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| Professor 3700th Post
  
MMCafe Owner
     
|  "Re(2):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edition!" , posted Tue 26 Mar 23:35:  
Yea Wada is Ouuuuuuut
who is this new guy
quote:
Halp! I'm already lost in the world of Dragon's Crown!
http://art-eater.com/2013/03/from-mickey-mouse-to-jesus-the-latest-dragons-crown-trailer-is-full-of-epic-homages/
OH MY LORD that is an amazing writing! Two thumbs up to Nobi! It's unquestionably just a matter of time before that article gets a spotlight from a major site.
Coincedently, Dragon Crown's official JP site just got an update today. The first shipment of the game will come with a B5 size, 64 page full-color art book w/hard cover. Aside from the characters and background visuals, it'll feature guest artwork from the three (ex)Capcom artists: Akiman, Kinu, and Bengus.
A little more about the update--- the site doesn't give much insight into the game system but it gives us a glimpse of what the characters will play like. There's also info about the PS3/Vita connectibility.
- The Vita and PS3 version will be able to share the same save data (although really, how many people are actually going to buy both?).
- There will be online co-op. However, the PS3 and Vita versions won't be compatible to each other. That's to say, if you have the PS3 version, you can only play PS3 owners.
- The co-op will can match people randomly by their LVs (I'm natually assuming that people can manually chose friends to co-op as well).
Characters---
Sorcress-
A black magician. Unskilled at melee combat but has the powers to control skeletons and also turn enemies into froggies.
Dwarf-
A steroid raged shortie who can pick up even huge enemies and hurl them, making a casualty of enemies in a wide range.
Elf-
A long-living elf whose voice actoress is a bit of a worry. As an archer, she's practically fearless as long as she's fighting from far range.
Wizard-
A male wizard whose powerful magical attacks are pure devastation.
Amazon-
A female fighter who's wearing practically nothing. Prefers the use of two-handed weapons (like the huge axe). Her attacks rely on brute strength but covers a good range. When she doesn't have a weapon, she'll simply kick her enemies around.
Fighter-
A full-plated warrior who's obviously hard to hurt. He's the best character in defence and he can protect his party members with his shield. His weapon has short range but he can swing it fast n' furious.
Frog looks happy.
[this message was edited by Professor on Tue 26 Mar 23:37] |
| Pollyanna 3421th Post
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| "Re(4):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edition!" , posted Wed 27 Mar 15:14
A few more Kaizoku Musou notes:
-Buggy is fantastic. Not only can he do the BaraBara Car, it's his major mode of transportation. His move set changes depending on what body parts are available. For example, one of his moves detaches his hands and rains knives in all directions. If you do what would normally be a punch at that time, he dances around and kicks with his stubs in his pockets. If you try to run while any part is detached, he won't turn into the car and has a completely different running animation.
-Garp has lots of wrestling moves, throws and shoves enemies into other enemies and can pick people up and punch them in the face until he falls asleep.
-Robin's level 2 musou is the "Clutch" attack that she used on Franky. It's great when you waste two levels crushing the testicles of some random Marine by accident.
-The levels are full of bosses. You run very fast, so you can get around them easily, but they constantly have bosses appearing all over the place. You'll often have an overall goal that's thwarted by reappearing teams of bosses (like CP9). I find the levels to be lively and dynamic, but if you don't like beating the same enemy more than once, you might find this approach annoying.
-You can spend money to level any character automatically to match the highest level character you have.
-Some characters have interesting uses for their "special move" button. Nami makes lightning strike from every cloud she has on the field (other moves do this as well). This is only moderately useful until she can do Cyclone Tempo, which sucks a large group of enemies into a cyclone and puts clouds over all of their heads. Perona has numerous moves that do no damage, but "depress" the enemies. She then has a move that makes her ghosts "carry them away" and explode for an instant-kill. SUPER NEAT.
quote:
http://art-eater.com/2013/03/from-mickey-mouse-to-jesus-the-latest-dragons-crown-trailer-is-full-of-epic-homages/
Fantastic! And you reminded me how much I love Bruegel! The Fall of the Rebel Angels is my wallpaper now.
quote:
Although they mention Gyrozetter, Western HD titles and DQX as the main issues for their terrible fiscal year, it seems the biggest problem is their failure in the US market. But the interesting part is that they don't criticize the delay of FF Versus XIII or the flop of FF14. Hmm!
The FF14 flop doesn't fall into last fiscal year. They blamed that 2 years ago. When and if ARR does poorly this year, it'll be to blame again. I don't think there's any sales expectations to make or not make on Versus, either.
I used to know someone who worked at Square, who painted a similar picture to the tales of woe and madness that Japanese ex-employees have told. It's going to take a lot more than one shake-up to fix everything that's wrong with them. Of course, you can look at what they put out and tell that they spend millions chasing their own tails, doing and redoing then slopping together something that wastes the impressive resources that it's made of.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| mbisonhatclub 555th Post
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| "Re(5):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edition!" , posted Wed 27 Mar 17:36
quote:
I used to know someone who worked at Square, who painted a similar picture to the tales of woe and madness that Japanese ex-employees have told. It's going to take a lot more than one shake-up to fix everything that's wrong with them. Of course, you can look at what they put out and tell that they spend millions chasing their own tails, doing and redoing then slopping together something that wastes the impressive resources that it's made of.
The other part of the problem is the board of directors and investors who play a big part of the decision making process. As glad as I am to have Wada out of the picture, these other yokels, and others like them in other companies, only ever spell disaster for a video game company. They taint video games with their presence. They hire figureheads who they can blame when something goes wrong, while they frantically look around for people who can help make decisions in the video game market.
I shouldn't have to point out the obvious; these guys see it PURELY as a business. An investment opportunity to make money. They can't think in terms of the way people actually enjoy games, they can only see statistics and charts, and hope that their figurehead proposes a good money-making idea. But because of their stupidity with games themselves, they can't even determine who actually is qualified to deal in the games business.
While they're scared of unsafe or bad decisions, the terrible irony is that they are so conducive to them with the attitude they hold about a business, that they end up coming up with bad decisions in the first place. They're just old farts who fiddle with the paper in their wallets and should already be dead or at least in a retirement home where maybe their rich sons visit them once in a while if he's not too busy bowing to his own boss 24/7. Do they even have retirement homes in Japan?
By the way, Dogma is my favorite Kevin Smith movie and the boardroom scene is my favorite scene in it
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| chazumaru 982th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(5):Random Thread: Fiscal Year Edition!" , posted Wed 27 Mar 18:25:
quote:
The FF14 flop doesn't fall into last fiscal year. They blamed that 2 years ago.
Were I a Square-Enix shareholder and were you a Square-Enix representative, I would be very angry with your reply. FF14 was supposed to provide significant revenues over several years. The point of last year's mulligan was not to simply mitigate the loss but to get the game back on track in order to generate revenue. Which will not happen until at least next fiscal year.
In other words, the titles planned for the current fiscal year should not be solely blamed for Square-Enix's poor performance as they suddenly received the extra burden of filling up for a project which is still not bringing any money home. The 2013 line-up was put into motion at least two or three years ago, when SQEX thought it would also get revenue from their flagship MMO. Therefore, FF14 should absolutely not be forgotten in the discussion. It is a huge part of the problem, yet SQEX chose to blame the Western side of their operations.
Following that logic, you might understand why I also mention FFvs13. If Square-Enix has once again re-started the project from scratch as widely reported online earlier this year, they failed to complete one of the most awaited titles of their catalogue, wasting resource and staff which could have been used differently (although it is most likely that the majority of the staff has been diverted to current projects such as FF13-3 and FF14 while a core team works on the new version).
Once again, the most interesting aspect of this announcement is what has not happened. FF has not been blamed. Taguchi has not been named CEO.
In other news... THE CHEATING BOYFRIEND 3 !!!!!!! OMGOMGOMG
It gets released next week. Furthermore, the "Card version to DL version" savefile transfer app for retail 3DS games is also available (in Japan at least). It does not seem you can transfer back from a DL version to a card, unfortunately.
Tomokore looks impossibly awesome.
78
78
絵札はさすらい ♪ 78
78
秩序は廻る ♪ 78
78
絵札はさすらい ♪ 78
78
未来を示す
[this message was edited by chazumaru on Thu 28 Mar 00:03] |
| Iggy 9464th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):Random Thread: Fiscal Year Edition!" , posted Thu 28 Mar 01:49
quote:
THE CHEATING BOYFRIEND 3
I'm going to need an explanation of this one.
The sequel to the sequel to one of the best (or at least most hilarious) downloadable game on the japanese 3DS.
Play as a braindead shibuya girl whos dating an asshole, until suddenly your female intuition tells you hes cheating on me!!! 許さない！.
So you go in his room, look for hints (long hairs, traces of makeup, purikura
), and then throw them in his face (literally: youre supposed to hold firmly your console and shake it like if you were throwing the upper screen at someones face) until he curls into a ball and cries for forgiveness.
And the scenarios are amazing. In the 2nd one, at some point, youre dating a gaijin you hooked up with while you were drunk in the bar, but he hides a terrible secret: hes not a gaijin, hes a random Japanese dude who dyed his hair and speaks broken Japanese on purpose!だましたね！許せないわ！
I really can't wait for next week. Fortunately, the last Guild 02 game has been released today, so I can focus on each in due time!
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| Pollyanna 3422th Post
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| "Re(9):Random Thread: Fiscal Year Edition!" , posted Thu 28 Mar 05:58
quote:
(although it is most likely that the majority of the staff has been diverted to current projects such as FF13-3 and FF14 while a core team works on the new version).
I agree with everything you're saying, but this one I wonder about. They've stated that other titles have been delayed due to people working on 14, but I still bet that Tri-Ace is the one making 13-3. Although I don't think it has a release date yet, we wouldn't be seeing it for another 4 years if Square was behind it.
Speaking of slow game developers, the Metal Gear Solid 5 trailer brought tears to my eyes. I don't even know why. Maybe I like Metal Gear more than I thought. I'm probably in the minority, but I'm glad English Snake has a new VA. Super glad. Also, I guess Ground Zeroes is going to be a sort of prologue game before Phantom Pain comes out? Or Vice-versa? Maybe I missed a key piece of information, but there doesn't seem to be an answer on that front. Kojima did talk about doing games in episodes or "previewing" parts of them while they were still in development.
quote:
THE CHEATING BOYFRIEND 3 !!!!!!! OMGOMGOMG
I like how this game seems to mock men and women alike.
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Is One Piece the first Musou title that features characters that don't have to stay in human form? Between Luffy, the amazing sounding Buggy and the rest it sounds like this title is giving the animators a chance to do something new instead of simply having characters swing Chinese weapons around.
Yeah, I had said before that the new Sangoku is probably a better game than this, but the characters are all so exciting and lovingly animated that I'm starting to wonder if mildly super-powered historic Chinamen can quite stand up.
I'm continually surprised at how few concessions the game makes to its source material (excluding the plot, which is a disaster). Tall characters really are ludicrously tall. Absurd powers are adequately absurd. "Boss" characters maintain their "boss" powers when players use them. Aokiji can do "Ice Age", fill the entire screen with ice (as it should), freeze huge numbers of enemies, then kick their frozen bodies, causing a chain reaction of exploding enemies. THIS IS TOO MUCH FUN! How can I go back to China!? How can I ride a horse now that I've tasted the magic of the BaraBara Car?
(I'm sure my excitement will cool down by the time Sangoku 7/DW 8 comes out in the west, though...)
