Sengoku Jidai

2004-05-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

Strange happenings with the Nick Berg story. It seems like there is so much more too it then the media and the adminstration is telling us. Rueters reports that the F.B.I. saw him three times, while he was being detained by the Iraqi police.

While he was held, he wasn't formally charged with anything. Something tells me if this guy had survived the war he would have been the next Lee Harvey Oswald.

2004-05-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

Boondocks got it right

"I'm truely grateful."

2004-05-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Shrub is now telling America to be grateful to Dr. Strangelove for his efforts in the battle against terra.

I'm grateful alright, Rumsfeld smartly ignored all the prewar planning by the state department, which has lead to more than 500 soldier's deaths, plus he had no idea that the Iraq prison problem was a problem until it was on 60 minutes II. I'm also grateful at a leader who briefs the Senate Armed Services Committee and fails to mention this problem to them.

Where do I send the thank you?

2004-05-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

The humble Commander in Chief apologized to Jordan about the Iraqi Prisoner abuse. Courtesy of Google here a gaggle of press coverage.

Geographically speaking Jordan is as close as you can get to Iraq without being Saudi Arabia, but why didn't Schrub apologize the Iraqis. Maybe he fiqures because of their close proximity the Iraqis will pick up the apology from Jordan:

Map incluced for the non geographically inclined.
Note how well Saudi Arabia is spelled on there.

2004-05-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

In my newer better blog I talk about Bush's Alhurried Response to this prisoner abuse thing.

2004-05-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

The post has a summary of world opinion. Bush is now Saddam Hussein. Really the whole "liberation" argument get poked full holes when the US begins treating prisoners like Saddam did. Of course that is what other pundits have said so I won't take credit for the thought.

I have to wonder where the hell is John Kerry during all this prisoner torture stuff. Does this guy think that he can beat Bush by not saying anything about anything. If he is trying to run a safe candidacy he's going to get pounced on. Some Democrats fear he "looks like Gore". Which if that is the case we better prepare for the draft in '05 after Kerry gets whupped.

My problem is his statements about his "familys SUV" and that he did or didn't throw his medals in protest. Kerry needs to define himself as a clear and better alternative to George Bush. Lately he has been failing at it. On one hand he has plenty of issues to speak up about, but on another he just seems to respond to whatever attack the white house dishes out instead of attacking them.

Now with this Iraqi prisoner issue in the news, I can't help but hope that maybe Kerry will sprout a backbone and start standing up to Bush. I'm not sure buying ad space is the way to do it.

2004-04-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

Way to go George, Mission still accomplished! Or is it?

The Christian Science Monitor mentions the lack of mission accomplishing that has occurred. Also a little tid bit on the hand picked governing council.

I had no idea that it has been a year since W's photo op on the Lincoln. There was a big deal about how they kept them from docking so the President could fly in on his jet. That was the only way they could fly him in. Then there was bannergate, which really seemed to not interest the press at all.

It was all but a forgone conclusion that whichever Democratic ran against him would get slaughtered at the polls. Now it seems that all the slaughter is happening in Iraq and Bush's standing in the polls is shakey. From the looks of it this Iraq venture could be Bush's undoing. Now instead of pushing on more and invading Syria or Iran it is No War in 'O4.

These days Rove regrets the banner and the families of the deceased soldiers probably regret the war. Maybe Kerry will finally take a firm position on something and campaign as the guy who brings our boys home. Unfortunately I feel if he wins he might be pressured into invading another country to show the Republicans in congress that he is "tough on terror". Which according to Andy Rooney should be terrorism because tough on terror is bad grammer.

2004-04-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

I have discovered a great new resource about the US in Iraq. rationalenquirer.org.

If you are one of the four people who read me bloody blog check it out. It is good I swear. I'm linking it permanently.

2004-04-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Inspired by cursor.org I thought I google all the times Bush was referenced in the news as saying "Most of Fallujah is returning to normal." Let me tell you it is alot. I really can't think of a more out of touch President except for maybe his father.

Soldiers die and Bush goes on holiday, yet proclaims that he is a "wartime President'. And in the case of Fallujah, the situation isn't improving at all, but it is returning to normal in his eyes. Yet from the public there still isn't the outrage and I believe a large part of that is becuase Bush and co. sell this Iraq excursion as extension of the War on Terror, not a seperate conflict.

The whole reason the military is trying to stabalize Fallujah and Najaf is because Paul Bremmer doesn't want to hand over power at the same time were shooting rockets at mosques. Locally in LA it got no coverage because the Lakers don't play in Bagdad, but if they did I guess then the local stations would cover it.

LA got its first terror alert from Homeland Securty. Terrorists now hate malls. Our very own Westside Pavilion is now a target!
If you live here still shop there, it probably is somebody who thought they could get out of work but threatening the mall.

2004-04-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Shameless plug portion of the blog. The other day I picked up these candies at Ralphs the big grocery chain here in southern California. They are zipsours and they totally kick ass. In many ways they are better than Altoid sours.

If you see them buy them. My only problem is that they cost 2.00 and you get 12 candies. But on the upside they will be the most damn flavorful candy you've ever eaten. I've only had the orange and the black cherry, I'm not too big on grapefruit or cranberry. Well maybe the cranberry will be good.

2004-04-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

What the hell is going on? For some strange reason I felt compelled to buy Foreigner's Greatest Hits and I really like them. It was actually that David Bowie's Greatest Hits and Splashdown Rides Gone Wild, which while fun could use some work in the loading department.

Sony's Sales Have Slumped lately, analysts blame the recent Xbox price cut, but I think it might be because everybody alread has one. That an people dying in Iraq probably hurt sales.

Lately I've taken a liking to the Google Press Center:Zeitgeist it has a ton of interesting stuff on there. I use it to aid my secret Christina Aguilera addiction. When I see all this Jessica Simpson stuff all over the place, it just doesn't do it for me. The Christina got downgraded I still fancy her.

Onimusha 3 came out today. Buy it, I did and I love it. Though I have to play through it again in english to get the story bits.

There is so much Iraq news lately I'm almost overwhelmed with what to talk about. Instead I give you the Glossary of the Iraqi Occupation. Paul De Rooij manages to nicely cover in depth all the terms that spin out of Iraq. It really isn't like Pottery Barn because if you break stuff there, they'll write it off. I'd like to see America do that.

2004-04-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just for your information. I'm some sort of porn freak or anything like that, but I've taken a liking to Paris Hilton. Anyway if your interested in seeing Hot Spicy Paris Action <- Go there! If your at least interested.

That falls in the catagory of ideas I wish I thought of. That dude is probably going to retire a millionaire. Next celebrity having sex video I'm not waiting, I'm setting up shop.

2004-04-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

No new porn for a while it seems. The Independent has a great article on the current freeze on porn out of San Fernando.

