Friday, November 23, 2012

Well that was fun

Usually in a post like this I would say something insignificant like "I'm taking a break for a bit", but this isn't just a break, it's more like an extended hiatus.

2 years and some months ago, I released the first episode of Mel the Office Gamer Girl. Since then I've released 42 episodes (minus 1. You'll never get to see episode 41, IT DOESN'T EXIST!) and I've been writing for various blogs, websites, etc. The videos were the meat of my content, at least that's what I figured. But my selection of games was too much of a niche thing and I guess there's just not that much of an audience for it. It's cool though, I had fun making these videos, and I made them to where I could go back and watch them again myself. That's to say, I don't think they're complete shit. The thing is, with videos like these, they take time. Time that I find myself having less and less of nowadays. (Of course, I'd MAKE time if I were being paid for content, which I'm not...) I'm needing to spend more time on my own professional goals. Don't get me wrong, I love video games, always have and probably always will, but one of the main things about creating this series that was exciting for me was getting to learn new things about the games that I was finding. It was just as much about finding the facts and clues as it was playing the games themselves. It was also for the creators of these games. A lot of time, love, sacrifice, and dedication goes into doing what they love to do, so it would be a shame for some of these games to go unnoticed. It was that thought that started the entire project. But since no one but a small handful are watching, I think that it's time to move on and do other things for a while.

Last year I started making pixel art. Again, there was the fact that yes, I do love games, but there was also the fact that I was creating something. That's my other thing, I like to make stuff. Not just videos, but art, sculpture, I love to cook, mix drinks, and just share my creations with anyone that was willing to partake. Now this pixel stuff has been fine too, in fact I did make a little bit of money, but it was only enough to fund my trips. I also love to travel, and this year has been one of the most amazing for me. I traveled to 4 different states in the last few months, and I met some of the most amazing people. Of course there are all of the amazing new friends that I've made at each event, you are all wonderful, but I also got to meet some people that I'd been wanting to meet for a long time! I met Walter Day, Tommy Tallarico (twice), Voltaire, and even Yahtzee Crowshaw (sigh). Seriously, it was unreal, and everyone was just as awesome as I suspected they were. I want to travel more and meet more amazing people, but that's not going to happen where I'm at now in my personal and professional life.

So then where am I going? Well since we've already established that I love to learn and I love to create...well, I was a bartender for a while, but most bars around here don't pay well enough to do anything but survive (barely). So I've decided to work towards a career in the culinary arts. In a couple of months I'll be moving to Hillsboro (a sort of suburb of Portland), where I will live in a small studio apartment and put myself through a somewhat prestigious culinary institution on my own dime. It won't be easy, but nothing worth earning ever is. While I'm doing that, I will probably continue to play and write about video games, but I won't be doing any video stuff at all. I will probably still make and sell game related art to help pay off my fees, and if I'm lucky I may find time for an expo or two. I'm already off to a good start as I'm now working in a kitchen up until the time that I leave. I love when things work out like that. It's like I earned it or something. Anyways, thanks again to everyone that has been watching over the last couple years, I'm glad that at least a handful of people have enjoyed my work. Rock on.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

This shit is Bananas!

And there's prizes!

Mel the Office Gamer Girl Episode 43: Bananas!

"This week Mel discusses bananas in Japanese culture and a couple of obscure video games that feature bananas as a theme; Banana and Banana Prince (Ouji no daiboken) on the NES. Also, she's giving away some fabulous prizes!"

How to win:
Watch video 'til the end for instructions. Leave your comment and you're entered to win! Winners will be contacted via message. Please enter before Sunday 11/18/2012 for your chance to win.


Thursday, November 8, 2012

Painting Pixels!

I'm just going to leave this here. Finished it a couple weeks ago and forgot to share. So, here, it's a pixel painting of Seria Kirmin from Dungeon Fighter Online.


I was going to do the full sprite, but painting pixels by hand is much more time consuming than bead sprites.




edit: only just now posted this so I could have something to backlink from this article I just published.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Plugging Away

Here's a quick slideshow I made showcasing all of the different pixel bead sprites I've made since I started about this time last year. Check it out;


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween, you got Loki'd!

