Gurren Lagann: First Impressions

So, I recently downloaded the anime Gurren Lagann from the iTunes store. I've only watched the first two episodes, so this is going to be my initial impressions of the anime instead of a full fledged review of it. (Full review will come when I finish the series.)

Gurren Lagann seems to have pretty much everything a good anime needs. There's giant robots; sexy, busty, scantily clad girls; men who get way too excited about little things; men who seem like cowards on the outside, but are really brave once they get motivated; cute, cuddly animals; villians/monsters that you can actually grow to like; and extremely effeminate men who get hot and bothered by the giant robots. It's also got all the required "inappropriate" moments. You know what I'm talking about: men falling face first into a girl's cleavage, women falling cleavage first into a man's face, men crawling up a tunnel mere inches away from the scantily clad woman's butt... I'd go on, but you get the point.

The story seems to be well put together (just going by the first 2 episodes) and the characters are, for the most part, easy to like despite their quirks. (Yes, even the extremely effeminate man is somewhat likable after you get used to him.)

Usually, for me, an anime has to grab my attention within the first few episodes, otherwise it's unlikely that I'll ever finish watching it. Gurren Lagann succesfully pulled my interest and I do plan to finish the series, after which there will be a review on what I thought of the anime in it's entirety.

First Impression score:

4 out of 5 (This will probably be higher in the final review if the anime continues to be like it has been.)

Kanon

Kanon is an anime based off of a visual novel of the same name, developed by Key. The anime is of typical length, being 24 episodes, and unlike the original release of the game, it is meant for all ages. There are two versions of the anime; this article covers the second, and more widely-known version.

The story focuses on the main male character, Aizawa Yuichi. He moves to the town where his aunt and cousin live so he can go to school there. He last visited seven years prior to when the story begins, which that previous visit (and ones before it) is the central theme to almost every story conveyed in this anime.

The main girls of the story: Kawasumi Mai (top left), Misaka Shiori (top middle), Sawatari Makoto (middle), Minase Nayuki (right), Tsukimiya Ayu (bottom left).

Each of the five girls has a well thought-out story. The anime covers most very deeply. Regrettably, Nayuki's story is barely covered, and is tied in to Ayu's story and adds only to serve a point to it. Additionally, each girl's story involves Yuichi's past, with the exception of Shiori, who only met him for the first time on his first couple of days back in town, while wandering with Ayu.

Characteristics of characters is very unique and they all blend near-perfectly. Their personalities remain consistent throughout, and deviate only within reasonable means; for example, Yuichi is "friendly and outgoing... [and] constantly teases the main cast of girls throughout the story which varies in severity depending on the girl" (via Wikipedia). He consistently helps out the girls when they are in need, however, and this is shown throughout, side-by-side with the teasing, and is even shown very prominently in the clips of Yuichi's past.

A particular characteristic of a character, Ayu, who is the central female character, is shown at almost every scene she is in. Whenever she is sad, scared, mad, depressed, and other emotions along the lines of those, she says "Uguu". The word is the common catch-phrase of the anime, and is even used on the box set as a selling point (though only known to those who have actually seen the anime to catch why it would be a selling point).

Ayu saying her catch phrase "Uguu~" after being teased by Yuichi.

The transition between stories is very smooth. All the characters are introduced within the first two episodes, and the only time most do not show up in any episode is when a story involving a particular girl reaches its climax. Additionally, when the story resolves, it is not entirely forgotten; references are made periodically to each of the preceding stories.

The stories all have sad or disconsolate undertones. Each girl, though little known or not known at all at the beginning, has something that they are going through that is affecting them, regardless of whether they show it or not. The characters, however - unlike many, many other animes that share similar tones - do not show it until their story reaches its highpoint. They act happy and actually seem happy because they all feel there are more things worth living for that outweigh the sad things that are in their lives.

The story of Kanon revolves around several themes. First and formost, which is prominent for more than half of the anime, is varying forms of magic. Makoto, for example, is actually a fox that Yuichi had come to know and befriend when he visited seven years prior who magically turned human to see and be with him again when she saw he had returned.

In contrast to the sad undertones, a main theme is that of miracles. One character points out that "miracles are called so because they don't happen", but all of them believe that they exist on some level or another.

Memory is another central theme. Yuichi remembers nothing of his prior visits to the city at first. The girls who have a history with him have varying levels of memory of the events themselves, but they all remember that he was there and all want him to remember each of them as well. Most of the entire anime and the stories revolve around not being able to progress until certain things are remembered by Yuichi.

Yuichi and Ayu seven years prior.

Another main theme, though not fully portrayed until the latter half of the anime, is as stated in the earlier post about Key, in which one of the characters in this story is in a state of autoscopy. Ayu, due to an event in the past, has a projection of her concience in the present, with her body elsewhere. Her concience is looking for a particular object, and right from the beginning of the anime itself to the end (as that her story is the last one to be told) she is looking for the item in question. She doesn't know at first that the her that everyone sees is not really her entire self. She doesn't find the item on her own, as that due to the parts of her story unfolding slowly reveal to her the dire condition her actual self is in. as her story reaches the pinnacle and plateaus off, she realizes enough and vanishes.

