Mobile Updates: Pokemon Go and Miitomo

Episode 53: The fall-time fifty-third episode of the PokeProblemsPodcast! This week we discuss the latest updates to Nintendo's leading mobile titles, Pokemon Go and Miitomo!

• Pokemon Go has added dailies! You can get a "First Catch of the Day" and a "First PokeStop of the Day" bonus, and build a streak over seven days (confirmed) and possibly over a month as well (still a rumor, but you might as well try it!). We also speculate about changes in Pokemon appearance rates, egg drop rates, and PokeStop item drop rates!
• Miz Sylver reviews some of the upcoming metagame changes in Pokemon Sun and Moon. The new game sees a lot of changes in movesets, move stats like Power and PP, and hidden abilities too. (And we can't help but talk about Snorlax and awesome Z Moves!)
• Miitomo has just had a huge update! There's a lot of new features, from small things like a new icon, to big things like sidekick Miis, and a lot of promos to celebrate them!
• You can decorate your "room" now. Right now it's mainly flooring and wallpaper. You can get them through new furniture drops, and there's a lot of promo items. You can also do posters! You get one poster spot for free, the rest cost 99 cents a piece! You can choose your poster from your MiiFotos.
• Answer Central and Style Central remind us of the Everybody Votes Channel! You can answer Answer Central questions and see answers from people all over the world! You can submit your outfits to Style Central and view other people's submissions from around the world, too!
• Sideckick Miis are new! You can create additional Miis that you can dress up, put in Miifotos, appear in Style Central for you, and send Messages for you. You can scan Miis using QR codes!
• Speaking of messages, you can now directly message your friends. Your character will send a private message to your friends. You can send one of your sidekicks, too!
• We're going to this coming week's Boston VR Meetup featuring Qualcomm and Michelle Osorio! (Tuesday November 15, starting at 6pm at Laugh Boston.) Maybe we will see you there?

Thanks for listening! If you have any questions or comments, we want to hear from you. Are you going to the Boston VR meetup? Did you successfully score and NES Classic and an extra controller? Have you hatched a Jynx out of a 10 km egg, and cursed the day it was born? Tweet, email, or comment on the blog or Facebook to let us know!



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The Still Hauntered by Halloween Edition

Episode 52: The finicky fifty-second episode of the PokeProblemsPodcast! This week we talk news and events.

• The November Pokemon of the Month cards at GameStop didn't arrive on time! They may have them this week... At least the plushes are cute?
• There's new Hyrule Warriors DLC, themed around A Link Between Worlds! Ravio, the Tom Nook of the Zelda Series, is a playable character now!
• If you are an Monster Hunter Generations fan, make sure you get the new DLC! Miz Sylver likes the Devil May Cry Dante and Yu-Gi-Oh Meowgic Felyne gear!
• This weekend is PAX Australia! Of course, lots of stuff is going on, but we can't go :( This year's Pinny Arcade has an awesome Mario World 1-1 Set, which is available at PAX Australia now but will be available on the Penny Arcade Store on November 17th, 2016.
• Mario Party Star Rush just came out! Along with a bunch of new Super Mario amiibo that are compatible with the game! We compare and contrast the new amiibo with the old! The Wolf Doctor is confused about Wario's biker past and is generally disturbed by Waluigi!
• Animal Crossing New Leaf had a huge overhaul! Check out the video about the update Animal Crossing Welcome amiibo! There's so many new features! New items, new ways to get characters to move to town using amiibo and amiibo cards, and the chance to trade in your whole town for bells! (Be careful with that last one, don't delete the town without getting an offer from Tom Nook!)
• The NES Classic (NES Mini? They call it a lot of different things!) is going to be out November 11th, and is already sold out in a few places. If you are getting the US version, make sure you get a second controller, as the system only comes with one! (And the controllers can be connected to WiiMotes!) The Japan version is a Famicom Family Computer version and comes with two controllers! Check out this awesome image made by Andre Ahlgren that compares the games available on the two!

  In honor of all this, Nintendo is bringing back the Nintendo Power Line for one weekend! Nov. 11 to Nov. 13, between the hours of 6 am and 7 pm Pacific Time. Call (425) 885-7529! We believe that this is free... It's sadly not live help, just pre-recorded tips and insider stories about the hotline, but we're still gonna be calling!

Thanks for listening! If you have any questions or comments, we want to hear from you. Are you going to sell your town in Animal Crossing New Leaf? Do you think you can best The Wolf Doctor at the newest Mario Party, Star Rush? Did you ever call the original Nintendo Power Line while your parents were asleep like Miz Sylver? Tweet, email, or comment on the blog or Facebook to let us know!



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Pokemon Go Halloween Party

Episode 51: The frightening fifty-first episode of the PokeProblemsPodcast! Miz Sylver tells us about her weekend in New York for the League of Legends Championships Semi-Finals, where she was working at the Riftwalk. She was really impressed with the cosplayers! She talked with the women of Spiral Cats and the truly phenomenal Rhoulette Cosplay. We talk about a lot of events, happening this weekend, next weekend, and the FUTURE:

• BattleFy is hosting Splatoon Tournaments! If you are missing the Splatfests as much as Miz Sylver does, you should hit her up on Twitter (@mzsylver) to get psyched!
• Smite players! The Reaping: Part III is happening over this weekend, it gets you bonus gems!
• It's National Halloween StreetPass Weekend! Lots of other Nintendo games like Disney Magical World, YoKai Watch 2, Dragon Quest 7, and Monster Hunter Generations have free DLC to celebrate, check out the link for details.
• Of course, we touch on all the official Nintendo Switch announcements. The Wolf Doctor is tentatively excited.
• Did you see the reveals of the final evolutions of the Alolan starters?
• The Mythical Pokémon of November is Genesect! Get the cards with the download codes at GameStop Nov 1-24. Go early, they often run out!
• There's a Pokémon TCG Event at Toys 'R' Us (all locations!) on Sunday October 30th, from 2 to 4pm. You can get a free foil Charmander promo card and an XY—Evolutions Collector's Album (Volume 1 of 2). Plus, if you're one of the first 50 attendees, you'll get a special Pokemon figure!
• Pokemon Go is having a special Halloween event, lasting through November 1st. You get double candy on catching, releasing, and hatching Pokemon, and quadruple candy when walking your buddy Pokemon. The appearance rate of many spooooooky Pokemon has greatly increased. Expect to see Gastlys, Haunters, Gengars, Meowths, Drowzees, Hypnos, Cubones, Marowaks, Zubats, and Golbats way more frequently than usual! (Also, we greatly appreciate the new Gengar loading screen!)

Thanks for listening! If you have any questions or comments, we want to hear from you. Are you going to watch the League of Legends Championships tonight? Do you love the Alolan staters? Are you dressing as Gengar for Halloween? Tweet, email, or comment on the blog or Facebook to let us know!



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MisterMinor Schools us on Skylanders

Episode 50: The fun-loving fiftieth episode of the PokeProblemsPodcast. We have a very special guest this week, MisterMinor! He's a teacher educator (with a focus on adolescent education and literacy in the digital era), an activist, a dad, and big video game nerd! He's helping us out tonight by telling us all about the new Skylanders Imaginators, which came out on Sunday! The Wolf Doctor knows very little about Skylanders, but Miz Sylver has a copy of the new game in her possession! Our discussion transitions into how video games and digital media play into MisterMinor's literacy education philosophy. Catch up with MisterMinor:

• He loves Twitter! Follow @misterminor
• Read some of his writing! His article Those Who Can Coach Can Teach was published about a year ago in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. He also writes blog articles in the educator space. His recent post Why #BlackLivesMatter in Your Classroom Too has been read in classrooms across the US.
• See him at upcoming events!
  • Tomorrow he's speaking at the Teachers College of Columbia University Reading and Writing Project's Saturday Reunion. (In New York, NY.)
  • Sunday, November 6 and Monday, November 7 he's leading a seminar at the Teachers College on Computers, Tablets, Smartphones: The Writing Tools Have Changed— How Can My Teaching Change Too? (Also in New York, NY.)
  • He will be attending the 2016 National Council for Teachers of English Annual Convention in Atlanta November 17-20 and leading several sessions. If you are going, hit him up on Twitter!

We have a few more news items! Miz Sylver is working at the League of Legends Riftwalk this weekend in New York, today and tomorrow October 22, concurrently with the LoL Semi-Finals. Think Geek is opening a new store in the South Shore Plaza October 28th, in Braintree, MA, with prizes starting at 10am! (Ooooh!) Also, Super League is happening! This week was the testing week for the Fall League, Metropolis Madness, so you can jump in and start next week! Use the code ACTION9 for a discount!

