Zero out of five stars.  Simi Valley buses suck.

Simi Valley Transit has 4 bus routes marked A through D.  Routes A&B cycle around town, C connects to more transit, and D goes through the rich communities and services.  I've ridden all of them, and well I've had enough of how ridiculous it is to use them.  Tonight's experience is just the major nail in the coffin for me where I can't see myself riding any of them again.  Fortunately I don't live in that town, just right next door in Moorpark where Route B used to connect.  Emphasis on used to connect because apparently they eliminated the stop in Moorpark.  Although good luck finding out that information online because their schedules and online services still mention they make a stop there.  Even the bus still heads over here making you think it still connects there.  The only way you can find that information out is if you showed up at the stop and saw the taped up memo they left there.  Guess who wasn't aware of that on the other side of town?

Now I do admit, I probably should have just transferred to the inter-county bus called the VISTA, or even asked when I boarded the bus.  However the VISTA would have meant getting home an hour later, and I never ask because the Route A&B bus drivers are like the LACMTA drivers, they just don't like dealing with people.  If you want to know what it feels like, go to a McDonalds and tap someone on the shoulder eating lunch, ask them what they suggest is good off the menu and watch as they berate you for not knowing.  I've seen the Route B bus frequently coming into Moorpark, and given the online information, I was completely convinced it was a better idea to just stick with Route B.  Turns out they eliminated the stop in September (3-4 months ago on the elimination sign, the driver told me 6 months for some reason), with no reason posted, and I've searched online and found no mention of them eliminating the stop.  I haven't used that stop since the summer because school kept me pretty busy this semester =/

But here's what happened- we flew by the stop and I asked why we weren't stopping even though I requested a stop.  The driver's response was basically to put the blame on me for not knowing the stop was eliminated, as if I should have known.  God forbid getting on the wrong bus hasn't happened to someone before.  He didn't stop and let me off nearby, which would have made sense to me given it was dark out.  My only option as instructed was to wait and get off at the next stop a mile down the road, which seems dangerous to put someone in that situation if you know they're just going to walk back down the road.  The mile part really didn't bother me, I was walking anyways from the stop, it's just the night part is what got me.  I had to walk back using my PSP as an impromptu flashlight, since there were barely any lights on that stretch of mile and no sidewalk.  When I got to the stop, I read the elimination of service paper taped up to a light pole amusingly telling people to go a mile down the road to make the connection.

I was let off at an auto-wrecking yard...and this stretch of road has two more stops, one placed a long walk away from where any business could practically use it for their employees, and another that looks like an after thought for when the bus turns the corner.  It's a 7 mile loop the bus takes, and it doesn't reach the auto-wrecking yard until mile 5.  What's the point of sending a bus out that far on an all day schedule?  The bus is barely on time and runs an hour loop to begin with, but it's very important people make it to the auto-wrecking yard?  If you're sending Route B out that far, might as well connect with the college and get more patrons.

Long story short, Simi Valley Transit is fucking TERRIBLE.  I hope when the Orange Line extension in Chatsworth is completed, the VISTA will run a bus over there so you can avoid using these routes.

I love music.  I have some strange tastes when it comes to music, but there are so many songs I love, it's hard to pick just a couple to really say HEY this is what I like to listen to.  I really love sharing my music in hopes someone will find something to pull from it, but everyone has such unique tastes it's hard to see eye-to-eye on stuff.  Here are several groups of songs (w/links to listen) that I want anyone who randomly stumbles upon me to listen to.

// These are fantastic, great for getting going/back on your feet-
Brookes Brothers - Tear You Down
Bump of Chicken - Karma
Kraak & Smaak & U-Gene - One of These Days (EP version)

// These are probably my favorite songs of all time, the ones where you know the lyrics and just want to sing along to-
Underworld - Two Months Off
Grayarea ft. Erik Shepard - Gravity (Original mix)
Moonbug - Starry Sky YEAH! (Capsule x Daft Punk x Beastie Boys)

// These are beautifully put together tracks, great for when you want to reflect about things-
Global Experience - Madras
Sasha - Cloud Cuckoo
Slacker - A Million Dreams

// These are beautiful songs I'd probably want played if I ever got married-
The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
Bob Crosby And The Bobcats - Happy Times
Nancy Wilson - This Might Have To Last Me All My Life

// Some really solid tracks, good music for those days when life is a little too rough-
Jose Gonzalez - Crosses
Bruno Merz - Nine Sixteen
樽木栄一郎 - Puzzle