Halloween as Loki has been awesome. I photo-bombed anyone taking pictures of super hero costumes while walking around. I shit you not, as soon as I got off the train on Mill there was a Hulk at the crosswalk, glad he didn't see me. I got a dirty look from Tony Stark, Nick Fury chased me across a busy street to get a picture, and I talked shit to some girls who were looking for Thor (all in good fun of course). "It's always about THOR isn't it?!"

 There were also some religious nuts trying to preach to us lovely sinners, saying something about how homosexuality isn't right. I shouted as loud as could be heard, "FEELS GOOD MAN!" One of the security guys standing watch turned to me and said, "You tell 'em Loki!"

On the way home a car full of people at the stoplight started shouting at me; "We love you Loki!" "I'm so horny!"(referring to the horns I was wearing). I proceeded to tell them that if they weren't sitting down I would have told them to kneel. So much love for Loki this fine eve. Well, from people who weren't avengers anyways.Best Halloween ever.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

More content elsewhere

Check out this article I did about why roms are okay to play. Click here.

So yeah, I guess then it would be a good time to share that I'm now also writing for Geek News Network based out of sunny Arizona. I don't know how often I'll have articles there, but when I do, I'm sure I'll let everyone know. Also, Pixel Art Paradise now has a facebook page so be a dear and go like it, would you? We're settin' up some fun things like contests and stuff for free swag, so be sure to follow. Lastly, no new videos planned in the near future. Busy with life stuff. Thanks again for following and be sure to subscribe if you haven't yet. 

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Extra Life 2012 Recap

Thanks again to everyone who donated for this year's Extra Life Charity!

Seriously, I can't even begin to thank you enough. 100% of those donations are given to Phoenix Children's Hospital to help kids that really need it, so thank you.

Now this year's 24 hour game marathon was a little different. Last year I streamed it, this year I couldn't because my laptop was crushed on the way back from CGE so I had no camera to stream it. I started Friday night at midnight because, hey, that's technically Saturday. That and it's easier to stay up from midnight to midnight rather than, say, 3am to 3am, or some other ungodly early hours that would completely throw off my sleep schedule.
I started the night off with Monster Party on the NES. Now, I've already played this games and even covered it in my series. It's October so I thought it a fitting game to start with. Since it is tedious and you have to carefully inch your way through the levels, it's also an easy way to kill a couple of hours. I got a few levels in before I got a game over, then I did it again.

Next I played Super Wagyan Land 2 for the Super Famicom. I haven't covered this game, or set of games in my series yet but I do plan on it. This game's levels are way too short, but the "boss battles" take some time because they are very dialogue heavy and are entirely in Japanese. Luckily there's no kanji and I can still read hiragana and katakana well enough to sound out the words and sort of know what's going on. Of course, I couldn't translate it all, but it's easy to pick up. I'm pretty sure the games were made for kids in Japan so all of it's in elementary level Japanese. I'd go more into it, but if I did that here I wouldn't have much additional content for when it comes time to write about it for the video. I played it to the end before moving on.

Next I played Deja Vu, a point and click adventure game on the NES. It's just like Shadowgate except instead of being an adventurer in a castle, you're a detective with amnesia that needs to figure out who he is and why he was drugged and left in bathroom stall. Since I have an abundance of games to play through, I only played this one for a little bit. While I'm not sure how much "progress" I made, I was thoroughly entertained. I found a dead body, I punched a hooker, left the bar to drown in its own seemingly never ending supply of wine, blew up my car and died. Fell into a pit and died. Ventured into the sewer where I punched an alligator, it bit off my legs and I died again. Next time I went down there and found the alligator, I put on my sunglasses and shot him in the face. Bad ass.

Next up, Cacoma Knight on the Super Nintendo. You see the pattern here? I'm playing games that I've covered in my series! The ones I have physical copies of anyways. This game is not all that fun, and I don't really like it, but I hadn't played it at all since I made that video way back when and it's a great way to waste some time. I played it for a little bit. Didn't beat it this time around though, not that is matters, that game is boring and I didn't want to fall asleep before I'd even reached the half-way point of my marathon.

Speaking of having copies of the games that I've covered in my series, Daruma Dojo for the Super Famicom was next! This is by far one of my favorite puzzle games of all time, if not my favorite. I played this for a good couple of hours. I got to the last level and could not beat it. There's unlimited continues so I tried and I tried again, probably a dozen times or so before my finger slipped and I selected the option that wasn't continue. Well, sometimes it's better to just move on.

