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July 27th, 2015 – 1:15am – Secret Brutalities are Pissing Me Off

I have been trying like some sort of raving lunatic to figure out the conditions for a few of these secret brutalities in MKX and it’s driving me crazy!  Jacqui and Sonya in particular have an X-Ray finisher that seems to elude even the most thorough investigators.  I’ve tried flipping stances, combos, no combos, jumps, no jumps, and so and so forth.  The weird thing was that, through a certain “routine,” I finally activated Jacqui’s although I still can’t get it to activate regularly in Brutality Kombat, so it makes it even more damn confusing.

Sonya is even worse.  No one seems to know what the hell her deal is.  I’ve looked up and down at every video on YouTube playing this stuff and most of them confidently spell out a list of requirements.  I have to wonder though – did these guys test these requirements beyond a couple of rounds?  Did they really try to manipulate one variable at a time as closely as possible?  There are gobs and gobs of “how to’s” out there that are just plain WRONG!

Erron Black has an X-Ray brutality as well, though it doesn’t seem to be triggered/not triggered in the same way that Sonya and Jacqui’s is.  And apparently Sonya’s secret brutality has been lurking around for some time, perhaps even since the very first version of the game and before the “secret brutality craze” that popped up after the last couple of updates.  To top it off, I’m also reading so called confirmations of Mileena and D’Vorah possessing X-Ray secret brutalities!

What’s really bugging me is that I can’t even use Brutality Kombat to tell me exactly what the final hit should be.  Brutality Kombat strips away all the requirements except for the final hit, so it’s a good way to work backwards.  Try some special moves, see if they work, and then start monitoring the conditions of a real fight.  For some reason though, I have a difficult time activating them this way.  In fact, I’ve never been able to activate Sonya’s in Brutality Kombat and only had about 3 successes out of the 20+ I played with Jacqui.

This is getting more frustrating by the moment.  Someone help me out!

July 24th, 2015 – 3:23pm – This Is a Test…

Work?

June 9th, 2015 – 9:54am – OMFG!

One very generous individual just completed my AMIIBO collection for me!  All friggn’ 6 of ’em!!!

Now I just gotta stay on top of Dark Pit and Palutena coming out in July….!

May 31st, 2015 – 3:27pm – A Quick Amiibo Update

As I checked the internet climate for prices of Lucina, Robin (oops, I’ve been spelling it with a “Y”), and Greninja, I ran across a surprising find – both Captain Falcon and Pit for around $25!  They’re the Japanese counterparts of course, but that’s still as cheap as I’ve ever seen them!  Needless to say, they should be on their way to my house as soon as the work week springs to life again!

I’m also looking for information on Dark Pit and Palutena Amiibo set for release in July.  Anyone have any word on these?  It doesn’t look like a firm release date has been set.  I do have a quick theory though: previously there have been up to 5 exclusive retailers – Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Toys R Us (TRU), and GameStop.  Three of these participated in the most recent wave (Target, GameStop, TRU).  With only 2 dropping in July, it seems like a perfect fit for Walmart and Best Buy.  One small piece of info I found on the web said that Palutena had been spotted on a Best Buy inventory sheet, after which the writer theorized that Dark Pit would be an exclusive.  The way I see it, this also means there’s good potential for Palutena to be an exclusive as well – at Best Buy!  So far it jives with my theory, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I really want to get in on the preorder action for these but I know it’s easy to miss in the blink of an eye.  Keep your fingers crossed for me, boys and girls!  And keep me in your thoughts if you win the lotto!

6 MISSING:

• Lucario
• Ike
• Wii Fit Trainer
• Greninja
• Robin
• Lucina

May 30th, 2015 – 4:20pm – The Day of Amiibo, The Night of Splatoon

I’ve been trying to get this down “on paper” for the last 12 hours, but things like sleep have been getting in my way.  My Friday spent hunting Amiibo has mostly been a success, and I even learned a few tricks for next time (in case I’m unable to get in on the preorder action for the next wave).

7:50am: I get to Target, noticing there is not a line out front.  Got out of the car about 5 minutes later, was able to go inside, and noticed that there was already a line of 10 to 12 people at the electronics counter.  After the first 5 or so people had gone through, the guy announced that Robyn and Lucina were gone.  When I got up there though, I was able to just barely pick up everyone else they had available:

• Jigglypuff (exclusive)
• Silver Mario
• Splatoon 3-pack (Inkling Boy, Inkling Girl, Inkling Squid (the only way to get the Squid))
• Pacman
• Wario
• Charizard

8:14am:  Left Target wonderfully satisfied at what I was able to accomplish.  All this time I was thinking that Toys R Us opened at 9am, so I went up there next.

