Disorganization XIII » Rants

More NYCC Gaming! Street Fighter X Tekken and Ultimate Marvel 3

NGL0 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:54:07 +0000

We didn’t just play Skullgirls at NYCC! We also tried our hand at some UMVC3 and SFxTK.

Check it out!

Street Fighter X Tekken

Match 1: Dave (King/Bob) VS Random (King/Sagat)

Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3

Match 1: Dave (Hawkeye/Phoenix Wright/Strider) VS. Angelo (Phoenix Wright/Hawkeye/Strider)

Match 2: Angelo (Phoenix Wright/Zero/Nemesis) VS. Random (Chris/Strider/Wesker)

Match 3: Angelo (Phoenix Wright/Zero/Hulk) VS. Random (Firebrand/X-23/Morrigan)

Match 4: Dave (Hawkeye/Dante/Strider) VS. Random (Phoenix Wright/Nemesis/Ghost Rider)

Match 5: Dave (Hawkeye/Dante/Striker) VS. Random (Dr. Strange/Firebrand/Phoenix Wright)

The Disorganized Podcast – NYAF/CC 2011 In Review

NGL0 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:32:52 +0000

Well we are back from the New York Comic Con. There was good, there was bad, there was egregious misuse of space, there was Skullgirls! Angelo, Koshi, Skippy, and two special guests, Adam Hennessy of Anime Parliament, and Brian Sapinski of Anime Press Your Luck, weigh in.

Direct Link
Download the MP3 here!

The New York Anime Festival In Review

Things We Liked
1. Adam
  1. The Exhibition Room
  2. Guests
  3. The Room for NYAF
2. Skippy
  1. The Demos
  2. The Industry
3. Brian
  1. The Dealers
  2. The Pop Culture
  3. The Cosplayers
4. Koshi
  1. The Indie Crowd
  2. Always Something Going On (For The Fans)
5. Angelo
  1. The Capcom Football Game
  2. SKULLGIRLS!!!
  3. The Capcom Booth
  4. The Three Wing Show Hall
  5. The Many Videogames
  6. The Couple Good Panels
  7. Booth Management
6. Stuff We Forgot
  1. Celebrities
  2. Making Connections
  3. PFFR
  4. The Fan’s POV
  5. The Beavis and Butthead Panel
Things We Disliked
1. Adam
  1. Lack of Space
  2. The Cost
  3. The Poor Management of the Masquerade
2. Skippy
  1. The Lack of NYAF
  2. The Seperation of NYaf
  3. The Lack of Fan Panels
3. Brian
  1. The Lack of Non-Industry Things to Do
  2. The Lack of Fan Voice
  3. 29 out of 100 Say Anime Was Not as Equally Represented SPOILER!!!
4. Koshi
  1. The Obscurity of the Fourth Show Floor
  2. The Tabletop Gaming Room
5. Angelo
  1. The Egregious Misuse of Space
  2. Poor Badge Management
  3. The Wasted Potential
  4. The Lack of Fan Outrage
  5. The Small Screening Rooms
  6. The Lack of Want to Make a Perfect Convention
  7. The Lack of Competition
Things We Would Change
1. Adam
  1. Decrease Cap
  2. Get Another Masquerade Coordinator
  3. Accept Fan Panels
2. Skippy
  1. Respect Fans as Creators
  2. Don’t Segregate Anime
  3. Follow San Diego Comic Con’s Model
3. Brian
  1. Use Fans More
  2. Give Us Jobs ^_^
4. Koshi
  1. Use the Space Better
5. Angelo
  1. Use Space More Creatively
  2. Cut Off Lines When People Won’t Get Into Panels
  3. Start Listening to the Fans
  4. Fan Conventions, Reach Out to Industry
Final Thoughts
1. Adam
  1. The Show May Not Be Worth Attending Again
2. Skippy
  1. Reed Should Want To Be A Better Con
3. Brian
  1. The Current Situation Breaks Our Hearts Because We Don’t Want To Lose NYAF
4. Koshi
  1. How Much Does It Cost To Have Our Own Panel Track?
5. Angelo
  1. No One Goes to Comic Con All Four Days. FIX THAT!
The Giant Scrotum!!!
Remembering Days of DOXIII Old

Disorganization XIII Plays Skullgirls at NYCC

NGL0 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:48:28 +0000

Here are all of our match videos from NYCC. Hope you like them!

