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Art Fashion Photography Web

Mondo Tokyo

Where’s the best place to get your Patrick Macias fix these days? The action is happening over at Wattpad, in the form of his “Mondo Tokyo: Snapshots from Inside Japanese Subculture” series of mini essays about aspects of Japan culture he’s been taking in over the years. In the introduction to the series, he also teases an upcoming long fiction project, which is exciting as well. Hot tears of shame forever.

 

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Art Books Games

Legends of Localization Book 2: EarthBound

I’m already in need of the first Legends of Localization book, covering The Legend of Zelda, and book 2, covering EarthBound, looks just as amazing. There’s plenty of photos to gawk at on the Fangamer order page, and here’s also very positive review on Tiny Cartridge.

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Art Design

Nara Versus W.Lab

File this under “ridiculous.” We all know the art of Yoshitomo Nara (I’m a longtime fan), and over the years there have certainly been plenty of cases of Nara pakkuri (stealing/copying) — I myself was fooled by the art on the Fukigen bottle back in 2003. Well, there’s been another case, this time by Korean cosmetics brand W.Lab — as pictured, right — and following Nara’s pursuit, the Korean company is claiming they have done no copying, and are suing Nara in return! ArtAsiaPacific has all the details. Via Johnny Strategy.

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Games Music

Family Swing

YMCK have a new album coming out this month, called Family Swing, and it sees the band get a bit jazzier than usual (without losing their chiptune touch). Patrick shares all the details in this post, which includes a video trailer for the album.

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Advertisements Art

Meiji 100 Years

Andrew Joyce‘s biggest project in 2016 was a massive work produced for Meiji’s 100th anniversary, representing a parade that travels the length of Japan, featuring Meiji’s products. This post covers all of the images produced, which were printed in newspapers, and formed a mural at Shibuya station.

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Games

Dragon Quest II

So yeah, after playing through the first Dragon Quest game, I couldn’t wait to play II, and so that’s what I’m doing. So far (a couple of hours in), I’m enjoying it as much as I did the first, and it’s nice to be building up a party (although I didn’t mind at all playing solo in the first game). I’m also playing it on my iPhone, which I really feel is a great way to play these. Grinding certainly feels like less of a grind when it’s something you’re doing during your commute.

Categories
Games

Dragon Quest

Even though I have a big amount of respect for the series, I don’t actually have that much experience with Dragon Quest games – the first one I played was DQ8 on PS2, and then I played a bit of DQ9 on DS, but didn’t get super far in it. This year I played a bunch of Dragon Quest Heroes, and liked it for what it was (Dynasty Warriors-like with more RPG elements and pretty graphics), and then played the Dragon Quest Builders demo. So after all of this, it was a couple of days ago when I watched a recent documentary from NHK about the series (in celebration of its 30th anniversary) that I just got in the mood to go and play the very first game, which I had bought for iOS a while back, but hadn’t really played much. I started the game again, and 2-3 hours later I was still playing. Two days later, I’ve reached the final castle, and am just in need of a bit more grinding before I’m ready to face the final boss. And yes, I’ve already bought Dragon Quest II (the DQ games on iOS are currently on sale). As for the quality of the iOS version, I’m not crazy about using a virtual pad to move around, but I do find it convenient to play (I’m playing on iPhone this time), and I’ve gotten used to it.

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Design Games

Mr. Saturn Cases

Yesterday I was pointing out the fantastic Mother-themed planners from Hobonichi Techo, but I failed to point out the also excellent Mr. Saturn cases. I kinda want them all.

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Debaser Uncategorized

Dragon Quest

Even though I have a big amount of respect for the series, I don’t actually have that much experience with Dragon Quest games – the first one I played was DQ8 on PS2, and then I played a bit of DQ9 on DS, but didn’t get super far in it. This year I played a bunch of Dragon Quest Heroes, and liked it for what it was (Dynasty Warriors-like with more RPG elements and pretty graphics), and then played the Dragon Quest Builders demo. So after all of this, it was a couple of days ago when I watched a recent documentary from NHK about the series (in celebration of its 30th anniversary) that I just got in the mood to go and play the very first game, which I had bought for iOS a while back, but hadn’t really played much. I started the game again, and 2-3 hours later I was still playing. Two days later, I’ve reached the final castle, and am just in need of a bit more grinding before I’m ready to face the final boss. And yes, I’ve already bought Dragon Quest 2 (the DQ games on iOS are currently on sale). As for the quality of the iOS version, I’m not crazy about using a virtual pad to move around, but I do find it convenient to play (I’m playing on iPhone this time), and I’ve gotten used to it.

Categories
Debaser Uncategorized

Unravel

The last of the 5 games I bought this past week during the PSN sale is Unravel, and it’s another fantastic experience I had to add to my year’s list of favorite games (as an honorable mention). I’m indeed a sucker for a good 2D platformer, and not only does this bring in the fun yarn string mechanic to deal with (for climbing, swinging, etc.) but it’s also beautifully presented in an idyllic setting. Loving it.