Thursday, June 30, 2011

Introduction to Boys' Love Games

I really wish that I didn't feel the need to put this disclaimer here, but I'm going to do it for the current readers I have who might not be comfortable reading me talk about how much I like male homosexual romance manga/anime/games/etc. You have been warned. This will be the first post of many to come, so if you're not comfortable with that or are gearing up to write me a nasty comment, I'm going to politely ask you to skip this post, or stop following my blog altogether if it bothers you that much. That is all. 


Phew, now that that's out of the way... On to the good stuff! I could spend a whole entry (or entries, even) explaining what boys' love, or BL, is, but for the purpose of keeping things short I'll provide a simple explanation: BL/yaoi/shonen-ai is a sub-genre of Japanese manga, written by women for women, that focuses on the romantic and often sexual relationships between men. The genre has expanded to games, and since I feel in the mood to talk about BL games (thanks to The Gay Gamer, who inspires many of my posts these days), that's what I'll be covering today. This is by no means a definitive guide or anything, I'm just getting things started.

Have you ever heard of the genre of games called "dating simulation"? If you haven't, it's because they are virtually non-existent in the west, due to presumed lack of interest, I would believe. They're very popular in Japan, though, with names like Love Plus for the DS garnering all sorts of international news coverage for spurring some men to do various amusing public proclamations of their love for the game such as marrying their virtual girlfriends.

Well, just as there are dating sims for heterosexual men, so are there dating sims for women (bet you didn't know that). Not only are there games for girls where you control a female avatar as you try to win over the love of the man of your choice, but there are also games where the main character is male. These are BL games.

Most BL characters could easily be mistaken for girls.
Most BL games are relatively explicit in nature, and are thus limited to PC-only releases due to the strict ratings system for game consoles. Nevertheless, there are a few tame BL games available for consoles, mostly the PS2 and PSP (yes, they still make plenty of PS2 games in Japan). 

Perhaps the most popular BL game developer is Nitro+chiral, with titles like Lamento and Togainu no Chi garnering tons of fans in Japan. You can find censored versions of Togainu no Chi on the PSP and PS2, but Lamento (see first image) is too explicit to port, so it remains PC-only.

But never fear! There are, well, two English BL games (I was convinced there were more but as of writing this I did a 30 minute Google search and couldn't find anything else). Absolute Obedience for the PC is one, and in my opinion, the better-looking of the two. JAST USA, the company behind the localization, is also behind the first BL game commercially available in English, Enzai. Sadly, though the company has since localized quite a number of male-oriented eroge ("erotic games"), these two titles remain the only BL they've released so far.


BL games are, on the whole, visual-novel style, meaning you'll mostly be reading through dialogue and textual descriptions, occasionally being prompted to make a choice, and then for all your efforts you'll be treated to a number of lovely CGs along the way. Characters are, on the whole, fully-voiced, and voice actors play a significant part in the popularity of the games themselves in Japan. Each game features numerous potential partners for you to choose from, some varying in difficulty as to how tough they'll be to "get."

In closing, I'll confess that I've never really played a BL game. Sure, I know a lot about them, and I own the PS2 version of Togainu no Chi, but I haven't played a significant amount of it. I have played the heterosexual, or otome, counterpart to BL games, where you play a female avatar who is out to find herself a male partner, simply because I quickly tire of visual novels. When I play a game, there is only so much reading I want to do! Otome games are much more interactive, for whatever reason, and offer various stat-maxing options and mini-games to keep you interested enough to play them through until the end. But I'll save that for another post! Here, have some Togainu no Chi! Let me know who you'd go for if you were to give it a play.

Who would you pick? (image courtesy of NCSX)

Monday, June 27, 2011

Xenus II : White Gold





Xenus II : White Gold - 1DVD
System requirements:
Operating system: Windows 2000 (SP4) / Windows XP (SP2) / Vista
Processor: Intel Pentium IV processor with a clock frequency of 3.0 GHz / AMD Athlon 3000 +
Memory: 1 GB
Video Card: class, comparable to GeForce 6600GS
Free space on hard drive: 6 GB of free hard disk space

Tron - Evolution





Tron - Evolution - 2DVD
System Requirements
Intel Processor -  Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz
AMD Processor -  Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce GT 240
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon HD 3850
RAM (Memory) -  2 GB 
Hard Disk Space -  6.5 GB
Direct X -  9

