After a month’s hiatus — due to my flu and then a nagging cough — here’s episode 48 of the Codex, for your listening pleasure.

Here’s another 1-minute video for today, recorded at this past Thursday’s PechaKucha Night Vol. 89, before things started, as people were still arriving to the venue (SuperDeluxe) — it’s on YouTube too. You can quickly find all of my previous 1-minute videos here.

Here’s the final batch of 1-minute videos I recorded while on a recent trip to the Southern Alps in Yamanashi prefecture for some ice climbing (my wife, not me). They’re all embedded in this post, or you can go directly to the Vimeo pages (Falling Ice, Water and Leaves, Water and Snow, Climbing) — they’re up on YouTube too (Falling Ice, Water and Leaves, Water and Snow, Climbing). I think a nice way to watch these is through Apple TV if connected to a big TV, looks great that way. You’ll find all of my previous 1-minute videos here.

A round-up of recent games I’ve been playing and enjoying (you’ll find all of them here).

• Driver: San Francisco (PS3/360) — This is possibly my favorite game that came out in 2011 (or a close tie with Forza 4). An absolute blast to play, with so many fun side missions, all focusing on driving and stunts. 
• Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (XBLA) — No reason not to get this if you liked the original Alan Awake game. Nice follow-up.
• Pinball FX 2 (XBLA) — Having a lot of fun with the new Epic Quest table (pictured above), which even adds a few RPG elements.
• Law & Order: Legacies (iOS) — The gameplay is reminescent of the inerrogations in L.A. Noire — which I liked — and it’s great to have the show’s theme play throughout. It’s available on a bunch of platforms, but it’s perfect for iPad, which is how I’m playing it.  

A round-up of game recommendations — in other words, games I’m playing these days.

• Little Racers STREET (XBLIG) — A really fun little racer that sort of plays like Reckless Racers on iOS, and it’s only a buck. Surprisingly addictive.
• Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (XBLA) — Yes, I’m so very late on this game, but better late than never. Terrific art direction (pictured above), and I’m really enjoying the Metrovania-like (exploration) gameplay so far.
• Sonic Generations (PS3/360) — I’ve hated pretty much every Sonic game of the past few console generations, and was cautiously excited when the demo for this came out. I finally picked it up, and I’m having an absolute blast with it. If you’ve enjoyed a Sonic game in your life, then give this a try.
• The Hacker (iPhone) — Great aesthetic, love the feel of the interface (old school computing).

If you regularly check the participants list of PauseTalk events, then you’ve probably spotted the name Niko Lanzuisi quite a few times. A regular at the events, he’s a very talented filmmaker, and he’s been working on a few different video projects over the past year, and the latest is called TOKYO X CREATIVES. The idea is to create a series of shorts, with each focusing on one Tokyo creative — I’ll humbly add that I will be one of the initial six interviewees. Included in this post are the two first video teasers, and there are four more to come. Niko is actually trying to shop these around, to get some funding to continue doing them, so if you like what you see help spread the word (or if you’re a production company or publisher, get in touch with Niko).

The trailer above is for the interview with UAMOU creator Ayako Takagi, and the one below features chiptune artist OMODAKA performing at last month’s FAMIMODE event — you’ll find more details on each of the video’s Vimeo pages.

I tweeted it the other day, but I wanted to point out again that The Guardian has launched a rather nice guide to Tokyo. I should also mention that a few of my friends have contributed to this (Ashley Rawlings, Brian Ashcraft, Patrick Macias), and these are people that I would absolutely trust when it comes to recommendations in their particular fields (arts, gaming spots, otaku spots).

A new episode of the Codex is up (47), featuring another eclectic mix of tracks. Please enjoy.

Two episodes in two nights? Sometimes, that’s what happens. So following last night’s indie game music episode (45), I just recorded and released another episode of the Codex (46), this time with tracks that mostly revolve around two of my favorite artists, Mark Robinson and Fugazi.

