Tuesday, March 24, 2015

My Tales from Borderlands stats

Fiona
78.9% Sasha help Rhys
10.9% vs customization
81.1% didn't peak inside Sasha's gift
29.9% shot Finch with shock damage

Rhys
81.6% told Vaughn about Handsome Jack
33% Old Haven
90.5% brofisted Vaughn
34.4% trusted Jack

Monday, March 23, 2015

The best of Akira Kurosawa


  1. Rashomon
  2. No Regrets for Our Youth
  3. Ikiru
  4. One Wonderful Sunday
  5. The Hidden Fortress
  6. Ran
  7. Red Beard
  8. Kagemusha
  9. Throne of Blood
  10. Sanjuro
  11. Drunken Angel
  12. Stray Dog

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Something that really fails with Back to the Future the Game: Episode 1 that isn't Edna Strickland

Edna Strickland is one of the historically worst made characters in video game history.
However, there's another problem with Back to the Future: The Game, Episode 1.
How they told the story.
Now, I like everything nostalgic. That's key Back to the Future. (Trilogy at least.) Ecoolarg doesn't love that the Trilogy is the biggest cash in on a franchise ever made. But there's a certain appeal to it.
First off, it's original. They didn't copy and paste footage from a lame outsourced product like Power Ranger's Super Sentai. They used a sort of product placement ha-ha multiple Marty McFly joke that was made by director Robert Zemeckis that would've been horrible if it had been like the trailer. Instead, we get a sci fi tale and a western tale, two genre rivals as noted by the great technological wonder known as Toy Story. In The Game, we get gangster film meets anti-Cold War sci fi dystopia propaganda plot device. Although possibly less Back to the Future appealing, what could be more Reagan than that?

So back to my point. That wasn't the problem.
The problem was how they told the story.
In the beginning, you have this scene where Doc talks about putting a stop watch and seat belt on Einstein, which you don't actually see.
Then, Doc is missing, which is awesome because you get to see inside Doc's shop filled with Back to the Future type font, trying to figure out stuff yourself.
Einstein shows up and then you figure out the rest of the way there.
Doc is stuck in a 1930s jail.
And then you get him out.
And that's the whole story. There's no point in playing the rest and it takes like 10 minutes.

Now, there is the nostalgic factor of seeing a brand new "set" with 1930s Hill Valley, but again Back to the Future: The Game is an indie title:
No Thomas F. Wilson stealing the show,
Only a couple piece of the memorable awesome and iconic Back to the Future score by John Williams and co,
It's not really funny, like the Back to the Future we know is,
It's as if we ended up is some sort of alternate 1935...
And again, well.. Edna.

The game's marketing was that it brought back Christopher Lloyd and marketed AJ Locacsio as a great newcomer to the voice acting business.
That's true and fans got what they wanted in that respect.

But the point is there's not a lot of compelling story in the game for the first episode, even if you exclude a Strickland sister. Heck, most of the interesting stuff about that storyline (if you can call it that) doesn't happen till later installments of the game's episodes.

You stay in a crazy old ladies' house because you can't get out till you find out the date when Doc Brown got sent to jail and killed by Kid Tannen in 1935, another bad decision to kill time in the game.

Heck, they pad out the game's length, by having you walk awkwardly and slowly, compared to other parts of the game, of which in Episode 3, walking has become much better.

Also, you have to talk to Edna, which while a bad character idea, isn't really fleshed out in Episode 1 as something interesting, and later gets even worse when you find out Edna and Doc develop a weird fanfiction-like romance.

And this is the demo they give out for free for the game, to convince other people to invest in the company and game franchise... A game and studio supposedly consisted of high quality multilevel storytelling?

