At the Kitchen Table

It’s  the end of the Worlds as know it.

Today started early. I set my alarm for 7am so that I could be to the site in plenty of time to see the opening ceremonies and the HOF induction.

I caught the 49 bus to Fort Mason. This reminded me vividly how much nicer the public transportation system in Chicago is.

I made it to the venue in plenty of time. On entering the hall, I was greeted my Magic’s reigning posterboy:

Meeting people.

 

I spent much of the day simply meeting people: those that I’ve met before, and those who I know on twitter and the like.

The list is long but the day began, and ended (over a fabulous diner at Tony’s) with Robert Martin (Men of Magic), Trick, Adam (aka Trick version 2.0), and Evan.

I got a seat for the ceremonies. BDM stopped on the way to the stage to say hi. Brian is simply a great guy whose knowledge of the game and it’s history is simply amazing.

I watched the opening ceremonies and the HOF induction. It’s so good to see Steve OMS get in. This is so long overdue. I noticed Shuhei having a good laugh at the recounting of his past achievements and adventures: Play every GP across the world, and something about petting an alligator?! He was in fine form today, in Japanese attire.

I squoze in an 8 man standard pickup. I played UW Illusions, and lost in round 2. More public events later in the weekend.

After that event I wandered around more and met up with more people.

Notably, I ran into Lokman Chen Fresh from his GP San Diego top 8. Lokman is someone I have good memories of playing at Superstars when it was my LGS.

I finally had the pleasure of meeting @affinityforblue himself, Joey Pasco. We had a long chat that wandered over several magic and non-magic topic.

Tristan Sean Gregory is another guy I know from my days at Superstars/ChannelFireball. Good times catching up and having a deep discussion of the OP changes.

I must say I was dismayed when I saw where the event was. Restaurnats? NOT. Coffee? NOT. The coffee I took care of with a short walk to StarBucks, and lunch was in true San Francisco style: food trucks! Real food trucks, unlike as the legally castrated trucks in Chicago. Yummy food trucks, too. Mmm.. chicken and donuts!

Waiting in line for lunch I met Josh Frankel (@inkwell_looter) and chatted with him and Mark Rosewater.

Sat with Josh, Adam (@the_stybs) his wife, and a couple other guys.

After lunch Adam and I played a game with a couple casual decks he had. I ran the BG werewolf deck with copy effects. I won that one fairly handily. I believe  he is planning to write it up. It was fun, and the first time Ive had the opportunity to play with werewolves. The dual face cards are a bit of a pain, but the werewolves are great fun. After he experience with them, as well as the Delver in my Illusions deck, I see the value of using checklists.  I’m sold.

Many of the greats are here. Many old timers as well. I’ve seen Jon Finkel several a times, Alan Comer, Darwin Kastle, Rob Dougherty, Randy Beulher. Many seem to be here because it really is the end of the Worlds as we know it.

Artists, spell slingers, and Seishiro Ohkubo with his amazing 3D alters. So nice I’d want to put them in a perfect fit…. um….

Finally met and had a good chat with Ziam Beg, after working with him on channelforeball.com.

Adam and I did a fairly significant trade.  I almost took one of his Underground Seas as part of it, but decided to go with more on less valuable lands: pains and various colorless generators for my Karn Commander deck that I’m rebuilding. I followed that up with cruising the vendor booths for more Commander fodder.  I like Adam’s idea of building a ‘Commander box‘.  This weekend is getting it up & running.  It’s time to head back to the ATM…

After a day full of magic Adam, his wife, Trick, Robert, and Evan and me heading to dinner at Tony’s in North Beach (corner of Union & Stockton). If you like traditional pizza, get there at least once while you’re here!

The day wrapped up back at the Armory with me meeting (a hug was as far as it went) my favorite kinklive.com girl.  A while ago it came to light that we had a couple of really good friends in common (which I had dinner with on Wednesday, in fact). A great day over all.

 

“I never was on the ProTour”*

I haven’t even played in a GP. I played in a ton of small events at SuperStars/ChannelFireball, including a PTQ (if memory serves) and Regionals one year. I even top8ed a sealed 1K (or something similar). I was an FNM regular before moving to California, and am trying to become one again at my new LGS in Chicago.

So when I decided to contract to StarCityGames, Indy was a few weeks and a cheap/quick trip away. I talked to Evan and decided to go, have some fun and talk some business.

