Top 20 Video Game Weapons of All Time

This list contains, with no criteria for grading other than my own personal feelings and experiences, the twenty most amazing weapons in video game history. They may not be the most effective, best looking or most popular, but all of them have some amazing qualities that earn them a spot on my list. Twenty seems like a fair number for the over two-decades and thousands of games Hungry has played. I could make it much longer but we’ll keep this one relatively short. And if you think I missed some, comment in the section below!

20. The Hammer from Super Smash Bros. In 1999, Nintendo began one of its most popular series with the release of Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64. While this game, and its two sequels, are littered with many characters, attacks, and weapons, there is one item that can change the game unlike any other. (Especially in the original, which is the best, in my opinion.) The hammer. Need I say more? (Part of me really wanted to put the home run bat, but only a few of us can use it correctly every time, so this one is for the masses!)

19. Fire Flower from Mario. If there are iconic weapons, none is more iconic than the 8-bit fire flower that has been around for almost two decades. The fire flower has appeared in dozens of games and still allows the player to dominate koopas, goombas and Bowser himself. It is practically a staple in setting time records for the original console trilogy and has cemented itself in the minds of gamers for generations.

18. Lightning Bolt from Mario Kart.It seems only appropriate to continue to be a Nintendo and Mario fan boy for another item. The problem is that Mario is arguably the greatest thing to ever happen to video games. He has appeared in over 200 games that have sold over 285 million copies and I can guarantee that number will double in my lifetime. Mario is probably the most recognizable video game character ever and Mario Kart is one of the most loved series of all time. From Super Mario Kart to the newest releases, it’s not easy to pinpoint a single item in the series but one stands out in my mind.

17. Buster Cannon from Mega Man. Ever since 1987 Mega Man has been bringing it to Dr. Wily and his army of robots with unique abilities and attacks. With Mega Man 4 being one of my favorite games of all time, with a ridiculously amazing intro cut scene, Dr. Light’s world-saving assistant has one of the coolest weapons ever. Since the honorable mentions are clearly less specific, and more iconic weapons in general, there is no better item to grace this list than Rock’s buster cannon. Whenever Mega defeats one of his robotic enemies, he can absorb their power and use it. So damn sick.

16. Ebony & Ivory from Devil May Cry. Originally intended to be Capcom’s 2001 sequel to the Resident Evil series, Devil May Cry’s release sparked a series of amazingly fun hack and slash adventure games for Playstation consoles. Throughout the series Dante has killed thousands of enemies and fiends but without his trusty handguns Dante wouldn’t be the same. Ebony & Ivory take this spot on the list for their reliability and awesome names. If I ever buy handguns, they’d be custom to match these two.

15. Link’s Master Sword from the Legend of Zelda. Link’s Master Sword is the ultimate form of vanquishing evil in Hyrule (and Lorule) and the quest to obtain the Master Sword time and time again has earned it a spot on this list. Along with the Arrow of Light, nearly every form of evil in Hyrule can be destroyed with ease AND with full health the Master Sword emits a strong beam. It is the greatest weapon of the greatest hero in the history of video games.

14. The Fierce Deity Mask from Legend of Zelda. Thinking about all of the installments in the Zelda series, there is one weapon that really is ridiculous in terms of raw strength. And I know that all my real gamers and true Zelda fans will love this one. The Fierce Deity Mask in Majora’s Mask is arguably the most difficult item to obtain on this list. I can only think of one item at the very top of the list that takes a similar amount of time, and that alone makes this item insane. This mask allows you to transform into the Fierce Deity and deliver some amazing attacks, however it can only be used during boss battles and requires you to trade 20 of all 24 of your masks to the Children of the Moon.

13. The BFG from Doom. And I am not talking about the book by Roald Dahl. Doom is one of the greatest games of all time, revolutionary for the horror genre and first person shooters, and all about kicking ass. This game was extremely creepy playing it as a very young child and Doom 3 brought scary to a whole new level. Nevertheless, once you got the BFG, which we all know what it stands for, there was nothing to fear. Just look at the devastation of the BFG 9000 this screen shot. Kills anything and everything in one shot.

12. Proximity Mines from Goldeneye. Goldeneye was one game that took first person shooters and multiplayer to the next level. Although I did not personally love the game, any list that doesn’t include it as one of the greatest of all times is trying to be cool and the people have no idea what they are talking about. Goldeneye offers a huge arsenal and as much as I love playing a level with only Moonraker Lasers or RC-P90, nothing can compare to the proximity mine. I can’t tell you how many thousands of times we played levels with only proximity mines, and the beauty of it is, you never really know when something is going to blow up!

11. Farsight XR-20 from Perfect Dark. Shortly after Goldeneye made a huge impact in the world of gaming, N64 had another huge release in Perfect Dark. Everyone has their favorite weapons and it’s hard to, again, pick just one from the list that includes ridiculous laptop guns and the amazing reaper. This monster is a one-shot kill to anyone no matter where you hit them, oh, and you can shoot through walls because it’s a railgun. It’s only available in one mission during the story mode but it dominates multiplayer if you can find a good hiding spot.

