Q Attack, Round 14 - Are eSports Better Viewed Live and in Person?

Tiger and Rabbit were spectators for the Arc System Works tournament finals hosted at Sakura-Con 2015 in Seattle, Washington. They talk about what it’s like to watch fighting game matches live and contemplate whether the Evolution Championship Series should be their next destination.

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Rabbit: We’re here today to discuss part four and our final entry in the “milk our Sakura-Con 2015 weekend for all it’s worth” series! So, what’s on our agenda this time?

Tiger: The BlazBlue Experience with special guests Mori Toshimichi, the Designer for the BlazBlue series; Ueda Kana, voice of Rachel Alucard; and Kondoh Kanako, voice of Noel Vermillion.

Rabbit: They showed a lot of stuff at this event, and we didn’t even stay for the whole thing!

Tiger: Yeah, they started about an hour late, it was around 10:00pm on Saturday, April 4th, when things got underway and it was supposed to be a three hour panel. We left around midnight; I was too tired to stay for all of it.

Rabbit: What we did see was pretty cool though. They previewed the anime BlazBlue: Alter Memory which is directed by Tachibana Hideki and produced by Hoods Entertainment.

Tiger: Admittedly it seemed like a crazy mess of a story from what we saw.

Rabbit: Who buys a fighting game for its story anyway?

Tiger: Uh… I got Persona 4 Arena for its story mode.

Rabbit: You’re terrible. I’m the one that’s supposed to be the story hound, not you.

Tiger: I also got it to play as a fighting game; I know you aren’t into fighting games at all.

Rabbit: They take too much practice and I usually get bored with them pretty quickly. When we had lots of people to play with, they were fun, because you could do your own mini tournaments. It’s not as fun when you don’t have the numbers playing.

Tiger: They also showed off the new mobile game called BlazBlue: Battle Cards.

Rabbit: They sure are expanding into everything with this brand, aren’t they?

Tiger: Didn’t they do a visual novel too?

Rabbit: XBlaze Code: Embryo was a prequel to the main BlazBlue series. It also got a sequel called XBlaze: Lost Memories, which I’m kind of surprised they didn’t mention at their booth since they were really pushing everything BlazBlue. I picked the first game up on Vita but I haven’t played it yet.

Tiger: After peddling their wares, we finally got to the main event, the BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Extend finals!

Rabbit: I don’t think that name is long enough.

Tiger: This game hadn’t been released in North America when Sakura-Con took place, so it was really awesome to see this in action and on the PS4 no less. Some notable participants in the tournaments were Spark, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II EVO 2011 Champion; DSMoove12 who placed 7th behind Spark; and GameClucks|Nakkiel, an officially sponsored player. They even had commentators from the local fighting game community calling the game.

Rabbit: DSMoove12 stuck with Noel Vermillion, the same character he used at EVO 2011. Though they had to restart the first match because someone had left the settings on Stylish, the 1st match up of the semi-finals finally began.

Tiger: OMG! There was one round where he literally had only a pixel of health left and his opponent was one hit away from a perfect. But DSMoove12 was able to go on the offensive and win the round!

Rabbit: You’re so excited, did you drink caffeine today?

Tiger: It was exciting!

Rabbit: It’s like we’ve switched personalities…

Tiger: Hey, watching those matches live was exhilarating. You got to see the players, watch the match, and hear the audience cheer throughout the event. It’s a great experience, almost like a real sporting event.

Rabbit: DSMoove12 was able to move onto the finals. The second semi-finals match up proved to be much more interesting.

Tiger: With Huey253 sporting his Noel Vermillion against GameClucks|Nakkiel’s Litchi Faye-Ling, the table was set. I actually like playing with Litchi when I do play BlazBlue, though Rachel is my favorite, so it was awesome to see a highly skilled player show off her abilities as a character.

Rabbit: Man, Nakkiel owned Huey throughout this match up. Every time you thought Litchi was in trouble, she would find a way out of it quickly.

Tiger: Nakkiel definitely used Litchi’s staff effectively, giving Huey’s Noel no time to make a move. I think it was the last round where Huey could only defend, it was brutal.

Rabbit: I think Nakkiel got a perfect in there too.

Tiger: Nakkiel did go on to face DSMoove12 in the finals.

Rabbit: I was really wondering how it would turn out. DSMoove’s Noel dominated his opponent but Nakkiel’s Litchi seemed to have that character all figured out. Who would reign supreme as the Sakura-Con 2015 BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Extend Champion?!

Tiger: It was a back and forth battle, with Nakkiel and DSMoove splitting the first two rounds.

Rabbit: It was do or die time.

Tiger: DSMoove went on the offensive right off the start and was able to pin Nakkiel’s Litchi in the corner without her staff. Noel kept chipping away at Lichi’s health but then suddenly…

Rabbit: Litchi was able to break free and tried to use her special when…

Tiger: Noel dodged it and unleashed her own special, winning the round and the match! DSMoove12 beat GameClucks|Nakkiel and was crowned champion!

Rabbit: It was definitely an exciting match to watch and the crowd went wild when he dodged Nakkiel’s special.

Tiger: It was an awesome match up and I was glad that DSMoove12 won. I thought he did a nice job adjusting to Nakkiel’s Litchi. He was definitely less defensive than Huey’s Noel and went on the offensive right away.

Rabbit: They do say that the best defense is a good offense. Don’t feel bad for Nakkiel though, he won the BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma finals beating fwVista.

Tiger: It was nice to see Mori, Ueda, and Kondoh all congratulate the winners as well.

Rabbit: After the awards were presented, we got to hear a bit from the special guests before moving onto the Guilty Gear Xrd –SIGN- finals.

Tiger: We don’t play Guilty Gear which made watching the matches a little harder and in all honesty, there really wasn’t a question of who was going to win this.

Rabbit: The only close match up was Sytha’s Zato-1 against See Me In +R’s Ky Kiske.

Tiger: Ky Kiske took the first round by a very slim margin and then was dominated by Sytha’s Zato-1.

Rabbit: Veteru’s Sol Badguy had no trouble at all winning against his opponents, even pulling out a couple of perfects. He easily won the title of GG champion.

Tiger: I was impressed with how easily he dodged everyone’s special attack too. I don’t think he got hit once by those moves.

Rabbit: After all that excitement, the awards were presented and then Kondoh Kanako gave a performance. We left shortly after that.

Tiger: I love how ecstatic she was that the character she voices won the tournament.

Rabbit: It was fun seeing Noel Vermillion herself congratulating DSMoove12.

Tiger: I still hate Noel though. Man, that character is a pain to fight against.

Rabbit: I felt bad for Ueda Kana because no one used Rachel Alucard.

Tiger: Well, she did remedy that eventually. Man, was she ever popular. There was a huge turnout of Fate/Stay fans, and if you didn’t know, she’s the voice of Tōsaka Rin.

Rabbit: Lots of love for all the special guests that night.

