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As someone who has been blogging for three years, it never ceases to amaze me when there are still other fellow bloggers who kindly wish to say, “Hey, your blog is awesome,” by nominating it for blog awards. I’ve been nominated for two and I wish to take this week to finally acknowledge them and show my sincerest thanks.

InvaderC8 and Lightsabers and Lipsticks have nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award and the Creative Blogger Award respectively. I’ve actually been nominated for the Liebster Blog Award many times before, but I’m a first timer at getting the Creative Blogger Award. Internet blog awards may not be all that important, but it’s still a lovely pay-it-forward type of recognition to bloggers who make an effort to keep blogging new and interesting content as often as they can. As always, there are rules to accepting these kinds of awards and I’ll be addressing each  of them individually.

The Liebster Blog Award asks you to thank the one who nominated you, answer the list of 10 questions they ask you, make a set of 10 questions of your own, nominate your fellow bloggers for the award, and then notify your chosen nominees. Considering I’ve gotten this award and nominated other fellow bloggers in the past, I won’t be nominating anyone for this one. I will answer the questions given to me, so thanks again to InvaderC8 for nominating me! Without further ado, here are his questions:

1. If you could make your favorite game/game series into a film/films, how would you do it, and what would the rating be?

A: I know there is a supposed Mass Effect film possibly in the works, so probably the game I’d most like to see as a movie would be Dragon Age. The characters and story are well-written enough to make a really great epic fantasy series that’s almost on par with Lord of the Rings. I don’t think I’m much of a visionary when it comes to making movies, so I’d probably leave that up to the professionals to figure out how to execute the movie. As for the rating, I think a solid PG-13 would suffice, even with all the love scenes you get in this game.

2. You have the chance to be mentored by your favorite video game character [can either be hero or villain]. Who will you choose?

A: I don’t know if this is necessarily cheating since this character is more of a player created character, but I’d choose FemShep from the Mass Effect series. I love strong, confident, and capable women and FemShep has all these qualities and more. She’d be a great mentor for reminding me to believe in myself and how to wield a gun and sock it to the worst of my enemies like a true N7 soldier.

3. How has your favorite game impacted your taste in choosing what to play?

A: I’ll always credit Dragon Age for getting me to become a full-fledged gamer. After Dragon Age, it led me to discover more games with strong characters and meaningful stories. I realized these are the types of games I appreciate and prefer to play more than all the Mario games out there. Not that playing any of the Mario games aren’t fun, but I do like gaming experiences that are memorable and make me think about it even after I’ve finished beating them. Usually, my taste in games tend to fall more towards the RPG style of video games like Dragon Age or story, choice heavy games like Telltale’s The Walking Dead.

4. If there was ONE thing you could change in your favorite game, film, TV show or book, what would it be?

A: I guess with Mass Effect 3, and I know this was debated to death a long time ago when it came out, I’d want a better written ending. Even with the Extended Cut DLC, it didn’t quite make the end of the game a strong one. It might have improved it, but more could have been done with the ending that just wasn’t there to really feel like Shepard’s journey really and truly ended.

5. What is your standing on pre-orders?

A: Honestly, I don’t really have much of a stance on it. I rarely pre-order games because there are so few games I want that badly that I can’t wait until a price drop happens. The only benefit I see from it is being able to claim your copy of the game before it hits the shelves and you avoid the hassle of trying to buy it on release day and risking the possibility of your store selling out of your game quickly.

6. Should there be more female lead characters in games [Like Fetch in First Light and Amanda Ripley in Alien: Isolation]?

A: Definitely, but I also think we should have more variety in games in general. Why stop at female lead characters? Why not have an LGBTQ lead a game for once? Or have more ethnically diverse characters being the lead instead of the usual white male? Video games are just another form of media that can tell meaningful stories while entertaining people at the same time. When we play games, we want to escape from our own reality for a little while and why not play a game where you’re someone else whose experiences and perspectives are vastly different from your own?

7. What is your standing on the trend of remastered games that is going on?

A: I haven’t played any remastered games yet, but I see nothing wrong with it. If it improves on aging graphics or adds in new music, then it’s fine. Old films get restored or remastered all the time, so it’s normal that older video games might get that treatment.

8. What recent game has disappointed you, and what could have saved it?

A: If we’re talking about recent video game releases, then there aren’t any that I’ve played that have left me disappointed. If we’re talking about any game, old or new, that I’ve played recently then maybe Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. I was expecting more to the story than what I really got and probably better writing might have fixed it. Combat, exploration, and overall look of the game are well-executed.

9.  Which would you prefer: A bad game with good characters, or a great game story with “meh” characters?

A: This is a tough one to answer. I think if I had to choose, I’d go with a bad game with good characters. If you’re playing a game and experiencing everything through them, it’s tough to get through a game without caring one iota about the characters in the game you’re playing. If I hate the character, why am I even playing? It’s a waste of my time. If you have a really complex and compelling character whose journey you want to see through until the end, you’ll suffer through a bad game just to see where they end up. I also like trying to put myself in the character’s shoes to try and identify with them better.

10. Do you believe that Half Life 3 will ever be released? If so, would it live up to the reputation of the series?

A: Unfortunately, I’ve never played any of the Half Life games, so I really have no opinion on this to be able to answer this question properly. I’m sorry!

The next and final award to address is the Creative Blogger Award. The rules of this award are as follows:

• Nominate 15-20 blogs and notify them via their social media/blogs
• Thank and post the link of the person who nominated you
• Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers
• Pass on the rules

I don’t think I’ll be able to nominate 15-20 blogs, but I will nominate a handful of them to pay this award forward. Special thanks again goes out to Lightsabers and Lipsticks for nominating me for this award. Read further to find out 5 random facts about me!

1. I used to write Sailor Moon fanfiction while I was in high school and into part of my college life. The fanfiction still exists on the interwebs.

2. I tried parasailing for the first time in January when I was on vacation to the Caribbean. It was an amazing experience and one I’d do again.

3. When I visited Istanbul, my mom and I checked out their outdoor market. One of the merchants told us we have “a nice fabric.” This confused us greatly and we thought the merchant was referring to our clothes. He later explained in his limited English that he meant we have the same face. It was still a very nice and unique compliment.

4. I don’t really wear makeup. I don’t have the patience to make my face daily and I only make the effort on special occasions. The only makeup I do like to apply is lipstick or lip gloss. I own shades that work well with my olive skin tone, which are dark reds and pinks.

5. I’m an all-American girl, but my ethnic origin is Filipina. I have grown up on my mom’s homemade Filipino cooking and it helps me stay connected to my culture. It’s also the closest I’ll get to satisfying my craving for Filipino food when I can’t hop on a plane to the Philippines and get the real thing there.

Now that you have a little more background info on me, it’s time for my nominations in no particular order of awesomeness:

1. Games I Made My Girlfriend Play

2. Comparative Geeks

3. linksaveszelda.com

4. Gamer Crash

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