Join sisters NinJaSistah and Pandalicious and the rest of the ESH Crew each day as they discuss video games, tech gadgets, anime, manga... pretty much everything within the geek chic lifestyle.
From Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC game reviews, previews, news, and gushings to audience questions and rumor mill seeding galore you'll find it here at ESH!
I will give you that Ken Kutaragi of Sony may not fit most definitions of the word "babe" but I did find this statement kind of childish, so it does count.
I'm chilling after an evening of visiting with friends when I open my email client to catch up today's gaming news. [I subscribe to a LOT of newsletters] And I got one that had a summary about this story from Joystiq where they quote Kutaragi as saying
"We do not care."
Kutaragi also goes on to admit that Sony is having problems producing blue lasers for the blue-ray drives in the PS3 machines
"Right now, it is an issue, because we can't manufacture enough blue laser diodes for our PlayStation 3's. But we will resolve that."
I hate that Sony is making me [of all people] sound like anything other than a gaming fangirl these days. =(
There's a new .hack game coming out, aren't you excited? I can hear you sighing and shaking your head as I write this. Now I know, just as well as the next person that .hack is getting a little old, what with 4 PS games, 3 novels (and a novel series), 2 anime, 3 OVAs, 2 manga, an online roleplaying game and a collectible card game, but I'm confident that .hack//G.U. will be different from .hack//SIGN, .hack//INFECTION, .hack//MUTATION, .hack//OUTBREAK, .hack//QUARANTINE, .hack//Liminality, .hack//Legend of the Twilight, .hack//DUSK, .hack//AI buster, .hack//AI buster 2, .hack//Another Birth, .hack//GIFT, .hack//ZERO, .hack//ENEMY, .hack//fragment and .hack//XXXX.
I'll start with a little introduction for those of you who are reclusive, blind, deaf hermits who live under rocks in a remote area of the moon and have managed to avoid encountering any of the .hack franchise. The basic plot is that due to a worldwide computer virus epidemic, there is only one OS that anyone uses, Altima OS. Altima has created the largest MMORPG in history, creatively called 'The World.' The game is hugely popular, with over 4 million users signing up at its launch. Each of the .Hack titles focuses on a series of bizarre events known as the Twilight Incident, in which players actually sustained RL (real life) damage when their characters were hurt. Multiple users are put into comas while playing the game. Most of the .hack storylines focus on a group of anomalous AI including Aura, Morganna and Aura's daughter Zefie as well as the system errors and bizarre occurrences in "The World".
In the original 4 title game series, you play Kite and Black Rose, two typical snot-nosed school kids as they investigate the net. Kite accidentally dies when a data error causes a high level monster to spawn in a low level area. Aura appears, revives him and when he wakes up he is wearing a bracelet that allows him to 'Data Drain' enemies (basically hacking the program to reset the level of the enemy.) Kite and Black Rose run around trying to find Aura, figure out what has happened to the unconscious players and defeat what I call 'glitch monsters' or monsters that have infinite HP and can only be defeated with the data drain. That is also what most of the other .hack titles involve, little kids trying to save 'the world.' Urg, Retch! Uh, that is... I mean, yay!
The game .hack//G.U. is much darker, and from what I've read, it sounds awesome. Basically it's 2017, 7 years have passed since the end of the original .hack games. ALTIMIT OS has been replaced by ALTIMIT MINE OS and The World is now The World R:2 (WHOO, now those are some Big Changes.) After a group of players set off a Cataclysm (oops) the game lost most of its data and was shut down, until R:2 came along. Because the original "The World" accounts couldn't be recovered the RPG lost many of its origional players, and a new population took over. Ok, in order to understand R:2 here's a reference: Take WoW (which was recently recorded as having 6.6 million paying subscribers) and double it, make all the servers PVP without the aid of alliance and horde groupings, and you've got The World R:2.
It is a bit post apocalyptic, think Mad Max. Instead of players helping each other explore the endless litany of dungeons, the players are busy killing each other and competing to survive. PK (player killers) abound and it's damn hard for an honest gamer to survive. The worst of all is Tri-Edge, a notorious PK who will unhesitatingly and wordlessly destroy any player that crosses his path. However, one day one of his victims falls into a RL coma just after getting PKed, and Tri-Edge draws the attention of Haseo, a famous PKK (Player killer killer.) Unfortunately, not even Haseo can't defeat Tri-Edge and his level 133 character is data drained to level 1 and stripped of all equipment. You heard me right, the bad guy, who looks like an evil twin of Kite, is the one who wields the all powerful Data Drain. Bit of a turn around from the original. So what does it mean to The World that Kite, Shugo and Tri-Edge all have the same character design and all three are chosen to wield the data draining bracelet?
What G.U. stands for is never officially and definitively declared, but supposedly there are 12 or more refrences to things that could be G.U. within the game. True to .hack form //G.U. will not be a single game, but is a trilogy that will be completed over the course of 2007. Also true to form there will be an accompanying anime. According to Newtype
"...the entire experience is more online RPG-like with more action-focused battles, a more robust skills set, and group attacks that get your entire party involved... just pop into a town area or designated battle area out in the field and you'll find scads of PKs for Haseo to hunt down... not to mention an almost startling graphical upgrade."
The first volume is being released this October from Namco Bandai Games for the PS2. If you are too lazy to play the game you can still get to know the characters by watching .hack//Roots an anime currently airing in Japan that covers Haseo's exploits prior to being downgraded.
Whether tis a total waste of my time to build the damn SQL database, or in the end totally avoid them. Causing lack of communication between the ESH faithful... aye, there's the rub...
Oh, got that out of the way. In all seriousness we are wondering about implementing a forum again. So this is how it's going to work. We want to know if you really want one or not, so we are going to make the voting simple:
Comment to this post saying that yes, you want an ESH forum because you would register.
Make sure you use a name, any "anonymous" comments will not be counted.
If we get over an already set number of positive responses, we'll start building the ESH forum.
This is a one shot deal. If I don't see an overwhelming desire for a forum I'm putting the idea to bed for 6 months. Speak now, or for [six months] hold your peace.
[ok, see, I asked the people if they wanted one ESH crew... it's in their hands now.]
Not to be out done by the likes of Sony or Microsoft, it now looks like the Big N is going to be adding Commodore 64 games to the lineup of Wii Virtual console titles. No specific list of C64 titles yet, but one can only hope and let their imagination run wild.
Not to be forgotten in the next gen console race [although I still think having an entire year up on the other two entrants is a tad bit unfair] Microsoft held their annual Xbox event X06 in Barcelona, Spain the past two days, and came out swinging to say the least.
At some point in the next few days we will get to talking about the details MS shared with the world about the HD-DVD drive, Halo 3, Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2, and Fable 2 being on deck, but the most surprising news to me so far is that RedOctane has been working on Guitar Hero II not only for the PS2 but XB360 as well. Oh, and not only that, but they have been working on a new controller for the XB360 version of the game.
Now, I got this info from this website because they included a picture of the "supposed" XB360 axe and I have to say, it's nowhere near as impressive [i.e. cool] looking as the existing GH axe. If this puppy is going to fly on the XB360, that guitar controller, if that is what it's going to look like, will need a massive overhaul before launch day. If you want my dollars, it's got to at least look a little cool... I can't have it bringing down my overall "with it" status.
What really has my brain all a twitter is the idea of online PS3 vs. XB360 GH battles. I don't know if it's possible or if it will even happen... but dude it would be freakin' sweet! I love rhythm or music based games, as Pandalicious will quickly attest to, but all the games that I really enjoy I have a hard time finding people to play with me. I don't have a lot of friends around that are gamers, and it's hard to get people over when I have time to have them over [which is the big struggle] in order to open up a can o' whoop on em.
In any case, to those of you about to rock, I salute you!
Ok, now you might think that what I am about to say won't carry much credence because I haven't really played Halo all that much...
"Blasphemy" says you, and I know you are on to something there, I won't fight you on that. Well, actually I won't fight you on that because from what I've seen of the forthcoming game title Halo Wars I just may have to change that.
Now before you go and label a sistah a Sony or Nintendo fangirl [which would be the complete opposite of what the people who read Evermore's article earlier this week have said, or yelled at us. LOL] I've only ever stayed away from Halo because I just didn't think that I would have any fun playing the game because I usually just suck out loud with these types of titles. I always enjoy watching other people play the Halo game, but for me that was the extent of my involvement. It might be shallow, but if I find that I don't have any skill or aptitude to play a game, I will lose interest in it or just not want to play it at all. That's what happened with Halo for me.
Again, didn't hate it, it just wasn't for me. All was well with my world until I found out about Halo Wars today. I raced over to the IGN website to read this article on the game and watch this trailer from the game. Microsoft announced the game [along with a couple of other Halo titles that apparently stole the thunder of some other games being featured] at this years X06 event in Barcelona, Spain.
Why the about face on the Halo gamefront? Well, besides the fact that the trailer looks phenomenal, but Halo Wars is an RTS game... a genre of gaming that I'm getting more curious about these days more so because I'm really starting to enjoy online gaming and I think that RTS games and MMO [possibly MMORPG... just give me some time to warm up to it] could be damned entertaining.
What's even more interesting is that Bungie isn't developing the game but another company called Ensemble Studios makers of the very popular Age of Empires franchise.
What do you guys think about Halo Wars? Must or Bust?
Hello all, finally arising from the ashes is me Pandalicious, and when I haven't been slaving away on homework or running myself up a wall, I've tried to play some WoW. Emphasis on tried, but this list ran through my mind and I thought I'd share...
YOU KNOW YOU PLAY TOO MUCH WOW WHEN.....
1. You inspect another characters gear, NOTICE it's tier three and you nearly have an orgasm.
2. You walk into your least favorite class and see in your mind yellow writing that says "You are now Hated With World Civ I."
3.You are eating and drinking at the same time and believe that you are recovering mana and health over a period of 30 sec.
4. You find yourself dancing the same way that your character on WoW does. (happens more w/ night elf girls FYI)
5. When you go to a new place you happen to blurt out (on accident) "Discovered Northshore Mall: gained 560 exp!"
6. LEEEEEROY JENKINS!
7. You know that Arathi Basin isn't a giant tub in some remote place.
8. When you fall down or trip you wish you had bubbled yourself so it would absorb the damage.
9. All you ever talk about is WoW, and when you aren't talking about, you are thinking about how you are going bring it back up in conversation.
10. You notice that your boyfriend and all your friends start playing the game so they can spend time with you.
Please guys, feel free to add more if you know of any! ^^
F.E.A.R. stands for First Encounter Assault Recon, and while I could care less about the acronym, I figured I ought to go ahead and explain it now so I wouldn't have to later. Moving on.
First thing, F.E.A.R. plays extremely well... this coming from a gamer that plays mostly fighter games, is a big deal. Right from the level start very little controller tweaking is needed feel comfortable playing the game. The visuals in the game are gorgeous. A lot of attention was paid to detail you find as you run through the levels: dripping liquids from ceilings and pipes, and great use of light and shadow that is equally balanced by nearly perfect audio. Background music swells in places heightening the player's awareness, which is then startled even more by some gameplay element that seems to appear out of nowhere. The game also uses time manipulation to slow down your movement and focus the player on some increasing spooky or "weird you the hell out" stuff. [Which they succeed at, by the way]
There is nothing special about the game control setup. Like most FPS games you use one analog stick for aiming, one for movement, a button for weapon switching, a button for reloading or action, a button for jumping, and the d-pad for incidental items. [Flashlight, medpacks, etc] Yes, all in all, F.E.A.R. would be just another good-looking, solid, FPS if it weren't for the storyline and environment development. Where F.E.A.R. differs from most FPS games is that the story isn't just a run of the mill "kill the alien invaders" type deal. As the game starts, a base is taken over by some military unit that takes a bunch of hostages but make no demands. The F.E.A.R. Unit is sent in to take control of the situation, but some unknown force or entity takes out nearly every member of the team. The player is left alone to save the hostages from the intruding military unit, and find out who or what is behind the mysterious stuff that has started happening on the base.
From the start, the game unfolds more like a love child from a Resident Evil, The Shinning, and The Grudge. [You might even want to throw in Eternal Darkness as, like, maybe a fluffer] I mean the game is designed to psych you out and then scare you out of your drawers not by just bombarding you with gory images, but with creating environments that draw you in and then confine you. The use of space, dimly lit areas with a finite light source, music that seems to build to a crest as something is about to happen, all lead the player to a worked up state that lends itself well to the quick introduction of a "what the fuck was that" element. F.E.A.R. does this over and over and over in the game. As you progress on in the game your character starts experiencing paranormal things... you start seeing people in an area that when you get there, aren't there. You hear children laughing in a place that is just littered with dead bodies... a place that no children belong at all. I don't even want to mention the voices you hear from time to time. F.E.A.R. wants to un-nerve you, and it will.
That's what I really enjoy about this game. I don't like games that are just gory for the sake of being gory. Not because they are fodder for the likes of Jack Thompson, but because they just aren't entertaining. F.E.A.R. is made more scary to me, even terrifyingly so at times, for me because the game directly tries to mess with my head. That excites me. Get me where I live and I'll be loyal to your franchise until the day I die. The plot is revealed through accessing data via intercepted voicemail message, laptop access, listening to radio newscasts, and pc character encounters throughout the game. And while I never played the PC version of the game, I'm almost certain that all these elements combined will still leave some gaps in the story that my imagination gets to fill in. That's even more exciting to me about this game. I love games that just give me enough... enough of the story that I can let my fertile and active little imagination run around free and create it's own story scenarios. That keeps me engaged in the game and ultimately makes me go back for more. Maybe there was a bit of info that I missed, or a clue I somehow didn't see. Maybe it was a puzzle I didn't know I had to solve, the answer that I needed might have been right there and I just missed it. I have to go back and find out... I need to know for sure. Any game that makes me feel that way is a game that I will probably pre-order.
So even though I totally suck at FPS games, I am probably going buy F.E.A.R. when it comes out on 16 NOV 06. The game will be available on both the XB360 and PS3 platforms, but if you have an XB360 with a hard drive you can get the demo from the marketplace right now.
It's official, Sony is not completely up their own ass.
Looks like new games for the PS3 are going to come out at the $59.99 price point here in the US. [Guess this means EA was right as well, who knew?] Yes, that's a mere $60 bucks for new titles for your shiny black box o' joy people. Everybody say "YAY! It's not $75!"
[This is the part of the post where the Sony fanboys start patting each other on the back]
Just consider this, if Madden 07 costs $59.99 to play on a $299 or $399 XB360, $49.99 to play on the $249 Nintendo Wii, will the better graphics of the $59.99 version of the game on a $599 PS3 be the predominant purchasing choice of the consumer given the economy's present state?
Here's October, the second month of Tokyopop's fall release schedule.
Note: ! - Means that I have read a previous volume in this series and I liked it (the more "!" the more I liked it) * - Means that there is a review somewhere in the archives.
October Releases: .Hack//Another Birth 2 Ai Yori Aoishi 14 !Angel Cup 2 Avatar: The Last Airbender Cine-manga Beyond the Beyond 2 Blood Sucker 2 Boys of Summer 2 !Broken Angels 3 Daphne in the Brilliant Blue Dragon Head 4 Dragon Voice 7 !!!!DramaCon 2 Earthlight Et Cetera 8 Good Witch of the West GTO: The Early Years - Shonen Junai-Gumi 2 I Luv Halloween 3 Judas !Kamichama Karin 5 Kami-Kaze 3 Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories Lights Out 5 !Liling-Po 5 Loveless 3 Mitsuki Mihara's: Haunted House !!!!PHD: Phantasy Degree 7 Planet Blood 5 !Platinum Garden 2 !!The Queen's Knight 7 RA-I !RG Veda 7 Snow !Sorcerer Hunters 7 Steady Beat 2 !Threads of Time 8 Tramps Like Us 10 !Ultra Cute 4 Welcome to the NHK
The manga I'm going to check out in October are Snow, DramaCon, PhD: Phantasy Degree, The Good Witch of the West, Earthlight, Queen's Knight and RA-I.
