Your new favorite tumblr: Katakana Kitten

OK, so maybe Katakana Kitten isn't your new favorite tumblr, but it's definitely mine.

Why? A quick look at this unique tumblog's description should help explain things: "Hellow, I'm Midori. I know some Japanese. This blog posts one example of katakana usage a day, usually from video games. Please use these posts to bolster your own Japanese studies."

Here's a recent example of the kind of content Midori has published on Katakana Kitten since the tumblog debuted last December:





She always follows up the screenshot and katakana sample with a short blurb about the game in question, too. Here's the text she typed up for Clock Tower:

"A noteworthy point-and-click horror game originally made for the Super Famicom, developed by Human Entertainment, 1995. Much of the game’s content and style was inspired by the work of horror film director Dario Argento."

In other words, not only can Katakana Kitten help boost your Japanese language abilities, but it also can broaden your knowledge of Japanese video games. Now if we could just convince Midori to start a second tumblr devoted to hiragana or even kanji usage in games...

NightCry (aka Project Scissors) embraces its jankiness in this just-released trailer

Full disclosure: I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to NightCry, the spiritual successor to Clock Tower that began life with the working title Project Scissors, until now.

Of course, that makes a good amount of sense when you consider I've played just one Clock Tower game to date, and even then I've only played a small fraction of it.

Still, I've always loved the idea of Hifumi Kono's long-running series of survival horror titles thanks in large part to its giant-scissors-wielding antagonist.

Because of that long-ignored admiration, last night I eagerly clicked on a link that led me to the latest NightCry trailer that can be seen below.



After I watched it for the first time, I couldn't help but think, that's it? A few minutes later, though, I caught myself smirking at its unabashed jankiness, which reminds me of all the similarly rough PS1 and PS2 titles I've loved since I was a barely legal game fan.

The thing is, this trailer only mentions a PC release for NightCry--which is concerning, as its original Kickstarter mentioned Android, iOS and Vita versions as well.

Here's hoping the game finds its way onto the Vita in some form or fashion, and not too far down the road at that.

In the meantime, the PC iteration will hit Steam and the Playism site on Mar. 29 carrying a $24.99 price tag. I don't suppose any of you are planning to pick up this spooky looking title on or around that date?

5 games I bought in 2015 that I've regrettably (some might say embarrassingly) failed to play

Here's an admission that should shock almost no one: I bought quite a few games--both old and new--in 2015.

Even less shocking to those of you who've been reading this blog for even a few weeks: I've only played a handful of those pick-ups so far.

I'll spend some time chatting about the ones I've actually spent time with in a post that'll be published in a couple of days. In this one, though, I'll blab about some of the ones I've regrettably (and embarrassingly) ignored.

Clock Tower (WonderSwan)--I was so excited when I finally acquired a WonderSwan system (along with five WonderSwan games) a few months ago. I've been buying WonderSwan games for a number of years now--read about some of them in these previously published posts--but until my black WonderSwan Color arrived on my doorstep in mid-October I was unable to play them. Anyway, you'd think that all of this would've prompted me to cram my freshly obtained Clock Tower cart into the aforementioned portable as soon as possible. After all, I've wanted to experience some version of Human Entertainment's point-and-click horror game for ages. Alas, it's still on the to-do list. As is the case with all of the games mentioned here, though, I'm planning to rectify matters in 2016.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS)--I'll be honest here: I wasn't entirely sure what to think of this turn-based strategy game when Nintendo first unveiled it. Sure, Intelligent Systems' involvement thrilled me, and I also loved that they dared to take the genre in a unique direction with the comic-book setting and steampunk aesthetic on display here. On the flip side, though, I wasn't so enamored with their seeming obsession with garish colors. Still, I pre-ordered a copy as soon as I was able--and then promptly neglected to even open it after it was delivered.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (3DS)--True story: I've wanted to play Majora's Mask ever since I conquered the original Nintendo 64 version of Ocarina of Time back in the day. For whatever reason, though, I passed on Majora's Mask when it was released in 2000. Actually, I believe my brother and I owned a copy of it at one point, but I never went through its adventure myself. With that in mind, I happily pre-ordered this 3DS remake-of-sorts and then ... you know how this story ends by now, right?