Luckily, right clicking gets through most of the unneeded dialogue. Really quickening the game's pace.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Video Game World Heavyweight Champion

1961 SpaceWar!
1971 Oregon Trail
 1985 Ghosts'n Goblins
1988
  • Final Fantasy II/Snatcher (Dual champs)
1990 Ninja Gaiden II
1991 Ninja Gaiden III
1995 Chrono Trigger/Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (Dual champs)
 1997 FFT
1998 Metal Gear Solid
2000 Shenmue
2001 Deus Ex/Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty (Dual champs)
2002 ICO
 2003 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 2005 Shadow of the Colossus
2008 Coil
2010
Mass Effect 2/Infinite Space (Dual holder)
LA Noire
2013 Antichamber

2014: Dark Souls II
2014: Tales from Borderlands

Tag Team Award:
1988 Super Mario Bros 3, Ninja Gaiden
1995 Chrono Trigger, Terranigma
1996 Super Mario RPG, Super Mario 64
1997 FF7, T
1998 Xenogears, Parasite Eve

1999 Diablo II/Starcraft
2000 Deus Ex/MGS 2: Sons of Liberty
2004 Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2
2011 Mass Effect 2/Infinite Space

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Final Fantasy Type 0 HD

Final Fantasy Type-0 is an homage to Final Fantasy. Like FFXIII's Lightning's homage to Fighter and Cloud, Type-0 is the antecessor of Final Fantasy VI's storyline and Magitek Armor weapons, featuring a cast of Sephiroth's clones, which can mix like in FFX's full party battles.
Final Fantasy has an excellent story featuring 9 protagonists fighting to save the world against the evil Empire.
Sound familiar?
The story seems a bit lax as the gameplay although unique is a bit too close to Dynasty Warriors in linearity. It's definitely a bit more upgraded in the graphics department, and more aesthetically pleasing..
The 9 characters however seem to have diverse uses. There's different strategies.
The close range magic user seemed to get hit too easily, although magic was helpful against machines.
Ace is the main character and my favorite to use as if you master him, you can injure enemies without getting hurt, or enough to get healed by your fellow party members. Various characters vary in range, damage, element, etc.. I can't wait to play the rest of them.
I bet a lot of people would like to see their favorite Final Fantasies remade with the FF Type-0 engine.
The Remix will feature a lot more phantomas. Phantoms are HP or MP increases after destroying an enemy, to make the game a lot a easier.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

GameStop eXpo 2014: Sonic Boom will be a decent platformer if the demo didn't lie

Fittingly during Dreamcast month, we have a future game, for its mascot character, Sonic.
Sonic has been an iconic character, during the great 16 bit era of video gaming.
Taunting Mario and seen as the enemy of that Nintendo generation by hype magazines.
A franchise with the name Sonic Boom has a great amount of hype going towards it considering the franchise is named after the Sega CD's iconic game, Sonic CD's theme song, "Sonic Boom."
The Sega CD was one of the quickest, most fun games ever made in the great Sonic franchise, a technical wonder by the great history of SEGA and Sonic alike. I would guess some would say that it even puts the original Sonic games to shame. (Cutscenes help too.)
Sonic Boom, 2014, the game, not the song, is a bit conservative, fixing the camera angles from Sonic Adventure, while not doing anything too innovative in the game.
Ideally, Sonic would be an iPhone, QTE filled game now, much like how legendary SEGA franchise, should've made the conversion as well.
It'll be fun to play, has great graphics, and I have no idea about the story. The path for its rings are interesting and the puzzle solving isn't bad.
You get involved with the AR, Earth-3 versions of Sonic and pals.
The boss looks like lots of fun and it won't just be Robotnik won't be the only boss. Instead you fight a snake inspired monster as well, adding to the universe, which has become new, if the demo didn't lie like the previous Alien game.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Best Takashi Shimura films

Takashi Shimura was well known for many things:
His association with Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune
His role in Godzilla where he even appears in the footage.
His legacy in Japanese film, especially in Ikiru as a dying man.
The missing footage he has in the US release of Kagemusha.
  1. Ikiru
  2. Godzilla
  3. The Hidden Fortress
  4. Osaka Elegy
  5. No Regrets for Our Youth
  6. Godzilla Raids Again
  7. Seven Samurai
  8. Rashomon
  9. Red Beard
  10. Drunken Angel
Best Adapted Film: Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Sunday, March 8, 2015

My choices for 1979 Japanese Academy Prize for Film

Awards for 1979
Award of the Japanese Academy
Best Film

WINNER
The Incident
NOMINEES
Empire of Passion
The Demon
Third Base
The Shogun's Samurai

Best Actor
WINNER
The Demon: Ken Ogata
NOMINEES
Kôtei no inai hachigatsu: Tsunehiko Watase
Talk of the Town Tora-san, Stage-struck Tora-san: Kiyoshi Atsumi
Third Base, Kaerazaru hibi, The Incident: Toshiyuki Nagashima
The Shogun's Samurai: Kinnosuke Nakamura

Best Actress
WINNER
Empire of Passion: Kazuko Yoshiyuki
NOMINEES
The Incident: Shinobu Ôtake
Dan Oniroku bara no nikutai: Naomi Tani
The Incident: Keiko Matsuzaka
Double Suicide of Sonezaki: Meiko Kaji

Best Supporting Actor
WINNER
The Incident: Tsunehiko Watase
NOMINEES
Dainamaito don don, Orenji Rôdo kyûkô: Kanjûrô Arashi
Dainamaito don don: Kunie Tanaka
The Shogun's Samurai: Shin'ichi Chiba
Never Give Up: Isao Natsuyagi

Best Supporting Actress
WINNER
Empire of Passion: Kazuko Yoshiyuki
NOMINEES
Seishoku no ishibumi: Shinobu Ôtake
Dainamaito don don, Kumokiri Nizaemon: Junko Miyashita
Double Suicide of Sonezaki: Sachiko Hidari
Tsubasa wa kokoro ni tsukete: Kyôko Kagawa

Best Director
WINNER
The Demon: Yoshitarô Nomura
NOMINEES
Empire of Passion: Nagisa Ôshima
Hitozuma shudan boko chishi jiken, Pinku saron: Kôshoku gonin onna: Noboru Tanaka
Kaerazaru hibi, Kiken na kankei: Toshiya Fujita
Talk of the Town Tora-san, Stage-struck Tora-san: Yôji Yamada

Best Screenplay
WINNER
The Incident: Kaneto Shindô
NOMINEES
Kaerazaru hibi: Kyohei Nakaoka, Toshiya Fujita
The Demon, Dainamaito don don: Masato Ide
Third Base: Shûji Terayama
The Shogun's Samurai: Kinji Fukasaku, Tatsuo Nogami, Hirô Matsuda

Best Cinematography
WINNER
Empire of Passion, Akô-jô danzetsu: Yoshio Miyajima
NOMINEE
The Incident: Takashi Kawamata

Best Art Direction
NOMINEES
Love and Faith: Takeo Kimura
The Shogun's Samurai, Yakuza senso: Nihon no Don: Norimichi Igawa

Best Sound
NOMINEE
Empire of Passion: Tetsuo Yasuda

Best Music Score
WINNER
Empire of Passion, Moeru aki: Tôru Takemitsu
NOMINEES
The Demon: Yasushi Akutagawa
Kôtei no inai hachigatsu: Masaru Satô
Love and Faith: Akira Ifukube
Seishoku no ishibumi: Hikaru Hayashi

Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER
Star Wars
NOMINEES
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Goodbye Girl
The Turning Point
Conversation Piece

Best Lighting
NOMINEE
Empire of Passion: Kenichi Okamoto

My 1978 Japanese Academy Prizes for Film

Awards for 1978
Award of the Japanese Academy

Best Film
WINNER
The Life of Chikuzan
NOMINEES
The Yellow Handkerchief
Hakkodasan
Ballad of Orin
The Gate of Youth Part 2

Best Actor
WINNER
The Yellow Handkerchief, Hakkodasan: Ken Takakura
NOMINEES
The Life of Chikuzan: Ryûzô Hayashi
Hakkodasan, The Alaska Story: Kin'ya Kitaôji
Tora-san Plays Cupid, Village of Eight Gravestones, Tora-san Meets His Lordship: Kiyoshi Atsumi
Totsuzen arashi no youni: Hiromi Gô

Best Actress
WINNER
Ballad of Orin: Shima Iwashita
NOMINEES
The Devil's Ballad: Keiko Kishi
Sweet Revenge, Dorodarake no junjô, Shunkinsho: Momoe Yamaguchi
The Yellow Handkerchief, Tora-san Meets His Lordship, Tora-san Plays Cupid: Chieko Baishô
Totsuzen arashi no youni, Sugata Sanshiro, Hakkodasan: Kumiko Akiyoshi

