A little contest for those who are interested.
You could win a free iPad and Kindle Fire. Enter here for more details. Collegeinfogeek.com is running this!
http://collegeinfogeek.com/contest-win-a-2012-ipad-and-a-kindle-touch/
To be continued…
It has been awhile since I last posted something that has really interested me. I will post something in the near future; I want to discuss my favorite group: Daft Punk. I want discuss their history, how they influenced me and many others, and how I believe their music is something that of extraordinary. Until then folks, stay classy!!
Street Fighter and Tekken: A Match Made in Heaven… or Hell?
Street Fighter… it’s the classic beat-em up game that defined a generation. Street Fighter 2, introduced in 1991, is the game that most people recommend for others who want to get into the fighting scene. With memorable characters like Ryu and Chun-Li, and infamous moves like the Hadouken, you can’t go wrong when playing either Street Fighter II or today’s Street Fighter 4.
Tekken… Introduced back in 1994, Tekken was one of the earliest 3D fighting games to be introduced. Tekken has a strong fan base, and with flagship characters like Jin Kazama and Heihachi Mishima, it’s a game that’s more involved than games like Street Fighter. In order to be proficient, you must know your moves and combinations with precise timing, or else you’re done without landing a single move.
Many fans of the fighting game genres have always wondered what if this property and that property came together. Games like Marvel Vs. Capcom, SnK Vs. Capcom, Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe and others have done what was considered a dream to fans. Now two more can enter the fray: Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken X Street Fighter. If you don’t know how to pronounce the “X” part, here’s how you’d say it: Street Fighter “Cross” Tekken. The SF X Tekken game will use the Street Fighter IV game engine, while Tekken X SF will use the Tekken 6 game engine. (Game engines in simpler terms mean graphics.)
At Comic-Con 2010, the creator of Street Fighter Yoshinori Ono and Tekken creator Katsuhiro Harada announced the creation of Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken X Street Fighter. Fans who kept up with videogame news didn’t see this coming at all, even thought it was speculated something would be done with a Namco and Capcom title. Then the two creators previewed the Street Fighter X Tekken version, to everyone’s delight. The game started out with Ryu, and then Kazuya Mishima walks and the two share a verbal exchange. Then during the fight Chun-Li comes to help Ryu, and then after that physical exchange, Nina Williams comes in to help Kazuya. Then the game ends, and the crowd cheers. Here is a video of what I explained:
Just recently at Gamescon the same producers showed Tekken X Street Fighter, they showed off prototype images of what Street Fighter character Ryu would look like when using the Tekken 6 engine. Images are below:
To bring this blog to a close, this(these) idea(s) are a match made in heaven due to the huge fan bases of both series. If you’re a gamer, you decide: Is it a match made in heaven, or will it be match made in hell?
Anime: What is it? How did I get into it? Why older is better than newer, and the future of it all.
Anime, they’re cartoons from the Rising Sun (Japan). Anime is the one form of entertainment in the world where anything can be done. There can be giant robots, men powering up and turning their hair yellow, seeing the dead and protect the living, mystery cases, and as crazy as doing sexual interests, or as it is known: Hentai. Anime is versatile, and there are many fans across the world with different tastes.
