Storming Into Summer

I’m in the middle of a heat wave here in California for this month’s update, but that’s not going to stop me from talking about weird macabre subject material and an awesome documentary being released in July. If you’re here for mobile gaming stuff - unfortunately I’ve got nothing to report on for this month. If anything you might want to double back on my previous updates to see coverage on a few things I’ve been looking at or looking forward to later in the year. If you’re new to the site, please check out April’s blog for my universal recommendations for both mobile gaming and YouTube channels. Other than that, this update will specifically be geared toward the weird and interesting on the web - so off we go!

Exactly one year ago in my June 2020 update, I talked about a documentary that was coming out “soon” made by a fellow YouTuber I respect a lot. That channel is BSF (Bright Sun Films) and is one of my highly recommended channels on The List. BSF recently hit 1 million subscribers and it coincides nicely with their release (this month) of the documentary they’ve been working on for about 2 years. If you really want to hear about the backstory of the documentary before it comes out (or if you’re reading this in the future and want to hear about the behind the scenes activities) then check out this video made by Factual America.

This segues into my site’s first direct website recommendation for Alamo Pictures (Factual America) and their podcast list. The reason I’m recommending this particular site and their podcast is because its focused on mainstream media documentary releases; particularly those released in the US. Why I like this is because it’s a good source of information on what “potentially” I might like to look at and by extension something you may want to look at as well. Keep in mind I am not endorsing the topics or subjects in which the documentaries are focusing on; but rather endorsing the ability to get a convenient list of mainstream documentaries to choose from that have been reviewed and talked about critically. In other words, there’s a base level of curation going on with the list. They also conveniently have a YouTube channel that you can look at as well; however not all of their content seems to be on the channel versus the website. In either case I hope you give them a once over if you’re as inquisitive as me on the world around us.

As much as I avoid talking about drama and sorrow in all shapes and forms, I also understand the need to document the absurdly tragic. I was surprised to come across another YouTube channel called Fascinating Horror that quickly goes over historic events that proved to be very bizarre yet interesting at the same time. The running theme is that all of these stories contain elements of the unexpected. In any case, I’ll leave you to dive into the deep end with it all since there are a lot of different stories to be seen.

That’s it for this month’s update. As always I leave you with something anime and something lewd in keeping with tradition on the site. It’s May from Guilty Gear! Hopefully next month will have a more balanced update with some gaming news sewn in, but I do welcome the little break this month I had to be frank. It’s been a tiring process testing so many hopeful games in the last few weeks that have come up short and it’s really frustrating to constantly be back at the starting line. In any case, stay safe and see you in August!

Artist: Slugbox

Going Back To Abnormal

I promised all of you a quicker update in June, so let’s get the ball rolling with this month’s update free of any mobile gaming related content. If you’re into that stuff, please check out April and May’s blog.

Let’s start off with some personal news. As you can see in the chart above, the number of new Covid cases in California has significantly dropped since I last talked about it back in my December 2020 blog. For those of you curious or need a refresher on what I said about the subject, please go back and listen to that particular audio blog. In any case it has been declared by the governor that June 15th will be when everything will return back to “mostly” normal for businesses and the public.

Although I am very happy to finally be able to do the things I want to do without must restriction, I want to take a moment to talk about a growing issue in California that was already there before any of the Covid stuff came to pass. Since I don’t like to talk about drama or rather unpleasant things on my blog too much, I will simply ask of you to either Google or search on YouTube the term “Venice Beach Homeless” to see what I’m talking about. In a nutshell this problem was already a severe one all the way back at the end of 2019, and was going to be at the forefront of politics during the time. Unfortunately 2020 came and derailed the entire world and this issue was put “on hold” until things settled down. So even though life may be coming back to normal for most folks in the country, those of us who live in Los Angeles County (like myself) will be going back to the “abnormal”; hence the title of this month’s post.

On a quick side note, me and my wife are now fully vaccinated and ready to move on with our lives. We hope that the world starts opening up again and I can travel without much incident than usual. For those of you who are waiting to be vaccinated or planning on getting one; be mindful of that 2nd dose. I had a lot of bravado taking my 1st one without much incident (I had no side effects) and thought the entire process was going to be a cakewalk. But once I got my 2nd dose; let’s just say I haven’t been that sick in over 7 years! This coming from a rather healthy individual who can run a sub 6 minute mile on demand.

Moving onto less heavy topics, if you’ve ever visited my site in the past you know that I’m a sucker for easy going travel videos. Specifically I really enjoy the type with minimal editing, narration and music. So I was extremely happy to find another YouTube channel that caters to my specific tastes and wanted to share the love with you folks. Bonus points are awarded to this YouTube channel in that it deals with locations that aren’t just in Japan; a heavy focus on many of my previous recommendations. There are a lot of cool looking places the world over, and I didn’t want to over emphasize Asia too much in my recommendations. It’s not that Asia isn’t cool, it’s just that it can become boring if that’s all you ever see. In any case, I hope you enjoy the content as much as I do, and always a friendly reminder for everyone out there to take some time out of your day to relax and take notice of the little things in life.

I personally feel this game that I’m about to talk about needs no introduction. I also forget that the world is a very large place, and a lot of you who are reading this blog may have not even known that this game exists. In any case, Princess & Conquest is an early access game that’s in development and is quite frankly one of the better “ecchi” or “hentai” games to be worked on in the last couple of years; at least in my opinion.

I’m not a pop culture historian (or anything similar to such), but I can tell you that the entire game’s premise was pretty much created by a singular image meme. The idea was that a knight runs into a tower to save a princess, but in the process ends up rescuing a kobold instead. This is implied to be ambiguous for many reasons, but at the end of the day we jokingly assume the knight is sex craved and rescuing “anything” that will return the favor is good enough for him. From this spawned an entire game and world with it, full of colorful lore and characters.

As a reminder I’m always a fan of talking about the more esoteric things out there. Princess & Conquest is an extreme rarity because it’s a heavily adult orientated game that doesn’t forget its suppose to be a game at its core. A lot of similar projects out there boil down to being “complicated porn delivery systems” that frustrate the player since it doesn’t really know what it’s trying to do. Like many curious folks out there who tried Princess & Conquest for the first time, we came for the porn - but stayed for the gameplay and world building. If you like art that combines cute and sexy at the same time, a traditional leveling rpg system and a very enduring world filled with all types of funny characters, I would highly suggest you give Princess & Conquest a try. It’s constantly being updated by its developers (with frequent communication) and has a load of content even though it’s still considered in development. Better yet you can download the public version for absolutely free by clicking the image above or this link here.

Let’s close out this month’s update with a game release stated for June 24th world wide. The game is called “Legend of Mana” and is actually a remaster of the original version that was on the Playstation 1. I won’t go much into the details of the game since they are readily available online, but I will say that it was a part of my childhood growing up and I do have fond memories of it. If you’re running dry on things to do for the month or have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket - it might be worth checking out. It’s going to be available for multiple platforms, including Steam on PC and the Nintendo Swtich.

That’s it for this month folks, hope you all stay safe as always!

Ramblings Of Mobile Games Past

Most of the refugees that visit this site typically wander over from my YouTube channel. So if you’re one of them; welcome one welcome all! In this month’s update I’m going to focus on my history with mobile gaming and how this is relevant to the recent release of Bluestacks 5. If you’re by and large uninterested with mobile gaming (and emulation) in general, this month’s blog might be a big snore fest for you. I’ll try and do a mini update midway between now and June for unrelated (non gaming) content.

Keep in mind the written portion of the update is going to be brief since I have a lot to say, and would rather you check out the audio version by clicking the little play button you see on top of this post. A lot of the finer details and nuances will be explained there while the text on the site will try and keep things brief and tidy. Let’s start off with some statistics courtesy of StatCounter.

In a nutshell, I’ve been gaming on mobile since 2011. So it’s been a decade since I got my first competent smartphone to do so; chiefly the Galaxy Nexus phone released in November 2011. Ever since then the industry has grown dramatically from rather niche “flash” style games to full blown AAA studio games you can play now on your phone. I didn’t really get interested into Android emulation however up until 2015 with the release of Bluestacks 2. Back then emulation of Android was a complete hot mess, and Bluestacks was the only thing that was able to make some sort of sense of it all. Granted BS2 ran like hot trash and was not an enjoyable experience whatsoever; but it got the job done. Since then a ton of other emulators have come and gone doing what BS does better or worse. We’re now here in the present with BS5 and a dramatic step forward in performance and usability over its recent iterations. But what does this all have to do with actual gaming? Hang in there, I got more history to explain before getting to the point.

