The Professional Gamer - January 15, 2018

This week has been crammed full of after work meetings that kept me from doing very much fun stuff. This post is going to be short, so let's get to it.

In the world of seasonal anime, I'm continuing to watch Ancient Magus' Bride. It remains the best true fantasy series that I've seen for awhile. Much of the genre has, lately, been dominated by alternate world and RPG influenced shows, like Konosuba and Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. A series where the viewer is learning about the magic aspects of the world at the same pace as the main character has been lacking for several years. At least one with the polish and cohesive world-building of Ancient Magus' Bride. I have not read any of the manga at this point; and I don't think I'm likely to do so. I enjoy discovering the story on a weekly basis, rather than waiting several months between manga volumes.

I also watched the premier of Pop Team Epic, and I'm not really sure how I feel about the show. I think its funny, but feels like it could end up going into a reference hole, where it has not humor of its own, but depends entirely on people recognizing things from it. I'll give it the customary 3 episode trial before I pass judgement on it.

It doesn't bother me...

After watching the latest Nintendo Direct, Crystal decided to download the Dragon Warrior Builders demo. I gave it a try as well, and thought it was reasonably fun. I've never been huge on Minecraft, so i didn't have a lot of expectations about the game. It took me a little while to get comfortable with the camera controls and I also had some trouble in some cases getting my buildings to end up where I want them. The game could be improved by adding a way to lock the character in place so that you can spin and more easily select specific squares. The humor is fun, and the characters interact well with each other. Crystal is planning to buy the full game when it is released for the Nintendo Switch, and I'll give it a further try then.

That's all I have for this week. Being one of the lucky few to have today off, means that I'll get to spend more time enjoying myself this weekend. Which is also convenient since my wedding anniversary is also this weekend; I've been married to Crystal for 11 years now, and I'm still enjoying every day more than the last. As for you, have a great week and game on.

The Professional Gamer - December 18, 2017

Hello, and thank you for returning again this week. As much as I love Star Wars, I've got too much Christmas stuff to get ready to go to the theater this weekend. But, good news for you, that means this blog will be spoiler free. I'm spending a lot of time in my living room and kitchen, signing cards, wrapping gifts, and baking cookies; but, I can also multitask my dear reader. Therefore, the them for the week is: being a geek while you work on other stuff.

The largest contributor of this type of work for me is podcasts. I'm listening to some back episodes of Planet Money as I write this. Earlier this week, I caught up on three episodes of Welcome to Nightvale. Since my job has me tied to a desk most of the time, I'm often listening to podcasts while I work (unless I'm trying to read a longer, more involved document. I can't split my attention that well). To be fair, most of my podcast habit is not "geeky", per se, but give me a chance to learn more about the world in some way. Or they make me laugh, which can be just as important in recent days.

As I mentioned earlier, I spent a lot of time this past week working on cards and presents for the holidays, and was looking for something to watch on TV while I did so. I'm not sure why, but I decided to pick up Slayers: Next. This is my favorite Slayers series. It is, for the most part, very funny, and the progression of the more serious seasonal story arc. And, this is probably the best seasonal arc as well, with a number of adversaries that all have their own plans and motivations. Sometimes those plans conflict and cause the antagonists to fight among themselves. Although that infighting gives Lina and the crew a bit of a respite, it does not help them in the long run. I often wish that the show went a bit deeper into its own lore and cosmology, but I can see where those details would tend to wreck the pacing and slow everything down. Is Slayers: Next a perfect show? No, but it is very good. If you missed this series for whatever reason, I recommend picking it up. It's available to stream from Funimation, or you can spend about $30 to buy all three original seasons on DVD, which is a great price per enjoyment in my book.

That's what I've got for the week. What about you? Do you have a go to piece or type of media when you need to multitask? Tell me about it in the comments below. Have a great week, and game on!

The Professional Gamer - November 27, 2017

I'm going back on my word a bit here, but here I am, with something that I want to talk about. This week, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. My short review: it is a lot of fun so far, but I'm concerned that the fun might drop off as I get further into the game and have to put more effort into collecting items and getting materials from the animal friends. I'm up to level 15 and have more than 8 animals invited to my campsite. My next order of business is upgrading my campsite. If you enjoy the Animal Crossing series, you'll likely enjoy this game as a more casual entry in the series.

I'm continuing to follow seasonal anime, and I'll talk more about that next week. I also finished watching the second season of Konosuba, which I sometimes feel is the biggest piece of trash, and at other times think is a brilliant critique of the "alternate world" genre. I'm going to drift back into my turkey induced slumber and wish you all well. Have a great week, and game on!