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Quick update: Before I go, if anyone is into orchestral game soundtracks, I suggest you go here. Right now. Jeremy Soule has just produced (and made available for download via OC ReMix) the most amazing interpretation I've ever heard of my all-time favourite game theme.

Somehow, I must have deeply offended the Will of the Universe, because I am now in no doubt that it hates me. This week has been interesting as my body is going through another one of its "let's make SoZ's life a misery" phases, something it does so well these days given the amount of practice its had. As a result, I have been more-or-less a zombie for most of the week and haven't got half of the things done I wanted to.

I took a week away from Final Fantasy XI a little while ago, which resulted in me dropping too far behind everyone else to be able to party with them. I spent a while seeking out new parties in the game, but I haven't found many that I would want to play with yet. I would like to thank Xylia for her assistance in helping me catch up through some extra levelling this week, but I have more or less resigned myself to sitting out and waiting until everyone else catches up with me with their second jobs

Since my allocated MMORPG time is no longer taken up with FFXI for the moment, I have found myself playing a lot more Ragnarok Online. I generally split my time between levelling (the addition of the Greatest Generals to one of the Payon field maps makes this a much easier task for archers now ^^) and guarding the clearing just beyond the zoning point inside the entrance of the Payon caves - to keep the zombies away from the novices and merchants that gather there. I have said before that RO can often seem like an online chat system with a built-in minigame and the latter activity really reinforces that view. When I was on duty in the clearing the other day, there were no less than 3 discussions on relationships, one on films and another on veterinary care. There was one more, but it was in Dutch and I didn't really follow it. People ask me from time to time why I still play Ragnarok Online, even after having concluded that it isn't a great game. I think my experience in the dungeon is a typical example of the reason I still play. Ragnarok Online isn't serious role playing, as many critics and ex-gamers have pointed out time and time again. It is relaxed role playing, and I play games to relax. I enjoy playing RPGs with the complexity of FFXI when I am in the mood, but when I just want to unwind, a casual chat punctuated by skewering things with arrows seems to do the job nicely.

Oh, I'm also in the middle of the Arrow Repel quest. If anyone is playing iRO on the Loki server and has two Emeralds they would be interested in selling, feel free to get in touch with me. ^_^;

Things have been quiet on the game news front. The VisualArts crew all seem to have some kind of cute-hangover as a result of Comiket (in the case of Key, we're talking C63), and as a result don't appear to have started doing much work. Thankfully Leaf can always be counted on to have something interesting in the works. I haven't been able to find any information on their current game project - no doubt more things will leak out shortly - but they have now announced a new Leaf Amusement CD (fan disc). Entitled "Aruru to Asobo!!" (as in Aruru from Utawarerumono), the disc will be the 4th in the Amusement CD series and the first for over 4 years. The disc should include three Utawarerumono minigames (one action game, one that looks somewhat like an RTS and another that I can't make out but which seems to revolve around removing Aruru's clothes), Routes omake scenario files, desktop accessories and more.

Before I go, I want to thank everyone for helping the Bokeboke Island visitorometer to hit 3000 visitors in less than a year. As I type this, the stats currently read at:

You're all strange. Go and visit sites that actually have worthwhile content instead.

Isn't it cute? ^^ Well, as cute as any depiction of SoZ can be. Go to the South Park Create-A-Character page and have a go at making a South Park version of yourself. Thanks to Yuriko for directing me at that, although I think it may have been FrF who started the South Park characterisation initiative.

I apologise for the rather unrefined nature of the rant I posted a couple of days ago. I don't normally sink to such levels of crudeness or make references to bestiality on Bokeboke Island (or anywhere else for that matter), but to say I was rather peeved on hearing the news would be putting it mildly. I am calmer now though so will continue with the rant (oh yes, there's more) in a more rational manner.

What annoys me about the name change is that it is completely unnecessary. As Mr Kahn stated himself, the change is to remove any traces of Japan and localise the series for the domestic market. He attempts to rationalise this action by claiming the name change will lead to the series being more popular than it might otherwise have been. I really cannot believe this justification though. Does he have any MR evidence to back up his claims? Obviously, I haven't carried out research myself, but from previous experience I would have said that leaving the series title as Tokyo Mew Mew would actually be better from a marketing point of view. Consumers (in this case, the TV-viewing youngsters) are generally stimulated by anything vaguely exotic. It plays on natural human curiosity - that need to discover the unknown. While Tokyo may have all of the exotic flair of a brick, it does spark the imagination for many people, and so should have theoretically proven an asset to the series. I certainly can't see the inclusion of "Tokyo" in the name doing it any harm.

I dislike, but will accept things such as changes to character names (they're not going to keep "Ichigo", that's for sure) since they would probably increase the number of young girls (presumably still the main target audience, unless they are going to hack the show up completely) able to associate with the characters. Personally, I don't see a problem with Strawberry or Lettuce, but possibly some people wouldn't be able to take the series seriously. I won't even object to cuts made for story/content reasons - what is acceptable in one culture might not always be acceptable in others. But I can see no reason for the name/location change from Tokyo to Hollywood apart from it being the result of the suggestions of one highly Xenophobic CEO. I find it alarming that at this period in time, when we are thinking more and more in terms of the global community (and need to if we are ever going to understand and become tolerant of each other's cultural differences), someone would go to such lengths to "cleanse" a series in order to protect others from anything vaguely "foreign". I have noticed that there seems to exist a belief in many so-called developed nations, particularly in the case of the USA and the UK, that making people more aware and accepting of other cultures somehow dilutes their sense of national pride. Maybe it does, but in my opinion their national pride could do with some denting. Perhaps if children were not brought up to believe that their country was at the centre of the world, they might grow up to become more understanding of others.

