Im going to come right out and admit it right here and now that I adore pokemon. It is a craze that is heavily berated by the portion of the gaming public that is over the age of 10, however, I don’t get that sentiment at all. A lot of my fascination with it has to do with my other fascination with all things Japanese. Back before I actually started studying the Japanese language, I was hungry for Japanese culture, largely through import video games. It was at this time ( circa 1996 ) that I learned about the pokemon craze sweeping across Japan. For those not in the know, pokemon is essentially a bug collecting RPG game. However, rather than bugs you are collecting little beasties known as pokemon. After you have caught a new pokemon, it is added to your collection and you can raise it, making it stronger and teaching it new skills. In a brilliant move, there were multiple versions of the game released, each containing certain pokemon that the other did not. In order to “catch them all” you had to network your gameboy with friends and trade pokemon through different versions. This is every marketing departments wet dream.

Earlier today I was reading this blog about an English speaking game artist living in Japan and how he stumbled upon a Wii. Lucky bastard. The post is good reading, but it sparked a thought in my head. With a child on the way, I am suddenly going to have to be thoughtful of the kinda of games they play. I certainly dont want them watching me cave in a hookers skull with a baseball bat in grand theft auto, however, I do want to encourage them to play video games because I honestly believe there is value in the coordination and developmental value that the interaction can have on a child. Sure, there are many great xbox 360 and playstation games out there, but it is also obvious that those companies cater to a much more mature crowd. Then it hit me, not only is the Wii family friendly, but I feel that the innovative control scheme that makes it so damned fun looking, would also be that much more helpful for a developing child. Shortly after that it dawned on me that there is a chance that my kids will like pokemon too and that I will finally have someone to share that love with

I know that there is a good chance that either my kids will hate pokemon, pokemon will be a passing fad by the time they are old enough to play, and/or they will just not like video games at all. Thats fine. However, a future dad can hope, cant he?

In the meantime, I will be fully prepared with my new black DS lite and future copies of whatever pokemon games there are to be had.

Today Heather had her first big sonogram. We have known for weeks that Jan 3rd 2007 was likely to be the day we found out the sex of the baby ( and therefore could begin using one of the names we had picked out ), however, nothing could have prepared me for the mental shock of seeing my child up on the monitor for the first time. Thats not entirely true, I have seen the baby before, but whereas before it was a small dot, or a tadpole looking blob, this time there was a face, and hands, and feet. I tell you here and now that no matter how ready you think you are, your heart will melt when you see your unborn child actually yawn for the first time.

I must point out that it is not 100% certain to be a girl. However, the nurse got the best look she could get and said it was 70% likely to be a girl. On top of that professional assessment nearly everyone we know had just “felt” like it was going to be a girl. Heather’s first dream of the baby had the child being a girl ( if you discount the initial dream where the baby was a hamster ). However, there is still a chance that it will end up being a boy, in which case I will post new images and introduce the baby again with proper gender and name.

Anyway, without further adieu, here is Kaylee Jane McDonnell:

all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arrive

Yesterday I noticed on Amazon.com that the final harry potter book had been finally given a title.

I cant believe this book series is coming to an end. I remember years ago, picking up the book ( as a curious adult of 23 years of age ), and falling in love with the characters and the setting and just the britishy-ness of it all. Since then, I have infected my wife and turned her into a harry potter addict as well. The day this final book comes out we fully plan on buying two copies and reading the hell out of it at the same time.

I remember the day book 5 ( The Order of the Phoenix ) came out because that was the day Heather and I set out on our road trip to Vegas for our honeymoon. On the radio before we left that day I listened to a parenting show that was all about the masses of kids lining up for the midnight release of the book. It was so cool to think of the hordes of children across the world getting so excited about a book. And those later harry potter books are not thin reading. I believe book 4 and 5 clock in at over 500 pages.

Anyway, I cant wait for the final chapter in this long running saga. Then again, I know that I wont want it to end when the time comes.

Well, another Christmas and new years has come and gone. I cant believe what a blur 2006 was, however, I welcome 2007 with open arms.

Remember in one of my early posts when I ranted about how much I wanted an xbox 360? Well, my family must have listened because they all banded together to get me an xbox 360 and a slew of accessories and games. This is obvious, but I LOVE the thing. Just as promised, within minutes of setting the thing up, I was online and downloading Geometry Wars and Doom.

