Chic Pixel

Chatting with Lijakaca about Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom

2012-02-16T16:55:00.001+10:00

Hello friends! I'm sure you didn't actually think the Hakuoki release would come and go without me having something to say about it, right? Of course not! I was lucky enough to snag a review copy of the game for the ever-awesome Game Critics, but unfortunately it hasn't gone up on the site yet. But never fear – I have plenty of things to say about the game in the meantime.

First off, I had the fabulous oppertunity to ramble about Hakuoki and all things otome with the lovely Lijakaca of Lijakaca's Otome Gaming Blog. She is a mecca of otome gaming knowledge (her blog is a must follow for fans of otome games), so if you thought I knew what I was talking about, just you wait! (hint: I don't, usually) We had a great discussion about the game itself and also delved into otome game topics in general, so if any of that catches your fancy, I heartily suggest you check it out! Click on the handsome Hakuoki men below to give it a listen! Please be sure to tell me what you think in the comments... I'm still very new to podcasting, so any tips you may have that I can keep in mind for future endeavors would be greatly appreciated.

So what did I think of Hakuoki in the end? I'd like to save my final evaluation for the review when it goes up, but I do have some points in particular I can share:

As if you couldn't tell from the screenshots floating around the internet and the art above, the game looks gorgeous. Though I didn't find the music particularly memorable, it wasn't grating, either.
The story is engaging, and surprisingly in-depth, particularly for a game where many assume the main goal would be to hook up with the guy of your dreams. That incentive is there, but the romance aspect of the game is actually not quite as prevalent as I would have thought – a bit to my dismay, but will probably make the game more palatable to those who are not as interested in drooling over 2D hunks as I am. All in all, I think Aksys found a nice middle ground by choosing this as their first otome game. And yes, there is swearing!
Speaking of swearing, I was a bit iffy on the localization at times. Though it is undoubtedly written well, I couldn't help but feel that Hijikata swore a bit too much and some of the written dialogue just didn't match up with the spoken Japanese in a way that sat well with me. That said, it's throughly enjoyable and immersive for an English-speaking audience, and I get that that is what Aksys is going for. Kudos to their awesome editor and translators for not botching it up.
So far, I've only "gotten" two of the six obtainable guys. I've done Heisuke's good and bad endings, and Hijikata's good ending. Though I liked Heisuke notably more than I liked Hijikata (he's a real jerk), I didn't find either of them to be particularly great. I hear Souji's where it's at, so I plan on making him my next conquest. For those of you wondering how much gameplay there is – one playthrough probably takes anywhere from 5-8 hours depending on who you choose, with Hijitaka's story being the longest. Once you've played through the 1st four chapters for one character, you'll probably want to skip through most of the dialogue during subsequent playthroughs, which cuts down on your play time significantly.

All in all, I enjoyed my time with Hakuoki. I definitely suggest anyone who wants to try an otome game to pick it up, and would even recommend it to those who don't if they like a good story set in feudal Japan. My only wish was that it had more romance! And, in all honestly, a supernatural story mixed with historical fact isn't exactly my kind of thing, so I probably wouldn't have picked this up if it weren't for the fact that it was the first big name otome game to be released in English.

But wait! Before you go, Video Game Writers is doing a giveaway where the prize is the game of your choice! So you could very well win a copy of Hakuoki, if you want! All you have to do is sign up for VGW on Google Currents for your iDevice or Android phone. An added bonus is you'll get to read news and reviews written by me (and some other people) in the palm of your hand! Neat, eh?

Have any of you had a chance to play Hakuoki yet? If so, let me know what you thought!

Tutorial: How to play Social Theatrhythm Final Fantasy online

2012-02-11T11:18:00.000+10:00

If you're at all like me, you're chafing at the bit waiting for an announcement that Theatrhythm Final Fantasy will be released outside of Japan. With two demos now available for Japanese 3DS owners and the official release only a few days away, I for one am feeling even more anxious to get my hands on this adorable-looking title.

Luckily for all of us lacking in the Japanese 3DS department, Square Enix has opened a special promotional website for the game where you can select a character and play along... It may not be anywhere close to the real Theatrhythm experience, but it's the best we're going to get for now! The site and game, called Social Theatrhythm, will be open until March 30th. Click on the link to head on over to the site, and use this tutorial so that you can join in the fun!

Upon loading the page, you should be treated to this:

Click on the image to view a larger version

Before we get started, it should be noted that the "social" aspect of Theatrhythm requires you to allow the application to be linked to either your Twitter or Facebook account. I signed in using my Twitter, but either is fair game!

Click the left-most orange link to get started! It's worth noting that the greyed-out link at the bottom that says "coming soon" will eventually lead to a number of promotional commercials and movies. Knowing Japan's knack for creating some of the wackiest and most adorable commercials in the world, it'll definitely be worth checking out later on.

The next screen will have two options, highlighted in orange (sorry, I don't have a screenshot). It should be easy to make out – one will say "Twitter" and the other "Facebook" followed by some Japanese. This is where you select which account you would like to use to play the game. Clicking on the link will then take you to a pop-up window where you must authorize Social Theatrhythm to access your account. When it's finished, just close it and return to the previous window – if everything's linked correctly, then you should next be treated to the character select screen.

Now you're free to select the character of your choice out of the heroes from the numbered installments in the series. Click the left and right arrows and, when you're happy with your selection, simply click the orange button on the bottom there to proceed. I meant to select Zidane (the hero of my favorite Final Fantasy, of course!), but for some reason my web browser didn't register my click and went ahead and selected the Hero of Light for me. Bummer!

Next you'll see your character profile page! There's my character, the Warrior of Light, on the left, and you can see I'm signed in as me from my avatar up there next to "apricotsushi" on the top. In order to level up your character, you must select the orange "training mode" button on the bottom and fight against your friends – or anyone who happens to pop up on the user list, really. Just for kicks I "fought" a level 2 Japanese Twitter user, and upon defeating them I had enough experience to level up to level 2.

If you feel like kicking my butt with your rhythmic prowess, be sure to follow @apricotsushi over on Twitter! People who you are following will appear highest on the list, and even your friends who haven't signed up will appear with randomly-generated characters. I assume the system works the same for those of you who choose to sign in using Facebook, but I can't say for sure. Upon defeating a player, a message will pop up asking you if you want to post a status to your Twitter/Facebook – click the left button to simply return to your character screen, or if you want to really confuse your friends with a Japanese status update, go ahead and click the right one.

After you've leveled up some, click on "monster mode" to go off and fight Final Fantasy monsters alongside other users!

The gameplay is pretty straightforward – simply click the mouse at the appropriate time to line up the colored circles over the grey one on the right to deal damage to the enemy. A miss results in your own HP being depleted. The screen is exactly how it would appear in the game, but as this is a browser-based game and not being played with the stylus, all you're required to do is click the mouse and occasionally click and hold it down for the longer actions.

And there you have it! After defeating a few of the monsters, you'll be treated to a fight with the last boss, who's face takes on the appearance of a famous Japanese comedian. Some players who manage to defeat the final boss will be randomly selected to receive a free 3DS, but I'm sure you must be a resident of Japan to participate. I haven't gotten that far yet, but I'll let you know when I do!

If you leave the page and come back later, remember that you will need to authorize your account all over again, but this doesn't mean you'll start from scratch. After it's done doing its thing, you'll bypass the character selection screen and return to your profile page.

Be sure to tell me what you think of the game when you give it a go! Of course it's very rudimentary, but it's cute none the less, and you're treated to some snazzy Final Fantasy tunes.

Let me know if you have any questions or experience any problems!

Japan Envy: Tie-in merchandising

2012-02-07T08:02:00.000+10:00

One thing I inexplicably love about Japan its merchandise. I'm sure tons of essays have been written on the subject before, but as I haven't read any of them, suffice it to say I don't really know why it is they do merchandise so well. Just that they do. Leave it to Japan to create the cutest products out of the most mundane household goods and combine Hello Kitty with just about anything you can imagine.

Yup, that's Hello Kitty dressed as an anime character (source)

This latest Japanese tie-in merchandising scheme is close to my heart for a number of reasons: First, it's combining books and video games, which are undoubtedly two of my favourite things. New Love Plus, the sequel to everyone's favourite Nintendo DS dating sim that has you interacting with your virtual girlfriend day in and day out, has put a new spin on things. In the game, you will be encouraged to read a book alongside your virtual gal in a series of in-game events, and she'll even ask you questions about the material as a way to gauge your interest. The three books chosen include Anne of Green Gables and two contemporary Japanese titles. While anyone could go pick up a second hand copy of these titles for next to nothing, Konami and Kodansha have a better idea: they're marketing limited New Love Plus-themed copies of the books.

Anne of Green Gables featuring one of the New Love Plus ladies (source)

The New Love Plus art will be on a dust jacket, so you will be able to remove it to see the original cover art underneath.

Now, the other reason this is so interesting to me is albeit a personal one: My mom is a big fan of Anne of Green Gables, and often cites it as a reason why she named me Anne (with an "e," of course!). We even ventured to her house up in Prince Edward Island (or is it the author's house?) back when I was too little to remember much of anything and spotted a Japanese couple getting married there! If you haven't noticed, Japan is in love with Anne of Green Gables. I think this must be some sort of sign.

Anyways, I totally dig this sort of cross merchandising, and yet the Japanese seem to consistently be the only ones who get it right. Even though I'm not really interested in New Love Plus, I might have been drawn to purchase said book... I often think it's a very good thing I don't live in Japan, as I'd be wallowing in piles of useless stuff.

What do you think – is tie-in merchandise corny, or cool?

Japan Envy: My Melody x Felnye

2012-02-03T22:53:00.000+10:00

It's no secret that I'm enamored with the Monster Hunter series mascot Felnye. Admittedly, I have yet to actually play a Monster Hunter game (though I do own one), but I most certainly keep my eye out for all things Felnye. Cute is my calling, after all!

So when I saw Sanrio announced that they would be producing a special line of My Melody and Felnye merchandise that will hit Japanese stores starting in August, how could I not be excited? I mean, look at these designs:

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I have to say I've never been a huge fan of Kuromi (the back and white one), but man, those pink and brown critters are to die for. I particularly like the left design, which is a Felnye dressed up as My Melody, if you're wondering. I'm not sure what it is about animals wearing other animal's faces that is so endearing, but believe me, I am sold.

Monster Hunter Diary G already had some My Melody downloadable content last year, so this crossover is by no means a surprise. Now, however, legions of men, women, and children across Japan will be able to purchase Felnye and My Melody in the form of accessories, clothing, stationary, and probably just about anything you can imagine. For an idea of what the goods will look like, check out this Hello Kitty x Felnye series that ran last year:

It's good that I'm learning about this so far in advance... I'll have plenty of time to arrange how I'm going to get my hands on a Felnye x My Melody plush!

Do any of these designs tickle your fancy?

Arrietty Impressions

2012-01-31T11:44:00.000+10:00

First of all, I have to apologize once again for the huge gap between posts! My husband and I flew down to Sydney for Chinese New Year and instead of catching up on things I needed to do, I completely zoned out and didn't do anything but eat and play through Rayman Origins a second time with Shaun and his sister (I think I've had enough now).

This is a long time coming, but a couple of weeks ago Shaun and I made the 5 minute trek to the movie theater (one of the many perks of our new apartment) to see Studio Ghibli's Arrietty (Japanese title: 借りぐらしのアリエッティ, also known as The Secret World of Arrietty in the US) over opening weekend. As always, the rest of the world is a bit behind Japan – Arrietty originally aired in its home country back in July 2010, and the most recent Studio Ghibli film, From Up on Poppy Hill, aired this past summer in Japan. For once, Australia was ahead of the game, with the film releasing here a whole month before it debuts in the US on February 17th.

Arrietty (I will refer to it by the Australian title since that's the version I saw) is based on Mary Norton's classic novel The Borrowers, about a family of extremely tiny people who live beneath a normal-sized family's house. They survive by scavenging what they can from their surroundings and "borrowing" things from regular humans, only taking what they are sure will not be missed such as an extra tissue or a safety pin that has been lost and forgotten beneath a dresser. Interestingly, this film marks the directorial debut of Hiromasa Yonebashi, a key animator of a number of Studio Ghibli films and the youngest director of a Studio Ghibli production to date. He also was the key animator of Serial Experiments Lain, one of my favorite anime!

Since the subtitled version wasn't shown anywhere in our area, we had to settle with the British dubbed version. The film has been licensed separately for the US and Europe/Australia, the so English voice actors are completely different for the two regions. Honestly, given the film's beginnings as a British novel, I found it quite refreshing to hear the characters speak with non-American accents. There were a handful of times where the localization felt odd to me, but that could have been due to the British influence. I look forward to hearing the original Japanese language track when the film comes out on DVD.

Can I have a room that looks like this?

Unfortunately I haven't read The Borrowers, so I can't comment on how it compares to the book, but if it's anything like Howl's Moving Castle, you can expect a pretty liberal interpretation. Fans of My Neighbor Totoro will be right at home in the lush, green environments and relatively slow pacing, where those who prefer the unique locations and higher level of action in Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke may find this Studio Ghibli offering a little too "mundane." I found myself highly appreciative of the attention to detail put in to making the world look believable from the eyes of a Borrower. From stamps serving as paintings in the tiny house to the variety of insects Arrietty interacts with over the course of the film, everything felt fresh and different and was a joy to see come to life with Ghibli's signature flair.

One of my favorite scenes in the film had to be when Arrietty meets Sho, a sick boy sent to rest at the house about Arrietty's home, up close for the first time. Arrietty is on her first borrowing excursion with her father, and one of her tasks is to grab a tissue out of a tissue box on Sho's bedside table. The moment of confrontation – Arrietty looking up to see Sho's wide, bright eyes staring directly at her, was startling for both her and me as a viewer. Watching Arrietty try in vain to hide behind the tissue (a background light illuminates her body quite clearly) was both endearing and heartbreaking – she knows she is never supposed to be seen by a human, and she is disappointed by her failure during her first trip out with her father.

The music in the film was not done by regular Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi, but newcomer Cécile Corbel, a French musician who is reportedly a big fan of Studio Ghibli. Apparently, she sent them a CD of her songs as a fan, and the company was intrigued by her work and subsequently invited her to do the soundtrack for Arrietty. Sounds like a fairy tale story, eh? She did both the theme, titled simply "Arrietty's Song," as well as the rest of the background music. The Celtic themes really mesh well with the general feel of the film, and though I was a little miffed by the silly English lyrics of Arrietty's Song ("I am fourteen years old, I am pretty"? Did a fourteen-year-old write it?), I still found it very enjoyable. The full English version is what accompanied the version of the film I saw, but the majority of the song was in Japanese for the original film.

All in all, I really enjoyed Arrietty. I've heard criticisms that it was too slow, or simply not as amazing as previous Studio Ghibli films, but frankly, if you are at all interested in Ghibli, you definitely need to see Arrietty on the big screen and decide for yourself. Some have compared it to My Neighbor Totoro, and while I don't think it quite surpasses the caliber of some of my favorite Ghibli films, it is definitely now up there at the top of my list. The animation and music were both gorgeous, and I found the story bittersweet and touching. If the company can churn out films this good without Miyazaki at the helm, I'm confident that even when he's gone they'll continue to make some of the best animated features the world has ever seen.

Japan Envy: Limited edition game consoles, Kingdom Hearts edition

2012-01-19T16:32:00.001+10:00

Sometimes I feel like I could just throw my money in Square Enix's general direction. I know that's a funny thing to say, given my recent disdain for certain Final Fantasy titles that will not be mentioned, but for some reason I keep going back to Square Enix for more, particularly when it comes to Kingdom Hearts. The release date and a limited edition 3DS for the latest Kingdom Hearts title have been announced, and I am really liking the 3DS's design.

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Even if you don't like Kingdom Hearts, you've got to admit that's a pretty sleek design! I particularly like the pink crown and the contrast it provides. Now, I've never bought a limited edition console before, and I'm definitely not going to start here, but that won't stop me drooling over it a little bit.

Kingdom Hearts 3D will be released on March 29th in Japan, which is soon enough that I think it's high time we catch wind of a localization (c'mon, it's bound to happen). Of course, if you want the 3DS, you're going to have to import. The first print run of the game will also include a limited edition AR card, which unlocks a difficult to obtain Dream Eater in the game.

Square Enix also sent out a few new screenshots for the game. One, in particular, is pretty interesting to me:

Now maybe I've been out of the loop, but I honestly didn't realize Axel would be in the game (those of you who've played Kingdom Hearts should know why). Admittedly I was a bit of an Axel fangirl back in the day, so it's nice to see him make a comeback.

EDIT: Well, it has quickly come to my attention that I am incorrect! That's not Axel, but Lea, as is evident in his lack of certain distinct facial markings. I haven't played enough of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep to know much about Lea, and I won't spoil it for you all, but needless to say he isn't all that different from Axel. Now finishing Birth By Sleep before Kingdom Hearts 3D comes out is a top priority!

Though I should probably know better than to get too excited for a Kingdom Hearts title these days, I'm going to continue to be optimistic for this one. Are any of you planning on picking it up when it comes out?

The Great 2011 Holiday Haul

2012-01-17T21:25:00.001+10:00

I get my jollies from finding games marked down like this. I actually scored this one for $14

Before I begin, I must clarify that by "holiday" I am referring from the month period between mid-December and mid-January. Truth be told, there was only one game waiting for me under the tree Christmas morning (Mario Kart 7), but I did acquire quite a number of titles with Christmas/birthday money and the after holiday sales. But enough of that, on to the games!

That's a lot of Wii games...

Amazingly enough, all of the games I purchased are not included in the above picture. Not pictured are Alice: Madness Returns, Shadows of the Damned, Rayman Origins (all three received from a sweet Twitter friend who works at EA Australia), Cursed Mountain (which I bought today), and Fatal Frame II, which is currently en route (an online order). Oh, and it's also worth noting that Sakura Wars~So Long, My Love~ was also given to me by another awesome Twitter friend who happened to have an extra copy. I cannot wait to try it out!

Out of all my purchases, I'm most excited for Little King's Story and The Legend of Starfy. I have been waiting to find a copy of Starfy new for $20 or less for ages now, and I got mine for $14! Oh, do I love a good deal. Little King's Story is quite hard to find in Australia these days, and I scored it for $13 used at an EB Games, but since I traded in the copy of Mario Kart Wii I got with my Wii console (sad, I know, but I don't think I'll play it now that I have MK7. Anyone want an extra Wii wheel, feel free to ask in the comments), I got it for free!

Endless Ocean 2, Cursed Mountain, and Rayman Origins are the only games I've played so far, and Rayman Origins is really the only one I've spent a significant amount of time with. I won't go into too much detail, but as I mentioned in a previous post, it's definitely one of my favorite games that came out in 2011!! As for Endless Ocean 2 and Cursed Mountain, I've only played about 1 hour of each, so I can't really give my impressions of those yet. With Endless Ocean 2 I have to say I was a bit disappointed by the above water sequences, and some of the goofy tasks it has you do, like fend off sharks with a signature Wiimote waggle. The scuba diving (which is the meat of the game, of course) is great fun, though. Cursed Mountain has a really great atmosphere so far, and I'm really digging the icy mountain setting. I'm a chicken when it comes to horror games, though, so I don't want to play it by myself, or in the dark! Way to ruin the mood, I know...

How come no one told me there was a Princess Apricot in Little King's Story?
Clearly she is going to be my new favorite character

So, I know it's a bit late, but did any of you get any games over the holidays, or make any game purchases that you've been enjoying lately? January's a good month to catch up on one's backlog, I think. So, what have you been spending your time with?

