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!
Hey everyone, Panda here coming to you from her seat in her Weather and Climate Class--yay clouds!
Anyways, I have a strange notion that we aren't having class today but I guess I'll wait and see.
Tonight is Halloween and to celebrate, me and the anime club at my college are meeting to watch Kaku ren Bo "Hide and Seek" and two episodes of Death Note. One of which I've watched and the other I've heard some opinions about but never had the finances to explore it. [This is why I love college--free anime w/o the chance of going to prison!]
For those who have never watched Kaku Ren Bo, I have this to say: DON"T BE A PUNK ASS BITCH: Go watch it, it is a mind fuck that only lasts 30 minutes... SERIOUSLY!
It aired on Cartoon Network Halloween night last year. Under the order of Ninja I watched it, and I wasn't expecting much but [and I emphasize a HUGE but] it scared the pants off of me! This isn't some hack a slash thriller like Perfect Blue [which is also very good by the way.
I'm not even going to tease your minds with how good it is. JUST GO WATCH IT!
As for Pandalicious, hopefully tonight I will go rampaging the streets of Salem, Massachusetts [so logically I must attend a college near by ~^]. Hope everyone enjoys this fine fine day.
I have not been around very much lately, I got a little wrapped up in my schooling. I recently had a revelation though, one that would set my path straight. Why am I wasting my time on all this education and things like that when I could be out playing video games? It was this startling realization that brought me here tonight to give you a little taste of a game I like to think of as one of the best RTS' ever made, Rise of Legends.
The premise of Rise of Legends is pretty simple. Long ago a spacecraft broke into three pieces (and I think I saw a fourth >.>) and crashed upon some planet. These three parts (and maybe a fourth >.>) developed into three distinct and equally bad ass nations, the Vinci, the Alin, and the Cuotl. Each of whom have really cool Master Units that you can only have one of. The game is similar in structure to most RTS' except for a few things. You are given a city, much like other games, and you build upon this city. Say you want to have a higher troop capacity, build a military district. If you cap out on how much resources you are gathering, build a merchant district. Each of the three races also has a unique district that only they can build. As you get more districts you can build palace districts to upgrade the cities size. You can go from normal city, to Large, to Great. Each time you go up you get sweeter upgrades.
The first of these cool nations is called the Vinci. They are basically Spanish Conquistadors meets steam technology. They have cool units like Gyrocopters, Clockwork men, and even a Juggernaut tank. They improve their technology by building industrial districts in their cities. These guys are my favorite so far. There is something so cool about leading an army of clumsy robot men and spiders that look like miniature versions of the one from Wild Wild West. You can also build research centers as these guys, which you can upgrade to do all sorts of nifty things. Their Master Unit is called the Land Leviathan. It basically is the huge thing from Wild Wild West. Alas, I have yet to figure out how to get this unit, if any of you can get it, send the info my way.
The next group on the list is the Alin. The Alin are almost straight out of Arabian Nights. They are a magic using desert people. These guys have some pretty crazy units, everything from giants made out of glass to soldiers that can hide in the sand and spring out for an ambush. The Alin use magic and creatures related to three things, Sand, Fire, and Glass. Glass units can be upgraded to Dark Glass, which do some really wicked things. Their special unit is the Magus District, which gives them research points and buffs their hero’s magic beefiness. The Master Unit for these guys is probable the coolest in my opinion, a huge glass dragon.
Finally the last army is the mysterious Cuotl. They are by far the oddest of the lot. Basically they still use much of the technology that was available to them when the space ship crashed, and they worship Gods…. Gods that you can actually get on the battlefield to fight for you. They use a lot of units that remind me of the Power Rangers. I feel the urge to call out beasts and then have them morph into wicked robots. Alas, this is not their Master Unit, though they do have a really cool one. It’s a big floating building called the City of Vengeance. This guys absolutely tears things apart, and he can store troops too! Instead of wealth, the Cuotl gather energy. This means their Merchant District as been replaced with a Reactor District. They also get a Holy District, which allows them to expand their land and it rewards them a free unit.
Rise of Legends is well worth the money I spent on it. I find myself losing hours upon hours playing this game. Not only is it pretty to look at, but it is the most inventive RTS I have ever played. I would recommend this for any fan of the game type, and I think it would be a worthy play for someone who is looking to get into RTS for the first time. Now I shall go and waste more time upon it!
That poor company just can't catcha break. First the exploding battery recall, then all the bad press about the PS3 [a few negative words have even come from us] and now the DOJ is on their ass.
Damn Sony, sucks to be you right now.
Allow me to explain. See, the DOJ is doing an industry-wide investigation into sales of SRAM memory chips, which includes Sony's chips. See Sony claimed that they sold $27.7 million dollars worth of the ram chips, but didna say who made the chips for them, or who they sold them to. I assume [since I don't know much about big ass business] that there are a lot of things that companies don't disclose, so the news in and of itself is not a huge deal. But here's the thing: Sony's already had some problems with financials this year. All those batteries being recalled, the PS3 blue-ray laser issues, the inability to produce all the boxes originally promised for launch, the failure of the Connect music service... Sony can't really afford any more failures that result in them having to hemorrhage more money.
You can debate me if you like, but posting a $366 million dollar operating loss for the July-September quarter in the division you pin all your hopes on to bring in close to the lion share of profits for the company as a whole, being on the "tightrope of failing hope" is NOT where you want to be. Now, as I stated before, Sony is not the only company under investigation, and there may be absolutely nothing amiss with their ram production and sales, but in the precarious situation Sony's in right now, I'm sure they weren't too pleased to find out that the DOJ wanted to take a look through their books so-to-speak.
It does however, make the Do The Math article we wrote look a little less like speculation, and more like premonition. ;)
Just like Jared and Subway: During the past three months, a blogger named Greg has been Warbiking to lose weight. Warbiking? That's playing World of Warcraft while pumping away on his stationary bicycle. How much weight did he lose? A whopping 41 pounds -- 15 percent of his body weight. He says, "Warbiking is the best of both worlds. I get to do 2-plus hours of cardio without being aware that I'm really doing it. And as I can only play Warcraft while doing cardio (that's a self imposed rule - no cardio, no Warcraft), it's self regulating -- no way am I going to play for 6 hours or something, my legs wouldn't do it."
How many PS3 consoles will your local Wal-Mart get? Blogger dsthunder writes on digg.com: "simply print out the barcode and take it into your local walmart and ask an associate (in electronics) to scan it with the telzon, they can then tell you how many they will get, how many they have, and how many are in their warehouse."
Amazon.com does an oopsie: Friday's short pre-order session on Amazon.com for the Nintendo Wii was just an accident. That's the word from Amazon.com, at least: "During system maintenance on the morning of Friday, October 27, the Nintendo Wii was briefly made available on our Web site for test purposes only and was not intended to be available for pre-order." The posting continues to say that Amazon.com will honor the pre-orders that were successful -- for only one unit per household. The posting adds: "Once we officially begin to take pre-orders, you can be assured that all customers who have signed up to receive e-mail confirmation of Wii's availability will be notified." I can guarantee you that NinJaSistah is not convinced.
Scientists LOVE video games: "It's like hiring an individual tutor for every student. There's a big argument going on now about whether kids are being tested too much or too little. In a game, you're continuously being tested and you don't mind it." That's no fanboy talking -- it's Federation of American Scientists president Henry Kelly, whose organization is hot about using videogames to teach children. According to Newsweek, a report by the distinguished group calls for a new generation of educational games that are as immersive and graphics-intensive as megabudget titles like Madden NFL 07 and Battlefield 2142.
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, Vol. 3: Red Swarm: Takeru is your typical teenage average Joe -- until he meets Hikari, a beautiful girl who fell from the stars. Immediately Takeru's life turns upside down, as strange creatures and dark forces converge on the unlikely pair. But even while adversity brings them closer, Hikari's mysterious past threatens an even greater danger to Takeru and everything he's known. It's a cosmic love affair with Earth hanging in the balance. Dontcha just hate it when that happens.
Because y'all have been so patient, and started picking up some pieces of FRESHware, I thought I'd go ahead and update the clothing line for ya. Some say it's past time, some say it's about time, I say it's the first time I've had the time to do it, so shut up. I get testy when I haven't had no caffeine.
In any case, here are some pics of the new designs. All the new stuff is in the AVATARware or SAYwhat? section. Look at them, click on them to view a larger image of them, then take your ass over to the store and buy them. I need money for fancy ramen... I'm almost out!
A lot of gaming news websites and blogs have been going ga-ga over the Wii experience videos that are popping up on the official Nintendo Wii website. And after watching the videos, I found myself asking the question, "Are these people having fun?" Obviously the answer is yes. Do you see how into that bowling game g-pa is over there? Dood, G-Pa's gonna spank your ASS in that game, and from launch day on will only be inviting you over to the house so he can tap dat ass! I digress.
I only pose the question to you because I'm curious as to what you think about the Wii experience videos. Do you really thing the people testing out the games and controllers for the first time are really having fun? Do they look like they are acting? Now, compare those videos to the few video commercials and snippets that you have seen for the PS3. Do the PS3 video at any time convey to you the idea of fun? What about the overall feel, do the videos feel light, or charismatic? Have you seen any people in the videos actually use the system? And what about the XB360 videos. You find any fun ones going around?
Just a question for ya to let pop around in your head. I'm curious as to your takes on the media being created and pushed around by the big three. What gets your attention and what doesn't?
A WARNING: This episode contains an abundance of swearing, cursing, and screaming. It is SERIOUSLY NSFW, NSFK, hell... it's NSFA really, but we had a ball doing it.
In this episode the girls get you ready for Halloween by sharing with you some of the scariest games they've played, and why they scared them so badly. For Pandalicious it was Silent Hill 2, for NinJaSistah, it was Eternal Darkness... but MagicMysticGrl saves the day by sharing her take on the movie Labyrinth and the new Return to the Labyrinth manga. Oh yeah, they also briefly touch on being scared fuckless, proper zombies in your room protocol, Bowser in real life, and Jim Henson.
Congrats to our latest candy bitch, WonkeyDonkey. Hit Us Up with your mailing addy so we can send you your prize.
10 winners will have it all! You can become the ultimate fanboy or fangirl by being one of 10 winners in Circuit City's Ultimate Gaming Giveaway. Winner will get a prize package that includes a 60GB PS3, Xbox 360 Pro, Nintendo Wii, a home theater setup, two Xbox games, two PS3 games and a Wii game and wireless controllers for all three consoles -- a package valued at $2299.88. You have only until Nov. 4 to enter and you can enter only once. Go to www.circuitcity.com and follow the prompts. Here are the official rules.
PS3 to have 22 games at debut: The list of games available at the launch of the PS3 (according to NamHuy.org) will be: NBA 07, Resistance: Fall of Man, Genji: Days of the Blade, Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII, Call of Duty 3, EA Sports Fight Night Round 3, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, F.E.A.R., Full Auto 2: Battlelines, Madden NFL 07, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire, NBA 2K7, Need For Speed Carbon, NHL 2K7, Ridge Racer 7, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Untold Legends Dark Kingdom.
Nintendo to compete in Russia: Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reports that Nintendo's European unit has already appointed an agency to start selling its hardware and software in November, according to a story carried by Reuters.
Anime Tour for the Cure announced: A nonprofit convention to help raise up to $250,000 for the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Anime Tour for the Cure has announced tour stops at Seattle, Wash., Jan. 6-7, and in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 13-14. For more information, go to animeff.com.
Guyver, Vol. 1: Days of Future Past: The original Guyver is one of the first big anime series to become a hit in North America, and it helped create anime fandom as we know it today. Now we have a brand new Guyver with all the bells and whistles and mayhem that otaku have come to expect from an A-list title! Featuring electric action sequences, this timeless tale of a boy who discovers an otherworldly suit of armor and becomes caught in the crossfire of an interstellar war comes to life as you've never seen it before. Or maybe you have.
NinJaSistah in the spot to be on a fine, fine, football afternoon to share with you some news about the Wii. [Don't get all in a tizzy, I wrote this originally at 2 in the afternoon... Blogger was havin' issues again so just be glad I finally got this thing posted.]
Moving on.
In between beers [Guinness if you're curious] and football games [can't BELIEVE New Orleans lost to Baltimore, dammit Reggie, you're a receiver, not a QB!] I've spared a few moments to share with you some wonderful news I've heard about the Wii. Well, more directly, the Wii Nunchaku remote.
There seems to be a debate about the Wii Nunchaku [the little analog stick dongle for the Wiimote] having a rumble feature. There was a post on the Gaming Tengoku blog that linked to a quote from the NeoGAF forum about a quote from the British magazine EDGE. The forum post didn't link directly to the EDGE article, but I'll help them confront all the naysayers out there. Nintendo's own website SAYS the Wiimote has a rumble feature. This should not be any big news. It's good to know, since SIXAXIS won't have the feature, and makes me curious if the lack of force feedback will be a big noticable difference or not. Now, from the looks of all the attention that this got on Digg with people calling this wrong, inaccurate, and a rumor, I thought I would run with my very own flaming rumors and unconfirmed speculative thoughts through untraceable links and pure flights of fancy, in order to show people what actual bullshit looks like. Maybe that way, when the real info hits, it won't be mistaken for bullshit. Let's test it.
What is to follow is totally unconfirmed, in all liklyhood never going to happen and as such, should be regarded as incorrect, impossible, or as blatant lies for the sake of entertainment only.
Not to be outdone by Nintendo, Sony has decided to add in the ability for your PSP to operate your PS3 wirelessly, anywhere. Got to pee? No need to stop the gaming fun, bring your PSP along and you can continue playing your game as you "drop the kids off at the pool." Gotta go to work? Again, not an issue as Sony has you covered with their new PLAYONOYALP system, you can continue to play your PS3 games from your cubical computer, LP2 printer, or fax machine! Sony really means it when they say "Play B3yond!" I heard this over at the forums on the d00dI'mJokin.net website
Not to be left behind in the race for next-gen game console dominance, Microsoft and Take 2 Interactive in a joint partnership with Dairy Queen are going to create a new XBlive experience for the Gold level members. The new "Just Dip It!" program, not to be confused with Nike's "Just Do It" campaign, will reward XBLive Gold members that (1) pre-pay for 4 years of the XBLive service and (2) can teabag Jack Thompson in public with free small Blizzards, Single-Dipped cones, or Sundays each Friday during their tenure as an XBLive Gold member. Dive right in to the fun with XB360, Take2 Games, and Dairy Queen, and "Just Dip It!"
You see my friends, THAT is what you can list as being "inaccurate" or "unreliable." Something that is listed on a manufacturers website that you can find by Googling the words "wii controller+rumble" and get in the FIRST FREAKIN RESULT... not bullshit.
You all my now return to your previous gaming playing, anime watchin', and general geekin' out.
With Halloween coming up, it's natural to want to dig into your game collection and try to come up with something that will scare the BeeGees out of you.
As for me, the scariest game I ever saw was Silent Hill. Mind you, it's the scariest game I ever saw. It was far too scary for me to actually play. What about you?
How much is that Wii in the window? Too much, if you're looking at the CompUSA website. As of 10:30 p.m. Eastern time Oct. 27, the store's website was displaying the price for the Wii as "$1,119.06." It also listed it as "Not Available." Here's the original link. Here's our cached version.
Think it's hard to get a PS3? Sony can't even get one! Sony's own Japanese e-commerce website has announced it will not be taking any orders for the company's consoles. Read more here.
Ok, the title you see above is a PG-13 preview of what will follow in this post. If you are [a] at work, [b] around young children that can read or [c]around youth of an impressionable age that have never in their life her a nasty "adult" word, DO NOT READ ON AFTER THE JUMP.
For the rest of you, come on in, the water's fine!
I'd like to start by saying that Amazon.com is now on my "Sucks to Be You in 2006" list. This list comprises the people, places, and companies that have done me a wrong over the course of the year and refused to do anything to correct the mistake. As award for making my S2BU06 list, I no longer spend my hard earned dollah's on products from your store/place where you work or pay to visit your location. [if it's a place, you know, like a museum.]
So why has Amazon.com make the S2BU06 list? Simple... they boned me... again... and this time they didn't even take me out to dinner first. I woke up this afternoon to find that once again Amazon.com had put up pre-orders for the Wii on their and that the "early notification" email list that I signed up for never got the message. So every other Tom, Dick, and Harry was able to find out pre-orders and get one, but those of us who actually signed up to be notified were given the shaft. Yet again Amazon offered up the, "We so sorry, but our system never trigger da email thingie so we didn't tell you... but like we said last time, we fixed it again dood, so, um, yeah, next time we'll totally tell you dawg. PEACE!"
Yeah, fuck that. Fuck that "oh sorry we didn't really fix it last time and gave you hope that you would be able to get one the next time we got pre-orders... this time though we really REALLY fixed it..." bullshit! Fuck you Amazon for not keep your word or, oh I don't know setting things right by maybe [and here's a thought] not publishing the NEXT batch of pre-orders that you get and maybe actually directing people on the email list that you have first crack at them to make up for the TWO slightings they've now had on your part due to YOUR negligence. Can you tell that I'm pissed? Does my rage permeate through the pixels on your screen and strike a chord within your soul?
MAKE IT RIGHT AMAZON! I want my damn Wii pre-order. And until such time as you make this right for me you are on the list and I end this post with the following words for the fine "fix it" folks at Amazon:
Microsoft, Nintendo up, Sony way down: In company earnings reports released this week, Microsoft and Nintendo profits were up significantly from the same quarter last year, while Sony profits were way down -- 94 percent lower. Both results were attributable in part to the companys' performances in their video games divisions. Sales of the Xbox 360 video-game console boosted revenues in the entertainment and devices division by 70 percent to over $1 billion, as compared to a year ago, according to a story on the newratings.com website. Sony, on the other hand, had said that its battery recall would cut earnings for its fiscal second quarter by about $430 million. Sony's net profit in the quarter plunged 94 percent to a mere $14.4 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Sony also was hit particularly hard by an operating loss of about $90 million in its videogame division. In the catbird seat is Nintendo, which reported sales of $2.5 billion, up 69 percent from a year earlier. Net income was $458.6 million, up from a loss a year ago, according to the San Jose Mercury-News.
Well I remember... Veteran rock star Phil Collins is impressed with the way he is portrayed in the latest Grand Theft Auto game -- and a little bit embarrassed. "They have got it spot on," he said in a story at the contactmusic.com website. "The five o'clock shadow, the suits and all the other stuff that was so embarrassingly prevalent in my '80s wardrobe."
Guitar Hero unplugged: Guitar Hero fans will be able to shred with a wireless controller, thanks to a unit coming directly from Activision subsidiary RedOctane. Displaying a new glossy white finish, the $59.99 wireless guitar controller contains the same features as the wired Guitar Hero SG controller. The really boring press release is here.
Miyazaki's Unmoving Museum: "With spiral staircases, catwalks stretching out above, and doors that are only three feet high, the place has a dream-like quality." That's how the Gridskipper website describes the Ghibli Museum, the world's largest repository of the works of Hayao Miyazaki. Located about a 45-minute train ride from Tokyo, the museum contains replicas of Miyazaki's movie characters and the theater shows shorts you can't see anywhere else.
Pokemon Advanced Box Set, Vol. 2: Ten-year-old Ash aspires to be the greatest Pokemon (pocket monster) trainer in the world. To do this, he enlists in the help of two friends, Misty and Brock, and his own Pokemon, Pikachu. Together, they must search their world for all 150 Pokemon, while avoiding the likes of Team Rocket and their Pokemon, Meowth. Of course, if you don't already know all of this, you've been under a really big rock for the past decade.
Ok, here's another installment of the stuff for your iPod. I picked this album up this week simply to get the first track: "White & Nerdy."
Just in case you need a hint, this is the lead track off of Weird Al Yankovic's new album Straight Outta Lynwood
Now, I'm a big Yanker... er Yankovic fan. I thought Amish Paradise was a stroke of pure parody genius personally. The reason that this album is something I'm trying to pimp is because the Chamillionaire parody White & Nerdy, Usher parody Confessions pt.3 and the 10 minute long R.Kelly parody Trapped in the Drivethrough are worth purchasing... not just listening, purchasing. But you only get Trapped in the Drivethrough if you buy the album.
Click the album art to be taken to the album page in your iTunes app and sample the songs... then BUY THE ALBUM.
Should you wait on a PS3? Sony says so! The following doesn't come from a fanboy site -- it comes from the New York Times, who spoke to Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony's chief financial officer: "Mr. Oneda said he expects the company to mark down PlayStation 3 prices in 2007 once the supply problems are solved." See? Even Sony thinks the PS3 is priced too high.
Midway shoots wrestling fans: If you were at a pro wrestling match in Orlando Monday night, you might be immortalized in an upcoming video game. The staff of Midway Games filmed crowd footage and recorded noise and chants for the upcoming debut Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling video game. According to PWInsider.com, "The level of detail (in the game) was said to be so precise you could see a scar on (wrestler A.J.) Styles' lip that he suffered from a Samoa Joe bout."
Philips' amBX immerses you in game: Know how Philips' Ambilight washes the wall behind the TV screen in a light whose color is complimentary to what's currently on the screen? Now imagine that along with sattelite lights, sounds, wind and rumble features for your keyboard and your wrist. It's called amBX and is due out early next year for PC games. To get everything will set you back $399 and requires games that are specifically coded for amBX to get the full effect, but if it catches on, it's gonna be hot. Ryan Kim of the San Francisco Chronicle played around with it a little and says, "It makes games seem a little more cinematic and full. And when done right, a software developer can use the lights to help cue players as to where to go by lighting up one light."
Kids bored with prom come up with anime theme: The teen services director of the Tecumseh District Library in Michigan was listening to kids in the library's anime club talking about the prom. "They didn't know if they were going," she said, "because it's the same all the time." That gave her the bright idea of incorporating an anime theme in a prom party. According to the story in the Tecumseh, Mich., Herald: "Attendees were encouraged to come dressed as their favorite anime character.... Regular prom traditions were preserved, including the crowning of a king and queen. In a wry spoof on the royalty ritual, the crowns were cardboard and came from Burger King."
Trinity Blood: Chapter 1: In the distant future after the destruction brought about by Armageddon, the war between the vampires and the humans continue to persist. In order to protect the humans from the vampires, Vatican has to rely on other allies to counter the situation. The protagonist, a priest called Peter Abel Nightroad, travels through the countries as a representative for the Vaticans. However, he is also part of "Ax", a special operations group controlled by the Cardinal Catherina. His encounter with a young girl called Esther will determine the struggle and survival between the human race and the vampires. So there.
We know the site hasn't been all that reliable the past couple of days, but we were having trouble too...
In any case, we just want to thank you all for your vehement diligence in getting to the few things we were able to post while Blogger WASN'T down yesterday and a bit today.
We promise we will work hard to give you what you need, when you need, like you need , for as long as you want us to daddy!
Wanna show your love for ESH and all it's crew memebers? [saying the word "member" somehow gives me the giggles something terrible!]
Well, now you can, with new FRESHit [pronounce it how you like] from ESH.
We [in this case meaning I] just created a new batch of FRESHit stuff for you, the bestest audience in the world. You could have read anything in the world tonight, but I thank you for rockin' with us! It's ya gurl in da buildin'! N to tha Izzy N to tha Ji zAy!
Sorry, sometimes I'm NinJaSistah and not Jay-z. Sigh.
So what is FRESHit? Well, it's aim buddy icons, and forum sigs, and, oh hell just go there and see for yourself. I'm too tired to type much more than this man.
Seriously,head over to the FRESHit section now, and be on the lookout for the FRESHit link to find a permanent home under the podcast player over there on the right in the Pimp'd Space area.
I know I've been a bit lax in the posting of late, but danged if the so called "real world" hasn't been intruding on my web and game fun. Unfortunately, I've been having to do this thing, where I provide different people my design services on projects of their liking and in return, they give me money for my efforts.
Yes, NinJaSistah... daytime web design whore.
Moving on, I'm a little behind in my news, but I've seen a couple of things that I wanted to share with you and talk about if you hadn't already heard about em.
First off, Jack Thompson. You know him, you love him, [or is that loathe, they are so close together on the emotional rollercoaster chart] and well, Jack's got himself in a tad bit of hot water. You know how that judge disagreed with his ideas about Bully being a public nuisance and needing to be kept off the shelves where consumers could buy it? Well, Jacky boy shortly after the hearing wrote the judge hearing the case a letter. If I ever in my life were to receive a letter like this from someone because they lost at something by my hand, I would have no choice but to pursue legal action against them rather than my first instinct to do them bodily harm. In this diatribe to Judge Ronald Friedman, Thompson at one point says,
"What you conducted in your chambers, Judge, was the equivalent of Iran leading UN weapons inspectors around the country taking them to places where the illegal activity was not occurring."
Now unless the Judge in this case anal raped all of the principles in this case and broadcast it live on the web, I'm not exactly sure what he could possibly have done in quarters to gain such glowing praise from JT... but I'll continue on. Also in the letter, JT mentions that his losing is not the cause of this letter being sent.
I can handle an adverse ruling by a judge. I've had plenty of those in my lifetime, and that's fine.
Which by itself wouldn't be any interesting point to bring up... but the sentence that follows is why I point it out. JT goes on to say
"But the way you conducted yourself today helps explain why a great Dade County Judge, the late Rhea Pincus Grossman, could not abide you. She was not the only one..."
Then the list starts. Seriously, read the letter.
Now Kotaku posted this on the 13th of October. What I find interesting is that the next day [14th of October for those of you keeping track] the family group that Thompson has so often referred to as having the support of in all of his open letters, many sound bytes, and so forth, issued their own open letter... to JT himself. The National Institute on Media and the Family said that Mr. Thompson better stop letting their name come out his mouth. Well, that's basically what they said. Dr David Walsh who founded The Institute says in his open letter
"However, over the past few months, I and members of my board have a growing concern that your use of our name, without our permission, has had a negative influence as we try to educate the public on this important issue."
"...Your commentary has included extreme hyperbole and your tactics have included personally attacking individuals for whom I have a great deal of respect... Some of the people that you have publicly criticized are not only people of integrity, but are people who have worked to improve the lives of children."
"...Consequently, I ask that you cease using the institutes or my name in any way that would give the impression that we support your efforts."
Ouchies! It has to hurt when everyone in the world [and not just the gaming community that you feed upon like a vampire]finds out your a poser.
Now that Jacky boy may be in some hot water with Judge Friedman for his lovely letter and may be found to be held in contempt of court. With this well published letter of his floating around, I don't know how it could be seen as anything but contemptible. I wasn't even in the court house, nor was I the person the letter was addressed to and I find it highly arrogant, offensive, and ultimately immature.
I am now going to sit back and watch with joy as the US legal system work, again [as I do not feel that Bully, or any video game to date is a public nuisance] as you get held in contempt of court and get to spend some one on one time with a few folks that may be convicted of violent crimes.
While you are there, ask them if video games made em do it.
Hiya everyone! Pandalicious here, sitting outside of my "Weather and Climate Lab Class" and yes, it's BUTT LOADS of fun... but I'm here now to deliver some GREAT NEWS.
Last night at 11 p.m. I made a jump from little WoW newbie... to SUPER ELITE 60! Sujisan, once a little lvl 16 Night Elf Feral Druid is now a lvl 60 Restoration Druid!!!!!!!!!! w00t!!!!
My WoW itch for leveling has eased, but now Sujisan must travel to serveral instance runs to gather all the necessariy pieces of what is refered to as "tier armor." In the order of things she must gather is Tier 0, then through vigorous battles and money, convert it to Tier 0.5. From that point she can decide to collect her Tier One, Tier Two or the best of the best Teir 3.
As her travels increase I will keep you all informed... and for all the WoW players out there...
I've seen this too many times: well-meaning advice columnists talking about things they have no knowledge about, so when it comes time to give advice, they tell everyone to fear the thing they don't understand.
I was reminded of this by such an advice columnist named Marguerite Kelly, who writes for the Washington Post and is syndicated throughout the U.S. On Oct. 20, a reader asked about the advisability of giving her 8-year-old daughter a Nintendo DS for Christmas. Kelly, naturally, was appalled, immediately warning the reader of the possibility (Possibility? You must mean certainty!) of gaming addiction.
Although you can read the whole thing here, I will also reproduce the answer portion of the letter below. But instead of referring to video games, I'm going to let you choose which dangerous thing the daughter ought to be protected from. Just choose from a list of real (and imagined) dangers for yourself:
I will let you be the judge... after I hand down my ruling that is.
I recently received my Xbox Live Diamond Card in the mail, and first impression was it looked snazzy!
Indeedy, this isn't some cheazy, sleazy laminated paper card like the ones you get from Blockbuster these days... no this sucker is standard credit card stock and build. The imprinting of my gamertag in the all caps is a nice touch. It pleases me, so it immediately went into my wallet with prominent placement. [which if you need to know means right next to my AMEX Gold card... I had to retire my black card because I was ballin' out of control... hence my broketude.]
But now I had a dilemma: I needed to know where I could to use my new pretty little gamer status icon. Included with my "gamer extraordinaire" card, was some info on the site I could go to and see what places valued my gaming awesomeness enough to float a sistah a deal. I was all excited, because my broke ass is in serious need of some discounts let me tell you. The first two I noticed off that bat that looked cool were the 10% off of purchases made online at Target website and the 2-for-1 sammiches at Quiznos... which I have to say I hit up on a weekly basis. Toasty! Moving on. At this point I'm thinking to myself, "Self? Yes? Looks like getting that XBLive Gold package and signing up for this dealie was a good idea I had. Indeed self, congratulations on the stroke of genius which is you, me, er, us! Boffo!" But then I started looking through the rest of the vendors and "deals" and started rethinking that whole ego molestation thing that I did to myself. [I am a registered ego molester.]
Many of the vendors are companies that I've never heard of like Golfsmith.com, AKA Gourmet.com, Chukar Cherry Company, and Furniture Medic to name a few. Now, while many of these vendors seem like great little services on their own... I'm not sure how many gamers need furniture restoration. Wait, I take that back. From all the accounts of people winging controllers about their domicile in anger, someone has to have dinged their wood interiors. [he he, I said dinged their wood...] But the more I went through the list of vendors I noticed that while the list was obviously still in it's "new" stage. Even more obvious is that MS is trying to line up as many vendors as they can to give card holders a good reason to keep the card on them at all times. You never know when you need to order someone some flowers or a gift online, so when you start adding in those 10% off and 30% with a coupon type deals, it can be very attractive.
It helps to remember that the Diamond Card is free if you have a 1 yr Xbox live Gold subscription. Then the free foods from Papa John's, Popeye's, and Quiznos starts looking real good. The wine and micro brew company vendors out of Washington state really only resonate with residents of the respective Washington state cities those companies are in, but still... American's love discounts, so I think it's a good idea. I'm just a little disappointed that with all their clout, MS wasn't able to line up some more gaming related discounts. I mean, the only things listed under the "Video Games & Hobbies" banner are Hollywood Video and Gamestop. The Gamestop one is a tad disappointing: "Receive $10 off any online purchase of $75 or more, online only," while the Hollywood Video one is a rent one get one rental free with this coupon you have to print out right here. Really Microsoft? Is that the best you can do? Where's the reward for being an Xbox loyalist? Where's the $10 bucks off any MS 1st party game you buy from Amazon or even Gamestop? How about the buy a controller, get a controller half off? I get that it can be difficult to bring on new vendors [even though your online system has been pretty dang large and in charge for nearly a year now] but how does that stop you from offering some in house discounts to gamers that have been nickel and dimed to death for microtransactions through your online service? Throw us a frikken bone here!
Now, as I said, I'll let you be the judge. Maybe with the holiday season about to start some new vendors can pop up on the Diamond list and make this well meaning idea something to resonate well with gamers and consumers that love gamers. [Mom, I'm looking at you... you know Christmas is coming right?] But as far as I'm concerned right this moment, this card and bonus service is CZ at best.
What do you think? Any diamond card holders out there that have some stories of how they used their card to get something?
NSFW mean Not Safe For Work. The clip below contains some audio that would not be suitable for you boss to hear coming out of your cube as she/he walks by.
That said, this clip is funny as SHIT. I heard about it from one of the FRESHpeeps, so much love for the big ups! Guess I should make a "Send us a tip" type thing for y'all to use to help us stay in the loop.
In any case, watch and enjoy. Mc Pee Pants is awesome. I love Aqua Teen Hunger Force like no other.
For your audio/visual pleasure, I give you, the MC Pee Pants KH2 rant:
WoW expansion pack misses holiday selling season: Testing on the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion pack got started only this month, and as a result the package won't be available for sale until after the first of the year. According to an Associated Press story, "Gamers will instead have to wait until January to plumb the depths of Outland in The Burning Crusade..."
It's 3-for-2 time at Toys"R"Us: Through Saturday Oct. 28 at Toys"R"Us, buy two in-stock video games, get the third one free! Here are the weasel words: Free video game must be of equal or lesser value to the lowest priced item purchased. Limited quantities available. Sorry, no rain checks. Here are the online promotion rules.
Some gamers putting warp drive in reverse: In an age where a new video game system is close to breaking the $600 mark, some gamers are reliving the good ol' days, buying old game machines in pawn shops for a $20 bill and buying old games for a five-spot. "Maybe it's because they grew up on them," Jim McCauley, owner of JimmyJams Comics and Games in Winona, Minn., told the Winona Daily News. "A lot of college-age guys look at all the new games, but also the old Nintendo games. I see a lot of that. There's a lot of nostalgia going on." The big sellers? Games with Mario and Luigi. One customer says, "They're chick magnets."
Is the Sony Portable Reader squint-worthy? That's the question answered by Tony Salvaggio for Comic Book Resources in his review of the new portable device. Specifically, Salvaggio checked out the Reader for its ability to display manga titles. "Tokyopop has committed to releasing a collection of their Global Manga lineup for release at the launch of the Sony Reader (in fact, an excerpt of 'Peach Fuzz' should come pre-loaded with the Reader)," Salvaggio writes, "and I was able to take a sneak peak at the results."
Tactics, Vol. 2: Supernatural detective Kantaro Ichinomiya and his band of monsters and demons are back! This time, the team travels to Bride Island, Suzuku Temple and Asakusa in search of adventures, monsters and interesting journal articles. Sounds... like... fun.
Seriously, I'm not trying to stir up any trouble here, but I saw this article on the Destructoid site [y'all are the bomb!] and my heart missed a beat.
Ok, more than just one, but you get the general idea. Assassin's Creed [as well as that Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway game have been delayed by Ubisoft. Not indefinitely, but have been delayed in order to help strengthen fiscal year 2007-08. Now, as Dtoid writer Robert Summa reminds us,
"keep in mind that a delay is often a good thing. I'd rather see a polished game than a rush job."
and he's right... but damned if I still ain't twitching over the fact that I'm not going to get my Assassin on as early as I had hoped.
Right now there are not a whole lot of games that I am looking forward to this season like Assassin's Creed. I am not ashamed to say that I want to play Viva Pinata,Rayman: Raving Rabbids, or even that Super Swing Golf game on the Wii, but I have almost been desperate in lust for games like Assassin's Creed and even Devil May Cry 4. Mostly due to my lack of satisfaction with the games I have been playing up until now. You know how disappointed I was with Samurai Warriors 2, and N3 if I'm honest, so my saving grace was the upcoming months with the Wii and PS3 a few weeks out from launch. "Bated breath" doesn't begin to acurately explain how exciting and trembling with an-ticccccci-[SAY IT!]-pation I've been the last couple of days as the nearness of launch day 06 comes closer. How could any gamer not be excited right now? The KOTOR 2 restoration is underway, Phantasy Star Universe drops in three days [3] while Marvel: Ultimate Alliance will beat it to the shelves by a day.
Oh yeah, can't leave out: Need For Speed Carbon, F.E.A.R, Gears of War, Tony Hawks Project 8, Heavenly Sword, Strangelhold, Ridge Racer 7, Genji: Days of the Blade, Red Steel, and the hotly desired Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess* *note, this game list included in depth to aid any and all folks that want to buy, gift, or provide a title to the hard working NinJaSistah.
These are good times to be a gamer... if you have a shugah daddy/momma, six figure job, come from money, or have recently had a winning trip to Las Vegas. When I say I'm broke, I do mean it people. No mon, no fun.
But I, like Mr. Summa over at Dtoid, will hope that this delay will give Ubisoft the time they need to really blow the lid of the action genre on all three next-gen platforms... else I'll be broke-assed and pissed-off which is neither fun for you or my shugah daddy!
The gamers best buddy and pal Sony has effectively put the best place on the web for getting your grubby little hands on imports Lik-Sang.
Sony says, it's for our own good. The British don't need Japanese PSP's or video games that will never be ported to England for the English, so places like Lik-Sang don't need to exist, right?
Wrong. Here's why. Sony pushed back the roll out of it's PS3 system in Europe to 07. [March of if'n I remember correctly] so the only way for many people in Europe to get there hands on the system before then would be to grab an import from someplace like Lik-Sang... which had already taken pre-orders for the PS3 before the Gamestop shenanigans. Yeah, you heard me, I said shenanigans! Hundred non-refundable bucks for a pre-order that won't even put a box in my hand launch day deserves no other name. But it's not just PS3, but our European sister and brother gamers were also getting boned on the price of their console and hand held systems. As much as I bitch and moan about the price of the high end PS3 box here in the states, that 599 euro box in Europe would run you nearly 752.12 USD. I shall cease my bitching for a bit on that one. OUCHIES!
But why now, and what really is the deal? Well Sony claims it filled the lawsuit against Lik-Sang arguing economic harm to itself and dishonest selling tactics. Now, I'm not sure exactly what "economic harm" defenseless lil Lik-Sang had [they didn't even have representation during the hearings, poor lil guys...] but I'm not sure how you can claim dishonesty. There was an adapter that was listed on the Lik-Sang site that was supposed to be auto-sensing as far as power wattage went, and I haven't been able to tell if that product was bunk or not, but still... there are a lot of sites that list a lot of products that don't actually do all of what they promise.Oh, by the way, isn't this "dishonest selling tactics" the pot calling the kettle black coming from Sony? Didn't they make that next-gen console comparison sheet that in all "honesty" to label as "bullshit" a fair statement? Now look, I never actually bought anything through Lik-Sang. Not because I felt they couldn't be trusted, or were overpriced, but because I personally didn't have much want or need for an import game or gaming system. However, I always thought it was a good idea to have a source like Lik-Sang out there for the people who did not have as many options or choices as I've had here in the US. There are a bunch of games each year that ship in Japan and in the US and Canada, but never make the distribution cut for Europe. I didn't like that idea, but at least places like Lik-Sang helped level the playing field for gamers in Europe. I liked that. I'm almost 100 percent sure that this maneuver by Sony had less to do with protecting the "hordes" of folks clamoring for the PSP in Europe and more to do with the [eventual] roll out of the PS3 in Europe.
