My Game Boy Advance Game Collection (or, my miserable start in the world of handheld gaming)

Happy Monday! Or Sunday evening, for those of you located in other parts of the world (enjoy your freedom while it lasts, eh?). Without further ado or fanfare, I present to you my most coveted collection in my gaming library: 

Ok, ok, you've got to know I'm kidding, but seriously: this is my complete GBA library. Sad, huh? It's especially surprising considering what a fiend I am when it comes to the Nintendo DS/3DS (ok not so much 3DS at the moment, but I do like my Nintendo handhelds these days). So, how is it that I've pretty much completely skipped a game console with a library that is, on the whole, completely in-tune with my gaming tastes?

Well, I'm not going to go the whole nine yards and detail my complete gaming history (that'll take more than one post, I believe), but I can delve into a bit of my past when it comes to handhelds in particular.

As far as I can remember, my first glimpse into the world of handheld gaming was thanks to my grandparents, who had a Game Boy (Maybe 2? Perhaps each of them had one so they could play at the same time). I remember visiting them in Florida during spring break, watching them play Super Mario Land and Tetris 2, and being awed at their skill (My grandfather was particularly good at Tetris 2, while my grandmother could clear Super Mario Land).

I got my own Game Boy at some point and have lots of fond memories playing alongside them, trying my hardest to get as far as they did (to this day I still haven't beaten Super Mario Land). For whatever reason, though, I never really got so into the Game Boy games that I would play them even when I wasn't visiting them in Florida. If my memory serves me right, I'd usually play for a few days after returning home, only to set them down soon after in my frustration of not being able to advance, moving on to other things until the next trip reminded me of how much fun I had.

So was my relationship with handheld gaming until a few years later, when a Game Boy Advance advantageously presented itself to me. Actually, the method by which I acquired it wasn't quite that mystical–a well-meaning relative had gifted my grandfather with a clear purple Game Boy Advance for Christmas one year, but unfortunately he found the colors too difficult to see, so the console was passed down to me.

Honestly, I don't really remember what I did with the thing. I bought a number of games for it, and then traded almost all of them in (There were a few dark years where I traded games in to fund buying more games, but I almost always regretted doing so. Kids, take note: always seriously reconsider before trading in your games). My most regretted GBA trade-in was Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (oh, it hurts to remember! I still have the instruction booklet, even), but I also sold Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories more recently because I just couldn't get into the battle system. The only other game I'm sure I had that is no longer with me was Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, which I eventually passed on to a friend's younger sister along with the console in my junior or senior year of high school.

I still can't believe I got rid of this game! What was I thinking

So, even though I'm sure a got a bit of enjoyment out of the console, all-in-all, the whole thing was pretty short-lived. I guess at the time I was too focused on the Playstation 2 to care much about anything else. Good thing I still had the sense to not to toss 2 of my Game Boy Advance games, even though I didn't have the means to play them at the time. Well, one of them I couldn't get rid of no matter how hard I tried–which do you think it was?

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams's Japanese box art is adorable

US box art? Not so hot... Why 3 Klonoas? 

Luckily, I didn't get rid of my GBA pride and joy: Klonoa: Empire of Dreams. I'm a pretty big Klonoa fan, and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil is one of my favorite PS2 games. With Klonoa: Empire of Dreams being a rather rare title that was released the same year as the system, I consider myself pretty lucky to have snagged a used cartridge at my local game shop. Unfortunately, I've never really played too much of it, but from what I have played, it's been great. The art style is adorable, the music is catchy (Even though some of the music and sounds seem to be taken straight from Klonoa 2), and the gameplay is fun and not too difficult. This title is one that I'm definitely going to be playing more of in the next few weeks–I picked it up for the first time in years last night and restarted my game, and am determined to finish it.

I'm really digging the long Japanese GBA boxes... 

Have you guessed which game I want to get rid of, yet? If you were thinking Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, then you were right! Why would I want to get rid of such a super game, you ask? Well, if you look closely at the picture, it's actually the Japanese version of the game. In my excitement at seeing it for sale used in Japan during my first trip there many years ago, I decided to purchase it, even though I had next to no Japanese language skills at the time. Needless to say, I never really played it because I couldn't understand it, and though I tried to sell it online multiple times, no one really wanted it since it was such an easy game to get in English. I could definitely pick up the game now and play through it no problem... The question is whether or not I really want to. Right now it's not very high on my list.

