If I play those word puzzles on Club Bing enough, I could potentially get free Xbox 360 games that I've yet to or will probably never purchase, such as Halo 3 ODST and Ninja Blade. On the other hand, even when I do get them, they'll just sit on the rack and seldom if ever get played. Sometimes, NES games are just more fun than 360 games. Welp.
Somebody scanned some pages of the latest Famitsu detailing the mechs that will appear in the next Another Century's Episode game. And after cross-referencing that blog article with the scans they provided, it seems legit. So let's break down the units and their pilots:
Super Dimension Century Orguss
Orguss (Kei Katsuragi) Orguss II (Orson D. Verne) Nikick (Athena Henderson)
Man, Macross Frontier gets a lot of units if you count the FAST Pack-equipped units as separate units. The biggest suprise on this list, however, is the best mecha unit period:
Oh hey, awesome, a video game enthusiast community! Hopefully, it isn't as retarded as GameFAQs or IGN or anything like that. I bet there will be discussions about the latest games, old favorites, and more! Maybe people here are old enough to remember the Nintendo Entertainment System? Who knows! There is one thing I am worried about... I really, REALLY, hope that people don't talk about anime nonstop, and that there is a horrible divide amongst the community over what is essentially a non-issue.
Woops.
So... Anime. I hear it is for jerks. I hear lots of people think it is terrible. I also hear that people who love anime love the exact same set of shows and nothing beyond. What, you say Cowboy Bebop was awesome? Thought Neon Genesis Evangelion was a deep, thought-provoking show? Maybe you like that Naruto show that kids seem to love these days like kids used to love Dragon Ball Z back in the day. Well, it seems like every single time anime is brought up in the Giant Bomb community, it devolves into a shitstorm of stupidity. Congrats, everybody! Those of you who hate anime sure are loud and obnoxious about how much you hate it! And those of you who love anime sure won't shut up about how much you love it! Who is the real winner in this fight for supremacy?
GIVE THEM TO ME ALL YOUR ANIMES!
My Personal Opinion of Anime?
This is long and unnecessary, go straight to the next section.
Honestly, I didn't give a shit about anime growing up. It was all video games and terrible B-movies for me. I took some Japanese language classes in high school because I thought it was weird that there was a Japanese language class in my high school, and boy, when I took that class, what a terrible mistake that was! Keep in mind, this was back in 2000, I didn't have the internet, and most of your memes and stupid 4chan/Genmay-related bullshit hadn't been invented yet. Yet even back in those days, all your anime fan stereotypes were represented. Japanophiles, people talking non-stop about the anime they were watching, mentioning they only took the class because they watch anime, and more! I put up with two years of that crap, and made out alright. Unlike the rest of the class, who failed out because learning a new language was too difficult, I did alright. My conversational skills are pretty awful, but my reading and listening comprehension was fine.
It ain't a Super Robot Wars game without this! My new Japanese language skills were getting stagnant, so I figured I'd find something, ANYTHING, to keep it fresh. Obviously, I had a bad experience with anime fans, so the last think I wanted to do was get sucked into their little world. What I ended up doing was importing Japanese video games. Most of the games I wanted, however, were not text heavy, so I had to find a game that fulfilled a couple of requirements: it had to be text-heavy, not released in the United States, and wouldn't be boring to trudge through. At this point in time, I was getting bored with standard RPGs, but I loved the idea of strategy RPGs. What I ended up playing was a Super Famicom game that was part of a franchise that I would soon be a huge fan of: Super Robot Taisen 4.
For the uninformed, the Super Robot Taisen franchise is a series of strategy RPGs made by Banpresto that involves series crossovers of giant robot anime. As this was the fourth game in the series, most of the shows present in the game weren't shown in America (for the most part), so I had no idea what any of these characters were. All I knew was that all the robots didn't seem to fit in with one another, except the Gundam stuff (at the time, Gundam Wing was it, I had no idea there was anything beyond that (I hated Gundam Wing)). Looking into it, I learned that most of the shows represented in the game were older giant robot shows from the 1970s and 1980s. And the reason I really got into this was because, even though I didn't give a shit about anime, loved B-movies, especially old giant monster movies like Godzilla and Gamera. Giant robots was just the next logical step.
"VOLTES FIVE!" To better understand the characters and stuff in the games, which assume you're at least familiar with the series present, I did the unthinkable. I watched anime. Unfortunately, most of these shows were old. Anime distribution companies in the US didn't license any of these older shows, and fansubbers didn't want to work on anything that was both several episodes long and old (even though they'll sub Naruto until the end of time). I basically watched what I could. The original Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy was first, and suprisingly I enjoyed it. It didn't feature the retardedness that Gundam Wing provided years earlier. I found old fansubs of both Combattler V and Voltes V (I used to live in the Philippines when I was a kid and was familiar with Voltes V, it is probably the most popular cartoon in the country), and I enjoyed the campiness of a combining robot with goofy superweapons that defy modern science. And then I got a chance to watch the original Mazinger Z from an old Hong Kong bootleg. The subtitles for that show were terrible, but I didn't need them. And I was hooked.
Hooked on anime? No. I was hooked on giant robot shows. This all came at a terrible price, however. For every good show, there were several awful shows. Everything I know about anime was because I wanted to better know the stuff that was going on in these games. Unfortunately, the stuff I didn't like in the games reflected when I watched the shows. For example, I didn't like the EVA units or the characters from Evangelion when I played games featuring them. When I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion, I realized why. As a strange aside, I did love Space Runaway Ideon, which was thematically similar to Evangelion, only it was made over a decade earlier.
My opinion on anime? It has horrible fans, a terrible sub-culture, and a lot of shows seem to pander to their awfulness.
Giant Bomb Loves Anime
So you love anime and want to defend its honor in the halls of the Giant Bomb message boards? Good for you, I hope you have a sound argument to bring to the table, as defending anime is a difficult task. Wait, what are you doing? What is that? OH SHIT NAW, it's a list of "shows you think are good". What the hell is that going to do? Well, let's see what is on your list of "good shows" shall we:
Shows that were featured on Toonami; Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo, whatever.
Shows that were featured on Adult Swim; Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, whatever.
Shows that were aired in Japan at 1:00 a.m. whose target demographic is shut-in otaku in their 20s and 30s, and most of it is creepy and you have to download it via the internet because no company in America will...oh wait, ADV started doing that before they folded, nevermind.
Every single time the Anime Defense Force comes around, you'll list the same shit over and over as to why "anime isn't terrible", but you fail to realize that, if haters didn't like those shows to being with, then why the hell do you keep bringing them up? Keep in mind, also, that even Adult Swim, which brought in several shows that you loved, doesn't even want to deal with anime anymore because you guys don't bring in the ratings. The anime boom is dead. Anime fans killed anime in America because they refuse to buy shit, instead pirating everything they ever watch. The fandom also tens to cling to creepy moe stuff constantly. Yeah, I think you guys need to re-evaluate yourselves before trying to defend your animes once again.
Giant Bomb Hates Anime (and by "hates anime" I mean they are closeted racists)
So you hate anime? You have every reason to hate anime, honestly. The fans are terrible, there are tons of terrible shows, the fans think that anime is some kind of high art form and great sub-culture that their lives have to revolve around anime 24/7. Yes, anime is awful... What? Why, no, I don't think we need to nuke Japan again. What do you mean the two nukes from WWII mutated the Japanese so that their brains are wired all wrong and they fondle little girls because of it? What the fuck is your problem? That's right, people, you hate anime. And every now and again, one of you tries to bring in edgy humor once found only in the annals of 4chan, Fark, Something Awful, wherever ironic racism is funny! Ironic racism is the best! Totally ironic, nothing wrong with that, I'm a white, middle class teenager on the internet calling out the Japs on their shit. Every anti-anime sentiment eventually leads to racist comments. This is nothing new, and that is why this is also boring as shit. There's a place on the interent, however, where they will accept your "ironic racism" though, and that is Stormfront.org. Go there. And don't come back. Then kill yourself.
What Can Giant Bomb Do To Solve This Hot-Button Issue of Anime vs. Not-Anime?
That's easy. STOP FUCKING TALKING ABOUT ANIME, NOBODY GIVES A SHIT THAT YOU LOVE/HATE ANIME! Nobody cares that you think Cowboy Bebop is the best show since The A-Team. And nobody cares that you hated anime long before it was cool to hate on anime. And maybe someday, when people stop talking about anime on Giant Bomb, we will be at least a better community than GameFAQs. Or you know, all of you go to GameFAQs and post there, they seem to love talking about stupid shit.
Post-Game Analysis
Making a thread with the word "anime" on it is guaranteed to generated a billion replies because holy shit to you people love to talk about anime! I'm expecting a billion replies that didn't read the thread whatsoever just because of the word "anime" on the title!
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Since last week, Valve has been suprising Left 4 Dead 2 fans across the world with brand new ways to play their favorite zombie-slaying game! "Realism Versus" was the first, which gave an excellent one-sided battle that favored those lucky enough to play as the zombies. This week brought "Bleed Out," a campaign mode that removes first aid kits altogether and makes the survivors slowly die, forcing them to rely on taking pills and shots to stay alive (obviously a metaphor for the TV show "Intervention"). But what does the future hold for the gameplay mode that promises exciting new ways to kill not-really-people that have crazy superpowers thanks to their undeath? Well, I'm no Valve employee, but I've played enough video games to guess what will appear in the coming month! Brace yourselves, because you are not going to believe the new Mutation modes that are definately going to possibly be real if I am correct maybe!
Rock Out!
In this totally rockin' campaign sensation, players will be only allowed one weapon: a guitar! In additon, all ambient sounds and zombie grunts and noises will be replaced by music and lyrics from the Midnight Riders! Players and zombies alike will be sporting leather jackets, rocking facial hair, and beer guts. All of the walls will have pyrotechnics shooting out of them.
Dead Rain!
In this realistic campaign Mutation, players will have plenty to "look up" to, as zombies will rain down from the sky wherever they go! Indoor environments will have zombies shooting out of lighting fixtures and fire suppression sprinklers. Players inside of building with windows will have zombies slamming into windows like in the movie "The Birds". Boomers explode when they hit the ground. Also, all zombies are replaced by Boomers.
The Russian Front!
In this campaign-based Mutation, the survivors will re-enact the first mission of the Soviet campaign from that Call of Duty game I hear great things about! When the game starts, you are given ammunition, but no firearms or melee weapons. Survivors must navigate past Nazi machine gun fire to find a sniper. Once found, Soviet artillery will take out the German encampments allowing you to take the Red Square. The Survivors are replaced by Soviet troops. The zombies are replaced by Nazi soldiers. Also, it is 2003 and you are literally playing Call of Duty.
L4D2: Miami
In this realistic campaign Mutation, you must investigate a murder that one of the zombies is guilty of. Using state-of-the-art technology and hilarious one-liners, survivors must race against the clock by putting on sunglasses and listening to "The Who". Press Mouse 1 to scream "YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Rated TV-14.
I Want My Psycho Dad!
Remember that episode of "Married With Children" where Marcy managed to get Psycho Dad off the air, and Al Bundy gathered the members of No Ma'am to march to Washington D.C. in an attempt to save the show? Anyways, when you begin the game, the episode starts playing. Watch it to the end and you win!
Who knows what kind of future Left 4 Dead 2 will have in the coming year? Awesome DLC support? New achievements on the horizon? An announcement for Left 4 Dead 3: Back In Training starring Steve Guttenburg? Nobody knows but Valve, but if I had it my way, Valve would slowly add new content to the game, such as new art, voice clips, slight modifications to the gameplay engine, until eventually, maybe someday, it will evolve into something really big:
Oh hey, I thought that the Another Century's Episode series was done, but apparently From Software, Banpresto, and Namco-Bandai are gonna make this happen. Nevermind that I find a good portion of the roster bland as all hell, but a new game is a new game. What's gonna be in the game?
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
Full Metal Panic!
Genesis of Aquarion
Macross Zero
Macross Frontier
Mobile Suit Z Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
Overman King Gainer
Super Dimensional Century Orguss
And then they released a promo video, which you can find here:
Personally, I can do without Code Geass, SEED Destiny, and Macross Frontier, and maybe Aquarion but I find its inclusion hilarious. I'm going to be very disappointed if I can't launch a Mugen Punch and go into some sort of "Mugen Punch Control Mode" where you just snake the punch all over the map onto infinity, blowing crap up left and right. The Orguss, Overman King Gainer, Crossbone Gundam, and Full Metal Panic stuff is gonna rule, though. And really, I'm still waiting on them doing an all-Super-Robot version of this series, mainly because I want to wreck stuff as Mazinger Z, Daimos, or Voltes V. Maybe Daitarn 3 for how comically large and awesome it is.
Gonna be on the PS3, so hooray, I can give my Japanese PS2 a break. SRW games are working it to death at the moment.
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So my old video card died, and I got me an ATI Radeon HD 5850. It's overkill because I have a 32" LCD TV that outputs in either 720p or 1080i. At least I can play Left 4 Dead 2 now without it crashing.
I recently purchased "Match of the Millenium: SNK vs. Capcom" for the Neo Geo Pocket Color for $5. It is the first NGPC game I've bought in the past decade. That was pretty sweet.
Kind of stoked about the new "Another Century's Episode: R" game coming out in Japan on the PS3. It has some good series on there like Crossbone Gundam and Orguss, but it also has terrible crap like Gundam SEED Destiny. I'll see how that turns out eventually.
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