deviantART: by:bahndotcom

Itsa Mii

~bahndotcom — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 21:41:33 PDT

So I stumbled upon this at my old forum stompin grounds. One of the talented folks at Joystiq came up with a Flash recreation of the user-avatar system based on what we'll all be doing with the Wii!!! (Click here to check it out).

Below is an attachment created by our very own, Rocca (Patrick Butler). So yes, you too can virtually create a character based upon your likeness.

And here's a pic of myself that I created.

Try it out! Enjoy!!!

Click to enlarge

I'm Bringing Happy Back... (Yeah!)

~bahndotcom — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 20:00:47 PDT

(Yes this blog title is an indirect knock on Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" song... which I'm almost ashamed to admit that I actually like now. Oh noes.)

Now that I'm starting to settle back in a "normal" groove, it should be noted that my interest in drawing has not been neglected. It's been great to hear from a few people that have been keeping an eye on me (you know who you are!) The latest feedback comes from my newly added DA buddy, Hypes whose support has been particularly encouraging. I'm going to have to think up something special or something to do for him as he's pointed out that much of my stuff has a unique cuteness to it!

Meanwhile, I've been trying to get back into my gaming sessions on a regular basis. Yesterday I spent time with Test Drive Unlimited, a new game published by Atari. It's pretty cool for those of you who dig RPG-style elements in racing games. It didn't do much for me although the customization options and ability to get behind the wheel of real-life vehicles is a great touch. I took the new Saturn Sky for a test-drive and think I've found my new dream car for when I grow old and retire. I joked the other day with my fiance that the only cons to the car is apparently, it's not a convertible and it can only seats two ppl. That means we could never give our friends any rides, unless they sat inside the trunk. *L*

So here's a somewhat silly question -- but who's looking forward to the Wii? No really? I mean, the buzz is pretty high from what I can gather. Nintendo has really played their strategy out well and I'm just counting the days (Nov. 19 still seems so far away). I'm eager to get my hands on Super Mario Galaxy, Excitetruck and Metroid Prime 3. WiiSports also looks nice, if only for the fact that it will make for an awesome party game with friends and family. And I can't forget to give a nod to Zelda: The Twilight Princes in spite of the fact that we may well not end up seeing it this year. I ain't trying to jinx things -- but we all know how Nintendo has been with their "unexpected" delays. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

In other news, I'm supposed to get back my car sometime next week. Its absence is... so painfully apparent whenever I take the Dodge Stratus (the rental) out on the road for my weekly commute. Ugh... MUST. GET. BACK. CAR! I've finally got over the fact that in a matter of days, I'll be forking over a nice chunk of cash just to get it out of the shop. I was especially grateful to have some support from a very good friend -- a miracle that I never saw coming. Really put a smile on my face. And speaking of smiles... I'm rather curious to see what MS has loaded on the Marketplace. Right now, they've got a "Bringing it Home" campaign dedicated to the Tokyo Game Show and X06. At the time I posted an article and went online-- there wasn't too much available, making me wonder what was taking so long for them to present the "exclusive content". If I recall correctly, the press release proudly spoke of getting access to content before it was posted anywhere else. Hmm... I must of missed it.

My guess is that it's all going to be time-released over the course of the next several days. So yeah, while the stuff we'll be getting IS free -- we're still better off going to the usual sources for in-depth impressions.

I downloaded NBA 2K7 last night and man, this game is making me love video game b-ball all over again. Last year's version was awesome, but 2K is taking the visuals and gameplay to a whole new level. My impressions wouldn't really do it justice, so drop over to IGN or 1up as I'm sure they've got some extensive reports... or if you're lucky -- perhaps one of our guys will show some editorial love and bang out a review when the game makes its retail release.

Wow -- amazing how much you can start writing once you get going. It's nearly 11 p.m. and I've still gotta tend to my laundry and use the last hour to get in a quick gaming session on 360. Till next time!

Gone in Sixty Seconds

~bahndotcom — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 23:16:53 PDT

September 14th started out like any other typical day. Routine. Woke up at 10:20 a.m., washed up and got dressed to drop off my fiance for her 11 'o clock shift, giving me about a half-hour extra time to make my usual hour commute to work. It also happened to be raining, but up here in Connecticut -- that's especially typical for this time of year. The drive up to commute today would ultimately be a day I'd never forget.

