Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

There was some debate on whether or not I would actually try and get this game. I mean going in, I knew my factory set up computer wouldn't be able to handle this game as well as I would like. But at the end of the day, I caved in and bought this. Yes, I am among the millions (and millions) of StarCraft fans from back in the 90's.

A lot of fond memories of high school come back just thinking about this game. Nothing like playing a LAN match against several of your buddies to really get the war going. Zerg invasion in the middle of the base? Ooh, they never even saw it coming!

But alas... as far as StarCraft II is concerned, I cannot really share any personal thoughts on the game just yet. You see, unlike the pictures and videos that have appeared all over the internet lately, my personal game experience does not look anything even close to that. Everything is dull and flat and laggy and generally speaking, not that fun at all.

So as PC gaming tends to go, I suppose I shall be attempting to upgrade my computer in the coming weeks in hope that it'll be enough so that I'll be able to run the game as it should be.

Hell if things work out and the graphics card upgrade succeeds, I may even return to World of Warcraft. No more lagging graphics! Woo!

10 Promises To My Dog

So last night I happened to switch places with my girlfriend (she was watching some dramas on the PS3 and I was gaming in our PC) and I sit down and kind of look around the site she was at. I jumped over to the Japanese movies section and I played the first thing that caught my eye.

How can you ignore a pup with a face like that right?

It was a very good movie, though it is a sad tale, it is also very touching all the way through. And it struck very close to home for me and as the movie progressed, I could relate to Akari (who grows up through the course of the movie) in that she began to neglect her pup as she grew up. Life changes, interests changes and things just don't stay the way they were.

Hell I felt guilty maybe as much as the character did at the end!

Akari brings Socks to visit her mother for the first time.

My own relationship with my dog is somewhat similar to Akari's with Socks. I had got Brindy just as my Grandma was diagnosed with cancer and she had just returned from being here on Oahu for more then a year due to her condition. She passed away shortly after returning home. But she got to meet Brindy, if only for a brief moment in time.

And Brindy was around for just a little over 10 years (about 12 really) and we sure did grow up together. I remember the first day she was brought home. I never experienced having a dog before, so I was more then a little timid. And she had an attitude. She'd growl and snap at me and I just didn't like her at all. What a bitch!

But as time went on, we got along better and better. My folks would yell at her and she'd run away to her house. I'd try to scold her and she'd just jump up on my side and wag her tail like she was the happiest dog around.

I remember times when my step dad would scream and yell at me and I'd walk out to get away. I'd go and sit next to Brindy and she'd just happily sit next to me and be her happy self. Whenever I'd try to leave, she'd bolt up and jump up on my side, as if trying to get me to stay longer.

How I miss those days...

I may not have made the 10 promises to her, but a lot of what was said surely were true no less.

What could make me relate to Akari so much was when the character grows up and leaves home. I can't say for sure if I grew up (matured) myself, but I did leave home at 18 and I never really made it back to visit my folks that much and so I never really saw Brindy that often either. I felt bad about not being able to go home, more so when I began to hear about how time and illness was getting to her.

Akari and Socks, years later.

All of these memories stirred up during the course of this movie and I couldn't help myself as tears worked themselves up in my eyes. It made me feel so bad for not visiting my old friend, but it also reminded me of all the good things about that crazy old dog of mine. I am glad to have stumbled onto this movie and I'd recommend anyone who loves dogs to go and make it a point to see this one. 

Despicable Me

We just we out to see this on Saturday and I think it is safe to say that we both had a pretty good time watching this one. I don't think it is fair to this movie to be compared to Toy Story 3, in that they are both entirely different stories. Personally? I am glad we say this and not Toy Story. I like new! And I feel like I have to support the underdog here (since this movie kind of got panned by some of the critics' review of this).

Probably the most enjoyable aspect for me here was to see the progression of Gru (the main bad/good guy), which felt natural and not at all rushed through. He starts out pretty despicable, be he just couldn't resist the charms of the three girls he adopts for reasons that are anything but honorable.

