iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I think GK2 is better than you remember, and I suspect you'd appreciate it more on replay, but it's so different from GK1 that disappointment was inevitable back in the day.

110

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The weirdest thing about this game isn't the clown. It's that it is a full 3D remake of an early Japanese text adventure game. And by "text adventure" I mean parser-based, before the command-menu style that became the norm later. Even weirder is that it's a *faithful* remake of the original game.

161

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

If this is still open, I've been looking for a new side activity. I've lived in Japan for about 15 years and have been studying the language for more than 20. I have an N2, and been involved with fan translations and (to a small degree) Japanese game preservation projects before.

110

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Occasionally (very occasionally) I get a DR Let's Play nostalgia post from someone I don't know on my timeline via a repost and it's always fun to answer and blow their minds.

1161

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

What's my OG status if I wrote the LP?

31187

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

What gets me is that even people correcting this are suggesting "the AI Generation" as an alternate translation. That lowers the confusion, but doesn't eliminate it given the strong association of 生成-sense "generation" when paired with AI. I'd change it to "the AI Age".

1180

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Shibuya station is a roguelike - an ever changing maze, and you can't rely on the route you exited the last time you were there being the same. Shinjuku station is now also that. Used to just be a difficult static game, now it's dynamic.

020

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It's been a lifetime since we've met but I'm open for talking obscure Japanese games if we find a time that works!

111

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I've just finished another read through Robert Rankin's Nostradamus Ate My Hamster, the book I believe I've reread the most times in my life (which means about 4). While some of its '90s aspects are somewhat less agreeable today, its sheer audacity still impresses me.

000

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

The downside to being healthier than average all my life (never had a surgery, never hospitalized, only get sick with a fever once every few years) is that now that I actually have to deal with some stuff my anxiousness level on every doctor visit is far higher than is should be.

010

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I'd say it's a little more than easter eggs - in addition to the in-universe overt connections, there's also meta structural connections and playing with player expectations based on their experience with Higurashi, and it all ends up tying to the themes of the story.

140

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

It also rewards you if you've read the author's previous work, Higurashi, which is also very long (and can be infinitely long if you try to read and watch all of its offshoots). Not strictly necessary, but still.

120

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Umineko is one of the most emotionally complex stories I've ever read in any medium. It's also very very long with minimal interactivity. ...And also you have to get past the very first hour which throws a lot of cringeworthy anime tropes at you. They go away later.

150

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

האמת שזה קצת מסובך, כי לצורה יש שני שימושים - היא משמשת גם כצורת סביל ניטרלית (נכתב בעיתון = 新聞に書かれた) אבל לעתים קרובות היא מוסיפה את הניואנס השלילי. להבחין ביניהם זה עניין של קונטקסט והאם הסביל נחוץ/הגיוני בלי הניואנס. הדוגמא הקלסית של מובן האכלו לי הוא 雨に降られた - ״ירד עלי גשם״, שלא באמת הגיוני כסביל.

010

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

לאחרונה יש מקבילה בעברית - אני קורא לה צורת ״אכלו לי שתו לי״. אין לזה ממש מקביל באנגלית או בשפות אירופאיות אחרות אבל ה-״לי״ בעברית מאוד דומה.

110

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Yesterday I underwent full anesthesia for the first time in my life. It's quite a sensation - one second you're awake, and the next you're awake again after painful things have been done to your body, and you can't even remember fading out. Which would be much more fun if recovery didn't suck.

230

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Did you see the news that there might be an official DotB translation at some point?

110

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

It's been a while since a strong enough earthquake to trigger the phone alarm...

000

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

The game I'm actually most excited about shown today was the first real look at Prove Your're Human in Day of the Devs. DotD was in general by far more interesting than the big show and you've missed out if you skipped it.

010

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Kotaku's reaction to the Japanese actor when he was announced is slightly negative with lots of hedging, but the think piece they published minutes after the Tupac trailer is straight "this is evil" (compare kotaku.com/stranger-tha... and kotaku.com/yakuza-studi...)

kotaku.com

Stranger Than Heaven Uses Likeness Of Actor Who Died 12 Years Ago

Bunta Sugawara, whose likeness is used in the upcoming prequel game Stranger than Heaven, died in 2014

110

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

The Tupac discussion is weird because there was already a dead actor in the game (approved by their estate and voiced by someone else), previously announced. Where were all the opinions when the first trailer was released?

140

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

לזכות היפנים יאמר שהשימוש המסורתי בפקס לתקשורת בין-עסקית ירדה המון מאז שהגעתי לפה, אבל זה באמת עניין של ה-4-5 שנים האחרונות (אני חושב שהקורונה השפיעה).

