黒い夜明けの創出

October '11.2

2011-10-31T14:38:00.003-04:00

Ian and I haven't been watching nearly as many scary movies as we had planned, but we did manage to watch "The Thing," "Return of the Living Dead," and "30 Days of Night." We also watched the first episode of "The Walking Dead," and goodness, what a great show! Before the beginning credits started, we were already talking about buying the series. We'll probably finish up the month with "The Shining," but since there were a handful of movies we didn't get the change to watch, we might be keeping those in the Netflix queue for a while.

I also beat Shadows of the Damned. Not really a scary game, but still, you're a demon hunter hunting demons in Hell. I had so much fun with that game. Sure, it had it's flaws, but they were few and easy to deal with. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys overtly Japanese games with a vulgar and humourous twist.

I'm currently about halfway through Alan Wake. Now there's a game that's good for the season. A writer on vacation keeps finding pages of a book he doesn't remember writing...and all of the pages seem to predict the future. His wife's kidnapped, the FBI are after him, the darkness is corrupting the people around him, and he's armed to the teeth with batteries and a flashlight. It's well written and clever with good controls, too.

In artistic news, my sister and I have started giving each other monthly assignments so's we can force ourselves to try new things, draw what we normally wouldn't, etc. She's assigned me to draw a kirin, so I'm finishing that up today.

Still working on that Miqo'te commission (almost done!), got picked up by my manager's wife to do some concept art for her (she's getting a book published!), and got asked to do a commission from a guy who works at one of the other stores in town (Juggernaut!).

No word from my uncle who asked me to do some animations for a project of his. At this point, I'm assuming he's dropping me, but doesn't know how to tell me. It would have been nice to work on it, but I understand if I'm not at the professional level he wants (that and I feel like I got dropped into the middle of something I didn't understand).

Overall, I'm perking up. I miss school something fierce, and I'm still wanting to go back, but in the meantime, I'm going to do what I can to better my art.

October '11.1

2011-10-10T13:41:00.002-04:00

I'll be honest. Aside from working on some art, I've been busy playing Gears of War 3. Sure, I beat the campaign the day after it came out, but I'm going through it again, and eating up the multiplayer like it's a never-ending low-fat cake!

And since it's October, I've been on a scary movie, scary game kick. I've been trying to get further/beat Shadows of the Damned so I can get back to Alan Wake. As far as movies go, so far under the belt we have Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Evil Dead, Let the Right One In, Poltergeist, and a few episodes of High School of the Dead.

When it comes to my art, I've been a little depressed. I hit a rough patch in a commission I've been doing for months since I haven't a lot of experience drawing backgrounds. It's got me down, but I've also realized that my progress as an artist hasn't been very forward. I haven't been getting any better this past year and I've been letting school (or lack thereof) really get to me. I have ideas, but don't draw them, and essentially I'm letting my talents waste away because I'm not motivated. My recent submission in a Deviant Art contest has me a little more encouraged, but has me realizing that I'm not getting any better at what I do.

So, I bought a new Photoshop magazine! I'm going to start drawing more, doing observational sketches nearly every day, and trying out new techniques. I tend to work in other people's styles, so I'm going to try and focus on finding a style of my own, as well.

Come on, motivation!

August '11.1

2011-08-30T21:57:00.003-04:00

Well, I've been married for just over a month, it seems. People ask me how married life is and I've been telling them that it's the same. We've lived together for 8 years, had been together for 9 years on our wedding day, so honestly, I'd be upset if things had changed just because I have a piece of paper telling me our love is official.

In other news, I've been sampling a myriad of games.

I've played some of the puzzle/action/romance game Catherine, and have enjoyed it immensely. It's unlike any other game and really does need a new genre (or a smashing of genres) to define it properly. There are large portions of the time where you can sit and just watch the story unfold, which is broken by the nightmares of the main character where you push, pull, and hang off of blocks to climb them. It can be a frustrating game, but if you like a challenge, I'd say give it a shot.

I was also gifted the game Shadows of the Damned, where you play as a demon hunter whose girlfriend had been abducted by vengeful minions of hell. It's an over-the-top third-person shooter that doesn't seem to take itself very seriously at all. It's been a blast to play, and I've found myself laughing out loud on many occasions. Overall, it's vulgar, and if you can get over all of the guns you equip having names like "Hot Boner" (what? it shoots bones...what do you want it to be named?) and hearing your character cry out "Taste my Big Boner!" then this game can be a lot of fun.

And with Mass Effect 3 on the way, I decided to finally get around to playing Mass Effect 2. Not sure what to say about this other than it's a sequel to the first and I'm loving seeing how my Shepard's story continues. Because I had romanced Kaiden in the original game, I've decided to remain faithful to him by not sleeping with anyone in the second in the hopes of him forgiving me for dying and not telling him that I've been brought back to life in a timely manner. Play the games, you'll understand, and you'll not be disappointed.

Randomly, I'll play Techno Kitten Adventure, as well, which is easily the most seizure-inducing game I've ever had the chance to pick up. It's an indie game and can be downloaded onto various phones from what I understand, but I have it downloaded onto my 360. It's addictive, catchy, and full of dance music, rainbows, and cats. My kind of time-waster.

I've become re-addicted to Final Fantasy 14. Their latest patches have given me a better sense of purpose in the game world, and I've found myself playing it more and more these past weeks.

I'm trying to give myself more goals nowadays. Small goals, since I can't seem to stay on track. I'd like to draw more, so I'm trying to do practice sketches at least once a week to get into the habit of drawing all the time. I tend to be very VERY slow when it comes to finishing anything, so I'm hoping that if I stay in practice, I'll wind up getting faster as well as better.

I'd pretty much realized that I haven't actually finished much in the last year, and the local Arts Walk is coming up soon, and I'd like to have some new stuff to show off for that, so who knows.

June '11.1

2011-06-25T11:33:00.002-04:00

Well, I quickly plowed through Dragon Age 2. I'll be honest, I hated the game at first. But, I remember hating Mass Effect when I first started it, so I pushed on. As I met more characters, did more quests, I became addicted. Personally, I felt like the game is more like the first one than people give it credit for being. It is less of an RPG and more like a hack 'n slash RPG, but once I got used to mashing buttons to do attacks, I didn't mind it. I know that people were disappointed with the lack of multiple endings like the first one had (I only ever beat each game once, but I know the first had several, while the second had maybe two), but overall I enjoyed the story, the fact that each of your characters had set clothing choices, and that they would leave you if you failed to do certain things. I lost two (or three, technically) characters during my play-through.

I've also been playing LA Noire, off and on. Not a game for everyone, to be sure. I'm getting annoyed with people comparing it to the Grand Theft Auto games because it's nothing like that; you're not a thug, you're part of the LAPD, for crying out loud! You're supposed to solve crimes, not commit them! It is slower-paced and there's a lot of puzzle-solving elements to it. I'm liking the story and goodness! The animation! The faces in this game are simply amazing!

With Sony's "Welcome Back" program, between Ian and I we downloaded Dead Nation, Wipeout HD, Little Big Planet, and Infamous. Wipeout is like other Wipeouts; a space-age racing game with missiles. Dead Nation is similar what I would imagine being born if Gauntlet and Left 4 Dead were to procreate. It's an isometric top-down-ish shooter where you're fending off swarms of zombies. Enough said. Little Big Planet is Little Big Planet. I own the second one and was planning on purchasing the first, but then Sony went and offered it for free. Infamous I never played, but was always curious about, so I'm sure I'll get around to trying it out soon.

I did play a bit of Hunted: The Demon's Forge recently. Aside from being a bit difficult, it was a lot of fun and I found it to be very well-written. I liked both the characters and their relationship, but I didn't get too far into the story, so I'll have to come back to this later.

I've also gotten to play the new Mortal Kombat. Now, being a fan of Japanese fighting games leaves me biased, and even though I tried not comparing it to Street Fighter or Soul Calibur and games like that, it was hard. First off, I liked the fact that the characters show damage. The X-Ray attacks are pretty cool, too. But really, I don't like the gameplay. I'd rather be throwing dragon-punches and fireballs than pushing left right down down to execute an attack. I didn't like any of the characters, but it is nostalgic since it plays and acts like the original Mortal Kombats. They shouldn't have strayed from that formula with their previous games, in my opinion (I'm lookin' at you, VS. DC!). Overall, it is fun, but it made me want to play Marvel vs Capcom.

Since my brother's been visiting me, I've been watching him play Mirror's Edge a bit. I can see how a game can give people vertigo. It's a very fast-paced first-person running game, essentially. You're constantly moving, dodging, jumping, sliding, climbing to get away. It's a very artistic game, though; colours are simple and important, and the cut scenes have all been animated in Flash. I've enjoyed watching what I have, but I'm missing out on the story, and I'd like to play it myself.

My brother has also started a game on Bioshock 2. For me, it's more of an expansion to the first game. It gives you a different look at Rapture while having the same controls and similar powers. It's cool that you're a Big Daddy and all, but the story doesn't have me hooked like the first one. A good game, overall, but a little unnecessary, in my opinion.

I just started a game in the PSP remake of Persona, as well. I had never played the original Play Station version, but Ian has, and was excited that I picked up the PSP game. I think for him it's different since it's not 100% faithful to the original, but it's all new to me, so I never knew Maki as Mary, etc. I am having fun with it. It's interesting running around a city as a student, getting attacked by demons, summoning a monster that is a reflection of myself.

I also have been playing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box for the DS. These games make me feel smart, sometimes...other times I feel like an idiot because I can't figure out how to pack a box so no items overlap! I like taking this with me when I ride the bus to work since there's no pressure for the commitment of heavier games; it's just good puzzle-solving fun!

In non-game-related news, my friend who commissioned me to draw his Miqo'te from FFXIV has been very patient with me, and I truly appreciate that. I've been trying to take my time with it to make it the best I can.

I've been playing around with designing a Monster High-esque character to use in a Flash dress-up game. I'm not very good when it comes to Flash, and I figured a dress-up game would be an easy way to get familiar with creating buttons and simple animations. I think I'll post the final version to my DA page, as well as a step-by-step walkthrough so I can remember everything I did. But, I'll post more on that when I have the time.

On top of everything, I'm getting married in less than a month, so I've been busying myself with last-minute details and projects like making bouquets and boutonnieres. A year ago I felt like I had all the time in the world! Now I feel like I'm rushing around to get everything done. I guess that's how weddings are, but I'm trying to have fun with everything I do. ^_^

May '11.1

2011-05-06T11:52:00.002-04:00

On the first of April, I lost my cat Klaus.

As odd as it may be, I'm still having a tough time accepting this. He wasn't old, he wasn't sick...he died from some freak accident of eating a sharp enough object to pierce some vital organ. He woke us up early, crying and spitting up blood, and on the way to the emergency vet, he died.

My former Japanese teacher had some of the most touching words for me, and I'd like to share them.

"He is in your mind now. So, please show your smile to him not your tears. I believe he likes your smile, too."

When speaking about losing a friend, a co-worker of mine posted this, and it made me think.

"...I do know that in life there is a need for sorrow, grief...even loss. It helps remind us what we have and to enjoy waking up in the morning...you (hopefully) gave everyone one last gift: a reminder that you never know what can happen tomorrow. Thank you for that, it's more than a lot of us deserved."

