Xi3 Piston is a Steambox, Also Ridiculous

The 'Steambox' has been a thing that we've heard about time and time again, but always in sort of vague terms and ideas, never really anything concrete.  Despite -a- Steambox (not 'the', which is an important distinction) being more or less firmly announced and priced and such, that....has not changed much surprisingly.  It's kind of astounding, really, the nebulous nature with which this whole idea has been approached, and it sort of makes sense on the Valve side of things, since they always kind of play things close to the vest, but for anyone else?  They really just don't have the clout or the weight behind them to just toss out a few things, slap a pricetag on it and expect the masses to roll in.  To do so is, honestly, kind of arrogant and foolish.

I say all that because, of course, it is pretty much what Xi3 has more or less done here.  The "Piston" modular computer that has been leveraged as a Steambox through a partnership with Valve has been sort of semi-announced for a little while now, but was put up for pre-order yesterday...for $999.  I would do the whole "US DOLLARS" thing, but let's face it, you already did that in your head when you read it and this is just making you do it again.  Possibly a third time since the first two times were just you making sure you read correctly.  You did.  For $1,000, you can have a tiny little computer meant specifically to interface with Steam and Big Picture Mode so you can run your Steam library through your TV in a way that is, presumably, comfortable.  It should look glorious too.  Well....maybe.

The thing I was saying before, about not really having many details to work off of, well, this is where that comes in.  We know how much the thing -costs-, but we don't know what's inside of it which is kind of the important thing, especially with a computer.  Especially if you're looking to pre-order a computer for some reason.  (The reason right now would be to knock $100 off the still-ridiculous price)  Yet, all that we readily know is that the standard model comes with a 128 Gig Solid State Drive (versus a traditional Hard Drive), 8 Gigs of RAM (that I assume is standard RAM, and not the flashy, awesome kind in the PS4) and a 3.2 Ghz Quad Core processor which -sounds- impressive if nothing else (since it probably isn't).  I don't really know what those things -mean-, per se, but I am told that it's not very impressive.  Combine that with the complete lack of Video Card disclosure, which I know -is- important for gaming, and the fact that if you want more storage space, 256 Gig and 512 Gig models are available for $1,339 and $1,749 respectively, and 'wary' is an understatement for what we should be feeling here.

Those are really all the specs we know about, or at least, the specs -I- could find.  The partnership link above had a little blurb about the specs, but it's a little suspect.

As we envision our new X7A Modular Computer, we see it powered by a new Quad-Core 64-bit, x86-based processor running at up to 3.2GHz, integrated with up to 384 graphics shader cores, and 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and able to handle graphics-rich computer games like Crysis 2 with ease. The X7A Modular Computer will also run 3 high-definition monitors simultaneously, has four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, four eSATAp ports, four USB 2.0 ports, a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port, and up to 1TB of super fast solid-state storage inside the chassis, making it perfect for gamers and power users alike. And yet the X7A Modular Computer will be housed in a chassis about the size of a softball (4.27x3.65x3.65-inches) and run on a mere 40Watts of electricity or less. We expect the X7A Modular Computer to begin shipping in early 2013 with a price starting at under $1,000. All within a chassis you can hold in the palm of your hand!

For one, that blurb is for the X7A Computer which is, apparently, a separate product.  I think.  The official Xi3 website is just a mess of rhetoric that doesn't really go into a whole lot of details about anything.  But the products area still lists an X7A where the pre-order page is for, specifically, the Piston PISTON Console.  As we have established, actually no model that they're selling offers 'up to' 1TB of SSD space (Not even like a super-premium $2,499 model) and the rest of that is things that they don't bother to tell anyone anywhere else.  I mean, perhaps I'm just calling dirty pool because of that, but without a spec-sheet anywhere I can't help -but- to do that.  Besides, as I said, my 'people who know computers' don't seem very impressed with what -is- definite, so I'm not quite sure what else could be inside of the PISTON to make it a 'powerhouse' that warrants that $999 pricetag.

The unfortunate thing about all this is that, as stated, this is -a- Steambox which I'm sure is already being depicted as the Steambox in some media outlets out there.  That's surely going to cause quite a bit of confusion since the official Valve Steambox is not even in a "public prototype" phase.  A lot of the draw of the concept is that it's something that will be easy to get into and be an alternative for folks that don't necessarily have computer know-how (like myself), but if there's going to be this kind of premium associated with it, then I (and others) will just continue to steer clear.  It puts Valve on an even more precarious position now since this $999 figure is out there for a device -like- the one they're making and even if Valve comes out with something that's decidedly more reasonable, cost-wise, this will still exist and thus be compared to it.  "Why is this so much more expensive if it does the same thing?" and the like.  From the proliferation of Apple products compared to cheaper, more sensible things that do the same thing, people don't really understand the whole concept of "cost versus value".

