Shinmaru

[quote name='AzureWolf][COLOR=blue']At first, I just joined because it was something OB-related. I really didn't know what I wanted to do with it, so I just wrote whatever I felt like writing. Later, I thought I'd be writing about touchy topics and the like, with my own opinions and linking places like mad. Why? Because one's opinions might be interesting to other people, and linking to places will give those not familiar but interested on a topic to get things rolling.[/COLOR][/quote] That's pretty much how I went about it. I joined myOtaku because it was something new and OB-related. I also figured that I wouldn't have much trouble finding friends, or anything, since there would be plenty of other OBers joining up. I'd tried blogs before, but they failed miserably, since I have next to no dedication. When I first started, I just wrote whatever. My posts mostly followed the basic blog line of "This was my day - comment on it!!!!!" except without the comments. I had never really cared for writing a journal at any point in my life, so I was just testing the waters with those first few entries, I guess. All I know is that they were lame (though maybe my entries are still lame, I don't know!). [b][url=http://www.myotaku.com/shinmaru]Condemned By the Space Pope[/url][/b] - This is my site right now. Mostly I just write whatever is on my mind at the moment, but I try to make my entries amusing and/or entertaining if at all possible. I don't write about my personal life all that much, unless something interesting or stupid happens. My personal life isn't very interesting at all, really. Mostly I just like to rant about stuff or make up some sort of bizarre, confusing entry. That's always fun. On Sundays (usually Sundays, anyway), I do a feature called Shinmaru vs. The World, where I pluck Internet news stories and make fun of them. It seems to be pretty popular, and I always have a good time ripping apart stories, because a lot of them deserve it. However, a lot of the time the actual news stories are funnier than my comments, simply because they're so weird lol. A recent favorite of mine involved bakers trying to spruce up the wafers that are served during communion. For me, the fun of blogging comes from writing the actual posts (I love writing) and reading people's reactions to the posts. Hell, half the weird crap that pops up on my site is just there to get some sort of reaction from people lol. Developing my myOtaku has been fun, because it's resulted in some of the more creative things I've done in my life, which may or may not be more than a bit sad. I think that my favorite is either the 4,128th Post Spectacular (or whatever arbitrary number I decided to celebrate lol) or that one post where I pretended to be incredibly depressed, and then revealed that I was sad over Sonic Blaster not being #1 anymore. I caught a lot of **** for that one. :D Anyway, I just try to make my site as entertaining as possible. Whether I'm updating about my personal life, or just raving about nonsense, I hope people have a decent time reading it. I know that I have a good time reading most of the sites that are on my buddy list. :)

[quote name='James][color=#B0251E']Maybe we can add something into people's profiles that lists their previous username.[/color][/quote] I hope that this doesn't apply to those who don't want their old (and embarrassing) user names to become public knowledge. Ahem.

[quote name='Generic NPC #3']Blue Storm is an absolutely excellent game that I think a lot of people didn't give enough of a chance. The control in Wave Race 64 was good, but largely because it was very "turn on a dime" in design. Blue Storm seems to be far more picky about things and I like that. If you customize your rider's abilities, some of them don't control much different than in the original game.[/quote] Oh well, I guess it's not my thing for the most part. I'm not really into the more realistic controlling racers like Gran Turismo and the like (though I'm not sure how accurate a comparison that would be, control-wise, since I haven't played Blue Storm in a while lol). I was expecting a more arcade-like experience than I got. I like Mario Party 2 more than the original Mario Party. First of all, those annoying "twirl the control stick" minigames were abolished. The palms of my hands were very happy about that. For the most part I liked the minigames and boards more, as well. I also really liked the cutscenes that came after the games were over (especially the pirate swordfight cutscene lol). [quote]The gameplay is repetitive, annoying...[/quote] I don't know, that describes Kingdom Hearts pretty well. :P

[quote name='ThatOneOddDude']Zelda the Wind Waker wasn't NEARLY as good as Ocarina of Time. Though, all of these aren't really big "dissapointments".[/quote] That's like saying Ocarina of Time isn't nearly as good as A Link to the Past - it might be true, but who cares? Also, I'll have to ask people to include more reasoning in their posts. If everyone is just going to post lists of disappointing sequels, then the thread isn't really going to get anywhere. If you talk about [i]why[/i] you think that certain sequels were disappointing, then we'll have a nice discussion on our hands. :) This is kind of a tough question, because there are a lot of disappointing games in certain series that people may or may not consider 'sequels' to earlier games in the series. For example, how many people would consider Star Fox Adventures a sequel to StarFox 64? I don't know that I would, especially since they're [i]very[/i] different games. Right now I'm looking at my collection of GameCube games, and one game is sticking out - Wave Race: Blue Storm. Wave Race 64 was a fun racing game, and I really enjoyed it the few times that I rented it. I was pretty excited when my dad bought Wave Race: Blue Storm, but my excitement quickly turned to disappointment. The once fluid control controls of the original Wave Race were now really difficult to control, making it extremely frustrating to win races. Also, it seemed to me that the courses didn't evolve as much as they should have - it was a bit like going through the same old courses again. Just about the only aspect I really liked about the game was the graphics, which were definitely beautiful at the time. Other than that, though, the game was a pretty big step down from Wave Race 64. There are probably tons more disappointing sequels, but that leapt to mind first lol.

