News broke this week that Warner Bros.' game division has been working on a new game based on Marvel Comics character. This Game Informer video offers a first look at the game and mentions that the game's big bad will be Galactus. According to coverage in Game Informer's print magazine, you'll be doing all your crime-fighting in a Lego-fied open-world New York City.
The clip doesn't show the Devourer of Worlds but does show the Hulk, who'll be a great deal bigger than other playable characters. But, maybe the best thing in the video is a quote where a Traveller's Tales dev says, "For every Lego game, we make we have to take ten, eleven steps forward for people to perceive we've taken one or two steps forward." Excelsior to that, brother.
What most of us get to see, cosplay-wise, is the part where a costumed fan stands before the flash of the camera, posing as their favorite characters from movies, comic books and games.
What most of us experience is the ‘product.' The end result. But there is a person underneath that costume. That person has a story, that person has reasons for putting themselves out there for the world to see. And that person likely put in a lot of work to bring a character to life. Turns out, there is a whole lot more to cosplay than just what can be photographed and put into galleries.
To be a cosplayer is to be a fan—the cosplay itself not much different in spirit than writing a fanfiction or hoarding collectibles of your favorite media. "I don't think anyone in their right minds would hot glue N7 armor to their skin for a Mass Effect cosplay or go two days without sleep while sewing Super Sentai suits if they weren't a fan of it," Elizabeth DeLoria, an Australian cosplayer with a fiery attitude explained to me in an interview. "When you're a fan of something, cosplay is like the ultimate homage."
Perhaps not surprisingly, there is also an element of escapism to cosplay. A nerdy outcast can find not only an outlet for their devotion to something, but also a strong community that shares a similar passion.
Such was the case with cosplayer Kat Elisabeth (photographed by Ger Tysk above as Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender), who was "teased pretty badly" growing up because of her interest in games, anime and sci-fi, she told me on an online chat. That didn't stop her from fostering "a love and connection to [characters]" that was strong enough to want to bring said character into our world. In the face of such obstacles, every convention can feel like a victory, Kat said.
The issues are not always bullies, though.
"I used it to get away from domestic violence and abuse, my family's terrible financial status, problems at school, and sometimes, myself," Kat revealed. "I cosplay to breathe life into fabric, to get rid of me for a few days, as an escape, and for a love of the culture."
The culture is key component to why cosplay has found such popularity. The social aspect of cosplay is huge; in its most ‘traditional' expression, cosplay is a thing you do with other people, for other people (not to say you can't do it for yourself, too.)
"The vast majority of my friends are cosplayers," DeLoria explained, and entertaining people through your cosplay means "being asked for photos, making passersby smile, watching kids freak out because they're meeting Batman for real."
Of course, as sincere and as earnest as the sentiments fueling cosplay are, they still have to put a costume together. First a character must be chosen. Or, perhaps it might be more accurate to say that the character chooses you. Folks tend to gravitate toward characters that they feel a connection to.
The degree to which a cosplayer might take it upon themselves to create a costume and reach "screen accuracy" is staggering. Sometimes, the efforts require you to go through a crucible of sorts. "There is a lot of pressure, I personally feel, in looking exactly like your character," she explained.
Meeting expectations to adopt a character's essence can be grueling. Things go wrong with your sewing machine, your wigs, your props, you run out of money, real life gets in the way, you don't know how to put something together, the paint job went wrong, the glue didn't hold, you didn't lose enough weight—the number of things that can get in the way when doing cosplay is crazy.
Going the extra mile to cosplay can also be expensive, and certainly there are cosplayers who are willing to shell out as much money as it takes to ‘become' a character. As respectable as that dedication to being accurate is, it's not something DeLoria and Kat always have the privilege of doing. They have to regularly improvise and sometimes even rely on individual flair for a costume that's not exactly a recreation.
"I prefer to not worry about screen accuracy," DeLoria said, "because it means I can also add a little bit of artistic license while still keeping it recognizable."
Plus budgeting means having to be creative, which in a way could be seen as a test of how much passion a cosplayer has. When someone figures out how to use $2 plastic bins instead of foam or wonderflex for a part of a costume, it's difficult not to feel awe at their ingenuity.
"Its hard to accept that you WON'T produce amazing, awestriking work without some cash, effort, and time, time time," Kat said, "What stops me from cutting myself a break due to my economic status and mental issues is that I know someone out there has it worse, and is still doing stellar work. And I will find that sonofabitch and throttle them until I learn their secrets."