8:40am: Saw the line outside of Toys R Us, probably about 20 – 30 people long.  Decided that I didn’t want to wait for 20 minutes and that even if I did the ones I still needed would be gone (Greninja, Robyn, Lucina).  At this point I went ahead and took my son to school, albeit 30 minutes late (hey, it was worth it).

9:07am:  Swung back around to Toys R Us, and this is when I realized they didn’t open until 10am.  By this time the line had tripled.  So I went to a different, nearby Target; nothing left but a few Pacman, Charizard, and a single Splatoon pack.  Also took a few minutes to drop my a nearby Walmart; nothing.  Decided to head back to Wake Forest.

9:46am:  Pulled into my local GameStop parking lot and noticed 2 people waiting out front.  Figured this would be an excellent chance to get what I wanted without having to wait forever.  Turns out that only one of those people was in line, the other was an employee.  She showed me a list of what Amiibo they had….and lo and behold, they had a single extra Ness, and crazily enough, the person in front of me was uninterested.  So I “reserved” by Ness until the store opened; it was on paper all official and everything.

10:11am:  Walked out of GameStop with a nice new Ness and a copy of Splatoon.  At this point I was wondering what, if anything, should be done next.  I decided to get some sleep and continue the hunt when I picked my son up from school.

3:04pm:  Had my son in the car and decided to check around a few other places in Raleigh: a third Target, another GameStop, back to the first Toys R Us (where I learned they got in a shipment of re-issued Marth about 11:30am and that they also had only about 6 of each Amiibo available to begin with) and the most we found anywhere were a few Splatoon Boys and Girls, Pacman, and a couple of Silver Marios.  After all this, I made the decision to head all the way out to Durham where my son and I had had some great success with rare Skylanders.

5:00pm – 5:30pm: Ended up at the Toys R Us in Durham, which has always been a great place to find stuff.  Behind the counter there was a stack of boxes with a Splatoon Boy on top, a stack with Pacman on top, and then a lone box…I asked, and it turned out they had gotten in their shipment of Marth’s (a total of 4 figures) a little late and had 1 left.  And now it was mine!  We spent a little more time in the area, checking out a nearby GameStop and Target to no avail (though we did run across 4 or 5 extra Silver Marios at the GameStop) and decided to call it a night

And that was it!  Overall it was a big success.  I netted 2 store exclusives that I really didn’t expect to get, got Silver Mario which I didn’t even know about (it’s been a few weeks since I brushed up on Amiibo release info) and got a hold of the re-issued Marth which had long seemed like a mere rumor.

MISSING:

• Robyn
• Lucina
• Greninja

What I learned is that I need to get to Target even earlier; maybe even 30 minutes early.  And I don’t need to wait around in the car either, just go ahead and try to go in and get in line.  Had I done that, I would’ve ended up with those 2.  My local GameStop didn’t get any extra of the two and the one in Durham mentioned they’d only gotten 1 of each.  I’m not sure of how many Target go since I didn’t hear exactly what everyone ordered, but it seemed to be more than anywhere else.

I also learned that I might want to get to my own GameStop around 30 minutes in advance.  All it took was for that person in front of me to know a little bit more about Amiibo and my shot at Ness would’ve been gone.  It also seems like Toys R Us may be a wash; I’d have to spend over 2 hours in that kind of line, and although I would get the TRU exclusive and all the others from Target, I’d miss both the Target exclusive and my chance at getting to GameStop.  So it looks like future TRU exclusives may be a no-go.

Before the 29th, I was missing 6.  Add the 3 I didn’t get and we’re up to 9, but since I was able to catch Marth, that brings me down to 8.  8 Amiibo shy of a full collection!

After the Amiibo madness, I was mostly satisfied, and I settled down to spend most of the evening with Splatoon, which was a pretty fun experience.  It’s not quite what I thought it would be, but I’m looking forward to getting a little more involved, especially as Nintendo (hopefully) improves their matchmaking system.  Here’s a few pics of my spoils!

By the way, if any of you folks out there are super rich, feel free to have any or all of the following shipped to me (yes, I accept Japanese versions):

• Ike
• Pit
• Captain Falcon
• Lucario
• Wii Fit Trainer
• Greninja
• Lucina
• Robyn

May 18th, 2015 – 2:34am – Amiibo Status Update

Update:  Previously I thought I only had 29 Amiibos.  Turns out I miscounted and forgot about Mega Man.  I’ve made the necessary corrections, just wanted to put this out there in case someone suddenly saw 2 different versions of this entry!

With the arrival of Little Mac (early on a Sunday morning of all things), I’m officially only missing 6 Amiibo at present:

• Pit
• Captain Falcon
• Wii Fit Trainer
• Lucario
• Ike
• Marth

And that’s it!  Anyone out there wanna buy one off of Amazon and send it my way!?  Just kidding…unless of course you’re rich and money is no object and you like helping folks indulge in their materialism…I will happily accept the cheaper Japanese alternatives….

