Category Archives: Journal

Dokapon Journey, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, and more

This week I played quite a bit of Valve games. I played through the rest of the Left 4 Dead campaigns, which were all very cool. Next I’ll try versus and survival. I’m pretty behind, I guess. I’ve also been playing a lot of Team Fortress 2. I actually played with Linh-Nam, Collin, Andy, and gem. It’s pretty rare that I actually play with people!
I also played a fantastic little jewel called played Dokapon Journey with gem and William. What a fun game! It’s basically a multiplayer board game in which landing on most spaces leads to a JRPG style battle! It’s made by Atlus, and the sprite art is pretty nice too. It’s a really fun game.

 
Of course, I’ve also played World of Warcraft some more, but I haven’t really done anything. I’ve been playing more Ninja Gaiden 2, but I’m kind of stuck. It’s a tough game! (Or I just suck.) I’ve been neglecting BlazBlue, but I’ll get back to it soon. I also haven’t been playing Bit.Trip Beat or Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. There’s so much to play!
I finished adventure mode in Peggle World of Warcraft Edition and Peggle for iPhone. Fun stuff! I tried out The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. It seems pretty well done! I’m sure it’s easier to control on the PC, but I went with the iPhone version so I could play it on the go! I haven’t played it too much though because I’m leaving it for my vacation next week to Vegas. I also just started Space Invaders Infinity Gene for the iPhone. Space Invaders has been really awesome lately! Taito’s pretty awesome. I wonder if it has to do with being owned by Square-Enix.
I’ve been pushing more into Rhythm Heaven this past week too. It gets really hard sometimes though! I can’t complain though because it sure is fun. I’m also stuck in Wolfenstein 3D Classic for the iPhone. I got to the boss of the first episode, but I died. Now I just respawn with a pistol and 16 ammo. What am I supposed to do?
Oh, I almost forgot a game! I played dess’s new game, When Pigs Fly, on Newsground. I’ll edit this post later on my computer to provide a link. You control a flying pig through multiple caverns avoiding ceilings, walls, and spikes. It’s simple and fun, with appealing, low resolution sprites, which is a look I like.

Game Journal!

I used to make weekly Game Journal entries, but I haven’t written one in a long, long time. I guess I’ll just talk about what I’ve been playing this summer. First of all, I’ve been playing World of Warcraft all the time. I’m trying to get the PVP achievements. A lot of them will occur on their own eventually (win 100 times), but others are more difficult. I’m trying to get the difficult ones before moving into the last bracket. The achievement for getting twenty killing blows without dying is really the last one I’m worried about, although I’d like to wait for Mooglegem to get Alterac Valley All-Star too. Other than that, I’m still working on tower defences in AV, killing enemies in the Hall of the Frostwolf in AV, winning AB 2000 to 1990, killing the enemy fc in their fr while they control their own flag in WSG, and the 100 wins and reputation achievements.

