A Tale Told by an Idiot

We're on NPR

2009-09-28T14:14:18Z

NPR was in Marquette doing a story on the Upper Peninsula. They even came into Getzs to do an interview. They even interviewed me, but (fortunately) that material was not used.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10

Zendikar Prerelease

2009-09-27T15:02:46Z

Prerelease tournaments always draw the biggest crowds at our humble store, and we had 40 people yesterday which I believe is a record. I think our previous best was 37 or 38. (Living in the middle of nowhere, it was probably the only prerelease within 200 miles - but maybe not. Houghton and Escanaba people don't come here anymore like they used to.)

I opened Nissa in my first pack and got excited until I failed to get any Nissa's Chosen and only got 2 elves. However, I still stuck with green because I had 3 Vines of Vasteel(?) (No, that's Thunderforce) Well, whatever it's called, it is awesome. I also had the druid that lets you play lands off the top of your library which worked awesome with the blue 4/4 elemental that bounces lands and the eel with landfall. The 5/5 shroud Sphinx, the tapper, and two of the 1/1 unblockable guys with kicker made blue an easy choice for my second color. I was also lucky enough to have the Blue/Green fetch land.

My deck was short on removal which made me weak against aggressive decks (typically black), but I still managed a 5-1 record (one was a first round bye, ugh) and took 2nd place. Unfortunately, the prizes were distributed a bit too evenly, not enough weight at the top, and I only got 8 packs. Normally, I would not complain about getting 8 packs, but that is rather low for 2nd place in a 40-man event. Previous smaller (and cheaper) events paid out higher for 2nd.

Quality, not quantity, right? After opening 6 of those 8 packs, I got Goblin Guide, 3 Fetchlands, Sorin Markov, and Day of Judgement. Amazing pulls. I knew the last two weren't going to beat that, but I opened them anyway and got the mythic Octopus and Pyromancer's Ascension. Both cards that might be fun to build around even though I doubt they'll ever be money like my first six pulls.

I enjoyed playing with the cards. Landfall is very powerful and Kicker works really well with it. Not sure what constructed decks will arise, but I expect Suicide Black / Vampire Tribal to be one of them.

Nobody at my store opened a vintage card. I'm hoping to see somebody pull one at the release event next weekend.

FYFFVII

2009-07-28T04:57:05Z

I remember when I was younger and arcades still existed in my town, there would always some kid standing on a milk crate mashing buttons on a game in demonstration mode.

Passive entertainment has always been more popular than gaming. Movie theaters outlived arcades. The dvd section is bigger than the video game section at your local big-box chain department store. People don't want to engage their mind, make decisions, and overcome obstacles if somebody else will do that for them.

Some game developers noticed that movies were popular, so they started making movies that are occasionally interrupted by trivial tasks the viewer must perform. These tasks required no skill or decision making and were a tedious waste of time, but the participants trudged onward chasing the next movie sequence like a dangling carrot. Suddenly the masses were into RPGs, except minus the role-playing and the game.

They remind me of that kid in the arcade.

Zany Antics!

2009-06-24T14:20:51Z

The Getzs bathroom is on the second floor. It is not your modern public bathroom with a solid tiled concrete floor. It's an old building with a wooden floor. Footsteps echo, and 100+ years of settling has caused gaps to appear in the intersections between walls and floors. I have waking nightmares of monstrously huge spiders crawling out of these gaps to torment me while I conduct my business upon the toilet.

Fortunately, I had not seen any spiders in the bathroom over 3 months working at Getzs, but that changed yesterday. It wasn't a monster. It wasn't even very big, but it was on the ceiling and slowly crawling towards the toilet. It would probably be above the toilet before I finished where it could potentially drop down onto my head. Unacceptable. I unbuttoned and buttoned my pants several times while debating what to do. Do I try and do my thing, hoping the spider will change course or at least obediently remain on the ceiling, or do I eliminate the threat? I eventually settled upon buttoning my pants, for the following events would be all the more ridiculous if my junk was flopping about.

First step: weaponry. The air freshener spray was gone, so I couldn't use that to stun the spider. My only option was a couple folded sheets of toilet paper.

Second step: the height test. Can I reach the ceiling? On toes, I could only touch the ceiling with the tips of one or two fingers. Too risky. I could easily miss, and the spider could crawl over the toilet paper and down my arm. I also experimented with standing on the toilet, but the angle was too awkward. I was going to have to jump.

Third step: action. I readied my weapon, got the target in my sights, took a half-step, and leapt into the air. At the apex of my jump, I lashed out with all the fury of a spider slayer and unintentionally pushed the ceiling tile upwards which assaulted my face with dust, fibers, and hard rock-like objects which clattered upon the floor as I landed with a thud.

Fourth step: outcome. I backed up in a panic, wiped the debris from my face, combed crap out of my hair, and evaluated the results of my endeavor. Ahead, I could see my folded toilet paper amidst ceiling tile crud. Further ahead, was the body of a dead spider. Success!

I cleaned up my mess, conducted the business that brought me to that room, and left wondering what people might think I was doing to make such noise. That's the third time I could be heard stomping or jumping in that room. (the other two times, I was chasing a fly) Hopefully they all just think I'm nuts and let it go at that.

A Dream...?

2009-06-15T14:56:30Z

A few months ago, I had a dream I intended to write down. Since I still remember it, I am going to do it now.

didleyoop didleyoop didleyoop

I was at my parents house. Nobody was around until my grandparents came to visit. They were talking about how they're going to visit my other grandmother Joan in a little while. I was quite comfortable and happy though all of this, but something was bugging me. Later, my grandfather sat down in a chair with a serious look. He didn't speak. Not a single word. Very strange for him. My grandmother was holding a piece of paper she wanted me to scan and post on the internet. I thought that was odd. She didn't really know about the internet. She insisted it was important and handed me a piece of paper.

