Do readers dream of movie adaptations?

(tags book, 1968, science fiction)

I recently read Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Most people probably know it as original story inspiring the epic movie Blade Runner.

Um, my experience of reading the book was ruined because I already saw the movie. But of course! They are totally seperate, which is why the book felt ruined. I had the silly idea that the book should have a disclaimer that it's not related to the movie. Uh.

With that said, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It's timeless sci-fi.

Spoilers in ROT13 below

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Blu-Ray a deal? No deal?

(tags Blu-ray region A, 水樹奈々, Card Captor Sakura)

The Gamers Kobe store was showing off the new Nana Mizuki (水樹奈々) concert Blu-Ray disc "Live Fighter Blue x Red" in big HD. I was entranced. I could see the rivulets of sweat beading off her face. And she sure has great costumes. At that point I really wanted to get a Blu-Ray player. haha. Seiyuu3 explored the price difference between the DVDs and Blu-Ray version: 50 yen (9450yen retail). In the end I didn't bother, because I still have to watch her other concert DVD.

And I checked the pre-order for the Blu-Ray edition of Card Captor Sakura. (カードキャプターさくら) at my local Animate. There doesn't seem to store extras this time around, which makes me balk.

Punch this: Side scrolling fighting games

(tags game, Dual Screen, PlayStation Portable, side scroll, fighting, Final Fight, Double Dragon, The Warriors)

I found my purple GBA Micro under a mound of dust. Along side it was Final Fight One and Double Dragon, so I took both for a spin again, but this time, on my DS.

Final Fight One is pretty good. I practiced the "3 punch, rest, 3 punch, rest" move with Guy. Turbo attack is fun. I beat the game on Super Hard with minimal effort. 

I turned my attention to Double Dragon. That was pretty hard, until I remembered how to stick and move. Oh, and kicking enemies into the water or spikes is just refreshing. I can't do survival mode though. It takes all my effort to get to 18.

I then remembered I had The Warriors on the PSP so I took that out. Hm, I find it hard to stay interested in this one. It's dark, visibly and morally. I mean I gotta mug NPCs for money so I buy spray to tag up the walls.

Kicking virtual 3D people while they're down is so abhorrent, but I can't stop doing it! If it's 2D, I don't have any qualms. Is there some kind of uncanny valley for fighting?

PSP wants and Hitsuji-kun nara Kisu Shite Ageru

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, hardware, Naoto Tenhiro, illustrator, DLC)

Now I want to spend some time with the PSP. Never mind that I own two firmware-crackable PSP-1000 series, I am searching for a new/used PSP-2000. I missed my chance because I thought they would still be available. The currently available PSP-3000 seems to have a wierd screen, though I haven't seen it in person.

I was checking out the available used hardwares. There wasn't anything available in Osaka Nipponbashi for PSP-2000. Well it was a pretty good week for the PSP, because Square Enix brought out a Final Fantasy product and it seems to have sold half a million in just a couple of days, w00t. I wonder if it's Monster Hunter "Square Enix" version or something. Ahem, yeah. Okay, today I spotted a bunch of PSP-2000 used. None of them are my desired pastel colors so I am still waiting.

Macross Ace Frontier is waiting for me. Also I will be picking up that Idolm@ster PSP series that will be appearing next February (it seems to be delayed). I do want WipeOut Pulse, and my copy is just pulling at my heart strings every time I go to the store.

Finally, I just learned today from reading Gamaga Magazine that a "heartful", Naoto Tenhiro (天広直人) illustrated game will be coming soon for the PSP. It's called Hitsuji-kun nara Kisu Shite Ageru (羊くんならキスしてあげる). The original work has been serialized for some time now in that glossy gal-ge magazine, E2 (Media Works/Softbank).

Also, it seems to have a PC browser only game, available from an online game distributor Playing Drama, since 2007/04 (appearing in serialized form). Looking at this page, I bet the PSP version is only a port of this web/PC game. Ah hahah.... I just realized that I won't touch this web/PC game version, because it requires an online connection. To make matters worse, this online service will end 2009/03/31 and there's nothing written about purchased DLC. This means it will evaporate into nothingness!!! Hahaha DLC Death strikes again! Time to salvage the free background graphics and other stuffs, since that's what I care about.

