glimpse of the past... | ||
Highlights of the ever-nearing future of the gaming world, in my opinion... Gamecube: Zelda (scheduled for release in October!) and Havest Moon: Another Wonderful Life Game Boy Advance: Sigma Star Saga and Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town DS: Another, Snowboard Kids, and Animal Crossing
.: May 1, 2005 :. What else can I write about today? Why, I may as well mention the freakin' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie!! I can imagine the people in the theater who haven't read the book thinking: "What the heck is this?!" Its lunacy is not for the faint of heart... Though I'm sure there were people who thought the original Star Wars trilogy was pretty wacky, and look where it is now! Trivia info: Douglas Adams (creator of Hitchhiker's Trilogy) and Terry Jones (producer of Monty Python) are friends! Er, were friends... due to Adams' untimely death in 2001... Anyway, it's one of the greatest movies I've seen in a long time. The entire middle sequence (between the encounter with Humma and the rescuing of Trillian) was nowhere in the book... I guess there was no way to stretch the storyine to a movie length without adding something new... I was disappointed that my favorite line ("Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.") was not in the movie, and instead was replaced with this:
"Ford?" Also, the depiction of Marvin was very accurate... While Arthur & friends were on the Vogon planet, a random character walked by who resembled Marvin as seen on the Hitchhiker's TV series... I'm way too into this, I know... I'm a book nerd, and a sci fi nerd, put the two together and I'm just a bigger nerd, so bear with me... There was a hint of a sequel at the end of the movie... Yay. MEANWHILE, somewhere not in the human colon!!:
.: May 19, 2005 :. On any note, some time ago, not far from this very chair in which I sit, I was in my room unearthing the maelstrom that is the bottom shelf of my bookcase. What was the treasure for which I searched? Sketchbooks, journals, and the like, hopefully the kind that contained the pencil drawings that are my hobby. Considering the mass quantity of these, I had quickly gathered enough to satisfy myself, and lugged them down the stairs and plopped, with content, in front of this very computer. Gleefully, I turned on my scanner.
Suddenly, it began to make the most peculiar noises.
I think my scanner imploded.
So, no art updates for you.
In other news, I've thought of another category to add as my links... those two blank links over there, on the left.
Can't tell. It's a secret.
Going through what exists of the Art pages, I've realized that I say the word "cool" waaaay to often. Go through all of those pic descriptions and look for one that doesn't ever mention "cool" or "awesome." Or "ninja." From this point forward, I'm going to say gnarly instead. Instead of those particular adjectives, I mean. Not ninja. It's okay to say ninja. I don't know anyone who says gnarly, so I'm going to be unique with this one. Yay. (how long will this last, I wonder?)
.: June 2, 2005 :.
But let us turn to what is currently dominating the gaming community's news items. I think I'd like to comment a little on the subject of E3. Not like I was there or anything, but I'd just like to share my opinion of the upcoming consoles and the future of gaming in general. Everyone already knows that I'm a Nintendo fanboy (fangirl?) by default, so you're probably expecting me to diss X-Box 360 and the PS3. Actually, I'd rather say that I really know next to nothing about any of the three upcoming consoles (being the 360, PS3, and Revolution). The problem being, no one does. Even after E3, details are foggy. So, instead, I'm going to question: How the heck did Microsoft and Sony become as popular as they did? When I walk into a game store, I see very few PS2 and X-Box games that look appealing to me. Okay, So Sony had all of the Rockman games from X4 and up. They also had Guilty Gear X and Desgaea (or however you spell it). The Final Fantasy loop, I've fallen out of, so I don't mind those, but still... X-Box seemed, to me, to survive solely on the Halo series, which I don't understand because in my experience with the game, I've yet to detect a hint of even a halfway intelligent plot line. Regardless, this still doesn't explain why the X-Box sold so well, since Bungie released their top game on the PC as well. The same goes for X-Box's next best title (I think), Fable, which has an enhanced version already in developement for the PC. So that leaves the only other appealing X-Box games, the Dead or Alive series and Ninja Gaiden. Both of these are made by Tecmo (specifically, Team NINJA), who has already declared that they are going to be releasing games on Nintendo's DS. In conclusion, X-Box has no games made specifically for their system. In the gaming world, doesn't that make them highly unstable? So why/how in the world are they selling so well?
AND ANOTHER THING! I greatly dislike hearing people say that the DS' touch screen is a quote-unquote "gimmick." These are the people with PSP's, which can play MP3's, take photos, make videos, toast bread, tie shoelaces, and can count to ten (all by itself!). Maybe I need to check the dictionary definition of "gimmick," but the PSP's non-gaming related capabilities seem more of a gimmick to me than a touch screen, which is, definately, used in gameplay of the DS. Though I have to admit, using the touch screen in the place of an analog control stick is a bad idea. Playing Super Mario DS using the touch screen to move was like torture, and switching to the control pad took away from the magic of the Mario 64 3-D universe. I like the look of Animal Crossing DS, which uses the touch screen only for chat commands and the menu screens.
