Visutox

It's weird, I've never really wondered why there wasn't a JPop thread on this forum, but now that it's here, I wonder why we've never had one before lol.
 
My top Jpop acts are KAT-TUN and Koda Kumi, but I think I listen to quite a bit of it, just maybe not the super ridiculously popular acts that everyone seems to like, i.e. Arashi, Kyari, that AKsmthsmth group. 
 
Other faves with high listens:
 
Yamapi
Namie
Lead
Ayu (only like older Ayu though)
KinKi Kids
Capsule
BoA (I guess she counts, she has lots of Japanese releases)
Hitomi
Mika
Tommy
ONE DRAFT
Every Little Thing
Perfume
Lecca
Yulia
FEMM
Chemistry
Sekai no Owari
Dream
 
Tbh, I probably listen to more Cpop artists, but I have more favorites in Jpop, if that makes sense.

THE JAPANESE POP A.K.A. J-POP THREAD
(bless this post, Cat/Zess/Nos/etc.-sama, onegaishimasu~)
 
 
 
Are you a hardcore SMAPer? Or perhaps a bit of JUMPer? Arashist? Cieler...?
 
Okay, fan nicks aside - and as you might already guess from these "absurd" names, this is basically J-POP we are speaking of!
 
This thread is basically about anything you could easily drop under this subject - i.e non-vk bands/acts/artists that get usual, mainstream exposure inside and outside of Japan and so on...
 
To blatantly "quote" Cat's words in his J-INDIE THREAD (which I highly rec), besides myself, Zombie, most of the mod staff, admins...who else here is more of a "vk-free Japanese pop" person? You can start by discussing anything about your favorite J-pop acts, be it even some cutesy-patootiesy acts such KPP, Yanakiku, AKB48, Babymetal (I think they are j-pop...ish?) - or you might as well go passionate and talk about even more "serious" music in the vein of Hilchryme, Charisma.com, m-flo and etc. etc. etc.
 
Talk about your 2015 expectations for J-pop, fav classics, stuff you really hate...nah, just anything JAYPAWP goes in here, lol.
 
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As for me...
 
- New Kyary single was quite okay - not so sure about classifying any replay value for A-side + B-side 1 (KISEKAE) but B-side (My Room) oozes some sugarsweet nostalgia - sometimes it's good to see Nakata without his Guetta anthems
 
- YANAKIKU unfortunately deserves their place as another "promo once, then pass away"-kind of a group like FEMM did a few months/half a year ago...cool ideas, not-so-cool performance.
 
...
 
Guess that's all from my part for now, what about you guys?

Started watching Sidonia no Kishi and Yowamushi no Pedal and I'm really enjoying both of them so far.

https://uk.games.konami-europe.com/posts/Notification-Regarding-METAL-GEAR-SOLID-V-THE-PHANTOM-PAIN

Okay so over Christmas I got a few new parts to upgrade my system.. namely a new motherboard and a water cooler for my CPU, and also a new case (I didn't plan on this one, but the opportunity showed itself, so i took it)
 
here's the build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/26CB7P
 
and here's a few pictures
 



here's the link to the dropbox with some more pictures for anyone interested... https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rahepi8syyoujdb/AAA8JqL6uMNSdfcHODUJI3TLa?dl=0
I'm very satisfied with this build

Well, I got a new computer, so....
 

 
The basics:
 
CPU: Intel i7 4790 @ 3.60 Ghz
Mainboard: Asrock H81M-HDS
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Storage: 240 SSD + 1TB HD
Graphic card: Geforce GTX 970 (4 GB)
 
 
Haven't fully tested its capabilities so far, but I can say this already: I'm currently playing Dragon Age: Inquisition (a game that I suspect to be poorly optimized for PC anyway) - my old computer (which wasn't really that bad for its price) got an average of 30 fps with occasional lag spikes - on the lowest graphic setting. The new baby runs the game on maxed out graphic setting at a lovely 75 fps. ^__^
 
 
 

So far type-0 HD is an average port at best. I'll give you the run down.
 
