關於 michael behind the name ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

#葉郎每日讀報 #一週大事版
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「辛勤工作的美國民眾絕對沒道理
比 Amazon 或 Netflix 繳更多所得稅」
—— Joe Biden
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龐德電影延期、各國電影院再度因為封城陸續關閉、一家獨大的Netflix開始用漲價迎接這個嚴峻的冬天......後天美國總統大選結束後，好萊塢能期待新政府像動作電影中的英雄一樣瞬間扭轉局勢嗎？

Sean Connery 在睡夢中過世
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初代 James Bond 演員 Sean Connery 昨天傳出在睡夢中過世於長年隱居的巴哈馬家中，享年90歲。

Connery 曾以《The Untouchables 鐵面無私》獲得奧斯卡最佳男配角，同時還得過3座金球獎和2座英國影藝學院獎。龐德小說原作者 Ian Fleming 和龐德電影製作人 Albert Broccoli 一開始都不認為 Sean Connery 是他們心目中的 James Bond 最佳人選。出身蘇格蘭藍領的Sean Connery 和小說中貴族氣味滿滿的 Bond 不全然符合。最後是Broccoli 的妻子注意到了 Connery 那種游離於不羈野性和優雅舉止之間的性吸引力，大力向丈夫遊說由他出演 Bond。

龐德電影的經典台詞"The name’s Bond ... James Bond"實際上出自 Connery 的現場即興。他不喜歡劇本中平鋪直述的 "My name is James Bond" 這句台詞，於是說服導演讓他即興試了幾次，終於找到那個魅力十足的句中停頓。

Sean Connery 不僅催生了「動作英雄」這個概念，更讓這個概念隨著他的年齡增長而不斷翻修定義。因為他60歲以後仍繼續接演《Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 聖戰奇兵》、《The Hunt for Red October 獵殺紅色十月》、《The Rock 絕地任務》等冒險動作電影並持續獲得觀眾喜愛，為日後的中老年動作英雄 Liam Neeson 和 Bruce Willis 等男星大幅延長了職業生涯。

2003年的漫畫超級英雄電影《The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 天降奇兵》狼狽的拍攝過程和慘不忍睹的成品使 Sean Connery 痛下決心退休，從此不再接演任何一部電影。出身藍領的他原本不熟悉高爾夫球這種上流運動，但因為《Goldenfinger 金手指》的劇情需要開始學打高爾夫後立刻一試成主顧，立刻搬到西班牙渡假勝地馬貝拉的高爾夫球場旁，每天起床第一件事就是去打高爾夫球，直到後來因為與當地媒體和官員的種種不快，才忍痛搬離住了20年的西班牙。晚近則隱居於多部龐德電影取景的加勒比海島國巴哈馬（附帶一提，James Bond 這個角色同樣也誕生於加勒比海上、作家 Ian Flemin 從二戰中退休後隱居的牙買加渡假小屋黃金眼莊園中）。

Connery 過世的消息傳出後，很快也要卸任 James Bond 的男星 Daniel Craig 在 Twitter 上發文表示：「無論他現在去了哪裡，我衷心希望那兒有高爾夫可以打。」

Albert Broccoli 的女兒、現任龐德電影製片 Barbara Broccoli 則發初悼詞，表示人們將永遠記得他是最原味的James Bond，因為正是他那句"The name’s Bond ... James Bond"將龐德系列電影帶進電影史的舞台。

Sean Connery 告別人生舞台的時機十分微妙，因為那個由他開啟的龐德電影宇宙正因為2020年的新冠病毒疫情而陷入生死交戰的存在危機......


老闆，這部龐德電影怎麼賣
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上週盛傳 MGM 可能以6億美元將一直延後上映的最新龐德電影《No Time to Die 007：生死交戰》賣給 Apple TV+ 或是 Netflix。這週有更多的細節被各家媒體披露：

MGM 確切開始兜售的時間點應該是最近一次決定延後上映前，也就是說該公司當時準備從「再延後一次」和「直接賣給串流」兩個方案中選擇一個最有利方案，而顯然「賣給串流」的方案最後出局了。

出局的理由是價格談不攏。目前傳出確實參與《007：生死交戰》詢價的買方有 Apple 和 Netflix。而最迫切需要一部招牌大片來提振市佔率的 Apple TV+ 據說真的出價了。問題在於 MGM 原先期待的價格落在 6～8.5億美元之間，然而 Apple 只願意以 3.5~4億美元左右的價格購買一年的授權。

雖然傳出 Netflix 也曾參與購買《007：生死交戰》的磋商，但多數媒體和產業專家認為 Netflix 應該只是純逛逛看看、沒有打算出手，因為他們完全沒有必要買一部龐德電影。他們的串流版圖沒有這個缺口，除非他們打算買電影院開始經營實體發行通路，才有可能對《007：生死交戰》有需求。Hollywood Reprter 報導中來自 Netflix 高層的私下意見也坦承這樁生意根本不值得，與其花幾億買一部只能熱門一次的昂貴電影，對 Netflix 來說倒不如去開發屬於自己的原創動作電影或節目，還能長期持有IP。比如 Michael Bay 導演在該平台上大受歡迎的 Netflix 原創電影《6 Underground 鬼影特攻：以暴制暴》。

許多人的疑問是憑甚麼一部龐德電影定價可以喊到8.5億美元這麼高？

依據 Hollywood Reprter 估算，扣除各種來自地方政府的稅點獎勵，《007：生死交戰》全片造價是2.5億美元。而且兩度延期的該片預估已經至少支出5千萬美元的行銷預算。此外，他們還必須支付授權費給最早擁有龐德電影版權的 United Artist（目前是MGM的子公司），也必須補償費用給原本預計在國際市場發行該片的 Universal Pictures 以及負責美國市場發行的 Annapurna Pictures 。最後還有導演和幾位主角合約條款中的分紅必須打理。加上MGM 自己對該片的票房預估是以2012年的《Skyfall 007：空降危機》為標準，希望可以在電影院賣得10億美元的票房。這些都是價格壓不下來的理由。

好萊塢片廠今年最大的挑戰都是金流，因為昂貴的投資現在都卡在庫房裡沒有辦法上映，每一天都增加額外的資金成本。消息來源指出《007：生死交戰》的膠卷（硬碟？）躺在庫房裡的每一個月，就會替 MGM 額外增加大約100萬美元的利息負擔。最近一次宣佈延後上映之後，S&P 隨即把 MGM 的評等調降為B，認為該公司未來12個月內現金流狀況都會非常貧弱。

