A Year in the Jungle: 2016 Revisited

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Some of you may recognize that as a quote from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities (1859), but I could think of nothing more apt to describe 2016. For the Pokémon community it was certainly a standout year and perhaps the best we could have hoped for in honor of the series’ 20th anniversary. The rest of the world fared much worse however, and it is hard to overlook the political changes that have no doubt touched many fans across the world.

Pokémon Go

Many doubted that a mobile Pokémon experience, featuring augmented reality no less, could capture the feel of the series and deliver something worth playing—myself included—but the end result was something that would make 2016 the year Pokémon made its comeback.

While not the most avid player myself, there was something definitely surreal about seeing the creatures pop up around me and also made exercise a little more fun. The same ‘Gotta Catch ’em All’ philosophy from the handheld games carried over to the real world and the game was hard to put down if you saw a rare Pokémon lurking nearby.

Hopefully it will find continued success in the next year and keep Pokémon firmly in the spotlight. Can’t hurt to grow the fandom, right?

Pokémon Sun & Moon

Phew. Now we know what it must feel like for a mother to wait 9 months just to see what her baby is going to look like. We were teased mercilessly by PR with new screenshots and trailers, just to know that there were still months away from having the game in our hands.

And how did it do once it was in our hands? Pretty damn well I’d say. Perhaps the thing I enjoyed the most was that Alola feels like the first region to be alive. The Pokémon introduced weren’t too bad either, with Ultra Beasts providing an interesting new angle.

What wasn’t the best? Z-moves. Not a fan, sorry. Especially painful after Mega Evolutions were shelved after just one generation. If I were to run for president, I’d definitely base my campaign on “A Mega Evolution for All”.

PokéJungle

This year was a good one for the site. Another good year; most new generation years are. We hit 20,000 Twitter followers in February of this year and now we end at 32,000. I thank each and every one of you that puts up with me.

I’ll also take a moment to be perfectly honest: running this website is not always easy. In many ways this year was one of my most stressful. I greatly admire people like Serebii, because they can effortlessly (or at least give the appearance of effortlessness) update their site and continue to document every nook and cranny of each Pokémon game that has been released.

I can’t, it is not my specialty. My talents lie in getting people excited for what’s next; what’s here is already dead and gone. Some of you may have noticed that the site posts decreased dramatically in the next month and I suppose I will be honest about why. For some reason I always have spikes in my depression after new games are released. I think it has to do with the emotional investment I put into news coverage pre-launch and then the emptiness of post launch.

Hope to be running again in full speed for 2017. Love you all. PJ.

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1,431 thoughts on “A Year in the Jungle: 2016 Revisited”

  1. maybe that should be my project for 2016 my Rebar Club
    a piece of rebar, a string of nuts (Hardware) wrapped around the shaft and then bound together with good ol duct tape

    you could probably beat a car to death with one

    Reply

  3. Apparently there’s a big bug in the Wii U version of JD2017 where it’ll keep freezing the more stuff I unlock….Umm….why?

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          • And that’s assuming that its even real given that the sign’s of bad info/fake rumors are starting to show with one of the major leakers starting to be caught in a lie with breath of the wild.

          • Multiple credible sources have referenced it to be true, so it’s definitely not just another leak to write off. It’s not confirmed, of course, but it’s got a little going for it.

          • Oh of course, I’m not denying that their very well could be a project called Pokemon Stars in the works, but I would question that any information about it at this point could very well be false once people really look into who’s claiming what. Like for all we know Stars could be the code name of a spinoff game, some new dlc, or just about anything. Heck as we get closer to the big reveal of the Switch you already have people really trying to predict if the switch will really be viable as a handheld console, which seems to be 50/50 right now with people and thus bringing more questions as to what stars actually could be.

          • Yeah, that’s true. Personally I’m really REALLY hoping that Nintendo doesn’t screw this up and release a new handheld in a few years.

          • Honestly I’m kinda the opposite. I really don’t think the switch is viable as a handheld for many reasons, and the best thing they could do would be letting the 3DS continue on for a couple more years, pushing the new 3DS more, and then replacing it with either a successor in the DS style, or going for something like a smartphone like handheld that could play nintendos mobile games, and generally had power comparable to that of a vita, given that’s would be the ideal level of power for a handheld now.

          • That’s one of the worst things they could possibly do (no offenese). IMO they’re going to need their ENTIRE development staff producing for the Switch to have enough exclusives to provide a great incentive for people to buy it. Don’t get me wrong, 3rd party support is great and all, but NOBODY is going to buy a nintendo console for the reason of playing 3rd party games. They have much better options out there, so they need to give players enough of a reason to purchase a switch, and splitting up their development teams like they are now won’t do it.