Kanon may not be all that known, and even less actually seen, but it is a very interesting anime nonetheless. It is a adeptly handled story, with ties between main stories and transitions between everything that can be rivaled by only a few other stories in the genre. It may not contain action, but it will still keep you on your seat, making you want to see how each story ends.

~Koubo

Lost In Translation

I've got a question to pose to all of you today. Well, it's more like 3 or 4 questions. First: Are there any mangas out there that you read that you would like to see made into an anime that haven't been yet? What about the other way around? Any animes that you'd like to see made into a manga?

One manga I'd like to see animated is Yotsuba&! It's by Kiyohiko Azuma who was the genius behind Azumanga Daioh. Yotsuba&! is about a little girl and her father (and their friends and neighbors) and the various adventures they go on. No, not big adventures like you would see in something like Full Metal Alchemist, but little adventures; like catching cicadas or going to the store. (Full review coming later.)

Here's another question for you: Are there any mangas out there that you really liked and read every book as they came out, but the company who made them suddenly stopped? Or, at least stopped printing them in America?

I can think of one in particular that I've wanted finished. It's called PhD: Phantasy Degree. The books were printed in America up until book 5, but then they suddenly stopped. It's bugged me ever since. I loved that series. It was very unique. (I'll do a review on it later as well.)

There are a couple of other mangas that I can think of. I'm not sure if it's that they stopped printing them, or that I just can't find them anywhere. A few of them are: Sokora Refugees, Dream Saga, and Yotsuba&!.
Yet another Discussion Time!

I've posed quite a few questions to you, now it's time for you to answer them with your opinions!

Key

Key is a branch of the company Visual Arts, which is located in Japan. Formed in July of 1998, it makes visual novels, and has made some very prominent games of the past couple decades. Its first three visual novels, Kanon, Air, and Clannad (released in that order, starting in 1999), have even had anime adaptations, all of which have had very good success, and are arguably Key's most well-known titles.

Key also has its own sub-section, titled Key Sounds Label, which creates and produces the music used in all the titles they make.

There will be articles on all three of those (ony the anime adaptations only for Kanon and Air will be covered in the respective articles; Clannad's article will include the game as well as the anime), and it will be seperate from this article. In this post, I will talk about things that Key seems to put in all of their products, as well as some differences between them.

(A picture containing all of Key's current products as of May 20, 2009.)

The characters in each of the products are varied in personality and background, as is typical in any story. What is different from anything Key makes and anything else is that although some characters may have horrible or sad histories, the level of effect their past has on them is very little. They are not mopey. They have all moved on for the most part.

The past has different effects on stories between the titles, though. In both Kanon and Air, the past becomes an integral part of the story, where the characters are trying to remember so they can help their future. In Clannad, the only time the past is ever brought up is when an event from the past hinders a path in the near future. In Clannad, though, the hindering past is used only enough to wrap up reasons, then it is set aside so the story can move on.

A particularly unique occurence between titles released by Key is that they use advanced forms of autoscopy. It can be loosely described as an "out of body experience", although autoscopy is a specific case in that experience, being that they acutally projecting their concience into the physical world.

The advanced form that Key does in which I refer to is more of a specifically direct form. Each has a literal physical manifestation of themselves wandering around as they always would, and can interact with objects and people as if they themselves were present.

(The main girls of Kanon.)

There is only one character in each of the titles that experiences the phenomenon. Each has a specific task that they feel must be completed at any cost. As they come closer to completing the task, the realization of their actual medical condition slowly dawns on them in some form or another, and when the task is completed, they vanish.

Differences come down to something quite specific between each of the titles. And those specifics will be mentioned and discussed in the articles covering each title. However, I will mention that the level of knowledge of their predicament, the situation, and how long they are around for varies greatly between the three titles.

(The main girls of Air.)

One thing Key did for the first two titles (Kanon and Air) was that they had adult content; that is, there were some sex scenes in the games. The animes of each, as well as later release versions of the games, have no adult content. And additionally, Key minimalized the amount of said content so that the player would focus more heavily on the stories of each character than the gratuities that come with them.

Clannad was released at the very start as a visual novel for all ages; it was focused so heavily on story that it is currently Keys' second longest game, being only 4000 words shorter than its current longest. The anime, which is by far longer than the anime adaptations of the first two titles released, is also made for all ages.

(The main girls of Clannad.)

Key is currently creating an original anime, titled Angel Beats!, but no new news about that has been released since the announcement on May 27 of this year.

Key may be small, but they have produced titles that are very well known, even if they have not been seen or played. The titles (at least the anime adaptations) should seriously be checked out. They are so deep, so well written that anyone would be missing out on some of the best stories ever written otherwise.

~Koubo

A Rare Gem

Ok, so my last article about animes that everyone likes but that you don't apparently went over quite well, so today, I'm going to come from the other side of the argument. Are there any animes you absolutely love that nobody else seems to have heard of? Let's take it a step further and include manga in this discussion.

