The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 5 – GRAPHICS!!!

It’s that time again! No, not THAT time, podcast time. Jeez.

I’m once again joined by my good friend and longtime supporter Chris Caskie to discuss a subject that is close to both our hearts: graphics.

Hit the jump to watch the full video episode… and I’m working on getting audio-only versions set up now that we’ve established a good formula for these.

Continue reading The MoeGamer Podcast: Episode 5 – GRAPHICS!!!

The “Build a Harem” Tag

It’s been a while since a Community tag post, so let’s let our hair down a bit, since the ever-charming Raistlin was kind enough to nominate me with some very nice words!

This particular tag originated from Cactus Matt over at the excellent Anime Q and A blog — he’s a frequent collaborator with a number of other excellent anime bloggers (some of whom I highlighted last week — more of those to come since I didn’t have time to mention everyone!) and his “20 Questions” format for his reviews is an excellent twist on the usual formula. Go check him out!

As is probably self-evident, this particular tag revolves around, well, building a harem. So hit the jump to find out more and check out my picks!

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Hyrule Warriors: Introduction and History

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Omega Force’s Warriors (or Musou, if you prefer) is one of the longest-running, most prolific series in all of gaming. And yet it is also one of the most commonly misunderstood and misrepresented in terms of its gameplay.

Often dismissed by critics as being little more than mindless button-mashers, the Warriors series has, over time and the course of more than 50 individual releases for various platforms, continued to evolve and experiment to bring us to where we are today. Not only that, it has proven to be a great way to get people interested in a number of real-world historical events such as the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history (Dynasty Warriors) and the Sengoku period of Japanese history (Samurai Warriors) — as well as providing its developers the opportunity to explore more creative, fantastic stories that involve large-scale conflict.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (just Hyrule Warriors hereafter), of course, falls into the latter category… but before we dive into it in detail, let’s take a look at the series as a whole and see exactly how we got here.

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Nintendo DS Essentials: Rhythm Paradise

I’ve liked rhythm games ever since I played Bust-a-Groove on the PlayStation. And I particularly like rhythm games that do something a little bit… odd.

Nintendo’s 2009 title Rhythm Paradise (aka Rhythm Heaven, Rhythm Tengoku Gold or Rhythm World depending on where in the world you are) is certainly very odd indeed at first glance… but it’s also an incredibly solid music game that both demands and helps train a good musical ear and sense of rhythm.

It’s also a fine example of the Nintendo DS doing what it does best: providing distinctive, experimental experiences quite unlike the games you find on any other platform.

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Waifu Wednesday: Sky

Well, after covering the titular heroine herself, her biggest rival and one of her best friends, it wouldn’t do to leave the other core female cast member of the Shantae series high and dry, would it?

Sky has been a fixture in the Shantae series for as long as all the other main characters, and she’s had some interesting development over time.

She’s one of numerous examples that the team at WayForward has become increasingly comfortable and confident with putting these characters in a variety of situations, and making them a true ensemble cast to be proud of.

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Nintendo DS Essentials: 42 All-Time Classics

My most-played and arguably favourite Nintendo DS game is not a big first-party release from Nintendo, nor is it a title that is talked about particularly frequently in general.

It is, however, a game that everyone who actually played has extremely fond memories of — and with good reason. The trouble is, it’s all too easy to dismiss it as yet another piece of shovelware — something the DS wasn’t exactly short of, particularly later in its lifespan.

I am, of course, referring to Agenda’s 42 All-Time Classics, also known in North America as Clubhouse Games, and in its native Japan as Daredemo Asobi Taizen (loosely translated, Everyone Wants to Play). This is a title that, if you have a Nintendo DS to hand, I strongly recommend adding to your library, because it will keep you and your friends busy for hours.

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PS2 Essentials: Energy Airforce

A core part of my gaming “diet” in the 16-bit home computer era and onwards into the early days of mainstream PC gaming was the military flight simulator.

I have many fond memories of piloting numerous pieces of military hardware around the virtual skies, dropping bombs on filthy commies (this was the height of the Cold War, after all) and dictators in the desert — but for me, it wasn’t necessarily the action-packed parts of these games that was appealing. No, it was the simple satisfaction of remaining in control of several tons of metal that really had no business being up in the air and not immediately plummeting to the ground.

This was a feeling I hadn’t really experienced for a while, to be honest; the Ace Combats of the world have their considerable appeal, but they’re not exactly realistic. Taito’s 2003 release of Energy Airforce, on the other hand… well, let’s take a look.

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Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero – Beyond the Pixel

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When I was growing up with computers and consoles in the early days of gaming, my dream of “what graphics will be like in the future” was not one of photorealism.

Okay, I’ll admit, attempts at photorealism — particularly in games that tackled this challenge early on, such as flight simulators — impressed me a great deal. But what I really, really wanted more than anything was that elusive thing: a game that truly looked like a cartoon; a true interactive animated movie.

Today, I have that. And it’s wonderful.

Continue reading Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero – Beyond the Pixel

#followfriday: Some Content Creators I Love

There are lots of wonderfully talented people on the Internet!

These days I tend to find that it’s passionate individuals, not commercial, corporate sites, that provide the most interesting and enlightening content about the things I’m into. The people who do it for the love rather than for the metrics.

Whether it’s posting informative articles about anime, entertaining videos about gaming or interacting directly with their community by streaming, I thought it was high time I shared some of my favourite content creators with you. Hit the jump for a non-exhaustive (just in case I forget someone!) list, in no particular order.

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Mario Tennis Aces: Some First Impressions

I’m not a big sports game guy, but I’ve always had a lot of time for Nintendo’s takes on tennis and golf.

The Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis in particular stole many hours of my life back in the day — as well as again a little more recently, I must confess — so I was rather excited to check out the Nintendo Switch incarnation of the series.

Among other things, the new game promised a return to something I had particularly liked about the aforementioned Game Boy Color version: a substantial single-player mode. So it’s that we’ll be focusing on today as I talk about my first impressions of the game.

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