Gaijin Punch, please write a book!

[Teufel_in_Blau]

I mean it. Every time you post a little thing out of your daily routine and how it changed over the course of your life, I am really sucked into it. There are already a lot of those "Life in Japan" books out there but I don't know a single one that is from a gamers perceptive. I mean, you played the arcade games that we all love and enjoyed them when they were the shit and your knowledge is funded on experience and exchange between other gamers rather than some Wiki entries. We all now that things are changing but I would love to see something like a Memoir from a gamer in Japan. Now I see that all you do is playing PSO2 and drinking alcohol. Your story is scattered around the net on different forums, please try to give them one place that is not dependent on the admins lust.

I know that this is a huge piece of work, so you could do it a little here and there, it wouldn't matter if it took years. I'm patience.

I'm sure you know about the Amazon program for writers, you should give this a try. Just change the names and you don't need to go too deep into your personal (love) life.

Cheers,
a fanboy~

[Skykid]

Just change the names and you don't need to go too deep into your personal (love) life.

Wouldn't be worth reading then.

[Casey120]

So next to the insane, megalomaniac wizard of Insomnia the leader of Gamengai has his worshipping followers now ?

Soon the battle for middle Earth begins ...to war I say !

[Raytrace]

I would be extremely interested in a chapter about the LaserDisc era fansubbing stuff with the Amiga's etc. - I'D BUY IT!

[Xyga]

I would be more interested in a manga.

[Obiwanshinobi]

How about crowdfunding?

[Teufel_in_Blau]

So next to the insane, megalomaniac wizard of Insomnia the leader of Gamengai has his worshipping followers now ?

Soon the battle for middle Earth begins ...to war I say !

Dude, I don't even have a gamengai account. I just love to read his little excerpts from his personal life. He has an entertaining way to write and always manages to put a smile on my face. He is the kind of guy I would love to share a beer or two and just talk. I think there are great storys hidden in all those thousends of posts and I feel that they are "wasted" between countless of topics and threads. It would be so great to have them condensed into one book. I think such a thing would have much value for the gaming community in general, not only here.

How about crowdfunding?

Nice idea, but I would love to hear first if GP has even the desire and time to do such a thing.

[Obiwanshinobi]

I would love to hear first if GP has even the desire and time to do such a thing.

Neither sounds like something money can't buy (unless the clock's ticking real fast).

[Ruldra]

"The annals of an Analrapist", by GaijinPunch.

Book cover

[EmperorIng]

I would be extremely interested in a chapter about the LaserDisc era fansubbing stuff with the Amiga's etc.

That was even a thing? Now that's interesting.

[KAI]

I would be more interested in a manga.

Make it a visual novel

[sven666]

Imagine the rating, None of you would be old enough to buy it...

[drauch]

I just mainly want to read about the fisting.

[Udderdude]

I just mainly want to read about the fisting.

[GaijinPunch]

You got Sven to finally post!

I should probably have blogged/bullshitted a lot more on the gamengai front page over the last few years. But trust me, it would not have been positive, I don't really like airing out my laundry, and I try to follow the whole "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all" mantra. I do love sarcasm though.

Thing is, there are far more people more qualified than me to write about most things: definitely games. If you really want a book on game history and culture, Shou is pretty much the English-speaking authority (and still striving to know more). I got burned out when my real life started getting... well... much more challenging. I've always been more of a "throw my ideas out there" guy. And well... that shit seemed to go over a lot better 10 years ago. Or maybe I'm just misinterpreting the interwebs.

But I guess everything happens for a reason. All the negative shit in my life is what got me to get out of the house and walk around with my camera. And that's been quite fulfilling. If I could open up a few more hours a day in my schedule I would probably spend most of it with music, and a bit with the games I've always played. But, I think my days of 1CC's are done. I put a lot of energy into my career, and I have no interest in smashing controllers anymore b/c some bullet hit my 2x2 pixel hit box.

But yeah, I would love to have a blog/site/whatever that was whirlwind of everything I have liked growing up. Analogue music/photography, being in that illustrious group known as "the first dorks on the internet", living in Japan, and of course games. Who knows, it might happen.

