Atari 2600 - Defender, closely followed by Joust and Combat.
Nintendo Entertainment System- Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt followed closely by Tiger-Heli and Snake, Rattle 'n Roll
Sega Genesis - Sonic the Hedgehog and Jurassic Park
Super Nintendo Entertainment System - SimCity, followed closely by Super Mario World and F-Zero
Sony Playstation - Agile Warrior F-111X, followed closely by Descent, Ridge Racer and Twisted Metal
Sega Dreamcast - Marvel vs Capcom 2, followed closely by Soul Calibur and Sonic Adventure
Sony Playstation 2 - Ridge Racer V
Microsoft Xbox - Halo: Combat Evolved
Microsoft Xbox 360 - Dead Rising and Marvel Ultimate Alliance
I don't have a PS3 or Wii but the first games I've played on those consoles would be MotorStorm and Metroid Prime 3, respectively.
What are the first games you've ever played?
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Transformers movie game sucks
So I've been playing a shit-ton of Dynasty Warriors Gundam. I've put in about 30 hours now. I have all the achievements but 3. The game is a hell of a lot of fun, even though it has its share of problems. Mainly the AI and camera, but they are nothing compared to another game I got from Gamefly last week. I got Transformers on 360. Man, this is up there with the worst games I've ever played. I could only stand about 15 minutes of it and then I shut it off. I'm sending it back today. The controls are absolute fucking crap. Bumblebee's vehicle mode drives like a freakin boat. The camera is just god awful, there is no button that centers the camera on the character, so if you have to turn around you also have to turn the camera around manually as well, and this happens all the God damned time too. There is only one button for melee attacks. That's it, just one. Then there are two buttons for ranged laser blasts, a grab/throw button and a transform button. Man, as bad as that Japanese G1 TF game on PS2 is, this game is 10 times worse. When you compare this shitty TF movie game to Dynasty Warriors Gundam, for example, DW: Gundam is like game of the year material.
The first level has you fighting off a bunch of Decepticon drones. It wasn't too hard, just got boring real quick with one God damned melee button since shooting them doesn't do a damned thing. The second level has you rushing to destroy more Decepticon drones before they get to the used car lot and kill Sam. Sounds easy enough right? Well there is no map to look at to find out where the used car lot is. There is no arrow that tells you where to go, the game just assumes you can find it on your own, using the small mini-map in the corner that only covers a hundred yards or so around you. I found the car lot while I was chasing down some Decepticons, and it appears as a little green dot on the mini-map. It took me several restarts to figure out where this damned car lot was. What you have to do is shoot the drones while you are in vehicle mode, which forces them to transform and then you can also transform to destroy them. The mission is simple enough but the controls and the camera are so fucking shitty that it makes the game almost unplayable. I failed this mission several times and I just gave up. It's not that I couldn't find the Decepitcons in time, but that once I found them I was fucking around with the controls and the camera so damned much that they just drove past me and got to the car lot and killed Sam.
Avoid this game like the plague. Even if you're a die hard TF fan like me, the game isn't worth your time.
The first level has you fighting off a bunch of Decepticon drones. It wasn't too hard, just got boring real quick with one God damned melee button since shooting them doesn't do a damned thing. The second level has you rushing to destroy more Decepticon drones before they get to the used car lot and kill Sam. Sounds easy enough right? Well there is no map to look at to find out where the used car lot is. There is no arrow that tells you where to go, the game just assumes you can find it on your own, using the small mini-map in the corner that only covers a hundred yards or so around you. I found the car lot while I was chasing down some Decepticons, and it appears as a little green dot on the mini-map. It took me several restarts to figure out where this damned car lot was. What you have to do is shoot the drones while you are in vehicle mode, which forces them to transform and then you can also transform to destroy them. The mission is simple enough but the controls and the camera are so fucking shitty that it makes the game almost unplayable. I failed this mission several times and I just gave up. It's not that I couldn't find the Decepitcons in time, but that once I found them I was fucking around with the controls and the camera so damned much that they just drove past me and got to the car lot and killed Sam.
Avoid this game like the plague. Even if you're a die hard TF fan like me, the game isn't worth your time.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Top 50 Anime of All Time
Anime Insider magazine published its 50th issue this month and their cover story is the top 50 anime of all time. I'm all too familiar with Top __ video game lists, but this is the first time I've ever seen any kind of top anime list. They don't have any criteria for their list, just picking out the best anime, not the most influential or the most popular, but the best, as they claim. The team that decided the nominations consited of voice actors, editors, columnists, executives, scriptwriters and directors. The only people with some credibility to them are Kenji Kamiyama (director of Ghost in the Shell: SAC, Jin-Roh and other anime), Carl Horn (an editor for Dark Horse and well known for his knowledge of anime), and maybe some of the web site and magazine editors/columnists. Do we really care what some executive or some voice actor says is the best anime of all time? Not me. I want to hear what the anime directors, animators, manga writers, creators, artists, basically all the people involved in making anime think is the best anime of all time.
