Seems I missed September. Huh. I\u2019m in a good headspace lately. Let\u2019s get some of those thoughts out on paper, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1)<\/strong> Count me in as the cliched many who always flock to all things \u2018Halloween\u2019 as soon as the calendar changes to October. From a video game standpoint, I don\u2019t tend to play anything with a \u2018spooky\u2019 theme or anything like that, but I do enjoy the content that a lot of my favorite creators tend to put out. I know some people don\u2019t care for all the extra emphasis on \u2018creepy and sinister\u2019 once October rolls around, but that\u2019s okay. I don\u2019t like what a lot of people like either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2)<\/strong> At one point I thought I\u2019d rifle off 31 horror movies over the course of the month to get in the spirit of the season but I realized a few things: i) That\u2019s a lot of time to devote to movies. ii) I don\u2019t need to watch 31 movies to get \u2018in the spirit\u2019. iii) I don\u2019t want to watch 31 movies. I\u2019m not a big film buff and don\u2019t watch a ton of movies, but there\u2019s something about watching scary movies that really provides an extra element of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3)<\/strong> I don\u2019t do well with the supernatural, so when I watch movies to get in the Halloween spirit, it\u2019s usually classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Critters, House, Tales From the Crypt, Return of the Living Dead…things like that. I watched Paranormal Activity once and that messed with me so bad that I still have a hard time getting visuals like that out of my head. Campy = OK. Spirits and ghosts? Stay the hell outta here with that noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4)<\/strong> Speaking of movies, while I just admitted I don\u2019t watch a lot, I have been going back and watching a few different ones lately, and they\u2019re all video game related. In the past couple of weeks I\u2019ve watched Street Fighter: The Movie, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie and Mortal Kombat. While Raul Julia is great to watch, he couldn\u2019t save that movie. It\u2019s bad. As for the other two, I really enjoyed the anime, for what it was. And Mortal Kombat…it\u2019s a movie based on a video game fighting game. That\u2019s all it is and EXACTLY what it is. I\u2019m not sure it needs to be more than that. Either way, it was still good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5)<\/strong> I have both Double Dragon and Super Mario Bros. in the queue and ready to watch. I watched Double Dragon a few years ago and I remember having to turn it off for some reason or another and never got back to it. Clearly I had no desire to. As for Super Mario Bros…well…I don\u2019t ever remember it being good, and it\u2019s been 20 years, at least. However, it was Mario, so…I remember enjoying it just because. I already know it\u2019s bad, but I want to see if it\u2019s still \u2018so bad it\u2019s good\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6)<\/strong> My recent watching of Street Fighter reminded me as to how much I enjoyed Street Fighter II and made me remember how much I actually played it as a kid. As much as I rattle off other games I played when I was younger, I tend to have a lot of memories of Street Fighter that I don\u2019t usually reference or talk about. I\u2019m not sure why that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7)<\/strong> I rented the game quite often as a kid, between the original and Turbo. I\u2019d go to friend\u2019s houses for sleepovers and someone always had it. It was almost as standard as Super Mario World in most circles that I rolled with. I never really played any more in the series though. I think I played Street Fighter V when I got it as a free download on my Vita, but that wasn\u2019t too enjoyable, from what I recall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8)<\/strong> Actually, though…my favorite pinball game of all time was a Street Fighter table. There used to be one in our Arena and when I was about 15 and working at a local hockey school, we\u2019d play the hell out of it. We also discovered that when it was setup, the incline wasn\u2019t overly steep, so the game would run a little bit slower. It wasn\u2019t a big deal, because it allowed us to rack up some pretty high scores on the game, which made for a lot of long pinball games that would run until the wee hours of the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9)<\/strong> We also discovered that the quarter box underneath the cab was REALLY easy to get access to, having a very accessible sliding door that we could open, reach into, and pull quarters out of. It was shady, I\u2019ll admit. But I can honestly say we only pulled quarters out to put back into the game. We never put one of those quarters into another machine or anything else. So…basically it was like having the game on \u2018free play\u2019. Still doesn\u2019t excuse us from what we did. HA!