Words fail me in describing my reaction to The Expendables. At least, written words. Put very simply: I didn’t like it. After several failed drafts, I finally just gathered my notes, fired up the mic, and spoke my peace about this movie.
**SPOILER WARNING!** Proceed with caution.
Since this is just myself and no Kevin for this round, it’s not to be considered part of the Method to Madness canon, though he and I might have a followup to this on the podcast in the future.
Awww… He’s a lover AND a fighter!
What is wrong with this picture? (Don't worry, you'll get two chances to guess.)
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
For years, I’ve adamantly opposed the idea of completely replacing tangible media with digital distribution for video games and other forms of entertainment. It’s a fantastic alternative, but could spell disaster for consumers if it becomes the standard.
This resistance on my part stems from an age where products that you purchase (like video games) became your property. Media publishers have begun adopting digital distribution as a lucrative business model, now that they’ve realized that they can use it to destroy the secondhand market and overthrow consumer ownership.
A topic that’s a frequent fly in our podcast ointment is fan service. It is a poison to Japan’s entertainment industry; transforming those otaku who ingest large, regular doses into ghoulish misshapes of humanity. Exposure to the One Ring is less toxic and more likely get you laid.
But it didn’t used to be that way.
Fan service, literally, was a way that creators used to give appreciation to fans of their shows. These often took the forms of Easter Eggs within other shows. A brief cameo or in-joke would spark delicious glee with those watching “in the know”.
On occasion, full productions were put together as an entire entrée of fan service. A perfect example is Scramble Wars. This early 1990s OVA is regarded as the anime counterpart to Wacky Races (though a more accurate comparison would be to Laff-A-Lympics). Only instead of Yogi Bear, Jabber Jaw, Speed Buggy, and (of course) Dick Dastardly & Muttley, the celebrity contestants hail from Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, and Genesis Survivor Giarth.
Then something strange happened. Someone, somewhere had the bright idea, “Hey, I know a real treat to give the fans! Let’s take their favorite female characters and put them in bikinis! Maybe even…naked? Tanaka, you know what naked boobs look like, right? No? Well…can you draw them? Yeah, I knew you had that shit down, dawg.”
At first, this was a treat, but little did we know just how far it would escalate. It’s like when your mom starts out encouraging you to eat healthy snacks like fruit or granola. But as you get older, her resolve weakens as she more often offers you cheaper, pre-packaged cookies and candy for goodies. By the time you’re in college, you’re stuffing football helmets filled with Oreo brownies covered in Snickers ice cream and chocolate chip cookie dough…for lunch.
Over the past decade or so, fan service shifted into a sexually potent feature. “Fan service” became the Trojan Horse for [s]exploitation. Exploitative shows had already existed for decades (mostly thanks to Go Nagai), but what was once niche was quickly becoming the standard. Every series got its token beach episode or bathhouse scene. Costume designs for anime and video games became more provocative. And for a fandom that’s dominantly male, this proved to be a commercially successful move.
Once production companies hopped on this gravy train, they knew that if they were each going to compete in the industry, they needed to continue pushing the envelope. Enter the invasion of lolicon, moé, incest and any imaginable fetish into our cartoons. Titillation used to be the icing to the fandom; now we’re served solid slabs of fan service fondant. Seemingly sweet, but sure to turn your stomach.
Now here we are: In a dark age for anime, where what’s essentially soft-core porn is now the lifeblood of the industry. Where fan service once rewarded faithful fans, it’s now a device for drawing attention from new viewers.
As I’ve said, I’m prepared to ride this through because I have faith that it is temporary. As long as I draw breath, I will continue to endorse anime and video games that are fun without resorting to spank material. I want to be there when we as otaku ring in the new era where “fan service” returns to its roots.
Saturday was the apex of our convention experience; a whirl of events, commerce, and good drink with good friends. Sunday wound down the weekend, but not without a grand hoorah.
Also, Kevin hates furries.
KEVIN DOESN'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT.