Actually, the seiyuu seem to be a good lineup, including Saeko Chiba (千葉紗子) and Ryoko Shintani (新谷良子). The PSP version will have the same seiyuu, so I look forward to hearing them. Also it seems to use a vertical screen orientation, which is pretty novel. Finally, there will be a telephone card omake for different shops. I hate this kinda of exclusivity, but I'm used to jumping through (expensive) hoops for Tenhiro stuff. Hahah.

Careful with this Steam

(tags game, Windows, Steam, Unreal Tournament, puzzle)

The end of the year Steam sale has me filling up my cart... but I haven't checked out and purchased. Yes I wanna buy more games, virtually even.

I fixed my problem with buying stuff through my Steam Client. It turns out that my overzealous security settings in Internet Explorer 7 were blocking the Steam's Store from recording my additions to the Cart. Now I can keep stuff in my cart while shopping! huh.

So I want to get the ID super pack, the Unreal Pack, the PopCap games, and one indie game:

I've already experienced much of ID. Unreal stuff goes without saying. My mom had lots of fun with the PopCap series. She demoed Peggle to me. Also I really liked my time with Bejeweled 2 and Insane-aquarium (sp?) which I previously bought for my now dormant Sony Palm Clie. Finally I wanna try out either World of Goo or Aquaria. The World of Goo was declared contender for Game of the Year by Coding Horror's star programmer and extreme gaming enthusiast Jeff Atwood, so it deserves a look.

In total, I'm looking at USD 150.00. That's a lot for things that doesn't have a real physical presence. But I really like the convenience of Steam. I recently confirmed that the games are tied to my ability to log in, not just to a specific computer. I can move around with freedom and sponteniety. I can play the low-performance games on my laptop, then switch to higher-performance desktop to play the FPSs.

But I still haven't purchased. I've got till January 2 to decide, right?

Finally I've been looking at Good Old Games for their DRM-free selections. Steam is good, but still DRM-laden. Currently GOG's selection is paltry, but there were able to snag Unreal Tournament and also Fallout 1 and 2, so they are worth watching. Hope still burns for Sinistar Unleashed, hint hint hint.

I don't grok Mario Kart

(tags game, Mario Kart, Dual Screen, Gameboy Advance)

I finally finished the Cups in Mario Kart DS. On the last track my first power up was a Mushroom Boost, and after clearing the first shortcut it was an eeriely uneventful hair-raising ride. Not even a blue turtle shell broke my concentration. The fear of one, well that's the story.

Kart fever struck. I then dug out my old copy of Mario Kart Advance, because hey that has even more maps. I was not impressed. The 2d is so flat, so hard to see. Drifting seems to be blind, requiring rote memorization. I can't believe I played this game and like it. And of course, it's too difficult. I have not yet unlocked the 100cc Retro tracks. Give me Mario Kart DS any day, I need my 3D.

And on a slighty off-topic but still relating to Mario Kart, Steve Yegge on my blogroll wrote about dealing with programming unknowns, and he used Mario Kart as an analogy for a system. I still don't understand the "One-Way Wall". Perhaps I was totally stuck thinking about how to drift through the next turn. But I understood it when he mentioned meta-programming and reflection.

I want to fold spindle mutilate Mario Kart

(tags game, Dual Screen, Mario Kart)

I made some progress. I completed the 150cc class after some midnight game binging. I thought I was done, but no. Mirror mode. Well that's all fine and good but the last bunch of retro tracks are proving to be a horrendous loss of time. Stupid AI, rubberband position, and the slap in the face dumb weapons. I think I retried a cup 10 times.

One last class and I'm done, I hope.

What do I do with my DS now?!?

(tags game, Dual Screen, Chrono Trigger, Kumatanchi, Mario Kart)

It's old news to me, so this will sound like a diary entry.

I finished Chrono Trigger's DS extras about a week ago. Now I need to tackle the different endings and the crazy extra boss for the full unlock. It feels like work though, so I'm not actively playing this. I keep wondering why I felt this game was so good. After playing it for 40 hours, I am convinced that its lack of difficulty is what keeps this game ranked so high. I do like the music though.

Kumatanchi is almost totally complete. I unlocked and collected everything. Time travelling felt kinda sad though. Now there is just one more drama bit to be unlocked and I am totally finished. Then we can pull the battery out of this Tamagocchi forever. 2008-12-23 08:00. Never forget this date because I need to set my DS to this in order to keep Kumatan alive.

So I'm playing Mario Kart on my DS now. Copyright 2005, but I am still trying to unlock stuff because I rarely put any time into this game. 150cc is pretty hard for me, though. I never did clear 150cc on the SNES or GBA versions. On the DS version though, 150cc isn't too much of a death march. I hate how unfair the game is. Oh and I still don't understand how to power-slide. Right. Oh I totally forgot about the missions. Stuff to do.

All this racing is making me think about my PSP again, and how I wanted to get Wipeout Pulse and a new PSP-2000 series hardware. Hm, maybe over break I'll think about it.

I got Guitar Hero DS for cheep because the store is getting rid of non-DSi softs. Music games. Which reminds me of the Rhythm Tengoku Gold I haven't started yet. The original soundtrack for this game and the GBA version comes in one package but is about 5000 yen. Gotta play the game before buying the CD, right?

Tales of Encore and other products I missed

(tags CD, Deen, Ichigo Masimaro, DVD region 2)

I bought some CDs today, a holiday in Japan. Huh? Has nothing to do with Xmas.

I never am up to date on these things. I learned of Thyme's new single through the auction of a movie poster. This is three weeks old. I am a fan based on Thyme's opening song for the To-love-ru (とラブる) anime. Very upbeat, nice vocals.

Deen released the Nintendo DS soft Tales of Hearts opening single "Eien no Ashita" (「永遠の明日」) earlier this month as well. It had a DVD of the band with clips from the animated version and the CG version of ToH. I'm not into Tales, but I like how Deen's lead singer's tenor voice and how he smiles when he's doing the PV. Plus as a bonus, the DVD has a (slightly remixed from the PlayStation 2) opening for the PlayStation 1 game Tales of Destiny. Deen also provided that opening music, "Yume dearu you ni" (「夢であるように」). That is my single most favorite game opening song ever, I think, and they claim that this is the first time it is available on CD. Sure, if you don't count the 8cm CD version. This new single could also be my new fav.

I also picked up the drama CD for Kurenai. I don't know what I'm expect with that though.

I visited the Sofmap store twice in one day in order to pick up the new Ichigo Masimaro Encore opening single. They sold the CD single one day early, thank you very much. I got the version with the two minute DVD showing the OVA opening. It's full of win, not that there's anything wrong with that.

I recently won an auction for the Ichigo Masimaro Encore store poster. Basically its the same design used in all the promotions. I guess I just want a little extra reminder in my room.

BTW, it took me 20 minutes to go from inserting a DVD into my PC to actually watching it. I am becoming increasingly annoyed at watching on the PC. Perhaps the drives are dusty.

Firefox is fun again

(tags browser, Firefox)

Well, I don't mean Firefox 3.1 beta. I still use Google Chrome as my main browser nowadays. Actually what I did with Firefox is declare Add-On Bankruptcy.

All these months of Google Chroming without "Tree Style Tab" and "Adblock Plus" haven't been as horrendous as I thought. And I didn't really miss the stuff from "Better Gmail" or "Stylish". I don't even use the "Sqlite Browser" or "Web Developer" stuff, geez. So, I deleted stuff. So instead of 40+ Add-Ons, now I have 20. And now Firefox feels like it can boot up pretty fast like.

Also the Delicious plug-in moved to the Sqlite database implementation in Firefox 3, so perhaps there's a speed gain there.

But still I use Google Chrome. Hopefully Firefox 3.1 will come out soon and I can enjoy "tear-off tabs", Firefox style.

Can't figure what to do in Chrono Trigger

(tags game, Dual Screen, Chrono Trigger)

One last post that is text only to push down the picture-laden ones. :-]

I beat Chrono Trigger and I got two endings out of lots. Now do I start the New Game+ mode or do I keep on poking around? I'm at a standstill with the latter. I figure out the two dungeons are totally unrelated to the main game, so it's like two seperate worlds in one cart. Just being aware of that is jarring. *shrug* What else can you do, man. Don't mess with genius working code.

And yes it still feels like work. 40 hours of work. I hate menus. I hate scrolling. There has got to be a menu for experts. This UI sucks. :-/

What's the hubbub over Kannagi?

(tags anime, DVD region 2, Kannagi)

One more thing for today. I suppose I couldn't resist this Kannagi (かんなぎ) DVD + telephone card set:

Back in early November or even October, I took home the info booklet (pictured on the left). There was a manga sample and the drawings looked pretty crispy. The story was the typical anime harem vector, so my interest was sealed. Still I didn't follow the anime (out of it), but I heard it was a launching vehicle for upcoming seiyuu Haruka Tomatsu (戸松遥). Also, a plot device in the manga had fans in an uproar over a possible "non-virgin" tree goddess, who just happens to be hundreds of years old. Come on, she's been around. Also the original manga-ka seems to have lost her good health, even to the point of "not being able to move her body" (!?) according to another manga-ka friend (via Zepy). A lot riding on this one.

But for me, the important part was which telephone card. As always. :-) Gamers kept on tempting me with their package deal and Saber-like dress-up illustration. Animate was out of the running with their non-telephone card Hatsune Miku-like Kannagi book cover. In the end Tora no Ana's illustration FTW. I don't like Fate/Stay Night illustrations as much as I like zettai ryouiki. rawr

This is only two episodes, so this may not have the Kannagi heroine doing her idol renditions. Could be disappointing!

Ichigo Mashimaro OVA 2 as my last DVD?

(tags anime, DVD region 2, Ichigo Masimaro, goods)

I have been anticipating the nagomi-inducing Ichigo Mashimaro (苺ましまろ) new OVA series called "Encore". I was scoping the auctions, when I missed the auction for an in store poster. Oh well. Would I pay 1800 yen for a store poster? Do I have to answer that? :)

The new product is a direct-to-DVD sales two-parter (2009/1/23 and 2009/3/25), with probably 88 (4 * 22) minutes of animation and 1_2000 price total.

Truth be told, I haven't been reading the manga after the fifth tankoubon, because buying the phone-book-like thick magazine just wears me down. It's been a year and a half, there should be a sixth book out by now.

The character styles looked improved. This Dengeki Online scoop has colored character sketches and woeful watermarking (boo). Check out the recent interview with the seiyuu as well. Yes the character design looks cuter because the eyes seem to occupy more of the face, but I still miss the seemingly less-polished Barasui style. Out of the TV series and OVAs, this current style has to be the best one, IMO. However, the director (佐藤卓哉) and the character designer (坂井久太) are the same as the TV series, so I'm left wondering what changed.

So of course I'm penciling it in. 2009/03/25, the last day I buy a DVD. :-)

Which brings me to today. I totally overlooked the re-packaging of the TV series, which was released on 2008/11/21. I have been out of it. So I looked for it around town today. Animate: no, Gamers: no, Tora no Ana: no. Sofmap had one copy at a lukewarm location, so yay:

It seems to be just the TV series, no prelude or OVAs. At 1_2000 yen retail (but with Sofmap discount), it's par for the course.

So, what is that in the background? Oh yeah, the binders that I bought from a mail-order slip in Dengeki Daioh magazine 2008/8. I forgot! I also forgot it would come. I was surprised!

I can't seem to remember the otaku reasoning behind buying multiple copies of one item. One copy is for use, another is for worship, and one more is for backup. Or something. I guess a fourth copy makes it an even 1_0000 yen total. :-/

Card Captor Sakura as my first Blu-Ray?

(tags anime, BD region A, Card Captor Sakura)

It's official, Card Captor Sakura (カードキャプターさくら) on TV is moving to Blu-Ray Disc. Mr. Zepy brought me the news and I commented like a rabid fan I am. This product is a two part-er, with the Clow Card series (eps 1-46) at 8_1900 yen on 2009/03/27 and the Sakura Card series (eps 47-70) at 4_9350 yen on 2009/06/26.

If I buy the complete TV series, I will be out 13_1250 yen. Sofmap (C, S) gives me the 12% discount, for a total of 11_5000 yen, while Amazon (C, S) and the store that leaked the info, Kinokuniya's Forest Plus (C, S), both give a 24% discount which makes it 9_9750 yen.

