Xenoblade Chronicles Should Be Released in U.S.

(Dec. 10, 2011, update: I'm glad to report that Xenoblade Chronicles will be released in North America on April 2, 2012, exclusively in store at GameStop. Visit oprainfall.blogspot.com for further details.)

Xenoblade Chronicles (called Xenoblade in Japan and originally titled Monado: Beginning of the World) is a Japanese role-playing video game (JRPG) for the Nintendo Wii video game system that deserves to be released in the United States. According to reports I've read, there are currently no plans to release the game in North America. Hopefully, that is just a ploy to gain interest in the game here so it can maximize its game sells when it does release in North America (fingers crossed). However, Monolith Soft's game Soma Bringer that was released in Japan in 2008 for the Nintendo DS never came to America.

Although I hardly have time to play video games nowadays, I still try to keep up with new titles and buy them (yes, I even have some unopened games I bought last year and haven't played yet but will eventually get to). I only focus on few games when I do have time, and from what I've seen of Xenoblade, it will be on the top of my list if it comes to the U.S. The game is both beautiful and exciting (with top ratings to boot) and looks like a mixture of fantasy and science fiction. It was created by Monolith Soft, known for creating the science fiction Xenosaga trilogy, which is spiritual prequel to Xenogears created by Squaresoft (now Square Enix). There are rumors that Xenoblade is somehow connected to Xenogears and Xenosaga, but I have yet to see any concrete evidence.

If you think Xenoblade deserves to be released in North America, visit Operation Rainfall's blog at oprainfall.blogspot.com. For an IGN article on Operation Rainfall's effort (which, in addition to Xenoblade, wants The Last Story and Pandora's Tower released in North America, click here.

Anyway, below are some videos of Xenoblade. The first one is the introduction footage to the game in English (United Kingdom version), the second one is a UK-version trailer, and the last one shows the breath-taking scenery in the game (it has some Japanese words but there is no speech in the video).

Three Websites You Should Know that List Short Story Magazines

If you have trouble finding the right magazines to submit your science fiction short stories, if you're new to the submission process, or if you just want to a find a magazine for your reading pleasure, there are only three websites you should know, which are valuable resources:

• duotrope.com 
• ralan.com 
• sfwa.org 

The links above will either go to a page that lists magazines or to one where you can search for magazines.

If you just want to know the professional magazines or anthologies that publish science fiction short stories -- which meet Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America qualifications -- here are 21 markets from sfwa.org: (they are not all currently open to submissions, however):

• Analog Science Fiction and Fact (guidelines)
• Apex (guidelines)
• Asimov’s Science Fiction (guidelines)
• Bull Spec (guidelines)
• Cicada (guidelines)
• Clarkesworld Magazine (guidelines)
• Cosmos (guidelines)
• Cricket (guidelines)
• Dark Wisdom (guidelines)
• Flash Fiction Online (guidelines)
• Grantville Gazette (guidelines)
• Lightspeed Magazine (guidelines)
• The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (guidelines)
• Nature (guidelines)
• Odyssey (guidelines)
• Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show (guidelines)
• The Pedestal Magazine (guidelines)
• Redstone Science Fiction (guidelines)
• Strange Horizons (guidelines)
• Tor.com (guidelines)
• Writers of the Future Anthology (rules)

How the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks affected my writing

Scenes from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (From Wikipedia)

Sept. 11, 2001, the date of one of the most terrifying terrorist events in U.S. history, will resonate in our minds for decades to come. The sight of two planes crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, sending dust and debris among New York City streets, pierced our hearts with disbelief and sorrow on that day 10 years ago. Innocent people died that morning, including at the Pentagon and in the plane that fortunately didn’t reach the White House. It affected family, friends, U.S. citizens and others across the globe. It certainly was a mournful day affecting my life as well.

What I learned that day was to appreciate life more and not to put my goals on hold. The understanding that life can be taken away in the blink of an eye was much more prevalent that day, and I was determined to live my life at the fullest. I worked even harder on my science fiction book and continued to write -- to finish it. I eventually completed it a several years later despite a full load of college; unfortunately, I wrote it longhand, and it was more than 700 pages long. I considered it sufficient training for writing my second novel, so to this day, I've never typed it all up. Don't worry, I'll type and rewrite it some day -- and divide it into three books while I'm at it.

As for my second novel (or fourth depending on how you look at it), I typed it from the start (thank God). I'm more than halfway through writing it, and that story, too, likely will be divided into three books. Unfortunately, I haven't written on the novel in a year and haven't written anything significant in two. I lost that passion to finish what I started -- the passion I had for years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Sure, I wrote short stories and blogs in my free time, but something was missing. My complete story was missing.

I'm hoping to rejuvenate that spark I had. I'm hoping to finish what I started. How did Sept. 11, 2001, affect you?

