Mario Kills Tanooki- PETA's New Weird Game

The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals organization is crazy sometimes. At first thought, most would think that PETA is good in its support of ethical animal treatment. After all, animals are awesome! However, the ways and methods that they use to support that is often questionably handled... just a few days before the typing of this post, PETA started a new campaign against the new Mario game, Super Mario 3D Land. They were complaining about Mario's Tanooki suit supporting use of animal fur as clothes in the game... even though it's existed in Mario games for a long time. So, reading about this, I decided to play the game (which is surprisingly bloody and gory for such an animal-friendly organization). As I played, I found the game to be very interesting. So, without further ado... hit the jump to learn more about the game!

I Blame Skyrim

So yeah. There's been a severe lack of content on this nice little blog here. Yup. I've been playing Skyrim. I don't necessarily mean to leave this blog in the shadows... since I've only started this about a month ago. I just haven't quite had the schedule slottage/concentration to fit in long blog posts. So, I guess what I'm just trying to say right now is, this blog isn't dead. I just won't be posting as many posts as in the past. Of course, if you're reading this, thanks so much for reading! Hopefully there'll be even more posts throughout the future!

Top 5 Most Annoying Video Game Characters

Recently, I've been feeling interested in Top 5 lists. I have no idea why... I guess it's just a phase or something. For this post, I am going to be writing about five of the most annoying characters in any of the video games that I've played. Now, before reading this, I want to make it clear that I don't necessarily hate any of these characters (unless I'm in a bad mood). Every character has his or her pros and cons... so it's hard to really hate these characters. These five are simply annoying characters. One's that serve to make others look better or to simply make the player rage. Regardless of the reason that makes them annoying... hit the jump to see what characters annoy me most!

The Disappearance of I've Played Videos

Yeah... I guess this is more of an announcement than an actual post. The jist of my current situation is... I don't think I'm going to be posting on this blog with too many other I've Played videos. I've got a few reasons for this...

1. It takes way too long to make these. I've been finding that after playing the game for around... 45 minutes to 1 hour, I'd also have to spend 3+ hours typing up whatever thoughts I have of the game, and that doesn't include the time spent on the images for the posts. I really don't feel like spending that amount of time on a post somewhat regularly... especially with all I've got going between work, school, and LPing.
2. I've wanted to play other games, as well. Since November is THE month for games that I want, I'm probably going to be spending time on those ones instead of Animal Crossing or Deadly Premonition. Since my two favorite games are Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Skyrim and Skyward Sword are SO tempting as sequels to those games.
3. Apparently, Deadly Premonition has only one slot for a save file. I went and played Deadly Premonition with a good friend a while ago. We started a new game and got considerably far into the first chapter, which is much further than I've gotten in the "I've Played" parts. When we saved, it wrote over the other save file... so now I've got that file that's further than the other ones.
4. I've just been more interested in posting other things. I'm not saying that I'm going to stop posting I've Played videos on this blog outright... but I just don't want to make it a series sort of blog entry. Maybe if I made I've Played into pseudo-reviews or something... that would be alright. It's just something I have to consider later.

That's about it for this entry. As I said, it's not the end of I've Playing, it's more so a heads up to all of you readers that I'm probably not continuing I've Played videos as a series. If there's a gameplay session that stands out, I might very well do one... but it's not 100% likely.

Also, as a plug, in case SOMEHOW you're unaware about this... we're streaming on most Saturdays until December 24th as holiday donation streams to charity. It's at http://www.twitch.tv/bladesofgaming and it'll be fun times!

Alex's Art Class Art (Fall Semester 2010)

Time for another random post! During my first main semester going to Montgomery College, I took an art class. The class's official title is "2d Art and Design"... or at least something along those lines. The point is, it was a 2d art class. Now, I'm not a very bad artist, since I can trace pictures well. I am not very good at drawing things 100% out of my head, so most of my good are is some sort of tracing. The pictures you will see below are mostly tracings, but are still my works of art nonetheless! ^.^ So, if you'd like to see some paintings I've made in 2010, then hit the jump!

I've Played Animal Crossing City Folk Part 2- "Bugs and Fish and Money, Oh My!"

