I am an RPG Fanatic (And so can you!)

Dragon Age Origins Video Game Review - The RPG Fanatic

2011-09-01T12:57:00.001-07:00

Dragon Age Origins, developed by BioWare in 2009, is the first game in the latest franchise from the high profile American game developer of computer roleplaying games. Though best known for the Baldur’s Gate and Knights of the Old Republic videogames they developed, Dragon Age is also among their most highly regarded titles. In this review The RPG Fanatic explores why.

Top Five Reasons Why Star Wars The Old Republic Won't Kill World of Warcraft

2011-08-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

So I was having lunch with O.G., head editor of Original-Gamer.com and we started talking about this upcoming MMORPG. I went on a long rant about why I wasn't looking forward to it and O.G convinced me to turn this into a video.

So here we go: why SW: TOR won't kill WoW!

O.G. http://original-gamer.com/

Tumblr http://www.rpgvideoreviews.com/

Twitter http://twitter.com/therpgfanatic

New places you can find me!

2011-08-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

I am now on tumblr http://therpgfanatic.tumblr.com/

Also, want to buy virtual shares in me? Check out my profile on Empire Avenue and now you can! Earn virtual currency as my valuation increases! http://www.empireavenue.com/careymartell

{EAV_BLOG_VER:ca7866e23660e44f}

Diablo III Announcement Outrage over Auction Houses and Always Online- RPG Fanatic Side-Quests Vblog

2011-08-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

In this vblog Carey Martell ( The RPG Fanatic ) talks about the recent announcement that Diablo 3 will require the player to have internet access in order to play even in solo mode and that the game will support players to sell in-game items for real life currency. A lot of people have expressed outrage over these revelations and he shares his opinion.

Links:

Diablo III Auction House Overview
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/events/diablo3-announcement/#auction:auc...

No real life currency auction houses on hardcore mode
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/714985/diablo-3-auction-house-faq-and-i...

Website: http://www.rpgfanatic.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-RPG-Fanatic/374329482132

Twitter: http://twitter.com/therpgfanatic

Forum http://www.rpgfanatic.net/forum

Original Gamer: http://original-gamer.com/

New Investigating Anime Interviews: Egoraptor and Nabeshin!

2011-08-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

I attended San Japan again this year and scored two great interviews to add to my "Investigating Anime" series!

The first is with Arin "Egoraptor" Hanson, a famous flash animator who is also a fellow Youtube Partner.

The second is with Shinichi Watanabe, more popularly known by his pen-name "Nabeshin". Nabeshin is the director of such great anime as Excel Saga, The Wallflower and Nerima Daikon Brothers. I'm actually a big fan of his work, so it was a huge honor for me to be able to interview him.

Unfortunately I had limited file space on my cameras for conducting interviews this time around (my cursed laptop broke!) so I didn't interview all the guests, but there is always next year!

RPG Fanatic: Fallout New Vegas Video Game Review

2011-08-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

Review for Fallout New Vegas, the sequel (or perhaps gaiden / side-story) to Fallout 3.

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Website: http://www.rpgfanatic.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-RPG-Fanatic/374329482132

Twitter: http://twitter.com/therpgfanatic

Forum http://www.rpgfanatic.net/forum

Original Gamer: http://original-gamer.com/

By Jfreedan / Carey Martell

No Save State - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Let's Play)

2011-07-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

This is a different type of Let's Play than you are used to. In this series I play a game without a save state and until I die the first time, while giving running commentary on the gameplay.

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Website: http://www.rpgfanatic.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-RPG-Fanatic/374329482132

Twitter: http://twitter.com/therpgfanatic

Forum http://www.rpgfanatic.net/forum

By Jfreedan / Carey Martell

The RPG Fanatic - Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection Video Game Review

2011-07-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

Review for the Final Fantasy Four Complete Collection PSP re-release by Square-Enix.

This game includes Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy IV Interlude and Final Fantasy The After Years.

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Website: http://www.rpgfanatic.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-RPG-Fanatic/374329482132

Twitter: http://twitter.com/therpgfanatic

Forum http://www.rpgfanatic.net/forum

By Jfreedan / Carey Martell

My Final Video Response on the JRPG Rant - The RPG Fanatic / Jfreedan

2011-07-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

It's been about three months since this all started and while I've tried to explain some things on my blog, a lot of people still PM me misunderstanding. So here, one last video to explain what this has all been about and why it's important.

Roo's post where he acknowledged his rant was directed at me
http://www.clanofthegraywolf.com/16-bit-gems/22#comment-6390

My blog posts about the trolls (screenshot intensive)
http://cmartell.blogspot.com/search/label/trolls

What faggot really means and why it's offensive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-55wC5dEnc&feature=player_detailpage#t=298s

Templar Gamer / Havocy91 is just an internet troll

2011-07-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

These guys just don't get it.

One of Asalieri's fanboys, Templar Gamer (who posts on Youtube as havocy91) recently went on a podcast over at Blistered Thumbs. In their enlightenment they decided to give him 20 minutes to rant about me (it's at the 50 minute mark).

Already some brand spankin' new trolling has started pouring into my Youtube inbox and channel comment box. Thanks Blistered Thumbs, I appreciate that you gave a cyber stalker the opportunity to organize more people to come harass me.

The following screenshots are from the Asalieri2's channel comment box, a somewhat well known internet troll associated with the website Busy Street. Hallmarks of Busy Street's trolling career include accusing TGWTG of making fraudulent charities.

I'm not alone in my opinion he's nobody to be taken seriously.

Havocy91, for whatever reason, decided he wanted to get in on the action and for the past three months has participated in an organized campaign of harassment against my channel, which I've written about before. Yes, it is still ongoing, primarily because I haven't been nearly as proactive as I perhaps should be in reporting them.

But that's about to change.

Anyway, the following screenshots prove without a doubt that Havocy91 made his videos about me as a result of the call to action Asalieri threw out. I mean, just look for yourself. Like the others, he has been outright obsessed with me and has been trying to get a response out of me since posting his videos.

Despite blocking him from Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, he just hasn't taken the hint. Finally giving him that response on the BT forums seemed to just fuel his ego.

Well, you want my attention? Fine, here is is.

By the way, if you were still wondering, Havocy91 is one of the fanboys who supported Asalieri's slanderous accusations against TGWTG about hanging someone upside down in a crucifix. The following few screenshots concern that topic.

The above screenshot shows him asking Asalieri for "evidence" so he can make an anti-TGWTG video.

Take a good strong look at the comment Havocy91 made in this one. This is why I've been reporting the videos; they are trying to make the top Google and Youtube results for my channel be their videos, not mine. They are using these video sites as a way to troll people.

BTW- TGWTG and Blistered Thumbs ought to thank me for challenging these trolls, since as their accounts get terminated so do a large volume of anti-TGWTG and BT videos; in some cases, uploades of entire episodes stolen from your websites.

And even during my podcast "debate" with Asalieri I called him out on his lies concerning TGWTG.

Why you've decided to give a soapbox to one his lackies is quite perplexing to me, but whatever. Next time you think about giving someone 20 minutes to rant about me on the front page, do some research.

PS: It is pretty sad that I have to document their campaign in order to refute their accusations. Some people are way too trusting of the things strangers over the internet say.

One Year Ago: My Interview on the Retro League - The RPG Fanatic, Carey Martell

2011-07-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

About a year ago when I first started making my show, I was interviewed on The Retro League podcast.

I thought some people might find it interesting how relevant the interview now is to the recent events, especially with my goals for the show. This was also done prior to my Youtube Partnership and before I did the MMORPG reviews, which I said I intended to do.

A computer game design major's blog

2011-07-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

Like many Youtube Partners do, I routinely check my Insight data to see where the traffic to my videos comes from, as I'm curious where my videos are getting seen at. Sometimes this results me in discovering new websites of interest.

Vladimir Sanchez's blog (posting as Vladmirsan) is one such example.

http://vladimirsan.com/

Of particular interest to me are the posts he's made about his computer RPG project.

http://vladimirsan.com/category/rpg-system/

There are a variety of different methods that game designers use to design their games and Mr. Sanchez is showing off how he is doing it. His musings and thoughts during the design are interesting, especially since he is trying to recreate a very familiar game...

I encourage others to check out his blog and give him encouragement. Making a computer RPG is no small task-- they are one of the most complex types of games to create-- and anyone who blogs about his design process deserves support!

Bill S.978; Misrepresentations, Doomsaying and Real Facts

2011-07-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

There are many videos about how this bill is going to ruin the internet for gamers. My video is different.

The bill has nothing to do with fair use. It makes no changes to the sections of copyright law that involve fair use. It is only aimed at updating the terminology to make copyright laws relevant. Even the number of times a work is publicly performed is identical to the number of copies of phonorecords one must make to be convicted.

Again, this bill is not making anything illegal that wasn't already illegal. All it is doing is making the law clearly say that streaming someone else's copyrighted work is illegal.

The difference is this;

Currently: Uploader must make 10 physical copies of someone else's copyrighted work to be convicted and/or distribute one electronic copy. It doesn't matter if they only make one DVD of a video and show it 1 time or 1 billion times, they must make 10 copies of the DVD to be convicted AND those copies must have a total retail value of more than $2,500.

After bill passes: In addition to the number of copies they make and/or upload to the internet, the number of VIEWS any video or combination of videos receive can ALSO be used to convict if the a total retail value of those views is more than $2,500.

And this is the way the law should work. Think about it. Let's say someone makes an illegal recording of a movie being shown in theatres and then plays that video in their theatre, charging admission. Since they have only one copy they can't be charged, even if they show that copy to a ton of people and make money. But now they can be charged with a felony because it's not just how many copies they made but also how many times they showed that copy without permission. It is much easier to prove the amount of loss revenue when you look at how many times the video was watched rather than the number of copies that were made.

This is the same concept with websites; it shouldn't be how many copies you made, but how many times the infringing video was watched.

This is a GOOD law.
Links mentioned in the video are below

Read the bill here
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s112-978

US Code Showing that copyright infringement is CURRENTLY a criminal offense resulting in jail time
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002319----000-.html

The No Electronic Theft (NET) Act
http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/17-18red.htm

What is a phonorecord?
http://www.quizlaw.com/copyrights/what_is_a_phonorecord.php

A Fair(y) Use Tale: Crash Course in Copyright law
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

Update:

http://screwattack.com/blogs/RPG-Fanatic-Blog/Bill-S978-Misrepresentations-Doomsaying-and-Real-Facts

This video has been "G1 Spotlighted" on ScrewAttack, where you can find a copy of my blog.

Is the term JRPG racist? The RPG Fanatic / JFreedan

2011-07-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

Two months ago I made a video that argued the term JRPG is often used in a racist way to discriminate against computer RPGs made by the Japanese. A lot of people misunderstood what I was saying. This new video should better explain what my position on the matter is.

