Author Topic: ZUN and Touhou status update  (Read 412518 times)

Drake

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That image of WaHH 4, is that sunflower-loving youkai?
It isn't for WaHH, it's a mascot ZUN made for the Akihabara Beer Fair, named ビール子 (Biiruko/Beerko).


A Colorful Calculating Creative and Cuddly Crafty Callipygous Clever Commander
- original art by Aiけん | ウサホリ -

Beerko is just a fan nickname just FYI though and she has no known actual official name from ZUN.  ...last I heard, anyways.

But it still kind of weird, for example, in Reimu's Spell Card Omikuji "Rule Violation Barrier" everytime I tried it without the Ying-Yang Orb, I failed to dodge and/or squeeze through the multicolored amulets and died, but when I used it I squeezed perfectly and even I could move inside the barrier of amulets to dodge the upcoming ones. That's why I find it weird.

Maybe it's not a General Bug of the game, and it's just a Bug that happens to certain people (?)

Didn't they say the orb worked correctly vs lasers?  Maybe it works correctly vs certain other bullets too, like amulets.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 01:24:39 AM by Tiamat »

Drake

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Beerko is just a fan nickname just FYI though and she has no known actual official name from ZUN.  ...last I heard, anyways.
Yeah. She was given other fan names but ビール子 stuck, and it's her tag for things like Pixiv and other searches. It isn't an official name (it doesn't sound like anything ZUN would make up, for one) but it's well-accepted anyways.

A Colorful Calculating Creative and Cuddly Crafty Callipygous Clever Commander
- original art by Aiけん | ウサホリ -

Helepolis

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  • O-ojousama!?
Touhou Memory noticed that Ichijinsha has put the entire Touhou Bougetsushou series (SSiB, CiLR, Inaba/Inaba), and WaHH, including the newest Vol.4, on Japanese Kindle. These Kindle books will be released on May 27 along with WaHH Vol.4.
I have a Kindle Paperwhite bought from Japan but obviously need to proxy up or vpn to get these in order to convert using Calibre.

Edit: If they are directly available on Kindle, then I don't need Calibre, just proxy up to access the Amazon store.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 08:32:26 AM by Helepolis »

FLASH

  • Still looking for the Hakurei shrine...
  • So close
Quote
ZUN: I'm listening to music arrangement CDs I received in Reitaisai, and entertaining the fantasy that some of these musicians will be successful enough to be arrested for drug possession.
awwww come on! he got attacked for that? :( he clearly wasn't meaning to say anything bad about touhou music circles, or anything good about drug abuse, that was just a compliment to touhou doujin music artists, with a bit of obvious dark humor...

Quote
During Reitaisai 11, ZUN was happy to see there are more young people and women attending. He emphasized this during the interview in the after-party, and tweeted about it again.
hummm... interesting, ZUN's Afterword to ISC give more insight into this and his toughts on the gaming industry:
http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Impossible_Spell_Card/Translation/Afterword

apparently, it's because he is saddened that modern games become more and more casual and tend to never have any real conclusion or provide any sence of progress and achievement, but drag on instead of being a proper self-contained experience.

i guess he's happy that some poeple still get to experience hardcore games as childs and grow up with them.
perhaps this is the same reason for his comment on girls? (due to the clich? that hardcore games aren't for girls, he's happy to see more and more getting into touhou and break that image?)
« Last Edit: May 27, 2014, 11:13:09 PM by FLASH »

Drake

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apparently, it's because he is saddened that modern games become more and more casual and tend to never have any real conclusion or provide any sence of progress and achievement, but drag on instead of being a proper self-contained experience.

i guess he's happy that some poeple still get to experience hardcore games as childs and grow up with them.
perhaps this is the same reason for his comment on girls? (due to the clich? that hardcore games aren't for girls, he's happy to see more and more getting into touhou and break that image?)
He doesn't really use terms like "casual" or "hardcore", probably because they're terribly nondescriptive, ambiguous and accusatory. But yes, he made this sentiment very apparent during the BitSummit group panel and in like discussions. But the comment on female fans is more just that the Touhou playerbase is more or less 90% male, stereotypically so. Seeing a lot of female participants is welcome simply for that reason.

