A reading from my c-blog sidebar alone, none of you may have known that I used to live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Im not Arab in any way, cept maybe my bad driving (Fuck you if you disagree, I lived there and they sucked at driving I almost died many times). Growing up there, I was exposed to all kinds of imported goods due to the ports being open to any kind of item that wasnt drugs, pork products, booze or porn (Which were all illegal in that country). Needless to say, I grew up with pirated goods from clothes to games but that is a story for another day.
Above is a picture from Kotaku displaying a Half-Life Coffee shop. I can tell you that the existance of this very likely and that this isnt a shoop. Saudi Arabia has lousy copyright enforcement with the government officials more concerned over oil money and religious observance (I was arrested once for having burned music CDs which they thought was porn).
In my years of living there I've seen countless ripping off of stuff, one company even used the character design styles of South Park to sell potato chips. Logo styles of recognizable western companies skewed to sell their own products was a familiar sight and this one here is one of them.
I just finished listening to another fun filled and very special episode of RetroForceGo! (my fave retro games podcast, Retronauts comes into second cause Jeremy Parish cant be bothered). And I literally jumped out of my seat after hearing Dyson telling me that I won that copy of Snatcher. Its okay if it doesn't have the box I just want to play it and after I finish It, Ill put up in a frame.
Well here is my winning entry picture and video for the contest:
[Update]
Well I got guilt-tripped by my 'not'-GF when I let her listen to my winning-ness but she tells me that then Dyson will not have a copy of snatcher anymore. Apparently, she sent me a copy of a the burned copy of snatcher in the mail that has yet to arrive. Therefore I must decline that prize so Dyson will have a copy or I will not get "any".
On one beautiful spring day in Houston, the 15th annual Japan Festival was in full bloom at Herman Park in downtown Houston. The two-day festival, held annually by the Japan-America Society of Houston, is a showcase of Japanese culture and traditions. My friend and I were present that day to experience the annual festival at the Japanese Gardens at Herman Park, which was made as symbol of friendship between the US and Japan.
The surrounding area of the reflection pond was lined with different stands, from those selling Japanese food and drinks to those that sell all kinds of items from Japan. The festival opened up with an exhilarating Taiko drumming performance which was followed by music from Japanese classical string instruments, Shamisen and Taisho-koto, played by professional artists. There were plenty of interesting exhibitions from Japanese folk dances, different martial art styles, elegant Tea Ceremonies, and even bonsai lovers got to show off their prized creations.
Many of those present that day were also fans of Japanese pop culture. There were stands that sold anime-related merchandise that would satisfy any otaku who yearns for this kind of festival. There were also cosplayers present, I even ran into some promo girls for some local anime convention. Many girls of all ages donned lovely ornate yukatas roamed the festival made it more into a matsuri. There were plenty of attractions for everyone: fish catching games (like those you see in festivals), Go (Japanese chess), Japanese calligraphy (I asked for “World Peace”), and origami lessons (which gave me a papercut).
As the festival day came to an end, I got to kick back and try some Dango, which is sweet glutinous rice balls on a stick. I also tried some Katsu and Curry which tasted just like I expected them to taste. As for drinks, I picked up some Asahi beer and all I needed was a Cherry Blossom tree to sit under but they weren't in bloom yet. This year's Japan Festival in Houston was a great experience, so if you're ever in Texas around spring next year be sure to check this out.
Now its my turn to show off my own (almost gaming) laptop setup. Its a low-end Compaq Presario which rocks 2 gigs of ram which is needed by Vista (ew) and runs on a Intel GMA card (double fucking ew). I can play those low spec MMOs but not those american FPSes. I don't really give a crap since the FPSes I care about are available on the XBOX 360 which I have.
Now aboveis my gaming rig which rocks a sega cd/genesis 1, XBOX 360, soft Modded XBOX, PS2, and a dreamcast (for them SHMUPS and fighting games). Not pictured is my SNES which I have Mario games for and I want some RPGs but I cant find any locally.
A recent controversy has started within the Destructoid community when pictures of local Destructoid ambassabor mascot, affectionally known as Desutoid, with Japanese pornographic DVDs.
The scandal began when the faux robot had his computer fixed at a local Beast Buy, where an employee from the tech support department, MeekSquad,
found the pictures and began uploading the pictures into the internet. Beast Buy corporate refuses to comment when this reporter asked for a statement and
was told by an employee at the register to "F*** O**".
When the robot impersonator was contacted through the social networking site, FaiseBook, he gave no comments but did reply with a zombie bite and scored number one on scrabulus mong his friends.
This comes to a shock as there were deals between the robot doppleganger to endorse McDonalds in Japan. Contract negotiations have been indefinitely put on hold.
Here is also a picture of Desutoid performing the "Ran Ran Ruu":
Yes, Im stealing from Kotaku. Here it is, fresh from the most CEREAL GAMING BLOG out there, Kotaku, is Assassins Creed protagonist Altair... on Metal Gear Solid 4. Presented by the lovely Jade Raymond this video has an Altair character model running on MGS 4. Here it is:
Certainly we can agree that Assassin's Creed's engine isn't as fully realized as MGS4 but here's hoping we'll get a better sequel to the Ubisoft Game.
