One Game Ends, Another Begins... (An OgreBattle Retro-Game Review Conclusion)

…or Hooray! I finished Ogre Battle. Next up is Knights of the Old Republic.

So as Misti can attest to, I finally finished the SNES game Ogre Battle. Like a true military campaign, I plotted my every move, marshaled my troops, paid close attention to detail and in the end, was rewarded with the best ending for the game.

*Begin huge Video Game geek Rant – Skip it if you have no interest in Ogre Battle*

So here was my reward –

Best (Male) Ending - 100 pts - *Highlights* Lans wishes that the Hero would rule, but understands that Tristan is the heir. Warren and Lans disappear in a war a few years later. Tristan and Rauny get married and rule as the White King and the beloved Queen. The hero (Kaylos, as I named him) heads off to fight an invading army from the North – various characters accompany him. – interesting sidenote: before the end of the game, I got an extra Crown and used it to change Rauny from a Muse to a Princess.

How did I accomplish this? Well I spent time and effort managing my alignment and charisma for the main Hero and my overall reputation. To help make sure I was victorious, I created some uber-powerful units: my Death Units.

Here are my two strongest death dealing units: 1) a Princess in the back leading a group with a Lich and Monk, and a Tigerman and Vampyre in the front. 2) Warren as a Lich accompanied by a second Lich and a Monk in the back row with two Tigermen up front. These two were able to hold off the last boss’s waves of units while my good guys liberated all the towns.

However, these powerful units tended to be very chaotic (since they destroyed anything in their path), so I had to create another special unit. In fact, the final series of bosses were taken down by my specialized boss-killing/final-town-liberating unit: In the back, we had Norn as a princess standing next to Yushis (Seraphim) and Aisha (Monk), with Tristan and Debonair (both Generals) up front. With Norn leading the group, everyone got one extra attack. That’s right 8 slashes from the generals, 2 jihads from Yushis, 3 healing+s (a.k.a.“everyone gets healed”) by Aisha, and 2 starlite attacks from Norn. All those attacks equal one very dead boss.

As a side note: I just did a review for the Nintendo Wii version of Ogre Battle. Feel free to read about it here:

review for the Wii version

* End huge Geek Rant regarding Ogre Battle*

I have to admit I’m a bit sad to end such a great game (comforted by the fact that I can always go back and play it again), but I have a new game to play, dictated to me by my best friend.

You know how you have a mental list of books for people to read that you constantly recommend to family and friends, books that you feel they’ll enjoy or give them a new appreciation of life? Or perhaps you have a list of movies that you recommend? Well, my best friend has a list like that for me; a list of games that he loves and feels I must play for my own edification. Previously, I was required to play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Awesome Game!). Next up is Knights of the Old Republic.

Time to head back to the Star Wars Universe.

ECCC: Part 2 - Costumes and Celebs

Dawn of Oz print by Josheph Michael Lisner for the comic con

...or the many hues of man!

So as promised, here is the second part of my ComiCon experience. First off, here are a couple of celebrities who were in attendance at the convention.

You may recognize Jewel Staite as "Kaylee" from the series Firefly or perhaps as "Dr. Keller" from Stargate: Atlantis.

Next up, the Ambassador of Geekdom:

That's right - it's Wil Wheaton. Well known blogger, geek, and fellow Farker. Interestingly enough, even though Jewel Staite was in the next booth, and Ray Park ("Toad", "Darth Maul", "Snake Eyes") was one booth over, Wil's crowd managed to dwarf both lines combined. The man is a geek icon. I'm kicking myself for not waiting in line to meet the man, but $25 an autograph is a bit steep for this young hero, at least at this time.

And now, time for the costumes!
First, we have Tony Stark, with the Scarlet Witch, (not sure who the female on the left is...maybe some other comic geek can help a brother out?).

"Nurse" Joker from the latest Batman film.

Here we have the Samuel Jackson inspired "Ultimate" Nick Fury...who has done a bit of shopping at this convention, it would appear.

Ahh....Poison Ivy. An Eco-terrorist peacefully attending a comic convention.

Here we have a bit of NightCrawler action. Nice dramatic crouch there.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Check out the heroic pose!

Here are some animated heroes - The Wonder Twins, and Comic heroine, Bat-Girl!


Next up, we have Akuma, Velma, Cthulu, and a Ghostbuster !



And here we have some awesome Dragonball Z characters - Goku and Chi-Chi, in a dramatic martial arts pose.
And here's the final series of costumes, for what convention of all things geeky would be complete without the Holy Grail of Geekdom: Star Wars!