Best Supporting Actor
WINNER
The Yellow Handkerchief: Tetsuya Takeda
NOMINEES
The Devil's Ballad, The Devil's Island: Takeshi Katô
The Devil's Ballad, Beast in the Shadows, Sugata Sanshiro: Tomisaburô Wakayama
Hakkodasan, Sweet Revenge: Rentarô Mikuni
Kawachi no ossan no uta: yôkita no ware, Dokaben, Nihon no jingi, Piranha-gundan: Daboshatsu no ten: Takuzô Kawatani

Best Supporting Actress
WINNER
The Yellow Handkerchief: Kaori Momoi
NOMINEES
The Life of Chikuzan: Nobuko Otowa
Ballad of Orin: Tomoko Naraoka
The Gate of Youth Part 2: Ayumi Ishida
The Gate of Youth Part 2, Tora-san Plays Cupid: Shinobu Ôtake

Best Director
WINNER
The Yellow Handkerchief: Yôji Yamada
NOMINEES
The Devil's Ballad, The Devil's Island: Kon Ichikawa
The Life of Chikuzan: Kaneto Shindô
Hakkodasan: Shirô Moritani
Ballad of Orin: Masahiro Shinoda

Best Screenplay
WINNER
The Yellow Handkerchief: Yôji Yamada/Ballad of Orin: Keiji Hasebe, Masahiro Shinoda
NOMINEES
The Life of Chikuzan: Kaneto Shindô
Hakkodasan, Village of Eight Gravestones: Shinobu Hashimoto
Yakuza senso: Nihon no Don, Nippon no don: Yabohen, Hokuriku dairi sensô, Lover's Suicide: Kôji Takada

Best Cinematography
WINNER
Ballad of Orin: Kazuo Miyagawa
NOMINEES
The Alaska Story, Mother: Kôzô Okazaki
The Life of Chikuzan: Kiyomi Kuroda
Hakkodasan: Daisaku Kimura

Best Art Direction
NOMINEE
The Devil's Ballad, The Devil's Island: Shinobu Muraki

Best Music Score
WINNER
NOMINEES
Hakkodasan, Village of Eight Gravestones: Yasushi Akutagawa
The Alaska Story, The Yellow Handkerchief: Masaru Satô
The Life of Chikuzan: Hikaru Hayashi
Ballad of Orin: Tôru Takemitsu
Ningen no shômei: Yûji Ohno

Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER
Network
NOMINEES
Rocky
The Fire Within
Slap Shot
Voyage of the Damned

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Top 15 Harrison Ford films

  1. Blade Runner
  2. The Conversation
  3. Apocalypse Now
  4. The Empire Strikes Back
  5. Witness
  6. Star Wars
  7. Regarding Henry
  8. Raiders of the Lost Ark
  9. Clear and Present Danger
  10. The Fugitive
  11. Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade
  12. Air Force One
  13. American Graffiti
  14. Cowboys & Aliens
  15. K-19: The Widowmaker

Friday, March 6, 2015

Space Engineers Review

I played this game during the Free Weekend.
I like this game:
  • Indie developer,
  • Big production
  • Obscure nontypical stereotypical game country
  • SPACE
Game's problem: lack of tutorial, in game.
Game's strength: SPACE

This game really needs a tutorial. Buying the game straight off Steam makes it mad confusing. And I don't believe they ever sold physical copies of the game, considering it was made by a Czech indie developer. So no instruction manuals.
They should pretty much be a teaser saying: WATCH YOUTUBE before playing this game.
That being said, really good presentation. It's obviously 3D Unity engine based. The game sorta reminds me of Minecraft (in Space!) with less power, regretably. But same concept. Lego spaceship building.
Maybe if they hit it big there'll be even more features.
I wish there was more than shooting meteors or other people. Maybe there can be a minecraft ripoff level.