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10)<\/strong> Those who follow me know that my creative output usually comes in long spurts, but I can happily say that I\u2019m in one now. I\u2019ve been feeling a lot of the creative juices lately (hence this blog) and it feels good. It\u2019s a shame that I don\u2019t allow myself to put out more on a more consistent basis, but I know enough not to force it. If I did, it wouldn\u2019t happen at all, so this is better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11)<\/strong> Speaking of, I\u2019m working on my latest \u2018History of WWE Games\u2019 video and this one was fun to go back and play. I recorded the footage awhile ago, so I recently went back and rewatched it. Man, what a fun game. I know a lot of non-wrestling fans who played it a ton back in the day and still enjoyed it. I finished the script recently, and now need to find the time when the house is quiet enough to voice something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12)<\/strong> I should also state that I\u2019ve got a couple of small cameos from my \u2018Tubing friends who are lending their tones to this one. I always love including others in what I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13)<\/strong> Well, after cancelling my Collector\u2019s Edition pre-order for WWE 2K19, I still went ahead and pre-ordered the Deluxe digital version. So…another year that I\u2019ll have the latest NHL and WWE releases. I knew I was going to play them anyways…so…whatever. Hard to change habits, and I enjoy them, so I know I\u2019ll get my money\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 14)<\/strong> My biggest goal for this year is not to devote as much time to them so I can enjoy other games. There\u2019s not a ton of new releases I\u2019m looking forward to, but diving into the backlog and older games lately has been a lot of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15)<\/strong> For example, I recently played and finished Lufia II, which I had wanted to play forever but never got around to doing. I\u2019m so glad I did. I enjoyed the original game, and while I know most people dump on the first one, it\u2019s still a good experience. That said, Lufia II is a better game. Not all sequels measure up to the originals, but this one takes it to another level. It certainly doesn\u2019t reinvent the wheel, but it\u2019s a really great game. I enjoy the first one more, but that\u2019s because I\u2019m wearing some pretty thick nostalgia glasses when I say that. Lufia II is a better game than Lufia, without question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 16)<\/strong> Also, I\u2019ve never looked into it, but…Lufia II never was in the plans, was it? Yeah, you\u2019ve heard it many times before, but, when the plot and ending of Lufia II is spoiled in the first twenty minutes of Lufia (which was released three years earlier), why would you make the sequel the prequel? Never made sense to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17)<\/strong> I have the Game Boy Colour release, called Lufia: The Legend Returns and I\u2019ve never played it. Apparently it takes place 100 years after the original Lufia, which was 100 years after Lufia II. So…it\u2019s still within the same universe, I guess. I definitely want to get to that one. There\u2019s also a Lufia game on the Nintendo DS (Curse of the Sinistrals) but apparently it\u2019s a remake of Lufia II…so I don\u2019t see myself playing that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 18)<\/strong> Oh damn! There was a fourth Lufia game on the Game Boy Advance? I never knew that. Sorry, backlog!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 19)<\/strong> I always have one RPG on the go and right now, it\u2019s Cosmic Star Heroine on the Switch. The trailer was really appealing and I had read some pretty good reviews for the PC and PS4 release of the game so I thought I\u2019d give it a shot when I saw it on sale for a decent price on the eShop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 20)<\/strong> I\u2019m about 90-120 minutes in so far and it\u2019s not bad. The battle system is Chrono Trigger-esque and has some nice pixel graphics in 8 and 16 bit style, so it\u2019s appealing to the eye. The story and gameplay haven\u2019t really grabbed me like I hoped it would to this point, but it\u2019s still really early. Plus, the game is anywhere from 10-12 hours long, so I\u2019ll probably play it over the next week or two and finish it before the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 21)<\/strong> Because I\u2019m a father of three and