Sunday, December 28, 2014

Top Ten Top Ten Video Game Soundtracks

Hey y'all.  So it's about time I did another top ten top ten, right?  Well, actually, it's about time I updated this thing regularly, but y'know, one thing at a time.  And for right now, that one thing is this top ten top ten.

Man, I really enjoy doing these lists.

In any case, this time it's a TTTT for video game soundtracks, as in the set of songs in a video game that is the best.  I have my own opinions in that area, but given that I haven't played as many games as other people have, it's probably not enough content for an entire blog.  I really only have three soundtracks in mind to consider for such a list.  Let's see if they appear.

As usual, my own votes do not count.  I'll be going on youtube and counting the votes done by people there.  Any soundtrack mentioned on their list, regardless if ranked higher or lower, is given one point each.  If anyone has a list greater than ten, only their top ten counts.  In the case of a tie, I'll rank the ties as the same place.  Normally I like to have some sort of objective means of why I list one over another in the case of a tie, but music is pretty subjective, so there's nothing really I can do about that.  Get ready for some really weird numbering.

Yeesh.  This was the single hardest list I've ever had to do.  There were so many people who defined "soundtrack" either too narrowly or too broadly.  That is, they seemed not to understand that there's a difference between "track" and "soundtrack" -- come on, there's a clear difference between one song and a collection of songs.  To make it worse, some people even said the entire franchise, like all the Mega Man games or all the Sonic games.  No.  Just no.  Not only do most franchise soundtracks go up and down in quality over time, but the longer-running franchises have transitioned from the MIDI bleeps and bloops of the past to modern orchestral stuff.  You can't compare those.  I had to throw out a lot of potential votes.

Seriously, it was hard to get votes this time.  Much harder than any list I've had to do before. Not to mention that Youtube is about as helpful as dirt in trying to search for things.  This isn't the greatest top ten top ten I've ever done, but it is what it is, and if you're entertained, well, that's what counts. 

Okay, so for right now, let's start with the hairly barelies, that is, those that almost, but not quite, got a spot on the top ten soundtracks. Note that all of these have equal votes.

Almost Made Its:
The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker
Final Fantasy VI
Metal Gear Solid 4
Metroid Prime
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Okami
Mass Effect
Battlefield 3
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Kingdom Hearts

And now to the top ten.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Anime and Manga Overview

Hey y'all.  So I haven't posted in a while, huh?  Yeah, due to a combination of things, it's been...well, interesting.  I honestly just need to stick to a schedule, but at the same time, I don't want this to become a chore, especially since there are other things I need to be doing with my life at this point. This blog is here more or less to contain my rants on things, and is a pressure release.  All the same, nothing can be entirely self-serving, or else it won't be fun for others.

The good news is, I've been writing a lot of drafts over my break.  So I do have some blogs on their way to being ready to go.  One is even nearly complete, I just have to finish some work on it before it can be ready to go.

For now, let's move on.

I've been reading/watching a lot of manga and anime, because I want to know what to recommend to people who come into my bookstore.  I could nitpick them in detail, but is that really necessary?  Not so much.  There's a difference between a story one can surgically dissect and one that is easy to summarize.  For simplicity's sake, I'm just going to talk a little about each.

Manga: Kitchen Princess

Friday, December 5, 2014

Project Runway Seasons 11-13 Commentary

Hey y'all.  Whoo, watching these later seasons is tough.  Not only have I been a bit spoiled by critical bloggers, the show makes it all too easy to be critical of it.  It's pretty painful, and I have to talk about it.

Since I would argue that the later seasons of the show aren't really worth watching, I don't mind some spoilers.  For people who really want to watch, these spoilers probably wouldn't discourage you anyway.

Season 11: