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Question to Everyone |
filed:11/20/2005 by GM
Does anyone know the possible licensing/copyright infrigment the Bratz franchise has incurred by releasing DDR/GuitarFreaks rip-offs for this holiday season? Did Konami silently sign off the partial rights or what?
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018 :: Phony Sony |
filed:11/13/2005 by GM
By now you've probably heard about the Sony DRM incident involving Sony shoving a hidden program on their music CDs to prevent a user from creating too many copies of the music. The end result was someone figuring this out and exploiting it via a trojan.
There are so many things wrong with this situation. Firstly, taking advantage of consumers' trust. Who thought that just by simply listening to a CD on your computer that you could have software unknowingly installed on your computer and well hidden? Nothing is safe anymore. Above that, it's an invasion of your space. There's no problem with the company who created the rootkit but there is a problem with the fact they sold the technology to Sony. When this is brought to court, they'll probably be forgotten.
And then you have to think.. Sony is in hard times. They're so desperate to cash in our their investments (musicians) that they'd do something so goddamn underhanded. That's the corporate mentality for you.
How long is it going to take before this completely blows up in Sony's face, leaving bits and pieces to permanently scar the company? When a large company grows a Capcom complex (a complete lack of consumer care, bloodlust for more cash, compromising quality), the consequences can be quite depressing.
Now, I don't buy CDs. They're too expensive and I don't believe enough of the money actually goes to the artists. What do I do? I go to the shows. I know that the money I hand the doorman will in some way reach the band at some point after they pay whomever for setting up the venue. I buy merchandise straight from the band. While this might seem completely unbelievable to those who like mainstream, expensive bands.. it's a completely healthy win-win situation.
This isn't going to solve the people of the world's problems. But if you feel uncomfortable downloading MP3s and not buying their CD, just keep my simple plan in mind. And remember how TLC went broke. You can sell millions of records and still end up with no cash. When artists are only getting quarters for every CD sold, someone has to do something. But then on the other hand, the RIAA is still bloodthirsty for those who still download MP3s illegally. So maybe there's no way to prevent buying CDs.
If Sony is employing these tactics to keep their investments, what are other record companies going to do? What are they doing now? This is one incident out of what could be many more to come regarding DRM bullshit.
How is this going to hurt Sony.. It seems as the business quarters come and go, Sony continues to dig itself a larger and larger grave. Sony's electronics have the prices of Apple but the quality of third-party Chinese parts. Coincidentally, I happen to live in a Sony household. And the ratio of working to non-working Sony products in this house seems to hold steady at 5:2. Let's not even get started on the horror stories of the PlayStation console itself..
One of the last Sony products that I still have faith and love for is the Mini-Disc. I love my Hi-MD player. I love MDs and the cuteness of having awesome floppy disk-looking disks containing playlists upon playlists of music. But on the other hand, I hate the fact that right at this moment, I have doubles of MP3s in Sony's music format.. because MD players (cheaper ones) can't play MP3s. It's not so inconvenient that it bothers me honestly.. but ease of playlist functions and being able to draw pictures on my MDs are the only reasons I keep a MD player.
There's nothing holding Sony up anymore. And nothing for them to fall back on. Who knows what will happen after this but they better think of something.
I'll probably still end up going to the Metreon tomorrow.
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slow news day |
filed:11/12/2005 by GM
Uhm, yeah. Haven't been posting at all lately because there hasn't been much to talk about. Besides events surrounding the Xbox360's release, random Japanese things to complain about, and SquareEnix doing exactly what I say they'll do.. there hasn't been much to post about. I've been keeping up though.
We'll start posting again soon.. you know, once something happens that doesn't involve watching all six Star Wars movies at once.
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017 :: Placing the Gizmondo |
filed:10/24/2005 by GM
Tiger Telematics' Gizmondo went on sale in the United States this past Saturday. Chances of people actually buying it? Haha!
Companies see how "successful" the PSP has been since its launch and think, "hey, I can do that." But due to the fact they don't have enough game makers behind them, they end up making predominately portable media devices instead.. Devices that play video, music, and take pictures. It seems that portables that do all these things are flooding the market.
And it doesn't matter how old you are. They have these sorts of things for children and adults.
So what makes the Gizmondo so great? It has a dumb name first off. It happens to play games but the screen is smaller than the PSP. Gizmondo hopes to fix this when they release a newer version with a wider screen. Currently there are only fourteen titles out for it now, ranging in price from 20$ to 40$. The graphics for most of the games don't look too great. Looking at screen shots I'm reminded of the Game Gear, honestly. I hate nothing more than coarsely textured models.
