My most popular posts of 2016

I know this is a pretty self-serving write-up, but I'm publishing it anyway in the hopes it'll make folks aware of some interesting posts they missed earlier in the year.

Which posts, you ask? The ones on this blog that earned the most views in 2016, that's which ones.

Oh, and I've decided to put them in alphabetical order rather than in order of most views to least--in case anyone's curious.

CIB Sunday: World’s Longest 5 Minutes Limited Edition (Vita)

Five overlooked Japanese GameBoy games you need to play as soon as possible

Five overlooked Japanese PlayStation games you need to play as soon as possible

Four reasons I'm planning to nab one of those adorable Nintendo Classic Mini: NES consoles once November rolls around

How to succeed in Pocket Card Jockey without really trying (or, here's what you need to do if you suck at this quirky 3DS eShop title)

Let's chat about Zero Time Dilemma's cover art

Manual Stimulation (KiKi KaiKai, PC Engine)

Nu-Bo, Nuubou, Noobow, New--oh, whatever...

Six 3DS games I'm looking forward to playing at some point in 2016

Some of my favorite SNES games in honor of the system's 25th anniversary

I'm planning to publish follow-ups to a few of the above in 2017, by the way. Can you guess which ones?

Other than that, thank you for viewing these and all of my other blog posts so many times this past year. I greatly appreciate it, as always.

CIB Sunday: World’s Longest 5 Minutes Limited Edition (Vita)

When the recently released Nippon Ichi-made Vita game World’s Longest 5 Minutes--aka Sekaiichi Nagai 5 Funkan or 世界一長い5分間--was first announced, I planned on buying it via my favorite import shop, AmiAmi.

The game's art style and mishmash of genres--it's part old-school RPG and part visual novel--really appealed to me. Plus, I was pretty sure copies would be cheap, much like Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna and Roze to Tasogare no Kojou.

Actually, they were--and are. Or at least that's true of the vanilla version of World’s Longest 5 Minutes. Once I became aware of the game's limited edition, though, I quickly switched gears and set my sights on that release.

Fast forward a few months and I'm absolutely thrilled I changed my mind and spent a tad more money on the Sekaiichi Nagai 5 Funkan LE.

If you're wondering why that is, well, keep scrolling through this post. It shouldn't take you long to realize why I'm so stoked about owning it.



Before we get too far, I should let you know what's included in this particular LE package. Snuggled within the lovely outer box showcased in the snapshots above and below are: a copy of World’s Longest 5 Minutes, a soft-cover book of some sort, a two-CD soundtrack and a small, tri-fold desk calendar.

All of this limited edition's "innards" are well worth slobbering over, of course, but let's first spend a couple of seconds ogling that outer box I mentioned in the last sentence. 

Each side edge features pixel-art depictions of what I assume are this Vita title's main characters. Oh, and when you open the box, you reveal the slightly more detailed representations seen below. 

The fun continues inside the World’s Longest 5 Minutes box. Nestled within one of the cutest retro-RPG cityscapes I've seen in a while is a copy of the game.

Here's another look at the aforementioned cityscape, in case any of you are curious:

And here's a look at the back of the World’s Longest 5 Minutes game case:

As for the rest of what's packed inside this limited edition, here's the "soft-cover book of some sort" I eluded to early on in this post:



I say it's a "book of some sort," by the way, because I'm honestly not sure what it is or what it's supposed to be. Before I opened it, I assumed it was an art book, but the first half of it is mostly text. That text doesn't appear to provide tips or tricks or hints to would-be players, though, so maybe it talks about the game's development or something like that?



Regardless, the last few pages of this Sekaiichi Nagai 5 Funkan booklet offer up some nice illustrations and pixel art that make the whole thing worthwhile.



Finally, hidden beneath the game case, the soft-cover book and the two-CD soundtrack (sorry, I didn't like the snapshot I took of it so I'm leaving it out; I'll take another soon and toss it onto my Flickr photostream) is a lovely little tri-fold desk calendar.



I've yet to set up this calendar, or even take a peek at its pages, but I can assure you I'll rectify that shortly--and when I do, I'll take a photo of it and either share it via Flickr or Instagram.

That's basically it--unless you're dying to see the back of this Vita LE's outer box. If you are, take a gander at the photo above.

Much like the rear of the World’s Longest 5 Minutes game case, the reverse side of its outer box isn't anything to shout about, but every other aspect of this limited edition is so grand that I'm not going to complain.