Back in November there were three promising titles being released on the PSP, two of which were almost supposed to be counterparts to their console versions.  Having played through one of them (Assassin's Creed Bloodlines), I was a bit worried to see what the other had to offer.  However I was pleasantly surprised to find out LittleBigPlanet Portable (LBP) is actually really well done for a PSP game.  So much so I wished I had gotten a hold of this game earlier so I could have been creating levels today.  In comparison to the console version, it definitely doesn't stack up, same as how ACB couldn't stack up to it's console counterpart either.  As opposed to the ACB approach by letting the limitations bog the game down though, LBP made good use of the PSP and created a rather unique and great experience on the handheld.

To start off, the game is not perfect in the slightest.  My complaints range across the board from personal preferences to technical problems with the game itself.  For instance, loading times in the game are horrendous.  Just to get to the main menu of the game, you have to fight through a ridiculous amount of loading screens, intros, and company logos, that by the time you reach the game, several minutes have already passed.  What's unusual to me is the placement of the loading symbol, rather than in the bottom right corner or center of the screen, placement is in the bottom left, and it's a rotating circle.  It would have been more appealing to place the circle as the letter O in "loading" and drop that below the centered image on the loading screen.  It's also interesting to see how little the data install is used to help in aiding the load times considering how small that file is.

Music is fantastic in the game, it's actually a very eclectic well put together soundtrack.  The sound effects are great with everything working together so well in the game.  Unfortunately this is all bogged down by the game choosing to keep itself quiet.  With headphones, you have to crank up the volume on your PSP just to hear the music.  Using the built in speakers of the PSP, the game sounds absolutely fine cranked or lowered strangely.  I attempted even plugging it into my sound system and found I had to crank it there as well just to get volume at a decent level.  Gameplay is great as well but poorly structured for the handheld.  The game isn't designed to be played in short bursts.  On bus rides or on the go for instance, I always found myself having to put my PSP to sleep in the middle of a level.  Although technically this is alright given how long it takes to load up the game anyways, it breaks the flow a bit starting up a level and pausing it.

LBP has a good structure though, you play through story levels as well as levels you've downloaded or created yourself.  Even though I despise playing through a mode to unlock content, it gives you reasons to play through those levels.  Which is good because it allows you to see what the game is actually capable of and what sort of things you can put together in the create mode.  Unfortunately the create mode from what I've read is temperamental and is known to crash, plus from what I've experienced, you have to sit or skip tutorials just to unlock new tools in the mode.  All the materials aren't unlocked either, requiring you to find all the materials in story mode.  Which means you might play a level up to three times just to clear it, gather all the gifts, as well as to ace the level by not dying once.

What is both beneficial to the game, as well as ironically hurting it, are the downloadable levels created by the community.  While these levels help extend the life of the game by providing new content to play, most of the levels present on the network are your basic platformers and not much more.  You may find yourself only checking once a month for new high rated content, unless you want to play every single level that is entered in.  For the most part, lack of decent content stems from the buggy create mode and the amount of time the game has actually been out.  I'm sure there are some great levels in the work, it's just going to take a while before some of them show up on the network.

Despite several glaring technical problems the game has, what it does offer is a unique experience for the handheld and a very solid game for the PSP.  The ability to download and create your own levels really adds to the capabilities of the game even if they are both limited in their use.  It has a unique art style with a lot of great music, and the story levels are really well done.  It's worth picking up if you're interested in game design since it allows you to construct your own levels, but if you're looking for a game to spend hours on you might want to try elsewhere.

// Overall review in a nutshell:

Gameplay - 4
Music - 4
Replay - 3
Graphics - 5
Difficulty - 4

// Overall Score - 20 - A Game
(Highest score possible is 25 with AAA score)

Happy New Year 2010!

Here is the following playlist for 2009 I call Trance-Eve 8.  Something I do every year despite it no longer containing tons of trance music haha.  30 songs I listened to the most this year in order from least played to most played.  These all were added to my music collection this year hence why a lot are never recent.

