Street Fighter X Mega Man = 25

So this happened over the weekend:



Now, let's go back for a minute to 2010, to my reaction to Capcom's last official mainstream installment of the Mega Man series: "Because I'm a hopeless Mega Man fanatic, and because I wanted to write a truly comprehensive review of Mega Man 10, I made it a point to play the game into the ground—at this point, I hope it stays buried there a while." I left the game with the satisfaction of having blown stuff up real good, and with the disappointment of my favorite video game franchise heading off in a direction more appealing to hip, young gamers and people who hated everything after Mega Man 3.

Part of me is looking forward to this new game, assuming it's not some sort of belated April Fools' gag—it appears that whoever's responsible knows what makes a Mega Man game fun, and loves Street Fighter enough to pull off a worthy crossover.

The other part of me is saying, "Really? This is how we're celebrating Mega Man's 25th anniversary—with another Street Fighter game?"

In other words, I don't really care. Or, at least, I've given up on caring.

Capcom announced Mega Man Universe, then pulled the plug on it, and I really didn't mind. Same deal with Mega Man Legends 3—though, I have yet to play any of the Legends series, so perhaps I should have been enraged. Then there was Mega Man Xover, the sad-looking iOS game that no one in the fan community seemed to want to play. Now we've got yet another crossover. Yes, people love crossovers when they're done right. Yes, it looks like this one will be done right. No, I'm not enthusiastic about it. I'm tired of my favorite series being dragged in every direction but the one that actually matters to me.

I don't want a level editor for Mega Man 2 that looks like a Flash game, or a messy mashup of multiple Mega Man series that looks like a Flash game, or a crossover of two completely unrelated series that looks like it was originally intended to be a Flash game. Those are all good fodder for a fangame or three, but it raises some questions about the future of the franchise when Mega Man 11 and its hypothetical brethren are ignored for over two years while these other games are touted as The Next Big Thing. Crossovers, cameos, and out-of-continuity spinoffs are fun in moderation, but Zero's appearance in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is no substitute for Mega Man X9.

What's reassuring to me is the last line of the announcement article: "We know it's been a hard year for Mega Man fans, but I hope this proves our love and intent to the series, and that we have not heard the last of the little guy." In the wake of the physical and economic devastation Japan suffered last year, along with the departure of Keiji Inafune, it's understandable that Capcom has needed some time to regroup and figure out what, if anything, they should be doing with this franchise. I still wasn't entirely pleased with where things were headed before that, but I'm willing to accept that these past few years have been a time of transition. Perhaps this new game is just to hold us over until The Real Next Big Thing comes along later next year.

All I ask for are upbeat music, plot and dialogue that at least make sense, new challenges, new weapons, AND THE CHARGE AND SLIDE BACK THANKYOUVERYMUCH. As long as I can get a new Mega Man game like that every couple of years—or if they finally bring one or more of the existing series to a satisfying conclusion—then I suppose I don't mind the occasional "fluff game," especially one that looks to be as promising as Street Fighter X Mega Man.

Unless they keep making games for iOS, in which case I'll never be able to play them.

Early Resolutions, Belated Solutions

Perhaps it's a little too early to be making resolutions for 2013 (or a little too late, depending on when you're reading this), but I think I'd like to spend less time making videos.

I know; I know. I'm the guy who makes videos like this, explaining why I'm not making videos. It's not even conceivable that I could spend less time making videos. Allow me to elaborate: by 2013, I'd like YouTube to be an occasional hobby instead of an ongoing creative project. Like it used to be.

When I started making videos for YouTube, I'd come home from work, do some recording before dinner, and dedicate a Saturday or Sunday afternoon to wrapping up whatever I couldn't finish during the week. I was finishing entire video series in a matter of what, a month? Three, tops? I started playing Space Quest 0 this past July, recorded all the video footage in something like two days, sat down to record all the commentary for each video in 1-2 takes, and it's now November and I've got at least two more videos to go.

Wha happen??

Video recording, like so many of my other things I've tried to work on this past year, became relegated to a routine to ensure that it wouldn't fall by the wayside. The trouble is, when you're making video recording, blogging, writing for GameCola, watching anime, watching movies, watching TV shows, playing video games, reading books, reading comic books...insert another two dozen examples here...part of your routine, you don't really get much of anything done.

I should know better: When I commit to a project, I follow through on it. I don't need to keep chipping away at it every day or every few days to keep from losing momentum; I just need to want to do it in the first place. I started an FAQ/Walkthrough for the PC game Jetpack back in 2008, a few months before the founding of this blog. I added new content off and on throughout the next year, published what I had...and got busy with other things.