I unfolded the paper to read what it was. As I looked down, my eyes never focused on the paper, but I realized what I was holding at the same time as I realized what was wrong with the entire scenario. It's her obituary. They're all dead. Fighting to hide the fear in my voice, I looked back up and asked the most logical question, "Grandma, why are you here?"

Blackness. Upon realizing that I was talking with dead people, I could no longer maintain the suspension of disbelief necessary to continue my dream. However, I did not wake. I merely became aware of my body, and I felt as though I was drifting away. At first, I let it happen. I thought I might slide back into my dream and see my grandparents again. They didn't come back. I began to feel as though I was drifting too far, perhaps even falling, and I decided that I need to wake up right away.

I fought, but I couldn't move or make myself awaken. It reminded me of when I was younger and thought I was being abducted by aliens. I always tried to shout my brother's name and call for help, but I couldn't speak. This was the same way. I tried to yell, "Tom! Help! Tom!", but I was paralyzed and soundless. I continued to struggle, my sense of urgency rising, until I finally heard myself whisper, "Toooommmm..."

didleyoop didleyoop didleyoop

I was awake. I was not in my old bedroom sharing a bunk bed with my brother. I was lying next to my wife who was completely oblivious to my struggle. I rolled onto my back, looked up, and became aware of a sound in my head.

The sound was like a ringing in my ears, except it was inside my brain and it wasn't a ringing. It was a high pitched tone with seemingly random blips in it. I had the distinct impression that one of those mysterious unknown portions of my brain was acting as a high-frequency receiver for data that was being sent to me from ...? I felt as though I could have taken a 3D model of my head and pointed out the exact spot where the sound was located.

I laid there for a while, and the sound continued while I pondered what may have just happened to me. Shortly after I sat up and got on with my day, the sound vanished, but the dream, or whatever it was, remained.

ICQ Number Stolen

2009-05-12T15:12:41Z

My ICQ number (4008277) has been hijacked. Please remove me from the friend lists on any IM clients you may use and please disregard any messages sent by the douchebag currently using it.

Here's a story about somebody else having the same problem. Apparently it's quite common.

Not The Iliad

2009-05-05T18:00:17Z

Saturday's tournament didn't go well. I had a tough card pool to work with and chose consistency over power. Not sure if that was a mistake or if it was just not meant to be my day.

First two rounds, I went 2-0, but I followed that with a 1-2 loss and a 0-2 loss. The third round loss was deserved. My opponent's deck was very strong with lots of good creatures, card advantage, and removal.

The fourth round loss felt like my deck was grossly underperforming, I got mana flooded game 2, and my opponent was drawing everything he needed. I got frustrated and left. **

An interesting thing about this tournament is that it was during graduation at the university, so only 14 people attended. That meant everybody got three copies of the promo card and prize payouts for top eight covered more than half of the field. I was later informed by Brad that I won two packs.

Well, with the two packs I have at home, it's enough to put together a draft set for Friday.

** Prior to the tournament, Ryan told me that playing Blue is a bad idea with the new set. He asked what I played after I lost the fourth round, and I said "blue." He started giving me this look, so I said, "that's not why I lost."

His response was, "Well, I'm sure it contributed to it." I really didn't feel like listening to "I told you so," and I left.

I also hear Brad won. Congratulations.

Sunday, I went to my first auction. I was hoping to win a bed because ours is a piece of junk, but the bidding went nuts on both of them.

While looking at the beds, another item caught my eye. A box containing two Magnavox Odyssey 2 game consoles (1978-1984) and 32 games. I had an Atari 2600 during that console generation and I was always curious about the other systems, so I decided to place a bid. I got it for $10. I probably could have gotten it for less, but I still think it was a decent deal.

7 of the games were duplicates, so we got 25 unique games. Famous classics like Football!, UFO!, and Thunderball!. Yes, most of the game titles end with an exclamation point. One AC adapter was bad and one console had it's TV connection cable's end ripped off, but the other one had it's old antenna connector replaced with a sloppily attached RF switch connector. I plugged that one into an NES RF switch and got it to play. Signal was very fuzzy though.

Not sure if the RF switch was bad (we have a bad one, I just grabbed the first one I found) the poorly attached cable end was bad, or if the console was going bad. The games we tried out all played without a hitch anyway.

The other console looked to be in better condition aside from the TV connection cable being cut. I just needed to find a way to hook it to a television that's not from the 1970s. Google to the rescue!

Modify an Odyssey 2 to output composite video (aka, RCA jacks) Yeah, that's what I need, and it sounds very easy.

As with anything geeky like this, I read a lot about it:

History and tons of info about the Odyssey 2
How to program for the Odyssey 2
How to Build an Odyssey 2 Cart Reader
Odyssey 2 Emulator
How to make an Odyssey 2 cartridge
A Site that Manufactures and sells homebrew Odyssey 2 games

If you know me, you know that these links make me want to write a game for the Odyssey 2.

Devil Survivor Preview

2009-05-02T04:46:19Z

Devil Survivor Preview (Nintendo DS game)

Good article with a quick explanation of the various game systems and a bit about the flavor and story. Maybe I'm a bit biased, but this looks like it will be the best gamer's RPG ever made for the Nintendo DS.

There are several different systems at play here - the tactical map and it's associated team building, traditional RPG combat which uses the SMT weakness exploit system, demon bidding, management, and fusion, and each of these systems should have enough depth to provide lots of room for experimentation and replayability.

Not mentioned in the article is the branching story with six different endings. Every Japanese review and every US preview for this game has been very positive. Anybody who only has time to play one portable RPG in a year (like me), should seriously consider this one.

