It was something many of us felt this year at Seattle’s Sakura Con; it was lacking the magic and charm of previous years. We’ll take a look at the problems, and how they can be addressed. Even you can make a difference, we’ll also talk about ways to make events fun for those around you.

In the past year or more, we have not seen many truly great series. The anime industry is rehashing a lot of genres, and running low on original ideas. Not only that, but studios have dropped the ball on many manga adaptations. Shows we were excited for have been a let down, while the underdogs slipped under the radar. How many of us watched the previews for A-Channel, Denpa, Blood-C, No.6, Deadman Wonderland (due to lack of S2), Persona 4, Fractale, and Hidan no Aria expecting more than what we ended up with? Either there was a lack of consistent story, the jokes fell flat, or they suffered disappointing endings. Not only that, but we had to face an onslaught of moeblobs (which is what we call excessively cute slice of life series.)

Proof of this was evident this year. There was an abundance of Adventure Time, MLP: FIM, and Homestuck cosplayers. Wait a minute. Two western cartoons and a web comic? I thought we were suppose to be celebrating anime here. Western animation is slowly taking back the reigns and producing some of the most popular cartoons since the 90s’ and early 20th century. Not only are we seeing headway in cartoons, but live action series as well. Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Dexter, Doctor Who, Spartacus, Breaking Bad and so many more are topping the charts and building a huge fan base. A lot of that has to do with excellent writing and production. Anime will have to take a leaf from their books and step it up if they want to continue to be popular in the west.

The staff was on edge and space was not used wisely… speaking with people who attended the con, as well as our own experience, we were faced with a lot of threats without good reason. Asking a simple question, or unknowingly being in the wrong place could land you with an ear full about how you can and will be kicked out, or have your badge revoked. As I have never worked or volunteered for Sakura Con, I cannot explain why this happens. All I can do is plead that those in charge really evaluate who they are letting enforce the rules, and work on better ways to approach people. If you had a bad experience with a staff member, speak up, send an email explaining what happened.

Another thing we noticed, is that the space was used awkwardly. Artist’s alley had been moved in with the expo hall, which probably meant they had more people walking by, but it was confusing to try and figure out where the official booths started, and the artists ended. If you didn’t want to spend a lot of money you may have avoided this area completely. The area upstairs formerly used as the artist’s alley was now a big empty space with 1/4th of it dedicated to rhythm games. We saw a lot of big empty spaces, and some areas where everything was squished together. This gave the illusion that the con felt empty except for the expo hall. While being able to buy unique items at a convention is a perk, it shouldn’t be the bulk of the entertainment. We don’t spend $50 on a pass just so we can spend $200 on merchandise and $75 for three days of parking. Not only that, but finding figures or hand made items isn’t as hard as it use to be now that we have sites like ebay, amazon and etsy.

Now that we’ve talked about things we can’t really control, let’s talk about the ones we can.

First and foremost, anime conventions are by fans, for fans. This isn’t PAX, the entertainment and swag isn’t going to be provided for you. So what can you do to make a better experience for yourself and everyone else? The good news is there are a lot of things! So let’s break it down.

As a cosplayer…

Cosplay is suppose to be a fun way to bring life to a convention. It’s not very fun when it turns in to a huge popularity contest to see who can pull off the best outfit, or has the best body. While these things can make a more convincing outfit, it shouldn’t be the only element to dressing up.

1. Get in to character. As far as everyone else is concerned, you are who you’re dressed up as. If you enter a competition or panel, think about how your character would react if they were in that situation and act accordingly. We saw a cosplayer from the series Naruto do this during the foam sword battle. He fought using a mix of capoeria and his own style which was really fun to watch, and flowed quite well with his character. The audience really cheered him on!

2. We’re a community, and we should support each other. Not bring each other down. If you see someone and you like their outfit, say something! Compliment them or give them a high five. Ask if you can hug someone if that’s your forte. Hugs are fun, but not everyone wants one.

3. Don’t let it get you down if someone cosplays the same thing as you and you feel like they do it better. The way you portray your character and the personality you give it will speak volumes. Talk to them and ask how they made it or what materials they used if you sew your own outfits. We all start somewhere!