I do feel for you poor bastards in Europe, not even having a shot at a PS3 until waaaaay into 2007. You gotta wait until after us Americans and Japanese have all our fun before you can even think about joining the party.
Y'all have been fucked, and I do mean proper fucked, by Sony. The only difference between us and you, is that Sony took us out to dinner first.
Girls don't play RPGs, do they? She might be a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but E. Cabell Hankinson Gathman is also a gamer girl. She reveals in the blog Strange Horizons, "even when they're not being told that they can't or shouldn't play games, girls are still being told that they don't." If boys can be female characters in RPGs, why can't a girl be one, too?
Madden NFL 07 recalled by EA: EA Sports is recalling Madden NFL 07 according to this release: "The recall came after gamers grumbled that no matter what teams or players they put on the field, Al Michaels and John Madden would only talk about Terrell Owens." Deleting the controversial receiver required a recall, programmers said, because the "81 module" is not merely one among many players but an integral part of the game's basic operating system. (OK, OK, it's just a joke! We already knew that. But it's pretty dang funny.)
A Bully's first gay kiss: Perhaps this is what Jack Thompson is missing in his life. The Entry-Level Heiress blog features a still and a movie showing the Playstation's first gay kiss, from the just-released videogame Bully, which "features a character that likes to give flowers to other boys and then make out with them."
UNOtaku group enjoys nerdness: At the University of Nebraska-Omaha, anime fans are comfortable enough with their fanaticism to make a little fun of themselves. Rachel Samson, president of UNOtaku, told the university's student newspaper, "The word 'Otaku' originated in Japan, where it carries a slightly negative, nerdy connotation, but we don't mind." The group meets on Thursday nights and is free to anyone who wants to show up.
Gankutsuou 6 - Count of Monte Cristo: The sixth chapter of this classic tale of love, betrayal and revenge has just been released. Jean Jacques Burnel, who did the music, said of the project, "what I like about this version is the additional mephistolean arrangement between Edmond and the creature. This reminds me a bit of the degenerating power of the devil when you accept his help." You know you want it.
We know it's been a long time, and we shouldn't have kept you waiting, but we did. I say we were due for a spanking, but we'd probably like that too much... or at least you would, so we'll skip that for now.
What you shouldn't do is skip this update to our glossary of terms. In this updated edition we went the all gaming terms route. Thanks to Wikipedia for help with the official sounding base definitions! Wiki = good.
This is a picture of Kathryn Marie Holt. Kathryn is HOT! Looking at this picture makes me thirsty... I'm secure enough in my femininity to say that. I have no beef with hot women, make no mistake about that. My problem is that according to JoystickWidow, Kathryn is a gamer... I find this highly suspect.
Not because I think that girl gamers can't be hot, I KNOW that can be and are in many, many, many cases. I find it suspect because my personal experience has told me that many models spend more time working and trying to get work than on gaming. A trip to this website only confirms my suspicions that the site is mainly setup for guy gamers, not girl ones.
When you first visit the website, you will notice that their banner graphic is neat looking, until you look at the right side which has "Your Slogan Here" in big white letters. Whoops, forgot to adjust that template before we posted it to server eh? Oh well, accidents happen. Over all it's a good looking site. And there are some game image galleries and news bits from other sites and sources. [I found this site because it actually linked to one of our articles, else I would have never know a gem like this existed.] So I bopped around the site until I got to the widows section which has little profiles of GREAT looking dames who are all supposed gamers. Most of the ladies on this page have gamertags and one of the questions they have to answer is "what is your favorite game." While nearly every babe on this hottie roster of hawtness answers the fav game question naming a game or two along with her gamertag and a link to her personal website, I still found myself questioning their gamer cred. Awful of me I know, almost hatin' on these babes because I felt that something with the stats I was reading were off. A couple of the ladies just didn't look like Halo or Mortal Kombat fans. I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover... but when the cover looks like belongs on the front of FHM magazine instead of a "Brady Games" guide book. This brings me back to Kathryn.
Kathryn's gamertag is Kitty. Being on XBLive myself, I thought I'd look her up and see what games she plays and what her gamerscore is like. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Kitty had no profile image, no achievements unlocked, no profile really... because she hadn't played any games. I told myself that Kitty, er, Kathryn just has been busy and must not have had any real time to settle in and get her game on. [You can click on the image above to see a larger view of the screenshot I took of Kitty's gamer profile on xbox.com] Yeah, that's it, or at least that was the thought until I checked out the gamertags of all the other hotties on the page.
After going through all of the widows, most of the gamertags were completely bogus, of the ones that were actually found on Xbox.com community, only one actually had a gamerscore of 10. Now my gamerscore is nearly non-existent itself [it's only 520] but it's mostly because I don't have a lot of XB360 games [only own two] or time to really play like I'd LIKE to. But this site just pisses me off. Not because it's using sex to sell whatever it is that this site is selling [I'm all for that] but because it's selling you guys short. I doubt any dude visiting this site wouldn't guess that none of the chicks featured on the site are actual gamers, or could even tell you what system Halo is on, so why even try.
For all the issues that I have with the PMS Clan, most of the member have gamerscores and records that you can honestly say, "OH HELL YEAH! She's definitely a gamer!" One does not rank up a gamerscore of over 20,000 lightly, and I have a lot of respect for anyone that can game on like that. But I think sites like JoystickWidow do more harm than good. I think they help guys not take girl gamers seriously, and pisses me off. It has taken me so long to get respect from the guy gamers I know and the ones I play online that the idea of stuff like JoystickWidow being out there and in some way helping to detract from that pisses me off.
Don't get pissy with me about this, I'm not hatin' on these pretty girl gamers. They AREN'T gamers, they're posers... and I can hatin' on a fucking poser all I like!
When Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine published the story "The 20 Worst Video Games of All Time," they edited out author Seanbaby's swear words. Now the original story has been preserved on the internet.
Seanbaby has published on his website the original story, as he says, "to better express how these fucking cunt ass games pissed me off."
Seanbaby adds, "I still insist that if this list was perfectly accurate, the 20 Worst games really would just be 19 Atari Jaguar games and the Atari 2600's god damn E.T."
Go ahead and read Seanbaby's original article -- then come back and tell us your picks. What are the worst games of all time that you've ever played?
U.S. Army bears gifts to gamers: A U.S. defense contractor and the U.S. Army are teaming up to offer a free videogame that helps demonstrate warfare of the future. F2C2 is described as a real-time tactical strategy game that lets player learn about the Army's Future Combat Systems program by assuming command of a Mounted Company Team in the year 2015. Through game play, F2C2 showcases how FCS can provide the 21st century soldier unprecedented situational awareness, and the ability to see first, understand first, act first and finish decisively. F2C2 can be downloaded for free on the U.S. Army's public Web site.
Sony reassures PS3 owners about controllers: Sony faced another public relations nightmare when it was discovered that the new Sixaxis wireless controller for the PS3 didn't allow users to change batteries, making the entire controller useless when the rechargeable batteries finally died for good. Once the word got out, Sony was quick to say that any controllers that died could be exchanged for a new one. GamesIndustry.biz quotes a Sony representative: "The latest generation of Lithium Polymer batteries hardly suffer any memory effect at all, so it'll be many years before there's any degradation in terms of battery performance. When and if this happens, then of course we will be providing a service to exchange these items."
Microsoft to save Halo movie? That's the word according to Variety. When it looked like the movie was going to exceed the $135 million pricetag, Universal Studios and Twentieth Century Fox pulled out of the project. Ken Kamins, who represents executive producer Peter Jackson, said Microsoft is already in talks with other distribution partners.
Anime character used to provide Japanese goodwill in Iraq: A truck rolls up in the scorching midsummer heat of Iraq emblazoned with the image of Captain Tsubasa, from the anime series of the same name. "I figured if we had a picture of Tsubasa on the side of the water supply trucks Japan had provided, maybe people would understand that the anime was actually from Japan," Yasuyuki Ebata, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official, told the Daily Yomiuri newspaper. The Iraqi-language version of the anime is aired in Iraq as "Captain Majed."
Wars and Rumors of Wars: Two years after the war Between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT, conflicts between the two nations heat up again in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny, Vol. 5. Shin Asuka, the new Main Character's eyes are full of sorrow as his family was killed in Orb during the war. Meanwhile, Athrun is torn between protecting Cagalli in Orb and doing something about the war. With new moble suits being developed by ZAFT and the abduction of three new modles by 3 Earth Alliance Pilots, the new story begins. If you understand all of that, then you really need this one.
If you have ever listened to our podcast, you know that I have been a fan of the Dynasty Warriors series, so when I saw that Samurai Warriors 2 was about to drop and spread the DW love, I thought I was set.
As it turns out, I was wrong.
A better way to put it would be to say I was robbed. Robbed of a fun experience, robbed of a better version of the game, robbed of any joy that could be had exploring a solid hack n' slash type game.
I guess I should explain a bit about why I loved the series in the first place. I liked the RPG elements of Dynasty Warriors games. I can level up my character as I go on fighting, but don't have to take time out from handing down an ass whoopin' to do so. Games like that will always get my money. But the game also presented me with an awesome roster of playable characters, each with their own spin on the central plot of the game. [Which is a Romance of the Three Kingdoms dealie] And while they carry this over into the Samurai Warriors 2 game, it's pretty obvious that they didn't put much effort [if any at all] into this port. For instance, all of the characters have these one-liners they spout off every time they kill an enemy officer. On the surface this doesn't sound bad, but the officers only have the single one-liner, and there are some missions that your only goal is to take out ever enemy officer which means hearing the same one-liner up to ten times in a twenty minute period. It gets old, then it gets annoying, then I turn the voice sound down to zero in hopes of making the game better. Gone is the option to have Japanese as the spoken language with English subtitles, it's all English now kids... and bad English at that. Listening to this audio hurts my soul.
One would think that innovation was on the minds of the developers [Omega Force] when deciding to expand on the DW brand. And from the looks of the game, all they were able to come up with was a new "Monopoly" type game mode called Suguroku. How like "Monopoly" is it? Well you have to go around the board buying up the pieces of land that you land on. When other players land on your property, they have to pay you money, or they can wager the amount of the property to try and duel you for it. Make a lap around the board and back to your "home" square with the predetermined amount of money, and you win! YAY! Well, not really. Suguroku> is slow. Because it's slow it's also a tad bit boring. Add to this already "awesome" mix the aforementioned one-liners, and the fact that no matter how you've leveled up your character in story mode in Suguroku all players are level 1, and you've got the recipe for a mode of the game you should steer away from. [You can thank me for this advice later.] No versus mode folks. So you can't do a player 1 vs. player 2 dueling, though the two player co-op from previous DW titles is back as is the survival mode, but they don't add much. As for the online "capabilities" they too, suck out loud. You don't get to take your suped up character and play the suped up character of someone else online, no, you get to have some split screen "who can kill the most enemies" type action. Why be able to build a bad ass samurai if you can't really test him against the warrior of another. Slashing down mindless drones online just ain't fun Omega Force, you should know that.
You may be wondering if Samurai Warriors 2 has any redeeming qualities, and they answer, surprisingly is yes. All money that you find or earn in the game to buy various ability, battle, mount, or weapon upgrades carry over from character to character. Think of it all going into a community account, anyone can draft from it, so if you particularly suck with one character, grab one of your better ones and go traipsing through the free mode to bank some dough. Then come back and supe up your sucky character and give story mode a go again. I only say this is a good thing if you are playing the game on the XB360. You get 50pts for your gamer score per character you unlock, so you have the potential to add 2000 points overall to your gamerscore, which doesn't suck. [Especially if you are like me and don't have a whole lot of time to play games these days.] There isn't one level yet that I've played that takes more than twenty minutes to get through, and that's just because I forced myself to secure all reserve gates. If you make a bee line for the boss enemy you can probably knock out most levels in 10 minutes, so it can be a short-ish investment in your gamerscore. In the time that I've had to actually play I brought my score up to 520... I told you haven't gotten to play much.
All things being equal, I give this game 1 and 1/2 candies. One blue one because it's sad. Not a sad story, but sad that this game wound up being the lame thing it is now and half a green one because you can get your gamerscore up pretty easily with this game, you greedy bastid. :)
Do yourself a favor, and only rent this game if your XB gamerscore needs a boost, otherwise you'll hate yourself in the morning.
Want a Wii or PS3 before Christmas? Forget about it: "This is going to be the mother of all shortages," said Larry Haverty, associate portfolio manager of Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust. He and others have told Reuters that purchasing this year's new consoles at the regular retail price before Christmas might be impossible.
The 10,000 most important gamers in the world: Are you part of the Nielsen 10,000? If you are, you're one of the most important gamers in the world. Nielsen, the folks who measure TV viewership, will be measuring videogame usage in its Nielsen GamePlay Metrics. Some 10,000 gamers have been chosen to represent the worldwide audience of videogame fans. "We are not targeting homes of gamers specifically," said Jeff Hermann, VP of Nielsen Wireless and Interactive Services. "The panel represents the media consumption habits of the US consumer. Since the panel is statistically representative of all U.S. consumers, the gaming population is a subset of the overall panel and statistically projectable to represent game title and duration of play of the entire gaming population."
Noise of "The Lamb": Tokyopop's animated production of its long-running manga series "Lament of the Lamb" will be spotlighted at the 2006 Tokyo International Film Festival next week. Described in Tokyopop's press release as "a gut-wrenching horror story of a young man who shockingly discovers he may be the last in a bloodline of vampires," the manga version was created by Kei Toume and originally published in Japan by Gentosha. While TOKYOPOP'S popular manga properties, "Priest" and "Pet Shop of Horrors", have been recently acquired for film adaptation by Sony Screen Gems and Focus Features, respectively, "Lament of the Lamb" signals the company's first move into theatrical feature film production.
Why I don't live in Alabama anymore: James Wilson and Lance Borchert, both of Athens, Ala., were playing their favorite teams in a Playstation college football game Sept. 30 -- a game that became a little too serious. With Borchert's Tennessee team leading Wilson's Auburn team, Wilson became upset when Borchert quit the game and went to bed. Wilson, Borchert's wife's cousin, allegedly entered the Borchert's bedroom and stabbed Borchert in the back with a butcher knife. Although the knife punctured Borchert's lung, it did not kill him. Wilson ran from the Borchert home into the nearby woods and was tracked down by dogs from the Limestone Correctional Facility.
Exploding Skyscrapers? Don't Blame Godzilla: The city is in the grip of a crazed bomber in Case Closed: The Time Bombed Skyscraper - The Movie and nobody is safe as a crushing wave of terror washes over the innocent citizens. Planes, trains and massive towers all threaten to light up the night sky -- the sick whims of a brutal lunatic played out in sudden balls of fire. Conan Edogawa finds himself in a desperate race against the clock, an explosive game of cat and mouse with a deviant madman, and every second counts. Can he unravel the maniacal malcontent's scheme before the next timer reaches zero? Awww, probably, but you should check it out anyway.
My boy Ro hooked me up with this tidbit this morning, and in the spirit of "share your shizzole day" I give you...
The info on the shelving of the Halo movie. To begin with I've never been sure about a movie being based any video game, let alone Halo. I love Master Chief. If Master Chief was a soup, I'd sop him up with a biscuit... seriously, but the idea of a Halo movie with a first time feature length film director seemed like a recipe for disaster. Not one of Uwe Boll disaster level, but close.
Tack on to the first time feature film director angle the rising budget [200 Millions and climbing] and Universal got a tad bit ansy. Can't say I blame them. If you look at the details of the deal, MS stood to gain a big ass chunk o' change... you know, foundling lil compnay like them needs all the cash they can get their lil hands on. But on the other hand I am a tad disappointed that the flick might not get made, mostly because I wanted to see who was going to be cast in the film. In my mind, Mickey Rourke is Master Chief, you'll never talk me out of it.
Just like Linda Fiorentino SHOULD have been Aeon Flux. [She was the bomb in Jade!
Microserf: Uh, Mr. Gates, there's a problem with the new Zune. Bill Gates: A problem? Is it that damn brown color? Microserf: No, it's not that, sir. It's... it's... it's the name. Bill Gates: The name? What's wrong with the name? Microserf: Well, uh, in Hebrew it means... it means... Bill Gates: Spit it out, boy. It couldn't be that bad. Microserf: It means FUCK! Bill Gates: FUCK? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
HERE'S A FEATURE NOBODY ASKED FOR Last week, Sony introduced a new Walkman MP3 player to compete with Apple's iPod. The big, new, iPod-killing feature of this one? The ability to upload music directly from a compact-disc player. Think about this for a moment: Most CD players run at 1X speed, meaning a 45-minute-long CD will take exactly 45 minutes to upload the songs to the player. If you let the batteries run dry, you'll have to upload the whole thing again.
And, as NinjaSistah asked when I told her about it, who owns CD's anymore?
RUMORS: Sony's not worried about the PS3 overheating, right? Then why are they installing an extra cooling fan in their store kiosks? Read about it here.
Speaking of kiosks, Wii and PS3 kiosks are already winging their way to Best Buy, Wal-Mart, GameStop and EBGames stores. Call your favorite store to see if it has already arrived. More...
Don't play the Wii in direct sunlight. That's the word of a blogger on the Nintendo Gal website: "That's right, if you have the sun beaming right onto the sensor bar, it doesn't work." More...
QUOTES: "For this Christmas I think the price for what it specifically does as a video games machine [it] is a bit pricey..." -- Sony Computer Entertainment Australia Managing Director Michael Ephraim, talking about the Wii's price. From Australia's Age newspaper.
"E3 is not a place where product is sold anymore. The industry is recognized as a big part of mainstream culture, so the need for a big glittering event to validate the industry is not what it used to be," he said. "What is needed ... is to focus on the fact that E3 is much more about media-related opportunities. The question is what is the most efficient way to create those opportunities." -- Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, the trade association that owns E3.From SFGate.com
"When building a house, traditional Japanese builders start with the tiniest detail and gradually expand from there. Western builders are the opposite. They start with the picture of a whole and add details to it. When Westerners look at old Japanese buildings, they often wonder how the builders drew the blueprint for such a complex shape. But the secret is that there never was a blueprint. It is this fundamental difference in approach that makes Japanese buildings fascinating to their eyes. The same thing can be said about animation. The way we create large images for movies is similar to that traditional architectural method. I think that explains the appeal Japanese animation can have, particularly in the western world." -- Toshio Suzuki, president of Japan's Studio Ghibli. From the Wall Street Journal
Naruto, Vol. 5 - Shinobi Weapons: As I was saying yesterday, join three young ninjas -- Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno -- as they continue their training. Sort of like Pokemon without all the dang cards, eh? Get the thing here.
I know we talked about these TV show episodes a couple of weeks ago, but it just now dawned on me that I could link to your buying them through the iTunes store on this here website, so here goes.
First up is the South Park World of Warcraft episode. Why should you buy the episode? Well, even if you aren't a fan of Warcraft, you can appreciate the jokes the SP guys make about how life consuming the game is. I know, I've lost a member of my family to Warcraft. Rehab only works if you let it people. So click on the image to be taken to the episode in your iTunes and buy it! It's like, less than two dollah!
Next, for your entertainment pleasure I bring you "The Coup" the episode of NBC's series The Office in which Call of Duty makes a huge appearance. While I suck at Call of Duty I LOVE The Office so do yourself [and myself] a favor and pick this episode up, fall in love with The Office, then, thank me.
