Astrometrics Dept.

2006-07-05

"I like anime," Neil tells me. "I wanted to make a place where people who like anime (or don't) can come and hang out and talk with others…"  Still, what's revolutionary to me about Nakama is the bold attempt to transcend the conventional store and vending machine model, and instead, sell an entire immersive environment– in this case, an Asian film genre, though it's easy to see how that framework could be applied to other genres, whole cultures, or even entire geographic regions.


From a recent article with Hamlet Au of New World Notes.

What I particularly like about Nakama is that yeah, pretty much the whole sim is for sale. I thought it was a mistake at first, but as I noted in the NWN comments, I'm hoping some ornery ectophytes will be frustrated enough with the presets to remix Neil's work into their own. (Make little beautiful bastard children with doe eyes and sharp claws fit for a xenomorph.)

I see Hamlet's been doing more YouTubing lately. A little background on my track he uses in this clip: it's titled "The Snob Song" and you can download it in MP3 here. I originally conceived it as a very raw, no-holds-barred minimal drum 'n' bass track, slamming and aggro and very repetitive, but then, I began jangling dainty piano chords and it made me laugh a lot. I imagined, "What if we were in a parallel world where chinstrokers didn't dismiss melody so stupidly?" (Hence, the "snob" part.)

Next thing, I started to visualize dancing sprites on the ice, and a lot of donuts and other confectionary treats raining down from the heavens, proceeding to be consumed by those very hungry sprites. In such a respect, it isn't altogether dissimilar—infact, it's quite alike to when some Japanese producers listen to American radio and do their own take on the terms of engagement. One of best example!!!! Halicali's "Twinkle Star", which is an unabashedly merry rip-off of Roni Size's d 'n' b rollers. And which, of course, just happens to be on YouTube:


Proof? Compare with the clips on this page, just swap the lyrics and take away the melody. (Which is what a lot of d 'n' b continues to be devoid of, to this very day. If only more trancers and techsteppers would get married! More Pendulums plz.)


Anyhoo, a real kick has been seeing how many Resis go to Nakama and transmute into anime versions of themselves. Kawaii Zyrra's a good example.

I also hope more people actually living in Japan will contribute, maybe set up shop. That MaHaRoba group is growing magnitudes strong—

I also noticed vehicle genius Compulsion Overdrive has a C-Tech outlet here.

To have an anime HQ is pretty powerful, considering what sort of obsessives ("otaku", to be shallow-termed) you can draw.

A lot talk about how big American business will make its way into Second Life. Let's extend that to international commerce; so who'll be the first company to preview and sell their latest anime releases, including but not limited to official subs?

And when does "Second Life" get namedropped in a chart-topping rap song?

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