Happy New Year, Spwug!

Man, do I wish I had a working camera last weekend. Magfest 7 was a five-day bash in Alexandria VA to start 2009. From the ball drop to the Sunday zombie march out of the Hilton, it was wall-to-wall-to-wall-to-wall gaming, music and comraderie!

(0) BUT FIRST, BREAKING NEWS.

-According to reports that went out today — Electronic Gaming Monthly, a 20-year veteran magazine, and one of the most well known gaming publications out there, will launch it’s final issue this month.

EGM, and parts of 1UP.com were sold by it’s parent company Ziff-Davis to UGO to stave off it’s losses, after filing for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection last year. Simply put, UGO now owns 1UP.com, and maintains that the website’s features will remain, but the side effect was EGM’s sudden conclusion.

This blogger remembers vividly the first issue he’d seen in 7th grade — a blitzkrieg of gaming news and info in the heyday of 1990, when Mega Man 3 graced it’s cover. I had no idea just how deep the well of video games ran, and EGM was the light on my helmet. Yeah, Gamepro is still shambling along, and I still have a dusty pile of GameFan magazines laying around, but there was an air of legitimacy with EGM. If it wasn’t covered by EGM — and what wasn’t in that magazine? –then it must not have been good. Time sure have changed, but I sincerely hope those dedicated folks are able to bounce back and find a new mag — or build an even better one.

(1) MAGFEST 7 GAMING, or CRYBRINGER’S CAVE-TASTIC WEEKEND.

Old friend I hadn’t seen in years, much old and new school gaming, and another fantastic performance by The Smash Brothers describes my overall experience with Magfest 7. But honestly, my MISSION as soon as the cabinets got turned on were THESE. I finally got to play three of the most popular shoot-em’-ups by CAVE/AMI! The original arcade boards, in full glorious stereo sound, rich graphical detail, and housed in modern seated cabinets. All three games were runaway hits at the con, bringing in a constant stream of players, and rousing exclaimations of “OMG” or “How can you DODGE that!? That’s ridiculous!” If you’ve read my previous posts, I’d made mention of one or more before. But with several loops and about six hours of total play under my belt, I’m a changed man.

Mushihimesama:

-I’ve actually had a BRIEF run in with the import PS2 release of Mushi, but hardly cracked the first stage. Having done two full runs on both Normal & Maniac difficulties, I can say this is about as pure a vertical shooter as you can get. The title Mushihime (Insect Princess) character Reko has three types of weapons (normal vulcan, wide shot and focused beams,) with two flavors of helpers that either shadow her movements or form up on either side. Said helpers fire long lasers that compliment the main weapon. Tapping the fire button, as most modern shmups do, means faster movement. Holding the button gives a constant stream of firepower with slower movements to get through the stickiest of enemy salvos. Mushihimesama is five decently sized stages, promising a blistering amount of enemy fire throughout. From the smallest of foes to the stage bosses, each hit or kill adds to a combo counter that multiplies the score — seeing a big fat +20,000 hit counter rapidly climbing as the player punishes a boss is a real rush. I’ve long since memorized the soundtrack and drawn plenty of Mushi-inspired artwork, so it’s easy on the eyes & ears… but that’s about it. While it allows 2 players, it feels like a purely solo affair is the best way to clear it and see any extra bonuses. After clearing Maniac difficulty, I was well satisfied and looking for crunchier, more complex shmups to dig into. Luckily…

Ibara:

…There’s Ibara. And “crunchy” is a great description. I tried this in a PS2 re-release — and it’s clear that it’s not nearly as tight or crisp visually. Gameplay is identical, but the devil’s in the details: Ibara pits 1 or 2 players against the assault of the gothic lolita-dressed Rose Sisters, and their army of very-not-child-safe tanks, airships and fortresses; COVERED in spikes, blades and all sorts of painful looking details — said guns and cannons firing shurikens, broadswords(!), knives and Really Big Bullets. The player gets to answer back with five different weapons to pick up in battle, equipped individually on up to three drones, in any combination. Thus, a player can have their main gun, with a flying rocket launcher, flamethrower and 5-way spread gun all at the same time! On top of that, with each super bomb in stock, the player can charge said bomb up, and fire an invinicible super beam; the “Hadou Gun” that nullifies any enemy fire that runs into it, does insane damage to enemies trapped in it, and stays on screen for minutes at a time. Even with that safety net of hot lead, player death erupts in a shower of bullets that does damage to the enemy too.

