Alright Lunar fans, I’ve been promising a surprise for you all for a while now, so I think it’s time I came clean! I, and the rest of PK Bloggin’! are excited to say that Jessica Chavez of XSEED Games was kind enough to make time for us to do an interview, and even provide some great exclusive Lunar: Silver Star Harmony screenshots just for us! (I’ve never conducted an interview before, how exciting!) Even if you aren’t a Lunar fan, please enjoy it, since there’s a lot of great information here about the localizing process, and being part of the game industry in general.

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You see them all the time on the internet these days, people’s top games lists. No one ever agrees with what the person wrote, and there’s all kinds of flaming and arguing and people acting like jerks. This list is different, mostly because it’s mine, and I have fantastic taste so I know you’ll all agree with me. In fact, if there’s a game on here that wasn’t one of your favorites before, it will be by the time you’re done reading.

These lists are always hard to come up with, but to make it easier I gave myself two restrictions: One, I could only choose one game from any given series, and two, nothing from the current gen. That way I’m not adding something I still have the “new game” feeling for that may not have the same impact on me a few years down the line.

With that out of the way, here we go!

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So with our tax return, Christina and I decided to invest in a new TV. Our old one wasn’t BAD, it was a 32″ 1080i CRT TV. It served us pretty well for about three years.

But THIS… this is an LG 47″ LED 1080p TV, with 240hz refresh rate. OH MAN. I didn’t really know much about refresh rates until we were shopping around, and it makes such a huge difference. There is NO motion blur on ANYTHING. Games, movies and TV are all smooth as silk. Motion is so smooth it looks like it’s actually right in front of us. The picture doesn’t really do it justice, but our entertainment center is about 3 feet tall, and the TV is HUGENORMOUS.

We’ve got the Xbox 360 and Blu-Ray player hooked up via HDMI and it’s SO AWESOME. I’m not usually one to brag, but as a video game writer, this is the equivalent of me having a 30th-story office where every wall is a window.

Apologies for the late podcast! We were at Best Buy for a couple of hours picking out a new TV. We’re really stoked about it! Our living room is FINALLY all done, and tomorrow morning we’ll put together our new entertainment center, mount the new TV on the wall, and then pretty much cut ourselves off from the outside world in favor of pure LED HD goodness.

Anyway, Final Fantasy XIII is coming out on Tuesday, so in tonight’s podcast we talk about about what “Final Fantasy” means these days. We hope you like it!

 

 PK Podcast! Episode 6 - 03/05/2010 [23:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Also, even though we mention it in the podcast, I’d like to again direct you towards the PK Bloggin’! Facebook page. There’s new people joining every day, and we’ve been having a pretty good time. Check it out! Don’t forget about our Multiplayer Gaming Night on Wednesday, either!

One of the things GameStop did to capitalize on holiday gift cards, Christmas money and returns was a day after Christmas “Buy 2 get 1 free” sale on all used games. Used game sales were pure profit for the company, so the day after Christmas was just as big, if not bigger, than Christmas Eve or Black Friday. It is on this unholy day that my story takes place.

(Note, this takes place at the BAD GameStop.)

I was doing my register monkeying, helping too many people and working too hard for the peanuts they paid me, when I got my least favorite customers. Believe me, considering the majority of the people who shopped at that store, that is saying A LOT. There were two brothers who came in frequently, probably between 15 and 16 years old. These kids were GROSS. Not gross like coughing a lot or anything, they just always looked horrendously filthy.

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The reason PK Bloggin’! exists is because I love video games. I want PK Bloggin’! to be a celebration of video games and gaming culture. I love what video games are and I love what they do. One of the things they do is bring people together, and with that I’m introducing PK Bloggin’! Multiplayer Game Nights.

I’m really looking for feedback on this, so please, don’t be shy. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, on the PK Bloggin’! Facebook page, through my Twitter, or email me. I think this would be cool to do one night a week, so let me know and let’s make it happen!

We’ve gotten some new readers lately, people who don’t know me in real life. These people don’t know a lot about me, so I’m going to take this opportunity to let them get to know me a little better. A big part of my personality is that I like things that are rad, and also things that are awesome. Something that is both rad AND awesome is Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, which I picked up over the weekend.

It’s no secret that I love Sega. I sided with the Genesis during the Console Wars of the early 90s, and I love my Genesis and my Dreamcast dearly to this day. I love Mario games, but I’ve always preferred Sonic as a character (that is, until his fans start writing fanfiction… gross). Sega’s roster of superstars might not be as recognizable as Nintendo’s best, but with Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Sega may have just out-Mario Karted Nintendo.

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Guess what, Internet? It’s that time again. That time you look forward to every Friday… the time for PK Podcast! (…and the crowd goes wild!!! waaaooo!!) It’s me, Christina, hijacking the website again. I told you all you’d see more of me. See? I’m true to my word. We’re actually ahead of ourselves this week, and posting this much earlier in the day than usual! Go team!

This week’s topic is the Nintendo Media Summit that went on earlier this week, and the many announcements that were had. I know we talk about Nintendo quite a bit, but this is actually topical, so don’t blame us! They’ve got a lot going on in the first half of the year this year, so we’re talking about which titles we’re amped about!

Hope you enjoy it! We’ll have another Podcast up to grace your eardrums next Friday, as always. Also, don’t forget that I, too, am on Twitter now!

 

 PK Podcast! Episode 5 - 02/26/2010 [21:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

(Also, possibly worth noting is that I’ll be reuploading the previous Podcast episodes with consistent ID3 tags after I post this. So, if you’re an organization/consistency neat-freak like I am, and want to listen to Joe & I on the go ((because really, who wouldn’t?)) tomorrow would be a good day to go back and download the .mp3s! You can even use that handy little “Podcasts” category down at the bottom of the post to find all the previous episodes in one place!)

So, keeping with my life’s tradition of bad luck, right after I wrote about my arcade stick and I started playing Street Fighter IV more to prepare for Super Street Fighter IV, my stick died. The B button decided it would retire early, and even after I re-soldered all the connections it still stubbornly refused to work.

I was bummed, mostly because I did A LOT of work on that stick, and it was the first time I’d ever worked on a project like that. Still, shortly after I had bought my Hori EX2, I read that the Mad Catz sticks were much better for customization, and the EX2s were to be avoided. I had to follow a walkthrough to mod up my EX2, so I decided it was a good time to invest in a higher quality, more customizable stick.

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Hello internet, it’s your friendly neighborhood Christina here, stopping in to say hello. You may notice the site looks a little different. Well, that’s because I’m awesome. We’ve finally hooked up with ProjectWonderful to let you other lovely game site owners promote your stuff right here on PK Bloggin’! So listen to the Hint Man (go play Earthbound already if you don’t understand the blank boxes, seriously.) and advertise with us! Maybe we’ll advertise on your site too! Share and share alike, I always say. Or do I? Who knows.

I… guess that’s all from me, really. I promise I’ll write something that’s an actual article soon. And hey… While I’ve got your attention, don’t forget Lunar: Silver Star Harmony comes out in just 6 short days!!! The anticipation, it hurts us. *cough* Okay, thanks for your time, you may go about your business.