tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10018944827153133022024-03-05T19:18:33.568-08:00Aaron in Japanseishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-52920237642016442872013-07-13T11:46:00.003-07:002013-07-13T22:08:53.577-07:002013 Update For Counting Combos (Book)!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I went and updated the content and ironed out some of the old content. The series is still going on so I'm still wondering how many times I'll do this but in the meantime, here are the overall changes for those that are familiar with the first release:<br />
<br />
<b>Supplementary Information to old Content :</b><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>In the 2000 section I added a brief mention that the release of so many mixes in the past year both for the main series and offshoots (as well as home versions) caused an over-saturation and partial alienation of the player base.</li>
<li>In the 2001 section, I mentioned it was the last year for mass release of the various home and handheld editions of DDR, though this was primarily for the offshoots of the main series; official home versions of the DDR arcade mixes continued on for years.</li>
<li>In the 2003-2005 section regarding bar usage, I added a quote from one of the musical artists associated with Konami (TAG). He mentioned that Konami had always kept bar use in mind when creating the harder stepcharts, and he specifically referenced the song "Healing Vision Angelic Mix" which premiered in the home version of DDR 5th and in DDR Max arcade back in 2001.</li>
<li>In the same section I added a bit on the introduction of SuperNova and how in the East it wasn't necessarily seen as a knee-jerk reaction to ITG since the system was all new hardware, they were looking into anti-piracy measures since the older mixes (System 573) were so widely bootlegged and the eAmuse network was being developed at that time.</li>
<li>Fixed the romanization of the song "Mikeneko Rock"</li>
<li>Added a bit more information on tournaments from the DDRX era, including rough numbers of participants and the spectators that would go only to watch others</li>
<li>Various alignment and font size/position problems with the embedded image areas</li>
<li>Swapped image of DDR Megamix to a screen grab of the warning screen instead of a photo of the game showing the warning screen</li>
<li>Slight rewording in the additional chapter related to DDR and ITG timing windows. DDR timing is still polled and timed in ms, but the judgment is made relative to what frame the polled step lies within. I could expand on this even further but I figured for the casual reader this information might be getting too technical, and there are still unknowns related to the exact timing system of DDR</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>New Content :</b><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Various new photos in the older sections (mostly for the more recent years)</li>
<li>A new 2012~ section that contains bits of information related to the era from when DDR X3 draws to a close and DDR 2013 begins</li>
<li>In reference to the above, the new cabinet and the initial launch problems both with hardware and software that made some players take a break from the series while things were patched up</li>
<li>Mention of Dance Evolution AC and its position as Konami's new "real" dance game</li>
<li>Mention of player skill gaps in recent years (originally there was some mention of it in the 2003-2005 chapter but that has changed in the modern age)</li>
<li>Mention of players that play Double mode (8 panels) and how they tend to fall through the cracks of Konami official tournaments and events since they primarily focus on single mode play.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Other Additions :</b><br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The new edition will be released in B&W and in Color.</li>
<li>Color printing costs are pretty high and I was quoted as high as $28 for a color edition though I may be able to get a version myself for abour $18</li>
<li>The book is currently 230 pages, up slightly from the original release.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Things I did not add :</b></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I wanted to mention the breakup of the band BeForU or Naoki's departure from Konami. Although this would have been definitely worth mentioning if it caused a mass influx or outflux of players to the series or extreme opinions and attitudes towards the affected parties, at the end of the day it really didn't affect the player base all that much</li>
<li>The only worthy point of note was Naoki mentioning at the KAC 2011 that he was stuck at work and couldn't attend the DDR event but that he saw it all later on Nico Douga (as opposed to Konami's official channel; also, a non-authorized copy on Nico Douga to boot). He had to say "that was a joke" when met with awkward silence, but he had been hinting up until then he wasn't happy at Konami for whatever reason and his later departure wasn't that much of a surprise.</li>
<li>I did mention names of somewhat key players in the scene if they resonated with the player base in any way, but I didn't name drop too many players because most of them just didn't have any real impact on the overall scene. This includes overseas players.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-90487935956407494252012-08-15T08:35:00.002-07:002013-02-16T08:17:24.794-08:00Questions and Answers about "Counting Combos"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
These are some of the questions I have received concerning my book<br />
about the Japanese DDR Community. Some of these questions have been<br />
asked multiple times, and with a number of common themes among them I thought this was a<br />
good opportunity to address everyone.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q : How many versions of the cover are there?<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhrvKAM-jG6dDbXHLARHnEEO74cW-3Uy1OmuAz3N4dN1QwL2Ao5LbPz3RMpjL3-xgHYEvu5Vw9lkk2GYMFH93keL3pYIF4YHUvRV2Zhgkcb5Ra4mhA9Z0G3cuaVhcFg4DjRHSpOHQlIQ/s1600/ccbookfinal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhrvKAM-jG6dDbXHLARHnEEO74cW-3Uy1OmuAz3N4dN1QwL2Ao5LbPz3RMpjL3-xgHYEvu5Vw9lkk2GYMFH93keL3pYIF4YHUvRV2Zhgkcb5Ra4mhA9Z0G3cuaVhcFg4DjRHSpOHQlIQ/s200/ccbookfinal.jpg" width="148" /></a>A : Just one now. The original cover used for the Proof Copy propagated to the very first release of the book, which I fixed almost immediately afterwards, though some orders were made with the original cover. The current cover can be seen on the right here. (The image below that is of the original work from the previous year and the proof copy of this book) However, there was a version of the original work called "Combo's Continuing" I put on lulu.com, though it had a notable number of grammar and other errors. That cover was mostly in red though it shared the same cover image<br />
<br />
Q : Why was your original version called "Combo's Continuing"? That doesn't make any sense!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p_eZe9qn1oTmtYSQEytAfy5U7d0FvQoGiY7GkxlaLrfbOqwgWQEhYbBzLqP3RnTj5N4JyDhhMyrmy5DZSujqeKZZnarp4tMCroDLvpj5IMyamaf_2XuYBU3lllghnNyyqkKTAl20LXg/s1600/oldccbooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9p_eZe9qn1oTmtYSQEytAfy5U7d0FvQoGiY7GkxlaLrfbOqwgWQEhYbBzLqP3RnTj5N4JyDhhMyrmy5DZSujqeKZZnarp4tMCroDLvpj5IMyamaf_2XuYBU3lllghnNyyqkKTAl20LXg/s200/oldccbooks.jpg" width="200" /></a>A : Within the context of the game series, one of the in-game announcer quotes from the earlier mixes of DDR was in fact "Combo's Continuing" as in "(Your) Combo is Continuing (to increase)" It makes no sense outside the context of the game, though.<br />
<br />
Q : Where is that place/What city is that in your photo on the cover?<br />
A : Yokohama. The tall building on the left is Landmark Tower.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q: Why didn't you talk more about ○○○ feature of ××× game in the series?<br />
A: In general I tried to avoid going off on tangents that didn'treveal anything about the community or player mindsets/attitudes.There are far too many little incidents that may have been funny oramusing at the time, but didn't really matter so much in the grandscheme of things.<br />
<br />
Q: I hear the Japanese have their own local slang for the common terms and song names in DDR. Why didn't you include that?<br />
A: This is not limited to DDR or even music games. It is common for a longer term or series of terms to be contracted down to 4 syllables. The amusing part of this was that there were players that made a habit of seeking out products and store names that also matched the contractions of these various Bemani/DDR terms. One that stuck in particular was how the song "Pluto Relinquish" became "Purin" (Pudding), with the difficulty levels of the song indicated by flavor. The color of the flavor matched the color of the difficulty title; e.g. "Difficult" mode was in red, and strawberries were red, so "Strawberry Pudding" (ichigo purin) represented Pluto Relinquish on Difficult mode. Other than the fact one of the players at the 2011 Konami Arcade Championships made that reference by stating he likes (to eat) "Green Tea Pudding" (Pluto Relinquish on Expert mode), which Konami staff didn't get, this is more obscure trivia and a local in-joke than anything that seriously affected the community. It was a kind of common humor and bond between some of the regular players, though.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyAVsiUpUCFllz_MPhL6MMLOPX9vJzNbrbaDgQH-On_zSgxtSGOdILU1Wj4FSgkjxrpB10upuXinlTz8GLd6blQoQgviapc3n0PskFFObrBgqsl3NIv2KsFR2MZxZRHEokX-jrN8I3Gz8/s1600/nophotos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyAVsiUpUCFllz_MPhL6MMLOPX9vJzNbrbaDgQH-On_zSgxtSGOdILU1Wj4FSgkjxrpB10upuXinlTz8GLd6blQoQgviapc3n0PskFFObrBgqsl3NIv2KsFR2MZxZRHEokX-jrN8I3Gz8/s200/nophotos.jpg" width="145" /></a>Q: What's this I hear about the "No Photos" rule in arcades in Japan?<br />
A: Although a number of the more regular players do take pictures oftheir scores, taking photos of the arcade or of other players isforbidden at most Japanese arcades due to privacy laws as well ascopyright. There is no "fair use" law in Japan, so if you catch imagesfrom the games in your photos, you have violated copyright. There are plenty of photos and videos on the internet, though do note that mostof them were sneaked out.<br />
<br />
Some arcades are more strict than others, however. On sight, some will<br />
ask to put away the camera or to leave the arcade. Only in extreme<br />
cases have security or the police been involved.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q: I have seen some videos where it looks like the camera was mountedon the ceiling and there was a second video source of the screenoutput overlaid in a corner of that video? How was that done?<br />
A: The arcade(s) in question are "Freedom" in Yokohama near the SotetsuExit of Yokohama station and "Seven Islands" right near that. These two arcades sometimes share games back and forth (long story). The staff have a camera rig set up so you can have your performance recorded on DVD (for a price). I'll ignorethe legal implications, but so far nobody has said anything.<br />
