struggling so badly to get 50 Pokémon. The score table is all in the high 40s but I just can't push past the last couple!

The game has to be a git then and throw FARFETCH'D in my path near that milestone, apostrophe and all.

You know something else? It's getting much colder these days so my hands just turn numb with the cold during a session and it's annoying when I can barely move my fingers then.

I want Snatcher on Wii! (or Wii U) Part 9

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-09-27-kojima-its-my-job-to-push-the-industry-forward

Here's a passage from the above interview with Hideo Kojima regarding Snatcher:

"Personally I love adventure games and I would love to create additional chapters in the Snatcher or Policenauts series, but unfortunately from a business perspective it is quite hard to make that work, and I feel it's my job to push the industry forward, so I don't think I could really make it."

That's fair enough. What I've been going on and on about for years though is my wish for him to get behind putting the Mega CD Snatcher on the Wii (or Wii U) and maybe for it to be treated like "Snatcher: The Final Cut". I've never thought of asking for any additional chapters or sequels.

The article above also more than alludes to Kojima getting a chance to become involved with Silent Hill. If we can look past all the diplomacy and PR speak, I think he could make the best Silent Hill game ever!

Completed Pokémon Typing's story

The story is a small but nice part of the package and it's all presented in talking head dialogue between Paige Down and Professor Quentin Werty. Since it's small it doesn't feel intrusive but it adds something to the world and the levels you go through to the end. It's nice. It can be completed in 2 hours if you're good at typing.

Also when you've completed the final story level you get the credits where you can type the names of all the people that appear! Hurry before they scroll off the screen! Quite tough to do as well as there are a lot of Japanese names there.

Pokémon Typing is too good to be called edutainment

Because edutainment typically sucks. There are some notable exceptions but normally they just have bad cg, are just plain unimaginative and not fun at all. When they're good though they're Pokémon Typing.

Pokémon Typing works well as an arcade game. It's like a rail shooter, only with typing and it's got high scores and combos and boss battles. Typing of the Dead by SEGA had a release in Japanese arcades and the cabinet had two keyboards. Nintendo could very well do the same.

Pokémon Typing also works very well as a Pokémon game. Now, there's none of that turn based battling and levelling up, you're just simply there to catch them by typing their names, which is probably one of the purest instances of the tagline "Gotta Catch 'em All!". Also if you're a Pokémon fan you have an advantage because the Pokémon appear before their names do, giving you a chance to type their names in faster and achieve higher scores.

Another reason why this is one of the best typing games out there is because of the world it takes place in and they way you explore it. You see, the world map is shaped exactly like a keyboard and the places are named after the keys on which they're located like "Semi-colon Cavern" for example. On the map screen you type the key of the area you want to enter for the character to immediately go there. Very clever and imaginative.

Of course if you like the benefits of edutainment then this will not only help sharpen your skills, but it'll also make the practice really fun too.

Pokémon Typing is awesome!

I got this game today! I'm very fond of how that little keyboard looks and that stand for the DS is invaluable. Typing to the 3DS XL's huge screens doesn't feel weird at all. The little keyboard itself takes a little getting used to but the keys are well defined, even though my fingers just fit them. I would rank the keyboard as not being quite as comfortable as your normal keyboard but much better than a laptop's keyboard. You also have the option of using the touch screen.

To me typing is generally a fun thing to do. I enjoy typing games a lot and the world of Pokémon is well suited for this activity. In fact the game rewards you with having Pokémon knowledge because it shows you the creature before its name and typing it accurately straight away gives you more points. Typing a succession of prompted Pokémon correctly gives you combos. There are also some boss battles and rare Pokémon you have to quickly type because the chance to catch them is quite brief. Ho-Oh for example took me a few tries because you have to type the hyphen as well and quickly.

I say "catch" but you're really "studying" them, catching a record of them with a special study ball really. The world map is literally a keyboard with placenames like "Semi-colon Cavern" and the characters are puns on keys as well such as Paige Down and Quentin Werty. That is a very nice touch!

I'm really enjoying this! Maybe something like it should come to the Wii U as well. I'd like it.