Editorial

Why I’m waiting on Final Fantasy 16 to go on sale.

As someone deeply immersed in the world of JRPGs, and with an unabashed love for Final Fantasy VI, it’s with a heavy heart that I’m yet to get my hands on Final Fantasy XVI. And it’s not just nostalgia speaking; it feels like Square-Enix has lost touch with their fan base.

The term “JRPG” isn’t a negative one for me; it’s a badge of honor. It signifies everything I adore about the genre: compelling stories, memorable characters, heart-tugging emotions, fascinating secrets, and artistic brilliance. But Square-Enix seems offended by the term, striving instead to align themselves with Western-style RPGs. read more

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How I Decide Which Games To Play

I own so many console and computer games, not to mention hundreds of mobile games, some from other countries even, and I have a husband and 2 cats and a full-time job. So how do I decide which games are worth my time, and which ones aren’t? This answer is different for everyone.

I created the flow chart here as a window into my thought process. Disclaimer: my thought process is just my opinion. It is not fact. My opinion is probably different from your opinion. If you’re a long-time reader and fan of my blog and like the games I cover here, you may also share some of the same opinions as myself. If you’re new and somehow stumbled into here, well sorry if my opinion is different from yours. Let’s just all go enjoy our games and be happy and not put each others’ opinions down. read more

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Here’s Why I Ordered A Steam Deck

Kotaku recently penned an article about how they don’t see who would purchase a Steam Deck. I ordered my Steam Deck yesterday, and here’s why Steam Deck is for me. PS: You can preorder your Steam Deck from Valve here. Steam Deck will launch in December 2021.

What is Steam Deck? It’s kinda a Nintendo Switch “Clone” or “Rip Off” for lack of a better word – sorry, but it is – there’s lots of these clones out there – I have one from China for like $50 with some emulators and roms lol. BUT the one thing that makes Steam Deck different from these other Nintendo Switch like devices – Access to millions of games from the Steam Library – thousands of which I already own. The docking station will be sold separately – which is a bummer given how expensive the base units are. read more

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Is There A Stigma Around Older Gamers?

I’m turning 40 tomorrow. I will officially be “Over the hill” or about half way through the average life expectancy. Although I know plenty of people in my own family who are well into their 90s and approaching even 100. So I think that hill should not be until you’re 50, but nonetheless, society is about to brand me as an old woman. Not only an old woman, but an old woman who plays video games. But that’s OK, because as I’ve gotten older, I have learned to stop caring what society thinks. I remember clearly, the day I turned 25. I’m pretty sure I had a quarter-life crisis. I cried all day and told my family that it meant that I had to give up everything I loved, my toys, my games, cosplaying, anime, etc. I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt shame for my hobbies. Games and anime and cosplay were popular with teenagers and early 20something year olds, but I didn’t know of anyone 25+ who enjoyed those things. Even my closest friends who used to play games with me, had long since moved on to other more adult hobbies. read more

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Top 10 MMORPG Games For Girls In 2020

You might be wondering what are the best Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games for girls. What makes an MMO so addictive? That answer can be different for both men and women. Women tend to be more social gamers, they also enjoy more dressup and character customization. Girls don’t necessarily need ultra high definition super realistic graphics and often prefer cuter, cartoon, or anime style graphics that are bright and colorful. Girls are also more likely to read the story and lore within the MMORPG and not just skip through quest and NPC dialog. For a girl, the enjoymemt of an MMORPG is in the journey, not in the endgame. Girls probably want a game with a large variety of pets and mounts to collect. And girls probably are more into crafting, fishing, and other relaxing activities besides just hunting monsters. read more

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Roku Express vs NVIDIA Shield TV Gaming Edition. Which Streaming Media Player Is Best? The Answer Might Surprise You.

I picked up the NVIDIA Shield TV Gaming Edition on sale for $159 at Best Buy on Black Friday, regularly $199. I also had a $100 gift card to bestbuy from previous sponsored posts I’ve done for them. This is not a sponsored post. This is me providing my initial feedback of the device as I’ve now had it for five days. My end cost was $59.99

Earlier this year I purchased a Roku Express for I believe it was $29.99. It is the most basic cheapest Roku device, in hindsight I wish I’d purchased one with voice controls which I believe start around $49.99. I’ve had my Roku for about six months.

I thought I’d be “replacing” my Roku with the NVIDIA Shield TV Gaming Edition… but that’s not the case… Roku is superior in almost every single way. NVIDIA Shield is only for very technical people, with very fast internet connections, and the only real reason I will keep and not return the product is because of GeForce Now their cloud gaming Streaming service that lets you play games you already own such as from Steam or Battlenet on your tv and on lightweight non gaming PCs without linking to another PC a direct contrast to solutions such as how steamlink works letting you mirror your screen from your gaming pc, in the case of GeForce Now you do not need an expensive gaming pc or any pc at all.

But the service is not without flaws. Everywhere I’ve read the hype, how there’s no lag, and everything is smooth, yeah sure maybe if you have a good internet connection. I do have cable internet but I live in extremely rural areas where I have no choice who my provider is. I don’t think my internet is terrible. It gets around 15mbps, but let me tell you… GeForce Now is almost unplayable for me… don’t believe the hype! It’s not any different for me than PlayStation Now, another Streaming service I use, in fact, PlayStation Now has far less lag for me than GeForce Now. I had to disable my steam authentication token because it was physically impossible to use the controller and onscreen keyboard to type the code before it refreshed and changed. Games stutter, lag, jerk, and freeze… and I wasn’t even playing super new AAA graphically intense games. The first game I tried was Battle Chef Brigade, a 2d simple indie game.

Ok lag aside, there’s some other flaws:

I thought I could play games from the google play store… I can… sort of… but very very few of my favorites are available for “android tv”. Here’s where being a tech wizard comes in, you can sideload apps from a usb stick. Not included of course. They didn’t even include an HDMI cable. I’m using the HDMI cable from my Roku, cost $250 less and provides me everything I need out of the box.

I’m not tech illiterate but the NVIDIA Shield is ridiculously needlessly overly complicated… every other Streaming Media player on the market just works out of the box in minutes… it took me three hours to set up and troubleshoot my Shield. Mostly due to generic unknown errors and series of reboots and updates…

Games aren’t the only thing missing, several of my favorite tv channel apps are not compatible with android tv, such as TLCGo. Roku has far more apps and a much more intuitive user interface and setup takes only seconds even when needing updating not hours…

Hell google themselves don’t even seem to want to support their crappy Android TV as Google Chrome isn’t even compatible with it!

