PSP
--
Sonic Rivals 2 - $2.50, disc only
LocoRoco 2 - $8, complete - The first LocoRoco is pretty fun, so I've wanted to play the sequel too.
PS2
--
Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse - $4, complete - This is an early PS2 action-RPG from the makers of Armada, the top-down space combat action-RPG for the Dreamcast. This one is fantasy-themed, more traditional stuff for this genre, so I wonder if there will be any similarities to Armada here. It's too bad this wasn't on DC too (I think it was originally planned for it, but canned as the DC faded?), but ah well, it's a PS2 exclusive. (Oh, there's no relation between this and the TV series of the same name. There is a PS2 game based on that show, but I've never played it; I think it's supposed to be forgettable.)
Gamecube
--
Catwoman - $5, complete - I know this is supposed to be bad (and the Xbox version is cheaper), but... I want to try it anyway, and on GC.
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - $3, complete - I remember liking the movie and this game is supposed to be decent.
Nintendo DS
--
To-Fu: Collection - $4, complete - I'd never heard of this, but it looks like it could be a decent touchscreen-based game. You fling a tofu thing around in platformer levels.
... So um, I wasn't really planning on getting another console now and
definitely didn't think I'd get one of these things, but after seeing this price a few days ago, I just couldn't resist. Well, I did resist at first, only to return later that day and bought it. Heh
Instead of repeating myself, for the details see the thread here:
http://tcforums.com/forums/showthread.ph...post136461
Additionally, while I was at one of several Gamestops a few days ago looking for games for this, I went through their toys to life bins, and found a bunch of stuff. Recall I got Disney Infinity 3.0 for the 360 not long ago. So... I got more stuff for it, and a couple other games too.
Xbox 360
--
Need for Speed: The Run - $8, complete - I have the Wii version of this, and it's a good and definitely under-rated simple point-to-point racer. I've heard that the PS360 version is pretty different so I want both of them, and finally got it.
Disney Infinity - complete, $1. That may sound cheap, but I also got three campaigns for the first Disney Infinity game (Disney Infinity campaigns require physical addons) and eleven figures (mostly 1.0 figs, but one 3.0 and two 2.0 ones), so it was probably like $45 total despite all of the figures and campaigns being Buy 2 Get 3 Free. Infinity 3.0 is a decently fun game though, and this is supposed to be solid too. And while there are costs like having to buy the clear plastic campaign pieces to play the stuff on the disc, AND have figures for every campaign since you can't use figs from one property in another, at least all three Disney Infinity games work on the same portal, no constant new portals like Skylanders somewhat annoyingly keeps doing.
While I was there, I also got a couple of Skylanders figures as a part of some of those B2G3 bundles, mostly for the Wii at the moment since I have the Wii versions of the second, third, and fourth Skylanders games.
Nintendo DS
--
Break 'Em All - $5, complete -This is a basic Breakout/Arkanoid-style game. In Japan it's actually a part of D5's Simple line of budget games. I like Arkanoid and this has touch controls, so it should be fun.
Playstation 3
--
Kung Fu Rider - $3, complete. This is a pretty basic Move game. It's supposed to have quite a limited amount of content, but hopefully is amusing enough to be worth a few bucks.
Trails of Cold Steel (Lionheart [Limited] Edition) - $36, new. So why did I get this? Uh... well, this is from Falcom, a quite well known developer of JRPGs, and it's a game I've had an interest in trying. It released late last year, and has a sequel also on PS3 that just released last month. Both are also on Vita. This is Falcom's first traditional (menu-based) RPG with polygon character models ingame, surprisingly enough, and it does look dated. Now, this game is also on Vita so it doesn't push the PS3, but while the polygon counts are way higher, some things about the graphics here remind me of Dreamcast stuff... which isn't only a criticism, Skies of Arcadia is my favorite JRPG ever, but... comparing Tales of Xillia to this, that has way better graphics. In gameplay, though, the battle system is traditional but has some nice elements to it such as being able to move around the map during battles, positional special moves that hit a line or circle like those in Skies, and such, which is nice; the battle system seems good. As for the story and characters, this is a modern Japanese anime-style game so while this game has the classic "Legend of Heroes" name, it has the now-required highschool setting, school uniforms, and anime-stereotype characters, because what else would there be? The story seems generic but decent so far. I was really hesitant about getting this because of the price, but I'm liking it so far.
As for the limited-edition extras, it comes with an outer box with space for both this game and its sequel inside, a nice thick artbook, and a silly little metal pin for the school. I don't care much about the pin, but the artbook's got a lot in it (over 125 pages), which is nice.
NES
--
Mach Rider - $5, cart only - Nintendo's early NES behind-the-vehicle futuristic combat racing game. It's alright.
3DO
--
Creature Shock - $15, discs in generic case - This is a multimedia sci-fi action game from EA. Think things like Rebel Assault or Cyberia, those are others in this category. Sort of like Cyberia, this game is partially on-foot action-adventurey stuff, part video (live action or CG-rendered), and part a rail shooter. Apparently the rail shooter levels here are only found in this 3DO version; other versions sometimes don't have them at all, leaving mostly just the adventure stuff, or in the Saturn version new different rail shooter stages that are polygon-modeled but might not be as good? I forget the details, but I do recall reading that this is probably the best version of this game. I'd rather have the box of course, but this isn't the cheapest game so for this price loose is fine.
DS
--
Sonic Rush Adventure - $5, card only. This middle one of the three DS Sonic platformers is the only one I didn't have. I like the third one, Colors, so here's hoping this is good too. I'd been hoping to find a cheap copy of this, and finally did!
PS3
--
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - $9, complete
Ridge Racer 7 - $6.50, disc in generic case
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time - $10, complete
Medieval Moves : Deadmund's Quest - $3, complete
Deception IV: Blood Ties - $12, complete
Wii
--
Roogoo: Twisted Tower - $1.80, complete
These first few downloadable games I got in a PSN sale that ended a few days ago, I'm just listing them now.
PS3 DD (PS3 PSN)
--
Battle Princess of Arcadias - $15 (half off the regular price) - This is a sidescrolling action/beat 'em up game, surely Vanillaware-inspired, with a strategy game component -- you give orders to soldiers fighting on your side as you play. I can't play it until I get a hard drive (I have ordered one online, but it's not here yet, hopefully next week...), but it does look interesting.
Motorsiege (EU Store) - UKP 2 (half off regular price) - This is a PS2 Classic title that only ever was released in Europe, on both the PS2 and PS3. I got this I had 2.02 UK Pounds still on my UK PS3 account from when I bought some UK PSN money with a points card a few years ago to buy After Burner with, and since I have a PS3 now I decided to see if there was something I could spend it on. I didn't see anything looking in the store, but searching online I found that all PS1 and PS2 Classics have, for some insane reason, been hidden in the European Playstation Store. The games exist, and you can buy them if you search for them directly by name, but they will not appear in other searches and do not have any list in the interface. The US store has some nice lists of available PS1 and PS2 titles, but not the European one. That's crazy, but I found a site listing all games currently on sale on PSN and this one was listed, and after searching in the store, yup, it's there. So, this game is an arena car combat game with futuristic hover-cars shooting at eachother. It's supposed to be alright, and getting a European exclusive game is the best use for this money for sure; anything released here is almost certainly going to be cheaper in the US store.
PSP DD
--
ClaDun: This Is An RPG! - $1.80
ClaDun X2 - $3.50 or so - These two games are pixel-art dungeon crawling action-RPGs. They were download-only releases. I wouldn't have bought these at full price, but discounted... I decided to pick them up. I have tried the first one, and it's decently fun.
Additionally, I also got some physical PS3 games recently.
PS3
--
Under Night In:Birth Exe:Late - $16, complete - This is a 2d fighting game. I've never played a fighting game from this team, but I wanted to get a fighting game for the PS3 and most of the major stuff is also available on the 360 (and I have many of the better ones for that system), so I decided on this PS3 and PC-only one. The name is one of those typically silly Japanese titles, but hopefully the game is better; it is supposed to be good, so I hope it is. I've played it some now, and it's fun. The single player mode is a bit on the easy side and the story is mostly incomprehensibly confusing. This game is trying to be accessible, so the moves aren't super hard and the AI isn't nearly as hard as some fighting games are, but it is a well-designed game that plays quite well. The gameplay and graphics are good, so it was probably worth getting.
Warhawk - $1, complete - Yeah, I know this game is online play-only and surely has no one playing it anymore, but the original Warhawk is one of the best early PS1 games, so I had to get this. Maybe I'll even find a game sometime? The case looks nice though, it's a game I have always wanted to try, and it was cheap, so I had to get it.
Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Mix - $16, complete - Yes, I know I said I probably wasn't going to get this and then did, but... well, one of the two games in the collection (the GBA remake) is something I've never played before and am interested in, and as for the remake of the original, as much as I dislike to re-buy games I already own, given how horrendous PS2 image quality is, trying some of these PS2 to PS3 HD Remakes might be worthwhile in a way I'd almost certainly not bother with for, say, an Xbox to X360 remaster. Xbox graphics don't have horrendous image quality problems like the PS2 does, after all. Also, I got this for less than Gamestop's price, which is nice.
The PS2's one-two combination of a lack of decent hardware based filtering and having to rescale the native system resolution to a resolution fitting the TV really does make it look pretty blurry. This is especially true when compared to both Gamecube and XBox games. I suppose we accepted it at the time because just about every system before the PS2 had those same issues.
Many systems before the PS2 have image quality issues too, particularly in 3d, but the Dreamcast absolutely crushes the PS2 in image quality! Yes, DC games have a far lower maximum polygon count, fewer visual effects in many cases (particularly particle effects, something the PS2 apparently was better at than any other console that generation), etc., but at least they look sharp and clear. That's a huge contrast to the badly pixelated and aliased, awful-looking image quality you see on the PS2. (And of course the GC and Xbox also don't have that problem.)
These first three I got today, $10 for all three games.