Meanwhile, in the next paragraph...
.: June 9, 2005 :. Okay, I mentioned in a previous update that I knew what one of those blank links was going to be. At this point, I have material for both of them. Well, I must correct myself before anything else. I’ve opened this update stating “no more papers, no more books,” but I think there will be more paper and books during this summer than there were in the school year. No thanks to public education, I’ve got to catch up on my drawing and reading... Seriously, it’s been too long since I’ve read a good book, and doodling in the margins of worksheets just doesn’t cut it. Still no art updates, due to a spontaneously combusted scanner.
.: July 1, 2005 :. It was great. The stops at Key West and the Cayman Islands were interesting enough, but I have to admit that the highlight of the trip was the cruise ship itself. I’ve said in a previous update that I wanted to get a lot of reading done this summer, and I think those three novels I read on the pool deck make up for any literary merit I might have lose during the school year. And I’m not ashamed to admit that that’s how I spent most of the past five days. But it’s not as if the ship was without its attractions. There were shows at all hours, and I saw most of them. There was an art gallery... And the food... They even had tofu!! And! And! And... I took bellydancing classes... (it’s all in the knees, wink wink) Mmm... what else was there? The staff of the ship was from all over the world, so everyone I talked to had a different accent and stuff. Really neat... And it was nice to have all of my “thank you”’s answered with “my pleasure, madam”’s. I felt all special. I wish I had brought a sketch book or journal or something with me. I’ve decided I don’t like airplanes.
.: July 12, 2005 :. "Now, all they need is a Mega Man X Collection, and I can die happy." Well, not quite yet. First, I need a pair of pink bunny slippers. I’ve always wanted a fuzzy pair of pink bunny slippers, but I’ve never had them. Do you yet feel sympathy for my miserable childhood, deprived of pink bunny slippers?? That’s pretty much all I wanted to say. But while I’m here, I may as well comment on the upcoming Atlus game... I’m not sure if I’ve said this before, but Atlus is one of my very favorite gaming companies, second only to Nintendo. They make all of the greatest RPG’s, such as Ogre Battle, Desgaia (I really have to look up the spelling for that...) and the Shining Force remake, as well as games of other genres, like Snowboard Kids and Guilty Gear. I’m looking forward to adding this one to the list... Riviera: The Promised Land. Have you seen the ads and reviews for this game?! Am I the only one who thinks it just looks ridiculously gnarly?! AM I?!! The battle system sounds similar to Ogre Battle (I’ve recently had the pleasure of playing the original on the SNES). I think turn-based battles are boring, and Atlus is doing a very good job keeping me hooked on them, with all the crazy twists they add... Nope. No witty closing statement today.
.: August 4, 2005 :.
More important than video games?! I can't believe I just said that.
But onto the important stuff. The creamy inner filling of updateyness. Long story short: got a new scanner. So as I'm uploading all of these pics, I'm simultaneously rearranging the art gallery page so that they are in chronological order. So now the organization of the gallery page goes something like this: Categorized by series (in alphabetical order), the individual pics in those categories are in chronological order (newer stuff would be on the far right). ...Looks to me like I've covered every organizational possibility in the book! Anyway, from this update forward (until the next one), said gallery page will be updated sporadically. So check back every few days until I say otherwise, and please pay attention to the date of whatever piece you happen to be viewing. I don't want people to look at some cruddy old pic and think it's one of my more recent things. In case you've forgotten, the month/year of individual pics is found by holding your mouse over its thumbnail for a few seconds.
I distinctly remember having something else to say, too. Oh well. Must not've been very important.
.: August 19, 2005 :.
I've scanned a few more pics as well, I'll save you the trouble of searching for all of them by listing them here.
Johnny (Vasquez, 2004)
Annnnd... I have some very recent things, too, all of these were drawn withing the last week or so. Have a look-see.
Kinu & Sonzai (Era-X)
WASN'T THAT FUN?! Now, onto non-updatey things.
Pallas has been writing to me with about a crazy thing called "Last Hope." Seeing as she is my almighty master and I am but her lowly thrall, a portion of my birthday money was set aside for it. Last Hope is a manga that isn't really a manga, seeing as it is an American-made comic, but it's part of some kinda "American people can draw manga, too" project put into motion by a company called Seven Seas. It's in the right-to-left format and everything. Seems like a silly concept to me, but... it gives me a job opprotunity, right? Heh. While we're on the subject of manga, I may as well share the latest news concerning my favorite series... Kosuke Fujishima's Oh My Goddess. I've just picked up book #19/20 (yes, it's really both #'s 19 and 20, I don't know why, but it just is), excited by the fact that one of my favorite characters, Hasegawa Sora, finally stars in her own misadventure. But it was the note in the back which seemed the highlight of the purchase... Dark Horse is reprinting the entire OMG series over again, from the beginning, this time in right-to-left format. For people unfamiliar with OMG, I'm going to go over it's history with you for a sec. It's been printed in the States since 1994, before anime had really kicked off. Printing the comics in their original format was unheard of at the time. Maybe they thought American kids didn't have the mental capacity to read backwards, or whatever. Anyway. OMG was one of the first manga around, and probably the only manga, even today, with so much effort put into its translation, humor, and aesthetics in order to appeal to American audiences. The Japanese sound effects were meticulously airbrushed over and replaced with English, the jokes and dialogue were pondered over until a suitable English replacement was found, and the art, the beautiful art... What lays in store for the future of Fujishima's masterpiece? His original sound effects, and...? Is that really worth reprinting the entire series? Just so manga enthusiasts are satisfied on their high-horse, with their reprints in right-to-left format? YOU CRAZY FOOLS! I don't even remember what point I was trying to make. I'm goin' to bed, good night.