[GaijinPunch]

That was even a thing? Now that's interesting.

Dood... shit took dedication. Then again, the industry itself was far more interesting, even though I got in just as things started to become quite pussified.

All right bitches, here we go. The way it worked was, since your copies would be daisy-chained many generations to people you had never met but traded VHS tapes with through FIDOnet, you'd want to subtitle off of LaserDisc (and record onto SVHS).

So, you'd need an LD player. I assume you know what that is.
You'd also need an Amiga computer. I had the 1200, shown below:



Okay, cool. Well, what the fuck does that do? Nothing, yet, except run the subtitling software. TurboTitle was in the early days (late 80's to very early 90's). When I started in 1993, JacoSub was the defacto standard.

Finally, you need a genlock. I had the SuperGen, which did dissolves/fades. Look at those fonts!



So generally, you need to have all that stuff make love in RCA cable orgy fashion. The genlock interfaces to the computer. The subtitling software displays the opaque text... the LD video source is going into the Genlock, and the composite product is going out to the VCR. Voila: Subtitled anime (or whatever).

The real fun part is timing everything. Generally you'd have an untimed script, with each spoken "line" representing a line in the show. When the next character talks, hit space, and their line shows up as a subtitle. When it was done, the software had generated the timed script (down to 10th of a second). Run that timed script again and record it on VHS. Then play it back adjusting the times in a text file as you go. If you were pro level, you could get one done in three runs. I definitely had the version of a 1CC back then. I did 96 episodes of Maison Ikkoku, which took two years. Of course, I burned out, and to boot it was stupid hard to get laid w/ all that shit in my house. I did pull it off though, and a handful of GF's even liked the quirky hobby.

Anime Cons in the 90's? Very, very little cosplay. LOTS of weirdos in rooms with 20 VCRs recording shit.

[Ed Oscuro]

Progressive Image sure was right up to date with the design ethic of the times. Look at this one! Marbled an' shit like one of those elevator lobbies outta Miami Vice or Die Hard.

Anime Cons in the 90's? Very, very little cosplay. LOTS of weirdos in rooms with 20 VCRs recording shit.

Poppin' tapes in and out of slots all day long!

Man, I feel bad that I couldn't go back in time and give you my RM-E300. That slow / frame step / reverse function set coulda saved a bunch of time. But I guess the genlock wasn't sophisticated enough to deal with that, and probably the Sony titles woulda looked shitty compared to the Amiga ones, I guess.

[Ji-L87]

Real interesting read! Thanks a bunch for writing it down

I'm a bit sad I got into anime too late to take part in all the underground VHS shenanigans - I mean, I've heard all old-timers say it was hell and really bad and all that and now things are sooo easy because there's torrents and streams and everything but...it sounds like....fun? A little?

Anime Cons in the 90's? Very, very little cosplay. LOTS of weirdos in rooms with 20 VCRs recording shit.

That does actually sound like something I could enjoy. I mean, the cons I've been to (not many, and our cons aren't as awesome as yours) - Me, and the friends I always go with, never almost stop by where they're showing shows/movies because we can download and watch that stuff when we get home.
It must've been something else to actually feel that what was being shown was something you'd probably never heard of and actually could get excited about, because this was your chance to see this awesome thing. And get your own 26th generation VHS copy.

I know I would be thrilled.

[shmuppyLove]

I wonder if you subbed anything I watched, I used to buy tapes off a guy here in Toronto.

I can't remember exactly how it worked, I think he had a site up on Geocites or something where he listed the titles he had available, and it was like $5 a tape that had a few episodes on it. I might have mailed cash? But I think I met him in person to pick up the tapes ... wow I can't really remember at all lol

[Xyga]

I've watched quite a bit of hentai on VHS when I was in high school (didn't really care about subs though) with my pals we were buying all the stuff from a local video game store that was importing shady merchandise directly from HK and Japan.
That was during the second half of the 90's so may I 'read' some of GP's subs, who knows.
Great times.

[shmuppyLove]

Actually I just remembered I started a similar thread a few years ago (2011??? WTF??)

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39388

That was just for 1 day of his life, and you want a whole book?

