The Professional Gamer - April 11, 2015

Hello everyone! This week I managed to survive some tight deadlines in my professional life (hooray for working 24 hours in the past 48), and still had some fun.  Or at least, I managed to have some fun earlier this week when the deadlines were not quite so crushing.  I spent some more time watching some more cool YouTube stuff, playing some games, and reading the comic book of comics.  If these sound like fun things to you, read on to get the details. 

Watching: As I mentioned last week, I've been watching the PBS Idea Channel and am now getting close to halfway through the back episodes.  I also started listening to Welcome to Night Vale, which is a new series to me.  Which is to say, I'm not exactly doing a good job of keeping up with the cool things that people are doing on the Web.  If, like me, you managed to avoid all but the most basic knowledge of this series so far, you are missing out on something great.  At this point I'm at Episode 4 (of 60-ish that are currently available).  the series so far has been a lot of fun.  I enjoy that there is just enough description to pique the imagination, but with little detail, to allow the listener to create their own version of Night Vale.

Playing: My gaming list this week is very short, consisting of Hyrule Warriors and Fantasy Life. In Hyrule Warriors, Crystal and I have made further progress towards finishing the Master Quest Adventure Map.  We only have a handful of squares left to play for the first time, and about the same amount that have outstanding rewards left to earn.  I even managed to use Wizzro effectively on a level, which felt like an achievement to me.  In Fantasy Life, I have been upgrading my equipment, starting with my crafting and gathering tools.  I managed to collect enough "Tier 3" materials (Silver, Palm Logs, etc.) to build most of my new crafting gear.  I'll have to go back out to the field in order to harvest the materials necessary to forge some new weapons and armor.  I also advanced the main story a bit, including an expedition to wrecked ship.

Reading: The comic book of comics that alluded to in my introduction is none other than the classic Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, by Scott McCloud.  In the realm of being last to the party, this might be my crowning achievement.  Understanding Comics was originally published in 1993.  I noticed it when TCAF announced that Scott McCloud would be a guest this year.  My friend, Laurissa, lent her copy to me.  I started reading it this past week, and am currently about halfway through.  Although the book predates much of the popular use of the world wide web, the content is generally applicable to all types of comics.  McCloud's book is very well put together, with the prose and the artwork reinforcing the discussion of how comics work.  In fact, he has made me question whether, when I review a comic, I ought to consider the prose and art separately, as I have in the past; or, if they are both integral parts of a whole that can only be evaluated together.  I plan to have finished the book by next weekend, so you should look for a full review in the coming weeks.

Next week, The Gameslave will be at ComicFest (a part of the StarFest convention in Denver).  We will have a booth to sell some awesome art; and I plan to be wandering around the convention talking with people and taking some pictures.  If you see me, please say hello!  We hope to see you there.  Have a great week! And Game On!