Like I’ve said several times, censorship in any shape or form simply sucks. I guess a new form of censorship and a violation of freedom of speech (if South Korea has such rights) has come down on South Korea, and this time it affects the online gaming industry. Korea Game Industry Agency (KOGIA) and game companies are bleeping out words they consider profane, vulgar, and unacceptable while online gamers chat with each other. While that’s all fine and dandy, I suppose, as an effort to minimise vulgar language among young people and to promote intelligence in individuals’ speech, reading this article makes me go buh and huh. Their reasoning for banning such words are: More »

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Thanks to the head honchos at Ningin, I’ll be doing a weekly entry every Saturday. Each week, I’m going to showcase a song. The song’s going to be one of the following: Japanese, Korean, anime-related, video game-related, and etcetera. Basically, any song that’s from “Asia” will be chosen, which will usually be a song I’ve been addicted to for the entire week.

Without further ado, here’s this week’s song. More »

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According to my dad, I’m living my third childhood because I went to Gyobo book store at Gwanghwamun today to look for Boxcar Children and The Baby-Sitters Club books. Well, I didn’t succeed in that department, but I did see this sexy looking thing.

It was sexy until I saw the price. 48,000+ won. Which translates into about $36. But then, compare that to $27 when you convert the price from 2500 yen. Um. Yeah. I know $36 is about the average price of an imported artbook, but my mind still thinks of June 2008’s conversion rate of 900 won to $1 USD and makes me think this is a $50+ book. Plus, I only had about 60,000 won on me, and I was not going to spend all my money at once like that.

But still! It looked sexy. At least, the cover did. Since it was in the plastic wrap, I couldn’t flip through the book to see if it’s worth that price. Then again, imported artbooks are so expensive. Once again, I ask myself, why must I have expensive hobbies!

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Just mere hours ago, I had a Daewoo TV. Now that I have a new JVC TV, I just realised something: I own nothing that’s Korean-made, with the exception of my cellphone. Hahaha! Seriously! If I put all my electronics together, these are what I have:

* JVC TV (Nicknamed: Pita = Pain in the Arse) * Hitachi VHS * Panasonic DVD Player * Panasonic Stereo * Nintendo SNES * Nintendo GameCube * Sony PlayStation 1 * Sony PlayStation 2

No Korean-made products. I find it very ironic considering where I live. On the flip side, I love my new (well, second-hand) TV. HOMG. Playing video games on it will be a very smexy experience. I already tested it out with one game and am absolutely floored by the big, crisp graphical and audio output.

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Did you hear yet? Square Enix has just released the latest Final Fantasy game for PSP, titled Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Now, I don’t want to sound too excited here, but considering that I played through FFVII Crisis Core no less than three times, I was pretty FREAKIN STOKED when I heard Dissidia was coming out. However, as I’ve always been a fan of the traditional Final Fantasy RPG, I wasn’t without a little doubt as to whether Dissidia would work out - after all, previews and trailers of the game show that it is - get this - a fighting game. That said, it still looked freakin cool, and Square Enix’s previous offerings on the PSP haven’t really been turn based either (Crisis Core, Star Ocean), opting for a shorter, faster paced battle system most likely to remain consistent with the portable on-the-go nature of the console. I’m no stickler for any particular genre - if it’s a good game, I’ll play it! More »

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Sometimes I wish I had a cheaper hobby. As much as I love video games, they really suck my poor bank account empty. It doesn’t help when I have the internet telling me what games are coming out in United States and what games are released in Japan, which I hope some of them do see English localisations! A girl can dream! Now I just need to conjure up more money for these games that interest me in 2009. It’s going to be another expensive gaming year. More »

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If there was one word to describe my gaming style, it would be this: sporadic. I play when I’m in the mood, and with that you can find me playing a game that was released in 2003 right now in 2008. Yes, I do not follow what’s mainstream, but with video games, I sort of try, and I succeeded this year with the DS — again that’s with a “sort of”. Come to think of it, I own three other systems, but I don’t think I touched any of them this year. Oi. Anyway, here are the games that were released in 2008, that were actually played in 2008, not necessarily beaten, and what I consider to be “best” or more like “personal favourites”. The list is in the order by the games’ release date. More »

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I cannot believe it’s practically a decade now since I was introduced to Chrono Trigger on the SNES. I feel so old! Regardless, I’ll never forget that day, where a bunch of my anime/video game friends were telling me about this game. I’ll never forget asking them this: why is Lavos dangerous when he’s tiny on the cover? Trust me when I say that I’ll never forget my reaction to the game when I finally played it. Never mind that I freaked out and turned the thing off when I went to 2300 A.D. (the atmosphere and music scared me senseless), but when I finally did play through it, I was hooked. On video games. On RPGs. Thus many sleepless nights came into my existence in my high school and college careers.