If this year of loss has taught me anything, it's to savour life and enjoy every minute you can. Life itself is too short for all the stress we put ourselves through, all the work we do. Life should be about living, and it makes me sad that death had to teach me that.

Be on the lookout for Klaus art, though. In honour of him, I'm planning a charcoal and coloured pencil piece on gray paper.

And if the Rainbow Bridge is real, maybe I'll see him again, someday.

March '11.1

2011-03-20T10:15:00.002-04:00

It's the Vernal Equinox! I'm a fan of both spring and summer, thus the first days of each always put me in a good mood.

Let's talk about games.

First off, not sure why some people aren't enjoying Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as much as its predecessors. I've been told that it's "not a Marvel vs. Capcom game" which makes no sense to me. It plays similarly to the first, you can tag in members on your team or have them jump in for a single attack, you can play as Chun Li, Spiderman, Morrigan, and Wolverine...it's a Marvel vs. Capcom game. Essentially it's a fighting game, which is has a narrow fan base, I'm sure, so I don't know what people were expecting; you fight using Marvel comic characters and Capcom game characters who are trying to save the earth from Galactus, the Destroyer of Worlds...not much to it, but it is a lot of fun for people who enjoy the genre.

Also, I've been having a blast playing what a few of us at work had dubbed "Super Boobie Taisen." Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Endless Frontier (there's a mouthful) is one of those very Japanese Atlus games that can be difficult to find, but if you're into fun turn-based gameplay, beautiful sprite animation, and ridiculous attacks that blow off the character's clothes, this is worth hunting down.

Speaking of very Japanese games, Hyperdimension Neptunia is a fun game that takes a look at the console wars from a very unique angle. Nippon Ichi (or NIS, now) has been a favourite developer of mine since Disgaea and La Pucell Tactics, and now that they're partnering with other companies like Idea Factory, Gust, and Compile Heart, their games are getting pushed out fast. Hyperdimension Neptuinia plays very much like their last game, Trinity Universe, where the player is given a dungeon where they encounter random enemies throughout and a boss at the end. The 3D graphics aren't nearly as detailed as something like Gears of War, but this is a great example of how graphics don't really matter, and what makes a game entertaining is the gameplay. The 2D graphics are set up like a traditional RPG, with one character on each side of the screen as they talk, but, like Trinity Universe, they move beautifully as if they're breathing, their hair sways, mouths open and close...it's clever. The story is enjoyable because you're essentially playing a personified Sega console who's been kicked out of the game industry by the personified Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony consoles. Again, if it sounds like your thing, I'd say hunt it down.

I'm a little behind in my Bioware games. I haven't even touched Mass Effect 2 even though the third is on it's way out later this year, and I bought Dragon Age 2 when it launched, but I vowed to finish the story of Origins before beginning the sequel. For me, that means beating the expansion Awakening. I haven't downloaded all of the extra missions like the Witch Hunt or Leliana's Song, but I have gotten about halfway through Awakening, and am liking just as much as the original game, in spite of it's lack of characters from the main game. Since my character survived slaying the Archdemon, she's gone north to recruit more Gray Wardens, and I was a little surprised that Zeveran and Alistair didn't follow suit. Oghren is in my party, though, and seems to be the only one that I can have run around with me and kill some darkspawn, and I've come across Wynn, but she has her hands full.

Never in my life have I ever wanted to be a doctor in any respects, but I did enjoy the Trauma Center game on the DS. I knew they made more and even created some for the Wii, but I never got into them much. The first one was enough for me...until I gave Trauma Team a try. I'm hooked! The multiplayer idea from the previous Trauma game came back into this one, and it's incredibly fun. I especially like the fact that there are six different characters you can choose, each in a different field of medicine, each with a different (soap-opera-ish) story. I'm amazed at how much fun I've had patching up an ulcer-infected stomach with my fiance!

Since Homefront just launched, I've decided to give it a try in the next couple of days. I'm not expecting magic as I'm not a huge FPS fan, but I'm anticipating the story to see how it's going to pan out. I also have Enslaved on my plate, along with the new Castlevania, and some older games like Heavenly Sword and Mirror's Edge. I should probably go and beat the first Assassin's Creed, too.

Anyway, in regards to me not being in school, my sister told me that I should work on my Aislin story/comics, so I've decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and make the most of a bad situation. As of now, the first four books are written out, with the fifth being nearly done. Originally, I wanted it to be seven books long, but I think I have enough material to make it to ten (without any overkill). I think I'm going to go for it. I'm sure Deviant Art will be loaded with character designs, soon.

February '11.1

2011-02-19T14:53:00.002-05:00

So much has happened since my last post.

Our pet frog, Glen, passed away last month, and I still feel odd about seeing a stack of games where his tank used to be.

Also, I have been withdrawn from my classes due to my lack of financial aid. I have been doing some freelance art work while picking up a few more hours at my store to pass the time away, but I truly miss school. I am hoping that I can find a loan (or stumble across a large sum of money) so I can go back, but it doesn't seem likely.

I've been playing more games, obviously, now that I have more free time. I finally beat Luminous Arc and began Super Robot Taisen OSG Final Frontier.

I'll go into depth at a later date, but I'm currently enjoying Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Hyperdemension Neptunia, Dragon Age Origins: Awakening, Little Big Planet 2, and Trauma Team.

Since I've been sick for over a week, I've been spending a lot of time watching anime on Netflix while knitting a baby blanket for my unborn nephew. Darker Than Black has become a favourite of mine, and I'm in the middle of Moribito, which has been addictive. Queen's Blade is...interesting, to say the least.

Either or, I've got a lot to write about, but for now, I'm off to draw. These commissions aren't going to create themselves.

October '10.1

2010-10-14T11:50:00.004-04:00

My laptop was out of commission for the latter half of September due to the mother board going bad, which made doing work at the Save Point a little inconvenient since I had to mooch a computer off of them every time I went down to put a character on their wall.

But, character transference is complete, the Save Point is open, and I've been giving colour to the characters bit by bit as I have the time to go downtown. I wish I did have more time, but I do work, and have my class, and they're understanding and don't seem to mind when I randomly pop in for a couple of hours and paint. I'm probably going to drop by there today, as well, since I do have the day off from work, and I have the rest of the day to do some homework.

Speaking of homework, I'm enjoying my 3d modeling class in spite of the fact that it's highly frustrating working with a new program. I've never worked in 3d, so the assignments are all very informative and challenging, but there have been a few points where I've wanted to smash something...which takes a lot for me. I've told people that I have the patience of a rock, so when something sets me off, it's something big.

So! Final Fantasy 14 came out, which means I've been on my desktop a lot more. I love the game in a different way than I did 11, and I'm honestly confused by the horrible reviews some websites have been given. My only conclusion is that they're very biased and already have an MMO that they play, or they don't enjoy learning, exploring, and not having everything simply handed to them. Personally, I'm very into the story behind it, and I have fun completing quests. To each their own, I suppose. I've never played other MMOs so I can't honestly compare it to anything, but I think it's being judged to harshly based on other games. People complain that it's not like 11 when, in my opinion, it shouldn't have to be. 11 is still up and running, and people are still playing it. Also, Square doesn't have the experience of making social games; the Final Fantasy series has been nothing but single player RPGs, as has a vast majority of their other titles (look to the Digital Devil Saga, Persona, and Dragon Quest games). 14 is flawed, but it is new. 11 had several years to get to where it is, and it's just foolish to expect 14 to be perfect from the get-go. I'm taking it for what it is, and having a good time.

The new Castlevania has also been able to steal a good amount of my time. It doesn't play like any other Castlevania game, but it still keeps the feel of it. With the 3d ones on the PS2, there was something...lacking. With Lords of Shadow, it all just feels right, and it seems like it's a good direction for the series. The monster design is some of the best I've seen in a game, the voice-acting is spot on, the story is intriguing, the levels are not only gorgeous, but well-designed.

The next few months and going to break me since Fist of the North Star and the new Fallout, Fable, and Assassin's Creed games all come out within a few weeks of each other. Little Big Planet 2 has been moved to released next year, though, and Gears 3 has been pushed back even further (not real happy about that, but there's naught to be done).

In non-game related news, the next installment of Sky Doll is in the works. Barbucci's art has been more of a recent inspiration of mine, and I bought the Sky Doll graphic novel several months back, not knowing that the story had been put on hold and the book unfinished. The ending was very unresolved and left me with so many questions, so I was happy to read in Barbucci's blog that they're working on more.

Also, I'm visiting a castle next week! Ian and I are searching for wedding locations, and we were thinking that a castle would be most awesome. I'm sure I'll have stuff to post about that.

September '10.1

2010-09-09T01:18:00.002-04:00

I've been so caught up in my current projects that I've neglected to update the month of August.

Well, first of all, I'm helping out an old classmate who's opening his own business in town. When I heard that he was opening up a gaming cafe downtown, I half-jokingly asked him if he needed anyone to do some graphics for him. He ended up mentioning characters all over the walls inside, and I ended up saying I could do that, and here I am, creating images of video game-looking characters and monsters and painting them inside a local business. I'm having a great time designing all of them and spending time transferring them onto the walls; it's such a great experience, and I can't thank them enough for allowing me to do this.

In case anyone's curious, they're called Save Point, and while there's nothing to speak of on their web site, their Facebook page is loaded with pre-opening pictures and information.

In other news, I finished colouring my chibi picture a while back, and have since moved on to a few other things. I bought a magazine full of tutorials on digital painting and plan to utilize said tutorials once I get my laptop back up and running (currently having issues with booting). But, we bought an amazing gaming computer capable of running Final Fantasy XIV at optimal settings, so I'm looking forward to the game even more. In fact, I plan on having no life after it releases.

Speaking of game releases, this fall is going to kill me. Not only does the next Fable come out, but there's the new Fallout, the sequel to Little Big Planet, a new Castlevania...and of all of those, I want the collector's editions, which means I'll be poor. Thanks be to Epic for not releasing Gears 3 until April next year (though, honestly, I'm dying to play it).

But I have plenty of things on my plate right now. School is going well, and I've been writing more of my Aislin comic and Arden Rain short-story. I picked up Star For Command for my DS and fell in love with the series all over again. But seriously, am I the only one who doesn't like the fact that they scrapped Fara Phoenix all those years ago? I also got to play a little bit of 3D Dot Game Heroes, which is pretty much an ode to the Zelda games, if not a complete rip-off that's well done. I also finally downloaded the extra levels to Resident Evil 5 and am disappointed at the lack of zombies in the mansion...but it was great to play as Jill and Chris. Still have yet to play the second DLC level with Josh and Jill, but I plan on getting to that soon.

Back to my Arden Rain story...I've actually been meaning to post the first chapter onto my Deviant Art page to get some feedback and see if I'm heading in the right direction with it. I'm fairly satisfied with how it's turning out, personally, and I'm finding that the more I write, the more I enjoy it. For me, it's like purging the left side of my brain, while drawing purges the right half. I liken it to exercising, and do it until I can't do it anymore. I've been carrying a notebook with me like I used to, and have been going over it while riding the bus, taking lunch breaks at work, etc.

