Author Archives: Raizen

Adventures In Switch 2 Pre-ordering

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On the right: someone who secured a Switch 2 pre-order. On the left: the scene as people are still fighting for them.

I had my own idea of how it was supposed to go. I’d set an alarm for 11:45, get some sleep, then when it came time to do a pre-order, it would be over with in minutes, then it would be back to bed. Whether it worked or not, I’d know in minutes, and could then get some sleep and later consider a backup plan.

No points for guessing that it went differently.

I was prepared to descend into battle against a bunch of bots, scalpers, and fellow Nintendo fans, as well as some social media influencers (I’ll save it for the end). What surprised me was how long it took.

My online retailer of choice was Best Buy. My reasoning had to do with the fact that the location I visited a few weeks back had a pile of PS5 Pros just sitting out, at a time when they were hard to find. Seemed reasonable to think the same store might have a few Switch 2s to spare after they would launch, so I made my account, set my location, got a page open to refresh, and downloaded the mobile app, to be safe.

Best Buy didn’t just screw the pooch, they nailed it to the porch to be thorough. Pre-order links would not become available until a half-hour after the scheduled time. Not only that, but customers such as myself had to wait in a que that gave no indication of progress. As I entertained the thought that the que was broken, I considered backing out and starting over, but didn’t want to lose my place in a hypothetical invisible line.

Eventually, I got a pre-order link! I clicked it, but for some unknown reason, it didnt work, so it was back to the back of the line. So, in addition to having been screwed and nailed, the pooch was also staple gunned.

I made additional attempts with multiple instances of Best Buy open on desktop, my phone browser, and the app, but to no avail. Out of desperation, I decided to also try other retailers.

GameStop would have probably been pointless, as I don’t remember having an account with them, and I’d probably have been de-prioritized by reason of having a new account.

Target would intermittently show a pre-order link, but each attempt to click on it would result in a failure message. The way it happened made me suspect that pre-orders were being made available in waves in an attempt to manage the traffic. That would have been an interesting plan, but it wouldn’t have been so great for those of us who’d rather get some sleep than stare at display screens in the middle of the night, which we’d have plenty of opportunity to do once we have our Switch 2 systems!

Also, I’ve been hearing that Target has been arbitrarily canceling pre-orders. That sounds like a nightmare.

Then, there’s Wal-Mart. Oh, Wal-Mart. I’ve long had an account with you. I’ve been buying lots of stuff from you. You know that I’m human. There was no need for me to hold some silly button to prove that that’s the case with a pseudo-captcha.

Personally, I suspect that it’s was the means to manage the influx of web traffic. But if they wanted to keep me busy, why not load a cheap knockoff of Space Invader to keep me entertained? The pseudo-captcha was kinda condescending.

I didn’t expect it, but it was Wal-Mart that came through. And I have an idea of how it happened, which might help people who are still trying. At some point, I noticed that a Switch 2 Pro Controller was available. I wanted one, so I added it to my cart. Later, I noticed that a Switch 2 became available.

It might be that there wasn’t a causal relationship, but it’s possible that adding to my cart another piece of Switch 2 merchandise may have sufficiently demonstrated that I probably wasn’t a scalper. If that’s how it works, it might help for those who are still trying. And if you don’t actually want a piece of merchandise, you can just remove it from your cart before checking out.

I want to see my fellow Nintendo enthusiasts succeed. As for scalpers, not so much. At least, not until they’ve reevaluated their choice to damage some beloved hobbies for a quick buck.

But then there’s the social media influencers who have been complaining about anything about Switch 2 that they possibly could, thinking that the algorithm would promote their negativity. It’s funny how interested they suddenly are in being among the first to own a Switch 2, isn’t it? It’s funnier still how many of them are angry because they couldn’t secure a pre-order of the console they already decided that they hate so much.

They’re disingenuous hacks, and they don’t deserve to have Switch 2s. And they don’t seem so cool now, do they, now that it’s obvious that they didn’t believe what they’ve been saying?

