Author: NerdBoss

Confessions of a Con Man: Erich’s Thoughts on Kami-Con Season 7

“Season 7”

I really enjoyed Kami-Con Season 6; I had a great time, got autographs from the cast of Cowboy Bebop, met the cast of Sailor Moon, saw a ton of amazing costumes, and found the general cost-to-fun ratio to be pretty at a fantastic level. This year still had great costumes; I had a fun time, met Team 4 Star… and not much else. Part of me wants to tear into this year’s Kami-Con, and part of me blames my own expectations; I guess we will discover which part wins out.

Night Panels – The Britta of Panels

Seriously though, nighttime panels are the worst idea in human history. Why would I want to go to a celebrity panel after 7 o’clock at night? …anyone? …Bueller? I can only imagine that the reason for Team 4 Star’s panels being so late was due to the fact that they were “adults only” panels. Someone in our group wanted to see the Nostalgia Critic at one point; the rest of us walked in, listened for a minute, then walked back out and sat outside the room looking at the stuff we had bought.

Really, there was not much more than that to do most of the time; there must have been a dozen instances over those three days when we stared at the itinerary and asked “Well, what do we do now?” Over the course of an entire weekend, the only official events we attended were the opening ceremonies, the costume contest, and the late-night “adults only” Titan PJ party, which turned out to be a bust.

A Family-Friendly Con

I want to harp on something here: This is an anime convention, and anime is not known for always being family-friendly. Last year there was a “dub your own hentai” panel; this year there was a straight-up “tentacle porn” panel. Yet even though it was tagged “adults only,” and no one under 18 was permitted, the Titan PJ party was about as raunchy as a twelve-year-old’s birthday party at grandma’s house.

To be fair, we got there about fifteen minutes into the event, just as they were listing the rules for playing Cards against Humanity. I was sufficiently excited to just play CaH in a large group setting, having a fairly horrible mind; I once won a game of Apples to Apples by matching “The Challenger Explosion” up with the adjective “Scenic.” Then they handed us the cards… the handmade cards… the handmade cards that, instead of being real CaH cards, were either vaguely risqué Attack on Titan references, butt jokes, or the kinds of things that only twelve-year-olds find funny.

Oh, and before I forget, we did not even bother with the Saturday night “Rave;” this event went one step further and made the age limit 21… but was still non-alcoholic. Compare this to the last time I went to Dragon*Con where I drunkenly – so very drunkenly – danced with Felicia Day. Now, I know you want to call “bullshit” on that, but no lie I was close enough to her that a bodyguard moved me out of the way.

Swag

This year did show an enormous improvement to the dealers’ room, as well as “artist alley;” there were a couple of dedicated comic book dealers, and more statue dealers than you can shake a stick at.

I did get the autographs of Team 4 Star, and Bryce Papenbrook (Eren Yaeger/Kirito). Team 4 Star was a genuine treat; they only charged $5 for each piece of artwork plus autograph, and didn’t charge anything to sign something you brought with you. The quality of the art Mr. Papenbrook had on-hand to autograph was so fantastic that I bought several pieces even though I have not watched either show.

Cosplay

Now on the cosplay front, there was a fine amount of good/great cosplay; oddly enough though, the single best costume we saw – Hiccup and Toothless – received no awards at the costume contest. Notable costumes included a Frozen/Frozone mash-up (not pictured), Mileena and Johnny Cage, Slender Man, Goku and Naruto, Spider-Gwen, and a Sinestro Corps Scarecrow.

The Kami-Con-clusion

A small part of me knows that K-Con is maybe too far into the deep end for me; I like anime, but I have not kept up with new releases in a number of years (with the exception being Studio Ghibli productions). I understand that there will be a lot of things I don’t get; however, that is not the problem I had. My problem, at the core, came from having nothing to do; this was only exacerbated by the poor scheduling, inconsistent tone about “mature” events, and an overly-juvenile approach to many of the events I did attend.

Erich’s Nerd Rating: 5/10 – Undecided if I would Kami-Con again.

March 9, 2015
2014: A Year Of Surprises. Erich’s Game Of The Year

Surprise, your game does not work. Surprise, this game is awesome. Surprise, you bought the rights to a game without faces.

Game Of The Year

Dragon Age: Inquisition

No one who knows me will be surprised by a Bioware game being my GOTY, but this is more than that.

