Creative Christmas #5: Smooch… I mean smoothy.

LaterLevels has a collab this Christmas, but you should already know that since this is the 5th article in the series. I still don’t have a theme for these and I hope I don’t get on the naughty list for this. I mean, I’m trying my best to provide you with interesting entertainment and stories and feelings from my personal life. But, I still don’t have someone special to share it with. For those who didn’t get my subtle clue, I mean a girlfriend. So, let me think about a theme for these articles and meanwhile, you can enjoy my answer to the question of today. 

The party is still going strong and you find yourself conveniently positioned under the mistletoe. Which video game character would you call over for a cheeky kiss?

Oh dear lord, there is a lost of superstition when you kiss somebody under a mistletoe. I mean, I’m not that superstitious, but just in case the girl is that I kiss, is superstitious; I do have to make this one count. So, who would be interested in a 24-year-old Belgian guy who works in education, writes about his life in video games, collects retro and modern games… Wow-ah there Jonez, you aren’t writing a profile for a dating site here.

I mean, maybe a simple British woman would be interested. A classy but adventurous lady. Someone like Lady Croft. She was my first crush when it comes to video games. (Just like many other males I think).

Actually, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m not that adventurous in real life and I think I’ll just get in her way. So, Lara Croft, I’m sorry. I have to pass on you.

Oh, I have an idea! Maybe Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite! A lady I have a who lot of respect for. I mean, just look at her, she is a smart and caring lady that I can get behind.

When things get heated, you can be sure she can take care of herself. She got into multiple heated firefights with Booker after all.

Alas, I don’t think this would be a very wise choice. Without spoiling anything, just play Bioshock Infinite or look at it’s ending to understand what I mean. There is something about her that would make it pretty hard for her to have a boyfriend you know.

Maybe I’m thinking about this too much. Maybe, I’m taking this question a bit too serious. I mean, a cheeky innocent kiss. That isn’t a confession of love right? It’s not that I’m saying that I like her, right? Besides, I might get myself in an anime style war called that “Waifu” war here if I take things too seriously. Gosh darn, I’m raising the stakes even higher for myself now. I have to take something that offends almost nobody to avoid the “Waifu war” in the comments.

That would mean that somebody like Sakuya from Stella Glow would be a bad pick too. Since, if I would pick here, fans from the game will maybe argue with me that Popo or Risette is a better girl.

In addition to that, if I had to choose between her songs and Popo’s; dear lord, I would have a big problem on my hands.

Oh yeah, maybe some context for the people who haven’t played the game yet. In Stella Glow’s world, nobody can sing apart from witches who can use magic by singing. Yeah.

Also, I will have an even more hard time with Sakuya since one of my absolute favorite characters in the game in Nonoka, Sakuya’s servant. So, I think I won’t ask her.

So, I still don’t have an answer to this question. Besides, I think I should answer honestly since this is my blog after all. I pride myself on giving my opinion to the world about the games I recently played. I think I might be superstitious after all. I think about this too much.

… Princess Zelda? No! Link would be so mad and besides that, Zelda’s fate in the legends is always so hard on the emotions, I think I will be able to handle that.

… Princess Peach, well, I think Mario will stomp me to a pulp. So, no. I think I’ll pass there too.

Maybe Frederica from Etrain Odyssey Untold? That would be a lovely idea too, but then again; she is urhm… Well; just play the game and you will understand why. On second thought, I think I wouldn’t mind a kiss from her.

I can relate somewhat to her. When I meet people for the first time, I’m a bit distant too. But, I open up more and more when I get to know the other people and to trust them.

I also have difficulties to express my feelings to others. I’m also shy as well. So, I think I might be able to match with Frederica.

I wouldn’t mind a kiss from her under that mistletoe from her. At those moments, I wish that the superstitions were true, you know? Since she deserves all the good luck she can get. Or did I look too deep into this? Who knows, who can say?

Maybe I was playing a role all along in this article you know. So, while I’m standing underneath this mistletoe, Frederica you want a smooch– I mean a smoothy? Phew, nice save there.

