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| Iggy 9849th Post
  
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
     
     
     
     
     
|  "Recent anime" , posted Thu 15 Jan 21:26:  
I don't have much to say on the Jojo anime, since it follows the manga so closely. It's well done.
The new series by Ikuhara, Yurikuma Arashi, is WEIRD. At least, Utena fooled the viewer about being a normal Sailormoon clone for a couple of episodes, and Penguin Drum was normal for 10 strong minutes before someone shouted 生存戦略 and everything went batshit insane.
Here, from the very first minute, you are hit full force with that Attack on Titan clone, except all the giants have been replaced by cute lesbian bears from space, all humanity has been replaced by pure lesbian high-school girls with sniper rifles, Levy Taichô seems to have been replaced by Mature from KOF, and all the gruesome eating has been replaced by enthusiastic honey-covered stamen-licking. There is only one guy, called "Live Sexy" (yes, that's his name) and he's the judge of the yuri saiban where the court decides if the stamen of the heroin can be enthusiastically licked or not (so far, the answer has always been "yes").
But if you can go over these tiny adjustments, it seems to be really close to Attack on Titan.
On a no less surprising line, the new Yoru no Yatterman seems to be very good despite featuring a 9 years old Doronjo. She's actually fighting for justice in a world were the Yatterman seem to have decided that the best way to solve mankind's problems was to create a totalitarian fascist dictatorship. At least the first episode is great.
Now I want Tatsunoko vs Capcom 2.
[this message was edited by Iggy on Fri 16 Jan 02:30] |
| Spoon 2796th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):tasteless penguins" , posted Tue 17 Feb 15:06
Jodorowsky is having a kickstarter for his next movie.
The target budget is $3 million, which seems low.
The backer bonuses, well, I'll just quote the site:
"Jodorowsky thinks that all money should be transformed into poetry. And so that is what he will do with this Kickstarter project. No matter what level you pledge at, Jodorowsky will exchange your pledge into his brand new Poetic Money (DINERO POÉTICO) and send it back to you. This money can't be spent on any material goods -- only on the poetry of the universe.
The exchange rate is 1US$＝1DP.
(In the case of $10,000 or more pledge, it is 0.5US$=1DP）
There are 3 bill denominations: 1DP, 10DP and 100DP. Each bill has an original money-related poem written by Jodorowsky printed on it in Spanish. There are two versions of each DP bill, each version of the bill presenting a different poem. There are 6 kinds of bills in total.
Jodorowsky wants to fill the world with poetry. So when you pledge, please mumble a poem in your heart. If you have a twitter account, please tweet a poem with #EndlessPoetryMyPoem. Your poem will be on the official site of ENDLESS POETRY (Poesía Sin Fin)."
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| Spoon 2936th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Verdict: NOT PASTA, but Bad Dudes" , posted Wed 1 Jul 14:30
One day I hope that Nissin realizes that fried process is at the heart of the one beloved Chinese noodles, yi mein, and that when properly handled it has a unique pillow softness coupled with a slight chewiness.
If they make a delicious instant yi mein, they will capture a market need that nobody ever knew they needed.
Given that they got you to buy a cup of it just for the sake of affirming the verdict, I'd count this as a fabulously successful campaign for a product that is admittedly inadequate. This will probably go down as a great story of limited success: after the interest is gone, I'm sure that the product just not being good enough will enable them to keep producing it, but with this campaign they managed to unload all of what they made.
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There are rom translations that I never knew I needed. One is for Bad Dudes in Arabic, which is as about zany a thing as I can imagine, and one is for the old Enix game Dark Half.
Dark Half has art that looks amazing, and an exciting premise: alternating chapters where you play as a villain and a hero.
Box Art
Chapter start splash image
Did anybody play Dark Half back in the day? I certainly played Bad Dudes.
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| Spoon 2968th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):The real danger of Vancouver and SF" , posted Mon 20 Jul 14:30
quote:
As Europeans arriving in Vancouver, they should more importantly be warned that the same little shumai or bao they recognize on the picture on the menu, will be the size of their heads when it arrives on the table, and there is no need to order six of them, or any second, let alone third plate for a complete dinner.
I would like a picture of these Lilliputian items masquerading as Chinese food in Europe.
In other unrelated matters, the recent Pixar movie Inside-Out has the single best depiction of San Francisco I have ever seen in a movie, even beyond live action movies that are set in and shot in SF. From boutique pizza with atypical vegetable toppings, to the grey not-fog wet, to non-romanticized depictions of Painted Ladies, to the fact that the Bay Bridge exists and is just as important functionally as the Golden Gate bridge, to people who have relocated to SF being worried about the stock valuation of their company and being called away at a moment's notice and being worried about layoffs. Pixar studios being located so close to SF certainly helped their research, but it's just really, really accurate in capturing the whole feel of the place right now.
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| Mosquiton 2057th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):The real danger of Vancouver and SF" , posted Mon 20 Jul 16:18
quote:
As Europeans arriving in Vancouver, they should more importantly be warned that the same little shumai or bao they recognize on the picture on the menu, will be the size of their heads when it arrives on the table, and there is no need to order six of them, or any second, let alone third plate for a complete dinner.
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I would like a picture of these Lilliputian items masquerading as Chinese food in Europe.
So... not dim sum?
I'm actually finding the giant items to be weirder. In Hong Kong/Los Angeles/Toronto shumai are normally like four per order (and much smaller than your head) and steamed buns are three per order.
Here in LA, I've only seen what look like giant bao at a Korean dumpling shop. Check out this lovely fellow! (they call them King Dumplings) Vegetarian, too.
I've done some travelling in my life but I've never been to Vancouver. Hope to fix that in the not-so-distant future.
I've only seen gigantic shumai in North America. I've seen giant bao tse everywhere though. There's a famous bao place in Chiang Mai that's been run for several generations by the same family. They have huge bao filled with ground meat, sliced sausge and salted duck eggs. So good!
Shumai tends to be very uniform so it's not that exciting to get a bigger version of it. Huge Baotse works cos you get a big jumble of complimenting flavors on the inside that change as you ea
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I had some giant buns in Tokyo as well but their size was the only noteworthy thing about them (not that they weren't good). The bao you're describing sounds delicious, I am so hungry right now having only eating a distinctly American bread item for dinner... biscuits out of a can with baked-in hot dog chunks. The thought of salted duck eggs actually has my mouth watering.
Forgive me for not remembering Nobi, but do you live in Thailand or were you just visiting?
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| nobinobita 1443th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(5):The real danger of Vancouver and SF" , posted Mon 20 Jul 19:43
quote:
As Europeans arriving in Vancouver, they should more importantly be warned that the same little shumai or bao they recognize on the picture on the menu, will be the size of their heads when it arrives on the table, and there is no need to order six of them, or any second, let alone third plate for a complete dinner.