I have already read previous volumes of DramaCon, PhD and Queen's Knight. I am super really excited that they are all being released this month. I will be checking the shelves of the nearest bookstores at least once a week for these mangas.
From what I can tell, Snow is a tounge and cheek sci-fi comedy about planetary domination and decimation. The Good Witch of the West seems to be a manga style fairy tale, Earthlight is a school drama on the moon and RA-I is about a detective who finds a boy with paranormal powers. I'll have to get back to you later in October with reviews of each of these manga and what I thought.
For a small fee that is. Today ADV Films launched their new anime download store called ADVuniverse
The website features episodes of various ADV license anime series for download. For a mere $4.99 American you can download episode one of Godannar or Jinki: Extended, or, um, Comic Party Revolution. Keep in mind that the store just launched so there are very few titles with episodes available. I'm sure that more titles and episodes will be added shortly. There are also a couple of movie titles available including Lady Death, but movie titles will cost you more topping out at about $19.99, which may have you asking, "is it worth it?"
My answer is a tad bit jaded. Why? Well for starters, the files are in WMV format with DRM protection. And before you go all crazy and accuse me of being a pirate [which I am not, I am clearly a Ninja... see my shurikens?] I only object to the DRM in this case because it renders the service useless on a Macintosh. Windows Media Player is only up to version 9 on the Mac, Microsoft has said they are no longer going to improve or add to the application, and neither WMP 9 on the Mac, VLC Media Player, nor MPlayer can play DRM protected WMV files. This sucks not only for myself, but true anime horders like Pandalicious. If I would have been able to buy and play ADV's catalog of content on my Mac I probably would buy a new external drive to devote just to it and I'm sure Panda would add a few drives to her existing arsenal of external storage.
I know that Apple recently added movie downloads to their iTunes Store, and I do feel that digital downloading is the future of film and animation distribution. Don't believe? Think of all the people that hit up places like YouTube and Viral Video, or how popular video podcasting has become... all those users can't be a fluke or fad. But I do think they have set their price point a bit too high and cut out too much of a potential consumer base to be very successful. Compare $1.99 per TV show episode through the Apple iTunes Store which you can purchase and view on either the Windows or Macintosh platforms to the $4.99 per anime series episode which you can must purchase and play on a Windows machine.
I guess time will tell. I could be wrong, people might be willing to pay $4.99 per episode for a half hour anime episode that is DRM protected to a Windows machine... but I know I won't be.
You know the drill, this Friday September 29th from 5 p.m. to 6:20 p.m.-ish EDT we will be recording a Skypecast episode of the ESH podcast. If you want to be part of the conversation, bring your headphones & microphone [or headset] and Skype account... we'll bring the rest.
Be sure to check out our Skypecast help page on show day to find out all the specifics like how to join the Skypecast room and all that jazz.
You've heard me and Ninja talk about Kaleido Star...or raving about it. [if I am honest] It's second season is coming to a close and I'm waiting on pins and needles for it. But I digress.
Anyway, through clever deduction I found that the last DVD of Kaleido Star New Wings Vol. 5 was released on Sept 19th. Being the enthusiast I am, I [right after my literature class] drove [LIKE A MADWOMAN] to the nearest mall. Proceeding to BestBuy first... figuring I'd get it cheaper if I went there. To my dismay, the two people I asked about it had no clue. Best Buy dropped the ball... so I decided to go to Suncoast just to see if they had it ["cough" and buy it if it was there "cough"] The following is a recount of the dialogue that transpired between myself and the Suncoast dude. And I quote...
Associate: Anything I can help you find today? Panda: Yes um, I looked up on the internet that the last DVD in a series I'm collecting was released today. And I'm hoping you guys have it.
[pause]
Associate: Kaleido Star New Wings Vol 5 Right? (Panda has Shocked expression on face) Panda: Yes. Do you have it? Associate: No, not at the moment but you can reserve it. Panda: Ok sure, but how did you.... Associate: You are the 7th person to ask today....Damn internet.
-The End-
It gave me a chuckle and I thought you'd enjoy my little story. Ja!
Do you have love in your soul for Dante from the Devil May Cry video game series from Capcom?
You do? Well then you will be happy to know that Capcom along with two other partners announced that a new 12 episode Devil May Cry anime series is in the works. I'm not sure what is actually being said in this video from Kotaku, but I'm down for a DMC anime series. Dante is hot! I'd love to know more about him.
Oh yeah, Capcom launched the official DMC4 website so you should skirt yourself over there and check it out. The TGS DMC4 trailer looks great. I want to play this game, NOW! I have gone too long without the pithy one liners and letter grading combo comments that run rampant in the DMC series.
I am a huge fan of the game Ninja Gaiden. If you've listened to my top 5 replay games podcast episode you know that Ninja Gaiden Black made the cut.And now, Team Ninja is bringing a "more complete" version of the Ninja Gaiden game to the PS3 according to this article on IGN. The announcement came during the Tokyo Game Show and while the game development is only at 25% if looking at the screens and trailer that IGN has to offer is any indication of what the game will really look and feel like, I'll have to say it looks pretty good.
The fact that Rachael is going to be a playable character with the story unfolding from her perspective when you use her makes me want this game badly. I always felt like Rachels storyline deserved a little more focus in the game. As I played through the two previous Ninja games I found myself more and more curious about the Rachel/Alma back story and whatnot. So being able to finally cure that curiosity will be a good thing.
The only thing that gives me any kind of pause in my excitement over this announcement is that it seems like a few parts of the previous Ninja story structure have changed. In any event, more pro-ninja stuff out in the world... what more could I ask for?
For video game players, the competition among the three game console manufacturers must seem like a Dead or Alive tournament. There's always a winner and a loser, but someone else is always lined up for another bout with the winner.
Few tears were spilled when the No. 4 console maker, Sega, dropped out of the market a few years ago. But can you imagine if, in a year from now, there were only TWO console game makers?
Not only COULD it happen, but we're going to tell you why it WILL happen.
Can Video Games Bring Down a Multinational Corporation?
Sony has a book value of $27 billion. It has nearly $9 billion in cash. Sony's not going anywhere. Or is it?
Sony is looking at a potential for demise it has never faced before. With the failure of its TV and music electronics businesses and its up-and-down movie business, it has relied more and more on the video game business to keep profits up.
But now even its video game business can't save the company. In fact, it's the video game business that could put the whole company right down the toilet.
Here's a story of a company in trouble. Sure, you think you could help it by buying a new PS3 at the end of the year. But purchasing a PS3 this year could be the very thing that pushes Sony over the edge.
The Seeds Are Sown
Sony's troubles didn't just begin this year, but we all started to realize the wheels were falling off the train when Sony started delaying the release of the new PlayStation 3. The first excuse Sony made was that licensing issues were causing the delay from Spring 2006 to November 2006.
Around the same time Sony was putting off the release, analysts released a disturbing story about the disparity in the cost of raw materials for the PS3, compared with the estimated purchase price.
Analysts had predicted the PS3 cost would be in line with the cost of the Microsoft XBox 360 consoles.
In a February story for CNet, it was estimated that the total cost of components for the PS3 would be in the neighborhood of $725 to $905 -- and that was before it was rumored that Sony would have to put PS2 components in the box because the new chip lacked the ability to emulate the earlier PSOne and PS2 games.
The CNet story said, "The materials price estimates do not include marketing, software development, advertising or other costs, which will push Sony's total cost per console even higher."
That there is such a disparity between the price of materials and the suggested retail price for a new console is not unusual because most new consoles are sold as loss-leaders, with the game maker making up the difference with the high margin of profit they get by selling games for the console.
In contrast, the materials cost for the XBox 360 is estimated at only $501, and should continue to drop as the console ages. While Sony pays $200 to $300 for each raw Blu-ray drive, Microsoft pays only $20 for the simpler DVD drives.
The Truth Hits Home
With such estimates for raw materials, video game fans should have known that the new machine would need to cost a lot more. But a huge audience that was prepared to cheer the announced price of the PS3 instead sat in stunned silence when the suggested retail price was announced at the E3 conference: $499 for the basic system and $599 for the premium one.
Of course, the single most costly item in the PS3 is the Blu-ray drive. Analysts originally figured Blu-ray would add at least another $200 or so to the price of the machine, but that figure has gone way up.
First, there's more than just the mechanical equipment to figure in. Sony must also pay for all the codecs that must be licensed.
Second, the slow adoption of high density DVD technology will keep prices high for years.
Finally, all manufacturers of the blue lasers that are required for high density DVDs are having problems getting up to speed in creating the machines. This will result in low yields, further driving up the price of the drives.
Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi was not ambivalent about the pricing of the console -- he kept saying it was a premium machine, sold at a premium price. Want a PS3? Work a little harder!
"Our ideal," Kutaragi said, "is for consumers to think to themselves, 'OK, I'll work more hours and buy it.' We want people to feel that they want it, no matter what."
But the consumer reaction was swift -- and harsh. Even the Official Playstation Magazine had a bold cover headline that asked, "Is It Worth $600?"
In June, a month after Sony announced its price points for the PS3, analysts at Merrill Lynch estimated Sony would lose more than $1 billion in the console's first year of existence. By comparison, Sony lost only $458 million during the first year the PS2 was available. The company followed that with two strong years of profit -- $759 million in Year 2 and $1.3 billion in Year 3.
But Merrill Lynch warned that this generation of consoles was not like the last. Microsoft beat Sony for the next generation consoles by a year and a price reduction for the XBox could result in additional losses for Sony -- $730 million in Year 2 and $457 million in Year 3. That's nearly $2 billion in losses over three years.
The Cost of Doing Business
Of course, analysts questioning Sony's moves is nothing new. More than 10 years ago, just six weeks before Sony introduced the original PlayStation, the head of the project team quit amid rumors of difficulties in getting the console out on time.
Analysts at the time believed Sony could lose as much as $200 million on the project in the first year.
Sony's answer at the time was to require retailers to bundle the packages with one or two games, which still left Sony underwater, but not as much as it would have been.
This, of course, begs the question, "Will Sony pull the same thing this year?" It makes sense, especially considering that Sony will be charging a premium price for its games (above $59 and below $99, according to most sources).
The bad news for Sony this year isn't restricted to video game competition. The company is also liable for a large share in the laptop battery recalls being conducted by Dell and Apple. Nearly 6 million batteries have been recalled in the past two months -- all of them manufactured by Sony.
The battery fiasco alone could cost Sony as much as $500 million.
"The most important thing for Sony is maintaining the No. 1 quality, whatever the category or area," Sony Marketing (Japan) Inc. Senior Vice President Kiyoshi Shikano told MarketWatch this month. "So in that sense, unfortunately, the recent happenings have caused some small damage for the business."
In addition, Sony is far behind its competitors in the fast growing LCD flat-screen TV market and has lost its decades-long edge in portable music devices to Apple Computer's iPod players.
Sony is also likely to face a fight in Europe over its partnership with Betlesmann AG. A European court ruled in July that the European Commission was wrong to approve the venture. The court decision means Sony and Bertelsmann will have to re-apply to win European Commission approval for their venture.
At the movie box office, Sony has had great success with its Spiderman franchise, but must wait until May 2007 for the next installment to arrive. The company's biggest film this year has been Will Farrell's Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which has made $145 million thus far, but lags far behind Disney's hit sequel for Pirates of the Caribbean, which has already made more than $1 billion worldwide this summer.
The Market Leader Goes Into the Cellar
Although the PS2 captured more than a 70 percent share of the previous generation of console sales, it is entering the next generation at a distant third, with Microsoft predicted to sell 10 million XBox 360 consoles and Nintendo selling 4 million of its new Wii consoles, while Sony will be able to push out only 2 million consoles to consumers by the end of this year.
That fact alone has analysts betting that Sony will introduce price cuts quickly. But price cuts, in combination with the losses Sony takes on each machine it sells, are a double-edged sword.
"By reducing the price, it appears that Sony may have prolonged its recouping period of initial investments on the PS3 by a few years," John Yang, a Tokyo-based analyst with Standard & Poor's, told the Wall Street Journal today. According to the Wall Street Journal article, Yang estimates the PlayStation 3 will be unprofitable for at least three years.
The Journal story brings up another point that may draw the most fear in the ranks of Sony -- the PlayStation will no longer dominate game developers. When the original PlayStation and PS2 were introduced, Sony had an impressive lineup of developers who made games exclusively for its consoles. That won't be the case with the PS3.
"We don't want the PlayStation 3 to be the overwhelming loser, so we want to support them," Michihiro Sasaki, senior vice president of Square Enix, told the Wall Street Journal. "But we don't want them to be the overwhelming winner either, so we can't support them too much."
So the price cuts have already begun. On Friday Sony announced a price cut for Japanese buyers (about $410 in U.S. dollars for the low-end version), there was no indication that such a price cut would be given to American customers.
In addition to lowering the price of the low-end model, Sony added an HDMI port to the machine, which further increases the price of raw materials. Sony will undoubtedly be losing even more money than ever before.
Do the Math
As a result, Sony is forecasting an $862 million operating loss for the current fiscal year. But that's going to seem like chicken feed, compared to the loss it's liable to see in 2007.
How much will Sony lose in the next 12 months? Let's count it up.
Sony plans on making 6 million PS3 units before April. Let's say that they sell every one of them at full retail price. With what we know about the materials price -- particularly the price of Blu-Ray players -- let's say that they will lose only $300 for every PS3 they sell.
6,000,000 x $300 = $1.8 billion
That's the same amount that analysts figure the PS3 will cost the company over the first three years. Why the disparity?
The analysts are counting on Sony making up the sales of machines with the sales of video games. But it's not going to be as easy for Sony this time. Few game developers are making games exclusively for the PS3.
Also, Sony has already said that games would be at least $10 more than the games for the XBox 360 and at least $20 more than the games for the Nintendo Wii. With everything being the same, would you pay $10 or $20 more for the same game that you could play on your XBox 360 or Wii?
In addition, Sony will be nickle-and-diming you at every opportunity -- particularly with the HDMI cable, which will likely cost between $99 and $129. (That's surely why they added an HDMI port for the low-end PS3. They'll make their money back on the cable for it.)
Surely the discounts will come quickly, but they'll all be a drag on Sony's bottom line. Let's say Sony loses $400 on every box they sell. Here are the numbers:
6,000,000 x $400 = $2.4 billion
That really starts taking a mammoth chunk out of Sony's cash. Add to that the half-billion dollars of free laptop batteries they've got to give out and the losses start approaching $3 billion.
But a company like Sony can afford to lose $4 billion, can't it? Once upon a time, that might have been true, but Sony is a much different company today than it was just a few years ago.
The Japanese people who owned shares in Sony could see the value in building for the future. But, with its purchase of Columbia Studios and Columbia Records, Sony has become much more of a multinational company. Today, for the first time in its history, less than half of the company is owned by Japanese investors. Investors in the West demand more short-term benefits.
Devoting nearly half of its cash reserves to losses in the video game and computing sectors, with no guarantee of future profits for another two years, could send the company's stock into a tailspin, once its investors realize the full measure of the grave situation for the company.
In such a situation, Sony could start selling off large chunks of the company. But even that would come at a large cost. For example, selling off the movie division would result in the loss of the Spiderman franchise for the PlayStation. Without an exclusive there, Microsoft and Nintendo would gain the edge in game sales, since their games cost less than Sony's.
Sony has become a minor player in the music player and TV industries, so they wouldn't be able to make much money off selling their stake in the aging Walkman and Trinitron franchises.
When things are all said and done, the most valuable piece of the pie at Sony is its video game division. They could very well put it up for sale. And who could be the potential buyer?
Microsoft.
That's right. I said it. Just think about it.
Who could benefit the most by purchasing Sony's video game division?
Microsoft.
You might say there's no way the U.S. government would allow such a thing. Anti-trust, you say.
Just remember who's running the government. A Microsoft takeover would be treated with the same kid gloves that created DaimlerChrysler.
Who knows? This time next year you could be playing games on a PlayStation 360.
Want a PS3? Work a Little Harder!
So you want to save Sony. What can you do?
Well, as Sony's Kutaragi says, you need to work a little harder and make a little more money.
Stop complaining that the PS3 costs $600. It doesn't. In order to cut down on its losses, Sony is liable to do the same thing to consumers that it did 11 years ago at the original Playstation launch -- it'll require that you buy two games in order to get a machine. That'll boost the price for you to around $725 or so.
But there's more! Want an HDMI cable? That'll be another $100 to $125. Now we're at $850 or so. You've got a Blu-ray player, so you'll want a few Blu-ray movies -- Sony titles only, of course. Buy six of them while you're at it! At an average list price of $25 each, we're talking another $150. That pushes our total price to an even $1,000.
I got good news,bad news, and then better news for you. First the good news: The good news is that Spaceballs: The Movie is about to become Spaceballs: The Cartoon...
The bad news is that it looks like G4 is getting first dibs on the series. According to this article on the Variety website, G4 has the rights for the 1 hour pilot and typical 13 half hour episode first season of the new cartoon series.
The better news is that Mr. Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan [who co-wrote Spaceballs: The Movie will write the hour long pilot while Meehan will oversee the writing during the series season. Oh yeah, Brooks himself will do the voices for President Scroob and Yogurt for the series... just as Bob intended!
Sure, this isn't video game news but it is an animated series, so it kinda falls under the anime banner. Besides, Spaceballs [and all things "balls" related] are news and noteworthy in my book. I have been waiting for all the things Yogurt promised me in the movie: Spaceballs: The T-Shirt, Spaceballs: The Toilet Paper, the Yogurt plushie, and especially Spaceballs: The Flamethrower. Hopefully the series will be good enough to make it through the entire initial season so some of that merchandising may come to pass.
Unless you have been living under a rock you know that the Tokyo Game Show [TGS] has started...
what you may not know is that I didn't have the money [nor cajones to fly to Tokyo because it's a long assed flight] so we will only be doing light coverage of the game show. Thing of TGS as like the gran-daddy of E3... bigger, badder, sexier. Yeah, you have the idea... but since we didn't have the funds to go we'll just be mentioning here news we find elsewhere that we feel is really worth noting.
For instance, did you know there was a video game based on the anime series Bleach coming? IGN did... cuz they are in Tokyo at the damn show. [Really, I'm not bitter] Here is an article with some specifics about the game, and here is some video... enjoy.
I'm sure I'd have more to say if I had actually watched Bleach yet. I have the video files, just haven't had time to watch em dang it... get off my back. ;)
We know you have a choice in gaming news, and thank you for choosing ESH today.
A short while ago I was talking with Pandalicious about gaming and the conversation got very interesting. By the end, we were both in agreement that gaming [on the whole] is incredibly enjoyable and should be a national past-time type of thing. But something from that conversation always nagged at me... it was a question that would bubble up to the front of my mind from time to time, making me question my own gamer-geekdom:
Am I missing out on something huge because I do not play games on the PC?
I need to give you just a little bit of history in order for you to appreciate the question... all of my life I have been a console gamer. The first system I remember owning was an Intellivision and ever since then it's been one console or another... from NES to XB360 [and damn near everything in between] I've always relegated my video gaming to a console machine. This is not because I hate PC's [I don't] but I've always thought or had the mind set that a personal computer is for work and a console is for gaming. I have several computers in my home and they are all production machines. By production I mean they are machines that I use for design work or video editing. While all of my machines are powerful enough to play games I do not have the luxury of allotting hard disk space, memory resources, or updates to games that may interfere with my machines running at top speed. I can't let anything mess with my money, or ability to make money to be more specific, so I do not game on any of them.
Pandalicious will tell you that there are a lot of PC games that she owns, plays, and enjoys on a regular basis. Many of these titles are games I have never played... I wouldn't be able to pick out a screenshot of Diablo if you paid me to, nor would I be able to isolate out from a group of screenshots which Civilization game was which. But as our video gaming conversation went on, I started thinking to myself that maybe I was missing out on a good gaming experience. There have been a bunch of titles that I have seen on the PC that I think are interesting, so lack of content hasn't kept me away... PC titles are no more expensive than their console counterparts, so I don't think that has anything to do with my non-pc-gaming-ness either. I think it's partly fear of the unknown and lack of a gaming machine that keeps me away from PC gaming.
I say fear of the unknown because I don't really know much about PC video gaming at all. The people that I do know that play these games usually only share with me their horror stories... some patch install gone horrendously wrong, or game saves corrupting or disappearing, not stuff to get me all excited about getting in on the scene that's for sure. So fear of getting into software that I have no previous experience with is unsettling... if I get that Guild Wars game will I really be able to find the help I need if I get lost somehow? I think not knowing the answer to that or at least not having an idea about the answer to that makes it easier for me to justify staying away from PC gaming altogether. Add to that the fact that I would still have to keep my production machines clean and the idea of bringing in another machine just for gaming becomes a hard pill to swallow because I couldn't just get a run of the mill machine... I would have to get a supped-up boom-phatty of a laptop to game on.
I say laptop because I like being mobile with entertainment, but from the things I've read [from places like EGM, IGN, or CGM] to really have an enjoyable computer gaming experience you need a bad-assed machine... this means heavy hitting processor chips, high, high-end graphics card with lots of onboard memory, a couple of gigs of the high end computer ram, and a big ol' 7200rpm hard drive. My heart start palpitating when I start thinking about getting a mobile machine that can meet those specs... coming up with that extra cash, just for a gaming machine, just never seems to make enough sense to me. I try and I try, but I guess because I just have never had an all consuming "this is the greatest thing ever" experience previously on a PC with gaming [which I freely admit was waaay back in the day] I end up convincing myself to not get into it... one of those "better the devil you know..." kind of deals I guess.
But every so often, the conversation and question pop back into my mind because I feel like I might be missing out on something. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel like there are people getting to experience some things in a way I can't which makes it hard for me to relate to them. I've only ever been to one LAN party, and I didn't even play, I just watch other people play because I didn't know the game... and it makes me a little sad. But I just don't have enough of a "sad feeling" to justify getting a PC just so I can play games.
As I said in the "God Save this Podcast" episode there are quite a few Naruto filler story arcs. Some of them are decent, some are downright terrible. I've decided to make a story arc catalogue for Naruto.
I'll list the episodes for each arc, the basic storyline and whether I think it's worth watching.
Introduction (1-5): The introduction to Konoha, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and the formation of Team 7. This is the painfully typical, but required introductory segment. There just doesn't seem to be any good way to jam all the information about the characters in the first few episodes.
Country of the Wave (6-19): Team 7's first large mission is the protection and escort of a bridge architect to the Land of Waves. This arc has the first big fights and cool techniques as well as the first powerful enemy ninja, Zabuza and Haku. I like this segment because Team 7 is finally starting to gel and work together.
Chuunin Exam (20-67): Naruto and friends are all genins, in order to advance to the next ninja level they must pass an exam. The exam has three parts the written exam, a survival test and a ninja vs. ninja competition. There are introductions to Orochimaru, Kabuto, Gaara, and the Rookie Nine (Naruto's classmates.) I love the mental torture the genins have to go through during the written exam, and I am crazy about Orochimaru and Gaara.
Invasion of Konoha (68-80): This arc covers Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha. Because of the lack of a pause after the last arc, this arc is often considered the second half to the Chuunin Exam arc. This storyline was alright, but there was much more running around and dialogue than there was actual fighting. The stalemate between the Hokage and Orochimaru took way too long.
Itachi's Return (81-85): This arc covers the short visit Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, makes to Konoha in search of Naruto. This arc has an introduction to Akatsuki, the group Itachi is working with, and indicates their interest in Naruto as one of the tailed beasts. This arc also has insight into Sasuke's past and his relationship with Itachi. I loved this arc because it showed why Sasuke was so surly and antisocial.
Tsunade's Decision (86-100): After the attack on Konoha it is deemed a first priority mission to find Tsunade, the woman who was elected as the 5th Hokage so that Konoha won't be left leaderless. Orochimaru also searches for Tsunade in order to heal the wounds he received in his attack. Naruto learns a cool new move, Rasengan. It was cool to see the fight between the giant frog, slug and snake in this segment. "Old Lady" Tsunade rocks!
Kakashi's Lips (101) For some reason this episode is considered a 'special' and not a filler. It is an entire episode devoted to imagining what Kakashi is hiding under his face mask and several attempts to make him remove it. This was almost painful to watch, and has no bearing on the rest of the series. I recommend you skip this one.
Race in the Land of Tea (102-106) Filler 1: The first official filler arc. Team 7 is sent on a mission to protect a runner from the machinations of a cut throat competition. Racers often hire ninja in order to hurt the other runners and remove them from the race. Although this arc is considered a filler I think it feeds directly into "Sasuke Retrieval" in that it helps Sasuke make up his mind to leave.
Sasuke Retrieval (107-135): Sasuke leaves the village searching for the power to defeat his brother. Naruto, Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba and Neji go after him, but are detained by Oroshimaru's minions. Each of the characters has a chance to show off their repertoire of techniques. The arc ends with a huge showdown between Sasuke and Naruto with each using all of his abilities. This is officially my favorite arc so far. It's just a shame that the art during the big fight was so sketchy.
Infiltrating Orochimaru's Lair (136-141) Filler 2: In search of Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura and Jiraiya track down Orochimaru's lair in the Country of Sand. I liked this arc. It really solidifies the feeling that Sasuke may never return.
Mizuki Strikes Back (142-147) Filler 3: A minor villain from the first episode Mizuki is back and is determined to get his revenge on Naruto. This isn't a very good arc, it's not terrible, but I didn't enjoy it overly much either.
Bikochu (148-151) Filler 4: Naruto, Hinata, Kiba and Shino go on a mission to search for the rare scent bug. This arc shows Hinata's kick ass new techniques. I love this arc just for Hinata.
Curry of Life (152-157) Filler 5: Naruto and Team Guy (Neji, Tenten, Lee) travel to a small town to defeat Raiga, a ninja that has been terrorizing the town. This was a very goofy arc, painfully so at times.
Survival Training (158) Filler 6: Each of the Rookie Nine takes a group of three younger ninja out in order to train them to survive while on missions. I like this episode, Naruto in charge of a mission, how could that not be funny.
Bounty Hunter (159-160) Filler 7: Naruto, Kiba and Hinata are sent out after a thief, only to discover that he is a hardened killer. They are put at odds against a bounty hunter by the name Sazanami, who is also seeking the thief. This arc is pretty good, but there aren't any cool fights, which I had expected.
Green Beasts (161) Filler 8: Two unknown men try to infiltrate Konoha by disguising themselves as Lee and Guy. This episode is hilarious. Everyone teams up to torture these poor guys. It's a must see.
Land of Birds (162-167) Filler 9: A vengeful samurai ghost has been seen lurking around in the Country of Bird. Naruto, Tenten and Neji are sent in as ghostbusters. I really liked this arc. The art and storyline were well done, and the parallels between Sagi and Sasuke's missions of revenge were tastefully done.
As I finish this post up I am watching the episode 166/167 hour long special. I haven't seen any more of the fillers, but they continue on to 199, so far. There are rumors that 200 starts the storyline up again, but there is also information stating that there will be a storyline focusing on Kakashi's history before the second section starts. The Wikipedia article on Naruto says that the Kakashi segment will run from 239-244 and then at 245 a reintroduction will start. According to rumors Naruto II, whenever it starts, will take place 3 years after Sasuke left, so the first few episodes will explain what has happened in the interim.
According to Wikipedia the storyline goes like this: Naruto I (1-135) Filler Segment (136-238) Kakashi Gaiden (239-244) Naruto II (245-???)
However, this may all be speculation because only 199 episodes have been released.
MTV, you know, the Music Television station that brings you the likes of Laguna Beach, The Hills, and all that Real World vs. Road Rules crap going to buy Harmonix Music Systems [of Guitar Hero and Amplitude fame] for $175 million in cash. I have to tell you, reading this news sends a shudder down my spine. According to this article from the New York Times website the "goals of the deal...are broader than putting the MTV logo on a Harmonix game box: for instance, the company wants to offer visitors to its Web sites, its new virtual worlds and its planned mobile services the ability to play along with, or remix, their favorite songs."
I don't know about you, but I remember the old MTV Music Generator games... and they sucked. They actually made me NOT like music for a while. I became very anti-music because of those games and started reading a lot of Edgar Allen Poe's stuff. This is not a lie nor is it an exaggeration. The "Music Generator" game would have been the last in my forray into music or rhythm based games had it not been for Harmonix and Frequency. Frequency restoreth my soul.
But now I'm not so sure about this here acquisition. I hope MTV just buys the company and asks the already installed base of programmers how best to include their [MTV's] stuff into the Harmonix framework and not the other way around... else disaster lies ahead for all of us.
The problem with being a video game analyst is that sometimes you have to read between the lines. That task is harder when the lines are written in Kanji.
That was the task when the news came across the ol' wire about the surprising price reduction in the Sony PlayStation 3. Price reduction, you ask?
Price reduction is right. Apparently, Sony announced a price reduction in the lower-end model of the Playstation 3 for Japanese customers -- a 10,000 Yen price reduction. That's $85 to us folks in America.
It sure looks true. But if you go to the page where it was announced, you have to do a little extra-hard reading to divine the information. Click here to see for yourself.
The page is written in Kanji, the simpler of many Japanese languages. There are just enough English characters on the page to pull the high points out of the page:
PLAYSTATION®3 HDD 20GB HDMI 49,980
The original price announced for the PS3 at E3 in May was nearly 60,000 Yen. That means Sony lopped off a full 10,000 Yen off the price. The 20GB model is the low-end model, which was announced to be selling for $499.99 in the U.S. come November.
We had to learn more, so we sicced Babelfish on the page. Here's the translation verbatim:
PLAYSTATION®3 HDD 20GB HDMI standard loading The Japanese domestic desired retail price 49 and 980 Yen (including tax)
Corporation SONY computer entertainment (SCEI), next generation computer entertainment system "place t Shaun 3" (PS3) HDMI* (Ver. 3 Deep Color correspondence) standard we load the output terminal in HDD20GB. In addition, desired retail price 49 and 980 Yen (including tax) we set the Japanese domestic price of the same type.
Announcing the specification of PS3 2005 May E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in, from the fact that later, flat display of the full HD correspondence which loads HDMI is thrown by the market accelerating, high picture quality image and the appearance impression due to HDMI the demand for the digital sound which overflows exceeding expectation, has increased, we decided that standard it loads HDMI in the PS3 all type.