Classic Strategy 2008

Classic Strategy 2008 - 1DVD
-Age Empire Rome at War Mods
-Age Of Empire I
-Age Of Empire I Cheat-Hint
-Age Of Empire I Patchv10c
-Age Of Empire II
-Age Of Empire II AI Enhance
-Age Of Empire II The Age Of King
-Age Of Empires II The Conquerors
-Age Of Empires II The Conquerors Plus 5 Trainer
-Age Of Empires II The.Conquerors.Codes
-Age Of Mythology The Titans Expansion
-Age Of Mythology with AddOn
-Battle Realms
-Battle Realms - Winter of The Wolf
-Conquest-of-The-Empire
-Empire Earth
-Empire Earth II
-Empire Earth II  The Art of Supremacy
-Final-Conquest
-Heaven's Age Of Empire
-Heaven's Age Of Empire Utilities
-Heaven's Rise Of Rome
-Rise-of-Rome
-Virgin-Territories

Slow Monday

Today literally was slow! I made my first stew, an Irish lamb stew from Frankie magazine, which was quite simple, took 3+ hours to cook, and tastes pretty good! Not that I have many stews in my repertoire to compare it to, but it's a start. Ok, now that I've got that bad pun out of the way...
In gaming news, I finally updated the eShop and downloaded my free copy of Excitebike as well as the 3D Pokedex. I'll admit, I wasn't that excited for Pokedex 3D (I'd rather play an actual Pokemon game then just look at 3D models of them), but I'm all for free things, so I couldn't pass it up without checking it out. Excitebike, on the other hand, was exciting and new for me (ok, I couldn't help it), as I've never played the original before. And after fooling around with it for a few minutes, I've gotta say, it's quite difficult! I don't really understand the mechanics yet, so I either go horribly slow and get bored or try to go too fast and just end up crashing and then cursing at myself for having to wait to go again.

Have you heard about the lack of a save file delete/reset option in Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D? This is another shameless plug, but just today I wrote a pretty in-depth post at VGW if you'd like to read more about it. Basically, though, as a way to combat used-game sales, Capcom decided to give players only one save file, which cannot be erased or reset, so you can only play through the game from scratch once. I personally think this is a horrible decision and will definitely deter me from buying the game in the future (though I admit I wasn't particularly leaning towards a purchase in the first place), but what do you all think? I know used game sales can hurt the developers and publishers, but you shouldn't punish consumers, and rather reward them to provide incentives to buy new games, such as exclusive DLC, etc.

In other news, Shaun and I saw Kung Fu Panda 2 over the weekend. I enjoyed the original well enough, but wasn't going to see the sequel except I kept hearing rave reviews right and left that assured me it was actually better than the original. Story-wise, I'm not so sure I'm convinced it was better, but the animation was so beautiful I didn't really care. Give me fuzzy computer animals and a peacock villain voiced by Gary Oldman and I will go home a happy woman. The fight scenes with Lord Shen, the aforementioned main villain, were mesmerizing. If you want to see some gorgeous animation, then definitely consider seeing this on the big screen (I didn't see it in 3D so I can't comment on that), but otherwise you may want to wait for a rental or skip it altogether.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Dead Space 2




Dead Space 2 - 3DVD
System Requirements
Intel Processor -  Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz
AMD Processor -  Athlon II X2 220
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce 8800 GTS
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon HD 3800 series
RAM (Memory) -  2 GB 
Hard Disk Space -  10 GB
Direct X -  9

Dungeons and Dragons Daggerdale



Dungeons and Dragons Daggerdale - 1DVD
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows XP SP3, Vista SP2, 7
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 or AMD Athlon X2 4400+
RAM: 1GB
GFX: ATI Radeon HD 2900 or NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or faster
Direct X: 9.0c-compatible
HDD: 4GB free
Disk Drive: 6x DVD-ROM or faster
Peripherals: Keyboard and 3-button mouse
Other: 64Kbps+ Internet Connection required.

Recommended System Requirements
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 or AMD Phenom II X2 555
RAM: 2GB
GFX: ATI Radeon HD 3870 or NVIDIA GeForce 9800 or faster
Peripherals: Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for PC, Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows, Logitech Gamepad F310/F510/F710 **
Other: 256 Kbps+ recommended for multiplayer

BulletStorm




BulletStorm - 2DVD

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP2), or Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon X2, or equivalent, running at 1.6 GHz or greater
RAM: 1.5 GB
Hard Drive: 9 GB Available
Video Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible, 256 MB of VRAM; NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS, ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256 MB, or greater
Soundcard: DirectX 9.0c compatible, 16-bit
Disc Drive: 16X CD/DVD Drive
Other: Network Internet (TCP/IP) connection

RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows Vista (SP2), or Windows 7
Processor: QuadCore 2.0 GHz
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive: 9 GB free hard drive space
Video Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible, 512MB of VRAM; NVIDIA GeForce GTX260, or ATI Radeon 4870
Soundcard: DirectX 9.0c compatible, 16-bit
Disc Drive: 16X CD/DVD Drive
Other: Network Broadband Internet (TCP/IP) connection

Thursday, June 23, 2011

SPORE Galactic Adventures (Expansion)






SPORE Galactic Adventures (Expansion) - 1DVD

* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
 * 512 MB RAM
 * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
 * The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
 * Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1
 * At least 4 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB
   additional space for creations

SPORE Creepy & Cute Parts Pack (Expansion)





SPORE Creepy & Cute Parts Pack (Expansion) - 1DVD

 * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
 * 512 MB RAM
 * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
 * The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
 * Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1
 * At least 4 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB
   additional space for creations

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Recent Happenings–Me at VGW and StreetPass Meets

Well, besides that book review, I've been a little MIA as of late, huh? Time to fix that!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm now a member of the lovely, inspiring team at www.videogamewriters.com! I'll be covering news and some reviews, with a slight angle towards Japan-only releases and news fresh from the land of the rising sun. I believe my first review for them will actually be of Grand Knights History for the PSP in September, and I'm looking forward to it! (thanks to The Gay Gamer for making me aware of this game in the first place!) So far I've written a few news articles, and most notably an opinion piece on Nintendo's decision to exclude DVD playback capabilities while pursuing possible social network connectivity in the Wii U, so if you're at all interested, I'd love if you gave it a read! If you want to be a real pal, show your support for me and the rest of the team at Video Game Writers by following us on Facebook and/or Twitter! And I highly suggest you check out some of the other articles on the site, it really is a pleasure to read (and there was absolutely no mention of booth babes in any of their E3 coverage!).

In other news, we had another StreetPass Brisbane meetup last weekend, where one of our members was kind enough to pass on her copy of Alice in Wonderland for the DS to me! It's one of the only movie/game tie-ins that ever looked any good to me, so I'm excited to check it out.

Another one of our members ordered the giant AR card from Nintendo Club Australia, and he brought it along to the event so that we all could take some snazzy 3D photos of giant Mii's and Nintendo characters. We got a lot of questions and interested passers-by. Here's what we looked like:



Nothing like a bunch of 3DS fans gathering together, I say! In fact, this Saturday has been declared 3DS StreetPass Day by none other than Nintendo, and to show StreetPass Brisbane's support we'll be holding an event on the day, too. I'll be trying my hand at hosting a Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition tournament (wish me luck, I've never done something like this before!).


I'd love to write more but since this post is long overdue, I think I'll leave it at that for now and save the rest for subsequent posts. I don't like how dead things are getting around here!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Black Mirror III



Black Mirror III - 1DVD
System Requirements
Intel Processor -  Pentium D 3.0GHz
AMD Processor -  Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core TK-53
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce GT 210 512MB 
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon HD 5450 512MB
RAM (Memory) -  2 GB
Hard Disk Space -  6 GB
Direct X -  9

Battle Vs Chess




Battle Vs Chess - 1DVD
System Requirements
Intel Processor -  Pentium 4 3.40GHz
AMD Processor -  Athlon 64 3500+
Nvidia Graphics Card -  GeForce 8300
ATI Graphics Card -  Radeon HD 3600 Series
RAM (Memory) -  1 GB
Hard Disk Space -  1 GB
Direct X -  9

Cargo The Quest For Gravity




Cargo The Quest For Gravity - 1DVD
System requirements :
OS: Windows® 7/Vista/XP, Processor: Pentium ® 4, 3GHz or equivalent AMD Athlon ® processor, Memory: 1 GB XP/2GB
Vista, Hard Disk Space: at least 4 GB, Video: Video card must be 128 MB or more, Direct 9-compatible with support
for Pixel Shader 2.0 (ATI Radeon X800/NVIDIA GeForce 7600/Intel GMA HD Graphics,). Audio: DX 9 compatible.

Hunted - The Demon's Forge




Hunted - The Demon's Forge - 3DVD
Minimum System Requirements:
-OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
-CPU: 2.0 GHz dual core or better
-RAM: 2 GB
-GFX: 512 MB video RAM or better (GeForce 9800 GTX or better/Radeon HD 4330 or better)
-HDD: 12 GB
-Audio: Windows compatible sound card
 Recommended System Requirements:
-OS: Windows Vista/7
-CPU: Intel Quad Core i5 or equivalent
-RAM: 3 GB
-GFX: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 / ATI Radeon HD 5830