tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20231076466158579702024-02-19T03:34:09.390-08:00Tiger vs RabbitTiger vs Rabbit is a blog that asks a yes/no question about video games. Tiger and Rabbit answer this question by stating their opposing opinions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-38706704195014951832017-01-13T12:31:00.000-08:002017-01-13T12:31:04.913-08:00Retro ReCAP, Round 3 - Love Live! School Idol Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lovelive-anime.jp/otonokizaka/worldwide/story.php" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.lovelive-anime.jp/otonokizaka/worldwide/story.php" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5EG-MXWUDiiIy8rMHQdiJvXYooEfEnITlVvoLjjm2MYqY0LckzLAGVd9gY1HMEQcfZwEO_Ia-kuBbcfWhhqCUoSpMeWfijJSCNRa660kwF5XqzyJSxW_Kc21v74PXiN5LXas8pJgJ7-U/s1600/RR3I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Warning: The following presentation contains major spoilers, reader discretion is advised.<br />
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Today, Tiger and Rabbit sit down to discuss phenom Rabu Raibu!, also known as Love Live! School Idol Project in the West. Launched in Dengeki G's Magazine, this multimedia project by ASCII Media Works, Lantis, and Sunrise has taken the world by storm. The many forms of Rabu Raibu! include music, anime, manga, music videos, video games, and much more. In this entry of Retro ReCAP, Tiger and Rabbit focus on the anime and its characters, music, and style.</i><br />
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^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It's time for another entry of Retro ReCAP!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What's the topic this time?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I was thinking of recapping Rabu Raibu!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What? Why? What made you pick that anime?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Uh... because I thought it would be a fun one to talk about.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Why? I don't like it; I mean I'm not a fan or anything.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We've watched it a couple of times though and you've even bought me a few of their CDs and live concerts too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well, I knew it was something you'd enjoy but I'm not into it at all.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why are you being so defensive?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Me? Defensive?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why are you answering my questions with questions?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'm not doing that; I just don't want to talk about this because I don't like the series.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We've watched the anime a half-dozen times so far, you've even gone as far as suggesting we watch it when I wanted to watch something upbeat. We now even own all of their singles and albums. I know you play their mobile game too. You also play the music when we're in the car together...OMG!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What?!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You're a closet Rabu Raibaa, aren't you?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No, I'm not!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, I know you like Ayase Eri a lot.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's Eli not Eri.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: And you hate that Koizumi Hanayo always says “Nico Nico Nii!”<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Hanayo doesn't say that, her catchphrase is “dareka tasukete!”<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I also know your favorite singer is Uchida Aya who is the Seiyū for Sonoda Umi.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Ucchi voices Minami Kotori, Mimori Suzuko is Umi's Seiyū.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shocked face^ You are so a Raibaa!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'm not, I swear it!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why are you denying it? It's not a big deal that you're a fan, a little surprising since Rabu Raibu! isn't something I'd peg you to like. Still, it's nothing to be ashamed of.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Of course it is! Rabu Raibu! is the sugary happy-go-lucky upbeat anime garbage you enjoy! It's not something I should like... but I do.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hey! I'd be offended by that statement if it wasn't true. I think it's great that you can get in touch with your inner happy kitty instead of always being the overly violent and heartless cat that you are.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Hey! I'd be offended by that statement... if it wasn't true.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^claps hands^ I think this is so awesome! This is going to be fun. Do you want to explain what Rabu Raibu! is since you're our resident expert?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *sighs* You can do it; I'll just correct you when you get something wrong.<br />
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<a href="http://love-live.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Love_Live!_Voice_Actress" target="_blank"><img alt="http://love-live.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Love_Live!_Voice_Actress" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsf4gffRXWaong7-YMwqs1FP6WERRylOJ4jmadnMNIAz5-AtgJCLDzH6XXKXnwyIU1Y1jwbNhdnEUl8x3btD7assSLOkWq8MpSGq3AWsHSxjVfYn2x8fvu2ItHG5iK_KqygGSntlT5fpA/s1600/RR3I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^giggles^ Also known as Love Live! School Idol Project, Rabu Raibu! is a cross-media project that debuted in the August 2010 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine. It tells the story of a group of high school girls that become school idols to save their school from closing.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Kōsaka Honoka, a second-year student at Otonokizaka Academy, was the one who came up with the idea to become school idols. She roped in her friends Minami Kotori and Sonoda Umi to become the group μ's, which is pronounced “Muse.”<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Eventually other students joined in the fun such as first-year students Nishikino Maki, Hoshizora Rin, and Koizumi Hanayo.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Rounding out μ's are the seniors Yazawa Nico, Ayase Eli, and Tōjō Nozomi.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What makes Rabu Raibu! special is that it's more than just a manga or an anime. LL is a phenomenon that includes music videos, video games, and a yearly live concert with the Seiyū! Nitta Emi is the voice of Honoka, Uchida Aya is Kotori, Mimori Suzuko is Umi, Pile voices Maki, Iida Riho is Rin, Kubo Yurika voices Hanayo, Tokui Sora is Nico, Nanjō Yoshino is Eli, and Kusuda Aina voices Nozomi.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: For the sake of clarity, let's just focus on the anime and the music from the show to start.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Start dash! The anime is produced by Sunrise, directed by Kyōgoku Takahiko, and was licensed for North America by NISA. There are two seasons which consists of thirteen episodes each. The first season follows Honoka as she comes up with the idea to form a school idol group to save Otonokizaka Academy from closing due to low admittance. μ's gets off to a bad start and faces heat from the Student Council, but soon the group grows in size and support.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The second season follows Honoka and the gang as they continue their pursuit to win Rabu Raibu, the school idol contest, as well as how they cope with the pending graduation of the senior members.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Finally, Love Live! School Idol Movie sees μ's traveling to New York to promote the Love Live competition.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don’t want to get too into the movie since it’s hard to talk about without spoiling the anime.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I definitely hate spoilers and the vulgar rogues who release them.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Vulgar rogues?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Onii-sama!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: ^rolls eyes^<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: μ's is made up from some of the best anime girls ever in existence.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Aren’t you being a little biased there?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You don’t agree with me?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I love them but they aren’t the best, they kind of all into the stereotypical role that most of these shows take. I think it’s the Seiyū that really make μ's.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Very true but we shouldn’t talk about them until we discuss the lives. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Fair enough, let’s talk about the actual characters first then.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We already mentioned them briefly but the members of μ's really deserve a closer look. First, there’s the leader of μ's, Kōsaka Honoka. She’s a vibrant and upbeat character that sweeps everyone up in her love of singing and dancing. She can be forgetful and spacy at times but her true love for her school, friends, and μ's are always present. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Her best friends and fellow second-year students are Minami Kotori and Sonoda Umi. Kotori is a “go with the flow” type of person who oversees μ's costume design and early choreography. She’s also the daughter of Otonokizaka Academy’s director. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: She really loves her pillow too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Umi is your stereotypical tsundere character. She has to balance her activities with μ's, archery club, and helping at her family’s traditional dance and martial arts school. She is the most down to earth and tends to come off as a little naïve. Don’t wake her up either, she is scary if you do.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Shameless!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Then there’s the first-years. Nishikino Maki is the daughter of a wealthy family of doctors and she is expected to pursue the same career. She is a gifted pianist and composer who comes off as haughty but eventually fits in with μ's.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hoshizora Rin and Koizumi Hanayo were best friends before μ's formed. Rin is very athletic and comes across as tomboyish. She even has a complex about wearing cute girly clothing because she was made fun of as a child. She’s cheerful and energetic much like Honoka. Hanayo is shy and has poor self-esteem but always dreamt of being an idol. She loves eating rice and becomes a totally different person when talking about idols.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Next are the third-years of Otonokizaka. Ayase Eli is the mature president of the student council. She is determined to save the school but unlike Honoka, has a different plan on how to do that. Eli is good at academics and was also a ballet dancer, which leads to her eventually becoming μ's choreographer. Eli’s best friend is Tōjō Nozomi, who she met at Otonokizaka. Nozomi was forced to move often as a child and was never able to make any lasting friendships until Eli and the rest of the girls of μ's. She’s the oldest and acts as the voice of reason for many of the members but she also has a mischievous side to her. Nozomi’s main hobby is fortune-telling which she uses to predict the future with accuracy.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Last but certainly not least is the universe’s number one idol, Yazawa Nico. She is the president of the idol research club which merges with μ's. She is the most dedicated member in her pursuit of becoming an idol and has been trying to gain that status since she first entered high school. Even though she is a senior, Nico still comes off as childlike because of her young appearance and immature nature. Though she is an attention seeker and acts like a big shot, Nico truly cares about the other members of μ's.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oh my gosh!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What? What happened?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s so sad!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What is?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *cries* They’re seniors!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^pats Tiger on head^ It’s okay. I thought we weren’t going to talk about the sad stuff so you don’t cry.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *sobs* Like the final live?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yeah, we’ll just skip over that.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No! It’s over!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shakes head^ It is over but μ's will live forever on the CDs and BDs we own.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *moans* It’s not the same!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Just to explain why Tiger is freaking out, μ's officially ceased activities on April 1st, 2016 when the seiyū performed the μ’s Final LoveLive! ~µ'sic Forever♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪~.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: SO SAD!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We’re not going to talk about it yet so see’mon, get yourself together!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Just change the subject already.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Going back to the characters, who is your favorite?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Are you really asking me to pick just one of the wonderful girls of μ’s?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Wow, you sound like me. Okay, then who’s your favorite out of the first-years?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’ll say Rin is my favorite, I love her energy and tomboyish-ness. She’s cute too, which goes to show you can be both cute and athletic at the same time.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Good choice, I’d have to agree with you though breaking through Maki’s cold attitude was always a highlight for me too. For the second-years, I’d say Kotori is my favorite. She is so adorable and is always putting the others first. It was so great to see her special ability shrine through when the rest of μ’s found out about her side gig too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I have to stick with Umi, she’s the first character I really latched onto way back in 2010. Her tsundere personality is just too cute and she tends to be the most grounded out of the group. She also knows when to work but still has fun too. She’s also super weak to Kotori’s pleading face, which is adorable.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You remind me a lot of Umi too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You’re more of a Rin type.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Nya~!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: As for the third-years, this is probably the hardest one to pick, they’re all so awesome!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I definitely have Nico as my favorite third-year. She was annoying at first but I really fell in love with her personality in the end.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’ll pick Eli, the student council president. She is mature and so cool yet has these cute weak points that only her friends see. I like that they didn’t make her perfect too, and her faults are her charming points. I think it’s time for us to talk a little about the music and what μ’s looked like before the anime.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lovelive-anime.jp/otonokizaka/worldwide/members.php" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.lovelive-anime.jp/otonokizaka/worldwide/members.php" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJKcIZzvEX9WWZfKSwjRY65NbIK4HkSZypdPq-4ekYSnabLlxpo2Dq5N2xzXlW48DgT-BhhHK0jGjA9ZqWEDztIDIhhWMRwJQTrXralaEzwWjB8gKJXXiybCSYANqOgO6KdzN0HRCSf8/s1600/RR3I3.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: When μ's sings in the anime, it is usually done with stylized CGI which mimics the original animation in the PVs aka promotional videos. These PVs were actually how μ's first got their start.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yup, first were the fan votes in Dengeki G to pick character names, themes, etc. Then they debuted the character designs and some of the first artwork.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But μ's didn’t come to life until the first PV of Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE came out. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Looking back at that PV, the character art looks so different than in the anime. Especially since Bokura no LIVE Kimi to no LIFE shows up again in the anime.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yup, the first PV released way back in August of 2010 before the anime was even in production. As you watch μ's PVs in chronological order, you can see them slowly morph into the characters that became the standard in the anime. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That PV still has a special place in my heart, it’s where it all started. It’s crazy too because the single only sold 434 copies in its initial sales phase, making it a total failure. Eventually, LL gained traction and flourished. Since we’re already talking about the music, let’s mention how it works in the anime and in real life.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: In the show, most of the lyrics are credited to Umi while Maki writes the songs but in reality, various composers write the music for μ's and their subgroups; Printemps, BiBi, and Lily White.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: While the composers change from song to song, Hata Aki has written the lyrics for almost every song. She even did some work on one of my favorite anime, Lucky Star.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There are a lot of great songs in a variety of genres, so it doesn’t all just sound like idol/pop music.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The centers always change too, which is a feature I love. Even though Honoka is the leader, the center spot and the lead vocals are shared amongst the members. Many of the song centers were even chosen by fan vote.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There are fan favorites like No brand girls and Snow halation which have specific parts in the songs for fans to participate in, known generally as Wotagei.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: There are classics like Wonderful Rush and Natsuiro Egao de 1,2,Jump! Which both released before the anime.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Then there’s songs like Wonder zone and START:DASH!! Which were featured in the anime. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: There are also songs sung by the three subunits, solo songs, and some fan service songs such as Zurui yo Magnetic today.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: All in all, μ's and its subunits released over 100 singles spanning their six-year career.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And we own it all. It’s crazy just how prolific they were compared to other similar anime idol groups.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: If you haven’t been able to tell, music is integral to Rabu Raibu. With a bunch of singles released before the anime was even shown, it was only inevitable that μ's would hold a live concert.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://love-live.wikia.com/wiki/Category:%CE%9C%27s_Songs" target="_blank"><img alt="http://love-live.wikia.com/wiki/Category:%CE%9C%27s_Songs" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFaB960VpfBLcpS6rnpHJKxnFhid3Mme6KamYpkAeBGH0gKDPIfqrY845yu0AZAsz1VFm-V5XFVhQ7JyLREfr9eYWIk8j6X9Skw2xYkE4caJaborghPMtxblEGnDcIyiqS4hgHsf7J0q4/s1600/RR3I4.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: How exactly do you hold a live when your idol group is made up of a bunch of anime characters? Simple, just dress the Seiyū up as the characters they voice.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The lives are one of my favorite things about Love Live! Getting to see the Seiyū sing on stage and interact with their fans is really fun. Plus, they’re very good performers and I found them a lot more entertaining to watch than The iDOLM@STER. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Ooh, you did not go there.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m not trying to start a fan war and while I do enjoy The iDOLM@STER, especially Cinderella Girls, they don’t have the detailed choreography that μ's has.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And μ's only has nine members. The literal hundreds of iDOLM@STER members are hard to keep track of.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The μ's Seiyū also have great personalities and they were just a blast to watch. I really enjoyed their streaming shows as well, which they hosted a bunch of along with radio shows. Too bad it’s all in Japanese making it hard to follow along with. Though there is a group of dedicated YouTubers who have been working for the past couple of years to sub the best clips from these internet shows.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Going back to the lives, one of my favorite parts is seeing the animated PVs come to life. Not only did the Seiyū dress up in the same costumes as their animated counterparts, but they also replicated the dances. Heck, some of the Seiyū even copied their anime characters hairstyles and hair colors. I can even remember some of the dance steps since we’ve watched those lives so many times.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That’s what I call dedication because some of those hairdos are gravity defying. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We’ve talked about our favorite characters but what about our favorite Seiyū?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Ooh, that one is tough because while the anime characters have their own personalities, I feel that the Seiyū are incomparable when it comes to their charm features.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I definitely agree, it’s hard to pick but why don’t we pick our favorite from the different grades, just like we did for the characters.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: For the first-years, my favorite Seiyū has to be Pai-chan who voices Maki. Her drama time skits are the best. She gets embarrassed easily and they always seemed to give her the most out there lines.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m sticking with my girl Rin and going with Rippi as my favorite first-year Seiyū. Rippi is actually pretty similar to Rin in a few ways which I find endearing. She does a spot-on Kansai mother impersonation too.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think Mimo who voices Umi is my favorite second-year. She’s more reserved than the others but I love her funny faces and cute voices she would do during the internet shows.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Wow, we actually switched our second-year choices. Ucchi, who is Kotori’s Seiyū, is my favorite out of this group though Emitsun is a close second. Ucchi’s antics were some of my favorite bits from the lives and the other appearances the μ's Seiyū had.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The third-years are so tough to pick from. I really feel they are the best characters and the best Seiyū but in the end, I have to pick Kussun who voices Nozomi. She was one of the younger Seiyū but really held her own amongst the veterans of the group. She was also super funny which surprised me since she first struck me as kind of shy. Also, Kussun in pigtails and a gangsta cap will melt anyone’s heart.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m going against the grain here and saying Soramaru is the best third-year Seiyū and maybe the best out of all the μ's girls. She is so quick-witted and charming, everything I’ve seen her in is entertaining. She’s also my favorite Milky Holmes Seiyū and I’ve kind of stalked her by buying all the games and anime she’s in.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That explains the Senran Kagura games.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I feel like we can talk about μ's forever but I think we should move on to some of the other projects that they were involved with, like the video games and SchoolFes.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Not only are there a few Vita rhythm games for Love Live! but μ's starred in another game called Kamisama to Unmei Kakumei no Paradox for the PS3.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Also known as The Guided Fate Paradox in the West, the nine girls of μ's voice characters as well as provided character songs for the game. The confusing thing about this is that the μ's characters are the ones credited as the CVs in the game. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Wait, so the real life voice actresses behind μ's don’t get credit?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: They’re listed in the credits too but on the character album, the vocalists are listed under their μ's names, not their real ones. Talk about bringing fictional anime characters to life.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://www.school-fes.klabgames.net/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.school-fes.klabgames.net/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbHZgT_f_-gageGHJWdmxrfOUFH-lAUZZ87Pr4RfkgT2IzmAHyumUPkke-5m-uUpOLHS5aNnDtNSfTHAR5h_B0xUBokcF-QEJ8pcyJFw6JXgHoQPUB_B5fifwmBZPlIHpsZTPz3AlwWVk/s1600/RR3I5.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: μ's biggest hit game has to be SchoolFes, the mobile rhythm game that has over 30 million players globally. One of those, I know is you, Tiger.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yup, I’ve been playing SchoolFes every day for over a year!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Wow, that’s dedication.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s a really fun rhythm game that features card collecting and building your digital idol group to compete in Love Live!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Cards, I should’ve known. How many digital cards do you have?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I currently have over 200 though I’ve collected over 350 unique cards total.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: LL also has two physical card games, one dedicated just to LL and the other is a part of a bigger collectable card game.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: SchoolColle and Weiβ Schwarz! Both of which I collect.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Excuse me?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I thought you only played Weiβ Schwarz.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shrugs* I do only play Weiβ Schwarz but I also collect SchoolColle cards.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why?! Why on earth did you start another collection?!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: SchoolColle has cards for the songs too unlike Weiβ Schwarz which just has character cards. Plus, SchoolColle has the same artwork from SchoolFes, so it’s like I get to keep my SchoolFes collection in real life.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shakes head^ There is no hope for you.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well as much as I love μ's, I think we need to wrap up this Retro ReCAP.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Got somewhere to be?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Actually there’s a SchoolFes event going on right now and I need to check in so I can keep pace and make sure I get my SR card.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shakes head^<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: So, what where your first impressions of Love Live! School Idol Project and how have they changed since then.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I really thought LL was a cute and fun anime but I never paid too much attention to the other parts of the project until they were already in full swing. When I started to really listen to the music and saw their first live, that’s when I truly fell in love with μ's and their Seiyū. We’ve fallen in love with a lot of different groups like this, the first one I can remember is Ho-kago Tea Time from K-On! but they didn’t have the same pull that μ's has had on me.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We’ve already mentioned The iDOLM@STER which was probably one of the earliest projects to combine anime, music, and live performances together but like you mentioned, we weren’t really into them from the beginning. Of course, after μ's, there seems to be so many of these groups popping up. There’s Wake Up, Girls!, BanG Dream!, Walkure, i☆Ris, and a bunch of others I can’t think of right now.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Notice how they all really like to use exclamation points?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And while μ's is *sniffs* over, Aqours is already in full swing. They’re the next iteration of Love Live!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I still love Milky Holmes too but part of that is because two of their members were also members of μ's. What about you Tiger, you haven’t mentioned your first impressions or how you now view LL after all this time.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I truly thought it was another one of your fluffy feel good anime that I hate and I didn’t want to like it as much as I ended up liking it. The first live really did help make a connection but I also think watching the streaming shows on Nico Nico opened my eyes to μ's. Then, I heard Wonderful Rush and I was sold. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yeah, I never thought you’d actually enjoy the music since you are so picky.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Hey! I’m entitled to like pop music every once in a while.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yeah, like when hell freezes over.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Anyway, I have learned to love the charms of LL including its fun and cute anime, the catchy music, the entertaining lives, and the addicting gameplay in the games.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: At this point in time with μ's officially over, we’ve basically consumed all we can. We’ve seen all of their lives, own all the PVs, we’ve listened to all the music, and have watched the majority of their internet shows. There’s only one thing we haven’t seen yet and that’s-<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Nope, we aren’t watching it.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why not? It’s the only thing we have left to see.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Exactly! Once we watch the last day of their final live, there’s nothing left! I don’t want μ's to ever end!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But they did end! They aren’t going to make anything else. It’s not like you can’t ever watch it again either, we own the BD, we can watch it again whenever you want.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: But it won’t ever be new again after we watch it. That means there’ll be nothing new left for us to see.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Are we ever going to watch it?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Never!
