Chic Pixel is One Year Old!

Boy, how time flies! I’m not really keeping track, but I happened to notice just today that I’ve already passed the one year mark of blogging here at Chic Pixel! How about that?

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have ever taken the time to read my words. Better yet, if you’ve ever left a comment or (gasp!) actually come back to read more… Well, it really is you who keeps this little space going! If it weren’t for all of you, I probably would’ve thrown in the towel long ago (well, maybe not entirely, but this place would be pretty sad if I were here rambling to myself for a whole year).

Look who I met at a local convention this weekend! If it weren’t for
Sailor Moon, this blog probably wouldn’t exist!

I’d like to take this opportunity to get some feedback from you, readers. Are there certain types of posts of mine you enjoy more than others? Games or anime/manga (though I’m already pretty skewed in one direction there…)? Japan Envy? Anything you’d like to see me tackle this year that I haven’t written about yet? If you’d feel more comfortable dropping me an email rather than commenting here, you can do so at apricotsushi(at)gmail(dot)com.

As for personal goals, I hope to write much more frequently this year. I’m going to strive to do 3 posts a week, and hopefully work my way up to a whole 5 a week, with some perhaps being short “round-up” posts of things I’m currently interested in or news that I find particularly exciting.
Your feedback is very much appreciated – I will most certainly take it into consideration when planning my posts in the upcoming months! 

The Vita Post

The things the King of All Cosmos says will never get old.

As you may be aware, a certain beefy little handheld finally made its way overseas on the 23rd (22nd if you live pretty much anywhere but Australia) of February. What do we call it? The PS Vita? Playstation Vita? PSV? Or simply… Vita?

Well, regardless of how you prefer to refer to it (I’ll be calling it the “PS Vita”), it is definitely one fine piece of hardware. You may already know where this post is leading, but to cut to the chase: Yes, I bought one. Not only bought, but Shaun and I preordered an Australian one, making it the first console I’ve ever preordered, let alone picked up on launch day.

My reasoning for this was twofold: My colleagues over at VGW were heckling me to get one, mostly due to the fact that they needed someone with my area of gaming expertise (read: someone who’ll play all those weird Japanese games) who could pick up a few of the titles in the console’s mighty launch lineup. Not only that, but I’ll begrudgingly admit that I only just bought my first PSP last year, and it was used. Shaun and I absolutely love the PSP, and if the PS Vita turns out to be half as good as that system was, I want to give Sony my support (read: cold, hard cash).

Factoring in some exciting titles to look forward to and the fact that Shaun unblinkingly responded with a simple “yes” when I told him I was thinking of getting one meant that come 10 am on Thursday the 23rd, a beautiful new PS Vita was all ours for the unboxing.

Title-wise, I got hard copies of Touch My Katamari and Shinobido 2, along with a download voucher for BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend, all for reviews. As Touch My Katamari was the main launch title I was interested in, I haven’t felt the need to purchase any of my own games yet.

By the way, have you seen how small these cartridges are?

Teeny tiny!
The cases are extremely small and thin, too. Makes sense, considering that
they don’t contain a manual as a rule (anyone who is interested in holding a
funeral to commemorate the death of the physical game manual is more than
welcome to join me).

I tried to get a few pictures of the system itself, but unfortunately it’s a bit too glossy for me to get a proper photo of. But you all have seen it already, right?

I was told many times before I actually had the PS Vita in my own grubby hands that the system really shines when you get some hands-on time with it. I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree. Though the system looks a little bulky, and it does have some weight to it, it feels great to hold and even better to play with. The directional and command buttons have a real weight when you press them, and the dual analog sticks feel great, albeit a little small. Touch screen functionality is integrated seamlessly into the system’s control panel, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the in-built camera.

Basically, the PS Vita is my equivalent of hardware porn. I was still waiting for my games to come in on launch day, but I’ll be darned if I didn’t just pick up the Vita and turn it on 10 times over the course of the afternoon, just so I could hold it. Yes, my husband thinks I’m crazy.

But what about the launch lineup?

