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Topic: Easter Weekend 2019
Author Topic: Easter Weekend 2019 (Read 413 times)
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This weekend I plan to watch some Easter films... both religious and non-religious. I have to work the weekend but will get as many watched as I can.
Re: Easter Weekend 2019
The Ten Commandments (1956/United States)
Trailer |Wikipedia |
Paramount Home Entertainment (United States)
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Writing: Dorothy Clarke Wilson (Original Material By), J. H. Ingraham [Rev. J. H. Ingraham] (Original Material By), A. E. Southon [Rev. A. E. Southon] (Original Material By), Æneas MacKenzie (Screenwriter), Jesse L. Lasky, Jr. (Screenwriter), Jack Gariss (Screenwriter), Fredric M. Frank (Screenwriter)
Video: Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Portuguese: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Charlton Heston as Moses
Yul Brynner as Rameses
Anne Baxter as Nefretiri
Edward G. Robinson [Edward G Robinson] as Dathan
Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora
Throughout film history, Hollywood has produced a number of sweeping epics and generation-defining movies. However, one film - Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments - has stood the test of time. Universally recognized among critics as a cinematic masterpiece, this unforgettable motion picture has also been recognized by The American Film Institute as one of the "Top Ten" epics of all time. From its Academy Award®-winning director* and revolutionary Oscar®-winning special effects** to its memorable music score and all-star cast, The Ten Commandments presents the story of Moses in all its stunning glory. Starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter and a "who's who" of legendary screen talent, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture of 1956***.
Now available for the first time ever on Blu-ray and restored to a stunning new visual experience, The Ten Commandments can be relived in the best picture and sound possible.
*Winner: Best Director (Cecil B. DeMille), The Greatest Show On Earth, 1952. **Winner: Best Special Effects (John Fulton), 1956. ***Additional Oscar® nominations (1956): Picture; Cinematography - Color; Art Direction/Set Decoration; Costume Design - Color; Film Editing; and Sound Recording.
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
This is a film I haven't seen since I was a kid. When they used to show it on TV every year on Easter weekend. While the story is a great one... I found that the special effects hasn't hold up well. Except for the parting of the sea. That still looked good. I did however forget how long this one is...almost 4 hours lontg. I hope to start to watch this every Easter Weekend... though the length may make that difficult.
Hop (2011/United States)
Universal Studios Home Entertainment (United States)
Director: Tim Hill
Writing: Cinco Paul (Story By), Ken Daurio (Story By), Cinco Paul (Screenwriter), Ken Daurio (Screenwriter), Brian Lynch (Screenwriter)
Length: 95 min.
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Spanish: DTS: 5.1, French: DTS: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
James Marsden as Fred O'Hare
Russell Brand as E.B. (voice)
Kaley Cuoco as Sam O'Hare
Hank Azaria as Carlos / Phil (voice)
Gary Cole (1956) as Henry O'Hare
He was destined to be the Easter Bunny, but all he wanted to do was rock! When teenage E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream to become a rock star drummer, he meets Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals. Together the two encounter a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures and in the end help each other recognize the importance of family. "The laughs don't stop in this movie treat for all ages!" Peter Hammond, BOXOFFICE
Digital Copy
U-Control, Mini Movie
This one was better then I was expecting... but you can tell it is geared to a much younger crowd. Silly at times... funny at times... a fair movie but I definitely seen better. Not sorry it is in my collection... though not sure I will watch it every year.
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town: Deluxe Edition (1977/United States)
Warner Home Video (United States)
Director: Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass
Writing: Romeo Muller (Writer)
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono
Fred Astaire as Narrator (voice)
Skip Hinnant as Sunny the Bunny (voice)
Robert McFadden as Chugs (voice)
Allen Swift (voice)
Ron Marshall as Hallelujah Jones (voice)
You can only find kids in kidsville. They make their own rules and run their own town. Every spring, all the kids – including Sunny the Bunny – come together to make Easter goodies. Now its Sunny's job to take all the yummy jellybeans and painted eggs to town, a dreary old village where no kids are allowed!
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town is a cheery, tuneful production combining stop motion magic and the vocal talents of another magical treasure, Fred Astaire. Watch Sunny and friends win over Town's meanies by teaching them fun Easter traditions. Share this Digitally Remastered Edition – with all new Bonus Features – as part of your family's Easter tradition.
Bonus Trailers
Closed Captioned
3 Shorts
This is a real blast from the past. I haven't watched this one since I was a kid. Lots of nostalgia here. Rankin Bass was definitely the best of their time. Now that I have this in my collection I will have to be sure to watch it every year.