And then there is, of course, the minions of Gru... (pictured above) those little guys are a strange, strange bunch to be sure. At first they seemed a little odd pairing with Gru, but as the movie went on it all made sense. They were made for each other!

Anyway, this was a worthwhile movie to see and it was a lot of fun for the both of us. Yes, we are getting older by the year. Yes this is a "kids movie," but what can I say? We enjoy cartoons still and this had us laughing more then a couple of times throughout. Maybe we aren't "mature" and maybe we need to grow up. Wait, who says a person has to give everything up to "grow up"? What's wrong with cartoons damnit!

Yeah!

I blame this on the fact that I woke up at 3am for no reason.

I'm getting old!

Game Change

After only a month of not having it around, I caved in and got a new Xbox 360. Okay, it isn't a "new" new Xbox 360, but a brand new Arcade one instead. One of the sales people did try, but they cannot convince me to wait it out for the new "slim" version. I have not read anything all that great about that thus far, so I am not convinced that that would be a better choice.

This wasn't actually going to happen for a while (getting another Xbox), but after trading in almost all of the games I had left... I had enough to cut the cost down to around $50. Can't go wrong there huh?

I suppose I could blame this sort of "renewed" interest in the console thanks to announcements about games such as Fable 3, Dragon Age II and Mass Effect 3 *its coming sooner or later!*. I guess the purpose of the Xbox (for me) is to fulfill my RPG needs. I just hope this new console has a longer life then the previous consoles (about a year each, yeesh!).

Right off the bat I downloaded Risk: Factions and you know what? My luck in dice rolling games continued to hold true: My luck sucks.

But the game is pretty decent fun in my opinion and the added cartoon factions does add a bit of odd personality to the game itself. The campaign mode is weird in its own right, though it does get the job done as far as getting it's point across. I do fancy the undead (Zombie faction), though I got smashed by humans, cats, robots and yeti people. Weird huh?

On a side note though, it looks like I will be taking a bit of a hiatus from World of Warcraft. I just haven't really had the time to dedicate to playing it as much as I would have liked. Plus I've been slowly piling back up on games I haven't played much of (Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy XIII, Red Dead Redemption top that list).

I think it is safe to say that I will return to WoW eventually. Perhaps after the Cataclysm expansion is released in fact. I would like to see how the world changes after all of that end-of-the-world stuff kicks in.

Street Fighter: Legacy

I didn't even realize that there was anything like this being made, but apparently this made its rounds through a great many video game blogs a couple of months ago. So I am a little late to the party!

Just a short video (about 3 minutes long), capped off with a pretty decent fight between Ryu and Ken. But what is more impressive is that this fan made. Just amazing to me what people are doing outside of Hollywood and all of those major film companies these days.

With the way things are now, who knows? Maybe people won't even need to work their way into Hollywood at all in the future. People could then produce their own full length movies by themselves and market it out through the internet...

Or is that already happening now?!

I can't help myself some days... yes, yes I think I even live in a cave.

Not Convinced

Okay, I will admit that I have been in a sort of writing frenzy as of late and I suppose this makes up for the times I haven't wrote anything for any stretch of time (has that even happened...?). But I have things to say! Or write! You get the idea!

And this blog has been absolutely my outlet for venting, ranting and raving about anything and everything. It is soothing to a degree, just blabbering about whatever pops into my head. It helps sort out the personal junk and it lets me know (later) how stupid and foolish I was at whatever particular time. Okay, so maybe not everything I write is meant to show my idiocy, but moving along...

Ya know what does NOT have me convinced? These new motion control gimmicks that Sony and Microsoft is setting up to toss out later this year.

I'll give 'em credit that their games look a whole lot better then anything on the Wii, but come on. If Sony and Microsoft plan to release similar titles as the Wii has, I think I am about to quit gaming. I mean have you seen the kind of crap that got out there? Now I am not saying that everything on the Wii is trash (Arc Rise Fantasia looks interesting), but for every good game there seems to be a truck loaded up with crap.

