Geek vs Life

It’s happened before, and it’ll happen again. Something “new” comes out, which can range from a repackaging to a complete overhaul of the original. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy anything, Evangelion, Hellsing, Chrono Trigger. Wait, did I just say Chrono Trigger again? Yup. And that’s because Chrono Trigger has received not one, but TWO rereleases. And number two came out today.

A bit of backstory, first. Back in 1995, Squaresoft released a game called “Chrono Trigger”, which was created by what Square called their “Dream Team”: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Kazuhiko Aoki, and Nobuo Uematsu from Final Fantasy, and Yuuji Horii and Akira Toriyama (yes, of DBZ fame) from Dragon Quest (technically, I suppose, you could call this the first “true” SquareEnix title). Masato Kato (who also worked on Ninja Gaiden, Xenogears, and FFVII) wrote most of the plot, and Yasunori Mitsuda (Xenogears) composed the music (until he fell ill and Uematsu took over). The game was for the Super Famicom (known in the US as the Super Nintendo), and was a huge hit (to date, over 2 million copies have sold in Japan, with an additional 290,000 copies worldwide).

So last night I picked up Mirror’s Edge for the Playstation 3 and subsequently beat it in 5 hours. For most, this is a sign of a bad game. I mean, I traded in Halo 3 and Civ: Revolutions for it, which between the two gave me endless hours of playtime and 3 hours of god awful single player in Halo. But honestly, without any remorse or rethinking, I can say it was worth it.

The overall synopsis is that you are Faith, a runner. Your sister Kate has been framed for a crime which she did not commit, and you are in a world that would make George Orwell blush. Imagine the anarchy that comes when you take a peice of evidence from the crime scene… oh my… then of course, hilarity ensuses.

http://snagwiremedia.com/prison-inmate-escapes-jail-using/

In true gamer fashion a Turkish man has escaped from a German prison Solid Snake style by making use of a cardboard box.

The man hid in the box at the end of a shift of his prison job of making stationery and was carried out by a courier service along with other boxes. The inmate then cut through a tarp in the truck and jumped out shortly after the vehicle left the prison grounds. The driver eventually noticed the tarp flapping in the wind and reported the cut to the police.

Beate Peters, the warden of the Willich prison presumes that the man had accomplices outside the prison, and a manhunt is underway throughout western Germany.

This pretty much made my day… and I needed to share it with you all.

Alright, Day 2 of Aki-Con… Got there just in time to catch the “Special Guests Q&A”, which was great. I was laughing so hard. I might type up my notes from it separately (I’m really tired, so I’m planning on going to bed as soon as I finish this and take a shower), but for right now, know that it was awesome.

So, like many of you are aware, I’ve been traveling to visit my friends out here in the eastern wastes know as Spokane. Much to my pleasure however, there is more to do here than just drink and look at dirt all day. One such fun activity is to go out and see art openings that happen here from time to time. Last night (11/07/08) I had the pleasure to witness the opening of Harrell Fletcher and Marc Dombrosky’s art.

Mr. Fletcher’s medium was a video they had playing in the main lobby. At first glance it seemed to be a bunch of elderly folks speaking nonsense with REALLY close shots of their faces. However, I feel that the simple look of the piece was intentional because it definitely drew me in and I discovered that the people were actually quoting James Joyce’s adaptation of Ulysseys. The video is called The Problem of Possible Redemption and an excerpt can be found on his website. I highly recommend checking it out at this website you’ll love it.

So I just finished Cormac McCarthy’s The Road on my way to Spokane. All in all it’s a heck of a book, very well written and a lot of interesting side stories. It made Oprah’s book club after all, though I don’t know if maybe I’m just a pessimist but I don’t know if I’d give it that kind of accolades.

The basic synopsis of the book is that a father and son are stuck in post-apocalyptic America. The whole world is covered in ashes and crazy people who are just trying to survive. For the most part, it’s a pretty good book. Like I mentioned before, it’s well written and it does keep you interested, but there is one big problem that I really have trouble getting past. The writer has this way of drawing you in where he references things that you should know about. In his book No Country For Old Men he refers to “good ol’ boys” and the like that most people our age know about. However in this book he references to some of the other factions existing in the world but unfortunately, it’s left up to the reader to figure out how they connect. Luckily I think I caught it, but I’m still just weirded out and not sure. Honestly, the book lacks direction all around.

Okay, so I hop on the bus, get up to south Everett, get to the Holiday Inn… And there aren’t many cars there… And I don’t see people… so I call Carlos from Soul Candy and…

I’m at the wrong Holiday Inn… it’s the one in downtown Everett…

So, I hop another bus and get up to Everett Station, get directions, and walk to the Holiday Inn. It’s not hard to find their Registration (one table on either side of the hotel’s main doors, one for pre-reg, one for registration. I find out where to get my badge, they ask for my name, and hand me my Guest badge (since I’m with the band). I had to find a pen to put my name on it myself (I actually saw a few people with guest badges with nothing written on them), but then I got my plastic katana peace bonded (I apparently didn’t have to sign their peace bonding “form” since it was just a toy).

So i’ve been traveling the last few days and I’m chock full of fun interviews and stories of my tavels. As it turns out, Spokane (where i’ve been… i know right?) has more going for it than a river and pawn shops. The music and the art is also pretty darn impressive. Coming soon: An interview with a musician I saw, a write up on a pretty freakin’ good artist friend, and if you’re nice, a write up and interview with another “local” musician. Most of this could not be possible without the work of the gal’s at the Empyrean so if you are an East-Ender or know someone out here, make damn sure they come out and get coffee from them. More later, Distance out.

So, I’ve been wrapped up in RPGs for longer than I can remember. Games like The Shin Megami Tensei and the Final Fantasy series make my heart go all aflutter. Therefore, you should believe me when I say that Fallout 3 being one of the better RPGs I’ve played in a long time says something. Now yes, I am willing to accept that it is just a post-apocalyptic version of the Elder Scrolls series, but honestly, what the heck else do you need? However, aside from a really cool story and a well set up system of play, there are a few pitfalls that Bethesda snuck in here again.

7 years ago, after I got out of the day’s class in college, I took the bus to the Holiday Inn in Everett, WA, where I attended my very first anime convention, Sakura-Con 2001. I had been to the old “Seattle Comic Cons,” which were nothing more than a glorified dealers’ hall with a few guests attending, and I had no clue what to expect.

7 years later, I’m a bit more experienced at anime conventions, especially since I’ve been on staff for Sakura-Con since 2002. But, today will be a new experience for me, once again. Today, after I finish this and get a few last things ready, I will be once again taking the bus to the Holiday Inn in Everett, WA.

So tonight was the Sakura-Con staff Halloween party. And Bressler (who, btw, was one of the testers for Fable II and says everyone needs to go out and buy it) brought Rock Band 2. And you know what song is on Rock Band 2? Still Alive. You know, the one from Portal? It even says in the song that it’s by “GLADoS” (or however it’s capitalized) and the word “GLAD” is always all-caps in the lyrics. And, of course, being a room full of otaku, pretty much everyone was singing along.

Meant to be? Dunno, you decide. But just for you, check out the Mario Paint Composer version of the song that someone made here.

More of a demonstration of Wii capabilities than game. Makes lots of noise, and would be an awesome game to play with small children.

Trust us, we’re going somewhere with these…

Ok, that’s enough for today. We’ll flesh these out a bit more for the site, and do more tomorrow. With another guest reviewer!