Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Arcades in Akihabara

Whenever I went to Akihabara, I was amazed at the towers filled with electronics.  Akihabara is known as “the electric city” pretty much for this reason.  You can get any sort of console, electronic part, or any video game you’re looking for.  In some of these towers were stories and stories filled with arcade games.



I spent more time than I would like to admit hooked to the arcade games.  There were floors filled with fighting games, floors of music/rythm games, floors for racing games, etc.  On some floors, there were tournaments with 30 or more people competing in Gundam or Persona Arena. Overall, it was an exciting and slightly overwhelming experience.



Wednesday, April 17, 2013

What I left out of my Persona 4 presentation




First off, since more people than I had anticipated didn't want to be spoiled, and others said they wanted to play this game after hearing my presentation, I have to say that I didn't get to any of the really spoilery stuff since I ran out of time, so if you plan to play the game don't go to the rest of the article after the jump. Just for the sake of people who may skim this opening paragraph:

SPOILER ALERT! END OF THE GAME DETAILS FOLLOW


Tail Concerto

My brother got a demo copy of the Japanese version of this game as part of the Underground Jampack disc series,  when he first bought his PlayStation in 1998.  I would spend hours playing the first level over and over, in a language I couldn’t yet understand, because this game was just so much fun.  Years later, I got my hands on the full version. Even though it’s a much older and less well-known game, its creative and unique approach at the adventure genre has given it a permanent place as one of my favorites.


The main character, Waffle, is a dog police officer who rides a mech, flies a zeppelin and is tasked with capturing naughty kittens wreaking havoc, all on his day off.  The kittens are led by a gang of three pirate-cat sisters, Alicia, Flare, and Stare. The only way to stop the kittens is by trapping them in bubbles (all of course for the sake of non-violence and family friendly-ness).

Check out this bubble action below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_OaeZX6uyg

Sequel to A Link to the Past announced!

This is pretty specific, but it's so exciting, I have to post it. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is getting a (currently untitled) sequel for the 3DS, which I never thought would happen. At the time of its release, the 1992 Action-Adventure was heralded for its engaging gameplay, excellent music, and (for the SNES) crisp graphics. In my opinion, it still holds up. If you haven't played it, I highly recommend buying an SNES and a copy of the game (definitely don't use an emulator like ZSNES to play a ROM you downloaded from a site like emuparadise.org) and experiencing it for yourself.

 
 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/17/new-zelda-game-announced-for-nintendo-3ds

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Hatoful Boyfriend: The Satire Dating Sim for Pigeon-lovers




Hatoful boyfriend (a pun between "heartful" and "hato [pigeon]") is a parody dating sim made for the PC and MAC.  Instead  of choosing from male or female human characters you would normally expect to find in a dating sim, you date, yes, pigeons.  Of course very few visual novels in this genre are as simple as just choosing who to date, they contain plot twists and characters with incredible backstories.  Hatoful Boyfriend takes this to a satirical extreme.

In this game, you star as a bright human girl who is accepted into a prestigious school for pigeons.  Your character has to be very smart, because the game subtly reveals it takes place in a dystopian future.  Even though it appears to take place in current day, human beings now live in caves and normally have a very primitive level of intelligence, with pigeons as the new master species.

Your choices include a psychopath school doctor, a wealthy, but aloof classmate, a ghost, your best friend, and more.  There are eight potential pigeons to choose from.  Some of the storylines are very typical, you spend time together, you fall in love, the end.  Some choices end with you falling in love with a CIA agent and running away together. 

This game is subtle, but if you keep a close eye, you will notice some pretty amazing things in the storytelling that go far beyond the usual dating sim.  


Thursday, April 11, 2013

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and Asia Divisions Will Merge



Due to the economic climate, Sony has announced that SCE Japan will take over SCE Asia in the near future. Hopefully the PS4 will be successful enough that no more jobs will be lost from the down economy. Since escapist entertainment tends to still do well (in a relative sense) in lagging economies, this is thankfully not a remote possibility.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/01/sony-fusing-asian-and-japanese-gaming-units-into-one/

Social Gaming in Japan

Dr. Serkan Toto gave an interesting presentation on social gaming trends in Japan, which I think are better understood by seeing his graphs, and since he has posted the full set of slides to slideshare.net, I'll just provide a link.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Is Ryona a real thing?

OFFENSIVE CONTENT WARNING (VIOLENCE, SEXISM)

Again, I'll have to give a short answer to the headline. Yes. Unfortunately, it is a real thing.

Ryona has come to be known in the Fighting games genre (specifically) in the last few years due to YouTube videos featuring gameplay video captures, and internet communities based around it. While apparently it has been around longer than that, this is how it relates to gaming culture: because video games provide an easy medium to create these kinds of videos, since only a single person's participation is needed.


So, what is it? Well, I'll let Wikipedia answer that (article has since been deleted, so this was copied from a different site which sources the definition as originating on Wikipedia):

"Ryona (リョナ), which comes from ryonanī (リョナニー), portmanteau of ryōki (猟奇, bizarre) and onanī (オナニー, masturbation), is a Japanese term for a sexual complex where a female character is, usually sexually, attacked or tortured by either a man or another female character(s). In the Western world, it refers specifically to artwork or manga depicting a physically hurt or wounded girl in sexual situations. While the term is recent, the theme has been in western culture since the 70's such as in horror films that features women being murdered or tortured. Ryona art is often explicit in nature; some common themes include Sadism."
Thankfully, it's an obscure and not-widely-subscribed-to fandom (Bronies sound downright delightful in comparison, don't they?). When I initially heard about it, I didn't actually believe it was real, because it sounded both too bizarre and--to be completely honest--too much like one of those urban legends that local TV news stations like to sensationalize, regardless of their basis in fact (anyone else remember Rainbow Parties, Jenkem, or "Strawberry Quik"?). But when I was thinking of video game blog topics to write about, I remembered that I had never actually checked to see if Ryona was a real thing, so I decided to put that rumor to rest for good so I could think of something else. Boy, did I regret that decision.

Normally, I'd post a link to my sources, and so forth, but in this case, I don't want to give these guys the page views. So instead, I'll tell you that if you really, really want to read about it, Google the title of this article and the sites will pop up. Or, if you prefer to not be mentally scarred for life...don't.

Instead, I'll just describe what you can expect to see if you do. 1) You'll see videos (obviously). 2) You'll see online communities based around it, and justifications that it's "not that bad", and so forth. 3) You'll see a big therapy bill, because you're going to need it after experiencing what 1) and 2) have to offer.

I would like to again state that this subculture represents a tiny sliver of gaming culture, and that the admittedly-still-has-problems-with-sexism gaming community at large primarily consists of people who will look at you with a mixture of disgust and confusion should you mention that you like Ryona (that is, if they know what it is. It really is that obscure).

In closing, I would just like to say: