I really hate StreetPass

Nintendo is a Japanese company. To me, this has rarely harmed the entertainment value its games have... until now.

The Nintendo 3DS contains a mechanic called the StreetPass. It works like this: If you have a 3DS in your pocket and you walk past a dude with a 3DS in his pocket, weird things happen to your 3DS. (And his 3DS, but you don't care about him.)

Now, I understand where this is coming from. Japan has about 337 people on each square kilometer. Tokyo alone has 13 million people there. But the problem is, I'm not Japanese. I'm from what one would describe as "grim-up north" where the average population is 15 per square kilometer. I have relatives living on the countryside and I take trips to the wilderness every summer. StreetPass is useless here.

Heck, I'll probably multiply my Mii Plaza population several times when I go to the next con kept here. And if I ever visit Japan, I would multiply it again, because the cons here are small.

Fuck StreetPass.

Bowser is good

I just wondered about this once. Why is it that in the Mario games, Bowser's minions are a really diverse lot with Goombas, Koopas, Boos, Lakitus, Buzzy Beetles, Spinies, Cheep-Cheeps, Shy Guys, Bloopers, Piranha Plants, Chain Chomps, Amps, Bullet Bills, Bob-Ombs, Thwomps, Whomps, Wigglers, Monty Moles, Fuzzies and Pokeys, while the Mushroom Kingdom is inhabited with the highly homogeneous Toads? In fact, a lot of areas in the Marioverse seem to be inhabited by a single dominant species, while the Koopa Troop's reign is like that. Did the Koopas just invite all the people unwanted anywhere else to serve their king?
That does make one wonder about Bowser's motives. Considering that the main area of the Koopas appears to be a volcanic, barren wasteland, is Bowser perhaps with his aggression towards neighboring countries trying to gain Lebensraum for his people? It would explain why they seem to genuinely like him.
In fact, if you think about it, Bowser himself seems to prefer the volcanic soil, as he rarely leaves it and his castles are always full of lava. (Also, why have I never seen any geysers around there? Going by Iceland or Japan, I thought volcanic areas would often have those.) Then why does he conquer the cooler lands? Maybe it's specifically for his minions' sake. Why are so many of them named "King" something, if they are his minions, by the way? King Goomba, Whomp King, King Boo, King Kaliente. Maybe they are descendants of rulers who entered the Koopa Kingdom, and Bowser's predecessor insisted they keep their royal titles even when those had become meaningless. This would make Bowser himself actually a king to whom other kings swear loyalty, and therefore an emperor.
And even if this all were proven wrong, Bowser's reign still can't be the worst place in the Marioverse. There's no evidence whatsoever of corruption there, unlike, say, Isle Delfino...
And now we know why Mario invites his so-called nemesis to go-karting and sports.

Different powers

I think that the main conflict in Mega Man games - whether or not robots have souls - was actually solved in the first Mega Man X. In that game, as well as many later X games, there's an Easter egg that allows X to do the Hadōken, the famous attack from Street Fighter games. To do the Hadōken, X would need ki, and that would imply that he has a soul. Unless it's not a real Hadōken, but merely a shallow copy.
An interesting question is, what exactly is the difference between psychic powers and magic? Considering that using both requires high intelligence, what's the difference?
Well, it generally depends on the setting. I think it was A Certain Magical Index that suggested that in psychic powers aka ESP, you use energy from within, while in magic, you use energy from outside your body.
My idea is that ESP is the energy of your brain. It's kind of a gift to the few and chosen. It obviously requires very high intelligence. Magic, on the other hand, takes many forms such as alchemy, astrology, numerology and making deals with deities. (The last one implies that prayers are sort-of spells, but don't tell that to fundies.) Either way, it requires study and thus intelligence, but can be done by less gifted through hard work. Just like any actual skill in real life.
Then there's also ki, which is basically life energy that very skilled martial artists can convert into weaponry. Never mind how stupid literally throwing away your own life in the middle of a battle would be. I'm not even sure how chakra works.
Next week, I'll probably see the difference between elves and faeries.
Also, last Wednesday I was playing Pokémon X and found an unusual-looking Graveler. Self-harming moves should be illegal moves to Shinies, especially wild Shinies.