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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.

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    New Podcast Day: Episode 86

    posted @ 2/17/2008 10:48:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    With Monday nearly here, you know we had to drop a new episode of the podcast on ya! This week's episode is all about the DMC4 XB360 experience.

    Pandalicious and NinJaSistah jaw over the likes, loves, and WTS moments from Capcom's newest release in the DMC franchise. I'll keep this summary short and let the episode speak for itself... well almost. Here are the titles we didn't use:

    • When Panda's Horny, She Remembers Guy's Names
    • The Newest Character In Devil May Cry? Porky Pig!
    • Hey Mr. Talisman, Tally Me Banana
    • Dante Has A Perfectly Good Reason For Killing That Guy
    • I Was Playing Devil May Cry When Dante Suddenly Became Ricky Ricardo
    • Sparda's Last Name Must Be Johnson
    • Sparda's First Name Must Be Willy
    • They Gave The Girls Really Big Bazookas This Time
    • Trish in Blackface? What Is This? A Minstrel Show?
    • Pandalicious Can't Get Her Mind Off The Pickle
    • Panda Goes Gay-Mer
    • and finally
    • Don't Throw Your Kids At Pandalicious


    Yep, it's a good one indeedy. Join the sistah's in Episode 86: Devil May Cry, and I'm Sobbing A Little Bit Myself

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    One Million Downloads Strong

    posted @ 2/11/2008 09:42:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    So I've gotten this email from the fine folks over at Capcom touting the amount of downloads the DMC4 demo off of XBLive.

    Well duh!

    It shouldn't surprise anyone that the DMC4 demo has been downloaded so much. First off, remember all the n00bs that got Xboxes [Xboxi?] for Christmas? Well they gotta have stuff to play, and I'm sure they haven't run off to the local game emporium to fill their little collection with $60 titles yet, so free demos and cheap Arcade games are welcome features of their new toy. Secondly, DMC fans are, well, fanatical. We love the franchise. We love the franchise enough to suck up the suck ass DMC2 to wait for DMC3 and DMC4. Give us the opportunity to play DMC on a new platform, with a new character, and we will flock to it like alcoholics to a happy hour.

    Yeah, DMC4 "el demo gigante" dropped into the XBLive Marketplace nearly predestined for greatness. Here's what the email to me said:
    Capcom's Devil May Cry 4 demo on the Xbox LIVE service passed its one millionth download, and is still going!
    According to Microsoft, not only is this the first demo of the year to hit a million downloads, but it’s also one of the fastest downloads to hit the one million mark in the history of the LIVE service. The demo appeared on the network January 24, and has been averaging over 25,000 downloads a day ever since. Additionally, the game has been a huge hit at retail, with reorders coming from major retailers within days of the game's release.


    I'll hold my judgement of whether or not the game is fun to play until I get it. But if you haven't downloaded the demo yet and you have an XBox, get thee to the Marketplace and join the million of people that have been playing the hell outta this demo.

    You can try to fight Berial!

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    Get Thee To XBLive

    posted @ 1/24/2008 01:35:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    Seriously, log into XBLive right now and get the DMC 4 demo goodness.

    Oh yeah, there is also an Army of Two demo up there and some car thing called Burnout Paradise, but you should just go and get the DMC4 demo and marvel at the beauty that the 678mb file brings.

    It's yummy, and will have to hold you over until the game ships on February 5th.

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    DMC4 Demo Date Leaked?

    posted @ 1/18/2008 03:29:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    You already know how my sister and I obssess about the Devil May Cry video game franchise, so this post should really come as no surprise.

    I was bopping around the interwebs as I am known to do on my day off of the day gig, and came across this post on Joystiq mentioning the demo date release of the new Devil May Cry 4 game on the XB360. I should be exstatic right? Well here's the deal: no sooner this widget went live, the date no longer appeared on the screen. Capcom has said the the demo will be available in the US before the US release, but with the Feb. 5 national day of Dante enjoyment nearly upon us, I can only imagine that this January 31st date must be accurate.

    At the same time, I have to think that a date of Jan. 31 is kinda dumb. This is the first time that a DMC game is going to be available on the XB360. Wouldn't it make more sense to release the demo earlier to give the broad XBLive-ers a chance to discover and become addicted to the game play two or three weeks before the game releases. You know, to drum up excitement and pre-orders of the game?

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    New Podcast Day: Episode 79

    posted @ 12/24/2007 11:27:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    Ok, so Monday is nearly over, but not without a new episode of the ESH weekly podcast.

    In this weeks episode, Pandalicious make her return to the show to talk about the hermit syndrome becoming ever more popular in mainstream anime while NinJaSistah puts her focus on Soul Calibur: Legends on the Wii and new Ninja Gaiden II and Devil May Cry 4 trailers.