Got through another week of work. If seemed to go by rather quickly. Went 4-1 in a booster draft tonight which was good enough for second place. Lately, I've been having a string of tournaments with exactly 1 match loss. While it's good to be consistent and keep placing, it's a bit frustrating that I haven't been able to go undefeated lately. I tend to make horrible mistakes in the final round each week.

I'm looking forward to the release event tomorrow. I heard the prizes will be pretty big. I hope I can have another solid finish. Going to sleep now, hopefully that will cut down on the stupid mistakes tomorrow.

Free Computer Game!

2009-04-27T13:32:32Z

Space Phallus, available for Windows, Mac OS X (Intel), and Linux:

http://www.charliesgames.com/wordpress/?page_id=65

If only they had used their development skills for good instead of evil.

Tempest Prerelease

2009-04-27T03:25:12Z

I haven't updated since starting my new job.

I am a web developer for a clothing store called Getzs. I work until 6:00pm Monday - Thursday, and take off a few hours earlier on Fridays so I can relax a bit before Friday Night Magic. I've been there for about two months and I am happy. Compared to my previous job, my work is more in line with what I studied at NMU. The atmosphere is also far more relaxed.

The only real drawback is that I get home from work over an hour later than usual, so my evenings feel short. That's not a complaint, just something I've been adjusting to.

Almost a year ago, Deb and I received our economic stimulus check. This is what I bought with my portion. I know most of my friends have already played it, but I hadn't actually posted about it yet. This is largely due to me only recently finding space to host images online. I could write a lot about my machine, but I'll save that for a separate post that can easily be skipped by the 27 out of 30 readers who aren't interested.

Needless to say, if you like pinball and haven't played it yet, you don't visit often enough.

I saw The Tempest this weekend and it was quite enjoyable. I'm not one for numerically ranking things I like, but it was certainly among the best plays I've seen at Forest Roberts Theater. Deb and I have had season passes there for several years, and hopefully we'll continue to do that.

While I enjoyed The Tempest, the price of admission was high. I mean, we still claim to be students and get in cheap, but I reluctantly decided to skip the Magic: the Gathering prerelease tournament for Alara Reborn because the play was on the same day. I had been looking forward to it all month and realized the scheduling conflict a few weeks ago.

I was hopeful that I could finish the tournament and still have time for the play, but when I arrived at the tournament the crowd was larger than 32 people which required a sixth round. The tournament also failed to start on time and appeared as if it would run slow. The chances of finishing before the play dropped to zero, the pre-release card didn't interest me, and they were making a change to the pack distribution that I was opposed to.

I did what seemed logical. I asked to move my pre-paid registration to the Release event happening next weekend and I went home. Why pay $25 for a tournament that I cannot finish? I have a job again, but I'm still not in a financial position where I can spend $25 on just part of a tournament. Why start something that will only end in misery? It seemed better to walk away than to leave in the middle.

I thought I made the right choice, but I was seriously upset about missing the tournament. Saturday afternoon was absolutely miserable. Now it's Sunday night. As much as I like my job, I feel as if I spent the past week working for nothing, and I don't like the idea of having to work for another week before I get to play in the Release Event.

How can I feel so bad about making the right choice? Was I wrong? In hindsight, I should have gotten the tickets re-assigned to a different night, but that brings it's own set of complications. Ah well.

Anyway, this was supposed to be a short journal entry. Look what happened. Bye.

Happiness in Slavery

2009-02-18T23:34:38Z

In 2008, my income was spent on the following things:

33% on rent, student loans, and other monthly bills
25% on health insurance and other health-related things
20% on income tax and other automatic deductions
15% on fuel, car insurance, and vehicle maintenance
8% on food (but not eating out)
4% on clothing

That means the remaining 5% was left for me to enjoy. Seems like a lot of work to only get a little bit of spending money. It also proves to me that my spending on hobbies is not the reason I cannot make the down payment on a house. I simply do not make enough money to take that leap.

My entire savings consists of a few hundred dollars. I finished 2008 with less money than when I started. To make matters worse, we owe almost $1000 on our federal income taxes. And no, we don't have that much money.

On the bright side, I will be working soon. I accepted a permanent and full-time Web Developer position at Getzs. It is in town, so my vehicle expenses will be lower. It offers no benefits, so I won't be spending thousands on a company insurance policy. It pays as much in a year as my previous job, but I'll actually have to work the full year to get it. None of this seasonal layoff stuff.

Overall, I'm happy. I believe Getzs will be a great place to work. I'd like to thank everybody who offered me advice and/or well wishes. Thank you.

I'm not going to be rich and I'll still be living check to check, but I will have the spending money to continue pursuing my hobbies. At least I can maintain my current lifestyle. I'm quite fortunate. I know things are pretty ugly in a lot of communities. Factories closing. No jobs available. That being so, I cannot complain about taking a step sideways. Especially if it may ultimately allow me to take many steps forward that were not available before.

The future looks good.

Can Your DS Do That?

2009-02-03T15:44:00Z

Although it was already leaked, it's nice to see further confirmation that Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor is coming to the US.

Click this for a preview of the upcoming Nintendo Power article.

I believe this is the first serious Shin Megami Tensei title on a Nintendo console to get a US release. I say serious because I don't really count games like Jack Bros for Virtual Boy or DemiKids for GBA. I mean, technically they are part of the franchise, but they're clearly aimed at a different audience.

I'm going to move lots of snow and then get ready for my meeting.

Good Weekend

2009-02-02T20:17:30Z

The weekend went well.

