Anime North 2007

Photo taken by my friend Clarence, I didn't know he was taking it though lol, Dr. Wiley is my friend Samson.

Well, the day came and went in the blink of an eye, I have been preparing and waiting for the con and it went well! I went on Saturday out of the 3 days, for more information visit the Anime North web page.

I had some last minute fix-ups on my costume but arrived around noon on Saturday. My friend Sam bought tickets so me and this other guy didn't have to stay in line to get tickets. I had *very* limited mobility (which I will fix for the next con) but it didn't matter too much as I was photographed so many times it took forever to get to the entrance! Phew!

The costume was really hot but everyone loved it so I was okay with that, I had to get people to hold my stuff though, (another thing that has to be improved upon at the next con) I regret not being able to enter the costume into the masquerade but under the circumstances I was in, I don't think there'd be a way.

I actually got some loot, the guy I was with bargained for Mario and Luigi plushies, both for $35. I got some Mario sound effects keychains, 1up, regular mushroom and I think the swimming one (my friend got them for me on Sunday). I also bought some stuff from the Artists Alley, one print and a lot of buttons (mostly Katamari ones). I couldn't really look around in the dealers room because everyone was asking for pics (lol, I felt like a celebrity!) I wanted to grab more manga... maybe next con...

Megaman Extravaganza!

Hey All!

I've been pretty occupied with making my Megaman costume for the con. So, I haven't been able to play many games, but I did pop in Megaman Anniversary for the PS2 (I exchanged my copy of the GC version because the buttons are inverted, bleh), it was research I swear! Anyway, I don't remember the game being this hard, geez, I must be rusty!! I used to be able to get through Megaman 2 in an afternoon, but I was struggling with Flashman, FREAKING FLASHMAN!!!! Who actually causes more damage RUNNING INTO YOU than actually shooting you, pfft, frigging Flashman *grumble*.

But it was fun times, the first Megaman is still freaking hard, so kudos to those who can finish that one.

On another note, I was able to purchase Captain N the Game Master. A lot of people thought I was smoking something when I mentioned it. Why doesn't anyone remember Captain N? Or any of the characters? I feel like too much of a fan sometimes, lol.

In a couple of weeks I'm going to NYC, I plan on visiting the Nintendo store! I went to the website, but there isn't a lot of information on what they sell besides games and pokemon. There are some board games, but I already bought those, for way more than they're worth.

Nice weather

Yesterday was a nice day so I decided to play some DS outside during my lunch break. It was incredibly hot though, so I wasn't able to stay outside for too long. Also, the glare from that pesky sun was preventing me from moving my armies in order to kill some golems. Oh, nerdiness prevails again.

Last night I also watched Shinobi, it wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't horrible either (horrible like the live action Death Note movie, but maybe I was expecting too much as I really like the manga). I actually fell asleep at the end, my friend had to tell me what happened when I woke up. It had a lot of already seen characters. Kagero, who is a female shinobi and has been fed poison all her life so she can make a poison mist and poison men she kisses. She is identical to Kagero the female ninja in Ninja Scroll which was made in 1993. I don't know if there are any ties to that but I thought that weird, same name, same powers, same profession. Anyway, the plot was also a familiar one, it was similar to Romeo & Juliet, two rival ninja clans who fought each other for years, have two young leaders who fall in love with each other. Blah, blah... lol, I guess I wasn't that impressed at all.

Well, this evening I'll be at my friends place and we're gonna get started on that costume! Woo!

[edit: Shinobi and Ninja Scroll were both based off of Futaro Yamada's work The Kouga Ninja Scrolls! And that's why there's similarities there, and now I know, and so do you, and knowing is half the battle! XD]

Yggdra Union killed my DS

Well, not really, but I was at my friends house playing Yggdra Union and my DS ran out of juice. I think I'm at about 6-7 hours or so, and it's getting better, so I will most likely write up a review on it.

I was watching one of my other friends play FFXII and I want to play it but also know that I will probably get sucked into it and never be seen for a while. I guess that's not too bad, seeing how I gave up GW and didn't get into WoW. But, I might play more games that people haven't heard too much about.

I'm debating whether or not to attend Anime North I haven't been since 2005 and I cosplayed as The Prince from Katamari Damacy (I got a photo-op with Princess Peach! Who this piccy belongs to). It was really fun, and this year, if I can pull it off in time, I want to cosplay as the NES Megaman.

In other news, are you kidding me?!? I can't believe that Square-Enix is going to release another FFIV! This is just getting ridiculous.

If true, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, this would be one of the most egregious examples of dead-horse beating that Square Enix has ever engaged in, and considering who we're talking about that is really saying something. Final Fantasy IV was just released on Game Boy about a year and a half ago, and now they want people to buy it yet again?

On the other hand, I am a huge Final Fantasy IV nerd and have bought every single version of the game. I think I own something on the order of nine copies of this game already on four different platforms, and I will buy this on day one and become highly addicted to it.

Agh I totally agree, I'll probably end up buying this "new/revamped" version of FFIV, damn you Squeenix!!

A quick review of Yggdra Union

I'm still playing way too many portable games, I don't know why but I enjoy being able to take the unit all over my house when I'm making food or sitting on my bed. Maybe that's the whole appeal of it, not being restricted to just in front of the TV.