4 games I'm looking forward to in 2012

2012-01-15T20:07:00.001+10:00

This post is coming a tad bit late, but who said I had to follow the herd, eh? As the title suggests, I've wrangled up a few games that I'm particularly looking forward to in this hopefully epic year of the dragon. It should come to no surprise to any of you that all of these are Japanese games. I am very predictable.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance

Or Kingdom Hearts 3D, as it is also known... Get it?? Ahaha... Anyways, pretty much anyone save die-hard fans will tell you that Kingdom Hearts has been on a downward spiral littered with obsolete and downright unnecessary plot threads with still no true Kinghdom Hearts 3 (that 3D may be as close as we're ever going to get). But I've been playing some Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep over the holidays and I have to say, its rekindled my Kingdom Hearts spark. And besides... The World Ends with You character appearances? A Hunchback of Notre Dame world? I was in before Disney could utter "Frollo."

Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom

Why look, it's another predictable title on Anne's list. I think all that needs to be said here is "first major English otome game." If you want to read more about otome games, I've written plenty about it. Here's a sample of what I'm looking forward to:

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Dream Drop Distance, Theatrhythm... Japan will never get over its absurd use of English in game titles. If you're wondering, the official Japanese site states that "theatrhythm" is a combination of "theater" and "rhythm." Well, it helped me remember exactly how to spell the title, at least.

As a fan of both rhythm games and Final Fantasy, this one is yet again another no-brainer for me. I am decidedly not a big fan of the cutesy art style used in the game's character art, but I'd be willing to overlook that if the game plays as well as I'm hoping. And with three different modes to play all of my favorite Final Fantasy songs in, it should provide many hours of fun.

Pokémon x Nobunaga's Ambition

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a shameless Pokémon fan. Okay, there's not much shame in that, as most of my video game loves are based on silly reasoning, but here's one to take the cake: After I saw these two character designs from Pokémon x Nobunaga's Ambition, I was sold. Also, Pokémon combined with feudal Japan? A fresh take on the old Pokémon formula? Sign me up!

Of course, there are plenty of other great looking titles that I am very much looking forward to this year, including, but not limited to: Atelier Meruru: Apprentice of Arland, Final Fantasy Type-0, Rhythm Heaven Fever, and Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure. 2012 is looking to be a great year indeed!

Join the VGW crew for some Mario Kart 7!

2012-01-10T20:36:00.001+10:00

source (available as a poster!)

Just a quick heads up to anyone who's interested in playing Mario Kart 7 with me and the rest of the crew over at Video Game Writers – we'll be having a community games night on Tuesday (that should be today for most of you reading this!) the 10th at 5-8 pm PST (8-11 pm EST)! That's Wednesday the 11th at... 11 am for those of you like me in Queensland, Australia. Man, time zones are confusing!

Be sure to register the VGW Mario Kart 7 community code: 07-8039-5578-5488

I will be hopping on and off for the whole three hours, so you'll have plenty of chances to ~~beat~~ race me, if that's something you've always wanted to do. Of course there will be prizes going out to those non-VGW members who manage to top the leaderboards, so there's some extra incentive! (Do you need more of an incentive than the opportunity to race me?)

VGW will also be utilizing some amazing technology for a live podcast that you can sign into via Twitter or Facebook so that you can interact with all of us between the action!

And if you just can't get enough of me, you can register my 3DS friend code so we can play together in the future! It's 5198-2487-0725. Just remember to let me know who you are when you add me, or I won't add you back!

I hope to see you all there!

Japan Envy: Rilakkuma Hot Cake Kit Kats

2012-01-09T09:54:00.001+10:00

I haven't done my Japan Envy column in a while and have gained a few new followers around the new year (thanks to all of you!), so just a quick recap: Japan Envy is my (ir)regular column where I talk about cool things/happenings that are only available in Japan that make me jealous or pine for the days when I used to live there. You can head here or click the "Japan Envy" tag at the end of this post to view previous entries in the series!

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Anyone familiar with Japan has probably heard about how the nation is famous for its wide variety of flavored Kit Kats. They've got everything from regional specialties, such as yuzu and pepper Kit Kats from Nagoya, to limited editions and seasonal flavors. Why these are only available in Japan and why other nations have caught on to this ingenious idea? We may never know, but foreigners have been fascinated with Japan's unique take on the humble Kit Kat since its inception. You can even find a Japanese Kit Kat episode on NPR (complete with tastings and audio!), and at least two blogs dedicated entirely to cataloging the huge range of flavors available.

I bet you're wondering what flavors I've tried, eh? Well, I've sampled everything from ginger ale to jasmine tea Kit Kats, but I still have a long way to go if I ever hope to live my dream of being the ultimate Kit Kat connoisseur (one of my many aspirations). Currently, I've got my eye on a very particular Kit Kat, one that combines my love of flavored Kit Kats with another one of my favorite things: the adorable teddy bear who loves to relax known as Rilakkuma.

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What flavor are these Kit Kats? None other than Rilakkuma's favorite snack, the humble pancake (or "hot cake," as they're known in Japan). I, for one, imagine this Kit Kat tastes pretty darn good! If you're wondering why the box is a strange shape, that's because it's not simply a regular Kit Kat bar, but rather 12 individually-wrapped mini Kit Kats (Japan loves miniature things).

If you're interested in trying some Japanese Kit Kats yourself without having to pay for the plane ticket, you can go to JBox to grab a few interesting flavors such as green tea, wasabi, and black honey (now that sounds good!). What flavor would you be most interested to try?

Some thoughts on electing a game of the year

2012-01-04T12:42:00.000+10:00

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First of all, happy new year everyone! I hope the year of the dragon has been treating you all well so far. If you're wondering, my husband and I spent New Year's Eve watching Mad Men and drinking peach vodka.

Like many game writers, I contemplated drafting up a list of my favorite games of 2011, and (gasp) even thought a moment of selecting my own personal Game of the Year. But those thoughts were quickly pushed aside as I remembered how much I dislike the whole idea of choosing a one game to represent the year. Not that I didn't have a grand time hearing the debates and adding in my two cents over at VGW (head over there to see the team's GotY pick) and on other game media outlets, but I realize the whole endeavor to whittle a year's worth of great games down to a choice few is not really my thing. Honestly, even if the Dali Lama were to elect a GotY, I probably still could care less. But I can most certainly name a couple of games that I particularly enjoyed from 2011 that actually came out in 2011 (rather than the large number of games from previous years I played).

You won't find Uncharted 3, Portal 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution or any such AAA titles here, but if you're interested in hearing what I had the most fun with in 2011, feel free to read on.

Corpse Party
For those of you who have been following me on Twitter or reading this blog, you are probably already well aware of my love for Corpse Party. When XSEED announced that they were localizing this title, I honestly had never even heard of it. I'm also not a big horror fan, but I am just in love with the atmosphere in Corpse Party. Head over to this post to read more about my experiences with the game. You can also find my official review here.

One of my characters getting hit with something. A common occurrence.

ClaDun X2
I stumbled onto ClaDun X2 a bit randomly – NIS America sent Video Game Writers a review code for the game, and my editor passed it on to me, saying that I was the lady for the job (that and no one else seems to be using their PSP these days). I had read Bryan over at The Gay Gamer talking about the first game and this sequel and was ready to have some fun with it, but I didn't really expect it to be my thing. To my pleasant surprise, I loved it! I didn't get at all tired of going back to the randomly generated dungeons to nab the best loot... In fact, that was my favorite part of the game! Though I clocked in at about 20 hours for my review, I definitely think I will come back to this one in the future.

Rayman Origins
A choice few had mentioned how great Rayman Origins was when it launched back in November, but I kind of pushed any thoughts of playing it aside what with all the other games I had on my plate at the time. A good friend acquired a copy for me, however, and my husband and I spent the whole holiday break playing. I believe I can say that hands down Rayman Origins was the most fun I've had playing a single game all year. The platforming is classic and beautifully presented, and the music is absolutely amazing. If you like platformers, I can't recommend this game enough. I'm actually working on a review of this one for VGW, as we never got anyone to cover it back when it came out. There is one tiny little thing that bothers me about the game, but I'm going to leave you in suspense for a future post I'm planning on the very subject.

I dearly wish I had the source for this still, but I couldn't help but include it.
Let me know if you know where it's from!

Pokémon Black/White
I'd be lying if I said I didn't pour hours upon hours of my life into Pokémon White. Though initially apprehensive of some of the changes in this generation, I found myself quite enjoying the latest installment in the ever-growing Pokémon series. I even went to my first tournament this year, come to think of it (but didn't participate)! I don't think my love for Pokémon will ever die, so this one deserves a mention even though I'd struggle to put it on a GotY list due to the fact that most of the content isn't all that new, apart from the Pokémon themselves. But there's nothing wrong with that!

Honestly, I could go on... What about Atelier Totori or Okamiden? Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection? (hey, HD rereleases still count!) Needless to say, 2011 had some great games, many of which I did not get a chance to play. And many others that were not from 2011 that I finally did get a chance to spend some time with! But that's for another post.

What were your personal favorite games from 2011? Share them in the comments!

Happy Holidays from Chic Pixel!

2011-12-24T18:25:00.002+10:00

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all! Thank you so much for reading my ramblings and giving me a reason to post this horribly cute card that I've been hanging onto for years.

I probably won't be posting anything for a day or two, but I would love to hear how you all are going to spend your time off! What games will you be playing, and what are you hoping might be waiting for you under the Christmas tree tomorrow morning?

I know for a fact that I've got Mario Kart 7 waiting for me, and I'm itching to play! As soon as I get it going I'm going to make an official Chic Pixel community, so I hope some of you can play with me!

I've got a huuuuge backlog I would love to get started in on, but I'm at the point where I have so many games I'd like to play that I literally feel stuck and don't know where to start! Since I just got the Wii, I'd like to dig in to Skyward Sword... But honestly, some comments I've been hearing about the 5 hour tutorial and frustrating motion controls have given me slight cold feet. Surprisingly, I've been playing a lot of Just Dance 2, which came free with my Wii. Er... Yeah.

All I want for Christmas is for you to buy my manga

2011-12-19T18:08:00.000+10:00

Hello hello! I'm writing from my snazzy new apartment while sitting in my snazzy new sofa... Everything is so snazzy! We were finally able to put up our holiday decorations (including a mini fake IKEA tree), so I'm finally able to get in a festive mood.

That aside, I'd like to take the opportunity to announce my very first published manga translation! Tweeting Love Birds is a boys' love manga about a guy who loves baseball... It was a bit of a pain to translate, considering I don't know baseball terminology in English, let alone Japanese, but it was still a blast to do! And the story isn't so centered around the sport that people who aren't interested in it (like me) can't enjoy it. It's quite funny! I'm not nearly so eloquent, so here's the summary my awesome editor whipped up:

"Ohtaka is pissed! University baseball is not what he expected, and it’s all because of Tweetie, the odd little person who blithely chirps and constantly circles in his tall shadow. Everything Tweetie does only deepens Ohtaka’s scowl. His irritation skyrockets when Tweetie demands Ohtaka stay in the baseball club for his sake and steals Ohtaka’s first kiss!

When two people from Tweetie’s past are thrown in Ohtaka’s face, his agitation suddenly turns territorial--and he’s not sure why...

Will Ohtaka figure out this unfamiliar game that plays for keeps? Get ready for a fast pitch of romantic comedy and surprising love in Tweeting Love Birds!"

If you're at all interested, you can check out a sample of the Kindle version over at Amazon. Even if you don't have a Kindle, I believe you can download the Kindle reader and read it right on your PC/Mac! And if you're so inclined, I would love love love it if you could support me and my group (Twitter @BLBangBang). If you're more of a Nook kind of person, it's available for that over here!

Of course if you do decide to purchase said manga, please let me know what you think! And tell me that you bought it so I can shower you with lots of love. If you're at all on the fence about starting a new series, don't worry, the story ends at volume 2. After my current project I'll be jumping right in to volume 2, so you should expect to see that out in the next couple of months!

In other news, one of my very favorite craft bloggers, an Aussie lady currently living in Japan known as Hello Sandwich, is in a gift wrap challenge over at the Martha Stewart blog! Wow! If you could be so kind and head over here to vote for her, that'd be great! She really deserves to win; she has such great style sense and her projects are both simple and a lot of fun. Thanks! Be sure to check out her blog if you're into crafty things, too!

Contest Winners Announced + Birthday Bash?

2011-12-13T11:26:00.000+10:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the holiday contest! With the help of random.org, I have selected our winners!

First up, we have the winner of Crimson Spell volume 1... Bryan Ochalla! Congrats!

Second, the winner of the Arc Rise Fantasia/El Shaddai pack... ftkubota! Yay!

I'll be contacting you both via email shortly, so keep an eye out for that. Thanks again to everyone else who entered... I'm sorry you couldn't all win something!

Fossil Fighters!

In other news, today is my birthday! I got my Wii! Fossil Fighters for the DS! It's a very game-y birthday indeed, just how I like it. Too bad I don't have any time to play any of these games, what with all the moving we're doing. We'll be moving into a big new 2 bedroom apartment this weekend, so there's a lot of cleaning and organizing to be done... But I won't bore you with the details. I'll be back to my regular posting schedule in a few days!

In which I rant about Final Fantasy XIII-2

2011-12-08T10:41:00.003+10:00

Okay, I'm generally not much of an angry gamer, but I may come across as one in this recent article I did at GamerANX about my lack of enthusiasm for Final Fantasy XIII-2. I really don't harbor feelings of intense hatred for the ultra-linear predecessor to the second direct sequel in FF history, I promise! But I do get a little snarky (and poke fun at the new weird bulbous-headed moogles). Give it a read, if you're interested!

I did do a bit of research for the article, since I haven't really been keeping up on the news regarding the title. Once I heard Ezio was going to be a DLC costume for the new male lead Noel, I pretty much threw in the towel. I admit that I probably will purchase the game in the future, because in all honesty, the gameplay looks pretty intriguing, but I'm definitely not in a rush. Even a 40/40 from Famitsu will not sway me (which it did get, by the way, and I'm not sure who really puts much faith in those scores anyway, outside of rabid fanboys).

Well, through my research I did stumble on a couple of character design-related annoyances that I would've loved to put in the original article, but they just didn't fit. When you think of absurd costumes, you think of Final Fantasy, right? I thought X was about as weird as it could get, but check this out:

This is Caius Ballad, the main antagonist of XIII-2 and the character you see fighting with Lightening in the first teaser trailer, as well as the game's logo. There are so many things about this character design that just rub me the wrong way! Honestly, I don't even know what to say without digging myself an early grave. I am notoriously a fan of Seymour, after all...

What I liked about Seymour and Final Fantasy X (overall), was that the majority of it didn't seem to take itself too seriously. I mean, who takes Seymour seriously? Or Kuja, for that matter (another favorite FF character of mine). The problem with XIII, and potentially XIII-2, is that it's taking itself far too seriously, and yet Tetsuya Nomura is churning out silly character designs like these. [edit: It's come to my attention that I'm not really articulating my point very well. I think my major beef with Caius stems from the fact that his design seems like one big a big mash of character stereotypes. Or maybe I just think he's ugly?]

And have you heard of Chocolina? When the name first arose, all that was known about her was that she appeared around the world dressed in chocobo-themed clothing selling goods. Me, being the naive gamer I am... I pictured a dorky little girl dressed in full-body chocobo costume. Instead, we get this:

And of course this single image has already spurred dozens of news articles talking about the "hot new shopkeeper" who'll make "sexy cosplay." Yay? I should be excited, right?

Naw, I'm just all-around disappointed and throughly unamused by pretty much everything surrounding Final Fantasy XIII-2 at this point. Maybe I'm just grumpy, maybe I'm stuck harboring some metaphorical ideal of what a Final Fantasy game should be, but either way, this game really couldn't interest me less at this point. I play RPGs for story and characters above all else, and Final Fantasy just isn't pushing the right buttons anymore. I'm sure the gameplay will be pretty neat, though.

What are your thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2? Are you excited for the sequel?

Chic Pixel Holiday Giveaway!

2011-12-05T12:41:00.000+10:00

For a bit of a festive treat, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank both the regular frequenters of Chic Pixel and any newcomers for taking the time to read what I have to say by offering a little giveaway contest. I really appreciate any and all comments and just knowing a handful of you read all the way through my posts makes it worthwhile.

So what am I giving away, you ask?

Since Chic Pixel really is all about my favorite hobbies (namely BL manga and all sorts of popular and lesser-known video games), I thought I'd do things a little differently by offering not one, but two prizes:

First up is a copy of volume 1 of Crimson Spell, a BL manga by Ayano Yamane! (contains graphic sex, entrants must be over 18)

The second prize pack is for all the Japanese game enthusiasts out there: choose this option and you'll get a rare Arc Rise Fantasia pin set and an El Shaddai goodie pack, which includes a pin, illustration card, and a sticker! These were scored by my amazingly cool mom at E3 2010 and 2011, and I'm pretty sure you won't be able to find them for sale anywhere else.

Entry terms:

Leave a comment on this entry stating which prize pack you'd most like to win (entrants are only eligible to win one or the other). Remember to leave a way for me to contact you!
For an additional entry, promote this contest and/or my blog via Twitter, Facebook, or however you'd like! Just leave a comment every time you tweet/post about it so I can keep track of your entries! (maximum of 5 additional entries)
Contest is open to anyone in the world and closes promptly on Friday, December 9th at 9 pm EST

Good luck!

NISA Announces House of Five Leaves Premium Edition

2011-12-03T18:33:00.000+10:00

So, what if I told you I was spending my Saturday evening in an internet cafe with my husband? What if I also said he was playing DotA (yeah, people still play that...) while I was downloading oodles and oodles of games (on Steam, legally, of course)? I bet you'd think we were the coolest cats you ever laid eyes upon... Right?
Anyways, on to more interesting things... It's a little-known fact that NIS America, the publishing company well known for localizing the Disgaea series and the many varied Atelier titles also dabbles in anime. Their most recent anime-related announcement is close to my heart because it's none other than a Natsume Ono series (you migtht remember the post I did recently on one of her manga one-shots).

This House of Five Leaves complete series collection is just gorgeous, in my opinion. Not only do you get the whole series on 2 DVDs, but you get an art book, as well! If you're unfamiliar with the series, here's what NISA has to say about it (since I'm not feeling very creative this Saturday night):

"House of Five Leaves follows a story of a ronin Masanosuke, working as a bodyguard in Edo. Because of his shy personality, he kept being let go from his bodyguard jobs despite his magnificent swords skills. While he was wandering around town he met a man, the playboy who calls himself Yaichi. He hired Masanoseuke as his bodyguard. Masanosuke soon finds out that Yaichi is the leader of a group of kidnappers who call themselves the 'Five Leaves.' The story unfolds as Masanosuke deals with his dilemma and the suspense surrounding the Five Leaves."

I watched about half of the series streamed online a while back, and I have to say I really liked what I saw. For those of you really into action and like things fast-paced, this show probably isn't for you, but fans of Natsume Ono or those looking for something a little different should definitely consider giving it a watch. I know I, for one, will be eagerly awaiting the premium edition's launch in March!

The art book looks really great, and is a must for collectors and fans of Ono's work.

Unboxing Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi

2011-12-01T15:38:00.002+10:00

So, as many of you have probably heard (and are beyond excited for, I'm sure), Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will be seeing an English release sometime early next year. Well, unfortunately, the Nintendo DS version of Ni no Kuni will not probably be as lucky – it's been out for just about a year now in Japan and no word as surfaced as to a potential localization.

I've been lamenting on how difficult it is to obtain a copy of said game (it's available online, but generally runs around $80+), and have been coveting it for a long time due to the famous book it comes with. From what I'd read, the book is an integral part of the game, and that's probably a big part of the reason why Level 5 (or whoever is in charge of localizations) decided not to bring the game over to the US.

Well, thanks to my great Twitter friend Zolbrod who lives in Japan, I've now got myself a complete copy of Ni no Kuni DS! It was used, but it only set me back about $25. Well, shipping was killer due to the size of the book, but it still ended up being about half what I would've paid online! Thanks again, Zolbrod!

I haven't gotten a chance to play the game yet, but rest assured, I will be making a full report soon! For now, here are some sample pictures of the set and a few excerpts from the gorgeous book.

The box that holds the book and game.