On Saturday, after a three-week self-imposed exile, I played in a Magic: the Gathering tournament at Game Zone. It was the Conflux pre-release event, and I believe it was the largest Magic tournament in ever held Marquette with 36 players. That resulted in a grueling 6-round sealed-deck event that lasted over seven hours.

I started off a bit weak, losing the first game of the tournament to a combat damage mis-calculation and a play error. I won the next game, but did not have enough time remaining for a third game and had to settle for a draw. Fortunately, I went 2-0 for the rest of the tournament, and took first which earned me 16 booster packs.

I was quite happy, but somewhat surprised. I did not think my card pool was especially strong. However, after evaluating my unused cards, I could only find one card that I probably should have played over what I chose to run. In other words, I built something very close to the theoretical best deck I could have made with my cards, and that is the most important skill in sealed deck.

Following the tournament, I visited whyspre for some prime rib which was the most fantastic serving of meat I have ever tasted. The meal was fleshed out with some excellent vegetables, mashed potatoes, and wine. It was a meal fit for a king. Sadly, I arrived later than expected due to the unusually long tournament.

Sunday was less eventful, but ended with a significant event. I received a response for a web developer job I applied for on Friday evening. I will be meeting a vice president and the lead developer for an "informal meeting" on Tuesday afternoon. I am quite hopeful, but trying to keep my feet on the ground.

One point of concern is that I am not sure how to dress. Normally I'd wear a suit, but my contact has repeatedly stressed that this meeting will be very informal and I don't need to bring anything. Any thoughts?

To close, I would just like to say that Hopslam is the most awesome name for a beer, and Bell's in Kalamazoo still my favorite brewery.

caladon @ 2009-01-28T10:41:00

2009-01-28T15:41:45Z

One of the longest game titles ever: Me want!

The number "2" in the title is technically incorrect. It like how Final Fantasy II for SNES was actually Final Fantasy IV, and half of the series being unavailable in North America is again the reason. The number "2" is also un-necessary as the entire series in Japan uses subtitles to uniquely identify each game. However, I can understand the reasoning. It's much easier to put a "2" on the box than to explain the above paragraph to everybody.

Judging from the box cover, Kazuma Kaneko's artwork is still awesome. Something about his use of color or contrast really works for me. He's also one of few artists that has a uniquely interesting style instead of having the generic anime or cg look you see in most games. I'm much happier looking at his artwork on the low-tech PS2 than looking at all of the uninspired high-def graphics on newer consoles.

About the plushie, it's a clever cross between the game's main character and the company's mascot, Jack Frost. It will be worth good money on eBay someday.

In addition to the officially announced game above, Atlus had nearly a half-dozen games leaked by Amazon.ca. This is a month after the ESRB leaked an earlier trio of games. Fortunately, Atlus has a sense of humor.

That list of Amazon leaks is awesome. Atlus's own Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor for Nintendo DS has been impressing people who have access to the Japanese game. Banpresto's Super Robot Taisen has always been a good series, and the Sting-developed Dokapon Journey and Knights in the Nightmare should be good fun if their predecessors are any indication.

Despite being unemployed and perpetually out of money, I will need to obtain some of these games.

My life has been relatively productive with my time off. I've been working on a long-needed sorting and culling of my Magic: the Gathering cards which will ultimately free up space and get me a little spending money. I fixed the flipper on the pinball machine. I've been learning new programming and electronics stuff. I'm also working on a board game that will be playable online. I'll eventually need some volunteer beta testers for that. Finally, I'm on the fringe of doing some interesting website stuff.

Well, except for yesterday. Yesterday I had some trouble with my wireless router and had to give Deb wired access for her home office. As a result, I couldn't use the internet until late last night and spent the day playing the epilogue of Persona 3. I'm going to be more productive today.

This Saturday is the pre-release tournament for Conflux, the next Magic: the Gathering set. I'm looking forward to that. I've actually been skipping the Friday night events for money reasons (after I lost too often and ran out of packs), but I emptied out the pinball machine to get $25 for the pre-release. If I manage to place in the pre-release I'll win enough packs to start playing on Fridays again. That would be nice.

I'm really starting to miss the tournaments. Not just for the game, but it's one of the few times when I get out and socialize. I need that.

Benefit of the Doubt Unwarranted

2008-12-29T14:33:18Z

Last week, I learned that Truss Trainee Austin had been doing my job for three weeks after I was laid off. I discovered this when they called me up asking for help to fix the things he fucked up. To repay my helpfulness, the boss called this weekend to break another promise.

Enough is enough. I'm officially looking for work. Anybody have use for a talented, reliable, and stupidly loyal employee who learns new things quickly?

In brighter news I went to a Christmas party for one of Deb's friends. Expecting to know nobody there, I brought my DS, but I didn't need it. I spent the entire time talking to the parents of a friend I hadn't seen since high school.

Later that day, I went to my grandfather's house and saw relatives I haven't seen in over 20 years. That was a very interesting day, and I got to hear a lot of stories about my dad and my uncles when they were young.

Funny thing is that I talked up the company at both of these parties when people were asking me where I work. Not knowing the final straw was blinking on the answering machine at home, I was still loyally promoting the company. I don't think my boss has any idea what he had.

This whole work situation is causing me a great deal of stress and insomnia. I worry that my boss may retaliate against me for applying elsewhere. The resume I mailed out last night could cost me my re-hire in the spring without getting me a new job to replace it. (assuming they intend to re-hire me, which I don't feel confident about.) As such, I'll apply at more places, and I've got a couple in mind. However, there really aren't that many places in the area that are worth applying to, and the competition for employment is quite steep.

I don't think the odds are in my favor, but I need to get a job where I can feel like I'm appreciated.

Wasted Time?

2008-12-08T02:08:24Z

Thanksgiving was four days early this year. We had our families over on the Sunday before Thanksgiving because that's the day when everybody was free. It went well enough.

