Saturday, August 07, 2010

A little more Maré love

To be completely honest, I'm a bit surprised no one has written to me (or posted a comment on this blog) saying, "Why don't you marry Maré Odomo if you love him so much?"

Well, for starters, I'm already married--and to a rather wonderful man, thank you very much. Also, I'm pretty sure Odomo and I don't play on the same team, if you know what I mean.

I won't hold that fact against him, though, as long as he continues to produce cute-as-hell drawings like the following:


See also: 'Short comic, long name' and 'Red, blue, yellow, green'

Friday, August 06, 2010

Slime dunk

Until a few minutes ago, I thought that, in the world of Dragon Quest IX, a slime is a slime is a slime--i.e., all of the game's slime enemies (with the possible exception of those oh-so-slippery metallic ones) are easy-as-pie pushovers.

Then I came upon a Darkonium Slime (see image to the right)--after spending 30 minutes or so battling my way through the first nine levels of one of Dragon Quest IX's more difficult grottoes.

My first reaction upon seeing the shiny red beast: "Awww! It's so cute!" A few seconds later, all of my characters were laid out like Lindsay Lohan after her latest bender.

I guess that means I have to level up a bit more. Maybe I'll do that this weekend by beating, once again, some of the easier grottoes. Or maybe I'll, you know, tackle the final boss.

See also: 'I don't want it to end'

RE: Prop 8

If you've been visiting this blog for any amount of time, you should be well aware it isn't all that serious--let alone political.

Although that's also usually the case for another Seattle-based gaming blog, drinkingcoffee
cola.blogspot.com
, that blog's proprietor Bard Gallaway put all silliness aside yesterday to chat about Wednesday's overturning (courtesy of U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker) of Proposition 8, the voter-approved ballot measure that banned same-sex unions in California.

"What's it to me? I'm not gay. I'm happily married with two kids. Prop. 8 and its implications don't affect me even a bit, but I care about it because equality for all is important to me, and all means ALL," Gallaway wrote. (Go here to read his post in its entirety.)

"There would be a firestorm if someone tried to pass a law saying that people in wheelchairs couldn't marry, or if people of different races couldn't either," he added. "Half the anime fans in America would march on the capital and burn down the White House if it was illegal to wed Asian girls."

If I were at all religious, I'd respond to Gallaway's comments with, "Amen, brother!" Oh, hell, I'll say it anyway.

Edge: 'Playing It Straight'

According to the fabulous folks over at gaygamer.net, this month's issue (#218, with Kinect on the cover) of Edge magazine features an in-depth article--titled "Playing It Straight"--about LGBT characters in video games.



I can't tell you anything else about the article, unfortunately, as I don't live in the UK and the article hasn't been posted to the magazine's website, but hopefully the latter will change sooner rather than later. When (if) that happens, I'll let you know.

(Via gaygamer.net)

So, where can I get a pair?

I'm not at all embarrassed to admit I'd rock the sexy skivvies seen in the photo below--if I could find a pair in my size.


Yeah, I know they're supposed to be for the ladies, but it's important for a guy (especially a gay one) to fully embrace his feminine side now and then, don't you think?

(Via thekartel.com)

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Nothin' like a good spanky

The folks at Nippon Ichi are no strangers to producing odd games--see: the Disgaea and especially the Prinny series--but it seems they're going to outdo themselves with their upcoming "girl-punishing RPG," Criminal Girls.

Developed in partnership with Imageepoch--best known for 7th Dragon and the Luminous Arc series--this PSP title, which will be released in Japan on Nov. 18, will center on "a group of young female criminals who've ended up in hell," according to andriasang.com. Your job as their guardian: to "reform" them and lead them back into the living world.



How will you reform them? Well, by punishing--i.e., spanking, etc.--them, of course! According to siliconera.com, you'll also give the girls--each of whom embody one of the deadly sins--healing massages from time to time, so apparently you won't spend all of your time being a "bad cop."

Is it wrong that I'd snap this up on day one if it were released in the States?

