Nerdy News Digest Week of 3/9

Here we are half way through the month of March already. I've been doing some major slacking here even though there's been plenty of cool entertainment news to talk about. To be honest it's not been the best week for me by a long shot. I've decided the best way to get through this depressing time is to focus on my kids, hobbies, and my writing.

But before I get started I wanted to quickly offer my condolences to the families, friends, and anyone else that was deeply effected by the loss of Leonard Nimoy and Terry Pratchett. The world has lost some truly brilliant people this year. I hope that their legacies continue to inspire generations to come, for that is the best way to eternally honor them.

----------------------------------------------------------
Nerdy News Digest - Week of 3/9/2015

Disney Announces new Ducktales series - Okay so this was actually announced at the end of February but I'm a huge Ducktales fan so I wanted to at least mention it.

Disney has announced they are planning a new Ducktales series to premier some time in 2017 on Disney XD. There's not a whole lot to know about this yet other than the announcement itself. I hope the original cast is still up for returning to reprise their roles since they did so well in the Ducktales Remastered game release.

Click here for the official announcement.

Street Fighter Assassin's Fist now available on Netflix and Hulu - If you live in the UK then you can check out Assassin's Fist on Netflix now. If you're in the United States though look for it on Hulu Plus.

Assassin's Fist is a much watch for any fan of Street Fighter or martial arts films in general. Check out my review of it here.

Archie Comics has revealed the solicitation blurbs for the first upcoming issues in the worlds unite series - Check this link to read a synopsis of each of the premier issues of their new worlds unite crossover series.

It looks like Sigma is going to be a major player this time around. He's always seemed more sinister than Wily and Eggman to me, so it'll be interesting to see what he tries to do. Check it out! The tree felling robot from Sting Chameleons stage in X1 made the cover of the issue to the left.

Be sure to join the Retro After Dark forum and check out this thread to discuss the Worlds Unite event with us.

Don't forget, tomorrow is Pi day. Math enthusiasts typically celebrate Marth 14th as pi day because the western calendar date matches pi, or 3.14. However, tomorrow is unique because we get a more complete set of digits (3.1415). You can take it a step forward if you decide to celebrate precisely at 9:53 which gives you 3.1415953. This is a once in a lifetime moment as it will not occur again until the year 2115.

So how do you celebrate pi day? If you're a math nut you could calculate digits endlessly as pi never falls into a repeating pattern. Or if you're a simpleton like me you could use it as an excuse to have a slice of your favorite pie for breakfast, which for me would be a pizza pie of course. Breakfast of champions!

Thanks for reading!

Sega Downsizing Announcement: My Thoughts

Social networks are ablaze right now with the unfortunate news of Sega's plan to increase profitability by cutting approximately 300 jobs and focusing their game development efforts towards mobile gaming and digital PC distribution.

Before I continue I first want to mention how very sorry I am to hear of the downsizing. I sincerely hope that those affected by the job cuts are able to transition to new careers quickly and easily. Hopefully Sega will do the right thing and offer placement assistance for those that need it. As an employee of a company that has undergone two mergers in the past 10 years, I know first hand how stressful an announcement like this can be. It's hard to continue to do your best at work knowing that any day now your position could get the axe. I wish the very best to those affected by the announcement.

Here is the announcement itself, click to enlarge:

Once again, I'm sure this is hard news for any of Sega's employees to receive. That being said, I can see how this makes sense from a business stand point. In the past few years, Sega's more diverse and successful offerings have been on the PC platform with games like the Total War series, Phantasy Star Online 2, Alien Isolation and Football Manager. While some of those have been released for consoles as well, they usually see the most profit from the Sonic series on the console front.

One could speculate that the last few major Sonic entries being Wii U exclusives had a hand in their less than desirable console title sales. I'll admit myself that I still have no desire to own a Wii U until there's a significant price drop on it. However if those Sonic titles were available on an Xbox or Playstation machine I would most definitely own them. I'm sure I'm not the only person that feels this way about those titles.

I know there are a lot of people out there submitting the argument that their poor financial performance on console titles is because of their focus on Sonic the Hedgehog instead of their other IPs. The truth is that Sonic has performed consistently better since the Dreamcast days than their other IPs. I want a Shenmue sequel just as much as the next person, but the sales were never really there to make it worth pursuing further. Sega is a business and at the end of the day your wallet talks much louder than whatever happens to be trending on a social feed. (I have more to rant about this in an upcoming post involving game series that fans beg for but then just don't purchase, like Mega Man for example).

At the end of the day, I feel like this is probably the right thing to happen for Sega to continue being profitable. I wish this refocusing of the company didn't have to include the loss of jobs though, that's certainly the worst part about this news. I'll be looking forward to what they come up with as they focus more on the PC platform, where there seems to be a more accepting market of their non Sonic efforts.

Thanks for reading!

