New Toy Get!

I kind of stopped doing Pick-Up Posts a while back, but with Chance's recent awesome purchases and my coincidental splurging, it was just too hard to pass up.  Apologies as always for the lackluster picture quality as my Vita is my best camera since I don't care much for pictures until I get into situations where I need to take pictures.  One of these days, I'll fix that.  Maybe.  Probably.  Anyway, as you can see above, I have bought myself two things that promise to offer hours upon hours of entertainment between the two of them.  I'll start with the more obvious one first, however.

Riddick:  The Complete Collection packs all four movies starring Richard B. Riddick into one nice little package (spanning three disks) and was only recently released alongside the standalone release of Riddick.  As in Riddick, the movie that just came out last year that was a return-to-form of Pitch Black, rather than the over-the-top action of Chronicles of Riddick.  Or at least, that's what it was billed as - I don't know for sure since I haven't watched it just yet.  However it's the single movie that I bought the collection for, as I already own the other three movies.  Is that a bit overboard?  Yes.  Did I mostly buy it because they just didn't have Riddick for stand-alone purchase?  Mostly!  But more than that, they deserve my money for Pitch Black and Chronicles (maybe not Dark Fury) and thus, I'm throwing good money at Riddick and betting on a winner, while still having the other two movies to fall back on regardless.

The other thing is my brand new Kindle Fire HD (7" display, I didn't splurge for the HDX or the bigger HD) to assist in my goal of "actually starting to read books again".  I had realized sometime last year that most of my reading was done on websites and such, none of it actual novels or publications and that was kind of bad.  Though not in a snobby way or anything, just, you know, we all need to read books sometimes.  A friend of mine has been bugging me about a particular book, Blood Song by Anthony Ryan, and with the recent purchase of a Kindle Fire HD for my father for Christmas (with which I had to fight tooth and nail to get it to work correctly) I decided two aim for two birds.  Having harnessed Amazon's black magic and mentality from my wrestling with my dad's Kindle, I went into my own experience knowing exactly what to do, and as such, set-up was a breeze for myself.

The main thing about Kindles and Amazon is that they pretty much stand ever-vigilant with hands outstretched for a Credit Card if they do not have one from you currently.  Sure, you can use a Kindle without one attached to your account, but nothing, not even attaching Gift Cards to it, will allow you to buy anything.  You can get free apps without one because otherwise that would be silly as hell, but that's about it.  So if you're someone like my dad who just wants it to look at the internet every now and then and to play some free games?  It's perfect.  Otherwise, you're more or less over a barrel.  However, there is an option for paranoid loonies such as myself, in the form of pre-paid credit cards, and I'm happy to report that Amazon accepts that just as easily as anything else, even though mine only has a cushion balance of $50.  Combined with a $50 Amazon Card for -actual- purchases, and yes, I did spend a little bit this day, but it's going to be quite worth it.

While my Vita has been -more- than serviceable as a media hub with Netflix and Youtube (which I'll still have to use it for that, imagine that one) the lack of a dedicated Hulu Plus app has been particularly damning, especially with my interest in Kill la Kill that lead to actually watching it through one of the very few Anime Streaming sites that actually supports MP4.  Yes, I understand that Hulu Plus is the devil with its insane amount of ads (meaning any when it's a goddamn paid service) and such, but it also just -has- the episodes (plus the entirety of South Park, I believe, or at least a bulk of it) and I want to just be able to sit down and watch shit sometimes without going on a scavenger hunt through the entirety of the internet for it.  A larger screen doesn't hurt matters any either, especially not the Kindle Fire HD's crisp LCD (no, not OLED, which means the Vita still has a leg-up) 1280x800 screen.  So, while not perfect, I do think I'll be able to comfortably split my non-game media time with my Vita and my new Kindle.