////
I would like a picture of these Lilliputian items masquerading as Chinese food in Europe.
So... not dim sum?
I'm actually finding the giant items to be weirder. In Hong Kong/Los Angeles/Toronto shumai are normally like four per order (and much smaller than your head) and steamed buns are three per order.
Here in LA, I've only seen what look like giant bao at a Korean dumpling shop. Check out this lovely fellow! (they call them King Dumplings) Vegetarian, too.
I've done some travelling in my life but I've never been to Vancouver. Hope to fix that in the not-so-distant future.
I've only seen gigantic shumai in North America. I've seen giant bao tse everywhere though. There's a famous bao place in Chiang Mai that's been run for several generations by the same family. They have huge bao filled with ground meat, sliced sausge and salted duck eggs. So good!
Shumai tends to be very uniform so it's not that exciting to get a bigger version of it. Huge Baotse works cos you get a big jumble of complimenting flavors on the inside that change as you ea
[/U
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I live in Thailand. I was previously working in SF, and for a brief shining moment Spoon and I worked for the same gaming mega corp. Now I'm in Chiang Mai making my own games with some close buddies. Life is good!
If any of you dudes are ever in town let me know. We will eat well : 9
www.art-eater.com
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| nobinobita 1447th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(7):The real danger of Vancouver and SF" , posted Tue 21 Jul 10:17:
quote:
I live in Thailand. I was previously working in SF, and for a brief shining moment Spoon and I worked for the same gaming mega corp. Now I'm in Chiang Mai
Alas!
If you ever get nostalgic for the Bay Area, for that reason alone I would highly recommend Inside Out. It's also a good movie in its own right, too.
Are Andy and the rest of your crew there? Are you two still considered Thai citizens? The "Thailand strategy" was one me and some pals talked about some time ago, but we weren't sure how visas/immigration would work.
Yup, the whole crew is here! Andy and I are Thai citzens, so no roadblocks for us (every company registered in Thailand must be at least 51% owned by Thai nationals, so if you're a foreigner you need a local partner who has to be the majority owner). Is "The Thailand Strategy" a big thing now? I see a lot of Digital Nomads in Chiang Mai these days.
I wouldn't suggest moving here just cos it's cheap. We're primarily here because we're focused on the SE Asian market whose tastes are very aligned with our own. Boy that sentence sounded very corporate!
What I mean is, everyone in the urban areas of Thailand likes the same stuff I do. Because of the widespread bootlegging culture of the 80s and 90s, people here grew up on pop culture from all over the world. Thai people have an incredible familiarity with pop culture from Japan, North America, China, Europe and of course SE Asia. It's like we had bittorrent 25 years before everyone else.
I can talk to the average youngish person here about Jungle King Tar-Chan, Tin Tin, Final Fantasy, Breaking Bad or Judge Bao. The average millenial gamer here knows what Pepsi Man is! I've met people who are huge Terry Prachet fans.
Just a few nights ago I had a great conversation with someone about Orlando Corradi and their incredible Lion King knock off cartoon where Simba shoots ki blasts from his hands (forward to 11:00).
I live down the street from a coffee shop that sells Range Murata doujinshii along with Katsuya Terada books, Visual novels (super popular here), The Art of Bravely Default and some cool local art books too.
A few weeks ago in Bangkok I was at a popular mall where they were having a mini comics convention open to the public. Next to the kids toy blocks booth, these dudes were selling their boys love shoujo series. No one batted an eye, it was just normal. Yaoi is sold everywhere, and I've seen it prominently displayed during "back to school" sales at departments stores.
It's kind of incredible. And they have no idea how sophisticated and broad their tastes are compared to the rest of the world. I also love that there's really not much of a concept of being a nerd here, people just like what they like. It's GREAT!
If you'd like to know more about registering a company in Thailand/Visas feel free to message me privately. If you'd like to know more about the local games industry I'd be happy to talk about it here.
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Tue 21 Jul 10:57] |
| Spoon 2974th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):The real danger of Chuck Jones" , posted Wed 22 Jul 05:12
@nobi: clearly a larger and longer discussion to be had elsewhere. Also the "fan ban" (i.e. illegal copy) culture that Chinese/HK kids were never discouraged from certainly had some curious effects. In some cases it's bad (many have no perception of substantial personal monetary value to those works of art since they're so used to getting them from free/almost free), and in some cases they're good (enormous exposure to all kinds of different media, legendary terrible subtitles, etc.). A few indie developers have posited that indies should straight up move to any country where the cost of living is substantially lower provided access to development essentials (e.g. power, water, internet, telecommunications, etc.) are easily available. For better or for worse, much like the movie/VFX industry, there are places in the world like Ireland which governmentally friendly to developing IT-related industries, and provided the business acumen is there to create a solid business case, relocation to places like that is viable as well. Taking just food and rent as the two most significant costs for garage development, Thailand has been attractive because of the pricing of those things. When one of my pals from Bangkok says that food that costs 2 USD/plate is "tourist priced", that's an awfully compelling argument to anybody used to paying SF prices.
Elsewhere, a short video about the design of humor in Chuck Jones' Loony Toons
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| neo0r0chiaku
65th Post
PSN: n/a
XBL: IAMDC1
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Occasional Customer
| "Re(8):The real danger of Vancouver and SF" , posted Wed 22 Jul 05:26
quote:
I live in Thailand. I was previously working in SF, and for a brief shining moment Spoon and I worked for the same gaming mega corp. Now I'm in Chiang Mai
Alas!
If you ever get nostalgic for the Bay Area, for that reason alone I would highly recommend Inside Out. It's also a good movie in its own right, too.
Are Andy and the rest of your crew there? Are you two still considered Thai citizens? The "Thailand strategy" was one me and some pals talked about some time ago, but we weren't sure how visas/immigration would work.
Yup, the whole crew is here! Andy and I are Thai citzens, so no roadblocks for us (every company registered in Thailand must be at least 51% owned by Thai nationals, so if you're a foreigner you need a local partner who has to be the majority owner). Is "The Thailand Strategy" a big thing now? I see a lot of Digital Nomads in Chiang Mai these days.
I wouldn't suggest moving here just cos it's cheap. We're primarily here because we're focused on the SE Asian market whose tastes are very aligned with our own. Boy that sentence sounded very corporate!
What I mean is, everyone in the urban areas of Thailand likes the same stuff I do. Because of the widespread bootlegging culture of the 80s and 90s, people here grew up on pop culture from all over the world. Thai people have an incredible familiarity with pop cult
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great information indeed N0bi. Great to learn about other countries and what it has to offer. I love travelling around the world. Have not been to Thailand yet but it is one of my other countries soon hopefully.