Arcade Memories

Arcade memories....oh man where to even start? I could probably write an entire memoir on all of my great arcade experiences. Here are just a handful that come to mind. Inspired by this thread.

The first time I ever played Dig Dug was at the Damascus video store. I had already picked out an nes game and my Dad and brother were still making their selections so I tried the old machine out. I remember the screen burn on the old monitor and the smell of that place even today.

The first time I ever played Street Fighter 2 was amongst a bunch of intimidating high school kids gathered around the machine at the mall arcade. I saw the graphics of the game and the crowd huddled around and it felt like I was a spectator in some underground fighting tournament. I put my quarter up and patiently waited for my turn only to have my ass handed to me, but man what a ride. The older kids were congratulating me for giving it my best shot and started giving me tips on doing the special moves. It was the first time I had experienced any sort of gaming "community" other than friends you knew coming over to your house to play games.

When we were kids our family used to visit Myrtle Beach once a year on vacation. Usually after hitting up the Pavilion amusement part we would tour the main strip and hit the many arcades on the way. It was there, as @Fr0zenFist mentioned, that I played a ridiculous amount of Street Fighter Alpha 2 in it's heyday. I met tons of really cool locals and vacationers who were more than happy to throw down several times and exchange tips along the way. It was also on these trips that Daytona USA became my Dad and I's racing game of choice. I'm sure we raced each other on just about every Daytona USA machine in the Myrtle Beach area. To this day he still smokes me on that first track like it was built for him. Good times!

In my Junior year of high school I was a part of a college study program that offered trips to visit various campuses on the east coast. On a certain trip to Atlanta, we were given a "free" evening to wander around a shopping strip for souvenirs, which also included a mall. There of course I found the arcade and enjoyed an evening Street Fighter EX and Alpha 2 matches with the locals. The highlight of the night was when a group of us took on both of Capcom's Dungeons and Dragons machines from start to finish. It ended up being expensive, but the memories of taking on that challenge with those fellow strangers was the best souvenir I could ask for.

Our local mall arcade once had a magnificent 2 seater Marvel vs. Capcom 2 machine, giving each player their own monitor and comfy fighter pilot seat. I spent countless weekends there on that machine. Sometimes friendships were made and sometimes things got salty, but it's safe to say we were probably keeping that place a float from the attention we gave that machine.

Lately I was given the argument that paying for each game at an arcade is no different from the microtransactions of today's mobile gaming. I had to disagree. You see, if you've read the above memories you'll notice that I had a great time playing the games, but the more important piece is the people you enjoyed the games with. Arcades for me weren't around as much to supply gaming as they were to experience them with your friends and family, which is something sorely missing from modern gaming. Online gaming is fun, but everyone should make a point to gather around a tv with your friends every once in a while. Those are truly the best gaming experiences, in my opinion anyway.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out the thread below and share some of your own arcade memories with us:
http://retroafterdark.com/community/showthread.php?tid=242

Reviews On Games/Movies You've Never Played/Seen

I want to talk about another review pet peeve of mine that unfortunately seems to be more of a problem with amateur bloggers and broadcasters than major publications, that being the passing of final judgement on a work before it's even released to the public.

Not to point any fingers, but I've seen full written reviews and videos more often denouncing "X Game/Movie" is horrible, and then the writer actually has the nerve to say they haven't actually watched or played what they're reviewing! I mean, how could you possible know without having experienced it first hand? Preview trailers and stills simply do not provide enough information for someone to give their final judgement on something.

Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly fine to post your speculations on something or your opinion of the work thus far as long as it's stated as such. But to do otherwise completely discredits you as a reviewer to me.

Speculating is fun, but if your ideas swing one way or another without showing an open mind to try the final product then it becomes clear that you've already made up your mind. A strongly biased review without proper disclaimers is not an honest one to your readers. This goes for both negative and positive reviews.

In short, the phrase "in my opinion" can do a lot for your credibility to your readers. At least to me anyway, but that's my opinion ;)

Just Why is "Retro Gaming" Back?

This "retro" craze is a strange time for me because these are the games and consoles I grew up with and at the same time I never really stopped playing them, so the idea of them being considered "retro" is odd on me. Then again I am in my 30's -_-

I think there are two big factors at play here. One opinion is that there is an over abundance of FPS games on the market. Quite literally if you don't like shooting then there is little for you with this new generation of consoles. This is hopefully changing as indie gaming continues to find its footing, but with most indie games available on PC, why would you drop the money on an expensive new game console?

The other factor of course is that it happens to be trendy. I sure wish it was cool to brag about playing old games when I was back in school, because believe me kids of today, it was not. You can see the same sort of parallels in the music industries-how a certain style of music will kind of disappear, only to be rediscovered and enjoyed by future generations.