10. Vampire Killer from Castlevania. For nearly 20 years, in Castlevania, Simon Belmont and the rest of his vampire hunting clan has been using the Vampire Killer and other whips to make it through Dracula’s castles. Although some are more memorable than others, Lord of Shadow’s recent Combat Cross was one of the most badass versions ever used. Spoiler: Not to mention it was used by the original Belmont and Dracula himself, Gabriel Belmont, ancestor of Trevor, Simon, and Victor. Here it is.

9. Black Widow from Mass Effect. Mass Effect 2 is one of the greatest games of all time and, despite the horrible ending of the series, it remains as one of my favorite series ever. The three games have tons of weapons to choose from but no weapon stands out more in my mind than the Black Widow. In ME3, when upgraded to its final level with maximum upgrades, this sniper rifle leaves no traces of enemies behind. It is super expensive to buy and upgrade and requires you to have SPECTRE status, but it’s well worth the investment. It’s an improvement of the Widow and my go-to gun at many times. But don’t worry M-920 Cain, I won’t leave this without giving you and your nuclear level power a shout out. One shot with the Cain and you can defeat the final boss of Mass Effect 2, it’s absurd.

8. Ray Gun from South Park. South Park for the N64 is usually on every worst video game list of all time but that can’t take away from the absurdity and originality of the weapons in that game. I can’t even start to explain how ridiculous and inappropriate this game is; in all honesty, I don’t even remember all the weapons but there are three I will have a hard time forgetting. First, there is a snowball that you pee on. That’s right, you throw urine snowballs at enemies. Second, there is a gun that is shaped like a cow and basically fires well… cows. But finally, there is a weird ray gun that makes your enemies smile and dance around. It’s weird and absurd, that is why it makes the list.

7. Energy Sword from Halo. I was never a fan of the Halo series, especially past the first and second games. I did, however, play all of the story and multiplayer modes, and there was one really fun thing to do in the second game. Energy sword. Using the lunging action, a skilled player could essentially infinitely go around in close quarters and build a huge killing spree in multiplayer. I wouldn’t recommend running across a field with it though. For being a melee weapon in a game where so many people just sit on cliffs and snipe, the energy sword is high on this list.

6. Emergency Hammer from Silent Hill. Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, and other horror games offer a unique gaming experience where you need nerves of steel and have to accept the fact that you are very weak and vulnerable. Although it is one of the slowest weapons in the game, the emergency hammers allows Harry Mason to deal with those damn creepy Puppet Nurses and Puppet Doctors in the hospital. The amount of security that the hammer gave my young self during these dark times earns it a spot high on this list.

5. Rocket Launcher from Resident Evil. Speaking of survival horror, back when Resident Evil was still a game in this genre, there was a ridiculous lack of weapons and ammunition. Resident Evil 2, with Leon and Claire in Raccoon City (BEST GAME IN THE GENRE), provided very little to work with in some really tight corridors with some nasty enemies… Tyrant. Some moments in the game really stand out, such as choosing either the submachine gun or extra item spots, but one weapon in this game is just so boss. I can’t think of a better word to describe it right now because it is a total lifesaver and saving it until you fight a MAJOR boss is such a smart choice. The rocket launcher basically kills any enemy in one shot, and you can unlock infinite ammo. It’s just perfect.

4. Unlabored Flawlessness from Ninja Gaiden. The top three weapons all reflect my top 3 games of all time. Isn’t it funny how that works out? Even though Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox is not in my top 10 (but it’s damn good) there is one weapon in that game that I always connected with for some reason. It is that other item that I mentioned earlier that is not easy to obtain by any means. You need to upgrade the Wooden Sword, which is so useless, in order to get Unlabored Flawlessness. What a ridiculously amazingly long and complex name for a big wooden weapon that beats enemies down. If you know this weapon, you know how I feel. Otherwise, you’re probably thinking why is that so high on the list. Just look at this thing. I want to make a cosplay of it.

3. “Azeroth” from Diablo 2. At one point in time I had arguably the strongest Diablo 2 character on Battlenet. True story. I put in hundreds and hundreds of hours into building my paladin and maxed out everything. Eventually, I only played in special games with the best players for each class in the world. I knew nothing about computers but they started building mods where we would fight against hordes of bosses leveled up to the max. We would fight them 7 on infinity, killing hundreds until we died. It was insane but we were the best and we loved it. Then the computer genius in our group decided to forge us hacked weapons that reflected our characters, classes, personalities, etc. Being the best paladin in the world, the person crafted me a one-handed massive sword made of light named Azeroth. This was in 2000. It was wide and was colored a strange white that shined. Blizzard decided to delete all of our characters that had hacked items, purging the greatest people on Battlenet. I never played Diablo 2 again but the memory of Azeroth will live on in my mind forever. This weapon should top the list, but I will always be bitter that I lost it and don’t have a screen shot for you since it was one of a kind.

2. Hopesfire from Morrowind. Morrowind was and is the greatest Elder Scrolls game ever. It set the bar too high for future installments. One thing that set Morrowind apart was its lore and list of legendary weapons. You could even donate these weapons and items to a special museum in Mournhold, in the Tribunal expansion. I eventually gave all of them up in my main file that I still have today, so the museum is full. There were three that were extremely difficult to let go. Umbra is my go-to weapon in Morrowind, since I usually get it right away with bow and arrow. That hurt. But TrueFlame and HopesFire were just too much. These are the coolest weapons in the whole series. Skyrim cannot hold a flame to Morrowind just because of this alone, although the shouts are cool. The legend and the power of these swords is unparalleled.

