NEWS: Monday Update

Hi everyone. Bit of exciting news for you all this week, I'm heading back to Australia on Friday! Just for ten days though, a little bit of a holiday to see everyone again. Also, when I get back to Japan, I'm going to head up to Izu for a bit of a beach getaway (it's not a real summer vacation until I've been to the beach!)

As such, don't expect too much in the way of updates for the coming month! My Escapist news stories will also probably see a bit of a decline.

Last week was my "training week" for my day job as an English teacher. It was good to see all the Nasushiobara ALTs again, and to cap it off we had a poker night on Saturday. It's a very nice change of pace from my regular teaching work, and a good lead in to my lengthy summer vacation.

I bought a car this week! It may just be a Kei car, and it may have only cost me $500, but it's a car nonetheless. Even if I end up going back home in March, I'll have still saved money over renting every month, and if I do decide to stay another year, I'll end up saving a LOT of money.

On that front, it's looking more and more likely I will end up staying here one more year. Next year, my car, and my apartment's start up fees will be completely paid off, and with my current work pace at the Escapist I reckon I can save up a LOT of money. I do miss being home, and it's particularly hard with several of my best friends in the country having left Japan earlier this year, but at this stage in my life it may be best to just burrow down, save up a wad of cash, and then blow it all on a big vacation (or... sensibly save it with the intention of possibly buying a house...). It would be nice to visit all my friends in America...

My new car

Anyway, here are the last couple of week's stories (sorry about no update last week):

• Martian Manhunter Joins The Injustice: Gods Among Us Roster

• Evo 2013 Champions Revealed

• American McGee Cancels His OZombie Kickstarter

• Oculus Wants To Release The Rift For Free

• Good Old Games: Pirates Are Our Competition, Not Steam

• Skyrim Mod Adds Dishonored's Signature Abilities

• State of Decay PC Version Features Exclusive Enhancements

• Team Fortress 2 Update Kills Idle Servers

• League of Legends Unleashes Spirit Guard Udyr

• Battlefield 4's Buildings Have Advanced Falling-Over Mechanics

• 7 Days to Die Is DayZ Crossed With Minecraft

• Dead Rising 3 Ditches The Race Against The Clock

• How The Stick of Truth's Ambition Got Out of Control

• Street Fighter Live Action TV Show Starts Filming

• New Technology Lets You Physically Feel Virtual Objects

• Gearbox Announces HD Remakes of Homeworld 1 And 2

• Borderlands 2 Getting Level Cap Increase, Extra Missions, Raid Bosses

• Saints Row IV Had to Drop Bollywood Dance Number Ending

• Battlefield 4 Singleplayer Campaign Details

• First Saints Row IV DLC Detailed And Dated

• Nvidia Shield Ships On July 31

• Microsoft Vows To Fight Government Spying Via Kinect

• Nintendo Stock at a 2 Year High

• All Left 4 Dead 2 Maps Soloed On Expert By Crazy Person

• Pokemon Dev's New Game Combines Horse Riding and Solitaire

• EA Loses Lawsuit To Original Madden Creator

• Eidos Founder: Square Enix Needs to Learn How to Sell Games

• Saints Row IV Season Pass Includes Anal Probe Weapon

• "Project Logan" Brings Direct X 11 To Smartphones

• Super Smash Bros. 3DS And Wii U Drops Story Mode

• Ace Attorney 5 DLC Adds a Full New Case

• Don Mattrick Details His Plans to Turn Zynga Around

• Activision Blizzard to Buy Out Vivendi's Shares

• Battlefield 4's Battlelog is a Seamless Second Screen Experience

• Xbox 360 Gets Indie Self Publishing Too

• Saints Row IV Refused Classification in Australia (Again)

Top stories:

• Fez Dev Tells Media Member To Kill Himself

Fez director Phil Fish

• Skyrim Mod: Falskaar Adds 20 Hours of Gameplay
  

Okay guys, that's it from me for this week! Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, and check back here every Saturday for a roundup of my Escapist news pieces!

NEWS: Saturday Update

Hey guys. Getting back into the regular swing of things these days, nothing too special happened to me over the week. I'm heading in to Tokyo tomorrow to watch my friend Joe play Taiko at the "Sanja Matsuri," which is one of the three biggest matsuris (festivals) in all of Japan! I went to watch him play last year, and while the immense crowds were pretty claustrophobic, it did make for a great day. I also plan to go down to Akibahara in the morning, because apparently I hate having money.

Last year's Sanja Matsuri

Bit of Steve's Game Blog news today, you may have noticed a change in the title from "Saturday Roundup" to "Saturday Update." This is because I have a lot of friends and family that read my blog, but aren't too interested in videogames. So, I thought I would use these regular Saturday updates to post a bit of a recap of what I'm up to in Japan, such as what I've just written about the Sanja Matsuri. As well as giving something for those interested to read, I feel it also adds a bit more personality to what is otherwise just a list of straight-up news articles.

Anyway, without further ado, here are this week's news stories:

• Indie Devs Aren't Happy With Steam Greenlight
• Play With Nvidia's Lifelike Human Face Render
• Behold Detroit's Glorious RoboCop Statue
• Capcom Explains Why Ace Attorney 5 Is Digital Only
• 3DS XL Evolves Into Limited Eevee Edition In Japan
• You Can Play The Ace Attorney 5 Demo For Free (In Japanese)
• Nintendo Direct Airs Today, Focuses on Upcoming Wii U Titles
• You Can Play The Last Of Us While It's Still Downloading
• New Super Luigi U Gets Standalone Retail Version
• Robotic Boogaloo Is TF2's First Entirely Community-Created Update

Story of the week:

• Nintendo Suddenly Claims Ownership Of Many YouTube Videos

Okay guys, that's it from me for this week! Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, and check back here every Saturday for a roundup of my Escapist news pieces!

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Now that I'm writing daily news stories for The Escapist, I've decided to collate all of the articles I post during the week right here on Steve's Game Blog! Here's this week's stories:

• Salem Dev: MMOs Without Permadeath Aren't Proper Games
• UFC Fighter Learned "Cool Moves" From Tekken
• AVG Says Most Game Hacks Are Crawling With Malware
• Pre-Orders Open for Starbound
• Relic Hands Out Free Company Of Heroes 2 Beta Keys
• Sony Launches World's Fastest Personal Internet in Japan
• Ace Attorney 5 Sees The Return of Phoenix Wright
• Riot Opens Paid Transfers Between League of Legends Servers
• Blood Dragon: The Cyber War Live Action Short is Too 80's For Words
• EarthBound Is Coming to Wii U's Virtual Console
• Report: Skyrim: Legendary Edition Compiles All DLC Packs
• Capcom Wants to Cut Ties With The West, Increase DLC
• NPD's March Numbers Show Bioshock And Tomb Raider at The Top

Story of the week:

• Beta Tester Leaks Elder Scrolls Online Gameplay Footage

Okay guys, that's it from me for this week! Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, and check back here every Saturday for a roundup of my Escapist news pieces!