The Level/UP! Potluck

LEVEL 2-2: Mmmm Raider.

So it’s been a while and I’ve been overdue for a personal reboot! A hard press of the reset, if you will. (Boop.) Know who else that happened to? Lady friend, Lara Croft…. Boop. Tomb Raider, follows the adventures of British archaeologist explorer, Lara Croft. Her backstory has changed pretty often throughout her debut in ’96. (She’s had a looooooot of work done.) Currently, the entire series has…

LEVEL 2-1: Dragon Age: Drinkquisition.

Although a hobby all on it’s own, role-playing is a vital part to every gamer’s soul. Err’body needs that moment aside from real life to feel like they’ve crushed it. That almighty trip of ze power! Detailed character customization, a wildly colorful cast, a fantastically enriched universe, choices that can affect the outcome of your adventure and you got a game after my own life. This.…

LEVEL 1-17: Final Fantasy Ate.

I missed the Final Fantasy train growing up. Not good. A gamer’s rite of passage, if you will. I had no idea what it was, and quite frankly, zero interest when I did. (At the time..) Instead, my very first FF game was..(wait for it..) FINAL FANTASY 8. (As if you couldn’t tell from the title.) And I loved the crap out of it! So around the hub that is the gaming universe, FF8 is considered to be…

LEVEL 1-16: And Steven!

I’ve got no shame in admitting it. I love cartoons. I do. They have a way of putting me in that safe place I used to feel as a youngin’. Cheerful, bright and humored. Cartoon Network won it big with me, especially with all those (now absurdly considered) late night classics like Johnny Bravo and The Powerpuff Girls. Since growing up some, CN has amped up their line up with shows aimed beyond just…

Call of Foodie: Burgertown Down!

Oh, America. Land of the free and the freewheelin’. Right at the beginning of July is where people feel the most “patriotic.” Celebrating with BBQs, fireworks and a whole lotta that jiggle joose! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for any holiday that allows anyone to let their freak flag fly, (Say that five times fast.) but, there are other ways to celebrate our nation’s independence, and not just on…

  “War. War never changes.” It’s a little after midnight and this was what the gruff voice of Ron Perlman began to tell me. I never really gave too much thought as to what history could have been like if certain things didn’t turn out the way it did. Not until I came across the post-apocalyptic wonder that was Fallout 3. I was completely alone, the lights were off, my phone was away and in…

Summer is taking it’s sweet ass time dropping onto our faces. Soon everyone will be able to enjoy the sun and the sand, if they ain’t already. (Sigh..) I remember when I enjoyed the outdoors during the summer time too. By playing, Dead Or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball! ..What? I’d leave the window open.. Dead Or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball is a spinoff beach volleyball game from the fighting…

It’s no surprise, by now, that a majority of my weekends growing up were spent at home. Adolescence just slipping by with every new sight of pre-teen mustache in the mirror. Zero interest in growing up. (I really wanted to be one of those Toys’ R Us kids on TV..) On random saturday nights, my family and I would have game night, (If I could pry myself from drooling over Duke Nukem.), but…

PERSONA! http://wp.me/s3PZIf-persona

I wouldn’t say that high school was the most profound experience I’ve ever had. I rushed home a lot during my freshman year to catch The Magic School Bus on PBS and sneak in a half hour of Tomb Raider 2. (Can we say popular?!)

Anyway, I wasn’t ready for what high school drama Persona 4: Golden had in store for me.

So not ready! (more…)

  There is nothing I love more than playing as a strong woman that don’t need no man. Take Lara Croft, for instance. She was a big influence on my virtual upbringing. She traversed through ruins, jumped over chasms and was packing heat. All by herself, willingly. (She even went toe-to-toe with a T-Rex.. Twice!) Subsequently, I think that influenced gender roles in future video games that…

If there ever was a game that could literally destroy the feeling of joy and sunshine, Dark Souls would be it..

At first… and second.

Maybe third time around.. (more…)

Super Smash Bros. : Kirby's Superspicy Curry!

During a night of watching WWF Monday Night Raw with the brother, an N64 commercial came on of epic proportion. Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi and Pikachu are strolling hand in hand through a field set to the fine tune of Happy Together by The Turtles. (I geeked out seeing Pikachu. “So cute!!” For the record, this was at the height of Pokemon fandom, Judge Judy..) Anyway, as they are strolling along, Mario trips Yoshi. Donkey Kong then bops Mario on the head! (Bop!) Then they all start beating the crap out of each other. “Why are all my childhood favorites scrappin’?!”

As Pikachu gets tossed across the screen by his tail.. 

Skyrim: Sweet Roll!

I was working my first job ever at Gamestop. (Surprise, surprise.) It was during the holiday season and the Xbox 360 was just about to be released onto the world's face. Right on it’s heels was an epic fantasy called, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Little did I know, when I got it, no one would see me for months. (Oh my yes..) Even more so when some odd years later, Skyrim takes my world by storm.

Again.

Goodbye, real life!

Minecraft: Pumpkin Pie!

I’m the type that if I really like a game, I will play it til’ it’s a smoking nub of data. Always have. The first being The Sims for the Playstation 2. Not gonna go too deep into it, but hours would FLY by and my imaginative mind would be stimulated. Granted, this caused a lot of fights over game time between myself and the sibs. We all loved the game, one of us would be playing too long without realizing, I’d be shouting “My creativity will not be silenced!”.. the usual. But then we all grew older, video games changed and in storms an indie gem, MINECRAFT. 

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee: Scrab Cakes!

I miss the old days of Playstation. My brother and I used to get up right at the crack of dawn on saturday morning. (we weren’t allowed to play during the school week. Something about responsible parenting. 😒). We’d turn on that Playstation and bask in that 10 second startup sound it would make. It was beautiful. It was like a singing angel with the looks of Lara Croft circa ’96. Man, I still gets the tingles.

Ratatouille: Remy's Ratatouille!

Before I became a chef, I've always generally liked cooking. The most I ever knew about it growing up was whatever moms was able to put together. (Granted they'd be the same tasty things every week, but bless her heart..). I've always been grateful that she can come home from work and cook for her three kids. So as I got older, I thought I'd give it hand as I'm the oldest. (Spoiler: it doesn't go well and there was no french cuisine prodigy rat helping me).I thought it'd be a great idea that I'd cook 'breakfast for dinner' for everyone. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, the works. I served up what I made for my family and in return they had feedback. (That I did not ask for, mind you.) The pancakes were cooked on the out and runny on the inside. (Pffft.) The bacon was very chewy, strangely cool and charred. (Yeah, right..) And the eggs...dear god, the eggs. In my defense, it was my first attempt and they didn't get sick..for that long.

So I took a break... until I saw Ratatouille.