I’ve recently been revisiting Ouendan 2. This is one of the songs from the game.

I don’t know which version is better.
David

Ouendan 2 Soundtrack in 2 parts

Linkidus 1
Linkidus 2

A través del Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, un juego musical de la Nintendo DS que solamente salió en Japón, conocí esta preciosidad de canción de Yaida Hitomi, que trata sobre el amor y la distancia. No necesito decir nada más, la traducción que hecho (a través de una traducción en inglés, no os penséis que sé japonés) deja bien claras las dificultades de unir ambos términos. Over the Distance:

Surcando una ola azul oscura, siguiendo sin límites…
Mi imaginación crece, y aunque no me guste, el ambiente sigue cambiándose…
He andado a lo largo de todas las orillas a tu lado…
¿Qué puedo hacer?…
Cuando quiero verte no puedo…
No necesito nada, sólo tocarte…
Un viento distinto… pasa por mi pecho…
Es lo que más recuerdo, lo que más me ha preocupado…
Aún no puedo alcanzarte con una lágrima…
No me gusta sentirme insegura…
Llego a un punto donde intento encontrar motivos para mis acciones…
Antes de que nos encontremos, seré mas fuerte…
No necesito nada, sólo tocarte…
No podía nadar demasiado bien en el futuro de aquel tiempo…
Estás lejos, pero a no ser que seas tú, no hay ningún significado…
Lo comprendí cuando vine otra vez aquí.
El lugar donde oí por primera vez su calurosa voz…
No puedo parar de pensarlo…
En este momento quiero culparme…
El cielo no puede imitar la voz de un pequeño pájaro…
Es doloroso, pero es porque no estás aquí…
Quiero volar alto y verte,… ahora mismo.
Quiero oír que me amas.
Quiero creerte y protegerte.
Quiero estar unida a ti.

För alla som är fans av spelet “Osu! Tatakae Ouendan!” eller “Elite Beat Agents” till Nintendo DS så har jag nu alldeles för sent upptäckt att det finns en hemmagjord gratis PC-version av spelet,  “Osu!” där fans även kan bidra med egna banor. Varför är det ingen som har berättat det här för mig?

För er som inte är insatta så är detta alltså ett rhytm-spel, där man ska pricka toner allt eftersom de dyker upp på skärmen. Än så länge finns det strax över 1000 låtar att spela, i olika svårighetsgrader.  Jag använder min PC-tablet när jag spelar, men vad jag har förstått det som så spelar de flesta med mus, och det verkar fungera bra. När man har klarat en låt skickas poängresultaten till sidan så att du kan hålla koll på din rank, och man kan även tävla direkt mot andra. Det finns nära 80 000 spelare registrerade på siten, men ändå har jag inte fått höra något!

Kom och spela med mig!

Här är min profil:

Lembrei-me hoje de falar sobre este anime já que é um dos meus preferidos e é bem porreiro para quem gosta de música metal e de se rir um pouco.

Detroit Metal City conta as peripécias de uma banda de death metal em que o actor principal é um atado, e um amante de música pop sueca que queria seguir a sua carreira musical nesse estilo. No entanto acabou por ser o vocalista principal da banda de death metal.

Sim, são a mesma pessoa… Sim, o da esquerda está com um ar efeminado… Sim, o da direita está a comer um morcego… Onde está a graça? Vejam o anime.

Se isto tudo vos parece meio estranho, então fiquem a saber que este anime sobre uma banda de musica é baseado numa manga com o mesmo nome… Não estranharam? Então fiquem a saber que fizeram recentemente um filme do Detroit Metal City! E ainda está para ser anunciado um jogo para a Nintendo DS (Dizem que vai ser tipo Ouendan!)…

Deixo aqui os links para download deste anime em formato mkv, já que não é licenciado nem está hospedado no meu blog, não há problema!

Detroit Metal City @ animesuki.

Link directo para o torrent.

Go to DMC! Página oficial do filme.

Yeah, I don't know what's happening here either.

Sometimes, a game comes along that is fun to play, and has a lot of replay value, but you just can’t believe the premise. Elite Beat Agents is that game. Based on the Japanese series Ouendan, EBA puts you in the shoes of one of the Elite Beat Agents, basically an elite force that helps fix people’s problems through… wait for it… DANCING! Yeah, okay, it’s pretty weird, but that’s definitely a part of this game’s charm. Just watching the Agents dance around on the bottom screen is enough to make you laugh. The top screen plays out the story of the person in trouble. These may be the highlight of the game. From the weather forecaster who blows away rainclouds (with the help of friendly forest animals, of course), to basically helping a French painter “get lucky”, the stories are crazy. With all the gameplay on the bottom screen, you’ll probably miss these the first time through, so it’s a good thing the game has a replay option to watch your sessions over and over.

