It seems that IREM is making a sequel to Zettai zetsumei toshi, known in the States as Disaster report. That certainly came out of nowhere! Disaster report is another one of those niche games for the PS2 that I love so desperately, cos apparently in all things, I must be obscure. Anyway, I’d write more about it, but instead, I’m simply going to Copy and Paste a review I wrote for Mike’s vulne pro Forum, back when we knew nothing about the game, and had no clue that it would be released domestically. *copies, pastes*

Topic: Zettai zetsumei toshi. Horrifying, yet strangely compelling
Posted: 4/29/2002 02:53

On Sun Derek clued us into a new game coming out for the PS2 in Japan entitled ‘Zettai zetsumei toshi’, by IREM, the phantastik company that brought the world R-type. I was like, ‘Holy crap, IREM is still around??’ Well, they are, and their latest offering is truly something to behold, and will probably never see the light ov day in the States.

ZZT’s premise starts out relatively simply. It takes place in 2005, on a manmade island off the coast ov mainland Japan. The story starts just after an earthquake tears the island to pieces. You are a reporter who, in a nutshell, has to look for anyone who is still alive & needs help, while trying to find a way to get the living hell off the island. Did I mention the island is still very much in the process ov falling apart? Take a look at the promotional video (sorry, that link is long dead), or check out the official site.

The thing that really strikes me the most about this game is that it really seems to convey a sense ov ‘everything everywhere is fucked forever’. The video alone is aktually pretty scary to watch, in some respekts. It’s one thing to have zombies or monsters or whatnot chasing after you, but it’s another thing entirely when the very ground that you’re standing on – something not normally known to shake & jump around (at least not for us Michiganders) – starts doing the hokey pokey beneath you; and when something like that happens, there’s really no place you can go to escape. My impression ov the fakt that this game comes out ov Japan, the very land where people have to deal with potential situations like that at least once in their lifetimes, leaves me feeling rather odd. That’s as if a games manufakturer in Pompeii were to create a game about trying to leave a town that’s situated at the base ov an erupting volcano. I suppose you could see ZZT as a training for any future natural disasters, but it still makes me feel weird.

Having said that, if ZZT ever made it Stateside, I would pick it up almost immediately. It has an entirely compelling story, and much like Shenmue, exploring in the game brings across a sense ov being in Japan. Only falling apart and on fire. And the graphik design ov the box itself is very ace/ominous. Will it show up in our chain stores? I doubt it, as the game is very, very Japanese. But then, I’d said that about Shenmue.. personally, I’m not holding my breath. (I’m just waiting for the PS2 mods to come out that’ll let me play it!)

Zettai zetsumei toshi. Know it, learn it, live it.

And now there’s a sequel! Nothing’s been heard about any Stateside distributors, so we’re all kinda holding our collective breath, here. Regarding Disaster report; the bad news is that it’s somewhat difficult to find stores that still stock copies. The good news is whenever I’ve seen it, it’s been $20 or less. And if you can’t procure a copy, you can always see what Tycho & Gabe of Penny Arcade said about it, which was pretty apt.

It’s a fine game. A creepy game, but a fine game

A certain friend of mine commented to me today that if I would only have some sort of ‘wish list’ located somewhere on my site, detailing the things that I myself would like to own, that it wouldn’t be so hard to shop for me.

That is a cracking idea. And now, as if by Magick, there exists such a wish list, sponsored by Amazon.com, and located towards the bottom of the lefthand sidebar! How is that even possible?
Well, actually HTML makes it possible, but you didn’t hear that from me

I only have five episodes left for Zeta Gundam. Damn, that show’s messed up. Now, I already knew that one of the distinguishing features of that show is that a lot of characters die, but I had no idea that a certain character (who shall remain nameless) buys it during a particular episode. I was actually shocked, cos I’d read the episode synopses years ago, back when anime was first getting a foothold on domestic shores, and I’d either completely forgotten that _____ died, or just overlooked it entirely. Due to my ‘reading ahead’ I have a general idea of what happens at the end, but I don’t know the particulars.. Odhinn bless you, Tomino, for being clinically depressed when directing that show. Wow.

