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About Me
I'm Josh "unangbangkay" Tolentino, and this is my cry for attention.
I'm also the News EditorJapanator. Come visit, and see me gush about things not directly related to video games. Or not. But hey, diversifying your interest in me is definitely something I would encourage.
As a bit of shameless self-promotion, I also write about games for the California Literary Review.
Here's a personal blog-thing that I write in when I remember to: Death By Eroge!
Below are some of my pre-staff C-blog works. Consider them an origin story of sorts, as proof that you too may one day "go grayscale"!
-Resident Evil 5 isn't racist, just ignorant and unambitious
- Dude, be cool! Don't hate on Final Fantasy so much!
-Don't Blame the Genre, Blame the Game: Why JRPGs Don't Intrinsically Suck
-Thoughts on The Escapist's Piracy Issue
-Sorry Doomsayers, Japan Isn't In (much) Development Danger.
-Can Critics Be Trusted When They Don't Trust Themselves?
-The Colorless Mask: Insult or Insight?
-Your Fate is in the Cards: "The Fool's Journey" in Persona 3
-Persona 3: The Rest of The Fool's Journey
-Thoughts on Piracy: Why My Eyelid is Twitching
-Persona should be called "Pimp-sona" and its heroes are enviable pimptastic jerks
-Truth and Reconciliation: Why Persona 4's ending is super awesome
-You wanna buy some goddamn eroge. DO IT DO IT DO IT
Promoted Musings:
-Playing With Others: Playing Alone, Together
-A Time to Destroy: To Hell With Your Rules, I'm Cheating
-Feel the Hatred: The Quick Time Event
-The Start of the Affair: My Own Mute, My Own Heartstrings
-Good Idea, Bad Idea: Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment
-For Those About To Die: A Letter To The Combine Overwatch
-Other Worlds than These: I Left My Heart in Inaba
-Untapped Potential: Talk to us dirty, Mr. Developer
-The Forgotten: A Storm of Romance Under the Banner of Love
Reviews:
-Overlord 2
-Red Faction: Guerrilla
-inFAMOUS
-Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2
-Demon's Souls
-Valkyria Chronicles
-Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
-Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon
-Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
-Multiwinia
-Crysis Warhead
-The Experiment
Contact Info!
Twitter: unangbangkay
Facebook
I'm also the News EditorJapanator. Come visit, and see me gush about things not directly related to video games. Or not. But hey, diversifying your interest in me is definitely something I would encourage.
As a bit of shameless self-promotion, I also write about games for the California Literary Review.
Here's a personal blog-thing that I write in when I remember to: Death By Eroge!
Below are some of my pre-staff C-blog works. Consider them an origin story of sorts, as proof that you too may one day "go grayscale"!
-Resident Evil 5 isn't racist, just ignorant and unambitious
- Dude, be cool! Don't hate on Final Fantasy so much!
-Don't Blame the Genre, Blame the Game: Why JRPGs Don't Intrinsically Suck
-Thoughts on The Escapist's Piracy Issue
-Sorry Doomsayers, Japan Isn't In (much) Development Danger.
-Can Critics Be Trusted When They Don't Trust Themselves?
-The Colorless Mask: Insult or Insight?
-Your Fate is in the Cards: "The Fool's Journey" in Persona 3
-Persona 3: The Rest of The Fool's Journey
-Thoughts on Piracy: Why My Eyelid is Twitching
-Persona should be called "Pimp-sona" and its heroes are enviable pimptastic jerks
-Truth and Reconciliation: Why Persona 4's ending is super awesome
-You wanna buy some goddamn eroge. DO IT DO IT DO IT
Promoted Musings:
-Playing With Others: Playing Alone, Together
-A Time to Destroy: To Hell With Your Rules, I'm Cheating
-Feel the Hatred: The Quick Time Event
-The Start of the Affair: My Own Mute, My Own Heartstrings
-Good Idea, Bad Idea: Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment
-For Those About To Die: A Letter To The Combine Overwatch
-Other Worlds than These: I Left My Heart in Inaba
-Untapped Potential: Talk to us dirty, Mr. Developer
-The Forgotten: A Storm of Romance Under the Banner of Love
Reviews:
-Overlord 2
-Red Faction: Guerrilla
-inFAMOUS
-Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2
-Demon's Souls
-Valkyria Chronicles
-Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
-Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon
-Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
-Multiwinia
-Crysis Warhead
-The Experiment
Contact Info!
Twitter: unangbangkay
Gamer Profile
3DS friend code:
Steam: unangbangkay
Battle: unangbangkay
PSN: unangbangkay
Mii: 6258-3610-4242-3684
Gamertag: unangbangkay
Steam: unangbangkay
Battle: unangbangkay
PSN: unangbangkay
Mii: 6258-3610-4242-3684
Gamertag: unangbangkay
Following (40)
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You didn't buy Valkyria Chronicles.
