Continued Play

Continued Play

Mic check. Is this on? Hello. Hello…

 I’ve been a terrible blogger: amid working to the bone till deadlines, watching my 401k drop quite precipitously and hoping that it will rise again, and watching people get married I guess the blog was the last on my mind. /end_sad_excuse_for_being_a_luddite

Internet, as you can see, I’ve been playing Burnout – massive amounts of it alongside Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman. I’ve had the pleasure to friend some readers from here on the good ol’ PS3 and perhaps soon enough the gaming stars will align and we shall get some sort of game-on of some type. Meanwhile, I’ll forge along and try to get my first platinum trophy before my up and coming birthday.

Otherwise, lets get back into the groove of things. Did I mention I met Yoshitaka Amano? You know, the guy that created the image known from most Final Fantasies? I did, didn’t I? He drew a moogle for Mr. Geek, but what did he draw for me? Ahhh let’s see:

 The convention went well, but was quite small relatively to some past cons I’ve been to. I’m really out of the groove of things when it comes to things anime, but nonetheless I had a fun time. I mean, where else can I see storm troopers shop for kimonos, storm troopers with kitty ears, and three knights from Castle Crashers?

..and no, I did not dress up.

Here’s some rumors to feed into the rumor mill, as I get back into the groove of updating and maintaining this blog:

• A fellow press member from a panel (you can hear him next to me in the video) that I attended brought to my attention that Yoshitaka Amano had directed a part in this movie that is soon to be released state side called 10 Nights of Dreams. It is called Yume Jūya in Japanese and you can hear more about it in this video:

• Amano is also rumored to be hired as a character designer for an upcoming Ubisoft title called Beyond Good & Evil 2 that will come out for Xbox 360 and PS3. Since this is just rumored, I cannot confirm it.

You can watch the video of the panel I attended after the jump.

…an image taken of a moogle that was drawn by none other than Yoshitaka Amano himself courtesy of Mr Geek. I should have more pictures up (including what he drew for me) and stories (OH STORIES) to tell in the next post. Stay tuned!

Once upon a time, a character named Miss Geek went to anime conventions and was really into anime. Time passed, school happened, Miss Geek graduated and found herself in real life realizing that she kind of grew out of that hobby.

Things happen, in my shoes it was the discovery of snowboarding and the love for extreme sports. I still watch a bit of anime and read a bit of manga but it’s limited to a very select few. By select I mean an obscure anime called Junni Kokki and gorefest juggernaut Berserk.

I used to go to these conventions really hyped but – even dressed up at one Otakon. (No, I will not include pics) But I guess other things started to consume my life, and anime conventions soon took to the backseat along with things that I feel I “outgrew”.

With that said, the New York Anime Festival is coming in a few weeks and this is the first time I’m REALLY amped to go. I say AMPED because my favorite artist is going to be there: Yoshitaka Amano.

Who is this man do you ask??? Does this ring a bell? :

If it doesn’t, it’s Terra from Final Fantasy 6. He’s not only renowned in the videogame world as the character designer for series like Final Fantasy and Front Mission. He’s done works in anime alongside with another guest at NYAF Hideyuki Kikuchi in Vampire Hunter D, and collaborated with Neil Gaiman in the comic book realm to create The Sandman: Dream Hunters.

His artistic style just awes me and it’d be great to come face to face with one of the people who designed the character detail in the game series that I most love and have been an avid fan since my first encounter. Oh yeah, and Hideyuki Kikuchi isn’t so bad for a novelist. This year is going to prove epic and you can bet your sweet ass I’ll be in line early trying to get tickets to try and swag and autograph with him. (VIP tickets were sold out….epic underestimation of con attendance on my part…)

Is anybody in the NY tri-state area going to this shindig? (If you’re interested click on the link above or…erm…this one to get more information and to buy tickets.) If so, mayhaps you might be able to meet Miss Geek I’ll be there on Saturday. I might be taking pictures! Stay tuned.

….and no….I will not be dressing up, although I planned to go as a moogle. Again, work and real life caught up with me and the effort trying to make a cosplay costume is just too daunting when deadlines are near. Who knows? Maybe I’ll give in….just this one time…..if so, look for a moogle but don’t hold your breath.

I’m thinking of getting a camera and for a while now I was pretty much sold on getting a Canon G9. I was just hoping for something like Black Friday or a birthday present to help offset the ridiculous cost for a point and shoot camera that wants to be a DSLR. That is, up till a few weeks ago when Sony announced the T500. So now I am in a bit of a conundrum. Should I continue on my course to get the G9 or go with the T500 that has some features that the G9 doesn’t have? Internet, I’m in a dilemma! I want to hear some of your suggestions. 

But before all of that. I want to clarify that I want a point a shoot of substance. Yes, for the prices that these cameras are going for I could get myself a DSLR and become one of those that are gay for Rebel EOS’es or Sony Alphas, but I’m lazy and I’m too busy to play with all the functionality at the moment. Also, I’m an amateur. Like in snowboarding you don’t go a double black diamond when you can’t even ride a green.  So let’s just stick with the high end “pro” point and shoots for now, please. :] 

Lets go with some pros and cons of each:

The Canon G9:

Pros: can get it now, 12 megapixels, can play in, has face detection and optical stabilization, lots of accessories including a waterproof casing, manual shutter speed, supports JPEG and RAW

Cons: bulkier than the T500, doesn’t shoot in HD

The Sony T500:

Pros: 10.1 megapixels, HD movie clips with stereo sound, can zoom while in movie mode, 4gb memory stick included, can switch between still and movie modes without interrupting video shooting, Carl Zeiss lens, face detection, anti blur, RAW support (maybe????)

Cons: Can only record 10 minutes per movie clip, touchscreen (I hate touchscreens for digicams), will be available on October 2008, viewfinder is weird.

Right now the clear contender is the G9, but is Sony paving the way for HD ready cameras? And if so, will I have to wait a while? Is it a risk to buy the G9 when I have a feeling Canon will release a camera fit to contend on the HD market? Who knows? So many questions that need to be answered. Oh, by the way, the information on this site is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s always a ton of pros and cons for each, but  for now I can only assume the performance of the T500. Oh what is a technophile supposed to do??? Well. I’ll give you an update when I finalize my decision in a few months. Stay tuned.