The Amiibo hunt continues!
Personal
Marvel Dice Masters: Uncanny X-Men Overload!
Holy cow! Steff and I recently exchanged anniversary presents, and I opened up an entire Marvel Dice Masters: Uncanny X-Men booster box! According to my research, there’s 90 booster packs in each, which means there’s 180 dice and cards in there! If that ain’t love, then I don’t know what love is. Thank you love! I hope the gift I gave to you was equally awesome!
I probably would have torn through all of them by now, but Steff’s condition is that I’m only allowed to open one per day. I’m probably going to document this process in some way, though I haven’t figured it out just yet. Stay tuned!
My Next Ultra Street Fighter IV Project
Because having the #1 ranked Rose, #4 ranked Decapre and #7 Rolento in the world on PSN isn’t enough, I continue to play Ultra Street Fighter IV. Despite my obsessive thirst for points, it’s not really the drug that keeps me here. What really drives my play is the fact that it’s still supremely fun and it constantly rewards players for putting in the time and effort to learn and improve. I’ve had a blast learning the nuances of my three mains, though it’s also been fun to play and learn the characters that haven’t panned out. Since I probably will continue to play this game for the foreseeable future, here’s my short list of characters that may be my future projects.
My 2014 Holiday Wishlist
I’ve been told on many occasions that I’m horrible to shop for. Ever since I joined the workforce, I would go out of my way to purchase everything I ever wanted as soon as humanly possible. It’s part of the reason why I’ve been able to generate so much content for this site over the years.
This year’s a bit different. While I am not broke or unemployed, my financial situation is such that I can no longer maintain that lifestyle. As such, my wish list is a country mile long. I won’t share the whole thing in this post, but here are a few choice items from my wish list this year!
Fire Emblem is Out Now on the Wii U Virtual Console
Fire Emblem first appeared on the Gameboy Advance. It was the first in the series released outside of Japan. Back when this came out in 2003, I was already a fan Nintendo’s turn-based strategy games thanks to Advance Wars. However, I was not ready for how unique Fire Emblem was compared to its sister strategy game, nor was I ready for how freaking awesome it would be.
What separates the two besides the obvious thematic differences is that Fire Emblem is much more of a role-playing game. Instead of managing an army of disposable units, each of the characters in your party has a name and story arc. You equip them with weapons and other gear. Best (or worst) of all, if they die in the game, they die forever. The strategic joy from Advance Wars is certainly here, though it’s only amplified by how high the stakes are when you’re managing a team of characters you care about that could die if you screw up.
Intelligent Systems and Nintendo have improved on the formula over time, though this first international release is still a masterpiece that is as fun to play now as it was in 2003. For die-hard fans of the series like me, owning this new version on the Wii U Virtual Console gives me a way to play the game again on a modern platform. If you haven’t played any in the series yet, this is a relatively affordable entry-point, since the game is under $10 on the eShop. If you’re ever going to give the series an honest try, this is a great place to start!
Off-Topic: The Long Road to Financial Recovery (Part 2 of 2)
In the first part of this series, I talked about my recent financial struggles and my plan to fix things. Now that a full month has passed with these initiatives in place, I can take some time to review how successful it actually was.
Off-Topic: The Long Road to Financial Recovery (Part 1 of 2)
Personal finances have been a concern of mine for quite some time. I’ve fretted for years about the way in which money has freely flown out of my bank account, but didn’t really make the effort to stop that from happening. In hindsight, I also could have done much more in terms of saving money for the future.
Instead, I am where I am, and where I am could be a lot better. I still have steady work and I make more money than I ever have in my life. This I acknowledge and am grateful for. However, my expenses are also at an all-time high, and that’s before factoring in a wedding. Savings? I have one, though it’s a far cry from being useful in terms of paying for this wedding or making a down payment on the house. About a month ago, after a culmination of life circumstances put me in a real jam, I finally decided to take an active role in making things right.
An A for Decapre
It was only about two months ago when I first gave Cammy’s evil clone an honest try. Back then, I had no idea how far this would go. Now I’m the proud owner of an A-ranked Decapre that’s ranked 4th overall in the world.
Some Nights
Some nights, when I’m playing Ultra Street Fighter IV online, I feel like I’m invincible. There are sessions where I go the entire evening without losing a match. Most of the time, I’ll win about 80% of my matches. In the grand scheme of things, that’s still amazing. Most recently, I had a miracle run with Decapre, where I took the character from 2,000 BP to 10,000 BP in two weeks. For context, I’ve played as Akuma on-and-off for years in the Street Fighter IV series and never got higher than 5,000 BP.
Last night was not one of those nights. In fact, it was easily my worst night ever in Ultra Street Fighter IV.
Death By Decapre
I have to admit that I didn’t expect to get much out of Decapre. Based on her similarities with Cammy and my struggles with using the original Killer Bee, I figured that any time with Decapre would end in disappointment. Don’t want to jinx things, but so far, Decapre is working out much better than expected.
In Third Person 