Gameplay-wise, EBA shows that simple is sometimes best. The basic gameplay consists of circles appearing onscreen. These circles have another circle which close in on them slowly. Your goal is to tap the circle as soon as the outer circle touches the inner circle. This may seem easy, but at times, there can be so many circles onscreen at once, you must be a master to get a perfect score. There are variations on this. Sometimes a path will appear onscreen, and you must trace it with your stylus. The other type of marker is a spin marker, which is pretty self-explanatory. The spin marker is pretty much my only problem with the gameplay, as it feels like a pretty useless aspect, and just succeeds in making you worry about breaking your stylus. This is compounded by the fact that EBA is not an easy game. In fact, it gets damn near impossible on certain difficulties. With 4 difficulty levels, though, the game never quite gets out of hand completely, raising your skill through making you repeat levels over and over as you fail.

The main problem I have with the game is its soundtrack. It does fit the game perfectly, but it’s just a little strange. Samplings include classic rock hits like “Highway Star” and “Jumping Jack Flash”, but also throws in some oddities like “Material Girl” and “La La”. This weird mix of songs makes the game a bit difficult to play in public, unless you want to be seen jamming to Ashlee Simpson on your DS. EBA is definitely a must-have for any DS owner, and for any fan of rhythm games. Just make sure you’ve got some headphones for playing outdoors.

Final Grade: B

Here it is! Osu! For the iPhone!
To those who don’t know, osu is that PC port clone of Elite Beat Agents or Ouendan in the nintendo DS… Err, double porter to the iPhone? LOL

It is a (rhythm) game where you have to tap buttons on screen according to the beat of the given music. Additionally, Osu! has support for custom maps, online rankings and modes not found in the original games.

Now you can play an EBA like game on your iphone. For free too (jailbreak required ATM)

iOsu is still on its beta stages, complete with only but the basic functionality (no mods or other stuff like videos). Cool thing is that it is reverse compatible with music from the PC version and well, it is playable.

Osu may be a lot more uh, hardcore than its predecessors but hey, it’s still very addicting.

Links:
Osu! http://osu.ppy.sh

Mi sono imbattuto oggi in un nuovo trailer di Detroit Metal City Death Shout, tie-in per DS dell’omonimo manga/anime. Il gioco ha subito diversi ritardi (doveva uscire ad agosto), ma dal nuovo filmato sembra che siano state aggiunte nuove e svariate modalità. Inizialmente, DMC DS si era presentato come un clone molto simile ad Ouendan, dove lo scopo del giocatore è toccare dei cerchi sullo schermo a tempo con la musica. Adesso invece, questa modalità sarà solo una parte del gioco e sarà affiancata da altri tipi di gameplay. 

In una modalità dovremo completare dei minigiochi, come ad esempio lo “stupro della torre di Tokyo” (guardate l’anime se vi sembra assurdo, ma è proprio così XD) oppure una sessione di batteria con Camus. Ma la cosa più interessante è sicuramente il Quest mode, dove, in puro stile RPG, dovremo guidare la band attraverso diverse battaglie per completare la loro avventura. Lo stile grafico di questa modalità ricorda molto gli RPG dell’epoca Super Nintendo, e in particolare strizza l’occhio a Dragon Quest V.

Dopo questo ultimo aggiornamento, Detroit Metal City Death Shout diventa per me un must buy, essendo un grandissimo fan dell’anime, che ho finito di vedere proprio di recente. Chiunque non lo abbia visto, è pregato di recuperarlo! XD Sono solamente 12 puntate da circa 10 minuti ciascuna, quindi vi porterà via poco tempo, ma in compenso vi farà divertire per il modo in cui vengono presi in giro i luoghi comuni sui metallari, a partire dalla sigla e il suo testo assurdo. Mi raccomando, provate a vederne anche solo una puntata, sono sicuro che non ne rimarrete delusi. Nel frattempo sto cercando in tutti i modi di recuperare il live action movie uscito quest’estate in Giappone, che sembra essere ancora più demenziale dell’anime e ha nel cast anche Gene Simmons, nei panni della leggenda metal. Attendo con impazienza il DVD .

Trailer di Detroit Metal City Death Shout

Opening dell’anime

I thought I’d kick things off by sharing something I found really quite impressive. Above is a video showing possibly one of the best done cosplays I’ve seen. Now you could say it’s bias because of my love of Ouendan 2, but I’m serious – I’ve seen some good cosplay, and I’ve seen some bad, and as this goes this is bloody good. As you can see, the whole routine’s been meticulously planned, the audio’s been carefully edited and well, the whole thing is just such a great performance that I was left grinning. To gather such a group and practice the routine, make the costumes (and so accurately, too!) and then perform before an audience (that actually seem to really know what’s going on – thrust EBA cosplay into Europe and you’ll get a fair few blank faces), well the whole thing shows the real spirit of the fans. It’s just bloody impressive.
If you want to see a full version (I do recommend it) you can see it here.

And with that, I think I’ll end this post for lack of knowing what else to say. XD
Watch the video and enjoy. =)

2 Chunichi Dragons ouendan (cheering squads) have been banned from all NPB stadiums. Here’s my transation of the news wire item:

Police and all 12 NPB clubs ban 2 Chunichi Dragons cheer squads

13:32, 27 March 2008

In an effort to remove elements of organized crime and malicious ouendan (cheer squads) from NPB, the Pro Baseball Crime Elimination Committee have banned 2 unaffliated (private) ouendans of the Chunichi Dragons. The notification was received by the Dragons on 27 March, and the decision bans 26 members of one ouendan, and the other ouendan were not granted special (organized) cheering privileges for this season. It was found that the 2 groups in question have ties to organized crime.

The group receiving the full ban are not allowed to enter any NPB stadium. The group that had its special cheering priviledge withheld can enter stadiums, but are not allowed to set up their organized cheering section in the stands.

The Pro Baseball Crime Elimination Committee comprises of the 12 clubs of NPB and the National Police Agency among other organizations. The ouendan system has been on an approval basis since the 2006 season in an effort to eliminate criminal elements from the game.

(Kyodo)

This is the dark underbelly of the baseball cheering squads in Japan, and the efforts made by NPB and the police should be applauded, even though some fans have complained about the lack of “oomph” in some clubs’ ouendans starting in 2006, but the diminished sound volume from the banning (oops, not granting cheering priviledges) of select ouendans will be good in the long run and the volume of the sound generated by the cheering squads will go back up to pre-2006 levels if there are enough dedicated supporters of the club.

The troublesome ouendans have a history of grabbing up excessive number of outfield seats, being rude and malicious both verbally and physically to fellow and opposing fans, excessive public intoxication (though this is not a crime in Japan), along with their ties to organized crime gangs known as boryokudan.

Hakuryukai (White Dragons Club) and Ryushinkai (Dragon Spirit Club) are the 2 ouendans in question, with the former being banned outright and the latter not getting its cheering priviledges granted.

In response to this news, all Chunichi ouendans (there are way more than 2) will not lead any cheering, and definitely not with the usual drums and trumpets (though the Chiba Lotte Marines supporters use a soccer/football style cheering using mostly just their voice and hands, pretty amazing sight and sound in their unison). It will be interesting to see how the Dragons fans react to this as the Central League season opens tonight. They just might enjoy the MLB style natural reactions to the onfield actions (though there is way too much PA sound effect prodding in NA sports for my tastes…)

Original Kyodo wire news item (in Japanese).

Vad gör när man har hela huset för sig själv en hel vecka?  Vanligtvis så skaffar man sig så dåliga sovvanor som möjligt, bjuder över människor och så river man huset tillsammans.

Inte jag. Jag är sämst som människa just nu. Sitter mest och spelar ouendan, eller “Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2″ som det egentligen heter. Är helt beroende vid det här laget :3 Har lyckats låsa upp en bonuslåt (monkey magic~), men har kommer inte ihåg hur det gick till. Numera håller jag på med att spela igenom alla låtar igen för att få ytterligare extralåtar. Det går inte så bra, men å andra sidan har jag bara haft spelet i typ fyra dagar, så det gör kanske inte så mycket.

Men jag bara samlar på mig dålig-människa poäng. Sen lovet börjat och familjen flytt ur huset har jag inte sett en levande själ. Och inte gör jag mycket åt det. Borde verkligen det, men inte fan gör jag det. Semst.

