June 6, 2013

Dazed, Confused, and Rolling on the Floor Laughing

Filed under: Writer — Tags: , , , , — Yukino @ 5:16 PM

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Oh Microsoft! Sometimes I just don’t get you.

You schedule a console reveal event prior to E3, which in and of itself is completely fine, but then you pretty much ignore your gaming core, focusing instead on TV and movie integration, show off your recently purchased Skype tools, and push the Kinect technology without clarifying exactly how you will ensure privacy with your always-on camera. Sure, you flashed us some EA titles and trotted out poor old Halo yet again, but as a TV series with Spielberg attached.

At this point, I’m telling myself that while the reveal did absolutely nothing for me. That I would wait to see what E3 brought to the table. (more…)

You by Austin Grossman

Filed under: Bookshelf — Tags: , , , , , — Yukino @ 2:43 PM

You by Austin Grossman After reading Ready Player One I went looking for something new to read and Goodreads recommended I check out You by Austin Grossman. His name was familiar; turns out he’s a games writer and one I’ve seen in credits at least once or twice. A few of my gaming friends had also read the book and recommended it, so it seemed a smart move to pick it up.

There aren’t many fictional books based around video games without being an actual media tie-in for a franchise, a la Halo, Assassin’s Creed, Fable, Resident Evil, etc, and even most of those are simply novelizations of released games. That’s one of the reasons why I had been super excited about Ready Player One. So to find another book published in this category within a year of the other, I felt I’d hit the jackpot. (more…)

May 30, 2013

My Summer 2013 Project Backlog Plan of Attack

Filed under: Project Backlog — Tags: , , , — Yukino @ 12:22 PM

It’s not like I’ve gone out and bought a tonne of new games, so why is it that my backlog is growing?

Skyrim.

Yup. That damn addictive game keeps me coming back, even though I have finished all the quests I can with my first character. And now the collector’s edition with the one bit of DLC I did not buy is coming out. I’m thinking the only way to get me off this game is to leave it at my mother in law’s place all summer long. It has distracted me far too long now. (more…)

May 17, 2013

Extra Life 2013 – Playing for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on Nov 2nd

Filed under: News — Tags: , , , , , , — Yukino @ 4:38 PM

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On November 2nd, 2013, I am once again participating in Extra Life, an epic 25 hour gaming marathon to raise money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. This will be my fourth year taking part in the event, playing as a giant Thank You to CHOA for taking care of my husband Matt while he was being treated for leukemia when he was younger. I am eternally indebted to them for everything they did and making it so Matt would end up part of my life. (more…)

May 8, 2013

Nendoroid Madness: Tales of Series Collection

Filed under: Japanophile — Tags: , , , , , , , — Yukino @ 3:32 PM

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Last week I discovered that Good Smile Company had released a set of Nendoroid figures based on the “Tales of” video game series. And because I am addicted to both, there was no way in hell I was not going to have these in my collection.

What I thought was a for sure 6 piece set ended up arriving as a retailer pack of 8 blind box figures, meaning I had to open every one and pray with my fingers crossed that I opened a complete set. Which I did!! I was even lucky enough to acquire the “secret” figure of Leon Magnus from Tales of Destiny (furthest left in the picture).

Beside Leon are: Yuri & Estelle from Tales of Vesperia, Asbel & Sofi from Tales of Graces, and finally Jude & Milla from Tales of Xillia.

There was a bit of a mishap when I was snapping Leon onto his base as his sword snapped off from his hand and this will be remedied with model glue this weekend. Thankfully the other figures with swords had theirs come separately so there were no more broken pieces. The only other issue I had was with Sofi’s pigtails. I had to twist the plugs in which took a few attempts as simply pushing them in was a complete failure.

Overall, extremely happy with these guys and now Haruhi, Yuki and Asahina (Haruhi Suzumiya Summer Collection Nendoroids) have company.