The one anime that pops into my mind that nobody seems to know about (but is one that I love) is: .hack//LEGEND OF THE TWILIGHT. There have been tons of .hack// animes and mangas, but the one that I love the most is LOTT. It's a great little anime (and manga) that is only 12 episodes long (or 3 books long) but is thoroughly enjoyable. (I'll save an actual review for a later post.)
The one manga series that I love which is still rather unknown would have to be: Junk Force. It's only 3 books long, but has a great, gripping story that pulled me in from the start. It's really pretty hard to find now, but if you can, I'd definitely pick it up. (Again, a review will come later.)
Discussion Time Again!

What about the rest of you? Do you have any gems in your anime/manga collection that it seems only you have watched/read? Share them with us!

Watchmen - review

Due to my computer having sudden problems, my latest post is far from what it originally was, and will instead be a review on the movie Watchmen. It was released on DVD/Blu-Ray this past Tuesday (July 21).

This will not cover The DVD release solely, but will cover the movie in general.

Having read review upon review, for hours and hours, from places like Amazon, Metacritic, and many random forums, This movie can arguably be one of the most controversial ones out there. Some claim it has no plot; others say it has too much of one to watch only once. Some think it was dumb; others herald it as one of the greatest masterpieces of all time. Some say it was a poor book-to-movie rendition; others say it was closer than most other titles in that field. I could go on. but I think you get the picture.

(Current cover art for the graphic novel.)

Watchmen is based of a graphic novel of the same name, which is on Times Magazine's top 100 novels of all time.

The story is set in New York, the year is 1985. Richard Nixon is the current president, being on his 5th term. The Doomsday clock is set to five minutes before midnight, signaling that the threat of a nuclear war is very, very real.

Thanks to an Act passed in 1977, Masked Vigilantes, which were rampant for quite a number of years, Had to reveal their identities or quit taking the law into their own hands. This was due to the typical public switcharound of liking something, then getting used to it, then ending up hating it.

It is interesting that although all of the men and women that wore costumes considered themselves heroes or villains, only one had actually any power. His name is Dr. Manhattan, who by a freak accident on a science base in an "intrinsic field Subtractor", which converted every last atom in his body into something more divine. He was taken in by the military as a tool trained to keep other nations in fear of America. He was also considered to be a member of the Watchmen group.

(The members of the Watchmen team, starting from the blue guy and going clockwise by heads: Dr Manhattan, Nite Owl, Rorschach, The Comedian, Ozymandias, Silk Spectre.)

The story is mainly narrated by one of the 6 members of the Watchmen team, Rorschach. He sees that another member of the former Watchmen team was murdered, The Comedian, and after seeing some clues come to light, focuses heavily on the idea that someone is "picking off costumed heroes." He tries to convince and warn his friend Daniel, who was the hero "Nite Owl," who at first doesn't listen. HE then tries to warn Dr Manhattan and Laurie, Laurie being the Silk Spectre. As the story progresses, it is revealed that someone is indeed trying to get all the heroes out of the way so that the master plan can take place with no interference.

Now the review part.

Watchmen: somewhere between 2.5 and 3 out of 5.

The story is deep. It is a movie that has to be seen more than once to get the entire picture. The movie does follow the novel it is based off of very well, although it does have significant differences that, if you have read the novel as well as seen the movie, affect the entire movie and even the ending.

The flow and presentation of the story is very, very slow. Too slow in some parts. The amount of material covered is impressive (the director's cut of the dvd being over 3 hours long), but the flow makes it feel like it is about two hours longer at some parts. But the flow is very direct and easy to follow.

Character development is almost nonexistent. The only character you really, truly get to know is Rorschach, and that is because his diary entries populate about half the movie, explaining his thoughts and feelings about what is going on as it unfolds.

The gratuitous adult scenes could have been left out entirely. Those did not need to be added in there. It is directly alluded to in the novel, it could have been the same in the movie.

Worth watching, and more than once, but only if you feel you can watch a movie for (what feels like) four or five hours.

~Koubo

Fish-Cake?

Am I the only one in the world who is not completely enamored with Naruto? I've seen a good portion of the anime, both japanese and english dubbed, and I just don't get why everyone likes it so much. It really didn't catch my interest enough, but that's just me. Even the parts that made everyone laugh out loud, only made me chortle slightly.

I can think of a couple of other animes that have a HUGE fanbase that I've seen and that I just don't like that much.

Discussion time!

What are some animes out there that everyone but you seems to like?

Manga for the future...

There was a study done on which manga people would leave for their posterity. Many people were asked the question "do you like manga?", and out of 900 people who said yes (150 men and women each in three different age categories), the list came down to this:

1. Slam Dunk
2. One Piece
3. Dragonball
4. Doraemon
5. Sazae-san
6. Detective Conan
7. Kochikame
8. Chibi Maruko-chan
9. Full Metal Alchemist
10. Hana Yori Danshi

It makes me wonder about the japanese people if the manga they want to leave for posterity starts with one about basketball...

Via Sankaku Complex. Remember to be weary of that site...

~Koubo

Little Big Planet--First Impressions

Little Big Planet (PS3) has probably been one of the most revolutionary games released recently. Instead of just playing prebuilt and preloaded levels, gamers have the option to build their own levels and share them with all the other people in the world online. Also, the sackboys (the name of the cute little characters you play as) are vastly customizable with both items you can obtain in the levels of the game and premade costumes you can download from the PS network.