There’s kind of an arms race right now going on in the mobile emulation scene. The thing is, up until about 2016 Android was relatively dominated by its older versions. This is because the market dictated it so. Android devices have always been affordable to the public at large, and this leads to weaker or older devices being in the hands of most people the world over. So even though a newer version of Android operating system may be released about every year; most folks who have smartphones are typically running one or two versions earlier. This is exasperated in developing countries where the gap becomes even wider. That all changed in 2019 however with the release of Android 10, and a serious push by Google to update its platform to a more “unified and modern” architecture. If you need further reading on the finer details about Android over the years, you can visit this link here by ComputerWorld which goes over other details not necessarily focused on gaming.

Basically, Google has taken a page out of Apple’s playbook by forcing folks to run better hardware to accommodate newer operating systems. This in turn has done 2 major things. It has forced a lot of developers (old and new) to adopt new technologies available to them while abandoning stuff they already were comfortable working with. It also has raised the bar for what games “can” be made on mobile platforms. Let’s refer back to the pictures above and show you the trend of major Android operating systems in use from June 2017. Each picture represents a leap of one year, and as you can see the dominance of Marshmallow in 2017 quickly fades away to “almost” the latest and greatest of Android 10 in the present time. For the younger folks out there - this isn’t normal. Not by a long shot in the last decade. The push towards modernization is very recent, and before 2016 most folks the world over were literally still using mostly Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread alongside Android 4.4 KitKat.

The game you see above is called Dragon Blaze from Gamevil. I actually played this game for quite some time, and believe it or not it was released globally in 2015 for Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 and up! It’s art direction is still fantastic, but the actual game itself is very antiquated by today’s standards. You see back then developers (and publishers) were aiming to make their game available to the widest amount of players possible. In order to do this, they had to limit their technical prowess by developing for older Android operating systems so that more folks could play their game. Fast forward to now…

You can see quite a dramatic shift on the technology front what is being pushed onto the mobile platforms. Games like Genshin Impact would of never been conceived to be possible a mere 5 years ago on phones, let alone now-a-days its almost becoming expected. This is because smartphones are getting stronger, more expensive, and Android as a whole is tightening its restrictions (and no longer supporting) older versions they consider “woefully” out of date. But this also reflects changes in consumer behavior; as more and more the world modernizes at a unified pace. Budget phones of today are what most folks consider mid-range a few years back. While top of the line phones of recent years can command prices of nearly (if not at) $1000 or more. The rise of the “minimum” standard in price goes alongside the dwindling upgrade cycle that use to be 2 years. Now that consumers are holding onto their phones for an average of 3 years (up 1 year as a whole prior to 2014) phones have to be more technically demanding to last the duration.

This is all on top of a populace that is getting older that has more disposable income, but are actually tech savvy unlike their predecessors. The demand for better and newer stuff is always growing, and recent shortages to provide such innovations possible only make the market demand it more than ever. Shortage on chips doesn’t help either in the current time.

So let’s bring this all back to Bluestacks and Android emulation in general. Remember for years, running older versions of Android were the norm for developers of apps and games. Now with a recent shift towards modernization, it’s becoming increasingly harder for emulators to keep up with newer games. Thus the need for better and faster emulators will be the “front lines” going forward in the next couple of years. If the emulators (regardless of whomever makes them) can’t keep up; we all might have to resort to treating newer smartphones as portable console devices. Let’s hope it doesn’t reach that point. That’s why I’m happy to see BS5 be released this month and run most games out there competently. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if BS6 with Android 10 support is on the horizon for 2023.

In conclusion for this lengthy, singularly focused post I just want to emphasize the importance of getting a dedicated Android gaming device more so than ever. Used flagship phones about 2 years old can be extremely affordable and have enough horsepower to run an external display with mouse and keyboard support (via Bluetooth or dongle). You can really save a ton of money if you don’t care if the screen is damaged or even broken (as long as the video out works fine). Having an older laptop or computer running an Android emulator seems to becoming a thing of the past - especially considering the train wreck pricing of modern video cards.