Mosquiton I might be heading your area soon. How can i PM or email you? Spoon I was in your area last year for the first time but mainly in silicon valley. SF is huge and could not explore everything it had to offer.
Long Live!
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| Spoon 2976th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Re(10):The real danger of Raptors" , posted Thu 23 Jul 12:12
quote:
Universal and Amblin Entertainment's Jurassic World has hit $1.522 billion at the global box office, eclipsing The Avengers ($1.520 billion) to become the No. 3 movie of all time behind and Avatar ($2.788 billion) and Titanic ($2.186 billion), not accounting for inflation.
Jurassic World, directed by Colin Treverrow, has earned $614.3 million domestically, becoming only the fourth film to ever cross $600 million. Its overseas haul is $907.3 million.
I doubt even the most optimistic Jurassic Park fan predicted this new movie would upset The Avengers at the global box office.
Consider this: the biggest franchise release of the year still has yet to come, that being Star Wars.
We live in a year in which 3 of the top 10 grossing movies by opening week or by lifetime will have been released within literally months of each other. All three of which are franchise sequels, 2 of which are more than 10 years removed from their previous franchise entries.
Having been a fan of those awesome OPs for the Jojo revival, I can only say that I am 100% guilty of helping such things along.
It will be interesting to see if Star Wars has as much inherent global appeal as dinosaurs.
An alternative way to ask it:
Does Star Wars have as much inherent global appeal as overtly American superheroes that may or may not have capes?
The quality of the special effects is going to be at the very least of the same caliber, if not more (this is Star Wars, so I expect it's going to get an extra-special effort from ILM). Disney will spare no expense and thought in the marketing of this, and their marketing has been instrumental in all of their most recent huge successes.
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| Spoon 2977th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Star Wars in Vancouver" , posted Fri 24 Jul 07:29
quote:
Spoon, quick, while you're here: favorite three spots in Vancouver, likely including Dim Sum. A friend's there this weekend and they may as well eat at Cafe-approved venues!
Malaysian:
Tropika (SPECIFICALLY the one on Cambie Street, the other branches are inferior). If you order only one item there, pick the laksa.
Mostly European:
Granville Island Public Market is a well-known attraction, and for good reason. Get fresh bagels, smoked fish, cured meat, fresh fruits, and good cheese there. It's a pleasant enough place to just be, and has a connecting boat to Stanley Park.
Dim Sum:
This is a tough one. I personally think that some of the good options that don't cost an arm and a leg are not in Vancouver proper, but in the directly adjacent and highly accessible Burnaby and Richmond.
The "new" (as in over the past few/several years, as opposed to the past decade+) hotness in Chinese cuisine around here is Shanghai and Taiwanese food. Taiwanese food lends itself well to cafes and has a Japanese slant that appeals to younger people, Shanghai food comes as a result of more mainlanders.
There's some really good Chinese places that have really great stuff in a somewhat ratty setting (which somehow feels right in its rattiness), but are clearly not fine-dining. The same goes for Japanese food: the "all you can eat" Japanese here is straight up better than the much pricier stuff further inland because we are blessed with being right by the fishers.
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| Spoon 2978th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Iggy in Vancouver" , posted Fri 24 Jul 17:24
Dim Sum / small plates Chinese notes:
Sun Sui Wah is frequently cited, but it's one of those "critical mass" cases of publicity. The funny thing about it is that right downstairs from it is a boardgaming place called Strategies.
The Dinesty restaurant group serves very good quality food. Their fresh xiao long bao are solid. There is one in Vancouver and one in Richmond. The contrast to Dinesty in Richmond is the rather nearby Top Shanghai Cuisine Restaurant, which is small and cramped and loud and cheaper and also excellent. Both are places where you'll want to order a clutch of small plates.
The Top Gun restaurant in Crystal Mall is quite decent, has the gimmick of letting everybody at the table pick their own tea and steep it themselves, and if you haven't had enough food yet, the Crystal Mall food court is surprisingly excellent (very much the not-fine-dining slightly ratty experience). The food court has places that serve freshly made noodles, freshly made dumplings/xiao long bao/etc., meat that has quantities of cumin that will frighten people from North America, etc.
A Cantonese invention commonly found in the sit down Chinese restaurants is called "XO Sauce". I say this because some of my Mandarin-speaking mainlander friends had no idea what it was. It is an oil-based condiment whose principal ingredients are dried scallops, dried shrimp, salted ham, and onions/shallots, all fried together to form an extremely rich-tasting golden substance. It is not as fishy as fish sauce, but it does have a seafood-y note that not everybody will like. That said, I think the stuff is one of the more delicious inventions around. You can buy bottles of the stuff at any asian market in Vancouver/Richmond/Burnaby.
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| nobinobita 1451th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(5):bees in Vancouver" , posted Sat 25 Jul 05:56
quote:
Thanks Spoon! I sent those recommendations to my friend as well.
I've been thinking that maybe I could take advantage of her and go visit her there next year.... What would be a good time of the year to visit Vancouver, preferably not when everything is ablaze? spring?
As for my Boston adventure, it's over before it started: I found out it was supposed to happen over the week-end my apiary will be extracting honey, and there is no way I'm going to miss that.
It reminds me when I had to book a doctor's appointment on a Saturday, but that was going to be the day when I was going to re-queen my hive, so I answered "can we do this some time I have nothing better to do, such as from Monday to Friday during the day?".
At least, that proves that my boss didn't hide a spy microphone on my sleeve to listen to my private conversations.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone posting here. I love to get the insider's scoop on far off lands. Also, congrats Iggy, I didn't think it was possible, but you've raised the bar for high brow intellectual pursuits in the cafe. I know nothing of keeping bees, but I am a big fan of honey!
My family sometimes gets wild honey from the mountains in Chiang Mai (so raw there's sometimes bee parts in it). It often turns black after a while. I am told this is perfectly normal, and it tastes amazing. Do you have any experience with black honey? (Hopefully I'm not consuming pure botulism!)
www.art-eater.com
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| Iggy 9955th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):bees in Vancouver" , posted Sat 25 Jul 06:35
Maou: you're right, industrial honey is the worst. I had always known it, but trying to make honey myself made me even more adamant about that.
Now I just need to make my own cheese and grow my own olives and tomato, and I'm ready to take over the Mediterranean.
Speaking of, remember my character of choice will always be Anakaris. One day, all these books about embalming will be useful, I swear.
quote:
My family sometimes gets wild honey from the mountains in Chiang Mai (so raw there's sometimes bee parts in it). It often turns black after a while. I am told this is perfectly normal, and it tastes amazing. Do you have any experience with black honey? (Hopefully I'm not consuming pure botulism!)