As a panelist…

People sometimes forget that panels are often run by normal attendees. If you’ve never run one, maybe it’s time to start! Think about your strengths. Are you really good at art? Can you color with copic markers? Do you know how to make a great web comic? Do you know how to sew? Do you know how to coordinate lolita outfits? Do you know a lot about a series? Do you really love visual novels? There are just about a million and one things you could talk about.

1. Supply materials. There’s a lack of free stuff at conventions and it’s kind of disappointing. Even providing simple things such as buttons or stickers would help draw people in to panels. If you’re doing an art based panel, provide some cheap newsprint sketchbooks and some pencils. It wouldn’t be very expensive and it would allow people to practice what they are learning. If you’re doing a panel about Japanese food, bring some candies for people to try. If you’re doing a panel about lolita, bring cut out pictures of jewelry and clothing so people can attach them to a board and make their own coordination ideas. The possibilities are endless and it will help keep your audience entertained. Having a bunch of hyped up people sit in a room and listen to someone talk can be difficult. You may have a very short time to grab someone’s attention, and if you can do it visually, that’s going to be your best bet.

2. Think about what you would like to learn, and what would be fun for others. I always see a lot of “101″ panels. This is alright, but a lot of people who go to conventions already know about these things or can research them on their own. Consider ways you can talk about your subject that will make it interesting for everyone, no matter what their skill level is. Otherwise you may appeal to only a select group of people. Looking through YouTube we found a great set of panels that talked about anime directors and their styles of animation. How one director may have a sketchy style full of motion where another had a very technical approach. This was supplemented by video examples of each. On a base level, they’re simply talking about different animes and what the best scenes look like, but they did it in a way that would be interesting.

3. Talk about what you know. If you make a web comic, don’t just show people how to do it, or show off your work. Talk about your experiences, take questions, leave room for your audience to drive you in a direction, ask them what they want to know. If they are too shy to speak up, have a variety of things to go over. Always encourage participation.

4. Sometimes you don’t have to teach. It’s totally okay to devote a good chunk of time letting people do what they like as long as it’s related to your panel and you do have something you can provide. For example, I helped run a panel that ran 3hrs over how long we thought it would go because we put a visual novel on for people to experience and they got so in to it they actually finished the whole thing. Another great example was a photoshop tutorial that took place in a room full of art supplies and tables. We spent a lot of time just asking the instructor to show us how to do effects, line work, and coloring. It was really enjoyable.

 As staff…

You’re the one who calls the shots, your attitude effects everyone. How you act toward other people will come off as a representation on the views of the convention, even if you have nothing to do with that.

1. You don’t have to be angry. It’s inevitable that you’ll have to reprimand someone for something. However, you don’t have to get angry, use threats, be mean, or swear. Always approach people with an adult attitude. Your example means everything. If it’s okay for you to act out, that makes it okay for everyone else to do it as well.

2. Find ways to help bring people together. Keeping an agitated line occupied with beach balls to bop around, handing out something, or getting the group to sing a song is way better than shouting and making everyone unhappy or more prone to lash out.

3. Listen to people. Sometimes all someone needs to hear is “I’m sorry that happened to you, I totally get that.”

4. Keep in mind people may not be trying to cause trouble on purpose. For many people, they don’t know the rules of the con as well as they should. There are still a lot of first timers too. Start off with a very friendly reminder that does not point any fingers. If you have to get more serious and issue another warning it can be helpful to diffuse people’s frustration by saying things like “I totally agree with you, it’s a dumb rule! Unfortunately I didn’t make the rules, I just have to make sure people follow them. If you want to write a complaint you can go to x” This will likely keep them from starting an argument with you since they feel like you’re relating to them, and they probably won’t make the effort to actually file a complaint because they have more interesting things to do.

As a merchant…

1. Don’t be money hungry, we’re all hurting for money. The economy just isn’t as good as it was before, and here in Seattle that’s something we overlook a lot. That doesn’t mean you have to lower all your prices but if you generally sell things that are fairly expensive you may want to consider providing small, inexpensive things as well. Someone may be more likely to spend $5 on a small thing, than drop $50 on a print.

