Syndicated Post: Taiko no Tatsujin and 3D Dot Game Heroes are Made of Win

This post is syndicated from Lady Lara Jones Adventures. Lady Jones is also a writer here for Geek Girls and wanted to make this post on both of her blogs. Thanks for reading!

Many of you video game enthusiasts out there probably already know about Taiko Drum Master, known in Japan as Taiko no Tatsujin (Master of Taiko). Indeed, it is a fun series in the same genre as Guitar Freak, Drum Freak, the late Dance Dance Revolution (which I miss dearly and wish still existed in arcades around Tokyo) and other rhythmically driven arcade games. It's a pretty simple concept, really, but is super fun in the arcade and especially with another person. Basically you stand in front of this giant monster of an arcade machine with a big LCD screen above two giant Taiko drums.

Brian plays Taiko no Tatsujin.

     And sure, the game has been around for quite a few years now, but I wanted to do a little post about it to show my support to the developers. This game isn't as complicated as Rock Band or Drum Freak, but it's really fun and can get rather difficult if you gear it up to the highest difficulty setting. There was a short-lived time in the US where you could get the game on PS2 (and I think the Wii has a version as well) so if you can pick up a copy at your local game store you get a sense of how fun it would be in the arcade. If you have an arcade near you that has this game then GO PLAY IT! Take a friend! It's worth your 100 JPY!

     The next game I want to mention is something based on a game near and dear to my heart. 3D Dot Game Heroes is practically a rip of the NES Legend of Zelda (with some obvious changes to avoid copyright infringement) but you can't really argue with fun + works well + well designed = an awesome game. Seriously, there is no reason people shouldn't make new games using the classic top-down Zelda, dungeon crawling formula. It's fun, it works, and I know a lot of people who love it just like I do. We were told the game finally received a US release date so if you haven't picked up a PS3 yet this is just one more reason to get you motivated.

 The summary (from Wikipedia) reads as follows: "The game's gameplay
(good job wikipedia writer, that's some good English you have there.....game's gameplay....ugh sorry)

-     strongly resembles that of retro 8-bit games of the past, particularly that of The Legend of Zelda. Players move characters from screen to screen exploring dungeons, battling enemies, collecting items and solving puzzles reminiscent of the classic games of past. When the player's health bar is full, the player's sword will grow to tremendous sizes whenever swung. Swords in game can be customized and leveled up to increase its length, girth as well as magical power, other special items that can also be used include boomerangs, lanterns, candles and bows."

 Okay, I would like to note here that it does not just strongly resemble The Legend of Zelda...it fricken takes like every other enemy and alters their appearance only slightly with 3D Modeling in order to not be sued. Again, I don't have a problem with this. I think it's neat to see what Legend of Zelda could have been with a 3D (yet still somehow 2D) top-down environment. Also, when they say your sword grows to tremendous sizes, they mean it pretty much extends across the screen to destroy everything standing in front of you. It's a good innovation on the "launching beam" that came when you had full hearts in the original Legend of Zelda.

 The dungeons are cool, and admittedly we can't read enough Japanese to know where we're exactly supposed to go next (or what we're supposed to collect) but for the most part we've been winging it and still getting pretty far. When the English version comes out we'll be sure to pick it up because we're only borrowing the Japanese version from a friend for now.

To give you a better sense: here's an awesome preview video for 3D Dot Game Heroes:

Sooo cool! Everyone out in the US should get ready for this Instant Classic.
Lady Jones and Brian Jones

Something of a mixing pot?

So it's been pretty quiet here, and since I haven't played anything new in the past month, I figured I'd just drop off some shiny toys...(besides the god of war 3 demo. I jizzed in my pants. If you don't get the joke, see this. As a side note, people seem to forget you can kill a joke by extreme overuse. Please jizz responsibly.)

So to start off; Something unreasonably cute. I mean, I bet everyone has seen this by now, but if not, you should. It's so cute, it hurts. Then again, I love kittens, so that might be the flaw in the machine... anywho, this is it.

Thing the second; we (and by 'we' I mean you as readers) should all know my now that I hate ('intensely dislike') the twilight series, so something that made me laugh is the "Hobo Reviews". Seriously. A hobo? Count me in!
Side note: I'd advise you don't start drinking anything when this begins. You might get it all over the screen.

Well....i guess that's all for now. Happy new year people!

He knows when you're sleeping

But now at least you can see when he's coming to get you.

In Which Jayne Is Vindicated

So I am currently sitting in O'Hare airport because my flight is delayed because it's snowing because Chicago lives to thwart me. That has nothing to do with my feelings of vindication. Comics, for once, does.

So for those of you that aren't Darcy, you do not understand my deep seated love for dead gay Ted, the second Blue Beetle. For clarification: Ted is dead (although now I think he's a zombified Black Lantern? God, I cannot keep up with the crazy that is DC) and when he was amongst the living he was totally in love with Booster. Seriously, they were super gay together, hence dead gay Ted (or possibly undead gay Ted now).