Then we have, I think, one of my all time favorite music videos. I have loved OK GO for a while now. I actually heard about them shortly after they broke loose unto the unsuspecting music scene, and the fact that they make the music they want, with the music videos they want to boot is just awesome.
And finally, I just got turned on to this band, and I have to say I'm addicted. As soon as I heard the music, I searched out their band on Myspace and requested an add because, well, I dig them that much. AFI is rock passion. I don't know what else I can say about them. Their music just hits me and I can't turn away or not pay close attention.
Alright, that should be enough to add to your iTunes collection and slap on your iPod for fun. Maybe I'll do one of these a week... call it FRESHpicks or something? Suggest some stuff for your iPod that I have/enjoy/covet my own damn self.
Hi All! Panda here coming to you from underneath a hair dryer at my salon. [Yes I am debating trying to hook up my external for a lil WoW play but my hairdresser is looking at me funny] Anyway...I finally got a chance to watch the last three episodes of Full Moon. Now many of you may be aware that I gave a little review about it on last weeks podcast and said at that point that this anime as a four out of five...but would get back to you all with a final verdict, and now...the verdict is in.
Ladies and Gentlemen......Pandalicious gives Full Moon 5 out of 5! And here is why. [HUGE SPOILER ALERT]
For once I loved the ending. [what follows is a typographical reinactment from earlier today. SCENE: Pandalicious outside of Weather and Climate class]
Panda staring at her Mac laptop screen *Panda Gasps* *Panda Cries* Enter random guy
RG: You alright? Panda: YES...MEROKO BECAME AND ANGEL AND MISTUKI LIVES AND TAUKTO GOT A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE! RG: .........ok
-Fin-
This one gets 5 out of 5 people. Two gold ones because overall the series is just great. Two dark blue ones because it's a sad emotional rollercoaster up until the end, and one maroon candy because the story just drags you in because it's so rich and good.
Since we have been getting a bit more attention than usual, the decision to add and "about us" section was made.
It's all under construction still, and will be growing with all of the coming weeks and months. So, feel free to browse over to the new about us section of ESH!
Sure, I'm a little behind, but I HAD to go to the damn hockey game. I do more than just game you know. [I also love football, and professional boxing. I am what you many would refer to as a "down ass chick"] But this little tid-bit of info did not escape my radar.
So the PS3 controller known as "SIXAXIS" has a flaw. Imagine that, some part of the PS3 has some kind of flaw. While most of the sites that have been writing about the controller specs, they haven't really focused on just how much of a problem this flaw presents.
So here's the deal on the Bluetooth controller. It has a rechargeable lithium ion battery built in, as in the rechargeable battery can not come out of the controller. Now while the battery is rechargeable, to fully charge it through your PS3 via USB will take about 2 hours. Once the battery is charged it should get about 30 hours of use before requiring a recharge. Not bad performance if it's true, but the estimated battery life number have never been all that universal. I know you are saying, "sounds ok to me, where da prob Bob?" The "prob" is that anyone that has ever used a device that has a lithium ion battery knows that over time and usage, lithium ion batteries decay and die. With each recharge, a little less of the battery can actually recharge and soon, your battery will shuffle off it's mortal coil and move on to battery heaven... and since this battery is hard wired into your remote, it means that your remote is a paperweight in waiting. [hehe, I crack myself up sometimes]
Maybe we should have a "how fast can you turn your PS3 controller into a paperweight" sweepstakes here at ESH. I figure a year of Final Fantasy and Socom playing ought to do it. I mean, not for nothing but at least you have the option of rechargeable battery PACKS with the XB360, or regular battery powered battery packs... if a pack dies, you just replace the battery pack which is cheaper than buying a new controller.
Pay for the potential folks... through the nose. Fuck you Sony for making me sound like an Xbox fangirl. No lube either.
Vote early, vote often: November's issue of Playboy magazine features the winners of the 2006 Women of Video Games contest, so it's too late to vote. But you can still catch a glimpse of the contestants here. There's also a link to the Amp'd Mobile sweepstakes to win the ability to play video games in the Playboy mansion's game room with two Playmates.
Vaio Con Dios: Sony laptop owners became the latest victims of the Sony computer battery scandal as the company recalled 90,000 batteries from Vaio laptops sold in Japan and Korea, with news about the recall of U.S. batteries still to be announced. Here's the latest tally, as of Oct. 17:
Nintendo making life easier for programmers: If the early users are right, the Nintendo Wii Remote is a hit. And now Nintendo and AiLive are making it easier for programmers to incorporate the remote in their games. Using a new artificial intelligence product called LiveMove, developers no longer have to hand-code remote movements into their games. Instead, the developers can directly train the remote by example. "LiveMove will allow the game industry to move away from indirect digital control to more natural analog control for the first time," said Dr. Wei Yen, chairman of AiLive.
Anime Network reach grows: If you get your cable TV from RCN, Insight or Cogeco Cable, you're could start getting Anime Network. The company announced the new carriage deals Monday for its popular subscription-based video-on-demand service. "Anime has a very passionate following and is exactly the kind of on demand content we believe will be successful and will attract new viewers," said Melani Griffith, vice president of programming at Insight.
New Manga creates Trekkie Otaku wet dream: It's the Starship Enterprise against Gundam-style mobile suits in "Star Trek: Shinsei Shinsei," the first Manga version of Star Trek officially sanctioned by Paramount. No need to know more about it. Here's how to get it.
According to SiliconEra the upcoming Pokemon Battle Revolution game will be the first Wii game to allow the DS to be used as a controller for the game instead of the Wiimote.
This Poke-game that they speak of is supposedly the first Wii game with online play and is slated to come out around the Japanese Wii launch date in 07. In the article they state that you will select the attack you want your Pokeslave, er, Pokemon to use, and then watch it carry out your orders on your TV. I'm not sure if that's fun or not as the mechanics sound a lot like that NFL Head Coach game that came out this year that NO ONE liked. Maybe it would sound like fun if I liked Poke-games even the least little bit, but I don't. You can sue me if you want, but I just don't find the Poke-games, or Poke-movies the least little bit interesting.
Still, you will be able to use your DS as a controller for the Wii, so maybe we will see some cool implementations by game developers. I think any game where your character gets update or maps via a PDA type device would be best served by allowing your DS to be your PDA where you could make item selections or check messages using the touch screen. That way you would get the sense of being immersed in the game.
You know the drill, it's free-swim Friday: EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL
BYOSAAH [That's Bring Your Own Skype And A Headset for those of you not in the know] and join us for a live recording of the ESH podcast this Friday OCT 20 at 5pm EDT. Ask questions, , chat along, it's all good in the hood. NinJaSistah will be talking about the Rockstar game Bully and the lack of student violence/deaths in schools [poor Jack Thompson, proven wrong yet again] and the value of online gaming. Who knows what Pandalicious will talk about, but you can rest assured it's going to be a party ya'll!
So get on your Skype account, make sure you have a mic and headphones [or a headset] plugged in [you know, to keep ambient noise out] and go to Skypecasts.skype.com we'll even give you this link log in with your username and password, and then at 5pm EDT on Friday under the "Find A Skypecast" click on "On Now" and look for "Electric Sista Hood." It's just that easy. If you have any difficulty, you can read this page for help and instructions.
One of the most interesting things about anime is the characters with gravity defying hair. I have known quite a few cosplayers who won't dress as their favorite characters because they can't even begin to get the hair right. Well the Alternative Hair Show in London has proved that it is possible to beat gravity... assuming you have massive amounts of hairspray.
The 24th annual Alternative Hair Show was put on in London this Sunday. Each year the Alternative Hair Show raises hundreds of 'dollars' (pounds sounded wrong) for Leukemia Research. 3 Shows were run over the course of the day to maximize the fundraising. This year 18 hairstylists from all over the world came together to raise over 300 thousand dollars.
The port of probably the most entertaining PSP game that I've every played [Lumines] hits XBLive tomorrow. Yeah boyeeeeee, grab your gamertag, get some MS points, and have a ball.
Lumines Live will hit the arcade starting at 1am PDT so you might wanna snag it before you head off to class in the morning.
Thus ends the Friendly NinJa FYI. [So would that be a FNFYI?]
I have to state up front that I am a huge supporter of cheating. I have a Code Breaker disc that allows me to have the coveted infinite double jump [Helmofawe that's for you baby!] in god of War which makes the Hades level MUCH easier to deal with. I have spent hours entering codes for individual characters in the Dynasty Warriors game ok? I am a big cheater. I'm proud of the lengths I'll go to in order to cheat. I feel truly American when I do successfully cheat in a game. I think it has something to do with the whole "getting over on the system" feeling that I get.
So on the face of things I should be happy with EA's micropayment unlocks content for you system. Don't have enough time unlock all the content of a game? Pony up a few bucks for points to purchase it. A mere 200pts will get you a maxed out character in a game, 100pts might get you all the alternate outfits, possibilities are endless. I should be jumping for joy. This would make many more EA titles, and other developers who adopt this kind of system playable for me. It should level the playing field for the working professional who doesn't have 60 hours to max out their player character against those that do, right? I mean, it would be great to be able to buy bad ass keyblades in Kingdom Hearts 2 or max out all of Sora's abilities so that I might stand a chance against Sephiroth. [Who am I kidding, that would be awesome as hell] But somehow the announcement and subsequent clarification of it's future implementation leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Again, I'm not adverse to the cheating, nor am I against pay for cheating. That Code Breaker disc that I have cost me money. Not that I would do it, but mod-chips are not free either. [And mod-chips are naughty naughty bad bad] I have no objection to Game Sharks or any cheat code enabling device, but I think that this "just hand me money and here's your final level availability" think is kinda cheap and degrading. It's just too easy. If I can just buy a game and then pay an extra $20 bucks and have everything unlocked that I would have to work for in the game to get, why get the game? Before you get pissy and say, "well aren't you doing the same thing buy using that Code Breaker thingie?" I'll have to disagree with you.
In order to take advantage of the Code Breaker, I have to track down the codes for the game that I want, and enter those in. Sure the discs come pre-loaded with a lot of games, but usually the game that you want cheats is a newly released game that will not be on the disc. There's a lot of trial and error involved as some codes do not work, or having too many turned on at a time will freeze you game, or you've entered a character incorrectly and have to track down the mistake and fix it. So even with the cheat disc, there is a fair amount of work you have to do in order to get your infinite ammo or infinite double jump. For me, it's just taking the up, down, up, down, up, up, left, right, start code entering to another level. But somehow the idea of just trading in points [which I have to pay money for] to immediately get the next five levels unlocked, or all characters unlocked without any effort. I guess that's why I'm on the fence.
A part of me thinks it's a move in the right direction because it proves that developers are aware that not all of the gaming audience can fully enjoy their products as they are not getting full access to it, but the lack of effort that you may be able to use in order to achieve things in a game still isn't quite sitting right with me.
Hello All, a very tired Pandalicious here coming to bring all of you anime lovers, and gamers alike a little funbit of news. For those who have the balls to cosplay [not to mention the money] I had to share this with the peoples, I had to bring this to ESH.
Two words....MAN FAYE!
An unexpected role model has emerged! The Man. The Myth. The legend! He was original banned from AX because it was felt that he was indecent, but through the great support of cosplayers everywhere, was let back on the grounds. When he came back he delivered great wisdom that many, no, more cosplayers should take heed.
Pandalicious Supports Man Faye! For those who have gone to AX, maybe you've seen the great Man faye? Did you meet Man Faye? If you have, I'd love to hear more about him.
E! True Hollywood Story: G4 In a move that many bloggers are calling the beginning of the end of G4, Comcast announced that G4 is getting new supervision from Ted Harbert, who has been the guiding force of Comcast's E! Entertainment Television and Style Network for the past two years. "I am delighted to have this rare opportunity to lead a female, male and broad appeal business," Harbert was quoted in a Comcast press release, "and I am sure it will be an exciting challenge. In addition to collaborating with my talented executive teams at E! and Style, I look forward to working with Neal [Tiles, G4 president] and the G4 team as we build on the success they have achieved to date."
Sony admitting financial problems? Sony announced this morning that it is considering whether it needs to make revisions to its earning forecasts for the current fiscal year, fueling speculation that the company might be forced to cut its profit projections. This news comes less than 24 hours after three Japanese computer makers announced they may seek additional compensation from Sony over the recall of defective batteries. Toshiba, Hitachi and Fujitsu recently recalled a combined total of 1.1 million batteries made by Sony. Each of the companies have indicated they may seek compensation if the recall causes damage to their brand image.
Much ado about E3: The Electronic Entertainment Expo, best known as E3, has announced its shrunken 2007 show will be held in Santa Monica, Calif., and will work out of several hotels and the Barker Hangar, a large event venue at the Santa Monica Airport, according to a blog on the SFGate website, associated with the San Francisco Chronicle. The E3 Media and Business Summit, will take place July 11-13.
The other Miyazaki: The biggest animated hit of the summer in Japan was Miyazaki's Gedo Senki (or Tales from Earthsea). What? You never heard of Tales from Earthsea? It's from Miyazaki, all right, the other Miyazaki -- Goro Miyazaki, Hayao's son. Not everyone likes it, though. According to Ursula K. Le Guin, author of the "Earthsea" novels on which the movie is based, Goro took too many liberties with the story. "Of course a movie shouldn't try to follow a novel exactly -- they're different arts, very different forms of narrative," she wrote on her website. "There may have to be massive changes. But it is reasonable to expect some fidelity to the characters and general story in a film named for and said to be based on books that have been in print for 40 years." Check out the whole story on the New York Times website.
Naruto, Vol. 4 - The Broken Seal: Join three young ninjas -- Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno -- as they continue their training. Everything Friends should have been and more, eh? Buy it or you'll hate yourself.
New contest out, and in this one you get rewarded for being creative... which you know is my kinda contest.
Nintendo and photo-sharing site SmugMug are hosting a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Detectives contest starting today.
The new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon video game for Nintendo DS(TM) Lite and Game Boy(R) Advance SP asks the question, "What if you woke up one day and you were a Pokemon?" For the first time, players play as an actual Pokemon. They can even talk and interact with other Pokemon. In the SmugMug Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Detectives contest, fans are invited to create photos or artwork depicting their own stories about why they were turned into a Pokemon and what life is like as a Pokemon.
The contest runs today through Nov. 5. The most creative entries can win Pokemon prize packages, which include a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game pak, along with a Nintendo DS Lite system. Visit this site for complete contest details and prize information.
Now, I'm not a Poke-freak, but if I was, I'd be all over this one like stink on poop. A game where you get to be the actual Pokemon and not just the Pokemon master? Sounds like fun. Guess I really ought to get the cash together to pick up the DS soon, huh?
I was skeptical, then hopeful, then had the WTF? moment, but it's all true. There is an anime version of Craig McCracken's Power Puff Girls series airing as I type in Japan.
Now, I read about this on the Daily Yomiuri Online website [it's way at the bottom] but worth noting either way. Yes Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z [a.k.a. And They're Off! Powerpuff Girls Z] was created by Toei and is currently running on TV Tokyo. To say that this is a version of the PPG's with "a distinctly Japanese look..." is an understatement folks.
This ain't your Cartoon Network PPG's of old, that's for sure. First of all the girls are now older, they are not sisters, but students in the same school, and their names are not Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup... those names are part of their superhero names which are Hyper Blossom, Rolling Bubbles, and Powered Buttercup. In this version of the PPG story Ken Kitazawa [son of the Professor] used Chemical Z [a derivative of the Professor's original substance Chemical X] to destroy a giant glacier, but this had some adverse effects and caused some rays of dark and white light to rain down on Tokyo City. Those hit by the white light gained powers and became good, those hit by the dark gained new abilities as well, but were influenced by evil. You with me so far? Good. Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru were hit by these white lights, and became the new PPGZ group and decided to become the defenders of Tokyo City.
Momoko Akatsutsumi is Hyper Blossom. Her weapon [yes, I said weapon] is a yo-yo and she is the self-proclaimed leader of the new trio. Gone is the brilliant, smarty-pants Blossom of old, Momoko is actually boy-crazy, is otaku, and addicted to candy. All of her yo-yo attacks are actually named after candy.
Miyako Goutokuji is Rolling Bubbles. Her weapon is a bubble wand that she either blows into or waves around to send out a barrage of bubbles at the enemy. [I swear I'm not making this up] This Bubbles is the ditziest member of group. Initially she thinks that her wand is actually to be used like a spear or javelin and Hyper Blossom has to explain to her how to use it properly. Rolling Bubbles isn't boy-crazy but the boys are crazy about her.
Then there is Kaoru Matsubara, Powered Buttercup. Her weapon [I still can't believe I'm typing about a PPG with a WEAPON, but anyways] is a Daruma Otoshi hammer. Daruma are "...hollow and round Japanese wish dolls with no arms or legs, modeled after Bodhidharma" according to Wikipedia. Kaoru dresses and acts like a boy, which for fans of the US PPG series makes a lot of sense as Buttercup was tomboyish to begin with. What is funny in this reimaging is how adverse to being girly Kaoru is. She absolutely HATES wearing skirts and dresses. She will fight people about it, and hates the "girly" girls at school. Her given name is actually a unisex name, so I'm curious as to whether or not [as in many anime series] this character will have to suffer the "male stuck in a good look female body" syndrome. I really hope not.
Here are a few other things that help make this anime version "distinctly Japanese" for ya:
Mojo Jojo no longer repeatedly repeats himself in his speech which he is saying right now. No, now Mojo just endst every sentence with the word "Mojo." Fun, huh?
The Mayor is still named Mayor, but he's average height, no monocle, no top hat, not fascinated with pickles.
Miss Bellum is still here, and you still don't see her face, but she's blonde.
Princess is here as well, and snobby as ever, but she's been hit by black light and can transform like the PPGZ girls. Oh yeah, she's jealous of anyone that gets attention including her sister, and can only transform when her cat screams out after she hurts it's tail. [someone tell PETA about this!]
Great Michael is an effeminate beautician who believes he is a genius beautician and is very stuck on himself. He gets depressed and pulls out a stuff animal that compliments him when he pulls it's string. Well the bear got hit by the black light, so now Michael becomes a hypnotizing, conceited monster. Fun.
How's that for "distinct" for ya. I haven't seen any episodes but TV Tokyo put in an order for 52 episodes initially, with the option of more if it gets popular. This series is flagged to be brought here to the US on Cartoon Network, just no firm date for it yet, and no word if the original voice actors will be tapped to reprise their roles. Yeah, I dunno about this one folks.
I just think that this series is a bit too far different from the PPG series that we know and love in the US for it to be as successful as the original. Most of the folks that were die-hard fans of the series liked the original makeup of the group: sisters that embodied the characteristics that make up the perfect girl. Blossom had the brains and organizational skills, Bubbles the personality, softness, and sweetness, and Buttercup had the strength. This series only has the white light to tie the girls together, and not many characteristics that girls over here can [or want to] identify with. I still wanna see it, but I hope Cartoon Network doesn't expect it to pick up with the original PPG series left off.
Florida judge OK's Bully: Although he doesn't want his kids playing it, Ronald Friedman, a circuit court judge in Miami-Dade County, Fla., said it is not violent enough to ban it. "There's a lot of violence," Judge Ronald Friedman said in court Friday, according to a story in the Miami Herald. "A whole lot. Less than we see on television every night." Friedman didn't offer a ruling, saying he would consider the matter further if Coral Gables attorney Jack Thompson wanted to schedule a hearing after the game is released. Thompson, who brought the complaint, said he doesn't plan to revisit the issue.
