Tech-Gaming Technology, Gaming, and Culture

The last four entries in the NIS America-published Atelier series are a rarity in gaming. While industry pundits plead for less formulaic representations of women, a quartet of female protagonists have quietly squashed stereotypes. Contrasted against conventional stagnant depictions, the ...

Much like the tsundere’s transition from cold to cordial, the gradual thaw of social isolation is a familiar theme in Japanese media. Last October, NIS America localized the first two seasons of Natsume’s Book of Friends, a captivating anime which ...

Last week, Black Rock Shooter: The Game on the PlayStation Network, bringing an enticing anime-based property to PSP and PS Vita screens. We had a chance to speak with Chris King of NIS America about the title, in an attempt ...

With story sequences which surpass the twenty-minute mark, the release of Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 is geared toward stalwart, console-owning, fans of the teenage shinobi. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the knuckle-headed ninja’s recent 3DS appearance, which ...

Back in 2008, when Famitsu first announced a collaboration between Level-5 and Studio Ghibli, expectations were understandably lofty. Considering the pedigree of both publishing houses- the former delivering acclaimed games such as Jeanne d’Arc as well as the Professor Layton ...

For decades, extraterrestrials have been used to invigorate the oft-mundane American sitcom. As a variation of the ‘fish out of water’ motif, series such as My Favorite Martian, Mork and Mindy, ALF, and 3rd Rock From the Sun have hewed ...

Typically, the verb ‘watch’ implies a passive experience. ‘Watching’ fictionalized television can be a relaxing recreational pursuit, as viewers discern unambiguous character development or follow the trajectory of an oft-linear plot. It’s an ephemeral process which rarely challenges our cerebral ...

Save for Casper, Harvey Comics’ altruistic apparition, Western depictions of the supernatural are almost always rooted in menace. That isn’t always the case in Japan- where folklore is filled with tales of yōkai- spirit creatures whose dispositions also include the ...