1. Lion Heart from Final Fantasy. The greatest series of all time! Nothing can compare to the quest of upgrading and acquiring new weapons to defeat bosses that threaten the sake of the world. The Ultimate Weapon for every character is the final and strongest form of all items. Since Final Fantasy VIII is my favorite game ever, of course Squall’s Ultimate Gunblade is going to take the cake here. Add Lion Heart to the mix and this is just pure awesomeness. Take that, Ultimecia. Number one is the Lion Heart.

And that sums up my top 20 list. What’s yours? As always…stay hungry and fit!

Mar042014

Our Weekend in Pictures

Dressed up for once to go out to Dagabi Cucina!

Pharrell’s “Happy” is what goes on in my head

Oh so good. We were STUFFED

Nymeria passed out

Video game Saturday

Getting Noke some new stuff

Korea House Saturday night…

Happy girl

And of course…the Oscars where Ellen ROCKED IT (Source)

Just because it’s fun to share. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are rocking the March Madness for Health! Enjoy your weekends to stay hungry and fit!

Feb012014

New Gaming Obsession: Hearthstone

WARNING: Nerd alert! If you aren’t into games and stuff, you probably won’t love this post.

You’ll have to blame my brother for this one, it’s all his fault! He told me about this game and pestered me to play it. And I did. Big mistake. I’m hooked! As you guys should know, we are nerds and love video games and such. This game is very simple, yet very addictive. It has this element that keeps dragging you back in for more. I almost didn’t write a post today because I wanted to play instead (yeah, it’s that bad).

Hearthstone is almost (but not really) a sub-game of World of Warcraft (the massively multiplayer online game that thousands of people play). It’s in open beta right now (which means it’s open to the public to play and it’s in beta stage of testing, meaning the game is free, but it may be bugged). The main point of that last sentence is that it is free right now. All you have to do is register for a Battle.net account (also free) and you’re good. If you have played Starcraft, Diablo, WoW, or other Blizzard games, you will most likely already have an account.

I say it is a “sub-game” of WoW because it is based in the Warcraft world with all the classes from WoW and such. It is a card game. Kind of like Magic: The Gathering for World of Warcraft…but it’s free…and online! It combines strategy, timing, luck, and skill to best your adversaries whether they be computer characters or real people. Just like in WoW, you level up your characters (you play as a certain class and the more you play with that class, the better you and your deck gets) and try to beat all the classes in order to unlock all of them. As you level up, you get more packs and more cards to add to your deck. The game also gives you quests to usher you along in your playing. You can play casual or ranked matches against real people. Once you unlock all the classes, you can try your turn in the “Arena,” a place where you go as long as you can until you are beat three times. I’m just highlighting all the different aspects of the game, there is much more to it!

This game makes you think (and curse) and always challenges you to do better. It is in the familiar world of Warcraft, which I enjoy, and you can focus on the class you like the most (a Druid, for myself). It is absolutely worth giving a go, and if you do, add me! My user is Ewoky (was my username I chose growing up). It’s perfect for some weekend relaxation. Click here to download, and no, Blizzard is not paying me (but I wouldn’t mind if they did!). And as always…stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: What game are you addicted to?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Dec232013

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (A Review by a NERD!)

On November 22nd, 2013, I walked into Target as it opened to purchase Nintendo’s latest installment in The Legend of Zelda series. I have been playing Zelda games for over 20 years and have beaten most of them, at least once, so I have a good amount of experience in writing this short review. In 1992, A Link to the Past was released. Not only was it one of the best games on the SNES (That is saying A LOT) but it is also one of the greatest console games of ALL TIME. (Not just my opinion, also the opinion of IGN and others.) The LTTP remake for handheld was very good as well. Six generations following that game’s events, this sequel starts. It’s not only in the same world but also has the same map. It’s so unreal I almost didn’t believe it as I started playing.

Basically this is the second 3D Zelda game for the 3DS, the first being the re-release of Ocarina of Time. I played that on the 3DS as well, and own it (didn’t beat it… I know, I know), but it wasn’t disappointing. I knew it wouldn’t compare to playing the original on N64 in 1996, in the height of my gaming lifetime, but it was solid. This is on a whole new level. Here are the pros and the cons, including the reason why you NEED to buy A Link Between Worlds.

In my opinion, if you are reading this and debating what to do, you NEED to buy this game. I would pay far more then $39.99 for this. It is SO much better than some of the $59.99 releases for the larger consoles. The ONLY disadvantage is has is that it needs to be played on the 3DS or 2DS (definitely the 3DS) and is too short for my liking. But it’s not necessarily short for a Zelda game, so let that be known. (I love JRPGs and LONG games, and making games longer, so this is totally subjective.)

Ridiculously cute pictures of Nymeria and Chris

Now for the ridiculously long list of positives, which I will break down:

Soundtrack – It is amazing and original. It features classic Zelda tracks that are altered, remixed, and sound crystal clear without being too complicated. You can only do much on a handheld with music, and this does it. By it, I mean, whatever can be done. It is engaging and varied enough that you don’t have anyone complaining about these annoying riffs repeating in their head. At the same time, it hits that nostalgic effect right on the head. (Replaying Adventure of Link through the DS Store did not make everyone in the house happy!)