There’s a new episode of the Codex up (45), and it’s an all-gaming episode, featuring music from a bunch of great indie games. The post on the Codex site includes links to all the games, as well as links to their soundtracks. And let me remind you that you can now follow the Codex on Twitter and on Facebook.

A new episode of the Codex is up (44), and again, unfortunately there’s a bit of static that pops up when I talk (even though I tested things before recording and it was fine). Losing patience with Nicecast, and I may have to find yet another solution.

Also, please note that Codex now has its own Facebook page, and is on Twitter (@codex_podcast), so two more ways to be updated when new episodes are released.

Pretty much since I’ve been in Japan I’ve had the same tradition on New Year’s Eve — we get some nice food from the depachika (department store basement, always Seibu in our case), some booze, and watch the various TV specials, flipping around, and after midnight we go to a local shrine to wish for a good year. The big traditional show airs on NHK — the state network — and it’s called Kohaku Uta Gassen. It’s described as a song battle between a “Red” team (women) and “White” team (men), but the real goal here is to finish off the year with all of Japan’s most popular performers. It’s cheesy as all hell, but it can still be fun to watch for the spectacle of it. A couple of years ago I started drunkenly tweeting while watching it — I was dueling with Patrick Macias, who was in town that year — and it’s now become sort of a tradition.

Below is the entire tweet stream I did this past Saturday — the show runs from 19:15 to 23:45. As silly as it is, I post it here because a few people have told me they had fun reading it even when they watched the show later (either recorded, or when it aired the following day on NHK in the US). You need to start from the bottom, and work yourself up.