Gizmondo plays music (mp3s & WMA). It plays videos and movies. It has Bluetooth, instant messaging, and GPS. They don't mention the quality of the camera that Gizmondo has, so I'm assuming it's webcam-quality.
The tricky thing about Gizmondo is its Smart Adds, intensely targeted advertisements on your portable. Why would anyone want this, besides for promotions/"free" stuff? Who wants to look at three ads a day on their portable? The company says the ads are unobtrusive and only show when you're not playing a video or a game. Just the idea that these people know my personal information in addition to the information of where the hell I am all the time (via Gizmondo's GPS) freaks me out. I'm just curious as to wither or not you can choose to NOT be "subscribed" to Smart Adds. I haven't found anything on the net about being given the choice.
Even though I don't believe in Sony that much anymore, I would rather purchse a PSP instead. At least I can watch my porn on a nice big screen and play Splatterhouse on my emulator. I don't need advertisers chilling out in my pocket all the time, knowing my location, offering me food stuffs from 7-11. And quite frankly, I wouldn't want to buy something that could do everything. I have a cellphone, Hi-MD player, and a laptop for a reason goddamnit.
The question still remains, is anyone going to buy a Gizmondo? Probably not. That's just me though. While the GPS feature is charming and at the same time, liable to make people (me) paranoid, I'd rather just buy TomTom GPS for my PDA. You can have John Cleese tell you where to go too. Sweet.
filed under: Gizmondo, TomTom GPS
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016 :: Gamer Girl Stereotypes |
filed:10/22/2005 by GM
Part 2 of gamer girl stereotypes.. this time around, we're covering the Otaku.
For those ignorant of the term "otaku", it's primarily used in the United States to describe persons obsessed with anime, manga, or Japanese things in general. There's a long history of the term in Japan, being used for geeks and serial killers. People argue that it's much broader than being used for anime dorks, but I just think those people have too much free time.
Stats:
Trademarks: Poor eye sight and licensed Gainax accessories.
Age: tweens to 30-somethings
Body-type: typically uninteresting
Music: J-pop and Visual Kei
Likes: Cute things, anime, manga, LiveJournal drama, yaoi, Sanrio, Gloomy Bear, going to anime conventions, sketching, bittorrenting fan-subtitled anime, role playing on IRC.
Dislikes: LiveJournal drama, dubbed anime, TokyoPop, waiting in line for T.M. Revolution concerts, overpriced Japanese things.
Games: Final Fantasy titles, RPGs, MMORPGs
Online hangouts: Side7, Deviant Art, LiveJournal
Quote: "Chii!"
Important notes: Otaku (already in plural form) come from all sorts of places in America. They dwell in small towns, large cities, and everywhere in between. Because of this, they tend to come in different shapes, sizes and colours. Mostly they're white. Otaku girls can hang out in packs among themselves or mixed with other otaku boys. They spend their free time watching anime they downloaded at home and reading manga at Borders. Most of them have annoying voices due to the fact they try to emulate female Japanese voice actors/seiyuu. They tend to have messy relationships due to the high occurrence of mental illness with Otaku.
Motive: There is no universal motive when otaku girls play video games. Some play to better fit in with guys, some play because they like the character designs, while others just play to play. They can be found mostly playing World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, and other more obscure RPG titles distributed by Atlus game company. They also love to play rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution and Parappa the Rapper.
Subtypes: Subtypes for Otaku tend to lean towards the more specifically obsessed. Visual Kei girls, Elegant Gothic Lolita wannabes, Kogal Rejects, and Fan Voice Actors exist within the Otaku world. They all play the same video games in the end, however.
Otaku girls are hard to tolerate unless you yourself watch anime and read manga. Otherwise, their antics become old very quickly and you'll soon want to slap some sense into them.
Next and last to cover: Small town girl
filed under: otaku, Anime Manga
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015 :: Short Stuff |
filed:10/21/2005 by GM
A quick round-up of things going on lately.
Kojima is working on a Revolution title. I suppose I would be excited if I even knew when the goddamn console was coming out for sure. Ugh.
Over at Spong, they have an interview with Jack Thompson. If you don't know about the doucheness that is Mr. Thompson.. let's just say that after all the accusations/rash generalizations and after all the crap he's said about "drooling" gamers, he's being investigated by the Florida Bar Association thanks to some persistent kids at Penny Arcade.
Continuing on the topic of violence in video games, over at Game Revolution they have an article about how youth violence has declined these past couple of years regardless of video games. Then again, when was the last time you saw a juvie getting arrested on COPS mid-playing video games.
