Before I begin I have some big news... Or at least big news for me. Tomorrow I have an interview for a job and, if all goes well, I can FINALLY start acquiring money... Of course that would also mean I would have far less free time to play video games, watch anime, and review both. But hey, I would have an actual income. But enough about that on to what I'm going to be ranting on about for this week, sorry I don't have anything more interesting to talk about.
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| Sorry for showing you this... thing. |
I'm sure gamers everywhere are familiar with this logo by now. It is the logo of self appointed game critic, who apparently doesn't play video games, Anita Sarkeesian's less then groundbreaking and rather slowly produced "Tropes vs Women in Video Games." Now, I've said my part about Anita Sarkeesian,
over, and
over, and
over, and
over, and
over again. It is baffling how every time women opens her mouth, nothing but factually inaccurate and evidently untrue opinions fly out at the terminal velocity of gossip and each poorly thought out piece of speculation are thinly veiled as flimsy arguments that fall apart at the slightest breeze of critical thought. It's even more baffling how no matter how the gaming media has propped this woman up as a saint of gender equality that she isn't, despite the fact that Anita is completely loathed by the gaming public that the media claims to represent. But the most puzzling part about this is that Sarkeesian still has supporters willing to go to lengths to support her, despite the mounting evidence of Sarkeesian's questionable behavior. First, it was the fact that all of Anita's gameplay footage used in her series have been sourced to Let's Play channels on Youtube that Ms. Sarkeesian never got permission to use and never sited them as her source of footage. Second, was the conflicting accounts of her history with video games going from "I don't play video games" in 2010 to "I've been a gamer all my life" in 2012. And now she has used someone else's artwork for her Tropes vs Women banner. While most of the characters shown in her banner are either official artwork of the various characters, or the actual in game models, one of them is neither. That being Princess Daphene from the laser disc game Dragon's Lair (she is the blonde sitting on the O in Women) who is actually a piece of fan art done by a lady named Tamara "Cowkitty" Smith.
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| This image is found on Cowkitty's Tumblr page. |
Now, while this is a fan art of a copyrighted character, there are STILL some rights Ms. Smith has as the creator of THIS piece of artwork including permission to be used for commercial purposes. Ms. Smith was not informed that her artwork was being used for this logo, her permission was not asked for by Ms. Sarkeesian or anyone representing her, and this banner was used for a project that gathered ~$160,000. After sending an open letter to Sarkeesian, Ms. Smith did finally get a response claiming that the use of her art was protected under the Fair Use clause as a "Transformative work" and is not for commercial use. However, for that claim to work Sarkeesian's organization must be a nonprofit and thus must show her documentations supporting that which includes a fully disclosure of funds. There has been no further word since Ms. Smith asked for such papers and Ms. Sarkeesian's actions still remain dubious. Even if she is fully within the bounds of "Fair Use" like she is with the Let's Play footage, she is still within an ethical quagmire since she didn't ask for permission from the artist in both cases. I would say that this development is damaging to Anita Sarkeesian's image and would help contribute to her removal from this artificially created position as a game critic championing gender equality in the gaming industry, but let's face it she has suffered worse blows to her credibility and thus far she has suffered no ill effects. Those who are against her are still against her, and those who support her apparently either ignore the criticism leveled against Ms. Sarkeesian or do not care. If we want some one to help represent women in gaming, there are SOOOO many better choices. But enough about Anita, now let's move to something far more AWESOME!
UPDATE: Before I continue to IntiCreates being awesome some new information. It seems the cries of Tamara Smith have been heard as Anita Sarkeesian has altered her "Tropes VS Women in Video Games" logo to remove Ms. Smith's artwork. It seems she has some integrity, though still no word about her use of other people's Let's Plays for game footage. Maybe this was a honest mistake, or maybe she only took action out of fear of legal reprisals, but hey it's a step forward. Now we just have to deal with her poorly thought out arguments. Source listed below.