2. Display is everything. I saw so many booths that didn’t list prices for their items. The booth was crowded, the booth owner engaged in conversation, and I couldn’t get a look at anything because it was far away. It was easier to pass up an interesting item than try to snag someone’s attention and ask about it. I know this is to help prevent theft, but display cases can go a long way.

3. Be helpful but not too helpful. People can tell when you’re trying to convince them to buy something. It turns a lot of people off. Making yourself available in case someone has questions, observing body language, and being friendly but not overbearing will be pleasant for your customer. Some people are super indecisive and will just want to stare for a long time (like me.) There’s a little Asian lady who makes cat hats and we just love her. She’s always smiling and happy, she doesn’t try to convince us to buy anything but will inform us when we seem to have a question. I think at this point we may just buy her items because she’s so fun to be around. She even remembered us from last year!

So there you have it!  I hope this helps give some people great ideas for not only anime conventions but gaming conventions as well. We are a community, we are strong, smart, and talented. Let’s work at showing the world what we can do!

I started out with cooking mode and quickly became hooked. Maybe it didn’t help that I was hungry. Chocolate Cornets, Umeboshi, Curry, Yakitori, and so much more. Once you select which dish you would like you make, you play through a series of mini games to prepare and cook the ingredients. Being someone who cooks in real life, it was interesting seeing how so many Japanese dishes were made, I had always wondered.

I was worried that it would get repetitive with so many things to make, but there are over 200 mini games and I didn’t run in to duplicates often. Even when I did, they were usually different ingredients which still kept things fresh. Other modes have different objectives. Helping mode lets you do various tasks to help mama like putting away toys, cleaning the floor, unwrapping presents. Combine mode lets you create your own crazy meal by combining different recipe. At times I did have some trouble understanding what I needed to do in the mini games, but it was never enough to negativity impact my experience.

Now this is a 3DS game, and the big question on everyone’s mind when seeking games for this handheld is “How well does it utilize the 3D?” I would have to answer that with “Creatively.” Since most of your game play is making use of the stylus on the lower screen, that is where your eyes are focused. The top screen is reserved for things like the kitchen, mama, the timer, and an occasional mini game. At one point there were 3D pieces of toast being thrown toward me, while I had to catch them in 2D on the lower screen. I feel like this was a good choice however, because if you think about it, you’ll have a large audience of kids playing this game (it’s enjoyable for the older crowd too!) They will be less likely to experience side effects from the 3D since they won’t be staring in to it all the time, which is a great bonus for parents.

Overall Cooking Mama is fun and addictive. It constantly rewards you with new recipes, customization options for the kitchen, games, and outfits for mama. Not only that but it makes better use of the stylus than most games I have seen so far.

Release Date: November 15th 2011
Rated E for Everyone
Supports up to 4 players in multiplayer.

Credit to for the awesome fan art!

Turntable.fm is a new website that was founded in May 2011 for Windows, Mac, and iOS so far. Currently only available to the US due to copyright laws, It allows users to take turns playing songs for each other by allowing them to ‘DJ’ in an interface based room with avatars, and a chat box. You can add other DJ’s song’s to your queue by snagging them while they are playing, the site is also linked with amazon, iTunes, lastfm, spotify, and rdio.

Turntable will check your friend’s list from Facebook or Twitter to track which rooms your friends are listening to music in so that you can join in if you want. You can create a room, or join one that is already made. Once you’re in, you’ll see 5 DJ tables at the front of the room. If no one is occupying it, you can click on it to start DJing. Turntable will allow you to upload mp3s from your computer, or search their database. When it’s your turn, whatever song is at the top of your list will play automatically.

So how do you know you’ll find good songs here? The answer is that each song played can be rated by the audience while it’s playing by hitting the awesome or lame button at the bottom. Whatever the score was at the end of the song is recorded in the room history. DJs get points for playing awesome songs, and lose points for playing lame ones. These points allow them to get new avatars. As of right now there aren’t a lot of them, and I’m happy to say that the focus of turntable is definitely on the music, not what you can gain by playing it.

What really keeps me interested in this site, is the community. You’ll often find people settle on sticking around the same rooms from day to day, and after a while become friends. People who are upcoming or already popular DJs have been frequenting the site and playing their original tracks, Sir Mix A Lot came on and played his favorite hip hop tracks for a day too. My work buddies even caught on, and now they play music for each other while they work. It truly is a unique interactive experience.