Honestly, so long as children kill each other, politicians/parents/other officials will always try to find a scapegoat other than the child's ignorance or the parent's negligence. It's just a poor coincidence that consoles have progressed so much in the past couple of years that they can actually make detailed, gory video games. I remember when I was growing up, parents were accusing Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers for the increase of violence amongst children. I've never in my life seen a seven year old do a bicycle kick like the Pink Ranger.
Is the fox really guarding the chicken coop? ESRB is under fire for supposedly neglecting to do what it was suppose to do. Using the PSV system could possibly improve the ratings system by using traffic light colours. Though the system might be better than ESRB's, it would increase the cost of video games.. something that is not needed at all.
GM's theory on SquareEnix's new plot to become even lazier bastards? Confirmed.
To my dismay, Xbox may not have slimmed down everything like I thought. Apparently the power source is a goddamn brick. :[ We have the technology to build Xbox360s, but yet we can not design a nice, decently small power supply?
China, being awesome and backwards, has instated a new law. Maybe they'll stop stealing respawn grounds in FFXI now.
Sony is dumb as usual, releasing a pretty silver version of its PS2 console. Thing is, it isn't compatible with some games? Oh well, at least it looks nice. I guess. But how does Sony expect me to practice my throw commands and play mahjong now? :[
filed under: Sony, SquareEnix, Jack Thompson, violence in video games
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014 :: Gamer Girl Stereotypes |
filed:10/21/2005 by GM
This is part one in a series of three posts outlining the most common gamer girl stereotypes. I think that if girls want to be taken seriously in gaming, they must strive to break these stereotypes.
There is a trinity when it comes to gamer girls. This trinity consists of the main three parts and its lesser, subtypes. The three parts are Hot Topic Reject Girls, Otaku, and Small Town Girls. This entry is about Hot Topic Reject Girls.
Stats:
Trademarks: Drama-mongering and bad dye jobs.
Age: typically underage.
Body-type: Varies from skinny twig to obese.
Music: Green Day and Linkin Park.
Likes: Emily Strange, Hot Topic's insult bunny, Lord of the Rings, Orlando Bloom, sulking alone in her room, yelling at her parents for no reason.
Dislikes: "Labels", people who try to "oppress" her, being underage.
Favourite Games: Whatever guys are playing and maybe Dance Dance Revolution.
Online hangouts: thedilly, Green Day fan sites (talking politics, no doubt), LiveJournal
Quote: "I'm ugly." (They say this so people will disagree with them and make them feel better.)
Important notes: The Hot Topic Reject (HTR) comes in many forms.. from mallrat tween to anti-social 19 year old. These girls tend to be considered poseurs in their respective habitats (usually school) so when going to the arcade their "polished" image is readily accepted by dysfunctional boys. It's not unusual to see these girls show up to the arcade with a posse of boys following them around. These nerdy, typically unattractive boys (only as unattractive as the girl) tend to be much older than the girl and quite possibly only hang out with her for the partial chance of making their lolicon dreams come true.
Motive: HTRs only play games to pick up guys. Due to the unfavourable attitude people have towards them, HTRs surround themselves with fanboys quite similar to the Otaku girls (covered in next post). Constantly feeling supposedly unwanted their whole lives, they go to arcades to pick up a fan club and makes themselves feel better with attention. Typically, they only play games that a majority of guys are playing. Even if they aren't any good, there will still be one or two losers who will pay attention to them. HTRs are hard to tolerate because they're unstable and constantly start drama with everyone around them. Only boys with low self-esteems can tolerate their crap on a daily basis.
Subtypes: Known subtypes of Hot Topic Rejects are as follows: Underage Emo Kid, Goth Reject, and Prepubescent Punk Girl. Their motives are the same usually.
HTRs tend to never hang out with one another. There is no room for girl competition within one group so HTR girls travel by themselves or with their fan club.
Next to cover: Otaku
filed under: Gamer Girls, Hot Topic Rejects
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013 :: Girls + Japan |
filed:10/18/2005 by GM
I grew up around comic books. When my older brother moved out of the house when I was three, I inherited all of his comic books. Of course it was no use to me then considering I didn't know how to read but it paved the way for my constant relationship with comic books for years to come.
When I moved to San Francisco from LA, I happened to live around the corner from a comic book store. When things got boring or difficult at home, I'd simply walk around the corner and hang out at the comic book store. Instead of stifling my male traits like at home, I was welcomed there.
I tried to read comics. But mostly none of them interested me because of poor artwork and writing. I still hung out at the comic book store however, because it was like a sanctuary.
