Category Archives: video games

Pokemon X Samurai Warriors = What The!?

You Don’t See This Every Day Actually, this is a crossover with Nobunaga’s Ambition, a venerable wargame series out of Japan, but that’s niche stuff. The kind of niche I’m into, mind you. The people are similar, though: it’ll be … Continue reading

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Social Graces in Japan: A Quick Lesson

The Situations This is an exchange between different characters of the Japan-produced video game, Tales of Rebirth, which sadly never made it to America. These are loose translations I am providing to illustrate the situations, both involving a newly joined … Continue reading

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Mecha in Gaming: The Virgola / Setsuko Ohara

Not In An Anime Near You The Virgola is a fictional machine designed as a video game original for the crossover mecha game Super Robot Taisen Z (Super Robot Wars Z). By “original,” we mean that it does not appear … Continue reading

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Japanese Gaming: Half-Breaking the World

A Recurring Cultural Theme One issue continually revisited by Japanese video games, and the writing and storytelling culture that infuses it, is the idea that the world is corrupt in many ways, and it must be changed – but breaking … Continue reading

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Japan Gaming Culture: Super Turrican

Old Times, Good Times Super Turrican is one of the games for the Super Nintendo that, owing to the system, had “Super” tacked onto the front. Featuring a man in an armored suit, with some similarities to Metroid, this action … Continue reading

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Gaming: SRW Z 2 Gameplay Videos

More Videos The above is a gameplay video on YouTube showing the first stage of one of the potential main characters in Super Robot Taisen (“Super Robot Wars”) Z the 2nd, on PSP, sequel to SRW Z, on PS2. As … Continue reading

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Japan: Anime, Video Games, and Art

“In this sense, we don’t play the game; the game plays us.” Continue reading

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Super Robot Wars Z the 2nd Promo Video

For The Mecha Crowd Oh and, definitely count me among the mecha crowd. I’ve played the predecessor of this PSP game exhaustively. Rather than babble about my experiences, those inclined to see a sampling of the various series and mecha … Continue reading

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Things That Do Not Belong In This World

I said, “Oh My GOD.” Just follow the link and look over all the details. Screenshots detailed here. This sort of thing just tends to defy any sort of intelligent commentary. Just go look, read, and gape in awe and … Continue reading

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Japan: Sengoku Jidai Weapons: The Yari

The Footman’s Bread and Butter The Japanese yari (槍、やり), or spear, was not originally a dominant weapon of war. My own research into this issue should not be thought of as authoritative, but this post contains my impressions on this … Continue reading

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