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This is a new series that I am trying to cover called Intermission. What I aim to cover are lesser know trivia details of already well-documented series within video games franchises that cover localized or any budget titles that the internet does not cover as often. Now this series is not going to be as posted frequently since many differences in video games from countries of America and Japan could easily remain cosmetic that doesn't affect the gameplay, leading to a longer span of the obscurity of these versions.
Bubsy is an "interesting" character. Ever since the conception by Micheal Berlyn of Accolade, the character has been a laughing stock with many of his games being labeled in many lists of top ten worst lists and have been relegated as a meme of bad video games franchises. That is until recently for some reason, Bubsy got a new game in 2017's Bubsy: The Woolies Strikes Back. Supposedly, the trademark of Accolade was acquired by a Chinese company, which then revitalized their IP including Bubsy after the company defunct in 2000. Even when the game was announced, the official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter page mocked the comeback of the character so heavily scorn nowadays. With the approaching release of Bubsy: Paws of Fire! nearing the date of May 2019 by the developer behind the Bit.Corp series, I figured it's time to see what else the Bubsy franchise offers that haven't been covered by the mass media.
Now, I saw how well the Bubsy series was covered in many gaming publications and independent review shows on YouTube that covers the full impact, which the series gave to really anyone. I mean, just mentioning Bubsy 3D alone can induce an amount of heavy post-traumatic stress disorder to anyone that has to go through some horrid level designs and awful controls with stiff tank control in order to do basic maneuver of jumping or turning to the proper direction of the pathway. The boss required many trial and errors that led to many frustrations with little rhyme or reasons, the unfair difficulty curve when trying to land on enemies leading to many mistakes on platforms and the annoying jokes sprouted by Bubsy are common complaints that I often hear online.
Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (Yamaneko Bubsy no Daibōken in Japan for Super Famicom) was released on Super Nintendo with and Sega Genesis back in 1993 developed and published by Accolade, where mascot platforms were the dominant style of platforms. A sequel was released titled Bubsy 2 ( romanticized as "II") for Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy release. What followed was the panned Atari Jaguar game and of course, the killer of the series, Bubsy 3D for PlayStation that stalled Bubsy into eternity, until the re-release of Bubsy Two-Fur on Steam in 2015. Micheal Berlyn even spoke of disdain for seeing the improvement of the E3 showing of Super Mario 64 compared to Eidetic's effort on their part. At least the company behind that game would later go on to make the Syphon Filter series and more recently Days Gone for PlayStation 4 published by Sony in the next few weeks.
Funnily enough, the game garnered critical acclaim by several critics when the originally released, who deemed the game as a worthy successor to Sonic. Granted, Bubsy followed the mass of trying to stand out from the rest of the competition with following the cool attitude trend of the 1990s. In fact, one of the magazines that previewed the game, GameFan gave the award of "Best New Character Award" to Bubsy in 1993. In fact, another gaming site, GamePro thought the game was so highly deserving of a near perfect five out five in each category that both Accolade and GamePro set up a lottery of $500 cash bonus and a meet up with the developers of the games if anyone set a name and address on a name card.
Even though the game was highly despised by many peoples to this very day, that didn't stop those that can overlook some of the flaws and enjoy the game for what ambitious the platform was going for. Perhaps this might be in part due to the level design or some plain old nostalgia, I'm sure the game certainly has fans that can appreciate the game for what it's worth. Maybe, I am just over thinking this, but I certainly feel that the game has a solid foundation underneath the problems of one-hit collision if some elements could have been fixed.
That was certainly the mind of the people running the company, Telstar that surprisingly released a compilation of Bubsy and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 bundle as a two-in-one game for the Sega Genesis in 1995 for Europe market exclusively. What is it that makes this bundle of this game special? Well, not much really. This is just a bundle game package of two games that at one point was well deserving of the status. Bubsy becomes gaming's punching bag in regards to his games, while Sonic 2 is regarded by many as an all-time classic. If the Bubsy game hasn't sold you on the games, then I honestly doubt that this compilation is worth for that game, except for Sonic 2. I don't really know if there are any differences in how the game plays since this is probably one of those compilations that were common on the Sega Genesis with Sonic and Knuckles for example. I'm not sure why Telstar that packaging Bubsy when the series started the decline after negative and mixed reviews poured in Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales for Atari Jaguar.
Wait…what? Was there actually another Bubsy game released for PC in 1997 that many completely overlooked for a franchise heavily despised as a maligned mascot that was churned out by Accolade in an era where platforms games with the mascot. As it turns out there, there was indeed another version Bubsy game released when Bubsy 3D destroyed the reputation of the series for 21 more years. Also for some reason, the European version describes Bubsy as a cat rather than a species of a bobcat in the German version in the back of the box.
In reality, this is the European version localized by a company named WG Verlag & Lizenzen AG released in Switzerland that apparently specialized into basic IT website designs and marketing products for Europe. It also seems from one of their work pages, they seem to promise to collaborate on some of the most important business that was a sponsor from the likes of magazines and even search engine optimizations for businesses. Since all of this was in German, I kinda had to use Google Translate to figure out if this company even mentioned Bubsy on their portfolio and it does seem unlikely seemingly considering that the company's main goal is centered around the retail advertisement.
This version is very much similar to Super Bubsy for PC, which essentially was an enhanced port of the original game with enhanced music, added voice acting at the beginning of the stage and a more colorful palette to the background owing to the increased hardware software. Alongside the game was a pilot cartoon that was supposed to go on air later the year, but was canceled after one episode.
One interesting note that wasn't found on the Super Bubsy was that there was an eCatalog of gamesmanship that the company was going to publish for Windows. Considering that Accolade made a lot of games other than the infamous Bubsy games, it was possible that this included an advertisement to perhaps preorder games available for the system. Yes, one of the games that were going to be released for Window included a port of Bubsy 3D. The other games included the likes of other Accolade games such as Jack Nicklaus and Pitfall, which were also planned for development for Windows.
I presumed the reason of that version was canned was probably the commercial failure of Bubsy 3D releasing at the height to those of Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot, which left the company to canned these projects early, if any of the aforementioned games were ever in development at all. Also within the games are files that have data on the development of the game that is contained within each file. Currently, there are no official stock available for the game on Amazon and I'm not aware if there is another website to download the game.
It's too bad Bubsy had a myriad of problems that were occurring in his game from reaching the potential it could have been, had there been not as much fraught and riddle with issues between staffs of Accolade publishing the title and the relationship with Micheal Berlyn not working with the second game. Who knows if the series will one day get the respect it deserves considering that the character will live in infamy forever with some of his latest misfires?
Obscure games are one of the most rewarding hobbies that I spent time on the internet uncovering lost footage or screen captures from an era where archiving video games can be an extraordinarily difficult task to achieve where it seems physical media are dying out at a rapid pace, which makes preserving video games a momentum tasks to accomplish. This is concerning considering Nintendo's extremely strict policies of using ROMS hosted by third-party websites with emulation that force websites to remove all causes of Nintendo related properties to avoid lawsuits from the company. After all, it seems that there is an increase into retro games that have certainly impressed for its time and that many possible stories were left behind as a result of the obscurity.
There were tons of these kinds of video games on both Java and mobile phones, especially that have been pushed out of the spotlight due to the heavy obscurity around owning one of these flip phones that are longer sold in stores today. There were many ports to these systems that occurred over the decade that were often ignored and as a result, very little footage actually exist on the internet. One of the games that will be discussing today is Pac-Man franchise with one of their odd spin-offs, Pacman Bowling.
Pac-Man is a cultural icon that needs no introduction from myself. Ever since his debut created by Toru Iwatani who worked at Namco previously involved in their earlier creation, Gee Bee and Bomb Bee from the respective year of 1978 and 1979, Pacman has penetrated the international media heavily with cartoons, video games, merchandise and represented the face of the company. Over the years, Pacman has had spin-offs starting with Ms. Pacman and Junior Pacman in arcades and even a sequel on the Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis with Pacman 2: The New Adventure. That game was more in line with Sierra's PC point-and-click adventures games, where the player drags the cursor to interact with certain environments to trigger the next scene. Pacman would react to certain scenarios depending on the action of the player's decisions, such as knocking down on trash cans and eating the power pellet to eliminate obstacles.
His most critically acclaimed and most known series was the Pac-Man World trilogy, which spanned three consoles generation starting in 2000 and were meant to honor the creation of Pacman's 20th anniversary. The series revolves around heavily adventure platforming with some elements of collectathon that allow the gameplay to better streamline the cohesion of action with more accessible variety to the player's goal, while using many aerial movement to traverse through the stages. Most of the stages are interconnected together in a series of platforming, swimming stages and boss battles that makes up a majority of the game where the player navigates through levels to reach the end of the goal. The second game also enables players to experience past arcade games as mini collectables of arcades games once you collected a certain amount of fruit collectables to unlock levels in Pac-Village to play Gamespy off the arcade versions.
Keep in mind that mobiles phones refers to downloadable apps found on some stores on obscure cellphones that were released at the time. The official website initially supports VX6000, VX4400, VX4500, A530, A610,CDM8600, CDM8900, CDM9500, T720,T730, Sanyo 5300, 5400, 5500, 8100, 7200, Samsung A600 and A660 into the launch of the game of December 2004.
Pac-Man Bowling is a bit of an oddity that many fans of the classic games will most likely think of the game could actually ever exist. But yes indeed, the game did actually exist and was even given a "hands-on" impression from GameSpot, which they claimed that the game has four players: Inky, Ms. Pacman, Junior Pacman and Pac-Man. It also seems for this type of game didn't have much of story aside from Pacman trying to outdo Inky in their rivalry or something like any generic story. The game also offer two player support wirelessly between players, so you do have a chance to play multiplayer which is always a nice plus. I suppose that the game didn't have much advertisement to really leverage the game into much publicity, since the game probably loss much of the interests from gaming press from the conception afterwards.
The gameplay is self-explanatory with the basis of earning the most point of either a strike or a spare from the oncoming bowling ball. If the ball only hits either the left or right shaft, then the frame would consider open. Placed near the alleyway are obstacles or fruits that the player can either achieve special powers, such as Pac-Man using an RC car to ram into the pins if the player curve their throw correctly. Admittedly I'm not sure if there is anything that makes this game stands out from the rest of any bowling games considering the extreme rarity of this game, which makes finding much more information on this game more difficult considering that it was released on lost mobiles phones that are probably out of date as of this writing.
Although the game is primitive by the evolution of bowling simulation today, the few gaming outlets were positive. One of the review that I found that surprisingly wasn't even given a score was written by Levi Buchanan of IGN Entertainment who gave the game a mild positive overview of how the game managed to remain simplistic and accessible to play, while lamenting the difficulty of earning less than 180 points on a 10 pin alley. It is a bit odd considering that the game never deviates from the purpose of bowling, so I presume that perhaps he was not too accustomed to the control of a cellphone to play a screen with a resolution even lower than a grainy YouTube video. It seems that Levi was part of IGN for presumably around 5 years considering that it seems that he would later work for Chillingo as Senior Marketing Director that was recently acquired by EA according to an interview with Mark of Classic Game Room. I still wonder what he still thinks of his earlier reviews of almost 15 years ago, would he still hold the same view of his work including some of the mobile games he reviewed all these years later? I would personally doubt it considering a decade later that everything would completely be ignored by the rise of smartphones gaming and the transformative industry today. Who knows? Maybe, he still remembers the game as crystal clear and perhaps send a copy if that will ever happen.
It is also worth to note that there was another review of this game by a website called "Bonus Stage" that debuted in late 2005 to around 2009 before the company went out of business according to GameFAQs. The overall score for this game was a 9 out of 10, which would have mean that the reviewer would have certainly recommended to the consumer as a must have purchase, despite the popularity of consoles and PC markets dominating the industry. Attempts to read the review back in December 2005 through the Internet Wayback Machine ended with a disappointing dead link with no possible screenshot further unfortunately. It's a shame that I can't see anymore of the review, it certainly would have been a fascinating time capsule to see what opinions of the kinds of mobile games these reviewers had in their perspective. After all, I am a bit puzzled to know why the reviewers of the site thinks that this bowling game is somehow a must purchase for mobile games, which was somewhat considered More of a niche market to attract interest from consumers.
Every so often, I come across a game that has certainly gotten the attraction of the public in a multitude of ways. Whether it is through the public's backlash or any controversy that relates to sensitive issues, game developers do have to be wary of some of the biggest uphill battles that they faced in the industry today. Usually, there are a few ways to combat measures and that goes mostly for piracy. There are a few instances where a developer would take drastic action to curb graphic or copyrighted imagery that is not easily acceptable in modern society today. However, in the year of 1995, the internet was still in its early infancy. There was a much more limited bandwidth to upload your website, nor does it have the heavy social media that we now associate with society. Popular search engines, such as Google did not appear until later in the early 2000s when the distribution was larger online. Yahoo and Amazon were only recently created a year prior and live streaming services were almost nonexistence (unless you count Shareyourworld by Chris Norlin that appeared two years later). It is no wonder that some games were also sold on illegally made pirated consoles without the knowledge of Nintendo.
Hong Kong 97 was probably one of the more fascinating game that has mystified the internet over the past two decades. There is a lot of ground that I need to cover about this game and its origins of this game, which I will try to explain both the history and how one person managed to circumvent the rigid policies of game distribution in the '90s into an internet sensation. I will also try to show some of his work in hopes that finally, the game can be fully demystified and put some rumors to rest. By no means that the blog is the only definitive answer to solving this game considering I don't own any of the magazines or an English translation available. If nothing else, at least I made an attempt to elaborate the game somewhat.
Yoshihara "Kowloon" Kurosawa (pseudonyms Coulomb Kurosawa) was born in 1971. At an early age, he was heavily interested in video games by looking at Amiga Magazines and BBS software. He did also mention that he met a friend that will prove to be an important aspect of the creation of the game. According to a recent interview with South China Morning Post, Kowloon expressed his frustration with the video game industry set up by the likes of Nintendo and Sega, which makes working on indie developer much more difficult due to the circumstances of gaming policies in regards to distribution. The video game industry in the 1990s was difficult to enter the game market as an indie developer, and considering the more advanced lockout chip used for the Super Nintendo led to heavier curbing of piracy as shown with the battle of Tengen Rabbit Chip prior on the Nintendo Entertainment System that would culminate to the notorious litigation court battle of the unlicensed Tetris version on their built-in cartridges with Nintendo, where the court verdict of an investigation finally made Nintendo loosen their grip over control of third-party publisher rights. A multitude of poor decisions over strict game quotas of only three games per year, mixed with Nintendo actually owning much of the revenue earned from the cartridges and production cost created much of the fallout of third-party developers with Nintendo starting with the Nintendo 64. It was that frustration, which led Kowloon to create one of the most infamous games of the 1990s. By the way, one of his blogs tells much more of the game's production in a magazine, Microcomputer Shonen Refresh Taikeiki (マイコン少年リフレッシュ台北).
During his time in the Sham Shui Po Mall, he encountered a system that would change his life's forever. What is that system you ask? Well, it was more of a back-up system that allowed to use save-states and encode cheats codes into the game, which allow for easier data transferring onto a floppy disc. The Professor SF by Bung Enterprise was the system allowed Kowloon and a few colleagues to work with limited development of the game. An employee from Enix was tasked to help Kowloon program the game within just two days and a Chinese translator to reword the language into Chinese. Kowloon has indeed mentioned that the music was actually sampled from laserdisc based on a piece of popular music called "I love Beijing Tiananmen", which was used during the Cultural Revolutions in 1970. Many of the images were hastily added in a few hours from movies such as Wheels on Meals. Kowloon then publicizes the game on shady mail order of around 3000 Yens in hopes that it will attract profit from the garrulousness of the content. After sometimes, he seemed to forget about the existence of the game until the advent of the internet prompted the game back into the spotlight. There was also attempts to promote the game on another copy of this game with two advertisements. One of them shows the backup Super Famicom unit and another shows a curry shop, which presumably was the place to sell the game.