Dålig sak med att vara ensam i huset: Du måste laga all mat själv. Och helst vill man ju ha lite omväxling, och inte bara gulash-soppa varje dag (vilket jag för övrigt inte behövt ta till ännu). Det bli mycket makaroner med falukorv. Som för övrigt heter pacmanpasta in my book of reference. (Falukorv i skivor med ett litet snitt blir pacmans!) Truely nom-able.

Håller på med research för min HPfic. Försöker hitta varenda tillfälle i böckerna som man nämner någon detalj om marodörerna. Det är sju böcker, och gaaanska många sidor. Skoj skoj. Mest en ursäkt för att inte börja skriva. En liten grej är jag faktiskt klar med, men den behövde vara klar innan jag började skriva. Det är en sorts minihistoria som ska bifogas med i varje kapitel är det tänkt. Ur ett annat perspektiv liksom. Fast det stämmer inte riktigt. (Måste hitta på en schyst titel också… doh)

Imorgon ska jag äta glass till efterrätt. Ben & Jerry. Chocolate Therapy. Oj vad synd det är om mig. >:D

The PSP gets no respect. It’s perceived as the handheld system for the mainstream; a shiny toy for frat boys to play GTA and watch Adam Sandler movies on. The DS, by contrast, is for the true gamer; it conjures images of pony-tailed Gamestop employees playing Advance Wars as they suffer through the torture of daily life. The actual merits of both systems are often overshadowed by these false images of contrasting demographics, just as they did during the 16 bit console wars.

Detractors of Sony’s easily finger-printed portable point out
a lack of original games for the system. And it’s true that most of the system’s high profile games are simply inferior installments in franchises that started life on home consoles. Why would you want to play scaled down versions of Jak or Ratchet or Metal Gear, when you could be playing fresh new games like Mario, Zelda or Metroid?

Perhaps I applied the sarcasm a bit too thick there, but the point is that the DS gets a lot of undue credit for offering fresh gameplay experiences. For every Ouendan there are fifty Mega Man Battle Networks, and using a stylus to play games that adhere closely to typical game design conventions is hardly what I’d call “fresh.” Meanwhile the original games for the PSP, such as Crush, get little recognition, though admittedly they are few in number.

But all this bitching and moaning about fairness aside, the fact remains; if this is a “war” (as people tend to think of it), the DS is clearly winning. The PSP is doing far better than most people would have expected though; nearly three years after it’s release, the system is still fighting and making Sony money, and that alone is impressive. But there’s no denying that it’s getting it’s ass kicked; for every PSP sold, Nintendo moves three of their units.

Being an owner of both systems, I have to ask; why is this? Now I’m not saying that the PSP is superior (I feel the two are about equal), but there are a number of ways in which the DS simply can’t (or doesn’t) compete with it. And do to my undying love of lists, I’ve assembled five of them for your reading pleasure (or, more likely, your skimming over indifference). Enjoy.

1. Shoot-em-ups

As of this writing, the DS has only a single shmup; Nanostray. The sequel should be releasing within a couple weeks, and there are plans to port Ketsui to the system at a later date, but this is still a relatively meager collection of shooters.

The PSP has significantly more, and Konami is almost single-handedly to thank for that. The venerable developer/publisher has released a large chunk of it’s classic shmup output in the form of various series’ collections. As a result, almost all of the Gradius, Parodius, Twinbee, and Salamander series are available on the go. Xexex also received it’s first home port via one of these compilations (the Salamander pack).

Also available are the (reportedly disappointing) third installment in Psikyo’s Sengoku Ace series, as well as Hudson’s Star Soldier. Star Soldier is particularly unique in that it actually requires you to hold the PSP sideways. It’s slightly unwieldy at first, but the game is good enough to justify a little initial discomfort.

Clearly, 20+ games spread across 6 UMDs easily outclasses the DS’s meager (yet fairly solid) selection, and that’s not even counting the several great shmups available via…

2. Classic Compilations

I suppose Konami’s shmup collections detailed above could just as easily have been put in this category, but whatever. And again, the DS isn’t without a showing in this department. Namco, Konami and Atari all have rather run-of-the-mill compilations available for Nintendo’s little cash cow, with probably a couple more that I’m not aware of. But again, the PSP rather effortlessly takes the crown in this department.