          • What teams are they splitting exactly? Generally the only hand held devs that even slightly work close to them are gamefreak and intelligent Systems, who are both considered second parties and generally do what they want. Nintendo’s first parties are focusing on the switch and in turn the 3DS is far more known for its 3 party support. In fact most of the 1st party support on the 3ds is usually seen as pretty bad.

            But again we’re talking about stuff years off from now. And again this is why I say things are pretty 50/50. Everyone has their own idea of what would be best for Nintendo.

    • Nyarghhh I wanted to see something i haven’t seen before
      Where the hell is that mario game
      maybe that could momentarily quell my fire

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    • So honest question, is $120 a common price for Canadian games? Assuming that this is Canadian given its EB games, or maybe Australian? Those prices are pretty normal for them. Or maybe its a typo?

      Reply

        • Then its not impossible to Be Australian, where games do normally cost about 120 dollars, though their average wage is about double by comparison to the US/Canada, so it sorta evens out. It’s why you usually see things like Gamers from there complaining that people are complaining that we have to pay a merger 60 dollars due to them not knowing exchange rates.

          Reply

          • Assuming exchange rates that would put it around roughly 400-500 USD, which honestly sounds about right for a placeholder, and is pretty realistic. I mean at that point it is about the average cost of a console and would send a pretty clear message to consumers about the switch being a home console first and probably steer dev’s to keeping handhelds on the 3DS, given its overwhelming market share and that price point pretty much prevents owning multiple switches in the home.

          • It really depends. We don’t know the specs really, but if you said it was a slightly weaker ps4 that could be played on the go, then that price point seems reasonable for some. But again, we really don’t know what market Nintendo’s really aiming for with this. No matter how they handle the switch, their going to be taking a shot from some fanbase saying they did them wrong. Generally I just want them to put out a good home console and worry about a handheld market later. The 3DS is doing fine with plenty of games on the horizon for it, and the last thing they should do is burn that side of their business especially given how hot it sold this Christmas and how much money their investing into white hacking to keep people from hacking the device.

          • RN a PS4 pro is $400 and a regular $300 if Nintendo wanna make any type of sales a 300 maximum is their best bet

          • Fair enough, and even then they still probably are placeholders, but who knows really. We know nothing about how expensive this tech actually is. We might be looking at another Wii U situation where the price was as high as it was due to the gaming pad and not really the console itself. Perhaps because of making it a portable tablet, it increased the costs significantly.

          • But the console is the the tablet. LKD a reliable leaker said the dock and joycons will be bundled with the system but can be sold separately

          • True, and some high end tablets can go for a lot. Then again, and don’t quote me on this, but I’m fairly certain that Nintendo’s the only console maker that sells their products at a profit, where sony and microsoft undervalue their consoles. At least that was the case during the time of the last two generations or so.

          • I have to disagree. Pricing it that way would absolutely kill them in this market, where things like the PS4 and XBOX1 have a version priced at 300 dollars now, there’s just no way they’d do well in that kind of market.

  5. Also switch related:
    Our favorite japanese magazine, Corocoro, states that BotW is releasing in March, despite the rumors.

    Personally I’m inclined to believe this, because of the way they’ve been marketing the switch so far solely with BotW. It’d be odd for them to market it so heavily with the switch and then have it delayed until summer.

    Reply

      • That’s true, good point.

        I just don’t want to wait anymore to explore that beautiful hyrule. ;_;

        Also Corocoro has never been wrong that I can remember. I know zelda isn’t usually their specialty, but they definitely have more credibility than leakers.

        Reply

          • yeah i saw that. but i wont use the same sets lol. I mean i do really like her team.
            Milotic – spDef. Wall
            Bewear – Bulky Tank
            Liligant – late sweeper
            Mismagius – Status Spreader
            Clefable – Wish Passer // Utility
            Nihilego – SR and special glass cannon

          • I prefer Guzma because .. well.. I love him
            I like Luce, but some plotholes about her tick me off

    • She’s THE WORST
      I honestly don’t think she did nothing more but the whole “She’s obviously a secret bad guy” cliche that can be smelt by anything with the slightest sense of smell
      does nothing more then be a bad parent and attempts to plunge the world into chaos and disarray but where’s the destruction? where’s all the rampant Ultra beasts AFTER THE FUCKING GAME, face it SHE’S EYE CANDY, her “Transformation fusion” just fucking eye candy that served very little impact than just looking like a villain