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

I don't want it to end

Do you ever find yourself procrastinating as you near the end of a game?

I do it all the time. I did it as I approached the finale of the first two Professor Layton titles, for instance, and I did it as I sauntered toward the finish line of Super Mario Galaxy, too.

Well, I’m doing it again as I edge ever closer to Dragon Quest IX's end credits.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm doing it, though, as it's pretty well known that the title features oodles (yes, oodles) of post-game content.

Oh, well, sometimes it's best to just go with the proverbial flow, wouldn't you agree?

See also: 'Daisy dukes, bikinis on top ...,' 'Sexy secretary,' 'But what about Beyonce's blue ball gown?' and 'The gayest (Dragon Quest IX) party ever'

Short comic, long name

Seattle-based artist Maré Odomo--best known around these parts for his Pokémon-inspired "Letters to an Absent Father" comic strips--recently let it be known via flickr that he's working on a new "pokécomic series" called "I Know I Shouldn't Be Alive But I Don't Want To Die."

Here's the first entry in the series, which seemingly will focus on the legendary pocket monster known as Mewtwo:



See also: 'Red, blue, yellow, green,' 'My $5 is in the mail, Maré' and 'Maré Odomo may be done with his 'Letters To An Absent Father' strips ...'

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Let's play: 'Which box art is better?' (No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle edition)

Although North American gamers have been gazing the art that appears on the cover of their version of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for the better part of the year, their Japanese counterparts are just now getting a look at the art that will appear on their version of the Grasshopper-developed title when it hits store shelves on their shores in late October.

Did the designers at Grasshopper use the time between releases to improve upon the game's box art? Decide for yourself:



The North American box art is on the left, by the way, and the Japanese art is on the right.

As for my two cents: I like both covers, but I think I like the North American one just a bit more--mainly because it seems to convey the game's "rated M for mature" content better than the Japanese art.

Buy: No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

Monday, August 02, 2010

The DS is going to be the death of me

At the very least, it'll be the death of my marriage. (Due to me buying too many DS games, naturally.)

Why? Well, aside from Cladun: This is an RPG for the PSP and Kirby's Epic Yarn for the Wii, pretty much all of the games I'm looking forward to buying/playing between now and the end of the year are DS-bound.

That wouldn't be a problem, of course, if I weren't looking forward to buying/playing so many DS games. I mean, in the next few months alone there's Ivy the Kiwi?, which will hit the streets (in the U.S.) on Aug. 24, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (Sept. 12), Etrian Odyssey III (Sept. 21) and Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (Oct. 5).

If DS systems were this small, I probably wouldn't have to worry
about spending so much money on DS games.

And then there are the recently-and/or-soon-to-be-released-European-only titles like Jam with the Band (already out), Art Academy (out on Aug. 5) and Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (Sept. 17). (Also, I'll probably buy the Euro version, instead of the North American version, of the third Professor Layton game--to go along with my Euro versions of the first two entries.)

I guess it's time to start looking for that second (or third) job...

Daisy dukes, bikinis on top...

OK, so my main Dragon Quest IX character, Madonna, isn't currently sporting a bikini top and a pair of daisy dukes--à la Katy Perry's hit single, "California Gurls"--but one out of two isn't bad, right?

Actually, I'd take a "dangerous midriff wrap" (below) over a ratty pair of daisy dukes any day, but that's how I roll.


All that said, as awesome as I consider Madonna's girly getup to be, it's nothing compared to her cohort Utada's "malicious maid" costume:


I've just crossed the 60-hour mark in my playthrough of this horribly addictive game, by the way. I'm currently grinding my characters into shape so they can properly take on the boss of Gittingham Palace, King Godwyn.

After that, I'm off to the "Realm of the Mighty" to tackle ... well, whatever awaits me there.

Are any of you still spending time with Dragon Quest IX? If so, how far along are you?

See also: 'Sexy secretary,' 'But what about Beyonce's blue ball gown?' and 'The gayest (Dragon Quest IX) party ever'