Wearing something is not all there is to a cosplay though, and this is where things get particularly fascinating. Both Kat and DeLoria have taken up extra hobbies to supplement their cosplays. In researching for Avatar cosplays, for example, Kat came to take up martial arts such as tai chi and kung fu. This allowed her to take up better poses for pictures, as well as be able to assume a character more fully.
Sometimes, this also involves adopting affectations for skits and acts that one puts on whenever they're interacting with fans. If you cosplay as, say, Commander Shepard, for instance, you might like ending conversations with his signature "I should go."
"When I put on my Bane mask it's almost impossible for me to not imitate his voice and stride around," DeLoria remarked, "When I'm Mary Jane I call everyone 'tiger.' It's often just little things but if I can get people to laugh or get excited because it feels even a little tiny, itsy bitsy bit real to them, that's a rewarding feeling for me."
DeLoria has also taken up dieting and weight-lifting in the past. Sometimes, what you do to look like a character isn't healthy. DeLoria recalls going on a ‘very intense' exercise kick for a Valkyrie cosplay, along with eating habits that left her in pain. "I have a body type that I'm not comfortable doing a lot of cosplays in" DeLoria divulged, "I have big hips, a large bust, I'm not the most physically fit of people."
Given how much of your body can be on display in cosplay, the extent of stress one feels can be great.
"No amount of working out, creams, lotions, or makeup would leave me satisfied," Kat recalled, when thinking about her earlier cosplay days. "I had poor body image anyways, and an eating disorder slowly creeping up on me before emerging into full static bloom last year that left me crying over my body after hours in the gym when I should've been doing schoolwork."
One's natural body poses more challenges than one might think when it comes to cosplay. Well-meaning cosplayers will tell you that it's not about looking exactly like a character, especially if it's physically impossible, but rather about having fun and engaging with the community.
Still, I've occasionally stumbled on darker parts of the community, who get angry when someone dares to cosplay as someone that's a different gender, race or especially body type. Kat told me about an early cosplay where she was called out for not being the right skin tone, and she's had to "lighten my skin, cover freckles, [and] attempt to color my darkass eyebrows."
Those alterations stem from a desire to recreate a character and she doesn't have a problem doing it. "The effort and experience in the end is more worth it than looking just like them," she assured me. The issue is when other people don't respect a cosplayer simply because they put themselves on display.
Sometimes, accusations of doing a ‘sexy' cosplay merely for attention rise, and here is where the ‘fake geek girl' stuff pop up—is that cosplayer actually clueless about their costume? While unfair, in a twisted sense the insecurities make sense: if some of the cosplay community is made up of defensive outcasts that have rallied together for the communal love of a piece of media, someone not actually being knowledgeable about that media might be seen as ‘threatening.'
But as women, the pressures that both DeLoria and Kat face are tied with the expectation that a woman's body is public domain and they have a responsibility to never subject people to anything less than a hyper-idealized body. Anything else is offensive and a blatant disregard for the poor sensibilities of a hyper-entitled viewer.
When you look toward ‘sexy' cosplay as a means of empowering yourself, as DeLoria does, things get complicated. In a culture that is convinced that a woman can ‘ask for it'-dressing provocatively as, say, Metal Gear Solid's EVA-can cause people to think they are being invited to flirt, touch or harass a cosplayer.
"I find it's a hard balance because I am a very sexual person and I enjoy characters like Ivy and Black Cat where I get to play around a little bit with that, but at the same time I know a lot cosplayers aren't like me and I don't want to perpetuate this idea that if you're in a 'sexy' cosplay, you HAVE to be flirtatious and want to flirt. I like getting into character when I cosplay and it's part of why I choose the characters I do, but a lot of cosplayers don't, so sometimes I worry that while I'm prancing around calling everyone 'sweet-heart' and blowing kisses that I'm making some people think it's okay to assume all the other cosplayers at the convention are going to act the same and be okay with that kind of interaction."
Kat has a number of stories of cosplay-community gone wrong when it comes to ‘sexy cosplay.'
"I don't ask for the comments of 'WHORE/BITCH/SLUT' or 'PUT ON SOME CLOTHES' while I'm trying to get to my hotel, nor do I ask to be glomped/grabbed/have someone try and remove my top/kissed/pulled at/or anything like that. It just makes me feel worse about myself. I can't look exactly like this pale, really oddly proportioned, yellow-eyed bitch on the screen, so obviously I'm just here for people to ridicule, no matter how much I like the character."
There are even instances when, after an assault, depending on what the cosplay was, a cosplayer might be blamed for the incident. "Well, maybe you shouldn't have dressed like that" is a literal thing someone has said to Kat, and there have also been occurrences where people shut down any conversation that brings up an incident of assault.
She's not discouraged, though—the love for cons and cosplay is too great.