 
I also beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game on Xbox Live Arcade with gem, Corey, and Corey’s cousin Dylan. Then I beat Mirror’s Edge for PS3, Ghostbusters The Video Game for 360, and Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? for PSP. After Michael Jackson’s passing, I played through Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker on a Genesis emulator. Next I played through Space Invaders Extreme 2 and Arkanoid DS, both for DS, to finish all the DS paddle controller games. I’ve also been playing Everyday Shooter, but I still haven’t been able to finish it.
At Anime Expo I picked up Guilty Gear XX ^ Core Plus for Wii and BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger Limited Edition for PS3. I started playing BlazBlue pretty heavily when I got home. I’ve finished the story mode with Noel, Ragna, Jin, Rachel, and Taokaka, getting 100% in each of their stories. I have seven characters left to do, plus a “final” story.
I tried Half-Life Source again and got pretty bored. It just isn’t good. I don’t know what people were thinking. I guess I should just skip to Half-Life 2. I’ve been playing through Trine on PC as well. I’m not sure how far I am, but I’ve really enjoyed it.
I went back LocoRoco 2 for PSP, thinking it’d be good to finish it up. Turns out, I was on the last level, and it wasn’t very difficult. Then I finished all the remaining puzzles in Professor Layton and the Curious Village for DS in preperation for Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box!
I beat Call of Duty: World at War for 360 after borrowing it from Corey. As for some more casual games, I beat all levels in Peggle, the World of Warcraft Addon. I also beat adventure mode of Peggle World of Warcraft Edition, the stand-alone Peggle based on World of Warcraft.
Right now I’m still working on BlazBlue. I’m also playing through Ninja Gaiden II. I had mentioned earlier in the day that I started NG2 that I wanted another Devil May Cry to come out so I could play it; I sort of got my wish in Ninja Gaiden II. I’m still trying to 100% clear all levels in the Peggle World of Warcraft Addon, and I’m fooling around in Peggle World of Warcraft Edition also. I’m about half way through Bit.Trip Beat for WiiWare, which is fantastic but difficult. I also completed the second campaign in Left 4 Dead last night. Only two more to go!
I played The Sims 3 pretty heavily early on in the summer, maxing one characters life long dream and getting that character and another character to max their careers. I had that second character get married, so I’m still working on getting him his life long dream as well as his wife’s and getting her to the top of her career. After that, I’d like to successfully raise a kid. There’s more to do in the game of course, but I would be pretty fulfilled if I could do those things.
As for handhelds, I’ve been playing Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Hopefully I’ll finish up soon. I’ve been playing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars a bit but not so much lately. I’ve also been playing Call of Duty: Roads to Victory on PSP. It’s… fun but not that great. You use the stick to move and the face buttons to aim. Those should be switched.
Basically the only two big games I’m playing are Ninja Gaiden II and BlazBlue. After I finish NG2, I plan on playing inFamous because I’m borrowing it from Edward. After BlazBlue I’m going to go through Guilty Gear XX ^ Core Plus.
I’m not sure what I’m going to play after I get through NG2 and inFamous. I recently picked up God Hand, killer7, and Odin Sphere so I’d like to give those a go. Other games of high interest to me are God of War, Metal Gear Solid 3, Psychonauts, XIII, Half-Life 2, Blue Dragon, and Bioshock. Some less important or handheld games that I’d like to get through are Space Channel 5, We

Castle Crashers with Corey

I was finally able to play Castle Crashers with Corey last night! It took four actual tries! Soon after Spring quarter ended, we tried to play. Trying to remember what happened just leaves me confused. All I know is that I only brought my memory card with the game on it. I don’t remember if my profile was there or not. It should have been, but I’m kind of mixed up thinking back. Games are tied to the original console to which it was downloaded and the profile that downloaded it. We could only play it as a demo; I guess we didn’t have my profile. Then I brought my console over only to find that I couldn’t use Corey’s power cable because they were different. I also remember thinking that redownloading it on Corey’s would be a fix. (This is where I get really mixed up. Why? I thought we had the game. I don’t know. I might be mixing up attempts to play it.) We couldn’t do that because I have an old version of the game with a bug in it that I still want to use.
For that night, we called it quits. We tried to find another day that worked for everyone and was unable to until last night! Guess what? I forgot my memory card with my profile on it, so I had to go pick it up. But then we were finally able to play! We made it to the last couple levels, but it got late, and we had to call it quits. Corey and Casey are going to Europe for a month soon, so that’s that for a while. Still, it was fun to play something multiplayer. It doesn’t happen enough!

Day 4, The End

After waking up early and packing, I headed to open autographs to try for a third time to get Ishiwatari’s and Mori’s autographs. It took a few hours, but I finally got heir autographs! Very cool!
Then we walked around the exhibit hall a bit. I bought an adorable little robot figure with big, puppy dog eyes and a small moogle figure. We also said hi to Lily!
Next we tried to see the Zelda: Mythbusters panal, but the line was huge so we left. Then w tried to go to Orochon Raman in Little Tokyo. At first we went to the wrong place, but now we’re here! Lunch in just a few short minutes!
It was very tasty! It was in a different plaza though so we came to Mikawaya for mochi! It’s a very nice place. I ordered 5 mochis, and the staff gave me a sixth for free!

