The last entry was actually an uploaded text file from my PC that I wrote about two years ago, around the same time I wrote a similar article for Devil May Cry 3. (You know, one of the very first entries on this blog?) Aside from a few updates, it doesn't better reflect why I consider the original Starcraft one of my top five favorite games of all time.
I bought SC1 shortly after it first came out for the PC. I just started 7th grade, age 12. I had played Warcraft II and loved it, and had heard that SC1 was even better. Turns out; it was. It was a lot more than Warcraft in Space. Of course, no one could have predicted the game's success on Battle.net, nor in South Korea. Kids I knew at school were talking about Starcraft. Of course, being the asstards that they were, most of them favored Terrans. I myself am a Protoss man. Of all the Starcrafteteers I've met in real life, exactly one favored Zerg, and one besides myself favored Protoss. A few years back, I asked somebody, "Why does everyone favor Terrans? Most of their units die easily, it takes forever to repair their mechanical units, and Wraiths suck compared to Scouts. Why?" The guy I asked gave me one reason:
"Cuz they got nukes!"
Pi-shaw, I say. PROTOSS 4 LIEF!
But of course, there was more than that. Like I mentioned previously, SC1 excelled in the aesthetic department. It was one of the best-looking 2D games of the times, and the pre-rendered cutscenes were, for the time, really good. Actually, scratch that somewhat: the intro for Brood War remains one of the most moving and chilling sequences in videogame history. (Speaking of which, I got Brood War shortly after that came out, age 13. Now I have Dark Templars, and you fuckers with your Valkyries are toast.) Not only that, the story is one of the best in game history. When I first played SC1, I wasn't expecting a sweeping space opera, one filled with betrayal, warfare, Xanatos Gambits, and occasional humor, all set to a dark yet mature tone that's all too rare in the videogame industry. I still regard Jimmy Raynor, Tassadar, Fenix, Zeratul, and Artanis as some of the greatest heroes in history. Still, I shouldn't have been too surprised; I had played Chrono Trigger and the beginning of Final Fantasy 7 prior to playing SC1; I knew games could have strong writing.
12 years later, I still regard Starcraft as the best real-time game ever that depicts warfare. Command and Conquer? Too much action, too little strategy. Warcraft III? The campaign that played like Diablo was more fun (Oh, but the fall and rise of Arthas was worth it). Homeworld? Control scheme is too cumbersome. The only, only RTS wargame that comes close to SC1 in terms of overall package is the first Warhammer: Dawn of War. There are days when I think I have more fun playing Dark Crusade than SC1, but that's the only true challenger I've seen in my life as a gamer.
Now, I did say I spent my money recently. You wanna know what I spent it on? A new video card. That costed quite a bit. Then I bought Starcraft II. At first, I had some issues. However, I have worked around such issues.
My life for Aiur.
(Next time, my thoughts on SC2! En Taro Tassadar!)
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Starcraft: A Love Story. Part One
It’s sold millions of copies the world over. It’s the national pastime in South Korea. Fans clamored for a sequel for many years, which they finally received in July of 2010. Which gaming phenomenon am I referring to now? Starcraft, Blizzard’s best-selling real-time strategy game. It’s more than just a game; it’s an unstoppable phenomenon.
Starcraft, released in 1998, uses a modified “Warcraft II” engine, Warcraft II having been released in 1996. The first thing you’ll see in Starcraft is the incredible artwork in the background, the units, and especially the prerendered cutscenes. If the game weren’t so violent and dark, one could call it beautiful. It certainly is more striking than any Blizzard game before it. Fixed at a “640 by 480” screen resolution, Starcraft’s system requirements are very low. Almost any modern computer can run this game. Perhaps it’s no wonder that the game is so popular; just about anybody can play it.
And yet, despite the superb singleplayer campaign, what with its terrific voice-acting, unforgettable storyline, and challenging gameplay, it’s not the story-driven campaign mode that Starcraft fans remember most; it’s the custom games that are remembered most. All multiplayer games are custom, usually pitting one commander against another in a deathmatch to destroy one another. The player can play as one of three radically different races: the Terrans, a race of space-faring humans, the Protoss, an alien race with advanced technology and psychic powers, and the Zerg, a hive of insect-like creatures that live to hunt lesser prey. Unlike in many other real-time strategy games of the time, all three factions are radically different. For example, the Terrans have a unit called the Ghost, which can turn invisible and launch nuclear warheads at a designated target, provided no one can ‘detect’ the Ghost before he drops his payload. The Protoss, meanwhile, have plasma shields that effectively give all of their units and structures a second life bar, but should a Protoss’ shield run out, it will take normal life damage, and the normal life bar for a Protoss cannot be restored, but the shield life bar can. And the Zerg ‘trains’ all of its units at the hatchery, the main structure where resources are turned in. Should a Zerg base lose its structures but not the hatchery, a Zerg player will always be able to create Zerglings to fight back, but lose any and all hatcheries, and the player cannot ‘train’ anymore units, not even the ubiquitous Zerglings. I am just scratching the surface here.
Why Starcraft has endured, and why so many of its contemporaries have not, is because of the depth and complexity of the whole game. It is certainly complex, more so than Warcraft I and II, but not so much as to turn away casual gamers. The depth can make it seem like you’re playing more than one game; a Protoss versus Protoss matchup feels very different from a Terran versus Zerg matchup. Or maybe you don’t want to wipe out the enemy as the main objective? Starcraft offers countless maps and game modes all for free from the internet, everything from re-enactments of Starship Troopers to Capture the Flags with Hydralisks is available, all thanks to the game’s powerful Campaign and map editor. Why the PC version of Starcraft is remembered and not the N64 port is because of the custom maps. The Campaign editor is what allows Starcraft to remain popular a decade after its release.
Is Starcraft the best strategy game ever? Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. But is it one of the best? Most definitely. No one would deny its place in videogame history. It’s still played very extensively on Battle.net, a feat most other 12-year old games can't claim.
Now why on Earth would I be making an entry entitled, “Starcraft: A Love Story. Part One”? Stick around to find out more.
(At least now, I’ll be taking a break from gushing about cute girls with huge eyes.)