When they say book, they mean book!

There are so many gorgeous illustrations!

The book contains full lists of spells, weapons, and a bestiary – there are so many cute enemies. It looks like they each have 4 forms, one for each element.

Why's there a tire in the bottom right?

The book also contains a number of maps, as well as detailed history and other lore.

And, of course, game itself.

I can't wait to sink my teeth into this game! Expect a full report in the next few weeks.

Ruminating on Corpse Party

2011-11-29T12:11:00.000+10:00

Japanese cover for the game. Full title: Corpse Party: Blood Covered... Repeated Fear

If you've seen my tweets over the past week or so, you know I've been gushing over Corpse Party pretty much nonstop. But what is Corpse Party, and why should you care about it? As I'm in the midst of writing my review, which probably won't go up for a day or two due to some server transitions happening over at Video Game Writers, I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk a bit about the game here.

Believe it or not, Corpse Party is one of the few games in recent months that got me really excited in anticipation of its release. Even stranger is the fact that I really am not a horror connoisseur by any means, and generally don't go out of my way to consume any sort of horror-related media. So what is it about Corpse Party that grabbed my attention so throughly?

First of all, Corpse Party is a game I would have never thought would see the light of day in English. In fact, I hadn't even heard of it before XSEED announced that they would be localizing it. The game they localized actually is a port/remake of the original indie PC game, made with the help of RPG Maker. The original creators got quite a bit of publicity for such an indie title, eventually spurring the remake, multiple manga series, and even a sequel. But what makes people so enamored with Corpse Party?

Just because they're pixilated doesn't make the blood splatters any less creepy.

The game starts off innocuously enough: A group of high school students are saying farewell to one of their classmates, who is transferring to another school the next day. One of them suggests they perform a special charm so that they will always stay friends, to which they all agree. They preform the ritual, but immediately afterwards an earthquake suddenly erupts, transporting them to Heavenly Host Elementary School, a school rife with murder and disappearances that was torn down many years before.

Keeping the story relatively vague, as the story is really the heart and soul of the game, I found that the first hour or so was terribly generic and cliche. After the initial introduction, there is even a break in the game to allow you to read each of the nine charaters' profiles! At first glance, many might be turned off by the seemingly stereotypical characters and premise, but I was pleasantly surprised by how the game developed.

After the initial sequences, your characters are split up into groups, and the overall goal is to guide them to their peers and out of the horrible predicament they've found themselves in. There is a lot of character development, and as you play as the different parties, you slowly begin to understand their relationships and histories, which makes it all the more distressing when you find out that anyone can die. That's right – in Corpse Party, no one is safe from a gruesome and horrible death, either at the mercy of a vengeful ghost or the hands of their own peers. Though some of the characters remained a tad too stereotypical/fanservice-y for my tastes (you've got your token panty shots and lesbian who's in love with her best friend), overall, the story developments and character interactions were extremely enthralling, and were what ultimately made me love the game as much as I did.

I'm not one for fanservice, and unfortunately panty shots like these totally took me out of the moment.

Many people are confused about what kind of game Corpse Party is. The game features decidedly retro graphics, a la RPG Maker, with anime-style character illustrations and the occasional CG cutscene. Described by XSEED as an adventure game, I'd probably most liken it to Sweet Home meets 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. There are no battles, however, and the bulk of the game is spent exploring the haunted school, looking for clues to advance the story. You'll talk to the occasional ghost, but for the most part the only characters you'll find are the ones in your party at the time. Decision-making is extremely important, and what you choose will often dictate whether or not you'll bear witness to one of the game's decidedly gristly "wrong ends."

For each of the game's five chapters, there is one "true end," which will advance you to the next chapter, and any number of wrong ends. The wrong ends are some of the most disturbing things I have ever seen, but nothing that kept me awake late at night. Even so, I was terribly enthralled by them – the sound direction is amazing in both the music and the sound effects, and every gruesome squish and squelch there, accompanied by the horrified screams of teenage girls (I could've done without some of the latter, though). Something about the game made me actually want to go out of my way to view the wrong ends I missed, though I'm not sure what that says about me. Rather than just being mindless gore, by getting players to connect with the characters, every bloody scene is all the more jarring. Perhaps one of the most horrifying moments for me in the game was finding out the identity of the person splattered all over the hallway you've been passing by the last 3 hours, and one of the other character's own reaction to that realization.

I'll briefly touch on what I didn't like about the game. In all honestly, Corpse Party is not a great game, but rather a great experience. There are a number of times where the game gives you absolutely no guidance and it's up to you to wander the halls of the school, investigating everything until you hit the jackpot and are able to advance the game. Some of the puzzles are reduced down to simply mashing x on anything and everything, which isn't all that fun when you've got a ghost on your tail and a drawn-out wrong end awaiting you if you run into them by mistake. The game also does not have a text skip feature for when you have to reply segments over and over again because you keep dying, which means you're going to be skipping through a lot of death scenes you've seen before. Since the game shares a lot of similarities with visual novels, it really would've benefitted from some kind of fast-forward button like there is in 999.

All in all, I'd say that if you're at all interested in the horror genre and experiencing truly unique game experiences, then you owe it to yourself to give Corpse Party a shot (this is really starting to sound like a review!). Even if you generally don't like scary stories, I'd still suggest the game, though it isn't for the faint of heart. It's only available on the Playstation Network for the PSP due to the fact that its such a niche title, but if you can spare the $20 and the download, I highly recommend it. If you're interested in hearing more about the game, I'll be posting my full review on Video Game Writers in the very near future. I really hope more people are exposed to this game so that XSEED will be able to release its sequel in the future!

Wii on the Horizon

2011-11-25T12:18:00.000+10:00

First of all, a very happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the US! We don't have Thanksgiving here in Australia, of course, but that doesn't mean I can't be wistful for the turkey and cranberry sauce... The major holiday in November over here is Melbourne Cup Day, but with all the dressing up in expensive hats and betting on horses, I'd say it emphasizes few different priorities...

But Thursday wasn't a normal day for me! Far from it –– this Thursday marked the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in Australia. Well, technically the street date was broken (yet again), so you could pick up the game if you preordered it as early as Tuesday, but I got mine yesterday (don't get me started on street date breaks in AU).

Pretty sleek, no?

As most of you should know by now, there's one big hurdle I'll need to overcome before I can play my copy of Skyward Sword. Namely, I don't have a Wii! I know, I know, a little late to the party...

It's not exactly a question of "if" I'll get one, of course, but more like "when" –– I know there will be some holiday sales soon enough and I can't decide whether I want to hold out until they roll around in December or not! So many decisions! In the meantime, I asked some of you on Twitter what games you'd most recommend for the console, but I decided I'd like to open the floor up to everyone. First, let's see what games I'm most looking forward to playing...

Murasama: Demon Blade
Basically, all you have to do is utter the word "Vanillaware" and I'll be there. The company's amazing art direction (though the lead artist's penchant for bubble breasts and thunder thighs leaves something to be desired...) never ceases to take my breath away, even if I'm not always a huge fan of the gameplay. Murasama's focus Japanese mythology makes it a must-have in my book.

Resident Evil 4
I'm putting this sucker on the list because I know my husband would quite enjoy it. I saw a significant portion of the game played back when it came out for the PS2, but I'm really just awful at tense games where I'm required to shoot things. I've heard the Wii controls really shine in this game, so I would love to see my husband give it a go. Honorable mentions in the category of "games my husband and I can enjoy together" would be Donkey Kong Country Returns (can you believe he's never played the original?) and maybe House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return.

Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: The Labyrinth of Forgotten Time

There are few video game animal mascots I love more than chocobos. Actually, probably the only thing I love more than chocobos are moogles (sense a pattern?). I've never gotten into the roguelike genre before, and figure chocobos and cute things might soften the potentially harsh blow the traditional roguelike might have (I'm really a wimp when it comes to games). Also, Cid's design in this Final Fantasy spin-off is pretty rad (right).

Little King's Story

I'll be honest, I don't really know a whole lot about this game. But what I do know, I like, and this is definitely one of the top games on my "must pick up immediately" list. From what I've seen/heard, it seems like a Harvest Moon-type life simulator with some unique gameplay elements, and if that's the case, then I'm all for it!

Rhythm Heaven Wii

I shouldn't need to say much about this one. I loved Rhythm Heaven on the DS, and it goes without saying that I'll pick up this next installment. Problem is, I'll have to get a big chunk of play time in before my husband gets his hands on it! If he gets half as obsessed with this one as he did the last, he won't stop until he's got gold medals on every song! We still find ourselves humming some of those tunes...

I can't wait for this game

Well, of course there are many many more Wii titles I plan on picking up eventually, including classics such as Kirby's Epic Yarn and Super Mario Galaxy 2 (I've seen a significant portion of the first already, would rather experience Yoshi). Any titles you think I should add to my list? Let's hear your top Wii games!

Japan Envy: Jean Reno x Doraemon (update: now with video)

2011-11-18T13:34:00.001+10:00

What do you get when you cross Doraemon with French actor Jean Reno?

Jean Reno, from The Professional, among other films

Doraemon, Japanese children's character adored nationwide

Renaemon? Yes, that is a 63-year-old world-famous actor with a bell around his neck.

If I lived in Japan, I would be able to turn on my television and watch a Toyota commercial featuring Jean Reno as Doraemon, starting today. As you can tell, I am beyond disappointed that I do not live in Japan to watch this spectacle, but thanks to the internet, we can all be satisfied by the abundant photos and soon-to-be-posted YouTube videos. ~~At the time of this post, I don't believe the video has been uploaded anywhere yet, but as soon as I find it I will be sure to share it with all of you.~~

Update: The commercial has long since been posted! It's as cute as I imagined it would be.

Nobuta and Shizuka, now both 30 (the commercial acts as sort of a "Doraemon reunion"), go for a picnic together using public transport. Shizuka needs to get to her violin lessons, and Suneo (all-around jerk and rich guy) appears with his car to take her there. Nobuta returns home, dejected and lamenting about the fact that he doesn't have a car. Doraemon appears saying "Long time no see, Nobuta," to which he replies "Get me a car!" (as Doraemon is famous for being able to produce anything out of his pouch he wants). Doraemon says no, and when Nobuta asks why not, he answers with: "You don't have a driver's license!" Cue Toyota logo and phrase saying basically: "Get a driver's license."

I love it! Seeing Jean Reno dressed up as Doraemon and speaking Japanese has made my life.

You can go here to see a few photos of the commercial itself. Some other famous Japanese actors are in the commercial, titled "Nobita's BBQ," but we only really care about Jean Reno, right?

What's he got in there?
Doraemon is famous for pulling anything and everything of his pouch. (Nobita pictured on left)

A Call for Localization: Kuma to Interi by Basso

2011-11-17T16:03:00.001+10:00

I was surprised and delighted to find that this month's Manga Movable Feast was to feature one of my favorite artists, Natsume Ono. If you haven't yet heard of the Manga Movable Feast, it's basically a week-long virtual book club held by manga bloggers once a month. Some great content has been contributed so far this week, and I'm excited to dip toes in the water and join the party!

Natsume Ono is most famous in the West for House of Five Leaves and Ristorante Paradiso, two enthralling and expertly-crafted manga series. Little known outside of Japan and her ardent international fans, however, is her work under the pen name Basso (sometimes written BASSO). While some manga artists might choose a pen name to hide their identity, Natsume Ono's style is so distinct that one would be hard-pressed not to recognize her (though there is a noticeable difference in the style she employs as Basso). To the contrary, I see Basso as a way for Natsume Ono to clue her readers in on the content of the manga before they read a single page. For you see, Natsume Ono's pen name Basso is exclusive to her boys' love titles.

As basso, Natsume Ono has published a plethora of boys' love manga, but today I would like to focus on one of my favorite collections of BL short stories, which happens to be basso's Kuma to Interi ("The Bear and the Intellectual"). Kuma to Interi is a collection of short, interconnected stories that all share a few common themes: Italy, men, suits, glasses, politicians, and gelato. One of the most delightful segments of the book is the section devoted to stories centered around the theme of gelato –– they're short but sweet, with a hint of melancholy, just like the iconic Italian dessert they were inspired by.

You won't find any traditional BL in Kuma to Interi, much like the rest of Basso/Natsume Ono's works. Her characters range from grey-haired politicians to gangly waiters, and the erotic content is much more fluid and real than most BL. An interesting example of this is the first story, Conte, which contains a "reversible" couple –– BL is so set in the seme/uke (top/bottom) dichotomy that they actually have a word from when a relationship deviates from that stereotype. Kuma to Interi is refreshing in its raw, non-idealized look at life and relationships, and is one of the most satisfying BL short story collections you can read.

Probably my favorite page in the whole manga.

Or could read, if it were localized in English! I'd argue that above all of Basso's BL titles available, Kuma to Interi would be the best place to start for any publisher looking to jump into Natsume Ono's BL manga library. Fans of her work will undoubtedly be delighted to see that she gives the same depth and care to her BL stories as she does her more mainstream work, and BL manga aficionados looking for a change from the overwhelming bishonen fare now available in English will both find much to like about Kuma to Interi.

I know I'm not the first person to put out the call for Basso's works to be localized into English, so somebody make it happen! I'd love to see more people read this collection. For now, I'll tantalize you with gorgeous pages like this:

Talking games, importing, blogging, and more with The Gay Gamer

2011-11-16T12:32:00.007+10:00

Bryan Ochalla is by far one of my favorite people on the internet. He's the voice behind the colorful gaming blog, The Gay Gamer (not to be mistaken with GayGamer.net), and is known for his quirky tastes in games and a penchant for collecting boxed retro titles in immaculate condition (sometimes just for their cover art). He covers all manner of games from the PC Engine right up to current-gen titles in his Great Gaymathon reviews, compares regional differences in game box art, and takes some incredibly sexy photos of his game collection. His newest series, Manual Stimulation, focuses on highlighting some of the best game manuals in his collection, reminding gamers how much care and attention used to be put into those few often-overlooked pieces of paper.

All of this is done with a down-to-earth yet cheeky pizzaz that makes The Gay Gamer a joy to read day after day. Bryan also fosters a great community of like-minded gamers who have some great discussions in the comments section of almost every single one of his posts (and he posts pretty much daily, mind you!). Rest assured, if you comment on one of his posts, he will always read and respond to you, making him one of the most easily-accessible and charismatic people I've ever had the pleasure of "meeting" online.

Bryan was kind enough to agree to answer a few questions via email, so I took the opportunity talk with him about his gaming history, interest in Japanese import titles, and a bit about what it's like to maintain a blog. He gave some great responses, so please take the time to read through the whole interview, even though it's a bit long!

Apricotsushi: Would you mind starting with sharing your first influential game?

The Gay Gamer: Wow, that's a pretty difficult question to answer, especially since I'm not sure I can remember that far into my past. That said, I can recall at least two games that were pretty important in terms of turning me into a fan of video games.

The first is the arcade version of Bubble Bobble. It's one of the first games of any sort (arcade, console, etc.) I remember playing, and to this day it remains one of my favorites. Everything about it amazes me -- its wonderfully realized graphics (especially all of the food and other items you collect -- I've been a sucker for that kind of thing ever since), its hummable soundtrack, its ability to pull you back for "just one more game." I don't think I'll ever tire of playing it, to tell you the truth, which is pretty amazing given its age and simplicity.

The second game, strangely enough, is Kid Icarus, which is the first console game I remember obsessing about as a kid. Oh, I liked Super Mario Bros. well enough, and Metroid and The Legend of Zelda, too, but for some reason Kid Icarus really stood out for me. I think it was mainly due of the mythological theme, as I've always been a sucker for Greek gods and goddesses and the stories that surround them. I also remember being entranced by its graphics -- especially the enemy sprites -- and Hip Tanaka's amazing soundtrack, though. Anyway, I know the game isn't all that highly regarded these days, thanks to its overt difficulty (some would say cheapness), but I loved it as a kid and still play through it now and then in order to relive some of those "good old days."

Japanese import Hello Kitty World

Apricotsushi: What are your favorite game genres?

The Gay Gamer: If I were forced to whittle them down to just two, I would say two-dimensional platformers (a la Super Mario Bros.) and turn-based JRPGs (like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and EarthBound/Mother, especially). I also like puzzlers a lot, though, and rhythm games, too. Really, I like most genres, with the exception of first-person shooters. I actually enjoy watching other people play FPSes, but I can't for the life of me play them myself (due to the perspective, I think).

Apricotsushi: As a fan of Japanese games myself, I've noticed you do a lot of importing of niche Japanese games. What do you find so appealing about them?

The Gay Gamer: When I was a kid, I thought Japanese Famicom games and PC Engine games -- and their boxes and cartridges -- seemed so much more exotic and beautiful than the ugly NES and TurboGrafx-16 games my parents bought me. I've also always liked quirky games and, back in the day, especially, companies either didn't bring the quirkiest titles (like Parodius, for instance) to our shores or they altered them to make them more American (which didn't appeal to me at all). Anyway, that's what finally prompted me to start importing -- I wanted to play Parodius and TwinBee on my TG-16, but I knew neither NEC nor Konami would bring them to the US. So, I imported them from Japan Video Games or some company like that. From then on, I was hooked.

Apricotsushi: Do you have any favorites in particular?

I still consider my copies of Final Fantasy V and VI for the Super Famicom to be prized possessions, even though the former is completely mangled and worth about $2 (if that). That's probably due to the fact that they were among my first import purchases and because they're two of my all-time favorite games. I also love my original white PC Engine and the many games I've amassed for the system -- Parasol Stars, Photograph Boy and Mizubaku Daibouken, in particular. Oh, and my Famicom "Pulse Line" carts. If I could, I would mount all of them in some sort of museum-quality case -- they are that beautiful and interesting to me.

Bryan's photos of his Pulse Line carts are just gorgeous!

Apricotsushi: You've been writing at your blog, The Gay Gamer, for a couple of years now, right? Have you done any other game-related writing for other sites/publications?

The Gay Gamer: Yep, I started the blog in early 2007, so it's been around for more than four years now. I did take about a year (or more) off, though, so I guess that's not entirely accurate.

Anyway, I wrote a few features for Gamasutra.com when I first started freelancing and I also wrote a number of gaming-related articles for The Advocate (a North American LGBT magazine) and GayWired.com a few years ago, but I haven't written anything gaming-related for money (professionally) in a long time, mainly because it often doesn't seem worth my while monetarily speaking.

Also, I like that I have full control over what I write for my blog. I don't have to worry about what would appeal to the masses or bring in the most hits, I can just write about whatever interests me at the moment.

Apricotsushi: I know you've mentioned you write for your day job, as well. Even so, you post daily for your personal blog. After writing for work all day, what motivates you to post in your free time for The Gay Gamer?

The Gay Gamer: Well, to be honest (and maybe a bit blunt), I like writing posts for my blog more than I like writing anything else -- and that includes the articles I write for the magazines that help me and my husband pay our bills. So, I basically use my blog writing as a "getaway" of sorts from my day job.

I have to admit that sometimes I feel a bit burned out in regards to the blog, but it never lasts long. Plus, something inevitably pops up -- a game announcement, the release of a new system -- to get me excited again.

Also, I really like interacting with the folks who visit my blog and comment on my posts. In fact, oftentimes the "high" that I get from that kind of interaction is even more enjoyable than the one I get from writing posts in the first place.

One of the many great manuals featured in Bryan's Manual Stimulation series

In closing, I asked Bryan if he had any tips he has for fellow aspiring game bloggers. Here's what he had to say:

Write about the games and systems that interest and inspire you if you want to make the most of the time you spend writing. Also, if you have a blog and you allow comments (and you get comments), respond to them! It just might help you create a bit of a community -- if that's what you're looking for, of course.

You can find Bryan at his blog The Gay Gamer and on Twitter @TheGayGamer. For his drool-worthy game collection photos, check out his Flickr.