Day 3

Today we lined up in the stand-by line for AX Idol around 10. It was a complete mess. When they passed out tickets, one guy went down each side of the line in parallel. Some of us got tickets from one and from the other. Went I went to correct that, the guys told us that there wasn’t any assigned seating. Well, that was a lie. Long story short, I got pretty mad and argued quite a bit, including arguing on behalf of some girl who wasn’t even with me. They said if we wanted to sit together, we could move to the back. Well, if it’s AX’s fault, they should make it right not penalize us for it. Main Events staff claimed that the problem was Tocketing’s not their problem. Regardless, eventually the staffer found someone who needed gem’s ticket and had the ticket gem needed so they switched.
AX Idol was very entertaining! I wish there was something more to say, but I didn’t take any recordings or remember any names. Pictochat was also very fun this year! AX Idol never disappoints!
Next I hurried over to line up for Ishiwatari and Mori’s autographs again. After two hours, guess what? No autograph! I guess I gotta come to open autographs tomorrow.
Next we went to get sushi, but it was too expensive and hardly had anything to choose from so we went to Lawry’s Carvery. Delicious!
Then it was off to the Manga Cafe! I read Midori Days Volumes 1 and 2. I loved the anime and had read the first volume already. I need to finish the manga sometime. Next I moved on to the first volume of FLCL. I couldn’t even tell who was talking. I should have watched the anime first. I didn’t realize Gainax made it. I should follow their work more closely. Lastly I read about half of the first volume of Gocha Gocha. It’s about a guy who’s friends with a girl who goes away for te summer. When she comes back, he finds that he’s in love with her, but she now has a split personality. Normally she’s the normal we’re-friends-but-I’m-always-mean-to-you girl, but her other personality is very erotic. It seems pretty awesome so far!
Now we’re in Last Comic Standing, and I’ve already seen a couple comics from last year. Soap came up and was pretty funny! He finished his bit without getting boo’ed off and only insulted fat people of AX a little!
Wow, the second half was great. Last Comic Standing was just amazing this year. Usually each half has a winner, and the two winners compete in the final round. This time there was an improv yo-momma duel to decid the winner of the second half who then won againt the first half’s winner in the final round. It got even better this year!

Day 2

Today I first went to the Ishiwatari (creator of Guilty Gear and composer of BlazBlue) and Mori (director of BlazBlue) focus panel. It was pretty interesting! Ishiwatari said he used American metal band references a bunch just because he loved the music. He also said that a lot of games had a cute girl character, and to be different he wanted to have a cute transexual girl. Despite this being out of the ordinary, the fans loved her.
Afterwards I headed to the Exhibit Hall to purchase Guilty Gear XX ^ Core Plus for Wii and BlazBlue Collector’s Edition for PS3 for $85. That’s actually a pretty great price surprisingly. I then rushed to the Ishiwatari and Mori autograph session. I stood in lone for a while but didn’t make it. There’s a session tomorrow, but it’s during AX Idol so I can’t go. Hopefully they’re at the open autograph session Sunday.
We had some lunch at a fish grill. I had a cashew chicken salad that was very tasty. Then we met up with Justina and Larysa! I bought some cards from William’s friend Lily.
Then after hangin around the Exhibit Hall for a while we lined up at 6:45 in the priority line for ticket holders for the AMV contest. Line’s were strange. Despite checking tickets at the door, they also check tickets before getting in line. Also, Collin had been in line since 3 (4 hours before seating and 6 hours before the show starting). Instead of giving out tickets, thy were just going to ivetickets to them as thy enter when the show’s about to start. That means they get to sit there for 6 hours before sitting inside for 3 hours to watch the contest. Sort of fucked up.
They didn’t actually let us in until 7:30, but now it’s 8:08 and I’ve been watching AMVs that didn’t become finalists for over a half hour! They already showed Dead Fantasy I & II; Dead Fantasy III will premiere soon!
Turns out it was Dead Fantasy III through V. They were shorter than usual but still cool.
For action AMV, I voted for The Good Ship Lifestyle, featuring the song by the same name by Chumbawumba and One Piece. For drama I voted for an FLCL AMV set to Story of a Girl. For comedy I liked a video that was a spoof of the news from the movie Starship Troopers. Finally for pro I voted for Dance Dance Celebration!
We got out at 11:45 but didn’t make it to our room until 1:30. The line was super long for the bus. Then there were so many people waiting for the 9 elevators (3 less than tere were supposed to be due to them being out of service) that it took a really long time. We took the escalators to a different floor and then caught an elevator going down before it filled I up. The only problem was the vomit in the back! One girl who really wanted to gt to her room said she didn’t mind standing in it because as someone who works on a farm, she’s stood in worse. Oh, an she wasn’t wearing shoes! Anyways, that’s pretty dumb because standing in something gross outside on a farm is different than tracking vomit through a hotel.
Anyways, it’s time to go enjoy Day 3!