Even DC agrees with me on that gay thing:

Sweet, sweet vindication. Also, Milagro is totally a slasher.

Now, I sort of want a comic where Booster and dead gay Ted get married and have lots of shenanigans.

Don't you judge me.

It's December. How did that happen?

No, seriously. I've been buried in work for the past month and I lift my head and it's two weeks to Christmas, I missed my friend's birthday, and Chicago is colder than Dante's Ninth Level of Hell. I am currently hunched over my space heater like Bob Crochet and his little piece of coal that Scrooge allows him per month. God, I wish I had some coal to burn.

While there are many things I should be posing about, like my new found obsession with Misha Collins (MIIIIISHA), I am brain dead from my critique and my crazy writing schedule to get my thesis jump started. Dear god, I have one semester of school left. Christ.

So, it's another bits and pieces post, I'm afraid.

Let's start with SCIENCE!

This site is pretty awesome. Slide the bar over for SCIENCE!

The World of Chemistry


If Chemistry class was really like this I would have a PhD by now.

Moving on from SCIENCE, this is beautiful, especially for all you Firefly fans out there. Would it be wrong to use my student loan money to buy it?

And since Chicago is approximately the temperature of the vacuum of space, make a snowflake.

As I mentioned above, it's two weeks to Christmas (everyone I know is getting super late presents), and as such we've all been inundated with Christmas songs for the past month and a half. Not to mention my classes are down in the Loop by Macy's. And their window displays and constant music. And the parents with small children that stop in the middle of the goddamn sidewalk to stare while I'm late for class and homicidally low on coffee, omg I will brick all of you in the face!

Ahem. My point being is that if you're like me the next time you hear "I'm Dreaming of White Christmas" you may very well snap and murder everyone in the face. That is why I have developed a UnChristmas playlist, to fulfill all your misanthropic needs!

Another Christmas Song--Stephen Colbert

And this is what Christmas songs are all about: the royalties. Oh, Stephen Colbert, you warm the cockles of my cynical, caustic heart. (Sorry, guys, have no download for this one)

Make it a part of your Holiday canon/Make it the heart of my retirement plannin'

Podsafe Christmas Songs--Jonathan Coulton

If you don't know who Jonathan Coulton is you then you cannot call yourself a geek. Do yourself a favor and go visit his site and download Skullcrusher Mountain right now. Go on, I'll wait. You back? Okay.

This is a take off the Alvin and the Chipmunks song, only a thousand times better and less migraine inducing.

Don't think us rude/We don't want to get sued/By the thugs from the RIAA

You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch

You all know this one; I have nothing to add here.

Santa's Gonna Kick Your Ass--Arrogant Worms

In the words of Jayne (the one from Firefly) this is hi-larious!

Santa's coming and he's gonna kick your ass/Because you've always been a rotten little brat

Chiron Beta Prime--Jonathon Coulton

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime/Where we're working in a mine/For our robot overlords

Have Yourself a Bitter Little Christmas--David Ford
A song about breaking up with your girlfriend on Christmas.

The kids are making snowmen out of mud/It makes me think about us

Father Christmas--The Kinks

It's The Kinks. They are awesome

Father Christmas, give us some money/Don't mess around with those silly toys/ We'll beat you up if you don't hand it over



So what are your UnChristmas songs? Share in the comments.


ETA:

The Muppets are never not awesome.

And now I'm off to disappear into work for another week. I hope you all survive this holiday season, one way or another...

I know i have a sick sense of humor. I hope you do too.

Ok this is going to be short because I'm in between classes, but i have to share it. This chaos started with a kid getting back from the dentist and acting goofy. From there it got worse. I'm only posting the original and the 2 others i liked best, but it's so worth it.
The original, "David After Dentist"
This one is Vader's skit, called "Chad After Dentist"
And the best/worst one, in my opinion:
"David After the Divorce"
I really think I'm going to hell. I feel bad that i laughed AT ALL on the last one, but oh well.
~Dancing Shadow

We still think we're hilarious

So y'all know I read awful things, right? And that I willingly seek them out? Instead of doing the eight-nine things that need to be written this week, I found a little gem out there on the Internet. And by "gem," I do mean, "literary horror," although it is still more readable then Twilight: Off Rack Johnny Depp in Body Glitter.



And, of course, I had to share a particular passage with my Hetero Lifemate. You, dear readers, get to see the result (her comments in italics, mine in bold).



The passage (and I swear to god this is a real thing): "'Thank you,' I mouthed. I didn't know why I was thanking him. Maybe it was for killing the hobo. Maybe it was for making me feel the most alive I've ever felt in my life. Maybe it was because he made me feel important. Needed. Wanted. Desired."



HOBOCIDE



I, too, have always found the murder of a hobo to be romantic. I love how in the middle of all this sappy crap there's the casual mention of murder.



Yeah, do they mention why a hobo had to be murdered? Besides to arouse them apparently...