Tiger: *sighs*

Rabbit: What’s the matter?

Tiger: I’m just glad we’re almost done with these posts from Sakura-Con.

Rabbit: Why?

Tiger: Because they contain so many freaking macrons. I’m getting tired of them.

Rabbit: But I love macrons, they go well with coffee.

Tiger: *shakes fists* Macrons, not macaroons. Anyway, did you enjoy watching the matches live? Do you think it was more enjoyable than watching it online like we do for EVO?

Rabbit: I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it more, yeah it was fun but probably about the same for me as it is when we stream EVO’s content. I mean, I’m not really into watching eSports, I just don’t get them. For one, I’m not sure if they are even truly sports. Yes, they train and compete, and yes they are quite talented but I wouldn’t drop a couple hundred on tickets just to see them play like I would for an actually sport such as hockey. I don’t know, it’s strange watching someone play a game when you can just play it yourself. Out of all the games we do watch online, fighting games are the most entertaining because I know I will never get to that level, so it’s fun to see those highly skilled players duke it out but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to attend an event like this.

Tiger: I can see your point that if you aren’t interested in the game, it would be hard to watch people playing it. I know the Dota championships are held in Seattle also, which would be easy for us to attend, but since we don’t have an interest in the game it’s not worth spending the money to go see. However, fighting games are a totally different genre that was built around the rich history of martial arts and competitive boxing. How could you say that it’s not a sport?! No, those who train to become competitive fighting game players are at the apex of gaming’s echelon. They are the best of the best and represent the true abilities all gamers seek to hone. Their championships are sought by many but achieved by few. It’s exhilarating to witness and makes me want to strive for that level of commitment in all the games I play.

Rabbit: ^shakes head^ I take it you like watching fighting game tournaments in person? You sure did yell enough during those matches.

Tiger: Of course! I think we should try to go to EVO 2016. Tickets aren’t expensive, the only thing that will be pricy is the airfare and I’m sure we could make it work.

Rabbit: Why would I want to go to that?

Tiger: To see the best players in the world compete against each other in games like Ultra Street Fighter IV, Guilty Gear Xrd –SIGN-, Super Smash Bros., Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat X, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Tekken 7, and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax!

Rabbit: Wait, Smash got two slots at EVO this year?

Tiger: Yeah, you should have heard Anthony and shidoshi from A Generic Video Game Podcast talk about that, they weren’t too pleased with the decision.

Rabbit: That’s a lot of money to go see other people play video games; I mean why not just spend it on ourselves?

Tiger: You know EVO is held in Vegas right?

Rabbit: ^shocked face^ Why aren’t we going this year?!

Are eSports Better Viewed Live and in Person?
Tiger     vs     Rabbit

Random Happy Time, 20 O’Clock - George the Thirteenth!

There’s still more to discuss from The BlazBlue: Experience at Sakura-Con 2015. Tiger and Rabbit share their thoughts on a special match up and voice their concerns over the fate of Rachel Alucard in this issue of Random Happy Time!

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Tiger: There’s still more from The BlazBlue: Experience that we didn’t get a chance to talk about yet. 〜(^∇^〜）

Rabbit: Huzzah! Like why the controls were originally set to Stylish and who ended up playing as Rachel Alucard.

Tiger: So before the Chrono Phantasma Extend finals started, the audience was treated to a head-to-head battle featuring none other than Ueda Kana, voice of Rachel Alucard, and Mori Toshimichi, the game’s designer.

Rabbit: (*^^*) This was a funny section of the event. Ueda apologized to DSMoove12 for leaving the game set to Stylish, she was practicing for her match again Mori.

Tiger: Of course Ueda picked Rachel but no one knew who Mori was going to pick. He ended up picking random and was stuck with V-No.13- aka Nu-13.

Rabbit: (*ﾟﾛﾟ) Mori’s Nu was really impressive, leaving Ueda’s Rachel with no chance to attack. Ueda used George the Thirteenth and was able to chip away at Nu’s health but unfortunately, Nu was able to overpower Rachel and win the first round.

Tiger: The second round was more of the same with Nu going on the offensive and Rachel forced to dodge the turret attacks. But some sneaky work by George helped to tip the table in Rachel’s favor leaving it tied one-to-one.

Rabbit: The final round commenced and Rachel went all out, pinning Nu against the left side and unleashing some killer combos. Finally, she finished off Nu with her special attack. Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

Tiger: ヽ(^。^)丿 Congrats to Ueda-san!

Rabbit: I gotta wonder if Mori threw the match. He did create this game; he should know literally everything about this game and to lose to a voice actor.

Tiger: Ueda is a big gamer so it’s not like she doesn’t play at all but I get where you’re coming from. Only time will tell.

Rabbit: How so?

Tiger: If Rachel sucks in the next game, we’ll know that Mori didn’t throw the match.

Rabbit: ^laughs^ He wouldn’t do that, would he? ( •᷄⌓•᷅ )

Tiger: *smirks* I know I would. (◣_◢)

Q Attack, Round 13 - Does Understanding Lyrics Matter?

Tiger and Rabbit were in Seattle and saw the featured musical guests of Sakura-Con 2015. They got to see popular performers who came straight from Japan and rock out to their music. This got the pair of cute mammals thinking, is language truly a barrier or can music reach out to anyone?

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Rabbit: Righto! It’s part three of the “milk Sakura-Con for all it’s worth” series! This time we’ll be chatting about the concert with featured musical guests Itō Kanako and GARNiDELiA of Sakura-Con 2015!

Tiger: The concert was held on Saturday, April 4th, in front of a rocking crowd. We got some pretty good seats too.

Rabbit: I’m not one for mosh pits, too many people and the music is way too loud to be up front like that.

Tiger: We have musician style earplugs that we use for concerts like this.

Rabbit: They definitely come in handy if you want to keep your hearing for as long as possible.

Tiger: Yeah the music was super loud. They had songs playing before the performance started and you could hear it all the way in the queue room.

Rabbit: They played Under the Sea in Japanese! That was so cool sounding.

Tiger: It was more like “Unda da Shii.”

Rabbit: First up was Itō Kanako. She hails from Utsunomiya, Tochigi and is known for singing a lot of video game and anime theme songs.

Tiger: I know she got pretty popular for her work for the video game School Days as well as the anime and drama CD adaptations.

Rabbit: She also sung the songs for Chaos;Head, Steins;Gate, and Robotics;Notes.

Tiger: That’s a lot of semicolons there.

Rabbit: She’s been to the U.S. before, making her debut at Anime Boston in 2012.

Tiger: Now it’s time to talk about the setlist she sang…

Rabbit: ^scratches head^ Right… so here’s the thing, since we don’t know Japanese, I have no idea which songs she actually sang.

Tiger: I know she sang Skyclad no Kansokusha from Steins;Gate and I’m pretty sure she sang Hacking to The Gate from the Steins;Gate anime. Those are the only songs I really know from her though.