• At the shrine. instagr.am/p/dMc9Q/
• Happy 2012, everyone! yfrog.com/obt81bqj
• Damn, now wife has it on the Johnny’s NYE countdown concert. #ipreferredkohaku
• Shit, got 15 minutes, need to finish up my fucking soba!
• And Red (women) wins! #kohaku It’s usually White.
• NHK just guaranteed a million freeze frames by offering up a crotch shot of one of the AKB girls. #kohaku
• Most. Unnatural. Waving. Ever. #kohaku
• SMAP knows how to pander to the audience and get their votes. #kohaku
• This song definitely rests on a Beatles hook. #kohaku
• Why do they still let Nakai sing… Ouch… #kohaku
• Now who’s the jokester who made Kusanagi wear that ridiculous fur thing? #kohaku
• I do believe we have a winner for “hair of the night.” #kohaku
• Sachiko Kobayashi’s plastic surgeon-ed face freaks me out. #kohaku
• Nope, no yakuza ties whatsoever. #kohaku
• Now they have everyone in EXILE doing jazz hands. #kohaku
• My only wish when watching EXILE perform is that Takashi Okamura somehow pops up. #kohaku
• Based on the number of replies I’m now getting, it feels like I’m currently the last man standing in the #kohaku marathon. #imnumberone #not
• It’s not a #kohaku without the inclusion of a bubble machine somewhere in there.
• 2012 is about an hour away…
• Going to have to eat the soba soon, but so not hungry. But hey, sometimes, you just gotta eat your fucking soba!
• Is this what happens when enka goes disco? #kohaku
• Unbelievable that people actually still scream “Kiyoshi” at the chorus when he sings. #kohaku
• Mariachi fever, baby! #kohaku
• Seiko sure has a puffy face. #kohaku
• @cpalmieri: Kimura Takuya’s hair stylist channeling late 90′s Meg Ryan #NHK??
  Retweeted by Jean Snow
• Yeah, that’s absolutely Groovisions’ work. Looks cool, would love to have that as motion background. #kohaku
• Wow, I think the background animation is by Groovisions. #kohaku
• Junko Koshino kinda… scares me. #kohaku
• The background decor always has me thinking it’s the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. #kohaku
• The person who composed this next song is credited as QQ. #kohaku
• Arashi performance, powered by augmented reality. #kohaku
• @Johnny_Strategy: Kids extremely confused about akiko wada’s sexuality ?? #kohaku
  Retweeted by Jean Snow
• @cpalmieri: OK, Setsuden is officially over :P #NHK??
  Retweeted by Jean Snow
• Akiko Wada’s got a voice, that’s for sure. #kohaku
• Losing it right now watching Haranishi try to eat nabe with his bare hands. #waratteikenai
• Again, Waratte Ikenai counters #kohaku’s earthquake/tsunami sentimentality with hadaka geinin (naked comedians).
• Oops, I did my “Sunglasses at Night” joke too soon. #kohaku
• The camera panned to the Arashi boys watching on the sidelines, and they could barely hold their laughing. #kohaku
• She’s like the Michael Bay of #kohaku.
• Told ya! In the mouth of a dragon, yo! #kohaku
• I just know she’s going to transform into something. I know it. #kohaku
• Well, time to find out what kind of crazy contraption will back up Sachiko! #kohaku
• Wife is upset because she says the Japanese subs at the bottom of the screen are odd. #kohaku
• So, is she going to find a way to insert “Japan” or “Japanese” in every song? #kohaku
• The K-pop girls have definitely been out-legged now. #kohaku
• This is not your parents #kohaku.
• “Something about my cool, Japanese guy.” #kohaku
• Is this her idea of a Ray Charles impersonation? #kohaku
• “I wear my pearl glasses at night, so I can, so I can…” #kohaku
• OK, Gaga time. #kohaku
• Jackie Chan! #kohaku
• Lady Gaga is up after this dude in the glittery purple suit is finished. Can she possibly upstage him? #kohaku
• And from thoughts of Sendai, we switch to Waratte Ikenai, only to be greeted by Matsumoto’s bare ass, and his dick in a bag. #kohaku
• One of these girls has so much makeup on that it looks like a mask. #kohaku
• Props to the Arashi dude who’s actually playing the piano. #kohaku
• “(why?) why?” #kohaku
• Dude, wearing a fur collar is not very cool or hip. #kohaku
• Korean boys join the party too. #kohaku
• That was one hell of a crazy rotating camera shot around Kumi Koda. #kohaku
• God do I hate J-pop ballads… (Well, I hate pretty much all ballads, to be fair.) #kohaku
• clap #kohaku
• Every time I see Yuzu, I can’t help but think of Kuzu (Miyasako and Gussan), the parody group from the old Wannai TV show. #kohaku
• For those waiting for Gaga, she’s up in about 7 spots. #kohaku
• Go, go, Go Hiromi! #kohaku
• Rather, I should say that I appreciate that they are more womanly, instead of girly (like in J-pop groups). #kohaku
• I will say that I’m not opposed to the fact that all of these K-pop girl groups show a lot of leg. #kohaku
• “I’m Genie for your dream.” #kohaku
• The Korea invasion continues, next up Girls Generation. #kohaku
• Things you don’t do: Wear a suit jacket with the sleeves ripped off, with a fedora-like hat. #kohaku #tokio
• Next up, TOKIO, the “uncles” of Johnny’s Jimusho. #kohaku
• I do like their dancing, goes well with the music. Surprisingly, my wife has gotten into them lately, and does their dance around the house.
• Perfume time! #kohaku
• Whenever an earnest singer hits the stage, my wife has me switch the channel. Fair enough. #kohaku
• Bottom of my TV screen: la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la #kohaku
• They are pretty sexy, I’ll give ‘em that. #kohaku
• KARA in da hizzah, ass shake and all. #kohaku
• Fujiwara in that pink uniform with the skirt and hat really kills me. #waratteikenai
• The next big decision: Grab another beer, or switch to wine? Call 1-800-DRINKUP and vote now! #kohaku