.: September 20, 2005 :. Bummer. Massive updates to the art pages, I even went through a sketchbook I did in 2002, so I had to add a 2002 gallery. Furthermore, a minor update to the 2003 gallery, just three pics: And let's see, for the 2004 gallery there are an awful lot of new pics, go check 'em out for yourself because I don't feel like listing all of them. And about eight pics in the 2005 gallery, I'm internally debating whether or not I feel like listing them here or making you look for them yourself. Argh, fine.
Cinnamoroll (Sanrio)
Now you can't say I've never done anything nice for you. I mean, you could say I've never done anything nice for you, but you would be lying, and then your life shall forever be an eternal pit of ... pain and... empty... smitten... phosphorus... snakes. Ohhh, yeah.
.: October 11, 2005 :. ...as opposed to the old covers, which look something like this: The new comics are priced at about $10, whereas the older ones could be found anywhere between $15-20. So, there's good news. More good news: fan letters and fan art will be included. Huzzah. There's one letter written by this crazy girl, you can just tell she's an obnoxious anime fangirl. In her letter, she insists that Dark Horse mistranslated the character named "Holy Bell" as "Blessed Bell." She claims this because she has an "expensive Japanese figurine" of the character, and engraved on its base is the name "Holy Bell," which caused confusion because in the manga, her name is "Blessed Bell." This is... the most ridiculous argument I've ever heard in my entire life. You've just gotta listen to this girl begging Dark Horse to correct Bell's name, because their error "sticks out like a sore thumb." I wish there were some way for me to contact this girl, or something, or anything, to point out to her that "holy" and "blessed" mean the same thing and use the same kanji. In other words, "Blessed Bell" is not a mistranslation. It's like saying "My name is Bridget" is completely different statement from "Bridget is my name." Which it isn't. Anyway. American humor. Example 1; Magi-Nation: "I've got a plan so cunning, you could brush your teeth with it!" OMG!, however, I've always considered should be considered a fantasy, or possibly an adventure story, with snippets of humor tucked inside here and there. Some parts are funny. Like this: At least, I thought it was funny. "Rowf!" Hahaha!! Hoo... Hey, that reminds me, the new novel reintroduced Velsper into the story! Yay! Let's see, I think it's been four novels since we last saw him... Traveler, The Phantom Racer, Dr. Moreau, and Sora Unchained. Yeah. But now he's BACK!! With a VENGEANCE!! And he's gonna ANNIHILATE THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE!! Go, Velsper, go! It also introduces a new character... Hild, the ruler of the underworld, who also happens to be Urd's mother. If the ruler of the heavens is God, does that mean Hild is Satan?
.: November 7, 2005 :. Unless you follow Ye Olde Calendare Ofe Commercialisme, in which case it’s been time to decorate for Christmas since September. Without further colorful verbiage, I present to you...
Numero Uno: A puppy! By the way, this week is National Animal Shelter Week, so go out and adopt a puppy or else Jesus will hate you.
I had this weird dream last night, that I had a Tamagotchi. The whole dream was just me playing with that little Tamagotchi. I woke up and was all like, “doubleyou-tee-eff!!”
So, there’s all the interesting things I have to say today. I should be updating the art stuff. But I’m not!!
So!! How's this for a pleasant surprise? Less loading time. Celebration!! There are almost no images whatsoever used in this layout. Makes for lightning-quick navigation. As Maiko would say: "Don't blink." Some pages have been updated. Among them, the RPG Maker resources and CG art page. Use the shiny new navigation to have yourself a look-see. Now that I'm in Updatey Mode, you might actually see an art update or two within the next few weeks. Keep checking back! Doot de doot de doo. I think I'm growing rather fond of this layout. The solid colors of the tables are refreshing. It's not chaotic or messy in the least bit. Everything is cut clean, and the effect is remarkable. As I said a few sentances ago, enjoy!
.: March 21, 2006 :. 2002
2003
The rest of these are from a sketchbook I received as a birthday present last year, so they are quite recent and I think you should give them a look-see.
2005
2006
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