PROS
 
The graphics. the game itself looks amazing and they did a pretty alright job with the graphics part of the remaster. You couldn't get this game to look this good even if you were to emulate the psp version on PC and upscale to 1440p with AA.  here's a video comparison below in the spoiler. 60 FPS. Yes this matters and it does make a difference, this game plays so much better at a higher frame rate, it's just unimaginably smooth There is nothing in this port that technically makes it worse than the original, and by that I mean that it runs about the same (if not better) and there's no bugs that I can tell that were introduced in the porting process. CONS
 
There is nothing in this port that technically makes it better than the original, and by that I mean that gameplay/mechanic wise they did not try to improve anything, everything is pretty much the same even though their could of been a few things they could of improved upon (example would be the god awful camera). The translation and dub. This is more of a personal con to me... The translation isn't the worse I've seen but overall the Fan Translation is miles above this official one and really shows that the fans that weren't even getting paid to do it, took more TLC translating the game then the actual people who were getting paid to do it. also the dub is just plain lazy and you can really tell that they didn't spend a lot of money on it. Thank god that Square has finally started to do dual audio in there games now. My biggest gripe with the game is that they took out the multiplayer aspects. Yes type-0 psp had multiplayer and they totally axed it from this version all together. Honestly I understand why they did this but that still doesn't make it any better when I start to wonder what could of been. With all this said, it's still worth the buy considering that the core game is intact and in some aspects the experience is a bit better if you care about graphics and frame rate. This version of the game is still just as fun as the psp and I welcome it to my collection.

Tau Cross, the new project of Away (Voivod drummer) and Rob Miller (Amebix vocalist/bassist) is releasing their first album on May 18. Expected to have influences from their own bands, as well as goth music, industrial, prog-rock and old-school punk. Doesn't sound too bad so far.
 


 
Tracklist:
 
01. Lazarus 02. Fire In The Sky 03. Stonecracker 04. Midsummer 05. Hangmans Hyll 06. We Control The Fear 07. You People 08. Prison 09. Sons Of The Soil 10. The Lie 11. Our Day 12. The Devil Knows His Own

Well, Hideo Kojima appears to have either departed from or had a major falling out with Konami and it looks like Kojima Productions as a brand name is dead. There's a summary of everything here, but here's some of the key points:
Hideo Kojima has been removed from Konami's list of executives effective April 1st. The Kojima Productions website has been taken down and it now redirects to an MGS portal. All of the "A Hideo Kojima Game" taglines and Kojima Productions logos have been removed from Konami's websites, and even the games' boxarts. Konami's job listing webpage has renamed Kojima Productions Los Angeles to Konami Los Angeles Studio. I guess this is technically more than just an MGSV story, but since the Kojima name is pretty much synonymous with Metal Gear I decided to post it here. He's always been known for crazy PR stunts but this seems pretty excessive to just be a marketing trick.
 
EDIT: As Eurogamer has pointed out, Konami has recently enacted a new company restructuring centred around making 'Konami' the focus of all of branding and production efforts.

Started watching Vikings like two weeks ago and I'm lovin' it, it's really good. Though one of the biggest flaws of this series is that there's only 9 or 10 episodes in each season, pretty short for a series which deals with a historical subject, if you ask me. But then again, it's only my point of view. I enjoy it a lot anyways.
 
I also would like to start another series, as I'm up to date with those I'm already watching. Any recommendation(s)? I know a lot but only by name, and there are so much that are seemingly good. You can go ahead, I'm not someone who watches a lot of series anyway. I'm even able to mention those I'm watching since there are only a few: AHS, Smallville, Vikings and TWD. I know you lol'd.

I have to agree with this. I've only given the album 5-6 spins by now, and it's not everything that's working just now, but it's getting better with each listen and despite not being blown away by all elements, it's sniffing on the 10. Absolutely brilliant stuff. I like how innovative and original it feels. I mean, the riffs and stuff by themself aren't very original. I hear plenty of Satanic Art, Ved Buens Ende, Abigor and even Devil Doll here and there, but the way the songs are put together makes it feel so fresh. Superb stuff! Can't wait to see them live again. Should be proper good.

New album "Curse of the Skinless Bride" coming on April 10 from occult/horror death metallers The Grotesquery.
 