From what I gathered, the hobo was threatening him, so his werewolf boyfriend killed the hobo, I guess.



You KNOW. Not to sound like some HIPPY or anything but...I'm pretty sure that one look at his werewolf from would be all that was necessary to drive the hobo off.



I'm more worried that the poor idiot thinks that having his bf murder anyone that looks at him funny is proof of a healthy relationship.



While killing him [the hobo] is a permanent solution, and I'm sure some would say he provided a good service to society and all, I suppose when you're a werewolf you just kill and it's no big deal to you ever.



Lucky for him he's got an amoral sociopath for a boyfriend who finds murder to be an acceptable token of affection as a box of gas station chocolates.



Oooooh chocolates how delightful!



Hobo murder flavored chocolates!



That's an acquired taste, I think. It's got a musky aftertaste.



Musky, whiskey aftertaste.



With a hint of BO. Well, ok, more than a hint. More like a back handed pimp slap to the face.



With the subtle tang of syphilis.



And possibly lice. They're his friends! He has a name for every single one of them!



The lice will avenge him!



YEAH. WATCH OUT WEREWOLF. You goin' to be usin' that hind leg of yours a whole messa times. Hey, maybe it's not that he killed a hobo, but rather he's just gained a boyfriend AND a pet dog!



And in just a short amount of time we've improved this story and made it about a thousand times more plausible. And, no, before you ask, I have no idea what the actual plot was about beyond hobo killing and gay werewolves, but that should tell all you ever needed to know about it.

Jayne gets her snarky disapproval on about something on the Internet

So. Cracked.com. I have such a love/hate with this site. They are snarky and fairly hilarious, and yet, let's be honest here, they are a bunch of frat boys. Yes, they have articles, like this one, that manage to grapple with social/political issues and still manage to be funny. But for everyone of those there are about thirty gay panic/homophobic jokes (because everyone knows that the gays want nothing more than some frat boy ass) and about elevenity million pictures of boobs. The entire editorial board is all male, which is, sadly enough, not abnormal at all, and, I am not trying to be a smart ass here, I honestly can't remember if I've ever read an article on the site written by a woman. There has to be one, right?

Look, I get it. Even though Cracked covers a huge array of topics, from Presidents to deadly insects and everything in between, it assumes that a majority of its readers are heterosexual men, who really fucking love boobs. Because boobs are awesome.

So, fine, okay, I accept there's going to be some casual sexism and homophobia going on, I got that, but this? That is just fucking lazy.

But it's funny, guys, because women fucking love shoes! And men don't! Seriously, we have statistics to prove it! Man, those crazy women and their shoes! So fucking wacky!

There's nothing new or groundbreaking or particularly funny about this. It's just another well worn stereotype being trotted out, complete with some objectification, because the author couldn't think of anything new and creative to write about. This is the equivalent of me getting on here and complaining about how men leave up the toilet seat and can't cook.

But, of course, it really is the comments that pull it altogether, like this gem: "If these articles that make fun of stereotypes make you mad, then just don't read them!!!!"

First of all, I am revoking this commenter's exclamation point privilege. You use one exclamation point and no more, you illiterate jackass.

Second of all, relying on stereotypes is not only lazy humor, but it also helps propagate racism and sexism; by ignoring these articles or remaining silent and not criticizing them is just another way to continue to promote a culture of prejudice and discrimination. Not to mention that it lets people think that lazy writing like this is acceptable.

Last Week was so Brutal

I normally don't buy games hot off the press, so to speak. I'm one of those annoying people who put of buying a game until the price is much cheaper than its original release price, so I wound up surprising even myself when i went out and purchased Brutal Legend almost 2 weeks ago.
It was so worth it.

I never really considered myself a heavy metal fan, but after playing this game for a while, I can strongly say it's made of best metal I've ever heard. But that's the point i believe...
The official site
I really don't want to ruin anything for people, but this is worth the purchase if you ask me. Strongly seeped in humor and visual arts, this game is impressive to me as a nerd and a music lover.

On a totally different topic,
Why would anyone go so far as to make this into a sign??
That's just cruel.

I'm a Wer-Fangirl, the sound you hear is me squeeing at the Moon!

Hello and Happy Halloween from all of us here at The Geekiest Girls You Know!

As a "grown-up" with no children or younger siblings to make use of as a "candy beard", I often find myself standing in the aisles around this time of year, staring at the heaps and heaps of purple, orange and black packaging that traditionally encases a delicious sugary death warrant for my teeth and waistline.

The struggle to give in to my inner six year-old is often a futile one...six year olds are mean...but this year I was a good "grown-up" and only had a couple of Reese's cups out of the ridiculous sixteen pound bag of treats that I bought to keep the little ankle-biting terrorists at bay. I AM SO GLAD I DID because Space Buddah decided to reward me....WITH THIS:

I like it too!
I wish they sold that man in Fun-Size...
~Darcy