What I would love to do is devote all of my time to Aislin and her story, though. I was up far too late the other night with a power outage, going over my old scripts from a few years back by candle-light, remembering what I had written, what I wanted to keep, what I wanted to add...I could easily let that world consume me. I've spent so long creating it, sustaining it, building on to it. I know it must sound a little silly, but it's such a large part of me and I feel like I've not been giving it the attention it wants. Essentially it's written, and has been for years. I've been working on a revised version for the last couple of years, trying to properly divide it up into the ten books it was meant to be, and don't even get me started on the character designs. I think I'm finally happy with my current drawing skills and writing abilities, but...

I didn't mean for that to turn into a rant. I suppose that I've just had that flame rekindled and I'm in need of returning to that story.

Who knows? Perhaps the next time I update, I'll have done more with it.

July '10.1

2010-07-18T12:02:00.002-04:00

Ah, I skipped a month again, it seems.

June was rather interesting, though. I finished the special topics class and our "demo-in-progress" was submitted to the Apps for Healthy Kids contest. It's rough...very rough, to the point the it's almost unplayable. But the idea of it is there, and if more time is spent on it, then a full game could emerge and actually be enjoyable. There were a few students (myself included) that continued some work after the class itself was finished, and there's been a group created on Facebook for AIO IGDA students, as well, that I've been following to keep up on the news for our game. Voting is taking place now.

I finally got to see "Avatar" (James Cameron's, not that white-washed "Last Airbender" tripe). The visuals were indeed impressive, and overall I enjoyed the story. I've heard it compared to "Dance's with Wolves," and it did make me think of the British colonization of the Americas, but there were parts that made me think of my Aislin story that I've been writing for the last eight years, what with the mining of precious ore and whatnot.

I've also seen Miyazaki's "Ponyo." I'll go ahead and say that it's not my favourite Miyazaki movie. I wanted it to be since I love "The Little Mermaid" stories that I've read and seen throughout the years, but this...wasn't "The Little Mermaid" to me. I felt like "Ponyo" had no real climax and no real resolution, and when compared to Miyazaki's other works like "Princess Mononoke" or "Laputa," I felt that it fell a bit short near the end.

Speaking of Miyazaki, though, Studio Ghibli and Level 5 (the developing team behind Professor Layton) are teaming up to create two games, one for the PS3 and one for the DS that take place in the same world, but tell different stories. To me, they appear to be like Pokemon, with the characters using monsters and summons to fight instead of battling themselves.

And speaking of Professor Layton, I've finally beat the first game and can now safely pick up the second one (now that a third is on it's way over to the states). Boy, talk about a game that can make you feel either stupid or a genius. I have the bad habit of over-analyzing the puzzles and having the answer stare me straight in the face, or thinking "A-ha! This is easy!" only to have my solutions constantly rejected.

I've also beaten Dragon Age, but have no clue how the game ended because of a power outage. I can now either reload the finished game to continue exploring Ferelden, or load an alternate save file about an hour away from the Archdemon. One of these days soon, I'll go back and replay the battles leading up to the final fight, but right now I'm a little miffed.

I'm close to beating Assassin's Creed (something I should have done a long while back), and I've decided to pick up Luminous Arc again and finish it. I've also been exploring Hogwarts in Lego Harry Potter, something I highly recommend to fans of the books or movies, as well as anyone who enjoyed any of the other Lego games.

I'm just about ready to wet myself over the excitement that preludes the coming Final Fantasy XIV. The PC version is coming out in a couple of months, and Ian and I are already planning on getting a new desktop computer for it. Unfortunately, the PS3 version won't come out until next year so we won't be able to play together, but when we first started playing XI we didn't party together, either. I'm really looking forward to creating a character and running around in such a rich environment. I'm also thinking about registering my copy of FFXIII to try to get into the PS3 beat test of XIV...

In other news, my deviant art page hit over 7,000 views, so I submitted a chibi drawing to thank everyone who watches me. I'm almost finished with a coloured version that I'd like to get up by the end of the month. I'd also done a marker drawing for an Art Institute Online DA contest (that involved no prizes) to personify Summer, which I feel turned out nicely considering I don't work with markers as much as I'd like. There are still a lot of pictures that I'm in the middle of completing, but I picked up some extra hours at work, so I'm not sure when everything will get done. I've actually got a sketch sitting next to me, but I'm a little uninspired at the moment, so this will probably be yet another drawing that remains unfinished for years to come...

May '10.1

2010-05-31T11:06:00.002-04:00

I do try and update about once a month primarily so I don't lose any writing skills I may have, but I seem to have skipped a couple due to the usual lack of motivation and busyness.

I played the first few hours of Final Fantasy 13. Graphically it's the best-looking game out there. There's no polygonal breakup to be seen, and there's little differences (if any at all) between cinematics and in-game graphics. The story, combat, and characters don't make this my favourite Final Fantasy game by far, but I still find it enjoyable despite some of the mediocre reviews I've read. I think it's a game that you need to decide for yourself if you truly like or not, and I don't recommend taking anyone's word one way or another on it.

I also gave Dante's Inferno a try and immediately put it down. It was too repetitious and stale, even though the design work had a lot of meaning and symbolism behind it and the music was beautiful. From what I know of the actual literature off of which this game is meant to be based, I saw very little connection. I would rather have played God of War or Assassin's Creed.

I also played and beat Heavy Rain recently. I think that this game is the epitome of compelling story-telling and it was gorgeously interactive. This, for me, is proof that games can indeed be an art form. It was as if I were watching a movie or a series of episodes and choosing what I wanted to happen; I was compelled by each of the character's and their side of the story, and most importantly, I cared what was going to happen. More games need to be as well-written as this.

There's a long list of games coming out that I'm anticipating, but I'll save said list for another day.

As far as school goes, I was accepted into a special class outside of the normal roster. I'm currently helping a team of instructors and students create an entry for the Apps for Healthy Kids contest. It's a challenge, but I am learning a lot, and it's a great honour to have been invited to take part in this. Hopefully once it's finished, I can post a link to it. (:

February '10.2

2010-02-15T15:15:00.002-05:00

It appears as though I have been screwed over by my school loan situation. Apparently, the limit of financial aid disbursement totals in past schooling...so the 30,000 from my first degree has seemingly made it impossible for me to obtain my second degree. I have reached the federal limit or 50,000-and something and must now pay for the rest of my education out of pocket, or with the assistance of private loans. I have no idea how I'm going to do this, because being a part-time cashier at GameStop isn't exactly the most lucrative of jobs, and I've already been denied a private loan without a cosigner. It seems that my only option is to find someone who's willing to cosign for me and be tied to my educational costs for the next four years.

I'm not about to quit school considering that would simply be a waste of the last two years and I desperately am wanting to be a game developer of some sort. I suppose that all I can do is truck on and try my damnedest to scrape by in the years to come.

If that's my cross to bear, so be it.

So, yesterday heralded the first day of the new lunar year. Traditionally (and similarly to January first), this day is the day to forgive old grudges and forget about any past arguments. People wish each other long life and health. According to Chinese legend, the holiday came about because villages and towns were being destroyed by a large beast on this day. It would devour their fields, their livestock, and their children. To prevent their families from being eaten, people would set plates of food outside their doors on the new year night and hope that the meal would satiate the monster. Some versions of the story say that the beast was frightened by children in red, or by household gods dressed in red, but they all agree that the monster hated that colour and loud noises, so they would light red lanterns and throw firecrackers to keep it at bay. Today, the new year is still celebrated by decorating with red and gold, banging drums, and throwing firecrackers. The celebration itself is actually 15 days long, each day having its own set of traditions. Some days are set aside for visiting family, visiting graves, or lighting candles.

And so, Ian and I have recently bought Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. The game itself is loaded with fun...I mean, it's a Capcom versus game; how could it not be? Since it's made for the Wii, though, it feels a little dumbed-down when compared to other fighters. I don't have a problem with this, and find it to be a little refreshing to pick up and not feel the need to master combo sets and move lists. It's also interesting to play as several characters that were never hugely popular in the states.

The New Super Mario Brothers for the Wii was another new purchase. Ian definitely likes the game more than I do, but then again, I'm horrible at it. I've died more times than I can count and feel inadequate as a gamer. After playing games for most of my life, I'd like to think that my hand-eye coordination is better than this game would have you think. But overall, I suppose I would categorize it as "fun" and it has helped expand the Wii collection on my shelf. There aren't many games that are good and can be played cooperatively, and my only real complaint is how easy it is to jump off of someone's head and send them to their death, even when you're not meaning to do so.

I am once again playing Dragon Age Origins. It's amazing how involved I can get when it comes to the fictional lives of the inhabitants in the world. Right now I'm trying to rid the mage's guild of demon's from the Fade to save my once-home and family and gain their alliance in facing the Darkspawn. While there, I'm also trying to get enough lyrium to enter the Fade and defeat a demon that's possessed the body of a young boy, who's the son of a great lord, who happens to have helped raise a member of my party. It's intense.

Part of me likes the game more than its space-counter-part Mass Effect; there's more interactions between myself and those in my party, and I feel like I can connect to them more and relate with them. But with Mass Effect, I feel like it was a more solid game, like I had more control in combat.

Every game has its pros and cons, though, and it doesn't help comparing one game to another. I like Dragon Age for what it is, and am anticipating the rest of the games in the series.

February '10.1

2010-02-03T12:22:00.002-05:00

Alas, I was unable to finish my Pocco cosplay in time for Ohayocon, but fear not (those who care), for I am hoping to attend Tekkoshocon in a few weeks where I plan to debut my costume. My facebook album is constantly being updated with pictures from my WIP sewing excursions, and I'd like to compile the highlights into a nice collage for Deviant Art. More on that later, though.

Ohayocon itself was a lot of fun. I was introduced to the popular Ouran High School Host Club and enjoyed that, and became interested in this whole fashion thing called Steampunk. I'm currently thinking of possible Steampunk costume ideas, but that will have to take a backseat to the Pocco cosplay. We went to an intense Pokemon vs. Digimon panel where we debated the differences in the two shows and generally had a screaming match trying to prove one another wrong. I was on the Digimon side, of course, and at the end of the panel, I talked to the couple that had organized it, and showed them my tattoo (Kari's crest of light)...which the girl took a picture of and posted online. I am amused by this.

In the last month, I was able to play a few new games. Bayonetta has proven to be much better than expected; in fact, I could hardly put the game down. This surprised me since I was expecting an everyday shooter/Devil May Cry rip-off. What I got was a fun, over-the-top game that didn't really take itself seriously. The combat is fast-paced (to the point where if you're watching someone else play, you can't keep up) but fluid, and you can purchase new move and weapons as the story progresses, which is always a plus in my book. The story is well-written and keeps you interested without bogging down gameplay, and Bayonetta herself is likable.

A Boy and His Blob is much different, and while not as spectacular, it provides its own variety of fun. The art is beautiful and the animations are nice, and the puzzles are a bit simple, but it's nice for taking some time out and just enjoying yourself.