Graphics – Again, it’s a 3DS, which can’t and does not try to compete with the larger consoles, but it provides one of the most engaging 3D experiences we’ve seen in gaming. It is charming, reminds you of past Zelda games, compliments the music perfectly, and ADDS to the story. It is exactly what the game needs.

Controls – Again, Nintendo provides top notch quality. The stylus is not used a lot but the touch screen is. At the same time, there are shortcuts to avoid using it too much in the heat of a battle. No clumsy fumbling from d-pad and buttons to the touch screen, which I love. Some innovations but nothing too risky, no failures. You utilize the L and R keys often but just like the original Legend of Zelda, you keep it real with the d-pad and the classic buttons. Using the running feature, I won’t spoil it, can be hard to handle but it’s not unreasonable. You can also attack at all angles, which a lack of was the downfall of the original Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden.

Story – I read a review on Metacritic that this game doesn’t have anything that makes you attached to the story. Oh man, do I disagree. This game hits a home run in this category. If you look at the amount of releases in major series (Resident Evil, Castlevania, Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, etc.) you start to ask what makes this game different, and worthwhile. Without providing too many spoilers, this game goes more in depth with some of the famous supporting characters in the repeating Legend of the Hero of Hyrule. Once you play you will know what I am talking about. It brings back classic characters and innovates with villains. Some games neglect to bring an aspect of Ganon and some games focus solely on Ganon. This game does everything. It is a great balance. I can’t say much about story without providing spoilers, but just think Symphony of the Night, sort of, for Zelda. Enough said, right?

the_legend_of_zelda__a_link_between_worlds_by_hylianluke-d6cxtjz

Image source

Difficulty: It is a Zelda game, not Ninja Gaiden. It is easy but engages the mind and the fingers! There are some challenging parts but beating the main quest without full completion takes little effort. Turning into a painting actually makes the game far easier since it is the ultimate defense!

Extra – HERO MODE! Once you beat the game you unlock hero mode, I am almost through with it, so I can say more later. It is similar, but a hit basically kills you! (Not quite) There is also a Streetpass battle function that I haven’t messed around with too much but its another function! Small SPOILER: You can choose the order of dungeons to complete, to a certain degree, and rupees actually mean something! You buy many key items instead of finding them! Remember the last time those two functions were available? 1986’s The Legend of Zelda for NES. It brings back amazing memories.

So basically, this game obviously has very few downfalls. It has a riveting story with tons of integration into the history of Hyrule. It also goes more in depth with certain characters that have been neglected in the past. It may not be revolutionary, but it is very innovative and might influence a better flow of handheld gaming. Gamespot named it 2013’s game of the year, across all platforms… not a bad title.

Give it a play and let me know what you think. Also comment below on your history with the Zelda franchise and which games were your favorites! The original Legend of Zelda will always be first on my list since it was my first game I ever played and the game that got me into gaming.

BONUS KITTY PIC

Sassy girl

Nov062013

Welcome to the Family…. Dovah!

Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted a pet snake. There are few animals, if any, that I do not like. I’ve never had a fear of snakes and it’s hard for me to understand how other people do. If they are massive and/or venomous it’s easier to understand, but how can you say someone like Dovah is scary? After years of failing to convince my mother, who is petrified of snakes (not turned to stone), I finally convinced Alana.

After a hunt on Craigslist and some promises that people couldn’t keep (don’t expect anything from Craigslist), we ended up going to our local Petsmart. Petco had a baby ball python but it wasn’t quite as cute as the one at Petsmart. We bought a basic starter kit for desert reptiles, some extra caves and logs for climbing and basking, and some frozen baby mice. (Sorry everyone, I don’t enjoy feeding it but it has to be done.)

We asked if they knew what the snake’s age and gender was but they weren’t sure. They estimated him to be under a year old but since gender testing in snakes is so mean and inhumane, we decided it would be best just not to know and we took him to be a boy. Since we are going to be getting a female dog and we already have a balance of males and females in-house, we decided to keep that ratio.

We had to decide a name for our new buddy and our typical method is think of a character from something “nerdy” that fits well. For a snake, for us, that means anything related to snakes or dragons in mythology, video games, books, etc. I thought of some Japanese words and some Naruto characters, but our quest ended shortly when I suggested a unisex name that was a no-brainer.

Hi!

The Elder Scrolls video (first computer) game series moved into the mainstream this year when Skyrim was released. Most people just didn’t know about the series before this game and really no one knew about it before Morrowind was released for the PC and XBOX. However, Alana and I can both remember playing these games (Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim) since we were little. There was also Battlespire, Redguard, and a bunch of mobile games as well, but these were not as good as the major releases. Let me save you from our love for the series for now (It has been a pyramid effect… with Morrowind at the top. They really screwed up with Skyrim, in my opinion… which includes over 800 hours on Morrowind and 400 on Skyrim… before January of 2012.) (Editor’s Note: also check out the soundtrack…Jeremy Soule is brilliant. I actually use his ambient music for my meditations!)

In the world of Tamriel exists the land of Skyrim, which was and is heavily populated by dragons. The native word for dragon in their tongue is dovah. What a perfect name for our little dragon. Dovah. It reminds us of a series that we have been attached to since 1994! A series that we have thousands of hours of gameplay and tens of thousands of more hours of thought. It’s a cute name but a powerful name. It was perfect. He just hasn’t learned it yet.