The game starts out absurdly with an advertisement to sell floppy discs at the intro of the screen before being presented with three languages options: English, Chinese and Japanese. Once you choose the language greeted by stolen digitized images of Bruce Lee and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. The story then begins at the dystopian future of 1997, where Hong Kong was obliterated in a new wave of crime, leading to governor Chris Patton to send "Chin" represented by Bruce's Lee to eliminate 1.2 billion communists of mainland China. However, there was a secret experiment to revive the head of a"Tong Shau Ping". The story is obviously made in bad taste considering Kowloon's political belief that he sometimes sell DVD cases containing some underlying tones of Nazism, which sometimes made me questioned if his interests are purely for historical reasons or some ego that he acquired over the years. The DVD titled "Mad Nazi" was licensed by Calcutta Records and it seems these DVD were making viewers feel extremely uncomfortable listening to this music according to the Japanese Wikipedia page.
The game finally starts and the player is thrust into a randomly generated background (Chinese Coca Cola, Asia TV logo, one of the propaganda posters and an image of a background of a mountainous area). The player controls the protagonist shooting white projectiles at enemies, which will explode into a mushroom cloud upon contact, all while evading their attack of projectiles. If the player is hit, a graphic imagery appeared on the game over screen (NFSW). I'll save the details and point to the date of either June 8th, 1992 or August 8th, 1992. The victim was not Leszek Blazynski, as he had severe depressions after the passing of his wife Anna and took his own life shortly after from the sudden tragedy. However, it seems he was actually honored by his son, Leszek Blazynski Jr. with a memorial in 2006 and his accomplishment of winning medals during in the Summer Olympics in the '70s on some of the YouTube videos. I did find a possible source of where the game over screen that came from the forums that there is a missing 30 minutes VHS tape called "Lost City Yamaya", which accordingly to one of the user, Kowloon was attacked in one of the ghettoes of San'ya by a mob, after an incident occurred. Japanese users have been searching for the availability of the tape since 2011.
Figure 1 (Top): Footage of Torture Master (1990) and Rule The World (1990) ~T. Tanaka Lab and Camadamia Soft. Uploaded on September 22, 2008 by wataru sakurai on YouTube.
Kowloon's first video game actually started with the limited programming he had owning a PC-8801. Although the description doesn't tell much about the game itself, there are a few tidbits that are worth mentioning. The game apparently made 170 000 yens (or around $1576 US dollars per copy) in total and was mainly sold at Comiket, a convention that sells anime and daijoushin products. Although information of Torture Master and his other games seems to have little information online with the exception of an archive list of PC-8801 games, I can infer judging by the gameplay footage that seems like these kind of games that were made to be satirical impersonation of famous foreign leaders into the height of the Cold War of the 1980's. The semi-crudeness art style done by Kowloon's limited programming in his computer shows that he was mainly interested into journalism more than developing games and that shows in his early days with some of his games showing varying degrees of differences in the amount of supposed graphic imagery to expressed what would become his secondary career as a journalist. There was also another title named Game Arashi Restoration (1988) that Kowloon was possibly involved in, although I am not sure if he willing to talk about his experience. Again, I am not sure if the translation itself remains the most credible source to define some of the language considering the state of the odd mystery behind it, so take this with a heavy grain of salt.
The origin of this game's popularity is somewhat difficult to pinpoint before the Angry Video Game Nerd, since Kowloon probably knew of the illegal circumstances that he was making by a game not authorized for publishing from its vulgar content on pirated hardware. It seems most likely that the game was presumably advertised in local underground magazines, such as Game Lab. Eventually, as the internet gradually expanded across the globe, possible sources of dumping emulation of games became much more feasible. Now, my memory are somewhat fuzzy, but I did recall reading that somewhere in 2004, the game appeared at a obscure Japanese site and the host wasn't so disgusted that he actually apologized to the Chinese for some reason. I don't remember the website name, so take that with a grain of salt. The earliest footage I can find dates back to February 27th, 2007 by enjime. The game really didn't start taking off when in 2013 when YouTuber ColoniaContraAtaca published a collab video that seemingly has skits interspersed with video commentary in Spanish, which was at least the most viewed video clocking over 900K views. Fast forward to 2015, when I found a channel called Flippy. This was a channel mainly focused on miscellaneous topics about other past time events that occurred recently. His video of Hong Kong 97 actually preceded the AVGN video by about a week earlier, where he recaps many of the similar events that Kowloon would give in a later interview.
Alongside his experience answer a game developer, he seems to work also as a journalist writing blogs and magazines about his experience in Southeast Asia, including his base in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It ranges from his daily travel into seeing of everyday peoples, crimes and other events he found. He also hosts a Youtube channel about promoting his work online, such as the Kitabuyushi CD Series. It seems he quite enjoy his time spent in Cambodia, he was interviewed four months later by a blogger named Tabinote who mostly discussed with Kowloon about his time spent in the country. Some publications include Rompao and Six Samana for example.
Figure 2(top): Commercial of Simple Series 2000:Volume 88. The Miniskirt Polices. Uploaded on February 23, 2011 by IGN on YouTube.
According to the Japanese Wikipedia page, Kowloon actually made an officially developed game on PlayStation 2 called Simple Series 2000 Volume 88: The Miniskirt Police by Daft Inc. and D3 Publisher in 2005. For those that don't know the Simple Series, they were originally established on the PlayStation 1 in the late 1990s from D3 Publisher and are budget released titles created by developers within a short development timespan (perhaps like 2 to 3 months). They appeared with the Simple moniker with the intended price tag of the yens (2000, 2500, DS and Wii etc). Most of the games that appeared in series were only exclusive to Japan, but the ones that are most successful did get a couple international release in Europe were most known was Earth Defense Forces and Oneecharan. Apparently, Kowloon's involvement with the game is the role of Creative Director in the credits. The game stars the main protagonist, Momo Samejima, who is a secret agent working for an organization called "The Miniskirt Police". Her main objective is to investigate a drug named Perorin from drug rings represented by gangsters in purple class that are attempting to locate her while trying to fend off bosses that seemingly will use everything in their power to end her life. During her time to find the drug, Momo can fend off enemies through the power of her melee attacks done by pressing the X button. Luckily, Momo has an assortment of aids that will greatly benefit the player to fend off attacks, such as handguns and grenades at her disposal, which deals greater damage to enemies then melee attacks. Along the way, you will face off against bosses, such as a wannabe Greyskull, a small, yet agile fashion designer and a crazed psychopath clown that are presumably affected by the drug that are out to get Momo.
In all honesty, the trailer really tries really to promote the game as the next amazing experience through playing this game, which really shows when the narrator mention having different cosmetics costumes as one of the main selling points of a low budget game. Daft Incorporation, the developer who created this game started out with their game Super Back To The Future 2 for the Super Nintendo, before making a few obscure video games based on the K-1 Boxing on both the PlayStation 1 and Gameboy Advance. This game was their last developed game before the company disappearing entirely the industry altogether. Now I know D3 Publisher as the owner of the Simple Series (although they mainly outsource work to other developers such and Tamsoft) from one of their game, Family Party 30 Great Obstacles Games (THE Family Party) for the Wii U. This game is notable for only one reason: It is the second lowest rated video game on Metacritic with an abysmal score of 11, right after Big Rigs Over the Racing Road for PC. It is also the only Wii U game released as part of the Simple Series with no further volumes. Otherwise, I find their catalogs to also be filled with licensed games and other Simple Series games on other systems that will appeal only to the casual audience.
While I was doing research on this game, I came across a little known gem that is somehow related to this topic called Taiwan 2001. The information of this game I gather from is from a website called LostWiki Media, which provides a great insight of many media lost from times and being given a second chance of preservation by dedicated archivists that has unearthed different title from across many eras in the 20th century. I recommend it, there are a lot that I could simply dedicate my time to blogging if I wasn't that busy every day. Anyways, Taiwan 2001 is essentially an unofficial sequel to Hong Kong 97. You read that right. From what I read on the wiki, the game was released on PC as a freeware somewhere in 2001 meaning that game can be played for free without any "majikons" or backup-system with cost. Unlike Hong Kong 97, the game does not have a physical cartridge, ROM or even a download link that suggest the existence of the freeware. The developer, Kuso Soft (an obvious riff on Happysoft Ltd) even made a bold statement that their game was even worse than Happysoft's effort. It could be possible that maybe someone could still be holding a possible source considering Kowloon's acknowledgment on the website. The story is very similar to Hong Kong 97 in that instead of slaying 1.2 billion peoples in China, you need to "reform" them and the gameplay is similar to that game with the bomb command apparently activated at some point. The three languages in the titles screen Cantonese, Mandarin and Hua replacing the English option making the game less viable to play outside the region.
Hong Kong 97 is also said to be referred to as an "unscrupulous game" (不謹慎ゲーム) that was apparently used to make fangames based on real-life events through using either Adobe Flash or an internet bulletin board on personal computers. These are the types of games that are seemingly created as a provocative attack on extremely well-known incidents through Japan, such as the Tokyo sarin gas attack by the cult Aum Shrinkyo and a couple of scandals that dominated the country's news. It also seems most likely that many of these games listed are created anonymously by those that probably didn't want to be associated with any political association. At least that is what the translation from Google can best describe the situation.
The credit also deserves a little mention considering how strange some of the sources try to paint more staffs involved in the game than the intended interview of around three people that Kowloon said with the interview a year before. Apparently, there was a credit listed to the Canadian embassy, Kowloon Kurosawa, Genom and SGI, which are supposedly part of the list, but I have yet to see any credible evidence to support this.
It's easy to rag on a game of Hong Kong 97 as a joke to enrage a certain group through marginalization in video games, which has unfortunately seeped into the industry with political arguments over controversies that have made debates on resolving issues murky. Yet, underneath the information lurking around the web is an interesting tale of how many indie developers that lack much of the authorization to publish games on official hardware and instead chose to tackle a different route no matter the cost.
Aaaahh…. Yes. Mario Kart has become a global phenomenon in terms of multiplayer battles between friends from what it used to be. As once an alternative between the launch of F-Zero more frantic racing experience that involved more agile movement, Mode 7 was a technique to behold through using sprites to create scaling and rotation illusion 3D in a nutshell. There are a lot of reasons that makes the franchise enjoyable for nearly 30 years. One reason that makes the game enjoyable is the obvious multiplayer battles that have, for the most part, has been an integral part that solidified the core identity to this series. Now that being said, the single player mode also offers many replay values in terms of content, while adding new gimmicks to the level designs of the courses. Couple this with the excellent music and responsive control and you have a winning formula. Although, overtime, some of these flaws start to become apparent, such as the ridiculous AI rubber-banding with their blue shells if the player is in first place for a majority of the laps in Mario Kart Wii. Minor issues aside, the series is still going strong to this day with a port of Mario Kart 8 released for Nintendo Switch.
The first game, Super Mario Kart released by Nintendo in 1992 was an instant with sales success reaching over 8 millions total sales worldwide. Eventually, the relative success of Super Mario Kart would lead into other Nintendo consoles getting their own game of Mario Kart (with the exception of the early Game Boy lines and the Virtual Boy). In terms of handheld games of Mario Kart, it is somewhat recent with many peoples referring to 2001's Super Circuit on the Game Boy Advance as the first Mario Kart game on a handheld system. While I do agree that Super Circuit was the game that Nintendo debuted on a handheld officially developed and published by Nintendo, I actually found an extremely rare and often overlooked Mario Kart game of the series that predated that game by roughly eight years. It has not been re-released on another console and not even on a Nintendo product, but as a separate entity on its own. The game I am talking about is Super Mario Race.
Okay, maybe I need to back myself up a bit here. You see, this oddity is less of an actual video game, but more akin to a Tiger Electronic handheld game, where there is little incentive of an objective to complete a mission. Instead of racing through the projected laps that must be completed in any other Mario Kart game, Super Mario Race takes the role of Mario driving in his Formula One car though what looks like a static background with a standard curving racetrack, and your goal is to simply last through the oncoming vehicles that are sporadically blocking Mario from earning more points. The player has direct control over the movement of the car moving side-to-side and to avoid any obstacles by using the D-pad and one of the minibutton on the right side of the watch for acceleration. Sometimes, when the player is unable to avoid the opponent, an icon of Mario blowing the whistle to indicate the player is hit before the game continues as usual. Each time Mario progress over one of the car, the player earns 10 points or more when the car are adjacent together.
One of the first aspects that you will notice of this watch is the design. The facelift looks entirely a smaller version of the original Game Boy, like as if Nintendo were already created a Game Boy Classic without anyone realizing the popularity of the system in the coming years. The appearance also calls harkens back to the original model, which I find to be a nice touch. This design was also used for the even rarer Dr.Mario Game Watch (also from Mani Industries). As for the companies themselves, Mani Industries is difficult to find information in regards to their involvement with the game and some results consensus coming up empty for the most part. Nelsonic is somewhat difficult to find of their history status, although I found a Wikipedia article that describes much of roots tracing back to the 1980's originally to create electronics watches of popular brands (Pac-Man, Ghostbusters etc). This also included smaller scales ports of established game franchises with four Super Mario Brothers (Super Mario World 4 is essentially a downscale of Super Mario World) and Donkey Kong Game Watches. After they supposedly defunct in 1999, most of the trademarks and rights were acquired by a company named M.Z Berger who still continues to use the name for more traditional watches with the Nelsonic brand. I also checked Polygon article that pointed to Nelsonic Space Attack as their first game, so it seems most likely that the company produce these wristwatch games in early 1980s.
Super Mario Race is a very interesting case of high-profile games that has been seemingly lost in time considering the extreme rarity of these watches. Just a quick search on EBay will yield some heavy prices in the hundreds, which includes shipping cost as well. It doesn't come at any surprise that Super Mario Race was all but forgotten in the history of Mario games, which isn't a surprise coming from high prices listed and obscurity that prevents many people experiencing these games. There are also no emulators or ROMs that could possibly preserve physical game watches that also further limits people coming to gather the product.
Source (Top): Super Mario Race footage by Sly DC. Uploaded on November 20th, 2015 on YouTube.
Comparing Super Mario Race to other Mario games seems unfair considering the limitations of a Game Watch to a sophisticated game console that requires every component to work together to input video. At the end of the day, Super Mario Race can be a fun distraction on its own merit, assuming that you are not expecting much of the game's content. Remember that games of these kinds have existed awhile back with Tiger Electronics as an example that sells products through with similar hardware of artwork pre-lit by the screen. Sometimes the result doesn't work as intended, as seen with the R-Zone that kinda took too much inspiration from Nintendo in an attempt to branch out. Other times, the game did not have any promotional advertisement or form of any media to sell the product, which was the latter fate of this game.
So is Super Mario the first ever Mario Kart game to appear on a handheld at all? Well, that is debatable as many of the animation in these primitive devices were simplified to accommodate the LCD or LED lights to give the illusion that the player is controlling the protagonist, when it is just a series of artwork lit up from the internal hardware. On the other hand, I find the idea of a Mario Kart game on such a tiny devices that is literally the size of a glass len is quite fascinating. After all, I do feel there are tons of games that don't get much recognition on the internet, despite many gaming historians doing their best to preserve physical media that is rapidly vanishing in this era of digital technology. It is also interesting to find out how much game companies were willing to take risks into these game watches in the 1990's and how they fare today with many changes in the game industry nowadays. It's just a shame that some games are now at risk of being lost forever if little recognition is giving considering how fast time passes. I am hoping that this game could someday be given a digital ROM and posted online, although this depends on the amount of interests in this game.
So…this is WordPress. I figured that this might be a good start to see where this blog might go. Anyways, as of March 26 2019, I will try to find games that not many peoples will think existed or occurred in their mind at all. Whether this could be software or hardware. I will try to expand the horizon a bit every so often to see if there are any video games that could be interesting to look at their development and the history.


