Whoops

I am currently on "inactive" Upper Deck demoer status. No, it was nothing I did.

If the truth be told, it's something I DIDN'T do. After I ran all of those tournaments at Insane Gaming, forgetting to submit tournament reports to Upper Deck is a bad thing. Especially when they check to see what you're up to.

With the closing of Insane Gaming, it's time to find another haunt...

Duel Disk

About a month or two ago, I broke down and bought one of those Mattel Duel Disks. I figure "Hey, I get money for writing about Yugioh, so I might as well dump some money back into it." Most of you have probably seen them at Toys 'R Us, or for sale online.

It took me about ten minutes to remove it from its packaging (parents, you'll have to help your kids with that), and it has a bit of assembling to it. Instructions are included.

Geez, this bugger can be heavy after a while. Especially since it doesn't actually stay "straight" when you hold it "flat" to see what's on your disk.

There's a "click" counter on the top of the disk to keep track of your Life Points. By pressing one of the buttons under the appropriate digit, it causes the digit to decrement.

The slots for Monster Cards hold them perfectly. There are to small sets of plastic "prongs" at the bottom of the Monster Slots, so that you can put them in attack or defense mode.

Magic and Trap cards, on the other hand, don't go in the top of the disk. Instead, they slide in toward the bottom of the disk, under the Monster Slots.

There's a flip-top area to put your Cemetery into. There is a plastic tongue that keeps your cards from moving and flying out when moving your arm around. As the Cemetery gets bigger, however, it's harder to keep the cards in there. The top flips open for easy removal of your Cemetery.

The deck also slides into an easy-access area. There is a tiny "gate" that folds up and down so that your deck doesn't move around. A tongue, much like the one in the Cemetery, keeps the deck secure.

There's a Standby Mode and a Battle Mode. For Standby Mode, you simply pull one of the arms of the Duel Disk back until it snaps into place. By pressing a small button on the bottom, it flies together like in the animated series. Small kids should watch out.

There are a couple of things that could have "bettered" the product:

And if you didn't already realize it, no, there are no holograms that pop out when you use the cards.

Overall, for those fans of the Yugioh series (young and *ahem* old), it's not that bad of an item. If you're planning on getting one for yourself or someone else, do it soon; the prices have been jumping recently.

New Works

Well, most of you know that I'm a freelance writer for Wizard Entertainment (the company that produces InQuest, Toyfare, Wizard, etc.), and I do some work for the Pojo books. Some more material should be coming out soon:

• The third Yu-Gi-Oh! Special from Wizard Entertainment. My work includes a preview of the set AFTER the next English set (Dark Crisis), and an article about some of the most expensive cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! (some will probably knock your socks off).
• One or more decks appearing in InQuest.
• Pojo's next Yu-Gi-Oh! Special to be released some time in the future. Work done by me includes an basic introduction to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, an article about staple cards, and an overview of Magician's Force (despite that set is already out, with the next one coming very soon...)

Top 100 List

There's something that I've been meaning to clear up for a while, but simply keep forgetting to put it up in the articles section.

Back in Wizard Entertainment's first Yu-Gi-Oh! Special, I was asked to make a Top 100 List. That was over a year ago, and this list is still popping up in places. There is also a lot of debate on the cards that appeared in the list.

First of all, the list is not necessarily a list of the best cards to use in the entire game. That list was a combination of popularity and usability. There are cards like Five God Dragon on the list, and that card doesn't appear in many decks.

Second, this list is still being quoted by people. The problem is, THE LIST IS *VERY* OUT OF DATE! It was written just after the 302 set had just been released. That's why there is no Breaker, Virus, Paladin, Chaos Emperor Dragon, Chaos Soldier, Twilight Zone Female Warrior, Zork, etc. Since then, SIX sets have been released, adding a host of powerful cards to the mix. It's like comparing a Commodore Colt to a Pentium III; there's no comparison. [For those who don't know what a Commodore Colt is, don't worry.]

Would I change that list if the opportunity arose again? Yes. As stated before, it's out of date. As well, I think I've gotten a little more cynical about the game, which has altered (corrupted?) my perceptions of what-is-what and why-is-why.

Old Japanese Text

Just as a bit of trivia-like knowledge, here are some examples of older Japanese text. I won't go into it, but think of the implications.

EMISSARY OF HARMONY
Normal Trap
Reduce the Battle Damage done by your opponent's Monsters to 0 until the end of the turn. At the end of the turn, destroy this card.

REINFORCEMENTS
Normal Trap
Increase the attack strength of 1 Monster by 500 for the activated turn! This card is destroyed at the end of the turn.

JAR OF GREED
Normal Magic
Draw 2 cards from your deck. After drawing, the Jar of Greed is destroyed.

