GTA: Chinatown Wars Sales Analysis Update - I Was Right

Not to tout my own horn or anything, but it looks like I was right about Chinatown Wars' sales.

Quick recap: the game sold slightly under 90,000 units in its first two weeks at retail and everyone from analysts to "game journalists" jumped right on the "third-party sales on DS/Wii" bandwagon. I cited two major reasons behind the game's "slow" start: people holding off on buying until the launch of the DSi, and DS games selling through word of mouth over a period of time. Turns out, I wasn't wrong.


Here as some nice quotes from Nintendo, Gamestop and Take Two concerning the two-week sales period:


First up is Nintendo's vice president of licensing, Steve Singer. Says the man in charge of third-party relations to MTV:

“‘Chinatown Wars’ is performing in line with AAA titles that have come to our platform like ‘Spore‘ or ‘Lego Star Wars,”

“Those games went on to have very different life-to-date sales numbers.”

Nintendo then points to the sales of Call of Duty 4 on DS...an amazing 500,000+ units sold life-to-date.



Next up is Denise Kaigler, Nintendo's VP of Corporate Affairs. Says Kaigler:

“Remember that many games for Nintendo DS have a nontraditional sales pattern. The trend is toward ‘evergreen’ games that sell well over an extended period of time instead of in a one-month spike. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Nintendo DS is a good example. In its first month (November 2007), it sold only 36,000. To date, it has sold through nearly 500,000. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a great game that has received tremendous reviews. We expect that with continued backing, it will follow the same long-tail/evergreen sales route that other top sellers have taken.”

And now, on to Alan Lewis, Take Two's VP of Corporate Communications, who had a whole lot to say about how T2 sees GTA's performance on DS:

"Chinatown Wars received critical acclaim and is the highest rated DS title of all time,

"In terms of performance, we think it is performing in line with other triple-A games on the platform.

"We are very confident in Chinatown Wars long-term potential for success," he said. "We think it will have a long life in the market.

“We have and we will continue to support the platform. We think the mature segment of the DS market is growing.

“We’re confident in the game, and we think it has long-term potential for success. We’re trying to pioneer mature games on the platform.”

Huh. Seems like Chinatown Wars didn't do so badly after all. I wonder what the retailers think.

Oh, here's what:

“‘GTA: Chinatown Wars’ is exceeding our expectations and illustrating the power of the franchise on a new platform. We’ve seen a solid lift in sales of ‘Chinatown Wars’ following the launch of the DSi and believe that the product will continue to enjoy a long life at our stores as the buzz around the new handheld gaming experience continues to grow.”

That's Chris Olivera, representative of Gamestop in this whole analytical mess, proving once again that most people outside of retail still don't know how the DS and Wii markets work, or have yet to come to terms with them.

For all their research and numbers and stats, analysts always seem to be the first ones to jump the gun when it comes to spreading wrong information. It's sad, really, because this kind of trolling does hurt the image of the companies involved.

I always think it's funny how we, as an industry, actually pay heed to the words of people who don't know the first thing about game development and the costs involved when it comes to talk of sales and performance. Do any of these analysts know how much it cost to develop and publish Chinatown Wars? Have any of them been observing sales patterns on the DS and Wii for the past two years? Do they know what T2's expectations for the games were?

Top-tier publishers like Take Two aren't stupid, and they don't need uninformed parties suggesting to them what to do. It's about time we learnt this. I'm just amazed we haven't already.

[ADVANCE]

GTA: Chinatown Wars' Retail Performance Analyzed

I haven't had much time lately, so I've been playing the hell out of two games. GTA: Chinatown Wars on DS during slow hours at work and in bed, and Rune Factory Frontier for the Wii on weekends.

While I don't know how well RFF is doing at retail (certainly hope it's well enough to warrant a sequel), Chinatown Wars is off to a bit of a slow start. I have a few theories on why this may be, but since I can't really back these up with any concrete evidence, I'm going to be ranting here instead of penning them in an organized manner on Siliconera.