Some people ask, “Is this illegal?” and while it has not been thrown in to the limelight, you will find some restrictions as they operate under the DMCA. If you are the only one DJing in a room, you can only hear a preview for your song, which makes it so you can’t use it like an MP3 player and play for yourself. There has to be at least one other DJ at the table. There is also a limit on how often a song can be played per hour. In July 2011, TTFM signed ad deal with the ASCAP to ensure songwriters, composers, and publishers would be compensated for their songs being played on the site, making it entirely legal.

Some managed to fall asleep in time, but others like us couldn’t settle down and ended up sleeping early in the morning. This didn’t seem to stop too many people however. We drove from the east side (that’s the east side of the lake which separates Seattle from neighboring towns for those of you who don’t know our lingo) in to Seattle and suddenly, there were people everywhere. The lines to get in to PAX alone were impressive. Even though the convention center had multiple entrances, each one still had a line that wrapped hundreds of people. The official attendance has not been posted yet, but judging from previous counts, I am guessing it was close to 70,000. Once we made it inside, it was time to check out games, and get some swag. We saw tons of promising games, including Zelda: Skyward Sword, Prototype 2, Virtua Fighter 5, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Street Fighter X. Tekken, Arkham City, Twisted Metal, and more. Check out our videos and pictures to learn more about them!

Swag was considerably less than last year, but that was alright, there were also more exciting games than last year as well. One major score was the OnLive console, and bluetooth controller. OnLive allows you to play video games with any TV or computer that can handle playing a video. Which is exactly what it does, it streams a video of a video game which you are playing to your computer or TV, and it will send your button inputs back to their server to control the game. The response time is quick, which allows it to feel like you really are running it at home. Now the exciting news is that this product is coming to Android tablets and phones, as well as the iPad. So yes, this does mean you can be playing Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood on your phone or tablet.

On the second day we decided to go check out the concerts. During the queue to get in, I was staring at some kids next to us who had two packs of pipe cleaners and were forming them in to various objects. Oh I really wanted some. Our friend Rob pointed out that some enforcers were handing them out, which caused me to break out of line and beeline for them. They gave us a few packs under the condition that we hand them out. The concerts opened with the second to last round of the Omegathon, and Paul and Storm, who do parody songs. We were hoping for something with more of a beat like Anamanaguchi but it didn’t happen so we headed out. Due to the 520 floating bridge being closed (one of two bridges you can take in to Seattle from the east side) we wanted to make our night last for the trauma of trying to figure out the GPS and the driving in downtown. If you’ve never driven downtown Seattle, imagine vertical hills, one way streets, and right/left turns only, everywhere. So with our pipe cleaners in hand we went to the panel area and began advertising for free pipe cleaners and hugs (via Rob, looking for lady hugs, which he mostly received manly ones, despite his sign saying otherwise.) We got a series of mixed reactions, ranging from “HELL YEAH I WANT A PIPE CLEANER” to “What do I do with it?…” Some people refused to take pipe cleaners but yet handed me things they had made. I now have a small collection of pipe cleaner gifts. As silly as it sounds, we had a lot of fun doing this, and followed it up the next day with Smarties.

On the final day at closing after checking out all the games we could check out, and grabbing all the swag handed to us, we headed to the Expo hall to end the convention right by giving fellow PAX goers candy and rocking out with the Mega 64 booth.

Stay tuned for more coverage, and be sure to check the videos and photos on Chocolate Lemon’s Facebook!

In the slide show above, you can see the inner workings of the ArenaNet office. What a lot of people don’t realize, is that most of the content design happens right here, with little more than 250 people. When you break it down, that’s only a handful of people per department. It’s impressive to see how much hard work goes in to this game. Every detail of the game is taken in to consideration during production. I often see fans asking questions regarding “Will x be improved?” “I’m worried about x, what are the plans for that?” What I can say is, your voice is heard. This is one company that really does listen to what people have to say. During the open house, the fans were shown around the office, then sat down for some involved game play with the Norn, Charr, and Human races, underwater combat, and dungeons. They finished out the day hanging with some of the dev and community members until late in to the night. Sounds like it was a very fun day!