C rating.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

My Japanese Film and Director of the Year

1933: Japanese Girls at the Harbor
1939: The Story of the Last Chrysantheums
1943: Suguta Sanshiro
1946: Utamaro and his Five Women
1948: Drunken Angel
1949: Stray Dog
1950: Rashomon
1952: The Life of Oharu
1953: Ugetsu
1954: Godzilla
1956: Street of Shame
1957: Throne of Blood
1958: The Hidden Fortress/The Ballad of Narayama
1959: Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan
1960: The Naked Island
1962: Harakiri
1964: Gates of Flesh
1966: Violence at (High) Noon
1967: Branded to Kill
1968: Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell
1969: Diary of a Shinjuku Thief
1970: Dodeska-den
1971: The Ceremony
1973: Coup D'etat
1974: Himiko
1977: House, Ballad of Orin
1980: The Young Rebels, Kagemusha, Eijanaika
1981: Mobile Suit Gundam I
1983: Children of Nagasaki
1984: Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind
1985: Ran, Mishima: Life in Four Chapters
1988: Grave of the Fireflies 2. Akira 3. Father

Most I didn't watch. I'm a New Wave type person.

1989: Black Rain
1991: Heat Wave
1995: Ghost in the Shell
1997: The End of Evangelion/Jungle Emperor Leo/The Eel/Moonlight Serenade
1998: Spriggan/Perfect Blue/Sade
1999:
  1. Jin-Roh
  2. Betrayal & Trust
  3. Street Fighter Alpha
2000: Battle Royale
2002: Voices of a Distant Star
2003: Kill Bill
2005: Kamen Rider the First
2007: 5 cm per second
2009: Yatterman, Ultraman Galaxy
2010: Colorful, Outrage
2011: Harakiri: Death of a Samurai, 13 Assassins
2012: 009 Re:Cyborg, Parasite Dolls
2013: The Wind Rises
2014: The Tale of Princess Kaguya
2015: Kamen Rider Taisen GP

Director:

1933: Japanese Girls at the Harbor
1939: Kenji
1943: Akira Kurosawa
1946: Kenji
1948: Akira Kurosawa
1949: Akira Kurosawa
1950: Akira Kurosawa
1952: Kenji
1953: Kenji
1954: Ishiro Honda
1956: Kenji
1957: Akira Kurosawa
1958: The Ballad of Narayama
1959: Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan
1960: Nagisa Oshima
1962: Masaki Kobayashi
1964: Seijin Suzuki
1966: Seijin Suzuki
1967: Seijin Suzuki
1968: Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell
1969: Nagisa Oshima
1970: Dodeska-den
1971: Nagisa Oshima
1973: Coup D'etat
1974: Himiko
1977: House
1980: Akira Kurosawa Eijanaika
1981: Yoshiyuki Tomino
1983: Nagisa Oshima
1984: Hayao Miyazaki
1985: Akira Kurosawa Mishima: Life in Four Chapters
1988: Akira 2. Father

Most I didn't watch. I'm a New Wave type person.

1989: Black Rain
1991: Heat Wave
1995: Mamoru Oshii
1997: The End of Evangelion/Jungle Emperor Leo/The Eel/Moonlight Serenade
1998: Spriggan/Perfect Blue/Sade
1999: Nagisa Oshima
2000: Kinji Fujasaki
2002: Voices of a Distant Star
2003: Satoshi Kon
2005: Kamen Rider the First
2007: 5 cm per second
2009: Yatterman, Ultraman Galaxy
2010: Colorful, Outrage
2011: Harakiri: Death of a Samurai, 13 Assassins
2012: Kenji Kamiyama
2013: Hayao Miyazaki
2014: Isao Takahata
2015: Kamen Rider Taisen GP

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

My choices for Best Foreign Film for the Japanese Academy Awards

2015: Interstellar
2014: Django Unchained
2012: Black Swan
2011: Inception
2010: Gran Torino
2009: Lust, Caution/Red Cliff Part I
2008: Babel
2007: Hotel Rwanda
2006: Million Dollar Baby
2004: The Pianist
2003: Gangs of New York
2002: Artificial Intelligence, AI
2001: Dancer in the Dark
2000: The Matrix
1999: Good Will Hunting
1998: The English Patient
1997: S3V3N
1995: Pulp Fiction
1994: Unforgiven
1993: JFK
1992: Nikita
1991: Total Recall
1990: Die Hard
1989: Full Metal Jacket
1988: Platoon
1987: The Color Purple
1986: Amadeus
1985: Once Upon a Time in America
1984: Sophie's Choice
1983: E.T.
1982: The Tin Drum
1981: Apocalypse Now
1980: The Deer Hunter
1979: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
1978: Network