Skittlegirl's blog (en)

D has been wanting to get a new xbox 360 controller and I just decided to go ahead and get this for him today. The color fits him well I thought, and also I read that it’s actually a good controller.

The box and controller both look very cool and gorgeous! And yes, the grips on the side are very solid and comfortable, like a new car’s steering wheel.  So far so good.

I wanted to see how it lights up, but didn’t get a chance yet. Maybe I’ll ask him to try to use it this evening.

Tiny Tower also has a halloween costume…

Tiny Tower also seems to have new costumes… like this one. Nice.

Tiny Tower (iPad/iPhone game) had an update yesterday and it included “BitizenBuilder” which you can make your avatar in Bitizen format.

So here’s Bitizen version of me! (Made by D)

Training SSF4AE is like practicing the piano.

I’ve been practicing SSF4AE with Chun-Li, but some inputs like Kikosho (236236+PPP) are really hard. I guess for people who already has the muscle memory it’s not that hard, but for me it’s very awkward….

D said Blazblue is a bit easier so I tried its training mode. Challange 1 and 2 were easy enough, but then challenge 3’s loooong combo is… not any easier! I needed to spend at least 20 minutes to clear the first trial in challenge 3.  

But anyway, this reminds me of piano training back in the day. When encountering very difficult “passage”(phrase) in a piece, you need to practice first slow, then add some dots to change the rhythm, and a bit faster…. and so on. If you can’t do it on the day, practice for a half hour then stop. On the next day, for some reason you can do the phrase way easier than the day before. I think the muscle memory is built while you’re sleeping or something, but “practice, then stop and wait till tomorrow” works well for me.

A few weeks ago, I suddenly remembered Mozart’s “Twelve Variations on ‘Ah vous dirai-je, Maman’ ”, a.k.a “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Variation”(K265), and started to play it on the piano. Although I played the piece a lot in the past when I was a child, my fingers forgot how to play it. On some passages(phrases), my fingers just stopped moving. I tried to practice like I mentioned above, “slow, add dots, and faster” to sort of loosen my fingers. Still, though, I couldn’t play it fluently on the day. After a while I just stopped playing it and forgot about it. A couple of days later I remembered it again and tried it. Then Voila! I could play it very fluently as though my fingers got the muscle memory completely back. (By the way, I’m always amazed how many pieces my fingers can remember to play without me looking sheet music.) It just requires some stimulation(or practice) to remember them.

When I tried Training Mode in SSF4AE, I do the same thing. Try to practice one combo or command input for a while, then stop when I feel like I can’t do it on the day. Next day, my fingers move better than yesterday and some commands are easier then.

Definitely muscle memory needs some rest to be activated (Just like total body muscle training).

But…. Kikosho command (246246+PPP, aka double fireball, or the same as Shinku Hadoken), I have yet to be able to pull easily. Maybe 1 in 8 times? 

Maybe it’s easier if I use Arcade stick? Or just simply needs more practice? 

Anyway, the muscle memory is under construction.

If anybody has good tips for how to pull the move precisely, please lemme know!!

D recommended me this game called Tiny Tower for iPad, and I’m sooo addicted to it! I’ve been playing this whenever I can, like while cooking… When just sitting on sofa watching TV…

The app is free, but I got $4.99 in-app purchase to support the developer!

OMG! SSF4AE at Evo 2011 was CRAZY! The result was not what I thought it would be… Fuudo was great, but Latif was doing amazing!!! He beat Poongko and Umehara one after another and it was exciting.

The matches was so much fun even for me who’s just a beginner-level player of SSF4AE.

Also it was very cute when Kindevu was eating cookies with Poongko at the end.

I’ve been watching Evo 2011 all this weekend and it’s been so much fun! I especially enjoyed BlazBlue Championship. I like Hakumen, but now I like him even more so.

Tonight it’ll be MVC3 and SSF4AE coming up. I’m gonna be in front of TV all evening….