Theory #1: Pokémon

Chinatown Wars launched around the same time as Pokémon Platinum (aka suicide). However, considering the target audience for both these games is pretty different, this may not be the biggest reason behind GTA's slow start.


Theory #2: Charting time

This one is a little more valid. EEDAR have been predicting around 200,000 units sold, while my personal favourite Michael Pachter predicted around 450,000. I'm willing to bet Pachter would have been right on the money had it not been for theory #3, but theory #2 is that GTA only sold 88,700 because it only charted for two weeks. Another two weeks and it would probably have met EEDAR's 200k projection.


Theory #3: DSi

People planning on buying a DSi are holding off on buying GTA until they have their new handheld. Buying the two side-by-side would make sense, and DSi launched on April 5. Going by this theory, Chinatown Wars should see some nice sales in April. NPD numbers for April and the following months will tell if I'm right or not.


Either way, people shouldn't be writing Chinatown Wars off as a flop. I'm willing to bet 90k in the U.S. + European sales means it will be a profitable title for T2 and DS games are known to have long legs. This is without factoring in Japanese sales where DS and PSP games dominate the charts each week and GTA happens to be one of the select few Western developed games that Japanese gamers are warming up to.

It's GTA, it's on DS where software tends to sell well through word of mouth over a long period of time. Let's give it some time before we start proclaiming gloom and doom for a third-party game on a Nintendo system.

[ADVANCE]

The Melancholy of Visual Novels

Here's a feature I wrote on Siliconera a few months ago. I've been trying to give this as much exposure as I can. Much to my surprise, it got a great response, and if you're into a visual novels (or are planning on developing or publishing one), you might want to check it out.

Here's a snippet:

How do you convince the existing game market that visual novels and visual novel adventures are worth looking into?


For the answer to that question, consider this: what if you don’t target the current generation of “gamers” with these products?

[Siliconera: The Melancholy of Visual Novels]

[ADVANCE]

Back In the Saddle!

No, I'm not dead. But I understand it's been positively ages since I posted anything here, and it's time to explain why. In short:

1. Work has been killing me for the past year.

2. Work is still killing me.

Lately, however, it's become a little easier to manage my time. Well, OK...not easier. I've just learnt to do it better...squeezing in a quick round or two of Peggle: Dual Shot on the way to work every morning. Playing GTA: Chinatown Wars while talking to my girlfriend at night (yes, I have one of those now...what do you know!).

But more about all the stuff I've been playing later. More importantly, I'm back and I'm going to be writing at FWA every now and then, once again. I also write for Siliconera, which is now on the sidebar to the right, along with the site's Twitter feed. It's a great site, it covers the kind of game content I love writing about, and you're going to be seeing quite a few posts from me on there. I highly recommend it to anyone who's into Japanese games. SE breaks so many stories every month, it's astounding.

Anything that can't go on Siliconera -- like this for example -- will be on FWA. As always, I'll try my best to cover stuff in a way that other sites usually wouldn't, so people still have a reason to visit. I believe that I've grown a little in terms of outlook on the games industry in the past couple years, so hopefully, the kind of content you see here will reflect that.

Stay tuned!

[ADVANCE]

From Fantasy and Magic to Boobies, Giant Axes and Milk Bukkakes: The Story of Queen's Blade

Today, I came across a series of games known as Queen's Blade. We'll get to why it caught my attention in just a bit. I'd never heard of Queen's Blade before, but apparently, it's part of the "visual combat book" genre. Even being a fan of visual novels, I'll admit I'd never heard of this particular genre that Japan has apparently been enjoying for a few years now. A quick look at this site, however, gave me some info on Queen's Blade:

Queen's Blade is called "Visual Book for Duel." It is based on the Lost Worlds Combat Picture Books, the classic game book for duel.


In this game, each player uses one beautiful fighter (for one book) to duel with another player. The combination of each player's choice of offenses and defenses then leads to the character being in a state of, for example, falling down, being wounded, having armor broken, etc (each state has an artistic page in the character book), and the repetition of these decides a winner, by accumulated wounds.

Books? Status effects? Rules? This was all very vague. It sounded a little like Dungeons & Dragons...some sort of table-top RPG. Surely, it couldn't be Japanese by origin?


Unsatisfied, I decided to do some further research. What I came across was Lost Worlds, a series of "game books" created by a person named Alfred Leonardi.


Here's what I found out: a gamebook is somewhat like an RPG rule book which features a "character" meant for combat. Play using these gamebooks requires at least two players and a gamebook for each, ie; a character for each.


Play requires two players and at least two "visual combat books", with each player choosing a character (i.e., a book) from those available. Both players pull their "character sheet" out of their gamebook and hand their respective book to their opponent. Each book lists the moves and abilities for that character in tabular form, so what you're seeing during play is your opponent's character, not yourself.



Quoting Wikipedia, "During each turn or combat phase, players secretly select an action from those shown on their card, possibly influenced by the results of previous turns. Players then simultaneously reveal their intended action, by number, to each other. Using the character sheet to cross-reference their action with that of their opponent, players then turn to a specific entry in the book they are holding in order to determine the results. These effects may include hit point loss (i.e., a wound), as well as any restrictions on the opponent's next move (which is read aloud to them). The first character to reduce their opponent to zero hit points wins."


Funny story: I thought up the exact same game back in Grade 6. My friends and I would play it every free class we had until we finally tired of it in Grade 8.


Coming back to the origins of Queen's Blade, though, the "game book" concept was capitalized on in 2005 by Hobby Japan, the same publisher that translated the third and fourth editions of Dungeons & Dragons for Japan. HJ may as well have stuck with the abbreviated title thing from D&D and named their new series based on the gamebook concept "T&A" for reasons that will become obvious soon enough.



T&A...er, I mean, Queen's Blade...was for the most part a re-skinning of pre-existing character matrices from Lost Worlds. And what a re-skinning it was! Gone were the days of mages and skeletons and trolls and gnomes. Who needed that when you could have the usual harem of scantily clad beauties with torn clothes? Hobby Japan also went and added a variety of pre-existing characters from Japanese media, including Mai Shiranui from King of Fighters and eventually, even added entirely new characters to the mix.

The series grew into a successful franchise, spawning anime spin-offs, dozens of gamebooks and action figures. The only thing it seemed to be missing was a series of videogames.

Of course, that particular issue didn't last very long.


Enter Queen's Blade: Spiral Chaos published by Namco Bandai for the PSP...a crossover of sorts featuring Queen's Blade characters. It is described as a "simulation RPG about the battle of beautiful warriors." With the RPG equivalent of moneyshots in the form of tearing clothes and ecchi pictures...very ecchi pictures...Spiral Chaos features super-deformed female fighters controlled as units in realtime like a strategy RPG. By maneouvering these characters, you can get into one-on-one battles with opponents.

Each character's damage stats are linked to five parts: head, chest, waist, arms and legs. By focusing on a particular part, you can damage it faster and cause the armour or weapon associated with that part to break. Doing this will result in the aforementioned ecchi pictures/cutscenes. For example:













And now you know why Queen's Blade caught my attention. Here are some nice shots of the gameplay to make it look like I wasn't just interested in the pantsu:









Images courtesy of Namco Bandai. Thanks to Laura Hou for translation help. Also, this post is filed under "Hentai" because I didn't know where else to put it.

[ADVANCE]

Impressions: Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit

Dragon Ball Z can be summed up pretty well in a couple lines. Bad guy shows up, he kicks everyone's ass, and then they kick his ass. This formula just works for the series.

However, the topic of discussion here is DBZ Burst Limit. If you like DBZ, you'll love this game. I play my fair share of fighters (primarily Soul Calibur), DBZ games tend to almost always disappoint, regardless of my love for the series. Burst Limit, on the other hand, has a lot going for it.

I played through the single player mode, to unlock all the characters and I had a blast doing it. Throughout the story mode, you get to play as all the humans, Saiyajin, Freeza, and a tonne of other characters. The story focuses on some of the movies -- like Brolly's movie and Bardock's movie -- however; unfortunately, there is no Buu saga, and that's slightly disappointing if you're a fan of the franchise.

To read the full story on what Burst Limit has to offer, hit the jump.



This game has broken the mold of recent anime fighting games. It has no shop, and thank friggin' God for that. The most annoying thing ever in a game, is to unlock something, and then have to have to buy what you just unlocked, especially if you don't have the money to buy said item.

That said, the sheer amount of unlockeable content really stood out here. I got a "Z" rating on my first fight, and unlocked at least 6 different things. This made me feel like i was actually accomplishing something.

Now, most of these unlocks are Drama scenes -- which well get into later -- but there's also the unlock of the character you just played/defeated and also the unlock of the next chapter in the story. Another thing I liked was how easy the controls were to pick up. I brought a friend over and after about 20 minutes, he was dodging and giving me a pretty hard time.

The controls are easy to learn, hard to master, and that's just how I like my fighters.

Access to a moves list really helps; however, it's a good idea to play through the tutorials to get a good understanding of how some of the more complicated moves work. All in all, DBZ Burst Limit has a lot going for it.

Nonetheless, there are a few things that made me cringe. I hate this part, but onto the lesser points of the game.

Drama Scenes: These occur during every fight. They are very cool at first; however, after fighting a friend for the 20th time, and using the same characters, they can get a bit annoying. As far as I could tell, there wasn't a way to turn them off or skip them, as they are an important component of the gameplay.

The other thing that I found annoying was the camera. If you're pushed against a wall, it likes to randomly flip, disorienting you for a bit, which is enough to cost you the match when you're playing the story mode on a harder setting.

Other than those two things, there really wasn't much to nitpick at, this game is a great addition to any collection.By our new "rating" system, the "ratings" are: Pass; Rent; and Buy.

DBZ Burst Limit definitely gets a BUY. This game is one of the best anime fighters in a long time. DBZ fans would do well to consider a purchase.

[ADVANCE]

Blockbuster To Get Into Gaming

Blockbuster seems serious about getting into the gaming business and will soon start selling all things related to video games. Blockbuster has sold used games for a while now, and they plan to start selling new games, as well as the systems they play on and any accessories you need to play them with. This applies for the DS as well. They plan to start renting Nintendo DS games and will start selling them later this year.

Blockbuster will also be getting an exclusive Playstation 3 bundle which includes the 40 GB model of the console, a Blu-Ray remote and HDMI cable, Spiderman 3 on Blu-Ray, Transformers the game, and a twelve week rental card all clocking in at $499.

It’s refreshing to see an industry making significant progres these days. The gaming market is already huge and is becoming an even more integral part of mainstream entertainment despite the US’s current economic woes.

[ADVANCE]

Monster Lab

A new title I saw up on IGN called Monster Lab. This is an original fighter for the Wii from the studio who is remaking Street Fighter II Turbo. From the interview IGN holds with Kelly Tainton, the producer, we find the game boasts a meaty single player component filled with plenty of fighting and mini-games with relevancy. The game's main pitch is it's monster creation mode boasting "Millions of different combinations!" On top of that, multi-player and online.

I actually like the dark wacky style seen in the games artwork and game play. Combined with a solid fighting system, this could be a pretty promising game. And what's not to like about mad scientists, assistants, evil minions, and monsters created from zany experiments?

Yet, it looks more or less like a game that will go under every one's radar. Not the first time it's happened, definitely won't be the last.

Original interview with IGN here.

More screenshots here.

[ADVANCE]

More Brawl Hubbub

It's about to be released in Japan very soon! What, you may ask? Do I even have to tell you?

Two updates today that caught my attention. First, the Japanese intro was uploaded to Youtube, and embedded above. What's so cool about it? Towards the end, We see three figures with swords running. Around the 1:44 mark. Two of them have already been announced; Meta-Knight and Ike. The third looks unmistakably like Marth, who has been unannounced thus far, but I've always considered him a no-brainer, due to his popularity from Melee. This makes me really happy. You just don't know. I'll leave it at that as not to bore you and make myself looking like a fool.

