Three years later they have posted some updates including some videos on there YouTube page. Seeing how close they are to finishing it I decided to mention it on here since it seems like there’s not too much talk about it.

So what exactly is a VN? VN stands for Visual Novel, also known as a ren’ai games or H-Games. It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure book but as a game format and typically I’ve seen it where you read for hours then you’re given a few options to choose from then read for hours again but each choice you choose depends on the ending.  Some of this titles has H (or Hentai (or nudity, I should say)) while others don’t.

Aren’t there any VN’s out in the US? There are a few but not high quality. Most really good VN’s are only out in Japan and is only in Japanese.  If you’re lucky enough to read Japanese, then all you have to do is buy it and enjoy. Other’s don’t have such a luck and would need to wait until someone comes along release an English patch.  Although nowadays it’s becoming more and more popular so expect more VN’s to be out in the US.

What makes this VN that you’re going to talk about a bit more makes it so special? Because of the fact that it’s the first VN ever created in the US and natively in English, that’s why. Well… I guess it’s also because of the fact that any feedback you give them either through email or on there forums are actually taken into consideration compare to other game makers.

But, anyways, moving on, I’m basing all this information off of there official site Shira-Oka.com and Okashi Studios.com as there’s no other references I can use.

So, anyways, there’s a small startup company called Okashi Studios based out in the San Francisco Bay Area (pretty much about 45 minutes away from where I used to live). There team consents of artists, writers, and programmers who share interests in Japanese culture, gaming, anime, and manga.

First game they’re ever making/releasing will be Shira Oka. When will it be released? I don’t know but it would be nice once it comes.

Looking at the videos on there YouTube page where it shows you the game layout reminds me a bit about True Love because of the concept that you have to build up your character which is not like your normal everyday VN.

So what is this VN all about? From the little bit of information on there site it sounds like you have the chance to go back to your days of high school to re-live your life. This is also apparent from one of the videos that’s available for viewing.

But that’s pretty much all the information I can find.  If I can find anything more that’s useful then I’ll post it here, otherwise, check out there site for other information.

Shira-Oka: Second Chances
Okashi Studios

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Anyways, can’t really say much other then it might take me a few days to finish up, I’ll work on it at work in between calls to get it all fixed up.

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Anyways, pretty much Christmas came late for me this year since I was working (I work Monday evenings through Saturday morning, so yeah).  On Saturday, the day after Christmas, everyone came over to my house to check it out and what not and open some presents (of course, my sister and them open there presents on Christmas day, but did I care?  Nah, why should I?) and I gotten a few niffy things.  One thing I got was DJ Hero for the PS3 (awesome game, if I might add), a towel set with the letter ‘M’ on it, a stainless steal spice rack, some sort of pizza cutter of a fat guy of some sort, a traditional Japanese dinner set (with 2 plats, rice bow, place mats, and chopsticks), a traditional Saki cups and pour-er (2 cups and 1 pour-er), and 2 different kind of Saki.

Any who, I wasn’t planning on typing up a whole bunch right now, just thought I’d give you a bit of an update… speaking of which, how does podcasting sound?  I mean, I’m thinking about doing podcasting, does that sound good?  Let me know.

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I am here now, however, and I will be making full use of my time/skills.

Firstly, the only EMail I received. It was asking for tips on how to avoid procrastination.

——————–

First of all, I could give you a lot of babble about  how you should do it anyways and adjust your priorities, but aren’t you sick of hearing things like that? So let’s look at something else. The soon-to-be-advised mentioned how they they’re very proud of the work they accomplish, once they actually DO it. However, I’m going to have to ask them to do something they usually pay attention to, and this is something everyone should do, once they’re in the right mindset.

Schedule. Yeah, you hear it all the time, you make them, and you break them. So let’s add a twist. If you’re proud of your work, and it gives you that sense of satisfaction when you complete it… Then you should try and set up a SCHEDULE (dundunDUUUNN) that allows you to feel a continuous stream of that emotion. A schedule that basically, propels itself. You complete one task, and you’re pleased. Now it’s time to get to the next one, so you can experience the sensation as soon as possible. In fact, you don’t even have to schedule, though it might help initially.

