Author Archives: dahubbz
How’s Life Been
A few months back, it became very clear to me I was the best employee at my small, local job. I had a decision to make. Go all in on work and focus on it, try to get a raise, and distance myself from co-workers. Or, keep living a life where YouTube and the blog are just kinda durdling about as well as work. I chose to really hone in on work. What a journey it has been. I ended up getting a $2 raise, thus becoming the highest paid employee there. Mission accomplished. But it was a real grinding task. It compromised a lot of my mental and physical health. That’s because there was stuff going on in the background.
Namely, the company is doing poorly financially. As an employee and not an owner, it’s tough to say how rough. It’s a ma and pa store that never figured out all the financial parts of the business. And the economy is all over the place right now (more on this later). But this has made me go “All this hard work, just to get to here?”. It’s got me questioning a lot.
Next, my Brother-in-Law passed away essentially two months ago. He was battling poor health, but we still didn’t expect it when it finally did happen. Jessica took that week off to recover. When the following Monday came around, she was informed that the company she worked for was going out of business. She was out of a job 2 days later. A business in the same industry swooped up and let Jessica apply for one of their positions. We thought, “Oh, what a blessing.” Well, two months later, and she still has not started. I’ll leave the personal shots out of it, but let’s just say it isn’t Jessica’s fault she hasn’t started working yet.
Losing a family member, losing a source of income, and losing a creative outlet have taken its toll on us. Yet, it has certainly given me prospective.
For those of you who don’t know. I work 12-9pm and part of my job is actually live streaming online sales. I go live and interact with our audience for 3 hours (6pm-9pm), making sells to our viewers. Now, with a daughter who is a year and half old, it was getting hard to get home around 10pm and say “Yeah, I want to go live for a few more hours” when I’d rather see my family. These are more factors that have led me to not being active on here.
I want to come back. I want to hone in on my skills outside of work, such as editing and writing. So, I want to start incorporating these hobbies back into my life in a healthy way. Where I don’t get burned out or feel like it is dragging me away from my family.
So just know I’m working on several blog post such as: a new Manga Monday, The Games I’ve Played Recently, Ranking My Favorite Alolan forms (that’ll probably become a series of sorts), and Ranking the next Super Mario 64 course.
So those are what I have in mind. Please follow the blog and stay tuned for more content!
Thank you for reading! Have a great day!
Disney’s Lorcana is Finally HERE!
If you follow TCG’s like I do (almost as if it’s my job), then you know Friday was a big deal. August 18th saw Disney and Ravenburger launch their latest trading card game, Lorcana. It features some of Disney’s most prominent characters such as Mickey Mouse, Elsa and other princesses. It’s the combination of iconic characters and easy to grasp mechanics that are drawing veterans, rookies, kids and adults a like to want in on the action.
I picked up the three starter decks, opting not to get in on packs, troves, boxes or gift bundles. For those of you who do not know, small Ma and Pa shops got to sell the product before your big box retail stores such as Walmart. The game is expensive as of right now while we wait for the later shipments to hit stores. With that in mind, I decided the starter decks were a good starting point. If I like it enough, I’ll grab some packs or singles that I like.
So far, Jessica and I have played one game. I played the Red/Green Aladdin Cruella De Vil deck. Jessica played the Orange/Purple Moana Mickey Mouse deck. Orange seemed underwhelming to me, but Purple stood out. It seems like it’ll be a good midrange color with ways of drawing cards and recursion. Red also impressed me. I liked the Lore control aspect of it. Though I was getting throttled til I set up a nice combo. I was able to use Shield of Virtue to control her board and protect my Mad Hatter.
So far, my favorite cards were Shield of Virtue and Stolen Scimitar. Admittedly, I’m not sure how good they are in a competitive scene. I think I’d like Dragon Fire because removal is removal. I kinda want to take the red aspect and mix and match with other colors like Purple or Blue. Green felt pretty weak outside of Mad Hatter. Jasper seems like a contender for best green card in the deck as well. But again, we only played one round.