The short version: JRPG is not a genre term. It should only be used to describe the Japanese computer RPG industry, which is composed of many different types of computer rpgs (rogue-likes, action rpgs, strategy rpgs, MMORPGs, etc). But the label "WRPG" is absolutely stupid and meaningless, and really shouldn't be used at all. "The West" is not a country.

Links mentioned in this video:

U.N. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cerd.htm

List of non-linear Japanese computer roleplaying games
http://www.rpgfanatic.net/game-wish-list/non-linear-jrpgs

Proposal for new genre definitions
http://cmartell.blogspot.com/2011/04/proposal-for-new-genre-classifications.html

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Website:
http://www.rpgfanatic.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-RPG-Fanatic/374329482132

Twitter: http://twitter.com/therpgfanatic

Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection Commentary

2011-07-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

This is my commentary on the first few minutes of the remastered Final Fantasy 4 release for the PSP. This is not a review of the game; the review for the Complete Collection will be coming soon!

The RPG Fanatic: The 3rd Birthday (Parasite Eve III) Video Game Review

2011-06-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Review for the PSP game 'The 3rd Birthday', developed by HexaDrive and published by Square-Enix.

This videogame is the third game in the Parasite Eve franchise. It is a third-person tactical shooter computer roleplaying game. The game takes place in Manhattan, in New York City. The player takes on the role of Aya Brea, and must fight against mysterious "Twisted" creatures threatening the city.

Why I Stand Up to Asalieri and his troll fanboys

2011-06-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

I recently confronted Asalieri on the Original-Gamer podcast about his harassment toward me. There is a version of this podcast that Asalieri leaked a few days ago where he purposely garbled my audio to obscure my arguments, but you can listen to the real version on the Original-Gamer podcast.

Some people have questioned why I keep standing up to Asalieri and co. as they try to bully me.

The first reason is that Asalieri claimed if I did the debate he would stop harassing me and encourage his fans to stop as well. Though I did not believe him, I gave it a try.

The second reason is this: because standing up to a bully is the best way to deal with one.

Bullies are all about control and power. When they get confronted it usurps their sense of power and spoils their fun. Bullies like Asalieri prefer "soft" targets who don't stand up to them, such as the autistic man in his RAR #9 video or (yes) The Irate Gamer who turned to disabling all comments on his videos to deal with the flood of trolling; much of which I don't believe he deserved (just because someone makes errors doesn't give you the right to make death threats against them or hound them for years).

I want it to be clear this isn't about people disagreeing with me: When you put yourself out on the internet or create a show such as The RPG Fanatic, it is expected that you are going to get people who will disagree with your opinions and viewpoints. That's fine and I am quite willing to debate with people who disagree with me, as I try to converse with people who leave comments on my videos so that I'm not just another voice on the TV who you can't interact with. I also consider the ability for people to give instant feedback on your videos a great asset for film-makers, and I believe I've made quite a lot of effort to improve the structure of my videos based on some of the feedback I've received.

The intent of someone who is giving constructive criticism is not the same as someone who makes a video distorting someone's statements, uploading footage of themselves calling someone a faggot, or following someone around the internet to harass them because they were blocked from their Youtube channel. The latter individuals are acting out of malice.

If this were a situation occurring in person, Asalieri and his fanboys would not keep it up. These guys are cowards who can only hide behind their computers and make videos to mock people. They are in love with the sound of their own voice, lecturing their victims about things like the freedom of speech while trying to deny those rights to their victims; for example, Asalieri started his attack by threatening to harass me until I removed one of my videos. He claims to be against censorship but demands I remove my videos. He accuses me of being morally corrupt for making money off my videos but then runs ads on his own videos once he obtains a blip.tv account. These kind of hypocritical statements are common to bullies.

These bullies also engage in common misinformation tactics, like misrepresenting facts surrounding a person, or taking the statements a person has made out of context (as an example, many of the videos Asalieri has uploaded cut my audio portion mid-sentence, altering the intended context of what I said). They also have a habit of repeating themselves like a broken record even when what they are saying has been proven to be false or already addressed.

And when these tactics fail they turn to throwing out slurs like "faggot".

Unfortunately the internet allows a person to do this kind of harassing behavior without having to risk meeting the person they are tormenting in real life, and it is more difficult for law enforcement to get involved as well. However, when the harassment it done through third party websites like Youtube or blip.tv, there are resources at hand to deal with the harassment.

I am using these resources to confront the bullies and as evident by their current comments, they are not liking it at all. Each flag prevents them from uploading more videos and hurts any dreams of becoming a Youtube Partner; which many of them have. Their narcissism is making them feel victimized and it's no longer fun for them to keep it up. This is evident by how their complaints are now primarily about how unfair it is that their accounts are flagged, videos removed and even some of their accounts terminated.

Having looked at the channels of the people who are assisting Asalieri, many of them are much like him; they spend extraordinary amounts of time harassing other Youtubers for their own amusement. It seems clear to me that if I just ignored them, once they are through with me they are just going to move on to someone else; someone who might not have the thick skin I have or the ability to challenge them as well as I can. Youtube is somewhat difficult to navigate and finding the proper tools to report people for harassment can be difficult for some people to locate. As a Youtube Partner I'm pretty knowledgeable about the website and how to use it, and I have other resources at my disposal unique to Youtube Partners.

There is also the matter of their false flagging campaign; a number of my game reviews were flagged by them for child abuse. I had to explain to Youtube there was an organized campaign of harassment against me from these guys who were false flagging my videos.

I figure that if I can frustrate their efforts to troll me they will be less likely to do this kind of thing to others in the future, as all they are achieving is the loss of their own accounts. Besides, if what they have done to others is any indication they will never let it go on their own. The only way they are going to stop is when they realize it's not fun for them anymore because they are just getting themselves banned and wasting their time making videos that get removed shortly after being uploaded.

If you are reading this because Asalieri is now harassing you, or you have someone else trolling you on Youtube, I encourage you to not give in to the bullies. Stand up to them and let them know their behavior is not going to be tolerated and will only serve to make their user experience as unenjoyable as they are trying to make others' experiences.

Directly beneath this blog post is a link marked "Labels: trolls". By clicking on that link you can find previous posts I've made with screenshots of some of the statements Asalieri and his fanboys have been making that prove they are not victims of anything except their own stupidity.

Lastly, the curious can find screenshots of Asalieri2's channel comment box here that prove how insanely obsessed they have been with harassing me. These screenshots record what they have been saying and plotting for the past month.

Click here to read all posts I've made on this topic.

Eden Eternal Closed Beta Gameplay Commentary

2011-06-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

This is an unscripted commentary on my experience playing the closed beta for the MMORPG Eden Eternal, which in some regions is called 'Finding Neverland Online'. The game is developed by X-legend and published by Aeria Games.

The game is now in open beta. Some aspects may have changed.

Ragnarok Online Review and GotGame.com Partnership!

2011-06-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

So, officially my partnership with GotGame.com will begin tomorrow but my newest video is already live on their site. Go ahead and check it out!

The RPG Fanatic: Ragnarok Online Renewal Update Review

Also remember that my Ragnarok Online Renewal FAQ and Solo Leveling Guide is uploaded, so look no further if you'd like to play the game and need some tips starting out.

The backlog of RPG Fanatic episodes has also been added to GotGame.com, so if for some reason you prefer Blip.tv over Youtube, you can watch the videos there now.

Don't worry folks, I will still continue to post videos to my Youtube Partner channel. New episodes of The RPG Fanatic will post to my Youtube account about a week after appearing on GotGame.com or Original-Gamer.com; whichever has the exclusive for that video. And I intend to keep my Side-Quests vblogs and other misc. videos on my Youtube channel.

The revised "JRPG Debate" video will be one of the first videos recorded at my new home / studio, so expect it in a few weeks. I've got quite a lot going behind the scenes but after I've settled in, expect to see a larger volume of videos released every month with (ideally) better production values!

Asalieri's fans will do anything-- even commit copyright infringment for him!

2011-06-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

This is what Asalieri spends his day doing. Organizing his fans to harass people by encouraging them to knowingly commit copyright infringement and re-upload the videos that got his account shut down, so they can join him in eventually having their computers perma-blocked from Youtube.

Do you want to know why my fans aren't uploading tons of videos defending me or commenting on every harassing video your troll army uploads?

1) Because I don't ask them to.

2) Because as sane and well adjusted members of society they have better things to do with their day, and they wouldn't join in a campaign to harass people even if I did ask them to do it.

(By the way, those are some rather appalling comments about people with disabilities made by the so-called "Game Anthropologist", "Righteous" Brian Lee.

Edit: The "Game Anthropologist", who posts on Youtube as "blee427", tried to make the following comment on this blog,

Click to see full size image

I've added this to the blog to demonstrate what kind of person he is. )

What a boring life you must all live if this is how you spend your hours, harassing people over the internet who have nothing to do with you. But then again, we're talking about people who champion a guy who sunk low enough to make a video harassing a clearly mentally challenged man (Asalieri's 9th Reviewing a Reviewer video). I might do sketch comedy that parodies subcultures or post up a video where one of my pranks went horribly (and unintentionally) wrong, but at least I don't intentionally mock people for the way they were born.

I know it takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to re-upload each of those videos. It takes me less than 30 seconds to flag them and I only search for them once a day.

The only reason I'm making these blog posts is so inquiring minds can understand the real story, not the warped version of events you dispense trying to paint me as some bad guy.

Newsflash!

I'm not the one uploading a bunch of videos designed to slander and harass someone.

I'm not the one knowingly taking someone's else's video and simply re-uploading it in its entirety and largely unaltered condition for the sole purpose of harassing.

I made one video that had absolutely nothing to do with Asalieri that disagreed with Roo of 16 Bit Gems on a matter that is important for the future of videogame journalism. Asalieri is supposedly the best friend in the world with Roo, so Asalieri decided to not just make five videos intended to slander and harass me, but encouraged his subscribers to do so as well.

For a month!

Asalieri then lost his account when, after ignoring my warnings to stop, he lost his account due to multiple DMCA and community guideline violations.

I didn't take your account Asa. Youtube took your account because they looked at the reports and agreed you were breaking the site's user agreement.

You believed you could say and do whatever you liked and nothing would happen. You were wrong. At this point, that's really what it's about, isn't it?

You can't handle being wrong. You have to blame me, Youtube, TGWTG and anyone else who tells you that you can't say and do whatever you like without any negative consequences.

You broke the rules of the websites you joined. That is on you and nobody else.

You picked a fight you couldn't win. That is what is actually ticking you off.

The curious can find screenshots of Asalieri2's channel comment box here that prove how insanely obsessed they have been with harassing me.

Click here to see all posts I've made on this topic.

The Short History of Asalieri's Banning (without the boring bits)

2011-06-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

People have challenged me to prove that Asalieri made statements concerning my military history. While this isn't everything he said, I think the following is surely enough to prove he has said more than he's admitted to;

Unfortunately, I didn't take a screenshot of every comment Asalieri made. Back when I discovered that he flooded my video comment box with over 200 messages of profanity and flame-baiting, I still had the silly idea I could just delete the comments and ban him, and it'd be the end of that.