The real goal here is to constantly achieve your goals, to complete your tasks, and get that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you do something, and do it well. Sometimes you might be a bit pressed for time, and if that happens, it can dull the feeling because you’re so rushed. Unfortunately, my mind’s a bit of a blank right now, so the best I can come up with is for you to power through it.

This method can work for anyone and everyone. I wholeheartedly recommend it. It’ll be a little difficult to start up, but once you’re into it, it’s generally smooth sailing.

Also, you wanted advice on making money? Do what Master (SCSA20) is always telling me to do. Sell your body. @_@

If you’ve got questions for the Horo, send an EMail to: horos_corner@scsa20.com

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I’m so addicted to this video and song that it’s not even funny! Help!!

1. I Really Do Hate Some People In IRC
2. Black★Rock Shooter?

Most gamers know that there’s a console war going on and there will always be a console war. The longest running contestant is Nintendo with there year and years of game consoles and handheld consoles along with tons and tons of games with Sony following suit with a newbie on board, Microsoft. Due to the fact that I don’t own a Wii and that I barley get the chance to even play on it, I’m not going to review it as a whole but I’ll touch based on it for reference.

The current console war that’s going on is mainly between Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 from which they’re trying to fight over who got the biggest dick, err… I mean best graphics and processing power. Microsoft got a head start with the 360 by releasing the console in 2005 where the PS3 was supposed to be released in that same year but was delayed due to “technical reasons” but was finally released in 2006 and Sony is so proud of themselves for holding back because they were able to pack so much more in that one year… or did they?

Originally, the 360’s release offered 2 versions; the Core package which only comes with the 360 console, 1 wired controller, and SD/HD cable, everything else you have to get separate, and you also got your Premium package which comes with everything that the Core package has but instead of a wired controller you get a wireless one and a headset and a 20 gig drive.  Now there’s still only 2 packages, the Arcade package that comes with 512MB of internal memory and what not and your Elite package which comes with an HDMI cable and 120 gigs of hard drive.

The PS3, on the other hand, originally released the console with 4 different versions, all of which varies in hard drive space and that in order for you to play PS1 and PS2 games you would need the 60 gig model.  Now there’s only actual 2 models that’s in production which is missing a lot of features that was originally in the first 2 or 3 versions.

So what’s the point of telling you all this so far? To show that there were many options and that there’s still options for those 2 consoles. Unlike the Nintendo Wii where there’s only 1 version, the PS3 and the 360 always had multiple choices to choose from, but that’s not what I want to get at.

So what am I getting at? You’ll see soon enough.

The way I, personally, look at game consoles are the games but now that it’s the age of the internet and online gaming it’s also important to be able to quickly connect with friends to join in the battle of greatness epic gaming. This is where the Microsoft Xbox 360 shine at. In the original Xbox, they’ve attached the Xbox LIVE after the fact and it didn’t work all the great having to exit out of the game to add someone you just played to your friend’s list, etc., but they’ve designed the 360 around the Xbox LIVE and now it’s tightly intergraded in with the console. Being able to see the menu while in game is also the best thing that Microsoft did for the console allowing you to quickly add more friends to the list or simply join a game with a friend, doesn’t matter if it’s in the same game or not you’re currently playing as if you’re jumping to another game it’ll simply tell you to put in the next game and once you do it jumps you straight into the action.

The Sony PS3 fails at tight intergradations of friends, friends request, etc., though. You’d think with Sony’s previous consoles they would think that because there’s a lot of people out there who has lots of friends who wants to quickly connect they would of made it more tightly intergraded but that was not the case but instead you get a slapped on job where voice chat sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.

Also when the 360 was released it introduced us to Achievements. Now, I’m the type of gamer who just enjoys a few games here and there and don’t really care about Achievements but it’s there and kind of nice depending on what kind of achievements are there. It’s also tightly intergraded with the online Xbox LIVE site so whatever you get in game with update right awhile to show your friends who’s browsing the web or in your gamer card.