Fads however come and go. Personally I can only hope that people continue to enjoy retro gaming for the long term. For the longest time I thought I was alone out there in my gaming taste, still playing my Genesis while everyone was hopping on board the PS2/3 and Xbox. It's great to have people to talk about this stuff with now.

The only thing that sucks are the prices. I wish there weren't so many ignorant people out there justifying the sale of Mario/Duckhunt at 30 dollars, but this will hopefully get better as knowledge spreads and "hipsters" move on to the next fad.

Time will tell to see if all of this lasts. Until then, continue to wear your NES controller belt buckle with pride and buying up all the "MARIO DUCK HUNT SUPER RARE" cartridges you can find.

Cheers!

My Thoughts On "Fixing" Sonic the Hedgehog

Originally this was a response I had made to this YouTube video, but I decided I'd like to share these thoughts with my blog readers and Twitter followers as well.

I'll try to keep my opinion as concise as possible, but there's a lot to talk about with what's going on with modern Sonic games. Honestly I could probably do a series of posts on this subject, but I'll keep things simple for now.

In my opinion I feel like people misinterpret the various iterations of modern Sonic games as desperate attempts to reinvent the series rather than experimentation by the developers.

It's a shame that games like Sonic 06, the story book series (secret rings and black knight) and Sonic Unleashed had so many hiccups (or miss-fires) but one thing you have to give the developers are that they do build upon the things that were done right while taking each series in a new direction. No Sonic series is like the other, and while this was a bad thing for a while I feel like it keeps things fresh. If only they could shake the stigma that each new iteration is a reboot.

I would argue that Sonic Unleashed (not the Wii version) was probably the last of the "bad" Modern Sonic games, though it really isn't all that bad when you exclude portions of the Werehog segments. If you look at Sonic Colors and Generations, the "Sonic Adventure" play style has been refined to quite an enjoyable experience. Now we have Sonic Lost World which plays completely different from any other modern Sonic offering, allowing you to directly control how Sonic handles using the run button which addresses the complaints that Sonic was impossible to control at high speeds and also reintroduces the focus on platforming. (And before anyone says Lost World is a rip-off of the Mario Galaxy series...well that's as shallow a statement as saying Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter are the same thing.)

Speaking of Mario, if we want to make comparisons, I feel like Mario is need of some redirection too. I always have a good time playing Mario games, but they never surprise me anymore. As such, I usually just give them a single play through because they just aren't that excited to me anymore. There's just no WOW factor... I feel like since Mario 64, Mario has largely handled the same other than the multitude of powerups that mostly just feel tacked on to me. The difference is (and I know I'll burn for this) is that Mario usually gets a free pass in reviews for hiccups or mediocrity where Sonic usually burns for them. I'm getting waaaaay off topic though.

I'm not going to sit and tell you that modern Sonic games are perfect the way they are though. I prefer the genesis titles that were more heavily based on platforming and maintaining momentum. Obviously I would prefer the new titles to take this same direction, though implementing the momentum aspect is something I'm honestly not sure how to tackle apart from moving back to a strictly 2D plane.

My hope for Sonic is that the series continues to evolve solely based on the data that works (Generations and Lost World). Oh and no more rail grinding segments, though they've been fixed, I just don't understand their insistence on them.

Are SOAP shoes still a thing?

 
I really like what they're doing with the new Sonic Boom series from what little we've seen of the gameplay and the show looks like it's going to be entertaining for the right age group. While it's received mostly praise, there are still a lot of naysayers out there (redesign complaints aside) claiming this alternate universe as another desperate attempt to reinvent itself, when in fact is just the opposite. The producers have stated time after time that this is an effort to experiment and take the Sonic games in new directions. It's that willingness to experiment and keep an open mind with gameplay that has kept my interest in Sonic over the years.

Sorry this ended up so long, I just started typing and here we are. If you've read this far thank you for the time. I'm interested in hearing your opinions as well!

Cheers!

It's not a bad game because you're bad at it

One of my pet peeves about game reviews are the ones in which the game receives a poor final judgement that's reflective not of the quality of the game itself, but of the players inability to play the game effectively. I'm not saying those reviewers (I'm going to avoid specific examples and names unless it needs to be discussed further) are bad at gaming in general, but we all have our strengths and weaknesses when it comes to this hobby. That being said, sometimes there are some games that certain reviewers just shouldn't touch unless a disclaimer is given at the beginning.

To illustrate my point, I'll use myself and the Tekken series as an example as that's one particular series that comes to mind that I often have difficulties with.

Where my fighting game experience is concerned, I grew up playing 2D fighters pretty much exclusively. As such my taste in fighting games continues to lean more towards the 2D entries of the genre. Knowing that, you probably assumed correctly that I don't particularly enjoy the Tekken series. Some of the reasons why are that I have difficulty maintaining proper spacing between myself and my opponent on a 3D plane, I have trouble sometimes getting the characters to move how I want, and in the heat of combat sometimes the combo system gets lost on me. When I play Tekken it's usually the single player experience as taking on a live opponent can be frustrating for me.