What I do have are screens of the remaining comments on my videos, so people would have an idea why he got banned.

And it's a good thing I did, since people keep asking me why Asalieri was banned from my channel in the first place.

So here it is. Follow along as we re-cap why Asalieri was banned from my channel and then lost his Youtube account as he continued to harass me.

At this point I stopped arguing because it was going no where. Seriously, "your move"? It was obviously a game to him.

Asalieri then made his first video to slander and distort what I was actually saying in my videos. He then started posting on my videos to pick another fight.

So the let me be clear: He wasn't banned for disagreeing.

He was banned because he is a profane lunatic that made it clear he was never going to stop trolling if I didn't take action.

But did he stop? Of course not. He just hopped onto his alternate accounts, Asalieri2 and PissedJose, and kept right on harassing. While I was hanging out with friends for a few days, he proceeded to spam my video with profanity and also engage in pointless arguments with my subscribers. When I returned home and discovered what he was doing, I banned his alternate accounts and deleted the most offensive comments.

Additionally, Asa is fond of using his video tags as a way to send messages to people. Here are the tags for one of the last videos he made about me on his channel.

He posted that video about a month after he was banned from my channel, which told me had no intention of stopping and is why I started reporting him to Youtube.

And, let us not forget the lovely Twitter messages he sends me,

I've said this before but I'll say it again: certain individuals should seriously re-consider whether they wish to associate themselves with a man that has no qualms with calling people "faggots" and encourages his users to false flag and comment flood other people's videos.

Click here to read all posts on this topic.

Response to my Detractors

2011-06-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

I know people are getting tired of this.

Believe me I've been tired of it for awhile now. The reason I am making these posts is because there is a landslide of slanderous misinformation out there and I need to set the record straight on some things.

Your anger is grossly misdirected.

Let me be clear: You got your own accounts terminated.

This is what I imagine the problem has been: For too long you have said whatever you liked to people on Youtube and at most, people have simply blocked you from their channels. This is probably the first time anyone actually flagged your comments and videos for review.

It probably hasn't helped that you openly said you were false flagging my videos and re-uploaded the ones that got Asa's account taken down.

Or your obsessive use of the word "faggot".

Do you seriously believe Youtube's employees can't see the messages you send one another? Everyone can see the ones you post into each other's channel comment boxes and video comment boxes.

Smooth criminals you are not.

I very much doubt your punishments have anything to do with my Youtube Partner status. I don't have any special pull with Youtube for taking accounts down. I merely submitted reports on the harassing, threatening and slanderous comments you have been making and once a live person reviewed your comments and videos, you were punished accordingly.

If you truly did nothing to get your accounts suspended then there would be nothing for me to report. You don't get to break the rules and then cry about how you are being victimized. I'm the one who is being harassed here.

An employee of Google reads every DMCA notice I send. A takedown is not an instantaneous process. I got asked questions on a few of them before the notices were sent to your accounts. The same with some of the harassment reports I filed on your accounts.

As for the "fanning the flames" comment I made on my Facebook account; yes, I said that......about a month ago. I did not say that recently. And the statement was made toward people who wanted to "debate" me constantly on my videos, trying to get a rise out me. It didn't bother me because, hey, they are trying to upset me but all they are doing is helping me out. To apply that statement to this situation is taking the comment out of context.

But I will admit that I don't see why I shouldn't find it amusing that those who try to hurt me end up having their efforts backfire.

That said.....Believe me when I tell you that if I block you, I could care less if you watch my videos anymore.

If I block you and then send you a message I am doing so out of a desire to encourage you to stop your continuing harassment and leave me alone.

As for comments on the Original-Gamer podcast, there are no logins for the comment section. Anyone can easily impersonate another and there have indeed been impersonations of me in the comments section of that podcast. I attempted to point this out but at this point I'm just giving up. It is too easy to impersonate on that site and I've let the owner know about it.

Concerning blip.tv , not only do I have a blip account myself but I also know where the DMCA takedown notice tool is on the website. I can as easily file notices there as I can on Youtube. The idea your copyright infringement and harassment will be safe on blip.tv is quite ridiculous. The creators of blip.tv have openly stated they are only interested in supporting people with original shows and who are going to create lots of original content. I doubt they are interested in random copyright infringing videos you are trying to hide because they were taken down by Youtube. It would not surprise me if you lose your blip.tv accounts without me having to do anything at all.

Actually I was invited to E3 last year. I didn't go due to college.

I was again invited to E3 this year. I did not attend due to my commitments to developing my upcoming web series and the purchase of studio space. These matters are much more important to the long term plans of my company and demand my full attention.

It was a hard choice to not attend E3 this year. I was invited to a lot of panels and closed events with developers. I was offered opportunities to interview people. These are things I would have liked to do but this is a critical time and I had to make the right decisions.

I hope to attend E3 next year.

In closing, my video response to Roo's JRPG rant is private. I did this myself for one reason only: I'm making a new scripted video that I believe will better clarify what my position on the matter is. Too many people are misconstruing what I was actually saying. Unscripted is probably not the way I should have handled it.

However, scripted or not scripted, I doubt the outcome would have been much different. It is clear to me that some people were looking for a fight and would have picked one no matter what. The problem is they didn't think I would be someone who would fight back and that is their own fault.

They underestimated my intelligence and overestimated how much crap they could get away with.

Click here to read all posts on this topic.

Why Asalieri and his fanboys are being terminated from Youtube

2011-06-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

I would like to start this article with an image from Asa's second account. This image pretty much summarizes why Asa got his main account terminated;

Visual proof that Asalieri not only uses homophobic slurs but encourages his fanbase to false flag videos and harrass other Youtubers.

For those unaware, Asalieri was a Youtuber with 3k subscribers who ran a show called "Reviewing a Reviewer". He is also a contributor to the website Busy Street (which, I feel I need to point out, has other contributors who consider it to be perfectly okay to call people fags. I think that speaks for itself what kind of website it is). Asa decided that he so strongly disagreed with my viewpoints on JRPGs that he was going to "destroy" my channel, and proceeded to make four videos that slandered, harrassed and misrepresented my viewpoints (often by taking my statements out of context). He taunted me dozens of times using multiple accounts, telling me that unless I removed my opinion videos he would keep harrassing me. He actively encouraged people to harrass me, often by trying to flood my videos with profane comments (usually videos that had nothing to do with the JRPG debate) and video down-ranking.

Essentially, he was trying to censor me from my own channel because he did not like my opinions.

And he kept this up for a month, non-stop. The final straw was when he uploaded a video using my footage that called me a faggot and told me he would not "let up" until I apologized to him (for what? Probably blocking him from my channel but I can only speculate).

This kind of behavior is typical for Asalieri and is the reason he had multiple Community guidelines warnings long before I ever came along.

Anyone spending time on Google can see Asa has a long history of harrassing people, sometimes to the point he is banned from the forum. By his own admittance he even managed to get himself banned from the American Idol forums. And he has an easily researched history of harrassing people in multiple communities,

I want to quote something from this RPG Maker community link that logs a chat conversation from him;

(asalieri) I was unter the impression you WERE a faggot, Azn

Again, the supposedly "intellectual" Asalieri throws around homophobic slurs in effort to harrass and ridicule.

(Edit: Asa has claimed he uses "fag" the way it was parodied in the South Park Episode: The F Word. However, the above post on the RPG Maker community was made in 2008. The South Park episode was made in 2009. Nice try)

The question you need to ask yourself is this: if Asalieri says this kind of crap in public spaces, what kind of hateful speech do you think he uses when he believes nobody else is looking? What kind does he use in real life when he doesn't have a camera on himself? I imagine something much worse than what he says online but I can only speculate.

Asa claims that he is all about "free speech" but the fact of the matter is the only thing he is after is the ability to say whatever he wants to whomever he wants without any reprecussions, regardless of how his statements make others feel or what effects they have on those individuals. He has harrassed past Youtubers until they terminate their accounts. He gets a kick out of being a bully-- and what is more pathetic is that he's a cyber-bully. He doesn't have the guts to do this sort of thing in person to someone.

And for the record, I have received no counter DMCA notices from him. I imagine this is because for him to send a counter DMCA notice he must submit his personal information-- including his home address--to me so that I can file against him in federal court. I believe he is afraid to do so and for good reason, as I fully intend to defend my legal rights and reputation to the fullest extent the law allows.

Asalieri has made a wide number of fallicious statements regarding everything from my military background, to the existence of my company, to my use of donation funds. He constantly distorts my point of view on the JRPG debate. And he has such diarrhea of the mouth that he can't remember everything he posts for all the world to see.

Fortunately I took screenshots of his video descriptions and comment posts on not only his videos but those of others.

He phrases his accusations as if they were factual statements, not mere suspicions. Thus, based on how he has conducted himself toward me and others, I believe Asalieri is either one of two things; psychologically disturbed to the point he cannot differentiate between his own thoughts and reality, or knowingly lying. Either way he is making serious accusations he has no proof of and that is defamation. His so-called "parodies" are made with malicious intent, which is not protected under the fair use doctrine.

As for the accusations I am false flagging people or harrassing them, I am going to leave you with the following adage; that the proof is in the doing.

Asalieri and his fanboys are having their videos taken down and accounts terminated by Youtube staffers. This is because Asa and his fanboys keep re-uploading videos that are designed solely to slander and harrass me, and use footage from my videos in a way I do not consider to be fair use nor parody due to the slander and harrassment.

In comparison, my account and videos remain.

The only videos of my own that are down are the few I took down myself, primarily because I thought now was as good a time as any to clean up my account a little. I want to focus it more on the game reviews that are vastly more popular than my improv comedy sketches.

Asa has also claimed I've been losing subscribers since this all started. This is false. He also believes that, because in the past he said I was a good reviewer, that I owe all my subscribers to him. This is also untrue as I have never received a sudden inflation of subscribers; I usually get less than 10 a day. I owe Asa nothing.

(However, what is interesting is that I've noticed many of his subscribers who I've had to block from my channel due to their profane commenting have started subbing my channel. I will not be surprised if they intend to do some coordinated mass "un-subbing" to "prove" I'm losing subscribers but my channel's history on SocialBlade should speak for itself).

In closing, your rights end where mine begin. The allegations he has made are untrue and I am more than prepared to fight them fiercely because they are untrue.

PS: I recommend that other professional game reviewers seriously re-consider whether they wish to associate themselves with a man that has no qualms with calling people "faggots" and encourages his users to false flag and comment flood other people's videos.

Click here to read all posts on this topic.

Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE Online MMO Video Game Review

2011-06-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

Review for the F2P online MMORPG 'Shin Megaten IMAGINE Online', developed by Cave and published by Atlus / Aeria Games.

The game client website is http://megaten.aeriagames.com/

This videogame is based on the popular Shin Megami Tensei (女神転生translation: True Goddess Resurrection) franchise, more commonly abbreviated as MegaTen ( メガテン ). The franchise is based on the novel Digital Devil Story by Aya Nishitani. The Persona games are spinoffs / gaidens to the main Megaten games.