"People have a right to feel awesome....I try to make my costumes to the best of my ability, and really have to work on realizing that I can't please everyone/wont always have the right complexion/body type, etc [but it's fine as long as it makes] ME happy."
"For the most part," DeLoria clarifies, "we're a pretty welcoming bunch and watching the uninitiated become one of us over time is something we really enjoy...I firmly believe that if you want to cosplay a character, you should go for it."
And ultimately? Despite the time, dedication and sometimes drama that the cosplay life can create, the camraderie, culture and strength that cosplay gives is worth it.
"I've met most of my best friends and have been introduced to this amazing (though sometimes frustrating) culture," Kat declared. "Totally heartfelt and touchy feely, but fuck it, I'm being honest. I'm not that high schooler running away from herself through wigs anymore..I love the collaboration, the ability to fly my nerd flag, the challenge, the community, the characters I choose, and bringing it all together, through literal blood sweat and tears (and lots of being broke.)"
In the popular iOS game Tiny Wings, players use a single finger to control the flight of an adorable baby bird as it slides down hills and soars through the serene sky, chased by peaceful dreams. Time Surfer is the same thing, except instead of peaceful dreams it's the end of the universe, the sky is filled with spikes, asteroids and cake, and you have the power to rewind time.
There's actually even more to it than that. Boosts, power-ups, unlockable pets that can be fed to add some extra oomph to your run, unlockable characters and vehicles including a familiar blue police box and a car that does odd things once you hit 88 miles-per-hour—the end of the universe is a very busy place.
We'll have a more extensive look at Time Surfer down the line. This here is just a call to arms. The placeholder headline for this article was "Time Surfer is Fucking Amazing". It's still the title in spirit.
Time Surfer — $.99 [iTunes]
Simpsons fan artist extraordinaire Dean Fraser imagines Assassin's Creed Altair as a guest star on the animated series. Luckily, the chances of him having to swim during such an appearance would be slim.
Assassin's Creed [Springfield Punx]
The next most recommended film was Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo. Like it or hate it, no one will dispute that it completely destroyed any and all expectations that fans had going in. The Evangelion presented in this film is unlike any other and is so far removed from the events seen in the original series, it's difficult to even compare the two. So if you were thinking this film would be similar in tone to the other Rebuild of Evangelion movies, cast those illusions aside. You're in for a wild ride with this one, if nothing else.
Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker is the sixteenth film in the long-running Detective Conan (aka Case Closed) series. This time out our teenage genius detective (who is, as always, trapped in the body of a young child) is dealing with a serial bomber who has been planting bombs at high profile soccer games. Conan and the rest of the main cast try to decipher the criminal's cryptic clues to find where the bombs are and how to stop them. It is a fun little mystery adventure that will keep both children and adults entertained till the very end.
The fourth most recommended film was the twelfth and latest film in the One Piece franchise: One Piece Film: Z. This film is largely focused around the titular villain "Z" and his plan to rid the world of pirates. What comes out of this story is an incredibly well-developed and sympathetic villain who outshines even the franchise's main cast in this outing.
Doraemon, the earless robotic cat from the future, is back once again in his 32nd movie. This time he, along with the usual gang, travel to an island where extinct animals still roam the land and battle against forces from the future to protect it.
Outside of the top five, other notable titles include the only non-Japanese movie in the top ten, Dreamwork's Puss in Boots, which came in at number six. The two Madoka Magica movies were the eighth most recommended, while the CG video game tie-in Resident Evil: Damnation took the number ten spot.
Among the other anime movies we have looked at here at Kotaku East in 2012, 009 Re:Cyborg came in at 16, Berserk Golden Age Arc II: The Battle for Doldrey at 19, Tiger & Bunny: the Beginning at 24, and Macross FB7 at 27.
To check out the full list, head over to What Japan Thinks to see the entire survey translated into English.
In Pokémon League play, in which trainers have their Pocket Monsters battle, it always seems like he's losing. Well, that's because he is. And that's part of the appeal.
On this week's episode of anime Pokémon: Best Wishes!, a teaser for next's week program shows Ash's Pokémon, Pikachu, once again losing. This time, it's to Lucario in the Unova Pokémon League.
The subtitle says that Pikachu was "knocked out" and "Lucario wins!" So that probably puts Ash's record in Pokémon league play somewhere between awful and terrible. But there's an important reason for Ash Ketchum's losing streak: Who wants to watch someone win all the time? It would get boring.
What's more, while the Pokémon anime does have its share of fans, its target audience is Japanese children. That means there is a steady flow of new viewers as children get old enough to watch the long running show. Thus, the show's producers need to keep the characters somewhat static.
