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theanimeview · 4 years ago

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The Summer of Online Anime Cons - Review!

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @peggyseditorial

OKAY. This review has been way overdue, but in my defense, I wanted to wait until Summer was officially over, and for me, that meant the Crunchyroll Expo needed to happen before making this post. So let's get into it:

This summer, in addition to the Big Three Anime Weekend (where people could attend Anime Expo Lite, Funimation Con 2020, and Aniplex Online Fest all at once), we also had Comic-Con, the Virtual Crunchyroll Expo, and several other small conferences happening online like the Toonami special.

The events I "attended" happened to all be free (woohoo!), and to be perfectly honest: I LOVED it. I hope that they have more virtual conventions like these in the future. It's not because I don't love in-person and live conventions. I mean, anyone that knows me personally knows that I love conventions, traveling, dressing up, and more. I am a massive nerd for literary/professional/writing conferences and actively seek them out to attend throughout the year (if not present at them). I love anime conventions just as much and see them as a way to geek out with people from all over the world who share the same interests I do (and often know the niche anime/manga/webcomic/etc. that so few of my regular friends know about or have any interest in seeing!).

However, I think that Anime Expo has seriously fallen apart in recent years. It's something I've been more than vocal about in the past, like last year. Last year, as much as I did have fun, the convention space was overly crowded. AX is one of the largest anime conventions in the US, and overcrowding isn't unexpected given the size of it; however, since 2017, the convention has gone from simply full/crowded to claustrophobia-inducing. Enough so that someone like me, who had never felt claustrophobia before in their life, became overwhelmed and physically ill due to the number of people touching me on all sides as we attempted to shimmy down packed hallways. As a reference, I usually love enclosed and or crowded spaces--like, my mom and I frequented packed swap-meets as a child that I loved navigating. I also grew up with six older siblings, in a home next to Disneyland... so, like, crowds are not an issue for me, which is why I never expected to feel the level of anxiety I did in that horrible 2017 crowd, which repeated in AX 2019.

Add on to that panel experience: whereas before people could and would regularly slip in and out of panels with lines sometimes being outside the door for smaller rooms with more popular content, now the lines for most programs are often placed outside, in the heat, with attendees asked to line up sometimes hours in advance to have even a chance of attending. To my knowledge, Sakura-Con and several other conventions I've gone to in the last few years don't have that problem, and it's a fair guess as to why but let's leave that topic for another day.

By comparison, the virtual convention was a breeze! Yes, sometimes I had to sacrifice going to one panel over another, but who hasn't had to do that at conventions before? Ultimately, I could enjoy the panels from the comfort of my own home in PJs. I didn't need to worry about food, overheating in the sun, or finding the bathroom while at my house. I didn't get to meet new people (😥), but I did get to "attend" with friends of mine that can't go to conventions regularly for health reasons.

My major criticism of the virtual conventions can be summed up pretty easily. One issue I found was that the scheduling of three digital-conventions in one weekend was far too tight, but that was quickly mediated by the Funimation and Aniplex groups banding-together and merging the events so that Day 2 of FC2020 was a split with AOF2020. Another criticism I had is the lack of shopping--but I'm sure my wallet and bank account were relieved to find that I was much too entranced in panels to care about putting my cards through a ringer. I thought I would be upset by panel cancellations, but since virtual conventions are new and since panel cancellations happen at live conventions too, I can't say I'm all that upset by them. Not to mention how easy it was to handle such cancellations online when you have many more panels to attend freely.

What was probably most upsetting was, at times, the layout. Of all the conventions, I think AX and Comic-Con did the best job with panel layout. AX used Twitch live streams, YouTube, and a handful of unique call-in panels that were easy to navigate. More frustrating was the ever-changing schedule times at AX, but that happens (mainly when you are one of the first conferences navigating the online-field and thereby making all the first mistakes). Ultimately, it was EASY to get to the right "room" for the right panel. It helped too that their schedule was frequently updated, so it was rarely a question of "which room?" and "when does this thing start?" Comic-Con, which featured all their panels on pre-scheduled youtube posts, was similarly easy to navigate and enjoy. Frankly, I preferred the use of YouTube as Comic Con's primary platform for distribution more, but that's just because I enjoy being able to go back and rewatch things later.

Funimation and Aniplex suffered a bit by not updating their schedules consistently. For example, Funimation kept listing panels for Day 2 in the room merged with the Aniplex Online Fest live-stream, leaving me (and I'm sure a few others) to wonder what in the world happened to all those disappearing panels. Though, I'm sad to say that Crunchyroll Expo had it way worse. Their different "rooms" attempted to allow for many panels and multiple languages, and it suffered due to the way they handled this, among other complications. The way things were labeled for different languages meant you either had to search through the individual tabs to make sure you wouldn't miss anything, or sift through all of it at once. There was no in-between. You also wouldn't know which panel was whereafter it aired, meaning things got lost easily. Sometimes I wouldn't even know what panel was canceled, rescheduled, or entirely overlooked by me! This issue is difficult for me to find acceptable, as the Crunchyroll Expo happened months after other conventions and had arguably more time to review platform options and layouts for their digital conference. It almost felt like they were aiming for a "different just to be different" feel ultimately at the cost of user experience, which is crazy since Crunchyroll is one of the largest online anime streaming platforms in the US abroad. It would have been better for them to publish their pre-recorded panels similar to episodes of a show that people could scroll through than the disorganized mess that their expo "stages" tried to do.

With that said, let’s focus on content.

Panels were the main focus of these conventions (obviously), and content-wise, they did NOT disappoint. AX hit HUGE on the industry panels from major licensing and publishing companies in the US and Japan. They also had the most in terms of interesting focuses. There was a healthy mix of fan panels, culture panels, industry panels, and such, meaning someone could find something of interest in nearly every hour. In fact, at the time, Casea (@madamekrow) and I were in a real panic about how to watch everything we wanted to watch. You could tell that a lot of thought had gone into making this thing work given how quickly they had to switch from live to digital, and I appreciate that. FC2020 and AOF2020, by comparison, were not as reliable in terms of those profession-based and fan-based panels, and given that they are mainly licensers of anime rather than convention planners, it makes sense. They were also up against a convention with a long history (BTW, AX celebrates 30 years in 2021). That's not to say they didn't come to the table without the cards.

FC2020 brought it home with premiere screenings of animes to come. My favorite of their premiere list is By The Grace of The gods, set to come out in October of 2020. Meanwhile, AOF2020 lacked premieres, professional and fan-based panels but made up for it with entertainment of a different kind. They hosted all-night marathons of popular works they license, held a digital concert, and unintentionally perhaps, generally gave a place to "chill" between the stressful jumping from panel to panel. In conclusion of the Big Three Weekend, they gave the summer a phenomenal start!

Next up is Comic-Con. In my opinion, their panels were heavily movie-based as opposed to print-media comics, manga, or anime. Yes, of course, there were plenty of comic panels too, but they weren't the same as what we saw during AX, FC2020, or AOF2020. The feel was different--maybe because of content. Regardless, it was interesting. I enjoyed much of the industry-related panels, like "Manga Publishing Industry Roundtable" and "How to Thrive as an Indie Comics Creator Now!" (I mentioned before I'm a publishing nerd, right?) Perhaps most preferable to me is that the Comic-Con panels are still available on their YouTube channel, which means that unlike many other conventions, I can share the panels with friends interested in a particular series, subject, or person. I LOVE that. Share-ability is huge, and I think Comic-Con was smart to make their content available moving forward. It has certainly been great for my film-loving friends and our team members here at The Anime View (like Jenna @jkmorgan-media).

Lastly, Crunchyroll Expo. What can I say about this one? The panels were huge variables. I know that everyone on our team found them to be a mixed bag, myself included, as Crunchyroll opened up to fans hosting panels. This was great, in my opinion, but with that comes a bit of criticism. Some fan panels were polished, exciting, and engaging. I loved many of the mecha panels. I also loved some that were engaging discussions of a topic between people that were close friends. HOWEVER, with that came just as many who were new to public speaking, hadn't prepared much of anything and just recorded an awkward Zoom call, or worse (it's hard to describe how).

As for the smaller conferences like the mini-Toonami Con during Adult Swim’s digital conference, I don’t really have anythings specific to say so I’ll be leaving them out of this review.

I don't want to shoot down any of the fans that hosted panels despite this negative review. It's HARD to present at conferences, and for some, it's even harder when they know they are being recorded. I remember my first conference where I stared at my paper the whole time and had to be asked to raise my voice twice for people to hear, while my friend aimed my phone at me to record the mortifying presentation for my mother. I don't blame the people that had a hard time doing this, and I fully support Crunchyroll for giving fans, particularly young ones, the platform and experience to do this. Some of those panels were very interesting, despite the presenter's awkwardness. Controversially, the handful that made no effort (and you could tell which), I don't extend that empathy.

For me, panels quality has nothing to do with camera work, lighting, or even sound in some cases (for the most part, as long as you can hear the words--awesome). I didn't need to see spot-on PowerPoint slides, anime clips to fit the conversation or hyperactivity. To me, it was all about what was being said or not said. One panel that comes to mind that I aimed to attend was about picking the right anime for you or a friend. I ended up ditching half-way through. It was, sorry to say, terrible. The hosts definitely had the energy and passion to discuss anime and interesting subjects beyond their approach to the idea of recommendations.

For example, they spent a reasonable amount of time comparing how they grew up experiencing anime to how many people now entering the fandom have come to know it. They started by describing how they watching anime on a handful of VHS rentals from BlockBusters, while many people in my (Peggy's) "anime generation" grew up in the age of fansubs and illegal uploads; meanwhile, my (Peggy's again) niece grew up experiencing all of her anime through legal online licensing services like Netflix, Funimation, Crunchyroll, etc. After discussing that difference, they mentioned briefly (as in one time in a single sentence) that the popularity of a particular genre in anime when you entered may affect what you find most interesting before completely undercutting themselves to say that you can't recommend anything to anyone because people always think about what they like first. (I hate to break it to them, but I find it pretty easy to recommend things based on my friends' stated interests in past series. Maybe that's because I watch almost everything of every genre in anime, but also--it's not rocket science. If your friend likes thrilling action movies, you can probably name a few thrilling action animes to satisfy their interest.) It felt as though the panel's title was misleading when the answer to recommending anime is "you can't." (when, in fact, you can with little to no complications!)

Overall, for me, AX takes the crown in terms of content. They had a fantastic mix of everything you hope to see at a comic convention in addition to making it fun. Comic-Con takes the crown for best platform use and layout (AX takes a close second and Aniplex/Funimation sharing third)... Crunchyroll doesn't rank in this category. Aniplex/Funimation shares the title of Best Entertainment. Crunchyroll takes the crown for fan inclusion into the presentation spotlight. They're all winners, but if I really had to rank them, it'd be this:

Anime Expo - Title: Content is King 👑

Comic-Con - Best Platform/Layout

Aniplex/Funimation (Sharing is caring) - Best Entertainment

Crunchyroll - Best Fan Inclusion

With that, I conclude my long drafted review. Thank you for your patience, and I'll see you all next week in another post!

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karasunocurry · 6 years ago

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Atsukashiyama Ibun Paris report

So I’m home and I feel like I’m in a post-convention depression more that I’ve felt after recent cons xD I was kind of sad that I wasn’t at Japan Expo Paris, I didn’t actually know beforehand they’d be there ^^; and I couldn’t take days off or afford to go either way, but I’d been looking forward to the musical for an entire week (including losing sleep over it, oops). I went to Paris on Friday and met up with Edo and did some shopping for items we needed (or didn’t need but I have a backscratcher that acts as extendable Ishikirimaru prop now xD). Later met up with Mai & Katy and then had a late but well-deserved dinner at a Japanese restaurant.

Saturday I attended the fanmeet near the Louvre. It was warm and we tried to stay in the shade of the trees. Some people came in cosplay (brave! but not smart xD) and it was fun to see all the itabags gathering. I didn’t talk to that many people but it was great meeting @sohmariku and talking about Japan and subbing. There was a lot of things going on in terms of ‘what we can do for the boys’, like signing a flag, writing short messages for Kitazono Ryo and even recording video messages (which I fucked up- and once I make a mistake I’m done for xD). Took a break early in the evening because I was tired and started getting a really bad headache, but met up with a group of people for dinner, and then went to bed. For some reason, woke up way too early every day but *shrug* it must be a jiji thing.