    Oh yeah, the girls share some RockBand tips as well. For a better idea how the show runs over the hour, here are the rejected episode titles:

    • Anime Hermits Don't Cause Anal Leakage
    • Gingerbread Parties Rock
    • Rape is Not the Type of Thing We Should Be Pushing This Season
    • Looking For Hair Pie in Devil May Cry
    • Everyone's Losing Their Drawers These Days
    • and
    • Dante's Getting Fitted for His Tuxedo


    The sistah's are back, and both are on XBlive now! Kick back and enjoy episode #80: Worst Tangent Ever

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    DMC4: Now With Roses

    posted @ 12/17/2007 01:00:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    For those of us dying to get our hands on Dante this February can breathe a sigh of relief. Capcom has announced that a playable demo of the game will be available on the PLAYSTATION Store and Xbox LIVE Marketplace in early 2008.

    Now, exactly when "early 2008" means I dunno, but early can't come early enough for me. I am a huge fan of the DMC series even after the atrocious and nearly unforgivable DMC2 release, I STILL have love for Dante. That being said, I am a little uncertain about this new title. Am I worried about the graphics? Nope. The screenshots that I've seen so far look great. What about the voice acting? Again, not worried there. I'm reasonably excited about the new Nero character and the addition of badasses Lady and Trish makes me happy in the pants area. So what about the new DMC title gives me pause for the cause?

    This image. This image right here of my sexy hunny bunny Dante holding a rose in his teeth. Sure, the press release says that this rose business is part of a new attack that Dante uses, but I can't help but feel Dante's badassedness slipping away from him. I mean really? Dante finishing off a devastating attack by dropping a rose that he's been carrying in his teeth? Isn't that a bit Don Juan of the master of the cocky one-liners? I sure hope this attack works better in action that in concept.

    Dante needs to be a bad mutha shut my mouth again, not worry about bringing sexy back. Timberlake already tried and failed.

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    The Lovely Ladies of DMC4

    posted @ 9/30/2007 08:50:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    I know it's Sunday and all, but I didn't have to work today so I played around with graphics most of the day [as you can tell] and then came across a couple of pics from the forthcoming DMC4 title.

    I've always said that Lady was a nice addition to the DMC3 title, but you didn't get to play her or really explore her motivation through the FMV's in the game. Every time I played through the game, it made me wish that I had been playing DMC2 through as Trish. Trish was a badass character. She had gravitas, glowed, and you really got to see her struggling to pull away from the stereotypical purely evil devil to a softer hearted, um, devil... that can cry.

    I'm not to proud to say I fell in love with Trish. On seeing the new vision of Trish and Lady for the upcoming installment of DMC4, I had to get a towel.

    Submitted for your approval, I give you the lovely ladies of of DMC4.



    That is all!

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    DMC4: Yeah, On XB360 Too

    posted @ 4/19/2007 12:36:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    Oooooh, Sony's gotta be a tad peeved on this one but just in case you missed it, DMC4 is going to be on the XB 360 as well as the PC.

    That's gotta smart.

    So remember back a few months ago when Capcom SWORE that it was going to be exclusive to the PS3. Like, the pinky swore to Sony and before God that it was going to never EVER going to have any other home than on the PS3. Well, they lied. They are dirty, rotten, skinky, [I mean in desperate need of a bath] liars... but that's a good thing. Why? Because, more DMC4 madness on more platforms means more likely to have an online component.

    Can you imaging Dante and Nero and maybe even Virgil grudge matches over XBLive? What about those old mansion survival modes? Remember those? [I made it 35 levels once... once] Imagine rooms and rooms of those mansions filled with other Live players in a winner takes all type melee battle. Can't imagine it? I hope that Capcom does.


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    NinJa May Cry Manga

    posted @ 2/05/2007 10:44:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    Dante is the main character in the video game franchise Devil May Cry... and Dante is hot. If you put Dante in another game, I'll play it. If you tell me that lord hotness is going to be in a manga, I'm going to find a way to lay my hands on it... and that's what this article is about.

    I've just finished reading volumes 1 and 2 of the Devil May Cry 3 manga and I have a few things I want to share with you.

    I usually don't do the manga thing. I leave that to Pandalicious and MagicMysticGrl... they know what they are doing. Whenever I get a new manga novel I always start at the wrong end. Yes, that page that annoys most regular manga readers on how to read the panels and start at the other end of the book... yeah, they make that for me. Sorry. But I'm digressing, I need to talk about the manga. I actually liked this manga. It took me a while to get the hang of following the action [as a newb, I find it difficult to track fighting sequences in manga form on occasion] but once I did, I found many of the things I love about the DMC series to be present in the manga.

    Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the badassedness that is Dante can adequately be conveyed by print alone, but I did appreciate the attempts to include as many Dante-style one-liners in both volumes. There is at least one per page in the manga, but they somehow don't pack the same punch as the one liners in the actual original DMC1 game. If I'm fair, none of the subsequent DMC titles after the first game had Dante dropping the entertainment gold that previously spewed forth from sir I'm-so-hot-I-don't-need-a-shirt. [which is true, he doesn't need a shirt] But Dante was still a rough hero with a vendetta, and I wanted to know more about him.