So, what are your thoughts on Lorcana? Have you picked it up yet, or are you waiting for prices to settle? Who are your favorite characters or cards? What deck strategy or colors are you wanting to play?
Thank you guys for reading and have a great day!
My Shinys From the Squirtle Community Day Event!
Hey guys, I managed to get 4 shiny Squirtles. This will be a quick post, but we will document the ones I caught here.
So, it’s a little underwhelming Stat wise, but Squirtle is my favorite Pokémon ever, and I didn’t own any Squirtle shinys previously. Grabbing 4 in one day felt like a good accomplishment and I’m glad to get that monkey off my back!
So thanks for reading guys. Have a great rest of yalls day!
Pokemon Go is 7 Years Old with a New Event!
Hey guys, if you’re like me, you are excited for the 7th anniversary of Pokémon Go! Niantic is dropping a new event on us. In fact, I saw three new events in the Pokémon Go shop. For starters, there’s the 7th anniversary event previously mentioned. They are also bringing back the 151 Shiny Mew event. On top of all that, we’re also getting a Squirtle event this Saturday!
For now, certain Pokemons are showing up with party hats on to celebrate.
This is the one I’m excited for! A community day for Squirtle is going to be awesome. I haven’t seen mention of an increased shiny rate for Squirtles, but I’m holding out hope to grab a few.
As you can see, I’ve gotten started on this one. It seems like it’s going to be a chore, but I’m gonna try and knock these out sooner then later!
So, out of these events, which one are you most excited for? I can’t wait to get my hands on a shiny Mew and all those sweet, sweet Squirtles!
Thanks for reading! Have a great rest of your day!
Manga Monday: The Way of the Househusband Volume #1
Today we are reviewing a manga I have wanted to review for a few years now. From the second I saw this manga, I knew I would review it one day. During my college days, Jessica was the one working while I stayed in school. It felt like it was made for me, haha. The Way of the Househusband was written by Kousuke Oono and published by Viz Media.
The Way of the Househusband tracks the daily life of Tatsu, a former Yakuza member. Tatsu was ruthless during his gang days, earning him the name “The Immortal Dragon”. However, those days are far behind him. He has turned his life around. His wife is now a hot shot business lady. As a result, he tends to everything around the house. He cleans the house. He prepares his wife’s lunch. He buys the groceries. If it needs to be done, he does it without question, with unwavering pride and honor of his wife. It is truly respectable. He was at the top of his game, the most respected and feared man in the gang scene. Yet, he walked away from it all to protect what was precious to him.
Plot: This is a very fast past manga. Most chapters hover around 14 pages but feel shorter than that. Each chapter is simply a day in the life of. The opening chapter is literally Tatsu getting pulled over for trying to get his wife’s lunch to her (as she forgot it at home rushing out the door). Another chapter centers around Tatsu shopping for a present for his wife’s birthday. There’s some chapters revolving around running into former gang members, both rivals and allies. The mundane, daily life chapters use the absurd irony of a yakuza member doing all these innocent task to generate its humor. The gang chapters have a certain way of playing out. Tatsu runs into his former ally and a rival gang at the same time. Tatsu is easily the scariest guy in the room. The humor here is that Tatsu could kill anyone in the scenes at the snap of the finger, but he’s the only one not looking to fight. This gets all the people involved in some weird situations.
Characters: The Way of the House Husband features 3 main characters (and a revolvong door of rival gang members); Tatsu, the house husband, Masa, Tatsu’s former ally, members of the rival gang who appear in a few episodes, and Miku, Tatsu’s wife. The gang member isn’t really fleshed out super well. He shows up to cause trouble and creates some irony and humor. Masa appears in a few chapters. He idolizes Tatsu as a rock star in the gang scene. He looks up to Tatsu. Masa studies Tatsu believing the way of the house husband is the way the way of the yakuza. He honestly does help provide a nice change of pace for the settings and situation of the individual chapters. Tatsu is always trying to be efficient with his time and purposeful with his task. Masa helps throw in curveballs that set up some wacky adventures for the two. Not much is known about Miku other than she is a successful businesswoman and that she loves Policure.
