Friday, April 24, 2015

Oskunk x Torchic x 3DS Cover Plate

Although I've never been the biggest Pokémon fan--yes, despite the rather ridiculous purchase I made a couple of years ago--I've always had a soft spot for the little buggers.

I especially like the "Pocket Monsters" that are especially, almost sickeningly, cute--which should help explain why I find the Oskunk creation below so darn appealing.



I don't know about you, but until I saw this faux 3DS cover plate, I had no idea Torchic's Japanese name was Achamo. (That's what the text found in the upper-left corner says, by the way.)

Should you want to see a few more photos of this beauty, head on over to Oskunk's blog.

See also: previous Oskunk-centric posts

Thursday, April 23, 2015

A few thoughts on the two new 3DS StreetPass games and the Mii Plaza 'upgrade'

Now that I've spent a full week with Nintendo's latest pair of 3DS StreetPass games, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my thoughts on them--and the Mii Plaza "upgrade" that was released alongside the aforementioned pieces of software.

OK, so I didn't spend the entirety of the last week with these titles--one of which is known in this neck of the woods as Battleground Z and the other of which is known as Ultimate Angler--but I did spend a few minutes with them each and every day (thanks to the handful of StreetPasses I nabbed during my commutes to and from work).


So, what do I think of these bite-sized efforts now that I've experienced at least a little of what they have to offer? For starters, I'll say that I'm enjoying Battleground Z a lot more than I thought I would before I downloaded it. Granted, the main reasons I was fairly ho-hum about this game in advance of actually playing it is that I'm no longer all that enamored with the undead and I've never much cared for the beat 'em up genre. Neither of those things have gotten in the way of me having an absolute blast with Battleground Z so far, though, so clearly the folks at Good-Feel did something right when they made it.

My favorite aspect of Battleground Z at the moment: the wacky weapons that StreetPassed Miis offer up when you save them. Flash-enabled cameras, superhero costumes and Wii remotes all have been handed over to me so far, and every one of them has proven its worth in battle--while also bringing a smile to my face, of course.


As for Ultimate Angler, I'm slowly but surely warming up to it after initially finding it a bit chilly. For whatever reason, my first few stints with it had me yawning. Maybe my expectations were too high heading into it? After all, I usually love fishing games--especially cute ones.

It's quite possible my main issue with Ultimate Angler early on was its reeling mechanism, which makes enough sense (spin your 3DS' circle pad to pull in a fish) in theory, but feels kind of awkward in practice. I think I'm beginning to get a handle on it, though, so hopefully my opinion of it will perk up in the coming days.


Even if it doesn't, I'll still consider Ultimate Angler a more worthy pick up than the Mii Plaza upgrade that's currently being sold for just under five smackeroonies (that would be $5). As far as I can tell, all this purchase provides 3DS owners with is the ability to collect and catalog (à la a game of bingo) the birthdays of StreetPassersby as well as the ability to move your favorite Miis into some sort of VIP room. Pretty exciting, right?

Seriously, though, despite my rather ho-hum response to the Mii Plaza upgrade, I'm pretty happy I handed over my hard-earned cash for Battleground Z and Ultimate Angler. Are any of you feeling the same way, or are you wishing you'd saved your dough? Let me--and others--know in the comments section below.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Guess what? I'm (back) on Tumblr, too...

Because I apparently hate having any free time whatsoever, I recently decided to start making use of the tumblr--TheGayGamer, aka gaygamer.tumblr.com--I launched ages ago and then promptly dropped like a hot potato.

I'll be honest: at the moment, I'm mostly turning to it to help promote posts that are published here, but I'm also regularly favoriting and passing along others' posts that I find particularly interesting or that are in line with the kind of content I tend to produce.



Well, except for the not-safe-for-work stuff (that I favorite or pass along, not that I publish myself)--which you may want to watch out for if you aren't into bara and the like.

One more thing: if you're on tumblr, or if you follow any tumblrs you think I'd enjoy (NSFW or otherwise), let me know in the comments section below.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Taiko no Tatsujin V Version, eh? If it were up to me, it'd be called Taiko no Tatsujin VI Version...

If the headline above is causing you to send a side-eye in my general direction, hopefully the following will help explain things: basically, in the last few months, I've acquired a whole slew of Taiko no Tatsujin games.

Specifically, I've acquired five of them. I started with the initial Taiko no Tatsujin DS title, as some of you may remember, and it so pleased me that I quickly ran out (or ran to various places on the Internet) and bought the second and third Taiko no Tatsujin DS releases as well as the first to hit the 3DS. A month or so later, I added the third PSP iteration, called Taiko no Tatsujin Portable DX, to my ever-growing collection.

Given all of the above, it should come as no surprise to hear that the recent announcement that a Taiko no Tatsujin title was being prepped for the Vita prompted me to bellow with delight.

This particular entry in the long-running series is going to be called Taiko no Tatsujin V Version, of course--which I guess brings us back to my lame-ass header. (After all, in it I'm implying that this Vita cart should be re-named Taiko no Tatsujin VI Version, because it would be my sixth Taiko no Tatsujin game--har har. Don't worry, I'm not planning to give up my day job.)

As for when Taiko no Tatsujin V Version will hit the streets in Japan, how much it'll cost and all that jazz: the game's release date is July 9 and the price tag attached to it at that time will be 5,690 yen. Oh, and according to sources like gematsu.com and neogaf.com, it'll feature 80 songs and an RPG-esque mode called "Donda Quest."

If all of that sounds swell to you, and if you've got a Vita and some cash to blow, you can pre-order this sucker right now via amiami.com for just 5,200 yen (about $44).

See also: my 'A Decade of DS' post about Taiko no Tatsujin DS

Monday, April 20, 2015

Anyone up for a few more photos of Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank's box, manual and cartridge?

I know I just published a post about this fantastic (if disappointingly succinct) GameBoy title on Friday, but that write-up didn't feature enough photos of its fabulous box, instruction manual or cartridge for my liking.



So, I took a few additional snapshots of all three of those elements over the weekend, and the results of that hard work (not really) can be seen above and below.


I especially like the piece of art that's featured on the cover of Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank's instruction manual, although I'd kill to see it in full color à la the front of game's box.


The illustration that graces the instruction manual's first page (below) is similarly grin-inducing, if you ask me.


Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank's manual features a few more illustrations that impress, so I'll be sure to scan the whole she-bang sometime this week and showcase it in an upcoming installment of my on-again-off-again "Manual Stimulation" series.



As for the photo above, well, I took it--and I'm sharing it here--simply because I was surprised that it depicts the game's name in romanized Japanese (aka romaji).

See also: Another Year of the GameBoy: Totsugeki! Ponkotsu Tank