Artist - Song (not all are correct lol)

30> Aimee Blackschleger & Tahirih Walker - Living Universe (full version)
29> Pangya - Fly Away
28> Various - Beatmania Megamix (High School Love / I'm Screaming Love / smooooch / Y&Co is dead or alive / Go Beyond!!)
27> Underworld - Two Months Off ((Grayarea's Four Years Off Remix))
26> Hatsune Miku - Baka Baka Baka
25> MRSA - Different
24> Bent - As You Fall (Guy J Remix)
23> Sota Fujimori - Fly Above (Album Extended)
22> 高槻やよい - Genki Tripper
21> 萩原雪歩 - Kosmos Cosmos
20> Pogo - Expialidocious remix
19> Lady GaGa - Poker Face
18> Trippcore - Move Your Body
17> Diane Birch - Rise Up
16> Bruno Merz - Nine Sixteen
15> PARALLEL FLOATERS - Flow
14> m-flo - A.D.D.P.
13> Arch Enemy - Nemesis
12> あさき - 極東史記
11> Sota Fujimori - Back into the Light -Feelings won't fade vocal-
10> 猫叉Master - サヨナラ・ヘヴン  (Original Long Ver.)
09> Various - DJ MAX Megamix (Electronics / Melody / Fever Pitch Girl / Shoreline / Voyage)
08> 萩原雪歩 - Do-Dai [CyberC Reconstructed]
07> Shoji Meguro - Reach Out To The Truth
06> Sugar Donut - Telescope (AKA Dark Envy)
05> Sega - Tap De Papapaya (Long Version)
04> 樽木栄一郎 - Puzzle (full version)
03> INFINITE - Let's Get It On
02> Imitation PoPs Uchuu Sentai NOIZ - Bad Music Freaks
01> TЁЯRA  - RЁVOLUTIΦN  

I wish I could find a full version to #1 because it is awesome.  I don't recall the number off the top of my head but Revolution got played a ton on my iPod.  Hopefully next year will be much better than this year.  2009 was kinda disappointing with the economy and just everything in general.  There were a lot of cool things that happened this year, but next month they'll all be easily topped by some things I'm getting so I dunno.

There are games on the PSP that are worse than Assasin's Creed Bloodlines (ACB).  The port of Mana Khemia instantly comes to mind remembering the awful loading and lag that stopped me from finishing the game.  I wouldn't exactly rate ACB as bottom of the barrel in the PSP line of games, however it doesn't exactly fair well stacked next to other games I've played for the handheld this year.  Some games this year have really pushed the boundaries in regard to how PSP games can be presented on the handheld both graphic and gameplay wise.  Games with sub-par graphics or piss-poor would have worked earlier in the PSP cycle, but really the bar has been set with some of the most recent releases.  Which is really confusing looking at ACB because seeing the trend in how PSP games are headed, it's interesting to see such a sloppy game appear in the market. 

Now to start, I haven't played the console counterparts of this series.  Although I have seen enough gameplay footage of them to have a good enough impression of what Assassin's Creed is all about.  Quite frankly, the console counterparts of ACB are superior hands down, and there would be no way a PSP port of the game could capture that experience 100%.  However they did try and capture as much as they could and brought it to the handheld.  The result unfortunately is a sloppy game that could have had some potential but it does try as hard as it can.  ACB flows in a pretty linear fashion.  You play as Altair, a copy and pasted version of Prince of Persia's main protagonist, hidden under a white cloak with a bunch of sharp weapons at your disposal.  You go from area to area performing missions to move the story along.  In each area you can choose to do side missions, collect coins "hidden" in the area, or just waltz about killing random people while trying not to drown yourself. 



That is if you can get over the controls first.  One instant gripe I had starting the game were that the controls didn't make sense.  Being used to any PSP game where you move the character with the analog stick and rotate the camera with the directional buttons, it was unusual having the directional buttons mapped for weapons.  To control camera, the game requires you to press L and the face buttons, or just move Altair in the direction you want and press L to center the camera on his back.  It takes a bit of time to get these controls working the way you'd like, but they could have been better off swapped.  I assume the reason controls are like this is due to the lack of a second analog stick to control camera, but even so, controls could have been better mapped.

Beyond messy controls the whole game is a pretty big mess.  Saving the game for whatever reason doesn't always function correctly.  I've had times were I've done side missions, collect coins, move to a new area, and the game won't save the progress despite saying it is saving to the memory stick.  It'll save that I moved on to that new location, but strangely none of the progress made.  It doesn't help either that there is no manual way to save the game, all you're allowed to do is turn the autosave function off.  You really have to rely on the "memory log updated" narrator to tell you when it's safe to quit.  The whole game is actually full of weird bugs, it's odd to even consider this game the final draft with it looking the way it does.  I've run into invisible walls in the oddest of places, I've had the sky break in areas when panning the camera up, people disappear while you talk to them, and my favorite which is the civilian mess.  For some reason the game hardly has a library of stock characters to use as walking civilians, so occasionally it'll load up the same character multiple times.  With the monks it would be acceptable since they appear like that in the console version, but it's not always the case.

