Anime Odyssey thoughts on

First of all,it was raining.Hard.The weather is always bipolar in Texas,but did we really need to have a flash flood on for the entire weekend?
Anyway,I went on Friday for about 2 hours,more or less to know where everything was in the hotel.The only panel I went to that day was with Eric Vale and Colleen Clinkinbeard doing a Q and A session and while I went in halfway into the panel,I still had a lot of fun.
The rest of that day,I was checking out the venders room and buying various things.

On Saturday,I went for about 4 hours.I checked out a Naruto panel some by some cosplayers and while it was a very silly,I laughed a lot.I was somewhat expecting people to be talking about the newest chapter (631) and where the story might go from here,but no,everyone wanted to make fun of Neji's crossdressing habits in SD.So yeah.

After that was done,there really wasn't anything going on that I was interested in for about an hour,so I awkwardly wandered around the hotel,seeing what stuff people were doing and buying some more stuff.Did I mention that nobody I knew went to this thing,and I felt a little out of place being a loner,because that's what happened.

Anyway,then Tia Ballard was holding a panel for amateur voice acting and I think this was my favorite.She was pretty funny and a lot of people in the audience were pretty funny as well,making the atmosphere pretty lively and enjoyable.
I didn't go on Sunday because that's the depressing day when people are packing up and everyone's tired,so I decided to stay home,just watching anime and playing games.


All in all,I don't think it was too bad for my "first" con,I probably should've talked more and I should've stayed a few more hours,but I still had fun.

The con was pretty good all things considered,I hope Anime Odyssey will be there next year,because I'm probably going again.I think I'll also go to San Japan in August,because that one the biggest con in San Antonio.

Compared to AniMex in Mexico,this one felt more organized since it was at a hotel rather than a convention center.In AniMex,everything was in one big area,the venders were in the center while the panels were being held in cubicles around the sides of the area.
For Anime Odyssey,all the panels were in seperate rooms and the venders area was in another building entirely,so it felt more organized.


On the 3DS side of things,I got 10 people on streetpass and on Saturday,I got 18 people,so while it might not seem much,it's a lot for me,since there's times where I go to the mall and Gamestops and I don't get anybody.

On the cosplay side,I saw a lot of Naruto cosplayers,people in Goku shirts,some Vocaloids,some people in lab coats (I assume Stein;s Gate?),a couple Soul Reapers and this one Zero (Code Geass)

In retrospect,maybe I should've taken pictures of the actual event,but I'm a dumbass that didn't think to do that even though so many people were.

Well,I guess I'll show off the stuff I bought.

Bakuman card that comes with gum.



A Madoka Nendoroid chibi figure.


















This little Salamence plush.



Castlevania manga and Death Note
and Resident Evil movies.










Meanwhile...

This.

 

Sub vs Dub/Japanese in general

Yeah,I'm sure this is a tired and worn out subject but I want to give my thoughts on the matter.

I don't mind either one,but I tend to go with the dub if possible.If there's no dub available,oh well,there's the Japanese version.

One thing that's really weird is that when you go from sub to dub like say Naruto,it feels off for some reason.It may be a matter of better talent or it may be that I'm not a Japanese speaker and therefore,I can't tell the flaws of a Japanese dub,so it doesn't feel as weird when I go from dub to sub.
On the other hand,I can easily criticize the English dub because I know what sounds natural and what doesn't.One thing to take note is dubbers have it harder because the anime was made for Japanese language,not easily translated for another language.

Some early dubs of anime are pretty bad,but some have the effect of "so bad,it's good" thing going on,like Sailor Moon.It's fun to watch for the cheesy voices and outdated 90's slang.

Another reason why I prefer dubs to subs is because I'm much more likely to meet the dub voice actors as opposed to the Japanese voice actors in real life at anime conventions.Unless I go to Japan,but then there's the whole language/cultural barrier.