Madam Luna's Kirby Horoscope

2011-11-07T09:53:00.001+10:00

Ever wondered what your favorite Kirby Super Star power says about you? Well then step right up and be ready to uncover the secrets of your personality with this handy-dandy Kirby horoscope, whipped up by the amazing and talented Madam Luna!

I'm sure the horoscope is much more accurate if you have an affinity to a particular power from playing a significant amount of the game, but if you're like me and aren't extremely familiar with Kirby Super Star, I'm sure you'll still get a kick out of choosing the power that appeals most to you!

Head on over to Madam Luna's blog to view the complete horoscope here. For the curious, I picked wing because of Kirby's politically incorrect yet adorable Native American headdress.

Wing: Traditionalism - ambition - kindness. Despite being a flying creature, you prefer to keep yourself firmly on the ground, where you know what to expect. But when the situation calls for it, you can take wing with the best of them! You know when to use your talents and when to hold back and let other people take center stage. You like Beam types and Sword types.

What is your favorite Kirby Super Star power? Did you find the horoscope surprisingly accurate, or totally off the mark? For the record, I think "wing" describes me pretty well! I think I'm going to have to play some Kirby Super Star now...

Australian EB Games ad "Man's Guide to Trading" is horribly sexist

2011-11-04T18:59:00.000+10:00

As always, I'm horribly busy and don't have much time to comment in-depth on this, but it came to my attention today on Twitter that EB Games here in Australia is now showing this ad in its stores. Needless to say, I'm disguisted, outraged, etc., but what I'm must curious about is what you all think! Has there been a similar campaign in the United States or elsewhere?

Apparently there will be a woman's guide coming as well, but I don't expect it to be any better. Most likely it will show a desperate wife trading in her husband's games behind his back so she can snag the latest iteration of Cooking Mama.

Taking a look at the gorgeous art in Atelier Torori's premium edition

2011-11-02T16:02:00.000+10:00

Time sure flies! Have you noticed I haven't been posting very frequently (all two of you)? Well I had, but I've been quite busy with some new and exciting stuff over the past week or so, and unfortunately I had to put all of my great blog post ideas on hold! Most importantly, I've been promoted to junior editor over at Video Game Writers, and I'm quite thrilled about that. Who would've thought?

Well today I finally got my package from the US, and in it was my Atelier Totori premium edition (among other games, but that's for a later post)! I never preorder things, let along get collector's editions, but I was so enamored with Atelier Rorona a couple of months ago that I jumped on the chance to get both the game's soundtrack and artbook. The art is just so lovely that I had to share!

The whole set comes in a cardboard box featuring the Japanese/European box art, which is much prettier than the NA version, in my opinion:

Next we have the soundtrack CD:

And the CD itself. Isn't it cute? I haven't seen this illustration used anywhere else.

The art book is a tad disappointing, as it's only the size of the game case itself, and as you can see they've reused the cover art.

The art inside doesn't disappoint, however, and I particularly liked looking at the character sketches and some of the earlier scrapped character designs.

For those familiar with Atelier Rorona –– Sterk is back, but he's much more broody this time around!

I'm not particularly fond of Gino (the childhood friend)'s character design, shown right, but one of his earlier versions looks quite appealing! I really wish they stuck with the swashbuckling look. What hair!

Some of the early designs of Totori look great, too! I'm not a fan of the version pigtails, but I almost prefer the top one with the yellow dress to her final design. It's really interesting to see what could have been!

And finally we have the tear and water resistant poster, which was an exclusive to the NIS America online store. Er, I'm afraid to ask why a poster needs to be water resistant... Anyway, this poster clearly isn't aimed at me, as both side feature Totori looking, well, cute. If it were me, I'd much rather have a group illustration or even the very first picture they used as the box art on the limited edition (or, I admit it, one of the male characters...). Can't have everything, I suppose!

Yeah, I probably won't be hanging that up any time soon... But for an additional $10, I'd say the premium edition is definitely worth all of the extra goodies! If you're at all tempted, they still have a few left at the NISA store, so grab one while you can!

Japan Envy: A 3DS that's "A Little Bit Mario"

2011-10-21T22:08:00.000+10:00

Anyone watch the Nintendo Direct livestream this evening (or morning, for those of you on the other side of the world)? Well, unfortunately for me, I was in the middle of having a late dinner and managed to miss the greater part of it, but I did tune in for the last 10 or so minutes, which was long enough to see the lovely Monster Hunter 3G trailer as well as a few announcements from Iwata-san.

I'm sure your favorite game news website of choice will be covering all the announcements, so I won't attempt to summarize what I saw. I did, however, want to point out these adorable 3DS's that Japanese Club Nintendo members can enter for a chance to win over the holiday season!

Oh, what I wouldn't give for one of these! Apparently you need to buy 2 Japanese 3DS games and register them on the Club Nintendo site to be entered for a chance to win. Only 1,000 of each design are available.

I have to say I'm going to go against my usual affinity for Princess Peach and pick the Mario-themed design this time–or I should say I would pick the Mario design, if I were given the choice. Oh, to live in Japan and own a Japanese 3DS!

You can see all the trailers and interviews from the Nintendo Direct conference here. They're in Japanese, of course, but the language barrier won't stop you from enjoying some of the lovely new trailers, including one for Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance!

Japan Envy: Pokémon x Famitsu for Game Dot Series

2011-10-20T20:55:00.002+10:00

No matter how much I try to deny it, I'm a sucker when it comes to Pokémon. I only play the games so much (I've only ever beaten the Elite Four once!)... It's the cuteness of the Pokémon themselves that gets me every time. Honestly, I'll never pass up a chance to look at Pokémon merchandise.

So when I heard there was a special promotion going on combining the famous Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu and Pokémon, I had to know what it was all about. Well, in celebration of a new series of Pokémon merchandise titled "Game Dot Series" that is launching in December, Famitsu is holding a contest for its readers to determine the sweatshirt design that will be sold at Pokémon Centers across Japan. Cast your vote in, and if yours is deemed the most popular, then you have a chance to win a sweatshirt for yourself!

Lucky for me I have a host family who is extremely, er, tolerant of me, so I voted using their address. I doubt I'll win since there'll only be 10 individuals who score the sweatshirt out of all the entries, but I'd be happy enough to see my pick be the one that gets sold in stores. Unfortunately, as always, the contest is open only to residents of Japan.

Pictured below are the four sweatshirt choices. My favorite has to be #3 for both its color and the fact that there is a giant Pikachu made up of smaller Pikachu sprites on the back. Which would you choose?

Top right: "Pikachu looks cute hiding in the pocket!"

Top right: "The directional button has turned into Pikachu? Go anywhere together"

Top right: "Pikachu's silhouette becomes one big Pikachu!"

Top right: "The hood takes center stage for an exceedingly cool style"

Gender Disparity in Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny

2011-10-20T16:49:00.000+10:00

I've yet to play a Rune Factory title, and I consider that a crying shame. With my newfound love for the Atelier series and borderline obsession with doing everyday tasks like fishing and furniture purchasing in games like Animal Crossing, Rune Factory, with combined elements Harvest Moon and traditional RPGs, is clearly up my alley. So, of course, I was very excited when I heard there was a Rune Factory game coming out for the PS3. Not only that, but this time it was to feature a female protagonist! Best of both worlds, right?

Unfortunately, a couple of things have come to my attention recently in regards to Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (also known as Rune Factory: Oceans in Japan). You do get to play as a female, that's true, but there's a catch: Azel and Sonia, the male and female protagonists, are trapped in the same body. As such, you're required to play through the game's main story as Azel, the male protagonist, before unlocking the ability to switch to Sonia.

Even more frustrating than that is the number of bride to groom options. One of the big draws of Rune Factory, much like Harvest Moon, is the number of potential partner choices available, allowing you to woo the man or lady you choose depending on the gender of your main character. Of course the lack of a same-sex relationship option is a bit disappointing, even though it's not surprising. In Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny, though you do have the option to marry while playing as Sonia, the pickings are rather slim: there are only 4 marriageable men in the game, including childhood friend Azel, contrasted by a whopping 10 marriageable women for gamers who choose to play as Azel.

According to Yoshifumi Hashimoto, Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny producer, the decision to keep the number of groom characters low was so that they wouldn't have to cut into the number of bride characters, given the time it takes to create each one. Mr. Hashimoto, I'm sorry, but that just seems like you're saying,"we couldn't really be bothered to make more grooms because we're really catering this game to men anyway" to me.

Needless to say, I'm a bit disappointed... But that probably won't stop me from buying the game in the future (Even with all the ladies, that trailer still looks gorgeous). I hope that when Rune Factory 4 comes out for the 3DS, however, they will give gamers wishing to play as the female character an experience that is on par with that of the male equivalent.

Guess who got to play Professor Layton and the Last Specter on Saturday?

2011-10-17T15:40:00.001+10:00

Why, it'd be me, of course! I had the honor of going to the EB Games Exposition in Gold Coast on Saturday, which featured all the latest and greatest games available to demo, along with a whole lot of other things I honestly didn't get a chance to check out. Armed with my first ever press pass and my ever-tolerant husband (I think he'd rather be at home playing games than waiting in line to try a 5 minute demo), I endured long lines and more sweaty men than I'd care to remember to try out all the latest games.

Obviously I played a whole lot more than Professor Layton and the Last Specter, but for the purposes of this post I thought I'd just quickly recount what I thought about one element of the game that I was particularly excited for– the additional game, Layton's London Life. Let's face it, I really only got to play the thing two days before it's officially released in America, but early is early, right?

It was a bit sad to see one lone DS XL hiding in the corner of the Nintendo booth, but as soon as I saw the Professor Layton logo I swam through the masses to get my hands on it–and play it I did, because absolutely no one was interested in trying it except for me. Too bad for them, I guess!

The main story mode was more of the same, really, and since I figured I had limited time I decided to see if I could back out and try Layton's London Life. I honestly think it was a full version of the game, as I actually got to start a whole new Layton's London Life save and create a character, whom I gave an incredibly grouchy face, pigtails, and the name "Nimmy." The character creation is a bit limited but the options available make it fun nevertheless, and I was not one bit disappointed by the lovely Mother-esque graphics.

Though people have been calling London Life an RPG, it's really more of a lifestyle game a la Animal Crossing. You get to dress up your character, go fishing, pick flowers, and do various fetch quests for a myriad of London's inhabitants. People who like Animal Crossing are going to find a lot to like about London Life. In fact, I'd hazard to say it'll hold you over until Animal Crossing 3D finally comes out!

So, in the end, I didn't really get to play a whole lot of Professor Layton and the Last Specter, and the release date is so close that it seems a little silly to write up demo impressions, but suffice it to say if you're planning on picking the game, I don't think you're going to be disappointed. Oh, and any of you who do better tell me your friend codes so we can visit each other's Little Londons!

Gourmet Gaming serves up game-inspired delicacies

2011-10-14T17:29:00.000+10:00

I just stumbled upon the most adorable gaming Tumblr! It's called Gourmet Gaming, and not only does it have a super catchy name and cute pixelated background, but it features weekly recipes for food found in all sorts of video games. There's everything from the iconic sandwiches from Deadly Premonition to the famous chocolate energy bars of Deus Ex. My favorite so far, however, is the birthday cake from Animal Crossing: Wild World. Don't you want to eat it right up?

I love how each recipe begins with a story about the game and is concluded with a lovely photo comparing the real version to the in-game food item. Though this cake looks delicious and is certainly one of the dishes I find most appealing personally (because, I admit it, I love Animal Crossing), the dish that I would most likely cook myself would have to be the starkos from Beyond Good and Evil. Which is another amazing game, by the way, and it's great to see it get some recognition!

Head on over and give Gourmet Gaming some love! What's your favorite recipe?

Zelda: Skyward Sword is looking mighty fabulous

2011-10-12T05:00:00.023+10:00

The more screenshots I see of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the more I realize that this game is truly fabulous, if you know what I mean! See for yourself:

The boss baddie, Demon Lord Ghirahim, has impeccable taste in both makeup and earrings

See what Zelda has to say about that!

Now I don't know much about Zelda or even Skyward Sword, really, but I'm very pleased by the graphical style of the game and those awesome birds everyone seems to be riding around, so if I had a Wii I'd probably purchase the game eventually. It'll be interesting to see how the game is recieved when it comes out–from my understanding there's a fair bit of back-and-forth already about whether it's shaping up well or just trying to stand up against Ocarina of Time (which, by the way, I still haven't played...).

In the process of writing the post I stopped by the Zelda Wiki and found out an interesting tidbit about Ghirahim... Apparently one of his ears is pointed and the other is round? I've only ever seen the pointed ear so I guess I couldn't say for sure, but I bet someone's done their homework. The more you know!

Also, in fairly related news, there's a great interview with Yoshinori Ono on EGMNow regarding Posion (you may remember a certain post I made regarding her a while back). It's definitely worth a read! The bottom line is that Capcom officially would like to stay ambiguous as to whether or not she a woman or a transgendered man and let the fans decide how they'd like to interpret her gender.

Ono said it, so case closed, right? What are your thoughts on the whole issue? How about the Zelda, are you excited for the game's release, or could you care less?

The Great American Game Haul

2011-10-11T10:54:00.001+10:00

I'm back! Where was I, you ask? Well, I neglected to mention that I was actually away on a month long vacation to the motherland! I'm back with a vengeance and horrible jetlag, but I have plenty of things I'm psyched to post about, so you should be hearing from me much more often from now on. In fact, I've got 3 posts going as I type, all of which should be going up in the next few days.

Regarding my trip: it was a blast! I got to see all my family and revisit some of my favorite old haunts. The whole trip can basically be summed up by the following two photos:

Sugar cookies in the shape of my home state! And cows... because as the old saying goes, there are probably more cows than people in Vermont

Oysters in Florida! Yum yum

Yeah, so basically Shaun and I ate our way down the East Cost. But! We also purchased many a game, which is what this is really about. I organized all the games that made the trek back to our apartment in Australia and took some photos for your viewing convenience! Here's the first batch:

Actually, looking these over, it appears I've missed Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2, which I'm actually working on a review of now. I also received ICO/Shadow of the Colossus Collection for review and I have to say I am extremely excited about that! I'll probably whip it out of its plastic either tonight or tomorrow since I'd like to get that review finished by the end of the week.

I'm sure you can make out most of the games pictured, but in case it's unclear, the disc in the white sleeve in the third picture is actually Threads of Fate, which is one I've been wanting to play for quite some time. Don't mention the fact that it's available for only $6 on the PSN and that I still have $30 of credit, I won't hear any of it!

Um Jammer Lammy technically isn't new, as I purchased that one just before I moved to Australia last year. Somehow it got lost in the madness and didn't make its way over with me back in June, though, so I'm happy to finally have it here so I can give it a go! I'm a very big fan of Parappa the Rapper, hence the necessity of playing Lammy as well.

I could go on forever about these games, but I've still got more to go, so I'll keep it short (but sweet): 999 is another title I've been looking forward to playing for a long time, so I'm super stoked that Shaun spotted it, and Atelier Annie for the DS should be fun considering my newfound love of Atelier games. Also, it's got my name in the title! Oh, and I definitely won't be playing Dissidia 012. That one's for Shaun (he's not even done with Dissidia yet but I couldn't pass it up).

Glory of Heracles was purchased new from Amazon for a whopping $4 (I'm sure can imagine the smug smile on my face right now) after one of my very favorite game writers, Brad Gallaway, wrote a few positive comments about it on Twitter. It was actually Brad that gave me the push I needed to finally buy a Monster Hunter title, as well! Peer pressure...

Grand Knights History and Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary are both Japanese releases that my mom so graciously picked up for me when she was over in Kyoto on business. The day that Grand Knights History finally made its way into my grubby little hands was also the same day XSeed announced that they would be localizing it... Well, I am certainly elated that they will be localizing it, just not that I picked up a copy of the Japanese version (I'm lazy and would probably have just played it in English, given the chance).

Finally, here are two games I know absolutely nothing about. They were both under $7, how could I resist? And that purple ghost with the top hat in the corner of Gurumin is just too cute. Did I mention that I'm totally jealous of the extent of PSP games available in US stores? I could walk in a store and actually find some PSP games, whereas half the time here in Australia they don't even carry any! I do regret not picking up a copy of Persona, but I had to reel it in at some point.

So, thoughts? I realize this haul is seriously skewed towards handhelds, but that's partially because Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny got pushed back, making me unable to through my money at Natsume for that one. Speaking of which, Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove for the 3DS was released the day before we left, but I went to a Game Stop and they said they wouldn't get it in until this week. Unfortunate, because now I'll have to import that one.

Let me know if there are any titles in particular you'd like me to tackle first and share my thoughts on!

What to do with $40 PSN credit?

2011-09-18T19:26:00.000+10:00

Courtesy of the lovely editor-and-chief at Video Game Writers, I have recently come into possession of $40 worth of Playstation Network credit! Now the big question is: what am I going to spend it on? Right now, my head seems to be full of Playstation classics...

These are just a few of the titles I thought of first, none of which I have ever played. There are still others, such as Bomberman Fantasy Race, that I used to own and wouldn't mind getting a chance to play again.

Since I can't decide, I open the floor to you, lovely readers, for suggestions! I'm sure most of you reading this already know my gaming tastes, so hit me with your best shot! I wouldn't mind some PSP games, either. If I end up picking one of your suggestions I'll dedicate a post to it, with a special shout-out to you, as well.

Zoroark Pokémon event starts in AU first

2011-09-08T14:08:00.000+10:00

Well, now that my pageviews have settled down, back to our regularly scheduled programming!

Do you wish you lived in Australia? No? Well, did you know that the super special Zoroark Pokémon event, where you will be able to download a level 50 Zoroark that knows the move snarl, which is unobtainable in the game, will be starting in Australia a whole 2 days before the rest of the world (the rest of the world being the US, of course). So you want move to Australia now, right?

Ok, sure, it's not that big a deal that we're the first country outside of Japan to get this super-special Zoroark, but AU hardly ever comes first for anything, Aussies tend to like to shove it in everyone's face when they actually do get something ahead of everyone else for once. I know, let's celebrate with a a chain-smoking humaniod Zoroark in a vest! That sounds like a fabulous idea.

source

Here are the details to get your very own Zoroark: Aussies can head to Toys R Us, EB Games, or Game from September 16th to October 16th, and Americans will be able to download their own dark fox from Toys R Us on September 18th to the 25th. Unfortunately, those of you in the US have a much smaller window of opportunity, so you'll have to be sure to get yours quick!

I know I for one am happy for an excuse to dust off my copy of Pokémon White. Perhaps I'll finally get around to beating the Elite 4? Are you planning on getting a Zoroark of your own?

Some ClaDun x2 Impressions

2011-09-06T15:32:00.000+10:00

As some of you may already know, I'm reviewing the latest NIS America import for the PSP, ClaDun x2. Though my review won't be live for another day or two while I finish up my playthrough, I thought I'd take the opportunity to post some nifty screens I took of my characters in action and tell you all what I think of it so far!

One of my characters getting pummeled while I try to figure out how to take a proper screenshot

First, a confession: I have not played ClaDun: This is an RPG!. I do, however, consider myself rather well-versed on the title, and have made sure I've caught myself up to speed before playing ClaDun x2, largely due to the help of one of the most fabulous gamers on the net, Bryan Ochalla of The Gay Gamer. From what I understand, there are two trains of thought when it comes to ClaDun: people either love the customization and the endless dungeon crawling, or they hate it and its steep learning curve and graphical style. ClaDun x2 is more of the same but offers expanded options for virtually everything: there is more customization, more random dungeons, more character classes, weapons, you name it.

I don't want to spoil my upcoming review, but I will say this: if any game needed an instruction manual, this one would be it. Unfortunately, ClaDun x2 is only available as a PSN download, and the very short tutorials and in-game dictionary just don't cut it. In all honesty, I still don't know some of what I'm looking at on that HUD (namely the negative number next to SP in the bottom left corner. Someone please tell me what it is and why it is negative!). People who don't want to spend the first couple of hours in over their head will probably not be willing to stick things through long enough to get the hang of the game's magic circle systems and numerous customization options, which is a shame, because I found that once I stopped worrying about whether or not I was playing the game "right," I found myself quite enjoying the experience overall.