• In the news, so many people send New Year messages through mobile that it clogs up the system, so providers asking to not do it.
• NHK news time now. Will be back shortly with more exciting coverage. #kohaku
• From 2channel, a new metric measure: 1 Hyde = 156cm. #kohaku
• I know there’s good intentions behind this montage and song, but the sentimentality is bringing me down. #kohaku
• For the record, I have been told that the NYC group is named after the names of the 3 boys (Nakayma, Yamada, and Chinen). #kohaku
• The dress the announcer is wearing now has a certain fish-like quality to it. #kohaku (Jean Snow’s fashion minute.)
• Love the back dancers too. #kohaku
• Oh, this is a great song. #kohaku
• It’s a funky dress, but looks a bit odd while playing an acoustic guitar. #kohaku
• I was just thinking I’d never seen Shiina Ringo on #kohaku, and it’s indeed her first appearance.
• Shiina Ringo! #kohaku
• Just learned that “blues” in Japanese is “buruusu.” And that’s one to grow on. #kohaku
• How could you not be OUT after that.
• Oh man, awesome Naomi and Kurosawa collaboration, doing Gaga on Waratte Ikenai.
• The new women’s soccer team uniform is purple with a pink stripe? Hmmm… #kohaku
• “Calling the fallen angel. Rolling on cold asphalt.” #kohaku
• L’Arc En Ciel are still a thing? #kohaku
• Prepared some chicken rice for my dog, so that he could partake in good food tonight too, but he’s upset because it’s too hot.
• That’s a big-ass flower arrangement. Big. Ass. #kohaku
• The 80s-like drama parody on Waratte Ikenai is making it hard to go back to #kohaku.
• Had to switch channel again because wife hates Pornograffiti. “Kao kirai.” #kohaku
• I’m trying to find a good insult for the current costume being worn, but I think it speaks for itself. #kohaku
• The Arashi leader obviously had first pick of pants color. #kohaku
• Time for another beer.
• I’ll say this, all these colors look great on HDTV. #kohaku
• I’m trying to understand the current enka singers hair. There’s something about that hair… #kohaku
• The AKB 48 girls in the background strategy is being used again. #kohaku
• Rasera, rasera, rase, rase, rasera… #kohaku
• Saburo Kitajima is apparently going to appear, which makes no fucking sense. The guy looks like he could in a KItano film. #kohaku.
• The question is, how many enka singers are going to make it to air this year, following the new “Yakuza ties” law. #kohaku
• Super famous Japanese actress in her 60s now in an SM suit, bullying the boys on Waratte Ikenai. Priceless.
• @clairtanaka: @jeansnow my six year-old just ran from the room: “I don’t enjoy this and I hate this!” #kohaku
  Retweeted by Jean Snow
• Waratte Ikenai channel flip. OUT. Hahahahaha… #kohaku
• Although having them dance with Papaya Suzuki and his ossan dancers is kinda… weird. #kohaku
• How do you make enka more palatable to the young uns? By having AKB 48 girls dance in the background. #kohaku
• They should just stick with the techno beat and skip the chorus. #kohaku
• OK, so right now there’s a band called AAA. #kohaku
• Is there anything more boring than the typical J-pop ballad? I don’t think so. #kohaku
• Oh man, the Matsumoto pic is the best.
• Switched to Waratte Ikenai for a sec. I’m totally OUT. #kohaku
• A song about “trying hard” from a band called Funky Monkey Babies feels odd. #kohaku
• What the hell happened to Kusanagi’s hair? #kohaku
• Goofy fucked up! #kohaku
• I can’t say anything too nasty about Arashi, or my wife will get upset. #kohaku
• It does come off as forced here though, especially with the awkward lip-syncing. #kohaku
• OK, I will not say anything bad about the little kids. “Maru Maru” has its charm. #kohaku
• Who says there’s no class system in Japan — it’s even color coordinated. #kohaku
• Does the medley as a thing still even exist in the West? #kohaku
• Holy fuck, that’s a lot of girls on one stage. #kohaku
• I wonder if it’s only in Japan that they put the lyrics on screen, so you can sing along karaoke style. #kohaku
• They are going to perform as 210 people. #kohaku
• AKB time. #kohaku
• Back now for… Flumpool. (No other comment necessary.) #kohaku
• Wife dislikes Angela Aki so much that we had to change the channel. #kohaku
• Oh, it’s the Japanese Tina Fey (Angela Aki). #kohaku
• I love NYC too much to be able to watch this group with a straight face. #kohaku
• I don’t really get why 3 effeminate boys equals NYC. Maybe I’m not supposed to. #kohaku
• Oh, next up is the group of 3 Japanese idols called — for no reason whatsoever — NYC! “We are city boys.” No, you’re not. #kohaku
• I could have done without those close-ups of Ayumi Hamasaki’s face. #kohaku
• D’oh, thought it was starting at 19:30, but it started 5 minutes ago. #kohaku
• As to why I suggested you unfollow me, it’s because you should expect a stream of drunken tweets tonight. A lot.
• You know, everyone has their tradition, I have mine, and it makes me happy — and that’s what counts, no? #adecadeplusandgoing
• As to why I never go out on NYE, I guess I’d just rather spend it at home with my wife and dog, and I like our shrine visit after midnight.
• To be clear, the show I really like is Waratte Ikenai (with Downtown), but we tape that, and watch #kohaku live, along with channel flipping
• And if you don’t know what I mean by #kohaku, here you go: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dha… Kinda looking forward to Gaga, actually.
• Got my food/booze, gonna wash up, and then don’t you know, it’s gonna be #kohaku time, and you know what that means (time to unfollow me).