    The two volumes that I read cover some familiar territory: the lore about the legendary knight Sparda, and his twin sons that inherited a great deal of his power... one that embraces his human side, the other his inner demon. The manga traces the storyline set up by the DMC3 game where Vergil seeks out to open the bridge between the world of the demons and humans in order to bring man to his end. Been there done that. What is interesting about the story is the addition of a Madhatter, Alice, and Rabbit character.

    The hatter, who speaks in riddles most of the time, is used to set both Vergil and Dante on the path to breaking all the seals needed to bridge together the two worlds of light and dark. The Rabbit ends up being the crutch of Alice, who turns herself over to the dark in order to be older faster. I'm not sure just how Alice will figure in later, but I have an idea. When I get closer to the end I'll tell you what it is and if I was right about it.

    My only complaint would have to be the addition of the Enzo character. Enzo is a sidekick for Dante that has been thrown in kind of haphazardly if you ask me. Enzo's job is to set up gigs for Dante. Since when does the Archbishop of Arsewhoop require a middle man? Dante always answered his own phone and was a lone wolf. That's what added to his badassedness in the original game, and made it cool when he teamed up with Trish after defeating Mundis. The only sidekick Dante should ever have is one that is a strong, and bawlzy as he is. Trish and Lady are acceptable partners, a cowardly, sweaty, fat, loser-dude is not. A reaper seriously need to kill Enzo and I'd be happy.

    I'm going to give the first two volumes a of the Devil May Cry 3 manga a 2.5/5. The only reason it's not a 3 out of five is that I think the DMC storyline was out there enough without adding the Alice in Wonderland arc to it.

    All-in-all, if you've never picked up a manga before and like the Devil May Cry franchise, you should give this manga series a peek.

    p.s.
    I found this great DMC themed image while looking for the manga artwork, give this dude props for a neat lil SD version of the DMC3 main characters.

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    November Tokyopop Releases

    posted @ 11/02/2006 01:23:00 AM by MagicMystic
    It was three whole months ago now that I got my fall issue of Takuhai from Tokyopop. It detailed a whole list of releases for each month. After this November list there will only be one more left, December.


    November Releases:
    12 Days
    Blame! 6
    Boys Be... 11
    Dears 8
    Devil May Cry, Novel 2
    !The Dreaming 2
    *Elemental Gelade 2
    Gatcha Gatcha 3
    !GetBackers 16
    Gundam Seed X Astray
    Happy Feet Cine-manga
    !ID_ENTITY 8
    !*Immortal Rain 7
    Initial D 24
    Kat & Mouse 2
    The Kindachi Case Files 14
    King of Hell 14
    Last Fantasy 3
    Le Portrait De Petite Cossette 2
    !Mark of the Succubus 2
    My-Hime
    Neck and Neck 6
    !Never Give Up 3
    Off*Beat 2
    One 10
    !Otogi Zoshi 2
    Peppermint 2
    Queens
    Recast
    Redrum 237 2 (of 3)
    Remote 10 (of 10)
    Rose Hip Rose
    Samurai Deeper Kyo 20 (of 31)
    !*Shutterbox 4 (of 6)
    *Strawberry Marshmallow 2 (of 4)
    Telpathic Wanderers 4 (of 4)
    !Satisfaction Garanteed 2 (of 9)
    Trinity Blood

    The manga I plan to check out in November are Queens and Recast.

    Queens is the story about Pil-Hyun Jun, a feminine bishonen trying to learn to be a manly man in order to win over the heart of his crush, Song-Ah Che. Pil-Hyun finds a comicbook "Escape from Being a Pretty-Boy" that reads as an account of his life. He seeks out the author, hoping to learn a thing or two, but the author turns out to be a SHE with sexually over-zealous roommates. Somehow he ends up moving in with the girls in order to learn the art of comicbooks and being a man. Meanwhile his crush is falling in love with a manly jerk.

    Recast is about JD, a young boy raised an groomed by his grandfather to become the last hope for the world. He's a terrible student and is far more interested in the newest and most popular magical items than in conflict between good and evil. So when bounty hunters from the Fourth World come after JD and his grandfather will he grow into his powers or die trying?


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    Don't Panic

    posted @ 10/24/2006 05:48:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    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!


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    Tell Him You're A Gamer Too

    posted @ 10/12/2006 05:02:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    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.

    Date, play, and be merry!

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    Tokyo Game Show Tidbit

    posted @ 9/25/2006 11:00:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    Do you have love in your soul for Dante from the Devil May Cry video game series from Capcom?

    You do? Well then you will be happy to know that Capcom along with two other partners announced that a new 12 episode Devil May Cry anime series is in the works. I'm not sure what is actually being said in this video from Kotaku, but I'm down for a DMC anime series. Dante is hot! I'd love to know more about him.

    Oh yeah, Capcom launched the official DMC4 website so you should skirt yourself over there and check it out. The TGS DMC4 trailer looks great. I want to play this game, NOW! I have gone too long without the pithy one liners and letter grading combo comments that run rampant in the DMC series.

    DMC4 now please. Thank you.

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