I have absolutely no idea! I just started this year, and I'm still a complete rookie, with old British ladies that look like retired math teachers chaperoning us as we open hives and try to kill as little bees as possible (truth be told, you cannot keep bees properly if you're a Buddhist. You will kill bees all the time, every week, that's how it is).
However, I am almost sure that our European bees are quite different from the bees that make the wild honey in Chiang Mai. One of the reason we need to keep an eye on them is because the European bees have been exposed to many foreign parasites in recent years, and they have no defence mechanism against them. For example, a Chinese species of wasp is decimating bees in SW France now, and the European bees cannot do anything against this particular invader because they don't have the ball defence (dozens of Asian bees gather around a single wasp, buzz for a while, and cook it to death because their body temperature can raise to 55ºC). European bees can only go to 45ºC I think. Same for other parasites from south-east Asia or the Americas. Our European bees are industrious but very frail, and they can barely survive in the wild anymore because of these new world-wide threats. I read that Japan adopted the European honey bee for a while, but was forced in recent year to revert to their traditional one, who was far less efficient, but at least didn't die every damn season.
However, to answer your question, I don't think a different specie of bees would be the answer. Maybe the honey you get is different because of whatever the bees find to eat up there? If it's really dark, maybe it's similar to what we have in the Alps here, pine tree honey, where they don't actually visit flowers, but lick the sweet sap from trees?
Generally, the honeys we have here don't change colours, only texture (when they crystallise, and you simply need to put the bottle in hot water if you absolutely prefer the liquid texture), so I have no answer. I still have a lot to learn! And many a body part that hasn't been stung yet.
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| Spoon 2982th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):bees in Vancouver" , posted Mon 27 Jul 08:34
quote:
Thanks Spoon! I sent those recommendations to my friend as well.
I've been thinking that maybe I could take advantage of her and go visit her there next year.... What would be a good time of the year to visit Vancouver, preferably not when everything is ablaze? spring?
The thing about British Columbia is that it's really, really, really big. Like, you could put the entire landmass of the UK and Japan here, and still have like enough room left for about half of the landmass of France. It's so large that it's kind of difficult to imagine just how large it is aside from "really large". So when stuff is burning in the summer, it's kind of like being in Osaka and being told that Sapporo has forest fires. You can see footage of it happening, but it doesn't really register just how far/close it is except when due to a freak occurrence hella forest starts burning. Of course, that means that a nearly unimaginable amount of forest is burning. Thankfully, the forest fires have never touched down into Vancouver, unlike some of the other towns/cities of BC. It's a very abstract-feeling danger, even when it became quite a pea souper.
If you aren't interested in skiing/snowboarding, I highly recommend NOT coming in the Winter months. December is dark and wet and cold. Maybe if you're in certain parts of the UK that'll feel like home. September/October are excellent. So is the spring time. Summer's not bad, either! But most of November, all of December, most of January I'd classify as "don't come."
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| neo0r0chiaku
104th Post
PSN: n/a
XBL: IAMDC1
Wii: n/a
Regular Customer
| "Re: VG campaign items, anime, Gōketsuji" , posted Sun 10 Jan 12:09:
Couple of Items I wanted to ask and get opinions. I am not a fan of network streaming my anime. Even if its within my own network. I use WDTV. However, its not up to date with most advanced codecs. Plus, its still uses USB 2.0. Laptop and or tablets are a second option. There is a new CPU by kangaroo with Windows 10 64-bit for $99 Connect via HDMI to TV and voila. WDTV need to come with something new or this Kangaroo is indeed a deal breaker no? More info Here
We all know that video game campaigns through Kickstarter and Indiegogo enable donators certain items and even the game itself based on the amount they donate. Does the cafe believe that these items, and even the game itself, would be worth more in the future and can be labeled as a collectors item instead? With that in mind, would it even make sense for the VG developer to have certain editions and bundles for the game after its release?
I was surprised that Sengoku 3, one of the last Neo-Geo games, came up on the Humble Bundle. I just noticed it was re-released before outside of Neo-Geo. Other games like Rage of the Dragons and Power Instinct has not been released outside of Neo-Geo. These are two decent games. Has anyone played them before? Power Instinct had some more new sequels afterwards but not outside of Japan nor arcades. I am not sure if those game were brought up for discussion on the BB before, but whats you take on these games?
Long Live!
[this message was edited by neo0r0chiaku on Sun 10 Jan 12:14] |
| Professor 4731th Post
MMCafe Owner
     
| "Re(3):Question about TUC" , posted Thu 14 Jan 02:21:
quote:
OK so as I understood it earlier, the corporation behind TUC (or let's say the corporation behind the corporation behind TUC) is indeed either one or several police syndicates, and former policemen form the core staff of TUC, as a result of the war on money laundering and the funnelling of money to North Korea. And now these guys control it in a totally opaque way? That must be one hell of a lucrative pension scheme.
That also means when the government fucks with Pachinko, it fucks with the Police? That's an interesting tug-of-war.
Are yakuza still considered (outside of the old cliché) as inevitably tied to pachinko? Or has this source of revenue dried up now that the Police has taken control? Because that would explain why yakuza gangs shifted to Neo Geo drug trafficking more aggressively in the Nineties.
As far as I understand it's not really that the police is trying to control the pachi industry as a government section to make money flow more transparent. It more like bureaucrats from the police want a peice of the pie and so they've organized and ganged up on the industry using that as the excuse. And in reality it's more like, they get money, and they give protection to the industry (because they won't arrest anyone). I'm not even sure if they really care about money leaking to N.Korea.
Also I'm not sure how much the Yakuza are involved nowadays. I hear it's mostly Zainichi running the parlors, though it's true that distinguishing the two can be a thin border. You can sort of feel it when you walk through Kabukicho and a few mins north.
.
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Come to think, I can't recall a case where the government tried to screw with the pachi industry. Technically speaking though if they do, they should have authority over the police since it'll be national security doing the work.
Interestingly though, the police has been bullying the industry the past year over modded machines and I'm not sure what's behind that. It sort of backfired on them and they quited down for a while though.
[this message was edited by Professor on Thu 14 Jan 03:16] |
| Maou 3038th Post
PSN: zonepharaoh
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Question about TUC" , posted Thu 14 Jan 13:57
quote:
In any case, what came to my mind was the possible deregulation of casino mentioned by the Abe government in line with the 2020 Olympics. This would seriously affect the pachinko business (unless TSR also oversees casino standards).
I'm really interested in what goes on behind the scenes, too. He hasn't been active lately, but former Yomiuri reporter Jake Adelstein writes interestingly in both Japanese and English on the underworld and suspicious elements, so you might inquire about the pachinko situation.