He likes to hug

So Dovah is a “male” ball python. He is about a year old and weighs a few pounds. Dovah is about two feet tall but you’ll always find him in his cave wrapped in a ball. He is a picky eater and usually misses the pray and ends up snipping at my thumb. We’ll work on developing his senses. Ball pythons can live for up to 30 years and can grow anywhere from 4-5 feet typically, depending on how much you feed them. We will keep him on the small side and far away from the cats. The cats would eat him now but he might have the upper hand in a few years.

I don’t want to say too much now because we don’t know very much about him and haven’t spent a ton of time together, but we will keep you updated! It might seem like a strange thought but becoming more familiar with nature and animals can help you understand new ways to use energy, and energy utilization is a great way to stay hungry and fit!

Cute lil guy

Oct012013

Our Weekend in Pictures

Sorry for the no-Monday post, but I was busy studying and Chris was busy scuba-diving. I thought I would share the weekend in pictures…enjoy!

Chris getting his scuba certification

Great start to a Saturday…

Visited tons of farms and went pumpkin picking

Little Salvation Army visit…

Obviously visited the Humane Society…

Chris almost took this guy home

Awwwwwwwww

Video games

Castle marathons

Going to the Flatirons Mall and enjoying some Sarku

Grocery shopping

Some home-cooked meals

Study snacks (totally stole this from Chocolate Covered Race Medals)

Not to mention WORKOUTS

Chris surprised me with a 3-course meal from one of our favorite restaurants, Dagabi Cucina

You might also like…

BONUS KITTY PIC

^.^

Sep152013

Happy 25th Birthday, Chris! (aaand #boulderflood)

This is going to be a joint post, written by the both of us, about Chris’ birthday and the flood that erupted on his very birthday here in our home of Boulder, Colorado. And it isn’t stopping. As I sit here, I’m watching more rain pour down as it has since 8am. We got a few dry days, but now the rain is here for a while. Where to begin? Let’s just start with Chris’ actual birthday. I’ll be writing most of it, and he will pop in here and there for certain things.

6:30am, Thursday, September 12th. Chris is still sleeping in bed, I need be at work by 8, but I want to go to our favorite bakery and surprise him with croissants. It’s been raining for a few days now, started Monday and worked its way until today. It’s still raining now. I slip socks and crocs on and head out. I get to the bakery but I am kind of dumbstruck and don’t know where to park. The entire right side of the street is flooded. Now this is before we had any flood alerts or thought there was a problem. I turned around and parked on the other side of the street. The bakery was open and I wanted to get him croissants! There was a worker outside and I asked him how to get through it, and he said, “I just got my feet wet.” I still looked for a way, but it was useless. Water was pouring from the north and streaming into the streets. I ended up walking through a foot and a half of water and they had no croissants! Wish I had taken a picture.

A now-famous picture taken by someone at the library

So I get back, wake Chris up, wish him happy birthday and give him breakfast. We turn on the news and see that it’s pretty bad all over. Highways buckling, houses flooding, people trapped. We eat breakfast and open presents, all the while he is communicating with his coworkers. (It’s Chris now) I want to thank everyone for all of the awesome gifts. I’ve always been quite spoiled. I received a gift card to Macy’s, Amazon, and AMC cinemas along with $30 cash. I also got some nice Burberry cologne, a handmade snake-like bottle opener, and a handmade Giraffe head cork wine topper. I was upset with Alana for getting me so much. She got me the newest iPad with a case and keyboard attachment. She also got me two hoodies: one sleeveless one from H&M and a Legend of Zelda one from Woot. I can’t say what I like the most but all of the gifts were very thoughtful and will fit in this household nicely. I am excited as always to use the AMC tickets for two free movies for the two of us. Especially since there are a few movies coming out next weekend that I want to see. Thanks again to everyone for the kind wishes whether it was family or friends.

Birthday breakfast!

Back to Alana. The 119 (how I get to work) is flooding and Longmont is bad. Chris and his staff decide to close the shop and he goes to make sure the flood damage is okay. Everyone advises me to stay home, so I do. This is all very new and not exactly sure what to expect. It was nice for Chris to have his birthday off of work, but we felt for everyone suffering. Luckily, our apartment is 3 floors up, and we are on a safer side of town. We didn’t do much that day, played video games and stayed inside.Chris loved being able to do that, since normally we have too much on our plate. We just made sandwiches for lunch and enjoyed the down time.

We get a call around 3pm from one of our good friends who lives a block away. He is driving home from Littleton (highways are an absolute mess) and his wife and kid are at home with a flooded bedroom. We run to get the shop vac and bring it over to their place. They were the lucky ones. The western building of their apartment complex got completely flooded with 2 feet of water. We immediately begin to vacuum the carpet out which is saturated and getting worse. A battle we can’t win against the pelting rain coming at us. By the time our friend gets home, we have already dumped out 32 gallons of water.

Shop vac

Pouring out gallons of water

Kicking up water

We knew we couldn’t suck up all the water so we go outside and decide to dig a trench away from the windows and then use the mud to create a barrier. It was messy, wet work, but it did give some layer of protection.

