I just discovered Chunsoft's Homeland, and now I'm sad that it never left Japan

Actually, the header above isn't completely accurate, as I know I heard about Homeland in some form or fashion around the time of its 2005 release.

I'm pretty sure my interest in this import-only GameCube title quickly vanished after I heard it was an MMO, though, so let's just pretend that I wasn't introduced to it before this past weekend, when I heard British game developer Hayden Scott-Baron mention it while listening to a recent episode of the Chic Pixel Plus! podcast.



Unsurprisingly, Scott-Baron's chatter caused me to look up a gameplay video of the title (see above or here) and, man, does it look good. I'm especially fond of its art style, which recalls other quirky titles of the same era like Chulip and GiFTPiA.

So, I'm now on the lookout for a cheap-ish copy of this Chunsoft-crafted (another point in its favor, by the way) curiosity. Sure, I won't be able to understand much, if any, of it for some time to come, and I won't be able to check out its online multi-player mode (thankfully, it has an offline single-player mode, too), but it's hard to care too deeply about that when everything looks as charming as it does here.

My Chic Pixel Plus! debut

Sick to death of E3 2013 predictions? If not, you might want to check out episode three of Chic Pixel Plus! sometime this weekend, as hostess Anne Lee and I spend a good bit of time discussing the upcoming event during the just-uploaded podcast.

Don't worry, E3 2013 wasn't the only thing we chatted about while recording this episode of Chic Pixel Plus! We also spent some time talking about learning Japanese and about Anne's rapidly approaching trip to the erstwhile Land of the Rising Sun.

Would you believe the latter topic spurred us to talk about the games--both new and old--Anne's hoping to pick up while in Japan? I didn't think so.

Speaking of old games, the final segment of the podcast finds me attempting to sell Anne on a couple of retro Japanese consoles. Can you guess which ones?

Should all or even part of the above sound appealing, I'd highly recommend heading over to Anne's blog, Chic Pixel, and taking in episode three of the Chic Pixel Plus! podcast at your earliest convenience (preferably before E3 starts early next week).  

See also: posts about The Nichiest Podcast Ever, another podcast that features both Anne and myself

Coming soon: me on the Chic Pixel Plus! podcast

Those of you who follow me on Twitter likely already know this, but here's a little heads up for the rest of you: last night Anne Lee and I recorded the third episode of her podcast, Chic Pixel Plus!

We discussed all kinds of fun stuff during our hour-and-a-half chat, although the majority of it focused on Japan--as in, why Anne and I decided to learn Japanese (I just started; Anne's been at it for years) and how Anne's planning to spend her time in the erstwhile Land of the Rising Sun when she and her husband travel there in just over a week.

While discussing Anne's upcoming trip, by the way, we spent quite a bit of time talking about some of the games--GameBoy Advance ones, especially--she's considering buying while perusing Osaka's main shopping district, "Den-Den Town."

Anne even challenged me to try to sell her on one of the many retro consoles she's sure to encounter while in Japan. Which one did I go with? The PC Engine, of course, although I also suggested she couldn't go wrong with the Famicom.

Anyway, according to Anne, this episode should be available--on her blog, Chic Pixel--sometime early next week. In the meantime, feel free to check out the first two episodes of her podcast here.

See also: posts about The Nichiest Podcast Ever