<br />
Q: Wait, what is this "long story" between the "Freedom" and "Seven Island" arcades?<br />
A: Around 2005, the river by the Sotetsu exit of Yokohama flooded over into the market area around the station, also flooding some businesses up to waist height (the topographical layout around there is akin to a bowl). Many of the arcade games on the 1st floor of Freedom were ruined, and the same went with Seven Islands, even moreso since some of the games were on the basement floor. However, since different games were ruined at both arcades and the managers at both were on good terms, they worked out a few occasional game exchanges that even carry over to the present day.<br />
<br />
Q: What about random casual people that pass by the arcade? What do they think of the "hardcore" players you talk about?<br />
A: I can't get into their minds, but I have seen a fair mix of bedazzlement at high level play and some slight mockery in the form of "mimicking" the player behind the player's back. Almost never do they actually go and bother the player though, either visually or acoustically. Some of them do snicker, however.<br />
<br />
Q: Do these "hardcore" players get special treatment by the staff at the arcades they frequent?<br />
A: In general the "bonus" they get is little more than local arcade celebrity status, though knowing the staff well has allowed some of the more ambitious hardcore players to organize tournaments and events, get the staff to adjust the volume of the game (and/or surrounding games in some cases) and in some rare cases limited time free play or reduced prices, usually during slower periods at the arcade.<br />
<br />
Q: When do most of the more hardcore players gather? Do they go together or are they more of the "lone wolf" type?<br />
A: Arcades in general open from 10AM and close around midnight. Since many players have work or school to attend, evenings and weekends are (not surprisingly) the most popular times. On weekends, the more hardcore players tend to sleep later so arcades don't usually start filling up until late afternoon, however. On weekends and Friday evenings especially, players do like to meet up with their friends, though their goals at the game are individual-based, and not so much for showing off. Players that go during the weekdays tend to just practice.<br />
<br />
Q: Aw, couldn't you mention some of those "little incidents" you mentioned earlier on here?<br />
A: Here are a few<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gW7JWheeev0wNp97I1COTxmh8EQ6hRTu5Ie5VDheadLcDUJjvxacAabnUQRjuljzNMzodyM7RzZViwsG7SJ_13hOfcuzTYF5ghAWwcRUYaDODRa3qmoGeZyl9_Fj6-kS00HMVO_W2jE/s1600/iywhcomp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gW7JWheeev0wNp97I1COTxmh8EQ6hRTu5Ie5VDheadLcDUJjvxacAabnUQRjuljzNMzodyM7RzZViwsG7SJ_13hOfcuzTYF5ghAWwcRUYaDODRa3qmoGeZyl9_Fj6-kS00HMVO_W2jE/s1600/iywhcomp.jpg" /></a>1. There were many subtle things that annoyed specific players. One<br />
in particular I remember that bothered Yasu was on the song "If You<br />
Were Here". On the Expert/Heavy chart, the song ended on a pattern of<br />
3 8th notes, an 8th rest, 3 more 8th notes and that was the end of the<br />
chart, though the music had an echoing beat after that. Whenever<br />
anyone would stomp out the echoed notes even though there were no<br />
steps left, it really set him off<br />
<br />
2. I had mentioned in the book that there were players that were so intimidated by high level play that they would rather leave the arcade and come back later when the so-called "expert" players had left There were two cases that messed up this plan, though. One was when the "expert" player would just hand around the arcade all day (more common a decade ago than now, however) and sometimes they were with groups of friends that wanted to stay and see this high level play. Some of these intimidated players became extremely visually distressed, especially if they had been showing off to their friends and someone else comes along and blows them away. This phenomenon wasn't limited to DDR though, and I didn't think it was unique enough to include.<br />
<br />
3. Since for a while the Zama Muthos arcade was home to a number of the more skilled DDR players in the Kanto region, it became a kind of tourist destination for visitors (including those from abroad). Usually we knew about these visitors beforehand and had ample time to arrange meetups. As one of the souvenirs, we used to ask fans to bring a PS1 memory card for use with the DDR Extreme (or prior mix) machine and load it up with a few AAA scores to show off back home. This wasn't really noteworthy in itself, and the better point was that some visitors and tourists were taking time our of their trip schedules (or putting it on their agenda) to visit some of the popular Japanese arcades and/or meet some of the players.<br />
<br />
4. One amusing tournament in 2004 was the Zama Muthos "Judgment Day" Tournament. It was unique in that the 2 finalists were also the oldest out of everyone in attendance (28 and 29). The next oldest was 24. This was amusing in that it helped break the stereotype that only the youngest players could do well in tournaments. Furthermore, these weren't scrubs at this tournament; they were some of the bigger named players around Tokyo at the time. It might have been worthy of note in the book but it would also have been risky since I won that tournament and when I tried writing it up it came off like a borderline egotistical trip.<br />
<br />
5. Before flying out with Yasu (and Koichiro) to London for the MCM Expo in October of 2005, Yasu and I met up in an arcade in Machida to practice. (Not the Cat's Eye arcade; I forget which one now and it may be gone) While we were playing away and getting some AAAs on our own most-played/favorite songs on Extreme at the time, a group of three guys took notice of us playing and were dumbstruck that people could get AAAs on Expert/Heavy level songs, and shouting to that same effect "That was on Heavy! That was on *Heavy*!" After the shock wore off, we all went to dinner together. It turned out they were like quite a few fans that read about the rumors of some of the players heading to London to play but thought it was all a huge joke. They turned out to be decent enough, but they admit that the ramble on the 2-chan BBS at the time gave very distorted views of the more expert players and it sounded like a significant number of 2-chan users just blindly believed what was said. To this day I don't know all of what was said, but I do remember there were many cheap shots taken at the expert players, and myself in particular in some cases.<br />
<br />
(There are more stories that I'm sure will come to mind and as such I can always append more later)<br />
<br />
<br />
Q: But are all these Japanese players always so courteous and friendly all of the time? It almost seems like you are just cherry picking the best examples to make them sound better than they are.<br />
A: By and large the Japanese arcade gamers have been courteous and friendly, though of course since they are only human there will always be incidents where some of the crowds are not the most polite out there, and downright rude in some. However, these cases are not so numerous, not any serious case, anyways.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q: Oh, but can you list examples of the Japanese gamers not acting so cool and calm?<br />
A: I can list a couple.<br />
<br />
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1. One of the players at the Muthos arcade whom shall remain nameless was very picky when it came to the machine volume of the DDR machine and the volume of the other games around it (and other distractions). He frequently asked for the perfect mix of volumes and got very agitated and upset with the staff when they did not cooperate. Once, he got so furious when he got a "great" on a song he was trying to "AAA", he picked up the small circulating air fan near the machine and threw it across the arcade. Why he wasn't asked to leave is beyond me but he left out of frustration and anger soon after anyways.<br />
<br />
2. Once in a while, whenever I played at a random arcade around Tokyo, there would occasionally be some lone player that was just waiting in line, showed no interest in anything in the world other than getting his turn to play, and grunt sharply at anyone that tried to get his attention for anything. I remember seeing one of these types of guys play and he was very good (AAAing Expert Level songs of non-trivial difficulty) and I remember he played the same song repeatedly (On The Bounce Expert) until he got it and when a couple of us in line tried to congratulate him after the fact he shot back at us to the effect "Of course it was good! That's what I do!" Nobody bothered talking to him after that.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q: What ever happened to that "Muthos" arcade?<br />
<a href="http://aaronin.jp/muthos/gom11t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://aaronin.jp/muthos/gom11t.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a>A: When everyone used to gather in the early 2000s, most players were high school students and had a lot more free time to bum around the arcade. As the players got older they tended to head off to College and work and weren't able to fill the arcade as much (or frequented arcades closes to College/work). There was some in-fighting at the end between some of the players as there were some friendship fallouts. The arcade was in a fairly isolated area so it never did draw that many casual gamers but the hardcore crowd was extremely loyal and spent stupefying amounts of time and money over the years.<br />
<br />
There were a number of pachinko and pachislot machines that drew some of the local older crowds there which was the 2nd biggest pull. When the hardcore music game crowds started to disappear, the focus changed more to the pachinko/pachislot players. The in-fighting at the end was the final nail on the coffin for the music game scene at this arcade. Muthos closed down temporarily to renovate itself into more of a pachinko hall but opened soon after. The arcade is still there but it is nothing like the arcade it used to be.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q: Online, you have mentioned a banning on "Smooooch jumping" in regards to freestyle performance. What is that and why isn't it in your book?<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqEwjGJwclCWnF9x6LJ8Fkbq9NepuiFfQkneJltc7G_lCbjKo6Yf8nWhG6Z7YxxvGnn40WWA_bGC6DzhANicyeDrB77e6eGfMnuKEpXdbRukZ7OgkJFZF9K9-atG52b-mv796JEpYe3lQ/s1600/smoochjump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqEwjGJwclCWnF9x6LJ8Fkbq9NepuiFfQkneJltc7G_lCbjKo6Yf8nWhG6Z7YxxvGnn40WWA_bGC6DzhANicyeDrB77e6eGfMnuKEpXdbRukZ7OgkJFZF9K9-atG52b-mv796JEpYe3lQ/s200/smoochjump.jpg" width="200" /></a>A: At one particular arcade in Akihabara there was a brief phase where custom freestyle performance routines to the song "Smooooch・∀・" was common. The gimmick was that there already was an animated background video to go with the song, so immitation was also common. In the background video, there were 3 animated characters running and jumping, including some superhuman movement typical of comics and animation. There were a few injuries involving performers trying their best to imitate the movement, only to inadvertently hit/kick randomspectators.<br />