Three and a half years later, I picked up where I left off.

My YouTube moniker was selected because it's a Mega Man weapon I like, and because everything else I could think of was already taken...but truly is fitting: GeminiLaser, the one that moves slowly but always bounces back. In my heart, I'm not really a YouTuber. I never intended to make more than a handful of videos. Now I've got 4,161 subscribers and 1,094,078 video views, and that's just for my personal channel alone—that doesn't cover any of the collaborations or contributions I've made for other channels. I've become a thing.

Would I like to continue making videos? Sure. But pretending I'm always working on a video is a drag. I'm a marathon man. I write short poetry, not novels. I do my best work when I can shut out the world for a few hours and stay totally focused on one thing. I have a long short-term attention span, and a short long-term attention span. Prolonging the completion of a video or video series I'm allegedly working on is just delaying the gratification.

Either I'm working on it, and having fun, or I'm not working on it, and having fun doing something else. No more of this in-between business; saying I'm working on a video and having little or nothing to show for it is tantamount to failure. It's like joining a football team and wandering off the field mid-game to compose a symphony—it might be a magnificent symphony, but you're a failure as a football player. I'm tired of subconsciously dragging myself down because I'm not achieving the things I'm not making a priority to achieve. When the opportunity and motivation arise, I'll make another video. Until then, I'm going on a YouTube hiatus.

Remember the last time I went on hiatus? I stepped away from the blog for two weeks, and when I came back, I felt better about writing than I had in months. Whether it's two days or two years before I get back to recording videos, I'm convinced it'll be worth the wait...and even if it isn't, I'll be happier for it.

Sunday Spotlight: What Could Possibly Be Taking So Long!?

In what is starting to look like an annual tradition, I've once again put together a video to respond to the most popular question on my YouTube channel: "Where's the next video!?"

Even if you're not a Mega Man fan, this may prove to be entertaining.



True to form, this post comes to you more than a month after it was immediately relevant. I blame reason #5.

Honest Trailers

If you're any kind of movie buff and don't mind a little adult language, you'll probably get a kick out of these: Honest Trailers, which parody the teasers of popular movies and tell the world what they can really expect to see:







If you liked these, there's a whole playlist of 'em on the Screen Junkies YouTube channel for Twilight, Titanic, The Dark Knight, and other movies that start with T.

What the Caped Crusader Did for Videogames

Today's guest post comes from fellow GameCola staff writer Daniel Castro, who has successfully captured two of our favorite topics on this blog: videogames and Batman. And it's actually more relevant to modern society than most of the games we talk about! Note that this post uses slightly stronger language than you might be used to seeing here, so feel free to put the kiddos to bed before proceeding.

 

Possibly many of you already know this, but I’ll say it again, the latest Batman games developed by Rocksteady are truly awesome. For those still unaware of this, you don’t have to take my word for granted, there are plenty reviews over the ‘net, and most of them will tell you just that.

But still, every now and then I get to talk about videogames with some of my students. Everyone has played Battlefield or Call of Duty, and the conversation always veers toward the latest Halo, Grand Theft Auto, or whichever other sequel is coming out this year, but anytime I mention Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, I always hear the same old, “I’ve heard it’s great, but I haven’t tried it yet.”

Part of the blame is probably this multiplayer-obsessed era of gaming we’re currently living in (we can discuss that later), but still I know there’s a lot of people not trying any of these games just because they're based on a superhero character, and licensed games have a tendency for sucking.

And while both Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City aren’t exactly underrated or unappreciated, I still want to talk about the things these games do great, because I consider them to be a great contribution to this gaming generation, and they’re already influencing the way some games are shaping up to be.

A licensed game done right

Since the early days of videogames, licensed titles have mostly sucked, and those based on a superhero license have been some of the worst offenders. This seems almost a general rule, since licensed games are commonly rushed and underdeveloped in order to meet an irrational deadline.

I can see why there are still some people not trying Arkham Asylum/City; many of them must have grown skeptical about superhero games; I know I did, and I know that I was a hell of a lot more skeptical the first time I tried Batman: Arkham Asylum.

And thanks to you, guys.

Batman: Arkham Asylum wasn’t being developed in order to be released during the hype surrounding the newest blockbuster movie; it was created and conceived in order to serve as Rocksteady’s interpretation on how a Batman game should be experienced. Speaking of which…

A game done right

Rocksteady actually worked their minds to create these titles; as the game industry is actually going, they could’ve just reskinned the game on top of something already made. While it takes some obvious inspiration from other games and genres, the final result feels like a game utterly different from anything this generation has thrown at us.