One thing it touches on is that this could be the opportunity that Ashcroft and Co. need to start attacking it. The Baltimore Sun article mention's forensic specialist Lam Nygun as one of Ashcroft's warriors against porn. And I quote:

"Lam Nguyen's job is to sit for hours in a chilly, quiet room devoid of any color but gray and look at pornography. This job, which Nguyen does earnestly from 9 to 5, surrounded by a half-dozen other "computer forensic specialists" like him, has become the focal point of the Justice Department's operation to rid the world of porn."

Lam Nguyen also said the work is hard and hours are long but he feels finished at the end of the day...(ok I made that up)

Now granted porn and Howard Stern are two different things, but first it's Howard Stern they'll get, next it will be the pornographers, and finally it will be artists with offensive material in music/art/movies. People are forgetting that if one person's rights are attacked then all of ours are. Howard Stern today, maybe you or me tomorrow.

This 'incident' in porn probably will be the catalyst for a whole big debate on it. That's what I can't wait to hear. The candidates stances on porn. They did it right during the Clinton years. They focused on the child porn and the underage stuff. If two consenting adults want to get paid by another consenting adult to have sex so that it can be filmed and bought by people who consent to it. Then why should John Ashcroft care about it.

George Bush and his adminstration make no sense. I fear because they are a legion of Christian soldiers who feel that their Neo-Conservative view of the world is the only way it should be.

2004-04-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

My liberal radio has disappeared on me. I was hoping to hear O'Franken's take on the Dubya press moment only to find that Air America turned spanish on me.

All the info that is fit to print is here. That really sucks, something tells me politics is behind this. If I had headphones I could at least listen at work.

Freedoms just another word...

2004-04-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

for when Bush had nothing else to say. Out of sheer boredom today I counted the number of times, Bush mentioned "freedom" last night the grand total was 21 times.

It seemed to be his fallback response to everything and everyone. My favorite freedom line was:

"Freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world."

Tell that to John Ashcroft, or the "free" people at Gitmo.

My freedom search was greatly aided by The Washington Post. Thank you for the text of the press conference.

2004-04-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Cheers to The Daily Outrage for pointing out how full of crap George Bush is about being "engaged" in thwarting Sept 11th.

Just the other day he had trouble remember who he trusted so much with the investigations at the F.B.I., but he knew if something specific was going to happend they would tell him:

"Q: I'd like to take you back to August 6, 2001, if I could, and ask you about your personal response when you received the [Presidential Daily Briefing]. Do you recall whether you called Bob Mueller and asked him about what the FBI was doing, asked about these 70 field investigations? And, also, did your mind go back to the PDB when September 11th hit?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Bob Mueller wasn't the Director of the FBI at the time.

Q: Did you call the Director?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I don't think there was a Director"

There is also a Washington Post article which mentions the memo and that he played golf the day he got it. I hope that someone on the Sept 11th commission asks him if he actually read it!!!

2004-04-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

Tangled up in boobs is a interesting take on Bob Dylan's latest sell out. The question it asks that really is hard to answer is that just because you can bet Bob Dylan doesn't mean you should.

The ad is here. Bob you used to be so cool. I guess its only a matter of time before Jane's Addiction music is turning up in Chevy commercials.

PSP technology showcase

2004-04-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

At the latest Game Devolopers Conference, Sony was showing off the power of the PSP. Watch Impress has a nice bunch of information on it. Only one game has been announced and I'm already excited.

This little device will probably steal the show at E3, but then again maybe Xbox could with Halo 2. Still I'm learning towards the first real 3D handheld as being the real show stealer.

2004-04-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

Lately I've really taken a liking to Great Teacher Onizuka. I picked it up one day because on the cover it proudly proclaims 37 million copies sold! I don't even think Micheal Crighton could do that with his best selling book. It manga though so the normal laws of nature don't apply to its sales.

Onizuka isn't the best nor is it my favorite but slowly it is on its way to becoming both. In terms of Anime I've been watching the first 21 episodes of Naruto, bad subtitles and all, and reading Shonen Jump. Onizuka is a little different then the stuff they put in the American Shonen, I realize it was originally published in Shonen in Japan but differing standards for differing markets you see. It has a lot more mature themes it deals with like teen outcasts, suicide and the vinidictiveness of all the teachers who want to bring Onizuka down.

Maybe what makes it great is that the character is flawed, but cool. Onizuka is by no means your standard comic book character. He's a 22 year old virgin biker gang black belt guy. In some ways he is a super hero. I forget which volume where he battles it out with some snotty kid in the arcade and as it was Onizuka was unbeaten at everything. It was really cool.

Plus because it is pretty recent there are PlayStation references and all other sorts of related information. I just got volumes 7 and 8 and I can't wait to start reading. When I'm not reading manga I'm reading about Che, which I was going to link the book cover but Amazon has some look inside crap that messes it up. While there though I discovered this:

I got to get me that. That should put me on Ashcroft's watch list. I had no idea that such a film existed.

So in conclusion if you are a grown up and like manga read GTO. Even if you hate it, if you give it long enough it will grow on you and you'll love it.

2004-04-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

Blog changes...maybe. What about if I call it Samurai Pudit Guy? It rhymes and would be actually the truth. I'll ditch the Sengoku stuff and pontificate about the exciting fun world of videogames.

I played me a whole lot of Karatami Damashi, I think I spelled that wrong, this weekend. It has the best music in a Namco game ever!!! It is right up there with Mr. Driller Drill Land.

So it is Monday and I don't feel much like working at all. Daylight savings messedd me up and the weather is gloomy and crappy here in SoCal. There was this really great show on PBS about Astronomy. Which probably be nice to watch if it didn't run from midnight until four in the morning.

A google news alert just informed that there is a Samurai Warriors review up on netjak. Enjoy I'm linking it sight unseen.

2004-04-02T15:22:00.000-08:00

Gameonline Japan has a whole bunch of Metal Gear Solid 3 screens and man does it look good. Initially after my experience with Raiden I was sort of cool to the whole MGS thing. And after attempting to play Twin Snakes I realize that maybe I like the original MGS more. Now with new information leaking out I'm excited as a little girl about MGS3.

That and maybe GTA San Andreas will have to see who outhypes each other. Great games like Onimusha 3 could be ignored. Also in Sengoku Musou news Dengeki has a review which touches upon some of the issues I have with the game. The skill system for one isn't the best and the ceiling ninjas, as I call them, in the random castles. Plus your enemy can miraculously heal themselves, not exactly fair when you're knockin on heavens door.

I would like to get Shin Sangoku Musou 3 Empires, but I fear it might be too text heavy and my japanese skills are nonexistent.

2004-03-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

Lately I've become something of a Capcom pimp over at InsertCredit. There really is no reason for it, other than my love of all manner of demon slaying. Which reminds me I should get Onimusha 2 someday and complete the trilogy. I'm replaying Onimusha 3 right now, I don't know how to change the costumes. I hear the hot french girl in there has a nice alternate one.