過去 MGM 都會委由比如 Sony 這樣的大片廠來發行龐德電影，因為那樣的大片廠有更好的團隊和know-how可以應付這種不是普通人可以扛得起來的大片。但 Sony 合約到期後，MGM 突發奇想地拒絕了 Sony 的續約和來自其他大片廠的提案，而接受了規模比自己更小的 Annapurna Pictures 的提議，以子公司 United Artist 的名義共同成立一個全新的發行團隊處理《007：生死交戰》的美國發行（國際發行則交給了 Universal）。這個衝動的決定造成了今日 MGM 坐困愁城的下場。Variety 說許多業界人士認為如果還是像 Sony 這樣的大片廠來負責龐德電影的發行，至少應對起今日的產業風暴還不至於那麼手足無措。

除了價格談不攏之外，賣給串流破局的另一個關鍵理由是：《007：生死交戰》能不能賣不是 MGM 一個人說了算。龐德版權的真正主人——製片公司 EON 也必須點頭同意。已故龐德電影製片 Albert Broccoli 的女兒 Barbara Broccoli 是支持電影院體驗的老派電影人，據說求售的事她事先不知情，事後也已表達反對。就算 MGM 索性打包整門龐德電影宇宙賣給其他更有想像力的片廠，買方即使提出什麼延伸宇宙的電視節目或串流構想，仍必須過得了守門員 Barbara Broccoli 這一關。這些背後的限制，或許才是龐德真正的生死危機。

當然也有人認為好險沒賣成。Forbes 認為賣給串流這個動作可能毀了一整家片廠。龐德電影是 MGM 這家老片廠唯一的台柱，除了過去因為擁有《The Hobbit 哈比人》的版權（原屬於另一家和 MGM 合併的老片廠 UA）而和 New Line 合作了哈比人系列電影之外，幾乎完全仰賴龐德這位英國公務員的收入養家活口。除了獨力養活一個片廠之外，龐德電影的另外一個奇蹟是可以靠置入性行銷幾乎完全回收拍攝成本。問題在於《007: 生死交戰》的贊助商當初買的是大銀幕和杜比音響的壯觀體驗，而非你家42吋雜牌電視的體驗。

萬一這次真的跳過上映直上串流，MGM 很可能將會在下一次（正好也是新龐德上任的第一部）得到報應：他們將再也無法說服消費者龐德電影是無可取代的電影院體驗，也再也無法說服贊助商那個大銀幕上的汽車、手錶、啤酒都會得到最有商業價值的注目。如果龐德系列電影毀了，欠缺大片IP的 MGM 也凶多吉少。

錯過了串流的機會，是福是禍還說不準。說不定他們終有一天會發現小螢幕才是龐德電影真正的天命所在（轉頭看星戰宇宙的《The Mandalorian 曼達洛人》）。

大選後好萊塢會發生什麼事
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2020年美國總統大選倒數最後一週，好萊塢名人傾巢而出為各自屬意的候選人拉票。連過去從來不授權歌曲給政治人物的 Taylor Swift 也首開先例將她的歌曲〈Only the Young〉授權給支持 Biden 的政治行動委員會用在廣告中。

多個好萊塢工會組織，包含編劇工會、電影演員工會、服裝設計工會、IATSE 劇場及影視工作者聯合會都把握最後關頭，鎖定還未投票的會員催促他們務必參與投票。雖然各工會並沒有替特定候選人背書，但各有其長期推動的政策遊說立場。

2020年好萊塢面臨史無前例的產業危機，他們能期待三天後的選舉結果替他們帶來什麼轉機嗎？

因為 Trump 並沒有提出第二任會有相關影視產業政策的改變或推進，所以連任之後好萊塢面臨的狀況很可能跟選前沒有太大差異。

另一個可能是萬一 Biden 勝出的話，Variety 綜合了各方專業意見提供了以下的預測：

1.製片們期待 Biden 當選之後的聯邦政府能夠比 Trump 更積極應對疫情，而不是像現在那樣讓各州自求生路。美國疫情如能受到受到控制，好萊塢目前受到的成本暴漲的壓力才有機會緩解。

2.一般預測 Biden 政府將會把聯邦的資源通通集中在防疫這個第一優先事項上，製片們也因而期待政府可以提供更容易取得的篩檢、口罩和其他防疫裝備，讓好萊塢更容易重啟運作。有些製片則期待新政府能夠想辦法解決劇組難以取得保險的問題，讓聯邦政府資源當靠山，以使劇組可以重新上路拍攝。

3.處於休克狀況的電影院透過 NATO 電影院經營者協會的遊說，始終無法獲得他們索求的紓困，因為國會通過的紓困方嚴格限制必須是中小企業才符合資格。NATO 期待選後有機會改變情勢以便拿到救命的紓困免於倒閉，但前提是民主黨必須在大選中拿回國會的主導權。不過謹慎的 NATO 仍然不願押寶特定一方，持續進行兩黨的遊說。

5.對好萊塢企業來說，Biden 當選的壞處是他立誓要將被 Trump 大幅調降的稅率再調回來。另一個風險是 Trump 任內大方給予影視產業的各種優惠稅率也可能要密切注意新政府對這些租稅優惠政策的態度。現在很難預測 Biden 政見中各種提高稅率的主張在上台之後會多快實施，畢竟眼前第一優先應該是避免經濟繼續受到疫情傷害。

6.關於企業併購，Trump 政府基本態度其實是友善的，只要交易不涉及 Trump 討厭的媒體通常很容易獲得核准。Biden 政府預計會對企業併購的反壟斷審查持更嚴謹檢驗的態度，對於疫情後的好萊塢整合會增加變數。

7.至於美中之間的貿易緊張，多數專家認為整體情勢已經沒有回頭路，不論誰當選都會持續與中國之間的各種拉鋸。對片廠來說，美中關係的不確定性將使他們慢慢失去這個全球第二大（實際上最近已經成為第一大）電影市場。另一方面，中國本土電影在質量上的快速崛起也在加速使中國觀眾和好萊塢電影越走越遠。

最後一個好萊塢的好消息是 Biden 多次強力批判美國科技巨頭繳稅太少，昨天還特地在 Twitter 上發文說：「說得更明確一點：辛勤工作的美國民眾絕對沒道理比 Amazon 或 Netflix 繳更多所得稅。是時候該讓這些大企業付出應有的代價了。」

萬一 Biden 當選極可能增加這些科技巨頭的稅賦負擔的方式，也因此會替好萊塢傳統片廠絆住 Netfix 這隻巨獸以及還沒對好萊塢構成威脅但財務實力雄厚的 Amazon，讓他們在2020劇變之後喘息幾天......