The possibility of Sinagpore-style Integrated Resorts (classy casinos housed inside the equivalent of a Disney Resort) has certainly been interesting: as you know, there's been a parliamentarians' group on introducing these integrated resorts since before the Tokyo Olympics were rewarded and they seemed to have some momentum in 2013-2014, but less now. I believe the Komeito coalition partners wouldn't be on board, nor the panchinko industry unless they had a cut, and a lot of women are sensibly cautious. That said, the economic and tourism benefit is undoubtedly leagues ahead of the joyless panchinko joints that suck the atmosphere out of a neighborhood...I don't even gamble, but Integrated Resorts are pretty fun. I wonder why police are hassling pachinko more now, unless it were some prelude to integrated resorts' introduction and pachinko being seeing as less useful/profitable in the future?
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| Professor 4732th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(5):Question about TUC" , posted Thu 14 Jan 18:28:
quote:
I remember reading about yakuza hiring young hackers and making money from hacked CR cards that allowed them to cheat the machines. Maybe it's related?
It's actually a lot more old-school; they were harassing cracking down on pachi parlors that were illegaly bending pins to increase the winning rates beyond gambling rate restrictions. However the police discovered that there's not a single machine in the market which passed when they tested them out, which sounds a bit too unnatural. So they did their research and discovered that the manufacturers were actually shipping them in that state.
The story gets even odd, as it turns out that the manufacturers were shipping the pins plain stright, and the parlors were using them as-is. Yet, they gave higher jackpots results than the tests during the industry's approval process supervised by the police before new machines get greenlighted for mass production.
As the police discovered, it turned out that the manufacturers were actually bending pins to make it harder to get jackpots during the approval process, and afterwards they were straightening them back to normal position. And in their normal state, the machines were giving rates that went beyond gambling regulations.
So it became a catch-22 where the pins were giving higher rates than allowed even though they aren't modded, and the only way to bring their rates down within legal limits would be to mod them/bend the pins, which isn't allowed.
Since this means that the police weren't doing their job at supervising the approval process for all these years (not to mention a whole bunch of other questions that would obviously arise if unbent pins were breaking limits), they decided to look the other way and pretend they never hassled the parlors and manufacturers about it.
[this message was edited by Professor on Thu 14 Jan 20:47] |
| Loona 981th Post
PSN: IkariLoona
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(4):SRT OG - The Moon Dwellers announced!" , posted Wed 27 Jan 00:17
quote:
Interesting, could you elaborate why W was specifically well made, besides its pretty cool limited edition hardware? (And why it's more interesting than K for example?) I haven't really followed RSW since the PS2 days so I am not even sure what either game focussed on.
I didn't play that many SRWs to completion to be able to compare W properly with the rest of the series, but I liked how it handled a few things:
* its protagonists were kinda perfect as a plot device to get the established anime characters together - they're basically a family of space gypsies (the in-game term is "trailers") that rent out their ship for all sorts of odd jobs, mostly transportation and they're mostly a grounded bunch that don't try to hoard the attention through any early-established super-special factor in their story or design cues (that does pop up with an original character that appears later in the game, because SRW is gonna SRW) - there's something to their family's ship, but that's unveiled over time.
- I'm not sure it established anything particularly new in the series, like the favorites system, but generally the gameplay flows really well even if you don't understand Japanese and have no idea what the items you can install in your bot do for bonuses - the game has a reputation for being easy (the Full Metal Panic enemies were a handful on the 1st playthrough though), but with multiple paths to explore that makes it simpler to see everything as you play it multiple times
- neat crossover moments, because it's SRW after all: a mascot themed-level with Bonta-kun, everybody rocking out to the Gekiganger 3 theme, the Z-Master arena from GaoGaiGar, which is actually cooler than the SRW Alpha 3 version due to the scale of everything (even if the originals do some spotlight-stealing there), and stoics like Heero and Sosuke managing to play off each other, and villain factions having their own things going on between them. Not to mention they make interesting uses of something apparently very minor from GoLion to play into the game's lore in a neat way, or the way they use time skips from the involved series and have things change for the originals accordingly to interesting effect.
- the original vehicles have a pretty neat upgrade path and interactions between them (the default bot has an alternate ship mode, and can combine with the corresponding carrier) - I don't think you can revert back from the fully-formed Valcazard (I like the Valhawk on its own) once you get that, but maybe an OG version can allow that.
It's just a very nicely put together package IMO.
...!!
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| Lord SNK
109th Post
Regular Customer
| "Re(4):SRT OG - The Moon Dwellers announced!" , posted Wed 27 Jan 06:55:
quote:
Interesting, could you elaborate why W was specifically well made, besides its pretty cool limited edition hardware? (And why it's more interesting than K for example?) I haven't really followed RSW since the PS2 days so I am not even sure what either game focussed on.
Loona explanation is way better than the one I could write.
I loved especially the mix of series chosen for the game, they integrated very well between them.
K instead was a complete mess, they dropped GaoGaiGar, adding Gaiking Legend of Daiku-Maryu, and continuously jumped between a world and another (I think the Gaiking alien world or whatever it was called) in a way that it gave the feel of a bunch of separated stages poorly put one after the other without a sense of story progression aside from "new world/stage/map, take these bunch of new units" (especially zoids, there were a lot of them!).
The protagonist original mecha was at least OK, but the enemies... they were the worst thing ever created: mecha-furries, I want to forgot them forever 
[this message was edited by Lord SNK on Wed 27 Jan 07:03] |
| karasu 1601th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Member
| "Re(3):Killer 7: Killer is Killer" , posted Fri 29 Jan 07:56
quote:
I've gotta recommend a quite lengthy plot analysis that takes excerpts from the game and quotes from Suda from various interviews to try to explain everything, I think it's amazing.
Thanks for the link, I'll check it out!
I've got a really complicated history with Killer7 and Suda that I find a little hard to explain. I'll try though, what the hell!
It's a game I've really always loved, and that much hasn't changed. It presses all the right weird buttons for me, it's not afraid to not make sense, it's got some extremely interesting characters, especially given the small amount of attention given to each of them, and its gameplay and aesthetic sense are linked pretty closely, in that it's a generally fun game that's super stylish. For a long time, purely on the basis of this game, I used to tell people that Suda was one of my favorite Japanese creators, and I went out and bought anything that he made.
The problem (for me at least) is that he never subsequently made anything that came even close to Killer7 in quality, aesthetic, and gameplay. Nothing he's made since comes even close to the perfect combo that was Killer7. I don't think I realized this fully until I was having a conversation this past week about Suda where I mentioned how I had basically liked No More Heroes. As I was speaking about it, it became more and more obvious to me that I hadn't actually liked the game very much at all, outside of a vague sense of it being weird and crass. The gameplay is mediocre, the sense of humor is lackluster, and the few things I do like, such as the mini games and a piece of weirdness here and there like the training gym and the video store didn't come close to making up for all of its shortcomings.