Over the years, I've seen the comic book crowd slowly change. Instead of the regulars who would come in for their savers, there were more adolescent girls coming in to buy manga novels. As time went by, more and more girls kept coming in.
I'd go to anime conventions every year. Not because I liked anime or manga, but because I was always curious what these people were buying. The otaku ("obsessed with anime/manga/Japanese things") crowd seemed to be willing to shell out hundreds of dollars in a couple of days on frivolous Japanese things.
Eventually the manga titles and merchandise we were selling at con and at the comic book store ended up also being sold at Borders and other non-typical stores. Quite honestly, the Borders in downtown SF's manga section almost rivals my comic book store's.
It's important to note the popularity that anime/manga has garnered these past couple of years. You can track these things through a timeline of television shows and video games.
Do you think anyone had remembered the poor Final Fantasy franchise when Final Fantasy 7 came out? Or if anyone had even remembered Chrono Cross when Chrono Trigger was released?
The point isn't Japan's new place in American pop culture.
The point is, before Japan, girls (in the majority) didn't care much for video games or comic books.
While sadly, the majority of girl gamers only play RPGs and whatever FPSes their boyfriends play, I see that there is still room to improve. What will this mean for guy gamers?
1) When a coin line is long at an arcade, guys must tolerate girls standing behind them putting on their makeup and/or complaining how they were skipped in line because they had to go to the bathroom.
a) Girls trying to skip in coin lines by using their "feminine wiles."
2) You won't be able to tell wither you're playing against a 12 year old boy whose balls haven't dropped yet or a girl when playing games with voice option.
3) Being embarrassed/teased by your guy friends when losing to a girl at anything.
4) A tougher time preordering certain games, depending on how long it takes girls to spread out their interests.
5) Putting up with girls who don't play games to play games, but simply play them to try and pick up guys.
The good things about the whole situation is that it won't be such a sausage party when you go to arcades or hold a LAN party. Maybe you might be able to get a girlfriend who actually understands.
My only warning to guys everywhere is.. don't give your girlfriend your WoW/Lineage II/Everquest II account information. If you break up, you'll regret it when you sign in and realise you have no character anymore. Just remember not to freak out like the Asians do and kill some fool.
filed under: girl gamers are dumb, anime manga
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012 :: Stubbs the Zombie |
filed:10/18/2005 by GM
I actually checked EP's email today and found an email from someone on behalf of M80 & Ignited Minds, about a little game called Stubbs the Zombie. While normally I don't humour street teamish promotion, this game just seemed bad enough for me to reply.
Stubbs the Zombie made by a bunch of ex-Bungie people. It runs on the HALO engine amongst other things that're similar to HALO. Automatically, between me and Roy, we have something against the game. I love zombies but feel that lately the topic has been overdone.
In the game, you play a zombie attacking people. That's about it. There's co-op.. and it plays like HALO co-op. Oh well.
They're trying to shove the soundtrack down everyone's throats. Just because they have faggoty groups like Deathcab, Phantom Planet and the Walkmen, they think they have some sort of cred. When searching for Stubbs the Zombie video game, I got more results for the soundtrack than the actual game website itself. Because we all know that all the kids who love zombies are apparently indie emo rejects. Boo-hoo, my girlfriend ate me!
The community for this game would be the same if it were about pirates. It seems now a days developers can make weird video games about certain topics and then all of a sudden have street teams promoting them.
The only thing I have to say about this game that's good is that their analog artwork is nice. That doesn't count for much.
If this review hurts anyone, go listen to some Deathcab.
filed under: Stubbs the Zombie
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011 :: In the News |
filed:10/18/2005 by GM
Craigslist asks Oodle to stop using their classified ads. What some people consider "helping", most just consider siphoning information to be used as content since whomever is too lazy to create any content themselves.
LeapFrog, quite possibly the only company directed towards young children that has impressed me in recent years, has been advertising for their Fly pentop computer for weeks on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. I'd get one if it weren't expensive.
read::
CNET
Every single Xbox360 event that's been held since HALO 2 fever has died down, the question has been asked.. When is HALO 3 coming out? While I don't care, I'm growing dreadfully tired of hearing about it. Bungie is working on something. Is Bungie trying to pull a Rockstar by keeping quiet and working on something completely different in the meanwhile? At this rate, it could be years for another HALO if indeed they aren't working on it currently. We'll have another Gran Turismo situation on our hands.
read:
Kikizo - Microsoft Tiptoes Around HALO
Something Roy might like to hear. SNK Playmore is releasing a dating sim for i-mode-supporting cellphones in Japan. GM's picks for who to romance? Mai (she's fucked all of Japan already) and Kula (even though she might have a penis). You even have a rival guy in the game. The artwork is pretty skanky. Good going SNK. Other cute things for your cellphone thanks to SNK? Tennis, Samurai Spirits and Metal Slug. Playing fighting games on your cellphone will hurt your fingers..
