Are you ready!?

As always, slow updates on this blog.
And this is old news too, but I finally got around to processing these photos.

For those unfamiliar, THE iDOLM@STER 2, or iM@S2 for short, is a game where you chose a few aspiring idols and try to get them to the top rank in Japan.
It’s a mix of team management, visual novel, rhythm game, music video maker all in one.

Anyway, here’s some photos of the Limited Edition for PS3 that Japan is so fond of. Why shouldn’t they, many suckers are going to buy it because of the Limited Edition title…. like me…

A little note tho, iM@S has primarily been an Xbox 360 title, with some spinoffs on portable consoles such as NDS’ iM@S Dearly Stars and PSP’s iM@S SP.

Behold, the box! It’ll be used for storing the anime’s DVD/BluRay cases as they get released. A clever marketing ploy… which I fell for.

Contents of the box. It includes the game, the Gravure 4 You! Vol.1 “game” which allows you to pose the idols in themed dresses to take photos of. Presumably to show off their cuteness. The other contents are the game OST, the first volume of the anime which comes with photo postcards, a light novel and CD and a mini magazine. Lots of goodies~!

Here’s the photo postcards, it seems to be all Iori’s pictures from the ending of the episode for now. I assume with the next releases of the anime they’ll include other ending scenes.

Aaaand, as a pre-order bonus, they include a random film strip of the anime. I got Ritsuko with a nervous face. I can’t really complain, but I’d prefer Takane or Yayoi. Rinka got Azusa… his oshimen.

Anyway, that’s the short report of what’s inside the box. Until next time (which would prolly be months as I’ll be going to Japan soon…)

OMFG IT’S SPARKLE TIME

I GOT IT IN, FINALLY :D
Then again, my fault for picking SAL instead of EMS… I’m so cheap :P

I still don’t know why I’m so obsessed with iDOLM@STER, I can’t even read Japanese fluently to play the game without a guide @_@

Hmm, prolly similar to those idol otaku, them and their crazy AKB48 fetish :D

Anyway, got AmiAmi’s version of the limited pack, I was tempted to buy another from Lawsons which includes a different set of limited items. Cursed Japanese store exclusive limited editions, I’m sooo broke…

Move over SecondLife

ai sp@ce

Ok, I may be slow, and this may be plastered everywhere in the English speaking community, but give me a break, I’m up to my ears in work @___@;

A few friends such as Hectic have told me about this, and I’ve been meaning to find some English sources for this but haven’t had the time (for anything really). Wavehawk has directed me to one, and so here I am blogging about this.

From what I understand, ai sp@ce is like Second Life, but for otaku types. Now, I’ll say it first, I hate Second Life, there’s a few reasons, but let’s just say it’s visually revolting for me.

I’ll be looking forward to this, even though I highly doubt they’ll have any English support but oh well, I’m sure they’ll have a small English speaking community on it.

If you want screenshots you can find them in the links below, I rather not write a whole article and use the same pictures of one that’s already out there (plus I got no time! @_@)

Links

Akihabara Channel’s article on Ai Sp@ce ENG
ai sp@ce’s official site JP

P.S. I have a backlog of post entries for you guys but I haven’t got time to do them >.< I’ll try to get them to you when I can, hopefully within this month at least @_______@;; Sorry for the lag in posts OTL

iM@S Birthdays

Congratulations!

Happy Birthday Yayoi Takatsuki! XD

Did I mention Ace Combat 6?
On the 27th, Namco Bandai games are releasing the new DLC (Downloadable Content) pack. With previous packs, one iM@S character was featured, but with this pack there’s TWO. At 400 M$ Points each, they’ll be a hefty drain my my supply.

F-22A “Haruka”

The F-22A Haruka‘s stats are an overall improvement on the stock F-22A, with higher stats and SP weapon payload, but at the cost of regular missiles. This is really a nice addition for the top tier fighter.

Mirage 2000-5 “Yayoi”

Conversely, the Mirage 2000-5 Yayoi‘s stats are suited for air-to-ground missions, having the air-to-ground and speed stat boosted considerably, however her mobility, defence and stability is lowered. All weapons payload has been increased, with considerable note to the LASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile) from a measly 15 to 72!!. A nice addition to single player and co-op/siege multiplayer games.