At the same time, it's hard to tell when the 'official' Steambox will even be out, and who knows what the market and climate will look like then.  It won't accommodate another $999 Steambox, assuredly, but I would think that something from Valve wouldn't come at that much of a premium.  But in terms of confidence and attitude, what with Xi3's efforts already out there, it could be a rough sell for those who don't voraciously serve the Newell.  I hope to have -something- in the form of a laptop that will play games by the time this will come out, at any rate, so either Steambox probably won't appeal to me, but it's always something to take a look out for, certainly.

Shit.

So.

Yesterday was shit.  Today was pretty shit as well.  Tomorrow might not be shit, but let's face it - it probably will be.

I've tried to stay positive and such and I lasted a long damn time, comparatively speaking, but I've just hit a wall and it's sucked the life out of me.  Hopefully, I'll be able to scrap together a little creativity and drive tomorrow to do a proper post, but I make no guarantees.

In the meantime, this is one of the handful of songs I've been using to try and get myself back in a good mood.  The jaunty bits of piano are really nice, while the song overall just feels fun and happy.  It helps.  It can't work miracles, but it can help.

So, yeah.  Sorry about that folks.

Project Happiness Has a Title - "Hometown Story"

So, do you guys remember 'Project Happiness'?

...What?  You don't?  But I...the posts..I..

Fine. 

No, really, fine, whatever.  I get it.

Anyways, what was once Project Happiness is now known by the official name "Hometown Story" and has a shiny new updated trailer above.  The trailer shows what is decidedly more "3DS-looking" gameplay and models and such which is appropriate of course, but other than that, not a whole lot has changed from its initial inception and announcement.  It still looks to be a game focused on you making your character a shopkeep, but also forging your own personal story by involving yourself with the locals and the like.  We still don't quite know specifics, but at the same time, the specifics are just going to be a few key points, like what we already have.  The rest of the game is just exploring those in-depth, ala Harvest Moon and its ilk, and that'll definitely be engaging enough of an experience to stretch across quite a while.

Something funny I'm seeing though is a lot of people going "Oh, this is ripping off Recettear" and deriding it for that.  Which is something that sort of happens -any- time something comes out and looks like something else, but especially so when there's few other examples of the ilk.  But there is something inherently amusing about decrying a game is 'copying' another game that the public wouldn't know anything about without the efforts of a three-person localization team.  Seriously, Recettear in its original form was released in Japan at the end of 2007, and it's only because these folks took an interest that it got released to the West over two years later.  To 'smashing' success for an indie game that's more to do with the tale behind it than the actual sales numbers for it.  Which is unfortunate, because it looks like a fantastic game and the localization is stellar, but of course it's not going to sell millions of copies, nor did it need to to be a success.

My point, of course, is that I'm pretty sure the guy who created Harvest Moon doesn't really need to 'rip off' Recettear.  Maybe he did.  We will never know for sure.  I just think the idea of Yasuhiro Wada taking a look at an indie game that was only released as a stepping stone to localize -other- games and going "Man, I need to get in on that action" is a silly one.  Of course, if that -is- what happened, then Carpe Fulgur should be proud!  It's only because of Recettear's enjoyable translation and script, I imagine, that made the game so accessible and sought out.  If this whole Shopkeep Simulation genre starts expanding a little more, than I would say it -could- be safe to say it's partly due to their efforts, but whether or not anyone is trying to 'rip off' Recettear will always be up in the air.  Unless someone, you know, -says- they were trying to do that.  Which nobody would do.

The thing I take away from all this, however, is just how funny it is that my focus on a 3DS has been ever-narrow even in the almost year that it's been since Hometown Story's announcement.  And I quote:

[...] but I can see this being yet another game that push me into finally buying a 3DS.  Of which there is now four, if this is one of those games.  And they're -all- games like this:  Animal Crossing, Rune Factory 4, and Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns, so needless to say, the 3DS will be my simulation fix device.