Just look at this!! How could you not be compelled to buy a game like this

Mr. Driller A: Mysterious Pacteria and Golden Sun are my most recent GBA game acquisitions. Mr. Driller A I bought in 2009, the last time I was in Japan, at a used game shop in Osaka for a very fine price, and it came complete with booklet and box! Mr. Driller is yet another series I'm very interested in, but Mr. Driller A was actually the first game I ever bought. It's great to pick up and do a few rounds, and, just like Klonoa, it has great music, adorable graphics, and fun gameplay. I consider it and Klonoa to be the stars of my GBA library.

Finally, there's Golden Sun. This one I actually bought just this year online for very cheap, and I'm happy to finally have a copy. I borrowed it a long time ago from a friend and found it to be quite fun, so it's always been at the back of my mind as something I wanted to play eventually. When the DS sequel was released, it renewed my interest in the series... But I still haven't played it. Oh, I'll probably never complete all the games on my "must play" list!

So there you have it, the story of my GBA game library. Are there any GBA "must-haves" that you'd recommend? One I'd like to get my hands on is Rhythm Heaven, since my husband and I enjoyed the DS version. My library will grow, slowly but surely!

Oh, and for those of you who must know: I did in fact own copies of both Pokemon Blue and Gold (I remember playing a lot of Blue but never really got far in Gold). Sadly, they were misplaced or lost. Who knows where they are now...

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What you should know about Poison

A certain character has come to my attention that I had otherwise never heard of, and her name is Poison. Apparently there's a lot of buzz about whether she may have originally been a he. So, in light of the recent announcements regarding the new characters in Street Fighter X Tekken at last week's Comic Con, I decided to do some research on this surprisingly controversial character.

So here's the deal with Poison, as far as I know: She first appeared in Final Fight but has also been featured in Street Fighter III, along with a number of other Capcom games, and seems to be pretty popular, probably at least partially due to the controversy surrounding her. Even so, it has been a number of years since she's made an appearance, so the news that she will be in Street Fighter X Tekken, along with her cohorts Roxy and Hugo (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not sure whether or not Roxy and Hugo are playable), is generating a lot of excitement.

Poison as she appears in 'Street Fighter X Tekken'

Apparently, back when Poison was created for Final Fight's release in Japan, she was strictly a female character, but due to fears that Americans wouldn't take to well to the big, burly men of Final Fight beating up a chick, they decided it would be a better idea to make her transgendered. To make things even more confusing, though, it seems like Capcom themselves treat her gender differently in Japan and America. Check out this quote from Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono: "Let's set the record straight: in North America, Poison is officially a post-op transsexual. But in Japan, she simply tucks her business away to look female."

Basically, I think it's safe to say that she's the Birdo of the Capcom universe.

Regardless of how we choose to define Poison, she certainly is an interesting addition to Street Fighter X Tekken, and I have to say I am really excited for the game's impending release. I think we should all take the advice of this lovely comic, brought to my attention by GayGamer.net, and just accept Poison for what she is, rather than get hung up about how we should label her. And without further ado, here is the main reason I wrote up this whole post in the first place (click on the image for a larger view):

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Japan Envy: Space Invaders Tote Bag

I won't lie: with all the awesome things available in Japan, I think it's going to be pretty easy to make this Japan Envy series a weekly thing! I won't limit myself to a specific day or anything, but rest assured, you'll be seeing a lot more of these in the future.

Today while browsing Twitter I stumbled upon Taito's very own Twitter page and promptly proceeded to follow them (If you're not following me yet, head on over and do so!). Scrolling through their recent tweets lead me to an announcement about their new Space Invaders tote bag.

I have to say, I love this simple yet chic design. I'm a big fan of tote bags, known as "eco bags" in Japan, and the added inside pocket in this design that is alluded to on the bag's website sounds like a nice addition to me. And priced at only ¥500 (more or less $5), it's a steal! Too bad you can only get your hands on one of these puppies by visiting one of many Taito Station arcades in Japan. Curses!

I might just have to convince my host mom to purchase one on my behalf...