The level of customizability in this game is staggering. I've seen people with Kratos (God of War) sackboys and I've heard there's going to be a Sephiroth Sackboy (Final Fantasy VII). I've also played levels themed after Super Mario Bros., Mortal Kombat, and Patapon. There are so many different levels to play, you could play the game for 24 hours straight and never repeat a level unless you really want to. And not all of the levels are going to be the same. Some are going to be platformesque levels while others will be racing.

One thing I love about this game is that it's always multiplayer. And it's not that you can play multiplayer, it's more that you'll want to play multiplayer. The game is just so much more fun that way.

The gameplay for Little Big Planet is fairly simple. You move across a level until you reach the judging platform at the end. You can run, jump, and grab onto most things (birds, cars, each other, or monkeys). Each level has elements from different genres of games. You are going to have to solve puzzles, but they aren't going to be the type you wrack your brains about for hours. Some will be as simple as sticking a flower sticker on a branch so that a giraffe lifts it's head to let you into a room. While the controls are fairly simple, some of them add a strange element of fun to the game. You can use the D-pad on your controller to change your Sackboy's expression from scared to angry to happy. You can also use the triggers to control your arms, which allows you to smack other players around. (This is especially helpful when another player won't stop grabbing onto you.)

This is one of the few games I've ever played where the main goal is to have fun, which you almost always will (even when you have to restart a level 3 times). Every time I've played it, I've spent a good amount of time laughing at the crazy yet truly funny things that have happened.

Right now, the game is only available on the PS3, but a version for the PSP is slated for release in the holiday season of 2009. If they keep the PSP version just like the PS3 version, it should do quite well. I'm excited for it for sure.

The good points:

Simple, fun and addictive gameplay make this a great title for anyone with a PS3 to own. The game also has great replay value thanks to people always making new levels for it.

The bad points:

Honestly? The only bad things I can think of in this game is that you have to pay to download some of the costumes and level packs. (Albeit, you don't have to pay very much.)

My score:

5 out of 5. It really is one of the best party games I've ever played. It puts games like Mario Party to shame.

Otaku

*NOTE* All my links today will be from Sankaku Complex. For those of you who don't want to go to the site, which occasionally (to somewhat frequently) features content of erotic nature, I will tell you briefly what each article says. *END NOTE*

Just so we are clear: dictionary.com states that the definition of 'Otaku' is "an avid collector or enthusiast, esp. one who is obsessed anime, video games, or computer and rarely leaves home."

We here at The Collateral Otaku (I will personally refer to it now as TCO) consider ourselves otaku. We are not crazy. We just really like our stuff.

The japanese consider Otaku to be a derogatory term in some ways. With things going on like this, it's kinda hard not to agree with them. The article talks about an otaku who went to an anime convention and stole the partially drunk-out-of water bottle of the seiyuu (voice actor) Chihara Minori, who currently voices Nagato Yuki in The Melancholy of Haruhi suzumiya in japan. Then, he posted pictures of himself doing this deed all over his blog. Fans and other otaku were crazed over it, congradulating him or cursing him.

If you think that otaku is bad, there are obviously worse.

This article talks about the Seiyuu that voices the japanese version of Haruhi herself, who is also conveniently a model, who went to malaysia for filming. Crazed otaku, once knowledgeable of the situation by pictures she posted on her blog, planned all over message boards to find her; search parties were created, google earth was used, analysis of the photos was intensive. The intents on what they were going to do with her when she would be found varied from person to person; some ranging from something simple like an autograph to something much, much crazier. By the time their searches were about ready, it was then noted that she had already returned to Japan.

Those are just some examples. There are obviously a lot, lot more. But this gets the picture across, I think.

I personally don't want to ever be that crazy. I love my video games, anime, and manga, but I know where to draw the line. I hope people like me are the majority.

~Koubo

PSP Go Revisited

Ok, so the point that I tried to get across with my last article about the PSP apparently wasn't taken the way it was supposed to. No, I wasn't trying to infer that Sony is replacing the original PSP with the Go. They are going to be selling both alongside each other. You will still be able to buy disc versions of games as well as some downloadable versions of the games.

The point I was trying to make in the last article was this: If you decided to buy a PSP Go, would it or would it not replace your original PSP? If Sony decides to start making every game a disc version as well as a download, would you start just downloading all your games? (Note: it probably won't happen this way. Making all of their games into two different versions would be hard and time consuming. Plus, PSP games are usually big files and would have extremely long download times.) I've heard rumors both ways. I've heard that the PSP Go is going to have a totally different library with games specific to it, but I've also heard that it's going to have normal PSP games available for download. I'm inclined to believe that they will be releasing games in both disc and digital format, mainly because they will make more money that way.

The news I've heard from E3 is that they are making the PSP Go a gaming system for people who don't want to bother with physical media. To me, it would only make sense to have normal PSP games available for download. If they really are just trying to make this Sony's version of the iPod Touch, then I really don't think it would do as well as Sony is hoping. Which is a problem. The iPod Touch has already been made and does well, but other companies keep trying to make their own version of it with their own version of the app store, none of which can match the vastness of the Apple App Store. It would be more innovative for Sony to make a system that can download normal games from a store to be played on the PSP Go.