I, uh, previously bought the same product when it was on DVD (3 box version) at retail price at Animate, because of exclusive telephone cards and clear files (OMG, no pictures, where are they?! Have a gander at the exclusive figure, though). So I am waiting for Animate's goodies announcement with anticipation (hopefully here: C, S). Still would it be worth 3_1500 yen difference?

Is Blu-Ray even worth the cash compared to my DVDs? Not having any BDs or even a HD set, I really can't say. One store claims that this is a remastering, so it might not be a simple upscaling from the DVD. I hope so, for the price that Geneon is asking.

My bud in anime is dead-set on getting this BD set. He doesn't have to worry about owning a DVD set, though, shiku shiku.

At the time of this blog, there's no official announcement that I could find.

PowerUp Forever, but move towards the sides

(tags game, shmup, Xbox Live, PowerUp Forever, Geometry Wars)

PowerUp Forever, a Namco-Bandai video game for the Xbox Live Arcade, was one of the rare games I wanted to download and try out. I successfully tried reserving the trial version through the Xbox Live Marketplace. However the buttons show "confirm purchase" (in Japanese) even though its a free item. I'm not buying anything, so don't make it sound like I'm buying... grr.

That was on a Wednesday, I think. Then, I turned my Xbox 360 console frequently in preparation for the weekend, hoping that it would just download by itself. On Sunday, it wasn't in my Demo Games area, and upon checking my download queue, it was at 20%. Oh. Do I have to get out and push? Grr.

So I'm playing it and I kinda get it. Except level 3 is pretty hard, as in, I don't have a enough time to try a new strategy. After restarting the game 15 times (this is how I try to play shmups anyway) I finally got to the end of the demo, without the boss because the demo cuts off just before it gets epic.

I like it. It feels like a Geometry Wars, because things come at you in all directions and shooting is preferred over dodging. However the camera is tightly zoomed in, which makes moving up and down on this 16x9 screen ratio game a hazard. The alternate weapons feel useless though. I'm sure there's some technique (or learning on my side) to use them effectively. And I like the randomness and visuals. The bacteria-like enemies make me squirm though. Ick.

It was worth my 30 or so minutes to evaluate, but I still haven't bought it yet. Maybe on my Winter break.

Chrono Trigger satisfying plateau?

(tags game, Dual Screen, Chrono Trigger)

Uh oh, I don't remember the magic of Chrono Trigger. :-( wut?

I think I'm at the end of the game now, just before I beat the story boss. But other than that, if I go anywhere else on the map, I encounter really hard monsters that kill me 1000 HP in one shot. Trouble is that I don't know if this is the added content or the regular content but meant for after completing the story mode. Thus I get wacked for strolling into a seemingly benign cave.

Menu grind woes. Actually the game isn't that repetative as far as the menu fighting is concerned. I have the menu speed set to one faster than normal, but I bet I'm going to set it to slowest on those killer "new game+" content.

Time Travelling Kumatanchi

(tags game, Dual Screen, Kumatanchi, Animal Crossing)

In Animal Crossing, I can Time Travel for fun and profit, like skipping forward to a certain event, and then letting real time catch up. Time Travel is just resetting the DS's real-time clock to a desired time before starting a game. It resembles a hurry up and wait cycle.

I just realized I can do the same thing in Kumatanchi. In the early part of the game, I would be missing a lot, but now that almost all the stuff is unlocked, Time Travel lets me play this game in batch without having to play it real-time like a Tamaggochi. Now I keep track of my next batch gaming using a calendar and email reminders. Sorry Kumatan, but there are other games I should be concentrating on (Chrono Trigger never ends...)

Mirror's Edge PC version has more flying stuff

(tags game, Windows, PC, Mirror's Edge)

Mirror's Edge seems to look better on Windows with the PhysX Engine visual tech. There's an official side-by-side video comparison. Now that I've seen it, the Xbox 360 version seems lacking. Well, only just a little bit. But there is that part where you're on the scaffolds and having the cloth/tarp just fly up from gunfire looks pretty killer.

Mirror's Edge CD single

(tags game, music, Mirror's Edge)

I should have purchased the Mirror's Edge single remix in my last Amazon batch order. Now it's not available any more. Is it hawt?