The software manufacturer each company way while receiving the cooperation, it starts propelling SCEI, at a stroke with the attractive only of PS3 and advancing the development of original title powerfully, PS3 as an entertainment platform of the next generation.
* High-Definition Multimedia Interface
Once you get beyond the funny Pidgin English, there's something that you realize about the release. Not only is Sony reducing the price of the low-end PS3, they are also including an HDMI port on the thing.
Originally, the HDMI port was supposed to be included only on the $599.99 high end model. Now, by putting the HDMI port on the low-end model, it suddenly makes the low-end model a viable competitor to the high-end Microsoft XBox 360.
And then you stop dead in your tracks. Sure, the Japanese get an $85 price reduction and an HDMI port on the low-end PS3, but what about America? Will we see similar changes?
*note: if you get the title reference give yourself a pat on the back...you are a kindred spirit.
Amazon.com has put a halt on taking Wii pre-orders...all long before they could send out their "we are now taking pre-orders for the Wii" email. Yeah, I signed up for that email and didn't get messaged...I'm STILL pretty pissed about missing out on getting my pre-order in, but what can you do? They said they were sorry.
Still doesn't get me a Wii on launch day now does it?
Anywho, I know you've been patient, and I applaud you...you made it this far without complaining. Hurray for you! Wthout further adieu, I bring you my top three reasons to buy a Nintendo Wii!
Reason No.3: Virtual Console You want to play Streets of Rage or Mike Tyson Boxing? Well, using the Wii Virtual Console now [well pretty soon] you can! NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, even Turbo Graffix 16 games will be on deck for your game-time enjoyment. Why is this a big deal? Well the NES games will be $5 bucks a piece, SNES games will be $8 a piece, and N64 games should run you about $10 a piece...all to be downloaded to your Wii...at which point you will own them for as long as you like. Altered Beast, Castlevania, Shinobi, Double Dragon, and the original Zelda game all available on the same console as Super Mario Galaxy and Spore. Dig it!
Reason No.2: Red Steel - The Game That Sold Me on the Console During E3 I had my doubts about the Wii like most gamers that is, or was, until I saw the demo for the game Red Steel. As I watched the player title the Wiimote and the player characters hand mimicking the same movement [which resulted in the player character tilting their hand holding a gun to the side a la gang-banger] and I was sold. This implementation of motion sensor will allow me to be more accurate in first person shooter games and actually make them fun for me to play. I could go on and on about how good the game looks, or talk about how the swordplay works with the Wiimote and why that alone should make you want to play this game, but I won't. Go to the GameTrailers Red Steel and watch the videos yourself. Ubi Soft...you rock!
- and finally, to complete my Wii-Fangurl-dom -
Reason No.1: Dude, it's Only $250! Seriously, that's cheap! I won't have to donate plasma, or my precious eggs for other people to make babies with in order to buy it like I probably will for the PS3. [Ok, I'm not going to donate eggs to get money together for the PS3, but I have thought about the plasma donation.] I've seen people talk about how "affordable" the PS3 is and it's just not the case. Their argument is if you make more than 500 bucks a week you should have it made, and this might be the case if you still lived at home with your parents, didn't pay room and board, didn't pay for insurance, and never went out to eat, on dates, or had a car. Sure, if you meet those criteria you have no excuse to not buy a PS3. I live in Virginia. I pay monthly rent on an apartment, I buy food to cook [mostly organic, which ain't cheap], pay for cable and high speed internet, insurance, cell phones, transportation, and actually do go out to do "date like" activities. Scrounging together $250 is a lot easier than $600...which won't even get me a game, or the proper high definition cables to connect my pricey lil PS3 buddy to my TV. While I'm sure the PS3 will be a great little console, it will probably be a bit before I can get my dollahs together to buy one, the right cables, and a game.
Until then, I'll be making Wiiople on my Wii.
Thus ends my Wiijoicing. Catch the repost tomorrow with all 10 reasons listed together. Can't wait that long? Well then, read reasons 10 thru 8 here and reasons 7 thru 4 here.
I recently got a copy of a demo for Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and I have to say, it's actually fun.
Now before you get all pissy with me understand the difference between "good" and "fun". The Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic games were good [actually they were very, very, good], but I didn't have "fun" playing them. I thought the sound effects were great, the characters were perfectly designed, and I felt like I was playing Star Wars; just like the game was designed to make me feel. But I didn't have fun playing it which is why I lost interest in it very quickly.
I've tried both KOTOR games as well as the Jedi Academy game and again found myself displeased with the slow gameplay and pace of the story, so I moved on to a new game. With all the previous Star Wars games I had expressed leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I avoided the first Lego Star Wars game like it had rabies. From all the things I had read about various Star Wars games they were always falling short in some area that I just knew would piss me off. LucasArts tries hard, I know they do, but for me and millions of fans out there the games did not satisfy. If I am completely honest with you all, I would not have tried this demo if Evermore hadn't asked me my opinion on it last evening. Deciding his question deserved answering, I popped the PS2 demo disc in my console and waited for the game to load.
As the opening music and screen made their appearance I found my old skepticism creeping up on me, and even though I wanted to be able to bring an unbiased opinion to the game, I'd be lying to you if I didn't fess up to this before I continue on. I was ready to be let down again, and initially I was. I found the controls to be the most awful I had ever used. Even when I wasn't touching the controller the characters would slink around and continue to move on me making nuance movements nearly impossible. I was about to stop playing completely when I remembered that I was using a wireless controller that I hadn't used in months. A quick power cycling and the controls started handling properly. Trust me, this makes a WHOLE lot of difference.
Lego Star Wars II is just plain fun. It's kooky in its use of humor, for the true original trilogy nutball fanatic the game stays true to how we remember the movies. Han shot first, bitches! With the controller working properly I was able to jump, dodge and get my general inner Jedi on. The game lets you change between characters in your party. So you can be R2 for a moment in order to open some doors or interact with other computers or be Obi Wan to use some force skills on items. It all runs kinda seamlessly, one button for attack, one for jumping, one for character swapping, and the left side of the controller for movement... the way it should be. But it's the tongue in cheekiness [is that a word?] of the game that makes it enjoyable. This article would have been done hours ago but for the fact that I've been addicted to the demo for that long. By the time I finish this I will have added the XB360 version of the game to my Gamefly queue and as a result of my funtime pleasure having I am considering upgrading my account to the 3 game plan.
Sure you can tweak your Lego Star Wars avatar as you like with body pieces you acquire through gameplay and whatnot, but that's not where the fun of the game lies. I think it's because it's simple, doesn't take itself seriously, and stays true to what fans of the original movie franchise enjoy is what makes this game one of those, "damn, I can't put it down" type of games. It's not super next-gen, it's Lego people fer crying out loud, but you should do yourself a favor and add this one to your queue.
If for no other reason, get the game and share it with a Star Wars geek you know. Fun times will be had by all. Greedo Bombs...need I say more?
It was bound to happen, I just figured it would have happened sooner than today.
But I guess it's taken this long to get the games sales to the point where it makes sense to drop the price of them. In this first wave of PH titles going on sale October 15th you will be able to get Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, Kameo: Elements of Power, and Need for Speed Most Wanted for $29.99. I actually really enjoyed the two previous PGR titles but just haven't had a chance to get my hands on the third installment in the series.
Now I haven't been able to play any of the other named titles, but at the lower price I just might get around to my local BestBuy to pick them up. I mostly just want to go to the Magnolia center in Best Buy so I can sit in some of those kick ass home theater seats they have there. Makes a booty feel good, ya know?
With no further [than necessary] delay, here are reasons 7 through 4. Enjoy!
Reason No. 7: Zelda Dammit! Haters can go on and hate on me, but Zelda by itself is a good enough reason to pony up $250 bucks. And I'm not just talking that fancy schmancy new Zelda game...[with the Virtual Console] I'm talking about being able to play every Zelda game that dared ever play that oh so familiar tune on one box. Try doing that with the DOA series.
Reason No. 6: It's All About Mii! WIIIIIIOPLE....MOUNT UP! Yeah you heard me, I said make your Wiiople army and plop em on your Wiimote. I don't know how they interact or react yet, but I can't wait to find out. But if you are a naysayer and need some convincing...watch this video Blow a whistle and your army of Wiiople close ranks as you command. Customize, organize, deploy, command, conquer...what more could you want. AND, Wiiople are portable. They travel with you in your Wiimote. [The only wiisponsable place for Wiiople to live]
Reason No. 5: It comes WITH a Game Yeah, in case you didn't get me the first go around, the console ships with Wii Sports. You remember that nifty little demo from E3 with Iwata-San playing tennis with the folks on the stage right? You know, the one where they demoed the backhand swing recognition? Yeah, that one COMES with the system. So you can get your Wiimote swinging around from day one...well, once you get your system that is. [Angrilly waives fist at Amazon yet again.]
Reason No. 4: Component Out! Ok, for most people this would be a negative thing but frankly between the XB360 and PS3 I'm all out of HDMI ports...or at least I will be. The XB360 HD DVD drive uses HDMI and the only PS3 worth buying requires an HDMI cable and port on your TV as well. As wonderful as my TV is it only has two HDMI ports, so the Wii not requiring an HDMI port keeps me from having to switch cable connections on the fly until HDMI bridges become available. Seeing as how the "cheapie off brand" HDMI cables start around $80, I don't want to even start thinking about what a four or five port HDMI system selector will put me back.
Only 3 more to go! Catch reasons 3 through 1 tomorrow with a recap of 10 through 1 to follow a couple of hours later. I'm lazy, so sue me.
Hello all, Panda here with something I noticed with the overall sex appeal of anime females...
In most animes you'll find that all types of women are represent. The "overly sexual could possibly be a virgin" type, the "tomboy" who figures out that yes she is a girl, and yes she wants love, the "little dorkette with the big glasses" who is shy and has a deep crush on someone and lastly, the "ditzy one" who has no clue what color the sky is, but understands the concept of love on multiple levels.
For one...WHY DOES THE DITZ ALWAYS KNOW! Like do they go to some hidden mountain retreat where some sensei [teacher] unlocks the secret of love for them to shower down upon the reasonable man?! [and by man I refer to mainkind]
And is it just me...or are the dorkettes becoming little sex kittens?! I mean seriously lets be honest ladies and gentlemen... they study during the day then rip off those big swirl glasses and BAM! WELCOME TO SEXPOT HEAVEN!
What I like most about the anime genre's portrayal of women is that it does indeed branch out it's arms...it isn't always the overly sexy ones who walk away with the true love. In a sense [outside of giant mechas, magical girls, and cats who dance ballet] they [the anime genre] show a reality that we [who actually live and exist] don't seem to actually experience or imagine could possibly exist.
This summer seems to have been a bust for movies. There have been a few movies out that grabbed my attention, but even they were weak. With the summer over, I hoped to throw my chips in on The Covenant and find some sort of gem.
It was a few days ago that I saw this movie. I can honestly say that taking the 15 bucks it cost to see the flick and going and waving it in front of blind homeless people would have been much more entertaining and satisfying. The Covenant is easily one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. It is not that the movie is the worst thing since Retail, it just completely lacked what I had expected it to have.
When I sat down I was waiting for an action packed film similiar to Underworld, but there was almost none of that. It seemed like it was meant to be a plot based movie, but there was not much meat to the plot so they stretched it out as long as they could. To hide this they implemented the use of scare tactics/the gross out factor. If I hadn't gone to see the movie with someone, I would have slept through the whole thing.
I am interested in the opinions of the sorry fools who have already seen this movie. Is it just me that finds this in the movie? Has my hope that Hollywood will produce tons of high quality movies with good plot blinded me? Give me a reply or hit me up on aim at monkeydooinc.
What's a gal to do? I was flying back to VA from a family funeral today and got stuck in Detroit, Michigan with little other than my laptop, free toothbrush, and a five dolla voucher for breakfast in the morning. =/
So I started on a top ten list while sitting at the airport waiting for the hotel shuttle to pick me up. I'm not going to give you the whole top ten, just the first few...to wet your appetite. [That and I haven't finished writing the rest of it either.]
First order of business? We need to discuss why you all should be lining up at your local Best Buys or at least making friends with the stock boys over there quickly. Amazon.com has sold out their first batch of pre-orders on the Nintendo Wii...long before they could send out their "we are now taking pre-orders for them" email. [Which I was on and am STILL pissed that I missed out on getting my pre-order in...but what ca you do.] In the mean time, I thought I would share with you my top 10 reasons that you should be getting up off your ass right now and getting excited about system launch on the horizon.
With no further [than necessary at any rate] delay, here are reasons 10 through 8. Enjoy !
Reason No. 10: Group play people! The Nintendo Wii allows for 4 players using the new Wii-mote to play games from day one. No multitap adapter needed here. Get your girls, tell them to bring their boys, and Wii can make some noise. Seriously. I need more people to play against, and I have a huge TV to play em on.
Reason No. 09: It is Backwards Compatible. Now, not a lot of people were GameCube fans, but they should have been. There were a lot of fun games to play or grab your attention for short gaming time periods on the console. [I have always personally felt that the system got a bum wrap as being a system or THE system for kids.] You gots yer ports for your old memory cards [no need to buy transferring software and hardware like some other systems we know] and ports on the back for your old controllers. What more do you need? Oh yeah, you can just put your old lil 8cm disc in the system and run them...no external "special drive" needed to get them up and running. So even if for some un-freaking-forseeable reason you don't like the game that comes bundled with the system [or any of the 30 virtual console games available at launch, or the 20 or so Wii games ready at launch you picky bastid you] you can hearken back to your good old WindWaker days and get busy with it.
Reason No. 8: Dude, it's FREAKIN TINY! Have you seen the size and the WEIGHT of the XB360 or the new PS3? Have you been working out? Cuz you are going to need to get your chunky butt to the gym to be hauling these things around, where the Wii is about the size of 3 DVD cases laying on top of each other on their sides. And it's a fraction of the weight, so all the chubbly wooblies out there will be able to lug it around from place to place without breaking a sweat. Rock on!
“I got my hair highlighted, because I felt some strands were more important than others.” ~Unknown
"Long, beautiful, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen... I adore hair!" ~James Rado and Gerome Ragni, Hair
"When red headed people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn." ~Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Alright, here is the post you have all been waiting for... Part Two of the Anime Hair Analysis Task (AHAT)
We have finally gotten to the bright unnatural colors that anime is famous for. The colors I have here are the most common and basic staples of anime: Blue, Green, Pink, Purple and Red. There are all manner of shades and hues other than the ones I have here, but I have found that these are the most common and predictable colors. Unfortunately, because people are getting comfortable with the archetypes as they are written here, anime creators are mixing them up and deliberately going against the norm. Personalities and hair colors don't always match anymore, so there are plenty of characters that will not fit into these categories.
Green: Occasionally green is also used as a traditional Japanese hair color, don’t ask me why. Green haired characters are usually the steady down to earth characters with nurturing personalities. Many have healing powers or talents; they are usually secondary characters who support their friends. Characters with green hair are good at heart, if occasionally a little misguided for one reason or another. If a villain has green hair it often indicates that at some point the villain will defect to the side of good. Male characters with green hair often have rouguish personalities. (Midori Midori Days, Lumier Kiddy Grade, Kusanagi Blue Seed)
Red: The redhead in a group is usually the leader as well as being the strongest physically or spiritually. They definitely have the strongest personality and most powerful emotions. Redheads are unsubtle and straightforward, usually incapable of deception. Redheads can fall into several categories, cheerful, brash and rude, or destructive. The typical redhead is feisty and hotheaded; there is nothing anyone can do if they make a descision, because they are so stubborn. In a male character red hair is usually coupled with a delicate, feminine body. Spiritual possession is also occasionally indicated by red hair. (Kenshin Rurouni Kenshin, Tasuke Fushigi Yugi, Ranma's Female Form Ranma 1/2, Gaara Naruto)
Pink: Although just a light shade of red, pink actually means something very different. The pink haired character is always painfully and obnoxiously cute, young and is a hopeless romantic or spoiled brat. They are rarely a character of any importance and are usually younger siblings or kids. (Utena Revolutionary Girl Utena, Sumomo Chobits, Yachiru Bleach) Note: Utena is a deliberate reversal of the traditional character with pink hair.