My Saturn Ion 2 got banged up in its first car accident. [Edited for those of you who may be thinking that I'm talking about the classic console.]

I was about 15 minutes away from my job when I approached the final exit heading to Boston (2E leading to I-84). I was going appox. 40-45 mph when the car suddenly started to skid - - leading to my initial reaction to ...slow it down a bit. Mistake. The car drifted and I couldn't regain control of the vehicle or reduce my speed. My options were limited and I didn't want to do anything drastic... but it wouldn't matter soon as I was fast approaching the guardrail on the left. "I'm going to crash." was all I could think.

And I did. Within 60 seconds, my Ion had went head-to-head with the guardrail and lost. So much for being early for my shift. My head was spinning. My first car and already going through its first accident within 3 months. I wasn't able to get out on the driver's side and was forced to use the front passenger door. Inspecting the damage, which at the time looked much worse than I thought -- it was clear there was NO way I'd be driving the Ion anytime soon. The body panel on the driver's side had been ripped off... the control arm and axle was broken... the tire and rims were shot and the bottle holding the windshield fluid was totally busted. My heart sunk. While it normally takes awhile for a towing service, I was fortunate to literally have one tailing me seconds before the wreck. He had asked me a few questions like the make and year of the car (which as some of you know is a 2006 model). "Oh, well you're totally covered by the warranty then." I nodded. Although this was definitely good news, my utmost concern was how I'd be getting to work from this point on. As you can imagine, I was in a bit of shock during the whole ordeal, making a quick call to my dealership, followed by the insurance company to make a claim. Meanwhile, the tow truck driver was endeavoring to lend me a hand, advising me that I definitely did not want to have the state police involved with the decision-making process where my car would end up. Speaking of which -- they gave me a ticket by the way (infraction: unreasonable speed. WTF? As if I hadn't already been through enough as it is.)

The whole incident totally soured the entire day. It turns out that I didn't have rental coverage on my plan which sucked because I'd end up having to pay out of pocket on-site. I ended up taking the driver's advice to have it tow to his company's site and checking into a rental agency (Budget) to get some substitute wheels (2006 Dodge Stratus -- white) for the time being. But there still was a matter of where the Saturn was going to end up; what I'd be paying out-of-pocket (if any) for the towing and most importantly, where/when was it going to get repaired. Well, it all worked out in the end much better than I could've anticipated. The driver from the towing service really went the extra mile for me. We ended up having the car towed back to a body shop a few exits away from my hometown (which was a lot better than having it left somewhere that was over an hour away). The shop actually was networked with my insurance agency who are contracted to give priority to my vehicle and work on it daily. I didn't have to pay for the towing expense either (which was great, cuz that shit gets expensive). The insurance agency sent down an rep to inspect the vehicle to calcuated the estimate damages (hint: it's a lot) while the owner of the body shop and I talked a bit while retreiving some personal items from the Ion. "It's not as bad as it looks", he said, assuring me that things could have been a LOT worse and I'd be driving it very soon. Prior to the accident, I was somewhat uneducated as to the proper course of action. But after all this, I've definitely gained a much better understanding in the event that I end up going through this again. [knock on wood]

While it's understandable that I'd be bitter about the incident, I'm extremely grateful that I wasn't hurt. In the end, that's the most important thing to keep in mind. It's also encouraging to know that I won't be without my car for too long -- slated to be available at the end of this month. It's only been two days and I'm already missing the Ion... Which reminds me, it's only officially referred to as the Ion.... I ended up giving it a ni...

Bring a water can...

~bahndotcom — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:29:48 PDT

So we've upgraded our forums, but we lack the community level to help break it in. LOL. GotNext has been up for about two years and it's already facing the sad reality which many gaming enthusiast sites big and small face: sporadic forum activity --- or worse, none at all.

While it's been difficult to remain optimistic, I haven't given up just yet. My hope is that over time, some of the lurkers will decide to emerge from the shadows and start to interact with us. I'd like to think that GotNext is a fine site (and not just because I'm the founder). It's backed by a great group of passionate people who truly enjoy what they're doing.

The forums just needs a jumpstart from people who just want to "shoot the shit" about games, movies and all that. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? I'd like to think so.