Starcraft, released in 1998, uses a modified “Warcraft II” engine, Warcraft II having been released in 1996. The first thing you’ll see in Starcraft is the incredible artwork in the background, the units, and especially the prerendered cutscenes. If the game weren’t so violent and dark, one could call it beautiful. It certainly is more striking than any Blizzard game before it. Fixed at a “640 by 480” screen resolution, Starcraft’s system requirements are very low. Almost any modern computer can run this game. Perhaps it’s no wonder that the game is so popular; just about anybody can play it.
And yet, despite the superb singleplayer campaign, what with its terrific voice-acting, unforgettable storyline, and challenging gameplay, it’s not the story-driven campaign mode that Starcraft fans remember most; it’s the custom games that are remembered most. All multiplayer games are custom, usually pitting one commander against another in a deathmatch to destroy one another. The player can play as one of three radically different races: the Terrans, a race of space-faring humans, the Protoss, an alien race with advanced technology and psychic powers, and the Zerg, a hive of insect-like creatures that live to hunt lesser prey. Unlike in many other real-time strategy games of the time, all three factions are radically different. For example, the Terrans have a unit called the Ghost, which can turn invisible and launch nuclear warheads at a designated target, provided no one can ‘detect’ the Ghost before he drops his payload. The Protoss, meanwhile, have plasma shields that effectively give all of their units and structures a second life bar, but should a Protoss’ shield run out, it will take normal life damage, and the normal life bar for a Protoss cannot be restored, but the shield life bar can. And the Zerg ‘trains’ all of its units at the hatchery, the main structure where resources are turned in. Should a Zerg base lose its structures but not the hatchery, a Zerg player will always be able to create Zerglings to fight back, but lose any and all hatcheries, and the player cannot ‘train’ anymore units, not even the ubiquitous Zerglings. I am just scratching the surface here.
Why Starcraft has endured, and why so many of its contemporaries have not, is because of the depth and complexity of the whole game. It is certainly complex, more so than Warcraft I and II, but not so much as to turn away casual gamers. The depth can make it seem like you’re playing more than one game; a Protoss versus Protoss matchup feels very different from a Terran versus Zerg matchup. Or maybe you don’t want to wipe out the enemy as the main objective? Starcraft offers countless maps and game modes all for free from the internet, everything from re-enactments of Starship Troopers to Capture the Flags with Hydralisks is available, all thanks to the game’s powerful Campaign and map editor. Why the PC version of Starcraft is remembered and not the N64 port is because of the custom maps. The Campaign editor is what allows Starcraft to remain popular a decade after its release.
Is Starcraft the best strategy game ever? Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. But is it one of the best? Most definitely. No one would deny its place in videogame history. It’s still played very extensively on Battle.net, a feat most other 12-year old games can't claim.
Now why on Earth would I be making an entry entitled, “Starcraft: A Love Story. Part One”? Stick around to find out more.
(At least now, I’ll be taking a break from gushing about cute girls with huge eyes.)
Monday, August 16, 2010
so much for conspiracies
Well well, looks like my fascination with Key Visual Arts won't let up. I recently watched the anime version of Air on Funimation's website . . . and I didn't like it.
Man, I am so sorry I complained about the ending of Kanon. I take back what few criticisms I made for that show; Air has got nothing on Kanon. The story is much weaker, the ending is much weaker, the characters aren't as interesting, the art and animation are nowhere near as good as Kanon's, and the girls aren't as cute! I can say only a couple of good things about it: one, it has an above-average English dub. (Then again, so did Kanon.) Two, I like the opening theme song. Three, the episodes in the past were slightly more interesting, even if it felt like an entirely different series. Well then, it's obvious that KyoAni wasn't as experienced with this; I've heard the Air VN is better . . . OF COURSE!
Now I'm only even more interested in watching Clannad. Too bad no stores where I live carry anime DVDs anymore. (SHUT UP, TARGET! DRAGONBALL Z AND POKEMON MOVIES DO NOT CONSTITUTE A HEALTHY ANIME SELECTION!) However, I can't buy it at the moment because I'm spending my money on something else first. What it this something else? You'll find out in due time. However, in even further due time, (if that's even grammatically correct) I will also acquire Clannad DVDs, make no mistake. It better be good though; I don't wanna have to pawn these off to my mom's cousin like I have for some of the video games I no longer desired to own.
Oh yeah, speaking of Key, my article for them has been edited to reflect new findings of mine. But good God, I swear, looking at promotional artwork for Kanon, Clannad, and Little Busters is like submerging yourself in a big, deep, fat vat of moe. One of two things can happen, depending on who you are: one, you will suffocate under the calls of Gao and eyes shaped like The Full Moon. Or, Two, you will feel so happy, aauuuuu~ (And like Yuichi, you might even find yourself saying Uguu on occasion.) Me? I don't care about being submerged in moe, so long as it's good moe.
Oh yeah, I have read in a few places that it's actually not unusual for men of my age* to like feminine things like cute girls in pretty dresses and long beautiful hair. However, these articles also claimed that such men like these things because they desire to raise a daughter. Okay smarty pants, what about me? I have no desire of becoming a father; why would I be a sucker for cute feminine girls, including a few moe girls, huh? I guess it's a question for the ages.
*And by men of my age, I mean men who don't care about posturing as a "real" masculine man. one reason why I like the Touhou fanbase; none of them would be interested if they didn't think liking cute girls was "faggoty." God Bless ZUN.
Man, I am so sorry I complained about the ending of Kanon. I take back what few criticisms I made for that show; Air has got nothing on Kanon. The story is much weaker, the ending is much weaker, the characters aren't as interesting, the art and animation are nowhere near as good as Kanon's, and the girls aren't as cute! I can say only a couple of good things about it: one, it has an above-average English dub. (Then again, so did Kanon.) Two, I like the opening theme song. Three, the episodes in the past were slightly more interesting, even if it felt like an entirely different series. Well then, it's obvious that KyoAni wasn't as experienced with this; I've heard the Air VN is better . . . OF COURSE!
