Life

Its been a while, lots of things have changed since the last time I blogged.  This one won't be about food though.  I'm posting my thoughts here because I doubt anybody will see this, especially those in my family it might worry unnecessarily.  My last post was in 2016.  Since then, I've been to 10 funerals, including my father's in 2019.  I can sort of remember the first funeral I went to when I was in the 1st grade, it was my maternal grandmother. I've watched each grandparent pass away. Many times in the hospital. I remember sitting in the hospital when the doctor sat me and my mom down to break the news my dad had cancer the first time.  I have a big phobia when it comes to doctors and hospitals.  The last time I went to the doctor, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.  I pretty much worked on my diet and got past it, but the medicine I had to take kind of messed me up to be honest. I had to stop taking it because it was getting out of control and the doctors didn't seem to care about it or didn't know what to do about it.

This past weekend was Texas Showdown, I think it went fine.  A lot of people seemed happy with it. From the organizational side, it was a mess.  Javi stepped down officially this past Saturday. But he already checked out last June. Since then, me and Jace have been working on the Tournament Director role. I haven't been in this position since Javi came back in 2013, so it was a nerve wrecking eye opening experience.  Javi still has people contact him for things, and he's still the main venue contact, but in the future I'm not sure where that stands.  We ended up on the positive side, instead of heavy negative of last year.  So thats a plus, but how we move forward is anybody's guess.  We need a lot more help, especially if we grow larger, but we keep losing people instead.

Besides that, mentally, I'm not sure where my headspace is.  Since the last blog, from what I've read online, I'm definitely having symptoms of depression.  But I don't want to goto therapy, or take drugs or whatever. This is pretty much my first time to really acknowledge it.  I think its because talking with my mom, and her talking about her depression, kinda made me realize that I might be having it too.  As I've gotten older, I've grown way more anti-social. I've always hated public speaking. Being in a front facing role at Showdown terrifies me.  I tested myself doing a panel at Showdown, but even with just 5 people, including friends, I couldn't look people in the eye and was kinda speed talking through it to get it over with.  In the end, I got through it, the weekend went ok, we hit our minor goals, just need to finish up the rest of the financial details and move on to next year.

I might goto Evo Japan, spur of the moment, bad decision.  But I think it would be a nice mental break and vacation. Evo Vegas isn't until August, and my other Japan trip isn't until November. I think I should take that trip...

So its been about 4 years since I've posted on here.  Examiner.com is closing its doors, so I guess I'll start writing stuff on here now.  If you've been following my latest exploits, then you already know that I've been streaming and posting the vids up on YouTube.

My videos on Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle have been my most popular videos on YouTube and gets me the most views on Twitch.  However, I'd like to write about other games that I've been interested and playing.  This blog I'll talk about Naruto Shinobi Collection.

I'm not the biggest fan of Naruto(Bleach 4 Lyfe!), but this games looked really fun when I watched it being played on another stream(shoutouts to Joe_A78).  Its Japan only for now, so you have to get it through QooApp, or finding the APK file.  They had just finished a ninja fest celebration, so you get a ton of stuff when you start a new account, like 90 ninja stones, 15 5* units(10 of them were young Tsunade) and some guaranteed 5* summon tickets.

The game has your basic features, summoning, story quests, event quests, shop, team building.  If I were to compare it to another game, I would stay its similar to Brave Frontier.  I say that because you have a team and its turn based.  However, in some missions there is another part that you play before the actual fight.  The first part is a side scrolling adventure type where you collect coins & items, fight enemies, and avoid obstacles and pitfalls.

Another thing that's different from Naruto to DBZ is the ninja gear.  In DBZ, you just need to keep leveling up your characters, then their special attack and you're done.  In Naruto, you do that same thing, but you also equip ninja gear!  Better yet, you can actually craft your own ninja gear.  I'm still learning about that aspect(same thing with accessories in Bleach Brave Souls, but I'll write about that another time.)

So far the events have been pretty interesting, mostly ranking battles.  They are usually paired with a special summon banner for a limited time.  The banner will feature special units that you need for the ranking battle.  Some say that its not usually worth it to just get the event specific units, because they aren't that useful outside of the event.  I think it just depends on who the unit is.  During the 2 events that just ended(Ohnoki & Sakura ranking battles) Ohnoki & Mu were essential for their event, but considered below average outside of it.  Meanwhile, Sakura may be useful outside of her event.  The current events are a story event for the Boruto movie, and a ranking event for Raikage.  With Naruto being one of the feature units for the Raikage event, he's definitely a good character outside of the event.