It's National Boss Day -- Here are the top video game bosses: "Instead of leaving goopy Hallmark cards on the desks of the higher-ups around here," the video game fans at thephoenix.com decided to choose the top 20 bosses in video game history. We won't reveal the list here, so you should just surf over to read it for yourself. And be sure to comment if your choices differ.
More Sony batteries recalled: Sony reports no reports of additional battery accidents, but another 79,000 of the company's batteries were recalled on Friday. Sharp Corp. said it was recalling 28,000 batteries made by Sony and Fujitsu said it was recalling an additional 51,000 battereis, bringing the total number of computer batteries recalled to more than 7.7 million. Here are the current recall numbers, as of Sunday, Oct. 15:
More Tenchi: In Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki: Final Confrontations, it's the aftermath of Tenchi's battle with Z, and events are once again proceeding as they should. With normal life back on track, Tenchi's father and grandfather decide the time is right to tell him the truth about his mother's death. One thing in certain - on this day, the answers to all of Tenchi's burning questions will be revealed. Final volume comes packaged in collectible tin. Get it all right here.
Anime Network OnDemand started airing a series called Final Fantasy Unlimited this week, and I have to say, I'm confused. There's a chocobo in it, a set of twins that are looking for their parents who have disappeared. Yu and Ai Hayakawa [yes, that's pronounced "you" and "I"] are looking for our, er, their parents that went missing when the black light thingie spawned the red flying thingie and the white flying thingie fought.
Did I mention that Yu and Ai had to travel to a parallel dimension named "Wonderland" on a train that only appears at 13 seconds after the 13th minute after midnight on the night of a full moon? I didn't? Oh, well, I should have. The kids end up having to fight a big magic mushroom that they can't beat, but this dude who has forgotten his name but has a weapon that uses bullets of color to summon an "aeon" I guess to battle, beats the mushroom for them. Yeah, that's what's going on in the first episode.
I have no idea what is going on here, but I can't turn away.
Back from New York, with a few tidbits to share with you.
First off, I found some details on the net about the PS3's online capabilities. You may already know about this stuff, but I did not, and was pleased [finally] to see all of this stuff.
So here's the list of stuffs:
Multiple User Profiles
Master Accounts
Web 2.0 Compliant Web Browser
The majority of the online experience is free!
Now lets examine these talking points.
Multiple User Profiles For anyone that will be sharing a system [like a frat/sorority house, roommates, family homes, this is going to come in handy. The PS3 will support multiple user profiles on the system [saved to the hard drive] so each individual user can sign in to their profile and have their account settings and preferences on hand. No worries about saving stuff over on other people's profiles by accident here. Oh joy!
Master Accounts Tied in with the multiple user accounts above, you will be able to set a master account on the PS3 when you get it. Think of the master account as root [geeksters only] the master account gets to set boundaries and admin all sub or associated accounts. This will be a big help to parents as they can set themselves up as the Master Account and allow their kids to setup associated accounts. With their Master Account, parents can limit the amount of time an associated account can spend in the Online Store, or even online I would imagine. This may be a big selling point on the PS3 for families in this day and age of shielding the chillrens from the world and whatnot.
Web 2.0 Compliant Browser This was an interested one to see, a full blown web browser. No crippled browsing capabilities here folks, which is long over due I think. Read your GMail, check out what's going on here at ESH, watch some viral videos, it's all here. I think this feature will prove to be invaluable if Bluetooth keyboards can be used easily with the system. Give me a box that I can game on and take time out to check my email, Myspace, and update this site all at the same time, and I'll be spending a LOT of time in front of the tube on the regular. - and finally, my fav -
The Majority of the Online Experience is Free! Yes, I'm not stuttering... it's free... well most of it is, anyway. All of the online services [which include voice/video chat and normal multiplayer gaming] are free once you sign up. The only things you have to fork over some dollahs are when you decided to buy items from the Playstation Store, downloadable content crap or subscriptions to MMO games, which, I think is fair.
Now, there's a lot more going on in the article I read that mentioned these nuggets of info from, but I found these things to be the most interesting to me because if implemented well these elements will make the PS3 box a strong entertainment box. What? Surprised I said that? You shouldn't be, I'm a gamer first and foremost... so any news on tech implementations that will make my experience as a gamer more enjoyable or easy to manage will get my positive attention. My objections or negative opinions of the PS3 box have always been on Sony's attitude towards the consumer, the price point, and lack of forethought on the launch. I think once the lasers are fixed and working properly, box production is up, development for the box becomes a little easier for game developers, and the price comes down a bit, that the PS3 will be a strong gaming box... just not before then.
Seeing these few facts about the online aspect of the box gives me hope that at least some forethought and conversation about making the gaming experience better for gamers has been going on at Sony in some marginal way. It doesn't wipe out all the previous condescending comments, or superiority complex things that Sony has been inflicting on the gaming community of late, but it's a step toward mending that bridge.
Am I the only person who gets really upset whenever they see the novels in the manga section? I get all excited that I found something new and then I pick it up and it's a book not a graphic novel/manga. I don't care if the storyline is based on a manga, the novel itself is not manga and should not be put in the manga section. More and more I see these novels on the shelves of my local bookstores taking up space that could be used for real manga. I have never and will never read these books, if I want to read a book I'll look in the sci-fi or fantasy section, where these books should be. What do you guys think?
I don't know if any of your guys have been living under a rock, but for those who have...I have one site for you. Disclaimer: For Ninja lovers only. Pirate Lovers will hate this!
www.askaninja.com
NINJA PICK UP LINE!!! "I'm sorry I tore off your boyfriend's arms. Need a Hug?" I swear what are ninjas coming to these days!
As you know, earlier this week Pandalicious and NinJaSistah were interviewed by Scott Rubin on the All Games Interactive radio show...
Well we had such a good time on the show, we thought we'd share our segment of the show with you in MP3 format. Click on the link below for your audio pleasure:
Dude, I'm confused. I've been looking forward to the PS2 God Hand for some time now. It's currently at the top of my Gamefly queue followed by Okami and Saints Row. So the news that the company behind the first two games is out of business and about to be liquidated kinda made me say WTF?!?!
To say that I was caught a little off guard would be an understatement of epic proportions. When I read about it earlier today I bit my tongue, literally. I was chewing gum and was so floored I lost my chewing rhythm, missed the gum, and bit my tongue. This added to me puzzlement and anger.
As you may [or may not] know, Clover Studios are the mad men and women behind Okami, God Hand, and Viewtiful Joe. If you haven't played any of these games, you've done yourself a disservice. I have yet to play the full versions of Okami or God Hand but I have played a demo of Okami and both of the Viewtiful Joe games. These games are unique. Within the first few moments of playing them you understand by instinct alone that these are the brain children of some creative ass people. Search the interweb for any of these titles or hit up the IGN website and look them up. You won't find any negative things being said about these titles. [Except for God Hand which gets dismissed for being a simple brawler that pokes fun at itself]. So why close up the Clover Studios shop on us Capcom?
I guess it's the same answer as always: creative does not always equal profit while missed profits always equal termination. It turns out that Capcom [Clover is a subsidiary of Capcom] has decided that although Clover Studios was productive, evidently they were not lucrative [enough]to continue on. While Viewtiful Joe is fun and interesting, it mostly has a cult following much like "Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "The Blair Witch Project" films, and if you remember, it was a long time after the RHPS movie came out and BOMBED before it became a cult classic. In the game industry, the present is all you have to make a great impression, good doesn't cut it any more... do blockbuster sales, or go home. The more I write this, the more I ask myself why am I surprised at this turn of events.
One of my favorite games top play is a game called Ico. Don't feel bad, if you don't know it... many gamers have never played or heard of this game. In this game, you play a boy who is born with horns on his head. These horns are a sign that you are to be sacrificed to ward off evil spirits from your village. People from your village take you to the sacrifice sanctuary and entomb you, but you manage to get out. You meet a girl in white, who doesn't speak your language, [ain't that always the way?] find a stick, and try to escape from the evil shadow spirits inhabiting the castle. What is intriguing about Ico is it's sense of style and atmosphere. The environments are carefully detailed and grand. The mechanic of having to call out to your female companion in order to lift her to high areas or catch her when traversing great distances was, IMHO, ingenious, but very few people were interested in the game. No one knew how to market it over here, so few people ever heard of it. But those that did, loved it. The loved it so much that the fine folks that created Ico got a second chance and produced a game you probably heard of called Shadow of the Colossus. I am almost sure that the reason Shadow existed was because the fans of Ico were so vocal about their feelings for the game as well as all of the glowing reviews critics gave the game and it's design team.
Clover Studios sure wasn't lacking on praise for Okami nor was Viewtiful Joe a disaster, but I don't think either game has the kind of niche that Ico did, and that's why the panning that God Hand has been getting I think fueled the impending dissolution of the company. I think this is a mistake. As a creative person myself, I hate it whenever something creative gets rubbed out because the profit side of the deal was decent as opposed to being spectacular. Personally, I find it short-sighted to scrap a game, or developer studio because the titles they create do appease the large chunk of the gamer market. The market is diverse: give your audience time to find you and love you. You would be amazed by the length a devoted series fan will go to in order to show their support for the title, but you have to have the ability to accept "good" or "decent" sales in return for the loyalty. Many companies I think ask, "Why spend the time and resources to reach only this part of the market?" Simple, because that part of the market exists and NEEDS to be serviced. In all honesty, how many "flagship" titles can any company have or really need?
I try not to take up "girl gamer issues" while writing for the site, but I've been asked this question so often that broke down and put this together.
Most of my guy friends are gamers, and ask me how they can convert their girlfriend into a gamer. It has always been my belief that all girls are gamers, it's just finding the right game for the right girl. At the same time, I get asked in conversation by my girl gamer friends how they should break it to the guy they are dating/boyfriend that they are a gamer. I am not "Dear Abbey" or [belch] "Dr. Laura" but I offer this as help.
No. 5: Accessory Love Wear some game related article of clothing or jewelry accessory. Some 1up mushroom earrings, or a t-shirt featuring some well known game character that you like When he notices it, he'll probably mention how cool your earrings/shirt/whatever is and why he thinks it's cool. This is your opening to share your knowledge of games and start the "I've been playing video games since..." conversation.
No. 4: Technology To The Rescue It might seem simple but let your tech speak for you if you [for whatever reason] don't know how or when to start this conversation. Got a computer? Set your desktop wallpaper background to one from a video game you love playing. There are plenty of game wallpaper resources out there. You can visit the official websites of video games and check out their downloads or media sections for wallpapers, Google image searches, they all work. Or, you can change your ringtone to some well known tune from a video game. Many cell phones today can play MP3's as ringtones, so get you a transfer cable [if neither your computer nor phone have Bluetooth] and slap one of these tunes on your phone. I find it's a definite attention getter, and you'd be amazed how many other gamers you'll "out" using this technique. In any case, either of these things will help get the "I enjoy video games" idea passed on to your man.
No. 3: Magazine Oppsies Now I have one friend that was terrified that the guy she had been seeing for a couple of months was going to ditch her when he found out she was a gamer. I don't know why but she was absolutely positive he was going to think she was some kind of masculine chick hiding in a petite girl body. I know, it's stupid, but as she went on and on about how she was hiding her game systems before he came over, I realized it was a serious fear in her mind, so I had to help. I told her instead hiding all of her OPM and Computer Gaming magazines, leave a couple out on the coffee table. When the boyfriend comes over, let him in and offer him a seat on the couch by the mags, then excuse yourself to the bathroom to finish getting ready and leave him there with nothing but the gaming mags to keep him entertained while you are away. When asks when you got into gaming [because he's never seen this stuff before] just be honest. Say you've been into gaming for a while and why, and then just say that you put all that stuff away because you didn't want him to think you were weird. I'll all but guaranty that 10 times out of 10 he'll be excited and cool about it.
No. 2: Don't Hide Your Systems. The same friend from suggestion number 3 was also hiding her game systems every time the dude came over to pick her up. I told her she needed to stop that shit... pulling all those cables out and putting them back a few times a week had to have been a huge PITA. Leave them out. Duh, he'll get the clue. [I told you he would Jenn ;)]
And finally, No. 1: Just Tell Him You're A Gamer. I know it seems over simplistic, but admitting that you are a gamer is not like owning up to a case of herpes... no one's going to start running for the hills because you like Halo2, and if they do they're an asshole plain and simple. Being a girl an enjoying video games doesn't make you any less feminine, attractive, smart, or anything. It's nothing to be ashamed of, or hide. I'm really tired of having to play 20 questions with women that I meet to find out if they are a gamer. Most of the ones I ask directly if they like video games go all the way round the bush, "Oh, I guess they are ok... I don't really have time to play them... My brother has a system and makes me play with him." But once I get to know them, find out that they are as into gaming as I am and I get a little pissed. I think about all the time we missed out on playing together, sharing game tips, raggin' on Sony and their fanboys, and all because of some stupid presumed stigma of being a girl gamer. Get over it already. A lot of other girl gamers have. There are more and more girl gamer clans out there that actually have some hard core gamers in their clan... if they can be proud to be gamers that happen to be girls, so should you.
As I said, I usually stay away from this kind of topic because I hate being in a position to enable these kinds of feelings in other girl gamers. That being said, I'm also getting tired of the look of astonishment on guy gamers when I tell them I'm a gamer. First I get the look, then I get the "you probably play stuff like Nintendogs and The Sims [which I do] but I also play God of War, Devil May Cry, Amplitude, BloodRayne, Dynasty Warriors, and Zone of The Enders. After that list, the next thing that happens is I get a little respect out of them, and then they want to know how to get their girlfriend into gaming. I say ask your girlfriend if she likes video games. Whenever you are dating with people, especially if you are just starting out, you have that conversation where you talk about all the stuff you like and don't and crap. Bring this up then. "I dig playing video games with people, how about you?" It's short, sweet, and to the point. Here's the hard part: listen closely to the answer. If you get the, "My brother makes me play with him, I think they are cool, but I don't really play all that often" lines just follow up with a, "Would you like to play with me sometime?" Put the ball in her court and don't push. Let her decided if this is an activity that she wants to share with you or not. If she says sure, ask her what kind of game she likes or thinks she would like, don't just make her play something that you have because you're the bomb at it. [She'll think your a controlling douchebag]
And that's that. I've done my good deed for the day in trying to help folks out on both sides of this thing, so no more complaining.
I wonder what I'll say? Many players of online games are in fact subject to some major harrasment, girl players included, but in the online sensation that is World of Warcraft, it is encouraged between the Alliance and Horde Clans.
When I first started playing WoW I figured that the Alliance was good and the Horde was in fact evil. Many Alliance players claim that they would never play Horde characters. I can only speak from the Alliance side since my first "Main" is in fact a Night Elf Druid. But as I've continued to play, small truths have made themselves known.
Firstly - The more serious players tend to play Horde characters over Alliance characters.
Secondly - Not all Horde members will be cruel or mean to Alliance players. Now mind you, 98% of them will, but there are some players that just like to play the game and do not get caught up in the whole atmosphere of the tension between the clans.
At first I thought the Horde was in fact Evil, and Mean, and down right out there to make Sujisan's [my NE Character on Thrall] WoW experience a short one, but I've been blessed with running into more horde characters that are willing to kind of help me more than hinder me.
I feel the Horde has been misunderstood.
They may have been evil and dark and such but they had no intentions of sticking around the Alliance's area. Apparently, even though my infomation on the matter is limited, the Horde races or some of them were fighting something called the "Buring Legion" so that they could return home, and after winning, just didn't return. They tend to mind their own business unless an Alliance character comes along and labels them evil... and thus they become evil because of the torment.
Maybe I've been thinking about this for too long... lol
Over all, Pandalicious likes the Horde... Until they Kill me... again...
Even if you miss it, you probably won't miss it: With an estimated 2 million Wii consoles available for sale on Day 1, do you even need to preorder one? In any case, the Nintendo Gal blog reports that GameStop and EBGames stores will start taking preorders on Friday (Oct. 13) for a $25-50 downpayment. Want to stand in line? At least you might be able to talk to some other avid gamers.
When will Sony's business be profitable again?In a Wall Street Journal story, Fitch Ratings has announced that it expects Sony's financial performance to continue to weaken in the next year or two and that it could incur losses in the videogame business for up to five years. Fitch cites Sony's heavy investment in new technologies, tough competition and the current computer battery scandal. In the last fiscal year, Sony's consolidated debt was $37.13 billion.
The Reverse Hipness of Steve Ballmer: How out-of-it is Steve Ballmer, the head honcho at Microsoft? It's easy to judge by his quote to BusinessWeek magazine regarding the wireless capabilities of his company's forthcoming Zune media player: "I want to squirt you a picture of my kids. You want to squirt me back a video of your vacation. That's a software experience." Squirt? I can't imagine Steve Jobs of Apple telling anyone he wants to "squirt" something to them.
Burger King Replaces Don King in the Ring In-game ads are becoming more prolific and nothing demonstrates this more than Fight Night Round 3, in which an avatar of the iconic King joins your entourage when you win a Burger King-sponsored event. Heck, they should do this at real boxing matches. I think we would all welcome the flamboyant, yet silent King appearing in the ring after the match instead of noisy ol' Don King.
Bottom of the Third, Tenchi Up to Bat It's the end of the third Tenchi OVA as Mihoshi’s brother has come to Earth to pursue a deadly mission. Everything seems under control until warrior Z storms in to kill Tenchi and claim his place as the ruler of the universe! Can Tenchi’s Light Hawk Wings save the day? Only one way to find out.
Newsfree Fridays: No Daily News on Friday. Instead, look for the latest installment of my Robot's Letters to God. This month I'm featuring The Forgotten Robots.
... it was worst of times, In Warcraft. Yeah I said it!
While living in the world of Warcraft, one is thrown into trial [over and over and OVER again, I might add] and tribulation. [also over and over again] Why do we [as gamers] feel it is necessary to put ourselves through that kinda mental [YES I SAID MENTAL] strain?!
Now I can only draw from my own personal experience but I will in fact bring you, the readers into the life I have established... in the world... of warcraft ^^
Choosing One's Main Character is usually an impulse choice. If you are a newb, and for the sake of discussion newb is the correct term for someone who has just started playing a game. [a "noob" is the negative version of that word depicting a stupid player] When thrusted into this large world of Warcraft, I choose to walk the path of the druid... a Night Elf Druid, I might add.
Unknownst to me, druids have been labeled one of the most useless classes in the world... of warcraft. The common rule of thumb is that every class can do one thing better than all the rest, whether it's tanking [holding mobs of monsters so the rest of a party can take them out] laying down huge DPS, [damage per second] heal and ressurect fallen party members, etc. The druid more or less can do all of those things with the correct build [a build is how you spect your character to perform certain spells or abilities] If a druid goes feral [when the druid changes it's form to either it's Bear, Dire Bear, or Battle Cat shape] it's best tank would be it's Dire Bear form. If a druid wanted to lay out some massive DPS', it's Battle Cat form is the best route. We [druids] other two forms serve one function. The Travel Cat form, just allows us to go faster while traveling from one place to another. While the Sea Lion form allows us to swim underwater for long periods of time without drowning.
Druids are a very versatile character, but we are just the best parts of the other classes with a special unique function. Even though we [when maintaining a restoration build] do in fact crank out good heals, the Paladin and Priest classes do it much better, and can ressurect fallen players more often than a druid. [We can only ressurect once ever 30 mins--so timing is EVERYTHING!]