Somehow I can't find out how to access them though. I'm probably going to the get the english version and squeeze the life out of it. From what I'm reading on Gamefaqs I'm glad I waited on Monster Hunter. My time is best served appreciating the games I have and watching lots of Naruto.

Someday Naruto will be the new Yu Gi Oh, I believe it. Naruto is cooler then Yu Gi in some respects, but I still have a soft spot for Yu Gi because he's what got me into manga and Shonen Jump.

Keiji Inafune Rocks

2004-03-29T11:31:00.000-08:00

Having just finished Onimusha 3 I have to say I'm pretty excited about Shadow of Rome. Gameonline managed to steal some preview movies from IGN. Way to go Gameonline.

Keiji is behind it so I'm as good as there. He might be my new Kojima. Oh yeah there are Onimusha 3 and monster hunter videos too.

Shabu Shabu with Dewey and Onimusha 3 Conquered

2004-03-29T10:58:00.000-08:00

It was truely an eventful and fun weekend. First I blew way too much money in Little Tokyo but I did enjoy shabu shabu. It was pretty cool because Dewey from Malcom in the Middle was there and he and his mom were schooling me on how the hell I shabu shabu.

I did manage to complete Onimusha 3. I really love that game. So much can be said about it and I will. Sometime during a work lull I'm going to write up a review and post it here, I also email it to Insertcredit because and insertcredit rejection is worthwhile.

I'm about to play through the game again but faster and with less saves. That is my overall goal Somebody responded to my Prince of Persia reader review, that was interesting. I really think that game is overated. Somehow it is seen as the second coming. I've also managed to start playing the Sims Bustin Out again, for no reason at all other than I wanted too. For the the four people that read this or for my 19th visitor do yourself a favor and buy Onimusha 3.

2004-03-26T16:27:00.000-08:00

Shabu shabu and me. This weekend I'm rounding out my Japanese culinary dining experiences and having Shabu shabu. There is nice resturant in little tokyo that seats 28 and had a big line the last time I was down there. Zakuro Shabu Shabu is the name. Uncooked beef is the game.

I can't wait to get a plate of this stuff in me:

There are two rules when eating at a Japanese resturant, don't eat at one that no japanese people go too, and don't go to any place that isn't crowded or somewhat crowded. If it is crowded it has to be good.

In gaming news it appears as though Koei scored another hit with Shin Sangoku Musou 3 Empires, man that's a mouthful. Gamesindustry.biz has the chart. I think its changed a bit since then(the chart that is). In other gaming news Capcom thinks Europe hates the internet so no Resident Evil Online for them.

Capcom is still cool and loveable, but why does everybody give Europe grief.

2004-03-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

2 years and I got nothing to show for it. Well 2 years I guess. Today or yesterday or sometime this week at my employer. Initially because the economy was shit and terrorists were scaring everyone I didn't ask for a raise.

Now because the economy is shit and terrorists are scaring everyone I'm asking for a raise. I've worked my butt off sometimes I think I'm a good worker. I figure my raise should be equal to that of my tax refund.

I just have to find the right time.

2004-03-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

I miss the days when everybody thought Anna Kournikova was the coolest thing. But in the days of Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson our poor girl Anna is forgotten.

She could do better than that hoser Enrique Iglesias but I think they are only together until they get their own reality show.

I have to say one thing that really bugs me, aside from this blog layout (maybe I'll go spiderman) is people with kids telling people without them that they should have them too. They are evangelical Christians with toddlers. I'm happy for them but really I don't want to join their cult.

"Do you have kids?" "when are you gonna have kids?" "Kids are great"

Thanks for sharing. People talking about their kids isn't cool, its annoying and really the only reason anybody listens to them is to be nice. What can be worse is somebody talking about somebody else's kids.

Kids are worthy and great contributors to our society but really until they get to the voting stage I don't want to hear it.

Capcom Rocks!!!

2004-03-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

I think maybe this will be Capcom's year. With Onimusha 3 rocking the house and Monster Hunter is a bonafide hit. Capcom seems poised for profits.

When Monster Hunter fansites start popping up you know you have a hit. I really didn't even give this game a thought until Ray at my local import game shop gave it a plug. Now I'm spending all my time reading about it.

Gameonline.jp in their forum has a nice bunch of resources and previews. I'll probably break down and get it, which will put off my Katamari Damashi purchase. I've been spending a lot of time with Harvest Moon lately, it is pretty good. I completely neglected the Twin Snakes though.

On a blog not I hate the layout of this damn blog. It bugs me because it looks like everyone elses. I'm still playing sengoku musou, it seems to have fallen from the sales chart though:

1 PS2 Shin Sangoku Musou 3 Empires Koei 166,218 166,218 69.6%
2 PS2 Armored Core Nexus From Software 81,925 81,925 75.3%
3 GBA Tennis Prince 2004: Glorious Gold & Stylish Silver Konami 62,762 62,762 60.6%
4 GC The Legend of Zelda: 4 Swords + Nintendo 55,170 55,170 36.5%
5 PS2 Sakura Taisen Monogatari: Mysterious Paris Sega 54,894 54,894 64.6%
6 PS2 Monster Hunter Capcom 51,166 171,806 89.9%
7 GC Mobile Suit Gundam: Senshitachi no Kiseki Bandai 50,898 50,898 51.0%
8 PS2 Popolocrois: The Law of the Moon SCE 35,150 35,150 43.9%
9 GBA Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green Pokemon 34,025 1,728,370 94.1%
10 PS2 Katamari Damacy Namco 32,138 32,138 50.4%

Source: Gamescience

2004-03-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

Man Harvest Moon is violent.

Ok so that had nothing to do with harvest moon but it is the discussion worthy I guess. I just got harvest moon its a wondeful life and I'm suddenly obsessed with farming.

2004-03-17T17:57:00.000-08:00

Fuck You Ralph Nader!

Conspiracies Abound

2004-03-17T17:43:00.000-08:00

Kiwi News reports that US and Britain are bringing WMD's into southern Iraq. I guess this is the other "October Surprise" if Osama isn't found.

Now it is currently a theory but this adminstration is desperate, so I wouldn't put it past them. Can we imagine George Bush's smirk?

In Defense of Howard Stern

2004-03-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

Howard Stern gets too much shit these days. THere is a really good article on it all covered here. I admit I didn't like the show so much when the Jokeman left, but lately now that its Stern vs Bush, it has gotten alot better.

One interesting point in the article.

The Vice Chair of the company is Tom Hicks, a member of the Bush Pioneer club for elite (and generous) donors. When Bush was governor of Texas, Hicks was chairman of the University of Texas Investment Management Co., called Utimco, and Clear Channel's chairman, Lowry Mays, was on its board

Interesting so is this little tid bit.

In addition, Hicks purchased the Texas Rangers from George Bush, making him a wealthy man through a deal that was partially sweetened by a shiny new taxpayer financed stadium, which included valuable land obtained at below market rates through the use of eminent domain.

