Gaymer Con Point Of View Article

A lot of people have been discussing Gaymer Con, some of it positive some of it not so positive. I for one can understand the desire to hang out with people of similar interests and tastes, so it's really not a big deal to me that people want to have this. What I can't understand is some of the blatant hatred going on towards people for proposing to have Gaymer Con.  It's one thing to agree to disagree, but it's the execution of the disagreeing I have a problem with. You can disagree with a person on something without resorting to name calling and inflammatory bigotry. Maybe it's me, but my take on Gaymer Con is if they want to have it go for it, it's not a big deal. It's not going to hurt anyone by setting this up and everyone is welcome.
 I was pleasantly surprised to see that Jim Sterling wrote what I felt was an insightful article that raised some very good and valid points about why it is important to some people to have Gaymer Con on the Destructoid website which you can check out here: http://www.destructoid.com/the-importance-of-a-gay-gamer-convention-232467.phtml

Persona 4: Arena Doing Really Well

 Looks like Persona 4: Arena did surprisingly well in Japan. I love the Persona series and I was delighted to see this, personally. You can read all about it on the Crunchyroll website here: http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2012/08/01-1/persona-4-arena-outsells-street-fighter-iv-tekken-6-and-blazblue-in-opening-week

 I can't wait for the U.S. release so I can try the game out for myself. It looks great and I'm looking forward to playing it.

38 Studios' Financial Woes

 I was saddened to hear about the financial straits 38 Studios and Big Huge Games seemed to be in, because I really liked Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning. Things were looking grim.
 Epic Games decided to help them out in a big way, which is pretty amazing. You can read the article about it here: http://epicgames.com/community/2012/06/big-problems-need-huge-solutions/
It's nice to know that there is some good in this world and that there are people who are willing to take the time to help those in need.
Now for the not so good part. It looks like bad money management, a lack of business sense, and common sense in general caused these financial woes. The article here gives a pretty informative look at how this came to happen: http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/nesi/schillings-38-studios-spent-over-133m?3

Assassin's Creed III Comic-Con Boston Gameplay Demo

The Assassin's Creed III walkthrough demo was shown at Comic Con 2012 with commentary from creative director, Alex Hutchinson. This shows off the Boston city environment and it looks amazing. There is so much detail and the gameplay looks phenomenal. I can not wait for October 30 to get here and play what looks like it's shaping up to be a fantastic game. You can check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGcTtv1P-BA

Geek Girl Seduction Article, You're Doing It Wrong...

