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Appreciations of the day

Started by thepanda, November 25, 2005, 11:45:21 AM

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Dracos

I beat the king yesterday.  Repeatedly.

It was weird.  and Awesome.

He totally is going to own me back today.

Oh yeah, and there were hordes of zombies that invaded the office which we fought off with revolvers.  It was pretty awesome.
Well, Goodbye.

Brian

I guess that teaches me to call out sick. >_<
I handle other fanfic authors Nanoha-style.  Grit those teeth!  C&C incoming!
Prepare to be befriended!

~exploding tag~

Brian

I can now let my cat run around in the house while I am asleep.

This will probably save her life.
I handle other fanfic authors Nanoha-style.  Grit those teeth!  C&C incoming!
Prepare to be befriended!

~exploding tag~

Merc

Just returned from Video Games Live 2008. Some people might remember I went two years back with Hal and some of my family members. Went again this year minus the hat guy (amusingly enough, this is how my grandpa recalled Hal) and my dad, but with my sister, aunt, cousin and grandfather's sister in tow in their place.

I was honestly a bit doubtful as my general expectation was that 75% of it was going to be the same old same old from first time. It had been prety awesome first time around, but could a second time be really worthwhile? I'll admit, I mostly wanted to have the four family members who hadn't gotten to enjoy it to go see it, but my own expectations were pretty iffy.

Still, things started off well enough. If nothing else, I knew this time that arriving two hours early for the pre-concert 'festival' wasn't a good idea. Last time our group just ended up sitting for an hour and change sitting in a corner bored, bored, bored, bored and did I mention bored? This time we simply arrived 45 minutes before concert, and had to wait a mere 15 minutes for us to be allowed into concert hall.

A bit surprising, but before the doors are even closed and people are all in, stuff is starting to happen. On the screen above orchestra, we have "Show will start momentarily. In the meanwhile, here's something to entertain you. But first...a poem." Screen change. "Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF" (I admit I laughed) Screen change. "All your base are belong to us." (Cute. Cue eye roll)

Now starts the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQg7qOB5Heg

Cue another eye roll here.

Following this is the obligatory cosplay costume judging. There is no Pong this year (God, that was awesome last time), sadly, and waaaaaay too many Marios and Links. There's also a Darth Vader in a business suit (what the fuck?). Oh, and two kids with a cardboard pacman cutout roped in display in front of him, and a ghost cardboard in front of her. Given the rule that a kid always win these no matter how awesome the other guys might be (Pong was ROBBED!), my obvious reaction is a facepalm. I just -know- the two little cheapskates are gonna win. Announcer pulls finalist four in front of everyone and yup, wouldn't you know it, cardboard twins are finalists. On the plus side, so is May from Guilty Gear (very, very nice costume), an Axel from KHII (eh, pretty decent costume), and one of the many Links (a kid, obviously. Though the costume was pretty nice. I admit I favored the girl Link with the boobs, though. Ragnar would be proud of me surely). May loses, but at least it's to Link, not the cardboard twins. Thank god for small favors.

Now it's time for Frogger. And boy what a dissapointment that was. Orchestra couldn't really do much for this interactive segment given how much the two contestants SUCKED at it. Good lord, did these two even -know- what a video game was before getting up there? I'm thinking no by the showing they put up. That people are still coming in and people are noisy and drowning out the orchestra's pathetic attempt (and can't say I blame them for being pathetic here) to do an impromptu game music to the events on the screen when the players couldn't do much more than die fast.

I'm dying here. God, wasn't this supposed to be fun?

Still, doors are shutting now, and the classic arcade introductory medley begins. I can smile now, if somewhat half heartedly, that medley is still as fun to hear as it was the first time and starts to get me in the mood. Maybe this won't be so bad?

What follows are Metal Gear Solid and God of War. Had those that first time. They were okay, but honestly, the magic from first time isn't here for me. At least the rest of my guests seems to be enjoying it so far, and I was expecting to be a bit dissapointed with pre-existing segments.

Our host comes out and announces that they're going to present a new song this year. I sit up straight in anticipation...and look utterly dismayed and betrayed (and apparently my sister took a photo of my expression. damn woman!) as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix video game medley begins.

Oh. My. God.

Well....at least my sister and grandpa's sister are enjoying it still?

I resist the urge to weep and try to enjoy the medley. It's honestly not bad...it's just...it's Harry fucking Potter. That music may be video game original material and not from movies, but goddamn it, I feel cheated.

And that's when they decide to bring a true smile to my face as the next thing the host does as he comes out is announce that because of overwhelming demand...Metroid.

See, this is the kind of new material I want to see. Maybe there is some hope for this yet.

Next up...the Video Game Pianist, Martin Leung. I'm sure everyone's seen his videos and knows who he is. If not, look him up. Last time, there was some woman pianist doing final fantasy solo. This year, we were offered either final fantasy or warcraft 2. I was sadly one of the outvoted callers crying for warcraft 2. Oh well, final fantasy is still enjoyable, so I'm still enjoying myself.

Following that is Legend of Zelda and Kingdom Hearts. Saw both last time, so while still somewhat enjoyable, not as great an experience, and still disappointed that they won't show game footage here for KH, instead only purely disney animation. C'mon people! Video game concert! Show video game footage!

*sigh* What's next? Another interactive segment with someone who has no clue what he's doing? Joy....

Oh well, time for intermission. Things aren't going too bad, but it's not the experience I remember so far. Metroid and the classic arcade meddley are the only things that I -really- enjoyed.

Act II is where they start to make the event worth it for me.

First up is bioshock. Yikes, some of the stuff on the footage did not look PG-13 friendly and I know there were kids there. Music wasn't -great-, but it was new and the slight creepy tint to spots here and there was neat.