I'm not sure how interested everyone is in hearing me rant about all this, but in short, none of his games after Killer7 held up to scrutiny when I gave it some serious thought. The closest to an exception is Lollipop Chainsaw of all things, which is at the very least a semi-decent game from a pure gameplay perspective. But games like Killer is Dead? It's just a beautiful dressing on a lousy game.
So that makes me wonder-- is Killer7 just a fluke? Were any of his earlier games as good as it, like Michigan and the Silver Case? Am I just being overly critical?
You have to carefully reproduce the world of "Castlevania" in the solemn atmosphere.
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| Mosquiton 2115th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Killer 7: Killer is Killer" , posted Fri 29 Jan 11:05:
quote:
I've got a really complicated history with Killer7 and Suda that I find a little hard to explain. I'll try though, what the hell!
It's a game I've really always loved, and that much hasn't changed. It presses all the right weird buttons for me, it's not afraid to not make sense, it's got some extremely interesting characters, especially given the small amount of attention given to each of them, and its gameplay and aesthetic sense are linked pretty closely, in that it's a generally fun game that's super stylish. For a long time, purely on the basis of this game, I used to tell people that Suda was one of my favorite Japanese creators, and I went out and bought anything that he made.
The problem (for me at least) is that he never subsequently made anything that came even close to Killer7...
Time to rant, y'all.
Karasu, I feel you man. I have a really similar experience, actually! I was hugely hyped coming off of Killer 7. I was a big fan of Grasshopper, their stylish-as-hell logo, and Suda himself, who is, I think, at the very least, a guy who has done some cool stuff and is worthy of respect.
I legitimately liked No More Heroes, as well. It amused me. You live in a shitty, small town. You have previously spent all your money on a a big, impractical, stupid bike (the Schpeltiger) that serves you no purpose at all, it barely fits on the narrow streets. The most fun you can have with it is pulling off drifts or donuts, so you end up doing that sometimes. The life you lead and the people around you are so goddamn boring that you might as well order a lightsaber off the internet and become a professional killer. I mean hell, why not? You will literally mow goddamn lawns and pump goddamn gas to save up the money to kill someone you don't know, just for the sake of having something to do and maybe marginally increase the remote odds that you'll finally get laid.
Whether the overall message is completely or even consciously intended or not, I experienced some interesting thoughts while playing it. I would say that No More Heroes is about a loser otaku who really just wants love and validation (or at least sex and respect) and indulges himself in an insane hitman fantasy where, against all odds, he turns out to be not-entirely-unlikable and something more than a complete waste of a human life. It's an appealingly crazy/stupid situation... and you can buy a ton of cool and/or offensively bad-looking shirts and some highly decent-looking designer jeans. You got a ton of money from killing those people so you gotta spend it somehow. This was before the word "hipster" was turned into a vapid slur that ruined anyone genuinely liking something that literally everyone else on Earth didn't already agree was completely unremarkable in every way. Which made it easier to enjoy the fashion angle. And I also really like some of the characters. And I think there are genuinely funny lines. Maybe that's just me, though.
I think the game's usage of the patented "Wii waggle" is pretty good, too. They seem to have knew just about how much fun they could reasonably expect to get out of such limited technology in a game that wasn't completely designed around that limited technology. They show some restraint. It doesn't go overboard... a simple horizontal or vertical movement and great audiovisual feedback when you deal a finishing blow. Coins everywhere! Blood everywhere! Now let's spin those slots!
Making the player mime jacking off to recharge your laser sword is definitely as crude and basic as you can get, but it's still kind of great because it really forces you to get into (utterly pathetic) character. Look at what you're doing! You pretty much have to accept that you are willingly participating in something truly ridiculous, frantically shaking your wrist to keep your performance from flagging. Not much actual depth to the gameplay, and certainly a few problems and degenerate strategies, but fun enough, I think.
The sound design is fantastic. It's a work of genius. I actually met Masafumi Takada once as I was being pushed by a huge crowd into a party and he was being pushed by a huge crowd out of a party. Someone with him who knew I was a big fan introduced me, and I took the 40 seconds or so it took us to completely pass each other to tell him that NMH's sound design was completely awesome. Seriously, if ever in my life I can create a work that's that coherent and that accomplished, I think I could die feeling that I'd actually done something worthwhile.
NMH2 does have better, cleaner fighting/3D camera; I think it's technically a better game. But it really let me down thematically... instead of rightly mocking Travis as ridiculous and kind of sad they try to sell you on the idea that, no, he's not really just a violent, loser weaboo who beats off to loli characters and pines after completely unobtainable women. He's a cool guy that you would really want to be like! The babes love him! You can finally stick your strawberry in the cheesecake that is Sylvia Christel. I mean, she was a total cock-tease the first game right? You deserve this, loyal fan! Thank you for playing! Oh, and the sexy young Shinobu acts like she's hating, but she actually lusts after you too. And if you still need more wank-fuel between story beats, the raven-haired intelli-milf swordsmith Dr. Naomi has inflated her tits since last game to achieve a whopping 400% increase in boobage, now with extra wobbble! Maybe she'll do some work on your other weapon, durr hurr!
Ladies! You can certainly do better.
The thing is, though, I am not convinced that Suda had that much to do with NMH2 creatively... or any Grasshopper game after the original NMH for that matter. His credits are always very high-level or very vague. "Executive Producer" means fuck-all to me. And "Writer"? Doesn't say too much... maybe he created the plot outline? Character concepts? Most of the dialogue? Some of the dialogue? A couple of scenes? I imagine him providing very loose guidelines and sporadic feedback spending most of his time running his company. He's always seemed like a smart guy to me. I still think he's cool.
I'm not saying he sold out but... well, okay. That's what I'm saying. I feel like he pretty much sold out.
I really can't go easy on Lollipop Chainsaw, either. This guy articulates all the problems I would voice about the gameplay and then some. I firmly believe Killer is Dead is mechanically superior to game with the cheerleaded and her severed-head boyfriend, if much less charming in terms of characters and concept. Mondo is, to be sure, a total fucking dud. He's objectively less cool than Travis Touchdown. And that's saying something. Gigolo vision isn't worth talking about. Maybe if more thought had been put into this "mode" there could be some useful discussion on whether or not it's actually offensive.
Now I wouldn't say the combat is great in KiD, but it's mostly competent. The momentum mechanic (more stylish animation, more damage, more hits) is really simple, but it's satisfying on a basic level. The multiple finishers are indeed quite stupid and mess with the game's flow.
Hmm. I guess the shooting kind of sucks too... and maybe it's the way the game looks, but I admit it has more of a budget-game feel than Lollipop Chainsaw does. That's certainly a strike against it. I almost bought KiD game for 20 bucks but decided against it. I give it two tigers out of five. Lollipop Chainsaw I'd give a 1 and 3/quarters of a tiger. Personal taste varies, of course. I can see how someone might prefer Lollipop.