This game appears to use the models from Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

This review discusses the gameplay of the MMO game, and of course, there is occasional humor and funny jokes!

Fantasy Online MMO Video Game Review

2011-05-27T15:02:00.001-07:00

Review for the F2P online Flash based RPG Fantasy Online by Pixelated Games. The game can also be played through Facebook. This is more of a casual MMO like Farmville or Frontierville.

Ragnarok Online Renewal Guide!

2011-05-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a review for Ragnarok Online and in the process decided to create a summarized guide to the Renewal changes. I also included a leveling guide.

You can find the guide here: Ragnarok Online Renewal FAQ and
Solo Leveling Guide

I've also added the guide to my Game Guides and FAQs section of the website, which can now be found listed under 'Reviews' for easier access.

New RPG Video Reviews!

2011-05-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

Over the past week I've released three new reviews!

Dungeons and Dragons Online MMORPG

Atlantica Online MMORPG

Arcuz: Behind the Dark Online Flash Game

I've got a working laptop and while it's not a souped up gaming PC like I usually play on, I've still been able to get fraps running on it to make some PC title reviews.

You may notice these new reviews lack the usual sketch comedy segments and intro. Some users have expressed dislike of those segments, so I'm trying a more direct format for the videos until I create a better set to film them in. Let me know what you guys think!

Arrogance?

2011-05-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

It's funny how even two weeks later people are still trolling my videos and my website, trying to pick a fight with me. I wonder what kind of tears they cry when they realize those long, hateful posts peppered with profanity and sensationalism took me half a second to erase?

I also find it very interesting that the people who accuse me of being arrogant are the same people who generalize "JRPGs" and "WRPGs".

I feel I should point out they are using the word 'arrogance' incorrectly.

Next time you want to insult me, pick up a dictionary and find one that actually fits.

Here, I'll make it easy for you.

In order to be arrogant one must be presumptuous. That means you are acting on a belief that isn't definitely true.

So really, who is being arrogant?

Am I, the person who has been researching computer RPGs for most of his life, arrogant for insisting I am correct about issues of publication history, use of genre terms and the diverse range of RPG game mechanics and graphics used by both Japanese and "Western" developers? Things that can be quite easily verified as being true by spending an hour on Google?

Or...

Are the people who insist "JRPGs" and "WRPGs" are unique "styles" of games being arrogant?

Are those who insist JRPGs are "mostly turn based" while WRPGs are "mostly real time" being arrogant?

Are those who insist JRPGs are "mostly linear" while WRPGs are "mostly non-linear" being arrogant?

Are those who insist JRPGs use "anime graphics" and WRPGs use "realistic graphics" being arrogant?

Are those who insist it is perfectly okay to make broad assumptions and stereotype thousands of games they have not played being arrogant?

All things considered, I'd rather be arrogant than be foolishly mistaken because I didn't bother to check the facts before I wrote an essay about how someone else was wrong.

Here's another definition for you: stupid."Lacking intelligence or common sense."

I think it's pretty common sense to actually do some research into a topic before you make a rebuttal video or blog. Not doing so and instead relying only on your personal feelings and limited knowledge about the topic is pretty damn stupid.

Edit: I do not have time for every wannabe Asalieri who wants to argue this issue with me. Unless you are able demonstrate you have actually researched this topic beyond what RPGs are for sale right now at GameStop I am not going to respond to you. I have a bunch of other videos I'm working on, none of which are about the "JRPG vs WRPG" debate. This is the last blog post I intend to make on the matter for the foreseeable future.

Game Reviews Matter

2011-05-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

I've said before that one of the reasons I'm passionate about game journalists giving games honest and insightful reviews is because game reviews impact the sales of games.

Not everyone agrees with this assertion. A lot of people (myself included) do not rely on game reviews to determine our buying habits.

However, the average consumer does rely on game reviews to determine which games are worth renting / buying and which should be ignored. And when we're talking about games that took thousands to millions of dollars to create, the average consumer is the one who needs to buy the game for the developer to stay in business.

There is some research to support the argument videogame reviews matter, but you shouldn't need a study to believe the obvious; if game reviews didn't matter then nobody would watch game review videos or read game review magazines / websites.

I will not shy away from issues where I disagree with the popular but incorrect opinions expressed by other game reviewers and journalists. I will not be intimidated into being silenced either.

Game reviews are not simply entertainment; they are meant to educate.

If I catch other reviewers misinforming the public about a game I will call them out so at least some people know they are wrong and shouldn't make purchasing habits based on flawed reasoning and poor fact checking.

Non-linear JRPGs Vs Non-linear WRPGs

2011-05-13T11:40:00.001-07:00

It has come to this. The only way to fight overwhelming ignorance is to show them the truth.

I have spent the past few hours listing every non-linear Japanese computer RPG I can think of. You can find the list here.

I have also started a list of non-linear "Western" computer RPGs but it is hardly complete and my gut tells me I'm missing a bunch. You can find that list here.

The lists are both incomplete (I know about a lot of games but I can't always recall every single one of them and I surely don't know about every CRPG that has ever been made) but already people who have been negatively commenting on my video should be able to see how absolutely wrong they are about "JRPGs" being games that have 100% linear narratives.

What they appear to be missing from my argument is that I'm correct because I know what I'm talking about.

I do not spam the internet with opinions I haven't verified against the facts like many other people are doing.

"What is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular."

I was able to list over 80 Japanese made computer RPGs that have non-linear narratives and that's just those games I was able to recall tonight. I am willing to bet dollars to donuts this small portion of games is way more than my detractors thought existed at all.

Please note that I defined what non-linear computer RPGs are in a previous blog, so if you're wondering how I'm determining whether a game is linear or non-linear, check that blog post out.

A summary;

Dynamic non-linear: The rarest type of non-linear narrative model. The player makes choices during gameplay that shape the game's narrative in a meaningful and critical ways so as to substantially change the direction of the game's narrative. There are either no or very few milestone events that the player "must" clear in order for the narrative to advance. The game offers a large number of narrative routes the player can choose to bypass and that will not prevent the narrative from moving forward (an example: Romancing SaGa: MS)

Static non-linear: The most common type of non-linear model. The choices made by the player do not alter the narrative in significant ways and the narrative generally travels in a single direction with few deviations. This kind of non-linear narrative is built around "milestone" events which HAVE to be passed through regardless of what "route" the player takes. The game's narrative cannot move forward if these milestones are not cleared. (an example: Persona 4)

But read the blog post I made on the topic, I've included images to better express the narrative model these games use.

I'll continue to update this list. If you know of a game that ought to be in the list let me know via Youtube or by commenting on this blog. I will check the game out and if it deserves to be listed I will update the page.

A Proposal for New Genre Classifications for Computer RPGs

2011-04-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Updated: May 17, 2011

What follows is something I have been working on for awhile now. Given the recent discussion about "JRPGs" and "WRPGs", I've decided to let people read my notes to better understand the way I look at games and how I believe others should look at games when trying to quantify their elements.

While I have encouraged people to use the older terms of "console-style" and "PC-style" in place of "JRPG" and "WRPG" since the older terms are more politically correct, I do recognize the older terms are also misnomers and many people see no reason to stop using misnomers in place of other misnomers.

A recurring problem with videogame classification is that a lot of the genre labels we use for games are misnomers; even "strategy rpg" and the Japanese equivalent for the genre, "simulation rpg", are misnomers because all games require strategy and all games are simulations.

One of my core design principles for creating game mechanics is to make the design modular. 'Modular' means you can swap out parts of the design for other parts and the game will still function correctly (which is important so that new rules can be added to an existing game without upsetting its balance). Since I personally would prefer to see genre labels be modular I have attempted to create a modular system for identifying CRPG game genres.

Please note that this is a work in progress-- I think the labels I currently have here are a'bit of a mouthful-- but you can see the direction I'm going.

-----------------

Syntax of the definitions.
Modular systems require a syntax-- a pattern, if you will. The syntax I have created for defining computer RPG genres is as follows:

[Combat system] [narrative model] [target audience] [narrative genre] RPG

An example would be,
'Real time based linear Children's fantasy RPG'

With....

..."real time based" representing the combat system...

..."linear" representing the narrative model...

..."Children's" representing the target audience...

...and "fantasy" representing the narrative genre...

A 'Real time based linear Children's fantasy RPG' would be Secret of Mana.

Combat genres

In an attempt to best identify different types of combat systems that appear in combat RPGs, I have created the following terms:

Phased turn based : DQ and Wizardry system; at the start of combat the game waits for the player to decide the actions their character(s) will take when combat begins. These systems have combat time divided into blocks called 'rounds'. The combat system descends directly from the tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons, though the games use a more abstract concept of range than D&D did (example: Final Fantasy has a concept of a "front row" and a "back row"). In a Phased turn based system, the player's character(s) will always act in combat before the opposing NPCs can act.

Sequential turn based : A turn based system where each character (including NPCs) has a Speed rating that determines the precise order they will act during a combat round. The system is otherwise identical to Phased turn based combat. While the way turns are determined is more similar to D&D, the abstract nature of range remains.

Active turn based: Games using a system derived from Final Fantasy IV's Active Time Battle System. Unlike Sequential and Phased there is no "pause" between rounds; after taking an action, characters gradually accumulate points as time passes to fill a "bar" and when that bar is full they can make an action. However, like Sequential turn based, characters have a Speed rating that determines how quickly their bar fills up.

Real time based: Games where characters do not take turns. Instead action happens in real time. Characters may or may not have delays on what actions they may take but are capable of moving at any time and almost always have some meaningful action they can do during combat.

Pausable real time based: Real time combat games where players must pause the gameplay to issue orders to characters. Once the game is un-paused the orders are carried out by the characters. Some examples are Secret of Mana, Fallout 3 and Parasite Eve.

Wargaming turn based: Games using a system descending from tabletop wargames. These games tend to be called "strategy RPGs". The player controls a squad of characters who fight across a battlefield using a turn based combat system. They tend to have a more definite concept of range, whereas a Sequential turn based game like Final Fantasy only uses an abstract concept of range (the "rows")

Wargaming real time based: Games using a system descending from tabletop wargames. The player controls a squad of characters who fight across a battlefield using a real time based combat system.

Rogue-like based: A game that uses a combat system derived from Rogue. An example would be the Mystery Dungeon series of games.

Narrative models

Linear: The narrative travels in a straight line with no alternate routes. This is the narrative model used by the majority of fiction, such as novels, films, television shows and video games.

Dynamic non-linear: The rarest type of non-linear narrative model. The player makes choices during gameplay that shape the game's narrative in a meaningful and critical ways so as to substantially change the direction of the game's narrative. There are either no or very few milestone events that the player "must" clear in order for the narrative to advance. The game offers a large number of narrative routes the player can choose to bypass and that will not prevent the narrative from moving forward (an example: Romancing SaGa: MS)

Because I realize this can be a difficult concept for one to visualize I have created the following image to demonstrate what the narrative paths in a Dynamic non-linear narrative look like:

Dynamic non-linear narratives are rare in games because the model gives the writer less control over the flow of the narrative, making it harder for him to craft a meaningful story that hits all the correct emotional buttons in the player. The difficulty and additional time spent writing these narratives are, in my opinion, usually not worth the effort.

Static non-linear: The most common type of non-linear model. The choices made by the player do not alter the narrative in significant ways and the narrative generally travels in a single direction with few deviations. This kind of non-linear narrative is built around "milestone" events which HAVE to be passed through regardless of what "route" the player takes. The game's narrative cannot move forward if these milestones are not cleared. (an example: Persona 4)

I have also created an image to illustrate what the narrative paths of a static non-linear narrative look like,

Target audience:

Some people believe the intended audience of the game is not a core part of the game's design. This is incorrect; game companies do not invest millions into producing videogames unless they already know who the game will appeal to. Designing the game to appeal to a target audience is crucial and often determined before a single line of code of the game is ever written.

Here I am using the same labels as those used by the publishing industry, as I feel they are more appropriate given there is no international rating system at the moment.

Children's: Games intended for play by children up to age 12. They carry an ESRB rating of 'E'.

Young Adults : Games intended for play by teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17. They carry an ESRB rating of 'T'

Adult: Games intended for play by adults (18+). They carry an ESRB rating of 'M'.

Note that this does not mean the game cannot be enjoyed by other age groups; it merely means the developer intended the game to be primarily purchased by one age group.

Narrative genres:

Narrative genres are the same as those used in other creative works; Science-fiction, fantasy, romantic comedy, high school drama, etc

Examples:

Sequential turn based linear Children's fantasy RPG = Final Fantasy

Real time Static non-linear Adult science-fiction RPG = Mass Effect

Active turn based static non-linear Young Adult science fiction RPG = Chrono Trigger

Sequential turn based dynamic non-linear Young Adult fantasy RPG = Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song

Real time based static non-linear Young Adult science-fiction RPG= SW: Knights of the Old Republic

Active turn based static non-linear Adult fantasy RPG = Dragon Age: Origins

Real time based linear Children's fantasy RPG = Secret of Mana

Real time based dynamic non-linear Young Adult fantasy RPG = World of Warcraft

Notice that these new definitions are still very broad; Dragon Quest and Xenogears are both Sequential Turn based games but they possess vastly different combat subsystems from one another. It would be unwise for one to assume that just because a game has a similar type of combat system or narrative model that the games play identically or have similar levels of complexity.

That said, I believe these new definitions are more politically correct than "JRPG" and "WRPG", which express an "Us Vs. Them" mentality concerning games made by the Japanese and games made by Americans. I also believe they better represent the actual mechanics of the games than the older labels "console RPG" and "PC-style RPG", or any other terms I've came across which are misnomers that don't represent the actual mechanics or narrative genres of the games.

Another JRPG Rant!

2011-04-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

16-Bit Gems (a videogame review show hosted by Blistered Thumbs and Retroware.tv) recently did a rant about people who dislike the term JRPG.

I decided to counter the rant. Watch my response.

UPDATE: Roo (host of 16 Bit Gems) responded to my video in his comments for the video on Retroware.tv;

Roo: Fanatic, I'm actually rather disappointed that your video was not up to the normal quality of your other work, which I usually enjoy. Beyond the fallacies, opinions presented as fact, a whole lot of strawman arguments, little to no evidence, and some personal attacks peppered in for flavor, I found one salient point that I did not address in my video - and that's the question about games like Secret of Mana above.

As I said earlier to Cynic, I don't mean for the term JRPG to be an exclusive and monolithic term. In the case of Secret of Mana, I would call it a JRPG and an action RPG. Video games straddle genres and subgenres all the time. Look at Portal - FPS & puzzle. Lost Vikings - Action platformer & puzzle. Metroid Prime - FPS & action & adventure. You get the idea. Other than the turn-based battle aspect, it shares many other aspects of JRPGs, such as the simple level up system. Thus, it's a cross-genre game.

As for the "people who disagree with me are racists!" argument (I once again point to my video as a response, since you did not rebut it at all), that tactic is really old hat and goes a long way in destroying credibility when it's used superfluously. I'd suggest you tone that down if you want people to take you more seriously in the future. You are not some video game civil rights martyr fighting to right a inherent wrong in a governmental system. You are just like me - some guy on the internet who's arguing over the exact classification of a small subset of interactive entertainment. Step back and breathe a little.

And just to be clear, I don't know your history with Retroware, and in no way was my response related to the application you sent them months ago. I never even knew you reached out to RWTV. As I've had to say many times to several people: neither Retroware, nor Blistered Thumbs, nor Reviewtopia, nor anyone else but me has editorial control over my videos. If you have a problem with this particular site, I would suggest talking to John and/or Lance about it in private instead of taking it out on me through a public rant without fully understanding the situation.

Consider this my full and final rebuttal on the JRPG topic. For two reasons:

1.) If you can talk so much yet say so little on this subject for 20 minutes, then I doubt there's anything else of value to be brought to the debate.
2.) I really just don't care that much about this issue to go beyond the 3 minutes or so I talked about it in my previous video. I laid out my argument and haven't seen a good enough rebuttal to change my stance (though I can understand moderate positions on it - like Cynic's). I'm not interested in prolonging this e-pissing match for the sake of arguing. I can go to Fark for that.

Also... I generally keep my soap in the bathroom.
show more show less

Here is my reply;

RPG Fanatic: Roo, I covered this in my video but again, please respond to the following points:

1) Did you or did you not dismiss the term "console-style" and "PC-style" as if they had little use or history despite them used by GameFAQs, which has been in operation since 1995 and is hardly a small site. Despite this you called those who use the labels a "small movement".

You implied the terms "JRPG" and "WRPG" had history behind them, whereas "console-style" and "PC-style" did not. This is factually incorrect and demonstrates you did no research into the subject.

2) Did you not generalize "JRPGs" as having turn based combat systems when you know many of them are real time based?

3) Did you not point to relatively new games like Fallout and Mass Effect as being representative of "WRPGs" and completely ignore the overwhelming majority of "Western" made computer RPGs that have turn based combat and linear narratives?

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/list-48

Not a complete list but a good start.

The majority of computer RPGs simply do not have non-linear narratives, let alone the majority of those made by "Western" developers.

It is true that many game journalist claim "WRPGs" are basically games like SW: Knights of the Old Republic. These "journalists" do not cite their sources and largely expressing opinions based on their limited knowledge of computer RPG history. They also tend to completely ignore games not released by a large publisher. Anyone with actual knowledge of the genre knows they are wrong and I was extremely disappointed that you would tell your audience information you did not check the facts of because it just hurts the efforts of people like myself who are trying to get people to stop making assumptions that are hurting the industry.

Sure, you can argue that games "straddle" genres but that is just excusing that you, during a defense of the term JRPG, tried to define them and failed to adequately do so. You're also ignoring that definitions that are only good some of the time are not useful for classification; it just confuses people.

The three critical arguments of the "Stop calling them JRPGs" movement is that...

1) Japanese developers make too many different types of computer rpgs for one label to define them all.

2) American / Canadian / European developers make too many different types of computer rpgs for one label to define them all.

3) The term "JRPG" is used with the term "WRPG" as its opposite. This implies that "The West" or Americans, make games that are vastly different than the Japanese. This is actually false and anyone who does even a little bit of research can see that. It is not hard to find lists of computer RPGs, even Wikipedia (which I strongly dislike) has lists. The use of these terms imply an "Us Vs. Them" mentality that is absolutely 100% racist.

You ridiculed these three points. You did not give them the merit they deserve.

And even if you want to label games by their graphical style, there are many computer RPGs made by non-Japanese that have "anime-ish" graphics (examples: AdventureQuest, World of Warcraft, Farmville, Frontierville, and lots of the indie stuff by small places like Rampant Games or Zeboyd). Therefore graphical style cannot be used to classify them either because it's not a reliable method.

The only reliable method to classify games is by looking at their actual mechanics, not their nationalities. Even if there are differences in popular art styles or narrative devices, these devices are very inconsequential (games made for kids or meant to be comedic always look more colorful and cartoony regardless of what region they come from; games with narratives always have archetype characters common to the culture the game is primarily designed to appeal to). These elements really are not worth pointing out when trying to define game genres.

Now, Google "define:racism". One of the results is, "A set of incorrect assumptions, opinions and acts resulting from the belief that one race is inherently/genetically superior to another. It occurs when people are not treated fairly because of their cultural or ethnic differences....". This is most definitely how the term "JRPG" is being used. There are numerous editorials about how the "JRPG" industry is dying and the "WRPG" is being so gosh darn great and innovative. These editorials ignore actual facts like sales numbers of the big titles released by Japanese and American developers (they have pretty similar sales numbers) and the entire indie industry.

If you had only said that "JRPG means computer rpgs made by the Japanese" and nothing more, that would not be an assessment I'd take issue with. The problem is that you attempted to define "JRPGs" by mechanics that, in reality, a substantial number of them do not share and simply are not unique to the Japanese developers. This is the problem. This is where you expressed a racist viewpoint.

And what you did was indeed rant. Calm as it was delivered, it is clear you wrote it without any research into the topic and there are indeed portions of it where you were rather dismissive toward those of us who have done the research. By your own admittance you wrote it to, "...challenge this assertion before it gains too much steam."

I also took offense that you would dismiss the arguments without doing any research into the topic and clearly having not put much thought into it either. And then there is the issue of the "THAT'S RACIST!" ending the rant with a black kid shouting. Seriously, what the hell was with that?

I will admit that "console style" and "pc style" are not the best terms. However, they are certainly more politically correct. That said, I am attempting to come up with better definitions for computer RPGs that are not misnomers so as to lessen the extraordinary amount of confusion players have about these games when they use the currently popular terms.

http://cmartell.blogspot.com/2011/04/proposal-for-new-genre-classifications.html

eBay RPG Auction

2011-03-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

Hey there fellow RPG Fanatics! Sorry that there hasn't been a video this month yet; I've been working on getting a house loan so I can do more with the channel (having a dedicated set and garage to work on videos would improve the quality considerably!) but I might release a mini-review without any live-action footage this month; if so, it'll be on Chrono Trigger.

Anyway, I'm trying to raise some cash by selling some games I don't really need. I have somewhat of a hoarder mentality when it comes to games but, when money is so tight, I need to sell off anything I don't really need.

http://myworld.ebay.com/therpgfanatic/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

Some of these games I have already reviewed, some I have footage recorded for but haven't made a review yet, and some I've never got around to recording footage for. But they are just games; I can always buy them again in the future.

If you wish to help me out and get some great games, please do bid on the auctions. With the exception of Actraiser 2, they all have the original case and instruction manuals, and are in pretty good condition.

If you wish, I can even autograph the game for you!

Why Wikipedia Video Game Articles are NOT Reliable / Credible!

2011-02-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

( Please watch the above video first )

Over the years I have tried in vain to convince the self-appointed keepers of Wikipedia's Computer RPG Article to remove the "Cultural differences" section because the entire section is sourced from online videogame magazines editorials that do not cite their sources, essentially making the articles original research under Wikipedia's guidelines and require more case-by-case scrutiny than being given.

Basically the game magazine and blog editorials only reflect the author's personal opinion. Despite this the Wikipedia editors are passing the original research off as as reliable statements of fact for millions of people to read every day when they try to learn about the videogame topics. I see this as a massive problem because rather than educate they are spreading ignorance, which is not what Wikipedia is supposed to be doing and isn't why people read Wikipedia.

I have noticed this credibility source issue to be a problem with not just the Computer RPG article but all of the major Wikipedia articles concerning videogames. I posted on the Wikipedia Videogame Project Talk page about how consumer magazines and blogs need to be scrutinized closer. Unsurprisingly the editors circled their wagons to defend their piece of internet property. I did not accept their excuses for why they were deeming them to be reliable. I find it amusing that they told me to sit in on future discussions concerning the reliability of a website, as if a single opposing viewpoint would overrule their majority votes to confirm their favorite blogs / magazines.

I find it quite tragic that I was also accused of having a dubious intent behind my beliefs; rather than acknowledge that these editorials pieces do not comply with Wikipedia's definition of what reliable sources are, they focused on my own occupation as a game reviewer. Note that at no time did I ever try to supplant another game reviewer's opinion for my own-- I only pointed out that they were not reliable sources under Wikipedia's definition. My own videos obviously do not qualify under this definition either-- which, again, is irrelevant because I was not trying to replace sources but remove unsubstantiated information. My goal was nothing more than to have tons of misinformation removed from Wikipedia that stems from the editors decision to use game magazines with a track record of dubious journalism integrity as reliable sources rather than try to find reliable ones written by experts on the subjects and who, at the least, cite other reliable sources not just online gaming blogs and other consumer gaming magazines owned by companies who either publish or sell videogames.

Until the articles are edited by people who intend to comply with Wikipedia's own definitions of verifiability, I suggest no one use Wikipedia as a source for reliable information concerning videogames.

Amendment: I have backed up the talk page on my own website, as they tend to get deleted by Administrators.
RPG Fanatic Side-Quests #5.1: Record of Wikipedia Videogames Talk Page

Links to the pages discussed in this video:

Roleplaying Videogame Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_video_game

Responses to me from editors on the Wikipedia Project Videogames Talk Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Video_games#Videogame_Magazines_Should_Not_Automatically_Be_Regarded_as_a_Reliable_Source

Wikipedia Cultural Differences in RPGs section
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_differences_in_role-playing_video_games#Cultural_differences

Examples of How Videogame Article Sources Were Determined to be "Credible"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Video_games/Sources

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Marvel Ultimate Alliance Video Game Review (PS2)

2011-02-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

Gameplay review for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006) by Raven Software, published by Activision.

Bad Game Journalism: White Knight Chronicles

2011-02-05T01:09:00.000-08:00

This is a fine piece of journalism that I thought my readers would be interested in checking out. It showcases the inherent bias in many Western game reviewers toward Japanese made computer rpgs ("JRPGs", if you will).

http://quarterdisorder.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/bad-game-journalismwhite-knight-chronicles-reviews/

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest Review!

2011-02-04T07:56:00.001-08:00

Yet another review of a game with a bad reputation....but does it deserve it?

What Videogame Developers Hate About Videogame Reviewers

2011-02-04T06:56:00.001-08:00

This article is a few months old but I still want to share it with my readers.

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/features/what-game-developers-hate-about-videogame-reviewers/

What Is A Computer RPG?

2011-01-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

In this video The RPG Fanatic explains what elements define a computer roleplaying game as being unique from other genres of videogames.

Fan Mail Page

2011-01-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

I've added a new section to the website, a Fan Mail page.

This page won't include all the letters I receive, just some of the most notable or ones that answer questions I get asked a lot.

How To Be A Good Game Reviewer

2011-01-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

In this video I talk about what makes someone a good game reviewer and what makes someone a bad game reviewer.

In summary, making good game reviews comes down to learning game design, reading books about narrative structure and being able to articulate your thoughts in a way that is constructive for the target audience of the game.

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Website:
http://www.rpgfanatic.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-RPG...

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The Legend of Alon D'ar Review

2011-01-16T14:47:00.001-08:00

First RPG Fanatic review for the year! Enjoy!

RPG Fanatic's Wish List

2011-01-14T22:43:00.001-08:00

Ever wondered what games the RPG Fanatic wants and which ones he already has? Well wonder no more!

http://www.rpgfanatic.net/game-wish-list

This list will be updated periodically.

TV Tropes page?

2011-01-12T23:34:00.000-08:00

There is now a TV Tropes Page for The RPG Fanatic!

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheRPGFanatic

I'm a big fan of TV Tropes. If you pay close attention to some of my videos, I name drop a few of their trope namers into the dialogue of my scripts.

If you're much of a site user and find yourself a little bored, why not help flesh out the RPG Fanatic TV Trope page with some of the tropes the show incorporates? I'd love to see what you guys come up with!

RPG Fanatic: Torneko The Last Hope Video Game Review (PSX)

2010-12-29T06:20:00.000-08:00

Also known as 'Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko's Great Adventure 2 - Mystery Dungeon' (Torneko no Daibōken 2 - Fushigi no Dungeon) is a PS1 game by Chunsoft and published by Enix. The game is a computer roleplaying game rogue-like with narrative elements, featuring the popular character Torneko (Taloon) from Dragon Quest 4.

This retro review discusses the gameplay of the game, and of course, there is occasional humor and funny jokes! This episode can be considered the Christmas special.
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Twitter: http://twitter.com/therpgfanatic

RPG Fanatic: Valkyria Chronicles 2 Review (PSP)!

2010-12-29T06:17:00.000-08:00

Another RPG Fanatic review!

This is a review for the tactical roleplaying videogame Valkyria Chronicles 2 by SEGA for the Playstation Portable.

From the developer: "Two years have passed since Squad 7 defeated Maximillian in Gallia during the Second Europan War. A rebel group made up of dissatisfied aristocrats and like-minded soldiers and citizens calling themselves the Gallian Revolutionary Army begins a civil war to wage an ethnic cleansing campaign against Gallians of Darcsen descent.[5] However, with the intense fight against the Empire having left Gallia's regular army in an exhausted state, there is initially little to stop the insurrection from gaining momentum. Laws preventing the formation of a national militia to fight fellow Gallians force the government to deploy military academy cadets to the front lines in order to combat and defeat the GRA forces.

Among the students sent out on the field is 17-year-old Avan Hardins, a young man who enrolled in Lanseal Military Academy after the death of his older brother, Leon."

The game has anime cutscenes, military simulation combat, visual novel elements and a great soundtrack.

This review discusses the gameplay of the game, and of course, there is occasional humor and funny jokes!

RPG Fanatic Retro Video Game Review for Willow (NES)

2010-11-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

Another retro gaming review! Willow for the Nintendo Entertainment System is an action rpg based on the cult classic 80's fantasy film of the same name. In my opinion the movie was great but the game is one of the better action rpgs on the system... but it sure has its weird points! The game is a combination of elements from the Ys and Legend of Zelda series but it has some original ideas, too.

Z.H.P.: Unlosing Ranger Vs. Darkdeath Evilman Video Gameplay Review

2010-10-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

Z.H.P.: Unlosing Ranger Vs. Darkdeath Evilman is the newest title from Nippon Ichi Software. The basic premise of this game is that a fortune teller predicted a Super Baby would be born who would one day save the world and make everyone happy. However, once the baby was born, the Demon General Darkdeath Evilman kidnaps her. The hero Absolute Victory Unlosing Ranger rushes off to save her...but gets hit by a car and dies. You play a random person who happened to witness the accident and the Unlosing Ranger gave you his morphing belt before he died, allowing you to become the new Unlosing Ranger. You set off to go defeat Darkdeath Evilman but totally get your butt kicked so hard the World Hero Society teleports you to a place called Bizarro Earth to train. The objective of the game is to become strong enough to save Super Baby.

Are you still with me? I hope so. Like most Nippon Ichi titles, the game’s plot is surrounded in absurdity and this time it’s focused on making fun of superheroes, especially tokusatsu heroes like Super Sentai and Masked Rider, known in the USA as Power Rangers and Kamen Rider.

Many of Nippon Ichi's previous titles have been strategy rpgs, but this is a rogue-like game with its own special take on the genre. The Unlosing Ranger is called "Unlosing" because whenever he dies he revives at level 1, stronger than he was before. In a nutshell, all the levels you acquired before death add a stat bonus that is carried over to your level 1 character, much like reincarnation in the Disgaea games. However you will lose items that your character had on them, so you must choose your deaths tactically!

Also like in Disgaea games, there is tactical use of throwing monsters but now you can also throw items at enemies, and the items have various effects such as inflicting sleep and poison.
The Unlosing Ranger can equip a wide variety of items found in the randomly generated dungeon floors. A lot of the items cause a dramatic visual change in the hero as well as giving him special abilities.

The game also has a subsystem called Shadowgram, which is a kind of license board where you slot items to add perm stat bonuses to your character. Different items will give different bonuses and their proper use is key to becoming strong enough to beat the final boss. The higher your total level is, the more Shadowgram slots you unlock.

There are also a number other subsystems in the game but to discuss them in minute detail would make this way too long. To sum it up, this game, like others from NIS, is very complicated. However, unlike some past titles you don't need to purchase a thick strategy guide to understand the game; the game has built in tutorials for all of the subsystems and the character gradually learns about these subsystems as they become available. Therefore, I personally think the systems are better explained here than in any previous NIS title.

Like most NIS titles, expect to run the same dungeon levels again and again to build your character up. There is a lot of grinding in this game. However the random nature of the dungeon layouts and item spawns help keep things interesting. It's always fun to randomly run into a treasure room, a dungeon store or come across a rare item that gives your character absurd abilities!

The designers seem to be taking a page from Frontierville. They have supporting characters pop up to tell you how good it is to get items or other little info about the game, reinforcing the behavior as positive. I really like this feature; the things the characters say change up enough to prevent them from becoming too annoying.

Something worth mentioning is that there are unlockable dungeons based on popular manga from Monthly Comic Dengeki Daio. Clearing these dungeons will allow you to change your character to look like characters from these titles.

I feel confident in saying, this is a great game. Will it appeal to everyone? No, this is definitely for people who enjoy roguelikes such as Azure Dreams and the Mystery Dungeon series. If you like those types of games, Unlosing Ranger will provide you with hours of grindy, wacky humor-filled enjoyment.

