Hey there, how are you all doing?

First of all, I would like to thank Aeroxix for the cool new banner he made for me, which you can see up on my blog (go Midna!).

Second, I'm going back to college this Monday.  My two weeks of break went by fast, and I didn't get much done, but it was a nice break and I'm ready for me; I just hope I don't get as much homework as before, and it looks that way.  I have three courses once again: Advanced English Composition (should be easy), Information Visualization (I know this teacher; he's an easy-going guy), and Sculpture, which sounds a bit intimidating; we'll have to wait and see.

And last but not least, my DS collection.  I promised you some pictures, but I'm thinking of waiting until I reach the 100 game milestone; I have 96 right now with a paid preorder and some extra cash, so the 100th game should be here soon; then I'll take some pictures of my collection.  It'll be worth the wait!

Gotta go.  Take care everyone!

Hello everyone.
This April 4th, I turn 20.  Life is good, I feel good; it's all good.

I have big plans.  I'm going to play my DS Lite all day long; lots of games, lots of hours.  I'm even going to pick up a new game; Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales.  It'll be a great day for a DS fan like myself.  Nothing to do; just play DS.

Thank you all for still being here after yet another year.  Take care and have many birthdays as well.

The biggest DS fan who cares about you,
sergioalb64

PS - Check out my Portable Video Gamer submissions; the latest four DS stories are mine.  Enjoy!

OMG you guys, I just got a 'job'!  I'm so EXCITED!

Ok, let me explain what's going on.  PVG, Portable Video Gamer (portablevideogamer.com) was offering some sort of internship for a regular DS writer.  So, being the huge DS fan I am, I decided to write a preview of a DS game (Planet Puzzle League) and send it in to them.

Turns out they loved it and I'm 'hired'!  Ok ok, it's not a paid job, or a job per se, but I'm still super excited; I get some experience in the filed of game-related jobs and I get to write about what I love (DS stuff)!

 I knew that, if the whole intern thing was real, I would get accepted; I just knew it!  And now, it begins...

Starting soon, every Friday or Sunday or some other day, I will make a blog with links to my DS stories for PVG, just in case anyone is interested.  I encourage anyone who loves portable gaming to take a look at the site and see if you like it.

And with that, I'm off to bed, to get a good night's sleep so that I can start my 'job' well energized!

 HOORAY!

My first Food blog post :)

What did you eat today?  I went to Sizzlers and tried some of their stuff.  First and foremost, I tried a yellow soup that looked interesting.  I tried it; delicious.  I thought it was either chicken soup or corn soup, but oh no...it was...



...broccoli soup!  I don't like broccoli itself, but this soup was superb!

And then I had an 'ok' cheeseburger and fries, and then came an old favorite...



...chocolate pudding!  My favorite dessert, where were you? I've missed you; I hadn't had a serving of you in a very long time!  It's good to be back together, ol' pal :D

What did YOU eat today?  I hope it was good.  Bon appetit :)

Hey there people!  I have here a few more of my design drafts.  Chek 'em out!

Hey everybody, I'm FREE!  I just gotta turn in my final assignments tomorrow and Wednesday, otherwise I'm finally free from college!

Back on topic.  I've compiled a collection of illustrations from my Game Illustration course.  I created a videogame character, named Dose.  Let's go through Dose's creation process together.


It all started with a basic perspective drawing of a bunch of boxes linked together by lines.  This took me HOURS; I'm not good at drawing, and I made a bunch of mistakes, but it was done, and fortunately, this would be the start of something great.


A very quick paint job just to see how it was coming up.  I was surprised to see something that looked interesting, so I decided to keep developing this further instead of switching to something else.


A first draft done in Adobe Illustrator.  Dose was finally given a face and some texture.  I wasn't too happy, but my teacher loved it; I started to do so as well.  By the way, those dots on his face are supposed to look like a speaker through which Dose speaks; pictures look weird due to scaling.


Some minor changes just to see if a blue metalish color would work.  Apparently it would.


A few more tweaks, but something's missing.  My teacher suggested to work with texture, and he was right.


The end result.  Texture everywhere, different values, and a few upgrades and tweaks.  Dose; ready to exterminate disease with his Syringe Canon...

...and his mighty-fast Red Blood Cell Ship...

...inside the human body, its intended environment!


Here's Dose's synopsys:
 

DOSE

Real Name: Project NITRO642-X
Identity: Commander of the White Armada
Age: Unknown

ORIGINS
Dose is the first prototype of Project NITRO642-X.  Developed by NASA, Dose was created using the latest in nanotechnology.  A strong, versatile, and well-equipped robot is built and shrunk to cellular level, encapsulated in a special pill, and given to gravely ill patients worldwide.  Doses, as Dose clones are called, have been fighting diseases for years, until a new, deadly disease appeared in Southern California.  This Dose has been especially equipped to handle this unknown virus and stop a possible epidemic of catastrophic proportions.

POWERS AND ABILITIES
Dose’s main ability is its knowledge and mastery of syringe combat.  Any Dose is well trained with a syringe, including CC shooting training and sword-like syringe battles, but this special Dose has been trained further, with extra techniques and maneuvers that aren’t normally used by Doses but that could prove useful against the new virus.

