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Will's BlogRants, Ravings and other Maniacal crud... August 09 Time to gush about the ring!Yes, I took pictures of the ring. Here they are! No words...just pretties.
We're Engaged!!!On July 26, just a couple of weeks ago, Vicky's Birthday, I flew my father into Toronto for a very special event. At 11PM on that day, I asked Victoria Liu to marry me. Originally I had intended to ask her on the day after, when I had planned our big birthday party. (Her birthday is July 26, and mine is August 1) But, the cat was out of the bag and she knew it was coming. So while we were taking my Dad around downtown to show him the sites (more on that to follow), we stopped in Nathan Phillips Square which is where Toronto's City Hall resides. You can't tell from the above picture, but there's a lit waterfall at night, and the City Hall building is lit as well. I thought it'd be a nice picturesque place to ask her. Before we had left the apartment, I had snuck the ring box into my pocket. I was going to ask her in one of two places, either Centre Island, where the Chinese Lantern Festival was underway, or at City Hall. Unfortunately, the Lantern Festival was about to shut down for the evening, so we went to the backup. "Shit." "What's wrong?" "The lights went out!" "Well yeah, Toronto is under a power saving initiative." "Well that sucks!" "Why's that?" "Well, because. I was going to get down on my knee." As I get down on one knee, "And I was going to pull out the box with the ring in it and show it to you." As I pull out the ring box and show her the ring. "And I was going to hold the ring up to you and say, 'Vicky, will you marry me?'" Silence and a confused look. "Billy are you messing with me?" If you can't figure out what happened next, you need to go watch Teletubbies or something. The Garden and infoOn the following Tuesday, we visited Liuna Gardens, where we will be having the ceremony and reception. The pictures really don't do it justice, but here they are. This is the archway of the garden. Where the ceremony will be held. Chairs for our guests will be on either side, with the ceremony at the end of the walkway.
This is from the end of the walkway, looking back to the entrance to the gardens. Vicky has a looooooong walk ahead of her.
Vicky's parents in front of Lake Ontario and the fountain in the center of the gardens.
More pictures of the garden:
Practice.
The infoThe wedding has been booked for Thursday, July 26, 2008 at 3:30PM. The wedding is by invite only. More info on menus and stuff coming. Vacation 2k7!
Ahh yes...vacation yet again. Unfortunately, because I'm in a new position this year, I wasn't able to take the usual 10-11 day break. But we made the best of our 7 day downtime!
First day of vacation: We picked up my Dad at the airport around 5PM that day and took him out for a night on the town. We brought him to our favorite noodle place in Chinatown. Vicky's parents dropped us off at his hotel so he could settle in, and then we went around town to take in a few sites before going to dinner. I got the indication that it reminded him of California as much as it did for me.
Two proud fathers meeting for the first time.
This was the evening that I asked Vicky to marry me. Everyone was getting along famously. And the weather couldn't have been much better either. While we were walking downtown towards Dundas Square, we saw a commotion going on. They were having an outdoor play about Petrol...or gas...and it kind of reminded me of some kind of Mad Max skit with the clothes they were wearing. It was great!
Friday morning I took dad for a walk around downtown some more. I showed him the CN tower, and we walked around the Harbourfront Centre for a bit. It was the first time in years that we'd actually gotten some alone time for more than a few minutes and chatted about nothing. We stopped at the Cafe Crepe on Queen Street. Hanging out and enjoying the old style decor, listening to oldies from the 40's over the speakers while we split a Strawberry, Banana, Chocolate crepe.
After crepe time, we headed towards Spadina to meet up with Vicky and her parents for Dim Sum. But we got there a bit early, so we stopped at a pub that I'd been trying to check out, The Village Idiot Pub...or Le Idiot du Vilage Pub.
We met up a little after 1pm for Dim Sum. The food was good as usual, and I got my Dad to try some dishes that you won't find at any Americanized Chinese Restaurant. He tried some of my favorites, including the fried squid tentacles...but he gracefully declined on the Chicken Feet. The Partay!!!
Later Friday evening was our annual Birthday Party. Karen and Erik (Right side, with Vicky) had made the trek from University to come down and be there for the big event, as it doubled as our Engagement Party as well. Maja (far left) and Marce (second left) were there as well, along with my father and Vicky's parents. It was a true family event.