I'm willing to do whatever it takes to create that community -- right now, we're still in that flower bud stage with dreams of blooming into something bigger. Anyone wanna bring a water can and help us grow? ^_^ Here's the URL: http://www.got-next.com/board... *points*

Bleh, now I'm starting to sound like a street peddler.

Of course, I'm always open to hearing your thoughts and feedback...

Back in the picture

~bahndotcom — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 15:18:08 PDT

There's a good explanation why my activity on DA just suddenly came to a halt. I've been going through some rough times. It's nothing life-threatening, but it's a matter that involved my immediate household. The good news is that I'm on the verge of getting back to normal and hope to start getting back to drawing once again in the weeks to come.

I see there's over 31 new deviations and 13 message awaiting me, so perhaps this would be a good time to get back into the flow. Who knows, maybe I'll sketch up something today. There's still that matter of a Chibi Rose pic I was working on... but to be honest, after talking with Chaos-Shadow, I may just make another attempt to redraw her; only this time, she'll be cuter!

What's everyone else been up to?

The NEW DA!

~bahndotcom — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 01:15:44 PDT

Wow...I must say, I'm LOVING the new look to DA. Faster, cleaner and just downright spiffy. KUDOS to the whole design team. On that note, I really need to get back to my art projects. (Don't worry, I'm still alive... for those of ya that care)

Calling All Street Fighters

~bahndotcom — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 21:28:02 PDT

Yeah... you. All of you that love Capcom's World Warriors.

The time has come -- SF2' Hyper Fighting is but a few hours away from hitting Xbox Live Arcade. Who's picking it up tonight and down to go a few rounds? Or the night after. Post your gamertags here (or just shoot me an email with the subject header "Street Fighter 2 on XBLA" if you wanna keep it on the DL). Looking forward to playing some of you, and even those of you who I haven't heard from before.

E3 '07 -- Confirmed as 'Downsized' Event

~bahndotcom — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 16:03:22 PDT

Goodbye extravagant booths, loud noises and... *gasp* fewer attendees. ESA expresses huge plans to restruct E3.

Gamestop offers new details directly from the ESA who have confirmed that E3 will in fact be smallerl, "more intimate" and possibly even relocated.

It's also interesting that several big game publishers like Microsoft, Sony, and THQ Electronic Arts are in full support of this envisioned, downsized event. There's been talks of these companies supposedly pulling their support for the 'mega show' held annually in the Los Angeles Entertainment Expo. The essence of their joint reasoning is mostly monetary as the article notes the high costs for constructing elaborate, attractive booths designed to draw attendees in.

Rich G brings up a good point. E3 has definitely gotten out of control. I mean, it's always been a loud atmosphere of unimaginable proportions. As of late, it does seem to have become so obnoxious with little balance that you often wonder if the organizers have forgotten the true function of what the trade show should represent. E3 '06 was merely a pinch on the arm to what now will feel like getting walloped by a heavyweight boxer. The impact of a scaled down E3 may not be obvious to all affected right now, but it's bound to create some uproar and disappointments in weeks to come as the ESA sheds more light on things.

Personally, I'm all for it, provided that it allows the expo goes back to its roots. I found smaller meetings to typically be more enjoyable back when I lived in NY. Posh office space was rented out and only a handful of select editors were invited to come check out the featured titles over the span of a few days. Sure it's not as flashy, but it seems this would be more cost-effective and practical for everyone. Besides, I don't particuarly care for booth appointments where I'm rushed through 30+ games while the rep battles to iterate key details as a cacophony of sounds are going off at once. And while I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers, the attendance issue seriously needs to be moderated even more. Even though this year saw a big drop in the overall attendance, it was still pretty crowded. Why not just make the first two days a media only event only and leave the last day open to the casual types? But I don't expect it to be the same as Colin Campbell writes in his article (see link below): "Whatever passes for E3 next May, Next-Gen will be there. It may be called E3. It may feature some people looking at games in a big room. There may even be some free drinks. But it ain't going to be E3."

And what does the city of Los Angeles think? Given the significant spike of profits E3 brings during that time of year for restaurants, hotels and yes, even taxi drives -- should we be surprised that they wouldn't be particularly pleased of a scaled down event?