Okay. Rant over. For now. While I'm still in campaign mood though...

Right, enough of that.

Puyo Puyo Fever, the 5th game in the Puyo Puyo series (the main series that is, ignoring spinoffs such as DA, Wars and the RPG), was released for the PS2 on the 4th of February. There will also be releases for the Dreamcast (Feb 24th), GameCube (Mar 24th) and Xbox (Apr 24th). A Mac release is also on the cards but I have no dates for that yet. Further release info, TV CMs and more can be found at Sega's PS2 Puyo Puyo Fever page (click the links at the bottom for other ports).

In a way, "fever" almost sounds like "five"... sort of. >_> So Compile's original version number/naming system still seems to be alive and well. ("Rock Puyos" in 6 then? ^^) Note that the PS2 release date, 2004/02/04, can be read as "Pu" (2) "Yo" (004) "Pu" (02) "Yo" (04). ^_^; Indeed, Sega's marketing department has made much of this fact by calling 2004 the "Year of the Puyo" and even proclaiming Feb 4th "Puyo no Hi". I'm not sure it will ever become adopted as an official national holiday, but it's an interesting way of making a release date memorable.

The game itself will come as a bit of a shock to traditional Puyo players and fans. Sonic Team have ditched the look and feel of the original games in favour of a shiny new "cute pop" appearance. First to go were the original characters. Poor Arle has been relegated to a minor sub-character role while the lead has been taken over by a young upstart named Amitie. What of Draco, Skeleton-T, or the rest of the old cast? Are we destined never again to hear another bad Satan-sama/Santa gag? Even Carbuncle doesn't seem to have been able to escape the cull.

As with previous versions, incrementing the version number means adding another twist to the classic Puyo Puyo gameplay. Puyo Puyo Fever brings us Fever Mode, a game mode which a player enters when their Fever Gauge reaches its maximum level. Fever Mode is a mini puzzle game that takes place within your current Puyo Puyo game. Your puzzle screen is replaced with a new puzzle, but with one Puyo-block missing. Fit the falling Puyo-block into the correct place and the whole thing will rensa spectacularly, allowing you to reap a useful point bonus. Another change to the classic gameplay is that falling Puyo-blocks no longer consist of just two Puyos - blocks of 3 and even 4 Puyos may drop, adding a little extra interest to the game.

Overall, Puyo Puyo Fever looks like a good game, bringing the classic puzzle series bang up to date. However, while its attempt to modernise will no doubt make the series a success with regular casual gamers, the reaction among fans of the classic Puyo Puyo games will probably be mixed. On the one hand, it is pleasing to see that the series is alive and well and will be entertaining new gamers for many years to come. But it is still a great shame to see the characters, stories and jokes that we have loved for so long, and which led to the creation of the subculture that made Puyo Puyo one most successful puzzle games ever created, being discarded to make way for the new hip-and-trendy Puyo Puyo. Even overlooking the new design, 3D swirlyness and flashy special effects, the game itself seems designed more for new players, with Fever Mode allowing even novices to construct a huge rensa and making the battlefield a little more even between players of differing skill.

I for one will enjoy the fresh new look and feel to the game, but it just won't be quite the same without Harpy's vocal talents or Skeleton-T's "1337 Puyo-stacking skillz".

For those bored at work, here are a couple of bad Puyo Puyo-like games available online:

When passing through Lik-Sang the other day, in addition to noticing that they no longer sell flash carts or flash linker hardware, I spotted this. It looks like a wonderful little gadget and would be great when stuck in 2 hour train delays. The price is also remarkably low for something boasting so many features and with such obvious "cool thing" status. As a result of all of this, it is now somewhere near the top of my list of things to buy when I have more money. The only real problem is that the resolution and size of the GBA screen makes reading subtitles a little hard.

I see the US Yukikaze site is now up with details on the release of the US DVDs. Yukikaze is one of those series that surprised me by being far better than I expected it to be. Should I ever get my Japanese up to a reasonable level, I wouldn't mind reading the original novels to see how the story compares.

One last thing before I go. I noticed in this article [BBC] that DDR is being officially registered as a sport in Norway due to the popularity of competitions there. I might have to stop playing it then. >_>

Hi there. Anyone planning a trip to Hollywood any time soon? It just so happens I was there recently, so let me show you a few of the sights.
 

Do you hate me, world?

"Yes SoZ, I hate you."

Oh well. Such is life, I suppose. Maybe Mr. Al Kahn will be molested by a savage, S&M-crazed, ninja goat army on his way home from work. And then dragged away to the secret ninja goat army lair, where he will spend several weeks at the mercy of the evil goat-tachi, before suffering a long and painful death involving dildos and razor blades. After which the goats will hold a ceremonial ritual in which they defecate on his corpse. Yes, that could lead me to once again believe that the world isn't all bad.

Quote of the day: "By the time we localize the programs kids don't even know they're from Japan any more." -- Mr. Al Kahn

I feel the need to kill.