Granted, if Sony doesn't decide to release all games as disc and digital, they'll probably still make money from people that feel the need to have both an original PSP and a Go.

I don't know. I don't think there has been enough information released about the PSP Go's game library, really. A lot of what I'm talking about is just speculation on both sides of the field.

The best link that I could find that says anything about how games will be released is this: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10254798-1.html and it seems to me that they are being doomsayers about UMDs. Which brings up an interesting thought: How soon until all gaming systems use a digital format? Will it actually happen? But, they do mention that games released for the PSP Go will also be released on UMD. I know it might seem redundant to release games for two systems, but I thought of a good reason why they should release games as both downloads and UMDs. When a company releases a game, they usually will release it for more than one system, right? (X-Box 360, PS3 and Wii, right now.) Why do they do this? Because not everybody has all three systems, so to make sure that they sell enough games, they release it for more than one system. The same will go for the PSP and the PSP Go. Not everybody is going to have both systems. Most people are going to have one or the other. So, to ensure that they still sell enough copies of a new game, and to appeal to both groups of people, Sony would probably want to release both digital and disc copies of games.

I guess what it all boils down to, in my opinion, is this: If Sony were to release all games as disc and digital, they would do something that no other video game specific company has done. (I'm not counting the iPod Touch because it's not made by a video game company.) Make a handheld, portable system more portable. Think about it. If you didn't have to truck all of your discs and cartridges around with your PSP or DS, the system would probably come with you to more places.

Yes, I know that what I've said in this article is not all fact, it's opinion. So, deal with it.

But, I could be wrong. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Mass Effect

It seems that most people believe that if it is called a video game, it has no sense of a good, in-depth story that a book would have. And while regrettably this is the case for many games on the market, there are some very fine exceptions. Like Mass Effect.



Mass Effect is a third-person, over-the-shoulder shooter for the Xbox 360 and PC made by the company BioWare. It is set in the future, in the year 2183 AD. Humans had, thirty-five years prior, discovered a piece of ancient technology left behind by a race called the Protheans, which after studying it launched them into a technologically advanced future of their own. Space travel was now easily possible, and there were many races out there whom also had similar pasts about finding technology and had formed a galactic alliance.

You play as commander Shepard. The last name and rank are the only things unchangeable. The character is then decently customizeable, from being able to choose your gender to making up a first name to changing the facial features with impressive options.

The story for Mass Effect seems simple enough. You get a mission to recover another ancient artifact called a "beacon". As you arrive on the planet, you see that it is/has been under attack by a group that also wants the beacon. The group is led by an alien samed Saren, who has the rank of Spectre (which is a special rank made by the galaxy's presiding council to do the dirty jobs, and do them right with little-to-no laws binding them to a small set of methods). The story shows right off the bat, however, that Saren is betraying the council and is ignoring their orders.

You fight your way to the beacon's location, and right before it blows up it sends a sort-of bloated and broken signal directly to Shepard's brain, nearly knocking them unconcious. After you debrief the council on the situation. After you convince them that Saren has gone rogue, the council makes Shepard a spectre to hunt down and eliminate Saren. After that point, the galaxy is opened up and you are given various missions and tasks that lead you to the typical story end, which is saving the galaxy from certain evil.

But the story is so much more detailed than that. The game has incredibly rich dialogue, with minimal cheesiness. The game even gives you an option in many, many instances where you get to choose what you are going to say to someone in the given situation, with each of the choices available being aligned to good, bad, or morally gray. And in game-affecting situations, you can try to influence someone to do or say what you want them to say, and how effective it is is dependent on how many points you put into a couple of particular categories on your character as you level up.



The gameplay itself is something impressive, too. It doesn't break the norm of typical shoot-em-up games, but it does follow the pattern quite well. There aren't really any puzzles, and although there will be some exploring to do in order to find certain parts of the story to continue on, the paths themselves offer little direct deviation and are easy to get back on to.

Review: 5 out of 5

This game is basically like an interactive movie. The dialogue in the game is so rich, so full, so deep, it feels like you are watching and participating in a near-perfect movie. Add the gameplay that plays so very well, and you get an ideal combination that few games still can't match. The gameplay and story parts are spaced out so well, too, that you aren't really wondering what is going on, and if you get lost, it is because you didn't pay attention.

Not only is the story good, but the voice actors chosen played the parts very well, adding to the movie feel and taking away from the 'this is obviously a game story' feel. Feelings and thoughts are portrayed with striking accuracy. Character interactions are well-built and played very professionally.

Further, if you beat the game you can transfer you character and all of your equipment and stats from your recently completed file to a new game so you can play it all over again with everything you beat it with.



It is a game definitely worth playing at least once or twice. I recommend playing it many times. It is definitely something you won't come across often.

~Koubo

PSP Go

Now that the "worst kept secret of E3" is out of the bag, I'd like to get opinions on what everybody thinks about Sony's new PSP Go. Does the fact that it has no disc drive make people not want to get one? Or does the fact that you no longer have to carry around discs to play it make you want to get one? For me, I'm torn between the two. I like the idea of having a hard drive in my PSP and only having to carry around the system with no discs, but I worry that I'll have to re-purchase my old favorite games again. It probably won't happen, but I know a lot of people are hoping Sony will allow people to input the unique information from their disc versions of games so that they can download digital copies of them. But, as I said, this probably won't happen. There's too much risk for pirating.