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Maou 2420th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Random Thread: Old Gray Men edition" , posted Thu 28 Mar 15:55:
quote:
They're just old farts who fiddle with the paper in their wallets and should already be dead or at least in a retirement home
Hatclub, you've actually hit it on the head in term of Japan's malaise in general. There is virtually unlimited talent and creativity to be found admist the people here, but the shambling gray corpses who run Japan's formerly great companies like Sony, Canon, and of course Square are the ones whose devastating mix of caution (in an age that rewards innnovative risks) and ignorance of their industry have contributed their fair share to Japan's dropping from the second- to third-largest economy, and surely further after that. The road to second-tier international status (and that includes the games industry, I reckon) is paved with caution and inertia.
I mean, I'm still amazed that anyone, ever, could forget that the most important person ever to work at Square, Sakaguchi Hironobu, could get soft fired---fired!---for a movie that flopped (and I wonder whose fault it was that he was pushed away from doing a fantasy movie because they "couldn't succeed," mere months before Lord of the Rings (I doubt it was his)).
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Thu 28 Mar 15:57] |
| mbisonhatclub 557th Post
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| "Re(7):Random Thread: Old Gray Men edition" , posted Sun 31 Mar 06:41
quote:
Hatclub, you've actually hit it on the head in term of Japan's malaise in general.
...
I mean, I'm still amazed that anyone, ever, could forget that the most important person ever to work at Square, Sakaguchi Hironobu, could get soft fired---fired!---for a movie that flopped (and I wonder whose fault it was that he was pushed away from doing a fantasy movie because they "couldn't succeed," mere months before Lord of the Rings (I doubt it was his)).
Oh believe me, I remember the Alamo pretty well when it comes to letting go of Hironobu. It's like the whole story of MGS2 but in the game development sector. A group called the Patriots (our Board of Directors, in this case) hire a figurehead president, hand him some instructions and the president takes the credit or blame for things within the company, while the BoD remain shrouded in mystery and immune to any criticism. In fact, I'm willing to believe that the meta in MGS2 was partially in reference to this kind of practice in business. I feel that these BoDs need to be exposed for what kind of people they are, though it's kind of hard when the rest of the world doesn't care.
Yet, those same people will continue to bitch and gripe about a company's activities, and they, too, will continue to be conducive to these business practices while joining in on blaming only the figurehead, because they don't know and don't care to understand what's actually taking place behind the scenes. Disgusting plebe garbage.
People who don't care only care about themselves in the present time but don't have the long term or future generations in mind, as if they've given up on the world. It's just video games here, but it also happens in politics and other sorts of businesses too, and it'll bleed out eventually until it becomes too big of an issue. By the time people will feel like complaining THEN, it'll already be too late, but they'll only complain when it directly affects them, which is a pretty sorry attitude to have.
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| nobinobita 1134th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(8):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edition!" , posted Wed 3 Apr 05:43:
quote:
Finally, did anyone see this hunk of malarkey from the DmC pitch? This is what a successful game pitch looks like?
Oh man, this makes my blood boil. That "Talexi" dude seriously can't even draw an arm flexing in profile, but he's allowed to put down Devil May Cry, a series with some of the highest quality art direction out there.
Seriously, look at his art:
http://i.neoseeker.com/ca/enslaved_conceptart_A54GV.jpg
He's the epitome of useless detail and rendering and texture over substance. I seriously respect Rob Liefield as an artist much more than that guy.
I'm probably gonna sound like a whiney crazy person when I say this but, there are a lot of people in games in the US that absolutely hate Japanese style games and art. I often hear "that's so Japanese" used as a negative criticism. It is very depressing.
Objectively speaking (well as objective as art can get with respect to the principles of art and color theory etc), Capcom's core art team does some of the BEST stuff out there, but lots of people will ignore it simply because it doesn't look like something they're supposed to like.
I know lots of artists and designers who feel they have to keep it a secret that they like Japanese stuff at all. It's frowned upon in many circles. Artists will actually suppress their natural inclinations and make more "western" style portfolios and pretend they enjoy Bioshock/Dragonrim etc to fit in. (It makes sense to gear your portfolio to your industry, but it breaks my heart when this trickles down to their personal work too)
I dealt with this a bit in school (I had an ex Disney teacher straightup tell me that there are no good animation artists from Japan), but I was dismayed to find that it's also pretty systemic in the industry. Not everyone is like this of course, but a surprising number of people I've worked with are.
I'm not quite sure where it stems from. Has anyone else experienced this? It drives me crazy!
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Wed 3 Apr 05:50] |
| Pollyanna 3426th Post
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| "Re(3):Random Thread: Justification edition" , posted Wed 3 Apr 07:35
quote:
I knew I should have turned the PSN OFF... For what it's worth, I had not laughed that much in a long time. There is a moment with Hope where the plot decides to give up any pretense of coherence. But the battle system is still very efficient and the monster-swap tweak is OK. I gave up around the eigth hour but I do not regret the evening spent complaining about the game with my flatmate.
I have been on a SQEX binge in the second half of March, playing DQ10 (free beta for Wii U), DQ7 (free copy), FF13-2 (free copy), Mindjack (£5) and Tomb Raider (free copy) in succession while the recent Hitman sequel (£20) is around the corner waiting to be opened. I mention the cost of each game because it might hint at some reasons for the financial troubles echoed earlier.
Hey, I wasn't judging you. I played FFXIV AT LAUNCH after all. It only stuck out because that was the only time I've seen you online and it was like "I finally catch him and he's playing that of all things?"
Any impressions on DQ10? Watching the trailers, I was glad to see that it looked like a DQ game, but I don't know what that really does in the big picture.
quote:
I had a hard time taking the inspirations section seriously when I was making my choices since the homages seemed so random. It's anybody's guess how "Karins match intro" will influence how a character plays in a game. Now that I actually put some conscious thought into how I made my choices realize I went with the description of the playstyle, if the look of the character appealed to me, and if the character would fit into the game of Skullgirls. Strangely enough, I'm now beginning to view Skullgirls as its own thing and not just a collection of pastiches from other titles.
Yeah, the inspiration section made me feel kind of...embarrassed . They were just like...name-dropping or something. I don't think of Skullgirls as just a conglomerate of other ideas repackaged either, but that's the impression they're giving.
A lot of the their potential characters don't fit in the game especially well, so I hope people consider that with their votes. The characters in Skull Girls (at present) give a really consistent image across the board. I would hate to see that upset. Then again, people paid a lot of money, so if they want something different and the creators suggested it, who am I to say? It just felt like some ideas weren't as fleshed out (and appropriate) as others.
(in reference to "Japan sucks")
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I'm not quite sure where it stems from. Has anyone else experienced this? It drives me crazy!
This is probably the worst in the comics industry. There's a lot of contempt for manga among Western publishers, like an "us vs them" sort of thing, I guess. I feel bad for artists with a wide range of influences that get shot down for having an inkling of "manga style" (whatever that means) in their work.
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BioShock's environmental direction is fantastic, even if the character animation in the first one was weirdly borked (animation frames didn't interpolate properly in my Steam copy of the game, so all enemy deaths animated with the fluidity of enemy deaths from Quake 1)!
Bioshock is just...a hugely unbalanced production, in my opinion. I enjoy the environments and the voice acting and a lot of the concepts behind it, but as a complete product, I feel that its grossly overrated.
Still, they got me to play an FPS, so that's something. I'm waiting for a good Steam sale to temper any potential disappointments in Infinite with an affordable price.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Iggy 9470th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Random Thread: Justification edition" , posted Wed 3 Apr 08:48
quote:
Yeah, the inspiration section made me feel kind of...embarrassed . They were just like...name-dropping or something. I don't think of Skullgirls as just a conglomerate of other ideas repackaged either, but that's the impression they're giving.
I agree the inspiration part is not the smartest thing they did... especially since they do seem like they have quite a lot of creative ideas, like the time-travel mecanic for Isaac.
Feng is supposed to spend a lot of time in the air, but instead ot using existing ideas like SS0's Yunfei, they seem to already have forged their own mecanic to create something fresh. On the other hand, the inspiration they give for that character is:
quote:
Psylocke (Vs. Series), Adon (Street Fighter Alpha series), Jam (Guilty Gear XX Accent Core), Okina (Last Blade 2), Makoto (Street Fighter III: Third Strike), Captain America (Marvel vs Capcom), Bang Shishigami (BlazBlue), homing cancels (Arcana Heart), Litchi (BlazBlue), Shanoas Magnes (Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia), Enders Game, Samuss grappling beam (Super Metroid)
I hate to see talented people sell themselves short like that.
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| GPA
56th Post
Occasional Customer
| "Re(9):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edition!" , posted Wed 3 Apr 17:35
quote:
Finally, did anyone see this hunk of malarkey from the DmC pitch? This is what a successful game pitch looks like?
Oh man, this makes my blood boil. That "Talexi" dude seriously can't even draw an arm flexing in profile, but he's allowed to put down Devil May Cry, a series with some of the highest quality art direction out there.
Seriously, look at his art:
http://i.neoseeker.com/ca/enslaved_conceptart_A54GV.jpg
He's the epitome of useless detail and rendering and texture over substance. I seriously respect Rob Liefield as an artist much more than that guy.
I'm probably gonna sound like a whiney crazy person when I say this but, there are a lot of people in games in the US that absolutely hate Japanese style games and art. I often hear "that's so Japanese" used as a negative criticism. It is very depressing.
Objectively speaking (well as objective as art can get with respect to the principles of art and color theory etc), Capcom's core art team does some of the BEST stuff out there, but lots of people will ignore it simply because it doesn't look like something they're supposed to like.
I know lots of artists and designers who feel they have to keep it a secret that they like Japanese stuff at all. It's frowned upon in many circles. Artists will actually suppress their natural inclinations and make more "western"
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
First post in many years, but yeah, I got that kind of "Anti-Japan" stuff all the time back in my art school- and alot of it did, in fact, come from people who had no right to say it. Actually, when I was checking out the school's clubs and showing my portfolio I was told that they would "fix me out of that anime stuff." I heard there was also one teacher who would downgrade work if it looked manga/anime-esque.
The way it was explained to me, it seemed like the resentment stemmed from many US animation companies closing in favor of cheaper Japanese animation during the 80's and then it just continued to fester and spread throughout the modern industry. Also because of low frame rates, over use of still shots, and a generalization of Japanese art styles.
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| Pollyanna 3427th Post
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| "Re(10):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edition!" , posted Wed 3 Apr 21:34
No comments on Capcom's "Monster Hunter for babies with Street Fighter moves"?
Excuse the following rant, so allow me to make one video game related comment...about Kaizoku Musou 2 again:
-Kuma can actually make people disappear. Just swipe...and gone. Never gets old.
Also, Sanji can't hit girls (!?)
quote:
First post in many years, but yeah, I got that kind of "Anti-Japan" stuff all the time back in my art school- and alot of it did, in fact, come from people who had no right to say it. Actually, when I was checking out the school's clubs and showing my portfolio I was told that they would "fix me out of that anime stuff." I heard there was also one teacher who would downgrade work if it looked manga/anime-esque.
This is obviously terrible, and something I've heard happen over and over again, but I do have sympathy for some of these teachers who now have to deal with wave after wave of students who have little legitimate interest in art outside of "wanting to draw anime."