      Her team was very girly cliche, and she blinds you into thinking she’s this perfect villain but what did she honestly do, at least the other villains caused much more damage

      Reply

          • She unleashed a bunch of alines onto Earth. She abused her children. She fucking froze pokemon to keep them beautiful forever. She is insane and I love her for it

          • and what did that do to us? nothing
            She says she unleashed Ultra beasts, but do we hear a BREAKING NEWS! UNIDENTIFIED MONSTERS ON A RAMPAGE MERMAID MAN WHERE ARE YOU?!
            nope all off screen and doesn’t even affect anything

          • Honestly? I liked her… but she literally just goes into a portal and summons a couple UBs …. I wish she did a little more

          • EXACTLY
            We only spent like 10 seconds in the Ultra Dimension

            they should’ve made it a gauntlet of puzzles and madness

          • Not just that… I honestly.. this might sound really stupid… would have found if you had to assist each Kahuna with the UBs (Make a ton appear) and than fight Lusamine once help was no longer required

          • No that sounds good
            WE SHOULD BE FIGHTING ULTRA BEASTS

            that way we know they’re actually doing something other them sitting on a bus stop twiddling their thumbs

          • I wanna say like three each or something..
            If anyone has played Rejuvenation, there is a segment when you fight a couple Deoxys’s… something like that would be good (But not with Rejuvenations story cause it has a lot of 3edgy5me moments)

          • a good villain actually gets RESULTS
            Do you honestly think we should’ve had a segment where Ultra Beasts actually attacked instead of a cheesy cut scene

      • Yeah her battle was really lackluster. I kept expecting her to send HERSELF out into battle, because she had fused with Nihilego and only had 5 pokemon, but nope. Just a dissapointing climax.

        Reply

      • lemme write you an essay why she is the best villian in Pokemon History:

        The Great Carbinkle
        Dr. Earthen Warrior
        Pokemon Studies 101
        1 January 2017
        The Mother Beast
        When it comes to Pokemon, many things have come cliches. Pikachu clones, HMs, annoying zubats, and a main villian team to stop. Sun and Moon brings a change in the pokemon tradition. Not only does it get rid of HMs, it introduces our first female viliian, Lusamine. As the President of the Aether Foundation, Lusamine is shown to have many good qualities of a leader. A caring trainer, a kind soul, and a killer fashion sense represents Lusamine perfectly. As the story progresses, we find out the Lusamine is not the perfect boss we met. She ends becoming the real villian of the story, leaving our boy Guzma in the shadows. Lusamine arc as a villian really shows how amazing she is. Her ability to manipulate people, her good team, her backstory, and her true intentions are few of the many qualities that qualifies Lusamine as the best villian in Pokemon history.

        When we first met Lusamine, we saw a lady on her forties looking like her twenties just taking care of the poor Corsolas. This makes the player believe that Lusamine really justs want to protect and love all the pokemon no matter what. Later on, we figure out that those are not Lusamine intentions. Lusamine real intentions was to open a wormhole and have the Ultra Beasts (UBs) to invade Alola. Lusamine manipulation skills are shown when she successfully makes her plans comes true. First Lusamine have tricked the entire Aether Foundation to do the dirty work thinking they were doing for the better good. Secondly, Lusamine tricked Guzma to do everything. She took advantage of Guzma personality and run with it. If it was not for the player, Lusamine plans would have succeeded.

        Reply

        • I’m sorry but…Lusamine’s goal morphed into chilling out with rock jellyfish in a world with trippy music
          Also, I would have had a harder time determining Archie as being a pokemon Villian than Lusamine. Also, the entire foundation? Faba exists and from the dialogue, some aether members seem quite aware ofwhat theyre doing

          I do like her, but still.

          Reply

        • im not finished:

          Lusamine team is a pretty good team. Overall is one of the strongest teams when in comes to villians team aside from Cyrus. Clefable can stall you with calm minds, Milotic is overall one of the best water walls in the game, Bewear is a beast. High attack stat and natural bulk makes Bewear one of the strongest pokemon this generation. Lilligant can be deadly if overestimated with that STAB Leaf Storm. Same could be said with Mismagius and decent special attack and speed. The last thing that makes Lusamine team even stronger is her team’s totem aura. That right, Lusamine pokemon have an extra boost thats make them more scary to confront. Some pokemon villians, like Giovanni, needs to learn one or two things about Lusamine.

          Lusamine also had one of the saddest backstories in pokemon history. Mother of two children and wife of Doctor Mohn, Lusamine life looked completed. Sadly, Doctor Mohn dissapeared after experimenting with the UBs and Lusamine became a trainwreck. Her obsession with the UBs became very obvious that she forgot about her own children. She did not know this, but the impact on her children was so big that both, Lillie and Gladion, escaped because they did not want to deal with their mom anymore. Lusamine lost her husband, her children, and her sense and she could not realize it until it was too late.

          Lastly, Lusamine true intentions were deep. Lusamine wanted her husband back so bad that she would do everything to do bring him back. Even if that meant putting her life and the life of her acquantiances in danger. She even went as far as risking her life and fusing with an UB. Her obsession with the UBs became so much that she wanted to become one of them because maybe her husband became a UB too. Lusamine went through alot and seeing and understanding her backstory makes her true intentions very logical

          Lusamine is by far not only the best villian in pokemon history. But one of the best overall characters in Pokemon. Her charisma, brilliance, intelligence are superior over many other villians. Her team is something not to mess with. Her backstory is one of the most emotionals in the history of the franchise. Lastly, her intentions made Pokemon Sun and Moon one of the best, if not the best storyline in Pokemon.

          References:

          T. G. Carbinle. My Memory. “My Brain”. Retrieved 1 Jan. 2016

          Reply

    • I like Cyrus more. His plan was more clear. I wasn’t even sure what she was trying to do. Was she just going to stay in the ultra space forever?

      Reply

  7. I have to say, some of these dex entries in Sun and Moon are pretty fun to read (especially Elekid’s and Sabeleye’s). All of them bring up new but interesting facts that we didn’t know before, along with being original entries, and not the usual copy-and-paste entries from past gens.

    Reply

  10. Random question… this annoyed me a little in XD and a bunch more in Sun and Moon…
    In XD Chobin gets into a groudon suit and fights while Lusamine embraces the dark side of rule 34 and … well
    Both transform, and it has literally no purpose….. Chobin’s wasn’t so bad since it was for humor, but what the hell is up with Lusamine?

    Reply

  11. all this Villain makes me wonder who my Villainous team should be
    The goal of Team Quake’s leader Ilko (placeholder name) is to bring forth the destruction of the region though violent terrorism, establishing an authority of power, and resurrecting a long forgotten force of destruction

    Reply

  14. things you learn in college: Writting an academic essay in mla format about pointless things in a short period of time before the time limits finishes

    Reply

  15. Seaking’s dex entry from moon
    “Trainers who are crazy for seaking are divided into horn enthusiasts and fin enthusiasts. The two groups do not get along well.”

    WHAT THE HELL?!

    Reply

  20. 10 days until Switchpocalypse! The time will seriously fly by until then. I have a feeling we’re going to be very impressed. I’m just excited to see Nintendo fully transition to a new generation and cap off the split home console and handheld trend for good.

    Reply

  21. Google is paying 97$ per hour! Work for few hours and have longer with friends & family! !mj185d:
    On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $8752 this last four weeks.. Its the most-financialy rewarding I’ve had.. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
    !mj185d:
    ➽➽
    ➽➽;➽➽ http://GoogleFinancialJobsCash185DirectHouseGetPay$97Hour… ★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★::::::!mj185d:….,….

    Reply

  23. so i need to burn off some excess aggression
    and nothing does that better than fakemons
    now i’ve been trying to perfect a Phoenix Pokemon, but rather than have the ironic fire bird i want to make a Fiery Peacock

    Peaphe
    The Peachick PKM
    Flame Body/Regenerator
    Fire/Flying
    a stupidly adorable gold and red chick Pokemon with very large black eyes and tiny ember like plumage on their head
    “Though very popular for its cute appearance one should never handle them, their feathers can reach temperatures exceeding 100F when startled”

    now i can’t think of a extremely clever name that mean violent firestorm and overwhelming beauty
    so far Furnix
    Fire/Flying
    Flame Body/Regenerator
    a majestic sleek bird with red, gold and orange feathers, long spreading wings and their….butt plumage normally held down looking like a stream of flames when presenting they spread wide and resembles a lotus mixed with a sun, and those head thingies are a slick crest of fire
    “Renowned for their unwavering beauty, they release scarlet flames from their tail feathers that incinerates boulders

    Reply

  25. Google is paying 97$ per hour! Work for few hours and have longer with friends & family! !mj221d:
    On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $8752 this last four weeks.. Its the most-financialy rewarding I’ve had.. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
    !mj221d:
    ➽➽
    ➽➽;➽➽ http://GoogleFinancialJobsCash221TopGeoGetPay$97Hour… ★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★::::::!mj221d:….,…….

    Reply

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