Speaking of games, while I'm not a fan of Mobile Games, there are a select few out there that are apparently things to experience, and luckily my purchase will allow me to do just that now.  I've had my eye on Star Wars:  Tiny Death Star since I heard about it, and I'm sure there are a few other games that I'll enjoy.  (I'm actually downloading EA's Theme Park as we speak I type now because I have fond memories of that game from the Genesis, and goddamnit, I need some management games in my life)  Scouring the free games, at least, should prove entertaining, and should I decide to browse the actual paid games (doubtful, my money is more than likely going to books first...aside from the ~$20 I spent on a case that will be shipped here Tuesday, apparently), well, there has to be -something- good there, yeah?  Should there be something, well, at least I have an outlet to inform others of as much.

Perhaps a little retail therapy, a little something that'll let me do a little more than I'm doing now, is just what the doctor ordered for my mood lately.  It's a bit early to tell, of course, but the old saying goes "Hope springs eternal" and it's definitely true.  Though "Hope and two quarters'll get you fifty cents" jumps to mind as well.  At least, I think that's how Sully says it.  I know leaning back in my chair and reading Blood Song filled me with a sense of "this is awesome" and "this is the fucking future" (because Star Trek, yes, that is me, I am that person) which is pleasant, and even now as it plays K-Pop through Pandora Radio next to me while I type this, I still steal glances at it in wonder and amusement.  I quite like it, I suppose is my point, and I can't wait to start getting a little more mileage out of it by binging on Netflix.  I've been meaning to watch Breaking Bad, after all...

seriously, the thing is Star Trek thin and I'm just like "yes yes yes, this is what I wanted when I watched the show as a kid"

Quick Note: Holiday Edition (Also Mis-Adventures in Bargain Shopping - Christmas Edition 1)

So, you might have noticed a lacking presence here the past couple nights and that was (mostly) an accident and I do apologize for that.  I planned on one night, but I've had family over the last two nights and it's just a little difficult to find computer time when you're expected to host and entertain others, you know?  At the very least it gave me the fodder for at least one other post which will likely be posted up an hour or so after this one, meaning you've got something to look forward to at the very least.  And also, this should be the last 'vacation' I take unless I end up with another unplanned one, which I am hoping against all hopes won't occur for obvious reasons.

I don't know about you guys, but I've certainly been feeling the holiday season start to really settle in.  I'm not quite sure if it's just because we've put up the Christmas Tree, if it's because I've had the first candy cane of the holidays, if it's because I've already spent a bit getting some gifts, if it's just plain getting colder or any number of other reasons, but I've finally felt that....well, feeling that tells me it's almost Christmas.  And it's a wonderful feeling, I assure you.  Even if Christmas isn't your favorite holiday, I'm sure you have one and know roughly the same feeling, so I figure you can see what I'm getting at here.  Suffice to say, it's finally a good time to be had.

Of course, it's not all good times, as the shopping has been fresh sets of hell that I've not ever seen before, that I can only hope makes for a good story if nothing else.  I can regale you all with the lovely tale of how the local grocery chain decided it was just a fantastic idea to have a Holiday sale that was based off the credit you accrued from purchases made in the previous month.  On the surface, this doesn't sound so bad, of course, but it gets better; the sale only lasted for four days.  What's even better is that it only applied to the specialty items (toys, furniture, etc.) in the specialty versions of the stores (the ones that carry a broader range of products, more like a superstore than just a grocery store) despite the fact that most of the 'regular' stores have...only slightly less product.  I would know, I was exposed to both types of store after all.

Now, the particular store in question, the specialty store we went to is one we've been to before and I hadn't even considered how much of a potential pain it could be to navigate if it were ever crowded.  This was the first fatal flaw, you see, because when I went there on the first day of the sale (which was also the first of the month, which is apparently when a lot of folks get government money) I went in to discover first off that there were absolutely no carts in the building.  Well, in the entrance at least, because the bulk of them were apparently in the parking lot at the returns or, more prominently, being used.  I don't know if you've ever considered it, but take a look at the cart center the next time you go into a grocery store and think of how bad the store would be if more or less all of them were being used.

