Author: Anne Lee

4 games I’m looking forward to in 2012

This post is coming a tad bit late, but who said I had to follow the herd, eh? As the title suggests, I’ve wrangled up a few games that I’m particularly looking forward to in this hopefully epic year of the dragon. It should come to no surprise to any of you that all of these are Japanese games. I am very predictable.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance


Or Kingdom Hearts 3D, as it is also known… Get it?? Ahaha… Anyways, pretty much anyone save die-hard fans will tell you that Kingdom Hearts has been on a downward spiral littered with obsolete and downright unnecessary plot threads with still no true Kinghdom Hearts 3 (that 3D may be as close as we’re ever going to get). But I’ve been playing some Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep over the holidays and I have to say, its rekindled my Kingdom Hearts spark. And besides… The World Ends with You character appearances? A Hunchback of Notre Dame world? I was in before Disney could utter “Frollo.”

Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom


Why look, it’s another predictable title on Anne’s list. I think all that needs to be said here is “first major English otome game.” If you want to read more about otome games, I’ve written plenty about it. Here’s a sample of what I’m looking forward to:

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy


Dream Drop Distance, Theatrhythm… Japan will never get over its absurd use of English in game titles. If you’re wondering, the official Japanese site states that “theatrhythm” is a combination of “theater” and “rhythm.” Well, it helped me remember exactly how to spell the title, at least.

As a fan of both rhythm games and Final Fantasy, this one is yet again another no-brainer for me. I am decidedly not a big fan of the cutesy art style used in the game’s character art, but I’d be willing to overlook that if the game plays as well as I’m hoping. And with three different modes to play all of my favorite Final Fantasy songs in, it should provide many hours of fun.

Pokémon x Nobunaga’s Ambition

Admittedly, I’m a bit of a shameless Pokémon fan. Okay, there’s not much shame in that, as most of my video game loves are based on silly reasoning, but here’s one to take the cake: After I saw these two character designs from Pokémon x Nobunaga’s Ambition, I was sold. Also, Pokémon combined with feudal Japan? A fresh take on the old Pokémon formula? Sign me up!

 

Of course, there are plenty of other great looking titles that I am very much looking forward to this year, including, but not limited to: Atelier Meruru: Apprentice of Arland, Final Fantasy Type-0, Rhythm Heaven Fever, and Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure. 2012 is looking to be a great year indeed!

Join the VGW crew for some Mario Kart 7!

source (available as a poster!)

Just a quick heads up to anyone who’s interested in playing Mario Kart 7 with me and the rest of the crew over at Video Game Writers – we’ll be having a community games night on Tuesday (that should be today for most of you reading this!) the 10th at 5-8 pm PST (8-11 pm EST)! That’s Wednesday the 11th at… 11 am for those of you like me in Queensland, Australia. Man, time zones are confusing!

Be sure to register the VGW Mario Kart 7 community code: 07-8039-5578-5488

I will be hopping on and off for the whole three hours, so you’ll have plenty of chances to beat race me, if that’s something you’ve always wanted to do. Of course there will be prizes going out to those non-VGW members who manage to top the leaderboards, so there’s some extra incentive! (Do you need more of an incentive than the opportunity to race me?)

VGW will also be utilizing some amazing technology for a live podcast that you can sign into via Twitter or Facebook so that you can interact with all of us between the action!

And if you just can’t get enough of me, you can register my 3DS friend code so we can play together in the future! It’s 5198-2487-0725. Just remember to let me know who you are when you add me, or I won’t add you back!

I hope to see you all there!

Japan Envy: Rilakkuma Hot Cake Kit Kats

I haven’t done my Japan Envy column in a while and have gained a few new followers around the new year (thanks to all of you!), so just a quick recap: Japan Envy is my (ir)regular column where I talk about cool things/happenings that are only available in Japan that make me jealous or pine for the days when I used to live there. You can head here or click the “Japan Envy” tag at the end of this post to view previous entries in the series!

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Anyone familiar with Japan has probably heard about how the nation is famous for its wide variety of flavored Kit Kats. They’ve got everything from regional specialties, such as yuzu and pepper Kit Kats from Nagoya, to limited editions and seasonal flavors. Why these are only available in Japan and why other nations have caught on to this ingenious idea? We may never know, but foreigners have been fascinated with Japan’s unique take on the humble Kit Kat since its inception. You can even find a Japanese Kit Kat episode on NPR (complete with tastings and audio!), and at least two blogs dedicated entirely to cataloging the huge range of flavors available.