Now I'm only even more interested in watching Clannad. Too bad no stores where I live carry anime DVDs anymore. (SHUT UP, TARGET! DRAGONBALL Z AND POKEMON MOVIES DO NOT CONSTITUTE A HEALTHY ANIME SELECTION!) However, I can't buy it at the moment because I'm spending my money on something else first. What it this something else? You'll find out in due time. However, in even further due time, (if that's even grammatically correct) I will also acquire Clannad DVDs, make no mistake. It better be good though; I don't wanna have to pawn these off to my mom's cousin like I have for some of the video games I no longer desired to own.
Oh yeah, speaking of Key, my article for them has been edited to reflect new findings of mine. But good God, I swear, looking at promotional artwork for Kanon, Clannad, and Little Busters is like submerging yourself in a big, deep, fat vat of moe. One of two things can happen, depending on who you are: one, you will suffocate under the calls of Gao and eyes shaped like The Full Moon. Or, Two, you will feel so happy, aauuuuu~ (And like Yuichi, you might even find yourself saying Uguu on occasion.) Me? I don't care about being submerged in moe, so long as it's good moe.
Oh yeah, I have read in a few places that it's actually not unusual for men of my age* to like feminine things like cute girls in pretty dresses and long beautiful hair. However, these articles also claimed that such men like these things because they desire to raise a daughter. Okay smarty pants, what about me? I have no desire of becoming a father; why would I be a sucker for cute feminine girls, including a few moe girls, huh? I guess it's a question for the ages.
*And by men of my age, I mean men who don't care about posturing as a "real" masculine man. one reason why I like the Touhou fanbase; none of them would be interested if they didn't think liking cute girls was "faggoty." God Bless ZUN.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wait, how could xm know about what he censored in the last entry?
Let me tell you a story. A sad story. A very tragic story. A story of my past, and what it relates to what I was writing in my last post.
We must go back to the time I was "friends" with a bunch of conformist nerd assfucks back in high school. I don't remember exactly when this happened, but I know it had to be sometime between mid 2001 and late 2002, for reasons I will explain later.
One of the people in this posse was a girl who was an anime otaku, and I mean that in a literal sense. This girl fit nearly every stereotype that English-speaking anime fans have about fangirls, minus loving yaoi. (That last one not being present because I live in an extremely homophobic community, but I digress.) Look at my article on MAL about why I hate the anime fanbase; this girl fit 4-and-a-half of the points on there. I say half because she never admitted to liking anime boys over real life boys, but she was definitely guilty of watching anime only for "hawt guyz." Granted, she never called herself an otaku, she never hated an anime simply for popularity, (She was a
heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge
fan of Inuyasha.) but all of the other points applied to her. Also, she claimed to be an expert on Japanese pop culture.
She had something none of us did at that time; broadband internet. With this, she could acquire fansubbed anime. She would play it for us anytime we visited. This was how I was exposed to anime like Battle Athletes; through her. One curious thing about her fansubs was that they usually had the intro and ending sequences edited out, to both shorten the length, and conserve memory space. This is an important detail.
One day, she played the first two episodes of what she called a "shoujo" series, which, in her words, was basically Japanese for "chick flick." But hey, I had seen a couple of chick flicks, some of them were good, so I figured, why not? I saw the two episodes, and I came to the same conclusion of this show that I had for every other anime I had seen in my life at that time, "Jesus! This show sucks!" Oh yeah, my "friends" called me out for this, "You're just too used to American cartoons!" To which I would say, "No. I hate it because this anime sucks; I call it like I see it." But what was the name of this anime? My lady "friend" said it was, and I quote, "Fushigi Yugi." And without being able to see the title sequence, that is what I came to know of this series, this boring, lifeless, sexist, retarded anime.
In mid 2003, the start of my senior year, was when I had a falling out with these "friends." I called them all out for their bullshit, and basically said I never wanted to see any of them ever again for as long as I live. This is one reason I have never given out my true name on the internet; I don't want one of them knowing my whereabouts, because if they did, it would completely fuck things over for me. However, keep in mind, my reasons for leaving them wasn't because they were anime whores; it was for much, much more serious reasons. And as I have admitted, if they had shown me Trigun or Eva, I wouldn't have spent four years straight avoiding all anime and manga.
Now we flash forward to late 2007. I was getting into anime for the first time, good anime. However, I was running short. I wanted to watch an anime that wasn't on adultswim.com, but where? Well, some of my online colleagues at the time were talking about anime they liked, and one of the series they recommended was a series called "Fruits Basket." One of them even said that even if you hate shoujo, you'll love Fruits Basket. I had read parts of the Cardcaptor Sakura manga, so I knew there was good shoujo out there, even for a 20-something American male such as myself. Low and behold, on one of my days off, I see an online ad from Funimation.com (the conspiracy goes back that far, no, even farther! It was their dub of the older FMA anime that "converted" me, so this wasn't unusual) advertising a series called Fruits Basket, and it even said, "Watch the first 3 episodes for free!" Well, like I said, I liked a few chicks flicks, so I figured, why not?
So I started watching the first episode, then, about halfway, I started getting the strangest sense of Deja Vu, like, I had seen this somewhere before, but I ignored it. I figured a lot of shoujo just used similar art styles.
But about a quarter of the way through the second episode, (hey, I was bored, okay?) I finally figured it out, "Hey! This is Fushigi Yugi! Or . . . is it!? What's going on, here!?" I stopped watching (you should know why by this point) and hit up Wikipedia. "Was Fruits Basket just an Americanized title for Fushigi Yugi?" (Hey, I didn't know better at the time; titles do get changed sometimes when they're licensed.) Upon my research, I found myself laughing maniacally; I had never seen Fushigi Yugi. All this time, that stupid know-it-all bitch thought Furuba was Fushigi Yugi! Well, keep it mind, pirated materials don't always get it right; some of my ROMs have incorrect titles in the file names, so maybe fansubbers get the wrong title too. Also, this was before Furuba was even licensed in America, hence why I said this happened between mid 2001 and late 2002; fansubbing wasn't quite the "art" that it is now. Because of this, I actually apologized to the NPF, since I had claimed I hated Fushigi Yugi, when I really should've bashed Furuba in an "anime you don't like" thread I posted in. (Yeah, this was before late 2008, so I was still active on the NPF when I figured this out.)