Inquisition checked off almost all of the things I have wanted from the franchise, Epic fights check, Deep conversations with characters who feel like old friends check, Morale ambiguous character missions that leave you feeling cold inside, double check. I will say that the overall story is a little weak, (Aside from philysophical musings on the nature of Life, the Universe, and Everthing) but the character moments are the strongest of the franchise.

Runner-Up

Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition

Yes, this is the second time I beat Sleeping Dogs, and yes it remains the best example of a serious take on the open world GTA style game (The Saints Row franchise being a less than serious take) It is no small thing to say that I enjoy punching people in the face in this game more then I enjoy it in the Arkham franchise. On top of rock solid gameplay, this newer version is simply gorgeous.

Surprise Of The Year

South Park The Stick of Truth

I have a confession to make, I only started watching South Park last year. In that year however I watched the first 16 seasons in a mad dash, of laughter, queasiness, and a vague level of not being sure if I should be offended. All of those things continued to greatness in SoT. Confession number 2, up until SoT I had never really enjoyed turn based RPG’s. Holy $#!+ balls what a way to get into one. I only wish we could get another.

Surprise Runner-Up

Wolfenstein: The New Order

When I watched the first WtNO trailer I was not impressed, and almost immediately wrote it off as a game doomed to fail. Boy, was I wrong. Wolfenstein brought me back to a time when fighting Nazis was cool, and FPS’ were not cursed by short campaigns, and sequalities. Back to the days of Halo: Combat Evolved, and Half Life 2. In short Wolfenstein made me feel young again, and can you ask more from anything?

Biggest Disappointment

Watch Dogs

We all criticize Blizzard for the shiny lies that are their game trailers, but with Watch Dogs I feel that Ubisoft is equally guilty. For a game that promised me freedom, and the ability to hack anything, the number of things I could hack was surprisingly limited. For instance, some police departments are issued guns that can only be fired by the officer the gun is assigned to, why couldn’t I hack guns? I could hack cars to start them, why couldn’t I turn off cars that were chasing me? The year before Ubi gave me Jason Brody and Vas, before that Ezio Auditore De firenzi, and Altiar. For this game they give me Aiden, and boring mob boss number 3 (Irish Pallette). Now I will give them credit for creating the single best Johnny Gat knockoff ever (Jordi) but why was he not in more of the game? In a story that is supposed to make me question the security of my data the only real question I am left with is; was that maybe French chick hot? I am still not sure.

Disappointment Runner-Up

Destiny

The only reason these two are not switched is that Ubisoft lied to me about Watch Dogs, I lied to myself about Destiny. I knew that I had not seen enough content from the trailers, I knew that the beta had looked boring as hell. I knew (breaks into sobbing) I knew…

Honorable Mention

Minecraft (Xbox One)

There is too much. For someone who loved the infinite possibilities of Minecraft, the upgraded version scares me on the inside.

January 7, 2015
“Loot, Loot, Bang, Bang” Erich’s Destiny Review

I have put 18 some odd hours into Destiny, and while most of those were enjoyed I want to talk about 6 of those hours in particular.

Loot Cave:

Most of my time in Destiny has been spent in the company of my three man fire team, rarely have we come into contact with other players, but then something strange happened we found ourselves working side by side with other Guardians. Working hand in hand with a common goal. What was that goal you ask, The Loot Cave.

These pseudo events which consisted of half a dozen of more of us shooting into a cave of eternally spawning Fallen, who graciously walked into our oncoming rounds sacrificing themselves and dropping loot of varying degrees at their feet.

My favorite aspect of this pseudo event were the times when the screen would flash and the words “The Enemy moves against each other” would pop up at the bottom of the screen. The loot for that event was not great, but having dozens of enemies on screen at a time and half a dozen of more guardians fighting alongside you were moments to treasure.

Those 4 hours we spent raiding the first Loot Cave were genuine fun, the 2 we have spent on the second have been less fun, but still enjoyable. I still do not know how I feel about the other 12 hours I have played.

Loot Cave- 9/10

Could have had better loot.

Playing Destiny has been fun, but have I enjoyed Destiny? The sad truth is I am still not sure whether I enjoyed Destiny or rather that I enjoyed shooting at things with friends.

Shooting at things with friends- 7/10

September 30, 2014
SCIENCE ALERT! Researchers create quantum bit. Quantum Leap just got real, ya’ll.

Researchers recently created the first qubit (quantum bit), a critical ingredient in building quantum computers. You heard me. The epic computers of your favorite sci-fi fantasy are going to be here faster than 1980’s Scott Bakula can put on a white leotard and be engulfed in blue flames.