The whole fam damily.
After the party, Vicky, Dad, Erik, Karen and I went down to the Chinese Lantern Festival on Centre Island.
All that Jazz...On Saturday, Vicky and I took Dad down to the Beaches for Jazzfest. We stopped at one of our favorite restaurants, The Nevada for lunch before heading in. It's one of my favorite festivals in Toronto.
Not many people get to find the perfect mate and the perfect town to live in. I feel so fortunate to have both. I still don't think I deserve Vicky...but don't tell her that. ;-)
Afterwards, Vicky, Dad, Marce and I went to go see A Midsummer Night's Dream. I couldn't take pictures of the stage during the show, but I did get a few beforehand.
To the Stratford!!!On Sunday, Dad went home. That was our catch up on rest day. :-p On Monday, we were off to Stratford, Ontario. The town of Shakespeare. Not Shakespeare's hometown mind you, but I got the impression that they really really liked him. We went there to talk to a lady about a wedding dress. Unfortunately, the store is no longer there and the address listed on the website was the lady's house. But, she was still nice and let us in and let Vicky look at some materials as she still runs an online store. After the visit, we walked around Stratford. The town is absolutely gorgeous, and I'm looking forward to seeing a few plays there next summer.
June 28 Video Games Live-DetroitI'll be posting more soon...it's been busy the last couple of months. There'll be some suprises soon as well.
In the meantime, VideoGames Live will be in Detroit soon! Be there! April 11 Out and about on a beautfiul weekend.First, let me start this off with a link from VGCats, my buddy Harpreet has been hooked on Worms, so he might appreciate this:
Comic here: http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=229
So this weekend was just kind of a regular, nice weekend in Toronto. The first after a cold, but relatively non snowy winter. While Vicky had work on Friday, I took the liberty of going down to the lakefront and snapping pictures around Toronto's Pier 4. This also marks the last time that I'll be using my HP Photosmart 735 camera as I'm purchasing a Canon A630 before my next trip! Yay!!! But back to the photos. :-p
Toronto's Pier 4/Harbourfront Centre (http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/noflash/frontpage.php)has) has some seriously cool restaurants and museums, as well as a few theatre companies. Of course, they also offer boat rides of all kinds, including a classy late night dinner cruise if you feel like taking your significant other out on a pricey night out. (Haven't done it yet personally, but I'm planning on it.)
Vicky and I met up for lunch on Friday as well at a small pizza place on Eglinton Avenue (as soon as I get a website I'll share). We were really suprised at how excellent the food was. Vicky got a Fettucini Alfredo with a Caesar salad, and I ordered a 6-inch pizza with Artichoke and Pineapple.
One of the biggest problems that I usually find with Caesar salads at just about any restaurant, including the more high class ones, is that the dressing tends to be overly salty. I'm not sure if it's the Parmesean cheese they use, or just in general how it's spiced, but that seems to be very consistent. However, a pleasant suprise at this restaurant was that the dressing was perfectly blended, and not leaving you begging for a pitcher of water. All of the food, in fact, seemed to be prepared in a delicate fashion as pretty much everything we ate was very lightly seasoned and almost perfect. By almost, I mean that the Fettucini could have used just a bit more spicing, but other than that, no complaints. My pizza was fantastic however!
On Saturday night, we managed to sneak out and go see TMNT with Marce, Mike and Debbie. Debbie is a friend of ours from Guild Wars, and it was cool to finally meet her after playing online together for almost a year!
TMNT was an absolute blast! If you're a fan of the original series and saw the first two live-action films in the 90's, this is definately a movie you can appreciate.
After the movie, we went to our favorite dessert restaurant, Cafe Demetre (http://waycoolcafe.com/), also on Eglinton. The somewhat modern style decor is perfectly accented with vintage movie and theatre posters makes for an excellent atmosphere, and reading from the menu is as fun as ordering from it. February 28 Toronto Fan Expo 2k7 is coming!Everybody got their tickets?
Go here for more info: 
Other cool happenings that I'm looking forward to this summer: 
I'll be updating this as more goodies pop up on my calender. February 15 Linksys not supporting Vista for products currently available.So, I loaded Windows Vista recently on my laptop as many others did recently. And of course, as is required when you go to a new operating system, I start pulling down driver updates.
