Author: Anne Lee

Japan Envy: Even more Pokémon merchandise

If you’re at all familiar with this blog, you know that I’m not a stranger to posting about Japanese Pokémon merchandise. So what more could I possibly have to say about the topic? Prepare to be amazed. 

Recently I stumbled on to what might be the best Pokémon-related website ever, Pokémon Tokyo. What is it, exactly? Oh, you know, just some pictures of Pokémon merchandise the author finds in Tokyo. Except they post virtually every day. Sometimes multiple times a day! If you need a Pokémon merchandise fix, Pokémon Tokyo is all you need. 

Granted, it would be nice if they wrote a little bit about all of the different items they post pictures of, but the titles are generally more than enough to figure out what the picture’s of, even if you don’t speak Japanese. I suppose actually writing about each thing would take away from the time they could be posting more photos, so I won’t hold it against them.

I highly suggest you head over there and scroll though a few pages of Pokémon merchandise goodness.  Here are a few of my personal favorites: 

I don’t really wear too many t-shirts, but I quite like the design of this one! I would totally wear it, even though I never thought myself much of a Keldeo fan. 
Classy handkerchiefs! Love the retro pixel art. 
If the postman showed up with any one of these, I would die of happiness. What great designs! I honestly can’t decide which I like the best… 
But I am quite partial to grass Pokémon (don’t ask why, I have no idea), so perhaps this one? Oh, but the water Pokémon-themed design is so cute, too… Can I just have them all? 
A dancing Scraggy?! Now if only there was a video of him in action… Oh, wait… 
Okay, admittedly that wasn’t as mind-blowing as I hoped it would be, but it’s still pretty darn adorable. 
And finally, I’ve saved the best (?) for last: 
I give you: the Stunfisk section. Is there some kind of hidden love for Stunfisk in Japan that I’m not aware of? I always thought of him to be some kind of sad Pokémon joke, kind of like Luvdisc (granted, Luvdisc is much, much worse). Anyway, I’m glad to see so much merchandise for this under-appreciated (?) Pokémon!

Pop’n Music Box Art Comparison

As a follow up to my previous post, I thought I’d take the opportunity to look at the game’s box art more in-depth, considering that’s probably one of the most interesting aspects of the game. Not all games have completely different covers in all three regions (Japan, North America, and Europe), but Pop’n Music (aka Pop’n Rhythm in Europe) does! Though they have similarities, I think the marked differences really give each cover a very different feel.

First, we have the original Japanese cover:

I’ve noticed an interesting trend with Japanese game covers – they tend to feature more characters than the NA/EU counterparts, making them feel more “cluttered” in comparison. I wonder why that is?

Next up is the North American cover:

Now the NA cover is clearly using the same art of the two yellow animal characters, Mimi (the bunny) and Nyami (the cat), but aside from that, the layout differs significantly. I find it strangely telling (of something, I’m not quite sure what) that the NA cover puts much more emphasis on the humanoid female character with pink hair than the Japanese cover does. Mimi and Nyami are actually the series mascots, whereas the pink-haired girl is hardly a “main” character, from what I’m aware, so I feel her inclusion here is purely based on her character design. At least the Japanese cover also features some series regulars such as Mary, the girl with the afro in the bottom left corner. 
Finally, we have the European cover: 
Now this is a very different approach to the cover art than we saw in the Japanese and NA versions. The base image of Mimi and Nyami is the same, and the logo, though now Pop’n Rhythm instead of Pop’n Music, is neigh on identical to the NA version. But why the decision to go with a striped, minimalist background and additional text indicating what artists are included? Believe it or not, I generally find that Europe gets the most “minimalist” or “artsy” of cover designs when it comes to games, but I’m not sure why that is. 
So, which cover is your favorite? I went into this post thinking I was going to say the European version, no question, but the more I look at the Japanese version, the more it’s growing on me. I like the variety of characters and the more colorful palette, and the logo is much more appealing. I still really dig the yellow stripes on the European cover, though! The NA one, however, is all kinds of yuck for me. I just don’t understand why they felt the need to go with the disco feel or add that cake in between Mimi and Nyami. 
While you’re thinking about which is your favorite, do consider for a moment why the different covers might vary so significantly between regions! I personally really enjoy hypothesizing what the differences say about the perceived tastes of the different markets Konami is trying to appeal to. 
If you’re looking for more box art analysis, be sure to check out The Gay Gamer blog! Bryan’s ‘Which Box Art is Better?’ series looks at a wide range of titles, including new releases. 

Pop’n Rhythm Impressions

Pop’n Music is hands down my favorite arcade game. Ever. Why it hasn’t expanded to arcades outside of Japan is beyond me, as it’s the perfect example of what makes an arcade experience great: catchy loud music, lots of colors, wacky cuteness, and unique gameplay that can’t be replicated at home.