Like...?

There's something that has been baffling me for a while:

Why is Edo's Yugioh Page so popular?

Don't think that I'm complaining. It's great to have a popular page. Though this page is not THE most popular of the Yugioh sites out there on the 'net, it is one of the ones that people come to on a regular basis. As I write this, the page has gotten over 8 MILLION hits since it's opening almost two years ago.

The second anniversary of the page will be approaching soon, and it's a cause to reflect: just what makes this page popular?

The first thing that comes to mind is the translation files. I'm one of the FEW sites on that actually translates the cards into English for use by others across the globe. Yes, TRANSLATE the work here, not copy from some site and re-write it. This is a big draw to the site, as many people have Japanese cards. They want to know what they do, and are looking toward the future English releases and the combinations and strategies held there. The translations are available for anyone who wants them for PRIVATE (not public) use.

The next would probably be rulings. Though not official (anyone who has come to this page for a while knows why), it gives many players answers to questions that they have when asking official sources takes too long, or they don't receive an answer. Almost all of the rulings that "preceeded" the official English rulings were correct -- save for the handful that actually changed in Japan.

People also tune into the Card of the Week section, though it should really be called "Cards of the Whenever-I-get-to-them" section. Some debate the ratings that I have given cards (Newt was the biggest of those), but everyone learns something from the descriptions that I put into those reviews. And for the love of everything that's sacred, READ THE ERUMA (e. ELMA) CARD OF THE WEEK SO THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU *CAN'T* USE IT WITH LEAF FAERIE (e. WOODLAND SPRITE)! That problem is being brought up quite a bit nowadays, since the English release of Dark Crisis is right around the bend.

Last is probably the things that you are reading right now. These articles, once called "essays," allow me to speak my mind in a more relaxed form. Some people like what I have to say, and EVERYONE learns from these write-ups. I don't have to be "totally" professional in these articles, but I do try to maintain some integrity when forking over information to you, the reader. This is one of the reasons that Wizard Entertainment came to me to be their Yugioh "go to" guy. Scyre also came knocking on my doorstep, but I turned them down to work on other projects. And since I know Bill Gill (Pojo) from years ago during the hayday of Pokemon, I've been working on projects for him as well. In other words, it pays off to be professional to some degree.

For every coin, there is a flip side, and it's only fair to view that edge as well. While the massive amount of people that come to this page do view it favorably, there are a small percentage of individuals that do not care for the page. They can be divided into two groups: those who do not "like" the page, and those who "hate" it.

Many people don't like the attitude that I bring across. If the truth be told, yes, I do give off an attitude when it comes to the work on this page: a think these people view it as a "know it all" attitude. Though I don't know as much about this game as I think I do, I DO know more than most people. This is because I have the ability to access and read the Japanese texts, and know what's going on. And the Japanese game is what many people don't want to accept.

You see, there IS a game outside of the English version. It started in Japan, and was localized in different languages outside of the Japan. It is vanity to think that only the English game matters. This is blatantly moronic, as there is MUCH to be learned from the Japanese game. When 95+% of the information that is released in English is identical to the information released in Japan, it's a safe bet to examine your options.

Another thing that some people don't like is the fact that I don't allow my use of translations by other sites, etc. (I rant about this in the section below this one, so keep reading and you will get to it).

Some people are saying, "Why don't you just let have permission if they give you credit?" There's a simple rebuttal to this:

They are using them WITHOUT my permission, and not giving me the credit!

So, do you really think they will give me the credit if they DO have permission? I'm not hammering people for using excerpts as allowed by the rules in my translation files: a small amount of cards for reviews and posting to message board is fine, so long as it's stated where it comes from. Though I also state that you must give my URL, some people haven't been doing that. It's not THAT much of a problem, since they usually just say "From Edo's," and most people know where my page is. On the bad end of that, it creates posts from people asking "Where is this Edo page?"

For those that have been following my wishes, I extend my thanks to you. It's also funny to see how some are policing the works: when someone posts something from my files and fail to cite where it comes from, others are sure to inform that offender. I also extend my thanks to you "detectives" as well.

Oddly, the translations are the things that seems to keep people ruffled more than anything else. A couple of months ago, I was directed to a message board where I seem to have been the focus of a lot of attention. Someone was trying to "convince" everyone that I didn't do any of the translations here, and I simply had a bunch of kids doing the work for me.

You wouldn't believe how hard I laughed. It's funny to see how many uninformed people there are in the world.

