RECON is moving to HGO

Posted in A.G. with tags , , , , , on January 23, 2013 by KanjiFX

Hey peeps, happy 2013!  I’m excited for this year, I already have so many things planned, I can’t wait to get to them.  First order of business,  my RECON post will now be posted on my Hardcoregamersonly.com blog, it seems only fitting.   Second, my lovely Partner in Crime, Tiffany and I have finished our script for our short.  Pre-production has been underway since December, and production will begin Q2 2013.  I’ll post updates on the Projects page of my blog here.  Another blog and website for the project will spring up soon.   Looking forward to a prosperous and rewarding year.

~Enjoy ^_^
Jason Shaird

…its time to make a movie…

Posted in Projects with tags , , , on December 25, 2012 by KanjiFX

For a while now, my writing partner and I have been working on a script.  We have finally finished, and now its time to get this script turned into a short film.   This film is going to be a concept film for a possibly future films in the series, or a mini-series. 

Here is the pitch:  Kidarra is a leader of a human resistance in a post-apocalyptic world run by cyborgs.  When she is killed in battle, she awakes in another world that is more desolate and alien than the one she left behind. 

I’ll update this as more progress is made on the project.  

Here is to a happy and productive 2013. ^_^

RECON: Fallout Games – Bell Road

Posted in RECON with tags , , , , , on April 7, 2012 by KanjiFX

I did a preliminary recon of this place when I helped my sister purchase her new car.  The only way I noticed this place was from their small sign by the side of the road.  The strip mall that was completely vancant, only 2 stores and a bar.     The layout of the store kind of reminded me of a Funcoland store from way back in the day.  It had that nostalgic feeling one would get visiting a friend’s place to play video games, and discovering what games they would have.

I’m always on the hunt for Famicom, and Super Famicom games. This place will get them in periodically, on my last trip I picked Phalanx, a challenging shooter by Kemco. The American version of the game was notorious for its horrible cover art, which featured an old man playing a banjo.

Phalanx-cover

Even though I have “officially” retired my PS2, I still look for some games that I missed or never got a chance to pick up for it.  I finished up my Shin Megami Tensei collection, and now looking for add to my Nippon Ichi collection.   I was in luck today, I found La Pucelle Tactics,  I never got a chance to pick this game up the first time around.

La_Pucelle_tactics_Cover

 The staff is very friendly, and knowledgable.  Often times you’ll have to ask them what game you are looking for, chances are they will have it behind the counter or in an area that hasn’t been sorted yet.

Anyone one on the North West Side of Phoenix should definately hit this place up.   At the time when I checked out this place, they were in process of setting up a second store in Tempe.   I’ll have to recon that place when time allows.

RECON: Gamer Zone

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on August 15, 2011 by KanjiFX

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During my last refuel stop at the Fujiya Japanese Market, I picked up a card for a store called Gamer Zone.  They’re located in Gilbert, a fair distance from the market located in Tempe.  I figured I would hit them up whenever I was out that way.

I found the store in what seemed to be a deserted strip mall.  There were a few main stores, but a lot of the spaces were available for future storefronts.  I wasn’t impressed with the exterior, but I was in for a surprise.

The interior of the store was very impressive, the store looks like it might have been a FuncoLand in the past.  The racks were full of all the game goodness of yesteryear.   In addition to games, they carried a good amount of similar nichey items like figurines,  and plushie toys.   There was a good anime presence as well, even though a lot of their stuff was older, they still had something to offer.

I remember way back in the day, Gamestop / EB Games use to offer used DVDs.  Now, you only find this at independently owned stores.    They also had an interesting set of wall scrolls available.   These were mostly Naruto scrolls, but I did happen to find an old school Ghost in the Shell scroll.  

In addition to the wall scrolls, various soundtracks were being sold.  In the mix of these CDs,  I found a good number of jpop and kpop albums.  I picked up Hamasaki Ayumi’s White album, another one to add to the collection.  After comparing prices online, I saved about $30.  

I checked the other side of their case, it was full of import games, mostly Dreamcast and Mega Drive games.  They had a pretty decent selection, and I was really impressed to see that they had a copy of Shin Megami Tensei for the Mega Drive CD, I have never seen that copy in existence before.

Don’t you just hate it when you by a used game and the instruction manual is missing?  Same here.   I had to laugh when I saw that they had containers with all types of instruction manuals being offered for a few cents.  

The staff were very friendly, and knowledgeable.  They were fairly humble and didn’t have the elitist attitude I have encountered at other stores.

I have to say overall, this is a very cool place to check out.  They offer a great game selection, and yet its one of the only other stores I’ve seen to try and offer other niche products like Japanese candy, anime, wall scrolls, apperal, etc…   I feel that if this place updated its anime selection, and wall scrolls, it would be the near perfect one stop shop. 

If you are ever in the Gilbert area, I highly recommend checking this place out.

REFUEL: Republic Ramen

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , on August 4, 2011 by KanjiFX

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I stumbled upon this place after checking out a rock climbing gym in Tempe.   This place is in the strip mall on the Southwest  corner of Dorsey and University.  Not far from the ASU campus.  This place is very has a very chill feel, and a friendly atmosphere.   Very student oriented.  The best part is, the ramen is the most authentic tasting ramen I’ve had since I’ve left Japan.

Their menu was laid out like that you would see at a Juice Bar, starting with what base components you want and then ordering additions separately.

You start with your base broth,  I chose Miso, that’s my favorite.  Next, you chose your protein, a choice of chicken, pork, tofu or spam.  From there you can chose to add other sides and garnishment like extra veggies or extra noodles.

To top things off, they have an excellent Boba tea selection.  I recommend the Taro slush. 

Anyone looking for some good ramen in a relaxed student atmosphere, I highly recommend checking this place out.

