Archive for the ‘Editorial’ Category
Head Off #3 - Mind-Blowingly Good Games
Usually Alex will send me some crappy and beaten up games to review for this column. Other times, rarely, the games are only one or the other. It’s why I’ve tried selling a few of the junky titles (they’re complete, and maybe someone out there WANTS to be the manager of a Japanese “boy” band made up of thirty-somethings), and it’s also why I have some pretty cool games in my collection that aren’t in a condition I’d normally accept them in if I were buying them. Today we’re going to do something different here at Head Off. Instead of reviewing junk in the poor-game-design sense, we’ll be looking at some junk in the beaten-up-and-missing-parts sense. All the games talked about today will be good ones.
Vampire Savior (The Lord of Vampire - yes the cover says this like it’s the subtitle) - Sega Saturn - Darkstalkers, as Capcom saw fit to rename this series in the West, is one of my favorite fighting games. In fact, I only really like two fighting game series: Darkstalkers and Tekken. That’s mostly because I suck at fighting games. While Darkstalkers isn’t the button-masher that Tekken is, I still find it much easier to pull off (and stumble across) combos and special moves. The thing that really endears me to the series, though, is the cast of characters. In what other game can you play as a homicidal, machine-gun-toting LIttle Red Riding Hood? Or an ancient Egyptian mummy complete with sarcophagus? Or a bee girl that shoots… bees… out of her… beehive? Okay that one is just plain weird. But that’s really the charm of the game. You have no idea what you’re going to experience. The backgrounds, art direction, character design… pretty much every gameplay element contributes to making this amazing fighting game come to life. The level and attention to detail that Capcom invested in this game is pretty staggering (they tend to be known for that, particularly with their fighters, but this is the only one I’ve ever been able to get into). So why did Alex give this one away? The copy he sent me was disc and manual only. This wouldn’t be too bad except that Vampire Savior requires a RAM cart. I actually had to trade for another game just to be able to play this one. (I traded for X-Men vs Street Fighter, another Capcom fighting game, and one which I played for all of ten minutes before turning off in frustration and boredom. See? I’m just not a fan of fighting games.)
The Truth About Peso (Alex)!
The truth about Peso (Alex) is more shocking than you might Realize!
Bad English, Great Entertainment
Learning English is an uphill battle. All Japanese people are required to study English in Jr. high School and high school (if they choose to go to high school). Many will continue to study English beyond this compulsory period. There is a flourishing industry for English learning books, videos, CDs, software and countless other things. Yet despite all of this Japan has a very low rate of English acquisition. How could this be? That is a big question and one I will not tackle in this post. What I will talk about is the fact that English is very popular in Japan even if it is not used correctly.
It’s a Girl!
WARNING: The following post is not about video games. If you are looking for a post about video games skip to the next one. Oh.. that one is about hamburgers. Perhaps skip that one too..
On Monday August 17th I became a father. This is up there with my wedding as one of the happiest moments of my life. I am still a bit overwhelmed but I want to write my thoughts down before I forget any details.
First of all the fact that I am writing this right now is a bit unexpected. I thought I still had some time. Misako’s due date was September 4th. But like myself (who was 3 weeks early) the newest member of our family couldn’t wait.
USE Item - Dai-1-wa: Questing for a Megadrive[-compatible] arcade stick.
I’m proposing a series of possible articles by throwing one right on this page.
Obviously I have planned out in my head quite a multiple more. This set of articles will generally be about accessories - controllers, gimmicky add-ons and what-have-you - that are compatible with Import gaming systems. Note that since I said “compatible”, this means that I let myself some room for checking out non-import items. Reasons for that may range from a particular item just being that unique, to just being that good in quality, or to being the non-import variant of an import item because I was too cheap to actually import it.
In this first episode I got bored and thought “Ok, the Super Nintendo has tons of neat arcade sticks. Where’s a half-decent one for Genesis?” - then I realized I referred to them by their American titles. Then I just shrugged and went “Whatever.”
Click the “More” button if you want to actually read the thing.(… wait, it’s not a button. It’s a URL. And it says “Read the rest of this post”. No wait. “entry”. Way to go, Kiddo.)
Animal Crossing Corrupting Japanese Youth at Local School
A while back I was sitting in the teachers’ lounge drinking a nice cup of green tea, an announcement came over the PA system. As usual I and the other teachers tuned it out, as these announcements are pretty much the same thing every day. Then I heard something I was not expecting, the words “Doubutsu no Mori” or as we know it “Animal Crossing”. Now I started listening.
Better English Through Video Games
I wrote this piece a few years ago for another site. My Job and contract have changed since then and I teach my classes now with a mixture of English and Japanese. But I thought it was still somewhat interesting and perhaps even entertaining. I hope you enjoy it.
The Real Cooking Mamas
A lot of people look at cooking games like “Cooking Mama” and wonder how such a thing could even get made. But living in Japan for the last few years a find myself asking the question, “Why aren’t there more of them?”
How the Housing Crisis Made Import Games Cost More
It’s been a hard year for a lot of industries. Major layoffs have been an almost daily occurrence over the past few months as companies grasp to regain balance in a troubled market. The paltry value of the dollar is a somber reflection of this.
In contrast, Japan, despite a troubled economy itself has seen the value of its currency, the yen, gain value over every single major currency. Investors bringing funds home from overseas and Japan’s culture of conservative investment strategies have worked to Japan’s advantage by minimizing potentially shattering losses. The yen has increased in value nearly 25% over the dollar, 35% over the euro, and a startling 66% against Brazil’s real.
But… What does this mean for gamers? Simply, it means just about anything coming from the Land of the Rising Sun is going to cost more. To be precise, up to about 25% more in America and 35% more in Europe; the same amount the yen increased over each currency.
Store News: Thursday December 11th
I’m sure you’ve noticed the articles have been a little sparse over the last week. We’ve been really busy packing up and sending out Christmas gifts. We just got out the last batch today and are finally stopping to take a breath! Phew!