If you've been watching Adult Swim lately and been wondering about what the hell is Gametap yet always forget to check, I suggest heading over to Gaming Age. They have a two part introduction to the service. And even after reading, I still haven't been to the website. I just like their Mexican village PacMan commercial.
filed under: Xbox360, Gametap, SNK, HALO 3
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010 :: New Phone |
filed:10/18/2005 by GM
I did some research on this a couple weeks ago when thinking about getting a new phone. My current phone (z500a) isn't that old yet nor has it turned out like my last phone (T306) where a year and a half after I got it everyone had one since they were so cheap. Actually when I got my z500a, a lot of the promised software accessories they said would be located online weren't even uploaded onto the website yet. Regardless, I'm looking for a new phone to look forward to getting once the price drops.
My requirements? 2 megapixel camera and MP3 support. Oh yeah, and not ugly.
What I ended up with? Sony Ericsson's new W800 cellphone. It's attractive, will null my need for a Hi-MD player somewhat, and memory can be upgraded with memory cards that I have lying around the house gathering dust because I at one point in time owned an MP3 player..
Reason why I buy Sony Ericsson phones over Motorola? Because I'm too lazy to buy new accessories if I bought a different brand of phone.
filed under: Sony Ericsson, mobile phones
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007 :: Minute Monday News |
filed:10/03/2005 by GM
Things you should take into consideration.
15 Year Old Boys Only - Something always pisses off someone who knows nothing. From events like Ice-T's Cop Killer, Laura Bush against everything, and the Dance Dance Revolution Solo2k machine incident, people who know completely nothing about what they're against have seemed to ruin things for the rest of us. But how often have I said, "I feel like playing a hentai dating sim" and fifteen minutes later I'm downloading one off the internet? I don't even play GTA anymore since finishing Vice City with 100%. While the politicians "cut down" on sex and violence in video games, I'll always have Japan. Thank you Japan for scat and pedo pr0n. Thank you Japan for the endless amounts of DOAX hentai doujin I read on a daily basis. Thank you Mai Shiranui for fucking everything and everyone in Japan. Nippon ichi!
read:
CNET - Adult-oriented video games prospering
HALO and DOA fans - Both sharing equally bad taste, though HALO fans worse, it would be horrible to see these two groups get together. I'm sure the HALO fags who showed up to EVO this year were wondering why DOA wasn't included in the competition line-up. "Why are they playing these shitty pixely games?" "Dude, only faggots play these kinds of games." Over the course of me sitting outside the main event hall at EVO, three HALO people had come up to me and asked me for a cigarette. The first one took two puffs then put it out. HE WASTED A WHOLE CIGARETTE. He did this right in front of me too. So when the next two people came up to me, I just yelled at them about the evils of being a piece of trash. I love titties as much as the next person, if not more, but Dead or Alive isn't a fighting game. And HALO is just like every other FPS. Get a new hobby, Xbox inbreds.
read:
1UP - HALO Character in DOA4
Americans Can't Do Anything Right - Gizmondo. Besides having a really dumb name for a product that reminds me of a lunchbox drink (Mondo), Gizmondo's company is already facing criticism based on potential corruption and shady actions in general. Is it all a misunderstanding? Who cares. Their handheld sucks. Where's my Game Gear?
read:
Spong - Gizmondo Execs Respond to Corruption Insinuations
GamePro - Gizmondo Planning To Invade US Cities
Trying to Be Cool - Apparently politicians (again) are up in arms about Marc Ecko's Getting Up. What I'm wondering is where the fuck were these people when Jet Set Radio was released? Oh wait, I forgot. No one noticed the Dreamcast at all besides otaku-tachi and kids who burnt copies of Dreamcast games. Whatever. Yet again, I'm positive Jet Set Radio is ten times better than Getting Up. Sega, you're always a winner with me. It's not because I want/need a job and it just so happens that your HQ is simply a bus ride away for me. Yeah.. And what the hell is up with this new "urban" trend in video games? Stop it.
