I believe this piece of information must be shared, regardless of your standpoint of Anime or the Film industry. On the 24th of August Satoshi Kon, legendary Japanese director died at the age of 47. His final goodby has been translated and is something I think everyone should read.

Now go and do it: http://www.makikoitoh.com/journal/satoshi-kons-last-words

For many years I’ve looked at YouTube as a delivery method for videos I wouldn’t deem as important, I’d use the website sporadically to watch music videos, interviews, gameplay cinematics and other random stuff probably involving cats (now mostly otters) doing cute things. That is until recently.

With YouTube growing and providing more and more features for free I’m starting to see the potential of using YouTube as a more viable form of professional video distribution and social blogging. As YouTube now supports 4K video streaming (4096 x 2304 video resolution), which admittedly there isn’t much demand for given that the IMAX only screens with two 2K projectors at present and the optimum screen size for 4K would need to be 25 feet so at this is all fit for a very specific purpose. Another problem with the 4K streaming would be bandwidth, as streaming a film at its original size of 4K will decimate any bandwidth allowance as you would need well above what is commercially available for the domestic market, though I lack the precise figures at the moment. Maybe in the future when people have the ability to project their computer screens to their 25 feet walls and internet speeds over 1Tb we might able to build our own cinemas, although most of this is pointless without removing the 11 minute cap on YouTube content.

That’s the technical side of YouTube’s ever expanding services, others of which include being able to edit your videos online without the need to buy expensive editing software or succumb to the likes of Windows Movie Maker or iMovie. There is also the ability to add captions and inserts into your videos, allowing you to add little speech bubbles or links to other videos inside a video. In BETA is also a transcription service, which allows you to subtitle the video with just a click of a button, although results are at the moment sketchy at best. With all those new features YouTube blog content has exploded in high production blogs with inserts, captions, along with HD as more and more HD cameras become available for less.

Vlogs (Video blogs) have exploded in popularity and over time some of the good ones are starting to come to my attention. Video blogging and blogging in general have become separate entities entirely. While video bloggers are still seen in the public eye as attention whores with too much time on their hands to edit these videos and put them out there, some of them run their lives around this almost completely . It’s also no secret that those vloggers with eccentric on screen personalities get over 100,000 subscribers and over a million views, plus it helps if you are witty and attractive too.

Having said that, yes I do believe these people are in the ‘attention whore’ category although I do not believe they are doing it for the stereotypical reasons people think of “to become famous”, they simply become famous through ability and showmanship. Otherwise these vloggers wouldn’t have as many followers as they do. As a result these people do become celebrities but only in the world of YouTube. If you think that these people are indeed attention whores then so be it, I’m not going to be the one to change your opinion, I’ve not got an argument to persuade you ready nor do I think I could build one. The only thing I could say to you is to start following a specific bunch of people such as John and Hank Green (Vlogbrothers), Tessa Violet (Meekakitty) and Philip DeFranco.

Their videos which include a lot of jump cuts and interactive anchoring which makes watching the video a very entertaining experience as everything flows and is edited to be entertaining while also removing the probable errors they must make as human beings. With these videos being as entertaining as they are I’m tempted to attempt my own, although given my rather dull life I have decided to take a day where I am doing something people might enjoy watching, so I’m going to attempt to film a 10min blog type endeavour while attending Amecon using the same editing techniques. Even if this goes badly I figured I should at least attempt to fill my YouTube my account with content.

Related Links:

• Vidcon 2010 – http://www.vidocon2010.com (Already took place)
• John and Hank Green – http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers
• Tessa Violet – http://www.youtube.com/user/meekakitty
• Philip DeFranco -  http://www.youtube.com/user/sxephil

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to write for the online games Resolution Magazine, I pitch my Transformers: War for Cybertron review to old friend and fellow podcasting partner @greggiddens. The review was well received and during a low ebb in their features submissions Greg also commented that my previous article “Stifling Creativity” was something which could be posted up but would need a bit of editing and then on Tuesday the 13^th it went live on Resolution.