｜新聞出處｜

Sean Connery Dies: He Invented the Action Hero and Embodied the ’60s Sexual Revolution（https://bit.ly/3mLGp5z）

Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan & ‘James Bond’ Producers Remember Sean Connery: “He Helped Create the Modern Blockbuster”（https://bit.ly/32jg3jF）

Behind MGM's Apple Overture: How Much Is a Bond Movie Worth?（https://bit.ly/3mrM7cz）

Breaking Down MGM’s Costly ‘No Time to Die’ Dilemma（https://bit.ly/34Jj8Ll）

Selling ‘No Time To Die’ To Streaming Would Devalue Future James Bond Movies（https://bit.ly/386tk2J）

Showbiz Activists Make Final Push In Remaining Days Of 2020 Election（https://bit.ly/320P8Jd）

What’s at Stake for Hollywood in the Presidential Election?（https://bit.ly/35R0aBP）

Joe Biden Slams Netflix & Amazon On Taxes, Again（https://bit.ly/37ZVSKV）

*This giveaway has ended. Congrats to Adeline Leong May May, Joanne Yeo and Geraldine Lim MH for winning! Pls DM me asap with your contact number, email and full name for ticket collection and I'll see you on Sunday!*

{Giveaway} Hola! Here's your chance to win 4 x Movie Tickets to the preview of Dora and The Lost City of Gold + 1 x Scratch Map Poster + 1 x Compass with Charm.

My kids grew up watching, reading and loving all of Dora's adventures so we can't wait to catch the show on the big screen. We heard it's going to be filled with non-stop action, mysteries, suspense, thrills, laughs and a great lesson on friendship. All of us, from the 3-year-old to the 40-year-old, are feeling excited and even the hubby said "I feel like I know Dora so well already". We are definitely eager to see what adventure the 16-year-old Dora will bring us on in her debut movie. Vámonos!

Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, nothing could prepare Dora (Isabela Moner) for her most dangerous adventure ever – High School. Always the explorer, Dora quickly finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), Diego (Jeff Wahlberg), a mysterious jungle inhabitant (Eugenio Derbez), and a rag tag group of teens on a live-action adventure to save her parents (Eva Longoria, Michael Peña) and solve the impossible mystery behind a lost city of gold.

Movie Preview
Date: 25 August (Sun)
Venue: Golden Village Suntec City
Time: 1.30pm onwards (redemption begins at 12.45pm)

To join the giveaway,
1) Like A Happy Mum and United International Pictures Singapore.
2) Like and share this post.
3) Leave a comment on why you/your kids love Dora and tag 3 friends who would love to watch the show too.

I have THREE sets to give away here and another TWO sets on Instagram, so hop over to my IG @ahappymum now for another chance to win. This giveaway ends on 22 Aug 2359hrs and is open to all readers residing in SG. It is in no way endorsed or affiliated with Facebook. Good luck, people, and Adiós!

Dora and The Lost City of Gold will be in cinemas on 29 August. For the full official trailer, go to https://youtu.be/Ejhr_1yU4Z0. Movie is rated PG - Some Intense Sequences. Copyright: © 2019 Paramount Players, a Division of Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

#ahappymum #doraandthelostcityofgold #doramovie #unitedinternationalpictures

"橫尾先生你傾向於在你的遊戲中有個悲傷的結局（除了《尼爾 自動人形》），這是為什麼呢？

橫尾：我想啊，玩家在遊戲中的旅程中殺了那麼多的敵人，但自己卻迎來了一個Happy Ending，這很奇怪，所以我之前遊戲的主角都有著不幸的結局，我覺得對他們來說有個Happy Ending是不對的。

不過對《尼爾 自動人形》來說，對2B和9S來說，從被給予生命，他們殺了很多人，但也被自己殺了很多，很多次，有著無數次的輪迴。我認為這已經把他們殺死敵人的罪給贖了，幸福結局對他們兩個來說更合適一些。"

【尼爾：自動人形】是好遊戲，2B很可愛～

Talking To Yoko Taro, PlatinumGames' Takahisa Taura, And Composer Keiichi Okabe About Life, Death, And Opportunity

This interview with《Nier: Automata》director Yoko Taro and PlatinumGames' designer Takahisa Taura was first conducted in March of this year. Square Enix then offered gameinformer another chance to talk with Taro again, this time with Keiichi Okabe to speak more about the game's creation, music, and design philosophies and we are taking this opportunity to combine both until-now unpublished interviews together.

At the start of the first interview, Taro Yoko, whose pen name is appropriately Yoko Taro, was surprisingly quiet. He took a gulp from a bottle of Diet Pepsi and looked me straight in the eye to say something. I myself looked to the translator, who laughed at whatever Yoko said. She began "Yoko-san wants you to write about how expensive the food and drinks are here, if you can. He says it's way too much."

[The following interview contains some spoilers for Nier: Automata, including the game's final ending.]

With Nier: Automata, you guys won a Game Developer Conference award. How do you feel about that?

Yoko: We heard it was a user's choice award where the players themselves select the winners, so I'm just really happy that the players have selected our game for winning the award.

How did PlatinumGames and Yoko-san first meet on Nier? Why did you decide on that project versus something like another Drakengard or a new IP as a whole?

Taura: I loved the previous Nier title, I was actually went to Square Enix saying "Please let us create a Nier sequel, because you haven't done anything with it for a long time." At the same time, there was coincidentally Saito-san, the producer for Nier: Automata, talking with Yoko-san that they wanted to do something together. It just so happened that it was the right time, right place and we met for the first time when we started this project.

When you started working on the Automata, did you know what it was going to be? Did you have an idea in your head of what a Nier sequel would look like after the first game?

Yoko: Not at all, I had no ideas for a sequel in mind. When I first heard that we might do a collaboration with PlatinumGames, the image I had of them is that they only create Sci-Fi action games. When I thought of that, I thought of what part of the Nier storyline might fit in with that Sci-Fi action gaming sequence, I selected the themes for Automata because I felt it just fits in with the PlatinumGames style.

PlatinumGames has a reputation for fast, often-challenging action games, but Nier: Automata is a lot easier. Was that intentional to keep it closer to the first Nier or perhaps a consequence of trying to make PlatinumGames action more mainstream?

Taura: That's actually exactly the reason why. Saito-san from Square Enix told us when the project started that, since the original Nier has a lot of female fans and a lot of non-action gamer fans, to make the game as fun and accessible as possible to people who aren't accustomed to playing difficult action games. We always thought of making the game into something that's fun to play for newcomers to the action game field, but also to the more experienced players as well.

One of the usual tropes of PlatinumGames is that, as the game goes on, it tends to escalate more and more to an explosive finale. Nier: Automata kind of messes with that formula a little bit by Ending A being a little bit more subdued and low-key and then goes up again and again until it finishes with endings D and E. Is that something you had to work with Yoko-san about, where the escalation and pacing would best fit the gameplay?

Taura: In terms of like a climax or increasing the difficulty level toward the end, it's not that different from our other titles, or at least we didn't feel like it was that different. The one major difference was that this was the first game that I've at least worked that had the leveling up element in it. So as long as you level up your character, the boss would be easier to defeat, but if you don't, then some of the enemies toward the end of the game would be very difficult. For me, the balancing between the difficulty level of stages and bosses versus the levels the player might be was the difficult part in creating this game.