Sunday- performance day

Aaand then it was Sunday. I’d also decided to write letters on a whim but I only ended up writing two (for Sakiyama & Ryuji) and a get well soon card for Ryo. I went to the venue around 10, to meet up with Edo and Katy again and check how everything would be organized. It appeared that goods would only be sold 45 minutes before the show. Uhm. I didn’t think too much of it at that point, but luckily Edo was very much set on getting in early for merch, so I was also pretty much in front of the line of one of the entrances. Good thing too, because the goods stand was too small and too slow to allow many people to actually get their stuff. I managed to buy bromides, the pamphlet and a penlight - decided against the DVD bc I can get it cheaper online - and after I went to the toilet, they already announced that not many more people would be able to buy goods. I went in and took my seat and was later joined by Senta, who’d never watched the musical before so it was fun to afterwards hear what she thought of it and explain some more about the connection between the swords and their former masters. I wasn’t very much at the front but had a good view on the entire stage. At first the full cast and the producer (and writer?) took the stage to explain the Kitazono Ryo’s medical condition - he’d been diagnosed with retinal detachment and was advised not to act on stage, but he could do his lines and vocals. They then called him on stage, and you could tell by his posture and face that this was a very difficult thing to do. Ryo cried through his words and could hardly speak, it was so very sad to see him like this, apologizing for not being able to be on stage. He got a big round of applause and took a spot behind the audience from where he’d act out his lines. [spoilers ahead]

The musical started off differently, with Mikazuki doing a dance - immediately making the link to Tsuwamonodomo stronger - while the ‘human’ story played out behind him. They also added that smithing song between Mikazuki and Kogitsunemaru. There were some obvious changes to the musical, but mostly subltle changes in conversations and little things added here and there. The overall flow of the story remains the same, of course, but the musical has evolved through time and you can tell that there’s improvement in all aspects (although it was always great haha). The presence of Kogi on stage was not a big problem for the course of the story, since his interaction is mostly limited to speaking to others, aside from the song he shared with Mikazuki and ofc in the group scenes, there is an empty spot, but even so his character was there. It was still sad to see everyone looking at that empty spot, but I’m just glad that at least he was allowed to and able to perform by speaking.

I love the scenes with Benkei and Iwatooshi - let’s be honest, Iwatooshi is the new guy at the citadel in this piece and he’s so fucking strong, bless him. Just like his former master, he’s a good man with a strong sense of duty and good intuition. And his doubt and resolve are played out very well. Araki Kentaro is also great as Yoshitsune, in every performance he’s been able to express the duality between human Yoshitsune and possessed Yoshitsune very well.

I also think everyone grew in their respective characters and the singing was also better than before. Everyone’s performance was outstanding. Mikazuki’s elegance, Iwatooshi’s strength, Ishikirimaru’s protectiveness, Kashuu’s vigor, Imanotsurugi’s enery and Kogi’s empathy, it was all there. I just love how these characters influence each other. At the end, the fighting got more intense than it was before, adding some dramatic despair that I don’t think I felt before during that scene, and I don’t think anyone would ever complain about Daichi’s bare back :) The Idol Live part was all new!! Surprisingly, I wasn’t expecting that and as people later pointed out, it was nowhere hinted at either - no idol outfit bromides for us yet, but I’d love to get those!.I love the new outfits, they were very nicely coordinated, the original character colours were used very well, and the jackets with connecting lines look so fabulous <3 The songs were also very good! Very upbeat and catchy and boi the dance moves!! I was really impressed and as Ishikirimaru fan I’ve been eyeing Sakiyama most of the time - hard to ignore his tight pants and smooth moves xD I have a vague feeling they also gave him more center stage time? His popularity has climbed since the first Atsukashiyama run so I guess they might take that into consideration? It made me happy to see that they looked like they were having a lot of fun, despite everything, that they were giving their all in a foreign country, and by the amount of pen lights and different colours, everyone had fans and I hope they felt our love~

They also kept up with the misogi tradition where someone has to say a line in repsonse to a given situation. Mikazuki got picked and instead of giving us a line, he had to flash his back, this kinky mofo. Mario ma boy you know what you’re about don’t you. <3 At the end they all presented themselves in French (v cute baww), aaand it ended with otokomichi as usual but that entire song/act is just A+++, it’s such a motivating song. Everyone looked happy. They got a lot of applause, a standing ovation WELL DESERVED and in the end, all pen lights turned yellow to wave at Ryo as he left his spot. I hope he got some strenth and courage from it, and felt less burdened. I went out... Edo and Katy went to the evening performance too. I was thinking of just hanging around or maybe going to the hotel but - France had just won the world cup and Paris had exploded into a chaotic soccer mess that I wanted no part of - so I bought a rank 2 ticket and went in again. (yolo is a thing, this might well be the only time to ever see a toumyu live) Things about seeing it twice: - Ryozono had regained his composure. I think that the successful afternoon performance and the fan’s reactions had made him feel at least less worried. He apologized this time with a strong and confident voice. Bless him. - There was a scene where Ishi wanted to draw Kashuu’s portrait (ref to Mihotose), but he forgot his pen xD He glossed it over real smooth. GJ Sakiyama <3 - It was misogi time for Ishikirimaru!! I may have screamed. I wish I’d remembered exactly what he said but it was about hugging, I think my brain just melted hence the bad memory. ^^;;;

- For the idol performance we took different seats at the side to see the actors from closer by.<3 - Sadly there were a lot of empty seats for the evening performance. It would’ve been hard to get home when the musical was over so I understand but I also think they should have done a better job at promoting the entire event. It’s alway been hard to get information, most of it had been translated by fans from the official Japanese site. People came from all over Europe and more people would come if you’d done proper promotion beforehand. Uhm... I think that’s it. It was great. I had an amazing time with the people I was with and talked to and I wish I’d been there today as well to talk about it even more but HMU ok.

Can I just say I’m into hell even deeper now? That I fucking love Tsubasa? But also Daichi? But also Mario? Actually EVERYONE??? I’m really really really happy I decided to go, best decision, kill me now (but I’m already dead), I haven’t been able to think of anything else and I’m definitely not ready to go to work tomorrow. I hope this does still open doors to more (tourabu) musicals and/or stage plays to come to Europe. It’s very niche but it’s still a growing fandom. I’m more motivated again to do some subbing to spread the love for the stages/musicals that I like and hope people will join us in this hell and start supporting the boys and their work.

more random stuff on twitter

#musical touken ranbu in paris #atsukashiyama ibun paris #toumyu paris #toumyu atsukashiyama ibun #report #musical touken ranbu #toumyu

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extra-fulgadrome · 7 years ago

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MVP - a Snapshot of Hana Song

Hana’s grandmother, born Sagong Chŏng-sun, had been a child when the Japanese occupation of Korea ended. At the height of the occupying force’s cultural suppression, Chŏng-sun’s own grandmother had taught her young granddaughter traditional Korean games that would have otherwise been stamped out — games rooted in folklore, some even older than hangul. These were Hana’s precious heirlooms, and many were the days spent cooped up in her mother’s tiny apartment, playing yutnori and gonu with her grandmother while they waited for the rain to let up.

“Halmoni…” Hana had once whined, pushing herself away from the low table to lie back against the threadbare rug. “You never let me win.”

Her grandmother simply gazed down at her, eyes steely and unsympathetic, as she gathered up the spread of playing cards to shuffle.

“If you want to win, work for it, child.”

She wasn’t the sort of person who backed down from a challenge. Bolstered by those words instead of being discouraged, Hana started to match her grandmother’s skill in games with her own cunning, despite the gap in experience. She won perhaps one in every five games they played, and was always improving — and when she won, how her grandmother’s eyes would shine with pride, and the moment wasn’t even spoiled when the old woman would tease her (“Are you getting better or just more lucky, Rabbit?”).

Then, her grandmother’s health took a turn for the worse, and little by little the games they shared became increasingly seldom occurrences, until they stopped altogether.

It was hard going for a long while after Grandmother passed. When Hana looked at the chess set in their once-shared bedroom, the game half played, never to be finished… it was all too much.

Seeing Hana’s despondency, her mother, a serious woman who did not share her family’s great love of games, did an impulsive thing. One late evening, she detoured on her way home from her work and purchased an old Sega Dreamcast from the secondhand shop, along with a handful of scratched CD roms. It was an ugly plastic box, two console generations out of date. Hana had never been too interested in video games — it was one of a number of “boy things” that, like wrestling in the muddy yard and smuggling nude magazines into school, she wasn’t terribly curious about. When she connected it to the little television in the dining room, only half the games still ran. But the dull glow of the television, the bleep-bloops of music, and the click-clack of colorful buttons was engaging enough to occupy those quiet, lonely hours before her mother returned home every night.

Hana wasn’t sure what changed, or why, but at some point before graduating middle school and after she had completed all of her Dreamcast games several times (perfect save files all in a row, one-hundred-percent completion) she found herself standing outside of a gaming cafe. The cafe’s staff charged by the hour to use their high-end PCs, top of the line rigs which outpaced her school’s computers (and the brick of a laptop her mother sometimes brought home, which was little more than a spreadsheet machine) to an absurd degree.

With only vague ideas of what she was getting herself into, Hana sat herself in a plush chair and pulled herself towards the computer, drawing a few curious looks from the largely male customers — curious, but not unkind as she had feared. With bright eyes and a heart full of hope, Hana logged on for the first time.

The subsequent year passed by in a blur, studies falling to the wayside even as she entered high school.

Warcraft. League. Counterstrike. Age of Empires.

A crowd at her back, cheering her on, as she no-scope headshots a platinum-level player from halfway across the map, again.

MMORPG. MOBA. FPS. RTS.

Her mother, face pulled into a frown, asking her why her grades have been dropping, asking where Hana went after school.

Casual. Noob. Hobbyist. Veteran.

When did the games become more than just a distraction, Hana wondered, idly purchasing herself a Starcraft subscription.

Winning got me this far, as she signed on to her first esports sponsorship. How much father can I go?

Then, later, when the MEKA recruiters come, was it in my blood all along?

Life was a challenge, but not one she couldn’t overcome. The training was tough and the hours were long, but it was just as fun as it was exhausting, and she always performed best under pressure.

Hana Song was a excellent gamer and entertainer, well-loved by her fan-base, but D.Va was transcendent. Rising star, liberator, celebrity, soldier. An idol, a warrior. The face of MEKA’s elite pilots, “D.Va” was a household name the world over, proudly and decisively combating the Omnic crisis. All of this came with perks — her mother would never have to work again, and what little time D.Va spent off of the training grounds or the battlefield passed in luxury.

And that was all well and good, but she’d be lying if she claimed any of that was the reason why she devoted herself to the Korean army’s Mobile Exo-Force.

Was it any real surprise that war was the greatest game mankind had ever produced?

Was it shocking, given that it was the favored subject matter of countless movies, novels, video games, children at play, and great works of art? Humans invented war before they’d made the wheel. D.Va turned war into the casual online entertainment of record numbers of steam watchers the world over. The world continued to spin.

There was some controversy at first, the rumblings of malcontent parents worried that their children would be desensitized to violence, but, well. It wasn’t as if she was fighting actual people, was she? Her heart went out to the sane Omnics in the world, the ones who hadn’t rebelled against their programming and spewed out appliances of death and destruction, but the thing that had risen out of the east Chinese sea and threatened to sink the Korean peninsula wasn’t exactly a cute little roomba.

Meeting the Bastion unit that old man Torbjörn dug out of Sweden had made her reconsider her position on Omnics, just slightly.

It had been during a photo-shoot they had met, a joint operation between the South Korean and the United States militarys — the kind of event that the Americans called “cross-promotion” when what they meant was “propaganda.” D.Va’s inclusion was almost an afterthought, pitched by MEKA for her brand’s popularity and to widen the expo’s audience appeal. For the most part, all she had to do was shake hands with shoddy old bureaucratic men and pose with her mech. After a few hours with the photographer the organizers ran out of things for her to do, and she was shuffled off into the gardens outside the building to sip non-alcoholic sparkling cider and be bored as hell while the “adults” talked business.

Then, from a behind a shrub, beeping. “Bwee, bwoo bwoorbweebweep booo…”

D.Va abandoned her empty plastic champagne flute to investigate, because beeping bushes were the most interesting thing that had happened in hours.