Of course by now, those "friends" probably realized the truth too; they probably figured it out even before I did, but this is the truth; I have seen Furuba in Japanese AND English. And, in all honesty, it sounded better in English. In fact, it sounded really good in English. I didn't know who any of the VAs at the time were, but it doesn't surprise me now that Laura Bailey was the lead female protagonist. Sadly, no matter how good the dub is, it can't save a project as insipid as Furuba. And that's why this is such a sad story; good dubs can't save bad anime, and the real reason many self-proclaimed nerds don't have friends is not because they're shy, but because they are elitist, know-it-all assholes. They're probably hiding out in the NPF right now; that would be their ideal environment.
We must go back to the time I was "friends" with a bunch of conformist nerd assfucks back in high school. I don't remember exactly when this happened, but I know it had to be sometime between mid 2001 and late 2002, for reasons I will explain later.
One of the people in this posse was a girl who was an anime otaku, and I mean that in a literal sense. This girl fit nearly every stereotype that English-speaking anime fans have about fangirls, minus loving yaoi. (That last one not being present because I live in an extremely homophobic community, but I digress.) Look at my article on MAL about why I hate the anime fanbase; this girl fit 4-and-a-half of the points on there. I say half because she never admitted to liking anime boys over real life boys, but she was definitely guilty of watching anime only for "hawt guyz." Granted, she never called herself an otaku, she never hated an anime simply for popularity, (She was a
heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge
fan of Inuyasha.) but all of the other points applied to her. Also, she claimed to be an expert on Japanese pop culture.
She had something none of us did at that time; broadband internet. With this, she could acquire fansubbed anime. She would play it for us anytime we visited. This was how I was exposed to anime like Battle Athletes; through her. One curious thing about her fansubs was that they usually had the intro and ending sequences edited out, to both shorten the length, and conserve memory space. This is an important detail.
One day, she played the first two episodes of what she called a "shoujo" series, which, in her words, was basically Japanese for "chick flick." But hey, I had seen a couple of chick flicks, some of them were good, so I figured, why not? I saw the two episodes, and I came to the same conclusion of this show that I had for every other anime I had seen in my life at that time, "Jesus! This show sucks!" Oh yeah, my "friends" called me out for this, "You're just too used to American cartoons!" To which I would say, "No. I hate it because this anime sucks; I call it like I see it." But what was the name of this anime? My lady "friend" said it was, and I quote, "Fushigi Yugi." And without being able to see the title sequence, that is what I came to know of this series, this boring, lifeless, sexist, retarded anime.
In mid 2003, the start of my senior year, was when I had a falling out with these "friends." I called them all out for their bullshit, and basically said I never wanted to see any of them ever again for as long as I live. This is one reason I have never given out my true name on the internet; I don't want one of them knowing my whereabouts, because if they did, it would completely fuck things over for me. However, keep in mind, my reasons for leaving them wasn't because they were anime whores; it was for much, much more serious reasons. And as I have admitted, if they had shown me Trigun or Eva, I wouldn't have spent four years straight avoiding all anime and manga.
Now we flash forward to late 2007. I was getting into anime for the first time, good anime. However, I was running short. I wanted to watch an anime that wasn't on adultswim.com, but where? Well, some of my online colleagues at the time were talking about anime they liked, and one of the series they recommended was a series called "Fruits Basket." One of them even said that even if you hate shoujo, you'll love Fruits Basket. I had read parts of the Cardcaptor Sakura manga, so I knew there was good shoujo out there, even for a 20-something American male such as myself. Low and behold, on one of my days off, I see an online ad from Funimation.com (the conspiracy goes back that far, no, even farther! It was their dub of the older FMA anime that "converted" me, so this wasn't unusual) advertising a series called Fruits Basket, and it even said, "Watch the first 3 episodes for free!" Well, like I said, I liked a few chicks flicks, so I figured, why not?
So I started watching the first episode, then, about halfway, I started getting the strangest sense of Deja Vu, like, I had seen this somewhere before, but I ignored it. I figured a lot of shoujo just used similar art styles.
But about a quarter of the way through the second episode, (hey, I was bored, okay?) I finally figured it out, "Hey! This is Fushigi Yugi! Or . . . is it!? What's going on, here!?" I stopped watching (you should know why by this point) and hit up Wikipedia. "Was Fruits Basket just an Americanized title for Fushigi Yugi?" (Hey, I didn't know better at the time; titles do get changed sometimes when they're licensed.) Upon my research, I found myself laughing maniacally; I had never seen Fushigi Yugi. All this time, that stupid know-it-all bitch thought Furuba was Fushigi Yugi! Well, keep it mind, pirated materials don't always get it right; some of my ROMs have incorrect titles in the file names, so maybe fansubbers get the wrong title too. Also, this was before Furuba was even licensed in America, hence why I said this happened between mid 2001 and late 2002; fansubbing wasn't quite the "art" that it is now. Because of this, I actually apologized to the NPF, since I had claimed I hated Fushigi Yugi, when I really should've bashed Furuba in an "anime you don't like" thread I posted in. (Yeah, this was before late 2008, so I was still active on the NPF when I figured this out.)
Of course by now, those "friends" probably realized the truth too; they probably figured it out even before I did, but this is the truth; I have seen Furuba in Japanese AND English. And, in all honesty, it sounded better in English. In fact, it sounded really good in English. I didn't know who any of the VAs at the time were, but it doesn't surprise me now that Laura Bailey was the lead female protagonist. Sadly, no matter how good the dub is, it can't save a project as insipid as Furuba. And that's why this is such a sad story; good dubs can't save bad anime, and the real reason many self-proclaimed nerds don't have friends is not because they're shy, but because they are elitist, know-it-all assholes. They're probably hiding out in the NPF right now; that would be their ideal environment.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
I love writing
Today, I uploaded a new chapter of Mentor and protege, the long-awaited origin story of Alice Margatroid, as I have interpreted her.
But, that's not all.
I now have brought back Ask Rachel Alucard.
Today is a good day for xm0123.
But can I talk about Blaz Blue some more?
-Ragna and Jin seemed to have performed a role reversal. Now, Ragna is an asshole! And I now find myself liking Jin! Oh man, I got a bad feeling of how this is gonna end.
-Litchi is now making Tsubaki cosplay . . . does she know no boundary!? (pun intended)
-Speaking of Tsubaki . . . I never knew magenta hair could be so beautiful . . . okay, it's official now; I consider Tsubaki the prettiest of the BB cast. Is that why Noel feels so inferior?