For those of you who are not familiar with the game, ClaDun x2 is an action RPG focused on lots and lots of dungeon crawling. You control one character at a time, who is your "main character," and all other characters can be equipped to your main character in order to enhance his or her stats via a system called "magic circles." You'll pick up various items in the dungeons to boost your character's stats in the magic circles, and in order to maintain a well-rounded party it is important to switch main characters every couple of levels and update your magic circles as you unlock new ones and obtain better items. While this may seem daunting at first, especially without much guidance, I found that after experimenting a bit it really wasn't as intimidating as I previously thought.

My 1st character, Apricot, is an ass-kicking guardian. You can see my sub characters acting as human shields in the top right corner. This is one of the randomly generated dungeons, or Ran-geons.

With all the character customization and equipping/magic circle swapping, you may quickly find that you're starting to spend a lot of time in menus and not so much time fighting beasties and nabbing sweet loot. This is one area where I really felt the game could have benefitted from better instruction, so that rather than staring at the screen and wondering what the hell you're looking at, you could actually be playing the game. But really, your ClaDun x2 experience is what you choose to make it, and once the Ran-geons opened up to me, I quickly lost myself in the superior loot and difficulty they offered.

It is worth noting, I think, that if you're looking for the 3 new classes (ninja, dragoon, and monk) you'll have to replay the pre-made dungeons and beat them within the time allotted in order to gain fame, which will net you various items and unlock a number of important things in-game. 50 fame is what it takes to get the new classes, and even then you'll need to pay a significant sum for them, so it's worth doing this early on if you wanted to try the new classes in particular. There is no penalty for creating characters, so it's up to you to experiment! As of now, I have 6.

My newest character, a dragoon, getting bashed as I try to take an epic "in action" screenshot for you all

ClaDun x2 is shaping up to be a great retro-style dungeon crawler for the PSP, and bite-sized dungeons make it perfect for a handheld. The lack of story may deter some, but I think it fits well with the style of gameplay, making this a good candidate for short commutes or an hour-long plane ride. Virtually limitless customization options allow you to create music, characters, and weapons if you so choose, and the whole experience can really be catered in such a variety of ways that I think a lot of people who might not even consider picking up this title in the first place could find a lot to like here. That said, many will probably be deterred by the lack of explanation of the game's systems, and might not be able to stick with it long enough to really begin to enjoy the experience.

Please look forward to my full Video Game Writers review!

Japan Envy: Pokémon Center Limited Edition Merchandise

2011-09-05T21:03:00.001+10:00

EDIT: Well, thanks everyone for all the page views! People seem to be taking my offhand Ruby/Sapphire remake comment and running with it. Honestly, I'm just saying that others have been speculating of a remake being in the works due to the new Pokémon time Hoenn series. You can read the post I referenced here at Pokémon Aus. If you're interested in learning more about Pokémon time, please check out this fabulous Pokémon time fansite.

For a little background for those of you too lazy to go digging around over there, Pokémon time is a series of merchandise offered only at Pokémon Centers, and has been around since 2008. It originally started with only the first generation of Pokémon and coincided with Pokémon's 10 year anniversary and has gradually grown to include more Pokémon from generation 1 and 2, so it's very possible that the generation 3 Pokémon making an appearance in the 2011 collection are just part of the series' natural progression and not a sign of a remake. Feel free to speculate as you will! If we were going to get any announcements, they would probably come from the Japanese magazine CoroCoro, where most Pokémon game reveals have been made in the past.

The Pokémon Center. A rare treat for any fan of the internationally adored Pocket Monsters, they are a rarity even in Japan, with only 6 locations in the whole nation. They have proved so popular, in fact, that according to a recent survey they are the 3rd most popular tourist attraction in Japan! Indeed, yours truly has even made her own pilgrimage to the Osaka Pokémon Center:

The Pokémon Center in Osaka, Japan

Pokémon Centers are famous for their exclusive merchandise as well as frequent Pokémon downloads, available only at centers for a limited time. It may be a bit early, but the Pokémon Center newsletter has already rolled out its line of holiday goods, which will include some adorable clear file folders and collectable plush toys featuring Pikachu, Oshawott, Audino, and Cubchoo in Santa hats, riding on a Pokémon-themed train.

Detail of the illustration to be featured on the exclusive file folders. This Pikachu looks quite like the Pokemon Rumble Blast style Pikachu, if I may say.

Each plush will be sold separately for approximately $15, but will combine to form a complete train.

And at the bottom of the announcement flyer, there is an interesting little reveal for a series called "Pokémon time." Pokémon time will only contain Pokémon from the Ruby and Sapphire generation of games, but what kind of merchandise will be in the series isn't detailed in the flyer. Of course, this has sparked whole new rumors that Nintendo will be revealing a remake of Ruby and Sapphire for the 3DS on September 13th, which is when when Nintendo will be holding their next press conference.

The Pokémon time series

I actually like these Pokémon Time illustrations quite a bit! I love the pop art style and the color combos. How about that Torchic? (second from the right)

It's really too bad Nintendo doesn't distribute these goods outside of Japan. Those of us who don't have access to a Pokémon Center will have to rely on proxies and eBay for now, unfortunately.

Thanks go to Pokémon Aus for the info!

Is Atelier Elkrone's protagonist a Rorona clone?

2011-08-29T17:16:00.001+10:00

Ok, if you haven't seen me tweeting like a mad fiend about the recently-announced otome Atelier game, then, well, I suppose you haven't missed out on much, unless you're living under a rock and didn't know that an Atelier otome game was recently announced. It's big news for me, at least, seeing as I'm a recently-converted Atelier Rorona fan and long-time otome game enthusiast. Tthere are probably at least 2 other people in the world excited for this game besides me, I'm sure.

So far there hasn't been much news about Atelier Elkrone aside from the fact that it will somehow combine traditional otome game elements, allowing you to pursue the love interest of your choice, as well as some aspect of the alchemy gameplay from the Atelier games. How much alchemy will be involved has yet to be seen, and I'll admit I'm a little worried the most "Atelier" we're going to get in the game will be in the form of character designs and story elements, but who knows. Call me a cynic.

Speaking of which, I'm already seeing some Atelier Rorona in Mery, Atelier Elkrone's protagonist:

Atelier Elkrone's Mery

Atelier Rorona's Rorona

You may have bought a new hat, Rorona, but you can't fool me! I would've been fine if they had come out and said the game was going to be about Rorona again, but making an entirely new character that still manages to look almost exactly like Rorona seems a bit like a cop-out to me. In fact, I don't think I'll be able to think of Mery as anything but Rorona, actually! It's literally hard to tell them apart!

I did some snooping on the NISA forums (NISA is the company behind the localization of Atelier Rorona and Atelier Totori) and apparently Idea Factory, the company working on the Atelier side of things, has a reputation for recycling their own material? I'd love more information on this, but I can't say I've played a ton of Idea Factory games myself, so I can't really comment. Of course the art in Atelier Rorona and Atelier Elkrone looks like it's done by the same artist, but that doesn't excuse them for being lazy! Well, if nothing else, this guy looks interesting enough:

Digging the steampunk goggles!

There's still a lot to be seen regarding Atelier Elkrone, but even if the protagonist looks exactly like Rorona, knowing me, I'll probably give it a shot.

Dissecting the 'Beyond the Labyrinth' trailer

2011-08-26T09:55:00.002+10:00

So, this entry is going to be pretty much word-for-word from a news piece I posted recently over at Video Game Writers, but as much of my Japanese game coverage often does, it seems to have gotten lost in the pile. I think I have a few readers here who I think would appreciate my insight on the Beyond the Labyrinth trailer, which was just released yesterday. I've not only watched it but have also provided some translations for it, since it’s Japanese-only. It doesn’t seem like much, but I think an understanding of what’s being said actually gives you a lot to think about in terms of what the gameplay will actually be like. Feel free to watch the trailer and then read the translation! It makes more sense that way rather than the other way around:

Finally, some more news surfaces on tri-Ace and Konami’s intriguing 3DS game Beyond the Labyrinth in the form of a trailer. Unfortunately, the trailer doesn’t feature all that much except for some text and dialogue in Japanese, along with a few shots of the game’s mysterious female protagonist. Not much is said in the dialogue and text, but the “conversation” highly suggests that the girl in the game will actually be “interacting” with the player.

The trailer opens with a girl calling out “Is anyone there?” and is followed by text on the screen answering her call. She then says “Let’s go!”, leaving the “text” to wonder where they are going. The girl appears to, in fact, be talking with the “player,” rather than another character in the game, and even interacts with the 3DS system by talking directly at it and even shaking the screen at one point. Here’s some of what the other text in the trailer reads:

A magnificent world beneath the earth.

A mysterious girl in a labyrinth.

An adventure full of riddles.

But what could it all mean? We’ve been told previously that Beyond the Labyrinth is going to be a dungeon RPG, but so far there has been no hints regarding what the actual gameplay will be like, and whether there is a battle system. If we could hazard a guess, it more resembles an ICO-esque puzzle adventure, at least in terms of aesthetics. Perhaps the player will be guiding the female character much like Ico guided Yorda through the Castle in the Mist? Or are there remaining characters that are yet to be revealed? We should hear more at this year’s Tokyo Game Show in September.

Ok, well, I haven't translated *all* of it, because the beginning is mostly the girl going back and forth with the on-screen text saying "Is anyone there?" "Yes, I'm here." "Let's go!" "Where are we going?" "Come on!" "But where are we going?" ... Nothing too exciting. I think the main thing to take away from this trailer is that there is some kind of interaction between the girl in the game and you, rather than characters in the game (though there may be other in-game characters). I have to say, I'm intrigued!

And yes, I suppose that would be me using the royal "we" in that write-up...

Japan Envy: CHiRAL MOBiLE

2011-08-19T14:34:00.000+10:00

Anyone that has ever been to Japan, and probably a few who haven't, will tell you that Japanese cell phones are pretty much as awesome as they come. They're always at the forerunner of the latest and greatest technology, with high-quality cameras and music downloading sites that made listening to music on your phone easy and fun even before the iPhone was released. Nowadays, "cell phone novels," or keitai shousetsu are increasingly popular, and boys love/otome (for girls) titles are coming out left and right (ok, I admit my knowledge of how popular cell phone novels are is a bit dated, but I'm pretty sure their popularity hasn't gone down in the past couple of years, anyway).

Well, famed BL game company Nitro + CHiRAL (why they keep the "i" lower case I'll never know) is capitalizing on Japan's mobile phone culture with its new cell phone site, called "CHiRAL MOBiLE." You can click the link to view the PC site, which details the various downloads the site will offer, but the whole thing won't be up and running until December 16th. Or you could just stick around here and I'll detail all the cool stuff us non-Japanese residents are missing out on, since it only works on Japanese phones!

First of all, Nitro + CHiRAL announced, along with this service, an entirely new cell phone novel called World's end Nightmare that will launch the same day as CHiRAL MOBiLE, with new chapters coming out every week on Tuesday and Thursday for an estimated total of 30 chapters. There isn't much about the novel's story available yet save the tagline "––A poor soul that has never known love. Let's give him one more chance––" and a very short, vague description stating that the protagonist, Itto, was supposed to have died, but reawakens in an unfamiliar world. Below are the characters that have been revealed so far, from left to right: Itto, Faceless, Siegfried, Kai, and Baron. The story will feature at least some boys love elements, to be sure.

Nitro + CHiRAL will also be releasing a mobile version of their popular game Togainu no Chi, as well as a visual novel version of a boys love CD drama titled Itsuwari no Alkanet.

But even these 3 new releases aren't what gets me really jealous of Japan today–it's all the downloadable goodies from Nitro + CHiRAL's three big boys love games that really make me wish I had a Japanese cell phone and lived in Japan. Check this out:

What you see before you is an array of "accessories" you can download at CHiRAL MOBiLE for Togainu no Chi and Lamento-BEYOND THE VOID-. The top left image is a wallpaper, while the top right is a menu screen, and then you have a text sending icon, signal bar, and battery display. So, if you're big on BL and live in Japan, you can have your entire phone decked out with your favorite game or series! I'm sure they have things like this for all sorts of other famous games and anime, as well.

The service does cost a monthly fee of about $3, but for the amount of free downloads you get with the subscription, including World's end Nightmare, I'd say it's a pretty good deal! Too bad cell phones in America and Australia don't offer awesome services like these...

For those of you interested in World's end Nightmare, I'd be more than happy to do translations of the character descriptions posted on the CHiRAL MOBiLE website... Just let me know if you'd like to see them and I'll dedicate a post to it! I won't bother doing the work unless there's someone out there who will actually read them (or if I get a burst of idle creativity, but don't count on it).

Various Media Endeavors

2011-08-10T17:10:00.000+10:00

Lately I've been doing so much consuming of various forms of media, I thought I'd just list some of it and hopefully delve into my thoughts on a couple of them. I'll post a more cohesive blog update later this week, which will most likely be my review of the English otome game X-Note (I'm going to review that game by the end of the week, I swear).

Film

So, Shaun and I went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes on Saturday. Besides having an unnecessarily long title, it was actually pretty good! Even if you could care less about Planet of the Apes (which is pretty much me), the film is a fun Sci-Fi flick with a strong emphasis on characters, and it's probably the first of the "summer blockbusters" that I'd say is worth going to see.

Besides having a pretty uninspiring female girlfriend character, that is. When all the characters are actually rather thoughtfully rendered, including an ape doctor who almost instantaneously becomes the "grounding girlfriend" is a little disappointing. I suppose you can't have everyone be the star, but I suppose you're also going to have to have me pick on a film when it can't have any well-developed female characters (what can I say, it's my nature). Either way, it's still heaps better than that awful Tim Burton rendition of a few years back... Plus, the animation is gorgeous, and any film that can make you care for a character that is 100% animated deserves some respect.

Also, Shaun and I both agree that we like James Franco, so having him in the film was a plus (I'm not sure why we do... are we the only ones?)... I liked him as the son of the Green Goblin, anyway.

We're also going to watch Dinner for Schmucks on DVD, which comes very highly recommended from my parents! I hope it's good.

Manga

I don't talk about manga very often here, but I finally picked up a few volumes of Loveless at the library the other day because the art is, in my opinion, pretty gorgeous.

The story is a little weird, though, which has kept me away from it until now, and though I'm enjoying it well enough, I think the only reason I've really stuck with it for 4 volumes is the art and the way it plays with gender norms, but even then I'm not sure where it's going with that. I probably won't seek out the rest of the volumes now that Tokyopop, the English distributor, has gone under, unless my library happens to have them already.

Games

I always have a weird relationship with games: I seem to write more about them than I actually play them!

I did start Patapon the other day, because Shaun was playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the PS3, and it's been sitting expectantly on the shelf for a couple of weeks now

The gameplay is fun, but I'm finding that it's getting a little repetitive to tell my troops to move forward over and over again, especially when you were fighting an enemy who just ran away. But I've still only played a couple of missions so far, so I hope things change up a bit after I play a couple more. I'm not that rhythmically inclined, though, so I have to focus all my energy in playing the game and not getting distracted by whatever Shaun's doing beside me. Hah!

So, what are you all playing/reading/watching these days? I'm all ears!

Wesker vs. Cat

2011-08-04T15:21:00.001+10:00

Capcom isn't really getting on my good side lately, and I'm sure most of you know why, but that doesn't mean we can't still appreciate Resident Evil's big baddie Wesker and his weird nasally voice. I don't know about you, but I know if I had a cat and a Wesker action figure at my disposal, this is exactly what I'd do with them:

I've gotta say, that is one cool cat to put up with his/her owner's shenanigans like that. I don't think either of my cats (who are back with my parents in the US, sadly) would be so accommodating.

Unfortunately, I don't know who to credit for this wonderful thing, but if anyone out there knows where it came from, I'd greatly appreciate if you'd let me know!

Japan Envy: The America Edition! Celebrating ShopKawaii.com

2011-08-02T08:00:00.004+10:00

I know the whole point of these "Japan Envy" pieces is for me to share things from Japan that aren't readily available to the rest of us, but I'd like today to highlight a wonderful US-based retailer that specializes in cute Japanese goods.

The one time I visited Pittsburgh, PA (to look at colleges, actually), my mom and I stumbled upon a store called Kawaii Gifts. In their relatively small space they managed to stock all manner of cute Japanese stationary, plush, accessories, and homewares, most of which I had never seen before, even online. Though I spent a reasonable amount when I was in their physical location, over the years I've become a dedicated patron of their extensive online store Shop Kawaii.

Not only do they carry all manner of character goods from brands such as San-X, Sanrio, Kamio, and more, but they are also priced extremely reasonably for an import store. With every order I've placed, I've always received a freebie of some sort, such as a pencil, sticker sheet, or a pin made by the store themselves out of old, unused stationary. There's nothing like free things to make me a happy patron!

Here are a few items I'm drooling over right now:

I absolutely love Kamio's Fairy Tale World series! This notebook's pages have various designs, too!

The only thing I love more than Kamio's general Fairy Tale series is their Alice in Wonderland series! This bag is perfect, and I just so happen to be in the market for a bag with a zipper closure.

I'm not too sure how I feel about San-X's newest character, Iiwaken. His name is a play on the Japanese phrase "ii wa" meaning "that's good" and "shiba-ken," which refers to the type of dog, Shiba (or Shiba Inu). He's a good dog, get it? Aha... Ok, that's your Japanese lesson for today!

Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not sure how I feel about him, but there's something oddly appealing about that notepad and the dogs' little white butts.

No post detailing my love for cute Japanese things would be complete without mention of San-X's Rilakkuma, a bear who loves relaxing above all else. I absolutely love this guy, but I'm not sure I need these in my life:

I suppose if I played golf, Rilakkuma golf toppers would be high on my list of things to buy, but as it stands, I'm not a golfer, so the novelty of these is lost on me. If you're wondering, I'd probably choose the pink and white one, even though the dark brown Rilakkuma is generally my favorite of the three characters.

With that said, I seriously suggest checking out Shop Kawaii if you're at all interested in these type of products. They're a great store with an awesome selection and even more amazing customer service. I'm sure I'll be using them as my source for cute Japanese goods for many years to come.

My Game Boy Advance Game Collection (or, my miserable start in the world of handheld gaming)

2011-08-01T14:04:00.000+10:00

Happy Monday! Or Sunday evening, for those of you located in other parts of the world (enjoy your freedom while it lasts, eh?). Without further ado or fanfare, I present to you my most coveted collection in my gaming library:

Ok, ok, you've got to know I'm kidding, but seriously: this is my complete GBA library. Sad, huh? It's especially surprising considering what a fiend I am when it comes to the Nintendo DS/3DS (ok not so much 3DS at the moment, but I do like my Nintendo handhelds these days). So, how is it that I've pretty much completely skipped a game console with a library that is, on the whole, completely in-tune with my gaming tastes?

Well, I'm not going to go the whole nine yards and detail my complete gaming history (that'll take more than one post, I believe), but I can delve into a bit of my past when it comes to handhelds in particular.

As far as I can remember, my first glimpse into the world of handheld gaming was thanks to my grandparents, who had a Game Boy (Maybe 2? Perhaps each of them had one so they could play at the same time). I remember visiting them in Florida during spring break, watching them play Super Mario Land and Tetris 2, and being awed at their skill (My grandfather was particularly good at Tetris 2, while my grandmother could clear Super Mario Land).

I got my own Game Boy at some point and have lots of fond memories playing alongside them, trying my hardest to get as far as they did (to this day I still haven't beaten Super Mario Land). For whatever reason, though, I never really got so into the Game Boy games that I would play them even when I wasn't visiting them in Florida. If my memory serves me right, I'd usually play for a few days after returning home, only to set them down soon after in my frustration of not being able to advance, moving on to other things until the next trip reminded me of how much fun I had.