She followed the noise to its source, a pristine Bastion unit that she would have balked at the sight of and sounded the alarm… if it hadn’t been very carefully unshelling a bag of vending machine peanuts with its huge robot hands, and feeding them to a family of ravenous squirrels. D.Va vaguely recalled the news that they’d reclaimed a Bastion unit over in Europe, but she’d thought it would be under lock and key in some remote facility, not hanging out in a government park, making nice with the local wildlife.

“Bweep bweep,” the thing chimed, shifting its… optic?… over in her direction. Spotted.

D.Va took a step back, and snapped a twig beneath her heel, sending the rodents scattering. The machine beeped sadly at their departure, and five minutes later, despite herself, D.Va found herself keeping the Omnic company, sitting on its back as it rolled around the park in tank form.

It… Bastion unit E54, was a good listener, she’d give the robot that much. She spilled her guts to the machine about her frustrations and anxiety, and Bastion always replied with the appropriate emotion (if you could call it that) in its signature style. Sad bwoops for D.Va’s worries, curious bweeps when she talked about gaming, happy bwops and beeps when she talked about how proud she was of her progress.

A photo of D.Va in an elegant gown, riding on top of a Bastion unit as it plucked a flower and offered it to her, made its way on to Omnic rights webpages as a sign of peaceful progress between the races of man and machine… then was picked up a few days later by the mainstream media, who smeared her with rumor-mongering headlines like “KOREAN MECH PILOT, LYING DOWN WITH THE MACHINE?” and “SO-CALLED HEROINE OPENLY EMBRACES ENEMY”. It was a short-lived scandal, but those tense few days where MEKA threatened to pull D.Va from the spotlight made her sick with stress until the PR department managed to spin the story in a positive light.

Her fans (with a few crybaby outliers screaming about betrayal, but screw those guys, really) just thought it was a cute photo. Her Japanese audience especially appreciated its “moe factor” and spammed her with fan art.

D.Va was just glad that the experience, which she would remember fondly as the most open she had been since her grandmother had died, had not been entirely tainted by the unexpected aftermath.

From that point onward, however, MEKA was much more careful about where D.Va was allowed to go. Her life became nothing but endless training, drilling, and fighting. If she had thought her schedule had been strict before, the D.Va of a few months ago wouldn’t have been able to imagine what it was like to only be allowed nine hours to herself a day — eight for sleep, one for meals. Perhaps it was MEKA’s way of punishing her, or perhaps they feared an increase in the Omnic’s ferocity after the recent assassination of Tekhartha Mondatta, leader of the Omnic spiritual movement, the Shambali. Either way, with no time to spend on her usual hobby, the most she got in the way of stress relief was reading the travel blog of Mei-Ling Zhou (and a mobile version of mahjong she played for a little before bed each night, but that was more so her brain didn’t get cobwebs).

Mei was a figure of fascination to D.Va — sleeping in the cold for nine years, only to emerge into a tumultuous world where her organization had been disgraced and disbanded. Having to escape from the arctic tundra with nothing but her wits… then going on to continue the work right where she and her fallen comrades had left off. Saving the world! ...from an ecological crisis, sure, which wasn’t exactly as cool as an evil empire bent on conquest or a dark god from beyond the stars or a demon army, but Mei very much had the indomitable spirit of her favorite video game heroes.

So when she heard Mei was coming to South Korea to set up a weather data collection device at one of their military bases, D.Va asked — not begged, or pleaded, but seriously and maturely requested for her CO to grant D.Va the honor of acting as an ambassador during Mei’s visit.

Sooner or later the higher-ups at MEKA had to stop treating her like a child. She was fighting their war, they came to her for aid.

They tentatively agreed, provided D.Va remain on her best behavior leading up to the visit. It was like dealing with her mother all over again, and left a sour taste in her mouth as she exited the administration building.

At least the excitement made the coming weeks bearable.

Finally, the day came. D.Va stood tall, dressed in a pristine MEKA uniform, her arms crossed confidently over her chest and her stance wide and strong, as the transport shuttle reached the helipad and touched down. Her first thought, as the scientist clambered out of the craft somewhat unsteadily, was that Mei-Ling Zhou looked different when she wasn’t bundled up in that heavy fur coat.

A moment later second thought was she’s so cute! Round face! Big dewy eyes! And she was so short D.Va could reach down and scoop her right up! The MEKA pilot approached the older woman, smiling brightly.

“Zhou-Seonbae! Welcome to sunny South Korea,” D.Va said, bidding Mei peace with a gesture — or, as D.Va preferred, V for Victory.

“Hello Miss Song,” the woman said, in mildly accented hangul. Then, switching to english, “Just call me Mei, if you don’t mind!”

“Only if you call me D.Va!” she chirped, and Mei smiled back at her as she hefted a large metal case out of the cabin. She was strong for such a little woman.

They thanked the shuttle pilot, and D.Va escorted Mei to a waiting car and their security escort. The ride over to the cellphone tower where Mei would be installing her probe was only twenty minutes travel the base’s airport, but the short journey was full of happy chatter. D.Va confided that Mei’s travel journal was a source of great personal inspiration to her, and the older woman introduced her to Snowball, Mei’s cute little drone.

“Snowball… that’s nun mungchi, in hangul.”

“Nun mungzhe…?” Mei said, consideringly, patting the little bot on its round head. Snowball’s blue LED eyes swiveled around to look at her. Adorable.

“Nun mungchi.” D.Va held up a finger, her face serious. The spitting image of a patient, if strict, teacher.

“Nun mungchi.” Mei repeated earnestly.

“You’ve got it!” D.Va said, delighted. Mei put her hand on her chest and beamed, as if receiving a great honor.

“Niiirn miiirrchiii,” Snowball whirred cheerfully, bopping the car’s roof in its excitement before careening back down to the seat below, blue eyes spinning cartoonishly.

They were still laughing when their car pulled up to the tower.

At the end of Mei’s stay, the two women parted with great reluctance, both promising to stay in touch. D.Va couldn’t have been happier to count Mei among her friends, and refreshed from the time she had spent getting to know her hero, plunged back into her training with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.

Just in time, too, as MEKA mobilized in response to one of the worst Omnic raids yet, spearing farther inland than even the most pessimistic estimate predicted. The enemy forces had quickly spilled over into unevacuated civilian territory and time was of the essence. They deployed at four in the morning to hold down the line in Daegu while the infantry set up a defensive perimeter. Her orders were to cut the enemy off from encroaching further, to minimize damage whenever possible, and to defend fleeing civilians.

As D.Va touched down in Daegu and began to repel the machine invaders, she saw there weren’t many people left to defend.

This battle, she thought grimly, as she gunned down a line of drones as they swept through an abandoned playground, is not exactly livestream material.

Hemmed in on all sides, D.Va made a tactical retreat and found a vantage point from which to target her foes at more of a distance — everyone knew the high ground was most advantageous. Her fusion cannons were essentially buffed shotguns, the wide spread of buckshot not meant for precision shooting, but she would manage. The targeting system of her mech got a real workout as she sniped stragglers from the Omnic’s main forces (“Boom, headshot!”), eventually drawing their attention all over again. Nowhere to go, she switched mental tracks to tower defense game and activated her mech’s defense matrix, unleashing a strategic barrage of missiles. Soon, the twisted bodies of the Omnic assault forces lay strewn around the pitted street, their zerg rush at a merciful end — for now.

“...multikill,” she panted, the fusion cannons mounted in her mech’s arms smoking, the barrels white-hot. Any more and the metal would warp — not that it mattered much now, seeing that she was down to less than three-fourths of her ammo capacity. A bead of sweat dripped down her face. If she were being honest, that had been... a real pinch.

Time to restock.

“Need a supply drop,” she said into the comms, waiting for confirmation from command. A minute passed in worrying silence.

“This is D.Va, requesting a resupply drone. Please acknowledge, over.”

There was no response. She switched to the encrypted channels, trying again to reach command to no avail, before attempting to contact the various squad captains.

Nothing.

“Is it broken…? Well, that’s just my luck!”

Even in the privacy of her thoughts, she refused to acknowledge the bleak alternative.

A plan started to come together. Under the circumstances, D.Va would have to make her way over to the supply depot on foot... so to speak. She boosted into the air, intending to take the rooftop route, collateral damage be damned. It was just a few short miles to the north, along the perimeter.

An unexpected burst of fire caught her mech across its visor, the heavy steel slug sending a long hairline fracture through the supposedly bulletproof polymer. She wheeled around to face the source, spotting an airborne Omnic with a mounted railgun of all things. She strafed left, aiming carefully for the machine’s rotors, but it simply tilted away, her barrage deflected harmlessly by its armored shell.

...OP, plz nerf.

Not missing a beat, she fired her last missile at the hovering Omnic, but the distance was too great — it simply swiveled its body 360 degrees clockwise on an axis, the missile sailing harmlessly through the spot its bulk had been occupying a nanosecond previously. Just as she began contemplating activating her mech’s self destruct sequence and booking it, the readout on her HUD indicated a swarm of enemies was approaching from the southwest. Fast.

“Ah, shi-bal…”

No choice now, she would have to make a break for it—

“I’ve got you all in my sights.”

A splash of light in the alleyway where the Omnic hoard was approaching, and one by one the enemy’s icons flickered out, leaving just two — the flying railgun in enemy-red, and the unknown combatant in grey, who was approaching her position now. Were they friend or foe?

As the grey icon came nearer, one thing was clear: they were about to walk right into that railgun’s line of sight, and it was almost done charging a second shot.

Time to be a goddamn hero.

“STAY BACK,” she shouted, the mech magnifying her voice, as she grabbed her light gun from its holster and activated the self-destruct subroutine. The mech launched forward and she launched back, and she was briefly airborne before landing on her heels, digging into the asphalt even as she tried to gain some distance. The timing was crucial, and she knew it by heart, but this was cutting it a little close—

The fusion reactor detonated, shattering a block’s worth of glass and decimating the aerial Omnic.

Well, if anyone asked, she’d just say an Omnic did it.

D.Va, upright and unharmed, popped her gum and turned to face the stranger, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes.

“I know you,” she said in english. “The American vigilante… Soldier: 76. Is that right?”

His weapon, which had been raised in alarm towards the explosion, slowly lowered as he took her in. She kept her grip on her light gun tight, but let her arm hang at her side. This guy could be dangerous, could be an ally. She would have to play this by ear.

The masked man grunted by way of greeting, then relaxed his stance. That was no way to react to a warrior of her caliber, but if he wasn’t going to take her seriously as a potential combatant, she would happily take advantage of his oversight. Moreover, now that D.Va could get a good look at him, he seemed injured. There was no visible blood, but he was favoring his left leg… a sprain or break, perhaps.

“You’re that… actress.” Tch.

“I’m a proud soldier of the Mobile Exo-Force of the Korean Army, and you are wanted by the UN for questioning.” He ought to know his place, this old man.

“You, a soldier?” He shook his head, and without the benefit of seeing his expression, it was difficult to tell if it was in disbelief... or amusement. “Your country drafts middle schoolers, now?”

“I am a mech pilot with hundreds of confirmed kills, and unless you can withstand a direct hit from a weapon that damaged tech developed on a multi-million dollar budget, I also just saved your life.”

Perhaps he was shocked into submission, or perhaps he was grateful but too proud to admit it, but regardless, the old man had nothing to say to that. Cool and professional despite her distaste, she approached him from his injured side and offered him her shoulder. Grumbling, he slung his gun around his back and wordlessly accepted her aid, leaning on her as she supported him. Soldier: 76 was heavy, but D.Va didn��t just train in mech piloting. No, she was also quite talented on the track, in the obstacle course, and (naturally), on the range. With her free hand, she twirled her gun.

“You’re a decent shot, right, 76? Try to keep up. It’s a long walk to the perimeter.”

“Hmph. We’ll see who slows down who.”

The destruction of Daegu was a huge blow to the people of South Korea, who had grown comfortable and confidant after MEKA began its initiative to outfit its mechs with pilots and repel the Omnic invasion. Morale was especially low in MEKA’s headquarters, the mood desperate and mournful since the confusion caused by the communications blackout (which resulted from an Omnic hack) had seen many young pilots killed. The populace’s faith in MEKA was shaken, just as those pilots who had managed to survive the disaster where shaken by the loss of their comrades in arms.

It wasn’t the first time they had taken casualties, but never before have they been so numerous.

