It only looks like an ordinary maid cafe from the outside but upon entering you will be greeted by an anime character! This is Cure Hologram Cafe. It's a concept cafe which Cure hopes to revolutionise the maid cafe industry.
The technology used here is similar to the one used in Hatsune Miku’s concerts; virtual maids are projected from various arrays on special glass. And since there's glass on just about every corner of the cafe, virtual maids can saunter around as they take orders from their customers. Food will be served via a machine that moves by a rail on the ceiling. What's more, for every table there’s another piece of this special glass, making it possible to have the company of a virtual maid during your meal. To maintain the sense that the virtual characters are really there, the cafe owners plan to only allow a single projection for each character throughout the entire cafe. Hence, if the character you want to dine with is busy attending another customer, then you will have to wait for your turn, just like a real maid!
A speech recognition system allows for a more immersive interaction. The customer can give simple responses such as yes and no. Hence the virtual maids would be the one doing most of the flirting. For example, the maid can ask, “Would you like to put in the power of love into your coffee?” Here the customer can reply, “Yes,” of which the virtual maid would then request the customer to follow their hand gestures. On the other hand a customer who answers “No,” can result in the virtual maid reacting all moe with “Aww, why don’t you want to?” or a more tsundere virtual maid can react “Fine! See if I care! Hmph!”
Like a regular maid cafe, there will be themes to celebrate certain anime or games, but this time with a difference: you will be attended by the authentic characters themselves. Expect to meet the cast of Evangelion, Azumanga Daioh, Star Driver, and Shining Tears in the following months of its opening. For the opening month itself however—expected to be in the first quater of 2013—Cure Hologram Cafe will be introducing a line of staple maid characters which serves as mascots of the cafe, each with their own unique personality. So the question is, do you mind the glass?
The resemblance to Pixar’s logo presentation at the start already spells trouble. But worry not, SeeFood is the best looking Malaysian made 3D animation film to date (however with only 1 other film to compare to, it’s hardly an achievement). This film is after all, made by Silver Ant; you know, the guys who animate the robots inside those impressive Stadium Astro adverts? Those same hands are at work in this film. As expected from them, the characters inside this one—be they walking or swimming—are all modelled and animated nicely. The undersea scenes look boring though. The shark’s abode takes some exception, as the idea of them chilling inside an ancient sunken Chinese imperial vessel is pretty cool, with the oriental buildings aboard the ship still intact. Otherwise the undersea world of Seefood is nothing but a mash of blue and grey. The land above water is noticeably much prettier. Highlights include the vistas of the seaside village and the padi fields.
The directing is OK. The timing and cuts are all played safe, there’s nothing inspiring about it but that’s probably fine for a film like this. I was able to follow the story with ease, so job’s done right? The point is, of course, to show a shark inside a bipedal fish bowl walking on land, which is definitely an amusing image. The story of how that actually came about is not so outstanding but decent enough. Now here’s the issue: in a simple story of this type you’re going to need a lot of engaging talk with good humour while drawing empathy for the characters, which this film is devoid of. It’s almost as though the only concerns the writers have with the dialogues are do they sound American enough? If yes, high-five, let’s move on to the next scene. And because of that the scenes felt dry and flat, making the flow of the film feel rather draggy. Things are made worse by the 2 dimensional characters, of which I simply don't care for. I was not convinced why Julian the shark would go mechwarrior above water to save Pup just because Pup is his best friend. What made Pup such an awesome friend that Julian would risk his life for him? And why is Julian resisting himself from eating his sea dwelling friends? Wouldn’t that make for an interesting side story? Nah, instead they prefer to tell the story behind the scar of a penyu friend that holds no relevance to the main plot. And not to mention some small animals have super strength that a small fish can push a trolley for half a kilometre and a pack of chickens are capable of rolling away a huge hunk of metal around. Their chicken wings are made of steel!
However hats off to them for not making any of the character act mengada despite the many opportunities to do so, what with all those animals in the cast. Also, the film didn’t hold itself back from having the shark getting injured a little or having one of the human characters kena sepak by his daddy, and they did so in a tasteful enough manner that it’s fine for children to watch.
If you’re still on the fence to see or not see SeeFood, then I say go and watch it. This film will not leave much of an impression other than that our local animation talents are very promising. But at least you will be supporting a local animation production. With a decent profit, not only would Silver Ant consider making another film, but it would signal possible investors that Malaysians do watch locally made 3D films, allowing other animation studios to thrive as well.
I’ve joked a bit about how sloppy the moments felt in past Deus Ex titles. The story and the world that takes place in the franchise had always been great but lacked conviction. When Deus Ex: Human Revolution (DXHR), the newest title in the line, starts up the facility the protagonist was in got destroyed and burned as black ops soldiers stormed in to track down fleeing researchers. When that ended an awesome title sequence jumped in, letting me know that the Deus Ex franchise has finally received the cinematic treatment it deserved.