Those rainboots ended up having holes in them…surprise!

Packing as fast as we can

Flexing, obviously

After we finish up, we wash the mud off in a flooded street. We go inside for a little bit more clean-up. Chris is bummed so many places are closed. I had this elaborate plan for the day, that I would take him out for lunch, that after work we would workout and then surprise him with China Gourmet and a birthday cake. Nope, not gonna happen. However, one of our most favorite places in town was miraculously open. They know us well at Korea House and invited us with open arms. We were soaked, muddy, and tired, and this meal invigorated us. We got a fixed menu with beer, bulgogi, korean soup, soups, salads, and mochi ice cream. Because it was Chris’ birthday and because the chef loves us that much, he served us with a big beautiful plate of some of the most flavorful sushi I’d ever had. He also gave us a large bottle of hot sake and another beer for free. Happy Birthday, right? It was just what we needed to bring our spirits up. We told them if they needed a place to stay (they live in Longmont), that they could always come to us. We left happy and it was pouring harder than ever.

Korean birthday feast

We get back safely, though main streets are flooding. We play some more video games for a while and then we get into bed. Things are only getting worse. Chris passes out, but my stomach is in knots. So before I continue, let me just tell you about the wonderful Twitter #boulderflood. Online news can’t do enough. I have been on the #boulderflood this entire time, getting minute-by-minute updates from news agencies, emergency agencies, and real-life people struggling in the flood. It has been an absolutely amazing resource, I still follow it now. So as I’m lying in bed, reading the #boulderflood hashtag, things start getting worse. The Emerson Gulch has broken and now a 30-foot wall of water is heading straight for the Creek. I know college kids can be drunk and stupid and people reported seeing some near the creek, fooling around. I stress about their lives. About how the death toll might rise. After a few hours, I finally get to sleep, only to dream more about the flood and wake up too much. Here are pictures from the house we house-sat at:

Beginning of the day

End of the day…that used to be a back yard

Friday. Despite only a few hours of sleep, we wake up semi-early. The rain has stopped and light can be seen. We stay inside for a bit and then decide to go venture out with Marga and Michael to see the damage. The “unaccounted-for” toll has risen to around 130. There is a lot of debris everywhere, but things are drying up. Mud is the problem since there were massive mudslides the previous night. I hear Lyons is an island and Longmont is incredibly flooded. The YMCA where I work at is closed. Our old street (we just recently moved) got flooded and now instead of pavement, it is a mud street. Our previous neighbors are carrying buckets of mud-water out of their house. It is all mucked up. We continue on for about 5 miles total, seeing the damage. But we don’t even go to the bad area, we get tired and head back.

Our old street

a parking lot nearby

Goose Creek where I run next to

The creek rose to ridiculously high levels

We end up going to the gym, finding a bit of normalcy in our recently turned-upside down life. After a great shoulder workout (my traps are still sore!), we head back home. More video games. We are happy for the lack of rain. I can even see a star or two. We also watch From Up on Poppy Hill, the newest Miyazaki film. We go to bed around 2am.

Saturday. Another dry morning! Evacuations continue at a much higher rate now. The National Guard is here and you can see and hear the military helicopters going here and there every minute (no exaggeration). Our friend (with the flooded bedroom) invited us to go play frisbee golf as we often do on Saturdays. Sure, why not! Well, half the course had some bad flooding, but that didn’t stop us. Afterwards, we went to Glacier (our favorite ice cream joint here) and Chris finally got his free ice cream (because it’s his birthday). We go back to the apartment for a little bit and then head out to the gym for a good chest workout (yes, my pecs are sore). As the day continues, formidable clouds begin to form. We come back, watch Castle and play video games. And have mac n cheese and ramen for dinner, good comfort food.

And now it’s Sunday. Still raining strong. Flood alerts are back. Road closures are back. Unaccounted-for toll is up to 530 people. Tragic stories on the news. I hope I can get to work tomorrow. And I truly hope everyone stays safe. I wish I could reach out and help more people, but it’s hard to get to most people right now. Chris certainly had a birthday that nobody will forget. I will stay vigilantly attached to the #boulderflood to stay in touch with everyone and all events. Please send good energy this way. And some dry weather. And despite all these horrible events, everyone reaches out to each other to help. That is what is keeping spirits up, when everything else is gone. Stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria staying warm

Jun052013

Nerds Unite and Stay in Shape!

Fit and I are considered “interesting” individuals because we are a mix of very physically active and extremely nerdy. Somehow, we find a way to balance everything and although we aren’t quite as fit and don’t have as much time to play video games as we want, we still get the best of both worlds. Sometimes it is difficult to balance busy lives, and sometimes there isn’t motivation to do something that you don’t want to do but we are always stressing to individuals to stay healthy and active.

You don’t need to be a professional athlete, bodybuilder, or martial artist to be healthy and active. You need to maintain a healthy ratio of lean muscle mass and body fat, eat nutritional and wholesome foods, stay hydrated and well-rested, maintain proper hygiene and be able to control your own body. Absolute strength is your total power output, but relative strength is your strength to weight ratio and your ability to handle your body. I am proposing that everyone, even those nerdy people that love to sit down for hours and play MMORPGs (we would love to do this when we have time), try to achieve what I consider a healthy and active lifestyle and here’s a few steps of how we can do that.