I wanted to take a break from retro games for a bit, so hooked up the 360 and played Child of Eden for a while. I played through all the levels a couple times and then played that challenge level a couple times to see how far I could get. I'm thinking I might still go back to it after the fact and play it some more one of these day when I find some leisure time.

Then I played Sega All Stars Racing where I proceeded to play through all of the cups on all difficulties. Not bad. It's still a fun game. I can't wait for All Stars Racing Transformed to come out next month!

Then there was Jet Set Radio Future which was the only game that I hadn't had the chance to play yet. I was super excited to finally check it out as Jet Set Radio is by far one of my favorite games of all time. I was more than impressed with the improvement of the controls and the fluidity of the graffiti this time around. Everything was so great, the colors, the soundtrack, the level of difficulty. I actually think I like this game more than the original, which can't be said for many games that I've played. I played for hours. Not that the game takes that long, I think I'm just not that good at it. It took me a while to grasp the timing of grinding on signs and not falling, but it was totally worth it once I got it down. I eventually decided to take a break from the game when getting further in the story required a fetch quest (for graffiti souls). So I ordered a pizza.

By this time in the day my boyfriend wanted the tv I was using back so I used another tv and was determined to beat Daruma Dojo. I must have spent a good 3 hours trying to beat the final level. Seriously. I don't remember it being this hard when I'd beaten it the first time I played. Of course, then I probably wasn't sleep deprived. After failing multiple times I decided to play Jet Set Radio Future some more.

In the last few hours of the marathon I decided to end it with some more retro games. I played a few games in the NES. First I tried my hand at Othello, which is just a computer version of the game Go. I was beat by the computer every single time. You know, for someone who's good at puzzle games, I'm terrible at strategy games. Next I played Super Mario bros all the way through, and then ended the marathon by playing Rad Racer. As I reached the finish line of level 3, so too did I reach the finishing line of Extra Life 2012.

That was it. It took me a while to get to sleep considering I'd been up for 40+ hours at that point, 24 of them playing video games. Seriously, I played more games yesterday than I probably did in the last 2 weeks combined. Thanks again to everyone that made it possible. Let's do it again next year!


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The ridiculously in-depth Gamer Grub review

Flavors abound in this ridiculously in-depth look at the snack Gamer Grub.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Black & Blue

Oh hey, it's my first time ever recording a let's play. Oh look, it's Peta's shitty propaganda flash game Pokemon Black and Blue...

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Extra Life, Extra Space


So I'm doing this thing to raise money for local children's hospitals. This will be my second year playing video games for 24 hours straight, and this year's it's going to be on October 20th. Please show your support by either clicking the banner above and throwing some money at the screen or by clicking here and doing the same, you know, whichever is more convenient for you.

In other news, I'm still selling my games, if you haven't seen the games that I have for sale, click here to be redirected to the youtube video where you can see my not-so-vast collection and giggle about my taste in games. Get them while they're cheap though since they will only be available to you this week. After that, it's all going on ebay in big lots to get rid of them quickly.

Thanks again everyone, and I hope to make time to get some new videos up as soon as the dust settles a bit.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Goodbye Game Collection

This video is to show you all of the consoles, peripherals, games, and other gaming goodies that I have for sale. I have to get rid of everything because I'll be moving in a couple of months. I said that you'd get first dibs on the goods! I'll also show you the games that I'm keeping. Let me know what you think about my taste in games based on the games that I keep. If I like your response I might send you a gift with your order. For your (and my) convenience, the video is sorted by consoles, peripherals, and games by age and console.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Portland Retro Gaming Expo

I went to Portland for Retro Gaming Expo this last weekend. Classic games galore! Games, party people, pixel art, and all around awesomeness. I also checked out Ground Kontrol (barcade) and I picked up some sweet swag to share. There's a pick-up vid at the end.



EXTRA LIFE is a charity that benefits local children's hospitals, please donate here.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Pow-Pow!

So this week it's off to Portland for Portland Retro Gaming Expo. See you there!

Oh, but before I go, 2 things;




 I just found out yesterday that I won Phoenix New Times' Best of award for Gamer Girl of the year. Click on this banner to be directed to the article at their website--


Earlier this week, PGTV's lovely Shiara came by and finally dropped off the footage of one of our panels from Phoenix Comicon back in May. I spent a day and a half transcribing the entire thing. Here's our panel 'How to create a web series on a budget'.