Which really comes to probably the biggest problem this game has.  Rather than create a unique experience for the PSP, they just tried to make a clone as best they could of the console version.  ACB to me is just a solid skeleton of a game that could have done better fleshed out.  The environments are crafted well, character design is done well, gameplay mechanics are done well, even the music and sound effects are done well despite the weird occasional audio skip.  There's just not a lot in this game to keep you playing, or re-playing actually, since the game is short and easy to fully complete.  The story is pretty mediocre, it's really just to advance the game from location to location and to provide things to do.  Which is another problem, the story is so short that that there really isn't much to do in the game as a result.  I would have even settled for a Monster Hunter approach in the game if it had you doing tons of quests and missions, even if they weren't all spectacular.  Side missions are pathetic as well, most of which require simple deliveries or assassinations.

If you've played the console versions, you might want to skip out on this game since I'm sure you might just be trying to compare it the whole time.  If you haven't and are looking for a PSP game, you might want to borrow this from a friend or try and find it cheap.  The game is entertaining to play despite a lot of it's flaws, almost like how a B movie is enjoyable.

// Overall review in a nutshell:

Gameplay - 4
Music - 4
Replay - 2
Graphics - 3
Difficulty - 3

// Overall Score - 16 - B Game
(Highest score possible is 25 with AAA score)

It's a been a long disappointing road with Im@s SP DLC, not to mention an expensive one at that. Recently the most latest catalog of DLC has been released, and for the third month in a row, I've just been bothered with the direction it's gone. I've always had one major complaint with Im@s SP which unfortunately is still persistent to this day. It's the lack of outfits for the characters to wear, and the slow release of them. What's great about SP is that there are huge variety of accessories, a huge variety of songs, a bunch of stage backgrounds (not to mention unlimited since you can edit in your own), yet there's this lack of outfits for some reason. Really you're only given 3 outfits with a ton of palette swaps and the 3 rival outfits. After that you're forced to pay to get more outfits, which seem to only be released in one month intervals.

The part that gets me is that most of the Im@s catalogs before SP died around the 12th. L4U catalog pretty much died after the 12th despite receiving content from SP to keep it running to 17. Which has me worried because I've been looking at the SP catalog wondering, "Is this it? This is all we got?" Especially when you look at L4U's catalogs, many of which sported a ton of content, remixes to existing songs, and sometimes multiple dresses being released in one month. The quality is especially absurd not just graphic wise, but concept wise seeing some awesomely crafted dresses and outfits. Here are my opinions regarding the catalogs that I wanted to write down:

Catalog 1 This was a good start. It had a decent dress and decent accessories, plus a good start in the missing songs. Catalog also contained the idol mails which is good bonus material. Only major gripe is the price on the songs, which is a constant gripe I've had throughout the many catalogs, that they should have all been 500 yen to unlock for all idols, rather than paying individually.

Catalog 2 This was a decent release, almost felt like a good sequel to the first catalog. The dress is nice but it's limited with accessory matching due to it's color. The training outfit is a nice bonus, although it's a bit annoying to pay to unlock something that already exists in the game.

Catalog 3 One of the first catalogs I disliked. The outfit is awful and just looks awkward, and the accessories for it are terrible. While it did introduce the puchimasus, the catalog was more repetitive than productive.

Catalog 4 A very interesting catalog, it contains one of the most daring and impressive dresses of the SP catalogs. It also introduced the Dramas which don't interest me much, but the thought and what they accomplish is interesting. What's nice too is that this catalog finished up all the SP songs allowing for new songs to be brought in from L4U.

Catalog 5 Second catalog I really didn't care for. The dress while being decent, for some reason doesn't match well with any accessories. Plus the first song brought over from L4U isn't that great. Honestly the catalog felt like it was just releasing the worst to get it out of the way.

Catalog 6 One of the best catalogs in memory. The new outfit, while very novelty-like in appearance, is actually quite nice. Plus the swimsuit outfit helped make this catalog feel like you got a lot more bang for your buck. While the accessories are very bland, the new song is fantastic. Plus this catalog introduced downloadable stage backgrounds. A very well rounded catalog overall.