Work has been bothering me lately. I've been pondering all of the broken promises over the years. There are also some other things going on that make me concerned, but what bothers me the most is what's not going on at work. Me.

I got laid off on Tuesday. Even worse, the guy I was training "as a backup" was doing my job for at least some of the time I was laid off. Perhaps it was just part of one day because he happened to be there for something else. That's what I'm told anyway. If the place wasn't so far away, I'd drive by to see if his car is still in the lot.

When not dwelling on work, or a lack thereof, I have been organizing the apartment, cooking, cleaning, and playing video games. I got my HeroScape and video game shelves re-organized, made some delicious spaghetti that absolutely stuffed Deb and I for three days, sold some stuff on eBay, made a pot of chili, built a new Magic deck, made a dent in re-organizing the kitchen, beat Super Aleste on one credit, shoveled lots of snow, played lots of Disgaea and Nocturne, washed lots of dishes, and did a lot of relaxing. I've also been doing a bit of programming for fun and self-education purposes. I am interested in doing some programming work if anybody needs anything.

Deb and I also made Snickerdoodles tonight, and they are yummy.

Another Reason to Avoid WalMart

2008-11-29T14:45:46Z

There was a Black Friday trample death in a WalMart. I guess it's not surprising considering the average crowd in those stores. What? I had to offend millions of people before ending my post.

Save money, live better!

Get Your Page Down Finger Ready

2008-11-20T21:54:20Z

As I was leaving for work this morning, my boss called and told me to stay home due to snow for the second time this week. After spending a moment worried about money, I sat down and played Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne for three hours. I then spent a half hour relaxing and preparing to list a spare copy of Gradius V on eBay. I noticed there were minor scuff marks on the disc, so I decided to test it... for two hours. Anyway, I had a great morning. I usually don't get so much time to relax and play my games.

I still stand by all the nice things I said about SMT: Nocturne a few journal entries back. Honestly, the Shin Megami Tensei series and it's spin-offs (Persona, Digital Devil Saga, etc) are some of the best RPGs I've ever played.

When I returned to console games in 2004, I bought some RPGs because I had fond memories of the genre from the late 80s and early 90s. I remembered freely exploring large worlds, puzzling my way through tricky dungeons, customizing my party and characters, picking up clues from townsfolk, running away from scary monsters or lucking out with a successful sleep spell when things looked hopeless. Unfortunately, things had changed a lot in the interim.

What I found upon my return were games built so strictly around a linear story progression that there was very little freedom to explore, no incentive to think, and an over-abundance of cut-scenes. The combat had absolutely no feeling of tension, the dungeons were short with no puzzles to be found, and you were told exactly where to go a half dozen times after completing each objective. Playing and completing these games no longer required skill, thought, or strategy. The only requirement was putting in the required number of hours to progress through the story and watch the ending.

Despite feeling horridly betrayed by game developers, I told myself, "this is how they make RPGs now", and I continued to buy them. However, after playing 4 or 5 RPGs for about 10 hours each and losing interest, I realized that I was not having any fun, decided all modern RPGs suck, and quit the genre.

Of course, this was around the time Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne was released. Not that I ever saw it. The big chains didn't want to carry an unknown RPG from a small publisher. There I was, swearing off RPGs because I didn't like the mainstream stuff, and Atlus was quietly releasing the games I wanted but didn't realize existed. Just another reason to avoid blanket statements.

I always get into things too late. I usually don't get to know people well until they're ready to move. I got into Magic: the Gathering after the extremely valuable cards went out of print. I got into Metallica after they were done writing fantastic music and some of their earlier material was no longer available. So it was with Atlus RPGs.

A frequent forum topic in early 2007 was an upcoming RPG called Etrian Odyssey. I skimmed those conversations until somebody described the game as, "one town, one dungeon, and a customizable party." That sounded like something fun I played in high school, so I gave RPGs another chance and bought the game upon release. Sure enough, I loved it. It was my first Atlus game.

I learned that Atlus was well-respected among gamers "in the know" for making quality RPGs that had a tendency to stay just outside the mainstream eye. Their flagship series was the bizarrely titled Shin Megami Tensei. They had released four games under the SMT umbrella during the time I had forsaken RPGs. They were all out of print and somewhat expensive. (~$70 per game.) Hmm. Metallica and Magic: the Gathering all over again.

I wasn't going to pay that much on the secondary market for unknown games, but Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 was coming out in a few months. My only thought, "Etrian Odyssey was awesome, here's more money!" After placing the order, I did some research. I began to doubt. High school sim elements? Shoot your head to summon demons? WTF? Fortunately, I did not cancel my order, and I loved the game.

I didn't realize Persona was a series when I ordered P3. I thought it was like an anime called Armitage III where the number was just part of the title. P3 even had a robot in it! Anyway, Persona 3 turned out to be a big success for Atlus. (I'm talking perhaps 500,000 copies worldwide - both versions combined. This would probably be considered a failure for a large publisher.)

Due to P3's success, older SMT titles rose in price on the secondary market. "$150 for Digital Devil Saga! Fuck! I could have gotten it for $70 a few months ago! Why didn't I buy it then?" It's Magic: the Gathering all over again.

Obsessed, I bought the games I missed. Nocturne (new - don't ask), Digital Devil Saga Deluxe Edition (used - $90), Digital Devil Saga 2 (new - $50), Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army ($30 - new). I also bought Persona 2: Eternal Punishment for PlayStation 1. ($60 - used)

DDS2 and DS: RK vs SA were still available at some retailers, so I got them for normal prices. I paid a lot for all of the others... and the exact three games I overpaid for got reprinted due to P3's success.

The Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga reprints are still available on Amazon for decent prices. I bought a new DDS because the used disc I got looks like shit. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment for PlayStation 1 also had a very tiny reprint. I was lucky and my co-worker went to the bathroom allowing me to check my mail, read news of the reprint, and place an order during the 90 minute window in which copies were available.

Since I upgraded my used copies of P2:EP and DDS1 to new copies, I have extra copies of these games. I'll probably use them as gifts.

Still Too Late?

Spending too much to catch up is only half of it. I worry that the talent is leaving Atlus now that I like them. It could be Metallica all over again.

After completing SMT III: Nocturne, Cozy Okada left Atlus. He was the game's director, one of six founding members of Atlus, and the SMT series creator. Likewise, Kazuya Niinou, the creator of Etrian Odyssey and Trauma Center, left Atlus after finishing Etrian Odyssey. He is now working with Sega on a game called Seventh Dragon which I'm watching very closely.

Perhaps this is normal in the game industry, I'm not sure. Atlus still has the creative and artistic talent of Kazuma Kaneko, another founding member and longtime SMT artist. Their internally developed games are all still good (though not Nocturne good), so they must still have plenty of talent within the company.

Anyway, thank you Atlus for being the only company who makes RPGs that don't bore me to death! Please don't start to suck!

I'm very excited about Persona 4 coming out next month. In Japan, the next SMT game is already available. Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abbadon was recently released, and like Persona 4, it is said to improve upon almost every aspect of it's predecessor. I suspect it will be the last Shin Megami Tensei title to grace the PlayStation 2.

In Japan, the next SMT game has already been announced. It will be the first one for Nintendo DS. It's called Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor and it's apparently a grid-based tactical/strategy RPG that uses traditional RPG combat. The game's director has worked on the legendary Langrisser and Growlanser series of strategy RPGs, so perhaps this odd design will work out. Guess we'll find out if there's any talent left in Atlus. I'd hate to see their run of consistently good RPGs end here.

To finish out my day, I'm having some awesome pork roast that Deb made, some German chocolate brownies from Super One, and then I'll relax on the couch with Deb and play more Nocturne until CSI comes on. Happy!

Please Exercise Your Right to Not Vote

2008-11-18T03:59:07Z

As important as it is to go out and vote, it's also important to only vote on topics and seats where you have an informed opinion. You can leave sections blank on your ballot. Please do so if you don't know who or what you're voting for.

A man named Scott Brogan was running for a 4-year seat on the Marquette School Board. He had no opponents on the ballot. He received 8,430 votes. Most of those votes probably came from people who knew nothing about Scott Brogan and filled in his name because it was the only choice.

Who is Scott Brogan? He is the lawyer defending Kevin Wilson. Kevin Wilson is a middle school and high school teacher who is going to stand trial for allegedly having sex with students. Now, I believe Kevin Wilson deserves a fair trial, but it doesn't look right to me for a member of the school board to be defending accused pedophiles within the school system.

Unfortunately, Scott Brogan won the election, and some of the people reading this probably voted for him.

What most people did not know is that a woman named Theresa Scram ran a write-in campaign against Scott Brogan. She received 832 votes. How many of Brogan's votes came from people obediently filling the dot by his name with no knowledge of who they were voting for? Would Theresa have won if those people all left that section blank?

Please be more lazy next time. Thank you.

I've Got Something to Say...

2008-10-24T16:07:24Z

I've been waiting fifteen years to say this:

The new Metallica album is good.

I'm not kidding. I haven't listened enough to fully absorb it, but I already think it's their best album since the 80s. It has a much stronger thrash metal influence than their more recent work, and it's not a droning mid-tempo blur like most of the black album.

When I first saw the CD in stores, I muttered something about "milking" and threw it back on the shelf in disgust upon seeing "Unforgiven III" in the track list. I was wrong to judge it like that. This is a good album. It may not be quite as good as the Metallica you love, but it's much better than the Metallica you hate.

The album's biggest criticism seems to be about poor production quality due to the loudness war. Thus far, I've only noticed one section that sound wrong, but I'm no audio expert and those claims are likely true.

Demonik Supersonik

2008-07-22T13:50:24Z

Continuing where I left off two posts ago, Amazon's $40 Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne reprints had a 1-day sale for $30 and promptly sold out. Then it was restocked about a week later for the unfortunate price of $59.99. I hope anybody who was interested bought a copy already.

In further news on elusive RPGs, play-asia.com has reprints of Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga. Like Nocturne, it might show up on Amazon in a few weeks. DDS uses the combat system from Nocturne, but your whole party is made up of human (sorta) characters so the monster recruitment aspect is gone in favor of a supporting cast. The intent was to make the game play a bit more like mainstream RPGs while still retaining the demonic and twisted SMT atmosphere. (and Kaneko's awesome artwork) I've not played it yet, but I'll be picking up a copy soon.

Shin Megami Tensei KAHN is the first SMT Manga to get a US release. What this means is you get lots of references to previous manga releases that were never available in the US. The game it's most closely related to was Shin Megami Tensei If... on the Super Nintendo. This did not have a US release, nor is a fan translation available. Without the backstory, I hear it's a mediocre and confusing book with shock value strewn about. With such poor reviews, even the reports of demon lesbian sex haven't convinced me to buy a copy.

My visit with my grandfather was awesome. He gave me an old-school spaghetti recipe that took me all afternoon to prepare, but my reward was an absolutely fantastic meal. I never realized spaghetti could taste so good. I'll have to invite some people over next time I make it. (This is your cue to chime in.)

1, 1, 5, 1, 2, 4, 1, 1, 1, 2, 4

No, this is not a secret code. Those are my finishing positions in Friday night Magic tournaments since Shadowmoor came out. This set really likes me or something. I've also hit some sort of state where I can lose gracefully. In limited events.

