The Downfall of the Blue Bomber, or, Capcom forgot how to treat their fans

Yes, I'm writing at a late time, but it's important to the point that I simply have to write about it. I'm writing about it because it relates to my story some.

I was browsing the web and did a random Google search for Mega Man, mostly because I watched a video on the garbage Mega Man DOS game that wasn't made by Capcom. I also remembered on GameFAQs that Capcom was going to announce something for Mega Man's 25th Anniversary. What I found was a new game, but it wasn't the game fans like me had in mind. In fact, it wasn't really a game at all.

This new "game", called Mega Man Xover (pronounced cross over) is a "social role-playing game" for the iOS, aka the iPhone and the iPad. On paper, it's not really much, even though it's a crossover featuring every Mega Man franchise in history. The deal breaker, however, is the auto-play feature. This is a franchise known for it's platforming, and there's an auto-play feature. What the hell? What. The. Hell. That destroys the point of Mega Man as a whole.

I'd just like to say that this is the 25th Anniversary of their iconic franchise, and this is how they treat Mega Man fans? Not that any of their other franchises are faring better, what with their disc-locked content.

Capcom better buckle up, because they won't last long with abandoning their mascot and forcing people to buy content already on their disc

Books for potential manga/anime artists

Have you ever wanted to draw in a style similar to your favorite anime or manga works? Do you want to create a show or manga series of your own? Perhaps these books would help on your path to success.

Manga for Dummies:

http://www.amazon.com/Manga-For-Dummies-Kensuke-Okabayashi/dp/0470080256/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344714824&sr=8-1&keywords=manga+for+dummies

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Drawing Manga Illustrated, 2nd Edition:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Drawing-Illustrated-Edition/dp/1592578233/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1344714824&sr=8-3&keywords=manga+for+dummies

Manga for the Beginner Shoujo:

http://www.amazon.com/Manga-Beginner-Shoujo-Everything-Japanese/dp/0823033295/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344715047&sr=1-1&keywords=manga+for+the+beginner+shoujo

While these are three common books, they're done by expert artists who know their topics well. Highly recommend these books if you can find them in stores, on Amazon.com or eBay, or even your local library. I'm using these books as a resource to learn how to create my characters for my novel, so people will have an idea of what the characters will look like. Oh, and sorry if I haven't done anything in a while.

Thoughts on sequels

While my novel is still in development (in fact the manuscript alone isn't even finished!), I have some plans made for the two sequels to Animator's Dream. They will be different from the first novel in more ways than one, with the third having the most radical differences.

Animator's Reality (Animator's Dream Episode Two)
-Western cartoons and comics theme
-Somewhat darker feel in spite of featuring lighthearted cartoons
-Different protagonist, named Lancer
-A pen is the artistic utensil of choice here
-Sidekick having more mature look and feel, while still being a female, and having a more tragic back story creation reason than Tigercat. She is also based on Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's western animation/games characters, and would be designed like that of Marvel Comic's Black Cat
-Four animated world sidekick characters based on Tara Strong, Lara Jill Miller, Steve Blum and Erin Fitzgerald.
-Industrial music a part of the soundtrack, similar to that of Frank Klepacki's work for the Command & Conquer games and Johan Skugge & Jukka Rintamaki's work for Battlefield 3.
-Introduces the western side of the Diablo's Darkness, led by Devil's Minister, based on Daran Norris and Timmy Turner's dad in Nickelodeon's Fairly Oddparents. They are not as evil as the Japanese side, but they are still dangerous nonetheless
-Also would introduce the western equivalent of the Angels of Light: the Demons of the Dark, to add a 'dark is not evil' motif to the fight against the Diablo's Darkness. They also follow a mythical god naming convention
-Keeping the grouping convention of poster boy hero and sidekick, genius strongman, sexy gal pal, and unique with a past-type character
-Characters pilot fictionalizations of real world tanks and aircraft as opposed to Japanese mechs and scrolling shooter space fighters, and the tanks and fighters evolve based on historical chronology
-Aircraft and tanks go in this order: two American, one British, one Japanese, one German, and one Russian


