30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day 12: Favorite Video Game (or Video Game Series)?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Civilization, Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Mega Man, NES, Total War, Video Games

Oh man, I often struggle with these all-time favorite prompts and I think I’ve even wrestled with very question for a gamer tag recently.  I wasn’t any more decisive this time and had no choice but to make a top 5 list. Presented in no particular order for Day 12 of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge:

Mega Man: My love of this series started way back in the NES days when I rented Mega Man 2 with my dad one weekend.  I wasn’t very good at it that first time through, but I loved the character so much that I later asked for (and received) Mega Man 3 for Christmas.  At that point I was hooked! This was one of the first games that I got WAY into and explored to its fullest. From there I got into the first few hard AF Gameboy releases followed eventually by Mega Man (which is admittedly not as good as 2 or 3).  Flash forward to the more or less present day and I’m still playing the NES releases (1 – 6), as well as Mega Man 9 and 10 on my Playstation.  

Legend of Zelda: Another series entry, this is another one I’ve enjoyed from childhood on through adulthood.  Controversial opinion time: I don’t much care for the original NES (I was lost playing it as a kid and am only slightly less confused playing as an adult) and absolutely love Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, which I recently finished playing through for the first time in many years.  I also have some very fond memories of rushing home to play Ocarina of Time with my friends in high school.

Final Fantasy: I originally meant to list this as the series in general, but the real allure of this series for me lies in the very first game.  I know it’s been far surpassed in terms of mechanics, scope, and story as the series and gaming technology have progressed, but for some reason I have long been infatuated with this game every since renting it as a kid.  It blew me away at the time since it was unlike anything else I’d ever played and my dad and I spent more than a few weekends exploring this world. Later on in college I would beat it a few times playing on an emulation program (which was huge at the time), and as recently as a few weeks wrapped up another successful campaign.  I’ve also had some good times playing FFIV and FFX (among a couple of others), but really FF1 is where it’s at for me!

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Oh my the times I’ve had with this series over the years!  From falling in love with the first game on my black and white Macintosh computer back in the early 90s to pulling an all-nighter playing Civ IV, this is another series that’s been with me throughout my life.  I even have the latest release installed on my computer, though I don’t really have much time to game these days.

Medieval Total War II (Stainless Steel Mod): The first truly stand-alone entry on the list, this is a game I spent a lot of time playing.  It’s also one of the only games where I really got into the modding scene, which speaks to how much I enjoyed it.  Something about the up close and personal strategy involved in the combat mixed with the joy of advancing across the campaign map really appealed to me with this game.

Well there’s my list.  I’m already thinking about substitutions but I’m just going to leave it as is or else I might never finish!  Honorable mentions to Skyrim and the Adventures of Lolo (series).

30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day 11: Favorite Manga or Comic Book Series?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Blog Life, Comic Books, Sam and Max

Source: https://preview.tinyurl.com/y5tr26hf

Day Eleven of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge poses another challenging prompt for me.  I’ve never been into comics (not even the popular ones that everyone is into these days) and while I really enjoyed reading Naruto and Bleach back in the day, I’m not sure either of those stands out as a clear favorite.  I want to pick something, though, so for the sake of this post I’ll pick Sam & Max.

For those unfamiliar with the characters, Sam and Max are a lovable, violence prone dog and rabbit duo that bill themselves as the Freelance Police.  I first came across them in a video game included in a LucasArts box set along with other such classics as Star Wars: Rebel Assault and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and that was more than enough to pique my interest.  After loving the game and spending the next few months following their exploits in some sort of printed LucasArts publication (for reference, this was in the was the mid-1990s so still in the dial-up era and a few years before the ubiquity of the internet) I took the plunge and purchased Sam & Max Hit Surfin’ the Highway, a collection of comics that see them put all their irreverent detective skills and powers of persuasion to face down a list of adversaries that include a cult leader, an ultranationalist cockroach, and a possessed cereal aisle.  Good times. In retrospect some of the bits seem a bit juvenile, so I’m not sure I’d feel quite the same about this if I came across them as an adult, but the nostalgia is real and so is my affinity for these furry guys.  Having said that I would add, however, the adventure game released by Telltale Games a few years back was top notch and definitely worth a look for players into that sort of game.