Rabbit: Her music was catchy. She liked talking to the crowd quite a bit too.

Tiger: I was surprised at how much we were able to understand since again, we don’t speak Japanese. I pretty much got all of her jokes though which shocked me.

Rabbit: All that time watching anime has paid off!

Tiger: That’s actually kind of sad, if you think about it.

Rabbit: I thought it was cool that she did an encore too after the audience chanted for her to come back.

Tiger: Yeah, they really liked her.

Rabbit: Next up was-

Tiger: GARNiDELiA!!!!

Rabbit: You’re a fan, I take it?

Tiger: I love MARiA so of course I’m a fan. Founded in 2010, GARNiDELiA consists of vocalist Mizuhashi Mai, aka MARiA, and producer Abe Yoshinori, aka Toku. Together, they’ve created some of the catchiest anime theme songs of recent years.

Rabbit: Their name came from a French phrase, “Le Palais Garnier de Maria” which means Maria's Opera and the moon Cordelia, which was discovered the same year Toku was born, 1978.

Tiger: They made their debut with Ambiguous, the second opening theme for Kill la Kill and have songs for Mekakucity Actors, The Irregular at Magic High School, Gundam Reconguista in G, and Gunslinger Stratos.

Rabbit: And we actually recognized all the songs they sang too!

Tiger: Yes, in addition to performing Ambiguous, they also did Grilletto, Blazing, and others from their album Linkage Ring. I’m still impressed with how powerful a singer MARiA is.

Rabbit: And Toku’s music fits her so well. It’s a great pairing.

Tiger: I think this was the first time either one of them has been Stateside too. So it was awesome to be able to see them.

Rabbit: Did you have a favorite song?

Tiger: I’d have to say Blazing.

Rabbit: Ever the Gundam fan. Mine was Grilletto, it’s just a great song.

Tiger: We also saw Kondoh Kanako sing too. While she wasn’t a part of the concert, she did sing at The BlazBlue Experience right after the concert was over.

Rabbit: She is the voice of Noel Vermillion and also sings the theme songs Love So Blue: Ao no Kodō from BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger and Pandora Tears for BlazBlue: Continuum Shift.

Tiger: We also bought her two albums while at Sakura-Con.

Rabbit: I think the concerts are my favorite thing about Sakura-Con. Last time we went in 2012 we got to see garage rock band Stereopony, visual kei gothic metal band Moi dix Mois, and baroque pop singer and cellist Wakeshima Kanon. This time it was Itō Kanako, GARNiDELiA, and Kondoh Kanako. We’ve gotten quite spoiled I think.

Tiger: It is a great opportunity to see and hear musicians we would never otherwise be able to.

Rabbit: I just wish we could understand what they are singing about.

Tiger: It’s not like it really matters a great deal. I think you can convey your thoughts through music alone. Plus, you could always look up a translation on the internet.

Rabbit: You could if you could remember the song’s name… but really, you don’t think lyrics matter?

Tiger: Overall, no I don’t. It is music; the musical lyrics matter more than the words themselves. Yes, I get that songs do have meanings that lyrics can convey but I don’t think there is any barrier that music cannot breach, especially the barrier of language. The phrasing, tonality, and tempo all work together to paint a picture for the listener and that’s done without words. Sometimes, I think it’s better not to understand what they’re singing about. I don’t want to hear about someone grinding in the kitchen.

Rabbit: ^shudders^ That’s why I don’t listen to modern American music.

Tiger: See? I’m right, sometimes it’s better not to know what the singer is saying. At least everything in Japanese sounds pretty even if we don’t know what it means.

Rabbit: I don’t know, I think that without knowing the meaning of the lyrics you are only getting half the experience. It’s like if a colorblind person looked at a painting, it’s going to be pretty but it won’t have the full impact that it would on someone who can see the colors.

Tiger: That’s a very cruel example.

Rabbit: ^shocked face^ How so?

Tiger: If you are colorblind, you don’t have a choice in how you perceive the world. In some ways, not understanding the lyrics in a different language is a choice since you could always learn the language and then be able to understand what those words are conveying.

Rabbit: Okay, so it was a bad example but you get my point. You’re missing half of the song’s essence without understanding the lyrics because if the lyrics were throwaway, why write them in the first place? So I think understanding the lyrics does matter and I like to put in the time to try and get translated lyrics for the Japanese songs I listen too. Some of them actually help the meaning of the song, like Roshin Yuukai, knowing what the lyrics state changes that song completely. While music can convey so many ideas and emotions on its own, lyrics can clarify those ideas and expand upon them. Plus, when have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head without the lyrics getting stuck too? They go hand in hand and they should.

Does Understanding Lyrics Matter?
Tiger     vs     Rabbit

Q Attack, Round 11 - Are You an Otaku?

Tiger and Rabbit have returned from their adventures at Sakura-Con 2015, one of the oldest anime, manga, and cultural conventions on the West Coast. They spent an entire weekend immersing themselves in all things Japanese and share their experiences here.

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Rabbit: Tsukarechatta!

Tiger: *moans* You can say that again, I’m beat. I love going on all these trips but man is it hard to function once you get back.

Rabbit: We need a vacavacation.

Tiger: There you go, making up words again.

Rabbit: No, really. We need a vacation from our vacation.

Tiger: I second that. So you want to explain why we’re both so tired.

Rabbit: ^stretches arms^ Five days of craziness, that’s why. We attended Sakura-Con 2015 in Seattle.

Tiger: It’s an anime, manga, video game, and general Asian cultural convention. They have everything from industry panels, anime theaters, a manga library, to special guest panels.

Rabbit: They also have an exhibitors hall, artist alley, and art show.

Tiger: Some of the guests included Vic Mignogna, Shimamoto Sumi, GARNiDELiA, Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, Kashiwada Shinichiro, Mori Toshimichi, Kitada Katsuhiko, Asai Masaki, and n.NAOTO.

Rabbit: Which we didn’t see… at all.

Tiger: We saw some of the special guests though most we really didn’t care about seeing. It’s hard to get excited for all the English voice actors that go to Sakura-Con because we don’t watch anime in English. Now the Japanese voice actors were another story, I was really excited to see and hear Ueda Kana.

Rabbit: It was amazing to see the members of WIT Studio too.

Tiger: And Mori Toshimichi. We saw him at one of the panels, which we’ll be discussing in a different Q Attack. But before we move on to what we saw and did, let’s start with the first day of our trip.

Rabbit: ^deep voice^ Captain’s log, star date-

Tiger: *bops Rabbit on head* Do it normally.

Rabbit: Hai, hai. So we left our terribly sheltered lives behind us on Thursday, April 2nd, 2015 to travel to the big city that is Seattle, Washington.

Tiger: Calling Seattle a big city makes me miss Cali.

Rabbit: ^glares at Tiger^ Interrupting! We traveled with the help of a magical fairy named Tinker Bell who helped us fly across the water.