First thing off of the bat, I do want to mention that there are a few changes in between the last post and this one. None of them are bad, of course, but to make the screenshots less confusing, I'd better make this clear right now. You see how, in the picture above, I have an extremely snazzy purple Noble Shirt and some badass Kamina ...er Triangle Sunglasses? Well, the thing is, sometime during the last post (I only briefly mentioned it), I talked to Tom Nook and ordered both pieces of clothing from my personal catalog. They were pretty cheap, and since I really like both from when I wore them in my Wild World file, I figure it's a good opportunity to bring them to my avatar in this game as well! So... without further ado... it's time to dive into more shenanigans of Alex in Jeans! Hit the jump to read them!

I've Played Deadly Premonition Part 2- "York's FK-ed"

Well, it's that time once again! It's finally time for another Deadly Premonition post! Huzzah! Shamefully, I have to admit that after the last part's game over, I was a little demotivated to start again from the last save. The quick time event that killed me in the last episode sent me all the way back to the last save point (because I chose to quit to the title instead of continuing). Continuing over my progress from the last episode seemed like it would be tough... even though it really wasn't. Oh well! All that matters now is that it's time for Deadly Premonition again! So, hit the jump below to read more adventures of the awesome Francis York Morgan!

My Wind Waker Sea Chart

So, as you may or may not know... the very first Let's Play project that I did on Bladesofgaming was none other than the amazingly awesomeThe Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Shameless plugs aside, I have a little white board inside my room which I can use to write, draw, etc on (you know... like you do with whiteboards). So, recently I've been looking at it a lot and thinking of erasing it, so something new can be put up on it. However, I feel a little bit bad for erasing its existence completely, so as a compromise to myself, I decided to photograph it and post it up here on the blog! Yay! So, if you'd like to see the little guide I used to keep track of everything in that particular LP, then hit the jump!

I've Played Animal Crossing City Folk Part 1- "Adventures in Jeans"

Ah, Animal Crossing! It's such a nice, happy game in all it's iterations. The newest version, City Folk, is no exception! There's something zen-like about playing Animal Crossing... even if all I do for 90% of the time is fish for more mulah. Either way, although I have played Animal Crossing City Folk before, I'm making a fresh start in this game. New town, new neighbors, and relatively new character. Perhaps I'm starting over as a way to make this game even more memorable than it has ever been! Of course, the actual reason is because I was convinced by an extremely awesome person! So, if you want to hear of my Animal Crossing shenanigans... hit the jump!

I've Played Deadly Premonition Part 1- "The Best FBI Agent... EVER!"

It's finally time for the first part of an I've Played series! This time, it's for a relatively new game on the Xbox 360, called Deadly Premonition. It's a survival horror game that was released in 2010. It's not a very popular game, but has an amazing style to it, so it has some fans here and there. I've just got this game recently, so this run is my blind run. Hit the jump to see what happens during my first run through the game!

Introduction to "I've Played" Playthroughs

Being a gamer is tough isn't it? There's always a huge flood of games piling in, so much that it gets very difficult to keep up with all these new games. That's definitely the case with me. I've got a ton of games that I've purchased but never completed... especially ones that I've wanted to complete. This game spans up to 12+ games... which is way too much in my opinion.

So... I've been thinking to myself "Alex, what's a good way to motivate yourself to play these games?" After all, I've got school, work, LPing and now occasional blogging to consider in terms of my schedule... so I have little time to play a lot of these games (especially when most of them are Final Fantasy).

My solution that I came up with is to write about the sessions with those games on this blog! After all, when I have the purpose of showing games off to others, even if readers have already played the game, I get motivated to play the game a lot! Heck, I could even beat Sonic 2006 if I went and LPed or blogged about it!

So, that's where I came up with the idea of "I've Played" playthroughs. While on Bladesofgaming we do Let's Play videos... I figure that writing on blogs about my experiences playing with a game is different. In the videos, the viewers can see and experience what's going on in the game with the LPer. However, when blogging about it, I will have to write about the games... so you readers won't be able to see all that's going on in the game.

I can, however, post some pictures in each post. It won't be too much, only three or four, but that's the extent of them (after all, Google only allows me several MB of storage space for images, so they'll fill up fast). But, that should be it for introducing my new "series" to you. I hope it's a good way to clear out some of my backlog and a good way to entertain you!