And as it stands (for me), I see the small line up that both sides have amassed and I can't say I'm even remotely impressed by any of it. Surely not nearly enough to make me willing to spend $150+ on these new gimmicks. I also have to wonder what the focus of these things are? Casual gamers also? If so, it'll be a long while before I even consider grabbing any of these.

Seriously, if I wanted any of those kinds of games, I'll just go back to the Wii. And that thing is still sitting on my shelf, collecting dust...

Dragon Quest Begins... Eventually

So today Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies is unleashed upon us all and those poor Slimes get bashed to no end. I have to say that I am still a little surprised that this didn't end up on one of the consoles, but then the next Dragon Quest game is apparently for the Wii...

I guess my head is a little stuck in the present generation (HD graphics, better sounds, etc)...

While I am excited about getting to play through only my SECOND Dragon Quest game, I didn't quite rush out and reserve this as fast as I could. As a matter of fact, I threw in a reservation for this game only just a couple of days ago. And really, I should be playing that game right now!

But yet I am here, at home, slowly trying to catch up on all the episodes from the recent Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series. So now I've watched the first 4 episodes in the series, as well as the last 4. And you know what? I actually feel the need to watch through this because I actually liked how the series ended this time. I am so very grateful that this time around, the loose ends were tied up and things feel finished.

Yet it is my understanding that there will be a movie for this series, as it was for the original. I can only wonder what it is that this movie will be about. I mean I understood where the previous movie tied in (reuniting the brothers). But this time? I just don't know.

Anyway, so I am still at home and making high speed progress (think dial up connection) and I am on my way! But I think my problem here is being a little scatterbrained, as I was playing through quite a few mini games in Plants vs. Zombies (I've been reading about a teaser picture that might be leading to the revelation of PvZ2! Awesome!)...

I can only imagine this "issue" will only get worse with age. Great.

Dragon Age II Is Coming

Dragon Age II is coming!

What a surprise!

...

Okay, so maybe this revelation isn't really that huge of a surprise. But at least now the world knows when the next game in the Dragon Age series should be released (March, 2011). Ha! Perfect timing for my Birthday! But then again, there is also Final Fantasy XIV. And considering this year will end with games such as Fable 3, Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 and a bunch of other games I can't recall at the moment. All of that coming by the ending of this year!

So many choices, so little money... where, oh where to begin?

What I am waiting for and the new criteria I'm going with these days (as far as game purchases are concerned), is what is inside the game? Awesome story? Incredible character development? And if its a sequel, has it changed THAT much? Or is it just a rehash of old ideas? Then again, games like Alpha Protocol had some original ideas and the game (in my opinion) kind of stunk.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand... I've been reading that this new Dragon Age will have a different art style and the Origins bit is out! Which is a little disappointing for me because I actually enjoyed playing through all the different perspectives of the different races. And apparently you'll be playing as a human named Hawke, who you'll be taking from a bum to the most powerful person in the universe!

Or something.

I think I'll wait for more news about this one....

Winter Sonata - Anime

Wow...

In a surprising turn of events, as I was wondering about the net and just watching all sorts of videos of old, I came across something kind of new. Well it is something new based off of something that's not so new. Does that make sense?

Anyway... I remember watching this Korean drama called Winter Sonata a few years back and being hooked to it (don't ask) and my girlfriend and I caught every episode we could. Sort of a twisted tale and some parts made me wonder what the hell the writers of the show were thinking. But overall, I thought it had a decent story and characters you could generally believe and get behind.

To my surprise (and I think my girlfriend mentioned this to me sometime ago too), they've taken the drama and have turned it into a Anime series. What makes this interesting is that they've gotten quite a few of the original cast (from the drama itself) and they have lent their voices to their old characters.

While I've only found trailers for this on YouTube (so far), I am on a quest to find the episode for this. I know someone, somewhere, has these uploaded for the world to see. And if possible, maybe I'll even try and link them here too.

Side note: On a sad note: The actor (Park Yong-Ha) that played the character Kim Sang-Hyuk, was found dead recently in Korea, apparently due to suicide. I won't get into the whole situation here and I can't say for certain if he is portraying his character in this Anime, but that isn't the issue here. It is just sad to see news of people (he was only 32 years old) taking their own lives this way.