Today I recorded episodes 42 and 43 of the Codex, which cover my favorite tracks and albums of 2011 — which I already listed in my “Favorite Media of 2011” post. There’s a bit of static when I talk, and I wonder if it relates to the fact that I shared the streaming link this time while I recorded — hopefully it won’t happen again.

Over the past month or two I’ve been occasionally stopping by the AQ office in Nishi-Azabu (either at lunch time, or after work) for a bit of card gaming with my friend Ryan, who is AQ’s resident graphic designer. For these sessions, we play either Warhammer: Invasion, or more frequently, Magic: The Gathering. It’s Magic that we’re playing in these photos — in their conference room. The photos were all taken by AQ’s Paul, using the Olloclip lens on his iPhone.

As I did last year — read it here — this is my list of favorite media for the year, which is basically me telling you what I obsessed over the most in 2011 (as far as I can remember, since it’s usually the case that some terrific things get forgotten by the end of the year). It’s not a “best of” list, I did not sample everything that came out this year, this is just something that I put together to remember what it was that I liked in a year, and I figure it can also act as a guide for some people who are looking for recommendations in various categories. I choose five items for each medium, which I list alphabetically (it’s rare that I can really choose one thing over the other), and then include a few honorable mentions.

Again, I don’t include books since I unfortunately don’t read enough of them (the vast majority of my reading time goes to the web, magazines, and comics). 

Favorite Games
This category is definitely one where I can choose an absolute favorite, and that would be Forza 4. Not only is it the game that I’ve spent the most time playing, I’ve become obsessed with it, and it turned me into a huge fan of the Top Gear TV series (see below). For the platform, I only list the one that I played the game on.

• Forza 4 (Xbox 360)
• Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony (Mac)
• L.A. Noire (PS3)
• Portal 2 (Xbox 360)
• Sideway: New York (PSN)
• Honorable Mentions: Back to the Future: The Game (Mac), Cave Story+ (Mac), Dead Space 2 (PS3), Dragon Age II (PS3), Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (PSN), Pinball FX 2 (the Marvel tables, XBLA), Saint’s Row: The Third (Xbox 360), Uncharted 3 (PS3)

Favorite Games (iOS)
As with last year, I’ve separated the iOS games, because as much as I do enjoy playing games on my iPhone and iPad, I’m afraid that for the most part they still would not fare well against my console selections. 

• Assassin’s Creed Recollection
• Bang!
• Elder Sign
• Kard Combat
• Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
• Honorable Mentions: Aquaria, Bug Princess, Jetpack Joyride, Neuroshima Hex, Shadow Era

Favorite Magazine Apps
Last year I didn’t include a magazine category because I felt like it would have been too difficult to narrow it down to five — and you can always follow my other site, The Magaziner, to see what I like in terms of magazines — but this year I do feel like these are the ones that I look forward to reading the most (and yes, it’s all digital, I don’t read much print these days). I should also add that these are not necessarily what I feel are the best magazines apps in terms of innovation and execution, but rather the ones I like because of content. I included the Izneo app, a digital platform mostly for French comics, because through I buy the weekly Le journal de Spirou.

