Emerald City Comic-Con 2014

Here is a random youtube video of last year's comic con

Recap of Emerald City Comic Con 2014

Another Emerald City comic con is fast approaching (this weekend) and I thought that I would do a recap of last year's comic con.  Last year, I went with Justin, Kenyon, and his former girlfriend, Kara (they broke up later that year, long story short).  Anyways, here are all of the pics I took last year.

Picture of a Star Wars themed shirt and super man themed shirt.  Last year I decided to keep it simple and wear a superman shirt to the comic con.

Driving into Seattle after picking up Kenyon and Kara in Woodinville.  Yes, it was raining that year too.

Picture of the convention center.

Me dressed up as superman (minus the cape).

Picture of the first panel Me and Justin went to.  In this one some people were offering advice on cosplaying (like I will be doing this year, as Nick Fury).

The convention center was packed as it often is during the comic con event on Saturday.  Lots of people dressing up in costumes too.  Event staff were a bit more strict on photography and video taping last year, so I had to be selective on when and where to take pictures.

Random panel discussion I attended, forgot which one though.

Picture of the first celebrity panel I attended.  I can't quite remember her name, though I like to think it was 

Elizabeth Henstridge from Agents of Shield, but I am not positive.

Picture of the Star Wars display at the comic con.  The droids and r2d2 were pretty lively when I was there with someone controlling their moves with a remote control.

In this picture: someone dressed up as Princess Leia with Darth Vader in the background, 3 random droids (including R4?) and R2 D2.  You know, I would not be suprised if the Star Wars people do somethings special this year considering that Episode 7 (Force Awakens) is supposed to come out later this year (in December) and will mark the first new Star Wars film to be made since Revenge of the Sith (episode 3) was released in 2005.  Unlike the prequel trillogy, the new one is supposed to be set about 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi and will feature the return of some old favorites, including Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, R2 and C-3po, all played by the same actors from the original films (though obviously aged significantly over the years).  It will be interesting to see the storyline of the new trilogy, especially considering that much of the expanded universe storyline that would have bridged the 2 trilogies (i.e., Heir to the Empire, other novels, Dark Forces Jedi Knight series, etc) are no longer considered cannon in the Star Wars storyline, which means the new trilogy will definitely be in uncharted territory.    

Are there any lego fans here?  Check out these displays people have made.  I wish I had that kind of creativity and skills with legos.  

More lego displays

Here is a picture of a fully functional lego R2 (it too was lively like the other one I got a picture of earlier)

Who likes Minecraft?  Check out this picture of some kid with a "creeper' from the game.  I have the game for the Xbox One but I haven't tried it yet.  Will have to try it out sometime (been playing through GTA 5 and Lego Movie lately).

Did another selfie of myself

Attended the panel discussion for John De Lance.  In case if you do not know, he played as the infamous Q, who was one of the many villains that Patrick Stewart (aka Captain Picard) and his crew encountered throughout the series and played a huge role in the series finale.  He also did several other works too (such as some of the My Little Pony cartoons as well).

Picture of John talking to a random kid.  By the way, celebrity panels (like this one) are often packed and so sometimes it is easier to get views and pictures of celebrities on screen as opposed to in person (unless if you are lucky enough to get in the front row seats).

Here is another picture of the R2 and droid units in action at the Star Wars display.  At one point they were moving around together and playing tunes.

Random Jedi and Storm Trooper at the Star Wars display.  By the way, in the mainline series, the Jedi and Storm troopers were definitely not friends, especially after the infamous Order 66 was issued by Darth Sidious (aka Palpatine) which essentially caused the Clone Troopers and later Storm Troopers to turn on the jedi.

Attended the costume contest at the end of the show.  I actually did get more picturs from Justin's (my brother) camera, but he forgot to share them, so I had less pictures to share, but some of the costumes people wore were quite impressive.

Another selfie of me at the costume contest

That is all for now.  Will try to get pictures at tomorrow's event too.

Rayman Legends First Impressions

About 2 days ago, I downloaded Rayman Legends for the Xbox One.  They were offering a special in the Xbox Live store (at least gold members) where you could download Rayman and several other games for free (or at least reduced prices), so I decided to try out Rayman Legends.


Above is a video, posted by pivmaster2 showing off the first 10 minutes of the game (essentially the intro and the first level).  The game is divided up into several worlds (similar to how it is in games like Donkey Kong Country, New Super Mario Bros, and Sonic Boom) full of levels you can play through, as well as at least one major boss fight per world (with the first one being a giant dragon you fight).  You start off playing as Rayman, but you can play as other characters as well.  In addition, you can also unlock Rayman Orgins levels as well as do online challenges as well.

Things I like about the game so far:

- Humorous to play through.  Very comical too
- Fun and interesting platformer game
- I also like the side kick feature in the game where on certain levels, Rayman can have a side kick come along and do things for him (such as flipping switches, helping to defeat enemies, taking care of potiential traps, etc).
- Cool boss fights.  I fought the dragon this morning and it was quite fun and divided into several parts.
- Each level does have friends that Rayman has to rescue and levels are rather huge with many things to do, areas to explore, and secret areas to find.
- Interestingly, although you can play though each world in order, it is possible to unlock stages in other worlds (such as Toad Story) early on and play through more than one world at a time.  It is also possible to unlock latter stages and even boss fights early on too.

Negative aspects:
- Cheap deaths.  Expect to die alot in the game, especially if it is your first time through.  Usually Rayman can take 2 hits (assuming he has a heart icon over his head) and then he dies, though sometimes he can get killed in one hit too. Each level is filled with obstacles, enemies, pitfalls, and other death traps, all eager to send Rayman to an early retirement.
- The game can get addicting, so you may want to pace yourself while playing through the game.