Mad World is easily one of the most vulgar, brutal, and bloody games I've ever played. It's a nice game to take your rage out on, and not for the faint of heart. The soundtrack, commentary, and characters drop the f-bomb every step of the way, using it like a verb, noun, adjective, and whatever else. If you can get past that, throwing people into jet engines, jabbing stop-sign poles into skulls, and repeatedly lifting bodies into spike-laden walls (they censored their own trailers), then I suggest giving it a shot. The art is unique, and I've known some people that can't get the hang of an all black and white game, but I find it almost refreshing in a world that seems to only accept realistic graphics.

Most recently, though, my newest obsession has been Natsume's Book of Friends (Natsume Yuujinchou), an anime/manga that tells the story of Natsume, a high school boy able to see yokai/spirits/demons around him and how he interacts with them. I know that it sounds like any other anime within that genre, but this one stands out. It's heartwarming and moving in places, goofy at times, but well-animated with great characters. I'm hoping that it comes to the states and becomes more popular, because as it is now, there's only one manga published, and the anime is only available subbed online.

In other news, school is still progressing nicely along. I'm enjoying my current class and the way it's making me think of more technical things gameplay-wise. I'm anxious about my course that begins in a couple of weeks, though; animation is not one of my fortes, but it will be nice to learn more and hone my skills.

Anyway, I've been working on several pictures and would like to think that my Deviant Art page will not be neglected for much longer. I haven't posted anything new there for months, and I've realised just how little I've been drawing. I'd like to make up for that. But we'll see.

January '10.1

2010-01-01T12:54:00.003-05:00

New Years is an amusing holiday to me. People are so ready to be done with one year and welcome in another without thinking that in a few months they'll be ready to forget the new one, as well. I suppose it's a time of hope, though...people like new beginnings. For me, it's a day like any other.

I stopped wasting my time with resolutions years ago after I realised that many of them were unrealistic; I'm a believer in setting goals, but I feel that they should be attainable. For example, everyone always says that they want to lose weight, or stop drinking/smoking/vicing...to actually accomplish this, I think that a tangible number works better, e.g. if someone were to say they'd like to lose 10 pounds in the next 3 months. The human brain seems to function better on such a goal, and it's measurable, so we feel that we're going somewhere with it.

I feel that goals and such are not just for the first few months of a year, but as I said, people enjoy a sense of hope, and that seems to be what January is all about.

Moving on.

Little Big Planet is an enjoyable game that everyone should buy. It's been passed up by many since it appears to be a 'kid's game,' but like every all-ages game, it has something for everyone. It plays like an updated Mario game since it's a side-scrolling run-and-jump type, but you're able to customize your character (the sack person), and better yet, you're able to create your own levels.

Dragon Age: Origins is a must-own for anyone who enjoys high fantasy stories. It reminds me of one of Bioware's older games, Jade Empire, since it doesn't play like Mass Effect (as I thought it might). It's realistic, though, in that the choices you make can't please everyone. By choosing to side with one member of your party, you risk your friendship with another, and even your origin affects how people view you. My character is looked down upon since she's an elf, and therefore less than human. Most elves in this world are slaves and servants to humans, so I get talked to in that fashion. I also chose to be a mage, and mages are the source of the evil darkspawn that plague the world. Two strikes against me.

Borderlands has proven to be a lot of fun, as well, as long as you go into the game with the right mind frame. Similar to Fallout3, it's not a run-and-gun type of shooter; the game takes some time to get into, and there are quests and missions for you to complete...you can't just run anywhere you like, shooting whatever you please. It's also more fun (in my opinion) to play with someone else.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a blast. There's something sickly satisfying about cracking open a zombie's head with a crowbar. It is meant to be a multiplayer game, though, and just doesn't feel right if you're trying to traipse about on your own.

Assassin's Creed 2 is better than the first, and I loved the first. Ezio has more personality than Altair did, and the game itself is bigger and more expansive. I mean, you can buy paintings for your mansion, for crying out loud!

I've picked up several other titles including A Boy and His Blob, and Folklore, but I haven't gotten the chance to play them, and will have to write about them some other time.

As far as school goes, I completed my Digital Storytelling course recently, and you may view my final project as long as you promise to be kind to me. The original sound files were corrupted, so the I had to re-record everything in a last-minute hurry. I begin Game Design and Game Play after winter vacation has ended, but I'm not sure I'll have any artwork come out of that. After that, though, will be my next animation class, and hopefully I'll have learned enough in the first to not make a fool of myself.

My costume is still behind in schedule, and I'm planning on working diligently on it for the next few weeks, as Ohayocon is at the end of this month, and I was really looking forward to cosplaying as Pocco. Niko has so generously allowed me the use of her basement for the completion of my sword and wings since the weather isn't exactly ideal for foam and paint. I've been posting pictures of my work in progress onto my Facebook page, and I'm sure I'll put some of the highlights into one of my blog entries...perhaps I'll even do an annoying little step-by-step thing for anyone else who may ever be interesting in making a Pocco cosplay.

November '09.1

2009-11-15T14:40:00.002-05:00

Well, I came out of my animation class much wiser and with a deeper appreciation for those who choose to make cartooning a career. I completed my 8 second long final project without too many problems, and while I like it, I'm debating on whether or not to upload it onto my Deviant Art page. If I do, I'd put it into my scraps, I suppose, for the simple fact that it's a beginner's animation.

The class itself took up so much of my time. I'm so far behind schedule with my costume to the point that I wonder how it's going to get done in time for the convention. I'm afraid that after this next course (digital storytelling) and during my holiday break, I'll be doing nothing but sewing. But, if that's what it takes, so be it. I want to cosplay!

As far as games go, I'm about four hours into Magna Carta 2 and I've come across one inconvenient glitch that sends one of your party members into a void, making it impossible to control them or even have them in a battle. I was afraid that I had lost the ability to use three characters altogether, but after entering another area via the world map, the problem seems to have worked itself out. If I had known that it would take so long to get that character back, I wouldn't have saved; I ended up batteling a boss with only two characters, which was more frustrating than it needed to be.

I also played Brutal Legend for a few hours and had a lot of fun with it. I'm no fan of Jack Black, but he does nice voice work and he fits the main character well. I'm also not much of a fan when it comes to death metal music, but the environments are all cleverly created and designed (tail pipe trees, people), and the characters and story make the world seem believable.

I've also spent a little time with the DS game A Witch's Tale. I really like the story, thus far, and the combat system is set up pretty much like any other turn-based RPG. Your party members consist of dolls you find and animate with your magic, and goal is to become the most powerful witch in the world. It's simple and witty, and I wish I had more time to delve deeper into it.

And if you haven't played Fallout 3 yet, go do it. Now. It plays like Oblivion, but with guns! Who doesn't like expansive worlds to traverse across?

Assassin's Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 both come out this Tuesday, so I'm sure I'll have an update about those soon, too.

October '09.1

2009-10-05T08:32:00.006-04:00

Let's talk about video games.

First off, I bought, played and beat Princess Debut. Laugh all you want, but it was a fun game in spite of everything. It plays like a dating simulation game (for kids), where you are filling in for the princess of a kingdom because she can't dance. You meet several princes, go on dates, and find a partner to the ball, all in order to make sure the real princess doesn't look bad. The challenge of the game comes in when actually dancing, as it requires some hand-eye coordination. The touch screen gives you various patterns to trace in time with the music, some of which can be a bit tricky to get just right.

I've been playing Muramasa lately, toggling the story between Momohime and Kisuke. I'm a bit surprised that they didn't give an option for English voices (Battle Fantasia didn't have English, either), but that's perfectly fine by me. I leave some games in Japanese anyway. Audio options or not, this is a great game. The visuals are stunning, the music is beautiful, and the story is compelling. You're only given so much information at the beginning, which makes you want to play the game and discover more. I've heard some complaints that it's very repetitive, but the same was said about Assassin's Creed, and in my opinion, it could be said about nearly every game if you're picky enough. In Muramasa, you traverse the countryside defeating ninja, samurai, oni, and various other enemies while leveling up and forging new and stronger swords. In Momohime's story, she has been wounded and her body possessed by the spirit of the great warrior Jinkuro who killed his master and peers in order to make their fighting style his own. Momohime's spirit follows him around in the hopes of regaining her body once Jinkuro gets what he wants, and avenging her family that died when she was wounded. Kisuke's story doesn't exactly overlap (yet...they've met each other in the hot springs a few times and have talked very little) as he's a runaway ninja being pursued for crimes he doesn't remember committing. He is helped by a fox demon who is drawn to his skill and strength and promises him the power to forge demon blades.

I've also had the privilege of playing WET, an action game by Bethesda (known for the Elder Scrolls games). It's a crazy, over-the-top, gun-slinging game full of cheesy dialogue, vulgar catch-phrases, and insane violence. You play as Ruby, a mercenary of sorts, who gets hired to pick up a black market heart for a transplant. From there, events spiral, and she ends up hunting down the people who gave her the job to begin with in a quest for revenge. The graphics aren't spectacular, and the controls take some time getting used to and understanding, but overall, it's so much fun and so frustrating that I sat and shook my head at the screen asking "Really?!" Especially as Ruby dives through the air, blasting heads with a shotgun in slow-motion.

I played a couple of hours of Red Faction: Guerrilla, as well. After liberating the first section of civilized Mars, though, I was done. While it was interesting, they ended up piling too much on you as if you're some sort of super-soldier...You're a miner. When I was granted access into the new area, I was promptly given five different missions, all of which required immediate action. There was a convoy headed to the location I had just freed, there was a truck that needed intercepted because of a letter that it carried, there were people requesting help fighting off the military...It took the fun out of the game. I didn't, however, get a chance to try the multiplayer, but I've heard good things about it.

Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? is a great addition to my PSP collection. You play a Prinny (a lesser demon of the netherworld introduced in Disgaea), and it's your mission to make Etna the Ultimate Dessert. Some poor schmuck ate her dessert, which sent her into a rage, and now she's taking it out on every Prinny. To make her happy, you run all over hell and back to get the ingredients needed to make her something else.

I'm excited about several upcoming games, as well. Dragon Age: Origins is going to push the boundaries of RPGs. Magna Carta 2 is going to be full of eye-candy (even though it's the third Magna Carta game...the first never came to the states). Left 4 Dead 2 is going to be as much fun as the first, especially with the addition of melee weapons. Every bit of Assassin's Creed 2 that I see makes me fan-girl squeal. Mass Effect 2 is still a ways away, but I'm looking forward to playing it since I love the first so much.

What I'd really like, is for Final Fantasy XIV to come out next summer like Square claims it will. It looks like such a beautiful game, and I've been trying to keep up on news and information on it so I'll actually be prepared to play it when it does launch. I think I got in over my head with XI and came off as as serious newb when I started.

Art updates will be coming soon. I've been working on things, I've just been neglecting my DA page, and haven't actually finished a non-school drawing in quite some time.

Soon.

August '09.1

2009-08-21T10:50:00.002-04:00

I've been working on my Pocco cosplay a lot this last month. I've made some patterns, cut out some wings and a sword from foam, bought a lot of fabric...I'd like to get the foam pieces done before cold weather falls since a lot of the work needs to be done outside (sanding, painting, and such); I can sew inside in any weather, so the costume itself is seen as a slightly lower priority right now.