Students who aren't interested in learning anything outside of their bubble (which their teachers aren't going to be able to teach them anyway) are no less guilty than close-minded teachers. Art teachers aren't going to be able to teach them "anime style" (whatever that means) and if they don't have any interest in learning what they can teach them, they don't have any business taking classes.
Obviously a good teacher will explain that they can give a student a foundation that they can later apply to their own style just as a good student will be interested in learning that foundation.
I feel compelled to gripe about this sort of thing, because I see manga fans that are also artists complain about like...Urasawa, Inoue, Terada and Tezuka, saying their work is "ugly" or "dumb" because it doesn't "look like manga." Fuck that.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Pollyanna 3428th Post
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| "Re(3):Re(10):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edi" , posted Thu 4 Apr 01:54
quote:
Also, Sanji can't hit girls (!?)
It's his credo in the manga. Even when he was up against a major foe who was a woman, he got swapped out for Nami.
Sorry, the (!?) was supposed to indicate an impressed surprise, not a lack of understanding. It would be kind of sad for me to go on and on about the accuracy of the game if I wasn't even familiar with the manga. I'm an OP fan first and a Musou fan second.
Since I'm already typing this and I've finished Story Mode and many of the character stages, I'll post some "final-ish" impressions, so I can finally shut up about this.
-The story in story mode really is awful to the core. The stages are fun, though. It's comparable to the length of DW7. So about 10 hours or so?
-Each character (normal, support or boss) has their own stage with a small scenario outside of story mode. There are a TON of these. Literally every character has one as well as pre-timeskip Straw Hats. They're slightly shorter than story mode stages, so maybe 15 minutes each?
-Between the coins, huge number of unlockable skills and rewards from leveling your support characters, there is a massive amount of material to keep you busy, if you decide that you like the game enough. It's quite different than the first game in that regard.
-For better or worse, the game eventually becomes a battle of super gauges. As I mentioned before, your destructive power is through the roof and it's possible to take out 150+ enemies in one shot.
-It annoys me to no end that they bothered to have Buggy turn into a car, but don't have Chopper turn into a proper reindeer when he runs. When they get so many little things right, you start to nitpick, I suppose.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1095th Post
PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(2):Re(10):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edi" , posted Thu 4 Apr 02:19
quote:
Excuse the following rant, so allow me to make one video game related comment...about Kaizoku Musou 2 again:
-Kuma can actually make people disappear. Just swipe...and gone. Never gets old.
PS3 version ordered yesterday! I can't really afford it, but I just keep seeing too much good stuff about this game that I can't avoid it!
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Bioshock is just...a hugely unbalanced production, in my opinion. I enjoy the environments and the voice acting and a lot of the concepts behind it, but as a complete product, I feel that its grossly overrated.
Still, they got me to play an FPS, so that's something. I'm waiting for a good Steam sale to temper any potential disappointments in Infinite with an affordable price.
The new Bioshock is really beautiful to look at, even if I find the gameplay and story to be a bit mediocre. It and Borderlands are what got me to try FPSs for the first time since... what, 1996?
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DmC stuff
It's funny that this whole conversation started with DmC, given that a lot of my friends disliked the first Devil May Cry years ago because it was 'too Western looking' for a Japanese game. People are funny!
While I'm not a fan of DmC's design by any stretch, the primary reason I don't like it is the gameplay, not the art direction.
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This is obviously terrible, and something I've heard happen over and over again, but I do have sympathy for some of these teachers who now have to deal with wave after wave of students who have little legitimate interest in art outside of "wanting to draw anime."
I have a few art instructor friends who actually complain about this very thing. My one friend says he gets at least half his students every semester that have this kind of direction. I know it's not narrowmindedness on his part because he's a big fan of manga (and his work is definitely influenced by it). I'm sure art schools were flooded with Liefield-lookalikes in the 90's and Frazetta-lookalikes in the 80's, so oh well.
www.secret-arts.com
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| chazumaru 986th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(8):Random Thread: 2013 Hayfever Edition!" , posted Sat 6 Apr 04:32
I am back in Europe. Why is it snowing in April?
Also, it's not the first time it happens to me so I would like to mention it: I could not access the board while I was in Japan (using Chrome).
Only the top frame appears:
BBS Message List | Post New Thread | Check Replies // ImageBBS | Drawboard | Nico | MMCafe
But the topics beneath never load. White page.
I am not sure if this was related to a specific provider or a bug on my computer.
Does this only happen to me?
quote:
In other news EDF continues its march to being GOTY.
Wow, it looks legitimately good! I was not expecting this kind of effort. I dig the subtle MH inspirations as well. Too bad this is not coming for Wii U, given the good relationship between Sandlot and Nintendo.
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Any impressions on DQ10?
Sure:
1. The graphics are pretty bad.
2. The music is pretty good (I think only the Wii U version has orchestral music?).
3. Battles feel like DQ!
4. I need to get a VPN and flashed router to play beyond the (one hour long) introduction.
5. I could not find a copy of the game anywhere in Kansai this week. I don't mean it was sold out, like Luigi's Mansion 2. You can find boxes of Luigi's mansion 2 everywhere, except they have a small sticker on them telling you to give up the idea of finding any version with a card inside. Whereas, in the case of DQX, I mean I could not even find any proof of the Wii U version's existence. Pretty worrying for the console. I also found a new copy of Game & Wario for 3000 yens because "it was a rainy day", which was either a gross overstatement or the most polite excuse.
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"I finally catch him and he's playing that of all things?"
I am also trying to play DOA5+ at hours when nobody will catch me, but since I have contacts on every continent, it's very difficult. Also, the game does not very look good at all on Vita! I am quite disappointed by the difference with the PS3 version I played (only once ( for twenty minutes (at a friend's house (and slightly drunk (so maybe I should not have trusted my memory of how good it looked and get informed on the graphical changes before buying the Vita version))))).
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Skullgirls
I have to admit I see the current Skullgirls as a bastard child of MvC2 and Arcana Heart if it had pruned in DeviantArt' bathtub and randomly decided to have twice as many playable characters as Pit Fighter. Not my cup of tea, to say the least.
Although the new characters are going in too many directions, as if grasping at creative straws, some of the new potential characters give more of a Vampire-ish personality to the game, which makes the whole IP much more attractive to me. And the characters I did not respond to, I have already forgotten about them.
So, even if they only release a couple of characters from that list and none of the characters I care for, they successfully managed to change my perception of the game. For that alone, I think their gunshot-style scattered approach was a very good idea.
quote:
No comments on Capcom's "Monster Hunter for babies with Street Fighter moves"?
Wait, what? I thought this was an April Fool joke but I see you wrote that on the 3rd.
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| nekros 546th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(1):The Dragon's Crown & Nobi appreciation " , posted Sat 6 Apr 22:44
quote:
Halp! I'm already lost in the world of Dragon's Crown!
http://art-eater.com/2013/03/from-mickey-mouse-to-jesus-the-latest-dragons-crown-trailer-is-full-of-epic-homages/
That's a veeery interesting piece, as usual ^_-
I like to see something for Muramasa, one day. Vanillaware guys are hardworkers for sure, but have an amazing approach to culture/legends/art and fuse them together: I've always dreamed about a VW game based on Greek or Egyptian myths.
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The Dante thing
It's very depressing seeing this. I never liked Dante but I somewhat appreciate he's not an emo kid and he doesn't take himself seriously.. he's some crazy guy skilled at fighting demons, and he's totally aware of it. Sure, he has that visual key+rivet design, but was fine to my eyes. The new Dante is... just a kid; who pretends to be "dark and cool" using fashion, attitude and bad words. If the old Dante could be considered metrosexual, the new one is simply pathetic.
I have a friend who graduated in comic arts and all her teachers were against anime/manga and Japanese artists, I can imagine how do you feel relating to those people. Italy could have been very good in the comic market (we had enormous potential with Disney in the 90s for example), but the fear of taking risk and the market laws destroyed that perspective in its earlier stages.
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| Pollyanna 3431th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Finally some good news regarding Megama" , posted Wed 10 Apr 05:39
quote:
I find interesting that the attempt to blame western studios for the loss instead of FF14 and Versus XIII backfires with these arguments.
This is just really sad on so many levels, but the strength of their "brand" is really important, seeing as they've done nothing but rely on that for years, damaging it and themselves in the process.
Seeing the gap in sales between a successful new title (Bravely Default) and an established franchise made me realize that with the kind of budgets that they run, new IPs are a much smaller part of the equation. They need to regain the strength of their brand with strong, (numbered) sequels if they want to continue in the capacity that they have in the past.
Well, just my opinion.
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Even when Megaman was rebooted into one series after another was at least a similiar design aesthetic to how Megaman and his world was presented. It didn't matter if it was a platformer or had RPG elements, when I saw the main character I recognized that it was Megaman. It's like with Mickey Mouse; the details may change but you always recognize the rodent. I would have loved to see that lost FPS play like it did but have the look and design normally associated with Megaman. Now that would have been a crazy, original looking game.
I had to re-read your post 3 times before I understood it, because I was too distracted by thoughts of a super-realistic (?) Mickey Mouse FPS.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Pollyanna 3436th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Finally some good news regarding Megama" , posted Thu 11 Apr 11:55:
Good enough! I'll get Guacamelee next time I have some time off. Sony kept giving me free PSN money, so I got PS+. That makes it like, $11? With cross buy, too. Can't complain about that.
EDIT: Got it. Like it! My back-of-the-box quote is "This game has thumb-blistering aerial maneuvers!" Thankfully, you aren't punished for less-than-ideal platforming skills, so I can cope. My only complaint thus far is that I don't like needing to hold an extra button to stick to walls. It makes me play Twister with my fingers when I have to jump again.
It's as suited to "Metroidvania" fans as you would expect a game that uses the word "Metroidvania" in its trailer to be. For those who are iffy about it...if it looks like you'd enjoy it, you probably would.
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Turrican, just because.
The guy who wrote that is also an authority on all things related to Sonic The Hedgehog (yes, I know that sounds like an incredibly tragic expertise).
I read the whole post, but the guy really ruined his credibility with (Turrican 2 is) "undoubtedly one of the greatest games of all time, regardless of format"
But it looks like if you want to play Turrican, Turrican 2 on Amiga would be best?
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Thu 11 Apr 17:52] |
| Iggy 9479th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):Finally some good news regarding Megama" , posted Thu 11 Apr 19:42
quote:
Guacamelee
Yes!!! Tried it! We only played half an hour, so I cannot really comment on the core game, but it's super pretty, and the music is great too.
The 2 player game works quite well for the moment, with the same system as NSMB (you can enter in a "bubble" state whenever you want, go anywhere on screen, and the other player has to pop the bubble). For the moments, fights have been a bit confusing with enemies flying between the two players, but that made it even better.
I have no idea how the game will develop, though. Karasu, you said the game is not very long?
Anyway. Thanks for talking about the game here Polly, I would never have heard of it otherwise!
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| karasu99 1100th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(10):Finally some good news regarding Megam" , posted Fri 12 Apr 00:19
quote:
I have no idea how the game will develop, though. Karasu, you said the game is not very long?
Well to be truthful I'm still playing it, but my impression from the map and from the place I'm at in the game is that it's not super long. Definitely $15 worth of long though so I don't want to turn anyone off to trying it! I'm just moaning and complaining because I always want games I love to be longer!
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EDIT: Got it. Like it! My back-of-the-box quote is "This game has thumb-blistering aerial maneuvers!" Thankfully, you aren't punished for less-than-ideal platforming skills, so I can cope. My only complaint thus far is that I don't like needing to hold an extra button to stick to walls. It makes me play Twister with my fingers when I have to jump again.