The game takes place in the near future of 2027, a world where corporations have power than surpasses governments. It is a time when human augmentation has become common technology. People who opt its use became superior in physical and mental abilities. This creates pressure for everyone else who remained natural as they are left behind. Tension rises as opposing opinions regarding the technology threads towards a breaking point.
You play Adam Jensen, head of security from a leading biotech firm behind augmentation technology. When a sudden attack at the firm’s headquarters took place Adam’s life was turned upside down, thrusting him into a world of conspiracy as he struggles to discover the truth.
It’s a very interesting premise for sure. In execution the cyberpunk themed story starts off pretty slow but once the ball started to roll it can get pretty gripping. The world felt alive as every event that the player goes through is echoed through news broadcast and newspapers, emails and conversation between NPCs. There are talks about other happenings across the globe as well. A lot of reading material can be found for anyone who likes to know more about the world and the technology behind it. Also, the soundtrack behind the game fits the atmosphere really well and sounds great. At times I feel like a tourist strolling around the city hubs, just watching the night life there. The developers spend a great deal into making the world of DXHR as immersive as possible and it shows.
One look at a screenshot of the game and you can see how stylish everything looks. The developer calls it Cyber Renaissance. What this suave term means is that certain building interiors and fashion styles in the game has a Renaissance flair in their design and was done so in an ultra modern way, hence the Cyber part. This Cyber Renaissance approach was picked to reflect the themes behind DXHR. It’s a very interesting concept but unfortunately the idea was not completely applied throughout the game, as only the Cyber part really made it throughout the game. But it’s still pretty nevertheless.
DXHR seem to have branded itself with black and gold (fits right in with this blog don't you think?). I read from somewhere that the black and gold colour scheme is supposedly a reference to the colour of ink and parchment from the Renaissance blueprint drawings. Sound reasoning but it’s not that simple. It’s very likely that they were inspired by GITS 2: Innocence, which used the same colour scheme as well. Visual design philosophies aside, it gives the game a warm dystopian feel.
Check out the mechanical designs in this game. For the augmentations, they wanted to avoid over the top cyberpunk designs of wires spewing all over the place and went for the sleek approach. It’s more likely it would look this way in the near future, the developer say. I approve. And not forgetting are the vehicles and the robots that inhibit the areas which looks sweet. One that stands out is the Boxguard, a quad-pedal robot (about the size of a car) that can fold itself into a cube for easy transportation.
One of the central themes of Deus Ex has always been about moral choices. On many occasions, the issues presented to the player are grey, that there’s never a clear right or wrong solution. A player who strictly prefers to role play only as the guardian of light should totally avoid this game; it is practically impossible to be a 100 percent good guy in this game I tell you!
Deus Ex can be described as a first person stealth/shooter/action rpg. Its core gameplay is that you can complete an objective in various ways. For example, to enter a secured building, you may either enter with your guns blazing, or sneak through a hidden vent, or sweet talk your way with the guard at the front door to gain clearance. And there are many augmentations to help you win your game. Among them are cloaking, the ability to punch through weak walls, the ability to see through walls, super strength, jump higher, slow fall, and more. But you can only get them through experience points, and which augmentation you choose should depend on your play style.
However, Deus Ex tries to do a lot that it rarely excels in any of them. This is not to say that the game play is bad, just that it’s decent enough. The game can get punishing at times; if the enemy gets a very clear shot of you then expect the game over screen within 3 seconds. There’s are some minor bugs in my experience playing the PS3 version of the game, the most annoying of which was that my character would initiate one of his weaponry augmentation instead of cloaking/de-cloaking, therefore instantly sounding the alarm—makes me facepalm all the time. I find that pressing the cloaking button while not moving solves the problem.
It’s likely that gamers who are not so much into cyberpunk would walk away thinking it’s not that spectacular but it’s not too bad either. But if you do appreciate this stuff, then what are you waiting for? Deus Ex: Human Revolution is probably the best big budget cyberpunk game out there in the market right now.
When people think about Malaysian themed animation, typical ideas would include Kampung, Silat, or Sepak Takraw in the mix. This is not to say them typical ideas are necessarily bad. But how about the weather? It’s something all Malaysians can quickly relate to. Let’s face it: we all complain about how hot the weather is here.
Sunsastera was originally an animated film idea I conceived two years ago, inspired by Lake District during my visit there. It tells the story of a machine that manipulates the weather in any way possible for as long a distressed teenager it cares about can become happy.
