The Real Reason I’m Returning My IPAD Pro

For those following my blog, you might already know that I’m a multimedia content creator – not just for this blog here – but as a fulltime living for a real client in the real world. I do everything marketing related for them, from print advertising, video production and editing, online advertising, tradeshow events, email marketing, social media management, and so much more.

Pre-Covid I used to work in the office, and so all the equipment I needed was right at my fingertips and provided by the company. I didn’t have much say or choice in what I used. When it came to drawing tablets we had a very small Wacom tablet. The old-school kind without the screen built-in. It wasn’t bad, I graduated undergrad college in 2006, and my MBA around 2012 or so, and so I was familiar with and used to using Wacom. Even back in my childhood, my stepdad who was the one who first bought me Corel Draw and started me down this career path back in the 90s, at some point bought me a REALLY old-school Wacom tablet, an off-white color, big heavy thing with a DONGLE. They don’t make those anymore. This was a dinosaur – but that proves that Wacom’s been around for ages… and well yes, certain things have changed, they now have better pens, and a nifty ergonomic standing base and even some very pricey Wacom that are self-sufficient stand-alone units – for a cool $3,000+ dollars.

For those following my blog, you also probably saw last week’s posts/reviews about The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and IPAD Pro – Both were the grandest, highest-end configurations possible. For the Surface this meant it was over $3,000 – not including the Pen – REALLY Microsoft? lol… The Pen was another $100…. For Apple, it was around $1,000 something for the highest end Wifi only IPAD Pro and another 300-400 for the magnetic keyboard – and another $100 for the pen… so around let’s say $1,500 out the door.

I loved my Microsoft Surface as you can see in those 2 reviews…. The IPAD – not so much, no… No sir, I don’t like it…

Where to begin, the tiny screen, how it feels like writing/drawing on glass, no eraser on the other end of the pen, and the bad ergonomics of it – with the keyboard digging into my wrists and an awkward angle for drawing, unless you want to spend even more money buying an easel stand (plenty of cheap 3rd party options sure), or have it lay flat on the desk or your lap, viable option, sure, I even squished my surface down into straight tablet mode plenty of times, but Easel felt the most natural and comfortable to me, someone that has to work 8 hours a day doing this stuff.

But no, that’s not the REAL reason I’m returning my Apple IPAD Pro… Not even the half of it. For the price, for half than what I paid for the surface, I could live with the weird glassy feel and tiny screen and uncomfortable ergonomics… that’s not the real problem here…

The REAL PROBLEM with the IPAD PRO is that it does not run the full desktop version of Adobe Creative Cloud!!!!!

There – THAT RIGHT THERE – is why it’s no good and going right on back to the store.

It has maybe 5-6 apps on there – and the apps it DOES have are mobile versions with horrible layout, horrible unintuitive controls, and missing hundreds of features of their desktop counterparts.

Now yes, there are some who will say but it has Adobe Sketch whatever the heck it’s called – Or there’s these great free art apps or this special IOS app that’s kinda similar to adobe – Cool, cool – whatever floats your boat kid… I need Adobe Suite… K? because I share files with an office team using that software. Yeah maybe I can import and export stuff to and from multiple programs – but too risky too much trouble – and just not cool, mmkay… So for me, that’s why it’s a no go.

So what did I buy instead?

Well to be brutally honest with you… I spent a long time debating this – and I asked people both in store and online for suggestions – that’s how I got stuck with this horrible IPAD Pro in the first place lol.

Ok its not THAT horrible I like watching YouTube or Netflix on it actually – and I’ll miss it for that lol…

But the kid at Bestbuy told me it was the best of the best for adobe – uh no, sorry… you’ve clearly never used adobe either on a desktop or on an IPAD because… no.

The online store people at Bestbuy – well they sent me like 20 different suggestions, half were HP laptops… that were not convertible into a tablet mode…. The angle of a laptop screen – plus the keyboards… not ergonomic….

I honestly looked at Wacom today and almost pulled the trigger for a nice $600+ one with the screen and all the nice things, the pen with the eraser (some Wacom tablets have that and some don’t)… But what turned me off is ALL THE CORDS!!! It has to be plugged into the computer AND plugged into the wall at the same time… Really Wacom??? You can’t make a damn bluetooth one? Or one with an internal battery that I can just charge up overnight? WTF wrong with you Wacom? Maybe you have one somewhere, but damn you have so many models who knows wtf you have there.

I HONESTLY didn’t want to spend $3,000 again because what if the Surface died again and what if it died this time AFTER my return period… NOT COOL…..

So you know what? I compromised…

I have my Razer Quartz Laptop I can use for video editing – it works just fine – just sent in like eight videos to my boss yesterday. I use Adobe Premiere a lot on this thing – no issues whatsoever…

So REALLY all I REALLY need is a tablet for Photoshop and Illustrator… That’s really about it for work needs… Now did I WANT a tablet I could game and watch videos on? Sure why not? It’s my money and my decision – This tablet is not being paid for by work or chosen by anyone else – but do I REALLY need that? Nope, my Razer computer works just fine still 2 years after purchasing it. – There will come a time where it will need replaced – likely with another Razer – but who knows, possibly with a Microsoft Surface because I loved it so much.

So I compromised… I didn’t need the ultimate best Surface configuration – although I wanted it, sure… needs vs wants… Instead what I ordered was the entry level-ish Microsoft Surface Studio Laptop, an I5 instead of an I7. I honestly don’t know/remember if it had Nvidia graphics or if it has Intel graphics, 16GB RAM, and down from 2 TB of space to just 512 SSD – Adobe can save everything in the cloud anyways. It originally was priced around $1,800 but due to President’s Day sales – ending today – Best Buy had this model for $1,500 – making it actually cheaper or same price as – strangely the one even more entry level beneath this with like 256 GB SSD – so yeah not a bad catch – and about the same as what I paid for the IPAD Pro…

Now is it going to break again and the pen just mysteriously die? That I do not know – and naturally if that happens – my opinion of Microsoft Surface will turn from one of love to one of hate – but let’s just hope something was wrong with my old one – and fingers crossed it was a one-off issue. Despite the people complaining about dead pens all over google search results when I was trying to troubleshoot mine – like 5 million search results… sush – shhhhsssh – don’t listen to those bad people *pets the pretty little Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio*

The Real Reason I’m Returning My IPAD Pro was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Apple IPad Pro 12.9 Inch Review & Comparison To Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

You might have seen my recent review about the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio over here. You may remember mine met with an ill fate. A fate likely caused by a defective Surface Pen… The pen would not do anything. I changed the batteries, I knew how to charge it correctly under the lip of the laptop… And in device settings it said it had 100% battery life.