Contrary to the belief of the naysayers, I do ALL of the work that is contained on this page. When there are excerpts from books and such, I try to make reference to it. Regardless of what you may have read or believe, yes, I DO read, write and speak Japanese, in the upper Intermediate level. Truthfully, my writing and speaking skills have suffered as of late, due to lack of practice -- I no longer live in Hawai'i, where I used it moderately. Hell, for those Pokemon players, go and track down David Brooks: he was at the Tropical Mega Battle 2002, where I was an interpreter for him. He can tell you about how I was speaking with the Japanese staff.

There are people that honestly HATE this page. I guess I should be flattered. There are so many things that are worthy of "hate" in this world: mass murderers, dictators of third-world countries, child abusers, Enron executives, and more. However, they direct their "hate" on me. How touching. How childish.

Those are the same people that foam at the mouth any time my name is even mentioned as a resource. The only true reason that we can guess why this happens is that those people are overly concerned that the people mentioning me in the first place are listening to what I have to say and NOT listening to the haters. But I have no proof to back this up, so I'm going to leave that topic at that.

For those that don't like me or my page, that's all fine and dandy -- as long as you have a valid reason (such as not liking my attitude), that's your choice. I may not like that choice, but I RESPECT it nonetheless. Even those people who don't exactly care for me or this page appear on my message boards (they know who they are). As long as they are civil, they're welcome. But don't try to pull that "spreading rumors" tactic, because it just shows you have more of a beef with what the page represents, rather than wanting to have a specific reason to judge me and this page.

Regardless of what side you're one, the results speak for itself: this page is a valuable Yugioh resource, which many people quote from. Edo's Yugioh page is supposed to supplement your diet for Yugioh pages.

Some people have told me that this page "is the best Yugioh page." (Yes, it has been said to me numerous times, whether you want to believe it or not.) I wish I was the be all, and end all of Yugioh information: an expert, and Yugioh "god." Unfortunately, I'm not an expert, and I'm no "god"; I can't call this page the best Yugioh page on the 'net. The best page would contain everything that you need, whenever you needed it.

And it wouldn't have a guy with an attitude who was maintaining it.

Cheese With My Whine...

I'm not a young guy (not as young as I used to be). I had a stable family environment growing up, and hope to impart that on a family that I have in the future. From day one, my parents drilled into me the difference between right and wrong, and fantasy and reality. My mother was in the Navy at the time she got pregnant with me, and voluntarily sacrificed her career to care for her child-to-be. She wanted her child to have a parent that would care for it.

What does that have to do with this section of the article? I'll get to that; indulge me. The thing is, 99% of the time, I know the difference between right and wrong. I've been raised with a guilty conscience.

When the hell did it become "right" to steal other people's work and claim it as your own?

I'm not an expert on common sense (I do have more of it than the average "sue-McDonalds-for-a-million-dollars-because-I-didn't-know-coffee-was-hot" schmuck off the street), but claiming credit for something that you didn't do is wrong. Where do you think the law about plagiarism started from?

I do a lot of work for this page -- and it's all 100% free. You don't need to pay me anything to get the information off of this page.

One of the things that I state in my translation files is that you don't use them for anything other than personal list. I'm assuming that people have as much common sense as I do (and frankly, most people didn't stay in line long enough to get their share of common sense), so what I say personal use, it means to be able to print it out for yourself, keeping it in your binder, altering it for your benefit on your own computer, cutting out slivers of the translations to slip into the sleeves of your Japanese cards, etc. In other words, PERSONAL USE. You're not allowed to post the entire list to message boards, you're not allowed to use it on your site, you're not allowed to use it in patches for programs, and you're not allowed to claim it as your own. A handful of cards from the lists can be posted to message boards, or used in articles.

However, we seem to have a number of people who don't know what "personal use" is.

I have a lot of visitors who visit my page whos native language is not English. This is a wonderful thing, as the Internet has broken the barrier of continents, and allows people to communicate with others across the globe.

It's also a bad thing. There are some that "know" enough English to get an eBay account (a certain eBay user will go unnamed, though he/she has the name "spider" in their username), create descriptions for auctions, set up accounts to get money, and respond to transactions. However, those same types of people don't "know" enough English to read the big "Don't use my translations in eBay auctions."

Or we also have websites (one comes to mind, and it also will go unnamed, but has "wiz" in its name) that will take translations off of my page, even though my instructions specifically state otherwise.

For what? Money. Greed. Idiocy. Lack of common sense. Blindness. The list goes on.

If I came up to you and took your first edition set of Exodia, even though you said I couldn't have it, what would you do? Naturally, you'd hunt me down and demand them back. Why? Because those cards weren't mine to begin with, and you told me that I wasn't allowed to have them.

The answer should be the same with the work on my page. Don't use material that people have said that you can't use. Eventually, it will lead to more trouble for you than it's worth.

It's also just plain WRONG.