A lot of people say this is not only an SNES classic, but a classic for all-time. I agree with that sentiment. This game is classic. So classic that when the game was re-released for Final Fantasy Chronicles, I bought it, and I was thoroughly disappointed by it! The loading times drove me nuts! It ruined the whole experience for me, and I just threw the disc back in the case and never touched it, deciding to stick with the original SNES one. Despite my hatred for the PlayStation version, now a DS port has been released couple of weeks ago. I finally got my copy, and I have started playing it. More »

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The Gameboy Advanced Kingdom Hearts game that tied KH 1 and 2 together is no on the PS2.

The game was released earlier this week on Dec. 2nd in stores everywhere for $29.99. The story is exactly the game as the GBA version only this time the graphics are much better. In addition to the GBA version, there are new features like new sleights and bosses plus four new mini games.

Within the same day, Square Enix also announced that 365/2 will be released for North America sometime next year. Wewt!

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Okay not really but everyone was shocked to hear at E3 2008 that Square Enix will be taking FFXIII to multi-platform except for in Japan.

Some are pretty pissed that SE is pulling a 360 since they bought the PS3 specifically for FFXIII; however, Corporate Director Shinji Hashimoto doesn’t see it that way. Of course he wasn’t the one spending $300 to buy one.

I’d rather they not think of this as a “betrayal” or disappointment. It’s not like we’re canceling or delaying the PS3 version at all! It’s more of an added bonus for 360 fans. We won’t be putting them at a disadvantage in any way.

In the end, all FF lovers will give in and play the game but Sony lovers (like myself) are a bit disappointed with SE’s decision. We were all expecting FF to save Sony.

Source: Kotaku More »

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Bad boy Bahamut of the Final Fantasy series will make his debut on the NDS screen.

After a week of a mysterious time clock, Square Enix officially announced the Blood of Bahamut. The game will feature a 3D RPG that can be played as a co-op with 1 – 4 players. It will be presented at Jump Festa expo in Japan at the end of this year.

The story will surround two characters, Ibuki and Yui who live in a fortified city build on a giant (who I assume is Bahamut but looks more like Alexander from FFIX). The giant wakes up during an enemy attack and the heroes must fight to defend the city.

I love Square Enix but why would anyone build a city on a giant?

Official Website More »

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If you didn’t know, Nintendo released their new gaming console Nintendo DSI earlier this month to replace the old but popular NDS. Similar to the NDS, the DSI has a double screen (one of which is touch) in addition to some nifty new features. It will include two cameras (one outside and in), a SD card slot, bigger screens, a new interface and some more user options on the startup page.

I love Nintendo but I can’t say I’m jumping for joy here. Supposedly the DSI doesn’t support an R4 card which is a big factor for me as I love homebrew games. Also, they’ve taken out the GBA card slot (for what reason I don’t know) which again limits the game selection by a lot. Some of us still play old school games!

While the camera is a fun feature as there are all sorts of photo editing included, it can’t replace the R4 and GBA. Unless this camera has SLR quality (which it doesn’t), I’m going to stick to my NDS. Sorry Nintendo!

For more information on the DSI, you can read Danny Choo’s review or Kotaku’s coverage. More »

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Square Enix really knows how to impress an audience. At Tokyo Game Show, they featured four Kingdom Hearts trailers, one of which was the upcoming DS game: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

The trailer featured various mind blowing teasers that included Organization XIII members, the return of Riku and Mickey, various ass kicking and a new character, Xion. The drama didn’t just stop there, at the end the words “February 2009” flashed leaving me completely thrilled and depressed. Note that this is first to be released in Japan leaving the rest of us non-Japanese speakers to wait it out in the cold.