And this is a perfect time to end this article. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

More answers here: https://laterlevels.com/

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Creative Christmas #4 – Jamming those tunes

Another day and still no good idea for a theme for these articles. Maybe I’m having a writer overload. You know that feeling when you have so many ideas that you want to write about but you are unable to decide which idea is the best one to go with the article? Perhaps that’s going on. Oh, you started to read this article as the first one? Well, let me explain something then. This is the 4th article in the “Creative Christmas” series, where LaterLevels asked several bloggers to answer a question each and every day. Let me introduce today’s question while I play some music and try to focus on getting the perfect idea for a theming of these articles. 

It’s now Christmas Eve and you’re throwing a lively party for all your friends, family and favourite characters. Which video game soundtracks would be on your playlist?

This is an interesting question. While I have written various articles about gaming music in the past like the one where I talk about my favorite soundtracks per platform, I think I should think about the situation here. par

First of all, define lively. If it needs to be a party with a dance floor, I think I could go with the soundtrack of games like Electronic Super Joy.

The whole soundtrack can be considered as party numbers. Too bad, that I’m such a bad dancer, so I think I will just enjoy myself watching the people dance on this soundtrack.

It’s strange, I enjoy listening to these tracks, but dancing on them is a no-go for me. I just don’t like dancing, to be honest.

The big issue to answer this question is that most games I play don’t have a soundtrack that is energetic enough to have a lively party. Or I need to go with remixes and video game medleys like this one of Dunderpatrullen. These can bring so much joy in parties since you start to remember your favorite games and their memories. Oh, and LaterLevels, if you are reading this; surely listen till around the 3-4 minute mark. You are welcome.

In that same spirit, The GAG Quartet also made an amazing medley in a rock/metal version. This one could be on my playlist as well.

But speaking about remixes, I think the artists who created the Essence of Lime and Lime of The Season are just amazing. They pull onto my nostalgic strings so much since they remixed almost the WHOLE soundtrack both games. This is just mindblowing and the art as amazing as well.

I could also mention Overclocked Remix, if you know about a game, there is a chance there is a remix or something along those lines ready for you there. I think I would get my complete party playlist from this website, to be honest.

If you mean lively as in, background music since the party is already loud; well, then I have a few suggestions too. The soundtrack from Breath of the Wild, Minecraft, OneShot can be such relaxing music to listen too.

So, before I close off this article I want to leave you with one soundtrack that amazed me this year. The soundtrack from Outlaws. If you love western music, seriously check this one out. It’ll be right up your alley.

In any case, that’s everything I wanted to say for this article. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, take care and have a great rest of your day.

More answers here: https://laterlevels.com/

Creative Christmas #3 – Help Santa!

So, today is another day and another question to answer in the mega blogging collab of LaterLevels. I’m still unsure if I should theme these articles since the goal is being creative. But, if I start a theme now, it’s a shame that the first two articles in this series didn’t have a theme. Actually, I think that shouldn’t be such a big problem. Yet, I think that editing my previous articles in this collab to fit a theme would be a bad idea to do… Hrm, while I think about it, here is my answer to today’s question.

You receive a call from Santa, as the elves desperately need a hand in the workshop getting all the toys ready. Which video game character would you recruit to help out?

So, who could help Santa in getting all toys ready? It should be a character that can work fast for sure. Sonic, maybe? Nah, I don’t think that will be a good idea since he most likely will break a lot of the tools since he is too fast.

I could put in “Sinterklaas“, a tradition here in Belgium & the Netherlands that’s extremely similar to Saint Nick. You know, you can call them almost brothers. But, since he isn’t really a video game character in the first place and more of a tradition, I don’t think it would count.

Maybe Asterix & Obelix? They got powerful druids who can make special elixirs that make them super fast and super strong. But then again, they are more comic book characters who got some pretty amazing games and they will have the same problem that Sonic has, they would be way too fast and the tools might not be able to follow.

Oh, maybe Putt-Putt? He had a Christmas book, called “The Night For Christmas“. That might work if we would live in car town that is. And sadly enough, we aren’t. Man, this is getting tricky.

Each time when I think of a character, something doesn’t click with me. Something deep inside me tells me that they aren’t the perfect character to help Saint Nick out to save Christmas.

You know, I was also thinking about some ridiculous ideas that might just work. Somebody like Paperboy could help with his experience in delivering newspapers in the craziest neighborhoods, but then again, that might not help a lot in creating toys.