It's as suited to "Metroidvania" fans as you would expect a game that uses the word "Metroidvania" in its trailer to be. For those who are iffy about it...if it looks like you'd enjoy it, you probably would.
Yes, my thumbs are killing me after about ten hours of playing this, and on the Vita yet!
Wow, the more I play the more I'm loving the game, from the 'fight poster' style pre-boss-fight graphics to the music, to the loving way in which the living and dead worlds complement each other. Everything about this game seems to be carefully crafted, from the animations to the music to the characters. The main boss's animations are fantastic in particular. No, actually, I love the way ALL the bosses were handled. The controls are all spot on too. Your luchador guy animates and moves silky-smooth, and while a lot of the platforming can be pretty card, it never feels unfair. It's actually a refreshing thing to have to try hard to get through some of he platforming, since in most Metroidvanias it's not a matter of platforming being hard, it's a matter of waiting until you get a powerup that makes it easy. Not so much here!
I'm sure there are a bunch of nit-pickers and complainers out there who will find SOMETHING to hate, but overall I'm at a loss to point to any particular downsides to dropping the $11 or $15 to pick this up.
www.secret-arts.com
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| chazumaru 992th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(1):Finally some good news regarding SQEX" , posted Fri 12 Apr 20:42:
The other western games indeed sold like crap in Japan, but Tomb Raider only comes out at the end of this month (most likely because it needed the extra localisation time). Not that it is expected to sell so well, but just so you know.
In this case, I think it is just that SQEX must have noticed decent sales in Japan for the PC version and think it is not worth advertising the translation as a new game, but rather more realistic to make money on the people who bought it for cheap during Steam sales and have not played the game yet.
[edit] Wow wow wow wait what ???
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Thing is, the Steam PC version of the game disposed, at launch, of Japanese voices and subtitles, despite being priced at a lower price point than the physical release: 50$ against what amounts to 76$, according to today's exchange rate (which is exceptionally bad for the yen). It was a pretty nice, and a weird move...
So what did Square-Enix do? They patched the Steam version some time ago to take out the Japanese language support and just announced that this Japanese option would be offered as DLC for 30 dollars.
(From GAF. Emphasis mine.)
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[this message was edited by chazumaru on Fri 12 Apr 22:00] |
| Spoon 2417th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Finally some good news regarding SQEX" , posted Sat 13 Apr 00:28
There's a supposed account of what happened from the neogaf thread, but everything to me on this is hearsay:
Okay, let me explain how this fuck up probably happened. Please bear with me, because it's going to sound really stupid, and I'm not defending Square Enix here, only explaining the nature of the fuck up.
- Tomb Raider comes out in Japan on April 25 2013, at the price of 8000yen (80 USD).
- The Japanese release includes voices in English or Japanese, and Japanese text. This differs it from the version sold in US and Europe where the voice options are only in English.
- Somehow it appears the PC Tomb Raider release on Steam was available for purchase in Japan at the US/Europe release price of 50 USD when it was released last month.
- Additionally it appears that someone fucked up massively and included all the language content meant for the Japanese release along with the package.
- So for a period of time Japanese fans were able to buy Tomb Raider on Steam for 50 bucks, and enjoy Japanese language support, a whole month before the release in Japan.
- Someone found out, panicked, and removed the language content support so Japanese consumers would no longer be able to buy a fully functional Japanese version of Tomb Raider at almost half the price and a month before it is released in Japan.
- Now that the Japanese launch is finally arriving, they are offering the option for anyone who used the previous "exploit" to top up the 30 dollars of difference to regain access to the Japanese language options.
From Square Enix's perspective, what they were doing was closing a reverse import regional loophole, and now they are offering an olive branch to fans who used that exploit so they don't have to sit on a useless 50 buck English-only Tomb Raider. From the perspective of everyone else, Square Enix is scamming everyone.
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| Pollyanna 3438th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):Finally some good news regarding SQEX" , posted Sat 13 Apr 10:51:
quote:
I love it, she looks like a really interesting character, but I'm afraid that her overt (self confident!!) sexuality will hurt this game in the US.
Although it's my fault for reading it, I can't help but want to blame you for exposing me to the instant-rage factory that is Kotaku's journalism and comment section.
I love how every time big breasts show up in a game, someone says they should have dudes with giant packages, because breasts are genitals and when when women show off cleavage, they're squeezing some of their genitals out to show the world?(!?!?!?!?)
I wouldn't argue that Dragon's Crown doesn't objectify women, but that's the idea...it's caricature.
Still, I can't help but think that they might have made a misstep, since the audience seems to have misunderstood so thoroughly.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Sat 13 Apr 10:51] |
| nobinobita 1140th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(8):Finally some good news regarding SQEX" , posted Mon 15 Apr 06:40
quote:
Although it's my fault for reading it, I can't help but want to blame you for exposing me to the instant-rage factory that is Kotaku's journalism and comment section.
I love how every time big breasts show up in a game, someone says they should have dudes with giant packages, because breasts are genitals and when when women show off cleavage, they're squeezing some of their genitals out to show the world?(!?!?!?!?)
I wouldn't argue that Dragon's Crown doesn't objectify women, but that's the idea...it's caricature.
Still, I can't help but think that they might have made a misstep, since the audience seems to have misunderstood so thoroughly.
TASTE MY PAIN! Haha so so sorry about that. I have a very masochistic relationship with Kotaku. I think they do have some good articles once in a while, and I feel obligated to visit them to keep my thumb on the pulse of the super average joe "hardcore" gamer. But man, most of their editorial spin is tailor made to troll me to my very core. It makes me appreciate everyone here in the cafe that much more though! :3
www.art-eater.com
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| Pollyanna 3438th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):Finally some good news regarding SQEX" , posted Mon 15 Apr 14:15
For those who might be interested in Toukiden, here's an extended play video.
I'm very frustrated at how shamelessly it rips off Monster Hunter. Look at the life/stamina bars...the icons for items. The game looks competently done and seems to have successfully emulated some of MH's quality as well, so it's a shame to see such obvious ripoffs when I know they could've done something good on their own.
I'll probably have my hands full with Soul Sacrifice and MH4, so I don't know if I need another MH game. Pity that both this and God Eater 2 are PSP games that run in higher resolution on Vita, rather than Vita exclusives. Not only does that make for poor use of the system, it prevents it from moving forward as an important platform. I can't blame developers for not wanting to take risks, but if they don't invest in the platform, they won't see returns from it.
quote:
TASTE MY PAIN! Haha so so sorry about that. I have a very masochistic relationship with Kotaku. I think they do have some good articles once in a while, and I feel obligated to visit them to keep my thumb on the pulse of the super average joe "hardcore" gamer. But man, most of their editorial spin is tailor made to troll me to my very core. It makes me appreciate everyone here in the cafe that much more though! :3
Maybe people like it this way, but I get a "personal blog" feel from Kotaku. The writers sometimes aren't professional or responsible enough for such a big news site. For every good story, there's 3 poorly-researched not-stories or ignorant, sensationalist pieces. Fine for someone's blog, but embarrassing for a news site. A personal touch is fine, but I feel like some of their writers have gotten too arrogant.
I think my favorite obnoxious thing they did was post links to fansubs...as a news story. Like "hey, check this out!" That's the same as linking to a site where you can download rips of PSP games or something.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1103th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(3):Re(10):Finally some good news regarding" , posted Wed 17 Apr 01:23
quote:
So far I've managed to unlock Ayane's ugly outfit from NG2 which I was not happy to see again. Hopefully some of the others are better since their initial outfits -which are just variations on Ryu's rubbery armor- aren't half bad. Waiting to see what sort of vaguely embarrassing outfit the game throws at me next is giving the game an Oneechanbara vibe which seems about right given how creaky the game is. I do hope these characters show up in a different, better game at some point because all three of the alternate characters are a lot of fun to play. NG3 still has all sorts of problems but if it managed to make that doe-eyed moppet Kasumi come across like a badass it must be doing something right.
Oneechanbara is a particularly apt comparison to make in connection to Team Ninja games, especially these days (or maybe I'm just getting stodgy).
On the alt characters, my single biggest complaint about NG2 Sigma was that you get all these super fun to use characters and then play as them in exactly one mission each. What is this, Art of Fighting 1? It's not as though playing as them in any mission will make it unbeatable, it's just that they didn't want me playing as Rachel to break their Ryu cutscenes.
quote:
Maybe people like it this way, but I get a "personal blog" feel from Kotaku. The writers sometimes aren't professional or responsible enough for such a big news site. For every good story, there's 3 poorly-researched not-stories or ignorant, sensationalist pieces. Fine for someone's blog, but embarrassing for a news site. A personal touch is fine, but I feel like some of their writers have gotten too arrogant.
I think my favorite obnoxious thing they did was post links to fansubs...as a news story. Like "hey, check this out!" That's the same as linking to a site where you can download rips of PSP games or something.
I tend to avoid complaining about Kotaku since complaint sessions about them on social media or in comments sections get so complex and long-winded that I worry the "any publicity is good publicity" effect is taking over when all the people wondering what the fuss is end up visiting the site and driving up their stats. I just never go read them anymore, since there are plenty of decent alternate sources. The same thing happened a generation ago with IGN, where I got seriously turned off by a lot of the 'lifestyle' reporting they brought in to 'flesh out' their offerings to leering teenage and twentysomething males. I don't honestly miss reading their stuff.
As far as Dragon's Crown goes, I see the referential angle of the characters pretty well, and I think they're pulling off a game that evokes the roots of 'Sword and Sorcery' genre works of the 70's and 80's while still being unquestionably Vanillaware-produced. While it's a shame that the game might just end up being known for the Sorceress's outrageous Russ Meyer-class boob size (at least in the US), it's not like Vanillaware isn't already known for using tentacle porn hints, foot fetish imagery, and so on that most developers shy away from (at least overtly). Kotaku's always billed themselves (rightly or wrongly) as part of gaming journalism intelligentsia so they can go far by finger wagging at a small Japanese developer for apparently pulling the same tricks that Eidos did with Lara Croft's impractically large rack back in the 90's (that I'm sure half of their writers drooled over as teenagers). It's a shame that very few of Dragon's Crown's defenders actually just embraces Vanillaware's love for fetish-imagery. It's one of the things that I kinda love about them, honestly!
www.secret-arts.com
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| Lugos
20th Post
New Customer
| "The worst game on XBLA" , posted Wed 17 Apr 05:06
The worst game on XBLA has descended upon us. And it's name is Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons.
And no, I'm not being facetious. It really is the worst game I've played on the 360. It's also got the lowest XBLA rating out of any game that I could find.
I was surprised to start the game with 20 lives. Plus, you have the ability to restart any stage with your full 20 lives. In addition, 1-ups are generously spread throughout the game. That should be the first sign that there's something wrong with this game.
Even though the enemy AI is incredibly stupid, I found myself dying all over the place because of its broken fighting engine. The small fry are easy enough, but I always died multiple times at large enemies or bosses. Standard attacks barely work on them, and special attacks are limited by your stamina. To make matters worse, these enemies' attacks have practically zero start-up time, so it's hard to deliver an attack when you're constantly getting beaten to the punch. Plus, your recovery animation takes so long to complete that these enemies can easily wail on you until you're dead. You end up doing more damage to them with your resurrection animation than your actual attacks, which is why I think the developers gave players so many lives.
