Personal

Dollars and Sense

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Though I am far from rich, money historically hasn’t been much of an issue when it comes to my gaming related purchases. Sure, I couldn’t afford to buy every single game I’ve ever wanted brand new, but I’ve been able to buy virtually every game I’ve ever wanted since I started working over a decade ago. Even as a teenager making minimum wage as a stock boy, I had room in my budget for hot new releases or games I passed on initially that have dropped in price.

This year, while in the midst of planning for Steff and I’s move, I had an epiphany: I can’t keep spending like this anymore.

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Got The Street Fighter IV Double Crown

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Just over a year ago, I reached the milestone of #1 ranked Rose player in Canada on Xbox Live. While this was met with no fanfare beyond any created by me, it’s still an accomplishment I hold near and dear. As someone who can still vividly remember losing 20+ straight matches online when I first started playing Street Fighter IV, it’s a testament to how far I can go in a game if I put in the time and effort to get better.

Though I haven’t played the game with much vigor (or much at all) in 2012, I just crossed another milestone.

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Video Games and First Dates

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Picture yourself into this scenario.

You’re on a first date. In the midst of getting to know each other, the topic of hobbies, and interests comes up. You, as a gaming enthusiast, have a decision to make. To what extent do you discuss your interest in the medium?

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Underneath My Christmas Tree: 2012 Gaming Edition

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Merry belated Christmas! Hope your holidays are going great!

As I’ve gotten older, the focal point of Christmas has shifted from receiving to giving. I’m sure that once I have children of my own, that focus will shift even more. Though I generally expect less as time goes by, I still got a number of wonderful gaming related gifts from my loved ones. Thank you Santa for everything! Below is a list of stuff I got under the tree. What did you give/receive? Feel free to share in the comments!

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Check Out My 2012 Game of the Year Post on Splitkick.com!

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Over at Splitkick, all of the editors are sharing their picks for game of the year, as well as honourable mentions. My post recently went live, which you can read right now! Do you agree/disagree with my picks? Take a look and let’s discuss in the comments!

Read SK 2012 GOTY – Now on Splitkick!

The ‘Language’ of King of Fighters XIII

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When it comes to comprehending the combo system in any given fighting game, I love using sentence structure as an analogy. Sentences in any language have a very particular rule-set that dictates how words can be arranged to make sense. When you have a mastery of that sentence structure, you no longer think about the rules; you just create sentences on the fly. Each fighting game is has its own unique sentence structure. And just like language, when you have a mastery of a game’s combo system, you’ll inherently know what series of inputs will string to form a combo.

A few months back, I picked up two fighting games on the same day: Persona 4 Arena, and King of Fighters XIII. While I am far from an expert at the former, I understand its ‘language’ enough to string together basic combos on my own. Even at this entry-level of skill, I’m having a lot of fun with it. The latter is a different story.

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Please Donate to Child’s Play Charity This Holiday Season

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With the holidays quickly approaching, now is a great time to donate to Child’s Play Charity. Since 2003, they’ve helped provide hospitalized children across North America with toys and games. This is a cause that I feel is very easy for us as gamers to get behind, and I personally have donated to the cause for the last few years. If you can provide some support, you can donate through the official Child’s Play website, or one of the many fundraising events for the cause.

2012 Year in Review: Jett X Splitkick

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Up until this year, writing for any other publication other than my own was never in the cards. I have no ambitions to make a career out of this, and all of my efforts leading up to that point were strictly for personal enjoyment. I’ve been approached in the past to contribute In Third Person content to other websites, but none of those offers felt right to me.

However, when Splitkick approached me regarding the possibility of joining their writing staff as a contributor, it was an easier decision to make. I was genuinely excited to join a team of gaming enthusiasts that take their writing craft seriously. After submitting a few pieces as a contributor, I formally joined on as a staff writer.

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2012 Year In Review: A Slow Year for Video Games

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2012 was a slow year for me. At least as far as new releases go. Within this calendar year, I’ve only bought about 10 new releases across all of the systems I own. Instead of jumping from one new release to the next,  a of my game shopping and playing this year has been spent catching up on older releases, as well as some stellar downloadable releases. Trials Evolution and Mark of the Ninja in particular stand out.

I know that there were big titles throughout, and that tastes vary from person-to-person, but this has been the slowest gaming year for me in a long time. Things will likely pick up now that the Wii U is out and that more new consoles are supposedly on the way, but this year in general was a bummer. Was 2012 a down year for you too?