See also: previous posts about World’s Longest 5 Minutes plus previous 'CIB Sunday' posts

Oh, hey, did you hear? NIS America will release World’s Longest 5 Minutes (Vita) in North America sometime next year

Well, color me surprised. NIS America recently revealed--in rather shocking fashion, I might add--it'll bring Nippon Ichi's World’s Longest 5 Minutes to my neck of the woods in 2017.

What will this intriguing Vita title, which combines the RPG and visual novel genres, be called when it hits North America? The Longest 5 Minutes.

Both titles make a lot of sense after you read through this summary of its story: "Our hero faces the origin of all evil, the Overlord himself, but suddenly loses all memories of his adventure. His finishing moves, the name of his hometown, and even the reason he's trying to defeat the Overlord in the first place, all gone. Our hero tries to regain his priceless memories before it's too late, but the Overlord stands before him, his power unyielding!"

As much as this news thrills me, it also pains me a bit. That's because I just--as in yesterday--paid for the limited edition version of World’s Longest 5 Minutes I pre-ordered via AmiAmi ages ago.



Oh, well, at least I'll get to enjoy all of the swag that comes with the Japanese LE--such as a two-CD soundtrack, some sort of book (kikakusho?) and a desk calendar. Plus, I'll have a physical copy of the game (even if it is in a language I can barely understand at the moment).

I'd love to say NIS America will offer up a similarly stuffed LE to folks on this side of the pond, but at the moment the publisher's lips are sealed in that regard. Hell, it's yet to say if The Longest 5 Minutes will be a digital-only release or if boxed copies will be sold as well.

While we wait for more information, check out the game's first English trailer (above or here). You may want to heck out its official site, too. There's not much to see at the latter right now, but that should change in due time.

Are any of you planning to add The Longest 5 Minutes to your Vita collections? If so, what pushed you in the direction?

See also: 'Nippon Ichi just announced what appears to be a Half-Minute Hero rip-off for Vita, and I'm more than OK with it'

As much as I love this new World's Longest 5 Minutes (Vita) trailer, I love the contents of the game's limited edition even more

Full disclosure: I've already pre-ordered a copy of this Japanese Vita game via the usual source.

The problem is, the version I pre-ordered a few weeks back was the regular edition. Here's hoping the folks at amiami allow me to switch it to the stunning limited edition.

Why? For a few extra bucks, it tosses in a two-disc soundtrack, a "daily flip tabletop calendar" and what I believe is some sort of art or guide book. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about that last item.)



Are you a World's Longest 5 Minutes virgin? No worries. It's an adventure game (aka a "visual novel") set within the confines of a pixel-filled, retro-tinged RPG. Or at least that's what I think it is based on all I've seen of and read about it so far.

Thankfully, this just-released trailer suggests my assumption's pretty spot-on. (I kind of wish that weren't the case, by the way, as I'd much prefer World's Longest 5 Minutes to be a straight-up, old-school RPG.)

Regardless, this Vita title is being made by smartphone app developer Syupro-DX, while Nippon Ichi Software is publishing it. Its street date is July 28, and the price tag of the regular edition is 3,980 yen. (I'm not sure what the limited edition will cost at retail, but amiami's selling it for 5,280 yen--or about $50.)

(Via gematsu.com)

Nippon Ichi Software just announced what appears to be a Half-Minute Hero rip-off for Vita, and I'm more than OK with it

After all, it's not like Marvelous, the maker of the Half-Minute Hero games, seems all that interested in continuing the series. So why not let the folks at Nippon Ichi Software, who have shown a similarly deft touch when dealing with quirky, sprite-centric titles, have a go at it?

This is assuming the just-announced Vita game, whose title apparently translates to something like World’s Longest 5 Minutes, actually is some sort of Half-Minute Hero rip-off or clone. At the moment, all we have to go by is its name and the image of what appears to be its pixelated protagonist that's placed front and center on its teaser site.



It's quite possible, of course, that the final product won't be a clone of the series that's called Yūsha Sanjū in Japan. Even if that's the case, though, I have a feeling I'll be interested enough in World’s Longest 5 Minutes to want to pick up a copy of it at some point down the line.

Actually, I might want to pick up a copy of it at launch. I'll probably hold off on that a bit, though, as you never know--some brave company may decide to bring it to North America. All bets are off in that regard, though, if World’s Longest 5 Minutes winds up with great cover art.

How about all of you? Are any of you intrigued by this game, which will be released in Japan on July 28, despite the fact that you don't know a whole lot about it? Or do you need to see it in action--or at least see a screenshot or two--before you can make that kind of decision? Share your thoughts one way or another in the comments section below.