Purple: Characters with purple hair are usually older or more mature. Purple is associated with the upper class, elegance and refinement. Despite this purple haired characters are usually spoiled and selfish. (Shampoo Ranma ½, Nuriko Fushigi Yugi, Faye Cowboy Bebop, Ayeka Tenchi)
Blue: Characters with blue hair have the most variation in shade, everything from blue so dark it looks black to very light grey blue that borders on silver. As a rule the darker the shade of blue, the greater a characters power, strength and agressivity, the lighter shades are usually found in females or delicate males and indicate a greater sensitivity. Many characters with blue hair are shy, introverted bookworms. They often have incredible intelligence and view the world in a logical and analytical fashion. Blue haired characters are usually solemn and self-conscious, but are very devoted to their friends. (Amy Sailor Moon, Sasami Tenchi, Aoi Ai Yori Aoshi)
I’d like to apologize to Ninja, she loves the purple haired characters, but I really couldn’t find any information on them, or really remember anything specific about anyone with purple hair. Red haired characters on the other hand are legion and I could hardly think of an anime that didn’t have at least one. This is yet another reason why redheads are better than purpleheads.
Violet will be a good color for hair at just about the same time that brunette becomes a good color for flowers. ~Fran Lebowitz (Hey I didn't say it. I just found it and posted it.)
I found an old old gem from the tv medium. Oh the happy memories!
Ah the Superbowl, the electricity, the humiliation of the other team, the commercials. The commercials were my favorite part of the Superbowl long ago, seeing as one team was always obliterated. I recently found a chain of Super Bowl commercials linked together that I loved so much I just had to share it. Drink and be Merry!
Although none of you know this, because the ‘cast hasn’t been posted yet, Ninja and I had a conversation yesterday about anime hair colors and the personalities typically associated with each color. We also argued about which color, purple or red, is better. Ninja loves purple haired anime men, and I go for the redheads.
So I started taking Quizilla “What Color is Your Anime Hair?” online quizzes like crazy to see the descriptions for each hair color. Did you know that there are literally hundreds of versions of that test? It was not easy, and I got a whole lot of totally wrong or made up personality descriptions. I’ve edited it down to the basic colors and the personality traits I’ve seen them display. I’ll start with the typical “normal” colors and then get into the more bizarre shades. I’ve had to divide the post into two parts because it ended up being a two page word document. I don’t know about all of you guys, but my eyes glaze over if I try to read a page with that much text. I’ll post the second part tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Black/Brunette: The basic colors. These colors are the default setting for Japanese characters, indicating traditional everyday characters. Usually, if the main character has black or brown hair they are an everyman, someone the typical Japanese person can relate to. These colors indicate a proper and polite character, someone who is honest and straightforward. These characters usually show great physical or moral strength and intense dedication to loved ones. (Tomoyo Cardcaptor Sakura, Yuri Kyo Kara Maoh, Ryu Argentosoma) Note: Ryu was in a horrible accident and now half of his hair is silver, he is also no longer mentally stable and some of his actions could be considered villainous. His personality is literally half black and half silver.
Blonde: As I mentioned black and brown are the default settings for Japanese characters, but as anime becomes more of a global phenomenon blonde has been showing up more and more as well. Unsurprisingly blondes are usually of foreign descent, or if they are Japanese they are a delinquent kogal. There are several blonde archetypes, what’s important to remember is that blondes ALWAYS mean trouble. In general blonde characters are elegant, beautiful and are associated with nobility or aristocratic manners, but have flawed personalities. The two typical blonde types are the airhead and the conniving bitch. The air-headed blonde is playful and ditzy, but clumsy to the extreme. The conniving bitch is vain, scheming and manipulative. Either way they mean trouble. Blonde also means that the character is the focus of chaos and trouble follows him/her. It is possible for a character’s hair to transform to blonde with a great influx of power, usually this is accompanied by a change of eye color. In these cases their personalities are still the same as before. (Vash Trigun, Rosette Chrono Crusade, Chi Chobits, Serena Sailor Moon, All the Sayans DB/DBZ/DBGT)
White/Silver: Ok, here’s a shocker occasionally white hair indicates that the character is old. Yeah, that one surprised me too. On younger characters white or silver hair indicates dignity and skill, usually with hidden spiritual power of immense strength. Spiritual power is traditionally purported to prematurely bleach hair. These characters are very self-controlled and because of emotional difficulties can come off as distant and cold. Although they are incredibly strong these characters avoid fighting. If a character is a white or silver haired bishounen he is typically a villain. White is a stereotypical color for evil in anime and manga. It makes sense to me, blood shows up so much better on white clothing. (Muraki Descendents of Darkness, Sephiroth FF7, Rosiel Angel Sanctuary, Nataku X, Sesshoumaru Inuyasha)
Sorry, I know you're all excited to read about the exotic colors. You're gonna have to wait until tomorrow for that.
Having recently reread my entire manga collection, which is huge, I have decided what my favorite theme is for manga. Unfortunately for me it isn't a very common one.
Alright here it is. I love "demon love" manga. Not "Oh, woe is me. I'm a misunderstood demon who would never actually hurt anyone." but "I AM SATAN, LORD OF DARKNESS PHEAR ME!" I love seeing men who squish souls for a living get all lovvey-dovvey and syrupy.
The typical demon man just doesn't get it. "I love you. I want you. I would do anything for you, but I'm still gonna destroy your town and kill all your friends and anyone else you ever loved." Then he doesn't understand when the girl of his dreams is horrified, terrified and now hates him. "But I did it for you..?" just doesn't seem to cut it.
I have two such series in my collection, three if you count "The Forbidden Game" a trilogy of young adult books by LJ Smith that I've sworn to keep forever. "Seimaden" by Higuri You and "Bride of Deimos" by Etsuko Ikeda and Yuuho Ashibe.
"Seimaden" features Laures and Hilda. In a past life Laures sacrificed himself to the demons to save his love Elis, but the only way to save her from evil was for her to die. Now years later he has found Elis reborn in Hilda, and he loves her as much as he ever did, but he is now a monster that has spent the last few hundred years at war with other demons in order to claim the throne of hell. Unfortunately, by the time Laures found her, Hilda had fallen in love with Rodderick, the last of the Azeilles. So Laures seals Hilda's memories and takes advantage of her amnesia to earn her love.
"Bride of Deimos" is an older manga originally published in 1975, so the art is of an older style. It is about Deimos a young god who fell in love with his twin sister Venus. In punishment for their sins the king of all gods, Jupiter, turns Deimos into a demon and gives him the title God of Fear while Venus is consigned to rot in the land of the dead. The only chance has Venus is for Deimos to find her reincarnation. Enter Minako. Only problem is Deimos starts to fall in love with Minako and refuses to forcefully take her to hell. Instead he sets out to make her accept that she is his destined bride.
I highly recommend both manga, but out of the two I prefer "Seimaden". It is more modern and less of a horror manga. "Seimaden" is a lot less gory than "Bride of Deimos." It has genuinely cute parts, whereas "Bride of Deimos" is most definitely a horror manga and by no means cute. Laures spends his time showing his softer side, but Deimos chooses to convince Minako by threatening her and showing her all the horrors of the world. "Bride of Deimos" reads like a graphic novel of "Are You Afraid of the Dark" crossed with "The Twilight Zone." It is much more of an episodic manga where "Seimaden" has story flow from one chapter to the next.
"Bride of Deimos" is published by ComicsONE and has 17 volumes. I don't believe it has been entirely published in English yet, although the series has been completed.
"Seimaden" is published by CMX Manga, the manga section of DC Comics. Seven volumes have been published as of right now, but the series isn't finished yet.
Ever been playing a video game and decide that the BGM music just downright sucks?
It's happened to me more than once so I figured it was high time that I created my own playlists of music to game by. I've got a playlist for DOA sparring, a list for questing around in Fable and a few others. Since I've been having a fun making up my own soundtracks for games I figured I would take this opportunity to share one of my playlists with you. If you have iTunes and some cash burning a hole in your pocket click on the image at right to be taken to my iMix page in the iTunes application. [You must have iTunes installed on your machine already for this to work.]
I use the Apple iTunes application a lot [6,053 song files and counting] and one of the neat things you can do with the app is make up your own playlists that you then post to the iTunes Music store. These playlists are called iMixes and anyone with the iTunes app and an iTunes Store account can see these mixes and buy them.
The iMix I link to above one of my bumpin' thumpin mixes that I used when I'm practicing in DOA. The great thing about these mixes is that any [and every] member of the ESH can make them and will be posting them from time to time. The coolest ever part of the deal is that we make a lil money off of the stuff that you buy so start downloading people. Bandwidth doesn't pay for itself.
If you were given the power to rewrite one event in any anime you've watched, what would it be? Tell us, we wanna know!
Whether it's something you loved about a plot line and wanted to make better, a sex scene that just didn't "do it" for you, an ending that just blew chunks of unsatisfiedness all over your hopes and dreams...we all have one, and should let it be known.
Now it's time for you to play God with us here at ESH. Tell us what change would you make and how you think it would make the anime better?
Well, it's official: November 19th is "Give us, us Wii" day!
According to the Destructoid website [whom I trust because they are teh b0mb] the Wii drops November 19th for $250. [Well $249, but you know the deal] and will include a Wiimote, nunchaku, batteries, console, and a copy of Wii Sports. Holy crap dood, they are shipping the system with a game...like consoles should be sold. It's funtime playtime right out of the box. Nintendo wanted to make one thing clear with today's announcement: Keep It Simple Stupid.
That doesn't mean that Nintendo is stupid, [they are quite brilliant actually] it just means the realize that keeping things simple often yields better results. Offering One system configuration means no buying confusion on launch day. No one will be standing in front of a sales person asking what the difference is between the core system and the premium one, or how those differences translate for them. Nope, on launch day you just, and knowing now that new first party games are going to be $50 [no more than new GameCube titles today and $10 less than current XB360 titles] If you think about it, that puts the price of the Wii console [by itself] at the predicted sub $200 value.
If you want more details about the customizable avatar stuff, Wii channels, and all that jazz, check out the Destructoid article...just keep a few things in mind while you are doing that:
Nintendo says they will ship 4 million units between launch day and Dec. 31st
the US is getting the bulk of those units
The Wii won't make it's Japanese debut until December, so the bulk of those 4 million units will be directed toward North America
Thumbs up to Nintendo for getting this launch thing right on the first try.
Ok folks, if you read my accountability post you know I'm not having a good day.
You can read the article here [*note, you should probably get some snacks or something because it's long] and then you'll understand why I have to say the following thing:
No SkypeCast this Friday. [15 SEP 06] Sorry but the big machine's in the shop, so I have to use the lil mobile dude instead. And while I love my lil Powerbook the SkypeCast episodes require a leetle more power than I think she can muster up...and with my luck of late, why test fate I say?
In any event, just stay tuned to the site and feeds to find out when we will be doing our next live recording. And if you think you are going to miss being able to talk to us directly so badly, use the form and let us know, we just might start scheduling IRC Chat times.
Alright I just finished watching Naruto the Movie 2 and I have a question for you all.
Now everyone knows that Naruto is about a ninja kid and his ninja friends and ninja enemies, right? If you didn't already know that, now you do. Well, in the Naruto Movie all these ninja people are fighting knights, so I just had to post this.
NINJA vs. PIRATE vs. KNIGHT vs. COWBOY
I added cowboy to round out the village people.
Who do you think would win in a battle royal and what weapon/technique would give them the advantage? (Because they are cool is not a good reason for them to win.)
I wanted to get everyone's opinion on who the best video game villian who ever was.
In my opinion the best villian in existance is Arthas from Warcraft 3. He is absolutely sick in my opinion. I can not think of a game which shows the descent into darkness better, nor one that has cooler videos. The scene in which he returns to Lorderan after all that happened (not gonna spoil this shit cause you all should check out the game, if even just to see the bad ass that is Arthas) is the coolest damn thing I have ever seen in a game. Though I have to admit Archimonde from the same game is pretty bad ass, too. Man, you'd think by the way I talk that I worship the ground that Blizzard walks on. But that is absolutly ridiculous. ...I am gonna go play some more World of Warcraft.
As in, "Where did the accountability go" accountability. This post doesn't directly deal with Anime or Video Games, but please bear with me.
I write this post from my Apple 12inch Powerbook at 1:47 in the morning because my production machine [a 20inch iMac G5 PPC] has once again got issues...and I sit here pissed and disappointed asking myself, "where has the accountability gone?"
Before you can understand how or why that last sentence makes sense let me first give you a little background history. My iMac G5 is one of the early batches of iMac G5's known to problematic logic boards, hard disk, and optical drives. Early on once issues became known and Apple put together a list of serial numbers of affected machines. Initially my machine was not listed among the infirmed, but that soon changed. Shortly after I actually received my iMac and it started displaying issues. I called the AppleCare support number and ran through some troubleshooting steps with the tech support guy [who was very nice, and helpful which is always a plus] and was able to get my issue resolved. HURRAH! But that celebration was also short lived as yet another issue sprung up and I was unable to fix the problem on my own. Not to toot my own horn here but I am pretty well versed in the Mac language. If you ask any of my friends the will tell you, "If you got a problem, yo, she'll solve it...check out the hook while my dj revolves it!" Ok, not exactly those words, but something resembling that will be said. I am not a n00b. There are no PEBCAK things going on here. I consider myself to be pretty dang self-reliant, so believe me when I say it takes a hell of an issue to FORCE me to call AppleCare tech support or even haul my machine into an Apple Store.
With that said, I'll continue.
The next problem to rear it's ugly head manifested itself in a complete non-booting of the system. No start up "bong" noise, no pop of power coming on, just a whole lot of nothing. The only piece of luck that I was having was the day before this happened I had done a complete backup of my computer and purchased the extended AppleCare warranty for my machine. [Which if you learn nothing else from this article know that you should ALWAYS buy the AppleCare when dealing with Apple people.] So yet another call to Apple, a round of troubleshooting, and the tech support guy gives me the "OK" to take my machine into an Apple Store for hardware repair. Sounds easy right? Well throw into this nice little scenario: (1) I am [on a good day] four feet and ten inches tall (2) my G5 weighs around 25 pounds and (3) I do not have a car. So getting my Mac to an Apple store requires me getting my man to rent a car to lug this thing down to the Apple Store where I get to make an appointment to hand my 25 lb paperweight off to a Genius that will run through all the troubleshooting stuff that I did with the tech help guy on the phone before accepting my machine for repair. So we do this. [Again, keep in mind that even though my machine was on the list of those requiring repair or replacement, Apple never replaced the machine with a new machine] After waiting for an hour and a half before it was my turn and going through the troubleshooting for about 20 minutes, the Genius accepts my machine, has me sign a few pieces of paper, and sends me on my merry way. I just keep repeating to myself, "at least it will be fixed now." And I go home, knowing that the next call I get will be from the Apple Store telling me my baby is all better now and I can come pick her up.