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Love Live! School Idol Project ReCAP</b></span></center>
<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> μ's *sniffles*<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> Is *cries*<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> Over *sobs*<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> The CG animation in early PVs is stiff<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> The movie doesn’t have enough μ's in it<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> Seeing the Seiyū cry at the final live<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> The variety of music<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> The Seiyū and their wonderful performances<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> μ's is just awesome<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> Season 2 Episode 11 gets me right in the heart<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> Seeing μ's grow as a group throughout the anime<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> the 18 members of μ'sUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-38088136422510476472017-01-13T12:30:00.000-08:002017-01-13T12:30:09.506-08:00Random Happy Time, 43 O'Clock - The A-RISE of Aqours!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lovelive-anime.jp/uranohoshi/worldwide/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.lovelive-anime.jp/uranohoshi/worldwide/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3xr17j9u5UfQzwd7aJb7y9ATPVxEQDZhqkB8Kqbk9L9J2nJPlCLiv3s7LRMjouobCkKXeySxO7JOkhbkhayWsEkLO-Xqfz0k3Q2NpDWkSvDAPY8WaAcc52GMhGwh3vLynfPRsg4j0ig/s1600/RHT43I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Love Live! Sunshine!! Has already debuting their first single, the anime, and are now preparing for their first live. Tiger and Rabbit talk about the newest group from LL, Aqours, and if they plan to support them as much as they supported μ's.</i><br />
<br />
<center>
**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: With μ's now retired, the Love Live! torch has been passed to a new set of idols called Aqours.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s a brand new series in a brand new location with brand new girls.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Set in the seaside neighborhood of Uchiura, Love Live! Sunshine!! follows Chika Takami as she tries to shine just as brightly as μ's by forming her own idol group. ヘ(^_^ヘ)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Along with fellow second-year Watanabe You and Otonokizaka transfer Sakurauchi Riko, they begin their quest to make Aqours the best idol group they possibly can.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Eventually first-year students Tsushima Yoshiko, Kurosawa Ruby, and Kunikida Hanamaru join the group.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s Yohane! (ノ`Д´)ノ.:・┻┻☆(/o\)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There are also three third-year members which include Matsuura Kana, Kurosawa Dia, and Ohara Mari.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Aqours have already released numerous singles, the first season of the anime, and have a live scheduled for February of this year. Your thoughts on Aqours?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^makes funny face^ The jury is still out for me. We haven’t seen much of the anime, which will probably swing me one way or the other, but for now I’m on the fence.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Is there a particular reason?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑) They aren’t μ's. I’m trying to be open-minded with Aqours and the Seiyū but I just don’t enjoy them as much. We’ve watched a lot of their streams too and I don’t find them as entertaining. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I haven’t been too keen on their music either so far. I love Aikyan who voices Yohane though. She and the other first-year Seiyū are pretty entertaining.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I really dislike the third-years right now. But I still plan on giving them a chance. For me, the benchmark will be their first live and us finally finishing the anime. I really want to like them too because there is just so much content with Love Live! unlike some of the other groups we’re interested in.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Like Bandori. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (●´∀`)ノ♡ I find them adorable!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: They play their own instruments, that’s so awesome!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There are only five of them too, much easier to keep track of them!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And I like their music!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Do you know who I really liked?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Style Five?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^giggles^ So dreamy. ( ˘ ³˘)♥ No, I’m talking about A-RISE. They’re the trio of idols from UTX and are μ's rivals.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: They did have a couple catchy songs.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I really wished they would’ve shown up in a live and had a mini Love Live! battle with μ's.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well μ's did do that mash-up with THE iDOLM@STER at Anisama 2015.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That was glorious to see two massive anime idol groups on the same stage together.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Anisama 2016 had Poppin’ Party though we haven’t seen that one yet.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^sighs^ If only Style Five went to Anisama. σ(≧ε≦o)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-16384913016368810792016-12-09T13:01:00.000-08:002016-12-09T13:01:01.243-08:00Q Attack, Round 32 - Is it Really Wrong to Murder Your Relatives to Inherit the Family Fortune if They are all Especially Loathsome People?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.agentlemansguidebroadway.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.agentlemansguidebroadway.com/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuYbizCqG9ZMWOTBqj6Y4mKYPChvacgM28XzlWfqgUj7xq1Cslx4-2fApVUIkfP8zUJiF6ZDLpfOjf8-yi_RxXTFKAFqikVGF2y9hTRV58tz41399orC5GgnJAQDXhmJoDYTY2INaslI/s1600/QA32I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Tiger plans to end 2016 with a figurative and literal bang with Entry 32 of Q Attack. The last discussion of the year finds her and Rabbit chatting about the hit Broadway comedy, a Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Both decide what they would do if they were heiresses to a family fortune which had eight other heirs before them.</i><br />
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<center>
^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Nani sore… imi wakannai.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you too.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: No, really. I don’t get it. What is with this Q Attack’s topic?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I thought it would be a fun conversation to have.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It’s the last post of the year and you want to end it with this? There’s no hidden message here, right? You’re not trying to give me a hint about what my Christmas gift is… do I need to start locking my bedroom door at night?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well, you know in the wild I would technically eat you.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^turns pale^<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What? It’s true.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Dareka tasukete!!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Bunny arrow shoot-o!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shocked face^ You really are planning to off me so you can inherit my collection of ramune marbles!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Why would I want those?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Then it’s the keychain collection you’re after!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Useless.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: My mint NakNaks then!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You still have those?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I know what it is, you want to kill me for my Pogs.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Okay, first off, I don’t want to kill you. Chill out, will ya. Second, you don’t even own anything I want. Technically, we share most of our stuff anyway. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hey! I have a lot of valuable stuff. I’m kashikoi kawaii Rabichika after all.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head*<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So, if you aren’t trying to kill me for my stuff, what are we doing here?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Don’t you remember we went to see a Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder this past summer? I thought we could chat about the show, its music, and its awesome premise. Especially with the holidays about us, I’m sure many of us wish we could just off all of our relatives. *laughs*<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^laughs^ Wait, no, I’m sure many of us have not wished that. I worry about you sometimes, Tiger.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is the Tony Award’s Best Musical of 2014. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It’s based off of the 1907 novel, Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal which also the source for the 1949 movie, Kind Hearts and Coronets starring Alec Guinness. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Gentleman’s story revolves around Monty Navarro, who after his mother’s death, finds out he’s descended from the noble D’Ysquith family. Monty decides to eliminate the eight heirs above him in the line of succession all while juggling an affair with a married woman and wooing his cousin.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Monty definitely has his work cut out for him as he meets the D’Ysquith family, all played by John Rapson of the national touring cast. Kevin Massey plays Monty, who throughout the show always seems to have poison in his pocket and concocts many ill-fated incidents for the D’Ysquiths.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: But before Monty can target his first D’Ysquith; he proposes to his love, Sibella played by Kristen Beth Williams, but she shuns him. After all, he only has a promise of a noble name and no money to back it up. She, on the other hand, has a rich suitor waiting to marry her. Even though she still loves Monty, Sibella loves money and status even more. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Being spurned by Sibella, Monty finds the resolve to confront Reverend Lord Ezekial D’Ysquith to try and be recognized by the family as a true member and heir. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The Reverend refuses to advocate on Monty’s behalf and while the two are standing on top of the belfry, a gust of wind causes the D’Ysquith to lose his balance. Instead of helping him, Monty lets him fall to his death. Thus, begins Monty’s bloody quest to reach the top of the D’Ysquith family.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Eventually, Monty actually becomes quite successful after working for another member of the D’Ysquith family. He even begins dating Phoebe D’Ysquith, whose brother was killed by Monty. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s probably a good time to point out that Gentleman is a comedy which makes these deaths all the more fun. An ice skating accident, sending someone to Africa only to have them return alive, bees, and poisonous flowers are utilized to their fullest to try and knock off every D’Ysquith Monty comes across.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: And the lyrics are very witty and filled with memorable turns of phrase. Paired with a catchy melodic score, the music helps convey the morbid comedy throughout the show.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I can’t stress how good this score is. Not only does the music poke fun at other theatrical musical styles but the lyrics really are quite clever. The original cast recording is amazing and the national tour lived up to the expectations I had when we went to see the show live.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The stage effects were also spot on. Simple yet added to the humor of all the deaths that occurred. It’s hard to compare it to some of the other musicals we’ve seen but I definitely say production wise, it had the best theatre vibe. No wonder it looked so great since it won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design, it was really stunning.<br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Gentleman%27s_Guide_to_Love_and_Murder" target="_blank"><img alt="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Gentleman%27s_Guide_to_Love_and_Murder" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7L8LvjaKRbbeL_OyRtDk73V4StPEWsaoHnAg_zUVqChiw7KPHl9-KlXbNdrrUvO-csx8NoeKTCRRrCfjJ8j7qAMUdqSD8yrxJwtwJ5YR7TAKxsbOidyV19g-OBi9hXpHZNX1CYtC3z0w/s1600/QA32I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: So, are you ready to answer the question; is it really wrong to murder your relatives to inherit the family fortune if they are all especially loathsome people?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I feel like I’m getting set up here. Yes, I think it is wrong to murder people no matter the circumstance. Yeah, Monty was mad that his mother was forced to live in poverty and denied by her family just because she eloped. Does that give him the right to murder eight people, however terrible they all were, just so he could become the Ninth Earl of Highhurst? No, it doesn’t. Granted, it would have been a terrible show if he didn’t kill anyone but still, it definitely doesn’t make it right. It seems to me that no one was really sad that the D’Ysquiths were getting knocked off one by one though so maybe he was doing the world a service.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That’s a good point. Of course I’m going to say no to this question. C’mon, everyone has to have fantasized about killing an annoying relative that you just can’t get rid of. Especially around the holidays, man they can get on your nerves. If one of those relatives had a huge fortune that you were going to inherit, well that it would make it all the sweeter. Now, I’m not encouraging people to really start offing their relatives, but we can dream, can’t we? As for Monty, I quite respect the lengths he went to on his journey to become Earl. He really had to get creative with some of the family members and his problem solving skills were very impressive.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Sometimes, I don’t know when you’re joking.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It was impressive. Just take a look at the lyrics from the Reprise of Poison in my Pocket.<br />
<blockquote>
I am sitting here with poison in my pocket<br />
Look whose head is finally on the block<br />
It seems that now at last the moment I've been waiting for is here<br />
<br />
All that's really left to be decided is the dish to put the poison in provided<br />
I can do what must be done discreetly when the coast is clear<br />
I confess it pains me some to ruin someone's cooking - Oh, for god's sake, now another servant's looking<br />
I have had a run of luck but this one does require skill<br />
<br />
Fish or fowl, it must be well-selected so that no one else at all will be affected<br />
What an awful waste to do in someone I don't want to kill</blockquote>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m not letting you make Christmas dinner.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oh, c’mon, you can’t be serious.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You aren’t getting close to the gravy ever.
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Is it Really Wrong to Murder Your Relatives to Inherit the Family Fortune if They are all Especially Loathsome People?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-72348375842982526972016-12-09T13:00:00.000-08:002016-12-09T13:00:10.907-08:00Random Happy Time, 42 O'Clock - Poison in my Pocket!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSnb_A3n0Gg" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSnb_A3n0Gg" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLyGFsmbQLeWMt8jSZ2RfW4BAzaz7b-hs4HZwI083i4rrq9p5kqtN7CmB4sL8TN1fTc9m9M7pRx0MeqcI5EcsBN8jWNXeEIL7X40g1eLm3is2x0xeVHrOWMCIa0XJpCFiwllU1qEkl5xw/s1600/RHT42I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Rabbit and Tiger discuss a specific song from a Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder in this edition of Random Happy Time. The fuzzy pair also share their memories from the past year, give their holiday wishes to their readers, and say goodbye to 2016.</i><br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: 《《o(≧◇≦)o》》 We have to discuss the amazing score of Steven Lutvak and the witty of lyrics of Robert L. Freedman a little more.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You’re talking about Poison in my Pocket, aren’t you?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yes, it’s one of Monty’s first planned murders. He follows a D’Ysquith to a winter retreat and spies him skating on a frozen lake.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Are you going to go over the entire song?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No, but at least Monty’s first sequence. ♪ヾ(^Д^*)ノ<br />
<blockquote>
I am standing here with poison in my pocket<br />
Standing on this frozen little dock-<br />
It seems that I’ve just let them skate my opportunity away<br />
If I had the poise to put the poison<br />
In a pot of tea or else a shot of gin<br />
I would be back amid the noise of London by the end of day. But,<br />
I am standing here with poison in my pocket<br />
One eye on the target, one eye on the clock-<br />
It better happen soon before I lose my nerve and run.<br />
If I had a knife, I could have grabbed him<br />
And discreetly knocked him on the head and stabbed him<br />
Not to mention what I would have done<br />
If I had had a gun</blockquote>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You really love that song, don’t you?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s so clever! Lyrically, it really is amazing. I’m jealous, I wish I had that kind of talent with words. It really was such an amazing musical, I’m really happy we got to go. Probably my highlight of 2016.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I thought the Sharks playing for the Stanley Cup would have been your highlight of the year.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That one too.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think µ's Final LoveLive! ~µ'sic Forever♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪~ was a big event for me. .·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Don’t even go there, please don’t go there. Oh, the Olympics were eventful too.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I thought it was kind of dull this year but I still enjoyed watching swimming and gymnastics. Also, we got to see a lot of sports we don’t normally watch a ton of like volleyball and table tennis. (。・ω・)ρ┳┷┳゚σ(・ω・*)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We finally got to see Captain America: Civil War. (´ω`◎)ゞ Really enjoyed that movie.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I beat Dishonored! (•̀o•́)ง<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I beat a ton of Assassin’s Creed games! !(•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We also got a lot of great games that we haven’t played yet like Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma and the Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We also seemed to change up our musical tastes this year. Me with the Helen Forrest obsession and you with the J-Pop Idols.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Not all of them are Idols like Perfume and Kalafina, but yes, it’s true I’ve been on the Idol bandwagon as of late. You though, you seem to keep going earlier and earlier into music history. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What can I say, I like the classics. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: As for TvR, we didn’t post as much this year but I felt we covered a wider range of topics including the introduction of a new mode, Retro ReCAP. I hope everyone enjoyed it and is looking forward to more.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We already have some topics lined up for next year too. We’ll be getting back to the video game conversation and talking about some anime as well.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We really need to work on playing more games too. I feel like I only bought games this year.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s so hard to play games sometimes with all our other interests.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Do you have any New Year's resolutions?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'm really not into making them but I guess I can say I want to play more games from my Backloggery. I buy enough of them, I might as well start playing them. I also want to expand my musical tastes and find some new classical composers along with some new music from the 20s.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why don't you try something that's from this century? <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That's really not my cat's meow. What about you, Rabbit?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I want to circumvent the planet, battling the bears of the world.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Sure...<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I hope all you Qgers & Qbbits have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Please look forward to seeing us again in 2017! We’re in your care!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> & <span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: \(^▽^*) Take care and see you next year! ( ´ ▽ ` )ノUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-82713416778451265562016-11-11T13:31:00.000-08:002016-11-11T13:31:00.179-08:00Q Attack, Round 31 - Are 0.5 Console Upgrades Desirable?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.xbox.com/en-US/project-scorpio" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.xbox.com/en-US/project-scorpio" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRLQG7g7RcIY37O5mL9W9ibqOYZmmBWmtpVvpgxDjEAtSMkwCnMlS3Gyb5OoC4y4oCxxyG_inam1OjI-HKAssOcGz_w3s5aL47BI_93bri1ZFqXSgbjyqX8WhnQU_xgmqhjro-mkhP9Tc/s1600/QA31I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>The PlayStation 4 Pro just recently launched and Xbox: Project Scorpio is still on its way. Tiger and Rabbit sit down to discuss these 0.5 console upgrades and whether they are really worth paying extra for.</i><br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Hey Rabbit, why the glum face?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We’re obsolete, Tiger! What are we gonna do?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What do you mean, it’s not like we’re the T-800. I mean, I know we’re a little older now and maybe not as hip as we used to be or as well informed with pop culture but-<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^throws up hands^ That’s not what I mean! And I’m still totally hip and groovin’, no what I mean is that we’re gaming on an obsolete console.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oh, not this. You always get sucked into buying the latest and the greatest tech. You’re lucky you haven’t been screwed over every single time.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hey, you’re one to talk, you also do the same thing. After all, who was it that wanted to get the PS3 at launch with its lovely $600 price tag.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes finger* That’s different… I’m not sure how but I’ll tell you when I figure it out.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So what are we gonna do now? With the PS4 Pro out, our launch PS4 is like a dinosaur in comparison.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We’re going to wait until our launch PS4 dies before we replace it with a PS4 Pro. C’mon, just look at it, there’s nothing really worth the extra $100 and we even have the 4K setup!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But having all our games run smoother and look better would be amazing!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’d rather have developers finally lock down 60fps than have games upscaled to 4K.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You don’t think we’ll have native 4K for games?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’ll believe it when I see it. But I think we should back up just a bit. We aren’t talking about the PS4 slim and Xbox One S, I have no problems with them. Of course we were going to see newer and smaller versions of the current gen consoles as they tweak the innards of these consoles and make it more efficient to produce.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yup, Sony has always come out with a fitter version of every console, even its handhelds. We usually upgrade to these versions when our launch consoles start to give up the ghost.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What we’re specifically talking about are these 0.5 console upgrades that aren’t full on new iterations but significant upgrades to the current consoles. It’s like the smartphone upgrade year after year except for gaming consoles.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That’s a scary thought, seeing these things upgrade every year.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’d be shocked if they did that. The PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One Scorpio, which isn’t out until 2017, are supposed to be the stepping stones before we leap to the next console cycle.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You can at least see their benefit, right? It’s not all fear and loathing with you.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I resent that remark but yes, I totally understand the move I just don’t like it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There are some great benefits to having these 0.5 upgrades. Newer tech and cheaper ways to produce it for one thing. We get better graphics with 4K being the real push. Each 0.5 console also touts better processing power which is a boon for developers. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: With VR being so important too, these new upgrades were designed to really support it. But c’mon, how much can the developers really utilize their new-found power when all games have to work on the standard PS4 and Xbox One? The benefits to me are merely cosmetic, which isn’t a bad thing, since gaming is very much a visual medium. Seriously though, how many people are going to be streaming 4K movies or can even do that? How many have 4K TVs? And with the PS4 Pro, it sounds like it’s just an upscaling console more than anything?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: True, while Project Scorpio isn’t out yet, it definitely looks to be the more powerful console. If anything, I think Scorpio could be the one that’s really worth the investment.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yes, I think Sony hurt itself by doing two stupid things. One was pitting PSVR and PS4 Pro against each other this holiday season, because no normal person is going to drop $800 on new equipment. Then with the slim Xbox One $50 cheaper than the slim PS4, right there it feels like you get more for your buck with MS.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Wow, Tiger going all pro MS for a change.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s true though, I’m not going to pick one up but for the parent or family member who is shopping for a Christmas gift, that pricing makes a big deal. Then you look at the Pro and it’s $100 on top of a standard PS4 but what’s the real benefit for your average consumer? I, personally, don’t feel it’s worth the extra money. If I need to replace my system, I’d buy a Pro but I’m not going to go out of my way for these 0.5 upgrades.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/ps4-pro/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/ps4-pro/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNwHU-uq-JncZBueLdjEvVSZHMQoyAm_V1sUZ6Ja8Daj7X7f8UIpxOTgsOf7twRsNDLU1cTCOet_W41oXdNrYq8VwW_LsMV3GyHORU7GjbJhQAiEaVoPt8torpNj6bWpMz6-y-4ZqlRSw/s1600/QA31I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, I think we all know what Tiger’s answer to this Q Attack is.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don’t think 0.5 console upgrades are desirable because I feel it’s just the gaming industry trying to milk us for all we’re worth. They’re trying to get us to adopt VR which is already expensive no matter the way you look at it and now they offer these upgraded consoles with the promise of better graphics and processing power. It’s true that they give us that but when the developers still have to make sure games work on the standard consoles, how much better can they really be? I definitely think 4K is gorgeous and the way to go to play video games but for those who haven’t adopted this new tech, it’s not worth it. It bothers me too that they think we’re all made of money. It’s like the new iPhone, we know a couple of people who fork out $500 or more for the newest iPhone every time it freaking comes out. I don’t want to be put in the position that a similar business practice reaches gaming. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I understand your concern but think about how long these consoles life-cycles are. You’re looking at nearly 10 years that game developers have to use the exact same technology to produce games yet are still expected to make advancements in graphics and gameplay. That’s like asking a chef to use the same ingredients over and over again to make newer and better dishes. Giving the developers flexibility with more powerful consoles with these so-called 0.5 upgrades allows them to continue to push the medium forward. And the great thing is that you aren’t forced to upgrade if you don’t feel the need or don’t have the latest gadget to fully maximize these consoles. Unlike a new console generation, you won’t have to worry about not having new games developed for your platform. We were very excited for the PS4 but we also knew many who felt forced to pick it up because its launched signaled the death of the PS3. This isn’t true with the Pro, it’s a more powerful system for a specific consumer base. If it doesn’t fit your needs, you can stay with your standard PS4 and it won’t affect you. But if you happen to be hip on tech, you have the opportunity now to really utilize it with these upgraded systems. I think it’s a win/win for everyone.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: So are you going to get one?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Heck no, I don’t have the cash for that.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I rest my case.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hey, that’s not fair! You can’t just leave it like that! Come back here, Tiger!
