If there is one thing I learned in this life is this. Don't mess with the dead. Don't try to contact them, leave them alone. They are dead for a reason. A survival horror game entitled "Calling" for the Nintendo Wii. It receive horrible reviews. Being that I'm a horror junkie I brought this game regardless of the reviews. Should you pick up the call when it rings? Or should press the ignore button?
Story - The Black Page is a source of many rumors. The page is blank, with only a vistor counter. Some say that it's connected to a chat room. "Those led by the darkness" may enter the chat, and are said to receive a "call from the depths." They enter "The Mnemonic Abyss," Wander between life and death, forever. Even today, curiosity will draw more vistors to the "The Black Page." In Calling you follow 4 characters, Rin Kagura, Shin Suzutani, Chiyo Kishibem and Makoto Shirae. Throughout the game you will play Rin who is the center of the story. Rin is looking for someone she promised to meet in person from the site. However the person has been missing for a while. Rin then comes across upon The Black Page, where she is taken to the crossroad of the spirit world and real world known as "The Mnemonic Abyss." In "The Mnemonic Abyss" Rin will encounter the three characters, and try to unravel the mystery of "The Black Page."
The story is a mixture of The Ring, The Grudge and One Missed Call. I like to think of it as a love letter to Asian horror. However there is a few problems I have with the story. 1. The character of Shin is an otaku and he is a big wimp. It is a stereotype that gets annoying. Why are all nerds or otakus seen as weak or wimps in the media? 2. The story is really obvious you know from the beginning who brings the people into the abyss. 3. Finally some of the dialogue is just horrible. Other than that it's a decent story that will keep you interested. Playing the game I felt more sorry for the ghost than the people.
Gameplay - The gamplay is REALISTIC! I had to put that in big letters. A lot of people didn't like the gameplay and labeled it boring. But ask yourself this, how in the world would shoot a ghost? Calling gameplay makes it realistic as possible. You use the Wii mote as a flashlight, as you journey through several locations such as, a hospital, school and a house. As you journey through the game you will use your cellphone to record white noise, take pictures and receive calls from ghost. The cellphone is also used to transfer to different areas of the abyss, by using numbers you find. By finding the right phone number you will transfer out of the abyss (thus why this game is called Calling.) When attack by the ghost all you have to do is shake your Wii mote. That's all folks no strategy just shake your Wii mote. The boss fights are basic, shake your Wii mote or enter another room. I actually like it because of that realism. If you were in front of ghost, running will be your only means of escape. The game is scary. The first three acts made me jump and some calls were disturbing. Gameplay Video
Graphics - The graphics in Calling is ok. It's not really up to Wii standards. The design is lazy and lacking. The hospital has the same design on each floor, minus a few room changes. There is pixelated issues when you go close up to the wall. There is no lag issues. However the flashlight lightining is great and some the environments set a great fear factor tone. The ghost look scary especially the main one and the movements are ghostly.
Sound - The sound in Calling depends on the language you chose. English voice acting is horrible. The Japanese voice acting is scary and great! The atmosphere and creaks capture the setting very well. The music when it's play is great on the ears. Piano and strings are used through out the game. I especially love the final theme.
Replay Value - After you beat Rin's story you will have to do the character Makato story as a hidden chapter. There is also a great feature when the ghost send you pictures to your Wii inbox. There are things to collect and extra chapters, but after you clear everything you won't be calling again.
Final Grade - Calling gets a C-. The good is the scares, japanese voice acting and gameplay controls and hidden chapters. The bad is the graphics, the english voice acting, the otaku character and the one time trip. If you are a horror junkie like me, then at least give Calling a rental and decide for yourself. If your not a fan of horror then this is one call you shouldn't answer.
NBA live is dead. EA Sports new nba franchise is NBA ELITE *link below* http://kotaku.com/5548380/nba-live-is-now-nba-elite
In 2010 its cool to hate NBA live but believe it or not Live brought NBA games to the main stream. Before Live the main basketball game was NBA showdown(see Justins amazing video on it for gameplay) before NBA showdown we had series like "Lakers vs Celtics" & "Bulls vs Blazers." Dont get me wrong I love those games but they had a cult following. With EA introducing Live, the entire world became basketball fans. EA started with a great commercial showing Tim Hardaway playing NBA Live, then Don Nelson grabbed it from him because he was ignoring the real game lol. NBA Live is the reason why im a gamer. I remember we played that game so much we use 2 turn off the calls, then play NBA Live street ball which became another game....CLASSIC.
Through out the genesis life cycle, NBA Live got better in every way every year. I remember playing LIVE 97 and thinking basketball games couldnt get any better than this... and to be honest I still think LIVE 97 is the best of its time. It did so much for Basketball Games(thats another post).
