Blog-Tism with Autism and other non-video ramblings

 As I mentioned previously, I watched Ohranger on a whim, not knowing what I'd be getting myself into.  But now I KNOW I'm hooked on Tokusatsu by way of the original 70s Kamen Rider (I have episode 32 on a secondary monitor while I write this blog). And I'll thank ShoutFactory again for making this stuff accessible both in getting TO it, as well as subtitles for those who don't speak Japanese (which is most of the people who use ShoutFactory streaming/DVDs) Of course, I wish more of the Sentai before Jetman and beyond Hurricaneger were available to steram (some ARE on DVD)...but unless I'm wrong, the blame goes to Hasbro for this lack of updates. One thing I wonder, both in terms of in-universe and IRL, when it comes to the classic Kamen Rider series... why did they change who had the Kamen Rider mantle and powers after episode 15?  They didn't explain anything before episode 16 (which is the first one to have the new Rider). Oh, and is Shocker any way connected...

 I'll be doing a series of posts where I watch a Super Sentai series (from the Shout Factory streaming library mentioned in a past post) and write down my thoughts about it... especially when compaired to its Power Rangers counterpart). Since I watched it first, before I even thought to blog, I'll go with Ohranger (What we adapted here as Power Rangers Zeo... the first season of our franchise NOT to use the "Mighty Morphin'" name.     Keep in mind, some memories of the Ranger side of things are a little foggy from time, and might be pulled from Wikis, and it's be a bit since i binged Ohranger. However, the first thing I noticed, the Machine Empire (known in Japan as Baranoia) threatens Earth (not just Japan), unlike in Zeo where the attacks were still mostly localized to Angel Grove (just like during the Mighty Morphin' era) One stark difference when talking about the Rangers themselves... while the Zeo Rangers were still bound by Zordon's command not ...

 Yesterday, I spoke of speedrunning video games and all the different ways things are categorized there.  However, there is ONE other way gamers can challenge themselves when playing their favorite games, provided a specific something exists for said game... we call it a   RANDOMIZER What's a Randomizer?  At the most rudimentary level, a Randomizer shuffles all the items you have to collect in a specific game (including expendables, like Link's arrows/bombs/rupees in Link to the Past SNES) and places them all in different spots than where you'd normally find them (provided the randomization doesn't end up putting it in its "Vanilla" location anyway).  You can also CHANGE the goal to beat the game using the setup websites/programs for these Randomizers (for LTTP, you can make it a Triforce piece hunt, where Triforce pieces are now part of the item pool for you to find, or a Pendant based goal to get the Red/Green/Blue Pendants you get by beating the 3 "li...

 Ever since the dawn of man, there's always been competitions on who can do something better or faster or throw something farther than one another.  Heck, didn't we just do just that in Paris last month?  Well, this competitive mentality even extends to video games. No, I'm not talking about multiplayer games like Smash Bros or the games typically thought of when eSports is mentioned in conversation.   I'm talking about ... SPEEDRUNNING  Which is basically trying to beat a video game (or any other event, really) as fast as possible.  That makes half the Track & Field events back last month in Paris speedruns when you think about it.  And while a lot of speedrunning involves using any tricks short of using a cheat device (be it a Game Genie, a GameShark, or a Pro Action Replay), there ARE categories typically used that prohibits the use of glitches unintended by the game's developers or any warps offered by the game (think going past the exit pipe i...

ADDENDUM TO YESTERDAY'S POST   You may have seen my post recommending Youtube and Twitch channels and saw me mention the one for Power Rangers. "But Mr. Whammy, what if I want my Ranger action unadulterated by Americanization?" Then let me introduce you to: What's this you ask? It's the branch of Shout! Factory that deals in Tokusatsu (kids, go google that instead of making me do a dissertation on what it is) Basically, Toku is the genre of Japanese TV that cover things like Super Sentai (which became Power Ranger footage starting mid 90s), Kamen Rider, and Ultraman. ALL OF WHICH ARE AVAILABLE VIA THE TOKUSHOUTSHU LIBRARY   For you fans of masked riders (yes, I know i made a joke using the title of the Americanized title of attempt #1 to bring it the US): Kamen Rider Ryuki (what we attempted to adapt as Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight) Kamen Rider Zero-One (it has nothing to do with the year 2001) Kamen Rider Geats (the latest one added to the library) AND THE HOLY GRA...

YOUTUBE & TWITCH CHANNEL RECOMMENDATIONS (THAT ARE NOT NAMED "SMASHWHAMMY")   There's some channels on Youtube & Twitch that I keep coming back to, including some notable names in their respective professional fields that they do outside social media as well as some official channels run by people who produced the show the channel contains.  Please note that some of these are also personal suggestions that are 100% independent and not affiliated with any show/brand.   First off, we have Wink Martindale (yes, as in Tic Tac Dough and Gambit host Wink Martindale) and the ongoing series of uploads that goes by the label "Wink's Vault" where he (and his social media team) fishes out some of the rarest game show material out there, including things from shows that did air that didn't make it to the show for one reason or another (example: an April Fools joke on Peter Tomarken one Press Your Luck taping, using actual contestants from an episode that WOU...