But, what do the rest of you think? Do any of you have plans to purchase a PSP Go? Why or why not?

~Bryson

World Of Warcraft

With millions of people playing the game now, it was only a matter of time before we at Collateral Otaku did an article about World of Warcraft, so I decided to do it now. World of Warcraft is one of the most played video games in the world right now, and is the most popular MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) ever. It currently has over 13 million players worldwide.

In the game you create a Hero. You can choose from 2 different factions (the Horde and the Alliance) and within those factions, you can choose from 5 different races and 9 different classes. After you’ve created your Hero, you’re set loose into the world. For such a popular game, the goal is quite simple. Complete quests to gain loot and experience to level your Hero up. There are many different types of quests, but the most common will be killing different enemies in the world, although there will always be the occasional “grab me the book from downstairs” type of quest. The more quests you finish and the higher your level, the further the story of the World progresses; a story which, in my opinion, is one of the better, more complex stories in the video game world. If you want to get the whole story of the World, I recommend playing through the first 3 games and maybe even reading the numerous novels that have been written. It’s a really gripping story. One of my favorite things about the game is how vast the World is and how much there is to do in it. If you get sick of fighting things you can always sit down and start fishing, or you can go browse the auction house for some new equipment. You can meet up with friends in the game and have a few beers in the tavern. Each player can learn two professions which can range from leatherworking or tailoring to herbalism or enchanting and can be leveled up just like the character themselves.

When the game was released, players could create a character and level them up to level 60 gaining loot, experience, and reputation. At level 30 you had the option to get your first mount. Your mount allowed you to travel the map at a faster speed than normal. At level 60, you were able to get your epic land mount, which would increase your speed even more. Throughout the game there are dungeons that the players can conquer, usually with the help of a group of other players.

Since the release of the original World of Warcraft there have been two expansions released as well, each one increasing the level cap, the size of the world, the coolness of the loot you can find, and also the amount of dungeons you could traverse. The first expansion (The Burning Crusade) introduced flying mounts to the game, which were a huge step up from the regular ground mounts you had. Also, the level cap was raised to 70. It also added Outland (the otherworldly home of several of the Warcraft races) to the navigable map. The biggest change to the game, however, was the addition of two new races (one for each faction). The Blood Elves joined the ranks of the Horde while the Draenei became the newest race to join the Alliance. Before Burning Crusade there was one class that the Horde had that the Alliance didn’t, and vice versa. (The Horde had Shamans and the Alliance had Paladins.) But, with the introduction of the new races, those restrictions were lifted. The Blood Elves brought with them the Paladin and the Draenei the Shaman.With the second expansion (Wrath of the Lich King) players were introduced to the frozen wastes of Northrend. Flying mount upgrades were also added allowing players to fly faster and the level cap was raised to 80, but possibly the biggest addition to the game was that of the first Hero Class: The Death Knight. Death Knights are the risen warriors of the Lich King himself. In order to create a Death Knight, a player has to have at least one character at level 55 since the Death Knight starts play at that level. Death Knights are one of the few classes that can be played by any race, since they are undead and anybody can die. If you know your World of Warcraft history, you’ll know the story of Arthas (The Lich King). When the players arrive in Northrend, they start to run into Arthas more and more. No, you don’t actually get to fight him in any of the expansions yet, but people are crossing their fingers and hoping that they can in the next expansion.
My Score: 4.5 out of 5

The bad points: As great and involving as the game is, there are certain parts that are really hard to slog through (level 35-55 is one of those). As great as the expansions are, they seem to be expanding the world as well as shrinking it. If you decide to start a brand new character, it’s going to be harder and harder to find groups for the difficult quests because everybody is already completely leveled to 80 and aren’t going to be hanging out in the “noob” areas, so good luck with that. Probably the biggest downer to the game is that you have to pay $15 a month to play. (But, hey, Blizzard has got to make money somehow.)

The good points: World of Warcraft is a role playing game, but also a social game. It’s great to be able to play with friends across the world. The story is long and involving and seems like it will continue to be so as long as there are new expansions, which there will be. (Blizzard makes too much money to let the game die.) Although spaced apart, the expansions continue to add more to do for the players. The game play is not so complicated as to make it hard for casual gamers to pick up and play, but is enjoyable enough to keep the hardcore gamer intrigued as well.

I highly recommend at least giving World of Warcraft a try. You’ll probably find that you like it.

~Bryson

[Prototype]

Prototype. A game set in Manhattan, New York. You play as Alex Mercer, who at the beginning doesn't remember a thing, waking up on an autopsy table. As he escapes, he is shot dead presumably several times. As he tries to uncover his past, he unravels a super-secret government conspiracy around the development of biological weaponry, particularly around the one that infected him, known as the Blackwatch Virus.

It plays much like The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.



The game is pretty simple to understand. You can free-roam around Manhattan and do whatever you please, and when you want to continue the story, the marker is on your minimap as well as your main map showing you where to go.