I finished my Digital Image Manipulation course this week and have begun my Dynamic Figure Drawing class. Unfortunately, none of the pieces I did in this last class have been put on my DA site. Most of them were direct lessons from the Classroom in a Book text, so I haven't felt the need to upload them. I'm going to take some time to resize my final, though, and post it, as it turned out well enough.

I've also been spending a better part of my time working on some posters for a theater show in the Midwest to be put on by Trompe-L'Oeil Entertainment. Can't talk about the show since it's all hush-hush and secret right now, but I'm excited that my art gets to be part of it. ^_^

Video games have been slightly sidelined, though I have managed to level up my new job class in FFXI. A lot of new games are coming out soon! Kingdom Hearts, the second Professor Layton, the Batman game, Dragon Age Origins...I'm going to have to make the time to pick up some titles that I haven't beaten yet, like Ar Tonelico, but all in due time, I suppose.

I need to make some time for my personal art, but that seems to hardly happen. I did, however, finish drawing my Moonlight Armour picture, and it is awaiting colour. I'd like to begin sketching the Sunshine Armour soon so I can post the two of them at the same time, but we'll see. I did begin colouring a picture of Rin and Remy, the main characters from the Waking Dream story I've been conceptualizing, so that image may get uploaded first.

Hopefully, once I get my work/school/project schedules in order, I can find the time!

July '09.1

2009-07-15T13:15:00.003-04:00

Video Games Live was an intense experience, proving that video games are not only entertainment, but an art and a part of our culture that should be recognized and respected. If you get the chance to go, I highly recommend it. Not only will you get to see game footage from several popular titles, but you'll hear live orchestral music and choirs. And maybe you'll get to see Tommy Tallarico head bang to One Winged Angel. ^_^

Well, school is back in session, and I'm already excited about upcoming assignments in my Digital Image Manipulation course. I'm sure I'll have plenty of new additions to my Deviant Art site, and perhaps a few of those will end up on Artician. I did finish colouring my Togruta picture over my break, and am fairly happy with the outcome. I also compiled a few pictures of a monkey I sewed together a while back and submitted them. I'm still working on cleaning up a sketch of a humanoid version of Phinny, my stuffed cat/sidekick. I'll probably be scanning that soon and colouring it...my goal is to add it to my portfolio, but I'm waiting to see how it turns out, first. If all goes well, I'll be drawing a similar version of my alter-ego Rin, and perhaps collage the two together.

I beat Mass Effect on my break, and am even more excited about the sequel that's going to be released the beginning of next year. It's amazing that the characters will be the same from the first game (I killed off Ashley, so she won't be in my crew), so I'm hoping that my Commander Shepard and Kaiden will still have their relationship.

Bioshock 2 got pushed back, which I'm fine with. I'd rather wait and have the game be that much better, rather than buying a piece of rushed crap. Assassin's Creed 2 is still looking good. Still excited about Muramasa and FFXIV.

BlazBlue is a lot of fun. I think I enjoyed it more than Battle Fantasia, but that may be because 2d graphics have a special place in my heart. Both are rather hard, though, and require some time to learn the moves, but I enjoy that about fighting games. I'll have to see if the new King of Fighters stands up to them, too.

I've been playing the crap out of Gears of War 2 with Ian lately. We beat the game on Insane the other night, and prior to that, we'd been milking the mulitplayer maps for all they were worth. We still need online and public achievements, but neither of us are much for playing public matches. We'll see how that goes. The new All Fronts download will be available by the end of the month, and I'm really looking forward to that, as well. More maps, extra campaign level, and new achievements makes me a happy girl.

June '09.2

2009-06-26T17:47:00.003-04:00

School is out for a couple of weeks, so I'm trying to catch up on some personal projects while I have a bit of time. Today I finished and uploaded a picture on my Deviant Art site, and am debating on whether or not to put it on my Artician site. Originally, my Techno Girl was supposed to be Beat Girl, from the Shojo Beat magazine. A while back they had announced a contest asking people to draw their own version of Beat Girl, but they canceled the contest shortly after. I kept drawing, altering my original design a bit, and overall I'm happy. It took a little bit of time getting used to drawing with my tablet again, since my latest school assignments have been in graphite, charcoal, and conte.

I'm also taking the time to scope out some intern positions, now that I've finished my first year at Ai. I never heard back from Big Huge Games...I wasn't able to submit my resume and portfolio to them due to some e-mail error on their end, and when I wrote them to ask about it, they never replied. I wish I could have at least gotten some feedback from them about my work, just to see if they thought I had any talent, or what I should work on to improve my portfolio.

I did send in my resume to SilverTreeMedia, though. And have already heard back from them, as well. They told me they'd be in touch if they felt I would be able to contribute anything to one of their projects. I probably don't have anything too eye-catching in my portfolio as of yet (hopefully that will change as I progress through school and learn more), but I got excited when I found out that they made the Pixie Hollow game I've been poking around at for the last couple of months.

Anyway, I checked out Bionic Commando, and have been having fun playing that. By no means is it the greatest thing I've ever played, but it is fun. Aside from the odd controls and various impossible situations like your mechanical arm being more sensitive to radiation than your organic body, it's not bad. I've had some gripes with it (you can't have a robotic arm without the rest of your body having cybernetic implants...your arm would be so heavy it'd fall off!), but I know how to willingly suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy a video game.

I've been meaning to try the new Red Faction, as well, and I've been hearing good things about Ghostbusters. Until then, I'm content to play Gears of War 2 and Resident Evil 5 again, and I still need to beat Mass Effect. Jade Empire and Ar Tonelico have been put on the back burner, and I just bought Monster Hunter and created a character in that, but haven't done more than the first tutorial mission.

Argh. So many video games. ^_^

June '09.1

2009-06-07T12:49:00.003-04:00

It seems like everyone's talking about E3 right now, so I guess I should say a few things about it, as well. But I'll be honest; there wasn't a lot that excited me. Most games I've known about for months, like Assassin's Creed 2, and Brutal Legend. Heck, I'd even been looking stuff up about BioWare's Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic. Gaming magazines and even the Internet have been full of information, screenshots, and trailers for a long while before companies showed off their stuff at E3.

I will say, however, that there were a couple of surprises, some of which were pleasant, some of which were...not. Microsoft's Project Natal is interesting enough, even though it creeps me out. It's just doing what the Wii did; cater to casual gamers. The whole 'body as a controller' thing could work well enough for some games, but I'm thinking that if you're going to be up and dancing around in your living room, you should go outside and get some fresh air. I mean, in one part of their commercial, a kid scan his real skateboard into the game and then proceeds to play. Why isn't he just outside riding his real skateboard? And sorry, Milo, but I can't see anyone actually playing a game with a VI child. It works well, as a demo, but I would question the motives of someone who bought this game. Maybe that's juat my lack of faith in humanity, though.

Square caught me off-guard when they annouced FFXIV for the PS3 and PC, especially since FFXIII hasn't come to the states, yet. And Nintendo threw all sorts of titles into gamer's faces...the most exciting of all being Metroid: Other M, which is being developed by Team Ninja of Ninja Gaiden fame.

As far as up and coming releases go, though, I've got my eye on BlazBlue and Dissidia. My 360 and PSP collections need new additions, and I'm always up for good fighting games. Hopefully in a couple of weeks when I go on summer holiday, I can get back into some serious gaming.

Life Drawing is a demanding class. Most of what I've been doing has been uploaded in a special Deviant Art folder, but it's sad that my overall gallery seems neglected. I have, though, created a slightly more professional gallery that I'm using as my portfolio on Artician. I attempted to send it and resume to Big Huge Games in hopes of gaining an internship while I go to school, but they must have their e-mail set up so only people with autherization numbers can submit mail. I wrote another of their addresses asking about the problem I was encountering, so I hope to hear back from them in a few days. (Not like I really think I'll get an internship, but hey, I can try).

I have been working on a couple of drawings that I'd like to get into my portfolio, but classes come first. In a couple of weeks, I'll be able to focus on my portfolio and get it looking nicer, and hopefully after Life Drawing, I'll have another submission to add.

May '09.1

2009-05-29T15:54:00.026-04:00

That's right, folks. It's time for another GameStop rant! And while I'm well aware that anything I say can and may get me fired, I'll begin with this...If this corporation has nothing better to do than read this, find out who I am, at which store I work, and terminate my employment, it will only prove that they're spending money on all the wrong things. I'm not representing or misrepresenting the company; I'm speaking my mind. If I'm honestly viewed as a threat...well, that's just plain sad.

But, hey. They're already enjoying their primary witch hunt, so it'll only be a matter of time before they turn to weeding us out on the Internet.

Pretty much, what's been going on in the last month is a series of secret shoppings designed to scare employees into using better selling tactics. Needless to say, it's not working. I've seen the best associates get the lowest scores, and all that this is accomplishing is setting everyone on edge.

Let's start from the beginning.

From what I understand, GameStop had a good year last year. While other businesses were floundering about in this economic turmoil and closing stores due to lack of sales, GameStop was making money and buying up European game retailers to add to their chain. For the winter holidays, every store (there are at least 3,000 stores, people...I'll let you do the math) was given a one hundred dollar gift card meant to go to a party for all associates in celebration for doing so well during one of the worst holiday recessions. Heck, GameStop wouldn't even fire people, they'd 'coach' them. If you did something wrong, you got 'coached' up to so many times before you were given verbal warnings. After that, you could be written up several times before true disciplinary action would take place.

In the last few months, however, things began to change. Corners were eventually cut to save money here and there, because even GameStop was starting to feel the pinch of people's wallets, but that was to be expected. This past month, though, has been outrageous.

Every company does secret shopping, I'm sure. Hire outside people, have them go in and ask the employees things, buy stuff, and rate them on their knowledge of the products, helpfulness, etc. It helps businesses make sure their people are doing the right things and treating the customers right, and I understand why this is done. The scores in our area, though, have been exceptionally low, and we're starting to feel uneasy about our positions. I feel like I have to watch my back, that every customer that comes in will be a secret shopper; it's borderline harassment, because I feel like I can't do my job right anymore.

We've had at least five in the last couple of weeks. One of these was a manager from another store (tell me that that's not conflict of interest). We get rated on if we greet the customer within 60 seconds of their entering the store, mention to them trade ins, ask about the magazine subscription/discount card that the stores offer, question about if they have reservation interests on upcoming games, talk about benefits of the product, point out that we have an online survey, and we must thank each customer for coming into the store (telling them to have a good day doesn't work, I found out).

On paper, this sounds like a good idea; we're having associates talk about all the things that the store offers. In practice, it's annoying. Greeting customers is something I regularly do, but I don't enjoy pestering every one of them with endless prattle about how the Edge could have saved them x amount of money, or telling them that they really should reserve such-and-such game that's coming out because it'll be popular and hard to get their hands on. Some people, yes. Others, no. Some people are genuinely interested in saving the 10% on used games via the card and getting the magazine subscription along with it. Some people are not. You tend to annoy those who aren't interested, who are there to buy their game and get out. Having a sales clerk harp on about how they should really reconsider the magazine and the card because over time it saves them so much money pushes some people away.