text:
static const uint32_t ballCategory      = 0x1 << 0;
static const uint32_t bottomCategory    = 0x1 << 1;
static const uint32_t endCategory       = 0x1 << 2;
static const uint32_t blockCategory     = 0x1 << 3;

@interface RJGameScene()<SKPhysicsContactDelegate>

@property(nonatomic) int jumpTimes;
@property(nonatomic, strong) SKSpriteNode *bottomLine;
@property(nonatomic, strong) SKSpriteNode *endLine;
@property(nonatomic, strong) SKSpriteNode *ball;

@property(nonatomic) int score;
@property(nonatomic, strong) SKLabelNode *scoreLabel;

@property(nonatomic, strong) NSMutableArray *blockArray;

@end

@implementation RJGameScene

#pragma mark - Init
- (instancetype)initWithSize:(CGSize)size
{
    self = [super initWithSize:size];
    if (self) {
        _jumpTimes = 1;
        _blockArray = [NSMutableArray array];
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)didMoveToView:(SKView *)view
{
    self.physicsWorld.contactDelegate = self;
    self.physicsBody = [SKPhysicsBody bodyWithEdgeLoopFromRect:self.frame];
    self.physicsBody.friction = 0.0f;

    [self addChild:self.bottomLine];
    [self addChild:self.endLine];
    [self addChild:self.ball];

    self.score = 0;

    for (NSInteger k = 0; k < 4; k++) {
        [self performSelector:@selector(createBlock)
                   withObject:nil
                   afterDelay:0.5 + k];
    }
}

#pragma mark - Setter / Getter
- (SKSpriteNode *)bottomLine
{
    if (!_bottomLine) {
        _bottomLine =
        [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithColor:[UIColor blackColor]
                                     size:CGSizeMake(self.frame.size.width, 20)];

        _bottomLine.position = CGPointMake(self.frame.size.width / 2, 20);
        _bottomLine.physicsBody = [SKPhysicsBody bodyWithRectangleOfSize:_bottomLine.size];
        _bottomLine.physicsBody.dynamic = NO;
        _bottomLine.physicsBody.affectedByGravity = NO;
        _bottomLine.physicsBody.friction = 1.0;
        _bottomLine.physicsBody.categoryBitMask = bottomCategory;
    }
    return _bottomLine;
}

