This probably does not count as news, but I thought I’d
mention it for the individuals that don’t research these games as much as I do.
Let me start with Harvest Moon: The
Island I Grew Up On. This is the one I mentioned a few days ago. The first
news item is that you can now grow rice! OMFGWTFBBQ! I can’t read Japanese, but
using a handy-dandy translator I gathered this information…

With
the latest ranch raising rice revives! Plowing the paddy field, you raise the
rice plant, harvest with カマ!
While feeling the change of season, aiming toward the ripening of the fall,
Let's enjoy real rice plant work life. Including, in the United States
which it made, also width of cooking spreads steadily!

What does this cryptic gobble-dee-gook mean? I’m assuming
that now crops are no longer limited to one season (a la Harvest Moon: A
Wonderful Life). You also harvest rice with your sickle, like grass. There will
also be more dishes that nobody will cook.

Other news includes a revamped crop level system. (Beyond
this point I am completely guessing) This means that leveling up your crops no
longer involves multiple bags of seeds. It is probably determined by three
factors including: watering, season, and something involving the color green
(I’m through guessing now, I hope). I dunno, I’m working with what I have.

The other game I have been looking into is Rune Factory
(already released in Japan).
I haven’t really researched this because, well, it didn’t have Harvest Moon in
its name. I looked into it anyway, and I realized that this game… looks friggin’ sweat! It’s like a mutant
amalgamation of stereotypical RPGs and Harvest Moon goodness. It even has a
teaser video: Rune
Factory Video (in Japanese, stupid!)

Then there is Harvest Moon for the Wii. Very little is known
about this game. You use the WiiMote to use some of your tools. You tilt it to
water, swing it to hoe, etc. I’m assuming the longer you hold the WiiMote in
place, the more you charge your tool. Videos also show that you can throw your
seeds directly in front of you over several squares. The graphics are a little
bland, but the cows look a little more like real cows, rather than mutant a
Kirby.

The worst part? They have not announced an American release
date for any of these games! The strange translation potentially hints at an
American release. Europe is supposed to get Rune Factory early next year, so
hopefully we stubborn Americans can beat them to it. It’s all rather exciting!

As recorded by court stenographer

Judge: Let us now begin the case trying Mr. Kepano for thecrime of the illegal sale of humuhumunukunukuapua’as^*. Court is now in session.
Prosecutor: I would like to call to the stand… Mr. Kepano.
Judge: Mr. Kepano, can you please approach the stand?
Guard: Please raise your right hand… Do you swear to do abunch of stuff that vaguely resembles the truth.
Kepano: Yes.
Guard: Terrific, now sit down.
Prosecutor: So… Mr. Kepano, lets cut to the chase. Are you guiltyof illegally selling humuhumunukunukuapua’as?
Kepano: No, I am not.
Prosecutor: You are not what?
Kepano: I am not guilty of selling humuhumunukunukuapua’as.
Prosecutor: O RLY?
Kepano: YA RLY…
Prosecutor. What if I told you I have proof of not only yoursale of humuhumunukunukuapua’as, but also that you have even been serving humuhumunukunukuapua’asas a delicacy in your restaurant?
Kepano: I would say you were lying. I have never sold humuhumunukunukuapua’as,either as food or pets.
Prosecutor: Whoa, who said anything about humuhumunukunukuapua’asas pets?
Kepano: No one, I just assumed –
Prosecutor: You assumed that I already had evidence of youselling humuhumunukunukuapua’as as pets?
Kepano: No, that’s not –
Prosecutor: May I remind you that you are under oath! Is ita fact that you have been selling humuhumunukunukuapua’as as pets!?
Kepano: NO!
Prosecutor: Okay, bring in the first bit of evidence, Mr.Antidisestablishmentarianism.

~ At this point, the stenographer committed suicide ~

Note: I realize that this is not how a court room actually functions. It's just a joke. Duh.

* For those of you who have never lived in Hawaii, this is a humuhumunukunukuapua'a...

I have to admit, this is a delightful game. If you are a fan of the Kirby series, you will enjoy Klonoa 2. The graphics are a little dated by today's standards, but it was one of the first games to implement cell shading. The gameplay is what matters most anyway. The controls are simple, but they offer a lot of variety (similar to games of old). It is presented in the underused style of 2-and-a-half-D. That means it's a 3-D view, but you stay primarily on one plane. There are not many puzzles per se, but the game does make you think on your feet sometimes. Nothing wall-punchingly difficult, but extremely fun. The occasional hover board stages also make for a nice break. The controls are, again, simple and you are hardly penalized if you screw up. My only real gripe for the game is the ending. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but it will make you say, "WTF?" So if you're interested, I highly recommend you pick it up. That is, if you can find it. I recommend checking the used game bin, because this game might be hard to find.

Personal Note: I start my new job today. Here's hoping it works out. More news on that as events warrant.

Are you all looking forward to the new Harvest Moon game
coming out on the DS? I know I am. I am actually looking forward to having some
new characters. Maybe because some of them look so much like other classic
characters. Here are some of the new ones that look somewhat reminiscent of
older characters in the series.

マルク

It’s Jack! Well, his name is technically Mark,
but still. What’s with the blonde hair? Did the new James Bond movie do this to
you?

ダニー

It’s
Kai! Just kidding. This guy’s name is supposedly Danny. I wonder if he is still
the same womanizer he always is.

セフィーナ

It’s
Mary / Maria! Or is it Cefina? Maybe in English it’s Sephina. Who knows.