I bet you’re wondering what flavors I’ve tried, eh? Well, I’ve sampled everything from ginger ale to jasmine tea Kit Kats, but I still have a long way to go if I ever hope to live my dream of being the ultimate Kit Kat connoisseur (one of my many aspirations). Currently, I’ve got my eye on a very particular Kit Kat, one that combines my love of flavored Kit Kats with another one of my favorite things: the adorable teddy bear who loves to relax known as Rilakkuma.

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What flavor are these Kit Kats? None other than Rilakkuma’s favorite snack, the humble pancake (or “hot cake,” as they’re known in Japan). I, for one, imagine this Kit Kat tastes pretty darn good! If you’re wondering why the box is a strange shape, that’s because it’s not simply a regular Kit Kat bar, but rather 12 individually-wrapped mini Kit Kats (Japan loves miniature things).

If you’re interested in trying some Japanese Kit Kats yourself without having to pay for the plane ticket, you can go to JBox to grab a few interesting flavors such as green tea, wasabi, and black honey (now that sounds good!). What flavor would you be most interested to try?

Some thoughts on electing a game of the year

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First of all, happy new year everyone! I hope the year of the dragon has been treating you all well so far. If you’re wondering, my husband and I spent New Year’s Eve watching Mad Men and drinking peach vodka.

Like many game writers, I contemplated drafting up a list of my favorite games of 2011, and (gasp) even thought a moment of selecting my own personal Game of the Year. But those thoughts were quickly pushed aside as I remembered how much I dislike the whole idea of choosing a one game to represent the year. Not that I didn’t have a grand time hearing the debates and adding in my two cents over at VGW (head over there to see the team’s GotY pick) and on other game media outlets, but I realize the whole endeavor to whittle a year’s worth of great games down to a choice few is not really my thing. Honestly, even if the Dali Lama were to elect a GotY, I probably still could care less. But I can most certainly name a couple of games that I particularly enjoyed from 2011 that actually came out in 2011 (rather than the large number of games from previous years I played).

You won’t find Uncharted 3, Portal 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution or any such AAA titles here, but if you’re interested in hearing what I had the most fun with in 2011, feel free to read on.



Corpse Party
For those of you who have been following me on Twitter or reading this blog, you are probably already well aware of my love for Corpse Party. When XSEED announced that they were localizing this title, I honestly had never even heard of it. I’m also not a big horror fan, but I am just in love with the atmosphere in Corpse Party. Head over to this post to read more about my experiences with the game. You can also find my official review here.

One of my characters getting hit with something. A common occurrence. 

ClaDun X2
I stumbled onto ClaDun X2 a bit randomly – NIS America sent Video Game Writers a review code for the game, and my editor passed it on to me, saying that I was the lady for the job (that and no one else seems to be using their PSP these days). I had read Bryan over at The Gay Gamer talking about the first game and this sequel and was ready to have some fun with it, but I didn’t really expect it to be my thing. To my pleasant surprise, I loved it! I didn’t get at all tired of going back to the randomly generated dungeons to nab the best loot… In fact, that was my favorite part of the game! Though I clocked in at about 20 hours for my review, I definitely think I will come back to this one in the future.

Rayman Origins
A choice few had mentioned how great Rayman Origins was when it launched back in November, but I kind of pushed any thoughts of playing it aside what with all the other games I had on my plate at the time. A good friend acquired a copy for me, however, and my husband and I spent the whole holiday break playing. I believe I can say that hands down Rayman Origins was the most fun I’ve had playing a single game all year. The platforming is classic and beautifully presented, and the music is absolutely amazing. If you like platformers, I can’t recommend this game enough. I’m actually working on a review of this one for VGW, as we never got anyone to cover it back when it came out. There is one tiny little thing that bothers me about the game, but I’m going to leave you in suspense for a future post I’m planning on the very subject.

I dearly wish I had the source for this still, but I couldn’t help but include it.
Let me know if you know where it’s from! 

Pokémon Black/White
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pour hours upon hours of my life into Pokémon White. Though initially apprehensive of some of the changes in this generation, I found myself quite enjoying the latest installment in the ever-growing Pokémon series. I even went to my first tournament this year, come to think of it (but didn’t participate)! I don’t think my love for Pokémon will ever die, so this one deserves a mention even though I’d struggle to put it on a GotY list due to the fact that most of the content isn’t all that new, apart from the Pokémon themselves. But there’s nothing wrong with that!

