Chicks Dig Giant Robots: Anime Detour 2016

Netrunner on Friday Night

So I was sitting here this past Monday, completely mute again.  You'd think I'd learn from prior years to take care of my voice, but no...

Anime Detour 2016 was a ton of fun this year.  A whopping total of 5,500 people crammed into the Doubletree in Bloomington, MN, for another year of cosplay,  antics, games, and awesome.  And hoo boy, do I have stories!

The Gamer's Guide to Tokyo: Akihabara

Last may, I took a trip to Tokyo, Japan.  It was awesome, I had tons of fun, and I realized that there's not a whole lot of information for gamers on what to do and see in Tokyo.  Thus begins this series of posts.  I'm going to point out the important things to see and check out in Tokyo, in as many districts as I can.  In addition, I'll point out as much cultural information as I can, so you don't stick out like a stupid tourist.

5 Indicators You’ve Been Misinformed About #GamerGate

[Editor's Note: This article was originally posted here, and was written by the excellent Jamie Butterworth. It has been reposted here with permission. I'll have my own article up in the next couple days.]

The GamerGate debate has raged on for over 5 weeks at this point, and that’s like, 15 internet years. Entire kingdoms have risen and been decimated since the hashtag came into existence. People have gone to war with one another, hurling endless piles of feces among the neverending stream of bullets. I held a dear friends in my arm as he lay dying. “Jamie...” he whispered to me with his dying breath. “Don’t...don’t let them sully our beloved hobby...” As the light left his eyes, I swore to him that I would fight to the end in his honor. Or that might have happened when we were playing Call of Duty together. I can’t remember since politicians and media critics tell me I’m unable to differentiate between reality and videogames.

It's the Final Countdown! Miracle Gears is coming!

It's the calm before the storm, here at my house.  I'm getting as much cleaning done as I can, getting ready for the big setup tomorrow night.  Thus far, Miracle Gears has raised $270 as of the time of the writing.  That's awesome!  I can only hope that this is a sign of things to come.

Now, only one person has written in as to what we're going to do at the start of the drive.  We may get the decision based on one vote alone...

If you're going to donate before the drive starts, know that you can determine our fate when we begin on Friday.  Put "do the tutorial" or "don't do the tutorial" in the comment field of your donation.  The one that earns the most money decides our fate.  The clock is ticking...

And with that, I'm off.  I'll see you soon!

The prep work begins...

Firday looms on the horizon, but I wanted to pop in and give an update.

Hipster Anime Fans! Anime Detour 2014 in review

Once again, Anime Detour takes over the Doubletree by Hilton in Bloomington, MN.  Last weekend, 5,000 people descended upon the hapless hotel staff to party, congregate, and discuss the intricacies of "the manga was better."  This year was awesome, in so, so many ways.

Account security and gaming: I don't wanna be hacked!

Last week, someone commented on my How to fix WoW article, asking about account security.  Ironically enough, this comment was from a spam bot, but this is a great topic that's definitely relevant to what has happened over the past couple of years.  There are some really easy ways to reduce your risk and minimize the damage in the event your accounts are compromised.  Here's a few tips on what to do.

A Decade of Construction: Anime Detour 2013 Recap

Wow, what a con  This past weekend, 5,000 people gathered at the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington, MN, for what is one of the largest anime conventions in the state.  It was an exhilarating, awesome, epic weekend.  And I was in the thick of it.

The Stack of Shame

Within the game journalism community, there's a problem that is affectionately known as the "stack of shame."  It refers to the issue of having so many awesome games to play, but not enough time to play them all.  Sadly, this problem doesn't plague only journalists.  Members of the gaming community can find themselves mired in an ocean of games to play. It's everywhere, and it's starting to turn into an elephant in the room.  But it doesn't have to be like this.

Off Topic: Why I kissed Facebook Goodbye

In the spring of 2006, I created my facebook account.  In May of 2012, I shut it down.  Why? Lots of reasons.  Mark Zuckerberg created an empire, that much is certain.  His little networking tool for keeping in touch with his classmates bloomed into a multi-billion dollar juggernaut, and finally went public this year.  Perhaps that's part of the problem.  The new facebook doesn't match the values and principles of the old, and it's slowly killing it from inside.

[Editor's note: this is the first of the off topic rants I mentioned in my "One Year Later" post.  While I could easily include gaming topics, I'm going to avoid that as much as possible during this rant.  I have enough material as it is...]

My voice is shot but that's okay: A look back on Anime Detour 2012

So, my voice is completely shot from the past weekend, where I volunteered on staff for Anime Detour.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  I'm taking a week off, in a sense, to talk about the awesomeness that was this past weekend, and show some of the awesome costumes.  Regular articles will resume next week.