-(Luna) GAWD! THE FANS ARE SO OBNOXIOUS! ALL THEY CARE ABOUT ARE THE WOMEN'S BODIES AND TROLLING EACH OTHER DURING MATCHES! (Sena) Settle down, Luna. Not all fans of Blaz Blue are bad. (Luna) Oh yeah!? And what about xm!? He didn't even credit you or Platinum also being voiced by that one actress he likes! (Sena) Well, I doubt he could recognize my voice, and he did think that Platinum sounded a lot like Toh-(myself) SHOVE IT! DON'T YOU DARE REMIND ME OF ONE OF LAURA BAILEY'S MORE *ahem* FAMOUS ROLES! I ASSOCIATE HER WITH MARLENE ANGEL, KURO-CHAN, LUST, MAKA, AND YOU GUYS, not . . . her! (Luna) Gawd, man! Take a chill pill! It's just a silly cartoon! (Sena) Uh, Luna, just let sleeping beasts lie; I don't think he means any harm."
-The ending feels rather inconclusive . . . (Hazama) IT'S SEQUEL TIME ONCE AGAIN, DEAR AUDIENCE!
-I haven 't even played the arcade mode yet. I haven't even played as Mu yet. I still have much to learn.
Can't . . . stop . . . thinking about Blaz Blue.
But, that's not all.
I now have brought back Ask Rachel Alucard.
Today is a good day for xm0123.
But can I talk about Blaz Blue some more?
-Ragna and Jin seemed to have performed a role reversal. Now, Ragna is an asshole! And I now find myself liking Jin! Oh man, I got a bad feeling of how this is gonna end.
-Litchi is now making Tsubaki cosplay . . . does she know no boundary!? (pun intended)
-Speaking of Tsubaki . . . I never knew magenta hair could be so beautiful . . . okay, it's official now; I consider Tsubaki the prettiest of the BB cast. Is that why Noel feels so inferior?
-(Luna) GAWD! THE FANS ARE SO OBNOXIOUS! ALL THEY CARE ABOUT ARE THE WOMEN'S BODIES AND TROLLING EACH OTHER DURING MATCHES! (Sena) Settle down, Luna. Not all fans of Blaz Blue are bad. (Luna) Oh yeah!? And what about xm!? He didn't even credit you or Platinum also being voiced by that one actress he likes! (Sena) Well, I doubt he could recognize my voice, and he did think that Platinum sounded a lot like Toh-(myself) SHOVE IT! DON'T YOU DARE REMIND ME OF ONE OF LAURA BAILEY'S MORE *ahem* FAMOUS ROLES! I ASSOCIATE HER WITH MARLENE ANGEL, KURO-CHAN, LUST, MAKA, AND YOU GUYS, not . . . her! (Luna) Gawd, man! Take a chill pill! It's just a silly cartoon! (Sena) Uh, Luna, just let sleeping beasts lie; I don't think he means any harm."
-The ending feels rather inconclusive . . . (Hazama) IT'S SEQUEL TIME ONCE AGAIN, DEAR AUDIENCE!
-I haven 't even played the arcade mode yet. I haven't even played as Mu yet. I still have much to learn.
Can't . . . stop . . . thinking about Blaz Blue.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
I told you size doesn't amount to anything!
Even if she has smaller breasts than nearly all of the other girls, I still stand by my statement that Akiha-sama is the prettiest character in the Nasuverse! I told you I didn't care about boob size.
But that's not what's important; what's important is I found another fanfic for you all to read, one based off of Tsukihime.
Of Leaves and Lilac.
If you can find the thread for this on Beast's Lair, then you'll find my true thoughts on this fanfic, other than, "It's good."
As for my own fanfics . . . I'm pausing from Ask Rachel Alucard until I beat the story mode of Continuum Shift. I could post part 9 right now if I wanted to, but I'd rather waitand torture my fanbase even further until I at least see the true ending. I've already got parts of part 10 and 11 in the backburner, but I need to play more CS before I delve any further. For the time being, I am writing more Mentor and Protege. Hint; I am now finally getting a chance to write a young Alice, Shinki, and Yumeko. Oh, the grandeur of it all; it will be something, I know that. I also wrote more of the Yukari oneshot; sadly, that's still far from complete, but I'm getting closer, I'm getting closer. At the very least, I should have the next chapter of Mentor and Protege done before the end of the month. Ask Rachel Alucard will come back . . . whenever I can finish the story mode. I don't know when that will be; I can't just play whenever I feel like it.
But that's not what's important; what's important is I found another fanfic for you all to read, one based off of Tsukihime.
Of Leaves and Lilac.
If you can find the thread for this on Beast's Lair, then you'll find my true thoughts on this fanfic, other than, "It's good."
As for my own fanfics . . . I'm pausing from Ask Rachel Alucard until I beat the story mode of Continuum Shift. I could post part 9 right now if I wanted to, but I'd rather wait
Friday, August 6, 2010
MAL is fun
I have a confession. This is gonna sting, but I can't stay silent about it anymore.
I have a profile on animenewsnetwork. And at one time, I posted on their messageboards. Keep in mind, I didn't post that much; there's only about 20 or so posts to my name, however, I stopped posting there for a reason; ANNites are assholes. Gigantic, elitist, over-serious assholes. For them, anime and manga wasn't just a way of life; it was a crusade. Flame wars erupted over everything. EVERYTHING. Observe.
"I like Kanon. The girls are cute." "Moe fetishist! That is an unrealistic and sexist portrayal of females designed to give male (and lesbian female) otakus something to obsess/jack off over. You are contributing to the objectification of females and setting back feminist movements by admitting this!" "Um, dude, we're talking about Kanon, not K-on. Not all moe girls are the-" "-DO NOT JUSTIFY IT! YOU ARE RUINING ANIME!!!!"
"The English dub of Axis Powers Hetalia is really good!" "Here we go again, another naive fool who can't realize that seiyu are far better than English VAs. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the reason so many dub companies are folding is because they keep hiring the bottom of the barrel instead of people who can at least hold their own against seiyu?" "Um, dude, I'm pretty sure people like Todd Haberkorn and Monica Rial are far better actors than you ever could-" "-SILENCE! SEIYU AND THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE ARE FLAWLESS! THIS IS NOT NEGOTIABLE!"