130

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Woke up, Steam Controllers are still available on the Japanese retailer site and it's my birthday this week so I impulse bought one. Oh well.

040

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

The Capcom store in Shibuya is where I got this, and they have an entire wall full of these tsum tsum-clones from a *lot* of Capcom games. I got myself a Missile from Ghost Trick one.

120

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Got to the airport hotel my company booked around 0:30, fell asleep, woke up before 5am. The company somehow found me a place on a flight tomorrow, so now I get to figure out what to do with a free day in the US when I just want to go home. (3/3)

020

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

After an hour sitting in the plane, they annoucen flight is canceled. Mechanical problems. People are upset and scramble for agents. This is a business trip so I let my company deal with it. No one can tell us when we can get our luggage. It ended up arriving at baggage claim around midnight. (2/3)

110

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Yesterday's fun: Got to the airport at 10am for a 1pm flight back to Japan Cleared security, got a message saying the flight is delayed 6 hours (later changed to closer to 7) Evening: boarding also had problems, but we're finally on the plane (1/3)

120

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

5 hour delay on my trip back to Japan, announced immediately after I cleared security, a full 3 hours before scheduled departure. So I get to spend 7 hours at the airport (assuming no further delays) and then 14 hours in the air. At least I got approved a lounge pass as a business expense.

000

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

One of the coffee shops I regularly go to added a full-length version of the Sesame Street theme to their bg music rotation, and I am puzzled. (FWIW, SS isn’t *completely* unknown in Japan, but it’s very much not a household franchise)

000

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I couldn’t resist Missile at the Capcom store.

070

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

If you're planning beyond the Death-centered books, I'd do Small Gods next - it's a standalone and perhaps the best book in the entire series in my opinion.

010

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Well, it's not *entirely* American -- pretty much everything here is next day, and I've occassionally had "you're ordering before noon so you're going to get this today if you live close enough to the warehouse" too.

100

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Looking at an "Easy Cooking" Japanese mook. The spaghetti section has recipes for: - Salmon flakes and corn spaghetti - Nori and cheese spaghetti - Tuna and cucumber spaghetti - Kimchi natto spaghetti

020

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

The one English article I've read embellishes what the guy says a lot, though. It's not wrong per-se, but they took the short quote he gives and turned it into 4 paragraphs of embellishment, sometimes misreading the implicatures.

120

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

The original source for this reads as legit to me - I read the entire article and it's well researched and written. The game company part is a small anecdote in the middle - the article itself deals with the larger problem of people passing AI work as their own for competitions etc.

110

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

I lost my AirPods at airport security. Took them out of my pocket and missed them in the bin when I retrieved my stuff. Noticed an hour later, 20 minutes before boarding. …I have them back. Sometimes Japanese customer service is amazing, even at airports where you wouldn’t expect it.

070

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Going on a 13 hour international flight in a couple of hours. Not looking forward to it.

000

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

This isn't technically correct - writing tools are enabled by default on standard macOS text controls, but there is a one-line API to disable them on any given one. Scrivener can absolutely disable them (and, AFAIK, all other Apple Intelligence features) in their own apps if they wanted to.

100

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

KQV is a classic case of spectacle winning. It was the most *impressive* game of that year. I remember it well - the graphics *were* astounding, and it introduced a point-and-click system that everyone (including Lucasarts) ended up adopting. Being the worst design of the bunch didn't matter.

100

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Your best bet outside of ordering online is probably a Gyomu Super, which is a chain of supermarkets specializing in bulk and food-industry products. They are few and far between inside Tokyo (much more common in the suburbs), but there seems to be one in Ueno.

010

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

I know it's a 20 minute vertical video, but if you have even the vaguest interest in the subject matter, please watch this.

075

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

I don't have songs to suggest, but if there's a chance to do more karaoke with you before you leave, I'd gladly take it!

010

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Japanese Donald is Koichi Yamadera, who's also Japanese Genie (because he's the official VA for Robin Williams). And also Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel and Yakuza's Akiyama and a million other iconic roles.

040

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

In case no one else mentioned it yet, point your translator app to the cardboard box. It has instructions for opening the case.

030

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

My discovery today is that while I've heard of Pink Lady (and know some of their more famous songs) because they were a big act here, I didn't realize they were also briefly famous in the US in the early '80s!

130

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

...Just for accuracy sake, this is actually a '70s song!

240

orenronen @orenronen.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

[Internet detective mode spoling the fun] These are the aging '80s pop duo Pink Lady singing one of their '80s hits. The photo is Shunichi Tokura (when he was much younger), who composed the song and many other pop hits, who is now the commissioner of a cultural agency and doesn't seem to be dead.

280