A no brainer, I’ll be purchasing these two on the day of release XD
Another note is:

Shiny Smile

That’s right, the new song for iM@S:L4U! “Shiny Smile” will be released on the 26th! For those with the download card from the Limited Edition game pack, brush off the dust and get ready to cash it in!! :3

Old Package

Smoked Cheese?

I couldn’t blog about this the day I got it since I was really busy with an assessment (which was due today!), so here it is. Received this on the 13th, which is a while since it was released before then. You may of heard I had some troubles with HLJ’s shipping as it was supposed to be shipped with another figure for a friend of mine, but it was sold out =/

Where’s Tsuruya??
Well, she’s here, being played with Evelyn (the Yuki Dollfie…yes, I named her…yes, I scare myself sometimes)

Tsuruya by Max Factory is quite nice, it even comes with cat ears, tail and a extra hand. I’ll talk about this figure in detail with the photo shoot, which I may be a while with the way my workload is at the moment >.<

Here’s a comparison shot with the Alter version of Tsuruya:

So ya, I’m sorry about the slow updates, especially since the updates aren’t even outdoor photo shoots ^^;
Hopefully I can do something about it over the coming weeks, I’ll try to squeeze in time for it. I do however, have some photos of Evelyn, tho they are somewhat….ecchi , but not that ecchi. Here’s a preview anyway:

I dunno if I should do this like a glamour photo shoot, the original photos aren’t too great since they’re taken indoors, and knowing my horrible indoor lighting it isn’t a surprise ^^; But I think I might be overdoing it a lil…. any comments?

Other news, there’s going to be TWO new iDOLM@STER releases for Ace Combat 6, Mirage 2000-5 “Yayoi” and F-22 “Haruka“….there goes 800 M$ points >.<

New Package

Figure-Game Combo

Slow updates, I know, I’m working hard at uni so apologies for the stagnating boredom lingering around this cobweb clad blog ^^;

Anyway, a treat, figure and game package arrived today~

So today I got two packages, I’ll get straight to the point:

First up is C.C. of Code Geass, figure by alpha x omega (Alter collaboration project)

She is one fine figure :3
I don’t really have a location in mind for a photo shoot with her, since I don’t think she really fits outdoors…
Perhaps I’ll get something in mind one day? ^^;
If anyone has suggestions then please, by all means tell me.

The figure itself is great, I’m quite pleased with it. Now if only they could bring out a figure of Kaguya-hime as well.

Second up is something I’ve been waiting for a while, THE iDOLM@STER: Live For You! for the Xbox 360. This is one of my more anticipated games, and so far I’m loving the gameplay, and of course, being able to see and hear Kotori talk to you :3

I snapped up the Limited Edition iM@S:L4U game package, comes with a special animation DVD, of iDOLM@STER…ANIME OF iDOLM@STER, ANIME!, iDOLM@STER!, NOT XENOGLOSSIA, THANK THE HEAVENS!
There’s a subbed version of the anime out, go search for it if you’re interested.
This package also came with a “Shiny Smile” card, which has a code on the back that allows you to download the new song for the game for free…once the song is available later this month (26 March).
Another item was the Live Pamphlet Book, which in my opinion is AWESOME, WITH AN AWESOME CAPITAL A.
The book has the storyboards for the animation DVD, and also some character sheets along with some lil tidbits within the first few pages.

The game itself is fairly fresh. iDOLM@STER is a simulation, where you raise an idol to stardom, taking into account issues such as her training, promotional image, her personal time, auditions and such. This can be very tiring (especially when you aren’t fluent in Japanese) so Live For You! is actually a very nice addition. Live For You! starts you off as a fan who has been tasked with selecting the idols’ clothes, performance stage, song and such. You basically play as either in photo mode where you…well, take photos, or in the other rhythm game mode, this is where you play the game much like Taiko no Tatsujin, or the Bemani games. There’s even remixes of the old favourite songs! Overall it’s great for a quick pick up and play game :3

So, I’m busy with Uni…is what I’d like to say, but with iM@S:L4U, along with the iM@S planes in Ace Combat 6, I should worry.

Polls polls polls

New poll!

The last poll indicated that people wanted to see the Soviet T-34-76 as the subject of weathering. Right now I’m half way through the actual weathering, I should be able to post the tutorial and results early-mid next week (I forgot I needed some moddleing supplies…).