Yes, Ash Ketchum loses. A lot. If his league record is anything to go by, he's not a very good trainer. But he is an underdog. And who doesn't like an underdog? Jerks, that's who.
Has Ash ever won the Pokemon League in The Anime? [The Pokemon Database]
Why does ash ketchum always lose? [Yahoo! Answers]
またリーグ戦で敗退 16年目もポケモンマスターになれず [2ch via はちま起稿]
The main story of Robotics;Notes centers around a high school robotics club. For the past nine years, the club has been working on building its very own giant robot based on Gunvarrel (their world's version of Gundam). However, this is a world based on our own future so, over the course of the series, the main characters learn about the problems with such a design—namely, weight and cost of materials. They then work together to overcome these problems as they make their dream robot into a reality. It is a great realistic take on the impregnability of giant robots as we think of them while still showing what kinds of giant robots we could realistically build.
In the future according to Robotics;Notes, everyone has an iPad-like device that counts as everything from cell phone to notebook to game system. But perhaps the most visionary use of these pads in Robotics;Notes is a fully realized world where Augmented Reality is a normal part of life. Everything from tagged landmarks to cleverly hidden mysterious information can be viewed via the pad's AR camera if you go to the right place in the real world. There is even an AI character who can only be interacted with through the pad's AR features—and touch screen, of course.
The characters in Robotics;Notes are all distinct and somewhat interesting, but Otaku Queen Frau Kojiro steals the show. While only a teenager, she is a programming genius as well as the creator of the world's most popular video game. What makes her most interesting, though, is that she seems to have been completely raised by 2chan (think 4chan, only Japanese). Her entire language base is nothing but internet shorthand speak augmented with a Yaoi/porn obsession and a crazy case of ADD. Thus she is both identifiable and hilarious—whether she's ranting about cheaters and their "haxx0rs" or accusing the other girls in the robotics club of trying to seduce her with their scented shampoos.
While originally appearing to be grounded in reality, Robotics;Notes soon becomes a smorgasbord of concurrent stories that don't seem to share a common genre, much less a common world. The various plot lines involve ghosts, secret societies, world conquest, school life, a multiple personality AI, fighting games, murder mysteries, a father-son slice of life, and the conspiracy surrounding the final episode of a popular anime—just to name a few.
This plot schizophrenia is most likely due to the anime being the adaptation of a visual novel. I assume that normally the player would only experience one of these plot lines per playthrough based on the decisions they make in the game. Only by replaying the game with different choices would they experience any of the other plot lines. Thus one time through the game it's about a robotics club and the next it's about a solar flare doomsday device. But for the anime, all the plot lines have been combined into a single telling of the story which makes the entire series feel far from internally consistent—and more than a little insane.
Kaito is the most unlikable lead character in any anime I watched in 2012. He is unbelievably, fundamentally lazy. All he wants to do is sit in a corner and play his video game—which is, let's face it, fun to do in real life but boring as the primary behavior of an anime's main character. Should his friends ask him for help, he tells them he will if they can beat him at the game (which of course they have no chance of doing). It's kind of amazing he does anything in the series at all. It's a shame he's the focus, really, as all the other characters—especially Frau—are interesting and have deep and developed backstories. But as he is the main character and player proxy in the game, he is the main character in the anime too—largely to the show's detriment.
Robotics;Notes is now half done and frankly, I'm not sure what to think of it. There are parts of it I really like—namely the robot building and Frau. But I find that, even now, I'd be hard pressed to simply explain what it is about due to its schizophrenic nature and many divergent plotlines. As it stands now, I hesitate to recommend it to anyone except those who liked Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate. However, I don't hate the series and am still looking forward to seeing if it can tie all the narratives together by the time the series ends.
Robotics;Notes is currently airing on BS Fuji TV in Japan. It can be watched in the U.S., subtitled in English, at Funimation.com. Stay tuned to Kotaku East for the review of the second half of Robotics;Notes later this year.
All these little Steve Jobs heads lined up all neat like, however, is a testament to Legend Toys' ability to freak people out.
If you have US$200 to spare, there's more info in the Legend Toy link below.
Legend Toys [Official Site]
Don't expect these on-demand ninja to climb walls and assassinate enemies. But who cares when ninja are only a phone call away?
There are, of course, the historical ninja (the real ninja) and the ninja of popular imagination. This service caters to the latter.
Currently, there are only three types of ninja available for hire, reports IT Media. Prices depend on what you have in mind for these folks in black pajamas.