I would have never thought that. And the clincher of course is that he didn't get kicked off and start railing against Bush, it was the other way around.

And less than two weeks after Sterns diatribe against President Bush, and less than a week after Clear Channel removed Stern‚Äôs show from its stations, the FCC announced that it was, ‚Äúclose to levying about two dozen fines for indecency against radio companies, including Viacom Inc.'s Infinity Broadcasting (Stern‚Äôs parent company) and Clear Channel Communications Inc.‚Äù (‚ÄúFCC Planning Two Dozen Indecency Fines Against Radio,‚Äù March 5th ,Bloomberg.com). By the way, the current chairman of the FCC is Michael Powell, the son General Colin Powell, the current Secretary of Sate and a close advisor to both Bush administrations.

Smells like a witch hunt to me.

This guy is messed up

2004-03-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

Michael Jackson wanted to star in a movie where he played a man who turned into a car and then gets driven around by a 10 year old boy. The fat stupid bastard known as Kevin Smith told all to Playboy while promoting his stupid Affleck movie.

Did they edit Jennifer Lopez completely out of his stupid movie too? Ben Affleck is generally the kind of guy who just pisses everyone off. I think he's got a long way to go to get back his street cred.

2004-03-16T11:57:00.000-08:00

Discussing Samurais and demons is fun. So I started one here. All I can say is that I love Onimusha 3. This game is one of Capcom's best.

If you don't own it, you should.

Congradulations Koei

2004-03-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

Koei has the first million selling game of the year Sengoku Musou. According to Game Science. Logically one can assume a sequel is in the works.

It is one of my favorite games of this year and I look forward to playing it in english. Dengeki actually covered the original story!

2004-03-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

Today I'm trying to get a bunch of games and some curry. I just read a gamefaqs review, I know I was slumming it, that made me salivate for Onimusha 3.(Thanks donutbringer) Tonight that game will be mine. I'll probably go for Twin Snakes the Metal Gear remake becuase I dig Kojima and I want some Ninja action.

I'm halfway tempted to go for Pokemon Coliseum, I wonder if you don't preorder are you screwed on the bonus disc. I think not. Anyway Pokemon will have to wait becuase Harvest Moon is out next tuesday. Either way I'll be busy gaming until may.

2004-03-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Namco's garbage collecting action romance game looks good. Here's the Official site. I'm a sure thing for this one. I wonder if I got Yumeria would I be considered a sick bastard. I'm truely in a gaming lull. So I decided to start playing Pikmin in anticipation of Pikmin 2 next month.

Jason Rubin just left NaughtyDog and nobody seems to care. I guess that's the gaming community's way of saying "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" I'm sure he'll do fine, with whatever he does.

2004-03-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

From the looks of it Shin Sangoku Musou 3 Empires is good. According to Gamescience it scored a gold with the picky reviewers at Famitsu. There has been no word of a US release yet and that sucks.

I guess they liked Tekki too, but any game that requires a 200.00 controller is just plain stupid to me, no matter how cool it is. Back to the good news though here a picture of the cool Empires box!

2004-03-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

I'm officially cool. Dear International visitors and fans alike now this page can be translated. With the click of a link you wil be wisked away to a page in the language of your choice. How cool is that?

Anyway I'm not getting an Xbox or a Ninja Gaiden but I might get the Twin Snakes and maybe Onimusha 3 and probably Everquest Champions of Norath. I'm on the fence about Pokemon Collossium. With the box issue it dawned on me that it wouldnt be worth it to get a console for a few games.

The Ninja Conundrum

2004-03-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

Ok so I'm going into this whole long thing about me and my non Xboxing. Prepare to be entertained.

When Xbox was announced Microsoft was the center of evil in the galaxy. I guess they are still, but it was more obvious back then. So like all people I bitched and railed and said how they were going to fail, which relatively speaking they have. Anyway I didn't want one, I never wanted to own one. But as time has worn on so has my resolve.

First it kind of started with Halo. That game looks pretty wicked cool. Ok I'm not a big FPS guy, the main reason being the fricking headaches and the neckaches. That happens. Kojima-san can't play them at all. He gets motion sickness. I'm not Kojima. I like them but I don't love them.

Then there was a lull and a whole bunch of crap that came out that I could care less about. Here for example is the pinacle of a crap licensed exclusive game:

Bruce Lee in game made by Sega might be good, but not by whoever the hell made this one. So game of this quality really made me not care for an Xbox. The problem I mainly have is for every Ninja Gaiden there are 10 Bruce Lees. The same could be said for PS2.

Then it happened again. With Knights of the Old Republic. A cool fun awesome Star Wars game, that messes up your Xbox, nifty. Well sign me up. The cool thing about the game was the branching story and the chance to play as good or evil with the force. I still so very much want this game. A bitchin Star Wars RPG. Jade Empire is a game being made by the same dudes. I'd probably put that on my imaginary Xbox wishlist too if I could.

It is Ninja Gaiden that just makes it so hard to deny myself the Xbox experience. For now it is going to have wait because I have Harvest Moon coming out the 16th and I'm broke. So my wife has to hear me complain about the evilness of Microsoft and suddenly over the past year or two I don't hate them. I've kind of grown up. In the past I would spew vitriolic insults about the evils of them as a company. They are probably still evil, but at least they aren't run by Micheal Eisner.

Maybe what I'll do is tell my wife that I've change my stance and I'd like her blessing to bring the evil machine in our house. If not then I'll ask for it as a birthday present or something. I think too I suffer from what every game does during the end of a hardware cycle. I don't want a ps3 I just want something new. I'm perfectly happy with the current cycle but I'm due for a chance. There quiet a few Gamecube games on tap that I could get into as well. But I already own a Gamecube. With the box my hardware collection would be complete.
More as it develops...

Sorry about your loss but I need to get re-elected

2004-03-04T11:29:00.000-08:00

File this under, stupid desperate acts an incumbent will do to get re-elected Google news has a whole bunch of stories on the First Idiot. It sure makes you wonder what other tactics Karl Rove has up his sleeve.

The sad thing is that he's doing this for political gain, while at the same time he isn't really cooperating with the Independent Committee investigating Sept 11th. The real victims of all his politicking are the families of the victims who get to relive the horror in 30seconds spots.

2004-03-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

Ninja Gaiden must surely kick ass. On Gamerankings, it is scoring wicked high. Also Famitsu gave it a gold, they also did that for Jak II?

Famitsu Scores for 3/19

PS2 Jak & Daxter 2 9 / 8 / 8 / 8 - 33 gold
PS2 Monster Hunter 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 - 32 gold
PS2 Angel's Feather 6 / 5 / 5 / 5 - 21
PS2 Oshiete! Popotan 6 / 6 / 6 / 4 - 22
XB Ninja Gaiden 9 / 8 / 8 / 8 - 33 gold
XB Ghost Recon: Island Thunder 8 / 7 / 8 / 8 - 31 silver
GBA One Piece Going Baseball 6 / 5 / 5 / 6 - 22

This game makes me want to own an Xbox so I could play it. The official site is Ninja Gaiden.com, or maybe that' s Microsoft's mini site who knows.

I really am not a fan of Microsoft or Team Ninja for that matter. I go through this everytime there is a big Xbox release. When it is all said and done I think there are about 5 or 6 games I would really want to own. So basically it would end up getting about as much use as my Gamecube.

One thing I really hate is that every review is proclaiming how perfect it is. No game is perfect that's for sure. I know it has camera problems, but I don't think any gamer will live to see the perfect camera in their lifetime.

2004-03-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

Just becuase: I link them off the right and I'm currently involved in a deep and thoughtful discussion about Samurai Warriors on Kongming's Dynasty Warrior forum. Anyway if your looking for it check here. There is alot of good information to be found and it is alot more civil than gamefaqs.

The truth is I wish more people would visit me here so that I could feel warm and fuzzy about all the greatness my little blog is bringing to the world.

Google We Salute Ye'

2004-03-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

Ok this is so off base for me, but really I think its worth noting. Google has become so big, Microsoft is going to compete in the search engine market. Courtesy of Cursor.org, actually it is a Wired article. Check it out here! Of note these fine quotes:

It's not my homepage, but it might as well be. I use it to ego-surf. I use it to read the news. Anytime I want to find out anything, I use it."
- Matt Groening, creator and executive producer, The Simpsons

"Google means that I no longer have an excuse to be ignorant. You can't go into meetings unprepared anymore! I have a Google sticker on my computer that, when I go through airport security and take out my PC, the security guys see and act like I have a cute baby or something: 'Ooh, Google!'"
- Esther Dyson, chair, EDventure Holdings

"Writers of the past had absinthe, whiskey, or heroin. I have Google. I go there intending to stay five minutes and next thing I know, seven hours have passed, I've written 43 words, and all I have to show for it is that I know the titles of every episode of The Nanny and the Professor."
- Michael Chabon, author, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

"Actually, Google has had zero impact on my life."
-Steven Brill, Court TV founder and magazine entrepreneur; author, After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era

"I can't imagine life without Google News. Thousands of sources from around the world ensure anyone with an Internet connection can stay informed. The diversity of viewpoints available is staggering."
- Michael Powell, chair, Federal Communications Commission

"Google rocks. It raises my perceived IQ by at least 20 points. I can pull a reference or quote in seconds, and I can figure out who I'm talking to and what they're known for - a key feature for those of us who are name-memory challenged."
-Wes Boyd, president, MoveOn.org

"Google has improved my sex life, tightened my abs, and brought me closer to God. (I keed.) Actually, as a working gossip columnist, I appreciate Google as a rough - very rough - research tool. The Internet is still the Wild West."
- Lloyd Grove, columnist, New York Daily News

"My version is exactly what it is now. Google has got it right."
- Edward Tufte, Yale Professor of political science, computer science, statistics, and graphic design

"Google is my rapid-response research assistant. On the run-up to a deadline, I may use it to check the spelling of a foreign name, to acquire an image of a particular piece of military hardware, to find the exact quote of a public figure, check a stat, translate a phrase, or research the background of a particular corporation. It's the Swiss Army knife of information retrieval."
- Garry Trudeau, cartoonist and creator, Doonesbury

"Within the last seven days, Google has altered and augmented my perceptions of tulips, mind control, Japanese platform shoes, violent African dictatorships, 3-D high-definition wallpaper, spicy chicken dishes, tiled hot tubs, biological image-processing schemes, chihuahua hygiene, and many more critical topics. Clearly, thanks to Google, I am not the man I was seven days ago."
- John Gaeta, visual effects supervisor, the Matrix trilogy

Google me!

Latest Japanese Sales Data

2004-03-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

The Top 10 Japanese Console Games for the week of Feb 23 - 29.

1. Onimusha 3 (PS2, Capcom) - 359,160 / 359,160 units
2. Sengoku Musou (PS2, Koei) - 79,909 / 884,649 units
3. World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 Intl (PS2, Konami) - 71,330 / 376,468 units
4. Pokemon Fire Red / Leaf Green (GBA, Pokemon) - 66,316 / 1,562,455 units
5. Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction (PS2, Genki) - 53,192 / 53,192 units
6. SD Gundam G Generation Seed (PS2, Bandai) - 42,226 / 326,987 units
7. Final Fantasy X-2 International/ Last Mission (PS2, Square Enix) - 28,522 / 200,011 units
8. Famicom Mini: Super Mario Bros. (GBA, Nintendo) - 23,992 / 140,456 units
9. Famicom Mini: Ice Climber (GBA, NIntendo) - 18,648 / 60,347 units
10. Gallop Racer Lucky 7 (PS2, Tecmo) -16,720 / 49,248 units

Courtesy of The Magic Box. It looks like Onimusha 3 is doing better but still is off to a slow start.

2004-03-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

This weekend I delved heavily into Sengoku Musou! First off I have to say that certain characters I thought would suck actually were pretty cool the more time I spent with them. Namely Akechi Mitushide, at first glance he looks like a girlish boy and totally lame. But after a few hours/days and a weekend he's definitely a top tier character. His musuo attack really is the clincher. Though a couple of the ssstt combos are nice too. The musou on the other hand can really wreak havoc upon a large contingent of enemies quickly.

Another character I thought would suck but is kind of growing on me. The one I unlocked for finishing Akechi's story mode Mori Ranmaru. I guess in the game she's a girl, in real life Mori was a dude. There is this who **potiental spoilers abound** side story about her relationship with Akechi during his story mode. And his CG ending is kind of tragic which I won't go into detail, but needless to say it leaves you wondering.

I also just started powering up and quasi enjoying Takeda Shingen. Normally I'm not a big fan of slow big guys and I'm not really of him. But I need to finish his story to unlock Kunoichi and also to be able to complete some missions in Sanada's story mode. He plays like you expect, slow and powerful. Sometimes it seems like I'm walking a character who is stuck in glue. Even with the speed sandals he still seems slow. Though somehow he does manage to arrive where he needs to at the right time, so maybe compared to Hanzo he is slow.

This weekend also led to a breakthrough with my playing, I actually got stuck. So far I've been clearing stages at a nice clip, but with Takeda I actually got stuck and had to do it three times. There is this battle on his third stage I believe?!?, where you have to basically take out Oda's riflemen commanders or "all your base" will belong to Oda. It took me multiple tries to realize I had to run to the three blinking blue spots on the map and kill the commanding officers there.

Some stages even after you finish them aren't finished. This happened when I played as Oichi a week ago and thought I dusted Oda and was done. Unfortunately or fortunately for some I was not. I had to save once and then proceed to zip through this castle or risk getting burned. The same thing happened with Takeda, which would be ok, if the dude wasn't so slow. Still its all good, I think this game will be even better when EA publishes it. I don't know why but I do. Maybe because I can understand it.