Metal Slug Anthology, Sega Genesis Collection, Namco’s mandatory “Museum” collection, Power Stone Collection (admittedly just two games), EA Replay Collection (yuck), and two volumes of Capcom Classics make for a pretty potent selection of classics. SNK is also planning a new release featuring a wide variety of their own underplayed classics. Again, I’m probably missing a few; I didn’t exactly do a ton of research here.

3. Racing Games

To me, this category is a biggie. Now I’m not saying that the DS doesn’t have any racing games. There are plenty, and by numbers alone, the two systems are about equal in this department. But here’s the thing; almost all of the DS racers suck in a major way. Of course there’s Mario Kart, and for many gamers it’s the only racing series that matters, but for serious fans of the genre, the DS isn’t the greenest pasture for handheld speed-seeking. As a matter of fact, it’s more of a desert full of sun bleached bones.

In keeping with this pointless analogy, the PSP is a lush rain forest. Big name titles like Ridge Racer, Burnout, WipeOut and even Outrun have all made absolutely outstanding showings on the system. The racing genre, much like the FPS, depends heavily on state of the art graphics and physics to convey a sense of realism. The DS unfortunately doesn’t have the horsepower (pun intended) to do the genre justice. Which brings us to our next category…

4. Graphics

Sure looks aren’t everything, but they’re certainly something. And while the DS can handle 2-D beautifully, it really struggles with polygons. It can handle them, sure, and a talented developer can make them look decent enough (especially if they’re viewed from a distance), but it’s quite rare for a game that doesn’t have the word “Mario” in the title to have attractive 3-D. Usually the graphics have that “early Playstation 1″ look about them, which is about as mean an insult as I can imagine.

The difference between the two systems is best illustrated by a direct comparison. The following two games share the same name, but let’s see if you can figure out which one is Ridge Racer, and which is Riiiiidge Racer!

Can you tell the difference?

5. Multimedia Capabilities

“But it’s all about the games” I hear you chortle as you read this. True, it is all about the games when you want to play a game, but when you’d prefer to listen to some tunes, the DS is as handy as a foot. It’s true that these features aren’t very useful for those who play their handhelds in the comfort of their own home, but for anyone who actually uses their portable system portably, these features are borderline essential.

Movie playback is the most lauded of these features, yet it’s probably the one you’re least likely to utilize. Sure, it’s a nice option, but UMDs are pretty large critters, so it’s unlikely that you’ll opt to take a movie along with you in lieu of a game. You can put movies directly on your memory card, but it requires some monkeying around to convert your flicks into a form the PSP will recognize (the rare and obscure mp4).

Every bit as important as the music capabilities are the image viewing options. I’m sure by now you’ve noticed the sassy young tenderoni to the right. Well let me tell you, on a lengthy road trip, or during your week at Uncle Jeb’s farm, she and her ilk are much better company than Pac-man or Sonic could ever hope to be. Not only can you align your pictures to display vertically (as I’ve shown in the example), but you can zoom in quite a lot. In the case of Little Danni there, I can zoom in to such an extent that I can see individual goosebumps on her thigh. But I fear that this is becoming irreparably creepy, so let’s move on, shall we?

Games can also be downloaded. At the PSP Connect store, full PS1 games (only 1st and 2nd party titles so far) can be downloaded and played straight off the memory card (albeit for a price). While most of these games have aged horribly, it’s rather handy to have old standbys like Hot Shots Golf or Crash Bandicoot available without having to lug around any more bulky UMDs.

And of course there’s a thriving homebrew and emulation scene going on behind the scenes, but I’m restricting this article to features that don’t require any hacking or modding. Needless to say though, with a little technical know-how, the PSP can do just about anything short of washing windows.

So if you went through this list and still aren’t convinced, the PSP might not be the system for you. Not necessarily though. The above list is more a checklist of my own personal preferences than anything even bordering on definitive. The system has other advantages too, though they fall outside my area of expertise. SRPGs are well represented. The web browser is reportedly very functional. Playing the system in public is slightly less humiliating than it’s competition (no frantic blowing, for one thing). And it’s certainly a respectable option for those who just want a portable movie player (though you’ll need a pair of headphones).

Overall, it’s a very good system that has withstood some very stiff competition from Nintendo’s little juggernaut. Sure it might not have 2,037 new releases a month, but I’d wager to say that there are more than enough excellent games available to justify a purchase.