Nintendo Direct - 03.8.2018

Last night, there was a Nintendo Direct special presentation which revealed a shocking teaser of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo Switch.

The teaser provided a good look at the Inklings (from Splatoon) as they sprayed each other with ink along with closeups of Mario and Link (from Zelda: Breath of the Wild), as well as a brief glimpse of several other characters shrouded in shadow.

The last Super Smash Bros. game had 58 different playable characters total, so it's likely that the Nintendo Switch roster will be the same size or even larger. At the very least, we can confirm that the Inklings will be included the the fighting title.

As of yet, we don't truly know if this an enhanced port of the Super Smash Bros. Wii U version or a brand-new game entirely. If it is a port, it could follow the model of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Mario Kart 8 was originally released on Wii U before coming to Switch which featured more content. Both the trailer and a subsequent press release remain heavily ambiguous about what form this game will take.

Nintendo hasn't announced a specific release date yet for the Smash Bros. game, but they did indicate that it will arrive later this year.

Since everyone is going to be making fan rosters, I might as well start off with my own top 15. I think honestly, that the roster could use more playable female characters and representation. It's become increasingly difficult to come up with new, highly desired additions to Nintendo's wide list of original IPs (intellectual properties).

1. Crash Bandicoot -
   
   Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy | July 10, 2018
   
   Following its release on PlayStation 4 last year, Activision's Crash Bandicoot remaster is coming to Nintendo Switch. As such, this can open up negotiations towards adding Crash to the third-party roster.
   
   

   

   
   
   
2. Magnus (Kid Icarus: Uprising) - The blade that Magnus uses is quite bulky in addition to being sharp, yet he can swing it with great precision. The end of the sword's hilt is also decorated with a curved piece of metal that matches the rest of the blade.
   
3. Knuckles (Sonic and Knuckles) - The current guardian of the Master Emerald, a powerful ancient relic which is his solemn duty to protect from anyone seeking to abuse it. He is also the sole remaining descendant of his clan. A trusted ally of Sonic the Hedgehog, he's gullible, but a fierce rival. He can trap the wind under his dreadlocks to glide through the air.
   
4. Krystal (Star Fox Adventures) - She made her first appearance in the series in Star Fox Adventures. Krystal is the latest recruited member of the Star Fox team. She joined the Star Fox team after the Plight of Sauria, taking Peppy Hare's place as the fourth pilot.  She serves as the team's main telepath, acts as an additional fighter pilot, and is Fox McCloud's main love interest.
   
5. Impa (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) -  She typically serves as a nursemaid and/or bodyguard to Princess Zelda and often offers guidance to Link. Impa is the Commanding Officer of the Hyrule Imperial Guard and a playable character in Hyrule Warriors. She is the attendant and vassal of Princess Zeld. That is the version I would like to play as she's got a giant sword.
   
6. Viewtiful Joe (Viewtiful Joe) - Viewtiful Joe is the red-costume Superhero version of Joe, an average movie lover whose world was turned upside-down when he found himself brought into the World of Movies.
   
7. Twintelle (Arms) - Twintelle is a dark-skinned woman with white hair and pink highlights. Her  hair consists of two ARMS arranged in pigtails. She wears a black mask, a white sleeveless top with her emblem on her chest, tight black pants with a purple sideline all the way down, and a pair of sneaker heels. She has an athletic yet curvy build. Twintelle is a mega celebrity, yet is unstatisfied with her awards and accolades, despite being a star of the silver screen.
   
   

8. Ribbon Girl (Arms) - She is a pop idol in the ARMS world. Her jumping ability has given her the nickname, "The Airess". Ribbon Girl has blue eyes, blonde hair, and a pink skirt. Both her hair and her arms are ribbon-like and she has a pink mask on the top of her face. Ribbon girl wears glowing dark blue earrings.

8. Spring Man (Arms) - Spring Man has blue hair stylized like a spring and blue eyes. He wears a red and white tank top with his logo in the center and dark blue trims, and his ARMS are composed of springs.

9. Shantae (Shantae) -The half-genie guardian of Scuttle Town, Shantae works tirelessly to thwart the plans of the nefarious lady-pirate, Risky Boots, or other forces threatening the town. The character was created by Matt Bozon and his wife Erin Bozon.

10. Geno (Super Mario RPG) - is a warrior from Star Road and one of Mario's partners in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. He is sent by "a higher authority" to restore peace to Mario's world. During the events of Super Mario RPG, he teams up with Mario's team, which consists of Mario, Mallow, Princess Toadstool and Bowser and helps them out on their quest to defeat Smithy, the main antagonist and final boss of the game. In battle, he has high attack, but lower defense.

11. Midna (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) - Midna, a member of the Twili, teams up with the protagonist, Link, to battle Zant. She has a playfully mischievous sense of humor, and showed a somewhat cynical demeanor during most of the game.

12. Elma (Xenoblade Chronicles X) - BLADE colonel and the team leader of the Reclaimers Division. In the prologue, she is tasked with retrieving the Lifepods that were ejected from the United States Ark Ship, the White Whale.