A couple of complaints during Akechi's story mode my game literally froze. This was my treasure box disc and not the regular one which I have. I know soon I'll part with one. Anyway I was playing it and the game froze at least three times. Now Sony and game companies alike have had this happen in Japan, so I'm not surprised. Something told me though that it was my disc, because I switched back to the non treasure box one it was fine. Go Figure?

And the Oscar doesn't go too...

2004-03-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

It was a travesty last night that Sean Penn won really. I'm relatively happy for him the guy is a brilliant actor, but seriously Bill Murray was a shoe in. Sean Penn could have got it years ago for many other roles, and there is no denying he will be nominated again.

Maybe that was hollywood's way of getting Bill Murray to do yet another cool independent film again, who knows? Still overall I'd have to say it wasn't a bad Oscar cermony but seeing ROTK win again and again did wear on me.

Yahoo!

2004-02-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

This is interesting, this search option directs people here. Which is pretty groovy. If you get here and your thinking to yourself. "You bastard, you have no information of use to me." I'd respond look to your right. I should have more in depth gameplay impressions of Sengoku Musuo in the future. But I like to cover other gameworthy things here as well. Sengoku Musou will always be the grandfather of my blog and stuff is the godfather of it.

I guess another way to get hits cheaply is to mention Paris Hilton or to link Hot Abercrombie Chick. But I really don't know what difference that makes.

Oni-missing in Action

2004-02-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

Gamescience has the latest sales data from Japan and it appears as though Onimusha 3 is off to a slow start. Of course after the success of Sengoku Musou anything else seems pale in comparison, but I think that this is a big enough of a game that it should be doing better.

2004-02-26T16:57:00.000-08:00

What kind of person has a blog about Koei stuff and then fails to mention their big game they released today. Me, that's who. So here it is ROTK IX is out today:

Basically it is a strategy game set in the Three Kingdoms era. I've never played them but the people who love them say they are great. The newest feature in this incarnation is the ability to import your Dynasty Warriors 4/4xl and Tactics 2 save stuff to have characters in your game.

Somebody out there can explain it much better than me. When I get comments on here, that would be the time. Anyway if you love Koei buy it and tell two friends to pick up copies too.

Microsoft Megaton!!

2004-02-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

Sort of, it seems that rumors point to a hard drive less Xbox2. Gamerfeed has an article on it. So does Gamespot. Also in other strange developments the black and white buttons are going to go away. I'm no hardware designer but from the looks of it the thing won't be backwards compatible. But then again is Windows?

Interstingly enough no mention of them ditching the stupid logo on their controller which is equally as usless as the black and white buttons, but essentially good branding.

2004-02-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

My time was spent deeply immersed in the Sengoku period. Yesterday I decided to play a little as Saika Magoichi. He is the gunman of the bunch and from what it seems a Harrison Ford / Luis Figo look alike:

His musou mode started nicely with a great cinema. It was really entertaining. After which I proceeded to hand Oda Nobunaga his ass, numerous times. The best and coolest thing about his story is that you have to protect monks. Which let me tell you isn't too easy.

They are these dudes with what appears to be paper bags over their heads. At the moment I can't find pictures but soon they will be abundant. I can tell this game is relatively popular in Japan, one by the sales and also by the numbers websites devoted too it.

I also discovered another cool thing about the endless castle modes. One gives you an hour to clear a floor and the more difficult version gives you only 30 minutes, with much smaller floors.

Enterbrain Sales Data 16Feb - 22Feb

2004-02-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

Platform Title Publisher This week total Shipment sold
1 PS2 Winning Eleven 7 International Konami 383,082 383,082 85.0%
2 PS2 SD Gundam G Generation Seed Bandai 287,430 287,430 86.4%
3 PS2 Sengoku Musou Koei 186,440 807,333 95.9%
4 PS2 Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission Square-Enix 174,142 174,142 65.6%
5 GBA Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green Pokemon 116,596 1,520,109 73.2%
6 PS2 Gallop Racer Lucky 7 Tecmo 46,729 46,729 87.2%
7 PS2 Shadow Hearts II Aruze 45,335 45,335 54.8%
8 GBA Famicom Mini: Super Mario Brothers Nintendo 41,737 101,631 88.5%
9 PS2 Dragonball Z2 Bandai 26,036 431,333 89.3%
10 PS2 007: Everything or Nothing EA 25,507 62,753 77.2%

More good news for Koei it seems and Winning Eleven is a no brainer. That game sells boku amounts everywhere else but here in the states. I'm torn between getting the American one of the Japanese International version. From what I hear the International one is better. It doesn't matter now, I'm broke.

Check out Stuff

2004-02-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

Ok so I emailed Mark Twomey, the british guy who inspired me to blog. I assuming he's British of course the main thing is he's in England. Anyway I let him know I dug his blog and he inspired me to write one.

So sooner or later I wll be linked there. I have it on the site,off to the right, but just in case, I'm linking it right here!.

I'm going through this whole Ninja Gaiden deal where I want it, but I compained about the evils of Microsoft, but it looks cool and I'd have to get an Xbox for it. So to limit myself would be too, well limiting. It is an ongoing debate I have mainly because I go through this everytime Microsoft releases a big title.

EA to Distribute Samurai Warriors

2004-02-24T09:09:00.000-08:00

According to Gamerfeed, EA is publishing Samurai Warriors in the states. This can only be a good thing for Koei, because as big as they are in Japan publishing and distributing a big game like Sengoku Musuo would only be too costly for them.

Maybe now EA will partner with Koei like it used to with Squaresoft and somehow Dynasty Warriors 4 Empires will make its way over here. The only bad thing about the article is that they say the game will be released in May. That could be the other reason why EA is publishing it. There is a lot of text, missions and story. I'm sure EA will do a great job and hopefully they'll leave a Japanese voice option.

2004-02-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

News from Sega today:

AOU 2004: Sega announced Virtua Fighter 4 Final Tuned, the game will be released in arcade this summer. The game will feature a Challenge Mode, which contains various missions for player to clear, player can obtain reward based on the performance in the mission. The difficulty of the missions can be selected by player. VF4 Final Tuned also features a new Ranking System, you will be given a title based on how well you performed in the game. There will be new techniques for each characters, as well as a lot of new items.

Sounds good, can I expect a PS2 port next year, at least in Japan. I can't help but wonder how many Virtua Fighter 4: subtitled games will come out before they hit 5. One thing that troubles me is that Jacky looks like David Spade, but I'm sure the gameplay will be tight:

In other gaming news I dusted pysclops or whatever he's called in Maximo on my first try. Now I'm starting to notice the creeping difficulty of Maximo. It's such a great game, I hope it isn't ignored by the Madden loving masses. I'm still seriously hooked on Sengoku Musou as well. I hope that sells lots in the states.