With Greg being the Features Editor it allows me to input a few ideas and pitches without sounding like a tosser. Having to sell an idea to people is something I’m not fantastic at but because he’s also a friend he understands the point I’m trying to get across without much rambling from me. It also allows him to easily edit my work as in the case of the “Stifling Creativity” article, both pieces are very different from each other but maintain the same focus and points but unlike the original the Resolution version has been edited to make my arguments or points valid to my article and the point I was trying to get across. I also don’t see this being the end of my writing spree for Resolution, with Greg being their features editor and the site undergoing personnel changes their door is somewhat open to new people pitching new ideas and content for the site, as a result I decided to write an article around competitive gaming before being asked to write a feature for them.

It gives me an outlet for a different kind of writing style and also how an external editor would attack my work and make it digestible for the masses which is always in interesting learning experience.

It won’t come as a shock to you when I mention that I like Japanese media and there is one piece of media I have grown quite fond of in the past years and that is the Gundam franchise. As this blog caters for those who don’t share my fandoms I shall attempt to give you a brief rundown of what exactly Gundam is.

Mobile Suit Gundam started out as an animation series back in 1979 and now is one of Japans major media exports. In the animation the main theme is that after expanding to the stars the human race is divided by those seeking independence from planet Earth and those who wish for Earth to still be the ruling body of all mankind. This theme runs throughout most of the television series’ and while not always sticking to the letter of what I described; it is still the most accurate basic storyline within the Gunam universe. The Gundam franchise doesn’t just cover animation but also Gunpla (made up from the two words ‘Gundam’ and ‘Play’), which is a form of model making along with Novels, Mangas and Video Games. Since 1979 there have been over 20 series’ spanning several universes including UC (Universal Century), CE (Cosmic Era), AW (After War), AC (After Colony) and with its latest incarnation, a depiction of our current timeline, in 2307. With its rich and vast library of robots, storylines and characters including it’s absolutely bizarre incarnations, of which I speak solely of G-Gundam and SD Gundam, after 30 years of success in Japan how come so little is known about the series in the west?

The problem with any fandom from Japan is that those willing to explore Japanese anime will already have seen one or two Gundam series and if they have enjoyed it have bought or made some Gunpla models. But what if you aren’t into anime, how else would you come to know about Gundam?

In 2000 I had a brief bout with Gundam Wing, a series which was shown on Cartoon Network after Dragonball Z and I enjoyed it, even though most of the criticisms aimed at the show where it’s mostly talkative and slow moving plot line but this was the first time I’d seen a well animated giant robot animation since Battletech and I wondered if there would be any games based on the series. I spent some of my time in the evenings searching for games containing the words Gundam which were available in the UK, sadly most of the games I’d classify as decent aren’t coming to our shores and the ones which have are utter disappointments.

The first was Gundam: Battle Assault for the Playstation, a 2D beat ‘em up featuring Gundam characters from Gundam Wing, which wasn’t the case for the original Japanese release. Due to Gundam Wing being shown in the US, Bandai modified the game (which only included characters from Zeta Gundam) to include characters from Gundam Wing, which was then later released in Japan. Since then there have been very limited exposure of Gundam video games in the west and in the UK specifically as it would be another six years before I came across another Gundam title.

Tokyo's 1:1 Scale Statue

Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire was released on PS3 in November 2006 in Japan and America and didn’t hit EU stores until March 2007. Crossfire received some vastly different review scores based on where you were at the time. The Japanese magazine Famitsu scored Crossfire, 32 out of 40 with each panellist scoring the game 8 out of 10. In the West however the game received less than favourable results with reviews ranging from 1 to 5 out of 10. Reviews wrote that the game suffered from a variety of issues most prominent of which were the bland, outdated graphics, an underdeveloped story, bad voice acting, clumsy gameplay, and a slew of technical issues including (but not limited to) constant framerate issues, collision bugs, and frequent malfunctions of allied and even enemy AI. Most reviewers agreed that the game was by far the worst launch title for the PS3.

Since then the only two Gundam games that have graced the UK have been Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (in 2007) and its sequel in 2009. However the Dynasty Warriors series is not the most innovative of games and while the game can be entertaining if the action is present and fast-flowing the sequel felt more like a chore. With a slight increase in graphics came what appeared to be a slowdown in gameplay.

Gundam games have always fallen short in the UK while in Japan the series has been flourishing on a majority of home systems although most of these titles are home ports of arcade games which I have encountered in two visits to Japan. In 2008 I and some friends travelled to Japan on a two week holiday. On more than one occasion we spent an afternoon or two in some of the famous Akihabara arcades, one of which was full of Gundam arcade games, ranging from Gundam vs Gundam and the Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna simulator. The Senjou no Kizuna game is a four vs four cockpit simulation game, were you take control of a Gundam using controls you’d likely to find in an actual Gundam cockpit and was one of the most fun gaming experiences I’ve had for many years and the aforementioned Gundam vs Gundam game is one of the best arcade based PSP games I’ve had the chance of playing and its sequel even more so.

The problem with the public perception of the Gundam series is something only the Japanese are truly devoted too (so much so that a 1:1 scale model of the original Gundam was constructed) and while some fans outside of Japan are devoted enough to pay through the teeth for import Gunpla models at conventions, not everyone will be so enthused. The average gamer who has dabbled in the Gundam franchise in gaming alone won’t feel so sympathetic to its almost unfair coverage outside of Japan, with Mech games in the west belonging to the nostalgic memories of Mechwarrior, Mobile Suit Gundam will remain a failed series in the UK outside of Anime until a video game is released which erases all previous Gundam titles and reinvigorates the giant robot genre although sadly I feel that achievement will go to the upcoming Mechwarrior game.

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Picture the scene, its 1am and a once peaceful and serene night is shattered by my voice as I scream profanities at my television and the mystery person I’m playing online because he or she, just beat me in less than 10 seconds with a 65 hit combo. Welcome to the world of Blazblue: Calamity Trigger.

Pull The Trigger.

For many gamers this title will simply pass them by but for those looking for a beat ‘em up that differs from Super Street Fight 4 this might be worth a look. Blazblue’s style is unique for its developers Arc System Works, a company who have been making gamers rage since the days of the Playstation with their Guilty Gear franchise. The learning curve within Blazblue ranges from average to steep, depending on skill and mostly luck, and once you get online its like running head long into a brick wall at 900mph.

Although Blazblue still bares a startling resemblance to Guilty Gear in a majority of ways, the most prominent of which is in the moves list. Once a company or game has laid claim to the button sequences they wish to use, those sequences will often appear in every game that company makes until they make something else in another genre. This may alienate newcomers but to hardcore Guilty Gear fans they will simply be able to pick up a controller, pick any character, and within seconds be able to pull off the special “Distortion” moves.

However, in an effort to bring new players onto the same playing field as the old Guilty Gear veterans, Blazblue introduces the ‘easy specials’ system which is controllable through the right analogue stick The right analogue stick is often unused within the beat ‘em up genre, until now that is. Special moves can now be pulled off by simple flicking it in the correct direction. with this new way of pulling off special moves even my girlfriend can hand my ass to me. There are four special moves that are bound to the right analogue stick, and a quick flick left, right, up or down will send a dagger of ice or spinning shadow axe towards your opponent.

If you fancy playing the story mode you had best leave your realism boots at the door as the story of Blazblue is as complex and unbelievable as any Japanese anime series. There are eight characters to choose from in total, and their story arcs will take you on a variety of paths to an important decision which will dictate your next opponent and which story elements will be revealed. While the actual story leaves little to be desired it’s presented in a beautiful and artistic way. As the text scrolls and the voice actors read it aloud you are presented with a sublime selection of backdrops and character artwork which makes you want to continue the story if just to see more of that artwork.

This also comes across in the fights as well. We are back in sprite territory here but even with the highest HD settings you simply won’t find any pixelisation issues, every image is  clean and crisp and wonderfully painted.

Blazblue also features techniques and abilities that would put other fighting games to shame, with its long list of technical abilities such as Rapid Cancel, Astral Heat, Drive, Guard Libra, Counter Assaults, Instant Block’s and Barrier Blocks on top of the basic Block, Parry and Counter. Add to that list a bunch of special moves and you are ready for world dominance, or so you would think.