For those familiar with Dance Dance Revolution, the idea behind Pop’n Music should sound familiar. The aim of the game is to hit nine colored buttons in time with the music, following corresponding colored markers that make their way across the screen. It’s easy to learn but difficult as all get out to master, let me tell you!

To get an idea of what it looks like in action, check out this video:

(Now, I’ll have you know that I can play with all nine buttons, but I’m still much closer to the “unskilled foreigner” in the video ability-wise)

Because of my affinity for the arcade version of Pop’n Music, I felt it was my duty to pick up a copy of Pop’n Rhythm (aka Pop’n Music in the US) when I saw it used on the shelf of my local EB Games. First of all, the box art is adorable!

But unfortunately, when it comes to gameplay, it just doesn’t hold a candle to its arcade brethren. That’s largely due to the fact that Pop’n Rhythm has players using the nunchuck and Wiimote in lieu of actual buttons. The nine buttons you need to hit only appear on screen, requiring you to jerk the nunchuck and Wiimote left and right until your avatar’s hands line up with the buttons, after which you then jerk your hands downward to “hit” the button, much like a game of Whack-a-Mole. It’s horribly inaccurate and gets uncomfortable to do very quickly, especially on some of the harder songs.

Weird, inadequate gameplay aside, Pop’n Rhythm also commits one of the most cardinal music game sins: it has absolutely no unlockable music. What’s the point of playing through all the songs and trying to better your score if there aren’t any additional songs to unlock?! Some of my fondest memories of DDR were of unknowingly unlocking new tracks to groove to.

It may not be the complete failure that Samba de Amigo was on the Wii, but Pop’n Rhythm comes nowhere close to capturing what makes Pop’n Music such an amazing series. For players who have no experience with the arcade version, however, Pop’n Rhythm probably has enough substance to garner a couple afternoons worth of fun.

The moral of the story is that though my husband and I got about a 30 minute session of arm flinging while laughing hysterically as we tried to figure out exactly how to play it properly, I was happy to take advantage of EB Game’s used game return policy and return Pop’n Rhythm from whence it came. Cute box art and animation aside, I don’t think I’d ever want to pick it up again.

What does my mom, pomeranians, and Code of Princess have in common?

Why, E3, of course! I see that puzzled look on your face. Allow me to explain.

My mom and her colleague at E3! 

Let me tell you, humble readers, that you will never know the sheer torture of being internetless during E3 while your very own mother sits in the 3rd row of the Nintendo press conference until you have lived it yourself. That, indeed, was my sad fate while I was in Malaysia galavanting with my husband’s family (and buying a Asus Transformer Prime, which I believe is a pretty good trade, all in all). As such, I’m only catching up on all the juicy E3 news tidbits now, and though I’ve so far been a tad disappointed by what I’ve read regarding the expo, I’ve have managed to wrangle up a list of what I think are the most exciting things to come out of it.

My awesome mom
This isn’t the first year my mom has attended E3 due to her connections with Nintendo via her work for them at IBM (not sure how much she’d want me to give away here, so I’ll leave it at that), but I think it’s worth mentioning again how amazingly awesome she is to brave the throngs of hot, sweaty gamers to be one of the privileged few to try out the Wii U and sit in on the Nintendo press conference in person. And, well, hopefully she managed to grab me some sweet swag in the process, too. Go mom!

Mom at last year’s E3 in the Nintendo VIP section

Tokyo Jungle
I may not have mentioned Tokyo Jungle on this blog yet, but that doesn’t mean I’m not excited for it. A few months ago, my interest in it was 90% vague intrigue due to the fact that you could control a huge variety of animals (Dinosaurs?! I love dinosaurs!), but after listening to the Red Sun Gamer podcast #38 I couldn’t help but become obsessed with the idea of trying this unique title. Imagine my surprise when, buried under the all Assassin’s Creed 3 and Borderlands 2 gushing, there was a miniscule announcement from Sony indicating that Tokyo Jungle would indeed be coming out in English! As a wise man once said: “My body is ready.”

I haven’t checked out the most recent Red Sun Gamer podcasts yet in my rush to catch up on everything since I’ve returned, but I encourage you to give them a listen! They’re all Japanese games, all the time, and I’m told they talk at length about Tokyo Jungle in their latest podcast, #40. 

Code of Princess
Though this year’s E3 wasn’t exactly overflowing with exciting localization announcements, I was surprised, and, admittedly, tickled pink at Atlus’ revealing that they would be bringing Code of Princess to North America. This may solely be due to the amazing art, which I’ve talked about before, but I’m okay with that. That and I’m always up for more quirky Japanese titles for the 3DS!

Granted, there were many disappointments to be had at this year’s E3, as well. Where was Animal Crossing 3D? And for this being the big unveiling of the Wii U, I’ve only managed to be mildly intrigued by it so far. Granted, I haven’t been watching any videos to speak of, so maybe I could get into it all a little more if I actually sat down and watched things in action?