If it sounds busy, it is. If it sounds intense, believe me, IT IS. Ibara revels in it’s bold, stylish presentation, and delivers on some heavy gameplay — although compared to Mushihimesama, it’s a bit easier in difficulty. Not much, but enough to notice. The last of the three though…

ESP Galuda 2:

…is a big, beautiful, sexy, steampunk inspired BEAST of a vertical shmup. CAVE/AMI pulled out all the stops for the third of their ESP “series” (Galuda 1 & Ra.De.) Stay with me on this one: Genetics, super-science, alchemy, whatever you want to call it, but the three characters; Tateha, Ageha & newcomer Asagi, wage a battle against an imperial family of cyborg psychics (this author assumes…) Shot types differ between the three, and the most basic system is like Mushihimesama. But instead of support drones, the old ESP Ra.De. powered shot and chargeable super bomb/shield returns. And then there’s Kakusei Mode. Pressing the secondary button engages/disengages a ‘bullet-time’ mode that drastically slows down enemy fire. Normally as you kill opponents, they drop green gems, and these gems power Kakusei Mode. If an enemy launches a volley of bullets and is killed before nailing the player, their bullets are converted to gold instead of gems, and racks up extra points. If the player uses up all their gems (a total of 500 to collect) Kakusei Over mode kicks in, DOUBLING the bullet speed and making enemies attack more aggressively! A screen full of fast, angry red bullets is a scary thing. But ESP Galuda 2 goes even further, as if the Kakusei mode button is held, the screen goes into a negative image and Zesshikkai Mode is on.

Now, instead of just changing to gold, every enemy killed turns the screen full of bullets turn into MORE bullets… now AIMED at the player. The player gets an even bigger bonus score for each ‘flip’ of curtain fire from normal to homing and so on, but the same rules apply. Slow down enemy fire for gold, or risk a Zesshikkai Over mode with faster aimed bullets!

Whew! Deep, huh? One can play the game without ever using Kakusei, Zesshikkai or their Over variants (or if they REALLY wanna challenge themselves, they can waste their gems and tackle the whole game in fast-forward!) But the risk vs. reward aspect is VERY tempting and the mechanics of the game are very well executed througout!

(2) SOUNDTRACK UPDATE!

-Even more CAVE/AMI fandom here, as I got an advance listen to the soundtrack for the latest game, Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu. I’ve mentioned it before, but for this gamer a soundtrack can make the experience (or break it.) I’m happy to say, I’ll be ordering this CD VERY soon. If I didn’t know better, I’d say composers Manabu Namiki, Yoshimi Kuzo & Asuza Chiba melded the DDP series (and Namiki’s signature) techno style with live guitar and a decidedly… hip-hop sort of rhythm! “Shadowing World ~ Obverse” hits it’s listeners with a funky R& B drumbeat, a slithering guitar solo and a very pop/game music flourish throughout. The end credits theme, “Who Decided About ‘Dying Peacefully?” at times feels like a young modern hip hop ballad. Of course, boss themes like “Element Daughter” & “Longhena Cantata” rage and throb with brutal 808 beats, and “][|/34<#!” (”Hibachi”, for the l33t impaired — the second half of this repeat video link) is one of Namiki’s better PSYCHOTIC Amen-breakbeat spamming sessions — you get points with Crybringer if you can trick him into thinking his speakers flatlined.