If you want to spend $200 for hours of updates, then have to find or buy your own hdmi cables and usb sticks, then fart around side loading apps from your pc to the stick to your Shield, and have a laggy choppy gaming streaming experience well that’s up to you…. keep in mind NVIDIA will begin charging for this service soon too and has not released any pricing details. From what I’ve seen, I won’t subscribe.

I would take my Roku any any any day of the week. GeForce Now is an exciting and interesting concept. I became excited and interested reading reviews of how it had no lag and performed perfectly as if you were playing it right on a pc gaming rig, but my experience left much to be desired.

I haven’t tried side loading anything yet. My instincts and speculations tell me that Apple TV has far more compatible apps and a better interface than Android TV.

I tried watching kissanime and TLC on my Shield using Puffin.TV, TLC had audio but no picture, kissanime would play about ten minutes then tell me filetype is unsupportable. I’m now watching the same anime on my Roku using a mirror from my iPad and iWeb TV (to be fair this probably exists on Shield too I didn’t check) and having zero issues, TLCGo and other apps are all at my fingertips the interface looks more pleasing intuitive less cluttered and just works. For a tenth of the cost…

For me, the answer is clear, love my Roku, and shockingly disappointed in my NVIDIA Shield TV.

Roku Express vs NVIDIA Shield TV Gaming Edition. Which Streaming Media Player Is Best? The Answer Might Surprise You. Read More »

Review Get Fit with Walk it Out Konami Wii Game

I recently began revamping my lifestyle to try to be healthier. To that end, as part of this healthier lifestyle, I began to play some of my old wii games that encourage you to get up off the couch and get active while playing the games. My favorite “weight loss” game has always been Konami’s “Walk it Out” for the original Wii. Yes, Wii U can play wii games in case you’re wondering. However, the switch cannot.

It is worth mentioning that while Wii games can be beneficial to help motivate you to want to lose weight, they are probably not as effective or strenuous as other forms of exercise. I make no claims that playing these games will help you lose a significant amount of weight, but if you’re like me (and millions of other Americans) who absolutely hate exercising to the point where you have one of those on the wall and haven’t used it in the 2 years it’s been hanging there, well then it’s one of those “better than nothing” things. Sure, you can go join a gym, or buy expensive exercise machines and equipment, but if you can’t motivate yourself to actually work out, then you’re not any better off. I can motivate myself to play Walk It Out because it’s actually FUN. – Now you may think exercising and going to the gym, or playing sports is fun – and that’s cool – but that’s you, and you have to remember not everyone has the same idea of what “fun” is. So I ask you to please respect that different people look at fitness in different ways.

Here’s how I’m using Walk It Out to help lose the weight.

I don’t have a Wii (or Wii U) (yet) at the Boyfriend’s house where I spend my weekends. So for me, this is only something I do at home, Monday – Friday.

I aim for 10,000 steps. The game calculates this for you if you input your height, weight, gender, age, etc.

I use the balance board, but you don’t have to! You can use the DDR dance pad (wayyyy more challenging lol – Trust me, I’ve tried this), or the nunchuck and wii-mote – kinda “meh” and not as fun to me – but everyone has different preferences. Some people place their treadmill infront of their TV and slip the wii-mote into their pocket. . – You can check out Consumers Advocate for reviews on treadmills.

For me currently, 10,000 steps takes about 45 minutes, burns about 500 calories, and works out to just under or just over 3 miles.

I chose 10,000 because multiple sites I’ve researched have said 10,000 steps a day, every day is enough to lose 1 lb a week.

After about a month of 10,000 steps a day, 5 days a week, I found I was not getting as tired/sweaty/winded etc so I’m now up to about 12,000 steps a day, with ultimate goal to increase to 20,000 steps a day hopefully by end of the summer.

In addition to getting my “steps” each day I also began a low carb diet, currently limiting myself to 25 or fewer carbs a day and trying to ensure the majority of those carbs come from veggies, nuts, berries, and other healthy choices. – I skipped “induction” and included nuts and veggies and berries though from the start.

I began my journey about 6 weeks ago at 232 lbs. My last weigh in 2 weeks ago (about 4 weeks into the program) was 227 lbs. A total of 5 lbs lost within those 4 weeks.  I will probably weigh myself again some time this week and expect to be at 225 or less lbs. I’ve been losing 1-2 lbs a week, just as I anticipated based on my steps and diet.

This is slow, and yes, there are better exercises and activities than this, but the fact is, it’s still “effective” – if you don’t care “how long” it takes to lose the weight – I’m prepared that it’ll take me 2 years for example if I want to get to 120-130. – Which is what I weighed like 12 years ago in college. I didn’t gain this weight overnight, I’m not going to lose it overnight. It’s just the way it is. But the scales are moving down each time I weigh myself – I try not to obsess about the scale, so I only weigh myself every other week. In the next 10-20 weeks I expect to be back under 200 lbs for the first time in several years.

I’m currently not doing any other exercise other than Walk-It-Out for (a minimum of) 10,000 steps, 5 days a week on the wii balance board. I am restricting my carb intake which could also be playing a role in the weight loss so I cannot make a claim as to if Walk it Out would be effective without a healthy diet as well.

All I know for sure is that Walk It Out, plus a low carb diet, has led to 1-2 lbs of weight loss, consistently, every week, for the past month and a half.

And I know that I don’t mind playing Walk It Out, whereas, if I were going to the gym or playing a sport I’d hate it, dread it, and eventually stop doing it, probably sooner than later. Because to me, working out, or playing sports, etc is not fun. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite of fun, it might be exaggerating, but it’s kinda like torture to me lol.

And that’s probably because I’m in such bad shape. But Walk It Out has been effective also at helping with that. And I’ll go ahead and claim/assume that this is from Walk It Out and not from the diet, but I’ve already noticed a big change in my stamina.

Prior to 2 months ago, I’d get winded going up 2 flights of stairs at the boyfriend’s apartment to do laundry, and when I first started Walk It Out, I felt like I was dying after 10,000 steps – but I didn’t stop/slow down, I successfully reached 10,000 steps without any kind of rest or break each day, right from the get go. – Not a huge accomplishment if you’re fit and active – but a significant accomplishment if like me, you’re mostly sedentary and in terrible shape.

But now, I can do 12,000, maybe even 15,000 steps before I get tired/winded. I can go up and down the stairs while carrying the laundry without gasping/panting for breath after setting the basket down. I noticed that the other night, as we folded laundry together. I’m like hey, I’m not gasping for breath, I’m able to breathe/talk/etc.

