I'm not entirely sure what a 'sofubi' is, but I'll take one of each of these Animal Crossing: New Leaf sofubi figures anyway

Seriously, if anyone can provide me with a comprehensible definition of "sofubi," I'd greatly appreciate it. I attempted to find one on my own last night, but all I could come up with is that sofubi refers to the soft vinyl material that's used to construct figures like the ones seen below.

My question to all of you "figure heads" (get it?), though, is this: how do sofubi figures differ from, say, the nendoroid figures that seem to be all the rage these days?

Regardless, I think the K.K. Slider, Lisa (Reese), Shizue (Isabelle) and Tom Nook figures seen throughout this post look pretty sweet.

Each of them look to be about five inches tall, by the way--if size matters to you when it comes to such things.

Also, AmiAmi is selling each of these New Leaf-inspired concoctions--which will hit store shelves in early August--individually and in sets of two. Individually they'll run you about $13, while the sets (K.K. Slider and Isabelle or Reese and Tom Nook) will set you back just $24.

Photographic proof that a guy can't own too many Madou Monogatari games

I'll bet some of you thought you were through with having to look at photos of old Madou Monogatari games. Well, you're not!

OK, so I guess you could direct your browser to another site right about now if you're absolutely sick of posts like this one (or this one, or this one), but I hope you won't.

Why? Because I think these games sport some really cool packaging, and manuals and cart art that are well worth perusing.

The Game Gear port of Madou Monogatari II (below) certainly checks all of the above-mentioned boxes, in my humble opinion.

This version of Madou Monogatari was released in 1994, by the way--about a year after the Game Gear port of Madou Monogatari I hit Japanese store shelves. 

As is the case with the other Madou Monogatari Game Gear titles I now own, Madou Monogatari II's manual is full of colorful and crazy illustrations. Even better, it also features a rather nicely drawn comic (a few panels of which can be seen in the photo above).

OK, so the cart label produced for this iteration of Madou Monogatari II isn't what I'd call stellar, but I still find it pretty appealing--thanks in large part to protagonist Arle's flowing mane and excited wink. Plus, I like the soft color palette that's employed here.

If I were to be honest, I'd admit that although I'm fond of Madou Monogatari II's packaging, manual and cart art, I much prefer the packaging, manuals and cart labels that were created for the three other Game Gear-based Madou Monogatari titles. 

I'll let you decide for yourself whether that's true or not in an upcoming post. First, though, I guess I'll have to share photos of Madou Monogatari III's Game Gear port, don't you think?

See also: 'If it were possible, I'd probably marry my copy of Madou Monogatari A (Game Gear)' and 'I don't get mad, I get Madou Monogatari'

Pardon the re-introduction

Don't worry, I know the phrase is "pardon the interruption," but I decided to turn it on its head for this post because, well, in this post I'm going to be turning a few other things on their heads, too.

Specifically, I'm using this post to let folks know I'm renaming a few of the "columns" that are semi-regularly published here.

The column names in question--"Five Favorites," "Let's Play: Which Box Art is Better?" and "Shall We Do It?"--have been bugging me for a while now, so I decided a couple of weeks ago to try to come up with new ones.

Here are the possibilities I'm toying with at the moment:

The rather boringly titled "Five Favorites" will be dropped in favor of "The Fab Five." Or "Five Fabulous Favorites." Or maybe even "Five Fab Faves." I don't know.

On the other hand, "Let's Play: Which Box Art is Better?" will, without question, be replaced by the far more colorful (and silly) "Nice Package!"--with related headlines that will look something like this: "Nice Package! (Tomodachi Life, 3DS)."

Finally, "Shall We Do It?" is going to become "Let's Do It"--as in, "Let's Do It: Etrian Odyssey IV and Rusty's Real Deal Baseball (3DS)." I think.

By the way, I actually quite like "Shall We Do It?" as a column name. That question mark really messes things up, though, which is why I want to change it. That said, maybe there's a way I can tweak it to make it work--like, "Shall We Do It? (THE "DENPA" MEN 3 and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call)."

As I'm sure you can tell, I'm not completely sure about any of the above--except, I mean, for "Nice Package!" That one's being used for sure.

What do you think? If you have any thoughts--especially about "The Fab Five" et al--please share them in the comments section below.

Oh, and as for the other columns I tend to publish here--the "Great Gaymathon" reviews, my "Somewhat Gay" reviews and "Manual Stimulation"--their names are staying put.

Spread the word: #Miiquality

Those of you who read my recent "Open Letter to Nintendo of America" should be well aware of the fact that I'm pretty peeved the company's upcoming--and otherwise completely enticing--3DS title, Tomodachi Life, presumably won't allow players' Miis to form gay, lesbian or bisexual relationships.

I'm not the only gamer upset by all of this, of course. A number of people in this NeoGAF thread about the game, for instance, also have admitted to being disappointed by it--with one of them being someone who goes (there and elsewhere) by the username of Tyeforce.

Tyeforce has done more than just express on an Internet discussion forum his displeasure with Nintendo of America's handling of the situation, though; in the last few days, he's started a movement, basically, that's centered around the theme of "Miiquality."


#Miiquality from Tyeforce on Vimeo.

The gist: if you'd like the brass at Nintendo of America to add same-sex relationships to Tomodachi Life, let them know by using the hashtag #Miiquality while on sites like Facebook and Twitter. (Or, as commenter Rob_in_Baltimore suggested here last week, you also can let them know by contacting them via the company's website or by signing this petition.)

Oh, and don't forget to show your support for (and stay updated on) this issue by following the Miiquality Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages--if you're so inclined, of course.

See also: 'The day we've all (or at least three or four of us have) waited for has arrived: Tomodachi Collection is coming to Europe and North America this June'

If it were possible, I'd probably marry my copy of Madou Monogatari A (Game Gear)

It's a good thing my husband never checks out this blog. If he did, he might be a bit turned off by the header that tops today's post.

I'm pretty sure he'd like the contents of this post, though; I mean, how could he not get the "warm and fuzzies" while looking at the photo below, which showcases the copy of Madou Monogatari A I recently picked up?

This is the fourth and final Madou Monogatari title to be released for Sega's Game Gear, by the way. The first, Madou Monogatari I, was released (in Japan, of course) in 1993, followed by Madou Monogatari II and III in 1994 and Madou Monogatari A in 1995.

All of these games are dungeon-crawling RPGs, by the way, and feature a cast of characters (and creatures) that would later show up in Compile's Puyo Puyo series.

Madou Monogatari A usually serves as the start of a second Madou Monogatari trilogy--with the first trilogy consisting of I, II and III and the second consisting of A, R and S--but for whatever reason A was the only one to get a Game Gear port.

Anyway, a funny little story about this pick-up: I'd had my eye on a particular complete-in-box copy of this game (on eBay, of course) for a couple of years, but its $40 asking price was a bit too rich for my blood. 

A month or so ago, though, the same seller switched the listing to an actual auction that started at a penny. I threw my hat into the ring for it, as the saying goes, and ended up walking away with the copy seen above and below for $4 (not including shipping).

That's a pretty sweet deal on such an adorable game, don't you think? I mean, the first page of this game's instruction manual (above) alone is worth about that much to me.

Speaking of which, I'm planning to devote an upcoming installment of "Manual Stimulation" to this game, so keep an eye out for it if you're at all curious about such things. Also, maybe I'll finally finish Madou Monogatari I soon and then write a "Great Gaymathon" review of it.  

In the meantime, have any of you played any of this games many releases? If so, which ones are your favorites?

See also: 'I don't get mad, I get Madou Monogatari'