REFUEL: Fujitsu Japanese Market

Posted in REFUEL with tags , , , on July 18, 2011 by KanjiFX

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My sister’s friend Melanie told me about a Japanese Market in Tempe that sold freshly made bento box lunches.   This sounded almost too good to be true, I Just had to find this place.   I only had hearsay and landmark directions to follow.

Well, I found it. (The big marquee that said JAPANESE MARKET tipped me off.

I got a chicken katsu curry Bento, it easily restaurant quality.  I was able to do some shopping as well.

I highly recommend this place to anyone is looking to stock up on Japanese products or just wants to have a bento box lunch to change it up.

RECON: PopCulture Paradise

Posted in RECON with tags , , , , , on July 18, 2011 by KanjiFX

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This Indie comic store is nestled in a small corner not far from ASU’s Tempe Campus.   This place was well hidden,  I drove by it twice.  Walking into this store reminded me of going over to a friend’s house and spending an afternoon checking out their comics and videogames.  The atmosphere was really laid back, and the staff were very friendly.

As stated in my previous recon, I’m still surprised how popular card games like Magic are.  There was a tournament being played here as well.

I never really got into any card games growing up, It was mainly video games, pen & paper RPGs and miniatures.   Back in middle school, my friend Lee tried to get me to play a game of Magic, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. If it didn’t have a controller or a d20, I wasn’t interested.    Recently, I checked out the Magic: The Planewalkers 2012 demo from XBLA, and now I get it.  I can see the appeal of the game and the thrill of customizing a deck for play against others.

This store carried a little bit of everything.  They had a good selection of back issues and graphic novels.  Their manga section was small, but they did have a few classics and some of the popular series like Naruto.  They had a few figurines as well, but nothing really of interest.    I was surprised that this store carried a small line of GamesWorkshop miniatures, as well as a small assortment of used video games.

Overall, this is a decent One-Stop shop if you are living on or near the ASU Tempe campus.  I recommend checking this place out.

RECON: The Games Depot

Posted in RECON with tags , , , , on July 18, 2011 by KanjiFX

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This store in Tempe that had gotten high reviews on various websites.  I figure it was time to check it out.  I had noticed that they would have a number of ads in the ConNotations newspaper that I would pick up periodically.

Games Depot is located off of Southern and McClintock, and the location lives up to its name.  This store is a treasure trove of almost every type of non-electronic game you can play.  Everything from dice games to card games and everything in between.  I was pleasently surprised to see that they had a lot of miniatures.

Back in the day, I use to play Warhammer 40k, I had a decent Space Marine army (UltraMarines ^_^), a number of vehicles,  and two Terminator squads.   When I got into 40k, there so few races, there were only Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Orkz, Eldar, Chaos, and Tyranids.   I was blown away to see how they had redesigned all the races, the Tryanids never looked creepier.  The Tau, Necrons,and Dark Eldar are quite interesting additions to the universe, it almost makes me want to get back into it.  But then, I realized why I stopped, it was a seriously expensive hobby, it seems the only thing that hadn’t changed were the prices.   However, when I spoke to the owner, they said that they offer 10% off the listed prices for all GamesWorkshop miniatures.   This is a good deal for those who still actively play.

They had a fair number of role playing books, they had all flavors of D&D books, not just the latest rulebooks.  There a whole section devoted to RIFTS and GURPS books.   I hadn’t played a pen & paper RPG in a while, I’m still amazed at how many sourcebooks were available at this location.  These also a good number of individual D20 system sourcebooks as well.

This location, like many others, tend to sponsor their own tournaments and meetings.  When I arrived there Magic: The Gathering games in progress.   I think it is still great to see people enjoying traditional games even though a lot of these games are now available electronically.

RECON: The Arcade Store

Posted in RECON with tags , , on July 18, 2011 by KanjiFX

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During my last recon in Mesa,  I found a great Indie coffeehouse / comic book store, I picked up some cards and flyers they had posted on their bulletin board.  One of them was a flyer for a local DJ group, but one of their ad sponsors was “The Arcade Shop”, a store that specializes in arcade cabinets and games.  I want to check this place out to see what they have to offer.

As I was traveling to this place, the location seemed familiar.  It took me a moment, but the location of the store is in the same strip mall as “The Club House”, a great night spot to check out Indie and local bands.   Anyway,  this trek turned out to be a bust.

The location was closed, and it looked like it had been closed for sometime.   There was a note on the door with a phone number.   I called the number, but no answer.   Hours later, I get a call back. The owner stated that the showroom only available by appointment only, but he does do a variety of customizations for cabinets.

I know a few friends have decided to build their own arcade cabinets as a hobby, I’ll look into it in the future.  I know there has to be more than one arcade store in the valley.  I’ll try to find one on a future recon.

REFUEL: The Breakfast Joynt

Posted in REFUEL with tags , , on July 18, 2011 by KanjiFX

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Before a recon mission I usually like to eat. I’ll usually hit up a place where I can sit down and map out where to go, or edit these post before I upload them.   So I figured that I would including the places I “refuel” at while I’m out and about.

Like the Surgeon General says, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Since my area of operations is usually Scottsdale, I decided to go to “The Breakfast Joynt”  in the Northsight plaza.  For a place in Scottsdale, the atmosphere was very relaxed and casual.  You’d normally find a place like this in Tempe or Mesa.  I got a basic breakfast, 2 pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns and my choice of breakfast meat.  I got the Ham.  It was really good.  The hash browns were done just right, not too greasy, or crunchy.  They also had freshly squeezed orange juice.

I’m now ready to tackle my Tempe recon.   If anyone is in Scottsdale,  I highly recommend checking out “The Breakfast Joynt”.