Hindsight

Today was comfortable. I went to Fry’s Electronics, a store that all computer and gaming geeks will particularly enjoy.

I decided to use some of my JET pension money and pick myself up a DVD recorder/rewriter. Pioneer DVR-S606. I was able to put Statement of Agreement onto a test DVD. I want to make the menus look slicker and have more control in creating them - the bundled software is for the basic, entry level user.

So I’m happy I can now burn my projects to DVDs. I tried running it on my PS2, my region-free DVD player and my laptop’s player as well. So far so good. I also backed up my web projects and video project directory onto a single DVD, which is definitely less clumsy. One of my biggest video projects in the past spanned over 10 cd-roms.

I’ve been flipping through this Blue Cross “handbook” looking at health plans. I was surprised temps could even get access to benefits. I am honestly lost. I know I’m going to choose PPO and what not, but a lot flies right over my head. That’s it. I am packing up to go to Canada, where healthcare is pretty.

Next weekend I’d like to go home to La Verne so that JJ can help me look into a good, fitting pair of rollerblades. Initiative isn’t enough.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is a whole lot of fun, by the way.

SSX3 is probably one of the wisest purchases I made this year.

The first SSX, a snowboarding game by Electronic Arts, was my first Playstation 2 game. For a launch title it held up pretty well. I never paid attention or held interest for ["normal" or extreme] snowboarding games until then. I also skipped out on the sequel “SSX Tricky”. This recent release, though, holds up very very well.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a game and had that itch to play more. The levels are fun and the sense of speed is solid. The term “human roller coaster” comes to mind I suppose.

I can’t go into detail as to why I like the game so much right now. But at the core of it, I’m just having a lot of fun. The online play doesn’t hurt either. Being able to instantly challenge others to races or score challenges adds more to just the single player experience. I’d still be satisfied if multiplayer were missing. Good job, EA.

Mike was catching his usual dose of WWE on TV. An added plus was the spattering of game commercials for games like Tony Hawk Underground and Super Mario Advance 4 (essentially “Super Mario Bros. 3″ ported to the Game Boy Advance, with some extras).

I was really entertained by the commercial. First because it is supposedly filmed in Japan. Second because it’s got schoolkids doing cool acrobatics. Jumping in various gaming fashions (we discussed how one boy did a flip jump quite similar to Metroid Prime character Samus Aran’s moves), running atop commuter trains. I like how it’s put together.

AdTunes.com reports that the song used in the commercial was Mayumi Kojima’s “Hatsukoi” (First Love).

You can see/download the commercial at Nintendo’s site:
http://www.nintendo.com/news/news_articles.jsp?articleID=9036

…I don’t want to make games for 12-year olds. I have no interest in that. I haven’t been 12 in a long time. I don’t have kids. All I have is me, my wife, a dog, and some cats. To that extent, I want to make games — and everyone here at the studio — wants to make games that satisfy us. And we’re all getting older. So let’s do something more adult. Not, “Ooh, look, bare breasts. Ooh look, blood and violence.” Stuff that talks about, “What is a terrorist?” Stuff that talks about, “How do you feel about organized religion?” And it doesn’t just tell you — we don’t just preach. We set up a situation and let you interact with it and see the consequences of your choice. That’s what gaming does. And frankly, if making games that appeal to an older audience limits the number of people who can or will buy or play the games we make, I’m fine with that.

…Anyways, right now, we’re months away from shipping Invisible War. There are plenty of people who are worried about getting the framerate better. It’s pretty good now but it’ll get better before we ship. Our load times are too long. OK, great, we’ll fix that. The problems that are really worrying me, that number one problem I’m having right now, is “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do right now. This faction wants me to kill somebody, but I don’t want to do that. This faction wants me to hack a computer, but I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to do the things I’ve been given the option to do.” If you say, “This is what you have to do, this one thing,” players just do it because that’s the way to keep moving forward in the story. The moment you give them two, three, four options, they start going, “But I don’t want to do any of those.” And you’re in a whole new world of game design hell…

Full Warren Spector interview:

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/437/437762p1.html?fromint=1

I found (and downloaded) Pop ‘n’ Taisen Pazurudama Online by navigating through the PlayStation2’s broadband software. I had no idea what kind of game I was about to play, but later realized that it was a basic puzzle game akin to Puzzle Fighter. In PopN you match three cute spheres of the same color and away they go. It’s a nice incentive, especially since it was a free download. Catchy tunes and cute illustrations decorate the puzzle play.

No DVD viewed today.

Another contribution of mine was placed into Yamanote29.

eBay is truly something of an addiction. It has rewarded me the past two weeks - I’ve made over a hundred bucks selling things that I was willing to part with. Thankfully this does not include all the classic consoles I have accumulated (read: collected) over the past few years, nor the games that go along with them.