There's a thread about this [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=40830][b]here[/b][/url], which should be full of information about both systems. Also, there are individual threads on the two systems [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=36436][b]here (Nintendo DS)[/url][/b] and [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=32057][b]here (PSP)[/url][/b]. Both should have plenty of info, though neither of them have been posted in for a while...if you'd like to post about the DS or the PSP, do it in one of those threads, thanks. :) Thread Closed

Beck is awesome. His sound is pretty different from what I usually listen to, but it's different in a really great way. Though I've heard a slew of his songs, I only have [i]Odelay[/i] and [i]Midnite Vultures[/i]. I've been meaning to buy his other albums for a while now, but lack of money is always an issue. Being cheap (most of the time) really sucks. I have the Hell Yes EP (courtesy of El Generico), and it's extremely fun to listen to. If [i]Guero[/i] ends up being better than that, then it'll be a damn good album. Here's hoping I actually have money when it's released! :p

When I was in middle school, I was an asshole, plain and simple. I'd get mad at things every five seconds, I'd yell, I'd curse, and I would just be a surly little bastard 24/7. Being a teenager will do that to you, I guess. Now I don't really get angry as much, because I have a sense of humor about things. People could say whatever the hell they want about me, and I wouldn't flinch at all. I [i]do[/i] get sort of annoyed when someone starts making fun of my family ([i]especially[/i] when they don't know them), but not nearly as badly as I used to. Mostly it's just stupid kids saying "Dude your mom is a slut!!!!!" Not really much to get worked up about at all; every time I hear something like that, I always think of Professor Farnsworth from Futurama: "Enough about your promiscuous mother, Hermes." Professor Farnsworth can help solve the greatest of life's problems.

[QUOTE=Generic NPC #3]I would like to lose some weight. I'm not fat at all, I'm just definitely above where I'd like to be at at this point. Obviously not being where you'd like to be affects your attitude in that regard negatively for anyone. I don't dwell on it, really, but it's definitely something I'd feel a lot better about once it is taken care of. I don't really feel "bad" about myself in any other way really. I certainly could look far worse.[/QUOTE] That's pretty much were I stand, though I've lost a bit of weight over the past couple of months. When I visited a few old friends at my high school recently, they kept telling me that I looked a lot skinnier o_O; I honestly didn't think I looked that much different, but whatever lol. My appearance doesn't really affect my self-esteem very much anymore. I have a bunch of physical quirks that I used to feel really insecure about, but I just poke fun at them now. When you really get down to it, skinny wrists, big feet, and bumps that run up and down your arms aren't really that much to get riled up about lol.

I've had déjà vu so many times in my life that it almost seems routine when it happens. I'll be sitting around, and then there's this five-second window where I get the distinct feeling that I've experienced that [i]exact[/i] moment before (whether in a dream or somewhere else). I've probably had about 12-15 such experiences in my life that I can recall. My memory isn't very good, so there might be more that I'm forgetting lol.

[quote name='MistressRoxie][color=#9933ff']I don't really have to many strange fears, but I have a problem with being on the edge of something at a high height. For instance, when I'm in the mall on the second floor, I can't be near the railing because I'm afraid I'm going to fall over. If I'm high up in a glass building, I either don't look at the stuff below, or stay away from the glass. I get afraid that someone will push me through the glass becausee I'm skinny. V_V[/color][/quote] Boy, I'm glad that I'm not the only one lol. I can't be near the edge of [i]anything[/i], or else I will start freaking out. Heights scare the hell the out of me. Just thinking about heights is making my arms feel all weird and tingly. Blah. Strangely enough, I can go on airplanes and roller coasters without any problem. I don't have any other phobias that I know of. I guess the only thing that would come close would be poisonous snakes, but there aren't very many of them at all down here, so whatever lol.

The trailer is awesome, the game actually looked better than I expected. And I was expecting it to look damn gorgeous, mind. lol Before, I was excited about the game, but maybe not [i]quite[/i] as much as most, since I was still getting over the disappointment of the Wind Waker style not being used for the next Zelda. I loved the cel-shading. One meh character design (and I didn't think Link looked too bad, really) does not negate an entire world that looks phenomenal, in my view. But, damn, this trailer has got me absolutely giddy for the new Zelda. The darker layout of the world looks really cool, and I'm loving the wide variety of enemies seen so far. Also, that boar creature that Link was riding looked cool lol.

[QUOTE=Desbreko][color=#4B0082]Am I the only one here who doesn't find Navi from OOT to be overly annoying? Really, the "Hey! Look! Listen!" isn't all that bad of a voice clip (the Cucco sound byte while you're carrying one is way, way worse in my opinion), and unless you're extremely slow with things, you don't get all that many of her little reminders. Personally, I think her useful information about enemies more than makes up for any annoyance she might cause. Which is more than can be said about Tatl, the fairy you get in Majora's Mask. I swear, most of what she has to say is either insults about Link's knowledge or overly obvious information that you don't need to be told. She's the one I want to stick in a bottle and toss into the Southern Swamp; I'll take Navi over Tatl any day.[/color][/QUOTE] They're both annoying as hell. And I can't believe you don't like the Cucco sound byte! I hope I'm not the only one who think it's funny when Link grabs a Cucco, and it's flapping around everywhere and squawking. :animeshy: And I completely forgot about Slippy. Saving him every five seconds gets old. I wonder if Fox ever feels like going after Slippy himself and gunning him down? I know I would.

[quote name='Generic NPC #3']Creep - Scarling/Radiohead - I think Jessicka singing this gives it a whole new take.[/quote] Definitely. I don't care for the original all that much, but I like the Scarling version quite a bit. A couple of covers that I like: "Touch Me I'm Sick" - Sonic Youth/Mudhoney: I like Sonic Youth's version a lot more. Kim Gordon's voice gives the song an edge that wasn't really present in the original. "Superstar" - Sonic Youth/The Carpenters: I've yet to hear the original version, but damn, does Sonic Youth's version ever rule. Tony will back me up on this. It's godly. "Head On" - Pixies/The Jesus and Mary Chain: Nice change of pace in the Pixies version, which is a lot faster than the original. They're both quite fun. I need to hear the Bowie cover of "Cactus" - I imagine that it rules.

[quote name='Zenju][size=1][color=Gray][b]The first movie[/b] I saw in the theatres was the disney rendition of Beauty and the Beast.[/color'][/size][/quote] Yep. I'm sure that I saw movies in the theater before Beauty and the Beast, but this is the first movie I actually remember seeing in a theater. I remember thinking that it was going to suck, because I thought it would just be gushy romance and whatnot. I got a really kickass movie, instead. Might be my favorite Disney movie, I don't know. I [i]do[/i] know that I booed Gaston like crazy. :D (And secretly wished that I could steal Belle.)

?What was that?? Kyle asked. I could barely see the outline of his arms feeling around in the darkness. The tips of his fingers brushed past my sleeve. ?Is there someone else there?? I asked. ?[i]Shh![/i]? a low, grunting alien voice said. ?[i]Do you want to alert the Alderaanian police to our location? Keep quiet![/i]? ?Okay,? Kyle whispered. ?What?s all this about? Who are you?? ?[i]I?m an Aqualish,[/i]? the alien answered. ?[i]And that?s all that you need to know about me.[/i]? ?Fair enough,? I responded. ?Answer our other question, then. What?s all this about?? ?[i]I?m here to help you,[/i]? the Aqualish grunted. Even in the dark, I could tell that he was a bit nervous. Something told me that we weren?t the first people that this Aqualish had bartered information to. ?What makes you think that we need any help from you?? Kyle asked. ?[i]I know what you?re both after,[/i]? the Aqualish replied. ?I barely know who this guy is!? I said sharply. ?How can we be after the same thing?? ?[i]Your goals have more in common than you think,[/i]? the Aqualish replied impatiently. ?[i]By the way, news travels very quickly around here; I would advise you both not to be so brash the next time you go collecting information.[/i]? Kyle and I stayed silent, and for good reason. I?d been thrown out of a hotbed of Alderaanian political activity, and Kyle must have had something bad happen to him, too, judging by his embarrassed silence. ?[i]Now that we?ve got all of that out of the way,[/i]? the Aqualish continued. ?[i]We can get to what?s important.[/i]? ?And what would that be?? Kyle asked. ?[i]The supposed arrest of Princess Leia Organa,[/i]? the Aqualish replied. I was completely dumbfounded. Kyle probably was, too, it was hard to tell in the darkness. We were completely speechless for a couple of minutes; the Aqualish was probably enjoying the silence. ?When did this happen?? I asked. ?[i]Very recently,[/i]? the Aqualish replied. ?[i]It?s been all over the papers. Don?t you keep up with the news?[/i]? ?I was too busy trying to find some news of my own,? Kyle said wryly. ?[i]It would serve you well to keep up on as much news as possible,[/i]? the Aqualish chastised. ?[i]So, you haven?t read the article yet, huh? I?ve got the paper right here. Read the article.[/i]? ?How?? I asked. ?It?s completely dark in here.? ?[i]I?ve got the light switch in my hand,[/i]? the Aqualish said. ?[i]The light should be just bright enough for you to be able to read the paper.[/i]? I could see the outline of the Aqualish stepping into the corner of the room, and then a small, dim light flicked on. The Aqualish stood in the corner of the room, still covered almost completely in darkness. The light only came up to his knees. Kyle and I positioned the paper under the light, and we began to read it. After we finished with it, I turned to him. He was smiling, just as I was. ?This is fantastic news!? I said. ?That traitorous Leia Organa has finally been captured! This is such a coup for the Empire!? ?[i]I?d agree,[/i]? the Aqualish said. ?[i]If it weren?t that simple.[/i]? ?What do you mean?? Kyle asked. ?[i]Take a good look at the article,[/i]? the Aqualish said. ?[i]I mean, really read into it. You don?t find it very suspicious at all?[/i]? ?Why would we find the capture of Leia Organa to be suspicious?? I asked. ?[i]Your questioning skills need a bit of touching up,[/i]? the Aqualish snorted. ?[i]This article is too cut and dry, even for a release from an Empire-supported news company.[/i]? ?Are you saying that Leia might not have been captured?? Kyle asked. ?[i]That?s a possibility,[/i]? the Aqualish replied. ?[i]Or perhaps there is much more to this than the news corporations are aware of. Leia Organa is a very crafty individual. I?ve witnessed a few of her more infamous debates in the Galactic Senate. She?s an extremely dangerous individual, always a few steps ahead of the game. If I know her type right, she?s got something set up. The tone of that article is just too neutral, too final. There has to be more to it.[/i]? ?What do you suppose it is?? I asked. ?[i]That I don?t know,[/i]? the Aqualish said. ?[i]It?s well known in most circles that Organa and the rest of her Rebellion comrades liked to make extensive use of the Bothan SpyNet to uncover information. The Bothan spies are among the best in the galaxy, rivaling even the best of the best from the Empire. They could easily pull a few strings somewhere to set something up.[/i]? ?Seems a little farfetched to me,? Kyle said. ?[i]Perhaps,[/i]? the Aqualish replied. ?[i]But you can?t completely discount the theory. Leia has shown many times in the past just how low she?ll stoop to see the Rebellion succeed. There are many number of ways that she could be able to worm her way out of this situation. The Rebellion is gaining more and more sympathy by the day. If Leia manages to get her way out of this, it will be a huge hit to the Empire.[/i]? ?You?re right,? I said. ?Leia?s probably captured, that I don?t doubt at all, but I do agree that she?s up to something. There has to be something more to this, something under the surface that everybody?s missing. We?ve got to find it, and expose it.? ?[i]Yes, yes,[/i]? the Aqualish said. ?[i]Very good. But be careful about it. Don?t give away your identity, don?t tell anyone what you?re after, stay silent, and stay crafty. Learn to think ahead of the game. Your normal way of approaching stories won?t cut it here, I?m afraid.[/i]? ?Understood,? Kyle said. ?Where do we start?? I asked. ?[i]Where does everything in the galaxy start?[/i]? the Aqualish asked. ?[i]Credits. Wherever something is happening, you can bet that there is a credit trail left behind. Follow the credits.[/i]? Before either I or Kyle could speak further, there was a sharp knock on the door. We turned around, and a muffled voice called to us through the door. ?Hurry up in there!? the voice said. ?We?ve got a bit of company in here! If they find you in there, you?ll be deader than Taun-taun after dark on Hoth!? ?[i]It?s been a pleasure speaking with you two,[/i]? the Aqualish said. ?[i]Remember everything that I?ve just told you. Get out![/i]? ?But--? I started, but Kyle opened the door and pulled me out of the room. I calmed down and tried to act as naturally as I could. My eyes met the bartender?s eyes, and he glanced over at the far end of the cantina. There were a couple of Alderaanian officers questioning the patrons of the cantina. Kyle and I ducked down low and snuck around the room, in between the customers. We made it out of the cantina without running into any of the officers. ?That was a close one,? I said. ?Yeah,? Kyle replied. ?So, where do we go now? That Aqualish gave us a lot of information, but no real leads.? ?You?re right,? I said. ?There?s gotta be somewhere we can start, though.? We walked away from the cantina, lost in thought for a few moments. ?Aha!? Kyle said. ?The Starport!? ?The Starport?? I asked. ?I thought that you said the Starport was a bit hot right now.? ?It is,? Kyle nodded. ?And Leia?s capture has to be part of the reason why. I think that some of Alderaan?s most wanted would be shuffling through that Starport undetected quite frequently. If there?s a credit trail to follow, it will likely start there.? ?You?re right,? I said. ?So, shall we go now?? ?Yes,? Kyle said. ?Nothing to do now but follow the credits.?

I like this piece quite a bit. I don't know what it is about it, but it seems different than most of what you write. Whatever the case, this is good lol. I can identify with this, because I had that sort of epiphany about writing. Essays in school can be okay, sometimes, but you just get so worn down doing them over and over again. Essay writing early in high school can suck so much. It's just...blah, is all I can say. Most of the reading and writing I was doing was for school, so I just got tired and frustrated with it. And then last year, just like you describe it, it's like something 'reawoke' in me. You've got to find time to write for yourself, to find your own voice in your creativity, and not just get caught up in doing things for work all of the time. But I ramble on. I think that you used the superhero metaphor effectively, and it didn't seem too pretentious, or anything. The writing is also strong, and flows well. This is something that I'd be pretty happy with if I wrote it. Good work, Mitch.

It seems to be out on the PC, but a quick Google search (Google is your friend!) showed that the game is on the PS2, as well, so the thread is okay here, I suppose. EDIT: And I'm guessing that [b][url=http://www.magnacarta.jp/]this[/b][/url] is the site that Azure mentioned earlier. I didn't really check it out too much for myself, though, because I can't say that I'm very interested in the game. lol

This is a short story I wrote today. I had an idea for a short story centered around a folk singer (which I turned into a 55 Fiction), but I just simplified that into a guitarist for this. This story originally started out quite different, but then I realized that my original idea blew, so I scrapped it. I think that this is much better. Hopefully some people here will like it. Comments, critique, etc. are all appreciated. There?s a man who plays guitar on the street corner during the day. He?s a tall, slender man. He has a strong, youthful body, though his face is slightly lined and creased. When he plays, his left hand grips the neck of the guitar smoothly, and his long, worn fingers slide swiftly up and down the neck, continuously changing the notes that he plays. He plucks the guitar strings, gently at first, and then harder and harder as the song progresses, slowing down and speeding up his movements at just the right time. He sings along with the music he plays. The guitar notes he plays are mournful and full of sorrow, but his voice is strong and full of hope. People usually walk by him while he is playing, sometimes pausing for a moment to toss a nickel, dime, or quarter into the hat laying upside down near his legs. Occasionally, though, a person will stop and listen to him for a while. Maybe they?ve heard him before in one of the small clubs that he?s played in. More often, it?s their first time hearing him play. But there is something about his music that makes certain people stop and listen, something that they cannot quite put their finger on. The guitarist is not very concerned with this. He is just happy that some people like to stop and listen to his music. As the day goes on his voice gets stronger. It takes a while for him to warm up, but once he does, he sings with a passion and pure conviction that few people possess. He usually plays into the early evening, when people are going to the subway, ready to find their way home after a hard day?s work. Just like in the mornings most people do not stop to listen to his music, because they are too defeated by work and life. However, there are a few people who walk home everyday who life has not made too cynical, and stop to listen to the guitarist play. Sometimes they gather in groups, and sometimes they do not. These people do not leave the guitarist with very much money, because they do not have very much to give. The guitarist does not mind, though, because they share his love of music and that is enough to satisfy him. When it starts to get too dark to stay on the streets, the guitarist makes a quick trip home. He used to go straight to the convenience store to take on the night shift, and he would take his guitar with him, strumming a few songs along the way. His guitar was almost stolen a couple of times, though, and the guitarist decided that he would have to stow his precious guitar at home while he worked. The guitarist always takes the same path to his cramped apartment. He walks past the small crowds of people along the dirty sidewalks with the trash blowing around on them. He shuffles forward with his hands in his pants pockets, glancing from here to there at the various people littering the streets. Sometimes there will be a fight between rival gangs. Other times, there will be a few random muggings. It?s all the same to the guitarist; he just tries to steer clear of them. The guitarist makes it to his apartment and walks inside, closing the door behind him, cringing a bit due to the loud squeals of the hinges. The apartment is small and dirty, enveloped nearly in darkness because all of the shades are drawn. He toes his way across the front room, carefully stepping over the pots, pans, and other assorted items scattered across the floor. He walks into his bathroom, and emerges a few seconds later, making a mental note to clean the room as soon as possible. He walks over to his bed, and lays down upon it. His sheets are very worn, and dampened by sweat. His mattress is old, and some of the springs jut into the small of his back. The room smells very sharp, and the average person would be repulsed by it, but the guitarist has grown used to it. He stares at his dingy brown roof, thinking, as he always does before he goes back to the convenience store. He rolls onto his side and steps onto the floor. He bends over and searches under his bed, taking out a dusty brown case from the darkness. He opens the case and a musty stench escapes into the apartment, and the guitarist coughs harshly for a few seconds. Wrinkling his nose, the guitarist puts his guitar into the case