Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi, Week Four

Last week was another noteworthy one for the residents of Animachi. Case in point: Mayor Aino found the village's first mushroom growing beside one of its many "special" tree stumps.

She also shot down its second golden slingshot. (Bryan nabbed the first a week earlier.)

As for Bryan, he was stoked to stumble upon the Able Sisters working away on the rainbow shirts that surely will be worn by Animachi's citizens during its upcoming gay pride festivities.

Speaking of gay stuff: Bryan paid a visit to Dunwich (of The Dunwich Hoarder fame) early in the week so he could spend some time ogling the muscle-boy signs that sit outside Mayor Terry's pad.

While there, he discovered that someone named Butch will soon move into town--and then made a mental note to return with "housewarming gifts" (let your imaginations run wild) as soon as that happens.

Bryan also make the trek to Mamemura, the village maintained by Anne of the Chic Pixel blog, last week.

Just in case you didn't know, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has taken over my gaming life

And worse, it's nearly taken over the rest of my life, too, but that's another story.

(That said, I should note that things have gotten quite a bit better in that regard in the last week or so due to the fact that I'm pretty darn happy with my New Leaf village at the moment--so most of the time I now spend in it revolves around me chatting with my buds, checking the shops, digging up fossils and gyroids and plucking errant flowers from the soil.)



Anyway, I'm sharing this here because: 1) I'm guessing at least a few of you are in the same boat and, as such, may be looking for a bit of supportive company, and 2) I'm hoping it'll help explain why my blogging output has been suckier than normal since Animal Crossing: New Leaf entered my life three or so weeks ago.

With that out of the way, are any of you also finding yourself a bit obsessed with this disturbingly addicting 3DS game?



If so, which aspects are most responsible for your New Leaf obsession? Is it arranging flowers, or planting and maintaining orchards? Or maybe it's decorating your house, or creating fabulous pieces of clothing?

For me, the main draw at the moment is the overall town-planning element--laying down paths, deciding where to place public works projects, that sort of thing. Soon, though, I'll likely transition from focusing on that to focusing on getting the interior (and exterior, really) of my home(s) in order.



By the way, if you'd like to check out my village, Animachi, but are too shy to visit it while I'm there (or you have a hard time attracting my attention while I'm playing the game), you can do so by sharing my "Dream Address"--5600-2252-0337--with the Dream Suite's Luna.

Feel free to share your New Leaf town's Dream Address in the comments section below, as I've love to check them out when I'm not busy watering my precious flower beds or stockpiling (and selling) beetles that have been scoured from Animachi Island.

The question is: will Denpa Ningen no RPG 3 (aka THE 'DENPA' MEN 3) ever see the light of day outside of Japan?

Sadly, I'd say the most likely answer to the question above is something along the lines of "I doubt it."

That's mainly because although the first two Denpa Ningen no RPG (aka THE "DENPA" MEN) titles have sold surprisingly well since they were first released in Japan, all signs--such as Genius Sonority CEO Manabu Yamana's comments at the beginning of this recent Q&A--point to them not selling as well elsewhere.

Given my undying love for both previous entries in this colorfully charming series of digital RPGs, I obviously hope the just-announced third one, which will hit the Japanese 3DS eShop on Aug. 7, makes its way across the pond at some point--even if the earlier ones were out-and-out bombs in my neck of the woods.



Actually, I'd feel that way even if I wasn't a "DENPA" MEN fan, thanks to all of the additions that seemingly will be included in part three. I could use a bunch of bullet points and text to explain them here, but I think a much more appealing tactic would be to ask those of you who are interested to watch the video above, which was excised from this recent Chotto Nintendo Direct broadcast.

Sadly, the most enticing aspect of Denpa Ningen no RPG 3 for yours truly is the new head shape that looks startlingly like those cartoonish piles of poo you see all the time in Japanese anime, manga and video games.

(Mini) Manual Stimulation: Sayonara Umihara Kawase (3DS)

Late last week I published a "Manual Stimulation" post devoted to this game's predecessor, Umihara Kawase Shun for the original PlayStation.

That game's manual, as you may remember, was just over 30 pages in length. How does that compare to Sayonara Umihara Kawase's? Take a look for yourself:



Yep, the scans above and below are the extent of this import-only (for now, hopefully) 3DS title's instruction "manual."

I know things could be far worse--publisher Agatsuma Entertainment could have simply included a slip of paper directing players to the game's digital manual--but I still wish they'd decided to give us something a little meatier.



That said, I'd be lying if I claimed I was upset about having to scan just two pages rather than 30 or so for this particular "Manual Stimulation" installment.

See also: 'Guess what the mailman just delivered? (Hint: it's a Japanese 3DS game and its title begins with 'Sayonara' and ends with 'Kawase')'

Guess what the mailman just delivered? (Hint: it's a Japanese 3DS game and its title begins with 'Sayonara' and ends with 'Kawase')

Oh, and stuck between those words is "Umihara."

Still scratching your head? No worries--the delivery I'm talking about in the header above is the copy of Sayonara Umihara Kawase I ordered (from AmiAmi) a few months ago.

Actually, the delivery included a copy of the game--the long-awaited 3DS-based follow-up to Umihara Kawase (released for the Super Famicom back in 1994) and Umihara Kawase Shun (first released three years later for the PlayStation)--as well as the game's original soundtrack.

Speaking of which, the photo below showcases both the game's and the soundtrack's cover art (although I guess it does a better job of showcasing the latter's).

Thankfully, I snapped a few close-up shots of the game's cover art, too. One example can be seen below.

I took a photo of the back of Sayonara Umihara Kawase's case, too, just in case any of you are curious about it.



Oh, and here's a shot of the back of the soundtrack's case:



Not impressed? How about the following one, which shows off the interior of the soundtrack's case as well as its CD?

Finally, I know the photo below--of Sayonara Umihara Kawase's cartridge--isn't the best, but I decided to use it anyway because it's hardly the most thrilling example of 3DS cart-label art.

Something I didn't capture with my trusty digital camera: this game's instruction manual--or, rather, its "instruction pamphlet" (if it can even be called that).

Don't fret if  you were hoping to get a glimpse of that here, though, as I'm planning to highlight it in a post that'll be published tomorrow morning.

See also: 'Manual Stimulation: Umihara Kawase Shun (PlayStation)'

Calling all Mother fans who aren't short on spending cash

Feel free to file the following under "Things Bryan Desperately Wants, But Definitely Doesn't Need."

What's "the following," you ask? Why, only the drop-dead gorgeous EarthBound Zero reproduction carts (and cases) currently being made and sold by the folks at Rose Colored Gaming.



Actually, although "currently being made" may be accurate, "currently being sold" is less so--due to the fact that they're marked as "temporarily sold out" at the moment.



Thankfully, Rose Colored Gaming's proprietor assures that he and his crew "plan to produce as many of these as possible for as long as possible."

Will any of you order a copy or two for yourself when they're available once again?