Evan ended up bailing due to an impending child so it changed to a chance to meet some people (including some SCG folks) and play some magic. My buddy Jerry Martin shipped me a list he’s been brewing that he says has good matchups against CawBlade and DeceiverTwin. So I figured I’d pick up the remaining cards for it when I got there and see what it could do in side events and casual games. For fun, I also brought along UR DeceiverTwin.

I’d been building a friendship over the last couple of months with Kelly Reid from QuietSpeculation and when his arrangements for a place to sleep fell through I was happy to be able to offer him & Matt the other bed & floor in my room.

*If you don’t have the album by Tha Gatherin, give it a listen. It’s half decent to good and all about Magic.

Previously I had LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and never really played it much. I found that the constantly shifting camera angle was disoriented.

When I got my new DSi XL I noticed LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga and decided to try again. This time my experience is much better.

I’m finishing this post after having worked through the entire game in story mode (as opposed to free play mode). It was great fun. LEGO + Star Wars. What more could you wish for?! I’ll probably look into the other LEGO titles: Indiana Jones, Batman, and Harry Potter. I’l skip LEGO Rockband, thank you very much.

One thing I’m wondering about is whether I should do the other LEGO titles on the DS of a Wii. I’m thinking the DS is a good platform for them, so I’ll probably stick with that.

I’ve been playing with my new DSi XL for a few days and have some initial comments. I’ll go from good to bad.

First, it’s way bigger than the DS Lite or DSi. I like that a lot. It’s not like I’ll be carrying it around in my back pocket anyway. It’s still small enough (although it’s the biggest handheld Nintendo’s made in some time) to drop into a backpack or the new iPad bag I am waiting on the delivery of. This from Fossil, but in chocolate brown:

I love the large, bright screens (4.2″ compared to 3.0″ on the DS Lite). I’ve not noticed any objectionably pixelation yet (larger screens but retaining the DS’s historical 192×256 resolution).

I also really like being able to download content for it (aka DSWare). To support that I’ve ordered a 16G SDHC card for it (another wonderful feature: SD card support up to 32G). I only wish that there were classic arcade games available like the virtual console on the Wii.

Alas, my Revolution R4 homebrew kit I used with my DS Lite won’t work with the XL, so I had to order a DSi version that’s reported to work fine with the XL writing my own games. Admittedy I can do that for the iPhone and iPad, but there’s something especially fun about writing games for something as low level and constrained (and so fit to purpose) as the DS.

The dual cameras … meh. I carry an iPhone4 at all times. I’m good for cameras. For the younger audience of the device I can see the cameras being a big win, however.

The one thing I don’t like is the glossy top cover. I fully agree with most of the reviews I read of the XL: the top cover should have the same matte finish as the rest of the outside.

Bottomline, it’s an awesome piece of hardware. I’m very happy with it.

It’s once again time to upgrade my handheld gaming console. Mid 2005 I got a Gameboy Advance SP (GBA). Then, late in 2006, I upgraded to a DS Lite. I looked at the DSi when it came out but decided it wasn’t much of an upgrade for my needs. Certainly not like the GBA to DSLite upgrade.

I get regular emails from Nintendo announcing new games and new hardware. The one I received recently was promoting the DSi XL. That caught my attention. The XL is pretty much just a DSi in a bigger package, and includes a larger stylus. That means it’s easier for us adult gamers with larger hands. Throw in a larger, brighter screen, and SD card storage, coupled with the online game store, and it amounted to a compelling upgrade.

Over the last couple days I got out my paints and had another go at a DS cover insert. I’m fairly happy with this one.

Here’s my latest DS cover insert. As the previous one, this is done with a silver Sharpie paint marker. I’m planning to break out my paints/brushes and redo it with some shading/highlighting.

We celebrate Yule (winter solstice) rather than Christmas, so we do our gift giving 4 days before most of you.

This has been a very Nintendo-heavy season. It’s hard to say what’s the coolest: the 1-up mushroom T, the DS homebrew hardware, or what….

But I think it’s between the Opera DS browser and the gold stylus and Magnetica.

In fact, I’m writing this post using my DS. How cool is that!

We’ve had our Wii for a few days now, so I thought I’d add my voice the the growing number of opinions floating about the blogosphere.