[Specineff]

I propose the title be something like "40 Minutes To Fist Myself: My Life And Experiences In Japan."

Please?

[Ganelon]

GP is at the sparsely populated intersection of nerd and hip. He'll talk to you about The Adventure of Little Ralph boss strategies one moment and then transition into last night's adventure of his little ralph.

It must've been something else to actually feel that what was being shown was something you'd probably never heard of and actually could get excited about, because this was your chance to see this awesome thing.

That era of mystery and excitement sounds like the 80s to me. By the early 90s, folks around the US who were really interested in anime and had resources (mostly college students) were already active on Usenet. As a result, there were plenty of discussions about the latest Japanese releases on rec.arts.anime.

Those years were just as bad as everyone else else says because unlike now, where you can easily watch a show as soon as you hear about it with insignificant time and money lost, you had to source a garbage quality physical copy somewhere (having a local anime club or import shop was really handy) or shell out $30 dubbed ($35 subbed) to buy an officially translated movie or 2-4 episodes. Nostalgic in a way but now is definitely the best time as an anime watcher.

[Raytrace]

I would be more interested in a manga.

haha in a Moeyo Pen or Gundam Sousei style :p

[Raytrace]

I would be extremely interested in a chapter about the LaserDisc era fansubbing stuff with the Amiga's etc.

That was even a thing? Now that's interesting.

yes I believe he was even involved in something I've actually watched, complete with those yellow subs , can't remember exactly what it was though.

[Raytrace]

That was even a thing? Now that's interesting.

Dood... shit took dedication. Then again, the industry itself was far more interesting, even though I got in just as things started to become quite pussified.

All right bitches, here we go. The way it worked was, since your copies would be daisy-chained many generations to people you had never met but traded VHS tapes with through FIDOnet, you'd want to subtitle off of LaserDisc (and record onto SVHS).

So, you'd need an LD player. I assume you know what that is.
You'd also need an Amiga computer. I had the 1200, shown below:



Okay, cool. Well, what the fuck does that do? Nothing, yet, except run the subtitling software. TurboTitle was in the early days (late 80's to very early 90's). When I started in 1993, JacoSub was the defacto standard.

Finally, you need a genlock. I had the SuperGen, which did dissolves/fades. Look at those fonts!



So generally, you need to have all that stuff make love in RCA cable orgy fashion. The genlock interfaces to the computer. The subtitling software displays the opaque text... the LD video source is going into the Genlock, and the composite product is going out to the VCR. Voila: Subtitled anime (or whatever).

The real fun part is timing everything. Generally you'd have an untimed script, with each spoken "line" representing a line in the show. When the next character talks, hit space, and their line shows up as a subtitle. When it was done, the software had generated the timed script (down to 10th of a second). Run that timed script again and record it on VHS. Then play it back adjusting the times in a text file as you go. If you were pro level, you could get one done in three runs. I definitely had the version of a 1CC back then. I did 96 episodes of Maison Ikkoku, which took two years. Of course, I burned out, and to boot it was stupid hard to get laid w/ all that shit in my house. I did pull it off though, and a handful of GF's even liked the quirky hobby.

Anime Cons in the 90's? Very, very little cosplay. LOTS of weirdos in rooms with 20 VCRs recording shit.

Such interesting stuff GP . Even though I never owned one, (I had a C= 128), I always wanted an Amiga and I'm in the middle of a sortof research/mess around with (yes emulated) Amiga stuff atm, I actually just fired up Deluxe Paint V to see what it was like. Reading about how on purpose from the outset it's creators decided to enable that split signal thing (technical talk from me there) so that in the future things like you're talking about above could be done is pretty amazing.

[rancor]

Anime Cons in the 90's? Very, very little cosplay. LOTS of weirdos in rooms with 20 VCRs recording shit.