I read an article about unpairing and repairing the device… so I unpaired it… and could not repair it… because it was effectively dead…. No lights, no nothing. I’d only had the device for 10 days… but since Best Buy’s cutoff for returns is 14 days… and at least my local Best Buy is running some weird COVID19 hours still… closing at 6 or 7 pm and I had to work past that time… We had gone up the night before only to discover they were closed, and knew we couldn’t make the next night either…. So on day 12 of 14, when they offered to ship me a new pen…. well… I was nervous… What if it WASN’T the pen?! What if it was a problem with the bluetooth inside the $3,000 computer???

No way was I going to have a dead defective $3,000 12 day old laptop… I took it back to Best Buy – my local store – with hopes of exchanging it – but they did not have the pen – at all. I am a graphic designer (among other marketing types of titles) and had some deadlines coming up this week and next week too and feeling stressed and pressured, I just returned the whole thing…

They also did not have the $3,000 2 TB Nvidia graphics card model…. I lamented my sad farewell to a device that I genuinely truly LOVED…. If that pen hadn’t died, it was a DREAM MACHINE…. One that the Ipad Pro does not even hold a candle to in my mind….

They could have shipped me a new Surface Pen and/or New Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, but with deadlines approaching and return deadline looming, and needing a tablet… I asked them to recommend a device for me. I suggested Waccom – and told them I used to use them in college but that I missed having an all-in-one device, which is why I tried Surface – less cords, wires, accessories to carry, etc. I’d never owned one of the NICE Waccoms with the screens built-in, and even though I would still need a PC with that device, I was thinking that was the direction I would go in….

But the “kid” (sorry I’m 40, so you all look like kids to me now lol) working there recommended the Ipad Pro 12.9 Inch model…. I had/have had Ipads… LOTS of them, from the very first one, to minis, to in and out and inbetween… My most recent one being newer than my 2 year old laptop – BUT I’d never owned a Pro…. Inevitably… My Ipads collect dust. I think Oh that’s nice for travel, or that’s nice for hospital stays (I have epilepsy and have to get monitored sometimes for days or weeks on end and stuck with rails up in a hospital bed) – But aside from Travel and Hospital stays…. The last time I used my Ipad was a hospital stay less than a year ago – and I remember the damn thing falling over, falling apart, falling off of it’s expensive $100 keyboard accessory… It now lays in a drawer and my 2 older Ipad Minis lay at the bottom of a closet somewhere… Trade in value minimal and not worth the effort of trying to sell online. My Iphone with a larger hard drive runs most of the same apps and just makes digging my IPad out kinda pointless.

But the kid swore it’s the BEST tablet, top of the line, perfect for what I needed when I explained I need to do a lot of large size graphic design like trade show displays floor to ceiling huge art files. I grimaced and stared at the tiny screen… Then grimaced more when he told me it was out of stock and they had the 11 inch. I balked now and put my foot down. He checked his scanning tool one more time and somehow now magically had a 12.9 inch Ipad Pro in stock…

With Best Buy already technically closed – We barely made it in there like 20 minutes before closing with their weird COVID hours – And other stores like Staples soon closing as well – With already having returned my beloved Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio…. and most important projects due this week… I hastily decided to spend the $1,099 for the Ipad Pro 12.9 inch model, and another $300-400 for the pen and keyboard.

I just unboxed it yesterday and got it all set up. And I’m both impressed and disappointed at the same time. Having never owned any of the “Pro” Ipads before, I was impressed how amazingly sturdy the magnets were. It was not going to fall off of that keyboard which was my biggest complaint with any “non Pro” Ipad I’ve owned in the past.

I’m disappointed because not ALL of the adobe cloud applications work on Ipad Pro – Nope few and far do actually. The most important ones for the tablet, Illustrator and Photoshop work – and that’s good enough because I do have my Pink Razer Laptop from 2020. BUT inconvenient to have to start one project on one device and switch to another device – like dreamweaver or the full version of adobe premiere (instead of just premiere rush) or adobe captivate – or other I dunno, less “drawing” related applications. There’s a reason the word is “Multimedia” because multi means more than one – and in Adobe you can import and export files between all of the programs. Now I have to switch computers or even switch rooms if I’m downstairs with one device etc. It’s more of a hassle.

I’m also disappointed but knew fully well when I purchased it that it can’t run regular windows programs – office suite – but also all my steam games – not a deal breaker as I already preordered a steam deck – and my 2 year old Razer can still get the job done – but again just a huge hassle having so many different devices, when the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was truly an all in one work of wonder.

The specific model of Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio that I purchased had a 2TB hard drive… My Ipad – the best most expensive model of IPad – at least at my local Best Buy – only has 256 GB – My Razer also only came with a 256GB Hard drive – I went out and bought a 5TB external HD for my Razer years ago… because of that hard drive though, my razer never leaves its desk now – all the cords and this hard drive is almost as big – and heavy – as the laptop itself… Hassle… Again the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was a dream come true – convenient all in one – I was barely touching my Razer – and only for some saved files and logins on my Razer.

Another disapointing feature obviously is the tiny screen size. This is a huge drawback for an artist. It’s about as small as the tiniest Waccom tablet – Actually, I just checked and the Waccom One is an inch bigger diagonally and includes the pen – and is only $350. Compared to over $1,000 for the IPad Pro and $300-400 for the keyboard and pen.

Another advantage Waccom, and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio both have over the Ipad Pro is their “Easel” modes. This puts the pad at like a 45 degree angle and is more comfortable for drawing. I’m sure there’s third party Easel stands/cases for the Ipad Pro on the market and I will probably buy one, but again more things to carry around when the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was again “all in one”.

When drawing on the IPad Pro, it feels MUCH MORE like glass… I only had the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio for less than 2 weeks – but used it a lot 8+ hours a day in that time – and it felt VERY natural – I didn’t notice it feeling like drawing on glass. I used my IPad Pro for maybe 2 hours so far and it feels awful…. I dunno if it’s the pen or the screen – or the angle of the screen. I do see they make screen covers that will supposedly make it feel more like drawing on paper…. I might have to try that…. because it’s really uncomfortable and annoying and not natural at all. Completely different feeling than drawing on my Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio.

Also because of no easle mode, my wrists bump the keyboards when drawing and sometimes have unintended consequences interrupting me work, activating shortcuts or inserting text, etc. And the keyboard honestly digs into my wrists. The keyboard sits flat and isn’t very comfortable for typing either. It is much sturdier than any past Apple Keyboards I’ve owned and the keys have a satisfying feeling and sound when pressing them, but still not quite like a “real” keyboard.