The Wii is a beautiful piece of hardware in the same way that iMacs, PowerBooks, and iPods are. Sleek & white, elegant & minimalist. very nice. The controller and nunchuk fit the hand well, and the controller has a pleasant heft to it. The wrist strap is sturdy and well thought out… much to the relief of our big screen tv.

The user experience is good, and very smooth. Again, somewhat reminiscent of Apple’s OS X. The Wii remote speaker & rumble are used very effectively for interface feedback.

The bundled Wii Sports is a blast. The golf game is the first computer golf game that I’ve ever enjoyed (I’m not a golfer btw), although the swing does seem a bit twitchy at times. So far, I’m attributing that to unfamiliarity with the controller. Baseball and Bowling are other favourites. The boys enjoy boxing.

I’ve only had a bit of time to spend playing our other games. Rayman Raving Rabbids is hilarious. We weren’t sure about it, but Thomas was adamant that we get it. He was right.. it’s great fun.

I haven’t played any of the previous Zelda installments but The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess feels pretty good. I’m looking forward to exploring Hyrule. The changing camera angle is a bit off-putting, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

I picked up Need for Speed: Carbon as well. I love racing games, and this ones seems solid. Again, it’ll take a while to get used to the controls… but I usually find that with a new racing game.

We preordered Red Steel as well. I wasn’t as impressed with that. The Wii’s graphics aren’t up to the standards set by the Playstation and Xbox, and are, IMO, not up to “realistic” rendering. That doesn’t cause me any grief, as I favour Miyamoto style gaming. Also, the “shoot everything and everyone you see” style of game leaves me shaking my head and muttering about the state of society. I think that one will be going back to EB Games to be traded in for a copy of Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam.

Overall, the Wii is a keeper. Nancy, who is a self labelled “not a gammer” loves it. I’ve been a casual gammer lately (since Quake and it’s ilk outran my ability to keep up with the hardware requirements), but with my new DS Lite and now the Wii, that’s quickly changing.

Now I’m anxiously waiting for the contingent of Mario games to be released… and hoping to see a rendition of MarioKart for Wii… although MarioKart DS keeps me happy (especially with online play).

In our house we go to Sony for the TV & sound system, but it’s Nintendo for games. And Microsoft… we have no use for them at all.

The new Wii console from Nintendo launches tomorrow. Across the continent, people who didn’t preorder are lining up overnight to get one. We are 4 of those people. The boys have been saving up for it and have over half toward it. We thought it’d be a good experience (or at least a good source of stories) so we’re going in on it with them and making it an early family xmas gift, as well as a family outing/event/adventure. I have my powerbook with me and will be making notes through out the night and tomorrow morning until the store opens (11 am AT).

5:15 pm

We arrive. Nobody is here yet. The boys take up stations in line… AT THE HEAD OF THE LINE.

If you’re going to be in line for something, why not strive to be first… especailly when there’s a limited quantity.

 

Thomas & Jason

This is a small place.. with a small EB Games.. but a fairly active gaming community. Nobody in line at Walmart (just across the parking lot) yet either. There was about a dozen people lined up at Walmart Thursday night for the PS3.

Nancy & I are heading over to Walmart to pickup a couple more camping chairs and some thin gloves so that we can play our DSs through the night and beyond. Recharging you may ask. We’re total geeks.. we have car chargers, and a couple charged UPSes in the back of the truck… we’re covered.

Oh, and the EB staff agreed to leave the download station on overnight and we have full signal from outside the store so we can sample a few more games than we have.

6:00 pm

New chairs acquired. The four of us are in place. Still nobody else here yet.

7:00

Thomas called his buddy (and creative partner at Crunchy and Chewy, Colin and told him what we are up to and he came down to wait in line and get his own. Colin wasn’t even hoping to get a Wii until around February. His parents are nowhere near as cool as us.. they didn’t stay, although they did drop by a bit later with warm drinks. In fact, we were the only parents there.

Wayne and Ruth, Nancy’s parents, dropped off some thermoses of tea & coffee, as well as military/redcross issue parkas and blankets. No worries about keeping warm.

7:30

A couple other guys showed up… the line grows. Turns out it’s a neighbor from when we lived in Hantsport last year, Jessie, and his buddy, Brandon. Brandon wasn’t initially planning to buy a system, but ended up doing so.

 

Thomas, Jason, Brandon, Jessie & Jerome

Another guy joins us: Jerome. Who’s there to secure a spot for his friend in exchange for a new DS Lite. This is a seriously cool dude. He draws.. and some of his work would rival what you see in the Warhammer manuals.

