The name game

[sniffnoy]

So today's Smash update is interesting. It's almost entirely stuff we already knew - either from previous games or from Japan, where the game is already out - but it's the naming that makes it interesting. They've presented familiar techniques under unfamiliar names.

When I saw the name "Ukemi", I wondered what this strange new technique was. Turns out it's teching. The short hop? It's called a small jump instead. And the power shield has been renamed to the perfect shield. (Note, in constrast, that the name "power shield" actually comes from Melee itself, not from the players.)

I'm told that this "stale move negation" applies to knockback as well as damage. Apparently Melee had this too, but for damage only? I never noticed. But with this applying to knockback makes killing considerably harder, I'm told. Not so sure I like that.

Odd that it mentions you can swim without specifying how. Just with the stick?

I wonder what the motivation behind including the pivot grab was?

Also, I notice it makes no mention of the use of the fast-fall as a pseudo-L-cancel that we've heard so much about, however that works again.

Unrelatedly, here's a set of building blocks for teaching kids English... from China. (Taken from Language Log.)

-Harry