Two weeks later I get the call, "...the logic board on your machine needed to be replaced...we got the part it and your machine is ready to be picked up," said the nice kind man on the other end of the telephone. I leapt for joy, I couldn't wait to get my machine back home and get back to work. Let me tell you there is a huge difference between working in Adobe Photoshop on a 20inch screen and a 12inch one! I call my man again, let him know we need to rent a car again [thank Bob for ZipCar!] and pick my Pookie up. We head off to the Apple Store, grab a Genius' attention and say we are there to pick up. They bring out my box with my machine in it [yes my original iMac box with all of the original paperwork and Styrofoam in it, Pandalicious wasn't kidding when she said I was anal] take my baby out and plug her in and start her up so I can see that she's working before I take her home. I tell you I was so happy I almost cried. I asked the Genius if my machine should be exchanged for another since it was on the list of machines Apple said they knew were bad, but he assured me that this new logic board would fix all that ailed me. [And that Apple rarely exchanged whole computers out so I shouldn't even think about that anymore] I had my baby back and she was working so I didn't push it. We slung that puppy in the back seat of the car and headed home so I could get back to work. All was well in the NinJahood for about three weeks.
At the beginning of that third week I noticed that my iMac was acting weird again but in a new and different way. When I would boot the machine, the top half of the screen would be darker than the bottom half. You couldn't miss it. The machine would boot, and the entire screen would be the same color and brightness for a few seconds and then the top half would dim and be darker than the rest of the screen. The machine would still boot to the desktop and run so I didn't think much of it. It would only do it every so often so I learned to live with it. Pookie was booting, and that needed to be enough at the time. After a while I found that if I put the machine to sleep and then woke it up immediately the entire screen would return to it's proper brightness, so that's what I did. At first it was once or twice a week. After a while it was an every day every other boot thing, and it got on my last freaking nerve. But Pookie was still booting so I tried to work around it. Then one day my optical drive decided it didn't want to work properly anymore and it just happened to decide this while I was in the middle of doing a system backup. I ordered a new external burner, had it shipped over night, finished the system backup using that drive, skipped the call to AppleCare and just made a Genius Bar appointment for my machine for the next evening. Back to the Apple Store for me.
I wish I could say that this trip was the one that got my machine fixed but it wasn't. When it was finally my turn to see a Genius, he started up my machine, instantly saw the problem and said he knew what to do. He quickly unplugged Pookie and took her into the back room to fix her. Before I could tell him that the problem wouldn't show up again on subsequent boots because that's how I'd been "fixing" it he was back saying he had cured the problem. When I told him about the machine not exhibiting the issue again until it had been powered down for a while he [very calmly] explained that he could not keep the machine unless it was exhibiting problems and that I had to take it home. "If it exhibits any symptoms tomorrow bring it back and we'll take a look at it." So I loaded up Pookie in the rental and back home we went.
That entire drive home I raised up a silent prayer to Bob that my puter would be ok and I wouldn't have to "bring it back" tomorrow. But as most prayers to Bob do, it went unheard. It was a 36 minute drive home, plenty of cooling off time for Pookie who on first boot dimmed like a sonnofabitch. I was pissed. I knew I couldn't get back to the Apple Store before it closed so we were going to have to keep the car overnight [extra charge] and I was going to have to re-queue for the Genius Bar in the morning...on a weekend...I was fucked. Little did I know I was more fucked than pissed. Back to the Apple Store with Pookie in tow. I was so pissed I didn't even log into their queue "service" as the next available appointment was in six [yes 6] hours. I put my iMac box next to me and proceeded to lay down on the bench in front of the Genius Bar. Sure, it was childish, but I was so beyond pissed that it was ridiculous. After about two hours, the Genius that had dealt with my machine the night before came on duty and remembered my name. [A nice touch, I must say] and directed one of the other Genius' to attend to me right then and there. [An even nicer touch, I do say] This time I changed my tactic; first I told the new Genius about the optical drive not working, then I told her about the dimming. She was very polite and accepted my machine for repair. This time it was going to be fixed, I could feel it. This new Genius some how got that I really needed this to work and she was going to succeed where the others had failed. She was going to hook a sistah up!
Three days later I get a call. "...your optical drive did fail and we replaced it, but we just couldn't get the machine to show any dimming issues at all. We even put it out on the floor to compare it to other iMacs we have and the only difference is that your wallpaper is MUCH cooler." I explained to this new guy [who was not my chick Genius mind you] what the conditions had to be in order to get the machine to show off the dimming problem. He put me on hold for a few minutes and then came back to the line to tell me they were going to keep the machine another day and turn it off for the whole day then kick start it in the morning to see what the deal was. I felt better because I knew he'd see the dimming and then my Pookie would be made to feel better. I guess by now I should have known better. The call came around 10 am. "...we just aren't seeing what you are seeing, so your machine is ready for you to pick up. Without being able to reproduce the problem, we can't fix it." My heart sank, but at least the drive was fixed. Dimming that goes away after a sleep cycle I can deal with...not being able to do system backups to DVD I can not. I would with huge files and huge chunks of data so not doing regular DVD backups is NOT an option.
Another rental, another pickup, another boot at home that immediately displays my dimming problem, but dammit I'm not going back. In all the traveling to and fro I broke my iMac box which was the only thing making carrying the machine around plausible. There was no way I could lug that thing around without it. I would just deal with the dimming. And that's what I've been doing since October of last year until yesterday when my machine froze on me during boot. "OH SHIT!" doesn't even begin to describe the wave of emotion that flowed over me. I'm still working on Magic and Monkey's avatars on this machine. My notes for the podcast are on there, so are all the apps I use to edit the show. This is not happening. Not again, not now. But it was and did. Which brings me up to this point.
It's now 2:54 am as I type this line and I know that later today I will have to call AppleCare on the phone, explain the problem, hope that the machine exhibits the same behavior [earlier when I was on the phone with Apple it booted twice with no problems, after a third restart while I was no longer on the phone it failed and never booted past more than a kernel panic] so I can get yet another "OK" to bring my machine in yet again for repair and I ask myself, "where is Apple's accountability in all this?" At what point does someone say, "boy, you got one of our known bum machines, that's our fault so we'll replace it for you." I get that Apple wants to fix or replace parts as opposed to a whole machine because it improves their bottom line, but when you've already replaced a logic board, optical drive, reset the SMU, done PRAM zapped and permission repaired the hell out of a machine, at some point someone has to step up and say "I'm sorry, I'll make this right."
All I want is for the situation to be made right. When my iMac is working it's a wonderful machine. But I should not have to beg and plead to have my [still under warranty] product exchanged for being faulty, especially when the manufacturer has already admitted they know that it is.
I just want Apple to exchange my defunct machine that has been defunct from day one with an equivalent one [since they no longer manufacture a PPC G5 20inch iMac] so I can get my data off the old HD and on to a new machine that will allow me to get my work done. Is that too much to ask for?
You let me know. It's now 3:18am and I think now that I got that out of my system I might be able to sleep...but I'm not looking forward to my day. Shoot me a comment or two during the day, I'm probably going to need some cheering up.
I got one of the last XBox titles in my game queue in this week called Samurai Showdown 5. I have been looking forward to this title being released because I'm still a 2D gamer girl at heart.
I have been playing Samurai Showdown since the original in the arcade and on the Neo Geo system. I had one [count em, one] friend that had a Neo Geo system when it came out, and I don't want to say that I was friends with this person because they had a NG system...but, you know.
The excitement that washed over me was palpable; I tore open that shipping envelope like a wrapped gift on Christmas morning. Bounding across the living room heading towards the XB360 I found myself smiling and gaining in anxiety at the thought of being able to play this game. Popped the disc into the system and, it wasn't compatible. Damn. My heart sank a little and would have dropped even more had I not already been in possession of an XBox system. TV video input changed, XBox started, game running, I darted back to my futon and assumed the game on position.
The moment the game loaded and that oh so familiar BGM started playing I was immediately back in my Sega Genesis days. I was going to grab Nakaruru [the girl in red and white with the Hawk] and commence to perpetrating some ass whoopins, but the character select screen was all wrong. Who were all these faces that I did not recognize? Where had they come from, and why were they in my path to righteousness? I felt so alone and out of my element. But I couldn't let that get in my way, Nakaruru and I were on a mission...a mission from Bob. Round one Engage!
The basic combos returned to me like the a-b-c's of riding a bike. On my third or forth match I was jumping, blocking, and commanding my hawk to attack with ease. Characters moved faster than I remember, and some how the visuals don't look as good either. I'm not sure how, but the movement of player characters just doesn't seem as fluid. My recollections of what transpired next are fuzzy at best, but I will try with all my might to report to you the events as I remember them.
I lost. I lost bad. I lost bad with my girl Nakaruru. What. The. Fuck?
I played for hours, getting better and better with each subsequent match, falling in love all over again with 2D gaming. Playing Samurai Showdown 5 with all it's faults and believe me there were plenty] was still enjoyable. To me, most 2D games are fun. Have you ever played Metal Slug? Holy crap is that thing fun. It's a traditional side scroller; kill all the enemies as you move horizontally across the level until you get to the final enemy and then take him out. You die, oh too bad fo u! You have to start the level over again from the beginning...they way Bob intended. What about King of Fighters? Personally, I feel this game is simplicity in it's entirety, and that's why I think 2D gaming refuses to die off in the 3D [wish it was 4D] era.
We currently live in the Prey, Gears of War, and Assassin's Creed era of gaming where the emphasis in gameplay is being placed on realism and accuracy. And while these are promising and exciting times, there is something to be said for simple joys, and I think that's part of the reason why 2D games still have value in the market. The other reason is that 2D game instantly remind you of looking at a comic book. The colors and character design style make the player think and feel like they are "playing" a comic book. They are given a character with a very short back story and an open playground to explore with that character.
So if you've never picked up a 2D game, I encourage you to go exploring. You might just find a new "go to game" for your permanent collection.
I am being corrupted and for once I don't think I'm liking it!
Hello Everyone...Panda here. Today while sitting among fellow students in an *OBVIOUSLY* boring college class I began to daydream[something I do more often than not, I'll admit] Also, I do tend to daydream about the opposite sex...[this I find normal] But today like most other days I daydreamed of fictional men....of the...anime persuasion. [Ahh yes] It was while doing this that I noticed that all the anime men, that I've come to lust over are...well...EXTREMELY UNDERAGED?!
I mean, take Heero from Gundam Wing [*Drools* ACK I did it again!] He is only 15. In the state of Pandaville [where I reside] I'd go to Panda State Prison for the things I've thought about doing to Heero. [And you don't want to know what happens to cute little pandas like me there...*shudders*] Van from Escflowne...too young...Kazuki from Comic Party...too young!!! They are all jailbait young, yet so...soo DESIRABLE [ACK NO PANDA BAD PANDA!]
The only males who have been my age or older than me that I've dug were the Porco Rosso dude [who was a pig!] Vampire Hunter D [dude, he's immortal...waaay too old for me] Howl from Howl's Moving Castle [is in love w/someone else?!] Cho Hakkai. [turned demon after his wife killed herself] Oh wait...there is Alcard...oh wait...Integra! UGH!
All the guys that are in a sense available are underage sex puppets! OH WHY FATE! Why embed that into my mind?! I'm going nuts!
It is time for me to come clean and spill my dirty little secret.
Ok, here it is. Although I have owned Final Fantasy XII for years and have started it several times I haven't ever completed the game. So, when I watched Advent Children I didn't really understand what was going on. Whenever anyone asks if I've seen the movie or played the game I totally rave about how cool they were and how much I liked them. I've been living a lie and it's nice to finally get that off my chest.
So what have you been lying about to look cooler to those geeks in the anime/gaming worlds. Do you not actually know what EVA means? Have you never played one of the multitudes of Mario games out there? Do you exaggerate how long you have been into anime/gaming? Do you have difficulty telling Anime from American animation styles?
Whatever your little secret, admitting it is the first step to getting some help. Maybe we can clear up some misconceptions.
Something new has been de-added? Does that even make any sense?
In any case, we have relegated the MeeboMe widget to the contact page in order to help people just ask questions when they are trying to fill out our contact form. Most of your folks were avoiding the widget like it had a herpes outbreak or something. What up with that? (0_o) Anywho, since we added the IRC chat via the Peekko Chat add-on for Firefox or your local IRC client [EFnet, peekko.pertinent.net #electricsistahood.com] we just felt it was time to move da Meebo off of the prime-time live spot.
So FRESHtalk Meebo has moved, but FRESHtalk the chat is...we'll, you'll see.
Well, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out a way to bring chat to the ESH website for a couple of weeks now and it's been driving me crazy.
All the Flash based options out there are either too big, in another language, or just look awful so I refuse to use them. IRC works but it's a bitch to install and run the client in a web page so I avoid it like rotten family members. So what's a gal to do?
She finds a cool little Firefox add-on called Peekko Chat that uses IRC but creates a room [irc channel] based on the webpage that you are on at the moment and shows that IRC channel in your browser window right then and there. No fuss, no muss, just plain awesomeness. Peekko Chat connects using port 8080 so it's on the job safe. *wink wink*
So if you have admin right to your machine, click here to go to the Firefox Add-On page for Peekko Chat and install it. Then restart your Firefox and configure Peekko how you want it. [Personally I have mine set not to auto join, I may want to browse around but still be talking to you wonderful ESH loyal.] All of the customizing like your Name and whatnot can be set by clicking on the "Options" [it's to the right of Filter] button.
If you know what you are doing when it comes to IRC chats and have your own client then you will understand all of this:
connect to the EFnet network then connect to this server "peekko.pertinent.net" if your default port doesn't work, try 8080 the channel name is electricsistahood.com.
I'll be creating a more in depth Peekko Help page later on, but here's some quick help, if you want to change your name just type "/nick yourDesiredName" [without the quotes] and you will change what your name is in the room...go from being NinjaPozer to ThoseWhoEatElves with a simple command!
Sorry I haven't been posting, it's been a crazy past couple of weeks. But I'm back from Vegas and my house has internet so now I'll be back here writing mildly entertaining works that you only read so you can get candy. I feel like such a tool....
So part of what I saw in Vegas was the Star Trek: the Experience in the Hilton Hotel and Casino. I was a week short of going to the Star Trek convention but fear not, I grabbed a really interesting sounding tidbit. Apparently there is a Star Trek MMO in the works. Now this isn't gonna be your run of the mill WoW style "I am gonna hit 2 buttons and level to 60" MMO. This baby is hard freaking core. Say you chose to be an engineer, there is a HUGE interface in which you actually have to sit there and fix an engine problem by moving around a system of vents and some other stuff. According to what I have read you will not only have a crew of live people for your ship, but you will be able to take them onto land for expeditions.
There isn't too much info at this point but you can see everything they have available at here (NinJa, I can't get the stupid thing to work as a link... Fix it!! lol )
Bopping around ye olde interweb and I come across this video of one of Sony's PS3 ads and I thought I'd share it with you. I know how warm and fuzzy sharing makes me feel on the inside, so you better enjoy it.
Now, I don't exactly or rightly know what Sony is trying to get at in the ad other than the "dawn of the age of gameplay and true player interaction" is about come into being. But I was mostly left with an overriding feeling that Sony was trying to tell me to get my ass to a gym and get in shape so I can use the system. I was going to say "play with" the system in that last sentence, but I have accepted that the PS3 is not at toy and should be spoken of with the utmost reverence. [Let the sarcasm of that last line not fall on deaf ears...laugh damn you, laugh!]
In any case, watch the video below. You need to have the flash player installed on your machine to see it. If you don't want to install the flash player and you have a nice broadband connection you can click on this link and download the high resolution AVI file from the Playsyde website.