Read more for some ramblings about the music in the game.


(The following isn't important. I'm a big geek when it comes to video game music. I always loved it, I even maybe want to work in that department once I get my degree. We'll see though. Brawl seems to be including some of my favorite music right off the bat.)

A table was posted up today on the offical site. It contains information regarding all the music that is available at the start of the game. The website also says that you can acquire more music as you play through the game. Take note at the Fire Emblem section! Yes, I really am raving on about Fire Emblem again! The Attack theme from what I assume to be Fire Emblem 7 will be included in this game! If it's the track I am thinking of, it's one of my favorite pieces of video game music ever. It's nothing spectacular as music itself, but I've always loved it dearly. I'm very happy Nintendo decided to include this in the Brawl. It has a music from some of the other games that no announced characters are from. I wonder if this could mean...nah, no more speculation, which will then lead to more disappointment. I'll just take what I can get.

Also, Go K.K. Rider, from Animal Crossing is included. Absolutely fantastic. That was seriously the only track I never changed on my radio when I played the game. It was what played on my Hi-Fi Stereo in my basement - which also served as my arcade for my NES games. You could have seriously put it half the music you got from K.K. Slider in the game. Maybe we'll see more as we play the game.

From Metroid, we get both music from the Ridley battles from Super Metroid and Prime. We also get the intro from Prime as well. While Metroid is one of my favorite series' of all time, I was never completely impressed with the music in the Prime trilogy. I hate to admit it, but it's the truth. Though, Meta-Ridley was one of the better tracks. I also spot Samus Aran's theme!

Mario: No suprises here. We get the Delfino Plaza music, one track I always found enjoyable when playing Sunshine. What's funny about that game is I loved it for the reasons everyone hated it. And the few aspects about it most purists enjoyed, I wasn't entirely fond of. Aside from the weak final boss, I really enjoyed Sunshine. Don't hate! We also get your traditional Mario music anyone on the streets can recognize. I actually was hoping for some tracks from Paper Mario. I'll not get my hopes down though.

Pikmin! Well, to be honest, I've completely forgotten how any of the Pikmin music goes, but I do remember I liked it. So I guess that's good, no?

I've never played Metal Gear Solid, but I have heard one of the theme's from it and have always admired that piece. I'm not sure of the name and too lazy to look it up. So here to maybe being happy about it possible inclusion in Brawl.

[ADVANCE]

"I'm sorry for leaving you baby! Do you still love me?"

Guess who's back? Well, you probably saw the logo above so no sense in asking.

It is official! Factor 5 is back and developing for Nintendo hardware once again. If you have already forgotten, Factor 5 developed Star Wars: Rogue Leader and Rebel Strike for the Nintendo Gamecube. I owned, at one point, both copies of the game and I loved them; despite Rebel Strike's goober-tastic ground mission system. IGN says they are developing a game for the Nintendo Wii. Could it be Pilot Wings, as some may rumour? Or perhaps something different?

I wouldn't mind a completely new IP. I've been in the mood lately for a flying game where you dispense an immense amount of bullets and/or lasers and missiles -- in space. But it doesn't have to be Star Wars themed. Just as long as it's fun and has good multiplayer.

And have controls that don't suck. When they do release a new game, it is safe to say everyone will be paying close attention to the control scheme and how well it is implemented within the game. This time around Factor 5 gets to play with the acclaimed Wiimote instead of the SIXAXIS (which is not acclaimed as much). Even with a better controller, will motion controls remain the bane of Factor 5? We'll just have to see.


[Source: IGN]

[ADVANCE]

Jak's Personal Ten Best Anime of 2007

Everybody loves a good list, right? I will list the ten best anime I've watched this year. Now, the views expressed hereafter are not exactly the same as the rest of the writers. These are my personal favorites; one's I enjoyed the most.

So, let's get started.