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Are 0.5 Console Upgrades Desirable?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-53273833693993507092016-11-11T13:30:00.000-08:002016-11-11T13:30:10.765-08:00Random Happy Time, 41 O'Clock - Upgraded Accessories!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/07/sony-brought-new-ps4-accessories-too/#/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/07/sony-brought-new-ps4-accessories-too/#/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqNRkCT_BGW9C24GgGb6uq0EbmR5nYYAZUOG3QfJD9xEaUXbwUJyIueiZT1kQrt4_LhTmrXDF0G3qvQ38YFrmWVgpDm0c9XOJa1ldxHv_m1VRD8qaGPl9DFHD7QcXINQ4b22M5ZJbqDc/s1600/RHT41I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>The slim PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro aren’t the only new fandangle offerings from Sony this year. Rabbit and Tiger talk about the newly tweaked Dualshock 4, the new PS camera, and a shiny new headset in this entry of Random Happy Time!</i><br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Okay, you were all frosty about the PS4 Pro but you have to admit the new accessories Sony’s been showing off look gorgeous. ( ^∇^)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You’re right there, I really like the new peripherals, especially the camera.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (•̀o•́)ง The rounded design makes it look sleek and I also think it will be easier to mount on our TV versus the first gen version.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That thing was just clunky.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What do you think about the Platinum Wireless Headset?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I really loved my Gold Headset and it’s seen better days so I plan on picking up the Platinum when I have the funds cause $160 is a little steep for me.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Should be great to use with VR but I’ll probably end up using it to just listen to music.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yeah, we aren’t really headset wearers, I prefer earbuds for most things but when you want something that sounds great, I definitely pull out my Gold set.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There’s also a new vertical stand for the slim and the Pro.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Eh, I don’t like having my consoles standing up. ( ̄ω ̄)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m always afraid they’re going to fall over!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The last sort of new accessory is the redesigned Dualshock 4 that really doesn’t do anything new.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (-ω-)ゝ Except you can see the lightbar from the front now!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Whatever good that does.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I wish they would’ve at least extended the battery life. It dies so quickly!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Or better analog sticks, those wear out too quickly too. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m really not sure what benefit we get from seeing the lightbar though… it makes no sense to me.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I feel like every single move that Sony has made this year makes no sense.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So are we picking up any of these new peripherals?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Eh, no unless you want to fork out more money for stuff we already own.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (⌗‵ꋪ′)⌕ Like Move controllers.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Who would’ve thought that we’d actually have to buy new ones for VR.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m actually glad we decided to hold off on VR. At first I was all gung-ho about it but now I’d rather wait for a second gen unit to come out.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Especially since we really do want to get the PS4 Pro first, it’s just a lot of money to fork out this holiday.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We’ve surprisingly acted quite maturely on this subject. Usually we just throw money at Sony and figure out how we’ll pay for everything later.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Now, we can throw our money at something else-<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Like Rabu Raibu! merch!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *tilts head* Huh? Where’d that come from? 「(°ヘ°)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Muahahahaha! (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵ You can never have enough Kotori figures! <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Unless you run out of shelves in the bookcase.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I'll just buy another bookcase. σ(≧ε≦o)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* \|  ̄ヘ ̄|/ Whatever you say, Rabbit.<span style="color: #bbacf3;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Before we go, I just want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and a Happy Holiday Season!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Eat lots of food!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-52977502905575381912016-10-14T12:20:00.000-07:002016-10-14T12:20:01.816-07:00TvR Tag Tournament, Round 3 - Is the PlayStation Vita Still Worth Purchasing? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/psvita/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/psvita/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ZzhwrcHJnXymjUK5Oa7RCGj5tYzOJIUv8DU2HiWpL5ilEwSvecrvW1moTZJduzxwathc2FbZ1v9wxZCI-_yN_V3_8LOdClkemSAMCTtXfEiwZHSn0b0F13tGYMRYkM5jMmEZauMX21E/s1600/TTT3I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Tiger and Rabbit invite longtime friend of the blog, Eagle, back for round three of TvR Tag Tournament. Now that all three mammals own a PlayStation Vita, they chat about what they think of Sony's portable gaming platform and what they are currently playing on it. The three friends also tackle whether the Vita is still worth purchasing after all this time. </i><br />
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**<>^^</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Can you believe the PlayStation Vita turned four this past February?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Wow, time sure flew by.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So did Eagle.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Excuse me?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You're excused.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No, I meant I didn't catch that.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I'd reckon eagles would be hard to catch.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No, explain to me what you meant about Eagle flying by.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Ooh. Well, he hasn't flown by yet but he should be here any minute.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What for?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: He finally picked up a Vita so I invited him over to chat about it.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We're doing a TvR Tag Tournament right now? I don't even have notes!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Just channel your inner bird and-<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I know, just wing it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There he is outside the window! Hurry and open it so he can come inside!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *hurriedly makes notes*<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^pries window open^ Great timing!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Welcome back to our third installment of TvR Tag Tournament!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^waves hands^ Howdy Eagle, great to see you again!<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: Hello Rabbit. Hello Tiger. It has been a while.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Way too long! What have you been up to? Playing anything interesting lately?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: What have I been up to? Some top secret business. As far as gaming goes, I finally got a Life <holds up a PlayStation Vita>, and I started playing Silent Hill: Book of Memories. It is quite a different take on the Silent Hill series.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And it has the OLED screen. Nice.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Oooh, that sounds scary. ^covers eyes^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Now we can get some Toukiden action in.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^grins^ We all finally have lives now, that's great!<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: <laughs> Haha. That is one way to put it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Since you're the newest member to get a life, what are your thoughts so far?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: A little advice for those at home, do not hold it above your face. You may be injured. All joking aside, it is nice. You can play some high quality titles on the go.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Only Rabbit here would drop a Vita on her head.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hey! I haven't done that... in a really long time.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The first time I turned on my Vita, I was impressed by the gorgeous OLED screen. That baby is slick.<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: The all black exterior gives it a nice look.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Having two analog sticks is also great and they seem to be more responsive than the PSP's version.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: All around, I think it's a high-quality handheld that really feels great to play. That being said, there aren't a lot of games to play on it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There are too. You just have to know where to look.<br />
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<a href="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/freedom-wars-psvita/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/freedom-wars-psvita/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_FWHWVZnZjVork4gDbtgJ8cVBngmLSr-tuw1olxK0LHWmQDXy4OgKi_SDYqA8AA4tkwEObgIlV39nBVsFlXspxa4j4z4A_kn_NZMnlCTOcemEOq5o9MjevJ3_idMGxomjilYZ8hUzco/s1600/TTT3I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: Indeed. There is quite a lot of content. However, most of that content falls into only a handful of genre's like the JRPG or the Visual Novel.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Or indie, no offense to those who enjoy indie titles but I want something with meat on the bone. Last AAA type title I played was Killzone: Mercenary and I'm not sure you could even call that a AAA title.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You're so shallow, Tiger. It's not all about big explosions and shooting everyone you see. Indie games can be great too. Severed is a recent release that is just amazing. I enjoyed other titles like Don't Starve which really felt at home on the Vita.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: But Don't Starve is also on PS4 so you don't need a Vita to play it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: TxK was Vita only and so was SunFlowers.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *rolls eyes* SunFlowers is barely a step up from a mobile game. It was fun for five minutes but I didn't drop a couple hundred on a Vita to play SunFlowers.<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: I cannot think of many indie games for the Life of me right now. <pauses> Get it... <sighs> Terrible puns. All joking aside, Rainbow Moon seems like a great title. I played a bit of it on the PS3, and it seems like it would be a great on the go title.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That's the thing about the Vita. Many of the games you can play on its big brothers but the Vita can really make the experience special. Child of Light was much more enjoyable to me on Vita than playing it on the PS4.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I get both of your points but the Vita seems to be only for those who like a certain genre of games.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I, for one, am happy that it has turned out this way. Now games like NVLs and JRPGs have a home. Before, they barely saw the light of day on the home consoles. Plus, didn't you say Eagle that Silent Hill: Book of Memories was a different take on the series. Could that have been done as well on the PS3 or PS4?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: Well, the new Gauntlet released on the PS4. Book of Memories basically takes Silent Hill and plays like a dungeon crawler like Gauntlet. I think it works great for the handheld.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There were also a few games that made use of the Vita's touchscreen and touchpad too. While it may feel gimmicky with some of the games, others I thought did a great job like-<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Like Monster Monpiece?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^blushes^ I thought we discussed not bringing that game up!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And you say I have a sick mind.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^sticks out tongue^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Anyway, it makes sense that there are a ton of JRPG titles still coming out for the Vita. It is, after all, still very popular in Japan. Not sure why it didn't take off Stateside though.<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: That is a good question. Maybe American's just like a bigger screen for the FPS explosions?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Sounds like Tiger, right there. I'm just glad it's still getting games localized. Look at all the titles announced for it by Aksys Games at Anime Expo which we mentioned a few entries back. For those who think the Vita is dead, just look at the slate for the next year, it is far from dead.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Poor Saitō, you already found his replacement. It's true that for those gamers who the Vita caters too, that it's still getting a good amount of new games. I just wish that it was a more diverse helping of titles than a bunch of anime chicks with big boobs or hot guys throwing themselves at a single woman.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I am perfectly fine with hot guys throwing themselves at my OLED screen.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* So Eagle, what do you think of the Vita now that you've had a chance to really play it?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: It seems like a great system. Rabbit got me with her Vocaloids there and I wound up picking up the rhythm game Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F 2nd. Seems like the responsiveness of the touchscreen would be great for such a game.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Project DIVA is the best on Vita!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I do think the rhythm games play better on Vita because it eliminates most of the lag you get when using a wireless controller. It does have a great screen and games run well on it, the Vita just doesn’t have the variety that the home consoles do.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: For me, I absolutely love my Vita. It's beautiful, not too heavy, the screen is bright, the battery life is pretty good once you tweak some of the settings, it has a great lineup of games, and I can play it in bed!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And drop it on your face.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^crosses arms^ Like I said, it has only happened once.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://aksysgames.com/code-realize/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://aksysgames.com/code-realize/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrR6jCRYAjmhaXgywYasM49TC8D2CITIGaFfF8dXfmv5Eff1gt1Fdgxp3StKxQwGF0qaqxslnjVA5KlG5BO8RZRQHBsqUNkpCrv3q9AlGCY-g9CCk2QxbXNKAAc-RnEeGYuMm1zdjvF24/s1600/TTT3I3.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: So do you think the PlayStation Vita is still worth purchasing after all this time. It is four years old and already looks to be dead.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^makes a fist^ Saisho wa guu!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *bops Rabbit on the head* We aren't going to play for it. Eagle, why don't you go first. Do you think it's well worth picking up a Vita this late in its life-cycle?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: I am glad I got one. It has a great library, including some decent games with, <clears throat> ahem... "anime chicks with big boobs", as you put it. There are even a few decent AAA titles like Uncharted.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And Sony has already said that they won't be producing anymore AAA titles either. For me, it's just not worth it. The Vita is a great handheld with not enough games. When I do play it, I end up playing old PSP games that I have via digital download, so it's not like I'm even playing the Vita for Vita games. I just wish it had more variety, yes shooters didn't always work out so well, but it doesn't even have many solid racing or fighting games. The few that exist play better on the home consoles so it's not worth it to pick them up. Now, being able to play PS4 games via streaming is awesome but again, I'd rather just play my PS4 with my nice HDTV. For me, portable gaming doesn't make too much sense. If I'm really dying to play a game, I'll just whip out my phone and kill a few minutes that way.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Tiger is so wrong on this one. The PlayStation Vita is awesome. Awesome I tell you! So what it doesn't have shooters or racing games, you can find those anywhere. The Vita offers games you can't get anywhere else! Great otome games like Norn9, ADVs such as the Danganronpa series, and unique RPGs like Ys. Then there's a plethora of awesome rhythm games, unique experiences like Tearaway, and a huge backlog of digital PSP games too. And if you want action, there are games like Soul Sacrifice, Dragon's Crown, Freedom Wars, and Lost Dimension. Sure, you're not going to find a game like... ^shouts^ CALL OF DUTY, which we all know Tiger loves so much, but there are many gems in the Vita's lineup that you won't be able to play anywhere else. Because you can literally play all these games anywhere you want to! That's the amazing thing about portable gaming. Let's see you try to bring that gigantic TV and PS4 with you on our next road trip, Tiger.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Okay, okay, I get it but I'm still going to say no to the Vita. The only reason why I have one is that you got it for me Rabbit. I appreciate it but don't think I'm going to put down my DS4 to play it.<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: Sorry, Tiger. I have to side with Rabbit on this one. The Vita is a great system for me, who enjoys a good JRPG every now and again.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No worries Eagle. I guess I'm the odd critter out this time. At least you two can now gush over your anime guys and girls together.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Thanks for coming back to TvR for this discussion, Eagle! It's been fun!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I hope you come back soon!<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: After lame jokes like those, I may need to give your fans a break. But, it is always a pleasure to catch up with you two and your hijinks.<laughs>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Is the PlayStation Vita Still Worth Purchasing? </b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9VjQ5tj0ROcgFtrfdb59OG-_Aq9L4B1Xz8VwEgt1lNNrbToiHw1wKRq0_L42Ry7tANk-LPLPP04EsqIwluiu2y8lfoSevWby0cHKR4IwLa8OAEiKAch0U60zePxUWnPH7NPPDzcMRdQ/s1600/UpEagle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9VjQ5tj0ROcgFtrfdb59OG-_Aq9L4B1Xz8VwEgt1lNNrbToiHw1wKRq0_L42Ry7tANk-LPLPP04EsqIwluiu2y8lfoSevWby0cHKR4IwLa8OAEiKAch0U60zePxUWnPH7NPPDzcMRdQ/s1600/UpEagle.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-86794458029520320812016-10-14T12:19:00.000-07:002016-10-14T12:19:02.933-07:00Random Happy Time, 40 O'Clock - Hello, Worker!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatsune_Miku:_Project_DIVA_F_2nd" target="_blank"><img alt="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatsune_Miku:_Project_DIVA_F_2nd" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhniEe2lsl00dWAJHaHvU7CHfi1JZ-ORPAl4RFXTSKzLCzAR7qIvhUX6qBwsy25zmgxvyOyfYUV1IfIGGV2q8zjLWO1dyKDONuczjvhecBp-BDSwNXYkuQYgmoJYfpjwYOvTtGlyYJeC7Q/s1600/RHT40I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>In the last segment, Eagle mentioned the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita game, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA f 2nd. Rabbit quizzes Eagle about the Vocaloid rhythm game and finds out which song is his all-time favorite.</i><br />
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^^<>**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Since Tiger was such a downer in that last segment, I want to talk with Eagle about something we all love! Vocaloids!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I wouldn't go so far to say I love them, but sure, I'm game.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Who is your favorite Vocaloid, Eagle?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: My favorite is a little uncharacteristic of me, but I would have to say Megurine Luka.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^squeals^ Mine too! I love most of Crypton Future's Vocaloids. She, along with Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin, and Kagamine Len are the most recognizable.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'm more a fan of 1st Place Co's IA. To me, she has the most realistic voice out of all of them.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Since Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA f 2nd has a bunch of new songs, do you have a favorite yet?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: | •́ ◇ •̀ | I have played a lot of... <coughs> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Hello, Worker"...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Ooh, interesting choice. I myself love Rolling Girl by wowaka.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Wow, I didn't expect that. Rolling Girl is a pretty depressing song.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But it's so catchy too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I play a lot of Romeo and Cinderella. (=^・ェ・^=) <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^giggles^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Have you seen the music video for that from NicoNico?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No... I have not.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^snickers^ /(^ x ^=)\<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Which song do you have the most trouble with or hate the most, Eagle?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: Blackjack gave me a bit of trouble on the harder difficulties.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That one is tough. I didn't have a specific song I sucked at but those flying stars were freaking hard to keep track of. I really hated Clover♣Club and Miracle Paint though.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>:  ̄ (⁎˃ᆺ˂) ̄ I had a really hard time with Akatsuki Arrival for some strange reason. It's the first song you can play but the new layout really messed with my head. Some songs I just dealt with since I played them so much.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Kokoro was like that for me. So was Break It, Break It. I ended up falling in love with that song after playing it so much.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Oh, and Roshin Yukai! Love that one.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I wish they had Kokoro Kiseki. Maybe the next game.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Shota much?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oh shut it. You're the one with the depressing song obsession.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Did you ever beat the game, Eagle?<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: I played through all of the songs a couple of times. I never did get all of the trophies for the game. One day I shall rise to the challenge and earn that platinum trophy.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: There were so many challenges for all the songs to unlock everything too. I'm not sure anyone can really beat that game.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yeah, I'm never going to beat it. I still play it all the time, it's so fun and the music is catchy!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Excited for Project DIVA X, I take it?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It came out in August! /(=⌒x⌒=)\ So excited. ryo has a song called Name of the Sin, Whiteflame is back with A Single Red Leaf, and who doesn't love 40mP?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'm actually excited for Neru's The Lost One's Weeping. I really prefer Len's version but the original is awesome too.<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: After getting addicted with this game and the last, I will probably buy it for my Vita and the PS4. That way I can run the music through my sound system when playing in my dark cave I call a home.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That's a great idea! I'm definitely getting it on Vita.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: PS4 version for me.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Does that mean you'll be blasting Holy Lance Explosion Boy from your dark cave?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Seriously, I'll bop you again if you keep bringing this up!(^._.^)ノ <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Shota-oshi Tiger is scary! Hurry Eagle, let's run away before she gets really mad!<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: o(`◇´)○ Please, do not drag me into this!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Too late! ^grabs Eagle and runs^ ε、., ⌒ 、., ⌒ 、., ⌒ 、., ⌒ /( =゚ェ゚=)ヽ<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Get back here you two!<br />
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<span style="color: #ffe856;">Eagle</span>: <yells from the distance> I am sorry! ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(; ̄◇ ̄)┘Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-74457217748754683622016-09-09T13:31:00.000-07:002016-09-20T22:56:57.652-07:00Retro ReCAP, Round 2 - 2015-2016 San Jose Sharks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/penguins-sharks-stanley-cup-final-game-3-recap/c-280888004?tid=280838290" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.nhl.com/news/penguins-sharks-stanley-cup-final-game-3-recap/c-280888004?tid=280838290" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVNe027qdV402lNguEAsGjfVoDGMcj7xruJOR2cxX5YA3dvSqjCuwIlVdTMlHOXq_i9GvY5nwZ5mKnGUhJaUztcgMQQt1XWDNZM9r-wL9cYvMlqyDm8Bsf9g4vmb48PzksE77ld8UX_8/s1600/RR2I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>The San Jose Sharks just completed a historic season of hockey, making it farther in the playoffs than they ever had before. Tiger watched every minute of the 82 regular season games and every second of the 24 playoff games. Taking time to reminisce about the amazing journey, Tiger and Rabbit highlight their favorite moments and reCAP the 2015-2016 season of the San Jose Sharks.</i><br />
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^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You better buckle up, Rabbit, this is going to be a long one.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^opens a grocery bag^ I already brought snacks and drinks. Plus, I ordered a pizza, pepperoni and black olives, baby!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I thought rabbits were supposed to be herbivores? <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But it’s pizza, you have to have pepperoni on pizza.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You know what, it doesn’t matter. We have a lot of things to talk about and we shouldn’t waste time on your eating habits again.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Alright, alright. Well, what a run the San Jose Sharks had last season.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It was amazing.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I saw you cry, I saw you cry three times.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It was a very emotional experience.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The 2015-2016 season was the Sharks 25th anniversary and it turned out to be the most memorable season in the history of the team.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Before we discuss all the amazing and some not so amazing events that took place this season, we have to frame the story by mentioning the seasons before.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It was a tough couple of seasons, wasn’t it?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Tough is an understatement. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: First, it was LA in 2013-2014.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Effing LA.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Not still sore over that, I see. Anyway, in the first round of the playoffs against the Kings, the Sharks led the best of seven series with three wins and zero losses. LA stormed back and ended up winning four games in a row to eliminate the Sharks from the playoffs. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The loss brought changes to the team and soon the 2014-2015 playoffs rolled around. This time, the Sharks didn’t even qualify and watched the entire thing from their couches. This was the first time they missed the playoffs, reaching the postseason the previous nine years straight.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The Sharks would be up for one of the biggest shakeups they had ever seen after two devastating seasons. Longtime coach Tod McLellan, who had worn teal since 2008, was let go.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=886861" target="_blank">Peter DeBoer was hired </a>as the eighth head coach in franchise history and a new era in Sharks Territory was about to begin. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Previously, DeBoer had coached the New Jersey Devils and the Florida Panthers. Interestingly enough, he was also a finalist for the Sharks head coaching position back in 2008 but lost it to McLellan.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: At the time, DeBoer had little experience as a coach in the NHL, but in 2015 he proved that he had what it took to manage and guide a big league team.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So PDB was kind of an unknown to us when he was first hired.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Being a coach in the Eastern Conference, we didn’t see his teams very often. To be honest, his Panthers team wasn’t that skilled and though he did make the Stanley Cup Final with NJ, he never had the firepower the Sharks possessed. We really weren’t sure what he would do with the team.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We’d soon learn just how impressive his coaching skills were but before we could do that, there were a couple of holes to fill in the Sharks roster.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We’ve already talked about the free agent signings of Joel Ward and Paul Martin in a previous round. These two players would be key in the successful playoff run the Sharks would eventually construct. We’ll be discussing Wardo in a bit but I want to bring up the amazingly steady play of Paul Martin.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, often paired with the affable Brent Burns, Martin had his hands full.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Burns is a gifted defenseman but tends to be unpredictable in a both good and bad ways.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Suddenly charging into the offensive zone with the puck and powering his way to the net is something that you don’t see a lot of defensemen do but with Burnzie, he’s a highlight reel maker.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: He can also be so focused on the offensive aspect of the game that he leaves his partner high and dry during odd-man rushes. Luckily, Martin is a very skilled and often unnoticeable player.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Which is a great compliment because usually when you notice defensemen, it’s because they made a bad play.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Martin is truly the yin to Burns’ yang. The tandem is amazing, Martin allows Burns to play his chaotic style of game and also seems to calm him down in the D-zone. Slotting Martin with Burns also allowed the other defensemen to really play to their strengths as well.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Those weren’t the only moves General Manager Doug Wilson made in the 2015 offseason.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You could say one of the biggest trades in San Jose history happened on June 30th when the Sharks sent their 2016 1st round pick and prospect Sean Kuraly to Boston for goaltender Martin Jones. Jones had only been traded to Boston from LA a few days prior and now found himself back in California, abet on the right side this time.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Oh, I remember you screaming at your phone when this news broke.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Freaking LA. But he’s not one of them now, suckers! He’s wearing a real color now, Team Teal!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Jones was a phenom in his brief stint as relief for LA’s Jonathan Quick and also had an exemplary record at the 2015 World Championships for Canada. Other than that, his resume was short and he had never held a starting goalie position in the NHL before.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Like DeBoer, Jones was a variable that we just didn’t know how he’d play out. Now, I actually expected him to play well in the beginning of the year but as the grind went deeper into the season, I was unsure how he’d handle the workload.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Luckily, Jones did a stellar job since the Sharks backup goalie, Alex Stalock, had an atrocious season that resulted in him being traded. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Jones would soon prove himself as the dominate goalie the Sharks have always yearned for since Evgeni Nabokov left the team. Jones set a new <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887137" target="_blank">franchise shutout record</a> in October 2015, going an amazing 234:33 without allowing a single goal.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Jones would also hold an impressive shutout streak of 156 minutes in the playoffs against the St. Louis Blues.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: An absolutely phenomenal season by Martin Jones. We weren’t exactly sure what we were getting with him but he’s proven himself again and again. Everyone in San Jose absolutely loves him. I mean, I haven’t heard a goalie chant since the old days of “Nabby! Nabby! Nabby!” Now, you can hear the crowd at SAP Center cheer, “Jonesy! Jonesy! Jonesy!” when he makes a great save, and he makes those quite often.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There was one final change that occurred before the 2015-2016 got underway and that was the issue of who wore the ‘C’ for Team Teal.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The previous season, the Sharks did not have a captain and instead had four alternates.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Once Peter DeBoer took the reins, he declared that SJS would have <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887013" target="_blank">a captain again</a>. On October 5th, 2015 that captain was named and his name was Captain America.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Joe Pavelski was named the 9th captain of the Sharks. Logan Couture and Joe Thornton were named the alternates for the team.