Does that make any of the Tekken games bad? Typically the Tekken series delivers top notch graphics and the music is always amazing in my opinion. It's usually the gameplay itself that I have trouble with. Tekken has a tremendous amount of followers that spend hours upon hours mastering the game competitively, where as the majority of my time has been more of a casual single player experience. Do I really have the right to condemn the game as a bad one? Can I really make statements about the combo system being bad because I personally had trouble with it?

If I were to write a review on a Tekken game, my opening statement would clearly state that I played the game from a casual user standpoint. That should be the standard with any game or genre you're not comfortable with.

I think the problem with a lot of reviewers, especially the folks that write for major publications, is that they don't want to admit that they can't be a master at every game they play. Which shouldn't be something to be ashamed about, but I do understand that landing a position as a professional reviewer probably has certain expectations of skill to uphold.

That's really all I can say on the subject, is just to be honest about what you really thought about the game itself and not let your frustrations make for a sour review. It's certainly okay to talk about how difficult a game is, just remember that what is difficult for you may be easier for others and vice versa.

I just had a thought from writing this. I should post my own standards for review so people will have a better feel of what kind of player I am. That way they can decide how much stock to put into my reviews.  Something to think about anyway.

Sony Pushing for a Mario Release on Vita? My Thoughts on These Strange Bed Fellows

If you're on the internet and into gaming then you know the hot topic of the minute is this rumor going around that Sony president, Andrew House, has been visiting Nintendo HQ and offering oodles of free gifts and deals to butter Nintendo up to releasing a port of a Mario game for the Playstation Vita to help boost its sales. It may be far fetched but whether you believe it or not, it is definitely stirring people up online.

So rather than regurgitate the same article for you again, instead I want to throw in my 2 cents on how plausible this actually is and what it could mean for the future of both companies.

One thing is for sure, the Vita could definitely use the sales and the best way to do obtain those sales is with hot new software. That's a no brainer, yeah. Unfortunately for Sony, you can't just wave a magic wand and have a number-one-everyone-must-have-it hit fall in your lap. Heck, these days you can't even throw millions of dollars at developers and hope for that. It's a risky business to say the least.

So what else can you do? Maybe something so outlandish that people have no choice but to give your hardware a look, and I'd say a Super Mario title on a Sony system is about as outlandish as you can get in the world of video games.

Why Mario? Super Mario games, as the Nintendo financial reports have shown in the past, is guaranteed to sell. If you take a look back at the time before the 3DS was the hottest thing in your pocket besides an iPhone you may remember that after launch and for some time after it was sitting in the same sinking ship the Vita is. But that flip flopped almost over night when two new Mario games launched for the handheld. The 3DS' almost overnight success is proof enough that Sony would love to have a Mario title for the Vita.

As the current deal (supposedly) stands, three Playstation 4 exclusive titles ported to the Wii U at no cost to Nintendo sounds like a pretty sweet deal to have everyone's favorite plumber pay the Vita a visit and fix the leaks in their sinking ship. But it could be so much more than that if you marketed it in the right way.

What if, assuming this deal actually went through, Sony and Nintendo entered a sort of "enemy of my enemy" agreement with one another during this next console race. I'm sure both companies would love to see Microsoft fall out of the console race, and what better way to make that happen than to have both Sony and Nintendo execs preaching "the better value is to spend just a bit more for a Playstation 4 and a Wii U in your living room than a 500 dollar box that can spy on you." I know some price drops would have to take place to make that sound really sweet, but even at the current prices of the Playstation 4 and Wii U some people are already thinking it.

So is any of this really possible?

To be honest, when I read the article floating around it just sounded like troll bate to me. Then again stranger things have happened in the world of video games. Marvel and Capcom crossovers are commonplace these days, but I remember vividly how strange it was to hear when X-Men vs. Street Fighter was first announced.

There was also a time when if you told me Sonic the Hedgehog games would release for Nintendo consoles I would have laughed in your face. These days Sonic and Mario seem to be the best of pals though. Who would have thought?

I seem to remember a Smash Bros-esque clone where you can play as Optimus Prime to take on Simon Belmont, Bomberman or Solid Snake too.

My point is, anything can happen really. Anything. The trick for Sony here is in the marketing of such a project. If they can't sell it right they're just going to come off as really desperate.

Just my 2 cents and change on the matter.

Oh yeah, don't forget to do some research on the origins of the Playstation to find out how a Sony and Nintendo fling played out in the past if you're curious. Here's hoping things turn out a bit better for Nintendo this time if they decide to fool around with each other again.

Share your thoughts on the subject here:  http://www.midnightspookhouse.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=163

Update on Life

Just a quick digest on what's been going on in my personal life lately because I've been too busy to keep up with the blog lately.