and snaps it shut. With a grunt, he lifts the case off of his mattress and puts it back under the bed. He pauses a moment and wipes some sweat from his brow. A small sigh escapes from his mouth. Deep down he wishes that his life were more than this, but he never voices this opinion aloud. He thinks to himself that he has much to be thankful for. He yawns loudly and stretches his arms into the air. His muscles are a bit sore from lifting the heavy guitar case. He rubs his eyes with his right hand, and walks over to the sink in his bathroom. He turns on the faucet, looks at the water to make sure that it is not dirty, and splashes some of it onto his face. He shakes his head quickly and some of the water flies off of his face and falls to the ground. The guitarist dries off his face with a towel, and looks into the mirror for a few seconds. His skin is light, but healthy looking. His dark brown eyes are tired, blaze with fire deep down. He caresses a few of the lines on his face. He then leaves the bathroom and leaves his apartment. The sun has set almost all of the way, and it is almost pitch black on the streets. The streetlights are on, shining light onto the sidewalks. Groups of people hang out under the light talking with each other, and glancing around in all directions every so often. He keeps to himself as much as possible, and doesn?t look over at the people talking amongst themselves on the sidewalk. Eventually the guitarist will make it back to the street where the convenience store is located. He walks past the spot where he plays the guitar every day, and he pauses for a few moments. A few cars will roar past him while he stands around contemplating about nothing in particular. He?ll sigh again and cross the street. The automatic doors leading inside of the convenience store will open up, and he?ll go inside. The person whose shift is about to end greets him when he steps inside. ?Hey,? the man says. ?My shift almost over already?? ?Yeah,? the guitarist answers. ?I?ve just got to stay until midnight tonight, right?? ?That?s the plan,? the man replies. ?Would you mind cleaning up a bit? I?d do it myself, but I?ve got somewhere I have to get to real quick.? ?Okay,? the guitarist says. ?I?ll do it.? ?Thanks,? the man replies, walking out of the convenience store. ?The mop?s in the back room with all of the other junk.? The guitarist watches the man leave, and then he goes to the back room. He scrounges around for a minute or two, and unearths the mop from behind a couple of ladders. Then, he sees a bucket near the door and picks that up. The bucket is halfway filled with water. He hauls the mop and its bucket to the front room, and begins mopping near the automatic doors. After a while he dips the mop into the water, takes it out, and sweeps it across the floor. Some of the water splashes up from the sweeping, and hits the lower half of his shirt. He puts the mop down, leaning it against a shelf, and he decides to get an apron from the back room. There is a closet in the back room where some supplies are kept. The guitarist ambles towards it, and opens up the closet door. There are a few blue aprons hanging from some hooks on the back wall. The guitarist takes one and puts it on. He ties the strings holding it together in a loop behind his back. He hears a crash from the front room and jogs back into there. A customer stands by the front desk, holding himself up by pushing against it. A few cans lay on the ground. One of the cans is cracked open, and a gooey brown substance is seeping out onto the floor. ?What happened?? the guitarist asks. ?I slipped on the wet floor!? the customer yells. ?You didn?t even have a sign here!? ?I?m so sorry,? the guitarist says. ?I was only gone for a few seconds, I was just getting an apron--? ?I don?t care if you?re sorry!? the customer shouts, interrupting the guitarist. ?You know, this is just sloppy work here. You?re cleaning the floor, but you don?t even have the decency to put a caution sign there. How am I supposed to know if the floor is wet?? The guitarist stays silent. ?You?ll be lucky if I ever decide to shop here again!? the customer yells. ?And do you see that can of beans down there? I?m not paying for them.? The customer settles his feet, turns around, and leaves the convenience store. The automatic doors close behind him. The guitarist sighs and goes into the back room again. He rummages around and finds a caution sign. He brings it back to the front room and sets it down near the doors. He then dips the mop back into the bucket and starts mopping once again. The floor is soon cleaned up. The guitarist puts the mop and bucket back into the closet, but he leaves the sign in front of the door. He walks back into the front room, and goes behind the cashier?s desk. He leans forward a bit. His left hand props him up against the desk, while his right index finger taps softly against the flat surface. A couple of hours go by, and only a few people walk into the convenience store. Most of them only buy a couple of items. A very nervous man buys a pack of condoms. A teenager tries to trick the guitarist into selling him a pack of cigarettes and six-pack of beer. A young woman buys a pack of gum. About fifteen minutes before midnight a tall, burly man walks into the store. He walks around the store, weaving in and out of each of the small aisles. He picks up a bag of potato chips, a six pack, and a couple of lotto tickets. He then walks up to the cashier?s area, fishes around in his wallet, and pulls out a $10 bill. The guitarist rings him up, takes his money, and deposits it into the register. The receipt churns slowly out of the register as the guitarist gathers the burly man?s change. He rips the receipt out of the register and hands it to the customer, along with his change. The burly man begins walking away. He stops after a few steps. He turns around and glares at the guitarist, who is busy fixing a couple of things on the cash register. ?Hey!? the burly man yells. ?I gave you a $20! You only gave me change for a $10!? ?You didn?t give me a $20, sir,? the guitarist replies. ?You only gave me a $10.? ?You know damn well that I gave you a $20!? the burly customer shouts. ?I don?t want to make any trouble,? the guitarist sighs. ?But you gave me a $10. Look at your receipt and see for yourself.? ?And how do I know that you didn?t just screw with the register and say it was a $10 instead of a $20?? the burly man asks. ?Explain that to me!? ?Please, sir,? the guitarist says, raising his hand to his eyes. ?My shift is almost over and I?d like to get home to rest. I have something I need to do tomorrow night, and I can?t do it if I?m too tired.? ?I don?t care what you have to do!? the burly man bellows. ?I want my change!? ?Look, sir--? the guitarist begins. But before he can say anything more, the burly man grabs him by the collar of his shirt and jerks him forward. The burly man pulls the guitarist?s face close to his own. The burly man?s breath rushes forward against the guitarist?s face; his breath is warm and wet, and smells strongly of alcohol and onions. The burly man?s electric blue eyes stare directly into the guitarist?s own brown eyes. The guitarist?s breaths come out in short, nervous twitches of his chest. ?That?s my money you?re stealing!? the burly man screams. ?Nobody steals my money! Nobody!? ?S-sir,? the guitarist says, struggling to calm the butterflies in his stomach. ?You?re aware that the security camera up there is taping this as we speak, right? Please, for both of our sakes, don?t do anything that you?ll regret later.? The burly man keeps a firm grasp on the guitarist?s collar as he cranes his neck to the camera. He peers at it for a few seconds, squinting his eyes. He grunts softly and pushes the guitarist away, letting go of his collar. ?Fine,? the burly man says. ?Have it your way. Steal my money, I don?t care! I?m not the one doing anything wrong here, you are!? The burly man turns and leaves the convenience store. The guitarist calms down and walks to the back room. He takes off his apron and hangs it back up. When he walks back into the front room, the man whose shift was next walks in through the automatic doors. He steps slowly into the convenience store, looking at the caution sign the whole time. ?Ah, there you are,? the man says. ?Ready to go home?? ?Yeah,? the guitarist says. ?I?m ready to go home. Would you mind putting that sign back into the closet? The floor?s not wet anymore, so you wont? really need it.? ?Not a problem,? the man says. ?You have a good night?s rest now, you hear?? ?I hear,? the guitarist says. He leaves the convenience store and has an uneventful walk back to his apartment. The city grows cold at nighttime. A soft wind blows through the streets, and the guitarist raises his hands against his arms, rubbing his skin, which is riddled with goosebumps. He makes it to his apartment, opens his door, and walks inside, closing the door behind him. He doesn?t bother to take off his clothing, and instead flops directly onto his bed. He falls asleep after a few moments. The next day is Saturday. The guitarist sleeps most of the day. He wakes up around midday and takes a walk around the block to get his blood flowing. He comes back to his apartment after an hour and eats. When it is early evening he takes out his musty guitar case from under his bed, and brings out his guitar. He straps the guitar onto his back and walks outside. The sun is almost finished setting and a few stars can be seen. This is the only time of day where any stars can be seen; when the streetlights come on, it makes it impossible to see any stars. The guitarist walks along the street in the opposite direction of the convenience store. About three blocks along, he comes to a stop in front of an old building. A neon sign above the front door reads ?The Music Box?. The letters in the words ?the? and ?music? flash intermittently. The guitarist is about to open the door and walk inside, when an old man opens the door and stops him from advancing further. ?Ah,? the old man says delightedly. ?I was waiting for you to show up!? ?I bet you were,? the guitarist smiles. ?How many people are in there?? ?Not many at the moment,? the old man replies. ?I doubt that there will be very many people in there until you start playing.? ?Anyone else going to play tonight?? the guitarist asks. ?No,? the old man says. ?Nobody but you.? ?Great,? the guitarist says, removing his guitar from the strap on his back. ?Good thing I practiced for a long set tonight.? ?I bet you practice for a long set regardless of how long you?ll be playing,? the old man chuckles. ?Anyway, I won?t keep you waiting, it looks like everyone is getting restless in there.? The old man steps aside, giving the guitarist a clear view of the club. The club is nearly pitch black, lit only by a few blue lights spread here and there. A light haze of smoke hangs near the roof of the club. There are a few people sitting at the bar, but most of the people inside are sitting near the stage, sipping at mugs of beer. ?Yeah, I think I?ll head inside now,? the guitarist says. Before he walks inside, though, the old man gently grabs his sleeve. ?Tell me,? the old man says. ?Why do you like playing here so much?? ?I like playing everywhere,? the guitarist answers. ?I guess I feel a bit more comfortable here than everywhere else, though. I couldn?t tell you why.? ?You?ve been playing here for so long now,? the old man says. ?You?re such a talented young man, it?s a wonder you haven?t been snapped up by some record company yet!? ?Yeah,? the guitarist sighs, lost for a moment, but quickly regaining his composure. ?It doesn?t really matter that much to me. I just like to play music, and to have people listen to it. Hopefully someone gets something out of it.? ?Well, you have a lot of listeners today, it seems,? the old man says. ?Maybe today will be your lucky day.? ?Yeah,? the guitarist says. ?Maybe today.? The guitarist walks into the club, closing the door behind him.