Also, Shi-chan & I did our first photo shoot since, like, February of 2004! We’re pretty satisfied with the results.

All that crap of me going on about ‘logistics’ worked out rather well! The backdrop camouflages the more repellent parts of the room decor, and between the ceiling light and the two ‘klieg’ lights (actually two clamp-on shop lamps), there’s more than enough light. We prefer natural light, but that’s just gonna have to wait until we move. In the meantime, not bad!
Don’t hold me to it, but I’m hoping to have them posted to ‘Kitten with a Whip!’ in the next week or so. I’ve got to sort thru 130 photos, which means I have to select thirty. Hrrm. But it was definitely fun getting back into the photo-taking vibe. Back in the saddle! Or something?

I bring you: The Nakagin Capsule Tower in Ginza, Tokyo.

Built from 1970 and opened in 1972 the Nakagin Capsule Tower was a innovative masterpiece by architect Kisho Kurokawa. Kurokawa developed the technology to install the 2.3m x 3.8m x 2.1m sized capsule units into a concrete core with only 4 high-tension bolts, making the units detachable and replaceable. The capsules were designed to accommodate the individual as either an apartment or studio space, and by connecting units they could also accommodate a family. Complete with appliances and furniture, from audio system to telephone, the capsule interior was pre-assembled in a factory off-site and then hoisted by crane and fastened to the concrete core shaft. Today the Nakagin Capsule Tower is in rather bad condition and most capsules are rented out as mini-offices for a monthly fee of about 70,000yen each.

20th century Modern apartment complex? In Japan?? With spaces still more or less available??? SIGN ME UP!!1!

That’s what I think I’ll do; whenever I run across some really fab 20th Century architecture, I’ll post a blurb about it in mine Blog. Can’t go wrong with Modular Living

Los Angeles Times, I salute you for your forward thinking.

‘L.A. Times’ Drops Daily ‘Garfield’ as the Comic Is Blasted and Praised
By Dave Astor | Published: January 05, 2005 12:50 PM ET

NEW YORK The Los Angeles Times dropped the daily version of “Garfield,” the most widely distributed comic in syndication.

“Garfield” has received mixed reviews in recent years, but the Times is one of the few papers to ever dare pull it. Reader reaction? “We are getting complaints,” said Jennifer James, a Times editorial aide, but she declined to reveal how many.

The Times dropped the daily “Garfield” effective two days ago — while keeping the Sunday “Garfield” — to make room for “Brevity,” a new comic by Guy Endore-Kaiser and Rodd Perry of United Media (E&P Online, Dec. 9).

“We’re always trying to get some new talent in the comics pages,” said James, who did not make the “Garfield” decision.

Gene Weingarten, a humor columnist for The Washington Post and Washington Post Writers Group, praised the Times decision during his weekly washingtonpost.com chat yesterday. He said the paper displayed “the kind of cojones missing in too many places” and described “Garfield” as “a strip produced by a committee, devoid of originality, devoid of guts, a strip cynically DESIGNED to be inoffensive and bad, on the theory that public tastes are insipid. [emphasis mine] Now we need others to follow suit. Like the Post.”

When asked for a response to Weingarten’s comments and the Times action, Universal Press Syndicate Director of Communications Kathie Kerr said today: “Our understanding is that ‘Garfield’ ran in a children’s section of the Los Angeles Times. When a feature is dropped on pages which are predominantly read by children, those young readers are less likely to complain or demand its return.”

She added that Jim Davis is “hands on” with his comic, and concluded: “‘Garfield’ is the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world, and that speaks volumes to its popularity. More than 2,700 newspapers worldwide publish it, and, in the last year, more than 50 newspaper clients were added. It’s an easy-to-get laugh a day and that endears it to millions of children and adults worldwide.”

I can remember when Garfield was actually funny. That was for a couple of weeks, back during the fucking Reagan administration. I can understand wanting to milk a ca$h cow dry, but I mean, jesus christ already. How many times can you do a variation on the ‘fat lazy Monday-hatin’ lasagna-lovin’ cat oversleeps’ four-panel strip? Apparently, several thousand times.

