Monday, July 1, 2019

June 2019 Entry

June 2019 Entry

June went by fast. And I feel tired. If you are a regular reader, I actually swapped the video game section and work section around. There hasn't been too much to talk about work-wise lately.

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- Picked up Batman VS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (06.04). Much like recent DC animated movies, I didn't watch it until at least a week later (06.11). I really enjoyed this one. Good amount of action, good amount of humor, and a great crossover overall.



- I bought a new wireless keyboard and mouse (06.04). Don't remember if I mentioned in a previous post, but the one I purchased earlier this year had a bad keyboard. A lot of the keys wouldn't register unless I pressed them really hard and sometimes it would work. The mouse was fine though. With this new one, the only key issue is the "G" key. Mouse again is fine.

- Went for a cleaning at the dentist (06.25). I did have to reschedule the time on this as it was way later that I would normally schedule it. They also contacted me about coming in even earlier, which was no problem. But I wasn't seeing the normal dentist this time. They had someone new cleaning my teeth. And...it was the worst cleaning I ever had. I'm used to dental pains from my 30+ years of going to the dentist, but this was too much pain for just a cleaning. She dug in way too deep, wasn't to good with the tools (why do I have to hold the suction), her communication was bad (would turn me by pulling my chin with her finger), dropped a tool on my tooth, and was overall messy. I toughed it out, but made sure to let the staff know. I did ask if she was new and it was obvious. They thanked me for their feedback (my Personnel Manager critiques kicked in). I really could not imagine a kid or anyone that doesn't like going to the dentist in general be operated on by her for a routine cleaning.

I ordered a new car charger and it arrived on this day too. I'm pretty sure my dad lost my previous one, which was really good. He got a replacement and it doesn't work. Thing is I don't know when he replaced it, but I kept forgetting to get a new one.

And I did get contacted by someone on this day as well. Hopefully it leads to good things. 

- A couple of streamers I had befriended on Twitch were planning to visit me (06.28). Unfortunately, last minute car problems forced them to cancel the day of. I was prepping last minute things and was about to message them for an ETA when they gave me the news. Sucks, but better to be safe.

They were also going to do one of our escape rooms with a couple of friends that night. Still went out with those friends to catch up with them. Talked about their kids, old friends, games, work, etc. Always good catching up.

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- Another fun NXT TakeOver with NXT TakeOver XXV (06.01). Did horrible on my predictions, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the heck out of the show.



- Procured tickets to a future WWE Live Super Show (06.20). First row. Been a while since I've been first row.

- Took Agent Ocean to an NXT Live show after work (06.21). Had a blast. I feel like I'm missing one match from the card like a women's singles match, but nothing is coming to mind. 

Street Profits (w) VS Forgotten Sons 
Jordan Myles (w) VS Cameron Grimes (fka Trevor Lee)
The Outliers VS Matt Riddle & Velveteen Dream (w)
Raul Mendoza VS Damian Priest (w) 
Reina Gonzalez & Rachel Evars (w) VS Lacey Lane & Jessie
Kona Reeves VS Kushida (w)
Mia Yim VS Shayna Bazler (w)
Keith Lee VS Adam Cole (w)

Highlights of the night were Mike Chioda dancing with the Street Profits post match, realizing who Damian Priest is (Punishment Martinez), and the last two matches for the titles. The ladies put on a great outing (yay for Shayna getting cheers, she's so good). Keith Lee VS Adam Cole was a fantastic match. Cole hitting a Panama Sunrise/Canadian Destroyer on Lee, wow.



Stomping Grounds was also a fun PPV to watch (06.23). Lots of unexpected things happened and the matches were for the most part very good.


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- Went Downtown for the company meeting (06.07). Nothing special with this one. We played Jackbox games together and I got to see the changes done there. Also took a couple of Grandma's canes home for myself since that room is retired now.