- (SKSpriteNode *)endLine
{
    if (!_endLine) {
        _endLine =
        [[SKSpriteNode alloc] initWithColor:[UIColor redColor]
                                       size:CGSizeMake(1,self.frame.size.height)];

        _endLine.position = CGPointMake(3, self.frame.size.height / 2);
        _endLine.physicsBody = [SKPhysicsBody bodyWithRectangleOfSize:_endLine.frame.size];
        _endLine.physicsBody.dynamic = NO;
        _endLine.physicsBody.categoryBitMask = endCategory;
    }
    return _endLine;
}

- (SKSpriteNode *)ball
{
    if (!_ball) {
        _ball =
        [SKSpriteNode spriteNodeWithImageNamed:@"ball.png"];

        _ball.position =
        CGPointMake(self.frame.size.width / 5,
                    CGRectGetMaxY(self.bottomLine.frame) + 15);

        _ball.physicsBody =
        [SKPhysicsBody bodyWithCircleOfRadius:_ball.size.height / 2];

        _ball.physicsBody.friction = 1.0f;
        _ball.physicsBody.linearDamping = 1.0f;
        _ball.physicsBody.contactTestBitMask = 1;

        _ball.physicsBody.categoryBitMask = ballCategory;
        _ball.physicsBody.contactTestBitMask = endCategory | bottomCategory;
    }
    return _ball;
}

- (void)setScore:(int)score
{
    _score = score;

    if (!self.scoreLabel) {
        self.scoreLabel = [SKLabelNode labelNodeWithFontNamed:@"Chalkduster"];
        self.scoreLabel.fontSize = 45;
        self.scoreLabel.position =
        CGPointMake(CGRectGetMidX(self.frame),
                    CGRectGetMidY(self.frame) - 20);

        [self addChild:self.scoreLabel];
    }

    self.scoreLabel.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d",score];
}

#pragma mark - Action
- (void)touchesBegan:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event
{
    //跳
    if (self.jumpTimes > 0 || self.ball.physicsBody.velocity.dy == 0) {
        self.jumpTimes--;
        [self.ball.physicsBody applyImpulse:CGVectorMake(0.0, 15.0)];
    }
}

- (void)createBlock
{
    SKSpriteNode *block =
    [[SKSpriteNode alloc] initWithColor:[UIColor blueColor]
                                   size:CGSizeMake(30,30)];

    block.position =
    CGPointMake(self.size.width,
                CGRectGetMaxY(self.bottomLine.frame) + 15 + 30 * arc4random_uniform(3));

    block.physicsBody = [SKPhysicsBody bodyWithRectangleOfSize:block.frame.size];
    block.physicsBody.friction = 1.0;
    block.physicsBody.mass = self.ball.physicsBody.mass * 3;
    block.physicsBody.allowsRotation = YES;
    block.physicsBody.affectedByGravity = NO;

    block.physicsBody.categoryBitMask = blockCategory;
    block.physicsBody.contactTestBitMask = endCategory;

    [self addChild:block];
    [self.blockArray addObject:block];
}

#pragma mark - SKPhysicsContactDelegate
- (void)didBeginContact:(SKPhysicsContact *)contact
{
    if ([self isRelation:contact A:self.ball B:self.endLine]) {
        [self.ball removeFromParent];
        self.ball = nil;

        [self.scene.view presentScene:[[RJStartScene alloc] initWithSize:self.size]
                           transition:[SKTransition doorsOpenVerticalWithDuration:1.0]];
    }

    if ([self isRelationCategory:contact CodeA:blockCategory CodeB:endCategory]) {

        SKSpriteNode *block =
        (SKSpriteNode *)(contact.bodyA.categoryBitMask == blockCategory ?
                         contact.bodyA.node : contact.bodyB.node);

        [self.blockArray removeObject:block];
        [block removeFromParent];

        self.score++;
        [self performSelector:@selector(createBlock)
                   withObject:nil
                   afterDelay:arc4random_uniform(4) * 0.5];
    }
}

- (void)didEndContact:(SKPhysicsContact *)contact
{
    if ([self isRelationCategory:contact CodeA:ballCategory CodeB:bottomCategory]) {
        self.jumpTimes = 1;
    }
}

#pragma mark - Determine
- (BOOL)isRelation:(SKPhysicsContact *)contact
                 A:(SKSpriteNode *)a
                 B:(SKSpriteNode *)b
{
    if (contact.bodyA.node == a && contact.bodyB.node == b)
        return YES;
    if (contact.bodyA.node == b && contact.bodyB.node == a)
        return YES;
    return NO;
}

- (BOOL)isRelationCategory:(SKPhysicsContact *)contact
                     CodeA:(uint32_t)codeA
                     CodeB:(uint32_t)codeB
{
    if (contact.bodyA.categoryBitMask == codeA && contact.bodyB.categoryBitMask == codeB)
        return YES;
    if (contact.bodyA.categoryBitMask == codeB && contact.bodyB.categoryBitMask == codeA)
        return YES;
    return NO;
}

#pragma mark - Update
-(void)update:(CFTimeInterval)currentTime
{
    int speed = MIN(self.score / 10 + 5, 15);

    for (SKSpriteNode *block in self.blockArray) {
        block.position = CGPointMake(block.position.x - speed, block.position.y);
    }

    float move = 0;

    if (self.ball.position.x < self.size.width * 3 / 5) move = 0.1;
    if (self.ball.position.x > self.size.width * 4 / 5) move = -0.1;

    [self.ball.physicsBody applyImpulse:CGVectorMake(move, 0.0)];
}

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Der Begriff Kissenmoos wird für folgende Moose gebraucht:

Die Gattung Grimmia
Grimmia atrata
Grimmia pulvinata, das auch "Polsterkissenmoos" genannt wird.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
"And Away We Go!"
Flying Under the Gaydar
You Gotta BOH-lieve
How Do You Spell Pretentious?
FOXy Ladies
Marty Bass, Rhymes with Ass
Thank You, Friends
Hicksville, USA
Blind Swordsmen & Vengeful Vixens
Zatoichi and Meiko Kaji
After spending the better part of June and July obsessing over the World Cup and watching roughly 130 hours of soccer (and then slowly weaning myself off The Beautiful Game by watching the first two seasons of the cheeky BBC soap opera Footballers Wives), I decided I had to put away the Sports section and pick up the Fine Arts section. That's why I'm currently on a Movie Vacation. Of course, when it comes to films, I'm a total devotee of Japanese films, in all their wonderful forms, be it the classic post-war Chambara/Samurai films, Kinski Fukasawa's 1970s post-Godfather Yakuza film classics, or even the now fashionable post-Ringu J-Horror genre. But there are two icons of 60s and 70s Japanese cinema that have always enthralled me and who I've been reassessing this week: Shintaro Katsu (above left) of the Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman series and Meiko Kaji (below right), best known as Sasori of the Female Convict Scorpion women-in-prison (W.I.P.) films series, who also starred as a recurring character in the 60s Stray Cat Rock girl gang series and as avenging orphan Yuki in director Toshiya Fujita's two Lady Snowblood films - the latter the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films (he even used two of Meiko Kaji's songs in his films: the Lady Snowblood theme "The Flower of Carnage" in Kill Bill 1 and "Urami Bushi (My Grudge Blues)" from the Female Convict Scorpion series in Kill Bill 2). Kaji also appeared in three of director Kinji Fukasaku's 70s gangster films, including a memorable turn in Yakuza Burial - Jasmine Flower (Yakuza No Hakaba - Kuchinashi No Hana, 1976) as the Korean wife of an imprisoned Yakuza boss who falls in love with a morally ambiguous cop played by Tetsuya Watari.
Itchy for Ichi
The Charles Theater's samurai film revival series rekindled my obsession with the Zatoichi films. On August 4, I joined my fellow obsessive/sensei Big Dave Cawley (King of Men) and cohorts Not-So-Big Dave Wright and punk-pop physicist Jason Fritsch (erstwhile guitarist in The Gamma Rays) at the Charles to see Zatoichi and the Fugitives (1968), followed the next Saturday by perhaps the best in the series, Zatoichi On the Road (1963). I was so inspired by the latter that I whipped out my credit card to purchase the AnimEgo Zatoichi DVD box set collection. Kung Fu Cinema's review astutely compared On the Road to a mesh of two Akira Kurosawa films with a touch of Shakespearean romantic tragedy:
"Seemingly free from constraints of humility in previous episodes, Ichi has become more confident and more willing to show off his incredible sword skills which is good news for action fans. The story is an adventurous one that could be compared to Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (1958) and Yojimbo (1961). The first half features Ichi's journey with Mitsu, played by a lovely Shiho Fujimura who returned to the franchise in 1967 for Zatoichi's Cane-Sword. The latter half features Ichi playing both sides in a turf war, much as Toshiro Mifune did in Yojimbo. Both parts are woven together well with Ichi's love for Mitsu being the dominating theme."
The next week, Not-So-Big Dave and Jason dropped out so it was just me and Big Dave and my girlfriend Amy catching the final Zatoichi screening at the Charles, New Tale of Zatoichi (1963), which, like Zatoichi and the Fugitives, was directed by Tokuzo Tanaka. While not the best in the series, New Tale was significant in fleshing out details about Ichi's shadowy past. In it, he travels to his old village, where he meets his old sensai Banno, the man who taught Ichi his sword skills "four years ago." Ichi also visits his parents' graves and his deaf old granny. More importantly, this is the episode where Ichi has his heart broken when he asks for the hand of Banno's sister, Yayoi, only to be called an impudent blind dog by his incensed teacher. That's because the selfish former samurai wants to marry his sis off to some hotshot samurai in Edo, among other nefarious schemes - like helping the Mito Goblins, a gang of bandits, kidnap one of his pupils to extort money from the kid's rich Daddy-san. Truly, as Big Dave said - in mock-Simpsons' Comic Store Guy voice - Banno was the "worst sensei ever!" Yup, Pat Morita in The Karate Kid he's not!
Zatoichi: Columbo with a Cane
The Zatoichi series, like most all chambara films, are set during the Tokugawa period and star Shinatro Katsu as Zatoichi, literally "Ichi the Masseur," masseurs being a customary line of work for blind men of this period. Masseurs at this time were at the bottom of the social caste and were subject to scorn from everybody, from the lowest peasant to the mightiest samurai. And who is this Ichi? No one writes better about Katsu's "franchise" character than Alain Silver, whose essential tome The Samurai Film (1977, revised 2005) contains the definitive chapter on Zatoichi and the Blind Swordfighters genre (yes, there was more than one!). Silver writes:
The title character and "hero" of these motion pictures is Zato Ichi, a burly, crew-cut masseur. Dressed in a short , wrinkled kimono of plain grey cloth and walking on straw sandals or sometimes perched unsteadily on forbidden wooden clogs, he picks his way slowly through crowds and across country with the help of a wooden cane, because he is also a blind man. Nevertheless, as two dozen productions have amply proven, he is one of the deadliest swordsmen in chambara film.
That's because Zatoichi has overcome his visual handicap by relying on other senses. He literally fights "by ear," his acute aural abilities often indicated onscreen by a zooming close-up of his ear. Countless films depict him showing off his radar sound capabilities, from cleaving an arrow in half in mid-flight to dissecting a moth with a toothpick while finishing up his dinner.
Unlike the traditional samurai master swordsman, Zatoichi does not present a heroic figure. Rather, he is often bumbling, silly and self-deprecating, always looking to avoid a fight whenever possible. Unless a line is crossed. Like calling him a "blind bastard" or hurting innocent people. As Silver points out, Ichi has a soft spot for the weak, "for widows and orphans, for anyone whom he regards, like himself, as a victim of shushigaku or feudal class structure or some unspecified quirk of fate."
But the happy-go-lucky village idiot image he presents is but facade, much in the way Peter Falk as the disheveled TV detective Columbo would seem to talk aimlessly while walking around in the world's seediest raincoat while all the while slyly taking in his surrounding and trying to break down his opponents. In place of Columbo's raincoat, Zatoichi has a wrinkled kimono. And in place Columbo's cigar, Zatoich subsitutes the blind man's wooden walking cane. But like Columbo, he's a sly one who follows a moral code; just as behind Columbo's cigar is a pair of cuffs ready to collar the caught out criminal, so Zatoichi's cane is a sheath for a sword ready to make mince-meat of his victims and send them to meet their maker.
Zatoichi balances his anger with bouts of self-deprecating humor and the temporary escapes from his plight that vices offer. Asked it he drinks sake, he will laugh and reply, "Heh heh, I would not refuse it." As a card-carrying Yakuza, he also likes to gamble, and, in at least one film (New Tale) it is implied that he lays down with a prostitute. But his humors are irregular, as Silver notes. "At times he summons up sufficient stoicism to witness injustice or endure a personal wrong silently and inactively, without retaliating." But "when genuinely provoked to anger, when a gambling boss or petty official has betrayed his trust, Zato Ichi can display an indominable ruthlessness of his own."
Yet Ichi is ultimately a tragic hero, seemingly fated to keep on killing despite his aversion to it. His adherence to butsudo (Buddhism) as Silver points out, means that he is forever repenting his violent life, subjecting himself to endless self-recriminations for the blood on his hands. And, more importantly, he never gets the girl, even though he's more popular with the ladies than Johnny Depp. More cogent comments on this subject from the folks at Kung Fu Cinema:
It's clear that the real reason Ichi never settles down with one woman is that it would hinder the potential for both dramatic and romantic tension which are key factors to the success of the series. Nevertheless, it is both unrealistic and saddening to see a blind man of low social stature given so many opportunities to find happiness with a woman, only be denied or to deny it himself. Don't let Shakespeare fool you, the truth is that the Japanese are the real masters of tragic romance in pop culture...
In this regard, Zatoichi On the Road is a prime example of Heartbreak City. As is New Tale of Zatoichi. Purple words on a gray background, to be a blind masseur and to be turned down - by your sensei. Whom you slay in the final reel - that puts the nix on any matrimonial plans with a sensei's sis!
Despite adhering to formulaic plots and repetitive action sequences, Zatoichi remains the most popular series in Japanese film history. Maybe that's because, like a Bollywood film, you get a little bit of everything in it: action, fighting, romance, tragedy, melodrama, social commentary, comic relief - even musical numbers. (Yes, Zatoichi actually sings in Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman - but with a voice like that, it's no wonder he chose to make a living as a masseur!)
Zatoichi Film Factsheet:
Want to watch Zatoichi films on DVD? Shintaro Katsu starred in 26 Zatoichi films between 1962 and 1989. (To see the complete 26-film list, click here.) He made 25 films in 11 years - from the first, 1962's The Tale of Zatoichi through 1973's Zatoichi in Desperation - then took a 16-year sabbatical before coming back for 1989's Zatoichi. During that time, Katsu transferred the Zatoichi series to the small screen, creating 100 episodes for the Japanese Zatoichi TV series between 1974 and 1979. DVD distributor Tokyo Shock (a division of Media Blasters) - who released the DVD of 1989's Zatoichi - was able to get the rights to the TV series and has begun releasing them on DVD (each of the five TV series DVDs released so far contains three 60-minute episodes). To see a list of TV episodes, click here.
The 26 films have been divided into offerings from three companies. Home Vision Entertainment (under its Image Entertainment imprimatur) has the early releases, totalling 18 titles, while AnimEgo has 7, mostly later releases (including the great Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo starring Toshiro Mifune and Chinese martial arts legend Jimmy Wang Yu in Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman), which it offers in a collector's box set. Tokyo Stomp owns 1989's Zatoichi, aka Zatoichi 26 or Darkness is His Ally.
The series also spawned numerous imitators, most notably the short-lived Crimson Bat films from Shochiku Studios, which featured the very popular actress Yoko Matsuyama as the fearless blind swordswoman. In 1989, Rutger Hauer starred as a Zatoichi-inspired character in Blind Fury (tagline: "He may be blind, but he don't need no dog!"), which was basically an American remake of 1967's Zatoichi Challenged.
And in 2003, Takeshi Kitano made Zatoichi a blonde in his remake The Blind Swordsman Zatoichi. Kitano was the only Japanese actor other than Shintaro Katsu to portray Zatoichi. Oddly enough, Kitano, who made his name as a legendary comedian, plays Ichi straight, coming nowhere near the humorous charm of Shintaro Katsu.
Meiko Kaji: The Eyes Have It
Garbo was called "The Face of the Century." But in world cinema, there is nothing quite like the ice-cold stare (glare?) of Meiko Kaji as Sasori (Scorpion) in the Female Convict Scorpion film series. Like the obsidian eyes of Jess Franco starlet Soledad Miranda (Vampros Lesbos, She Kills in Ecstacy), Sasori's cryogenic eyes are the iconic stuff of legend. In Cinema Sewer #18 (the February 2006 "Girls in Prison" issue), Robin Boogie introduces his review of Meiko Kaji's Female Convict Scorpion films that speaks directly to my heart:
Maybe it's the film geek in me, but I shore dew luvs me ah dame that fucks shit up in a movie. There is just someting so satisfying about a confident woman who takes no dung. And hands out pain and suffering to anyone who gets all up in her grill and deserves to taste a slice of pummel pie...While not a martial arts or weapons expert, the quiet rage filled character of Sasori (scorpion) played by the raven haired Kaji in the Female Convict Scorpion movies from the early '70s is possibly the toughest, non-nonsense woman I've ever had the pleasure of seeing immortalised on film...if you cross her...you will undoubtably find your ass either dead or in some excruciating agony.
Robin Boogie's article on Kaji is great, but the best print source I've found is Chris D.'s chapter on her in Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film(2005). Chris D. (short for Desjardins) - who works as a programmer for LA's non-profit American Cinematheque - also was lucky enough to get an informative interview with Ms. Kaji in 1997, which is included in his highly recommended book. (By the way, America Cinematique shows some of the best and rarest Japanese cult films in its "Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film" series and is responsible for bringing out DVD releases of such classics as Shunya Ito's Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (Joshuu Sasori: Dai-41 Zakkyo-bô) (1972) and Yasuharu Hasebe's Black Tight Killers (Ore Ni Sawaru To Abunaize) (1966) - both with excellent liner notes - as well as outstanding films by Kinji Fukasaku and Seijun Suzuki. To learn more about Chris D. and the American Cinematique, see American Cinematique's MySpace Profile.)