Having played with it for a week now, I am convinced that Sony needs to get off their ass with the PS3’s online plan. If the PS3 doesnt support the same kinds of features that xbox live does, I will be very disappointed.

Speaking of online features, the xbox really does go beyond simply allowing for playing your games online. First off there is the whole concept of the “gamertag.” Basically this is your online ID, or persona if you will. Attached to it are all the details of what games you have played, what achievements you have accomplished in them, and how you are ranked against others out in the world. Here is mine:

That image will dynamically update with all the latest info as I accomplish feats in games. I love this feature. I can always see what my friends are playing and how well they are doing. It builds a community between gamers, something that Sony’s “let the other people handle it” approach to online, while less restrictive, cant offer.

Whats more, I was able to easily network my 360 with my home PC. I can display videos and pictures and play music residing on my PCs hard drive through my xbox 360. That is pretty damned cool to me. So now when we have friends over and I want to pump some music through the house, I dont have to hook up my laptop to the TV. I can simply turn on my xbox and point it at my music repository.

Then there are the games. For Christmas I got both gears of war and dead rising. Both are incredibly stellar games for entirely different reasons. Gears of war probably needs no introduction, however, for those not in the know, the big thing about gears of war is that rather than being a running and jumping style shooter, the game is centered around the idea of taking cover and choosing your shots wisely. The entire system of taking cover and popping out to take pot shots at the enemy could not be simpler and it is the matter of a few button presses. It is difficult to explain, but believe me, if you veer play it you will know instantly what I am talking about.

Dead rising is basically one giant zombie slaughtering spree, which of course makes it the perfect game for Heather and I. The premise is pretty standard. You are a freelance reported trapped in a mall during a zombie outbreak. You are on a mission to uncover the truth behind the zombie attack and rescue any survivors you find along the way. The twist is that the game is designed to be impossible to 100% beat in the first play through. If you die you are given the option to load from your last save, or save your progress for a new game. If you save and begin anew, you start from the beginning of the story, but you retain all your experience and progress from the previous save. Given that the game is entirely open ended, this style of play actually works. Rather than becoming overly tedious, it really helps to alleviate the stress of a tough boss battle. If you die, no biggie, you can just do better next time ( at a higher level ).

Aside from these two games we have recently purchased an embarrassing number of titles for the new system:

Lego Star Wars II
Final Fantasy XI
Rainbow Six: Vegas
Top Spin 2
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Dead or Alive 4
Ninety-nine nights
Oblivion

Way too many games to buy at one time, but thats OK. After this semester, I really just wanted to blow some extra cash on some toys and so I did. Now I just need an HDTV.

Well, its been a long long time since I have posted anything. I underestimated this semester. Taking OS and compilers was rough. Taking them along with a game development class that has us developing an actual game was downright foolhardy. When I was laid off from my job during the early part of the semester I was annoyed, but thought that I would at least have some free time. It was not to be. Call it luck or call it proof of a higher power having a hand in life, but I honestly think that there is no way I would have survived this semester with my job and sanity intact had I not been laid off.

However, despite all the stress and agony, things have ended up all right. I managed to make straight As this semester, something I have gotten close to, but not quite pulled off since starting school at UCCS. On top of that, I think that compilers is responsible for my new job. The company I have been an intern at recently decided that I was worthy of being promoted to being an actual employee. We were in a meeting one day and the topic of natural language processing came up. My boss was talking about having to create a grammar for the language we need to parse, and being in the midst of compilers class, I raised my hand and said that I could do that. Well, I think this worked because a week later I was fully employed. I am going to become the departments “natural language processing guru.”

Everything has happened so fast, but its as if karma realized that they owed me back taxes or something because my life has been going incredibly well lately. Not only am I full time and salaried now, but I accrue vacation time at a damned good pace, the company is paying me a salary as if I were already graduated even though I am not ( and … its a LOT of money. I wont go into specifics, but they nearly doubled what I have made at past jobs. ), lastly, the company has a tuition reimbursement program meaning that they will be paying for this last semester of mine as well as any grad level stuff I decide to take in the future.

All of this fell into my lap just because I paid attention in compilers class. I think it is kinda funny because compilers class is one of those classes where the students like to question the value of the class since hardly anyone goes into the field and actually works on compilers. I guess I will be one of those exceptions. Thanks Mr. Budjen, if you are reading this.

little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting