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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.

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!
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    Manga Love

    We less than three manga as well, so peep the manga reviews.

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    New Podcast Day: No, But Yes

    posted @ 6/16/2008 08:00:00 AM by Ninjasistah
    Monday yet again people, and here we go with a fresh new episode of the ESH podcast for you.

    In this episode of the podcast the girls talk a bit about nearly every entertainment medium. We gots a bit of manga, a bit of anime, some feature film stuff all topped off with video game shizzole.

    Pandalicious kicks off the show talking about the anime series Hell Girl based off of the manga of the same name. She and Magic go back and forth a bit exploring what works and what doesn't in the series. MagicMystic then shares her impressions of the new Hulk movie and NinJaSistah closes out the show talking about E3.

    To give you an idea of the kind of show we had, here are the titles we rejected:
    • NinJa Can't Fly, But She Can Jump to Conclusions
    • No..Un..com..piled Da-ta EVER!!!
    • It's The Season For Creepy Flowers
    • The Cat In The Hat Was Not In The Prestige
    • Panda Makes A Fight Club Reference Nobody Else Understands
    • Hulk Smash! Movie Not!
    • Panda's Comic Book Cred Just Plummeted
    • Levitating Trumps Hovering
    • Attention Game Makers: Panda's Up For Payola
    • Exclusive: NinJa's Guide To Carnal Solicitation
    • The Love-Hate Relationship With E3 Has Turned Back To Hate
    • and
    • I'm Pre-Retractable


    It's a completely rounded out episode folks, so sit back and enjoy episode 101: Not To Spoil It For You, But This Episode Ends In Goodbye.

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    Karma Is A Biznatch

    posted @ 5/23/2008 05:45:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    You know, I try very hard to not be one of those, "I told you so" people. When I'm gaming against folks, I will partake often in the, "IN YO FACE SON!" celebratory dance routines. [the running man is often involved] With that said, revenge is touted as a dish best served cold, I believe it is best served like Gagh... fresh and kicking.

    If you haven't put it together yet, this post is about the eternal foe of mature video game titles, Jack Thompson. Mr. Thompson had a 38 page complaint filed against him back in 2007 by the Florida State Bar Association. While a ruling was expected in April, the judge hearing the case [Dava Tunis] asked for an extension to go through some 400+ pleadings, e-mails, letters and missives that Thompson had sent her. Judge Tunis has finally gone through all of the materials and has released a report suggesting that Mr. Thompson be found guilty on 27 of the 38 charges.

    Thompson has a good chunk of time left before the Supreme Court makes a final ruling on the charges as a hearing covering possible sanctions is to be held on June 4, but it doesn't look good. With many of the charges against Thompson include perjury and fraud, as an attorney I don't know how he could possibly hope to keep his ability to practice law period and not just in the state of Florida.

    Do not misunderstand me, I believe that it is every persons right to stand up and be heard on whatever issue is near and dear to them. Whether or not I listen to their opinion or even agree, is my choice and right as well. In a country where freedom is cited as being the right of every man, woman, and child, Jack Thompson has the right to believe whatever he likes. I agree with Mr. Thompson that not all video games are for children. In fact, most video games on the major consoles are not designed for children. I don't think that anyone under the age of 16 should play GTAIV as they game may expose them to language and themes that they may not be ready to see/hear. Where I differ with Mr. Thompson is on who holds the sole responsibility of keeping children away from titles like these. I do not feel that keeping games like GTA from ever being made is the solution, but rather it is the responsibility of parents to be involved in the entertainment purchases of their children. Parental guidance on what is and is not appropriate for acceptable levels of sex, drugs, and violence should be decided between parents and children, not the governing state.

    My mom kept me away from truly violent games until I was 15 years old. Every game that came into our home had to be researched by her first before it was purchased. While we had an allowance, money was never put in my hand until I was 15. My mom held on to my money in a back up high where I couldn't reach it [yes, I am actually short] and would take it down for me any time I wanted to count it. [Even back then I was worried about my money being right] So when the time came that I had enough money, my mom would take me to the local Toys Is Us place and spend an hour or so with me in the game aisle going over every game I wanted with me. Explaining why or why not I could possibly buy the game with my money. By the time I was 15, my mom was sure that I had good common sense, knew I had a good head on my shoulders, and the common sense to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. It's at this point I was allowed to make decisions about gaming on my own, and that I was becoming an adult responsible for my own choices and actions. [I was also allowed to hold my own damn money thank you.] This is one core piece that I think Mr. Thompson is missing.

    Right now, it is very easy to blame entertainment media for the things that go wrong in the world. It would be so easy for me to cite Paris Hilton as the reason behind the current rash of entitled pre-teen gang of kids coming up these days. A case could be made that [though I'm sure not intended] Ms. Hilton's published behavior publicly published for the world to see has influenced an entire generation in a negative and selfish manor. That her inferred hatred of underwear, and at best flexible morals have lead the youth culture of the country down a path of stupidity and ignorance the world has not yet seen the full effects of to this moment. It would be easy to say, but in fact would not be correct.

    Entertainment media can only influence those who have no other strong influences in their lives.

    As I said earlier, I agree with Mr. Thompson that games like GTA do not belong in the hands of 6-15 year olds, but there is an audience for games with more adult themes and language. That audience is called adults. People who are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, real and play, killing someone, and destroying pixels on the tv simulating a person. With Mr. Thompson constantly condemning all video games that contain even a semblance of violence as the fall of decent society or ruination of mankind is a bit much to swallow. What is not hard to swallow, but in fact is something to savor is that the same legal system that Mr. Thompson has been flooding with complaints passing his own judgement on the video game industry for the past few years will be passing judgement on him.

    Fresh Gagh anyone?

    Thanks to Vicshus Smith for the heads up.

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    New Podcast Episode: What's a V'jayhole?

    posted @ 5/12/2008 01:48:00 AM by evermore
    The Sistahs discuss both the unpronounceable and the unspeakable in this week's podcast, and it's a guaranteed hoot and a half.

    First up is MagicMystic's telling of an anime called Mnemosyne. While you won't lose your head over this tale, you might lose a hand.

    Next, Ninjasistah and Pandalicious discuss their love for the gangsters, ho's and bitches in Grand Theft Auto IV. Sure, the game's violent and profane, but also loveable in its own twisted way.

    Along the way, Panda even coins a new word: V'jayhole. You'll have to hear it to believe it.

    Anyway, you've seen the title of this week's podcast. Here are the ones the Sistahs rejected:

    You've just been Panderized!

    We'll Chase Magic Down and Poke Her With a Stick

    Kitten Snot Might Make You Laugh -- Might Not

    Leaving the Land of Noisy Colors

    Cat Girl Chasing Towel Girl? Cool!

    Finding Rare Stamps Might Sound Boring, But You Won't Lose a Hand Over It

    The Best Anime Ever About a Human Shish-Kebab

    Don't Chain My, Uh, Heart

    Radio's Dying -- Except On Grand Theft Auto

    A Very Special ESH: The Girls Discuss Lap Dances

    I Wouldn't Be Surprised to See Myself On World's Stupidest Drunk Drivers

    Go ahead and take a listen to Episode 97: Cops Don't Like It When You Shoot Them.


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    GTA IV Beats Iron Man 5-1 (Or Did Iron Man Win 10-6?)

    posted @ 5/07/2008 01:13:00 PM by evermore

    As a follow-up to the topic of ElectricSistaHood podcast Episode 95, the results are in for that battle between Grand Theft Auto IV and Iron Man. And who's the winner? It depends on how you count the score.

    If dollars are your bottom line, the winner is clear: GTA IV sold $500 million worth of games in its first week, compared with Iron Man's take of just more than $100 million. Reduce that down to its lowest common denominator and GTA IV wins the game by a score of 5-1.

    But hold on there. As some bloggers have pointed out, money isn't everything. At a price point of about $60 per game, video games don't reach as many people as motion pictures. So let's look at those figures.

    Sure enough, Iron Man was viewed by 10 million people in its first weekend, compared with only 6 million owners of GTA IV. Reduce that down and Iron Man wins the contest by a score of 10-6.

    Still, there's one statistic almost nobody's talking about: Time invested. A motion picture like Iron Man lasts about two hours, meaning that the 10 million people cooped up in a dark movie theater spent a combined 20 million hours watching the film.

    Meanwhile, the 6 million owners of GTA IV spent much more than two hours apiece traipsing through the streets of Liberty City last week. They would have had to spend only a little more than three hours apiece to beat Iron Man's mark of 20 million hours of combined play. And based on what I've seen Ninjasistah alone play on the game, I'm betting most GTA IV players will spend many more hours -- even days or weeks -- playing it.

    So I'm calling this one for GTA IV. Not only did they beat Iron Man in money earned, they also beat Iron Man in the only thing that's more valuable than money:

    Time.


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    The Early Bird Gets GTA IV

    posted @ 4/24/2008 10:57:00 PM by Douceswild
    I’ll keep this short and sweet. Grand Theft Auto IV will be released to the public when the sun comes up on April 29th, but you could be jacking cars and committing armed robberies (in-game, of course) hours before then.

    No one should be surprised to know that Gamestop and EB will have a midnight opening Tuesday morning to allow anyone who reserved GTA IV to pick it up when the clock strikes twelve. (Check your local game stores for participation info.) My copy is already reserved and I’ll be in line with bags under my eyes to pick it up. I’ll be twittering the event so if you have a Twitter account, then you can get updates of my early morning journey by following “Douceswild”. If you have the “Twinkle” app. installed on your iPhone then you’ll be able to view some pictures as well.

    Try not to get jacked or pimped out ‘til then!

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    New Podcast Day: Episode 94

    posted @ 4/21/2008 12:32:00 AM by Ninjasistah
    Being Monday and all, far be it from us to keep a new episode of the ESH podcast from you.