The pen itself is a bit inferrior also the the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. It lets you double tap to erase something but I can’t get it to work. It lets you scratch out text – and that works for me, but the keyboard is quicker. The Surface Pen had an eraser on one end and would automatically erase… And it felt more natural for me. It also had two programable shortcut keys, the Apple Pen has none.

But… Is it all bad?

No, it is not all bad at all…. For 1/3 of the price of the highest end Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio… It’s about what I’d expect for a more “value priced” product – if you call $1,000 + to be “value priced”. If I had my pick, I’d definitely pay the extra money and take the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio.

This IPad Pro is however MUCH better than previous IPads I have owned, never having owned the “Pro” of any generation before… The non-pros are pretty much worthless in my opinion because they won’t stay on their keyboards or even the Ipad cover with the little triangle flip stand without falling off / falling apart / falling over. The IPad Pro fixes that issue with stronger magnets. Why doesn’t Apple just use the same magnets in all their IPads? Magnets alone can’t be that expensive. I know the technology inside the IPad Pro is much better than the technology in non “Pros” – but still not as advanced as a computer – which the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio is an actual computer. The Ipad Pro is still just a tablet.

Battery life is about the same, and I’m pleased with that. Both Ipad Pro and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio have excellent Battery Life. 8+ hours unplugged and doing intensive graphic work (or gaming in the case of the Surface).

And although I miss having my Steam Games and Windows Programs – Especially the full version of adobe suite products, Ipad does have some unique one of a kind programs, games, movies, and apps available only on the IPAD – does that make up for losing and lacking those other apps and games? In my opinion no, but it depends on what you plan to use the device for. I downloaded a lot of my streaming services to watch movies even though it’s a tiny screen, it’s good for on the go.

It’s lighter weight – by a little bit. Ipad Pro is 1.5 lbs for the IPAD itself plus another 1.3 lbs for the Magic Keyboard which is 2.8 lbs which is still one pound lighter than Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio at 3.8 lbs.

I dunno what else to say about it really – It gets the job done and is cheaper than Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio by a long shot – if you want the best of both models. You could buy 3 of the best IPAD pros for just one of the best Microsoft Surface Laptop Studios.

If budget is a concern, or you’re just a diehard Apple fan, get the IPAD Pro, otherwise for me, the clear winner here is Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. If I wasn’t up against tight deadlines, I would have just had Bestbuy ship me another Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio… And this IPAD might go back before 14 days in favor of another Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and try again – although I’m still scared about the pen dying. I googled it a bit and that does seem to be a common issue… I know the nibs on the Apple Pen will eventually need replaced too, but I couldn’t even buy a new Microsoft Surface Pen because it’s not as prolific as the IPAD.

That’s another win for Apple there, replacement parts, 3rd party parts, and new whole parts are readily available at every single Best Buy, Staples, Walmart, Target, you name it, they got it. My fear of a pen dying when I’m racing against deadlines, might just convince me to stick with this IPAD. My experiences with past Apple products (long time Iphone embracer) have all been positive. And even old IPADs although mostly collecting dust, still do work every time I decide to dig them out.

Apple IPad Pro 12.9 Inch Review & Comparison To Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Apple Iphone 13 Fact VS Fiction

Apple’s newest mobile phone is rumored to be revealed as early as next week. With Iphone 13 just days away, the internet had been buzzing with many exciting rumors and a few leaked spec sheets. No one knows for sure what to expect, but one thing’s for sure, Apple 13 is going to be the next big thing that everyone wants.

I love my Iphone 12 Pro – which I’ve only had for about 7 or 8 months now. I am 40 years old. My first Iphone was the 6S. Before that I had many androids, including the very first ones with the slide out keyboard. I’m actually honestly more interested in Apple’s new clamshell flip phone, but that one is still a year or two away.

I’ve left apple and gone to Google Pixel and loved it – except Android’s security isn’t great for someone like me who downloads millions of games and apps. When my camera started turning on by itself especially while I was getting dressed, I traded it in for the Iphone 12. My Iphone 12 died right near the end of my contract and because the battery is internal my insurance cost more than the cost of upgrading, so I now own an Iphone 12 Pro in the midnight blue color.

I grew up in times before cellphones existed. Sure, I had my gameboys (including the OG black and white one – 90 kids represent, yo!) and gamegear and other handheld entertainment systems, but nothing could compare to the powerful little mini computers we carry with us today aka our beloved cell phones.

I play a ton of games on my Iphone, as evident by many reviews here on my blog. I pay my provider for unlimited 5G uncapped unmetered unslowed data. And it’s all worth it in the end to me, as a gamer. Streaming anime, Korean dramas, or Netflix is another big plus of these powerful pocket computers, making travel, or waiting at doctors’ offices, or even breaks a breeze. Remember when bathrooms used to have books inside them? LOL… Now phones are kings of the world. — You can even use productivity tools to get work done, including editing spreadsheets, word docs and more. Or host and join virtual meetings with your phone’s camera. Speaking of cameras, I take dozens of pictures every day and love uploading them all to social media.

As phones become more powerful, they use more data and put more demand on the provider’s networks. Some providers experimented with data caps and slowing users down after a certain amount of data was used. But they quickly learned that consumers were willing to pay for the fastest most reliable 5G data. But how fast is 5G really?

To demonstrate the power of 5G, I decided to run a speed test using SpeedCheck – Here’s what I discovered.

I blocked out my IP address – but the rest of the image is unaltered.

Here’s how to run your own speed test:

• Go to https://www.speedcheck.org/
• If using a mobile device, make sure you turn off Wifi so that you’re testing your phone’s speed – and not your home computer’s speed.
• Click the button that says “Start Test”
• You can allow location if you want to, I think it might use this to try to pick servers close to your location maybe. I didn’t turn on location testing and it still worked for me.
• Wait about 5 seconds
• See your speed test results

It’s that easy!

Will the new Iphone 13 be faster than the Iphone 12?

Here are some rumors about the certain features that could cause the Iphone 13 to be faster than the Iphone 12.

It’s important to note that these rumors have not been confirmed by Apple, and we won’t know for sure until Apple themselves make their big reveal.

Phone Arena is claiming Iphone 13 will be Wi-Fi 6E for the first time. This will allow the phone to perform better in congested network areas – perfect for folks living in large cities, or even quiet country townhouses or apartments with your neighbor’s networks all around you.

Meanwhile, Forbes is speculating that only the Pro and Max versions of Iphone 13 will have the fastest internet connectivity speeds thanks to AIP (Antenna In Package) to give 5G mmWave devices a 16 times faster speed boost over the standard and mini Iphone 13 models.