In the case of the Thrall Server, there is a shortage of priests, so druids [or rather some of them] are changing their spots to be. [In place of the priest healing machine!]
Still, many people still don't have faith in the druid, and that is a shame...
I saw this article first on John Dvorak's blog and thought to myself, "Self, maybe the world is catching on to what you've been thinking for a while..."
There are a lot more girls/women/ladies/chicas [whatever word you want to use... I don't find referring to myself as a girl demeaning in any way] playing video games than most people know or think. I'm not sure if the Nielson numbers reflect what most people think of as "video gaming" at all. I don't think these are PC and console title alone. I am quite sure they are factoring in mobile gaming as well, which is extremely popular with the ladies. ;) Every time I am on a train, or bus, I end up hearing some chick playing Bejeweled or Tetris on her cellphone while yet another young lady is playing some Metroid game on her DS Lite. The girl gamers are out there people, you just have to look.
Now, just when I was feeling all warm and tingly [in the good, non-sexual way] I come across this version of the aforementioned story on the 1up website, and I got pissed off. Why? Because the author was so sure and quick to point out that Nielson must be counting web based flash games and game sites like pogo.com in the study to get numbers that high. I don't know what exactly the Nielson research criteria was, but I was really offended by the idea that the only way female gamers could number that high would be if grandmas' in pajamas playing bingo were counted. [nothing against nanas' in pajamas, or bingo... I have love for both] But it's this kind of mentality that keeps many a girl gamer hiding her identity while playing on or offline. Who needs or wants the hassle of some dude belittling you before you even play a frame of a game because you don't have the same kind of "joystick" that he does? How childish is that? Why would you want to volunteer the information that will open you up for that kind of bullshit?
When I play online, unless I am playing with friends that I know, I don't turn my mic on. I don't want to have to explain why I'm playing the game, be asked constantly how big my boobs are, if I have on panties, if I have a man, if I need some dick in my life, or if I could just grunt into the mic a few times... just for fun. These are not exaggerations. From the first time I got online to play a video game until the moment I started writing this article I have been asked all those questions [and more] by other male players. And during that time I've run across about 25 females that acknowledged they were girls to me playing online. The one thing I noticed about all of these girl gamers was even though their mics were on, few of them spoke very often. Many were focused on the task at hand, but even in relaxed moments, few actively engaged in deep conversation or even instigated conversation. I've even noticed that on the odd occasion I'll do the same thing. I'll go online to play other people, but rarely turn my mic on... and if I do turn my mic on it's to let out a "dude, you fucking suck" here or a laugh there. Short and sweet, to keep the dipshits at bay. And even that isn't foolproof.
In any case, my point is girl gamers make up a large chunk of the gaming community, and come from many backgrounds... and there are way too many girl gaming clans that play Halo, GRAW, and DOA for me to believe that they are all on pogo!
In today's news: -- Nintendo's heading back to the top -- Live a little behind the videogame counter -- There's lots of rumbling, but not from the Sony camp -- A new Ghost volume is crawling out of its Shell
Will Nintendo Win the Next Gen Wars? It's been generally accepted that Microsoft will win the next-generation console wars for 2006, selling about 10 million by years' end, compared with about 4 million sold by Nintendo and fewer than 2 million sold by Sony. But according to UBS analysts Alex Gauna and Steven Chin, Nintendo will have as many as 9 million Wii consoles available for sale before the end of 2006, which could vault Nintendo to the top of the next gen heap this year.
Life Behind the Counter: I always hate going into record stores. The people who work there always act like they're the rock stars. Videogame stores always seemed a little different, though. And now you can find out why in the DayintheLifeofVideogames blog. One of the site's bloggers, Postman, describes a fight in the store that spilled out into the street: "It was over pretty quick, and the leader came back to grab his CD's that fell, and apologized for what happened. I watched as they left, and here's the kicker -- they all get in the same car and drive away together!" Perhaps Kevin Smith is already checking out the site and taking notes for Clerks III.
Let's Get Ready to TILT!: To rumble or not to rumble -- that's the big question about Sony's PlayStation 3 controllers. Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Hirai is quoted as saying, "If we have to come up with technology... to isolate the vibration from the sensing, but if that means that the controllers are going to be so expensive, then we're doing the consumer a huge disservice by coming up with a controller that is not very affordable." Meanwhile, Victor Veigas of Immersion Corporation, the company that holds the patent on the rumble technology, insists, "I'm ready to meet with them and try to work out this issue because at the end of the day it's the gamer that really seems to be suffering."
First ElectricSistaHood was in your computer. Then ESH was in your iPod. Now the Sistahs are sneakin' into your phone.
If you've got the ability to surf the internet with your cell phone, you'll soon be able to start reading the latest blog entries by the Sistahs on the same phone.
ElectricSistaHood is now available on internet-ready phones at the URL: esh.mobi
We kept it nice and short for you. Nobody likes to have to hit those phone keys too much.
While the new site doesn't have much on it yet, we'll be adding new functionality in the coming weeks -- particularly the latest blog posts by the Sistahs. In the future we hope to be able to deliver the weekly podcast directly to your phone.
You can access the site only on internet-ready cell phones that don't have a graphical web browser. For example, if your phone has only the standard telephone pad, you can probably visit the esh.mobi site without any problems. If your phone has a full typewriter keyboard, you'll probably get transferred to the full ESH website.
In any case, this gives you yet another way to enjoy the Sistahs while you're in transit from one place to the next. We know you'll appreciate the company.
Dig Dug is dropping in on XBLive 11 OCT 06 [tomorrow] around 1am PST. It will only run you 400 MS points to pick it up. You need to get this one people. It's going to be in the arcade so you know what that means:
IT'S DIG DUG BATTLE TIME!
Before Ludacris was "droppin' bow's on em", Dig Dug was droppin' rocks on em! Drop em like it's HOT people!
Yeah, I stood in line this morning [like many other people across the country] praying that I would be one of the chosen few to pre-order a PS3... that didn't happen. I got zilch, zero, nada, denied... I got nothing but love fo ya honey!
I even tried calling around to other Gamestops in the area [most of which I couldn't have gotten to even if they did have any pre-orders left as I don't have a vehicle] but my inquisition was all for naught. Every place I turned, every avenue I tried turned up nothing but a bunch of "Sorry's" and "Nope's" from the more than exhausted folks on the other end of the line.
Aw, I tell you man, it sucked... it sucked worse than I thought it would because there were other people around me that were just as disappointed, if not more so, at not making the cut for the pre-ordering. It was sad to see the twinkle leave their eye as they confronted the sad news... some even refused to accept their "potential" denial and resorted to fist shaking and cussing. [You should be very proud of the NinJa... she did not cuss, out loud, at any person! Nor did she kill anyone, so, double bonus!!] But I will share the thing about the whole "No PS3 Fo U" bullshit that went on today: as soon as the pre-orders ran out, so did the people.
At the first Gamestop that I went to, the MOMENT the dude at the register said they were out of pre-orders the majority of the folks headed for the door. They didn't stay and shop. They didn't trade in any of the items they brought along... they just started towards the next Gamestop. A few folks stayed a couple of minutes longer to share their displeasure with the goings on and I'm sure one or two folks me were hanging around in hopes that the employees were just joking and that they had one more pre-order that they could have for sticking it out. Some of the people who lack tact or taste, even tried to flex their "I have a podcast and a website, can't you hook a sistah up" muscle. [me again]
None of it worked. But I do know this: this morning was a taste of will come to pass over the next few months. I pitty the Gamestop employees, and weep for those who will be aggressively seeking a PS3.
Write to me if you need a shoulder to lean on... I feel your pain.
In today's news: Does the Wii have updatable Linux? Gamers adored -- in South Korea Live in Mario's world Another volume of Gundam goodness
Does Wii Have Updatable Linux? The geeks are dancing in the streets as word leaks out of the Nintendo camp that the new Wii uses the Linux operating system. One tidbit that Nintendo has already released is that, whatever OS it has, it will be updatable. From an interview on the Nintendo site: "Wii is the first system from Nintendo that we can continue to be involved in (via operating system updates) after the customer buys it. This means that Wii will greatly expand and diversify the ways in which people will enjoy games in the future."
Wanna Be a Star? Play Video Games in South Korea: The screams and shrieks from the shopping mall weren't for a new boy band. The hundreds of girls were singing songs and waving signs for a new kind of rockstar: video game players. Dressed in track suits covered with logos, gamers play StarCraft and enjoy the adulation of throngs of women. One woman, a fan of gamer Park Yong Wook, told the New York Times, "I watch basketball sometimes, but StarCraft is more fun. It’s more thrilling, more exciting."
You Can Live in Mario's World: It's not enough just to dress up like Mario to experience his world. The Nintendo Amusement Park in New York City consists of one ride, that's described on the How Stuff Works website as, "a real-life interactive adventure that allows players to dress up as Mario or Luigi, enter the Mushroom Kingdom and perform the actions that the heroes perform in the video game. Players can jump over obstacles, land on and ride moving platforms, and smash enemies. They can even collect gold coins and punch power-up boxes." I bet that little moustache is itchy.
That Gundam Thing: Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny, Vol. 4 was released last week. Here's the synopsis, for those of you actually keeping track: "In the year Cosmic Era (CE) 71, a war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty) breaks out. The Earth Alliance catches up in technology after ZAFT has a head start building giant man-piloted robots called mobile suits. Immediately, four of the Earth Alliance's five new mobile suits called Gundams are stolen by ZAFT, with the remaining Gundam falling on the hands of a young Earth Alliance pilot." Got that? Well, get it!
Well, it was scheduled, then rescheduled, but now it's on... for real reals, not for play play!
This Wednesday 11 OCT 2006 at 4:30 PST a.k.a 7:30 EDT the Pandalicious and NinJaSistah will be appearing on the All Games Interative radio show. Hurray us!
If you get the chance, tune in on Wednesday or join us in the chat room. Find out how and why ESH came to be... what it was originally called, why it wasn't pink to start with... all kinds of goodies. We might even talk a little gaming or anime, who knows.
I don't know all the details, but I do know one thing... it should be fun!
Hello All, Pandalicious here once again delivering interesting news, OR rather what I feel is interesting news.
As most of you are NOT aware of, I have an infatuation with medieval times. I'm obsessed really... the jewelry, the fashion, the bloodlust, all share a deep intimate part of my "normal" everyday life. It isn't something I'm going to grow out of, though I'm sure many people wish I would.
Getting back to the point, the other morning, I gathered a small group of pals to travel with me to the "local" Ren Faire known as King Richard's Faire. It comes around this time of year and I've only recently started attending it. I would eventually like to go to the Robin Hood Faire, which is a lot closer in distance but much smaller in size. [and a lot cheaper too!]
Did I dress the part? HELL YES! I had on my giant skirt... slightly peasant top adorned with my double black and red velvet cloak, and what I've labeled my "battle staff." [BTW It has an attack rate of 120-205 dmg over 25 seconds and a buff that boosts Intellect by 5 ^^ (WOW JOKE)]
Magic Mystic Girl was with me yesterday, and I would never have made it there without her. [Alas, I do not posses an innate sense of proper direction analysis... go figure.]
We got there just fine, and me and my group and Rennies just enjoyed the day. The most interesting fact of the day was that while checking out the Coat of Arms, I was shocked to look upon to samurai!! They were authentic too! I had to bow and pay them respect because it was a crowning achievement. There were a few warlords too and all anyone could do was stare.
It was the right era just wrong place. But I'm sure [as were many others] that they knew that.
I wonder why they don't have Japanese festival faires like King Richard's Faire? I know people would flock to em just like Ren Faires. Would you go to a Japanese Festival Faire?
From the College Humor website, and submitted for your approval...
In case you needed more of a reason to laugh at Bill O'Riley or need a reminder of just how old you really are, watch this "news" bit about the additiveness of the Nintendo Hardware application Super Mario Brothers. Enjoy!
In case you can't tell, just click on the empty space above to start the video.
Got a funny video you want to share? Hit Us Up, and let us know!
There's comfort food: Pot roast and potatoes, buttery corn, macaroni and cheese and puffy, yeasty rolls. But comfort games? G. Turner comments in the New Gamer|Journal, "games can provide comfort in a time of need - be it a need for something familiar or just a quick pick-me-up after a particularly distressing day."
Here are Turner's list of top 5 comfort games: Burnout 3, Guitar Hero ("After a few playthroughs of Take It Off or Unsung, I can't help but find myself gleeful despite a day of horrendous events."), Mega Man 2, Samba de Amigo and ZooKeeper.
Have you ever had to apply for any kind of federal funding? How about a college loan? Ever had to fill out any kind of paperwork for the gub'ment at all? Remember how large of a PITA that was? Apply that process to video game rating and that's what the future of video games may hold for us all.
In a "they must be out there Bob-damned minds" moment, the Republican Senator Sam Brownback and pals are trying to get some legislation together and passed that would force the ESRB to play every game through, in it's entirety [which would mean all difficulty levels, finding all Easter eggs, etc,] before it can be rated and then released. Um, yeah... what bonehead told the Esteemed Gentlemen from the great state of Kansas that this was an executable idea, let alone a good one? It's obvious that it wasn't anyone who was an actual gamer, because there are way too many game franchises that will never pass this kind of inspection. Allow me to explain, or rather pose some questions of my own.
How does one play Everquest, World of Warcraft, Second Life, or any MMORPG through in it's entirety? Throw into the mix user created content, patches, and the hallowed expansion pack and the review process is neverending... like the story. [Which is an AWESOME ass movie, TYVM] I doubt Blizzard wants to create a game or gamescape that never sees the light of day because it hasn't completed the review for rating by the ESRB process. What about the level of ability of the ESRB folks that will have to play the games? Will we have to wait an extra 10 months for a game to be rated and released because the person at the ESRB assigned the title happens to balls out suck at that particular type of game?
Think about it this way, how long does it take the average gamer to get 100% clear in any game? Even with a guide, on average how long does it take? Few months? Tack on to that the fact that these people will have to be noting every instance of violence, potential violence, sexual content, and language in every scene. Add on a few more months for that. Then they will have to create a report that backs up why they believe the game deserves the rating they have suggested... and a committee goes over the document and then agrees or disagrees. Another month. Looks like 9 months to push that baby out the door if we are lucky and everyone agrees. What developer can afford to add an additional almost year to their development and release cycle?
Senator Brownback has been quoted as saying:
The current video game ratings system needs improvement because reviewers do not see the full content of games and don't even play the games they are supposed to rate. For video game ratings to be meaningful and worthy of a parent's trust, the game ratings must be more objective and accurate.
Which I think is slightly off the mark. While I agree there are flaws within the ESRB rating system, it's better than not having a system at all. Many politicians and ESRB critics are quick to cite the GTA: San Andreas "Hot Coffee" incident and the Oblivion re-rating. Out of the hundreds upon hundreds of games that are released every year on the PC, console, and handheld gaming devices, two only have 2 notable misses [which aren't even bonafide misses... the "Hot Coffee" content was not intended to be seen as the triggers for the content had been removed by the games developer, and the Oblivion deal required a PC only 3rd party hack... hardly something the ESRB could be expected to find] I think is doing a pretty damn good job of screening games. I doubt that many of the already rated games would be re-rated if the ESRB had played them all the way through.
What sends shivers down my spine is that if this legislation gets some power behind it and becomes law, it will mean the end of the ESRB. There is no way that the ESRB could keep up with the amount of games that they would have to review, so they would have to throw their hands up and say, "NO MAS!" Which would mean the government would step in and create a rating board system. And if you thought the ESRB process was going to be long, can you imaging how long the "Federal Rating Process" would be. Can you imagine your local federal representation assigning people to play games through in their entirety? Huh? Can you? Most times ougub'mentnt works, but it works ssss-lllllll-ooooooo-wwwwwwww people. It takes a lot of paper pushing, and lobbyists to get anything done in all honesty. AKK! Video Game Lobbyists?!?! Those words scare the shit out of me, they should scare the crap out of you too.
I never thought I would write anything where I was coming to the aid of the ESRB, but they aren't the bad guy here. Personally I always thought that games should kind of be rated on their contents. If I was to rework the rating system, it would look something like this:
Games for kids age 11 and under, would carry a KS - (kid safe) rating. Games like Super Monkey Ball, and most games that currently carry the EC, E or E 10+ rating.
Games for young adults suitable for people age 13-16 that have most likely been exposed to violence (i.e. a fight in real life, or seen the TV news) and have heard or used strong language, and/or watch MTV... i.e. they've experienced the real world would carry the YA - Young Adult rating.
Games that have nekkidness, next to nekkidness, allow you to slice an opponent in half with kick ass blood spurts, you know, the stuff you know when you play it no one with a still forming brain should play, would carry an A - Adult rating.
And we'll keep the RP - Rating Pending rating from the original ESRB system for games that are still under review when their print ad campaigns start.
Now is thst so difficult? Require that a more detailed explaination of potential game content appear on the back of the game box art [you know, contains violence, naughty language, and sexually suggestive stuff] and be done with it. Make a special area at the bottom on the front of the box art case [make it the standard template for the entire industry] and allow them to use whatever highlight color they want so as not to interfere with the artwork, and put the rating in there clearly. For some examples click on the images below.
These are just some of the thoughts that have been bouncing around my head since I read this comic from Penny Arcade. They make a valid point... a scary, valid, on point, point.
Starting today, you can play a wide variety of video games while you surf the internet, using ElectricSistaHood's new Arcade! It's packed with classic video arcade games, mind teasers, Vegas-style games and much more!
The ESH Arcade features games written in various web-friendly languages, including Javascript and Flash. You may have difficulties playing them if your browser doesn't have the capability to play those technologies.
The games include such arcade favorites as PacMan, Asteroids, Sonic, Bejeweled and Tetris. In addition, there are several arcade-like games you'll enjoy, including Siggi the Sea Horse (a side-scrolling racing game), Snowy the Bear's Adventure (similar to Joust), Mysteries of Horus, Bistro Stars and Arctic Quest.
For fans of Vegas gaming, we have Blackjack and Texas Hold'em. If you're into table games, you'll enjoy Chess, Mahjong, Solitaire and Hangman. Like games that challenge your brain? Play Sudoku, Crossword Puzzle, Slither Link and MindMaster.
We'll be adding more games in the future, so keep coming back to the Arcade. You'll love playing with our stuff.
In today's news, Atari wows them with an opera featuring bunnies and Robotech hauls home an award.
Nabaztag, You're It: Atari recently presented the Nabaztag Opera, featuring 100 Nabaztag devices, at the WIRED NextFest 2006. Created by the French company Violet, Nabaztags are the first, interactive wi-fi enabled "smart rabbits" that also double as interactive personal companions. Here's how the Atari news release described the opera: "Composed by artist and programmer Antoine Schmitt and music composer and film director Jean-Jacques Birge, the opera is a musical and choreographic partition in three movements, transmitted via wi-fi, playing on the tension between the music ensemble communion and individual behavior to create a strong and involved showpiece." But did it have a good beat?
New Robotech Film Wins Award: Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles won the Best Animated Sci-Fi Feature Award at the 2006 International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival. The award will be presented at the October 28 screening in Phoenix. Distributor FUNimation's news release describes the film: "A heroic cast of returning characters, led by Scott Bernard and Vince Grant, fight to end a decades-long struggle against an enigmatic alien race known as the Invid. However, the mysterious disappearance of the legendary Admiral Hunter will unfold in a treacherous mystery that could tear apart our young heroes and threaten their very survival!" Although The Shadow Chronicles are not available on DVD yet, here are a number of Robotech DVD's now on sale.
