Vidja Games

I've been wanting to write a review for a video game for awhile. Since last week for instance. I wanted that to be my Friday post but I haven't had to the time to complete anything lately and when I have the time I am delving into Persona 3, which I won't be finished with for quite some time. So in lieu of a review post I am just going to discuss a certain portion of Persona 3 and come back to the review later.
   I am not sure how many of you have played any of the Shin Megami Tensei series but the Persona set is by far my favorite. It sounds lame but you go to school during the day and fight at night. I love it all but to be honestly lame, I like school the best. You get to earn Persona building skills through interaction with your friends. This of course encourages you to play the game through several times to see the different social outcomes. The outcome of social interactions between you and members of the opposite sex can result in a "relationship". This is where my complaint lies.
    In P3 I was investing my relationship time in Junpei. That means I passed up opportunity to hang out with others in order to get myself to a level where Junpei would be my video game boyfriend. Well what happens? Before I can reach maximum social link status with him he blows me off. What an asswipe. Now, I may be able to make him my B/F later in the game but I don't want to, I wasted too much time on him as it is! So now I have to build up a relationship with another person and I could have been spending that time productively if I would have known Junpei would be a total fart about the whole thing.
   I've also heard a rumor that in Persona 4, you can make your male protagonist have a relationship with another guy, my favorite character in the game: Kanji. I think its just a rumor though...but I wish it were true...

Added Note: it came to my attention after talking to a co-worker that this "relationship" thing might be confusing. Junpei is not a real person and is not controlled by a real person. It is like making two characters get into a relationship on Sims :). Teehee.

Reading up on Future Readings

I have been considering re-reading, or rather re-reading and finishing, The Chronicles of Narnia. I am not doing this purely for enjoyment and I sometimes wonder if I will enjoy them if I read them now. No friends, I am reading them in preparation for something I am highly anticipating this summer and that is the release of Lev Grossman's second book in The Magicians series: The Magician King.
            I picked up The Magicians on a whim when it came into my work. I had heard about it and the name stuck and I was pretty excited about the buzz about it being akin to Harry Potter. Of course, after reading it I found the only similarity to the Harry Potter books is that there is a school for magicians-there, that’s it nothing else is the same. The Magicians tell the story of Quentin. Who is dissatisfied with the real world and often escapes into a book series from his younger years called Fillory and Further. This series of books are reminiscent of real children’s fantasy: your Harry Potters and Chronicles (which is why I am reading them). His world is turned upside down when he stumbles upon his true reality. He is a magician and he will be going to school to learn how to wield his power.  However, what he finds there is not all that it seems and he will follow a destructive course of action that opens his eyes to something horrible.

                I was surprised by how much I loved this book. Grossman’s work is worded beautifully and well thought out. More than that it is an awesome examination of what high fantasy can do in a person’s life and how perception can be deceiving. I read it in a few days and passed I on to my brother who also read it quickly. I would recommend it not only to people who enjoy fantasy but also people who enjoy examinations of human emotion.

Jeopardy...Rant?

Something that I love, love, love is “Jeopardy”. I love to see if I can answer the questions and I especially love it when I can answer faster than anyone in the room. Sadly, I am not always able to watch it because it is on at the worst time in the world, 3:30 PM. It seems only old people, the unemployed or night shift workers are able to watch it on a regular basis. I once had a co-worker tell me he had it on his DVR at which point I stared so jealously at him I’m surprised he didn’t catch fire.

            I managed to catch it this week though and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t Teen Week. Gaaablaargh. Why? In all these weeks I haven’t been able to watch it and I catch it during Teen Week. Sure I can’t always answer all the questions asked during regular Jeopardy but when I don’t know I can say “Eh, it’s Jeopardy. You have to be super smart to answer” If I can’t answer during Teen Week I have to turn away shamefully and wonder if what people have been saying about public school really was true.