DS
--
Hot Wheels: Track Attack - Racing game of course, from a developer who made a few racing games that didn't get great reviews but I like, such as the DS/Wii Trackmania games and NFS: The Run's Wii/3DS version.
Space Bust-A-Move - The second DS BAM game, I've really wanted this one but never had seen it cheap... it's great to finally have a copy!
GBA
--
Gumby vs. the Astrobots - An average-looking licensed platformer starring that popular '80s cartoon character Gumby. I needed something else for the 3-for-10, so I got this because Gumby was a kind of weird thing and the game has some nice visuals. Oddly enough, this is the only Gumby game ever made...
Additionally, for $3 I got a PS3 Blu-Ray remote. I actually like that X360 remote I got not too long ago and use it often for things like Youtube (as well as DVDs), so I'd been thinking about the PS3 one, which should be better than a controller in movies and the like. I'm not paying the $10 to $13 other stores like Gamestop want for these things, but I found this one at a local pawnshop for $3, and that's the kind of price this is probably worth! This one is the model which supports TVs as well as your PS3, so you can change the channel, turn the TV on and off, and the like with this remote; there is also another model only for PS3 Blu-Ray stuff, but this is better. It's not nearly as slick-looking as that X360 remote is, but it should work.
PC DD - Got on sale on Steam yesterday
--
Shmups Skill Test - $3.99 - As the title suggests, this is, well, a shmups skills test game. It's from the same developer as Minus Zero, Trizeal, Deltazeal, etc.
MINUS ZERO - $1.49 - This is a basic shmup with only a targetting-laser weapon. Looks cool.
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds - $2.39 - A pixel-art beat 'em up from Japan. Looks fun.
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds - Kurisu Makise Character Pack - $1.19
Nintendo 3DS DD (eShop)
--
SpeedX 3D: Hyper Edition - $1, on sale - This is the second version of a game where you go really fast down a tubular track, trying to avoid objects and get as far as you can. Originally a mobile game, this version is 3DS-only. The first 3DS version apparently has more features than this one, and it's on sale too (for $2, so you do pay less for this feature-lighter release), but on the other hand it also apparently has a better framerate and sense of speed, and the new Hyper button the title refers to, so there are some new things as well. Specifically the first version has some difficulty choices, but this has only one mode to play. It's fast, fun, is 3d, and runs great though, so that's okay. I like this kind of game, so sure, it's worth a dollar.
3DS
--
Heroes of Ruin - card only, $9 - A topdown action-RPG that looks good, based on the demo.
Wii
--
Trauma Center: New Blood - $4.50, complete - I actually don't have the DS games in this series, but I do have the first Wii game, and it's good, so I should have the other Wii one.
Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings - $1.80, complete - This is the Wii version of one of the last Indy games from Lucasarts. The best Indy game is Fate of Atlantis, of course, but while the 3d action-adventure (eg Tomb Raider-styled) Indy games are nowhere near that level, hopefully this is at least good enough for less than $2.
Heroes of Ruin is indeed a fun game.
Xbox 360
--
Persona 4 Arena - $10, complete - This is another anime fighting game, this time, well, as the name suggests, Persona-themed. The game has a followup, P4A Ultimax, but that's a sequel storyline-wise, so I'll need to get both. Following fighting games enough to figure out which games actually continue a series' storyline and which are just enhanced versions of previous titles can be pretty confusing... but since I looked it up again a few days ago and realized I would need both games and not only Ultimax I've been looking for this one, and was lucky to find it so soon.
Gamecube
--
Casper: Spirit Dimensions - $3, complete - 3d action-adventure game where you play as Casper the ghost, so it's not a platformer because you can fly. I'm expecting mediocrity, but who knows, it could be fun! And I did like Casper comics as a kid.
Playstation 3
--
Full Auto 2: Battle Lines - $6, complete - I have the PSP version of this game, but I'm sure this version will be quite a bit improved so I go it. It's really weird how the first Full Auto game is an X360 exclusive while the sequel was only released for PS3 and PSP, but that's how it is. Both are fun weapons-heavy racing games.
I also got a few more PS3 games recently, but since they all also need the HDD I'll list those once the hard drive parts I need arrive hopefully later this week.
Nintendo 3DS - Digital Download
--
Senran Kagura Burst - $20 - ... Yes, I got this. It's a fairly fanservicey isometric beat 'em up, essentially. The combat engine is solid and pretty fun, and this game isn't nearly as overly fanservicey as some of the more recent games in the series, the Sony-platform ones, are, either. But regardless of fanservice this game is good based on the gameplay, which is what I was hoping for.
PC DD - Steam Halloween sale
--
Perimeter: Emperor's Testament - $1 - I have the original game and the sequel, but somehow never have played this addon to the first game in this pretty interesting and unique '00s RTS series... great to finally have it.
Well, that hard drive assembly arrived yesterday and the drive a few days before that, so my PS3 now has a 1TB hard drive in it. And... yup, I have a few more complaints to make about the PS3 OS, for that thread on it! But for this thread, here are the other PS3 games I got recently.
PS3
--
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - $16.20, complete (highly regarded RPG with Ghibli art)
PlayStation Move Heroes - $2, complete (Move-required action-platform game starring Ratchet, Sly, and Jak.)
White Knight Chronicles II - $9, complete (For some reason I have always wanted to play these games, and the second game includes the first one too so you only need this. It's now offline-only since the servers are down, but that's fine with me.)
Best of Playstation Network Vol. 1 - $7.20, complete (this includes When Vikings Attack, Tokyo Jungle, Fat Princess, and Sound Shapes. These digital compilations are nice, I have some for 360. Oddly there is no "Vol. 2" though, so I guess it didn't sell well?)
White Knight Chronicles is a pretty big disappointment. It sold me with that initial trailer, but then failed to live up to that frankly incredible promised level of natural NPC dialog and interaction. Ni No Kuni also sold me with the trailer, and it is very charming. It's the most charming game I ever got bored with. I do wish they'd actually translated that title.
White Knight Chronicles was the start of my disenchantment with Japanese RPGs. They've become such paint by number affairs with rote characters that are defined entirely by single traits like "doesn't get noticed, isn't that hilarious?" or "is secretly in love with the protagonist, like Helga from Hey Arnold". The gameplay of the recent Fire Emblem games has been spot on, but the recent stories have just been... boring...
Yeah, I'm not expecting great things from White Knight Chronicles, but I have to try it.
Quote: White Knight Chronicles was the start of my disenchantment with Japanese RPGs. They've become such paint by number affairs with rote characters that are defined entirely by single traits like "doesn't get noticed, isn't that hilarious?" or "is secretly in love with the protagonist, like Helga from Hey Arnold". The gameplay of the recent Fire Emblem games has been spot on, but the recent stories have just been... boring...
Yeah, there's a lot of truth to this, but here's what I'm not sure of -- has anything actually changed, or was Japanese manga/anime/videogame writing always kind of been like this? Are the stories of the recent FE games actually worse than the GBA stories, or is it just that we have more exposure to the mediocrity of most anime/Japanese videogame writing now, which makes the newer ones look worse...
Like, you're absolutely right about most anime/etc. characters being extremely one-note regurgitated stereotypes, but it's kind of always been like that I think. Is it really getting worse, or have I just seen so much of it now that it's overly familiar?
I played it a bit, and WKC seems like a decent effort at a big-scale JRPG, with a large world, HD graphics, etc. There were far too few of them that generation, as most of the genre went to handhelds as TV consoles failed in Japan... so yeah, the graphics are good (not as great as, say, Dragon's Dogma or the X360 Fable games, but good), and combat is alright with a decent mix of traditionally menu-driven combat with free movement. As for the story, that seems to be incredibly generic and predictable anime stuff, yes. Why even bother letting you create a character when so far at least you're just an irrelevant side character in Generic Anime Protagonist Guy's story? You should be the protagonist, not someone else. Still though, I'll play more. (Basically, for combat I'm not sure, but for story I definitely prefer Trails of Cold Steel, going by the first couple hours of each. That is also anime, but it's better-quality anime than this.)
PS3 DD (PSN)
--
Wipeout HD Fury Bundle - $12 - This was my most-wanted PS3 game before I got the system, so now that I have a HDD I bought it soon afterwards! And yeah, it's really good. Apparently the tracks here are mostly just conversions from the PSP, but the improved graphics make it feel like a new game, so it's very worth it even though I also have both of the PSP games. The controls on a gamepad are way better than that little PSP analog nub, too. Of course I love the Wipeout series, and this sadly is the last TV-console Wipeout game, so it's the end of an era sadly... but at least it's a good sendoff.
Mamorukun Curse! - $5 - This is a non-autoscrolling, 2.5d shmuplike game from G.Rev. The game originally released on X360 in Japan, but sadly that version is a disc-only region-locked game, so this is the accessible way to play it. I think I've read that version runs better, but for only $5 I'm not going to complain! I tried the game, and it reminds me of Pocky & Rocky, but with a more aimable shot sort of like Heavenly Guardian, except the levels are linear paths like the earlier games and not free-roaming stuff. Also since this is a modern game there is a bullet-hell element of course, as the enemies shoot lots of bullets at you. You have a bullet-clearing Curse attack that isn't limited, though, so there is something you can do. Anyway, I haven't gotten far in this yet, but G.Rev is a good developer and it does seem fun.
Xbox 360 DD - Games with Gold
--
I Am Alive - This was the game for the second half of October. Haven't played it yet. It's a survival game, so I can't see actually liking it.
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition - This is the current one. I got this years ago for PC of course, but had forgotten there were console versions of this remake... not sure if it'd be worth playing without a mouse, but it's free so I have it now.
We aren't there yet, but the second half of November game is apparently Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. That's an interesting one to give out for free, I'll probably try it.