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Episode 42 contains Mutant Camels!

And it's really short!


The newest installment of Mel the Office Gamer Girl is a super-short look at Attack of the Mutant Camels for the Commodore 64. It's short because I'm still getting ready for Portland Retro Gaming Expo which is this weekend. Lots to do, little time, exciting things to be posted when I get back, etc, etc.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Escapist Expo 2012

It was so much fun! Happy to have met so many awesome people! All I wanted when I got home was a big sandwich and sleep. . .
Here's my little video for Escapist Expo 2012.


Thursday, September 13, 2012

Ready to go right now!

To Escapist Expo!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to be going to Escapist Expo. I'll be leaving first thing in the morning, and, unfortunately, will be arriving a little late tomorrow. Check-in, then set-up, then party! Come by my booth and pick up some delicious pixel art, you know you want it! I'll have a large variety of pixely-goodness as well as the charms that I made earlier this week. I won't really know anyone there, so if you want to challenge me to some games or hang out after the hall closes, be sure to let me know. I'm looking forward to meeting all sorts of awesome people while I'm there! I'll be sure to get lots of pics and video clips to share too. See you soon!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Review: San-X Land: Theme Park de Asobou

san-x land game review

Sanrio can suck it

For those unfamiliar with cutesy stuff from Japan, San-X is a company that creates characters that are plastered all over stationary, novelty items, and the like. Not unlike Sanrio, who is responsible for Hello Kitty, Badtz Maru, Keroppi, ect, San-X is very popular and probably best known for characters like Rilakuma, Tare Panda, and Afro-Ken, among many others. Mascots are big in Japan and people are willing to pay stupid amounts of money for anything with their favorite characters slapped on it, this includes mediocre video games. I found a copy when I was at Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas last month. It was the only Japanese DS game the vendor had and I'd be damned if I was leaving a gaming convention without picking up a couple of obscure titles.

While the description of San-X Land: Theme Park de Asobou says that it's an action game, it more accurately falls under the category of 'Party Game'. Like, you know, Mario Party, or Sonic Shuffle, which is pretty much a less entertaining rip-off of Mario Party. San-X Land places you in a theme park based on characters from their various franchises. You can choose from 8 different characters, each with their own themed game board. When picking up this game I was only somewhat familiar with 4 of the 8 characters; Tare Panda, Monokuro Boo, Kogepan, and Nyanko. The other 4 characters are Afro-Ken, Mikan Bouya, Wanroom, and Nanka. Nanka wasn't even in the san-x wiki of characters so I had to go back to the game and decipher the hiragana and look it up on Google Japan. I don't even know what this character is supposed to be anyways. It's like a seal with a phallus protruding from his head or something. Nan...ka? Oh! It's a word play joke (an informal way of saying "what is this?"), you cheeky, cheeky bastards.

So once you've chosen a character, it's time to get on with the game. Each board is played out the same no matter who you choose. You spin a wheel to choose the number of spaces you move. The boards are fairly small, but even if you reach the goal you will be turned around because you need to first finish a puzzle of an image of your character, each piece being obtained by either landing on a particular place or playing any of the various mini games. The mini games include said puzzle, slide puzzles, mix and match memory games, a random cut scene, or character specific action mini games. These action mini games are just about the only fun you'll have playing this game at all, unless you get your thrills from puking rainbows and sparkles on to fluffy woodland creatures and furniture with animal faces on them. Each of the action mini games can be played on easy, medium or hard, and even on hard they aren't hard, not in the least bit. Of the 8 character specific games, I'd have to say that Tare Panda's is the most entertaining. It's a balancing game where you must stack pudgy pandas on top of one another without all of them toppling over. It's fantastic, really, the first couple times you play it. After you've unlocked everything, you can just play the mini games by accessing them from the start menu, so it's not necessary to have to actually play the game to get to the fun part.
The only reason you would want to play through this game more than once is to unlock everything. Luckily for me, whoever had this game before me must have been fluent in Japanese and must have also had OCD, because everything was already unlocked. All of the characters, their stupid digital trading cards, all of the art, the mini-games, everything was at 100%. This game would have been damn near impossible to review accurately otherwise(as I'm NOT fluent in Japanese). This game is, more than anything, a novelty. Something for the fanatics of the mascot trend to add to their ever-growing collections of fluffy stuffs. It's one of those games that you might want to try if it just happens to be around, but nothing I would recommend going out of your way to play.

