My 2008 Retrospective: The Year of Changes

2008 is almost at an end... 2009 is almost at foot... I wanted to do a retrospective on the biggest 2008 events in my life, the good and the bad, but it would have been to much to read if I did wrote about everything :P ! I'm proud of my endeavors that I have undertaken this year. Even thought that I have lost 2 jobs along it, I've come to better understand myself and what I really want to accomplish with my life. I have some great projects in the making, including the long awaited return of my website... Nope, not Taiyou Saiden, but Ethereal Sphere... The successor of Taiyou Saiden. You will see. Most of the ideas that I had for Chudah's Corner will be reused in my site. That means that I will be using the web framework Django.

Apart from Ethereal Sphere, I will go back to school to better my knowledge in Web Design, and Multimedia in general. My goal is to find a job more tailored to my skills. I would love to go into Game Design, but it is a competitive ground, as the public school programs devoted to this, like the Ubisoft Campus, are receiving a lot of inscriptions from people. Since my portfolio is empty in regard to Game Design, I have a lot of grounds to cover if I want to have a chance to be taken. That's why I'm planning backup plans to the backup plans. I don't want to be left out on anything, that's because I'm a dreamer, always wishing that my main and only plan would work out. I don't want to make the same mistake as before in my life.

Furthermore, I will move on my own around summer time... A lot of my friends will say to this "It's about time", and they're right. I have been saying that I would leave my parents home since the last 5 to 6 years, but I was never ready to do so. The main reason for that: my dog Café. My parents wanted me to take him along, but since most apartments aren't accepting animals, it wouldn't have been possible. I loved him so much, so I didn't wanted to leave him behind. I'm more ready now, as he left me one year ago.

An other highlight of 2008 is the arrival of Maxence, my 3rd nephew. His birth was expected after the holidays, but the little fellow couldn't wait... He came to us on Christmas day, at night :D ! He's really kawai (cute in Japanese)! Grats to my brother and sister-in-law. He is the 4th member of their ever-growing family.

Oh yeah! I have decided to lose some weight. I have mentioned earlier in my rent of the Video Game Live that I wasn't in shape. Well, I've took upon myself to become healthier. I bought Wii Fit to help in achieving my goal, and has it turns up, it really did helped. I have been using almost each day, since I purchased it back in July. My brother was the first to be left surprised, as he told me that at first he feared that I've just wasted money on an other gadget that I wouldn't be using that much. I recommended it to anyone who has the same goals as me. To date, I have lost more the 27 pounds.

Well, that's about it! A lot of events transpired in this years, and those were just a few. I have high hopes for 2009. If 2008 was the year of changes for me, 2009 will be the year that my projects will come to be.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

My 2008 Retrospective: Meeting Solis

If you have been following my blog, you already know about the new Macbook Pro that I've ordered last october at the Apple Store. Well, I have indeed received it on the promised day and since then, I've been playing with it... That's the reason for the long silence :D ! Without further ado, let me present you Solis.

I'm in love with this computer. The screen is gorgeous and clear, even though it is only available with a glossy finish. The performances are great. Nonetheless, I didn't take any chances. I have boosted the RAM to 4 Gigs when I placed the order, since I want to work on Web Design with it and play some games on it. On that note, I have felt to the addiction that is World of Warcraft. Yes... I did :( . Sorry JRPG fans, but my friends forced me... Nwaah, I'm joking! Seriously, they didn't, but they did persuaded me to try it :D !

My 2008 Retrospective: A Mega Retro Comeback!

Ah! The tender memories of old school games. I remember playing my NES when I was just a little sprout, aged of only 7 years old. That was the system that started it all for me. One of my favorite game among a rather large library was Mega Man 2. It was the first Mega Man game in the series that I've played. Oh, the challenge! If only the games of today could have the same kind of challenge we used to have back in the 8/16 bits era.

