Energy Low...

Hey there!

Haven't been feeling too well recently. Just generally run down for some reason and I have this annoying cough/sore throat team-up that I got from shouting at little ickle Japanese kids in class all last week.

It's stupid hot here - well, it's only about 27-29 degrees C, but the humidity in Japan is killer. Time to break out the shorts!

I finally finished Blue Dragon a couple of weekends ago but haven't had the energy to do a proper review or any real blogging for that matter. I'll write something about my opinions on BD soon, though, and finish up a translation from Weekly Famitsu that I've been sitting on for a few weeks.

Haven't had much time or energy after work to play anything really, though I have managed to squeeze a few hours into...



I almost finished the Playstation version of FFV last year, but I lost my save data in a freak gamma ray accident. Don't get my memory card angry. You wouldn't like it when he's angry...



The reason I chose to play the GBA version is because it supposedly has better graphics and a better translation. While I suppose that's true, the graphics don't look that much better. Bizarrely, the graphics in my FFV Advance clock that I use on my mobile phone look much better than the GBA game itself! I don't know about phones in the west, but you gotta love the stuff you can download for phones here in Japan!(^_^)

As for the translation, well, yeah, it is better, but I enjoyed Faris' cheesy-shit pirate-y dialogue from the Playstation version. Made me laugh every time! Faris' dialogue is at times just as nonsensical in the GBA version, though. "Quit your lollygagging", anyone? It's still a fun game, the job system is great, although it feels a little nerfed compared to Blue Dragon's more versatile job system.

Well, that's it for now fellow Nerfherders, come back again soon, y'hear? (^_^)

SoloNerfherder is feeling...

I've been real busy with work and studying for/trying to go through all my lessons and qualify for my practical driving test (still have to do my written exam, though, ugh). So I haven't had time, Red Bull or health powerups to blog. I'll be back tomorrow or Wednesday with more...

Nice to see therealpidge come back to civilisation, and hello Alexandra, welcome to my friends list! (^_^)

Blue Dragon, Thanks for Nothing! (-_-#)

3:30am. The first time I've had a late night gaming sesh in many moons. With my wife asleep, I am alone, my wireless headphones enveloping me in Blue Dragon's world. I'm having fun (^_^). Running through the Ancient Factory on Disc 2, about half an hour of hard grinding from the last save point, and this happens:



Game crash as a battle fades out to the field again. Blue Dragon, you total bar steward.

"Your friendly neighbourhood... aww, you know!"

Ho-lee crap,
Japan Gets Movie Before the US Shocker!

Whilst Japan usually gets movies dead last in the international release schedule, yesterday saw an early release of Spider-Man 3, presumably to coincide with the annual Golden Week holiday here.

Seeing as I virtually live at the local cinema (i.e. I go there quite a lot - I'm not a homeless dude living in the cinema doorway!), I rushed down to my local multiplex to see Spidey's newest adventure (Sorry therealpidge, looks like they stopped showing the Gegege no Kitarou ads now that the movie has been released, so I couldn't sneak a recording of them for you!).

I gotta say that I freakin' loved it. Screw the haters. Going in, I was expecting to be disappointed because there were going to be so many characters in it - the established guys, plus Venom/Eddie Brock, Sandman, Gwen Stacy... it could have been a recipe for disaster. Right Batman and Robin? (^_^)

But somehow, it pulls it off! I loved how they managed to balance the movie and pack so much story in. If there's one caveat, it's that Venom doesn't get enough time onscreen, and when he does, it's more Brock's face poking out of the Venom suit than Venom itself. Venom's also a lot less 'roided up than the comics and cartoons. Sandman's scenes are excellently played, although you have to wonder should he really get away with so much in the name of saving his daughter? The part where Sandman comes out of the sand for the first time was great. I felt like I was watching the birth of a new creature, as he tried to find his feet... and arms, hands, face, etc. (^_^)


For the first time, Spidey is the one who gets tied up


It is a long movie (139 mins., I believe), but I didn't get bored for a second. There are some surreal moments of humour that I bet will take a lot of flak, mainly involving Venom symbiote-influenced Emo-Parker, but I was laughing like a drain when I saw them! Even some of the audience were laughing out loud, which is a little unusual in a Japanese cinema. Usually I'm the only one laughing with my (Japanese) wife telling me to shut up because I'm embarrassing her! The now customary Bruce Campbell cameo got a good reaction from everyone, too.


Dig that black Hitler hair!

There are a lot of holes that critics have mentioned already, but I was sucked in from the "Story So Far" opening titles, and the first flight'n'fight through the streets of New York was the spray cream on the cake for me. If you're going to get bent out of shape about why an alien symbiote just happens to land by Peter Parker, then why are you watching a movie about a dude who gets superpowers from a radioactive spider bite? Just enjoy this wonderful Hollywood event movie - with some of the key crew and stars expressing doubts about wanting to make another - it may be the last we'll see.


Spidey realises the Axe Effect just wore off


She must have been hit with the hawt stick since Lady in the Water!


Sweep yer chim-a-neys for yer?