Also, Dose is the leader of the White Armada, composed of millions of white blood cells ready to battle.  Dose can command many white blood cells at a time to carry out specific tasks, or simply to use them in battle against large viruses.

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
Dose’s primary weapon is the Syringe Canon.  Implanted as Dose’s right arm, the Syringe Canon can shoot CCs of medicine to eliminate viruses, or it could be used to stab and slash enemies, just like a sword.  Throughout its adventure, Dose must refill the Syringe Canon with different varieties of medicine, each with its own special effect, such as burning or freezing.

Dose is also equipped with a blast ray centered on its abdomen.  Once used, a blast of energy is shot, but would leave Dose very weak for a long period of time; Dose must use this attack only during critical circumstances.
__________

So, what do you guys think?  Do you like it?  I hope my teacher does.  I'm turning Dose in tomorrow afternoon!

Hey there people, guess what?  Recently I purchased the box for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX for the Game Boy Color, and with that, my entire collection of 108 games includes boxes and instruction booklets for each and every game!

What about you?  What do you do with your box / manual after you buy a game?  When I was younger I would just throw them away; big mistake.  Now I won't buy a used game unless it's complete and in very good condition, especially for my precious DS collection.

So let us know what you do with your stuff.  By the way, as a small heads up, during next week's awaited break from school I'll take some more pics of my DS collection; let's see how many DS cases tall I am!

Hello everyone, it's me!  I'm back after a whole bunch of weeks of no-blogness.  I'm glad to say that I have only one more week of college to go through, at least for this current quarter, and then I'll get two weeks of vacation!  I've been having loads of homework; I've never had this much, ever, but just one more week and it'll be over, and right now my three grades are all A's, so to keep it that way I'll do my last assignments and I'll do a great job on 'em.  I have a few Adobe Illustrator illustrations that I want to share with you, and I will, as soon as I finish 'em for next week, so look forward to those :)

So on to my short-term future plans.  Gaming wise, I plan to beat Zelda Wind Waker, again, and this time I'll hopefully be able to get everything.  I will also get Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales for the DS, which comes out on my birthday! (April 4).  Other than that, some family members from Mexico are coming over during the first week of April; an aunt, an uncle, a male cousin, and my grandma, and we're all going to Las Vegas...again...for the third time...which is boring...but I'll bring my DS so it'll be cool, I guess :P

That's it.  After those two weeks, it's back to college for me; 3 courses again, but hopefully not as homeworky as the current ones.

Check back next week for my illustrations, and I wish each and every one of you the best!

Link to 'My Special DS Lite' DS forum thread by me

Although a little late, here are my 2006 Videogame Awards.  This isn't based on games released last year, but rather, to games that I played last year.  Enjoy!

TOP GAMES FOR EACH SYSTEM (no particular order)

GameCube (didn't play much GameCube last year)
- FIFA 06
- Pikmin
- Super Mario Strikers

Game Boy Advance
- Polarium Advance
- Rhythm Tengoku
- Pokemon FireRed

Nintendo DS
- Elite Beat Agents
- Clubhouse Games
- Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

SYSTEM OF THE YEAR: Nintendo DS
OUTSIDER OF THE YEAR: Guitar Hero (PS2)
MISSING IN 2006: Zelda; I didn't play a single Zelda game last year :(
RETURN IN 2006: Pokemon; I played PKMN FireRed, Mystery Dungeon, Trozei, and Ranger, and I loved it all.

BEST...
ADVENTURE - Phoenix Wright 2 (import, DS)
SHOOTER - Star Fox Command (DS)
RHYTHM - Elite Beat Agents (DS)
ACTION - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)
PLATTFORMER - New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
RPG - Pokemon FireRed (GBA)
STRATEGY - Pikmin (GameCube)
PUZZLE - Tetris DS (DS)
SIMULATION - Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS)
RACER - Mario Kart DS (DS)
REAL SPORTS - FIFA 06 (GameCube)
ACTION SPORTS - Super Mario Strikers (GameCube)
MISC. - Clubhouse Games (DS)

BEST IMPORT GAME - Phoenix Wright 2 (DS)
BEST MULTIPLAYER - Clubhouse Games (DS)
BEST SOUND - Elite Beat Agents (DS)
BEST NEW CHARACTER - Rocket, from Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (DS)
GREATEST MOMENT - Turning on my imported DS Lite for the first time
BIGGEST SURPRISE - Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (DS)
BIGGEST DISSAPOINTMENT - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)
TURD OF THE YEAR - Tiger Woods PGA Tour (DS).  Bad golfing mechanics, no music during gameplay, slow gameplay...

TOP TEN GAMES OF 2006

10 - Tetris DS (DS)
09 - Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (DS)
08 - Pokemon Ranger (DS)
07 - Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS)
06 - Star Fox Command (DS)
05 - Daigasso! Band Brothers (import, DS)
04 - Phoenix Wright 2 (Import, DS)
03 - Elite Beat Agents (DS)
02 - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)

GAME OF THE YEAR FOR 2006

CLUBHOUSE GAMES FOR NINTENDO DS