My childhood, next to being outside all the time, was watching cartoons. Most cartoons when I was a young grasshopper came from America, thanks to channels like Nickelodeon, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, FOX Kids, the WB, etc. Rugrats, Animaniacs, Bugs Bunny, shows like that I watched so much. My first time I ever knew of a Japanese cartoon was when I was watching Mega Man on TV back in ’96, a commercial came on for a show called Dragon Ball Z. I never watched it or was interested, but that’s when I was first aware of a show like that. It wasn’t until Toonami on Cartoon Network appeared that I began a new journey, a new journey towards this new fad called Anime. The first show that I ever got into was Sailor Moon, a show about a girl who back many years ago was a Princess from the moon. She and 4 others girls (many more later on) called the Sailor Scouts eventually meet and become protectors of the world. I watched this show religiously, because it was something new and different. Regardless of it being directed mostly towards girls, it fascinated me that there was a show like this made. From then on, my road to anime has been a fun one. I’m currently a huge fan of Dragon Ball/Z/GT (Not a big fan of GT, but of course me being a fan of the other two, I was interested). Since I began watching DBZ, I have all Z episodes, GT Episodes, all of the DB Manga Line from Viz Media (Not the DBZ portion), and the Complete Illustrations Guide Book. I also have all the Yu Yu Hakusho episodes and Trigun episodes on DVD. I’m currently watching (or reading) Ninja Nonsense, Gurren Lagann, Naruto Shippuden, Bleach, The Mightiest Desciple Kenichi, Black Lagoon, and I believe that’s all at the moment. I don’t care if people don’t like it, but that’s something I enjoy on my downtime when I need some entertainment.
Now, we’re in the year 2010, and anime is relatively common these days. Back in the late 80’s to mid 90’s, it was more of a cult following kind of thing, you had to go to far reaches to get something anime related. In this day in age, anime is done mostly by computers anymore, but just like any cartoon, sketches and cels are created (but to an extent these days.) Now newer anime is being pumped out at a high rate these days, but nothing beats older anime from the 90’s and earlier. Why you ask? There was more love and labor involved. Shows like First of the North Star and Dragon Ball are perfect examples, while there were many animators involved with both shows, they created sketches, then onto cels that had to be put on backgrounds and laid down to be photographed onto film. This way was time consuming, and it’s astounding that many shows were able to be release new episodes every week. Older anime is always a good start for those who are interested in getting into the genre, or who are skeptical as to what it is, because it shows how determined and dedicated animators were to create such compelling shows, with its detail and character. Most of the shows I like are done in the old traditional way, because I feel that they’re more rewarding to watch. I still watch newer anime, but nothing beats watching the older stuff which lead to newer stuff being created. Homages are made in newer anime from older anime. For example, shows like One Piece and Naruto are homages to Dragon Ball, in the line of characters, story, and style.
For the future of anime, it’s not gonna stop anytime soon, and I’m pretty sure of it. Today’s anime is easily accessible, legally and illegally. Fan-Subbers are the illegal ones, but they’re also the ones that help the anime industry in getting shows from the home land shown. There are pros and cons to fan-subbing, but supporting the release is the way to go. If you are unsure what fansubbing is, it’s when groups of people get RAW episodes (the way they were shown either on DVD or on TV), encode them with filters for better quality, and subtitle the episodes into the language people can understand. This is costing animators and animation company’s money because fansubbers are releasing episodes, making it easy for people to watch and finish. Company’s like Viz Media and FUNimation are constantly licensing new shows that people know either from word of mouth or fansubs, and bringing them to a larger audience for them to enjoy. Anime will always be around, either original or imitated, for kids or for adults, it’s got a wide range of fans, for any demographic, and will continue to grow in the years to come.
Oh yes, please support the official release of any anime show that you watch, either on the TV or Internet, in order for something to continue, they need the support of the fans.
Sailor Moon
Dragon Ball Z
Next blog post will be tomorrow!
I’m currently busy for today into the night, but I will have a brand new blog post tomorrow about another Japanese thing (and something I enjoy a lot), and that’s anime. I’ll discuss how I got into anime, why old anime is probably the best kind to watch, and the future of it. Stay tuned!
Hard Gay: Why he’s funny, and why America needs a little Hard Gay.
I mentioned that I wanted to do something fun with this guy when I was debating on creating a blog on Facebook. Well now it’s that time that I do what I wanted. Why is this man so damn funny, lovable and gay? Because he can!