Female Convict Scorpion
Meiko Kaji started her film career at Nikkatsu Studios in 1965 under her given name, Masako Oto. But she only got top billing in one film, Mini Skirt Lynchers (Zinkoku Onna Rinchi) before changing her name to Meiko Kaji in 1969. And it wasn't until 1972 that she found her breakthrough role as Matsu/Sasori (Scorpion) in Shunyo Ito's Female Convict Number 701 - Scorpion (Joshuu Go 701 - Sasori). Adapted from the manga by Toru Shinohara, it tells the story of an innocent woman whose life is destroyed by her duplicitous boyfriend, a cad cop on the take from the Yakuza who asks her to go undercover for a drug bust. But Matsu instead finds herself gang-raped by the thugs, after which her boyfriend shows up to grab his pay-off money, throwing her some tip money on her for her trouble. It's at this moment that Matsu realizes she should have read He's Just Not That Into You, and tries to stab her mn with a knife. japan doesn't buy into the French "Crime of passion" defense, so Matsu is thrown into jail, where she fine-hones both her hatred of men and her cutlery skills.
It would be easy to stereotype Meiko Kaji as a "sex kitten with a whip" badass babe in these W.I.P. exploitation films, but that cheapens her accomplishments. In Meiko's hands, Matsu is no one-dimensional character but rather, thanks to her face, thanks to her "grace" - that aura of calculating cool in exhibited in her economy of movement (she never acts without a purpose) and speech (why waste words when actions peak louder?) - and thanks to those black-portal-to-the-soul eyes that glare at her oppressors, her Sasori transcends reality to become a mythic and iconic figure. Like a Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect she exudes class with a tough cookie edge; you think you can take advantage because she's a woman, but tangle with her and you'll soon regret it. Like the guy below regrets it:
And like the tight-lipped Clint Eastwood in his Man With No Name/Spaghetti Western period, Meiko Kaji as Matsu/Sasori minces no words - why bother speaking? - unnerving her opponents with her silence, making her few utterances all the more weighty in significance. She acts when she needs to act, wasting no unnecessary movement. All of which is offset by the stoic beauty of her face.
As Ivan Denisov, reviewing Female Convict #701 - Scorion for the Yakuza Eiga website put it:
"How a man can watch this lady's films without falling in love with her is beyond me. Here we must credit her first for serious reworking of Matsu's image (film is based on manga series, where Scorpion uses a lot of foul language, which Kaji didn't want to do, hence we get not a killer with a dirty words, but very taciturn deadly force) and for creating a heroine comparing to whom Clint Eastwood's characters seem soft-hearted and sentimental chatterboxes. Not to mention that she looks equally radiant in prison rags and stylish black outfit of an avenging angel. Whenever Meiko Kaji is on the screen one can't take one's eyes off her."
Ah, so true Ivan, so true! Plus, in the first film, there is LOTS of gratuitous nudity, in fact the shower sequence at the start of Female Convict #701 - Scorpion may be the most gratuitous use of nudity in a credit sequence ever, as an endless parade of young nubiles giggle their way into the prison shower stalls like model runways. It's the only light moment in the film before the gorefest begins. The first film also offers the only nude scene with Ms. Kaji, albeit only a fleeting glimpse of her breasts during her rape scene.
And, as Ivan points out, Meiko Kaji had a lot to do with improving the character of Sasori from stock exploitation "avenging angel" to something more thought-provoking. Chris D. agrees, as he writes in his liner notes for American Cinematique's Female Convict Scorpion - Jailhouse 41 DVD:
"The first four films with Kaji also prove to be a bit of an improvement over their manga (comic book) source. When Kaji balked at the continually spewed obscenities of sasori as she appeared by creator Tooru Shinoharo in Big Comics magazine, she and director Shunya Ito decided to make the character more mysteriously elemental. Sasori is no longer a foul-mouthed ruffian but a virtually silent, deadly force uttering only a few cryptic sentences in each film. Female Convict Scorpion posseses all the traditional exploitation elements but with a surreal, comic book use of color and a succession of mythical/archetypal images leave a haunting, eerie shiver when the last scene unspools."
In other words, the director and actress took what could have been disposable pop cultural trash and made it art. Iconographic art at that. A number of action film series heroes/heroines have a signatire look, and Sasori was no exception. Clint Eastwood's Man With No name had the long duster coat, The Crow had his Goth leather look, and so on. For Sasori, it was the black bolero hat and long black trenchcoat, an all-black, funereal ensemble that at first glance makes me think of John and Yoko's look circa the Beatles' Hey Jude album. Only Meiko's no Yoko. No peace, love and undertanding in her look, baby. No sir-ee.
Meiko Kaji starred in four of the six Scorpion series films produced by Toei Studios, the first three directed by Shunyo Ito and the fourth directed by Yasuharu Hasebe, who had previously directed her best Stray Cat Rock series film, 1970's Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter. (By the way, these Stray Cat Rock films are loads of fun, filled with great mod a go-go soundtracks, especially Sex Hunter, which features Kaji as a whip-wielding gang leader. Hasebe's other great film frolic is Black Tight Killers (1966), which is worth tracking down as it's a great party tape, kind of like a What's Up Tiger Lily? spy thriller without Woody Allen's commentary.)
Meiko Kaji tired of the increasingly formulaic gore approach in the series, letting Yumi Takagawa take over in 1976's fifth installment New Female Convict Scorpion, while newcomer Yoko Natsuki picked up the bloodletting role in 1977's final entry, Special Cellblock X. Both films were directed by Yu Kohira.
I've only seen the first two installments of the Scorpion series, of which Jailhouse 41 is the stronger film, but I highly recommend checking out all of the films starring Ms. Kaji.
Like the Zatoichi franchise, Scorpion also inspired its share of knock-offs. Nikkatsu Studios produced two racy Female Convict 101 (Joshuu 101) films during 1976-1977 and in 1991 Evil Dead Trap director Tashiharu Ikeda revived the series with Female Convict Scorpion - Death Threat (Joshuu Sasori - Satsujin Yakoku). Chris D. says the series continued into the late '90s with Daisuke Gotoh's Sasori in the U.S.A. (AKA Scorpion's Revenge). Unlike the other Scorpion knockoffs, this 1997 entry starring Yoko Saito (look for her also in Takashi Miike's Salaryman Kintaro, 1999) as Matsushima/Nami/Sasori/Scorpion is available on DVD (from the producers of the cheesy/sleazy Zero Woman), but is supposed to be ripe for landfill disposal, according to imdb reviews. Still, a part of me (the imp of the perverse part) wants to see just how bad it is.
The full Scorpion filmography is listed below:
Toei's Female Convict Scorpion series filmography:
Female Convict #701 - Scorpion (1972) (Pt. 1)
Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972) (Pt.2)
Female Convict Scorpion: Beast Stable (aka Beast Room, Department of Beasts) (1973) (Pt. 3)
Female Convict Scorpion: Grudge Song (1973) (Pt. 4)
New Female Convict Scorpion: Prisoner #701 (1976) (Pt.5)
New Female Convict Scorpion: Special Cellblock X (1977) (Pt.6)
Other Scorpion Films
Female Convict Scorpion - Death Threat (Joshuu Sasori - Satsujin Yakoku) (1991)
Sasori in the U.S.A. (AKA Sasori's Revenge) (1997)
Following the success of the first two installments of the Female Convict Scorpion films at Toei Studios, Meiko Kaji went to Toho Studios to star as Shura Yuki in Lady Snowblood (Shura Yukihime) (1973) - a role that cemented her stature as a cult film siren - and its follow-up, Lady Snowblood 2 - Love Song of Vengeance (Shura Yukihime - Urami Koi Uta) (1974). Both films were directed by Toshiyo Fujita and were based on the manga by Kazuo Koike, who was also the author of Kozure Okami, or Lone Wolf and Cub (which was made into a film series starring Shintaro Katsu's brother Tomisaburo Wakayama as Ogami Itto; Two Degrees of Separation: Tomisaburo, as a one-armed swordsman, would battle his bro Shintaro in the second Zatoichi movie, 1962's The Tale of Zatoich Continues (Zoku Zatoichi Monogatari), and also appear in 1964's Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold)(Zatôichi Senryô-Kubi)). The prolific Okami also wrote Razor Hanzo (which was turned into a 70s film series starring Shintaro Katsu), Crying Freeman, and Samurai Executioner.
The manga and films tell the story of Yuki, a daughter born in prison to a convict mother who slept with prison guards and priests so that she could bear a child to avenge her rape and the murder of her husband and son at the hands of a gang of thugs during the Ketsuzel "Blood Tax" Riots of 1873. This was a time of forced conscription when the Japanese govermnment, hoping to catch up with the Western World in terms of military power, sent government officials to every town and village to sign up any boys over the age of 17 for military service. The government agents were rumored to wear white suits; unfortunately, when Yuki's family came to one town where her dad was start teaching school, her father was dressed in a white suit. The four-member gang convinced the villagers that Yuki's Dad was a government agent and slaughtered him and his son, and raped Yuki's Mom for three days and three nights. One of the gang members who lusted after Yuki's mother, kidnapped her and took her away to another town, where she bided her time until an opportunity to kill him arose. Yuki's mother killed her oppressor, but was sent away to prison for her "crime." She died after giving birth to Yuki in her cell one snowy night, entrusting her care to a cellmate due to get out.
Orphan Yuki was raised by a priest, Dokai, who taught her martial arts and an "Aunt" - her mother's former prison cellmate Mikazuki Otoro - who teaches Yuki pickpocketing. The child was conceived and raised to avenge her mother and as such in continually considered inhuman, a creature of purpose rather than flesh and blood and emotion. Or, a creature of Hell. In fact, her full name Shura Yuki Hime translates literally as Netherworld (Shura) Snow(Yuki) Lady (Hime), I guess so-called because she was born during a snowy night and Snow Hell isn't as cool-sounding as "Snowblood." When she reaches the age of 20, Yuki sets out to kill the three remaning crooks who wronged her family.
Like Matsu/Sasori in the Female Convict Scorpion series, Yuki is a character who pretty much detests men and, at least in the explicitly kinky manga, is frequently depicted in lesbian encounters.
Of the two films, only the first is essential viewing. The second is pretty weak, despite a great supporting role by Juzo Itami (famed director of such Japanese comedies as Tampopo and A Taxing Woman) as an anarchist writer that Yuki is hired to slay. And very political, which isn't surprising given the time it depicts. The story is set against the transition-into-modernity period in Japanese history known as the Meiji Restoration. Starting in 1867 and ending just before the First World War, this was the post-Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1867) period when Japan was becoming Westernized; as a result, the film and manga is rife with political references.
It's easy to see why Quentin Tarantino was a fan of Lady Snowblood. While it's certainly not a bad film, it is not what I would call high art either. Rather, it's a classic exploitation film, full of gratuitous and stylized violence. Arteries don't just spray, they gush. And they gush in bright crimson technicolor red. And the theme song, repeated at the end and referenced in snippets throughout, is pretty cool and, well, like Ivan Denisov said, when Meiko Kaji's on the screen, you just can't take your eyes off of her. She's has that kind of presence. A true star. Meiko Kaji is like Shintaru Katsu is that respect: a franchise player.
Zatoichi Links:
Zatoichi in Wikipedia
e-budokai.com review
Following the Blind Swordsman review
Images Journal review
The Samurai Film (by Alain Silver)
Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman DVD Box Set (AnimEgo)
Zatoichi Filmography (26 films)
Zatoich TV series (100 episodes)
Zatoichi films on DVD (Amazon.com)
Zatoich TV Series on DVD (Amazon.com)
Meiko Kaji Links:
Cinema Sewer #18 article
Outlaw Masters of Japanese Cinema(by Chris D. - has a Meiko Kaji chapter)
Cult Sirens: Meiko Kaji
Meiko Kaji in Wikipedia
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text:
Kammenos: Greece could be US gateway to Balkans, Middle East
TAGS: Defense
Greece could become the United States' gateway to the Balkans and the Middle East, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said on Monday, at the opening of Greece's pavillion at the international defense systems exhibition AUSA 2018, in Washington DC.
"Greece is exiting the crisis and can become a gateway for the United States to the Balkans and the Middle East," the minister said.
The US Deputy Assistant Army Secretary for Defense Exports and Cooperation, Ann Cataldo, said Greece is one of the oldest and strongest US allies, adding that both countries have the same aims.
Defense ministry sources said Kammenos will hold a series of meetings on Tuesday with US officials, including his US counterpart James Mattis.