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Pavelski was drafted by the Sharks in the 7th round of the 2003 NHL Draft. That’s 205th overall! He is the second most prolific scorer in the last four seasons, only behind Alex Ovechkin who was drafted 1st in 2004! Weighing in at an underwhelming five-foot-eleven and 190-pounds, Pavelski is definitely not the biggest out there which just showcases how much skill he has as a pure goal scorer.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: He has to be one of the premier puck deflectors in the National Hockey League too. Always giving his all and playing a complete two-way game, Joe Pavelski has truly earned his title as Captain America.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: If that doesn’t sell you on this extremely underrated player, Pavelski had 38 regular season goals and 14 tallies in the playoffs. He also has an Olympic silver medal to his name too. Truly one of the greatest players to don teal.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/gallerylanding.htm?gid=2015030413" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.nhl.com/ice/gallerylanding.htm?gid=2015030413" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUx6agWfWe10xpElYJohet7Hb1HaSlojhSVVjaTSUXqB_5zMJOutukIX8rEa2cSuQmnwjEEpQG7tskw41WBny5-MB4BvG9EWBys9sNpHTS9grgoozjQbxdF6_Nyj0WtfiFpWsj9cwjt4/s1600/RR2I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: With a new coach, a new goalie, and a new captain; the San Jose Sharks were set to commence the 2015-2016 season against their bitter, bitter, most hated rivals.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There were so many curse words flying at our house on October 7th, 2015 as the Sharks <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887038" target="_blank">opened their season</a> in LA against the Kings. It was Martin Jones’ first game as the starting goalie and his first against his old team. Team Teal started off shaky, allowing a goal in the first two minutes of the game but once they settled the nerves, it was all Sharks.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Jumbo started off with a one-on-one goal in the first followed by a powerplay goal from Pavelski. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: In the second period, it was Burns lighting the lamp then Hertl following suit on the powerplay. Captain America himself capped off the night with his second goal in the third period, leading to a final score of 5-1 for SJS.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The Sharks were out to a 3-0-0 start and looked like a team reborn but adversity would soon strike. On October 16th, 2015 during practice, <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/logan-couture-values-playoff-success-after-life-threatening-injury-220338147.html" target="_blank">Couture fractured his right fibula</a> and would require surgery, forcing him to miss most of the 2015 schedule. Couture eventually returned late in the year but would only play two games. During his second game against the Edmonton Oilers, he suffered a more severe injury. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Couture left the game against Edmonton with what he assumed was a severe Charley horse but once on the team plane, he knew something was very wrong. Couture suffered from bleeding in his thigh and required another surgery to repair the tear. Couture would not return to the ice until January 2nd, 2016. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: If you haven’t seen the Sharks play, Couture is just as vital to the team as Pavelski. A determined player both in the offensive and defensive zones, Cooch is also called Clutchure for his ability to produce a goal when the team needs it the most. His loss meant that other players had to fill the hole in the roster, causing the team to look unbalanced at times.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The end of 2015 was shaky for the Sharks as they alternated wins and losses, never really recapturing the momentum from the beginning of the season. There were bright spots for the team as players like <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887408" target="_blank">Joel Ward stepped up </a>big time to fill the void left by Couture. One of those times was on October 24th against the Carolina Hurricanes. Wardo scored two goals in the first period, allowing the Sharks to control the game. With 57 seconds left in the 3rd period, Ward scored the empty netter to complete the second hat trick of his career and first in the only jersey he should ever wear. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: One of the biggest tests the Sharks faced was in November when they went on a <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887476" target="_blank">six game road trip</a>. Now, the Sharks notoriously have a terrible road schedule with grueling travel demands. The previous road trip saw the Sharks split 2-2-0, not a stellar result at all. They were falling in the standings and knew they needed to string some wins together. It would be no easy task.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The six games across ten-days road trip began against Detroit. The Sharks eked out a 3-2 win before flying to Buffalo to play the next day. The Sharks had not won a game in Buffalo since Joe Thornton’s first game as a Shark way back in 2005. It was looking as if Team Teal wasn’t going to win this time as they reached the end of regulation with a 1-1 tie. Mister Shark himself, Patrick Marleau, scored the overtime winning goal, making the Sharks 2-0-0 on the trip so far.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Next was Boston and the Sharks found themselves on the right side of a high scoring affair, winning 5-4. They tightened up their play in Philadelphia and squeaked by with a 1-0 overtime win, earning Martin Jones another shutout.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: November 21st, 2015 would turn out to be <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887474" target="_blank">a special night </a>as the Sharks faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent Burns’ scored the first goal of the game and Patrick Marleau made an assist. This would be Patty’s 1000th point in the NHL, all with the San Jose Sharks. It was also special because Pittsburgh was the city which hosted the 1997 NHL Draft where the Sharks took Marleau 2nd overall. If you look at the record book for the San Jose Sharks, you’ll likely see Marleau’s name show up a lot. He’s played a total of 1,411 all in teal. He’s currently the all-time leader in goals with 481, all-time leader in even strength goals with 311, and all-time leader in power play goals with 153. He also has the record for points with 1,036, shots with 3,608, games played with 1,411, and most 30+ goal seasons with 7. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: There’s speculation that we may have seen the last of Marleau in teal whether he retires or asks for a trade but no matter what happens, Marleau will always be seen as one of the most influential members of SJS.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Getting back on track with the road trip, the Sharks were 5-0-0 with their last game in Columbus. It was a wild west type of game with the Blue Jackets leading 3-1 in the third but the Sharks charged back with three goals in a little over seven minutes. Joe Pavelski sealed the deal with an empty net goal in the dying seconds of the game to win it 5-3. This completed the perfect 6-0 road trip, the first ever done by the Sharks. Pavelski had seven points over the course of the road trip and Patrick Marleau would also tally three more points to add to his impressive milestone. Martin Jones cannot be overlooked with his spectacular 5-0-0 record and a 1.56 goals against average coupled with a .950 save percentage. Those numbers are so amazing that he practically shined like the sun when he played.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns, as the Sharks were just 18-18-2 when 2016 rolled around. January 9th would prove to be a turning point for the team when the<a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887488" target="_blank"> Toronto Maple Leafs arrived</a> in town. It was a rare afternoon match and the game was broadcasted on Hockey Night in Canada, making it a game that many in the hockey world would see. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The first period saw both goalies tested but neither allowed a goal. It wasn’t until the second period when hulking Brent Burns was able to find the back of the net with a highlight reel goal. Seriously, check out the video which is linked above.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: This would spark an offensive onslaught as Matt Nieto from Long Beach, California tallied a shorthanded goal which was followed by goals from Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl. The Sharks didn’t let up in the third period and received goals from Melker Karlsson, Joonas Donskoi, and another from Hertl. The Sharks emphatically put down the Leafs 7-0 and ignited their game, going 8-0-2 in the next ten games. This game also started Joe Thornton’s point streak which would see him score the most points in the entire NHL from this point until the end of the season.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Jumbo Joe racked up so many points during this time that on January 26th against the Colorado Avalanche, he achieved his <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887858" target="_blank">1,300th point</a>. Only 33 players in the history of the league have reached that total. Jumbo got his 1,300th in stereotypical fashion with a beautiful cross-crease feed to Joe Pavelski, who buried it.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: So I may have mentioned a name you might not be familiar with, <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887489" target="_blank">Joonas Donskoi</a>. Originally drafted by the Panthers in 2010, Donskoi played in the Finnish Elite League before signing with the Sharks. He tallied his first NHL goal in his first NHL game against the LA Kings during the Sharks opener. At 24 years of age, Donskoi was older and more experienced than other NHL rookies but he still surprised many when he took to the ice. The injury to Logan Couture allowed Donskoi to take on a more demanding role and he did not disappoint. He’s not an overly large or fast player but his skill with the puck has garnered him an impressive highlight reel.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Seriously, if you only click on one link, clink on <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888507" target="_blank">this one</a>, the goals are ridiculous. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: In his first season in the NHL, Donskoi scored 11 goals and 25 points with 6 goals in the playoffs including the Game 3 overtime winner of the SCF. The future of the San Jose Sharks is a bright one with Donskoi in the lineup.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We’ve already discussed Logan Couture’s series of injuries. When he finally came back in January, Cooch wasn’t the same player as he was before. It took him a long time to not only get back to speed but also <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888022" target="_blank">find his scoring touch</a>. He definitely had the touch on March 29th in Vancouver though. Couture had played a total of 426 games up to this point but had never scored a hattie. With the game tied 1-1, Couture would score three uninterrupted goals, giving him his first hat trick. Couture was on fire from here on out and was clutch in the playoffs with 30 points, which lead the league. Couture also scored three points in every series clinching game the Sharks had in the playoffs and contributed three more points to stave off elimination in Game 5 of the SCF. Couture would be one of the best players in the playoffs not only for the Sharks but NHL wide which was an amazing feat considering the injuries and adversity he suffered through in the early portion of the season.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: OMG, we’ve covered so much and we haven’t even talked about the playoffs yet.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, the pizza is here so maybe we should take a break, give our Qgers and Qbbits a breather too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You’ve got to be kidding me. Really?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m serious, I’m super hungry too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *sighs* Fine, we can take a short break<br />
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[an hour later]<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Now can we talk playoffs?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^yawns^ That was so yummy! I’m sleepy now.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Nope, nope, you don’t get to do this to me. We’re finishing this.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hai, hai.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.nhl.com/video/recap-pit-2-sjs-3-fot/t-280828090/c-44153403" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.nhl.com/video/recap-pit-2-sjs-3-fot/t-280828090/c-44153403" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQPA4CiTgoLo90r6txbgaUW-DztC3ob9V1Er9nGbOLa93DEvbhuMok2VnAcVGM5z2jUloAF26vZdFRhcsFU8KRTi5e24Qe2Z7MmAGVAYWOX7z8C-OUvD7wgk15xrudxc1G2NAomz1SRw/s1600/RR2I3.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888261" target="_blank">2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs </a>began with a familiar foe in the first round, the fu-<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Fuzzy! Those very fuzzy LA Kings. Yes, it was a rematch in the first round as the Sharks had a lot to prove while everyone was questioning whether they would repeat 2014’s results.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The Sharks took a commanding 2-0 before dropping the third game in overtime to LA. Again, the media and fans were buzzing with the nightmares of 2014. The Sharks, however, were a different team and came back to win Game 4. Game 5 started with the Sharks taking a 3-0 lead but the Kings came back to tie it. Going into the third, SJ responded with another three goals, winning the game and eliminating the LA Kings from the playoffs. Yeah, baby! That’s how you do it!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It was a<a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888351" target="_blank"> battle with Music City</a> as the Sharks faced the Nashville Predators in the second round. The Sharks won their first two games at home but Nashville matched them by taking the two games in Tennessee. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Again, it was home ice advantage as the Sharks won Game 5 but lost Game 6 on the road. Would the Sharks be able to hold serve at home? That was resoundly answered when the Sharks shut down the Predators, winning Game 7 by a 5-0 margin. It was also Martin Jones first playoff shutout. The Sharks were going to the Western Conference Final.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: For the fourth time in franchise history, the Sharks made it to<a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888495" target="_blank"> the third round </a>of the Stanly Cup Playoffs, this time facing off against the St. Louis Blues. It was a tight series with St. Louis winning the first game and the Sharks shutting out the Blues in the second. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The next two games were also split, leaving the series tied at two games apiece. The Sharks were losing the game late in the second period of Game 5 until Captain America tied it up and then gave the Sharks the early lead. SJ would not yield another goal and were now one win away from the Stanley Cup Final.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Game 6 was back in San Jose and the Tank was rocking. The Sharks blazed out of the starting gate with a 4-0 and would win the game with a final score of 5-2. The Sharks had eliminated the St. Louis Blues and reached the first-ever SCF!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The Sharks would face<a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888505" target="_blank"> the Pittsburgh Penguins </a>to see who would raise Lord Stanley’s Cup. The first two games in Pittsburgh were losses for the Sharks. The first SCF game in San Jose was nuts and it felt like the city was going to be set ablaze by the sheer passion. The Sharks would win Game 3 at home but lost the following. It was a scrappy affair on the road as the Sharks battled to earn the ‘W’ and bring one more Stanley Cup Final game back to San Jose. The Sharks would end up losing this game and thus lost the series 4-2 to the Penguins. While it wasn’t the result we wanted, it was an experience that no one was expecting.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I remember hoping that they’d just make it to the playoffs, I never thought about them playing for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Looking back at this whirlwind of a season, what are some of your thoughts?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: For me, the number one thing is how the team really pulled together and played as a unit. The previous season, there were so many times that you saw individuals put in individual efforts and it often didn’t feel like there was a team on the ice. It reminded me of seeing some of the Olympic teams play because those teams don’t have a lot of practice and rely pretty much on star power. This Sharks team; everyone knew their role, accepted it, and played it to the best of their abilities. Got to give DeBoer a lot of credit for righting the ship so quickly.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I also think infusing the new blood was really key. Players like Jones, Ward, Martin, Donskoi, and some of the young players that played in relief like DeMelo were great. We didn’t mention Karlsson or Tierney but they were young guns the previous season and came back with renewed confidence and really contributed to the team down the stretch. A healthy Hertl and better D-pairings were really important too. I know it wasn’t the end result that we had hoped for but you cannot take away anything from this team and the season they played.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m actually really happy how things turned out. Yeah, they didn’t win the Cup but no one expected them to make it that far. Heck, when January rolled around, I thought we were out of the playoffs entirely. It reminded me of the horrible February in 2015 that killed the Sharks chances to advance to the post-season. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We didn’t mention Joe Thornton too much, there were a lot of players who had amazing years and we just couldn’t mention them all, but Jumbo’s season was a special sort of special.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We witnessed probably the greatest season of a future hall of fame player. I can literally say Thornton played some of the best hockey I have ever seen from anyone in the 17 or so years I’ve been watching the sport. I mean, there were some Ray Bourque vibes going on with a lot of fans calling to “win it for Joe.” Now, Joe Thornton is not retiring next season but he is up there in age and I’d love to see him win it all, definitely well deserved. But he is one of the greatest players to ever play the sport. The records he holds and how he keeps smashing his way up those point total ladders; it’s just insane to watch.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, the people he is passing on those lists are already legendary which makes him even more so since he’s still playing. I hope the Sharks can get it done for him before he retires, I really do.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Seeing Jeremy Roenick have to eat his words was awesome too. But we’re getting a little off track, I think we should go ahead and wrap this up before we end up talking for another hour.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: All in all, this was the best season we’ve ever seen the Sharks play.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I totally agree with you there; my only regret is we couldn’t be there in person to witness it. But it makes me excited for the future, not just the upcoming season but the seasons to come. Is it October yet?
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>2015-2016 San Jose Sharks ReCAP</b></span></center>
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<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> Couture’s injuries<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> Not being able to see the Sharks play live<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> Losing a game to the freaking LA Kings<br />
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<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> Early injury troubles<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> November/December losing streaks 2015<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> Losing Hertl in the SCF<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> Martin Jones phenomenal play all season long<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> Beating LA in the first round<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> Couture’s return and his clutch scoring in the playoffs<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> Joe Thornton’s 1300th point<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> Donskoi’s highlight reel goals<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="https://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> San Jose hosting its first SCF gameUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-91921335956811351782016-09-09T13:30:00.000-07:002016-09-09T13:30:36.308-07:00Random Happy Time, 39 O'Clock - The Black Cat of San Jose!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/05/02/san-jose-sharks-cat-ice-joe-paw-velski/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/05/02/san-jose-sharks-cat-ice-joe-paw-velski/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnkUQimOqfJxGkm0xAleezA2nXMm3sHY5BlynLM28edfwNpj6T26yBUKSCo6TJuVR3OXC0eaFoA-UUlBEiVsZKTSkcsYf2GII-GRu7wD9InLxwa7GEqCZKWAZXx1FAJepKK9pOxUehn0/s1600/RHT39I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>There were too many memorable events that happened during the 2015-2016 San Jose Sharks season to fit into one round. Rabbit uses RHT! to chat with Tiger about some of her other favorite moments including a black cat, a special homecoming, and how the Sharks are finally number one of something.</i><br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There were so many other stories surrounding the Sharks last season that we didn’t get to talk about, like <a href="http://blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks/2016/05/15/jo-pawvelski-finds-home/" target="_blank">Jo PAW-velski</a>! She’s a black cat that took the internet by storm when she appeared on the ice during warm-ups for the first playoff game of the second round against Nashville. └(=^‥^=)┐ She became sort of a good luck charm for the team and soon, you could find black cat plushies and t-shirts all over the Tank. They even had a full mascot show up for Game 5! (。♥‿♥。) Sharkie is still the best mascot, but Jo is a close second. While she was at Humane Society Silicon Valley, they put in a camera so you could check in on her to see how she was doing. Her pen had so much Sharks gear! Tiger, you and her could be twins!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think the coolest thing about the story is that Patrick Marleau and his family adopted her.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The Sharks also did some special things for two families as well. The first was during Military Appreciation Weekend when <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887734" target="_blank">Sr. Airman Brandon Pettit</a> surprised his wife and kids with his return from deployment in Qatar.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The Sharks also hosted <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888470" target="_blank">the Foley family</a>, who had to flee their home when the massive wildfire near For McMurray broke out. The fire would trigger the largest evacuation in Alberta history and it would burn for almost two months.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: With only 30 minutes to evacuate, Billy Foley chose to save his SJ jersey collection. A picture of the saved collection was tweeted to Sharkie via Twitter and the Sharks mascot sent Billy his jersey. The story could have ended there but General Manager Doug Wilson invited the Foley family to San Jose for Game 4 of the WCF to get the VIP treatment, San Jose style. Great to see that while hockey is just a sport, it can impact people in a positive way. (´;ω;`)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Just like with the <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887862" target="_blank">All Star Weekend</a> in Nashville. Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns were the representatives for Team Teal but there was also an honorary member, John Scott, who used to play for SJ. There’s a really messy story about John Scott, who captained the Pacific Division All Star team, and how he got to the All Star Weekend. There was a fan vote conducted that any eligible NHL player could be selected to represent one of the divisions during the festivities. Now John Scott is not a skilled player, no offense to him, but he’s no Ovechkin or Stamkos. John Scott is known as an enforcer, a big guy that will drop the gloves any time. He has a great personality and he was well liked in the San Jose locker but he’s not someone who’d normally get an invitation to the All Star Tournament. The internet had other plans and decided to vote him ahead of everyone else. This is where things get strange, Scott was originally with the Coyotes which is in the Pacific Division but was traded to Montreal which is not in the Pacific Division. The NHL deemed that Scott was ineligible to participate which again, sent the internet into a craze. Eventually it was decided that he could attend but would wear a generic jersey.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Being an ex-Shark, Scott ended up playing the 3-on-3 All Star Game with Pavelski and Burns. In a very public and often ugly ordeal with the NHL, Scott was gracious and kept his sense of humor. He received standing ovations by the fans in Nashville and even scored two goals. He was also selected as the MVP of the All Star Tournament. ( ^∇^) It’s a great ending for a great guy and I’m proud that the San Jose Sharks players and fans supported him.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The Sharks got some well-deserved recognition when Hockey News, the magazine, announced their <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=887135" target="_blank">100 best jerseys</a> of all time. Their number one pick? The original San Jose Sharks jersey that would ever mark them as Team Teal! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There’s an interesting story when the jersey was being designed that the jersey manufacturer and the NHL asked the Sharks more than once to reconsider their choice of color. They wanted the team to pick a more traditional blue like what the other teams wore. George Gund III and his team stuck by their choice and the rest is history. In a sea of red and blue jerseys, the San Jose Sharks truly stand out as being unique with their classic teal sweaters.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: 2016-2017 is definitely going to be a season to look forward to. We already have some new additions to the team in <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888374" target="_blank">Mikkel Boedker</a> and <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=888177" target="_blank">David Schlemko</a>. The rookies Timo Meier, Dylan DeMelo, and others look to make a splash with the team. We’ve got the traditional massive November road trip, 16 grueling back-to-back games, 82 games in 178 days, and the Sharks will travel 48,872 miles. We even have <a href="http://sharks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=890814" target="_blank">new logos</a> for the next season, they’ll be secondary marks for merchandise and not a new jersey design. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It’s definitely a great time to be a fan of the San Jose Sharks and of hockey in general. But before we can start the next season, we gotta finish this pizza! (○´∇`)0━┳━0(´∇`●)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-32374657287629095402016-08-12T13:01:00.000-07:002016-08-12T13:01:00.271-07:00Q Attack, Round 30 - Should Video Games be Turned into Board Games?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/xcom-the-board-game/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/xcom-the-board-game/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxtIuWPLepbQqpCOtnYcdaph6DJq2e4T-V1hjii9HtUOEd3Yw2CbW-EN30ybFwprMfqkVxjziNDQBOr4Vnl4cFLwq0Q_kIGfekJQo8nznCSs8dEs9NYuDhAme-NHm0EJuYFNZsNP9mQ4I/s1600/QA30I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Recently, Tiger has been addicted to the XCOM: The Board Game by Fantasy Flight Games. She and Rabbit discuss other video game based board games and why someone would want to play them over their digital counterparts. Read on to find out which furry mammal thinks video games should be turned into board games.</i><br />
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<center>
^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Hey Rabbit, want to play a game?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Sure.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It will just take me a few minutes to set up the board.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Wait, what?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yeah, I need to get the cards sorted and set up the figures then we'll be ready to play.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: No, I don't want to play a board game. I thought you meant we were going to play a video game.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's kind of a video game, it's XCOM: The Board Game from FFG.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: This isn't the game you've been ranting and raving about, is it?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *raises hands* It is! It's so awesome. You actually play it just like the video game. You and up to three other players work together to take on the aliens which is controlled by the companion app. UFOs will appear in orbit and descend on the various continents. Your base can get attacked while you have your squad out on missions. It's a crazy game and it changes every time you play because of the app. I love it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I can tell. I just don't get why you'd want to turn a really great video game into a board game. Board games are well, boring.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Take that back, they are so not boring! I love board games, there's just something intimate about having actual cards, figures, and dice in front of you. It can be just as exciting as a video game when the action unfolds. You just have to use your imagination a little.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^rolls eyes^ It sounds like you have to use it a lot. I just don't get why you'd want to even do that.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's not unheard of to turn a video game into a board or tabletop game. There was the Dragon Age RPG, I never got it but I heard good things about that.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Okay, that game kind of makes sense since the lore of Dragon Age is so rich. I can see that being a cool RPG similar to what FFG did with Game of Thrones but XCOM?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's really fun playing with your friends and it's a co-op game too.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You just like board games.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I do, I find that they are a fun way to pass the time with friends. While I enjoy video games, you don't really interact as much as you do when you play a tabletop game. Plus, you actually have to use your brain a little bit more like counting up die and other math problems.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Like X-Wing Miniatures, that game took a lot of effort to play.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I admit that one can be a bit tedious at times. There are video game themed board games you enjoyed like Mass Effect Risk.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That one looked cool but essentially it was just a reskinned version of Risk.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I kind of want to get the Fallout Monopoly game but I know I won't want to use that one at all.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I get that you love tabletop games but it's hard enough to find people online to play video games with, how do you find real-life people to play with?!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yeah, it's tough, especially since I can't count on you to play with me. I have a few friends that like tabletop games so we try to get together to play once in a while. There's also a store nearby that host events though I've never actually participated myself. They tend to focus on the card games.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Speaking of card games...<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don't know what you're talking about.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You bad, bad kitty, you.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's all your fault.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^throws hands in air^ How is this my fault?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You were the one that had us talk about all our old collections from back in the day.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think we're getting off topic; we should table this until RHT.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That's a first, you wanting us to get back on track.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.biowarestore.com/monopoly-mass-effect.html" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.biowarestore.com/monopoly-mass-effect.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PfGQpW3dOEj971i_8Jtna7UOZEY_3sKBKkSyrEGw78GtUFL5IipmhqIVFMDMhMtnBWP29kYyb5RbjHCDUTkfwPFKp63MitW06MGzkgPLQuSzGvb4tXEj4iy6THxOVfMRSDCeup2Qdrg/s1600/QA30I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So you like it when companies turn video games into board games?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I do, as long as they do it well and respectfully. Like with Fantasy Flight Games, the XCOM board game holds true to what XCOM the video game is. It is a turn-based strategy game that keeps a lot of the same elements such as alien research, every enemy is dangerous, and even the money woes from the video game. It's a great iteration and a fun take on an already great game. Some video games just lend themselves well to the tabletop world. Like Dragon Age, I could see a TES or Fallout RPG. Even shooters like Gears of War had great board game iterations. But I think the strategy video games translate the best. Just look at Civilization: The Board Game, another game from FFG. That is a great and fun experience that anyone can pick up and play. There was even a Street Fighter card game that was pretty cool. I loved the idea of customizing your character with different move cards. I never got the chance to play it but I've heard that it was a fun experience that stayed true to the essence that is Street Fighter. Speaking of card games, the Uncharted card game was a blast to play and I still dust that game off when friends come over. I just think board games are another way to express your love for a franchise. You spend so much time in the video game world; why not translate that into the real world via a tabletop game. And while video game themed games like Mass Effect Monopoly are cool, I prefer when they make a new tabletop game like with XCOM. It's just a fun way to experience a franchise you love in a different light.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I don't know about you. It's kind of like video game movies, why not keep them video games? I like playing board games too but I would rather see the gorgeous set pieces of Uncharted or Bioshock Infinite on my TV screen rather than trying to recreate it with little tiny plastic figures or cards. I just think it's another way for them to cash in on these IPs and milk them for all they're worth. Like with Monopoly, we've seen every iteration under the sun of that game from Zelda to Mass Effect to who knows what. It was cool at first to see video game characters sort of in the main stream, if you can call board games main stream, but now they slap 'em on the box and expect the money to pour down. I'd rather see these video game characters where they belong, in a video game.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Does this mean you aren't going to play Fallout Monopoly with me?