It looks pretty much like a zombie game. Infections of a virus spreading, and the military attempting to contain it. Both sides gain stronger units built specifically to fight Mercer as the story progresses.




But thankfully, as the game progresses you gain new abilities which will allow you to be more agressive against the ever-increasing military numbers coming into the island. Some of the abilities are given automatically during story events; however, most of the abilities must be purchased through an "upgrade" menu. You earn points to spend in the menu with pretty much everything you do in the game, and the harder the task, the more points you earn. There are also "Events", which give you a specific task to earn a specific amount of points, littered throughout the city. More appear as the story progresses.

Alex also has an ability innate to the start of the game, that allows him to "consume" a person. When you do, you can then disguise yourself as that person. But only the most recent person you consumed. Usually, it would be used to gain health. But it could also be a part of the story, or to hide from the military.

The story itself is pretty straightforward. Do this, attack that, kill that guy, consume that guy. If you want to get the meaning behind the picture, however, then finding certain people, marked with a little floating red head above them, will give you information that makes the simple story a lot deeper, and if you find enough, it becomes significantly darker. These people are called "Web of Intrigue" targets, and the name rightly fits them.




I give [Prototype] a 4 out of 5.

The good points:
The story is very detailed, if you try to find all of the web targets. Even if you find the minimal amount of the side story, the flow between the main events is smooth. The gameplay is pretty straightforward. The battle system is somewhat complex, but remains consistent.

The bad points:
Some missions, as well as events, require precision movement, which is practically impossible. It takes less than a minute fully upgraded to move from the lowest corner of the island to the opposite, highest point, but when you are asked to move from point 'A' to point 'B' in a certain amount of time, with sharp turns and ludicrus obstacles, it gets to the point of "throw your controller through your tv" frustration. And if that wasn't bad enough, boss fights in the game will make you even more angry. Fighting leading up to the boss fights are relatively easy to somewhat complex; but then when you get to the boss himself/herself, it's as if the game developers that went something like this:
"All right, How should we do the boss fights?"
"I vote we put the hardest rarer units in with the boss, in large numbers."
"I vote we add the military to go in there, with tanks and helicopters, and rockets, in large numbers."
"I vote we make the fights long. Very long."
"Good, good. And to top it all off, if you die, even if you were two seconds away from winning, you have to restart from the beginning of the fight. Good work everyone, that alone would make any gamer weep with joy."



Definitely a game worth playing, and even replaying. Just beware of the movement-specific events.

~Koubo

Classic Collateral: Sega Handhelds

Does anyone remember any of the consoles put out by Sega? What about the handheld systems they created? Say what you will about Sega, but they were ahead of their time. When Nintendo released the original Game Boy: big, brick-like and with a small, monochromatic yellow screen, Sega was releasing the Sega Game Gear: also big and brick-like; but with a larger, full color screen. Granted, the Game Gear had its shortcomings: the very short battery life (despite running on 6 AA batteries) was just one of them. But, honestly, how cool was it to be able to play Sonic the Hedgehog in full color while you were in the car? To me, it was amazing.Awesome system.
Just as awesome, but for different reasons.

Then, there was the Sega Nomad: a handheld system which could play Sega Genesis and Sega Master System Games in full color. This was just another reason that Sega was way ahead of the times. Nobody had thought to make a handheld system that could play console games. It was really an incredibly smart move on Sega’s part. They didn’t need to worry about creating a whole new game library for the Nomad, because they already had all the games from the Genesis and Master System. That alone was a great reason to get a Nomad.

Great game library, and look at all those buttons!

I’ve always found it rather sad that Sega dropped out of the console and handheld business and started just focusing on games. They had some really awesome systems in their day. But, they also had a couple of systems that flopped. (Sega CD, anyone?) There have been rumors that Sega had planned to release a Dreamcast 2, but most of those rumors are unfounded, as cool as it would be.

The Dreamcast 2, a dream crushed.

There is some news in the Sega front though. Later this month (July, 2009) a new Nomad system is going to be released. It will still be able to play Genesis and Master System games, but it will also have an SD card slot that you can download games onto. I haven’t been able to find out if the new Nomad is licensed by Sega or is a 3rd party system, but as soon as I can, I’ll let you know which it is. I can’t begin to say how cool it would be if the new Nomad was actually released by Sega. The new Nomad is going to be sold for $50.00 (US). It’s going to be slimmer than the original with a bigger screen. Hopefully, they will add in a lithium ion battery so that we can play for longer than 45 minutes without plugging into the wall.

Sleek, slim and SD capable.

If you’re wondering where you can buy Genesis and Master System games for your new Nomad, there are several places that still sell them. Stores like GameStop and Game Crazy no longer carry the older system’s games. But, if you can find a Play N Trade nearby your house, they should still be selling them, and they won’t be too expensive. If you can’t find a store to buy them, you can always try Amazon.com or Ebay, though you’ll have to pay for shipping from them. But online stores will usually have a bigger selection of the old games.

My Scores:

Old School Sega Systems: 5 out of 5.

New Sega Nomad System: 4.5 out of 5. (Could go up if the system works as well as it’s supposed to and is actually sanctioned by Sega.)