Over the past 6 months I've been noticing something about my viewing habits that has been irking me of late; I'm avoiding the MTV channel like the plague.
I couldn't tell you the last time I actually went out of my way to go directly to the MTV channel on my TV. It was only by accident that I tuned in the MTV Video Music Awards show, and after watching it [shaking my head in disbelief most of the time] I really wished I hadn't wasted the time. I mean I LOVE Jack Black, but as host he didn't' bring the thunder that he kept promising he'd bring because the writing and timing for introductions and whatnot were all off or wrong. I felt so sad for Jack.
Shakira put on a great performance as did OK GO and The Raconteurs, but those were the only things in the evening worth watching as far as I was concerned. But I trudged on waiting for that "kick ass rock moment" that I knew was going to come that was going to make all the previous crap that I had to sit through worth while and that moment never came...which reminded me why I hadn't been watching MTV for the longest time.
To give you a reference point, the last time I habitually watched the Music Television channel Carson Daily was still a VJ and was engaged to a sweetheart of a girl named Tara, Norris' was a brunette, Loader still anchored the MTV News program [not just the news minute at the bottom of the hour], Matt Pinfield and Iann Robinson added fantastic rock band interviews to the line up of music videos that were running most of the day, and MTV was must watch TV. You would have to watch the Rap and Top Video count downs so you wouldn't be left out of the conversation all your friends were going to have the next day about the new video that premiered. The only TV show programming running on the channel were the Real World and that SayWhat?Karaoke show. [Any body remember the show "The State" that was on in the mid 90's? That show was the SHIT...moving on] This was back when it could still honestly be called MUSIC Television.
But then something happened and MTV changed. Over a very short period of time programming blocks started being filled with comedy show pilots rather than music videos with reckless abandon. In place of the block of rock videos where I would get introduced to bands I had never been exposed to before I was subjected to the likes of Tom Green [who I found to be neither funny nor entertaining] and Real World shows that were no longer reflections of what I thought [and was finding] the real real world to be like, and found myself starting to tune MTV out. For a while I rolled my attention over to the BET channel as I at least knew that at any given time that I tuned the channel in I was going to see a music video, [or a few commercials and then a bunch of music videos] and this was a help. But as with all things, that soon changed and shows like Video Soul and Caribbean Rhythms, and Video Vibrations were replaced by Girlfriends, Access Granted, and syndicated The Parkers.
Before long I wasn't watching music videos anymore because I couldn't find them to watch. If you turn on MTV during the day you are more likely to hit an episode of Pimp My Ride, Laguna Beach, My Super Sweet 16, or the dating game show NEXT than you are to see a music video or making of a music video. If you tune into BET you are slightly more likely to hit a music video but only between the 4pm and 7pm blocks of time and those music programs will have regular television programming in between them. Understanding that broadcasters have to adjust their programming blocks each season I get that MTV needed to evolve. In all honesty I was changing myself at the same time as I'm only a couple of years older than MTV myself, but it still hurt. I grew up with MTV...it was like a younger cousin that would come over the house to play every day after school. My addiction love of music now is founded in large part MTV.
Music is a big part of who I am and how I am to this day. As I write this article I have iTunes running with a playlist of songs that is about 4 hours long. I have a digital music library that is now over 6000 audio tracks and 120 video files in size, and grows a little each week. I have music playing when I play video games, when I'm cleaning the house, when I am designing websites, hell I even have music playing when I'm in the shower. I don't think I would be a happy and functional member of society if I didn't have music, and I know I'm not the only one. So I have a hard time understanding why MTV changed that part of themselves as they evolved, when that music loving part of me never changed during my evolution.
These days I really do avoid MTV like a STD. If I have the need for a music video I'll go directly to VH1 Soul, MTV2, MTV Jamz [as a TV channel last resort], or the iTunes music store to see if there are any videos that I want. Digital music services have really become my protection against being disappointed. Between iTunes, MySpace.com Music Streaming, and Last.FM [when it works on my Mac] I am protecting myself from the let down of tuning in to just to be turned off. But I guess MTV realizes this themselves since they've been making a shitload of changes company wide since the VMA aired and took a public flogging.
This Monday MTV Networks fired Tom Freston who has been at MTV since the very beginning. I doubt getting rid of Tom [who has been reported to be devastated by being fired and I can't say that I blame him] will fix or even make an impact on what is fundamentally wrong with MTV. It just seems like MTV isn't really "interested" in music anymore. The channel seems to be obsessed with wealth and all the trappings of the material life: from the Paris Hilton affliction to Cribs, Pimp My Ride, My Super Sweet 16, and the Iced Out New Years Bash, there isn't anything left in the budget to hype up a band like the Spooks or Little Brother.
You know, the network hasn't used the "I want my MTV" slogan in years and I think it's because even they have realized that no one would "demand it" in the state it's in right now.
I guess the music video network killed the video star. Anyone know what the statute of limitation on murder is?
Actually, I basically just heart vampires, so when I saw that Trinity Blood was going to be on Adult Swim Fix [the AS video streaming stuff that they do each Friday with new items being posted at 6pm EST] I about bit through my own lip. I have never seen this series, only read about it online and tried tracking it down via the naughty naughty way with absolutely no luck. =/
But yet again, AS has come to my rescue and is about to start airing episodes of Trinity Blood via the web starting today! If I needed another thing to help me kick off the weekend this sure would be it.
I'm not trying to hype this up ok, [not intentionally anyways] but it's just nice to see some new anime appearing in places that I can get a hold of it. I mean, Magic and Panda have all kinds of exposure to all things anime and have seen so many different things in the anime genre, but it's still all really new to me. I don't know diddly about mangas, haven't been to an anime con yet, never cosplayed, don't have a subscription to New-Type, hell I've never seen all of Miyasaki-san's movies...so I tend to get really excited when series that I've barely [or never] heard of that Panda or Magic haven't mentioned around me before show up somewhere that I get to watch them.
The basic line of the series focuses around the Vatican's secret weapon against vampires: a man named Abel Nightroad who's no mere human. [hint, hint] If you bounce over to the AS Trinity Blood page you can get the low down on what's going down, but the characters look great so I'm in. I'll try anything once.
I have no idea if Trinity is going to be good or not, but I'm looking forward to the experience.
Ok, so I stay up til one minute past midnight to be able to read the "big news" that Joystiq.com was going to break and bring that news to you, the ESH loyal. So what happens? Joystiq sticks me in the a...back, that's what. [I censored it for the kiddies]
Yeah, I roll over to the Joystiq website to check out the news and here it is: Nintendo has been receiving it's processor chips from IBM since July. Which means the machines may already be in production.
This news is a big deal because it means that Nintendo may have a bunch more initial boxes ready on launch day than we all were giving them credit for. You may be saying to yourself, "but NinJa said she got boned, I don't see how." Well, I stayed up past my normal-ish bedtime to bear witness to this "news scoop" but there was just one problem...
The other day I was watching one of those crime shows, I dunno which one I've forgotten, and one of the characters said "You can tell a lot about a person by their car." I think everyone here at ESH should get to know each other better. So here's the deal go out to the garage or driveway and see what's in or on your car that says something about you. Give us a brief list of the items and describe how they give a peek into your life and personality.
I'll start:
In my '95 Toyota Camry: - Handful of Manga (Can't Lose You 1,2 - Magical Miracle 2) What can I say I need my fix, whenever and wherever I can even goin' 60 MPH in traffic. I have manga stashed everywhere.
- July Issue of Imagine FX(awesome graphic design mag. from the UK)I don't have the software/hardware or skill to do this stuff but I can dream.
- Mercedes Lackey's Burning Brightly (Book) My current favorite author. Check her oouuwwt!
- Twix/York/Beef Jerky/TicTac Packages I have very unhealthy eating habits and I'm fixated on certain foods. (I am eating a York peppermint patty as I type this.)
- Various School Stuff I am currently a student at North Shore Community College, other parking stickers indicate former studentship at UMass Amherst and Salem State College. A plethora of folders strewn around the back seat indicates that I enjoy organizing and appearing organized, but am in fact a slob.
- Bookstore Bags I spend more money than is healthy on books, and my parents don't like it. I have learned that if I don't come home with a shopping bag my parents assume I had the stuff with me when I left the house. ::Sneakedy Sneak goes Magic::
What does your car, moped or tricked out bicycle say about you?
I was getting tired of having to check out anime that Pandalicious suggested to me on YouTube so I gave up. But the only series that I really got into and was pissed to leave behind was Bleach.
Well, now the good folks at Williams Street are hooking a sistah [ok, and the rest of you too] up with this kick ass series starting this Saturday night. [09 SEP 06] They are putting bleach on at 12:30pm EST so I am going to assume they aren't editing a whole lot out of it, more like I am praying that they don't edit too much out of it. I like my anime series au naturale if you know my meaning.
Still, it's nice to see some new anime hitting the Adult Swim block of programming. I wasn't all that impressed with Eureka 7. [although they have a bomb ass website] I just didn't find the main character of Rentin all that interesting, which is huge because I'm a sucker for mecha anime series. So since then, I've only been tuning into AS for Robot Chicken and the venture brothers. Now before you get all huffy puffy, I TiVO Ghost in the Shell so I can watch it later on in the week.
In any case, if you have cable you need to make sure that you tune in and catch Bleach this weekend on Adult Swim. 12:30 Saturday night. I'll bring the popcorn.
It's time to talk about yet another aspect of anime I love.
These days many of the most popular animes take place in other worlds, in space, or in the far future/past. Characters wear bizarre armors, outlandish clothes, space suits, or modified traditional clothing. I have always loved it when a character who wears something cosplayable is shown in modern day street clothes. Anything that drastically changes the appearance of the character is awesome. This effect is very much lessened in modern day animes where the characters always wear 'normal' clothes; but even the switch from constantly wearing their school uniforms to a different outfit looks good.
Most often this effect can be seen in openings and closings. Saiyuki and Bleach both have opening/closing animations that feature the characters in everyday clothes. Saiyuki is a strange anime, it's got a whole anachronistic thing going on where they are in ancient China but they have guns, a dragon that can change into a jeep, and eyeglasses. So every once in a while the characters wear sweatshirts and t-shirts within the show itself. The characters also all smoke like chimneys and down beer like crazy.
In case you're wondering, Bleach and Saiyuki are both awesome animes that I highly recommend. Just a warning though, Bleach is a really long anime with about a hundred episodes released so far and Saiyuki is a bit rough with a lot of womanizing and swearing.
I see a funny ass FMA AMV that's what. The song is one of my favorite songs by the band Sublime and is edited in a cute way. Sure, it helps that I'm a FMA FREAK fan, but I think the eccentrics of the characters in the series lends itself really well to this song and it, er, um, theme. If you have never heard of Sublime, you might want to roll over to Last.FM or someplace like it to take a listen to their stuff, or listen to some music by RES...I like her too.
Anywho, back to the topic at hand. Watch this video. And remember, no means "NO!"
Sony has once more laid a quick back hand on the face of the consumer base. Recently SCEA posted the specs for the PS3 on their US website and the base specs look good. Unfortunately two pieces of what you get "in the box" for the $600 dollar box should piss most consumers off.
First thing, Sony is NOT including an HDMI cable. Yes, you get the opportunity to pay $600 for the potential of next gen high definition gaming, but you have to bring your own cable on that end. Now, let's say that the PS3 HDMI cable that is sold separately costs you $70 bucks,[a low ball estimate btw since current HDMI cables start at around $89.99] at least they will hook you up with some component cables in the box so that you can take advantage of some high-er definition visuals right?
WRONG AGAIN PUNK!
According to Slashdot the $600 PS3 unit ships with COMPOSITE cables only...you know the type, its the same cable you use to hook up your PS2 or Gamecube to your TV right now. Yep, you get to pay top dollar for PS3 potential just don't expect Sony to help you help them reach that potential. Yes, even if you don't have a TV with an HDMI port but do have component inputs you'll have to buy a set of component cables yourself in order to take advantage of the high definition capabilities. Yes your friends at SCEA are throwing up a big "eff you" to the consumer.
80 bucks for an HDMI cable or 50 bucks for a component cable on top of the $600 the hi-def PS3 will cost you and don't forget a game...brings us closer to an $800 initial potential investment.
Sorta makes it hard to show brand loyalty now doesn't it?
Yeah, I need more friends on myspace...and since Pandalicious and MagicMysticGrl went ahead and attempted to whore themselves out a little while ago, I figured I would take this chance and do something similar.
So here is my attempt to gain some more people to kick around ideas and whatnot with. Why should you add me as a friend? I don't want to say that it will increase your chances of winning candy or a t-shirt [because it won't] and nor do I want to say because it will cure you of cancer [because again, it won't] but it will get you a new friend and fill your heart with happiness. Plus I'm trying to crush the other girls in the "who can get more myspace friends" bet we have going on.
I'm a winner because I refuse to lose. [Yes I did see "Little Miss Sunshine" this weekend]
ADD NinJaSistah To Your Myspace Groupie List Seriously! Go ahead, look at my profile! Because only YOU can help prevent forest fires!
It took me a while to realize that this image [click on the image for larger view] was an ad for the Sony Playstation 2.
Evidently TBWA/Paris [knowledge of the French language will aid you should you choose to click this link] created a series of ads for Sony for the Playstation 2 earlier this year that as you can see are highly detailed and very abstract and "artistic" in their visuals. I enjoy creativity, I like to think I am a creative person myself, but I sure would not have come up with anything like these ads in my longest days. I guess in my mind I'm just too linear.
I sure wouldn't have come up with the idea to have a dude sniffing panties in the shapes of the Playstation buttons. Yeah, it took me a moment to realize that the panties in the ads were in the shapes of the action buttons of the Playstation controller. It was only after about the fourth viewing of the ad in a larger size that I recognized it myself, so don't feel bad if you didn't see it yourself the first time that you saw the image. The expression on the guys' face while sniffing the panties is *kinda* distracting from anything else going on in the ad. Go ahead, click on the image to see a larger version of it. Examine it well, because it is well done, but man that's "creative" thinking going on right there.
Then there was this ad, called "Head" which won Print/Outdoor Single Grand Clio award in May. [The "Panties" ad above one the Bronze award]
It's difficult to see in the small size version of this ad, but in the larger version you can see the extent to which the interior of the head is detailed. The detail in the appearance of each eyeball is amazing, and the paddle that repetitively slaps the ass is funny. I don't think I even have to mention the small, "captured" brain there in the back, nor do I have to mention that I think it's noting that this male character has a tiny brain. [Women have been saying for years that guys have tiny brains, this ad merely confirms that Sony agrees with that]
As a designer I have to admit that I am envious that I have never come up with any work on this level, or even had an idea close to those utilized in this ad campaign. At the same time as a gamer I have to ask, "What the fuck?!" Those ads to me aren't remotely a reminder of Playstation 2, or gaming, or fun in anyway shape or form. The kind of people that these ads would make an impression on are not the same audience that would run out and buy a copy of Dance Dance Revolution. So I am struggling to understand why Sony would pay to have these ads created if they were not going to be used in a global ad campaign. That kind of work can't be cheap or all that "affordable" to begin with. I know what I charge per hour to just "design" a website [costs you more if you want me to implement it] and know that it can't come close to what TBWA/Paris gouged Sony for. I just don't see anything that makes me tie these images in my mind first to gaming or playing video games or secondly to Sony.
Isn't the purpose of advertising to come up with audio and visuals that create an instant bond in the public's mind [or ears] that will make them constantly tie that imagery or audio with your product or company? If that doesn't happen, isn't the ad a failure?