The same article also points out another big rumor about the different Iphone 13 models, being the Lidar cameras with better nightvision and wide angle lenses. There’s even been speculation about adding more lenses to the Iphone 13 Pro and Pro Max models too.

It would be a step back for standard and mini Iphone users over last year’s Iphone 12 if Forbes is correct in that only Pro and Max will have 5G mmWave connectivity. Because, according to this article here from Cult of Mac, last year’s Iphone 12, at least for those of us in the United States, had 5G mmWave connectivity in every Iphone, even the standard and mini. – Cult of mac is taking it a step further now and saying that this 5G mmWave capability will be present in more Iphones in other countries around the world – no longer just limited to the United States – as was the case with the Iphone 12.

Again, these are just rumors. We won’t know anything until Apple’s announcement.

Perhaps it will be some combination of both of these rumors proving to be true – perhaps USA will keep 5G mmWave in all of its models and now other nations will have a chance to experience the 16 times faster connection speeds in the Pro and Max models. – We will have to wait and see how this plays out.

So aside from internet speed what other exciting rumors are there? We’ve already discussed too the improved cameras. While all of the iphones are expected to get camera enhancements, as always, the biggest improvements will be seen on the Pro and Max Iphone 13 variants.

Touch Id could be making a return on Iphone 13 too, thanks in part to COVID-19. It’s hard to use Face-ID when wearing a mask – am I right? CNET shares this and other rumors in their Apple 13 article here. – However, many more recent articles say this rumor is just not true.

There are some aesthetic enhancements as well. The biggest one being getting rid of, or at least shrinking, the notch at the top center of the display. When the notch first came out, I hated it with a passion. But now, honestly, I barely even notice it! You look at it so much, it just eventually doesn’t matter anymore honestly. I also heard that humans actually see their own nose 24/7 every day but we just get used to it and don’t notice it anymore. I can just barely maybe see the bridge slightly of mine, but it’s another example of when we see something, we stop seeing it. – 2 or 3 years ago I would have been hyped up about getting rid of that ugly notch, but now it’s less important to me.

There is one really big aesthetic rumor I’m praying comes true – and that’s for a pink Iphone. I have a pink desk, pink razer laptop, pink mouse, pink headset, and love everything pink. There’s been pink Iphones in the past – I think it was Iphone 4 perhaps? and there’s been Rose Gold consistently almost every year until very recently.

There’s 2 renders – One is admittedly a fake artist rendition – and it’s the one I’d love to have. I’m serious Apple if you’re out there and you give me this color Iphone – I no lie – LEGIT – would go drop $2,000 or whatever for the Pro or Max version with best cameras and biggest hard drives – but if you just put it on the mini and standards… I dunno… I legit like do NOT know if I would buy the mini or standard JUST BECAUSE IT’S PINK – and skip out on the camera upgrades and bigger hard drives. – I might JUST do it – Because I LOVE THIS COLOR SO MUCH. Apple, where you at on that Pink Iphone?! Apple Insider shares this other leak of this monstrosity… This is NOT pink – get out of here with this garbage looking piece of bleep.

The pink below – which unfortunately the artist admits is a fake render – is the ONLY Pink Iphone I want in my life. Just like Product Red – for aids – why don’t they do Product Pink for breast cancer – there’s a nice tax writeoff there for you Apple – and give us girly girls what we want. Bubblegum Pink Iphones – Make it happen!!! – I’d also like to see your Green return – I had the Green 11 and I loved it. Tiffany Blue is another of my favorite colors. Don’t get me wrong, I like the purple too, but that green though – that was legit. But let’s see some feminine colors on the Pro and Max – girls want better cameras and hard drives too – not just dudes. But we also want pretty colors. The choice is hard, and it’s not fair we’d have to decide between form and function – Why not both?

Give me pink, or give me death!

Speaking of Hard Drives, another rumor suggests the Pro and Max will offer 1 Terrabyte Hard drives for the first time – I have SO MANY APPS!!!!! I have a Japanese Itunes account, American Itunes Account, Korean Itunes account – and etc… I LEGIT have probably 3,000 apps. – And I play only like 10 of them “regularly” (once a week, etc). lol. But yessss Hard Drive upgrades PUHLEASSSE!!! Thank you.

The rumor mills are buzzing with many more incredible Iphone 13 rumors.

Tell me, which Iphone 13 rumors are you most excited about?

Apple Iphone 13 Fact VS Fiction was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

How To Play Angelique Or Any Other Japanese Otome Game In English

I recently started playing Angelique Luminarise in English. The game was just released in May of 2021 in the Japanese Nintendo Eshop. It is not available in English. Not commercially – and not fan translated either. So how am I playing it in English?

Well it ain’t pretty, and it ain’t perfect but here’s how. Pretty simple really. The main thing you need is a smartphone with the free Google Translate app. I like to download the Japanese language pack for offline viewing too – but you don’t have to.

The other thing you’re going to need is to create a Japanese Nintendo Eshop account. This process is easy.

• Go to accounts.nintendo.com
• Enter your information
• Select Japan as the country
• Enter or create a new email address different from your existing nintendo email address
• If it asks for a street address, you can use Tokyo University (just google the address) (this also works when creating Japanese Itune accounts)
• Now on your nintendo switch create a new user account and link it to the new account you just created.
• If any of the menus or text on screen is in Japanese, now you can get your phone and use live translation to convert it to your native language (which for me is English)
• When you want to purchase games in the Eshop you will need a Japanese Nintendo Eshop Giftcard – I buy mine at Playasia and recommend them. I’ve bought probably over $500 in Japanese Egift codes from them and never have had a problem.

I would just use Paypal but Nintendo refuses paypals from my country (USA)

So I buy my giftcards at Playasia.

You can enter the giftcards into the Switch OR you can access the Nintendo Japanese eshop at https://store-jp.nintendo.com/ and add your balances or buy your games even this way. I find this easier – since with Google Chrome it automatically translates my screen without me needing to fumble around with my phone.

Even if you buy the games on the computer, you can install them remotely from your computer to your Nintendo Switch.

Very easy to buy Japanese games this way.

Now that you have the Japanese game you want to play, the awkward part may be trying to work two devices. I prop my Switch Lite up a bit – Switch users can use the kickstand, or play off their TV. I keep my Switch Lite in my lap, and in one hand I hold my phone with Google Translate running automatically.

Now in the case of Angelique you will want to go into settings and turn off the automatically advancing text option – use your phone to find it – It is on by default – and Google Translate is not fast enough to translate the screen before the text changes. Once you turn it off, you will have to press A to advance the text. It’s tedious but much better translation this way.

In my screen it says “Automatic Feed” TURN IT OFF!!!!!!! OFFFFFFF!! – You can thank me later lol.

Some scenes will still be “lost in translation” – not only because it’s machine translated and not 100% perfect – but because also some scenes are video and voice without text etc.

But nonetheless – this lets you play Angelique – and virtually any other game you can think of – in about 95% decent English.

The translation is pretty decent most of the time.

The funniest thing I saw was when playing Monster Rancher – the trainer introduces herself by saying “Hi, I’m Horrifying” instead of “Hi, I’m Holly”. After a few seconds google translate corrected itself – but it still made for a funny screenshot.

But no, in Angelique, from what I’ve seen with my brief like 15-minute journey into the game before work this morning, the translation is decent. I get the main gist of the intro story.

It starts out with a girl (that’s you) being soundly asleep and woken by a loud very rude kinda pompous and demanding character. He accuses you of being rude for not greeting him properly but says since you’re new he will forgive your rudeness. He introduces himself as the God of Light and one of 9 Gods in this universe and that he has taken you as a queen candidate from another world.

You meet a girl who arrived one day before you who is also another queen candidate and you meet a butler – who is also a God who gives you some paperwork to file. You enter your name, horoscope, blood type and answer a personality quiz.

After this, you’re taken to see the God of light again who explains the test you are about to face. You and your rival will be developing a nation using the powers of the gods, and whosever nation is more developed at the end will be elected as the new queen.

All of the screenshots that you see in this post were taken by me as I was playing Angelique Luminarise for Nintendo Switch. These are not edited in any way. Except for my featured image – the text is all correct – I just cropped it to fit as a featured image – and it was too funny and too appropriate not to use! “What the hell are these people saying? I have no idea” is exactly what I would be saying if I didn’t have my smartphone translating everything lol. So yes, that is what the character is saying in that scene, and every other image here. This is how it appears on my smartphone, replacing the text on the screen with English.

You don’t need to take photos – It does it real time. I just took a bunch of photos to illustrate on my blog here. I mean it’s not awful for machine translation. I have seen worse! And it’s better than being in Japanese – I have tried to learn before but it’s hard when it’s not just another language but a different alphabet – in fact… three different alphabets all of which can be used interchangably and like wtf… lol. Google you’re doing a good job. Keep being a bro.

It can be tricky especially if there is a glare or trying to get things at just the right distance or angle to translate properly. But it does in fact work, with a little finessing and fanangling.

What games will you be playing in English now?

I’m still most looking forward to Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 4th Heart this October and Air I think in September – but for now, Angelique will keep me busy.

Japanese games are expensive I feel like… I feel like I’m spending $70-80 for one game – where in USA I’m used to spending about $50-60 – But still worth it. Because most of these games will never come out in English.

Angelique has been around for 25 years. Angelique Luminarise is part of a 25th birthday celebration. But we have never received a single Angelique game in English.

Another game series I treasure is Idol M@ster. I think there are ways – probably with android more so than IOS – to automatically translate the text on the phone screen while playing games – I do know there’s a new (or remastered) Idol M@ster coming out soon – or recently released for PC and PS4 – but I am happy with my many different Idol M@ster games on my phone. I haven’t figured out a good way to translate the phone app simultaneously as google translate and the game are running. I imagine there’s apps for that on android – or people are using bluestacks. I just do it the tedious way by taking a screenshot, translating it in the app, and repeat forever.

It’s different now on the Switch or other device because I can LIVE translate, so I don’t have to take screenshots or exit and re-enter the game. I can do everything on the fly.

Plus if I’m being honest….

I skip almost all the dialogue in games like Idol M@ster, Love Live, Bang Dream Girls, UtaPri, Ensemble Stars, etc…. Even when English versions are released because it’s not that interesting? LOL….. It’s really not. – I play to collect the cute girls (and cute guys) and enjoy the music… I think maybe it’s the way the text is divided or structured – forcing you to read bits of it to unlock the next scene or song – and wanting the rewards etc. I just skip all that shit – am I the only one? And I love story driven games – but damn, I just feel like all those mobile apps, the story slows down my gameplay and I just want to play and not be bogged down. Maybe because it’s slice of life? But that’s my preferred genre when reading manga or watching anime – I dunno what it is – but really – I’m not missing much by Idol M@ster not being in English – I’d be happy just with an English menu patch/release really. Good enough for me lol.

Other games like Angelique or Tokimeki Memorial or Air or Kannon etc where the story is actually interesting and good – I’ll use my smartphone to be able to enjoy the story – even though it’s inconvenient.

I already know I’ll buy Air and Tokimeki Memorial.

I’m thinking of buying Memories Off Historia 1 and 2 (a total of about 7 or 8 games there).

Plus lots of other Japanese games.

It’s awkward and cumbersome – but yes – for the most part “This will do”.

How To Play Angelique Or Any Other Japanese Otome Game In English was originally published on

Starry Love Anime Dressup Otome Game Review Like Love Niki, Wannabe Fashionista, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice

I just started playing “Starry Love” yesterday after seeing a Facebook ad. It’s a brand new game from someone named Modo Games whom I’ve never heard of.

The gameplay is quite similar to Love Niki, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice or Wanabe Fashionista… all of which I’ve reviewed here and all of which I definitely recommend.

When I started playing Starry Love there was only one review and it was a one star rating. Maybe someone was confused and thought one meant good and 5 meant bad.

There’s not much bad about this game so let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

The worst part of this game is the chat filters which block weird common words such as game or server as well as av such as the word have will be h**ve making it difficult to chat in the game.

On the plus side, the chat is active and community seems friendly. Today there was discussion about Kdrama and Anime which is right in my wheel house of interests.

The search function and guild function is also pretty flawed making it darn near impossible to recruit people for your guild or find a guild to join.

Another negative is a lot of game’s content is only unlocked later into the game’s story. There is plenty to do, but it might not seem that way at first.

Lastly, the writing is hit or miss with some glaring typos or awkward wording. The story itself is pretty interesting.

You are a model who under distress from catching her boyfriend with another woman, runs into the road and is hit by a truck. When you wake up, you’ve gone several years into the past when you were just getting started as an online streamer.

Most of the activities revolve around this streaming and modeling theme. You can get ideas for new live streams, invite cohosts, talk to your fans, join other live streams, and so on. It’s worth mentioning that this is all within the context of a fantasy world and fantasy characters and you yourself need not appear on camera or anything yourself.

You recruit other characters to help with your live streams and some of them you can even date. All of them you can level up to increase your overall stats and popularity and viewer count. Also they will be useful later in fashion battles and server events.

Speaking of server events, there are a lot of them. There’s four going on right now, some focus on story some focus on spending in game currencies and some focus on community events.