It just doesn’t look and sound awesome; way more importantly, it plays awesome, and that’s the part where these games really stand out.

I hate to say it this bluntly, but they did everything right! While the game is focused to be played in a stealthy approach, it also gives you freedom to tackle every situation any in way you want, and it works that way too!

That’s my biggest issue concerning sneaky games, like Splinter Cell, Tenchu or the previous Hitman titles; they play perfectly while you remain undetected, but the games utterly break down the moment you’re caught; then is when you realize every single fault their control scheme has.

But it doesn’t go that way for Batman. In fact, your enemies eventually will realize they’re being pinned down and will react accordingly, growing more desperate as their numbers start growing thin.

And when you have to fight your enemies in a face-to-face situation, the game actually feels more awesome. I can’t help but admit that the combat mechanics in these titles are the thing that really got me all over them. I can play these fights over and over and still amaze myself of all the crazy stunts Batman is capable of doing in order to beat an always more numerous foe.

By the way, it brings me odd memories of the old Adam West’s series.

An exclusive plot for the game

Now this is the thing that truly marks how different the Arkham games are compared to the rest of the crowd. Every superhero game being made has always been tied in to the events of the newest movie or loosely based on another publication.

Rocksteady’s take on the Batman franchise tells a story that, while based on the lore of the series, is also not afraid to create and go further than any videogame ever has. Up until now, every superhero game has played safe and sticks really close to the material it tries to represent. But after the events of Arkham City, we all know that these games just don’t walk the same way; they have the nerve of killing some major characters of the series, creating a whole new continuity exclusive to videogames.

Do the Batman!

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, and maybe time will prove me right or wrong, but I’ll say it anyway: I think Batman: Arkham Asylum has created a new milestone in videogames, the same way Ocarina of Time did for adventure games and Halo: Combat Evolved did for first-person shooters.

Batman: Arkham Asylum has set a new standard for new games to come; superhero games especially are trying to be like Batman, and you can’t really blame them… I mean, who wouldn’t want to be The Batman?!

The comparison bar is now higher than ever before, new superhero games can’t stumble into our consoles and expect to make a dent into the industry now that Old Bats has shown everyone how it’s done.

Captain America: Super Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man games feel heavily influenced by Batman’s fighting and general gameplay; they’re both not that good, but they’re not as bad as superhero games usually are, their main flaw remain being tied-up to the newest movie and rushed in order to meet a crippling deadline.

Now here we are, while there is a Deadpool movie in the works booked for a still unspecified release date on 2014, next year there’ll be a Deadpool game hopefully not tied-in to the movie, but being crafted only because someone had the great idea that the character deserves to live on videogame glory, and people are possibly working on a plot and a gameplay tailored specifically for the “merc with a mouth.”

I know that trailers are not always accurate... but so far, it looks awesome.

Of course, the game that I’m really waiting for next year is the sequel to Batman: Arkham City, because this game not only had a lot of momentum going on its own, but it managed to let us know that it wasn’t quite the end of the story; if you’ve investigated enough into Arkham’s world, you’ll know there’s something huge coming to Gotham.

See you next year, you creepy bastard.

Exfanding Your Horizons on YouTube

It's taken almost four years, but this humble little blog finally has its own YouTube channel. Before you get all excited--no, we're not really posting any content. Right now, it's really just a place for me to assemble playlists of other people's video game music without cluttering up my GeminiLaser channel. However! We've at least reserved the channel name so that, should we ever decide to make videos, we won't risk having to settle on whatever goofy approximation of our name hasn't yet been claimed, like "Expanding."

Currently on the channel are two Mega Man Megaplaylists, forming literally half a day's worth of music from Mega Man 1-10, Mega Man I-V (Game Boy), Mega Man & Bass (technically Rockman & Forte, the Japanese SNES-equivalent with the same tunes but better audio), and Mega Man: The Wily Wars. Plans are in place to add playlists for Gradius, Metroid, and at least one or two other series before I remember that I'm neglecting a half-dozen other side projects I should probably be working on instead. On the plus side, all the content here has already been created; putting together a couple playlists shouldn't take too much time, right?

This particular project came about as a response to the relative disorganization of video game music on YouTube. Entire soundtracks are posted without being grouped into playlists; finding playlists on people's channels is a chore; titles, descriptions, and search tags are a mess; sound quality is all over the place...seriously, it's like YouTube lets people upload whatever the heck they want with no quality control whatsoever. Rather than continue to sift through ugly search results and bookmark playlists whose URLs keep changing for some reason, I finally decided to construct my own comprehensive playlists--ones that I could launch and leave alone for hours at a clip, and ones that other VG music aficionados might find useful.

I'm open to suggestions as always, but until such time as we start posting actual content, this is one side project that's truly just for my own entertainment. Still, I hope you get some enjoyment out of it all the same.

Here's the link once more: http://www.youtube.com/user/Exfanding

Let's Play Game Videos

Here's a neat idea: Take the popularity of "Let's Play" videos on YouTube and give a dedicated home to the idea on a website devoted to video game playthroughs. Organize the videos by game name, system, player, and populartiy; throw in a forum; post some news updates. Instant community for gamers, and for those who game vicariously.

http://www.letsplaygames.org/

LPG is only just getting started, but what's there so far looks very promising. Thanks to TheSlumberjack for the heads-up!

The Amazing Stan Lee-Man

I don't think we could be a blog with a soft spot for comics, video games, and humor without posting the video below, courteously appropriated from GameCola.net:

Replicating the Fun

I'm currently doing the unthinkable: taking a break from recording more Mega Man videos to do a playthrough of Space Quest 0: Replicated for GCDotNet. There's been a lot of Space Quest buzz lately with all the new fangames and the adventure game project by the Two Guys from Andromeda, so I've been both in a mood for some intergalactic janitorial heroics, and thinking more and more about how it's about time I play another adventure game on YouTube.

The original plan was to do a blind playthrough of a random adventure game I'd never played, preferably a very short one. Boring story short, I had serious issues capturing live commentary and the game audio simultaneously for the particular one I'd chosen, and even more serious issues with recording the video footage itself. I turned to SQ0 instead, a fangame I'd only played through once, several years ago. I decided on a style similar to my Deja Vu recording, adding post-commentary, but going for one continuous take for the entire video rather than trying to perfect individual segments. A nice balance of speed and quality, that.

There's plenty of footage I'm going to speed up or edit out--watching someone try a series of unsuccessful puzzle solutions can get dull incredibly quickly--but it was neat to let the camera roll and just...play. No constant stopping and restarting to get that boss fight just right. No careful planning to ensure total continuity of video footage between cuts. It was liberating.

It made me remember why I enjoyed recording any videos in the first place--these games are fun to play. Making them look perfect and adding clever commentary only adds to that. I seem to have forgotten recently that, like writing for this blog, I'm really doing this for myself. The fact that other people like it only makes it better.

My playthrough of SQ0 is far from perfect. I botch the words I'm trying to type on occasion. I waste my time on clearly pointless actions. I die. A lot. And those imperfections make it more entertaining than any perfect run I could ever hope to record.

Taking a break from recording Mega Man 7 might have been the best thing I could have done to speed up my recording of Mega Man 7. With a refresher of how enjoyable recording can be, even if I'm still running myself through the wringer to get my showoffery just right, I'm far more inclined to keep on top of this project...and to make sure that the tricks I'm pulling off aren't just nice to look at, but fun to execute.

I think there's hope for me yet.

Saturday Shamelessness

Hey there, Exfanders. Today I'd like to share with you the latest episode of the YouTube show that I'm helping to write. This one has a couple of bits that I've been dying to see, and I was really pleased with how they came out.

You don't know anything (at all) about wrestling, but if you're a fan of Indiana Jones (and/or beards), it might be worth a look. : )

Check it out, and hopefully you get a chuckle from this one!

Friday Insanity

I hate Fridays.

Somehow, my Fridays are BY FAR the craziest day of my week, and this week is certainly no different. So, in order to free up all available time to do work...I'm officially cheating with today's post.

Instead of something insightful, here's an episode of the YouTube show that I'm currently helping to write. Enjoy!

An Introduction to Failure

I'm back into the swing of recording Mega Man videos for my YouTube channel, and I am suddenly reminded of why I was so eager to take a break after finishing Mega Man 6. It wasn't just because I had spent almost two years maintaining a certain degree of focus on just one project; it was because I had spent almost two years on the kind of project that aggravates my perfectionist tendencies.

I don't just pick up and play these games; I practice extensively and retry excessively to yield the most impressive and unique videos I possibly can at this stage in my gaming career. I may be more experienced and arguably more skilled than the average Mega Man player, but that doesn't mean I can survive a battle with Slash Man unscathed.

There are enemy patterns I have yet to memorize, and creative solutions I have yet to think up. I push myself, sometimes painfully so, to achieve whatever goals I set for myself, regardless of how far out of my reach they currently are. It's only when there's some trick or strategy that is simply too difficult for me to consistently pull off that I admit defeat and try something different--but only after I've accomplished it at least once. Needless to say, my practice and recording sessions are often far more frustrating than they are fun. Especially when falling so far short of the mark on the intro stage.