Anyway, I've been able to log about 2 hours on Yggdra Union. I don't remember the mission, I think it's about 3 or 4. But so far, the impressions of it are good. At first I was deterred by the crowded menus (think Riviera, but more cluttered, well it is the same developer but yeah...).

It's a turn-based tactical RPG, like Advance Wars, but with cards. With several units represented in one icon on the map. There's different types of units (sword weilding, axe weilding) and different cards which are more beneficial to those specific units (sword cards with sword users etc).

So far each icon on the map is represented with a character, but are accompanied with soldiers of the same type. Units can move the amount of spaces as indicated on the card but that movement is shared by all the units on the map (so 7 moves = 3 + 4, or 2 + 5, or one unit can use all 7).

Combat is not only based on a prediction meter (like Fire Emblem with hit %) but is also determined on the moves made in combat. You can execute different moves depending on the card and if you're gauge is filled up (fighting guage which has two modes: aggressive and passive).

I'll do a full review later, but I wanted to do a quick review if anyone was curious about it right away. I might do more quick reviews if there isn't enough time to do full reviews. Like if there are too many games being released at a time or something.

Well, have to do some cleaning now, and do some Wii boxing, I hear you can get really fit by playing that a lot, (as I'm sure any excercise will lol) but it's another excuse to play a console game.

I'm playing WoW without even playing WoW

Apparently I'm getting quite the reputation from my friends as a hardcore gamer. I guess I can see where they can get those ideas because whenever they see me I am either wearing something game related, in possession of a game related item (magazine, DS, PSP, book etc) or am talking about games or when I'm going to play them. I guess that's "hardcore" for regular people?

It's gotten to the point where I just mentioned playing WoW with my friend that now they think that I'm some big WoW person. Just to clarify though, I have been having a falling out with my main MMORPG Guild Wars, and now I think that's carrying over to WoW (Haha, it sounds like a relationship). But yeah, it's like I'm getting the reputation for playing WoW and I'm not even touching it. I think my free trial DVD has actually expired yesterday.

In other news, my co-worker sent me an e-mail and this is what I found...

ZOMG, I want that for my wedding cake. Isn't that awesome? I don't know exactly where it's from although I see CollegeHumor, but I'm at work and can't open the site. So, if anyone knows or wants to post the real link in the comments that would be great! But for now I'm assuming it's from CollegeHumor.

She also sent me this wicked attachment for the Wiimote, for the Zelda game. Sweet!

I don't think I have enough room for all this stuff though, I have to do some spring purging lol, because it's not enough to just clean...

Puzzle Quest for DS

So, it seems that I've been playing an awful lot of DS games, I was hoping to be able to play some more console games and review some, but I can't seem to stop playing my DS! I recently have borrowed a copy of Puzzle Quest from my friend and I was pretty impressed with it. It is a lot like Bejeweled but the stones have different characteristics associated to it (HP, Mana, Damage, Gold, etc) so to trigger those attributes you have to match three or more of the same stones. There are also techniques/spells you can execute by building particular colours from those stones.

At first I was indifferent about it, but when I started getting the hang of it it became pretty fun, there's more strategy involved in this than Bejeweled, so don't go in thinking it's just a straight puzzle game. I might write a review but I think that I should play more console games.

Sony to release Parappa the Rapper for PSP!

Kick! Punch! Chop! Block!

Parappa the Rapper is announced to be released on the PSP!

For those not familiar with the rapping dog, Parappa the Rapper was a musical game for the PS1, the game required the user to listen and look at a musical sequence then input the correct series of buttons at the correct time that copied that first sequence.

PMS Clan featured in Sony Editorial

I'm not sure if many of you out there know about the PMS Clan. They are made up of women who primarily (please correct me if I'm wrong) play FPS/online shooting games. Sony actually featured them in one of their editorials woo! Click here for the full story.

I hope people realize that girls do game. I've seen a lot of progress in the last ten years, and I think that there needs to be more woman gaming groups out there. You know, the whole strength in numbers deal. It will not only help stereotypes to be broken to the gaming society but also towards other females as well. There have been countless times that other women are so shocked to see a female doing something game related.

Halo 3 Beta May 16

I know a lot of Halo fans that are going to love this piece of news! (Though they might have already heard this) Halo 3 beta opens May 16! But you have to have signed up through the copy of Crackdown that it was included in.

Redmond, Washington—Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today confirmed the multiplayer beta of Halo® 3 will debut to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE® on May 16 at 5 A.M. Pacific Time and run through June 6 at 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time. Coming exclusively to Xbox 360™ this fall, Halo 3 is the highly anticipated third chapter in the groundbreaking Halo trilogy from legendary developers Bungie.

Halo 3 lets you experience Master Chief's greatest battle as he launches an epic mission to stop the Covenant, destroy the impending Flood threat, and ultimately save mankind.

Testers will get to try out three new maps, multiple vehicles and new weapons. Check out more at the official Xbox website.

Guitar Hero III

Woo! A Guitar Hero III for the Wii, IGN has the story. I've also read in EGM (I think) that there might be a band type game that you can play with drums and bass (similar to the games in some arcades called DrumMania by Konami) that will be available for purchase. If they do that, I have to get it! Imagine the Game Night possibilities!!! Or I could just learn an actual instrument, but where's the fun in that? lol.