I always liked the parts of the series I did play (Red, blue, yellow, silver and gold).
It not only let me wax halycon about my old days of 8-bit bitmap dungeon crawls (a la Dragon Warrior). It provided a unique battle system, additional non-main story arc content, and a lot of replayability (as you spent a good time trying to catch all the pokemon available in your version).
They also made an amazing marketing and PR move by releasing separate versions (red and blue, gold and silver, [some two based on gems], diamond and pearl), with different pokemon available on each one. Now, while some people just bought both and traded with themselves to catch them all (and some folks cheated via game genie or other such), some folks specifically bought different versions and used the game link cables to trade pokemon. Being able to do things with friends like that was really what made the pokemon games fun. It changed it from being just about what you could do alone, to being a social thing.
I don't know about later games, but Red and Blue had balance problems (Psychic pokemon were way too powerful), but those problems were corrected by the time Gold and Silver came out. I think the series has really progressed and done a good job of adding new content, and keeping type balance.
Your suggestions, while lovely, aren't really feasible. I think a big misconception about the usefulness of this technology is the speed at which this approach would actually do its work.
You're never going to get huge speed from a capillary system, you're limited by flow restrictions and capillary pressure. Even more importantly, you want a capillary system to rebuild slowly so control is maintained and sustained over the process.
Which would be more desirable, cutting a low pressure set of small veins (like those at the tip of your finger), or a high pressure set of large veins (like the carotid artery)?
Most likely, in an ideal system, you'll have major flow vectors (like your major veins and arteries) that capillary off into areas closer to the "skin".
A more practical use for the system would be used for maintenance of something that often tends to see wear or cracking from bending or being exposed to the elements. Think more along the lines of maintaining existing seals from exposure, or keeping plastic around joints properly from cracking under repeated motion stress.
In case you're curious... Bionics - Application of biological principles to the study and design of engineering systems, especially electronic.
Biomimetics - The development of synthetic systems based on information from biological systems
Figures that the article that would get me to finally break down and get a/. account would be one that fails to omit the branch of science which provided the answers
(It's also the one I'm getting my degree in, so I'm biased).
Slashdot Mirror
I always liked the parts of the series I did play (Red, blue, yellow, silver and gold). It not only let me wax halycon about my old days of 8-bit bitmap dungeon crawls (a la Dragon Warrior). It provided a unique battle system, additional non-main story arc content, and a lot of replayability (as you spent a good time trying to catch all the pokemon available in your version). They also made an amazing marketing and PR move by releasing separate versions (red and blue, gold and silver, [some two based on gems], diamond and pearl), with different pokemon available on each one. Now, while some people just bought both and traded with themselves to catch them all (and some folks cheated via game genie or other such), some folks specifically bought different versions and used the game link cables to trade pokemon. Being able to do things with friends like that was really what made the pokemon games fun. It changed it from being just about what you could do alone, to being a social thing. I don't know about later games, but Red and Blue had balance problems (Psychic pokemon were way too powerful), but those problems were corrected by the time Gold and Silver came out. I think the series has really progressed and done a good job of adding new content, and keeping type balance.
Your suggestions, while lovely, aren't really feasible. I think a big misconception about the usefulness of this technology is the speed at which this approach would actually do its work.
You're never going to get huge speed from a capillary system, you're limited by flow restrictions and capillary pressure. Even more importantly, you want a capillary system to rebuild slowly so control is maintained and sustained over the process.
Which would be more desirable, cutting a low pressure set of small veins (like those at the tip of your finger), or a high pressure set of large veins (like the carotid artery)?
Most likely, in an ideal system, you'll have major flow vectors (like your major veins and arteries) that capillary off into areas closer to the "skin".
A more practical use for the system would be used for maintenance of something that often tends to see wear or cracking from bending or being exposed to the elements. Think more along the lines of maintaining existing seals from exposure, or keeping plastic around joints properly from cracking under repeated motion stress.
Submit the following tags:
/. account would be one that fails to omit the branch of science which provided the answers
Bionics
Biomimetics
In case you're curious...
Bionics - Application of biological principles to the study and design of engineering systems, especially electronic.
Biomimetics - The development of synthetic systems based on information from biological systems
Figures that the article that would get me to finally break down and get a
(It's also the one I'm getting my degree in, so I'm biased).