Re: Afterword
Quote
しかし最近は努力の部分がランダムに偏るゲームが多くなってませんか?
 やれスーパーレアだのレジェンドだの??。ランダムで可愛い絵と、それに
付随するパラメタを無限のアップデートで集め続けるゲームには??
But aren't there too many games in which the effort part largely relies on randomness?
Oh look! Super rares, legendaries!... Endlessly collecting random drops with cute pictures and parameters over an infinite amount of game updates...
kancolle taking massive damage rofl
« Last Edit: May 28, 2014, 09:11:17 AM by cuc »

A Colorful Calculating Creative and Cuddly Crafty Callipygous Clever Commander
- original art by Aiけん | ウサホリ -

N-Forza

  • Information Superhighway Robbery
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  • I said it was a steal, but not for whom
I guess even if he doesn't have any problem with the game concept, he can sure put the underlying mechanics on blast.

Yeah. I'm happy that I'm experiencing these awesome and satisfying games at a young age, so I'll know what a game should be and is when I'm a legal adult and start getting some kind of job (hopefully in programming, but that'd be unlikely.)

cuc

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  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
awwww come on! he got attacked for that? :( he clearly wasn't meaning to say anything bad about touhou music circles, or anything good about drug abuse, that was just a compliment to touhou doujin music artists, with a bit of obvious dark humor...
I'm pretty sure even in the US, a public figure would have to apologize for telling such a joke about his fans.

The actual Touhou fan musicians probably weren't much bothered.


"Hardcore vs. casual" - that's the thought of macho video game fans. One should get over the thinking like a video game fan stage as soon as possible. "The casuals are taking over" was not, is not and will never be the core of the problem.

Now take a look at these wonderful images.

Making video games in the old retail product model is a high-risk business, where consequences for failure are fatal, and no one is free from failure. Free-to-play games with in-app purchase changed that: everyone seems to have a chance at making a game on a relatively low budget, and fleecing their players in every way possible until they leave.

Those images I linked showed the most common model of free-to-play games in Japan: collectables with artwork created by talented artists, continuously added to with endless updates. Some of them have valid gameplay mechanics (Puzzle & Dragons wouldn't be nearly as popular if it doesn't), but a lot of them don't. This model has prospered in Japan for years, even leading to a legislation by Japanese government that banned one of the most insidious practices. It didn't start with Kantai Collection, and most likely won't end with it.

Has KanColle done any massive damage to ZUN? All I know is he seems to hint that he wished Touhou's popularity to decline for the common good of doujin games, but he also wrote a WaHH story about what happens after a fad ends.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2014, 09:15:48 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

FLASH

  • Still looking for the Hakurei shrine...
  • So close
Quote
Has KanColle done any massive damage to ZUN?
i'm pretty sure ZUN has not done any massive dammage to KanColle either xD
i really wasn"t thinking it was a bitter remark from him or that he's jealous of KanColle's success or anything like that, that whould be knowing him very badly, sorry if that's what it looked like i was saying.

like Drake and Forza said, i think he's just giving his opinion on a general trend of game mechanics, design and monetization and used this one as an exemple only because it's the most popular one, so most people will get the exemple. (that and besides, the fact that he actually played it a bit. i remember him speaking about it in an interview from last year).

with that said tough, i was really pretty surprised when i read this, i didn't expect him to directly speak about another game (even without quoting the name), or even the gaming indsutry in general directly in the afterword of a Touhou game, really unusual!  that's more the kind of things i'd expect in an interview.
but then again, "Difficulty" and "progressing trough the game by evolving your skills" was the theme of this one i think, so maybe it's not out of place.