My Compaq Presario laptop is a little over a year old, but HP had drivers available the day Vista launched. My Motorola PC-850 Bluetooth adapter unfortunately has to wait a little while as Motorola has the new drivers "in preliminary testing". Frustrating...but expected from them.
The suprise however, was when I went to Linksys' website (www.linksys.com) and found that there had been no driver updates since May of 2005 for my WPX54GX wireless adapter. Now I know that Linksys makes good drivers, and updates are rarely needed, but this meant that there was no driver update available for a product that was less than two years old.
More interestingly, the WPC54GX4, which is less than a year old, and still commercially available, had no updates either.
So, of course I did some poking around and found a webpage on Linksys' website (http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Content_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1169671146109&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper) and found that Linksys had no intention of releasing drivers for these products. That can't be right, there has to be an error.
Unfortunately, it was correct, I contacted Linksys support via webchat and found out that Linksys in fact, had no intention of releasing drivers for these recent, and still available products. I even went so far as to speak with a supervisor online to verify before making the information public. Below is a copy of the chat transcript.
Support Tech (15960):Hi, my name is Support Tech (15960). How may I help you? You: Hi there...I was wondering if Linksys is going to be coming out with drivers for the WPC54GX for windows vista anytime soon? Support Tech (15960): Please hold while I check. You: ok Support Tech (15960): Thank you. Support Tech (15960): Thank you for holding William, the list of LAN devices that are upgradeable to Vista can be seen on this website, www.linksys.com/Vista. You: i got a 404 error Support Tech (15960): Let me check the link for you. You: vista You: i think i know the page you're talking about...I don't see the WPC54GX listed there Support Tech (15960): Let me double check just to make sure. You: the gx4 isn't there either...both of these are pretty recent products Support Tech (15960): Thank you for holding, William, after checking the site I mentioned, WPC54GX is not listed among devices that would be supporting Vista. Support Tech (15960): That would mean those devices would not be upgradeable to windows Vista. You: OK...so you're telling me that products that Linksys is currently selling to the public are not going to be supported by Vista? Support Tech (15960): Only the products indicated on the website I mentioned would be the ones that can and would be upgradeable to windows Vista. You: do you have a supervisor i could speak to before i put this to press? Support Tech (15960): Please hold while I check with my immediate superior. You: thank you Support Tech (15960): You're welcome William. ***** Conferenced With Supervisor (23581) You: Hello Support Tech (15960): Thank you for holding William, I now have one of my immediate superiors here and she will now take it from here. ***** Support Tech (15960) Has Disconnected You: ok Supervisor (23581): Thank you Tech. you may now disconnect. Supervisor (23581): Hello William. How may I assist you? You: Hello Ginalyn... I recently upgraded my operating system to Windows Vista, and when I went to the Linksys site, I could find no Vista drivers for the WPC54GX adapter, which is still commercially available and less than two years old. You: Same with the WPC54GX4 You: I was wondering why Linksys will not be supporting currently available products for the new operating system? Supervisor (23581): I apologize William but the adapters that are listed in our website are the official list of devices that supports Vista. There's no word if drivers will be coming out for your device. You: OK...so it will be accurate when I make the information publicly available that Linksys will not be supporting certain commercially available products? Supervisor (23581): Yes. Linksys did indicate in our website that *If your Linksys product does not appear on any of these three lists, there is no plan to support the product with Windows Vista. You: Thank you. February 08 Red vs. Blue Eppy 89I would normally post this directly from RvB's website at www.redvsblue.com, however, MSN Spaces apparently does not like their embed info...so I posted the one on youtube. However, if you want to see more RvB goodness, go to www.redvsblue.com.
February 06 Vicky meets Jeanie!This last weekend was pretty awesome! I got to have my father, daughter, and girlfriend in the same room together for the first time. Vicky and Jeanie did a ton of bonding this weekend and we all had a lot of fun watching movies, going out, and doing a little bit of spoiling of the munchkin.
It was pretty wild considering that Vicky and Jeanie had talked on the phone a few times, but they hadn't met each other in person yet. But when Vicky and I went to Ohio to pick up Jeanie, the first thing she did was walk up to Vicky and give her a huge hug! Pics below!
