(no subject)

After fooling around some more with the Playstation 2, the disk tray is now broken and barely comes out. However, before it broke, I was able to look underneath it and see exactly where and how I'm supposed to insert the slide card, and was able to pull it out that way as far as it will go anymore.

In any case, it looks like this unit will be up to Brian to fix when he starts modding it, when he comes home during August. When he does get around to that, though, maybe he can also mod it so that I wouldn't even have to use Breaker Pro to play import PSX games.

I would rather not throw away something like Breaker Pro. The instructions and certain webpages say that it's specifically designed to enable import and backup Playstation games on the Playstation 2, and I want to make sure that's true if I ever decide to sell it on Ebay. Also, even though I would be able to play Makeruna! Makendou 2 easily on an emulator, 3D games such as Snowboard Kids Plus are still more easily played on a console, since you can use a joystick to move the characters around.

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( Pokemon stuff )

An epic conversation!

Well, Marie came home with Scott today, and the two of them drove me to Starbucks to meet with Dukeburger, where she and I have agreed to meet for the first time. Dukeburger has allowed me to use her real first name, Melissa, on this blog from now on. Tomorrow is gonna be a separate entry, mostly about Pokemon SoulSilver. I'm writing this now because there's a lot of stuff to cover before I forget too much.

Anyway, first thing's first, the main reason why this meeting has been established was so that I could give her my copy of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Done, and done.

So, when we got there, Melissa was already inside, awaiting her drink. The three of us came in, and I introduced her to Marie and Scott. I then proceeded to order a caramel frappuccino (same thing she had), and the two of us got ourselves a separate table from them.

First things we talked about were the schools we've been to and our studying Japanese. She mentioned that she has also studied Spanish, so as to better her chances at finding a job. I told her that I took that from 8th to early 11th grades, and then several times in Suffolk, but I'm not really interested in it. I told her that I'm studying Japanese because I'd like to eventually get a job translating anime or video games, but for right now, I'm mainly interested in fandubbing Makeruna! Makendou Z. I also told her that someone already did a fandub of Snowboard Kids Plus, and told her I would show her one of the videos to give her an idea of what I intend to do. So, here are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CKie6dwhtI (the dubbed SK+ prologue, after you watch the opening sequence first. Everyone's endings are hosted separately.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tqmAPhgbdQ (the first cutscene from MMZ that I taped and uploaded myself. The playlist actually starts with the prologue, but I didn't upload that myself.)

Some stuff about video games were brought up after that. She asked me what consoles I still have, now that I've sold most of my Super NES games. After naming all of them, she then went on about her gaming experiences. Even though she and her friends collect video games, she never owned an SNES, and had to play someone else's whenever she wanted to play any games on it. She also asked me if I ever played any games in Japanese, and the only language-optional game I've ever played in Japanese (in-depth anyway) was the original Makeruna! Makendou for the Super Famicom (only because of the butchery it was subjected to in North America).

(Come to think of it, though, I do remember playing Disney's Aladdin (in German) and Puzzle Bobble (the Japanese version of Bust-a-Move), both of which Brian's old friend James had on his Super 6-in-1 copy in 1997. We had no Internet at the time, so no Ebay or ROM sites, which meant no way to find American copies of those two games.)

Anyway, Melissa mentioned that her friends are currently interested in some Japanese games for the Saturn. I took that opportunity to mention the brief semi-significance of Game Tengoku from several years ago. I agreed to show her some stuff about it, so here are:

http://www.segagagadomain.com/saturn12/gametengoku.htm (the related page I once randomly stumbled upon)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQN5MMKJmnc&feature (a gameplay video of the first stage)

Next, some stuff about Pokemon games. Not too much worth noting here, but I did mention that instead of actively trying to complete my Pokedex in each game, I have my own, really gimmicky way of playing these games (which I should mention involves a lot of dice-rolling). Yet another thing I agreed to link her to, so here goes:

http://dmxrated.livejournal.com/2008/08/21/

I did mention that I might at some point pawn off my copy of the original Silver and Brian's copy of Blue (if he doesn't object). The rest of them... way too special. Even Red, which is extremely primitive and somewhat flawed by today's standards. These games, however, are the reason why I plan on writing Parasitic Trio at some point, part of its purpose being to depict everything that makes the games fun in a more natural fashion. I told her that even though I don't plan to actually start that ficseries until after I've completed at least the remaining 4th-gen games, I have laid out some plot for it. I did offer her a copy of what I have of it, while also warning her of the fanservice overload that it would contain, and she said she'd be interested in reading it.

Moving on, I told her that I have recently considered trying out Dungeons & Dragons. Don't know too much about it, but I'm hoping it will give me some ideas of stuff to happen in the first fic for Monster Collection Chronicles. Chances are, that kind of game is most fun when you have a bunch of friends to play with, which I don't but assumed she does. Well, she does, but she told me that they're not exactly reliable to get together with. So, I guess that's pretty much ruled out.

I have also seen advertisements for an MMORPG version of that game, and almost subscribed for a membership. However, from what I understand, MMOs drain money from you on a monthly basis, and also force you to do what's called level-grinding, meaning that you spend prolonged amounts of time doing nothing but killing monsters for the sole purpose of levelling up. Not my idea of a fun game. In fact, that's part of the reason why Digimon World 3 sucked. Getting through Earthbound Zero is also a hassle if you don't do this, which along with the fact that you can't see your enemies outside of battle in that game, is the reason why I've decided to watch gameplay videos instead from where I've left off in that game.

Well, there wasn't a whole lot worth noting after that part of the conversation. The two of us then went outside to take care of business with our Pokemon games. I had my copies of SoulSilver and Diamond. Not sure what she had, but she was definitely playing one of the Sinnoh games.

( Read more... )

I noticed Marie and Scott leaving while we were outside with the games. However, Mom arrived not too long afterwards, and I introduced Melissa to her once we were done with everything. The two of us then parted for the time being.

Well, I don't remember the last time I've had such a lengthy conversation with someone face-to-face. It was nice talking to Matthew a few times over the phone during the past couple of years, but it sure felt nice going out somewhere and meeting someone I've been communicating with online. (Thanks, Mel!)