So what has been going on lately? It’s been a while since we saw the GW2 demo last PAX, here is what they’ve been doing recently.

I think it came as a surprise, as Guild Wars 1 never had it, that the Engineer class was announced. It was received with mixed emotions, as many didn’t see how an Engineer class could fit in to a fantasy style MMO. Recent reviews from fans and press confirm, Engineer not only fits in, but it’s fun. In GW2, instead of equipping your attack skills like GW1, they are pre-attached to a weapon, and you can equip utility skills. These can be healing, buffing, or attack skills in themselves. Each class has a variety of weapons they can use, and some which can be switched out between main and off hand, which adds more variety to your game play. Some classes, including Engineer, have utility skills that will give them weapons. One example for Engineer, is the flamethrower. You will have your normal attacks from your main weapon, and equip the flamethrower utility skill. When using this skill, it will override your main skills and give you flamethrower skills, and your character will obtain a gas backpack, and flamethrower weapon. You’ll keep all of this until you want to take them off. Engineers have an interesting set of skills which allow them to set up turrets and use mines or bombs. They can also disperse health packs for teammates. Some have voiced their worry that this will cause them to become a healing class, but it’s one thing you won’t have to worry about. Each class has their own heal skill, and is able to manage their own HP. Buffs and healing can be helpful, but won’t require anyone to be doing this full time. Everyone will have their chance to do DPS and make a difference in a fight.

So now, let’s take a look at dungeons. While so much has changed from GW1, dungeons will be a more familiar feeling to fans of the first game as they are instanced, consistent environments that require group play. As of right now, there are 8 dungeons with one story mode, and 3 explorable modes with the lowest level one starting at 35. Story mode will enhance your experience on your personal storyline within the game. Each race has its own iconic character which you have been journeying with on your quests. The quest you experience will depend on a questionnaire of sorts which you answer when you create your character. While dungeons do not intrude on this, you’d be missing out if you didn’t do them. Different dungeons focus on different iconic characters. In the video above you can see the Norn iconic Eir, and the Charr iconic Rytlok. Eir ventures in to the depths of the Ascalonian Catacombs to retrieve the remains of King Adelbern’s sword, while Rytlock asks your help to stop her before she stirs up the vengeful spirits of the dead. As story needs to be accessible for pick up parties, it will be slightly easier. Not to say, that you should underestimate it. Those looking for coordinated group play, and more of a challenge, will find it in explorable which takes place after the events of story. While it takes place in the same area, you will not be having the same experience.

All this being said, there’s much more content that has been announced, and I encourage you to check it out at the ArenaNet blog: http://www.arena.net/blog/

1. Take it back old school.
Let’s face it, as much as we love our shiny new games, they will never been the same as the ones we grew up with. If you’re suffering from Next-gen-itis, maybe you need to break that old console out of the closet and remember a much simpler time in your life. Recently I played through Sonic Adventure… one, it’s amazing how your mind remembers games from years past. I thought I was a super skilled little kid! Turns out the game really was just that easy. That didn’t stop me from playing it for most of the day. After that, I sat back and thought “Yeah… we’ve come a long way since then.”

2. Attend a convention.
If you suffer from one of my favorite quotes from PAX is; “PAX is 70,000 friends you never knew you had.” And it’s true, being surrounded by people who love the same thing you do (we’re talking about video games here, of course) can help you get wrapped up in the hype. A niche of the world where being a gamer is the norm, and it is celebrated to the max. Big TVs, music, unreleased games, free swag, people so happy they’re like cats at midnight, the best …and the worst cosplays you’ll ever see, how can you not be excited?

3. Attend a tournament.
That is of course, if you don’t go to them currently. Some people find their drive from competition. Having a purpose, meeting new friends, growing and becoming better at what you do can feel extra rewarding. Not only that but all those matches will finally pay off! Whether you play FPS or fighting games, PSN, Live, or PC, there’s something for everyone, and a whole other world that you just have to experience for yourself.