Overall the weekend was fantastic. I seriously enjoyed every minute of it, and Vicky and Jeanie did as well. I can't wait till next time. Vanishing PointWell, the Microsoft Vanishing Point game is finally over after a month of brain racking puzzles. Things we learned along the way were:
-Finding out the real world identity of the actress portraying Loki did not count as "guessing her identity". But was fun nevertheless.
-The plotting functions in Google Earth are severely lacking...and to my suprise, MSN maps works quite a bit better.
-You really know that you're showing your age when you're in a group of people and you identify a picture of a .45 record, and you get a field of blank stares.
-Toronto is really cold in the winter.
-We're still waiting to hear who got what prizes, apparently the company that devised the whole Vanishing Point game has forgotten to announce the winners, or the prizes vanished too...we're still out on that one.
-And Neowin is a very cool forum to go to. Lots of nice people there. Check it out! (www.neowin.net)
Oh this is too funny!Another great one from www.licd.com 
January 16 December 2006- Christmas in Toronto and Our Second AnniversaryThis year, Jeanie got to be with her mother for Christmas, and I went to Toronto to be with Vicky. I really enjoy spending Christmas with Vicky's family. It's always a fun time. This year I got Vicky's parents a little thing from hallmark with penguins and a snowman that sing "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" with a tree that lights up and bells on the penguins. One of the bells is placed on the tail of one of the penguins and is absolutely hilarious to watch, because it's butt jiggles to ring it. As far as I know, it's still in the front room and her mother is still pushing the button every few hours. :-p
Between my Father, Aunt and Uncle, Vicky's cousin Karen, and her boyfriend Erik, I think we did a good job of spoiling Vicky. What I didn't expect was to be spoiled back! Vicky got me Battlestar Galactica Season 1, as well as the latest Least I Could Do compilation book (www.licd.com), and a print of Alex Ross' Tango With Evil (http://www.animationusa.com/wb02/wb117.html) that I've been looking all over for!
Unfortunately, Christmas dinner was scheduled to be turkey, however, the turkey was rather unfresh. But, we made the best of it and went to another of our favorite haunts, a Korean Barbeque just outside of Chinatown. Another place with a lovely decor, and a fantastic menu. Don't complain though, if you don't like the food, it's your fault...after all, you're the one cooking it!
The day before our anniversary, Vicky's parents treated us to the Mandarin on Yonge street (http://www.mandarinbuffet.com/). An excellent Chinese Buffet with uber yummy foods. Every year they meet their friend Phyllis. A wonderful elderly lady with a heart of pure gold, and an absolutely wonderful conversationalist. I would love to sit with her for hours conversing.
Our second anniversary was on December 30. I took Vicky to go see the Nutcracker at the Four Seasons Centre in downtown Toronto. (www.national.ballet.ca) The ballet performance was fantastic! I got a poster for my wall signed by Aleksandar Antonijevic and Greta Hodgkinson (the lead male and female dancers, and I'll post pics of the collage as soon as I get it done. The archetecture of the building is just breathtaking, with glass stairwells and facade. I'm looking forward to seeing many more performances there.
For dinner we went to The Nevada Ristorante (http://www.americascuisine.com/toronto/Neveda%20Ristorante.html) down by the Beaches in Toronto. Vicky and I had gone to lunch there during the Toronto Jazz Festival earlier in the summer and loved the food. This time we had a candlelit dinner in the upstairs of the restaurant. The service was not as excellent as the previous time we went (we had a different server), but was still very good. The food was delicious. I had the Maharajah, and Vicky had the Veal Asiago, with a California Zinfandel Wine. Dinner typically goes for around 60 dollars plus tip. If you're in the area, I definately recommend it. Especially in the summer with a seat on the patio.
I love downtown Toronto at Christmas time. Many cities, like Detroit, you can hardly tell that it's that time of year. But in Toronto, the sounds and sites remind you at every corner. There are tons of performers all over the streets. My favorite was a gentleman dressed up as the Grinch, dancing to the tune of "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch". He was surrounded by children who were looking on. One little girl was very shy and hid in her mothers coat when he would come up to her and give her that angry look like in the movie. She'd giggle and hide, and he would go back to his podium. At one point she darted in close to toss a looney into his hat. I gave her another tooney to give to the man. She tossed it into the hat, and he glared at her, and she ran back to her mother giggling.