My list has only grown by -one- since then with the addition of Harvest Moon:  A New Beginning.  Sure, I -might- also pick up Fire Emblem as well, in fact it might be a guarantee, but I am certainly not awaiting it while gnashing my teeth.  As I have been with Rune Factory 4, if -nothing- else.  Hopefully, there are some titles out there that I have just been missing completely that will blind-side me with awesome, but I really doubt it.  Nintendo's First-Party efforts do not sparkle and twinkle tantalizingly (aside from, again, Fire Emblem which has a tepid shine to it for me), nor can I think of anything off-hand that I simply must have in the same way that I must have these simulation games.  My purchase of a 3DS XL is only a matter of time, however, likely towards E3 where I will see if there is any surprise announcement that might be of concern.  And then, well, I'll have a better foothold to find out if there are, indeed, any gems I have missed out on.  Until then, however, I still have five games to anticipate which is nothing to scoff at.

Birthday Post - Now With 100% More Tomb Raider

Today was a pretty good birthday.  I got to sleep in a bit, went off to pick up Tomb Raider and then had a nice lunch on the way home.  While I downloaded the DLC and the Day-One patch, presumably for said DLC, I entertained myself, said in the loosest way possible, with some Plants Vs. Zombies on my Vita.  It has fast become a game that I do not enjoy or have fun with, but tolerate because it doesn't make me angry except for the mini-games because the mini-games are diabolical ass.  Oh sure, limit what I can put down by only spoon-feeding me plants every other minute or so and oh all the zombies are invisible and come in the exact same timing as regular maps.  'Finicky' is not even the right word to begin describing that, nor will I be able to put a good word -on- it.

When I actually started playing Tomb Raider, however, I quickly became enamored with Crystal Dynamics' latest effort in the series.  While I'm not a veteran of the series in any fashion, I know -of- the series, and I can tell the stark departure this reboot takes while also still playing close to the roots of the franchise.  Yet for how different it is from what came before it, it's all at once familiar and comfortable because it retains those roots, as well as taking a few notes from games that may have taken notes from its former self and refined them into something much more refined.  Yes, I'm essentially saying that Tomb Raider takes from Uncharted which took from the original Tomb Raiders because, well, that's what happened.  Uncharted took the platforming and made it something spectacular and Tomb Raider says "Yes!  That is what we were trying to do!" and manages to do it now that it's a known quantity.  No matter the way it got there, it's resplendent and that shining brilliance elevates the entire game with it.

I won't get too far in-depth in my praise, as I want to save some for later, and my impressions are only based on a small chunk of the game.  Suffice to say, however, that I'm having quite a bit of fun with it and I do believe that it will prove to be a worthy birthday gift to myself.

Whether or not it can top the birthday gift of this ultra-comfortable new computer chair I have has yet to be seen, though it will be a hard-fought battle.  Because it is not just any chair, but what is called an Executive Chair, and yes, it's as swank as it sounds.  It is quite comfortable, as stated, and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if I find myself asleep in it one night because it is -that- accommodating.  It was a surprise in every facet of the word as, in no way, would I have ever expected to receive a computer chair for my birthday, but at the same time, it's quite the perfect gift, seeing as I find myself here a lot lately, what with the writing here and the short story stuff.  Which is going to end up not being very short at all, I believe. 

So, all in all, it was a pretty good birthday.  Pleasant surprises and affirmations all around and while it could've been better in -some- personal regards, it was as good as it's going to get these days.  So I'll take that happily and move on to the next day which will hopefully be good as well.  With that, though, I'm off to break in this chair with some more youtube watching for maximum comfort.

Music! Metal Gear Rising: REVENGEANCE Edition (For Real This Time)

In the middle of my third playthrough of REVENGEANCE, I've finally come to the realization that it's not only Mistral's Theme that I'm a fan of, but rather the entire soundtrack, now that I've heard it so many times.  It's not a fondness through repetition, nor was it something that is particularly catchy - It's simply that after hearing the tracks enough times, I could pin it down.  When you find yourself humming along with it, or timing your movements to certain parts of the song, well, yeah, you know it well enough.  That I'm listening to them outside of the game is probably proof-positive enough that I enjoy them, I would say.  Especially considering the versions I'm using require more than just listening to the soundtrack I got (since mine was just the instrumentals).