Ninja Delivery makes it very clear that you cannot order ninja to commit criminal acts (larceny, destruction, or violence). Also, the service does not cover ninjutsu for hire. Instead, Ninja Delivery says things like corporate events or parties are more up its alley as well as surprises for children or a loved one. What better way to say I love you than with a ninja?
Don't think of this as only getting people in outfits and not deadly ninja. You are getting party ninja.
Ninja Delivery [Official Site via IT Media]
When it comes down to it, the vast majority of Japanese erotic games are visual novels. The best of these—like Fate/Stay Night, for example—go on to mainstream success (though with the pornographic parts cut out). This is because, in some cases, the "adult" elements of the game are just a marketing tactic. Once experienced, the plot is strong enough to support the game all on its own; the porn is just a trick to get more people playing it.
So mixing the story aspects of an adult visual novel with a racing game is an intriguing idea if done right. Several fighting games—e.g., Project Justice and Persona 4 Ultimate Arena—have mixed visual novel-type storytelling with well-built fighting engines to great success. And as a person who loves story in games, regardless of genre, I was excited to see how this combination would work out. Sadly, the plot of Moero Downhill Night Blaze is that of…
Moero Downhill Night Blaze has perhaps the most cliché 80s sports movie plot of all time. The hero, who doesn't even own a car, dreams of being the best street racer in Japan by beating the current champ. Through skill and determination, he gets into the racing tournament, faces off against his honorable rival, overcomes the dirty tricks of an evil racer, and, in the end, wins the championship and, of course, the girl.
In fact, it's so terribly cliché—so mind numbingly predictable—that it almost becomes enjoyable again. You can see every plot twist coming from a mile away and the characters are so one note it is stunning. It eventually feels more like a parody of those types of films than anything else. And let's face it, when the final race involves strapping a jet engine to the bottom of the car from Initial D, you know at least some of it has to be tongue in cheek.
Moero Downhill Night Blaze is all over the place as far as the presentation goes. In the visual novel sections, the voice actors are pretty solid and the art/sprites are passable. However, there are a myriad of typos and formatting errors that plague the game from start to finish.
The racing presentation, on the other hand, is less of a mixed bag: everything just looks and sounds terrible. Even when the game came out originally in Japan back in 2007, it must have looked pretty bad. Repeated backgrounds with jagged textures and horrendous car models are just the start. In fact, Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit on my PS1 looked better than this and it came out nearly a decade before. And don't get me started about the sound. The car engines are a grating half-second sound clip that is looped forever when you hit max speed.
The key interactive elements in any visual novel are the choose-your-own-adventure choices you make to guide the plot. In Moero Downhill Night Blaze there is really only one choice in the game: which female manager you choose. Or, rather, which girl you will be seeing in explicit sex scenes for the next few hours. In most visual novels like this, once you choose a girl you would be treated to a story more or less unique when compared with the others. Not in Moero Downhill Night Blaze though. No matter which girl you choose, the game is 90% the same (with the remaining 10% being sex scenes). It really is scene for scene, line for line identical. The only lines that are even slightly changed are the manager's—not that it really matters, as everyone else responds identically regardless of the manager you choose. Thus the story has little replay value aside from what your hormones can con you into. As for the racing gameplay...
Whenever I play a racing game, I ultimately don't compare it to the Forzas or Gran Turismos of the day. Rather, I compare it to the worst (and most infamous) commercially-sold racing game of all time: Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. Moero Downhill Night Blaze is, of course, not as bad as Big Rigs—I mean, it is a playable racing game after all—but it is certainly close.
You play each of the five courses three times, with the first two being you racing the clock and the final race being against AI-controlled cars. Of course, it really doesn't matter if there are any other racers or not as the other cars not only lack hit detection (meaning you can drive right through them) but also are so slow you'll never see them again after the first twenty seconds of the race (unless you lap them).
Your car, on the other hand, is "amazing" as rising elevations do not slow it down (nor does turning), and it seems to be the only car capable of drifting—though it's usually safer and faster to just let your foot off the gas.
The track designs themselves aren't so bad however, but they are often boring, especially considering how many times you play each track before you move on to the next.
Moero Downhill Night Blaze is neither a good racing game nor a good visual novel. Even keeping in mind that this game was released in 2007 doesn't really excuse the game's lack of quality. This is all the more a shame as the idea of mixing two completely different types of game was—and still is—an interesting idea; but the finished product reaches nowhere near this idea's potential. In the end, I'd only recommend this to those interested in seeing this train wreck in action—and maybe those few of you who just need another 80's sports movie plot in your lives.
Moero Downhill Night Blaze was released in English on December 11, 2012. It can be purchased at the JAST USA homepage (NSFW).