June Update

June is just about over and I haven't had a whole lot of time to get enough done this month. I do have a couple items lined up for this week, though I still need to get images ready for the toy article. Yes, I actually have something for the toy section! Speaking of toys, and having already talked about the big video game convention so much, I thought it worth mentioning Hasbro is holding a convention in September called HASCON that looks like it could be fun. It's near the company's HQ in Rhode Island and is likely aimed at kids but for us older folks the voice actors of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Megatron (Frank Welker) will be in attendance, as will Stan Lee. I'd like to attend though I don't expect I will as it's not too close to where I am now. Anyways, if you have kids or like Transformers and Star Wars toys I'm sure it would be worth checking out. I'd hope for a G.I. Joe presence as well though there is no mention of that on the HASCON website.

As for E3, the game news was fairly standard and the press conferences weren't too great. I posted some comments under the part one post summarizing how my predictions turned out (hint: not so good). Also, an update for the G.I. Joe video games post is that a new Micro Machines World Series trailer released last week and clearly shows that Cobra's H.I.S.S. tank will be a playable vehicle in the game. That releases this Friday and I'll definitely try it out when I get a chance. In other video game news, today Nintendo announced the Super NES Classic Edition will release on September 29th with 21 games built-in, including the never before released Star Fox 2. The NES Classic Edition was woefully under produced and left many fans unable to get one. Nintendo says the SNES edition will have a many more produced though it will also cost $20 more at $79.99. It does include two controllers, however, whereas the NES Classic Edition was packaged with only one.

I may look into doing something on Instagram soon because Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr are simply not enough. Of course, I'm still trying to get started with a YouTube channel as well so I'm probably spreading myself too thin but those social media accounts are supposed to generate blog traffic. While I did glance at Instagram back in January, I didn't know if it would be of any use. Last week I was shown that it's not only for smartphone users and a single image can generate a lot of visibility so maybe a few ad posts or toy pics will help attract more readers. I'll target July as the time to launch Instagram (next week) and YouTube accounts but as always YouTube is a slow work in progress. Look for the new video game post mid-week as it ties into a Friday release (not Micro Machines); that one will be the typical magazine scans. The toy post might not happen until the weekend and involves some original creations.

Before I go let me thank Kotaku for posting a photograph of mine in their JPGs section a few weeks ago and for being kind enough to drop a link back to the blog. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone noticed the link but it was still cool to make it on there. If you're not familiar with Kotaku it is a video game blog site with a strong focus on Japan. While I enjoy most of their articles, I should mention that its target audience is around ages 18 and up.

7/2 Update: It looks like Instagram is a no go. I was under the impression it could be used on a computer but the official app on PC is only for viewing ( I do not own a smartphone or tablet!). There are third-party programs that may work though Instagram may suspend accounts that use those. Perhaps they will add the functionality to upload images from a PC at some point in the future at which time I will try again.