Most important of all, Connor turned 5 on the 7th of July! You may not understand if you don't have kids of your own, but that's crazy! 5 years have blasted by so unbelievably fast I feel like it's just slipped away. I feel like Connor should still be 3 and Liam just a baby. But even he, at 2, is running and jumping around just as wild as Connor.

For his birthday the family gathered for a blue pool party. If you're wondering what a blue pool party is, well it's a pool party where everything is blue.  Blue presents, blue cake, and blue decorations. He asked for everything to be blue, so we made his wish come true. See what I did there? Heh. He had a great day and lots of fun. My favorite moment was when we sang happy birthday and Connor was the loudest of all of us.

I'm so proud of the boys for everything they do, well maybe not the messes they make, but that's the dude gene in them I passed on so I guess it's partly my fault.

In internet related news, I've decided to discontinue my monthly picks for a while, despite the amount of hits they were getting. I've found that I'm just not good with putting a deadline on myself, especially with the blog which is purely recreational. I have a lot more fun just writing when I feel like it.

On the subject of writing, my story is still chugging along even though the past few weeks I've just spent time going back to re-write pieces of earlier chapters. I tend to get nit-picky with anything artistic I invest myself in. I'm told every day that I need to stop doing that so I'm going to make a serious effort to improve there.

How about that Ultra Street Fighter IV announcement? Though I've retired from the tournament scene for the most part, I have to admit the trailer got my fighting spirit burning again. I still don't have the time or money to travel like I used to, but I definitely want to pick up this new version to permanently keep the dust from collecting on my arcade sticks.

I love the Aquabats. Their newest album Hi-Five Soup is wicket tight. I'd love to call myself an Aquacadet, but honestly I just can't figure out how to join the fan club. There used to be an address where you could mail in 10 bucks and get an awesome patch and other goodies but that's no more. You probably have to hand the Commander 10 bucks in person, who knows, but I should work on making that happen anyway. I love that guy.

So what I had planned on being a brief digest has gotten quite lengthy, so I think I'll go ahead and call it quits for the night. As always, thanks again for stopping by and reading.

Good health and prosperous adventures to you all!

Personal Update

March has been a busy month for me, or I should say my family in general. I just wanted to take a quick moment to give an update for my friends that may have been wondering about me. I've been flying kind of low under the social network radar lately. The truth is I just haven't had any spare moments to really sit down at a computer. In my moments of free time I've been catching up on gaming for added stress relief.

Earlier this month my wife Caiti underwent a rather invasive surgical procedure that will hopefully yield truly life changing results for her. The surgery went well and we're pretty impressed with the results thus far. There's still a long ways to go to achieve full recovery but I'm really proud of the strides she's made thus far. Once she's all healed up she will finally be able to do things in her life she's been yearning to for years now but was previously unable to due to the extremely painful nature of her illness. I know this is kind of vague if you don't know us personally, but our closer friends know about her illness and the effect it has had on her life. I just didn't want to share the intimate details of it for the world to see.

The kids are healthy and doing well. Connor is still doing very good in school. I heard earlier in the month that he read The Cat in The Hat to his class, for which I was extremely proud. He doesn't seem to have any issues about getting up and performing in front of an audience. I'm hopefully that we can help him channel his energy towards some performing arts in the future. When he's ready and if he's even interested of course.

Liam continues to expand his vocabulary every day and is good about expressing his wants and needs. We've had some issues lately keeping him in his new car bed but we'll never give up at it. His current favorite movie is Wreck it Ralph and he's always eager to show you how to correctly wreck something. Thankfully it's just the couch cushions, but he pounds his little hands with just as much vigor as big 'ol Ralph anyway.

I'm nearly finished with another chapter of my book, though lately I've taken a step back for additional research and outlining. I wish I could give an estimate on when I might be finished but there's a whole lot left to go on what I want the first story arc to be anyway. I'm honestly not sure how long I want it to be at this point. I'll start sharing more detailed updates on the story once I've decided what the final results may be.

That's all I have time to talk about for now. Look for my monthly picks entry later in the month for more on the games I've been playing lately.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Holidays Indeed

Just a quick update on a few things.  I've been wanting to blog a few things lately but I've succumbed to holiday stress and keep putting them off. 

Happy Holidays indeed...  I find that this time of year tends to get more stressful with each year that passes.  It comes as no surprise that it's usually money related too.  Escalating prices and no increase in pay really puts a damper on the things I would like to do each year for my family.  Luckily for me, I'm proud to say, that my family seems to enjoy just being together rather than buying extravagant gifts for one another.

Edit:  I did have quite a rant going but I decided to delete it.  It just sounded too bitter and I don't like being that way.  I'll just say that it's sad how bill collectors tend to be twice as ruthless during the holiday season.  But I wont let their shitty shenanigans make me hum bug for the holidays.