Quote
All I know is he seems to hint that he wished Touhou's popularity to decline for the common good of doujin games

hummm? what maks you think that??  if anything, he just seems pleased to see that a greater variety of people (and across many places in the word, thanks to AWA!) are enjoying touhou as of late.  :)

Helepolis

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  • O-ojousama!?
i'm pretty sure ZUN has not done any massive dammage to KanColle either xD
i really wasn"t thinking it was a bitter remark from him or that he's jealous of KanColle's success or anything like that, that whould be knowing him very badly, sorry if that's what it looked like i was saying.
In general, it is not hard to get success from the common Otakus by initially promoting battle ships in the form of girls with skimpy dresses. Not that it is any more cute displaying fierce youkai, monsters and such as modest looking girls. But you catch my drift. Honestly I had no idea what KanColle or Kantai Collection until this day was until I decided to google about it.

Well, the RNG has been always a strong torture but effective game mechanic for all RPG-ish games. Because even if you think you have a "legendary" something, if the stats on that item are RNG, you will try to get the top-notch legendary item. Take DiabloII for example. The only reason people were so intense with the items is because of the hunt for the perfect item. I dislike in general to be biased about games I don't play often, though I have to agree with ZUN here game mechanic wise.

cuc

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  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Honestly I had no idea what KanColle or Kantai Collection until this day was until I decided to google about it.
Depending on your perspective, KanColle might be something to keep an eye on for an observer of Touhou or even Japan, simply because it has affected ZUN's doujin friends, the Japanese Touhou fandom, the current otaku climate, and eventually, many Japanese who are not even otaku. ZUN is keeping up with the game himself despite not playing it.


Today Ichijinsha's Touhou manga have come out on various non-Kindle Japanese ebook stores. I don't think you need a Japanese IP for most of them.

You can now buy them on NicoNico using NicoNico Points, which are worth one yen per point, but can be obtained by other methods.
http://seiga.nicovideo.jp/book/cp/tohoproject

Five other stores I found:
http://www.7netshopping.jp/spc/shop/itizin/search_result/-/disp/2/kword_in/ZUN
http://www.kinokuniya.co.jp/disp/CSfDispListPage_001.jsp?qsd=true&ptk=03&author=%EF%BC%BA%EF%BC%B5%EF%BC%AE
http://booklive.jp/search/keyword/a_id/109961
http://bookstore.yahoo.co.jp/search?keyword=%EF%BC%BA%EF%BC%B5%EF%BC%AE
http://bookplace.jp/pc/search/results?q=ZUN

I think this deserves a separate thread, something like "Guide to buying Touhou manga ebooks legally." Someone with the spare time, please do that.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2014, 09:57:34 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Maiden Synnae ミ☆

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due to the clich? that hardcore games aren't for girls

Okay. It really gets on me when I see this kind of comment. It's extremely sexist.

It's like when a female post on forums about video-games and people there call them a "he" when they don't even know their gender. Do they really have to assume the gender of others according to the type of forums they are in?

Maybe that's because girls can't play hardcore games after all. They must only cook, do the ironing, clean the house...

Sweetness and love~ ♥

FLASH

  • Still looking for the Hakurei shrine...
  • So close
Quote
due to the clich? that hardcore games aren't for girls

Quote
Okay. It really gets on me when I see this kind of comment. It's extremely sexist.

i did not meant that it's what i think, and i hate thisidea too, but it doesn't mean it's not a widespred clich?.

sorry again if i've offended you too in addition to BunBun...  :blush: next time, i'll just shut up altogether

Tengukami

  • Breaking news. Any season.
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  • I said, with a posed look.
There's nothing sexist about pointing out that sexism exists, no worries. I think we all agree the cliche abounds, and is wrong.

And anyone who thinks girls can't be hardcore gamers needs to visit this forum!

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

Maiden Synnae ミ☆

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Sorry, I could have elaborated my post better. I didn't get offended by you, FLASH. I mean that sometimes it gets on me when other people says this kind of stuff.

Pointing out that sexism exists is fine, as Tengu said.