The big N is going to make a killing.

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Did you hear the one about the guy who doesn’t know Jack about the games industry who is suddenly an expert on economics and geopolitics? You probably did, because there are so many such larpers shooting their mouths off. And you’re probably laughing just as hard as I am.

Days ago, Nintendo revealed the price point on their upcoming Switch 2 system, but have subsequently delayed pre-orders, as they reevaluate what they may charge for the system. This occurs as tariffs go into effect, and it seems reasonable to guess that there’s a causal connection.

While it’s easy to get ansey about how much the Switch 2 will cost, if you had the intention of buying one, you’re probably about two months away from having one, and three away from not caring what you paid for it.

How can I say that so confidently? Because I’ve been through this many times. On launch day for GameCube, I could have cared whether I had the $200 to buy one. But after that, I had one. I waited a bit to buy Wii, but after I got that, I didn’t even remember how much it cost. Same with Switch. Once the hurtle of initial expence is cleared, people are just going to move on to the next thing.

And if Nintendo is going to offer something of greater value than what they already have, wouldn’t it follow that they’d charge more for it? And if someone thinks the price is too high, they can decide not to buy it. No one is forcing anyone to make a purchase. It’s a free market.

And speaking of price points, it seems like fainting spells are on the uptick, because Nintendo is setting the MSRP for Mario Kart World at $80. People are used to paying $60 for a game, and here I’m remembering how much a new copy of Chrono Trigger cost in the nineties. Depending on where you looked, it would have been as much as $90.

Nintendo’s reasoning for the price point for Mario Kart World is that they put a lot of effort into the game. And this is reasonable. If I’m going to be getting a lot of game with lots of play and replay value, then it’s worth the money.

If you bought a new game with the complete DLC package, such as Pokémon Violet, then you probably spent $94.98 for it, before taking sales theft tax into account. Whether you would have gotten your money’s worth is up to you, but if that’s what you spent, then you were somehow able to justify making that purchase. Compared to that, to spend only $80 on Mario Kart World sounds a bit more reasonable.

But if that doesn’t seem reasonable to you, you don’t have to buy it. When it comes down to it, it’s the consumer who decides the value of a product, not the company that made it, regardless of inputs. And if you don’t want to pay the MSRP, you can just not buy the product. You might even find it at a more agreeable price later on.

But the temper tantrums are pointless. Nintendo knew that they’d hear screeching over any choice they’d make, and they’ve already figured out that they could just ignore it.

The PS5 Pro’s price didn’t come down, the Minecraft movie was still made, and Sonic from Sonic Boom still has blue arms. Nobody cares that someone from YouTube pretended to understand economics.

To get right to the heart of the matter, which I’m not hearing much about: Nintendo has investors, and Nintendo doesn’t want to upset them. To that end, they’d much rather turn a profit on the Switch 2’s first year. Pricing Switch 2 above cost would seem expedient to this.

Sure, Nintendo’s stock has fallen in the last few days, and this correlates with fans learning of the pricing of Switch 2 games. It’s also rebounded since yesterday, indicating that it wasn’t a lasting trend. But I suspect that sales numbers will play a larger role in stock valuation.

Care to guess whether millions of Nintendo fans, and way too many loathsome scalpers, would contribute to huge Switch 2 sales at launch even if it were to be priced like the PS5 Pro?

We have lost against the surveillance state.

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A few years ago, I pointed to an old Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror” episode to give a hint concerning where I believed society was headed. The episode was titled, Nightmare Cafeteria, and was a parody of the film, Soylent Green.

In the episode, the elementary school staff decided to punish students by processing them into food, which the faculty then developed a taste for. This led up to a scene that I focused on, which depicted the few students who were left being monitored intently for even the slightest infraction, over which they would be sent off to satisfy the appetites of the demented faculty.

As things are, it can be said that society has reached a similar point, by reason of the surveillance state.

When discussing the surveillance state, there are people who frequently express the sentiment that if someone doesn’t do something wrong, they have no reason to worry. The point that needs to be impressed upon them is that a person who is monitored at all times can be accused at any time.