I usually like Geeks Are Sexy. They post cool stuff, well stuff that pertains to my interests like robots, comic books, Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc. but they posted an article that left me scratching my head. It was titled How To Seduce A Geek Girl and after reading it, I felt a bad taste in my mouth. The taste got worse when I saw that a girl had written it. In regards to the girl who wrote it, a part of me wants to ask what she was thinking when she wrote it because while some girls may be into those things not everyone is. The article seems to state that all geek girls are the same and like only these few things that are listed. Read here:http://www.comediva.com/how-to-seduce-a-geeky-girl
 My big issue is the first line that states geek girls are their own breed. Seriously? It's not as if we're some kind of rare mystical animal like a unicorn. The point is, every geek girl is different and what one girl may geek out over, another one may not find that particular subject interesting. For example, if Batman and The Doctor (yes as in Doctor Who) were in front of me right now and asked me if I would like to go for a ride, I'd pick The Doctor because for me it's all about getting to time travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor and having all kinds of incredible adventures, (sorry, Batman) even though I like Batman too. I just love Doctor Who a little bit more.
 Then we come to the part where it hints that geek girls will never like anything from pop culture ever. I have several geek friends who like quite a few things from pop culture, not everything but a few things. There's also a myth thrown in there that geek girls ONLY seem to like fantasy movies like Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit, Labyrinth, and the like. While I do love fantasy films and books ( I grew up on them due to all the wonderful books my grandmother had in the house and watched many fantasy and science fiction films and shows with her.), I am also equally in love with science fiction and if it has giant robots in it I'm in geek heaven. It's also why I love Spock and Sulu and why my husband teases me about my huge crush on Patrick Stewart. He'll even do the Captain Picard voice just to tease me about it, but you know what? I LOVE it.
 Then there's a weird part in the article about candy and about how geek girls should be given things like space ice cream and Sour Patch Kids and no chocolate. I know. I shed a tear at that too. I love chocolate especially dark chocolate and I love gifts of my favorite dark chocolate. I'm sorry, but I don't like space ice cream and if you give me that I'm probably going to raise my eyebrows at you quizzically and ask you what you did with my chocolate. I also don't like Dippin' Dots. I think they're weird.
 I can also honestly say I have never cosplayed anything remotely Battlestar Galactica oriented in the bedroom like this article suggests to do in order to seduce your geek girl. I like the show, but I can't see myself doing that. How does that work anyway? Does one get to be the evil cylon and you their clone? Or do you pretend the cylon is there with their clone and you get to participate? For the record, I've never done the Princess Leia slave girl scenario either. If that is your kind of party, then have at it. For me, it's not my thing.
 Now before everyone gets all riled up, let me be clear. I know that everyone is different and everyone has their own views and opinions about things. So yes, this article is one person's opinion and it shows a different view. However, in my opinion I disagree with a lot of things in it, mainly the idea that geek girls can be put into some kind of perfect cookie cutter form and we're all basically the same. That just isn't so. Geeks (girls and guys) come from all walks of life, have varying passions, interests, and come in all shapes and sizes. There is no one size fits all type.  One thing I do agree with in it is getting to know the person's interests and likes because that is part of getting to know them and you never know, you could have many likes and dislikes in common with them. Just by having a normal conversation, you can get to know a lot about a person. That applies to everyone not just geeks. Try it, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Phantasy Star Online 2 Launches On July 4th

The Phantasy Star Online 2 beta has been a great success according to SEGA. I have to agree. After playing the beta, I know that I enjoyed it greatly. The graphics are beautiful and the music is great. The game play is very user friendly and the interactive menu and maps are quite easy to navigate. Overall, it's been a lot of fun to play for me and I know my husband, Ron has enjoyed playing it also. We've had a great time playing it together.
 On July 4th (Yes, that's tomorrow) Phantasy Star 2 will be making the transition from open beta to full release at 2 p.m. Japanese time. There has been no official announcement regarding localization, but from all the information I've been looking up, it's looking like before winter of this year (December) it will be hitting North America. Phantasy Star 2 will also be released on the iOS and Android. There will also be a release for the PS Vita in 2013.
 If you've been playing the beta, your character will not be wiped and will switch over to the official release. I know I for one, will be playing although my Japanese isn't great and looking forward to the US release come this winter.
 Don't forget you can find every kind of guide for Phantasy Star Online 2 on the bumped.org website and you can also get the latest updates from their Facebook page. There's some great information on new areas and costumes for the game as well as some contests on the latest blog post by bumped.org which you can check out here: http://bumped.org/psublog/category/phantasy-star-online-2/

Phantasy Star Online Beta Starts June 21st

The pre open beta for Phantasy Star 2 was a success with 41,500 people on Saturday according to the bumped.org blog. That's pretty amazing and now the beta for PSO2 starts on June 21st. The game is free to play and items that are exclusive or creating another character will cost Ark Cash.
 Just from what I saw from the pre open beta, the game looks amazing and the game play is great. I'm excited to play and many friends I've chatted with share that excitement. I know my husband is looking forward to playing and has been counting down to the day the beta starts.
The Phantasy Star Fan blog has a post about the beta schedule here: http://bumped.org/psublog/page/2/
They also have a great post with a walk through of the basics of the game and helpful tips about the camera and keyboard settings here: http://bumped.org/psublog/
There are a lot of other great blog posts too ranging from things such as character creation guides to a rare items and weapons list. Oh, and you can follow them on Facebook too for all things relating to Phantasy Star 2. I'm definitely looking forward to having fun with this game and I'm sure others are too.