Joining this year’s IPCC was actually a last minute decision, first suggested by Mclelun. It was only a year ago we submitted Mesinaut for IPCC 2010 and was not even shortlisted for it. Learning from that experience, we decided to put more effort on the documentation this time around, reinforced with character designs by Daim who had also joined the team upon our invitation. Our efforts paid off this time when we receive an e-mail congratulating us for being shortlisted. With only a week away from pitching day, we scrambled to make a teaser and managed to finish it in 4 days.
Pitching day came. It wasn't frying hot that morning despite the venue being the Cyberview Lodge Resort in Cyberjaya. Yet in the presentation hall (puts on shades), things were about to get heated (YEEAAAAAAAAAH).
When our turn came Rogue handled the presentation. We proposed the idea as a TV series instead of film in hopes our budget would appear more attractive. Rogue gave a clear and concise pitch (he claims he learnt from Steve Jobs’s style of presenting). Then we played the teaser for Sunsastera.
For a while, the judges were silent. It was odd for we were expecting the torrent of questions like how the other teams got it. Finally one of them started asking question about budgets and the planned schedule for production. One nice comment she gave was that our idea is of very high quality and that it should be a film production instead. The judge from Astro said he only had one question: “What can we expect if we give you the RM50k?”
The other judges however decided to keep mum. And that made us unsure. Where were the questions about story, characters, and art direction that the other groups received? Is it a good or a bad thing that they’re not asking for any further detail? Perhaps Mesinaut’s past failure had also played a part in fuelling our uncertainty.
The results were announced some days later on a Friday. 20 winners were given the grant and fortunately, we were among them.
By the end of this program, we are expected to produce the complete Sunsastera trailer. Please look forward to it. We’re going to deliver our best.
We’ve been working on a proposal for a new animation tv series and film during the past 3 months. Check it out.
The story follows the adventures of a boy and a space whale as they visit the many amusing planets of another galaxy. What made us in love with the concept was the mental image of a boy on a whale cruising off into the stars. The idea of a flying whale is certainly not entirely original—we simply stole it and made it our own. It’s something we believe our target audience (including ourselves) would enjoy watching.
Are you fed up of your friends? Do you wonder if you are important to them at all? They say things that make you unhappy. Writing to them yields no reply. Their good times with other people are written with passion but your name was not even mentioned once before. Your friends would hang out without inviting you, too inconvenient for you, too inconvenient for them. When conversing with them, you sense from the tone of their voice, their choices of words, that they look down on you. After all that you are expected to be your usual self, as though you would be rewarded for it.
Worry not my dear readers, for I have found the solution.
From the makers of Love Plus now comes Friendship Plus! Here an exciting high school life is waiting for you where 6 very likeable characters can be encountered. Talk to them and befriend one or all of them. It is a game focused on creating great buddies for you instead of soul mates hence it can be enjoyed by both male and female players.
Have you ever wished you were friends with a really cool guy? Sure thing dude! Have you ever wondered how is it like to be friends with a fashionable chick? That’s like so totally possible! Want to be friends with an enigmatic person? Yes you can! Or be friends with the class comedian? Sure cannn one!
You are important to them. Your interaction with them gives them hope and satisfaction. They will never say things that would put you down. They will always cheer you up when you needed it. In fact, all of them will look up to you and even ask for your advice! Never again will you end up saying something stupid and embarrassing to your friends, imagine that!
Thanks to the portability of the Nintendo 3DS, you can also bring your friends around with you. Take your friends out for lunch, or shopping, or even jungle-trekking---everything is possible because they will always agree to your awesome plans. All you have to do is specify what event you are doing with your friends and voila, the display will show your friends in a similar setting and will react accordingly.
Also in the game is a social network. After you have successfully established a friendship, you may add the person as a friend after which you may start interacting with them online. From here you can post your thoughts and pictures just as you do with real life social networks only this time you have friends that will never ignore you. By selecting the type of mood your status meant to convey like happy, angry, sad, serious, and such, your friends can reply accordingly. You can even visit your friend’s page and comment on theirs. Because in this game, you are given the attention you deserve!
Choose to never be alone again by getting your copy this Fall 2011. Friendship Plus: who needs real friends when you have 2D friends that are way more awesome!
P.S. Any images that resemblances Kimi ni Todoke are purely coincidental. Serious.
The following two videos are some animation work I've done in the past. Feel free to check them out if you haven't seen them before.
Mesinaut
Mesinaut was Purple Flame's submission for the IPCC 2010 animation category. It didn't make it into the shortlist. Rogue, Mclelun, Daim, and I worked on this. Made in 1 month.
Snowfall Rising
Snowfall Rising is an animation short I made during a break between two jobs. 2 months in the making.