Suppose you came to a complete stop at an intersection, just as a squad car was approaching. Then, you advance. A completely legal and lawful advance. But, unbeknownst to you, the approaching officer was power-tripping and bitter about whatever, so he decided to use footage of your lawful driving to accuse you of a rolling stop. And you don’t find out until you get a citation in the mail, days later.

What would you do? Or, perhaps the better question is, what can you do?

The fine amount was low enough that you’d probably just pay it to avoid further trouble, even though the footage you can view online plainly shows your innocence, but substantial in value to the point of being considered the theft that it is, perhaps roughly equivalent to two days of work by a man who actually produces value.

The state has found a new way to extract value, and this can be accomplished by the surveillance apparatus. And even someone who is innocent can be victimized by it. Thus the point: a person who is monitored at all times can be accused at any time.

And while the accusation may be refuted, the accusation itself can have consequences. If you got a fine that was the equivalent to a day’s work by a skilled tradesman, would you contest it if it meant losing a day’s work to attend a hearing? Or would you just pay, knowing that you’d end up losing value, either way?

For a long time, it was taxation. Now, it seems the state has found yet another way to steal. Theft has evolved.

Seems humanity really is in trouble.

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I’m starting to get the idea that environmentalists don’t actually want us to take them seriously. That’s what I can come away with regarding their preparations for the COP30 climate summit.

Which involved paving over thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest in order to build a four-lane highway leading to the location of the summit.

If you were hoping that you read that wrong, your day may have just been ruined.

The so-called intellectuals, who wanted to virtue signal over the environment being destroyed, just had thousands of acres of delicate ecosystem destroyed because they didn’t want to be inconvenienced.

If it was about inconvenience, they could have just had their little summit over Zoom, rather than consuming fuel with their private jets.

But when it comes down to it, climate summits are largely just performances, and for there to be the performance that they want, they have to emit immense amounts of carbon and pave over whatever forests they have to in order to reach their arbitrary venue.

This whole matter has some troubling implications when you consider that the elites who bloviate about the environment are some of the same clowns who are running the circus. What other decisions are they making that are self-defeating and bad for the rest of us? Or do they even care?

If only there was an obvious way to know whether these guys actually believe what they say.

Is This the World’s Dumbest Criminal?

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Aleefah Sumpter, from the Senoia Police Department

When I heard someone get called “world’s dumbest criminal”, that caught my attention. The person we’d be talking about today is a Georgia woman, 25-year-old Aleefah Sumpter, who allegedly pilfered a customer’s debit card information on her job at Whataburger. Which she then used to pay probation fines and court fees.

The victim later checked his account, noticed the fraudulent $400 charge, then proceeded to call the probation court that the payment was made to, as well as the police, and it didn’t take them long to figure out what was going on.

Let’s let this sink in: A fraudulent debit charge was used to pay probation fines and court fees.

It’s a crime that’s trivially simple to trace, and there’s no prize for guessing the prime suspect. Who, by the way, the victim was able to pick out of a lineup.

The suspect, Aleefah, agreed to turn herself in on Feb 21. But instead of doing so, she fled to Florida, and her family said that she had been planning the trip before she was charged. Whether she’d be safe from the big, mean felony charge in the land of gators and Mickey Mouse, I don’t know. But I suspect she gave them a flimsy excuse to pass on as she fled. Whatever her reasoning, she’s a wanted woman now, and some are even going as far as calling her the world’s dumbest criminal.

If you’re wondering what Aleefah was originally on probation for, it was a misdemeanor drug offense. That’s pretty much it.

So, is Aleefah Sumpter really the world’s dumbest criminal? Probably not. There are many contenders for that distinction. And maybe some of them are deliberately trying to earn it.

But what’s apparent to me is that Aleefah has a lot to learn about the digital age.