You can unlock special outfits titles and items by participating in these events.

Artwork is all very cute and colorful. Again it is similar to love niki or mr love queen.

Overall: 54/70 77%

Geeky: 2/5 Artwork is good but chat and community features are severely flawed and limited.

Sweetie: 5/5 Cute graphics and interesting story. Dressup game is sure to please fans of love niki and mr love Queen’s choice.

Gameplay: 9/10 I think once you get far enough into the game to unlock all the content there is plenty of things to do from modeling to fashion battles, dating, story events, photo shoots, live streams, cohosts, support crew, tea parties, shopping, and more. It honestly in my opinion has more things to do than love niki or mr love Queen’s choice. The only option it may be missing is to decorate your room or house like love niki has, and it seems like that gameplay element could fit well with boosting stats and live stream concept to me. Maybe we will see it in the future as this is still a new game.

Story: 7/10 I like the theme of reincarnation or alternative reality and there are currently over 30 chapters to read. But the story is pretty flawed by typos and some grammar issues.

Characters: 6/10 Most of the characters are interesting and developed well as the story goes on. Sometimes some of the characters including your main character are rude or mean, I’m not sure it’s intentional or if it comes across wrong due to being lost in translation but it can put me off. And much like a game I recently reviewed it, this one also makes fun of overweight characters which is not very appealing .

Graphics: 9/10 Enjoy the graphics a lot, some do get reused a bit but the graphics are one of the highlights of the game for me

Music: 6/10 Slightly above average, not annoying, peaceful music that sets the tone of the themes in the game.

Replay Value: 10/10 with numerous events and new content added all the time, some of which is very limited, sometimes even one per server, this game has a high replay value.

Overall: 54/70 77%

If they fix up some of the actual interface and gameplay mechanics it’d easily be in the 80s or 90s ; it’s a super fun game. Check it out if you get a chance.

Starry Love Anime Dressup Otome Game Review Like Love Niki, Wannabe Fashionista, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice was originally published on

Starry Love Anime Dressup Otome Game Review Like Love Niki, Wannabe Fashionista, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice

I just started playing “Starry Love” yesterday after seeing a Facebook ad. It’s a brand new game from someone named Modo Games whom I’ve never heard of.

The gameplay is quite similar to Love Niki, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice or Wanabe Fashionista… all of which I’ve reviewed here and all of which I definitely recommend.

When I started playing Starry Love there was only one review and it was a one star rating. Maybe someone was confused and thought one meant good and 5 meant bad.

There’s not much bad about this game so let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

The worst part of this game is the chat filters which block weird common words such as game or server as well as av such as the word have will be h**ve making it difficult to chat in the game.

On the plus side, the chat is active and community seems friendly. Today there was discussion about Kdrama and Anime which is right in my wheel house of interests.

The search function and guild function is also pretty flawed making it darn near impossible to recruit people for your guild or find a guild to join.

Another negative is a lot of game’s content is only unlocked later into the game’s story. There is plenty to do, but it might not seem that way at first.

Lastly, the writing is hit or miss with some glaring typos or awkward wording. The story itself is pretty interesting.

You are a model who under distress from catching her boyfriend with another woman, runs into the road and is hit by a truck. When you wake up, you’ve gone several years into the past when you were just getting started as an online streamer.

Most of the activities revolve around this streaming and modeling theme. You can get ideas for new live streams, invite cohosts, talk to your fans, join other live streams, and so on. It’s worth mentioning that this is all within the context of a fantasy world and fantasy characters and you yourself need not appear on camera or anything yourself.

You recruit other characters to help with your live streams and some of them you can even date. All of them you can level up to increase your overall stats and popularity and viewer count. Also they will be useful later in fashion battles and server events.

Speaking of server events, there are a lot of them. There’s four going on right now, some focus on story some focus on spending in game currencies and some focus on community events.

You can unlock special outfits titles and items by participating in these events.

Artwork is all very cute and colorful. Again it is similar to love niki or mr love queen.

Overall: 54/70 77% C+ “Good Game For Girls”

Geeky: 2/5 Artwork is good but chat and community features are severely flawed and limited.

Sweetie: 5/5 Cute graphics and interesting story. Dressup game is sure to please fans of love niki and mr love Queen’s choice.

Gameplay: 9/10 I think once you get far enough into the game to unlock all the content there is plenty of things to do from modeling to fashion battles, dating, story events, photo shoots, live streams, cohosts, support crew, tea parties, shopping, and more. It honestly in my opinion has more things to do than love niki or mr love Queen’s choice. The only option it may be missing is to decorate your room or house like love niki has, and it seems like that gameplay element could fit well with boosting stats and live stream concept to me. Maybe we will see it in the future as this is still a new game.

Story: 7/10 I like the theme of reincarnation or alternative reality and there are currently over 30 chapters to read. But the story is pretty flawed by typos and some grammar issues.

Characters: 6/10 Most of the characters are interesting and developed well as the story goes on. Sometimes some of the characters including your main character are rude or mean, I’m not sure it’s intentional or if it comes across wrong due to being lost in translation but it can put me off. And much like a game I recently reviewed it, this one also makes fun of overweight characters which is not very appealing .

Graphics: 9/10 Enjoy the graphics a lot, some do get reused a bit but the graphics are one of the highlights of the game for me

Music: 6/10 Slightly above average, not annoying, peaceful music that sets the tone of the themes in the game.

Replay Value: 10/10 with numerous events and new content added all the time, some of which is very limited, sometimes even one per server, this game has a high replay value.

Overall: 54/70 77% C+ “Good Game For Girls”

If they fix up some of the actual interface and gameplay mechanics it’d easily be in the 80s or 90s ; it’s a super fun game. Check it out if you get a chance.

Starry Love Anime Dressup Otome Game Review Like Love Niki, Wannabe Fashionista, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice was originally published on

Genshin Impact Review Of Free To Play Open World Anime RPG With Gacha

Genshin Impact has been making waves and covered by almost every media outlet. It has received both good and bad press. But I hadn’t played it until last month when I got my Playstation 5. Genshin Impact is also available on mobile and PC. And there is talk about bringing a version to Nintendo Switch but that won’t happen until late 2021 at the earliest. I’ve spent a few weeks now with Genshin Impact and have really enjoyed it thus far. Here’s what I think.

Genshin Impact is a new open world anime RPG by Mihoyo. It has stunning anime graphics, English voice acting, great music, and lots of unique features. The open world lets you explore, craft, hunt for treasure, perform both story and non story based quests, and of course fight monsters, all while collecting characters from a gacha. Genshin Impact is said to have terrible Gacha rates and gets a bad rep for that aspect sometimes.