Sweetness and love~ ♥

Yatakarasu

  • Always failing, sometimes winning!
  • Fail mode activate!
Re: ZUN and Touhou status update: Bougetsushou and WaHH on Japanese Kindle
« Reply #796 on: June 01, 2014, 12:46:37 PM »
It's like when a female post on forums about video-games and people there call them a "he" when they don't even know their gender. Do they really have to assume the gender of others according to the type of forums they are in?
Yeah, it's kinda annoying that we don't have a proper gender neutral word(s) in the english language. I get called: he, man, guy all the time on forums and I've just kinda stopped caring/correcting. It's kinda an english thing (at least here in America) that we default to saying "he" when describing an animal. Most people don't even think about it when they say it. So if anything, male gender words can be seen as a gender neutral word when you just don't know. I avoid it on forums by calling someone by their username.

ANYWAY Touhou e-books. On a scale of never to maybe: How likely is it that we will get translated versions of Touhou e-books? Didn't look like any had translations in the links, but can't really tell for sure.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2014, 12:57:40 PM by Yatakarasu »

Normal Clears: EoSD, PCB, IN, PoFV, MoF, SA, UFO, TD, DDC
Hard Clears: PoFV, SA, TD, DDC
Extra Clears: PoFV, MoF, SA, UFO, TD, DDC
Current touhou goal: Improve! ...1cc more Hard Modes

cuc

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  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou status update: Bougetsushou and WaHH on Japanese Kindle
« Reply #797 on: June 06, 2014, 02:18:49 PM »
I have no idea what ZUN is up to these days. He's not staying with his wife, but instead traveling around.

ANYWAY Touhou e-books. On a scale of never to maybe: How likely is it that we will get translated versions of Touhou e-books?
By my most optimistic estimation, not this year.

By the way, there are official print versions of Touhou books in Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia at this moment, in the ordered of number of books published.

The official Comiket 86 web catalog is now online. You can view it after registering here.



ZUN will be present. Tasofro will not. In the news of the only fan game featured in this thread, the third Fantasy Maiden Wars game will also be released on Comiket 86.

I don't know how you feel, but I've been pretty nervous. Something will definitely come down this year or the next year, but I don't know when, or whether I can be in the right place to make a difference when it happens.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2014, 04:57:20 PM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Leon゠Helsing

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status update: Bougetsushou and WaHH on Japanese Kindle
« Reply #798 on: June 06, 2014, 02:27:28 PM »
By the way, there are official print versions of Touhou books in Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia at this moment, ordered by the number of books published.
WAIT WHAT :o

cuc

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  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
While Ichijinsha has zero presence in Europe and the Americas, they do have some books published in Asia. Here's the Indonesian version of SSiB Vol.1.
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

hungrybookworm

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I'm putting my money on another Sealing Club CD.

Hatateru

  • Hatatatatatatatatatatatatata
I don't know how you feel, but I've been pretty nervous. Something will definitely come down this year or the next year, but I don't know when, or whether I can be in the right place to make a difference when it happens.

Oh? Like what? ???

Btw,will ZUN be participating in the Fall Reitaisai too?
And then a sacked Sakuya told everyone that Flandre was one of her ex-bosses

Maiden Synnae ミ☆

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status update: Bougetsushou and WaHH on Japanese Kindle
« Reply #802 on: June 06, 2014, 04:02:49 PM »
ZUN will be present. Tasofro will not.

That means no HM expansion.  :(

Sweetness and love~ ♥

game2011

  • mineiptXD
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Seeing how 14.3 was released without a demo, chances are likely that we'll get another spin-off in the next Comiket, like how we got 12.5 and 12.8 in the same year.

And the books are in Thailand too?  Cool!  I live in Thailand!  Not saying I'm going to buy them, since I pretty much can't read Thai, despite living here for more than twenty years already...