Animator's Requiem
-Kirk and Lancer's teams come together in the final novel of the Animator's Dream trilogy
-Sides representing Japanese anime and manga and western animation and comics are at war with each other
-Focuses on Kirk's and Lancer's missions as they fight ranked soldiers and special units
-A secret war is being conducted by two commanders on the Japanese and western armies, secretly in disguise as Devil's Mistress and Devil's Minister respectively
-Devil's Mistress and Devil's Minister represent the real life marriage of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Daran Norris
-Diablo's Darkness behind the war between the Japanese and western factions, but the Angels of Light and Demons of the Dark intervene to prevent further fighting
-Diablo's Darkness planned to weaken the two forces to conquer the animated world and the physical world, and eventually reality itself
-Zenaiva to join Kirk and friends after breaking mind control
-Noel will give birth to a new species of life
-Final battle between the animators Kirk and Lancer and the Diablo's Darkness
-Some Diablo's Darkness members revealed to be captured and mind controlled Angels of Light/Demons of the Dark members, but will be rescued
-Some characters seen in the previous two novels may be killed, but they will not be any of Kirk or Lancer's friends


Those are my ideas in a nutshell. Here's hoping that I can generate worldwide recognition for my work so as to make these sequels possible.

Obscure Video Games - Starblade: Operation Blue Planet

New to this blog is Obscure Video Games, a series that I personally created to show off games that are either rare or never even saw the light of day. Because a lot of influences in my novel include video games from Japan, this would be a fitting addition to my blog. For my very first episode, I would share Starblade: Operation Blue Planet, the sequel to Namco's Starblade. This is unique in that it would have been used in their cancelled O.R.B.S. (Over Reality Booster System) arcade cabinet, which would have immersed players inside the machine and give a spherical view. A shame it got cancelled, looked like fun. I just wished that Namco would broaden their development horizons and make more unique games like these. Angry Joe was right: better games have been canned and never released.
Oh, if you want to learn about O.R.B.S., go here: NAMCO MEDIUM SIZED ATTRACTIONS HARDWARE - O.R.B.S.

Chapter three finally done, plus new characters

Wow, it's been quite a while since I did a blog post. School and story work will do that to someone like me.

Anyways, I finally finished up chapter three and begun work on the fourth. This is where the fun begins and the mystery of the Diablo's Darkness begins to unravel. A romance sub-plot unfolds in this chapter as well, and a character is introduced that only enhances the mystery through an explanation that states he is involved with an organization called the Angels of Light. I'm not going to go deep into the chapter, but I will discuss the new characters introduced in this chapter.

Noel - A young lynx girl who was seeking refuge from the Diablo's Darkness. She states that she has knowledge of the Diablo's Darkness, but refuses to go into details about it. Noel is also aware of her sister Zenaiva, who is also with the Diablo's Darkness, through a locket that Kirk finds and gives her; this is where the romance sub-plot comes into play. She also has psychic powers, is able to shape shift her clothing and hair color at will, and can even speak Japanese. She also enjoys the hobbies that Kirk enjoys, too. There is really more to this girl than her appearance suggests, but what exactly remains to be seen. Noel is based off of N.I.C.O.L.E. from Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics and voice actor Cristina Valenzuela/Cristina Vee, who is also a cosplayer and singer, and is bilingual due to her ability to speak Japanese. Her default outfit is that of Haruhi Suzumiya, but she alters her outfit similar to that of Cristina Vocaloid, a custom character, and Anna Bosconovich from Tekken.

Vambrace - Noel's alter ego, she is a beautiful and powerful warrior with enhanced psychic powers and a katana that can freeze enemies. She also comes equipped with a magic grappling hook called the Chain Diver, which allows her greater mobility and effective use of her sword's freezing ability. She is really introduced in chapter three, but is kept a secret from Kirk until later on. Is based off of Psylocke from Marvel's X-Men comics, but her design is still the same as N.I.C.O.L.E.

Diablo's Darkness - The enemy organization of the Animator's Dream. They seem like a regular organization seeking to cause terror, but they also have a deeper history behind them. There are rumors about them that they have been around for centuries. Their members are noted for their bone-chilling color pattern; the outfits they wear are blood-red in color, as is their eyes, and their hair is of a jet black color. The group is based off of villain organizations like those from Pokemon, but also shares elements of Zone Of Endless from Ace Combat 2/Assault Horizon Legacy/3D Cross Rumble.

Devil's Psycho - The first member of the Diablo's Darkness that Kirk encounters. He is the Captain of the six main Diablo's Darkness members, and while he is the weakest, is nonetheless very dangerous. Design-wise, he is a mixture of Monkey Khan from Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics and Albedo Piazzollo from Xenosaga. Personality-wise, he is like Alucard from Hellsing and Albedo, though he is more psychotic and maniacal than those two combined.

Devil's Mistress - The second member of the Diablo's Darkness encountered, though she is really the commander of them. She doesn't make direct contact with Kirk, appearing as a hologram, as she only serves to deliver a message to him. Devil's Mistress is easily the most powerful of the Diablo's Darkness, given her ranking as commander. She is capable of copying other female characters and altering her appearance to appear like them, save for blood red outfits and eyes, and jet black hair. She also has some history with not only Noel, but Miyu Kusanagi, B.W., and even Kirk, but what kind of history is a mystery. Devil's Mistress is based off of various villains in anime, but also has elements of Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's twisted sense of humor, and is basically an evil Miyu Kusanagi design-wise.

Cygnus - The spirit of the holy katana, he was encased in it by the mysterious Angels of Light. He serves as a guide for Kirk and an aid for him via a power called Holy Interface. This grants him enhanced sight and the ability to detect stealth units. Design-wise, he is a mix of Weregarurumon from Digimon and Bunshichi Tawara from Tenjho Tenge.

So there, that's the new characters. This chapter, and the rest beyond it, will be fun.

New feature available on the blog!

This blog has a new feature to your right. It's a poll, so now you can have a say in matters without having to deal with long blog postings. Yay! I might use this to gauge my audience and to figure out what people would like to see in my works. Might come in handy in the long run...

Novel Themes: Subs and Dubs

When I woke up this morning and went on my computer, the first thing I did asides from going on Swag Bucks to earn daily points for rewards is go on GameFAQs. GameFAQs is a website dedicated to cheat codes and walkthroughs for video games of any kind. It's saved my bacon many times when I needed help with a certain game or unlocking certain items. While it's a great website, you're probably wondering what it has to do with my novel. I'll sum this up with two words: today's poll.

I look at the poll section and find out that today's topic involves whether people prefer Japanese original voice work or English dubbed voice work in Japanese developed games. First place went to subbed work, second depending on the game, and third dubbed. The losers went to it doesn't matter and I never play Japanese developed games. The fact that first place went to Japanese voices cements the issue of subs vs. dubs in my novel further; that there are people who want subtitles and think any dub is inferior to the original voice work. One of the antagonist characters in my novel, Devil's Egotism, represents these people. He labels anything western as 'inferior', speaks Japanese in addition to English to taunt his foes, and is a representation of the arrogant anime and manga fans that think official dubs and translations are inferior.

I wanted to write this blog post because people say that voice work is the make or break part of video games, especially with Baten Kaitos on the Nintendo GameCube. I strongly disagree; I could care less about the quality of the voice work in a game, but if I can't get past a level or achieve a certain completion percentage because somebody in beta testing fell asleep on the job or the developers were really sadistic, we have problems. Mega Man X6 is an example of such scenarios; the game was localized in a matter of one week, and yes a week, not months or years, one week, and it shows. Not only did Capcom USA not bother to dub voice work, which showed how lazy they were, but they didn't bother with lowering the difficulty some. The reason the game is so hard and hated is because of awful level design and the rescue system of the game. To make a long story short, if you fail to rescue a reploid carrying an important upgrade for your character, your game is royally screwed and are forced to restart, unless you cheat and use the god armors, then you might beat it. The controls aren't a walk in the park, either, and if you get stuck in a level, you will get stuck and be forced to suicide all your lives. What was that about voice work ruining a game again?

It's a sensitive topic I wanted to talk about so I don't worry about my day being ruined over a poll. I just hope people will understand what I'm talking about without starting a flame war of sorts. By the way, I won't be talking about the sections of chapters in the novel, but I will be summarizing what happens in upcoming chapters. I'm not going to baby people with tidbits of individual sections.