The online mode is unforgiving, after a few button presses you are thrust into a game which occasionally matches you up with similarly skilled players but more often will leave you at the mercy of someone vastly higher . When you connect and choose your character you begin synchronising and for a brief few moments it’ll jolt and lag but once the action starts you’ll have no lag. Instead you’ll notice that the majority will be better than you and will pound you into the ground without leaving you any room to even catch your breath, and this is a problem with the games desired audience outside of Japan. Beat ‘em up games that are heavily influenced by Japanese animation tend to draw in those who like Japanese anime and those in the originating country As a result, due to Blazblue’s release so late in regions outside of Japan, few stand a chance venturing online, making the experience completely broken.

Blazblue: Calamity Trigger is sadly not a flawless gem, it suffers from most of the problems new beat ‘em up games do in that the characters aren’t perfectly balanced and the online community will simply abuse that. Offline the story may not be fantastic but it’s presented in such a way that you could let that slide But overall this instalment of Blazblue feels like a pretence to the, already confirmed, next instalment, which will hopefully fix the balance issues and improve on an already strong roster and sadly, like Guilty Gear, Blazblue will only truly be a great fighting game in its very last instalment.

6/10

It doesn’t come as a surprise that not everyone has a profile on every single social networking site, for example I don’t have a Myspace page, but Deviant Art isn’t like any other social networking site I’ve come across. Deviant Art is a way for people to share artwork, photography and literature with millions of other users and a lot of people are doing so but for other reasons.

This is purely based on observation and the people who I follow via my own Deviant Art account, but it seems there is an increasing amount of ‘random snapshots’ being displayed more and more in the daily deviants page (which thumbnails all uploads). I’m seeing an increase of self-portrait ‘Myspace-esque’ photos, photos of people’s belongings I wouldn’t consider artistically arranged. It seems to just be a personal gripe but the more I search and take an active part in the Deviant Art community the more and more I seem to want to distance myself from it.

I set my original account up in 2005 but not being very artistic just left the profile there pretty much empty. It was only towards mid 2009 that I began to use my Deviant Art account again with the purpose of social networking. Finding other likeminded individuals interested in the same projects and hobbies I was and trying to set up some sort of melding of sorts.

You see Deviant Art gives you a startlingly customizable interface for you to sink your teeth into from the get go. You can create a profile page where you can answer various questions on your preferred type of media, who your favourite artist is, who your favourite band is and so forth. You are also able to add Journal posts, Deviant Arts own blog feature where you can write about upcoming projects, or like many of the people I follow just provide sporadic updates on what you have been doing in the past 4 months. You can ask for critique on your work once uploaded, which will tell your friends and via a special gallery that you want to know their opinions on your work and you can also sell prints of your work through the website itself.

It offers digital artists the ability to get their work out there being able to categories their work into the almost bewilderingly long list that deviant art has along with image tags, which means that it’s very possible to get your work out there to the masses and possible employment. This is why I and many other media and artistic individuals maintain Deviant Art Accounts, for an online portfolio.

This brings me back to my first point. While I as previously mentioned am not an artistic individual I feel that the ability to post everything and anything the user can upload to a basic category page pushes those individuals who have actual talent out of the circle, for every Tom, Dick and Harry with a digital camera and while it would be easy to find a specific piece if you knew the name or at least some of the tags used when it was uploaded it will not get the recognition it deserves, save from those who have that user on their watch list.

Deviant Art is a powerful artistic distribution portfolio website and has an enormous community of artistic types, and sadly some of them think themselves more artistic than they actually are. Perhaps I just missed a trick.

The series of comic books, of which there are five at the time of writing centre around the protagonist Scott, a somewhat lazy twenty-three year old with no job who seems to be just coasting along being supported by Wallace, his gay room-mate who Scott lives with. The story of Scott Pilgrim doesn’t sound like much to enthral people. Countless times I’ve heard it being described as “It’s about a dude who does…well…nothing” and when you think about it that statement still holds true. Scott has no motivation for higher goals, no career and certainly no desire to create world peace. So why do the fans love this series? There must be something that draws them in and frustrates them as they have to sit on their hands waiting patiently for the next volume. The answer I’m told is simple, so simple in fact it would be easy to overlook on your first reading.

