Another Typhoon?!?!

So there have been a lot of typhoons lately.

This would be great, if I were working.  I say this because it means all the public transport shuts down for a day which means the possibility of going home early, or not going into work at all.

It's not such a great thing when you consider people usually die.

The biggest one this year was no joke, killing dozens through flooding and landslides.  The problem is that the areas most affected are always rural (there's no land left to slide in Tokyo) which makes access difficult at the best of times (narrow one lane roads are fun to drive around, until you need to fit an ambulance and fire engine on them).  Couple this inherent inaccessibility with the destruction of the already cramped roads and you have a knotty problem.

Adding yet another layer is the demographics - rural dwellers skew older, meaning they are more fragile and less mobile.  Not a set of characteristics you want when you suddenly have to run away from a wall of mud that's bearing down on your house.

Anyway, todays typhoon is much weaker than that, and has created that gentle rain that I find incredibly relaxing, borderline soporific.  Perfect for writing, dozing a bit, then writing some more, so that's what I will do.



I attended an event last weekend, took some pictures and wrote a thing.

A few of the pictures I took are on that page, but I ended up with about 650 or so from the event which means I have a lot left over.

Smile pls

 So these guys made a game called Projection Remains.  It was actually really well made, felt good to play and was polished beyond reason for a student game.  The only downside was that I got there almost immediately after the event had opened on the first day and they were still sorting their stuff out.  The lights went out and there was a mouse cursor in the middle of the screen for the entire time I was playing.

I came back around towards the end of the event and they were much more relaxed so it was probably just first day jitters.

Seriously, smile!

 This guy was studying to be an environment artist and had made some pretty cool things.  I tried chatting to him about his work but no dice.  He probably couldn't understand my crappy Japanese.  Seemed like a nice enough guy though.

The robot future approacheth, one finger at a time

 I didn't see it moving, but I assume this thing is a robotic chess playing arm?  It looks like it would be a fairly formidable presence at any chess tournament, not least because it looks like it could flick a piece at you with deadly force and accuracy.

Oh Japan...

Look.  If the internet has taught us anything it's that the world is full of perverts.  The world has always been full of perverts, but now it is plain for all to see.  What I don't understand is why we're suddenly seeing weird shit like this pop up outside of the seedy sex shops.

They were pretty soft though.

Jazz hands

 This little thing was a great example of why VR is so cool.

It's a tiny demo, where you walk along that piece of wood in real life, but you're outside on top of a fucking tall building in the virtual world.  You walk along a short plank, pirate style, and try not to fall off.  If you go out of bounds (step off the plank) you fall to your death.  You may also fall over in real life because the disconnect between your eyes seeing the fall and your ears not feeling anything makes the brain freak out.

I was fine with the heights aspect of it - although it did make me step back (literally) and appreciate the view before I walked the plank - but the falling part of the demo was absolutely not okay.  Guys, seriously.

Plummeting a bajillion feet was fine because I could remind myself that I was in a game, but when the ground got very close, very quickly, I had a mini crisis of being.

When the ground was about waist level (I was falling very fast so I don't know exactly where the switchover occurred) I went from being consciously in control of my everything, to be subconsciously very afraid for my well-being.  It was much more primal than, say, a horror film.  It was a realisation that things were very not okay and that I was about to splat on the floor.

If you ever find yourself falling a long way to your death, take this advice:  Look up.  Look anywhere but the floor.  If you're going to splat, there's no need to pile on the dread before you do.

Then I took the headset off and all was well with the world.

10/10 would fall again.

Fully playable, if you are a pixie

This dude made a very tiny space invaders clone with an arduino, a tiny screen, and (presumably) the world smallest soldering iron.

I have literally no idea how he made something so delicate with those big paws, but it was fully playable and was surprisingly vibrant considering the size of the screen.  It has a speaker in it too.

Brilliant.

Ah yes, I too can relate to this scene.  I can't count the number of times I find myself playing a phone game with a controller, while laying down on the floor in my room with my stuffed toys and talking into a microphone strapped to my face while being watched by dozens of people and being filmed at the same time.  Truly a scene we can all identify with.

Look how fluffy her socks are.