D.Va felt a wave of pity and understanding for the dissolution of Overwatch, an event of which Soldier: 76 had spoken to her about, just a little, as they fought and fled their way through the streets of Daegu. It had been what little information she managed to get out of him, between his long bouts of gruff silence, occasional condescending remarks, and even rarer praise.

For her part, D.Va was keeping busy with disaster relief. She, along with a bulk of the MEKA recruits, had volunteered their time to the recovery efforts. Command had cleared them for this duty almost almost as soon as they put the request in, probably just because it was a good idea to stay visible to help PR, but who knows? Maybe they thought it would lift their spirits.

As much as D.Va believed this was valuable work, however, it just depressed her. The sooner she was allowed to fight again, the happier she would be. No matter what that Grandpa: 76 said, she knew her place was on the battlefield.

For now, at least, she could occupy her time constructively. It was better than sitting back at base, doing nothing. Yesterday she had cleared a street of rubble, today she assisted the paramedics with search and rescue. Tomorrow she might help with handing out supplies...

Her mech beeped twice, and a bell icon appeared at the bottom of her HUD. A call, nonurgent.

She pressed the receive button, accepting it immediately.

“D.Va,” she identified.

“It’s Maeng,” came the familiar voice of her fellow recruit. “We’ve got a VIP waiting in the market district. You mind playing babysitter until we can get a security detail on him? My shift is just about over and I wanted to grab a bite before I get some shuteye.”

“Yes, yes,” she replied, as he pinged her the VIP’s location on her minimap. “You can always count on me to make a good impression!”

Her usual cheer wasn’t quite there, but Maeng still thanked her before he exited the call. He was a sweet kid, and it was heartbreaking the way he hadn’t been sleeping since the incident. It was the least she could do.

D.Va headed over, detouring briefly to assist with an electrical fire that had broken out, before arriving at the designated area. Exiting her mech, she checked her hair in the glossy reflection of its visor, winking at the cute girl mirrored back at her.

“Oh my gosh,” went a warm voice behind her, from inside a large emergency tent, “I mean, I knew you were from here, but I never thought… well…”

That voice was… familiar.

The man stepped into the light, and D.Va’s eye widened. The Brazilian DJ smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he walked… no, skated forward.

“It’s so cool to meet you. Wish it was under better circumstances, but I’m a big fan, D.Va!”

“You’re Lúcio! The Lúcio,” she exclaimed, a disbelieving smile pulling at her lips. That Maeng could’ve at least warned her…!

Lúcio blinked at her, then grinned goofily. D.Va trotted forward giddily, and the two shook hands enthusiastically.

“Haha, you’ve heard of me? Man, that’s wild. People know me even in Korea, huh. Makes me feel even better about doing this charity concert, if people won’t be wondering ‘who’s this guy?’ the whole time, you know?”

“Of course we know you! Synaesthesia Auditiva has topped the music charts here for months and months now! A lot of us followed you even before that, on the internet.”

“I’d been told global reception was pretty good, but you know, there’s a big difference between being told and seeing it for yourself, I guess! I probably don’t even have to say this, but you’re really big in Brazil. The kids call you Coelhinho, and I’ve even seen people with tattoos of your logo, believe it or not.”

“Oh, I believe it,” D.Va said confidently, putting her hands on her hips. Lúcio laughed good-naturedly, doubling over and shaking his head so all his funny dreadlocks waved around. When he rose, D.Va couldn’t help but think that he was awfully tall. She stood up straighter, feeling her face light up just a little bit.

“So you’re doing a free concert?” she asked, leading them back to the seating in the tent. Folding chairs. Not the most comfortable or appropriate thing for a pair of international celebrities, but that was life.

“Yeah. I’ve done this a couple of times before, like during that hurricane that wrecked Georgia and Florida, or when that bad earthquake hit Italy. Trying to use the power of music to lift spirits, you feel me? First time I’ve ever had a concert in Asia, though.”

“I’m sure the people here will be happy to have you play for them,” D.Va said. She meant it, too.

“I’ve got a fundraiser going online right now, too, and it’s going pretty good. Hopefully I’ll be able to give a little more than good vibrations,” Lúcio said, smiling conspiratorially. “I’d give you a sneak peak at the set I cooked up, but I can’t even get ready until the power in this area comes back, and the last guy told me it might be a while.”

“...probably a few hours, at least,” she admitted.

The conversation lulled into a slightly awkward pause, as they both smiled and tried not to look at each other. D.Va didn’t understand why she was being so silly about this — she had met scores of K-Pop artists and famous actors, so she shouldn’t be feeling this flustered. She stared at the dusty ground, and traced a line in the dirt with her foot. It gave her an idea.

Finally, she broke the silence.

“Lúcio, have you ever played gonu?”

“Nope,” he replied, flashing a winning smile. D.Va liked that smile. She liked it a lot.

“It’s a traditional Korean game — a little bit like tic-tac-toe. Here, let me show you…”

Happy Birthday, @cervamater. Keep on shining, starlight.

#overwatch #d.va #hana song #fan fic #happy birthday mirin

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fayewonglibrary · 3 years ago

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The Queen is Back (2010)

ELLE China September Issue Exclusive

Faye Wong, Long Time No See

The commercials are hot, the concert posters were revealed, and the ticket pre-sales are in full swing. Faye Wong, who has been rumored to comeback countless times over the years, finally officially returns this time.

ELLE went to Paris to exclusively photograph and interview the diva who is "coming out after receiving a thousand calls". Five years later, her personality remains the same. Whether she is seen or not seen in public, she is just there, neither sad nor happy.

Photography: SHAMELESS EYE PRODUCTION AG / Styling: TITI KWAN / Make-up: ZING / Hair: ALAIN PICHON / Author: Ding Shujie / Editor: LIZZY LI

June 29, 2010. Paris. 　　

"Crack" - The lights in the studio flashed. Faye Wong was still a little restrained and her pose was not quite right. She is not a model who is like a fish in water when facing the camera. I remembered seeing her backstage at a music festival six years ago. She wore a white dress and smoky eye makeup. When I went to the press room to take photos, countless flashes went off one after another, and the photographers kept shouting "Faye Wong, look here!". She was a little at a loss and took a step back subconsciously. She still had stage fright and nervousness. However, that does not hinder the constant love and support of millions of fans over many years. She is Faye Wong.

The most anticipated concert of 2010

A few friends went with me to the shop and they waited a long time for me to check out. One of them joked: "Europeans can only do one thing at a time." Faye Wong was on the side and said calmly: "Actually, I am like this too." Indeed.

For example, when she came back to prepare for this concert, she only focused on this one job. She currently has no plans to release a new album, let alone make a movie. Just do the concert well. The public is more concerned than her and listed all kinds of potential projects for her. Faye Wong is dedicated and does not want to do anything else.

Beijing Wukesong Stadium and Shanghai World Expo Cultural Center are destined to become pilgrimage sites for countless Fei fans in 2010. The five consecutive concerts for the "Faye Wong 2010 Tour" has made Faye Wong not only the first singer to perform more than three concerts in a large-scale arena in the Mainland, but also set a record for sales in the Beijing concert market. From the setlist to stage design, she will participate in every aspect of the concert you can think of. There are no guests in the concert, as she said: “I won’t have any fancy transformations. I just want to sing and express myself in music, and I won’t even say anything.”

Ingenious fashion

When she went shopping after the photoshoot, Faye Wong wore a chic orange jumpsuit. This trendy look was purchased online from a website in the United States. Faye Wong's exquisite style and ingenuity often catches everyone off guard. At the launching ceremony of the 2010 concert tour that was held not long ago, when she appeared elegantly in a slender black and red dress, she appeared to be barefoot. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the heavenly queen was wearing transparent flip flops! A few hours after the press conference, netizens started a hot search for "Transparent Flip Flops", and even some online shops started to sell "Faye Wong Flip Flops." When she first arrived in Hong Kong, she was called "old-fashioned". Today, every move she makes affects fashion trends.

In the past 20 years, whether it is sunburn makeup, black eagle eyes, antenna hair, punk rock style, or teardrop eye makeup, she has led numerous trends. After five years of dormancy, the appearance of the heavenly queens in recent days was said to be "overall low-key with winning details"; such as the inspired flip flops and the pink silk stockings and high heels on the Spring Festival Gala. Faye Wong continues to play with her unique casual style. It is a waste of effort to find a sense of the times in her style because she only dresses for herself, there is no era.

The reclusive singer did not completely retire, sings for charity 　　

At the Smile Angel Foundation charity dinner last year, every guest who attended received an exclusive CD with only three songs: "Smiling Angel", "Diamond Sutra" and "Heart Sutra", all sung by Faye Wong . Later, Feng Xiaogang [film director] heard the "Heart Sutra" and wished to use it as the ending song of his film "Aftershock". Faye Wong, a Buddhist, thought it was a good deed and provided the song free of charge. 　　

"Smiling Angel", "Diamond Sutra" and "Heart Sutra", seem to represent Faye Wong's attitude towards life today. "Heart Sutra" is the sound of heaven and compassion. It is said that Feng Xiaogang, who was so anxious and busy with "Aftershock" at the time, was stunned when he heard it. He felt that the movie was missing something and finally found a calm and bright ending through this song. Faye Wong's dedication brought great comfort to audiences across the country.

In "Smiling Angel", Faye Wong wrote about her daughter, but she also faintly sees her own shadow: the angel with the smile who raises the corner of her mouth, unconsciously letting us see the light. For her, if you infuse your life with a special meaning, as long as it is good, it does not need to last forever.

The elusive Fei life 　　

In the afternoon, Faye Wong was tired due to jet lag. "At home, I take care of my children and I go to bed early every night, so jet lag is a bit uncomfortable," she said calmly.

Faye Wong, who used to like nightlife so much, became a good mother when she had children. She accompanies her children to bed at nine o'clock and wakes up at six o'clock every day. Her life routine is enviable. Lady Gaga once said: “...in 8 to 10 years, I want to have babies for my Dad to hold grandkids. And I want to have a husband who loves and supports me, just the way anyone else does". This is the life dream of Lady Gaga in eight to ten years and it is also Faye Wong's reality now.

Faye Wong in everyday life is very hip. She shops online, uses an iPhone, and likes to try the latest electronic products and consumer methods. It is rumored on the Internet that a certain Weibo belongs to her. It only uses a simple English username without any identity verification or description. However, if those humorous animal pictures and quiet beautiful scenic photos posted by an iPhone is her, then it would be so cute.

Faye Wong is indeed the cool Beijing girl we know. While shooting, we recommended to her a Chinese restaurant in Paris called "Beijing Canteen". It is said that the [dish] is very authentic. Faye Wong said, “But I am a vegetarian”. But after thinking about it, she said that "jiucai hezi" would be okay. A few days later, her friend posted a photo on Weibo, showing a plate of jiucai hezi ordered at the restaurant.

How is Faye Wong now? Is she still lazy? Only jogs for two days? Confused with ups and downs? Straightforward, offending people still part of every day life? Facing fans, does she still feel embarrassed? Not too active and always wants to take a vacation? 　　

"I'm not an idol, don't worship me. I just want to be myself and impress the audience with music."

Perhaps with Faye Wong, it can be left unspoken. Long time no see. Faye Wong is just there, neither sad nor happy. 　　

------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCE: ELLE CHINA // TRANSLATED BY: FAYE WONG FUZAO

#2010

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daleisgreat · 5 years ago

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30 Years of TurboGrafX-16 & 25 Years of 32-X: A Lethal Combination!

Greetings and thank you once again for joining me in another anniversary retrospective! I know we are in the first month of 2020, but please indulge me and pretend it is still 2019 so I can say this is officially a piece commemorating the 30th anniversary of the North American launch of the NEC TurboGrafX-16 and the 25th anniversary of North American launch of the Sega 32X! Yes, this is the two-for-one anniversary special! I have been neglecting this for too long and wanted to have this up before the end of 2019, but I think I was a wee burnt out with my tomes I crafted for my other three flashbacks I posted throughout this past summer. I have good faith this will be a shorter piece because even though I have a history with both the TG16 and 32X, my experiences with them are both greatly after their original launches so I do not have those twee childhood memories of the 32X and TG16 as I did with the GameBoy and Genesis. Regardless, I do cherish my time with both ill-fated systems I will be covering today, so let us kickoff with the system that came out first, NEC’s TurboGrafX-16 in 1989.