1. Eat healthier! I know that Red Bulls, Mega Monsters, and Mountain Dew are great ways to keep you awake through your dungeon raids but they are nutritional black holes! Consider other electrolyte heavy drinks such as Gatorade, Powerade, Smart Water, Vitamin Water, or even some supplements to keep your energy levels more naturally high. I logged 72 straight hours of Final Fantasy XII the night that it was released and I didn’t have one energy drink or sip of soda the whole time. My good health helped me stay energized and if you can increase your endurance and conditioning it could help with long nights of playing.

Captain American: Master Chef

2. Exercise! Working out helps us increase muscle mass, decrease body fat, create definition in our muscles, increase our metabolism and more. You don’t need to buy expensive clothes, equipment or memberships to work out. If you’re reading hundreds of issues of manga or comics at a time like I do, try to set goals. Every week when my new manga are released I blaze through them in minutes. After waiting a week and sometimes more! Make the volume last a little longer by doing 10 pushups and 20 crunches after every few pages. Set goals for yourself. Try to do body weight exercises such as pushups, variations of pushups, crunches, abdominal and core exercises, planks and more every few pages. If you’re playing a video game, set requirements for every time you level your character up or beat a major boss. These little things can make a big difference.

Planking–keep it tight!

3. Sleep enough! I am not asking you to sleep 10 hours a night. Try to get at least 6 hours of sleep or quality rest every 24 hours. Really try to get 7 hours and push yourself to get 8 on the weekends if you can. Your body needs to rest and recover to continue operating at a functional level. If I tried playing a hard platform sequence in Ninja Gaiden while I was exhausted, then I would have no hope. If I’m playing Settlers of Catan and can’t think straight because my brain is trying to sleep, I won’t be able to compete against my opponents if they’re well-rested.

Zzz

I am speaking out of experience and trying to help my fellow nerds. And please do not take offense to the term nerd. You could be a console gamer, PC gamer, manga fan, anime fan, comic book fan, RPG fan or any other person who enjoys these types of fun activities. We enjoy all of them and are proud of it. So if any of this relates to you, if you think that you could better your diet, exercise, and sleep then please consider some of our suggestions. If you are really interested in turning your life around contact us for our help because that is what we love to do. We want everyone to stay nerdy while being hungry and fit!

Fit and Nerdy

Hungry and Fit! Our pose

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Jun032013

Taking Over Comic Con 2013 (Denver, CO)

I want to avoid making this painfully long so if you want an in-depth review of the roughly five hours we spent at the event, read my biography in a few decades. I’m only saying this because I could talk about those five hours forever. I know we didn’t spend much time there but we made it count and it was completely worth it so let me tell you how we ended up at DCC and how it went.

Months and months ago, the great Stan Lee, inventor of Marvel Comics and most of its iconic characters, announced that he would make his return to Comic Con after a near twenty year hiatus this year in Denver. They published an article about it in the Boulder Weekly and I immediately told Fit. She had never attended a convention, especially one of this scale, so we decided it had to be done. Unfortunately, we had planned to attend a wedding in Santa Monica months in advance to that so we knew we wouldn’t be able to take off of work for Friday and Saturday… bummer. We settled for Sunday and I bought tickets in person at Guiry’s in Boulder at a discounted rate. I bought two one day passes for Sunday.

Months pass and we don’t put any thought into the event or what we should wear. Saturday night rolls around and costume-less, we decided to wear our aprons that we use in the house. Alana was a makeshift fit and cooking Wonder Woman while I was the same version of Captain America, with a Sonic the Hedgehog hat that has ears. It cost us no time and no money but we figured no one would even pay attention to us but oh were we wrong.

Excited!

Before leaving

We drive to Denver and pass a line that stretches for half a mile. Ten minutes after parking we end up at the back of that line and wait for the doors to open around 9:30 a.m. Almost everyone there is so nice and accepting of one another. The only people I don’t like are the bullies that make fun of other people. And we don’t tolerate bullying so there was none of that, but rather lots of positive reinforcement, high fives, and pictures. I will say that we got our money’s worth in people watching alone. The cosplays and costumes were top notch and I loved how passionate everyone was. We tried figuring out everyone’s costume and did a really good job. We even helped some clueless people by eavesdropping. Our first picture came when I ran into none other than the hero of Hyrule, Link. He was sporting his red fire tunic and the Master Sword. Link is super fit so I had to take a picture with him.

Link!

While the line was moving, the most unexpected thing happened. A photojournalist asked for our picture. We obliged and posed… little did we know, this would happen about 14 more times throughout the day. We never expected to be so popular but vendors, exhibitors, staff, photojournalists, bloggers, and attendees asked for our picture. One young woman who was with her friends even asked for a picture with us. Not just of us. We said yes and gave our regular pose every single time. I would love to see those 15 pictures especially the one with our fan because it was so random. Either people loved the idea that we were wearing aprons and it was creative or they thought we were fit and somewhat sexy.

Hungry and Fit! Our pose

Once we got inside we headed upstairs for the main hall. By doing this, we ended up missing a bunch of the panels and presentations we wanted to attend, such as the spotlight on Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day. What can you do? We don’t regret our choice because we had our most fun upstairs. When we ended up looking for the panels, gaming rooms, main events, and what not we ended up just wasting energy and getting frustrated. The easiest way to do this is just explain what is in our pictures since they highlight the best parts of the day.