Taiko no Tatsujin V Version (Vita)--When I first heard that the folks at Bandai Namco were prepping a new Taiko no Tatsujin game for the Vita, I was stoked. I own and love all three of the Taiko titles that were released (in Japan only, sadly) for the DS a few years back, and that affection pushed me to purchase iterations for the PSP and 3DS, too. So, why not add V Version to the pile, too, right? Unfortunately, I didn't give my Vita the attention it deserved in 2015, so this and other releases basically fell by the wayside. Hopefully that won't be the case in the coming year.

Yomawari (Vita)--Of all the unplayed games name-checked in this post, this one bugs me the most. Why? Yomawari is "my cup of tea," as that old saying goes. Specifically, it's cute, it's scary and it's portable. Yet it continues to sit in the same stack as the titles noted above. Admittedly, one reason I've been dragging my feet when it comes to booting up my copy of this Nippon Ichi production is that I'm a bit worried the in-game text will be over my head. Even if that proves true in the end, though, I won't know it for sure until I've actually given Yomawari a try, wouldn't you agree?

With all of that out of the way, what are some of the games--new or old--that you picked up in 2015 but failed to play?

The Great Gaymathon Review #50: Final Match Tennis (PC Engine)

Game: Final Match Tennis

Genre: Sports

Developer: Human

Publisher: Human

System: PC Engine

Release date: 1991

Some folks will tell you this is the best tennis game ever made. I'm not one of them. That's not to suggest I think Final Match Tennis is crap; on the contrary, I think it's a great, fast-paced, arcade-style offering. The "fast-paced" part is what keeps me coming back to this HuCard again and again, by the way. (Too many tennis titles flow like mud, in my humble opinion.) Well, that and a few of its other positive attributes: Like its appealing selection of players (all of whom seem to be based on real-life pros of the era, such as Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe), its small-but-nicely-animated sprites (case in point: the McEnroe-ish player's serve looks just like the real thing) and its uncomplicated-but-not-dumb gameplay. Oh, and competing against the computer in Final Match Tennis is a reliably and enjoyably challenging endeavor, something that, in my experience, can't often be said about this title's counterparts. So, what keeps me from joining the folks who proclaim this is the be-all and end-all of tennis games? Well, I consider its lack of female players to be a big negative, for starters. (Strangely, the CD-based Human Sports Festival features a ladies-only version of Final Match Tennis, along with golf and soccer games.) Also, each player has a fairly limited arsenal of shots--especially when compared to contemporaries like Ace Wo Nerae and Super Tennis World Circuit (both of which were released for the Super Famicom in 1993 and 1991, respectively). Finally, its "world tour" mode disappoints by ending rather unrealistically as soon as you lose a match.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

'Country of the woods and repose'

Few things make me giddier as a gamer than unearthing a long-lost gem.

The focus of my last post, Engacho!, is a good example of that, as is the following (artsy and awkward subtitle aside, of course):

As far as I can tell, Mizzurna Falls, released (in Japan) at the end of 1998 for the original PlayStation, is a Twin Peaks-esque action-adventure title that precedes open-world sandboxers like Shenmue.

Although it looks more than a bit rough in the following video, blogger Bruno de Figueiredo (of easternmind.tumblr.com) assures it is anything but.



"This title raises the degree of interaction to a level which would only be fully achieved a generation later," de Figueiredo says of Mizzurna Falls in a recent post.

It's doubtful I'll ever play this oddly titled game, given the language barrier, but who knows? Maybe I'll pick it up on the cheap at some point down the line and stumble my way through it.

(Via boxart.tumblr.com)