I didn't exactly plan it this way and it is technically a slight spoiler to sort of...state things this way, but I'm going ahead with it.  Of the three remaining boss fights (of the core group anyway, not counting the final bosses, you know the drill), I ended up sort of ranking them, and wouldn't you know it?  I like them in the exact order through which they come up.  Beyond my above-and-beyond enjoyment of "A Stranger I Remain", of course, which is outside of this post anyway, so no worries.  That said the first song of tonight is "The Stains of Time", which is Monsoon's theme, the second member of the 'Winds of Destruction'.  (Mistral being the first)

I'm just using the Remixed versions of every song since, given they're the closest we have to 'Official' as I ranted about, it's just the easiest way about things.  I've noticed that, compared to Mistral, not a whole lot is lost in the three remixes for tonight which is comforting even if they are still way too short by their very nature.  It's hard to really pin down -what- I like about "The Stains of Time", but if anything, I'd have to guess the guitar, because let's be honest, it is pretty damn kickin'.  The vocals are delivered well and fit the song pretty nicely, while the lyrics are actually pretty good as well.  The chorus being the best part of it all, if only for the punctuated delivery you get.  That would be the part of this song I tried to synch things up with when I was fighting Monsoon, but, well, that didn't happen.  Still was fun trying, though!

After the Monsoon fight, actually quite a while after, you end up fighting Sundowner who is the first member of the Winds of Destruction that you're introduced to in the game.  For good reason too, as he's actually the leader of the three of them. Presumably their basic cyborgs as well, but mostly the three of them.  (Mistral, Monsoon and Sundowner).  There's some codec conversations in the game that describe their theme and their name origins which, of course, all have to do with winds and specific regions.  Sundowner, specifically, is some type of wind condition in California or something - honestly it's interesting in the game, but I can't retain that sort of thing.  Still, nice that they put some thought behind it.  Continuing his little theme with 'sun', his theme is titled "Red Sun".

Not gonna lie; the vocals of this song are really what drew me into it.  The opening riff is nice, but it doesn't carry very far into the song.  When it ends, though, the vocals pretty much kick in right then and I didn't even really pay attention to the lyrics the first few times I really started listening to it.  When I did, though....it's almost kind of silly how out of place the lyrics -are-, in a sense.  When you play REVENGEANCE for yourself (and you damn well better if you haven't already) and are in scenes with Sundowner and eventually fighting him, remember that "Only love is with us now, something warm and pure / find the peace within ourselves, no need for a cure" is part of his official theme.  And then hold your head like a Psyduck and get back to enjoying the game.

The last video tonight is the theme of Jetstream Sam who is probably the most featured bad guy in all of the trailers that have been shown for the game.  With good reason - Sam is pretty much awesome, even though is is a bad dude.  Now, I know I said there were only three members of the Winds of Destruction and they all had Wind-themed names and yes, Sam has a wind-themed name, but he's not an official member.  He's just sort of working with them for the bigger picture in REVENGEANCE which I am not going to say anymore about because spoilers and I've spoiled enough as it is.  Still, Sam's theme might actually be my favorite of all four now, and I don't want to stall anymore.  So without further stalling "The Only Thing I Know For Real".

I....am pretty certain that I don't have to explain why I like this song.  Nor do I have to point out what there is to like about it.  I will do the latter point, however, and tell you what is great about the song:

Everything.

There's a really interesting sort of fusion feeling behind it, with the 'whistles' you get that are reminiscent of Samurai duels and the like, along with the rockin' guitar and such.  Which, funnily enough?  There is a reason for it that's openly given in the game in several different ways.  And it is similarly pretty awesome.  When you actually get to hear it in-game, it cranks up the intensity to 11 and makes it one of the more memorable sections.  All of this is purposefully said to entice you to play/buy the game, of course, so please do that.  In droves.  Because I want Metal Gear Rising 2:  RE-REVENGEANCE.  So do you.  But mostly me.

There are other songs on the soundtrack that are equally worth a listen, but these are pretty much the most important ones, by virtue of being the boss themes, so that they're awesome is good.  Quite good.  And really, that's all I wanted to convey.

Grumble Grumble Raaaaaaage

So, ever since my Twitter gadget broke and I had absolutely no recourse but to remove it, which annoys me to no end still, I've been a little annoyed with things on Blogger.  Yes, I realize the Twitter gadget I was using was third-party, so Google technically has no need to assist in fixing it or even assure that it works.  Yes, I realize it is a very small thing and yes, I realize that I can probably find one that works beyond the list of gadgets that blogger 'supports' in the "More Gadgets" tab when you're looking to add a new gadget in the whole layout thing.  The thing is, it's fucking Twitter.  It shouldn't be a goddamn issue to imbed Twitter in my goddamn blog because social networking is fucking everywhere and especially Twitter is everywhere.  Everyone uses Twitter.  Hell Chance is even on Twitter!  That they can't have a third-party relationship that is enough for an 'official' gadget is just baffling.

But, you know, whatever.  That's a thing, it's not acceptable, but it is since there is technically some measure of it being out of respective hands.  I don't like it, but I understand.

What isn't acceptable, however, is when one of the official Blogger gadgets isn't working.  And especially not when all it is is a fucking custom search bar gadget when Blogger is owned by fucking Google.  This is an entire level of absurdity that I would never imagine in my wildest suggestions or ideas because this is elementary shit right here.

Go ahead.  Give it a shot.  The little gadget on the side that says "Big Enough to Need This Now" because my blog has over 700 posts now and damned if I'm going to search through them all when I need to find something I've referenced in the past is the one that I'm talking of.  You type in anything, "review", "Playstation", "Yakuza" anything that you know I've talked about before or anything and hit enter and it always comes back "No results found." for what is, and I'm being truthful here, no damn reason.  It has effectively become as useless as the Twitter gadget before it 'officially' broke in that -now- you can't even add it back as an element anymore, but before that, it was just a fancy "Follow me" button.  Which, coincidentally, they don't even offer that in the third party gadgets.  (Well, there is one Twitter gadget that has a few revisions....in spanish.  I think.)

Thank God there's three individual Google+ gadgets, though.  Don't know what we would do without those.

My only real line of thinking here is that perhaps it's not working because I have not update the layout in a while and I do believe that Blogger was pushing new templates -hard- a while ago, if only because I think I remember Chance talking about changing his up.  But I don't quite remember if he changed to something even newer than -mine- since his was...obviously before mine, or if he's using one of the same templates I had to pick from.  I would assume the former, given that his search bar works just fine, whereas mine....doesn't, but I really doubt that would be why.  All I really know, obviously, is that it's not fucking working and that's really bothersome.  So bothersome that it was really the only thing I could think about tonight.

So...there's that.  Raaaaaaage and all that.

Why Won't They Make These - Alternate Canon Games

Whenever I use the term 'alternate canon', people seem to have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, even though it's sort of a self-explanatory concept.  Perhaps I'm using the wrong term, or perhaps it's a symptom of what I'm expressing here tonight in that not enough games out there properly utilize the idea.  Which, honestly kind of surprises me since not only is it a very versatile prospect by its own nature, but also because it allows creativity to sort of go wild since, well, if it goes off-rails "hey, it's not actually canon".  Perhaps I'm simply under-estimating just how attached people can get to the established and the expectations that come with that, but at the same time, alternate canon is something that celebrates the first part, while also taking the second into consideration, in a sense.

I suppose I should explain just what I mean when I say "Alternate Canon", since it's going to be a thing I bring up a lot in the post here tonight.  "Alternate Canon" is a game wherein it takes something established and drives it into a different direction than what you might expect.  Not a reboot, not a re-imaging, not 'a spiritual successor' or any of those types of things.  Just a story where something drastic happens that causes the established canon to forge a new route that is its own story and not necessarily that of the actual story on which it started from.  Pictured above is Yakuza:  Dead Souls which is the quintessential example that I can think of for this type of thing.

Yakuza:  Dead Souls takes place a year after Yakuza 4 resolves (I believe, that's kind of Sega's thing with the Yakuza games) and introduces a zombie epidemic to the otherwise simple, crime-ridden streets of Kamurocho.  It's all done in a way that, well, actually fits the series staples of story-telling and the already-established characters of the Yakuza 'world' as it were, react as only they could to the whole situation.  It is, in every sense of the word, a continuation of the established canon except for the part where zombies destroy Kamurocho and everyone has to scramble because of it and a lot of people die.  This is kind of obvious, but the existence of Yakuza 5 with a not-destroyed Kamurocho is proof enough that Yakuza still has an existing canon that runs directly into Yakuza 5, but Dead Souls sort of runs parallel along 5 now, as it is -also- a sequel to 4.

Let's take a look at Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE.  It is a direct continuation of Metal Gear Solid 4 which is a direct continuation of the rest of the Metal Gear games.  Even though REVENGEANCE itself doesn't exactly take a lot from the rest of the series, what it does take is rather undeniable and it is, of course, canon.  Let's all forget for a moment that we think we know what Metal Gear Solid 5 is going to be and pretend that Metal Gear Solid 5 takes place directly after 4.  In it, we play as Raiden who has opted out of his cyborg enhancements to simple robot prosthetics that bind to a sneaking suit.  In a return to form, this game would then be stealth-focused and take place in the events following 4's ending.  Now, this will not happen, nor should it, but I introduced it as an idea for a very deliberate reason.