10. Lovely Complex

Why?:

Okay so, I really only had about eight shows I thoroughly enjoyed this year. I was thinking of some others to make a complete ten, so I chose Lovely Complex. If you've ever read anything written by me, you would know I am pretty biased towards romantic comedies. But LoveCom was extremely over the top in it's expression of emotions and dialogue. If anything, I watched it just to hear the characters yell at each other with a Kansai dialect. I did get really annoyed at the show many times, and even stopped watching it about two-thirds of the way through. But when I finished it I was somewhat surprised that I did enjoyed the series as a whole.

9. Shigurui

Why?:

Shigurui is truly a unique show. I've yet to see anything else like it. It's also a show I'd never recommend to a typical anime fan. The show is very - no - extremely slow paced. Watching one episode seems as if it takes an hour to watch, but it is not as if it was boring. The show has the most dramatic contrast, both in style and in content. The color is almost all black and white; dark and bright. Slow moving shots of the characters, and then in an instant, a fight breaks out and is over quickly. I'm not sure how historically accurate this show is, but if samurai could truly do some of the things portrayed in Shigurui then I find that absolutely astounding, both the actually technique and the torturous training it takes to perfect it. This show also definitely not for the faint of heart. It is extremely gory.

8. Minami-ke

Why?:

Minami-ke was a show I was really surprised I enjoyed. What exactly did I like about it? I'm still not quite sure. The complete randomness mostly. You never knew what to expect and more often than not, the outcome was hilarious. The personalities of the individual characters as well. From the tenderly and loving Haruka, to the mischievous Kana, and the critical, unamused, yes still very naive Chiaki. One truly became accustomed to these characters and continued watching to see how they would conflict next.

7. Claymore

Why?:

I'll be honest, the first third of this show was immensely boring. I don't know why I forced myself to watch it, but I'm glad I did. It started off really slow and typical. Then is slowly started to build momentum all the way up to a certain point, and then it slammed on the gas and never faltered the rest of the show. The ending was pretty disappointing which can easily be cured by a sequel. Some say Claymore will have a sequel, others say they won't. My favorite aspect of the show was how the Claymores had to use restraint when fighting, other wise they would lose their humanity. Each fighter had to use a immense amount of self control when conducting themselves, even when it seemed logical to let it all loose.

6. Baccano

Why?:

Baccano is the best show of 2007 that no one watched. It's also the most confusing. The show has a huge cast of characters that is hard to follow. I think I was familiar with them only half way through the whole show. And then we have the confusing story and time line. Baccano's greatest strength is it's story and how many events from long ago to just a few years ago are affecting the current events happening in the the show's present time. It hops between 1930-1933 so much one has no clue what's happening a majority of the time. And then we have Isaac and Miria. Two vigilante bank robber's determined to put the mafia out of business. They are hands down the best comedy duo I've seen in a long time. They were a major reason why I watched the show and why you should too.

And the ending is absolutely classic.

5. Ghost Hound

Why?:

I'm only half way through with Ghost Hound. If I had seen the whole thing, I'm certain it would be higher, but things didn't turn out like that. I've said it before, I love the audio aspect of the show. The style is somewhat simplistic in certain places, and thoroughly complex in others. I find it interesting how everything looks so pastel when the characters are inside and at school and when outside, they look bold and colorful. The supernatural aspect is finally starting to show itself in true form and the discovery of abilities and their full potential is piquing my interest immensely.

I'm sorry for using such extravagant words to describe something so simple and insignificant.

4. Toki wo no Kakeru Shoujo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)

Why?:

This isn't a series, it's a movie. And it is one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. That includes animated movies and one's with human actors. It's a movie about high school life and a subtle romance with a sci-fi twist. It's also a bit tragic, but not something that leaves you depressed. I recommend this movie to everyone I come across. It's going to be in stores in North America soon, so I'd recommend everyone that can to buy it. I am confident you will not be disappointed. The style, the music, the animation, the feeling, it is all truly amazing.