10:07

We ordered pizza & chicken to be delivered.. how cool. We told them what we were doing, and asked to have it delivered to “EB Games”. They were great, sending paper plates and cutlery. Everyone joined in.

When the food arrived, we sat it on the ground. Nancy though “This is awkward.. it’d be nice if we had a table. Oh wait.. I DO have a table”. The cargo area floor of her CRV is, in fact, a folding table. So for the rest of the night we had a table at our disposal. Very nice.

11:30

Jerome’s friend, Adam, showed up. Another very pleasant, friendly guy. Adam’s to the far right here:

 

Jason, Colin, Brandon & Adam

1:20 am

A few more people joined the line… one guy, Nick, getting a Wii with a couple friends to keep him company. There are 6 Wiis accounted for now. 6 left up for grabs. We expect more folks to come along around 3 or 4. Apparently the line for preorders started at 3.

The EB staff has been great… wishing us luck, leaving the download station on for our entertainment, and one guy dropped by later to check on us. He suggested we keep a list of who was there and in what order, which we proceeded to do.

It’s getting colder, but everyone is getting on nicely.

sometime later

Keegan’s asleep (under the pink blanket).

 

Jessie, Keegan & Jerome

4:30

I could say a kid showed up… but really his mother showed up. Set up a chair, deposited the kid into the chair, changed his footware for him, tucked him in, brought him a pillow, and held the cup while he had a drink. WTF. He wasn’t 2.. he was probably about 10. His mom didn’t seem to happy about being there… muttering something about “At least we’ll get a damned unit”. She promptly got back into her oversized SUV where she stayed until light.

around 5:30 am

We felt sorry for the kid with a lame mom, and sitting alone in the cold & dark. So we passed the candy bag to him. BIG MISTAKE. He moved over into the main group:

 

Sam, the annoying kid

Once he got going… what an annoying, condescending, pretensious git. The party atmosphere was mostly gone after that, with the rest of us taking turns rolling our eyes.

8:30 am

There are some folks here now who are here to pick up their pre-orders.

 

 

Preorder folks, the clot of people standing behind the blue blanket

The 12th and last Wii just got accounted for. It’s light, we’ve had some breakfast, and there’s 2.5 hrs left… excitement is rising. Keegan’s still asleep.. Blissfully unware of the crowd milling around him,

 

Keegan asleep

~9:00 am

We clean up our stuff leaving just the chairs to sit in. Also we figured we should get back into line order along the store front. People move to do so. Annoying kid plops his chair down next to me at the head of the line. He’s #7. I tell him that we’re getting the line back into order, and ask that he assume his position. He laughs. I politely tell him to get in line. He sits down. I’m a pretty mellow guy.. ask anyone who knows me moderately well. But after listening to this kid being pretensious and condescending for several hours, then be laughed at by him.. enough… “GET YOUR ASS IN LINE!”. He scurried then. His mother was behind me… and Jason says the look on her face was priceless. She’d just commented that he’s a bit spoiled. Really?

~9:30 am

Keegan (in the orange coat below) finally woke up, with Nick’s help.

 

Waiting to be let in… Keegan finally awake and thnking that he should have signed up for a spot in line so he could sell it now that there were more people wanting systems than systems to be had

The EB Games staff arrived. After a brief chat they said they wouldn’t keep us waiting any longer than required… after getting organised they would start letting us in, 2 systems at a time, in line order (they passed out tickets with the help of our list).

 

Our “1st in line” ticket

 

The final few minutes of waiting

Twenty minutes or so later, we had our Wii. Home we went, tired but happy. We opened our controllers, and had a peek at the unit. Then we went to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.

4:00 pm

We’re up. Coffee’s on. Soup is heating. We’ll have the Wii up & running soon.

Turns out that we didn’t need our power reserves, we played DS some.. but the group of folks waiting was awesome, we spent most of the time chatting.

Wrapup

What a great way to spend a night. Getting the Wii was almost anticlimatic after the event of the overnight wait. The group of folks that stayed overnight was great. We had a great time, and hope to keep in touch somewhat. There was a big range of people: kids in Junior and Senior High, a line cook, tech support folks, and us.

Funny, the main reason there was a line & wait seems to be because we started it. Lots of the overnight folks were there becasue they saw/heard that there was already a line.

Nancy also blogged about our little adventure