Oni

Oni (鬼) are a kind of yōkai from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature and theatre.

Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic ogre-like creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads. They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes. Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common.

They are often depicted wearing tiger-skin loincloths and carrying iron clubs called kanabō (金棒). This image leads to the expression "oni with an iron club" (鬼に金棒, oni-ni-kanabō), that is, to be invincible or undefeatable. It can also be used in the sense of "strong beyond strong", or having one's natural quality enhanced or supplemented by the use of some tool.

Origins

The word "oni" is sometimes speculated to be derived from on, the on'yomi reading of a character (隠) meaning to hide or conceal, as oni were originally invisible spirits or gods which caused disasters, disease, and other unpleasant things. These nebulous beings could also take on a variety of forms to deceive (and often devour) humans. Thus the Chinese character 鬼 (pinyin: guǐ; Jyutping: gwai²) meaning "ghost" came to be used for these formless creatures.

List of Dance Dance Revolution video games

The Dance Dance Revolution series started on 000000001998-11-20-0000November 20, 1998 and has grown to a very sizable collections of games in the franchise. This list of Dance Dance Revolution games documents every single game released including which systems and formats and which regions those games were released in. This list only includes games that have been released to the general public.

Legend

These lists are sorted by platform of release, then region, then best-known release date, then regional or renamed version title, if any one. Releases that have sold more than one million copies or have been re-issued as Greatest Hits are colored orange.

Dance Dance Revolution

Dance Dance Revolution Solo

Unreleased games

Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix

Originally Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix was going to be a Windows title, sequeling Dance Dance Revolution which had been released a couple of years before. Screenshots of the game under development were released to video game news sites showing an interface that closely resembled the previous Windows game. Later in development the game was completely changed visually and released on the Microsoft Xbox.

Akuma (Street Fighter)

Akuma (in Japanese, "devil" or "demon"), known in Japan as Gouki (豪鬼, Gōki, lit. "Great Demon" or "Great Ogre"), is a fictional character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games by Capcom. Akuma made his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and hidden boss. In the storyline of the Street Fighter video games, he is the younger brother of Gouken, Ryu's and Ken's master. In some games he also has an enhanced version named Shin Akuma, or Shin Gouki (真・豪鬼, Shin Gōki, the "true Great Demon") in Japanese. Since his debut, Akuma has appeared in several subsequent titles and has been well-received by both fans and critics.

Character design

Akuma has dark red hair, dark skin tone, glowing red eyes with black sclera, wears prayer beads around his neck, a black karate gi and a piece of twine around his waist in lieu of an obi. The kanji "ten" (天) — meaning "Heaven" — can be seen on his back when it appears during certain win animations. Shin Akuma's appearance is very similar to Akuma's; for example, in the Street Fighter Alpha series, Shin Akuma had a purple karate gi instead of a black one and marginally darker skin tone. Akuma's introduction in Super Street Fighter II Turbo stemmed from the development team's desire to introduce a "mysterious and really powerful" character, with his status as a hidden character within the game resulting from later discussions. When asked regarding the presence of Akuma as a secret character in several of Capcom's fighting games, Capcom's Noritaka Funamizu stated that, while he did not personally support the concept, he supposed that "Akuma is a character that can fit in any game design nicely".