Somehow these scientists figured out how to manipulate the direction electrons flow within a single atom. So instead of the binary code computers use now that’s built of one’s and zero’s, the quantum computer would use the electron flow directions; up, down… or both. So the qubit has 3 possible states, where the classic bit has only 2. (Face melts.)

That jbberish just means these quantum computers will be extremely fast. Watch this video and it’ll make sense:

With this breakthrough, plus recent advances in battery technology, we’re getting closer to a world where Tony Stark’s inventions could come alive and the Xbox will start to look more like the holodeck.

April 19, 2013
Worx WG787 Cordless Electric Lawn Mower Review
The best mower I’ve ever used

After moving from an apartment into a house with a grassy yard, I headed up to Lowes for some lawn mower shopping with my son. We eventually chose the [amazon_link id=”B007AQZ9S0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Worx WG787 Cordless Electric Lawn Mower[/amazon_link] for three reasons:

My favorite features:
1. No gas.
2. No cords.
3. Quiet Mode.
Other great features:
- Cuts up to 15,000 square feet on a single charge
- Up to 45 minutes of runtime
- 3-in-1 cutting for mulching, bagging, or rear discharge; push-button starting
- Adjustable mowing height from 1.5 to 3.5 inches; 17-inch cutting width
- IntelliCut mowing technology adds torque when you’re cutting tough grass
- Special mulching blade chops up clippings better than standard blades
Over the past few months I’ve put these features to the test during the fast-growing sub-tropical Alabama summer.

Smart Design

The Worx 787 proves to be a lightweight, but durable, grass-eating beast that’s easy to maneuver. A hefty 12-volt rechargeable/removable battery makes up the bulk of the mower’s weight. Its lightness makes it feel deceptively delicate, but it’s actually pretty tough. I’ve banged it around the front and back yard in bumpy muddy weed-heavy terrain without any problems.

The battery slides in and out of the mower body with ease. So easily in fact, if the mower tips over while in use the battery actually falls out, turning off the blade motor. At first I thought this was a flaw, but I realized it may be a safety feature since the blades are exposed if the mower is on its side. Even if it wasn’t an intentional decision by the industrial designers, I appreciate the feature while doing yard work with kids around.

And of course, the battery-powered device is free from the hassle managing cords.

I do wish the wheels were a bit larger, to help it cruise through deep overgrowth a bit better, but if you mow regularly, it’s not an issue.

Politely powerful

The Quiet Mode has a clever feature called Intellicut, which ramps up the power if you need it, but remains quieter than a hair dryer so you can mow at night without disturbing your neighbors. Not that you’d want to mow at night, but if you’re like me, you may want to get some yard work in while the kids are taking a nap.

Treat yourself to the best cordless electric mower around… or the bigger one.

Now that I’ve owned the Worx 787 for several months I have zero regret. Simple, clean, and surprisingly quiet, it dominates the lawn. [amazon_link id=”B007AQZ9S0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Buy it on amazon.com[/amazon_link]

Or check it its big brother, the [amazon_link id=”B003BJE9WM” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]more powerful self-propelled model[/amazon_link].

Anybody else have a favorite mower?
October 17, 2012
An electric vehicle cheaper than the Leaf, more stable than the Batpod.
Introducing the world’s first gyroscopically stabilized, two-wheeled all-electric vehicle: The C1 from Lit Motors. Or as I like to call it, My Next Car.

Notice the clip of the C1 getting jerked around by a Jeep while keeping its balance and staying upright. The idea is that even in an actual crash it would bounce off, screech a bit, and keep going.

Sliding by a theater near you

If it sounds like something you’ve seen in movies, you’re right. There are actually several features of the C1 that have ties to the big screen.
- Super-stable 2-wheeled vehicle = The Dark Knight’s Batpod
- Remote controlled by smartphone = Batman’s Batmobile and The Dark Knight’s Batpod
- HUD display built in to the windshield… you heard me. = Remember the car Tom Cruise sported in MI4 with the touch screen windshield… that, but without the “touch” capability.
Other great features:
- top speeds around 100mph,
- 0-60 in 6 seconds
- a range of about 200 miles/charge
All packaged into a sleek design that will launch in 2o14 for about $24,000, but will drop to $12,500 by 2018.

In summary, its awesome and I want one.

You can reserve yours here. Find more details about the C1 and its creators over at TechCrunch…

Would you buy one?
September 11, 2012