Galaxy Express 999

Over the past week or so, I've been digging around YouTube and just watching a lot of stuff I haven't seen in years. One of those is this movie, Galaxy Express 999. I remember watching this movie as a kid, when the Sci-Fi Channel did a short run of Anime movies. I think I actually ended up liking most of the movies shown then (Adieu Galaxy Express 999 *the sequel to the movie linked here* and Beautiful Dreamer) and I wondered for a while if I would still like them all if I ever saw them again.

So after watching through the movie again, I've come to the conclusion that this movie was a classic then and continues to be so even today. All the fancy CG in the world will never, ever be able to replace classics such as these. I've always considered this to being one of the best movies I've ever seen and I am so glad to see that even after all of these years, it still holds true for me today.

If I had to describe what I thought about this movie in just two words, those two words would be this: Absolutely awesome.

Queen's Blade

Just finished watching through a free episode of Queen's Blade on my PS3. Now I don't mind free TV episodes, since I don't have TV myself and anything new to watch is a plus. But to say that I was a little surprised at what was in this episode would be a clear understatement on my part.

I would never think that there would ever be a free episode of anything that showed this much boobs and lactating demons who spray other scantily clad women with acidic breast milk/liquid. And to see this out there on PSN? Wow. Just wow.

Now I'm sure I don't have to share with the world in saying that the story underneath this is absolutely nothing to all that proud of. But then I think it is safe to say that this Anime wasn't meant to be a major story driven show. And if it was, boy... the standard of Anime has surely dropped considerably over the past many years.

Huge, huge drop from watching the ending of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood yesterday. More about that awesome series later. I don't think I want to bring it down by throwing it in with a show like Queen's Blade. Nothing against it really, but certainly something I just wasn't feeling at all.

Meh.

Cartoons Growing Up

Talk about bringing back a lot of old memories from when I was growing up. But then thinking about to all of that, man I feel old! The only thing I don't have in this line up is the opening for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...

They really don't make cartoons the way they used to.

Starstrukk

I must be breaking down, because I haven't really listened to much in the way of new music in years. Okay, maybe I've picked up on listening to a few new groups and singers, but that list has been a very short one. I mean I just haven't been all that fond of the type of music that is out there right now and I just try to avoid it whenever possible.

Justin Bieber fan, I will never be.

But then there are some that aren't entirely that bad, so I guess this was bound to happen...

I first caught Starstrukk at the end of the movie named "When In Rome." I thought it was catchy and I never heard of the group that performed it before (3OH!3). I did hear of Katy Perry, though I didn't really listen much to her music aside from what gets played to death on the radio. I guess what kind of did it for me was watching the video for the song, which helped ensure that I was hooked...

If nothing else, it does have a catchy beat to it...

Infamous 2

Not surprising at all, but Sucker Punch is coming out with a sequel to Infamous and its set to drop in sometime next year. That's cool and all and this video does a pretty decent job of showing what's new in the game. I am interested, maybe even nearly excited about getting my hands on this game. But there is one thing that bothers me and it bothers me the more I think about it.

I am wondering what happened to the original voice actor to Cole (the main character)? Because this new actor they have is just entirely different from the first. I mean in Infamous, Cole sounded.... gruff? He sounded rough around the edges, entirely like a guy who isn't the hero type.

Now it sounds like he got younger and sounds more like a teenager, which might actually play into the story for all I know. Maybe his electric powers have caused him to grow younger, rather then older? Hmmmm....

Brock Lesnar Is Back

I gotta say that I am a little surprised that Brock Lesnar (5-1) returned to the Octagon and defeated Shane Carwin in the second round (via Arm Triangle Choke).

I'm not doubting the man's abilities (far, far from that) and even while he was a pro wrestler, this guy always fit the bill of being a monster. He was exactly that during his days when he was "fake" wrestling/fighting, so why not now? I still believe that his old pro wrestling moniker fits him perfectly, even now: "The Next Big Thing."