I find the game quite fascinating for a free to play game.

Make no mistake, Genshin Impact is NOT an MMORPG – although it feels like one. It’s a single player RPG best described like an anime version of breath of the wild perhaps.

The story, the graphics the music, voice acting, and gameplay are exceptional for a free to play game.

I enjoy exploring the open world environment, getting loot and treasure, hopefully getting lucky with my free gacha draws, and cooking and crafting. I also really like the story and combat and gameplay. Really I like everything.

I’m new as bleep to this game, so that could be part of my awe and enjoyment. But I think it is one that keeps players coming back because of the open world nature of the game and high production values.

Get started for free. Already playing? Leave me a comment with your favorite aspects of Genshin Impact.

Genshin Impact-Step into a Vast Magical World of Adventure

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Score Card:

Geeky: 5/5 – Amazing visuals, music, voice acting, open world, a lot of fun combat skills, great game. Can’t believe it’s free to play.

Sweetie: 5/5 – The graphics are so cute! And you can cook and craft and explore and the story and voice acting are good too! You can also choose a female main character which I appreciate having the option!

Gameplay: 10/10 – Really great gameplay – so what if the gacha rates suck? I like everything this game has to offer – open world, exploration, cooking, questing, story, flying, climbing, everything in the world is interactable with. You can swim, you can climb trees, you can cut down bushes, break open crates and barrels, yeah I love this.

Graphics: 10/10 – I’m not saying they’re the best graphics I’ve ever seen in a video game, but they’re to MY taste, anime, bright, vibrant, lush, 3D or cell shaded, it looks awesome!

Music: 7/10 – Well above average – I like the music in Genshin Impact but I wouldn’t say it’s overly memorable in the end. It gets the job done.

Voice Acting: 10/10 – English voice acting is great. Paimon sounds so cute! I want to cosplay as Paimon as soon as this pandemic ends and we can go to conventions again.

Story: 7/10 – There is a story, but it kinda does take a backseat to the action and exploration a bit – but it’s still a pretty good story!

Characters: 10/10 – I like all of the characters so far. They’re cute and the English voice acting just brings them to life. Thumbs Up.

Replay Value: 7/10 – Pretty high! It can get repetitive sure, but the open world lets you play the way YOU want, and there’s in game events and other things to keep new content coming.

Overall: 71/80 89% Very Good Game For Girls!

HOLD UP! We have a NEW CHAMPION!!!

Genshin Impact takes our number 10 spot – knocking down former long-time number 10 contender – Lunar Eternal Blue – for the Best Games For Girls on our Top 10 list!!!

Sorry Lunar – you’re still my favorite game series of all time, but looking at things analytically – you didn’t age that well – except for your story and hand drawn animated cutscenes which are still amazing – but you lack replaybility, outside the cutscenes graphics are dated, and combat honestly could put people to sleep – but you’re still the best in my heart lol. You only lost to Genshin by less than 1 percent. My condolences. I’ll replay you again later :).

Genshin Impact Review Of Free To Play Open World Anime RPG With Gacha was originally published on

Three Things I Will Miss About My Pixel 3

I will be switching back to Iphone. My green Iphone 11 is supposed to be delivered by end of the day tomorrow. My reason for switching is to have a more secure device. I fell victim to the camera hack as well as within the past 6 months, 3 different accounts of mine have been hacked – I can’t prove it’s my phone’s fault, but I had the Iphone 6 – up until Pixel 3, and never had been hacked. The reasons for which are varied, for example Iphone is a tightly controlled app marketplace. While it’s not impossible for a rogue app to sneak in, it’s definitely more difficult. Another reason Iphone is more secure is because Android is the most widely used platform, similar to how many computer attackers aim their threats at windows because it dominates the market. They want to attack where the most people are. Lastly, Google’s convenience in password storage and account linking makes it easier for attackers to get all of your information in one place.

But there are several things I am really going to miss about my Pixel 3. Here are the top three things I will miss the most.

1.) Google Assistant

I find Google Assistant to be extremely helpful. I use it to take photos, set my alarm, search the internet, and any other number of things. Iphone has Siri but it’s still not the exact same thing as Google’s AI.

2.) The camera

I think the Iphone 11 Camera will be good – but I will miss the macro photography on the Pixel 3. As doll photography is my main hobby, I find I use macro more than any other type of photography. A lot of what makes a good Macro shot on the Pixel 3 is Google’s AI for the camera.

3.) Qoo App

The phone’s downfall is also its strength. An open app marketplace with a lot of apps. Qoo App which I’ve reviewed here before is an app that lets you easily get and keep updated apps from Asian countries such as Japan, China, and Korea. As an anime gamer, I will miss this – however; I know a work around on the Iphone to get games from the Japanese or Korean apple play stores.

There are other things I will miss too, the great clean interface that I’ve gotten used to. It is a beautiful user experience. Maybe the best I have seen. I’ll miss the cute “Not Pink” color – although I do love the tiffany blue mint green Iphone color too. And lastly, I’ll miss the unlimited online storage for the photos and videos of Pixel 3. There are many other great things about this phone that I will really miss. I haven’t had an Iphone since 6S… so I am a little unsure what to expect in Iphone 11. Time will tell if I’m happy with my trade-in or not. At least I got a great deal, a straight trade without having to pay anything except tax and that’s for the 256gb model, thanks to some great Black Friday specials running now with the major carriers. Goodbye Pixel 3, and hello to the next big thing.

Three Things I Will Miss About My Pixel 3 was originally published on GeekySweetie.com – Geeky & Kawaii Anime, Tech, Toys, & Game Reviews & News

Idol M@ster Shiny Colors – Japanese Mobile Game Review and Kinda Brief English Walkthrough

I am really into Idol M@ster Shiny Colors. Unlike other Idol M@ster Mobile Games or Love Live or Bang Dream, Idol M@ster Shiny Colors is not a rhythm game. Idol M@ster Shiny Colors is a simulation game. You are a producer and “hire” idols to work in your studio. You draw the idols from gacha.

Please note – I did not realize this when I played, but on your first 10 play gacha, you get UNLIMITED REROLLS by pushing the YELLOW BUTTON on the left. Once you are happy with your cards press the PINK button on the right. I didn’t know, I pushed the pink button and I only had one SSR. I have been thinking about starting over (and still might) but I think I had some pre-registration bonuses and other things I don’t want to lose by restarting the game. So definitely do not push the Pink button until you have the cards you want.

Collecting and dressing girls is the main appeal of the game. But what do you do once you have a team of idol girls? You can plan their schedule – like a true sim game. You can have them practice, give interviews, or other activities to promote their stats.