San-X Land: Theme Park de Asobou gets a 6.5/10

And why does Sanrio suck more than San-X? Click here.

 Bonus video: Kogepan
 

Friday, August 31, 2012

Culture vs Community

It is a tired discussion, but again rears the ugly head of the division of people whom share a common interest; Gaming. Gamers, video games, nerd culture in general has become what's known as geek chic. That's just the thing though, there is no "culture". Gamers, nerds, and the like are part of a vast community. I don't know who coined the term "Gamer Culture", but they deserve a swift kick to the face. I mean, I can imagine who came up with the idea...It's a marketing ploy. That's all that it is. Nothing more, nothing less. This guy wrote a blog post explaining why it is not a culture a while back. I'd like to talk a little bit more about the subject.

Firstly, you are a programmed consumer and a consumer society, programmed to consume. Is that clear enough for you? You will consume entertainment in whatever form it comes it because that's what you're told to do. Movies, Television, Music, Comics, Video Games. They are all part of the same, and though some may actually genuinely enjoy these things, in the mainstream they all serve the same purposes; To gain profit for the companies that distribute them, and to pacify the masses so that they don't have time nor the intellect to think about more critical matters. There are some exceptions to this, those of us who enjoy games for the art aspect, the creativity, the expression, and also those that use it as a valid form of escapism, or as a tool to keep themselves out of trouble. In these instances, it can be a good thing.

But let's get back to the topic at hand, "gamer culture". Last night I was having a discussion with my man about his disdain for the current popularity of the proposed gamer culture. It started out with general game chat. "Games these days," he proceeded to say, "are purchased because they are popular, no one really cares about quality anymore. That's why I find myself playing more indie games. What happened to games and developers that gave a shit about the quality of games they put out?". We continued to rant about the current state of the gaming industry in general. Then I was at my desk working on pixely goodness when I get a message pop up on facebook. It was my man in the other room, and the message was a long rant about how retro gaming has become a popular thing and how many people are posers, and blah blah. I didn't think much of it at first because it's a tired argument, as stated. But then he walked into the room he started it "I don't mean to sound like an elitest," "go on..." "but what the fuck man?" I questioned where this was going.

He went on to explain what I had already known, that nostalgia and retro anything that was geeky back in the day are now the new cool, now marketable to a new generation. Something, which we discussed, would have gotten us picked on in grade school for liking, or worse yet, some people would have straight up kicked your ass for liking such things. I can imagine the rage that must come with that transition. But you know what, that's part of getting older, and living in this consumer society. It's not something that should be taken personally. Of course we hold personal ties to certain games or gaming in general. For someone like him and myself, we both came from broken homes, broke, bored, and sometimes games were all that we had. We found comfort in those things. But that's just what they are; things. Just like all the rest of the things. Everyone is entitled to their own "things" but when people start placing more importance on themselves or others because they have a certain interest, or pretend to, therein lies a problem.

"Let's do it 'cause it's cool!" This happens all the time. We would like to believe that people have wised up over the years and that mindless consumerism would be on a decline, but it's not. Nor is the shameless mass marketing of whatever medium or genre that you're trying to sell mass quantities of. Marketing and entertainment will continue to shove fake everything and false realities down your throat in the promotion of the idea that their product is something you need, something that will allow you to fit in with a chosen group. They will continue to bombard your senses with artificial (no question for interpretation) beauty, pseudo-celebrities. They will talk to you, they will pretend they're your friend, they will tell you what you need to consume next to be one of the cool kids. My boyfriend also added; "IF I HEAR ONE MORE GODDAMN THING ABOUT WHY I SHOULD LIKE FELICIA DAY I'M GOING TO BE SICK. THAT STUPID FUCKING CAMWHORE IS WHY WE HAVE SO MANY BRAINLESS BITCHES ON YOUTUBE AND TWICH.TV THESE DAYS." Just to put it out there, I don't like or hate her, I'm indifferent on the matter, but kudos to my man for being so vocal about his (unpopular <-interpretable) opinion. More people should think for themselves.