The built-in screenshot function is amazing, if a little hard to execute in some games.
In this screen I’m playing as the pink girl, Platinum, my new favorite BlazBlue character. 

Of course, you won’t find me commenting on such AAA releases as Uncharted: Golden Abyss or the latest shiny Wipeout racing game, but I can tell you about the few Japanese titles I’ll be reviewing.

Touch My Katamari – This was, without a doubt, the title I was most looking forward to. Touch My Katamari is very standard Katamari fare, so if you’re a fan of the series, there’s a lot to like here. I don’t want to spoil my review, so click the link to check it out if you’re interested. Needless to say, I really enjoyed my time with the game, but it was much too short. I beat every single level the game had to offer (and there were a number of repeats from past Katamari titles) in just about 3 hours. Disappointing, but boy, does it look great on the Vita!

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend – A beautiful portable version of BlazBlue: Contiuum Shift. It not only contains the DLC characters from the PS3/Xbox 360 versions, but another new character and dozens of modes to sink time into. The only problem I’ve had with it so far are the load times, and a nasty bug that causes the screen to freeze randomly when a battle is loading while playing in arcade mode (this has happened to me every time I’ve played arcade mode). I’m not sure if this problem is something wrong with my download or not, but I did find someone with a similar issue over in the GameFAQs forums. I’ve contacted Aksys PR to see what’s up. Review forthcoming.

Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen – I honestly don’t know if there’s anything good I can say about this one. It looks and feels like a PS2 title, and the controls are finicky and annoying. The ninja gameplay mechanic is fun, but this title doesn’t do anything that the original Shinobido or the Tenchu titles didn’t do better. In fact, Shaun played Shinobido on the PS2, and agrees that Shinobido 2 feels like more of a glorified port than a sequel. Review forthcoming.

All in all, I’m more than happy with my Vita. The possibility of playing PSP titles downloaded from the PSN with enhanced graphics is another great bonus – I even purchased a copy of Half-Minute Hero just so I could see how great it would look. Though the battery life is nowhere near good enough and there isn’t an amazing new must-have JRPG for the system yet, I do not in any way regret purchasing the system on launch.

Did any of you grab a PS Vita, or are you thinking of getting one? If you’re on the fence and want to ask me some questions, feel free to leave them in the comments!

“Poison has a Stick” may be the best idea for a joystick mod ever

Let me profess that I literally know next to nothing about joystick modification. In fact, I’m not much of a fighting game fan in general, though I am known to rock a pretty solid Lee in Tekken and Arc Systems Works is always on my radar for their sleek titles (I’m looking at you, BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend Vita). In fact, I can honestly say that I’ve never played more than 5 minutes of a Street Fighter game (or Final Fight, for that matter), and as such I know next to nothing about the intriguing, pink-haired character known as Poison who will be making an appearance in the roster of Street Fighter X Tekken… Except for the fact that she is famous for being a transgendered female character. Which I think is thoroughly awesome, if you had any doubts.

Long-time games writer shidoshi (who you may know as @pikoeri) echoes my sentiments – he even got the chance to interview Yoshinori Ono about Poison, and he refrained from any of the usual snide remarks that most so-called games “journalists” make when talking about her. I highly suggest checking the interview out if you haven’t seen it already.

But now you must allow me to get right into the meat of this post: the beautiful Poison-themed joystick mod shidoshi has created, aptly named “Poison has a Stick”:

Beautiful, is it not? I’d play a fighter with that joystick any day of the week. For clarification on the little innuendo you may have picked up on regarding the interesting placement of the joystick, here are shidoshi’s thoughts in his own words:

“[…] This stick wasn’t made with the intention of making fun of the character Poison or her “is or isn’t she transgender” status, nor was it done simple for some sort of cheap “it’s a trap” connection. I mean, of course—the design was absolutely done in good fun and with a lot of humor—but it was done in celebration of the character of Poison, not in mocking her or what she is.” (source)

Now excuse me while I go brush up on my fighting skills so I can justify a snazzy joystick purchase – it’s just too bad this one’s one of a kind!