One thing that we really had it easy with in this game is that Yoko-san's scenario and Okabe-san's music, once it's mixed into the battle, makes a really menial and indifferent battle sequence suddenly becomes this dramatic and grandiose battle with everything at stake, so I felt like that really helped elevate our battle sequences as well. We did have an easy time thanks to that!

With Automata, you started appearing at press conferences and as part of the marketing of the game, whereas previously you never did that. When you appear in public, you have been wearing a mask of Emil from the first Nier title. Why Emil specifically?

Yoko: Hmm. One of the answers I can give is that, and I do have a little more that I want to elaborate on, is that for one Emil in the previous title is just a strong character on its own, so it's more like an iconic image or character for Nier as a series. Another part of the answer is that Emil actually holds a great secret of the part of the Nier world and it's not all revealed with the games I've created so far. I'm not sure if I'll have an opportunity to disclose that secret, but if I do, I might one day create a game that delves more into why it's Emil and why I continue to wear Emil's mask.

I don't know if either of you can speak to this, but the trailers for Nier: Automata were a little misleading. They showed A2, who you play as late in the game, but with short hair, so she looked like 2B. Was that something you decided, to show those scenes but not make it clear who it was?

Yoko: There were trailers like that?

There was one specifically showing A2 fighting Hegel like that.

Yoko: Ahh, yeah. There's no reason! We weren't trying to hide A2 or mislead anyone, it just happened to work out that way.

Taura: We made so many trailers at some point we kind of didn't care what we showed.

Oh, wow, that's going to shock a lot of fans in the Nier community. People really believed in the theory that you were hiding A2 in plain sight the marketing.

Yoko: Haha, but it might not be the correct answer. Like Taura-san said, we made so many trailers that we can't remember them all, so I'm definitely happy to take the credit without remembering why.

Taura: Yeah, let's say we intentionally did that. For the fans. It might be true.

Yoko: But I can say, in one of the trailers is A2 fighting one of the Engels, one of the big robots. She actually has long hair in the trailer, but in the actual game, it's after she cut her, so she would have had shorter hair. That one was actually intentional, because we did not reveal before the game that A2 would cut her hair, so we actually made a scene specifically with long-haired A2 to take that trailer. So that's that shot was kind of a lie.

In the Automata DLC, the CEO of Square Enix Yosuke Matsuda, as well as PlatinumGames boss Kenichi Sato, are boss fights. Where did that idea come from and how did you get them to approve it? How did they react when you asked them?

Yoko: Haha, oh yeah.

Taura: The development team went to Square Enix and said "Please let us use him in our game!" Their reaction was initially saying "Uhm, are you sure you want to?"

We were thinking for a while of what we could do with the DLC, because we didn't have a lot of time to develop it, so we wanted to do something fun with it. When we were thinking about it, we saw that Final Fantasy XV used a character model of president Matsuda in one of their marketing assets. When Yoko-san saw that, he reached out and asked if maybe we could use that in the game at Platinum. We said that, if we get the character models, we could definitely use them for something in the game. We reached out to Square Enix and they gave us the model and we were able to use that character model for a boss fight.

If it was just that you were able to fight the CEO of Square Enix, then it would have just been the same as what Final Fantasy XV did, so we had to think of ways to spice that up even more. So we had PlatinumGames' CEO Sato-san appear in the fight as well. We also included background music that arranged their voices, we included their voices in the music, just to add a little bit more and beat out Final Fantasy XV. That BGM track is Matsuda-san and Sato-san's debut single. We didn't even get permission from them, so it's an unofficial debut single, and those are much rarer.

Speaking of crossovers, did you know that Nier fans have been trying get Katsuhiro Harada of Bandai Namco to put 2B in Tekken? Is that something you guys would want to do? [Note: This interview was conducted before 2B was announced as a Soulcalibur guest character.]

Yoko: For us, if we were asked, we would gladly say yes to anything for money. We're open to any kind of opportunities for anything, ever. Even if it's Candy Crush, if they want to use 2B, we will say yes, please go ahead and use her.

Actually, speaking of doing anything for money, you've never created a direct story sequel before, they've all been loosely tied together and many years apart. Saito-san has already said there will be another Nier game, if the characters are popular enough, would you create a direct sequel to Automata or would you change the characters and location again?

Yoko: I haven't thought about it once! Taura-san, where would you want to create a new game?

Taura: Actually, when I brought my concept document to Square Enix about a Nier sequel, I wanted to write a story about that prologue portion in the first Nier game. You know the beginning of the game, where you're kind of in Tokyo, in an area that's more modern? I kind of want to delve into that storyline a little bit more. So if I'm allowed to create a new Nier title, that's what I want to create. But that's just me speaking as a fan of the series, so I don't think that will actually happen officially.

Yoko: When I actually heard about that idea from Taura-san when we first started this project, I felt that it would be very difficult to make a modern recreation of Tokyo because it's the city that we constantly see every day. You just notice differences in the lies that we put in there, so I felt it would be very difficult to do to recreate a city that we know and see so much. But now that I know that PlatinumGames is such a good studio that they most likely will have that power and talent to be able to create that kind of video game world, I think that might be an option. Whether or not we'll do that is a different question, but it is a viable option.

One of the things you said before the release of Drakengard 3 was that you wanted to call it Drakengard 4 and just let people figure out what the theoretical Drakengard 3 was supposed to be. That's similar to what you did with Automata where the game takes place 10,000 years after Nier and people who played the first game were more confused than new players. Was that an intentional idea or something you've wanted to do for a while?

Yoko: It's not that I brought over that idea to Nier: Automata, the greatest reasoning why I did this is because I wanted players who haven't played the original title to enjoy Nier: Automata so you can enjoy the game without knowing anything about the previous game. That's the biggest reason why we took a storyline that's so far in the future that it really didn't have anything to do with the previous title.

A common through-line for Yoko-san's games is flowers: the lunar tear in the Nier series, the flower in Zero's eye in Drakengard 3, is that symbolizing anything in your games or is it just visual imagery you like?

Yoko: Well, I do like flowers in general, but yes, there is a greater meaning to it that I have with these flowers. It's the same as Emil like I talked about earlier, I just haven't revealed it anywhere. There is a meaning, which is why they keep on coming back in my games, but I haven't revealed it anywhere yet.

With the last Nier game, you had said that you built the game on the concept of people being okay with murdering people who are different. With Nier: Automata, the games actually became more fun to play and control and touch, do you think there's a danger in giving people that sense of ease in killing enemies in the narrative?