Now, myself, personally, I don't have a problem with gaming being as popular as it has become. Nor do I feel the need to defend myself if someone is buying some retro stuff 'cause it's the cool thing to do (mainly because I'm a hypocrite, pixel pusher). I actually think that retro gamers are some of the NICEST people you will EVER meet in your entire life. They are supportive, warm, and share in the love for gaming. But, I swear if anyone comes up to me talking like they're an old-school gamer and they're not, better believe I'm going to call you out on some bullshit. Not that I don't like you because I have a connection with gaming, but because you're simply not being honest. If you're not into gaming, that's cool too. Let's talk about anything; The weather, politics, life. Just be human, not a fucking tool.

Gamers are groups of groups, there's no culture, only a vast community. Remember that. If there were a "game culture", it probably belongs to the developers and I don't belong to that club.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

New Tattoo

Well, Escapist Expo is getting close and I'm a huge nerd, so...

Sunday, August 19, 2012

CGE Classic Gaming Expo 2012 and Video Game Pick ups

CGE is a retro gaming convention that was held in Las Vegas. Mel got to check it out and chill with some awesome people while promoting the series and selling pixel art. Good times were had by everyone. Who was there? Did we party hard enough? What video game treasures were found? Find out all this and more!

 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Fall-O Me

gamer girl
Well, technically it's still summer, but there are a lot of exciting things going on! This weekend I will be heading out to Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas! There I will have my booth, Pixel Art Paradise, and my booth is also the designated meet up spot for a gathering of Youtube Gamer personalities on Saturday afternoon. Now, I don't know if it's just me, but it seems that the retro gaming crowd seems to be more personable and it's been really cool to see everyone get excited and involved over on the CGE facebook group. I'm uncontrollably excited to get to meet everyone and party/play lots of games. I leave here at like 6am, so I've gotta wear myself out today so I can get some rest before tomorrow.

Next convention on my tour of sorts is Escapist Expo September 14-16 in Durham North Carolina. Again I will have a booth and look forward to meeting awesome people and having an awesome good time.

Also in September 29-30 is Retro Gaming Expo in Portland Oregon. How well I do at CGE this weekend will determine whether or not I will be attending Retro Gaming Expo. I would love to, and also visit Ground Kontrol while I'm there.

While October is usually reserved for Devastation, there's no word on whether or not it's happening this year yet. They did really well last year and I would love to be part of the event again. Even if it's not happening, October is not entirely a loss, there's also the Extra Life Marathon for charity. More information on that when I return from my trip this weekend.

In other news, I figured out the program that I would use for chroma key and got my green screen and lights back from the studio so I'll be working on show stuff when I can find the time. It will probably be a different format than it's been. Not that anyone cares that I change the format, who watches this stuff anyways? LOL

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Funky Monkeys

gamer girl
Yo! I submitted a game review to Phoenix Gamer. Check it out here. It's Super Monkey Ball Touch and Roll for the Nintendo DS.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Guess the Video Game Music - Super Famicom Edition - HELL MODE

Let's have some fun! You can win real prizes from me including sweet pixel art and charms and other crafty things. Here are the rules; listen to the music and number 1-10 in your comment with your guesses as to which game each track is from. That part is easy. What's not going to be easy is figuring out where all these tracks are from. I will give you a hint though; half of them are from games that I've covered in Mel the Office Gamer Girl. The others are from better known, but still obscure, video games. First person to get them all right gets prizes. Good Luck!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Why, Hello there!

I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone that's been following my series and work. Thanks for watching, and thanks for your support! It means the world to me and you are all the awesome-est! I wish I could just give you all a big hug! Anyways, with that being said, no more episodes of Mel the Office Gamer Girl for a while as life, well, moves forward. There will be more! OH YES, there will be more, but fortunately, I've taken on big projects recently that will be taking up much of my time. Thank you again so much for everything! In what free time I have available, I will still be taking orders for pixel thingies, so feel free to throw me a message should the feel arise. Thank you, and you, and yes, even you! You're the best-est!

While there may not be any new episodes for a while, I have managed to upload some content that can be found at my Youtube channel and have a couple of local and not-so-local events coming up!  

Firstly, there's a video game night happening at this bar I work at on the 14th of this month. Those that follow me on facebook will get the info soon enough. The week after that I am hosting an art show at the same bar. 


