Listen To This: Trevor Something – Summer Love”

An old song I found that wanted to share for the season. Summer Love by Trevor Something sounds like a 80’s synth pop classic as it echoes of Soft Cell in this track. The album Trevor Something Does Not Exist is an album worth checking out if you’re really into the synth pop genre, electronic music, and love the 80’s.
(Also Free download!)

Let’s Talk About Horizon Zero Dawn

Going into Horizon Zero Dawn, I had no idea what to expect. Guerrilla Games has always been known as the Killzone team, and Horizon Zero Dawn was the developers first attempt to making an open-world game.

Their pervious title Killzone Shadow Fall, whilst being a gorgeous game to look at, felt like nothing more than a tech demo for the PS4. And any buzz of Horizon Zero Dawn I would hear always seemed to compare it to other Ubisoft open-world titles. At which point, I had to ask myself if we really needed another open-world game in a market that is so oversaturated with them. However, what Guerrilla Games delivered, I believe, is the bar that most basic open-world games should strive for even if it is pushed in for marketing reasons.

Let’s Talk About Nioh

It’s difficult to talk about Nioh without talking about Dark Souls. There’s a lot of obvious borrowed mechanics from Dark Souls like shrines being bonfires, losing all your Amrita (souls) when you die and given one last chance to get them back. The creative director has gone on record saying he was greatly inspired by the Dark Souls series.

Yet, I feel giving a game the title souls-like sets a pretty high bar to reach in a game especially in the 3D space. Putting Nioh next to Dark Souls seems a bit unfair in my opinion, and I wonder how many people went in thinking that Niohwas going to replace Dark Souls, because in no way it does. But that’s not to say Nioh isn’t good. From what I played, I can say that I had a kickass time.

There are quite a few things Nioh did that I like a lot that made the game feel more than just a Souls game reskinned.

Transformers Devastation Review

A lot of games I played as a kid came from video rental stores. I remember every other week I had the opportunity to pick one videogame to rent for a couple of days, usually between Friday and Sunday. A lot of the games I picked were obscure mediocre gems. At the time, I didn’t go to any gaming website for reviews or information. I simply picked a game and hoped for the best. The end result was always the same, however, no matter what I was just happy playing a new game. Transformers: Devastation strikes my nostalgia chord. It takes me back to a time where I wasn’t so cynical about what I was playing and just had fun.

A Love Letter To The Future and Current Generation of Gaming.

If you were to ask me what I think about this generation of gaming, I would say it’s a great time to be a gamer. We have advanced technology that I only dreamed about as a kid available to us in the market.

If I were to time travel back when I was a five-year-old boy, back when I had no worries and a Gameboy, I would tell little ol’ me, “Hey, that Pokémon game you’re playing. Yeah, they will make a 3D version on a Gameboy that allows the images on the screen to pop-out at you. They will add a backlight to the Gameboy, so you can play at night. Just don’t let mom catch you staying up on a school night.

“Also, if you think your N64 graphics looks good… pfft… wait till you see the future generation of consoles and the generation after that. Video games that look and feel so real you’ll ask yourself, ‘can it get any better than this?’ and the answer will always be yes.

“There will be so many games you will be overwhelmed by the choices. Right now, you’re in your Nintendo bubble, but you’ll outgrown it and play games that you never knew existed.

Far Cry 4 Review

     Far Cry 4 is the answer to the surprising commercial success of Far Cry 3, but does the sequel add anything new to the series or is it just a money-grubbing product Ubisoft developed to cash out on Far Cry 3’s success?

Is E3 Still Relevant?

E3 is upon us! For those who don’t know, E3 or Electronic Entrainment Expo is an annual trade show where large videogame publishers gather to showcase their upcoming hardware and software.

Back in the heyday of gaming magazines, it was a great way for large videogame publishers to spread the news to the public. They would have the press come in, show them some games, and at the end of the day write about it for their magazine. But with the rise of the Internet age, gaming magazines are few and videogame publishers have new ways to communicate with the public through social media.

Which begs me to ask the question, is E3 necessary and relevant in this Internet age?

About Toy Computer

What is Toy Computer?

Anime and video games are more than just a product, they are a big part of this modern culture. As of late, anime and video games have been taken serious as an art form, spewing forums after forums of intellectual discussion between fans.

Toy Computer is a place I created to indulge myself for my love of anime and video games without isolating those on my other blog. I wanted a place where I can geek out and inquire how these two hobbies of mine affect society and culture.

So join me as I journey through the world of Japanese animation and virtual landscapes, trying to find meaning in it all; all while escaping reality.

Batman Is Not For Kids Anymore, Son

This was originally written for a college assignment regarding the analysis of graphic novels. 

---

      In 1938, Bob Kane and Bill Finger debut Batman. The two had hoped to create a gritty, noir, crime violent comic; for a while Batman was just that. Making his appearance in issue 27 of Detective Comics, Batman took to the streets solving crime and fighting criminals. Batman became just as popular as Superman, but somewhere along the line Batman sales started decreasing to the point of cancellation. Out of desperation DC editor Dick Giordan offered Miller to revive the Dark Knight. Through the use of alternating point of views, rigged artwork, and rich color palette Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns goes back to its roots, and creates a template for a deep and mature Batman.

      When Frank Miller was asked to redo Batman he could have done it a number of ways, but he knew he wanted to make Batman as human and as mature as possible. In an interview with Comic Journal Miller said, “In think that in order for [Batman] to work, he has to be certain ways is beyond good and evil. It can’t be judged by the terms we use to descried something a man would do because we can’t think of him as a man.” Frank Miller knew Batman was not a black and white character, and his motives and actions are not seen as equally justified from others. Miller conveys this creatively by using brief television segments throughout the comic.

A Mini-Survival Guide to JRPGs

So I recently convinced some friends of mine to try a Japanese role-playing games (JRPG). Let me tell you, it was no easy task. It took a comparison of games they played in the past, and a pleasing price range to get them to consent. But even after the hassle they still treaded carefully and they have every right to do so. For those who don’t know what a JRPG is – it is a role-playing game developed in Japan (DUH!) – But what really makes a JRPG a JRPG is the formula it follows. All JRPGs follow a turn-base type formula; a system in which the player and enemy take turns attacking each other, or a Active Time Battle technique; a system similar to the turn base system but enemies can attack despite it being your turn (dicks). JRPGs are a foreign genre that has a distinct language of its own, like most games do. Except JRPGs are not as hospitable as other games. It can be down right intimidating. A poor soul may hear about Final Fantasy being a good RPG and expect it to play like The Elder Scroll Series. So in the wake of their adventure I thought I would write a mini-survival guide to JRPGs, covering things you should expect and things you should do.