I love Christmas.
Vicky has officially managed to somehow put up with me for two years now! I'm looking forward to many more. December 2006-Toronto with Vicky's FamilyIn the early part of December, Vicky's Aunt Katherine, Uncle Gerald, Cousin Bryan, and Cousin Karen came out for a visit. Unfortunately, Karen's boyfriend, Erik couldn't make it.
Vicky's Aunt and Uncle took us all to go see Lunch With Munsch at the Yonge Centre for Performing Arts (www.youngcentre.ca/) in the Toronto Distillery District (www.thedistillerydistrict.com). For those Yankees who don't know who Robert Munsch (www.robertmunsch.com) is, he's a Canadian Children's Author who's written an enormous amount of Children's Books.
The performance featured a number of Munsch's books and included some fantastic musical numbers. Before the show, many of the actors were interacting with the children that attended, while staying in character. It was a fantastic show overall for everyone of all ages.
The Distillery District itself is a beautiful area featuring 19th century distillery buildings (hence the name) with a number of restaurants, theatres, and our favorite, a chocolate store.
After the show, the kids (and adults) were treated to some yummy ice cream!
We left the Distillery District and went to our favorite handmade noodle place in Downtown Chinatown. As soon as I find out the name I'll let you all know. :-p
This was also the first time I met Karen's brother Bryan, who is an avid Anime fan, and quite possibly the biggest Gundam Collection that I know of. He's a super cool guy. Hopefully, he'll be going to the FanExpo (http://www.hobbystar.com/hobbystar/Conventions.html) in Toronto with us this year!
More Distillery Info:
La Creperie- A nicely done review at Dessert By Candy (http://wscwong.blogs.friendster.com/dessert_by_candy/2006/08/la_creperie.html)
Awesome crepes for a reasonable price. The staff was friendly and attentive. And you can watch them make the crepes through a window. The Lime/White Hot Chocolate was wonderful!
Soma Chocolate Factory- (http://www.somachocolate.com) Excellent High Quality Chocolates! A bit pricey though. Bring a credit card and be prepared to spend 50-75 dollars at least. Definately worth it!
Stay tuned for more on the Distillery District, I'm sure we'll be going again soon!
September 2006- Jeanie!!!I know...I've never posted pics of my daughter before...well here they are.
In September 2006, Jeanie came up to Michigan for the first time in a while instead of me going to Cincinnati. We had a fairly full weekend of Anime movies, petting zoos, apple cider, hockey, and pumkin carving!
This was Jeanie's first hockey game. We went to go see the Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Exhibition Game (Thanks Uncle Dave!). Jeanie loved going. I wanted to get her the little Stanley hair clip thing because I thought it was cute, but she just wanted to give Toronto the Finger. (See Below)
My favorite part of the game was Jeanie yelling at the Toronto Fans in their jersies. "You're wearing the wrong shirt!!!"
I love cider mills in the fall. There's something about hot cider and doughnuts on a chilly day in the fall that I can't get enough of. Fortunately, the Cider Mill also had a petting zoo with quite a few animals. Notice Jeanie is also wearing my Red vs. Blue beanie! (www.redvsblue.com) Yup...she's mine alright.
Jeanie didn't get to stay with me for Halloween, but she brought a pumpkin that she grew herself with her so we could carve it together. I may be part-time...but there's no greater feeling than the one you get doing so many special things with your child. I love my daughter, and I love being a dad. October 2006- Canadian Thanksgiving and Apple Picking!OK...I know...I haven't added anything new in a Looooong time. So here's the catch up Part I.
October 2006-
I feel thankful for many things in my life, but the three most important are my daughter Jean Marie, my wonderful girlfriend Victoria, and the fun and wonderful moments that I get to have with them both.
In October, Canada has their own Thanksgiving. I went to go see Vicky and her family that weekend, and we've officially started a tradition there. Apple picking and of course, hot cider!
This year we went to Archibald Orchards Estate and Winery (http://www.archibaldswinery.com/), to pick apples, taste a little wine, and of course...cider and doughnuts. The Orchard is in a little place called Bowmanville in Ontario, Canada. There were a lot of people, but not too many so it didn't feel crowded. The day we went we found a great pick of apples and picked up a couple bushels.