4. Just pick up and play.
Some of us take time researching our games before we play them, we know what mechanics we like, what kinds of characters, we know what we want our games to look like. This can be an important element for those who play RPGs since there is so much time required to play them. If you’re feeling worn out, maybe you spent a lot of time grinding, or you feel you can’t move on to another game, just stop planning. Don’t research, don’t stick to what you know, the point is to have no investment in what you’re doing and explore. Action games, arcade games, indie games, anything and everything is on the table. If you’re feeling brave, try playing a genre you barely know anything about. You may like it!

5. Change your platform.
An obvious rift can be seen between PC gamers, and console gamers. This could be what’s wearing you out though. The feeling of a mouse, a controller, a stick, a motion control device (or no controller at all in some cases) can be refreshing to those who have married themselves to a system. It’s okay to have a fling, with another gaming platform! Not your significant other, that probably wouldn’t go over well.

6. Play with a friend.
Remember that guy, or that girl? You know, the one you met a long time ago but eventually you stopped talking to them… but you still read their Facebook page and write things like “Oh you have a cute dog.”, “Ohh… yeah that thing you went to looked fun…” or just hit the “like” button on their posts every couple days but never really talk to them? Now is your chance! To get back in to gaming of course, and slink away for another 3 months while you get lost in what you’re doing until you start hitting that “like” button again… NO! Ahem. If you have a game you’ve been meaning to play, call that friend up and ask them if they’re interested. Single player? No problem, just swap the controller back and forth or let them sit at your computer. Not only will you get to play that game, but it will ease the tension of re-connecting by eliminating the awkwardness of trying to find things to talk about, or trying to find common interests now that time has passed. Single? Well… now you have the perfect excuse to see that special someone!

7. E3 Bonus edition: Play with LOTS of friends, have a party!
Since it’s E3 week, why not invite people over and watch together? Every year, there are things we laugh over, things that make us angry, things that just plain confuse us… and it’s even better when other people chime in on their thoughts. You caught this article late and it’s not E3 you say? Why is that stopping you? Set up some TVs or have people bring their own set ups and throw a BBQ, drink hordes of alcohol if that’s your style (keep the motion games hidden, and wall mount the TVs!). Just make sure you have enough going on to keep everyone entertained. Rotating a single TV out while everyone else watches can be very uncomfortable for those who aren’t playing, and even worse for people who are new to, or don’t play video games. Have an area where you can put a movie on, watch cartoons, or play silly Youtube videos for each other.

• Twitter: @chocolate_lemon
• Facebook: Search for and “Like” Chocolate Lemon
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/choc0latelemon

Furthermore, you can follow some of us on an individual basis via Twitter and Youtube:

Twitter:

• Chocolate (Phire): @thegloryofphire
• Lemon (Justin Wong): @JWonggg
• Jason V. (Jason Velez): @Jas0nVelez
• Krismas (Kristian Galan): @Your8BitHero
• ForteWally (Wally Oruam): @WallE132
• ExpertPenguin (Lucien Wyatt): @ExpertPenguin
• Allowei (Alexandra Triplett): @Allowei

Youtube:

• KatieBangs: http://www.youtube.com/user/KatieCuppyCakeMakeUp
• Jason V.: http://www.youtube.com/user/Galarian

Feel free to Like us on Facebook and come follow each of us on Twitter. Trust me when I say that some of us are quite mental on Twitter, making for some occasional hilarity (especially Monday nights!)

Now that we have covered that, let’s go over some game terms that will be useful to learn.

– ニューゲーム New Game
– コンティニュー Continue
– ロード Load
セーブ Save
アイテム Item
レベル Level

はい (Hai) Yes
いいえ (Iie) No
設定 せってい (seetei) Option
終了 しゅうりょう (shuuryou) Quit
消す けす (kesu) Delete
始める はじめる (hajimeru) Start
写す うつす (utsusu) Copy
魔法 まほう (mahou) Magic
命中 めいちゅう(meichuu) A Hit
防御 ぼうぎょ (bougyo) Defense
攻撃 こうげき (kougeki) An Attack
力 ちから (chikara) Power
経験値 けいけんち(keikenchi) Experience Point
使う つかう (tsukau) To Use
捨てる すてる (suteru) To Throw Away
話す はなす (hanasu) To Talk
手に入れる てにいれる (teniireru) To Obtain
する (suru) To Do