So in as little as a month, making 2 small changes:

1.) Playing Walk It Out 5 days a week for a minimum of 10,000 steps, using the balance board

2.) Restricting Carbs to 25 or less per day

I’ve lost 5 lbs, and become more “fit” and able to do normal chores/walking etc without getting shortness of breath or rapid heart beat like before.

I also suffer from PCOS which makes it more difficult to lose weight due to insulin resistance and other factors. So if you’re relatively healthy, you might lose even more weight than this while playing Walk It Out. But as someone with PCOS, it has a number of side effects, from infertility to weight gain, to fatigue, pain in the sides/ovaries, and skin/hair problems, just to name a few. Probably the most concerning of these side effects is fertility. It’s also well documented that being obese also impacts a women’s fertility. in fact, that’s why I began this work out and diet plan. I am 37 years old and I want to have kids some day. And for me at this age, that time is running out. I know it will take me a year to lost 50 lbs (guessing because 52 weeks in a year, with a lb of weight loss a week). That will drop me down to about 170-180… Still overweight for my height/age. I should be around 130-140 from what I’ve read – which is why it’ll probably take about 2 years to reach that goal. 52 weeks x 1 b per week = 50 lbs a year, so in 2 years I’d be about 127. In 2 years I’ll also be 39….

Losing weight will do 2 things for me – 1.) help relieve some of the PCOS symptoms, 2.) help increase my fertility – even in women who do not have PCOS – they say losing as little as 10-15% of your body weight can help increase fertility. For me, 15% would mean I’d only need to lost 34 lbs… which would take about 8 and a half months. (At a rate of 1 lb a week).

So although my end goal may be getting back down to 120 – 130, which is going to take about 24 months, there are many smaller goals I can aim for along the way. The first goal will be to drop below 200. With an estimated 25 lbs to go, that goal will take about 6 months. The next goal is a combined total of 34 lbs of weight loss, which I should achieve 2-3 months after my first goal. From there, it’s all about setting different attainable goals for myself. For example, I might decide I want to reach 160 lbs next, another 6 months after the 2nd goal, and then only need to lose another 30 lbs to reach the 4th and final goal.

Since it will take me a relatively long time to achieve my goals, it’s important to me to have an activity I can enjoy and one I can stick with throughout the process. For me, that activity is Walk It Out.

But enough about me and my goals, let’s dive into actually talking about the game and I’ll tell you just why I love Walk It Out more than any other fitness game.

Title: Walk It Out

Platform: Wii (will work also on Wii U)

Genre: Music Game / Fitness Game / Walking Simulator / City Building Game

Publisher: Konami

Price and Where to Get:

Why Do I Love Walk It Out So Much / How is Walk it Out Different from Other Fitness Games:

I think Walk It Out is different for the following reasons:

1.) It’s actually a game – I would not say the same of Wii Fit for example which is just a series of exercises and “mini games” – Wii Fit fails at taking your mind off the fact that you’re exercising. Walk It Out makes it so exercising is secondary to the gameplay.

2.) It is a persistent world – You can see your world developing and evolving each day. You can interact with objects in your world. The world changes and evolves based on your actions.

3.) If you like pop music and 80s/90s/very early 2k music, you’ll love the music in Walk It Out. – I tried looking to see if there’s a Japanese Import version of the game with Japanese music tracks but I couldn’t find one – does anyone know anything about this? I think it’d be fun/interesting especially since I enjoy JPop music. I find it hard to believe Konami would only make a game for the European / North American market – because they don’t seem to give a damn about this market. But all I’ve ever seen is the North American version “Walk it Out” (the version I have) – and another version for Europe called “Walk to the Beat” I think there’s only 2-3 songs that are different/unique for each of those versions, not worth importing the Euro version just for those songs. – But Is suspect if a version of this game does exist in Japan it probably has all Jpop music.

4.) It’s a city building simulation – Do you like city building games? This game lets you build a city while you work out – pretty much the only game I can think of that does this.

5.) It has gradual progression – there are over 300 songs to unlock, and there are numerous things to unlock for your city – thousands of things in fact – and there are different areas/paths to unlock. It also has mini games, although a month in and I haven’t discovered any yet. It takes awhile to earn enough points to unlock everything. – To me, this is a GOOD thing – once everything is unlocked it probably isn’t as fun/exciting. But you can always start a new save file and start over unlocking everything again. If you unlocked things too fast the game wouldn’t feel as “rewarding” – it strikes a good balance of rewarding you, plus giving you new things to strive for.

6.) It’s easy/comfortable even for someone obese and in very bad physical condition. This is not true of other fitness games such as Dance Dance Revolution which is significantly more challenging/tiring for beginners. Walk It Out is low impact and simple and does not require great speed, dexterity, skill, coordination, flexibility, etc, making it a perfect game for anyone of any age to just pick up and play.

But What Is Walk It Out, exactly?

Gameplay: 10/10 Walk it Out is a fitness music/rhythm game from Konami, the creators of Dance Dance Revolution. The gameplay is simple! In the top left of the screen you see a beat meter, just walk in time with the beat. If you are rhythmically challenged, don’t worry, don’t focus too much on listening to the music, instead use this beat meter in the top left as a visual guide to time your footsteps. If you’re still having trouble you can adjust the speed and difficulty settings as needed.

As you’re walking, music will begin playing. There are new tracks to unlock – over 300 of them to be exact, and if you like pop music from the 80s, 90s, and early 2ks, you should enjoy most of these tracks.

The object is to time your steps perfectly for the best score. Points can be used to unlock new music tracks or to build your city by opening capsules around the island. Things that you can find might include trees, street lights, cars, buildings, and more. As you build up your city, you’ll see the changes in the town and in the people. It becomes much more lively.

The game can be played with a number of different controller options including the wii balance board, DDR dance pad, or wii-mote and nunchuck.

There’s even a multi-player mode where 2 people can Walk it Out together!

Is Walk It Out An Effective Workout?

Yes, I feel Walk It Out is effective at helping with weight loss, especially in addition to a healthy diet. Using Walk It Out every Monday through Friday for the past 6 weeks has led to me losing 5 lbs and becoming more active, fit, and healthy. I feel like I have more energy and stamina, even if it’s a little improvement, it’s still a welcome improvement, that overtime will continue to provide growing benefits.

It’s simple, effective, and fun – I don’t feel like I’m working out.

The game also tracks many stats for you, such as calories burned, steps taken, miles walked, playtime, etc for each play session. As well as showing you how much of the island you have left to discover.