PC DD
--
Humble Gems Bundle - I got this bundle (which ends tomorrow) at the $1 tier, which gets Technobabylon (adventure game), Odallus: The Dark Call (NES-styled platformer I have wanted to get, and have never seen for this cheap), and Chroma Squad (a tactics game). I already have the best game in the higher tiers, Assault Android Cactus, so I'll pass on those. (There was also another good Humble Bundle recently, but I missed it... ah well. Didn't miss this one though.) Maybe the other two will be good, but Odallus is the main draw here for me.
Physical games
Xbox 360
--
Disney Infinity 2.0 - $3.60 for the disc in the case. Of course this requires figures and a campaign item too, and I got those a few days ago when I got a complete and new but loose (that is, it contained all of the contents but not the actual box) copy of the Wii U version of the full boxed version of this -- with three figures, the Avengers campaign item, and two level-pack disc tokens, along with a portal and that version of the game of course -- for only $9. That plus this for the disc adds up to less than the $15 I could maybe have found a complete new X360 copy for, so it seemed worth it. Plus if I want to download anything for these games I've got to get them this year (before the servers go down, since the series was cancelled), and they are fun. And whenever I get a Wii U I could play that version too, though I doubt there'd be much reason to.
PS3
--
Haze - $1 ... I don't know, sometimes I buy bad games on purpose. Like, 'is this unpopular game by a once-liked developer really as bad as people say? It's only a dollar so why not see'.
Time Crisis: Razing Storm - $9, complete - (Move compatible) This collection includes Razing Storm, now rechristened "Time Crisis: Razing Storm" (the arcade version didn't have the Time Crisis name on it; I have played it a couple of times), a pirate-themed game, and Time Crisis 4: Arcade Edition, all in one. That is, you get three Namco light-gun games on one disc, all with PS Move support. It sounds like a nice collection; I'm not a huge Namco light-gun game fan of course, but they can be amusing. Earlier on in the PS3's life Time Crisis 4 got a stand-alone release, but that version requires a completely different and probably not very easy to find light gun that might only work with that one game, while this later one supports the Move so it's the much more accessible version.
DS
--
MySims Kingdoms - $1, card only - See above where I mentioned buying bad games... this one is bad too. I have heard decent things about the Wii games in this franchise, and thought the one I have (SkyHeroes) is alright, so I wanted to try one of the DS games too... but unfortunately, it's pretty bad. It's one part bad minigames, one part boring collecting and crafting and such, with minimal quality gameplay. It's not even really "kingdoms" themed, you're just in some generic town! Ah well, it was worth a try to see what it is like -- EA published 6 MySims games on the DS and Wii (all with separate versions on each platform which are not the same) between 2007 and 2009, so there has to be something that sold them...
I also got several Skylanders and Disney Infinity figures, including a few more Star Wars figures and an Incredibles figure so I can play that campaign (for the first game) now.
A Black Falcon Wrote:Yeah, I'm not expecting great things from White Knight Chronicles, but I have to try it.
Yeah, there's a lot of truth to this, but here's what I'm not sure of -- has anything actually changed, or was Japanese manga/anime/videogame writing always kind of been like this? Are the stories of the recent FE games actually worse than the GBA stories, or is it just that we have more exposure to the mediocrity of most anime/Japanese videogame writing now, which makes the newer ones look worse...
Like, you're absolutely right about most anime/etc. characters being extremely one-note regurgitated stereotypes, but it's kind of always been like that I think. Is it really getting worse, or have I just seen so much of it now that it's overly familiar?
I don't think it always has. Granted, I don't watch that much of the animu, but I know for sure that characters from shows like Full Metal Alchemist are much deeper than characters in whatever the hell "My Wife is Student Council President" is supposed to be (I'm pretty sure that whole concept should get everyone behind that show on some sort of government watch list, it's disgusting and I'd rather not see that stuff appearing on my Hulu feed). I'm much more familiar with video games, so I can safely say that the characters in Final Fantasy VI are FAR better written than the characters in Final Fantasy XIII. Heck, characters in Super Mario RPG are better written. Peach is a far more rounded character in that game than Lightning is.
Here's a more direct comparison. Lightning is basically intended to be "female Cloud". Everything about XIII was intended to recapture the popularity of VII. Say what you will of VII (first thing I'll say is the translation is pretty bad), but Cloud had an actual personality and more than one emotion. Lightning spends the entirety of her story being a "stern and silent" type, which is LIKE Cloud, but Cloud did more. Cloud joked. Cloud got embarrassed. Cloud worried. Cloud got angry. Cloud went on a da-te. Lightning did none of those things. They were so intent on making sure that Lightning was "like Cloud" that they forgot that Cloud was a more rounded character than "quiet and serious" at all times. When I go through characters in the old games vs the new games, I find that trend time and time again. XIII is filled with one-note characters and previous games allowed characters to be more fully fleshed than their single line description in the manual. In a modern game, a character who's "foolhardy" will always pick the dumbest and bravest possible thing to say or do in every possible situation. In an older game, that only describes what they are likely to do in situations that call for foolhardiness, but doesn't describe what they might do or say in casual conversation.
In Final Fantasy games, this has really become a problem, as recent installments that reuse the characters have made them all cardboard cutouts of themselves. Terra, who had a whole character arc that made her very expressive and fun to be around by the end of the game is reduced to a whining little girl too afraid to do anything in Dissidia. Cloud, in Dissidia and Advent Children and everything else, is reduced to that "strong silent type" with none of the actual personality he had in the original game. Sephiroth is portrayed as "always in control of everything and never surprised" in newer material, whereas he actually could get surprised and would easily reduce himself to playing around with his victims and even laughing at them in the original game, because again, he had a well rounded personality back then which he lacks now. The less said about Yuffie the better, but whereas she actually had some emotional baggage in the original, she's been reduced to eternally optimistic "eye candy" in newer installments, and she's not considered an adult. Creepy.
That creepiness is all over newer games as well. Past games would have child characters, but they were treated like children. Relm had a mouth on her, but was treated like a 10 year old. Then we've got one of the modern Star Ocean games, where another 10 year old character is wearing some kind of "stripper" version of a cat outfit. Relm had a cat outfit too, but it was big puffy pajamas essentially (like with the cat outfits in Super Mario 3DLand). This was a bikini with weird holes in it, and also cat ears. More and more games seem to add this sort of creep factor. The same can be said of the animes I've seen here and there. People kept saying I should watch Sword Art Online, because it was "Like .Hack", and what I found was a big bad monologuing to an entire city who's only reaction was "dull surprise", as well as 1 dimensional characters and sexualizing minors, which never happened in .hack//sign as far as I recall. I still love Studio Ghibli. They have so far been above reproach and have called out these problems themselves.
It doesn't help that most of the self-identified english speaking "anime fans" online with their weird anime girl avatars all seem to be MRAs. I've asked what some of the younger generation of anime fans find interesting about anime, what attracts them to it, and their reasons don't sound at all familiar to me. They like ONE type of story, and anything that deviates from the tropes is "wrong" or "not really anime" or "insulting to anime fans". They all speak their own language of bizarre terms that all seem to identify female characters solely by some fetishized personality trait. They really don't care about innovation or creative storytelling, just new cool stuff to look at. I do generalize, this obviously doesn't represent "all modern anime fans", but it does represent a general consensus among the "community" they've formed around themselves (a community I want nothing to do with). I also recognize their list of things they like about anime as exactly the opposite of what first got me watching those shows. It was something new, a way to tell a story I hadn't seen before, and had continuity, and that's what got me interested. Today, I tend to only watch original stuff on the outskirts of the wider market. It's why I barely ever bother with your anime thread, in fact. You tend to post show after show that's nothing more than "the exact same", and filled with all the problems I've noticed about stuff like that. In some ways, the worst part of anime is the community that surrounds it.
It's no wonder the "PC Master Race" has become so at-odds with the anime fans, to the point they automatically reject any western game that has an "unrealistic and cartoony" art style or make fun of any mod maker who decided to, say, add a bunch of weird anime eyes to Skyrim. It's an overreaction borne out of a rather toxic community's overbearing presence online. (Though, if you want my thoughts on modern modding communities, let's just say they've got their own skeletons, and they rhyme with "Charming better armor for Skyrim (female only)".
Quote:I don't think it always has. Granted, I don't watch that much of the animu, but I know for sure that characters from shows like Full Metal Alchemist are much deeper than characters in whatever the hell "My Wife is Student Council President" is supposed to be (I'm pretty sure that whole concept should get everyone behind that show on some sort of government watch list, it's disgusting and I'd rather not see that stuff appearing on my Hulu feed).
I'm sure you are joking here, but there are far worse things out there than My Wife is the Student Council President. I mean, it doesn't even have incest, loli-anything, or such! By the incredibly low standards stupid fanservice teasing animes like that go by, it could be worse. (Oh, and episodes are like 5 minutes each; it's not full length.)
Of course though, lots of anime really is terrible by any standard, I cannot defend the medium.
Quote:I'm much more familiar with video games, so I can safely say that the characters in Final Fantasy VI are FAR better written than the characters in Final Fantasy XIII. Heck, characters in Super Mario RPG are better written. Peach is a far more rounded character in that game than Lightning is.
And this is where the problem is, for this thread at least (where like no one else is going to read it) -- I'm far less versed in Final Fantasy games than you, so I can't really compare the old ones to the new. The only FF games I've gotten more than a couple hours into are V, X-2, and XII. As for older anime-style game character stereotypes versus newer ones, though, I think that anime has always been a stereotype-heavy field. In everything popular ideas are copied, but anime has taken this to an extreme. You might be right that over time the extent of the stereotyping has expanded, as now you can basically tell most things about a character just by looking at their design to maybe a greater extent than ever (twintails? Tsundere! Etc.), but it's always been a major element of the field.
Quote:In Final Fantasy games, this has really become a problem, as recent installments that reuse the characters have made them all cardboard cutouts of themselves. Terra, who had a whole character arc that made her very expressive and fun to be around by the end of the game is reduced to a whining little girl too afraid to do anything in Dissidia. Cloud, in Dissidia and Advent Children and everything else, is reduced to that "strong silent type" with none of the actual personality he had in the original game. Sephiroth is portrayed as "always in control of everything and never surprised" in newer material, whereas he actually could get surprised and would easily reduce himself to playing around with his victims and even laughing at them in the original game, because again, he had a well rounded personality back then which he lacks now. The less said about Yuffie the better, but whereas she actually had some emotional baggage in the original, she's been reduced to eternally optimistic "eye candy" in newer installments, and she's not considered an adult. Creepy.