Catalog 7 A very awkward catalog, but it was a decent following to catalog 6. The new song introduced was mediocre for all the hype generated around it for being new to the world of Im@s. The new stage backgrounds were quite nice. The outfit is pretty decent and works well, but the accessories are quite a weird mesh of things. The boots are absolutely amazing, one of the must have accessories. The school wear outfit is sorta meh considering anyone who pre-ordered the game got the code to download it.

Catalog 8 Third catalog I didn't really care for. Probably would have been the worst catalog of all time if it weren't for the song. The outfit is bland and awful stand-alone, it literally requires the other accessories, however you can make better outfits just using the accessories and matching them with other outfits.

Catalog 9 Fourth catalog I didn't really care for. The outfit and accessories are alright but pretty average in comparison to previous catalog outfits. Stage background is pretty bad, and the new song is pretty average.

Catalog 10 This is the fifth catalog I didn't really care for. The new song, second of the new songs made for SP turned out to be a slow song of disappointing proportions. The new outfit is just the wedding dress from L4U brought to the PSP. Which I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't the only content for this catalog. To make things even more disappointing, the palette swapped dress has awesome colors but would have been more interesting if it was a new dress entirely.

Catalog 11 This is the sixth catalog I didn't really care for. The dress is average, and screams to much of the Christmas theme. It's not a bad dress, it's just not something you could use stand-alone with accessories to well. The accessories in this catalog are quite terrible and mostly just for novelty in their use. The new song for SP here is again brought over from L4U, and isn't really that impressive of a tune either. Stage background is alright, but like the latest BG stages, just recycled from old imagery.

Catalog 12 Sorta curious if this will be the last catalog, but I'm not really sure. Following the puchimaru pattern, it should have the last idol Hibiki. Unless they start using the idols from the DS version... Based off the Catalog 11 PV, I really believe the gothic outfit and the song Overmaster will be in this catalog. Just looking at the presents for those who are going to purchase the Best versions of the game.

- - -

To me, it just looks like all the catalogs after the 10th are just going to be L4U carry-overs. Which isn't a problem to me, it's just been taking so long to get outfits. It's nice getting DLC, but it just feels like all SP players got were a bunch of songs and palette swaps.

Another update to the list of games that have caught my attention. Actually this might be the last update for a while considering the outlook for PSP games. For the next couple of months, all the PSP releases I've seen look pretty shitty. After this week, it's going to be a long wait before something decent comes out for the handheld.

LittleBigPlanet Portable
-Sadly the game I didn't have much hope for this month actually blew away the other November releases. I didn't want to pick this up because I was fearing it would be a crappy port of the PS3 version, but apparently it's so well done that it has received a lot of high marks. I'll definitely be picking this up sometime in the future, maybe in January. I want to finish up a few PSP titles I'm still working on and sell a few games before picking up something new.

// To update on pt. 3 of these entries:

Phantasy Star Portable 2
-The demo came out recently and it was amazing! It was like they took the first Phantasy Star Portable, and just improved everything that needed to be improved. Character customization is absolutely top-notch, controls and battles are more fluid, basically the whole game is looking promising. I haven't tried out the online multiplayer modes even though I have an access code to it, but I don't think I will since you don't have access to much in the demo. I really do hope this comes stateside, even if I have to wait till like Q3 of next year.

Persona 3 Portable
-Still not sold on this yet, even though it has a good chance of coming over stateside. Considering the drought of games coming up, it might be good filler to revisit the world of P3 considering the amount of time it takes to beat the game. Surprisingly, no demo on the JPN PSN, however you could download the title.

Pop'n Music Portable
-More information has come out regarding the title and so far so good. It has a release date in Japan for February 2010 so it's coming up at least. Konami put up an image on their website depicting the button layout for the game and pretty much 9 buttons is going to be impossible it seems. I'm hoping you can edit the layout of the buttons because it just may be too hard to adapt for veterans or newbies. I might end up just playing it on 7 buttons (or 5 buttons if it permits that style). They've listed a few songs on the site, and some of them seem very promising. I'm hoping the Karma song they have listed is the GF&DM version or the original by Bump of Chicken.

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble
-I played the JPN demo and was really disappointed. Overall, it seemed like fun, but the environments were bland and it was oddly quiet. Reading a review for the English version, the game seemed fairly short and most of the fun came from how silly the game presents itself. English reviews didn't favor the game to well, and a lot of problems I had with the demo still persist, so I might not pick this one up. Even though it was up there with Assassin's Creed Portable as probably one of the better games for this month.