“Numerous Blinking Lights In The Night Sky Towards A Shining Future” and “The Battle Was Just ‘To Continue That Future” are just pure Namiki and a real showcase of his musical know-how. Elegant chord progressions, sharp melodies, excellent atmosphere… I CANNOT wait until an arrange album appears, as these are MUSTS to include. If the rest of Basiscape gets a hold of them, watch out…

(3) THERE IS NO NUMBER THREE.

(Mainly because Windows Vista seems to want to think for me instead of letting me do it. I love this new laptop, and don’t have a problem with Vista overall per se. I guess it’s just unfamiliarity with the machine that irks me… now– QUIT SELECTING WHEN I MOUSE OVER STUFF!!!)

That’s about it for now. Best to pace out the new year, eh? See y’all next week!

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Heyoo, readers!  Remember, there’s a leap second to consider before kicking off 2009!

I’ll be on my way to Magfest 7 this weekend, and I hope to have a huge roundup of bands playing and games played!  Your resident Crybringer hopes you had a very Merry Christmas (while he celebrates with a new laptop!) and we can kick off 2009 in grand style!  Sing, drink, be happy with friends and good company tonight, and stay safe out there! 

 *ahem!*

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old times since ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
And surely I’ll buy mine !
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

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Dear Santa. It’s CB from Spwug!

Yeah, my posting consistency has been oatmealish for the past few months, but I’ve done what I can to provide as much word-on-the-street, fresh-from-the-show reporting. I mean, I could go on and on and on about shmups (and plan to anyway.) But, you gotta admit, a geek report on Coldplay or local student orchestras playing Zelda covers is cool too!

Anyways, I think I’ve been good enough — I haven’t kicked any dogs or set fire to people’s trash cans! And your cadre of elves could use a real workout this time! Money’s tight, Wii’s are hard to find. And these gifts, don’t necessarily come with a price tag.

WHAT I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR IS:

(10) Comiket 75 is right after your big day, Santa. I can take late gifts. My birthday is only a week after New Years. Doujinshi. Lots of doujinshi! Make it happen, St. Nick!

(9) Reduce the number of double-crosses, trick plays and world-shaking plot twists in Heroes for next season. Thank goodness the Sylar/Elle loveaffair was short lived — but she’s dead now! There’s like FOUR other blondes you coulda bumped off! It’s gotten to the point that this staunch HRG fan has to settle on Hiro — and lemme tell you, he’s actually kinda cool this time out. Is it true he writes his own dialogue for the japanese segments?

(8) Bless the gamers and producers of games out there, and bring the Christmas miracle of a XBOX 360 CAVE/AMI library release Stateside! One can only survive on epic FPS’ and Castle Crashers but so long! I want Dododo-Do-do-do *KABOOOOM!* Dodonpachi DOJ & Ketsui to be on my 360 dashboard! Street Fighter HD Remix and IV will put the fighting game pedal to the floor — shmups new & old should be battling right alongside them!

(7) Santa, when it comes to comic books, you deliver! No complaints! No requests! There’s a wealth of online comics, spectacular print comics, and Small Press Expo this year was an early present! Did I mention Small Press Expo? October in Bethesda/Rockville MD for the Washington DC region? Bigger and better every year? Shame on me. Readers need the likes of Wondermark or Remake in their Christmas haul.

(6) Crazy thing happened several weeks ago; up in Alberta, a meteor the size of a pair of semi trucks BLAZED across the night sky and brought it to daylight for a split second. Think you could fix that up for us again? Convince the unimpressed? Avert a potential apocalypse? There are calls for an asteroid shield, and that’d be kinda nice for the house.

(5) More Wyatt Cenac on Daily Show. The guy has to make his own promos.

(4) One of these. How you get it on the sleigh is not a crazy premise, considering the logistics of your one-night-only world tour runs smack up against the theory of relativity.  Make it happen, Santa.

(3) While we’re at it, one of these too. We’re a year out from 2010, THE geek culture year. Who would have guessed we’d have this figured out?! The whole flying cars joke is played out, but jetpacks more than diamonds dug out with the previously requested trencher are forever.