3. Seirei no Moribito (Guardian of the Sacred Spirit)

Why?:

I am biased towards this show because of Production I.G. This was a show I was begging for more action to happen in. What few fights that did occur, were nothing short of spectacular. I hate characters with pacifist attitudes when they are an amazing fighter, but I love Balsa. She's more noble then most men and could beat any of them in a fight. The art in the show is probably the best I've seen in any anime. The music was eerie and truly reflected the feel the creators want to portray. It also has an interesting fantasy twist towards the second half that sort of threw you for a loop. Towards the end , I was wondering if I had been watching the same show this entire time. The plot does move pretty slow (similar to Ghost Hound, another series by Production I.G.) so if you are patient, I recommend you give this a try.

2. Tengen Toppen Gurren Lagann

Why?:

This show was almost my favorite of the year. Personal bias kept it from that spot. While I loved every aspect of the show, the stereotypical anime fan service and their typical scenario's sort of irked me. That aside, the sheer epic-ness of Gurren Lagann easily eclipses any flaws it has. If you like action, this show is definitely for you, if not perfect. If you like relationships, both that of romance, and of friends and mentors, this show might be for you as well, but be prepared for the worst. Gurren Lagann evokes emotions, both positive and negative. I can not ever recall me hating a fictional character the way I hated Rossieu, or ever felt down because of a certain characters death. Gurren Lagann only had one lowpoint, which was intentional. The protagonist rose above it. Gurren Lagann will give you goosebumps. Unless you are completely insane and hate anime, watch it as soon as possible. Tell all your friends about it and make your (male) children watch it so they'll know how to behave like a real humans.

1. Darker Than Black

Why?:

Here is where the bias comes in to play. Before I saw one episode of this show, I already was in love with it. BONES is my favorite studio. Yoko Kanno is my favorite composer. Watching this show felt like watching a movie because the production value was so high. If any anime could ever get me to buy a high definition media player, Darker Than Black would be it. Not many shows do this, but Darker Than Black has two episode arcs. So in reality, you are watching one forty minute episode. I like long episodes like that. I've seen a few OVA's and short movies that follow this timing format and enjoyed them. It really shows talent in the writing because sometimes it's hard to fill up the allotted time required for even a normal twenty two minute episode.

The show has an unusual cast of an ex-special agent with the power of electricity, an emotionless blind girl who can give intel to her team just by touching water, a black cat who has a human soul trapped in him, and an alcoholic. The show has a serene sense of humor combined with quick and fast paced action where the ones involved have unusual powers. And then the whole process of regenerating that power after the fights is intriguing, and sometimes funny. The first half of the show is confusing since each set of episodes introduces a new set of characters. Towards the end, it all comes together smoothly. The true ending did leave more to be desired. But like Claymore, we'll just assume it's because a sequel will be in the works. BONES does like to make their shows fifty or so episodes.

Conclusion:

And that's the end. If you know me personally, you should be surprised. At anything in this list. I won't recommend a lot of these shows to other people simply because some are just shows you either like, or you could care less about - if that makes any sense.

If you disagree with anything I've said, just chill out and remember it's just one person's perspective. These are the shows I enjoyed personally for various reasons - some which I've listed. If you do watch any of these shows based on my word, that would really make me happy. It's not to be expected however.

[ADVANCE]

First Impressions: Rosario + Vampire

I knew it! From the moment an anime adaption was announced for Rosario + Vampire, I knew it was going to go downhill. Was I right? Absolutely.

First and foremost, I think I should say this: I'm a fan on the manga. So should you expect this impressions article to compare the anime to the manga, and not on it's own merits? Yes, you should. I'll not go into an in-depth comparison, but some of the things that are, and are not, in the anime really irked me.


Plot:

The story is about Tsukune Aono, a normal human teenager. Tsukune isn't exactly the a greatest student so he was really happy when he was finally accepted by a high school. The only catch is the high school is for monsters only. That's right, monsters. As in fairy tale type monsters. I am somewhat familiar with the ensuing plot, and monsters from legends of all cultures make their way into this series. I've never exactly studied such things in depth, but I was accustomed to some of the ones later on, so I'm sure you will be too if it's not exactly your forte.