// To update on pt. 2 of these entries:

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
-Very disappointed in how this played out. For a big name title like this to completely make a fool out of itself is ridiculous. I'll probably be picking this game up to play it since there are mixed verdicts on it. Some praise the game as a suitable PSP game, others condemn it for not being a clone of it's console counterpart. If the game is only 4-6 hours with really no replay value, I might be heavily disappointed as well.

Harvest Moon: Sugartown
-This game disappeared off the charts or the name got changed to the version listed to be released in Q1 of 2010. Still keeping an eye on this game since there's not a whole lot of info out, especially since the list of psp games for 2010 looks barren.

Duke Nukem Triology
-Game got pushed back to Q1 2010, assuming it's going to come out at all that is. Still keeping an eye on this game, but much like Harvest Moon, there's just not a lot of information out there then what already exists.

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
-I played the JPN demo that got released on the PSN. I wasn't that pleased with it despite some redeeming qualities in the game. The game looks good and feels nostalgic, but the whole beginning of the game is littered with fetch quests. The battle system has an auto function, which really removed all challenge from battles, and for some reason FMVs are still in 4:3 ratio format. I wouldn't mind so much if they had put something to cover over the black bars, but that's not the case. Overall it looks like a sloppy port.

I hate coffee.  That was the major block from keeping me from entering inside a Starbucks to begin with.  However I was looking for a place I could just sit back and relax for an hour without getting kicked out, so I sucked it up and gave them a try.  I've always stuck with the same couple of drinks because they were priced decently enough and seemed to stand out amongst the non-coffee items.  But that's not saying much since everything I've tried at Starbucks hasn't been that great flavor wise to begin with.  A lot of the things they serve taste terribly bland and It's incredibly sad there's no consistency in how a lot of items are prepared.  Plus the pricing on some items are insane, such as the tiny 6 dollar salads with barely anything in them.  However I didn't let that bother me that much because I really just come to Starbucks to sit in the corner and relax after I get off work.  I've always viewed buying drink or food there as an exchange to use their lobby.

I usually get a Venti Hot Chocolate which they sell for $2.80.  It's basically a rather slimy/oversaturated hot chocolate with some odd amount of whip cream on top.  I usually top it with Cinnamon just to give it some flavor since it's flavorless.  For being a hot chocolate, it doesn't even have a chocolate taste sadly.  I guess I get it because I like the price, and it's at least decently warmed.  The price was absolutely fine because I could pay with 3 bucks and tip 20 cents; an easy transaction without forcing them to give me a bunch of change.  However this week I found out that item increased by 30 fucking cents.  Granted that's only a 10-11% increase in price, but it's just the audacity of the increase that pisses me off.  Especially considering the "baristas" that work at my local Starbucks are such assholes.  There are only two people there who I appreciate for giving decent service, the rest are such pompous spoiled children that like to talk to me as if I were a stranger who managed to step foot into their social circle.  Now you might ask, why are you tipping them when service sucks?  Mostly out of hope that a single nice gesture, despite not being large, would gradually change their attitudes about working there and dealing with irate customers.

After learning about the price increase this week, I've been avoiding Starbucks thinking about if I want to even step foot in there again.  I wouldn't have mind the price increase so much if it was only 20 cents on what I usually get.  At least then it still would have been an even 3 bucks, but it's just that 10 cents more that kills it for me.  I just feel that extra charge is just sticking a bill to the customer for their gross negligence of their franchise rather than offsetting a cost.  Increasing prices is not going to save Starbucks from the disastrous steps they've been taking.  It'd be like saying to gun the engines faster on the Titanic while it was sinking; it's still not going to get the ship any closer to shore.   I've searched for articles regarding the price increase and I've read people's thoughts on the matter saying it will get them back on track, etc.  Yeah, a lot of the arguments make sense but here is how I view it:  Starbucks is only staying afloat out of convenience.  The people I see regularly at the local Starbucks aren't there because they need a fix.  I just see them because they needed a place to go.  Whether it be the woman reading the newspaper with her son over tea, the businessman on his laptop working the morning away, or friends wanting a place to sit down and chat.  It's incredibly rare that I hear about someone going because they must have some drink they're addicted to.