"Wow, the anime of the last five years have been incredible!" "Wow, what an obvious new school fag. Maybe if you actually watched anime instead of whatever trash they're airing on Adult Swim right now, you'd realize that the 1990s was the golden age of anime." "Actually, I have watched anime from the 90s, and most of them sucked compared to anime from the latter portion of the 2000s." "I'll bet you're just saying that because the studios waste more money on artwork now just to satisfy graphics whores. (sighs) Why can't anime be entirely hand drawn again? No CGI, no digital coloring." "And you are aware that most pre-digital anime have absolutely atrocious coloring, right?" "NEW SCHOOL FAG!" "OLD SCHOOL FAG!"
Anything and everything degenerated into a flamewar. Unlike with the NPF, I didn't feel the need to tell off the messageboard, so I just completely disappeared, and let the "real" fans keep butt-hurting themselves, because I want to actually watch and enjoy anime, thank-you-very-much.
Now then, MAL is less formal than ANN, yes, and yes, there are trolls like the ones I illustrated above, but the overall atmosphere is much more relaxed in comparison, and the good fan/"real" fan ratio is much better from my observations. Also, I can post reviews there.
In other news, I finally came up with a list for favorite anime people on MAL. You can only have 7 though, so I had to be choosy. I won't say who they are, but I will give hints though.
Four of them are manga authors, although two of them have also dabbled in anime. I daresay their anime efforts are more popular, but whatever.
One of them is a writer for various anime series, some of which are god-like, some of which are overrated, but said writer's god-like works . . . yeeeeeeeeees.
Two of them are English voice actors, one male, one female. If you've been reading this blog since I started giving shoutouts to voice actors, you should be able to figure out who my favorite voice actress is by now. As for the male actor . . . you might be surprised. I have praised him in the past, but not that much.
But let's see why I would choose them. The actress is someone who can play a devious demon, a swordswoman, a data entity, a favorite character of mine from a PS2 game I used to own, a moeblob, the best friend of another moeblob, a robot girl with a reformatted memory, and also is in the game I'm currently flying. Gee, I wonder who that could be . . .
As for the favorite actor? Well, he was a corrupt army officer, than an angel of death (of sorts), then a former army man who goes against the flow of society, then a punk who's gonna RENOVATE YOUR ASS! then a rebel leader on Mars, and . . . who else?
"FOOL! Rule Numer 287 in my List of A Thousand Provisions that You Must Obey reads . . . (can't hear the rest, for I am zoning out)"
Oh yeah, and he was good enough to get a part in Soul Eater, too. Surprised? You shouldn't be.
"Hey xm, care to explain this?"
Oh, that, um . . . what do you think I would have wallpapers of? I sure as Hell wouldn't use a wallpaper of a Hollywood starlet of overrated talent and appearance, now would I?
Also . . . must . . . not . . . go . . . into . . . Kawaii overdose . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LATE EDIT: Too bad I changed my MAL lists since this entry. Spoiled my own joke; how could I!?
I have a profile on animenewsnetwork. And at one time, I posted on their messageboards. Keep in mind, I didn't post that much; there's only about 20 or so posts to my name, however, I stopped posting there for a reason; ANNites are assholes. Gigantic, elitist, over-serious assholes. For them, anime and manga wasn't just a way of life; it was a crusade. Flame wars erupted over everything. EVERYTHING. Observe.
"I like Kanon. The girls are cute." "Moe fetishist! That is an unrealistic and sexist portrayal of females designed to give male (and lesbian female) otakus something to obsess/jack off over. You are contributing to the objectification of females and setting back feminist movements by admitting this!" "Um, dude, we're talking about Kanon, not K-on. Not all moe girls are the-" "-DO NOT JUSTIFY IT! YOU ARE RUINING ANIME!!!!"
"The English dub of Axis Powers Hetalia is really good!" "Here we go again, another naive fool who can't realize that seiyu are far better than English VAs. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe the reason so many dub companies are folding is because they keep hiring the bottom of the barrel instead of people who can at least hold their own against seiyu?" "Um, dude, I'm pretty sure people like Todd Haberkorn and Monica Rial are far better actors than you ever could-" "-SILENCE! SEIYU AND THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE ARE FLAWLESS! THIS IS NOT NEGOTIABLE!"
"Wow, the anime of the last five years have been incredible!" "Wow, what an obvious new school fag. Maybe if you actually watched anime instead of whatever trash they're airing on Adult Swim right now, you'd realize that the 1990s was the golden age of anime." "Actually, I have watched anime from the 90s, and most of them sucked compared to anime from the latter portion of the 2000s." "I'll bet you're just saying that because the studios waste more money on artwork now just to satisfy graphics whores. (sighs) Why can't anime be entirely hand drawn again? No CGI, no digital coloring." "And you are aware that most pre-digital anime have absolutely atrocious coloring, right?" "NEW SCHOOL FAG!" "OLD SCHOOL FAG!"
Anything and everything degenerated into a flamewar. Unlike with the NPF, I didn't feel the need to tell off the messageboard, so I just completely disappeared, and let the "real" fans keep butt-hurting themselves, because I want to actually watch and enjoy anime, thank-you-very-much.
Now then, MAL is less formal than ANN, yes, and yes, there are trolls like the ones I illustrated above, but the overall atmosphere is much more relaxed in comparison, and the good fan/"real" fan ratio is much better from my observations. Also, I can post reviews there.
In other news, I finally came up with a list for favorite anime people on MAL. You can only have 7 though, so I had to be choosy. I won't say who they are, but I will give hints though.
Four of them are manga authors, although two of them have also dabbled in anime. I daresay their anime efforts are more popular, but whatever.
One of them is a writer for various anime series, some of which are god-like, some of which are overrated, but said writer's god-like works . . . yeeeeeeeeees.
Two of them are English voice actors, one male, one female. If you've been reading this blog since I started giving shoutouts to voice actors, you should be able to figure out who my favorite voice actress is by now. As for the male actor . . . you might be surprised. I have praised him in the past, but not that much.