Honestly, I could go on… What about Atelier Totori or Okamiden? Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection? (hey, HD rereleases still count!) Needless to say, 2011 had some great games, many of which I did not get a chance to play. And many others that were not from 2011 that I finally did get a chance to spend some time with! But that’s for another post.

What were your personal favorite games from 2011? Share them in the comments!

Happy Holidays from Chic Pixel!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you all! Thank you so much for reading my ramblings and giving me a reason to post this horribly cute card that I’ve been hanging onto for years.

I probably won’t be posting anything for a day or two, but I would love to hear how you all are going to spend your time off! What games will you be playing, and what are you hoping might be waiting for you  under the Christmas tree tomorrow morning?

I know for a fact that I’ve got Mario Kart 7 waiting for me, and I’m itching to play! As soon as I get it going I’m going to make an official Chic Pixel community, so I hope some of you can play with me!

I’ve got a huuuuge backlog I would love to get started in on, but I’m at the point where I have so many games I’d like to play that I literally feel stuck and don’t know where to start! Since I just got the Wii, I’d like to dig in to Skyward Sword… But honestly, some comments I’ve been hearing about the 5 hour tutorial and frustrating motion controls have given me slight cold feet. Surprisingly, I’ve been playing a lot of Just Dance 2, which came free with my Wii. Er… Yeah.

All I want for Christmas is for you to buy my manga

Hello hello! I’m writing from my snazzy new apartment while sitting in my snazzy new sofa… Everything is so snazzy! We were finally able to put up our holiday decorations (including a mini fake IKEA tree), so I’m finally able to get in a festive mood.

That aside, I’d like to take the opportunity to announce my very first published manga translation! Tweeting Love Birds is a boys’ love manga about a guy who loves baseball… It was a bit of a pain to translate, considering I don’t know baseball terminology in English, let alone Japanese, but it was still a blast to do! And the story isn’t so centered around the sport that people who aren’t interested in it (like me) can’t enjoy it. It’s quite funny! I’m not nearly so eloquent, so here’s the summary my awesome editor whipped up:

“Ohtaka is pissed! University baseball is not what he expected, and it’s all because of Tweetie, the odd little person who blithely chirps and constantly circles in his tall shadow. Everything Tweetie does only deepens Ohtaka’s scowl. His irritation skyrockets when Tweetie demands Ohtaka stay in the baseball club for his sake and steals Ohtaka’s first kiss!

When two people from Tweetie’s past are thrown in Ohtaka’s face, his agitation suddenly turns territorial–and he’s not sure why…

Will Ohtaka figure out this unfamiliar game that plays for keeps? Get ready for a fast pitch of romantic comedy and surprising love in Tweeting Love Birds!”

If you’re at all interested, you can check out a sample of the Kindle version over at Amazon. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, I believe you can download the Kindle reader and read it right on your PC/Mac! And if you’re so inclined, I would love love love it if you could support me and my group (Twitter @BLBangBang). If you’re more of a Nook kind of person, it’s available for that over here!
Of course if you do decide to purchase said manga, please let me know what you think! And tell me that you bought it so I can shower you with lots of love. If you’re at all on the fence about starting a new series, don’t worry, the story ends at volume 2. After my current project I’ll be jumping right in to volume 2, so you should expect to see that out in the next couple of months!
In other news, one of my very favorite craft bloggers, an Aussie lady currently living in Japan known as Hello Sandwich, is in a gift wrap challenge over at the Martha Stewart blog! Wow! If you could be so kind and head over here to vote for her, that’d be great! She really deserves to win; she has such great style sense and her projects are both simple and a lot of fun. Thanks! Be sure to check out her blog if you’re into crafty things, too! 

Contest Winners Announced + Birthday Bash?

Thanks to everyone who entered the holiday contest! With the help of random.org, I have selected our winners!

First up, we have the winner of Crimson Spell volume 1… Bryan Ochalla! Congrats!

Second, the winner of the Arc Rise Fantasia/El Shaddai pack… ftkubota! Yay!

I’ll be contacting you both via email shortly, so keep an eye out for that. Thanks again to everyone else who entered… I’m sorry you couldn’t all win something!

Fossil Fighters!

In other news, today is my birthday! I got my Wii! Fossil Fighters for the DS! It’s a very game-y birthday indeed, just how I like it. Too bad I don’t have any time to play any of these games, what with all the moving we’re doing. We’ll be moving into a big new 2 bedroom apartment this weekend, so there’s a lot of cleaning and organizing to be done… But I won’t bore you with the details. I’ll be back to my regular posting schedule in a few days!