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| Remember, EX-Capcom means they are from when Capcom was GOOD. |
Do you guys know a little company called "Inti Creates"? Well if you are a Megaman fan like I am, you should. Inti Creates is a company made from Ex-Capcom employees who are probably most well known for pretty much making every 2D Megaman side scroller since Megaman Zero and are currently working along side Keiji Inafune's Comcept to make Mighty No. 9. So now you know why these guys are awesome. Well before Mighty No. 9 launches in April of next year, Inti Creates has in store a game that will satisfy every gamer's Megaman itch. That game is Azure Striker: Gunvolt.
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| I know it says "Armed Blue" but the US title is "Azure Striker." |
Taking place in a world full of psychics, our protagonist, Codename: Gunvolt, fights to free his fellow psychics from the oppressive grip of the Sumeragi corporation with the help of a resistance group known as "Feather". However, on his first mission to assassinate the virtual idol Lumen, Gunvolt learns that Lumen is a psychic projection of a young girl named Joule. Disobeying his orders, Gunvolt rescues Joule and now fights to keep her safe. Beyond that there isn't much about the game's plot that is revealed, but what is more intriguing than this game's story is it's gameplay. From just one look you can tell this is cut from the same cloth as Megaman, with it's graphical presentation and artstyle being very similar to Inti Creates' Megaman Zero and ZX series and it's gameplay being the same run and gun action that Megaman is known for. However, this isn't a straight clone of Megaman that just replaces robots with psychics, as there are several gameplay elements that are unique to Gunvolt, first and foremost is his ability to shoot lightning at enemies he has tagged with his gun. This ability also destroys projectiles, slows his fall, and activate or destroys objects. One environment has him running stage where his electricity destroys platforms, which both opens up the path forward, but also opens pits full of spikes. This game is shaping up to be everything that a Megaman fan could
ever want... outside of Megaman Legends 3 and the upcoming Mighty No. 9.
Oh and it's directed by Keiji Inafune just in case you didn't think
this game was Megaman enough. Azure Striker: Gunvolt is set for a
simultaneous release in Summer for both Japan and the US. I'm going to
buy this game come hell or high water. Check out the official website
for an awesome trailer:
http://gunvolt.com/
Sources
Anita Sarkeesian using Let's Play footage:
http://victorsopinion.blogspot.be/2013/07/anitas-sources.html
Anita Sarkeesian saying "I'm not a gamer":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcPIu3sDkEw
Tamara Smith's Open Letter and response:
http://cowkitty.net/post/78808973663/you-stole-my-artwork-an-open-letter-to-anita,
http://cowkitty.net/post/78869649107/update-official-response-you-stole-my-art-an-open
UPDATE: Tamara Smith's reconciliation:
http://cowkitty.net/post/79912196471/update-3-you-stole-my-artwork-an-open-letter-to
Until next time
-Crescent, "SSSQQQQQQQUUUUUUEEEEEE!!!!"
Yeah Yeah the game looks all pretty with its sprite like quality don't know why so many flock to such a look....sigh anyways While the game looks good and the gameplay is interesting I don't know how I should feel about the plot and characters though its a little too animeish to my liking(which by no mean is outright bad)but that is Inti Creates thing though they are the purest form of a Japaneses team.But you can really tell that Keiji let them do there own thing when it came to the looks of characters since Megaman Zero series really never had this problem for me at least even though it was quite anime as well and Megaman itself was base off an anime but they were old school type(my fav) so yeah that my opinions upon the game it still Day 1 though
ReplyDeleteWell given my tastes this is right up my alley, as for the artwork, I just am drawn to any artstyle that uses a wide variety of colors and designs. Too often modern games tend to be a monochromatic brown or grey which just drains the energy right out of the experience.
DeleteAs for the plot my only problem with the plot is that it's reminding me of a anime series called E'S Otherwise which also involved Psychics and evil corporations that abuse their powers... And that series SUCKS!!