Match 1: Dave (Tier 1: Fillia) VS Mike (Tier 3: Fillia, Parasoul, Ms. Fortune)

Match 2: Dave (Tier 1: Fillia) VS MyLifeIsAnRPG-Angelo (Tier 1: Cerebella)

Match 3: MyLifeIsAnRPG-Angelo (Tier 1: Cerebella) VS Random (Tier 1: Fillia)

Match 4: Dave (Tier 2: Fillia, Parasoul) VS Random (Tier 3: Ms. Fortune, Fillia, Parasoul)

Match 5: Dave (Tier 2: Fillia, Parasoul) VS Random (Tier 2: Cerebella, Peacock)

Match 6: Dave (Tier 2: Fillia, Parasoul) VS Random (Tier 2: Ms. Fortune, Parasoul)

Match 7: Random (Tier 2: Fillia, Parasoul) VS Random (Tier 2: Ms. Fortune, Parasoul)

Match 8: Dave (Tier 1: Fillia) VS Random (Tier 1: Peacock)

Match 9 and 10: MyLifeIsAnRPG-Angelo (Tier 1: Cerebella) VS Random (Tier 2: Peacock, Parasoul) (Tier 3: Ms. Fortune, Fillia, Parasoul)

NYAF/CC A Skullgirls Recap

NGL0 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:23:16 +0000

Well, we just got back from NYAF/CC and we have many varied opinions. Be on the lookout for our convention review podcast and our upcoming game preview podcast that will recount the events of NYAF/CC and the stuff we saw. To whet your whistle, here’s a small thread that I have been posting on the SRK forums. It’s my journal of my time with the guys over at Reverge Labs and the Skullgirls booth.

First Post:
Day one at NYCC was amazing guys! I tell you, if my friends and fellow journalists weren’t giving me the evil-eye whenever I had a five game streak, I woulda stayed there all day. Goin in for an interview tomorrow. It’s gonna be sweet!

Hey Chibi! Overheard you giving people the run down. You’re a pretty teacher at this thing BUT… you are still my eternal rival of which I have arbitrarily decided right now. We must play before this weekend is up!

Oh and Urichinan, I’m working on your combos! Unfortunately, as I said before, people give me the evil eye if I start running a setup so its going slowly BUT I will have a verdict.

Second Post:
Another great NYCC day! I played SO MUCH Skullgirls vs Master Chibi… and we were evenly matched! Ratio 1 Cerebella for the win! Showstopper is SO good! I love this character.

I tested some more of Urichi’s combos, MAN these are hard. You got some dedication to have studied Parasoul THAT closley from this far away!

Then, in perhaps the coolest part of the day, I randomly started giving people Skullgirls demos! Players would come up to the station that I was just staying on due to winning, asking me what’s up, and I would give them a full rundown of the characters, show off the infinite detection system in training mode, and rattle off the facts like release window and starting roster and stuff whenever I was asked. I even helped funnel the line into the stations, and at one point Chibi needed to eat some lunch so I just took over his demo station! Kick ass! I’m glad I knew enough about the game to do this. MAN I am obsessed to an unhealthy degree. ^_^

(Actually really fun personal story about this. One of the guys who I was demoing the game for asked me my name and position at Reverge labs and I had to say “oh I don’t work here I’m just a fan” and he had this awesome confused look on his face, and then we both laughed before I turned him over to Ravi. It was like that old joke where a doctor gives you a checkup and you say “thank you doctor” and he goes “oh I’m not the doctor I’m a janitor.”