The draw of Scott Pilgrim is that it doesn’t take itself seriously. If you think back to any situation you’ve ever been in life, have you ever imagined that moment or that series of events in a comic book style? Maybe you beat a bully and in your dreams that night you envisioned how it might look to those onlookers, as some Karate Kid kung-fu spectacular. That makes this series so appealing. If you’ve ever wanted to see a normal day in, day out life story where you can experience the events unfold as if you were watching a video game then Scott Pilgrim is for you. But, it’s not only that, what stands out the most about Scott Pilgrim are the characters themselves.

In the first volume you are introduced to the characters that would become the focus of the story. The characters created by Bryan Lee O’Malley are fascinatingly simple, both in motivation and character.  So much so, that I’ve found myself more interested in the character of Kim Pine rather than our main hero and protagonist Scott. Other characters, such as Wallace for example are incredibly fleshed out and provide that much needed moral view point that Scott should adhere too, and often doesn’t.

Anyone with a sense humour and who is able to read something like a comic book and not subjugate it to stereotypical such as action, comedy, drama and so on will instantly be able to pick up this series and enjoy it. Others might be a little sceptical about whether or not they enjoy it until maybe the second volume, where facts about Scott’s past life are revealed, adding a touch of humanity to a rather bland character.  Scott’s faults are all too human, from seeking basic companionship from Knives Chau until he meets Ramona Flowers, a girl who is simply drawn to and must fight for (literally) in order to keep her.

Scott Pilgrim is in short a series which takes a leap of faith to fall in love with. It has until this year passed me by, for I have gone a whole five years not appreciating it.  Like any medium it has to be experienced firsthand, no-one will be able to encompass just what Scott Pilgrim is about as every single person will take something very different from it. With that said it’s very likely that this review is completely pointless but I urge you, give it a try. I hold it in the same regard as Evangelion, love it or hate it, you need to experience it for you to truly make your mind up and even if you don’t like it, you will take something away with you.

The last weekend of May 2010 saw the return of the London MCM Expo and event which has now run seventeen times over the course of six years and attendance is at an all time high, with figures reaching beyond forty thousand people over the two day period. That is an incredibly large number but one which may rise for the October MCM Expo, slated for the 30^th – 31^st because the Eurocosplay Competition will be taking place on the Saturday.

The Eurocosplay event is just what you would expect it to be, a European cosplay competition much like the World Cosplay Summit held in Japan, which attracts attendees from all over the world and while the WCS has only a select few countries under its belt while the Eurocosplay event has nineteen participating countries against the fifteen from the WCS. This MCM Expo we chose one of our finalists to represent England in the competition, one Liz Murphy in her Ectvarr from the game Ninety Nine Nights released in 2006 for the Xbox 360.

The costume seen above has proven to be a major winner for Liz, winning both the expert category and the Eurocosplay representative role this MCM Expo but it also won her the Best Cosplay Award at Kitacon 2009 back in March but now she has a grand task of trying to outdo herself.

I am proud to have Liz be our first representative, not only because she is a friend but also because that she has improved to such a high standard in such a short period of time and I am sure that she will do fantastically well along with our second representative due to be chosen in August at Amecon.

As for the rest of the cosplay/convention calendar the gaps are starting to get larger. On July 10th the first Cosplay Cruise will take shape on the Dixie Queen in London, boasting a non-stop party from seven til eleven and one week later one hundred and twenty miles south west in Bristol, my own event is scheduled to bring the noise on the 17th of July.

Outgoing links:

Eurocosplay – http://www.eurocosplay.com

Cosplay Cruise – http://www.cosplaycruise.co.uk

CTRP struck a chord with me the very moment I listened to their demo CDs that was handed to me by my former housemate. The pop quartet has lifted their inspiration from other musical artists such as Jeff Buckley, Coldplay and The Killers and consisted of Gary on Drums, Ben on Lead Guitar, Adam on Vocals and Tom on the Bass.

The CD I was handed only had three songs on it and the track names where just scribbled onto the disc along with their MySpace page. It was a few weeks after I was given the disc that I finally got around to listening to it and I was instantly hooked. Having been part of a band myself I was astounded by just how professional the recordings sounded and while not perfect their harmonies managed to tug at my heart strings and I started watching their MySpace page like a hawk.