The Hard Ciders and Ice Wines they have there are particularly good as well. With flavors of all kinds of apple flavors...McIntosh, Ida Red, Apple Raspberry, and even Cherries N' Chocolate! I saved a bottle of the Hard Cider for when my father comes out in a few weeks.
On Thanksgiving, it's becoming tradition that Vicky and I cook dinner for her parents. We had a nice Turkey of about 10 pounds, with my homemade stuffing, Vicky's awesome mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and corn on the cobb.
Vicky and I seriously enjoy cooking together. It's always an experience as we have two different methods of cooking, but in the end we always make a wonderful meal. September 25 GuildWars- Nighfall
The Hero system I was afraid, was going to add way too much overhead to the game, but quickly found that it was the exact opposite. Using them as regular henchies for the majority of the time, and then selecting their movements for critical stuff I found to be very natural and cohesive. The environments are beautiful, and the new classes...lets just say I might be shelving my Nuker for a while.
The Dervish class was so awesome! With the 9-41 Icy Soulbreaker of Enchanting, I was absolutely wiping the floor with the monsters.
Here are the pics from the event. Enjoy! September 04 Fan Expo 2006-TorontoI wish I had a million dollars.
Fan Expo was so awesome! I got to meet some of my favorite peeps from Red vs. Blue (www.redvsblue.com), plus the guys from Least I Could Do (www.licd.com), AND got to see some of my favorite stars...ok...well I saw two of them.
The Expo was super huge! They had tons of vendors selling all kinds of cool stuff, plus i got some really neat swag from a couple of the anime booths. And we can't forget the Dentyne guy!
I got to meet up with Gus, Dan, and Jason from Red vs. Blue. Gus was pretty nice. He gave me a Rooster Teeth beanie for the maple syrup I dropped off. :D
Sohmer and Lar from LICD were an absolute riot! It was pretty cool to hang out with the guys and chat it up for a bit since I read their comic strip religiously. We picked up a set up LICD shot glasses from them, as well as getting an issue of the Bra-man comic that they were nice enough to sign. And Lar did a really nice picture of Rayne and Baby for Vicky.
I wanted to talk with Morena Baccarin for a little bit. (She's Inara from Firefly if you guys don't know) But, unfortunately she was surrounded by millions of fanboys at the time. So the best I could do was to get a side profile pic of her.
I also got to see Carrie Fisher there as well. I kind of wish I hadn't...cuz all of those visions of Princess Leia in the slave girl geddup is now out the window. I may have nightmares...
oh...and if I see one more Blue Haired Fat Anime Santa chick...I swear to god I'm going to throw up.
~W Video Games Live- TorontoIf you're a hardcore gamer, this is the ticket for you. This concert was a total blast. It was really exciting to hear some of my old favorite video game tunes, as well as the newer ones put to an orchestra. My only complaint about the show is that they could have definately used a larger venue. Too bad they couldn't have it at the Canada Centre...oh well. Lantern Festival-TorontoSuper busy weekend with Video Games Live, and the Fan Expo. Vicky and I took a little time aside to go to the Canadian National Expo and walked around the Lantern Festival area. They had some beautiful lanterns. Unfortunately, by Sunday night, it was raining so we couldn't go to see them lit up. :-( March 26 Guild Wars- FactionsWell, as many of you gamer types know, Guild Wars hosted their PVE event for Factions this weekend. My girlfriend Vicky, and I took a look at it for a brief period and I'd have to say I'm coming back kinda 50/50 about it.
Of course, the game looks absolutely stunning, even though there were a few graphical glitches here and there. Then again, I run a GeForce Quadro FX, and more than likely I'll need to do some driver updating...as far as any type of a plot...well, here's the gist of it.
In a nutshell, your character is a Hero of Cantha, the continent south of Tyria, where the first Guild Wars takes place. The country is divided (literally...by a red and blue line) by two factions. In an effort to make peace, a mentor of Menhlo calls him back from Tyria to assist with trying to make both sides find peace with each other. At least that's what I got from what little I played.
Now I'm sure, that there's probably a bit more sinister of a plot going on...with some kind of evil guy pulling strings in the background and blah blah blah....My hope is that they build on the plot in a fashion of the previous installment. However, I'm really hoping that they just don't rehash the plot from the previous GW.