(2) You’ve already delivered me the gift that even fellow Spwug members probably raise an eyebrow at! A decent, if not amazing turnaround for the Baltimore Ravens! Last season was an EMBARRASSING 5-11 drubbing. This year might end at a complete REVERSE of that. 5 MVP bids. A confident coach. Wins to savor, losses to grow on. A fan of the past three seasons so far, I’m going to rest easy and enjoy Christmas Day knowing one gift has already been delivered!

*sob*, thank you Santa!

(1) My number one request — everything else can fall by the wayside for all I care! The one thing I want is to have a spectacular 2009! I’ve got a lot of travel plans, a lot of events to go, see and do and it kicks off almost IMMEDIATELY from January 1st!

Magfest! Ohayocon! Katsucon! A break in the spring so I can prepare for the epic return to San Diego Comic Con!

That’s my list, big guy. In return, I plan on being better than this year — how else can I score enough points to hit your list’s S+ Rank for 2009?

Merry Christmas!

-Your man with the Options,

“Crybringer”

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No seriously!  The University of Maryland has a student orchestra that exclusively plays arrangements of video game music & themes!

Their 2008 Winter Concert was last night, at the Memorial Chapel at the very front doorstep of the UMD campus, to a faithful crowd of several hundred students, families, fans and of course, game music die-hards!

The show had 10 original arrangements, performed by the now 90+ person GSO.  The evening began at 8pm with a rendition of the theme of Starfox.  The Legend of Zelda’s myriad themes followed, with selections from Warcraft II, Final Fantasy VIII, Chrono Trigger as well.  Beautiful and unique selections all around — the dark strains of Warcraft II, the stirring main theme of Chrono Trigger, etc. — made the show more than just a orchestral shout-out to Mario.  And the post intermission selections were the the highlight of the show.  Stumbling and losing themselves on some key pieces like Starfox and Final Fantasy VIII’s challenging boss theme, the GSO seemed to suddenly hit their stride and handled solos and excellent transitions in melody with gusto.  A lovely piano duet covering the recent Odin Sphere set that pace.

Needless to say, the chorus opening their performance with the familiar “SE-GA!” intro brought the house down.  THEN they went into the Sonic & Ristar medley and earned every bit of applause.  Kirby Super Star was next, and just as the sleeper hit it’s taken from, the jazzy notes was a surprising show of depth (though this was about the worst of the last four selections they played.)

I hope to hand over some links or audio of their perfomance of Xenosaga & Tetris — the GSO’s aim of bringing the two decades of memorable game music shows real, healthy promise judging from those pieces.

In all, the GSO was really gracious, appreciative, and showed a real love for the games and soundtracks they played.  They have only need to improve their accuracy and develop more experience as musicians in general — I’ll be looking forward to their next performance!

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Man, heckuva title there huh?  I managed to squeeze two -fications in the same space w/o them cancelling out like a reaction in the Large Hadron Collider.

So the past few days after a very interesting Thanksgiving in NYC (I love that town.  I really do,) I’ve been getting back into my usual shmup gaming and media update cycle.  Thunder Force VI still sits pristine and unopened on my desk.  Someday TFVI, someday.  News of a Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu (”Angry Boss Bee: Great Revival”) soundtrack is good news!  “Shadowed World” (Stage 3) is just lovely — if you like ambient like me.  “Somebody, Save Me!” (Boss 2) ROCKS.

 Then there’s the news that Otomedius Gorgeous for import XBOX 360 has a 115-image gallery of concept art and front images.  That’s on top of the package with a arcade stick + touch pad (gimmick!) and extra console-exclusive content.  Right on.

… So articles make it sound like it’s a unrestricted bonanza of nudie cartoons w/ headlines at Kotaku (safe!) and Sankaku Complex (totally NSFW.)  Taking a look around the other side of the fence at Nicovideo however, reveals artist extraordinaire Mine Yoshizaki’s pen on enemy models, the Riding Viper ships, Parodius penguins, concept Big Core mechs – and lemme tell you, sports stripes and hot rod flames on classic boss mechs = WIN. — as well as the principal characters’ insert images, design sheets and a grand total of 20-30 non-nude but cheesecakey pics.