UPDATE: shidoshi posted over on his Twitter this amazing picture of none other than Yoshinori Ono holding the aforementioned joystick at a Street Fighter X Tekken event! How awesome is that?

Manga Impressions: The Legend of Sakura Hime

I don’t post about manga nearly enough on this blog, and that needs to be rectified! What better way to do so then by writing up some thoughts on a recent title I’ve read? I’ve always been a fan of Arina Tanemura’s iconic style, but have never gone the extra step and picked up a copy of one of her titles. Lucky for me the local library had volumes one through four of her latest series, The Legend of Sakura Hime!

The Legend of Sakura Hime is an ongoing shōjo manga currently being serialized in the monthly manga anthology Ribon in Japan. The story follows Sakura, a teenage girl who’s been engaged to the prince Oura ever since she was a child. Trouble is, it turns out she’s also a descendant of the demon Princess Kaguya. It’s up to her to fulfill her role by wielding the mythical sword Chizakura and destroying all demons that threaten to harm the world she knows and loves. Upon learning her true identity, however, certain forces, including Prince Oura, would rather see her killed!

Lots of awesome action shots, including blood and even death, which is pushing the
envelope for a girls’ anthology like Ribon! 

If you can’t tell, I am rubbish when it comes to writing plot summaries. The Legend of Sakura Hime is pretty standard shōjo fare, but with gorgeous illustrations, more action and darker themes than usually seen in manga aimed at teenage girls, and ample romance, I definitely recommend it to anyone who has a penchant for shōjo. That said, I’m happy I didn’t purchase it – it’s great for a light-hearted read and had a number of cute scenes that reminded me of that giddy feeling I get when a kiss or embrace is drawn both beautifully and evocatively, but in the end the whole thing feels a tad shallow and run-of-the-mill plot-wise, which probably won’t do much to impress more discerning eyes.

Prince Oura’s brother? Cousin? So memorable I’ve already forgotten.
He hides his true feelings for Sakura under an easy-going facade.
Let it be known that I have a weakness for playboy male characters. 

I’m not trying to knock the series – The Legend of Sakura Hime is chock-full of romance, intrigue, and action, and is a great way to spend an afternoon for fans of shōjo and magical girls. I wouldn’t place it on any top ten lists, and I probably won’t remember much about it in 3 years, but there’s no harm in that.

Chatting with Lijakaca about Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom

Hello friends! I’m sure you didn’t actually think the Hakuoki release would come and go without me having something to say about it, right? Of course not! I was lucky enough to snag a review copy of the game for the ever-awesome Game Critics, but unfortunately it hasn’t gone up on the site yet. But never fear – I have plenty of things to say about the game in the meantime.

First off, I had the fabulous oppertunity to ramble about Hakuoki and all things otome with the lovely Lijakaca of Lijakaca’s Otome Gaming Blog. She is a mecca of otome gaming knowledge (her blog is a must follow for fans of otome games), so if you thought I knew what I was talking about, just you wait! (hint: I don’t, usually) We had a great discussion about the game itself and also delved into otome game topics in general, so if any of that catches your fancy, I heartily suggest you check it out! Click on the handsome Hakuoki men below to give it a listen! Please be sure to tell me what you think in the comments… I’m still very new to podcasting, so any tips you may have that I can keep in mind for future endeavors would be greatly appreciated.