The 4th and final match of the day was played between Big Bite 1 and The Generals. Big Bite won the toss and decided to bat first being a batting heavy team that they are. They immediately portrayed the batting talent that thy have by scoring 63 in the very first partnership. There was no holding them back as they piled on the runs in each and every over and were sitting high and mighty at the end of their innings on a mammoth score of 241. Mubeen from Watford was their highest scorer with a massive 43. Usman Farooqui was the stand-out bowler from the Generals who took 2 wickets for 0 runs.
The Generals had lots of work to do but unfortunately for them their openers couldn't handle the brilliant bowling by Big Bite team and ended their partnership on only 18 runs. The nest 3 partnerships were a bit better but The Generals were always falling behind in terms of their required run-rate. The last partnership absolutely collapsed under pressure managing -7 runs in their 4 overs including 2 back to back maiden overs. Imran was the highest scorer with 28 and Mubeen from Watford was the best bowler and the man of the match with a difference of 45 runs.
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SOA ran from 2008 all the way up to 2014 and nothing has filled the void in our TV hearts since! This awesome vest in ebony black, features a skull on the chest which has been perched above a crossbones concocted from weaponry. Any die-hard fan of this motorbike gang series, would love to get their hands on this. Official merchandise.


text:
GDPR Trolls
Posted in Protecting Privacy on May 31, 2018
Patent trolls are not a new phenomenon. They buy patents for the sole purpose of extorting and suing companies. Since patent-related litigation proceedings are complex and time-consuming, the fees for defending a patent claim in court proceedings may exceed one million U.S. dollars. Therefore, many legitimate companies (especially startups) prefer to pay the requested settlement fees instead of defending their rights. According to CNN, just within the period 1990 – 2010, patent trolls cost investors 500 billion U.S. dollars.
Patent trolls can target a limited scope of companies, namely, companies using patented inventions. For example, they cannot target a company that does not use any patented inventions, and its only online presence is a simple website containing an online contact form and information about the company. However, there is a new EU data protection law that will open the door to a new type of trolls. The law is called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the new type of trolls can be called GDPR trolls. The GDPR requires organizations collecting and processing personal data to take various organizational and technical security measures to protect such data. It applies to all organizations (also non-EU based) that target EU residents and/or collect personal data of EU residents.
The GDPR trolls can be divided into two categories, namely, GDPR trolls using automatic systems to detect websites that do not comply with the GDPR (see Section 2) and GDPR trolls attacking large companies (see Section 3) and hoping that those companies will agree to pay large settlement fees. These two types of trolls will be examined in more detail below.
2. GDPR trolls using automatic systems
Certainly, even after the widely advertised entry into force of the GDPR (the law become effective on 25th of May 2018), many organizations located all over the world continue operating without complying with the law. GDPR trolls can use automatic scanning technologies that check whether a website has a privacy policy. If the word "privacy" cannot be found on the main page of the website, the automatic checking mechanism will refer the website to a person who is responsible for confirming the finding. Websites that lack privacy policies and collect personal data of EU residents de facto breach the GDPR as the latter requires organizations to ensure that their processing of personal data is transparent. As a result, GDPR trolls can send cease and desist letters to the breaching organizations and request them to pay a compensation to settle the case in a private manner, without informing the relevant data protection authorities. Many organizations will prefer to pay the requested fees instead of appearing in the headlines of the newspapers or risking paying fines of up to EUR 20 million or 4% of the breached organization's annual global turnover of the previous financial year. Individuals who receive such cease and desist letters from GDPR trolls may develop the so-called legal abuse syndrome, i.e., a form of post-traumatic stress experienced as a result of legal threats.
Ethical Hacking Training – Resources (InfoSec)
3. GDPR trolls attacking large companies
Not long after the GDPR entered into force, various individuals and companies started suing major online giants, such as Facebook and Google. Such large companies have the incentive to quickly settle GDPR-related claims to avoid the tremendous reputational and financial impact a GDPR breach may have. Even though such businesses usually hire experienced privacy professionals who may put their best efforts to comply with the applicable laws, some provisions of the GDPR are very broad, lack further clarification by European courts, and remain open to interpretations by businesses and privacy professionals. The broad provisions can enable the GDPR trolls to find legal grounds for their claims. For example, Article 13(1) of the GDPR requires data controllers to provide the data subject with various information, including, but not limited to, "the identity and the contact details of the controller and, where applicable, of the controller's representative". The term contact details is not specified in the law. It is not clear whether it includes a physical address or an email address. It will not be surprising if companies are sanctioned with 4% of their global turnover because they interpreted the term "contact details" to include an email address, not as a physical address. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that, in the past, a European court stated regarding another EU law applying to online businesses (the E-commerce directive) that e-commerce service providers should provide the recipient of their services not only with an email address, but also with other information which will allow the service provider to be contacted rapidly.
There is no doubt that the creators of the GDPR had good intentions. The law aims to give data subjects control over their personal data and simplify the data protection framework applying to international businesses. Also, there is no doubt that patents encourage the development of new inventions. However, both the GDPR and patent laws can be used by unscrupulous persons with the aim to extort and sue companies. The GDPR does not contain clauses which prevent such people from doing so. A solution to this problem can be the inclusion of a clause in the GDPR which imposes a sanction on persons abusing the GDPR. Such clauses can be found in many Internet-related procedures. For example, the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP), a procedure used for resolution of domain name disputes, explicitly states that the arbiter can declare in its decision that the complaint was brought in bad faith and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding. Thus, not only defendants, but also complainants who abuse the proceedings may suffer reputational damage.
1. Goldman, D., 'Patent trolls cost inventors half a trillion dollars', CNN Money, 2011. Available at http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/21/technology/patent_troll_cost/index.htm .
2. Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-298/07. Available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62007CJ0298 .
3. Huffer, K., 'Legal Abuse Syndrome: 8 Steps for avoiding the traumatic stress caused by the justice system', AuthorHouse, 2013.
4. ICANN's the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy. Available at https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/policy-2012-02-25-en.
5. ITGP Privacy Team, 'EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): An Implementation and Compliance Guide – Second edition', 2017.
6. Matsuura, J., 'Jefferson vs. the Patent Trolls: A Populist Vision of Intellectual Property Rights', University of Virginia Press, 2012.
7. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2016.119.01.0001.01.ENG .
8. Voigt, P., 'The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): A Practical Guide', Springer, 2017.
9. Watkins, W., Shughart, W., 'Patent Trolls: Predatory Litigation and the Smothering of Innovation', 2013.
Rasa Juzenaite works as a project manager at Dimov Internet Law Consulting (www.dimov.pro), a legal consultancy based in Belgium. She has a background in digital culture with a focus on digital humanities, social media, and digitization. Currently, she is pursuing an advanced Master's degree in IP & ICT Law.
Daniel Dimov
Dr. Daniel Dimov is the founder of Dimov Internet Law Consulting (www.dimov.pro), a legal consultancy based in Belgium. Daniel is a fellow of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Internet Society (ISOC). He did traineeships with the European Commission (Brussels), European Digital Rights (Brussels), and the Institute for EU and International law "T.M.C. Asser Institute" (The Hague). Daniel received a Ph.D. in law from the Center for Law in the Information Society at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He has a Master's Degree in European law (The Netherlands), a Master's Degree in Bulgarian Law (Bulgaria), and a certificate in Public International Law from The Hague Academy of International law.
Malware overview – Graboid
FinCEN BEC attacks report: Analysis
US Regions Most Vulnerable to a Cyber Attack [Updated 2019]
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