Reid Review: "The Armageddon Machine" by Simon Kewin

I recently navigated through my selection of unread books on my e-reader and picked out a random story to read. That book -- actually a novelette -- was The Armageddon Machine by Simon Kewin. The story is self-published, so I paid close attention to the first page to see if either 1) the author had no talent, which is why he self-published, or 2) he was someone with great talent using self-publishing as a tool to build readership and notoriety. I'm glad that he fell into the latter category.

Click image for e-book info.

In fact, I venture to say that this is the best ebook I've read in quite a while. The story grabbed my attention from the very first sentence, "Mackenzie watched the universe end." As I read on, I was whisked into a science fiction world that reminded me of Star God by Allen Wold: Sure, The Armageddon Machine may have needed more editing and may have had some unanswered questions, but it was good, nonetheless.

After reading the roughly 13,000-word story in one setting, I wondered why the story wasn't published by a traditional publisher. I gather that it is difficult to publish work at that length because it is too long for most magazines and too short to be a novel. Perhaps Kewin could expand the story into a novel. I think it would work well that way, would answer many questions and would give him more time to develop the characters.

Here's my honest review of the story (it has some spoilers, however):

Reasons Capcom should resume Mega Man Legends 3 project

I didn't find out about the Mega Mega Legends 3 video game being in development for the Nintendo 3DS until writing my June 6, 2011, blog post about my top three favorite games. I also didn't find out about the game's development website (www.capcom-unity.com/devroom) until after the game was canceled. So if lack of participation in the development website was a factor in canceling the game, it seems to me that the video game company Capcom didn't do a sufficient job letting the public know about it in the first place.

Image from Amazon.com

Hopefully, either Capcom resumes the project or CyberConnect2 (which created the .hack series) takes over (its CEO expressed interest in doing that). If so, they should rerelease Mega Man Legends 1 and 2 (and, if they want, The Misadventures of Tron Bonne) on the 3DS to get new fans of the series. There are plenty of younger people who have never played the first two games, and, hypothetically, they wouldn't play the third one if it came out because they may want to start with the beginning and can't do so without a PlayStation or Nintendo 64 video game system.

Even if work on the third game is not resumed, a package of the first two games would garner more fans and may spur more interest in a third title. It also would interest new fans in other Mega Man games (as was the case with me when I was younger).

Mega Man Legends was the first Mega Man game I bought. I picked up a free pamphlet of the game coming out (or already out -- I can't remember) at my local EB Games store. I liked what I saw and bought the game. It became my favorite game almost instantly. Then I told my friends at school about it, and they also bought copies. I even found the Rockman Dash Original Soundtrack CD and bought that as well, playing it constantly. We had a joke back then that I was using the "Apple Market" song, which I called "the town music," as a mind-control technique.

It goes without saying that I bought the other games, including Mega Man 64 (which is a rerelease of the first Mega Man Legends game). I then bought other Mega Man games, in which before Mega Man Legends, I had no interest in them. My point is that if Mega Man Legends 3 is finished and sold, it may start a chain reaction, and it likely will produce lots of sales for Capcom -- not just from the Mega Man Legends series.

I hope that the Mega Man Legends 3 project will be resumed. Do you know of any other games in development that you were interested in but were canceled?

Prophecy to science fiction to reality? The history of electronic chip implants

I found quite interesting an article on io9 on Aug. 11 titled "Breakthrough: Electronic circuits that are integrated with your skin" (http://io9.com/5830071/breakthrough-electronic-circuits-that-are-integrated-into-your-skin).

Picture is from io9 and other sites; origin of photo is unknown.

But the idea isn't new. Technology for flexible chips has been around since at least 2006, chips have been implanted in the skin since at least 1998, science fiction have used the idea of implanted technology since at least 1972, and there's prophecy—about a time when mankind cannot buy or sell without a mark on the right hand or forehead—that dates back to the first century.

Here are some information and quotes from various sources related to the idea of ID implants or marks (starting from present technology and going backward in history):

What You Should Know About the nVoidz Omniverse

"Stream of Consciousness" is a micro fiction story I wrote scheduled to be in the online publication "Flashshot" today. The micro story takes place in my nVoidz universe -- er, I guess it should be "omniverse" since it deals with multiple universes and dimensions.

The micro story is in the perspective of a super-computer called the Counsciousness. I created a tab on this website giving details of the nVoidz omniverse, and here's a quick explanation I used:

"Humans have been extinct for millions of years. However, before their demise, they created a living machine called the Consciousness. This being of thought in turn created ghostlike beings called Overseers whose purpose is to unlock and harness the powers of the omniverse (multiple universes). By fusing the dimensional powers of a universe into adaptable alien chromosomes, they created nVoidz, self-efficient beings with universal powers such as light, gravity, friction, and other fundamental abilities."

Read the micro fiction story here and check out the "nVoidz Omniverse" tab on this website for more information.