Yeah, it’s defense of the seemingly indefensible.  Otomedius is far from the pinnacle of the Gradius or Parodius series.  It’s main characters wear ecchi-cut maid costumes while flying about (but there’s beefcake too!)  Most of the game plays as a cheeky pastiche of Konami’s shooting game history.  Twinbee, XEXEX, Salamander cameos on top of remixed tunes, omake endings — fans will readily forgive it’s flaws as it still IS a Gradius game with a healthy challenge and a heap of features.

There’s other equally respected shooting series like the aformentioned Dodonpachi that has recently released — and even it stars bosses that are 10-story tall moe-bots, guns and zettai-ryouki a-blazing.  Deathsmiles is set to release for the 360 in Japan next year, and it wears it’s gothic-lolita fetish proudly as it tears through a Halloween-inspired dogfight.  Trigger Heart Exelica, Muchi-Muchi Pork — don’t even get me STARTED on the juggernaut called Touhou.  Oh, the curtain fire’s not an afterthought.

My argument is this — I understand moe.  Whether it stands to do more damage or increase the longevity of the animation & gaming industries domestic and abroad remains to be seen.  But I’m willing to ’suffer’ meganneko and mecha-musume in my shmups in particular as long as the quality measures up.  Heck, shmups have had a lifelong secret history of lovely Ripley-caliber femmes as well as war-hardened dudes (who do you think pilots those things anyway?)  And likewise in the case of Otomedius’ gallery, if it weren’t for my slavish fandom of the series and lead character designer, I’d have blown the whole thing off and pointed an accusing finger at a shameless quasi-pornographic game as though it were a Leisure Suit Larry title.

 It’s one thing to fault a game, or other media for being poor quality.  Torches and pitchforks for a lackluster anything really.  The Otomedius gallery issue will pass — and those who stick around for the real design sheets will be rewarded — but I hope that good games; really good games that have a tongue-in-cheek or a just-for-fun sort of attitude don’t get thrown under a bus because they’re served with a healthy side of moe.  That’s all I’m sayin’.

Oh yeah, and Minishooter RS Delta.

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Greetings everybody! Anybody?

Lemme first extend very humble apologies as I’ve been off the radar the past few weeks. But not for lack of effort! Behold! A 1024×1280 desktop for those… two fans of your resident Crybringer’s comic - The Demon Mages!

This month, and months before had been pretty touch-and-go. As you’ll see in the following post, a lot’s been going on that’s off the usual nerdy-beaten path. We’ll start back at:

HALLOWEEN! Yessir, if it’s Halloween, it only means one thing — COLDPLAY IN CONCERT! (Wait, what?–Huh? …uh, so Coldplay ISN’T a Halloween tradition?) The band took the stage at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. to a sold out crowd. Personally speaking, this author *knew* Coldplay’s songs — most of them — without actually… *knowing* who Coldplay WAS? Funny thing that, as when the first strains of “Yellow” kicked in I knew I was in for a treat, and more importantly who it was who was on stage!

(l. to r.) Jonny Buckland, Lead vocalist Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, and their EPIC drummer Will Champion were complimented by a crazy stage direction full of light, sound and enough walkway to put the men right in the thick of their heady crowd. “The Scientist” was performed DIRECTLY across the walk from my seat in the stadium, and I’d have bumrushed their spot if I’d known they were going to dive right in sooner. “Vida La Vida” was a killer outro, and “Lovers in Japan” is probably my favorite song of both the show, and their entire discography. Neither because I like Japan and am in love, just that it’s got a brilliant sound. Drinks and food prior to the show, a nice Metro ride to and from — a great Halloween, and to think, not a speck of candy!