Connor made us some wonderful decorations at school for the house so expect a post about those with pictures in the days to come.  Street Fighter X Megaman also released today and it was a delight to play through so you can expect a review of sorts of that soon.  My novel is coming along pretty well and I'm pleased with what their is so far.  I've been taking a break from it the past few days so I can come back to it with somewhat unfamiliar eyes.  I feel like I make the best revisions that way.

I wanted to write out my thoughts on the unfortunate tragedy that fell in CT last week but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I just can't lay out the words on how saddened and frustrated it made me.  Things need to change, whether in gun control, mental health or both.  This sort of thing just has to stop.

That's all I want to go into on that.  I'll leave with this final thought though.  Hug your children tight, every night, and tell them that you love them.  If you're a parent this should be a no brainer, but sadly there are children out there that don't get to experience this from their parents or anyone else for that matter.  Be there for other kids too, whether they're the kids of one of your relatives, or your friends.  Showing children what it is to love and be compassionate is the best gift we can give for the future.

Since my sons were born there hasn't been a single day where I haven't hugged them and told them they mean the world to me and that I will always love them unconditionally.  And I will continue to do so every day until they say it's embarrassing.  But hey, at that point they'll be sure to know it in their hearts without having to hear it :)

I wish everyone would do the same.

Thanks for reading!

Vital Updates In My Everyday Life

Been a while since I updated anything so I thought I'd do a quick update on what's going on with me.

My Projects:

I still like vidya gaems.


I've been working on my story again.  Well, that's what it is so far anyway.  I'd like for it to be a novel one day but for some reason I feel like I'm jinxing myself by calling it that.  The story has been in my head for ages in one shape or another and it feels good to finally be getting it out in words.  I've developed a set of characters that I like and the story so far has been very entertaining to write.  That gives me hope for it, because if it's boring for you to write then chances are it's probably going to be boring for the readers as well.  Check my projects page for more on this in the future.

I've also been appointed as a moderator at DaleEpperson.com.  He's a good friend of mine and a local musician.  Check out the page and sign up for the forums today!  It's not just about the music but all forms of
entertainment.  You'll probably see me hyping it a lot in the coming days.

Caiti:

 Lookit my sexy Cai.  She so purty!

She's been working on sharing more of her art lately which I've been begging her to do forever.  Check out her Deviant Art page here and show some love.  More encouragement means more awesome artwork for me to look at.  She's my favorite artist don't you know?

The Boys:

Connor's been enjoying school and showing me that he's learning new stuff every day.  He's gotten really good at identifying colors as well as letters and numbers.  Earlier he was making letters and numbers for me and sounding them out with a piece of rope he found in his toys.  He seems to bring a new song home everyday as well.  It's sad but I hadn't realized that I'd forgotten the lyrics of Itsy Bitsy Spider until he sang it for me the other day.  I'm so proud of him.

Liam's as happy as ever and always smiling.  It looks like he's just as agile and quick as his big brother at that age.  If you blink he'll be gone and what's worse is he can traverse stairs now!  He's starting to talk more now and if he doesn't know the words for what he wants he always falls back on his patented "I want it" phrase and points.  He has a favorite piece of clothing now; a fuzzy hooded jacket that's a bit too big for him.  It kind of looks like something The Big Lebowski would wear.  I'll take a picture of it the next time he's being still.  I can't believe how freakin tall he is and that he's already kicked the passy.  What happened to my itty bitty baby?




Mook:

My sister in law has moved into the downstairs room.  She doesn't really do much, she just is.  Haha, I'm kidding.  She's been a big help to us watching the kids and helping out with groceries.  She's a lot of fun to pick on and I really enjoy having her here.  The kids love her to death too.  I just wish she had better taste in tv :p














So that's an update on my life in a nutshell.  I'm sure if I've left anything out Caiti will be sure to let me know.


Thanks for reading!


P.S.  Check out this awesome spider I found!

Neil Armstrong has passed away at 82

Neil Armstrong passed away today at the age of 82 due to complications from a heart surgery he underwent some weeks ago.

For those who may not be in the know (shame on you) he was the first man to walk on the Moon.  I'm sad that he's gone, but at the same time how many of us can face death and say they did that?  He walked on the effin Moon!  Not to mention his other many accomplishments as a Navy pilot and test pilot.  It seems like he had a really fulfilled life.  My heart goes out to his family and I hope that they are doing well in the face of their loss.

I want to take a moment to talk about something that's been bugging me lately and I'm sad that it took Mr. Armstrong's death to finally push me into writing it out.

I think it's sad how little people are interested in space exploration and science these days.  I mean even when I was a kid in the 80's and 90's it seemed like people actually had an interest in space, and that was well after the space race of the 60's.

