tokyo game show 2004 roll call

Time for a brief public service announcement: If you are a friend or an acquaintance of mine and are planning to attend this year's Tokyo Game Show (Sept. 24 to 26 in Chiba), please drop me a line at john (at) tokyopia (dot) com or leave a comment here and let me know what days you'll be in town and where you'll be staying.

That is all. Thanks!

barcode battler

summer vacation

Woo-hoo, summer break is here! Thank God...no classes from this past Wednesday until August 16. Of course, I still have to work, but man, what a relief to actually have a few hours a day to do whatever I want. I have a zillion things on my '"to do" list, but I wonder if I'll be able to get to even half of them? I want to buy a new sofabed (this futon business is getting old), I want to hang the paintings I got earlier this year, I want to get a router so I can get back on Xbox Live and such (hard to believe it's been seven months since I've been online), I want to redesign this site, I want to see Steamboy and Spider-Man 2 (again), I want to read Slam Dunk, I want to spend some time with Tales of Symphonia...the list goes on and on.

In other news, I've been consuming lots of media lately, mostly print and digital. Vagabond is easily one of the best mangas I've ever read; the art is simply stunning and the story is really, really engaging. I'm reading it in English for now, but as soon as I catch up, I'll probably switch over to Japanese while I wait for Viz to crank out the rest (English version is up to volume 14 right now, but they're up to volume 20 here in Japan). I've also started playing keitai (mobile phone) games for the first time. A few weeks ago I picked up a p900i FOMA phone, and it seems they've finally got the technology to a point where I'd be willing to play some stuff on it. I just finished playing through Dragon Quest i for MOBILE, which was surprisingly good. It's the best-looking version of the original DQ to date, with graphics that look about on par with the Super Famicom Dragon Quest VI, and it's the first one ever that actually lets you level up your character beyond level 30 (the limit is 50 now). I've also got Final Fantasy i for MOBILE on my phone, but I'll probably pass on that one, since the new GBA version of FF I&II is apparently really good and also has some new content.

Before that, I spent a ton of time with Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken (probably around 70 hours), and I started Fuuin no Tsurugi, though it's on hold for now after about 10 hours, lest I burn myself out on Fire Emblem before the new one hits in October. The new Famicom Mini series comes out on Tuesday, so maybe I'll spend some time with a few of those before I head back to FE.

What else is going on... Ah, I've become addicted to pineapple juice! Can you believe it? I can't go a day without the stuff. Well, at least it's much better for me than my previous addiction (Starbucks). That stuff is no good for you if not taken in moderation...

Anyway, time to head out. I hope to be back soon -- as for the rest of you here in Japan, enjoy the summer holiday!