"One group that will clearly suffer from a downsized E3 is Los Angeles taxi drivers. "The youngsters spend a lot of money, and they don't stay in one space," said Nettabai Ahmed, president of Los Angeles' Independent Taxi. "For taxis, it was really a good convention for us...A regular convention boosts the drivers' income by about 25 to 30 percent. But E3, it goes up to 50 percent boost in their income."

You can check out the entire article written by Gamespot here.

Edit: Here's another excellent article featuring 10 reasons that analyzing the reasons that lead to E3's fall.

The End of E3?

~bahndotcom — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:55:47 PDT

Back when it was announced that E3 was putting an end to the proverbial booth babe, many saw this as a huge a critical aspect that defined an incentive to attend the trade show. Of course, we ended up discovering this year that the presence of the booth kittens was still very much in effect, albeit dressed more ...appropriately.

Personally, I could live without booth kittens. I mean, other than being great to look at... they tell me nothing about the game. Few are even fortunate to properly know how to pronounce the very booth they represent as Candice discovered first hand.

But what if there E3 was terminated altogether? Well guess what -- it's true. According to Next-gen.biz, industry sources have reported that the Entertainment Software Association has reached a decision in which they feel the annual expo's "costs... do not justify the returns, generally measured in media exposure."

And it would appear that even game publishers have been considering new alternatives towards that are geared specifically towards their own product lines instead of the entire industry as a whole.

Next-gen biz states: "ESA president Doug Lowenstein will likely announce the news some time within the next 48 hours, possibly on Monday. It's likely that the ESA will seek to limit the damage by organizing some form of lesser event in May, possibly even with the E3 brand, but this will be no more than a fig-leaf. The days of an industry event attended by all the major publishers, spending big money, are gone."

I must say, this news comes as a bit of a shock. It would be cooler if they just looked into a smaller scale of what E3 offers, perhaps even break it down by regions. While it's going a bit off tangent, I'm sure many editors who reside on the Mid or East coasts would be thrilled if the trade show was held closer in their backyard. I'd be all up for something right in New York. Not only would this make it easier on my travel expenses, not to mention, there would be little need for a hotel. But back on topic, this sort of event worries me, because it's probably going to lead to something else I've been meaning to discuss for awhile: the end of the gaming enthusiast site. Or more to the point... publishers jointly making a decision to terminate their support for sites operated by dedicated gaming enthusiasts. Perhaps I'm jumping the gun a bit, and for what it's worth -- I'd still prefer to save that discussion for a later date... but for now, with E3's existence apparently put on hold, anything is possible.

Edit: (Forgot that I blogged about this here too and failed to report this update). With a bit of digging, my assumptions have been confirmed that E3 isnt being cancelled, merely downsized as reported here. (Thanks, Travis!)

Thoughts?

Tablet Get

~bahndotcom — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 22:45:06 PDT

Got a Wacom digital tablet (4x5) and I couldnt' be happier. It means that, yes, I've officially entered the world of digital coloring. By now, some of you have seen my first efforts -- the latest being the new Tinkerbell pic I drew up a few days ago. I'm really proud how it turned out and look forward to inking some of my older stuff and starting on new stuff down the road...

Sketch Faux Paux

~bahndotcom — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:22:41 PDT

Ugh -- don't you hate when you start out a sketch that initially looks good only to find the final result isn't what you intended. That happened this morning -- sort of bummed me out, but you can bet I'll be at it tomorrow. Oh yes. Think I'll shoot for drawing a new game character chick or something. Any suggestions?

Whoo -- 400 views (a good start of things to come)

~bahndotcom — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 22:53:33 PDT

Well -- it's a bit shy of 500, but I figured it was worth being happy about nonetheless. My fiance is already beating me -- nearing close to 600. Perhaps I should post more cute pics of myself?

Just thought I'd thank everyone who've checked out my humble DA section and/or commented. It's totally appreciated. Stay tuned for more deviations/scraps!!!

Win a copy of Street Fighter Anthology (PS2)

~bahndotcom — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:38:41 PDT

Just thought I'd share this with my fellow DA friends...