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<br />
<center>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Should Video Games be Turned into Board Games?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
</center>
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<center>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeRsqJj9fFvrlOWNOyjgAOM-B1_ZUzQvSTfJusichmEuW7d_Rkc7_3OwjygH75TNY-CY2z3GuSkeLFzKKeo-DijVodaCcHV4OIazRMNQVh9YdZitCJVfMo_VNe6VtLoOpRATvmxy2fD4/s1600/UpTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeRsqJj9fFvrlOWNOyjgAOM-B1_ZUzQvSTfJusichmEuW7d_Rkc7_3OwjygH75TNY-CY2z3GuSkeLFzKKeo-DijVodaCcHV4OIazRMNQVh9YdZitCJVfMo_VNe6VtLoOpRATvmxy2fD4/s1600/UpTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmojtgL-dvprveeIL7cZK8cLTTURyI3CySUb8APu-UOvknhM9_bHfl0MtjE38KMPNWjiyfJghyphenhyphen7rcKk2rPrYO5t9DM4uAkiyLPm89NuSrwBkpnRAQrBJDr9CSCArKQqpxiDzYbNVDPH4/s1600/DownRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmojtgL-dvprveeIL7cZK8cLTTURyI3CySUb8APu-UOvknhM9_bHfl0MtjE38KMPNWjiyfJghyphenhyphen7rcKk2rPrYO5t9DM4uAkiyLPm89NuSrwBkpnRAQrBJDr9CSCArKQqpxiDzYbNVDPH4/s1600/DownRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-52880014776609049012016-08-12T13:00:00.000-07:002016-08-12T13:00:09.618-07:00Random Happy Time, 38 O'Clock - White and Black!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ws-tcg.com/en/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://ws-tcg.com/en/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglLW6TgaxU9R3Qwniwi97KXOehQFGi3pwfLB-N7vIWM1ni6AMFl4V8nb5FoLSpDxxoOXG1nhKGOKs5z4NAE84Qic5kdleUACbJRQlfTZnEx1rS7NFK01GPq1w7cUDJy_TTdxar3PsQzac/s1600/RHT38I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Rabbit thinks Tiger has been a bad kitty and shares why in this entry of Random Happy Time! What did Tiger do and why does she think it is Rabbit's fault? Read on to find out.</i><br />
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<center>
**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I know you've been really bad, Tiger. <(`^´)><br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: How have I been bad?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Because I saw what you got in the mail.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And what was that?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Card sleeves but not just any type of card sleeves. They were Ultra Pro Silver Series card sleeves.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shifty eyes* Your point?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You only get those for your CCGs.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: (;¬_¬) I don't have any CCGs right now, like I mentioned in a past RHT, I only play LCGs now.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You're lying! I know it! I saw the booster wrapper in the trash can! What have you done?!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *hangs head* I couldn't help myself! ( ≧Д≦)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You started a new CCG, didn't you?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's your fault for talking about all our old collections. I got all nostalgic and remembered the drug that is tearing the foil wrapper off of cards, hoping that you get the one card you've been pining for all this time.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shakes head^ You've done it now. Uber Compulsive Collector Tiger has been released. It's like your ultimate form after years of training and then 50 episodes of charging, you have finally transformed into the ultimate cardcaptor. Do you have a pose yet? Every good cardcaptor has a pose.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes fists* ( ゚Д゚)<!! I do not have a pose and I'm not an uber compulsive coll... okay, maybe I am but I'm controlling myself this time around.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What did you get into this time?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Wei<span class="st">β</span> Schwarz.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What? Is that English? What?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's German but it's a Japanese collectable card game that combines all your favorite anime and video game franchises into one totally awesome card game. So far I've picked up trial decks for Persona 4, Love Live!, Nisekoi, Hatsune Miku Project DIVA f, and Lucky Star! I also got booster packs for Love Live! Project DIVA, and Lucky Star.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^rolls eyes^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: There's also Log Horizon, Angel Beats, A Certain Scientific Railgun, Attack on Titan, and so many others! So many! Awesome! Titles! ヾ(・ω・。)シ<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: \(;´□`)/ I'm doomed. Tiger has fallen off her rocker.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I got special card boxes and playmats too!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Have you even played the game yet?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'm not planning too, this is a collection only. All my cards go straight into sleeves.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: If it's a Japanese game, does that mean you're importing cards?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: They do have English releases for some of the card sets like KanColle! But ones such as Lucky Star are Japanese only... so yes, I'm importing them.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: How many cards do you have already?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *puts fingers together* Maybe 2,000? (⌒▽⌒)ゞ<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What?! You just started this collection! щ(゜ロ゜щ) I don't even know what to say... I can't think... I can't breathe!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-32802111593394449802016-07-08T13:28:00.000-07:002016-07-23T16:02:26.988-07:00Q Attack, Round 29 – Has E3 Lived Past its Prime?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://dishonored.bethesda.net/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://dishonored.bethesda.net/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhexH24WsYJf7Sjt1KemT0lUWzFxEUPZ-15HWCWPoOBYTk1kQXsOFjOZflyqnclOiZTceBWGS_FcvxJy_U7gNXF6R_6sXIwv5QruqCIraPdJ76KE2lr1WaDKo8gbHrWxKATzxHvQfQ5IG0/s1600/QA29I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Tiger and Rabbit make their triumphant return to discuss E3 2016 and all the games unveiled at the show. They also chat about how E3 has changed over the years and whether it is still an important video game venue in the age of internet streaming.</i><br />
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<center>
^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We’re back!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Just like dinosaurs!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: After a four-month hiatus, we’re back in action.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, we spent four long months training in the Himalayans to channel our chakras and master our ultimate forms.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* I’m pretty sure that was all in your head, Rabbit.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Then, we mastered the technique to create gelnanas!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Nope.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We discovered lost treasure and became famous adventurers?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Still wrong.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We vegged, loafed around, and played lots of videos games?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That sounds like us.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That’s still exciting!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: A special thanks to our readers for sticking around and waiting for the return of Tiger Vs. Rabbit.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, thank you so much Qgers and Qbbits! TvR is ready to bring you more craziness with a mix of video games, Otaku culture, and the random music rant.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Before we get to the meat of the discussion, since it has been some time, what have you been up to?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, after a rocky start to our relationship, things with Kent have been great.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Kent?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, he’s the nicest guy once you break down his harsh exterior.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: From Amnesia?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^blushes^ Yes.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You’re still going on about that otome game?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But I love Kent so much.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *rolls eyes* I’m starting to regret coming back.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hidoi yo!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I won’t make fun of your hot anime guys if you stop harking on my love of all things TES.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^crosses arms^ No deal!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *sighs* Have you played anything new?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I finally started Life is Strange and am enjoying it so far. We both didn’t attend a traditional high school so I’ve always wondered what it would be like. Hopefully, it’s not like Max’s school, that place is full of scary people.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I find high schoolers in general to be scary. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The music is terrible though. So bad, it hurts my ears. What about you? How have you fulfilled your violent needs these past four months?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don’t have violent needs.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Then why are you playing your 24th playthrough of The Last of Us.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s my Grounded Plus playthrough, I’ll have you know, and I’m doing it for the trophy.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Oh, I see how it is; you trophy whor-<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Hey! I’ve also been playing games like Destiny and Tom Clancy’s The Division.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shakes finger at Tiger^ Tsk, tsk. There’s that violent side of you.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m not the one who yells “fry baby, fry” when I use my super in Destiny.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I love my Exo Titan. She was a toaster in a previous life who dreamed of being an idol singer being recycled into a Guardian and she now vows to save the galaxy.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: She’s also not at level 40 yet, what’s taking you so long? My Awoken Hunter is tired of saving you all the time.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Those glowing eyes of hers are creepy. Anyway, I’m taking my time to enjoy the story and experience.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *curls lips* Destiny has a story?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Har, har, it has a… what you could call an attempt at a story. It’s like a concept that was never fully fleshed out.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I do enjoy the gameplay but that game is so dry. The Division is fun, I’m not too deep into it yet but have enjoyed running around Manhattan so far.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Don’t shoot the poor puppy dogs!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Speaking of The Division, Eagle got me the interactive adventure companion book for my birthday. It’s pretty awesome. It has removable artifacts and everything.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Eagle got me a movie for my birthday, the Owl and the Sparrow. Must be friends of his.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> & <span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Thanks Eagle for the gifts!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And thank you Rabbit for the Gundam Weapons gunplay book. Really enjoying the photos in it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: And even though you can be so mean to me, you got me the Hakuouki Sweet School Life artbook! ^squeals^ Saitō, my love! You look gorgeous in a school uniform!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m starting to regret that too.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Aww!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think it’s time we get to the real reason why we’re back.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: To talk about E3!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Did you have fun watching all the coverage?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I did even if my butt was super sore by the end of it. There were so many great looking games from titles we’ve already seen before such as Horizon: Zero Dawn to small indie titles we haven’t seen much of like ABZU.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: There really was a ton of content. The pressers were all pretty good this year. Everyone had great games to show, except EA but who counts them anymore, and I was generally surprised by some of the titles unveiled.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Like Resident Evil 7! Scary!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Or Death Stranding.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Engrish, anyone?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Or that The Last Guardian finally has a release date. I thought I heard hell freeze over at the exact moment Sony announced the date.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^squeals^ YES! Cannot wait to play with my bird puppy guy.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I also enjoyed what I saw from Titanfall 2. Now, we never played the first game since it wasn’t on the PS4 but its sequel is definitely on my radar now.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You and your mechs.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Don’t forget space! I love space too and there was that one space game I’m really interested in.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^perks ears up^ I’m sorry, which one was that?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You know, the one where you’re in a space fighter and then actually board a ship. It was shown during Sony’s press conference right after all the VR games were shown.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Still don’t remember it. What is it called?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That Space Game.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Is that an official title?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Sorry, I’m drawing a complete blank.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You’re going to make me say it out loud, aren’t you?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I have no clue what you’re talking about.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You’re going to make me admit it in front of everyone that I’m excited for… that game.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yup.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* It’s… it’s call… it’s… <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare</span>. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I can’t hear you.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Fine! It’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^silence^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You aren’t going to say something snappy?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^blank stare^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: C’mon, it’s not that bad.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: … ^laughs^ Buahahahahahaha!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Geez, you laugh like Meiling.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^giggling^ Sorry, I just can’t believe that you actually admitted that you’re excited for a CoD game. You, the hater of CoD, I’m just surprised is all.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s in space! It looks completely different from everything they’ve done in the past. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^laughs^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *gives Rabbit death glare*<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Okay, I’ll stop bringing it up. You’re right though, it does look very different from past iterations. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That grappling hook, man.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Battlefield 1 is also a game that is looking to reinvent itself by going back in time to WWI. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I actually think that’s a good idea. I saw some real matches being played and it looks really fun. Those airships too. They look amazing when they’re destroyed. And the weather effects were impressive; like seeing raindrops collect on the guns.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There were also games we knew about but got to see more of like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Dishonored 2, and Detroit: Become Human.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oxford comma FTW.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’ve always been a fan of Quantic Dream but I know their games, if you can really call them that, aren’t the greatest. Detroit looks like they’ve learned a lot and it impressed me.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I can agree with you there, I’m not a huge fan of them but the trailer was compelling. I’m curious to see how the rest of the game plays out. David Cage has a tendency to put really stupid plot points in that ruins his games.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I was already stoked for Horizon when we saw it last year and I’ve guzzled even more of Guerilla’s Kool-Aid. I am in love with this game. They finally showed more of the RPG elements including dialogue and the open-world map. We got to see more combat gameplay and they briefly touched on the story too. Super excited and for those who like great graphics, like Tiger, it looks spectacular.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You also mentioned Dishonored 2, which we saw at Bethesda’s presser last year. I really haven’t dived into the first game much but after seeing gameplay of Dishonored 2, I’m really interested in it now. The mixture of stealth, supernatural powers, weapons, and a steampunk-esque vibe makes Dishonored look like nothing else at the show.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Bethesda was kind of a strange press conference since they didn’t really announce anything new.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Skyrim remastered, enough said.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: *sighs* Now I get to hear you recount stories of Dar’Raza the Khajiit all over again. There were new IPs shown too like Ubisoft’s Steep and Sony’s Days Gone.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Not a fan of Ubisoft Annecy so Steep didn’t interest me but I love Studio Bend so I will get Days Gone no matter what.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We also saw some old IPs return like god of War.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Kratos is a viking!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I was confused by that. I was expecting it to be an alternate version of Kratos or maybe a spiritual successor. Not the man/god himself.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Ubisoft also had a sequel to show off with Watch Dogs 2. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I know you’re the big Ubi fan, what did you think of the games they showed?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m really not excited for WD2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, or Steep. But For Honor has me cautiously excited. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I agree with you there, For Honor’s combat looks brutal and I mean that in a good way. Sony did show a ton of games. Almost too many in fact.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Is that even possible?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, when I barely have time to process RE7 or Death Stranding, they kept rolling on. Should’ve scheduled a minute breather so people could stop freaking out. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *laughs* I knew you were screaming like the little kid that you are when Spider-Man from Insomniac was shown.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Ted Price has returned to me after his adulterous affair. It was hard but I forgive him now.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* Not even going to comment on that. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I thought Farpoint looked interesting. It’s a VR game uses the new Aim controller. Yup, the Move Sharpshooter doesn’t work with this game either.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yay for more plastic crap for us to store. Speaking of VR, the only game I need is EVE: Valkyrie. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Because space?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Because space!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There were so many indie titles announced too. Pox Nora has me interested.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And you complain about my collectable card game habits. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: This is a video game; it’s not like I have boxes of cards lying everywhere.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m stoked that Darkest Dungeon is getting released on the PS4! That game looks amazing. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So many games so little time.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We watched all the pressers and three solid days of coverage too. I really felt bloated on video games.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We were also watching from various sources too including the official PlayStation livestream, YouTube’s coverage, IGN, Kinda Funny Vids, and GameSpot just to name a few.<br />
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<a href="https://www.callofduty.com/infinitewarfare?utm_campaign=infinitewarfare-us&utm_medium=search&utm_source=google&utm_term=call-of-duty-Exact" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.callofduty.com/infinitewarfare?utm_campaign=infinitewarfare-us&utm_medium=search&utm_source=google&utm_term=call-of-duty-Exact" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4X797x4-2ucKsfRsRTFDUewMcBd-aESZDXudKt40QTQYlLpGTDjA331O8A87GiftBzPF-0ti7nL_Sn7oZ2LqOXUKnGR3BoQvtE5zaKOOSpjGN0_YcKP6INEQk1SUx34LH6Rl8paGJNzg/s1600/QA29I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: With so many ways to get information on video games nowadays, do you think E3 has lived past its usefulness?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It’s true that many big publishers are choosing to do their own events or showcase their games in different ways like Nintendo’s Treehouse event or EA skipping the show floor to do their own event.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I remember when Activision also used to do a press conference but they haven’t had one for a while.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I remember way back when, the only way we got to see E3 coverage was with PlayStation Underground discs.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: They had that cool 360-degree video of the show floor one year. It was great.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Now, everyone and their dog has E3 coverage. And if it’s not at E3, it’s at the dozens of other game events that happen around the world. It’s almost as if you don’t need the big trade event because many publishers seem to focus on their own events now. Even Sony has their own little expo. I think E3’s days are numbered. It’s got to be a huge undertaking to put on a show of its size and now that they’re losing publishers and developers, it will only be a matter of time before it’s not even worth putting together. Now, if they completely opened it to the public like PAX does, then maybe it’s a different story. In its current iteration, I don’t see E3 having a long future. Plus, all the leaks that happen days and months before E3, makes me wonder why we need these huge showcases. Microsoft’s entire press was on the internet before E3 even started. If people want information on what publishers are doing, they’re going to find it one way or the other. Trying to host these monstrous events just seems absurd in this day and age. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don’t think it will go away completely, many members of the industry still need E3 for its ability to bring together the movers and the shakers. While the internet and communication in general has changed many things, there is still nothing like seeing a product first and getting to try it out yourself. Can you imagine the poor executive or journalist that would have to go to dozens of events just to chase down the various developers? The expenses would be insane, at E3 though, everyone is under the same roof and it makes it convenient to see what you need to see. Think of VR too, that is something you have to have hands-on experience with. At E3, all the developers can have their games running on the hardware for people to try and it’s done in a controlled environment too. Yes, I think it would be great for them to open it to the public but I also think of all the professionals there and how much more difficult it would make their jobs. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I see your point there. Maybe they should split it, have a couple days dedicated to true professionals and then the rest of the event be open to everyone.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Sometimes I wonder how professional you need to be to get into E3 too. Some of those supposed journalists are just fans with a blog.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You know something?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We’re fans with a blog; we should try to get into E3.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: In your dreams!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I want to experience a donut wall and food conveyor belt!
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Has E3 Lived Past its Prime?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-9005959206475008082016-07-08T13:27:00.000-07:002016-07-08T13:27:05.669-07:00Random Happy Time, 37 O’Clock – Visual Heaven!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://gematsu.com/2016/07/bad-apple-wars-code-realize-fan-disc-collar-malice-period-cube-coming-north-america" target="_blank"><img alt="http://gematsu.com/2016/07/bad-apple-wars-code-realize-fan-disc-collar-malice-period-cube-coming-north-america" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupBqeyvIaAfnKiLUw8YkSsxc4Q9BhmEP7BmwfzALCvZFo35bDw6JE9H-Xp6rInDwfZh_9Xpu9NXSQYEQyoVt6B86VHfvw3hFhDd5qknQtRohySGKTiaM9Q2Qsw84tB1zYTDVE7g3QSXk/s1600/RHT37I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Not to be outdone by E3, Anime Expo also hosted its own array of video game announcements. Rabbit talks with Tiger about the big reveals from Anime Expo as Random Happy Time awakens from its four-month long slumber.</i><br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: E3 wasn’t the only place where hot new video games were being announced. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و Nope, Anime Expo also got into the action with a handful of titles.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You were very excited about these games. I heard you screaming from across the house.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I was nearly moved to tears by the news. Spike Chunsoft and Aksys Games <a href="http://www.siliconera.com/2016/07/03/999-zero-escape-virtues-last-reward-ports-confirmed-anime-expo-2016/" target="_blank">announced</a> that they are working on a port of 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors which is the first installment of the Zero Escape trilogy. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The game is only currently out for DS and iOS, which means you haven’t played it yet.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So sad! But Uchikoshi Kotaro, the game’s director, teased a vital steamship! Many believe this is referencing Steam and the PlayStation Vita. Even if it’s not coming to the Vita, I’ll definitely play this via Steam.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: ( ̄ω ̄) Do you even know how to use Steam?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I have an account… that I’ve never done anything with.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: At least you have the other two entries.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: No! I don’t! I still haven’t received my copy of Zero Time Dilemma. Contacted Amazon and they basically told me they have no idea what’s going on or when it will ship. (▰˘︹˘▰)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You’ll get it… eventually. Anyway, back to Aksys who also had a few other <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-07-03/aksys-games-licenses-bad-apple-wars-period-cube-collar-x-malice-otome-games/.103923" target="_blank">announcements</a> about its partnership with Otomate.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Oh! My! Gosh! So many great NVLs are going to be localized! The titles that are coming to the West in 2017 include Bad Apple Wars, Period Cube ~Torikago no Amadeus~, and Collar x Malice. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: <a href="https://vndb.org/v17344" target="_blank">Bad Apple Wars</a> is about a protagonist who attends a strange school called NEVAEH.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It’s a school for literal lost souls who, if they follow the rules and become model students, can resume their life upon graduation.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: <a href="https://vndb.org/v17640" target="_blank">Period Cube</a> follows the heroine and her quest to find her brother who is lost in an online RPG game. Along with her childhood friend, she has to beat the game in order to return to the real world.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Then there’s <a href="https://vndb.org/v18160" target="_blank">Collar x Malice</a>, the story of a police officer who is attacked and has a mysterious poison collar is place around her neck. She becomes embroiled with investigating her attacker and meets a group of suspicious men. These men, who happen to be gorgeous, claim to be investigating a series of brutal crimes that may be connected to her.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Aksys will also be bringing the <a href="https://vndb.org/v18314" target="_blank">Code:Realize fandisc</a>, ~Shukufuku no Mirai~, Westward too.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But that wasn’t the only NVL that’s getting localized, no siree. ( ꒪Д꒪)ノ Sekai Project <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-07-04/sekai-project-announces-world-end-economica-on-ps4-ps-vita-baldr-sky-on-pc-more/.103922" target="_blank">announced</a> that World End Economica is coming! Thanks to Limited Run Games, it will get a physical edition as well as a digital one via PlayStation Network. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: World End Economica is from Hasekura Isuna, the author of Ōkami to Kōshinryō or better known as Spice and Wolf. It follows the story of Haru and his quest to stand where no man has stood before. To do that, he’s going to need a lot of money and there’s no better place than the stock market to find piles of money.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There were other titles that Sekai Project also unveiled but they were PC only.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That’s actually a lot of otome/NVL games, I’m surprised.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m thrilled! I love these types of games and after Amnesia, Norn9, and Code:Realize were all announced; I wasn’t expecting to see any more titles for some time.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Aksys also mentioned that they’re trying to localized Hakuouki: Sweet School Life but nothing is set in stone yet.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (o≧∇≦)o ^squeals^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: If that game comes out in English, you’ll die.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^squeals^ (♥ω♥ ) ~♪<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: One thing is for sure, it’s a great time to be a gamer. (•̀o•́)ง<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I know these aren’t for everyone but I’m glad that they’re coming out. It really feels like the games showcased at E3 and Anime Expo run the gambit and really cover every genre out there. I’m so excited, it just sucks I have to wait until 2017.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Gives you time to catch up on all the games you haven’t beat yet.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (/^▽^)/ Saitō and Kento will have new rivals soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-73934560049421953422016-02-19T13:19:00.000-08:002016-07-05T13:39:30.256-07:00Q Attack, Round 28 - Do Video Games Need to Diversify?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://mirrorsedge.wikia.com/wiki/Faith_Connors_(Mirror%27s_Edge)"><img alt="http://mirrorsedge.wikia.com/wiki/Faith_Connors" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJN9r1v5LG4SFnDd8aPfgQjSKCLDKaMtrlhFaDlaAh1j2TffwtTQyA1Z40JKMDUkI_-GVLCKvajOhDjQXVT1DiXzAymAURZXgnKAdpndhF8rCky1OYsL1y_P7Tfmz7BqD2mUqcMU49FsM/s1600/QA28I1.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_340412738"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_340412739"></span></div>
