Introducing Watercrown Productions’ entry in Ludum Dare Game Jam #23: Corebound!
by Ryusui on Apr.23, 2012, under Watercrown Productions
So I just made a game in 72 hours. And it feels good.
Check it out here. Enjoy!
Welcome again!
by Ryusui on Feb.23, 2012, under Watercrown Productions
For the past half-year or so, a number of people trying to find my site have ended up on theryusui.110mb.com, which has been defunct since right after I started scanlating Liar Game (thanks again, SLAiNTRAX). I did have it set up so that visitors there would end up redirected to my new site here at watercrown.info, but in their infinite suckitude, 110mb apparently decided to revoke my ability to set up an htaccess redirect while at the same time denying me the ability to log into my own account. Seriously, screw those guys.
Thanks to this forum post by inyo, however, I was finally able to log into my account and set things right. No htaccess? No problem. I just turned my index.php file itself into a redirect and deleted everything else. Yeah. An extreme solution, I know, but you’re here now, right? And everything from the old site made it here – the translation patches, the media mash-ups, etc. – so just have a look around; you’re sure to find whatever you came here for.
So to all of you who came in late and had no idea my site had moved: welcome again!
The best thing about Xenoblade coming Stateside?
by Ryusui on Dec.12, 2011, under Opinions
It’s old news by now, but it’s official: after much Internet backlash, Xenoblade is finally coming out in the US…about a year and a half late. Ah, well. It’s a victory all the same.
Some people have reacted to this news with ambivalence: first, Nintendo waited until after everyone who cared about the game modded their Wiis and imported the European version, and second, it’s only going to be available from Gamestop, otherwise known as “the Devil.” Interestingly, though, Gamestop apparently approached Nintendo about getting the game published here, so despite their sorry reputation among gamers, even they know a dick move when they see one.
Personally, I’m glad I waited. Yes, the US version will be the pretty much the same as the European version, British voice acting and all, but there’s one very important difference.
EU on the left, US on the right:
Look at that. Someone at Nintendo of America has taste. “Chronicles” may not be out of the picture entirely, but it’s shrunk down enough that you barely even notice it – a little Photoshopping and it’d be gone entirely.
So remember, kids: wait for the American version, or else you’ll be saddled with a copy that gives the crappy contractually-obligated cliché RPG subtitle equal billing with the actual name of the game. (They even had the gall to shrink the word “Xenoblade” to match. Bastards.)
Spoilers!
by Ryusui on Oct.04, 2011, under Random
Everything you know about pop culture is wrong. So sayeth the Spoiler Troll.
Pull his finger and learn the truth about your favorite movies, TV shows, books, and games!
NOTE: May or may not actually contain spoilers. Spoiler Troll is for entertainment purposes only. Do not get Spoiler Troll wet and never feed him after midnight. Side effects of Spoiler Troll may include headache, mild rash, dry mouth, and spontaneous intestinal reconfiguration. MY SPLEEN!
Suggestions for more spoilers? Send ‘em my way and you might find them horribly butchered by the Spoiler Troll in the future!
The Scourge of Social Media.
by Ryusui on Oct.02, 2011, under Random
I’m not a big fan of “social media.” I don’t have a Facebook account, and I only have a Twitter account because I needed one to enter a contest. That contest was connected with Legends of Zork, a now-defunct browser-based online game; it wasn’t a bad game, mind, but some time before I left its Great Underground Empire for good, I got introduced to a much, much better browser-based game: Failbetter Games’ Echo Bazaar.
Echo Bazaar is best described as a kind of online gamebook – a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure with RPG elements. Yes, that would technically make it yet another click-based grindfest like the aforementioned Legends of Zork (or SpyBattle 2165, which I mentioned previously), except that Echo Bazaar has a story to tell, one snippet of narrative (or “storylet”) at a time. The writing quality alone makes Echo Bazaar well worth spelunking, even if only for a short time. Thus far I’ve plumbed nearly all the content I can access with a free account, and I’m dangerously close to actually spending money on this game.
Let me put this in perspective: I never spend money on free online games.
Of course, you absolutely have to have an account on Twitter (lucky me!) or Facebook in order to sign up. Fortunately, you can create a Twitter account with just a username, email, and password: you don’t really have to provide your real name, as you’ll see on my feed. That’s right: I’ve gone and sold my soul to the Devil added a Twitter feed to my home page. What has the world come to?
I’ll tell you what: Failbetter Games has another game out, The Night Circus. On paper, it’s an advertising tie-in for a novel of the same name. In practice, it’s Echo Bazaar Lite: same quality of writing, less of it overall, but just as compelling and 100% free. Problem is, you can’t access all the content without increasing your Rêveur Rank, and you can’t increase your Rêveur Rank without sacrificing outsiders to the almighty Failwhale shilling the game through your Tweets getting Twitter friends and newcomers to join through your Diary, where you can share whatever snippets catch your eye. Those same snippets get posted to Twitter in your name, each with a link to your Diary, ready to drag unsuspecting visitors into the strange black-and-white-and-red-all-over world of The Night Circus. You know what you must do. Enjoy.
(And for what it’s worth, Echo Bazaar has a similar mechanic, though I don’t think I get any kind of kickback in this case. Feel free to join me in Fallen London through the links to my Journal. You won’t regret it. Seriously.)
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