There's an old proverb that says: you've gotta be in it, to win it. (Or something to that extent).
In any case -- GotNext has a new giveaway going on until month's end. Check it:

At long last, the definitive Street Fighter Alpha compilation has finally come home to the PlayStation 2. Avid fighting game enthusiasts can enjoy perfect ports of every Street Fighter Alpha installment and as an added bonus -- Super Gem Fighter MiniMix (known in the states as Pocket Fighter). It's the ultimate collector's package and we're giving away copies to 3 randomly selected winners. We would have loved to arrange for an online tournament, but sadly this version doesn't offer online play. So we had to settle for a traditional trivia related to the series. Answer them correctly and you'll be entered in our drawing.

More details can be found here.

Who... me, lazy? Pfft.

~bahndotcom — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 13:00:49 PDT

Just got word that my new set of Rapidograph technical pens are arriving tomorrow!!! I was getting a bit impatient and nearly took a drive across town (across town as in over 30 miles) to get something until then. Seeing as they're coming tomorrow -- I can wait.

In other news, I've been just sketching here and there. Cloudpiercer and I recently were shooting back a few ideas and it turns out that he had been working on a new Disgaea fanart piece -- which looks frigging awesome, btw! Really, you gotta check it out.

Some of you already know that I've just out completed the Anthology pic -- well, colors anyways. I really gotta go back over the picture and ink it so the lines will stand out. Today, I may go back over some older artwork and redraw them so that I can actually give them a breath of new life (meaning colors). I also have a new idea for a new drawing that literally came to me while talking to a friend on AIM -- I asked to see a photograph of him in order to make this vision floating in my head a reality. You'll see...

About You

~bahndotcom — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 16:16:49 PDT

Chaos Shadow recently posted one of the memme-type thing on her blog and well, they're sort of a guilty pleasure for me... so I'm spreading it along on my own. For those of you who happen to be on my friends list -- or lurk -- feel free to comment. (Chaos -- looking forward to hearing from ya!)

PLEASE FILL THIS OUT IN THE COMMENT SLOT:

1. Name:
2. Birthday:
3. Place of residence:
4. What makes you happy:
5. What are you listening to now/have listened to last:
8. An interesting fact about you:
9. Are you in love/have a crush at the moment:
10. favourite place to be:
11. favourite lyric:
12. best time of the year:
13. What do you think of my work?
14. Have I been a good friend to you?
15. Tell me something you've never told me before.
16. Would you be interested in me if we met?
17. What's the perfect person for you?

PLUS

1. one thing you like about me:
2. two things you like about yourself:
3. put this in your journal so i can tell you what i think of you.
4. post or link a pic of you (if possible)

Just another day...

~bahndotcom — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 19:01:35 PDT

So I recently completed my pencil work on the Anthology pic and started to color it. Thing is, I started to dislike it a bit -- I couldn't figure at first why -- Ken's eyes sort of got messed up. I can live with it. I have to. O_o

It finally dawned on me that the picture would look a lot better if I inked it. Unfortunately, my most precise Rapidograph technical pens were retired many months ago. The india ink messed up the nibs and regardless how much I cleaned them, it wouldn't work. So I had to order new ones. In the meantime, I'll probably find some older pics to work on, or just take a break. Personally, I'd rather not go with the latter because being an active member of DA really inspires me. I've started chatting with one member in particular (Cloudpiercer -- very down to earth guy, btw) and we've made plans to do a series of collaboration works in the future. I'm really looking forward to it.

In other news, I'll be spending nearly this entire week -- working. I've only got one day off because a newly hired employee had an unfortunate car accident which has put him out of work for the time being. Today, I had to work a total of 12 hours and I have to return tomorrow too. Bleh. Work would go by so much quicker if I could bring my sketchbook and scribble -- but that of course, would take away from me selling to potential customers. Well, I've ranted long enough -- hope to hear from more of you and I promise to have new drawings soon. I'm sure a few of you are looking forward to seeing what I come up with.

On its way

~bahndotcom — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 19:26:48 PDT

The pic will be published sometime later tonight or tomorrow -- really. I'll explain a bit later -- I'm hungry and tired...

Coming up next...

~bahndotcom — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 20:38:49 PDT

Grrr -- just lost my journal entry while tinkering with the "journal enhancements".
Anyways -- I'm nearly done with the "Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3" pic, which recently developed into somewhat different theme that from this point on will be acknowledged as Street Fighter Anthology. I should be done with it in a few hours. Stay tuned.

Working hard (and loving it!)

