An update on Saturday June 26th

Well, we will soon be moving everything to a new place. Eventually, when I can get a hold of Mike Michaud, I will have a definitive website at 'youcanplaythis.com'!

And, I am tired of waiting for SharkRobot. I want to work through them, but you all want t-shirts! So on Monday I will be going through one of the t-shirt groups (ZAZZLE or Printfections) and getting you what you want.

I have also decided that I will try to attend an anime convention this year. I was told by my good friend Mark Fujita (known as Psychotaku) that I have been ignoring that group and focusing on the gamers... where I also need to think of the people that like 'Japanese things'. So I am trying to get a panel at 'Nan Desu Kan' in Denver Colorado n September. So if you would like to see me there, send them a message and request me. I have also put a petition in for a panel. We will see what they have to say. Here's hoping!

And I'm going to do a bit of time on USTREAM on Monday. Let's see what kind of crowd we can get. The time will probably be in the morning sometime, but we will see.

EDIT: 06/27/2010
Ok. I got the domain and on Monday at noon I will be meeting with him again to get server information so I can get everything transferred. SO EXCITED!

The French not only like Jerry Lewis... they like JewWario!

An interview from a wonderful French language site. I was honored to be asked and I hope that you will enjoy the interview.

JewWario at E3 - 5th Cell - Super Scribblenauts

JewWario is at E3 admiring the new Super Scribblenauts area and a kind gentleman comes up and asks him if he would like to know more about it. That person is Brett Caird producer of Super Scribblenauts! Woot!

Hello, my friends.

Ok. I have not had any internets for some time and so I was not able to share my videos and reactions with you all. But here is one of the most informative videos I have taken all week. Please enjoy, and I will share more soon.

E3 Is a-coming! Tell us the questions we should ask!

Join JewWario & Shuuki at E3 all day every day from June 15th through the 17th. We're going to be posting as quickly as our little fingers can type. And The boys will be doing a nightly 'Gaming Pipeline' to talk about their experiences and their thoughts on one of the biggest Electronics Expos in the country.

Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Konami, SEGA, XSEED... the list just goes on and on. You only THINK you know what to expect, but even I am surprised at the emails I have been getting on an hourly basis. But we're not going to E3 just to have fun... we're here to write for you! So, if you have a question you would like us to ask the staff at one these fine fine companies, post it here and we will be sure to get it asked for you! Just put it in a question in the comments are and we'll find out together.

Also, if you happen to be wandering around the E3 expo yourself, come up to us and tell us 'Hello'. We would love to meet the people who visit our site for the latest in exclusive articles, interviews, and videos.

Many thanks to Jonathan Mann for making the killer theme song for JewWario's E3 nightly vlogs. Please visit him at ROCK COOKIE BOTTOM and listen to his ambitious undertaking of a song-a-day.

You Can Play This 3.8 - Hokuto No Ken

YCPT - 3.7 - Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti

You Can Play This 3.6 - Yokai Douchuuki

Big thanks to Mark Fujita for helping with this video.

And check out the PSYCHOTAKU at SpeedGamers!

the Gaming Pipeline - Killer Apps

JewWario and Shuuki discuss console games that really defined specific systems. Games that were most likely purchased because of a system or specifically for a system.

Let us explain. See, there are certain games that were released primarily for one console and was a game that defined that system. Like it or not, love it or hate it... these were the games that you just got. And they were n't always the games that CAME with the system. Super Mario Bros. might not be considered the 'killer app' for the NES... Super Mario Bros. 3 might.

So continue the discussion below. What do you think were the 'killer apps' for the various systems?

Mario Monologues - DK

The original is here. It was filmed at a place called the BUG THEATRE. on the last Monday night of every month they host an event called the FREAK TRAIN! For $5 a person gets 5 minutes on stage to do whatever they want.

I did some segments where I told a story as Mario and I put a moral at the end. So the DK moral is to be kind to people and say 'thank you' when someone does something nice. I always tried to have a moral.

The DragonQuest IX US release... will it be butchered?

It will have been exactly one year since DragonQuest IX would have been released in Japan that there will be an official English translated one here in the States. People will rejoice and there will be dancing in the streets. There will be the sounding of drums, but will it really be called for? What will the dreaded changes be for this long awaited title?

Well, the cover for one. Now I shouldn't be too surprised about his change as it is customary to change box art when it is regoinalized, but the box art looks so very serious. The characters look super cheesed at something happening just at the area where you open the DS case. Is this because he knows something that we don't? Or is it just because the companies releasing the game thought that this game wouldn't appeal to people if it had a youthful look and of people making merry? I love how companies underestimate their customers.