So here's how DDII breaks down: 1) Take Fighting Force and clean up its textures with an emulator. 2) Take Fighting Force's engine (not that it was great to begin with) and cripple it with sloppy collision detection, sketchy response controls, and buggy enemy AI. 3) Throw in some DD music and stages. Presto! You have Wander of the Dragons.
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| HAYATO 1077th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(9):Finally some good news regarding SQEX" , posted Wed 17 Apr 20:07
quote:
TASTE MY PAIN! Haha so so sorry about that. I have a very masochistic relationship with Kotaku. I think they do have some good articles once in a while, and I feel obligated to visit them to keep my thumb on the pulse of the super average joe "hardcore" gamer. But man, most of their editorial spin is tailor made to troll me to my very core. It makes me appreciate everyone here in the cafe that much more though! :3
Congrats for penning such an outstanding article, Nobi. That's exactly the approach I like when reading art essays, and the one I suggested you to try after reading your take on Asura's Wrath: well thought, easy to comprehend and full of relevant sources and reference material. Really, really nice and enlightening...
I wouldn't mind Kotaku's opinions about a subject they don't really understand. You are way above their league, so don't heed the moans of lesser journalists, no matter how famous they boast to be.
On a side note, "The Sorceress" (that Frazetta's painting you left undated in your article) was drawn in 1994. According to ICON (one of the earliest Frazetta artbooks I know of), it featured as the cover for Verotik #3 a year later. Just in case you were curious...
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| Pollyanna 3439th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):The worst game on XBLA" , posted Thu 18 Apr 02:22
quote:
fetish-imagery
I think the thing that bothered me the most about this is that so many people thought that Vanillaware was "appealing to the lowest common demonimator to sell more copies", when it's more like "Vanillaware is going to put giant boobs in their games even if it makes them bankrupt."
And yet, boobs or no boobs, I feel like so many developers could learn from Vanillaware's depiction of women as characters.
quote:
Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons.
Haha! I'm glad (?) to see the game matches the quality of its broken-English description.
This is a remake Double Dragon II a 80s game. The story line takes same as original game story. However, the graphic, character, action, system etc. are change. Also we are including new stage and enemy in the game. The player will be addicted to new version of Double Dragon II. Also, characters are undressed from 80s style, and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Pollyanna 3441th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):The worst game on XBLA" , posted Thu 18 Apr 11:03
quote:
Hopefully you didn't think I was panning Vanillaware when I said that about fetish-imagery 
Truthfully, it's refreshing to see them stay their course in terms of design. And you're right, their characters (men and women both) are just that: characters.
I might have said what I was trying to get across awkwardly. I didn't think you were panning them at all. Altogether, I was just trying to say that Kamitani seems to create what he's passionate about and even if giant boobs are one of his passions, the women in Vanillaware games are so well-written and wonderfully crafted that other people should be following his example, rather than getting caught up on breasts.
Speaking of Vanillaware and writing, I feel bad that so many people passed on Grim Grimoire. The game, while not outstanding, was at least as good as any other VW game and had my favorite story and cast of characters that they've put together.
quote:
On the more positive side of things, Polly since you were the one who turned me on to Liberation Maiden, I thought you're be excited that it's getting a PS3 sequel!
It's a...dating game? A visual novel? It's like they thought "we like the GIRL part, but everything else can go?" (They can take those girls and put them back into a shooting game, if they like, though)
I am undressed from 80s style and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
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| Pollyanna 3442th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Fri 19 Apr 06:09
Has Capcom suffered from a bunch of bad outsourcing? The only outsourced game I can think of that was received poorly is Operation Raccoon City, which hurt their reputation a lot less than Bio 6. I may be way off here, or forgetting something, though.
I don't have a problem with outsourcing collaborations, but Capcom took the worst approach I could imagine with Lost Planet 3. Here is a numbered sequel that changes genres and is made by a completely different company that has nothing to do with the previous games. Meanwhile, the actual company that made the series creates an offshoot game that isn't released internationally. If you can't successfully make YOUR OWN GAME, then maybe it shouldn't be made.
But what do I know? Sequels sell great and people buy games on name recognition, regardless of who made it, while the creators move on to make higher quality, poor-selling new titles.
As for the China thing, this is an interesting "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach. Although I don't like the situation of "if we don't give them the license, they're just going to rip it off anyway," I'm glad they've found some sort of pseudo solution.
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Unfortunately, it also means "DLC EVERYWHERE".
Prepare to have it in Basara 4, MonHan 4... I don't think they'll greenlight anything that can't be on-disk-DLC-ed.
I don't remember Capcom's actual quote about on-disk DLC, but I remember laughing, because the clear implication was "we're going to keep ripping you off, but we'll be less transparent about it, since that seems to be what you're complaining about."
I am undressed from 80s style and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
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| Baines 346th Post
Bronze Customer
| "Re(5):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Fri 19 Apr 06:37:
quote:
Has Capcom suffered from a bunch of bad outsourcing? The only outsourced game I can think of that was received poorly is Operation Raccoon City, which hurt their reputation a lot less than Bio 6. I may be way off here, or forgetting something, though.
I'm curious too. Speaking from a Western perspective, people seem to just be assuming that Capcom was just looking for a scapegoat, rather than admitting the real problems that exist.
quote:
I don't remember Capcom's actual quote about on-disk DLC, but I remember laughing, because the clear implication was "we're going to keep ripping you off, but we'll be less transparent about it, since that seems to be what you're complaining about."
Effectively that was what many seemed to be complaining about.
In the whole SFxT firestorm, the majority of complaints appeared to be about the DLC specifically being on the disc.
People were agreeing with Capcom's logic of making the DLC while making the game itself. People didn't mind being charged for the characters. What set that group off was that other people were able to access that material without paying for it and before Capcom officially offered it for sale.
There was a second group which just joined in for the protest to shout down "evil on-disc DLC" without paying attention to any of the issues or paying attention to what Capcom actually said. They ignored anyone trying to say the issue went beyond the DLC being on the disc, and they cheered in victory when Capcom said it would rethink on-disc DLC in the future (even if nothing else actually changed.)
The third group, complaining about DLC issues in general and not just stopping at whether the DLC was on the disc or not, seemed to be very much a minority
[this message was edited by Baines on Fri 19 Apr 06:40] |
| karasu99 1106th Post
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| "Re(6):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Fri 19 Apr 07:00
quote:
quote:
Has Capcom suffered from a bunch of bad outsourcing? The only outsourced game I can think of that was received poorly is Operation Raccoon City, which hurt their reputation a lot less than Bio 6. I may be way off here, or forgetting something, though.
I'm curious too. Speaking from a Western perspective, people seem to just be assuming that Capcom was just looking for a scapegoat, rather than admitting the real problems that exist.
Well, DmC is one example I can think of where the game was received at least somewhat poorly. I don't know if it met expectations on Capcom's part or what though. Also, weren't they talking about how all of the rereleases of late had performed below expectations? I know at least some of the porting/'HD' work involved third parties.
quote:
quote:
I don't remember Capcom's actual quote about on-disk DLC, but I remember laughing, because the clear implication was "we're going to keep ripping you off, but we'll be less transparent about it, since that seems to be what you're complaining about."
Effectively that was what many seemed to be complaining about.
In the whole SFxT firestorm, the majority of complaints appeared to be about the DLC specifically being on the disc.
People were agreeing with Capcom's logic of making the DLC while making the game itself. People didn't mind being charged for the characters. What set that group off was that other people were able to access that material without paying for it and before Capcom officially offered it for sale.
There was a second group which just joined in for the protest to shout down "evil on-disc DLC" without paying attention to any of the issues or paying attention to what Capcom actually said. They ignored anyone trying to say the issue went beyond the DLC being on the disc, and they cheered in victory when Capcom said it would rethink on-disc DLC in the future (even if nothing else actually changed.)
I can remember being so optimistic back in the early days of DLC that extra content that hadn't originally been planned or the dev for which was set to be after the initial game had been released, like extra levels and characters, could be served up to folks after the fact. You know, kind of how Fire Emblem Awakening has done. Boy was I naive! These days DLC doesn't really make me mad per se, since I've gotten over the idea that it's in any way necessary for me to buy it, but I still feel like it's been this huge squandering of a relationship with customers, not by the fact of the DLC or even the way it's distributed, but by how companies handle peoples' inevitable complaints. Which gets back to Iggy's original comment-- that they'll just be less transparent.
www.secret-arts.com
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| Iggy 9486th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Fri 19 Apr 08:46
I would like to be able to say "Well, I'll just stop buying Capcom products if they enforce that policy", but I already know I'll buy Basara 4 and everything they release for that (hoping DLC would replace a Basara 4+ upgrade, but I'll buy that anyway).
I'm part of the problem.
It will, however, make me more cautious when buying a new Capcom product, that's for sure.
The better consequence of this report is that the blame they put on the outsourced games is not related to the sales, but on the quality of the game (and how it hurt the brand). If they can connect quality game => more DLC sold =>need to make higher quality games, maybe we can find a common ground, there.
I can't remember when was the last time a company has publicly admitted the quality of their latest baby was maybe not entirely super-stellar, and they'll try to work on that.
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| Baines 347th Post
Bronze Customer
| "Re(8):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Fri 19 Apr 15:28
quote:
The report also notes that Capcom had pegged RE6 at 7 million which would have tied it with the sales of RE4. Maybe everyone at Capcom was high when they made their previous sales predictions.
Capcom probably operates on the same "A successful game franchise will always grow" logic that a lot of big publishers get in trouble over.
These companies assume their sequels will outperform their previous games. When growth slows, they reboot or drop a series. Capcom, Square, EA all do this.
Eventually, such expectations surpass what reality will deliver. That is where trouble sets in, because their budgets rise with their projections, and the cost of "underperforming" becomes increasingly harder to weather. A company that can safely eat the loss of only reaching 50% of a 200,000 sales projection can find 50% of a 5,000,000 projection a much uglier prospect.
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| Iggy 9487th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Fri 19 Apr 22:09
quote:
In the forecast revision I posted earlier DmC was mentioned by name. The revised forecast for sales on the title sets it at around 1.15 million. By contrast, it sounds as if DMC4 hit around 2.2 million. Game sales are hard to pin down but it's easy to assume that DmC underperformed. This was not the breakout hit in western markets they were looking for.
If they make a "DMC 5" after that, in the wake of DMC 3/4, I suppose the game should go back to his usual sales, or maybe be even higher.
I wonder if that could be a possible marketing strategy: release a shitty game on purpose that takes all the possible wrong turns, then a sequel that goes back on tracks, doesn't innovate at all but repeat the good old recipe. And instead of being blamed for lacking imagination, the latest game would be lauded as a "return to the roots of the franchise", "the real Dante is back"...
It seems like a costly strategy, but a good way to capitalize on the bad buzz of DmC. "I don't care what people say about me as long as they talk about me", and that kind of things.
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| Baines 348th Post
Bronze Customer
| "Re(9):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Fri 19 Apr 23:56
quote:
I wonder if that could be a possible marketing strategy: release a shitty game on purpose that takes all the possible wrong turns, then a sequel that goes back on tracks, doesn't innovate at all but repeat the good old recipe. And instead of being blamed for lacking imagination, the latest game would be lauded as a "return to the roots of the franchise", "the real Dante is back"...
It seems like a costly strategy, but a good way to capitalize on the bad buzz of DmC. "I don't care what people say about me as long as they talk about me", and that kind of things.
I'm sure Capcom spent too much for that to be their strategy, though someone might have realized it acted as a possibly back up plan if the reboot failed.