It just doesn't work. In large stores that are constantly busy, it's near impossible to greet everyone who comes in through the door. When there are lines of people at the register waiting to check out, you're ticking off people by giving a practiced speech about discounts and reserves. In mall stores, most people just wander in and look around. They may see a game that catches their eye, but most aren't interested in upcoming titles or they aren't in the store enough to care about buying the discount card.

Let me break this down.

The magazine subscription costs 14.99 and comes with a discount card that saves the customer 10% off of every used game or accessory that they buy. Do the math, and that comes to you spending $150 dollars in a year on used games to make up for the cost of the initial subscription. Most people do not buy that many games.

And I'll be honest here...reserves don't really matter. For more obscure titles, it guarantees that we get a copy into our stores, but even when it's something big (take the GTA4 launch for example), the company sends out e-mails that say to sell every copy of the game we have to the general public, and to not hold onto reserved copies. That's right. We badger customers to reserve the games they want, then we're told to sell them. Someone explain to me how fair that is.

And GameStop expects us to reach a certain percentage in our reserve and subscription numbers every week. They don't offer anything like commission for the numbers that we get; my pay is the same if one week I get one reserve and the next week I get fifty. But they're trying to scare me into getting these numbers by sending in a secret shopper every other day.

I'm nice to everyone who comes into my store. I help people find things, answer questions to the best of my ability, and tell people I appreciate them coming in and to have a good day. When people are going to be saving themselves some money on used games, I bring up the discount card. Others I ask about upcoming games they may want to reserve. And I've failed these secret shopper surveys.

I think GameStop needs to stop trying to weed out "bad" employees this way. Get rid of the ones who show no interest in the customers. Get rid of the ones who don't know anything about games or systems. Get rid of the ones who don't try. Don't harass the ones who are decent and knowledgeable.

Witch hunts, I say.

On top of all this, we had to watch a training video showing us how to behave to customers. I viewed most of it as a joke, because the video instructed us to tell customers on the phone to wait while we greeted customers in the store. We're also supposed to stop waiting on customers at the register to ask if incoming customers need help with anything. I'd be pretty miffed if I was waiting in line and a sales rep turned their attention to someone else while I was checking out.

It also portrayed stores as if there is only one customer at a time, with their own personal associate to follow them around and answer all their questions. The people who run our corporate office do not know how the stores really work. Most of them have never worked in a store; they're upper management, they're the people who make all the decisions, and they've more than likely never set foot into one of the stores, much less worked behind the register. If they had, I can bet that things would be run much differently.

Moving on, a bit...

After my 360 took a dive into the world of the red-rings, I've been playing my original Xbox a lot. I never got into the Xbox, primarily because I bought it last year, and have had the 360 much longer. But, Jade Empire is one of the best games I've ever touched, and Knights of the Old Republic is a lot of fun. Both are developed by BioWare, bless their creative souls. I've also been spending time with my PS2, enjoying Ar Tonelico, despite the fact that it's a little slower-paced than I'd like.

Jade Empire is set in a world that appeals to me, I suppose. It has Chinese mythology, creatures, and lore. The characters are all interesting, the overall design is breath-taking, and I've generally been having a blast with it. My character's name is Sweet Malingshu. Malingshu is...Chinese for potato, and a bit of a nickname my boyfriend has given me.

Drawing various anatomical studies for my life drawing class has been keeping me busy. I do miss my game development class, but my teacher gave me her e-mail address so that I may keep in touch with her. The life drawing class is very interesting, and I'm learning a lot, but it's not quite as enjoyable. In a few weeks I'll have a bit of a summer vacation from school, then I'll be taking a digital image maniulation course, to which I'm greatly looking forward.

Perhaps during my break, I'll be able to draw more...but then again, I always say that.

April '09.1

2009-04-29T13:40:00.005-04:00

I dare say it's been a while since I've updated.

I had a wonderful Spring Break, played too much Oblivion, and enjoyed having my sister and brother spend a week with me (too bad it rained nearly every day and we couldn't do anything I had planned). I miss them, though, and I'd like to make plans to see them once school is out for the summer, as well. ^_^

Speaking of school, I'm having a spectacular time in my Game Development class! It's great reading about and discussing our potential ideas for video games, game play features, characters, and the such. All class long we've been building up a game document entailing story, backstory, plot, characters (playable and non), environments...essentially showing us all the work it takes to pitch a game idea to a company. Granted, some students are showing a little more creativity than others, as there are a few that continue on with the same old 'tried and true super heroes overcoming evil' plots. Not to say that this couldn't work in a game, but it's amazing how someone can come up with an idea that's never been done before (at least to my knowledge), and how someone else will do what's always been done. I suppose it's a safe way out.

There are a couple of students that I'm not so sure of...Some show little knowledge of the world of gaming. No, I don't expect everyone to know everything there is to know about the history of video games, or the specs of every system on the market, but the lack of research is what gets to me. If you don't know something...simply look it up. I don't mean to sound rude, but you can't get far in the field if you don't know what you're dealing with, and if you're serious about finding a career in game development, you should make it a point to learn all that you can.

But, I digress. At the end of the week we're supposed to submit concept sketches into the classroom of a character, an object, and an environment, all three of which will be seen in our 'game.' I've been watching The Patriot, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, and have found screenshots and production photos from Brotherhood of the Wolf, all of which take place during or after the American Revolution, as my game is set in that era. Sleepy Hollow is being used as reference for the mood of my game, since Tim Burton is a master of aesthetics (but since it takes place in 1799, I'm not using it as historical reference). The Patriot is perfect for costuming and locals, and the Brotherhood of the Wolf is set in France about the same time as the Revolution, so outfits and weaponry are fairly accurate. Once I have my sketches completed, I plan on uploading them onto my Deviant Art page, which has somehow become a bit neglected.

I submitted a colouring of Sponge's character not long ago, but I have other things I need to finish before putting them in my gallery. I've completed my Togruta line art and have began colouring it, I've been digitally inking my Shojo Beat contest entry (though the contest doesn't exist anymore), and there are other random pictures I've not completed, so needless to say, I need to get on the ball!

I've been reading one of the greatest webcomics and would like to share it with everyone; go and read Gunnerkrigg Court...right now! I've been meaning to draw some fan art, so hopefully I can do that soon. After my homework, of course.

And I'd been once again sucked into Mass Effect, but my 360 decided to red-ring on me, and I don't exactly have the money right now to buy a replacement. So, the galaxy goes unsaved until I can afford a new system. But, I've picked back up my PS2 controller and have been playing the new Samurai Shodown Anthology with Ian. It's nice having another fighting game in our collection. I've also been attempting to solve puzzles with Zack & Wiki, but wow, does that game make me feel stupid sometimes. d:

Been watching Gurren Lagann, which is amazing. Have been wanting to read more After School Nightmare, which is thought-provoking, and unavailable, it seems. Have been wanting to read more Berserk, but am unable to find it anywhere (curse you bookstores!).

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is coming out soon. Assassin's Creed 2 is launching later this year, and so is Mass Effect 2, and Bioshock 2. But I'm not sure I know enough about them to write much, and most of the 'hot' titles aren't coming out until closer to winter. Personally, I'm excited about Muramasa, but after it lost it's publisher, who knows what'll happen to it...

March '09.2

2009-03-20T10:44:00.015-04:00

First, let me start off by saying that Resident Evil 5 is amazing. My complaints with this game are minimal (like why can't you walk and shoot at the same time?), but this is primarily due to my playing Gears of War so much. I miss being able to duck for cover, run and fire, roll and dodge, but these things were never present in an RE game to date. They should be, in my opinion, now that RE is a third-person shooter, but I digress. I never thought a game in broad daylight could be so creepy, but the graphics are nice and the lighting is perfect. Being able to actually play co-op is a great thing; I can't imagine taking on a mass of running, jumping, weapon-wielding Majini with an AI partner.

Oh, and the scariest thing in the world? Chainsaw-carrying Majini. Not because of the chainsaw (which is instant death, of course), but because of the fact that they have a burlap sack over their heads with a single eye peering out at you. Worse yet, TWO chainsaw-carrying Majini chasing you all over a playground of metal platforms and you have two shots left with your handgun. And worse still, a single chainsaw-carrying Majini in seriously close quarters, doors locked, and you with no where to go.

Totally got a chainsaw blade lodged in my collar bone and nearly wet myself in the process.

And I love it!

And it's not a racist game, like I've been hearing. Believe me, I'd be one of the first people to riot against a game that promotes the slaughtering of a people based on their skin-colour or ethnicity, but this is survival. Yeah, a white guy goes to Africa and kills African zombies. Not because they're black. Because they're trying to eat his face off! There's a difference. No one made a fuss when Leon waltzed into a Spanish village in RE4 and started offing zombies there. And guess what...Sheva's black. And she's right there with Chris shooting the heads off of her people. Because they're trying to eat her face off! I'm convinced that people like tearing apart popular video games just to start crap. "Popular" being the key word here. No one said anything when Luminous Arc came out. Heck, the whole point of that game is to kill the god of your world. But people whined about Assassin's Creed attacking religion, Bioshock for the option to kill children, and Grand Theft Auto 4 for it's drunk driving.

Moving on...

Udon's Darkstalker Tribute book has accepted its fan art, mine not being included, but at least I can say that I tried. I was going to enter the Shojo Beat contest this month, but it was cancelled, sadly, after I started drawing my entry. I plan on finishing the picture just because I want to, but it's been placed low on the priority list.

This session in nearing an end, and while I've learned a lot, this class has been the hardest thus far. I've enjoyed drawing in perspective for once, but I find it difficult and haven't been able to wrap my head around it entirely. Yes, the principle and concept I get, but executing it is another matter. I'm convinced that I need much more practice and will be forcing myself to draw backgrounds with many of my drawings from now on.

I'll be happy when Spring Break rolls around. I need a holiday to catch up with my gaming (Ar Tonelico, here I come!), drawing what I want, and writing. I've picked up my Arden Rain story again after realizing that I had 15 pages of it typed up, and have been adding to it for a few days now. I suppose I could say that it's nearly finished. I always meant for it to be a short story...after all, it's based off of a dream I had a year or so back. The whole of it is plotted out; I know where it's going, what'll happen. It's just doing it. Who knows...with the way I end up dragging things out, it'll probably turn out to be a novel.

March '09.1

2009-03-01T12:46:00.006-05:00

The month of February passed by in a blur. I completed my Design class and spent far too much time making sure my final looked as good as I could make it, considering the due date was a day earlier that I had anticipated. I'm in the second week of my Perspective course, and have started off on the wrong foot with my instructor, who probably thinks me a moron for the simple mistakes I've made in such a short amount of time. My only true, albeit weak, excuse is that I was busying myself with the Udon Dark Stalker Tribute contest. With school and work keeping me predominately occupied, I had gotten behind in my fan art for the contest submission, so I had to pull a last-minute-stay-up-late-and-slack-on-my-homework week in order to make the deadline. Now I'm back to busting my chops drawing boxes in two point perspective to perk up my grade.

I picked up the new Gears of War novel the other day, and I have to say that I'm pleased with it, and mildly impressed considering it's based off of a video game. Besides, it's nice to see what happened before the first game, as well as the events that transpired between the first and second game after the Lightmass bomb detonated.