read:
Yahoo! Game News - Marc Ecko Tags the Web
Mobile Otaku - I already posted about Square giving up the console market and paying attention more to mobile games. Well, thank god! Because since Sony is cutting down on PSP mods, I might not be able to play SNES titles of Final Fantasy anymore! What will I do? Play them on my cellphone! Omfg! The following news story only mentions the Wonder Swan version of Final Fantasy being released, but it wouldn't surprise me that Square would want to make money off of FF1-6 YET AGAIN with a rerelease for cellphones. Ugh, I swear, if I have to hear annoying FF music when I'm on the bus because some annoying girl with homemade loose socks is playing on her cellphone.. I already get into fist fights on the bus, to say the least. And I have no problem hitting women.
read:
GamePro - FF and DQ Coming to Mobile Phones in US
Nightmare Before and After - I help out at a comic book store in my spare time. And since 1997, I've seen a steady stream of Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise flood the store. I never understood this, considering the movie came out in 1993. And still, even to this day, we still receive new merchandise and I even see the stuff in places like Hot Topic now. I don't understand what Nightmare Before Christmas had to do with the Disney universe in Kingdom Hearts, besides an excuse to make Donald Duck and Goofy look like zombies. Why does everyone suck Tim Burton's cock so much? The movie wasn't that great. The only reason why I'd watch the Corpse Bride is to support stop motion animation, but I might as well watch Wallace and Gromit. At least they spell things the English way like I do.
read:
Game Infowire - Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge
filed under: hentai, HALO, Gizmondo, Marc Ecko, Dreamcast, Sega, otaku, Tim Burton
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006 :: Pac-Man |
filed:10/02/2005 by GM
A feud that's gone on for two decades.. I hate Pac-Man.
As a child, I saw everything connected to Pac-Man as useless marketing. Do you remember those mini-arcade machines they made? They were really cute and had games like Galaga, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man? I think they might have re-released them lately. My sister had one of those and as a kid it really bugged me. Probably because she wasn't a gamer. She was just one of those people who would occasionally drop by the mall's arcade, waste a dollar then leave.
Yeah, I watched the Pac-Man cartoon. It was nothing compared to the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. I totally did the Mario.
And I really hated that Pac-Man Fever song. Listening to it more than once in a sitting will make me homicidal.
Namco made the terrible decision to turn Pac-Man 3D. I had to watch these commercials for Pac-Man 3D quite often because they felt the need to buy out all the time on the Japanese channel I'd watch. Another thing that angers me is that everyone is so quick to ruin things by taking something that's so simply 2D and degrading it by turning it 3D. (think Final Fight: Streetwise) I don't care much for these revamps.
If Pac-Man just lived the rest of his life being (in)conspiciously shoved into the stages of Tekken, I'd have no qualms. But the fact that they're still trying to breathe life into the franchise makes me angry. Pac-Man wasn't that great of a game. Let the poor yellow freak die in a respectable 2D manner.
Furthering my hatred for Pac-Man, Manhattan and Jinpachi Mishima.
filed under: Pac-Man, Namco, Tekken
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005 :: become an asshole/good |
filed:10/01/2005 by GM
I don't believe in hobbies. I was never taught to half-ass something. If you're going to do something, become completely obsessed and drown yourself in it. I thought I was the only one who had this mentality until I found other people who played the same video games as I did.
Every day is spent practicing. You fear the day you hit that "wall." The wall is a place where you've reached your limit and can only improve by making extra effort. Think of it as hitting a high level in an MMORPG and looking at your EXP wondering how you're going to manage to level up again. Either you can go find a better dungeon with better, high-level spawn or make the ignorant mistake of using low-level spawn and macro'ing. So once you hit that wall, it really tests your charisma, skill and dedication. Some people continue to improve, some people never actually hit the wall, and others will stay at their level for the rest of their career.
Being around people who understand this concept and fear it as well is liberating but will also feel like personality suicide on your part. Every day you and your friends push each other, possibly getting angry at the tiniest flaws in your performance. It doesn't take long until that perfectionist-mentality spreads to the rest of your life. All of a sudden you turn into an asshole. It's crazy.
Imagine a whole group of these socially dysfunctional obsessed. You bring these people together and leave them alone at an arcade and you'll end up with more drama and gossip than an episode of Degrassi: Next Generation.
I was a huge asshole. I still am, but at least I have it under control. I refuse to let any game rule my life like before. While this will mend my temperament and weed out my fucktard gamer friends over time, I can't help but think I won't be good at anything ever again. It's kind of defeating.