In constructed, I've been snapping on a regular basis. It seems that the local metagame is mostly weenie rush decks, and all of the bizarre and complicated decks I've been building have failed miserably. This has resulted in great frustration. I didn't want to be forced to join the crowd, but I broke down and built my own weenie deck.

Design philosophy: Just Fucking Kill People.

I built a merfolk deck. I played against goblins, rogues, net-decked major tournament-winning merfolk, and treefolk. I can honestly say those decks were totally lame and not brutal. I won 16 of 18 games in playtesting. There are only four rare cards in my deck, so anybody could build it with minimal effort. Feel free to ask if you want a decklist but perhaps I should try it in an actual tournament before believing it's good.

Just when you thought I was done talking about Shin Megami Tensei, Persona 4 was released in Japan. It was also announced for a US release on December 9, 2008. Interesting because that is a significant date in Persona 3 and also because that is less than 5 months after the Japanese release. (Compare that to Persona 3 coming out more than a year after the Japanese release.) Somebody at Atlus must be cracking the bullwhip behind the localization team.

Persona 4 plays similar to Persona 3, but with improvements to nearly all aspects of the game. Gameplay, social link system, dungeon layouts, story, characters, graphics, menu interface, etc.

Cool Japanese Trailer
US Announcement Trailer
First Dungeon - Random Battles
Falcon Kick! - Smash Bros Parody

Just when you thought I was done talking about fucked up demonic shit, I thought I'd mention Zlad! An Australian comedian wrote a travel guide to Molvania, a fictitious Eastern European country. To keep the joke going, they created a fictitious musician from Molvania who made two music videos. Please forgive me for what I am about to link:

Electronik Supersonik
I Am The Anti-Pope

That's all for today.

Fri----hip

2008-07-21T19:58:00Z

This past week saw one friend die of cancer and another move away. Instead of going on a self-centered rant about how I'm running out of friends, I'll say goodbye:

Rob/Hope, I enjoyed spending time in your company and I'll miss seeing you around. However, I believe you are in a better place now, so wanting you to stay would be selfish. I wish you the best. If our paths should cross again, perhaps we can play another game of Magic/Catan for old time's sake.

Our paths through life intersect for a limited amount of time. Use that time to make another's journey a little easier, and perhaps they'll do the same for you. There is no place for grudges or mean-spirited actions. Your paths will eventually diverge and fond memories are better than regrets.

My friends left me with good memories. I hope I did the same for them, and I'll continue trying to do the same for my friends who are still present.

Death is not a hunter unbeknownst to its prey,
one is always aware that it lies in wait.
Though life is merely a journey to the grave,
it must not be undertaken without hope.
Only then will a traveler's story live on,
treasured by who bid him farewell.

- Persona 3

The Life Demonic

2008-05-16T15:27:45Z

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, among the most sought-after PS2 games, was recently reprinted. This means that you can get a new copy for about $40 as opposed to $200. Take a look at amazon.com or play-asia.com if you're interested. I have no idea how long these reprints will be available.

Before you plunk down $40 just because it's rare, I'll talk a bit about the game.

Nocturne is the third game in the Shin Megami Tensei series, and the first to have a North American release. The story is completely stand-alone. The game takes place in near-future Tokyo, and the world ends about 10 minutes after you start playing.

You awaken in post-apocalyptic Tokyo retaining your human heart/soul, but with the body of a demon. Demon is not used in the strictly Christian sense, but as a collective term for all creatures in the game which come from various world mythologies. They include Thor, Angel, Kodama, Naga, Succubus, Pixie, Jack Frost and other mythological beings.

There are warring factions who stand for law and chaos. Your actions dealing with them and the path you choose will affect which of the game's six endings you will see. There is a good story to this game, and it's told in short conversation cut scenes that are cell-shaded, highly stylized, and look like they were planned by a skilled director. Nocturne lacks the comical banter seen in many Japanese RPGs. There are no sappy romances, no epiphanies where people suddenly decide to save the world, etc. It feels more like "role-playing" than a lot of RPGs out there. You have a good deal of freedom, but since most humans are dead, the game makes you feel isolated and alone.

You don't have to fight alone, however. When in combat with other demons, you can convince them to join you through conversation, bribery, seduction, etc. There are well over a hundred unique monsters (not the same dozen monsters repainted five times) that all have different skills, recruitment requirements, etc. There is also a fusion system for combining demons to make new ones. The original Megami Tensei (1987 NES) basically started the monster-collecting sub-genre, long before the youth-oriented Pokemon and Dragon Quest Monsters came around.

Nocturne has the best turn-based combat system I have ever seen. It's very fast-paced with beautiful, but short, spell animations, and a weakness exploit system that keeps things very interesting, fun, and strategic. The mindless "mash attack and heal when needed" routine is not very effective in Nocturne. The system keeps the player mentally involved and makes combat enjoyable instead of feeling like work as in many other games.

A better console RPG has not been released in at least a decade, but Nocturne is not for everybody. The isolation and above-average difficulty are turn-offs for some. However, if you think it is for you, don't miss this reprint.

My paternal grandmother died 20 years ago, and I've rarely seen or spoken to my grandfather Rocco since then. Anyway, through a series of recent circumstances I've been very interested in doing so. Despite anxiety, I finally called him this past Sunday and I will be visiting him this coming Sunday. In my usual fashion, I'm very excited and nervous.

Excited because I'm looking forward to getting some recipes he learned from his mother Concetta. Concetta was born in 1894 and had old family recipes from Italy. I never learned them from her because she only spoke Italian and died well before I cared about cooking. Now I view them as a family treasure, and want to learn any recipes and family history I can from my grandfather.

So, why am I nervous? Aside from talking to a man I've barely known for the past 20 years who is 54 years my senior, I worry about the condition of his mind and some character criticisms I've heard from other family members. However, he seemed friendly, though perhaps slightly muddled, and he invited me to come visit and get some recipes. I think it will be fine, I'm just always nervous about social interaction.

Had a mediocre performance at last week's Magic tournament, but a stellar performance at both tournaments the week before that. I'm hoping to get my act back together tonight, but I'm already quite tired. I don't expect my alertness will improve by this evening.

My mother's been ill for a very long time. She recently changed medication and she's been much better. This has made me quite happy.

I've been visiting my family more often. My dad always seems glad when I stop by, but my brother still can't be pried away from World of WarCraft. I was so sick of his WoW addiction that I actually intended to stop visiting him, stop talking to him, and stop giving him gifts for holidays. That only lasted a visit or two. I'm no good at holding grudges and I just HAD to give my brother a copy of Iron Maiden: Live After Death. He played it on his laptop while playing WoW on his desktop. Not sure if that's an improvement.

Anyway, I should resume working.

Nice Shoes, Wanna Party?

2008-04-13T03:18:39Z

After spending a few hours in front of the TV, Deb and I decide to escape the influence of that cursed device. Somewhere between making that decision and finding the remote, we failed our willpower saves. Kill Bill was next.

Initially, this strengthened my resolve to turn off the television. I didn't have the time or desire to watch the censored TV version of a movie we have on DVD. Unfortunately, I had a burning question that had to be answered:

What does Buck say on the TV edit?

An hour or so later, I had my answer. "My name's Buck, and I'm here to party!" Furthermore, his keychain and truck were somehow re-filmed or photoshopped to say "Party Wagon".

Anyway, the TV edit sucks and you now know the most interesting thing about it. You can thank me for all the time I've saved you.

2008 Election

I was planning to vote for Christopher Walken, but I'm now interested in a new candidate. I think he's the only person who has a reasonable chance to stop global warming.

Deb took a double shift at work today. 8:00am until Midnight. I also skipped the Saturday Magic tournament this week because I didn't build a new deck. Getting slaughtered last week told me I needed a new deck. Anyway, I've just been sitting around being lazy.

Played video games for a couple hours, ran a couple quick errands, took a nap, spent an hour watching a candle melt, and updated my live journal. In other words, I didn't do anything today, and now today is over.

The past week at work sucked. I don't know if it sucks more than usual or if six weeks of unemployment caused me to forget how much work sucks. I was incredibly unhappy at my job, and I'm seriously interested in a change of pace. Of course, the interest will likely fade before my motivation increases enough for me to take action.

That was a tangent. The point was that work sucked and I was really looking forward to the weekend. I'm disappointed that I already used up half of it doing nothing.

Girl on Girl Action

2008-04-04T16:05:40Z

In 1991, Street Fighter II revived arcades, established electronic gaming as a social activity, set a standard for the fighting genre, and defined character archtypes that are still used today. However, Street Fighter II's biggest impact might have been unrelated to the gameplay:

You could see Chun Li's underwear.

Voyeurism, perversion, or whatever the reason, that quick flash of undies was very popular. Once the home version arrived, teenage boys all over the world attempted to pause the game during Chun Li's trip animation. Quit rolling your eyes, you did it too!

Arcades exploded with imitators, all of which included female characters adding sex appeal to a genre that had previously been about sweaty men duking it out. (They save that for wrestling games now.) Graphics improved while the number of females steadily increased, and character designers catered to perverts. Some games poked fun, while others abandoned any facade of subtlety.

Where can they go from here?

Enter Arcana Heart. Nobody wants to look at men, so some genius made a fighter with nothing but females. More precisely, underage Japanese school girls. Can't miss out on the lucrative loli-perv demographic. Most anime stereotypes are represented: Cat-ears girl, robot, young prodigy, half-demon, witch, samurai, and chick in a maid outfit. Despite sounding criminal, the developers were tasteful enough to avoid the usual panty flashing. Furthermore, they actually built a solid fighting game.

Players choose from 11 characters, and then choose one of 11 arcana which provides special moves and passive benefits. This allows for 121 character/arcana combinations, so there is a lot of variety. The game features a fairly sophisticated combo system, cancels, and the usual assortment of punches, kicks, ranged attacks, etc. People playing Arcana Heart in Japanese arcades claim it has substance to back up it's style. The PS2 version comes out next week for $30.

I've always liked 2D fighters (moreso than 3D), but I'm sitting on the fence about buying due to a lack of opponents. I don't want it to collect dust like Guilty Gear. There's also the fear of being perceived as a pervert, but I think it's too late to change that.

Continuing with things nobody cares about, Matt Barlow returned to Iced Earth. Woohoo! Maybe. I have little faith in that band these days. This was announced last year, but I only heard about it today.

Iron Maiden: Live After Death is finally on DVD. My bro used to have it on VHS, but it was ruined when it fell into a snowbank. If you have any interest in metal or Iron Maiden, this is a fantastic show.

I find it unfortunate that my journal entry about toilet plungers received far more responses than my posts about games. I am again reminded that this is not the place to write such things. Oh well. You have a page down key.

On March 23rd, my laptop had it's 8th birthday. I think that makes it about 200 in human years. One day it will have a sibling. A younger and faster sibling.

I'm back to work which is good. Life is going well. I have no exciting news or stories, but I can't complain because I also have no heavy concerns or problems. I've been watching Sopranos with Bob, playing games, and waiting for the weather to warm up so Deb and I can go hiking or biking. I might go to Gen Con this year.

Right now, I'm going to eat lunch.