Tiger: Chigau! It was a ferry and we sailed across the water.

Rabbit: The truth is just a matter of perspective. ^sticks out tongue^ We arrived at our destination and headed straight to the International District.

Tiger: Ever noticed how Seattle is constantly under construction?

Rabbit: Yeah, it took us a lot longer to get to the International District than usual because all the roads were closed.

Tiger: I’m telling you, that city is always in a state of disarray.

Rabbit: From there we ate-

Tiger: Yamero!

Rabbit: Yamete!

Tiger: Kotowaru!

Rabbit: Why did you stop me?

Tiger: We are not, I repeat, we are not going to talk about food.

Rabbit: Bu-

Tiger: Nope!

Rabbit: Kedo…

Tiger: You always do this, you always digress to food. We have a lot of things to cover so let’s not waste time on food.

Rabbit: ^crosses arms^ Fine… We spent the day in the International District shopping at Daiso Japan, Uwajimaya, and Kinokuniya before checking into the Sheraton Hotel and picking up our badges. We also went to see the Seattle Symphony that night but we’re saving that for a different Q Attack as well.

Tiger: Friday, April 3rd, was the first official day of Sakura-Con 2015. We started out bright and early, arriving at the Washington State Convention Center at 7:00am. The first anime we watched was The Basketball that Kuroko Plays from Production I.G. and Tada Shunsuke. It was originally a manga created by Fujimaki Tadatoshi and follows the great basketball players from Teikō Middle School, known as the Generation of Miracles, as they play in high school. What’d you think of this one?

Rabbit: I really enjoyed it; I wish they had a U.S. release planned sometime soon. Unfortunately, they didn’t show the beginning of the series but started it somewhere in the middle so we didn’t quite catch the entire plot. Still, I’d pick it up if they ever do release it here.

Tiger: I noticed there were a lot of sports related anime and cosplay at this Con. Last time we went in 2012, everything seemed to be focused on the school theme.

Rabbit: There were a lot of people running around in basketball uniforms, cosplaying the various players. I almost got hit by a couple runaway basketballs too.

Tiger: Next, we caught a single episode of Level E on accident. It was in English too, ugh. Originally a manga from Togashi Yoshihiro, it was turned into an anime by Studio Pierrot and directed by Katō Toshiyuki. The plot centered on a high school student and his encounters with the various aliens that had moved to Earth.

Rabbit: We didn’t mean to see that one. We were actually there for another anime but they were off schedule. So we watched that until…

Tiger: Steins;Gate! Originally a visual novel by 5pb. and Nitroplus, the anime adaption was created by White Fox and directed by Hamasaki Hiroshi and Sato Takuya. I really enjoyed this anime, we’ve seen it before, but watching it on the big screen made me enjoy it even more. I love the time travel story that it centers around and how mad scientist Okabe Rintarō copes with his ability to change the past and the future. The game is even getting released on the PS3 and Vita this year in the West.

Rabbit: We actually got to see a guest that’s connected to Steins;Gate on Saturday but we’ll be saving that for another post.

Tiger: We did so much that we’re going to spread this out across a few posts to try and limit each post’s length.

Rabbit: Really, we just want to milk this trip for all its worth.

Tiger: *laughs* Sō desu ne…

Rabbit: I feel like we’re on one of those game shows. “We’ll reveal the winners… next week! Goodbye everyone!”

Tiger: We aren’t doing this on purpose, honestly. Back to Friday, next up was the Aniplex of America Industry Panel.

Rabbit: Which was basically an hour of them showing anime trailers we could’ve easily watched on YouTube or something.

Tiger: It just made me sad. I want to own the Fate/Zero series so bad but Aniplex is freaking expensive! They are Aniplex of America so why do they only import their stuff? I don’t get it.

Rabbit: They always make limited or premium editions too. It’s not like we need that stuff, I’d love if they did just a plain ‘ole standard set that’s affordable. Oh well. That was our version of pressing our noses against the glass of an expensive restaurant and watching people eat inside.

Tiger: *shakes head* I don’t even know how to reply to that. Next, we saw Nisekoi: False Love. It was first published as a one-shot manga by Komi Naoshi and then serialized before becoming an anime series from Shaft and Shinbo Akiyuki.

Rabbit: I absolutely loved this one! Out of all the shows we hadn’t seen before, this was my number two pick. The story follows high school students Ichijo Raku and Kirisaki Chitoge. But these two aren’t your average high schoolers, nope. Ichijo is the son of Shuei-Gumi’s leader and Kirisaki is the daughter of Beehive’s boss. What does that even mean? Shuei-Gumi is a yakuza and their rival gang is Beehive. A war is brewing between the two factions and to settle the feud, Ichijo and Kirisaki are told to become boyfriend and girlfriend. Then there’s this thing about a locket and a promise and trying to find a key. Really though, it’s super funny.

Tiger: Next was my number two pick… but again the theaters were behind schedule so we ended up seeing an episode of DRAMAtical Murder. I kind of liked this, which is really sad to admit.

Rabbit: ^crosses arms^ Bad kitty, you have a dirty mind.

Tiger: I swear I didn’t know what it was, you can’t tell by watching just one episode!

Rabbit: DRAMAtical Murder was originally a visual novel by Nitro+chiral and then turned anime by NAZ and Miura Kazuya. But it wasn’t just any visual novel, no it was BL. ^shocked face^

Tiger: It had a PG-13 rating on the program! The story is set in the near future where an entire island is turned into a resort and the residents are all forced to live in the Old Residential District. Seragaki Aoba lives a simple life here until he is forced into the popular cyber game known as Rhyme. Soon, turf wars break out in game and in real life, dragging Seragaki deeper into the fray. Anyway, we weren’t there for that. Really, we weren’t.

Rabbit: I don’t know about you…

Tiger: *blushing* Oitoite. The real reason why we were in that theater was for Mekakucity Actors. It’s the anime adaption of The Kagerou Project by Jin. It’s a little confusing to explain but the project basically started with the Vocaloid song Kagerou Daze and soon became a phenomenon with a light novel series, manga, and anime. Produced by Shaft and directed by Shinbo Akiyuki and Yase Yuki, Mekakucity Actors follows the Mekakushi Dan, a group of people with eye related powers. The episodes seem to run out of order, making it a little confusing at first, but it’s a great show. I know the manga and light novels got a U.S. release and I hope to see the anime soon too.

Rabbit: Vocaloids, there were a lot more of them around too. Quite a few cosplayers, I even saw an IA cosplayer which was impressive.

Tiger: Very true, in the past you would only see Hatsune Miku and the other Crypton Vocaloids. Mekakucity Actors was all over the place. Lots of merchandise floating around the exhibitors hall.

Rabbit: I’d reckon that the only anime that you saw more cosplayer or souvenirs of was Attack on Titan.

Tiger: Well, I’m excited that The Kagerou Project is finally making its way stateside. Just picked up the first manga and hope to see Mekakucity Actors get a physical release soon.