<br />
This was a pretty notable event, but since it was isolated to a single arcade and a couple of isolated incidents, I figured it was okay to leave out, especially since the details of the incidents are sketchy since everyone seems to have a different report on what exactly happened.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q : Do you hate In The Groove?<br />
A : No, despite my less-than-stellar opinions of some of the gamers in that community, I can actually appreciate how it all got started, what with everyone thinking DDR Extreme was the last mix and others scrambling to take over where DDR left off. If DDR SuperNova was never relased, we may very well have had more of a fanbase in Japan, with machines to boot!<br />
<br />
<br />
Q : Wait, so where are the ITG machines in Japan?<br />
A : Sorry to disappoint, but there are none, at least none that any music or arcade game fan knows about<br />
<br />
Q: Do the Japanese play any other music games *not* made by Konami? Anything from overseas?<br />
A: Although Konami seems to have a kind of mini-monopoly on the arcade music business, there are a number of locals that really like Taiko no Tatsujin (Namco) and Project DIVA Arcade (Sega). There aren't too many foreign arcade games in an average arcade, usually none, but there was a localized release of DJMax Technika (Korean Title) and the portable game system versions of that same series can also be found in places like Akihabara where it has met with marginal success, at least in terms of import games. Titles like Rock Band and Guitar Hero were never really popular in Japan, however. Home console games in general have been giving way to the more popular portable and cell phone/iOS titles, however.<br />
<br />
The PS2 game Rez was also quite popular back in the day as was the Sony title Parappa The Rapper. Recently a number of iOS games have been gaining some popularity as well, including Cytus, ReRave and Tone Sphere.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q : But there is that one arcade...<br />
A : You mean "World Game Circus" near Oyama station on the Tobu Tojo line north of Ikebukuro (Tokyo), right? That place closed down years ago now and it is a yakitori restaurant. The owner of that arcade sold off his machines and closed down.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q: Do you still play?<br />
A: Yes, I play. I do not have the time to play for entire weekends and evenings at a time anymore due to expanding family circumstances as well as work, but I do make time whenever I can.<br />
<br />
<br />
Q: Yes, but are you any good at it anymore?<br />
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</a>A: During the popularity peak of DDR Extreme and also the old-school Japanese community of the day, I was at the level where I could AAA everything in the game barring the harder "10"s on single and double.<br />
<br />
Seven to eight years later, I could AAA them (in the traditional<br />
sense) as well as some of the newer, harder content found on the recent mixes. If anything I would say I have improved. However by the same token I am so used to the more modern mixes and the improvements that came with them that I tend not to remember all the finer points of scoring well on some of the older mixes, especially with system limitations like quantization errors, nor do I wish to relearn them when I can play the same song on a modern mix where that isn't an issue any more. There are exclusive songs to older mixes but due to lack of availability and the issues I just mentioned, those songs aren't very high on my priority list in general.<br />
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<br />
Q: Did you have any particular hardships when researching information for the book?<br />
A: Much of the content was easy to write, though some of the biggest stumbling blocks I had were:<br />
<br />
1. Getting media from the late 90s since I had very little myself still intact.<br />
2. Being brave and going to the end of 2011 despite it not being halfway through 2012 at the time. A few events and incidents were still too recent of which to write a decent "historical" piece though there were enough major events and changes that there was still enough content to justify a new Chapter. In retrospect maybe it would have been better to wait a year before commenting on that year, however.<br />
3. I wrote the book in Word 2010. It worked fine and I rather liked it once I got used to the interface (having only used ancient versions up until then), but I found it really difficult to get the images, surrounding grey border and inline text to align perfectly. Even when zooming in to stupefying levels the end result still had images a pixel off here, a border a pixel off there...<br />
4. As DDR and the music game genre continues on in Japanese arcades, I sometimes get the feeling I can never truly finish the book. I suppose it is good to get the earlier years done as soon as possible since gathering the same information in a decade from now might prove to be far more difficult than doing so in the present day, but at the same time I don't want to make those that purchased the book feel ripped off by making regular "revisions". Future editions might be a possibility<br />
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<br />
Q: Do you have any regrets after the final release of the book?<br />
A: I don't like to think of the book as "final" in the sense it could never be updated. I could always release an updated edition if I gather enough information or corrections. That said, there are a few small points I thought I should have noted, such as:<br />
<br />
1. I mentioned the fact people came from abroad to watch some of the Japanese players (and myself in limited cases) play DDR. I wanted to mention more of them by name or at least identify/acknowledge them but for whatever reason it never found its way into the book. The two fellows from Sweden that were largely responsible for the sudden boom in higher-quality videos of us playing were a direct result of that.<br />
2. There are just too many people to thank and I remember almost everyone with whom I have spoken or interacted, though I am a terrible at remembering names<br />
3. Urban vs. Rural trends wasn't really a huge issue since they both seemed to agree, but the rural regions had different problems I wonder whether or not I should have mentioned. The lack of arcades being a big one.<br />
4. I would have liked to write more on the rise and fall of the Dancemania line of albums (and a kind of "last spat" release of Dancemania Sparkle) as it pertained to Konami music games though that is starting to get off track with the rest of the book and I did mention the relationship between the Dancemania albums and DDR.<br />
5. Related to the above, I thought about mentioning the rise of the artist audition contest winners BeForU as it pertained to the music game genre more than I already mentioned but it is actually a bit depressing in that they faded out for a while, members changed, they changed record labels and then tried to disassociate themselves with the Bemani music that made them known in the first place. They didn't last much past the SuperNOVA 1 and 2 eras and just faded into obscurity.<br />
6. I did inadvertently name drop a few American player names such as Pickles, Megaman and JBoy since their names and photos/videos did come up from time to time and brought about discussion and interest in the foreign community, so now I still get contacted asking why I didn't include so-and-so. There were other players (and to their credit there are more in the present day) but as they pertained to how Japanese players viewed the game and community they really didn't have much of an overall impact individually. For whatever reason a select few got noticed and even little things like "thanks" or acknowledging a message was received went a long way<br />
<br />
Q: Is it true there are foreign languages of the book planned?<br />
A: Yes, the Spanish version is underway and I might also consider a Japanese edition. I welcome any brave persons or groups that wish to try to translate the entire book to other languages, however.</div>
seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-55567704931303401562012-07-14T22:50:00.001-07:002012-07-15T05:12:57.393-07:00ReRave in Japan (Test Location - Matsudo, Chiba)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Okay, since I had work today in the general area, I decided to stop by the only known arcade in Japan with the test location version of ReRave by Step Evolution LLC. The game has already appeared in arcades in the West but the expansion to Asia is relatively recent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So anyways, the arcade that has it is called "Tokyo Gulliver" (東京ガリバー) and it is right by the East exit of Matsudo Station in Chiba (on the Joban line). Once you take the elevator down from the main concourse, you can see it on your right almost immediately</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In the arcade, the games are broken up by floor, which is nothing that special, actually. The pachinko games are on the 3rd and 4th floors. Music games are normally in the basement according to this (there are some Project DIVA arcade machines there), but the Bemani and ReRave was on the 2nd floor for some reason.</span></div>
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So anyways, after sorting through the initial confusion of where the games even were, I found the ReRave game on the 2nd floor near the elevators (one of the sets of elevators). More precisely, my son was drawn to it.</div>
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The screen and sound system were both eye-catching and looked/sounded great, no doubt about that. In comparison, the volume on the other music games nearby (DDR, Beatmania IIDX, Beatmania The Final, GF/DM, etc.) were quiet.</div>
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While I was trying to <strike>sneak</strike> blatantly and obviously photograph the game, a few people did go up and read the instructions/play a game.</div>
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Note that the in-game instructions are all in English. For music and action games, this really isn't a problem though I suppose some in-game localization would have been a nice touch. There were a few cards stuck next to the machine in Japanese saying what to do, however.</div>
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Of course, whenever I tried to have a round, my son was either bashing on the screen or running around the arcade screaming and I had to forfeit my game to catch him, so this is the only result of mine I could get without any of that.</div>
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So there it is in a nutshell. After this last gratuitous photo, I will note the major points I observed as well as what the staff noted since the game arrived two days ago (Friday)</div>
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Observations from myself/staff/staff comments:</div>
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General:</div>