Again - how the FUCK did we not run into each other over the years? cosplay wasn't even a thing then. I don't remember seeing anyone dressed up back in those days. I went to most every con from Bulldog productions (the big ones in Dallas). I would always go to these with my VHS deck, and shoot the shit with all the dudes there. I was by far the youngest there. Most were 17-20, and I was about 12 or 13. You had to get there early if you wanted to get your tape deck up early in the chain - apparently the quality was better the closer to the source you were. I don't remember any names from back in those days, but I do remember this older blonde lady that would sell subbed tapes at all of the conventions and she was much hated on. Before I made any friends, I got her phone number and would call her near weekly.. "Do you have this? how about this? how much for this, and this?" I'm sure she hated me as well. Annoying kids. After the meets we would head out to Kazys to browse the Japanese toys, and get some real, authentic, Mexican-made sushi. They had a cool Japanese bookstore on the second floor where you could eat and talk in private. I still find it amazing that my parents would drop me off in downtown Dallas all-damn-day at a gigantic hotel (the double-tree?) and let me read comic books and watch goofy cartoons like Gall Force, Five Star Stories, and Riding Bean. I know I'm going to come up with a location we were both at someday. We have almost the exact same hobbies, in the same city, during the same years.. We must have crossed paths at least once or twice..

[GaijinPunch]

Man, I feel bad that I couldn't go back in time and give you my RM-E300. That slow / frame step / reverse function set coulda saved a bunch of time. But I guess the genlock wasn't sophisticated enough to deal with that, and probably the Sony titles woulda looked shitty compared to the Amiga ones, I guess.

My SVHS deck had a frame by frame jog shuttle. $800 retail, got it for the bargain price of $750!

GP is at the sparsely populated intersection of nerd and hip. He'll talk to you about The Adventure of Little Ralph boss strategies one moment and then transition into last night's adventure of his little ralph.

Yeah, I think Ganelon has me pegged. I run with a decently tight crew (although my original Tokyo crew... all gone now) I was tighter w/ as I was younger and had more time. But nonetheless, I asked another one out there about threading in Objective C and the third person (a girl) in the conversation just went... "Uh... later guys". Haha.

I was by far the youngest there. Most were 17-20, and I was about 12 or 13.

Yeah, I was only in the Dallas scene for about a year, which was my last in high school (93). I went to Abilene for some stupid reason for my first year of college, but stayed in touch w/ the Dallas people. I borrowed LDs from one of the collectors there each time I went back home for free food. I actually chased that guy down recently with my interwebs skills and asked him if he had any of our old timed scripts. He said his Amiga is in storage and he's not subbed anything in years. He's head of the Dallas Anime group though (not sure of the name) that throws a con each year. Shockingly I didn't feel a whole lot of love from him after not talking for 10-12 years, but hey, guess most people in the hobby aren't known for bro hugs and shit.

I don't remember a blond lady but there was a dude there that sold pirated VHS tapes at the conventions (yep, right there in a booth) and called his business Psychedelic Candy or something. Oh, the days.

I'm a bit sad I got into anime too late to take part in all the underground VHS shenanigans - I mean, I've heard all old-timers say it was hell and really bad and all that and now things are sooo easy because there's torrents and streams and everything but...it sounds like....fun? A little?

It was. The hobby took WAY more work than it did today. Getting contacts at cons and on a very young internet were the main ways. If you went to a big University, you were usually fine meeting people there. Anywho, some of you will remember recently I went w/ a friend to see Akira, and found out an hour before showtime that he didn't speak Japanese. Whoops! Back in the day, I could have easily gotten timed scripts somewhere off the internets, and most likely it would have been timed. I guess there's basically no need for that now. I will admit there was a bit of elitism back then. Originally, people who translated & subbed something would release the script, often timed. Then a few years later, a lot of groups wouldn't release the scripts. For the former, you effectively give people the chance to make a 1st generation copy off of laser disc if they own it. The latter, is a bit... well... geek prick.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah, there wasn't an Internet (for most people) to waste time on back then, so being able to spend a couple years on a big project like that...doesn't sound like such a waste of time really. Probably could build some nice connections that way too. Did any of that fansubbing come back to help / haunt you years later?

[RegalSin]

Yeah, I know that feeling, you know you belonged to something but only realized it until it later.
I say that to myself, while I am browsing my fiction section, thinking this sometimes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhy9--YRBD8

If I never knew or understand how free, and a bit more wealthier our worl would have been. Japan, would just be considered another China, and I would probably be wearing a cross around my neck, doing brain surgery for a living.