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I Just Got Home From Fan Expo 2011

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Hey Friends,

Sorry for the lack of posts these last few days. I’ve spent most of the last four days enjoying the spoils of Fan Expo 2011 in Toronto. I haven’t even been at my house to sleep most nights, as it’s been more convenient for us to have me crash at Steff’s place.

If you were there, I hope you enjoyed it as thoroughly as Steff, Michelle and I did. It was once again a great event, and moving the location to a larger venue helped make things run so much smoother. I will try my best to document as much of my experiences as I can in the next few days, though my fleeting memory will also be challenged by a looming vacation to London.

I may not be as thorough with my posts as last year, but I’ll be sure to scribe something before I hop on that plane! Take care everyone!

Off-Topic: I’m Going to London

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Though I have traveled to hundreds of fictional video game worlds in my lifetime, traveling in real life has been far less frequent. I’ve only ever been on a plane once in my life, and I’ve only spent a total of one month out of my entire existence outside of my country. My lack of traveling has nothing to do with me being a video game nerd. However, it has everything to do with not having the time or resources to travel up until this point in time.

With that said, life is starting to stabilize for me. I’ve been working full-time for the last few years, which comes with the benefits of a steady income and paid vacation. In a matter of days, I’ll be enjoying the spoils of my ‘wealth’ with my girlfriend in London, England in just over a week from today.

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Off-Topic Pick-Up Post: 2012 Hyundai Elantra GL

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Say hello to my new friend. And just in case you’re wondering, yes, that’s my silhouette at the bottom.

Though I came into this car shopping experience with a sad heart, simply looking for a cheap vehicle to get me from point A to point B, it became a lot more meaningful when I first laid eyes on the 2012 Hyundai Elantra that day in the showroom. It’s combination of sleek styling and a long list of features at a highly competitive price won me over hard. Once I saw that car, it wasn’t about just getting any car. It was about being a baller in that car. I was thinking about that Elantra every day until I finally got my own over the weekend. Should you be interested in my experiences with the vehicle so far, click through to read more!

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We’re Going to Fan Expo Canada 2011

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Last year, my girlfriend Steff and I had a blast at Fan Expo. It was the first convention we ever went to, and we told ourselves very early on that we have to do this all over again next year. If you’re interested in reading up on our exploits last year, check out the posts below:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

With the 2011 edition of the show approaching in a matter of weeks, we already have our tickets and are getting pumped for the ensuing awesomeness.

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Game Design Talk: Do You Need Context in Your Video Games?

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Having recently completed Vanquish, the game got me thinking about the context behind any given video game. What I mean by context in this sense, is the context behind your actions within a game. For instance, the story of a Super Mario game might be paper thin, but the context for actions is clear: you’re trying to save Princess Peach. Oftentimes, people will use the word ‘story’ in place of ‘context’, but I think context is a better fitting word in this sense.

The context behind Vanquish is awful for a number of reasons, yet I really enjoyed playing that game strictly because I loved the gameplay mechanics that drove the experience. I simply chose to tune out the convoluted story, poor dialogue and bad voice acting.

Though I’ve sort of talked about this topic in the past, I wanted to open this up for discussion. Do you need context in your video games in order to enjoy them?

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Off-Topic: Car Shopping

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Up until recently, my 2001 Nissan Sentra has been an MVP in my life for many years. While I was in a bit over my head financially when I initially bought it, the investment ultimately paid off. With its help, I was able to get back into the radio industry, decide that I didn’t want to work in that industry anymore, go back to school and land a full-time job in an industry I’m happy with. It also didn’t hurt that having a car has made my relationship with my girlfriend Steff a lot easier, as distance hasn’t played as much of a factor as it could have.

Up until recently, it was fairly reliable too. Unfortunately, due to some core engine problems that make maintaining the car more trouble than its worth, I’m going to have to let it die a pre-mature death. As my Nissan sits motionless in my driveway for another week, I’ve begun my search for a new vehicle.

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Pick-Up Post: Catherine Pre-Order Edition

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One of the reasons I pre-ordered Catherine once I decided to buy it (besides the ability to avoid the embarrassment of purchasing it in person) was to get the CD soundtrack and the art book for free with what Atlus positioned as the pre-order edition. However, due to Amazon failing to ship my order in a timely manner, I just went out to my local retailer and bought a copy. To my surprise, every launch copy of the game is the pre-order edition, which means if you buy a launch copy of the game, you’ll get the bonus art book and CD soundtrack regardless of whether you pre-ordered it.

As of writing, I haven’t played the game yet. However, I thought I’d at least post my impressions on the launch package in case you were interested in what the art book and soundtrack are like.

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How-To Replace the Buttons on a Mad Catz TE

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I am far from a handyman. Fixing things has never been a strong suit of mine, nor has my track record with fixing video game hardware been positive. So when my RT button broke on my Mad Catz TE, I dreaded the thought of myself trying to (and ultimately failing at) fixing it. Regardless of my lack of handyman skills and my desire to throw money at the problem to make it go away, the fastest, cost-effective and logical solution was to fix it myself.

While there are a ton of other, better guides online to show you how to handle this procedure, I thought I’d document my own experience in hopes of providing insight to you if you’re also scared of modding the buttons on your Mad Catz TE yourself.

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Societal Pressures and How They Influenced My Purchase of Catherine

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Shortly after writing my previous post on my time with the Catherine demo, I decided that I was going to purchase the game. Normally, when I’ve made the decision to buy a game before its release, I patiently wait until launch day and buy said game at a store. I like the experience of going into a store and getting the game immediately, rather than having the release date pass by while my game is in transit at the mercy of the postal service.

This time, I pre-ordered it online. I grabbed the PlayStation 3 version so that my girlfriend can play my copy too. I’ve never pre-ordered any games online before, and this is only the second time I’ve ever purchased a game online. No, I didn’t go out of my way to pre-order it so that I could get the bonus soundtrack and art book (though it’s a nice bonus, I guess). I pre-ordered it to save myself from any potential embarrassment.

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Button Dies on My Mad Catz TE

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The other night, I was playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3 online. I was running with my main team of Wolverine/Storm/Sentinel when something went awry: nothing happened when I hit the Sentinel button. Sure enough, my right trigger button on my Mad Catz TE had died.

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