For the past few weeks I have been steadily toiling away on a new layout for Kotowari. I am proud to present its new layout just in time for the New Year.

I hadn’t originally planned to make a new layout, but being a freelance web designer with no other projects gave me ample time to try to buff up my portfolio and learn a few new things.

Also: Persona 4.  Watching Roy play it for the first time, I was so inspired by all the details put into the game’s interface that I quickly sketched a new layout on some paper while he played away.  The rounded corners along with the smooth and flat colors were elements that really jumped out at me and so I attempted to work them into the layout as well.

As you can see, there is now a dedicated section for our little videos.  This is so that Roy can continue posting quality content without drowning it in multiple video posts, which are often part of a series. Currently the newest video features a special high-strung Holiday vlog.

As for comments, you will notice that there is the addition of Gravatars.  You can get your own Gravatar, which is an icon that attaches itself to your e-mail address and pops up whenever you leave a comment on a Gravatar-enabled website.

There have been many other subtle changes in terms of organizing the side menu and all that, but probably the thing that Roy is most excited about is the addition of these crazy fresh smilies:

I hope you all enjoy the new layout this year.  If you find any bugs or have issues with the website, definitely drop me a line.  Or on the other hand, if you like what you see and need some work done, let me know and you will be my BFF Forever (yeah, that’s Forever-Forever)!

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you all in 2009!

Foxes housekeeping 5 comments

Image from (where else!?) Cute Overload.

Happy birthday, Roy!! Here’s to another year of excessive game playing.

Feel free to send Roy stupid e-cards, leave congrats in the comments, or e-mail him your life story at roy@kotowari.org.

P.S., I know you don’t like cake but hamsters are totally your thing. Am I right?

Foxes housekeeping 3 comments

Your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a North American copy of Disgaea 3 for the Playstation of the same number. How did I get it? I had to do some… things. I don’t wanna talk about it.* All I know is I will be devoting all of my free time to it.

Expect an IN-DEPTH hands-on-review/preview in about a week.

Since Disgaea 3’s release date is getting close fast, I figured I would go over the posts I have made thus far with a fine-toothed comb. Tedious? You better believe it.

Most of the changes are simply differences in my translation and what NIS decided to go with. Here is a breakdown of whats new:

• Gender specific jobclasses: Many both-sex jobs feature different names for the male and female. This wasn’t the case in the Japanese game, so I couldn’t really have anticipated it.
  • Female Samurai = Lady Samurai
  • Male Archer = Ranger
  • Male Cleric = Clergy
  • Female Warrior = Valkyrie
  • Brawler Male = Martial Artist
  • Brawler Female = Fight Mistress
  • Female Gunner = Gunslinger
  • Female Mage = Witch
  • Male Mage = Magician (I like Skull better)
• Miscellaneous jobclass differences: More translation differences.
  • Berserker = Brute Warrior
  • Shaman = Sorcerer
  • Shinigami = Death
  • Ifrit = Flame Demon
• System related names: Terms having to do with the game’s battle system or mechanics.
  • Ma-change = Magichange
  • Ma-bility = Evility

That’s pretty much it. If you wanna take a look at the revised articles you can of course check them out here.

*On a serious note, I would like to formally thank NIS for allowing me to preview such an amazing game. Their support is more than I could have ever expected to gain from my humble blog.

Roy disgaea, housekeeping, nis 4 comments

Hi all,

This is website maintenance person, Foxes.  I am working hard to make the site new and improved, so please hang in there while I make some adjustments!  Expect a new layout soon!

Foxes housekeeping 1 comment

I officially graduated this week, and tomorrow I leave for America, so I have been pretty busy the past few days.  I apologize for my inconsistent posts, and hope that this won’t affect my readers opinions of me or the site…  I intend to hit the ground at full speed once I recover from possibly debilitating jet-lag.

I have really enjoyed working on Kotowari the past few months,  and I have meet some unique people in the process.  I have lots more in-store for the site and I hope you all will frequent my tiny corner of the inter-webs.

Roy housekeeping 0 comments