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
Animazement reminds us why we not only love anime, but also love being part of the fandom. Strangely, the opposite is simultaneously true.
Kevin and I has so much to say in our podcast report of Animazement 2010, we had to split it into two parts! In part one, we discuss Thursday’s pre-con harbingers along with the big con kick-off on Friday. Stay tuned for part two when we follow up with Saturday and Sunday.
For those curious about the kinds of horrors inflicted upon hapless otaku during Anime Hell, the video playlist has been posted here.
Please notice the Knuckles cosplayer. This will be important later.
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
Beggars can’t be choosers. It’s cliché, but clichés exist because they are timeless and true. Geeks need to understand this when it comes to bringing their favorite shows and games over from Japan. No one is entitled to their entertainment.
After the recent scandals involving content being pulled from the localizations for Yakuza 3 and Dance in the Vampire Bund, I’m calling for a waaaahmbulance. But first, Kevin reports on his first few hours of Final Fantasy XIII!
And yes, I forgot to add my naming of Dance in the Vampire Bund into the final edit. It’s not Rozen Maiden. Deal. Or make a YouTube rant about the missing content like this jerk:
Hey, douche… Is this about Yakuza, or is it about YOU?
Leatherman + Penis Envy = FFXIII Gun-Blade
FAN ART!
Thanks, M! Better scanned version coming...some day.
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
This episode, we discuss…
These Jerks
Neeeeeerds!!!
We hate to turn on our own, but something needs to be said of (or rather, to) our less-seasoned ilk. Years of anime clubs, conventions, and miscellaneous encounters with fandom gremlins have left Kevin and I jaded. In order to vent our frustrations and perhaps enlighten those in earshot, we spend this episode telling stories of our favorite dorks.
Look to your left. Look to your right. Look in the mirror. One of these poor bastards is probably described in this podcast.
I apologize for the poor audio quality of this episode. There’s some kind of interference that occasionally creates a buzzy sound. I cleaned it up as best as I could; hope it’s still enjoyable.
I was doing some online window shopping with a craving for FLCL. I enjoyed watching the show when it was on Cartoon Network, but never got around to buying the series on DVD. This is mostly due to the series being split into three $30 volumes, with two episodes per volume. Surely by now the box set will be available at a discounted price, as with most other anime.
Alas, no. FLCL‘s been out of print for a few years now; its box set (new or used) selling for upward to $150. Maybe I should have bought it when I had the chance… And a few extra copies to profit from later!
After some research, I’ve learned that the company that holds the FLCL distribution license in the USA has pulled out of American distribution. This leaves the possibility of future releases of FLCL in limbo.
So here’s my plea: Could someone please get on that? It’s perfectly obvious that the previous print runs of FLCL were insufficient in meeting demand since there is a large enough market willing to throw down a C-note or more to get a hold of one of the remaining copies. FLCL is a valuable property and would be well worth some other distributor’s effort to acquire its license.
The key, of course, is that once an American distributor possesses its license, they mustn’t sell the complete series set for more than $20. $60-75 for a 6-episode series ain’t gonna fly. But selling a highly acclaimed product for $15-20 a piece and it will sell through the roof.
If this can’t be sorted out, it only encourages anime piracy. Publishers can’t honestly cry foul on piracy for costing them DVD sales when they refuse to produce DVDs to sell.
I make similar arguments for downloading old video games. I’ll illustrate using Red Earth (aka Warzard) as an example:
Me: Hey, Capcom… I want to legitimately play Red Earth. Let me buy an arcade cabinet from you. I could buy a used one, but you might still moan about not making money from that.
Capcom: We can’t. We don’t make them anymore.
Me: Fair enough… Well, how about you produce a port of the game that I can play on a modern console? I would gladly pay the standard retail price for it. Or a cheaper, download-only version will do. I know a large community that would join me.
Capcom: Nah, we’d rather not bother with the expense of producing it. Sorry.
Me: Okay, now who is really keeping you from selling this game? Me or you?
