Monday, June 09, 2008
Fake Violence = Awesome. Real Violence = not so much
I was all set to make a silly-ass, lighthearted post about "violence" energizing and entertaining me lately when some horrible news broke that ruined all the jokes I wanted to make. Truly, the real victim this weekend was my writing (as opposed to the actual victims).
What, you want to here about me first? There's not much to say, really. I've been working a lot, more this semester than previously actually, as several schools have increased their English-classload from once a month to once a week! I'm all for the move, as it means my lessons will border on relevant for a change, but I'm feeling the extra toll when I get home each day. Of course, I still get to go home every day at a reasonable hour, and weekends are always free, so this job is far from the most taxing I've ever had to endure.
One way I've been spending my money and free time is by watching movies. As you know, I love movies, especially watching them in the theater. Unfortunately, the Japanese release dates for Hollywood movies is always a little off, as very few of the summer movies everyone's talking about on the internet have come to Osaka. Most of what we've been watching are DVDs of movies that came out last year after I left the States, or American films that you all saw earlier this Spring. Either way, I've been pretty amused lately by stuff like The Simpsons Movie. It was way better than I expected, but Mako wished Homer had been "a little stupider."
One movie that was on my list I simply had to go and see by myself: John Rambo. It's not that I wanted a singular experience, it's simply a matter of Mako being totally disinterested. Aside from the original film, I've never watched or even really considered watching a Rambo movie. Friends had shown me the first film and told me how good it was, and they were right. The second and third chapters had no champions among my friends. Instead, those films served as parody fodder in comedies we loved. UHF, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka all mocked the over-the-top, shirtless machismo that Rambo represented back in the 80's. When you grow up with those jokes in your head, the originals become impossible to enjoy with derisive laughter. By the way, if you've never watched the original film because of ridiculous Rambo reputation that the sequels put forth, you should really check it out. It's nothing like what you're thinking; Rambo is nobody's hero in First Blood, he's more a victim of circumstance. This new film seemed to return to that kind of situation and I heard good things about from my friends.
Going at it alone, I worked the film into a little solo excursion into Osaka, particularly Den Den Town. Den Den Town is a fun place for me to go to, but I almost never want to buy anything there. I simply find amusement in Den Den Town's very existence, as there is no equivalent in the United States. The "retro" gaming market alone is fascinating to me. Imagine walking into a narrow storefront, going up a flight of stairs and finding an entire floor dedicated to games for consoles no longer produced, many of which never even made it to the US. You can even buy entire systems from years past, some still in the original packaging. I saw at least a dozen Neo Geo systems for sale in one store, as well as a novelty Hanshin Tigers-themed Nintendo Gamecube in another.
I also found myself in a 50 yen arcade (most Japanese arcades charge 100 yen per play) which was jam-packed with fighting games. I was happy to see a few classics alongside the latest releases, as 2D fighting games haven't been abandoned in Japan. Indeed, there seemed to be numerous, brand-new fighters made by companies I've never heard of with characters I've never seen before. I played one game where I was a tank with a skull for a head, slowly but surely pounding the crap out of the other, humanoid characters. Not really a fair fight, I guess.
The movie (remember when this story was about me seeing a movie?), when I finally sat down to watch it, was overly simplistic and brutally violent - much more than I really expected, even with the blood-soaked trailer that popped up on the web last winter - but at the same time I was captivated by the action. There wasn't much in the way of story or characterization. There also weren't any "good guys" to root for, frankly, although there was an entire army of very, very bad guys. Seriously, the worst humans to walk the earth, apparently. I wish the story had offered more logic to the proceedings instead of just "morally-ambiguous-mercenaries vs most-evil-army-of-all-time" but I can't complain with the results. When the bullets started flying and Rambo breaks out his self-forged, machete-like blade, it was a blast.
Getting back to me at home, there's been a pretty major development recently. After weeks of consideration and a number of long conversations with Mako, I decided it was time to take that step forward and...buy myself a Playstation 3. A number of factors were at work for me to make such an investment in leisure. First, ever since we bought ourselves the big TV I've been looking to get a new DVD player to better suit the large screen. Second, as much fun as the Wii can be, the list of forthcoming video games that I want to play is increasing stuffed with titles that aren't coming to the Nintendo anytime soon, if at all. Likewise, the Wii is just beginning to toy with the potential of online gaming, while the PS3 is already offering multitudes of online titles with only greater things on the horizon. Third, there's the issue of region-locking. I bought this Wii in the United States, which means it can only play US-designated software and access US-targeted online content. This has been extremely frustrating for Mako, as she will occasionally spot things in stores or on TV and ask if we can use them. I'm increasingly forced to answer "Nope." The PS3 is nearly region-free, playing games and Blu-ray movies from the US or Japan. For an international household like ours, region-locking is completely illogical.
If any of you are wondering how I managed to convince my wife, who barely plays games as it is, to go along with me buying a second, more expensive video game console, the answer is simple: we compromised. I agreed to buy her a new laptop while she agreed to, um, watch me buy the PS3. It's amazing how quickly she can go from "We can't afford that" to "Great idea!" when the money is used on gifts for her. ^_^
So with this new behemoth tucked under the LCD flatscreen I've been getting my kicks tearing up faux-New York in GTA IV. It's fun, no doubt, but so far the biggest thrills have come playing with my friend Richard online. Sometimes we cooperate on major heists, sometimes we team up and rampage through the city, and other times we simply explore the virtual environment, seeing what there is to see. Did you know there's a beating heart inside the Statue ofLiberty Happiness? It's super-creepy, with giant chains and everything.