I'd only intended to get a couple things for members of the family, predominantly younger ones, so I headed off to the meager toy section to look for a few items that'd been featured in the ad.  In what was basically a single aisle (left and right side) split in half and put next to one another (two half-aisles, wasn't sure if the terminology would fly if I just threw it out without a description) there were about twenty people with carts crammed throughout its short/small area.  It was nothing short of a wall of bodies that lived and breathed purely to cause me frustration and rage, as was every single person running the store at the time, apparently.  There was only a token effort to expand the meager selection of toys in the form of a display that had them stacked about it, and that was picked mostly clean already.  Mind you, I went to the store around 10 AM if not earlier and once again, this was the first day.

It took about twenty minutes of lingering about before the throng of people dispersed and I could rush in to grab at something, anything to buy that I'd wanted.  Most of the items were, of course, completely gone, I didn't manage to find anything but a transformer that was not priced at all, which led me to discover that the price checking devices weren't working because why would they be, which led me to toss it back on the shelf where it had been.  After grabbing a few things from the grocery store part of the store (which was strangely normally populated, no more than usual), I headed to the checkout....just as apparently everyone else decided to as well.  Or, rather, just after everyone else had decided to.  It was a painful wait, obviously, and the checkout was less than pleasant as, between the cashier who informed me that I needed to use the credit I'd accrued within the sale days (despite me informing her the shelves were picked clean) and the two managers and/or customer service people who stood next to the bagging area and simply talked until I started bagging my own things, everything just went in the most infuriating way possible.

The conclusion to the story that went on longer than I intended it to go is that the credit did get used, but not for presents, but rather for things for my parents.  The toys, I had to get elsewhere of course, as the second trip to a different version of the store was only slightly more pleasant, but even moreso fruitless as there were literal bare shelves for at least 60% of the toy section.  But at the very least, there was a toy -section- rather than a single aisle, which is about all I could say to the credit of this other store.  Still, the shopping was done and I only have a few other things that will assuredly be easier to pick up and then I'm done buying, which will be a grand feeling.  As is realizing that I intended for this post to be a tiny one, and then side-tracked into a Mis-Adventures in Bargain Shopping discussion.  Happens sometimes, but I'm not complaining.

Misadventures in Bargain-Shopping: Vampire Diaries Season One

So, I haven't really mentioned it, but on Monday I did just as I said I would and indulged a little in all that Halloween could have offered.  While I didn't throw in Dead Space or a movie, I delved deep into the core rulebook of Vampire:  The Masquerades and really really started getting into the mindset of the game.  I figure the knowledge will likely go unused save for maybe making a character for the fun of it, but it's interesting to think of a game of that sorts that isn't Dungeons and Dragons (or Exalted, but I haven't really read into those either) and especially with such a lore that's been crafted for the game.  It's...quite impressive, really, how much effort they put into creating this real, detailed world while still leaving enough vagueness to allow everyone and anyone to really create just what they want to make.  Which is the point, of course.

But that's not the point of this post, as the point of this post is to talk about my growing interest in vampire things because of really getting into V:tM.  Now, I know it's fairly 'easy' to get into Vampire things nowadays as they're so mainstream it hurts, but as we are wont to do, we try and seek out the 'best', whether it's objective or to our tastes so that does add a little challenge, at least.  Vampire Diaries, as my good friend Saki-Chan assures me, is one of those things to seek out.  But don't take my efforts as an official endorsement of the product of course; I've yet to watch the first season (what I purchased....eventually) and likely won't for a week yet, as I'm waiting for a time when I can watch it along with Saki-Chan, since she's so mired in its collected knowledge already.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't even be making this post if the way in which I got it wasn't so hilariously counter to the last misadventures post I made, which was on purpose for that reason entirely.  Re-familiarize yourself with that experience before we go on; it makes it better I assure you.  So it all began Sunday night, after I'd put up the Halloween post, while I was talking to Saki-Chan and she, as she has done lately, was talking about the Vampire Diaries in an excited manner that mirrors much of my own when I'm going on about something I really enjoy.  While she's throwing out plot lines and character backstories, I'm taking it in as best as someone completely unfamiliar with the territory can (read:  not very well) but gain more and more of an interest in it.  Seeing as a trip out was in order the next day, I told myself I'd take a look around to see if the first season was on sale anywhere.  Not too far-fetched to imagine, right?  Vampire show being on sale on Halloween Day seems almost a given.