Talk to any regular customer and ask why they go there, and I think you'll find out it's so incredibly easy for any competing business to bring Starbucks to it's knees.  So much so I am surprised no business has stepped up to the plate and done this correctly.  McDonald's McCafe brand for instance could have been a strong competitor, however I think the major problem is their lobby.  Even with the new re-design, the lobby isn't meant to keep people there for an hour or more.  So even if the coffee is good, you don't feel compelled to sit down with a cup and read the paper.  I honestly think a coffee shop with a broad and simple menu, large enough and comfortable lobby, free wifi, great perks for regular customers, with excellent service, and a sleek store design could destroy Starbucks.  Problem is I'm not seeing anyone stepping up to the plate and covering all those angles because you would essentially have to start from scratch.  Juice it Up! would probably be an excellent franchise to modify as a competitor in California, especially since their menu has some excellent flavors.  If they simplified their menu down, organized it, and added more products in slim areas like hot drinks, non-dairy, and (ironically) juices, they'd have a strong menu.  Ditch the Jamba Juice themed store layout and try something futuristic, maybe heavily vector based graphics with a lot of varying black/white/blue hues.

I'm hoping this plan backfires on Starbucks and causes a lot of people to leave.  I'm getting sick of struggling franchises manipulating their products as a means to fix themselves.  It will be interesting to see if there is any fallout from this.  I have heard already from a couple of my friends that they're calling it quits and going to some of the other coffee shops around here because their drinks got jacked up 30 cents as well.  Plus I keep reading a lot of comments on the internet from other people deciding to call it quits due to their drinks being brought up in price.  It should be interesting if anything does result from this considering there hasn't been a lot of press regarding the price increase.  As for me, I just wanted to rant about this because I think it's not a nice thing they've done to their consumer base.  For me this is an excellent opportunity to go and try someplace else since I was so locked in that routine of going there before or after work.

So I read this article on Sankaku (watch out, site is NSFW)-
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/10/11/why-manga-doesnt-sell-overseas/
I find this an interesting read because I used to purchase Manga, but stopped a few years back.  I wanted to write up a little entry in response to this but not leave a comment on that article.

The last Manga I recall purchasing was Kamichama Karin vol.5, which was also amusingly where I stopped with that series.  It was being published by Tokyopop and it was made by my favorite JPN artist at the time, Koge Donbo.  What I really liked was the humor in the stories, and the artstyle was top-notch in comparison to some of the other titles on the manga aisle.  It felt like you were getting a lot of bang for your buck purchasing her works.  I felt Tokyopop really changed the manga scene a while back by reducing the prices and keeping them in Japanese format.  Yet they managed to screw themselves over by putting forth the idea that Americans are capable of making mangas, and they went on a campaign finding trashy style Americanized anime novels to mass produce.  Regardless, it was still 10 bucks a book which really was a pain in the butt to deal with.  I read manga in high school but not on a frequent basis, I'd usually end up just buying one novel a month because of the price.  What ended up happening was I'd purchase a manga, read through two chapters each night, then I'd bring it with me to school once I completed it (either to re-read sections, or study the art style).

Today, manga has no place in my life because of the price tag.  The medium is a bit lost amid everything else I can spend my time with, especially with how easy it is to find stuff on the internet.  However that's just me.  Why carry a manga in my pocket when I can bring around my PSP or iPod?  The reasons listed in that article aren't entirely on the ball with how things go here in the states.  Assuming a person couldn't access the internet to download manga and anime, look at how the medium is presented here in the first place.  Stores are very reluctant here to stock up on manga, the best you can find is usually an aisle dedicated to the craft.  Even then, that aisle is filled mainly with mainstream titles that have appeared on television, or just titles that publishers think will sell here.  For instance, you're not going to find a series like Kodomo no Jikan being published in the states simply because they want to play it way too safe.  There have been times I've combed through a manga aisle only to find nothing because shit all looks the same.

Even if you found something, you have to wait a couple months before you get the next translated volume anyways.  So you really have to either select from a series with a number of volumes already out, or just complete one you like over a lengthy time period.  Granted you could jump around and read a variety of series, but that just goes back to price again.  Why shell out so much money when you could use it a bit wiser?  You can usually get an anime DVD for 20 bucks in a store, or if you're lucky, less since some come in bundles.  In my case I'd rather go for the anime since you could rip it to your computer and put in on your iPod/PSP and watch it over and over again.  But even then, 20 bucks for a 4 episode DVD is pretty ridiculous.  Plus the anime DVD aisle is suffering from the same fate as the manga aisle, nothing but mainstream and very few interesting titles.