I have no idea why I'm including this picture, but I didn't want to interrupt her stage show performance (demonstration?) to say thanks for the pic, so I threw up the peace sign and she reciprocated, then immediately got told off by a producer.  I felt bad.

Sorry.

Damnit Bill from marketing, you had one job

This costume looks like it took flippin' ages to make.  Then they stood her in front of the single busiest backboard at the entire show, making it nearly impossible to make out any of the details on the costume itself. 

The model was good (she actually smiled!) but I have no idea what game this was for, so I don't know if it served its purpose particularly well.

The same hat for 4 days too...

Indies are where it's at.  This dude stood behind this screen for four days, showing it off to anyone who wanted to play.  I'm not entirely sure whether he has any intention of ever selling this, whatever it is, but that dedication is something to be admired.  Also, he was wearing a chicken hat.

I mean, it's nearly a smile.  Sort of

The cosplay section was absolutely jam packed.  The effort they put into their gear was universally amazing, and I don't think a single one of them were anything less than 100% committed to the thing.

I don't really get it personally, but talking to some of them outside the show it's an interesting mix of getting to be something they are not in real life, designing and making clothes and accessories, and outright showing off hot bods in a somewhat socially acceptable way.

I feel like the last type of person would be better served going to the beach and wearing something skimpy, but there aren't any good beaches within 100km of Tokyo, so it's certainly easier this way.

This character is from a game called Nier Automata which no one can pronounce correctly

The cosplayers are overwhelmingly female, and this is going to surprise no one, the photographers are overwhelmingly male.

I didn't know it, but it turns out there is a definite 'nerd with camera,' type, and he is a distinct beast from 'doesn't leave the house and only plays games,' nerd.  I don't know how, but 'nerd with camera,' has absolutely shit tons of money (seriously, I saw a guy carrying four Nikon SLR's each with multi thousand dollar lenses) and absolutely no manners.  'Nerd with camera,' is, alas, easy to dislike because of both these factors.

I was, at first, worried that I too was 'nerd with camera,' but then I remembered my bank account balance and worried no longer.

The character is called 2B, and yes it has a distinctly philosophical bent

I don't know how this woman sees where she is going, but she looked at the camera the whole time so I assume she can.  Either that or she is secretly a bat and doesn't need her eyes to see.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is the show these characters are in.  Yes I consider the robots characters.  No I do not know what 'Neon Genesis Evangelion,' means.

 The dude in this suit was sweating his ass off the entire time.  It wasn't even that hot outside, but I don't think inch thick acrylic is particularly breathable.

Hakodake no blues.  The sadness that comes from only having a box?  The blues of only having a box?  Only having a box sadness?  That feeling you get when you've only got a box?  I'm not sure how to translate the title of this one.

 This game was another fun one.  The guy on the screen is constantly running to the left (side-note, games run from left to right (think Mario) because early platformers (like Mario) did, and the tradition has continued ever since.  A lot of the world, and most early game designers wrote with their right hands, from left to right, so games followed suit.  This guy is breaking with tradition, go guy!) and when you lower the cardboard box and hide inside, the running guy does too.  The objective is to make it home without being spotted.

The one pose to rule them all.  If you want to be a model in Japan, learn how to do this.

 This is probably my favourite model photo.  The background is a bit busy, the hair is a bit frizzy, there's some moire if you look hard enough, but overall I think it's pretty good.

Shout to shoot.  Writes itself.

The great thing about the indie and student section is that there's always a game with a simple premise that is surprisingly fun.  This guy is shouting into a microphone in order to fire a gun which he is aiming with his right hand.  Simple, effective, fun, makes you look like an idiot to any observer.  Ticks all the boxes you need for a good VR experience.

Overall it was a solid event with tons to do.  It helps that I played all the games on Thursday and Friday before General Public came in and made the lines really long, but I'd probably still go even if I didn't have a press pass.

Tokyo Game Show

So I went along to the Tokyo Game Show this past weekend.




It was an absolute blast.




The event itself is as big as ever, with 270,000 people attending over the four days.  The first two days were business only which means the vast majority of the quarter of a million people attended on the Saturday and Sunday.




Having said that, the big publishers avoided the event as much as possible, with the obligatory enormous stands and almost nothing else.  Now that the Japanese game market has collapsed the big breaking headlines happen elsewhere, which makes sense, but is still disappointing for attendees.