But maybe he isn't the next big thing. Tonight proved that he is a pretty big deal now and him defeating everyone since his one and only lost, he has destroyed everyone in front of him. The reason why his victory surprised me was the fact that he was out due to a life threatening illness for so long and to come back and win, wow. I think that says volumes of the man known as Brock Lesnar.

Forward!

So now that I've spent a good deal of time being a depressing piece of human (no fun there), I think it is safe to move forward! And what better way to turn things around then to go back to where my interests are the greatest? Yup, back to the games! What can I say? There are a few games that have caught my eye recently, but the number that I am actually picking up is rather tiny.

The top of that list right now? Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies.

To be truthful, I've always heard about the Dragon Quest series (especially the fact that this series shuts down schools in Japan and tends to be the only true rival to the Final Fantasy series) and while that was interesting to me, I just never saw any of the games over here.

All of that changed with DQVIII.

I enjoyed the mess out of that game! I enjoyed it because it was (in my opinion) put together rather well and it was just plain enjoyable to play. I can't even think of anything truly bad about that experience, which is rare to even have happen when it comes to any games.

So to say that I am looking forward to DQIX would be some what an understatement. In this day and age, good games are easier to find. But to find a great one? Now that is a rare treat...

And another little note, I seem to be hitting a sort of hand held gaming craze, because the next game that is actually coming to me from GameFly happens to be Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley. Here is yet another game that I've read a bit about and I keep seeing how people enjoy this so much and say how much fun this all is.

Well I'm going to see for myself what all the hype and fanfare is about. The part that I am liking (for a change) is if I don't like it at all, I won't be stuck with it anymore. I can just dump it back in the mail and another one arrives to take its place!

Why didn't I sign up with those guys sooner?

Desperation!

Maybe it is the waking up at an early hour that is doing this, but I am thinking crazy thoughts this morning. I think it is safe to say that I am hitting the point of desperation! Our financial situation is going from terrible to just flat out disaster!

I wonder if our government will hand me a bail out? I mean I've made quite a few stupid mistakes myself over the years, but nothing in comparison to those who ran those giant companies into the ground. Shouldn't that mean I qualify? Maybe? Just a million bucks would do just grand for my situation...

I could even free up my job for someone else! That would help right?

I jest...

Sort of.

But seriously, things have been nothing short of lousy this year and we've not really even had a moment to even breathe. Just every single month, excuse me for saying, has been a clusterfuck bombardment of just bills and more bills! I didn't even think we had that many, but we've gotten buried in the dog pile for sure.

And to top it off, lo and behold! Then those bastards have to go and raise the prices on bus passes to boot! $60 a month is a world of hurt for a poor sucker like me! Oh great, thanks Honolulu, you've just made my month. Now I can watch as the money taken is used for road repair; aka 6 guys standing on the side of the road, whilst one digs.

AWESOME.

Maybe it would have been smarter if I had applied to the City of County of Honolulu? I wouldn't mind making some easy money that way and at least I'd have a real retirement to fall back on eventually...

Or maybe I'll go ahead and move into low income housing and yet manage a brand new car. And by brand new car, I'm not talking about a Honda or something like that. I am talking about new as in BMW SUV kind of new. How in the hell do those people do it? I am always seeing those guys pulling in and out of the housing areas near where I live and those guys are in a whole lot better shape then we seem to be in.

Wow, I didn't intend for this to end up being a sort of a rant... but I guess that is exactly what this has turned out to being. I just can't help it sometimes. I just get frustrated that it feels like we are always sinking and there are those who seem to have the right connections or whatever or however it works out, and they just seem to get by so much easier. I suppose it is because we haven't taken the same road as a lot of people we live around have; by that I mean taking advantage of the systems in place to help those in need.

It sucks sometimes, but I guess it has more to do with our pride that we don't go that way. Or maybe we're just stupid for not using these things? I just know we've not gone that way and we've been trying to survive without it. But it is just getting to that point...

I just want to scream and rant and rave and throw the biggest little kid fit I can manage.

Wouldn't that be a sight?