That is all for now and I will post more about Rayman Legends as I play through the game.

Want to try Rayman Legends for the Xbox One?  You can download it from the Xbox Live Store on your Xbox One.

GTA 5: Michael, Franklin, and Trevor in the Flesh

Have you ever wondered what Michael, Trevor or Franklin looked like in real life?  Check out the voice actors below who played them



I find it interesting how the actor who plays Trevor looks almost exactly like him.

Elders React to Grand Theft Auto V (Geek Week)

Here is another interesting video I saw on Youtube yesterday.  Can't you imagine what it would like seeing parents and grandparents playing Grand Theft Auto 5, let alone watching a trailer for the game?  Check out these 2 videos below.  Warning: scenes from Grand Theft Auto 5 in the below videos may be offensive to some.

Video 1 - Elders reacting to trailer for GTA 5



Video 2 - Elders Playing GTA 5


My Commentary about the videos:

First off: seeing the elderly playing Grand Theft Auto 5 is impressive, never thought I would see the day.  I seriously doubt that my parents (especially my mother) would play Grand Theft Auto 5 if it was offered to them (especially considering that my mother doesn't like those games to say the least). Anyways, these 2 videos were definitely inteesting to watch.  In the first video, it looks like a group of eldely were watching a trailer for the game and some random gameplay videos of the game too (seems like it was the Xbox 360 era GTA 5) and in the second video, they actually get to play the game.  Interestingly, some of the participants were actually more enthusiastic about the game than others.   One common question I heard was: what is the objective of GTA 5 and I think at least in the main story mode is to complete the storyline and side missions, which pretty much tell the story of the game.  Other than that the game is a pretty open world with lots of things players can do.

Other interesting tidbits about the videos:
- I like the manic laugh sound effect that appears sometime.
- Apparently one elderly was an ex cop and he definitely has an interesting point that there are no known successful or decent criminals like the protaganists in GTA 5.
- There does seem to be the notion that Grand Theft Auto 5 (and previous entries in the series for that matter) can teach some people bad ideas, and while I am sure there are people that ideas from the game, there are plenty of teachable moments in the game and people (especially kids) should be taught that everything they see is purely fiction and should never be tried in real life.
- I also like watching the participants playing in the game.
- Remember: for your own good, anything you see in Grand Auto 5 and similar games are purely fiction and should never be imitated in real life and doing so can lead to serious consequences, long prison sentences or even death.

Bonus Content: Elderly React to Call of Duty (this video was pretty amusing to watch and I do have to admit that I am still a noob at Call of Duty too).

Well, that is all for now.  What do you think of these videos.  By the way, are any of you elderly or in law enforcement?  What is your take on the series?

TEENS REACT TO NINTENDO (NES) Video and Commentary

You know, just watching this video below makes me feel a little old (considering I was a little kid back in the 1980s and did have an nes system back then too.).  In this video, long story short, teenagers get to play classic Super Mario Bros on the nes and share their reactions to it.  Interestingly, I am not sure if any of them have played NES before.  Check out the video below







Commentary:

Ah, being in my 30's, this video showing teens the classic NES definitely brings back memories.  In case if you do not recall, long before the current generation game systems (Xbox One, PS4, and WII U) back in the late 1980s and early 1990's (before the Sega Genesis and SNES) there was the classic NES (though obviously game systems have changed dramatically since the 80's, especially now with the PS4 and Xbox One being the latest generation of game consoles).  I definitely like the reaction of the teens when they try out the old game system and I do remember that the NES was definitely the style back in the 80's and early 90's.  I still do have some retro games myself, such as the Mega Man Anniversary collection for the Xbox (which features Mega Mans 1-8 along with Mega Man power fighters 1 and 2) as well as Mega Mans 9 and 10, which are 8 bit in that incarnation (despite being for the xbox 360).  Here is a list of games I had when I had (or played) the NES:

- Battletoads - argurably one of the best and yet hardest games of all time.  Boy if you though the Turbo Tunnel level was hard (level 3), that level was just the beginning as the game was 12 levels long, with each level getting progressively tougher than the last, especially from level 7 on.  Game Genie is almost a must have if you want to beat the entire game given the limited lives and continues.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2
- Super Mario 1 and 3 (don't have 2)
- Rescue Rangers
- 1943
- Duck Tales
- Castlevania 2 Simons quest (though my favorite castlevanias are Dawn of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin, Dracula X, Symphony of the Night, and harmony of despair).
- Contra
- Mega Mans 1-6 (my favorites were probably Mega Man 3 and 4).
- and others

By the way, the above video is not the only video showing kids reacting to NES era stuff.  I will share other videos over time.  By the way, you know what I thought was funny about the above video: Mario dying in level 1 considering that level is just the beginning.  I think my favorite Mario games were Mario 3, Super Mario World, Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros wii.

What did you think of the NES era?  Especially in the light of current gen game systems.

Bonus content: Teens Reacting to classic mega man:
  

Introducing my new GTA Online Character: Uncle Steve

Well, I was finally able to get my Xbox Live account working with the help of my father.  Anyways, I have started a new game and career on GTA 5 Online.  Let me introduce you to my new character, which I dubbed: Uncle Steve (was trying to be creative with names and thought that name looked cool).

Did a "selfie" of my character

Interestingly, there was nobody else online last night so I pretty much had the GTA Online mode to myself and was able to explore the map and try out the online features.  It is also worth noting that this character will replace the character I had on the Xbox 360 version of the game (even if I wanted to resume that version of the game, I traded it in at gamestop and got the Xbox One version in its place).

Stay tuned for the latest updates.

Here are some other pictures I have taken so far:

Siberian huskies at a dog park north of Los Santos.  Yes: sibes do exist in this version of the game and can often be found at parks like this one.