If I had limitless sums of monies at my disposal, I would bestow a grant to some programmers, so that they could create a programme that would take every single Garfield strip and variant thereof (i.e, calendar installments, greeting cards, etc) made, and see exactly how many times Jim Davis has done the same three or four ‘jokes’ over & over. Then, I would give another grant to a group of scientists, so they can run a battery of tests to see how much more raw Banality has entered the Universe since Garfield’s inception. Finally, upon receiving and analysing the results from both groups, I would write another sizeable cheque, and give it to some bloodthirsty contract killers, and immediately dispatch them to Jim Davis Estates.

Good christ. For that matter, why is Bil ‘The Family Circus’ Keane still alive? Does no-one else see that as being a problem??

So what comics do I like, you axe? Well, I haven’t read print comics in several years, with the exception of Max Cannon’s Red meat, and that’s only because it’s printed in our local alternative paper, so my choices would be predominantly Internet-based.

As most of them are daily, I’ve got ’em bookmarked in a folder of tabs. In order of reading preference, I’ve got
+ Brian Clevinger’s 8-bit Theatre
+ WIGU, by Jeff Rowland, which just concluded its three-year run at the beginning of this year. Before that, he did When I Grow Up, and now he’s working on Overcompensating, which is basically an illustrated Blog. He’s got some super-secret project that he’s supposed to be starting soon, so his readership is waiting with bated breath
+ Diesel sweeties, always a winner
+ Krakow, by Krazy Krow
+ Dorothy Gambrell’s Cat and Girl
+ Barry Smith’s Angst Technology. His site, InkTank.com, contains three ongoing comics, but Angst Technology is really the only one I like. Weak-end Warriors never really appealed to me, as it’s all paintball-based humour, and Sorry, We’re Open started out alright, but now it seems to be just a series of RPG-based gags. If you learn nowt else about me, you’ll discover that I hate RPGs
+ Achewood took a while to grow on me, but it’s rather enjoyable
+ Pathetic, Inc. ‘All images are found with images.google.com. Images are arranged into humorous patterns with Adobe Photoshop.’ How cool is that??
+ Daily dinosaur comics, on qwantz.com. Yes, it’s always the same six panels, but it’s what they say that’s funny, maaan
+ Can You Believe I’m Single?, which seems to be in some sort of holding pattern at the time of this writing
+ You Damn Kid! has been kinda hit-or-miss recently
+ Updated whenever, Van von Hunter usually never fails to amuse. It’s been how many years, and that rescued princess/sidekick still hasn’t mentioned her name?
+ Sometimes Questionable Content gets a little too indie for my liking, but it’s worth it for Pintsize
+ The Useless Superheroes, which would be cooler if Mark S. Inman actually updated every once in a while
+ the brilliant Scary go Round, by John Allison. One of my all-time favourites. Also worth reading is his previous series, Bobbins. Scary go Round is a lot more surreal version of its former self, whereas Bobbins is more of a soap opera filtered thru Seinfeld. In fact Jerry Seinfeld makes an appearance in a couple of Bobbins strips! WINNER
+ My other all-time favourite? Penny Arcade, baby. I save the best two comics for last

Runners-up would include The Karnak Hates Everything Show, Maakies, the My new filing/fighting technique is unstoppable/Adventures of confessions of Saint Augustine Bear/Get your war on cabal, and Leisure town (which you can’t really count cos no new ones are being made). I tend to gravitate towards comics that area either surreal, or darkly humourous, or both. And these fit the bill. Above all, they’re original. They don’t rely on recycling the same goddamn joke or gag over and over ad infinitum. Even at their unfunniest, they’re still miles better than reading sanitised ‘comedy’ that makes me miserable instead of happy

Hey kids —

look what I found. 🙂 Archives for Leisure town, the best goddamned online comic ever made. It even includes interviews with Tristan Farnon, and a couple of other ‘interesting’ links. This seriously made my day about 50% less shitty

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