Thanks for listening! Sadly, we were unable to dig up MisterMinor's students' game with the explosive cars. If you have any questions or comments, we want to hear from you. Do you have questions for MisterMinor? Do you share his love of Skylanders? Is your figure collection larger than his? Will you run for president of the Official Wolf Doctor Fan Club? Tweet, email, or comment on the blog or Facebook to let us know!



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Debbie "GluxBox" Lee Street Passes New York Comic Con!

Episode 49: the fanciful forty-ninth episode of the PokeProblemsPodcast. This week we have special guest Debbie Lee of Street Pass Long Island! We talk about how she started the StreetPass Long Island group, what's happening gaming-wise in her neck of the woods, how she organizes the group, and upcoming events, including the very awesome upcoming SPLI Halloween Party, happening October 30, from 4 PM to 7PM at AONGaming, which is at 21 Brandywine Drive, Deer Park, New York 11729. If you are in the New York area for Halloween weekend go and say hi! Check out the StreetPass Long Island social media to find out more!

• Debbie's Twitter! Follow @GluxBox
• StreetPass Long Island's Facebook Page
• StreetPass Long Island's Facebook Group
• The StreetPass Long Island Twitter! Follow @StreetPass_LI

Debbie tells us about her time at last weekend's New York Comic Con. She hit the show floor, cosplayed a lot (Team Instinct and Zero-Suit Samus!!!), met up in the new NYCC Meetup area to go to the Pokemon Go NYC meetup, attended Monster Hunter NYC's Game and Chill Party which featured Bartendo prizes from Ink Whiskey, bought awesome stuff from Alfaro Puppets/Imaginarium Galleries and Spirit Hoods, and visited Nintendo NYC for the Paper Mario Color Splash party.

Some quick news:

• Get Volcanion cards at GameStop until October 31, but we recommend going sooner because they can run out!
• Tomorrow is Yokai Watch: The Movie. It's sold out in a lot of locations, but check just in case!
• If you are into Overwatch, check out the Halloween Terror event until November 1st. The Loot Boxes are Halloween themed, with special Halloween-themed sprays, icons, skins, victory poses, emotes, and highlight intros including a PUMPKIN skin for Reaper. This event also includes Junkenstein's Revenge, Overwatch's first-ever co-op PvE Brawl!
• The Smite Odyssey is ongoing!
• This Tuesday, October 18th, head to Laugh Boston to check out their newest video-game related event, a Boston Virtual Reality meetup! Moth & Flame and Paracosm will both host presentations and VR demos of their technology! No cover charge for this one, free snacks will be provided, starting at 6 PM!

Thanks for listening! If you have any questions or comments, we want to hear from you. Do you have any questions for Debbie about starting a StreetPass group like SPLI? Did you go to NYCC? Are you a mother of dragons? Are you trapped in the Wolf Doctor's closet? Tweet, email, or comment on the blog or Facebook to let us know!



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Chris Chung Causes Catlateral Damage

Episode 48: The fantastic forty-eight episode of the PokeProblemsPodcast! Tonight, we have a special guest, Chris Chung, a Boston-based indie developer and the creator of Catlateral Damage, THE premier cat simulator available on Steam and PlayStation 4, and published through Fire Hose Games. It's playable on the Vive, and will be PS4 VR compatible! He talks about how the game happened, how much work a Kickstarter really is, what it's like to develop for the PlayStation Network, how you're never truly done nowadays with a computer game, his co-incubee 20XX, and what he's got planned for the future! Shout out to Jason Wiser of Yaya Play Games for helping out with the Furightful Lab stage, the Wolf Doctor's favorite!

Follow Chris on Twitter: Follow @Chrixeleon

(Also on PlayStation 4!)

Chris is also a huge Pokemon fan (he's level 29 in Pokemon Go!), so we chat all the awesomeness happening in Pokemon. October 18th sees the release of the demo version of Pokemon Sun and Moon, which will let you bring Ash-Greninja into your full version of the game. The intermediate evolutions of Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio, repsectively Dartrix, Torracat, and Brionne, have been introduced.