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<ul>
<li>The game only just arrived on Friday (13th), 2012</li>
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Location<br />
<ul>
<li>The general reaction has been all right. A number of people have tried it but a notable issue is that Matsudo Station is pretty far from the central part of Tokyo and many of the more hardcore music gamers that would probably love to play this are a bit alienated with the machine so far out. If the machine were closer to central Tokyo, say one of the Leisure Land arcades, St. Tropez in Ikebukuro, and of the Taito Stations or even any of the Round One arcades, it would probably draw more players, at least initially</li>
<li>(Update) Granted, DJMax Technika had a pick of great locations for their localized release and it still ended up secluded to a small cult following.</li>
</ul>
Price/Settings<br />
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<li>100 yen for two songs isn't bad (100 yen for three songs tends to be the standard for music games, though (Taiko no Tatsujin being a notable exception, though even then a number of them are set to 3 songs)</li>
</ul>
Signing In<br />
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<ul>
<li>With the Konami games there is an eAmuse card the player can use as an ID card linked to an account that stores scores and rivals, personal progress, etc. and requires the player memorize a 4 digit number. There is a longer (8 in many cases) game ID number associated with the eAmuse account for the player and a 16 character (20?) string used to identify the card...but in the end the player only has to worry about a 4 digit code of their choosing.</li>
<li>With ReRave, it asks for a login ID and password. If you don't have one you can register one from the ReRave site, but it would have been nice to be able to do this from within the game somehow. Many arcades have internet connections anyways, though some of that is for proprietary networks like eAmuse.</li>
<li>Not having to use a card is very nice, though the ID/Password strings could get quite long. Gamers are impatient in that way. Is there a way to shorten this whole process somehow?</li>
</ul>
Selection<br />
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<ul>
<li>The banners are nice and clear, but is there anyway to sort the songs or display them other than a huge long single-line stream of cover art? It feels like it takes forever to sift through the song list</li>
<li>(Update) I understand there are different sorting methods but I was talking more in terms of displaying more songs on the screen. Jubeat manages to fit 12 on a smaller screen. Maybe have an iOS-like pinch/expand gesture feature that lets the user zoom in/out to see more songs, with there being two, three, etc. columns when the covers get small enough.</li>
</ul>
Difficulty<br />
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<li>One of the big complaints from the staff (through beginner players) is that the game fails you out a bit too quickly, even on the easier settings. You do get to select another song, but it just seemed too harsh for the beginners. The hardcore players probably wouldn't care so much, but they are outnumbered by the casual gamers anyways, and it makes the game seem too intimidating to have it so readily fail out the player</li>
<li>Players sometimes don't know you can play a 2nd song even if you fail the first and walk away at the "failed" results screen</li>
<li>(Update) I understand the act of failing out the player as that is done in other games and has been so for a long time, but for beginners especially, maybe let the player at least finish his/her song? (Maybe only do that if the song is on basic difficulty?)</li>
<li>The actual judgment timing-wise is fine if you are on beat. The position judgment looks fine too, though it is a bit hard to determine so early just how it sits with the players. Some think the positional accuracy may be slightly subjective based on how the players angle/position their finger to touch the screen. There isn't any way for a player to have a custom alignment, is there?</li>
</ul>
Music (song/quality/taste)<br />
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<ul>
<li>No problems with the music. It all sounds good but there are no noted favorites at this time; that would take a while to form a basis, anyways. Nothing is really 'hated' at this point at least.</li>
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Visuals</div>
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<ul>
<li>Not much to say, but the symbols, once they are understood, are easy to see and everything is crisp and clear for the most part. The higher difficulties get a bit muddy and confusing to read, though then again I suppose that is the point.</li>
<li>Everything is very vibrant and colorful.</li>
</ul>
Overall<br />
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<ul>
<li>The game is getting some decent game play despite the location and it is interesting to the players, though perhaps slightly intimidating to some for reasons listed above</li>
<li>DJMax Technika was released in Tokyo a while ago but it never really took off. It had a cult following as an import game at World Game Circus but when there was a localized release it didn't really take off.</li>
<li>I would definitely like to see more of these machines in arcades across Tokyo. Maybe shuffle the "test location" arcade around once in a while? (I can speak with Odaiba Tokyo Leisure Land if you are interested. That is still a bit out of the way but it is in the middle of Palette Town near Odaiba and draws a lot of traffic)</li>
</ul>seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-18931725209900628392012-01-09T07:01:00.001-08:002012-01-09T07:01:03.105-08:00Meme material♪♪ Old MacDonald did some math, e^i - e^i = 0 ♪♪<br />
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<br />
I just made that up. I thought I should get it out before someone else takes it and memes it in my place.seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-49858062322925696992011-12-29T05:19:00.000-08:002011-12-29T05:19:56.392-08:00AIJBot Poetry (2nd, and hopefully only, revision)Okay, this is a very brief update but I edited and resubmitted the contents of the book to fix some very minor issues that really don't affect the book overall but they were tiny things that were pointed out to me after the fact (and over 500 copies were already sold) <br />
<br />
The basics of what was changed: <br />
<br />
* There were some double spaces after the period on the back cover <br />
* The spelling of "Wonderous" on the back cover was changed to "Wondrous" based on feedback, even though I believe technically both are correct. (one is slightly antiquated) <br />
* I shifted the margins so the left hand pages are more to the left and vice versa for the right hand pages (i.e. I moved them further from the inner crease). Nothing was cut off originally, but I think it looks nicer with the extra space <br />
* As a result, I had to shift some image borders and margins to fit within the new page margins (though in theory I shouldn't have had to when everything on the page shifted) <br />
* Adjusted a transparency issue in one part where the text overlaps an image (the monks on the starfield). It was fine before but I lightened it even more for a slightly better contrast <br />
* "Pedantantly" isn't a word. "Pedantically" is. I regenerated that poem continuously until that same sentence came up with the proper adjective form just to confirm AIJBot could actually generate it. (The dictionary data used as part of the source data included common errors and theoretical conjugations based on multi-language dictionaries and general rules for translation and conversion of concepts and ideas) <br />
* I fixed up the intro to add the proper subtitle "A Collection of Computer-Generated Poetry". The working title "I Doesn't Afraid of Anything" was the 1st section's subheader but it was falsely listed originally as the subtitle of the book and it cause a few issues over at Amazon with advertising and the product page.<br />
<br />
The updated content has been submitted, reviewed, and is available on createspace currently. Amazon will be up to date in a few days at most if it isn't already. <br />
<br />
So now that I am more or less happy with the final "final" version of it, I can get back to the sequel (unless I pursue this Children's book idea more closely, even if only as a sick joke that turns into a complete work somehow) <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/381687_10150430470689910_789964909_8318233_1091180575_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" width="600" src="http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/381687_10150430470689910_789964909_8318233_1091180575_n.jpg" /></a></div>seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-71368006828128372472011-11-25T23:05:00.001-08:002011-11-25T23:16:15.636-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh hey, my book arrived, and by that I don't mean some random book I ordered, I mean the book I wrote. It came out very nice in my humble opinion. I noticed on the whole the outside margins (towards the end of the page) seemed larger than those near the spine, but nothing seems to be cut off and I don't have to overexert myself to open it far enough to see anything. A minor point, but I should take this into account if there is an AIJBot Poetry 2 or something</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXwc6-oClVSqsF24baccxnsosRnUWbv6apfr8M8390aRRPSnyojgVRyEGy1exKFDp2c6XGqeeP7pztCrkI6oL9HHgnL37L3-dJY2e3e3iVEeZF6Pr8XdW7ySMy9cX3d4Zjv0VJy6F9-4/s1600/aijbot_poetry_final_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXwc6-oClVSqsF24baccxnsosRnUWbv6apfr8M8390aRRPSnyojgVRyEGy1exKFDp2c6XGqeeP7pztCrkI6oL9HHgnL37L3-dJY2e3e3iVEeZF6Pr8XdW7ySMy9cX3d4Zjv0VJy6F9-4/s1600/aijbot_poetry_final_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXwc6-oClVSqsF24baccxnsosRnUWbv6apfr8M8390aRRPSnyojgVRyEGy1exKFDp2c6XGqeeP7pztCrkI6oL9HHgnL37L3-dJY2e3e3iVEeZF6Pr8XdW7ySMy9cX3d4Zjv0VJy6F9-4/s400/aijbot_poetry_final_1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf_r2n0bFuzYPN3KyYJSU2fb6uwIZiLfI925laB36Ckl-z-zxDzUkODrz2pZPOJ6zzr4polB00JilZgrXYLS_d9pxGPb0HRwTymkP02FAXXTtKU_SmVWsswSnLh3UUnzZJQiW-zRJ7iw/s1600/aijbot_poetry_final_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRf_r2n0bFuzYPN3KyYJSU2fb6uwIZiLfI925laB36Ckl-z-zxDzUkODrz2pZPOJ6zzr4polB00JilZgrXYLS_d9pxGPb0HRwTymkP02FAXXTtKU_SmVWsswSnLh3UUnzZJQiW-zRJ7iw/s400/aijbot_poetry_final_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SlCmY-PACGyRcsNpNyr_sxqIyTmq_1iq0IW5w6Gg_TW-NNh6DliIIMGECLpRuifyUecn0BD7rTnFNDPCcjfeiAfH4VJUJW_Tr7JQfhsPw3xci3g3PQka7T2EH2xgE9U_9SR6HCIyo60/s1600/aijbot_poetry_final_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SlCmY-PACGyRcsNpNyr_sxqIyTmq_1iq0IW5w6Gg_TW-NNh6DliIIMGECLpRuifyUecn0BD7rTnFNDPCcjfeiAfH4VJUJW_Tr7JQfhsPw3xci3g3PQka7T2EH2xgE9U_9SR6HCIyo60/s400/aijbot_poetry_final_4.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SlCmY-PACGyRcsNpNyr_sxqIyTmq_1iq0IW5w6Gg_TW-NNh6DliIIMGECLpRuifyUecn0BD7rTnFNDPCcjfeiAfH4VJUJW_Tr7JQfhsPw3xci3g3PQka7T2EH2xgE9U_9SR6HCIyo60/s1600/aijbot_poetry_final_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7SlCmY-PACGyRcsNpNyr_sxqIyTmq_1iq0IW5w6Gg_TW-NNh6DliIIMGECLpRuifyUecn0BD7rTnFNDPCcjfeiAfH4VJUJW_Tr7JQfhsPw3xci3g3PQka7T2EH2xgE9U_9SR6HCIyo60/s1600/aijbot_poetry_final_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><br />