            Really though, every time I get to catch Jeopardy the one thing on my mind is: why can’t super smart people tell a good story? They could be telling a story about how they discovered a cave filled with gold after fighting of an army of cyborg bears but they would “um” and “ah” it to death until everyone in the audience is left going “What? Is this a good story or am I having an aneurism?” I guess you win somes you lose somes. But I forgive it’s faults. I would forgive it anything as long as it keeps giving me the trivia I so crave.

Heroclix

I have to talk about a current obsession of mine: Heroclix. The game that combines collecting miniatures of your favorite comic book characters and gaming.          
Heroclix emerged on the tabletop gaming scene in 2002 and has been confusing players ever since. Just kidding. But with its rather wordy revised manual (24 8x11’s when I printed it out at Kinko’s) it still leaves something to be desired in its explanation of game play. From what I have gathered so far you have a character with a dial that explains its Defense, Attack, Movement, Damage and Range with special colors indicating powers that the character has on that particular “click” of the dial. Heroclix is fun but hard for me in many respects because a) it is my first tabletop game and b) I am too drawn by my favorite bright shinies than by pieces that might win me the game. Therefore, I usually end up with my Runaways set dead at the hands of my boyfriend’s War machine. This usually results in a tiny Nico Minoru getting thrown harmlessly into his face when I dissolve into hysteria at losing…again.

Regardless of my repeated losses it is still a fun game to play and if you have other friends who are into it you can invite them over for hours of excitingly excruciating tactical planning as you try desperately to kick their ass before they kick yours. But let’s get down to brass tax. One of the best parts of the game happens before you even start to play. It is the beautiful blind box. Most nerds are familiar with the siren song of the blind box. It promises you all it will never give. And at 12 dollars a pop the small adrenaline rush you get from opening repeat boxes of Heroclix can quickly break you and leave you whimpering in a back alley and wondering how many more will you have to buy before that red hulk DOES show up? Wizkids certainly knows what they are doing by adding those rare and super rares. They keep you looking. Here are some of my favorites:





Sorry about the quality everyone!

Any information I got, namely Heroclix starting date, I got from everyone's favorite academically frowned upon webiste: Wikipedia

"HeroClix." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroclix>.

Currently Reading: Honey Hunt

Currently Watching: South Park

Currently Playing: Stacking!

Saturday Night

Oh Saturday night bastion of all things partyish. How shall I worship you this week? People over? Loud music? Tequila? No, not this week. I am spending my Saturday trolling the internets for fun times. I have given over and have let the nerd take over the host. Not only that but check out this sweet view:



That's right. I'm not the only one around these parts. What you are witnessing here is a gen-uuu-ine LAN party. On big screens no less. Is there any more perfect sight? Maybe if one were actually involved in the LAN party it would be better, but I'll leave the boys to there COD. I gots some Japanese Dramas to pursue!

Current Reading: Writer's Guide 2010 (woooo!)
Currently Playing: Stacking!
Currently Watching: Seeking J-Drama

And so, it starts...

For what I am I blame my mother. Though, I would hesitate to call my mom a nerd she certainly read a lot of science fiction and really loved Quantum Leap. Naturally as a child I emulated her and so it seems I was doomed from an early age to be a nerd, even more so than my mom. As we all know girls in the nerd kingdom, though a growing population, are still considered rare, making life there a bit more interesting in those circles for a lady. There are those who think you are cooler than other girls, those who find you stranger than your male counterparts and those who think too much of you. Though some may think we are hard to find, we are out there and our opinions on nerd life should be heard.

            I want to join forces with the nerd girls already talking about their hobby. I want to explore what it means for a girl geek but most importantly just what it means to have a nerdy lifestyle . I have formed a love affair with all things geek. Reading, gaming, comics, anime and so much more, these are my hobbies and I want to discuss them with others. What’s more? I want to be nerdier. I want to find out more about the things I already like and find new things to enjoy. So I started this blog as a study of myself as a nerd and to chronicle my adventures in learning new nerdy things. I want to talk about being a nerd, about being a nerdy girl, with other nerdy girls and anyone else who is into these things. If you’re interested let’s get this journey started.

Currently Reading: The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Currently Watching: Veronica Mars season 3

Currently Playing: Professor Layton and the Unwound Future