• Bloomberg Businessweek
• Izneo
• Letter to Jane
• SPIN Play
• The New Yorker
• Honorable Mentions: GQ, Wired

Favorite TV Shows
Again this year, it’s the category I have a tough time keeping short, since there are quite a few series I really do enjoy. The most conspicuous addition, and to be honest, the series I enjoy watching the most these days, is Top Gear, and from the newest season I’ve been going back through seasons to watch more. I’ve never considered myself a car guy, or been particularly obsessed with cars, but there’s something about the way the show is filmed, and the humor found throughout, that has completely sucked me in — here’s a post I wrote a few months ago about all of this. You’ll also notice Glee, which I only started watching this fall — I found myself immediately addicted, rushing through the first 2 seasons and eventually getting caught up. What can I say, it makes me happy watching it. 

• Breaking Bad
• Game of Thrones
• Glee
• Louie
• Top Gear
• Honorable Mentions: Boardwalk Empire, Bored to Death, Community, Curb Your Enthusiasm, How to Make it in America, Justified, Luther, New Girl, Parks & Recreation, Sons of Anarchy

Favorite Movies
Since there are many films that haven’t reached digital/video yet, there’s still a lot I haven’t seen (like all the big December releases). I think I cheat a bit with some of the picks as well, as some of the honorable mentions may have been released in 2010. Most telling though is that my top 5 was composed of 4 documentaries before I saw the Tintin film today (and there are more in my honorable mentions). 

• Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest
• Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
• Drive
• Senna
• The Adventures of Tintin
• Honorable Mentions: Bill Cunningham New York, Bridesmaids, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Lemmy, Moneyball, Source Code

Favorite Albums
I had a really tough time here narrowing it down to five, and so many of the honorable mentions are probably all to be considered a “6.” Also, I will admit that the album that I really have enjoyed the most this year is Q-Tip’s The Renaissance, which came out in 2008 (but that I got into after watching the Tribe Called Quest documentary). I will do special episodes of the Codex and play all of this music (in this category, and the next).

• Days (Real Estate)
• James Blake (James Blake)
• Strange Mercy (St. Vincent)
• The Year of Hibernation (Youth Lagoon)
• Undun (The Roots)
• Honorable Mentions: David Comes to Life (Fucked Up), Let England Shake (PJ Harvey), Mirror Traffic (Stephen Malkmus), Shangri-La (YACHT), Torches (Foster the People), Underneath the Pine (Toro Y Moi), Wild Flag (Wild Flag)

Favorite Tracks
It wasn’t as easy to come up with this list as last year, since I’m a 100% Spotify user these days — last year I mostly looked at the play count in iTunes. But to help narrow it down I looked through the playlists of all of my Codex episodes, and came up with the following. 

• “England” (PJ Harvey)
• “Our Hearts Are Wrong” (Jessica Lea Mayfield)
• “Ravan” (Brasstronaut)
• “Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou)” (The Roots)
• “Video Games” (Lana Del Ray)
• Honorable Mentions: ”Audio, Video, Disco” (Justice), “Civilization” (Justice), ”Please Ask for Help” (Telekinesis), ”Tada no Tomodachi” (Salyu x Salyu), ”The Noose of Jah City” (King Krule)

Favorite Comics
I always find it difficult to really remember my fave reads of the year, but here are a few that I quite enjoyed. Also, I will say that my most enjoyable comics-related reading this year was going through the entire Tintin series, something I hadn’t done in years (probably in 2 decades). 

• Batman, Inc.
• Daytripper
• FF/Fantastic Four
• Mister Wonderful: A Love Story
• Northlanders
• Honorable Mentions: The Walking Dead, Punisher Max