Of course, I haven’t mentioned anything that wasn’t 100% new to me at the time of E3. I’m beyond excited for New Little King’s Story and Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, both of which were announced before the show, and the likes of Kingdom Hearts 3D and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, and Pokemon Conquest, which will be debuting this summer and were all shown at E3.

So, what did you all think of this year’s E3? Is the Wii U all that? Any other exciting news that you think I’ve overlooked? Let me know in the comments!

The Arrival of Shojo Manga Wonderland

As our plane gently glided onto the runway of the international airport in an uncharacteristically rainy Brisbane earlier this week, a package was simultaneously delivered to our doorstep.

Okay, I’m embellishing a little, but the gist of things is I’m back and blogging (Hello! I’ve missed you all!) and I’m extremely excited to share pictures of my contributer’s copy of Shojo Manga Wonderland!

When I said in my original post on the book that my portion in it is small, I meant it. The book stacks up to be a total of 174 pages of shojo writing goodness, but my words only appear on a tiny portion of five of them. Regardless, it’s an amazing feeling to see yourself in print. And with a picture, no less!

Not that we really need to know what it says, but for the interested, I’ll give a brief description: It’s a bio stating that I’m from America, studying boys’ love in Australia, have watched anime/read manga from a very young age, and dabble in translation. Since my dad asked me over Skype when I told him I was going to be in a book whether this was proof that I can really speak Japanese, here you go! I wrote it myself!
The following pages feature four questions regarding shojo manga along with my and the other nine female participant’s answers. Question #4 only got five responses printed, and mine’s one of them, so I guess that makes me pretty cool. 
Again, I won’t go through and translate everything, but this question is asking what got us started reading manga. For me, I started watching the Sailor Moon anime at a young age, and was subsequently introduced to the manga, which then brought me into the larger world of shojo. And the rest’s history! (aside: Mine’s the bubble at the top)
Now, not only is there this interesting discussion I took part in, but Shojo Manga Wonderland is also chock full of great interviews, overviews (including a history of shojo manga), and introductions to notable shojo manga titles. And wait, what’s this?!
Even if you can’t read Japanese, I’m sure you can see the words “column” and “BL” (short for “boys’ love). Now this really is my kind of book! I think it’s safe to say I’ll be spending a lot of time with this puppy. 

Vacation Station

That’s right, yours truly is going on vacation! Shaun and I are headed to Penang, Malaysia, to visit his extended family, whom I have never met before. Cue the nervous anxiety! The approximately week and a half we’re going to be there will be jam-packed, so I doubt we’ll have much time to visit such idyllic beaches as the one posted above.

If you’re lucky, I might come back with pictures of me doing this:

source

Yup, that’s a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Basically, it’s an event held the morning before a couple is schedule to married (usually in the afternoon), which acts as a formal “introduction” of the bride and groom to the couples respective parents. Since my parents won’t be able to attend, it’ll just be Shaun introducing me to his family… Well, I’m not very up on Chinese wedding traditions, so check out that source link to learn more if you’re interested. We’ll also be having a banquet while we’re there, but it’s more of an after party rather than an actual wedding ceremony. And thank goodness for that, as this will be the third time Shaun and I have celebrated our union since that fateful day in November 2010.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get off my lazy butt and schedule any posts to go up while I’m gone, so things might get a little quiet around here. Don’t worry, I won’t be gone too long. I expect you all to be here when I get back!

Baby’s got a brand new Game Boy micro

Funny how I was just mentioning the enticing allure of all the interesting things I find on the internet in my last post and here I am but a few days later with an item that wasn’t even on my radar until I saw The Gay Gamer‘s gorgeous images of his hot pink Game Boy micro. As you can see, I had to have one! And I think I’m in love.

Is it not the most amazing handheld you’ve ever seen? After a little over a week scouring eBay for the best deal, I managed to find a like new, in-box console (albeit missing the flimsy black carry pouch it originally came with) for a relatively reasonable price considering every other listing I saw was in the triple digits. Now that it’s finally in my grubby little hands, I have to say I couldn’t be happier.

But how small is it really? Here’s a little size comparison for you:

It’s amazing to think we even consider the PS Vita a handheld! Just look at the size of that thing! Granted, the screen is gorgeous in its own right, but the micro holds its own in portability, nostalgia, and absolute adorableness.

Next up, I’ve fired up Mr. Driller A so we can see this puppy in action:

But wait, what’s this? While I was snapping away, the game kept reverting to the opening animation after being idle for a few seconds… and upon pressing start again, I couldn’t help but get this odd feeling that the menu screen was different:

I’m embarrassed to say in all the years I’ve owned my copy of Mr. Driller A, I never noticed that there were two different menu images!

Though the micro is almost uncomfortably small, in all honestly I get a big enough kick out of playing it that I don’t mind having to put it much closer to my face than I do with any other handheld. Well, I admit extended periods of play may not be as comfortable with this as they would be playing GBA games on, say, a DS lite, but so far I haven’t put enough time in to notice.

Now all I need to do is start beefing up my meager GBA game collection!