Over the last couple of years, payment processors such as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal have been steadily ramping up efforts to control what people can purchase. Several Japanese stores have been targeted in this way. For example, Melonbooks, a website that specialises in independently published manga, was forced to stop accepting payments by Visa and Mastercard. This has been a…
Square Enix has announced a physical retail-only compilation of all Life is Strange games to date for PlayStation 5, as the Life is Strange Collection. Launching in early October 2025, it includes Life is Strange Remastered, Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered, Life is Strange 2, Life is Strange:…
I wrote this article for an arts publication – unfortunately, at the…
If you’re on a certain social media platform owned by a ketamine-addicted…
Whenever Americans tackle Japanese material or attempt to situate a film, TV series or otherwise in Japan, there’s an inherent tension between what works in American cinema and entertainment, and what is representing Japanese culture and aesthetics accurately. Too often, under these circumstances, the work turns out to be something…
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Fire Emblem Engage releases this month as the latest in Nintendo and Intelligent Systems’ long-running and highly lauded properties. I want to use this opportunity to go back to the very first Fire Emblem to be released in English, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (simply called “Fire Emblem” for the…
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NOTE: This is a feature that was originally published in the December 2022 issue of the Dee Dee Zine. For much, much more deep insight into everything to do with video games, art, and Japanese culture buy the magazine here (or any of our other magazines from our online store).…
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I’ve had the chance to settle down and get stuck into a substantial chunk of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – Reunion, and I am so impressed with this game. It’s the first time I’ve played it (I missed it on PSP for years), and yeah, it’s really, really enjoyable.…
Read MoreThis feature is one of the articles that was first published in our monthly Dee Dee Zine. It’s only a tiny few pages of the 56-page magazine, so if you enjoyed this, please consider picking up a copy of the magazine to read more! In 1998, director Gus Van Sant…
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As much as we all live in a world that champions the idea that speech should be as free as possible (rightfully so, of course), we make exceptions to that rule all the time (also, rightfully so). For example, it has been illegal to advertise cigarettes across much of the…
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The recent GTA VI hack, and the subsequent fallout from people criticising how “bad” it looks, inspired this segment in this month’s podcast, as it really caught us all by surprise a little. We’re used to gamers having a generally poor understanding of how games are made, but what we…
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Babylon’s Fall had the makings of a great game. It had exceptional art direction and an amazing aesthetic. It had Platinum Games, with all their talent for combat design, giving us a new action experience with some interesting mechanics, and it had an intriguing setting and hits of what could…
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The Call of Duty rumour mills were working in overdrive this week, with an “insider” claiming that Call of Duty 2024 will be set during the (more recent) Iraq War. This is just a rumour at this stage, so I’m certainly not reporting on that, but what I am here…
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Over the last couple of weeks, the Anbernic W600 has quickly become my favourite toy. It might not be as powerful of a beast as the Steam Deck or the Ayn consoles are, but it also only cost me $500. Before purchasing it I was a little concerned that this…
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