Don't dust off your old NES just yet... It seems that the old might become new again, as Capcom released Mega Man 9. A new game, but with an old school feel... And the toughness of back then :D !

If you haven't downloaded this one yet, either for the Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360, don't wait... Go purchased it right away! Don't take my word for it, but you will miss a great game if you don't ;) .

My 2008 Retrospective: The Short Rise and Fall of Chudah's Corner

All thing didn't went well this year... One of them is Chudah's Corner. Most of the VGM fans out there knows about Chudah's Corner, aka CC. It was one of the first site that covered VGM, even trying to expended it. Yeah, I said "was", because it is pretty much dead right now, and the story of its demise is a long one.

Back in May, after talking to Dragon God (one of the regular staff), I have posted a thread on the staff forums to steer things up, since there was pretty much no activity for the past months. My plan was, if Lucy (aka Chudah, webmaster) would accept, to redo the site from the ground up, with new functionalities that would have revived the interest of the viewers in CC. It was an ambitious project. With the help of Jacen, my best friend, we would have used Django, a web framwork based on Python, has foundation to built the new site, adding to it functions like an universal layout, a dynamic search engine, a community section, an user panel... And the list goes on. It was without to say that she was really interested in this project.

So after a few meetings with the staff, I've started to work, around the end of June, on what would become the most beautiful layout that I've never created before, code-named "Rebirth".

I was really into this project, taking great pride in the creation of this layout. Unfortunately, after three weeks of hard work, my efforts were cut short when Lucy told me that her sister couldn't wait for me to finish it. A week before that, she told me that her sister would be coding for the new site. I was really pissed off, but I understood her. She was under a lot of stress from our competitor, VGMdb. Even though I was not sharing her view, I told her that I was alright with this. Nonetheless, I added that I would still finished my layout, if she would ever like to use it. The new site, coded and designed by her sister and brother-in-law, came online at the end of July.

Since this is my blog, and that I'm entitle to my own opinions, I will share my thoughts and feelings on this matter. This so-called remodeling was utterly ugly. It was far from my initial ideas that Lucy and the staff agreed upon. The layouts were a real mess... Yes, you read right... "Layouts", because there were more than one, one for each sections in fact. You can thanked her sister and brother-in-law for using pre-coded PHP scripts. Although, the worse part is that her sister charged her for this MEDIOCRE CI, in capital letters! Me and my best bud were going to it for free... FREE for god sake! I can understand that she wanted to give some job to her sister, who owns a web hosting company, but if she was my sister... I would have done it for free. Look at it in from any angles, it would have been free with me.

Anyway, after the new site was up and running, we didn't have any news from Lucy afterward. She completely disappeared from the face of the web. Me and Zane (an other regular staff member) wrote countless emails to her, hoping that she would give us some news... We were really worried, not for the future of the site, but for her well-being. We never received any reply from her... Zip, Zero, Nada. It was decided then that I would send an email to her sister, who also didn't replied at first. Thing really went downhill from there on. After a few tries, in which I wrote that if not replied we would send an email each week until we could know if Lucy is doing well, her sister responded "that threatening to harrass someone once a week to get an answer out of them is the way to go. It does not paint you as being merely being concerned, but as being demanding and pushy". For god sake, we were only concerned about her well-being. Suffice to say, we stopped sending emails, to either of them. If Lucy was going to give us any news, it was going to be on her own accord.

It might not be official, but Chudah's Corner is dead... The forums are empty. Most of the staff has not given any news. It has been months since the last update. It is painful for me, as I was seeing a lot of possibilities with my ideas, but I have to go on. Lucy, if you ever read this, don't be mad at me. I hope that you are doing well. If you ever want to talk, I'm here.

My 2008 Retrospective: A Galaxy of Ethereal Symphony

I'm sure that I'm not the only one who felt in love with Super Mario Galaxy. It is THE game to own for the Wii. What a beautiful game! And what to say about its music... Pure poesy. I had to get its soundtrack for myself, as many more gamers wanted too I'm sure ;) . It was the very first time that Nintendo employed a real orchestra and choir for one of their game... I hope that it won't be the last! Long have I dreamed of a fully orchestrated Zelda score... Aaaaaaaah... Maybe in the next one.