Now to explain who this “Hard Gay” fella is. His real name is Masaki Sumitani. He is a lot of things; a talent for variety shows, a Japanese comedian, and his first true profession: a professional wrestler. His full performing name is Razor Ramon Hard Gay or simply HG. Now the name may be familiar to those who are fans of WWE wrestling, and that your thoughts are most likely right. Sumitani used Scott Hall’s ring name “Razor Ramon”, which I believed he used in honor. He became very popular in 2005 joining the show called Bakusho Mondai no Bakuten!, which aired on Saturday’s on the TBS Television station in Japan. He wrestled for the Doshisha Professional Wrestling Alliance, or DWA, and then eventually moved to HUSTLE, which was a more comedy related wrestling promotion, in late 2005. Sadly, in July 2009 he had to retire from wrestling due to shattering his left foot while diving off from the wrestling ring.
I’m not here to discuss his entire life as of now, but rather why I think this guy is a comdey genius, and dare I say hero?! Yes!
Personally, I heard of Hard Gay back a couple years ago, but being someone who was focused on other things Japanese (Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho, Cowboy Bebop (well let’s just say anything Toonami and Adult Swim related) I didn’t really pay attention. It wasn’t until this summer that I finally got a taste of who this Hard Gay was and why he was so damn hilarious. The first video I ever watched was one titled “Father’s Day“. I only have one thing to say about this: “FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH”. This man is the pinnacle of manly gayness. My favorite thing is that he’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. This is especially true in a video I saw called “TOMY“, which shows Hard Gay going to far reaches to be made into a popular game. The game is called 黒ひげ危機一発 or “Kurohige Kiki Ippatsu“, and it involves sticking plastic keys into slits on a barrel. There is a pirate in the barrel, and the person who puts the key into the slit and makes the pirate jump out loses the game. This made me die in laughter due to his antics, like facing the president of TOMY to a game of Kiki Ippatsu and losing immediately.
Hard Gay is also very funny because he’s acting in a stereotypical gay attitude, but giving it pizazz. He has a knack of thrusting his hips when he’s happy or excited about something, and he won’t stop, not even towards children (yes, I said children. Gotta love Japan and there tolerant ways. Tolerance FTW!!). When he’s not happy, he will yell at the person by saying “SAY SAY SAY” repeatedly to shut them up. He also has a habit of constantly saying “Okay”, which for me personally is hilarious because of the way he says it. Best of it all is that he wears a tight black leather vest with hot pants and shoes that would make Ryan Stiles shoes look small (don’t get the reference, look it up on Wikipedia ;D).
To bring this little blog to a close, I want to state why I think we need someone like RAZOOOR RAMOOOON SUMITANI HADO GAYU! in the United States. It seems that here in the States, we have a lot of people who are either very tolerant of homosexuals, or not tolerant of homosexuals. Hard Gay is really not gay, because he is married. Some in the gay community may think he’s making fun of gays, and this may be true, but everyone needs to have an open mind. He just likes to have fun, and the way he gets laughs is to act like a gay man and do funny things, to me that’s a win-win situation. I wish more people (as in actors, comedians, etc.) would have the balls to do what Hard Gay does in Japan, and maybe in some way that could change the perceptions of people who either fear, discriminate, or hate the gay culture. America is different in that anything that isn’t in the normal “Christian” way is wrong. I don’t mean Christian in that sense that everyone is a part of that religion, but since America is predominately Christian, I’m going with it. Our social norms are different, and that’s okay, but an open-mind can bring new ideas and thoughts. In the case of a Hard Gay-like character in America, it could help bring down the taboo people place on gays in general.
(All information regarding Hard Gay and other information can be found on http://www.wikipedia.com. Thank you for reading my very first blog post, and I hope that you pass this on to others to read.)
The manliest of men
A day that is new for me… a blog.
Well, it’s official: I created my own blog. Now that the obvious has been stated, I can probably begin starting the stuff I want to talk about most. I will begin with something fun, so expect that tomorrow. Until then folks!
The blog about anything. 