Also, I've got a task for you. Yes you, reader. Does the title "I've Played" work for these poses in your opinion? I've also considered "I'm Playing", but I think that "I've Played" sounds a bit better because I'm typing about the game after I've played it. Do you have any suggestions as to what I could call it? If so, suggest away in the comments, or else leave your opinion of "I've Played" versus "I'm Playing". It will help a lot!

Oh yeah! I just remembered. The I've Played posts likely won't have post videos at the bottom like most other posts will have. Maybe I'll post videos of the game's soundtracks, but most won't have any "funny videos"... unless I'm lucky enough to find them.

Ah well. Here's this post's video. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Alex's Gaming List

Unfortunately, I don't have all that much time right now to think up and post a blog post similar to the past ones. I've got school + work straight for the next two days, so I figure that I'd like to put something up on here before that happens.

Anyways, I figure that a nice, easy thing to write about is a list of all of the games that I own. Now, when I say that, I mean to say that I have the game on its original platform. I just don't want to include emulated games, since that could include every game under the sun. So... I guess without further ado... here's all my games:

Why I Hate Commercials Part 1- Miku + Corolla

Commercials nowadays really suck. In my opinion, commercials (or television advertisements, whichever terminology you prefer) are simply meant to display their products to the masses via television, the internet, or other mediums in a video form. Recently, I've come to notice that commercials no longer give logical reasons as to why their products should be bought. Instead, they give lame reasons or no reason outright. They often act only to make potential consumers remember the product, regardless of the impact the commercial has left on them.

There are a lot of commercials that I dislike, so I'd like to make a little blog series on this over time. To start off this series, I am going to be talking about a somewhat recent string of commercials pairing together the Toyota Corolla and Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. So, if you want to learn more about this pairing, hear my thoughts of it, or simply see some commercial advertisements, then hit the jump and prepare for two "big dreams" combined.

Persona 4 The Animation- First Episode Impressions

This is it! The moment that fans of Atlas, anime, and more specifically, Persona 4 have been waiting for! Starting October 2011, the new Persona 4 anime has debuted! For those who may not know a lot about this series, the game Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 was a JRPG game released by Atlas for the Playstation 2. It was released in late 2008, and has since spawned a manga series, a remake on Playstation Vita, and a side-scrolling fighting game to be released on the Playstation Store and Xbox Live Arcade.

Before actually watching the first episode, I have no doubts that this series will have a fantastic plot. However, will it live up to its video game counterpart, or will the series become something that isn't worth the watch? Regardless, find out my thoughts after the jump!

Alex's Newest Game

This semester in college, I am taking an Introduction to Game & Simulation Development class. That's what the class's title is supposed to be, anyways. In our class, we've been using a website called Gamestar Mechanic to learn about and experiment with game design. Before I say anything else, the website is supposed to be aimed for 4th - 9th graders. My professor has been seeing how well the website can work with students past 9th grade, so that's why we've been using it. As our homework assignment this week, we had to create a five-level game using the Gamestar Mechanic engine. So, without further to do, here's my game. Hit the link below to check it out!

Here's the link to my game!

Best/Worst Pokemon of Each Generation

Now that Pokemon's in its 5th generation, the minds of Game Freak have devised up a grand total of 649 species. However, even though there's a ton of species, only a fraction of them are used commonly on player's teams. Pokemon such as Alakazam, Gengar, and the starter Pokemon are all fan favorites because of how useful they are in battle.

So, this post is to show off which Pokemon I like the best and which I like the worst from each generation.

First!

Yay! First post ever!

Well, if you don't already know about me, my name is Alex. I have a channel with my friends on Youtube, where we upload video games with our own commentary. Our channel is called Bladesofgaming! I really enjoy making videos on the channel... but sometimes I don't get to talk about all of my thoughts on things. Well, that's what this blog is for!

I really like to play video games and watch anime, so chances are, most of what I post here will relate to either subject. So, if you're interested in any of these subjects, then I hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for reading! I hope for many more posts! :D

Also, here's a video to celebrate the first post!

God is Japan awesomely weird.