~bahndotcom — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 00:02:08 PDT

Either I'm just having a difficult time NOT being such an anal-retentive, perfectionist -- or I'm just the type of artist who believes in just doing it right! (Yeah, I like the latter statement).

So I'm hard at work on an updated Zero 3 group pic -- the work-in-progress ended up going through an unexpected revision. Cloudpiercer gave me a bit of advice that involves viewing my pics in reverse. While this may sound strange to some -- I must admit it's an effective technique since drawings should conform to a balanced, symetrical format. I plan on putting this into exercising on a regular basis, ultimately making it easier to spot potential errors in my pictures.

I've also decided it would be best to just, well -- take my time -- after all, there's no need for me to rush? It's not like I'm entering a contest. And although I usually have a fast turnabound with my pics, I'd like to savor my latest production. One of my main objectives this time around is for one -- to feature different characters that were omitted from the previous version. I haven't decided just how many will be featured in the pic but I don't wanna get to crazy and have them in there just to say "see, they're they are". When it comes to composition, you've gotta have a balance.

Well, 'nuff ranting for now. It's back to drawing for me. I'll just go out on a high note by giving a big thank you to all the new DA buddies I've met in the past week. I've appreciated your feedback and support. Rest assured, I'll be dropping by from time to time too! ^^

What's new in the land of Bahn?

~bahndotcom — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 02:21:12 PDT

After checking out CloudPiercer's own scraps -- I decided to show off my own, though they're not quite as impressive as his own gallery. What? I'm just being honest (and humble). Please, feel free to check them out. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Oh, in other news -- I picked up some new art supplies which will really help out my drawing sessions. New sketching pencils (9H - H), a wooden mannequin (to help out with poses and composing geometric shapes more accurately), coloring pencils (because let's face it -- artwork is so much better when you give it a bit of color. I'll be moving back to markers and eventually CG colors soon), a circular template (makes it easier to get cleaner sketches or refining works-in-progress annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd ... a lightbox. So excited to put it into action!

Really thrilled to be hearing from more artists on DA -- thus far, it's made me free really welcome. My only regret is that I didn't become a member sooner!

Edit: I've decided to include the original date in which these pics were drawn (even though they're note on 80 percent of my drawings. Oh, and for those of you that generally prefer color... I'm sorry. I became used to drawing in black/white and just never got around to coloring a lot of pics... I plan to change all that with my upcoming productions... and I may update a few of the older productions that I liked a lot (see: Zero 3 group pic).

No production?

~bahndotcom — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 02:15:20 PDT

Bah -- tried drawing up something tonight and just couldn't get the juices running. Hard lesson learned -- when you can't produce, DON'T FORCE IT! @_@

Getting Back to Basics (No, Really)

~bahndotcom — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 22:29:26 PDT

Bahn rants about how he's been gone for too long and now wants to draw, draw, draw. Yay!

Looking back on my past art and reflecting on the future, it's been something of a bittersweet return to the world of penciling and fanart. I'm sort of kicking myself for allowing nearly four years to go by without so much as a single sketch. I blame some of it due to my recent passions diverted to writing, (check out GotNext for a closer look. You'll have to PM me if you want to read some of my articles). Perhaps I felt it was difficult to balance writing an art? Or perhaps it was just that I didn't quite master the art of time management unlike today. Who knows? Who cares? The point is I'm back. Joining DA was undoubtedly the best thing that I could have ever done. I'm already making plans to get a new Prismacolor marker set (because, welll... I feel really odd sharing all this artwork in b/w when most artists have collections filled with colored productions), a light box (finally!!!) and a few new anime books to just brush up on a few conventional techniques and pick up a few new ones along the way. I'd love to hear from more of you too. I'll feel more welcome here -- but if you wanna lurk a bit longer, that's fine too, either way -- I appreciate the attention and hope to be a more active part of the community instead of just another statistic who's signed up.

It ain't cool to be sad...

~bahndotcom — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 20:18:58 PDT

Had a really rough day at work. Well, actually -- it wasn't worth... just really boring. I worked for a new wireless division owned by Disney. It's mainly targeted for families and diehard Disney enthusiasts. It offers similar features offered by existing carriers including the ability to set restrictions to prevents kids from potentially exceeding the number of minutes on their plan. Disney Mobile also is equipped with a GPS tool that allows parents to easily locate their kids. I have to admit, it's good to see someone taking the concerns of families (mainly mothers) more seriously -- but it will be awhile before it turns into a financial phenemenon. I've yet to sell anything which again, is just mainly due to the fact that it's the new kid on the block. Anyways -- I decided to try to take my mind off things and decided to continue working on a new picture I started on a few days ago. I'll give you a hint: it's Street Fighter related. I'll be sure to post it once I'm done.