In Japan, there is a popular feature that allows map trading with others online called 'Tag' mode. It appears that it will have this feature reduced and only work when in local-wireless mode and not just when the DS lid is closed as is the case in Japan. This Reducing the 'Tag' feature to local wireless only isn't much of a setback as that feature is more popular in the densely packed Japan streets, but taking away anything so popular from a game almost feels like neutering it. Otherwise, it seems that the game will be a fairly accurate representation of its rising-sun counterpart.

With more and more people gaming on the go I suppose that it is not a surprise that we are seeing this title being a must-import. Let's just hope that people haven't been too soured by Final Fantasy XIII and want to give an RPG another try. So far, DragonQuest has been a fairly successful series and warrants a following. It found its way into the Guinness Book Of World Records for the most people meeting in the 'Chance Encounter' mode, so let's see if that just builds interest. Being touted as the most difficult of the series won't hurt a bit either.

You Can Play This - 3.5 - Eyeshield 21

WTF Is Up With Kickassia???

Jew Wario/Psychotaku Crossover - Super Sentai part 2

Gaming Pipeline - Top 5 Sequels

A wha???

Ok. I saw this on the Angry Video Game Nerd's new video and thought OMGWTF? A Nintoaster!

I mean, sure the joke about the NES looking like a toaster has been around for quite some time.. but I think it must be sheer brilliance that someone actually MADE one of these things.

Not only that... he did a SNES version as well!

WAAAAH! I WANTS ONE!

New Link GET!

I have been trying to find links that are interesting to me... and are Famicom related.

First off, we have F*ck Yeah Famicom! which is a blog about everything Famicom. The guy there seems very nice and seems to have a passion for the Famicom.

Then there's a link to 101 PC Engine secrets! Now, I have a PC Engine, and love it... and some of these 'secrets' are more of 'didja know's than anything else. But some of them are very interesting and worthy to read.

The next one is a link to my girl in Japan, J-Idol and Famicom/retro game collector, Haruna Anno. Her love for games is really remarkable and she is making it a side-job of her's to write articles for Japanese magazines and websites about her passion.

And, I can't tell you how cool it is, but she's following me on Twitter! Now, in all honesty, it's probably because I subscribed to her Twitter first... but I can still hope that sometime she might actually go to one of my subtitled videos on Nico Nico... and shoot me an email.




Finally, here's an oldie but goodie. This is the scanlation of the old Famicom Disk manual. All I have to say is that Takashi is a choad!

Jew Wario/Psychotaku Crossover - Super Sentai part 1

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love Review (PS2)

All I can say is: It took long enough!

The Sakura Wars franchise has long been a Japanese only game series with plenty of fan-boys begging for the title to be released overseas. And, after 14 years, it has finally happened. But the question now is, will people who were begging for the translated dating sims of Japan be disappointed, or will they want more? SEGA is hoping it will be the latter and so packed this copy of their popular Sakura Wars series with a large instruction booklet, a poster of the cover art, and a supplemental manual of characters, images, and layouts of the theatre where your headquarters are hidden beneath.

In Sakura Wars you play as young Lt. Shinjiro Taiga, a 'samurai' in training, who is sent to New York to lead The New York Revue Star Devision which is the team that protects the city. You meet seveal teammates along the way and begin to learn your way around the New York of the game... which is a sort of exaggeration and anime-esque version of the real thing.

When meeting and chatting with characters you will have many automatic responses, but sometimes you may notice that the dialogue box will be split into several different, sometimes quite cheeky, responses as is par for the course in Sakura Wars games. But be careful. Your responses are timed, and your responses are what endears you to your fellow soldiers. Get on their bad side, and they might not fight well beside you. Become dear friends with them, then they become powerful allies when you do enter combat. And don't feel like the middle path is the correct choice. Sometimes you may find that you get on someone's good side by being a little brash or curt with them. Each character reacts differently to specific choices that you make, and it's a very refreshing change to the usual RPGs where you will be sent on a specific path no matter what you say.

And that is one of the most entertaining parts of this RPG/Non-dating game. There's no grinding to raise the levels for your characters, it's all based upon how your relationships with them grow (or fail to, as the case may be). This will all help you when entering battle.

Now when it does comes time to kick some heads in, the combat system is actually quite enjoyable. You take control of one of the iconic steam mecha that is popular to the series and lead the team against enemy mecha. As always, the giant robots are beautifully designed and really bring the feel of the Sakura Wars genre to us. And the combat is fast paced and enjoyable. The controls are not stiff and are quite easy to get used to. There aren't a ton of sub-menus to choose from and so gets you going to the action quickly.

But should combat get a tad long, you can pause in the middle of a battle and save the game from the exact point you left off. Not many games of this genre have done this in the past and it is really refreshing to see someone finally take the lead and think about the players and things that may happen while playing a video game.

Unfortunately there aren't as many battle sequences as you might hope for making the need to forge tighter bonds with the other characters a bit confusing. This is where I actually would wish for it to be an actual dating simulation and not the non-dating simulation that it is. I mean taking out the grinding aspect to have your characters get better in battle seems silly if you don't go into battle that much. I personally would have enjoyed more combat opportunities and see exactly how powerful my relationships could get my crew. I would have to go back to my other Sakura Wars games, but I honestly think that those games had more combat opportunities than this version. But the choice menu does keep you busy by also allowing you to perform actions that will determine your skills in the game as well. Memory is key here as is skill with the controller.

As is usual for this series, it's the story that is the driving feature of the game, and is what will cause you to continue to want to play it. Thankfully, this is one story this is actually entertaining and enjoyable... if you like anime. The dating sims of Japan do not usually do too well here overseas as they are story driven and can get quite silly at times, and this one is no exception.

Now, with the ages of the characters, it is understandable that it is not a dating simulation game as the others of the series were, but just a relationship simulator. After all, the tender age of a few of the characters would be frowned upon should your character want to date them. But I think this was a necessary change to bring this overseas and try out their chops on a North American/European audience.

This is, however, a very good portal into the mindset of the Japanese dating-sim genre and, if you take it as such, you won't be disappointed. But the story, as good as it is, is completely silly and unrealistic. With gangster gunfights going on in the middle of the city and you unable to do anything to prevent it except “watch your own back” this portion of the game may lead to some people having a difficult time suspending their belief and just enjoying the game for what it is.

The voice acting in this title are not the worst I have heard. In fact, they're pretty good by normal standards. It appears to me that the actors are old hat at this and everything sounds good. The women don't go too over the top as is usually heard in these kinds of games and the male actors do fine work as well.

But, should you be a purist like me, then you can easily switch to the second disk that comes with the game and listen to the dialogue spoken in Japanese. Unfortunately you cannot switch between the two disks as you may want to, so make sure you choose your language preference ahead of time, because you're stuck with it for the rest of the game. This really makes no sense and is a problem that could have easily be fixed with a tiny bit of foresight. But the point really becomes mute if you are not the kind of person who likes voice acting and chooses to turn the voices off at the menu command.

Unfortunately you cannot turn off the music which is something I would have desired. The soundtrack is like that of the early Sega Saturn renditions of the game: hokey, embarrassingly short, and endlessly looping. It almost seems like they're using a midi track for most of it and it really brought my experience down a notch. With the disk space of the PS2 I would have thought that the developers would have put as much dedication to the background music of this game as they did for the voice acting, but it really seems like this game would have felt just at home on the Sega Saturn as it would on the PS2. I am all for Staying true to a series, but this game truly deserved much better music.

As always there are plenty of lockable to discover and these are, as is popular in dating sims, images of the characters and new outfits. In fact NIS America gives us the opportunity to unlock a lot of images and costumes from codes provided on their own site. Sure, it might seem to defeat the purpose of unlocking thins yourself, but given that it will take you quite some time to even get to that point, I think it's definitely something people will want to play just to get to that point.

So, what's the final verdict? Well, I would have to say that this is a must-own for any anime fan. The translations were done well and the storyline is something that is interesting not only to a Japanese player, but to those of us overseas as well. The team were very diligent in making sure that the Japanese was translated to the 'T' but this also results in some words that just don't feel natural for the characters to be saying, whatever time period that they might be living in.

Don't feel bad not trying out Sakura Wars out if anime is not your thing. This is, unfortunately a game meant for a pretty specific group of gamers. But if you are a fan of anime, an avid RPG player, or even someone who has a curiosity about the dating-sim genre then this will not disappoint you at all. Chock full of full-motion cut scenes, an enjoyable (if not ) combat system, and a entertaining relationship simulator all make this title a great amount of fun. Previous fans of the Japanese series will not feel slighted at all as it stays true to the other games in the series, but new players may need to give it the old 'college try' before realizing that there are some games out there that are good games not because of the combat system, but for a meaty storyline like this one.

Blogger is GO!

Hey all, I'm going to start posting again and keeping up on this blog. I thought it might be nice to have an area where I can post all of the things that I work on... kinda' "centralize" it.

So, I will be posting my TGWTG videos, the Kokugamer articles I write, and other stuff. I'll also see if I can't put a link to my Twitter to the side-bar there.

ON the other side, my wife is very happy that I am back home from my vacation. I cannot wait to show you all what I and several others have been working on.

Also, I am working on my Sakura Wars review which should be up either on Friday or Saturday... so look for that.