30 Geek Out Challenge – Day 10: Favorite Movie (or Movie Series)?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Monty Python, Movies, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars

Powering right along, Day Ten of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge asks me to name my favorite movie or movie series.  I don’t think these by necessity had to be “geek” films, but, well, I am who I am.

After much deliberation, I decided that I couldn’t just pick one film.  I’m not much into keeping up with movies these days and since my tastes have changed so much over the years I felt like I couldn’t do the post any justice with just one choice.  Instead I’m going to list a top three, presented in no particular order:

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: Ok, maybe we’re starting this out on a slightly controversial note, but The Empire Strikes Back is easily my favorite Star Wars movie.  I can’t even begin to imagine how many times I’ve watched it over the years as a child, teenager, and adult.  Consistently, though, this is the film that best captures the feeling of what Star Wars is to me and for that reason alone it will always be one of my favorites.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Like many a young geek in my age group, the Holy Grail was probably my first exposure to Monty Python and it made quite an impression.  I love the humor and feel like I catch a different one liner or aside almost every time I see it.

Pulp Fiction: Definitely the most “adult” film on the list, it also perhaps the runner up to Cowboy Bebop in the best soundtrack ever assembled category.  It’s also infinitely quotable and so chock full of memorable scenes you can probably string together the majority of the film by looking up popular video clips.

All pics sourced to IMDB.

30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day Nine: Favorite Anime (or Anime Series)?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Akagi, Anime, Cowboy Bebop, Mahjong

Rolling into Day Nine of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge, I am back to post about my favorite anime.  Although I don’t really watch anime anymore, I was once into the scene enough that I feel like I can make an informed choice about this.

In my heart the real answer to this question is probably Cowboy Bebop.  Not only does it have the best soundtrack to anything ever created, but it also features a variety of truly memorable characters, a fantastic story, and a really cool animation style and space Western aesthetic.  Seriously, even if you don’t consider yourself someone who likes anime give this a shot.

Source: https://tinyurl.com/y5krslp7

That said, I am going to make this post about something else.  As awesome as Cowboy Bebop is, I feel like that choice is just a bit too safe and mainstream.  Instead, I am going to go with Akagi.

Set in Japan during the late-1950s, Akagi tells the story of a teenager named Akagi Shigeru and how he became a legendary figure in Japan’s criminal underworld for his gambling skills.  It all begins, as these things often do, on a dark and stormy night when he stumbles into a mahjong parlor while running from the police following a game of chicken.  He talks himself into playing in place of a hapless debtor and, despite having no knowledge of the game, deals a stunning defeat to a prominent Yakuza boss.

I’m not going to say the series is perfect, but I do really enjoy it.  What I love about it so much is that it’s one of the very few (at least that I am aware of) to focus on mahjong, a game I was very much into playing around the time I watched it.  It really dives into playing styles and gambling strategy, so if you’re looking to geek out about that sort of thing, this is most definitely for you! I also like the funky, angular animation style.  It fits the gritty world of this story quite well and really stands out in my mind as different. I’ll admit the series probably is not for everyone (if you don’t play mahjong or think it’s just a tile matching game you will quickly get confused) and I suppose the complete lack of any female characters whatsoever is somewhat problematic (to arguable degrees given the settings), but it is one that I look back on fondly and give a rewatch every now and then.

 

30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day Eight: What Geeky Hobby do you Have?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Blog Life

Alright, two in a row here we go!  Today’s installment of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge asks me what my geeky hobby is.

Shortly after reading this prompt, it dawned on me that this blog is my geeky hobby!  Not only is it the leisure time activity I consistently spend the most time on, but it is also the place where I (over) analyze the beer I drank and review a steady stream of Sci-fi and Fantasy novels.  Seems to fit the criteria to me 😀  Thank you to all my readers for enabling my habit!

30 Day Geek Out Challenge: Day Seven: What Fandom do You Love That you Didn’t Think You Would?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Brandon Sanderson, Cosmere

Yes, I am still alive!  Also, tempting though it may have been, I didn’t run away to join the Ren Faire.  I just ended up needing a bit of a break. Now that I have returned from a slightly longer than intended hiatus, I am ready to resume the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge.  I’m picking up again at Day Seven, which asks me to write about a fandom I love, but didn’t expect to.