A new poll is in effect, I couldn’t think of anything so it’ll be another list of Mecha Musume I have that I’d like to start weathering in the near future. Click on the name to see a picture~

I’m doing a lil more work than usual for this particular Mecha Musume as I wanted to challenge myself a lil so it’ll take longer than a normal weathering session. The effort should pay off tho, so stay tuned!

Gomae!

New iDOLM@STER

Short post, but important one, THE iDOLM@STER IS GETTING ANOTHER GAME!
Xbox360 users (who like iDOLM@STER) will be delighted about the new game coming out.

I’ve only heard about this through a friend (Hectic) last night. I managed to find a few Famitsu scans of it from gamersyde.com, cheers to them.

Apparently from reading the comments, it seems like the game will focus more on the actual idol performance rather than the idol raising aspect, which is all good in my opinion :3 (partly due to the fact that I don’t understand 100% of the dialogue in the raising aspect anyway ^^;) It will also have a DVD with some animation (not sure what this means) and also a remix soundtrack CD.

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I can’t wait to get my hands on this :3

Nintendo DS

NDS Skins

Ok, so I lied =/ Sorry that this isn’t a post of a figure shoot, that’s planned for this Sunday/Monday.

Right… I splurged more money… Story goes (it’s a short one) that my friend who visited me at work brought along his DS like usual, cept this time he brought what we both have been waiting for a while. Doki Doki Majou Shinpan, that’s right, it’s the game that makes touching good~
Anyway, I caved in, there’s simply more games on the DS I want to play than the PSP =/

Now, a NDS isn’t a cheap thing (comparative to figures…) but at work, I found a customer who actually worked at EB Games at DFO. He offered to help me get a discount on the NDS which was fine by me.

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R4, Revolution for DS, a flash cart for the NDS, it lets you play er, “homebrew” games and other multimedia files. You can also skin the interface to your own liking which is what I have done. Here ya go, these skins work on the R4 and apparently the M3 as well, go ahead and try them out if you own either of those flash carts.

LucyRuu

A ToHeart2 skin for those Lucy and Reona fans. Both images are from Kantoku who has been featured in the previous post Moe Moe Overdose. A nice skin for those who have a pink DS and want something appropriate with it.

Mecha Musume

ACH TUNG! Shimada Humikane‘s work in a skin :3 For those who like a more darker skin to match their black DS.

ARIAn

ARIA, who doesn’t like a cute udine~ Gorgeous artwork from Kantoku again. Great for white DS owners I guess~

Yayoidolatry

Aaah, Yayoi Takatsuki. One of the goddess’ of my moe world ^^; The first picture is still a mystery to me of who drew it. The second is by Yomogi.

Oh well, there’s my lil creative output for the NDS for the past day or so. Enjoy~

Details

Name
Nintendo DS Lite
Colour
Black
Place of purchase
EB Games Melbourne Central, Melbourne, Australia
Retail price
$199.00 AU
Bought it for
$165.00 AU
Availability (at time of writing)
Plenty :3
Links
NDS Themes
My NDS themes page

Project iM@S

THE iDOLM@STER MASTER BOX II

Yay~ Today my iDOLM@STER MASTER BOX II arrived! Much like the previous MASTER BOX I, this set consists of all the new songs for each character and at “performance” length, which is about 2 mins, not the full versions which is reserved for Masterpiece and Masterwork Soundtracks. Masterbox II is the Xbox360 version as opposed to the arcade version of Masterbox I, thus it has all the songs for Miki since she hasn’t appeared on the arcade version.

Here’s some photos I hastily took :3

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That figure is Miki from THE iDOLM@STER Limited Edition pack in my previous post.

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It has 3 cases, 2 of which contain the music, the other being a DVD of the 16 songs done by the girls but on a rehearsal stage and them in workout clothes, which is ok I guess :3
The problem about this was how long it took to arrive, it was released on the 4th April, but only just arrived, Play-Asia said there was a problem with the supplier to I guess it can’t be helped =/

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Details – Photos

Camera
Nikon Coolpix P2
Date
23rd May 2007
Location
In my room, on my secondary desk

Details – Item

Name
THE iDOLM@STER MASTER BOX II
Publisher
Columbia Music Entertainment
Release Date
4th April 2007
Place of purchase
Play-Asia
Retail price
6,000 yen
Bought it for
$65.65 AU
Availability
Available at Play-Asia
Links
THE iDOLM@STER Official Site
Columbia’s iDOLM@STER MASTER BOX II Site

Beware of tsun-tsun~