Granted I know there are important things to be worried about these days, such as the economy and making ends meet which needs no explanation.  It just seems like people have lost their curiosity and wonder in all of it.  I'm guilty of it too to an extent, but I still find time to read articles about our space program and what they're doing with it.  Heck I even find myself laying on the porch to gaze at the stars every once in a while.  You don't have to be a science wiz to find enjoyment in this stuff, just be conscious that there's more out there beyond our bubble here known as Earth.

We have a new rover on Mars right now.  ANOTHER PLANET.  It sends breath taking images of another world that NASA share's with the public, yet people seem more interested in who celebrities are dating and who's going to get kicked off of some idiotic reality show.

Now there is a point to my rambling.  I didn't want to use Neil Armstrong's death as a springboard for my opinion.  If you really want to honor him, turn off your tv and head outside to look at the moon tonight, or even just the stars.  Allow your mind to wonder what's out there and try to understand how unbelievably difficult the feat of landing on the moon was.  Let the kid in you that enjoyed science come back out even for just a few minutes.  Because I think that's what he would truly want, to know that mankind still has some yearning to explore, to question, and to better ourselves.

Thank you Mr. Armstrong for the courage you showed us by risking your life for the sake of knowledge.  May you rest in peace.

100th Post / 30th Birthday

I just realized today that this would be the 100th post of my blog! I guess that means it's here to stay. Thanks blog for being the creativity and time wasting outlet that you are.

More importantly, today is my 30th birthday. Thank you to everyone on Facebook and from work who wished me a Happy Birthday. You guys are awesome!

I was thinking earlier, what my little kid self would think of my 30 year old self today. Because I think I'm the complete opposite of all the plans younger me had for the future. I never would have predicted I'd be bearded, have long hair, and be able to beat Mega Man 4 without dieing (that game was seriously hard when I was a kid). I didn't end up being a comic book artist, but I think that's a little unrealistic anyway. Astronaut is still plausible if I can find the money.

I wonder if my little kid self would think I was cool or creepy, maybe just weird. I'm pretty sure I could beat my younger self at Street Fighter, though I'd probably call myself cheap for throwing so much.

I think younger me would at least be somewhat proud though, because I'm proud of myself for everything I have, a beautiful wife, two beautiful boys and a home to call my own.

Thanks again to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday, it's been a great one for sure!

Snipits

Can't really think of a specific subject to write about so I'll just put down several things that have been on my mind.

I was losing hope on the Fight for Hope project since a lot of us simply haven't had the time lately to do anything with it. We're still brain storming though and ever searching for a public venue to host us. Our next event will probably be a team Street Fighter x Tekken tournament thanks to the game's awesome co-op system and playing with a friend is twice the fun. Of course I'll keep everyone updated through the blog and Facebook page as this develops.

I'm not dreading Phantasy Star Online 2 as much thanks to a 2013 release date for North America and the announcement that it'll be free to play. I'll be able to use next years tax return to upgrade computers so we should be set. Tea Time All the Time! (Inside game reference to the team Caiti and I run with).

Sonic 4 episode 2 looks promising though some of the in game footage still looks a little iffy with the physics. I actually enjoyed the first episode to an extent so I'm sure episode 2 won't let me down though. The prospect of online co-op is really exciting though. Once again, things are twice as fun with friends!

I've found that I'm having more fun playing Street Fighter x Tekken casually than studying it as a serious tournament game. I guess sometimes it's easy to forget to have fun with fighting games when you're treating them like a college course rather than a game itself (analyzing frame data, memorizing combos and match up, training room hours etc.) I think teaming up with random people for co-op online is a lot of fun, especially when you find someone you share good synergy with. This game is just pure fun to be had. If you're still standing against it because of the DLC issues I think you should at least give it a rental, otherwise you're missing out.

Tomorrow I turn 30. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean I pretty much feel the same but I'm also trying to wrap my head around the fact that I've existed for 30 years. Kinda crazy, at least for me. I'm looking forward to a visit to my neice and nephew with my sons in the morning, some disc golf in the afternoon with my friends and especially a date with Caiti later Saturday night. No better way to spend my birthday if you ask me. I'll probably do some kind of cheesy reminiscing tomorrow.

I know this was all pretty random, but if you read through it anyway thanks for stopping by!

No More Used Games?

The internet is buzzing with discussion on a new trend that discourages the purchase of used game software. In a nutshell, the publishers are starting to block certain content such as online multiplayer if you purchased a game used. That is unless you're willing to pay a fee to unlock DLC that gives these features back to you for buying used.

I'm very much against this, as are the majority of gamers. While I'm currently retired from the tournament scene, I know that these changes would bring great frustrations to the competitive community. I don't think I've ever been to a tournament where we haven't had to swap discs to various consoles that didn't belong to the game's owner.

I know most of the issues with locked content are in regards to online multiplayer features, but what happens when certain characters and offline modes get locked too? Hopefully it won't come to that point, but it's definitely a possibility.