Celebs

Here is Fit posing with Han Solo trapped in carbonite. Damn you, Lando, for selling him out to Vader and Boba Fett. This was a part of the Far Away Creations area where a group of Star Wars fans provided models and replicas of the original trilogy. Lots of fun.

After trekking through some aisles of vendors and trying our hardest not to spend every penny, we decided that we could each have one big purchase. Fit decided quickly that she wanted a picture with Chewbacca. Thus we paid Peter Mayhew for a picture with our camera and he autographed a photo of Fit’s choice. She chose a scene where Chewy and Han are wielding their bowcaster and blaster pistol. Epic. He was huge. He was as tall as us while sitting down and his hands were enormous. She also ran into a Storm Trooper with an awesome voice box and a Jawa.

Alana with Peter Mayhew (who played Chewbacca) –she can’t contain her happiness here

NEVER LETTING THIS GO

“Move along, move along”

Now it was my turn to decide. William Shatner, George Takei, Felicia Day, and Wil Wheaton were all tempting individuals to meet and take a picture with but my decision was a no brainer. I wanted to meet and take a picture with Kelly Hu. I had a massive crush on her when I was a teenager. She starred in The Scorpion King, X-Men, and voiced Visas in KOTOR II. For some reason, she had no line while all of the others were absolutely packed all day long. Her picture proceeds went to Much Love, a charity for animals. She was super nice and was happy to talk to us about everything from shopping on Amazon to our pets and more. Here’s the picture.

Kelly Hu and I

After that I got caught by Umbrella Corp because I was infected by a zombie. Their vehicle was awesome.

Here I am spying on someone’s crafts hoping to get some ideas for a friend. Secret agent style.

This is a co-worker’s ex-boyfriend showing why he was the coolest guy in the room. He’s a self-taught lightsaber master but he had a hard time actually talking into the mic. The crowd loved it though so good for him.

Gandalf! Literally hunted him down the whole time and finally found him

Fit met Gandalf and he let us pass.

Buff chicas. She actually made that armor!

Fit’s favorite costume of the day was Commander Shepard from Mass Effect.

Hungry’s favorite costume of the day was a Hello Kitty samurai. He let me hold his war banner.

Hungry and Fit! Our pose

Here we are on stage finally getting a picture of us together after fifteen other people took them first.

Fit found a bantha to cuddle up next to. It looked like a baby.

Hungry found a sausage for lunch while Fit had a pear salad. We spent a bunch on bad food there but it was expected and we didn’t mind.

I know my brother (Kai) would’ve loved to play this (I’m Gonna Wreck It!)

Fix It Felix Jr. does exist! We didn’t get to play.

I could go on and on but I don’t want to bore you too much so we’ll leave it here and keep you updated the next time Hungry and Fit attend an event!

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Mar242013

The Invasion of MMORPGs

Nerd alert post–no cooking or working out in this one. What is a MMORPG? It is a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game. Think World of Warcraft–the most popular and successful of them all. There have always been some: EVE, EverQuest, and so on. But now, big companies and big game lines have really started throwing themselves into this genre. Don’t get me wrong, I used to play WoW a lot, it’s a lot of fun, but my feelings start to get mixed once my beloved game series get involved.

This post is inspired by my playing Skyrim yesterday. I love the Elder Scrolls series, with them choosing different homelands of each of the playable races and being able to experience each one. Skyrim, which is pretty much all snow, is for the Nords. I usually either play as a Khajiit or a Wood Elf. I started thinking how cool it would be when Elder Scrolls finally got to their homelands. The desert land of the Khajiits with endless sand, or the forest-cities of the Wood Elves. How awesome it would be to explore it, especially now with such improved graphics and the ever-present attention to detail Bethesda offers.

My Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim character

And then I remember. Oh yeah, they’re making an MMO. That might mean that there will never be another Elder Scrolls game after that. And that kinda breaks my heart. I know they’re trying to make it as Elder Scrolls-y as possible, but it will still be an MMO. It will never be the same. I find myself wishing that they would choose not to jump on the bandwagon and instead, work on Elder Scrolls VI. Perhaps they still will, but that will be a lot to take on.

Star Wars: The Old Republic by BioWare (probably in competition with Bethesda for my favorite company ever) jumped at a huge MMO project like this as well. Of course I was excited–one of my most favorite series by one of my most favorite companies, it had to be good. And while I do enjoy playing SWTOR, it’s just not the same as Knights of the Old Republic. I would much rather have another single-player sequel to that amazing series with all its tough choices, exploration, and story than the impressive huge universe BioWare created. But KOTOR is a lot smaller than the Elder Scrolls games, so I doubt there will be another since TOR is out.

I’m not sure why MMOs are trending so much–perhaps because of the big money gains, the success, and fame? World of Warcraft certainly made its mark on gaming history and will continue to do so. But just because it was wildly successful doesn’t mean that every big awesome gaming company needs to do it. For me, the Elder Scrolls series is truly unique and I love the worlds they create, the attention to detail, and the openness of gameplay that is hard to recreate in an MMO. I hope the MMO format doesn’t kill it, but it probably will.

What are your feelings about the increasing number of MMOs? Cheers!