What I find really interesting is that they have anime movies, anime tv series and anime OVAs (aka OAVs) in this list. I think its kind of hard to put up a 100 minute movie against a 26 episode TV series or an OVA and decide what is better. Movies have massive budgets, so they can put in the best quality animation, sound, music and voice actors, while TV series have an extremely limited budget and more time constraints. OVAs have bigger budgets then TV series, but they usually aren't as big as movies. The list also has some glaring omissions. If you're going to put movies in the list they are missing Do You Remember Love?, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and the Wings of Honneamise. And what's with Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket being so high on the list? I'd easily put the original Gundam, 0083: Stardust Memory, Zeta Gundam or 08th MS Team in there. 0080 was good but that damned kid was so annoying (Al is his name). He could have prevented the death of his friend if he had just opened his mouth and told his parents or something. I really wished he would have died in that explosion. Probably my biggest issue with this list is Porco Rosso at #2. Yes that's right, number 2! Huh?! I'm all for Miyazaki films, but you couldn't pick a better movie then Porco Rosso? Castle in The Sky is easily better then that film and that's not even in the Top 50. Hell Kiki's Delivery Service, The Cat Returns or Whisper of the Heart would have been better. Porco Rosso is good and all, but not the second best anime of all freaking time.
50. Vision of Escaflowne
49. Saikano
48. Berserk
47. Kino's Journey
46. Cardcaptor Sakura
45. Fantastic Children
44. Irresponsible Captain Tylor
43. Giant Robo: The Animation
42. Twelve Kingdoms
41. Azumanga Daioh
40. Urusei Yatsura
39. Astro Boy
38. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
37. Fruits Basket
36. Night on the Galactic Railroad
35. Exel Saga
34. Trigun
33. Read or Die
32. Princess Mononoke
31. Gunbuster
30. Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal
29. The Place Promised in Our Early Days
28. Planetes
27. Samurai Champloo
26. Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
25. Princess Tutu
24. Serial Experiments Lain
23. Galaxy Express 999
22. Patlabor the Movie 2
21. Tokyo Godfathers
20. Gankutsuou
19. My Neighbor Totoro
18. Boogiepop Phantom
17. Paranoia Agent
16. Grave of the Fireflies
15. Haibane Renmei
14. Ghost in the Shell/GitS: Stand Alone Complex
13. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
12. Now and Then, Here and There
11. Fullmetal Alchemist
10. Macross Plus
9. Akira
8. The Castle of Cagliostro
7. Jin-Roh: the Wolf Brigade
6. Neon Genesis Evangelion
5. Revolutionary Girl Utena
4. FLCL (aka Fooly Cooly)
3. Millennium Actress
2. Porco Rosso
1. Cowboy Bebop
What I find really interesting is that they have anime movies, anime tv series and anime OVAs (aka OAVs) in this list. I think its kind of hard to put up a 100 minute movie against a 26 episode TV series or an OVA and decide what is better. Movies have massive budgets, so they can put in the best quality animation, sound, music and voice actors, while TV series have an extremely limited budget and more time constraints. OVAs have bigger budgets then TV series, but they usually aren't as big as movies. The list also has some glaring omissions. If you're going to put movies in the list they are missing Do You Remember Love?, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and the Wings of Honneamise. And what's with Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket being so high on the list? I'd easily put the original Gundam, 0083: Stardust Memory, Zeta Gundam or 08th MS Team in there. 0080 was good but that damned kid was so annoying (Al is his name). He could have prevented the death of his friend if he had just opened his mouth and told his parents or something. I really wished he would have died in that explosion. Probably my biggest issue with this list is Porco Rosso at #2. Yes that's right, number 2! Huh?! I'm all for Miyazaki films, but you couldn't pick a better movie then Porco Rosso? Castle in The Sky is easily better then that film and that's not even in the Top 50. Hell Kiki's Delivery Service, The Cat Returns or Whisper of the Heart would have been better. Porco Rosso is good and all, but not the second best anime of all freaking time.