The only way to make manga thrive in the states would be to somehow lower the price, or give more incentive to purchase the product.  But even then, just the handling of anything coming from Japan to the states has forever been poorly handled.  So it's hard to find anything of quality since most of what we get is what companies assume we want: ninjas and more pirates.  Dubbing on animes are terrible, animes and mangas that are too explicit are getting censored, shit keeps getting changed in the process of bringing it over that it's no longer the correct product.  Right now the only people I can think of who probably are purchasing translated manga would be American Otakus, high schoolers with little income, and the occasional 4kids watcher who likes X anime and must own all of X anime's products.

Once again, another update to the ongoing list it seems (all of these are PSP releases).

Phantasy Star Portable 2
-I already know I WILL buy this game once it comes out in the states.  If Sega for some reason refuses to bring it over, I'll most likely import it.  Either way, I am getting this game somehow.  Actually I'm thinking of getting the demo once it comes out on the JPN PSN so I can check out the character customization.  The first PS portable was a great game but with a ton of problems.  Looking at what's been done this time around, it appears a lot of these problems are being corrected.  This game is arguably shaping up to be the best game released on the PSP to date.  The ability to create your own character, awesome graphics, fantastic boss battles, multiplayer ONLINE, being able to form parties with friends and chat with them on PSP; aside from the heavy hack-slash nature of the title, it wouldn't make sense not to get this game.

Persona 3 Portable
-The title alone is enough to get excited about, but so far I'm not sold on it yet.  So far there have been some major improvements looking at videos and screenshots, however I'm not liking what I'm seeing here and there.  Navigation around town and interacting with people is kinda MEH.  They've taken the Phantasy Star Portable approach by just taking screenshots instead of rendering areas for you to explore.  Which I wouldn't mind so much had they not slapped your main character onto the side of the screen for no reason.  Plus some scenes which were emphasized more through the animations in the PS2 version are getting shafted it appears.  New music for the female protagonist storyline sounds awful so far, especially the new battle music.  I probably will purchase this game if it comes over stateside, but I'm not really too excited about it considering I've played the PS2 version.

Pop'n Music Portable
-What's with all the P titled games?  Anywho, not a lot of information on this one yet other than it's another one of Konami's music games they refuse to bring over stateside.  So far it looks like a greatest-hits sort of game made portable.  I love that the songlist is rather large, like 80 songs or more, however I hope they are decent.  There looks to be a storymode as well which could be a pain in the ass for people like me who are planning on importing the game.  Especially if all the content is required to be unlocked in that.  This is definitely an odd move for the series considering it's supposed to be played on big-ass hand sized buttons, however logically it makes sense to put it on a portable medium.  Since the series gameplay wasn't designed to represent any real musical instrument at all.  I've always wanted to try this game out but didn't want to plug an expensive amount of money importing it, so this should be fun.  Maybe if we wait long enough, we'll see a PSP DDR Portable sometime =/  They'll make it for the gameboy and the iPod touch, yet not on the PSP.

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble
-The demo for this is actually on the JPN PSN; I should probably download it, but this is another title that has caught my eye.  It looks very similar to Yakuza on the PS2 so I'm hoping it's decent enough to play.  It's coming out next month stateside, so I'm looking to get a hold of it since Atlus is bringing it over.  Which means it might be over-the-top translated which could be good or bad seeing as how ridiculous this game plays out.  I think the most troublesome thought I'm having is that I want this to be a portable Yakuza, but it may end up not being like that.  That's really the only real thing drawing me into the game is that thin amount of hope.

To update on first list:

Let's Tap (Wii)
-This was a fun game but I've stopped playing it because
1) It's on the Wii. 
2) All the games are arcade style and lose their appeal over time.
3) No life bar on the rhythm game made it less challenging.

Pangya: Fantasy Golf (PSP)
-Got this and was pleasantly surprised. 

Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite (PSP)
-Got this and really haven't been that pleased with it.  Way too challenging, and I'm not having a lot of fun with it despite all the positive aspects of the game.

Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)
-Got this and actually had a decent time with it.  Not the greatest PSP game of all time, but definitely keeping it in my collection.

Duke Nukem Triology (PSP)
-Shit got pushed back to Q1 of next year D:

Tekken 6 (PSP)
-Decided I'm not going to get this next month.

Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy (PS2)
-Probably will get this game after I sell off a few PS2 games on ebay.  Most likely I'll just wait and see if the PSP port of the game is coming stateside.