…

I found it funny)

Then, in perhaps the EVEN COOLER coolest part of the day, I got a picture of Ravi and Yoshinori Ono AT THE SKULLGIRLS BOOTH!

Then, in an equally awesome moment, Ravi got a picture of me and Yoshinori Ono at the Skullgirls booth!

Oh, and I successfully brought all of my friends and writing colleagues by the SG booth as well. My friend Skippy has said “it’s kind of like fighting game heroin. I need another fix and I won’t be able to get one until next year! Dammit this game is too good!” Gotta love spreading the word.

Best part, still two days left to the con. See ya at the booth again tomorrow guys!

Third Post:
Due to an unavoidable schedule conflict I had to leave the convention early. It broke my heart that I had to leave the Skullgirls booth before the con end. Also I’m happy I went mostly undefeated. The only guy who beat me was Chibi and that was only half the time… Or perhaps a little less than half. wanted to have a final fridge match but sadly it wasn’t in the cards. Soon though. Soon. Anyway I’m heading back home now. I’ll post a bigger recap tonight. Peace!

Fourth Post:
Well, I’m finally home from NYCC, and if my throbbing feet have anything to say about it I had an awesome time.

I spent pretty much all of Saturday at the Skullgirls booth. I left to play a few games of Marvel with my friend Dave, but mostly I hung around SG. The line got ABSOLUTELY INSANE! In the beginning of the day the line got so long it accidentally blocked access to the Star Wars: The Old Republic booth. Unfortunately, this meant con staff randomly chopped off the end of the line at one point. There was also an issue with people running sets and staying on the booths for way too long, causing people to unjustly wait way too long for their turn. Luckily, I have lots of convention experience, and I am a large imposing Itallian who ties a robe belt around his head, and so for some strange reason people listen to me. I ended up help managing the line along with kicking people off who tried to squeeze out too many matches.

Another thing I learned about myself that day? I know more about Skullgirls than any god fearing human being should. Ravi, Chibi, and the rest of the team were all pretty busy handling questions and press interviews, so whenever random people walked up to the booth wondering what the game was, they asked me as I … apparently … looked like I knew what I was talkin about. But the cool thing was I pretty much knew the answer to any question. Release date, move list, mechanics, story, and I was even silent on things that the team couldn’t talk about. It’s like an NDA wrote itself in my head automatically. Anyway, it was really cool being an informal part of the team.

Another cool thing this allowed me to do, was pretty much circumvent the whole “line waiting” thing. That’s not to say I cut in line. I just managed the line from the front and after every match I had, I would take note of who the guy at the back of the line was. Whenever this guy had his turn, I stepped up and played a match and then just did the same thing all over again to simulate real line waiting time. I invented line waiting by proxy!

The final cool thing about Saturday was introducing the team to the head of programming at Anime USA, a convention down in DC. He was REALLY interested in having a SG demo there, and hopefully everything will work out so that it can happen. I’ve been an AUSA performer for a long time and the con staff are friends of mine so this would be awesome it this could work out. It would be a great publicity on both sides, for both AUSA because they will get a brand new never before seen game demo, and Reverge, because it will expose them to the East Coast DC and Baltimore area community that goes to body people at AUSA every year. Go for it Reverge! Work Chibi like a dog!

Sunday I wanted to spend more time at the SG booth but I had random work to do and as I said before, there was a schedule conflict with my ride and I had to leave early. Still, I introduced the team to an animator I knew who was interested in doing some work for them, ran a couple people through character tutorials and move run-downs, and resumed my natural line enforcement duties all the while getting matches in. Awesome day.