Yup, these are the issues of Game Players I dug out of the closet and took poor quality cell phone pics for proof of where I first remember reading about the TurboGrafX. Even though TG16 launched in America in 1989, I do not recall seeing it in stores or hearing about it until 1994 when I got my first videogame magazine subscription to Game Players. Yes, I still have those 1994 issues of Game Players in my closet and if I can find the right issues I will attempt to paste in a semi-decent cell phone shot of the pages that referenced the TG16. If memory serves right, I believe there was a spread video pinball games that highlighted both Crush pinball titles for TG16, and another column highlighted TG16’s Ys Books I and II for being a revolutionary RPG title with its then-unprecedented cutscenes and voiceovers. I also discovered about TG16’s mascot, Bonk when reading a review in GP for the NES port of Bonk’s Adventure.

By consuming other gaming press media over the following years I eventually learned what happened with the TG16 and its CD add-on in America and how they did not fare as well as they did in Japan and quickly faded out within a year or two after the SNES launched in America. I never had a friend that owned the TG16 growing up, nor do I recall a store kiosk having any set up for play in my middle-of-nowhere hometown. I cannot remember even dabbling with hunting down TG16 emulators since I never saw the games out in the wild for sale at my local shops to peak my curiosity. So I believe the first time I played a TG16 game was when the Wii launch in 2006 and also debuted at its launch the Wii’s downloadable classic games for its ‘Virtual Console’ channel. The TG16 was one of the supported platforms and I recall downloading the hit multiplayer game, Bomberman ‘93 around or shortly after the Wii launch making it likely the first official TG16 game I played.

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Aside from playing my first TG16 game in 2006 on the Wii, 2006 was a big year for learning a lot more about the system thanks in part to one particular podcast. Apple debuted podcasts in 2005 and other MP3 players quickly supported them too. I sampled countless gaming podcasts, but one I quickly got turned onto towards the end of 2005 was one Team Fremont Live. That podcast is still around to this day, but underwent a couple name changes and is now known as Super-the-Hardest. I quickly became a fan of the three hosts, John, Moe and Hilden and loved their take on videogames. They had frequent retro gaming segments on the show and the trio frequently waxed nostalgic for their TG16 memories. Over the years consuming their podcast and participating in their forums my knowledge for the system exponentially expanded! If you currently dig through the Super-the-Hardest archives or check out these links, you will find a wealthy amount of TG16 articles there to learn a ton about the platforms and their recommended games.

The then-Team Fremont Live hosts lived about a five hour drive away from me, and they had on open invite community event in the summer of 2006 where I first met them in person and gamed and drank the night away with them and their fellow community members. It was an awesome time, and in January 2007 they hosted another community event for their first ever year-end awards, ‘The Darryls!’ I remember meeting up with the three hosts the night before the event for a ‘packing party’ where we drank all night again and quickly got stone cold sober, literally, as we packed up the van with recording equipment in the middle of a January Midwest night of biting subzero temps! The Darryls transpired the next day and I got reacquainted with many community members again and there were several TVs set up with various games to play for everyone in what ended up being another memorable night with the TFL community. John, Moe and Hilden did a special presentation later on in the night for their 2006 best of game awards and did a contest drawing towards the end of the night that I was the lucky winner drawn. My prize was a TG16 system, complete in box and with a copy of the original pack-in game, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones! I was blown away and stunned the prize was going to be a system! That pic at the top of this article is indeed me being the proud new owner of a TG16! Keith Courage was a decent little platformer, but I would never become that skilled at it and would peter out of lives by levels two or three and regret never taking the time to master that game.

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Thanks to listening to many hours of TFL at that point however and through other online research over the years I knew which games to hunt down. Luckily in 2007 and for the next few years TG16 releases remained affordable to hunt down as most games save for a select few went for under $20. I tracked down a far superior platformer in Bonk’s Revenge. Its vibrant visuals, challenging-but-fair platforming and adorably gruff mascot Bonk blew Keith Courage away and looked graphically on par with the other 16-bit platforms. World Court Tennis initially appeared as another run-of-the-mill tennis game, but diving into ‘Quest Mode’ provided an in-depth medieval narrative complete with an RPG-esque overworld and random tennis battles! I looked into getting the CD add-on, but from what I gathered it sounded like the add-on attachments had a high faulty rate by 2007 and were not worth the risk. Even with those drawbacks I regret missing out on the TG-CD games and only had the chance to dabble with a handful off of other collections and Virtual Console over the years. Fighting Street (aka the original Street Fighter) had its only American console physical release on the TG-CD, and I did not get a chance to play it until a Capcom released a arcade hits collection on the original Xbox. Ys Books I & II was a revolutionary RPG for what its cinemas and voiceovers debuted to the market, and it was not until the Wii Virtual Console that I finally had a chance to experience the original version. Turbo Technologies brokered a bonkers deal with EA to bring a little known version of Madden to TG-CD that I would have played the heck out of compared to the other gridiron game on the platform I will touch on shortly.

The TFL crew were big fans of shmups (aka the original ‘shooters’) and I recall them being high on Blazing Lazers and I wound up spending many hours trying (and failing) to vanquish that space shooter. Already being a diehard fan of videogame pinball in 2007, both Alien Crush and Devils Crush were among my first TG16 purchases. They were both fantastic multi-layered pinball titles, with several screens of verticality to flip the pinball through and vanquish enemies and mini-bosses away on the playfield. I loved both games, and if you want a current rendition of that then I highly suggest tracking down the recent release of Demon’s Tilt that is available on most current platforms. Demon’s Tilt is essentially a modern take on the Crush games, but on crack with amped up visual effects since it is capitalizing on the horsepower of modern systems. After accumulating these several titles I would make it a habit to add one or two more a year at an annual retro videogame expo I regularly attended in Milwaukee called the Midwest Gaming Classic. John, Moe and Hilden would also attend MGC most years around this time and I would make it a point to track them down at some point during the convention and get them to recommend me a TG16 for under $20. There recommendations never failed, and this was how I discovered NEC’s answer to Ikari Warriors (Hey, I was a huge fan of the NES game!) in the superior Bloody Wolf, and the quirky platformer, JJ and Jeff. The yearly MGC pick-up was how I finally procured a copy of the gore-slasher-fest that is Splatterhouse. I would also chance random games that caught my eye for the TG16 and did not go for that much. I loved my 8 and 16-bit sports games and took a shot on TV Sports Football, and it was a decent adaptation of the gridiron, but did not measure up to the many other football titles on the other 16-bit platforms.

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The same can be said for the TG16’s sole American wrestling game, Battle Royal, it was an OK videogame grappler, but nothing that held my lasting attention. However, the excellent FirePro Wrestling series got its start on the platform as Japan-only exclusives, and I will give props to my former podcast co-hosts Chris & Lyzz for grabbing a copy of FirePro: Second Bout for me at MGC one year I could not make it. The FirePro games have evolved into the pinnacle of 2D wrestling games over the years, and it is fascinating to see how it started on the PC-Engine in Japan and even in FirePro’s earliest installments it was already a class above the competition. While both of these wrestling games went for under $20 by 2012, the next year when I returned to MGC in 2013 TG16 game prices inflated exponentially. For proof I was looking up some old MGC photos from my pictures library, and found some photos of Chris & Lyzz’s 2010 MGC loot-haul laid out on their bed. As you can see they picked up a TG16 and several games, if you zoom in on the photo you can see most of their games went for under $20. I have no idea what brought on the sudden demand, but a vast majority of TG16 games started going for around $50-100 within a couple years and that was without jewel cases and instructions!

For this piece, I contacted Chris and Lyzz for their memories of picking up the TG16 and their favorite games they have played since, and Chris responded back with the following: ”I can't remember much. I just remembered that I liked Bonk’s Adventure and Fantasy Zone. Bonk’s Adventure because of how much I used to like side scrolling games and that is the only game that I wanted to play at the time that didn't come out for the NES/SNES/GEN. Fantasy Zone because of the sheer weirdness factor of it.” 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the TG16 launching in North America and I wanted to do something special to commemorate it. I was in the midst hosting my own videogame podcast, On Tap, at the time and invited John, Moe and Hilden to come on for a special TurboGrafX anniversary episode! It was a delight to have them on the show and have them take us all to school with their master’s degree knowledge of all things Turbo and reminisce about the TG16 for an hour. I recently dug that episode out of the archives and uploaded it onto my YouTube channel and will embed it below for your listening pleasure!

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This is a special TG16 20th anniversary podcast I recorded 10 years ago! Add it to your queue to listen to for more TG16 wisdom! I would bust out the TG16 once every year or two until several years ago when the WiiU became my virtual replacement. The WiiU started supporting the TG16 by uploading a ton of the TG16 library to the WiiU version of the Virtual Console in 2016 and uploaded nearly a game a week from mid-2016 until early 2018, well after the launch of the Switch. I sold my Wii after owning it for only a year and only owned a few TG16 games for it, so this late infusion of TG16 titles on the WiiU caught my eye (and other Retro enthusiasts too). This culminated in about 50 TG16 games hitting the WiiU by the end with even a few former Japan exclusives among them….and I bought all of them! The original Wii Virtual Console that is backwards compatible on the WiiU remained open until early 2018 to purchase their TG16 games too which I used to acquire other acclaimed TG16-CD games not available on the WiiU like Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Ys Books I and II.

A few times a year I fire up my WiiU and pick a few random games to play from my many Virtual Console purchases. It was this way I finally got around to trying out the Legend of Zelda-inspired Neutopia and having a fun night with a couple buddies hack and slashing away in Dungeon Explorer. I also got to take in the ridiculously huge sprites of the brawler China Warrior and finally experienced TG16’s take on Outrun in Victory Run. The WiiU surprisingly wound up a gratifying legit alternative to the now-absurd asking prices for used TG16 games, and a convenient way to make TG16 games appear on a HDTV without the fuzziness that happens when I plug an SD system into a HDTV. While I never knew of the TG16 during its active North American lifespan or got a chance to play it until this century, I still have priceless memories of discovering hit titles exclusive to that system that stood out in a way unlike anything else on its 16-bit competition. The 32X is a whole other beast though. I remember being a furious 11 year-old upon its release in 1994. I vividly recall the hype in Game Players for it and even 11 year-old Dale thought Sega was out of its mind for releasing a $150 add-on for the Genesis merely several months before the Saturn when Sega already had plenty on the market to tide them by with the Genesis, Game Gear and SegaCD. A wee shy of 50 games only came out for it in the little over a year games were published for the 32X, and nearly half of them were marginally enhanced Genesis titles. From reading mags during its lifespan and hearing other gaming media reflect back on it throughout the years I gathered the add-on had a handful of standout exclusives, but was largely forgettable and not worth tracking down, and I hand no plans to do so, until….

Living proof of the speculated demon that is Sega's Tower of Power! …In 2009 a co-worker was about to get married and was parting with his gaming collection to raise funds for the wedding/honeymoon. He knew me as an ardent game player and gave me a print out of what he was selling and his asking prices. This was still a couple years before the big retro used game boom I described above, because around same time a couple years later 32X game prices jumped just like TG16 games. Still, I noticed most of his prices were at the higher end of most eBay auctions when I researched them online. I did not have a SegaCD or 32X in my collection at the time and there were at least a few exclusives on both systems I always wanted to try, and with the funds going to a good cause I made an offer for those systems with about a dozen games in the middle range of what he was asking for and what other asking prices I saw online at the time. I want to say I paid roughly $200 for the lot.

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I got about six or seven games for 32X from my co-worker and later tracked down three or four more over the next year or two to get the other 32X games I wanted. I had a couple up-ports/’Remasters’ from the Genesis for 32X like Toughman Contest and WWF RAW. Toughman Contest was EA’s gritty take on Punch-Out that I was a big fan of, and it got a big endorsement from toughman hot-shot at the time Butterbean. The 32X version did not add too much other than lightly touched up graphics and framerates. The 32X version of RAW though had a couple extra weapons at ringside to bash adversaries away with and its own exclusive wrestler, the masked Kwang, who later on went to be better known as Savio Vega in the WWF throughout the 90s. Unfortunately the gameplay for those old Acclaim 16-bit games had those tired button mashing grappling meters that killed your thumbs and was a few entries old at that point so it did not get too much playtime from me. A 32X version I did enjoy was of Doom, and for a few years it was the only version of the iconic first person shooter I owned until a version hit download on 360 a couple years later. I was a big fan of Sega’s early polygonal titles, Virtua Racing Deluxe and Virtua Fighter on the 32X. The launch Saturn version of Virtua Fighter was notorious for being a buggy mess, and the 32X version that released a few months later surprisingly had a smooth framerate and played as crisp as I recalled in the arcades. Sega somehow against all odds managed a port of Virtua Fighter on the Genesis, but had a somewhat cleaner version with exclusive tracks on the 32X later that year. I loved me some Virtua Racer and if I ever get a Switch one of the first eShop downloads I plan on getting is the recent touched up remake of Sega’s first polygonal racer M2 developed last year. Finally the last upper-tier quality game I have in my 32X library is Sega’s arcade port of Star Wars Arcade. It only had the three missions of the arcade that boasted dog-fighting missions on the Death Star and a Super Destroyer, but they were quick mindless, pick-up-and-play blasting fun.