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What kind of game am I playing? Or, things that creep me out about Atelier Rorona

I had a lovely, in-depth post all ready to go about my impressions of Atelier Rorona so far, but since it was such a meaty piece I decided to hold onto it and develop it into a full-fledged review for www.videogamewriters.com. I'll probably chop it down and do a shorter version for this blog later in the week, after I've played a bit more of the game (I'm about 1/3 of the way through at the moment).

Nevertheless, I have quite a few things I could say about Atelier Rorona, so I don't really see the harm in making two posts about it! I thought I'd share with you all some of the weird stuff I've come across in the game so far. Before you read on, keep in mind that I am seriously enjoying this game, so while the following quibbles may bug/slightly disgust me, it certainly isn't detracting from me having more than a little fun synthesizing item upon item and meeting all the request deadlines.

First thing's first, here's a quick rundown of the game: Atelier Rorona follows Rorona, an apprentice alchemist under a woman named Astrid at a workshop in the kingdom of Arland. The king of Arland has decreed that unless Astrid can complete 12 assignments given to her over the course of 3 years, the workshop will be shut down. Astrid, being more interested in napping than doing anything the king asks of her, passes the task on to Rorona. Right now I'm just over a year in, and the combination of expertly-voiced story sequences, adorable artwork, catchy music, countless items to synthesize and requests to fulfill is definitely keeping me busy.

Creepy observation #1: It's more than a little obvious that this game caters towards a certain type of male-dominated Japanese nerd culture, and I was well aware of this when I started playing the game. What I didn't know is how much creepy innuendo was going to be a part of the game's humor! A lot of the story features older women more or less hitting on Rorona, and while I know that's a cultural thing to a degree (nothing wrong with a 20-something woman calling a 14-year-old girl cute, I guess), sometimes it gets a bit out of hand. Alright, ok, I know what I was getting myself into, so I won't say much more about this (to each his/her own), but how about: 

Creepy observation #2: Some of the female characters are more than a little well-endowed for their age. I usually file these observations in the back drawer, except for when those in charge of the character models deem it appropriate to animate one of said character's bobbing breasts even when she is standing still. Good thing for me I don't really like said character very much and as such will probably not make her a member of my party very often, but seeing her undulating chest in every single battle is as much a turn-off for me as any.

The character in question, Lionela, is a traveling performer.

I guess I'm not the only one who noticed how her breasts seem to have minds of their own (cute cats, though)

Creepy observation #3: I've saved you the best for last. Last night when I was playing, I was happily introduced to my new workshop assistant, who was created for Rorona by Astrid using alchemy. Ever-curious and eager to learn, Rorona does some research into the recipe that was used to create Hom, the homunculus assistant. Ingredients include horse droppings... And in the case that horse droppings aren't available, the use of human semen is said to also be possible. Let me reiterate that for you. The recipe that was used to create Rorona's assistant calls for horse droppings and human semen. Just what sort of game is this?!?

Depending on how you answer Astrid when she asks you whether you'd like a little brother or a little sister, you can have either a female or male version of Hom, the horse-poo-infused assistant. I answered "sister," but after seeing the two designs, I wish I had ended up with the male one!

 Even though I'm enjoying poking fun at the game, I'm honestly having even more fun playing it. It's just the right recipe of pretty visuals, lighthearted story, and engrossing gameplay for me, and these weird, uh, quirks make it all the more the odd yet engrossing experience. I have a feeling this isn't going to be the end of my creepy observations, though... I've still got 2 years of game time to go!

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Tutorial: How to make a Japanese iTunes Account to Download 'Pokemon Ie Tap?'

UPDATE: It looks like Pokemon Ie Tap has been removed from the iTunes store! It's too bad, but you can still use this guide to create a Japanese iTunes account and download other free apps.

Today marks the release of Pokemon Ie Tap? ポケモン言えTAP?, a free smartphone app where you tap the screen to the beat of the Japanese Black & White anime's Pokerap (known as "Pokemon Ieru kana?" in Japanese). 

I went through all the trouble to write up this tutorial for VGW, only to find that my iPhone is too old to get the update that allows you to play Pokemon Ie Tap?! Rather than trashing this thing, which took me a good hour to write last night, I'm going to post it for your free-Japanese-app-downloading pleasure. Someone please download Pokemon Ie Tap? so I can live vicariously through you! Well, without further ado: 

How to Create a Japanese iTunes Account and Download Free Apps

1.     To start, open the iTunes store on your computer. Once it’s loaded, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the flag displaying your current regional settings on the right.