That creepiness is all over newer games as well. Past games would have child characters, but they were treated like children. Relm had a mouth on her, but was treated like a 10 year old. Then we've got one of the modern Star Ocean games, where another 10 year old character is wearing some kind of "stripper" version of a cat outfit. Relm had a cat outfit too, but it was big puffy pajamas essentially (like with the cat outfits in Super Mario 3DLand). This was a bikini with weird holes in it, and also cat ears. More and more games seem to add this sort of creep factor. The same can be said of the animes I've seen here and there.
I haven't played much of these games so I wouldn't know, but these do sound like common anime stereotypes you see all the time, yes. I do think that older anime was often just as bad as newer anime, though -- part of the difference is just that more of the bad animes and games are released here now, versus then. But on the other hand yes, character stereotyping has advanced; it has always been there, but the extent of the paint-by-numbers, regurgitate-the-stereotypes elements of character design do seem to have gotten worse over the past 15 years. Or maybe it's just that I've watched more of it; there were plenty of awful, stereotyped animes back then too!
However...
Quote:People kept saying I should watch Sword Art Online, because it was "Like .Hack", and what I found was a big bad monologuing to an entire city who's only reaction was "dull surprise", as well as 1 dimensional characters and sexualizing minors, which never happened in .hack//sign as far as I recall. I still love Studio Ghibli. They have so far been above reproach and have called out these problems themselves.
SAO started out as a light novel, a category of short books with some anime art in them that are popular in Japan. Once you got some decent stuff out of LNs -- one of my favorite anime franchises, The Slayers, started out as one, though I've only watched the animes -- but in the '00s the field changed in favor of a lot of series with overlong names and incredibly bad, paint-by-numbers writing. SAO is one of the worst of the bunch, and a good example of many of the worst traits of its genre. If it isn't clear I hate SAO, it's awful and nothing at all like the still-fantastic original .Hack//Sign anime series (which is still the best thing in that franchise!).
Some staples of generic LN writing include a harem-action setting, an absurdly overpowered protagonist who can absolutely crush everyone but is probably overlooked or under-rated by everyone for REALLY dumb plotline reasons so they can have their stupid-overpowered guy (and it is usually a guy) be the "underdog", and some form of alternate-world thing, either through VR like SAO or the closely related isekai genre, a once-promising field that is now completely terrible thanks to things like SAO. Isekai stories' basic plot concepts are all that the main character dies in real life Japan, and afterwards is reborn in a fantasy world with all of their memories intact. SAO isn't quite isekai, but it has some definite similarities, most notably the "cheat". You see, whether it's Kirito form SAO and his perfect knowledge of the game or generic isekai protagonist and the way they use their real-world memories to get ahead and be stupid-amazing in this fantasy world which just happens to have traits perfect for their particular set of otaku skills, a key element of these stories is that the main character has an inherent advantage over everyone else. It's a power-fantasy concept, of course, but it's troubling too, because it imagines that you can't really get ahead unless you start out with the right skills. Very negative outlook on the world there...
Plus, for SAO in particular, I hate the whole "if you die in the game you die in real life" element. .hack's constant use of having people fall into comas because of in-game actions is bad enough, but at least there there is no attempt to explain everything scientifically -- I mean, in Sign Tsukasa is stuck in the game despite not even being in a VR headset in real life! SAO, however, tries to explain it, but it's so brain-hurtingly stupid an explanation that it doesn't work at all. It just creates meaningless tragedy I'd rather not watch, early in the series particularly. (If you keep going though, apparently his harem grows over time, naturally. I did not follow it.)
If you want maybe the best VR-world series of the past few years, maybe check out Log Horizon. It's not perfect, as there sort of is a "cheat" element in that the main characters are all super-good at the game, but it has a unique and more intelligent spin on the concept than most -- here all of the characters are people who were in a VR game, but suddenly it became real. Apparently they were transported or something to a world where that VR game is a real fantasy anime world, and they need to deal with that. It's no .hack//Sign, not even close, and there's plenty of stupid-anime elements to the series, but at least I found it decent and somewhat interesting, which is vastly superior to everything else recent in the field, that is unless you count the last .hack OVA series, .hack//Quantum; that's good too.
Quote: They all speak their own language of bizarre terms that all seem to identify female characters solely by some fetishized personality trait.
This is very true, anime over the past couple of decades has, as I said, built up a stable of stereotype characters which writers drag out again and again, knowing that fans have one that they like, so why not just re-use that character concept instead of trying something vaguely original or realistic? However, this does apply to male characters too -- there is a genre of harem shows with a female protagonist and male harem, and each of the guys in those shows are specific stereotypes, just like the female characters in other animes. So this isn't exclusively a single-gender thing. The otome game genre of visual novels are the game version of this, and some have even come out here in the US -- the Hakuouki franchise is one example which comes to mind.
Quote:It doesn't help that most of the self-identified english speaking "anime fans" online with their weird anime girl avatars all seem to be MRAs.
Of course it's not ALL, but I have seen some of that, yeah... but why? I don't know all the reasons of course, but the nature of anime, the escapist, power-fantasy element, the predictable characters, the constant fanservice in a lot of things... maybe it attracts that kind of person. While I admit to sometimes liking some fanservice, it goes way too overboard a lot of the time, often in creepy ways, and either you can be bothered by that but watch anime anyway, or you can say 'that's fine', which, well, is a more MRA-like attitude...
Quote:It's why I barely ever bother with your anime thread, in fact. You tend to post show after show that's nothing more than "the exact same", and filled with all the problems I've noticed about stuff like that. In some ways, the worst part of anime is the community that surrounds it.
I definitely still watch anime, but I have found myself watching less of it in the past year or two than I once did; it's just so, SO similar that do you really need to watch more of it when they're barely different? Seeing generic stereotypical characters in some new-ish situation is amusing, and I will watch some, but I probably only actually finish a show or two a season. And I write reviews of the stuff a LOT less than I did a few years ago, as I'm sure you noticed. I decided at one point that it was not worth the significant amount of time it was taking, and I'd rather write about videogames instead since that is what I love the most. After that I started up the Game Opinion Summaries series.
Quote: It's no wonder the "PC Master Race" has become so at-odds with the anime fans, to the point they automatically reject any western game that has an "unrealistic and cartoony" art style or make fun of any mod maker who decided to, say, add a bunch of weird anime eyes to Skyrim. It's an overreaction borne out of a rather toxic community's overbearing presence online.
I'm sure there are plenty of bad apples on the "PC is the best" side too... likely a lower percentage of the total, though, that may well be true. But that whole "anime avatar = bad" stereotype surely is not always accurate, so yeah, I agree with you here for the most part -- it's an over-reaction because of how some or much of the community acts.
Quote: (Though, if you want my thoughts on modern modding communities, let's just say they've got their own skeletons, and they rhyme with "Charming better armor for Skyrim (female only)".
I know the "best" response is probably to say that there should be less fanservice in things in general, and that is probably true, but if it is going to be there, I think that it should be equally applied to both genders. That WOULD be a change from how things are now, and it would be a change for the better. So yeah, (female only)... no.
You keep using the term "fanservice" to mean something sexual specifically, but that's really not the common usage I've seen. Most people use that term to refer to things like how they put Howard the Duck in Guardians of the Galaxy. I suppose that's yet another charming quirck of the online anime community.
By the way, I have no clue what any of those weird terms you used above actually mean, from "twin tails" (Tails from Sonic?) to "tsunder" (Tsundercats, ho!) to "loli" (pop?). I'm sure I don't want to know.
Also, pointing out there's stuff you consider "far worse" than a show that appears to be about an older man literally marrying a gradeschooler (no specific grade given, because clearly that didn't matter to whoever made this assault on good taste) is not helping your case here.
One last thing I thought to add. Comedy tropes have gotten way too similar as well in both anime and japanese video games. I swear, if I have to watch ONE more scene where someone says they aren't hungry, them their stomach growls, then they get embarrassed, then they both laugh (always EXACTLY LIKE THAT, EXACTLY LIKE THAT SO HARD IT HURTS!), I'm going to throw a cat statue through my TV screen. You know what's been a breath of fresh air lately? Dragon Ball's Battle of the Gods movie I saw just recently. Not only was the comedy on-point, it wasn't recycling tired old cliches. I mean, sure there were a FEW, but by and large they were going for natural humor that evolved from the situation. Vegeta singing a song to open a bingo tournament in order to prevent a god of destruction from getting mad and killing everyone is an example of a GOOD joke. A giant fat version of Kirby lickiing every cup of pudding to keep that same god of destruction from eating it is also comedy gold. That god of destruction judging entire worlds based on petty stuff is, well, exactly what a god WOULD do isn't it? Also, the heroic protagonist that never ever gives up and always saves everyone? He failed, and admitted defeat. The world was saved because that god came to like that guy and got very loose with what it means to "destroy the earth" (he blew up a tiny pebble and considered it mission accomplished). If the new stuff in "Super" I've been hearing about keeps up that level of messing with established tropes, I want to check it out.
Dark Jaguar Wrote:Every last thing you just said/explained above? That's basically all part of the SAME problem. Why the hell are there all these terms, nay, WORDS, for specificly female character archetypes? Isn't that a bit odd?
Odd? Well, kind of I guess, but not really. First, the terms do apply to male characters too, some of the time; it's not exclusively for female ones. It's more just that anime has developed a set of expected character archetypes, and series re-use those basic characters over and over because fans like to see the familiar.
Quote:That last one really gets me. First of all, apparently I've been misunderstanding that word the whole time. I thought it was loli as in lolipop, but it's a hard O sound,
While you're probably right here, I've always internally thought the word as "loli" like lolipop, myself... heh.