It has a lot of various settings you can configure such as selecting or restricting certain songs, setting goals in terms of steps, miles, or play time, and allowing you to adjust the speed or points to fine tune your difficulty settings.

The uniqueness of the game, the fun factor, multiplayer, and peripheral support, as well as ease of use and low entry barriers, make this game my favorite for helping to drop the pounds.

However, there are some areas where gameplay could be improved…

If there is ever a “Walk It Out 2” here are a list of features I’d love to see:

1.) More advanced avatar creation – or at least importing our mii’s. The avatars in walk it out are pretty fugly. And although you can choose between a male or female avatar, and male or female personal trainer, and pick some colors from a limited small pallet, that’s where customization ends. In the future they could add hairs, clothes, and other avatar dress up items to the unlockable capsules which would add an additional element to the game.

2.) More Islands – once you complete an island, it’d be nice to have a whole new island to play in, with different styles of buildings, backgrounds, and environments to explore, to keep things exciting

3.) A more “vibrant” world – either through online play, or the internal clock, it’d be nice to have a more “lively” world, like in Animal Crossing how different things happen on different days, weather patterns, holidays, events, etc.

4.) Ability to use your own music – or at least buy new tracks, similar to most other dancing games that release songs via DLC (downloadable content).

5.) Online Play – to walk with friends online in addition to the great local multiplayer support – perhaps also for the switch, seeing support for up to 4 or even 6 people to walk on one screen together in local play.

6.) Built in scale – I use wii fit to measure myself, but I don’t use Wii fit for the games and exercises very often – it’d be nice to just be able to weigh myself right in Walk It Out.

I think just these few little additions would really add to the immersion and fun of an already super fun game.

Story: 0/10 – Nope no story at all – not that it needs one.

Characters: 2/10 – there are characters if you count selecting your trainer and “customizing” (although extremely limitedly) your avatar, but without a story, the characters are empty shells. The characters that move into your city / walk around on your screen are also just empty shells – they could have done something similar to animal crossing or harvest moon here, which is why it’s so disappointing.

Graphics: 7/10 – I’m not sure what to score this honestly… the characters are fugly, the interface is average at best, but the actual world/environment are pretty good given that this is a retro game now.

Music: 10/10 – If you like pop music from the past 3 decades, you’ll enjoy the music.

Voice Acting:5/10 – The male trainer isn’t too bad – the female trainer sounds like she’s about 8 years old and has way too much enthusiasm and that weird “chipmunk” sound that a lot of early 90s anime female voice actresses seemed to have back in the day. – Which I assume is supposed to sound cute, but really just grates on the nerves. I’ve never played with the female trainer because her voice is so annoying honestly.

Replay Value: 10/10 – The gradual progression of the game will keep you coming back to unlock new things on the island.

Overall: 44/70 63%

Note: if you don’t count the story and characters, you have a score of 42/50 or 84 percent which is much closer to how much I “enjoy” this game 😊

Update: My weigh in today was 222 lbs, a loss of 4.9 lbs since last weigh in (15 days ago) . I continue to consistently lose 1 to 2 lbs per week using nothing but walk it out with the balance board for exercise while eating a low carb diet of 25 or fewer carbs a day. I’ve lost a total of 10 lbs over the course of about 6 weeks.

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Scum's Wish

Are the Relationships in Scum’s Wish Really So Bad?

I recently discovered Scum’s Wish from an article describing the relationship between Mugi and Hanabi as abusive. While the anime begins with Mugi and Hanabi both in love with other people and only using each other to satisfy their physical desires, is there really anything inherently wrong with this? People have casual relationships all the time. Not all relationships are built around love.

Not only that, but, I think that love is a feeling that can grow over time. Hanabi and Mugi may not be in love just yet; but that doesn’t mean they won’t fall in love by the end of the anime or manga. There has been much foreshadowing already hinting at this possibility.

Could Hanabi and Mugi ever fall in love or have a happy ending?

Here are some clues that hint that they may be falling for eachother:

In Episode 1: Hanabi tells Mugi not to fall in love with her. Mugi tells her don’t worry, you’re not my type. And she tells him “Me Either” (you’re not my type either). This just seems to be setting a stage for them to fall in love by the end.

In Episode 2: Mugi tells Hanabi “Not all happy things have a happy ending, but you still wouldn’t want to erase them from your memory, and that how should I say, makes you even more unhappy.” — Perhaps Mugi and Hanabi will not have their happy ending, but they will look back not with hatred for eachother, but fondness instead.

In Episode 3, Hanabi starts crying and says that she wants to try to love Mugi

In Episode 2, she gets very aggressive and possessive of Mugi when Moca tries to get close to him.

In Episode 2, Mugi encourages Hanabi to go make friends and gently strokes her hair. Hanabi thinks this is strange and comments that it’s almost like he’s her boyfriend.

In Episode 3, when being naughty together, she thinks Mugi and the act of pleasing Mugi is cute. Mugi also reluctantly here gives in to Hanabi. He feels guilty for thinking (dreaming in this case) of the other girls. He tries to avoid Hanabi’s advances at first. In the end he laments that he is just “destined to be used as a plaything for adolescents”. He doesn’t sound very happy about this. He is hurting too and wants a more affectionate and loving relationship – Granted at this point he still wants it with Akane. He even says he can’t believe he’s satisfied by Hanabi and wishes Akane would “punish” him for it.

In all of the episodes, Hanabi is concerned not only with her own pleasure, but also worried if she’s good enough for Mugi and concerned with pleasing him as well.

The lyrics to the opening song seem to be more about Hanabi X Mugi than Hanabi X Oniichan.

“If Fate existed, I’d like to say, “You’re the one I’m destined to be with”, But I feel those words will destroy what we have right now… so I can’t say them. Even when you’re near you seem so distant. This feeling goes in and out like the tide. I’ll give up. I’ll never give up. An endless game of flower fortune telling. If I’ve lost the key to my treasure box, I’ll embrace my brightest emotions, Hiding their faintly colored remains behind my sighs. When our eyes meet, don’t look away! See through this lie hidden within them. I’m a young playgirl, completely confused, so don’t say anything now. I’m in so much pain. I love you so much it’s frightening.”

If we analyze those lyrics…

“I feel those words will destroy what we have right now so I can’t say them.” This could refer to either Mugi or Oniichan. With Oniichan and Hanabi they’ve been such good friends for so long that she’s afraid of ruining their friendship. With Mugi and Hanabi, she’s afraid of losing their relationship, even if it is purely physical.