So what did I think of Hakuoki in the end? I’d like to save my final evaluation for the review when it goes up, but I do have some points in particular I can share:
  • As if you couldn’t tell from the screenshots floating around the internet and the art above, the game looks gorgeous. Though I didn’t find the music particularly memorable, it wasn’t grating, either.
  • The story is engaging, and surprisingly in-depth, particularly for a game where many assume the main goal would be to hook up with the guy of your dreams. That incentive is there, but the romance aspect of the game is actually not quite as prevalent as I would have thought – a bit to my dismay, but will probably make the game more palatable to those who are not as interested in drooling over 2D hunks as I am. All in all, I think Aksys found a nice middle ground by choosing this as their first otome game. And yes, there is swearing!
  • Speaking of swearing, I was a bit iffy on the localization at times. Though it is undoubtedly written well, I couldn’t help but feel that Hijikata swore a bit too much and some of the written dialogue just didn’t match up with the spoken Japanese in a way that sat well with me. That said, it’s throughly enjoyable and immersive for an English-speaking audience, and I get that that is what Aksys is going for. Kudos to their awesome editor and translators for not botching it up.
  • So far, I’ve only “gotten” two of the six obtainable guys. I’ve done Heisuke’s good and bad endings, and Hijikata’s good ending. Though I liked Heisuke notably more than I liked Hijikata (he’s a real jerk), I didn’t find either of them to be particularly great. I hear Souji’s where it’s at, so I plan on making him my next conquest. For those of you wondering how much gameplay there is – one playthrough probably takes anywhere from 5-8 hours depending on who you choose, with Hijitaka’s story being the longest. Once you’ve played through the 1st four chapters for one character, you’ll probably want to skip through most of the dialogue during subsequent playthroughs, which cuts down on your play time significantly.
All in all, I enjoyed my time with Hakuoki. I definitely suggest anyone who wants to try an otome game to pick it up, and would even recommend it to those who don’t if they like a good story set in feudal Japan. My only wish was that it had more romance! And, in all honestly, a supernatural story mixed with historical fact isn’t exactly my kind of thing, so I probably wouldn’t have picked this up if it weren’t for the fact that it was the first big name otome game to be released in English.
But wait! Before you go, Video Game Writers is doing a giveaway where the prize is the game of your choice! So you could very well win a copy of Hakuoki, if you want! All you have to do is sign up for VGW on Google Currents for your iDevice or Android phone. An added bonus is you’ll get to read news and reviews written by me (and some other people) in the palm of your hand! Neat, eh?
Have any of you had a chance to play Hakuoki yet? If so, let me know what you thought!

Tutorial: How to play Social Theatrhythm Final Fantasy online

If you’re at all like me, you’re chafing at the bit waiting for an announcement that Theatrhythm Final Fantasy will be released outside of Japan. With two demos now available for Japanese 3DS owners and the official release only a few days away, I for one am feeling even more anxious to get my hands on this adorable-looking title. 