It was not, of course.  Interestingly enough, Target was selling the first season for $45, another store for $50, and neither were on sale.  It was a little odd, I thought that the price wasn't the same at two different stores, but it's hardly surprising, and as much as I trust Saki-Chan's judgment, I don't trust it enough to throw out $45 sight unseen.  To be fair, I don't trust -anyone's- judgment enough to throw out $45 sight unseen.  No offense, anyone who may be offended by this, I'm sure you can understand.  So, with that prospect out of the air, I decided simply to wait; a deal would come, I'm sure, or I would find a way to force one.  The latter, as you might suspect, happened.

The following day, the first of November (or the day that will forever be known as the day I spent $119.19 at GameStop, yet only walked out with a single game*, Uncharted 3) I was out and about once again and happened to land at Wal-Mart where I, again, checked to see what the price of Vampire Diaries Season 1 was there.  To my continued surprise, it was different there as well priced at $39.96 (or, for all intents and purposes, $40 a full $10 less than another local store) which was unfortunately still too much.  That's when my plan, bitter as it might have been to consider, began to form.  From the last misadventure, I still had a gift card from Best Buy with a slight amount of money on it burning a hole in my wallet, and it was at least worth a shot to see what they priced the show at.

Upon going into the store, I made a detour first to the Customer Service desk to find out just how much my gift card had on it.  There behind the counter was a girl who I'm going to call Victoria because I -think- that was her name, but I forget.  She was more than happy to help and, in very short order, I was informed the card still had $16.15 on it and with that in mind I went off to the Movies section.  Here, it was less surprising to see that the show was not on sale (the first season anyway), but the price of $45 made me a little more than annoyed.  Why couldn't it be $40, like at Wal-Mart.  I'm sure you can see the writing on the wall, but just then the idea struck me and I couldn't help but start to laugh at the reflective nature of it all.

Another visit to the Customer Service desk saw me asking Victoria if Best Buy's Price Match guarantee extended merely to sale items, or to the normal price of items and being informed that it was the latter.  So long as it wasn't from a store akin to Sam's Club (basically a store that sells bulk items and thus might have naturally lower prices) and the much-loathed "the competitor has to have it in stock" restriction was met, any price could be offered.  Having just been at Wal-Mart fifteen minutes prior, I knew it was there, well-stocked, and priced nicer, so I asked if she would set it up, and one call later to Wal-Mart to confirm what I already knew, she wrote out a note that guaranteed the price, asked me to get the set and take it up to the registers as per normal.

I'm having a hard time explaining it, but I'm sure you can just imagine what I was feeling at that moment, having such a pleasant experience in much the same circumstances as a previously terrible experience...it was a little strange.  Victoria's help was wonderful, however, and I was more than happy with my dealings with her and, as you might've already worked out I ended up walking out of Best Buy having only really spent $24 on the complete first season of Vampire Diaries, which is a fair enough price, I think.  I'll know more when I watch it, but if nothing else, I have this story of the journey no matter how I enjoy the outcome.  A story that can only make me laugh for reasons I can't quite place, and one that reassures me that there are still real bargains to be found out there if you work hard enough at them.

Misadventures in Bargain-Shopping: Dragon Age: Origins: Ultimate Edition: Colons

So, as some of you might know, down here in the States, Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition on Consoles was 50% off.  Which is a pretty sweet deal and all.  The only thing that's a shame is that the K-mart in my area is...well, first off, it's not -in- my area, it's a 40-minute drive away.  It is also in a less-than-safe location, and the store is in fairly massive disrepair and unmaintained.  It is, for all intents and purposes, a Shithole.

But I loves me some deals, so I was thinking "If only there were another store that I could buy the game for that price in."  And then I thought, "Hrm, who does Price-Matching?  Oh!  Best Buy does price-matching!  And I just happen to have Best Buy funbux right here!"  So, that was it, then.  Best Buy is only slightly less of a terrible drive than K-Mart, and as I said, I had currency that needed to go there.  I called ahead and asked about their Price-Matching, and he said as long as it was a local competitor's ad, it would be gravy.  This is a key fact.

So.  I went there, grabbed DA:O:UE:C and a shiny, shiny new Dualshock 3 controller (Red~), went to the customer service desk and presented the ad.  And....suddenly the guy picks up the phone and calls K-Mart to inquire whether K-Mart had it in stock.  Was.....he going to tell me to go there if I wanted that price?  What, what the hell was this.  After finding out that they apparently did not have it in stock (Mind you, this is today.  I saw 3 copies of the game in K-Mart's shelves -yesterday-.), he went on to explain to me that if the competitor doesn't have the item in stock, then Best Buy won't honor the price.

I was dumb-founded.  "But I was just there.", I explained.  "They had it!"  "Well, the person I talked to said they don't, so there's nothing I can do."  After telling me this, he went, "Do, uh....you want me to keep this, then?"  And I assured him with a notable amount of snark that I was not going to buy it, so that would be the wisest course, yes.  Burned and seething, I took solace in the fact that with just the controller, since my gift cards would cover that and then some, they would not actually be getting any of my money.  Actually, at first, I almost refused to go through with my purchase of the controller on principle, but realized there wasn't much of a moral victory in refusing to use store credit.

Something really bothered me about what he said, though, and it didn't really click until I was almost home.  "She said they only had the regular version.", he said.  "Wait a minute.  The Regular Version?  Of what?  There's no other Origins/Awakening pack-i-Oh balls.  Dragon Age 2."

Shitshitshitshitshit.

So when I got home, I called K-Mart and spoke with the lovely-sounding Erin after about, uh, 20 minutes of being on hold, and after convincing her that she was looking for the wrong game, she looked where I instructed her and said, "Oh, no you're right, I've got a copy right here."  Damnit!  She had mentioned that someone else had called about it earlier and this was the point where I explained the circumstances, which, I must say, did nothing short of mortify her.  I could tell that she felt really, genuinely bad about being an unwitting cog in the machine of Stupid that kept me from getting my Dragon-Slaying simulator.

And with another call to Best Buy, they informed me that, since I had been right three hours prior, I was definitely deserving of the game....provided I went all the way back there right that minute and bought it.  "I...really can't get out again today," I explained.  "Best Buy is a terrible drive from here and, in all honesty, it was your screw-up."  Of course, I was speaking to the same Customer Service rep that I had spoken to on the phone the first time and in the store.  Of course I was.  "Well....let me talk to my manager and see if the deal could be extended."  After a few more minutes of holding, he informed me that, nope, that was the deal.  I waste gas that apparently becomes more precious by the second, time, and patience that I simply don't have, to pick up a game I could have had three hours prior because Timmy McFucknugget couldn't be assed to get an assurance on the status of K-Mart's stock.

"Well, I might be in, but if not, then the lost sale is kind of your fault, y'know."  "Have a nice day Sir."

And that is the story of how I almost got Dragon Age:  Origins:  Ultimate Edition.

Almost.

...

Goddamnit.

This is my birthday post.