In addition to the DS game, Square Enix plans to release Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep for PSP and Kingdom Hearts 3 for rumored PS3, both of which are still TBA. More »

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Read Part 1.

Here’s the continuation of my personal favourite list of tropes and cliches for Japanese console role-playing games.

107. Arbour Day Rule: At some point, you’re going to have to talk to a tree and do what it says.

For some reason, this struck me to be the most hilarious thing on the list. I think it’s the “Arbour Day” part that cracked me up the most.

128. First Law of Fashion: All characters wear a single costume which does not change over the course of the game. The only exception is when characters dress up in enemy uniforms to infiltrate their base.

129. Second Law of Fashion: Any character’s costume, no matter how skimpy, complicated, or simply outlandish, is always completely suitable to wear when climbing around in caves, hiking across the desert, and slogging through the sewers. It will continue to be completely suitable right afterwards when said character goes to meet the King.

130. Third Law of Fashion: In any futuristic setting, the standard uniform for female soldiers and special agents will include a miniskirt and thigh-high stockings. The standard uniform for all male characters, military or not, will include an extraordinarily silly and enormous hat.

These laws of fashion are true. I especially agree with the first two. However, I am unsure about the whole “extraordinarily silly and enormous hat” for the males.

More »

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I was introduced to this particular website about six months ago. A wikipedia of tv tropes and cliches? Oh man, this site is like Wikipedia in the sense that it sucks you in and claim your soul for eternity. However, when I accidentally ran into this grand list of (Japanese) console role-playing game cliches . . . I decided that I had to share the ones that struck out the most to me!

5. Logan’s Run Rule: RPG characters are young. Very young. The average age seems to be 15, unless the character is a decorated and battle-hardened soldier, in which case he might even be as old as 18. Such teenagers often have skills with multiple weapons and magic, years of experience, and never ever worry about their parents telling them to come home from adventuring before bedtime. By contrast, characters more than twenty-two years old will cheerfully refer to themselves as washed-up old fogies and be eager to make room for the younger generation. More »

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With Tokyo Game Show 2008 ending, it brought a couple of things that made me go absolutely “SQUEE” about some of the upcoming DS games.

I admit that I’m a nerd. I admit that I’m a gamer. It’s seen as a “bizarre” concept amongst my fellow Koreans, especially the older generations who sees this more for children who do poorly in schools, but do I care? No! Considering my decent GPA in high school and college, I deserve some fun! I like my games! I like my toys. Only problem is that gaming is one expensive hobby that hurts my wallet and bank account the most! Regardless of that, I am eagerly awaiting on a few games that are to come out for the DS — well couple that have yet to have a release date for the English speaking realm, but a girl can dream, right? More »

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Making this super quick as I am super busy! NYAF day 1 was amazing! All the cosplayers were so cute and luckily I could who most of them were regardless of my lack of Anime knowledge.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will be like since Saturday will be the busiest day of the convention. Sweet! I will have blog posts about today up later on so please be patient. We are all very tired but so pleased with the turn out.

Be sure to check out the gallery from the Cosplay Photoshoot Contest Day 1. Voting process will start Monday so get all your friends to vote for you! More »

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IGN was ninja enough to go undercover (not really) and record footage of the upcoming handheld Square Enix games. Go DS and PSP! If you didn’t know, I’m a big Square Enix fan so I’m psyched to hear they’re pumping out a couple handheld games for the rest of the year. No more boring train rides!

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The girls in Ms. Motoko Okubo classroom at Tokyo Joshi Gakuen Middle School in Tokyo, Japan have got to be the luckiest girls. Apparently, their administration thought it would be an awesome idea if they started using the Nintendo DS as a method of teaching English. Well they’ve been experimenting since late May and so far the results have been impressive. The students not only enjoy playing the DS, but the average vocabulary per student has increased by 35% - pretty impressive for a 2 month span. It also has had a positive impact on the slackers.

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Turns out Utada Hikaru has been known to be both. She has played the game everyday since she was five years old! Then a couple years ago she played in a broadcasted Tetris tournament against thirty contest winners. Out of the thirty players, she was only defeated by four. Three out of the four players were among the first to go up against her. After what seemed like a warm up, she became unbeatable. She later posted her 99,999,999 score and stated:

You need perservance or obstance to make it this far. (lol) A woman’s obstance! Hahahahaha!

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