Our hero Tsukune, gets run over by a girl on a bicycle. How convenient for him, because she's somewhat attractive and we all know attractive girly girls flock to injured boys like flies flock to strawberries covered in honey and Aunt Jemima's Butter Rich Maple Syrup. This girl happens to be a vampire named Moka Akashiya.

Ahem! Sound familiar? Well it should. It's not, word for word, exactly like something else, but you can guess where this is going, no? Do I sound irritated enough? I'm trying my best.

Other monsters are jealous that Tsukune, this seemingly ordinary guy, gets to hang around said beautiful girl. They are monsters. Instinct and emotions are more prevalent than common sense and rationality. Even though it is against the rules, these monsters change from their human form to their true form. Tsukune has no supernatural powers (yet) so he can't fight. He'll have to rely on Moka to protect him since she seems to be much stronger than any of your typical run-of-the-mill monsters. Not only that, she looks down on them and she's an elitist. And I'm going to leave it at that.

Rant:

I'll try to make this as fast with the smallest possible amount of whining. First, the anime has 95% more fan-service than the manga. I find it absolutely appalling. It's pointless, irrelevant, distracting. It adds absolutely nothing to the show, therefore it retracts.

Tsukune is a wimp. He's supposed to be right? Nothing is really wrong with that, but this time around Tsukune is a wimp that is completely obnoxious. I used to find him quite amusing freaking out over the littlest things. Now, not so much. He's completely void of emotion. Why should I care if he gets hurt or is about to die?

The anime has 100% less of the shonen feel the manga had. A fight happens in every chapter/episode. It was the part I most looked forward too. Moka might be pretty, but once you take off the rosary, she turns into her true from and decimates any foes standing before her (for now). The fight in the anime probably lasted two seconds. She just kicks him. We see it from far away. It was absolutely nothing spectacular.

That is one thing they did do right - the portrayal of vampire Moka. A bit less of the psycho-crazy look in her eyes, but still pretty sweet.

I could go on and on. But I have a feeling this is as best as the show is going to get. More and more female characters will enter the story so I can only assume the horrendous fan-service will only multiply. Will this show be a true harem romo-com? Or will it be about a group of friends fighting together and trying to live normal lives as human high-school students, like it's supposed to be? Which one will attract the most money/popularity? Ecchi, fan-service laden, harem comedies are much more popular than shonen series', right?



Bottom line:

Move along people. Nothing to see here. Nothing you haven't already seen, sans the monster twist. If you want a good romo-com, this isn't it, because it's not supposed to be. I recommend the manga through and through. I feel like I'm judging the anime way too much, too early. If it turns out for the better I'll write an apology or something of the sort. From what I've seen so far, it doesn't look like it will turn out that way.

[ADVANCE]

Wavebirds No Longer Shipping To Stores?

Say it ain't so! Is the Wavebird is getting the axe? GoNintendo reports that is is.

I haven’t heard of any plans to offer the WaveBird Wireless Controllers in stores again (I did some checking, and we are still shipping the original Nintendo GameCube Controllers to stores).
If you’re unable to find the original
Nintendo GameCube Controller locally, you can still order this item from us.
- Nintendo customer service rep

Okay, so they aren't going to stop selling them completely, just in stores. The Wavebird is probably my favorite controller of all time and was one of the first reliable and consistent wireless controllers out on the mainstream market. This is to be expected since it was made for a last generation console, but I still am a bit surprised. I use my silver Wavebird I've had for probably three or four years with the Wii all the time, for playing Virtual Console and Gamecube games. I would think Nintendo would want to keep it around as a part of the whole "wireless controller" fad going around these days. I also wonder if the upcoming game, Super Smash Brothers: Brawl would help push sales of Gamecube controllers since the game supports it. I know I'll be using mine. I just hope they don't bump the price up like outdated sort of things tend to do.

Would it be wise for Nintendo to continue selling Gamecube controllers and Wavebirds altogether? Actually, I think it'd be better if Nintendo gave the controller a face lift and started selling them as another controller for the Wii. How about Bluetooth and Gamecube support? Make it white and light blue? Good idea, no? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think it will happen, but it would be nice.

[Source: GoNintendo]

[ADVANCE]