Again, the PS3 failed in this category as well with it’s slap-on Trophies because they want to mimic the 360’s success of introducing Achievements. After a few months, Sony slapped-on there own gamer card as well, problem is that in order for you to update ANYTHING in relates to what shows online and what shows in your actual gaming profile on your PS3 you would need to go online yourself and click an Update button. Thanks a lot, Sony.

Now with so many strong points with the 360 they also have weak points. The 360 uses a standard DVD-ROM drive and so can only put out what a DVD can shuffle. This is where the PS3 shines because of there Blu-ray player built in, game creators has a broader room to work with because the Blu-ray discs holds up to 50GB of data for a dual layered disc, they could pretty much fit Final Fantasy 7 and 8 on 1 disc with room to spare! Also with the Blu-ray player built in allows for the new Blu-ray movies to be used with.

But now here’s another problem: loading times. The 360’s loading times are blazing fast due to the fact that it’s using DVDs but because the PS3 is using Blu-ray discs, the loading times are kind of slow to the point that Sony had to allow most games to install chucks of it’s game data to the hard drive and taking more time to load initially and even after the game finish installing it still takes awhile for the game to load. Now, they say that the load times are faster with the PS3 Slim but since I have no plans of getting the slim because I like my PHAT, there’s no way for me to actually test it but that’s besides the point.

So who’s the winner? Honestly, I think they’re both great systems with there weakness and advantages. I, personally, mainly use the PS3 for PS3 excusive and RPGs while everything else is for the 360 for the sure fact that it’s easier to join in a game with a buddy on the 360 then it is on the PS3.

1. My New Love

Originally Sony was planning on releasing something that allows you to port your purchased PSP games that are on the UMD format to the digital format for the PSPgo but then Sony decided not to pissing everyone off who was actually thinking about getting the PSPgo.  So what does that mean? It means you need to repurchase all your PSP games using their PSP Store.  It’s a win for Sony because they get more money but it’s a lost on consumers who already owns a PSP with UMD games and movies who was thinking about getting a PSPgo.  Thankfully, Sony will continue production on PSP-3000 models so you still have the UMD format (and something for resellers to continue to sell).

With that said, let’s get to the main topic about digital media.  Digital media is now, now is digital media.  You may not believe it (or don’t want to believe it) but digital media is everywhere.  How it’s incorporated, though, is the main question.  Steam (for an example) allows you buy full games and as long as you’re logged in you’ll be able to download it to any computers.  If you purchased a box version of a game that’s on Steam it’ll automatically add that key into your Steam profile and so you don’t have to worry about having to put in the key again.  You would call this something as a successful way of doing business as retailers has something to sell still and you can purchase games directly as well if you want.

Unfortunately, not all places that offer digital media are like that.  Such example will be the PSPgo being able to only purchase games from the PSP Store.  Only thing that retailers can sell is the PSPgo itself and can’t resell the games because the games are only available online.

Another such example would be the Apple App Store.  Sony has locked down there iPod Touch and iPhone like it’s in jail so only its own software will work, nobody else’s.  And Apple goes through all the Apps that get submitted like a fine comb to make sure it’s within its terms of service.  It’s not an open community unlike the Google Android Store where it’s a free market and anyone is free to post anything they’ve created (as long as it’s lawful).

Probably what hurts retailers the most with digital media is the fact that consumers is unable to trade in or sale the media they purchased online.  Pretty much the age of media that you can sell or trade is coming to the end as we know it.  With that said, why? Why is the digital media going to be the end?  It doesn’t have to, though.

Wait, wait, wait, didn’t you just say that digital media will be the end of it all for any sort of trade ins or anything of that sort? I didn’t say that per say, it’s just that the way things are going it could be that but if the companies are smart enough I’m sure they’ll incorporate a way so we can trade in or sell the media we purchased from there legally.  The only question is, when?  Only time will tell in this manner.  Also, in a way, I highly doubt digital media will fully take over the market from actual physical media anytime soon for the sure fact that A) not everyone has an internet connection and B) knows how to even use the technology (or any technology in that matter).