THE WEEK AFTER COLDPLAY! Nekocon! Honestly, consult our resident Great American Hero, The Don for the big discourse. But I will say these things: painted bowling pins, Soukyugurentai on the Sega Saturn, laptops and OpenCanvas are very necessary things, fruit flies aren’t, nothing beats waffles at 2 in the morning, gin & tonics at 1, bedtime at midnight at a con sucks, friends are the best part of cons, yaoi cheerleader chants are the worst.

Again, Soukyugurentai — not since Radiant Silvergun had I played something so epic on a Saturn — made the weekend.

THE DAY AFTER THAT! I GOT THUNDER FORCE VI! AND I STILL HAVEN’T PLAYED IT! Player sentiments haven’t been all that kind to the game, but they got kinder as they started ramping up the difficulty and unlocking the secrets. Seems like overall, the game at first glance is a weak, bland game that’s called Thunder Force… but at it’s highest difficulties and most restricted (whaddaya know) it tightens up, smooths out and raises the hackles like previous games in the series. It’s never been a particularly BEAUTIFUL game — probably the best looking were the Sega Genesis iterations of TF III & IV — but I’m looking forward to when I can take a big healthy bite out of it, and watch it bite me right back.

I ALMOST FORGOT — Rockn’Rolla was a GREAT movie.

Really, a reassuring return-to-form from director Guy Ritchie. I’m personally a huge, huge fan of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, and the introduction of a new batch of highly skilled, highly endearing actors, plus Gerard “King Leonidas” Butler as a well-meaning but thick Scottish muscle-for-hire made this one worth seeing again. Now, I will spoil this for you readers (if you haven’t been reading The Wiki lately) — there’s a sequel in the works, possibly a trilogy. I HATED that. It’s the one thing that soured the whole experience of Rockn’Rolla. Although at the same time, the pace was much slower and less scattered than Lock-Stock/Snatch, to it’s benefit.

Now, not everything can be sunshine & roses. JURY DUTY, was the most powerful 11 hours of boredom I had to endure. No lies, actual state mandated jury duty was this past Tuesday for your resident Crybringer. And lemme tell you, some intense sitting, dozing, doodling, sitting, waiting, with a cadre of 200 equally bored and irritated strangers was… something else. And that was right after the home teams had to go and lose some important, season-defining games. Lucky thing they get to duke it out!

vs

Sunday, December 7th!

For this newfound football fan, the (current residence) Washington Redskins and the (hometown) Baltimore Ravens actually have a LOT to be happy about — both have new first-year coaches, new offensive coordinators to actually come up with dominant play and healthy endgame scores. The Ravens have a rookie quarterback with a fierce throwing arm and what looks to be the start of a robust career, not to mention both have made the Super Bowl, the Ravens are the quintessential defensive unit and the Redskins are having fun and winning with a West Coast style of play. Good job fellas in putting faith back in the fans. Now, if the Redskins could have smashed their wounded rival Dallas Cowboys and buried their still-very-dead season, the sting of watching the Ravens get shredded by the nigh-unstoppable New York Giants might not have been so bad.

And that brings us to now. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for the next few weeks, because we’re about to ascend the roller coaster hill we call the Holiday Season. It shall be epic this year — this I know! See ya till then!

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…I’m so… startled!

Not much to report on today, so I guess a little stream-o-conscious posting is in order.

“Bakemonogatari” is a RECENT (as of today) discovery, and takes the 2008 award for one HELL of a character name — a vampiress named Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade. I wish I was joking… so I could say I came up with that first!

Bakemonogatari’s make some early waves Stateside with the light novel crowd. Prolific author NisiOisin (Nishio Ishin,) who penned the likes of XXXHolic & Another Death Note came up with this supernatural romanti-comedy, and signs are looking up for it to be a noteworthy series. Shaft and director Akiyuki Shinbo (Negima!, PaniPoni Dash, Tsukuyomi Moon Phase) + character designer Akio Watanabe (The Soul Taker, Popotan) are on the reigns for this one.

