The global fighting tournament that no one ever forgot — I have to confess that I’m not very good at Street Fighter II. I’ve had my ass handed to me more times than I could count. I didn’t quit, though. The game is terribly addicting. No matter how many times I saw my character beaten to a bloody pulp, I…

Six reasons why I am no longer a member of the Unification Church — My Life with Reverend Moon For the first nine years of my life, I was raised by a single mom in the Catholic Church. My mother emphasized to me that God was a God of love, and that I needed to follow the example of Jesus. I went to church every Sunday, took First Communion…

Sending you to the frontlines of your favorite Star Wars movies — I may not like the Prequel Trilogy, but that era of Star Wars films (1999–2005) produced many fun and memorable games, like Knights of the Old Republic and Lego Star Wars. Among these fun games was the original Star Wars Battlefront released for the Xbox, PS2, and PC in 2004…

I speak with the author on the 20th anniversary of his moving ex-cult memoir — Kenneth Gordon Neufeld, like me, is a former member of the late Sun Myung Moon’s cult, the Unification Church. Founded in Korea in 1954, the organization taught that Moon was the Second Coming of Christ, with the mission of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. The Unificationist reading of…

Superheroes, Pirates, and Japanese literature — It’s that time of year again, folks. Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation estimates that “one half of all films made before 1950 and over 90% made before 1929 are lost forever.” This makes the mission of the National Film Registry (NFR) all the more pertinent, as we can no more afford…

Other nominees for this year include Stan Lee, SWV, and Britney Spears — It’s that time of year again, folks. Every year, the Library of Congress selects 25 American recordings to be preserved in its National Recording Registry (NRR), which are historically, culturally, or aesthetically significant to American life. The American public can nominate up to 50 recordings each year for preservation, provided…

The game that brought Dragon Quest to a new generation — NOTE: This is a review of the PS2 version. I could not get my hands on the 3DS version due to scalpers. SPOILER ALERT: Plot details for Dragon Quest VIII will be discussed. Dragon Quest is one of the founding pillars of the Japanese role-playing video game (JRPG). Created by…

The magnum opus of the Final Fantasy series — NOTE: For this review I played the original PS2 version of FFX. SPOILER ALERT: Plot details for FFX, FFX-2, and FFVII follow. Do not be fooled by its festive island colors and fast-paced water sports, Final Fantasy X is among the more melancholic games in the Final Fantasy series. It…

Hideaki Anno comes to terms with his greatest creation — SPOILER ALERT: Plot details for all of Evangelion and Devilman Lady. Rebuild of Evangelion is complete. An ambitious film project that spanned fifteen years from 2007 to 2021 is over. It served not only introduce Evangelion to a new generation, but also to comment on the legacy of the original…