What, you want to here about me first? There's not much to say, really. I've been working a lot, more this semester than previously actually, as several schools have increased their English-classload from once a month to once a week! I'm all for the move, as it means my lessons will border on relevant for a change, but I'm feeling the extra toll when I get home each day. Of course, I still get to go home every day at a reasonable hour, and weekends are always free, so this job is far from the most taxing I've ever had to endure.
One way I've been spending my money and free time is by watching movies. As you know, I love movies, especially watching them in the theater. Unfortunately, the Japanese release dates for Hollywood movies is always a little off, as very few of the summer movies everyone's talking about on the internet have come to Osaka. Most of what we've been watching are DVDs of movies that came out last year after I left the States, or American films that you all saw earlier this Spring. Either way, I've been pretty amused lately by stuff like The Simpsons Movie. It was way better than I expected, but Mako wished Homer had been "a little stupider."
One movie that was on my list I simply had to go and see by myself: John Rambo. It's not that I wanted a singular experience, it's simply a matter of Mako being totally disinterested. Aside from the original film, I've never watched or even really considered watching a Rambo movie. Friends had shown me the first film and told me how good it was, and they were right. The second and third chapters had no champions among my friends. Instead, those films served as parody fodder in comedies we loved. UHF, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka all mocked the over-the-top, shirtless machismo that Rambo represented back in the 80's. When you grow up with those jokes in your head, the originals become impossible to enjoy with derisive laughter. By the way, if you've never watched the original film because of ridiculous Rambo reputation that the sequels put forth, you should really check it out. It's nothing like what you're thinking; Rambo is nobody's hero in First Blood, he's more a victim of circumstance. This new film seemed to return to that kind of situation and I heard good things about from my friends.
Going at it alone, I worked the film into a little solo excursion into Osaka, particularly Den Den Town. Den Den Town is a fun place for me to go to, but I almost never want to buy anything there. I simply find amusement in Den Den Town's very existence, as there is no equivalent in the United States. The "retro" gaming market alone is fascinating to me. Imagine walking into a narrow storefront, going up a flight of stairs and finding an entire floor dedicated to games for consoles no longer produced, many of which never even made it to the US. You can even buy entire systems from years past, some still in the original packaging. I saw at least a dozen Neo Geo systems for sale in one store, as well as a novelty Hanshin Tigers-themed Nintendo Gamecube in another.
I also found myself in a 50 yen arcade (most Japanese arcades charge 100 yen per play) which was jam-packed with fighting games. I was happy to see a few classics alongside the latest releases, as 2D fighting games haven't been abandoned in Japan. Indeed, there seemed to be numerous, brand-new fighters made by companies I've never heard of with characters I've never seen before. I played one game where I was a tank with a skull for a head, slowly but surely pounding the crap out of the other, humanoid characters. Not really a fair fight, I guess.
The movie (remember when this story was about me seeing a movie?), when I finally sat down to watch it, was overly simplistic and brutally violent - much more than I really expected, even with the blood-soaked trailer that popped up on the web last winter - but at the same time I was captivated by the action. There wasn't much in the way of story or characterization. There also weren't any "good guys" to root for, frankly, although there was an entire army of very, very bad guys. Seriously, the worst humans to walk the earth, apparently. I wish the story had offered more logic to the proceedings instead of just "morally-ambiguous-mercenaries vs most-evil-army-of-all-time" but I can't complain with the results. When the bullets started flying and Rambo breaks out his self-forged, machete-like blade, it was a blast.
Getting back to me at home, there's been a pretty major development recently. After weeks of consideration and a number of long conversations with Mako, I decided it was time to take that step forward and...buy myself a Playstation 3. A number of factors were at work for me to make such an investment in leisure. First, ever since we bought ourselves the big TV I've been looking to get a new DVD player to better suit the large screen. Second, as much fun as the Wii can be, the list of forthcoming video games that I want to play is increasing stuffed with titles that aren't coming to the Nintendo anytime soon, if at all. Likewise, the Wii is just beginning to toy with the potential of online gaming, while the PS3 is already offering multitudes of online titles with only greater things on the horizon. Third, there's the issue of region-locking. I bought this Wii in the United States, which means it can only play US-designated software and access US-targeted online content. This has been extremely frustrating for Mako, as she will occasionally spot things in stores or on TV and ask if we can use them. I'm increasingly forced to answer "Nope." The PS3 is nearly region-free, playing games and Blu-ray movies from the US or Japan. For an international household like ours, region-locking is completely illogical.
If any of you are wondering how I managed to convince my wife, who barely plays games as it is, to go along with me buying a second, more expensive video game console, the answer is simple: we compromised. I agreed to buy her a new laptop while she agreed to, um, watch me buy the PS3. It's amazing how quickly she can go from "We can't afford that" to "Great idea!" when the money is used on gifts for her. ^_^
So with this new behemoth tucked under the LCD flatscreen I've been getting my kicks tearing up faux-New York in GTA IV. It's fun, no doubt, but so far the biggest thrills have come playing with my friend Richard online. Sometimes we cooperate on major heists, sometimes we team up and rampage through the city, and other times we simply explore the virtual environment, seeing what there is to see. Did you know there's a beating heart inside the Statue of
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