But let's see why I would choose them. The actress is someone who can play a devious demon, a swordswoman, a data entity, a favorite character of mine from a PS2 game I used to own, a moeblob, the best friend of another moeblob, a robot girl with a reformatted memory, and also is in the game I'm currently flying. Gee, I wonder who that could be . . .
As for the favorite actor? Well, he was a corrupt army officer, than an angel of death (of sorts), then a former army man who goes against the flow of society, then a punk who's gonna RENOVATE YOUR ASS! then a rebel leader on Mars, and . . . who else?
"FOOL! Rule Numer 287 in my List of A Thousand Provisions that You Must Obey reads . . . (can't hear the rest, for I am zoning out)"
Oh yeah, and he was good enough to get a part in Soul Eater, too. Surprised? You shouldn't be.
"Hey xm, care to explain this?"
Oh, that, um . . . what do you think I would have wallpapers of? I sure as Hell wouldn't use a wallpaper of a Hollywood starlet of overrated talent and appearance, now would I?
Also . . . must . . . not . . . go . . . into . . . Kawaii overdose . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LATE EDIT: Too bad I changed my MAL lists since this entry. Spoiled my own joke; how could I!?
Thursday, August 5, 2010
giving recognition
Blaz Blue: Continuum shift has introduced a couple of new characters. Let's do some more voiceover trivia shall we?
A new NPC appears in the story mode named Relius. He is voiced by Travis Willingham. I didn't recognize him until I looked up my trusted (lol) wiki sources; it's the same voice as the Colonel of Central apparently. Once again, he does not disappoint.
A new Kaka character appears named Korakaka. She is played by Kate Higgins, but; I have my doubts. If it really is her, she sounds nothing like Sakura Haruno, Talho, and (insert frustrated sigh for agreeing to do this) C.C. Also, damn, that is one sexy voice she does for Kora. She's got a good range.
And last one; there is Platinum the Trinity, a girl with three personas. One . . . I have not encountered. The second is Sena, a little boy, whose voice I did not recognize. The third; A little girl named Luna. Okay, I think making a series of tvtropes links should describe my reaction when I identified Luna's voice.
(riotous laughter) Oh gawd! 8-year old Maka is calling Ragna a pedo! (pounds fists on table) I can't . . . stop . . . laughing!
Never stop voice-acting, Laura Bailey. If you're reading this, know that you have my up most blessing.
And of course, the returning cast is as great as ever, even improved in some cases. (most notably Michelle Ruff as Carl; he actually sounds like a little boy now, instead of a woman faking a boy's voice.) You see how a good dub job can go a long way to captivating an audience, readers?
A new NPC appears in the story mode named Relius. He is voiced by Travis Willingham. I didn't recognize him until I looked up my trusted (lol) wiki sources; it's the same voice as the Colonel of Central apparently. Once again, he does not disappoint.
A new Kaka character appears named Korakaka. She is played by Kate Higgins, but; I have my doubts. If it really is her, she sounds nothing like Sakura Haruno, Talho, and (insert frustrated sigh for agreeing to do this) C.C. Also, damn, that is one sexy voice she does for Kora. She's got a good range.
And last one; there is Platinum the Trinity, a girl with three personas. One . . . I have not encountered. The second is Sena, a little boy, whose voice I did not recognize. The third; A little girl named Luna. Okay, I think making a series of tvtropes links should describe my reaction when I identified Luna's voice.
(riotous laughter) Oh gawd! 8-year old Maka is calling Ragna a pedo! (pounds fists on table) I can't . . . stop . . . laughing!
Never stop voice-acting, Laura Bailey. If you're reading this, know that you have my up most blessing.
And of course, the returning cast is as great as ever, even improved in some cases. (most notably Michelle Ruff as Carl; he actually sounds like a little boy now, instead of a woman faking a boy's voice.) You see how a good dub job can go a long way to captivating an audience, readers?
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A firestorm of imagination
That's what Blaz Blue is; a product of a firestorm of imagination. It's rare when a game series has a setting, plot, characters, and dialog like in BB. Also, playing this game is setting off a firestorm of imagination within my own head, one pertaining to my most popular fanfic series. First, I'm gonna copy and paste a forum post of mine.
-I completed Carl's story mode earlier today (Which is really two days ago now). Damn, talk about hidden depths to his character. I particularly liked the gag reel; there was a music cue that played during that sequence that sounded a lot like Steiner's theme from Final Fantasy 9; I thought that was funny.
-Gah! All the rumors I've heard were true! Rachel has been absolutely neutered in gameplay! She was one of my subs in Calamity Trigger! I wonder if unlocking her Unlimited form might correct that . . .
-All of the new music tracks kick ass. I also sampled the DLC character themes from youtube just about an hour ago: Makoto's theme is pure distilled love for me.
-I love Tsubaki's uniform. It's so elegant, so awesome, so . . . you get what I'm saying. She's pretty cool to play too; maybe she can become one of my subs now that Rachel is near useless.
-When I used Hazama's Ouroboros for the first time, my initial reaction was "Whoa! Scorpion flashback!" Everytime I use that, I now shout, "Come here!" with sadistic glee.
All in all, it's been a worthy purchase.
Of course, that was yesterday. I now have more points to elaborate today.
-I completed Noel's story mode earlier today. Then again, Noel is one of my mains, and I still can pwn as her. The plot twist was one I already knew about, but things look like they're about to come full circle now.
-I also completed Tager's story mode today. I now like him and Kokonoe even more than before.
-Characters that were really minor in the first game have greatly expanded roles now. Tsubaki and Makoto are quite big players now, and even Linhua has more screentime. You see, this reminds of a conversation I had with my brother a few years ago; him and I both love Rescue Me (still watching), and one thing we love about that show is its huge cast of characters, most of them fleshed out. More meaningful characters means more potential, we agreed. I'm sure he'd agree that more characterization in BB:CS is a good thing, too. Only . . . he doesn't play video games very frequently like I do.
-"The 13th Hierarchical City Kagutsuchi; you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." You hear that, Mos Eisley!? You got some competition to your biggest claim to fame!
Oh, and guess whose story mode I started earlier today? Go on, guess.
"Uh, Bang?"
NO, YOU IMBECILE!
"Uh, from the way you're talking . . . Hazama?"