You can already stream a song here: https://cycloneempire.bandcamp.com/album/curse-of-the-skinless-bride
 
Sounds pretty cool as always. Their first 2 albums are recommended too, nice concept albums with a huge dose of old-horror/Lovecraftian vibes.
 

Full album: https://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/umbras-de-barbagia
 
 
Amazing atmospheric pagan black metal. The album is epic and beautiful, yet tormented and haunting. An amazing mix of different types of black metal that just flows into eachother without feeling weird or out of place. It's not very original per se, but I think he's got something of his own going on Highly recommended!
 
Apparently, the guy is just 18 years old as well.

New music video. Rami has definitely learned how to sing in her time off, it's not just wailing at the top of her lungs.
 

 
BTW, I figured out who her guitarist is. He was the producer who butchered the last Aldious album. I don't know if he produced Raglaia but if he did he got his act together. It sounds good. Kind of American metal influenced in its sound. And he is one hell of a guitarist. Yoshi and Toki never came close to that solo.

So it seems like the new Death Grips album will finally get released not today but on March 31.
However, here's a brand-new track:
 


 
Also, new Earl Sweatshirt album titled "I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside" out on March 23!!
Music vid posted today:
 


 
Tracklist:
 
01. Huey 02. Mantra 03. Faucet 04. Grief 05. Off Top 06. Grown Ups [ft. Dash] 07. AM // Radio [ft. Wiki] 08. Inside 09. Dna [ft. Na'kel] 10. Wool [ft. Vince Staples]

new Kendrick Lamar album just leaked. Yessss!!!

Count me as third maybe.
 
Oh lawd, these previews sound so fucking epic!

Might as well post this despite the fact that the band in question has "merely 2 known fans" in this community so far (um, me and Jig I guess? Seeing as this is not meant for "(hip hop) traditionalists" in all honesty):
 
 
 
...we might never know if this is gonna be their swansong album for real (inb4 American CARRYGARRY in terms of trolling) but AAAAAWWSHIIIEEEEET
 

More pic spam from sho's fb:
Koba is turning into cousin it

They announced that their new single will  release at 2015.06.17. Details have not yet been announced.
 
--> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDzYL4yTiuU

What started out as a rumor quickly became a truth with it's constant trailers and teaser's. Sonic Runners is a new mobile game featuring Sonic & Friends in a somewhat endless runner with it's pro's and con's. What Sonic Runner's is as I stated earlier, an endless runner like it's predecessor "Sonic Dash" or The Overseas version "Sonic Dash S". This game features RPG elements along with a short kiddie esque storyline that revolves around Sonic,Tails and Knuckles stopping Dr.Robotnik from doing what he used to do back in the classic era, Imprison woodland creatures in his machines and whatnot. As far as game play the gameplay is pretty okay, but needs work....alot of work to be exact. There are undodgable obstacles that will frustrate you at almost every turn, not to mention they also have character specific stages. Stages to suit a certain characters playstyle,
Sonic - Windy Hill
Tails - Sky Stage
Knuckles - Volcanic Stage
All of these stages are from one of the most recent awful sonic titles named "Sonic Lost Worlds" on the wii u. Anyway's many other characters make their re-appearance such as, Shadow,Silver, Omega, Team Chaotix ect. These characters were only discovered because of modder's and hackers going through the games software and discovering these character files. So The characters are ingame, Sega just wont release them until an event such as Christmas or Easter or some shit. This game's regional releases are only in Canada and Japan, both being released on February 25th of this year. I downloaded this app by getting the apk file and installing it on my phone. You need an internet connection to play though, like Sonic Dash S. What are your thoughts on this?
 
 

Hope that someone has already heard of this band, namely Pantheion. A melodic/black metal band from Germany, and I don't find another thing to say except that they're true geniuses. They have released a few records before this one but seemingly they cannot be found on the internet. Whatever, The Faustian Disciplines is nothing but a fantastic album and pretty much every song on it are the epitome of perfection. The concept of the album, the cover art, the atmosphere...This album is highly recommended. I listened to this album many times now but I just can't get enough of it.   Here are two samples off the album, my fav ones. But as I said, every song on the album is worthy of your time.       These guys certainly have awesome references. And it's sad to see that such a good band goes unnoticed, they deserve more attention.  

Fucking yes, that spot is amazing.