So was my relationship with handheld gaming until a few years later, when a Game Boy Advance advantageously presented itself to me. Actually, the method by which I acquired it wasn't quite that mystical–a well-meaning relative had gifted my grandfather with a clear purple Game Boy Advance for Christmas one year, but unfortunately he found the colors too difficult to see, so the console was passed down to me.

Honestly, I don't really remember what I did with the thing. I bought a number of games for it, and then traded almost all of them in (There were a few dark years where I traded games in to fund buying more games, but I almost always regretted doing so. Kids, take note: always seriously reconsider before trading in your games). My most regretted GBA trade-in was Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (oh, it hurts to remember! I still have the instruction booklet, even), but I also sold Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories more recently because I just couldn't get into the battle system. The only other game I'm sure I had that is no longer with me was Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, which I eventually passed on to a friend's younger sister along with the console in my junior or senior year of high school.

I still can't believe I got rid of this game! What was I thinking

So, even though I'm sure a got a bit of enjoyment out of the console, all-in-all, the whole thing was pretty short-lived. I guess at the time I was too focused on the Playstation 2 to care much about anything else. Good thing I still had the sense to not to toss 2 of my Game Boy Advance games, even though I didn't have the means to play them at the time. Well, one of them I couldn't get rid of no matter how hard I tried–which do you think it was?

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams's Japanese box art is adorable

US box art? Not so hot... Why 3 Klonoas?

Luckily, I didn't get rid of my GBA pride and joy: Klonoa: Empire of Dreams. I'm a pretty big Klonoa fan, and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil is one of my favorite PS2 games. With Klonoa: Empire of Dreams being a rather rare title that was released the same year as the system, I consider myself pretty lucky to have snagged a used cartridge at my local game shop. Unfortunately, I've never really played too much of it, but from what I have played, it's been great. The art style is adorable, the music is catchy (Even though some of the music and sounds seem to be taken straight from Klonoa 2), and the gameplay is fun and not too difficult. This title is one that I'm definitely going to be playing more of in the next few weeks–I picked it up for the first time in years last night and restarted my game, and am determined to finish it.

I'm really digging the long Japanese GBA boxes...

Have you guessed which game I want to get rid of, yet? If you were thinking Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, then you were right! Why would I want to get rid of such a super game, you ask? Well, if you look closely at the picture, it's actually the Japanese version of the game. In my excitement at seeing it for sale used in Japan during my first trip there many years ago, I decided to purchase it, even though I had next to no Japanese language skills at the time. Needless to say, I never really played it because I couldn't understand it, and though I tried to sell it online multiple times, no one really wanted it since it was such an easy game to get in English. I could definitely pick up the game now and play through it no problem... The question is whether or not I really want to. Right now it's not very high on my list.

Just look at this!! How could you not be compelled to buy a game like this

Mr. Driller A: Mysterious Pacteria and Golden Sun are my most recent GBA game acquisitions. Mr. Driller A I bought in 2009, the last time I was in Japan, at a used game shop in Osaka for a very fine price, and it came complete with booklet and box! Mr. Driller is yet another series I'm very interested in, but Mr. Driller A was actually the first game I ever bought. It's great to pick up and do a few rounds, and, just like Klonoa, it has great music, adorable graphics, and fun gameplay. I consider it and Klonoa to be the stars of my GBA library.

Finally, there's Golden Sun. This one I actually bought just this year online for very cheap, and I'm happy to finally have a copy. I borrowed it a long time ago from a friend and found it to be quite fun, so it's always been at the back of my mind as something I wanted to play eventually. When the DS sequel was released, it renewed my interest in the series... But I still haven't played it. Oh, I'll probably never complete all the games on my "must play" list!

So there you have it, the story of my GBA game library. Are there any GBA "must-haves" that you'd recommend? One I'd like to get my hands on is Rhythm Heaven, since my husband and I enjoyed the DS version. My library will grow, slowly but surely!

Oh, and for those of you who must know: I did in fact own copies of both Pokemon Blue and Gold (I remember playing a lot of Blue but never really got far in Gold). Sadly, they were misplaced or lost. Who knows where they are now...

What you should know about Poison

2011-07-26T14:39:00.000+10:00

A certain character has come to my attention that I had otherwise never heard of, and her name is Poison. Apparently there's a lot of buzz about whether she may have originally been a he. So, in light of the recent announcements regarding the new characters in Street Fighter X Tekken at last week's Comic Con, I decided to do some research on this surprisingly controversial character.

So here's the deal with Poison, as far as I know: She first appeared in Final Fight but has also been featured in Street Fighter III, along with a number of other Capcom games, and seems to be pretty popular, probably at least partially due to the controversy surrounding her. Even so, it has been a number of years since she's made an appearance, so the news that she will be in Street Fighter X Tekken, along with her cohorts Roxy and Hugo (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not sure whether or not Roxy and Hugo are playable), is generating a lot of excitement.

Poison as she appears in 'Street Fighter X Tekken'

Apparently, back when Poison was created for Final Fight's release in Japan, she was strictly a female character, but due to fears that Americans wouldn't take to well to the big, burly men of Final Fight beating up a chick, they decided it would be a better idea to make her transgendered. To make things even more confusing, though, it seems like Capcom themselves treat her gender differently in Japan and America. Check out this quote from Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono: "Let's set the record straight: in North America, Poison is officially a post-op transsexual. But in Japan, she simply tucks her business away to look female."

Basically, I think it's safe to say that she's the Birdo of the Capcom universe.

Regardless of how we choose to define Poison, she certainly is an interesting addition to Street Fighter X Tekken, and I have to say I am really excited for the game's impending release. I think we should all take the advice of this lovely comic, brought to my attention by GayGamer.net, and just accept Poison for what she is, rather than get hung up about how we should label her. And without further ado, here is the main reason I wrote up this whole post in the first place (click on the image for a larger view):

Japan Envy: Space Invaders Tote Bag

2011-07-20T15:46:00.000+10:00

I won't lie: with all the awesome things available in Japan, I think it's going to be pretty easy to make this Japan Envy series a weekly thing! I won't limit myself to a specific day or anything, but rest assured, you'll be seeing a lot more of these in the future.

Today while browsing Twitter I stumbled upon Taito's very own Twitter page and promptly proceeded to follow them (If you're not following me yet, head on over and do so!). Scrolling through their recent tweets lead me to an announcement about their new Space Invaders tote bag.

I have to say, I love this simple yet chic design. I'm a big fan of tote bags, known as "eco bags" in Japan, and the added inside pocket in this design that is alluded to on the bag's website sounds like a nice addition to me. And priced at only ¥500 (more or less $5), it's a steal! Too bad you can only get your hands on one of these puppies by visiting one of many Taito Station arcades in Japan. Curses!

I might just have to convince my host mom to purchase one on my behalf...

What kind of game am I playing? Or, things that creep me out about Atelier Rorona

2011-07-19T15:36:00.000+10:00

I had a lovely, in-depth post all ready to go about my impressions of Atelier Rorona so far, but since it was such a meaty piece I decided to hold onto it and develop it into a full-fledged review for www.videogamewriters.com. I'll probably chop it down and do a shorter version for this blog later in the week, after I've played a bit more of the game (I'm about 1/3 of the way through at the moment).

Nevertheless, I have quite a few things I could say about Atelier Rorona, so I don't really see the harm in making two posts about it! I thought I'd share with you all some of the weird stuff I've come across in the game so far. Before you read on, keep in mind that I am seriously enjoying this game, so while the following quibbles may bug/slightly disgust me, it certainly isn't detracting from me having more than a little fun synthesizing item upon item and meeting all the request deadlines.

First thing's first, here's a quick rundown of the game: Atelier Rorona follows Rorona, an apprentice alchemist under a woman named Astrid at a workshop in the kingdom of Arland. The king of Arland has decreed that unless Astrid can complete 12 assignments given to her over the course of 3 years, the workshop will be shut down. Astrid, being more interested in napping than doing anything the king asks of her, passes the task on to Rorona. Right now I'm just over a year in, and the combination of expertly-voiced story sequences, adorable artwork, catchy music, countless items to synthesize and requests to fulfill is definitely keeping me busy.

Creepy observation #1: It's more than a little obvious that this game caters towards a certain type of male-dominated Japanese nerd culture, and I was well aware of this when I started playing the game. What I didn't know is how much creepy innuendo was going to be a part of the game's humor! A lot of the story features older women more or less hitting on Rorona, and while I know that's a cultural thing to a degree (nothing wrong with a 20-something woman calling a 14-year-old girl cute, I guess), sometimes it gets a bit out of hand. Alright, ok, I know what I was getting myself into, so I won't say much more about this (to each his/her own), but how about:

Creepy observation #2: Some of the female characters are more than a little well-endowed for their age. I usually file these observations in the back drawer, except for when those in charge of the character models deem it appropriate to animate one of said character's bobbing breasts even when she is standing still. Good thing for me I don't really like said character very much and as such will probably not make her a member of my party very often, but seeing her undulating chest in every single battle is as much a turn-off for me as any.

The character in question, Lionela, is a traveling performer.

I guess I'm not the only one who noticed how her breasts seem to have minds of their own (cute cats, though)

Creepy observation #3: I've saved you the best for last. Last night when I was playing, I was happily introduced to my new workshop assistant, who was created for Rorona by Astrid using alchemy. Ever-curious and eager to learn, Rorona does some research into the recipe that was used to create Hom, the homunculus assistant. Ingredients include horse droppings... And in the case that horse droppings aren't available, the use of human semen is said to also be possible. Let me reiterate that for you. The recipe that was used to create Rorona's assistant calls for horse droppings and human semen. Just what sort of game is this?!?

Depending on how you answer Astrid when she asks you whether you'd like a little brother or a little sister, you can have either a female or male version of Hom, the horse-poo-infused assistant. I answered "sister," but after seeing the two designs, I wish I had ended up with the male one!

Even though I'm enjoying poking fun at the game, I'm honestly having even more fun playing it. It's just the right recipe of pretty visuals, lighthearted story, and engrossing gameplay for me, and these weird, uh, quirks make it all the more the odd yet engrossing experience. I have a feeling this isn't going to be the end of my creepy observations, though... I've still got 2 years of game time to go!

Tutorial: How to make a Japanese iTunes Account to Download 'Pokemon Ie Tap?'

2011-07-15T11:11:00.001+10:00

UPDATE: It looks like Pokemon Ie Tap has been removed from the iTunes store! It's too bad, but you can still use this guide to create a Japanese iTunes account and download other free apps.

Today marks the release of Pokemon Ie Tap? ポケモン言えTAP?, a free smartphone app where you tap the screen to the beat of the Japanese Black & White anime's Pokerap (known as "Pokemon Ieru kana?" in Japanese).

I went through all the trouble to write up this tutorial for VGW, only to find that my iPhone is too old to get the update that allows you to play Pokemon Ie Tap?! Rather than trashing this thing, which took me a good hour to write last night, I'm going to post it for your free-Japanese-app-downloading pleasure. Someone please download Pokemon Ie Tap? so I can live vicariously through you! Well, without further ado:

How to Create a Japanese iTunes Account and Download Free Apps

1. To start, open the iTunes store on your computer. Once it’s loaded, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the flag displaying your current regional settings on the right.

2. A list of countries will appear, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Japanese flag at the bottom left to access the Japanese store.

3. You will now be in the Japanese iTunes store. Before creating an account, you need to select the FREE app you want. In this case, that’s ポケモン言えTAP？so copy and paste that into the search bar at the top right.

4. Pokemon Ie Tap? should appear in the search results. Click on the “free” button to be prompted to make a Japanese iTunes account.

5. Click on “Create new account.” Then select “continue.”

6. At the top of the page it will say: “If your billing address is not in Japan, click here.” Disregard this, as you will not be entering your credit card details and do not need to provide an address.

7. Agree to the terms and select “continue.”

8. Fill out your personal details and select “continue.” If you already have an iTunes account for your current region of residence, you will need to use a different email address when creating a Japanese account.

9. For “Credit Card,” select “none.” If the “none” option doesn’t appear, that means you’ve made a mistake somewhere along the way–you probably didn’t select Pokemon Ie Tap? in the iTunes app store. Remember, you need to have started from a free app in order for the “none” selection to appear.

10. You’ll have to enter an address, so use your Google-fu to look up a legitimate Japanese zip code (example: 100-8994). The rest of the address can be made up, as you won’t be using it. For your phone number, you must also come up with a legitimate-looking number. One possible area code is 03 and then the following number should look like this: xxxx-xxxx.

Note: For Phonetic First and Phonetic Last, you can just reenter your name. This is for Japanese kanji where there can be more than one potential reading for the same characters

11. Click “continue,” and if you have entered the address correctly, you will be met with a screen telling you to verify your Apple ID by checking the email address you provided at the beginning.

12. You should have received an email from Apple. The subject will be in Japanese but will begin with the words “Apple ID.” Open the email, and click the link highlighted in the image below to verify your account.

13. You will be directed to a page where you need to sign in using your email address and password. Click in the blue button after you have done so.

14. A green check mark with text will appear. Click the blue button to return to the iTunes store. If iTunes doesn’t open automatically, go ahead and access the store in iTunes yourself, and sign in by clicking “Sign In” at the top right corner.

Congratulations, you now have a Japanese iTunes account! Now you’ll need to find Pokemon Ie Tap? again to download it. Paste this: ポケモン言えTAP？ into the search bar one more time to find the app again. Once it comes up, all you need to do is click on it to be prompted to enter your password and start the download! Don’t stop with Pokemon–try all different types of searches to unearth some fun and quirky free Japanese apps! Enjoy!

I hope this was useful to someone, at least! Let me know what you thought in the comments, and thanks for reading.

Japan Envy: Monster Hunter Diary G Orange Juice

2011-07-13T16:31:00.000+10:00

This may or may not turn into an ongoing thing, but I know a lot of bloggers out there have themed posts, so I'm going to try my hand with a series called "Japan Envy" to compile all the things that make me wish I was living in Japan. Otherwise this would just be a "hey look at this cute orange juice bottle" post (which it basically is, but I can get away with it now that I say I'm going to do it as a regular series).

Monster Hunter Diary G, aka Monhon Nikki Poka Poka Airuu Mori G, is an adorable Animal Crossing-esque Monster Hunter spin-off game featuring chibi versions of the game's mascot, Felyne (known as Airuu in Japanese). Now, I've never played a Monster Hunter game, nor have I played the original Monster Hunter Diary, but I am super-duper excited about Monster Hunter Diary G's August release. Seeing this gets me even more excited:

source

That, my friends, is Felyne orange juice. Feast your eyes on that adorable packaging! What I wouldn't give to be in Japan right now so I could drink cold orange juice out of a Felyne-adorned can. Now, I don't know anything about this brand Bireley's, but from the looks of things it appears to be regular old orange juice to me.

So, in all honesty, I could care less whether Monster Hunter Diary G is a quality game or not. I mean, I'm sure I'll get much enjoyment out of it so long as it's not horribly misguided. But regardless of gameplay, if it inspires adorable orange juice bottles and does crossovers with My Melody, well then by golly, it deserves my attention!

Japanese visual kei bands sing Disney songs for new album?

2011-07-12T12:22:00.002+10:00

Yesterday, I was privy to some surprising, and slightly disturbing, news. For those of you who are unaware, 'visual kei' is a specific type of Japanese rock music that is characterized by the fashion the band members wear. Musically, they often sound something like a mix of glam rock, punk, and metal (thanks Wikipedia!), but more than the music itself, visual kei is defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and stage personas of the members. I myself have my roots in visual kei–I appreciate the style and a number of bands that define themselves as visual kei, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a huge, die-hard fan of the movement. My tastes run more along the lines of a certain band called Buck-Tick (a band that is actually credited as being one of the founders of the visual kei movement, but I digress).

Suffice it to say, when I heard that Disney was going to release an album called "V-ROCK Disney" in Japan, I was shocked. Disney songs sung by... visual kei bands? Alright, Japan, you've come up with a lot of wacky Disney crossovers that were almost universally panned when they were first announced (Kingdom Hearts, I'm looking at you), but this might be taking it a step too far. Here's a couple of images to help illustrate Disney x visual kei for you all:

The members of this band, Nightmare, will be singing...

... "A Friend like Me" from Aladdin?

Of course you can't get a proper idea of what kind of music Nightmare does from an image, so here's one of their more popular songs for your consideration:

Don't get me wrong, I actually love this song (you may recognize it as the opening theme to the anime Death Note), but when I think about them doing a cover of an Aladdin song... I don't know what to say about that.

For anyone like myself who has a morbid curiosity in this CD, it will be released in Japan on September 7th, and shops such as CD Japan will probably stock it in the future for international buyers (it's not listed yet, however). You can also see a full track list and bands it will feature at this Tokyo Hive article.

Otome Game Primer

2011-07-04T21:50:00.000+10:00

As a follow-up to my previous post on boys' love games, I thought I'd dedicate this post to one of my favorite game genres: otome games. Don't worry, I'm not done talking about BL games by any means! It's just that a certain piece of extremely exciting otome game related news has got me rearing to talk about otome games today. If you're too lazy to click on the link (which leads to a Video Game Writers article on the subject written by me, so shame on you), then I'll sum it up for you: one of the most famous Japanese otome games is getting a localization (picture below), and will be released in the US for the PSP sometime during quarter one of 2012! For someone who never thought otome games would ever get translated, this is awesome news.

So, what are otome games? I'm going to be lazy and quote what I wrote in the aforementioned article: "Otome is the term most often used in Japan to refer to romance, or dating, simulation games that cater towards a female audience. In these games, you control the actions of the main character, who is always female, as she navigates through the game’s narrative, making decisions along the way that will ultimately decide which male suitor, out of a number of possible options, she will end up with at the end of the game." If you read my BL article, the gameplay in otome games is often very similar, but the relationships that form the plot are heterosexual, rather than homosexual.

While many otome games tend towards the visual novel side of things, with lots of text and few options to change the course of the narrative, some have more simulation elements such as stat raising. The Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side games excel in that they provide more engagement than their visual novel counterparts, which is why I own not one but two of them for the DS. They also have a unique feature called "skinship" where you utilize the touch screen to interact with the various male characters–different types of touches in different locations (get your mind out of the gutter, this game is PG!) will elicit various reactions depending on the guy's personality, which can be quite a bit of fun.

While unfortunately BL games seem to be neglected when it comes to English releases, otome games are slowly gaining ground. Besides the wonderful news that an official Japanese otome game will be getting a localization, there are a few independently-developed indie English otome games. One such game is called X-Note, and you can even try a demo of it on the site to get a feel of what to expect with otome games in general. It notably lacks voice acting, which provides much of the charm of the male suitors in Japanse otome games, but otherwise it seems like a very solid game with nice artwork, and at the very fine price point of only $15, anyone who has an interest in otome games should definitely consider checking it out. What's even more impressive is that the game was created by a team of only two people! Wow.

X-Note is one of only a few English otome games

There's a Japanese otome game available for the iPad and iPhone as well, and it includes not only an English translation but the ability to switch between the two. This one's only $3.99, but unfortunately I don't have an "i" anything, so I can't give it a try. If anyone does check it out, let me know what you think!

Heian Love for the iPhone/iPad

I could go on and on, but I think I'll have to leave things here for now. Atelier Rorona, my new gaming obsession, is calling me! If you have anything in particular you'd like to know about otome or BL games that you'd like me to cover in a future post, let me know in the comments!

Introduction to Boys' Love Games

2011-06-30T22:20:00.001+10:00

I really wish that I didn't feel the need to put this disclaimer here, but I'm going to do it for the current readers I have who might not be comfortable reading me talk about how much I like male homosexual romance manga/anime/games/etc. You have been warned. This will be the first post of many to come, so if you're not comfortable with that or are gearing up to write me a nasty comment, I'm going to politely ask you to skip this post, or stop following my blog altogether if it bothers you that much. That is all.

