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  • Softballchic10

    An Open Letter to Ellie and Joel

    By Softballchic10

    There are certain games that come along from time to time that really get your attention. It could be for the action, the graphics or game play. However, it is a rare occasion that a game grabs you for all of these, plus the amazing experience of becoming emotionally attached and involved in the actions of characters. It is to this that I write this open letter to Ellie and Joel. I met them in the “The Last of Us.” *(Please note that I've tried to write this to contain no spoilers.
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    • 3,422 views

Book Review:The Cloud Roads

Most fantasy novels that I’ve read work, generally, in the context of an existing society of our world. Tolkien took his cues from Nordic mythology and the Eddas. C.S. Lewis took a mixture of elements from various Mediterranean cultures and his own Christian views. Japanese period fantasy (as seen in anime, manga, live-action cinema, and books like the Kouga Ninja Scrolls) take cues from stories about youkai and oni, along with legends about the history of the Japanese Imperial family and the de

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Anime Review: Fate/Zero (Seasons 1 & 2)

Gen Urobuchi has gotten a tremendous reputation as a writer of animation, particularly through his deconstruction of the magical girl genre with Puella Magi Madoka Magica. In 2011, he did something slightly different, by doing a novel prequel to the hit visual novel Fate/Stay Night, covering the events of the previous Holy Grail War, which set the events of the original game and anime in motion. The show shifted animation studios from Deen, to Ufotable, who had only a handful of shows under thei

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Legends of the Force: Episode 5 – The Lando Calrissian Adventures

This time we cover the last novels published contemporaneous with the original trilogy. Opening Credits: Star Wars Theme from Super Star Wars on the SNES. Closing Credits: Chiptune Cantina Band from Chiptune Inc. – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJtiGFudFlvYMfjiU1NKJg Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor Member of The Console Xplosion Network: http://www.theconsolexplosion.com/ Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor/ Filed under: Books, Star W

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Video Game Review – Hatsune Miku Project Diva X

I’ve previously played two Hatsune Miku rhythm games, one on the PS3, and one on the Nintendo 3DS. I generally enjoyed them, though I found the gameplay controls a little rough. In particular, in the 3DS version, bouncing between the two screens was difficult at higher difficulties, and on the PS3 version, the size of the screen ended up working against the game. For my next outing against a Miku game on a Sony platform, with the latest title – Hatsune Miku Project Diva X – I decided to take on

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Anime Review: Slayers Season 4 (Revolution/Evolution-R)

2015’s revival of Ushio and Tora by Studio MAPPA is not the first revival of an older anime and manga series in the 21st century. In 2008, JC Staff revived the classic fantasy anime series Slayers, with a fourth season after an almost decade gap. The series was was released as a split-cour show, with the first 12-episode cour being subtitled “Revolution”, and the second “Evolution-R”. When the show originally was announced, the big question that fans had was would this show come back with a Drag

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Book Review: Legend of the Galactic Heroes – Book 2, Ambition

I’m continuing my reviews of the books in the Legend of the Galactic Heroes series with the second title, Ambition. Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor Member of The Console Xplosion Network: http://www.theconsolexplosion.com/ Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor/ Filed under: Books, videos Tagged: book review, Books, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, science fiction

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Video Game Review: Aquapazza Dream Match

Among the fighting games released last year, one that crept under the radar, but drew the attention of some of those in the fighting game scene was Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel. This was the latest of a number of various fighting games based on dating sims and visual novels, starting from Melty Blood in 2002 (based on Tsukihime), and moving on through Fate/Unlimited Codes in 2008 (based on Fate/Stay Night – the anime series of which I’ve previously reviewed). In 2013, we got Aquapa

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Comic Review: Tales of the Jedi (Part 1)

Before we return to Star Wars novels, we have one more comic series to take on, one which goes to the furthest reaches of the Star Wars universe – the Tales of the Jedi. Writer: Tom Veitch Art: (For Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon): Chris Gossett & Mike Barreiro (For the Saga of Nomi Sunrider): Janine Johnston & Mike Barreiro, and David Roach. Lettering: Willie Schubert Colors: Pamela Rambo Covers: Dave Dorman Publication dates: October 1st, 1993 – February 1st, 1994

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Count_Zero

Nintendo Power Retrospectives: Part 63

This time we’re covering issue # 47 of Nintendo Power for April of 1993 Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor Member of The Console Xplosion Network: http://www.theconsolexplosion.com/ Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor/ Closing Music: “Godspeed” by The Wingless – http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00996 Games Reviewed: Starfox – Nintendo Brawl Brothers – Jaleco Doomsday Warrior – Renovation Fatal Fury – Takara Street Combat – Irem Ultimate Fight

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Count_Zero

Film Review: Ghostbusters (2016)

The 2016 Ghostbusters film ended up being a hurricane of controversy – depending on where you were on the internet, if you liked the film you were a horrible SJW out to shove your political correct values down everyone’s throat. However, once the film came out, the ultimate verdict on the film pretty much ran the gamut – that you either loved it, hated it, or thought it was decent, but not worth seeing in theaters, with perhaps the character of Hoffman being an even more divisive character. Wel

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Anime Review: Fate/Stay Night (2005)

Adaptations of visual novels to anime are something of a mixed bag. Sometimes, like with Clannad and Comic Party, the adaptation is a hit. Other times, it doesn’t work quite so much. Fate/Stay Night falls into the former case, though there are times where the work stumbles in its execution, primarily on the animation front, though there are some narrative issues. The series follows Shirou Emiya, an 18-year old high school student, approaching graduation, and planning to join the JSDF in order t

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Vlog: Snowpocalypse Now

This time I’m giving my thoughts on the recent snowstorms in Portland, and why PDX fails at Snow. Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor Member of The Console Xplosion Network: http://www.theconsolexplosion.com/ Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor/ Filed under: News, videos Tagged: PDX, pdxtst, snowpocalypse 2017, vlog

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

Album Review: Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an album review. It’s time to change that, by taking a look at a science fiction concept album adapting one of the first alien invasion novels – H. G. Welles’ War of the World. The album and stage show, unlike most adaptations of Welles’ book, doesn’t shift the time of the Martian invasion to something contemporaneous to the work’s production. Instead, it sticks with the setting of the original work, having the Martians invade in the late 1890s, as per the origi

Count_Zero

Count_Zero

The Fine Line Between Fear and Hope

I've needed to write this since Wednesday morning, but I haven't been in the proper emotional state of mind to do so. I still might not be, and if that's the case, I beg your forgiveness but also your indulgence. Yes, this is political. No, I don't want to stir shit up. Yes, I want your comments. No, I won't delete dissenting viewpoints. Emotion ultimately fuels everything we do, but too much emotion can be as damaging to the body as overfilling the gas tank is to your vehicle. It's taken days t

Areala

Areala

Stranded Review

Note: This review was written entirely sans PR materials and research; ordinarily, we pride ourselves on diligence and copious amounts of background research, but due to the game’s clear intentions and sensibilities, chose to approach this review differently. The single worst thing about adventure games – the one aspect that is also almost wholly unique to them – is being stuck. (Worse still, in fact, is knowing when you’re badly stuck.) For players, after all, adventure games are all about pro

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