But then there's the advantage that I can learn some minor Japanese while watching anime.When I was playing EX Troopers,which is entirely in Japanese,I did catch some of the things they said.
I owe that to anime,but I doubt I can actually interact with a Japanese person,anime isn't Rosetta Stone or whatever people use to learn Japanese.

This one is more helpful for learning Japanese.
I recommend both anyway,they're free.

This is a fun rhythm game with Japanese,I like it a lot.

On the subject of Japanese,I'm wondering if I should take a Japanese class in college.
Speaking Japanese is probably something I can handle but I'm wondering if I can handle writing Japanese.
With the apps I have along with my anime,I'll probably be fine if I do take a Japanese course.
I already 2 languages,English and Spanish,and Japanese would look pretty cool on my resume or whatever,a business/marketing major that's also Trilingual.
I assume I'll meet some anime fans in that Japanese course since those pretty much overlap.
Maybe I can even understand my imported Japanese video games!
The only negative I see with this idea is that I might suck at writing Japanese,or I may not be smart enough to learn 3 languages.
Learning a new language isn't easy,and I'm not sure if I'm willing to invest the time into it,I mean,Japanese isn't really necessary for everyday life in San Antonio,and I can see myself dropping that class just because I'm too lazy to put the effort.

I figure it might be worth a shot though,so I think I'll try it anyway.

Ex Troopers review/thoughts on

I wish the actual title screen looked like this
 

I talked about this game alot in the past,and after weeks of waiting to see if Capcom USA would renew that Ex Troopers trademark and actually do anything with it,but they did not.
The game bombed in Japan,Capcom said that they didn't want to bring it over here because there was too much text to change,and an English release was pretty much not going to happen.

I made a Japanese PSN account just to play the demo.I loved it.
I decided I would import it at some point,but would play the waiting game since the import prices were high.Finally,Play-Asia (plug #3 on this blog) had it for 40 bucks.Hell...YES!

Anyway,Ex Troopers is a very heavily manga inspired Lost Planet spin-off.I liked the first Lost Planet,but haven't played Lost Planet 2 yet and I don't care about Lost Planet 3 due to the direction it's going.

I can't read Japanese but I don't think you should have too much trouble with the menus,at least I didn't.Then again,I played Jump Super Stars and Dragon Ball Kai Ultimate Budoden,so this isn't my first japanese game.

There's an exclamation point on the map that tells you where the next mission is,and that helps alot,don't be scared away from the language barrier,you should be fine.
Needless to say,you don't need to play the Lost Planet games to enjoy this but it adds to the experience,seeing the realistic looking world and enemies in a new light.

The game looks pretty good,the manga presentation is rarely done in video games and Ex Troopers really runs with the idea.The cutscenes,while I didn't know what the hell was going on,were still fun to look at because it was like "watching" a manga.
The cel shading gets the job done,while it won't push any boundaries,it's at the very least,different.

The music is ok,more noticable than LP1's music,that's for sure.
I'm bad with describing music,but it's basically futuristic techno with like 2 J-Pop songs thrown in there,so again,different from your average shooter

Gameplay is day and night between this game and LP1.Lost Planet was more realistic,since there was snow everywhere,you would naturally move slower.In EX Troopers,our hot-blooded hero wouldn't look cool slowly walking,so screw real world physics and let's give him a jetpack for good measure.
It's a third-person shooter similar to the ground stages in Kid Icarus Uprising,except it uses buttons and has a lock on feature.I LOVE this style of gameplay,it's so much fun.
I think I remember that Capcom said that Ex Troopers uses the same engine as Megaman Legends 3 or at least the same gameplay,so in a weird way,MML3 lives on.


When not in combat,you're in bases,giving you the chance to interact and take on sidequests.
You can do VR missions,which are just extra missions where you kill stuff or reach the end of a stage.
There's also multiplayer,which can be fun provided you get lucky and someone is actually playing the game.