Mega Man 7 kicks off with a simple introductory stage that involves a small area with four generic enemies, a miniboss who can be taken down in a matter of seconds if you're jumping and shooting quickly enough, a brief series of straightforward bottomless pits, and another miniboss fight that involves a pattern that is fairly easy to predict if you're observant. To add some flavor to such a mundane level, I'm going out of my way to come up with interesting and unconventional ways to tackle the challenges at hand. Everything I've come up with I can do with a reasonably high degree of consistency. The problem is doing everything consistently in one take.

I find myself sliding into enemies that, by my calculations, should already be destroyed by the time I move into the space they occupy. I'm misjudging timing and distance, causing me to stumble around and lurch forward awkwardly in a few sections. I know exactly how I want everything to look, and it's all within my grasp, but after spending an entire evening attempting to record, the only clips worth keeping were ones I could only use in a blooper video.

I recognize that I'm not always "in the zone" when I try to record, and that I often get the clip I desire within the first few takes if I step away and come back later. Ironically, I find that playing video games usually helps me unwind from playing video games. The problem this time around is that the only games I have going right now are Morrowind, which is becoming less relaxing to play due to the increased presence of a few enemies that really creep me out, and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, which would be much more fun if I wasn't failing constantly at missions that require you to complete the same challenge multiple times in a row, with a little bit more difficulty each time, for as long as 10-20 minutes if you're not playing like an expert, with parameters that can cause you to instantly fail the stage if you or the bad guys shoot the wrong thing. I seem to have picked the wrong time to start a high-stress recording project if other video games are my retreat from it.

That's why I decided last night to sit down and play Mega Man. The original Mega Man. One of my favorites. One that I'm good at.

One that still kicks my butt on occasion.

I got a few Game Overs. I wasn't playing for speed or to impress anyone; I just wanted a casual and relaxing evening of playing a game I love. I also tried out a boss order I've never done before, following my wife's helpful suggestion to fight Elec Man before Cut Man. (Pro Tip: Don't fight Elec Man before Cut Man.)

With some practice and experimentation, I finally settled on a strategy that allowed me, for the first time in my Mega Man career, to defeat Elec Man--arguably the most difficult robot master in the entire series to defeat without a special weapon--without a special weapon.

Well, there was that time where I beat him with just the blaster in Mega Man: The Wily Wars, but I chalked it up to luck and a few technical nuances unique to the game that made it easier to succeed than in the NES original. Still, my victory was exhilarating, and I definitely threw my arms up in excitement and let out a "woohoo" that you probably heard if you were anywhere near the east coast of the US last night.

I think I needed the break from recording, but I think I needed that sense of accomplishment more. I needed that reminder that I'm not a total failure if I don't succeed on the first try--especially when I'm attempting to pull off stunts a game neither requires nor encourages. And I needed to have that sense of accomplishment as the culmination of something I enjoyed doing. Video game success doesn't matter much if the path to success isn't any fun--the whole reason I've abandoned most of the tedious optional quests in the games I've played over the past year or two.

I'm recording these videos for fun. It's time to have some fun with that intro stage.

Friday Catch Up

Tonight's my late night at the office, so I won't be home until sometime tomorrow morning. Even so, I've (heroically) managed to get something up here on the blog this afternoon--and with time to spare before our posting deadline!

(That is, of course, if Blogger actually sets it live for the time I've scheduled...grumble grumble)

And, sure, I'm gonna cheat a little bit by embedding a YouTube video, but it's Friday and who wants to read a long, rambling post about who-knows-what when you can watch a WWE Superstar hunt for ghosts instead?

With that incredible transition, I present "Santino's Foreign Exchange," episode 14, the first episode of the YouTube show that I helped plot. I think it came out pretty well, and I think there are a couple of pretty funny spots.

If you're totally unfamiliar with WWE and the Santino character, that's okay--you should be able to catch on pretty quickly. Anyway, check it out, enjoy, and if you're so inclined, watch it 10,000 times or so.

: )

*waves hand* This is not the post you were looking for...

Today's post was written by your favourite blog sidekick, Neko-chan. This was supposed to be a detailed account of her and Nathaniel's adventure to see L'arc~en~Ciel perform at Madison Square Garden, a long-overdue guest post; however, due to Neko-chan being a lazy over-sleeping slacker, this will instead be a short spotlight about the anime series "To."

