Cosplay of the Week

Omi Gibson IS Paprika

Omi Gibson is a chameleon, able to magically transform into any character she assumes. Paprika is no different; possibly no better an example of her incredible talent. Granted, there isn’t much to Paprika’s outfit, but somehow, Omi fits the role. (I’d say it’s her eyes.)

The movie Paprika is a beautifully animated sci-fi drama directed by the same guy who did Paranoia Agent and Millennium Actress. Go rent it when you can!

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Japan Expands Ban Plan

Recently, I’ve been covering stories for GotGame about RapeLay and the slippery slopes we may soon face from the world of censorship. I’d worried that I might be getting too sensationalist on the subject, but it’s looking like there’s some validity to my doomsaying.

The Ethics Organization of Computer Software in Japan recently amended their ban on lolicon and rape-themed eroge, to extensively ban all things kink. The complete list of topics that are now forbidden from not only in-game material, but also images, text, packaging, and titles (including the names of publishers) are as follows:

I can understand placing restrictions on games involving violent, victimizing sexual fantasies (I, too, think of the chil’rens!), but come on. Why should that rob me of indulging in consensual fantasies like hookers, threesomes, or even pregnant women (cuz they need love too!)? I guess even games with a wide release like Agarest Senki have their days numbered.

Japan’s ban frenzy this week isn’t limited to restricting players from games, some publishers are banning access to their own websites. Learning from the international jihad launched by the American feminist group, Equality Now, some Japanese eroge publishers are shielding their websites from foreign eyes.

Minori, a Japanese eroge publisher has blocked access to their website outside of Japan. When non-Japanese web surfers visit the publisher’s website, all they’ll see is this message:

minori official website.
This website cannot be browsed excluding Japan.

minori Inc.

Well, I suppose it’s for our own good. Thank you, Equality Now, for protecting us from ourselves. It’s one thing to look out for the welfare of our homeland, but to go around dictating that the rest of the world live up to our cultural standards is a dick move. (Pun intended, for irony.)

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Cosplay of the Week

Alisa-chan as Cammy from Street Fighter

Hell if I know why, but it is HARD to find really good cosplay of Cammy. Usually the wig is bad or the model just isn’t right… I dunno; maybe my standards are too high.

But the one cosplay photo of Cammy that I always find circulating around the image galleries is the one above, starring Alisia-chan. Cammy, as a character, loves the show off her perfect ass. And most fellas sure get riled up at the site of Alisia’s luscious badonka-donk.

Alisia’s moved on from modeling cosplay to running a softcore porn paysite, featuring galleries of her photos. I won’t post the link here, but it’s not to hard to figure out.

For the curious, she also has a front side:

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Crimson Viper’s Meat Curtains

A couple months ago, I picked up the C. Viper action figure (pictured above), made by Neco. I have so many figures of Cammy, I felt it time to begin building a collection of the new hotness. While there are plenty of nit-picks to be made for Neco’s Street Fighter IV figure line, I’d say it’s not a bad first rendering of her.

Though I do have one complaint…

Read the rest of this entry »

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Cosplay of the Week

HezaChan as Cutie Honey

HezaChan is a girl of many talents: She creates costumes, illustrations, and all sorts of crafts. What makes her such a good fit for anime cosplay (especially characters like Cutie Honey) is that she’s been blessed with big, round, beautiful…eyes. Seriously! One of the most distinguishable trait of a cartoon character is their eyes. HezaChan’s deep, dark eyes contrast well as if they were hand-drawn on her face.

But let’s not bullshit… The rest ain’t bad either.

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AudioSurf: Okay Game or Awesome Visualizer?

For years, I’ve been a firm advocate of keeping tangible media in the market. And I still am. Meanwhile, I find myself again and again heeding the siren song of digital distribution à la Steam and PSN. I’ll always prefer a physical relationship with my multimedia (wait, that didn’t sound right), but I am warming up to accept the alternatives.

The latest snare to catch my maw is a game on Steam called AudioSurf. Think of it as a cross between Guitar Hero and F-Zero. Basically, it takes any audio file you have on your PC (MP3, m4a, flac, etc.) and turns the sound into a race track. The more tempo there is to the song, the more intense the course.

Multicolored blocks are scattered along the track; it’s your challenge to touch the colored ones while dodging the grey ones. There are different modes of play, each with their own rules and abilities. What made it worth my money is that the number of tracks for your to test yourself against is limited only by your music library. As someone who’s collected a few gigs of MP3s over the past decade, I’ve scored quite the bargain!

Here’s the video that first caught my attention:

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The PSP Go is NOT an Upgrade

If there’s one nitpick that I’ve been hearing from both the press and my friends about the PSP Go, it’s, “So how am I supposed to play my UMD games on it?”

Here’s the thing… People are looking at the PSP Go as the next stage of evolution in the PSP platform. It is not. The PSP Go is a lateral move for the PSP platform, not an upgrade.

Sony is very wise by supporting the PSP-3000 and the PSP Go side-by-side, much in the way that Nintendo is supporting both the DS Lite and DSi. This way, consumers looking to buy a new handheld has two options to choose from, depending on their needs. The “core” gamers are more likely to pick up the PSP-3000 for its larger screen and ability to play the older library of UMD games and movies. The more “casual” gamer may just want a smaller device and download games for $5-15 a pop without having to worry about where they’ll store a bunch of cases. Sony can reach a broader market by having more than one option.

Sony’s head of marketing, Peter Dille, has even stated that the PSP Go is intended for early adopters of new tech, not the current subscriber. PSP fans, the PSP Go is not for you. It’s for them.