One of the few things MTV ever did right as far as I'm concerned, the sketch comedy show The State has it's first season available via the iTunes store.
If you want to see how and where some of the talent that graces your idiot box via shows like Reno 911, Stella, and VH1 pet projects like I Love the 80's then do yourself, and myself the favor of picking up some of these episodes. Go on, click on the image over there on the left to be taken directly to the The State page on iTunes and buy an episode. It's like, less than two dollah... don't be cheap.
Tell them, NinJaSistah sent you. You can thank me later.
Told you we were working on it, and now here it is displayed to you!
Starting with MagicMysticGrls' article called, "I Can't Believe It's Not Sex" we are launching our review rating system. YAY! We figured since we are using candy to get you all to comment and be interactive with us, it was only fitting to use candy as part of our rating system. We will be rating video game and anime titles/products out of a 5pt scale: .5 or "half" being the equivalent of "sucks more ass than that movie Gigli and 5 being "the most awesome-est thing since time existed!"
We hope that you like our new rating system because we've been working hard to make it as descriptive as possible. We use, numbers, colors [each candy color has some meaning that describes the reason for it's rating] and candy to make sure that our ratings are easy to find, understand, and most importantly, grab your attention.
So be on the lookout for a ratings box like this one here on the left and a descriptive paragraph that follows it to explain why we give a certain product the rating we do. Don't agree? Open up your mouth via your fingers and comment. ;)
Oh, in case you couldn't figure out, M&M® Mars is no way affiliated with ESH, nor do they endorse any of the products that we review. Duh! If we were getting money from them, I soooooo wouldn't still have a day job.
In today's issue, influence Microsoft with your smooth prose, discover the similarity between Sony's PS3 wireless controller and Nazi Germany, revisit the Old School and try to decide why today's stuff just isn't as fun as it used to be.
Want to Affect What Happens At Microsoft? Blog About It: Former Microsoft employee Robert Scoble told CIO Insight of the company's unscientific approach to feeling out its customers: "We used blog-search engines to find anyone who wrote the word 'Microsoft' on their blog. Even if they had no readers and were just ranting, 'I hate Microsoft,' I could see that and link to it, or I could participate in their comments, or send them an e-mail saying, 'What's going on?' And that told those people that someone was listening to their rants, that this is a different world than the one in which no one listens. It was an invaluable focus group that Microsoft didn't have to pay for."
The Sixaxis of Evil: During World War II, the troika of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan was called the "Axis Powers." In his 2002 State of the Union address, President G.W. Bush said North Korea, Iran and Iraq "constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world." So it's no wonder that Sony, with all its ultra-intelligent decisions thus far this year, would finally give a name to its new wireless controller for the PlayStation 3: The Sixaxis. The folks at Sony must be hoping it will take over the world.
Old School Will Be Represented Well on the Wii: Several games defunct gamemaker Epyx made for the Commodore 64 will be emulated on the Nintendo Wii, according to Nintendo Power magazine. Initial titles include Impossible Mission, California Games, The Last Ninja, Gottlieb Pinball Classics, Super Fruit Fall, Puzzle Ball, Leaderboard and Tennis Masters.
Star Fox Command Comes to the Nintendo DS: Originally released as an SNES title in 1993, the Star Fox series has gone through several iterations. In a review of the newest version, Slashdot reviewer Zonk says, "[Star Fox] Command offers some simple strategy elements, an innovative control scheme, and the tried and true dogfighting gameplay the series is known for. It also dwells on one of the series' weaknesses, plot, to the detriment of the game."
I was tooling around on of my favorite anime sites the other day and I came across a Top 100 list. Immediately I started checking out all the anime on the list that I didn't know, and here is the hidden gem I discovered. For the record, I would just like to say that this is the most blatantly erotic anime I have ever seen and it still manages to not be porn. ::Claps Hands:: Bravo, Sousei no Aquarion, Bravo!
A legend has been passed down from the ancient Alisia Kingdom, the Holy Genesis book records the tale of the legendary hero Apollonius who, 12,000 years ago, together with princess Serian and the Element Users, operated Aquarion and fought against the Shadow Angels.
Holy Genesis Era, Year 0011, the earth was destroyed in the Great Catastrophe and the remaining humans are under attack by the Shadow Angel race of Atlantis, resurrected from a sleep of 12,000 years. Civilization is nothing but wreckage, but the remaining humans are still being hunted by the Cherubim Soldiers. Captured humans are turned into decorative flowers for the Tree of Life. Through uniting their hearts, bodies and spirits as one, pilots are able to combine their individual Vector mecha into one giant Aquarion mecha. Although there are a dozen or so 'elements'(pilots) for the vector ships there are only three of them, so only three people can fly at one time.
Here's where the sexual element enters in. When the mechas combine the characters are shown naked bathed in a bright light and they always say things like, "So Powerful" or "I'm Burning" and at one point Silvia even yells "I'm coming!" when they join. The pilots talk about their first union as if they were virgins talking about what it's like to have sex. "How was it?" In the first few episodes Apollo forces his unions and by the other characters' reactions it hurts when it's forced, even though it is still very pleasurable. Although the show isn't particularly sexual in nature otherwise, any scene in a simulator or in the mechas themselves is highly sexual and involves blushing, high excitement, heavy breathing and the occasional climax.
Now the best part is that it's always a threesome. Aquarion has three parts, Vector Luna, Vector Mars and Vector Sol, when they are combined one of the craft is the head. There are three different Aquarions depending on which Vector is the head, and apparently, considering Silvia's reaction being the head is a whole nother sexual high. She's all oh, wow so THIS is what it's like to be the head.
I totally recommend this series for anyone who is amused or entranced by 'sexual' situations. After just the first few episodes even my normally unruffle-able self is flushed/blushing. Also of note, the ending song for episodes 2-13 "Omna Magni" by Yui Makino is now officially my favorite anime theme song.
I rate this anime a 5/5 1 Silver for Mecha, 1 White for Wing-ed Angels Out to Destroy the World and 3 Dark Pink for that "tingly feeling" you get right after a good mecha melding. Honestly though, I've been totally distracted by the sexuality, maybe I'm just frustrated(>.<), but this is a very solid anime with a good basis and believable characters. So even if you aren't a sex fiend there is still plenty this anime can offer you, cuz I mean technically they aren't having sex, they're just enjoying themselves a bit too much. People are allowed to have fun aren't they? Even if they're supposed to be concentrating on saving the world... Right?
Finally one of the folks that previously got free candy from us has graced us with an image...
PhreakMac [who is the MAN!] was able to take some incriminating photos of his debug kit eating his candy reward! All I can imagine is Cartman from South Park yelling out, "NOOOO XBOX 360, THAT'S MY CANDY BITCH CANDY!!!!"
I missed this one because I haven't watched the episode yet, but looks like NBC's The Office paid homage to Call Of Duty in their episode this week.
I watched the clip [love to Kotaku for the heads up] and laughed my ass off. First of all I think The Office is hilarious, but secondly the clip is just perfect... I know some of these types of people in real life man! I just cracked up laughing.
Submitted for your approval:
I think it's great that more television shows are filtering in video game references in appropriate places and among appropriate demographics. It makes sense that the people in this office take a little time out to play some office Call O' Duty... they are in the right demographic to WANT to play that game during the day if and when they can get away with it. Hell, if I could get away with playing some games while at work during the day I sure as hell would! And it makes sense to me that the fine folks over there at South Park Studios would do an episode where they featured WoW... Matt and Trey are gamers [when they can be] and the are aware that the majority of their viewing audience is mostly on WoW so it only makes sense to feature the game somehow in an episode. They get more recognition from their existing viewer base and can probably bring in some new viewers as WoW players who never watched a single episode of South Park tuned in to see this episode. A win-win situation for them. Bravo guys, bravo!
I'd like to see more video gaming references cross over into the mainstream. The NFL has been using the Madden games to do play analysis on the oft occasion for a few years now, and that seems to be working very well for them... but I'd like to see more shows that present the 18-30 spectrum a little better. Not every teenager is into extreme sports and bling as MTV would have you believe, nor are they acne-riddled bashful timebombs of fury... no, there is a middle ground people, and it's called "normal."
There are normal people out there, that play games. TV programs need to reflect that a bit more, and I think that's why I really enjoyed this clip from The Office, they are just normal-ish people, playing a game.
Do you have any tv show that you love that you think should feature some video game references? Comment and let us know!
Just a quick hit here as I am just waking up [it was a late night, don't be hatin'] and haven't been able to scour my emails and my top news bookmarks all that well.
Over the past couple of days a few sites have been popping up with some images of "supposed" Wii box art. At first I thought the stuff I had seen was all bunk, but it looks like they are for real. And while the Play Nintendo website has a bunch of box art images, here are a few of the ones I recommend that you should be on the look out [read here, "hunt"] for:
Now if you are asking yourself why Super Swing Golf is in this line up of mine, just watch this video.
Seriously, you can golf as Kasumi from DOA in mini form... and the game look like fun... what more do you need to know?
Like Episodic Gaming? You're Going to See More: Valve Software, creators of the Half-Life saga, says it's going to distribute upcoming chapters in shorter, more frequent episodes. "Steam gives us a real time connection with our customers," Gabe Newell, Valve's founder and managing director, told CNNMoney.com. "Rather than guessing how people are playing our game, we can watch and see them navigate through the game. We can see them get stuck at various points and say 'oh, that's not what we designed' and work to correct that (in our next installment)." Newell revealed that a regular character would be killed in Half-Life 2, to be released in the first quarter of 2007.
The Burger King of Games: Starting in November, Burger King will offer three restaurant-related Xbox 360 games for $3.99 with the purchase of a value meal. The three games are "Big Bumpin'," "PocketBike Racer" and "Sneak King," which will feature the restaurant company's iconic King character. The Wall Street Journal asked Burger King marketing head Russ Klein why videogames. Klein answered, "We know that the eyeballs in the increasingly fractured media world are harder to get, and gaming is one of the places they are going." Fractured eyeballs? Now that's a video game.
Hitachi Recalls Sony Batteries Hitachi became the sixth computer manufacturer to recall Sony batteries in the company's ever-growing battery scandal. Hitachi said it would recall 16,000 batteries in two different models of laptops. In a statement printed in the Wall Street Journal, Hitachi said it is undertaking the recall "for its customers' peace of mind." Here are the current recall numbers, as of Friday, Oct. 6:
Popular XBox 360 Title to Launch PS3: Bethesda Softworks' blockbuster role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will be a launch title for the PlayStation 3 this November in North America, and next March in Europe when the new console is expected to be released there. In addition, The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion will be released on the PlayStation Portable in Spring 2007 in North America and Europe. The highly regarded game was initially released on the XBox 360 in March.
Alchemy? You Don't Want My Opinion on That: Just released, Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: The Conqueror of Shamballa focuses on two boys who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and now we're all paying for it. Go ahead -- buy a copy. See if I care.
Ok, I know that technically Sakura Wars isn't really all that old school, but it is the first mecha anime that I can recall watching... so that makes it old school in my book
In all honesty it took me a few episodes to warm up to this series. I found the part of the story where the mechas are powered by a combination of steam and spirit power to be very interesting. I mean it is no stretch of the imagination to create a mecha that is powered by electricity, or some kind of radioactive powercell, but it takes a special kind of creative imagination to come up with quasi-steam powered robotic units. Awesomeness! While I could breakdown to you what the plotline of the series is, who all the major players are, I think it would better serve you instead share with you some little known facts about Sakura Wars and then explain why I think it's a series that every anime fan should have in their collection.
Sakura Wars actually started out as a video game developed by Sega. It was originally called Sakura Taisen which caused some confusion in finding it when it was first licensed in the US. ADV Films licensed it here in the US as Sakura Wars and the confusion hilarity ensued. It took me a while to find any episodes on VHS [again, this was back in the day... circa late 1990's] because the video stores I would call didn't know what anime really was, and never had anything called Sakura Taisen in their store. No video game, no movies, and I should stop prank calling them... that's how all the calls ended for a few months. Then I realized I was looking in the wrong place for this stuff. I switched gears and started dogging my local comic stop and that was the ticket. But I digress.
According to Wikipedia there is an official Sakura Taisen shop on the top floor of the Sega "GIGA" Amusement Center, located in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district. Called "Taisho Romando", the store sells only Sakura Taisen-related merchandise... so if you are in need of a Ri Kohran costume, toy models, artbooks, posters, wall scrolls, and even snack foods! [Sakura Taisen pocky anyone?] If you are a fan of collecting all kinds of knick knacks from your favorite series, Sakura Wars surely keeps you covered.
The reason I think everyone should have this series in their collection is simple: Sakura Wars is simply the best version of the bashful but strong girl who, through physical and emotional trials, overcomes her own weakness to become a strong leader. It is a great series for young girls to watch and learn that being smart and strong are things to be valued, that the strength of real friendship is something to strive for in any relationship, and it's cool looking. [Plus the thin box set is under $30 bucks]
That's what a Gamestop manager revealed to Ben Kuchera over at Opposable Thumbs there at the arstechnica website. And by the way, "Opposable Thumbs" is an awesomely clever name for a blog... wish I had come up with that one. But I digress...
Again, having some time to bop around ye olde interweb to catch up on all the news that's out there in between working for the day job, and I came across this article on the arstechnica website. The people that Kuchera talked with paint a very bleak PS3 roll out next month that's for sure. I know it seems like I'm picking on Sony yet again, but I swear I'm not. It's just every time I hit up my regular game sites for news, most of the Sony stuff gives me pause. I don't have to make Sony out to be a bad guy or create a scenario to make them seem like they are out of step with the rest of the next-gen console makers, they do that all on their own on what seems like a daily basis.
From the arstechnica article what sticks out to me at least is this continuing theme of Sony seeming to be less prepared for what is coming than it's competitors. While Nintendo comes across as having a well defined ramp up to roll out and subsequent roll out plan for the Nintendo Wii. Even though at this point I think the code name of "Revolution" will prove to have been a better choice if the system can reach it's potential. Same with the XB360. I make no bones about the complaints I have with the XB360 system [from the pay for tier of the XBLive system, or the freezing issues] but game development is picking up on the platform, and they have adapted to new technologies to try and be even a tiny bit cutting edge. And while I think Sony is well meaning, I can't escape this horrible feeling. To use a sport analogy [because I didn't get to watch any boxing this past weekend] lets say that the next-gen console war that's about to start is a heavyweight boxing match. Well, instead of taking their opponent seriously the "undisputed champ" Sony has come into the ring without going through training camp and having a wild orgy the night before the fight with 4 hookers and some dude that was down at the bus depot: ill-equipped and unprepared.
but I felt better after I tried to click the link and was lead to a "thing you were looking for isn't here" page on the Amazon website. As the story goes, supposedly if you were to buy either an XB360 core or premium system Amazon would graciously throw in a pre-order for Gears of War or Viva Pinata and ship the game to you on release day. It's actually not a bad deal if you don't already have an XB360: get the system and one of the more hyped up titles shipped to you on release day... enough to make a girl jealous I say. But the link failed, and it warmed my heart.
I suspect that the deal might have existed at one point, but that it got so popular so damn quick [just like that email I was supposed to get from them so I could pre-order a Wii that never came because they put the webpage up before sending out the email and ran themselves out of pre-order before they could square things, but I'm not bitter about it or anything like that] that Amazon pulled it.
If anyone was able to get in on that deal, let a sistah know, as for the rest of us, just get gears of war the old fashion way, sleep with your local Gamestop manager.
Ever notice that boobies will catch the attention of even straight women? In anime more than anything this is an unavoidable truth. I have been observing this trend for a good while [ahem]... and my conclusion is...
They are large and in charge! We are being hypnotized by their tempting nature! BEWARE OF THE BOOBIES THEY WILL HURT YOU IN THE END!!!
Distraction, attraction, or fun-time wobbly action, boobies in anime vary in size from pre-teen developmental stage [also known as the "mosquito bite"] to early teen development ["itty bitty titty committee"... reserved for characters who are supposed to be cute, but not seen as sexual beings] the "double d's of desire" for the characters that just really need no explanation. These are the vixens, goddesses, babes with more than junk in the trunk.
I could stop here, but there is yet another level of bodacious booby class that I would be derelict in my duties if I were to forego mentioning them... the super deformed unbelievably endowed female, or simply put: the mega booby. Yes this creature abounds in many of your Hentai series and makes spot appearances in some of your kawaii series as well. She's got a rack that defies the laws of physics, but no one seems to really give a damn about that... just look at those boobs!
I will develop a list that will provide for you a barrier towards the corruption that these bouncing bodacious boobies will do to your soul. It is out of concern for our mutual safety that I will do this. This is the depth of my caring for you...
In today's issue, find out if you can fry an egg on the PlayStation 3, find out if GameTap deserves so much ink, find out if a certain senator is thinking straight and find out just why you're suddenly feeling so old.
More Sony Woes: Two Wall Street Journal articles Wednesday expressed more bad news about Sony. In one article, the Journal revealed that Sony shares had fallen 5.3 percent during the previous week. The company closed down 2.7% to 4,600 yen ($39.09 in U.S. dollars) Tuesday, a day on which the Nikkei Stock Average was nearly unchanged. In a report issued by Macquarie Securities analyst David Gibson, PlayStation 3 units on display at the Tokyo Game Show suffered overheating problems and had to be reset several times. A Sony spokesman told the Wall Street Journal Tuesday that the company was unaware of any technical problems with the PS3. In another WSJ article, Fujitsu announced that it would recall 287,000 Sony battery packs from its computers. That brings the total in the Sony battery scandal to more than 7.6 million batteries. Here are the current recall numbers, as of Tuesday, Oct. 3:
Is GameTap Evil or Just Stupid? That's the question asked in two different recent stories. Manifesto Games co-founder Greg Costikyan tells Gamasutra, "I'm skeptical that their business model is sustainable." Meanwhile, on his own blog, Costikyan says that while a $60 price for a video game is too high, $10 is just too low.
Senator Wants to Impose Government Regulations on Game Ratings: U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, last week introduced a bill, The Truth in Video Game Rating Act, S.3935, that would direct the Federal Trade Commission to require that reviewers consider the full content of a video game before issuing a rating. Brownback's press release stated, "Currently game reviewers do not play the games before determining ratings, and their reviews are based on taped segments of the game submitted by the game's producer to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. Such taped segments may or may not fully represent the game's content. The bill would prohibit video game producers and distributors from withholding or hiding playable content from a ratings organization." Brownback said, "Game reviewers must have access to the entire game for their ratings to accurately reflect a game's content." Want to comment to the senator directly? Just call his office at 202-224-6521. Tell him the Sistahs sent you.
Brings Out the 1986 In You: Just released, Voltron: Defender of the Universe Collection One focuses on five lion robots and their pilots as they defend the galaxy and planet Arus vs. the forces of King Zarkon and Prince Lotor from planet Doom. You're going to want to own this one, I bet.
Yeah, I think I'm going to drop these "suggested listening for your soul's sake" articles every other Tuesday.