Those awesome summer months. :p

~bahndotcom — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 02:02:36 PDT

Recently, I started to realize that I've dedicated way too much effort with the editorial side of gaming, but made very little time for actually enjoying what I play. It seems like it's just the same routine day in and out. As you can imagine, that tends to get dull rather quickly. In case you're wondering, that isn't some excuse I've chalked up for as the absence of Bahn Unplugged -- far from it. Truth is, I just haven't had much of a reason to toss one of these together as usual.

Ok, that's somewhat of a lie. By now, many of you are aware that we recently launched a new feature on the site called GotSpace. Since its debut, I've become more accustomed to tossing together a blurb or two during the day and I have to say -- it's better for a number for reasons. I don't have to concern myself with a whole lot of formatting, readers can comment on the fly (without the need to even register) and well, it's just easier.

I haven't decided if Bahn Unplugged will officially migrate there, but all the signs indicate otherwise. Personally, I think this is for the best since "editorial blogs" as we informally call them should be seperate from the rest of the site content. Many of the writers tend to be a lot more casual (and in some cases, blunt) when speaking their mind. I think that I speak for everyone when I say it's very liberating.

So -- games. What have I been up to? Well I may as well start from the most recent events. I picked up a DS Lite this past Sunday and it's nothing short of amazing. It's most obvious, significant feature is that it's brighter than the original DS model. The system is equipped with several settings, making it even easier to enjoy it whether playing indoors or out. It's also somewhat lighter than its older counterpart... not to mention the DS Lite sports a sleek look that seems inspired by a product Apple would make. Sup Ipod. Unless you import, DS Lite only comes in one color. I love the fact the mic has been repositioned in a more appropriate location -- I never particularly cared for where it was positioned on the original model. Back when I played Feel the Magic, my mouth had to be all up on the mic in order for it to work. Blowing on my system seems sort of wierd anyway, I don't care how you rationalize it. Oh, and the stylus is thicker now too, which gets huge points of applause from me. The original stylus was too thin and after awhile, it doesn't sit in its holder too well. I didn't conduct any sound tests between the DS Lite and original DS, but it would appear that the sound levels are identical to each other.

I'd love to get a model in black or navy blue -- which may be soon, depending on how badly my fiance starts getting envious. Right now, I can only enjoy New Super Mario Bros. because my entire collection was stolen from the Ramada Hollywood. Yeah -- stolen... the stupid staff in Hollywood claim they know nothing about it. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the best resolution I could get was a 20 percent discount. Pfft. Screw that. I wanted to be compensated for my losses. Sucks too, because I even took my copy of Sonic Advance 2 which was autographed by Yuji Naka. Who knows if I'll even run into him again at another E3.

Oh, that's right -- I just recently got a copy of Cars for the DS. Guess I could play that too... or Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. Heh. That reminds me, I recently checked out GameTap and y'know -- it's grown quite a bit since the last time I checked it out. In case you 're not in the loop -- it's an on-demand service that requires a broadband connection and is can be enjoyed at the low monthly rate of $9.95. I'd love to play it on my PC, but there seems to be some firewall conflict so I have to settle for gaming on my laptop. Most of my game sessions have consisted of playing Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Super Street Fighter II Turbo. You'd think with the 500+ games, I'd end up selecting something that I didn't compulsively play in my younger years. I may end up checking out the Rolling Thunder 3 or Bust-a-Move... two of the recent releases added to the library. I did try Kung Fu Fighting -- it's that classic game that came out before Capcom's 2D fighting boom. Man, I don't remember that game being so hard to control. I couldn't even get past the training level and quickly turned it off to avoid further embarassment and ridicule from my girl.

Meanwhile, in 360 land -- I started playing Uno, a game that Chris Istel urged me to pick up. I have to thank him, because this game is pretty cool to play online. I only wish that it offered a offline mode, which would make a great game with local friends. Shu...