Yoko: In the previous title, I actually feel like I overdid that a bit. I did want to portray that enemies have a reason to live and a reason to fight on their own as well, but I feel like I forced that idea that I had in my mind a little bit too much on the players. So for Nier: Automata, I did not want to focus on it, I didn't want to impose my feelings and thoughts. I actually feel that it's fine if some people feel it's fun to kill in our games. If that's all that they feel from the game, then it's fine, because its their freedom to feel what they want from the game. To answer your question, I think that it's fine to have that happen.

Taura: I actually have the same answer, too. I feel like if it's fun to fight, that's great as a game designer. But if you feel bad to kill these cute little robots, that's fine with me as well. I feel like different people will have different reactions to the game and they will feel differently when they play the game, so I'm actually happy to create a game that creates those kind of differences within the players as well.

Yoko: That's a really good question for us, because if players felt that it was way too fun to kill these enemies that it started making them feel guilty, that's something we didn't really aim to do. Just as we mentioned earlier, I'm really happy that players were able to take it on their own and experience it on their own, then we didn't just provide something for people to take it as-is on face value. I feel like it's great that the players are now taking the game and experiencing it on their own and trying to figure things out on their own.

There was a time after 2B was revealed that people were asking you about her design on Twitter and you answered that you just like sexy ladies. That quote has become pretty famous and attached to you and a lot of people are reading into it. Is that a thing you still believe, would you ever take the quote back, or would you have ever changed 2B's design?

Yoko: [laughs] Don't straight men like cute girls? Isn't that common knowledge? I didn't realize that was a quote.

A lot of people use you as an example as a developer that just says what is on their mind.

Yoko: Before we released the game, on Twitter, because so many people were sending me 2B fan art, I said that "Send me a zip file of all your erotic fan art!" When I tweeted that out, my number of Twitter followers jump from 20,000 to 60,000 just with that one Tweet. I actually think it's because I did something that's more of a taboo in the western world where I talked about sexuality or gender that openly on Twitter, but that's actually...so, I do know that what I said did not just creative positive buzz and there's some negative buzz around it as well, but I feel like it kind of has to do with the Japanese culture where we're not too strict about gender and sexuality and being more open about talking about those things.

I think it's the same thing as reading manga as an adult, it's a little bit different when you think about it because in Japan that's more common, it's not considered something weird or something outlandish. With that kind of feedback that I get from fans, I just feel like it's the difference in culture between Japan and the rest of the world.

That is something you tend to tackle fairly often. Drakengard 3 was partly about sex and sexuality treated casually within the game's universe, is that something you feel doesn't translate across all regions?

Yoko: I actually don't think [translating across regions] has a lot to do with sexuality. I don't think it would have sold more copies of Drakengard 3 if I took away aspects of sexuality or added more in there. I feel that Nier: Automata sold well because we worked with PlatinumGames, so I don't think that has anything to do with a sexual nature.

For the original Nier, there was a lot of information on the periphery of the game like books with background information and short stories that answer questions raised in the game. Automata even had a stage play predating the game. Do you think it's harder for western fans to grasp the whole stories of these games when there's Japanese-exclusive media about it expanding the lore?

Yoko: Of course we can't localize everything because we have limitations in budget, so it's really difficult to do all of that, but I actually think there really isn't a need to know everything, either. The meaning I have behind Emil's mask or the flowers you asked about, like I said it's not revealed in the game at all or anywhere else yet, but no one really needs to know that to enjoy the game or enjoy the world or enjoy the game. More than gaining knowledge, I want players to cherish the experience they have when playing the game. It's more about that instead of the knowledge they could have for every question. Of course the theatrical stage play was more of like a YoRHa spinoff, but you don't need to know that to enjoy the game. Every piece, like the books and the stage play, is made in a way so that you can enjoy it by yourself, so you don't need that extra knowledge to enjoy it.

It may add a little bit depth to the knowledge that you have, but you don't necessarily need to have it. I do understand the otaku mentality that you want to know everything, you want to have everything answered, you want to collect everything, but I don't see the value in knowing everything. For example, just in real life, you might not know everything about the politics that surrounds the world or even in your own country, and there's really no point in knowing everything that happens in the world. Maybe a lot things, but not everything, right? What's more important is how you interact with people around you, immediately around you, and I think that's the same with video games. You don't really need to know everything that happens in the world to enjoy it.

Of course I do respect the freedom that the players feel as well, so if you do get mad that we can't localize everything in America, or America never gets everything, that's also something to be respected and I do understand the frustrations surrounding that as well.

When Nier: Automata released, it did so in a three-month timeframe that several other big Japanese games came out in the U.S., like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Yakuza 0. A lot of people started heralding those games as a return of Japanese development in the west. What do you think about going from fairly niche games to what some people consider the tip of the spear of modern Japanese development?

Yoko: First and foremost, just to speak about having so many good titles in that timeframe, my thought was "Are you people trying to kill me with this?!" In Japan, Horizon came out first, then it was Nier, then Zelda, and I think in the west, it was Horizon, Zelda, then Nier in North America. So we're literally sandwiched between those two with a two-week window in between each and they were all very similar to us in the futuristic setting. Especially for Zelda, it was one of the titles we copied in the first place, so I really felt like they were trying to kill us at the time.

Personally, not even thinking about Nier: Automata during that time frame, I was running around excited about all the fun-looking games coming as a gamer myself.

Hideki Kamiya [PlatinumGames] has once said that Nier: Automata saved Platinum. Is that something you agree with and how has the relationship been between PlatinumGames and Square Enix?

Yoko: Speaking from my perspective, of course Taura-san will likely know more about it internally at PlatinumGames...Kamiya-san, he's very laid back on Twitter, but when you actually really talk to him, he's a very serious person and very sincere. I guess Nier: Automata did generate sales for them, because I received a direct letter of gratitude from him saying "Thank you very much for creating a great game." I don't even know if we saved them or not in that sense, but just receiving that kind of message from was just very heartwarming and I was just really happy that I was able to provide such a game for them.

Taura: You could make the headline of your article "Yoko Taro Saved PlatinumGames" and that's definitely true.

Yoko: It's a very true headline.

Why do both of you think that Nier: Automata was more successful than Yoko-san's previous games or most other PlatinumGames titles?

Taura: Mainly because PlatinumGames' sensibilities were much better than Yoko Taro's.

Yoko: I actually think it's the Square Enix brand, the name Square Enix gives a more reliable feeling to an otaku type of title. PlatinumGames' strong name being known for making really good action games and I think the combination of the two really helped. This time with Nier: Automata, we sold about 2.5 million copies and the previous title we sold around 500,000. For the last game, we weren't really in the red, but it wasn't exactly a success either. We have these passionate fans that really supported the time from announcement and the series as a whole. Of course for Automata, too, we had a very passionate fan base including the media and including yourself that gave impressions and articles that helped make the game into a success, so I'm just really grateful for the fans and media alike that really supported the title and were passionate about it.