The World: I won’t waste time here. It is just Japan through the eyes of a once murderous gang lord turned awkward house husband.
This is a great page turner. The chapters are fast paced, off the wall and pretty light hearted most of the of the time. It has a nice blend of slapstick humor, situational irony and just general goofiness. Nothing here is too deep. This means I strongly recommend it for people looking for a good comedy that doesnt take itself too serious. If that sounds like a good time, you should definitely check it out!
So, let me know what mangas I should do next? Are you going to check this one out? Let me know in the comments below!
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Thank you guys for reading! Have a great day!
My Comic Haul June 29th, 2023
Hey guys! I picked up 6 comics this week. This will be a quick post as I haven’t had a chance to read them yet.
First up is my two Ghost Rider comics. Ghost Rider #15 and Danny Ketch Ghost Rider #2.
Next up is TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo #4. I read the first two issues but was delayed picking up issue 4. These will probably be the next two I read this weekend.
Thor issue 35 is next. I loved the first arcs of this run. The Cates hype was real on this one, and it was living up to it. Somewhere in the middle I got less excited about them, and now I’m pretty behind on reading it.
Power Rangers Unlimited: Coinless. Power Rangers is the same boat as the Thor series. This was one I was really excited for. They split the series into Mighty Morphin and Power Rangers. Eventually, it became too much. I still collect these little one shots though.
Vanish is a series I have enjoyed so far. I’m about halfway through it and have really enjoyed it. I’m somewhat of a Cates fan boy, and I’ve enjoyed his run on Thor and Crossover. This is no exception so far.
So that’s my comic book haul w
Lord of the Rings Magic the Gathering Haul!
The latest Magic the Gathering Product is a part of their Universe Beyond series. Before, this included the likes of DnD and Warhammer. This means Lord of the Rings was an obvious next step. My wife’s uncle and cousin both wanted to play so I grabbed us some pre con decks and deck boxes. Let’s take a look at what I got!
First up is The Hosts of Mordor Commander Precon. This deck is Red/Black/Blue and sports Sauron as the commander. I almost bought two since her cousin and uncle both said they were interested in it.
Next up is Elven Council. This is the one I debated on playing. Green and Blue are my two favorite colors and elves are my favorite creature type. This one seemed tailor made for me. However, her cousin apparently loves elves as well, so he be playing this one.
Last up is Riders of Rohan. This is a Blue/Red/White colored deck with Eowyn as the commander. With everything previously mentioned, this might be the one I end up playing with first. It creates tokens and draws cards. I typically like doing those things, so I can get behind it!
Then I snagged the starter kit so I could show her uncle and cousin how to play. Typically I don’t buy these starter kits as I’ve been playing for almost a decade now. I made an exception because they love Lord of the Rings and have never played MtG, so this seemed like a fine starting point.
I also grabbed some 100 count deck boxes to keep the commander decks properly stored.
So there you go, guys, that’s my haul. My local store was sold out of the Hobbit pre con so I was unable to complete the set, sadly. What product did you get from the set? Are you buying sealed products or singles? Let me know down in the comments below!
Thank you guys so much for reading! Have a great day!
My Recent Video Game Pick Ups!
As some of you may remember, I made a post saying I would be showing off my video game picks up. Well, today is that day! We got games I’ve wanted to play for a while now. We also picked up some heavy hitters. Check these out!
Oh, boy! The next installment in the Zelda series. It’s a darn good one. I’m enjoying it more than BOTW, but both are amazing games.
Pokemon Rumble Blast is a game I’ve wanted for what feels like forever. I found this game at my LGS about 2 years ago. Only they had lost the key to the showcase it was in. Well, recently, they found that key, haha. It’s a game I’m glad to have in my collection, finally!
This was a game I loved as a kid. My brother and I no-lifed this game. It taught me a lot about the Marvel universe. I now work at a comic book store, and this game helped guide me down this route. Now, my wife and I love the MCU and talking comics. I’ve been wanting to play this awesome beat em up with her for almost a decade.