Once Live made the step to Playstation and Sega Saturn the problems started. Games like "In The Zone" started to rival the once king of the court. Shortly after 2K came out, Visual Concepts was right off the heels of making NBA Action 98 for the Saturn and learned alot from that project.
NBA 2k released on the dreamcast Fall 99....thats when NBA live died.
Years later, Live made several failed attempts to come back to the top. One of which was by adding Jordan(which was ruined when he came out of retirement to play for the wizards). One of LIVE'S most successful additions came in Live 03 when they added right stick dribble mechanics, then in Live 04 they added real life sneakers (LIVE 04has the best sneakers EVER!!!!!). Also the very next year EA made a dunk contest that was actually good(still the best dunk contest ever). All 3 moves that 2k eventually copied.
Thank you NBA LIVE for all the sweet memories & for taking basketball sims to a new level.
NOT FOR AIR was a group of shorts containing clips of old cartoons with fake bleeps over the dialogue to make it sound as though the characters were swearing. These also aired on Adult Swim during commercial breaks.
Once in a while I come across some videos on Youtube. These videos are usually fandubs and some are funny. But other just make me go why did you touch that. In this case here are certain videos, that made me go huh. Many of them made me giggle and laugh a little bit. Then some made me say man I wish I can kill you with a lightsaber. Check them out!
Lando The Nazi In this clip a Star Wars fan uses clips from other movies to make Han Solo, accussed Lando of being a Nazi. I did laugh at this one.
Qui Gon Jinn and Mace Windu in Return Of the Jedi - At the end of the clip Qui Gon and Mace return to look at Luke. Ummm Luke doesn't know these guys why would even try this. I'm not going to lie. I would put myself in this when I learn how to do.
Vader Makes Fun of Luke Just watch this scene. I laugh after the first time. Then it got annoying and pointless the second time.
Yoda Gay - Total Epic Fail.
The Real Mace Windu - Just pointless, just pointless. Even though I was dying to hear Mace say to Anakin, "Sit down Motherfucka."
*Sigh* Japan has all the fun! I was watching Youtube and came across a Soul Eater game for the Wii. I'm not a huge gamer or anything but, the idea of playing a game with the Soul Eater cast is great. This game is called Soul Eater Monotone Princess. It looks ok. Anime Rules!!!!!! You can check out our review here /www.otakusandgeeks.com/akusandgeeks.com/2010/06/soul-eater-monotone-princess-wii-import.html
Here is the best of Fenslerfilm's G.I. Joe Parody. Porkchop Sandwiches. Body Massage and Shiiiiit! Is my top favorites. Check out these funny parodies of the G.I. Joe PSA.
Once again a classic game from the 16 bit world, is getting a whole new look on the PSN and Xbox Live. This time it's Rocket Knight and it's price is $14.99. Is the price worth the jet fuel?
Story - In Rocket Knight we follow Sparkster. He is the defender of the land of Zephyrus from ruthless animals. This time the invaders are the wolves, but however you still must face the lizard and the pigs from the previous game. Sparkster was farming and then boom the enemies come. Sparkster goes into his house and Up, Up & Away he goes. Gameplay - The game is a 2.5D platformer. Rocket Knight has a variety of moves in his arsenal. Using his jet pack he is able to glide, double jump and give himself a boost. His weapons are a sword and gun. With his sword you are able to slash, spin move and using your jet back charge with your sword. Rocket Knight has a gun but I didn't find myself using it. That's because the core of the gameplay is focused on Sparkster's JetPack. This isn't a bad thing at all, in fact based on the level designs you'll need it.
The game comes with 2 modes an Arcade Mode and Freeplay Mode. Arcade mode you will play the story in sequential order. There is also various difficulty as Normal and Hard Mode. In Hard Mode when it comes to boss fights it adds a strategy element. Players will have to discover the pattern and weakness of the boss, and defeat it. This can be a little annoying but it brings a refreshing element to the game. The boss battle ranges from easy to hard. I found the Forest Shredder to be a little annoying, but once you find out his pattern it was easy. Free Play mode you are able to play any chapters you want. Gameplay Video
Graphics - The graphics is beautiful. The colors and backgrounds are a really nice update from the original game. I didn't find any frame rate issues with game. It has a nice cartoon feel to the game and which I expect from a game like Rocket Knight.
Sound - I LOVE the music in Rocket Knight. It feels like I'm playing an RPG, but it's not. There is no language voiceover work in this game. Instead we get a language of the animals and that brought realism to the setting.