“Even when you’re near you seem so distant” – Once again this line could apply to either Mugi or Oniichan. But I think it applies more to Mugi. Oniichan still comes over to have dinner and hang out as a friend with Hanabi, and they’re close, perhaps even inappropriately so, having to remind each other that he is now her teacher and she’s his student, so they don’t really seem distant at all. Mugi on the other hand keeps his emotions and thoughts hidden away from Hanabi, and they are close physically, but he always imagines Hanabi to be Mei or Akane. He doesn’t embrace Hanabi as Hanabi. He therefore in my opinion is always distant, even when they’re intimately close.

But the most telling is the line at the end: “When our eyes meet, don’t look away!” (Don’t think about Akane or Mei) See through this lie. (Her lie that she doesn’t love Mugi). “I’m a young playgirl, completely confused, so don’t say anything now” (Don’t tell me you love me, because I don’t know who I love / I love both of them, hence being a “playgirl” or “confused.) (Also “playgirl” would apply directly to how naughty she is with Mugi. With Oniichan she doesn’t have that type of physical relationship).  And “I’m in so much pain. I love you so much it’s frightening.” This could apply to both Mugi or Oniichan, but when you watch the anime, who or what always makes Hanabi cry… It’s Mugi most of the time. Her relationship with Mugi is painful to her… in the beginning, it’s painful to her because she feels like she’s “cheating” on Oniichan… but as time goes on, and at the end of the most recent episode, she’s crying and says she wants to try to love Mugi.

For Hanabi, the chances of ever having a relationship with Oniichan are small because he is her teacher now, and it would create a scandal. For Mugi, although Akane does fool around secretly with her students, this would not be much better already than his relationship with Hanabi or his past with Mei. Akane isn’t ready to be serious about anyone, and yes, she does inappropriate things with the other students, but this is not love either.

At what point (if any) should you give up on someone that you love, knowing that it just can never work out? What if you began seeking comfort from someone else to help fill that loneliness? In the 2nd Episode of Scum’s Wish it’s hinted at what exactly will happen. Hanabi goes out with some girls from her class. One of the girls is dating 2 boys at once. Now she can’t choose because she loves both of them. Hanabi tells her if she doesn’t choose, she will end up alone. This very likely will be in parallel to what will happen to Hanabi. If she can’t give up her crush on Oniichan, but continues to keep dating Mugi, at some point, she will be in love with both of them. She will become stuck and unable to choose either of them, so she will be left alone.

So what do you think? Can Mugi and Hanabi ever fall in love? Will Hanabi or Mugi let go of their crush and find happiness with one another? Is their relationship really that wrong? I don’t feel that they will regret their relationship either way even if they don’t end up together in the end. I think that they will build enough fond memories together that the overall experience of the relationship will have more happy memories than sad ones despite how it may end.

The other article that I read points out that they could find comfort in other things/people. Which may be true, but I still don’t think that comforting each other through their hard time is really that bad. The original article that I read made it sound as if Hanabi and Mugi turn their backs on their friends and family and only turn to each other. This is not true. Mugi has Moca, Hanabi has Oniichan, her mom, and Ecchan. You also see both of them with other classmates, and it’s even stated in the description of the anime that they are both “Popular” and “well liked” at school. So I don’t think that if the relationship were to end that either of them would fall into a hopeless depression.

Are the Relationships in Scum’s Wish Really So Bad? Read More »

Anime, Short Film, Porter Robinson, Porter Robinson's Shelter, Crunchyroll, Is Shelter an Anime, Is Avatar an Anime? Is Avatar the Last Air Bender an Anime? Is RWBY an anime? Is 7 Deadly Sins an Anime?, Is Perfect Bones an Anime? Is Glitter Force an Anime? Netflix Original Anime, Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll Orginal Anime, What is Anime? What is the difference between anime and cartoons, What is the difference between an anime and a cartoon?, Are all cartoons anime?, Isn't anime Just cartoons?, Anime made by americans, Editorial, Debate, Opinion, Anime Short Films, Is Shelter an Anime? Is Porter Robinson's Shelter an Anime?

Porter Robinson’s Shelter Is an Anime – and Here’s Why

I just watched a short film – or more precisely, a music video by Porter Robinson. Although he is an American artist, he contracted with A-1 Pictures a famous Japanese anime studio — It’s being marketed by crunchyroll (who most people associate with “anime”) — and the film first debuted in Tokyo, Japan, to an audience of Japanese people. Although it is marketed for worldwide release and distribution, it was developed, drawn, animated, and premiered first in Japan and made by a famous anime studio consisting of largely Japanese staff. It is a Japanese animation, or anime for those facts alone.

It’s true that similar “Big Eye, Small Mouth, Brightly colored” animated films are NOT anime – I fully agree. RWBY and Avatar and Kora for example are not anime – because they are not made by Japanese anime studios, they are made by westerners.

So what if someone is “paying” or “contracting” the studio – Is anime, and the animation studios not allowed to be paid for their work? How does that fact alone disqualify Shelter from being an anime?

Also bear in mind, anime is gaining global attention and branching out to a global market. Long gone are the days where anime was a niche hobby back in the 90s. It is becoming increasingly more mainstream. Perhaps some fans feel threatened by this, that their hobby will become too “mainstream” and not “cool” anymore – but going “mainstream” is a good thing – when studios can make money and increase their audience share, this means more anime will get made!

The lines of what defines “anime” are quickly beginning to blur.

One example of this is a Studio Ghibli series coming to Amazon Prime in the near future. It’s been contracted by Americans, but being developed by a famous Japanese anime studio.

Other examples of anime contracted by an American company but produced by a Japanese anime studio include 7 Deadly Sins and Perfect Bones.

My take is – if it comes from a Japanese anime studio – and has all the markings of an anime (similar animation style, writing techniques, etc) – then it’s an anime.

Shelter takes it a step further and even has original audio in Japanese by a talented Japanese voice actress. This further proves it was originally intended for Japanese audiences.

The debate on if Shelter is an anime or not has been a hot button issue this week according to Kotaku

But you can watch the anime for yourself below and decide if Shelter is an anime, or just a cartoon. It’s a beautiful short film about a lonely girl who finds escapism in a game very similar to Minecraft. After watching this film, I really want to play Minecraft, or similar voxel games such as Peria Chronicles or Islet.