Friday was Star Wars Day ("May the Fourth be with you"), and I decided I wanted to do more than just wear a licensed t-shirt to celebrate. I have seen the movies countless times, and didn't feel like watching them again on my own (Nathaniel was away on a fishing trip), so instead I kept with the "sci-fi spirit" of the holiday and curled up with a different space-themed show from our Netflix queue, "To."

Released in 2009 by Avex, and directed by Fumihiko SORI (who also did "Vexille" and the latest version of "Appleseed"), the anime series "To" is comprised of two 40-minute episodes set within the backdrop of outer space. The opening music by Tetsuya Takahashi is reminiscent of Yoko Kanno's "Ghost in the Shell," electronica with tribal-ethereal female voices, and the animation is completely computer-generated. I was especially impressed by the cg for the space station and the environments, it was some of the most realistic-looking design work I had ever seen, but something about the cg for the characters was a bit off-putting. It was like a cross between the rotoscoped-over actors of "Waking Life" and a very pretty video game cutscene. Furthermore, unlike the generically beautiful 18-25 year old characters in most anime, "To" actually attempts to bring in a bit of realism by giving its characters wrinkles and other signs of aging and individuality, however the animation still has a "painted" quality to it, so the result was that they looked more like well-sculpted dolls than people, and the juxtaposition of the figures against hyper-realistic backgrounds actually makes them seem even more photoshopped and unrealistic than they would have otherwise.

Both episodes are set in the same world, however there is no cross-over between the characters, and it is difficult to say how they relate to each other in terms of timeline. The first episode centers around Dan, the captain of a space station that acts as the main supply line of goods between earth and its moon colony (the whole station is designed as a cannon that shoots supply crates through space), and Maria, the leader of a deep-space mining operation who has just returned to earth after a 15 year expedition and is stopping at the station to repair and refuel before delivering her cargo of extremely valuable proton energy.

This episode touches on a variety of space-related subjects including earth vs. colony tensions, space terrorism, space exploration and ownership rights, and with how human relationships have adapted to the conditions of space travel (truly long-distance relationships, crew polyamory, and age gaps due to cryofreezing). I was intrigued by the world that was portrayed, however my one problem with this episode was the English translation. It was a bit confusing as to what the nature of the relationship was supposed to be between Dan and Maria, and I actually had to Google it afterwards to understand exactly what the flashbacks and insinuations had meant. 

*SPOILER*
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They first make it appear as if Maria is Dan's wife who left him and his son, however in actuality she is his mother who abandoned him to seek her own dreams. She left earth 45 years ago on the first of three 15-year expeditions. Each time she finishes an excursion she stops back by earth to catch up with Dan, so it has been 15 years since they have last spoken. During that time, the earth has been plunged into war, his son has died in the fighting, and his wife has passed on, but Maria has been traveling in cryofreeze for most of that time and has missed these events. She has only aged a total of 6 years since she first left earth.



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*End Spoiler* 

The second episode is much more straightforward, complete, and cohesive than the first. It involves mediation talks between two colonies on a survey planet, the Eurasian colony and the European-American colony, who are fighting over resources and terraforming rights on the planet's surface. It does a good job of showing how national feuds don't end at the border to space, but are carried on within the prejudices of the people. As one character states "Humans can start a war anywhere."

This episode also raises some interesting points about alien life forms: What constitutes sentient life? Do humans have the right to terraform without considering the local ecosystems? Is it irresponsible to destroy something before understanding whether it is truly a threat? Do humans really have a lasting impact on the worlds they contact?

Woven throughout this story is a subplot of lovers caught on opposite sides of the conflict. Additionally, there is an overarching theme of "symbiotic versus parasitic relationships" that carries throughout the episode, and which ties all of the events together. I liked that there was no wasted exposition, everything that is introduced comes back full circle at the end - a bit predictably and heavy-handed perhaps, but in the same way that a short campfire story might be.

Overall, I give "To" 8 wookies out of 10. I enjoyed the visuals, even despite the figure-background disconnect. I enjoyed the soundtrack. The voice-acting was some of the best dubbing I have heard in a long time. I enjoyed that these episodes made me think about the issues that were raised, and that this OVA reminded me of longer anime series such as Planetes, or of book series such as the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, both of which deal with the socio-political aspects of space travel and colonization in a semi-realistic manner. Also, in looking up more information about the show, I learned that this was based on a 10-volume Japanese comic book series called "2001 Nights" written by Yukinobu Hoshino, a comic book series that Nathaniel just happened to pick up last year, and which is just sitting on our bookshelves waiting for me to read.

So whether you are an anime fan, a cg fan, or a comic book fan, I recommend taking a chance on this show. It is short and doesn't require a huge time investment, and it is available on Netflix or DVD, so you have no excuse not to exfand your horizons.

