06.26.07
Posted in Japanese, News at 4:38 pm by yuka
The first thing I see on Famitsu site is the promo of Tokyo Toy Show 2007 happening 28th to 1st July. Some screenshots of the toys available on show, and to play, are seen here. A radio controlled dragonfly that moves exactly like the real creature, tiniest scaled model world, DS card game from Konami (out 27th September) – card data through a ‘reader’ gets transported into the DS – , merchandise for the new Transformers movie from Takara/Tomy… 30th and the 1st is reserved for the public.
FF Tactics A2 (subtitled 封穴のグリモア roughly translating to Grimoire of the Sealed Pit) is due to come out this autumn on the DS. The link above will take you to the official site. So far, Prologue, Character (left two), Movie and Spec (right two) is updated. Whilst watching the movie, couldn’t help thinking Cid looks a lot like those WoW troll males… The movie’s from the Square Enix Party – the rest is marked ‘coming soon’. Five races to choose from (Hume and Moogle included of course), and a variety of jobs that these heroes can have. For screenshots of each race, have a look here.
Coming out 23rd August for the DS is FF Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates. For collectors, good news! The game does come with its own specially designed DSLite – stained glass motif on Crystal White – the Gemini Edition, that sets you back about £110. Must admit my Ice Blue DSLite’s wearing a bit, and the FFCC characters all look so adorable… Ah well, I ought to stick with mine for a bit longer I suppose. Click on Game News on their site for 7 possible trailers at the moment. Click on each to start. By the way, the RoF trailer is the one dated 2007/05/21.
New screenshots from DQ Swords is available at the Famitsu site, that kind of hints at ’something is wrong with the Queen’. I’ve reproduced some here anyway, just because those particular screenshots looked good.
From 25th comes a monitor exclusively for the Wii. 7inch screen, and comes with an adaptor that fits right in the lighter socket in your car, for outdoor play. Sold from Century Direct for £74.
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06.17.07
Posted in Japanese, News at 3:45 pm by yuka
What is it about people who think they know all about a language because they’ve started learning it? They are almost always cocky, and insists on being rude to people in that language so no one else around them can understand it. What fun do they derive from such base activities? If I was being rude, I’d rather my target(s) understood me from tone and mannerisms, rather than usage of slang. But then I guess I have respect for languages and cultural contexts (trust me, crucial for anyone assuming the role of translator), which they obviously lack.
Now I’ve no qualm about people learning a language or two – it’s good for your brain activity. People try and learn the language probably because they like the culture it comes from, and that’s also good. So, I’m flattered that so many Japanophiles learn my native tongue. BUT (oh, yes, the big ‘but’)… there is no reason for Japanophiles to go around calling themselves and each other with ‘chan’ affixed to their names – that sounds retarded to most grown-ups in Japan; there’s certainly no call to be rude by peppering your sentences with ‘baka(馬鹿)’, ‘urusai(うるさい)’ and the like.
What triggered this rant overload? One of the guild chats I was in yesterday afternoon. Well done, that this girl has been doing 4 years of the language via a tutor. But teachers can be wrong too… but I guess that’s difficult to tell unless you’ve had more practice. Every other time she wanted the guild chat to ’shut up’, she’d use the word ‘urusai’… which is plain wrong. ‘urusai’ is basically saying ‘(you’re) loud/noisy/etc’, but to actually tell people to ’shut up’, she’d have to use the word ‘damare(黙れ)’. (Think of the many times you’ve seen certain word typed wrong: ‘you’re’ and ‘your’, ‘its’ and ‘it’s’, for example.) She then sulked a bit and came back with ‘unless my tutor’s talking shit’… Now if anyone’s other half is foreign, and you learn that language via tutelage, you might on hindsight notice that your spouse’s way of speaking/writing it gets understood more often by natives than the way you learnt from tutors. That’s usually the case in any language, I hear. Language is fluid, and it’s constantly changing. Trust those who speak it, rather than teachers who use a set of outdated books (and probably doesn’t speak the language often enough).
So anyone asking for translations from me, bear these things in mind. A bit more of the linguistic respect wouldn’t go amiss either.
First up then: Soul Calibur IV trailer. You’ll need Windows Media Player for this. Meh… doesn’t quite make me want to see more of it somehow.
New Square Enix arcade game coming to a store near you! Goes without saying it’s in Japan only.DQ Swords from 21st this month, will be seen in about 200 shops nationwide (department stores, arcade stores). ￥100 (about 50p) per play.
Sonic’s due to make a cameo on Phantasy Star Universe come 23rd (his 16th birthday!) for a limited time only. No other events for him are planned – poor guy.
Deltora Quest is making it’s way over to the DS. Screenshots and characters can be seen here. Comes under the category of Full Touch Action RPG, approx. £25.20, out on 20th September, for 1-2 players. Apparently the original Australian book was a big hit over there, made it’s way over to Japan, became a hit too with kids (think Harry Potter craze) and made it as a anime series too. So, they’ve decided to make a game of it. Standard Japanese way of thinking.