In August I will be heading to Vegas for Classic Games Expo and then in September there's Escapist Expo. I will be at both, pixel art in hand, or perhaps on a table. I intend to also party a lot during these events as they're much more fun and exciting than this other stuff I have going on. If you care to join me, you know where I'll be. See you all soon!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Conflagration 2012

Mel goes to a local gaming convention. Conflagration is Phoenix Arizona's newest gaming convention. Check it out!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Mel the Office Gamer Girl episode 40: Hello Kitty Games

Uploaded early this week because I'm going to be busy getting ready for Conflag this weekend. Enjoy~

like, Like, LIKE

I'll, like, drive you crazy with how many times I say "like" in this podcast I was a guest on...I need to work on that. Eheh.

Friday, June 15, 2012

I double as my own booth babe

Hey there friends! Next weekend is the valley's newest gaming convention,Conflagration. It's going to be held at the Tempe Palms resort right on 5th and Mill ave. I will be there with my pixel art, lots of it new and now with more accessories! Key chains, necklaces, pixel bow hair clips, and other surprises. In addition to running my booth, I'm also helping to organize the con's first ever costume contest! Come dressed your best to win fabulous prizes, and even a special spot on our local gaming site! Come join myself and friends for another weekend composed entirely of awesome.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Mel the Office Gamer Girl episode 39: Kid Niki Radical Ninja

This episode is yours because you had enough rupees, and by rupees I mean, wtf, 20 likes that fast on facebook was unexpected. Here you go, friend.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Mel the Office Gamer Girl episode 38: Flying Hero Bugyuru

Guess who's back with brand new swag? It's Mel the Office Gamer Girl! In this episode Mel goes over Flying Hero Bugyuru for the Super Famicom.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Mel's E3 2012 Coverage

gamer girl Hey there! It's that time of year again. Be sure to follow my E3 stuff over at Phoenix Gamer for up to date announcements and thoughts on this year's E3.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Phoenix Comicon 2012 Video!

Check out my video/vloggy thing I finally got around to editing from last week's convention. It's Phoenix Comicon 2012! Check out my friends and I nerdin' it up. Overall, it was a wild and fun adventure. Let's do it again some time!

Friday, June 1, 2012

It's the Phoenix Gamer Super Variety Show!

You know that project that the PG crew and I were working on a while back? Well, it debuted at the Phoenix Comicon Film Festival during the gamer block. Check it out, It's the Phoenix Gamer Super Variety Show! As for the coverage for comicon, I'll have that coming up shortly, probably some time within the next week or so. I'll also have some major announcements coming up. I'll give you a hint, it involves Mel doing some traveling. See you soon!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Getting Ready for PCC 2012

Less than 10 days until Phoenix Comicon. We gotta get ready! Check out the post before this one for the full schedule of the events that I'm going to be part of this year.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Phoenix Comicon Schedule

phoenix comicon
As you already know, I'll have a booth at Phoenix Comicon all week(end). My booth is going to be in the artists alley, booth #631 (Pixel Art Paradise) so please come by and say hi, hang out, buy some raffle tickets and sweet pixel-y goodness! Throughout the week there are other events that myself and friends are hosting. The Comicon staff changed the panel times around on me so I'm going to post the new schedule here. It was a pain to do this because I had to go through the site and see which panels were when because they only gave me the time and dates.  





All of our programming is going to be at the Hyatt hotel conference rooms.

Thursday

-How to create a web series on a budget 
Time-8:00pm-9:00pm Location-Remington BC

Friday

-Video Game Trivia With Mel the Office Gamer Girl 
Time-4:30pm-5:30pm Location-Remington BC

Saturday

-World Premier of the Phoenix Gamer Super Variety Show! 
Time-3:25pm-? Location-Russell 

Portal Party 
Time-9:00pm-? Location-Somewhere in the Hyatt, contact or call for details

Sunday

- Obscure Video Games with Mel the Office Gamer Girl 
Time-12:00pm-1:00pm Location-Remington BC  

Raffles and fabulous prizes at all panels!

Join us May 24-27th for a most awesome experience!