Over all, you pretty much want to get used to seeing digital media as it’s going to be more and more common to see further down the line but don’t expect to see physical media disappeared anytime soon either.

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Well, well, well, look what the cat brought in for us anime fans to watch.  It’s the one and only catch-22 anime series of this season where there’s only one (yes, that’s right, only one (if you can’t read worded number’s, that’s 1 to you)) trap in this series (and thank god, I can deal with just 1 trap but no way in hell can I handle 2 or more).  If you want a quick impression summary of this series then check out bluesnow’s entry over at zokatu.com since this is going to be kinda long (but entertaining nonetheless, like any of my entries).

Anyways, just like how I like to start any of my initial review, a plot summary of what the series about.

Senou Natsuru is your normal, everyday high school student. However he’s been chosen to be a Kampfer, who’s objective consists on fighting other Kampfer with either guns, swords or magic, however, there’s catch; first you can’t chose if you´re a Kampfer or not, and second, you must have the body of a girl to use your powers. [ANN]

Alright, now that’s done, lets move onto the review, shall we?

So the series starts off with our heroine running away away from another girl shooting her trying to kill her.  WAIT, WHAT?! WHY!!! Just hold your horses, I’m getting there, I’m getting there, gez.

Anyways, after he was somewhat shot off a building the opening theme kicked in AND BEFORE YOU ASK ME ANYTHING ELSE LIKE ME FINISH!!!  Anyways, after the opening theme you find our heroine in her bedroom screaming her head off about her chest getting bigger, hair growing longer, and under that she never wear before.

Then a plushie started talking to her about how she was transformed into a female since all kampfer is females.

… Wait, what? You’re telling me that she, is a he?

So… that means…

So after we found out our heroine is actually a male that was transformed into a female because all kampfer fighters has to be females, the plushie continues to talk to to him and he’s in total disbelieve (and hell, I wouldn’t blame him, if I wake up one day and find my penis gone and my chest became larger and my hair grew longer, I’d be in disbelieve as well).

So, anyways, the plushie talks to him about what a kampfer is and that when his bracelet begins to grow it means he’s about to transform.  The plushie continues mentioning that he’s a messenger that was sent by the moderators saying that he’s something similar to an angel.

So what did Natsuru do?  Pick him up by his intestines, spin him around yelling out that he’s a guy and throws him against his stereo system.  Then he falls on his bed saying this must be a bad dream from which the plushie climbed up his bed asking if he wants to go back to sleep and does a drop kick to knock him out.

So Natsuru wakes up the next day and checks to see if his package is there and breathe a sigh of relief when it was there.

So he starts off his morning running to the bus but misses it but luck was on his side because the girl of his dreams, Kaede Sakura, run out and missed the bus as well.  Excited to see her like any guy would who’s not mainly enough would yelled out her name and she turned around an greeted Natsuru with a bright smile, so bright that even the sun is glaring off of her as well.

So our little virgin friend here decided to ask Kaede if she wants to ride the bus to school together with him (yeah, well smooth with the ladies there Natsuru).  Like a nice girl that she is, Kaede agrees and Natsuru’s blood starts pumping (alright, I made that part up but for all I know he probably had the biggest boner when she replied back to him).  So while they were waiting for the bus, Kaede noticed that Natsuru was was really happy and asked if something good happen from which he responded that he bumped into her.  And, of course, Kaede responded back saying that she’s glad that she bumped into him as well.

So while waiting for the bus you find out that the tiger plushie belongs to Kaede and she also saw Natsuru’s bracelet.  When she commented how beautiful it was to him, Natsuru had a rude awaken and guess what… it started growing.  Natsuru then remembers what that plushie said about what will happen when it starts growing so he quickly think of a reason to say to poor Kaede and pretty much ditched her but before he actually could because Kaede kept asking him questions and what not, the girl from the start of the episode shows up and took a shot at him.