Base of Operations

If you've spent any length of time reading this blog, you'll almost certainly know that I've got a YouTube channel that I primarily use for posting Mega Man videos and having discussions with my viewers. The key here is the word "primarily"; for a little while now, there's been more than Mega Man, but I get the feeling that it's been somewhat overlooked.

Not too long ago I added a number of playlists to my channel:

- Four different GameCola playlists covering my participation on the official YouTube channel of the videogame humor website to which I contribute;

- A Miscellaneous playlist to act as a catch-all for my April Fools' videos and whatnot; and

- A Collaborations playlist, collecting all the videos featured on other people's channels in which I've been invited to participate.

Now my Mega Man channel is more of a base of operations for all my YouTube endeavors, and I dig the opportunity for the cross-promotion of other channels I've been involved with.

I realize I've missed the chance to introduce several of the videos in these playlists when they were first released, so I encourage you to take a look if you've been relying on this blog as your source of YouTube updates. Here's a quick sample of a few of my favorites that, lamentably, never got mentioned here:


The end of a joint playthrough of Super Mario Bros. 2 with GameCola staff writers Paul Franzen and Michael Gray:




An unexpected installment of a let's-all-take-turns-playing-stages playthrough of Mega Man 7 with YouTube users Jeffro826, SAOyster, and Arglefumph, also notable for being the only video series thus far for which I've provided live commentary while recording my footage:




A split-screen race through the first half of Mega Man 4 against YouTube users ClassicGamesFTW, JoeReviewer, n00bzXD, and later on, SearchSnake22:

Everybody plays the fool, sometime...

Exfanded by Neko-chan, who has written several things for this blog in the past, some of them entertaining.

Yesterday was "Socially Acceptable Deceit and Deception Day," otherwise known as "April Fools' Day."

Not only do individuals try to pull the wool over their friends' and families' eyes with false claims of success or disaster such as "I won the lotto!" or, "I'm sorry, I accidentally put your child in the dryer..." but major internet sites have also jumped on the prankster bandwagon.

ThinkGeek released a whole line of false products that we wish were real, including a Skyrim shouting hoodie, Minecraft marshmallow "Creeps," an Admiral Ackbar singing bass, and Keurig K-cup instant meals. One thing we thought was a joke, though, actually exists: a child-size inflatable Star Trek:TOS captain's chair.


Google also got into the foolish spirit, announcing a fake Nascar partnership, as well as releasing a YouTube video advertisement for an 8-bit NES port of Google Maps. Being huge retro gamers, Nathaniel and I were both highly amused by the NES gag, especially because it spoofed Dragon Warrior. Then we found out that Google had also converted the entire Google Maps website into a "trial run" of the 8-bit format. Not only did they turn the world map into an overworld map, but major landmarks were redrawn in pixelated glory, and "street view" became a bad VGA remake of reality. *hilarity ensued* I think we spent a good 20 minutes typing in every tourist spot and geologic feature we could think of.

Next, DeviantArt finally succumbed to the totalitarian rule of the feline overlords. Major General Whiskers, an anthropomorphized cat general, launched a threefold attack on the site.

1) the site's mascot was taken hostage, and users needed to submit 15,000 cat-related artworks in order to ransom him and appease the new government.
2) random gallery images were replaced with cat propaganda posters.
3) "mandatory cat education" popups bombarded the site, re-programming users to the ways and customs of their new leaders.

As a reward for Participating in this April Fools event, DeviantArt awarded users a free "cat badge" to display on their page.

Finally, Nathaniel and I spoofed our own little corner of the internet with a fake teaser trailer for Mega Man 7. This was a two-part gag. First, Nathaniel only releases a teaser once he has recorded all of the playthrough footage for his next set of Mega Man videos on YouTube, so this trailer insinuates that he is magically close to completing his next video series, less than 3 weeks after finishing MM6...highly improbable given that he is slower than a snail in molasses at recording.

The second part, and the main kicker, was that the playthrough footage and commentary was recorded by me, not him, making it appear as if I would be taking his place for the next set of videos. Ha! As I stated in one of my YouTube comments, instead of Nathaniel's showoffery, users would have to suffer through my show-awful-ry, which would just be cruel and unusual punishment. As you can see from the video, I am the *best* at this game. Yeah...no...I think I'll just stick to my RPGs and let Nathaniel handle all the platforming from now on.