I packed four more items today, which translates to [hopefully] four more satisfied eBay bidders.

DVD today: U.S. Marshals (Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes)

Despite having less sleep than usual, I woke up this morning at around 10 o’clock. As with other days, I had no major agendas. I did some laundry, ate lunch and watched “U.S. Marshals”, which had its moments but as a whole felt like just another summer formula. “The Fugitive” was much better and, of course, more dramatic. Irene Jacob looked out of place in the film. Still, I thought, if I was married to someone as beautiful as Irene Jacob I would probably be fairly happy.

Later in the day I completed R-Type Final on its easiest difficulty setting (no more time to get frustrated) and hooked up my Japanese PlayStation2 to the internet. It has a hard drive and broadband adapter already equipped.

After much trial and error I was able to test e-mail on the console (as pictured above). I think it took me a good five or ten minutes to figure out how to delete a message, as I did not know the kanji for “delete” nor any of the other functions on the menus.

The PlayStationBB software (currently at version 0.30) has a long way to go before coming stateside, but it’s definitely on the right track. I can see where it’s going - right into the PSX home entertainment console that they plan to release in 2004.

Two boxes. Video projects. Video8, Hi8, Digital8, VHS and miniDV. CD-ROM backups of almost every video project I’ve ever done (raw footage on the discs as well). I flipped through a few folders, sketchbooks and all else that I scribbled into while I was in college. There’s a lot to look back on, a lot to be done.

With some of the eBay funds that I won from my auctions this weekend I clicked over to Amazon.com to pick up a very good book on After Effects. I remember flipping through it while interning at Moviola in Hollywood.

I’ve started to map out ideas for my short project based on photos I took in Japan.

For those of you who are part of the more recent gaming generation, River City Ransom was an NES title, a simple Double Dragon styled fighting action game that obviously took place in Japan. It added some interactivity by allowing you to walk into shops in the background and buy anything from food to brass knuckles. And it was undeniably cute and violent.

It’s coming back next year thanks to Atlus. River City Ransom EX for Game Boy Advance.

Should be fun playing the title again: I remember that I would battle some bosses by running through the floors of various high schools in the game. No doubt my next play will involve flashbacks of actual classrooms that I’d taught while in Japan.

First off, I would like to thank the 20 or so group of religious retreat adventurers on my longer Osaka to Los Angeles flight for never failing to stay loud and obnoxious. If not for their exemplary work, my jet lag would have never been so damaging to me, as it is now. They set a true standard for all Americans, as they were right behind me and so many other Japanese tourists who passed dirty and helpless looks when trying to rest.

Down my row during the latter part of the hellish flight I noticed a Japanese women hunched forward, trying to rest her head on her tray table. It was obvious that if she had even a melee weapon, the people behind us would be a lot quieter within seconds. Oh, how some of us could have wished.

I arrived home Saturday morning. Without any sleep for the past 16 hours (2 flights: Bangkok to an Osaka stopover, then Los Angeles) I was rather ill on the drive home. I was somewhat coherent but terribly exhausted.

Sunday I drove over to Keith’s, a friend and former coworker of mine. He drove us down to Matt’s to spend a day just playing new games and relaxing. The heat was unbearable, but sho ga nai (it can’t be helped). Among other things we played Panzer Dragoon Orta (amazingly excellent and gorgeous) and Para Para Paradise (another game in the excellent line of “play, look silly, but enjoy” type dancing/music games.

No doubt yesterday was fun, but around lunchtime I was already fatigued again. In fact I had stomach problems the entire day, but not enough to keep me too down.

I went to sleep last night (still now knowing how I was able to drive home and not drive off the 57 freeway) and woke up at 5am with headaches and a mild fever. Some headache/fever geltabs did the trick.

Today I did the wiser and stayed home and slept when I felt any urge to instead of pushing myself. Still, I am active only at various moments: I want to do so much, but I simply can’t. I’ve unpacked most of my stuff but a lot remains to be organized and put away. I talk slower, think slower and just trudge around slower in the house. I just need all the rest I can get right now. This is, by far, the worst jet lag I’ve ever experienced.

Right now the most I can do is sit idle in front of my computer or TV. My body refuses to do much otherwise. I try to sleep at midnight, wake up at 5am sharp and sleep again later for a few hours from 1-5pm or so. As they say, twisted.

I’ve been recontacting everyone, and am happy to hear from them.

Being home is as it was. It’s easy to tell that I’ll not want to be home longer than six months if I can find a way out, even if that means a financial struggle. Being out in Japan for the year did that. Mum hasn’t changed and, for those of you who know me, that’s an instant excuse to get the fuck out of dodge.