I'm sure the story was above average but I haven't found a translation for the story,so I can't comment on the writing or anything in depth.
Let's put it this way,I enjoyed the story a lot more than Lost Planet 1's story,because of the more interesting characters.Even if the characters are just archetypes (Hot-blooded hero,calm/cool rival,mysterious girl,etc.) I liked it more because I just like anime.



This was a really enjoyable game,I recommend importing since Capcom USA let us down,but given how Japanese this game is to begin with,I'm sure the developers had no intention of Western release.
Anyway,I'm glad I have this game,it was pretty fun.
I have the PS3 version,and it's the superior version because it has online play unlike the 3DS version.

Took me 17 hr 59 mins 07 sec to beat it,but I did a lot of side stuff.

Trailer:

Anime Trailer:

Where I bought it:


http://www.play-asia.com/E.X._Troopers/paOS-13-71-bp-49-en-70-57ht.html




More connections with  Megaman Legends 3:

 

Random cameo might not be so random.




I can finally stop complaining about Capcom and their mistake to not give us
a digital release of this game.














 

Anime conventions

I'm going to an anime convention that's taking place on May 24-26.I already bought my ticket and everything,so I'm good on that front,I just have to think what to do and not do.

I went to a couple of anime conventions in Mexico,and from what I can tell,they're pretty much the same thing,they have the voice actors from the mexican dubs,they showcase upcoming dubs,people are selling stuff,people are playing games and cosplayers are everywhere.

When I went to those anime conventions,I was with my little bro and my older cousin,who's just as big an anime fan,if not moreso than I am,and he was leading us around,having fun,all that good stuff.

I wasn't really interested in interacting with people,I just wanted to buy stuff,this was before I discovered good places to buy anime merchandise like Play-Asia and Right Stuf (brilliant plug),so this was a really great experience,despite my single minded goal,I still had fun just watching other people dressed up and talking about their animes.

Everytime,I went to those anime conventions in Mexico,I had the same purpose,to buy stuff.
Wel,now there's an upcoming anime convention in my area,so why not?

I want to make this upcoming experience different,so I plan on being more social than I was 4 years ago,to chat with people and maybe even make some new friends.

I asked a few of my friends from school to see if they can go,but so far,there's only one friend that MIGHT go with me,but it's not looking great so far in that aspect.

Anyway,I'm bring my 3DS and my multiplayer games,so I hope I get some streetpasses and good Pokemon battles.

I'm probably going to bring my Goku messenger bag,the same one I use for school,just because that bag usually holds my 3DS anyway.

I bought the 3 day pass,but for now,I'm planning going only on Saturday,but I thinking if I should just go there all 3 days.

I know there's going to be some voice actors there,so maybe I'll get something signed.

I'm not going to cosplay,because one,I have no idea who I should be and two,I heard that some cosplayers are brutal in the attitude department when it comes to that,so no thanks,I'll wait until I have some more experience with cons until I even think about trying that.

Anyway,I hope I'm more social than I normally am,I was never good with the "starting convensations and keeping them going" but then again,this is an anime con,stuff that I actually like can be discussed here,so I'm more confident about that than I nornally am.Usually,I dread social gatherings because I just don't know what to say,but I feel better about this.


There's another anime convention coming up in August that's in my town as well,but I think that would be getting ahead of myself,for all I know,I might not like the con experience,and I might not even be interested in going to cons anymore.I really hope that doesn't happen,so I should focus on having fun this month.

Remember that anime list I blogged about?I plan on finishing some of the more popular ones solely so I can interact better with the people there,I never saw Ouren High School Club.but they're having a panel for it,so I'm sure I can see a 26 episode anime series before the 24th,right?


Anyways,I hope everything goes well and I go to more in the future,I think I'll blog how everything went once it's over with,so let's hope I have good things to say.

http://www.anime-odyssey.org/

I know only like 2 of my real life friends read my blog,but still,I must give context.
This is the debut of Anime Odyssey,now to make sure they get a good start!