    In this episode of the podcast NinJasistah kicks off her editorial piece on the good, the hrm, and the wickedly awesome tip for video game franchises with her take on Super Smash Brothers. Pandalicious jumps in the mix to talk about the anime series Soul Eater a weird and dark tale that Panda swears can be liked to the bastard child of Bleach and One Piece. [Yeah, try to get that image out of your head.] But don't think we don't have some randomness for you. We work a little Paranoia Agent, Death Note,and even a couple of references to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Don't trust me? Check out the titles we didn't use:
    • Panda Likes It Random
    • That Death Scythe Would Be handy Around Plants & Shrubs
    • 11-Year-Old Girls Shouldn't Spend time Around Ham
    • The Chicks Got Pregnant And Their Babies Had Horns
    • Hooray For Incest
    • Shinigami School For The Who?
    • Here We Go Again With The Angsty Crap
    • Papa Wassa Manslut Scythe
    • and
    • Mmm! Catwitch


    And, we want to take this opportunity to let you know that you could win something KRAZY cool. We have joined forces with the All Games Radio Network fam and will be giving away one of eight GTAIVlimited edition Xbox 360 Elites to one lucky listener. Wanna know how you can win it? Well here's the lowdown. One of the cornerstones of the GTA series is the in-game radio stations, complete with spoof ads and spoof segments. It's time for you to do that.

    Submit a sound clip no longer than 120 seconds in the style of a GTA4 Radio Station commercial for ESH. It can be a spoof ad, segment, song, whatever.

    It is up to each affiliate if they wish to force the content to pertain directly to their show, be it an ad for the show or something regarding an inside joke from the show, or to allow the submission to just be about gaming in general.

    • THE PARTICIPANTS
    • All Games Interactive
    • Dead Pixel Live
    • The Bobby Blackwolf Show
    • Orange Lounge Radio
    • Superhappyfuntimeshow
    • ElectricSistaHood
    • MediSpective
    • ChatterBox Video Game Radio
    • Video Game Outsiders
    • Ultimate Quest
    • The Video Games Show
    • Platform Nation



    THE RULES

    1. The entry can be in the form of an MP3 emailed to the affiliate show OR as a voicemail left on that show's voicemail line.
    2. Only one entry per affiliate show, however multiple affiliate shows can be entered with unique audio clips. (No sending the same audio to multiple shows.)
    3. Submissions will either be played on the affiliate show or put up on
      the show's website (or forums.allgames.com) and will be voted on via the community in a poll with the results hidden. Winners of these votes advance to the final round.
    4. If one person wins multiple affiliate contests, a coin flip will determine which show he/she wins, the other show chooses the runner-up as their finalist.
    5. The contest is only open to North American residents, as it is an NTSC console.
    6. No copywritten materials are permitted in the entry - parody is okay, just don't use the original.
    7. All submissions become the property of the affiliate show they are submitted to, as they will be used in promotion of that show.
    8. Cast and crew of the participating affiliate shows are not eligible.
    9. The decisions of the judges (affiliate show hosts at the affiliate level, All Games Radio at the final level) is final.


    THE SCHEDULE
    • Sunday, April 20th: Submission period opens
    • Sunday, May 4th: Submission deadline at midnight PT, 3am EST


    You got that? You could win a FREAKING XBox Elite MAN!!!! All you got to do is create a GTAIV style radio ad for ESH or any of the All Games Radio Affiliates and submit it to us as an MP3 with your contact info to this address.


    So fill up yo' cup friends and enjoy ESH podcast episode number 94: NinJa's Dangling Chad Just Lost Her The Game

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    Final GTA Trailer...And Now We Wait

    posted @ 4/01/2008 08:59:00 PM by Douceswild
    I’m sure you all know that the official release date of Grand Theft Auto IV is set for April 29th. I’ve played and completed every installment of the series and I plan on adding this one to the pile as well.

    I’m not going to waste time trying to convince you of how good GTA is. You’ve heard of it and at this point you’ve probably made up your mind if you’re into the controversial video game by now or not. A few days ago the final official trailer was released and now we sit and wait. The problem is…I CAN’T WAIT!



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    Grand Theft Auto IV On Hold

    posted @ 8/03/2007 04:14:00 PM by Ninjasistah
    I'm going through my in box today and you know what I came across? I got a note that they [powers that be, actual game developers, underpants gnomes... you pick it] were going to be delaying Grand Theft Auto IV until 2nd quarter of 2008.

    Big freaking suck on that one eh friends? Sho' nuff! I've been looking forward to GTA4 since for freaking ever, and now I have to wait even freakin' longer because they can't get the development done on time. As long as the added development time and costs end up delivering a solid and entertaining title... I'll deal.

    To help me keep the warm fuzzy feelings that I have about this title the fact that the press release states
    "...the movement of the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system..."
    leading me to think that the game will be released on both platforms at the same time. MMM, yumminess!

    Peep the release here.

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