[The remainder of this interview took place a few weeks later with Taro Yoko and Nier: Automata composer Keiichi Okabe. Okabe is also known for his work on both Nier titles, Drakengard 3, Tekken, and contributing some tracks to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Before we started recording, Yoko said it will be okay if I asked Okabe most of the questions and I remarked that I wouldn’t want to make him jealous. He paused for a moment and then said it doesn’t matter because he would get paid either way.]

You two have been working together for a long time, I was curious how much the music composition is tied in with the writing. One of the city themes in Nier: Automata uses similar composition to a track in Nier. Does that come from the writing or the musical identity of the series?

Okabe: Since Yoko-san is I feel the type of person that doesn't want to do the same thing over and over again, even if he did receive praise for what he did previously, I kept that in mind while I was composing music for Nier: Automata. I also wanted to have some kind of connection that you would feel as a player between the previous title and this one, so I used similar tones from previous titles or from the previous game. It might not be exactly the same, but I used some similar types of music lines from the previous title so that you might feel that kind of connection.

But we do have tracks that are arrangements of previous tracks from older titles, but that was mostly for fan service.

I kind of wanted to drill down a little bit this time and get to the core of your philosophy of why and how you make games. If you had to pick a reason to hold up and say "This is why I make video games," what would that be?

Yoko: I feel that video games, amongst all the different entertainment mediums, have the most freedom in what you can do as a creator. For example, in a film, if you are able to control movement, then that's no longer a film in my eyes. In video games, you could have film-like cutscenes and videos, you could have them going on forever as much as you would like as a creator. That kind of freedom to do that is what I really wanted to do and I feel like video games are what provide me that option, even if I never do it.

Is there any kind of message you use games for that you want to convey to your audience or anything you want them to hear from you? Or do you prefer to let them take whatever interpretation they get from your games?

Yoko: It's the latter. I would want our players to freely interpret what I've created just on their own, to grasp something for their own. I feel that's one of the interesting aspects of video games is that you are able to freely interpret what's being shown to you. I also feel like the players make the game whole by playing it. The action of playing the game I feel has meaning in itself and because of that I want the players to find something from the game, feel something from the game, for themselves.

Nier: Automata won a number of awards, Okabe-san you won best music at The Game Awards, Automata won the audience award at GDC. Is there any pressure to appeal a more mainstream audience with your next game?

Okabe: For a popular title that will be played by many, it doesn't really matter what kind of genre you put out musically. I will still be interested to compose music for those if possible. I would have to take a different approaches to those kind of mainline titles, whereas for Nier, I felt that the music can be more geared toward a core audience where only those who would understand the music would play it. But at the same time, once you understand, I want you to be deeply affected by it. That's what I aim for with Nier. If I am to work on a way more mainstream title next time, I will have to change that mindset I have as a composer, but that would be something I'd like to challenge myself more. To answer your question, yes, I'd like to try that, but I'd also do whatever kind of jobs I'm assigned to.

Yoko: For me, my games I actually think are really niche. How Nier: Automata was so successful was actually just a coincidence. To make a successful game is something that I can't really aim to do, so I think that I'll probably return to my small and dark corner, my niche corner, with my successive titles.

Who would you both consider your inspirations for writing and composing?

Okabe: For me, it's obviously more of a composer than a writer, but I don't really focus on one person. I tend to just try to get music here and there and have a wide net. I am greatly affected by people who I've listened to in my youth, like Japanese composer Ryuchi Sakamoto, Ennio Morricone who creates film music, and also pop music like Michael Jackson and Madonna. I am affected by those as well.

Yoko: I have received inspiration from a lot of things, but I think personally expressions in film or any like visual production is something I'm deeply affected by. For example, Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, that was really a strong influence on me. Also, the drama series 24, the way that they incorporate speedy and complicated constructions of storylines was something that was very new at the time. Just throughout the timeline of visual production, I think there's a sudden burst of evolution, and I think that "that" moment in a title that does that just greatly affects me and becomes an inspiration for me. But I feel that can be said for the rest of the world.

Lately, anything that Christopher Nolan creates I think is very intriguing where he tries to include deep knowledge and thoughtfulness into what he creates. I'm very interested in this new wave of evolution.

Last year, with the release of Animal Crossing on mobile, you talked on social media about how it was your favorite game of the year because you created a narrative where the characters were all unwillingly imprisoned in the camp. Do you often create your own narratives for games?

Yoko: I do that for some games and I don't for others. Off and on, I guess. It's a lot easier to create my own storyline per se for a more primitive game. For example, in Zelda: Wind Waker, you start off with a grandma and your sister living on an island and it's really happy and joyful and there's really no reason for Link to get out of there and fight Ganondorf because you're already living happily. You don't need to get out of that happiness. As a gamer, I felt the kind of sadness to have to leave that happy island life.

In Dragon Quest [V], you have to choose who you want to wed, and I felt that I couldn't really get into liking either of the characters. I also couldn't find the point of having to decide who I want to marry, so I just at that instant I turned off the game and said "My journey ends here!" My mind narrated "The three of them went on the journey and lived happily ever after, the end." That was my ending for Dragon Quest V.

Around the release of Drakengard 3, you spoke about how it's not possible in this industry to make a six-minute game and sell it for $60, no matter how good those six minutes are. Is this something you still think?

Yoko: That analogy was given to explain that, no matter how much you try to make a game really good, there's a limit to what you can do. If you are to create a six-minute game, because you can't go through a lot of different stages, you would have to create one stage. Which means that you could really refine the quality of that one stage without having to put in a lot of money into it and a lot of manpower into it. Also, because it's only six minutes, you can't really have too many characters in it, so you could focus on one or two characters at max. By doing that, you could refine the quality of those two characters. But because you're time-limited, no matter how much you refine the quality of the world around you or the characters, if you're limited to six minutes there's just so much you could do that the game won't become good at all. That was an example for me to say that there's a limit to what you can do in video games.

Okabe-san, in the music for a lot of Yoko-san's game, you use constructed or uncommon languages, is there a specific reason for that?

Okabe: [laughs] Yeah, for one, because it is Nier: Automata, Replicant, and Gestalt, they all take place in a unique world, even though they're in the timeline of our current world, it's so much in the future that it should feel kind of foreign. That's one of the reasons why I went for language we can't understand, but another is that, in games in the past, game directors actually got mad at many occasions for including vocals into the soundtrack. They were saying that it would become too distracting from the gameplay and would distract the player. It was considered more of a taboo, so for Nier, I included vocals in there without a language you could understand more for the sound that you get from the words. It wasn't to convey any meaning of what was being said, but more for a sound impact.

Yoko-san, you tend to have very sad endings in your games, with the exception of Nier: Automata which is as happy an ending as you can get with most characters dying. Why do you tend to write toward more sad endings and do you feel like Automata's happy ending fit the game better?