50. Vision of Escaflowne
49. Saikano
48. Berserk
47. Kino's Journey
46. Cardcaptor Sakura
45. Fantastic Children
44. Irresponsible Captain Tylor
43. Giant Robo: The Animation
42. Twelve Kingdoms
41. Azumanga Daioh
40. Urusei Yatsura
39. Astro Boy
38. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
37. Fruits Basket
36. Night on the Galactic Railroad
35. Exel Saga
34. Trigun
33. Read or Die
32. Princess Mononoke
31. Gunbuster
30. Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal
29. The Place Promised in Our Early Days
28. Planetes
27. Samurai Champloo
26. Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
25. Princess Tutu
24. Serial Experiments Lain
23. Galaxy Express 999
22. Patlabor the Movie 2
21. Tokyo Godfathers
20. Gankutsuou
19. My Neighbor Totoro
18. Boogiepop Phantom
17. Paranoia Agent
16. Grave of the Fireflies
15. Haibane Renmei
14. Ghost in the Shell/GitS: Stand Alone Complex
13. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
12. Now and Then, Here and There
11. Fullmetal Alchemist
10. Macross Plus
9. Akira
8. The Castle of Cagliostro
7. Jin-Roh: the Wolf Brigade
6. Neon Genesis Evangelion
5. Revolutionary Girl Utena
4. FLCL (aka Fooly Cooly)
3. Millennium Actress
2. Porco Rosso
1. Cowboy Bebop
Monday, September 17, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Recent purchases; Massive sale at Right Stuf
Right Stuf is currently having a huge sale on Geneon, f/k/a Pioneer anime DVDs. You can buy 10 for $50.00 or 25 for $100.00. So you can get 10 DVDs at 5 bucks a piece or 25 at 4 bucks a piece. I've never participated in these huge sales that a lot of online DVD retailers have until this one. I guess mainly because I never knew about them. Thanks to animeworldorder, weeklyanimereview and other podcasts/websites, I now know to look out for huge sales like these and I signed up for newsletters at all the online retailer websites I could find. Anyway, I got an email the other day about this sale and I decided to check it out. I figured there wouldn't be anything I wanted or the stuff they had would be out of stock, but I was completely wrong. I ended up buying 25 dvds for $100 and I could have easily got another 25. I was able to finish off 3 series that were incomplete and I got two other complete series. Here is what I picked up:
Chobits volumes 1 - 7
R.O.D. the TV volumes 2 - 7
Vandread the Second Stage volumes 2 - 3
New Getter Robo volumes 1 - 4
Captain Herlock (aka Harlock) volumes 1 - 4
Tenchi Muyo: Mihoshi/Pretty Sammy Special
and a Hand Maid May soundtrack
I had the first volume of Chobits that came with the artbox but I sold it when I needed money several years ago. I still have the artbox and extra stuff that came with that though. I still have the first volume of R.O.D. and I got the special edition that came with the really cool pleatherbound case that looks like a book and holds all 7 volumes of the series. For Vandread I have the complete Vandread series and the first volume of the Second Stage that came with the artbox, so I was able to complete that series as well. For the new stuff I got the complete New Getter Robo (with artbox) mainly cause I'd seen a few episodes that interested me enough to buy the whole series. Of course Daryl's constant praise of the show on animeworldorder helped too. I love anything by Leiji Matsumoto, so I had to get Captain Herlock. I recently got Galaxy Railways and Arcadia of My Youth, so I've got plenty of Matsumoto stuff to watch for awhile. So after all that stuff I had to find 2 additional things since the terms and conditions of the sale require you to purchase the exact number of DVDs in the sale (either 10 or 25). I wanted to get the first 13 episodes of Magical Project S but it was sold out. I thought about a 6 episode OVA called Moldiver or the Sakura Wars movie but I found the Mihoshi/Pretty Sammy Special which I needed and I like the music in Hand Maid May so I decided to pick that up.
If I do decide to get another 25 I will go with Gungrave, Mahoromatic, Heat Guy J, Cybuster, Lain and/or Star Ocean EX. I've seen all of Gungrave and it's one of my favorite series, well until Beyond the Grave shows up anyway. I've seen a couple episodes of Mahoromatic and I liked what I saw, it's your typical fanservice show, nothing too special, but hey I'm a pervert so I like it. I've seen the first couple episodes of Heat Guy J and I liked that a lot. Never seen Cybuster but it looks cool and I guess the mecha is the same Cybuster as in Super Robot Wars so that's freaking cool. I've never seen Lain but I've heard a lot of good things about it. As for Star Ocean EX, I love the game it's based on, Star Ocean the Second Story, and I love the music but I've seen some pretty average reviews for it.