But I would have to say that the coolest thing that happened both Saturday and Sunday was the random formation of a “try to beat MyLifeIsAnRPG” line. Apparently I’m not half bad at the same, and eventually people started specifically walking up to the booth and challenging me as the guy to beat. Thaaaaat felt awkward. I had some great matches this way. One guy took me down one round (out of two) with a SICK Ms. Fortune, and another had a Parasoul, Fillia, Peacock team using the bike, light gun, and up-do assists that had me biting my nails. I also got to totally body some other SRK posters who complained about me posting walls of text… kind of like this one… oops. Anyway, I had my fifteen minutes of pro-gamer fame, WOOO! It was only natural that literally less than a day afterward someone would call me a scrub for using a single Cerebella. Ooooh, the internet.

All indirect gloating about my SG abilities aside I had a LOOOOOT of hands-on time with the game. I tested a good half of Urichi’s combos (I just didn’t get enough matches to do the rest) and I now have a REALLY good feel for each of the characters (including Ms. Fortune) so if any of you have any questions you wanna ask a random fan that spent too much time playin this, fire away!

To the SG team, I had a magnificent time this NYCC and I hope to hang with you at an event sometime soon. Chibi, you and me still have a grudge match for the fate of the universe to play. And Mike Z, who unfortunately wasn’t in NY for NYCC, WHERE IS MY GODDAMN SPARKLY FLYING PONY! For every Sparkly Flying Pony I don’t receive I will tell the whole world the embarrassing stories that Ravi told me about you while hanging out at the booth!

Just kidding ^_^

… or am I?

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN

… no really I am.

Also stay tuned for some more videos from Dave, our newest Mook… I mean… Junior Member, who took videos of us playing the new fighting games that were demoed at NYCC.

The Disorganized Podcast – The State of the 2011/2012 Convention Scene

NGL0 — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:01:55 +0000

Angelo, Skippy, and Adam Hennessy, magistrate of Anime Parliament and head of events at Anime USA talk about the upcoming anime convention scene. Give a listen!

Direct Link
Download the MP3 here!

The Con Scene

1. NYAF
a. The sad tale of the disappearing NYAF
b. …and how we aren’t going to perform there
c. How we first went to NYAF
d. The panels that were turned down
e. Does NYAF need more space?
f. Does NYAF need more money?
g. Fans need to complain: a microcosm of American politics
h. A couple tangential Otakon stories
i. We are going to NYAF and NYCC any way!

2. Katsucon
a. What the heck is going on with Katsucon?
b. The partial compensation policy: is it hurting conventions
c. Disorganization XIII’s origin story: how we wouldn’t exist if everyone had this policy
d. Is this policy disrespectful
e. Do conventions make or lose money from panelists
f. What is a good compensation policy?
g. A word to people who sign up and don’t show up to panels
h. A guest appearance!

3. AUSA
a. The return of the DJ and the Versailles incident
b. The AUSA line-up
c. Stefa Roberts, worst fanfic ever
d. The Meta Panel

4. Anime NEXT
a. The deterioration of the panel track

5. JohnCon
a. Hopefully Anime Parliament will be there!

6. Mokucon
a. What Mokucon?
b. Was it really killed due to an “objectification of women” complaint?
c. Will it ever come back?
d. Is this really worse than the S&M convention from a few years back?
e. WTF Rutgers?

7. Final Thoughts

Adam’s E-mail
Magistrate@animeparliament.com

Kimberly Mueller of Reed Exhibitions
KMueller@reedexpo.com

Pete Tatara of Reed Exhibitions
ptatara@reedexpo.com

Ghostbusters Chicago Chapter
http://www.ghostbusterschicagodivision.com

Steampunk World’s Fair
http://www.oneiroievents.com/thesteampunkworldsfair/

HitBox Parody Commercial/Review

NGL0 — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:31:49 +0000

It was kind of fun acting like a sleezy eighties salesman!

Also, for the record, anyone who enjoys fighting games should try out a HitBox. It certainly has made me better!

The Disorganized Podcast – The JRPG Series Episode 1: JRPGs VS ARPGs

NGL0 — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:54:58 +0000

Angelo, Koshi, Skippy, and new member Carolyn get together to talk about JRPGs in this, the first of a series of JRPG themed podcasts. Is there still a market for JRPGs in America? Are JRPGs dying? is our very definition of the RPG genre flawed? Tune in to find out.

Direct Link
Download the MP3 here!

(To download the MP3, right click the link and choose to save the file.)

Podcast Outline

1. Are JRPGs dead?
a. Are ARPGs just a change of pace?
b. Does America like JRPGs anymore?
c. Does Japan like ARPGs?

2. The difference between JRPGs and ARPGs
a. ARPGs: 1000 things to do and no reason to do any of them
b. Are ARPGs more of a sandbox than a story?
c. Sandbox JRPGs: Do they exist, and are they a good thing?
d. Are ARPGs designed with an end in mind?
e. Are RPGs better with a linear but intricate story?
f. Is melodrama a good thing?
g. Are choices a good thing?
h. Are ARPGs limited by technology?
i. Have JRPGs stopped evolving on the SNES era?
j. Are JRPGs worse because they try to reject classic menu based combat?
k. Xenoblade, a game that rejects turn based combat well.
l. Are JRPGs just shallow?
m. Have you ever walked away from a JRPG and let it play itself?
n. Do people hate JRPGs because of the battle system?
o. Do we need hard battles, or do we need active battles?
p. Are stats a JRPG thing?
q. Are social options an ARPG thing?
r. Are social options just an illusion? Do they even matter?
s. Tactics Ogre, a game where your social choices matter.
t. ANGELO WINS THE PODCAST!!!

3. What is a JRPG?
a. Catherine
i. What genre of game is Catherine?
b. What is the definition of RPG?
i. Do roleplaying games have anything to do with roleplaying?
ii. IF roleplaying has to do with story, does every game with a story count as a roleplaying game?
iii. If a roleplaying game has a silent protagonist, does it still count as a roleplaying game?
iv. Are roleplaying games a meta-category?
v. If roleplaying games is a meta-category, what is the sub category for games that we traditionally call roleplaying games?
vi. Is it better if your party members’ roles are defined or open in an RPG?
vii. Are multiplayer RPGs a good thing?

4. Is there still a market for JRPGs?
a. Why aren’t JRPGs coming over to America?
b. Is it piracy?
c. Does it matter how good a game is when it comes to getting to America?
d. Does any publisher actually care about the American JRPG fanbase
e. Did JRPGs just flourish because ARPGs were on consoles in the past?
f. Bottom line: Do people in America want JRPGs enough to warrant them coming here?

The Disorganized Podcast – Upcoming Fighting Games of Late 2011 and 2012

NGL0 — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:25:08 +0000

Angelo teams up with his fighting game group to talk about the many upcoming fighting games that are coming up this season. Why his fighting game group and not the rest of Disorganization XIII? Because the next best fighting gamer in Disorganization XIII said he was far too uninformed to do a podcast. So meet some of our new junior members!

Download the MP3 here!