I didn't really get terribly far in the beta weekend, just long enough to kinda get a feel for the atmosphere and take a look at the new character sets. I realize that NCSoft doesn't want to give everything away right off of the bat, but I hope they have better skill set attributes than the ones that they have displayed so far.
Here's what I can say about the character sets:
Clothes-The outfits that they have obviously have taken a bit more of an asian look (circa Japan 1000AD) and are very cool looking.
Characters-There are about forty new faces and hairdos to choose from *BONUS*- However, as with the previous installment, they are profession specific for some reason...this is a major complaint of mine, because if you have played the previous game, you find that you run into a twin of yourself more than once! PLEASE CHANGE THAT!!!!
Ambience- The world of Cantha, draws upon distinct Asian influences in regards to archetecture, a mix of old Japan and Chinese infuences, and probably others. (I, unfortunately can't say that I'm terribly familiar with korean or vietnamese archetectures and styles). I'm kinda hoping that they take a broader stroke of influence and add some malaysian influeces in there. From the articles I've read and pictures I've seen regarding travel in Asia, there are hundreds of possible influences that NCSoft can draw off of to really give this game something that us Westerners wouldn't normally see.
The Music- I can honestly say that I only heard about two songs while playing the game, however, the music follows the GW tradition of setting the feeling for the region you are in. It is very well done, and provided a sense of something looming overhead. A bit of meysteriousness if you would.
The Turtle- Apparently, Canthans live on houses, built on the backs on manic depressive looking sea turtles. I'm serious! Even Bob looks happier than the turtles do!
Overall- I have to say that I'm a seriously huge fan of Guild Wars, and I'm very intrigued as to what they have in store for the next installment. I'm hoping that the story will be as huge as the first one, plot twists and all. I do have to say that from what I've seen, there's still a bit more room for improvement, and that I really hope that my old characters will be able to cross over into Cantha once the game is released. I already have the Special Edition copies reserved for Vicky and I. I think that this game will be money well spent. October 15 Buy a NAS!!!OK...so i just got off the phone with a buddy of mine, Bob. Actually, his name isn't Bob...but I don't wanna use his real name, cuz that'd just be mean.
Anyway, here's the crisis.
He gets ahold of me and tells me that all three of his family's machines are basically in need of a reload. Now of course, being the good friend and IT guru that I am. I'm always willing to help. And as he's telling me everything that's wrong, I'm formulating a plan in my head to get everything back up and running, but there's one issue.
Data.
Ironically enough, the only machine that appears to be running effectively enough to transfer any files to on the network is his Windows Millenium Edition machine. And of course, it doesn't wanna share.
Now to my point. Get a NAS!!!
Me, being the uber-geek that I am, I have all of my computers on an internal domain where all the computers are governed and controlled by my Windows Server 2003 machine. Furthermore, I have policies set up that save everyones files on said centralized server with two redundant hard drives. That way if their machine ever craps out and needs a reload from acquiring nifty lil viruses from their buddies an Yahoo! (Thanks very effing much Yahoo!!), I just reload it, join it back to the domain, and their files are there waiting for them.
But, if you aren't very computer literate, or an uber geek, or a Systems Administrator, you have a much easier option. NAS!
What is it?
NAS- Network Attached Storage: Basically, it's a hard drive in a little box that plugs into your router at home, that when set up, you can store all kinds of nifty files on it from any machine in your house! So that way you don't have to worry about all of your files when your computer dies.
How much does it cost?
Well, Western Digital has a 160 Gigabyte Network Attached Storage device for anywhere between $220 and $250.
I know, it sounds like a lot of money. But honestly, if you think about it, it can save you tons in the long run.
Take for example, we'll take my Uncle...umm...Mike...yeah...Mike. He's the kinda guy that takes a bazillion (don't care about Webster OR Scrabble...real word!) pictures with his digital camera of his grandson and his family and stores them on his machine along with all the mp3 files that he purchases from iTunes. If he didn't have a good backup solution, not only would perhaps hundreds of dollars in music be lost, but some very touching memories would be too...like me...getting drunk and sticking mortars in the launch tube upside down on the Fourth of July...hmm...mebbe I should rethink that...
Anyway...just think NAS! It's a good solution that the whole family can enjoy! And it's detachable for easy hammer smashing and tossing into the garbage disposal before the RIAA can bust down your door!