As seen above, Doom had a pretty solid 32X port at the sacrifice of screen resolution and I suffered through RAW's middling gameplay for its exclusive character Kwang and extra ringside weapons. There were five 32X CD games released with Slam City and Corpse Killer pictured above in their unremarkable glory! I do own all five ‘Sega CD 32X’ games that come on discs for the Sega CD, but require the 32X in order to load. All five of these games are FMV-based games from Sega and Digital Pictures and all have releases on the SegaCD already, but the 32X CD versions have slightly better resolutions and framerates thanks to the added power from the 32X. None of the five games are all that fun regrettably. I have awful memories of the clunky controls in one-on-one basketball in Slam City with Scottie Pippen and never getting a good memory for the order of camera patterns in order to succeed in Night Trap. I guess Corpse Killer was a semi-decent on-rails light gun shooter with digital characters similar to Area 51 of that same era, but with far cheesier acting and implementation. Both Night Trap and Corpse Killer recently got touched up remasters on the PS4 for those brave enough to see how they hold up today.

There were a few other 32X games I wanted to track down, but I neither saw them in the wild, had negative buzz or at that time were already going for a bit more than I preferred, and are selling for outrageously more today. I always heard good things about Knuckles Chaotix being a decent substitute for a Sonic-style platformer on the system, but that one always escaped me. I loved the World Series Baseball games on Genesis, and the 32X got a slightly up-res’d version of the ’95 release, but it had such a low print run that it is one of the higher selling games of the 32X library. I liked the original 80s version of the arcade shmup, Zaxxon and was bummed to see the polygonal 32X follow-up get panned with negative buzz which kept me away from that version. Finally, the comic book game nerd in me always wanted to own Spider-Man: Web of Fire, but with it having a low print run being the final the 32X game, and combined for being an awful game to boot were a lethal combo to keep me away from it for good. That wraps up this two-for-one flashback anniversary special on the 32X and TurboGrafX-16. What were some of your favorite games or memories of those systems? Feel free to comment about them below or reach out to me on Twitter @Gruel. I guess combining my memories of both systems went on for a bit longer than I anticipated, but I managed a modicum of brevity by being about a 1000 words shorter than my gigantic Dreamcast special. If you want to check that one out or my anniversary specials on the GameBoy or Genesis, than check the links below!

UPDATE: A couple hours after posting this I realized I completely forgot to touch on the fast approaching release of the TurboGrafX Mini in North America in several weeks!!! It is launching as an Amazon exclusive so do not be on the lookout for it in retail stores right away. It has over 50 games, about half of which are Japanese PC Engine versions. If you want something more physical than pick and choosing which games to download on the WiiU, the TurboGrafX mini is an ideal way to start discovering most of the top titles for the system! As for the 32X…..Sega did release their own official Genesis mini last fall, and did include a 32X add-on mini attachment…..that is sadly for visual purposes only and is completely non-electrical. While the overlords of the TG16 library at Konami have re-released TG16 games on several platforms over the years I cannot think of a single 32X game that got one digital or physical re-release unless you count the up-ports of Night Trap and Corpse Killer Keep your fingers crossed though, a working 32X mini may one day happen. My Other Gaming Flashbacks Dreamcast 20th Anniversary GameBoy 30th Anniversary Genesis 30th Anniversary

#videogames #Sega #NEC #32x #turbografx #turbografx-16 #bonk #sonic #splatterhouse #bloody wolf #blazing lazers #firepro wrestling #wwf raw #wwe raw

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md3artjournal · 5 years ago

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might get better...if I have time before I have to quit art

So it's time to confess. I'm kind of bummed by how AX2019 artist alley turned out.

Sure, I didn't get into the red, I was able to have a good time, and nothing traumatic happened. But I was really disappointed in my sales. They defied YEARS of trends! And I thought I was finally going to be able to justify this artist life of mine...But now it seems to be reaffirming my growing hunch to quit. ;_;

Though granted, last year set a pretty high bar. Those sales were awesome, and primarily driven by my Wayfinders and having finally made an excessive amount of Wayfinder stock. For years, I've depended primarily on my Wayfinder fan-crafts for sales. Every year, they sell-out...except for last year when I miraculously managed to make 21 Wayfinders stock and actually have leftovers after the con. O.O But this year, AX2019, I think I only sold 2 Wayfinders. 2 out of 15. ;_; I thought that if I just keep making more of them or finally make enough to meet customer demand, then I could finally dictate a reasonable amount of sales. Maybe enough to justify making a living as an artist. I really needed more income in my life, and I thought that if I just kept making more Wayfinders in excessive stocks, then I could get more financial security. And AX2018 seemed to prove that. So I studied my past sales trends, predicted how much stock I would need, and virtually met those goals. But this year, they not only didn't get sold-out, but they were BARELY selling.

Maybe it was my lack of marketing. Last year I went in hard with posting to my art studio blog. I posted progress, almost daily, and constantly reminded people what I was making. But I found out a little while after AX2018 that someone found one of my Wayfinders too fragile and they were very dissatisfied. I was so ashamed that I ran away from my art studio blog from then on. I stopped trying to make that type of Wayfinder. I stopped posting daily progress about my other projects. I couldn't just replace their item or repair it through the mail because I don't have a mailing system or online shop set up. And now I was even more reluctant to try any onlie interactions or store. Maybe if people were better reminded that I was going to be in AX2019 artist alley, where I was, or what I was offering, I could have gotten more sales.

Suddenly being in ailse G didn't help either. For the past 2 years, I had been in ailse K. I don't know why. I don't know why I was suddenly in ailse G for AX2019 either. Maybe I was later than usual in filling my Artist Alley Form? Probably. But I got one passing customer's comment being surprised to find me in ailse G. Maybe they had become accustomed to looking for me in K? Maybe they just assumed I wasn't at AX2019, when they didn't see me in K? I wouldn't put it past the customer base. I remember memorizing booths' placements in San Diego Comic Con. And I've had customers prove that attendees have a very askewed memory of time when it comes to what's in artist alley. Maybe my table location change was too much for them. (I mean, I may personally go up and down the aisles, systematically checking every table's stock for that one artist who I don't even know if they're here---and I found her too! Under a DIFFERENT name!---but not everyone is as obsessive as me. First rule of design is to accomodate human tendency to go for what's easy. And considering how overwhelming an anime convention is, I can't blame anyone. In fact, I willing and welcome to assist through that.)

My AX2019 Wayfinders were barely selling, especially in proportion to how much time I wasted to make them. ;_; I wasted so much time making those Wayfinders, that I've honestly long-since lost a lot of excitement over. There are so many other things I want to make instead.

So it's fortunate that this year, I impusively sacrificed a lot of my Wayfinder time in exchange for several new projects. ^.^ And 4 of those projects either sold-out or sold-out a large portion of stock: Joker-Kirby figurine charms, Smash Bros invitations, pompom Wooloo charms. Sure, no one bought any Ryuji (birthday) charms, and the Persona 5 x Neko Atsume bookmarkers barely sold, regardless of how much time and love I had for both of those also-impulsive, last-minute projects. But still, the Smash invitations, Wooloos, and Joker-Kirby figurines were VERY well received. ^-^ And I loved watching people squee over them---Actually, I found that these demographics don't really "squee". The Wayfinder fangirls "squee"'ed. The Smash Bros and Pokemon fans are more like "Duuuude! Look at that! Oh man!". LOL Still great enthusiasm. ^___^

And they were less physically and mentally harrowing to make than Wayfinders. For years now, I had gotten sick of Wayfinder-making eating up ALL my time, only to come out with one completed item per day---or every TWO DAYS. It was DEVASTATING to screw up a sculpt or blend and need even more hours to fix---that I couldn't really get paid for because no one wants to pay more than $70 (except for the Sora Wayfinders, but those had proven too delicate to make more of without a new packaging strategy that I haven't figured out how to source economically yet). Additionally, there's all the physical strain to make those Skinner Blends. I'm no longer that 20-something who did 39 push-ups every day and swordswings and ballet exercises and had such full-body athleticism that I was visibly fit! My arms get TIRED now. x_x; Plus the frustration with how bad I am at Skinner Blends...It takes me at least 2 hours to make them. Meanwhile, YouTube crafters are doing them in 12 minutes. x___x;;;;; I can make excuses about how they're not making slabs as thick as mine, or their clay must be better/expensive brands, or they're using motorized pasta machines and I couldn't even properly clean mine before it broke. I was in a constant battle of perfecting a blend or a sculpt, and always being disappointed in myself for not being faster or getting too tired to work for 7 more hours. ;_; And even more, I was sad that Wayfinders left me so exhausted that I didn't have the time to make anything new. I was tired of Wayfinders. They still looked pretty enough for me to take pride in and I had perfected my process enough by now to bolster my confidence. But I wanted to make more things, damnit!

I had been waiting for years, for someone else in Anime Expo artist alley to give me competition in Wayfinders, so I could have an excuse to focus on other things. So I wouldn't feel obligated anymore to be the only provider. Yes, I depended on Wayfinders for the bulk of my sales, but that was the reason why I wished for competition to give me an excuse to branch away from them. But now that even my Wayfinder sales are waning, maybe this is excuse enough.

The good sales on my new products actually made me feel better about working on new projects and making less Wayfindersfrom now on. And people really liked my new, crazy, weird ideas! ;U; They really liked them! ;u; And what's more, they liked my figurine sculptures. I feel really encouraged now to make more figurines, more 3-dimensional characters in clay. Every year I make all these charms from abstract symbols, representing characters. And _I_ feel very good about them, but they never sell. Whether it's my Joker mask charms or Ryuji ZOMG/Skull mask charms, or any other past ideas I've had. I was so excited for fans of those characters, like me, to also have such things...Only to find that no one cared. No one cares about representatives of their favorite characters. This year I finally learned that people want their actual favorite characters. ...Well, I had known that for a while, but I had no confidence in my character sculptures. That's why I stuck to just sculpting symbols representing favorite characters. It was subtle, and I thought some people would go for more abstract badges of fandom. The symbolic items just don't sell, and I think it's time for me to branch out into actually sculpting characters. I was always afraid because I'm terrible with human anatomy, but sculpting Kirby proved that I don't have to stay away from character sculpting just because of that. And maybe I can work on my human sculpting and actually make competent human character figurines for my next artist alley. *o* AX2019 proved they care about my figurine sculptures! *O*! And my Super Smash Bros invitations! And my pompom Wooloos! ;U;

Actually, the good sales on these less physically strenuous projects like the Smash invitation and the pompom Wooloo, reminded me: my paopu fruit plushies and pompom Moogles also sell well. Every year, I have to stock up as much as I can, because those are reliable sellers. I just don't have to think about them as much as my Wayfinders because they don't become these complex, harrowing projects, eating all my time for so little. Maybe I should make more simple projects. I should stop making items that take 7 hours or 2 days to complete just 1 project. I should focus more on the little $10 thing that don't take more than 3 hours to make...Because people actually buy those more! o_O Maybe it's just the $30 cut-off price point or maybe it's because even short projects like those are cute enough to sell... But I should focus more on that, if they've already proven effective for sales. In addition to being better for my physical and mental health.

#venting #artist alley products #bad sales

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63824peace · 5 years ago

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Thursday, 10th of november 2005

awoke in my hotel bed. I opened the window... Seoul stretched out before me.

It looks like we'll have good weather today too.

Yesterday's weather report forecasted cold temperatures, but it feels much nicer than expected. Korea's weather gave us a break, at least for now.