GameCola Recap: March 2012

Apparently I was more active than I thought at videogame humor website GameCola.net in the month of March. I offer you a nice blend this time around: a belated fluff post, a new (and well-received) column, a heads-up about a fun video series in which I participated, and a meaningful and entertaining all-staff post. Have at!
Columns:

- Spam Attack: Remembering Couch Outlet Store Online

- Q&AmeCola: Your First Game

Videos:

- Back to the Future: The Game – Episode 4: The Video – The Post: Marty is a Jerk

- GC Podcast #32 on YouTube: Crossover Games

Questing for a Quest

I've been told to prepare a Dungeons & Dragons quest for this upcoming weekend. We'll be having company, and there'll be plenty of time for a hearty one-shot campaign. A whole afternoon or even a whole day of tabletop roleplaying? I've put such things together with less time to prepare before. The trouble is, my mind has been elsewhere this time around.

If you couldn't tell from the posts this month, I'm high on a YouTube kick. I just wrapped up nearly two years of video work on one project, just released one big experiment of a video, and am already prepping for my next video series. I'm getting caught up on all the comments I haven't responded to, and my creative attention is pretty squarely focused on YouTube, at least when I'm not redirecting it toward my ongoing GameCola endeavors.

Writing about YouTube has been rather effortless; strong opinions flow easily onto the (electronic) page, and posts centered around a single video take very little time to draft. Combined with the low-pressure deadline of having something up by 1 PM, and the reduced e-mail banter between Alex and myself because of his new job, I've been dedicating less of my time to the blog, and my other creative endeavors have been claiming that extra available time...but it's not quite enough extra time to make me feel like I need another side project.

That's where D&D comes in: If I want to write a new campaign, it's gotta be a proper side project, and not just something I chip away at when I feel like it. My best quests have generally been the ones I've thrown myself into preparing, and especially considering this might be the first quest in a brand-new world, I want to do this right. I've already got some ideas swirling around upstairs, but I've needed the push to do something with them.

I was participating in a GameCola podcast last night, and one of our conversation topics prompted me to dig up my Monster Manual. Simply opening that book, glimpsing the familiar images as i went to look something up...it sent a spark into the back of my mind where D&D has been lurking, and now a tiny creative flame burns within my brain. I find myself reminiscing of the times in college when I got lost in world-building, and I catch myself staring off in the direction of the display shelves holding my larger-sized D&D miniatures.

I'm also finding myself finally back in the mood to return to Morrowind and levitate around the countryside some more. I had been playing the game fairly regularly until the week I ramped up the recording to finish my final Mega Man 6 video, and it's been difficult to convince myself to go back to trekking across the continent to fill in the unexplored dark parts of the map that are bugging me. With some time away from Morrowind, it's much more apparent how much of an enormous time-suck it is. An unexpectedly fun and engaging time-suck, to be sure, but not as productive as pouring that same amount of time into recording a video or writing an article. Looking up from YouTube for a few minutes has reminded me that I could use some time to disengage myself from my side projects and immerse myself in a relaxing fantasy world.

There might be hope for a proper one-shot quest this weekend after all.

Freedom of Dissension

As I've discussed previously, I'm not entirely fond of YouTube's recent universal channel overhaul. So, instead of dealing with the frustrations of the new channel comments section, I have decided to stick it to The Man and create my own channel comments section, by way of a video specifically intended for general comments.

The response has been overwhelming so far, and I can tell that this idea has really struck a chord with my viewers. So many people are equally disgruntled about the forced channel redesign, and so many people are willing to go along with my experiment to circumvent social media's latest outrage.

Here's the kicker: My channel comments section is still open for the people who want to use it. I don't mandate drastic changes and call them improvements; I offer new ideas and present them as alternatives. I am not so inflexible or convinced my way is best that I can't entertain more than one possible mode of expression at a time.

This video is simply one more place to strike up a conversation. If it acts as a successful replacement for channel comments until a more favorable redesign, then I'll be happy. If it's a flash-in-the-pan experiment that ends up being little more than a curious footnote in my channel's history, then I've at least produced an informative and entertaining footnote I can be proud of.

Either way, I'm pleased to present to you my latest video.

Mega Man 2: The Power(less) Fighters

I seem to be on a YouTube kick this month. If I'm not writing about metropolis anxiety or YouTube's forced channel "upgrades," then I'm recording videos--if not on my own, then collaboratively with a few of my friends and fans.

This past weekend, Kirby Pink and I attempted to record a joint playthrough of the arcade game Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters. What we ended up with were a two-part podcast about how all our attempts had been foiled, and one video where we somehow succeeded.







I realize I've yet to post about a few of my previous collaborations, so you can expect to see mention of those fairly soon.