Oh yeah. Michigan! It gets two and 1/5th tigers. This one can actually be called a Suda game, I think. The biggest problem I had is that, well, you only have a camera, right? A lot of the time, it's like your character is only a camera. You don't have much ability to influence events at all, so when you have the option to film something that's super fucked up and/or morally reprehensible... which happens a lot, since you're a cameraman for a news channel in a weird horror scenario, it can be frustrating. There are a lot of times where it would seem that you could have helped someone or stopped something bad from happening, or done anything at all, but most of the time you can't do anything. The fact that you're not making any sort of meaningful choice to record this awful shit happening means that you can just shrug off the shitty and questionable things your character does/doesn't do. What's the point? Oh, I remember. Vagina monster!
As a disclaimer, I played the game at least ten years ago. This is just what I remember. I would say it's interesting, but it wasn't interesting enough to stick with me long-term.
EDIT:
Oops, forgot Shadows of the Damned. Well, it wasn't that bad really. Not really a Suda game, not really a Mikami game, I guess it was an okay Massimo Guarini game. I would rate this but there's a conflict of interest... they didn't take my advice to re-record the hillbilly demon's line "Ho-leeeee shit!" where the voice actor had misplaced emphasis and ruined the legitimacy of his otherwise pretty believable redneck accent.
EDIT AGAIN: I did not play Liberation Maiden for more than 5 minutes, so I'll refrain from commenting here as well.
/ / /
[this message was edited by Mosquiton on Fri 29 Jan 11:36] |
| IkariDC 804th Post
PSN: Ikari_DC
XBL: IkariDC
Wii: Toolazytolookitup
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(5):Killer 7: Killer is Killer" , posted Fri 29 Jan 16:24:
quote:
I've got a really complicated history with Killer7 and Suda that I find a little hard to explain. I'll try though, what the hell!
It's a game I've really always loved, and that much hasn't changed. It presses all the right weird buttons for me, it's not afraid to not make sense, it's got some extremely interesting characters, especially given the small amount of attention given to each of them, and its gameplay and aesthetic sense are linked pretty closely, in that it's a generally fun game that's super stylish. For a long time, purely on the basis of this game, I used to tell people that Suda was one of my favorite Japanese creators, and I went out and bought anything that he made.
The problem (for me at least) is that he never subsequently made anything that came even close to Killer7...
Time to rant, y'all.
Karasu, I feel you man. I have a really similar experience, actually! I was hugely hyped coming off of Killer 7. I was a big fan of Grasshopper, their stylish-as-hell logo, and Suda himself, who is, I think, at the very least, a guy who has done some cool stuff and is worthy of respect.
I legitimately liked No More Heroes, as well. It amused me. You live in a shitty, small town. You have previously spent all your money on a a big, impractical, stupid bike (the Schpeltiger) that serves you no purpose at all, it barely fits on the narrow streets. The most fun you can have with it is pulling off drifts or donuts, so you end up doing that sometimes
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
I feel you guys, I also became a Suda51/Grasshopper fan and bought almost everything they churned out.
I genuinely enjoyed both NMH games, even if you make valid points on what's wrong with them. I think Shadows of the Damned was a great game, while Lollipop was ok at best (the gameplay...) and Killer is Dead was sadly just good.
I'm afraid what you say about Suda it's true, he's not invested in his games as he was before, I'm not holding up my breath for Let It Die...
Guys, do yourselves a favor and play Flower, Sun and Rain on DS. It's an excellent quirky game like one you'd expect from the mastermind behind Killer7!
Edit: Forgot to say, Akira Ueda is the one behind Michigan, not Suda.
[this message was edited by IkariDC on Fri 29 Jan 16:33] |
| Mosquiton 2115th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Killer 7: Killer is Killer" , posted Sat 30 Jan 03:51
Ikari, I actually did not realize Flower, Sun, and Rain was available in English. I have to be crazy motivated to square off with kanji these days so this motivates me to pick it up and play it. So strange that I missed it.
Also, I really only talked/rambled about the things I disliked No More Heroes 2, huh? It's not that I didn't enjoy the game. There's a lot of good stuff there, including another fantastic soundtrack and some very cool bosses. I really did appreciate being able to play as Shinobu. I kind of just went off on the game, there.
quote:
Forgot to say, Akira Ueda is the one behind Michigan, not Suda.
About Michigan. Ah, right. Suda wasn't the director, and looking it up I guess he didn't have a writer credit either. But he does have a "planner" credit? He's talked a lot about Michigan and once said something about a possible remake... my impression was always that he had an active role in development (planner is one of those special Japanese titles... this may have been "lead designer" in a Western company?), but I suppose it's hard to tell just from looking at a game's credits.
/ / /
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| karasu 1602th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Member
| "Re(8):Killer 7: Killer is Killer" , posted Sat 30 Jan 10:15
So: Flower Sun and Rain was $20US so I just bought it, and it's on its way to me. What the heck! It's a shame though that Silver Case etc. aren't available in English or easily. Unless someone knows better than I do?
Mosquiton, I 100% agree with you about just about everything you had to say, especially about NMH's sound design. The soundtrack in particular is exquisite. I guess I should clarify-- it's a decent game, with a lot of appeal, and it's been a pretty big influence on me in a lot of ways. It's crass, it's often gross, it never for a second makes you think that Travis is cool or anything, and best of all (for me at least) it was the first Grasshopper game to use out of date visual stand-ins for common videogame elements like powerups and collectables. This is something that was also done in Shadows of the Damned, and is just about the only thing I liked about that game. But the city feels empty and even though I could find ways to have fun tooling around and digging in dumpsters for t-shirts there's just so much of the game that feels like busy work. Maybe this is by design and completely intentional-- I mean, the tooling around on the motorcycle and dumpster diving isn't all that far off from sailing around and finding collectable 3 out of 10,000 in Wind Waker. All I'm saying is that in the end it's just not much fun, even if an important point is being made.
I'm not even going to get into Killer is Dead other than to say that Suda had a really good chance to make something cool and interesting, and either through missteps or budget constraints or whatever ended up making a game that was a letdown in a bunch of ways. And the story... for some reason I'm okay with Killer7 making almost no sense. It felt like it could make sense if only I made an effort to figure it out. Killer is Dead on the other hand just never seemed worth the effort to puzzle through.
In the end I think I was more trying to point out that Killer7 is for me a sort of masterpiece, and I've been expecting Suda to produce something just as good or better ever since, but instead I like his games less and less with each iteration. Every time I hear a game of his is coming I think "this could be the one" only to be disappointed.