I also had the good fortune to meet Tom, their bassist on a regular basis during my third year at University as he often came to visit Adam (My housemate) and we’d go out boozing to Propaganda, have Fifa tournaments and drink copious amounts of alcohol. It was during this time that I got to hear them an awful lot. Adam’s final major project was a drama based around the song “I Don’t Know How You Knew”, which was then re-edited to be used as a music video and the band also provided an original soundtrack of instrumental pieces for the film but it wasn’t until the band released “Love To Lose” that made me realise just how much I had fallen for them.

In my mind there are three tracks that CTRP has done which simply make them stand out above all else. “In Traffic”, “Somewhere In Between” and “Love to Lose” for me those three tracks will always be my favourite songs that the band has released although “Lose You To The World” which was released on the 5^th of March was itself a sign of just how far the band have come.

Boys, it’s been a pleasure to see you grow into fine young musicians and seeing you win the Semi-Finals of the Surface Unsigned Festival ’09 back in July was a fantastic sight that will always stick with me along with the celebratory chicken and Fifa tournament at 3am. It’s not often that I pay so much attention to an unsigned band but time and time again you guys have delivered fantastic musical pieces into my earlobes and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Losercon

The Novotel Bar is the point where everyone gathers for an evening’s festivities once the events for the day have ended and everyone is looking to continue the party or have a few drinks with friends they have either just made or have not seen since the last convention or big group meet up. Although this year there was a marquee erected outside to accommodate the convention attendees without alienating the rest of the public who might be staying at the Hotel.

The popularity of Losercon has grown over time due to rising costs of attending conventions and with MinamiCon having been a solid staple in the British Con scene it has for some of the younger attendees lost its appeal. In the past couple of years there have been numerous conventions springing up and I think for those who have also attended those conventions is that it seems to split them down the middle. Speaking from a personal perspective after Kitacon I was hoping MinamiCon was going to be more of the same and sadly it wasn’t. The con itself had the usual fair it has done for years but this time I was experiencing it for the Losercon side, which meant that I had to decide how to entertain myself during certain big events which took part over the course of the weekend.

This for most Losercon attendees just means a trip to TGI’s for a slap up meal and some cocktails, nothing too strenuous. In my case, I simply borrowed my friends’ hotel key and took a shower and played some Phoenix Wright as I had already been to TGI’s for a late lunch. While yes I may have missed the Masquerade which took place for up to three hours this year, I don’t consider that much of a loss. Having said that, I did miss various cosplay and skit performances by friends, although a trip to Youtube upon returning home and scrolling through the photos taken during the Masquerade on Facebook alleviated my need to actually be present.

Over the weekend I received many different opinions on how people felt over MinamiCon and the comments were somewhat varied. Some of the old-timers and by that I mean those who have been attending or running conventions or events for a long time relished the chilled atmosphere and a chance to catch up with other likeminded people without feeling stressed. Then the flip side, those in the younger age bracket were hoping to party hard like they did at Kitacon with friends who decided to attend MinamiCon instead and sadly the later half were disappointed.

The issue of whether or not people choose to attend the convention as members or whether people decide to Losercon is one of choice and availability. MinamiCon has a low membership number and with people signing up year after year on the last day of the event it becomes a pretty closed circle and as a result there is a mad scramble for places once registration opens and the waiting list becomes pretty huge, numbering into the hundreds. On the flipside, if you are strapped for cash and are not too fussed about the MinamiCon events then Losercon becomes a viable option as you are still able to soak up the atmosphere, see your friends and get drunk in the bar and all it costs you is travel, hotel and beer money. For as long as conventions take place within hotel venues there will always be people Loserconing it because they have either been being dragged down by a friend or loved one who has a membership or you decide to go last minute so as not to miss out on the fun after the events have finished.

For me I enjoyed the MinamiCon weekend but I’ve come to the conclusion that it is just not the convention for me and while others in my age bracket are slowly deciding this as well the sheer devoted fanbase MinamiCon has will ensure that it sells out time and time again.

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