The Liebster Award is some blogger ‘award’… thingy? You don’t really ‘win’ anything though, you just have to answer some questions and then nominate another blogger to answer some questions. It’s like those “Pass this on to 10 people in 10 minutes or you’ll lose $10,000!” kind of messages, only a little less pushy, I guess? But Isleif was kind enough to nominate me and I like his blog, so I’ll answer the questions, at least. [I don’t plan to nominate anyone, but leave a comment if you want to be nominated and I’ll do it ‘cos, why not?]

1. Can you tell something typical about the country you live in?

I live in *bzzzzzt* in the middle of *bzzzzzt* and the most typical thing is you can’t take two steps out of your front door without hearing someone complain about the government or the economy. Sounds just like your country, eh? Hey, maybe we live in the same place!

2. Why did you take up blogging?

2009. 6 years already, how time flies. I’d reached a point in life where most of my former gaming buddies were married with kids or busy with their careers and gaming wasn’t a priority for them any more. It’s not like I was any less busy, but I still wanted to talk about games, dammit!! If this were FF8 I’m sure Squall would say “Go talk to a wall.” I figured blogging was the next best thing.

3. Do you set yourself a goal of number of blogs per week or month?

Nuh-ope. In practice I end up blogging every 4 or 5 days, but that’s just how long it takes me to play enough of a game that I feel I have something to say about it. Sometimes I blitz through a game in that 4-5 day period and only write one post about it, other times I end up writing several posts in a row on the same game. When that happens, it’s interesting for me to trace how my opinion on a game changed the further I got into it. Like I started out loving Tactics Ogre LUCT, then in the middle it was like uhhh and by the end it was like “Thank goodness it’s over!” That pattern happens to me a lot, I’m not sure why.

4. Do you have a favourite gaming system, and if yes, which one and why?

I like them all! But maybe the DS? I bought my first one in June 2006 thereabouts and I’m still playing great games on it even now. That’s almost 9 years worth of solid value, which just can’t be beat. Of course I could say the same thing about my PS2, which I got around the same time, but I’ve played waaaay more games on the DS at this point.

5. What do you think of the current console generation?

They’ve got some nice games out there, but no killer apps good enough to persuade me to plonk down money for one. I would play the hell out of Xenoblade Chronicles X if I got the chance, but after that the Wii U would just be a piece of dead wood, so there’s no point. And I honestly can’t name a single PS4/XBox One RPG, good or bad.

The current handheld generation is pretty exciting, though, especially the PSVITA. It’s only a matter of time before I buy one.

6. What are your five favourite gaming genres?

RPGs, otome games (preferably with gameplay), SRPGs, Life sims and music/rhythm games.

7. What was your first gaming system?

The ZX Spectrum! I later found out it was actually a “home computer” and not a game console, but my brothers and I were too busy playing Horace the Hungry Ghost to care at the time.

But the first game system I actually bought with my own money was a PS1 (I envy people whose parents gave them pocket money and birthday gifts. I had to wait to get my first job to buy anything). And the first game I played on it was FF9. Good times, good times.

8. Do you see yourself gaming until a ripe old age, or is it something you may give up after a couple of years?

I keep saying I’ll give it up soon. The same malaise that caught my friends 6 years ago is finally catching up to me. When I play something I really enjoy, quitting is the furthest thing from my mind, but when I hit a patch of meh games (like Tales of Hearts + Adventure Bar Story) then it’s like “What am I doing with my life?” and then I start looking elsewhere. And nowadays it seems like every other game is a dud.

Actually I’m in the middle of a mini ‘gaming fast’ right now and won’t even be touching my consoles and handhelds until the end of May. It feels pretty good… except now I want to play something on my laptop instead… Stranger of the Village of the Sword! But I’m not going to, for now. And I will totally give up gaming one day. Totally.

9. Does your work or study match your blogging topics?

Not in the least. If it did I would probably quit. Blogging, not work ^^;;

10. Which were/are your favourite gaming eras and why?

I think more recent eras are the most fun for me because they had the best RPGs and otome games. The PS2 era was great, so many games I haven’t even played yet, then the DS and PSP came out, even more games I haven’t finished playing, now the VITA and 3DS is out and they just keep releasing fun-sounding games all the time.

11. Last but not least, which gaming system(s) do you currently own?

PS1 (still working, barely), GameCube (haven’t seen it in a while), PS2, Wii, DS, PSP.

…And apparently I’m supposed to reveal 11 fun facts about myself? Uhh… No. I can’t think of anything >_< How about my top 11 hobbies apart from gaming?

1. Knitting (you should see the huge pile of unsewn sweater pieces I have lying around)

2. Reading (you should see the huge pile of books surrounding my bed. They’re out to get me!)

3. Cooking. Sometimes. I like noodle dishes and meals with lots of meat in them.

4. Baking. Often. Until my bathroom scale started to protest, now all cakes and cookies and sodas are banned in my house. Uh, sort of.

5. Playing the piano. I dropped it for many years, then I picked it up again after playing La Corda d’Oro last year. I’m rusty like you wouldn’t believe, but I’m having a great time.

6. Singing. I joined the church choir last year and now I’ve always got a song or two or ten stuck in my mind.

7. Listening to music. I’m not sure how it happened, but I chanced across some French music on Youtube so I’ve been listening to a lot of Charles Aznavour and Jacques Brel (his cleaner songs anyway) lately. Youtube is wonderful and evil at the same time.

8. Watching movies with my nephews and nieces. They’re into Chinese movies lately. They love to spoil, though. It must run in the family.

9. Lazing around thinking of all the things I should be doing, then falling asleep.

10. Cleaning the house. I like to let the place get good and dirty first though, ‘cos it’s more satisfying that way. And of all the cleaning chores, my favorite is… scrubbing the tub! I love it when the tub and taps get all shiny.

11. Uh… Come on, isn’t 10 enough?

Okay, that’s enough introspection for now. See you guys in June when my gaming fast ends!