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, a short while back I put up a post linking to an iTunes iMix that created mostly to see if the linking thing would work, and secondly I thought it might be cool to share some of the music stuff that I enjoy with you guys. I figure if I subject you to my opinions and speculations, the least I can do is reward you with some musical enjoyment. [And getting a cut of the sales if you buy anything... c'mon, you know you want to help me quit my day job ;)]
So in continuing with the newly started Alternating Tuesday Audio Tradition, I give you: NinJaSistah Mix: Volume Too! I love this mix because it's just what I need to get my adrenaline pumping! I recently got turned on to Imogen Heap and Brazilian Girls, so they made the cut for this mix obviously, but if you like a little trance, dance, pop, and rock this is a mix that you can't pass up. Some of the tracks featured in this mix include:
Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack Koko by Goldfrapp Work Me Goddamit by Armand Van Helden Wanna Love You Girl by Robin Thicke Signs by Morpheus Daylight Robbery by Imogen Heap My My My (StoneBridge Remix) by Armand Van Helden Back to the Roots by DJ Halperin Rick Rubin by Spank Rock P***y by Brazilian Girls Ayo by Mya Smack That by Akon I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer by The Cardigans Cocaine by Robin Thicke - and - So Excited by Janet featuring Khia
All you need to see the rest of the tracks or buy them is to have a current version of the Apple iTunes application, a valid iTunes account, and the ability to appreciate some kick ass music. Just click on the image of the cover art above or on this link and grab the tracks now.
If you like any of the tracks, let me know... I like talking music in addition to gaming and anime. I'm a multi-tasker. [or a reformed over-achiever... but multi-tasker is nicer sounding]
I know you do... you and every other fanboy/girl on the planet, but if you think that just pre-ordering will help get you a shiny box on launch day it looks like you're wrong.
I was bopping around the internet while enjoying my afternoon snack [today was green apple jello day, if you must know] and came across this post on the Kotaku website. As the author quotes a Gamestop manager as saying
Each Gamestop store will receive an average of 6 systems (more for higher volume stores, less for dead stores). 1-2 systems can be given to employees at the store manager's discretion. The rest are given out to the store's "regulars." If a manager feels he has a customer who is very loyal (shops there often, reserves many things), they call them and ask them if they want to guarantee one of the remaining 4 consoles...and apparently all 4 of the remaining consoles are handed out in this fashion.
After reading that I thought I would warn the rest of you out there who, like me, don't pre-order every game on the planet or stop into your local Gamestop on a daily basis. Just having cash in your pocket [or plastic as the case may be] won't be enough any more to purchase an instrument of gaming pleasure... no, now you have to know a guy, that knows a guy, that works as a manager for Gamestop in order to get in on the fun on November 17th.
So not only do you have to "work harder" to earn the money to buy a system and a few games like Ken Kuturagi said, but you also need to dust off your networking skills [and I don't mean Myspace here people] in hopes of befriending every Gamestop manager and employee you can find. And I do mean every single one folks. Best to hit the stand alone stores as well as the ones implanted in the malls. Put the store number in your cell phone and land line speed dials. Ladies, if you are single and want to pick up a PS3, date a manager. [First make sure he's single, don't want to accused of being a home-wrecking wench now do we?] It might sound like a bad idea, but if you really want a PS3 system before 2007 and don't care that it will probably have a bad laser [and some cooling problems evidently] then do what must be done. You are loyal to Sony after all, aren't you?
As for me, I have no clue how the hell I'm going to get my hands on one, or if I really should take out renters insurance before I bring it home and plug it in.
In today's issue of our daily news report, play a little TotemBall, beat Cartman at a game of WoW, get put on the disabled list by the newest gaming sensation, try to sit through just one more Pokemon movie and buy the second volume of Basilisk.
TotemBall Available Today on Xbox Live: Playing with your Xbox Live Vision camera just got a little physical now that TotemBall is available on Xbox Live Arcade. The gesture-based game uses Xbox Live Vision to control the characters in the game. Help Pterry the Pturtel uncover all the musical totems while grooving to your own totem beat. The game is offered for FREE on Xbox Live Arcade, starting today at 4 a.m. Eastern time, 1 a.m. Pacific time.
South Park Kids Make Love, Not Warcraft: As Douceswild reminded us in yesterday's news, tonight's first episode of the tenth season of South Park will feature the kids playing World of Warcraft. Here's a sneak peek.
Nasty Injur-Wii: Microsoft's U.S. Xbox 360 chief Peter Moore loves the Nintendo Wii and believes dual platform ownership of the two systems could reach 40 percent. However, in a story on the Next Generation website, he warns about the Wii, "The controller is innovative but it remains to be seen how innovative your shoulder will feel after an hour's play." Could the Wii result in rotator cuff injuries, as suffered by major league pitchers? Below is an example of the damage that could be suffered internally by a voracious Wii player:
Seems Like 88: Continuing the long-running series, Pokemon Movie 8: Lucario and The Mystery of Mew has just been released. The DVD package also contains "making-of" footage, an hour-long TV special and a mini-comic book. Buy it here, if you dare.
Yeah, I think I'm going to drop these "suggested listening for your soul's sake" articles every other Tuesday.
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, a short while back I put up a post linking to an iTunes iMix that created mostly to see if the linking thing would work, and secondly I thought it might be cool to share some of the music stuff that I enjoy with you guys. I figure if I subject you to my opinions and speculations, the least I can do is reward you with some musical enjoyment. [And getting a cut of the sales if you buy anything... c'mon, you know you want to help me quit my day job ;)]
So in continuing with the newly started Alternating Tuesday Audio Tradition, I give you: NinJaSistah Mix: Volume Too! I love this mix because it's just what I need to get my adrenaline pumping! I recently got turned on to Imogen Heap and Brazilian Girls, so they made the cut for this mix obviously, but if you like a little trance, dance, pop, and rock this is a mix that you can't pass up. Some of the tracks featured in this mix include:
Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack Koko by Goldfrapp Work Me Goddamit by Armand Van Helden Wanna Love You Girl by Robin Thicke Signs by Morpheus Daylight Robbery by Imogen Heap My My My (StoneBridge Remix) by Armand Van Helden Back to the Roots by DJ Halperin Rick Rubin by Spank Rock P***y by Brazilian Girls Ayo by Mya Smack That by Akon I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer by The Cardigans Cocaine by Robin Thicke - and - So Excited by Janet featuring Khia
All you need to see the rest of the tracks or buy them is to have a current version of the Apple iTunes application, a valid iTunes account, and the ability to appreciate some kick ass music. Just click on the image of the cover art above or on this link and grab the tracks now.
If you like any of the tracks, let me know... I like talking music in addition to gaming and anime. I'm a multi-tasker. [or a reformed over-achiever... but multi-tasker is nicer sounding]
Ok, I remember when KH2 was leaked over the interwebs before its official release last year, so when I heard about the new Final Fantasy game being leaked I took it with a minor grain of salt. I knew that it was *possible* but figured that it was not probably because Squenix, er Square Enix, wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
I really need to stop presuming and assuming things.
Upon double and triple checking, it seems that the files of the Final Fantasy XII game that people have been finding on ye olde interweb are actually viable and people have been downloading them. Now, unless you have done naughty and illegal things to your PS2 [you naughty, dregs of society you] getting the file won't do you much good.
I just think that the timing of this "leak" is suspicious... the game is accidentally leaked to the public a few weeks before the release? I dunno, maybe it's the hidden conspiracy theorist in me, but it seems to me all this "leak" has done is put a whole bunch of focus on the Final Fantasy game pre-commercial release that it may not have had otherwise.
FFXII was leap-frogged in the hype press by the trinity that is FFXIII which probably didn't go over well with the people who make the real money over there at Sony and Squenix. If people are waiting and looking forward to games that are slated for 07, they might overlook the game coming out now in 06. That statement has to send shivers down a stockholders spine. So how do you get some quick publicity for a game that you have coming out at the end of the month? You can't put together a contest or sweepstakes fast enough, and it might not reach your intended audience. A email newsletter won't do you much good either because between junk mail filters, and people just throwing out emails before reading them if they are low on time [or lack focusing brain power at the moment] your message still won't get out. But if you say, accidentally leak out a fully function version of the game that only a limited amount of your existing base can play, that will get the attention of the blogosphere and the fanboys, or that will get people focused on trying to find this pirated treasure of free gamitude so that your game name recognition goes up in the search engines, well, you might be on to something there. Get the people talking about the game, looking for it, and those slight few that have it and can play it will go on and on about how good it is [even if it sucks] because they have it and can play it before everyone else.
Unfortunately I'm not making any money yet doing this awesome ESH stuff so I still have to go to the day job and they worked my ass off yesterday... which is killing me because I missed out on the interim Wiiople maker that someone made and premiered over there at Joystiq. The only thing that is missing is the ability to change the skin tone of your Wiiople because as we know, not all Wiiople, er people, are of the caucasian persuasion... ya know? ;)
Street Fighter 2: Ten Years Later. What do you think happens to the characters from one of the most popular 2D fighters now that we're ten years down the road?
Who needs a whole lot of words when you have a fun little video like this one. I found it on the college humor website. [after reading about it on the Destructoid.com website... I love those guys]
You don't have to be a big fan of the series to find this clip entertaining, so watch and enjoy. From the looks of things there are more to come.
Click above in the white space to launch the player. Don't look at me like that, I didn't make the code, I just copy and pasted it.
Keeping you informed is what ElectricSistaHood is all about. Starting today, we're providing you the Daily News -- a daily feature that will try to keep you up-to-date on everything related to gaming and anime. Feel free to make comments about the news of the day. If you've seen something that we haven't mentioned, please add it along with a link in the Comment section.
In today's issue, tell Optimus Prime exactly what to say, beat the WOPR from the film WarGames in a game of chess and wash out a kindergartner's mouth out with soap.
Putting Words in the Mouth of Optimus Prime: There are plenty of discouraging words about the upcoming Transformers movie, but this contest should bring a lot of joy to fans. Ten winners of the contest will be able to make Optimus Prime speak words provided by the winners. Winner of the top prize will actually hear the words spoken in the movie. The line is limited to 120 characters and you have only until Oct. 12 to enter, so you better hurry.
Wouldn't You Prefer a Nice Game of Chess? That's the question asked by the WOPR in the seminal video gaming film WarGames. Now you can experience the power and the exasperation of the WOPR by playing Introversion software's DEFCON. Available only for the PC and only online, you can download a demo version here. My question is, does it have a Tic-Tac-Toe mode?
Leave It to Shin: They're not the Cleavers, but Shinchan and his family has a devoted following on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. They're so anxious to keep the potty-mouthed kindergartner on American TV that they've created a website so you can help. In addition, you can view show clips and vote on your favorite Shinism.
Are the Japanese getting tired of Sony's growing battery recall scandal?
That's the way it seems, reading the latest story about the recall in the Daily Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper.
Takashi Shimomiya and Tomoki Matsubara, staff writers for The Daily Yomiuri, wrote that Sony has been less than forthcoming in its information about the recall: "... Even after its decision to recall all lithium-ion batteries, Sony only released information on the products over the Internet," they wrote. "Its executives did not explain the problem or apologize to the public, bringing to light its reluctance to disclose information even though faults in production safety can be fatal to users."
The two Japanese journalists pointed out that Sony originally placed the blame on Dell Computer's original Aug. 15 recall on Dell itself. The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 16, "[Sony spokesman Rick] Clancy said other factors after the cells are manufactured can contribute to overheating problems, though he declined to elaborate."
On Thursday, Sept. 28, Sony released information through its corporate website that it would be expanding the recall of lithium-ion batteries used by Lenovo, Toshiba and Fujitsu, in addition to its existing recall of batteries used by Dell and Apple. The press release was not available on other Sony websites.
This expands the total recall to more than 7 million batteries, but the fallout could be much worse to the company.
"Given the nature of the relationship, in the real world the way that it plays out is that the [computer manufacturers] decrease what they buy from Sony. They'll say, 'We used to take 2 million from you and 3 million from Sanyo. Now we're going to take 4 million from Sanyo and 1 million from you. And that's punishment.'"
Kay added that the total recall could be as high as 10 million units.
Before Thursday's announcement, Dell had recalled 4.1 million Sony-made batteries and Apple had recalled 1.8 million. After Thursday's announcement, Dell recalled another 100,000 batteries.
Here are the current recall numbers, as of Sunday, Oct. 1:
Dell...........4,200,000 Apple..........1,800,000 Lenovo...........526,000 Toshiba..........830,000 Fujitsu....not announced
Hey everyone, Panda here coming to you from her seat in her Weather and Climate Class--yay clouds!
In today's news:
I recently received my Xbox Live Diamond Card in the mail, and first impression was it looked snazzy!
This is a picture of Kathryn Marie Holt. Kathryn is HOT! Looking at this picture makes me thirsty... I'm secure enough in my femininity to say that. I have no beef with hot women, make no mistake about that. My problem is that according to 
I guess I should explain a bit about why I loved the series in the first place. I liked the RPG elements of Dynasty Warriors games. I can level up my character as I go on fighting, but don't have to take time out from handing down an ass whoopin' to do so. Games like that will always get my money. But the game also presented me with an awesome roster of playable characters, each with their own spin on the central plot of the game. [Which is a 
So here's the deal on the Bluetooth controller. It has a rechargeable lithium ion battery built in, as in the rechargeable battery can not come out of the controller. Now while the battery is rechargeable, to fully charge it through your PS3 via USB will take about 2 hours. Once the battery is charged it should get about 30 hours of use before requiring a recharge. Not bad performance if it's true, but the estimated battery life number have never been all that universal. I know you are saying, "sounds ok to me, where da prob Bob?" The "prob" is that anyone that has ever used a device that has a lithium ion battery knows that over time and usage, lithium ion batteries decay and die. With each recharge, a little less of the battery can actually recharge and soon, your battery will shuffle off it's mortal coil and move on to battery heaven... and since this battery is hard wired into your remote, it means that your remote is a paperweight in waiting. [hehe, I crack myself up sometimes]
You know the drill, it's free-swim Friday: EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL
One of the most interesting things about anime is the characters with gravity defying hair. I have known quite a few cosplayers who won't dress as their favorite characters because they can't even begin to get the hair right. Well the Alternative Hair Show in London has proved that it is possible to beat gravity... assuming you have massive amounts of hairspray. 
The new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon video game for Nintendo DS(TM) Lite and Game Boy(R) Advance SP asks the question, "What if you woke up one day and you were a Pokemon?" For the first time, players play as an actual Pokemon. They can even talk and interact with other Pokemon. In the SmugMug Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Detectives contest, fans are invited to create photos or artwork depicting their own stories about why they were turned into a Pokemon and what life is like as a Pokemon.
This ain't your Cartoon Network PPG's of old, that's for sure. First of all the girls are now older, they are not sisters, but students in the same school, and their names are not Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup... those names are part of their superhero names which are Hyper Blossom, Rolling Bubbles, and Powered Buttercup. In this version of the PPG story Ken Kitazawa [son of the Professor] used Chemical Z [a derivative of the Professor's original substance Chemical X] to destroy a giant glacier, but this had some adverse effects and caused some rays of dark and white light to rain down on Tokyo City. Those hit by the white light gained powers and became good, those hit by the dark gained new abilities as well, but were influenced by evil. You with me so far? Good. Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru were hit by these white lights, and became the new PPGZ group and decided to become the defenders of Tokyo City.
How's that for "distinct" for ya. I haven't seen any episodes but TV Tokyo put in an order for 52 episodes initially, with the option of more if it gets popular. This series is flagged to be brought here to the US on Cartoon Network, just no firm date for it yet, and no word if the original voice actors will be tapped to reprise their roles. Yeah, I dunno about this one folks.
As you may [or may not] know, Clover Studios are the mad men and women behind Okami, God Hand, and Viewtiful Joe. If you haven't played any of these games, you've done yourself a disservice. I have yet to play the full versions of Okami or God Hand but I have played a demo of Okami and both of the Viewtiful Joe games. These games are unique. Within the first few moments of playing them you understand by instinct alone that these are the brain children of some creative ass people. Search the interweb for any of these titles or hit up the IGN website and look them up. You won't find any negative things being said about these titles. [Except for God Hand which gets dismissed for being a simple brawler that pokes fun at itself]. 
Now I have one friend that was terrified that the guy she had been seeing for a couple of months was going to ditch her when he found out she was a gamer. I don't know why but she was absolutely positive he was going to think she was some kind of masculine chick hiding in a petite girl body. I know, it's stupid, but as she went on and on about how she was hiding her game systems before he came over, I realized it was a serious fear in her mind, so I had to help. I told her instead hiding all of her OPM and Computer Gaming magazines, leave a couple out on the coffee table. When the boyfriend comes over, let him in and offer him a seat on the couch by the mags, then excuse yourself to the bathroom to finish getting ready and leave him there with nothing but the gaming mags to keep him entertained while you are away. When asks when you got into gaming [because he's never seen this stuff before] just be honest. Say you've been into gaming for a while and why, and then just say that you put all that stuff away because you didn't want him to think you were weird. I'll all but guaranty that 10 times out of 10 he'll be excited and cool about it. 
If you've got the ability to surf the internet with your cell phone, you'll soon be able to start reading the latest blog entries by the Sistahs on the same phone.
Aw, I tell you man, it sucked... it sucked worse than I thought it would because there were other people around me that were just as disappointed, if not more so, at not making the cut for the pre-ordering. It was sad to see the twinkle leave their eye as they confronted the sad news... some even refused to accept their "potential" denial and resorted to fist shaking and cussing. [You should be very proud of the NinJa... she did not cuss, out loud, at any person! Nor did she kill anyone, so, double bonus!!] But I will share the thing about the whole "No PS3 Fo U" bullshit that went on today: as soon as the pre-orders ran out, so did the people. 
Starting today, you can play a wide variety of video games while you surf the internet, using ElectricSistaHood's new Arcade! It's packed with classic video arcade games, mind teasers, Vegas-style games and much more!
The games include such arcade favorites as PacMan, Asteroids, Sonic, Bejeweled and Tetris. In addition, there are several arcade-like games you'll enjoy, including Siggi the Sea Horse (a side-scrolling racing game), Snowy the Bear's Adventure (similar to Joust), Mysteries of Horus, Bistro Stars and Arctic Quest.
games, you'll enjoy Chess, Mahjong, Solitaire and Hangman. Like games that challenge your brain? Play Sudoku, Crossword Puzzle, Slither Link and MindMaster.
Sakura Wars actually started out as a video game developed by Sega. It was originally called Sakura Taisen which caused some confusion in finding it when it was first licensed in the US. ADV Films licensed it here in the US as Sakura Wars and the confusion hilarity ensued. It took me a while to find any episodes on VHS [again, this was back in the day... circa late 1990's] because the video stores I would call didn't know what anime really was, and never had anything called Sakura Taisen in their store. No video game, no movies, and I should stop prank calling them... that's how all the calls ended for a few months. Then I realized I was looking in the wrong place for this stuff. I switched gears and started dogging my local comic stop and that was the ticket. But I digress.
FFXII was leap-frogged in the hype press by the trinity that is FFXIII which probably didn't go over well with the people who make the real money over there at Sony and Squenix. If people are waiting and looking forward to games that are slated for 07, they might overlook the game coming out now in 06. That statement has to send shivers down a stockholders spine. So how do you get some quick publicity for a game that you have coming out at the end of the month? You can't put together a contest or sweepstakes fast enough, and it might not reach your intended audience. A email newsletter won't do you much good either because between junk mail filters, and people just throwing out emails before reading them if they are low on time [or lack focusing brain power at the moment] your message still won't get out. But if you say, accidentally leak out a fully function version of the game that only a limited amount of your existing base can play, that will get the attention of the blogosphere and the fanboys, or that will get people focused on trying to find this pirated treasure of free gamitude so that your game name recognition goes up in the search engines, well, you might be on to something there. Get the people talking about the game, looking for it, and those slight few that have it and can play it will go on and on about how good it is [even if it sucks] because they have it and can play it before everyone else.