- Agent Ocean and I went to a Yelp event (06.18). It reminded me of conventions I've gone to for other jobs and networking. It was fine. Got a lot of business cards and garnered interest. Unfortunately the place was small and cramped because of all the people invited (very hot). Plus they were playing the music too loud so everyone was basically yelling at each other the whole time. Highlight of the event was a 50-year old woman being a bit too friendly with me, ha. We also went to Hella Bubble afterwards and that is a wonderful boba place. Highly recommend for what they make and their customer service. Plus they had a copy of Otrio you can play there.

- I realized on the final day that I had worked 5 days in one week (06.23). I don't recall the last time I worked that much, but possibly over a year. Unfortunately it did catch up to me as I was talking with Agent Wolfman about how I don't feel important to the company anymore. It's nothing new, but I really don't have much to do anymore and have to find things to do like cleaning and maintenance and sessions when they happen. But anything else that's big, doesn't come my way anymore. I'm kept in the loop on some things, but yeah. When asked if I were a pillar of the company not too long ago, I said no.

- The Countdown has been retired (06.23). Thank goodness. While it will be revamped, I'd rather it not come back. I can only hope the newer version eclipses the first iteration in every way possible.

The Escape Game invited us to try out their new escape room (06.27). They actually came to us earlier in the month since they had a new crew. For the room, it was myself and Agents PQ, Gig, Ocean, and Wolfman. While we did escape, the biggest compliment I can give was the production value of the room itself. The puzzles, not so much. That's normally what I say about all their rooms. Don't want to rag on it too much because I could. Not my favorite room of theirs, but it isn't their worst. 

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E3 was fun as always (06.09-06.11). Below are my highlights.

FFVIII Remastered

FFVII Remake

Nintendo Direct



- Finished playing Final Fantasy X-2 from the HD Remaster on stream (05.29-06.10). I really enjoyed playing this game again. While there was a good number of people coming into the stream talking about why they didn't like it, I kept reiterating why I enjoyed playing it back in the day and why I was looking forward to playing it on stream. In the end, I'll say that I enjoyed replaying X-2 over X. 

I did play a good chunk of the game off stream to level up dressspheres and to take care of setting up a few of the sidequest completion. While we were going for 100% with the list in the back of the strategy guide, there were 2 quests I didn't complete because there wasn't a lot of explanation on how long those sidequests were, which was why I did some of them off stream. So I didn't finish the chocobo sidequest and the Infinito cloister trial sidequest. I did expect to get over 95% and ended up getting 97%.

One unfortunate thing that happened while streaming this game was that it froze multiple times. I think it happened 3 times in total. My Switch felt hot each time it happened, but it's not like I never played that long before. The worst time for it to happen was when I beat the game and the ending was playing it. Basically had to do the last few boss fights again to see the ending once. But those didn't take away from the fact that I really liked playing this game again.




- Had my monthly Demo Showcase (06.12). It was another interesting batch.

Airfield Mania - Didn't realize it was touchscreen only. I tried to make it work, but it wasn't. 
Block-a-Pix Deluxe - My favorite of this series. I liked that the chat was getting into it too. Hammer!
Croc's World - Simple platformer. Very familiar thanks to trying out Croc's World Run a couple months ago.
Gabbuchi - An interesting box puzzle game. Thought it would be a BOXBOY rip off, but it stood on its own.
Grand Prix Story - Another fun simulation game from Kairosoft. Possibly my top 3 from them.

In the end, I chose Gabbuchi as my favorite. It surprised me and had a simple and fun presentation and I could see myself playing it. Note to the Kairosoft simulation games, I always enjoy them, but it's hard for me to choose them over other games as it is a game I can't finish. I mentioned it previously on stream, but I like to finish a game and not continue playing it forever.