2.     A list of countries will appear, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Japanese flag at the bottom left to access the Japanese store.

3.     You will now be in the Japanese iTunes store. Before creating an account, you need to select the FREE app you want. In this case, that’s ポケモン言えTAP？so copy and paste that into the search bar at the top right.  

4.     Pokemon Ie Tap? should appear in the search results. Click on the “free” button to be prompted to make a Japanese iTunes account. 

5.     Click on “Create new account.” Then select “continue.” 

6.     At the top of the page it will say: “If your billing address is not in Japan, click here.” Disregard this, as you will not be entering your credit card details and do not need to provide an address.

7.     Agree to the terms and select “continue.” 

8.     Fill out your personal details and select “continue.” If you already have an iTunes account for your current region of residence, you will need to use a different email address when creating a Japanese account.

9.     For “Credit Card,” select “none.” If the “none” option doesn’t appear, that means you’ve made a mistake somewhere along the way­–you probably didn’t select Pokemon Ie Tap? in the iTunes app store. Remember, you need to have started from a free app in order for the “none” selection to appear. 

10. You’ll have to enter an address, so use your Google-fu to look up a legitimate Japanese zip code (example: 100-8994). The rest of the address can be made up, as you won’t be using it. For your phone number, you must also come up with a legitimate-looking number. One possible area code is 03 and then the following number should look like this: xxxx-xxxx. 

Note: For Phonetic First and Phonetic Last, you can just reenter your name. This is for Japanese kanji where there can be more than one potential reading for the same characters

11. Click “continue,” and if you have entered the address correctly, you will be met with a screen telling you to verify your Apple ID by checking the email address you provided at the beginning. 

12. You should have received an email from Apple. The subject will be in Japanese but will begin with the words “Apple ID.” Open the email, and click the link highlighted in the image below to verify your account. 

13. You will be directed to a page where you need to sign in using your email address and password. Click in the blue button after you have done so.

14. A green check mark with text will appear. Click the blue button to return to the iTunes store. If iTunes doesn’t open automatically, go ahead and access the store in iTunes yourself, and sign in by clicking “Sign In” at the top right corner. 

      Congratulations, you now have a Japanese iTunes account! Now you’ll need to find Pokemon Ie Tap? again to download it. Paste this: ポケモン言えTAP？ into the search bar one more time to find the app again. Once it comes up, all you need to do is click on it to be prompted to enter your password and start the download! Don’t stop with Pokemon–try all different types of searches to unearth some fun and quirky free Japanese apps! Enjoy!

I hope this was useful to someone, at least! Let me know what you thought in the comments, and thanks for reading. 

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Japan Envy: Monster Hunter Diary G Orange Juice

This may or may not turn into an ongoing thing, but I know a lot of bloggers out there have themed posts, so I'm going to try my hand with a series called "Japan Envy" to compile all the things that make me wish I was living in Japan. Otherwise this would just be a "hey look at this cute orange juice bottle" post (which it basically is, but I can get away with it now that I say I'm going to do it as a regular series).

Monster Hunter Diary G, aka Monhon Nikki Poka Poka Airuu Mori G, is an adorable Animal Crossing-esque Monster Hunter spin-off game featuring chibi versions of the game's mascot, Felyne (known as Airuu in Japanese). Now, I've never played a Monster Hunter game, nor have I played the original Monster Hunter Diary, but I am super-duper excited about Monster Hunter Diary G's August release. Seeing this gets me even more excited:

source

That, my friends, is Felyne orange juice. Feast your eyes on that adorable packaging! What I wouldn't give to be in Japan right now so I could drink cold orange juice out of a Felyne-adorned can. Now, I don't know anything about this brand Bireley's, but from the looks of things it appears to be regular old orange juice to me.

So, in all honesty, I could care less whether Monster Hunter Diary G is a quality game or not. I mean, I'm sure I'll get much enjoyment out of it so long as it's not horribly misguided. But regardless of gameplay, if it inspires adorable orange juice bottles and does crossovers with My Melody, well then by golly, it deserves my attention!

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Japanese visual kei bands sing Disney songs for new album?