For approx. £20, comes つんでツミキス (pronounced: ‘tsunde tsumikisu’; ‘tsumiki’ meaning ‘building blocks’). Kind of like Tetris, but these blocks aren’t so nice as to fit together smoothly without much help from you. And there are goals of various heights. Start off with ‘as high as an upright trumpet’, and end up with ‘as high as a pyramid’. For 4 players, out 30th August. Easy? Oh, did I forget to mention there’s a time limit? And a point system that will allow you bigger blocks – easier to build higher, but be wary of the smaller blocks foundation.
For those of you who’d like to pace yourself in a calm fashion, look no further than another of the cooking navigation DS software: しゃべる！DSお料理ナビ まるごと帝国ホテル. It’s like the other cooking navigation stuff, except it’s done by chefs from the Imperial Hotel. The promo vid is available from the above link (just click on TV/CM button on top right hand corner). Over 200 recipes included from top restaurants across Japan, and has tips from the chefs involved. Approx. £21.40, out 21st.
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06.14.07
Posted in Japanese, News at 2:01 pm by yuka
Looks like the game news front has been pretty quiet since I last wrote, fortunately. I’ve been playing a lot of new games lately. Kororinpa(Wii) is a Monkey Ball-esque game which requires you to have infinite patience and steady hands as you tilt the various levels every which way to manoeuvre your cute ball (which makes cute sounds) to the goal. Some levels do have little unofficial shortcuts which does make the whole process a bit better for your heart. Well, try dropping a cute animal ball down into oblivion and see how your heart rate is! Chocobo Tales(DS) is good, better in terms of content than what I initially thought it’d be. It was marketed in Japan as mainly for kids and die-hard FF fans, but definitely playable by anyone who likes those Chocobos and puzzles. Turn-based Pokemon-style card duels too, and microphone usage – latter-wise, do it when no one’s around if you don’t like curious/piteous stares coming your way.
Until 26th, and only for Square Enix Members, is a trailer for the new Chocobo game trailer – free for members only.
From Keys Factory, Pokemon headphonesDS are due to be sold to commemorate the release of another film (14th July). Costing approx. £8.75, out from the middle of July.
Namco Bandai has announced Soul Calibur IV will be released sometime next year for the PS3 and Xbox360. As much as that game has been amusing, some of those (actually, all of them) characters look pretty scary. A Japanese bachelor’s idea of sexy is just so silly…
Talking of what’s considered sexy in Japan… 佐伯チズ式 夢美肌～Dream Skincare～ – beautiful skin! OK, nothing really shameful about that, but taking that into a DS game… now that’s taking it too far. If anyone’s interested, out 18th October for approx. £22.50. According to the screenshot I have here, the perfect way for a woman to behave (and I think it’s definitely outdated beyond comprehension) is to know the different types of bows for different occasions, and to always arrive 5mins later than the appointed time. Blech! Maybe next they’ll come up with ways to be a perfect Japanese housewife. Follow it to the letter, and you have a nation of conformists-extreme. Apparently, the makers say that this software can be used by men too, although those little tips about behaviours might be a bit redundant in that respect.
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06.01.07
Posted in Japanese, News at 4:04 pm by yuka
Excuse, it’s been a while. A sudden dip in temperature here has made me get a nasty cold – which made me all the more lethargic than usual. Even the translation work had been abandoned for the week.
In July, the Metal Gear series will have its 20th anniversary, so big things are being planned for the occasion. Be warned that the official site will take at least a couple of minutes to load. The Collection Box will be out from 26th July, with a DVD titled Metal Gear Saga, will cost approx. £35… which is pretty damn cheap compared to some of the other Collection Boxes I’ve seen. For 18th July costing £14 is a soundtrack CD with 12 original sounds on it. Previous games are also available from £7.50.
2 new colours are added to the plethora already available for the DSLite. As seen here, Metallic Rose and Gloss Silver are to be added as of 23rd June. Also for the best selling handheld is this. Powerful Charger… available in 5 colours and uses 2 AA batteries (単3), for £10 available from any convenience store across Japan. How handy. And it comes with 2 batteries already for immediate use, although the 1m long cord might be a tad annoying. According to the makers:
1) on max. display and max. volume with wireless – it’ll give up to 50mins of playtime
2) on min. display and min. volume without wireless – it’ll give up to 210mins playtime.
Also out on 23rd June is the long awaited DS title from Zelda, while 12th July sees the release of DQ Sword, and 26th, Mario Party 8 and Puyo Puyo both for the Wii… just in time to get the kids out of your way.
Announced at the Square Enix Party last month, FF IV(DS) site has a nice trailer up (blue tab). The red tab is an advert that basically says they’re looking for a vocalist who wants to sing to Uematsu’s tune for the theme song. There are no requirements (just be over 18, not working under contract) which is pretty damn rare in Japan and you have to send your details (name, D.O.B, address, phone, email, the usual), demo (even tape’s accepted in this day and age), photo… to their offices (154-0001東京都世田谷区池尻2-4-5 IID 209 ラグラス ＦＦIVヴォーカリスト募集事務局 宛 or their mail address, bottom of page) by 31st July.
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