Podcast Outline

Introduction
Games We Are Going to Cover
Tekken Hybrid + Tekken Blood Vengeance

A short aside about game movies and Final Fantasy The Spirits Within

Soul Calibur V
1. Gameplay: A 2D fighters in 3D
2. A link to NAtsu http://thefightingconnection.com/sites/default/files/pictures/natsu-soul-calibur-v-picture.jpg
3. Too little too late?
4. Does a new director make the game better?
5. Does the 2D crowd care about Soul Calibur?
6. Remembering the good days of Soul Calibur 2/Is Soul Calibur bigger than Tekken?
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
1. Are 3D games losing hype?
2. Gameplay: Tekken 6 with a tag button
3. Is tagging important for Tekken?
4. A game that only appeals to hardcore Tekken fans
Street Fighter X Tekken
1. A nine on the hype meter
2. The greatest crossover for children of the nineties, better than Capcom VS SNK
3. Unique mechanics for Tekken characters: Steve the really agro boxer, Howarang and his high/low mixup, Julia is the new Yun, no one cares about Raven.
4. Street Fighter returning characters: HUGO!!!
5. Capcom knows how to market a game
6. Like a cross between Vampire Savior and Marvel – An explanation of the mechanics
A look at a market flooded with fighting games
1. What will Evo 2013 look like
2. Will market saturation hurt the genre
3. Counterpoint: Did it hurt the FPS?
4. Is variety a good thing?
Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Aren
1. Made by Arcsys and Atlus together
2. Mechanics speculation
3. Will it be like Jojo’s Bizzarre Adventure?
4. Who from Megaten is on it? Story, Music, Graphics
5. The Atlus version of Ergheiz?
6. Characters from Persona 4 and Persona 3
7. Will it appeal to non-Persona fans
Skullgirls
1. Possibly one of the best fighting games ever made
2. Dream team: Alex Ahad, Mike Z, Michiru Yamane, Christina Vee
3. Unique mechanics: Dynamic tutorials, anti-infinites, thrown assist characters
4. A game the community made
5. Worth it for Mike Z alone?
6. Can a good game be delayed too much?
7. Rumored price tag
8. Updating early and updating often
9. Graphics: animated like a Disney cartoon
10. An open combo system
11. The first fighting game that teaches you how to play fighting games
12. The Skullgirls curse: no one likes the game till they try it
13. Can showing the game so early hurt the hype?
14. Does skullgirls need visceral hit effects?
15. Give Skullgirls a chance
16. Game share if you must, but please buy
Street Fighter 2012
1. Two new characters?
2. Balance changes, are they enough?
3. Should SF be changing characters like BB?
4. Is it ok to make a game that is purposefully unbalanced?
Bazblue Continuum Shift 2+ Extend
1. NAME TOO LONG
2. New characters and balance
3. Does Arcsys change the characters too much
4. Some individual changes
5. Is there any rhyme or reason to the changes?
6. The strange story of Arakune
7. Will they do the same wonky balance job with P4
King of Fighters XIII
1. Good but suffering in popularity
2. Street Fighter at the beginning Marvel at the end
3. Priced too high?
4. A few minutes of engrish
Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3
1. Old characters getting new moves and balance changes
2. Capcoms politics and business model
3. Rocket Racoon, possibly broken?
4. Discussing the revealed characters
5. Zoning, in my Marvel?
6. Firebrand, the new Phoenix
7. Correct X-factor usage
8. Spectator mode
9. A few minutes of saltiness
Final thoughts, and what we are most hype for

Anime Rewatch – Trigun

Johnny — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 02:37:33 +0000

[Editor's Note: In which Casey tries to initiate a new feature where we watch some older anime and see if it's still good, or was just awesome when we were 13. Let's see if we can actually keep a series going.]

Background: Trigun aired on Japanese TV in the spring and summer of 1998, and came to American shores not long after. It didn’t garner much of an audience in its home country, but was a huge hit on this side of the Pacific, especially once it aired on Adult Swim in 2003. Hot Topic sold replica Vash the Stampede coats, people. 26 episodes were originally released over 8 DVDs at $30 each by Pioneer/Geneon, but now I think you can get the whole thing in one Thinpak set from FUNimation for, like, 2 pennies and a song or something, or watch it for free online. You kids get offa my lawn.

So how does it hold up? In the interest of full disclosure, I have a Trigun tattoo. Just so you know.