リリー

Riri,
lol. Get it? Re-re? No? Geez. I don’t know who she is supposed to resemble
(Karen or Popuri, maybe), but I just thought the name was funny.

Well, anyway. This baby is known as Harvest Moon: Something about an Island.
At least, I think so. Who knows what Natsume is going to end up calling it.
It’ll be released in Japan
on 1 February 2007, theoretically. It has already been delayed once, so here’s
hoping it stops there. I will give you more news as events warrant.

Okay everyone, I have returned from my holiday. As you know
I went to Disneyworld and several other places
over the last week. Then for Thanksgiving, I visited some family. It was all
pretty personal, so I won't bore you. I will make some comments about the
overall condition of humanity, though. 

On my first day, I went to a water park. Hey, it’s Florida! When you come from the North, 70
degrees (Fahrenheit) feels like a hot summer day. Anyway, I just wanted to say
that there was an overabundance of, um, er, well, lets say “average-Americans.”
These “average-American” were wearing garments that they simply should not. By
that, I mean practically nothing. I mean, cover that up! Honestly.

I also noticed a large number of people at Disneyworld
that subscribe to the Emo lifestyle. I’ve noticed Emoes (is that right?) times
before. Believe me, I went to public school. I was just startled because there
was such a large concentration of them congregating at this amusement park
(especially MGM Studios). You know what I mean. You have your guys that look
like girls, and then you have your girls who, well, also look like girls. I was
half-way tempted to ask one of these people, “excuse me, are you a girl? I just
wanted to make sure before I start ogling. If you were a guy, it would be a
little… awkward. Is that cool?”

Well, enough of that. I plan to try and catch up to my
regular posting.

To everyone getting a Wii on Sunday,

You suck.

- Jimbo

I'm just kidding, of course. I would be right out there with you, but starting tomorrow I'm going to be on holiday in Disneyworld. No, I am not joking. Needless to say, I will not be updating for the rest of next week. Also, my dad and I have worked out an agreement wherein if I wait until Christmas, he will get me a Wii free of charge. He refers to it as a "Christmas gift." Using a complex formula of my own design, I have determined that it will be more effective to wait a little longer than to spend my own money. I'm currently attempting to negotiate a settlement wherein I will be able to purchase a Wii earlier and have him pay me back on Christmas day. More on that story when I get back.

Well, I received a comment a few posts back recommending that I post more about anime. I suppose I shouldn't disappoint my readers. So today I will do another anime review on Futakoi. All I can say about this anime is "meh." It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. It was fun to watch, and it was funny at times. It was also a cheesy romance, which gives it kudos in my book. My list of gripes is substantial, however. First and foremost are the characters. They are all practically the same. Every girl in the "harem" has that stereotypical exasperated anime-girl personality. Always stuttering when embarrassed, always giggling, that sort of thing. The main character is incredibly indecisive. This leads to my biggest gripe in the series. The ending was absolute crap. It didn't really bring the series to a conclusion. <spoiler> The main character basically said, "I can't decide between any of you ladies, so lets just put that aside for... ever." </spoiler> Yeah, I wasn't a very happy customer. So anyway, if you're just looking for a laugh, and don't care too much about an ending, you'll enjoy Futakoi. Now, lets look over the harem, shall we?

And that's it for the review, I suppose. I'll try to up the number of anime posts I do, if only to drag in more readers. 'Til next time, peace out.

I was wondering. How long are radio stations allowed to call
themselves new? I have a classic rock station here in Virginia called Big 100.3. They call
themselves the “new” Big 100.3. They’ve been calling themselves this for six
months now. The same goes for those Going Out of Business sales. I had a
furniture store a few blocks from where I work just go out of business. Reports
tell me that it has been going out of business for almost two years. Apparently
going out of business is a great way to bring in business. Heaven forbid they
should actually use the money they’re generating to, I dunno, pay off their
debts or whatever. Now, what are the rules for this kind of claim? Is there an
actual law that states how long someone can call themselves new? Is there some
form of unwritten catechism? Maybe it’s some form of an honor system. They are
just supposed to drop the advertising line when they think it’s right. I have
to keep that in mind for when I get a real job.

I watched
an anime called REC just the other
day. As much as it pains me to admit it, I enjoyed it. This might not seem
unusual until you look at the genre. It is a straight-up romance. Not a
romantic comedy, not a harem comedy, not even innuendo (okay, well, maybe a
little). I don’t know why, but it was just fun to watch and say lines similar
to, “HAHAHAHAHA That guy is a dumb~ss!!!” and “D~mn, why can’t I be that
lucky!?” The ending you could see coming from a mile away, but I just enjoyed
watching it happen. It was motherf~ckin’ adorable. It was a very satisfying
ending, too. You saw it and thought, “aww, well isn’t that nice.” It is also a
great way to test if you can feel emotion. If you can watch the ending and not
go “awwwwwwww…”, you clearly have ludicrous self-control, or cannot feel
emotion. Well, that kind of emotion at any rate. My only real gripe about it is
the theme song. Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster, it is incredibly irritating.
Fortunately it is easy enough to skip over. I don’t recommend this show to
everyone; only to those interested.

For those of you who care, here are some lists. To begin with here is a list of anime that I have watched: My Anime List
Next, here is a list of the manga I have read: Manga List
These lists are sure to update as my memory of all that I have actually seen/read returns to me. Don't worry, I plan to have better posts than this in the near future.