I've also had the chance to play through the first bit of Ar Tonelico and am enjoying that, as well. The voice acting isn't the greatest, but there are few games that do a good job that way. I like the story line so far; it takes place in the future after the world has been destroyed twice (first by humans, and a second time by artificial life), and is being threatened a third time by manifestations of computed data called Viruses.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a look at the Oneechanbara game for the 360, Bikini Samurai Squad. I enjoyed it enough (nothing like hacking away the undead with a katana), but was disappointed with the overall appearance of the game. Sure, it's made for men who want to see some skin, and the game literally begins with a shower scene, but the breast physics were horrible, and the models weren't as good-looking as I would expect from a next-gen game. It was fun to slice through a few levels, but even killing zombies got old, especially when your character berserked out (she'll do that when she gets covered in blood) and rapidly started loosing health with no way of stopping it. Sorry, but if your looking for a "breastacular" game with some better jiggle physics, play Soul Calibur 4. Ivy's got enough for everyone.

Oh, and for the record, it's pronounced oh-nay-chahn-baa-rah, not won-chen-bara. It's Japanese for Big Sister Sword Fighting.

Most of my gaming time, little though it is, has been devoted to Street Fighter 4. Fun, fast-paced, and beautiful. I highly recommend it to any fighting game fan. Some of the voice actors made me wince when I heard them (I had to put Chun Li in Japanese), and it was very odd hearing them speak English, as all of SF games have only been in Japanese up to this point. The movie that came with the collector's edition of the game was...not great, but good, I suppose. It featured only a handful of the characters and left you hanging, but the animation was nice, and the story was decent.

Aside from homework, drawing, reading, and minor gaming, I've been thinking up new cosplay ideas. I've just bought shoes to use for my Linna hardsuit costume, and I've been playing around with paper mock-ups for a potential Pooco cosplay, as well. I've even found those goggles!

Well, here's hoping for a good March!

February '09.1

2009-02-07T13:31:00.005-05:00

Classic Chun Li 101

Prior to the completion of my Chun Li costume, I felt bad about critiquing anyone on their Chun Li cosplay. You can always say that you “would have done this,” or that “they should have done that,” but until you make the outfit for yourself, you really can’t say.

Well, I’ve made mine. And I feel that I’ve earned the right to say that a good Chun Li cosplay can be done (I'm not great, just good, I know there's room to improve). This isn’t a blog about demeaning anyone or ripping on bad costuming, but it is a rant about how simple things can be done, and act as a sort of guide for future Chun Li cosplayers.

Do your research. Sometimes I feel like people who cosplay as Chun Li don’t bother to find source pictures. Depending on the game/artist, her sleeves are different, and sometimes the cut of her dress changes, or the number and size of the spikes on her bracelets is different, but there are things that remain constant; she has bangs, she wears giant pearl-like earrings, her bracelets only have spikes (no studs unless you’re an Alpha Chun Li, no flowers), her waist band in white, etc.

First of all, Chun Li has tights. Her legs are not naturally that much darker than the rest of her skin. If you’re going to dress up as her, find a pair of brown tights or hosiery. It’s not that hard, people. I found mine at a local K-Mart, of all places, and only spent a few dollars on them.

Secondly, Chun Li doesn’t wear high heels. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine to see Chun Li cosplayers tottering around in stripper boots that zip up. I understand that Chun Li is a fictitious character wearing fictitious clothing, but similar items exist in the real world. Trust me, you can find flat soled boots that have laces. Granted, it can be a bit of a challenge locating them. I searched on sites like Ebay for a while before coming across the ones I bought (which are actually Lonsdale wrestling boots). They’re practical and comfortable. Which would you rather have when you’re out busting some drug-ring thugs? Heels? Or wrestling boots?

And for the love of God, people, put on some underwear! I thought it was obvious that she had something on under that dress, but there have been some cosplayers who didn’t think that far. I’ve actually read forums about girls flashing people doing kick poses. I’ve even talked to a cosplayer who told me that it was too windy one day and her butt was hanging out. Play the games. Look up some pictures. Chun Li has undergarments that match her dress! I made an entire swimsuit/leotard to prevent any panty-mishaps (bunching and the such) as well as provide frontal support so I didn’t have to worry about a bra. You don’t have to go that far, but make sure the undergarments you chose to make or wear are cut so they aren’t hanging out of the dress, or so they show your waist.

Also, Chun Li wears makeup, yes, but don't goth your eyes out by outlining them in an inch of charcoal. It makes you look ridiculous, not Asian.

Practice poses for pictures, too. Chun Li is famous for her legs, so work on balancing for a kick. Kikouken.com is a well-spring of knowledge when it comes to Chun Li, so I recommend going there and doing some research, for poses and images.

Actually, go to cosplay.com. It's full of forums to help with costume construction, links to various cosplay sites, and is generally a nice place to be. ^_^

January '09.2

2009-01-20T16:52:00.016-05:00

I am writing to you in regards to the recent cast announcement for Mr. M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming movie The Last Airbender, and am asking you to reconsider the selection of actors. I believe that the choices made in choosing an all-white cast for a film based off of an animated show so obviously rooted in Asian influences and cultures is racist and offensive. Part of the charm for the original television series was that the spectrum of characters was so refreshing and diverse when compared to other shows, and I feel that you are doing a great injustice not only to the people whose cultures are represented in the series, but to the general audience of Avatar, as well. By choosing actors that do not represent the minorities depicted in the show, you are creating a racial message that should not be tolerated in today’s society.

As a fan of the animated show, I find it unfortunate that Paramount Pictures is whitewashing a film that should be celebrating a break from Western and European influences. The world of Avatar provides a wonderful change of pace that opened many people up to other cultures and lifestyles, and I feel that the American audiences that see this movie should be exposed to minority actors. It’s disappointing that the choices in casting are not more diverse, and I’m sorry to say that if nothing is done to correct this, I will not be supporting this film and will encourage everyone I know to do the same.

That was the letter that I mailed to Paramount. I, like so many others, have responded to the racism of Hollywood, and am happy to say that I'm speaking out against it. To be honest, though, I'm a little hesitant to be writing a blog about this because so many others have done the same, and have probably already said what I want to say.

But, I'm angry (still) and I want to write about it.

-I'm tired of hearing the excuse of how the world of Avatar is not set on Earth, therefore meaning that there is no "Asia," thus no Asians. By your logic, they entire cast of Avatar should be...what? Extra terrestrials? White? Since we can't very well cast spacemen into the movie, it only makes sense that the people we do cast should look similar to the characters they're portraying, yes? Why, then, should the main characters (the heroes) be played by white actors?

-Don't tell me to judge the actors on their acting, not the way they look. I'm not judging them. I'm sure they're all wonderful actors. And I'm sure that they can act the way the main characters of Avatar do. That doesn't mean that a minority actor couldn't have done the same. And don't preach to me about the wonders of makeup and tanning beds. They're still white, only with tape on their eyes and have a potentially higher risk of getting skin cancer. I have a degree in Theatre. I studied makeup. I know what it can do. That doesn't mean that you paint a white man and have him play a black man's role.

-This is racism, plain and simple. I'm sorry for those of you who don't see it. I'm even more sorry for those who seem to think that the reason why these actors were cast was because they were the best choices. From what I understand, Noah Ringer, the actor portraying the main character Aang, was the only one cast during an open audition. The other three were simply cast. Non-famous, potential, minority actors didn't get a chance.

-"But the characters are voiced by white actors," I've heard. Not all of them. Dante Basco, the voice of Zuko, is Phillipino-American. Mako, the voice of Iroh, was Japanese. However, voice-actors are just that. Voices. They aren't seen, and the animators do the physical acting for them. The Aang Ain't White Livejournal said it best when they responded "An animated character is formed by many people -- the voice actor is just one part of what creates their identity, working in collaboration with storyboard artists, designers and animators. Women, for example, play preteen male characters all of the time.However, in live action films like this one, the actor has to be the character to a much greater degree, and essentially becomes that character to the audience. Daniel Radcliffe IS Harry Potter in a way that Dante Basco will never be Zuko and Zach Tyler Eisen will never be Aang."

For those of you wondering, no this is not the first time I've been angered at the movie industry's treatment of minorities.

I hated The Last Samurai. There was no need for a white man to go to Japan and be better at being Japanese, and survive when no one else did.

I'm boycotting the upcoming Akira movie, as well. It's supposed to be set in Neo-Tokyo, people.

I could go on.

But this is the year 2009. I'd like to think that we're moving beyond racism. I'd like to think that Hollywood could have a more progressive mind-frame and start thinking about incorporating positive messages into their films.

We obviously have a long way to go.

January '09.1

2009-01-05T15:14:00.007-05:00

In accordance with GameStop's employee handbook and whatnot, I am not allowed to represent, or misrepresent, the company, so let's start this blog out with a little disclaimer, shall we?

The comments and views expressed in this blog are solely my own and do not necessarily represent the views of my corporate employer, or my fellow coworkers.

Go into a GameStop this week, and take a look at the "Shape the Body, Sharpen the Mind" section. Take a look at the games that marketing has selected for us to display there. Under the "Shape the Body" category, we have titles such as My Fitness Coach, which makes sense, and Wii Music, which makes...not so much sense. On the other side of the display, we have games meant to "Sharpen the Mind," like My Word Coach, and Flash Focus. More disappointingly, we have games from the Imagine line.

Explain to me how any of those games sharpen the mind. In my opinion, all they do are reinforce female stereotypes. Not negative sterotypes, mind you...just sterotypes. I have nothing against teachers, fashion designers, movie stars, or figure skaters, or whatever else...I just think it'd be nice to see a game aimed at girls that wasn't so damn cliche. It's just the media pushing of how women are "supposed" to be. We're "supposed" to be mothers, caregivers, and look beautiful all the time. Or so it appears.

Look, I like my job. I'm a gamer, and I do enjoy working around games with other gamers, but I'm sick and tired of people (game-makers, customers, and the whole corporate company) treating me like an inferior because I'm a woman. And it's all thanks to the media, which puts these ideas into the ignorant mass's heads.

Then again, these "Sharpen the Mind" games don't even compare to when I just about flew off the handle when GameStop decided to air a Christmas commercial promoting pornography. I'm not allowed to sell a mature-rated game to anyone under the age of seventeen, or anyone who can't show me an ID proving that they're over seventeen, but it's OKay if they stuff their mattresses with adult magazines. I'm also not allowed to swear inside the store, and am supposed to ask customers not to as well because we're a family-friendly company, but it's OKay if we make commercials with blurred-out centerfolds. Am I the only one getting mixed messages?

And this sends negative stereotyping images about male gamers, as well. One, they live with they're parents (because they're either too young or too dependent). Two, they obviously can't get a girlfriend.

But I digress.

How are these Imagine games supposed to sharpen my mind? GameStop has chosen a myriad of games (regrettably) aimed at little girls, rather than titles that actually enhance the brain. Do they honestly think that these are good choices for games to improve ones mind?

December '08.2

2008-12-29T12:11:00.006-05:00

Well, my colour theory course ended on a positive note. My instructor told me that I had the ability to become a successful illustrator, if that's what I chose, and referred me to the portfolio site of Nikki McClure. It meant a lot to me. I've also gotten some very nice comments on Deviant Art, as I posted my final project there, as well, and it's not a style that I'm used to doing.