At this moment, I dove in my game collection and looked through it. There had to be one game with a character in it that could help Saint Nick to create all these presents? I quickly threw Elf Bowling 1&2 on the DS to the side. I still shiver at the idea of putting those characters in my article to answer this question. I mean, that might be the reason why Saint Nick needs help since the elves are on strike and he doesn’t want to use them as bowling pins since that idea became a terrible game…

For real, this question stumped me for a while. I kept looking through my collection. I didn’t want to give a cheap answer and tell that Saint Nick can help too since he appears in various games, or say that a whole cast of characters from some game could help since they are with a lot of people…

Various characters passed my eyes as a possibility. Steve from Minecraft and the Sims are just two possibilities. But, then again, those aren’t too memorable characters since you create their story and you decide it all for yourself.

Maybe Guybrush Threepwood? Then again, rather not. I think he will just create something that looks like a toy and steal it afterward since he is a pirate, har har! Nah, I need somebody else.

This was becoming a real tricky puzzle for me to crack. I really had to have somebody who is kind hearted, a hard worker and a gentleman or a gentlewoman.

I wasn’t able to solve this one, but I’m sure that Professor Layton will know some tricks. Wait a minute. I think I can suggest him.

Yeah, he would really be able to help Saint Nick and with his knowledge of solving puzzles, he might be able to quickly think of a solution to help Saint Nick in his quest to finish all toys in time. This will work out just fine. If Layton is on the case, I know that this issue will be resolved no matter what.

So, that’s my answer. Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article on my blog, but until they have a great rest of your day and take care!

More answers here: https://laterlevels.com/2017/12/21/creative-christmas-santas-workshop/

Creative Christmas: A Gaming Collaboration – Day 1: Gifting

So, today something special starts. A collaboration with my friends from LaterLevels about Christmas. For the upcoming days, I’ll post an (short) article every day apart from the 24^th and 25^th. In these article’s, I’ll answer a question asked by LaterLevels. Keep your eyes peeled on this since a lot of other bloggers are joining in! I’ll be retweeting other articles that I come across. In any case, I think it’s enough stalling here. Time to get into the first question!

Question: You need to choose a gift for someone special and go online to check out the video game item catalog. Who is this person and what present would you select for them?

This would highly depend on the person I would choose. You can take the “special someone” in such a broad way. At this moment in time, I’m a single man, so I can’t buy a gift for my significant other.

If I would take some coworkers who would mean a lot to me, as the “special someone” in this situation, I think I’ll come up short handed with the second part of the question. As far as I know, none of my coworkers is really that into gaming, so a gaming related gift wouldn’t be suitable.

The same thing goes to almost every member of my family. Apart from three people. First is my sister. She plays games but very occasionally. She plays games like League of Legends, The Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon and a few others. But, it isn’t her main interest. Besides, a few years ago, she gave all her games to me to add to my collection. So, let’s go to the second person.

That would be my uncle. He plays a lot of stealth and country management games. When he has the time, he boots up a game and starts playing. Keyword being time here. My aunt and uncle got a daughter a few years ago and his focus goes more to his daughter then to video games. I see him rarely online on Steam and he mostly plays Assassin’s Creed or GTA. I think that the 3^rd person who plays games in my family would be more happy with a gift actually.

That would be my cousin. While she does play games from time to time, according to me, her favorite gaming moments are the moments she shares with me. Together we played through so many different games. We played games like BoomBlox (Wii), Kirby’s Adventure (Wii), Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) amongst others. Often she likes to watch me play games, that she finds too difficult to play herself. I commentate over them and let her make the decisions here and there.

She also loves taking a look at the games in my collection and when she sees a game that she really likes, she wants to buy it for herself.

A few years ago, I bought her a copy of Minecraft for the PC. And let me be real here, I can’t keep count anymore for how long we played Minecraft together. The annoying thing is that her laptop isn’t that powerful so she has to play Minecraft at the lowest setting to be even playable.

If I would have the budget, I would love to buy her a laptop that can run Minecraft better. Why a laptop? Well, since she would love to take her creations everywhere she goes without having to save her worlds somewhere on a USB or in the cloud. She isn’t that tech savvy and just buying a laptop would make that easier.

I could also buy her a NEW 2DS and a copy of Minecraft on that. I think she would be extremely happy with that too.

So, why would I gift something to my cousin? Why is she so special to me? I’m her godfather after all and I want nothing more for my godchild that she is happy and has a great time.

That’s my answer to this question. Tune in tomorrow for another question! Also, keep an eye on LaterLevels, since they are going to show an overview of all the answers.