Rabbit: Speaking of IA, the last thing we did on Friday was see the IA – KAGEROU Project Concert Movie.

Tiger: Or attempted to see it. They had a small table with merchandise inside the theater where you could buy stuff. Thing is, the line formed down the center aisle, blocking the view of most of the people there. We ended up buying a few CDs and then leaving early.

Rabbit: You got a few IA CDs; I know you were happy about that.

Tiger: I love IA; she’s one of my favorite Vocaloids so it was worth going just to pick those up. I also bought a CD I had no idea what it was. Turns out it’s an album called VOCALO Zanmai from Wagakki Band. They blend traditional Japanese instruments with Vocaloid music. Really, really awesome stuff. If you’re a fan of Vocaloid music, I’d definitely check them out. I love their rendition of Kagerou Days and Senbonzakura. Really glad I picked up their album even though I didn’t know who they were beforehand.

Rabbit: Then we went to sleep and woke up bright and early for our second day of Sakura-Con. Saturday, April 4th a poppy seed muffin-

Tiger: *shoots eye-daggers at Rabbit*

Rabbit: And then we proceeded to the anime theater so we could see an irregular high school magic show.

Tiger: *rolls eyes* Once more, the theaters were behind schedule and we caught the end of Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie… in English. Nothing is more painful than Naruto in English.

Rabbit: I know how much you love that anime.

Tiger: The guy who created it needs to die.

Rabbit: Finally we got to see what we came for, The Irregular at Magic High School.

Tiger: More commonly known as Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei, it started as a light novel series written by Satō Tsutomu and illustrated by Ishida Kana.

Rabbit: Since then, it has been adapted into five manga series, an anime, and even two video games.

Tiger: The anime is done by Madhouse and directed by Ono Manabu. Two musical facts about this anime; the music is composed by Iwasaki Taku and the second opening theme is Grilletto by GARNiDELiA.

Rabbit: The series is set in a world where magic is considered a form of technology and students go to specialized schools to study it. Students are separated by their test scores with the best students enrolling in Course 1 (known as Bloom) and the rest being put in Course 2 (known as Weed). Shiba Tatsuya and his sister, Miyuki, are new students at one of these schools and while his sister aces the entrance exams, he gets enrolled in Course 2. But not all is what it seems and Tatsuya seems to possess skills far greater than any Weed should.

Tiger: The Director, Ono Manabu was actually at the Aniplex of America industry panel to not only present the U.S. release but also announce some of Aniplex’s new releases.

Rabbit: I thought this was an okay show. Nothing too exciting story wise but the magic battles were pretty rad.

Tiger: Yeah, there have been some mixed reviews on the anime. I’ve read a lot of reviews that said you should stick with the manga but I’d be willing to give the anime a try. We only got to see a few episodes before-

Rabbit: Before we could be free and enjoy eternal summer!

Tiger: *shakes head*

Rabbit: Free! Is another anime that’s based on a light novel series, written by Ōji Kōji and then turned into an anime series by Kyoto Animation and Utsumi Hiroko.

Tiger: What we watched was actually Free! –Eternal Summer-, the second season since the first season has not been licensed for publishing in the States yet. The plot focuses on four high school guys-

Rabbit: Hot guys I might add.

Tiger: *shakes head* And you say I have the dirty mind. Anyway, these four are members of Iwatobi High School’s swim team. Other characters include members of Samezuka Academy’s swim team.

Rabbit: There were a lot of Free! cosplayers too which was kind of strange and cold looking.

Tiger: Seattle in April is by no means a warm place. You have to admit that the guys running around just in swimsuits were dedicated. So, I take it you enjoyed this one?

Rabbit: I did. Nanase Haruka rivals Saitō Hajime in looks but his personality isn’t as cool. And it was sports related so you should have enjoyed it.

Tiger: It was alright, I enjoyed The Basketball that Kuroko Plays better but it wasn’t bad and it had its funny moments. Up next was a panel that we’d been looking forward to for a while.

Rabbit: Yes! The Rolling☆Girls Special with Deai Kotomi, Kitada Katsuhiko, & Imai Arifumi of WIT Studio! Surprisingly, this one began as an anime series before it was spun off into two manga series. Directed by Deai Kotomi, the story is… hard to explain.

Tiger: It has one of those “you have to have been there” stories to really get it. It’s a coming-of-age comedy set 10 years after the Great Tokyo War which caused the prefectures of Japan to become independent states. As these new city-states competed with each other, vigilantes from the war were hired and became known as Best, representing their prefectures in one-on-one territorial disputes. These Best are supported by Rest, or commoners, who help to maintain peace in their respective prefectures. The story follows Moritomo Nozomi, a Rest, who is trying to answer the pleas for her prefecture’s Best who has been seriously injured. Tagging along are three other girls, who go with Nozomi on her trip across Japan.

Rabbit: And since it is called The Rolling☆Girls, they of course ride motorcycles. I have to say that the art style is very, very unique.

Tiger: During the panel, not only did they show a couple of episodes but they also showed what their animated storyboards look like when they are working on it. Definitely a great panel with lots of information on the behind the scenes action that’s needed to create an anime series.

Rabbit: And it was WIT Studio too! They might not be very old but they already have a solid track record with Attack on Titan, Hal, and Hōzuki no Reitetsu already under their belts. Add The Rolling☆Girls and the upcoming Seraph of the End, this is a studio to keep an eye on.

Tiger: After that, it was a mad dash to the main hall for the Itō Kanako & GARNiDELiA Concert.

Rabbit: It was amazing… but we are going to wait to talk about this one.

Tiger: As with our next panel, The BlazBlue Experience. So basically the last two events of Saturday night will be discussed separately in their own Q Attacks.

Rabbit: Sunday, April 5th, was the last day of Sakura-Con 2015! So sad.

Tiger: So we used this remaining day to just watch anime.

Rabbit: First up was Log Horizon, another “trapped in an MMO” anime. This one was also a light novel series first, written by Touno Mamare, before being turned into a bunch of manga series and an anime series. Produced by Satelight Studios and directed by Ishihira Shinji, the story follows game strategist Shiroe and other players as they become trapped inside the game of Elder Tales following a massive update.

Tiger: I actually really enjoyed this one, I thought it added some things and did well to differentiate itself from all the other anime in this genre.

Rabbit: You just like it because the game their stuck in is called Elder Tales.

Tiger: *sticks out tongue* After this one, we saw-

Rabbit: ^jumps in air^ Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

Tiger: Here we go.

Rabbit: This was my absolute favorite anime we saw all weekend! Created by Umatani Kurari and Diomedéa, it was directed by Takamatsu Shinji. The story is about five guys who attend Binan High School; Hakone Yumoto, Yufuin En, Kinugawa Atsushi, Naruko Io, and Zaou Ryuu. A strange wombat-like alien approaches them and tasks them with saving the world. By using Loveracelets, the five transform into the Battle Lovers, who can use the power of love to combat enemies who spread hate. They form the Earth Defense Club in order to fight the Earth Conquest Club, which is also a club at Binan High School bent on destroying everything good on earth. I absolutely loved this one!