When it comes to playing Pokemon now, there's still a lot going on. If you missed the McDonald's Hoopa promotion, you can now use code 2016HOOPA until October 9th to get one for your copy of X, Y, Omega Ruby, or Alpha Sapphire. Select GameStops in the US will distribute Volcanion download cards October 10-31, and we recommend getting them early! And yes, October's Pokemon of the month is Keldeo!

If you are lucky enough to be at New York Comic Con this weekend, Miz Sylver has picked out a few highlights! Stop by the Square Enix booth for Final Fantasy XV t-shirts, play the GameStop preorder exclusive "A King's Tale", and to play the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue demo and receive a button. Capcom's booth will have the Resident Evil 7: Biohazard VR for PSVR available to play. And if you are in NYC this weekend and aren't going to NYCC but love Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter NYC is hosting a "Monster Hunter's Game and Chill" outside NYCC tomorrow, Saturday October 8th, from 6 pm - 1 am, at Stout NYC, which is at 133 W 33rd St, New York, New York 10001. This is an all ages event! There are also lots of events at Nintendo NYC. Tonight, October 7th, from 6-8 pm is the Super Mario Adventures graphic novel launch party, with Mario & Luigi! And tomorrow, October 8th, from 1-4 pm is a Paper Mario Color Splash Event to celebrate the previous day's release of the game, featuring Mario and prizes!

Thanks for listening! If you have any questions or comments, we want to hear from you. Do you secretly wish you were a cat? Are you fired up for the new Sun and Moon Demo? Do you wonder what your Alolan form will be? Are you going to Game and Chill? Tweet, email, or comment on the blog or Facebook to let us know!





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Natural Hair Gamer Junae Benne Streams and Chats!

Episode 47: The fabulous forty-seventh episode of the PokeProblemsPodcast! Tonight, we have a special guest, Junae Benne aka the Natural Hair Gamer! Before we chat with her, we chat a little news!

The Wolf Doctor attended Player 1/Player 2 at Laugh Boston last Tuesday! Friend of the Podcast the amazing Jonathan Holmes co-hosts the show. The next session is Tuesday October 11th. The episodes are streamed live on the OfficialAGE Twitch stream. Episode 1 featured Ichiro Lambe of Dejobaan Games!

This coming Thursday, October 6th, Chris Chung will be giving a talk to the Boston Unity Group hosted by Akamai in Cambridge, MA. Chris is the creator of Catlateral Damage and will be a guest on an upcoming episode, keep your (cat) ears open for that!

Some more news bits and bytes: May's Pokemon of the Month Darkrai is back for Pokemon X, Y, Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire. October's Pokemon of the Month is Keldeo! There are new Pokemon 3DS home screen themes available for Team Rocket and Team Galactic! Other new 3DS homescreen themes are available now, including a free Sonic theme in honor of the 25th anniversary of Sonic. Also, Yo-Kai Watch 2 themes for 3DS featuring Komasan, Komajiro, and Robonyan in honor of the release of the game. This weekend (September 30 - October 2) is a Street Pass Weekend also in honor of the game! If you visit a Nintendo Zone you may get a code for a 5 star coin for the Crank-a-Kai!

This week's special guest is Junae Benne. She met Miz Sylver while they were both working at the Nintendo Play Summer tour! Junae is a game journalist for Girl Gamer Vogue, Game Skinny, and Black Girl Nerds. She runs Gaming Dojo, a gaming lounge event, and Game On Afterschool, which is a program to teach kids to code through games. Right now she is running a Patreon to help purchase new recording equipment, travel to conventions and tournaments as a journalist to cover the events and increase representation at events like this for women and gamers of color, to help launch her Curls + Controllers subscription box for women of color who are also nerds.

Find Junae on Twitter Follow @junaebenne, Facebook, Tumblr, Patreon, Twitch


Check her out on YouTube!

We hope you enjoyed our chat with Junae! Hit her up on Twitter, you'll be in good company with Ava DuVernay!

Join up online with The Gaming Dojo! Follow on FaceBook, Instagram, and Twitter Follow @GamingDojoCO

Thanks for listening! If you have any questions or comments, we want to hear from you. Do you have any questions for our awesome guest Junae Benne? Will you try out her new Curls + Controllers subscription box? Do you share our love of Charmander? Do you think Yo-Kai is kinda creepy? Tweet, email, or comment on the blog or Facebook to let us know!



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