Christmas is a time for hanging out with family, eating and drinking lots of delicious treats and then sleeping everything off like a baby, little suspecting the horror that awaits you the next time you step on the bathroom scale.
As a dutiful citizen, I have been doing my part to make the world a little heavier… and not just by eating a mountain of cake. Of the 5 (!) cakes I baked in the past week, only one was a complete disaster, and two of them were actually pretty good! I must have leveled up in Baking in the past year. Maybe one day I’ll even be able to make edible bread!
Which is all to say I haven’t done too much gaming over the past couple of days. And actually I couldn’t play Wild Arms 5 if I wanted to, because my brother has commandeered my PS2 and is replaying Dragon Quest VIII for the 5th (or is it 6th) time. Between my two brothers, that game has been played at least 10 times from start to finish. We definitely got our money’s worth on that one… except it’s my money and I’ve never played the game and probably never will at this rate.
While I’m on the subject, I should mention that my brother has a interesting gaming style that I’ve never been able to imitate: he’ll blaze through a game in 10-hour bursts for about a week and then suddenly drop the game like a hot potato. If he finishes the game during that blitz, great. Otherwise that’s that for pretty much ever. Last year’s victims were Monster Hunter Tri and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, now currently known as “I will totally finish that one day, I swear” and “Whuh? Oh yeah, that game” respectively.
But enough about game-stealing bros, let’s talk about me. I’m up to Chapter 7 of Avalon Code, which means I have only 3 chapters left to go. I’ve seen the big “plot twist” I was supposed to be waiting for. Rest assured I will spoil it quite thoroughly when/if I ever finish the game. I also tried to start the DS remake of the first Tokyo Majin game, but there was a lot of talking in the prologue and no chance to save. I hate it when I have to turn a game off early and play the prologue twice. This doesn’t bode well for our future together. I also played a few minutes of a doujin game called Kaiyou Resutoran Uminekotei. More on that when I’ve gotten a little further.
Site News
First and foremost, I recently signed up to be an Amazon and Play-Asia affiliate, so you’ll be seeing some product links in my reviews from now on. If you click on the links and purchase something through them, I’ll get a small commission that will help pay for this site’s hosting, which works out to around $100 a year. And I won’t lie and pretend I won’t buy a PSVita and Phantasy Star Nova (and OreShika 2!) if there’s some money left over, but that isn’t my goal in putting the links up.
However I do not want anyone to feel any pressure to click on anything. I’ll try to keep them unobtrusive, but if the bulk of readers find them annoying, I’ll take them out altogether. This site does not need donations, I am not starving (quite the opposite really) and I am not going to start writing nice-nice-happy-happy reviews just so people will buy the games. In fact the links will be at the end of less positive reviews too, just so I can profit from your misery if you decide to buy, say, Kamiyo Gakuen after I spent 3,900 words warning you not to. Be sure to tell me about it so I can point and laugh.
Second bit of news, I figured I get an email address for this website, just in case anyone wanted to contact me off-site. I can’t imagine what you’d ever do that for, but maybe you’re a rich old man with a fortune you want to leave to me (no Nigerian princes, please!), in which case you can reach me at: kina at tehvidya.com. Just be aware this isn’t my regular email address so I’ll only check it like once a month. Please don’t die too quickly, Mr. Moneybags!
Last piece of news, I’m thinking of changing my WordPress theme. I actually tried doing that in early 2012 but couldn’t find anything I really liked, so I’ve stuck with this old one for a while. But now the site is 5 years old and I really feel like a change, so don’t be surprised if you show up one day and the place looks rather different. TBH I still haven’t found anything I like yet, but I’ll know it when I see it and then bam! it will be all over. Just a heads up in that direction. If there are any other blog improvements you think I ought to make, let me know. Happy New Year in advance!
I used to marathon games but nowadays it’s like maybe? I don’t mind the affiliate system as I usually don’t see them as intrusive as pop-ups (or repeated posts asking for donation money in other places).
Have a nice holidays and NYE too :>
Even in my gaming heydays, 10 hours a day was rare. That’s pretty much the whole waking day once you include food and bathroom breaks. Or maybe I just never found anything I liked thaaat much.
True afterwards you might feel burned out .-.
Right now the longest I can probably play would be around 2-3 hrs.
Yeah, same here. I can manage 6 for a really good game on a really good day, but that’s less and less common these days.
Heh, your brother’s play style seems pretty similar to mine, so I kind of understand why he’d drop the game if he doesn’t finish them. When you marathon game like that, you’ll sometime get hit with the realization, usually when you’re taking a break, that you’re either not really having fun or have already seen everything the game has to offer. As for the Affiliate program, I don’t mind it at all, hope this means we’ll be seeing some vita review sooner rather than later. Might finally push me over the edge to get a vita myself instead of borrowing it. Anyway, have a great holiday, and Happy New Year in advance!
Yeah, I keep saying I want to give up gaming, but the Vita keeps coming out with all these delicious-sounding new games I want to try, and then there are all the PS3 Atelier remakes… But me getting one doesn’t depend on the affiliate thing, I’m just waiting for a great deal.
The product links are awesome, actually! It’s neat and incredibly convenient to be able to browse through your older posts and hunt for Japanese-only games. I didn’t purchase anything yet, but that will certainly happen sooner or later, he he. 😛
Thanks, it’s good to hear you say that. Zero pressure, though.
None felt! Really, it’s great.^^ By the way, do you also get a fee if the purchases are made through Amazon Marketplace? I always use it since regular Amazon doesn’t ship to Europe.
Yes, I think I get a commission on those as well.