Yesterday, I was privy to some surprising, and slightly disturbing, news. For those of you who are unaware, 'visual kei' is a specific type of Japanese rock music that is characterized by the fashion the band members wear. Musically, they often sound something like a mix of glam rock, punk, and metal (thanks Wikipedia!), but more than the music itself, visual kei is defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and stage personas of the members. I myself have my roots in visual kei–I appreciate the style and a number of bands that define themselves as visual kei, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a huge, die-hard fan of the movement. My tastes run more along the lines of a certain band called Buck-Tick (a band that is actually credited as being one of the founders of the visual kei movement, but I digress).

Suffice it to say, when I heard that Disney was going to release an album called "V-ROCK Disney" in Japan, I was shocked. Disney songs sung by... visual kei bands? Alright, Japan, you've come up with a lot of wacky Disney crossovers that were almost universally panned when they were first announced (Kingdom Hearts, I'm looking at you), but this might be taking it a step too far. Here's a couple of images to help illustrate Disney x visual kei for you all:

 The members of this band, Nightmare, will be singing...

 ... "A Friend like Me" from Aladdin? 

Of course you can't get a proper idea of what kind of music Nightmare does from an image, so here's one of their more popular songs for your consideration:

Don't get me wrong, I actually love this song (you may recognize it as the opening theme to the anime Death Note), but when I think about them doing a cover of an Aladdin song... I don't know what to say about that. 

For anyone like myself who has a morbid curiosity in this CD, it will be released in Japan on September 7th, and shops such as CD Japan will probably stock it in the future for international buyers (it's not listed yet, however). You can also see a full track list and bands it will feature at this Tokyo Hive article. 

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Otome Game Primer

As a follow-up to my previous post on boys' love games, I thought I'd dedicate this post to one of my favorite game genres: otome games. Don't worry, I'm not done talking about BL games by any means! It's just that a certain piece of extremely exciting otome game related news has got me rearing to talk about otome games today. If you're too lazy to click on the link (which leads to a Video Game Writers article on the subject written by me, so shame on you), then I'll sum it up for you: one of the most famous Japanese otome games is getting a localization (picture below), and will be released in the US for the PSP sometime during quarter one of 2012! For someone who never thought otome games would ever get translated, this is awesome news.

So, what are otome games? I'm going to be lazy and quote what I wrote in the aforementioned article: "Otome is the term most often used in Japan to refer to romance, or dating, simulation games that cater towards a female audience. In these games, you control the actions of the main character, who is always female, as she navigates through the game’s narrative, making decisions along the way that will ultimately decide which male suitor, out of a number of possible options, she will end up with at the end of the game." If you read my BL article, the gameplay in otome games is often very similar, but the relationships that form the plot are heterosexual, rather than homosexual.

While many otome games tend towards the visual novel side of things, with lots of text and few options to change the course of the narrative, some have more simulation elements such as stat raising. The Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side games excel in that they provide more engagement than their visual novel counterparts, which is why I own not one but two of them for the DS. They also have a unique feature called "skinship" where you utilize the touch screen to interact with the various male characters–different types of touches in different locations (get your mind out of the gutter, this game is PG!) will elicit various reactions depending on the guy's personality, which can be quite a bit of fun.

While unfortunately BL games seem to be neglected when it comes to English releases, otome games are slowly gaining ground. Besides the wonderful news that an official Japanese otome game will be getting a localization, there are a few independently-developed indie English otome games. One such game is called X-Note, and you can even try a demo of it on the site to get a feel of what to expect with otome games in general. It notably lacks voice acting, which provides much of the charm of the male suitors in Japanse otome games, but otherwise it seems like a very solid game with nice artwork, and at the very fine price point of only $15, anyone who has an interest in otome games should definitely consider checking it out. What's even more impressive is that the game was created by a team of only two people! Wow.

X-Note is one of only a few English otome games

There's a Japanese otome game available for the iPad and iPhone as well, and it includes not only an English translation but the ability to switch between the two. This one's only $3.99, but unfortunately I don't have an "i" anything, so I can't give it a try. If anyone does check it out, let me know what you think!

Heian Love for the iPhone/iPad

I could go on and on, but I think I'll have to leave things here for now. Atelier Rorona, my new gaming obsession, is calling me! If you have anything in particular you'd like to know about otome or BL games that you'd like me to cover in a future post, let me know in the comments!

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