What Japan has in abundance is mobile games.  So many mobile games.  If you're after something to play on your phone then this is the country for you.  The largest stages were reserved for Sony, playing live concerts and whatnot, but almost all the second tier stages were mobile publishers and streaming services.




Turns out there's a lot of money in phones these days, who would have thought.

Anyway, my favourite section was definitely the stage/indie/dressup hangar.  The main area was unbelievably loud and incredibly crowded on the public days, so much so that I had to retire to the other half of the show on several occasions.  I'm not one for loud spaces in the first place (nerd) but it really was unbearable.

So in the (slightly) quieter building I met a ton of really cool independent developers showing off their software.

I played a few really fun games, a few challenging ones, and a few in VR.

I met someone who worked on Dungeon Keeper, one of my favourite games ever.  He's working with his wife on the mobile game above and it was a treat to get to chat to them.  I was probably destroying their chance to advertise to the crowds, for which I apologise (not that they'll ever read this).

I didn't play it because I'm shocking at actually playing video games, especially puzzle games, but as long as there's an easy mode for me to try out I'll jump in when it's released.  It'll be interesting to see how it does because they're still working out how to make money from their games.  It's a tricky proposition, especially with the amount of free dreck out there.  Convincing someone to pay money is something everyone was talking about.  Unless they're creating in VR, because the assumption is that if you can afford 1,500gbp of PC and 800gbp of VR equipment then money is no object.

Another game I checked out was this one:

It's really hard.  Like, really really hard.  It's a fast moving platformer that will appeal to anyone who likes perfecting lines and speedrunning, and anyone that doesn't mind sending a Rude Bear to his death over and over again.  The interesting hook with this game is that every death leaves behind a body that will cover spikes, block projectiles and so on, meaning your next run through it slightly easier.  No matter how bad you are at the game you can eventually finish it with enough perseverence.

I also love the music.  Every stage has its own unique track, and I didn't hear a single song I didn't like.  It's all filthy, grimy and industrial, and sits well with the overall design and aesthetic.

It's too difficult for me by far, but it's still great.  (Also, I was chatting to the dev who took the controller off me because I was so bad and started playing while barely looking at the screen.  My guess is that he's playtested every one of the levels quite a bit.)

So a lot of indie games are 2D, sprite based platformers or RPG's with a fairly limited scope.  This is due to money, basically, and it means that when a team does end up aiming higher, they can crash and burn (cough cough No Mans Sky cough).

This game is a 3D adventure, and I tried it out in VR.  It's not an adventure game in the style of an old Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle, but more in the modern style of a Gone Home.

To be honest I'm not sure whether it's an adventure game at all, but I don't really have any other way of describing it.

You walk around and experience the life of the main character, interact with those around you and generally, if you're me, make a nuisance of yourself by throwing basketballs at people and turning lamps on and off incessantly.

It's impossible to get a sense of whether the story is compelling or not in the space of a demo in a booth, but what I can say for certain is that the VR works, just sit down while you're playing.  This game uses a controller which means you move forward and backwards like a normal first person game, but the sensation of moving forward throws your entire sense of balance off.  It's even worse when you stop because you slow down really quickly and your body is expecting the normal forces involved in deceleration, which means you overcompensate, which means you end up leaning forward and nearly falling over.

At least that's what I found.

That aside I think the inclusion of VR in a game of this type is a smart move because it really does add to the immersion.  It's one of those things that you have to try in order to see whether it works for you or not, just like the move from 480p to 1080p, or the upcoming move to 4K.  Hearing someone wax lyrical about the tech does nothing to convey the feeling.

As a side note, I commented on just how fantastic one of the characters looked, and it turned out the character artist was standing right next to me.  It also turns out she's from England.  It also turns out she's living in Tokyo.

Small world.

Needless to say the characters look amazing, even when you get right up in their grill.  I was probably the creepiest dude on the planet at the exact moment where I was millimetres away from this characters face studying every detail.

If you're interested I found a portfolio of hers here.

Those were some of the things that stuck out to me at the show.

After I've written up the article (the reason I was there in the first place) I'll put some of the rejected photographs on here.  I'll also get a video of me messing around in VR put onto my youtube, and onto here.