13. Linkle (Hyrule Warriors) - Linkle has a courageous heart and heroic spirit, though she is far more talkative (in contrast to Link's traditional role as a silent protagonist), and has a deeply held belief that she is destined to be the legendary hero. Her grandmother, gave her a magic compass branded with the Triforce logo that Linkle considers to be proof of her status as the legendary hero, despite her fellow villagers dismissing the idea (by pointing out this is just a folkstory that everyone's grandmother says to their grandchildren). Upon hearing of the Dark Forces' attack on Hyrule Castle, Linkle quickly dons a hooded green tunic and equips herself with two crossbows that she normally uses to defend her Cucco flock from Wolfos, determined to aid Princess Zelda and the Hyrulean Forces as the legendary hero she believes herself to be.

14. Lana/Cia (Hyrule Warriors) - Cia was originally the Guardian of Time tasked with watching and keeping the balance of the Triforce, Cia eventually began to harbor romantic feelings for the hero Link. These affections turned into jealousy towards Princess Zelda, a close friend of Link's. As Cia's resentment grew, she became vulnerable to the will of an evil being that was thought to have been sealed away long ago. With the light half of her soul driven from her body, thus becoming Lana, Cia was corrupted by the darkness in her heart.

Lana is fiercely determined to put a halt to Cia's plans, even at the cost of her own happiness. Despite her overly optimistic nature, her natural athletic energy serves her well and allows her to quickly dive around her enemies and attack with her book of sorcery, which utilizes electrifying spells that her enemies never see coming. She has a bright spirit and positive energy, dancing and striking cheerful poses in battle.

Cia

Lana

15. Sans (Undertale) - Sans is the brother of Papyrus and a major character in Undertale. He first appears in the forest after the protagonist exits the Ruins. He serves as a supporting character in a Neutral and True Pacifist Route. is a short skeleton with a dimpled smile and large orbits. He wears an unzipped blue hoodie, a white t-shirt/sweater, black shorts with white stripes, and a pair of sneakers/slippers.

Violent Tendencies and Video Games: In the Aftermath of Parkland

President Donald Trump will meet next week with members of the video game industry in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida which took the lives of seventeen people, on February 14, 2018.

In order to enact more concise guidelines on gun control and ownership, the president will be participating in continuous discussions and meetings with Congressional members.

Reporter Zeke Miller asked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders why the president was having such difficulty in motivating a Republican majority Congress to “bend to his will” on matters of gun control.

As many are aware, one of the less often spoken powers that the President is granted, is the power to persuade and make compromises as a sort of negotiator between political parties, legislators, and constituents. This is among the more prominently known abilities to sign or veto legislation, command the armed forces, ask for the written opinions of their Cabinet, convene or adjourn Congress, grant pardons, or host foreign ambassadors.

According to Sanders, "Next week, he’ll also be meeting with members of the video game industry to see what they can do on that front as well. This is going to be an ongoing process and something that we don’t expect to happen overnight, but something that we’re going to continue to be engaged in and continue to look for the best ways possible to make sure we’re doing everything we can to protect schools across the country.”

Video games have had a formalized rating system, administered by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, since 1994. The rating system established by the ESRB is designed to inform and educate both players and parents in regards to the type of content featured in the game using generally applicable terms that can be utilized universally to all video games. Essentially, it provides parents with the power to be informed and dictate which games are appropriate for their children or other family members through easily identifiable icons as well as clear, concise content descriptions.

President Clinton (on June 1, 1999) requested that the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice conduct studies of the marketing of violent entertainment media to youths and designated $1 million dollars of federal funding towards such experiments (Grier 2001, 123).

The problem is that research in the past by the Clinton Administration has indicated that there is next to no causal link between violence in video games and school shootings. Blaming the media and the video game industry is but a mere scapegoat which will inhibit researching actual underlying causes of why individuals like 19-year-old Nikolas Jacob Cruz would pick up a gun and start attacks in the first place...if anything, these games and media portrayals of violence might enhance or exacerbate these feelings of rage or violent tendencies, but these games can not be considered the root cause.

I personally do not foresee new research indicating anything different. As it stands, it is already difficult to do longitudinal studies because of practical and ethical reasons. Researchers cannot force participants to play the same game for weeks months, or years on end without a multitude of repercussions (i.e. fatigue, monotony, etc.).

It’s unclear what role, if any, video games played in the Parkland incident. Nikolas Jacob Cruz allegedly pulled a fire alarm before gunning down his classmates with an AR-15-style assault weapon. Perhaps that act, in and of itself, was a last ditch effort to warn his peers, a sort of "cry for help" from an emotionally and psychologically disturbed individual.

After all, one must ask why would one try to alert others before committing such a horrendous crime? Perhaps some shred of human decency tried to grasp his consciousness before he fired that first shot. We won't truly know until we can investigate further into the human psyche and the events leading up to this devastating tragedy.

There are still, as of yet, no definitive studies available that adequately determines a causal relationship between violent video games and violent acts or crime. Yet, media journalists, political activists, and parents alike continue use violent video games as a political scapegoat for our violent culture despite a severe lack of etiological evidence.

Works Cited

PBSNewsHour. 1 Mar. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ0xWWlpwqU&feature=youtu.be&t=5m39s. Accessed 1 Mar. 2018.

Sonya A. Grier (2001) The Federal Trade Commission’s Report on the Marketing of Violent Entertainment to Youths: Developing Policy-Tuned Research. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing: Spring 2001, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 123-132.