Flock of Cats » Video Games

It begins…and other odds and ends

sneaky — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:10:29 +0000

Masses of pollen wafting from a forest of Japanese cedar trees. (Photo credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

My seasonal allergies, the dreaded 花粉症　(kafunshou), have started up. My nose isn’t running too much, but my nose and eyes are super itchy, and I may just claw my eyes out. I never had allergies in America; I wonder if I’ve just developed allergies as I’ve gotten older, or if I’m only allergic to the Japanese cedar tree.

In other news, I only have 7 more days of school, and only 8 more classes! Today, I’m gonna play a game sort of like Scattegories with my 4th graders, so hopefully that will be fun and easy.

Also, I finished Far Cry 2 last night. The story picked up toward the end and became a little more interesting, but the game took way too long to move the story along. All and all it was a fun game. Now that I’m done with the story mode, I’ll try out the multiplayer mode, and try to pwn some n00bs!

Xbox repair service in Japan, aka awesomeness!

ranmafan — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 07:53:27 +0000

So my Xbox broke a few weeks ago, and I needed to get it fixed. Of course being in Japan and having a American Xbox 360 can be a hassle. Thankfully Microsoft here did a bang up job helping me out. First off even though I didn’t have a receipt they said they would repair my system for free since it was still under the three year warrantee. Thankfully I could prove that. So on Wednesday they come and pick it up, and I expect it to be gone for three weeks just like it would be in the US. You should’ve seen the shock on my face when I got a call at work on Saturday from a delivery company saying they wanted to deliver my 360 to me that day. Microsoft replaced more than i expected, and it works great now. I even got the usual one month free Xbox Live card they give out to people who need repairs. So I’m very happy with it. Now off to finally play some Gears of War 2!

Xbox Red Ring

ranmafan — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:43:05 +0000

So after spending the last few days finishing up the great “Chrono Trigger,” I decided to turn on my Xbox 360, and surprise I get a nice New Years gift, the red ring of death! Pretty much happens to everyone that buys a 360, and now I have to go through the task of getting mine fixed. Problem is I’m in Japan, my system is a US one. Thankfully they do fix US systems here, but hopefully I won’t go through too much trouble. I’m a little surprised it took this long to red ring, but I knew it would happen one day. Still the best system I’ve owned, but for now I guess I’ll play some more PS3.

The Dark Knight Blu-Ray, Indy Jones Hat, and more geekyness

ranmafan — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:02:41 +0000

This week I have been truly reminded how much of a geek I am, and how much I love that about myself. I bought a few things that I’ve been looking forward to for quite a while, and things I have wanted for years.

I love “The Dark Knight,” most people do, but wow is the Blu-ray version awesome. This is the second Blu-ray movie I’ve bought, “Enchanted” was the first, and wow I’m just amazed at the picture and the sound. My TV is only a 720p but it really looks amazing. The imax scenes are so clear that I wished the whole movie had been filmed in that format. Even though I have very little free time during the week, I keep it on in the background for some reason. I’m even tempted to turn it on in Japanese or French to hear how the Joker was dubbed. But then again, Im not that crazy. I love Blu-ray, and I can’t wait for my five disk special edition set of Blade Runner shows up soon.

Not only have I spent most of my free time watching Batman, I decided to finally buy something I’ve always wanted, a Indy Jones fedora. I tried on some used ones at a recycle shop the other day near my home, and they looked pretty good on me. So I decided to buy a new one online. I should be getting it in a few weeks. Since I am the explorer of my family, I think its appropriate.

And finally Chrono Trigger, the one Japanese RPG that I haven’t played that I should. Many call it the crown jewel of JRPGs, yet back in the SNES days I wasn’t able to get my hands on it. Thankfully the Japanese version of the new DS version of the game has the full English translation on it, so finally I can play this masterpiece. I love being a geek!

Happy Birthday, Naft!

Yulzopolis — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:19:56 +0000

Happy Birthday, Naft. One year away from the big THIRTY. Frightening.

It seems like just yesterday that we were young, happy-go-lucky kids – playing video games, watching the Longhorns, talking about movies (Yes, Ranmafan – War Games is the greatest movie about computer games set during the Cold War!)

Oh wait… we still do all these things.

Carry on.