Let's see how long I can wallow in self-defeat before I take up a new life revolving solely around one video game. I could always play Ultima Online again. Hah.
filed under: social gaming, otaku
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004 :: Fast Friday Thoughts |
filed:9/30/2005 by GM
Game Boy Micro - I might have been sleeping a lot due to being sick.. But the Game Boy Micro just came out of nowhere. It could also be because I don't really care much for Nintendo. It's not that they're not good at what they do. It's actually the opposite. Nintendo is so completely stable, there's no point in me tracking the company because I'll have nothing to complain about. If I had the attention span for portable gaming and didn't have a DS, I'd totally get a Micro.
read:
Gaming Age - GB Micro review
GamePro - GB Micro Sales Surge in Japan
Japanese Togetherness - SquareEnix acquired Taito. Bandai and Namco officially merged. Sega Sammy? Playmore or SNK? I'm so confused. Stop it!! >:/
read:
Gamasutra - Namco Bandai Formally Created, Discusses Plans
GameStop - Square Enix to diversify business model
Walk of Gay - For a year or something, at the Metreon while walking around the second floor you'd see all this crap on the ground. Around the Metreon they have been promoting the Walk of Game since they came up with it last year. Current inductees are: Nolan Bushnell, Shigeru Miyamoto, HALO, Link, Mario, and Sonic The Hedgehog. Now, this would be great if it weren't for the fact that no one notices or even cares. If Sony is trying to mimic Grauman's, they're failing miserably. And why HALO? Ugh. I hate the Metreon.
Sony whines about cracks - The only reason why anyone should ever consider getting a PSP is for modding. My friends and I were waiting for our porn hacks. If we can't have portable porn, what's the point? Well, Sony wants to rain on our porn parade. I'm not going to pay for porn UMDs, dammit. This is one of the many reasons why I hate Sony.
read:
CNET - Sony cracks down on PSP hacks
Spong - Hackers Dupe Sony
Revolt, revolt - I'm kind of tired of hearing about the Revolution's controller. All I'm honestly concerned about is wither or not I can bludgeon someone to death with it. If I can't, then it isn't that great. Which makes me wonder wither or not I could kill someone with a Game Boy Micro..
read:
Yahoo! Games - Nintendo Stratego
Computer Games Magazine - New Power Generation
みんな大好き塊魂ＧＭ大好き板垣伴信 - Itagaki is not only an avid hater of Tekken, but is also a short-film director! Who knew. Oh you ugly piece of crap, I love you and your big-breasted CG daughters. Yay Itagaki! (Note: I think in no way is DOA a fighting game. I happen to think Tekken isn't one either.)
read:
Spong - Itagaki Savages Tekken
1Up - A Week with Team Ninja
filed under: Sony, Nintendo, Metreon, Game Boy Micro, Revolution,
Itagaki
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003 :: State of Affairs |
filed:9/30/2005 by GM
or how I learned to stop worrying and love the Xbox360
Over the years, my allegiance to Sony has wavered. My cellphone may still be an Ericsson, my portable music player may still be a Hi-MD player, my nice flatscreen monitor is still a Sony (and so is my TV) and I still own a PlayStation (first gen) and PlayStation2. But with the new wave of consoles coming out, I've decided to give up my loyalty to a faulty company and buy an Xbox360.
For me, the only reason to possibly buy an Xbox before was to mod. However, what's the point when I can play all these emulators on my computer? Needless to say, I never bought an Xbox, instead opting to live vicariously through my brother's. My video game tastes tend to lean towards whatever perverts in Japan like. I admit one of my favourite Xbox games is Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, to a point where I actually own one of the licensed swimsuits. (Lamina) I like pretty graphics and ginormous breasts.. in addition to liking fighting games with good systems (VF4). But all the Team Ninja tits in the world couldn't have gotten me to waste my money on an Xbox.
Microsoft made a lot of mistakes with the Xbox. Selling only one third of their units in Japan, there was no reason for Japanese to buy the system. Itagaki believing firmly in the capabilities of the Xbox system made a deal so that a limited edition bundle would be released with Kasumi love pillows. The only reason why Xbox did okay in the states was because of all the PC-ported games and HALO. Then the release of Street Fighter Anniversary edition (3s on XboxLive) and CvS2 (XboxLive). Fat white kids everywhere who use Ken and Terry didn't have to leave their homes and play on arcade joysticks that they don't understand how to use!
But something happened. A year and a half after PS2 was released, I realised that the system was obsolete. It had been released just a little bit ago and it was already obsolete. Hell, the Dreamcast isn't around anymore but it isn't obsolete even just yet. Compare Street Fighter Third Strike for PS2 to Third Strike for Dreamcast, and anyone who seriously plays 3s would opt more for the Dreamcast version. And I respect Gamecube as a system. But all the games seem completely intangible to me. I don't want to play Mario games or Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. I might want to play Animal Crossing, but I lost my life temporarily to that game and it scares me.
Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox are all in the past. We have the Revolution, PS3, and Xbox360 now. I still intend on buying a Revolution and a PS3, but my Xbox360 will be my baby.
The feeling of redneck-ness has kind of dissipated from the Xbox franchise. You have to admit that the only people who bought Xboxes to begin with were people who lived in the middle of nowhere, knew no better, and didn't care about importing video games over from Japan. People who just owned an Xbox and no other console were the kinds of people who played LAN'd HALO, sports games, and crushed beer cans on their foreheads. That's why none of my friends bought an Xbox for the longest time.. it had that pig-American stigma attached to it.
Microsoft not wanting to repeat the same mistakes has recruited Japanese video game makers. They see the problems that Sony will be facing with the PlayStation3 and are taking advantage. Microsoft has no pride. They don't care. They just want to be taken seriously, and up to this point no one has been taking them seriously. Remember what happened with Fable? The poor creator had to apologise for leading people on. How embarrassing.
Itagaki and I believe that the Xbox360 is a lot more tangible to game creators than the PS3 is. Sony has been very stingy with their releases, especially in America. Sony would prefer to just release their own in-house created games and make money for themselves as opposed to letting other people make money for a change. Yoichi Wada actually confirmed this briefly in his announcement to diversify SquareEnix. ".. game machine makers such as Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment controlled everything, including software development, manufacture, and distribution.."
Hopefully I won't be disappointed by the releases for Xbox360.
filed under: Xbox360, Itagaki, Sony
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002 :: Square |
filed:9/29/2005 by GM
I hate Square. Let's leave Taito and Enix out of this. I really hate Square. It wasn't always this way. I've played Final Fantasy (1) through IX. I was the fucktard waiting in line whenever the Metreon had special Final Fantasy events at the PlayStation store we have here in San Francisco. Yes, I even have a nice Final Fantasy Fan Day t-shirt (it's stained with chocolate, how funny.) I played all the other RPGs too.
What happened to make me hate Square so much?
I woke up one day and realised that their games suck. I realised that Final Fantasy VII wasn't that great. I realised that FFVIII was contrived, IX was short, and all X/X-2 were was fanservice. Kingdom Hearts, Parasite Eve, the Bouncer? What's the point. I have very little to say about Final Fantasy titles before VII because Square was still learning then.
What did they do with VII? They didn't even finish it. And now they're taking this chance to make a few extra bucks (read: Advent Children, mobile RPGs, etc) before they bow out to possibly fall into the same disorganised slump as Microsoft.
When a company expands too much, starts creating absolutely nothing new, and relies on old tactics.. they start to suffer from the Microsoft complex. Everything is disorganised, the employees are unhappy, no one in the business is impressed anymore. Square won't die from this, but I find nothing worse than being passed over because someone with a Google complex is doing something better.
I said I used to love Square. I loved Live-A-Live and Romancing SaGa. I've met Nomura. Until Square gets some balls and does something new and exciting that's actually Square's idea and not some left-over from Enix/Taito, I refuse to respect the company and its fans.
In some ways, I wish Square would somehow sabotage the Bust-a-Move franchise. Girls everywhere would be heartbroken. What would they do when they tag along with their boyfriends to the arcade? God forbid.
I am now surely guaranteed no readers. Or at least it will be set in stone once I get to talking about how much HALO sucks.
filed under: SquareEnix, Final Fantasy
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001 :: EP |
filed:9/29/2005 by GM
The first post for Electric Posse. Oh, it's only downhill from here. I project that after a couple of months, the "quality" of posts will degrade enormously. So enjoy these first few posts before EP becomes contrived like everything else I've ever worked on. I blame my rage.
I'm GM. I'll be bad-mouthing everything from here on. I would prefer to keep information about myself to a minimum on this blog, to avoid previous incidents. I ask that people who come here visiting who know me to respect my wishes. If you ever need to email me, feel free to do so.
This blog will mostly concentrate on video games but is not limited to such. I'll try to keep every post relevant however. There are links at the bottom of every post for you to comment or link.
The layout will fill up with more information gradually when more posts are made, outside links are found and quality-verified, and such.
I hope to include posts from people other than myself sooner or later. I don't think it will happen anytime soon given the fact that no one could possibly be as bitter and serious as I am. I'm sure there are people who know more about things like console gaming, but I have yet to find someone who can write and doesn't worship HALO or mindless Square RPGs. If you think you fit the bill, email me.
Update to come soon.
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all original content copyright EP
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