Yoko: The reason why I created endings that end on a death is because, until now I was creating games where you would kill a lot of enemies, but I've always felt that it doesn't feel right when the protagonist has a happy after they've killed so many enemies during the course of their journey. That's why in Replicant and Gestalt, or my previous titles, the protagonist pretty much ended up dying because I didn't feel like it was right for them to have a happy ending. But for Nier: Automata, 2B and 9S, from the time that they were given life, they've been killing a lot of enemies, but they've also been killed by them many, many times, and regenerated many times. They've actually been killing each other, which you find out at the very end, many, many times as well. So I felt that kind of cleansed them of their sins for killing so many enemies, which made me feel that a happy ending was more fitting for those two.

Do you feel like that cycle of violence and death and the consequences of that are human nature?

Yoko: I think the reasons why we kill in video games do kind of shine light on what's kind of broken within humanity or humans in general. We want peace in the world, but we also enjoy killing others in video games, like shooting guns in video games. I think that's karma in a sense for humans, the way that video games grasp the true essence of humanity, whether or not that's what they were aiming to do.

Is there a series that you know, like Persona or Yakuza or anything like that, that either of you would want to work on?

Yoko: A series or anything?

It can be anything.

Yoko: Personally, it's not a Japanese title. I'd actually love to see how western titles are developed, because I have no insight into how they're made. There was a moment in time where I felt that it might be fun join a western development to see how things run. Of course there's the language barrier that would make it difficult for me to do that, but generally speaking I feel that western storytelling follows kind of a similar route for all the stories that western mediums create. I would feel it fascinating to find out why western games use certain flows and storyline arcs.

Okabe: I'm kind of a fanboy myself, so there is a part of me that wants to work on major titles like Dragon Quest. I feel that if I do work on those titles, the pressure of working such a known title would be just too big and because there is a part of me that really loves that series, I feel like I would try to skew my music in a way that would fit into that series instead of trying to create music that I think is good. I don't feel like I would be able to bring out the best quality in my music if I worked on those big titles, because of that pressure and because of the image I have of those titles in my mind. Currently, my want to work on those major titles and the part of me that's telling me I shouldn't do it are about equal.

Were either of you surprised by Nier: Automata's success?

Yoko: [in English] Oh yes.

Okabe: For me, I live in Tokyo and developer PlatinumGames live in Osaka, so we did have quite a distance in-between, like literal physical distance between us. From the moment that I created the music to when I was able to see it next, there was a big gap in time, so when I was able to my music in the game for the first time, the game was pretty close to finished, they were almost done with development. At that moment, I thought "Maybe this one might sell?" But at the same time, I didn't think it would become this big of a success, I always thought it might do better than the previous titles, but it was like a hunch that I didn't feel until this time in Yoko-san's titles. I did have some kind of a gut feeling that it might do well.

The last song of Automata, Weight of the World, had a chorus with the entire game's development staff at PlatinumGames and Square Enix singing along to encourage the player. Why did you decide on that for the final song of the game?

Okabe: I didn't remember this, I actually forgot about it for a while, but Yoko-san actually came to me telling me that he wanted a chorus at the end of the game pretty early on in the development process. I apparently made disgruntled face at him and did not remember why I even made that face or even that I made that face. After a while, I actually remember why I had such a reaction with the disgruntled face, because there's a couple of different types of choirs, but Yoko-san likes the more classical choir, so when he requested that he wanted a choir, I thought he wanted that classical type of choir at the last part of the game. At that moment, I thought "Well, that doesn't really fit in with the game plan, I don't really want to do that," which is why I had that expression on my face. After we talked about it, Yoko-san mentioned that wasn't really what he was going for, he said that because that last scene is all about all these different people helping you, he wanted everyone to sing, he wanted it to feel like everyone is singing there with you as you play.

When I thought about doing that, and I actually agreed that might be a good idea, because in Nier: Automata all the choir vocals that you hear in the game, it's actually recorded by a small group of singers, I just overlapped their voice so it sounds like a big choir. Because that last part of the game is more about you playing amongst a lot of people, I felt that taking that approach again of overlapping voices again would not really work. So I reached out to the dev teams because they were working on that part and I thought it would be a good idea to have them put themselves in the game as well. I also thought that they don't need to have a good voice, it's just to give that feeling that you're playing with all these developers.

Development teams from Square Enix, PlatinumGames, and also some composers from my company who didn't work on Nier: Automata are singing in it as well. There's also children of PlatinumGames developers and their family actually singing in it as well. That was the reasoning behind why we decided to do that at the end.

Has there ever been, in all your games you've made, an idea you had that you had to be talked out of?

Yoko: For the first Drakengard, I had an idea of [Japanese pop-star] Ayumi Hamasaki, like her character model, wearing all-silver spandex, like a giant version of her descending from the sky and you would fight against her by music. Everyone else on the staff shut it down. It does still leave that kind of music game essence kind of in there, but the part Ayumi Hamasaki comes out in silver spandex has been taken out.

Isn't that kind of similar to Drakengard 3's actual ending?

Yoko: Similar, but I actually wanted to go for something funny, or shockingly stupid. But no one would let me.

Source：
https://www.gameinformer.com/…/talking-to-yoko-taro-platinu…

站立在祢愛中／Stand In Your Love
詞曲 / Josh Baldwin, Mark Harris,Ethan Hulse & Rita Springer
演唱者／Gateway Worship feat. Joshua Band /曾晨恩
中譯詞 / 周巽光

樂譜連結 / https://www.pubu.com.tw/ebook/218936

[VERSE 1]
當黑暗試圖要將我攻克
When darkness tries to roll over my bones
當傷痛來要偷竊我喜樂
When sorrow comes to steal the joy I own
在最破碎和痛苦的時刻
When brokenness and pain is all I know
Oh我不致動搖 我不致動搖
I won't be shaken, I won't be shaken

[CHORUS]
恐懼 不能抵擋我
My fear doesn’t stand a chance
站立 在祢愛中
When I stand in Your love
恐懼 不能抵擋我
My fear doesn’t stand a chance
站立 在祢愛中
When I stand in Your love
恐懼 不能抵擋我
My fear doesn’t stand a chance
站立 在祢愛中
When I stand in Your love


[VERSE 2]
羞愧在我裡面無權無分
Shame no longer has a place to hide
謊言不能再囚禁我全人
For I am not a captive to the lies
不再讓過去定義我身分
I'm not afraid to leave my past behind
Oh 我不致動搖 我不致動搖
No I won’t be shaken, I won’t be shaken

[BRIDGE]
祢大能斷開所有的綑綁
There's power that can break off every chain
祢能力勝過陰間和死亡
There's power that can empty out a grave
祢復活帶下拯救的盼望
There's resurrection power that can save
祢名何等剛強
There’s power in Your name
祢何等剛強
Power in Your name


