PixlBit

Axiom Verge was amazing.

Yeah, fall weather is pretty nice.  This is when work starts to get busy (retail), but still not as bad as nov/dec.  Crazy that we have the same birthday. 

Happy Birthday!  I think we previously established that we were around the same age when we were talking about the summer of Michael Keaton's Batman, and indeed I will be turning 40 in a few weeks on Oct 8, so I know exactly where you're coming from.  I look like I'm in my mid/late 20s, and I don't really feel any more mature than when I got out of college.  I do have a wife and 4 year old son, so we are different there, but I am not where I thought I'd be career-wise, and it was really stressing me out.  As you probably know, I love to draw, and I always thought I'd be a professional artist (I also thought this would happen during my 20s lol), but for many reasons--being lackadaisical, money, insecurity about my work, I never promoted myself as well as I should have or worked hard enough to get better.  I recently reduced my position at work to give myself more time to work on my art career, but it takes a lot of time to establish a business, so I'm still working at it.  Turning 40 has given me motivation to do what I want, or at least go all in trying.  So break out of your comfort zone, set goals for what you realistically want to accomplish (hell, set some unrealistic goals) and make a plan.  Beyond that, I don't have much advice.  I will tell you that the whole spending less time with friends is unfortunately a part of getting older.  I don't often have time to hang out with my friends or even call them.  We see each other on our kid's birthday parties or at weddings/funerals, and maybe a couple of other times during the year, but that's it.  It's not that we don't want to hang out, but it's really hard to do with work and children.  But do call them if they are important to you.  They will enjoy talking and catching up I'm sure, and maybe you can arrange a night out or something (we plan everything 2 weeks ahead so I can take off from work and get my mom to babysit lol).  I'd also look into different groups who might share similar interests as you (I recently went to a drink and draw at a local comic book store, where we draw and some of us consume alcohol--it was a great time).  Anyway, good luck and congratulations!

Awesome articles.  I loved the Pac Man suits, but wouldn't spend that much on one because I'd never find an excuse to wear it.  And that was Resident Evil VII that they were promoting (Resident EVII, get it?).  Glad you could play the VR games without any problems.  I haven't even tried a VR game yet.  

Yeah, anyone with a large collection probably looks at it from time to time and thinks to him/herself, "imagine what I could do with the money I spent on this stuff" or considers selling it whenever money (or space) gets tight.  I've thought about just getting rid of everything and using the money to help with a down payment on a house or buy art supplies or something, but I've kept this stuff in great shape for so long, it would be a shame to sell it for a small percentage of what I paid for it (except for the stuff that has actually gone UP in value).  If I can hold onto the stuff, I'd like to give it to my son when he gets older, and he can do whatever he wants with it.  I regret selling my NES, SNES, and some Dreamcast and PS1 and PS2 games, because I had a personal attachment to some of those games and they sell for a lot more now than when I sold them.  Bottom line, if you think you might be tempted to buy the games back, don't sell them.  I guarantee XCOM will drop in price or go on sale within a few months.  Dragon Quest, maybe not, but it's like $40 anyway.  One of the games I regret selling was the PSone Dragon Quest VII lol.  I never really got into it but it's worth a good bit now, and I probably sold it for $5 or so.

Have a great time at PAX Cary

I bought both of those at GameStop not too long ago.  They weren't very expensive either.

I think I was in 7th grade when the Michael Keaton Batman movie came out, and it was like the biggest movie of the year and everybody (EVERYBODY--I checked) was wearing a Batman t-shirt that summer.  It was such a great time.  It's really a shame what they've done with him, for the most part, since then.  The Nolan films, especially the Dark Knight, were pretty great, but now Snyder (who can't come up with an original thought of his own) has used those movies and The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel as the blueprint for the entire DCCU.  I could forgive the movies for being dumb if they were fun, but they expect me to take them seriously, like a Scorsese film or something, and they can't be serious AND dumb--it just doesn't work.

No More Heroes 2 is worth picking up if you get the chance.  The mini-games/jobs in the second one are like old arcade/8-bit games, which are way more interesting and fun than the jobs in the first game.  I love the character designs in both games--they're so badass and original.  There was also a PS3 version, which is the first game, but with boss battles from the second one included as dream sequences.  Weird.

I couldn't get into either of the Dragon Quest games I played (VII and VIII).  I don't mind grinding, but having to do it from the beginning was a big turn off.  If I'd had a 3DS when IX came out, I would probably have gotten it anyway though.  I always liked the look of the series.  I actually think Toriyama's art style is more suited for fantasy illustration rather than whatever genre Dragon Ball is.