No more “irasshaimase” when entering stores or restaurants, or any other sounds of Japanese lately. The vending machines are nowhere in sight. After flipping through the whole gamut of channels this afternoon (rapidly I might add), it’s the same old crap. Is it safe to say that being in a foreign place felt more like home than being in my home state of California? C’est la vie.

It’s quite sad, really. But, this is home. For now. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes up in the next few weeks. I’ve started contacting people about work and we’ll see how that moves. Other than that, I have decided to stay home during most of this week and rest up so that I can actually be productive instead of be restless-yet-fatigued.

I’ve been in Bangkok for three days.

It has been strange. Bits and pieces have changed but most of the experience is one big flashback. Nuay and cousins are doing alright, and the place reminds me of my stay ten years ago - I attended an interational school in 1992-1993 here.

Here’s Lynn taking care of Min, Lee’s daughter. She gets lots of love from all the family. It’s good to see her around so many people each day. One happy baby.

Good eats at home (breakfast, lunch and dinner).

Hachiban Ramen (”Number 8″ Ramen) is a popular ramen chain here. I had a small bowl of Chashu (pork) ramen, some shumai and a coke for somewhere under two dollars.

Japanese food has gained momentum with the Thai people. Other restaurants include “Oishi Sushi Bar” and “Fuji Japanese Cuisine”. I have yet to try them for myself.

The state of piracy in Thailand is still strong despite better efforts to curb vendors trying to sell illegal copies of games. It was easy for me to see that Game Boy Advance games were not what they seemed - the boxes are easily discernable as [high quality, but flawed] color copies. I’m sensing a strong shipment of HK game goods. It’s amazing how fast they get here from an “original” release.

Most Game Boy Advance games here cost anywhere from 10-20 bucks. The more expensive ones feature “116 games in 1″, but mostly consist of several GBA titles and a slew of very old (and classic) Famicom/NES titles like Contra, Stinger (Twin Bee in Japan) and so on and so forth.

PlayStation2 games cost about 40-80 Baht (USD $1-$2) per game. That’s considered “expensive” by some. Even though I lived here ten years ago to experience the boom of copied Super Famicom (Super NES) games via floppy copies, I still find myself astonished at how fast and abundant copied games are here. It’s like you could literally live off of a few dollars a day just to eat and buy software. From what I gather, most people’s PlayStation 2’s here are modified to play DVD copies.

This weekend I am off to Chiang Mai with my father’s friends.

Last night, before heading to my guest bedroom at Shinji’s, I wrote back to my friend Adam, who happened to be staying the night at an internet cafe in Osaka.

Adam and I never met in person - he contacted me by way of the Kanno Project about five years ago. We kept in touch on a thread: sometimes we would write and not hear from each other for six months. Then, suddenly, an e-mail would pop up and we’d correspond.

We managed to meet for the first time at Shin Osaka station this morning. Tokyo bound, we chatted about our enthusiasm for Kanno’s work, games and the Japan “experience” as it were - I told him about working as an assistant teacher and he told me of his experiences thus far. The shinkansen ride didn’t seem like 3 hours - we kept talking about all sorts of things.

After checking in to my hotel at Minami Senjuu we made our way to Akihabara.

Apparently my enthusiasm for the place has remained the same. It was Adam’s first time to mecca.

Quite a few stores were pushing Tokyo Battle Zero One this time around.

Adam, like myself, was in the search for games and some related items. We went to Sofmap, Yamagiwa Soft and Asobit City to cover most of our “needs” - I also bought a few games that friends wanted me to find.

Like last time, the searching was fun - it was nice to find the software and think, “They are going to get a kick out of this once I hand it to them”. It’s grand being the “item hunter” of sorts.

Asobit City’s PC software/hardware floor had a small area dedicated to computer audio and music composition. In a corner of the floor was an obscure collection of music books for themes from games and anime. Adam was enlightened to find sheet music for both old and recent game titles. He picked up a few books: Final Fantasy themes, Studio Ghibli themes, and another book that I can’t recall at the moment.

I was happy to see him so excited, to find things that he had probably had in his mind yet could never acquire (for obvious, geographical reasons). Today was his day it seemed.

I roamed one of the TRADER stores in search of other used games. Managed to find some software here and at Sofmap, of course.

Today’s pace seemed rapid. One store to the next, a fulfilling yet quick lunch at a Kyushu-style ramen joint in the middle of Akihabara. A fast dinner at McDonald’s in Ikebukuro followed by another fast romp, this time to an internet cafe to notify friends of my latest explorations.

It was a blast. That really is the only way I can describe it. It was my first time to meet Adam offline and I found him to be an awesome Tokyo companion today. Tomorrow we’re going to check out Shibuya, Harajuku and some other possible places, at least until the evening when he will meet up with his other friends. After that, I may get the chance to catch up with some others in the area.