So my answer to those confused about how they’ll play UMD games from here on: Keep your PSP. It’s the same solution for people who want to continue to play Game Boy Advance games: Keep your DS Lite. There’s nothing wrong with it and no reason why you have to get rid of your old model to obtain the new. If you have a PSP-2000 or older, you can upgrade AND you have the luxury to choose your next breed of the PSP. If you have a PSP-3000, consider yourself set.

When I bought my DS Lite, I held on to my GBA SP. Why? Because I wanted to continue playing my old Game Boy cartridges. Sure, I could have saved some money by trading it in for the DS, but I accepted that as the price I pay to have my cake and eat it too. At this time, I have no interest in buying a DSi unless Nintendo decides put out some extraordinary exclusives that won’t work on the DS Lite.

The PSP Go's control
layout looks uncomfortable.

Speaking of price, it’s the price tag on the PSP Go that does disappoint me. Taking into account the missing features while acknowledging the compact design, I fully expected the PSP Go to share the same price point of the PSP-3000. My best hopes envisioned the PSP-3000 core to stay $169 and the PSP Go to be marked for ~$149. No such luck; the PSP Go will debut at a ridiculous $249.

In the article linked above, Sony tried to justify the huge gap, but I don’t think they quite get it. Nintendo’s placed an understandable $40 difference between the DS Lite and the DSi, but the DSi is more of an upgrade and at least the prices are competitive. The $80 gap between the PSP-3000 and the PSP Go could be a deal breaker. Only fools and early adopters (same thing?) would be willing to pay that much more for a product that offers significantly less.

Money talks and we’ll see just how well the new PSP Go does when it appears later this year.

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Cosplay of the Week

I’m starting a new regular column for this site: The Cosplay of the Week. It will be–you guessed it–a new cosplay photo each week, showcasing a costume or model that I find especially awesome. Fair warning: Expect a lot of Omi Gibson shots in the mix.

That said, let’s kick this thing off right!

Omi Gibson IS Revy from Black Lagoon

This costume is possibly what Omi Gibson is most known for. Revy from Black Lagoon is a character that is “badass” personified, and Omi practically owns that style. Ironically, (as confessed in my interview with Omi) it’s quite the opposite from her true personality, which is why she loves doing those kinds of characters most.

For added fun, here’s a full cast shot:

Left to right: Benny, Rock, Revy, and Dutch

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GameSpite Quarterly #1

My buddy, Ben Elgin was recently published in the first issue of GameSpite Quarterly. He’s been writing articles for the GameSpite website for a couple years now, but now his work has been given physical form! (Tangible media FTW!)

This debut issue covers the 20 year legacy of the Nintendo Game Boy. Ben’s articles review Final Fantasy Legend III and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia; both great stuff! They also make special mention for rival handhelds like the Atari Lynx, Game Gear, and (my old flame) Neo Geo Pocket.

You can order your own copy here.

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Sony’s New Media Go Application: First Impression

First, I have two words for Sony, Square-Enix, and whomever else figured this out:

THANK YOU.

Amidst the bombardment of anti-climaxes at E3, Final Fantasy VII was finally released onto the PlayStation Network for North America. With that, last week’s Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid release, I think SCEA’s finally realizing what they’d understoon in Japan for years: If you release it, people will buy it (instead of pirate it).

Along side this release came a new media manager application for the PSP. For those like me who don’t own a PS3, we’ve had to rely on the Sony Media Manager software for PC to back-up and manage our files. Given the official announcement of the PSP Go, it’s understandable that they’ll need to revamp that software.

First impression of Media Go: Pain in the ass if you’re transitioning from Media Manager. I’d hoped that while installing Media Go, it would have the insight to search for the Media Manger installation and at least give the option to import all media and back-up files into the Media Go installation. Nope. By default, it only associates your My Documents folder.

Here’s where it becomes a chore: Media Manager gave each of your memory sticks its own profile and folder. I have three memory sticks myself (1GB, 4GB, and 8GB), thus I have three folders filled with back-up files. I now have to search each one out, determine which files are redundant, and then move them into whatever folder I now have set for all of Media Go’s library. I sound like a whiney bitch, sure, but as a consumer, you’d think that Sony would have realized people who have been faithful subscribers to their PlayStation Store service would appreciate a smooth transition into their new platform.

Once you jump through those hoops, it’s all gravy. I like having one library as opposed to seperate memory card profiles because it’s much easier to organize. It also makes sense since all media is associated to one PlayStation account anyway. You can still use Media Manager to manage your files, if you choose, but you will need Media Go in order to access the PlayStation Store. And frankly, once you get used to Media Go, there isn’t much incentive to keep Media Manager around.

This is not an ad.

Another service they’ve added is the ability to buy/rent movies and TV shows to watch on the PSP. It’s not a bad idea, but they’ll need to work on the price points. Buying a movie will cost you around $15 or you can rent for around $4. Depending on the movie, you can buy the full DVD for most of what they have available for about the same price. UMD movies that are still in circulation are as cheap as $5 brand new. And $4 is hardly competitve for what I can get renting the DVD from Blockbuster or Hollywood Video.

Television episodes aren’t as bad, running about $2 per episode. It’s a nice way to grab an episode or two for watching on a trip or a lunch break (if you can’t access Hulu or Crunchy Roll). If nothing else, the price may be worth me avoiding the hassle of ripping and converting my own files.

Well done, Sony. I’m still one who prefers tangible media over digital distribution, but when you start getting it right, I can be swayed to at least get on board.

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