The stats also can be increased in a final-fantasy-style skill tree system where you spend skill points to unlock stat-bonuses like +20 vocals, +30 dance, +20 vitality, etc. Depending what “path” you take in the skill tree your girls will develop in different ways.

You have one main girl, and several other backup idols. The main girl is the one to gain from this skill tree system.

Performing a live show is quite different from other mobile idol games. It’s more almost like an RPG battle. You tap a girl’s face below the stage and then tap a “skill” along the left such as vocal, dance, etc. Then a colored bar will appear on the screen, try to time it right and tap the screen when the needle on the bar is in the white color. White will give you the highest bonus. Purple the least, and yellow a medium boost. You can also “link” your girls’ actions to perform together in one attack. On the right hand side of the screen are some other bubbles. i think, but could be wrong since I do not read Japanese, but think that you are competing against other idols, and as you perform these skills you can defeat the idols to the right hand side. But if you miss, you will notice your own idols on the left dropping off the screen. Once all the idols either on left or right are gone, the performance ends.

The artwork in the game is very kawaii, and SSR and higher cards have movie animations, both when retrieving from the Gacha and also when performing a live show. All of the idols are animated with Live 2D which brings the characters to life on your screen. Many of the cards have “multiple characters” on one card, and when performing a live show, or meeting the idols out in town, you may see special scenes featuring the characters all together.

The voice acting and music is also top notch as you would expect from an idol game.

Replay value is high due to limited time events that offer rewards such as gacha tickets and gems.

My only complaint is a lot of the gacha are for paid gems only. However, the gems are fairly cheap, you can get a few hundred gems for under $10 – I haven’t bought any yet.

Will we see Idol M@ster Shiny Colors get an English release? Probably not. They tried years ago to release some Idol M@ster games in English and it flopped – however, they wanted $65 for a mobile game – And worst of all, after it flopped, they pulled it down and even if you had paid for it you could no longer play it!!! I wish they would try again but with some of their “FREE” mobile games, either Shiny Colors, Theater Days, or Cinderella Girls. — But my hope is slim… However there are 2 things that give me a little bit of hope. 1.) They seem to understand that there may be English speaking players playing Shiny Colors, when the visual novel aspects come up and the choices appear, they show in English an emoji and English words that say “Perfect” “Good” “Normal” so even if you can’t read the choices you can pick the best response still. And when purchasing diamonds, the currency is shown in US Dollars, not in Yen, which is odd. I’ve literally never seen that ever before in any Japanese games. Which is a nice touch so I don’t have to try to convert it, if I ever decide to buy diamonds. And 2.) I have hope because we are getting more and more and more English idol games, with the upcoming Revue Starlight Re LIVE, or last year’s Bang Dream Girl’s Band Party and Utapri, or the ever popular Love Live School Idol Festival, we continue to receive more and more games in this genre, but we have yet to receive any of the free Idol M@ster games… Shiny Colors is only a few weeks old in Japan, maybe in a year or two we could hope to see an English release? But it is still fairly easy to play even in Japanese. But it would be nice to be able to enjoy the story! I’d be more likely to buy paid gems if the game was in English.

Scorecard:

Overall Score 70/80 88% B+ “Very Good Game For Girls”

Geeky: 5/5 – collect virtual waifus. very geeky. And simulation aspects set this game apart from other idol games.

Sweetie: 5/5 – the girls are adorable

Gameplay: 10/10 – finally a true simulation game, similar to Princess Maker or Tokimeki Memorial, you schedule your idol’s activities and watch their stats grow. I enjoy this much more than just a tappy tap rhythm game. Your girls develop in different ways based on your choices and I love that.

Story: 0/10 – I can’t read Japanese so this may not be a “fair score” but until an English version exists I can’t judge the storyline.

Characters: 10/10 – cute, gorgeous artwork, huge diversity of girls.

Artwork: 10/10 – cute, live 2D, SSR and higher cards have full movie animation sequences.

Voice Acting: 10/10 – all of the girls sound so cute.

Music: 10/10 – of course a game about idols is going to have catchy and cute music.

Replay Value: 10/10 – Lots of events, they give a lot of SR tickets and free Gems and the fact that this is a simulation game also adds replay value because the girls change based on decisions you make.

Overall Score 70/80 88% B+ “Very Good Game For Girls”

Idol M@ster Shiny Colors – Japanese Mobile Game Review and Kinda Brief English Walkthrough was originally published on GeekySweetie.com – Geeky & Kawaii Anime, Tech, Toys, & Game Reviews & News

Google Pixel 3 vs Iphone XR Camera

I just ordered a Google Pixel 3 a few days ago because it was $150 off on google’s store – sale ends today by the way. After ordering the phone, to kill time I was watching videos of the phone… I am mainly excited about the Pixel 3 camera. I am still using an Iphone 6S… I’ve had since it came out… so almost any new phone camera would put mine to shame. The last android phone I have used was Samsung Note 1 so I’ve been “Team Iphone” for a long time. But Pixel 3’s camera just looked so good. How good is it really?

I took a blind test and played along with this video:

iPhone XR vs Google Pixel 3 XL Blind Camera Test!

Both the iPhone XR and Google Pixel 3 XL have a single wide lens camera on the rear. Both of them also use software for portrait blur photos. Let’s do some b…

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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kadb9iHYJ60%5B/embedyt%5D

I watched this and paused it and studied each photo and came to the following conclusions which I wrote AS I was watching it – At the end he will tell you which camera belongs to which phone… I won’t spoil it – you can watch it yourself.

Here are my comments…

1 B
2 B
3 A’s color is better but I do like how B’s subject “pops” out of the background
4 – same comments as 3
5 – B
6 – about equal. A looks a little washed out, B looks a little dark
7 – B all the way, although it looks kinda warm colored. A is probably more natural color, but seems blurry and less detailed
8 – B all the way, no contest. A is blurry and pixelated/noisy. B is much more detailed and “cleaner”
9 – B is much more sharp and crisp, but A is probably more flattering for the portrait, But prefer B because it pops
10 – B is much more detailed and crisp. A looks washed out and blurry but sometimes thats nice for portraits
11 – B – but this one is pretty equal
12 – A captures more “area” you can see other houses and cars. And the things in the foreground pop more, but B has more midrange “clarity”
13 – B all the way, A looks super washed out
14 – B all the way, it really pops out. (Since dolls are my main photography subject this would be the camera I’d want the most)
15 – A shows more background detail, but B is nice for Bokeh, and the subject seems more clear in B

My totals:

B = 10
A = 0
Tie = 5

Did I make a good purchase? – Watch this video to find out for yourself.

Google Pixel 3 vs Iphone XR Camera was originally published on