Ho-Hum, Monday

Mondays are going to end up being my free day of the week, I think. After this week, I should have some money again, so it'll become my shopping day. Homac, Posful (department store from yesterday), and the large 100 Yen Plaza that I went to when I first got here are in the middle of a nice shopping district. Said shopping district is easy to get to, but probably an hour or so walk. Today, having only about 2500 yen to my name, I use the internet. Let's start with a gaming commentary, shall we?

I present information on an awesome contest that's already past. It's for level designers and the like... awesome civic/public/democratic space creation. You know, city halls and courthouses and other such government-related necessary buildings. They had Harvard architects and the like on the judging panel. I think that's a huge step, both for games and for 3D artistry in general. Having professors from Ivy-league colleges acknowledge the merit of this stuff is exciting.

I've also finally caught up to the news on the Revolution controller. My initial reaction was horror. A TV remote?! I hate remotes so, so much. But I read more (from a couple of sources; I'm just linking one), and realized something. Light guns are awesome, but they've never been popular for anything but Duck Hunt. Why is that? It's because they never came with the system. Nobody wanted to make games for which people had to buy special controllers (with a few notable exceptions). Now, we have our primary controller having the ability to function as a gun. Nintendo's really going all out on innovation this generation, between the Revolution and the DS. I must say that I actually quite like it. You know there'll quickly be third-party controllers that go back to the traditional style, so it shouldn't be a problem for long, if at all.

Earlier today, I was explaining a bit about D&D to my friend biggestg121. I was slightly taken aback when he asked what 3d6 meant, as I had forgotten that most people don't actually know what it means. When I explained the lingo to him, I also mentioned the other dice to him -- twelve and twenty siders and the like -- and was shocked when I found out he didn't know they existed. It was pretty weird.

My 100 yen umbrella was taken yesterday. I had it in the umbrella rack outside the library like everyone else, and when I left, there were no white umbrellas at all. Drat! Drat on the world! >< I shall have to get me another 100 yen umbrella.

Realizations of the Period

1) The library's DVD players really need to have their lenses cleaned.
2) In America, I have to blow my nose a lot in the morning -- it usually takes like an hour to clear my sinuses of the mucus that builds up in them. I have no such problem here. What am I allergic to?