Dawn of the Final Newsletter

Welcome to “Siliconera Speaks Up,” our newsletter for the site! This’ll be a summary of the past week’s anime or gaming news, a little reminder of things to come, and our insight on what games you should pick up next. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Speak Up Sesh

As a reminder, we have a giveaway for a Nintendo Switch OLED! Signing up for the newsletter automatically places your name into the giveaway and if you’re receiving this, then, congratulations! This giveaway is open for all subscribers in all regions. However, something you might not have known is that you can also receive three extra entries if you refer your friends to this newsletter. Here’s how to participate:

1. Head to the giveaway page.

2. Finish your registration if you haven’t already. You might need to pop in your e-mail again.

3. Click on “Refer Friends For Extra Entries.” There’s a little heart icon next to it if you’re having trouble finding that box.

4. A drop-down will appear with a link unique to you.

5. Copy it and share with friends or other social media communities.

For every person who clicks your link and enters the giveaway, you’ll receive three extra entries. So if you refer it to, say, 5 people, that’s 15 extra entries. 100 people is 300 entries. This giveaway will end on January 31, 2025.

Compared to how stacked early 2024 was, 2025 seems almost tame. That’s not a bad thing, of course. I’m sure plenty of people (including myself) have a backlog of stuff to get through from 2024 and even before that. I bought a bunch of games during the winter sale that I haven’t gotten through, let alone more recent games like Infinite Wealth or Emio.

This is kind of a feel-bad topic to discuss at the end of the year, but it was such a coincidence that I really want to mention it. The TV Magazine Twitter account condemned illegal scanlations for Transformers Go!Go! and how they infringe on copyright. Basically the same day, the Ensemble Stars account published a set of guidelines for proper manners and etiquette. Now, some of this is basic stuff. We’ve got rules like “Don’t spread leaks” and “Don’t spread hate for a particular character or unit.” Something I personally thought was nuts was a rule specifically forbidding people from mocking those who don’t spend as much money as others on an oshi, saying they don’t love a character enough or they don’t even have the right to speak. I’m a little scared to look up what posts would’ve forced Happy Elements to issue this rule…

But the main thing I want to focus on is the rule forbidding any translated content, even if you place it behind a password. Ensemble Stars (English) is two years behind the Japanese game, so it’s a little strange that Happy Elements expects its players to not keep up with whatever’s going on in the story on JP’s side. That’s not even getting into some problems that exist in the official translation. Delays between servers isn’t exactly unheard of. The global server for Fate/Grand Order is about two years behind the JP side as well. I’m sure if you only play in English and you’re curious about what’s going on in JP, though, there are tons of websites and blogs you can go on who translate or summarize the story for non-JP players.

It’s an interesting cultural and business decision to do this. As someone who grew up in the early days of the Western anime boom, I’m well aware of just how important fan translators were in popularizing anime and Japanese video games. Literally, it wouldn’t have gotten as strong a foothold as it does now if not for scanlations and such existing. Obviously, I agree that most people should buy the official localizations when possible, if only to show support and let companies know that there’s overseas interest in a particular franchise. But when a company isn’t giving that choice to fans, it’s not surprising that they might turn to other means. Condemning them for doing so is only going to drive people away or act out of spite, as you can see from reactions to both announcements.

Anyway, it was just an interesting coincidence that I noticed. As the year winds down, take some time to make a retrospective of all the great moments from the past year, and everything you accomplished. You did it! You survived 2024! Hopefully, 2025 will be even better.

Top 10 Stories From the Past Week

• Dragon Ball Super Hiatus Has Been Extended - The hiatus has nothing to do with Akira Toriyama’s passing, apparently, but there haven’t been any new chapters since March 2024.

• Undone Hololive Watches Match Fuwamoco, Calliope Mori, IRyS, and ERB - You don’t have to be a hololive fan to think some of these color palettes are super cute.

• New Persona 5: The Phantom X Broadcast About Beta Announced - It’s a little embarrassing how excited I am for this gacha because of characters like housewife idol and the wine-drinking grandma.

• Hello Kitty Island Adventure Switch Release Date Set - For PC too!

• Sword Art Online: Variant Showdown Has Re-Launched - After over a year of maintenance, the servers are going to be back online.

• Dynasty Warriors M Will Shut Down Worldwide in February 2025 - Meanwhile, the servers for this game will be down forever… On the bright side, Origins will be around for Dynasty Warriors fans to get their fix.

• New Wailord Pokemon Plush Is Over 2 Feet Long - This is actually the smaller version of the Wailord plush, for those who can’t have a giant 4-ft-long doll in their home.

• Review: Steam Prison: Beyond the Steam Feels Like the Original Otome - Otome games are really popular with Siliconera readers!

• 5 of the Best JRPG Soundtracks Ever - It’s hard to really pin down the “best” soundtrack in all of JRPGs considering different tastes and the long history of the genre. If I may suggest something that’s a bit off the beaten path, Shadow Hearts and its sequels have some really interesting sounds that fit well with the horror-inspired environment.

• Eevee Named Cutest Pokemon in Minna no Ranking Poll - I feel like some of the Pokemon on here are such shoo-ins that you can hold a million polls over the course of a million years, and the top twenty for “cutest Pokemon” will never really change.

Upcoming Releases

• Wuthering Waves (PS5) - January 2

• Ys Memoire (PS4, PS5, Switch) - January 10

• Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch) - January 16

• Dynasty Warriors Origins (PS5, Windows, Xbox Series X) - January 17

• Tales of Graces f Remastered (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Windows, Switch) - January 17