I honestly couldn’t think of a snappy title, which I wanted, for this (hopefully series of) post(s). So I fell back on the old reliable “ironically self depreciating” brand of “humour” so loved by ersatz comedians the world over. So what is this? Well after deciding to take forty days “off” from my biggest sources of online procrastination the amount of posts on my blog for 2015 showed something like a 500% increase. Clearly posting on social media platforms and various forums was working as a relief valve of sorts for whatever random thoughts flowed through me from the great beyond. (Apprently one of those thoughts was the incorrect idea I mastered how to queue stuff to post automatically, a day late and a doller short here we are)
But some subject matter just feels suited to a link and a snide comment or two. Mainly news on the sectors of the vast entertainment media machine that I find interesting. So that’s what this post (primarily) is, whatever news or announcements that occurred over the last week that I found interesting. There is some “real world” stuff mixed in, but no proper news, as I generally find it as depressing as it is informative. I’m sure if I wanted to properly monetise my brand I should be posting comments on news items as they happen, all about “dem clicks”. A weekly round-up feels like the antithesis of the common online entertainment news cycle. It may be defensible if, and I may have implied that, this round-up will somehow be more in-depth or have more considered commentary to make it worth the wait (and the read). As my Daddy said the first time we went to a whorehouse, prepare for disappointment.
Star Ocean 5 announced
This was a pretty surprising announcement as the general belief was that tri-ace were out of the games making business, certainly console games anyway. It’s a cross platform game, announced for PS3 and PS4 and I think that shows a little in some screenshots. Then again other screenshots look amazing, so maybe theres a pretty big difference between the two versions (or more likely the prettier screenshots are bullshots). I have mixed feelings about the announcement. I enjoyed Star Ocean, I absolutely loved Star Ocean 2, I never played Star Ocean 3 (which the new game is supposedly closest to) and Star Ocean 4 is, well, almost legendary. Of course it’s legendary for being shite. Which half the game is, to an almost unbelieveable degree. The story, the characters, the voice acting, ugh, honestly among some of the worst I’ve seen. But the combat was really fun and the game looked lovely. So as I said, mixed feelings about this one’s potential.
Dungeon Travelers 2 localisation announcement
There are some games that are perhaps best described as “too Japanese” to stand any chance of getting localised. Sometimes I care, sometimes I dont. I could understand why Dungeon Travelers 2 was unlikely to get localised. It’s very fanservice heavy. I was disappointed though because all reports pointed to it being an excellent dungeon crawler underneath all the over-exposed flesh. But such is the way of localisations so I didnt pay it any mind. Thus I was genuinely surprised when out of nowhere Atlus announced it was getting localised. Doubly so because it’s usually Xseed or NIS who localise the really niche stuff. I’m looking forward to this as I’ve got back into dungeon crawlers in a big way over the last year or two. Even better Atlus is keeping the Japanese audio. Though I do have some trepidation about how the localisation will be handled. On the one hand I dont find the titillation in games like this to be, well, titiallating. On the other just knowing that something has been censored puts me off buying a game (to the point that I usually will wait for it to go sale).
Evil crabs
I don’t think crabs are creepy. In fact I think they’re sort of cool looking. However when they start making living pyramids to call forth their sidways walking wiggly faced gods from beyond the stars thats a different story
Soapstone app (iOS / Android)
The multiplayer communication system in the Souls series of games is pretty unique and its limiations generally lead to some amusing creativity. Now you can inflict that creativity on the real world. This is amusing, though the fact I rarely leave my room limits its functionality for me somewhat.
Nvidia has three times the market share of AMD
I knew Nvidia was winning in the GPU market, but I didnt realise AMD were losing quite this badly. To be honest I wasnt particularly surprised at the news. AMD’s reputation is terrible and in some part is deserved. While they offer competitive hardware in terms of price and performance their software support is terrible. They release drivers slower, the have nothing to compare with Shadowplay, Nvidia Control Panel, Gsync, etc. I used to go with whichever manufacturer offered the best price to performance ratio to me but for the last few years I’ve gone solely with Nvidia. The extra cost is worth not having to put up with the software and driver misery I had to go through with a number of AMD cards. I would like to see AMD doing better though because competition is important and Nvidia’s prices are getting stupider and stupider by the release it feels. (Mid range cards should not be over three hundred quid).
Suikoden III rated for EU PS2 Classics
Suikoden III get’s a weirdly mixed reaction. That’s because people are stupid. Suikoden III is the best Suikoden and if you havent played it you really owe it to yourself to give it a go (though if your PC can handle it you’re probably better emulating it).
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation (Steam) release date
May 19th being the aforementioned date. Once the first game came out (and did well) on Steam I dont think anyone was expecting the second and third not to follow. After ending up buying the first on VITA and then on its PC re-release I was all to happy to wait to see this come out on PC. Particularly as the port of the first game was pretty solid (and easily downscaled). Nice to see the third game get confirmation as well.
DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY
I never had much interest in this series but the new arcade version (also coming to the PS4) looks pretty cool I have to say.
The Science of Reincarnation
This is an interesting read. Not sure how convincing I find it (either way) but its entertaining enough. Though not as tragically entertaining as the comments, good lord.
Invisible Inc. Release Date
May 12th. So happy to see this get a release date as I’ve been very interested in it for some time and had to resist the urge to pull the trigger on it numerous times. But I just cant buy any more Early Access games. Luckily I soon wont have to worry about that.
“Riddle of the The Lonely Castle: Abandoned in the middle of the desert, the ancient tomb carved out of rock which has endured since the first century“
Not that I want to send clicks the Daily Mail’s way but this is pretty interesting (clearly the secret history outlined in Hokuto no Ken was true). Still, what a fucking unweildy headline.
J-Stars Victory Vs+ retains roster
It’s a litle disappointing that we wont be getting the anime song version (well not that disappointing personally as I probably wouldnt have paid extra for it) but I’m much more interested in and happy about the fact that we’re getting the full roster which is something I was worried about.
Almost certainly cursed – Unclaimed Baggage Center
I’d love to visit this place. But I’m not sure if I’d buy anything, there’s something creepy about the idea of owning something that its owner still wants but cant have. It feels sort of like legal thievery with an odd voyeuristic element mixed in.
Jesus as a shape-shifter
I bet David Icke gets a boner just reading that headline.
UTW finished Season 1 of Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works
I still havent watched the anime adaptation of Fate/Zero. Every time I go to put it on I recall how a) its pretty depressing and b) I already know everything thats going to happen because its a prequel (and I read a fan translation of the light novel). I sort of feel the same about F/SN UBW. On the one hand its the best of the three routes in the original VN (lots or Archer and Lancer who are my favourite characters). On the other hand, well, I played the route in the visual novel. I’m sure I probably will watch it when the second season (currently airing) finishes. Anyhow UTW are by far the best fansub group for the Type Moon anime adaptations and I’m glad to see they’ve finished this as I thought they were going to stall out on it. Though the BD rip’s will likely be out by the time I get around to watching it.
