The Professional Gamer - April 11, 2016

I feel like I just keep having very busy weeks, but I'm still managing to have a little fun on the side,  I've watched a little TV and played some video games.  Read on to find out what I've been doing.

First, I've watched a few more episodes of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.  The series has been slow going for a few reasons.  The violence is rather brutal and the character relationships are nuanced and requires a high degree of attention.  I'm glad that after some of the initial pain in the series, that things are going better for the main characters.  I'm constantly worried that everything is going to go downhill again at some point soon.

Some of you may be aware that Nintendo released their new social network platform Miitomo this past week.  I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it.  It feels like Nintendo has combined the typical social platform with a game.  Also, lots of questions.  Kinda like doing speed dating or a network event.

Speaking of Nintendo, I finally went back and finished my playthrough of Ocarina of Time on my 3DS.  I'd left myself at a point where I could basically have explored Ganon's tower and finished the game.  I don't recall what the circumstance that led me to leaving my save file in such a state.  I'm just glad that I managed to finish it now,

Lastly, I've been playing a little more Elite: Dangerous. I feel like I've got my ship fairly well equipped., since I was able to take down 2 NPC's without any aid.  Which is considerably better than I've had previously.  And, I'm about halfway to earning my next goal ship. Yay!

Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon Announced!

Nintendo has been having fun with the 20th anniversary of Pokémon. They have given away cards with a free level 100 Mew for the 3DS games. They have had the first Pokémon moviee on the official Pokémon site streaming. And now, during the recent Nintendo Pokémon Direct they have announced the next game in this massive series, Pokémon Moon and Pokémon Sun.

If this is not good enough for you, Nintendo is also releasing the original Pokémon games, Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, and Pokémon Yellow (Ok, that one is original-ish). These games are now available in the Nintendo eShop for the 3DS. A new feature in these digital versions will be access to the Pokémon Bank. These means you can go and catch the original 150, and then transfer them to Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon. Sounds like a completionist dream to me.

The Professional Gamer - January 11, 2016

Hello readers!  This week has mostly been full of adulting. Went to a chiropractor to try and reduce the tightness in my neck (seems to be helping), scheduled a dental exam and cleaning, and did some more yoga and pilates.  All told, I'm feeling pretty good about things.  

Some cool things happening this week.  Of primary interest, we had another Steven-bomb this week.  I haven't watched the Friday episode yet ("Log Date 7 15 2"), but I have enjoyed all of the new episode so far this week.  I loved learning more about Ruby and Sapphire, and seeing some more development of Peridot's character.

I also spent some time this week watching the last few episodes of Community.  I'm sad that the series is over, although the finale was a lot of fun.  Now I have to find another casual show to binge through during the week.  Any suggestions?

In roleplaying news, I've got about a third of my systems information input into a game wiki and have started inviting my players to make some stories about some of the inhabited planets.  I'm hoping that we can make this game a bit more of a collaborative, storytelling game.  This would be in sharp contrast to our typical dungeon delver / combat heavy type games, but would hopefully be a welcome change.

Finally, I'm still playing through Knights of the Old Republic.  I'm a Jedi now, running around with a blue lightsaber in one hand and a vibroblade in the other.  Future goal: duel wielding lightsabers.

That's all I've got for this week.  See you next time, and game on!

Star Fox Zero Launches in November

It has been many years since since we have had a new Star Fox game. The last new one I played was Star Fox Adventures for the Gamecube, so you can imagine I have been waiting for a new game for quite some time. Sure there was Star Fox 64 3D, but that was not a  new game, just a well done remake. Well then good news for me and people like me then, because November 20th marks the day that Star Fox Zero will be released in Europe and North America for the Wii U. I look forward to doing lots and lots of barrel rolls then!