I always discourage piracy of existing products. I like for people to profit from a good product with the hopes they invest that toward more good products in the future. But if a company refuses to sell a product then I call abusing previous releases to be fair game.
Otherwise it would be like your neighbor charging you with theft for pulling an old bicycle out of their dumpster. He wasn’t doing anything with it (in fact he pretty much abandoned it!), so you’d might as well use it. But if he wants to sell the bike and you ride off with it, then it’s stealing and preventing a sale.
Ever since the announcement of Super Street Fighter IV, I’ve been surprised to hear the Street Fighter community rife with complaint. The bulk of them by jaded gamers aggravated by the idea that Capcom has found a way to dupe us into paying full price a second time for little more than an expansion on a game they already own.
Destructoid published an article very close to my own response.
Here’s the facts on Super Street Fighter IV: The game will be released to disc with a price tag leaning toward $35. In addition to new characters on the roster, there was enough changes to the game’s mechanics and new bonus features that Capcom felt a separate release was in order, rather than a downloadable add-on.
Initially, it’s understandable that loyal fans and early adopters might feel swindled. However, newcomers that may not have bought the original release of Street Fighter IV will be able to take advantage of a sweet deal; a $25 drop in shelf price on a superior product. This will continue to draw in new blood to the fighting game community, which has dwindled to near-extinction prior to Street Fighter IV‘s introduction.
Those who bought the first release are perfectly able to sell or trade in their original game to pick up “Super” for next to nothing (and should consider the past year of fun, challenging play experience a bonus). Capcom also took into consideration their loyal fanbase and plans to show gratitude for that support. According to a GameSpot interview with Yoshinori Ono, the developers have added content in Super SF4 that will interact with the original release, making it worth keeping SF4 disc.
You know who should be pissed? Competitive players who won’t see an arcade release of Super SF4. This makes it more difficult to meet new players outside of the tournament scene.
Just in time for the launch of the PSP Go, several Nippon Ichi Software of America titles will be available for download via PlayStation Network. These titles include fan-favorites Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, Prinny: Can I really be the hero?, with other titles hinted to join them. As a special promotion, the games will be priced for “half off” (that is, $12.99 and under) starting October 1st and extending through that week.
Hold on a second.
This means that once the promotion ends, these games return to their normal price of about $25.99, correct? As I write this, I can buy hard copies of those games for the same price at retail. As I asked in my Secondhand Rant, isn’t the main selling point of digital distribution passing the savings of production costs on to the consumers? If the digital copy is priced the same as the physical copy, where’s the incentive? What am I missing?
Of course PSP Go owners aren’t able to play the UMD versions of the games, but then that’s the whole idea. If the entertainment industries can transition digital distribution from a low-cost alternative to the standard, they can go back to charging whatever they want. Worse, they’ll be able to justify it if they can eliminate the secondhand market, since they’ll then gain a monopoly over access to multimedia.
I do give big props to NIS America and Sony for finally having some kind of sale on the PlayStation Store. I can only hope that they learn the same lesson as Valve–that being if you discount the price, sales will greatly increase. Weekly sales would be welcomed by their consumer base and God knows I might just use the service myself more often.
On occasion, full productions were put together as an entire entrée of fan service. A perfect example is Scramble Wars. This early 1990s OVA is regarded as the anime counterpart to Wacky Races (though a more accurate comparison would be to Laff-A-Lympics). Only instead of Yogi Bear, Jabber Jaw, Speed Buggy, and (of course) Dick Dastardly & Muttley, the celebrity contestants hail from Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, and Genesis Survivor Giarth.
After some research, I’ve learned that the company that holds the FLCL distribution license in the USA has pulled out of American distribution. This leaves the possibility of future releases of FLCL in limbo.
Here’s the facts on Super Street Fighter IV: The game will be released to disc with a price tag leaning toward $35. In addition to new characters on the roster, there was enough changes to the game’s mechanics and new bonus features that Capcom felt a separate release was in order, rather than a downloadable add-on.