As I said before, I just got the Galaxy Railways boxset, which I purchased from animeonestop.com. I also got the first two collections of Tekkaman Blade, I pre-ordered the Godannar box set and I purchased the Genshiken boxset (one of my new favorite anime of all time).
Besides all of these purchases, I've been on a Gundam kick recently. I finished off Gundam Seed Destiny, but I haven't been able to find any torrents of Final Plus anywhere, if anyone knows where I can get a torrent with a working tracker and seeds you will be my new best friend:D! I decided to go back and watch the original Gundam series, in the form of the 3 two-hour plus movies. I'm now watching 08th MS Team and I'm enjoying that more then the original Gundam so far. Next will be 0080: War in the Pocket, 0083: Stardust Memory and then Zeta Gundam. I never used to like Gundam until I saw G Gundam. I remember when Gundam Wing was on TV several years ago and I absolutely hated it (I still do BTW). I guess I assumed all the Gundam series would be similar to Wing so decided I hated all things Gundam because of Gundam Wing. I was a teenager back then so I didn't know any better right? I saw G Gundam a few years later and I thought, "man this is awesome!" Then Gundam Seed came a long and it became one of my fav anime and my favorite Gundam series so far. Now I want to see ALL the Gundam series and I want all the cool model kits. Only problem is I don't know where to buy them cheap and what kind of paint to use. I actually have a few Gundam Wing model kits. I bought them at Toys R Us when Gundam first came out in the USA, and I bought them just because they were cool lookin. After all, the mech designs are what attracted me to Gundam in the first place. I assembled them but never painted them or had any idea what kind of paint and what colors to get. I think I have a small Epyeon, Heavy Arms Custom and then a large Serpent Custom kit. I wish Gundam was more popular over here so big chains like Toys R Us would carry the model kits again.
Well that's enough of my rambling, hope I didn't bore you too much. Later!
Chobits volumes 1 - 7
R.O.D. the TV volumes 2 - 7
Vandread the Second Stage volumes 2 - 3
New Getter Robo volumes 1 - 4
Captain Herlock (aka Harlock) volumes 1 - 4
Tenchi Muyo: Mihoshi/Pretty Sammy Special
and a Hand Maid May soundtrack
I had the first volume of Chobits that came with the artbox but I sold it when I needed money several years ago. I still have the artbox and extra stuff that came with that though. I still have the first volume of R.O.D. and I got the special edition that came with the really cool pleatherbound case that looks like a book and holds all 7 volumes of the series. For Vandread I have the complete Vandread series and the first volume of the Second Stage that came with the artbox, so I was able to complete that series as well. For the new stuff I got the complete New Getter Robo (with artbox) mainly cause I'd seen a few episodes that interested me enough to buy the whole series. Of course Daryl's constant praise of the show on animeworldorder helped too. I love anything by Leiji Matsumoto, so I had to get Captain Herlock. I recently got Galaxy Railways and Arcadia of My Youth, so I've got plenty of Matsumoto stuff to watch for awhile. So after all that stuff I had to find 2 additional things since the terms and conditions of the sale require you to purchase the exact number of DVDs in the sale (either 10 or 25). I wanted to get the first 13 episodes of Magical Project S but it was sold out. I thought about a 6 episode OVA called Moldiver or the Sakura Wars movie but I found the Mihoshi/Pretty Sammy Special which I needed and I like the music in Hand Maid May so I decided to pick that up.
If I do decide to get another 25 I will go with Gungrave, Mahoromatic, Heat Guy J, Cybuster, Lain and/or Star Ocean EX. I've seen all of Gungrave and it's one of my favorite series, well until Beyond the Grave shows up anyway. I've seen a couple episodes of Mahoromatic and I liked what I saw, it's your typical fanservice show, nothing too special, but hey I'm a pervert so I like it. I've seen the first couple episodes of Heat Guy J and I liked that a lot. Never seen Cybuster but it looks cool and I guess the mecha is the same Cybuster as in Super Robot Wars so that's freaking cool. I've never seen Lain but I've heard a lot of good things about it. As for Star Ocean EX, I love the game it's based on, Star Ocean the Second Story, and I love the music but I've seen some pretty average reviews for it.
As I said before, I just got the Galaxy Railways boxset, which I purchased from animeonestop.com. I also got the first two collections of Tekkaman Blade, I pre-ordered the Godannar box set and I purchased the Genshiken boxset (one of my new favorite anime of all time).