Also, with all of the HD rereleases out there, why is it that Killer7 hasn't been updated? It can't possibly be all that much work-- the models are fine, but probably just need to be sharpened up a bit.
You have to carefully reproduce the world of "Castlevania" in the solemn atmosphere.
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| Spoon 3217th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Re(10):Killer 7: Killer is Killer" , posted Sun 31 Jan 10:55
The overall trend I found with Suda's games is that as they became more mechanically sound as video games, they had fewer and fewer wacky design hijinks, and I mean design hijinks throughout all of the different aspects of design, not just the basic mechanics.
It can be frustrating/expensive for the development of the game to contain a huge number of "mechanically special moments", and in the worst case it can wind up looking and feeling like a mini-game fest. For all kinds of good reasons, having "solid core mechanics" that get carefully iterated on over the course of the game and that the game maintains a focus on tends to result in a more coherent and solid game experience. But in the case of Killer7, part of its experience is the feeling of being insane and schizophrenic. Having a focus on a nice and polished and coherent and smoothly progressing with a good difficulty curve and all those other things that we name with "good games" would miss part of the point of experience the game wants to convey.
And yes, as others have mentioned above, Jun Fukuda and Masafumi Takada formed the first set of audio people that I've wanted to follow the works of. There's this delightful amount of variety in the different audio stingers they use, this mix of lo-fi with hi-fi sound effects, this eclectic and cool music they make... and they've worked on a lot of my favourite games from that generation! They've worked on Killer7, God Hand, and EDF!
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| chazumaru 1629th Post
Tailored Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Member
| "Re(4):Re(10):Killer 7: Killer is Killer" , posted Sun 31 Jan 16:16
I think the magic of Silver Jiken came from the shoestring budget that forced them to wrack their brain around how to make an entire game out of a wacky plot. It also comes from an era when Suda had no money and only a very underground reputation as a clever storywriter. There was supposed to be a NDS remake of Silver Jiken after Flower, Sun & Rain but I guess the poor sales of that game outside Japan (it was never supposed to sell well in Japan anyway) killed the idea completely.
I agree that it seems Suda 51 has been barely involved with the games he has been "executively" producing since No More Heroes. He has seemed much more involved in promoting the games and finding marks the funds to keep on working. The most personal thing he has done since NMH might actually be the radio show SDatcher for Kojima (but I don't know for sure if he actually wrote the script). There are definitely many stories running around of bitter developers, game designers and producers come and go from Grasshopper following each project after NMH.
I also think his shooting game "Liberation Maiden" is by far the least interesting title of the four Guild01 projects (and all the Guild02 projects, as a matter of fact). Furthermore, unlike the other games in the Guild series, I fail to see the connection between this game and the piece of work he personally had brought to video games so far.
In summary, I do agree Killer7 was a lucky strike. The right upcoming talent with a bunch of wild ideas, the right timing in terms of technology matched by a visual direction, the right genius producer (Mikami), the right console and audience (starved North American coming-of-age Nintendo fans), the right budget constraints.
I still believe Suda51 is an interesting pop culture curator. Rather than making a game, I would almost be more interested in him becoming the chief editor of Famitsu, for instance. It would certainly hurt Famitsu, but I am convinced he would do something super interesting out of it. I wish they would let him do whatever he wants for one issue as a special chief editor on a slow week in terms of news.
Même Narumi est épatée !
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| IkariDC 804th Post
PSN: Ikari_DC
XBL: IkariDC
Wii: Toolazytolookitup
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(5):Re(10):Killer 7: Killer is Killer" , posted Mon 1 Feb 16:58
quote:
I think the magic of Silver Jiken came from the shoestring budget that forced them to wrack their brain around how to make an entire game out of a wacky plot. It also comes from an era when Suda had no money and only a very underground reputation as a clever storywriter. There was supposed to be a NDS remake of Silver Jiken after Flower, Sun & Rain but I guess the poor sales of that game outside Japan (it was never supposed to sell well in Japan anyway) killed the idea completely.
I agree that it seems Suda 51 has been barely involved with the games he has been "executively" producing since No More Heroes. He has seemed much more involved in promoting the games and finding marks the funds to keep on working. The most personal thing he has done since NMH might actually be the radio show SDatcher for Kojima (but I don't know for sure if he actually wrote the script). There are definitely many stories running around of bitter developers, game designers and producers come and go from Grasshopper following each project after NMH.
I also think his shooting game "Liberation Maiden" is by far the least interesting title of the four Guild01 projects (and all the Guild02 projects, as a matter of fact). Furthermore, unlike the other games in the Guild series, I fail to see the connection between this game and the piece of work he personally had brought to video games so far.
In summary, I do agree Killer7 was a lucky strike. The right upcoming talent with a bunch of wild idea
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
I'm so happy I'd brought up FSR to your attention! I have to agree that The Silver Case has an impact on the plot of FSR, but I think that even if it adds to the confusion, playing the game is a great experience. The NDS remake it's quite good, adding puzzles and unlockables new to the game. It's too bad that they didn't keep the brilliant PS2 opening movie, I'm in love with the song.
Suda mentioned in an interview were he presented the Art of Grasshopper Manufacture artbook in Spain, that he is still interested in developing a remake for The Silver Case (yes, please!). Speaking of that artbook, it's a selection of artwork from every Grasshopper game, favoring of course the games he had a hand in. It has comments by him in Japanese and English and it's available on Amazon so it's quite a great book to own.
SDatcher was an amazing thing, a love letter to Kojima's Snatcher written by Suda51 with music composed by Akira Yamaoka. I own the disc, I can attest he did write it, so as you say Chaz, it might be the last interesting thing that he wrote! I think he mentioned that being the president at Grasshopper made him unable to focus on his games but now that they merged with GungHo he was liberated of all those managing and financial tasks he had to attend to and now he can focus on the games as much as he always wanted to. We'll see!
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| neo0r0chiaku
148th Post
PSN: n/a
XBL: IAMDC1
Wii: n/a
Regular Customer
| "Re(4):New Berserk TV Series" , posted Thu 24 Mar 21:25
quote:
I think the reason why the production team did not continue the original TV series was that the conviction arc, which starts after the last episode, consist of religious type matters that would have probably got a universal negative backlash from groups alike. That would have been a huge risk and probably would have doomed Berserk. Lets see if they decide to do the Conviction Arc.
Even with the violence and subject matter that it kept, the original TV series honestly seemed too cautious for some of the Black Swordsman era content. The TV series was already holding back a bit in some of the intro and Golden Age content, while the Black Swordsman stuff was darker, more explicit, and more controversial.
New Berserk TV Anime's Cast, Staff, July Premiere Unveiled
With Azan and the rest listed, it looks like the Conviction arc is upon us. This will be great. Lets see how this turns out!
Long Live!
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sword in hand
