My Favorite Halloween

This may have been the last year I went trick-or-treating.

A Gaming Memory: My Nintendo Game Boy

So yeah, I had one of these for awhile.

MOVIETIME MEMORIES: Edward Scissorhands

Funny the things Facebook conversations can make one remember...

TEXT PLAY SIDE GAME: Final Fantasy (NES 1990/PS 2003 [Origins]): Issue #8: Fifty-Three Steps To Success, Part One

This'll be a short one, but important all the same.

From The Old Floppies: Issue #16: "Schriver's Selves"

Back when I was in college, working on my bachelors degree, one thing I was hoping I could possibly do was get published in a science fiction magazine of some sort.  So, I wrote what I thought was a story that would  pass an editorial board and submitted it to a few places.  On the list were Asimov's Magazine, the Sci-Fi Channel's website/e-zine at the time, and a few others that I've since forgotten over the years.  When the first attempt, which you're about to see, failed, I wrote something I thought would be better and tried again.  That attempt didn't work out any better for me, but at least I can say I tried, if nothing else.  I really wish I'd held onto the rejection letters a bit longer, just as mementos, but such was not the case.  More on that, and the other story, as well, may be forthcoming.

For now, though, here's my first attempt at getting something published: the ultra-short story "Schriver's Selves".

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TEXT PLAY: Legend of Mana (PlayStation; 2000): Issue #02: Hit The Road, Me!

Here's our first handful of relatively short quests.

From The Old Floppies: Issue #02: Review of Sonic SatAM Episode "Cry Of The Wolf"

Much of what I said when I posted the previous review in this series is true of this entry as well.

These two posts were part of three I wrote for the Sonic Tenth Anniversary thing I mentioned last time.  I don't think I'm going to be able to post the third one of these I've got because everything I've got that I thought might have been able to open it with says it's either not compatible with the file type or that the file is corrupted.  The worst part of that is that it's actually the first of the three in the miniseries and would have explained a few things that happened in the "Sonic Conversion" review and this one.

But even if I can't post all three of these, there's still plenty of other old stuff I'll try to get posted here as soon as I can, almost certainly interspersed with Text Play issues and other items.

In the meantime, grab up some goodies and get ready for more unintentional laughs for all the wrong reasons that I know I've only brought upon myself.  We've got Retro Review Sign!
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From The Old Floppies: Issue #01: Review of Sonic SatAM Episode "Sonic Conversion"

There's gonna be a bit more before the jump here, folks, but there's a good reason for that.  I kind of need to explain this before I get into the actual post.

As some of you might know, I'm something of a fan of SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, especially the cartoon series, though my opinions on each of the four does vary.  About ten years ago, when the franchise was having its tenth anniversary, I was contacted by an old AOL contact and fellow Sonic fan, who had gotten a group together to build a fan site to celebrate the event.  This fellow, Alex Weitzman, if I recall his name correctly, asked me if I wanted to contribute to said site in some way, as I had some fan fiction that could have gone up.  There was also to be a section for fan reviews of various episodes of the Saturday Morning cartoon series.  Since I had a few episodes recorded to VHS available, I volunteered to do reviews of those episodes as well.

What follows below the jump is the first of two such reviews I have ready access to, for the episode entitled "Sonic Conversion".  Originally written in fall or winter of 2001, at a time when I was still an active part of the Mystery Science Theater fan community, the overall review series takes its title from my self-insertion fan series based on MST.

Be warned, though, at the time, I was only just beginning to really develop as a writer, so expect the spelling to be a little off in a few places and the attempts at humor to be markedly less than stellar overall.

With that, we've got review sign, folks!  Get your snacks and beverages now and prepare to laugh yourselves silly for all the wrong reasons!

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #26: Epilog

So, that's finally over and done with, huh?

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #25: Paper Moon

Let's finish this, shall we?

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #24: Diamonds Are Forever

I can do this, but it's probably my least favorite part of the game.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #23: Moonraker II

Well, back at it, I guess.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #22: Moonraker

So starts the final dungeon of the game.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #21: Excalibur Side Items

There's really only one thing that I can guarantee to actually happen here.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #20: Return Of The Fiends

This promises to be a bit longer and potentially more interesting than the last couple.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #19: Anything Can Happen On The Moon

The best Toast King joke I can think of right now is about what Bahamut's Cave could be referred to.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #18: You Will Go To The Moon

No boss fight this time around, but we'll get to one soon enough, dear readers.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #17: Side Questing Across The Underground, Part Two

This part will more than likely not be as long as the first Side Questing issue, but we'll be closer to some really cool stuff, and have two more summons for our trouble.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #16: JMShearer Opens Caves And Shit

I probably should have put a name from the party in the title, but I'm not sure how well the reference to Jory Caron's fan mail show would have worked if I had.

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #15: Side Questing Across The Underground, Part One

These two caves are probably my favorite areas in any video game I've ever played, visually speaking. I like the way Square made use of the SNES's graphics to make the honeycombed floors so that the floor beneath the one we're on is visible.