Nich Maragos' Journal

10:54AM - Dear Stabby #1

My comic is out! Dear Stabby #1, the comic I wrote and Erin Mehlos drew, went up for purchase on IndyPlanet over the weekend. Here's the cover:



Please give it a chance! We actually made this about two years ago, but now that the first issue is finally up on the web, I hope to finish the story sometime this year if Erin's schedule permits.

3:52PM - Dumb music meme

1. Put your MP3 player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer (questions below)
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS (option to put the name of artist in brackets next to it)
4. Tag at least 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.

Like ferricide, I'm ignoring rules I don't feel like following.

( Read more... )

8:50PM - so awesome

Since I turned 18, I've voted twice in two very frustrating elections.

Third time's the charm.

10:50PM - Obscuro APE haul

I imagine there is a very small subset of people on my friends list who care about the avalanche of GNs and minicomics I picked up at the Alternative Press Expo this year.

( But for those who do... )

8:37PM - エネルギ

Question for J-friends: is the Mega Man-themed E-Tank energy drink still available? If so, where? I was hoping to try a can while I was out here, but I'm wondering if the promotion may have already come and gone.

7:40PM - Too Much Fun

Between an Amazon order that arrived and a consumerist binge after work, here's the entertainment I bought today:

Parasyte vol. 3 and 4
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service vol. 7
Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer?
The Dresden Dolls, No, Virginia...
Robots in Disguise, We're In the Music Biz
The Godfather trilogy on Blu-ray
Wario Land: Shake It!
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Mega Man 9

I can stop anytime I want.

5:32PM - photo now meme

"infinite work"



taken from ferricide

Photo now meme
Post a photo of you Right now
Don't change your clothes or fix your hair
DO NOT EDIT
post these instructions

9:26PM - airman ga taoshita

And all the others, too. Everyone knows MM2 so I'll just do this stat-wise:

Difficulty: Normal
Clear time - 1:10 (by my Wii's play clock)
Deaths - 0 (got by both the Quick Beams and the crash bomb boss on my first try, amazingly)
E-Tanks used - 2
Order: Flash Man / Metal Man / Wood Man / Air Man / Crash Man / Bubble Man / Heat Man / Quick Man

I think I had known our "Normal" was easier than the sole Japanese difficulty, which is our "Hard," but I forgot--maybe later this week I'll attempt it on Hard. Still, it was nice to have a tremendously fun game that can still be blown through in about an hour.

11:30PM - SDCC Odyssey

I don't know why it took me so long to realize this, but this year at SDCC instead of collecting autographs yet again, I went for themed sketches, and left with something I'm a lot more pleased with. From left to right, here's an Etrian Odyssey party consisting of Mike Krahulik's Protector, Bryan Lee O'Malley's Hexer, and Phil Foglio's Alchemist:

2:04PM - The Etrian life

So as was recently announced, Etrian Odyssey II is coming to the US. We're still in the thick of production, and I'm enjoying it enough to wallow completely in the game. I'm now the proud owner of literally every Etrian Odyssey soundtrack album in existence, but the highlight of EO-related news for me was the recent revelation that the awesome destroyerzooey is enjoying the original. Even though I had no real role in making the actual game, knowing someone whose work I enjoy so much is enjoying something I worked on is a real kick.

2:27PM - V-Day

I don't often get cards on Valentine's Day for obvious reasons, but a coworker gave me possibly the best one I've ever received. The inscription read:

"Nich! Have a happy happy bloody nose Valentine's Day! I hope you feel beautiful like a Princess <3 <3"

10:08AM - Packing

There is nothing like an upcoming move to make you regard everything you own as an inconvenient lump of matter.

11:42PM - Support Megan's Law for the English language

8:01PM

I'm selling things. Mainly comics, western and eastern. Have a look?

12:36AM - Self-propelled Mario

(Cross-posted from my personal site, because I really don't think anyone reads it anymore.)

I'm fully aware that I haven't updated this blog in about eight months. So what is it that finally led me to break my silence? The most amazing gaming-related videos I've ever seen.

The Detteiu Mario series (available in eight installments so far: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight) is the work of a man who decided to hack his own levels of Super Mario World, the first 16-bit Super Mario game, in a way that allows the levels to be completed with no controller input whatsoever. This isn't so clever in and of itself; it wouldn't be so hard to construct a level that drops Mario onto a conveyor belt that takes him directly to the exit. What makes these videos so incredible to watch is the style, inventiveness, and wit that goes into the design.

Under the direction of the designer (one "daigam," whose real Japanese name I don't know) Mario becomes sort of a cross between Buster Keaton and Mr. Magoo, blithely making razor-thin escapes through impossible deathtraps. The videos keep getting longer and more self-aware; even the very first ones have a topper gag like reuniting Mario with Yoshi after the exit, but the capper gets more and more outrageous until Mario literally sleepwalks his way through defeating one of the game's major bosses. The videos are full of hilariously impressive bits such as that, where you can almost see daigam's wink at the viewer as Mario dodges bullets, hitches rides on enemies, and bounces around the levels like a pinball.

These videos are more than just technically impressive feats to wow videogame geeks. They're there to remind anyone, whether or not they've played a Mario game or even know what SNES stands for, of the joys of well-executed, impeccably timed physical comedy. The best part? Anyone who is familiar with Mario games knows from the introductory map screens that he's only on world 3--there's still as many as 5 worlds of this stuff to go, and I can't wait to see how inventive it can get before the end.

7:31PM - Deathly

I finished Harry Potter 7, and I feel like I should warn anyone who's trying to avoid spoilers that it's just full of them.

10:18AM - Cartography

Google Maps is the best!
True that? DOUBLE TRUE!

2:56PM - The $500 dilemma

Well, the software-only BC future of the PS3 is on its way with the new 80GB model, which dumps an irritatingly-timed choice in my lap: do I buy a 60GB model before they're phased out forever?

I don't want a PS3 right now. I don't have a TV that supports 1080p (and don't plan on buying one for years and years), there are no games currently out that I'm interested in, and it's awfully expensive for a lot of features I won't be using. But I will want one eventually, by early next year at the latest, so I have to think down the line. Bluntly, I suspect the current software-based backward compatibility will not be updated or fixed--there's not a lot of money in it, when Sony could be focusing on moving forward with next-gen-specific services. Now I'm a Megaten fan, and the PS2 Megaten games are known to be busted under software BC, which leaves me with two choices...

Buy a $500 PS3 now
Pros: I get all the EE functionality I need, and a more-than-good-enough system to play PS3 games on when the time comes.
Cons: I'm not really flush with cash, and a purchase now would mean I'd be stuck with the crappy Sixaxis rather than whatever Sony might introduce down the line now that they're playing nice with Immersion. (Either way, I won't be able to use proper Dual Shocks for older games.) Plus, on the outside chance Sony really is going to get its software BC right, I'd feel pretty silly on rushing.

Wait until later
Pros: I'd be able to save until I really could afford PS3, and take advantage of it right away with games I'm looking forward to.
Cons: I'd have to keep a PS2 hooked up to the TV for older games, and I could be waiting a long time for Sony to drop the system price in any meaningful way, forcing me to spend $600 for an extra 20GB of memory I'd never have the patience to fill up.

Either way, it's not really an ideal situation. Oh, Sony... -_-

6:51PM - It's real, and it's fantastic

My first game is out!

6:56AM - wii post

so it turns out wii opera is really useful when you've had a 15-hour workday and you just want to lie bonelessly in bed, but you also want to check your webcomics.

Current mood: guh

Current music: the delgados