Miku in my Chrome

(tags browser, customize, Hatsune Miku, Windows XP)

Google Chrome, as far as theming and skinning is concerned, is a big miss. Artist-created themes seem to have been released yesterday. 95 themes but none of the hit. This official Artist-created theme with Hatsune Miku, while somewhat stylish, is not very attractive or functional.

I mean the colors are garish and the contrast between background and text when hovering over links is not strong. Besides, other windows in Google Chrome are not themed!

I gave up and installed the default Classic and/or the Grayscale theme. They match great with XP Royale and Zune skins. Too bad my desktop look the same as it did 3 years ago.

Edit:

I missed the Good Smile Company one, which also has some adorable Miku. There are some games and anime as well, so my interests are well represented.

All thumbs

(tags game, Playstation Portable, Hatsune Miku)

I am still plugging away at Hatsune Miku Project Diva (初音ミク プロジェクトディーヴァ), unlocking costumes. I finally finished the swimsuit costume unlock for Ruka Megurine (巡音ルカ), which requires beating all 32 songs at Normal difficulty/Great rating, or higher, using the regular Ruka costume. There is also another costume unlock which requires the same at Hard/Great. I tried to kill two birds with one stone, by attempting all 32 at Hard difficulty and getting Great ratings, but two songs are infuriatingly out of my grasp at the moment. I also jumped around the song order, so I was somewhat when the game didn't award me the unlock costume. After I re-did a song at Normal/Great, it unlocked. Yeah.

To unlock the other swimsuit costumes for the other four characters, I have to do the same 32 song thing using their regular costumes, respectively. Ah ha ha. I must not do them in Normal difficulty because that only exercises two buttons. Thumb, don't fail me now.

Hatsune Miku Project Diva: miku miku miku miku

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, music, Hatsune Miku)

Oh jeez, I wrote this two weeks back:

I've been playing Hatsune Miku Project Diva (初音ミク プロジェクトディーヴァ) for the PSP on and off, mostly on the bus and train. It's a great little music game with an easy/casual difficulty, reminding me of Pop-N-Tunes/DDR/DJ Max Portable rhythm games but only for my right thumb. I sure wish they used the D-pad too, because the rest of my fingers feel underutilized.

Basically you bask in the glory of Hatsune Miku doujin scene with pre-contributed graphics and music. Sega added a 3d model with some motion-captured dancing and PV frolicking. Very moé-kawaii. There's a lot to unlock, such as costumes (named Modules), and room items, which is for the dollhouse-like mode called Miku's Room. The background loading pictures unlock with time, also the songs need to be unlocked but seem to be a combination of time and level clears. The game gives you hints on how to unlock items, also these hints are unlocked with time, probably.

There are two songs in the middle I have not yet unlocked though. I am wondering what I need to do.

The actual gameplay is pretty rewarding, with simplistic rhythm patterns that match with Miku's voice. The game only asks you to press one button at a time, but the detection is pretty strict. Most music has easy to understand rhythm so even neophytes like me can get high combos, OMG 220+ achieved. The unlockables are easy to uncover, like clear a level 5 times and get a Great score. The placement of the buttons on the screen lead your eyes around, so it's not static like a DDR falling note/rising arrow display. However on Hard difficulty, where they ask you to use all four face buttons (circle, x, square, triangle), sometimes its hard to anticipate which button to press. Only then does the game ask you to start memorizing. One can probably get through Normal difficulty with a couple of plays on reflex alone.

As this is my first time to listen to some Miku music outside of accidental Youtube wandering, I am surprised at the quality of the arrangements. They are so Jpop catchy. I already bought the OST for this game, and I'm now interested in getting other official CDs.

I do have some gripes. Sometimes the screen is so active that there is framerate slowdown. The timing doesn't seem to be affected but its annoying to jump from 30? FPS down to 18? (I don't know the actual numbers). I also mentioned that this seems to be a right thumb only game. My thumb gets tired. I use my cellphone with my left thumb, so give me a break. It would be nice if they could use the D-pad. Perhaps it's a licensing issue. When you press a button during gameplay, the sound is a generic tambourine that is mapped to all keys. Each key should be a different sound like snare drum, etc.

(Back to the present)

I've made much more progress and I'm on the last legs of unlocking the costumes. Unforunately I needed a clue on how to unlock items with "yarikomi?" (「やりこみ？」) written on it. More on that later. One of the good sites for info is the 初音ミク -Project DIVA- まとめwiki. There was a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, called the 初音ミクProject-DIVA-チェックシート.xls for checking off progress. I'm currently using that, but imported into Google Docs. Thanks!