…And then, in 11 days, the next big batch will hit.  I plan to hit the stores early, but there’s not much I can do about the exclusives I missed out on; all 40 minutes they were actually available.  Ness will be coming to GameStop, Greninja to Toys R Us, and Jigglypuff to Target.  Fortunately, if these places have any extra, I might have a shot at getting them.  Target and GameStop are relatively close, but Toys R Us is maybe a 15-20 minute drive.  The good news?  Target opens at 8am.  I can be in and out in 10 minutes or less.  Toys R Us opens at 9am.  Should be able to make the drive and get in and out in 15 minutes max.  Then it’s back into town to drop by GameStop at 10am.  Maybe I’ll get extremely lucky and they’ll have an extra.

Despite these 3, I should have an easy enough time picking up the other 8 new Amiibo dropping on the 29th, especially being on the prowl so early.  Wario, Pacman, Charizard, Lucina, and Robyn should be an easy pick up between the 3 stores if this release is anything like the Super Mario series that dropped March 20th.  The last 3 are the new Splatoon figurines.  I have no doubt that “Inkling Girl” and “Inkling Boy” will linger for quite awhile due to Nintendo’s efforts to promote the new game.  The kicker here is the “Inkling Squid,” which will only come as part of a 3 piece package: itself and the boy and girl.  Something tells me these sets will disappear quickly, so they will be my number 1 priority 11 days from today.

The good news is that during the last release on March 20th, Target had plenty of all the new Super Mario series that first day, even by about 1 in the afternoon.  And since Target will be the first stop, hopefully I can snatch up the 8 I need right away and devote the next couple of hours to hunting down any straggler exclusives…if there even are any.

Still, I’m prepared to fall behind by another 3 Amiibo, which isn’t a pleasant thought.  I’m more than happy to buy Japanese versions off of Amazon for $30 instead of their American counterparts for anywhere from $60 to $90, but I’d rather get as many as I can for $12.99.

With the arrival of Little Mac today, my collection is officially up to 30!

• Bowser (SM)
• Bowser (SSB)
• Diddy Kong
• Donkey Kong
• Fox
• King Dedede
• Kirby
• Link
• Little Mac
• Luigi (SM)
• Luigi (SSB)
• Mario (SM)
• Mario – Gold
• Mario (SSB)
• Mega Man
• Meta Knight
• Peach (SM)
• Peach (SSB)
• Pikachu
• Rosalina
• Samus
• Shiek
• Shulk
• Sonic
• Toad
• Toon Link
• Villager
• Yoshi (SM)
• Yoshi (SSB)
• Zelda

I’m trying to maintain a page here on the site with Amiibo info.  I hope to get some really detailed info up in the future, but for now, it’s a nice simple little reference.

Wish me luck.  And help me out!  Please?  Or if anyone wants me to help them out with their collection when I venture out early, let me know!

May 1st, 2015 – 2:35am – Shameless Self Promotion

I know all of you nerds and nerdettes are here because you love video games, but surely you’ve got a few other interests too, right?  A few favorite bands, or a certain type of movie…or maybe you’re a stamp collector or self proclaimed book worm…  Whatever your proclivities may be, I want to draw you to a side project of mine on the site known as Sidemeat.  I’ve got the website set up in such a way where these posts don’t appear with all the others on the homepage, but that’s not because I don’t want anyone to read them, it’s because we want to keep our main focus on video games just like we always have.

I created Sidemeat for myself as a sort of catch-all for all potentially nerdy things (although a few aren’t particularly confined in such a way).  It’s a collection of a lot of different articles and I’d be thrilled if you guys would at least take a look through them, maybe read a couple, and drop me a comment.  Most of the articles center around movies or TV, but I’ve got some music thrown in as well as offbeat stuff like a couple of favorite recipes and an article about the drying up of the Aral Sea, something I find extremely fascinating.

So yeah, if you can stand to leave video games in the background for a few minutes, head over to the main Sidemeat page and take a look at all the articles I’ve written so far.  While you’re at it, you might want to check out other facets of Beyond Bacon by going to the main Beyond Bacon hub.  We’ve got a Music @ NB area set up over there with a few separate columns.  NerdBerry has been running down some forgotten hair metal albums while I’ve crafted a rather large section devoted to my Favorite Albums of the 90’s, along with my fledgling Discography Trippin’ series, which is a little slower to grow simply because of the time it takes to listen to, think about, and write about so much music.

Soon I’ll be adding another column to the Music @ NB area, tentatively titled something like “Extreme Metal” or “Extreme Metal Weekly” or something.  I have literally hundreds of albums worth of “extreme” metal on my computer – funeral doom, death/doom, black metal, symphonic black metal, depressive black metal, thrash, crossover thrash, powerviolence, slam death, goregrind, grindcore, and pretty much every other little sub-sub-genre you’d care to mention.  The problem is that I just don’t have a lot of great opportunities to listen to this kind of stuff, so I figured if I started a column and started writing about each one of these albums one at a time, I’d have more of a reason to give these records a spin, so to speak.  Anyway, stay on the look out for that soon, maybe even as soon as a couple of days, depending on how much other stuff I get done.  I’d love to hear other fans’ opinions about this kind of music as well!