There is also now a new Behind the Scenes video that shows how Shelter was made, which further proves it should be considered as an Anime:

 

Porter Robinson’s Shelter Is an Anime – and Here’s Why Read More »

Pokemon Go, Poke Date, Poke Dates, Pokemon Go Meetup, Pokemon Go Exercise, Pokemon Go Workout, Meet People While Playing Pokemon Go, Meet People Who Play Pokemon Go, Playing Pokemon Go is Good For You, Benefits of Playing Pokemon Go, Risks of Playing Pokemon Go, Is Pokemon Go Dangerous?, Is Pokemon Go Safe? Should I Let My Kids Play Pokemon Go?, Pokemon Go Safety Tips, Pokemon Go Safety, Why I Play Pokemon, Pokemon Go, Should I Play Pokemon Go?, Why Should I Play Pokemon Go?, Why Does Everyone Play Pokemon Go?, Is Anyone Not Playing Pokemon Go?, Am I The Only One Not Playing Pokemon Go?, I Hate Pokemon Go, I Love Pokemon Go, Pokemon Go is the Best, Pokemon Go Phenomena, Poke Stop, Pokemon Gym, Pokemon Go Players, Pokemon Go Player, Lose Weight With Pokemon Go, Find Love With Pokemon Go, Poke Date, Poke Dates, Find a Date with Pokemon Go

The Benefits of Playing Pokemon Go Outweigh the Risks

I was not into Pokemon Go when it first launched. It wasn’t until my mom began playing that I took interest. For a few reasons, first, when the game first came out, there were numerous game crippling bugs which made it almost impossible to play. It’s also a rather difficult game to learn at first, it gives absolutely no guidance, direction, tutorial, etc. This combined with the bugs in early days made the game frustrating and a lot less fun than it is now.

Second, I’m not one to enjoy exercise. It’s not that I’m “Lazy”, but well… exercise is “painful” and “tiring” and “annoying”.  When I started playing Pokemon Go, I thought how annoying or stupid it was to have to go outside. This was when I was playing it alone in the first few days of the launch. This began to change when I found someone (my mom) to play the game with. It’s much like the thought of having an exercise buddy.

When I was in college (10 years ago now, wow.) I went to the same school as my best friend. We’d spend our breaks swimming, playing badminton, and even (cringe) running laps. I was also doing atkins diet at the same time, and I ended up going from 200+ lbs to 127 lbs and a size 6/7 in jeans. After college, and my best friend moving to the other side of the state, now a 5 to 6 hour drive away, and going back off the atkins diet, I gained all of that weight back slowly over the years, due to lack of motivation to get out there and exercise.

I did have an xbox 360 with Kinect, and a Wii with some games which tried to add gamification elements the work out experience. I’d play them for a time, but always ultimately get bored and go back to other less “demanding” and more “rewarding” games. I will say out of the “work out” games I own, my favorite has always been “Walk It Out”, a very obscure Wii game that blasts 90s/2k pop music as you walk around a rather empty world at first; and as you walk you unlock new songs as well as begin to see the world come to life. I also enjoy DDR (although I suck at it really badly.) and Just Dance (slightly less challenging than DDR). I even had Wii Fit, and I did love the charting/tracking aspects of that game and even being able to weigh my cats lol.

But ultimately, none of those games held my interest. Was it because I didn’t have anyone to play them with? Perhaps. Was it because I still wasn’t “getting out”? I was still “at home playing videogames” something I’ve done for almost 30 years of my life.

It’s still too soon to tell how long it will be before I get “bored” with Pokemon Go. But it has some elements that are so unique and different from the other work out games I own. When I try to describe Pokemon Go to people who don’t already play, I tell them “It’s basically geocaching with pokemon”. I’d never gone geocaching before but the idea of it had always appealed to me in theory. It encourages you to get out and explore some new and sometimes remote or far away locations and you’re rewarded with small treasures (usually coins) (but in this case, it’s pokemon instead of coins).

Pokemon Go is a social game. Recently, a new dating website opened up and had such overwhelming response that they had to shut down their servers temporarily. This dating service aims to connect Pokemon Go players in their area both for playing Pokemon Go, but also for finding true love (or friendship). I’m also single right now, I’m kinda taking a break at the moment, seeing a few people but nothing serious, and find I’ve kinda backed off a bit on the dating or seeking of a mate at the moment, but when I’m ready again, in a few weeks, or months, or whatever the case may be, I have a feeling I’ll be using this Poke Date service. You can check it out here: https://www.projectfixup.com/pokedates/  – There’s also another site here: https://t.co/7sOATzdApr and probably numerous meetup.com Pokemon Go groups as well (though there weren’t any close by in my area last time I checked.).

Even if you’re not using such a site to interact with the Pokemon Go community, chances are you’re going to run into other players out in the real world, whether it’s at poke stops, gyms, or just walking around your parks or college campus, etc trying to catch pokemon. If you’re like me, you’re probably a shy introvert, who avoids other people (remember that part about sitting at home playing videogames?). I still haven’t started a conversation with anyone while playing Pokemon Go, but I have had people come up and start conversation with me, and I find it’s easy to talk to people when you have a shared interest, common goal, hobby, passion, etc. Pokemon Go can make you more comfortable in social interactions, help to break the ice, and put you in the “right place, at the right time” to meet new friends or potential romantic partners.

Pokemon Go does just that, it makes you GO places. You might find new places nearby that you’ve never visited, or it may encourage you to take a road trip, day trip, weekend trip, etc to go discover new pokemon. While playing the game, you might stumble upon new restaurants, museums, nature trails, parks, or other exciting places. Travel is fun! And Pokemon Go gives you another excuse to get away, take a vacation, take the scenic route, relax, and reconnect with nature while exploring new places and trying new things.

Pokemon Go is fun, relaxing, and addicting. Ignoring the social, psychological, and health benefits of playing the game, the game is just plain fun. The obsession to “catch them all” and to find “rare” Pokemon is a huge draw that keeps you wanting to play more and more. Just imagine if Shiny Pokemon get introduced sometime in the future, or special limited time events with special exclusive Pokemon to catch. This obsession to keep playing, keep seeking out new places with new pokemon, and “catch them all” is what keeps you motivated and interested in the game and continues to reinforce the “good habits” (exercise, social interaction, etc) that come from playing the game each day.

Pokemon Go is free. Yes, there is a cash shop, but you definitely don’t need to spend any money to enjoy this app. You can just visit your closest pokestop, and sit there for an hour or two collecting the items you need. Once again this just encourages you to keep getting out there. It’s win/win.