Quote:so bam, now I've got to recall every time I saw that and try to figure out exactly who I've got to cut entirely out of my life forever for being a pedophile. What you're telling me is they took the name Lolita, which I'm sure they got from that book about the pedophile running away with a little girl he's obsessed with, and made a cutesy shortened version of it (likely so it wouldn't show up on the FBI's radar), and now use it, with no HINT of irony (that book was after all pointing out how much of a monster that pedophile was and all the self justification he went through to make it seem consensual) to refer to cartoon children they are sexually attracted to? That's absolutely disgusting, and if it's widespread, that's a major problem the anime community needs to weed out. I'd start with a quick ban to anyone using that term.
You're mostly right here about what the term means, but I should add a few things. First, I believe that the term actually was first used in Japan, so it's not some Western term for Japanese characters that fit into that super-creepy category, it is a Japanese otaku term, not Western. It originates from the book Lolita of course yes, but loli and the category it is a part of, lolicon, are Japanese terms. They've read the book in Japan too. So it's got nothing to do with your joke about the FBI. (The similar term for creepily-sexualized stuff with young boys is called shotacon.)
Beyond that, though, you're quite thoroughly right about the part about "using it without a hint of irony about the true meaning of the term". Whether it's lolicon, incest-baiting (there's lots of that in anime, including in SAO I believe, later on?), or more, there rarely are any negative repercussions for characters having super-messed up relationship suggestions such as those. Part of the explanation for that may simply be cultural differences, and that is surely a factor. However, there's another part to it too -- the audience. As you may know, manga is a popular media format in Japan. Mangas sell very well, and so niches such as people interested in lolicon have enough sales to keep such series being drawn regularly. However, it's niche among manga.
Anime, however, is niche itself; only hardcore otakus watch most anime, beyond the stuff for everyone like some popular kids shows and such. Otakus, and anime/game ones in particular, are not popular in general Japanese society, it must be said; it's a disliked minority. So, anime only sells to a small core audience. Anime DVDs or Blu-Rays are both very expensive and contain few episodes per disc; you'll often pay as much as a hundred dollars for two episodes on Blu-Ray, I believe. Of course, few people are willing to pay those prices, but they are high enough to keep the companies in business with only limited numbers (thousands or less, to tens of thousands for a successful series, per disc release) of sales. When you're heavily reliant on a small base, though, you can't anger them too much, or they won't buy the discs of your show! So, lots of animes pander heavily to otakus, with isekai fantasy series about otakus who are transported to other worlds where their skills and knowledge are actually valued by society, pandering stuff for people with fringe fetishes like lolicon or incest, etc. Pandering sells; a dose of reality or the dark and negative consequences that SHOULD result from such relationships, the kinds of things you see in a Ring Cycle or Lolita, does not.
One last point, on your use of the word "pedophile". Here's the question -- is someone only interested in 2d "loli" art but not real children deserving of such a word? Reality and fantasy are not the same thing, after all, and 2d or videogame stuff and reality are not the same. I am not going to defend people who like loli anime or manga much, because I've seen more than enough creepy posts from people who think things like "it doesn't matter so long as it's cute". But while it does matter for sure to some degree, IS true that 2d is not 3d. There are some decent thoughts here in the Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolicon#Controversy I have always believed that reality and fantasy are entirely different. Things which are not real should be allowed, so I have never supported banning lolicon stuff, so long as it is obviously not real; the problem is real acts, not drawings.
Despite that, however, it is still really creepy and wrong for anime or manga to sexualize pre-pubescent characters, particularly, so I agree that that is something which there should be MUCH less of. I may think it shouldn't be banned, but I also think there's way too much of it for sure! This issue is generally controversial. The other place I've posted about anime is NeoGAF, and that always very strictly moderated (and liberal) forum bans people for saying they have an interest in prepubescent/significantly underage characters. That is understandable given how creepy some things they posted are; some of NeoGAF's bans go too far, but many were reasonable for sure.
So overall, are some of these things problems that the anime community should try to 'weed out'? It should be legal because I strongly believe in the first amendment, but I'd like it if anime was less disturbingly creepy, so yes. The creepiness and sexism are the worst things about anime.
Quote:The hair style thing, I guess I just didn't think of that, but it could be regional, since two tails is just called "pig tails" around here. Eh, whatever. As for tsunder, yeah, I guess I do know that archetype. That's Helga from Hey Arnold. At least she was original, but now you're telling me it's a standard anime trope, so that kills THAT concept's originality for all time.
[video=youtube;m9baXUQD7lU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9baXUQD7lU
Yeah, I guess twin-tails are a variation on the pigtail, but since anime likes extremes they are often crazy-long. The main character in I Wanna Be the Twintail (an anime about a guy who loves twintails, and then gets the power to turn into a superpowered girl with twintails... I think I reviewed some of the episodes.) has twin-tails that both are long enough to reach the ground, for example. There's also a style with twintails that are mixed into the hair, like classic tsundere Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion (ever seen that very popular '90s series?).
Also, while there are plenty of '90s characters that can be called tsundere, since anime (and anime-styled videogames) probably have indeed simplified down and refined their stock character stereotypes (though I don't know if anime is actually getting worse over time, since there have always been plenty of bad animes) I think that the term is a more recent one. So, while the character type has been popular in anime since the '80s, the real explosion of such characters isn't until the '00s really.
Quote:So, that show features two students that got married? How does that work exactly? Eh, I guess Japan's marriage laws are different. It'll never work out. They'll hate each other's guts before graduation. At least it's not as bad as I thought based on the complete and total focus on the girl in the title and the art work.
This is a TV anime, remember, not hentai (porn). So, it's not a real marriage, but instead our put-upon male protagonist had the student council president move in on him and declare herself to be his wife. Cue lots of fanservice and a threadbare plot.
Quote:I'm not sure what you've got against the art style in particular. It's very exaggerated to a comical extent, but it's fun like that, and very expressive. Heck, near as I can tell that series is to blame for every ridiculously spiky hairdo in every anime and video game since then. Chrono Trigger's entire style was designed by the same guy in the same style, and that's generally considered one of the best looking games on the SNES. Dragon Quest, as a series, uses that art style in just about every game as well. That look says one thing to me, and that's "fun adventure". You're definitely right about the "dragging on" issue though. It's just that Dragon Ball Z is hardly the only series that has this problem. In fact, just about every anime series is both long running and based on some comic book appears to run into the same issue eventually. Even Game of Thrones nearly had this moment before they decided ultimately to just take the show in a different direction (HBO considered both drastically slowing down the pace of each episode and inventing a bunch of side story arcs to bloat things out while Martin wrote, but they realized those actors weren't going to be available forever and opted for something that'd get the show moving faster). Anyway, never mind all that and check out that movie I mentioned. The pace on that is as snappy as you would expect in a movie, so that problem is out of the way. The animation is also amazing, as one would expect from a feature film. I can't say I'm one of those huge Dragon Ball fans you see out there who know every fact about the show, loves the "long cut" of Z more than the faster paced "Kai" cut, and bench presses to "Rock the Dragon" while imagining themselves doing a kamehameha, but eh, I enjoyed it back in the day (and distinctly recall getting a lot of flack from OB1 once he found that out).
The tediously endless fights always were one of the things which lost me in all of the endless shonen action series, from DBZ to Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach, yeah. Of those four I watched the most of Naruto, but after a little while I lost interest. That stuff just gets boring, and I never cared about the stories or characters enough to keep watching. It's just not a style of show I like. And on top of that, I've always thought of DBZ as this particularly dumb-sounding franchise I have never wanted to TRY to like, so there is that too, making things even worse, but I did watch a few episodes somewhere here or there in the '00s I'm sure, once I started watching anime then. I did not want to continue. I'm not saying it is an objectively bad show though, I haven't watched enough of it to say. I just don't like what little I've seen of it. I know the names of some of the characters because the series is so popular but know little to nothing about the actual plot (and don't really care), etc.
I think I don't want you "teaching" me any more about this. I feel like I'm worse off now than before.
At any rate, I wasn't joking about the FBI. When I found out that "CP" was code for "child pornography" in order to hide activity, it sickened me. It wasn't much of a stretch to assume that above cutesy term was a similar way of "hiding" stuff.
I really honestly couldn't care less which group started using the term first, and I don't care if they have two gender specific terms. However, it DOES disturb me that so many English speaking fans took it upon themselves to FIND OUT all these Japanese terms and make it their own. That actually makes it WORSE! Why did they do that?! Why would they WANT to do that? One thing's for sure, now whenever I see someone use some weird Japanese term online, I gotta just make sure to ask myself if I REALLY want to know what that term means. You're mired in it ABF, you should find this stranger than you do. You're the frog in the slow to boil pot of water.
Yes, I am going to call them all pedophiles. You may have a point about fake depictions being better than actual photos (though what's with your distinction between "2D" and "3D", I really don't think an Oculus Rift is going to make much difference here), but at the end of the day, we've got a planet full of 7 billion people. I can afford to be just picky enough in who I associate with to decide I'd rather not have anything to do with anyone who is sexually attracted to children, whether they can limit it to fictional depictions or not. There's just not room in my life for such people.
If what you say is true, and most of the anime made today is incredibly niche in Japan as well, pandering to a bunch of shut ins, that's not something they can sustain. If they're really too afraid to offend those shutins for things that frankly they should be called out on, well, that's no good. I think I see now why I avoid so much of the anime these days. I'll take the super hero fighting stuff any day of the week over these sad excuses for shows.
Dark Jaguar Wrote:I think I don't want you "teaching" me any more about this. I feel like I'm worse off now than before.
That's how the internet is, isn't it... we learn things we wish we didn't know. I know I sure have, many times... makes you wonder once in a while if this whole internet thing was worth it. :p (It is, but it's got big problems too.)