Oh, for the love of . . . What is my biggest claim to fame on FF.net!?
". . . Tao?"
Why yes, I started her story mode earlier today, but I also started playing-
"-Rachel?"
Yes. Rachel Alucard. Oh, how I adore thee, Rachel. I can't picture a more suitable candidate for the host of the tutorial mode.
Oh yeah, in addition to chapter 9 of Ask Rachel Alucard, I also already got started on chapter 10. When I finally come back, it's gonna be in a huge fashion, oh yes.
-I completed Carl's story mode earlier today (Which is really two days ago now). Damn, talk about hidden depths to his character. I particularly liked the gag reel; there was a music cue that played during that sequence that sounded a lot like Steiner's theme from Final Fantasy 9; I thought that was funny.
-Gah! All the rumors I've heard were true! Rachel has been absolutely neutered in gameplay! She was one of my subs in Calamity Trigger! I wonder if unlocking her Unlimited form might correct that . . .
-All of the new music tracks kick ass. I also sampled the DLC character themes from youtube just about an hour ago: Makoto's theme is pure distilled love for me.
-I love Tsubaki's uniform. It's so elegant, so awesome, so . . . you get what I'm saying. She's pretty cool to play too; maybe she can become one of my subs now that Rachel is near useless.
-When I used Hazama's Ouroboros for the first time, my initial reaction was "Whoa! Scorpion flashback!" Everytime I use that, I now shout, "Come here!" with sadistic glee.
All in all, it's been a worthy purchase.
Of course, that was yesterday. I now have more points to elaborate today.
-I completed Noel's story mode earlier today. Then again, Noel is one of my mains, and I still can pwn as her. The plot twist was one I already knew about, but things look like they're about to come full circle now.
-I also completed Tager's story mode today. I now like him and Kokonoe even more than before.
-Characters that were really minor in the first game have greatly expanded roles now. Tsubaki and Makoto are quite big players now, and even Linhua has more screentime. You see, this reminds of a conversation I had with my brother a few years ago; him and I both love Rescue Me (still watching), and one thing we love about that show is its huge cast of characters, most of them fleshed out. More meaningful characters means more potential, we agreed. I'm sure he'd agree that more characterization in BB:CS is a good thing, too. Only . . . he doesn't play video games very frequently like I do.
-"The 13th Hierarchical City Kagutsuchi; you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." You hear that, Mos Eisley!? You got some competition to your biggest claim to fame!
Oh, and guess whose story mode I started earlier today? Go on, guess.
"Uh, Bang?"
NO, YOU IMBECILE!
"Uh, from the way you're talking . . . Hazama?"
Oh, for the love of . . . What is my biggest claim to fame on FF.net!?
". . . Tao?"
Why yes, I started her story mode earlier today, but I also started playing-
"-Rachel?"
Yes. Rachel Alucard. Oh, how I adore thee, Rachel. I can't picture a more suitable candidate for the host of the tutorial mode.
Oh yeah, in addition to chapter 9 of Ask Rachel Alucard, I also already got started on chapter 10. When I finally come back, it's gonna be in a huge fashion, oh yes.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Doctored Bible passage in tow
The path of the righteous man/woman/squirrel/Kaka is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil Squigglies. Blessed is he/she/it who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the Lacking Ladies through the valley of Kagutsuchi, for he/she/it is truly Boobie Lady's keeper and the finder of Scruffy Men. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my meat buns. And you will know my name is Tao when I lay my meat bun-addled vengeance upon thee. Neow.
So it's safe to say I finally got a copy of Blaz Blue: Continuum Shift now. Uh, one complaint. This won't take long:
WHY IS THE ANNOUNCER'S VOICE SO FUCKING IRRITATING!?!?!?!? I CAN'T CONCENTRATE WITH THAT VOICE SHOUTING "COUNTER!" TWENTY TIMES A SECOND! FUCK! NOW I HAVE TO PLAY THE GAME WITH ALL OF THE VOICES TURNED OFF, EVEN THOUGH THE CHARACTERS STILL SOUND AWESOME! Way to fuck it up, guys. I was going to write about how Michelle Ruff has drastically improved as Carl now, but I guess you don't care about that, huh? (Fine. When I'm in story mode, I'll just hit the mute button for the actual matches, and listen to the battle quotes in the sound menu. I'll have the voices turned off for the other game modes, at least until I can figure out how to get the internet to work on my PS3 and download a different system voice. Hey, can I download stuff for my PS3 through my PC and flash drive like I did when I had to upgrade the firmware to watch Avatar? Huh.)
Anyways, that first paragraph alludes to the new "season" of Teach Me, Ms. Litchi! Of course. Also, I like the design on the front of the disc; makes Tsubaki look nice.
Oh, also, I have a text file opened on my PC. You know what the title of this text file is?
"Ask Rachel Alucard Part 9"
It's in the works again . . .
So it's safe to say I finally got a copy of Blaz Blue: Continuum Shift now. Uh, one complaint. This won't take long:
WHY IS THE ANNOUNCER'S VOICE SO FUCKING IRRITATING!?!?!?!? I CAN'T CONCENTRATE WITH THAT VOICE SHOUTING "COUNTER!" TWENTY TIMES A SECOND! FUCK! NOW I HAVE TO PLAY THE GAME WITH ALL OF THE VOICES TURNED OFF, EVEN THOUGH THE CHARACTERS STILL SOUND AWESOME! Way to fuck it up, guys. I was going to write about how Michelle Ruff has drastically improved as Carl now, but I guess you don't care about that, huh? (Fine. When I'm in story mode, I'll just hit the mute button for the actual matches, and listen to the battle quotes in the sound menu. I'll have the voices turned off for the other game modes, at least until I can figure out how to get the internet to work on my PS3 and download a different system voice. Hey, can I download stuff for my PS3 through my PC and flash drive like I did when I had to upgrade the firmware to watch Avatar? Huh.)
Anyways, that first paragraph alludes to the new "season" of Teach Me, Ms. Litchi! Of course. Also, I like the design on the front of the disc; makes Tsubaki look nice.
Oh, also, I have a text file opened on my PC. You know what the title of this text file is?
"Ask Rachel Alucard Part 9"
It's in the works again . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)