RPG Fanatic: Castlevania Symphony of the Night Video Game Review (PSP)

2010-10-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of game reviewers who have talked about the Castlevania series before but I think the best reviews are done by people who actually played the games when they first came out. Since I happen to be one of those people, hopefully this review will be as informative as ones done by others but focusing more on what I like to call The Great Castlevania Shift of 1997.

With the exception of Castlevania II, all games in the franchise fell into the same mold; 2d platformer action adventure games where you walked from one side of the screen to the other. The hardest thing about these games was the controls; the games were notorious not for shitty controls, but for limited controls. The gameplay was all about timing and it punished you severely if you were off by even a millisecond. And while some might say they are Nintendo-Hard, Castlevania games were difficult on purpose, not because the game had quality control issues with the controls.

It was a different age where a lot of games today have controls that allow the player a lot of breathing room for mistakes. If you really pay attention to a lot of action adventure games made recently, the collision detection for character attacks extend beyond the boundaries of the attack's art and enemy attacks may even have collision detection inside the artwork, so it can look like your character was actually hit by an attack but the game doesn't register damage.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. SOTN marked a turning point in the Castlevania series because for the first time the controls were extremely forgiving. Alucard is graceful with every movement he makes, he can spam attacks, and he can jump much higher than any prior Castlevania protagonist could dream of. SOTN is also an action rpg, so you can kill weak enemies over and over again to level up and increase Alucard's stats, so if you have difficulties you can powerlevel your way through them.

As much as I love the game, the honest truth is that SOTN is a very different creature than previous Castlevania games and this upset many die-hard fans of the franchise.

This is not to say the game doesn't have its challenge; Alucard starts out insanely weak and until you get access to powerful items, if you don't pay attention you can easily die. You can also enter a code to make Alucard weaker than normal, which I can only assume is there to let fans of the old school gameplay still have something to punish themselves on.

It seems old news now but Alucard was the first Castlevania hero to become an unstoppable god. Some of you may think Soma was powerful in his games but check this shit out. Behold the power of Alucard's Shield of Unblockable Death! Everything dies in seconds with this thing, even Dracula can't do shit against it. It's freakin ridiculous! Seriously, after you get the Shield Rod and Alucard Shield there is no reason to use any other weapon, ever, and even before that one need only the Shield Rod and Iron Shield to dominate.

Even at the start of the game, Alucard has access to a whole bunch of spells that make the game easy. The only difficult thing is trying to get them to actually work; to use spells you need to enter a fighting game style button sequence-- and some of them are pretty long. I don't recall it being too difficult to do them with a Playstation controller but I'm having a hard time getting the sequences right using the PSP.

Castlevania: SOTN is a direct sequel to Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Basically, Richter Belmont has gone missing and Dracula's Castle has risen in his absence, so Alucard, the son of Dracula from Castlevania 3, awakens from his self-imposed slumber to see what the hell is going on.

I won't ruin them for you if you haven't played the game, but I'll let you know the game has four possible endings, and after you beat the game you have the option to play through it again as Richter Belmont and, depending on the version you have, Maria Renard.

In my opinion, SOTN has one of the best storylines in the franchise because it didn't contradict any other game made before it. If anything, it united them together. It also explained Dracula's motivation for hating humans as well as giving a reason for why Dracula's castle looked different in each game. The same can't be said for other titles, as many of the other games make you ask more questions than they answer.

Castlevania: SOTN is my favorite game in the franchise and when I try to think about why that is, I find it a little hard. The plot is better than prior Castlevania games, but it's not exceptional. The gameplay is fun, but overall the game is too easy once you understand how to use overpowered items like the Shield Rod, so it's not that the game is challenging. I think what endears me to the game is the presentation; this is one of the prettiest 2D games on the Playstation and the game soundtrack is one of the best of any Castlevania. The sound design is also really good, too. And I suppose the game environments do have enough variety to keep things mixed up. Still, this isn't a game that can entertain me for more than a weekend.

If you've never played SOTN but you enjoy some of the more recent Castlevania titles, I'd encourage you to try SOTN for yourself. The game was a major turning point for the franchise and I think it stands the test of time better than some of the other titles.

The Candy Fanatic: Licorice Review

2010-07-26T01:56:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

In this video I review Red Vines, a Twizzler knockoff, and Australian gourmet licorice.

The RPG Fanatic: Playing Famicom Games on NES

2010-07-20T00:43:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

In this video the RPG Fanatic talks about playing Famicom games on a Nintendo Entertainment System using a game converter.

RPG Fanatic: Persona 4 Review

2010-06-01T00:43:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Review for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (2008) by Atlus.

RPG Fanatic Side-quest #2: What is roleplaying?

2010-05-26T17:07:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Side-quest is my vlog on computer rpg topics. In this episode I talk about what roleplaying is and why computer rpgs don't have it.

RPG Fanatic Side-quest #1: BioWare doesn't make RPG games

2010-05-20T17:25:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Side-quest is my vlog on computer rpg topics. In this episode I talk about BioWare's Daniel Erickson and his recent smacktalk about Final Fantasy not being a computer roleplaying game.

RPG Fanatic: Azure Dreams Review

2010-05-06T20:20:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Review for Azure Dreams (PS1) by Konami (1998).

RPG Fanatic: Kingdom Hearts Review

2010-05-02T02:30:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Review for Kingdom Hearts (2002) by Squaresoft

The RPG Fanatic: Wizardry Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord Review

2010-04-24T03:22:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Review for (NES) Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1987)

The REAL history of JRPGs / console rpgs / light rpgs Part 2

2010-04-21T00:30:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

The REAL history of JRPGs / console rpgs / light rpgs. Part 2

The REAL history of JRPGs / console rpgs / light rpgs Part 1

2010-04-20T23:39:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

The REAL history of JRPGs / console-style rpgs / light rpgs.

The RPG Fanatic: Legend of Mana Review

2010-04-07T06:01:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Review for Legend of Mana (1999) for the PS1 by Square.

The RPG Fanatic: Final Fantasy Tactics Review part 2

2010-03-29T01:04:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Review for Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) for the PS1, by Square.
The first part can be found at http://blip.tv/file/3402796

The RPG Fanatic: Final Fantasy Tactics Review part 1

2010-03-26T20:48:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

Review for Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) for the PS1, by Square.

RPG Fanatic: Lord of the Rings: The Third Age Review

2010-03-23T18:36:00.007-07:00

Click to Play

Review for LOTR: The Third Age (2004) for the PS2 by EA Games.

The RPG Fanatic: Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter

2010-03-23T18:36:00.005-07:00

Click to Play

Review for Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter by Capcom (2003)

The RPG Fanatic: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I

2010-03-23T18:36:00.003-07:00

Click to Play

Review for J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I by Interplay (1990).

The RPG Fanatic: Unlimited SaGa Review

2010-03-23T18:36:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

This first review knocks one of the most controversial games off my list, making way for better games to appear in the show. Unlike many reviewers I will not exclusively review "bad games". I will instead focus more on lesser known games regardless of quality.

I'm going to self-publish-- and you can help!

2010-02-05T06:46:00.001-08:00

I've finally given up on trying to get the interest of an agent or publisher. I'm going to self-publish my fantasy middle grade novel, but I've decided if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right. Professional editing, artwork, and an initial print run so I can convince indie bookstores to carry it and sell copies at conventions.

I have more details about the fund raising project on my Kickstarter account,
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1393473826/pandemonia-chronicles-a-novel-for-boys

To summarize things, if you pledge you are entitled to certain rewards. I also do not receive any money until the goal amount is reached.

Thanks for reading this, even if you decide not to pledge.

Oh, yes

2010-01-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Mr. Tolkien.

We owe you a lot.

More distressing publishing news

2010-01-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

Nielsen Bookscan has found that of 86,000 new titles published in the UK in 2009, 59,000 sold an average of 18 copies.

On the one hand, that makes me feel a little better about all my rejections. The "experts" printed thousands of books nobody wanted to buy, so their judgment of what is commercially viable isn't infallible.

On the other hand, if the publishers are losing millions of dollars then they are going to take less chances on unknown authors who have no platform.

On an unrelated note, this may be the future of e-publishing. I certainly hope so.

Cosplayers The Movie Facebook page

2010-01-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure why I haven't posted this here before, but we have a Facebook page for the film right here.

And for those who haven't watched the film yet, the Crunchyroll page is here.

Also, I'm working out details for a web series followup to the film. Stay tuned for more details!

And they wonder why there is a decline in reading among boys

2009-12-21T15:34:00.001-08:00

From Lori Perkins blog, http://agentinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2009_11_22_archive.html#335403721534032281
However, it's become increasingly difficult to sell any genre fiction from a male protagonist's perspective, unless he's really hot. But even if he's a really hot teen vampire, it's better to tell the story from a female point of view. If you have a male character, I'd almost suggest that you change the gender of your main character to sell a novel in this climate.

So if this advice is to be believed, if you didn't write a story with a female protagonist, even if the story is good you might be SOL trying to get an agent to read it.

Excuuuse me, princess!

2009-12-19T22:59:00.000-08:00

Hulu is, apparently, on a mission to upload every cartoon I loved as a kid.

When I was like 8 or something, I used to watch the live-action Super Mario. Bros Show because occasionally they would show The Legend of Zelda cartoon instead of the usual Mario cartoon. Even then, I thought the live action show was boring and cheesy but I would suffer through it in the hopes of watching a Zelda cartoon. I was usually disappointed :(

But now, thanks to the power of the internet, I can finally watch these damned episodes whenever I want to!
(Of course, now they no longer hold the same wonder they used to....the scripts and voice acting are terrible. But I swear, I'm watching them all to appease the inner child in me). And in doing so, I can notice all the adult humor that was snuck in...like how the first episode opens with Link looking down Zelda's shirt.....

I was also a big He-Man fanatic when I was little (like 4-6). I don't remember any episodes of She-Ra ever airing, but I did watch the crossover movie.

I really liked The Littles. I think it was one of the first American produced cartoons to have an actual storyline. Sadly, where I lived it only aired on Sundays. I ended up reading several of the books because of the cartoon.

Inspector Gadget needs no introduction.

Voltron was another love; I still have a ton of the toys I bought at garage sales. It used to play on the USA Network but they aired the episodes out of order so it was impossible to follow along.

Now they just need to upload The Raccoons, The Real Ghostbusters, Thundercats, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock. Then my attempts to revisit my childhood will be complete.

But please, no Jem and the Holograms. I hated that show so much because they would air it between the shows I actually liked and to this day I have an irrational hatred of all things related to girlie pop singing.

Education in the United States

2009-12-18T14:53:00.000-08:00

Last night I watched the documentary film The War on Kids. I've long been a supporter of youth rights and I considered producing a documentary about the subject (I've even filmed some footage) but these guys beat me to it; and I'm glad. They did a fantastic job.

One thing that really hit home for me is the information about the poor quality of education because of misguided State regulations. The emphasis on learning to pass a specific test doesn't really teach anyone about the subject. For example, you supposedly study "American history" but you don't really learn American history; what you learn instead are snippets (many of which, such as Paul Revere's ride and the roots of Thanksgiving, sometimes include more myth than fact) that may be a few hundred years apart.