Pokemon Go is good exercise. It’s even being used in nursing homes to help the elderly. Gamers are not known for a love of working out or healthy habits. I’m no exception. But Pokemon Go makes me want to exercise in order to play the game. I went from being sedentary, to now walking 5 to 7 miles almost every day. I couldn’t tell you the last time I walked even a mile, let alone 5+ miles. Almost daily. Two days ago we walked ten and a half miles which so far is the farthest/longest I’ve walked while playing Pokemon Go. Of course, I am hoping to lose weight. Who doesn’t want to be more fit and healthy right? But even if that never happens simply from walking a few extra miles, I’ll tell you, this exercise has already had several benefits. The main benefit it has had is curing me of my insomnia.

Pokemon Go will help you sleep better! If you’re not used to physical activity (like me), and going through a “hard time” where your mind is just turning non-stop most nights, Pokemon Go will make you fall asleep from the physical exertion and exhaustion that comes when you increase your activity levels. The last 2 weeks I’ve been sleeping like a charm, when most of June was spent in angst and anger and disappointment and hurt feelings, I no longer have TIME to think about that. Pokemon Go keeps me busy! Keeping busy keeps me happy!

Pokemon Go will improve your mood! Exercise creates endorphins which are scientifically proven to create feelings of happiness and euphoria. It also as I mentioned helps “clear” (or otherwise occupy at least) your mind which makes you forget about your worries and troubles. It gets you out into the sunlight and sunlight is also scientifically proven to boost your mood. It helps you connect “spiritually” with nature, or helps you connect “emotionally” to other people. It reminds you you’re not alone. Pokemon Go is a comforting experience for anyone dealing with loss, death, grief, heartbreak, or other traumas.

Yes, there have been some scary stories in the news recently about Pokemon Go, either from neglect and a lack of paying attention to one’s surroundings, such as walking into traffic, falling off a cliff, or criminals using Pokemon Go to identify Poke Stops and wait for passer by to mug/rape/attack/whatever. There are also cases of people playing Pokemon Go at inappropriate times such as while working or driving. – but these incidents are few and far between when compared to the millions of players who are benefiting in some way from playing this game.

Pokemon Go means different things for different people, but for me, it has given me that little boost of motivation that I need to be more active and get out in my community.

The Benefits of Playing Pokemon Go Outweigh the Risks Read More »

Top 10 VR Games, List of VR Games, Top 10 Virtual Reality Games, List of Virtual Reality Games, VR, Virtual Reality, VR Headsets, VR Headset, Virtual Reality Headsets, Virtual Reality Headsets, HTC Vive, Occulus Rift, PSVR, Google Cardboard, Sony, Samsung, Samsung Gear, Microsoft, Hololens

The 10 VR Games We Can’t Wait to Play

Title: The 10 VR Games We Can’t Wait To Play

Virtual reality headsets are here, and for the right price you can own one now. For most of us, however, the transition to VR remains just around the corner as the leading headsets are only just being rolled out, the price point remains high in most instances, and the lists of available games are still evolving.

However, we have a pretty good idea of what kinds of games we can expect on various VR devices, so in this post we wanted to take a look at 10 titles that look like they can’t miss.

Project Arena

Designed for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Project Arena should be one of the more exciting new concepts for early VR. Designed as a TRON-like competition, it will enable you to hurl light discs at your opponents while dodging and shielding yourself from other projectiles. Given that TRON has already inspired successful adaptations like a retro-style mobile game about light cycles on a grid, it goes without saying that there will be a built in fan base for this one.

Star Wars: Battlefront

Star Wars: Battlefront for PS4 was an extraordinarily well-reviewed addition to the franchise, and set the stage perfectly for a transition to VR. This will be one of the more ambitious early VR games given the detail of the settings and the amount of character movement involved, but a first-person foray into the Star Wars universe is going to be hard for most people to say no to.

Tilt Brush

One of the curious things that’s happened in gaming in recent years is that our fascination with HD visuals and highly responsive controls has led to a wave of titles focusing on creativity. Consider that there’s a whole game based on tending a zen garden, and you’ll get the point. Tilt Brush will look to capitalize on this trend by allowing players to paint and design with light strokes in a virtual reality.

Casino VR

The fact that there’s already a top online casino that simulates a real-life casino experience by way of virtual interaction with live dealers bodes pretty well for this style of gaming on actual VR. Simply put, online casinos have already established incredibly realistic atmospheres and gaming options, and Casino VR will represent the first attempt to duplicate that success on VR. The early demos have looked promising.

Lucky’s Tale

Many have wondered what a Super Mario game might look like on VR, and though we’ve heard of nothing like that actually being in the works, Lucky’s Tale isn’t too far off. Available alongside the Oculus Rift, it’s a 3D platformer adventure with a small fox character as its Mario. You don’t actually embody the fox, but you’re right there with it as it tackles the beautiful animated levels that comprise the atmosphere.

100ft. Robot Golf

100ft. Robot Golf is what happens when game developers stop trying to be too clever and simply go with a fun idea. Or at least that’s what it seems like. Basically it’s giant robots playing golf and/or engaging in combat, and it sounds like one of the best ways to take a simple VR action (swinging a golf club) and turn it into something bigger and better.

Minecraft

As mentioned, some of the most exciting early potential on VR is with games that are more about being visually creative than going through a traditional gaming experience. And given the fact that even a pocket edition of Minecraft’s creative version has become wildly popular, releasing a similar experience on VR seems like a no brainer. The thought of being in and among Minecraft creations is intoxicating even to those who aren’t fans of the traditional game.

Eagle Flight

Eagle Flight is pretty much just flying around Paris as an eagle, deciding your direction merely with your glances. Given that rumor has it even jumping off a building in VR gives you a tingling sensation in your spine (some say it’s even so unnatural that they have a hard time pulling it off), soaring freely sounds like a pretty wild adventure.

Rez Infinite

Rez Infinite will resurrect the Rez franchise that started on PS2. Known for otherworldly visuals and action-packed rail shooter gameplay, it could actually be the perfect series to adapt for Sony’s VR. That’s because in a rail shooter the character you control moves along freely, and you only decide where to fire. This eliminates the issue of having to run, jump, etc. and allows players to focus on visuals and action exclusively.

The London Heist

The London Heist could be a big whiff, or it could be one of the titles that helps to establish how a first-person shooter will work on VR. Set in the always intriguing criminal underground of London, it’s a shoot ’em up game. But instead of moving around the whole time, you’re mostly shooting from cover, which means ducking and shooting are the main focuses. The controls are also said to be among the most realistic for action or shooter games on VR. And sure, even if you end up looking dumb playing it, the game sounds like a blast.

Twitch and other social media platforms are helping professional gamers make money just by showcasing the game in real time or the recordings on their platforms. Other than this many other high pay-out games are helping the ordinary person make additional money during their free time, thus ensuring the optimum utilization of their valuable time.

There are a few more titles that could make the list, and many more smaller projects that have been teased or demonstrated for VR headsets. But these 10 are certainly among the most intriguing at this early stage.

The 10 VR Games We Can’t Wait to Play Read More »

Fire Emblem, Fire Emblem Fates, Nintendo, 3DS, Censorship, News, Game News, Videogame News, Localisation, Skinship, Dating Sim, Strategy, Strategy Game, Nintendo of America, NOA

Will You Miss The Skinship Feature in Fire Emblem Fates?

By now you’ve already heard that Fire Emblem Fates is getting censored for it’s American release due to suggestive themes such as Gay Conversion, Rape, and Heavy Petting. The Petting feature is the latest in a long list of features and scenes to be removed for a Western release later next month. Nintendo of America stands by their decision to cut such items, stating that it was necessary to do so for localization.

Regardless on where you stand on this issue, my question is, will this significantly impact your decision to purchase this game? The fan translation begun nearly a year ago and from what I understand, the translation is complete and available (with a little effort and searching and digging) for those who seek to play the game as the creators intended, without censorship. How you go about getting said fan translation – I will leave that to your imagination. You could for example, support the game creators by buying the original Japanese language Nintendo cartridge for your 3DS and patching it with the translation — or you could use less ethical means which I won’t discuss here, and never indicated that I support. – It’s not just as simple as buying the English version and applying the patch to that version to restore the lost content, as the patch will only work on the Japanese version. However, if you choose to import the Japanese version you may be locked out of DLC content available only in the Eshop.

So you’re missing out either way. In the end, if you really like the franchise and wish to support Nintendo you could even buy both versions of the game. But ultimately, for most western gamers, the changes are small enough that they likely won’t be missed. Still for a small but vocal group of core fans, or Otaku (anime obsessed fans – such as myself) these changes are enough to be upset over. Many Otaku buy Fire Emblem solely because of the relationship aspects which differentiate the series from the slew of other strategy games available. By censoring and “Westernizing” the series, Nintendo runs the risk of deterring the fans who would want to buy such a game in the first place. Perhaps they are not satisfied with such a small market share and strategically removing the content to make it “less” Japanese and more appealing to “mainstream” gamers.

While I will miss the Skinship, I will probably still buy the western release. I don’t feel it’s enough of a significant change to boycott the series or Nintendo over. I am disappointed by Nintendo’s decision and wonder if anything will be added in replace of the Petting minigame, such as perhaps talking to, or giving gifts to your comrades, etc, as the Petting game offered bonuses and made a significant difference in the upcoming battles. It will be a shame to lose those stat bonuses just because of some controversial undertones within the minigame.

Skinship (or Petting as all of the media outlets are calling it) is not a new concept, not if you’re familiar with dating sim games – and Fire Emblem definitely has a strong Dating Sim component tied into each game. Skinship exists in other games in this genre – While the mainstream media outlets are loving to compare it to Pokemon Amie (possibly because it’s one of the only examples of Skinship in a Western Release) – and saying that it would be “creepy” or “odd” to pet a “human” character – this is nothing new for these types of games despite how “weird” or “sexualized” the media is portraying this mini game to be. For example, Tokimeki Memorial also has a Skinship feature, as does Ensemble Stars both are Otome Dating Sim games. Princess Maker 4 also comes to mind as having Skinship. The problem is, none of these games ever got “localized” – perhaps the Skinship feature is partly to blame as America is so up tight about anything with even a hint of sexuality – Meanwhile it’s fine for their kids to play games with blood, gore, violence, or foul language, but if anything is even slightly perverse, it riles up a frenzy in the media.

As other media outlets have pointed out, Nintendo’s entire marketing strategy has been on providing family entertainment for small children. While Fire Emblem is likely to be rated T for Teen, that won’t stop parents from buying it for their young kids anyways. So I do understand just why Nintendo has made so many changes. I may not like it, but I get it, it’s all about business at the end of the day and Nintendo’s business is all about very small children.

I am pretty concerned for what the future will held for SMT X FE #, another Nintendo release in the Fire Emblem franchise. While Atlus is focusing on the localization of that title, it’s even more “Japanese” than Fire Emblem Fates since SMT X FE # deals with the Idol Singing Subculture that proliferates Japanese pop culture. I worry that Nintendo of America may “Strong-arm” Atlus into making changes which will dumb down all the “Otaku Pandering” elements from the final release.

In case you haven’t heard news of these recent changes check out some of the major media outlets covering the story below for more info.

Fire Emblem Fates‘ Changes: The Censorship Is America’s Fault  iDigitalTimes.comJan 31, 2016

Trusting EA, Nintendo Censorship and the DeVito-chu The EscapistFeb 1, 2016

Fire Emblem Fates wasn’t ‘censored‘, it was localised for good reason TechRadarJan 25, 2016

Nintendo Speaks on Fire Emblem Fates Censorship Nintendo EnthusiastJan 22, 2016

Fire Emblem Fates ‘Petting’ Removed for Western Release Game RantJan 27, 2016

The Other Ways Nintendo Is Changing The English Version of Fire  Highly CitedKotakuJan 26, 2016

And then weigh in with a comment below and let us know which version you’ll be buying, or maybe you won’t be buying any of them. Do you feel Nintendo is making a smart business move to capture more audiences, or hurting themselves by isolating current fans of the Fire Emblem franchise?

Well Here’s A Good Opportunity For Nintendo To Release Mother 3 read more

Will You Miss The Skinship Feature in Fire Emblem Fates? Read More »

Stop Using InfoLinks Monetizing Online Advertisement Unable To Remove from Wordpress

We Have Removed Bidvertiser Ads

In an effort to try to improve our site, and as a followup to my post yesterday, regarding another Pay Per Click program (InfoLinks), I have disabled today also Bidvertiser ads which were causing a popup and redirect as well.

As well as similar issues such as highly irrelevant ads, and just “spamming” my readers.

I won’t stand for that, no matter how “profitable” an ad network may be.

After I finish this wordpress post, I am also going to disable the email collection “splash” screen that appears once per day when visiting the site. (Which is not related to Bidvertiser) (but keeps me from having to make a separate post about that as well).

On a final note, I also just disabled Chitika Mobile Ads, because I noticed they too were using popups and obscuring my site content. I do not think that’s the case with their web ads, just mobile, but if I discover the web ads also behaving improperly, I will disable those as well.

We Have Removed Bidvertiser Ads Read More »