The Activist-to-Authoritarian Pipeline, Explained

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You might have noticed that many on the activist left tend towards authoritarianism on occasions when they find themselves in positions of power. Not surprisingly, they’ll then advocate for more activism, knowing that it serves them.

But what is a mystery is why activists, when they take hold of power, suddenly tend towards authoritarianism. This is the case whether we’re talking about elected officials or even just low-level government employees. It’s vexing because the public image of the activist is that of a libertarian, one fighting for freedoms, whether or not this image is consistent with the policies that they’re actually advocating for.

To one outside looking in, it can be a conundrum why an activist, when they finally have their hands on the levers of power, go full authoritarian. The reason this happens comes down to a simple failure to instill sincerely-held values.

Activism appeals to a sense of youthful restlessness. To one in their teens and early-twenties, it seems like a pretty sweet deal; they get to blow off some steam, do some naughty stuff, and they get to come away from it saying that they furthered a positive cause, whether or not it was really positive, at all.

And through it all, what’s idealized for them is to “effect change”. What change would that be? Really, just about any change might appeal to a person’s sense of accomplishment, especially when they lack the wisdom to recognize the knock-on consequences of a large-scale implementation of their causes. And, in many cases, they don’t look much into it.

What matters to them is that they “effect change”.

So, what happens when an activist without sincere values effects change so hard that they catch the attention of someone in a position of power who becomes interested in elevating them?

It’s easy to guess: someone who can effect change pulling the levers of power, who feels justified in laying the boot on their opposition, whom they may view as enemies rather than countrymen.

Thus, the activist-to-authoritarian pipeline.

The United States has been living in the consequences of this process, which has been occurring over the course of decades. It’s the reason why you see riots where perpetrators who commit violent crimes get off scot-free, enabled by left-wing politicians and prosecutors, with news anchors turning a blind eye to the crimes. Many such public figures were once violent agitators themselves, and whats more, it doesn’t directly serve their interests to deter someone who is furthering their causes.

This could have been prevented with a proper instilling of real values. Which is the job of the child’s parents, as is the case when it comes to much of their upbringing. It’s not the job of the school system, it’s the job of the parents.

Yet, so many keep failing. Are people afraid to instruct their own children, or something?

When it comes down to it, the individual is not just an elementary building block of society, they are also an elementary agent of a culture. If someone is not taught from a young age to see the value of a culture, it’s no surprise that they would feel nothing as they act to destroy it.

Leftists are planning a one-day “economic blackout” for tomorrow. LOL.

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Hey look, another stupid one-day boycott:

Pictured above is the gameplan for a left-wing one-day boycott of major businesses and services, in the hopes of sending a message. That message being, “we show them who really holds the power”.

The boycott is being pitched as non-partisan, but considering it’s traction among the left, it’s plainly a reaction on their part because they’re upset that they’re losing their grip on culture. The claim of being non-partisan is clearly intended as an attempt to expand leftists’ influence when they know that they are not culturally dominant.

They are not the “silent majority”, and the 2024 Presidential election provided the numbers to prove it.

Here’s a list of their extended gameplan, which makes mention of companies that have ditched DEI, such as Wal-Mart and Amazon:

You might be wondering, “Raizen, what are you doing sharing their gameplan? Doesn’t that help them?” I’ll explain why passing this info along doesn’t help them in the following list of reasons the boycott is almost certain to fail:

  • Boycotters prep for one-day boycotts by making their purchases in advance, or making up for them in the days after, so the companys’ bottom lines are often unaffected. This is especially the case with products such as gasoline.
  • Investors who learn of the boycott in advance can reallocate their investments, and thus profit off the boycott.
  • Imagine consoomers not consooming for a day.
  • Some people may decide to spend an inordinate amount on the day of the boycott, out of spite.
  • People tend to have less money when they don’t understand how the world works. For that reason, if leftist foot soldiers decide not to spend for a day, it’s probably not going to be very impactful.

And a bunch of leftists presume to tell the rest of us about economics.

So no, it’s not necessary for you to make a big ol’ shopping list and go wild on Friday. The left-wing one-day boycott is largely self-defeating.