Trigun was animated by the famous MadHouse studios, but I remember thinking back in 2001 that the animation quality was uneven, and it’s only highlighted even more now. There are episodes and sequences that look amazing, and then there are episodes and sequences that look like MH spent all their money on the good bits, so everyone’s animated at 3 frames per second and colored in crayon. Episode 2 looks like it was farmed out to some sort of magical girl animation team who never came back. So if you, or someone you want to introduce the series to, is a snob about such things, ply them with a few drinks first so maybe they’ll get involved with the story and won’t notice until it’s too late and they’re hooked. (If you want to stay on theme, ask me for the recipe for the Pink Derringer, an ill-advised recipe I made up that my gracious friends choked down at anime cons. If I recall correctly, it involves Jagermeister and Cheerwine, so, y’know, you were warned.)

I watched it dubbed, as that is the way I first watched it and fell in love with it. Also, if an anime is supposed to take place in an English-speaking or Western world, I have a weird tick about needing to see it dubbed, even if the dub is terrible (see: Hellsing TV series). What I learned is that I was remembering the dub a little more fondly than I should have. The main actors are fantastic – no complaints about them. However, the scriptwriting and sync really could’ve used some work. There are some awkward pauses, only highlighted more in emotional moments, which happen exponentially as the series progresses (by the final episode, there are dramatic speeches about the beauty of life every 30 seconds). This was one of Johnny Yong Bosch’s first roles before he became an anime dub superstar, so you get to hear him while he’s all virginal and shit.

Plotwise, it holds up fairly well. There was once a time in my life where I was watching this show so often that I could tell with one glance what episode any given screencap or cel was from. Those times have passed and been replaced with maniacal rewatches of Doctor Who, so I was seeing this with somewhat fresh eyes. Some of the filler episodes are pretty ridiculous (wow, I had completely forgotten about “Quick Draw”), but when it’s good, it’s REALLY good. When Vash first seriously draws his gun in “Hard Puncher” (let’s ignore the Engrish episode titles), I still held my breath. I fell asleep during the recap episode, but was enough of a fangirl that I snapped awake at the moment that actual plot happens. And even the stupid episodes exist to further character development of our main 4 good guys, which is where the real strength of the series lies. Though the TV series had a really great ending (more on that later), it legitimately could’ve continued longer on the strength of its awesome characters. As I said to a friend, rewatching Utena makes me think, “This show is so AWESOME.” Rewatching Trigun made me think, “I want to write fanfiction!” (Don’t worry, it only goes in private notebooks and you all shall be spared, unless you’re really curious.)

One of the biggest complaints about Trigun is that it takes a sharp turn in tone halfway through the series. Episodes 1-11 are wacky madcap action with an occasional serious note. Twelve and on, the series becomes dramatic action with occasional jokes. This was a turn that never bothered me – we spend the first 11 episodes with a character who behaves like an idiot, but we’re reminded that he turned a major city into rubble 30 years ago, and he’s a crack shot who’s really concerned that no one EVER dies. If you didn’t read that as giant warning signs that the ToonTown highway was ending and Route Serious Backstory was going to begin, I feel bad for you, son; I got 99 problems, but genre switch ain’t one. Watching it again, I still had no problems with this changeup, though I admittedly like my comedy spiked with drama (and a side of UST biscotti).

Ultimately, rewatching Trigun was enjoyable, but it made me want to get back into Trigun fandom more than it made me want to re-rewatch Trigun. It also piqued my interest in maybe finally reading all of Trigun Maximum, which I never finished because HOLY FUCK WAS THAT STORY MEANDERING AND ENDLESS. Which brings me to another point – the ending. When the Trigun anime was in production, the Trigun Maximum manga was still going with no end in sight. Don’t you hate that when that happens? When an anime just keeps going for its 26-episode contract, but you never get closure because there’s not a real ending since the comic was still–

Oh wait. You know what the Trigun anime team did?

THEY MADE THEIR OWN FUCKING ENDING.