Now on to the heavy hitters! Castlevania among the other 2 does seem kinda dudish, but I was able to pick up both Castlevania games at an absolute deal! I did pay retail for Ogre Battle 64, but it was super clean. Admittedly, I’m a lot more interested in trying Castlevania over Ogre Battle. That’s mostly because I’m into action adventure games more so than RPGs. However, the N64 is starved for RPGs, so I’m glad to have one of the few! These two join the likes of Beast Wars, Bomberman 2nd Attack and Conker as some of my biggest hitters on the console!
So that’s my haul, guys! What do yall think of these? What systems or games do you collect? Let me know in the comments down below!
Thank you guys for reading and have a great day!
5 GameCube Hidden Gems According to chatGPT!
Hey guys! ChatGPT is all the rage while we wait for AI to overthrow us. I decided to take advantage of it to create a list of 5 hidden gems found on the GameCube. I asked it to create this list in a script format similar to a Youtube video. Here’s the list it came up with:
Would you rather watch this as a Youtube video instead of reading it? Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7opP61IpTw
GameCube Hidden Gems!
ChatGPT
[INTRO MUSIC PLAYS]
Host: “Hey, gamers! Welcome back to our channel, where we uncover hidden gaming treasures. Today, we’re diving deep into the Nintendo GameCube library to bring you five hidden gems that you may have missed. So grab your controllers, because it’s time to explore some fantastic games that deserve more attention. Let’s get started!”
[TRANSITION EFFECT]
Host: “Our first hidden gem for today is ‘Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem.‘ This psychological horror game takes you on a twisted journey through the ages, where you’ll battle ancient evils and unravel a captivating narrative. What sets this game apart is its unique sanity system that messes with your mind. Be prepared for hallucinations, camera tricks, and even fake game crashes! It’s a chilling and immersive experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat.”
Host: “Next up, we have ‘Skies of Arcadia: Legends.’ This fantastic role-playing game originally released on the Dreamcast, but the enhanced GameCube version brought its captivating world to a wider audience. In this epic adventure, you’ll become a young sky pirate, exploring vast skies, discovering hidden treasures, and engaging in thrilling turn-based battles. With its charming characters, memorable story, and beautiful visuals, ‘Skies of Arcadia Legends’ is a true gem for RPG enthusiasts.”
Host: “Moving on, we have a unique blend of action, strategy, and puzzle-solving in ‘Pikmin 2.‘ This sequel to the beloved ‘Pikmin’ series brings back Captain Olimar and introduces a new character, Louie, as they venture through lush environments, commanding armies of adorable plant-like creatures called Pikmin. With its charming art style, clever level design, and addictive gameplay, ‘Pikmin 2’ offers a refreshing and enjoyable experience that shouldn’t be overlooked.”
Host: “Our fourth hidden gem is ‘Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean.’ This visually stunning and unique role-playing game takes place in a world where islands float in the sky. You’ll embark on an unforgettable journey as a young guardian spirit, joining forces with other heroes to uncover the secrets of the mystical Magnus cards. The game’s card-based battle system adds a strategic layer to the gameplay, making it a captivating and refreshing RPG experience.”
Host: “Last but not least, we have a racing game that combines speed, style, and a whole lot of fun—’F-Zero GX.’ Developed by Sega, this futuristic racer delivers high-octane action as you pilot ultra-fast vehicles through gravity-defying tracks. With its intense gameplay, jaw-dropping visuals, and a killer soundtrack, ‘F-Zero GX’ provides an adrenaline rush like no other. So buckle up and prepare for an unforgettable racing experience!”
Host: “And that wraps up our list of five GameCube hidden gems that you should definitely check out. Whether you’re a fan of horror, RPGs, strategy, or racing, the GameCube has something for everyone. So dust off your old console or fire up that emulator and dive into these fantastic games that deserve more recognition. Thanks for watching, and don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more hidden gaming gems. Until next time, happy gaming!”