Then it's Warcraft, with stuff from all the games. Besides the fact that I can enjoy it more as a WoW addict lately, the general mood of the medley was just...epic. It was goddamn epic. I didn't even bother paying attention to the footage or light show (and no big loss on the footage, I'd seen it all before). I just absorbed myself in the music.

Starcraft II is up next. Honestly, I know shit about this besides what host guy says that it's a game in development. Footage adds to this since mostly it's development art and some very limited game footage. Still, music is pretty cool. And again, it's new.

Blizzard segment ends and it's back to Nintendo as the ever expected Mario segment starts (and you -know- they'll always have Mario). When this ends, they bring back the piano soloist. Didn't do that first time I came, but it was almost expected. C'mon, the guy got famous doing blindfolded Mario, and that's what we got this time, followed by more Mario solo piano music. I gotta say, it's more fun to watch in person than on youtube. For one thing, guy is much more expressive and you can tell he's having so much fun, you can't help but join in. Calls of an encore get him back to do a Tetris segment, before he finally departs to applause and the show continues.

What's this? New interactive segment, as they bring out Guitar Hero Aerosmith and put the winner of the pre-concert festival tournament up on the stage, with the host setting up bass guitar, saying he'll accompany him while he plays for keeps on a song to beat the high score of 150k points currently saved to the selected song while orchestra and host accompany his playing. Finally. A -competent- interactive segment (though to be fair, the kid did win contest. would be odd if he -wasn't- competent at the game) where the orchestra can shine somewhat. True, they were limited in interactivity to missing notes when player did, but gotta give them props. He didn't miss many, but when he did, timing sounded off from what you'd expect from game by only bare minimal amount. If you weren't paying careful attention, you'd almost think they were just playing the music straight from the game instead of letting the orchestra work. And the bass accompany was just nice, especially since it stayed there from there on out.

Halo sounded very neat with the bass, with music from all three games playing. I don't even like the game, but great music here.

And as the show ends and people clammor for an encore, we are given the expected One Winged Angel. C'mon, it's expected. Off course, maybe a little -too- expected. As people are getting ready to leave after that, a spotlight shines on our host who seems deep in thought. "You know...maybe that was a little too expected. We need something different. Something new."

And we are given Castlevania. And if everything else had sucked big fat balls, I'd still go again just for that one segment.

Overall, I had fun. A lot of it would have been more enjoyable as a first time experience, I admit, but it was still not bad, some of the old segments were still great to hear, there was a fair bit more new content than I expected, and the Metroid and Castlevania segments were -very- nice new additions.

Still, if I go again, I don't expect it'll be for at least three years.
<Cidward> God willing, we'll all meet in Buttquest 2: The Quest for More Butts.

Brian

I have a temporary new car!  It is both red, and fast.
I handle other fanfic authors Nanoha-style.  Grit those teeth!  C&C incoming!
Prepare to be befriended!

~exploding tag~

Dracos

Merc:

Yeah, sounds similar but worse than when I went.  The new content is technically a year into its repoitoire, including the Castlevania segment.

Brian: Awesome :D  We shall race.
Well, Goodbye.

Asrana

I made it into a relatively prestigious private university!

Second choice, but I was applying extremely late, so...I'm really trying to not go all caps, twenty exclamation points, and other AOL expressions of unbound, near psychosis joy.
lt;Kotono>  (Currently looks like a 16-year-old girl):I walk up to the leader and say, "Are you so sure you want our money?" and use my alter self ability to grow a massive bulge in my pants.

Jon

Quote from: Brian on July 20, 2008, 03:48:05 PM
It is both red, and fast.

This is a redundancy. Everyone knows "red" == "fast".

Brian

I get next Sunday off to run my HERO campaign!  I got to meet KP and some other cool SR crowd last Sunday! :D
I handle other fanfic authors Nanoha-style.  Grit those teeth!  C&C incoming!
Prepare to be befriended!

~exploding tag~

kpjam

Quote from: Brian on July 28, 2008, 02:34:59 PM
I get next Sunday off to run my HERO campaign!  I got to meet KP and some other cool SR crowd last Sunday! :D

But I got to meet Brian and Merc and get a lovely sun-burn!
he secret of tomb has been revealed, do nothing!

Dracos

The sunburns were excellent.  A sign that we should soon destroy the daystar.
Well, Goodbye.

Merc

Me: "Hey Cale, want to help me farm some righteous orbs and large brilliant shards in stratholme?"
Cale: "Sure, why not."
*farming ensues*
Me: "Hey Cale, let's kill the piccolo guy and see if he drops the flute. Just for lulz and to mock Esk if it drops"
Cale: "Lol, sure."
*killing of Hearthsinger Forresten ensues*
Me: *piccolo drops* "...HAH!"
*enter guild channel*
Me: Hey Esk! Guess what dropped!
Cale: *links piccolo*
Esk: "....I fucking hate you both. You have no idea how badly. If I could squeeze your necks and kill you, I would."
Cale: "We can guess how badly. =)"
Me: "Oh, definitely. =)"

For reference, the piccolo is a trinket that makes all players (both horde and alliance) within a certain area dance uncontrollably. One of our guildmates, a rogue (and thus able to skip various mobs) has been relentlessly trying to farm the item. We got it on our first try and just attempting to get it for comedy point of pissing guildmate off.
<Cidward> God willing, we'll all meet in Buttquest 2: The Quest for More Butts.

Dracos

Well, Goodbye.

Brian

I get a vacation!  Two days off in a row, this coming Saturday and Sunday.  :D
I handle other fanfic authors Nanoha-style.  Grit those teeth!  C&C incoming!
Prepare to be befriended!

~exploding tag~

Dracos

Well, Goodbye.