The redone Sonic CD

A friend of mine just bought me Sonic CD on Steam. This game and I have a bit of a weird history. Although I've had it since I was a little kid, I've never really given it a fair chance. It has such a different feel from the other classic Sonic games that I could never quite get into it. The levels are, in my opinion, designed rather strangely, in ways that make the game very frustrating at parts. However, despite all that, this game is very special to me for one reason.

The game's soundtrack is AMAZING. Now, I'm referring to the Japanese soundtrack. The American soundtrack is okay, and it's the one I grew up with, but as soon as I heard the Japanese soundtrack, I could never go back. Definitely one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time, and I listen to it on a regular basis.

This version of Sonic CD is redone, with a lot of new features added. Now that there's a spiffy new version of it, I think I'm ready to finally give the game a fair chance. A lot of people think of it as the greatest Sonic game of all time, and while I know my opinion won't be changing THAT drastically, who knows, I might actually be able to say that I like the game. We'll see.

I'll be streaming it soon. Stay tuned!

Awesome new keyboard

So my old keyboard had been crapping out lately, and it was getting super annoying. Luckily for me, a really cool one from Logitech happened to go on sale around the same time. It's wireless and solar powered and super awesome! I love that I don't have to worry about batteries ever, and the charge hasn't even dropped below 100% yet. It's also extremely thin and pretty snazzy-looking, too! I'm in love.

Here's a pic!

If you need a new keyboard, I definitely recommend this one, especially since you can get it for so cheap right now. It's friggin' sweet! Here's the link: http://www.logitech.com/en-us/special-offers/closeout/devices/9244

And now for a ridiculous photo of one of my childhood Halloween costumes. My parents decided to dress me up as a fat girl for Halloween.

Workin' Workin'

Been trying to adjust back to normal life after my awesome trip. I apparently got some icky nerd germs during MAGFest, because I've been slightly sick since I got home. Annnnd I just had to take a break from typing to sneeze 5 times in a row. :<

We recorded our MAGFest Nerdy Show episode a couple days ago, so that'll be up soon.

The store I work at is currently in the process of moving into a new location. It's in the same shopping center, but it's still going to be weird to be working in a different room after 3 years.

I'm working full force on my online store again. I'm hoping to debut it very soon!

Man, I've barely been playing any games lately. That needs to change soon.

And now for a look at one of my favorite Christmas gifts, which I've been using and enjoying immensely:

I LOVE IT.

omg MAGFest.

I had such an awesome time! Although driving all the way there and back (16 hours each way!) was super tedious, it was so worth it. I had such a blast with my friends, and they hopefully gained lots of new fans from the event!

Although they had that horrible sound issue during their main performance, they were given a second chance a couple days later when they were granted a quick performance at the jam space. As sad as it is to say, the sound setup at that little jam space was FAR superior to the sound setup from the main stage. They sounded awesome, and it gave people a chance to see them shine.

The headliner of the event, the Earthbound Papas, played on the final night. The show was FANTASTIC. I got to go into the backstage area with all the bands, so I was a few feet away from Nobuo Uematsu the entire time. He's such a character! He kept doing a bunch of hilarious stuff during the show. Here's a video of one of the songs they played, from the point of view where I was standing. It's Dancing Mad, the final boss song from Final Fantasy VI. It's a really long song, and they did the ENTIRE thing! Enjoy!

Go to youtube to view at full size!

On the final day of the show, we were hanging out by the Random Encounter merch table at one point before packing up, and Uematsu suddenly walked right by! That was awesome.

I'm going to be doing a more in-depth MAGFest trip report with Nerdy Show, so I'll be posting the link to that after it's up, if you're interested.

What a weekend.

Quick MAGFest Update

I've barely had any time to update, but I thought I'd make a quick one.

We arrived here on Thursday at 7 in the morning! After a 15 hour drive, it felt amazing to crash in the hotel bed for a nap. I think my sleep schedule is actually somewhat normal now, somehow.

I've been having an awesome time! I honestly haven't listened to many bands perform yet, but I've just been having a blast hanging out with my friends. The ones I did listen to were pretty good, though (I just had to endure lots of nerd stink in the crowds, yuck).

There's a dealer room that has a bunch of games and game-inspired merch. Most of the games are priced way too high, so I haven't purchased anything, but one table in particular has an incredible collection of rare consoles from Japan, most of them in box! It's amazing to see all that stuff in front of me.

Connected to the dealer room is a big arcade area, with the games all set to free-play mode. They have a ton of games that I love, but the problem is that most of the machines seem to have some sort of problem. :( Either a button doesn't work, or it keeps resetting mid-game, or it's just completely turned off. Oh well, I was able to play a few games, at least.

Random Encounter was the first band to play, and while they did an amazing job, the people working the sound board ruined everything! Their levels were off in some way the ENTIRE time, and it ruined many of their songs. It was extremely disappointing, and we've all been amazed that they've actually gained some new fans despite the sound issues. Thankfully they'll be jamming out at the jam space later today, so they'll have a second chance to show their stuff!

Uematsu's band will be playing today, so I'm super excited about that!

If any of you are actually here, I've been hanging out at the Random Encounter merch table a bunch. You can try to find me there!

Leaving for MAGFest TOMORROW!

It's almost time for MAGFest!!! I've been in serious need of a vacation, so I'm getting super excited! This will be the first time I've ever taken a road trip like this with a group of friends. I'm hoping it will be a blast!

I'm riding there with the Random Encounter crew, and I'll be hanging with them the whole time. I'm getting in for free as a member of Nerdy Show, so I'm really happy about that!

It's a 4-day show, so I'll be sure to post updates about whatever exciting stuff that's going on!

Goodbye 2011!

Well, 2011 has been a very interesting year for me! A whole lotta new stuff happened; New people and friends, new events, new decisions, new direction. It was certainly a year unlike any other thus far. It had its ups and downs, but for the most part, it was a good year. I'm hoping that next year will bring about some more big changes, and that my life will develop the way I want it to go!

I haven't posted in a while (sorry about that), so I'll just recap a few things really quick:

I've been working extensively on getting my online store set up, which is the main reason why I've kind of disappeared for a while. I have several products made and ready to go, and the main thing left to do is finish getting my store website up and running! That will be happening very soon.

Christmas was awesome! I spent it with my family, and I got some pretty sweet loot. Mainly gift cards, games, clothes, and various items I'd been wanting. We recorded a crazy Christmas special with Nerdy Show, and you can listen to that here. If you've never listened to Nerdy Show before, this is a very entertaining way to start!

I saw The Adventures of Tintin a few days ago, and it was awesome! I liked the cartoon as a kid, so this movie was especially enjoyable. The animation is amazing. Go see it!

I'll make a more detailed post about this soon, but I'll be going to MAGFest!

Lately I've been working on getting as many of the Steam holiday achievements as possible. I've been getting a whole lot of coal, but that's okay. It's been fun.

I guess that's a good enough recap for now. I'll post other stuff if it crosses my mind.

I'm spending New Year's Eve with some friends. It should be a fun evening. What are you all doing? Or if you read this later, what did you do?

Tell me about what you're looking forward to in the coming year!