Gpop

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That means no HM expansion.  :(
I think it's a bit too soon. I reckon it'll be out by next Reitaisai for 14.8

And the books are in Thailand too?  Cool!  I live in Thailand!  Not saying I'm going to buy them, since I pretty much can't read Thai, despite living here for more than twenty years already...
Hi nice to meet you. I live in Thailand too. About official book they also sell limited vol.3 of touhou ibarakasen that come with mini nendoroid kasen.(sorry for my bad english)

Szayelaporro Granz

  • You can't use spellcards within my range
  • since I've already analyzed and sealed them all
Re: ZUN and Touhou status update: Bougetsushou and WaHH on Japanese Kindle
« Reply #806 on: June 09, 2014, 07:41:55 AM »
By the way, there are official print versions of Touhou books in Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia at this moment, in the ordered of number of books published.
My body is ready... I will search for it when I come back to my beloved homeland >:(
Normal 1cc: LLS, MS, EoSD, PCB, IN, PoFV, MoF, UFO, TD, DDC / Hard 1cc: EoSD, PCB, IN, PoFV, MoF*, TD / Lunatic 1cc: PoFV / Extra 1cc: EoSD, PCB (+P), IN, PoFV, MoF, DDC
*Bug abuse.
Feel free to watch my crappy replays and twitch channel
My favorite touhou music

cuc

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  • Probably won't respond 'til this mess is sorted o?
Re: ZUN and Touhou status update: Hopeless Masquerade patch 1.34b
« Reply #807 on: June 10, 2014, 02:08:16 AM »
Quote
ZUN: Amanojaku has been out for a month. Even just on twitter, you can already see several people who have done Ultimate Rule-Breaking. I'm feeling like gathering them for a drink. But I have communication disorder, and don't know what to do.

Here's a translation question. First, 反則 hansoku, literally "opposition to rules/violation of rules", is the central word of ISC.

As many people have wondered, if you completed ISC perfectly without using any main items, by definition you are NOT a cheater. So why would you earn a label amounting to "ultimate cheater"?

The answer is there is an extant expression in colloquial Japanese: 反則(的)な強さ, "so strong it's like cheating", i.e. using something this strong should be against the rules, brokenly good, a violation of Nature's laws, "a lineup so good it's unbelievable".

This expression has sort of been used in TD, where Reimu's homing shot is described as the "反則 Homing Type".

Now it's clear that the ISC nickname means "you are such an impeccable shooting game monster you have broken all rules of the universe". How would you convey that in English? My method has been to homogenize all mentions of 反則 in ISC into "rule-breaking", as I have done in my news post on the game, so the final Nickname would be "Ultimate Rule-Breaking Life Form", while the current wiki translation has used varyingly "foul play" and "cheat". I'd like to give it more consideration now.


Here's a pretty accurate description of what has happened about Hopeless Masquerade:

Angry Internet Dude: Why is Tasofro's Unabara playing KanColle all day? Does he even care about HM any more?
Unabara: Don't judge me by my twitter. The game I play the most is actually Dragon Quest X.
High-Level Player: Hello, I've discovered a new major bug.
Unabara: We are making a patch!

At 6PM,  June 9:
Tasofro: Here it is, Version 1.34. It has fixed several bugs.
Players: The new patch broke Story Mode...

At 2AM, June 10:
Tasofro: Sorry, here's Version 1.34b.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2014, 02:33:59 AM by cuc »
Touhou Fantasy News: twitter

Prime32

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status update: Hopeless Masquerade patch 1.34b
« Reply #808 on: June 10, 2014, 02:31:30 AM »
Would you be familiar with Negima, cuc? I don't know whether that term was used in Japanese, but it sounds a lot like the way other characters described Jack Rakan. I think the most common I've seen were "real-life broken videogame character" and "ultimate broken character". Though using videogame analogies in a videogame is kind of awkward...

I'm guessing "hax" wouldn't be an appropriate translation? :V
« Last Edit: June 10, 2014, 02:35:18 AM by Prime32 »

Colticide

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Re: ZUN and Touhou status update: Hopeless Masquerade patch 1.34b
« Reply #809 on: June 10, 2014, 02:35:31 AM »
Ultimate Rule-Breaking Life Form seems like a way cooler nickname anyway compared to just cheat.

Glad too see patching needs patching still.
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