( fan art by Maro Nie)

Again, “Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade!?”  キスショット・アセロラオリオン・ハートアンダーブレード. Yeah, I’m down with this one.

For a while now, I’ve had the good fortune to have the guys behind Skullgirls as close friends. Alex “o_8″ Ahad & company’s snappy doujin versus fighter is best summed up as an Art Deco cute-horror all-girls slugfest. Check it out, and by all means, they’re looking for anyone who can help them out in the development department. They already have a working alpha version of the game and are closing in on a servicable beta.

Lastly, there’s More Information Than You Require out there. Here, of course you can be filled with a sweet pop culture crunch, but should you get too many crumbs in the Beards of Our Forefathers, you Spwug-faithful out there can get a healthy serving of the real world — and all the many, many, many interesting flavors therein.

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Blizzcon was this past weekend.

I went to Anime USA instead!  Angry Viking Press was part of the guest list!  Hyatt Regency in Crystal City is renovating!  For East Coast convention regulars of the past eight years, the Hyatt Regency has been one of the most consistent anime con hosts (for better or worse)  Their guest suites are rather NICE — best sleep on a couch I’ve had… ever!  I would give the blow-by-blow, but really all you need to know is that it was fun, the panels were interesting to participate in, and OMG I JUST SENT A MAKESHIFT DOUJINSHI TO JAPAN FOR PERUSAL!  This is more exciting than the second piece of footage of Thunder Force VI, the Mega Man 9 OST, the inSANITY of our sixth week of football (ARE YOU JOKING?! Arizona? Indy on a Baltimore blowout?!  The BROWNS winning on the GIANTS?!) or the third episode of >spoiler alert< Heroes (and Heroes won my fandom back with that episode.  I mean, seriously.  You had me at Sylar and Bennett.)

So to (re)establish dominance on Wednesdays and whet the palate for The Don tomorrow, ART.

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Children descended from a by-gone era, are looking to unlock the secrets of their clandestine world, lit only by lamps and fires that threaten to permanently fade out and plunge their city into permanent darkness.

A visitor from far away embarks on a goodwill mission, but is met with the nervous and violent resistance he’s come to suppress.  While he maintains the notion of peace, he has been given a powerful tool to erase the society that may threaten life itself.

 Decades after a miraculous discovery, a powerhungry civilization arrives, looking for the last remnants of that secret which drove even an artificial mind insane.  Forced to revive said rogue creation, a battle for survival begins anew — with help from an unlikely ally.

What could I be talking about?   Think you can put titles to these stories that are due out this fall?  Which of these is not like the others?

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==========CUT FROM THE DRAFT OF LAST WEEK==========

But like slipping on a comfy pair of gloves, here it is — a new season of Heroes.  Slack-jawed Peter Petrelli, doe-eyed Claire Bennett, goofball Hiro & sidekick Ando, the list goes on.  Powers upon powers, buckets of blood, angst and humor in equal doses… check, check and double-check.

But the dreaded hydra of time-travel continues to be a thorn in my side. 

==========END CUT==========

Not since Chrono Trigger for the Super Nintendo has there been a good time travel story (that I’ve read or seen or played.)  Hiro gets ANOTHER advance preview of another city-destruction sequence, this time looking like a hammier version of Blade Runner.

Really, when it comes to apocalyptic visions, reality is stranger than any fiction.  The Hubble Space Telescope recently observed changed in the object SCP-06F6; a huge gamma ray burst that would have been like any of the other kabillion gamma ray bursts out there… except… those kinds of bursts don’t randomly appear out of nowhere… or disappear soon afterwards…  a high energy blip for about 200 Earth days and then *poof*… gone…

OMG ALIEN SPACE WAR!!!

 Ah, who cares if the stock market dips and loops around like a roller coaster gone insane!  There’s gamma ray weapon discharges going off and we’re not in the thick of the action!  Curse the theory of relativity!  Curse the time-space continuum! 

(That’s all I’ve got for the moment, folks.  Artwork to follow. >_<)

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