If a drastic reboot succeeds, then you bring a new audience and life back to a stagnating or flagging franchise. If a drastic reboot fails to find a new audience and annoys the existing fanbase, then you at least potentially breathe interest back in a return.
The biggest danger zone is when a drastic reboot gets middling results. You draw in some new people, and some of your existing fan base accepts the new direction. You don't get enough of an increase to justify the reboot, but you generate enough interest in the reboot that you risk rejection at the idea of returning to the original. I don't know if DmC is in that area or not.
Although Capcom could just as easily stop releasing DmC games for the next few years, and instead focus on other franchises and genres. Then in 5-10 years, they can do their own reboot/relaunch, like Street Fighter 4. Play up on the nostalgia of the series.
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| Iggy 9489th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(10):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Sat 20 Apr 01:35
quote:
Hey wait, didn't they already do that with DMC 2 --> DMC 3?
Doesn't work, because DMC3 still sold less than 1 (it was the regular "a shitty game sucks, so the sequel, which is a great game, unfortunately sells less because the players of the previous game don't want to get burned twice" that happens so often to Musou games for example).
What could make DMC5 different would be that, thanks to the internets, the hate against DmC has spread much beyound the fans of the series, and it's also much easier to redeem.
To redeem DMC2, you had to make a brilliant game.
To redeem DmC, you just have to make a game on par with the "regular-good" 4 while burning the DmC Dante in public.
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So yeah, Capcom actually has a history of taking missteps with this series and then making up for them.
Actually, until a few years ago, I'd say Capcom had a history of creating so many IPs that they cannibalize each other and they let perfectly good IP with still a good following rot and die.
Onimusha for example.
They were also one of the first to openly say "that game sold well and ended up being profitable, but we expected much more so we're disappointed and we'll stop releasing sequels for it" (Rockman Dash).
On the other hand, that's what allowed them to keep their catalog fresh: at least one major license died each generation change and was replaced by something new.
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| nobinobita 1144th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(2):Re(10):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Sat 20 Apr 01:44
quote:
I wonder if a could-have-been-big fighting game is among the victims. Are you telling me we just missed out on Star Gladiator 3? 
No Star Gladiator 3 would make me very sad, if I ever knew there were actual plans for something like that.
My bet is that we won't see any more "Darkstalkers isn't dead" teasers for a while... although I secretely hope that isn't the case. Come on Ono, say something to prove that I'm wrong!!! 
Star Gladiator had such great characters! I would love to see it come back!
By the way, I recently stumbled across what I believe to be the source of inspiration for Saturn, the grinning, green, cone headed alien.
http://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters3/saturn-sg.jpg
It's an old toy called Big Loo!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Loo
Same color, same shape, same clothes, same toothy grin etc.
I think that the fact that Saturn fights with Yo-Yos (toys) might even harken to his origins.
I originally found out about the toy here:
http://www.cracked.com/article_17493_the-13-most-unintentionally-disturbing-childrens-toys.html
It amazes me that even as I ease into my adult life, I'm still finding new things to appreciate about all those old Capcom games I used to play.
www.art-eater.com
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| nobinobita 1147th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(5):Re(10):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Sun 21 Apr 04:57:
quote:
I guess I'm late to the party, but it's worthy of note that Thor's hammer was forged by the dwarves in Norse myth anyway (and they cut down the handle to be spiteful when the Gods ripped them off... but Thor is so strong he doesn't need the extra leverage and can just smash shit anyway!)
Oh man, that's good stuff! That will surely make it's way into a future Dragon's Crown post. Thanks!
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"Nobi, your brother is doing yeoman's work there, even if he's swimming against a tide of stupidity and Americocentristm."
Haha very erudite turn of phrase. I had to google what a yeoman was.
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Where were the original "writer" 's critiques of the bilge that passes for mainstream character design in Western games?
Yeah, that kills me. Especially because Vanillaware has such a strong history of creating great female characters. Everyone's fixating on the sorceress because her boobs bounce. Is boob bouncing inherently evil? Do they not see that it's not just a boob bounce, it's the most lovingly crafted boob bouncing in the history of videogames? There's admiration and love in every frame. Yeah she's supposed to be titilating and sexy. But it's not debasing, not humiliating at all, it's celebratory.
Especially in the context of the game, and Vanillaware's full library of games. They have so many awesome characters! Why jump the gun on this one just because she has big boobs? It's like some weird form of virtual slut shaming (boner shaming?)
When did games get so prudish? When did sex appeal become something to be ashamed of? SO WEIRD!
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Speaking of good writing, Jeremey Toastyfrog Parish, one of the few games journalists who can actually be called such (as opposed to "nerds who rewrite company-provided press releases who have never taken a writing or art criticism course in their lives"), looks to be successfully embarking with his old Retronauts crew on a new retro-history voyage! How grand!
Ah man, I love his writing! I've never listened to his podcasts before, now's a good time to start, thanks!
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I was really not sure how I felt about them. I like how DMC looks and I like Kaneko's style, but that being the only thing that really looks Kaneko-esque in the game really made it an odd fit to me.
I LOOOOVE those designs and their tokusatsu/high fashion/demonic sensibilities. I think when you see them in game, the way they're modelled and animated actually does fit with the game. The concept art is 100% Kaneko though, definitely a far cry from Ikeno's concepts in execution, but I think they both have a "high class" kind of feeling to them.
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Your brother is a very smart man.
Thanks! That means a lot to me. I know it sounds silly, but I'm really hoping to help turn the tide in favor of Vanillaware. It's very personal for me. They're one of the few studios in the entire world that's lead by artists (exceptionally rare in games) and I look forward to their titles more than any other company these days. They're really making stuff 100% from the heart and I want them to succeed in this age of focus tested numbers driven games.
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What if the Artemis of Ephesus was given a depiction that wasn't deadly serious? What kind of response would/should that engender? The Venus of Willendorf? What if one of Henry Moore's many sculptures invoking the female form was a character with a personality that wasn't stoic?
Can you think of any examples of games/Things that take this kind of approach to existing art history?
For some reason Panic/Switch came to mind, with it's whimsical approach to toying with existing art icons.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/panic/panic.htm
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Sun 21 Apr 05:18] |
| Pollyanna 3443th Post
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| "Re(8):Fake Gets Real?" , posted Sun 21 Apr 07:37
The conversation has shifted, but I wanted to remark on this...
quote:
The better consequence of this report is that the blame they put on the outsourced games is not related to the sales, but on the quality of the game (and how it hurt the brand). If they can connect quality game => more DLC sold =>need to make higher quality games, maybe we can find a common ground, there.
I can't possibly agree with the "make ripping you off seem less transparent" line of thinking, because that wouldn't have helped anything but Capcom's reputation. The fact that people would rather download something that could very well have been on the disk is foolish. It's a waste of time, a waste of hard drive space and it forces players who did not buy the DLC to download a significant-sized update.
I think combining the idea of "people don't like to feel like their being ripped off" with Iggy's "higher quality" and Ishmael's "people will buy anything" creates the ideal situation. The number one important thing is "Am I happy with the product?" One of Capcom's DLC problems is that a number of their products haven't felt satisfactory on their own and encourage you to "fill the hole" with DLC that's already on the disk to begin with. Obviously, things need to work on the concept of "provide" instead of "withhold".
With rising production costs, I'd be happy with shorter, tighter games with more content as DLC for people who wanted a longer-lasting experience. If I really love a game, there's almost no limit to how much money I'll spend on it. A good example for me is Metal Gear Rising, which had a short, but fulfilling play-time. I enthusiastically got the DLC, which was disappointingly short, but still not a purchase that I regret.
I think I'm just rambling with really obvious stuff here and I forgot the point I wanted to make in the first place. I think the bigger problem with the SFxT fiasco is that they assumed the game wouldn't require an update. So few fighting games are good at the first try. The obvious solution to me, would to have packaged the DLC characters with an inevitable rebalance/system update. It's good for developers to be reasonably confident in their product, but fighting games rarely work out that way.
I am undressed from 80s style and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
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| Iggy 9493th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Re(10):F for Fake?" , posted Tue 23 Apr 21:26
quote:
I'll see that and raise you FF VI with a bare-assed Siren, a revealing pre-final Goddess boss, and a naked painting that sometimes became a demon. I suppose I'll let you have this one with SaGa 2, though.
I was not merely talking about "a game with bare-chested women", it was specifically about "bare-chested nature spirits/plants", which RomaSa.Ga2 (and 3, to a lesser degree) specialized in.
Adversely, the only woman out of the 7 heroes is dressed normally (somewhat) and is rather flat-chested.
This was a guy, but it evolved.
(Also, Nobi's brother's answer on Kotaku is all kinds of awesome. Keep up the good work, both of you!)
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| nobinobita 1155th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(5):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Wed 24 Apr 02:34:
quote:
I see that the "writer" has written a cretinous response article that conflates Kamitani's high-quality, sexy designs with the all-to-real sexism that pervades the industry. It's perfectly fair to criticize the attitudes of people working in the industry (many are backward) or the lack of female leads (not applicable here), but this level of discourse is pathetic. Again, I say this as someone in favor of feminsim...but the "writer" seems to be one of those too dim to realize that something can be voluptuous without being oppressive, and that not all feminists need to wear pants or oppose looking attractive.
Americans seem particularly incapable of separating the sexy from the exploitative, probably because of the historical religious strain that prevented a less exploitative and more playful sense of sexuality from taking root in mainstrain culture. That's my pop analysis, and it's still better than Kotaku's fatuous response.
I think the problem is that Kotaku is not able to see the context in which Kamitani is creating his work.
This is going to make a lot of heads explode but:
Japan's art industry is a lot more progressive than the US!
Now, I am NOT saying Japan is LESS Sexist than the US as a whole, or that there are no problems in the comics/games/animation industries over there. I am absolutely not saying that.
What I am saying is that there are far more women working in creative industries in Japan with control over how women are represented in media.
The US does not have equivalents to Titans like:
Kinu Nishimura, one of the most celebrated artists in games and anime.
Rumiko Takahashi, one of the most successful comics artists of all time, and at one point one of the top 10 highest paid women in the entire country (from doing COMICS)
Eiko Tanaka, CEO of one of the most progressive, cutting edge animation studios of the last 2 decades.
Not to mention the thousands of professional and amateur female manga artists out there.
We do not have a culture that lets women objectify men in the same way men objectify women. We don't have porn games made for women. Etc etc.
There is nothing inherently wrong with objectification in of itself. You can't deny your natural instincts to possess beauty and have lots of sex. Where objectification becomes a problem is when it's the ONLY way someone is represented.
I have a friend who grew up reading Manga in the US. She liked various manga for the cool art and identified with the strong women. She told me she keeps trying to get into super hero comics, but whenever she finds a character she likes, she eventually discovers she used to be a sex worker (I later compiled a list of Marvel and DC women who used to be prostitutes and it was surprisingly long).
All my girl friends in the US who are into "geeky" stuff are constantly accosted for it. They're either put on a pedestal or asked to show their credentials. They're not treated as natural, normal, human colleagues.
This isn't a problem for my girl friends in China or Thailand or Japan. If you like comics and games and fun stuff there it doesn't make you a nerd queen (that everyone openly worships and secretly resents), it just makes you a normal person.
I haven't spent as much time in Europe, but the impression I got in France was that liking comics doesn't make you super duper special, it's just a normal thign there too.
