If Tetsuya Mizuguchi made a Pop Singer out of Cloud

La Roux - Bulletproof - Some of you might want to turn the volume down.

It's all in the visuals.

Space Channel 5, Rez, Lumines, came to mind when watching this music video for UK pop-singer La Roux, games that were either directed, or produced by game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi. The electro synth pop, and futuristic 3D visuals seem like an ode to Tron, the aesthetic is common in videogames, but always a hoot when featured in other media.

While La Roux's hair made me think of that RPG character Cloud, from Final Fantasy. This chick just needs to bust out with a Buster sword, and her image is complete.

Day 4 Tokyo Japan - Japanese Hamburgers suck, Exploring Shibuya, Harajuku again, Pre-TGS industry party

*Late posting on Thursday morning.

Tuesday - I can continue to live after meeting infamous game developer Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

I spent the day exploring Shibuya, and trying to get to more of the stores I had listed on my iPhone. For breakfast/lunch we decided to try some familiar food after getting a craving for Hamburgers, so we checked out 'Freshness Burger'. The pictures in the window looked appealing enough, but soon we were disappointed. Japanese Hamburgers are tiny pieces of sh*t. Tasteless too. I'm sorry but a Hamburger should be loaded with a thick beef patty, and actually seasoned. Maybe I just had a bad experience at this fast food joint, but the hamburger was so bad, I seriously wanted my money back.

No wonder the young Japanese kids are so slim, when they smoke, walk everywhere, and eat tiny ass hamburgers... I think I'll still to Japanese food while I'm in Japan.

After the meal we went off to explore with no real planned agenda. Our adventures took us from Shibuya, to some place I can't remember, and then to Harajuku.

Lots of walking... we passed by some Love Hotels, saw some Google event, and passed by some cool looking stadiums.

Toy stores, Secret Base, and Plus 16 were kind of hard to find, but I'm so glad we did! Plus 16 had an incredible collection of pricey large scale figurines, while Secret Base had more traditional Japanese monster vinyl toys. I picked up a DIY toy, and shirt.

Also in the same building as Secret Base in Harajuku, was another cool designer of the brand 'Erostik'. I couldn't resist getting this shirt.

Later that night was the Pre-TGS industry party at Africa restaurant in Daikayama. It was raining like a bitch, and we showed up like wet dogs. The party featured many developers from Konami, and Sega, as well as game press people. The highlight of the night was the biggest fanboy experience of my life -- meeting and speaking with Tetsuya Mizuguchi. I introduced myself and told him about my appreciation for Rez, but I couldn't help but let my fanboy enthusiasm show. I'm sure he was used to hearing all the same praises over and over again from different people, but I didn't care, I was talking to Mr. Rez himself! Fucking fangasm nut busting, awesome. The downside of the party was that the drinks stopped flowing early, and I never really got my buzz on, which was kinda lame considering the price of getting in. On the plus side I got to meet a whole bunch of new contacts, and am planning a trip to check out one of Sega's studios in the coming days.. exciting!

Happy Rez HD day, and I'm officially an owner of a PSP!

Rez 2 cool

Lately, the 360 seems to be making my dreams come true. From Virtua Fighter 5 Online, to Rez HD, it's like my favorite games are destined to end up on the Microsoft box. Not that I'm complaining of course, these two games can sustain me for life. The replay value alone for both these games is off the f'ing charts! I just won't get bored of them.

What can I say about Rez HD aside from the fact that it's friggin' amazing. I don't have an HDTV yet, but it's still fantastic on my regular tube. The 'rail shooter' which calls to mind a little bit of Star Fox, meets Panzer Dragoon, meets Tempest 2000, feels like it hasn't changed much from the Dreamcast version. And I like it that way.

I'm impressed with how the experience translates to the 360. It feels the same, but tighter, graphically, and control wise. It's so good. The added competition of the Leaderboards has me bent on kicking some score attack ass! And I can do it... I'm a score attack nut! I've only been playing the game since it came out on the Dreamcast, which was like oh, I don't know... 7 years ago! OMG has it been 7 years?

The game has come far, and the XBLA seems like an ideal platform to introduce the game to gamers. Now, when ever I get a home theater set up, I'll truly be able to enjoy Rez HD.

If you haven't given Rez a try, definitely try out the demo. If you're a fan of shooters, and music based gameplay, you'll love it!

I got a PSP w/games for 50 bucks!!

So a friend of mine who hasn't played his PSP in a year or so, decided to finally sell the Sony portable today. Well, more like get rid of it. For $50, he offered me the PSP with several games, a PSP case, memory card, and all the necessary wires. This is literally one of the best deals I've ever been offered. So naturally I took it. The PSP may be a few years old, but it's totally worth it. It's still in great condition. Plus there are a few games that I want to get my hands on, and the PSP library to choose from ain't too shabby.

I also tried the God of War Demo, and was blown away at how incredibly console-like the game is. This is one of the best looking games on the PSP, and it plays so well.