Quote:At any rate, I wasn't joking about the FBI. When I found out that "CP" was code for "child pornography" in order to hide activity, it sickened me. It wasn't much of a stretch to assume that above cutesy term was a similar way of "hiding" stuff.
I really honestly couldn't care less which group started using the term first, and I don't care if they have two gender specific terms. However, it DOES disturb me that so many English speaking fans took it upon themselves to FIND OUT all these Japanese terms and make it their own. That actually makes it WORSE! Why did they do that?! Why would they WANT to do that? One thing's for sure, now whenever I see someone use some weird Japanese term online, I gotta just make sure to ask myself if I REALLY want to know what that term means. You're mired in it ABF, you should find this stranger than you do. You're the frog in the slow to boil pot of water.
Hah... kind of maybe? I follow anime less now than I did in past years, but I still watch some at least so yeah.
As for terms though, what's so weird about learning Japanese anime terminology? Doesn't it makes sense that fans of the genre would try to find out more about it, and since all anime is Japanese that means learning Japanese terms for stuff. Others resist that, but those who do probably think of themselves as more serious anime fans since they're getting closer to the source material... though others use mocking terms for Westerners who get too hardcore into their adoration for otaku Japan, so there's a back and forth there. It's a bit like the old argument between people who watch anime subbed, and people who watch it dubbed. (I prefer subbed, myself, but have watched dubbed stuff too of course.)
Quote:Yes, I am going to call them all pedophiles. You may have a point about fake depictions being better than actual photos (though what's with your distinction between "2D" and "3D", I really don't think an Oculus Rift is going to make much difference here),
Sorry, I was using more anime terminology there. "2d" is anime -- drawings, animation, videogames, what have you. "3d" is the real world. Japan has one of the worlds' lowest birthrates now, and while there are many reasons for that, the otakus who have only 2d "relationships" and not real ones are something that has been written about; there have been articles about that and such, and it's a definite thing.
Quote:but at the end of the day, we've got a planet full of 7 billion people. I can afford to be just picky enough in who I associate with to decide I'd rather not have anything to do with anyone who is sexually attracted to children, whether they can limit it to fictional depictions or not. There's just not room in my life for such people.
I'd reserve the term for people who have a real-world interest in such things and not only digital ones, myself, because drawings or videogames are not real. Still, as for wanting to stay away from both types, sure.
Quote:If what you say is true, and most of the anime made today is incredibly niche in Japan as well, pandering to a bunch of shut ins, that's not something they can sustain. If they're really too afraid to offend those shutins for things that frankly they should be called out on, well, that's no good. I think I see now why I avoid so much of the anime these days. I'll take the super hero fighting stuff any day of the week over these sad excuses for shows.
Is it sustainable? Well, it is for now, but the whole system could break down, yes. It all depends on how many otakus there are in the future, and whether the economics of selling small numbers of stupid-overpriced anime continues to make sense. Right now, there are more anime series being made each year than ever, but most focus on otaku niches and abandon any attempt at mass-market appeal. The general concept of anime as an art style is quite popular, and there are lots of Chinese and Korean drawn manga analogs (called "manhwa" in Korea and "manhua" in China), but yes, the otaku-centric TV anime field certainly could collapse. (Japan's declining population sure won't help it, I think...)
PS3
--
3D Dot Game Heroes - $13.50, disc in generic case (I'd rather have the case for this, but I had to have it so I got it despite being loose. This is a great find, 3D Dot Game Heroes has always been one of the PS3 games I've most wanted to play!)
Blazblue: Chronophantasma Extend - $13.50, complete (The final version of the third BlazBlue fighting game. I have several versions of the first two BlazBlue entries, but I've never played this one...)
Heavenly Sword - $4.50, complete
Mugen Souls Z - $9, complete (A very anime Compile Heart JRPG.)
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time - $10, complete (The first PS3 Ratchet gmae seems fun, so I'll get this one too; it's supposed to be the best of the PS3 Ratchet games, and this is the best price I've seen for it.)
Demon's Souls - $15, complete (it's like that story of how curiosity killed the cat... I can't help but want to try this first game in the 'franchise' even if I don't expect to love it...)
DS
--
Color Cross - $1, card only (I had never heard of this, but playing it, it's like Picross, but with multiple colors! Great find!)
Genesis
--
McDonald's Treasureland Adventure - $20, cart only (This is an average price for this game, which you don't see too often. It's a solid platformer from Treasure.)
So it's November, so it's time for sales. I just got a bunch of stuff in this weeks' Sony sale. I got the lower (about $12 less than the regular sale price) Plus prices because I got the 14-day free trial, because that's quite a bit of money saved. I just need to remember to unsubscribe before they start charging me and it'll be fine.
PS3 PSN - sale
--
Resogun - $3 - This is supposed to be a big downgrade from the PS4 version of course, but it's cool that they made a PS3 version at all; I've really want to play this one.
Starhawk - $10 - ... Yeah, I'm sure no one plays it, but I want to try this and it has an Online Pass, so this is cheaper than a physical used copy plus that.
Fatal Frame III: The Tormented (PS2 Classic) - $3.50 - Never played this series. I'll try it.
PS3/PSP/Vita PSN - sale - I got a bunch of cheap PS1 Classic games because all of these are games that cost far more than this for physical copies, and I don't own these games. Most of these are $30-plus physically, except for Vagrant Story which I am hesitant to get here because it's not too expensive for a real copy ($10-plus)... but I want to play the game and never see it in person, so I'll get this.
--
Vagrant Story - $2 (Square's action-RPG that always got very good press)
Tomba - $2 (These two games are well-regarded, and surprisingly not cheap, 2.5d platformers I've always wanted to try.)
Tomba 2 - $2
Suikoden 2 - $2 (I have Suikodens 1, 4, and 5, but not this pricey one.)
Wild Arms 2 - $2 (Oddly this is the first even-numbered Wild Arms game I own... previously I only had the 1st, 3rd, and 5th games. :p)
Mega Man Legends 2 - $2 (I have the first one for N64 so this gets me the series, since the third was cancelled.)
Additionally, a couple of days ago I got a Genesis 1 / Master System composite cable for $8. I only had RF for my Master System before, and this is a step above that. The quality difference isn't massive, but I can see the improvement. Sound is mono-only of course, but the 3rd-gen consoles only have mono anyway.
I'm at a loss as to which generation you're calling "3rd" in this case, since there's a lot of debate over that, but if you're talking about the Genesis, I'm pretty sure that does have stereo sound. You just have to use the front port to get that.
Resogun is fun, but the developers' decision to make the game memorization-based for how you save the humans, instead of skill-based as it is in Defender, kind of ruins it. My first impression of the game is that this is a fun game with issues. It's nowhere near Defender's exceptional brilliance.
No, the 3rd generation is the NES/SMS/A7800 one. I agree that the pre-NES era is a mess generation-wise, but I don't know if a whole generation needs to be added, things should just be shifted around (the consoles of '82 moving to the 3rd gen, mostly). Anyway, as far as I know none of the 3rd-gen consoles have stereo sound. The major 4th-gen platforms all do, though, yes -- SNES, Genesis, TG16.
In fact, as you may recall, it's trying to get away from the old mono-only AV cable of the Genesis 1 to one that does have stereo sound that's surely why the Genesis 2 uses a different AV cable from the first model (which re-uses the SMS's AV cable).
So Gamestop is having a Thanksgiving buy 2 get 1 free sale, from today to Sunday, so... I got a lot of stuff. This should be it for a while though, for Gamestop stuff anyway, because I got most of the games I'm the most interested in that I saw. There are always more, but not stuff I really need...
Xbox 360
--
Devil May Cry HD Collection - free in a B2G1, complete (would have been $11.70) - I've actually never played any of these games. Doubt I'll love it, but who knows.
Lollipop Chainsaw - $11.70, complete
Earth Defense Force 2025 - free in a B2G1, complete (would have been $13.50) - Some people really like this series, and this is one of the better ones, so I picked it up.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - $13.50, complete - I've wanted to have the last title in this trilogy for some time now, so now I do.
PS3
--
Aegis of Earth - free from a B2G1, complete (would have been $18) - A Japanese strategy game thing.
Atelier Ayesha: Alchemist of Dusk - $18, complete - This series of crafting-heavy JRPGs is something I don't think I like much at all, conceptually, but I've never really given one a chance, and there are six for the PS3 (with US releases) so I decided to get one. This game is the first game in the second PS3 trilogy.
LittleBigPlanet Karting - free from a B2G1, complete (would have been $9) - This team's second attempt at kart racing is hopefully better than the first one? (Which I got for PSP)
Tales of Graces f - $18, complete - This is a port of a Japan-only Wii game, so visually it doesn't match up to the other PS3 Tales games, but it's a bit harder to find than the others, so I'm happy to find it! I wish we'd gotten the Wii version here, but this adds a lot to the original, so ah well.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Game of the Year Edition - $1.80, complete - This is one of several games I got today that Gamestop has raised the price on, but some of the local stores hadn't done their price changes, so I got it for this low price. This is a good deal for under $2.
Wii
--
MySims Kingdom - $4.50, complete - This probably won't be worth it, but it's supposed to be much better than the (bad) DS one, so... got it anyway. Plus the "kingdom" theme is something hard for me to resist... :p
Adventures of Tintin - free in a B2G1, complete (would have been $4.50) - I really like Tintin and own almost all of the comics (and have since I was a kid), and liked the movie this game is based on, so I convinced myself to get this despite it surely being average at best. It's a 2.5d platformer.
Jewel Quest Trilogy - complete, $1.80 - Three games on one disc - Match 3, Shanghai ("Mahjong" as these things always wrongly call it), and a Hidden Object game.
CID the Dummy - complete, $4.50 - A 3d platformer. Probably will be fun.
MySims Racing - free in a B2G1, complete (would have been $1.80) - EA's budget Mario Kart knockoff.
Mountain Sports - free in a B2G1, complete (would have been $1.80) - Winter sports minigame collection, with Motion+ and Balance Board support.
WordJong Party - $1, complete - Like Shanghai but you're making words.