<i>Tiger and Rabbit discuss the sensitive topic about race and its place in video games. Using their experiences with multiple games, these fuzzy buddies examine how race in video games impact their viewpoints.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well, you picked a doozy of a topic for this week, what brought this on?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I was playing Dying Light which is set in Harran, a fictional Turkish city. I was really surprised by the setting when I first booted up the game, it’s not a place that is common in video games.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The only other games that come to mind with a Middle Eastern setting are Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and a few military shooters.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The thing that got me about this game is that you’re still playing a European-American character in Kyle Crane. It would have been cool to play as a native but nope, you’re playing another European-American male character.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oh, please don’t bring up the character’s sex, that’s a totally different wormhole.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But don’t you get tired of it? There’s Crane, Gordon Freeman, Chris Redfield, Cole MacGrath, Nathan Hale, Nathan Drake, and so on.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m more tired of the name “Nathan.” I do see your point; we generally play as the same kind of character, especially in shooters. The last five games I played that didn’t feature customizable characters; all had European-American protagonists.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I don’t get why the protagonists in video games all tend to be the same when you can do literally whatever you want. We have games that send you into space to fight aliens, games that have you hunting demons, and I’ve even been locked up by a maniacal bear! You’d think we’d have more variety nowadays.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You actually mentioned a couple of games there and I think we should clarify something.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What’s that?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That we have two very broad schools of video games; western and Japanese. I think you could say that both styles have their own forms of racism and stereotyping but let’s just focus on western games for this Q Attack.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Very true, but even western developed video games come from all over the place like Europe or Canada. So, why do you think that European-Americans/people of European descent are predominantly featured?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think it’s a case of “you write what you know,” it doesn’t excuse the fact that there’s a lack of diversity but I think it does explain some of it. Just look at the developer interviews from E3. While there was a mixture of ethnicities shown, the vast majority of the developers shown were of European descent. But it hasn’t been all bad. Ubisoft did feature a Native American as the protagonist in Assassin’s Creed III and a female African-American Assassin in Liberation. You Mentioned Cole MacGrath but don’t forget Sucker Punch also had Delsin Rowe who was Native American as well.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: True but Liberation was a Vita game that didn’t get the same coverage as the other AC games. Similar to the Asian Assassin in the 2D game they did recently. AC III and inFAMOUS Second Son were much larger games but I still felt like their cultural backgrounds weren’t done justice. What about the stereotypes that we’ve seen in games? Saints Row 2 comes to mind.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That game kind of stereotyped a lot of things.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Ohio State University did <a href="http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/02/12/0886260515570747.abstract" target="_blank">a study</a> with Saints Row 2 that showed video games can promote racist thoughts and behaviors. They randomly assigned European-American or African-American avatars to players and documented the results. Those who had been given African-American avatars tended to be more aggressive and violent than those using a European-American avatar. Afterwards, the participants were asked to rate how well they agreed with predetermined statements. Again, those who played with African-American avatars exhibited negative attitudes towards African-Americans.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Point of order, I do want to point out that this study was done pretty poorly. The small sample size, how they generalized their findings, and the fact that they often “led” the participants with the questions shines a light on the validity of this study. That being said, I can see how always negatively portraying certain ethnicities by their stereotyped behavior can impact people’s views of that culture. I get tired of seeing how Asians are portrayed on television and in movies. We do not all look the same!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Or how they’ll take characters that are clearly Asian and have European-American actors play them.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/lovesick-cyborg/2014/10/24/can-video-games-curb-racism/#.Vmn39b_sftw" target="_blank">Another study</a> by Ohio State University used Mass Effect 3 to show that video games can curb racism. Participants, both European-Americans and African-Americans, were paired together in teams. The cooperative behaviors promoted during multiplayer matches showed that the pro-social benefits often assigned to video games could also include reductions in racist thinking. Though the study has yet to publish its findings, other studies have documented the increase in the pro-social behaviors of video games, even when played competitively.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That’s great that video games can break down barriers but I still think it’s sad how blatant the stereotyping is. Going back to Dying Light, a lot is made out of Crane being an American. While there are other Turkish characters, most of the focal characters seem to be foreigners. And with Assassin’s Creed III, oftentimes Connor felt like an outsider in the game, largely in part of his ethnicity.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think Assassin’s Creed III’s protagonist was kind of a miss but not because he was Native American, while I enjoyed the game, it felt like they were trying to do too many things with the character while keeping him the “blank slate.” I think a lot of video games want the main character to be ambiguous so it’s easier for the player to project his or her identity onto the character. After all, what’s more boring than a European-American male character?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Ouch. I see your point but argue that you can have an enjoyable experience with a well defined non-European-American character. Faith from Mirror’s Edge was pretty cool.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: They didn’t delve into her as a character too much. I liked what they did with the new Lara Croft, she is white but at least she’s more diverse than what we’ve seen from her in the past.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You know who I’d really want to play as?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Bugs Bunny?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Abigail Mills from Sleepy Hollow. Not saying it has to be that specific setting but I love her character archetype. Maybe even Dutch or Two from Killjoys and Dark Matter.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Mayday, mayday, we’re veering off course again. Those are cool characters but I’d prefer Mills over the others. The Syfy characters feel like they were just written to be sexy, badass chicks and nothing more.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I just wish I could play as a character I identify with. I get tired of playing a guy all the time and wish there was more out there. I don’t want every game to feature a Japanese female lead but it would be nice to not always play the heroic soldier archetype that exists in almost every game.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Now, you are so going to hate me for this but I actually really identified with my Khajiit character in Skyrim.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: *shakes head*<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No really, hear me out. I think the Khajiit in Skyrim are treated a lot like ethnic minorities are in many places. They are ostracized, stereotyped, and subjected to inflammatory racial slurs all the time. Yet many of the characters that you meet don’t let these negative assumptions define them. Of course, some just choose to kill everyone that insults them, but I thought it was somewhat insightful for Bethesda to include that. So not every game makes you play as a big white dude. Then again, Dovakiin was always portrayed as a big white dude.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: See! The only game I could think of where the main protagonist was a minority was Prototype 2. I know there are others, but there aren’t a lot of them. Not as many as there should be in this day and age.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’ve noticed in recent years there have been more female protagonists; especially at E3 we saw new games like Horizon: Zero Dawn feature them as well. Does it bother you when you play as a character that doesn’t match up with your identity?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m not sure I’d say it bothers me but it does get grating at times. While it’s not as prevalent, there was a time where every game I played felt like you had to save the princess. I like seeing women portrayed in different ways.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: This is going to go against the grain but I don’t always like having the tough and rumble female character because oftentimes they feel very shallow and poorly written. It’s like Michelle Rodriguez in every movie she’s ever been in. While she seems cool at first, you quickly realize that her characters have no substance. Plus, you can be protected and strong at the same time. Look at Ellie; while Joel does protect her, she is also capable of saving herself.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I really enjoyed how the women in Mass Effect were portrayed. That’s probably why I always played as a male Shepard. All of them had dimensions to their characters; they weren’t always strong or always needing saving. They evolved over time, and I think that’s what I want from my video games more than anything. I want characters that evolve and change, characters that can grow. I just want something different from the cookie cutter mold that plagues video game protagonists.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What you said about growing reminds me of Ezio. Technically, he’s another protagonist from European descent but he stands out because of how he changed over the series. Even in just Assassin’s Creed II, Ezio started out as a brash youngster but then throughout the game, he was forced to mature. Not many characters ever feel like they’re evolving. Now, here’s the question. Do intimate scenes in video games bother you when you’re playing as a male character?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: No, why would they? It’s not like I project myself so strongly into the protagonists that I become them.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Just wondering, one of the other studies mentioned along the OSU study actually mentioned that male gamers were generally uncomfortable with intimate scenes while playing with a female avatar. Even situations as minor as holding hands or kissing, provoked this reaction.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What, were they using a bunch of thirteen year-old as test subjects?<br />
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<a href="http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Lee_Everett_%28Video_Game%29" target="_blank"><img alt="http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Lee_Everett_%28Video_Game%29" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigd95ysHM24Y2LTE1igvDPbtlze78nNf2Fu5wtSxe773M51Je_KR_wpby7zAA9pkKgfrxEb0_rPJYFB3nzUsVl-4gJ25ktvE19OvCmudnuiZJSjDdFbPRxa19B6moPyr1EromQ34HSSyw/s1600/QA28I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *laughs* Ah no, but I bet the results would have been very similar. Anyway, so I take it that you think video games should diversify?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I do think they should, it’s about time they do too. As much as I enjoy exploring different worlds, times, and scenarios; I want to be able to do that with different people as well. Let’s see what it’s like to be a Russian during the apocalypse.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think that’s already happened.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Then how about a little kid from South America or an African-American who isn’t portrayed as a gangbanger. Maybe, let’s not have the hipster kid with the glasses be some uber hacker or have the middle-aged guy be the soldier type. I understand why stereotypes are used, it’s an easy way to build a culture very quickly in a game, but I would like to see more substance. One of the reasons why Mirror’s Edge interested me right off the bat was because it had an Asian female protagonist. Wow! Shocking! I’m not saying that every game needs to have an ethnic minority as its protagonist or to just slap one in so you can check that box. What I want is a real effort to make an interesting character that we haven’t seen before. I think that the male European-American totally has his place in video games. I love Nathan Drake and other characters like him; I’m just asking why we have to have every video game protagonist be the same. I want to see someone new in my games and I think it’s about time to do that.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well, I guess I’m going to sound like the hateful racist here for saying that they don’t need to diversify more, but it’s not because I don’t believe that they should be diverse, it’s because I think we’re already heading there. While I know that player-controlled characters are predominantly European or of European descent, there are a lot of diverse characters out there. I do think more can be done but I don’t want developers to throw them in a game like they’re zombies.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But everyone loves zombies.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You can overdo zombies, like you stated; it should be done with a purpose, not because developers feel pressure to make everyone happy. I think if they do a half-hearted job like that then no one will really be happy in the end. Video games are already diverse and will continue to trend that way as developers themselves become more diverse. We saw it at E3; there were so many studios that came from various parts of the world, many that did not have a major developer before. The stories they tell and the characters they craft can only be as diverse as they are. It’s coming, we just have to wait. And I can understand the logic behind using a European-American male character for a protagonist. After all, the majority of gamers are male and are of European descent. Again, not stating that this is the way it should be but it is what it is. Publishers don’t want to take the risk on a character or concept that may fail. We could easily argue that video games aren’t diverse in a lot of areas from setting to even gameplay. That’s why we have thousands of shooters, they sell. I am hopeful with games like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, which has a male and female protagonist, that more gamers will be accepting of the changes. It’s only a matter of time.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Things are definitely trending that way but if they’re creating protagonists based off of their target demographic then why don’t all video games feature thirteen year olds?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Now that would be a nightmare.
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Do Video Games Need to Diversify?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-43490901154220478492016-02-19T13:17:00.000-08:002016-02-19T13:17:01.556-08:00Random Happy Time, 36 O'Clock - Nihonjin!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza_0" target="_blank"><img alt="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza_0" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSAmX3MQqMgSiKWztZpEWeqWLrxen5qu1pPq_ps2ApW4pXTd270urtFwbhIwuBHPm8qt_kcrk1UXmitjitY8n72z8Jmf5u3nHMhOFQPehEQEvlJUN3HINIyW7xD7qyFnb2ghHmqXy7NY/s1600/RHT36I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Tiger and Rabbit talked about diversity in western games but what about Japanese games? In this edition of Random Happy Time! they discuss stereotypes common in Japanese culture.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So I know we just did this whole thing about diversity in western games but Japanese games could use a bit too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I always kind of find it strange when Japanese games feature different ethnicities. Like Vanquish, that was kind of funny.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Americans and Russians according to the Japanese. Yeah, it was different. Is it strange that most of the characters of African descent that I know are in Japanese games?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Considering the small population there, yeah. Do you think the Japanese characters in Yakuza were stereotyped?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Weren’t they all Japanese characters?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No, not all. But you kind of wonder, because you can stereotype your own culture, I’d be curious to know how accurate that game actually was.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (ง •̀_•́)ง There was an <a href="http://boingboing.net/2010/08/10/yakuza-3-review.html" target="_blank">interview</a> a while back with ex-Yakuza members who were shown the game and their thoughts on it, pretty insightful.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I never think of Japanese games as not being racially diversified though. You have people with blue and pink hair, there are all these crazy cultures, and even crazier settings.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But everyone has the same face and eyes. No really, especially the anime-esque ones.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oh man, don’t get me started on anime characters, <a href="http://kotaku.com/a-serious-look-at-big-anime-eyes-1737751337" target="_blank">those eyes</a>. Talk about a genre that needs some more diversity, while there are a lot of great shows that depicted various ethnicities; some of them are so cookie cutter.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I always liked how British or European characters are depicted as being rich. 八(^□^*)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: ( ´△`) Americans are fat, stupid, and wet their pants. Oh, and the military is shown a lot.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think it’s sad that aliens are always depicted as being obsessed with Japanese pop culture.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Or how gods are usually homeless and live in vending machines. (^-人-^)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Or that polar bears are meaner than their southern counterparts.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: ⋛⋋( ‘◇’)⋌⋚ And demons always kill little birdies.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: And swimmers always eat mackerel. <º))))><<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Eh, I think we’re getting a little off track.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (ง ˙o˙)ว They’re so cruel with their depiction of spacenoids! They just want to live in peace with their shiny robots!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *sighs*<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: In other news, we're sorry to announce that TvR will be going on hiatus indefinitely.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Unfortunately, this is true. Our editor has run across some health concerns but we hope to be back really soon.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Don't worry Qgers and Qbbits! Tiger Vs. Rabbit will return with new topics, crazy conversations, and more posts about food!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *rolls eyes* Or not. Anyway, we thank you readers for being with us for this long and hope to see you all when we return.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^cries^ I'll miss you so much, Tiger! I'll miss our readers too!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: There, there. *pats Rabbit on the head* You and I are sticking together so we can come up with more topics to discuss and we'll see our readers really soon.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That's true! I hope you look forward to our return! Thanks again!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-3885666889730634722016-02-05T11:22:00.000-08:002016-02-05T11:22:00.744-08:00Q Attack, Round 27 - Should You Import Games?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.co.jp/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVPJim8Rba9wbyVbrujvQf3037uGJp2u6MN6G-Cy1BUVnMpZ5wcHCQaJp7ztNxL96mN-htjoJTDDHOuhKTAHg48tTDDfN6snDO6RlsoxJVqEj732vrCEF8xCsZkOfMXIi3c7wBUtjYQk/s1600/QA27I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Tiger and Rabbit sit down to discuss importing video games from the United Kingdom, Japan, and Hong Kong. They chat about why they import games, what makes those games worth the extra money, and why you should or should not import games.</i><br />
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^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m having a hard time with Taiko no Tatsujin V Version.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why’s that?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I can’t read anything, it’s all in Japanese. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You actually imported that game?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I did, I knew it wasn’t going to come out stateside so I bought it through Play-Asia.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: A taiko drum game?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *embarrassed* It had a lot of Vocaloid music. You’re one to talk, you imported Moe Chronicle.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I liked the first game; I figured I might as well get the second.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* You are perverted.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I know you picked up IA/VT as well. Why’d you get that one when you don’t import the Hatsune Miku games.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I usually don’t like importing games because it’s a lot more expensive with shipping and everything but I knew that the IA game was never going to get a U.S. release. With Hatsune Miku, there were rumblings that DIVA was going to get a western release, so that’s why I waited.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I guess that makes sense. I imported Steins;Gate from from Rice Digital in the UK. They had the exclusive rights to the NA collector’s edition.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Wait, wait, wait a minute. A UK company got the rights to distribute the North American version of Steins;Gate?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Makes no sense but that’s what happened. Amazon only had the standard physical edition, if you wanted the CE, you had to buy it from Rice Digital. I actually have a lot of PAL games that I’ve imported. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Such as?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I have physical copies of Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty and WipEout HD Fury. I also picked up the Two Worlds II Game of the Year Edition a while back. I also have a lot of PSP games too like Exit 2 and Talkman. A few were gifts from friends in the UK or part of a trading program where I sent NA games in exchange for PAL games. What about you?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don’t have that many import games. I picked up the physical version of Okami, it’s the Asian version. I also have Gundam Breaker and Armored Core on PSP from Japan. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I do like that some of the Asian versions of games actually contain English subtitles.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That’s very helpful. A lot of the anime is that way too, like the Persona movies. Don’t you think it’s odd that you, the Japanese gamer, import most of your games from the UK but I import them from Japan or Asia?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I can’t explain it, maybe it’s because a lot of the Japanese games I like get western releases. So where do you usually import your games from?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Play-Asia and Tokyo Otaku Mode are the first places I look. I also use Amazon.jp and CDJapan. I know there are other places out there, but I’m a big fan of their prices, shipping, and service. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It’s the same with Rice Digital, they do a really good job, so I haven’t had to find a different retailer. I sometimes wonder if importing games are really worth it though.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I only import games I know that I’ll play and ones that probably won’t ever see the light of day in the west. IA/VT was a no brainer since the developer came out and said that it was never going to see a western release. Others, like Aquanaut’s Holiday, are unique enough that I just had to give it a try.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: And Gundam Breaker?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s Gundam and it didn’t break the bank. How’d you pick your imports?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shrugs^ They looked interesting?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That’s it?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: They had nice box art.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Really?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Most of them, I already owned in digital format, and just imported the physical copy.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I never understood why publishers would bother making a physical copy for the UK but not for the NA. Maybe they haven’t adopted digital only as quickly as the States or Canada, but I still find it strange.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The UK also has some crazy collector’s editions, a lot better than ours. I almost splurged and bought the Xblaze Code: Embryo limited edition. If they had the art of Mei in her sundress, I probably would have.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Don’t get me started on LEs and CEs. I always feel like the games I import need to be extra special to make them worth the extra money. I’m a huge IA fan so importing her game was a no brainer, the Taiko Drum game was a little harder to decide on. We actually used to have the PS2 Taiko Drums, remember?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, we did. We even bought two copies of the game so we could have drums to play head-to-head. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think nostalgia helped to determine me importing the Vita version. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m too impatient to import a lot of games. It takes so long to get them from overseas. I think the last game I bought took over three weeks to finally arrive after it was shipped out. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The wait is tough and returns are tougher. I’ve only had one issue where the item that was sent out, didn’t work at all. Luckily, I was able to get a replacement for it. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I remember when we imported a few jackets and didn’t realize that the sizing was totally different. The website didn’t help either since it listed both US and Asian sizes but then didn’t state which sizing chart you were picking the size from.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Luckily, everything fit properly even though we made the mistake.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://otakumode.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://otakumode.com/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnFX2MrzBWmfondGlm9QXn8f50qBBl7iqHnkOJP3QEddmXYIhcx9lTw0eBYSTzu2ByB8wDyPj8XDOIYryCCaPJ3bHPyZmNtS8e0EoTiJehWUixXZKoXsjbO_6xuE3AZljLe035K6ZSyg/s1600/QA27I2.png" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Do you think people should import games?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Definitely, if it’s a game you really want, why wait? You never know if the game will ever get released, plus it helps the developers and publishers gauge how popular a title is and might even encourage them to bring the game or a sequel westward. You have to be careful to make sure that the game isn’t region locked, like how it was in the old days. It’s also a good idea to see if there are any English walkthroughs on the internet, especially for the more text heavy games. I couldn’t imagine trying to play a JRPG or NVL without a guide. That’s also another added bonus, like we mentioned before a lot of games come with English subtitles now, making them very import friendly. I actually really enjoy importing games because you get to experience games that you may never see here.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I don’t know, I think the sometimes it’s better to wait until they get a U.S. release to buy a game. Think about it, you pay all this extra money for shipping and what not, only to have the sale not count for your region or the region the game was released in. It’s not like they look at the numbers getting exported to other companies. If you wait and petition a publisher to release it in a different territory and then buy the game in that said territory, it encourages the publisher to look at other regions in the future. I remember the NISA panel we went to at a convention and they stated how it was really just a sale of a specific title that allowed them to start looking at bringing even more titles westward. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You could always buy both versions.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That’s a waste of money though.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: But what if your game never makes it to the west, what then?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You could always import it then. I’m just saying that the domestic publishers need to get support or else they won’t be able to bring titles over here.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It’s definitely up to the individual in how they want to do it. I can see your point, wanting to show that there is a fanbase here to try and encourage the publishers to localize certain games. On the other hand, we know there are titles that will never see the light of day.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Social media can have a huge impact too. Look at what Gaijinworks is able to do with their offerings. I’m just happy that getting foreign games is a lot easier than it was before. Many games now get western releases, such as Danganronpa, that I never thought would ever come stateside. Either way you do it, one thing’s for sure, gamers have access to a ton of great games.