This is the environment which George Kamitani created his work. There's nothing nefarious about him wanting to make a sexy character. It's not even on his radar that he could be hurting women with his representation, because he works in a place where women actually have direct control over how they're represented. And the sorceress is just one of many, varied women characters that he's created in his career.
It's sad to me that all this is ignored because we still live in a culture where we shame women for showing some skin, and we pretend to shame men for enjoying it.
Sorry for the rant! Please let me know if I sound crazy haha.
PS I know there are tons of problems for women in the workplace in Japan. It saddens me that they're paid so much less than men for the equivolent work and that they're not expected to continue working after getting married and especially after having children. Those things are actually still a problem in the US too (I've seen firsthand, women being paid less than men in the games industry here).
These are serious serious issues, and they don't deserve to be overshadowed by discussions about breast size in games.
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Wed 24 Apr 02:52] |
| Iggy 9494th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Wed 24 Apr 23:08
quote:
Nobi, I really think you should post some of those observations on Kotaku too. It's worth pointing out, as at least SOME people will learn something!
And reverse-post your brother's observations on Art-Eater. Or better, create a unified Super Nobi Bros Dragon's Crown analysis sub-website!
Let's see the good out of all that: it makes more people aware of Dragon's Crown, and the game should benefit from it. AND it makes more people talk about art, which is a good thing. More dumb people say dumb things, but more smart people also say smart things, so it somewhat balances out.
(I agree that at least in France, females who like comics (even if they REALLY like them A LOT), be them European or Japanese comics, are absolutely normal and nothing to talk about. Cosplays at Japan Expo are also higher quality and less frown upon than in other countries.
American comics, on the other hand, still seem confined to a specific, almost only male, demographic, as far as I know)(and that includes mainstream things like Avengers as well as Alan Moore/Grant Morrisson thought-provoking weirdness, unfortunately. Not everything can coexist in the same place without cannibalizing each other, I suppose).
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| nobinobita 1156th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(9):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Thu 25 Apr 01:45
quote:
Just saw Jason Schreier's response to George Kamitani on Kotaku. While I think that Schreier and Kamitani are both guilty of making junvenile posts, Kamitani eventually takes the high road by outright apologizing and saying that he was being rash. Sadly, Schreier decided to subtly play the victim card: "I must like an image of muscled men hugging. A gay joke, perhaps?" On top of that, he doubles-down on his original post by defending it (rather poorly I might add), instead of admitting that he was just trolling. It's no wonder people roll their eyes whenever Kotaku's mentioned.
His picture was fun and beautifully painted. It was not making fun of homoeroticism or the male body, it was celebrating it. It stands proudly along side positive portrayals of "Bears" in comics like Wuvable Oaf (my favorite indie comic of recent years!):
http://wuvableoaf.com/
I sometimes feel like this is an unwinnable fight because I'm asking people to look at the situation with nuance and context rather than knee jerk reactions informed by puritanical social norms.
BUT I'LL KEEP FIGHTING! Because Vanillaware is really important to me. They are one of the only studios in the entire world lead by an artist. They make games from the heart, not games ruled by numbers and focus groups. If they stop making games, I'm through with them. I will have been completely pushed out of this medium that I've loved and cherished my whole life.
quote:
Nobi, I think you should take Iggy's advice and post your brother's response on Art Eater. Such an epic response doesn't deserve to be buried deep in the comments section.
Thank you. I am sharing my thoughts on Kotaku, Facebook and the Cafe first, because I want to get more varied and informed reactions before I commit to a blog post. This is a sensitive issue for many people and I want to show respect for the wide range of voices out there.
On that note, I have two more thoughts to share.
1) Witchcraft has long been associated with and oppressed for it's association with women taking power over their own sexuality. Ironically that's exactly what's happening here. The Sorceress is a celebration of female sexuality. Yes, her female characteristics are exaggerated, yes she's meant to turn you on. But she looks like she's in control of her own destiny. She walks with confidence. She has the power to raise the dead and turn men into helpless toads. She's actually quite powerful and progressive for a busty, voluptuous female character in fantasy fiction. It saddens me that people can't see this, and fall back on the puritanical thinking of "Boobs = bad."
It angers me even more because I know most of these men will go home and fap to images of naked women later. So essentially what they're saying is "I feel ashamed of this in public! But I'm OK with it in private!"
From the Kotaku troll: "Why complain? Because it's embarrassing. Because I wouldn't want to be seen playing it in public."
Point No 2:
The counterpoint to the sexy busty sorceress isn't the buff greased up man, It's something much more obvious and common.
I just want to point out that there is a whole market of male characters objectified to the tastes of women.
I am of course talking about Bishounen!
Are they overtly sexualized with their dongs hanging out? Not exactly, instead they possess an unearthly beauty and cool far beyond anything attainable in reality. Are men threatened by them?
HELL YES
One of the chief complaints leveraged against Japanese RPGs of recent years is that dudes HATE the beautiful men in them. They resort to calling them "emo" "gay" "effeminate" "pretty boys" but really they're threatened by their beauty and the fact that it's an ideal that appeals to women that they can't physically or mentally live up to.
How many times in your life have you heard a guy say (including many journalists) say "I hate these pretty boys!" What they're essentially saying is, "why does this have to cater to women instead of to me?"
Square Enix might be the only major company out there willing to sacrifice its male fans to appease it's female following. And that's weirdly progressive!
George Kamitani created his game in an environment where women are as catered to as men. When I went to Doujinshii shops in Akihabara, I was surprised to see that there were actually more girls there than guys. Way more!
Were there floors full of graphic, profane, disgusting pornography catered towards dudes? Yes. But there were also floors full of graphic, profane, sexy time comics made by women, for women.
We do not have this culture of equal objectification in the US, so we latch on to very conventional, safe, uninformed views that "sexuality = bad."
AND ONE MORE THING
And what kills me is that George Kamitani has done more for the representation of women in games than most.
You know that Zelda game starring Zelda that everyone suddenly wants?
http://kotaku.com/nintendo-would-never-have-the-guts-to-release-a-zelda-g-472590916
George Kamitani made it 15 years ago, before anyone thought to even ask for it.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/odinsphere/princesscrown.htm
Princess Crown is about a young girl who takes up the sword to protect her Kingdom, just as her mother, the hero of legend and the Queen, did before her. It takes place in a Matriarchy. The Princess is strong and composed and wise beyond her years. Her sister's are always shown reading books as they are doctors looking for cures for diseases. You will not find a more progressive, positive portrayal of women in videogames. And none of it was politically motivated. No one said "Hey George, let's throw the ladies a bone!" He did it because he just writes fun stories with fun characters and he doesn't see women as less human than men.
www.art-eater.com
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| Maou 2442th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Thu 25 Apr 02:09:
quote:
I have a favour to ask of you gals and guys. If you support George Kamintani, please speak up. I know, I know, I'm asking you to wade into the shithole of internet flame wars but ...
I feel like we're making a difference this time!
Nobi, while on one hand I doubt that there's that much to be accomplished within the cesspit of comments that resides in the cesspit of (mainstream, largely American) games "journalism," if you can stomach it, I wonder what you would think about submitting an article to Kotaku itself?
While still marginal, the best responses to the pitiful PR-regurgitating corporate thralls/unimaginative white midwestern men/"gamers" who have no formal journalistic or critical training/[choose another unkind but essentially accurate stereotype] that constitute games "journalism" have all come in the form of alternate voices in fairly public spaces. For all the teeth-grindingness of submitting to trash like Kotaku, it could be the grandest test: if right now it's hard to get a full enough audience at your own blog, maybe you can be doubly effective by working within the proverbial system to give Kotaku an article that shows how intelligent writing on games and art can be done, which in turn attracts them to your own blog. If people dig it, things go upward from there. If they don't, to hell with them, and continue with the blog for the smaller group that is sensitive enough to pay attention. At least you'll have tried.
PS: at the very least, it would be nice to interact with the artistically inclined people you're speaking with on those threads over here. Maybe our accidental reputation as "That Homosexual Gaming Board" will grow into "That Strange Colony of Art Appreciation" or something. That wouldn't bother me none.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Thu 25 Apr 02:19] |
| karasu99 1114th Post
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| "Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Thu 25 Apr 02:34
I'm surprised (actually not, now that I think about it) that no one's mentioned the 'Tropes vs. Women in Games' project so far. Here's a link, fittingly from Kotaku, through which you can read all about it, if you're not familiar with it. In short, it's a recent project by critic Anita Sarkeesian to explore almost exactly the kinds of things we're discussing here-- not specifically Vanillaware's work, but pretty much just women's role in games. Whether or not anyone agrees with what she's saying, it's been a hot issue of late, and people have recoiled at horror in the ham-fisted way in which she was harassed over it online.
What I'm thinking is that Kotaku is a little bit riding the wave of taking a high moral ground in part because of the ickiness of that whole matter, and as a result they're coming across as blue-nosed and prudish. That's not to say that this particular guy isn't blue-nosed and prudish of course.
The bottom line for me is that Kotaku's reaction isn't helping out the issue of women's role in games (or in society, for that matter) any with their ham-fisted approaches to Kamitani's artful portrayal of women (it's funny, incidentally, that everyone's forgetting to mention the Elf in Dragon's Crown, who's very conservatively dressed). Neither is suggesting that all female comic book superheroes be covered head to foot in loose cloth and mom jeans. I mean, clearly the games industry has issues with women in games, but it's not going to be solved by dressing the Sorceress up in a Victorian hoop skirt or something. Or by popping Zelda's head onto Link's body or something.
www.secret-arts.com
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| nobinobita 1158th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(7):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Thu 25 Apr 02:35
quote:
I haven't spent as much time in Europe, but the impression I got in France was that liking comics doesn't make you super duper special, it's just a normal thign there too.
Yes, in France comics are a big thing and they're very open minded towards them since the 90s. I recall visiting Paris and finding many manga in original tankobon format that will arrive in Italy only in the early 2000s as a standard.
Italian comic readers are of various kind but in general they tend to appreciate both manga and comics/graphic novels from EVERY country. Surely there are some people who absolutely dislike manga style or comic settings/characters, especially older readers and art teachers are very selective in their tastes. In my experience (I read comics since childhood and even ran a comic shop) it is quite difficult find female readers of American superhero comics (Marvel/DC) but they're ok with graphic novels and miniseries, especially from France, Eastern Europe and North America. We got plagued by a shojo-craze during past years that led many young girls buy nearly every shojo manga released here; this had a huge impact to our market until the advent of a new generation of manga readers (basically the Naruto/One Piece generation that replaced mine).
But reading comics in Italy is not a common thing. Here most of the people are basically against any kind of fun that doesn't involve travelling, watching tv and having sex, so comics/anime/vg are still seen as a nerdy thin
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
Ah thank you for clearing that up for me! I was in Florence many years ago and they were selling Hentai Doujinshii anthologies at news stands! They were also selling Kentaro Miura's manga King of Wolves. I was wondering how much mainstream penetration (huhuhu) comics and manga had if this were the case.
I'm sad to hear that there is a concept of the "geek" in Italy, and that girls are singled out for their "geekdom." I hope that improves as time goes on.
www.art-eater.com
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| nobinobita 1159th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(4):Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Thu 25 Apr 05:44
quote:
Nobi, while on one hand I doubt that there's that much to be accomplished within the cesspit of comments that resides in the cesspit of (mainstream, largely American) games "journalism," if you can stomach it, I wonder what you would think about submitting an article to Kotaku itself?