can\u2019t survive without scheduling my life (or so it seems) I\u2019m already thinking ahead to the next RPG i\u2019m going to play. I\u2019d REALLY like to jump into Shining Force 3 on the Saturn or Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn on the Wii. My fear with SF3 is that I\u2019ll get sucked in and feel the need to play all three episodes that encompass the game before moving on. That…could take awhile. I guess if it\u2019s good, that\u2019s not a horrible thing, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 22)<\/strong> As for Fire Emblem, I\u2019ve been looking forward to more since finishing Path of Radiance on the GameCube earlier this year. Fire Emblem has become a go-to franchise for me since playing Awakening on the 3DS a few years ago. I got bit by the bug and went head first into the series. I\u2019ve played most North American FE games, and since there were six in Japan before it ever even came west, I haven\u2019t bothered with them. I still haven\u2019t played the original on the Game Boy Advance, but it\u2019s certainly on the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 23)<\/strong> The only other North American FE releases I haven\u2019t played aside from the GBA and Wii releases, was Echoes on the 3DS. I played Shadow Dragon twice, but couldn\u2019t quite get through the final battle without losing my mind. SD is a bastard because you have to be VERY strategic leading up to the final battle with the characters that you employ and can\u2019t lose a single damn one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 24)<\/strong> The first time I played Shadow Dragon, I didn\u2019t know what I was doing and it was the first time I played Fire Emblem with \u2018perma-death\u2019. While I know that was standard for the franchise prior to Awakening, it was hard going from one to the other, in the wrong order. The second time around, I (for whatever reason) levelled up mages and clerics, thinking that was going to be useful in the end. Nope. Big mistake. Third time\u2019s the charm?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 25)<\/strong> Getting back to Street Fighter, I had an idea for a script that popped into my head recently. It totally gets me away from the whole \u2018wrestling\u2019 theme for most of my content, and I\u2019m not sure how it would turn out, but…it\u2019s on the \u2018pending\u2019 list, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 26)<\/strong> I also have an entire playthrough of Kirby’s Adventure captured that\u2019s been sitting there for a couple of years. I should really do something with that. Even if it\u2019s just something quick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 27)<\/strong> Someone asked me why I\u2019m so intent on making videos if they\u2019re so time consuming and writing is so much easier. The answer, for me, is simple. Firstly, it has NOTHING to do with getting \u2018subs\u2019, \u2018likes\u2019 or \u2018smashing that button as hard as you possibly can\u2019. It\u2019s more to do with having the video support what I\u2019m saying and getting my point across more clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 28)<\/strong> \u201cBut Wally…if you were a strong writer, couldn\u2019t your words do that for you?\u201d Probably. And yeah, I could pump out something on a weekly basis if I wrote it. Writing comes a lot easier and more naturally, but…to be honest…the visuals, man. I love the visuals. Funny…for a guy that doesn\u2019t enjoy a lot of movies, I watch a lot of videos for my storytelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 29)<\/strong> Hockey season is here. Thank goodness. This Canadian has is igloo ready, his Molson is nice and cold, and my beavers are nicely fed. I\u2019m ready for the NHL season to begin. And I\u2019m hoping to watch my Edmonton Oilers play long into spring after the dumpster fire that was the 2017-18 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 30)<\/strong> You may see more hockey writing from me this season. I\u2019ve missed it. Oh…and because my output never matches my ideas, look for a hockey video game video from me before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 31)<\/strong> I\u2019m blessed. Life is good. And I know those of you that are reading this aren\u2019t random people from a random corner of the internet. You\u2019re people I converse with, follow, and share interests with on the daily. My total hit count on this blog will peak at about 8 reads. And that\u2019s okay. If you\u2019re one of the eight, thank you. It\u2019s appreciated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Seems I missed September. Huh. I\u2019m in a good headspace lately. Let\u2019s get some of those thoughts out on paper, shall we?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-30-insights","category-archive"],"yoast_head":"\n