From my window I looked down to the ground. I saw that the hotel had frozen its swimming pool for use as an ice-skating rink during winter. It's only November, so they're still preparing it. A large white sheet covered the surface.

I had stayed in this very hotel when I visited back in February. I remember that I had looked through my window and had seen the same scenery. Perhaps I'm staying on the same floor now as I had then... perhaps I'm even in the same room.

The skating rink had been illuminated from beneath the ice's surface when I had been here before. The frozen glow had been powerfully atmospheric. I had wanted to skate so badly, I almost couldn't stand it. The whole scene had radiated a joyous ambience, kind of like Disney's ice show.

You don't get many chances to skate outdoors in Tokyo. I had hoped that I could skate while I am here, but I'm simply too pressed for time.

"I'll ice-skate for sure this time!" I had even brought a pair of brand new gloves. I'll have to postpone skating once again though. The rink hasn't even opened yet. I'll try again next time.

I left my room to eat the hotel's breakfast. On my way I passed some members of our preparation team who were heading to the G-STAR site.

We arrived late because we had run into a traffic jam on our way to KINTEX.

A group of able-bodied men surrounded me the second that I stepped from the car. The bodyguards escorted me into the building.

The show would start at 10 A.M., so I double-checked the stage and our booth. I mounted the MGS stage and lightly rehearsed. I tested the microphone with our interpreter and our emcee. I sat in a chair and déjà vu hit me! It was TGS all over again!

I proceeded to check the video and sound setups for MGS4's presentation in the SCE booth's next-gen theater. I returned to Konami's booth and slipped into the backroom.

Our bodyguards follow us everywhere. They stick beside us even if we only walk a few feet. They hold posts at the backroom entrance all the time. They even guard me in the bathroom. I know that these guys are paid for it, but I really appreciate how far they go for us.

U.S. and European fans are much more intense than the Japanese. I always make sure that I have bodyguard escorts during each event and autograph session. I've never had this many at once though... three to six of them surround me at any given moment.

I considered checking more of the expo site, but I didn't have enough time. In addition, it wasn't easy to move quickly from place to place. I am so well protected here that I'm like Vic Viper with Option and Force Field defenses activated.

Meanwhile, Korea's first game expo finally opened. Korean companies furnish most of the booths. They all look great. Korea is an impressive force in the gaming industry.

Korea could outrun Japan in the gaming industry at this rate. Asian booths had challenged Japanese booths at TGS, and Japan has already been beaten at E3. Korean booths naturally hold center-stage on their home turf.

On another note... I hadn't noticed that Korean women are so tall! They have gorgeous legs!

The grand opening was so slow compared to my experiences with other game expos. I'm accustomed to the usual rush of visitors at TGS and GC. G-STAR's visitors entered slowly and hesitantly. I heard that the expo hadn't opened until the very last second.

I rehearsed one last time in the backroom with both our interpreter and MC.

Afterwards I ate some lunch. We had sushi bento, Korea's specialty Kimpa (Makizuishi), and my favorite Sin Ramyun (hot ramen). Even Shin-chan tried Sin-chan! It was like a picnic!

I asked our interpreter to listen to my introductory speech. I had practiced it in Korean. I wanted to include the line from Sympathy for Lady Vengeance that I learned yesterday, but I ultimately decided against it. I foresaw too much room for misunderstanding among those who hadn't seen the movie.

She told me that I could say it if an interviewer asks about Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. I still received concerned looks whenever I said it. They'd always ask, "Where did you learn that expression?"

I told them that I had learned it from Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and they smiled and said, "Oh, I see!"

A large banner hung in the conference hall reserved for the press meeting just outside the main expo grounds. It read "HIDEO KOJIMA."

We have the same interpreter now who had worked with us in February. She does excellent work, so she easily translated my long and complex Japanese.

I mounted the MGS stage at 2 P.M.

I'm thankful that everything was a huge success.

The Korean fans were truly enthusiastic! They were almost as intense as the European MGS fans.

I wound up making a slight mistake with my Korean toward the end of my memorized greeting. Also, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance never came up during the Q&A... I didn't get to say "Neo na jal haseyo" after all.

An autograph session followed the Q&A. We required that all participants have reserved their autographs online, so everything went smoothly.

I was asked to autograph a variety of things. I wonder... did they find them all online? Some people brought limited editions of Japanese items. A few people even brought copies of the MSX2 Metal Gear and Policenauts for the NEC PC-9821. People also brought hardware for me to autograph, such as PS2s, Nintendo DSs, and PSPs.

Several Korean fans actually spoke strong Japanese. They must play their games in Japanese too.

Mr. Sang Young Lee from Phantagram visited me in the backroom early in the evening. We had last seen each other around six months prior. We had missed each other at TGS because we had been so busy. We conversed for about an hour. He seemed as though he's been busy with Ninety Nine Nights.

G-STAR's first day ended at 5 P.M.

Folks from the MGS community had come to help us for one of our events. I thanked them for volunteering to test MGO.

Young, enthusiastic, grateful fans had responded to an internet advertisement distributed by UNIANA. They know as much about MGS as we do, and they love it equally too. They played MGO just as well as KojiPro's staff.

The language barrier tumbled down today and MGS became our common tongue. I would never have expected this at TGS... I'm thankful to share this sort of relationship with my fans. Everyone onstage gathered for a group photo.

We gave them MGS-related souvenirs to express our gratitude. By then the backroom had become another autograph room.

Thank you everyone, and please help us again tomorrow!

I went to a party that evening set up by G-STAR. I saw Mr. Inaba from Clover Studios there.

I left the party and joined some KojiPro staff at a barbecue restaurant for dinner.

Kanpai! Three cheers for G-STAR's first day! This will change Korea's future. I appreciate everyone's work.

Shin-chan and I explained, "We're looking for an out-of-the-ordinary style of leather jacket." We were directed to Tondaemun Market and Namdaemun Market, so we headed there with some others after dinner. We heard that those markets feature wholesalers with really competitive prices. Their reputation has even spread to Japan.

We first headed to Tondaemun Market. The place was so animated! Crowds were everywhere! The hour was so late that I could hardly believe it was real.

I heard that everything here stays open until 5 A.M., so it was still too early to see business in full swing. The real thing hadn't even started yet.

Tondaemun is really outrageous!

We started shopping in the doota building. Many similar looking shops were squeezed beside each other inside. The bustle there was similar to what you'd expect at a department store at midday.

I got a greater shock when I exited the building. Crowds flowed all around me outside. More people seemed to come in cars. It was just before midnight. These downtown streets seem really family-friendly, unlike Shibuya or Shinjuku in Tokyo.

We descended the underground passage leading to stores that specialize in leather and furs. Vendors barked at us on the way down.

"Get your quality knock-offs here!"

"Phantom watches! Phantom watches for sale!"

We apparently couldn't hide the fact that we're Japanese. Was it our clothes? Our group's hairstyle and make-up? However they could tell, they addressed us in Japanese everywhere we went.

"Miss! I can speak Japanese!"

"Oohaa, it's so delicious!" Oohaa? What outdated slang!

We ascended the stairs to street level and arrived at the Pyonfa Market.

"Wow! This is just like Blade Runner! Amazing!"

Food and merchandise sellers' stalls filled the narrow alleys. It looked like it had been packed beyond capacity. This place must feel like a festival every day. It's as vibrant and populated as the New Year's Eve celebrations at the shrines in Japan.

We could buy a slew of different foods here, from Tchigae to Oden. They sold more than just food though. Bags, clothing, and all sorts of items sat on display in storefronts. There was even a shop selling only Bae Yong Joon's brand of socks.

Such life and animation! Even the boardwalk stalls got a lot of customers. Families strode through the streets alongside unchaperoned youths. Such energy! I don't understand why I didn't see any drunks on the street. Just being there invigorated me. The downtown streets never sleep.

I noticed several micro-busses parked on the street. They looked like sight-seeing buses. Were tourists out at that hour?

I thought about this, and then I saw many old women with serious facial expressions--they looked so severe. They carried several large plastic sacks on their backs. I also saw a lot of stuff piled on the street.

Our guide explained to me that the women had come from the rural provinces. They regularly gather a group of people from their provincial towns, rent micro-buses, and shop here. They arrive very early in the morning and shop until the following day. Then they return to their hometowns and sell everything that they bought.

The old women began their serious shopping at the hour I saw them. How colorful!

We ate oden at one of the stalls.

I have wanted to eat oden in Korea ever since I saw Jeon Ji-Hyun eating it in the movie Windstruck.

They offered many different types of oden in shapes made from minced fish. Some were round while others were thin boards. I heard that the seasoning can differ, but it's all still oden. The boardwalk shop also provided skewers.

I decided to try the oden that looked like Japanese Chikuwa. I added some sauce using a brush that they provided. It tasted like Gobo tempura, sans the Gobo.

It was warm and tasty.

While I ate, people flocked to the stall from out of nowhere. Without so much as a greeting, they took oden from the stall. No one spoke a word... they just ate.

We paid for our food after telling the stall clerk what we had eaten. For some reason, I saw more female customers than male. They ate pretty quickly considering the eating method. To drink the soup, you're supposed to ladle it into a paper cup and then drink directly from the cup.

The soup tasted great too.

If you don't want to finish the soup, then you can simply splash it onto the street. You should put the paper cup in a trashcan though. Everything there was self-service.

We finished and then took a car to Namdaemun Market.

We arrived a little too early for the evening boom again. Half of the shops weren't open yet. I felt a strange sense of familiarity as I walked the streets... aha! The place resembled Ameyoko in Ueno.

Someone suddenly addressed us in Japanese.

"Hey buddy--got some leather jackets here."

Unfortunately we didn't see anything that we wanted. We didn't get what we set out to buy, but we got a lot of other stuff anyway.

I feel as though we bought a slice of Seoul's energy itself. I really enjoyed this. I'll definitely return... and maybe then I'll stay until 5 A.M.

You know, those phantom watches still intrigue me... I wonder what they look like....

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kayawagner · 6 years ago

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Gnome Stew Notables – Donna Prior

Donna “Danicia” Prior is the Sparkly Princess of Social Media & Community Management. She is currently the Organized Play Manager for Catan Studio and the Executive Director of OrcaCon, the inclusive tabletop games convention. She has worked in both video games and tabletop games. In short, gamer, geek, and future wife of Wedge Antilles. Lives on Twitter as @Danicia. Find Donna on about.me/Danicia and Twitch.tv/Danicia

What projects have you worked on?

I’ve been working in the games industry now since 2007, starting with the video game industry. I got my start on Pirates of the Burning Sea, Guild Wars 2, Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, TERA Online, and numerous properties for SOE (Sony Online Entertainment). I met Chris Pramas, CEO of Green Ronin Publishing, while working on PotBS, as we both worked at Flying Lab. I started contracting with Green Ronin a few years ago as the Events Manager, handling the Gen Con volunteer GM presence and outlining a Volunteer GM Program aka the Green Ronin Freebooters. After my last video game layoff, I was forwarded the Organized Play gig with Catan by a friend and that’s where I am today.

You work in areas of gaming that are often overlooked in favor of the creators and designers, but the industry relies on hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are not in the limelight. What does your job entail, and how did you get into that area of games?

My role as the Catan Organized Play Manager involves a lot of spreadsheets. Hah! I schedule regional Qualifier tournaments for the Catan National Championships where Catan is published in the English language. My largest amount of work is the US program, but I’ve also restructured the Canadian, UK, and Australia programs, plus created new programs for Ireland and Vietnam. I’ve still got so many more to put into place. I also coordinate and facilitate the Catan Masters Invitational, which a special tournament for the top tier US players. Plus, I coordinate with our team and Asmodee for a presence at shows such as Origins, Gen Con, UK Games Expo, and more.

Whilst Organized Play Management is different from what I’ve been doing (Community Management), it still involves community outreach, communication, coordination of people and events. There’s an aspect of content creation, social media interactions, and more. My plan is to also build out some typical community gathering spaces, to help grow said community of both competitive and casual Catan players.

As far as Community Management as a career? I was actually hired right out of a game community to work on PotBS’ Community Team. I was naturally already doing outreach, working with fansites, moderating and running communities on forums, LiveJournal, and more. It was a natural progression to actually start doing it for a living. Left the IT field behind without looking back!

For the future, I’d love to do some more writing and freelance work.

You spend a ton of time traveling to conventions and events. What are your secrets for survival?