Emulation (of Android) right now is in a tough spot, and I hope things start picking up for those of us interested in the hobby; specifically the gaming aspect of it.

Artist: Bluethebone

Déjà vu Time

It’s been a very tiring month for me physically since I had a lot of spring cleaning to take care of. I’m not talking about your run of the mill stuff either; more like landscaping the entire backyard and removing things sitting on the property for over 10 years. Once the dust (literally) settled, I realized I had little time to look for new stuff on the horizon and had to fall back on my usual routine. So this month I’m going to be revisiting things I suggested you all take a look at in past updates; preferably ones from long ago that many of you probably didn’t know about since this website is now going on 4 years old!

Artist Hyulla

First off, let’s start with a game that I’ve been recommending since I started my site and to everyone I meet personally. This game is called Destiny Child, and it’s something I still play to this very day even though I never once covered it on my YouTube channel. DC is available in 3 versions (Korean, Japanese, Global) and as with all recommendations I give out - I always advise checking out the original first before branching off to the variants. This is because the original DC is uncensored and has the added benefit of having a very large fan base that not only actively mods the game, but can translate it to other languages via an app as well. The app is called Mammon’s Mite and should work on most Android platforms that aren’t running the latest version. It should work on most emulators though. So with all things considered, you get to play the original version of DC and have access to an English (or Russian) patch as well as user mods in one convenient place; it’s hard not to love.

Artist SNOWBALL

You will not see a lot of coverage on this game from various YouTube channels or even websites. It’s called Last Origin and I’ve been playing this religiously every day without fail ever since I started. Simply put - it’s way too lewd for them to handle, and the fear of demonetization or advertising lost from partners is guaranteed. Luckily I don’t fall under those restrictions, and this is why I recommend every single soul out there to check out the game. There’s also a strong possibility that an English release is going to be out later this year. It’s probably going to be censored, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying it out and getting the hang of the mechanics. Once you do, you can go to the Korean version and play the game as it’s mean to be. Trust me when I say the differences in artwork is vast among the censored and uncensored. I more than likely will be revisiting the game on YouTube once the English is out to raise awareness; and more importantly let folks know there’s a superior version right around the corner should they look.

Just as a reminder, I’m always working on looking at new games and testing them whenever possible. Artery Gear Fusion (the game in the video above) for example, is something I’m well aware of.

If you’ve seen a game that looks amazing (and has a good dose of Waifus in it), chances are I’ve probably seen it too or am looking into it. The reason why I don’t say anything is because of two main reasons. The first one is that the game is probably in some type of testing phase itself. This includes Alpha, Beta, or region soft launch. All of these things violate my own personal rule of talking in detail about a game that is virtually not released yet or guaranteed to be released. We all know the frustration with release dates, more so when they are broken. We also know the frustration with announcements of an announcement of a reason why something can’t be done or why there is another delay. So I only try and talk about games that are either released and you can play it, or something imminent in the near future within a couple of months that has a high likelihood of being released.

The 2nd reason is much more simplistic, and that the game doesn’t meet my own personal standard to recommend and talk about. I try to adhere to the old idiom, “If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all”. To avoid drama with particular fan bases, I just stay quiet and move on. It’s a policy that has served me well to this day and I don’t foresee myself changing this attitude anytime in the near future. So although I do test a lot of games and occasionally mention them on YouTube, nothing really comes out of it unfortunately and I just have to move onto the next game.

Moving onto YouTube recommendations; I love channels that talk about esoteric things that are equally fascinating. I’m a lover of urbex (urban exploring), retro things, and unusual history about mainstream places. So in order of recommendations, I suggest you all check out Dan Bell, LGR, and Defunctland respectively. You can find all these channels on The List under the YouTube section. I’ll link some of my favorite videos below from each channel to give you a taste of what they have to offer. More importantly, it’s a reminder to tell you guys to check out the rest of the things on The List; especially the YouTube stuff since it’s easy to digest material. So put on some high quality headphones, take off your shoes and get comfortable and lost into some random stuff.

That ends this month’s retro-update. Hopefully I’ll have some new exciting stuff to talk about next time. As always a reminder that if you want some mini updates from me, feel free to check out the YouTube community tab on my channel.