Retrieved from brandonsanderson.com

Time once again to credit my wife with helping me discover something awesome.  For years she had been telling me to read Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy and for years I said that I would get to it, right after I finished reading whatever was already in my queue.  Turns out she was onto something. After finally picking up the book a couple of months back, I found myself hooked not only on that series, but the entirety of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe as well!  I’m now thousands of pages deep into his work (go ahead and skim my Book Reviews for plenty of examples) and can honestly say that I would not have gotten started on this journey without my wife insisting I read that first book.

30 Day Geek Out Challenge: A Pause

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Blog Life, Renaissance Faire

As  a scheduling note, I am taking a break from the challenge today.  I feel like a day off to attend a Renaissance Faire keeps things sufficiently geeky, though.

30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day Six: What Real Life Geek Inspires You?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Blog Life, Failure

I feel like kind of a failure today, but I can’t come up with anyone specific for this prompt.  I’m sure there are plenty of awesome, well-known geeks out there doing amazing things, but I’m just not up on this sort of thing enough to think of any.   My wife brought up some names like John Oliver or Kevin Smith, and while I like them, I can’t say they really inspire in any way. I suppose this sort of thing was bound to happen eventually.  Why not check out who the creator of this challenge chose instead?

30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day Five: What is the Geekiest Thing You’ve Ever Done?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Babylon 5, Blog Life, Star Wars

Day Five of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge is one of dark revelations.  It asks me to share the geekiest thing I’ve ever done.

Do I really have to do this publicly?  Oh my, ok. My gut answer on this is probably as a kid filling a notebook with the specs and roster of an imaginary Star Wars fleet,  We’re talking ship names, armaments, speed, starfighter squadrons, you name it. Yeah, I was really into Star Wars and kind of just ran with what I got out of playing the X-Wing computer game, reading EU books, and supplemented it all with information contained within a book called The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels.  If I had access to Excel at the time I probably could have made it all into one epic spreadsheet (or at least learned something applicable later on in life).  I suppose access to a game like Sins of a Solar Empire would have been nice too.  Both options would probably have saved a tree, or at least given one a slightly more glorious send off.

The only runner up answer to this that can even come close is the time college a small group of friends and I realized we’d spent upwards of an hour discussing Babylon 5 and that for some reason our group had cleared out of the room.  They obviously missed out.

30 Day Geek Out Challenge – Day Four: What Was Your Worst Convention Experience?

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30 Day Geek Out Challenge, Blog Life, Convention

Here we go, marching right into Day Four of the 30 Day Geek Out Challenge!  Today’s topic is again the inverse of the previous day’s, and asks us to look back on our worst convention experience.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been to a number of cons over the years but fortunately I cannot think of any particular event that stands out in my mind as “a worst experience” for me.  As such, I am going to come at this topic from a slightly different angle.

Upon looking back at all the cons that I’ve been to, I think the biggest factor that distinguishes them from each other is how I approached them going in.  I’ve attended events in a variety of roles over the years (consumer, socializer, supporting the booth of a friend, etc.) and without a doubt my best and most memorable experiences all come from the times I was there purely to hang out with friends (most of whom know a lot of people in the scene) and just wander about.

On the other side of that, my most forgettable cons are the ones that I went to mainly as a consumer.  This occurred mostly during my teenage years, when I was more into having stuff and didn’t have any friends interested in going.  I spent a ton of money on stuff I loved at the time, but ultimately didn’t have much staying power. The vast majority of that stuff I’ve either gotten rid of (out of both want and necessity) or relegated to a lonely shelf or box in the attic.

I’m not saying that I regret my actions (I have no doubts I would have spent the money on something else), but I do feel that as I’ve gotten older, and debatably wiser, I have distanced myself from a consumer-centric view and couldn’t be happier about it.  It’s not always easy, especially in this age of cool, shiny toys expertly marketed at the geek scene and the desire to show them off, but at this stage in my life I far prefer the experience.