So! GameStop has continued to cut hours, but I'm trying not to dwell on that. I've decided to be happy that I have the job, and hopefully I'll be able to move up the food chain since our third key holder is in search of another job. I'm not holding my breathe, though; I've been told similar things in the past.

I picked up a few games over the weekend. Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors is a fun Wii game that utilizes the motion sensor in the Wii remote. The controls take a little bit of time to get used to, since you don't use the Wii nunchuck at all, and the movement of your character is controlled by the D-pad on the remote. It was surprising to both Ian and I just how much fun the game is. Normally I'm not a fan of first-person games (they actually give me headaches) and a first-person RPG just sounds odd, but the story is good, the graphics are fine, and it's fun swinging your arm around at the television, slicing slimes in half!

I also purchased the first Luminous Arc for the DS, and am about an hour into the story. What can I say? I'm a sucker for 2D tactical RPGs with anime openings. The story reminds me of something like Disgaea mixed with La Pucelle; just a general good vs. evil plot with the whole twist of 'is good really good/evil really evil?' and the setup is very reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics. Perfect recipe for an RPG, in my opinion.

We also got Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for the DS, which I have sworn not to play until I actually beat FFXII. I have had every intention of finishing XII, but somehow it's been placed on the back burner when other games came out. I've decided to make it a priority (however much a priority a game can be) now that I'm on vacation from my classes. Revenant Wings is different from other FF games, as it's a real-time strategy game, similar to Grim Grimoire, with the player micro-managing the battlefield and troops.

Ian and I have been playing Left 4 Dead, lately. It's full of zombies...and we get to shoot them...so, what more could you want? With the cooperative play and different levels to choose from, it has high replay value. It really brings people together, as odd as it sounds, because the four of you have to stick together and help each other out. No 'every-man-for-himself' attitude is tolerated in this game. If you wander off alone, chances are you're going to die. The game is all about survival, and in order to survive, you need to cooperate with the other three players. Simple as that.

Ian and I have also been spending a lot of time rearranging the upstairs of the apartment, since we now have a guest bed and an extra dresser. My art desk has been moved, our bedroom has become the extra room and vice verse, and the downstairs is still full of boxes of action figures and art supplies that need to be put away. Hopefully that can all be done within the next couple of days.

While sorting through things and rearranging our living quarters, the two of us reached a new level of geekdom; we spent two and a half hours creating an Excel spreadsheet categorizing all of our systems, their serial numbers, and every game that we own. And while that may sound ridiculous, consider this: we're not done. Those two hours weren't enough. We haven't touched the Gameboy, Super Nintendo, N64, Genesis, or Saturn sections...and we already have over three hundred games listed in the spreadsheet. Granted, we have practically every system from the original Nintendo up to the XBox360 and Wii (and we're working on getting a PS3, but they're just so stinking expensive). So, that spreadsheet is only going to get bigger!

Anyway, I've prattled on long enough. I have a lot to do over the next couple of weeks, and I should get started on today's chores.

December '08.1

2008-12-16T12:08:00.006-05:00

I've been busy these past few weeks, and unfortunately, my artwork doesn't show for that. I'm nearing the final days of my colour theory course, and have been spending the last few days in front of my laptop hammering out final design ideas. My four black and white design images can be viewed in my Deviant Art scraps. My favourite of the four was the second one, with the bamboo and the rising sun, but it didn't provide much opportunity to use a lot of the concepts I had learned in class, so I went with the third design (the girl and the cherry tree) which was the most praised in my classroom. I used it for the next part of the assignment, which was to take the black and white design and create several coloured images using a multitude of colour harmony options. I have uploaded those images, as well.

I'm looking forward to having a holiday after this course ends. Classes resume in mid-January, so in the meantime, I'll be finishing my Chun Li costume and clean the apartment. Ian's parents are supposed to be giving us a couple of pieces of furniture next week, and I need to make room.

I've also finished making the armbands for my sister and the other club officers to wear, showing their ranks and names. I also included a little "Anime Club" caption, which reads anime kurabu, in kana. Kurabu, however, not only means club, but crab, as well. My sister found this humourous, and said that anime crabs were an ATD (Anime Transmitted Disease).

Due to the economic crisis (for lack of a better term) work has not been going so well. GameStop has decided to cut hours this week and hold an emergency stockholder meeting. Originally, I was told that our company was surviving the economy because while consumers couldn't afford things like expensive vacations and travelling cross-country to visit relatives, they could afford to buy thier children video games to make up for that. And yet, hours have been decreasing gradually, and our store was only able to hire one seasonal employee...while our company buys a French franchise of game retailers and continues to build new stores across the U.S. I'm a little worried about the amount of money corporate has been spending in the last few months, and I just received a call about an hour ago from my manager telling me that my hours have been slashed this week (in half), and now I'm afraid of losing my job alltogether.

Enough of that.

I get to see my family this weekend and celebrate the holidays. This isn't a time to be dwelling on the negative.

November '08.2

2008-11-30T15:32:00.005-05:00

Sometimes it amazes me how barbaric we are.

I worked on Black Friday, and I heard the tales of employees being trampled to death, fist fights breaking out, and guns being fired. Over what? Shopping? Sales? The holiday spirit? Generosity be damned; we're selfish, greedy, and heartless at the time of year when we broadcast the joys of giving.

And it makes me sick.

Moving on, (I don't like to dwell on human ignorance for too long), Ian downloaded the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix game onto the 360. It looks amazing, is as fun and frustrating as the original, and I love it! I know I need something to hold me over until Street Fighter IV comes out. Udon's deviant art page has a section specifically for the artwork of the HD, and I recommend going through it. And speaking of Udon, they've finished the first Street Fighter II Turbo comic, and IGN uploaded the full issue. Well worth the read. ^_^

In other video game news, the Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories game is scheduled for release soon. It should be nice to see a remake of the GBA game, and from what I understand, it's the same game, only with 3D graphics instead of 2D. Persona4 is out soon, as well, and I'm still wanting to pick up another Atlus RPG, Eternal Poison.

I have a bunch of unfinished artwork in need of completion, as always. I've been working on colouring my berserker picture, designing the characters in the Waking Dream story (which doesn't have much of a plot, yet), designing my Warrior character fan art, and I still haven't finished the picture of Mab that's been sitting around.

Maybe some day soon.

But for now, I'm focusing my attention on my colour theory class, and Ohayocon. I need to finish that Chun Li costume...

November '08.1

2008-11-12T14:10:00.005-05:00

Today is the last day of my drawing class. Our final projects were due yesterday, and I'm very impressed with how many of them turned out. It's amazing to see how rapidly people can improve, especially since our classes are only five and a half weeks long. One student e-mailed me and asked if we could keep in touch after the course was over, to continue critiquing each other and follow my collegiate career and beyond. He's the first person who seems serious about networking, and I had enjoyed his classwork and critiques, so I agreed.

Tomorrow I begin my colour theory course. I've already been spending time on the site, seeing when my assignments are due and what I need to read. I always liked my theater design classes, so I'm pretty excited about this one, particularly because in theater I never really learned about colour usage and terminology. I hope that I'll be able to create some portfolio-worthy pieces in this class.

As far as my art goes...I've become very inspired by the Warrior books that I've been reading. I've been meaning to draw anthropomorphic versions of some of my favourite characters, but school comes first. There are a lot of pictures that I've started on but never finished, as well. I need to make it a point to go back and complete those. Things like my Berserker, my Final Fantasy XI art, and some random characters are at the top of my list.

In other news, Gears of War 2 is out now. I did work the midnight launch of it, but I didn't mind because I grabbed my copy and played through the first couple of chapters that night. I'm happy to see more story development in this title, better facial expressions, and bigger levels. I don't think that there's been a video game that's evoked so many emotions in me; there was actually one point where I wanted to cry. This game has definitely made me want to work for Epic even more, and I can't wait to get my art degree, create a portfolio, and go out there and make a damn good game!

October '08.2

2008-10-18T13:55:00.006-04:00

A fun little game came out a few days ago for the DS. "My Japanese Coach" is an interesting way to learn Japanese grammar, numbers, kana, and vocabulary. You are given lessons starting with basic words, and progress through writing tutorials, pronunciation help, and easy-to-play games that help you remember past lessons as well as the new material. Ubisoft publishes several of these games, including "My Spanish Coach," "My Chinese Coach," and "My Word Coach," and I think that they're at least worth a look.

I'm sad to say that my Deviant Art page is getting a bit neglected now that school is picking up. I've been uploading class assignments into my scraps, but drawing what you have to draw isn't the same as drawing what you want to draw. I have lots of new ideas for Happy Flavour, and I'm in need of working on character sheets for the first Ruling War book, not to mention I still need to colour Noo-sensei's commissions. I've had to put a lot of stuff on hold, which I really don't like to do.

In other news, Fable II is coming out on Tuesday. Originally it was to be released simultaneously with Little Big Planet, but due to an offensive song, LBP was recalled and will be launching a week later. The GameStop where I work is one of the slower stores in the area, so we're not doing a midnight release, which is perfectly fine by me. I've worked one of those launches. Not fun. Too many geeks geeking out about the same thing and trying to prove their geekdom. Normally I don't mind (I'm pretty geeky, too), but at midnight? That's too late in the day for me to put together a conherent argument about why I like to play as Link in Super Smash Bros.

October '08.1

2008-10-03T11:39:00.005-04:00

I will be attending Ohayocon '09, come January, and have decided to (finally) finish my Chun Li costume to wear there. I have procured boots, dark brown tights, and have created a swim-suit-like undergarment to wear under the main costume itself. The bracelets are giving me a lot of trouble, but from what I've read, any Chun Li cosplayer has difficulties with the bracelets. I need to add the yellow trim to the costume (it's only 1/3 done), add a pocket to the inside of the white waist band (so I don't have to carry a wallet), and sew the hairbun wraps together. I'm confident that I'll have it all done on time.

Other than that, I've been working on Noo-sensei's latest commissions; a girl with an empty glass of water to teach the verb "drank," and a boy with an empty plate to teach the verb "ate." They are both drawn and inked, and I am currently colouring them with coloured pencils.

I also have a FFXI project underway. Originally, I was going to draw several members of my linkshell's characters, but one player quit the game, two haven't been able to afford playing over the last couple of months, and several others have left the linkshell altogether. So I'm doing a smaller series that includes Mab, Jorah, Ian, and SvenForkbeard. Right now I'm finishing the pencil work for the Mab drawing, which was heavily inspired by Shirow Masamune's work.

I'm also attempting to get a few lineart pieces coloured so I can post them onto DeviantArt, including a chibi picture of Mab, a berserker picture I recently completed, and a picture drawn by SpongeXD, a girl I watch on DA. I don't know when I'll get around to finishing that all, though.

In other news, I finished my first quarter at Ai. I completed my intro class and my basic computer course, and am now ready to tackle my drawing class which begins on Monday. There's been some communication crossovers, but I've gotten my financial aid problems fixed, and a few people are working on why I'm being listed as the wrong major, so hopefully everything will be set before I get into major-specific classes.