Day 1

I decided not to go to Opening Ceremonies today, so I woke up around 9:30 and headed down. While walking around a little I saw some interesting cosplay, including a Zangief! It was funny! I also saw a spy disguised as a pyro!
I tried lining up for Artist Alley, but Anime Expo staff were pretty confused so we went to watch an episode of Emma: A Victorian Romance. It wasn’t amazing or anything, but I enjoyed it.
Next we went to the AMV 101 panel. Outside we saw Collin and linked up with his group before going in. I didn’t realize it was two hours long though, so I left after about 15 minutes.
Then it was exhibition hall time! First I checked out Artist Alley! I got an NES controller charm for my DSi! I also bought mechafetus’ new art book and met Persona-sama from Select Button. It was fun, and the book’s pretty awesome. It’s filled with weird people pouring guts out, topless, pixelated girls, and even a penis ejaculating rainbows! I also bought a t-shirt from another booth – It shows a Mage casing with a cast bar and a caption saying something along the lines of “Don’t interrupt me; I’m casting.”
Next it was food time! Nachos and tacos in the convention center! Now I’m in line for Imaishi and Nishigori! Nishigori was an animator of NGE! The line gave me time to look at mechafetus’ awesome art book and to update this entry!
While waiting for the panel, I found that my DSi froze and the battery was just about drained. Sucks.
It’s just Q&A, and all the questions are about Gurren Lagann. I wanted to hear about NGE! And I haven’t seem Gurren Lagann yet; spoilers! Spoilers everywhere!
Okay, after the panel I got a ticket for autographs, but I ended up not going. I didn’t have anything forhem to sign (and didn’t really care that much). Antonio and I tried toxins some manga that wasn’t yaoi; it took a while. Then Antonio went to line up for the Gurren Lagann movie. I was alone for an hour because William and gemma were in a clay sculpting thing. I bough Aoi House Omnibusses 1 and 2. I had the first issue last year and really enjoyed it! I also bought Battle Club volume 1. It’s about wrestling and stars a bunch of scantily clad women (one of whom has a penis) with a lot of comedy and mature fan service.
I also bought some adult dating games from jlist. Cosplay Fetish Academy is a normal dating sim in which “reality had changed around us, and these sexy uniforms and othe costumes were now completely normal!” I also bought Lightning Warrior Raidy, an adult dungeon crawler. You can fight sexy enemies and rescue sexy prisoners! They threw in two free DVD non-adult interactive fiction games, Hourglass of Summer and The Society of a Witch. They also gave out complementary tissue, haha!
Now we have four hours to kill before the jlist panel on dating sims!
Well, we were too lazy for that panel. We stayed in the hotel and went to Korean B.B.Q. Plus for dinner. Tasty! Now I’m going to read manga a little before going to bed. Looking forward to tomorrow!