Most of the time the first cesspit fulfills all my needs but sometimes only that secondary, inner cesspit within a cesspit will do.
I agree with Maou, you should really consider submitting this information for publication Nobi. A knee-jerk attitude in a short article has produced quite a bit of discussion that is spread out over a large amount of online territory. Instead of being so diffuse this conversation needs a singular work that not only explains what is in Dragon's Crown but why it is Dragon's Crown. You not only have the knowledge to understand the various references but you have the insight to explain why and how they are being invoked. These are the points that should be at the forefront of the discussion, not languishing the margins of a comment section or a message board.
You know, instead of writing all that out I could have simply quoted everything Maou said and added "ditto" at the end. That probably would have been easier.
TT____TT
Thanks dudes!
I'll do it!!!
I normally don't like to engage in fights. But shoot, this is worth (internet) fighting for!
www.art-eater.com
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| HAYATO 1083th Post
PSN: Lord-Hayato
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Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(5):Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Thu 25 Apr 07:36
quote:
Nobi, while on one hand I doubt that there's that much to be accomplished within the cesspit of comments that resides in the cesspit of (mainstream, largely American) games "journalism," if you can stomach it, I wonder what you would think about submitting an article to Kotaku itself?
Most of the time the first cesspit fulfills all my needs but sometimes only that secondary, inner cesspit within a cesspit will do.
I agree with Maou, you should really consider submitting this information for publication Nobi. A knee-jerk attitude in a short article has produced quite a bit of discussion that is spread out over a large amount of online territory. Instead of being so diffuse this conversation needs a singular work that not only explains what is in Dragon's Crown but why it is Dragon's Crown. You not only have the knowledge to understand the various references but you have the insight to explain why and how they are being invoked. These are the points that should be at the forefront of the discussion, not languishing the margins of a comment section or a message board.
You know, instead of writing all that out I could have simply quoted everything Maou said and added "ditto" at the end. That probably would have been easier.
TT____TT
Thanks dudes!
I'll do it!!!
I normally don't like to engage in fights. But shoot, this is worth (internet) fighting for!
I feel as if I were a witness to the birth of a cult classic, right in front of my eyes. Come what may, these passionate essays you Nobi bros. have made in defense of Dragon's Crown art direction will definitely help the title to achieve a higher status. I'm afraid DC won't become a blockbuster (as if that was something to vie for... ) but it will certainly end up being one of the most celebrated "artsy" games pieces of art this generation has brought us (which IMHO, would be more benefical for Vanillaware in the long term), and you two would have helped a great deal to make it possible.
Blockbusters come and go, and they are easily forgotten because most of them have no identity to make them stand the test of time; they are designed to appeal to a massive audience on a certain period of time. On contrast, real games are infused with a soul, an identity designed to outlast: to outlast platforms, companies and even gamers themselves because, in doing so, they become timeless. They become part of something greater than anything even their creators could never imagine: they become part of each of us, of our cultural heritage... they become art.
Thanks for trying to make the gaming masses aware of a piece of art when one happens to appear amongst them. Will they learn the lesson or will they keep yearning for more CoD and FIFA? It doesn't matter, there will always be people who'll appreciate your insightful comments; just come to the cozy Cafι at the corner of the internet and relax around us, the gay-friendly, cheese lovers art club!
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| Spoon 2427th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Thu 25 Apr 08:58
quote:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/04/24/character-selection
Penny Arcade has a wonderful piece of writing on the principle of it. Given their reach on the English internet, I have huge hopes for this.
Too bad Tycho's typically thoughtful writing is countered by an atypically poor piece on the right by the Penny Arcade Report.
The writer of the article is normally a very reasonable person, but that article is really bad in a number of uncharacteristic ways. Unfortunately, there really isn't good discussion happening in the chat below; it's really just a ton of people throwing in their two cents, which is partly due to it being a very comment oriented design, not a discussion oriented one.
I hate cross-posting, but I saw an "Art Eater" post in there which I will assume is Nobi's. Hi Nobi!
I think that the greater cultural context of this exchange that is happening is actually critical to this discussion. I kind of hate cross-posting, but here's what I said:
Why is this necessarily homophobia?
The pervasive image of action games from Western developers has been tough men at or approaching middle-age who may or may not be space marines. Look at CoD and Gears and Mass Effect. Look at the human heroes of Lord of the Rings, or The Witcher. Booker DeWitt might not be 40, but he sure doesn't look like a teenager.
So the Kotaku guy has nothing to say about the Dwarf or the armored knight, and instead criticizes the Sorceress. This does nothing to dissuade the notion that he's perfectly happy with characters like the Dwarf.
So Kamitani draws 3 older guys who are invoke traditional Asian imagery in their design, manages to display ethnic diversity, keys towards the hyper-masculinity that seems to be the preference of that culture instead of the hyper-femininity that is being criticized (from a position of relative ignorance of the work), and now it becomes a homophobic attack. Would it have been homophobic if he just drew a picture of Marcus Fenix? What if he drew a picture of Big Show chokeslamming somebody?
There is an enormous cultural filter happening on both sides here that is utterly distorting some of the underlying issues of this discussion. I think this is an enormously important discussion, though, because it is going to give everyone a huge chance to re-evaluate their own perspectives provided experts on art chime in. There is tremendous thoughtfulness that goes into the artwork of Vanillaware, and while big boobs might seem to be a pandering move, Vanillaware is ANYTHING BUT a studio that panders to the lowest common denominator.
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| Lugos
22th Post
New Customer
| "Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Thu 25 Apr 10:41
quote:
Thank you. I am sharing my thoughts on Kotaku, Facebook and the Cafe first, because I want to get more varied and informed reactions before I commit to a blog post. This is a sensitive issue for many people and I want to show respect for the wide range of voices out there.
Ah, now I see what you're doing. Very smart.
I think offering to write a counterpoint for Kotaku is a very sensible idea, but I don't know how receptive Kotaku would be. To them, it would be allowing an outsider to come in and academically eviscerate one of their own writers. But it's still worth a shot. The worst that they can do is say no.
Whether you end up writing on Kotaku or Art Eater, I think you and your brother should focus on Kamitani's biggest misconception: lazy character design. You two have shown that DC is jam packed with historical art references, and the Sorceress is no exception. Sure, the Sorceress is incredibly sexy, but you guys have demonstrated that her design was born out of Kamitani's love for historical western art.
Btw, very interesting parallel between her design and the accusations that the historical witches faced. I don't know if that was on Kamitani's mind, but it's still fascinating nonetheless.
As for the whole sexualization of video games, I think that's a piece that could probably wait for another day. A entire book could be written on that. It's probably best to focus on Kamitani's "laziness" for now.
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| Maou 2444th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Fri 26 Apr 02:16:
quote:
Nobi, while on one hand I doubt that there's that much to be accomplished within the cesspit of comments that resides in the cesspit of (mainstream, largely American) games "journalism," if you can stomach it, I wonder what you would think about submitting an article to Kotaku itself?
Most of the time the first cesspit fulfills all my needs but sometimes only that secondary, inner cesspit within a cesspit will do.
I agree with Maou, you should really consider submitting this information for publication Nobi. A knee-jerk attitude in a short article has produced quite a bit of discussion that is spread out over a large amount of online territory. Instead of being so diffuse this conversation needs a singular work that not only explains what is in Dragon's Crown but why it is Dragon's Crown. You not only have the knowledge to understand the various references but you have the insight to explain why and how they are being invoked. These are the points that should be at the forefront of the discussion, not languishing the margins of a comment section or a message board.
You know, instead of writing all that out I could have simply quoted everything Maou said and added "ditto" at the end. That probably would have been easier.
nice
 messatsu
sup hazzan I know you're here somewhere
Spoon:
But seriously, I'm glad you pointed me to Gabe's excellent twitter-ing! Looks like he had an appropriate duel with similar fools to the Kotaku person who managed to conflate "highly sexual character designs" with "violence/hurtful action against women." Ghaleon says: What utter nonsense.
These well-meaning twits are about two steps away from fundamentalists who want their women covered head-to-toe to protect them from sexualization. None of this is to deny the very real sexualized discrimination and hostility women face both in the real world and online, but these greviously misguided white knights are barking up the entirely wrong tree---or in Kotaku's case, are attempting to cover up a sloppy piece of dismissive writing with the wrong alibi.
Polly:
That there is some nice art! Maybe you can repopulate our oekaki board. Why, this looks so fun I might even get a Wii U! ...just kidding, that would be too modern.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Fri 26 Apr 03:23] |
| Pollyanna 3447th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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| "Re(5):Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Fri 26 Apr 08:03
There is a lot of fantastic discussion here that I am happy to see, but can't allow myself to be entangled in. I think in short, I can say:
Re(all): Ditto.
quote:
That there is some nice art! Maybe you can repopulate our oekaki board. Why, this looks so fun I might even get a Wii U! ...just kidding, that would be too modern.
Looking at the current software lineup, I think the WiiU might be too modern for itself. Maybe it'll catch up in another year.
Also, I mentioned this before, but I can't (necessarily) take credit for the art on my account, as I have many talented friends that are eager to try out the modern sensibilities of WiiU tablet art. Kind words will be accepted or passed on to the appropriate parties, though.
quote:
The counterpoint to the sexy busty sorceress isn't the buff greased up man, It's something much more obvious and common.
I just want to point out that there is a whole market of male characters objectified to the tastes of women.
I am of course talking about Bishounen!
My favorite thing about this is that the argument is solidified by men's reactions to these characters (as you mentioned). Of course, you have men who love and relate to these characters as well, just as you have women who love and relate to female "eye candy" characters. I like to think of this from the perspective of the beautiful man reading a long line of hatred towards bishounen characters on the internet, sighing and thinking "what's wrong with being beautiful?" at the same time some busty woman is thinking "what's wrong with having big breasts?"
But men design these characters, just as women design "sexualized" female characters. I recently had a discussion about what American comics could do to appeal more to women...or rather, just be less offensive. The conclusion was that even a group of women couldn't come up with "what women want" and that the more important thing is just to make sure the industry is welcoming to women who want to work in it. Anyway, the reason I bring this up, is to put the sad, lost white knights in perspective. They're jousting windmills trying to protect "what women want" as if there's a consensus on the issue in the first place.
I am undressed from 80s style and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
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| nobinobita 1161th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(6):Re(10):GEORGE KAMITANI IS MY HERO" , posted Sat 27 Apr 06:56
quote:
But men design these characters, just as women design "sexualized" female characters. I recently had a discussion about what American comics could do to appeal more to women...or rather, just be less offensive. The conclusion was that even a group of women couldn't come up with "what women want" and that the more important thing is just to make sure the industry is welcoming to women who want to work in it. Anyway, the reason I bring this up, is to put the sad, lost white knights in perspective. They're jousting windmills trying to protect "what women want" as if there's a consensus on the issue in the first place.
I just hope that we can eventually stop seeing everyone (including ourselves) as vanguards of our race, gender, sexual orientation etc. There's too much nuance in the world, but much of that is lost in the abridged, knee jerk nature of online interactions.
quote:
Polly, You have really good artist friends!
You really do!
Hey, this is kind of a longshot, but ... is one of your friends Priscilla Hamby aka Rem of Black Moon Tides?
http://blackmoontides.com/
This drawing really reminds me of her work:
https://image.miiverse.nintendo.net/a/posts/AYMHAAABAAD4UKlPrm9U3g/painting
www.art-eater.com
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"Re(3):The worst game on XBLA" , posted Thu 18 Apr 05:54