<iframe src="//www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2FAIJBot-Poetry%2F282220518482850&width=292&height=62&colorscheme=dark&show_faces=false&border_color&stream=false&header=false" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:292px; height:62px;" allowTransparency="true"></iframe>seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-3572140924412171562011-11-25T07:08:00.001-08:002011-11-25T07:08:30.806-08:00The infamous Hub TowerSometimes I mention or get asked about the "Hub Tower" that I mention having from time to time (shared amongst friends) It is basically 2 pints of the in-house brew, which is surprisingly stout.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxNo49UqTHlkmXiSo_mAf0wTg51Thl63D39rg5Fpto4O7eCSvMXt6za0LItoP9POLmP1uoyvijzLJbn1sItWASJsc-rKMcHLJedTwyVRZ6phwuLPsCa6vYTqFWAyEtcdwHufQa_YCsZw/s1600/hubtower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxNo49UqTHlkmXiSo_mAf0wTg51Thl63D39rg5Fpto4O7eCSvMXt6za0LItoP9POLmP1uoyvijzLJbn1sItWASJsc-rKMcHLJedTwyVRZ6phwuLPsCa6vYTqFWAyEtcdwHufQa_YCsZw/s400/hubtower.jpg" /></a></div>seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-17044775841654422572011-11-23T06:46:00.000-08:002011-11-23T07:47:08.024-08:00So you want to publish your own book<table><tr valign="top"><td><br />
Self-Publishing is something that is cheap or free to do, and there are helpful resources out there. As a bonus, it may look nice to potential employers to have a book credit on your resume. Also, it is quite fun and very self-rewarding to see the final product in your hands.<br />
<br />
I am aware of three different ones you can use, though there are probably more. I have had experience with the first two of them directly. My book on the history of the DDR scene in Japan was published through Lulu and my AIJBot Poetry book (now on Amazon) was published through Createspace.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lulu.com/" target="_blank">Lulu</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.createspace.com/" target="_blank">CreateSpace</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lightningsource.com/" target="_blank">Lightning Source</a><br />
</td><td><br />
<img src="http://aaronin.jp/aijbot_poetry_cover_small.jpg"><br />
(published through CreateSpace)<br />
<br />
<img src="http://aaronin.jp/ddrbookcover5.jpg"><br />
(published through Lulu)<br />
</td></tr>
</table><br />
<br />
<b><u>General Notes on Online Publishing/Process</u></b><br />
<br />
<br />
Lulu is probably the easiest place to get a book published, but there is no quality control. They don't care what you set to print, they'll publish it, but do this at your own risk. The default option is to only publish on lulu.com, which is fine, but if you opt to have it published on Amazon as well (which did require a small fee when I used them last), they may step in and hold up your publishing progress since they reserve the right to refuse poorly printed/illegible/bad/unprintable material. However, the big advantage of this lack of proofing is that if you spot a mistake or need to overwrite your documents, make a new cover, update your book info. etc., you can do it immediately and the changes will take effect immediately.<br />
<br />
One other disadvantage of Lulu is the distribution network. The prices have come down in recent years from what I understand but they are still more expensive than say, Amazon. If you are looking to make a profit, lulu is going to take a bit more off the top than other places.<br />
<br />
With Createspace you have similar options, though they will not only put your book on Amazon but help with wider distribution nets (for a price: $39 US at this time). That would help you expand to more worldwide distributors (including the different Amazons of the world) as well as actual bookstores. You also get slightly more profit per sale if you opt for the extended distribution option since that puts you in their "Gold" club.<br />
<br />
The process is well defined through Createspace; very similar to Lulu in fact, though there are some key differences that may hold up your progress (though probably for your own good in some cases). The first thing to note is that everything you submit is subject to review by their system. They have taken issue with images (do you own the right to use them?), they will not allow you to say in the book that "Amazon" is the publisher (for whatever reason I forget now), and other small copyright points. This means that after you submit files for review, there is a waiting period of up to a day or two before you can continue. This peaks when you submit the book interior and are ready for the proof copy. You *must* order a proof copy before Createspace will let you publish the final thing. Once you order it, you can then choose to publish it at that point before you receive it, but it is strongly recommended you take a look in print form first since some things jump out at you on paper where they didn't on screen. Also, once your book is "published", you will jump through many hoops if you want anything changed, because it affects not only your createspace page, but anything on Amazon.<br />
<br />
I honestly don't know too much about Lightning Source except that they are a printing center first and foremost and they just happen to publish as well. Also, they demand very specific types of PDFs for submission (I can't remember the specific format but it was one you had to tweak settings in some Adobe app to get). It had to conform to that standard or you couldn't submit anything.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Important Points - Interior</u></b><br />
<br />
Regardless of what you use to write your book, in the end you will be exporting to PDF.<br />
<br />
Also, remember that the first page of your book is actually the right side page facing you, the second being the back of that page, and so forth (go open a book and take a look if you don't know what I mean). This means your book must have an even number of pages. Add a blank one somewhere if you need it. Viewing your book and setting your pagination in something like Word can be confusing because Word lays out your book like this:<br />
<br />
1 2<br />
3 4<br />
5 6<br />
7 8<br />
<br />
However, when your book is printed, the pages look like this:<br />
<br />
1<br />
2 3<br />
4 5<br />
6 7<br />
8<br />
<br />
To check how it will really look, open your PDF in Acrobat, go to the View Menu, choose Page Display > Show Cover Page during Two-up and also select Page Display > Two-up Continuous.<br />
<br />
Include all pages in a single PDF file, with the front cover at the beginning, and the back cover at the end. Ignore the book spine (that is done when creating the cover).<br />
<br />
If at all possible, make the PDF text-based, not image-based. In other words, avoid creating your file from full-page scans or rasterized page images. (But the covers can be images.)<br />
<br />
A page in the file must show only one page in the book, and the dimensions should equal the book’s trim size. In other words, don’t output the PDF as two-page spreads instead of individual pages. Don’t submit PDFs at 8.5 x 11 inches with a small centered text block. Don’t include bleed or slug areas.<br />
<br />
Embed and subset all fonts. You can do this at the export to PDF phase. In PrimoPDF (what I used), I set the option to "Prepress"<br />
<br />
Non-vector images should be exactly 200 pixels per inch. The same goes for page scans, if you use them.<br />
<br />
Images should be in RGB, grayscale, or monochrome. Do not use CMYK. Use an sRGB profile for RGB images, and Gamma 2.2 for grayscale ones, with profiles embedded. (If you don’t know what any of this means or don’t know how to do it, then never mind.)<br />
<br />
When generating the PDF (not before) apply JPEG compression to color and grayscale images, but at the highest quality that allows the file size to be reasonable for uploading. Monochrome images should also be compressed. The maximum file size should be no greater than 500MB.<br />
<br />
Also, if at all possible, do all your graphic editing in a separate program and plug them into your book as-is. If you rotate something in Word/InDesign such as WordArt or some random clipart image, the exported PDF will sometimes have a grey border around it that does not *usually* come out when printing; only visible on screen, but there are random cases where the border is visible, and this only happens for rotated graphics as far as I have seen.<br />
<br />
Oh yes, do not add any type of security like a password.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Important Points - Cover</u></b><br />
<br />
With Lulu and Createspace, they have their own Cover Creator app you can use. The designs are pretty basic but there is quite a bit of variety. Just upload your own pictures, edit the titles and description and you are good to go. You can go on your own for this part and use a template file but really, it is *much* easier to use the Cover Creator unless you have something *very* specific you can't reproduce otherwise.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Important Points - Advertising/Publicity</u></b><br />
<br />
With Lulu and Createspace, you are given your own page which you can customize, including customizable previews. On Amazon, however, you are at their mercy. They take whatever info. CreateSpace or Lulu fires at them and uses it as it. This may not be a problem, but if you want to change something, be prepared for a lot of red tape and obscure contact paths and waiting to get anything done. Also, Amazon has that "Look Inside" feature, which is nice, but once you click "Agree" to their conditions, they will pick some arbitrary section of the book to show, and you can't easily edit or even delete it. Be warned.<br />
<br />
I also made a Facebook page for my AIJBot Poetry book but you could also use Google+ for that, too. You could also set up twitter or even a blogger account for it if you really wanted.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Important Points - Electronic Publishing</u></b><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
It is possible to publish through Amazon for the Kindle. I do not know much about this phase but I am looking into it. It is easy enough to convert a document with Calibre (if you have an eBook reader, get this *now* if you don't have it), but putting it on sale and formatting it so they will be happy is another story. You can also DRM your work, but I'm against DRM in general, so I'm not the best person to ask about that.seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-74578290626500868892011-10-17T05:22:00.000-07:002011-10-17T05:24:47.908-07:00Review of the Konami DDR Hand Controller<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82JGjPjtrvvtD1by1JHGmG8Y1tOS6WTG6OAuzJ-rlOvtTa2-hb5PhbmKYYKaWOfN2eib6HiACqEdGNrvMZTajosgzp81dFESK_aCHynmzewsg2pGfRJ9Q7UU8bwesoGDXP_KEfxqKztM/s1600/konamihand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82JGjPjtrvvtD1by1JHGmG8Y1tOS6WTG6OAuzJ-rlOvtTa2-hb5PhbmKYYKaWOfN2eib6HiACqEdGNrvMZTajosgzp81dFESK_aCHynmzewsg2pGfRJ9Q7UU8bwesoGDXP_KEfxqKztM/s1600/konamihand.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Konami's Playstation DDR Hand Controller (circa 2000)</div><br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Background</span><br />
<br />
This was a home controller for use in your hand designed by Konami and sold in 2000. Although DDR could be played on controller perfectly fine for 1P mode, it was a bit of a hassle to play SOLO (6-panel) or double (8-panel) since that required a combination of the L/R buttons and/or a second controller (though there are people quite comfortable with the 2-controller setup).<br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Button Layout</span><br />
<br />
Okay, the button layout is obviously designed to mimic a DDR Stage for your fingers...well, kind of. It puts two 6-panel (SOLO) stages side by side. The button layout is as follows relative to a DualShock Controller:<br />
<br />
<br />
Start/Select : As shown<br />
<br />
1P Left : D-Pad Left<br />
1P Down : D-Pad Down<br />
1P Up : D-Pad Up<br />
1P Right : D-Pad Right<br />
1P Up-Left : L1<br />
1P Up-Right : R1<br />
<br />
2P Left : Square<br />
2P Down : X<br />
2P Up : Triangle<br />
2P Right : Circle<br />
2P Up-Left : L2<br />
2P Up-Right : R2<br />
<br />
This of course means that if you really wanted to, you could use this with other Playstation games, but the controller is a bit stiff and I can't think of too many games outside of maybe some RPGs where it might be nice to have them on the front of the controller.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Usability/Comfort</span><br />
<br />
To start, it fits well in your hand, much like a regular DualShock controller. However, it does feel weird for there to be no L/R buttons, have no analog sticks, and have a slightly wider top section (it makes the top panel area more of a rectangular shape)<br />
<br />
Once you get over that hurdle though, the buttons are actually quite stiff, even after quite a bit of use. I'm not sure if they were designed that way for more of a sense of stability but in any case, you really notice that you have to put more effort into charts that start to get fast at all. Granted, it does soften up a bit after a *lot* of use. I have considered taking it apart and lubricating the buttons on several occasions but since this controller is actually a bit difficult to find these days I didn't want to take the chance of messing it up and wrecking it or something.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;">Overall Impressions</span><br />
<br />
For 4-panel play, I much prefer the regular DualShock. However, for practicing double play this has been a great help to me since I don't feel comfortable with the two-controller setup and it seems more natural to me since the controller is set up like a dual stage. It was also good for 6-panel play as well though I was getting used to using the L/R buttons before the SOLO/6-panel series was dropped altogether so this may be a moot point/not a selling point anymore.<br />
<br />
If you are interested in playing double mode on controller or possibly 6-panel mode, this may be worth checking out for you, though for 4-panel play, the Dualshock works much nicer IMHO.<br />
<br />
These controllers were not particularly expensive when they were new (2000~2500 yen) and they were under 1000 yen in the following years until they became rare. If you can find one at a used game shop or in the back streets of Akihabara, you can probably still get it for anywhere between 1000~2000 yen but if you order online through Amazon or such, you could pay as high as 3500~4000 yen.seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-46641660595007989952011-09-18T07:01:00.000-07:002011-09-18T07:03:09.985-07:00Tokyo Game Show 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87PoTO3ls7RYr8KwfbLYjjAOJkwgiCeP04RUlF1UOAoSnZGLbCr4p_0om1xe06p5NAH1nMeNhZU9ML9kV2cHeaCOpII8Ocp97Vy_uBCObOFNRVxmBNgz-06CKqCbZfOQuXRafMAO-XBU/s1600/tgs2011banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87PoTO3ls7RYr8KwfbLYjjAOJkwgiCeP04RUlF1UOAoSnZGLbCr4p_0om1xe06p5NAH1nMeNhZU9ML9kV2cHeaCOpII8Ocp97Vy_uBCObOFNRVxmBNgz-06CKqCbZfOQuXRafMAO-XBU/s640/tgs2011banner.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/archmiel2007/TokyoGameShow2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2Vx5Osp52WKA">Here is a gallery of Pictures from the weekend<br />
<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-iQErtrUIMHc/TnXTGUolcYI/AAAAAAAAJa8/6H1BLpEhW_k/s128/DSC06514.JPG" /><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m_9pfS109oQ/TnXTOQKj-OI/AAAAAAAAJbU/gBGMLt3HDk0/s128/DSC06521.JPG" /><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PIpisIL9yKo/TnXTaUfHwDI/AAAAAAAAJb4/aQp2rQGsrO4/s128/DSC06530.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Okay, I'll lay out some of the good points first:<br />
<ul><li>The usually strict rules on cameras seems to have been relaxed a little bit this year. It seemed to be getting worse with each passing year up to the point the press weren't allowed to take photos at some venues.</li>
<li>Even though it was very crowded as usual, it did feel like you could move around a bit faster this year. I'm not sure why that was. </li>
<li>More cosplayers than in previous years. I'm not really into cosplay at all, but I can't deny that having a good number of them adds to the atmosphere.</li>
</ul>And some of the not so good:<br />
<ul><li>Leaflets and pamphlets galore, but no bags for love nor money except for two places: the "GREE" booth in the 2nd hall and the Gamefreak display outside the exhibition halls.</li>
<li>Long lineups are expected, but it was a bit ridiculous to see 3 hour waits (or closed off lines completely) at some lines (The PlayStation VITA being the most popular)</li>
</ul><br />
And, on to the meat of the show, some of the games (and hardware). There are far more than I can list here but I'll go over the ones that were popular or ones I had a particular interest in.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Playstation Vita</b></span><br />
<a href="http://www.jp.playstation.com/psvita/">http://www.jp.playstation.com/psvita/</a><br />
<br />
It was there and it was *the* hot product of the show. A number of games were already announced for it and it also looks to be backwards compatible with the PSP library.<br />
<br />
Uncharted<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjomWyt1oU4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjomWyt1oU4</a><br />
Wipeout 2064<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WJOYG_lnT0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WJOYG_lnT0</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Xperia PLAY</b></span><br />
<a href="http://www.sonyericsson.co.jp/product/docomo/so-01d/">http://www.sonyericsson.co.jp/product/docomo/so-01d/</a><br />
<br />
This is an Android phone by Docomo that also plays games, and the phone slides out to reveal a controller, meaning this looks like a portable game system that just happens to also make phone calls. One big point is that it is Playstation-certified which means that Playstation games on the Playstation Network certified by Sony are playable on this phone in addition to their own lineup. There are a handful ready to play now (20 or so from the sounds of it)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Square Enix</b></span><br />
<br />
<b>Theatrhythm - Final Fantasy (Nintendo 3DS)</b><b><br />
</b><br />
<a href="http://www.square-enix.co.jp/t_ff/">http://www.square-enix.co.jp/t_ff/</a><br />
<br />
A Final Fantasy...rhythm game. I see the gameplay demo on the main site but I'm unsure about this title. At least the genre still has some life left to it, I suppose. You tap, drag and slash the stylus on the 3DS screen to victory.<br />
<br />
<b>Final Fantasy X13-2 (PS3 / Xbox360)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/ff13-2/">http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/ff13-2/</a><br />
<br />
I saw this in action and although it looked just as nice as the previous installment (read: real pretty) and moved very fluently, a lot of gamers are concerned this will turn out like the last time Square-Enix tried to make a direct sequel to a Final Fantasy game (FFX-2). We'll see when this is out. The only other thing of note is the Japanese release also coming out on Xbox 360 at the same time as the PS3 (the Xbox 360 release of FF13 came much later in Japan)...not that there are too many people that own Xbox360s in Japan anyways.<br />
<br />
<b>Final Fantasy Type Zero (PSP)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/0/">http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/0/</a><br />
<br />
I'm still not exactly sure what this is supposed to be. It looks like a Monster Hunter type game but at this point I'm not sure. The game is out soon, though. Monster Hunter reigns supreme in that genre here though (with God Eater having a share of the pie, , so I'm not sure how this will fare<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Konami</b></span><br />
<br />
<b>Reflec Beat Plus (iOS)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.konami.jp/products/touch_reflecbeatplus/">http://www.konami.jp/products/touch_reflecbeatplus/</a><br />
<br />
It plays just like the arcade version. It doesn't seem *as* sensitive but it might be a combination of the smaller play area/screen and the fact I might have been touching the iPad screen lighter than I touch the screen on the Reflec Beat arcade game.<br />
<br />
<b>jubeat Plus (iOS)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.konami.jp/products/touch_jubeatplus/">http://www.konami.jp/products/touch_jubeatplus/</a><br />
<br />
I haven't played this myself, just seen it in action. It looks very nice too though I might have similar issues with sensitivity as I mentioned above with Reflect Beat Plus<br />
<br />
<b>New Love Plus + (3DS)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.konami.jp/products/newloveplus/">http://www.konami.jp/products/newloveplus/</a><br />
<br />
I'm not really a fan of these dating simulator games but I know they are popular. From what I have seen the gameplay is still basically the same. I'm not sure if there is more to this over the Nintendo DS version than the 3D gimmick.<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sony</b></span><br />
<br />
<b>Ni no Kuni (Ghibli) (PS3)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.ninokuni.jp/">http://www.ninokuni.jp/</a><br />
<br />
This was originally on the Nintendo DS and raised a few eyebrows at first because it was produced in part by Ghibli, the same company that brought us many of the classic Japanese animated films. The promos for the Nintendo DS version looked very nice but someone seemed to be lost in the transition to the small portable screen. The PS3 version has a completely different story and actually does look Ghibli-esque this time around. There is buzz for this when it comes out<br />
<br />
<b>ICO / Shadow of the Colossus HD (PS3)</b> <br />
<a href="http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/ico/main.html#/greatsharing">http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/ico/main.html#/greatsharing</a><br />
<a href="http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/wander/">http://www.jp.playstation.com/scej/title/wander/</a><br />
<br />
These are both older games from the PS2 era brought to life in high-def on the PS3. They may be the same game (not sure about added content) but they look wonderful in HD this time around and Shadow of the Colossus doesn't have the extreme motion blur used to cover up the fact it couldn't keep up the framerate at busy/complicated times.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Capcom</b></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Monster Hunter 3 Tri-G (3DS)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.capcom.co.jp/monsterhunter/3G/">http://www.capcom.co.jp/monsterhunter/3G/</a><br />
<br />
This is another installment of the Monster Hunter franchise. The one thing of note is support for an extra "slide pad" which is a plug-in secondary analog stick on the right side. I'm not sure how this is utilized<br />
<br />
<b>Street Fighter vs. Tekken (PS3 / Vita / Xbox360).</b><br />
<a href="http://www.capcom.co.jp/sfxtk/">http://www.capcom.co.jp/sfxtk/</a><br />
<br />
I honestly don't know a lot about these fighting games but there was a fair sized stand devoted to it. Take a look at the site to find out more, I suppose. <br />
<br />
<b>Asura's Wrath</b> <b>(PS3)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.capcom.co.jp/asura/">http://www.capcom.co.jp/asura/</a><br />
<br />
This was announced at last year's Tokyo Game Show and it appeared here again. There isn't that much to say right now but while last year it looked like it might be a Sengoku Musen type game, it looks more like a God of War type game this time around. It looked a lot slicker this time but there still wasn't much reported on the actual game itself.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sega</b></span><br />
<br />
<b>Rhythm Kaito R (3DS)</b><br />
<a href="http://tgs.sega.jp/2011/data/lineup/rhythm_kaito">http://r.sega.jp/</a><br />
<br />
There was a large booth devoted to this. It looks like Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! or Elite Beat Agents in combination with Rhythm Tengoku. I don't see what all the hype is about yet, but I'm keeping tabs on this since I am into rhythm games and all.<br />
<br />
<b>Project Diva Extend (PSP)</b><br />
<a href="http://miku.sega.jp/extend/index.html">http://miku.sega.jp/extend/index.html</a><br />
<br />
The next installment of the Project Diva music game series by Sega. There is this and another game for the 3DS. The series was well received but some players here are concerned the whole series is getting stale.<br />
<br />
<b>Project Mirai (3DS)</b><br />
<a href="http://miku.sega.jp/mirai/">http://miku.sega.jp/mirai/</a><br />
<br />
This is "the other" Hatsune Miku (Project Diva) game. This one looks similar with everything in "Chibi" or super-deformed style. I'm not sure if that alone (and being on the 3DS) is a big enough reason to run out and get this.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
(I know there are more titles I should probably add and possible errors, etc. but I can update this post as need be)seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-11227201102563861502011-06-24T08:37:00.000-07:002011-06-24T08:37:56.171-07:0010 Jubeat Machines Ahoy!Some places sure like to pack in as many of the same game as possible. It isn't often I see 10 of the same game except for some fighting games.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6be6kLVbbpLIvzdVy0sMBLsKQuzQ9qJDMkku3BJGHM60lcT885RaBlzWTeQ6vQdcuX7utlhUjQbsxxs70If3XNq99GJkjwNhWJ7ElZ-vikPZShnRtd9PV-BP7OxWWulfyRS2YIPfkFk/s1600/10jubeat_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG6be6kLVbbpLIvzdVy0sMBLsKQuzQ9qJDMkku3BJGHM60lcT885RaBlzWTeQ6vQdcuX7utlhUjQbsxxs70If3XNq99GJkjwNhWJ7ElZ-vikPZShnRtd9PV-BP7OxWWulfyRS2YIPfkFk/s320/10jubeat_a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqkONBxbi7zRhUAXAVVj8gWILYeTSjP-VErFc-dWioR9tpuF4FNpTlj1sCLkvDGyyug5n0Jf-1WlbPv4bXvbUCltZVoITbsXoztOaYuA7gmzexXrIhbKrsgOobRwHUIXPbo0ozAiOgmY/s1600/10jubeat_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqkONBxbi7zRhUAXAVVj8gWILYeTSjP-VErFc-dWioR9tpuF4FNpTlj1sCLkvDGyyug5n0Jf-1WlbPv4bXvbUCltZVoITbsXoztOaYuA7gmzexXrIhbKrsgOobRwHUIXPbo0ozAiOgmY/s320/10jubeat_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-49566438186708520882011-06-09T09:17:00.000-07:002011-06-09T09:17:12.444-07:00So you want to be an InterpreterAs I have worked as a professional translator and interpreter on and off for a number of years, I thought I would share some of the common tips and tricks of the trade as shared within the groups of translators and interpreters I have dealt with over the years. This will be a kind of point form list but I'll expand on each. Some of these may seem obvious but the number of clients and executive staff that don't know or comprehend some of this is a bit concerning.<br />
<br />
* Translators and Interpreters are usually noticeably better going from language A->B than the other way around. True fluency in two languages is very rare (to the point of understanding all the nuances/subtleties of both languages as a native speaker would)<br />
<br />
* Interpretation in particular is very mentally exhausting. Ideally, for every hour of interpretation, you should take a 10 minute break to clear your mind, though also ideally, no one meeting should be more than an hour despite them sometimes being significantly longer.<br />
<br />
* Take a memo pad and jot down key words/points as they are said so you don't get everything jumbled or lost in your mind<br />
<br />
* Make sure you stop the speaker every couple sentences or so. The longer you wait between each translation/interpretation the harder it gets to keep it all straight and remember the details.<br />
<br />
* Ask the speakers to speak up if you are having trouble hearing. You need to be able to hear what is going on.<br />
<br />
* In a first meeting, it is common for specific company/industry only terminology to pop up. Odds are one side of the meeting will ask for clarification but you should pipe up and ask for clarification as soon as possible if nobody else asks for clarification first.<br />
<br />
* On that note, make sure you clear up any ambiguous or hard to understand terminology or contents before you try to interpret them (and ask as soon as possible). Never try to BS your way through something, as it will come back to bite you sooner or later.<br />
<br />
* Jokes and humor don't translate well and it usually isn't worth your time or trouble to try and convey it to the other party.<br />
<br />
* Do not try to add personal interpretation to something. Keep things deadpan and have the other side clarify what they imply.<br />
<br />
* However, if you belong to one side of the meeting (same company), feel free to subtly note to your side (perhaps during a break) anything that seems odd or out of place. Don't try to make it an issue in the meeting in front of everyone since your job is just to interpret, not make management, financial or business decisions.<br />
<br />
* Do not participate in insults if things go awry, keep things neutral or tone down the insult to the basic point behind the insult if you are being forced to interpret<br />
<br />
* People make mistakes and nobody is perfect, don't sweat any minor mistakes and don't take criticism from one side or the other to heart, especially if it is the case where you are the only one there capable of decent interpretation between two languages.<br />
<br />
* Have a drink of water with you. Your throat will start to go dry, especially if it turns into a lengthy meeting. Losing your voice after several long meetings in a week is not unheard of.<br />
<br />
(and on translation)<br />
<br />
* As a side note, an average translator can handle about 8 to 10 pages of translation a day of decent quality assuming 250 words a page. If someone claims more than that, like 25, he/she is using machine translation aids and/or rushing the quality to the point of an error-filled inconsistent translation. Also, consider the fact you will need to go back and proofread your work. Don't let management schedule an impossible workload in a very short time, and remind them the translation will suffer the more the deadline is rushed.seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-48256304170254740062011-06-02T08:49:00.000-07:002011-06-02T08:57:01.077-07:00The 10 "K"s of Japanese ITOriginally, there were "3K" jobs referring to the ones cheap labor (stereotypically foreign labor) pulled off in place of native Japanese. The three Ks were "Kitsui" (Hard and in physical or demanding), "Kitanai" (Dirty) and "Kiken" (Dangerous)<br />
<br />
In recent years, the IT industry has become a buyer's market and the employees have had to bear some heavy burdens. As a result, the IT industry doesn't have a very glamorous image, and this affects the industry because graduates are turned off the industry altogether in some cases because they do not wish a lifestyle like that of their fathers, a lifestyle that took their father from them at an early age, kept their father out of their family lives, etc. Although smaller and startup companies are less prone to these, this list summarizes the most common concerns and complaints among Japanese "salarymen" workers. This started at around 5 but keeps getting more added to it (as people find more to complain about)<br />
<br />
1. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kitsui</span> (Demanding workload)<br />
2. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kaerenai </span>(Can't go home (on time/at the end of the work day))<br />
3. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kyuuryo ga hikui</span> (Low salary)<br />
4. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kisoku ga kibishii</span> (Stringent company/industry rules)<br />
5. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kyuukei ga torenai</span> (Can't take a break)<br />
6. <span style="color: #e69138;">Keshou ga noranai</span> (Can't get time to put on makeup (Women only))<br />
7. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kekkon dekinai</span> (Can't get married)<br />
8. <span style="color: #e69138;">Koi mo dekinai</span> (Can't find love)<br />
9. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kinyoubi nomini ikenai</span> (Can't go out/relax on a Friday night)<br />
10. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kaachann (fukumu yome) ni moushiwakenai</span> (lit. Apologies to mother/wife (for interruptions in social plans, unable to make/plan/attend family events). It can also mean regret for disappointing your mother/wife (for perceiving oneself as a failure or disappointment))<br />
<br />
Other ones I've come across<br />
<br />
11. <span style="color: #e69138;">Karoshi </span>(Death from overwork)<br />
12. <span style="color: #e69138;">Karojisatsu </span>(Suicide brought on from overwork)<br />
13. <span style="color: #e69138;">Kodomo mo dekinai</span> (Can't have children)<br />
...<br />
And the list goes on<br />
<br />
If industry "experts" and recruiting firms are wondering why people aren't so thrilled to work in IT, maybe improving the working conditions would help...<br />
<br />