- Returned to the Ace Attorney Trilogy with Justice For All (06.14-06.19). I had a plan to divide the cases per stream and totally forgot how long the final case was and that went on for over 10 hours, ha. Still gave me goosebumps on key plot points. After beating it, I watched the second set from the anime (06.25). Just like the first set, this one wrapped up the second game really well. Can't wait for the next anime set to come out so I can get it.


- I was surprised to receive my second Twitch payout (06.18). Really didn't expect so soon after my first one. Yay. Twitch has pretty much paid for my gaming chair in full.

- Our free game of the month was Warhammer of of Sigmar: Champions (06.24). Not big on card battle games and it really showed when I played this. I understood some of it, but I couldn't get over having to learn about so many different cards and what they do, which made me not want to switch decks or individual cards. But the highlight was playing against a tournament player who found my stream. I told him to decimate me so we can see it, ha. Other than that, I wasn't feeling it too much. It's not bad, but just not my thing. Won't be returning to this one.


- And our monthly NES game was Double Dragon II: The Revenge (06.25). I mentioned it on stream, but this was a favorite for one of my older cousins. I saw him play it about 5-6 years ago. I can't remember the last time I played it. Certain stages seemed familiar, but latter ones didn't and it didn't feel like I had played it in a long long time. I also couldn't get the Tiger Knee technique down. It worked sometimes, but not consistently. But it was fun to beat the game for what is probably the first time ever (ending wasn't familiar). Cool having old friends show up to the stream as well as some new faces. If Double Dragon III comes out next month, that'll be the NES game we play. If not, hopefully it comes out and we'll finish that trilogy.



- And the last stream of the month was BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! | A Tale for One (06.26). It was great doing these puzzles again. It wasn't particularly easier with just one box character. I was glad there was a different set of levels for single box play too. Took about the same length of time to beat just like A Tale for Two. Next month, we finish the game with A Tall Tale.


- And for some reason, I'm on an amiibo hunt. I got a used Charizard amiibo for a fair price (06.26). Unfortunately, it did have some scuff marks on the bottom. Plus I saw a new one for about the same price, but ended up winning that auction, ha. By the end of this month, I have bid on quite a few other ones and lost, but got 2 Animal Crossing amiibo new and cheap (Lottie and Mabel). So...this is a thing for me now; searching for new cheap amiibo. The scuffed Charizard ensured that I need to get them new. 

A few amiibo holy grails for me are the Qbby amiibo ($200+) and the Monster Hunter Stories amiibo set ($25+ each). Almost got a good deal for the Monster Hunter Stories set, but wasn't ambitious with my bids. The winning bid got a a good deal and I definitely would have paid that price. 

If you happen to come across cheap new amiibo, send them my way. I can also let you know which ones I'm missing.

- Woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep one night (06.27). I had already made adjustments to my gaming schedule, but kept thinking about upcoming demos. I pretty much spent an hour rearranging them to have certain themed games for consecutive months in a row (dating sims, retail demos, etc). We'll be taking a break from the Kairosoft sim games since we were doing one a month for a few months streak. I also decided to do a Demo Showcase for October, which I wasn't going to do since I wanted that month to be all "scary," but there were a good number of demos that fell into that category. Not only that, there's more than enough to do one Demo Showcase a month for the rest of the year. But I could stick an extra one here and there because we're bound to get more demos during the latter half of the year.

- Don't know why, but more of my highlights on Twitch are missing the chat. While it has happened once or twice before, it happened 4 out of the last 6 highlights. The worst so far is for the last BOXBOY stream where only fewer than the last 10 chat lines showed up in a 6:30:00 stream. I contacted Twitch about it and hopefully it gets resolved and doesn't keep happening.

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- BoA - Feedback (MV)

- TWICE - Breakthrough (MV)

- TWICE - HAPPY HAPPY (MV)

- Red Velvet - Zimzalabim (MV)

- To one of my best friends, I'm glad you're taking this big step to change things for the better. I'll see you soon.

- That's a wrap on June 2019. Thanks for reading and take care.


"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits."

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