Lastly, I’d also like for these various side projects to serve as an example for those of you who are authors or relatively close to becoming so.  When you become an author, you can have your very own column like this!  It can be about anything you want it to be about!  You can do something more in line with video games or you can branch out into something totally different – it’s 100% up to you and the single stipulation we have is that the extraneous column work not account for more than half of your total output.  Not too bad, right?  This is a great way to flex those creative muscles of yours and to alleviate video game burnout.  We all have to take a step or two back sometimes, but now, just because you take a step back from gaming doesn’t mean you necessarily have to step back from The Bacon!

I sincerely hope that at least a couple of you will take us up on the offer, do don’t be shy!

March 26th, 2015 – 10:10am – Last Night

Not long after the Twitch stream concluded, I was getting ready to answer some emails.  A few minutes later I started hearing sirens, and they were close, but that isn’t unusual because of where I’m located.  What did strike me as unusual is how many waves of sirens there were.  But I still didn’t think much of it.  Then, my internet crapped out.

So I was taking a trip to the other room to check the modem, and all of a sudden there was a tremendous boom.  At the time I couldn’t really tell what it was.  In a way, it sounded like something huge had fallen upstairs.  So I grabbed my .44 and crept upstairs.  About the time I was satisfied nothing was up there, I started putting things together: sirens – internet outage – a big boom.  And then there was a knock at the door from the crazy ass neighbors.  So there I was, shirtless and with a gun in my hand, answering the door.

It was a girl and a guy.  All the guy could do was stare at the gun and look like he was about to fall backwards off the porch.  The girl, however, was nigh hysterical.  She was half giggles half quavering, and eventually managed to spit out something about a fire, though I had no idea where she was pointing.  She made it sound like it was the street behind ours, and suddenly began talking about an evacuation.

What?  I couldn’t see anything from any windows out the back, so I knew it was further away than the street behind us.  Plus I was pretty sure if there was going to be an evacuation it wouldn’t happened by now.  Plus, entire blocks aren’t evacuated lightly.  Obviously she was making it up, but I knew that even if she wasn’t, it wasn’t anything that was going to happen now.

After I realized how ludicrous an evacuation was, I got curious.  I got in my car and tried to check it out, but of course everything was blocked off in such a way that I couldn’t really see anything.

A few hours later, the internet came back, and I was able to find scant “news” reports.  It turned out that it was a house that had belonged to one of my childhood and later adolescent friends, and there were a few video clips that showed the house going up in a spectacular blaze.  I rode by in the dark at about 4am, and there was nothing but the chimney.

Crazy.

March 22nd, 2015 – 7:16am – Fucking Texting

I bet that if phones had been invented after texting, people would be like, “oh it’s so cool to actually hear people’s voices, I’ll never text again!”

March 7th, 2015 – 7:09am – Amiibo I Have!

As of today, here’s my Amiibo collection.  I wish I could find a list of all those that have been released so far…

• Bowser
• Diddy Kong
• Donkey Kong
• Kirby
• Link
• Luigi
• Mario
• Mega Man
• Pikachu
• Princess Peach
• Samus
• Shiek (I don’t actually have her yet, but my kid accidentally told me that he and my mom had gotten it for me for my birthday)
• Sonic
• Star Fox
• Toon Link
• Villager
• Yoshi
• Zelda

February 24th, 2015 – 2:46am – TV Shows I’ve Seen All Of

Yes, this will be relevant; for now it’s just a list.  But I’d be glad to hear any deep thoughts anyone may have on them:

• Angel
• Breaking Bad
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Dexter
• Family Matters
• Friends
• Full House
• House, M.D.
• Lost
• My Name is Earl
• NUMB3RS
• Prison Break
• Roseanne
• Sons of Anarchy
• The Sopranos
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Star Trek: Voyager
• Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
• The Wonder Years
• The X Files

January 21st, 2015 – 12:54am – Introducing Sidemeat!

Much like our foray into MUSIC, I’m kicking off a column/series known as Sidemeat: A Slice of Something Different.  Every now and then I have some particularly verbose thoughts on a movie, or a show, or even a card game, and this will used to chronicle those thoughts in a blog-like fashion.  It’ll grow slowly, but be sure to check it out from time.  I plan to cover virtually anything that interests me from even a slightly nerdy perspective – the expected stuff like movies, music, TV, and possibly books – and other, more unusual activities like cubing, board and card games, and maybe even cooking.  Who knows?  Drop by from time to time!

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