Heh...just kidding about that part...I'd never take part in piracy...never....be right back...*grabs a hammer* October 13 The Big GameAhhhh! The good old days...
I'm a product of the 70's, which means that I was a child of the 80's, and a teenager of the nineties...one of the last of the Gen-Xer's.
To show my age...I've played just about everything, from the mediocre Atari lines...(yaaaay combat), ColecoVision, Intellivision, Commodore64, blah blah blah...But in the Mid-80's (1986 to be exact), something happened, the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Now you're probably thinking..."oh, great...another history of gaming".
Nope!
I'm starting off this way, because consistently, up until the nineties...there was pretty much one game system in the market for the time...Oddesey(Thank god I'm too young for that one), Atari 2600, NES, and so forth...Then Sega came out with their run of good game systems, but a combination of piss poor marketing and way too late innovations left them behind.
Then Sony came along with the playstion, with CD Games! To which I immediately sold my Super NES and never looked at Nintendo again.
Then something happened. Microsoft tossed in their hat with the XBox as Nintendo was releasing their GameCube (Crap), and Sony was hitting the market with the PS2.
I gave up.
Now for the rant.
I went to PC gaming. Why? For the simple fact that now there are three different platforms with all completely different games, but if you wanna play them all, you have to buy all three systems, which usually release at three hundred bucks each, plus all of the special controllers that vibrate and do neat tricks and all the hardware to plug the massive number of game systems into your tv and/or your stereo systems, yada, yada, yada...effing...yada.
I know people that buy all of the game systems to do this, and talk about how cool they are, and all the different games they play.
Or...you could just buy a computer that will play all three games when they release them on PC...or if they don't, you can simply get an emulator.
And then they look at me like I'm crazy because I payed a grand for my top of the line computer.
Did you do the math junior?
So now here we are with the upcoming battle of the next gen systems. And ooooooh boy have you seen the prices? Presales for XBox 360 are running upwards of 2000 dollars (http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=B020253D)!!! Sure! It's comes with 20 games. That may or may not be ready for shipping on the release date!
I'm sure that Sony's PS3 will follow suit with their own uber outrageous packages. And the Nintendo Revolution? Well, I'm not even sure that Nintendo even really knows what it does...what the hell were they smoking when they made that? But hey! At least the controller looks...well...I think this pretty much spells it out. (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=165)
So here I am, laughing hysterically as everyone scrambles to get the biggest and best game console packages that money can buy, so they can have all the cool games to be released three months after the system comes out.
In the meantime...I'll just torrent the PC version. October 12 Final Fantasy: Advent ChildrenI have to admit, Square-ENIX deserves a lot of props for going out and getting back to their loyal (albeit slightly disgruntled) fans, and release a 1-hour and 41 minute movie sequeling what is probably heralded as the RPG that revolutionized the American attitude for such games.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a graphically stunning movie from beginning to end with a story that actually works! When I first heard about the movies coming two years ago, I thought to myself that it would be the end of Square as we knew it. Considering that my first experience with a Final Fantasy movie was 'The Spirits Within'.
Now don't get me wrong, I loved 'Spirits" for all that is was worth. But I would have loved it even more if they had dropped the "Final Fantasy" part.
Of course things changed when I heard that they were bringing in the crew that actaully created Final Fantasy VII. I was scanning through a web article somewhere looking for one name in particular, Nobuo.
For some reason, the music is what really did it for me with Final Fantasy VII. From the battle scenes to the touching cut scenes to the final battles of Jenova and Sephiroth, the music kept me mashing buttons through all hours of the evening.
I'm going to try not to spoil too much of the movie for those of you who haven't seen it. (As in catching the BieN torrent, you horrid pirates...arrr!) But what I will say is that just about every key character from the game is in, as well as some of the lesser known ones. And if the end doesn't bring a tear or two to your eye, then you obviously didn't pay attention to the game enough to really give a rip.
Graphically the movie is fantastic, the voice acting (Japanese) done very well. And the soundtrack...well, lets just say that I'm not too proud to admit that there's something about blasting the newly revised One-Winged Angel, J-E-N-O-V-A, and Limit Break tunes as your cruising down the freeway.
This movie was released in Japan this last September, with a hopeful release of January for us frothing geeky Americans. My say. Get it! |
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