May 7, 2013

How I Lost an Entire Day (Also Known As Game Dev Tycoon & Candy Box)

Filed under: Writer — Tags: , , — Yukino @ 5:17 PM

Game Dev Tycoon Office Level 1

Addictive time suck that I just can’t get enough of! ~Annette

Seriously, I am Game Dev Tycoon as I write this and had major jitters all weekend (well, mostly Sunday and Monday) as I hadn’t been able to play. I’ve just started my 4th studio (Irrational Games) and finished my first game (Medal of Honour, yes with a U). The only thing more addicting than this game are those Waffeletten cookies I bought at the grocery store last week. (more…)

April 3, 2013

Geek & Gaming Cross Stitchery 3 – Yoshi Kitchen Decor

Filed under: Stitching — Tags: , , , , , — Yukino @ 12:06 PM

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything in regards to my efforts to stitch a bunch of awesome things to decorate with, but today I can finally say I have finished my largest project to date! The Yoshi Butcher Chart that I started on a ways back last year had the final back stitches done last night while playing catch up with The Walking Dead (I am still 4 episodes behind).

I found this pattern on SpriteStitches and knew I had to make it. Unfortunately, neither Michael’s nor JoAnn carried black 14 count Aida large enough for the canvas so I went with an oatmeal colour instead. This meant I needed to add black backstitching around the preparations, but I think it still turned out pretty awesome. Now I just need to figure out how I am going to get it ready for the wall. Maybe a frame, maybe a scroll look…. Decisions, decisions!

Many thanks to Siva on SpriteStitches for sharing the pattern.

 

April 1, 2013

It’s the End of Snake as I Know Him, and I’m Not Fine

Filed under: Writer — Tags: , , , , , — Yukino @ 2:24 PM

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When Metal Gear Solid V was officially announced last week at GDC (fully acknowledging that the Phantom Pain previews from earlier were indeed MGS related), it was revealed that they would not be asking David Hayter to resume his role as Snake. They wanted to go in a new direction with the gruff old bastard that I’ve been in love with since I first witnessed the MGS2 trailer and fell hard for the series.

Kojima partially lost me with his insistence on bringing Raiden back time and time again. I hate Raiden. I don’t have Metal Gear Rising: Revengence because I hate Raiden. Raiden was the worst part of MGS2. I wish Raiden would die in a horrible accident that erased all trace of his DNA and could never be brought back ever. That would make me happy.

I am so torn on MGSV now. I want to play it (and yes, I know MGS4 is still in my backlog) but without Hayter it just won’t be the same.

I think it’s time for Kojima to move on once MGSV comes out. It’s been a good run, but all good things should come to an end before they ruin themselves by dragging on and holding out hope that maybe the next reboot will fix it all. It won’t. Unless you make Metal Gear Yotsuba a real thing. That would be the only Metal Gear game I would want to happen post-V.

RIP, my Snake. =( (more…)

January 31, 2013

Guest Spot on Aimless Podcasts Filler Vol. 17

Filed under: Media — Tags: , , , , , — Yukino @ 10:31 AM

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Last night, I joined some of my oldest gamer friends in recording an episode of their podcast. There is a running joke that they will never hit Episode 200 because they keep calling current non-The Stuff podcasts “filler”. I assume this is because the main four hosts haven’t been able to sit down an record together in a long while. Regardless, it was great to sit down and chat with them again, as it has been far too long since I’d last done a podcast with them. (more…)

January 8, 2013

Gears of War 3

Filed under: Gamer — Tags: , , , , , , — Yukino @ 11:52 AM

Status: Normal campaign complete, now playing on Insane
Achievements: 28 of 50
Gamerscore: 335/1000
DLC Purchased: None

We picked up Gears of War 3 excited to see how the series would end and knowing it would be a great co-op experience for us. Hell, we even made sure we bought a second TV for the bedroom large enough for me to actually see what I was doing. Gears 2 had been one of the games Matt & I played together while I was still living in Canada, something to help bridge the 3000 mile gap, so there were strong feelings for the series there. (more…)

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