If the above played out, we would then have two established Raidens, basically, where they are both part of Metal Gear Solid canon.  Being that the new game has '5' at the end, it would be labeled as official canon where REVENGEANCE would then be titled incorrectly as a spin-off.  Only, in my little fantasy world, Metal Gear Rising 2:  REVENGEANCE HARDER is also announced, continuing after the events of the REVENGEANCE which is, by extension, a continuation of Metal Gear Solid canon.  Therefore, we now have two storylines.  Alternate canon.  This is the kind of thing I'm talking about and, aside from the fact that MGS5 will probably be a lot cooler than a game where you play Sneaking Raiden again, it's not a bad situation to imagine.

I am deliberately not using the word 'spin-off' here because spin-off has something of a negative connotation when you're talking about story-related matters.  When you talk about a spin-off to someone, you say "It's just a spin-off, don't worry about the story", which immediately dismisses it.  Going back to Metal Gear for a moment with Ac!d, which is very much a spin-off and not Alternate Canon, since Snake in it is a very, very different character.  Ac!d's story is then self-contained and only important to both Ac!d games, which is why it's a spin-off.  They are very, very different things, even well-outside the realm of pedantry.

Another not quite perfect example would be the announced "Tyranny of King Washington" DLC for Assassin's Creed 3.  From what I've been lead to believe, not only does the mini-story tell of an entirely different historic setting in which George Washington doesn't go along with the whole "President" idea and instead becomes King of America, but it takes a different approach with the actual Assassin's Creed story.  While using, presumably, the same build-up, the DLC tells of a Connor who does not join the Assassin order, yet history as we know it remains more or less unchanged....until Washington crowns himself King.  As a Warrior of his tribe, not an Assassin, Connor rises up with the goal of overthrowing the tyrant King of America.  While I'm loathe to call it a continuation of AC3 since, apparently, AC3 just didn't happen for the events of The Tyranny of King Washington to take place, it runs along a lot of the same lines, so I'm pretty sure you're getting where I'm coming from.

While this is a bit spoiler-y, it is also the best example of just what I'm talking about, so I unfortunately have to bring it up, but in a way that will spoil as little as possible.  Now, a search of this blog will turn up the fact that I really really like Drakengard.  A secondary search of this blog will also turn up the fact that I really really really like Nier.  Now, not only are these two games made by the same developer (Now-Defunct Cavia, RIP) with the same director, which is apparently -very- important, but Nier is actually a sequel to Drakengard.  Now, notice that I said 'a sequel'.  Remind yourselves, for the moment, that Drakengard 2 is a thing that exists and is, also, a sequel to Drakengard, as the 2 would suggest.  How is this possible, you might wonder.

Drakengard, in a sense, has two different story-lines that are covered over five different endings.  Ending A is the 'canon' ending from which the unholiness that Drakengard 2 (with a different director) spawned from, whereas Endings B-E unfold in an entirely different way that sort of build off of each other while also ending up quite different in their own rights.  Essentially, the characters, the story bits that don't have anything to do with the -specifics- of Endings B, C and D, are all canon to Ending E.  Where Drakengard 2 is a sequel to Ending A, Nier is a sequel to Ending E.  It's not said -quite- so explicitly in the game, and requires a little dot-connecting, but it -is- intended, and it -is- 'canon'.  So, in effect, Drakengard is my perfect example of "Alternate Canon" which is kind of what this whole thing was about.  Being that Nier was friggin' fantastic, it sort of shows that the idea has merit of use.

While I don't think it's ever really going to become a thing that's done a lot, I -would- like to exist in a world where I can come up with more than two and a half examples of Alternate Canon as I see it.  It might have a too-strict set of guidelines, and it's hard to actually support two storylines in a single franchise, but when such a thing is executed well, it's phenomenal.  If you need an example of that, perhaps you really need to re-introduce yourself to Legacy of Kain.  Immediately.  It's an entirely different thing than what I've been talking about all night, but it does that whole 'two storylines' thing wonderfully and is similarly something that I'm bewildered hasn't become a thing in the time since.  That, however, is a subject for a different night.