So after the other chick confronts him, a bus some happen to drive by and Natsuru takes off with the other chick chasing after him and here’s the transformation scene where you see a guy grow breast and longer hair and changed into a female’s school uniform. *sigh*

So Natsuru is being chases around and even said to him self at the start saying it wasn’t a dream after all like he was hoping off (yeah, I was hoping you were just a figment of my imagination, but I guess I was wrong as well).

So during this chase he’s pretty much trying to dodge bullets and at one point actually jumped on top of a traffic light (yeah…).  Impressed, the unknown chick identify herself as Akane Mishima.

Before anything else can happen, Kaede comes running by looking for Natsuru and Akane turns her cut at her and was about to fire when Natsuru jumps down and shoots a fireball at Akane from which Akane finds out that Natsuru is a Zauber type (a person who can use magic).  While Akane continues to talk and about to fire her gun again, a telephone poll was falling down and Natsuru saved her.

So after he saved her life, Akane said this was boring and takes off and Kaede comes running up to Natsuru from which he runs off as well.

So at school, you learn that the school building is separated. One side is for girls and another side is for boys and the way you find this out because someone was calling for Natsuru because there was someone from the girl’s side calling for him and that random guy starts going on a rampage about the 2 idols of the school would make a big ruckus if it was Kaede or some other chick that came to the boy’s side.

Also went onto some other girl that Natsuru knew since childhood or whatever.  Not important, lets move on.  So after awhile of this nonsense went on, they started teasing Natsuru because of the fact that the girl looks like she was about to cry.

So Natsuru went out into the hall and met her and asked how she got over to the boy’s side.  Turns out that this unknown girl is a librarian so she had a pass.  So when he asked for her name, guess who… yes, that’s right, it’s Akane in the non-transformed flesh.

Cut to the half way point of the episode.  Wait, what?  Half way through already?  only dang this a big entry. But, anyways, lets keep moving, shall we?

So here we are, in the library and Akane and Natsuru is talking to each other about what’s going on. So turns out that Akane’s personality changes when she becomes a Kampfer. You also learn that there are 2 different color bracelets, a blue one and red one, which shows which side you’re on.  Turns out that Natsuru and Akane are part of the same side. You also learn about the weapon types such as gewehr, the Gun type, that Akane uses and the Zauber types that Natsuru uses. There’s also one more type, the schwert type, which they use a sword. You also learn that Akane has a real perverted mind.

So this and that happen, nothing too exciting, Akane starts acting like a pervert again and more misunderstandings,lets fast forward.

So you meet the student body president and more transformation. Lets fast forward again.

So now you learn that at first the transformation is random but you start to control the transformation and you see poor Natsuru having to go to the restroom and had to debate rather to take the skirt off or just flip it up.

Come towards the end of the day you see Natsuru transformed back to his male self and walking to Akane when Kaede comes running up to him. Akane takes off and Kaede asks Natsuru that if he knows the girl who saved her that morning to introduce that girl to her and Natsuru got all hurt because Kaede is in love with the female inside of him… wait, what? Never mind.

So back at home the tiger plushie is laughing at him because of the fact that Kaede is in love of the female Natsuru. The tiger plushie goes on to saying since he’s one and same it shouldn’t be a big deal but he rejects by saying that he wants Kaede to fall in love with his male self (yea… I don’t think he ever was a male to begin with).

So he also talks to Akane about what he should do from which you get into a whole scene of Akane telling Natsuru to just call her by her given name and so Natsuru responded back saying she can do the same and guess who came back? The badass Akane shows up and puts a gun to his face (yeah, she really love guns, if you know what I mean).

So another bunch of nonsense dialog goes on until they get attack.  By who? Who knows, just have to wait until the second episode comes out (and no, it’s not Kaede even though she just so happen to show up at that very moment, even though that would be pretty sexy).

So over all, the first episode got me pretty interested in the series and will give it a go to see where it takes me.

1. Ouran High School Host Club
2. Rosario+Vampire
3. Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka – Episode 1