Many examples in opposition to this come from outside of video gaming, but I think they hold just as true. For example, say I sold you a vehicle. Would it be fair for you to have to pay the original dealership a fee for the legal right to use the 4 wheel drive? Okay that's not very realistic but you get my point.

I understand that publishers need to make their money back for game sales. It is a business after all. I don't think used game sales are really damaging to the publisher in any way though. My friends and I do a lot of borrowing/swapping games amongst ourselves, is that any more wrong than me letting you use my toaster? Does such an act hurt the toaster manufacturer financially?

So yeah, I understand that at this point an article like this is beating the dead horse to dust, I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring about it. Thanks for reading this far anyway though!

1 Week Down

We finally made it through the first week of 2012. I say finally because even though it was only a 4 day work week it felt like possibly the longest week ever.

Someone asked me why I didn't write something for the end of 2011 and the short answer is good riddance to 2011. My son Liam being born was the highlight of 2011 and it was pretty much all down hill from there. Maybe I'm being negative, but there just weren't enough good things to outweigh the bad. I think Stephen Colbert said on his final broadcast of 2011 that a pole showed that 80% of Americans said that 2011 was the worst year of their lives. Quite possibly so.

Aside from being sick, 2012 is going better thus far. Things haven't really changed much, but for the soul fact that we survived 2011 it feels like things are looking up.

Yeah this post isn't really about anything, but there it is.

Thanks for reading.

Remembering Mamaw

If you're close to me you've probably heard by now that my Grandmother passed away this past Friday. If you've been looking for me this is why I haven't been available on any social networks lately.

I've been wanting to write a bit about Mamaw but it's not worked out yet. Usually writing helps me get through things like this but this weekend I kept choking up whenever I made an attempt.

She was sweet, funny, stern, an amazing cook, a hard worker and the one of the most loving people I've ever known. She had 9 children which is amazing to me. I only have two and they completely exhaust me. I don't know how she did it with probably at least 5 being small children at a time. Talk about a strong mother!

She lived a full life, surrounded by family and friends who loved her and will now miss her, including myself.

Her passing came out of the blue for me. My only regret is that I wish I could have spent more time with her the past few years.

She will live on through us as long as we remember her teachings and practice them ourselves.

I'm not sure what else to say as I'm getting to the limit where I get upset. I'll miss you Mamaw and I love you. I'll always hold your memory close to my heart and I hope that one day I'll see you again.

Thanks for reading.

Anniversary -LATE-

I was going through some old posts today and realized that August was the 1 year anniversary of this blog.

From what I've seen online and from my own personal experience that's a pretty long lifespan for a personal blog. I've had xangas, livejournals and a few others but I can usually only carry them on for a few months. Pretty proud of myself I am. Maybe it has to do with being much older, having kids, and slightly less video games.

So, uh, happy late anniversary blog o mine. Cheers!

Leftover thoughts

Just a few thoughts I had throughout the day.

Annoyances

If you have the time to purchase 10 lottery tickets at a time, you probably have the time to let those of us with only one item go first. Especially at a single cash register gas station. Some of us actually have to be somewhere in the next few hours.

I hate it when I go to the internet for a specific piece of information and then end up wasting an hour or more watching YouTube or reading Wikipedia articles.

I tend to dress a little too much like my XBox Live Avatar.

It's no wonder people get sick so easily this time of year, especially at school or work. I'm astonished at all the people I see walking around coughing openly into the air. I think elementary school kids handle this better. Don't even get me started about people pissing on toilet seats. I don't want to be a douche, but maybe I should start calling people out on the coughing thing.

So the Wii U looks cool and everything, I kind of want one, but there's one thing holding me back. Friend codes. Yeah I know it's a dead horse at this point, but come on Nintendo. Everyone on the face of the earth hates this. You are the most stubborn company I've ever seen. After countless amounts of negative feedback I'm astonished that they're holding on to such a thing. "Hey you wanna play some animal crossing? Okay cool, what's your 16 digit random code number?"

That leads me to another thing. Xbox and PSN gamertags that are hard to pronounce and spelled weird are just as bad as a friend code. You think I'm supposed to remember your gamertag in passing if it's Wraith0SchxioniSx? If we have to bring pen and paper in the picture so someone can remember it, it's probably a poor choice of gamertag.

What's with Check Into Cash buying commercial time on the radio just to play their theme song? I heard it twice today, just the song, that annoying stupid song. Even if I was remotely interested in your business your commercial tells me nothing. Sounds like a waste of money to me.

Discoveries

Did you know that when the creators of Masters of the Universe were designing the characters, Orko's name was originally Gorpo? It was changed to Orko to make animating him easy for the cartoon series. Because the letter "O" is symmetrical it allowed them the luxury of flipping and reusing the same animation cells, a much easier alternative than putting a capital "G" on his robe. This is also the reason why his girlfriend Dree-Elle doesn't have a "D" on her robe. /nerd