Many classes even have questionable value; when I was in the 9th grade I had a class called "Internet Explorer". This was a program about researching a country and writing about an imaginary vacation there, complete with the "make-a-poster-with-magazine-clippings" project. For some reason this was considered a high school level class rather than, you know, grade school.

I can completely relate to the frustrations of the kids interviewed in the documentary. Rather than purchase new books (In 1999, we were using half-torn textbooks from the 70s) my school district decided to cut down every tree on high school property and erect a giant fence around the buildings to, "Deter smokers".

Just about every other week our principal had drug dogs sniffing the lockers, and he searched the pockets of many of my friends after lunch break (which never produced anything-- if you smoked, you had the good sense to leave your stuff at someone's nearby house). And I can never forget the supposed "ADHD" kids hopped up on Ritalin that would go from being perky to apathetic (and occasionally suicidal). There were kids expelled for all kinds of silly things, like band T-shirts (Metallica and Snoop Dogg was against the dress code. So was short skirts, tank tops, and wallet chains).

I was looking forward to wood shop because it was a common project to build your own engraved hunting rifle stock and I thought that was pretty cool. Yet, our principal brought the hammer down and even though you can't shoot anyone with a wooden stock (no moving parts, ya know?), by the time I got to high school making anything beyond a small bookshelf was cause for expulsion.

I ended up dropping out of high school in the 9th grade, getting a GED and enlisting into the Army (a year before 9/11 went down). Oddly enough, it's only because I enlisted that I discovered I was smarter than I realized. In public school, I was a C and F student-- but I had very good GED scores. My ASVAB (the test you take to get into the military) was also high enough for Military Intelligence.

Five years later, when I went to college I took the COMPASS placement test and got a perfect score in Reading and Writing.

I promise you that during those five years I was in the Army, I did very little writing and the bulk of my reading entailed field manuals (Army literature is notorious for having typos on every single page).

I'm not sure if this says something about me (I do consider myself a self-taught writer) or it says something about how irrelevant the public education system is. My younger brother also had trouble in public school; he barely passed and had to attend summer school.

However, like me, he also did amazingly well on his ASVAB (unlike me, he did go into Military Intelligence. Where he was top of his class and has rapidly risen through ranks...I'll just leave it at that).

It makes me wonder if, perhaps, the public school educators are mistaken about the very subjects they teach and they find faults when there is none?

The launch of my first film

2009-12-12T17:18:00.000-08:00

Cosplayers: The Movie is now available for free viewing on Crunchyroll.com

I'm glad that (so far) the comments have been positive. This was such a difficult film to complete-- everything that could go wrong, did go wrong and I had such a small budget to work with.

A DVD copy is also available for sale on Amazon

Inkpop: So far, so good

2009-12-10T08:49:00.000-08:00

I've done about 40 critiques on Inkpop so far and most have been pretty detailed.

Some trends:

-I've noticed common mistakes and occasionally find myself having to copy and paste an explanation; for example, when I notice someone has written a synopsis for their long pitch, I point out the specific mistakes and paste in an explanation of what a pitch should be about.

-The most common genres so far are contemporary humor and dark urban fantasy.

-I've noticed few male users on the site.

Twilight Chronicles was at rank 35 a few days ago, but is dropping to the forties. I'm losing out to the users that spam all the new users to vote for them. I'm trying to refrain from doing that because I've decided to give detailed critiques to those who read my novel, but I think their tactic might be superior to mine.

When did I know I was a writer?

2009-12-08T07:18:00.001-08:00

I guess I've always known.

My first stories were not written; they were acted out when I was a child. I think a lot of people forget the stories they invented when they played with their toys or ran around outside with their friends; I still remember some of the make-believe adventures I went on. And when I played with my action figures, my characters went on epic adventures that would span weeks and months. Most of them centered around a Voltron castle and the generations of heroes that protected it from the forces of spooky doom.

When I was in grade school, I used to make my own hand-written books with line paper and staples. I actually still have some of them. I had a series of short stories about 'Super Rabbit', which was an imitation of Super-Man so terrible that it could be considered a juvenile parody.

I used to be a big Star Trek fan and I wrote fanfiction about "Star Trek: The Next Crew" which took place after "ST: The Next Generation". This was years before the internet was available to the masses and a decade before fanfiction.net existed. I typed up the stories on my school's Macintosh 128K. I used to have a floppy disk with them all on it but I have no idea where it is now.

I also used to write stories in notebooks; somewhere I have a big box of notebooks that contain a couple novellas. Most of it was epic fantasy.

Where did I get the idea for my book?

2009-12-08T07:02:00.001-08:00

Several years ago (when I was in the Army) I was sitting in a guard shack with an M16. While trying hard to stay awake on my 12 hour shift, the image of a patchwork teddy bear with a handkerchief cape and a top hat popped into my head. He met a young boy in a forest and said, "I'm not really a teddy bear, ya know?"

So you could say I came up with some crucial elements of my story while suffering from sleep exhaustion.

A year or so later, after I had my first rough draft of the story finished (which was a short story), I was reviewing Final Fantasy 4 & 5 for an online game site and came upon a realization: the end-game bosses of RPGs are probably the most powerful beings in the universe since it always takes about four to twelve of the strongest fighters in the world to defeat them-- and only after they get help from some legendary magic artifacts.

So I said to myself, "Why don't I make the main character a demon king and the antagonist a crazy goddess of light? But how do I go about that since he's actually a normal human boy from another world? Maybe he could be possessed by a demon king who was defeated and banished to another world? Don't they sometimes get banished at the end of a game because they are too powerful to perma-kill?"

Everything just sorta went from there.

Time to Change

2009-12-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

Journalist Jesse Kornbluth wrote an article at Publishers Weekly about how publisher and author responsibilities are changing places.

I think it raises some very interesting points. I'm not convinced mainstream book publishers are the best at marketing books.

Just look at your average book cover to see what I mean.

BTW- Jesse runs Head Butler, a great site for finding midlist gems.

Self-publishing success story 'Fallen Heroes'

2009-12-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

I came across this sffworld.com interview with author Barry Nugent, who talks about his experiences self-publishing a superhero novel.

The work he put into marketing-- ranging from hiring voice actors for an audio trailer to printing special editions of the book for conventions-- shows just how difficult it is for a self-published author to penetrate the market.

If interested, you can order the book from Lulu.com

Critiquing

2009-12-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

From an Inkpop thread,

“You mean writing style as in voice? Oh gosh no, I agree that it should not be tampered with.

For example, if a person likes angsty voices, it's not helpful for that person to pull someone else down for writing in a light, breezy sort of voice. Your voice is your signature, and although it can be developed, it wouldn't work to try to write in a style that is not your own.
”

Writing style is a catch-all term for the way one writes.

This includes everything from the 'voice' of the writer to what narrative modes they use to what recurring themes appear in their work.

Style can also include trademark choices the writer has made; for example, because I write humor I intentionally make my writing have a 'cartoon-y' feel. Part of this feel is the use of exclamation points and adverbs. Another part is the use of tildes to represent 'sing-song' voices (common in netspeak, but unheard of in professional writing).

I don't comment on style unless I think some of the choices are detracting from the intent of the writer (for example, you probably wouldn't want to use a lot of adverbs in a gritty crime novel because it would detract from the gloom you want to aim for).

When I critique, I focus on five main things:

1) Proper use of tense (I don't care if you write past or present tense, just be consistent).

2) Narrative mode (If you're writing third person limited, unless the protagonist has psychic powers they shouldn't know what others are feeling-- they can only assume what others are feeling based on cues they are given by that individual).

3) Spelling and grammar errors.

4) Incorrect use of words. (i.e. saying a person is irritably calm)

5) Being redundant. (i.e. saying Bob is Mary's friend after they went shopping together at the mall. We know they are friends; that was implied through their interactions).

6) Large amounts of telling when showing would be more effective (I'm not saying exposition is bad. I'm saying you have to know how and when to use it). In most cases it is better to gradually expose information by having the reader observe the interactions of characters with other characters / the environment.

Adverbs, again!

2009-12-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

I came across a great post discussing adverbs and how silly American authors are for being afraid of them.

Okay, maybe not all Americans. I'm an American and I love adverbs. Then again, I'm not a silly American editor, either.

My Grand Inkpop Experiment

2009-12-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

So today I asked about 1,000 users to read Twilight Chronicles in exchange for a critique from me about their work.

Why 1,000 users?

I thought it was a good number.

I'm curious as to whether my perspective on the agent query process will change if I go through a slush pile of my own.

Namely, will I start hating question hooks, prologues, and stories that begin with characters waking up?

I doubt it, but we'll see.

That said, I figure only about 200 people will actually look at my book.

We'll see how this works out.

My dominant hand is tired of clicky-clicky right now, so I'm gonna chill and get to critiquing in an hour or so.

What Tokyopop.com should have been!

2009-12-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

HarperCollins has released an Authonomy site specifically for children and YA writers called Inkpop.

I decided to upload Twilight Chronicles: DAWN to this site because I felt the story might do better among its target audience.

For those familiar with Authonomy, there is one important difference between Inkpop and its predecessor: users can only back one book every 24 hours! This means it is much harder to move up to the editors desk. Is this better or worse? I can't provide that answer (although I do think it means people have less incentive to read new works).

Anyway, I've only been on the site for two days now, but the book is doing pretty good. It has jumped 2,345 ranks to reach the #91 spot!

I've been pretty active on the forums. Many of the users are young writers, so they aren't quite as well informed about this crazy publishing industry; I've been trying to give as much useful information as I can. I've also been leaving fairly detailed critiques of uploaded work in the hopes that it helps them polish their skill. When I first started writing I didn't have anyone willing to help me polish my writing, so I hope I can impart some of what I've learned to others. Since I'm not yet published I can't claim to be a zen master of writing, but I do have a strong grasp of the basics.

We shall see how this goes.

Some good news

2009-12-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

Reposted from my other blog.
---------
My film company's first release, Cosplayers: The Movie is available for order on Amazon.com, but soon it will also be available for free viewing on Crunchyroll.com (you'll have to watch some ads though). In the meantime you can watch a trailer for the film on my Youtube account.

On Authonomy, my YA fantasy Twilight Chronicles: DAWN is now in the top 200 rankings! Based on feedback I've received about the prologue, I have re-written it, but I'm unsure if it is better or worse. Given the number of people who have said "I never read prologues", I've decided to stop submitting the prologue to agents.

I cannot possibly fathom why people hate prologues; to me, saying you don't read the prologue is as rational as saying, "I never read Chapter Two". Why would you not read the story? Sheesh!

As for the publishing industry, the following picture illustrates how successful my attempt to get an agent / publisher has been going:

About me

2009-08-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a writer, game designer and indie film-maker (I specialize in comedy films and documentaries).

This account is just a way for me to read and comment on other blogger journals.

My actual blog is at http://jfreedan.livejournal.com/