It's been less than 2 weeks since I've started playing Naruto and I've had a blast so far.  I've held true to being F2P so far, and don't really plan on buying in this game, not unless they have some crazy swimsuit Tsunade or something coming up for the summer.  But currency in this game has been really good.  The ninja stones I talked about earlier are the in game currency you use to summon, continue, etc.  But you don't necessarily have to buy them with real money.  Other currency in the game include rainbow coins(or P Miles), and gold coins.  You can actually buy ninja stones using either.  On top of that, RNG seems to be really generous, especially for banner units.  Either that or I've been really lucky, but I've gotten at least 1 5* every multi summon I've done, and gotten multiple 5*s on all but one so far.

If you're a huge fan of Naruto, then I would suggest playing this game.  But be warned, its only in Japanese.  But there is the Reddit community to help as well as YouTuber NoobieSnake if you get stumped.  I'm putting up videos of me playing this game as well, but I would say its more like misadventures rather than a guide.

This past Saturday was definitely a crazy trip.  Mind you it was only one day.  The night before a bunch of us were over at UH for our bi-weekly FGC meetup.  The next day, me and Francisco drove out to Oni-con in Galveston.  It was known as the longest running anime convention in Houston, but then it up and moved to Galveston last year.  Since it began, its always been known to be a basic con that was consistent for its VK bands, gaming room by Big Bruno, and their artist alley/dealers room.  I think that since they are already well known for what they offer, they believe that they don't need to go out of their way to prepare and advertise.  That became sorely evident as there were no announcements until two months prior to the event.  That included the date of the event.


Still, the event did go on, and even though it was the first time I had attended the event in their new city, it was predictably the same as when it was in Houston.  They have more space with the Galveston Convention Center, but it didn't feel like they fully utilized the space.  Schedules were hard to find, and most con goers were kind of just randomly walking around hoping to find what they were looking for.  Most seemed to end up either in the Dealers room, the games room, or just enjoying the weather outside.  I was hoping it would be cooler weather for it being autumn and by the water, but sadly its still Texas and unbearably hot.  That also meant that inside the con was also hot, and smelly.  I spent most of my time, and money, in the dealers room.  You can see some of the pictures below, or just see my article on it here.

Nichijou, To Aru Majutsu no Index, and Accel World

 "Healthy" Chinese Buffet....

 

 

Galveston Beach before cosplay

  

Galveston Beach after cosplay

 

 Pretty cosplayer

 

 Pretty Cosplayer Yuuki-Zhi Song

 Famous cosplayers!

 Crazy cosplayer!

 Cammy Cosplayer!

 Way too expensive Link!

Leaving Galveston Beach

Now that would be enough for a day trip for most people, but not us.  We're gamers!  So off we went, screaming down I-45 to head to Insomnia VGC for their 2nd Tekken Tag 2 tournament.  We barely got there in time, and Francisco went to play his first match.  I don't play Tekken so I basically just watched and wrote an article on the event here.  Predictably, the top guys were all the Tekken regulars.  KOR won another tournament, AV got second, NeoX 3rd.

AV, KOR, NeoX

And yet that still wasn't enough for us.  No, we had to party it up downstairs in the bar under Insomnia, Gearheads.  A very odd mix of people in a smoky bar, playing dubstep constantly.  Don't ask.  Anyway, I was down there during the tournament's early rounds drinking with Lance and Buddah.  I left to watch the end of the tournament, meanwhile Francisco was peaced out and headed down to drink as well.  When I rejoined them after the tournament ended, well, lets just say Francisco and Buddah were finished.  Events unfolded that we are not proud of, and will not speak of.  But there was at least one KO, and one left dizzied.  We had Buddah sleep it off in his car, and happy to say he made it back home in one piece.  Francisco had to hand me the keys until he was finally able to drive home... 4 hours later...  On top of that, the figures I was waiting for from Japan still didn't make it in.  Ugh, oh well I got to watch the Texans romp over the Ravens when I woke up the next day!

So ok, its been a reeaaaaaally long time since I posted on here. I never really figured out an identity for this blog. It was just whatever was going on at the time. I'm pretty much converting it to basically cover what I'm passionate about lately, video games, memorabilia, and figures.

So earlier tonight, I was at Game Over in Houston. It sucks that this place opened up in the area I used to live at. I know I would have been here everyday. Tonight they had a Super Bust-a-Move 2 tournament. Even though I've never played this version before, I somehow managed to win it. My prize was a $50 gift card, which I promptly used on a cool old Fist of the North Star NES game, and this Street Fighter Monopoly game that I'd had my eye on since they announced it a while back.

The front of the box has a classic Street Fighter collage showing the entire cast.

 The back just simply shows the board, pieces and some of the changes. 

Some cool art on the interior, not pictured is the rules sheet which was pretty much the same as you would find in a normal Monopoly game, except with the different cards and properties. You can see the money, chance and community chest cards, properties, houses(red), hotels(black), dice and pieces.

 Here you can see the board, similar layout as a normal board. Obviously renamed properties. Railroads are Shadowloo Airlines.

These are probably the coolest thing about this set. Very nicely made pewter pieces of M. Bison, Vega's mask, a Hadoken, Ryu, Blanka, and Chun-Li's bracelet.

Bison bucks! 

Community Chest is now Bonus Stage. Here are some of the ones I found to be funny. "Lose to a button masher! - Goto jail!"

 Chance is now Random Select. Pictured are some of the funnier ones. "Whiff! Go back three spaces!" 

 

 The new properties, Shadowloo Airlines replaces the railroads, Hado and Psycho Power replace Water Works and the Electric Company, and the cheapest and most expensive properties are Saikyo Dojo and Shadowloo Headquarters.

Overall, its mainly for Street Fighter fans. Much like all of the other special edition, its not really worth the higher price tag unless you just really are a fan of it. Or you could just win a tournament and get it for free!

So today the sky decided to erupt rain all over Houston. This is not the first time this has happened, but it has been awhile. As I stood by the window of my 19th floor office, I watched as helpless little smart cars, and ricers rolled the dice, only to find out just how deep the water goes. One by one, the lake in front of my office devoured them all, then seemed to chuckle, "Please, bring me some more!" Then the true kings of the road, the long forgotten gas guzzling SUV's and trucks popped out and the flood waters quaked with fear. As the trucks plowed through without hesitation, the waters parted like the Red Sea and the tens of thousands of little cars were free from their liquid prison. Still, it was funny while it lasted.

Pro-tip: if your car has the clearance of a skateboard, then ANY water puddle is too deep.

Seeing as I've been getting more and more lazy about updating this thing, more than likely this will be the last entry for 2011. Alot has happened since my last post so I'm not sure if I can put it all down here. Here are some of the highlights. My friend Kevin Turner got sponsored by Quantic Gaming. This was huge news since this was their first time sponsoring a fighting game player. I knew of their group from MLG and their National Championship Call of Duty Black Ops winning team Next Threat. Kevin recently went out to Cali for the SoCal Regionals and had a good showing in his first official event competing under the Quantic Kensou name.

Last week also saw PZ playing host to its first Starcraft 2 tournament. The original bracket was held earlier and drew 64 players, many on the Grand Master level, in an online run preliminary to cut the field down to the top 16. The top 16 played in front of a live audience at the Westchase Marriott hotel and played out on TeSPA's stream site in association with Quantic. I have an interview with the winner of the tournament coming up next week, so be on the lookout for that!

2 weeks ago, the Space Circuit car show was held. I went to go check it out with Kevin and got to see DJ Heavygrinder freezing her butt off while spinning for the crowd. Pretty neat event, just wish the weather cooperated a little more.

Later today, PZ will continue on with their weekly SF4 series of tournaments. But this time they are adding a new wrinkle. Kevin, and a co-host to be named later, will be hosting a live stream show for the weeklies. This is a pretty exciting venture and will definitely help bring some needed exposure for the Houston scene and its players. After the huge success of the UH meet this past Monday, events like this will just keep getting bigger and better.

Keeping with the theme of my monthly blogging, this month I'm covering MLG Providence. This year has been a big learning experience for me. As I've said many times, I don't play FPS games. I'm not sure if its the crazy movement giving me motion sickness, or maybe I'm getting old, but I can't keep up with the gameplay to find it enjoyable. Fighting games are more my style. Well that and certain PC games. I've had lots of friends tell me about DOTA and League of Legends, but I never really paid that much attention to them. Mainly because I was too busy to sit down and play those kind of games. The last time I even touched an MMORPG was Maplestory. After this MLG season, its pretty clear that they want to expand into the PC realm, and I think thats a good move. There are more competitively played games, more sponsors, and much more of a player base to get involved once you start talking about PC games. Look at Starcraft 2. It was kind of like a "Let's try this and see" game last season. This year it eclipsed MLG's favored Halo for most popular.

Next season MLG would really like to have another fighting game. Obviously, the number one game that everybody would love to see on the roster is Street Fighter. But just in case it doesn't make it, there are a number of alternatives that may provide an exciting viewer base that could pick up steam, ala SC2 last year and LoL this year. First up is Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, now if they can't get SF, maybe Capcom would be willing to work with their other big fighting game title. The Marvel fighting game scene is already a huge community in its own right, and could easily bring the hype that SF could. Next I would say is Soul Calibur 5. SC2 was one of the original games on the MLG circuit years ago, and this might be the perfect opportunity to bring it back. Besides, if that means we get to see more of Kayane, thats a win for everybody. In late March, Street Fighter X Tekken comes out, and just in time for next season. It could be a match made in heaven with Tekken and SF crowds. Finally for an off the wall pick is BlazBlue. It flies under the radar a bit under the big boys, but so did its predecessor Guilty Gear. With a market hungry company like Aksys begging for exposure, they just may be the most willing partner to really push a fighting game in MLG.