Luckily for all of us lacking in the Japanese 3DS department, Square Enix has opened a special promotional website for the game where you can select a character and play along… It may not be anywhere close to the real Theatrhythm experience, but it’s the best we’re going to get for now! The site and game, called Social Theatrhythm, will be open until March 30th. Click on the link to head on over to the site, and use this tutorial so that you can join in the fun!
Upon loading the page, you should be treated to this: 
Click on the image to view a larger version
Before we get started, it should be noted that the “social” aspect of Theatrhythm requires you to allow the application to be linked to either your Twitter or Facebook account. I signed in using my Twitter, but either is fair game! 
Click the left-most orange link to get started! It’s worth noting that the greyed-out link at the bottom that says “coming soon” will eventually lead to a number of promotional commercials and movies. Knowing Japan’s knack for creating some of the wackiest and most adorable commercials in the world, it’ll definitely be worth checking out later on. 
The next screen will have two options, highlighted in orange (sorry, I don’t have a screenshot). It should be easy to make out – one will say “Twitter” and the other “Facebook” followed by some Japanese. This is where you select which account you would like to use to play the game. Clicking on the link will then take you to a pop-up window where you must authorize Social Theatrhythm to access your account. When it’s finished, just close it and return to the previous window – if everything’s linked correctly, then you should next be treated to the character select screen.
Now you’re free to select the character of your choice out of the heroes from the numbered installments in the series. Click the left and right arrows and, when you’re happy with your selection, simply click the orange button on the bottom there to proceed. I meant to select Zidane (the hero of my favorite Final Fantasy, of course!), but for some reason my web browser didn’t register my click and went ahead and selected the Hero of Light for me. Bummer! 
Next you’ll see your character profile page! There’s my character, the Warrior of Light, on the left, and you can see I’m signed in as me from my avatar up there next to “apricotsushi” on the top. In order to level up your character, you must select the orange “training mode” button on the bottom and fight against your friends – or anyone who happens to pop up on the user list, really. Just for kicks I “fought” a level 2 Japanese Twitter user, and upon defeating them I had enough experience to level up to level 2. 
If you feel like kicking my butt with your rhythmic prowess, be sure to follow @apricotsushi over on Twitter! People who you are following will appear highest on the list, and even your friends who haven’t signed up will appear with randomly-generated characters. I assume the system works the same for those of you who choose to sign in using Facebook, but I can’t say for sure. Upon defeating a player, a message will pop up asking you if you want to post a status to your Twitter/Facebook – click the left button to simply return to your character screen, or if you want to really confuse your friends with a Japanese status update, go ahead and click the right one. 
After you’ve leveled up some, click on “monster mode” to go off and fight Final Fantasy monsters alongside other users!
The gameplay is pretty straightforward – simply click the mouse at the appropriate time to line up the colored circles over the grey one on the right to deal damage to the enemy. A miss results in your own HP being depleted. The screen is exactly how it would appear in the game, but as this is a browser-based game and not being played with the stylus, all you’re required to do is click the mouse and occasionally click and hold it down for the longer actions. 
And there you have it! After defeating a few of the monsters, you’ll be treated to a fight with the last boss, who’s face takes on the appearance of a famous Japanese comedian. Some players who manage to defeat the final boss will be randomly selected to receive a free 3DS, but I’m sure you must be a resident of Japan to participate. I haven’t gotten that far yet, but I’ll let you know when I do!
If you leave the page and come back later, remember that you will need to authorize your account all over again, but this doesn’t mean you’ll start from scratch. After it’s done doing its thing, you’ll bypass the character selection screen and return to your profile page.
Be sure to tell me what you think of the game when you give it a go! Of course it’s very rudimentary, but it’s cute none the less, and you’re treated to some snazzy Final Fantasy tunes. 
Let me know if you have any questions or experience any problems! 

Japan Envy: Tie-in merchandising

One thing I inexplicably love about Japan its merchandise. I’m sure tons of essays have been written on the subject before, but as I haven’t read any of them, suffice it to say I don’t really know why it is they do merchandise so well. Just that they do. Leave it to Japan to create the cutest products out of the most mundane household goods and combine Hello Kitty with just about anything you can imagine.

Yup, that’s Hello Kitty dressed as an anime character (source)

This latest Japanese tie-in merchandising scheme is close to my heart for a number of reasons: First, it’s combining books and video games, which are undoubtedly two of my favourite things. New Love Plus, the sequel to everyone’s favourite Nintendo DS dating sim that has you interacting with your virtual girlfriend day in and day out, has put a new spin on things. In the game, you will be encouraged to read a book alongside your virtual gal in a series of in-game events, and she’ll even ask you questions about the material as a way to gauge your interest. The three books chosen include Anne of Green Gables and two contemporary Japanese titles. While anyone could go pick up a second hand copy of these titles for next to nothing, Konami and Kodansha have a better idea: they’re marketing limited New Love Plus-themed copies of the books.

Anne of Green Gables featuring one of the New Love Plus ladies (source)

The New Love Plus art will be on a dust jacket, so you will be able to remove it to see the original cover art underneath.

Now, the other reason this is so interesting to me is albeit a personal one: My mom is a big fan of Anne of Green Gables, and often cites it as a reason why she named me Anne (with an “e,” of course!). We even ventured to her house up in Prince Edward Island (or is it the author’s house?) back when I was too little to remember much of anything and spotted a Japanese couple getting married there! If you haven’t noticed, Japan is in love with Anne of Green Gables. I think this must be some sort of sign.

Anyways, I totally dig this sort of cross merchandising, and yet the Japanese seem to consistently be the only ones who get it right. Even though I’m not really interested in New Love Plus, I might have been drawn to purchase said book… I often think it’s a very good thing I don’t live in Japan, as I’d be wallowing in piles of useless stuff.

What do you think – is tie-in merchandise corny, or cool?