Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Back to Work?

It looks like I might be headed back to work.  I didn't really want to quit when I did, but someone had to take care of the kids.  Looking at the finances though....I think I need to get a job again.  While I do want a job and am happy at the prospect of having one again, the circumstances forcing me to do so are...unsettling.  It will probably be part time, but would I have to change the name of the blog?  *dramatic cliff-hanger music*

And for a random note, after using an old computer to get some old info off of floppy disks...yeah, I know, how old...I remember those things being better.  The read time on them sucks!  There was also some drama getting the Zip drive to work.  Yes, you read that right, a Zip drive.  Man that takes me back.  Also I have an old keyboard hooked up to it, and I keep not hitting the backspace key when I reach for it.  I hadn't realized that they made it bigger and moved the slash key down.  I am certainly glad for it, though!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

PAX Bound!

I got my pass in the mail, but my friend still hasn't received his (8 or 10) passes.  Maybe to cut down on scalping they are sending them out to the people that only ordered 1 or 2 first?  Probably not.

This is only a one day pass.  I lagged too long thinking about the 3 day, and they sold out.  It's probably for the best, since I should only afford the 1 day pass.  This year, I'm going for "journalistic purposes" so I can report back all my impressions.  I used to go as just a fan, but this year I will be turning it into a podcast/video and blog entry(ies).  I've got to prepare some questions!  If anyone has a suggestion or request for a line to stand in/game to try, let me know in the comments and I will check it out, assuming it is there.

Also, if you are going to PAX Prime, feel free to download and read my wife's books while you wait in the long lines!  Shameless promotion!  Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member, they can be checked out for free!  I have it on good authority that you might want to wait until PAX weekend to get the best deal on the first book...

Friday, July 27, 2012

CEO Steve is Here!

I finally finished my first "book".  It's a humor book that looks like a kid's book.  You can actually read it to a child, too.  There's no bad language or adult situations, just me making fun of the rich of this country.  I encourage you to check it out (or course)!  The book is available for less than a buck on the Amazon kindle store and kindle apps.  I'm hoping to get a picture of one of the pages up here later, so you can see what it looks like.  Enjoy!

CEO Steve: Steve's Typical Day on Amazon kindle and kindle apps.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

So I Took Apart My Neo Geo Pocket Color...

About 7 years ago I purchased a bundle of a Neo Geo Pocket Color with 6 games blister packed together.  It was from a store, not ebay.  After I opened it up, the unit itself had dark, sticky stuff on the buttons, d-pad, side joints and battery cover.  It was pretty gross.  So I took the screws out of the back so I could take it apart and clean it.  The last screw was a triwing screw, which I had never seen before.

Then a few months ago, I finally snagged a cheap triwing driver off of ebay.  I set out to find my NGPC, but it had been packed somewhere.  This past weekend, while my wife was helping me find an N64 memory card (check out my YouTube Channel to find out why), she found it!  And the n64 memory card, too.

So I finally removed that screw, and used a wet napkin to clean the thing.  It wasn't too hard to take apart and put together again...except for the 6 or so non-triwing screws.  I took them out years ago...and they weren't put back in the unit.  Oops.

To date I've taken apart a Playstation, PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and now a NGPC.  What will be next?  I have a broken PS2 I could take apart, and a few Gameboy Advances.  Now if I could only find those NGPC screws...

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Devastator, Merge for the...Good?

A few buddies of mine started up a wrestling blog/site/youtube channel where they discuss WWE and other related things.  They are definitely exploring different formats until they find one that "clicks" for them all.  Currently, they are changing to broader content, covering many types of entertainment.  One guy is doing TV shows, one is doing movies, and the third is doing game reviews.  Nope, that last one isn't me.

So my buddy gets the idea of asking me to join.  Well, it wasn't so much asking and telling everyone that my little site should be lumped in there too, but you get the picture.  I think the whole change will be the best yet, as there will be joint and individual content, updated more often.  The other game reviewer and I aren't going to "step on each others toes", or anything like that.  Even if we did manage to cover the same game or topic, we have different enough opinions that it would not be a rehash of the other.  Plus, I'd already done a few podcasts with them.  We are like a crazy RPG party, gathering together to save the world.

Not really.  Well, unless December 2012 is REALLY crazy, hahaha.

Anyway, I'll get some links up to their stuff shortly, and we will have a few more joint podcasts on youtube soon.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Mark's Visit

Recently, my friend Larry came to visit from China.  He's not Chinese, he moved there to get a Chinese girlfriend, teach English and probably sit around and get paid to be the Token White Guy.  He's been gone for almost 2 years, so I was very happy to get to see him again.  One reason:  more Monster Hunter!

Viewers of my Youtube Channel will know Larry as "Mark" from the Monster Hunter videos.  Instead of us playing Tri and pretending it was the best Monster Hunter, we got together with his brother and played some Monster Hunter Portable 3rd for PSP.  It was awesome!  We played from about 6 pm to 1:30am, so we got in some quality hunting.  Unfortunately, that was the only playing we got done during his visit.  We could probably play more, but I'm the only one with a PS3 (to use adhoc party), so it won't be for awhile.  Too bad they won't release another console one because Capcom hates money (from Monster Hunter).  Actually, that's not true, they just hate Americans playing the game.  And every other nation that's not Japan.  I wish I were making that up.

Well, Monster Hunter isn't the only reason his visit was cool.  He also brought me 2 cool Kamen Rider Ryuki (Dragon Knight) toys.  It was Volva's (maybe?) gun and the Dragvisor (Ryuki's morpher, if you will).  He also gave me a few cards to use with it.  It was really nice of him.  Yeah, I'm a giant 8 year old, so what?

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

More Monster Hunter!

So you may know that I like to play Monster Hunter.  And if not, check out my YouTube channel to see the misadventures of playing it on the Wii.  I recently acquired the ability to play the latest PSP entry, Monster Hunter portable 3rd.  It's more or less the enhanced version of the Wii game.  Important improvements:  no underwater, more monsters.  Really, just no underwater is enough of an improvement.  According to my friend, some of the more underwater-oriented monsters are just gone or pallet-swapped in this version.  And unfortunately, none of the previous monsters have returned.  Well, except for one...the (expletive) Bullfangos/Bulldrone.

After playing it for a bit, it's even more sad that Capcom won't bring it out on US shores (or any other country that isn't Japan, for that matter).  It's really good.  I've already fought a few new monsters, like the Frogi (similar to the Jaggi and Baggi, but they use poison) and the Aoashira.  The latter is a new skeleton type, and the monster is basically a big bear.  It's not as big as many of the other monsters, and it's honestly not very hard since you fight it so early.  He/she/it does make pretty cool armor though.  They also toned down the Barroth, so he is much easier to fight, at least with a hammer.  The gave him higher recovery on some of his moves, making him more open.  I think he does a bit less damage too.  I beat him my first time going against him in MH portable 3rd, and I can assure you it's not like riding a bike for some of these monsters.  Check out my Monster Hunter Tri: SaHD Chronicles episodes versus the Barroth to see what I mean.  To even that out, they made his armor worse.  I loved using it in Tri, but they changed the skills it gives, making it not anything I can use.  At least I don't have to farm him!

Hopefully I can snag a copy of the PS3 version of the game, which uses the same save file, so I can make some videos of my misadventures in the new game.  If you can get an import copy and like Monster Hunter....well, then you likely have the game.  If not, I'd recommend getting your hands on one to try it out!