Replay Value - Unless you want to collect the extra skins and get all the trophies/achievements, or be number one on the leaderboards. There is little replay value here.
Final Grade - Rocket Knight gets a B- great gameplay, graphics, sound, but little to offer as of terms of replay value. Plus $15 bucks for a 2 to 3 hour game is a litle overpriced.
DBZ fans rejoice once again. There is a new Dragonball game coming to your consoles. Ummm don't they make a new game every year? This one looks the same to me. I think the DBZ games needs a revamp or new developers. Anime Rules!!!!!
If you call yourself a gamer then that means you must be familiar with OC Remixes. For those who don't know what OC Remixes are. OCR is an non profit organization who preservers videogame music. They do re-arrangements and their own interpretation and it sounds beautiful. Here are some of my favorite songs they have done.
The Final Summoning From Final Fantasy X
Jenova Piano From Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII The Twelfth Commandment OC ReMix
Ponyo was such a great anime film. If you never watched it you owe to yourself to see it. Studio Ghibli is a force not to underestimate. They have so much hits in their library. Check out the Behind Scenes making of Ponyo. Anime Rules!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Cherry blossoms, the reagle flowers that has witnessed countless encounters throughout the ages. Cherry blossoms - the short-lived blooms that have seen so many goodbyes. The blossoms will watch over this year's heartfelt emotions as well. And open their buds once more.... In Spring the season of new beginnings."- Kyoichi Kanzaki
Story - The story Boys Be... follows six high school students as they try to find the perfect mate. The series is 13 episodes long and each episode focuses on a specific character. This works very well because we get a lot of characterization. The main focus follows Kyoichi Kanzaki. Kyoichi Kanzaki is your typical "Nice Guy" he has a good heart, shy but not confident. Kyoichi Kanzaki likes his long time friend Chiharu Nitta. Chiharu Nitta is a track runner, smart and beautiful but very insecure. I don't like Chiharu (see Episode 7) I feel that see is ungrateful and blind. Other characters are Makoto Kurumizawa, Yoshihiko Kenjo, Yumi Kazama and Aki Mizutani. Makoto is the pervert out of the three boys, he collects data on all the girls in school for donuts. However he gradually matures as he starts pursuing his own relationship desires. Yoshihiko is the jock out of the 3 boys. However he is not the jock that all the girls go for. He is pretty laid back. We have the nice guy, the pervert and the jock for the boys. For the girls we have Yumi who would be the Otaku girl. Yumi loves cosplay., sci-fi and she will be called your typical geek. Chiharu is the athlete and Aki is the girly girl who starts off as boy crazy until episode 4. Each character goes through an insecurity that they must face in order to find a good mate. It really is a beautiful and poetic series. I enjoy how they show how the seasons intertwine with the theme of love. For instance Spring is the season of new beginnings. Summer break ups happen and so on. It's a great story that you must check out.
Voice Acting - Voice acting is pretty solid. Nothing that is over or melodramatic. I had no problem the acting. The acting in English and Japanese brings you in woonderfully. Watching it I felt that these were characters were real people, with these issues. No one breaks character. Makato character is my favorite one to see on screen.
Music - Be-Factory did the OST for the show and it's music to my ears. Piano, Strings, Violins are all here. They have some of the most poetic love themes I've heard in anime. The insert song "Memoria" in Episode 8 is one of my favorite J-Pop songs and song of the series. If you find the OST make sure you give it a listen.
Final Grade - B+ Boy Be... is a must watch for Anime fans that are looking for something refreshing. I would of gave it an A but the ending made me say can we get another season.
In honor of Pac-Man's 30th Birthday. I decided to piss him off by playing Pac-Man 2 The New Adventures. Who knew Pac-Man had such a short temper? All I did was make his life miserable.
This year the sis and I are going to the New York Anime/Comic Con. However we won't be in Cosplay. Instead we decided to represent our favorite shows, by wearing custom clothes. Cafepress.com is a wonderful site to get the job done. My brother order a beautiful Egyptian shirt of the Ankenaten the Egyptian Pharoah (since we are Ethiopian Egyptian). I love the quality so I figured let me give it a try. Here is just a little taste of the site, and what I'm ordering.
Second Summer Of Love Shirt Justin - One of my Anime favorite shows is Eureka Seven and this is the first shirt I ordered. I love Renton and Eureka story and the picture is so wonderful.
Solider First Class Justin - I love Cloud from FF7 even though he is a little emo for me. However I love that line Solider First Class.
Final Fantasy 13 Hat Justin - I saw you can customize hats too so I did an Final Fantasy 13 one. The logo looks perfect.
Robotech Defense Force Logo Short Sleeve Shirt Justin - Join the RDF squad.