Tiger: It was very funny and made fun of the magical girl genre in a great way. It seemed like a pretty decent show in its own right too, not relying solely on gags. It also helps that the guys closely resemble those from Free! which makes them easy on the eyes.

Rabbit: So many pretty boys to stare at…

Tiger: Next was my favorite anime of the Con-

Rabbit: And we all know why you picked this one, you lucky star, you.

Tiger: Created by Kuroha and then turned into an anime by Nomad and directed by Sato Hikaru; the last anime we saw before Sakura-Con 2015 shut down was Chronicles of the Going Home Club. The plot follows a group of high school girls who are in the Going Home Club, a club that is dedicated to having as much fun as possible. It’s definitely a slice-of-life comedy that reminds me a lot of Lucky Star. You have club president Domyoji Sakura, the self-proclaimed ordinary girl of the club. She is energetic and downright crazy at times. Ohagi Botan is the club commander and successor to an ancient martial arts style. She once traveled the world fighting bears. Kokonoe Claire is club treasurer and heiress to a mega-corporation. Claire wanted to experience a normal school life but it’s hard for her to do so with her vast amount of wealth. Then there are the newest club members, Ando Natsuki and Tono Karin, both freshmen. Karin is an airhead, excellent at home economics, and her cuteness is Botan’s greatest weakness. Natsuki plays the part of resident Tsundere who’s serious and doesn’t always get the jokes of other club members. It’s a pretty hilarious anime that’s not only self aware but pokes fun at other anime too.

Rabbit: The bit about having to retool the show by episode three if you aren’t popular was super funny.

Tiger: And they have a gag where the ending credits will play too early only to have Natsuki freak out and rip them off the screen.

Rabbit: It was definitely a great way to end Sakura-Con but that wasn’t it for us!

Tiger: It wasn’t?

Rabbit: Nope, we stayed in Seattle on Monday, April 6th, and went back to the International District to eat-

Tiger: To do some more shopping at Kinokuniya and Uwajimaya. I was able to pick up a few more CDs including EXIT TUNES PRESENTS vocalogemini feat. Kagamine Rin & Kagamine Len.

Rabbit: I bought a melona ice bar!

Tiger: Sheesh, you can’t stop, can you?

Rabbit: I don’t know what you’re talking about. So any final thoughts on Sakura-Con.

Tiger: Furries, lots of furries, cosplay seemed to be kind of downplayed this year. Got to see a lot of anime, panels were good, concert was amazing, the tournaments were some of the best we’ve seen, and it was overall a great experience. You?

Rabbit: Lots of amazing food, lots of things to look at though we didn’t buy very much, I almost got killed by a soccer ball when walking around downtown Seattle, and it didn’t rain so that was great.

Tiger: I guess it’s time to wrap this up then.

Rabbit: After experiencing a weekend jam-packed with everything Japanese related, are you officially an Otaku?

Tiger: I’d have to say no to that.

Rabbit: ^shocked face^

Tiger: After all of the conventions we’ve gone to, I’ve learned that I’m not an Otaku, I’m a gamer. While I do enjoy anime, manga, and Asian cultures in general; I don’t find myself really engrossed in Otaku culture. I actually felt like an outsider at Sakura-Con. I don’t stream anime online so I’m really out of the loop with what’s popular. Take The Rolling☆Girls, that series has been out online for awhile now but this was my first time seeing it. Heck, I hadn’t even heard of Free! until you told me about it. It’s fun, I like going, and I like watching anime but I’m not a big enough fan to label myself an Otaku. It’s not like video games were when we went to PAX I recognized all the studios, I knew about the games before we got there, and everything appealed to me. There were lots of things I liked at Sakura-Con but going to Q&As with voice actors I’d never heard of or watching fan panels about certain shows just didn’t interest me. Anime is an interest of mine but not a passion. I don’t love everything about it like I love video games.

Rabbit: Well, I have to disagree with you.

Tiger: Naturally.

Rabbit: I totally consider myself an Otaku. Japanese culture is something that I love and not in that weird, I’m not Japanese but I love everything about you and even want a pet schoolgirl sort of way.

Tiger: I’d argue that I didn’t know anyone was actually like that until we went to our first anime convention.

Rabbit: We’re both Japanese-

Tiger: Faux Japanese.

Rabbit: We’ve lived there-

Tiger: Until we were five.

Rabbit: And it’s something that will always be a part of us. Plus, I like anime and manga in general. Japanese comedy is some of my favorite; it’s nothing like what we get Stateside. The action shows are awesome, the stories are amazing though sometimes stupid, and nothing can compare to manga. So what if we’re from Otaku Generation 2, being fans of older stuff doesn’t make us any less of a fan than those who only like what’s popular now. And while I don’t stream either, I still enjoy keeping up to date with what’s new and trendy in Japan. Otaku are pretty cool people in general too.

Tiger: I like that the Otaku culture is pretty nonjudgmental.

Rabbit: Stop in the name of Judgment! But you’re right, Otaku are generally great people so of course I consider myself one.

Tiger: *shakes head* Haha, very funny.

Rabbit: Really though, I love anime, manga, Vocaloids, chanbara, tsundere, and I especially love Japanese food! I’m happy I got the opportunity to experience things I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to do. I also have a pretty big list of which anime I want to buy next.

Tiger: You’re incorrigible.

Rabbit: And you’re a party pooper. But fear not TvR faithful, the moment you’ve been waiting for is next! Random Happy Time Sutāto! Doki doki transformation in the name of LOVE!

Are You an Otaku?
Tiger     vs     Rabbit

Q Attack, Round 2 - Should Gamers Attend PAX Prime?

Tiger vs Rabbit is back with an all new entry. Our resident mammals have just returned from their trip to PAX Prime 2014. In this entry, Tiger and Rabbit will be discussing the sights, sounds, and games of PAX before answering the question – Should gamers attend PAX Prime?

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Rabbit: Hello everybunny! How are you doing? This is Rabbit and I am super hyped! Tiger and I just got back from PAX Prime 2014 in Seattle. We got the chance to play a few upcoming games, see demos, go to concerts, and immerse ourselves in all things gamer-geek-chic! I have to admit, I absolutely loved our time at PAX! What about you, Tiger?

Tiger: *groans* How can you be so energetic, Rabbit? I’m so wiped from this trip. Yeah, it was a lot of fun but man, I am tired. And every time I stop moving, I feel like I’m on an escalator. This trip really took it out of me.

Rabbit: ^pokes Tiger^ See’mon Tiger! You need to be excited; we got a rare opportunity to check out the latest in gaming!

Tiger: Oh, I’ll be excited once I catch up on all the sleep I lost. Also, Rabbit... it’s “C’mon.”