Next gen thoughts/rant

By "next  generation",I'm referring to the PS4,Xbox 720 or whatever it's called and the Wii U.

Oh,he looks real.

A lot of people are saying the Wii U isn't next generation,and that makes me wonder,what the IS next generation anyway?

Some say better graphics,some say the specs under the console,and with the Wii,the controller might've been a factor.

I don't think we ever had an official term for it,companies usually said it almost synonymously with "next line of products we're selling".Does it mean new?Do graphics really even matter anymore?

Maybe it's because I have bad eyes,but I  really don't care about cutting edge graphics.In fact,I just look at realistic graphics and say "Oh,it looks good" and I usually move on.I'm not interested in realistic because that's what life is for,you wanna kill a hooker in GTA,kill one for real,I say.

Remember Sixaxis?Yeah,this screen will
probably go the same route.

I enjoy good graphics but I really don't see much difference between the PS3 and the PS4,aside from the draw distance,but draw distance is usually a minor complaint for a game anyway.

The PS4 controller is playing it safe,I doubt Sony would take anymore risks in their situation,and I feel the controller's touchpad or whatever it is will be very underused.


I don't care for Killzone,so Killzone 4 was never going to draw me in,it looked good but it seemed like a typical shooter,so whatever.
I don't remember the other gamers aside from Watchdogs,but that's coming for the PS3,so like hell I'm buying a new console for a "current gen port"
Yeah,the games aren't there yet,at least for me,so screw the PS4



The social features are interesting but I don't care about that stuff when I'm playing a game,whenever I play something engaging,I usually don't want to talk to friends unless I need help or if we're in the same room together.

I am not an online gamer,I have 26 PS3 games and only a handful of them have any online play.
I played Sonic Racing Transformed maybe once and the Naruto Storm 3 game a few times online,
I played more online matches in Pokémon than I ever did with my PS3,Pokemon is perhaps the only game that I find very enjoyable online,but Pokémon is more social than most games,and it is one of my favorite series,so take that as you will.

The whole always online thing with the 720 also bugs me,because it's not so bad now,but in the future like say 15 years from now,the 720 will be junk that can't do it's purpose,because the servers are not up anymore.Meanwhile,NES games will work just as well,while your $300+ system collects dust,aside from a common sight in youtube videos where people smash their useless box.

The Wii U is higher than the PS4 and 720 on my wishlist,because of the first party support.Third party games tend to be more hit or miss than first party,so I'm fine with the Wii U as long as they hurry up with the first party stuff.Xenoblade 2,SMT X Fire Emblem,Windwaker and any other Zelda game are good enough for me.

Also,I'm almost 100% certain that there is a conspiracy against Nintendo,because they're getting no third party support recently,most of the newly announced games,all for PS3,360 or PC,but no Wii U?
There has to be stuff behind the scenes with Nintendo,because things are not good for the Wii U as of late.I don't know if Nintendo's at fault or if everyone is just being biased for "abandoning the hardcore gamers",whatever it is,games are all that matter in the end,so Nintendo has to work something out.

There's not too much lost anyway,except if a Tales game or another RPG game hits the other systems,then I'll get whatever system for those games.

In fact,the Vita has a better line up than the Wii U as of now,Persona 4 Golden,Gravity Rush and maybe Soul Sacrifice,I don't know,I'm not big on Monster Hunter-like gameplay.
IF Tales of Hearts R and Tales of Innocence R get localized,I'm instantly sold on the Vita,even if the future isn't guaranteed for the Vita,I will buy it just to play those games,they're system sellers as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway,so much talk about next gen has been getting to me,so you know what,I'm probably going to stick to the current generation consoles,just because there's still a lot of great PS3 and DS games that I missed out on.

It's funny how next gen consoles demand you have a huge room.

You have to buy a bigger house to get the most out of
your game console.

Anyway,this seems more instrusive than
immersive to me.