A blog that is all over the place about all sorts of things
Here we are at the end of this short marathon.
After having gone through four of the top five JRPG sequels I would like to see on the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and even a few honourable mentions we’re finally at the finish line.
So, what sequel to a JRPG do I crave the most to see on the PlayStation 3?
Well if this article’s picture caught your attention, good, as it might give you a hint as which title it is. You might even get surprised when you find out! (more…)
If there is one game series that really could use a new title in the franchise, it’s Chrono Trigger. Despite it’s popularity amongst fans of the RPG genre, the series has only had 1 sequel in the form of the Chrono Cross which was released a decade ago for the Sony PlayStation, and has seen the original title released on the Super Nintendo, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo DS.
Chrono Trigger is consistently considered to be amongst one of the best RPG titles ever released for any platform and in recent years has been viewed as one of the titles in dire need of a sequel by gaming magazines such as Game Informer, EGM and Famitsu. (more…)
Let’s take a break for a moment and let me throw down some honourable mentions as I near the last 2 JRPGs I feel are most deserving of a sequel or a presence on Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3). There are numerous titles I could mention amongst my Top 5, from a Tales game to Wild Arms or Valkyria Chronicles to even Valkyrie Profile, but it wouldn’t be a Top 5 if there were 8 items listed, would it? (more…)
I am sure some of you might look at this and think, “What the heck is Radiata Stories? I’ve never heard it!” While I am sure there are quite a few of you (or a lot) that have never heard of Radiata Stories, it is a game, that despite poor sales in North America, sold very well in Japan, even outselling Devil May Cry 3 by about 10, 000 copies in total after both titles were out for nearly a year.
So, then, why the need for a sequel? Well, as a person who finished the game, I want to learn more about what happened in the world of Radiata Stories! (more…)
If there is one game franchise that PlayStation 3 (PS3) owners (and fans of JRPGs) would love to see is ANY Tales game on the PS3 that is in English.
Now I am sure some of you have heard it all about how Namco Bandai is ignoring its European and North American Tales fanbase by not releasing some of their games over the years. Fans have missed on games like Tales of Destiny 2 (not to be confused with Tales of Eternia which was released as Tales of Destiny 2 outside of Japan), Tales of Rebirth, Tales of Innocence, Tales of Hearts, and a few of the Tales of Radiant Mythology titles. (more…)
The Tokyo Game Show has come and gone, leaving in its wake a slew of new upcoming games for all platforms. This year was no different as we saw old franchises in new lights, such as the new Yakuza game which features zombies, to new franchises such as the Level 5 – Studio Ghibli collaboration Nino Kuni, to even new installments of recent franchises, such as Valkyria Chronicles 3. Whenever these game shows end I always take a moment to consider what would have made the event more interesting to me as a gamer who has a particular preference for Japanese-developed RPGs (JRPGs).
For every fan clamoring for a Final Fantasy VII remake, I think of titles such as Radiata Stories or Chrono Trigger which are also deserving of sequels. It’s not only sequels to some of my favourite games that I would appreciate seeing, but also seeing old, familiar faces, such as Hironobu Sakaguchi, offering his unique vision on a console that his studio, Mistwalker, seems to be ignoring, the Sony PlayStation 3. (more…)
“Ugh, this English dub sounds awful!”, “I wish they picked better voice actors!”, “Gahhh… My ears!!” – These are some example of the common things you’ll hear people say about English audio tracks on their favourite Japanese-developed Roleplaying Games (RPG). Through the years we’ve seen the best (Disgaea) and worst (Arc Rise Fantasia, Xenogears) that English audio tracks can inflict on all games, from the mediocre (Arc Rise Fantasia) to the very great (Xenogears); yet over the years there has been great strides taken in providing gamers with good localizations. We see this in games which are text-heavy, such as the Ace Attorney series, where a lot of Cultural jokes and references are molded towards a North American audience, to games which feature a lot of audio, such as Valkyria Chronicles or Disgaea 3. (more…)
It’s funny how sometimes when you least expect things to happen they do! It has been nearly half a year since Hiroshi Seo, the author and artist behind the fabulous Ubunchu online comic, last released an issue of Ubunchu publicly online, and now after months of checking their site and contemplating writing an article about the wait, lo-and-behold a new chapter has been released (in Japanese only so far) with 3 more incoming, one of which is the chapter previous to the latest one.
The latest issue, Episode 07: The Ultimate Installfest!, seems to focus on something that I find truly near and dear to my heart, the installation of Ubuntu onto a netbook computer. The issue seems to start off with the introduction of a new character, Urara Yoshinaga, who comes to the System Admin Club looking for assistance with upgrading her netbook’s Operating System (OS) from a pedestrian Windows 7 Home Premium edition (surprising considering a lot of netbooks in my area either come with Windows XP or Windows 7 Starter edition) to the monstrous Windows 7 Ultimate edition.
What follows is the System Admin Club showcasing Ubuntu (9.10) off to Urara in hopes that she might become interested in using Ubuntu on her netbook, which she evidentially does at the end of the issue.
It is a little troubling that although the issue is focusing on Ubuntu and netbooks, Seo doesn’t take advantage of the unique circumstances of this issue to introduce the unique netbook interface that has been available in Ubuntu since version 8.04 (Hardy Heron). Perhaps the interface is brought up, but for one thing it isn’t shown to the reader at all.
Source: Ubunchu (Official Site)
I don’t really consider myself a proponent of Linux as much as others that I know personally or otherwise, but I do find that the most interesting technological advances can be found in not only Linux but the whole Open Source culture and climate. It’s within the Linux community at large that we have seen great new interfaces for small laptops (Netbooks) that make use of the small screen size rather than drop a regular desktop Operating System (OS) and tell you, “Have at it!”. It’s also the OS that powers quite a large selection of mobile devices such as Amazon’s Kindle, Google’s Android Smartphone OS and of course the upcoming Netbook and Tablet computers using Google Chrome OS. (more…)
I wanted to link all nine (I picked a low, random number here) of you who read this excellent review of Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles 2 for the PSP by J.D. I’ll be writing a more exhaustive review myself soon, especially now that I have gotten further in the game.