And with how much better off companies that ditch DEI are likely to be in the long-term, they probably won’t much care.

My Impressions of Pokémon Presents 2025

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Continuing with tradition, The Pokémon Company has dropped a Pokémon Presents show on the anniversary of the debut of the first Pokémon games.

As one might expect, the Direct initially focused on a bunch of mobile games, most of which most fans might not care much about. Cresselia and Darkrai are interesting Pokémon to bring to Pokémon Sleep, and that’s cool for whoever is playing that. Pokémon UNITE is bringing Alolan Raichu to the roster in April. I might check that out, considering I like Raichu.

Pokémon GO is running a Unova-themed event, which culminates with Pokémon GO Tour Global, but it doesn’t seem the announcement told us anything new about it. A new season, called Might and Mastery, is coming up, and it seems to be themed around Urshifu.

Also, an event is coming up in Pokémon Cafe Remix. I played the game for maybe a couple days when it first came out, but I don’t really care much for it, now.

A new mini-set is arriving for Pokémon TCG Pocket, and it’s arriving tomorrow. That doesn’t give us much time to save up pack hourglasses. The mini-set is themed around Arceus, and the appearance of a new Raichu card suggests that Pokémon in the set might work together well with Arceus.

I don’t know how many players still care about Pokémon Masters EX, but I sometimes peek back in to see what’s going on. It seems there will be new versions of Brendan and May who will have Groudon and Kyogre respectively, both shiny and both capable of Primal Reversion. I may spring for the new Brendan, so I’ll have a strong Ground type that’s ahead of the power creep.

It seems as though Scarlet and Violet aren’t behind us, just yet. There are a few new events planned for the current core Pokémon titles, including redeemable codes for in-game phone cases, with the case available depending on the game version, and an upcoming Mass Outbreak event themed around certain red, green, and blue Pokémon.

What has me excited in SV is the announcement of new upcoming Tera Raid events featuring Pokémon which have the Mightiest Mark. So far, I’ve caught each Pokémon featured in Tera Raids with the Mightiest Mark, some of which were quite challenging, and I’m looking forward to more!

In my opinion, the biggest announcement of the Presents would be Pokémon Champions, which shows itself as being the next generation of link battles! The program is coming to Nintendo Switch, Android, and will also be available to those who haven’t gotten around to ditching iOS.

Pokémon Champions focuses on battles, according to the gameplay mechanics of the core games. But Champions looks to be encompassing, as it will connect to Pokémon Home, allowing players to battle with their own Pokémon, and include the major gameplay mechanics of Mega Evolution and Terrastalization, in the same battle!

Consider the implications of that!

Will every Pokémon be eligible? Maybe so. Will other mechanics such as Primal Reversion and Z-moves be available? Perhaps. It’s looking like there’s going to be a lot of potential for new and old strategies to emerge!

(EDIT: It’s been revealed that not all Pokémon are going to be in Pokémon Champions, initially. Kinda disappointing, but the implications of this depends on which gets left out.)

It’s been one year since the last announcement about Pokémon Legends Z-A (hereafter ZA, because brevity), and GameFreak finally has something new to say about it!

We got a look at the three starters, which are Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile. Players are probably already forming factions. I’ll probably go with Chikorita this time, because I’d like to see a Pokémon that’s been getting picked on succeed, perhaps by reason of a great new form. And if not, then I’d probably be enjoying a challenging playthrough. If Chikorita doesn’t change, I’d at least have an idea of what to expect.

We got to see more Mega evolutions, but I didn’t notice any new ones. Still, it’s cool that we’re getting many of them back.

What I find interesting is the new battle style where moves have an RTS kind of element, where placement can influence outcomes, and moves have areas of effect. It’s interesting, and I look to seeing how it works in the game once it releases.

And I’ll have to be patient about that, as ZA is to be released late this year!