Alone time! No, seriously! I avoid parties. I make sure to take extra care to eat and drink plenty of water. I will meet with friends for dinner sometimes, but otherwise, I am back in my room in the quiet, watching Netflix or reading. It helps, when you’re running a 64-person event with all the chaos that it entails. I tend to bring along protein snacks with me when doing shows, or pick some up when I arrive. Nuts, cheese, trail mix, that sort of thing. Carbs might get you a big energy rush at first, but then you crash right on down. I also don’t drink sodas, eat candy, or chug coffee. I sit whenever I can, as the standing in one place thing is super hard on one’s body.

For the travel part of it, I tend to pay for slight upgrades on flights. As example, if it’s not too expensive, I’ll upgrade to first class for the relaxation of it. Doesn’t always work, but I go for creature comforts whenever possible.

There’s a lot of discussion of community and community responsibility lately. How can we build a better, stronger gaming community that welcomes everyone?

Gosh, there’s so much to unpack with this one. Really, it has to start from the top down. Geeks & gamers are not an oppressed group. Gaming and geek things are mainstream, and we should welcome the chance to play with everyone.

First, companies and community leaders should actually listen to people who aren’t already gamers. You’ll get a very different response on what people want in games and game communities. Listen to why people don’t feel welcome in game stores. Why people have a hard time finding D&D groups, tabletop groups. Find ways of making people feel welcome, instead of excluding. As an example, I was visiting a local game store. I talked with the owner at some length. He’s got a heavy Magic & Warhammer clientele. That’s not bad at all, a lot of those stores are very successful. But he wants to create a hub where everyone feels welcome to play games. Where women and families feel welcome. I asked him, “Do you have tampons and pads in your restroom?” and he looked at me like I was speaking a different language. It’s not that he was excluding people intentionally; I felt he was truly baffled why he couldn’t generate a good board game meetup hangout establishment. He’s got LOTS of potential in his store, but he just doesn’t know how to fix it.

I am experienced with games for years and years, so you have to do something super jerky for me to feel unwelcome. But, your average consumer will totally feel unwelcome if your store looks like someone’s extended basement. Clutter, posters on the wall with masking tape. Dust, unpainted concrete floors. Broken furniture (or cheap Costco folding tables and chairs) and the like. If you want to become a destination for communities, you need to clean the place up and make it friendly. It’s a hard thing, too, because that all costs money, which is something not a lot of FLGS (friendly local game stores) have, with the margins on games being so tight. That’s where it starts. If you create a welcome and safe environment, don’t tolerate harassment and grossness, you start creating a healthy community.

If you wanna have grognard shop, that’s fine, too. Some folks like that and that’s okay for them. For me, it’s sad, because it means there are heaps of people who will never feel welcome to play games, but folks can run their business how they want.

You’re also an avid gamer. Which properties and settings do you most love?

I am an unabashed lover of Forgotten Realms. One of my hobbies is actually just making characters and developing backstories, in hopes of playing them in a game someday. Hell, I hope to play in a game where people love the Realms as much as I do, and will have a super RPG heavy campaign. (HINT HINT IF ANYONE IS LOOKING FOR PLAYERS). I’m a huge fan of the Shadowrun lore, but HATE the system(s). I hate math. There, I said it (I’ve got Dyscalculia). I’ve always been a big Classic Deadlands fan, but it’s super hard to find compatible players. I love love love the Dragon Age setting and hope to kick off a Roll20 campaign after con season. I don’t know Blue Rose as much as some, but I love the setting and nope to get into a campaign (or run one). And I AM SO VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE EXPANSE RPG.

What is your dream game? (Either to make, or play.)

Sense8. I would LOVE to play in the Sense8 world, or run a campaign. Once Modern AGE comes out, I may try to pull together a mini convention game if Joe Carriker will help me. We have been chatting about working on this for fun ever since the series came out. Of course, I started brainstorming characters to be in different Clusters.

What upcoming projects or events are you excited about?

I DID MENTION THE EXPANSE, RIGHT? I am also excited about REVOLUTIONARIES — American War of Independence RPG, Good Society: A Jane Austen Roleplaying Game, Sigil & Sign — Cthulhu Mythos RPG where you play the cultist, Satanic Panic, Mysteries of the Yōkai: An RPG Inspired by Japanese Folklore, A Delve in the Cave: 5th Edition Adventure, Overlight RPG: A roleplaying game of kaleidoscopic fantasy, and and and…well… a lot of other things.

Gnome Stew Notables – Donna Prior published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

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bestpaleocookbookreviews · 8 years ago

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Autoimmune Answers: How Can I Get the Most Out of Paleo f(x)?

Every year, thousands of people gather in Austin, Texas, to celebrate this amazing lifestyle that helps us optimize our health. At this event, we’re not the “weird” ones—this is our tribe. I attended Paleo f(x) for the first time this year. Here are my tips for creating the best experience for yourself in terms of personal fulfillment, but also with an eye toward autoimmune health.

Make Personal Connections

This event can be overwhelming because there are so many people and so much happening at once. There is magic in talking with people individually, hearing each other’s stories, making new friends and feeling understood by people who “get you.” So how can you do this?

If you’re part of the Paleo autoimmune community online, reach out and let people know you are attending. Post in the AIP Support Group and the Paleo Approach Community on Facebook and see who else is going. Send each other private messages to make plans to meet, but don’t leave this vague. You can easily miss each other in the crowds. Either pick a time to meet at the conference entrance or exchange cellphone numbers so you can text when you get there.

Join the Central Texas Autoimmune Paleo Group on Facebook, and see if they have a meetup dinner scheduled for that weekend. I did this, and it was the highlight of my trip. It was a small group of six women, but we talked for three hours. Every woman there had an empowering story of living a vital life with autoimmune disease.

If you don’t know anyone else attending, take advantage of the Paleo Posse resource offered by Paleo f(x). This is available to Premiere ticket holders, and the goal is to introduce you to people with similar interests.

Don’t be shy. Introduce yourself to people at the event itself. I realize this is easier for some to do than others, but this really is a friendly crowd. Remember, others are looking to make these connections, too. When you attend a presentation, introduce yourself to the people sitting next to you. When you’re browsing the vendor booths, say hi to the people browsing alongside.

Choose Presentations That Fascinate You

At prior Paleo f(x) events, they had presentations specifically geared toward people with autoimmune disease, and I hope they will do that again in the future. Unfortunately, at this event, that wasn’t the case. However, a number of presentations focused on health, covering functional medicine, the microbiome, inflammation, brain health, epigenetics, nutrition and more. There were also presentations on happiness and sustainability, as well as cooking demonstrations throughout the day. And for those of you looking for physical fun, there were fitness tests, primal play, parkour demonstrations and posture workshops. There truly is something for everyone.

Find the Gems on the Vendor Floor

There were over 100 vendors at this event! That shows you how much the Paleo movement has grown in the past few years. You could seriously spend the whole weekend walking from booth to booth and sampling what’s on offer. Here are a few highlights:

There were lots of food vendors, including some that catered to the autoimmune crowd. Paleo On The Go partnered with Otto’s and offered samples of AIP pot pies and “pop-tarts.” Pre-Made Paleo had delicious AIP meatballs and “nomato” sauce. Vital Choice was serving up salmon for a nutrient-dense omega-3 boost. And Wild Zora partnered with One Stop Paleo Shop to offer samples of my favorite AIP-friendly protein bars: Mediterranean Lamb.

While food samples always draw a crowd, Paleo is about lifestyle, too, and that was fully represented on the vendor floor—from saunas to sleep solutions, and essential oils to functional medicine testing. There was even a silent auction to benefit the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, protecting our right to have access to real food.

Schedule Yourself Some Breaks

I’m going to be honest here. While Paleo f(x) is an impressive event, it’s also sensory overload. When you have autoimmune disease, it’s important to keep stress management in mind, even at an event as fun as this one. Barefoot Provisions thought of this by offering a Chillout Lounge on the Expo floor. How cool are they? But I also took a break each day away from the conference itself. Once, I went back to my lodging and took a nap. Another time, I went to the Austin Botanical Gardens with a friend. My days were full from the time I awoke until the time I went to bed, so prioritizing some quiet time in the middle was essential for balance.

Take Care of Yourself Food-Wise

While there were meal plans and group dinners offered by Paleo f(x), there were no autoimmune-friendly options, so I planned ahead. I packed some meals from Paleo On The Go to take with me for breakfast. Whole Foods was my choice for lunch every day. They have an amazing salad bar with an abundance of options. And for dinner, my friends and I ordered carefully at the local restaurants, letting the waitress know our needs and asking the chef to help us find a safe option on the menu. Eating out on the Paleo AIP requires diligence, but it can be done. Never assume a meal is AIP-friendly. One of the local Austinites had been ordering a bone marrow burger regularly at one of her favorite restaurants, not knowing it contained gluten. Gluten is everywhere, my friends—always ask!

Talk to the Paleo Leaders

When you see Mark Sisson hanging out at his Primal Kitchen booth, or Sarah Ballantyne in the hallway after her presentation, you might feel too shy to approach them. Don’t! Everyone at this event, including the Paleo Superstars, is incredibly warm and welcoming. These one-on-one conversations are special for them, too. This is where they get to meet real-life people who they are striving to help through their blogs and books. In fact, a highlight of the conference for me were those times when Phoenix Helix fans approached me to say hello and share their story.

Mistakes to Avoid on the Path to Autoimmune Health

I took my own advice and decided to ask some of the presenters the following question: “If someone with autoimmune disease is just starting their Paleo journey, what common mistake should they avoid?”

Melissa Hartwig

“I think a really common mistake is researching it to death, and throwing so many solutions at the problem that you won’t know what is effective and what isn’t. I always recommend people start with a dietary plan. Something like the Whole30 or Paleo AIP, and stick to it for 30 to 90 days to see if it’s working. The more you pile on top of that—if you try ketogenic and intermittent fasting and AIP and supplements—when things start to get better or worse, you won’t know where to give the credit or the blame.”

Sarah Ballantyne

“I think one of the biggest mistakes that people unfortunately make when they are tackling the autoimmune protocol is just becoming scared of food. As you start to get educated about the incredible healing power of food, but also the list of foods that really undermine health, it can feel like food is harmful. People end up combining the AIP with other dietary approaches and limiting their variety of food choices, in part because the fear becomes crippling… So, I think it’s a bit of a mindset thing in terms of being able to recognize the healing power of food, being able to recognize the importance of dietary changes, while also understanding that it’s important to experiment, it’s important to branch out, it’s important to seek variety. And sometimes things won’t work for us and sometimes we’ll make mistakes, and that’s okay, because we’re going to be able to recover and keep going. It’s a set of tools that we have for making the best choices as often as we can, rather than a constrictive set of rules to live by.”

Dr. David Perlmutter

“One of the most important considerations for individuals suffering from autoimmune conditions from a nutritional perspective is to consume abundant amounts of prebiotic fiber. While a typical Paleo approach offers health benefits, the program needs to be augmented with prebiotic fiber to nurture the gut bacteria as they play such a crucial role in immune regulation.” Here are some examples of prebiotic foods: Jerusalem artichoke, chicory, dandelion greens, onions, leeks, garlic, asparagus and green plantains. And in their raw forms, they contain the highest content.

Dr. Michael Ruscio

“The thing I think is most important for people to understand is that there are non-modifiable factors that influence autoimmune disease. There are early life factors and environmental factors that are out of your control, and so we want to do the best we can with the factors that we can control (like diet and lifestyle) and then make peace with that—not beat ourselves up if we don’t get the result that we’re looking for, and not try to compare our antibody levels to the person next to us.”

The post Autoimmune Answers: How Can I Get the Most Out of Paleo f(x)? appeared first on Paleo Magazine.

from Best Paleo Cookbook Reviews https://paleomagonline.com/autoimmune-answers-can-get-paleo-fx/

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kayawagner · 6 years ago

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Gnome Stew Notables – Donna Prior

What projects have you worked on?

For the future, I’d love to do some more writing and freelance work.

You spend a ton of time traveling to conventions and events. What are your secrets for survival?

There’s a lot of discussion of community and community responsibility lately. How can we build a better, stronger gaming community that welcomes everyone?

You’re also an avid gamer. Which properties and settings do you most love?

What is your dream game? (Either to make, or play.)

What upcoming projects or events are you excited about?

Gnome Stew Notables – Donna Prior published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

0 notes