Hmm...without the Sith around, the Jedi apparently really let themselves go...

And Leia? I'm guessing the tattoo is a hold-over from her rebellious youth on Alderaan.

Anyways, that about that does it for now. Hope you enjoyed this glimpse in the realm of geekdom.

Fear the geek. Love the geek.

ECCC: Part 1

(helmet girl by Camilla d'Errico)

...Or the beginning of a geek experience.

So as mentioned via twitter, I was really excited about attending the Emerald City ComiCon this year. First of all, I'd be taking my girlfriend Misti to her first comic convention (a true geek rite of passage), but secondly I'd be able to introduce her to the artist Camilla d'Errico.

I attended the ECCC back in 2004, dragged there back a group of friends who were really into comics. I was pretty excited to meet Stan Sakai (the creator of Usagi Yojimbo), but other than that, I wasn't really sure to to expect. Later that day, my best friend Chip showed up, and we started to wander around Artist Alley. While perusing various prints and works, we saw this wonderful picture of a girl sitting on a sidewalk done in water colors. I bought one print, the "rainy version", while Chip bought the sunny version. Chip and I chatted with the artist, Camilla d'Errico a bit, and then I left.

I was instantly a fan of her work, which has an Anime/Mange influence, but a style all her own. After I was home a few days, I decided to see if she had any more art for sale, a sure enough, she did. I bought a few more prints and some original art (a kid's piece called "Paperbag Princess").

("Burn" )

Later she offered some more original art to me, which I gladly paid for (see the first piece "Helmet Girl - winking").

Jump forward to 2009 - Misti loves my Camilla d'Errico paintings, especially "Helmet Girl." I noted that Camilla was going to be at ECCC this year (I think she's there every year) and that we could go meet her and maybe get some more art. Of course, Misti thought this was a wonderful idea.

After a very long drive (another story for anther time), we arrive in Seattle and begin the convention. I made sure that we visited Camilla first (since there was the possibility that she would be a bit tired at the end of the day - a convention is a very draining experience).

Camilla was very nice and made Misti into an even bigger fan as a result. We chatted for a bit, got a graphic novel signed and then wandered around for a couple of hours, just taking in the whole experience. We chatted about what prints we wanted to buy from Camilla and then wandered back to Artists Alley.

We bought 2 prints and 2 comic books, all of which Camilla signed (she even sketched on the backs of both comics!). And then, while noting that she is starting to get over her camera-shyness, she let us take a picture with her.

So if you are interested in her work, like Anime, and/or enjoy discovering new artists - check out her site here: http://www.camilladerrico.com/

Next time: Costumes - freaks and geeks!

True Tale of Unspeakable Horror

...or a real life toilet humor story of survival and the power of friendship.

Life has a funny sense of humor. Oftentimes, humans are put into situations that stretch them to the very limits of their ability. In the not-so-distant past (about a year or so prior to this post), I was put into such a situation...

I work on the second floor of a house turned into the office. We have two rooms up here and a small bathroom with no ventilation. Needless to say, most of us know it's off limits for anything that can be construed as "socially offensive". Unfortunately a few of our employees who work in the community have no such qualms.

One such employee came hurtling up the stairs since the downstairs bathroom was occupied at the time. Like that infamous Jurassic park scene involving the water rippling in the cup, the sounds of her steps pounding up the stairs carried with them ominous portent. I listened in horror as the noises that came out of the tiny bathroom made my stomach turn. It sounded like someone had dumped out a used bucket of mop water into a tub. The female worker (yes, a rather large woman) then emerged, her face glowing in victory. She waved to me and my coworkers across the hall and then stomped back down the stairs.

Then the smell hit.

I threw open my windows and tried sucking fresh air through the screen covering. It wasn't working. I could feel my hairs curling as they tried to twist and turn from the foul entity climbing out of the tiny bathroom. My coworkers across the way thought I was just being funny until they smelled it too. They immediately slammed their door shut and lit several candles, feverishly praying to whatever god was listening. With a small gasp at the oxygen retreating from my window, I stumbled downstairs, eyes watering, looking for anything to combat the smell. Then I found the febreeze-in-a-can.

I went upstairs aerosoling the whole way and screaming, "The power of Christ compels you," while making the sign of the cross in mist particles. I could sense the entity retreating, keening in anguish as it was defeated by pureness in aerosol form: Febreeze.

In the end, we won the battle...but we were changed. Scarred, irrevocably by the horror we had just witnessed.

Every now and then, someone will bring up that horrible day. Those of us who lived through it will glance at each other, a haunted, distant look in our eyes.