Also news today that Koei is delaying Crimson Sea 2, part of this methinks is due to Sengoku's success. Why release another title so soon when your building a new franchise.

2004-02-19T17:36:00.000-08:00

Good news for American and European gamers today and yesterday. Koei is bringing Disgaea to Europe. Capcom is bring Way of the Samurai 2 to the US. Mastiff games will release La Pucelle Tactics in may and also the fine Nasdaq delisted folks at BAM! are bringing over Bujingai. Maybe the summer gaming duldrum days are over. Summer traditionally is the worst time of the year to be a gamer unless of course you have a huge backlog of games.

I had a breakthrough in a couple of games last night. I almost beat psyclops pretty handily in Maximo and I discovered a really cool feature of Sengoku Musou. Basically instead of saving and quiting you can save mid-battle without quitting. This really can be helpful should you try to accomplish a mission. It all is making sense to me now.

Also I got my Treasure Box and official memory card. If anybody knows how to waste money it's me. Anyway the game I'm already playing and it still is awesome, though tonight I must get sidetracked for Maximo. Secondly the Treasure Box is sweet. I'm keeping the figure boxed because I fear it could lose its value. The book and the game cover everything are all gold with Japanese writing for sengoku musou on it.

I really liked the book which like the Dynasty Warriors one has character and movesets for them. Overall I'd give Koei an A++ for excecution, packaging and game play.

2004-02-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

I delved into freeplay at my lunch time and didn't know which quit option to pick and lost my place in the game. That is the price to pay for impatience and fear of bad english dubbing. BoA's Be the One is pretty cool ending song, though it seems more Britney Spears than ancient Japan.

Now after my primetime viewing and Maximo I must figure out how to quit and save and play again later.

2004-02-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

Today I updated the links so they have much more information, pictures, etc. Some translation is required and those are now linked there too. So far with Sengoku I've completed Hanzo and Sanada's stories.

I seriously want to devote a large chunk of my time to Maximo. It seems just when I start kicking ass, the game kicks mine. Crimson Sea looks really good and Onimusha 3 is just around the corner. I hope game companies get the idea and realize that its ok to release good games before December.

As cool as Sengoku Musou is, I fear that idiot in OPM will probably find some reason to not deem it perfect. Meanwhile Prince of cheap combat Persia is not only perfect but the Game of the Year.

2004-02-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

Good news for Koei:

Here are the Top 10 Console Games in Japan for the week of Feb 2 - Feb 15, Koei has sold 624,977 copies of Sengoku Musou (Samurai Warriors) over the weekend.

1. Sengoku Musou (PS2, Koei) - 624,977 / 624,977 units
2. Pokemon Fire Red / Leaf Green (GBA, Pokemon) - 236,936 / 1,478,899 units
3. Dragonball Z 2 (PS2, Bandai) - 87,733 / 421,463 units
4. Famicom Mini: Super Mario Bros (GBA, Nintendo) - 60,286 / 60,286 units
5. 007: Everything or Nothing (PS2, EA) - 47,838 / 47,838 units
6. Famicom Mini: Legend of Zelda (GBA, Nintendo) - 32,441 / 32,441 units
7. Puyo Puyo Fever (PS2, Sega) - 26,186 / 103,072 units
8. EyeToy: Play (PS2, Sony) - 22,720 / 22,720 units
9. Famicom Mini: Donkey Kong (GBA, Nintendo) - 22,197 / 22,197 units
10. Famicom Mini: Ice Climbers (GBA, Nintendo) - 21,246 / 21,246 units

And probably Nintendo too! Information Courtesy of The Magic Box

Koei had projected a million in sales and it seems like they are sure to get there now. It is interesting that those Famicom mini games sold when they are available for free with Animal Crossing,in the game, and now Nintendo is charging 20.00 for them.

I've been pretty consumed with Sengoku Musou. Actually I'm balancing my time between that and Maximo. I don't know why Capcom has to make things so impossibly difficult sometimes. I guess the same could go for Koei. I really enjoy the branching story paths and tons o replay Sengoku has.

The menus have been translated online. I really wonder if I should get the US version. I know I will, but should I get it and replay it again. Maybe, what the hell. Already many people have figured out how to get the "5th Weapons" and how to get good items blah blah blah. Me I'm just enjoying the game.

The problem with the gamefaqs crowd is they have a tendency to want to dominate and obliterate everything without enjoying it. Suddenly what could be a great discussion about a great game turns into a pissing contest. It really is ridiculous.

I prefer to get the information I need and get out of there. Too many a gamer has had too many a game ruined by gamefaqs.

2004-02-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

It is official I got the call. Soon enough I'll have two Sengoku Musous and that is before the American one hits. I can almost feel the plastic in my hands. The smell of the booklet. Strangely enough the Japanese booklets smell different than the American ones.

So its all good. The treasure box is still going to be my precious. I link alot of stuff here. Why? because I care. I'd love to become a Play Asia affiliate and get huge cult following like InsertCredit and reap the free game rewards. But hey this is a start. Some blogs are better than others. This one kicks ass.

2004-02-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

Today should be my lucky day, maybe. I should have Sengoku Musou in hand by tonight. Of course with Valentines Day and President's day weekend it could be a good time for gaming.

I keep hearing cool stuff about Sengoku Musou that really gets me excited about it. I know it's just a game, but it is the game I really want. I should add I really want Maximo as well. Such is my quandry, how do I balance my time between both games.

I could post this stuff at the Gamers Advisory Panel. I'm a proud member. It's ok but I don't really know how I'm shaping the future of gaming.

In other console news Ninja Gaiden apparently kicks alot of ass. Me ,sans Xbox, wishes I had one so I could enjoy it. I have to find a way to get one without actually purchasing it myself.

2004-02-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

Ok so I should have this tomorrow maybe by 4. I probably won't be able really write about it until tuesday. So the four people that care, please wait. Because I found how to link images I'm going to link one more.
Here is my namesake with Eblogger Hattori Hanzo looking all Mortal Kombat:

These images are courtesy of some guy in China until he decides to take them down.

What I'll end up with is two copies of the game. I can live with that as long as I get my damn Treasure Box. I appreciate Play Asia's customer service alot. I want to become and affiliate and plug them. For the record this template sucks and looks like everone elses. Maybe I should get a Spiderman one. Many years from now, someone will say blogging is so 2000's.

2004-02-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how therapeutic blogging is. I'm glad I didn't Blog for Dean because that most be the most depressing bunch of blogs right now. He had the right idea but he was the wrong guy to do it. I respect the fact that he woke up the Democrats and made them stand up to Bush finally. A lot of Democrats were bending over backwards for him people like Tom Daschle and it made the whole party look weak. That being said it is a good time to be Terry MCualiff. I think I spelt that wrong.