Rabbit: That’s what I said.

Tiger: Right. I’m just going to type it up exactly how you say it.

Rabbit: That is how you say it. Anyway, back to PAX! Why don’t we start off with what we did over the three days we were there? Then we can discuss the games we got to play a little bit before we finally answer the big Q of the day. Kick it off, Tiger!

Tiger: Alright, here’s a shotgun blast of info. PAX Prime officially opened on Friday, August 29th but Rabbit and I actually arrived in Seattle, WA on Thursday. Kind of nice getting there early, we got checked into the hotel and met a few people like-

Rabbit: Greg Miller of IGN fame!

Tiger: Yes, him too but I was thinking more like the guys from Radio PlayStation.

Rabbit: And a few of the PlayStation MVPs.

Tiger: They were all super cool. We woke up bright and early on Friday and headed straight to the Washington State Convention Center. Now, for those of you who don’t know, PAX Prime is actually spread out amongst the WSCC, two theaters, and three hotels. There is so much going on, it’s insane. We were able to get into the main expo hall an hour before the doors actually opened which was amazing.

Rabbit: It was super awesome. We got to play so many games that way. We also met the cool dudes over at Vivid Gamer, please check them out!

Tiger: I really don’t think we would have played anything if we hadn’t had the opportunity to head in early. So what was the first game we ran over to play?

Rabbit: The Order: 1886! That game has a definite atmosphere about it.

Tiger: *laughs* I would have described it differently but we’ll hold off on that for later.

Rabbit: Do you ever like anything? ^shakes head^ What about Bloodborne?

Tiger: We headed over to play Bloodborne after finishing The Order, and yes, I did enjoy that one.

Rabbit: It was super hard; I died so fast in that game. It made me feel like a total n00b.

Tiger: I heard that the developers actually made the PAX demo a lot easier too.

Rabbit: ^gasps^ I don’t think I’m going to get that one. Up next was DriveClub and it wasn’t that fun.

Tiger: Driving games do have a bit of a learning curve so it's hard to say if it was good or not. One thing I disliked most about the demo was the “collision penalty” you get when you hit the side of the track or another car.

Rabbit: I felt like I was being punished because I suck at driving games. After that, I went over to the “Devotion” station which had a bunch of different indie games playing. Yay for indie games! I checked out Nidhogg, a crazy sidescrolling fencing game. It was pretty fun but I wish it had a colorblind mode since I had a hard time telling which side of the screen I was on.

Tiger: And while you were playing that, I was at the Oculus Rift demo station and had a chance to strap that baby on. I played a game that had you walking down a hallway while trying to dodge bullets. The tech was awesome, the game was so-so. I couldn’t tell when the bullets were about to hit me because they were red and the background was all white.

Rabbit: Boo for games not made with colorblind people in mind!

Tiger: After that, the expo hall was opened to everyone so it became a massive pit of humanity.

Rabbit: So many people! You could hardly move anywhere. What did we do the rest of Friday?

Tiger: There was the “Games User Research: Studying Games for Science!” panel with researchers from Bungie, Microsoft, NBC Universal, and Electronic Arts.

Rabbit: Oh yeah! We actually went to a lot of Microsoft panels at this PAX.

Tiger: Which is pretty ironic considering we have never owned a Microsoft console.

Rabbit: PlayStation pride! But I don’t think we’re fangirls at all.

Tiger: It really just comes down to money, there’s no way we could afford them all. So that was it for Friday. Lots of demos, lots of walking about the expo hall, and lots of information on GUR. Then that night was the first round of concerts. The evening opened with Triforce Quartet-

Rabbit: And a marriage proposal!

Tiger: Up next were The Doubleclicks and finally Paul and Storm. Definitely check out their music, really enjoyed the concert, so much energy. A special shout out to Bit Brigade! While we missed them at the Sunday concert, we picked up a few of their CDs and they are great! Check out some of their videos, you've never seen anything quite like them.

Rabbit: Saturday we got a great behind the scenes look at Tearaway from Media Molecule at the “How Media Molecule Made the Fourth-Wall-Breaking Papery World of Tearaway” panel. James Spafford, Community Manager at Media Molecule, did a great job leading that panel.

Tiger: You know I was really shocked by how different that game was in the early stages.

Rabbit: Yes, it was originally designed with the idea of using your finger as the main character. Then it morphed into a strange travelling GPS game, where you actually needed to travel in the real world to unlock new in-game worlds. It was really neat to see how that game evolved. Speaking of evolution, we also saw a panel on Fantasia: Music Evolved called “Music Evolved – From 8 Bit Soundtrack to Gameplay”.

Tiger: Another game we will never play.

Rabbit: It is an Xbox One exclusive so it will be difficult to play that one.

Tiger: Why did we go to that panel again?

Rabbit: Emily Reese! Inon Zur!

Tiger: Oh right, right. Yes, Emily Reese of Top Score Podcast has to be one of the best interviewers ever. She does an amazing job and if you’ve never heard Inon Zur before, he is such a character. I love his scores from Dragon Age and Fallout. He especially did a great job on The Lord of the Rings: War in the North soundtrack too. Also with them was legendary recording producer and engineer, Eddie Kramer. Gwen Riley and Christopher Nicholls from Disney Interactive rounded out the rest of the panel.

Rabbit: After that we went back to the expo hall and watched live tournaments of The Elder Scrolls Online, Evolve, Dreadnought, and Battlecry. I really couldn’t tell what was going on in those games.

Tiger: It was hard to follow along with some of them but Evolve looks really interesting. I like the concept of one person playing the monster and the rest having to team up to take them down.

Rabbit: It’s definitely a cool mash up; too bad the game got delayed. Next up was the “Maestros of Video Games” panel with Emily Reese as the moderator again. Jesper Kyd (Borderlands), Boris Salchow (Resistance), Martin O’Donnell (Destiny), Darren Korb (Transistor), Sascha Dikiciyan (Mass Effect 3), and Olsksa Lozowchuk (Dead Rising 3) were there talking about their music, what inspires them, and some cool insights into how video game music gets composed.

Tiger: The last panel of the night was a Whose Line is it Anyway style “The Improv Initiative: The Re-Improvining” panel with people from Loading Ready Run and Synaptic Chaos Theatre. They were really great and I had a blast at that panel. Next up on Sunday, what did we do on Sunday? By this time I felt like I was hung over even though I didn’t drink at all at PAX.

Rabbit: Well we started with room service because our feet hurt too much to walk down to the restaurant. Then we went to the expo hall one last time and replayed The Order: 1886-

Tiger: Which was a little better the second time around.

Rabbit: We also played Galak-Z and checked out a bunch of games in the Indie Megabooth, most of which were a blur.

Tiger: I did see a game called Wander that had this crazy tree-person who could morph into a griffin. I'm not sure of the game's purpose but it looked like you wandered around this jungle-esque world. It's an MMO and I don't think it had any combat. All I know is that it's listed for PS4.