Phew, now that that's out of the way... On to the good stuff! I could spend a whole entry (or entries, even) explaining what boys' love, or BL, is, but for the purpose of keeping things short I'll provide a simple explanation: BL/yaoi/shonen-ai is a sub-genre of Japanese manga, written by women for women, that focuses on the romantic and often sexual relationships between men. The genre has expanded to games, and since I feel in the mood to talk about BL games (thanks to The Gay Gamer, who inspires many of my posts these days), that's what I'll be covering today. This is by no means a definitive guide or anything, I'm just getting things started.

Have you ever heard of the genre of games called "dating simulation"? If you haven't, it's because they are virtually non-existent in the west, due to presumed lack of interest, I would believe. They're very popular in Japan, though, with names like Love Plus for the DS garnering all sorts of international news coverage for spurring some men to do various amusing public proclamations of their love for the game such as marrying their virtual girlfriends.

Well, just as there are dating sims for heterosexual men, so are there dating sims for women (bet you didn't know that). Not only are there games for girls where you control a female avatar as you try to win over the love of the man of your choice, but there are also games where the main character is male. These are BL games.

Most BL characters could easily be mistaken for girls.

Most BL games are relatively explicit in nature, and are thus limited to PC-only releases due to the strict ratings system for game consoles. Nevertheless, there are a few tame BL games available for consoles, mostly the PS2 and PSP (yes, they still make plenty of PS2 games in Japan).

Perhaps the most popular BL game developer is Nitro+chiral, with titles like Lamento and Togainu no Chi garnering tons of fans in Japan. You can find censored versions of Togainu no Chi on the PSP and PS2, but Lamento (see first image) is too explicit to port, so it remains PC-only.

But never fear! There are, well, two English BL games (I was convinced there were more but as of writing this I did a 30 minute Google search and couldn't find anything else). Absolute Obedience for the PC is one, and in my opinion, the better-looking of the two. JAST USA, the company behind the localization, is also behind the first BL game commercially available in English, Enzai. Sadly, though the company has since localized quite a number of male-oriented eroge ("erotic games"), these two titles remain the only BL they've released so far.

BL games are, on the whole, visual-novel style, meaning you'll mostly be reading through dialogue and textual descriptions, occasionally being prompted to make a choice, and then for all your efforts you'll be treated to a number of lovely CGs along the way. Characters are, on the whole, fully-voiced, and voice actors play a significant part in the popularity of the games themselves in Japan. Each game features numerous potential partners for you to choose from, some varying in difficulty as to how tough they'll be to "get."

In closing, I'll confess that I've never really played a BL game. Sure, I know a lot about them, and I own the PS2 version of Togainu no Chi, but I haven't played a significant amount of it. I have played the heterosexual, or otome, counterpart to BL games, where you play a female avatar who is out to find herself a male partner, simply because I quickly tire of visual novels. When I play a game, there is only so much reading I want to do! Otome games are much more interactive, for whatever reason, and offer various stat-maxing options and mini-games to keep you interested enough to play them through until the end. But I'll save that for another post! Here, have some Togainu no Chi! Let me know who you'd go for if you were to give it a play.

Who would you pick? (image courtesy of NCSX)

Slow Monday

2011-06-27T20:19:00.000+10:00

Today literally was slow! I made my first stew, an Irish lamb stew from Frankie magazine, which was quite simple, took 3+ hours to cook, and tastes pretty good! Not that I have many stews in my repertoire to compare it to, but it's a start. Ok, now that I've got that bad pun out of the way...

In gaming news, I finally updated the eShop and downloaded my free copy of Excitebike as well as the 3D Pokedex. I'll admit, I wasn't that excited for Pokedex 3D (I'd rather play an actual Pokemon game then just look at 3D models of them), but I'm all for free things, so I couldn't pass it up without checking it out. Excitebike, on the other hand, was exciting and new for me (ok, I couldn't help it), as I've never played the original before. And after fooling around with it for a few minutes, I've gotta say, it's quite difficult! I don't really understand the mechanics yet, so I either go horribly slow and get bored or try to go too fast and just end up crashing and then cursing at myself for having to wait to go again.

Have you heard about the lack of a save file delete/reset option in Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D? This is another shameless plug, but just today I wrote a pretty in-depth post at VGW if you'd like to read more about it. Basically, though, as a way to combat used-game sales, Capcom decided to give players only one save file, which cannot be erased or reset, so you can only play through the game from scratch once. I personally think this is a horrible decision and will definitely deter me from buying the game in the future (though I admit I wasn't particularly leaning towards a purchase in the first place), but what do you all think? I know used game sales can hurt the developers and publishers, but you shouldn't punish consumers, and rather reward them to provide incentives to buy new games, such as exclusive DLC, etc.

In other news, Shaun and I saw Kung Fu Panda 2 over the weekend. I enjoyed the original well enough, but wasn't going to see the sequel except I kept hearing rave reviews right and left that assured me it was actually better than the original. Story-wise, I'm not so sure I'm convinced it was better, but the animation was so beautiful I didn't really care. Give me fuzzy computer animals and a peacock villain voiced by Gary Oldman and I will go home a happy woman. The fight scenes with Lord Shen, the aforementioned main villain, were mesmerizing. If you want to see some gorgeous animation, then definitely consider seeing this on the big screen (I didn't see it in 3D so I can't comment on that), but otherwise you may want to wait for a rental or skip it altogether.

Recent Happenings–Me at VGW and StreetPass Meets

2011-06-22T13:30:00.000+10:00

Well, besides that book review, I've been a little MIA as of late, huh? Time to fix that!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm now a member of the lovely, inspiring team at www.videogamewriters.com! I'll be covering news and some reviews, with a slight angle towards Japan-only releases and news fresh from the land of the rising sun. I believe my first review for them will actually be of Grand Knights History for the PSP in September, and I'm looking forward to it! (thanks to The Gay Gamer for making me aware of this game in the first place!) So far I've written a few news articles, and most notably an opinion piece on Nintendo's decision to exclude DVD playback capabilities while pursuing possible social network connectivity in the Wii U, so if you're at all interested, I'd love if you gave it a read! If you want to be a real pal, show your support for me and the rest of the team at Video Game Writers by following us on Facebook and/or Twitter! And I highly suggest you check out some of the other articles on the site, it really is a pleasure to read (and there was absolutely no mention of booth babes in any of their E3 coverage!).

In other news, we had another StreetPass Brisbane meetup last weekend, where one of our members was kind enough to pass on her copy of Alice in Wonderland for the DS to me! It's one of the only movie/game tie-ins that ever looked any good to me, so I'm excited to check it out.

Another one of our members ordered the giant AR card from Nintendo Club Australia, and he brought it along to the event so that we all could take some snazzy 3D photos of giant Mii's and Nintendo characters. We got a lot of questions and interested passers-by. Here's what we looked like:

Nothing like a bunch of 3DS fans gathering together, I say! In fact, this Saturday has been declared 3DS StreetPass Day by none other than Nintendo, and to show StreetPass Brisbane's support we'll be holding an event on the day, too. I'll be trying my hand at hosting a Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition tournament (wish me luck, I've never done something like this before!).

I'd love to write more but since this post is long overdue, I think I'll leave it at that for now and save the rest for subsequent posts. I don't like how dead things are getting around here!

Book Review: 'Family Ties & Torn Skies'

2011-06-15T14:42:00.000+10:00

First, let me say that I'm rather embarrassed that this review has taken me so long to finish! I was honored to receive a review copy, but unfortunately various other exciting things all happening around the same time (such as my joining the staff of the amazing gaming website, Video Game Writers! more on that later) meant that I couldn't dedicate the time I needed to produce a good review. And, since I told myself my next post would be this book review (as motivation to finish it quickly), the result has been that this blog has had a serious lack of posts as of late. I'm terribly sorry! Now that things are settling down, you should expect to see more regular posts from me.

Without further ado, on to my very first book review!

Family Ties & Torn Skies is a collection of stories and poems from from http://tornworld.net, a comprehensive site that compiles the rich and expansive universe of Torn World, created by Ellen Million. The anthology is broken into two parts, the first half focusing on the Snow-Unicorn Riders, an isolated arctic community, and the Empire, an expansive civilization ruled by science and order. As the title suggests, the central focus of this particular collection is on family and the journey from youth to adulthood.

Reading through the various stories, I was amazed at the amount of depth and detail given to the fantastic realm of Torn World. I was particularly enchanted with the Snow-Unicorn Riders stories and their culture and customs, as they are depicted as living close to nature, and the bonds created between members of certain age-sets (groups of individuals who are of similar age and form lifelong bonds with one another) were interesting to see develop over time.

Fantasy fans should find much to like in these stories, but those looking for a lot of action might find this collection to be a little dry, as the focus really is on family and community, and as such there is often more dialogue than action (don't expect any epic, Lord of the Rings-style battles here). That said, there is so much love and care that has gone into crafting Torn World that it is hard not to be impressed by its charm. The book is also riddled with lovely illustrations that really bring a sense of familiar warmth to the whole package.

To get started, you may consider clicking around the Torn World website to get a sense of what kind of style the book is in. There is so much free media available that it really is worth taking a look at–for example, here is a link to one of the stories included in the anthology, titled "Fala the Leader." The site was also helpful for me as I was reading the book so that I could keep track of the characters and learn more about some of the customs and creatures mentioned. If anything, this is one of my main quibbles with the anthology–though it attempts to educate its readers on so many aspects of the world, sometimes there is so much new information that it is very difficult to keep things straight, and at times I wish things were explained a little more, as someone who wasn't familiar with the website before picking this up.

I highly suggest you check out the site and, if you like what you see, consider supporting this immense artistic collective by purchasing Family Ties & Torn Skies. It's available as an ebook for only $4.99, or you can preorder the hardcover anthology and get a free copy of the ebook in the meantime for $14.99. You can definitely see the passion and enthusiasm in each and every one of the contributors to this collection, and it is an enjoyable read, albeit sometimes rough around the edges. I look forward to seeing more from Torn World in the future.

A shirt I love but don't have the guts to buy

2011-06-08T17:03:00.002+10:00

Well, I'm going to bite the bullet and make a post. I promised myself I wouldn't post anything until I finished my book review, but that's taking longer than I want it to and I don't like going so long without posting anything. Since I don't really have anything prepared today, I'm going to show you guys this awesome shirt by a tip-top artist, Kate Beaton (go check out her site if you have a minute, her latest Spiderman comics are too funny).

If you'd like to purchase one of these gems for yourself, head here. I honestly would, but I'm too meek to go around offending everyone that looks at me. This shirt truly speaks to me, though, so it's a darn shame (I'm not a heartless monster, I swear).

I'll also share with you one of my all-time favorite comics by the lovely Ms. Beaton (props if you know what it's referencing!):

Ahhhh, that puts a smile on my face every time. But that's all for now, sorry! I'm going to get this review done if it kills me. I know you're all probably dying to know what I think about all the latest E3 news, but I think I've tweeted about it enough. Just click the link on the right sidebar to head over to my Twitter account and read all about it.

Recent Articles on Women in Games: Female Characters, Feminism in FF, and the Lara Croft Reboot

2011-06-01T12:59:00.000+10:00

It's funny, when I first started this blog I really thought I'd have a hard time coming up with things to write about, but now I'm finding the exact opposite to be true! I have so much I want to write about that it's actually quite hard for me to decide what I want to cover from post to post. I guess that's a good thing!

Before I get started on the "meat" of this post, I'd like to mention that my most recent article is up at Total Retro Gaming (formerly Norwich Retro Gaming) and is on the PS1 2D shooter, Einhander. Take a look and let me know what you think! (Note: Unfortunately the site isn't working correctly for me at the moment, so for the time being I'll have to direct you to the main page and ask that you click on "news" in order to see my Einhander piece)

So, as many of you who already know me are well aware, I often contemplate the role of women in the gaming community and representations of female characters in the games we play. I'll also be the first to tell you that I consider myself a feminist, even though that term seems to have so many negative connotations these days (no, I am not a femi-nazi, I do not hate men, and yes I changed my last name when I got married). I consider myself to be a reasonable human being who doesn't advocate for the advancement of women over men, but equality for men and women in all facets of life. On that note, I believe overly sexist or stereotyped portrayals of both men and women in any type of media, be it video games, film, or literature, to be worth considering. Ok, no more ranting, I just wanted you all to have your facts straight before I dive in.

Yes, I would buy this

To get things started, Jen over at Video Game Writers has just published a very interesting piece titled "Where have all the strong female character gone?" that I strongly suggest giving a read. Here are a couple of excerpts:

"As of late, there has been an emergence of what I call 'Brittany Spears Feminism.' This is the idea that states 'I dress like a stripper because I’m empowered!' Because of this, there is now a turn to justify latex costumes and triple-D bust lines by claiming they are empowering. I draw your attention to Bayonetta. Large tits? Check. Skin tight outfit? Check. Sexy attitude on par with a soft core porn star? Double check. But wait! She has intellectual glasses! She’s empowering to female gamers! No, she is a vamped up tart who you are trying to market to me as a strong female figure, when in reality she is little more than eye candy for boys. I’m just not buying it — that is not how it works." [emphasis by the author]

"Now is the time to make a very important point: wielding a giant sword, and reminding all the chauvinistic males in the game that the character is a woman, and will totally kick some dude’s ass, does not a strong female make. It makes for an angry girl stereotype."

I find myself agreeing with many of the points Jen makes, but at times her article suggests that rather than having physically strong female characters, she would prefer to see weaker women who are physically agile. I think that the idea that women can't be as strong as men is also a stereotype, and I personally have no problems with a strong female character who can wield a giant sword and kick ass, as long as she has emotional depth. Let me think of an example... Hm, well, I don't think I can, but if you do, leave it in the comments!

Rydia from Final Fantasy IV

I don't want to spend too much time on any one thing, since I have a couple of other pieces I'd like to cover, so I'll move on to the next article for now. I recently was informed by the awesome blog What can I do with a BA in Japanese Studies? (which covers all sorts of things related to scholarship on Japan and is definitely worth a look if you're interested in studying the language or literature) of another blog by a current graduate student in the East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department at the University of Pennsylvania who focuses on contemporary Japanese literature and culture. She has done a lovely 5 part piece on Feminism in Final Fantasy and I highly suggest giving it a read, as it is really well written. I'd love to say more on the topic, but I'll let the article speak for itself and move on to the last piece I would like to draw your attention to today.

Brad over at Drinking CoffeeCola mentioned an article in his most recent post that discusses the Lara Croft reboot and the possible implications of focusing on a young, more anatomically correct Lara who has so far only been shown as a beat-up, bloody mess. I definitely agree with him that this portrayal of her is sightly disturbing, and though it may be too early to tell how this will play out in the game as a whole. For now I think it's safe to say that I am not very happy how, in an attempt to make Lara more "real," the advertising team feel it is necessary to focus so heavily on her weakened state in the promotional images.

From this...

To this?

Really, that second image is just disturbing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the game plays out, though I'm not much of a Tomb Raider fan as it is, so I probably won't be picking it up regardless.

So, to wrap things up, feel free to let me know what you think of these various articles (if you decide to check them out) in the comments! For those of you who have had enough just reading through my post, how about sharing your favorite female video game characters? My husband and I are quite fond of Beatrix from Final Fantasy IX, and I'm partial to Freya from FFIX, as well.

My next post will be something a little different: A book review!

Can the new Ace Attorney film compete with the Takarazuka musicals?

2011-05-27T12:55:00.000+10:00

So, big news if you haven't yet heard–rumors that the famed Japanese director Takashi Miike is working on an Ace Attorney film adaptation have now been official confirmed by Capcom! Exciting, eh? I have to say the thought of Takashi Miike of Ichi the Killer fame doing a rendition of Nintendo DS game about goofy fictional court dramas is a little perplexing, but he did recently do a film adaptation of the anime Yatterman, so there is proof that he is capable of directing a film that isn't all blood and gore.

The role of Phoenix Wright will be played by Japanese heartthrob Hiroki Narimiya, while Takumi Saito will be playing his rival Miles Edgeworth.

Hiroki Narimiya will play Ace Attorney... Can't say I'm complaining! (source)

Takumi Saito will play Miles Edgeworth

Did you know that Ace Attorney has already been adapted, not for film, but for the stage? In 2009 the all-female Takarazuka revue did their own version of the popular video game series, which had a month-long run on stage and was popular enough to merit a sequel.

Poster for the original Takarazuka production

Poster for the 2nd production

I have yet to see either of theses shows, but I absolutely adore Takarazuka, and I'm sure these productions wouldn't disappoint. Of course Takashi Miike's film will probably get a lot of positive mainstream reception, but really, there's not much better than this (seriously, you need to watch this):

Jayd "Chira" Ait-Kaci is Having a Print Sale!

2011-05-25T12:56:00.001+10:00

And now for something a little different! One of my favorite artists, Chira, is having a print sale, and for only $5 you can pick up an 8.5x11" print of any of the great illustrations she has listed here! She has an exceptionally wide range of influences and inspirations, from Prince of Persia to Disney’s Tangled and iconic Japanese tiles such as Revolutionary Girl Utena. I’ve been following her work for a few years now, and it’s really impressive to see how she’s evolved as an artist in such a short amount of time. Right now she’s working on an upcoming comic titled The Fox Sister with Runaways colorist Christina Strain, while single-handedly illustrating and coloring the superb web comic Sfeer Theory, written by Alex Singer.

Here are some of my favorites out of the prints she is currently offering:

A humanoid interpretation of Amaterasu from the game Okami, with the Medicine Seller from the anime Mononoke

Fan art of the game Prince of Persia (2008)

Beautiful stylized Revolutionary Girl Utena fan art

You can see more of her work on DeviantArt, Livejournal, or even follow her on Twitter.

Recipe for a Very Nerdy Weekend: StreetPassing at the Mana Bar and More!

2011-05-23T11:55:00.000+10:00

I don't often do weekend recaps, but this time I think it was sufficiently nerdy enough to merit this post. That, and I wanted to do write-ups on both the Mana Bar StreetPass event I attended as well as the CG animated film Resident Evil: Degeneration, so I figured why not do one big weekend review?

On Saturday, Shaun and I headed into the city for some major window shopping and general bumming around; I, of course, had my 3DS in tow so I could collect some StreetPass hits. For lunch we swung by our favorite Japanese restaurant, Kadoya, where I had their delicious mackerel bento set. We made sure to play a few rounds of Animal Kaiser while we were in the area and had high hopes of scoring a rare card for our efforts, too. Sadly, we did not (and are beginning to think we need to take a break from the whole thing, it's quite the money sink and we haven't gotten any good cards in a while), but Shaun did get a funny picture of me in action:

I think I was captured mid-exclamation

We spent Saturday evening at home with a family-sized chicken (2 kilos! What can I say, it was on special) and Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008). Both Shaun and I were pleasantly surprised that the CG movie, which takes place between Resident Evil 4 and 5, was actually quite a bit better than we had anticipated. I'd say that if you're a fan of the video game series, you should definitely check this movie out, if you haven't already! Neither of us are huge RE fans, as we've only actually played Resident Evil 5, but the movie was fun and I think it's at least worth a rental.

Expect to see the sequel, Resident Evil: Damnation, sometime in 2012!

The graphics didn't strike me as particularly impressive, like they did when I first saw FFVII: Advent Children back in 2005, but a couple times during the movie I did notice some pretty well-done effects, especially in the water. The plot was intriguing and pretty well-paced, though I had a hard time understanding what was going on at a couple of points during the movie (I think that's because I'm slow on the uptake sometimes; Shaun didn't have any problems). It definitely is a good fix for anyone waiting for the next Resident Evil game to come along.

There are plenty of shots of Leon being super-cool

Next, we have the StreetPass event at the Mana Bar, an awesome video game-themed bar located right here in Brisbane! Though the event was planned for the slightly-unfortunate time of Sunday evening, Shaun and I decided it was worth checking out, so we hopped on the train to Fortitude Valley and arrived sometime around 4:30 pm. I thought this would be a nice opportunity to spread the word about StreetPass Brisbane and check out this funky venue!