[BRIDGE 2]
我站立在祢磐石上
I am standing on the Rock
祢的愛是如此堅強
I am standing in Your love
有祢我就不至搖晃
I am standing on the Rock
我站在磐石上
My firm foundation
-
Vocal Producer 璽恩SiEnVanessa
Backing Vocal 芙賽以撒Fusay Isak
Vocalists 曾晨恩Yosifu Tseng、鄭牧德Darren Cheng、張育恩Daniel、何彥臻Franny Ho、謝思穎Panay Isak、蔡依純Anna Cai
Choir Directors 陳州邦Ben Chen
Vocal Recorded by 葉惟恩 Calvin Yeh
Vocal Edited by 劉淑莉Lily Liu
Vocals Recorded Live at Vision Studio
-
Producer Kyle Lee
Recorded Live by Mitch Waddell
Engineered by Patrick Smith at Gateway Studios, Southlake, TX; Kyle Lee at The Court, Franklin, TN
Mixed by Sean Moffitt at Yoda’s Palace Studios, Nashville, TN Except “Stand In Your Love” Mixed by Kyle Lee at The Court, Franklin, TN
Mix Assistant Daniel Mikesell
Mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound, Edgewater, NJ
-
Acoustic Guitars Austin Benjamin, Mark Harris, Matthew Harris, Kyle Lee, David Moore, Andrew Morris & Levi Smith
Electric Guitars Cole Novak & Michael Phelps
Piano Julian Collazos, Kyle Lee & David Ramirez
Synth Pads Kevin Melton
Synth Programming Julian Collazos, Kyle Lee & David Ramirez
Bass Josiah Funderburk
Drums Ish Melton
-
奉獻 Asia for JESUS/ 約書亞樂團事工
https://goo.gl/5AAgQP

聯繫約書亞樂團：
https://www.joshua.com.tw/web/
-
這裡可以找到我們！
YouTube▸https://bit.ly/3hBNTH5
Apple Music▸https://apple.co/3Au41TK
Spotify▸https://spoti.fi/3As1fi4
KKBOX▸https://bit.ly/3dJyCTz
My Music▸https://bit.ly/2UnIVpA
friDay音樂▸https://bit.ly/2UkxJdm
LINE MUSIC▸https://bit.ly/3fyxAeu
-
異象工場官方商城▸https://shop.asiaforjesus.net/
約書亞樂團官網▸https://www.joshua.com.tw/
約書亞樂團Facebook▸https://www.facebook.com/joshuaband
約書亞樂團Instagram▸https://www.instagram.com/joshua_band/
約書亞樂團微博▸https://weibo.com/joshuaband
約書亞樂團微信▸joshuaband

Sharing with you guys my November/December snippets in this episode of #VlogmasWithMong! ✨ It’s been a rather fun month - Visiting a robotic cafe, 11.11 livestream behind the scenes, and settling @peppurr.thecat into our home! ?

Watch my November vlog here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfr0eEPlN8k
Keep up with #VlogmasWithMong2020 ?: https://bit.ly/34hx6TQ

How has your Nov/Dec been? ❤️ Talk to me in the comments down below, always love chatting with you guys!

PLACES MENTIONED:
? Hotel Michael Resort World Sentosa
8 Sentosa Gateway, 098269

? Coocaça
541 Orchard Road
#01-01B Liat Towers
Singapore 238881

?Redholic
88 Tg Pagar Rd, Singapore 088509

? Ratio Café and Lounge
176 Orchard Rd, #05-06 Centrepoint, Singapore 238843

? Hans Im Glück German Burgergrill
Vivocity
1 Harbourfront Walk, #01-57 Vivo City, Singapore 098585

? Shimbashi Soba
Paragon
290 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238859

? Salon Vim
My stylist: @jay.ang
Quote “Mongabong” for 15% off!
435 Orchard Rd, #02-01B, Singapore 238877

? East Coast Park - Bougainvillea Park

————————————————————————————

FOLLOW ME
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FAQ
Hello! My name is Mong Chin and I'm from sunny Singapore. I am 1.63m and I am Singaporean Chinese. I speak English, Mandarin and am currently learning Korean in my free time. I love all things beauty and fashion, and I also like to share my life here. I hope you guys enjoy watching my videos!

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Allen Iverson dunking is another example of a little guy that can sky. At 6 feet tall, he is taller than Spud Webb and Nate Robinson but is still considered a little guy in basketball.

He is considered a prolific scorer more than a show stopping dunker. He dunked more in college, Georgetown University, and early in his professional career with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Iverson Career Dunk Montage is an incredible display of athleticism...

He dunked more in the open floor with no defense but still managed to take defenders one-on-one and slammed over them. He has his share of dunking over forwards, Marcus Camby, Detlef Shrempf and Rony Seikaly.

Maybe not one the most exciting dunkers, he is one of the most incredible ballhandlers. He has an arsenal of moves that boarder on insanity and illusion. He elevated the killer crossover to another level. Breaking defenders ankles and driving right past them.

He not only displayed an awesome killer crossover he had all the other moves, between the legs, around the back and killer crossover counter. He will set up the defender and perform a crossover dribble, if the defender moves with him he simply crosses back behind him and leaves the defender in his tracks. Allen Iverson is the best one-on-one ballhandler.

Many great players such as Kobe, Dwade, MJ, and Lebron power their man to the hole but no one can juke them like Iverson. His quickness and phenomenal ballhandling make him special. He can dribble a football, tennis ball, volleyball and anything that has air.

The lightening quick moves leave defenders wondering where the ball went. He has it all the Shake-n-bake, dispsy doo, skip to my Lou, inny out, swivel and the x-plosion dribble. Besides Allen Iverson dunking being all over the Internet so are his moves and other websites. Punch his name into a browser search bar and three million links are found. Anything about Allen Iverson can be found.

There are about 20,000 videos of Allen Iverson on Youtube. Videos of dunk, passing, dribbling, dancing, crying, laughing, press conferences, late show guest appearances and many others. The search can be narrowed for specific dates, specific games or specific moves.

His 48 points in game 1 of the NBA finals, his top ten plays, playing high school football, his killer crossover on Antonio Daniels, Dunking on 7 footers, his celebrity games and everything else. The website iverson.ca.nstempintl.com, "Allen Iverson: The 3rd Degree", may challenge his other fan site but it is not as clean and disorganized. It mimics the same content and the link AI's game is very good. It breaks down some of his moves and has an associated video attached.

Researching Allen Iverson on the web paints a picture of an enigma. A basketball great with numerous scrapes with the law, including assault and gun possession, complete insubordination with the NBA, characterized as a street thug that plays basketball and vilified by the press. He is blamed for starting the "Street" and "Hip Hop" influence in the NBA. How will Allen Iverson be remembered, that is up to each individual.