Rabbit: ^gasps^

Tiger: What?

Rabbit: You actually admitted to liking an indie game and a non-violent one to boot.

Tiger: Okay first off, I said it looked interesting. Secondly, I didn’t get a chance to play it and I didn’t say I would ever play it.

Rabbit: I think I’m converting you-

Tiger: Dream on! Next, we went to see a panel by Bungie called “So Our Game is Called Destiny. Now What?”

Rabbit: Which was so electric that they blew a fuse and we lost power for a few minutes. After that we saw a great panel from Nippon Ichi Software America called “Bridge to Japan: The Process of Localizing Japanese Media.” They had a great group from NISA that included the localization director, the translator for Danganronpa 2, the editor for the Disgaea series, and the marketing coordinator. They discussed their localization process, how they pick their titles, and what it really takes to bring these Japanese games to the West.

Tiger: After the Tearaway panel, that was my next favorite panel. I loved some of the stories they told about the localization process. Like how one of the logos had a rainbow going left-to-right and the Japanese company told them that was completely wrong. The rainbow could only go right-to-left so they spent all this extra time changing that logo.

Rabbit: We also got a great story about the character of Ben from the first season of The Walking Dead by Telltale games. That was at the “Episodic Games: Divine Dream or Neverending Nightmare?” panel with Swery, Kevin Bruner and Kendall Davis from TellTale Games, Ryan Payton, and Matt Gilgenbach. Those funny backstories were probably my favorite thing about PAX. I like getting to hear all those stories and it's not something that happens every day in video game media. We ended the night with the “Late Night Dub Fight” panel which consisted of the same group from the Improv panel.

Tiger: So that’s our summary of PAX Prime 2014. There were so many things going on at PAX. You had Pinny Arcade, the real life PAX Pokemon League, Assassin’s Creed: Grand Hunt-

Rabbit: Don’t forget the Cookie Brigade, Buttoneering, all the board games being played everywhere, and tournaments!

Tiger: So much PAX, so little time.

Rabbit: Real quick, what were some first impressions of the games you played? For me, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of The Order: 1886 and I’m super excited to see how the story unfolds.

Tiger: *raises eyebrow* It’s an on-rails shooter.

Rabbit: It wasn’t that bad.

Tiger: The first time I played it, it was. Man, there was so much lag that it felt like I was playing a Resident Evil game.

Rabbit: Actually, it felt a lot like a Resident Evil game.

Tiger: It looks gorgeous and I’m definitely interested in the setting, but as for the gameplay, man. It’s just a little bit more entailed than an on-rails shooter but it sure is a very, very, very linear game. It has some issues, that demo really just turned me off from the game. You know what other demo turned me off? DriveClub, I was not impressed. Actually, it wasn’t fun at all, unlike The Crew which is fun to play, I felt like it was a really dry experience.

Rabbit: Ouch, harsh words but I have to agree with you on DriveClub. As for Bloodborne, it was a very solid demo, at least the five minutes I got to play because I died so quickly.

Tiger: And I crashed the demo station I was on. *laughs* Bloodborne was tight, I am not a huge Demon’s Souls/Dark Souls fan but I want to get Bloodborne. The weapon combos were fun and the whole premise of the game sounds cool.  I have to talk just a bit about Oculus Rift too. That tech is solid, I was super impressed. The room I was “standing” in felt natural including the distance between myself and the floor or walls. Man, I’m really impressed. If Morpheus is anything like Oculus, I’m getting it. Heck, I’d get Oculus if it had PS4 support planned. I’m not a fan of motion control or these gimmicky type peripherals but I think Oculus Rift could be something.

Rabbit: OMG! ^puts hands up to face^ There’s just too much to talk about and we haven’t even answered our question for this entry!

Tiger: Yes, so if you want to hear more about PAX Prime 2014 and our adventures there, shoot us a question in the comments section and we’ll be happy to answer them.

Rabbit: Getting back to the task at hand, so Tiger, do you think gamers should attend PAX Prime?

Tiger: I’m going to be the total pessimist here and say that no, PAX Prime isn’t worth attending for gamers. Why? Because you don’t actually get to play that many games. We were super lucky that we got to play what we did. PAX Prime is a great experience and I really love going but I’m going to bring up something Shidoshi mentioned to Anthony on A Generic Video Game Podcast. PAX Prime is supposed to be for the gamers, he said it should be a floor filled with demo stations but it’s not. So much of it has turned into one crazy marketing circus. This was our second year at PAX and I could see that there was a lot more marketing going on than in 2012. Ubisoft’s booth alone was nuts. Most of it was set up for a weird cage match that you had to wait hours in line to participate in. Yes, there are some amazingly cool things to do and see at PAX Prime but it’s not for gamers who want to play upcoming games. I say if you get a chance to go, definitely do so but don’t go with the mentality that you’ll be able to play a lot of video games.

Rabbit: Wow, you’re such a party pooper.

Tiger: Hey, someone had to pick the negative answer and I knew it wasn’t going to be you. I do stand by what I said; it’s not the gaming-centric event that I was expecting it to be. It was more games marketing-centric this year. I’ll still try to go when I can but I’m tapering my expectations that it’s becoming more and more like E3. So what say you, Rabbit?

Rabbit: Well of course I’m going to say yes! PAX Prime is awesome! AWESOME! The sights, the sounds, maybe not so much the smells, but the whole experience is amazebunnies! If you ever get a chance to go, do it dude! While even though this was only our second time, it’s true what Tiger says, it did feel like it was becoming a mini E3. Considering it’s the only large scale gaming convention that we’re able to attend, I still say it’s worth swimming through all the PR stunts to experience PAX Prime. As long as you are patient, you do get the opportunity to play games before they’ve hit store shelves. Even if you never get to try the big name IPs, there are still a ton of indie games and games from smaller studios that have shorter lines. And if you don’t play a video game, there are a ton of other things going on at PAX Prime. Panels! Board games! Tournaments! Cookies! There are lots of things that make going to PAX Prime worth the price!

Tiger: Before we wrap this up, I do want to give a shoutout to the PAX Prime Enforcers! They are the amazing volunteers behind every PAX. They keep everything running smoothly. Out of all the conventions we have gone to, PAX is by far the smoothest, well organized event we’ve attended. I don’t think it would be the same experience if it wasn’t for the hard work and dedication of the Enforcers, so thank you!

Rabbit: Yes, thank you Enforcers! You were a delight and a huge help during the entire event. I can’t believe that even working those long shifts, we never met a grumpy Enforcer. That’s more than I can say for you, Tiger. You got a case of the grumps towards the end of it.

Tiger: *crosses arms* Hey, it was a long weekend, I was tired. Anyway, that does it for us, thanks for reading this extra-long, link filled Q Attack everyone!

Should Gamers Attend PAX Prime?
Tiger     vs     Rabbit