DS
--
Reversal Challenge - $1.80, card only - It's a cheap DS puzzle game! These are often fun. I did see several other (more expensive) DS games I want, but ended up passing on those... I don't know, I got newer stuff instead. Glad I got this though.
3DS
--
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - $34.20, complete - ... I wasn't going to get this, because I stopped in Awakening some weeks back and haven't gone back yet and because, well, I have FE Awakening but not either 3DS Kirby game and I really want them, but they had this and I wanted strategy games, so I ended up picking this up anyway. (The stores I went to didn't have any used copies of Birthright, so I got this. Story-wise that sounds better, but this has better boxart, so I'll go with this. You have to buy one then get the other and the third chapter as DLC to play the whole game anyway, so it doesn't really matter which you get physical...)
Code of Princess - $13.50, card only - A beat 'em up.
Moshi Monsters: Katsuma Unleashed - free in a B2G1, complete (would have been $2.70) - Yes it's a licensed platformer, but it's cheap and could be amusing, so I got it.
Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion - $9, complete - I've heard this game is quite short, but hopefully it's good while it lasts. Visuals look nice for sure.
I didn't spend much more beyond that, but have gotten a couple of things recently.
First, I got a cheap 64GB micro SD card, to upgrade my N3DS from the 8GB card I had had in it. I'd filled that up, so I needed more space and this should be plenty for quite some time! I'd also like to similarly upgrade my PSP, since I only have a 4GB and a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo and I need more space than that just for the download-only games that I have, but I'll need a micro SD to MS Pro Duo adapter for that, since that's cheaper than trying to find a large actual Memory Stick Pro Duo. I'll probably get one soon.
Also, a couple of games.
Game Boy
--
The Little Mermaid - $4, cart only - The GB version of Capcom's pretty solid NES game. I've tried it, it's alright.
Gamecube
--
Army Men: Sarge's War - $5, complete - This is the last 3DO Army Men game. It's another third-person shooter and got mediocre reviews, but as their last one, and in fact a game published by Global Star Software because 3DO went out of business after finishing it but before publishing the game, there are some interesting things about it.
PC
--
Harbinger - $5, complete - This is an early '00s Diablo clone with a sci-fi setting. It's got a nice box and hopefully is decent.
A couple of last sale purchases, this time a few cheap digital games.
PC DD - Steam sale
--
The Next Penelope - $3.25 - topdown futuristic racing game.
Starchaser: Priestess of the Night Sky - $2.50 - Japanese indie 3d action game.
Rotastic - $2 - Interesting-looking actioney puzzle game.
Tobari and the Night of the Curious Moon - $2.50 - Japanese indie platformer.
DreadOut - $3 - Indie survival horror game from an Indonesian dev with Fatal Frame-styled gameplay.
Xbox 360 DD (on sale, ends today)
--
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition - $5 - This is the sequel to EA's first NBA Jam reboot, which released for Wii first and then PS3/360 later. This followup is digital-only, unlike the original game, and wasn't released on Wii unfortunately. The first one is good (I have the original Wii version), and I like the series a lot of course, so yeah, I should get this! I'm sure it'll be fun.
On Fire Edition is more of a remaster than a full on sequel, but it is good. Aside from Mario Basketball, this is the only basketball game series I really enjoy, namely because it's got an arcade feel instead of a realistic feel. I would totally bring this game to an actual basketball game on a rooftop.
Are those sd to memory stick adapters reliable? I know the format is pretty different, and I worry that there might be issues. I've got a 8GB memory stick (high speed), which is the largest size Sony sells on their site, but the thing has become pretty full.
I picked up a NES Classic today. I set it up and played it real quick (I'm boxing it back up because it's intended as a gift). I think for what it is, it'll do just fine for most people. For myself, I'm going to stick with the original hardware, but I really do recommend it for anyone who doesn't have those 30 games or an original NES to play it on. There's a number of little criticisms I could lay on this (I would love if I could buy NES titles online through the device, or plug in original NES controllers, or original NES games, or if they actually went so far as to remake the original hardware compressed down into a chip), but really the only big one is controller related. Aside from cord length, there's one little detail they overlooked. This thing only has one controller. The original NES included two, the Famicom Classic in Japan includes two, so why doesn't the US version include two? (The Famicom Classic has it's own issue, as once again their version is stuck with hard wired controllers). As it stands, any Wii classic controller works just fine on this device, which is nice, but it sure would have been nice to go just a bit further and pack two controllers into this thing. I bought this one for my nieces, so I'll need to find an extra controller so they can enjoy the madness that is Bubble Bobble together.
Quote: Are those sd to memory stick adapters reliable? I know the format is pretty different, and I worry that there might be issues. I've got a 8GB memory stick (high speed), which is the largest size Sony sells on their site, but the thing has become pretty full.
You never know with this kind of thing, but hopefully they work. I ordered one, so I'll see if it works once it arrives...
Quote:I bought this one for my nieces, so I'll need to find an extra controller so they can enjoy the madness that is Bubble Bobble together.
Congrats at actually finding one, they're quite hard to come by. As for controllers, aren't they supposedly selling extra controllers for it for cheap? If they can actually be found that is, of course...
Also, I got a couple of things today.
Wii
--
Pirates Plundarrr - $2.50, complete - this is a 2d beat 'em up. It looks like average budget stuff, but might be amusing?
Game Boy/GB Color (dual mode)
--
Tazmanian Devil: Munching Madness! - $2, cart only - This is one of Sunsoft's handheld Looney Tunes games, so I had to get it when I saw it, I like almost all of them! Sunsoft's SNES Looney Tunes games were much more mixed in quality, but the GB and GBC games are good. This one isn't a platformer like most of the rest though, it's a top-view action/platform game. Looks solid.
I guess they are selling extra controllers, but I guess I really did get lucky just finding the device itself as I can't find an extra controller out there at all (I just walked into a store and happened to see two for sale). I'm not sure if this really does reflect the demand for this toy though, since Nintendo has been very bad at making a decent number of these. Many stores are lucky just to get two or three each week. Thanks a bunch Nintendo.
So first, that Micro SD to Memory Stick Pro Duo (PSP) adapter arrived ($4 shipped from ebay, they're cheap), and the good news is that it works. All I had to do was put another one of those cheap 64GB Micro SD cards in the adapter (yes, I didn't mention it, but I got two), put it into the PSP, and then go into the system menu and format the card, and presto, it works! Contrast that to the 3DS, where reformatting that stupid card to get the system to be able to read it was kind of a pain and required some internet searching. It's easier on the PSP. I then copied over all my stuff from my other PSP cards to the PSP (by copying both of those cards to the PC, then copying that stuff from the PC to the new card; isn't it nice how that PSP-to-PC transfer cable gives you full access to the memory card in the PSP?). That all worked fine, as does using the card for games, videos, etc.
There is one problem, however -- the PS3 doesn't seem to be able to recognize it. This is a problem because despite searching multiple times over the time since the PSP Sony store was taken offline, I've never found a way to download games I own for the PSP to the system from a PC; there is no functioning download link or anything in the Sony store on a PC, annoyingly. Because the PSP store itself is also down, this means that transferring games from the PS3 to the PSP is the only way I have to get games onto the system (legitimately, but I've never installed custom firmware so that's the only way). So, it's kind of annoying that the PS3 won't recognize the 64GB card! In order to get the rest of my PSP and PS1 Classics titles onto the new card, I had to empty out most of the stuff on the 4GB card, copy all that stuff to that card, copy it over to the PC, and then finally copy it over to the new card. After that it works fine, but come on, if the PSP can read the card the PS3 should be able to too! One more issue with this stupid PS3 OS I guess...
Additionally, I got a few games today.
Game Gear
--
Sonic Labyrinth - $4, cart only - I've always heard not-great things about this one, but I definitely want to try it on the GG, you never know...
X-Men: Mojo World - $4, cart in plastic case - The third and final GG X-Men game. I have the other two, but not this one.
Game Boy Color
--
Missile Command - $3, cart only - This is a decent Missile Command version in a rumble cart, so it shakes every time you fire a missile. That's neat, but the gameplay is just plain Missile Command, not enhanced like its PC/PS1 counterpart was. Ah well. At least the rumble adds something over than color, over the older B&W GB releases of Missile Command (which I don't have, but there are two).
Xbox
--
Pirates of the Caribbean - $3, complete - This is a pirate trading/adventure/etc RPG thing using the PotC license for a mostly unrelated game. I like the PotC movies and some pirate games, though, so I thought this would be worth trying for this cheap price.
Keep in mind that the SD card adapter you have is non-standard. I am pretty certain that the PS3 updated the security system used to recognize memory sticks a few times since the thing was designed.
Did you plug the adapter ensemble into the PS3 itself, or did you plug the PSP itself into the PS3? If you haven't, try the latter, because that's the easiest way to transfer games and it might get around your issue.
The SuperSlim PS3 doesn't have its own memory card ports, remember, so I was plugging the PSP into the PS3 via a USB cable. I don't have a USB Memory Stick Pro Duo adapter currently, since I've never needed one since the regular USB cable lets you have full access to the memory card when connected to a PC, so I don't know how that would work... would it even let me copy the games over to that stick? I'm guessing not, with how the PS3 OS seems to go, but who knows, I haven't actually tried plugging a USB flash memory stick into the thing.
Originally, the PS3 OS let you keep the "unpacked" versions of PSP games on the hard drive and copy those to whatever device you want (since the game was encoded anyway and could only be played on account linked devices). At some point, they removed that and set it so that you could only "unpack" the package directly onto a PSP and keep the "packed" version on the PSP.
Here's your workaround: Plug a smaller memory card into the PSP, install the game onto that, then go to your PC and copy that game from that memory card to your new setup using a memory card to USB adapter (most support both Memory Stick and SD standards).
Have you got any photos of this collection of yours, ABF? It seems extensive beyond my imagination.