No LAN support in StarCraft II

A few weeks ago, Blizzard announced that there would be no LAN play for StarCraft II. While there have been online petitions and forums swamped with trying to change Blizzard's mind about it, the reasonable has been done by respectable sources, and a generic, but reasonable answer was given:

"We currently plan to support LAN play with StarCraft II, as we are building Battle.net to be the ideal destination for multiplayer gaming with StarCraft II and future Blizzard Entertainment games. While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy."

In case you didn't get the links, one was here at Ars Technica and here at Kotaku.

~Koubo

Another World - Kyou's Arc

*Note* This is not an article about the entirety of Clannad. A better Clannad article, which will introduce the anime itself and its characters, may come later.

This is an episode summary for the bonus OVA titled Another World: Kyou's arc. This episode is based off one of the multiple-endings in the Clannad dating simulation game, focusing on Fujibayashi Kyou.

Kyou, as well as her twin sister Ryou, have both like Okazaki Tomoya for quite some time. However, Ryou asked Kyou how to get Tomoya to like her, and Kyou attempted to put aside her feelings in order to help Ryou get together with Tomoya. After many trials, and failed attempts to gather courage to ask him out, Ryou finally confronts him and confesses her feelings.

The episode starts there.


(Ryou is listening to Tomoya say he is willing to give a relationship a try.)

After that, the episode gives enough of a visual to show that they are seeing each other regularly, and are acting like a typical couple.

But the thought of Kyou still lingers in the back of his head, and he is not completely sure why.


(At a picnic with Ryou, he looks at the vacant spot where Kyou once sat.)

On a day away from Ryou, Tomoya is wandering around town and comes across Kyou, who is also wandering around town, albeit with a lot gloomier of a countenance. He stops her, and they go to the park to chat.

Kyou asks questions about how Tomoya and Ryou have been doing, almost as if to see what she has been missing/if she has been missing anything. The topic comes to kissing, and Kyou is suprised to hear that the two have not even done that yet. She suggests, perhaps out of some sort of hope of her own, to practice kissing with her, so that when he does kiss Ryou it will be memorable. Tomoya agrees somewhat reluctantly, and they slowly move towards each other.


(Hopeful?)


(That's it, just a little closer...)

But just before the lips lock, Kyou relizes what she is doing and stops, pushes him away, and quickly leaves the scene.

But no selfish deed goes unpunished, and someone at their school saw them "kissing" and spread a rumor around quickly that Tomoya was playing the Fujibayashi sisters, or else just flat-out betraying Ryou. Kyou tries to remedy the situation by asking Sunohara Youhei, Tomoya's friend, to be her boyfriend. Sunohara sees through it quite quickly and clearly, points this out, and even goes as far as to ask if Kyou liked Tomoya.


(Kyou thinking, "And just HOW THE HELL DID YOU FIGURE THAT OUT?!?!")

Tomoya shows himself, making them both realize that he heard the whole thing.

Afterwards, Kyou tries to brush it off and tells Tomoya to forget about it. Ryou becomes increasingly aware of Tomoya's thoughts about Kyou.

In an unknown amount of time later, Tomoya is walking along in the rain, and sees a sad Botan (Kyou's pet boar), and follows the sad Botan to a drenched Kyou, who confesses her love for Tomoya, who is then put in a very awkward situation.


(Uhh... what?)

Tomoya dwells on it, and Sunohara, who is seeing it eat him alive, gives Tomoya his words of wisdom, telling him that no matter what he chooses to do, one of them will be hurt; and if he chooses to do nothing, he will end up hurting everybody.

Tomoya realizes that he is an idiot, and chooses the girl who he had the most feelings for, which was Kyou. He attempts to break up with Ryou, who leaves because she does not want to accept that response.

Later, Ryou shows up again, and Tomoya tries to break up with her again. She runs at Tomoya, and reveals herself to actually by Kyou, who cut her hair to Ryou's length and explains how Ryou has thought it best that Kyou approach Tomoya to hear his feelings for herself.


(Oh. You were Kyou. You have the purple eyes.)

It is important to note that this episode is more directed towards those who have played the game. It condenses a story that was at least four hours long into 20 minutes. And this episode focuses on one of the few stories that the main anime itself did not cover. And while this episode did not cover all of the content in the original story, it is still something to see if you find yourself wondering, "what would have happened if he (the main character) ended up with someone else?"



~Koubo

The Collateral Otaku

Collateral (adj) - (1) Accompanying; Auxiliary;

(2) Additional, confirming;

(3) Situated at the side;

(4)a relative descended from the same stock, but in a different line.

Otaku (n) - An avid collector or enthusiast, esp. one who is obsessed with anime, video games, or computers.

(both come from dictionary.com)

This blog is dedicated to bring you news about video games, anime, and anything else we find interesting or amusing.

It will also be a place for finding personal, unpaid reviews on various things such as anime, movies, and video games, and anything else we found interesting or amusing.

We do this as an "in addition" to other sites or blogs, as that it is not our desire to replace them or to overrun them. That is why we are the "collateral otaku." We want to give you another opinion or view so that you can have a better understanding of the things you love to see and read. We love our stuff; we want you to love it too.

Have fun with this blog.

~Koubo and the founding team