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Should You Import Games?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
</center>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeRsqJj9fFvrlOWNOyjgAOM-B1_ZUzQvSTfJusichmEuW7d_Rkc7_3OwjygH75TNY-CY2z3GuSkeLFzKKeo-DijVodaCcHV4OIazRMNQVh9YdZitCJVfMo_VNe6VtLoOpRATvmxy2fD4/s1600/UpTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeRsqJj9fFvrlOWNOyjgAOM-B1_ZUzQvSTfJusichmEuW7d_Rkc7_3OwjygH75TNY-CY2z3GuSkeLFzKKeo-DijVodaCcHV4OIazRMNQVh9YdZitCJVfMo_VNe6VtLoOpRATvmxy2fD4/s1600/UpTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmojtgL-dvprveeIL7cZK8cLTTURyI3CySUb8APu-UOvknhM9_bHfl0MtjE38KMPNWjiyfJghyphenhyphen7rcKk2rPrYO5t9DM4uAkiyLPm89NuSrwBkpnRAQrBJDr9CSCArKQqpxiDzYbNVDPH4/s1600/DownRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmojtgL-dvprveeIL7cZK8cLTTURyI3CySUb8APu-UOvknhM9_bHfl0MtjE38KMPNWjiyfJghyphenhyphen7rcKk2rPrYO5t9DM4uAkiyLPm89NuSrwBkpnRAQrBJDr9CSCArKQqpxiDzYbNVDPH4/s1600/DownRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-24250347975918289862016-02-05T11:18:00.000-08:002016-02-05T11:18:06.791-08:00Random Happy Time, 35 O’Clock - Overseas Stuff!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.bandaionline.com/bandai-premium-robot-spirits-fuunsaiki-for-master-god-gundam/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.bandaionline.com/bandai-premium-robot-spirits-fuunsaiki-for-master-god-gundam/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyEFyL4O3kZ2SeqdBlPhyphenhyphenSGb4hHczdhGYGwL83j1Kljs7KdHQsMDeIAGwz4UXPUgI3O4BsjeF1TAIeUMchgrQlL9U6jkxflIp-sf025bG5EqWqYALQaESYaj2RUzl2w5jir-wGMlb0FqE/s1600/RHT35I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>After chatting about importing games, Tiger and Rabbit take time to talk about other items they import. From CDs and movies to Vocaloid memorabilia and figures, Tiger and Rabbit chat about some of their favorite purchases and why they just had to have it.</i><br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We talked about importing clothes before but what else have we imported?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I know I import a ton of Japanese music and some anime as well. ♪ヾ(^Д^*)ノ<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You also import a lot of Gundam figures too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I have seven, that’s not a ton. You import a bunch of artbooks and plushies. _〆(。。)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Artbooks are one thing I don’t think the west does well. That’s why I always love getting them from Japan. I have a few from different video games and anime but I need to get more. And yes, Japanese plushies are too cute.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I really love the Okami artbook we have. I also have Kawamoto Toshihiro’s collection too. Do you have a favorite imported item?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ٩(^ᴗ^)۶ My plushie Charmander, the ICO artbook, and the Lucky Star OVA collection. You?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I love the Đặng Thái Sơn CD I imported from Poland and the MS-07B-3 figure I got from Japan. The Destiny hoodie I picked up from a retailer in the UK is also really cool looking.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Oh, that one is nice but I like the Assassin’s Creed III jacket I got better. I still need to get the inFAMOUS vest.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I want to import the Fuunsaiki Robot Spirits that was shown off this year.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: \(^0^)/ Ooh, I also need to get a Free! artbook.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You know, I’m surprised you don’t have a Hakuoki artbook since you love Saitō so much. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The books don’t do him justice. Plus, most that I’ve found are from the anime series and not the game but I think I’ll have to remedy the lack of Hakuoki books in my collection soon. You know what else I like to import?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (*´ڡ`●) Food.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, I haven’t talked about food in a long time. Japanese treats are the best. I’m a big fan of their drinks as well. While I don’t technically import them directly from Japan, I do shop at an import grocery store that carries all kinds of crazy things.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We all know that you love to talk about food; you don’t need to keep doing it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’ll stop if you buy me that vest.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: No.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: How about a Tachibana Makoto figure?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Not happening. o(-`д´- 。)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Import the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei second season.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: (⋋▂⋌) Never.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Oh, see’mon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-83604791810195763272016-01-15T11:18:00.001-08:002016-01-15T11:18:00.968-08:00Q Attack, Round 26 - Are Kickstarter Projects Good Investments?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLMWhFizw1rpi7dyVxlxLxGOLdlQVbmgyJWYGXF85whYMBk65NL8UbnXrz7j8IwMgurXWL-7MA1NvHTPf-m_y0e5EFvq7CetDlybDdOx-cZE49KiOjW2WNv_zWSvGYLF6sJTrRi6L81U/s1600/QA26I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>After two years of kickstarting projects, Tiger and Rabbit sit down to discuss the process and how well it’s worked out so far. Have they received the items promised? Was the quality as advertised? They answer these questions and more in this entry of Q Attack.</i><br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I’m so happy we finally got Amplitude!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: About time, I know it was delayed. When was it supposed to originally come out?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The Kickstarter page says July of 2015.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* Games on Kickstarter always get delayed. Look at Liege, we backed that in July of 2013 and it was supposed to come out in 2014. Now, it’s delayed well into 2016.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I know but it’s still a bummer. They definitely did not calculate how much time they needed very accurately. Shenmue 3 at least gave themselves some room with a December 2017 window.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That’s the thing about Kickstarter projects, they aren’t like normal video game releases, you’re basically donating money to a developer in hopes that they can actually finish the project.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I see your point. At first I thought of it like preordering games but when you preorder, you can cancel and get your money back. Kickstarter, once a project is funded, you’re out the money no matter what. Have we ever gotten a project’s items back on time?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Video Games Live Levels 3 and 4 did really well to keep on track. I think both were released within a few months of the estimated launch dates. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: They produced what they advertised too. I get worried with some of these projects and the stretch goals they add.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Like with Shenmue 3, I have a bad feeling that the game’s development will suffer because they offered so many physical rewards. Sometimes less is more.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What have we kickstarted so far?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Sportsfriends was the first back in December of 2012 and I think we got it about a year later.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That project saw very few delays unlike the other games we’ve backed.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Then there was Liege back in the summer of 2013. I have my doubts we will ever see a finished project.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: VGL Live was next in August of the same year and that took half a year for us to get it. After that it was Project Phoenix and Hyper Light Drifter in September.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: After the delays of both of those projects, we decided to cut back on funding video game projects. I did however break down and fund Amplitude in 2014. Again, that game got delayed until 2016 but the wait was worth it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: VGL Level 4 was also backed in that year and like its predecessor, we got it within six months.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We also backed the Doubleclicks’ new album, President Snakes, this year as well as Shenmue 3. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So we are three out of three with music projects and one out of six with video games.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That’s not a great record with the video games. I think we should point out too the difference among the projects. Like how Sportsfriends was developed by an already established team and had help from Sony Santa Monica whereas Liege, Project Phoenix, and Hyper Light Drifter are from new developers. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It’s good to note too that in the beginning a lot of those projects only had a few people working on them. Some of the teams have expanded since then, others shrunk in size.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I won’t say which project it was but some even took a hiatus because they got overwhelmed with the work. I almost thought they were going to just walk away with the money and never return to the project but they eventually did start working on it again.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That’s the big danger with Kickstarter, especially when it’s an unknown developer or creator, that they could do that. I remember hearing about some board game project that got backed and the creator used the money to move and buy a house instead of completing the project as promised.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: There are also a lot of stories about how the quality or the items received were nothing like what was advertised. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: And then there are cool stories about how a project was funded way beyond its goal and the creator was able to do some really amazing things. Have you been happy with what we’ve received so far?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: With the music projects we’ve backed, definitely. I had no worries about Tommy Tallarico delivering on his promises. He is known in the industry and has a reputation to maintain, plus he’s a business professional who has done this before, so I knew those projects would be great. The same with the Doubleclicks, no issues backing them because they’ve had a successful Kickstarer campaign already. Actually, they ended up printing their album and getting all the rewards out a couple of months early. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^claps^ That’s how you do a Kickstarter!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The video game projects are a different story. I knew Sportsfriends would get done, which it did, and I still think we’ll see Shenmue 3 although it may be in 2020, but the other projects I have serious doubts with. Even little things, like maintaining consistent updates, are difficult for them to do.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Luckily, we didn’t pledge a lot of money to any of those projects.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The money is not the issue, well it is, but I’m more upset about the integrity behind the project. If you set out to do something, you better well deliver on it. Being open and up front is something else that needs to be done. All projects will have issues and delays and creators need to be forthcoming with their backers in regards to these problems. The University of Pennsylvania did an <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/fulfillment?ref=hero" target="_blank">independent study</a> about project fulfillment and while I won't go into the numbers, it had some interesting points.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I hear you but with all of these projects, you are aware of the risks involved. The reason why people go to Kickstarter versus other outlets is because they need funding to have their ideas realized. You have to be careful and really know who you’re backing, but if you find the right people, you can help out some amazing ideas. And while the rewards are an awesome bonus, a lot of the time, I don’t mind putting in spare change just to see what these people can do.<br />
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<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1300298569/project-phoenix-japans-indie-rpg-feat-aaa-talent" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1300298569/project-phoenix-japans-indie-rpg-feat-aaa-talent" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7M6dzmocB-PP34SIJr8WVnZKMugpInyrUDSqM1U2MEecNnn9WpF3LWKFmrfI4-85gywWgTxs7P0PMNjUmDtdBeqEggd9IWnkUPBc4l8J4a-OjUifFz__9ZYtEh1CwO3QBgLMi5taqBLQ/s1600/QA26I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Do you think Kickstarter projects are a good investment?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yes, in the right environment and with the right thinking going in. First, definitely find out who you are backing, not just the what. Second, realistically look at what you are getting and how plausible it is for the creator to succeed, if you’re looking at physical rewards. The other thing to note are the stretch goals, we brought up Shenmue 3 and its almost absurd stretch goals and rewards. With the Doubleclicks, one of their stretch goals was enough funds to buy an electric cello to make touring easier. They did a great pitch for that stretch goal, so I was more than happy to put in a little extra to help them achieve that goal.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You just wanted the shirt reward.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That too. I do believe Kickstarter projects can be great investments as long as you do your due diligence as a backer. Plus, it’s fun to be a part of a project from its inception to completion.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well, I totally disagree with you on this one.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^sticks out tongue^ Who’d have thought?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Kickstarter projects are a terrible investment because they aren’t an investment at all. When you invest in something, you become an owner of sorts. You get returns and a piece of the project. Similar to investing in a business or stocks, you have recourse and protection when investing. Funding projects is a donation; you don’t have any protection or ability to affect the project in anyway. You are basically giving your money to help a creator with his or her project, that’s it. The rewards are bonus gifts, not something you are guaranteed. Just read Kickstarter’s FAQ, they don’t guarantee anything. The best they and the backers can do is to shame and assassinate a creator’s reputation if a project fails. It’s a great platform for creative people to find funding for their ideas but it’s also a great place for people to scam other people. Now, I don’t believe that there are a lot of scammers; I really think most failed projects tend to be just that, a project that ran into extreme difficulty, forcing the creator to fold the project. But still, if you are going to back a project, you need to remember that this isn’t an investment or preordering goods, it is a donation and once you pay the money, you aren’t getting it back. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It’s a good faith system and I think a lot of people really want to fulfill their obligations to backers.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oh, I don’t doubt people want to fulfill their obligations, I just doubt their actual ability to do so.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shocked face^ You have no faith in the human race.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Of course not, that’s why robots will rule the world soon.
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Are Kickstarter Projects Good Investments?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
</center>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7pRUMdSwgCOtaYq86ka25o20KYm-AF7soztHcuu4S-lP3eheTBoN80GzwGqC2NQ2E-t_oeVJ1v7WuMawo5it1zMVTx9_MvGliN5eGCa33XChLMFFYG88rAZGF03_bQu2Q2e6NIL9QUFk/s1600/DownTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEEW2WWC6kcfYJLBhVS6KbgkvnFnBCz_pydcjGz2blOHD5KNqgjY0XBV87ft2Hkx8W1E4KHite6QrNWCtUZoDZx-hZaRf_IfCN6tO4p5OSpJBxBgqRdoglF0-Mhf669QheQdyv_7IDx8/s1600/UpRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-41133837742228930572016-01-15T11:14:00.000-08:002016-01-15T11:14:09.443-08:00Random Happy Time, 34 O’Clock - Missed Opportunities!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/499808045/from-the-composer-of-skyrim-soule-symphony-no-1" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/499808045/from-the-composer-of-skyrim-soule-symphony-no-1" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKwaBLrnJYKMvZJk5tqv0JERJtgBPw5eooOyeIlfxUDrXv-L8MLJN2cHXvtkG4fPoWjTnU9AHqFhN0MQWxZxQDf2z2mZ6KMvguVZ6-HH_GqI4J7LiW44WDGLmY62jo8pJ-UeLNlD677yQ/s1600/RHT34I1.png" /></a></div>
<i>After discussing past and current funded Kickstarters, Tiger and Rabbit talk about the projects they wished they had backed. From albums later purchased to neat tech projects, these fuzzy friends review missed opportunities.</i><br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I know I came down hard on Kickstarter but there are a lot of projects that wouldn’t have happened without it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Like Penka Kouneva’s album the Astronaut Woman. ヾ(・ω・o)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: ੨( ・᷄ ︵・᷅ )シ I was so sad that I missed that Kickstarter project! We bought the album but it was already over when I heard about it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Same with Jeremy Soule’s album, we totally missed that one on Kickstarter too. 。:゚(。ノω\。)゚・。<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Or the Doubleclicks’ first project. Again, bought that album after it was done but totally missed the Kickstarter project.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: There have been some pretty cool tech and gadget projects too.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I funded the pocket PC before pulling my pledge a few days later. It was an awesome concept but I didn’t have the funds to spare at the time and no need to really own one. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: A lot of the video game projects sound cool too but they take forever.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Most are for PC as well.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We almost backed Mighty No. 9 and Red Ash. o(-_-;*)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Red Ash was a terrible, terrible Kickstarter. I wasn’t shocked at all to see that it failed.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (゜◇゜) The anime was backed though, that surprised me.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I really wanted the game to succeed too since I’m a huge Mega Man Legends fan.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: If you could Kickstart something, what would it be?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I’m not that creative, I don’t have any cool invention ideas or things like that.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: How about recording a musical?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We’d have to write one first. φ(..)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Creating a brand new kind of pie!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You can’t even make an apple pie, how are you going to come up with a new one?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: (˳˘ ɜ˘)˳ ♬♪♫ How about a CD with me singing?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: (⌐■_■)–︻╦╤─ How about a rabbit hunting trip? /(=∵=)\<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^shocked face^ That’s just wrong. It does amaze me how uncreative some Kickstarter projects are.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Didn’t someone make thousands of dollars to record a spaghetti cooking video?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yeah and then there was the one creator who wanted five thousand dollars to take pictures of herself in a bathtub full of bubble gum balls.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* People are scary, man, very scary indeed. Robots, I vote for robots. ┗[© ♒ ©]┛Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-28739294177249906452016-01-01T13:24:00.000-08:002016-01-01T13:24:00.050-08:00Retro ReCAP, Round 1 - Mass Effect Trilogy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-6KA6-zTJAlZCnjfzPNPFGUeSQCl9X3xsdBVgUi172F3vBIinavchm1ycLyfoUm4NcLjElxnK521eB78KslpeZtYQzUwM4TzSzE5Q4nTgQGAOAmcgplszEPGWMX7yIT8evHt9mPZtxE/s1600/RR1I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Warning: The following presentation contains major spoilers, reader discretion is advised.<br />
<br />
Tiger and Rabbit introduce a new mode for the new year, called Retro ReCAP. Here, the reflective pair discuss a single title and examine their first impressions, how they feel about the title now, and their personal cons and pros. In this inaugural edition of Retro ReCAP, Tiger and Rabbit examine the Mass Effect Trilogy and how their opinions have changed over time.</i><br />
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^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> & <span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It's a brand new year which means we should do something new for TvR.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What do you have in mind?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think we should do reviews of video games, anime, manga, and other stuff that interests us.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don't do reviews.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why not?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think you should go into a video game or other title with the mindset that you are going to write a review, that way you are really being analytical from the get go. I don't think you should just review something on a whim, you need to put deep thought into what you're doing. It's more than just an opinion when you review a game, you're basing it on past experiences, expectations, and examining the many facets of that title. It's too much work for me.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^deep in thought^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: What?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^crosses arms^ … there were a lot of “e” words in your statement.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* That's your takeaway from what I said? See this is exactly why we shouldn't do reviews.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: How about we do something that's like a review but not a review. Like a recap!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And we do what exactly?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We reminisce about the title but this isn't going to be just any old recap, this will be a retro recap!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You know that's redundant, right?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: We'll talk only about titles that we've played or watched multiple times. We can discuss our initial first impressions, how our opinions have changed over time, and list our pros and cons.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: But just to clarify, we won't be making a grand declaration of our like or dislike of a title with a score? I don't do scores.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Just our personal pros and cons.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Okay, I think I can get on board with this. Retrospectives could be fun.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^throws hands in air^ I got it, we'll do a reCAP!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I thought we already established this.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: No, don't you see? ^writes on paper^ We'll call it a reCAP because we're focusing on our Cons And Pros! Get it?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Omae wa baka.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That's rude! I think that I should get to name the segment since I came up with the idea.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Fine, fine, you win.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Woohoo!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: So, what's our first topic going to be?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The Mass Effect Trilogy!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Wait, I thought we were only going to focus on one title at a time.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, we wouldn't talk about one episode of an anime series so I figured we shouldn't break up Mass Effect since it's almost like one gigantic game with three episodes.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Does that mean we're going to talk about all three Uncharted games together? What about Golden Abyss? Or how about the Yakuza series? That one doesn't seem like it would be easy to discuss at once. What will you do with the Dragon Age series, are you going to treat that as one big game? Then there's manga like Rurouni Kenshin which is pretty long and has clearly defined story arcs, that could get out of hand.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Eh... I haven't thought that far out. Why don't we just keep an open-mind, remain flexible, and adapt as the situation dictates.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You mean we'll just wing it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^giggles^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think we should preface our ME talk by stating that we played Mass Effect 2 first since the original game was Xbox 360 exclusive at the time.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I'm still surprised that your OCD allowed you to do that.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It was tough and I felt like I was watching a movie after it was half over. I guess that validates your idea that all three games are really just one long journey.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: See, I know what I'm doing here.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: At least that makes one of us. We've collectively played through all three games at least four times.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Each time playing a different kind of Shepard, romancing different characters, and making different choices than the time before.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think we should state that our canon Shepard was raised on Earth, was the sole survivor on Akuze, and is paragon.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Tali OTP!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: ME is just one big otome game to you, isn't it?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^grins^ We've also done full renegade playthroughs or mixed it up and went fifty-fifty. We always play as a male Shepard though.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I find the male romance characters to be pretty dry and boring. I'd rather play a male Shepard and make him my ideal guy and then romance a female character who is nothing like me.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That's not a very good fantasy. I personally would ship a MaleShep+Garrus romance option.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You are strange. I wish Grunt were an option for FemShep. Or Legion.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: And you think my romance choices are strange?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Point of order, I'm just saying I would like that in-game, it's not like I have some strange fantasy where I have a robot lover who totally dotes on me, can be programmed to only care about my needs, and would also be immortal. I mean, c'mon, that's just weird.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You dug your own hole with that one. Now Miranda was an interesting choice, she-<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Maybe we should focus on what Retro ReCAP is supposed to really be and talk about our first impressions.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Oh, good idea. I have to say that the first Mass Effect was unlike anything I've played up to that point. We've had games based in space before but I really felt like it was a mixture of Gundam meets Star Trek.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I definitely agree with you on the vibe. I've always loved space operas like Seikai Trilogy with its complex characters who fight in massive space battles. Mass Effect captured that well. No matter which Shepard you play, the adventure that you go on is entertaining from the start. There's space politics to deal with, a rogue agent trying to build an army, and an ancient enemy who everyone believes is a myth.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: As Shepard, you don't really know what your involvement is until you receive a vision from an ancient artifact.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: And like every good hero, you make it your sole mission to save the galaxy. I have to admit, I hated the gameplay in the first ME. The controls were clunky and there was just too much going on with the guns and mods. If it wasn't for the story, I probably would've never beaten it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think the colorful supporting cast really made the game for me. They all had distinct personalities and you actually influenced them throughout the game. Like with Garrus and the choice to harden or soften him during his loyalty mission.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The stupid Mako though, those missions were the worst.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I liked the Mako, I even have a “see the moon in a Mako” poster in my room from <a href="http://monkeyminion.storenvy.com/" target="_blank">Monkey Minion</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The game would be so much better without the vehicle based missions. The save feature is a bear too, always having to wait for it to actually save before you can do anything.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It was hard replaying ME1 as well. Again, it has a great story but losing all the little things that were fixed with the sequels, like the cover system and loading, was hard to deal with.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Not having a decent cover system was a nightmare when I played it on the hardest difficulty. I ended up just running around the level, trying not to die. I don't think I'll ever play ME1 again. I'd rather just go through the comic opener in ME2 to determine all of the choices.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You miss so many of the little references when you do that though. I really enjoyed seeing side characters from the previous games show up again. Overall, I think ME1 is a great story wrapped in bad gameplay mechanics. Luckily with ME2, BioWare seemingly fixed all of that.<br />
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<a href="http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_2" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_2" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5l2sIMLrMP_xe5oskWCRzGGH9K4AT3H06mCthGyZuXjkJhLiHXcKq_tEyC4k7LhmI07pItjOzW-8OoxphTX8dTFs643SXIvQW45c2H5_QONRZZ0iwa-fpzKY_duYiiaJ1KzqJLJPlE5E/s1600/RR1I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Going back to ME2 after playing through the first game made so much more sense, I actually understood the story more. You're right about the gameplay, ME2 is a totally different beast when it comes to actual combat. Ironically, I really disliked the characters initially but after playing through ME3 and going back through the trilogy again, I found that ME2 was my favorite game.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Why is that?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The pacing of ME2's story is top tier. Even replaying it for the fourth time, I could feel the buildup as you hunt for the Collectors and prepare to jump through the Omega 4 Relay. I also really enjoyed working for Cerberus and the different treatment you got from old allies. Plus, the characters are all so cool. Miranda, Jack, Samara, Mordin, and then you have expanded roles for Garrus and Tali... it's just great.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I actually disliked the new additions. It felt like they replaced everyone with new actors and just expected you to like them. I also disliked having to scan every freaking planet for different materials. That got tedious quickly.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It was rough if you didn't import an ME1 save, which gave you bonuses.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I don't know, I really didn't like being with Cerberus, especially after finding out what they were capable of in the first game.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You do have the “I'm not with Cerberus, I'm just here because they resurrected me” line of dialogue to chose from.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Which I chose, often. Still, it didn't feel right not being with the Alliance anymore. I didn't like the whole Collector storyline either, I wanted to fight the Reapers but they were pushed into the background somewhat.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well, they did have to save something for ME3. Speaking of 3, man, my first impressions of that game were not good.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The whole fiasco about the ending was nuts. We didn't play that game right away either, partially because of all the negativity surrounding the game.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yes, I wanted to form my own thoughts on the game so I waited a bit to play it and I didn't really like what I saw. The gameplay was great, actually improved on ME2, but for me the story was not well done. I knew the Reapers were going to come and all the major civilizations were going to get attacked but the way it unfolded felt disjointed.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I enjoyed the experience. I wasn't sure what to think of the ending but I couldn't think of a better way to end it. I did enjoy having a last hurrah with all of my favorite sidekicks. There were a lot of nice throwbacks that fans who played the previous games could appreciate.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: They killed almost everyone from ME2 though! That bothered me.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think you needed to have some of them die to add weight to the story. It's like TV shows, I hate when they threaten a character with death only to save him at the end. These NPCs who have grown to be your friends over the course of three games matter, so when they did die, it made a huge impact on the overall tone of the game.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Wow, you wishing for people to die; you sound like me. I thought Miranda's death was poorly done, there wasn't much of an emotional pull for me. We all knew Thane was going to die but the manner in which he met his demise did tug at the heartstrings.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Mordin's death was so sad. Especially when he said he wished he could study the seashells.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Legion really got to me though I've always been a fan of his.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What did you think of the endings?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Synthesis is stupid! Absolutely stupid. I find it funny that the Illusive Man's wish turned out to be the paragon choice in a sense. I mean, you become a Reaper, how cool is that. I didn't like destroying them since it meant that EDI would have been killed in the process too. Plus, the idea that Shepard can survive feels wrong. He needed to die. I felt the same way about the Hero of Ferelden in Dragon Age: Origins. It just felt to unrealistic for Shepard to live, he needed to make the ultimate sacrifice.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I didn't mind the synthesis ending but I agree with you about destroying the Reapers, I wouldn't want to get rid of all technology.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I wish they had a “major look!” ending where you push the button and nothing happens. Oops, there's just no stopping the Reapers.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That would have been a terrible ending!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I do prefer the vanilla endings to the DLC that BioWare was forced to create by the fanbase. So what that everything wasn't wrapped up in a nice little bow, sometimes you won't always know the exact ending. Heck, I prefer vague endings anyway, I like the ability to put my own interpretation on things.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I wasn't a huge fan of any of the DLC. It wasn't bad but I felt like it didn't add too much to the story. Except maybe Leviathan, I felt that it explained some of the origins of the Reapers. And of course the Citadel DLC is awesome.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I've been generally pleased with all the ME DLC. I enjoyed the additional characters in ME2 and felt that the story content was strong with Arrival and Overlord. So I was happy with what we got for ME3.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I did feel like it was a downgrade when ME3 didn't offer as many companions as ME2 did. Yes, I loved having Liara and Ashley/Kaidan back and it wouldn't be an ME game without Tali and Garrus but only adding James and EDI made it feel a little sparse.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'd rather have old characters return than a bunch of new ones though. It was the third and final game of the trilogy, not really time to add a bunch of new faces into the mix. Javik was kind of interesting but I never used him much. Speaking of new characters, I enjoyed Traynor a lot.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: She was pretty funny and not as creepy as Kelly from ME2.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We haven't even touched the multiplayer.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I never played it much but I can say it was pretty fun when I did. I liked the chance to experiment with the different abilities too since you can't change Shepard's class once you start the game.<br />