Loved their decor! The Mana Potion was a novel drink, but I'll probably give it a skip next time

Unfortunately, I only got 5 StreetPass hits altogether during the hour and a half we were there, but that may have been due to the fact that we arrived so early. 2 of those were from members of StreetPass Brisbane that attended our event last Saturday, so it was great to see their Mii's level up! Mana Bar also has their own 3DS for StreetPassing, so if you attend the bar regularly, that would be a great way to get a higher level Mii for StreetPass Quest.

The bar itself was smaller than I had expected, but it was pretty cool to see all the TVs with games set up and ready to go (I believe there were 5 in total). Shaun and I played some Mario Kart Wii, watched a bit of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and Shaun did a couple of songs on Guitar Hero. Later on we picked up this intriguing XBox 360 game called Raskulls and did a 3 player race with Natasha, who we know from StreetPass Brisbane. That game was fun for multiplayer, and I would definitely check it out again if it's on the next time I'm at the Mana Bar. Little Big Planet was also available to play, but I'm not a huge fan of that so we didn't bother giving it a go.

All in all, it was a great weekend! Albeit a little more eventful than usual, so things might be a little more low-key next weekend to make up for it. Though I'm chafing at the bit to see the new Pirates movie, so hopefully we'll be able to fit that in!

What about you all? Do anything fun over the weekend?

BlazBlue Continuum Shift II Box Art Censored in US

2011-05-19T16:18:00.000+10:00

Since this has been nagging me for a while now, I figured I might as well post about it. Back when I heard BlazBlue Continuum Shift II was coming out for the 3DS, contrary to some skeptics (aka my husband), I was actually quite excited about it. See, we played the original BlazBlue Calamity Trigger together in the arcades when we were living in Japan, and the series brings back lots of fond memories for me, even though we never ended up purchasing Continuum Shift for the PS3 when it came out. With Continuum Shift II coming out for the 3DS, I figure it'd be killing two birds with one stone since I don't have any particularly enjoyable games for my 3DS yet and I'm long overdue for a new BlazBlue game.

Honestly, I haven't really been keeping track of BlazBlue. I know they added a couple of characters for Continuum Shift, and figured they'd probably add one or two more for this release. Now that I've seen the Japanese box art for the game, I dare say I've seen a little too much of the game's new characters.

Japanese box art with a lovely sleek black logo bar and...

Hm, well, I guess that's cute? I think she's supposed to be a squirrel. I really am not impressed with her clothing design and whoever decided to make her breasts larger than the other characters on the cover. I'd like to see more of the old guy with the seriously pointy beard–I seem to remember he was a vampire buddy of Rachel's in the first game. I have a feeling he'll probably be similar to Guilty Gear's Slayer.

It seems as though I wasn't the only one who was a little displeased by the Japanese cover choice, as the US box art is much more covered up (hah, I can't help it, the bad puns just make themselves).

US box art is a little more tasteful

I have to admit, though I do like the positioning of the characters so that the one girl's barely covered breasts are no longer a focal point of the image, but I actually dislike the American cover as a whole because it seems too cluttered (and I've gotta say, that black 3DS logo is nice). I think I also preferred the BlazBlue logo in the center, rather than to the side. But we can't have everything, right? Which one do you prefer?

BlazBlue Continuum Shift II is coming to the 3DS and PSP on May 31st (pushed back from the 24th) in both Japan and North America

Hooked on Animal Kaiser

2011-05-17T17:41:00.001+10:00

One of the many neat things about living in Australia is the range of interesting things you see over here that just aren’t available in other Western nations. Even though AU isn’t in the spotlight on the news or in international affairs like the US, it has many perks due to its proximity to East Asia. Because of this, the population is quite ethnically diverse, and all sorts of interesting cuisine, clothing, and technology make their way over here (like MOS Burger, for example!). Animal Kaiser is just that–a Japanese arcade game that has seen relative popularity in many Asian countries, and is even available in New Zealand and Australia, though it is noticeably absent from arcades in the United States and Europe.

Animal Kaiser advertises itself as a card battling arcade game featuring real animals for children ages 4-10 (well, I play too, but I’m young at heart!). Kaiser means king in German, and your goal is exactly that: to become of the animals by defeating all those who should stand in your way. The mechanics of the game are pretty simple, and though you’re meant to start with at least one of each type of card (animal, miracle, and strong), if you don’t have any cards a default setting will be selected for you, making it easy for anyone to pick up. During the battle you and your opponent are given two roulettes, one to choose your attack type and the other to select a number. If the number you select is higher than your opponent’s, you get to attack that turn. It’s quite simple, yet extremely addictive! Each game, whether you win or lose, nets you exactly one new card of random selection; so even after your very first game you can start your collection of upwards to 80 cards available every generation.

Some of the Animal Kaiser cards we've collected. Notice the bar code on the bottom right–that's how the machines read them

Each animal card has three different attacks, a strength stat and a health stat, and can be enhanced with the help of a strong card and a miracle card. A strong card will increase the attack power of each of your animal’s three different attacks (guts, technique, and power) to varying degrees depending on the card. Miracle cards influence the power of the special attack available to all animals, aptly named a “miracle attack.” They have a strength stat that will determine the power of the miracle attack, and, if its type is the same as the animal it is paired with, will result in a “perfect match,” causing your animal to be even more powerful. Finally, miracle cards have a special ability attached to them such as lucky break, which, based on its star percentage value, has a chance of aiding your animal in battle.

What really grabbed me about Animal Kaiser was its campiness–here you have two realistic-looking animals (well, apart from the purple lion and the new line of “white knight” albino animals) fighting each other with some of the goofiest-looking attacks and special moves in all sorts of random settings. Think shark vs. vampire bat in the middle of a paved city road, with things like giant hamburgers materializing out of the sky to crush your opponent. Just watching a battle play out is sure to garner a few laughs from anyone who’s never seen it in action (my husband and I are still thoroughly amused by some of the attacks, even after seeing them numerous times).

Shaun giving it a go!

Unfortunately, Animal Kaiser is the kind of card-based game that can be easily swayed to your advantage if you’re willing to fork out the money to buy certain rare cards on eBay. Though there is an element of chance involved, and certain card combinations require a little foresight to be effective, there is virtually no way a common animal card like the orangutan will win against the ultra-rare Siegfried card (turquoise tiger–I guess special animals are on a first name basis) when playing a real opponent. I have no idea how rare “ultra-rare” cards are, but suffice it to say that my husband and I have played about 50 games so far and we haven’t seen so much as one gold rare pop out of the machine.

Nevertheless, Animal Kaiser is a fun and addicting arcade game, and is the first game I’ve found since I was living in Japan that has actually made me want to go out of my way to visit an arcade. I highly suggest anyone living in Queensland, Australia to try to get to one of the 3 arcades that has the machines! Sadly, QLD is the only state in Australia that has these machines right now. International readers, you can check the English Animal Kaiser website to see if there is one in your area. I would love to see this game gain more of an Australian following!

StreetPass Brisbane's First Meetup

2011-05-15T15:18:00.000+10:00

Hello all and sorry for my absence over the past week. I had a couple of posts in the works, but Blogger was down on Friday, so I'll try to make up for it in the next few days. In the meantime, I thought I'd do a short writeup on StreetPass Brisbane's first meet yesterday (if you don't know what StreetPass is, check out my post on it here).

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to our first meetup!

The weather on Saturday was perfect for having a meetup–sunny but not too hot. Shaun and I set up camp at a bench in King George Square, and within a few minutes our first couple of attendees showed up. Everyone was super friendly and it was fun to finally meet the people behind some of the Mii's I had collected over the past few weeks. We mostly chatted, collected puzzle pieces and battled for hats in StreetPass Quest (did you know it's called Find Mii on my US system and StreetPass Quest on all of the AU systems? I didn't!). There were a few Street Fighter IV battles and I loaded up Nintendogs + Cats to see what presents my corgi puppy had acquired.

It was great to see various people swing by over the course of the hour; some had heard about us at the Pokemon championship in Chermside last weekend, others found the Facebook page while searching for a StreetPass group in their area, and some had read the news article on the Aussie-Nintendo website and decided to stop by. All in all, I believe 9 people attended, but we even had a few random StreetPass hits from people walking by! Though it would've been nice to see a few more people, I still think it was a good start, especially since I had organized the meetup back when the Facebook page had only 10 fans (we have close to 50 now!). With the amount of support and enthusiasm we're getting from everyone, I can only imagine that our next meetup will be even better!

The Downfall of Final Fantasy?

2011-05-10T15:58:00.001+10:00

First of all, I’m happy to announce that I am now a member of the team of writers over at Norwich Retro Gaming! My first post was a small piece on a new Pokemon typing game for the Nintendo DS, but I’ll be doing a weekly feature about all the great games that are out there that no one’s ever heard of! (ok, I’ve heard of them, but more people should be playing them!) You can check out my Pokemon typing post here.

Now, this post has really been a long time coming, that’s for sure. I’ve been involved in discussions on forums debating the pros and cons of the Final Fantasy series, what defines the series, all of that. Because Final Fantasy is so dear to my heart as the series that got me into gaming, I’m going tell you all what I think about the franchise, what makes the games good, and why I can’t bring myself to finish Final Fantasy XIII.

I’ll have to begin with a disclaimer–I have only played Final Fantasy VII through XIII. Though I have seen VI played and dabbled in the DS port of IV, I feel that I don’t have the authority to really talk about the older installments in the series. This may turn some people off, claiming that I’m not a “true” Final Fantasy fan, but I don’t think how many games you’ve played or which is your favorite has any basis in whether or not you can call yourself a fan of the series (mine’s IX, if you were wondering, but that’s for another post).

Cloud from FFVII

Final Fantasy is undeniably the most popular Japanese RPG (role playing game) series worldwide. While Dragon Quest may have more notoriety back in its home country, it’s Final Fantasy (hereafter referred to as FF) that sells consoles and makes the news. Most gamers have probably played at least one Final Fantasy game, or know enough about the franchise to recognize iconic names such as “Cloud” or “chocobo.” Final Fantasy VII marked a revolution in the series and was the first game to utilize full 3D graphics in its cutscenes, and is still regarded as one of the best by many fans. It was this game, in fact, that turned me on to the series and opened my eyes to the world of gaming.

So what makes these games different from other Japanese RPGs? First, I have to talk about the graphics. From FFVII on, Final Fantasy games set the bar for high-quality game graphics, with each new installment looking prettier than the last. FFX was the first game to feature fully-rendered lip movements on its characters, and XIII went even further to introduce lifelike eye movements to the world of gaming. The environments are detailed and immersive, and both Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura’s art direction has created some unique and memorable characters over the years.

One of the most well-remembered cutscenes from FFVIII

Though for the most part each FF game is in separate world with new characters and story from other installments, each title can be linked to one another through familiar enemies, items, and even characters. Chocobos and moogles are perhaps the most iconic recurring creatures in the series. In practically every FF game there is a character named Cid, as well (though this doesn’t mean the Cids have anything to do with one another). The battle system may be revamped and tweaked, but generally there are core elements, such as magic and summoning, that remain very similar. I could go on and on, but for the purposes of this article I’m going to have to stop here.

An illustration by Yoshitaka Amano of Zidane and Dagger from FFIX (source)

So, you’re probably still wondering why I haven’t played much of FFXII if I’m such a self-proclaimed Final Fantasy lover. Well, the first thing that struck me about FFXII was the lack of towns. I actually never realized how much I loved exploring and talking to NPCs until Square Enix decided to eliminate that element altogether. Sure, there are cutscenes and dialogue, but when the player is in control it is a constant hack-and-slash fest until the end of the area and the next cutscene. Then it’s just rinse and repeat until about 20 hours into the game where it finally opens up and provides you with an area to explore, complete with a few sidequests (this is what I’ve heard, I never even got this far). I’m sorry, but I just don’t have the time or interest to invest 20 hours into a game before it lets me do any exploring. I could talk about my relative distaste for the characters in XIII, or even how I’m not sold on the fast-paced “can’t-believe-it’s-not-real-time” battles, but it's really the lack of exploration that made me put the game down for good.

FFXII is undeniably pretty, but does it have substance?

Where is the series going from here? I think it’s clear from Square Enix’s public statements that they’re taking hints from popular Western RPGs and trying to tweak their image into something that just doesn’t match up with the Final Fantasy so close to my heart. They’re moving away from open-ended exploration to fast-paced linearity, and while FFXIII was received with mixed reviews, it clearly garnered them enough sales to do a direct sequel–something that has only happened one other time in Final Fantasy history. With all of their various spin-offs (think FFVII: Crisis Core for the PSP, FFXII: Revenant Wings for the DS, and many others), Final Fantasy is becoming a big franchise that is trying to cater to more and more different kinds of gamers–but is it at the cost of their existing fanbase? If anyone else shares my opinion, then I’d say yes.

But enough about me–what do you think? Loved FFXIII and think I'm full of it? Have a soft spot for FFIII? Let me know in the comments!

Pokemon Battle Competition Brisbane

2011-05-07T22:00:00.000+10:00

Today was the Queensland leg of the AU Pokemon Battle Competitions, so Shaun and I made the trek via public transport (a tiring endeavor, indeed) to the Chermside EB Games so we could catch a glimpse of the action! I originally had big hopes to participate myself, but though my love for Pokemon knows no bounds, I don't think I'm cut out for competitive battling. I have too great a fondness for all of the immeasurably cute yet virtually ineffective Pokemon to stand any chance of making it past the first round. Still, I had fun watching the battles and StreetPassing with the other 3DS owners in attendance. Jamie, the friendly announcer, was even kind enough to do a shout-out about StreetPass Brisbane's first meetup on the 14th!

The competition was fierce at EB Games Chermside

When I first heard that there was going to be an official Pokemon competition nearby, I thought for sure I would want to compete, so I began doing some research on what strategies/Pokemon were the most effective. I won't go into much detail seeing as most of my readers aren't big Pokemon fans (and those who are probably know more than me already, anyway), but needless to say, it's a lot more complicated than one might think! Though we didn't stay too long, I noticed an abundance of Jellicant, Amoonguss, Haxorus, Chandelure, Conkeldurr, Reuniclus, Gigalith, Thundurus, Tornadus, and Whimsicott. That may seem like a lot, but with the amount of people competing, you did start to see a lot of the same strategies (from what I've read of the coverage of other cities' competitions, they've all seen many of the same Pokemon). I'm surprised I didn't see any Excadrill, actually, and would've liked to have seen at least one Stunfisk.

It as fun to watch the battles up on the big screen!

One of the best things about having so many Pokemon fans together in one place was the fact that there were so many 3DS's to StreetPass with! In the hour or so we were there over the course of the day, I got close to 25 StreetPass hits. I also had the chance to promote StreetPass Brisbane, and as I mentioned before, Jamie even made an announcement over the mic for me after I summoned up all my courage to go up and ask him. I met a few people from a forum I frequent and chatted with a guy who organizes Pokemon tournaments in Brisbane who seemed interested, so I hope to see some of them at our meet next weekend.

All in all, it was a very fun event, though it was a shame they held it in such a small store, as there was no space to move around and the room got very hot extremely quick. I hope to attend more events like these in the future, and maybe someday I'll even compete, too!

Vintage Find: Kitschy Cup

2011-05-05T16:06:00.000+10:00

Just a quick update today–I'm currently finding myself swamped with translations I need to finish and my internet has been finicky all day.

I was really depressed when I broke one of my favorite cups while cleaning a while back... It had traveled with me from Japan to America and then all the way here to Australia. That's 5 years of traveling the world together! I remember I got it as an impulse buy for 300 yen (about $3) because it said "coffee milk crazy" on it and gave really bad English instructions on how to make an iced coffee. I've been looking for a replacement cup ever since its untimely demise.

I actually found this cup a couple of weekends ago while Shaun and I were perusing one of our favorite vintage shops. I think we'd even seen it in a previous visit, but hadn't really given it much notice... I have no idea why! I absolutely LOVE this cup. And it was only $1! The design is so kitschy, honestly. I think Shaun's jealous of it, though, so we're going to have to find one equally kitschy for him in the near future. Not gonna argue with that, but I'm telling you, it'll take a lot to contend with this one:

I wish I could've gotten a slightly better shot of the white design. It honestly looks like something you'd see on a Grecain Urn. And the red horse and buggies circling around the top? Ahaha, I love it!

1st Australian MOS Burger in Sunnybank

2011-05-02T19:20:00.000+10:00

MOS Burger in Sunnybank, QLD

MOS Burger certainly isn't lacking in great design!

The minute I heard a MOS Burger had recently opened in the nearby town of Sunnybank, I knew Shaun and I would have to make a trip there as soon as possible. MOS Burger is none other than the single most popular hamburger chain in Japan after McDonald's, with its own unique twist on the traditional burger and lots of famous items on their menu you can't get anywhere else. They're most famous for their teriyaki chicken burger, which I honestly hadn't tried before this Saturday. Other notable items on their menu include a selection of rice-bun burgers, where the usual bread bun is replaced by two onigiri-like rice patties. According to the Japanese MOS Burger website, they have over 200 stores outside of Japan (all located in Asia), but the one in Sunnybank is the first in Australia. For those of you not from the area, Sunnybank is well-known as being a mecca for Asian things, so in many ways it makes sense that they chose to open a shop there rather than in the Brisbane CBD.

Though there were numerous other delicious eateries I frequented while I was living in Japan, I have many fond memories of the MOS burger near my host family's house in Nishinomiya. Since they were open late (later than the local McDonald's, I might add), I would often hang out there with friends after having a couple drinks at a nearby bar, or, since my house was only 5 minutes away, meet up with girl friends for a late-night chat over an order of fries. One of my first memories with my now husband was at a MOS Burger, even! I had the special, Osaka-only takoyaki (breaded octopus) burger and took many pictures similar to the ones I'm sharing with you now.

Enjoying my yakiniku rice burger. The rice buns are pretty tasty!

So, out of nostalgia's sake, my husband and I made the 45 minute trek out to Sunnybank on Saturday. What was supposed to be a 45 minute journey actually ended up taking close to 3 hours, due to some train closures and my inaccurate directions, but we made it there all the same.

Since the shop only opened at the end of March, the line has the tendency to get rather long. Had we arrived at lunchtime, I assume it would've been a longer wait, but since we got so lost and only arrived sometime after 2, that wasn't too much of a problem. We still had to queue up, but we probably only waited about 15-20 minutes, though the ladies at the counter taking orders did seem rather slow. I was psyched to get a curry croquette burger, but is was nowhere to be found on the menu. I'm sure they probably opted to go for a limited selection of the usual Japanese menu to start, and unfortunately for me the croquette burgers didn't make the cut. We were also disappointed to find that melon soda was nowhere to be found, and had been replaced with more popular Aussie alternatives. I ended up going for the rice yakiniku burger set with a Sprite, and Shaun ordered the teriyaki chicken burger set and a matcha latte. The total was a little over $20, and my set was about $8.50, if I recall correctly.


Fries that came with our burger sets. Love the logo on the bags and the serving baskets.

All in all, the experience was very much like one that you would having going to MOS Burger in Japan, with a few minor cultural differences. I thought it was cute that they also reused some of the original Japanese banners, though the painted wall designs were different from any I'd ever seen in a Japanese MOS Burger. The writing on the walls actually clued me in to the answer to one of my often-pondered questions: What exactly does "MOS Burger" mean, anyway? Well, folks, apparently the MOS stand for Mountain, Ocean, and Sun. There you have it!

Adorable paper placemats warn you not to take your burger out of the bun to avoid spilling the special sauce everywhere

I'd definitely recommend anyone that has the chance to go pay the Sunnybank MOS Burger a visit, even if you've never been to one in Japan before. Nay, especially if you haven't been to one in Japan before! MOS Burger should be experienced at least once by anyone that likes a good burger. It's a little more expensive than your usual fast food fare, but all their food is made with fresh, local ingredients, and is quite a bit tastier, too. They even have a few soups and salads on the menu, though I have yet to try them. I really hope they are well-received and consider expanding to the rest of Australia in the near future!