Besides all of these purchases, I've been on a Gundam kick recently. I finished off Gundam Seed Destiny, but I haven't been able to find any torrents of Final Plus anywhere, if anyone knows where I can get a torrent with a working tracker and seeds you will be my new best friend:D! I decided to go back and watch the original Gundam series, in the form of the 3 two-hour plus movies. I'm now watching 08th MS Team and I'm enjoying that more then the original Gundam so far. Next will be 0080: War in the Pocket, 0083: Stardust Memory and then Zeta Gundam. I never used to like Gundam until I saw G Gundam. I remember when Gundam Wing was on TV several years ago and I absolutely hated it (I still do BTW). I guess I assumed all the Gundam series would be similar to Wing so decided I hated all things Gundam because of Gundam Wing. I was a teenager back then so I didn't know any better right? I saw G Gundam a few years later and I thought, "man this is awesome!" Then Gundam Seed came a long and it became one of my fav anime and my favorite Gundam series so far. Now I want to see ALL the Gundam series and I want all the cool model kits. Only problem is I don't know where to buy them cheap and what kind of paint to use. I actually have a few Gundam Wing model kits. I bought them at Toys R Us when Gundam first came out in the USA, and I bought them just because they were cool lookin. After all, the mech designs are what attracted me to Gundam in the first place. I assembled them but never painted them or had any idea what kind of paint and what colors to get. I think I have a small Epyeon, Heavy Arms Custom and then a large Serpent Custom kit. I wish Gundam was more popular over here so big chains like Toys R Us would carry the model kits again.
Well that's enough of my rambling, hope I didn't bore you too much. Later!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Otaku USA: Initial thoughts
I picked up my copy of the new anime and Japanese pop culture mag, OtakuUSA, on the way home from work today. For some reason I was afraid my local Barnes & Noble store would not carry it just to spite me, but there it was behind a MAD magazine and two rows above and behind it's main competitor (at least in my opinion), Newtype USA. The cover price is $9.99 American, comes with a free DVD of 3 anime episodes, a centerfold, and a manga insert. The first thing I looked at is to see what episodes were on the DVD, and lo and behold the disc was upside down so I had no idea what was on the disc. Not a big deal, I purchased the mag for the content, not the DVD. But I know that is a major selling point especially when it's competing with Newtype which lists the episodes on its DVD in bold print on the cover of each issue. Anyway the anime on the DVD are Boogiepop Phantom, School Rumble and Ninja Nonsense. I've already seen two of the anime, Boogiepop (didn't like it) and Ninja Nonsense (loved every minute of it). I've heard of School Rumble so I'm curious to see what it's all about.
I haven't read a whole lot of the mag yet but upon first browse I noticed there is a lot of content in the mag, unlike Newtype which is chalk-full of two page advertisements and pictures. I read the Tekkaman Blade review, (nice job Gerald), a little bit of the Hellsing Ultimate review (I can almost hear Daryl screaming) and a bit of the Haruhi review. I don't see why that show is so popular, I watched the first two episodes and I hated every second of it. I also liked the feature on Yoshiaki Kawajiri. I have fond memories of watching Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku, Goku Midnight Eye, Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. I plan to read more of the mag on my lunch break at work tomorrow, maybe I'll post some more comments about it then.
Thanks to Daryl, Clarissa and Gerald for getting the word out about this mag on their podcast, animeworldorder. If it weren't for them I probably wouldn't have known about this new anime mag or even purchased it if I saw it in a store at some point in the future.
EDIT: As I was writing this the Otaku USA website was still "under construction." I just checked again and now it is up. Be sure to check it out if you want to know more about the mag!
Later
I haven't read a whole lot of the mag yet but upon first browse I noticed there is a lot of content in the mag, unlike Newtype which is chalk-full of two page advertisements and pictures. I read the Tekkaman Blade review, (nice job Gerald), a little bit of the Hellsing Ultimate review (I can almost hear Daryl screaming) and a bit of the Haruhi review. I don't see why that show is so popular, I watched the first two episodes and I hated every second of it. I also liked the feature on Yoshiaki Kawajiri. I have fond memories of watching Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku, Goku Midnight Eye, Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. I plan to read more of the mag on my lunch break at work tomorrow, maybe I'll post some more comments about it then.
Thanks to Daryl, Clarissa and Gerald for getting the word out about this mag on their podcast, animeworldorder. If it weren't for them I probably wouldn't have known about this new anime mag or even purchased it if I saw it in a store at some point in the future.
EDIT: As I was writing this the Otaku USA website was still "under construction." I just checked again and now it is up. Be sure to check it out if you want to know more about the mag!
Later
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