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<a href="http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_3" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_3" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnT5J_LseyiN_uOtZh6MuB_zAWvnkd1xjAlE19Kw7BS0maVqcK86Q4sHfGk6QxI2KbOXmhd3u0QxwvxqCK9tlFNmobfIOs4RgmhlWgnVMAJWFNexfFKfrnCaVELdRsr5eh29uulfC8oY/s1600/RR1I3.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Okay, I think we've rambled on long enough. We've talked about our first impressions but how have your opinions changed now that we've played all three games a few times.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Personally, I still find the first Mass Effect worth playing even with its quirks. It's the beginning of this entire journey and even though it's a pain to play at times, I still think it's worth the effort if you haven't before. For ME2, I was pretty high on this game when it first came out but it's slowly become my least favorite in the series. I didn't get as attached to the characters like I did in ME1, it was strange working for Cerberus, and I didn't like the Collectors as an enemy. Plus, with so many people in peril, you sure had a lot of random sidequests going on. I felt ME3 had the tightest narrative pacing. From the very first moment you take control of Shepard to the final minute, it always felt like you were moving forward towards your goal of saving the galaxy. I also loved feeling like I was back home on the Normandy and surrounded by my best friends. And no matter which ending you chose, ME3 was a great way to say goodbye to the crew of the Normandy and everyone you've met along the way.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'm on the opposite spectrum when it comes to ME. I don't think it's worth playing again and I wouldn't recommend it if you haven't played it at all. Graphically, it isn't on par with ME2 or ME3 and the gameplay is terrible. Yes, the story matters but the comic intro for ME2 fills in a lot of the gaps. You kind of miss some great moments with Ashley/Kaidan and Liara but they aren't even in freaking ME2 that much. For me, Mass Effect 2 is the Godfather 2 of games. It is the best, it improves on everything. The graphics are cleaner, the gameplay is smooth, the story is more cohesive, the characters have depth, and the pacing is awesome. Yes, there are sidequests that take you all over but if you take too long before you jump through the Omega 4 Relay, people could die. People you know could die. And that final boss, oh man, ME2 is my favorite of the series. While I didn't like ME3 the first time I played it, it has since grown on me. I found that the story and pacing aren't that bad and you're right about the last hurrah with your best buds feeling. Citadel is totally worth playing through a few times and I was content with the vanilla endings. Overall, there's nothing quite like the Mass Effect Trilogy. If you're a sci-fi fan or an RPG fan and haven't touched these games, you really should get on it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, I think this was a fun Retro ReCAP! I like this segment already.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We should try and stay on track a little more next time and maybe get into the meat a little more.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Just remain flexible and adapt to the situation.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yeah, yeah, I know, just wing it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Mass Effect Trilogy ReCAP</b></span></center>
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<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> Poor controls of Mass Effect 1<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> Mass Effect 1's long load and save times<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownTiger25_zps42nel8ye.png" /></a> Mass Effect 3's DLC endings were unnecessary<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> Mass Effect 1 is diminished when compared to sequels<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> New characters in Mass Effect 2 weren't compelling<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/DownRabbit25_zps7npsaebb.png" /></a> Mass Effect 2's pacing felt disjointed<br />
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<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> Depth of Mass Effect 2's characters<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> Cover system and tighter controls of Mass Effect 2<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpTiger25_zps6afvcd0b.png" /></a> Mass Effect 2's graphics upgrade<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> Mass Effect 1's initial levels set the tone for entire series<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> Mass Effect 3's pacing was the best of the series<br />
<a href="http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/TigervsRabbit/media/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" border="0" src="http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah17/TigervsRabbit/UpRabbit25_zpsjb4ofq1q.png" /></a> The Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3 was a great way to say goodbye
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-67534281647380385292016-01-01T13:20:00.000-08:002016-01-01T13:20:00.054-08:00Random Happy Time, 33 O’Clock - Love in Space!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Tali'Zorah_nar_Rayya" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Tali'Zorah_nar_Rayya" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvqdW8G6GhT49psajhDiTM_6O56KfA42Mt3xbv_sji8Ba_qrLZJBKyKg4b6_cfNDy6bUqtxFPuZ_8t8u1jVK998RCjT-tNjoauwF8tlqTEp6XOjbd4x7h9W3rd-d_Lq28htdpgyM3IoA/s1600/RHT33I1.jpg" /></a></div>
Rabbit takes time in this post of Random Happy Time to discuss her many love interests in Mass Effect. She also chats with Tiger about how Mass Effect has expanded as a franchise.<br />
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**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You totally cut me off during the Retro ReCAP. (˃ᆺ˂*)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: When?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: When I was talking about Miranda.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I cut you off because you were going down one of your rabbit holes again.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, I am a rabbit after all! /(>人<)\ Anyway, I wanted to chat more about the romance options.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Here we go, the otome bunny has come out to play.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think it's a big part of Mass Effect, you spend so much time with these people, it makes sense that your relationships expand.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: (Θ︹Θ) This is going to turn into a weird conversation.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: How so?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's going to turn a little yuri since you always play as MaleShep.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I just find the female characters more interesting, like Miranda.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I'm surprised you'd like Miranda since she's the Cerberus cheerleader and you didn't like working with the enemy. She's practically spying on you and reporting to the Illusive Man the entire game.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That is very true but I thought she redeemed herself in the third game a bit. Plus, I liked her loyalty mission, it showed that she wasn't just another ice queen.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don't know, I thought Miranda's involvement in Mass Effect 3 was pretty dumb. She once again is looking for her sister who just happens to go to a secret Cerberus lab where their father works to turn humans into husks? C'mon, a little too convenient.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: They make a great power couple though if you think about it. Miranda with her perfect genes and biotic powers and Shepard with his “I can kill anything in the universe” abilities.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I don't know, I think she may have been playing you the entire time and could still be working for Cerberus, just a thought. She was pretty secretive about what she was doing when she requested your assistance in ME3. ˚▱˚<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: She's just misunderstood, that's all. Now, Ashley-<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Here it comes. (︶︿︶) This is like your version of my Night Queen rant.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I'm still mad at the treatment I got from her. I save her on Eden Prime when her squad gets destroyed, we race across the galaxy together trying to stop Saren, fall in love, and then I die.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That does have a way of ending relationships.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I get resurrected by Cerberus and see her again on Horizon. What does she do? She totally freaks out that I'm with Cerberus. Okay, granted I did freak out myself but she didn't even stick around to talk to me. I was dead for two years! Two years! Did everything we went through mean nothing? (`Δ´)!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: She did send you that sappy email afterward.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I even played through the entire game alone so I wouldn't cheat on her. All of ME2 alone, alone when there was Tali! So, now I'm locked away like a criminal because I saved the galaxy not once, but twice and what happens, I run into Ashley again. She's been promoted and man, she was cold to me. Reapers attack, people die, blah blah, and now we find ourselves on Mars together. What does she do? She questions if I'm even really me? See'mon! I saved the galaxy from the Collectors and destroyed the base, I didn't give Cerberus anything yet she accuses me of knowing something about Cerberus' attack on Mars. ( ゚Д゚)<!! I was locked up for Athame's sake!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It would've been hard for you to know what was going on.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So after that, I worked really hard to repair our relationship, which I thought we did, but she kept bringing up my involvement with Cerberus. Even when we made it back to earth and I was going to sacrifice myself to save everyone, she still brought it up! Ashley! I don't work for Cerberus, I never did! I used them to save the galaxy when the Alliance was sitting on their hands! Dr. Chakwas understood this, she understood this from the get go. Why can't you?!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Well, Dr. Chakwas is probably the coolest character out of the entire ME series, so you can't really blame Ashley. But man, that's pretty harsh. And you wasted all that time you could have spent with Tali.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Exactly! I come back to life after being dead for two years and what does it take to get Tali back on my side? “Oh, hey Tali, remember when I gave you Geth data for your pilgrimage?” “Of course I do, it's really you, I'll follow you until the end!” See, that's loyalty right there. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: (⺣◡⺣)♡* Tali did have a crush on you from the beginning. You saved her and practically swept her off her feet in ME1. Actually, come to think of it, you almost save all of your romantic options. There's Ashley, you save Kaidan on Virmire if you choose to do so, and you also save Liara. I don't think you could say that about Jack though.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Tali is the best one though. She's so awesome and understanding, she cares too. You totally help her out a lot as well. You save her from the Shadow Broker, defend her when she faces the Admiralty Board, comfort her when her father dies, and you even help her reclaim her homeworld! She never once questions you or tells you that she has more important things to do than help you save the entire galaxy.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You really love Tali, don't you?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: She's my OTP without a doubt. ( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°⑅<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-4187082882791740122015-12-18T11:07:00.000-08:002015-12-23T20:44:09.165-08:00Q Attack, Round 25 - Is it Time to Leave Legacy Consoles Behind?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/ps3/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/ps3/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXa2uNBU_nFSYuKexw6ffKtFyZ-rSX21q-yt9z5_JUSIuR-gGII4eC9aJhFSdT1Z86Kc2EsLQmArOyRMZTm9T0p4x2dodINOwu8a0OznxQ8n1e6I_fffMVzHgCHr9PNODPHB9WFYuyEAg/s1600/QA25I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>With so many games being developed for current gen consoles, their legacy counterparts have seemed to have taken a hit in terms of quality. Is it time for gamers to unplug their legacy consoles and make the switch to current gen or is there still life in these older machines? Tiger and Rabbit weigh the options and debate whether it's time to pull the plug.</i><br />
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^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I think I'm going to get Persona 5 on PS3 and PS4.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Isn't that a waste of money getting the same game on two different platforms?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But I want to support Atlus.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You should just get it for the PS4 then, I've made the switch. Especially now when a lot of the games are being developed for the current gen consoles first.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But there are games that you bought the PS3 and Vita versions, like Steins;Gate.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That's different though, the Vita is portable so it makes sense to get a version for it. As for the PS3 copy of Steins;Gate, I mostly got that because the Vita limited edition was delayed and I didn't want to wait to play it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yet you still haven't played either version.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *sighs* Yup.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I don't know, I really like playing games on my PS3 versus on the PS4.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Maybe it's because you're just so familiar with the PS3. I know it took me a little time to get used to the PS4 and its operating system let alone the DS4.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: The DS4 is so big! And the battery dies so quickly. I much prefer the DS3.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I still think you get a better experience on the PS4 versus the PS3. Games generally look better, load faster, and just run smoother.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That's not always the case though. Dragon Age Inquisition didn't look that much better and Destiny didn't seem to load any faster than on PS3.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Both of those games came out pretty early in the current gen cycle and I'm sure were being developed for both consoles simultaneously. Look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 3-<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Really?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yes, really.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>:You're going to taint our blog with CoD Talk?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Bear with me here.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I'm a rabbit. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You know... Never mind, it's futile.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^grins^<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The legacy versions of that game won't have a singleplayer campaign and a few other features that the current gen versions have.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That sucks if you're a fan of those games. I know people don't play CoD for the singleplayer but the campaigns are pretty good. Do you at least get a discount if you buy it on the PS3?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You do, they're pricing it at $49.99 on PS3.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Wait, they're basically saying that the singleplayer campaign is only worth ten bucks?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I know, it's kind of crazy. I feel bad for the people who worked on that campaign.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^deep voice^ “We appreciate your hard work these past few years but feel that what you did is only worth $10 and we aren't even going to put it in every game!”<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That's harsh man, that's harsh. Do you think they'll ever do a multiplayer only CoD?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I could see that happening. I know a lot of people only play it for the MP. I wouldn't want games to get into that trend though but I guess we already have that with Destiny.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Technically, you can solo Destiny but you do have to be online to play it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That's another stupid thing about this generation, I hate having to play online when I'm not playing online!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That doesn't bother me too much but I'm not as big of a social recluse as you are.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^sticks out tongue^ Says the kitty who avoids ever leaving the house.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I think we're getting off topic. While there are still a lot of great games out there for the legacy consoles, when it comes to the new releases, I think it's time to start focusing on current gen.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I still play my PS3 a lot though. There are so many good games I have in my backlog that need my attention. And while I enjoy my PS4, I just don't feel like there are enough high quality games to take over as my ichiban console.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Heck, we still have our PS2s and PS1s plugged in.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Exactly. It took me a long time to switch from PS2 to PS3 and I think it will take even longer for me to make the jump to playing games solely on PS4. While the PS3 had a lot of issues, for me, it's still one of my favorite consoles and I'm not ready to box it up just yet.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/ps4/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/ps4/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRW1mKzSKUgfzo2202l-nQ7bv2I7kfOsBonIc5fmC44Jxq3-Amplzd0HLIhrYtymoR2v7mLT3sMovkhYbkpJGBgPFhnLL-2LSPtAEMtCrVfpglNZaQP-OnoNC-LicfkyM2m1xG7TxnMI/s1600/QA25I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It's not time to say goodbye to our legacy consoles yet?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Definitely not. I believe the PS3 and other legacy consoles have so much to offer. There are still good games being made for both generations so everyone can enjoy the experience. I couldn't imagine unplugging my PS2 let alone not playing my PS3 anymore. I enjoy my time with the PS4 but right now, there just aren't enough games that I like for the system. I feel as if a lot of the games are good but not great on the PS4 and while it has a lot of games, many are DL games that don't have the robust story or quality I'm looking for. I'm just not ready to completely make the switch to the PS4 so I'll continue buying games for PS3.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I disagree with you. If you have the choice between getting a game on PS4 and PS3, you should get it for the PS4. You just get a better experience nowadays on the PS4. The graphics are gorgeous and games run better on the system. Plus, I actually enjoy a lot of the extra features such as sharing and the ease of streaming on the PS4. I do agree that this current gen's offering of games is on the sparse side but that will get better with time. I still play my PS3 and I'm not going to unplug it but I won't be buying any more games for it if they're out on PS4 as well. If you have the new tech, you might as well use it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You and your newfandangle gizmos.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You are so slow to adopt new technology. I remember you were still buying VHS tapes when we had a DVD player. I could not comprehend why you'd do that!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I love my VHS player! I still have it and it's plugged in!
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Is it Time to Leave Legacy Consoles Behind?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
</center>
<br />
<center>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeRsqJj9fFvrlOWNOyjgAOM-B1_ZUzQvSTfJusichmEuW7d_Rkc7_3OwjygH75TNY-CY2z3GuSkeLFzKKeo-DijVodaCcHV4OIazRMNQVh9YdZitCJVfMo_VNe6VtLoOpRATvmxy2fD4/s1600/UpTiger.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeRsqJj9fFvrlOWNOyjgAOM-B1_ZUzQvSTfJusichmEuW7d_Rkc7_3OwjygH75TNY-CY2z3GuSkeLFzKKeo-DijVodaCcHV4OIazRMNQVh9YdZitCJVfMo_VNe6VtLoOpRATvmxy2fD4/s1600/UpTiger.png" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmojtgL-dvprveeIL7cZK8cLTTURyI3CySUb8APu-UOvknhM9_bHfl0MtjE38KMPNWjiyfJghyphenhyphen7rcKk2rPrYO5t9DM4uAkiyLPm89NuSrwBkpnRAQrBJDr9CSCArKQqpxiDzYbNVDPH4/s1600/DownRabbit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmojtgL-dvprveeIL7cZK8cLTTURyI3CySUb8APu-UOvknhM9_bHfl0MtjE38KMPNWjiyfJghyphenhyphen7rcKk2rPrYO5t9DM4uAkiyLPm89NuSrwBkpnRAQrBJDr9CSCArKQqpxiDzYbNVDPH4/s1600/DownRabbit.png" /></a></center>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-77678689847399997012015-12-18T11:04:00.000-08:002015-12-23T20:42:22.269-08:00Random Happy Time, 32 O'Clock - Legacy of the Vita!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.dualshockers.com/2015/10/23/sony-has-no-first-party-ps-vita-games-in-development-first-party-strategy-focused-on-ps4/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.dualshockers.com/2015/10/23/sony-has-no-first-party-ps-vita-games-in-development-first-party-strategy-focused-on-ps4/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2FQh_ZGOvwz-Oqg4tsNT0dtxCtSLYJtnICtmu31u7NjNRUYsfDm7zaiOfP49WvkXG0YncoTvbf9Ov2dKNJB8ggawgnEnJwudotew35YgdzBfUD73aVFLFwarK5Bf0qqiogYodKn95gKs/s1600/RHT32I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>After discussing current and legacy generation consoles, Tiger and Rabbit contemplate where the Vita stands. Is it dead or has the little console that could seen a resurgence. Find out in this edition of Random Happy Time!</i><br />
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<center>
**^^**</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Is the Vita considered legacy?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: According to some at Sony it is. (´_`。)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I still think of it as being an active console, I mean I picked up more new release Vita games than I did PS4 games this year.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You and your otome games.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: ^sticks out tongue^ Not all of them were otome games; many were rhythm or straight NVL games.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head*<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Hey, I love them!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: The Vita still has life in it, just a very niche sort of life.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: It is true, if you aren't into Japanese games or... Japanese games you are kind of sorry out of luck.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Luckily for us, we enjoy those kinds of games.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I wish Sony would support it more with their first party studios but it sounds like that's never going to happen. (ーー;)<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: (ㄒoㄒ) I love the Vita so it's too bad we probably won't get another Uncharted or Killzone on it.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: If Vita is legacy what would you call PlayStation VR? Current gen just doesn't sound right.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: (✖╭╮✖) How about “going into the closet like PS Move gen?”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: That's way too long and way too mean.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You know it's true. That thing is going nowhere and fast.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: But you're still going to get one?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *sighs* Yes. ( ;`ヘ´)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: And you say I waste money.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: You waste it more than I do!<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: o(〃^▽^〃)o We also want to wish everyone a happy holiday season! Hope this time is filled with amazing wonders and zero snow!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That’s your wish.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, what’s yours then?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I wish that our readers have a happy New Year.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You’re excited for 2016, aren’t you?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Oh yes, I love even years. That means we have the Olympics! I love sporting events, it will be fun. We’re still planning a trip to EVO too, though I’m not sure if we’ll be able to pull it off. (─‿‿─)<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I kind of want to do PAX Prime again. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: That would be fun too. Decisions, decisions. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the new year brings us.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Hopefully, a few more readers.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> & <span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Thanks for being with us Qgers and Qbbits! We hope to see you next year too! \(^∀^)メ(^∀^)ノUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2023107646615857970.post-28712572419504524222015-12-04T12:51:00.000-08:002015-12-04T12:51:00.366-08:00Q Attack, Round 24 - Would You Pay to See a Vocaloid Live in Concert?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.ticketmaster.com/Hatsune-Miku-tickets/artist/1989197" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.ticketmaster.com/Hatsune-Miku-tickets/artist/1989197" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9c0OlQayeOOV0jgONPKUcUEfdXyVJQ3B0RmJqFtvg-ECBUko7eJiY4lJMwL8h50gJ0qkzFCVgm7DQIYeK7fn4eHkpk9eoxZDj7Z_luhYM12hKtVoD171wCCMX_OZE0ODZTtEB_kzxR4/s1600/QA24I1.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Tiger and Rabbit are back in action as they discuss Vocaloids singing at live concerts with live bands. While Hatsune Miku and friends have never appeared in the State Tiger and Rabbit live in, if she did, would they be willing to attend? Is a live concert really any different from a recorded track when the vocalist is a synthetic computer program? Find out in this episode of Q Attack.</i><br />
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<center>
^^**^^</center>
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: I finally remembered the question I wanted to ask when we talked about Vocaloids a few posts ago. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: About time, so what was it?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Would you pay to see a Vocaloid live in concert? Would it really be worth it?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Interesting, what brought this on?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, we’ve purchased a few of the BD concerts, Hatsune Miku Live Party 2013 in Kansai and Mikunopolis in Los Angeles. They’re fun to watch and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to go see her in person. Well, you know what I mean.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: We’ve seen a few live performances of both classical and popular music. I gotta say, I prefer seeing classical live. I’m not one for mosh pits.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Stereopony was awesome when we saw them! They had so much energy.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Yeah, they were fun to go see. But I guess it would depend on which Vocaloids were going to sing at the concert. As much as we love our favorites like Kagamine Rin and Len, they are kind of old now. Especially when you look at popularity polls, Hatsune Miku has even dropped out of top three standings.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Yeah, but she’s also a classic. She may just be the Cher of Vocaloids. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Didn’t a critic once say that after a nuclear apocalypse, the only things left on earth would be cockroaches and Cher?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Something like that. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Just a point of order, we don’t listen to Cher. I don’t even know why you brought her up.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Anyway, Mikunopolis in Los Angeles was the first concert recording we ever saw and some of the first live Vocaloid music we heard. It was recorded at Anime Expo 2011 when Hatsune Miku made her first appearance in the United States. She and the others were accompanied by The 39’s, a live band. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It must be hard playing with a recording; it leaves you very little room for mistakes. Probably why they are professionals but I wonder what they think of it all. It’s a little strange, don’t you think?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: At least she’ll never go full on diva on them at rehearsals. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *laughs*<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: At Anime Expo, classic songs like World is Mine by Ryo from Supercell and Romeo and Cinderella by doriko were performed.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: One of my favorite Len songs, Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder by Nori-P, was also showcased. <br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Rin also sang Meltdown (Nuclear Fushion) by iroha.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I have to admit that the live version sounds so much better to me than the one you find in Project DIVA f 2nd. The live instruments bring a kind of weight to the music, I really love the sound.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Megurine Luka also sings her classic, Just Be Friends by Dixie Flatline.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *groans*<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: What’s your problem?<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: They always make her sing that. I realize it’s a popular song but out of the big Crypton stars, I think Luka has the best voice yet they never utilize it. Same thing with Len, he didn’t even get a solo song.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Well, it is named after Hatsune Miku so it’s understandable that she gets the bulk of the spotlight. Same with Hatsune Miku Live Party 2013 in Kansai. This time MKP39 backed up Miku and the others. Plus, appearances from KAITO and MEIKO were featured.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Thousand Year Solo by yanagi-P and Piano x Forte x Scandal by OSTER project were notable inclusions. KAITO is okay but I love MEIKO, even though she’s from an older generation, I still like her sound.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Senbonzakura by Kurousa-P was a big crowd pleaser. I read that it was the #1 karaoke song amongst teens last year. <br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: As for what you actually see at these concerts, they use mirrors, smoke, and some pretty cool projectors to make Hatsune Miku and company appear on stage. Some of the staging looks better than others. I know in the LA show, you could see the reflection of the audience which was distracting. Kansai looked a lot better and they also seemed to have a larger stage to work with. I don’t recall seeing a strings section with the Kansai band though, I would want to go to a concert that has a least a few strings.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.rightstufanime.com/MIKUNOPOLIS-in-Los-Angeles-Blu-ray-S-Liveaction-Limited-Edition-CD" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.rightstufanime.com/MIKUNOPOLIS-in-Los-Angeles-Blu-ray-S-Liveaction-Limited-Edition-CD" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8atvRd23h3SoDk8DsQcqE_MZBG_Txj8dFxrPfFndL58laXezktsQ9Je6-Jj7OLMbjOKHeue4DVDCjUZuyumDPUaIOAyyvGKGJ9rB3vPHYQoEn2cQh0ZsJ2nk7nnku6x5-qik1nplVvSo/s1600/QA24I2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: So would you pay to see Hatsune Miku live in concert?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Probably not. While I do enjoy the music, I’d rather spend my money on a real musical experience like A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Now, if it was a Kagamine Len concert, I might change my mind, but it doesn’t really appeal to me. It’s a novelty that would be fun to see but I’m not going out of my way for it. Plus, you’d have to be there with a bunch of other people jumping and dancing and waving blow sticks that look like bunching onions in your face. I like dressing up in formal wear, going to a fancy restaurant, and then sitting to enjoy my music.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You’re just lazy and you sound like one of those classical music snobs.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: I can’t help it; I was trained by those snobs. Actually, they were really nice people, but they did instill in me a deeper appreciation of classical music and music in general. This is a good time to plug one of my favorite podcasts – <a href="http://www.classicalmpr.org/topic/learning-to-listen" target="_blank">Learning to Listen</a> by Emily Reese. If you want to learn more about classical music from a non-snob classical music lover, she’s the one to listen to. She also does a great podcast about video game music called <a href="http://www.classicalmpr.org/program/top-score" target="_blank">Top Score</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: You know, you always get mad at me for hijacking our conversations but you just did it too! Now get back on your segway and segue back to the topic at hand!<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: Point of order, you were the one that pulled me off topic. Its okay, I’m pretty much done. My answer is a big fat no, though I’d go with you if you asked.<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: Maybe I don’t want to go with you. Maybe I’ll go with Martin.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: It would be cheaper to go with him. So I take it you would pay to see Hatsune Miku?<br />
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<span style="color: #bbacf3;">Rabbit</span>: In a heartbeat! I think it would be pretty special to see her perform live. To hear the band and share the experience with other fans, I couldn’t imagine a better time. Plus, it’d be neat to see the Vocaloids in all their different costumes. I wonder how they change so fast? I would definitely appreciate the opportunity to attend though I’m not sure if I’ll ever get the chance. She doesn’t seem to come up this way but if she did, I’d buy tickets in a heartbeat. I want to get that onion glow stick just so I can mess with you.<br />
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span>: *shakes head* You’re hopeless.
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Would You Pay to See a Vocaloid Live in Concert?</b></span></center>
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<span style="color: #73c9a7;">Tiger</span> vs <span style="color: #ccb9ff;">Rabbit</span>
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