Portal Gun Unboxing

Ahhh! It finally came! My Portal Gun Replica is here! I'm so excited! Check it out!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Now you're partying with Portals

portal party

Portal Themed Party at Comicon

Do you love video games? Do you love to drink? Well guess what?! We're throwing our first ever game themed drink party at this year's Phoenix Comicon. It's not an event at the actual convention, I'll have a schedule for that later in the week, but an after party on Saturday night! We will have a bartender (me), a live DJ, and of course, video games! This is an invite-only party (to keep out the rif-raf) and we will be carding, so please send me or any of the Phoenix Gamer staff a message letting us know that you would like to attend. We will be providing most of the drinks and entertainment but as always, sharing is caring, so bring something tasty! See you all very very soon!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Just putting it out there

I'm tired of my current job. I'm thinking I want to travel, sooner the better. So here is my offer to you, kind readers; I will travel wherever you are and bartend in exchange for moneys and places to crash! It's like couch surfing except I have a skill that will benefit you and all of your friends. So whaddya say? I'm just letting everyone know because I'm serious about this. Send me a message at mtogg@hotmail.com if you or anyone you know is interested. Thanks!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Time Management


So I haven't released an actual episode of my series since December. There is good reason, oh yes, as if I needed to explain. I have been busy with some other projects and work. So much work in fact that I'm about to have even less time to work on this stuff in the near future. Going back to training at the school in the mornings and then working something like 10 hour days/nights doesn't leave much room for food and sleep let alone working on editing videos for the internet. Hey man, I'm just one person. My professional career is most important right now so I'll probably not be posting another episode any time soon. I'll write when I can and will still be doing all that fun stuff for Phoenix comicon. We've got a thing in the film festival, and I just got the confirmation for all 3 panels that I'm hosting, one on each day! Be sure to come by our booth in the exhibit hall to purchase art, enter raffles, win fabulous prizes, and hang out. If you're awesome, I might even invite you to an after party of sorts. See you around!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Game of boxes

pixel box

So, I'm in the process of moving and posted earlier today on facebook regarding some fabulous prizes. I wasn't sure if I would be able to reveal the winner since my power might be off tonight so here's the answer and congrats to who ever won;

total boxes moved before work this morning:
22

Congratulations to Caleb Hilton who guessed 23. You Won! You were the closest so you get the prizes! I will be sending you a prize pack that includes some pixel art, a box of pocky, and a package of Iwako erasers. Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Mystery Video for secret project thing

So we've been working on this thing, for this thing. I've been hinting at it but now clues are starting to pop up. What could it be?! Watch the video and visit the site to search for clues. How exciting!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Mel Con Carne

gamer girl
Quite the opposite really, I've been sick with a bad cold the last week and a half. As I start my week, I'd like to apologize for not having any updates for in a while, work has been eating up my free time like it's no one's business. In case you haven't noticed, the current state of the American economy is shit and I've had to take up a humble service job. It's not all bad, I'm now working as a barista at the airport and will soon be transferring to a bartending job (which is what I wanted to do in the first place). Oh! This is a game site, right, well, then let's talk about that for a second. Comic Con Phoenix is fast approaching and damn are me and the crew from Phoenix Gamer going to be busy! We've been spending time filming this thing that's going to premier at the Phoenix Comic Con Film Festival, I'm also hosting something like 3 gaming panels and will also have a booth where I will be selling my pixel art.
Speaking of conventions, the Classic Gaming Expo in Vegas is in August so I might just go to that as well. Their tables for the hall are cheap, the hotel and admission are affordable and it's pretty darn close to where I live, only a couple hours drive or less than an hour by plane. It's right up my alley, so I think I might just go. Oh yeah, here's a vid I recorded yesterday while hopped up on cold meds and caffeine.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Goodbye Maro san

Maro (my pet fish) died last weekend. He will be missed. Here he is as shown in the end credits to Umihara Kawase which was only my 2nd video in the MTOGG series. He was there when I was staying up late and editing the very first episodes. So long buddy...

Monday, January 30, 2012

Happy (late) Chinese New Year!

I went to the Chinese New Year festival in Phoenix. Check out this vid of the things I saw. I also try on some sweet hats.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Okami Den Review

okami den figure set
I recently wrote a review of Okami Den for Phoenix Gamer. Check it out here
I'd also like to mention that being able to unlock all of the character art and music was a pretty sweet prize for completing the game 100%.
Also, those figures in that picture right there? I made those.
That is all for now.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Something's wrong with NiGHTS

You know, the newer one, not the Saturn one, the one on the Wii.
NiGHTS is a kid's game right? Here are some select clips taken out of context!