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082'] But what could it be? With a Game Boy Player, you can already play every Zelda game on the GCN. Unless ... a collection of the CD-i Zelda games?[/color][/quote] Yeah, I don't own nearly enough awful games, so that would be nice. :p I wouldn't really mind waiting until the holiday season if it means that we'll be playing a better game. I loved Wind Waker, but there are certain aspects of the game which I thought could've been worked on more (the relatively small number of dungeons, the fetch-quest stuff near the end of the game, etc.). Like every Zelda game, this game has the potential to be really special, and I hope that it delivers.

Ha, wow, it's pretty refreshing to see a nice mix of RPGs named. Usually people just argue over which Final Fantasy is best lol. It's kind of refreshing to see people choosing a bunch of different games. :) I don't know what my absolute favorite RPG is, but my recent favorite is Skies of Arcadia: Legends for the GameCube. At the time I'd just been playing a bunch of RPGs that were nothing but "angst, [i]angst[/i], ANGST!!11!11" and it was getting really tiresome lol. Skies of Arcadia is really refreshing, in that aspect, because its characters are very upbeat, but not to the point where you'd say "What are these losers smoking? :rolleyes: " While the game's story isn't exactly original, or anything, it still makes for a really fun time, and gives you ample reason to want to play through the game. Plus, it centers around pirates and airships. What's not to love about that? Pirates in airships > pirates in regular ships. The battle system is solid, too. There are a few too many cheap one-hit kill spells for my liking, but luckily, there are ways to defend against that. There are a nice assortment of different spells, attacks, and whatnot for the characters to learn, too. Also, the airship battles are pretty fun.

[quote name='DeathBug']I don't have to fake sick, because if I ever said I was sick, my parents would believe me. And probably call and ambulence. See, I never call in sick, ever. Even when I'm sick. I got an award for perfect attendence throughout high school by being a stubborn, miserable, germ-spreading bastard.[/quote] Haha, that's basically me. I never missed school that often, because staying at home is boring as hell. Going to school was only slightly less boring. Plus, whenever I missed a day of school, that would be the day that every single teacher decided to actually [i]do something[/i], and I'd spend forever trying to play catch up. I hate that. So, yeah. High five, fellow stubborn, miserable, germ-spreading bastard! *raises arm in air, and then quickly pulls it away* Never mind, your hand is probably covered with germs. Ew.