It's too bad <a href="http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/19639/Canon+Electronics.html">there are companies that are proud to operate to make employees miserable to such a degree</a>seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-81089240704069720892011-06-01T08:06:00.000-07:002011-06-01T08:06:41.168-07:00Happy BDay to Me + Book PhotosYay, I'm another year older (June 2)<br />
<br />
Also, pics of my book (The only difference between the proof copy I have and the real thing is the thickness of the paper inside which is marginally better in the final copy):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1U1z_wbg_NhnhxBgjDcQwrZNlIpJiNO8tr9MvHcZlrjxM1Mhs64hG7D4mayZ2SeVxqfHtmTRWn3RxYXeHFVgAC_tWLeSecBR1AFGdGFBE0XK2jzJlo3w-CJhNu81iLWFBYBxnehy9xiY/s1600/aaronbook4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1U1z_wbg_NhnhxBgjDcQwrZNlIpJiNO8tr9MvHcZlrjxM1Mhs64hG7D4mayZ2SeVxqfHtmTRWn3RxYXeHFVgAC_tWLeSecBR1AFGdGFBE0XK2jzJlo3w-CJhNu81iLWFBYBxnehy9xiY/s400/aaronbook4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOmTwxsgPfnkf9fgCmB2lol9t7TuGYZgFe_hPfBQjL0IuLjR8Ep_Q1Xtgx0AKN0Rf3EQ5MhpI2n_M-1STlHexmHnmA3j_BzJ8_OKkk5-5U093bI3JI2fELcuVl-FGGuEwMhAcBObEKiI/s1600/aaronbook2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOmTwxsgPfnkf9fgCmB2lol9t7TuGYZgFe_hPfBQjL0IuLjR8Ep_Q1Xtgx0AKN0Rf3EQ5MhpI2n_M-1STlHexmHnmA3j_BzJ8_OKkk5-5U093bI3JI2fELcuVl-FGGuEwMhAcBObEKiI/s400/aaronbook2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HYgSNxiz5eh-r7n_RdA-OlRWaR2WchdnXvKtn34Pij4LizjNU9B_Mn8iqaxp7sT1-kAkALPwCm9MFFgb-HfRNvbP9CXiGmNBLath-DQl7k3qqt9SRb3DZvFdRcIY5NTqcJ3hwYt3fM8/s1600/aaronbook3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HYgSNxiz5eh-r7n_RdA-OlRWaR2WchdnXvKtn34Pij4LizjNU9B_Mn8iqaxp7sT1-kAkALPwCm9MFFgb-HfRNvbP9CXiGmNBLath-DQl7k3qqt9SRb3DZvFdRcIY5NTqcJ3hwYt3fM8/s400/aaronbook3.jpg" /></a></div>seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-59528603628039529492011-05-29T01:10:00.000-07:002011-05-29T01:10:32.427-07:00HR and Candidates Debasing ThemselvesThis isn't anything particularly new, but in the economic crunch of recent years, I have witnessed just how much people will sacrifice their beliefs, time and money just to land a job originally advertised with much better conditions.<br />
<br />
Yes, back when I was unemployed and looking through some of the job posting at the government employment agency <a href="https://www.hellowork.go.jp/">"Hello Work"</a>, I found some particularly <a href="http://aaronin.jp/shashin/badjob.jpg">bad jobs</a> (trilingual full-time translator (English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese) making minimum wage - highest possible income only reached after a few years with the company - yes, I checked into this - but in reality I wouldn't expect the salary to increase any)<br />
<br />
These are not the ones I'm talking about. Some people need the money and I don't hold it against them for trying to get anything out there in times of need. If a job is advertised with low pay and/or long hours, at least you know up front what they are asking of you.<br />
<br />
The problem is when an employer lays out a decent job with decent conditions/pay and then pulls the rug out from your feet at a group interview just to see how cheaply he can land a slave.<br />
<br />
It almost seems criminal for some of these employers to cram 30+ people in a room and cutting people out of the running if they won't budge on hours, conditions or salary (it is a Battle Royale, with the HR staff reducing the offer gradually and seeing who is left at the end). I know it is real tough landing a job here, but you aren't doing yourself a favor by taking on a mountain of responsibilities with long hours for peanuts. It just leads to depression and anxiety, and the worst thing is that you have set a precedent that your boss (thinks) he can just easily find another slave for peanuts if you dare complain. If you have a family to support or even live in a decent apartment alone, you may very well not be able to support yourself/family. (Working Poor, as it is known)<br />
<br />
I know it is an employer's market out there, but it would be nice if the labor board of Japan wasn't so toothless. In a few of the interviews I have been given I have been asked some outrageous things.<br />
<br />
* Will I work 300 hours a month?<br />
* Will I work for minimum wage (as a Unix Sysadmin) just to land the job?<br />
* Do I have a problem paying transportation costs to/from clients offices around Japan at my own expense (for a job that doesn't pay that well to start with)<br />
* Would you pay for an apartment close to the office (at your own expense) so you can work longer hours instead of wasting it on the trains home?<br />
<br />
I could go on, but why isn't this sort of questioning and behavior illegal? Even when I have phoned the labor board on some of these people, very little comes from it, almost like it were just a slap on the wrist. And to make matters worse, as long as candidates think that the only way to get a job is by debasing themselves to the point of slavery/poverty, things won't improve.<br />
<br />
I'm happy for those out there that have decent paying jobs at fair conditions. They say it is all about what you know but the smarter ones of them will say it is all about who you know. When you don't have that option, the rat race is an...interesting place, indeed.seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-88076785378457717652011-05-27T08:34:00.000-07:002011-05-27T08:34:50.689-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCz2VbQbQ05JxbQOJpaD0pujWNI7Of4uVPByWI4hneSylLO32mMTnTEyc8LR_uFuRM0KzNt34IPwqUFfV6Ati_oLzWcOrHyR4tGirxAxvaDRdL-r-dNGXLbviQd7ybc8j1W-A2orfKsYg/s1600/ddrbookcover3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="292" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCz2VbQbQ05JxbQOJpaD0pujWNI7Of4uVPByWI4hneSylLO32mMTnTEyc8LR_uFuRM0KzNt34IPwqUFfV6Ati_oLzWcOrHyR4tGirxAxvaDRdL-r-dNGXLbviQd7ybc8j1W-A2orfKsYg/s400/ddrbookcover3.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After many revisions and updates, I think I am finally happy (mostly) with the content so it is now in print over on lulu.com.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/combos-continuing/10711398">Here is a link to the book over at lulu.com</a> - $8.18 US (Shipping Extra)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="postbody">I can only release this book at cost legally due to copyright issues and such (educational purposes only, not to be used for a profit, etc. according to US Fair Use laws). <br />
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However, I will also make all the PDFs available too in case you wish to print it off yourself at Kinko's or wherever. Note that the print edition uses B&W (greyscale) prints inside to keep the cost down (the cover is in full color). A full color book through them of this size is over $20 US. If there is demand, I can make one available, however. <br />
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Book Cover (front/back - color) <br />
<a class="postlink" href="http://aaronin.jp/ddrbook_cover.pdf" target="_blank">http://aaronin.jp/ddrbook_cover.pdf</a> <br />
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Inside 184 pages (Black and White) <br />
<a class="postlink" href="http://aaronin.jp/JDDR_book_bw.pdf" target="_blank">http://aaronin.jp/JDDR_book_bw.pdf</a> <br />
<br />
Inside 184 pages (Color) <br />
<a class="postlink" href="http://aaronin.jp/JDDR_book.pdf" target="_blank">http://aaronin.jp/JDDR_book.pdf</a> <br />
<br />
Original A4 sized book contents: <br />
<a class="postlink" href="http://aaronin.jp/JDDR.pdf" target="_blank">http://aaronin.jp/JDDR.pdf</a> <br />
<br />
<br />
Yes, there may still be a few slight errors in this, but I can always revise the contents on lulu should I need to/make another revision. I'm just happy to finally get it out there.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-66557790276235919922011-05-21T07:36:00.000-07:002011-05-21T07:36:32.854-07:00From the "What's he been doing all this time?" dept.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well, after a few years of only sparse contact, I finally managed to hook up with an old friend/DDR legend Yasu</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicrSt1q-5SCaAuuFP-DCt_4hA71DWfUiWQNAkg3OW9HG59MSUZZF3sExayPC_Wm1C5pEcYRhVwdKpHhOVEvBN6jaHXXwBKJMTmmNgvs8-whEcxJeYQ1bYKqw6NqDRvT4J9Gb8vGks-bC8/s320/aaronyasu2011.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
Some players of the day might remember Yasu from this picture.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://aaronin.jp/images/yasuaaamax300hs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://aaronin.jp/images/yasuaaamax300hs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
It turns out he has been up to quite a bit since we last met. Even though he doesn't play DDR quite a much as he used to, he still does the Max 300 AAA thing, though less so these days.<br />
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Of more interesting news is the fact he is getting married. I never would have imagined that, but then again he was just as shocked when he found out I had a son..<br />
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I mention this because for years, he achieved some surprising "success" in the forms of recognition, a small fan base and even invitations to events in Japan and abroad all because he was good at a video game (specifically, a perfect score on a once-considered incredibly difficult song). As time passed, though, a number of other players were able to perform the same accomplishments and more. Yasu couldn't get by just being Yasu anymore, and that is when he seemed to lose his direction in life, not having any particular interest in anything else.<br />
<br />
His brother ended up working in the IT industry and still plays music games as a hobby but it was troubling to him and the rest of his family and friends to see Yasu seemingly lost in life with no clear goals or ambitions.<br />
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It took a few years but he got his act together. He's an office worker right now but he has managed to have some interest in *a* job that isn't convenience store work, his girlfriend (now fiancee) is supportive and he can actually speak with some kind of recognizable grammar and diction, which is a *huge* improvement in communication from what his friends (including me) tried to decipher years ago.<br />
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This all might not seem too interesting to some, but it was something I wanted to share since he did make quite a splash years ago and I had closer contact with him than most, so it was something special to be able to hook up with him again after all these years to find out what happened with him..seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001894482715313302.post-29697619080342500382011-05-16T07:23:00.000-07:002011-05-16T07:23:06.774-07:00A new blogI've always wanted to change my homepage to include a personal blog like this, either by installing Wordpress or making more use of my livejournal or facebook wall somehow.<br />
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I'll give this a try and see how things work out. I wonder how much I can customize it.seishinbyouhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276846500007600766noreply@blogger.com0