Talking about that, I need to finished the review that I have started to wrote for it. One of the many unfinished business that I have to attended to in 2009 :D !

My 2008 Retrospective: Video Game Live @ Montréal

If there were one event that I was so anxiously wanting this year was this one... The VIDEO GAME LIVE CONCERT! I was so trilled when it was announced that Tommy Tallarico, Jack Wall, and their crew were coming to Montréal. My friend Mal bought the tickets a few months before, to make sure that we would have our places reserved... And thank god we did, because both representations were sold out a few days after the tickets went on sale. There was only one thing to do after that... Waiting for February the 9th!

The day finally came! Armed with my digital camera for the occasion, I've joined my friend at the nearest Metro. Oh god! I was not in shape.Glad I was, and my back too, when we sited down. Nonetheless, all of this pain of walking to get there was worth it... The show was a blast! Jack was magnificent at conducting the orchestra and the choir. Tommy wielded the guitar like it was an extension of himself, especially while playing "One Winged Angel" of The Black Mages. Lets not forget The Video Game Pianist aka Martin Leung, who gave a brilliant performance, and blindfolded too!

Every acts of the show was well played out. The mix of music, video, on-stage acting, interactive games was dead on spot. Even the loading screen at the start of the concert and at the intermission was an awesome touch. One particular memory that stayed with me was when Tommy invited some spectators on stage to play the Interactive Frogger, on a really big screen, while having the orchestra playing the theme, adjusting the tempo to the action on screen. All of that in real time! That best part was when Tommy commented on how fun it would be to have a real live orchestra playing in are living while we are playing our games.

Tommy Tallarico and Me

After the show, Tommy and his gang were available to signed autographs and for some photo shoots. A lot of attendees took the time to photograph some of those how cosplayed for the event. There was even a general vote on the best cosplay before the show started. The winner was... Sheik! I have to give a thumb up to all of them. I know it can take quite a while to complete one of those costume. BRAVO!

The Cosplay Contest Winner... Sheik

If you are a VGM fan, give yourself the courtesy of going to this show. You won't regret it. As for me, I'm just wanting for Tommy and crew to come back to Montréal for an encore.

The long... very long hiatus

I'm back... Well, sort of. I feel like I was stored away, just like the ark in the first Indiana Jones movie, to be forgotten under a pile of problems, the lost of my pal and partner Café, a difficult transition in professional life... and the list goes on.

Although it sounds like I'm been pessimistic about the last year or so, I'm very much happy and optimistic about my future perspectives. I have taken the time to analysed my past experiences, both personal and professional, to correct my situation. Believe me that it took a lot of courage from my part in acknowlegding my errors. I was the type of person to always run away from them, trying to convice myself that it wasn't my fault for all the bad vibe, the bad karma that was flotting around me. That was the first good thing that would help me change my life.

With the new state of mind that I have acquired, I have setted myself new goals, including the long due revival of my personal website, Taiyou Saiden, which will become Ethereal Sphere. I'm even preparing a back to school to get a diploma to finally get a job that I long for, game designing or even web designing. And since I'm on a personal mission, I need some good tools to help me along the way... Like a new Macbook Pro :D ! Although my old faithful Power Mac G4 served me well in the last 7-8 years, its showing signs of fatigue when I'm working in Photoshop, even when I'm watching Flash movies on the web. So, I'm anxiously waiting its arrival at my door step, which should be later today :3 ! Granted, if the UPS ETA (Estimate Time of Arrival) is correct :P .

That been said, I need to go to sleep.

I should start posting rents more often now, like I did back when my first site, Francias Pictures, in 2002 ;) .

Until then, jaa mata!