One dull, rainy weekend in the early 1970s, when I was living in Latham, NY, my brother and I were bored, and my father turned on the TV and checked what was on. This didn't take long, since we could receive exactly 4 channels – Channel 13 (CBS), Channel 10 (NBC), Channel 6 (ABC), and Channel 17 (PBS). He stopped at one and settled back in his chair. "I think you'll enjoy this." At first we didn't get it. It was a bunch of Japanese people, occasionally with a guy I recognized as usually playing [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Vision of Escaflowne
November 14, 2012 By 2 Comments
"Was it all just a dream? Or maybe a vision... no, it was real!" While there have been some strong contenders in the last ten years, no anime has yet managed to take the crown of "Best Anime Series" from the one, the only, the incomparable Vision of Escaflowne. Budding track star Hitomi Kanzaki is apparently an ordinary girl, aside from her amazing fleetness of foot and an uncanny ability to read accurate futures from tarot cards. During a practice race, she has a sudden vision of a strange young man, and [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Computer/Console RPG Thoughts
November 12, 2012 By 4 Comments
I've already reviewed and talked about several videogame RPGs, ranging from the venerable yet still amazing Chrono Trigger to the Elder Scrolls games Oblivion and Skyrim, the Fallout series, and Dragon Age. Undoubtedly I'll review more later; I have quite a few on my shelves from the past many years. Today, however, I want to muse on the things I've liked, the things I don't like or find missing, and what I really would like to see in future CRPGs. To me, the ideal CRPG would be one that allows [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: GIANT ROBO: The Day The Earth Stood Still
November 9, 2012 By 1 Comment
In a future yet to be, the third energy revolution is ushered in by the invention of the Shizuma Drive, and with it, mankind celebrates a new era of prosperity. But within the shadows of this bright new world, two great powers clash… So begins one of the greatest anime ever produced – Giant Robo: The Day The Earth Stood Still. A lushly produced and reimagined version of one of the classics of the "giant robot" subgenre, Giant Robo manages to go above and beyond its origin while remaining true to its roots. [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian
November 7, 2012 By 3 Comments
Know, O prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars - Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Babylon 5
November 5, 2012 By 13 Comments
"It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last, best hope for peace. This [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Dragon Age
November 2, 2012 By 2 Comments
(When I went to post this, I mis-typed the title as "Dragon Abe"; I now have a vision of a draconic Abraham Lincoln) Around the same time I got Oblivion I also purchased Dragon Age, both highly recommended CRPGs for my new PS3. Dragon Age, also, did not disappoint. There were multiple possible character paths to enter the main plot, and I played several of them. This contrasts with Oblivion (and its sequel Skyrim), which will allow you to do all sorts of customization of your character during [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: The Fallout Series
October 31, 2012 By 10 Comments
During the Cold War, many people in the USA worried that one day the USSR would decide it was time for the long-fated final war and send the nukes raining down. (Undoubtedly, many people in the Soviet Union worried that the USA would make the same decision). This fear made its way into our literature for a couple of decades, spawning its own subgenre of postapocalyptic fiction which included such classics and less-classics as The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, The Magic City by Nelson S. Bond, the later Mad Max movies, and TSR's Gamma [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Dragonball/Dragonball Z
October 29, 2012 By 3 Comments
SAA, NEGAI O IE. DONNA NEGAI MO HITOTSU DAKE KANAETE YAROU. (COME THEN, STATE YOUR WISH. I SHALL GRANT YOU ANY ONE WISH.) When Kathleen and I lived in Pittsburgh, I had made the acquaintance of a gentleman named Michael Collins. Mr. Collins was quite an anime enthusiast, and I often referred to him as our anime "pusher", as he had a fairly large collection and was willing to loan tapes to get us hooked into various shows. People can blame him for my having knowledge of quite a number of shows, including Sailor [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Persona 3 and Persona 4
October 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
While they are separate games, the two most recent entries in the Persona series for the Shin Megami Tensei multiverse, Persona 3 and Persona 4, are connected enough that I feel they're best discussed together. The link for Persona 3 goes to the FES extended play version; and the link for Persona 4 goes to the soon-to-be-released Persona 4 Golden, which is also an expanded version. I actually played a small amount of the first Persona game way back when, but I couldn't play through enough of it at the time to [ Continue reading... ]
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