Makes me wonder WTF dood? Ok pervs, you may go back and look at the guy sniffin' the panties again...I'm done.
Ok, this has nothing to do with anime, manga or video games, but I wanted to share it anyways because I have a rant to go along with it and you are the only people willing to listen to me rant...
Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray barb to the heart. To see the full story click here.
Everyone's all oh, my what a tragedy, that poor man, what a horrible way to die etc. I just want to say WHAT IN THE HELL DID YOU THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN?!?!?!?! The guy made money by habitually pissing off dangerous wild animals. That's not a career where you can retire at the ripe old age of 65, it's a career that kills you. I will honestly admit that I watched a few of his shows and sat there rooting for the irked animals, cheering them on and hoping that they'd take off a finger or hand. Steve was making a documentary of the Worlds Most Dangerous Animals. If he had been making a living filming the worlds fluffiest domesticated animals this wouldn't have happened. I highly doubt you could possibly get into a profession this dangerous without knowing that it was going to kill you. The only people who do this kind of stuff are masochistic, suicidal, or incredibly stupid. I suspect Steve Irwin was a person who wanted to die young and be famous for his death.
If the world was fucked up and you had to choose between Anime or Gaming, which one would would you choose to cast to wayside? Which one could you live without? And I don't mean for like a week or a month, I mean forever!
I have not been a big fan of Rockstar to begin with. I have enjoyed a few of their games, not to the point of pre-order or anything like that, but I did have a lot of respect for their refusal to cave under the "video games are killing/ruining our kids" pressure. That took serious balls. I respect having and exercising your balls. And Rockstar had been exercising their balls on a regular basis until the recent game name change. They stuck it out when they were first pressured about the game and kept developing it. They continued to weather the storm when the waters got rough with mounting protests outside their office buildings. They seemed to flex their balls at every turn and so my respect grew.
Rockstar Games this week changed the name of a game they are releasing in October 2006 called, "Bully" to "Canis Canem Edit" which means "dog eat dog" in Latin. As a professional and individual capable of educated thought processes, I understand why Rockstar felt the need to make this change. The folks over at Rockstar must be tired of the flack they have been receiving over the Bully game; tired of the protests and weary of the constant barrage of negative press from the mass miss-informed public.
I mean, look back over the past year...with "Hot Coffee" problems, the FCC inquisition, and Jack Thompson declaring that they are responsible for all that is unholy in present day America the name change must have seemed the easiest of decisions to make in order to gain some sort of reprieve. [Let's face it, when Adam Sessler ends up defending you to your buddy and mine Jack Thompson, you probably need all the rest and positive press you can get your hands on.] So change your products name to something that will not aid in triggering more negative responses. Really, I do understand it...but at the same time, it seemed like a total "wuss" move to me. I am not afraid to say that a little piece of me died that day.
But back to the game. The main thing that I got my attention about this new game Bully was how the game's basic plot line resonated with me. The game is about a character going through school having to either face or run away from bullies. I was picked on elementary school [being the only black kid didn't help, but neither did being the shortest kid in school either] and in high school [being the only black female in my school to get into an ivy league college didn't help me get a superlative in the yearbook let me tell you] so the idea of a video game that would allow me to avenge my younger self against the embodiments of my former tormentors really interested me. Then I started thinking that it could be therapeutic for me, and not only me but other gamers as well. This game might allow players to express any feelings of repressed anger or resentment that they may have to be released in a safe and controlled environment. Wouldn't that be a great thing? If people used the video game to blow off steam as opposed to self-medicating using alcohol, drugs, or resorting to violence?
It would wonderful if people would recognize video games as the fun diversions they are meant to be, but the politicians and "family values" groups won't allow that to happen. These groups that say they want to protect children from sex and violence refuse to address the issues that make kids choose these outlets for their emotions or how to handle them in the first place. No, they will continue to harass the people at Rockstar, make appearances before the media with no real or educated arguments and just out right dog this game...but in my heart of hearts I hope that the Rockstar dog eats their dog.
So from today until the end of time this game will always be Bully to me.
This is my first and last XBox 360 post. I don't have the system and I don't particularly want the system, but apparently I can't avoid mention of it. I listen to a radio station called WFNX 101.7. And one night the DJ started talking about a GTA type game called Saints Row. It has the same gang affiliations and pedestrian killing that GTA does. So when you steal a car and are evading the swat teams and cops you can change the radio station. If you happen to change it to the indie/punk rock station you will hear the voice of Paul Driscoll a regular disk jockey at WFNX. I thought this was cool and I had to share with everyone that my real life was colliding with video games. Whether driving to work or driving to complete a hit I can listen to Paul Driscoll spinning my favorite tunes.
Ok, I'm writing this from my Treo 650 so bear with me.
I have been watching this series called Godanner on the Anime Network, and I have to admit that I am addicted. The basics of the series are that it is a mecha, there is some super deformity going on it, lots of sexual innuendo, some nekkie time, all the comforts of a tongue in cheek anime comical bits. And the fun jumbly bits are fun, but they aren't the reason why I am addicted to the series. I do actually watch the series for it's plot. [no, it's not just a line]
I find the tension and relationship issues that are the core thread of the series between the main lead characters of Go Saruwatari and Anna Aoi are genuine in their sincerity. Go and Anna are newly married and have a lot of the regular down to earth issues that many couples have; they aren't sure of who they are as a couple, they bring into the marriage all of the emotional baggage and insecurities that had as individuals, and are learning how to share all those things with each other.
When times get rough, Anna initially runs off which is understandable because she's young [still in high school] and this relationship with Go is her first big and real relationship. Not knowing how to really communicate as an adult [you hope] would, she runs off and hides in order to take time to cool off and then address her feelings. I think it's kind of witty how the series uses the boobies and tongue in cheek humor to mask the genuine examination of relationship dynamics [slightly shallow as it is] in the series.
Godannar isn't all that deep, but it is a cute and entertaining way to look at several different types of relationships (including a homosexual one and incestuous one for those of you that like your anime with a touch of taboo).
The remnants of Hurricane Ernesto has caused the unthinkable! Poor NinJaSistah is sitting in the dark at ESH Central, just hours before the next scheduled podcast was to be recorded. As a result, the Sistahs will take a week off to recuperate, but expect a new podcast to roll your way on Monday, Sept. 11.
Don't cry for NinJaSistah too much, though. She's got two, fully charged laptop computers, a Treo 650 cell phone that can connect to the internet, an iPod Nano and a PlayStation Portable to keep herself entertained.
In addition, she can connect either laptop to the internet via Bluetooth and her Treo phone, so if you see her available in the Meebo box at the right, feel free to say hi. She'd love the company.
I'm chilling after an evening of visiting with friends when I open my email client to catch up today's gaming news. [I subscribe to a LOT of newsletters] And I got one that had a summary about this story from Joystiq where they quote Kutaragi as saying
Again, didn't hate it, it just wasn't for me. All was well with my world until I found out about Halo Wars today. I raced over to the IGN website 
There is nothing special about the game control setup. Like most FPS games you use one analog stick for aiming, one for movement, a button for weapon switching, a button for reloading or action, a button for jumping, and the d-pad for incidental items. [Flashlight, medpacks, etc] Yes, all in all, F.E.A.R. would be just another good-looking, solid, FPS if it weren't for the storyline and environment development. Where F.E.A.R. differs from most FPS games is that the story isn't just a run of the mill "kill the alien invaders" type deal. As the game starts, a base is taken over by some military unit that takes a bunch of hostages but make no demands. The F.E.A.R. Unit is sent in to take control of the situation, but some unknown force or entity takes out nearly every member of the team. The player is left alone to save the hostages from the intruding military unit, and find out who or what is behind the mysterious stuff that has started happening on the base.
The manga I'm going to check out in October are Snow, DramaCon, PhD: Phantasy Degree, The Good Witch of the West, Earthlight, Queen's Knight and RA-I.
Sure, this isn't video game news but it is an animated series, so it kinda falls under the anime banner. Besides, Spaceballs [and all things "balls" related] are news and noteworthy in my book. I have been waiting for all the things Yogurt promised me in the movie: Spaceballs: The T-Shirt, Spaceballs: The Toilet Paper, the Yogurt plushie, and especially Spaceballs: The Flamethrower. Hopefully the series will be good enough to make it through the entire initial season so some of that merchandising may come to pass.
I think not knowing the answer to that or at least not having an idea about the answer to that makes it easier for me to justify staying away from PC gaming altogether. Add to that the fact that I would still have to keep my production machines clean and the idea of bringing in another machine just for gaming becomes a hard pill to swallow because I couldn't just get a run of the mill machine... I would have to get a supped-up boom-phatty of a laptop to game on. 
As I said in the "God Save this Podcast" episode there are quite a few Naruto filler story arcs. Some of them are decent, some are downright terrible. I've decided to make a story arc catalogue for Naruto. 
Chuunin Exam (20-67): Naruto and friends are all genins, in order to advance to the next ninja level they must pass an exam. The exam has three parts the written exam, a survival test and a ninja vs. ninja competition. There are introductions to Orochimaru, Kabuto, Gaara, and the Rookie Nine (Naruto's classmates.) I love the mental torture the genins have to go through during the written exam, and I am crazy about Orochimaru and Gaara. 
Itachi's Return (81-85): This arc covers the short visit Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, makes to Konoha in search of Naruto. This arc has an introduction to Akatsuki, the group Itachi is working with, and indicates their interest in Naruto as one of the tailed beasts. This arc also has insight into Sasuke's past and his relationship with Itachi. I loved this arc because it showed why Sasuke was so surly and antisocial. 
Kakashi's Lips (101) For some reason this episode is considered a 'special' and not a filler. It is an entire episode devoted to imagining what Kakashi is hiding under his face mask and several attempts to make him remove it. This was almost painful to watch, and has no bearing on the rest of the series. I recommend you skip this one.
Infiltrating Orochimaru's Lair (136-141) Filler 2: In search of Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura and Jiraiya track down Orochimaru's lair in the Country of Sand. I liked this arc. It really solidifies the feeling that Sasuke may never return. 
Bounty Hunter (159-160) Filler 7: Naruto, Kiba and Hinata are sent out after a thief, only to discover that he is a hardened killer. They are put at odds against a bounty hunter by the name Sazanami, who is also seeking the thief. This arc is pretty good, but there aren't any cool fights, which I had expected. 
I've tried both KOTOR games as well as the Jedi Academy game and again found myself displeased with the slow gameplay and pace of the story, so I moved on to a new game. With all the previous Star Wars games I had expressed leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I avoided the first Lego Star Wars game like it had rabies. From all the things I had read about various Star Wars games they were always falling short in some area that I just knew would piss me off. LucasArts tries hard, I know they do, but for me and millions of fans out there the games did not satisfy. If I am completely honest with you all, I would not have tried this demo if Evermore hadn't asked me my opinion on it last evening. Deciding his question deserved answering, I popped the PS2 demo disc in my console and waited for the game to load.
Lego Star Wars II is just plain fun. It's kooky in its use of humor, for the true original trilogy 
WIIIIIIOPLE....MOUNT UP! Yeah you heard me, I said make your Wiiople army and plop em on your Wiimote. I don't know how they interact or react yet, but I can't wait to find out. But if you are a naysayer and need some convincing...
"Seimaden" features Laures and Hilda. In a past life Laures sacrificed himself to the demons to save his love Elis, but the only way to save her from evil was for her to die. Now years later he has found Elis reborn in Hilda, and he loves her as much as he ever did, but he is now a monster that has spent the last few hundred years at war with other demons in order to claim the throne of hell. Unfortunately, by the time Laures found her, Hilda had fallen in love with Rodderick, the last of the Azeilles. So Laures seals Hilda's memories and takes advantage of her amnesia to earn her love. 
I highly recommend both manga, but out of the two I prefer "Seimaden". It is more modern and less of a horror manga. "Seimaden" is a lot less gory than "Bride of Deimos." It has genuinely cute parts, whereas "Bride of Deimos" is most definitely a horror manga and by no means cute. Laures spends his time showing his softer side, but Deimos chooses to convince Minako by threatening her and showing her all the horrors of the world. "Bride of Deimos" reads like a graphic novel of "Are You Afraid of the Dark" crossed with "The Twilight Zone." It is much more of an episodic manga where "Seimaden" has story flow from one chapter to the next. 
That doesn't mean that Nintendo is stupid, [they are quite brilliant actually] it just means the realize that keeping things simple often yields better results. Offering One system configuration means no buying confusion on launch day. No one will be standing in front of a sales person asking what the difference is between the core system and the premium one, or how those differences translate for them. Nope, on launch day you just, and knowing now that new first party games are going to be $50 [no more than new GameCube titles today and $10 less than current XB360 titles] If you think about it, that puts the price of the Wii console [by itself] at the predicted sub $200 value. 
At the beginning of that third week I noticed that my iMac was acting weird again but in a new and different way. When I would boot the machine, the top half of the screen would be darker than the bottom half. You couldn't miss it. The machine would boot, and the entire screen would be the same color and brightness for a few seconds and then the top half would dim and be darker than the rest of the screen. The machine would still boot to the desktop and run so I didn't think much of it. It would only do it every so often so I learned to live with it. Pookie was booting, and that needed to be enough at the time. After a while I found that if I put the machine to sleep and then woke it up immediately the entire screen would return to it's proper brightness, so that's what I did. At first it was once or twice a week. After a while it was an every day every other boot thing, and it got on my last freaking nerve. But Pookie was still booting so I tried to work around it. Then one day my optical drive decided it didn't want to work properly anymore and it just happened to decide this while I was in the middle of doing a system backup. I ordered a new external burner, had it shipped over night, finished the system backup using that drive, skipped the call to AppleCare and just made a Genius Bar appointment for my machine for the next evening. Back to the Apple Store for me.
I got one of the last XBox titles in my game queue in this week called Samurai Showdown 5. I have been looking forward to this title being released because I'm still a 2D gamer girl at heart.
The moment the game loaded and that oh so familiar BGM started playing I was immediately back in my Sega Genesis days. I was going to grab Nakaruru [the girl in red and white with the Hawk] and commence to perpetrating some ass whoopins, but the character select screen was all wrong. Who were all these faces that I did not recognize? Where had they come from, and why were they in my path to righteousness? I felt so alone and out of my element. But I couldn't let that get in my way, Nakaruru and I were on a mission...a mission from Bob. Round one Engage! 
Over the past 6 months I've been noticing something about my viewing habits that has been irking me of late; I'm avoiding the MTV channel like the plague.
MMM vampire anime. I heart vampire anime.
Sony has once more laid a quick back hand on the face of the consumer base. Recently SCEA posted the specs for the PS3 on their US website and the base specs look good. Unfortunately two pieces of what you get "in the box" for the $600 dollar box should piss most consumers off.
Yeah, I need more friends on myspace...and since Pandalicious and MagicMysticGrl went ahead and attempted to whore themselves out a little while ago, I figured I would take this chance and do something similar.
I have not been a big fan of Rockstar to begin with. I have enjoyed a few of their games, not to the point of pre-order or anything like that, but I did have a lot of respect for their refusal to cave under the "video games are killing/ruining our kids" pressure. That took serious balls. I respect having and exercising your balls. And Rockstar had been exercising their balls on a regular basis until the recent game name change. They stuck it out when they were first pressured about the game and kept developing it. They continued to weather the storm when the waters got rough with mounting protests outside their office buildings. They seemed to flex their balls at every turn and so my respect grew.
Ok, I'm writing this from my Treo 650 so bear with me.