It was a pretty good birthday.  I got to sleep in pretty late and then went off to the wonderful world of GameStop to get a little free (read:  paid for by someone else) birthday present.  On top of putting my $5 down on Yakuza 4 and Dynasty Warriors 7 (I know it's a bit late for me to be doing this -just now- considering how badly I want to get my hands on these games, but, well, I haven't been to GameStop since LBP2.  Or around GameStop.), I managed to find this beauty that begins with B and ends with Storm after a long while of searching.

...

...

Ha!

Now, see, I actually had no idea what I wanted to get for my B-day.  Really, all the games that I want have either A) Just come out and are thus pretty expensive yet (Which I was only concerned about since it was not my money), B) Games that I am waiting for special/Game of the Year editions on, C) Games that I'm just like "Man, for about $20, okay."  (FFXIII), and D) Games that just aren't out yet.  So you can see the problem here of getting a game in that limited circumstances.  And since I wasn't really in a thinking mood earlier, I didn't go into the store knowing what I was going to get.  (Except three Celebiis, which, by the way, GameFreak, it's time to step your download game up, alright?  No, that's not a PSP reference, I'm just telling you that this place-and-time-specific DLC sucks dick.)

But this game.  I've wanted this game for, like, two years or so now, partially because it's KOEI, and partially because it is a war that I've pretty much not touched yet with my studying.  Which is weird, right?  Considering it has batshit crazy Joan of Arc in it, and that's kind of my thing.  (Batshit crazy things.)  And when I saw the spine of it, I had that gut reaction that you only get when you see something and go, "YES.  THIS IS WHAT I WANTED."

Sort of like this.

And then I went to a steakhouse and got, like, the best steak I've ever had.  Have you ever had a meal that you really just wanted to find the person who made it and say, "Dude.  Dude.  YES.  Keep doing what you do."?  Because that's the feeling I got.  Also a free birthday sundae which was really really neat, as well.  And after that I got to come home and play some vidya games, which I will talk about in the Weekly Wrap-up, probably in extreme detail, because one of the games is what really inspired my whole "Old game vs. New game" design philosophy thing the other day, so I have put a lot of thought into it.

And then other stuff happened.  But pretty much everything else was great and it was a great birthday for like 70% of it or so.  This is some statistical gain over most days.  This is, as we (I don't know who 'we' is) say, a triumph.

(Oh wait, now I know.

Nerds.)

(Because I am a pretty big nerd, you see.)

I have entirely too many magazines.

So, I had a fun little trip to Wal-Mart today (despite it being, you know, Wal-Mart) and walked away with some sorely needed Magazine holders of rather excellent quality.  I can't find a link of them, but they're branded HOM Organization.  The O has a line over it that I cannot for the life of me figure out how to replicate in simple text.  Hopefully, if you're looking for Holders, I've given you enough to go on, here, because these are honestly really nice.

The Magazine Holders amidst other stuff.

(For what it's worth, also pictured are some obvious reasons for said magazine holders, my wonderful Santa Hat and some Christmas pick-ups:  Valkyria Chronicles 2 on the top, Sly collection under that, The Saboteur under that, and Fallout 3 GotY at the bottom, all in front of my Move starter kit.  Keen viewers will notice God of War:  Ghost of Sparta on top of my Nintendo tote bag for a hilarious juxtaposition.)

So I spent a couple hours doing some organizing, which was helped along by the fact that the magazines had mostly been pre-organized anyway.  (I enjoy organizing things.  At least, enjoy is the best term for it!)  Just had to make sure I had magazines from all the different parts of my room that they're stocked up at and sort them all by Date/Issue Number.  Basic stuff, of course.  I'm not done yet, as the picture above was just taken, as were these pictures below.

Yes, also pictured are D&D books.

Note that the pill bottles are empty, old, and collected.  I simply keep them, if you're wondering.

It bears mentioning that, in all, I have ten holders pictured, (eight on the shelf, two on the desk) and, once again, keen viewers will note the stack of magazines on the desk.  So, what does this all mean?

It means I need more.  

Way too many magazines, folks.