I'm still waiting for my game, but in the mean time I did discover some good games to kill time. SSX3 is still fun even with my maxed out Moby. DW4Xl arguably the weaker of the XL games. Legend mode is good, Xtreme mode is kind of weak. I keep thinking I just don't get it. Disgaea I'm near the end but I don't want it to end. I haven't battled Majorly, Pierre or Prinny Baal. I'm at the end and I'm wondering "Dude where's my Kurtis?" And in the land of portable gaming I've been killing time with Pokemon Ruby. Still many months later this game still is fun. Catching elusive pokes can lead to lost time.

So I'm cool with waiting.

2004-02-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

Now I must have this game before the week is over. I found out I don't have work on Monday. I may be getting Maximo -most definitely likely- as a Valentines Day gift so all is not lost. Still a 3 day weekend with Sengoku Musou and Maximo would kick ass.

I'm thinging of probably getting Everquest Champions of Norrath. It sounds and looks pretty cool.

2004-02-11T12:49:00.000-08:00

Update - Ok today I found out my local shop will get Sengoku Musou on thursday or friday. Which is still good with me becuase it is before valentines day. My order will probably ship Saturday and I should have it by Wensday. I can have duplicates becuase I can Ebay or sell them elsewhere.

With all things being equal it still would be nice to be in Japan. Sengoku is getting hurt by this holiday in Japan I know it. Next time Koei plan better and Play Asia get them sooner.

I wonder if there isn't some guy waiting in line in Akihabara just so he can run in the store and pick up my Treasure Box for me. I'd like to hope that Play Asia has their own suppliers. In the mean time some screens:

And this one...

I like this one alot, thank you China:

2004-02-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

These are dark days for this importer. Why? Play-Asia says Sengoku Musou wont' ship for 2-4 days. I think it was some sort of holiday in japan yesterday, still the game stores were probably still open. My other theory as to this delay is that it is probably due the massive demand the game caused.

Koei has been pretty tight lipped with the info regarding the game saving most of the hype for its release. Japan is more new release driven than America. So I imagine that it is hard to come by.

My only other option is to see if my local import shop can get it. In which case I hope they still got it with the holiday. Other than being really really impatient, all is well.

2004-02-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

Alright one more damn rant. In my impatience I check Gamefaqs again and some dude has impressions. Oh the horror. I don't know I read them sort of but the pissed me off.

"dIn my opinion, this game may disappoint some gamers since the gameplay and graphic is just a mixture Dw3 and Dw4 with Japanese background. In order to learn the new moves, you got to spend points to buy them just like RPG games. Furthmore, it seems you need some Japanese history knowledge to make certain missons appear. there are more different faces for non-playable characters than DW4. You can do a lot of different attacks on hores. For example, you can combos and jump attack with your horses.
It is confirmed that hidden characters are indeed in the games. Overall, this is still great game for people who want an urgrade version of DW3."

I did not write that RayChoi of gamefaqs did. In his eyes it is a drag to have to spend points to buy moves. That is cool to me. Now Koei lets you upgrade your character,what a concept. You can do different attacks on horses. This is bad how? Tell me mr Choi!

Ok the second thing this game is 'still' great for people who want an upgraded DW3. Dude what did you spend like 10 goddamn minutes with it before you ran to gamefaqs.

Now his next bit:

"First of all, I would say this game feel like DW4 , but there are a lot more types of enemies. For example, there are four types of ninjas troops in the game. The most interesting ones are the assualt ninjas that look like sumo wreslters and have powerful attacks. There are archers and rifle troops in the game, but they are as weak as the ones in DW4.The game seems to lack of officers in the game because there are a lot battles has playable officers who should not be there. In addition, you can have about 6 types of body guards to choose from (rifles, swordman, ninjas and female ninjas etc.)
Furthermore, the game seems be too easy if you not playing in hard or hell (expert mode). The computer AI is also pretty lousy in my opinionIn my opinion, the biggest improvements for this game is the character growth system where you can earn tons special abilites and movesets to build your character similar to diablo2. For hidden characters, I apologize for my mistakes on preivous post because I have not tried to enter the names, but I would say it is highly possible because Tokugawa Ieyasu,Toyotomi Hideyoshi etc has unqiues faces and movests in the game. Overall, this gameplay is pretty intense and exciting and the shortage of playable characters opponets hurt this game so much. Sometimes, the game make you feel like you are beating up the same officers again and again."

Once again I question has this dude been playing all night. I look forward to getting my hands on it and tearing into it. Still this guy is a master and clearly has dominated this game inside and out.

I have problem really with him posting how he feels or even the info he gives. But my real problem is that it is subjective and in a impressionable sesspool of adolescence people will run with this. Now they won't want it because you have to battle the same people over again and again. As if that didn't happen in Dynasty Warriors. That was what Dynasty Warriors was all about.

Also the guy could be a real stand up guy and maybe say how long he's played the game which character he used. That stuff could be helpful. How does upgrading the character work? Give the bloody details man.

Well that being said, I'm freaking glad my gamefaqs days are behind me. The Sengoku Musou board is so much more juvenile then the Bujingai one, and that's just my impressions as a reader. I guess I could link Gamefaqs and the board but I just told you who and where it was. So why bother. The site is gamefaqs.com.

Another game where you could "buy" moves that was cool is Devil May Cry. That action infused with Dynasty Warriors style gameplay would be cool.

In a moment of cockiness I'm going to say that my impressions will be the only ones that matter.

2004-02-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

Damnit damnit damnit!!! I looked but I didn't mean too and I saw some spoilerish stuff for the game. Namely it involved alternate costumes with one of the characters. It looked goofy and cool. Here I am just waiting at work for my damn game to ship, and all I have is time.

I guess I could actually do some work. That would help too. Anyway I must clear those images from my mind and return to my work.

Later on after I have the game I will link said images. As it is now duty calls.

2004-02-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

Ahh the anticipation is killing me. Right now it is 733am in Asia. Ship my damn game dudes. No seriously though I really can't wait for this game.

I know deep down inside it is Dynasty Warriors with a new coat of paint. That being said I love Dynasty Warriors. I believe this game is a combination of all the games that Omega Force has worked on until now. This is a love a labor for them. They deserve alot of credit for the work they done.

At gamefaqs there are spoilerish pictures abounding but for my enjoyment I'm going to avoid them. Koei has an english site for the game but all you can get from there are character bios.

I'm going to have to make my links the links to the Sengoku related stuff. We are in blogging times. Isn't it interesting that nobody remembers Howard Dean?

2004-02-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

Right now in Japan and Hong Kong, sengoku musou has or is about to hit. If you don't know what that is.

Official Japanese Site

It is the newfangled action game from Koei which is set in medieval Japan. And I can't wait.

Because I don't have webspace to post the information I find helpful or out I decided to blog the stuff here.

This is my first blog.

I'd link a whole bunch more resources but the truth is I'm lazy right now. Still I'm bubbling with excitement. I should have the the Treasure box in my hands by thursday! Assuming of course UPS will understand my cryptic note to them.

In the mean time how about that Tim Russert Interview?