I know I posted a couple of pictures of some of my collection from back in early 2010, but I can't find that thread now... bah. Of course I've moved since then and bought a lot of stuff, so I have thought about posting pictures of the collection again, yeah; I know some of you would like to see.
Two things have kept me from doing that, though: first, I of course do not exactly like saying or showing much about myself on the internet, and this is still true to some extent; and second, I don't have one of those nicely organized and good-looking collections or 'game rooms', as you see around the internet. Instead, I've kind of got stuff all over. It IS sorted, but not neat, for sure... :p
Based on the last set of pics you uploaded, I take it you have stacks of games on the floor in the middle of your room with piles of clothing propping them up? If that's the case, then sure, having them in shelves would be "lah de dah" and "nicely organized" in comparison.
I've had multiple rooms since I moved here in mid 2010 (and have always been one to keep clothes either in the dresser or dirty-clothes baskets, for whatever reason I keep things neat in that respect and always have), so it's not quite as bad as that; the mess on the floor is games, books, and random other stuff (mail, etc...), not clothes.
Additionally, I do have bookshelves, and other furniture such as a dresser I fill with games. I've only got one floor (plus stairwell spaces and the basement), but by now there isn't much wall space free for more bookshelves... heh. That's not the reason stuff is all over the floor, in the bedroom and living room in particular (I keep the computer/kitchen floor much clearer); for that, there is a logic to it, at least to me. I've always wanted to easily be able to play as many games as I can. So, when I go on a trip, I'll probably bring a good-sized bag with multiple game consoles, etc. Will I use all the stuff I bring? Of course not! But I want to be prepared, so I bring it anyway. And at home, call it ease-of-use or laziness (though it saves time and that matters, so I'd call it a good thing), I want to be able to use any console without having to go hook it up, find the cables, etc. So, all of the working consoles that I need to play games for all the systems I have (except a couple of broken ones that need repair... poor Atari 7800) are all hooked up and working, have controllers attached, etc. Considering the good number of systems I have, that creates quite a mess of wires and systems. You also need to consider distance, as any system with controller cables needs to be within reach of the cords, unless you've got extenders which I do have for some systems. This means that while a PS3 or X360 can be under the TV across the living room, the Odyssey 2, for example, has go to be right by my feet. The living room TV and console setup is the end result of trying to have everything hooked up and usable. I know that ideally consoles should not be on the floor, and I do keep as many as I can off the floor, but I don't have some huge space full of places to put consoles, and the kinds of wiring needed for all of those systems to be usable would require far more space than I have anyway. And anyway, I keep the game stuff off of the main walking path through the living room, so what's the problem with using the rest of the room for something other than wasted empty space? :)
And as for the piles of games around those consoles... well, it's more convenient to have games right by the system rather than having to walk all the way over to some shelves across the room that's got that systems' games on it, you know! So never mind that I won't play most of those games for a long time, I leave them out anyway. I know that's not the best excuse, but it's what I do anyway. Additionally, though, for some systems, I really don't have enough space in the shelf/shelves that systems' games are currently on for everything I have, so some need to be somewhere else anyway, and that somewhere is the floor.
I'll save a full description for when/if I post pictures, but in general, I've got books and DS, 3DS, PSP, Virtual Boy, and Game Gear games in the bedroom, along with some GB and GBC games as well; my computers and computer games in the kitchen/computer room, along with some PC game boxes and manuals; and all TV console games and most of my GB, GBC, and GBA games and systems in the living room. Additionally, down cellar I've got lots of stuff, the gaming-related part of which are most of my empty game boxes -- my big-box PC game boxes, the boxes I have for the SNES, GB, N64, Genesis, and such (ie, consoles which don't use disc-based media and thus I don't need to keep the game in the case); and a bunch more manuals, mostly for PC games. Annoyingly enough, though I bought two N64s new back in 1999-2001 I didn't keep either of those boxes, but I do have my original Gamecube box, which is cool. (Boxwise though, the worst thing is that my one and only missing PC game box is the one I wish I had the most, my original Starcraft launch-edition box with the Terran cover. I'll never know why or how that vanished while the rest stayed together, but it's too bad. I have a later regular SC box, from when I purchased a second copy later on after my original disc stopped working, but the launch boxes are different.)
Helluva collection you got, ABF. You belong on TV.
![[Image: M4R6yWtl.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/M4R6yWtl.jpg)
Maybe you can sell the rights to film your house, and use the cash to buy the last three Game Gear games you don't own. :D
I know it's a joke, but I don't have actual piles of garbage all over like that. But I do like stuff, yes... if you get rid of things that might be useful in the future you'll just need to get them again, so just put them in the basement or something for when you might need them! :) (I forget how many boxes of books I have down there... quite a few.)
So, I had some time for Christmas shopping today and did get a few gifts, but ended up spending more on this stuff for me. Hmm.
First, a couple of games I got that are on sale this week on the X360 XBLA store.
X360 DD (sale)
--
Caladrius - $6.780 - This is an anime-styled shmup. It's okay but quite bullet-hell-ey, so I'm not good at it.
Street Fighter X Tekken - $4 - I like SF but dislike Tekken, but this crossover is the one by Capcom so it should be alright? It's cheap enough to be worth the try.
Then the rest of this I got today.
First, the expensive thing I got was, on sale for $90, a 2TB Seagate (green Xbox edition) external hard drive, powered only by a USB cable, for the Xbox 360. It's green to match the system, which is nice, and the regular price is $10 more than this; I'm sure you can get similar drives for less than this online, but this is as good as I've seen in a store and I like the green color of the drive, that's great! My 360's internal 500GB drive is pretty much full, so I needed more storage space and this sure fixes that problem. The external drive is slower than the internal one since it's USB 2.0 instead of SATA, but it's decent enough.
The other thing this reminded me of is of how much better the 360's USB port situation is than the PS3. So, an original 360 has 3 USB ports, 1 on the back and 2 on the front. The S has 5, 2 on the front and 3 on the back. The S and E also have a dedicated Kinect port on top of that. And the E has 4, 2 on the front and 2 on the back. Meanwhile, all PS3s apparently have front-only USB ports, which is not a good design, and most have fewer -- early first-model PS3s do have four ports, and dedicated CF and SD ports as well, but all later PS3s (starting with later first-model systems maybe, and definitely including all Slim and SuperSlim systems) have only two ports. If you want to charge a controller, have your PS Move / Kinect camera plugged in, and use a wired controller (arcade stick, gamepad, what have you) all at the same time... you can do that on any 360, but only on those early 20GB/60GB backwards-compatible PS3s.
As for games:
Xbox 360
--
Resonance of Fate - $9, complete - This is one of the few major 360 JRPGs I didn't have, and I've been looking for an affordable copy of the game but hadn't seen one until now. I'll have to try it, I've heard good things.
PS3
--
Resistance 2 - $1, complete - For this price, meh, why not?
And last, something I shouldn't have bought, but just couldn't resist when I was in the store...
Nintendo 3DS
--
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS - $40, new. ... There are so many good reasons not to get this -- it doesn't allow you to upload levels to the internet; you cannot search for levels by their codes, to play a specific stage; you cannot rate levels you do play online (that people made on Wii U) and cannot subscribe to creators to see their other levels; it does not support 3D, which is pretty disappointing for a Nintendo 3DS game; and probably more... but I really want at least some kind of Mario Maker experience, so I got this thing anyway. :S I just played some of it, seems pretty good for what is included so I don't regret it, I just wish it wasn't such a disappointing port.
Call me old fashioned but I prefer the term "pack rat" to "hoarder". The latter is barely pronounceable, it just keeps sounding like "hoard", and the former has more character. Also, I prefer "normality" to "normalcy" and just generally hate all the new weird turns of phrase like "not in my wheelhouse" (what the garbage is a wheelhouse?).
"Hoarder" sounds like
![[Image: JpyDncDl.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/JpyDncDl.jpg)
On the other hand, I've never heard "not in my wheelhouse" before. I had to google it to see what it meant. I thought it was like "not in my backyard" or "I'm not taking any of that shit", but no, it means something completely different.
"Packrat" does sound like a less negative term than "hoarder", so sure, maybe that one's okay...
I got this a couple of days ago, but it's Christmas so I'm only getting around to posting about it now.
SNES
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Rocky Rodent - $10, cart only - This is a mascot platformer from Irem that stars a weird-looking, somewhat anthropomorphic animal. While surely at least somewhat inspired by Sonic, though, this game is kind of weird, with somewhat hideously ugly character art and gameplay that is mostly traditional, but has a few quirks. Your character Rocky is so odd looking, though! He does look less awful once you get your powerup, which gives the creature a giant mohawk (and a melee attack and vault-up-to-higher platforms ability too, so you really want to stay powered up), but you lose that if you take a hit and restart the level if you get hit again as levels do not have checkpoints, and the game has limited lives and continues, so yeah this one might be tricky. It has very nice graphics with big sprites, though, and good level designs and gameplay, so it was worth getting for sure.
So it's digital-store sale time, so I got some stuff...
3DS eShop - sale
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Liberation Maiden - $3 - flight combat game
SteamWorld Dig - $1.80 - platform-digging game (rogue-lite?)
AeternoBlade - $3 - sidescrolling action/platformer
Crimson Shroud - $3 - tabletop games-inspired JRPG
Witch & Hero - $2.70 - action game with a protection focus
AiRace Speed - $2.50 - Another one of these fun but simple tube-racing games (an ideal thing for 3d!)
Tappingo - $1 - Good-looking sort of picross-esque puzzle game
Wakedas - $1.50 - Pretty neat color-changing puzzle game where you try to make everything on screen the same color.
Hazumi - $1.50 - Breakout-styled puzzle game where you control a bouncing ball, matching colors in order to destroy bricks
I think you should get a screencap rig that would allow us to see you play these obscure games and hear your commentary. I know, I know, privacy concerns etc, but just something to keep in the back of your mind for 5 minutes before forgetting forever.
Indeed ABF, you can be one of the heroes that looks out into an overcrowded marketplace and says "me too".