[OUTRO MUSIC PLAYS]
So that’s the list chatGPT came up with. Overall, I think it’s an okay list, but nothing groundbreaking in 2023. Pikmin 2 is far from a hidden gem. F-Zero, Eternal Darkness and Skies of Arcadia strike me as cult classics, more so than hidden gems. Baten Kaitos is still probably considered a hidden gem for now. But even it is getting a port to the Switch. With that in mind, I’m not sure how much longer it’ll stay that way.
How would you guys rate this collection of games? What did yall think of chatGPTs collection of games? I’ll probably do more of these with other consoles such as the N64, PS2 or even the Switch.
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Thank you guys for reading! Be sure to check out the YouTube video that covers this same topic!
Ranking Every Star in Jolly Roger Bay
Oh boy. I’ve been putting this one off for a while because this level is just not fun. Atmospherically speaking, it’s one my favorites. But as far as actually playing the level, big meh.
So, for those of you unaware, I’ve been doing a series of ranking every star in Mario 64 stage by stage. Make sure you read the previous installments after this one. Okay, now let’s get on with the list.
#7 Can the Eel Come Out and Play- When I make my overall ranking, I’ll be interested to see where this one ranks. This star is awful. It’s entirely underwater. You have to lure out an eel and grab the star off its tell. Conceptually, I don’t hate it. It feels somewhat unique compared to the other 120 stars. In practice, I hate it. Yes, there’s a camera angle trick that makes this star easy to grab. But this has got to be one of the 5 stars I die the most on. If you miss initially grabbing the tail, chasing him down can be a pain. If you get hit by his tail, you are almost guaranteed to be a goner. And not to mention, once you grab the star off his tail, it’s not over yet. The star floats away off screen. You better make sure you still have enough air to make it to it.
#6 Blast to the Stone Pillar – This star isn’t much better. There’s just not much to it. The cannon is at the start of the map. Once in, you launch straight to the pillar. Then, you jump from pillar over to the platform. It’s pretty straightforward. However, if you miss with the cannon, you must swim all the way back to the cannon.
#5 Through the Jet Stream– This is another straightforward star. It’s almost too simple. Once you’ve unlocked the metal cap, this one is a gimme. You grab the metal cap and proceed to sink to the bottom of the lake. That’s it.
#4 Jolly Roger Bay 100 Coin Power Star- This is one of the worst 100 coin stars in the game. There’s only 104 coins in this stage. This means that if you fail to grab a single blue coin, it is impossible to get this star. Or you could be stuck trying to find the star rings on the water. Or if you fail to grab the coins from defeated enemies, out of luck. It’s not a super difficult star, but you do have to play nearly perfect.
#3 Plunder in the Sunken Ship- Truthfully, the first part of this level is not my favorite. Traversing the more open part of the lake can be chore. Then there’s the matter of swimming to the bottom of the lake. The worst part, by far, is getting that Eel out of the sunken ship. It is not fun. Once he’s out of the way, the rest of the star is okay. You enter the ship. From here, I lower the water and swim as far up the interior as I can. Now, do some platforming, and you’re at the star. The Eel hurts this one from going any higher. Yet, the slight exploration and platforming help it.
#2 8 Red Coins – Ultimately, I’m okay with this star. I wish the floating ship was a more fleshed out part of the stage. As the ship only hosts about half the red coins. The rest are found littered throughout the course. This one has a nice mix of exploration, platforming, and collecting. On another course, it probably won’t score this high. However, I don’t think super highly of the rest of the stars on this course.
#1 Treasure of the Open Cave – The only star I really like doing on this course. This star is exactly what I’m looking for in a stage. It highly encourages exploration, combat, and collecting. It highlights the unique feature of the stage, the giant lake. It’s not the best star in the game or anything, but I enjoy the cave. It’s the N64, and I’m not expecting a lot. So, for the time period, the cave is sweet. It’s got blue coins, some combat, and a puzzle ending with you snagging a star.
So this is by far one of my 5 least favorite levels in the game. And honestly, has probably my least favorite collection of stars in the game. The atmosphere is a slight redeeming quality, but it doesn’t hold up the subpar selection of stars.
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So thank you guys so much for reading. Have a great rest if your night!
Da_Hubbz 