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DeleteI am not saying they are bad and not vary with the colors(that one thing I do like of the game instead of its sprites) its just the designs for the characters just seem to generic to me but I can't judge a book by its cover I will have to wait and see this also goes for the plot as well as I said in the forums these types of games plots are only as good as their characters are.
Deleteugh I hate I can't edit after posting
You know, I hear the comment on "Generic anime look" so often that it gets hard to really figure out what people mean by that. I mean, there are times where I can tell that a particular anime or anime artstyle is completely uninspired (which are usually when the anime is so "paint by numbers" that every character and beat is predictable), but now-a-days I can distinct differences in many series' styles that give them all their own unique flare.
DeleteIn the case of Gunvolt, a lot of the mech designs incorporate a lot of hard edges and right angles, making them look very box like. This design also blends into the design of a lot of character's clothing which have patterns using a lot of straight lines and right angles. The color palette (while varied) also tends towards a lot of blue, probably most of it is due to the main character's dominate palette, but that blue also "bleeds" into a lot of the other colors as seen in the promotional art above. This give the artstyle a more "electronic" look that both helps with the futuristic theme as well as Gunvolt's elemental affinity. It also creates a cold feeling environment which works well towards the dystopian future that the game is trying to convey.
Of course you can just chalk all this up to, I've seen so many "Generic Anime" to be able to tell the difference between one "Generic Anime" and another.
WOW well when you put it that way it quite creative actually I don't watch much of the animes like shojo these days(though I am little by little) but I am sorry for my ignorance but I am not saying all anime like designs are generic like Persona for example I think Atlus pull the look for that series really well with 3 and 4 and there other games as well.(damn I really need to play there games one of these days)
Delete*their
DeleteOh yeah, Persona has one of the most striking artstyles in video games and Shigenori Soejima (Persona and SMTIV's character designer) has a really unique style. A little "animeish" but it is very clean and very striking. I still prefer Kazuma Kaneko for Shin Megami Tensei because of his almost unsettlingly pale characters and just wicked Demon Designs.
Deleteoh its great to hear about you getting a job.....maybe I hope you have a nice boss and a good job(what job you are going for?).......best of luck
ReplyDeleteThe job is an assembler position at a company that mainly makes push button displays on things like Microwaves and Ovens. Nothing exciting, but I'll at least get some money. My brother works at the company, but his reputation is somewhat mixed.
DeleteHey man whatever it takes to make a living(well not whatever it takes but you my point lol) Sorry to hear about your brother like that did he do anything wrong while he there or is he just being mistreated.
DeleteIt's complicated. Basically, he used to do the same job that I'm applying for, but he then moved to a different department. While he was working assembly he was constantly getting complaints from his fellow co-workers, stuff about hygiene and general behavior. However, when he got transferred the same co-workers that complained about him, are now asking for him to come back because he worked harder and did more things to help work flow than the people who replaced him. So I don't know whether being his brother is beneficial for me or not.
Deleteoh man that is complicated.............sorry I don't know what to exactly say for a situation like this but just do what you do best Cres don't even try to please his X-co-workers exceptions just do your job for yourself only reason you are there for is to do your job to the best of your abilities and if they don't like it then they can quit.They should be grateful they have the friendlier brother than the douche(sorry but your bro sounds like one by your descriptions)
DeleteWhat I do best is go on long blog rants talking about things found in games I like but mostly in games that I feel that the larger gaming population is giving more credit to than is largely deserved, and go on about topics that make me sound like a philosophizing high-end critic but is nothing more than my verbose ramblings of minor details.
DeleteI don't think that will help me for this job.
Also, he's not really a douche, he just stubborn and lacks tact.
Nah man just do the best you can that all I am saying and if you don't know what you are doing maybe you can ask your brother how he does it so well......also sorry was just going by your description of him yeah he must be quite understood fellow then
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