I get along with my family pretty well. We're all pretty different from each other, but I think that makes our relationships with each other more interesting. I don't think that I can imagine us all liking the same things, hanging out together all the time, and whatnot. That would be too weird for words lol. When I was about my brother and sister's age, I was an absolute prick. I was mean, surly, and I barely had anything to do with my siblings at all. My brother's going through that stage right now, though I don't think that he's nearly as bad as I was lol. Any time that he annoys me, I just remember how much of a jerk I was. He's a good kid, overall. He has a really, really bizarre sense of humor...it's like a really cheesy version of my humor, haha. My sister doesn't think he's very funny at all, but he's cracked me up a couple of times. He can be pretty funny when he tries. He's also a good video game buddy, and we have a lot of fun shouting random things during Smash Bros. matches. I like my sister a lot. I don't think I was a very good big brother to her at all for a long time, but hopefully I'm doing better now. It's honestly sort of amazing how well and how gracefully she's handled a lot of the situations that just frustrated me to no end when I was her age. She's a really hard working girl, she's a genuinely nice person, and she puts up with all of the dorky comments my brother and I make all of the time. Plus, she's fun to talk with, and she is seemingly involved with at least a million amusing things at school every day, so she has a ton of great anecdotes. I wish my life were as exciting as her's is. :( My parents are cool. My dad and I look a lot alike (I look [i]exactly[/i] like he did when he was my age), and he's gotten me into a lot of the stuff that I like. Our personalities clash on occasion, though. He's a hard working, conservative, traditional kind of guy, and I'm, well, not that lol. Despite our differences in personality, though, we've always gotten along well, and he's never made me feel like I have to follow in his footsteps, or something - he's more about letting me grow up on my own and letting me become my own man. I respect him for letting me make my own decisions, and I respect him for being a really hard working guy. My mom is where I get most of my personality from, though she's a lot more talkative than I am. We both have a very strange sense of humor, though I'm pretty certain her's came about because she grew up in a really weird family lol. Some of the stories she tells from her youth are just hilarious. I'm laughing right now just thinking about them, haha. Plus, she's always been very honest with me and everyone else - I'm always confident that when I'm talking with my mom, I'm not getting any ******** from her. Also, she's been through so much crap in her life, and the fact that none of it has made her bitter at all makes me respect the hell out of her. She's gone through tons of physical and emotional stress, but she doesn't let it get to her. I think that's a big reason why I try to keep a cool head about any bad situations I'm in, because my mom has been through far worse than I have, and she's made it through just fine. So, I suppose the most important gift I've gotten from my mom is the gift of perspective. Lastly, we all like each other so much that we make fun of each other constantly. I always say that everyone on here and on myOtaku sucks at making fun of me, and it's true. I've been burned about a hundred times worse by family members lol. Maybe it's because we all know each other so well. What's best about it is that it rarely gets personal (because we all know where to draw the line), and nothing bad comes from it. It's just a bunch of family members being blatant jerks to each other - what's not to love about that? :D

I mostly stay around because of the orgasmic rush of power and the satisfaction of ruling over my forum that I get due to my modship. Everything else is secondary. But I guess some of that secondary stuff is nice. I still enjoy posting in Play It. Just now there were three good, interesting threads that I replied in. I like posting about video games, what can I say? I also enjoy posting in OB Anthology, and to a lesser extent, the Adventure Square. I don't have quite as much time for RPGs now that I had during the summer, but it's nice to participate in an RPG or two every once in a while. Reading and posting stuff in the Anthology is always fun. Lastly, I've made a lot of friends here, and I just like reading their posts, I guess lol.

I think that casual gamers are getting 'smarter' about gaming, for lack of a better term. The PlayStation is what got a ton of casual gamers into gaming, and it's been almost ten years since that was released. (Side note: The years really fly by, don't they? I only realized just now how long it's been.) A lot of casual gamers who had their first taste of gaming via the PlayStation are basically gaming veterans by now. Hell, even those who got their first gaming experience from the PS2, if you want to go that route, have been playing for a while. There are still a lot of casual gamers who will just buy big name sequels, or movie-based titles, or whatever else, no question. The lower-tier titles, in terms of gameplay, wouldn't sell nearly as well as they do if that weren't the case. I don't know if it's as highly pronounced now as it once was, though. I try not to pay attention to that sort of thing, honestly lol. If I were to guess, though, I don't think that sort of thing is nearly as prevalent as it once was. But all gamers will buy what they want to buy, so whatever. "Hardcore" gamers (though I don't really care for that term lol) still exist and will still continue to exist, though. And as more casual gamers get caught up in gaming, I think that they will start to appreciate more than the superficial parts of a game (not that graphics, sound, music, etc. aren't important, because they certainly are). There are probably tons of them that already do. It's not as if casual gamers are stupid lol. EDIT: To add on to what Dagger posted, I certainly don't mind casual gamers at all. The more gaming fans, the better, I say. Gaming hasn't become diluted with second-rate garbage because of an influx of casual gamers, and I know that won't be the case in the future. Mostly, I think that overreacting because of casual gamers is silly lol.

First off, the arguing about "winning" and "losing" whatever debate is just really silly lol. That has no bearing on the topic whatsoever, and I'll thank everyone to be mature enough to not let the topic degrade into that nonsense. I think that RE4 (and RE in general) does have a lot of the "BOO!" scares. I never played any of the RE games besides RE4 enough to really evaluate this, but I assume that the pacing present in RE4 is there in all of the RE games, like Siren said. I thought that RE4 did a good job of building up tension, but maybe that's just because I've not experienced the series to the degree that other people have. However, I felt that the silent moments, cramped conditions (mostly later on in the game, of course), and darkened areas did the job that they were supposed to do. I'm not going to say that RE4 gave me a heart attack, or anything, but the game was unsettling when it was supposed to be. Maybe I just enjoyed it a bit more, because I like to immerse myself in the experience instead of thinking "Oh, here's a bit of silence, looks like there are monsters coming! :rolleyes: " If other people do that, then that's their perogative, but I don't care for that. Or maybe I just have an overactive imagination, and it forces me to immerse myself in the game worlds more often than not lol.