Apparently, neither did Jeff Gerstmann and his crew over at Giant Bomb. They felt guilty about it, and so Brad Shoemaker and Dave Snider created a "Quick Look" video to give you a glance on what you've shamefully let yourselves miss. Redeem yourselves, at least in part, and watch this. Know what you have abandoned: edit: sorry guys, no embed. Giant Bomb's embed code seems to break my blog http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-valkyria-chronicles/17-207/?linktags=home,home-spot Seriously. This game was the perfect PS3 exclusive. Why? It was completely unoffending to any console-warrior party. It looked great and wasn't over-hyped (under-hyped, to say the least). Furthermore, it was incomparable to games on competing platforms. There just wasn't any other game that played quite like it that anyone was aware of. By that, no one could really say "ah, [insert 360 game] was a better [insert genre]" or "It's completely a rip-off of [game].". It was a first-installment original IP, from an (in the west) unknown developer (Overworks), too, so there was no franchise legacy to live up to or drag along. There wasn't any real way you could tear it down the way fanboys are trying with Resistance 2, Killzone 2, Metal Gear Solid 4. It wasn't completely niche or operating entirely on a risky (and divisive) new concept that people could call "creative but flawed", like LittleBigPlanet. I have talked to many a random consumer or GameStop employee, on both sides of the battle, about how Valkyria Chronicles was ignored, and of those that know of the game, the worst anyone could say about it was "meh, I don't really like sRPGs/Anime games". Valkyria Chronicles sat pretty in its own place, with absolutely no effect other than to swell and enhance the PS3's stable of exclusive titles. In a way, it was the PS3's Dead Rising, a game with no obvious equivalents, its foes able to do nothing but shrug it off as inconsequential. And no one bought it. SEGA forgot to market it, released it at exactly the wrong time, and the reviews came out way too early (Eurogamer's was out nearly a month before release), if they came out at all. SEGA didn't even put up this GODLY POSTER: 
Watch the video. Better yet, buy the game. Do it for the girls!
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Living the dream since March 16, 2006
Living the dream since March 16, 2006
I want it, though. Too bad the PS3 is too rich for my blood.
You have a point there, but with marketing comes exposure, and with exposure comes curiosity. Players might see an ad or a poster and then check out the reviews, which were in large part positive. PS3 fanboys might grab the game out of console loyalties, and proper game lovers would buy the game because they have good taste.
What really mattered was that SEGA would know that there was a market out there, just as Atlus kept (and stoked) the fires of niche anime gaming with Persona 3, 4, and all the others the success of those titles are fueling.
Curiosity and attention in the mass market can drive a company to take a risk in bringing a strange product on board, and can at times have a greater impact than critical acclaim.
@ gen eric gui
or you could just get a PS3 and support some devs who actually try ( thats kinda rare this day and age ). I sure there aware of the whole console war situation and they went exclusive anyway so there must be a reason.
Not quite. By all the reviews, at least (I don't have a 360), Operation Darkness was a fairly bog-standard grid-based sRPG, and didn't look particularly good. The two are similar in that they have appealing premises, are sRPGs made by the Japanese, and are exclusive to their platforms.
I'd pass buy it in Best Buy and think Man, people say this is such an awesome game. Isn't it just a tRPG? $60 too? Frag that... In reality, I had no idea the gameplay was like this, and I LOVE it. As soon as I can get some funds, I am buying this.
Then I PROMISE you I shall buy and play this game.
Does anyone else think the graphics look like a ps2 game upscaled to HD with some photoshop filters post-processed on top?
Does anyone else think the graphics look like a ps2 game upscaled to HD with some photoshop filters post-processed on top?
No, no it's just you :) But seriously, I agree that sometimes cel-shading can wipe out technological differences, but would you really have this looking like every other serious tactical game, drab and grey-brown?
The contrast between the cross-hatching and the sharp details on the mechanical designs works quite well, and the colors and animu character style contrast to the surprisingly mature story.
By the way Unangbangkay, thats three "Also FFFFFUUUUUUU-" blogs so far, all about Sega. I think I love you.
Oh, I have no doubts that sales would increase due to increased marketing. But, my personal doubt is that it would not be to any great degree, thus nullifying the expenditure of marketing dollars.
The difference, however, between Atlus and Sega is that the former regularly works on now older hardware with a large install base. Thus, there is bound to be a sustainable market on hardware like the PS2 or DS (and even the PSP).
Considering how monstrous titles like Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet have sold on the PS3 (well, but not blockbuster figures), how can a niche title like this even think of making a profit?
I mean, this is a game that even 'core' gamers ignored in favor of other products. And, unfortunately, games that are ignored tend to stay ignored.
Sadly, that is true. For PS3 fanboys, however, at least a teensy bit more exposure would have helped our pride considerably, as we could say to others "Ha! Look at our Valkyria Chronicles," rather than get confused, twitching faces that say "Valkyria wut?"
Look at Sakura Taisen. It took YEARS to even get a hiunt of it releasing in the US because Sega has this insane belief it seems that Japanese style rpg games wont sell in the US.
which makes godawful close to no sense but as we all know, Sega is absolute shit at marketing.
I think its an out-of-sight thing; that is, there's no compulsion to spend on my PS3 because there's nothing I want. I refuse to watch that video because I will someday play it.
PS3 fans on lesser websites are always beratiung the Xbox because they feel the ps3 is the home of JRPGS and microsoft is stealing all the games with money instead of sales figures.
and then an AMAZING game like Valkyria Chronicles comes out and not a GODDAMNED ONE OF SAID FANBOYS BUY THE DAMNED THING.
FFFFFFF