AnimeMatsuri, which happened this past easter weekend in Houston, has left me dead tired. But it was one hell of a time. I got to hang out with the coolestpeopleEVAR.
Yes that is Destructoid's very own Dale North, who is also EDiC of Japanator.com, with English Dub Voice actor EXTRAordinaire JohnMartone, also a contributor to Japanator.com. Here they enjoy a touching moment with sushi. A penis fight ensued later or before this, Im just glad I wasn't there. Here's link to it.
I met up with the good Folks from Destructoid's sister site, Japanator. I even ran around pimping both Destructoid and Japanator whenever somebody asked about my costume. I present to you my Cosplay that I rocked at a convention for the Japanimation:
I name thee, MR DESUTOID!!!
The helmet creation is a trade secret for me. I plan to make a new version for A-Kon (which I will blog about), but it will be expensive and if only I got a 3-day pass to A-Kon for *cough*FREE*cough*. This was about when I met the Dale and the gang. I only recognized Dale cause I've stalked seen him on Destructoid. I recognized John and Gia by their voices and Tim, who posts on CBlogs is just a cool dude. We chatted a bit and went over to the opening Ceremonies where Dale took video of Vic McNugent all throughout. Then went up to their room and had a few beers. The experience was surreal and I couldn't help but watch them, it felt like a live-action Podtoid-San.
We hung out at their hotel room and geeked out about all things geek. More hentai stuff happened with one of the people in the group whom I shall not name. Shortly after that, I carted the gang over to dinner at Benihana's. We went to a hibachi table and enjoyed dinner where I learned more about the people at my favorite blogs.
Me with the John and Dale at Benihana:
The pic we used for the flyer (That's Tim with my helmet):
After dinner we went over to get flyers at FedEx Kinko where Gia had a stalker. That's FedEx Kinko's at WOODLANDS, TX MMKAY? After that we took a walk to the Best Buy close by where we geeked out in public even more and picked up prizes to give out at the Japanator morning panel. On the way back we dropped by HEB to pick some more intoxicants. On the way to a parking spot I saw a posse of Japanese people who I recognized as Bespa Kumamero one of the Japanese Artists at the convention. I gave them a quick awkward "Konbanwa" which they replied with another "Konbanwa". We get beer and head back to hotel for further chilling and blogging. After planning stuff, the rest head down to the Jacuzzi while I went to rendezvous with a girl I met earlier. John calls me up and we get ready to record a segment fot podtoid-san 53 with Marc Pedrogosa. At around midnight I had to leave and I couldn't join the rest of the gang for more partyi---er, I mean blogging.
The next day was great. I got back to join them for the Japanator morning panel where gave out prizes and showed them horrificly hilarious videos on Japanator. After the panel we head promptly to some Anime Speed Dating Where I met all kinds of girls who like anime, all kinds of fans (even those who can do nerdcore)Here is Mr Desutoid trying to find "The One":
After the speed dating I parted with the group once again because of a cute asian girl while they grabbed lunch. A bit later I ended up at the Nirgilis panel and I learned that people are stupid and make up stupid questions. I rejoined the gang for the fashion show where a many cute asian girls walked the stage, and some boys who looked like girls. After the fashion show I had to part ways with the gang for good cause I had to go to megabirthday party. Im glad to have Destructoid which begat Japanator and those who blog on it. I am glad that the internet isn't just filled with idiots. Thank you, Niero.
Better late than never, nobody gave me heads up but here it is:
So Ive been waiting for like a couple of hours and stupid me discovers that the Euro edition of Halo FNF is long over. Since we dont have a host for the American edition today I might as well bear the cross that is the Halo 3 FNF American Edition tonight starting at 10PM CST My gamertag is redthehaze. Hit me up with messages. Herioc Map Pack is optional. Because I dont have it.
Attached photos:
My name is Red. My gaming roots consisted of me watching my cousins
play games on the famicom from 9 in the morning til 3. Then I had to
go away to the land of sand where I was trained to be a ninja of the
sand to fight terrorism. My training consisted of the Sega Megadrive
which came prepackaged with AlienStorm, which was once dubbed as
"Showgirls of video games" by the Concelmo. Later on I moved on to
the Playstation. Due to my limited funding and due to game publishers
in the US not caring about Ninjas training in the sand like me,
I resorted to black market alternatives. My great gaming memories
consisted of pirated games which I had plentiful of due to the lack
of giving a damn by the local authorities. All those games kept me
sane in the desert wasteland. I was a prisoner in my own ninja fortress.
Then all my training was for naught when the US military beat me to
my ultimate mission: CAPTURE SADDAM HUSSEIN. But then they discovered
that he was an impostor. Intelligence reports point out that he is where
I am stationed now: TEXAS. My mission continues on.
You have read this, you shall be exterminated.