With Pokémon, it’s easy to be enthusiastic, as there’s usually a lot going on. This year’s Pokémon Presents reflected that well, and was easily among the strongest of them. But I’m still wondering how GameFreak will incorporate Switch 2 into their plans. Is it too soon to ask? GameFreak has historically been hesitant to develop for new hardware.

Is Apple Going To Sink With the DEI Ship?

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While much of the corporate world is starting to get the idea that DEI in its various appellations is not a great idea, Apple is pushing back. They’ve encouraged investors to vote against a measure that would pressure Apple to join the movement where other companies, like Meta and Target, are ditching DEI.

As I’ve pointed out before, to survive in this world, it’s expedient to have a flexibility of mind to adapt to changes. And within the last couple years, one of the changes that has occurred is that companies are dropping DEI and other variants of it, which are not great for companies that adopt it.

In light of this, it’s really disappointing that Apple is among the few companies that are resisting this change. But it’s not altogether surprising.

It seems as though Apple favors virtue signaling over innovation. As expensive as Apple products are, they’re not terribly innovative. Their main selling point is their stability, which one might expect considering that the hardware and the OS are both developed in-house.

So, what’s the signal that Apple is boosting? Did you know that Tim Cook is gay?

No kidding? Was the rainbow that is shown off with product reveals not sufficient to give it away?

Image credit: cultofmac.com

Normally, that wouldn’t be known. But for some reason, that information is widely publicated. Ideally, this would have no bearing on the quality of a product being engineered and manufactured. But when a company is putting a visibly high amount of effort in communicating how dedicated they are to signaling, consumers start to get suspicious.

While Tim Cook might not identify with what it’s like to be straight, most people are, and they know what their tendencies are.

It might not be politically correct to say, but let’s acknowledge the reality of the matter: Most straight people would not want to be mistakenly seen as a homosexual.

It’s like a form of self-preservation. And five years of social engineering aren’t going to make a dent in a trait that’s been conductive to humanity’s continuity for as long as humans have existed.

Considering this tendency, it’s understandable that most people might be hesitant to adopt a brand where there’s higher potential to be mistaken for being a homosexual.

They might instead consider a phone from Samsung, which is headquartered in Korea, where the western world’s cultural problems are distant.

It might even be a significant factor in Android having roughly three times the share of the mobile OS market compared to iOS.

Other businesses are on the pivot to profit, whether Apple is enthusiastic about it or not. People speak of dying on their chosen hill, but it’s important to know that not every hill is worth dying on.

Disney Ditching DEI

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It seems the house of mouse is among the growing list of companies that are rolling back DEI initiatives. According to a note sent to employees and obtained by Axios, Disney is going to be focusing more on “business outcomes”.

And we know what that means. It means that Disney is joining the pivot to profit.

The note states that performance factors will focus on “Talent Strategy” rather than “Diversity & Inclusion”, and they’re dropping their “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative, and have already replaced its website with an updated corporate hub.

Additionally, Disney has removed an auto-playing content advisory for certain programs on Disney Plus, and replaced it with a brief disclaimer in the details section of these programs. Which, as I see it, does suffice.

This development is yet another in a culture which is shifting back towards normalcy. While this may have been attributed to Trump’s resounding victory back in November, the pushback against the likes of DEI has been well underway at that point, with Trump’s victory being yet another indicator of where the US’s culture has been trending towards.

The fact is, DEI and similar notions have been huge liabilities, and it didn’t help the activists’ cause that the venture capital has been drying up.

Now that Disney is coming back around, I suspect that conservatives and those with families will be warming up to them, again. This is great, because this would amount to positive feedback for making better decisions. As I’ve pointed out about Mark Zuckerberg’s redemption arc, forgiveness can be strategically valuable. After all, if a person were presented with no avenue for redemption, they would have no reason to seek it. It’s better to have a Disney that aligns with our values than a Disney that opposes us, and it’s not bad for them to have an avenue to come back around.

And an incentive can help motivate them. The pivot to profit.

Of course, it’s also possible that we might get to watch Star Wars again, without worrying whether it would be undermined by some activist message.