And honestly? That might be the kicker that pushes Trigun from “fun anime” into “awesome show I will keep forever and would totally buy on Blu-Ray if FUNimation ever cleaned it up and released it HINT HINT.” MadHouse talked things out with Yasuhiro Nightow, manga artist, and got his plan for where things were maybe kinda going, and then they WRAPPED THAT SHIT UP. They wrapped that shit up with a satisfying ending that made sense and properly reflected the characters, and made ALL THE SHIPPERS happy. Just think about how amazing that is, also factoring in that when the manga finally ended, it had an insane ending that was, like, a million years in the making and made no sense and made no one happy. When I think about the Trigun manga, my left eye starts to twitch. When I think about the anime ending, I feel warm and fuzzy and happy.

So, 13 years later: Yay or Nay? YAY! Trigun is a series that can be silly and dumb, but it can also be really emotional and touching. There is something for everybody in this show, and Western enough that it’s a good introduction for someone who maybe doesn’t think of themselves as an anime fan. And the fandom, if it still exists, is pretty awesome. Now excuse me while I go back to translating all my dirty Vash/Meryl doujinshi.

P.S. – When I got into Trigun, I had disposable income, an interest in anime, and no reliable way of checking out shows other than just buying them and hoping they were good. As a way of trying to gauge if I’d like the show, I downloaded the opening theme from Napster (did you not see above that I got into this show in 2001?), and that sealed the deal for me. Give a listen and tell me this doesn’t get you excited for something awesome.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Real Best of E3 – Skullgirls

NGL0 — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:17:55 +0000

So, I don’t know how many of you know this, but Disorganization XIII got to go to E3 this year! Well, more specifically I got to go E3 this year, because I’m a video game journalist in my day job.

Here’s a funny thing about video game journalism, the editors generally have the last call. So when it came time to give out awards for my favorite games at E3, many of the ones I wanted to award weren’t even eligible (nor would they have gotten an award when compared to the votes by my fellow writers anyway.)

The great thing about Disorganization XIII, on the other hand, is that it was built specifically to allow people to share their opinions when otherwise they wouldn’t be able to. So screw what every other outlet has to say, this is Disorganization XIII’s real best-in-show choice for E3.

Best in Show – Skullgirls

When I played Skullgirls, I immediately thought “best in show.” I even told the guys at the booth that this would get my best in show award. Then, when it came time to do my official E3 awards, Skullgirls wasn’t even an option! I felt like such a dick, because I honestly and truly felt that Skullgirls was the first fighting game that I can truly consider a work of art.

First of all, we have Alex Ahad, who is a genius of character design, and plain old art in general. His art is an absolute treat to look at and every characters is this interesting combination of cuteness and horror. The characters in this game are less sprites and more full moving cartoons. They are all drawn at twice the resolution of the screen, so they don’t lose definition even when the camera zooms in. Everything moves fluidly, and the 3D lighting engine the game uses allows realistic shading even on these 2D characters.

Then we have Mike Z, the master of mechanics, the guru of game balance, the professor of … of … REAL SOVIET DAMAGE! Mike Z is an absolute frickin genius when it comes to game engine design. Custom assists, variable team sizes, an infinite prevention system, grappler characters that don’t suck, interesting new ways to handle move inputs, god it’s like every good idea any gamer has ever had is being put into this game. Not only that, but the team is actually taking advice from the fighting game community on forums like Shoryuken and Dustloop. The team has also expressed real interest in creating a tutorial that not only teaches newbies how to play Skullgirls, but how to play fighting games in general.

Simply put, this is not just “a” fighting game, this is “the” fighting game. This is everything I could ever want, and then some, made by an American publisher, by fans, for fans. It appeals to newbies and veterans, to people who want a deep system and people who want easy accessibility, to fans of anime, cartoons, Street Fighter, and more, and there is even a character that is totally made out of references.

Long story short, I haven’t ever seen a game project well thought out as Skullgirls, and I applaud Reverge Labs even though I wasn’t able to officially give them an award until now. If you have ever had any passing interest in fighting games, check out Skullgirls. You won’t be disappointed. In fact, I fully intend to send everyone who goes to our panels at NYAF directly to the Skullgirls booth. This is one game no one should miss.