Shinmaru

Great looking poster. Helps quite a bit that you have such a sexy bunch of aliens as your main monsters ;) I really, really like the whole feel of it, you nailed the 50s sci-fi movie motif extremely well, in my opinion. And I seriously think that the aliens came out very well, they looking extremely B-movie-ish (I know you'll take that as a compliment lol). And like you told me just now, the humans really add a lot of this piece; the whole thing just rocks.

I figured I should respond to the three of you, because I'm glad you took an interest in the story, and I felt I owed it to you to respond. [QUOTE=Godelsensei][COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]I like how you fail to include the name of the character, or those of any of his friends, hobbies, or interests, yet still manage to give us a clear depiction of his character. You don't feel like you're missing anything after reading this, and I found myself summing up the presence of the girl to either insanity or some strange effect of his claustrophobia.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Yeah, I never really think about any of that stuff while I'm writing a story, it just sort of comes out. It's usually not until I take a look back at it that I realize any of these little quirks and stuff. For this I didn't really realize that I hadn't given the main character a name or anything until the very end lol. [QUOTE=Hevn][COLOR=RoyalBlue][SIZE=1][B]*breathes heavily* That slowly killed me. This story somehow live up to its title, lol. The fact that the story went by tardily and you went into so much detail made me feel in touch with my own claustrophobia. It's really scary if you think about it and if you have the fear and can relate to it. I was amused in the end though. Good job ^_~ [/B][/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Thanks, that's part of what I was going for. I'm not really claustrophobic, myself, so I had no idea whether or not I really nailed the feeling of actual claustrophobia(or metaphoric claustrophobia, as the case is). Good to see that I nailed it somewhat well. [quote name='KarmaOfChaos][color=deeppink] [size=1]Good stuff, Shin! There's so much interpretive symbolism. What does the girl represent? Obviously something he wants, but for whatever reason, can't have, up until the point where he becomes terrified of having it. Also, it is only when he surrenders that the view of the world returns to normal, which reminds of this story where a girl had to stop fighting her fears and simply surrender to death before it would let her go. Could it be the same thing here, except instead of death, he must surrender to insanity?[/size'][/color][/quote] The symbolism is definitely the largest part of the story. I won't explain it unless some actually [i]wants[/i] me to, because I'd rather people try and interpret it for themselves, but just about every main aspect of the story has some symbolistic quality to it. I don't think it's that tough to figure out, honestly, but then again I thought it up lol.

Yeah, I agree with you on the first point. The RPGs that Nintendo and their second-party affiliates develop and released are usually top-notch work. What I love most about them is how different they are from most games you get in the genre; a lot of the time, you just see RPGs trying to emulate Final Fantasy or something, and it's nice to have a breath of fresh air, so to speak. I finished Chapters Three and Four yesterday after another long session (though not as long as the one on Saturday lol). Chapter Four in particular threw me for a loop, [spoiler]because of the false ending it throws at you. I swear I was really pissed for a moment like "That's IT?!" and then you see the stuff afterword with Shadow Mario and it all becomes clear lol. That was a pretty clever bait-and-switch, I think.[/spoiler] The game is still very fun. I was correct in predicting that with new characters came modifications in the battle system - there are a few new approaches to battle with these characters that were not used in Paper Mario. Also, and I should have mentioned this before, the star power attacks add quite a bit to the game, as they get you involved in the battles just as much as the regular attacks do. I like how Paper Mario 2's battle system seems like a logical evolution from Paper Mario's battle system. It works very well. I might play a bit more today, but I'm not sure. I have a bit of reading to catch up on, but if I do end up playing tonight I'll hopefully be able to post my thoughts in here.

"You know what you're after, right, Davin?" "Yeah, I've got it all written down on my datapad," I said. "There are suspicions that Alderaan has not been entirely forthright with their claims that they've abolished and destroyed all weapons on the planet. Apparently, there's a secret weapons cache deep below the surface of the planet, 'just in case'. Looks like Alderaan is just as paranoid as the rest of the galaxy." "Excellent, Davin. You know what to do - over and out." There was a slight clicking sound, and the line on the other side went dead. I turned off my comlink, and stuffed it into the right pocket of my pants. There was big news to be captured today, and I hoped that I would get lucky in finding it. Today was a day like most others on Alderaan, and I hoped that this would play into my favor; perhaps security might be a bit lax, or a foolish government employee might tell me a bit more than he needed to. One could only hope. I walked up to the main area which housed all of the major political activity of Alderaan. Of course, it was very clean and pristine, more than presentable to the average person. If anything, however, this overly clean presentation of their buildings made me more suspicious than I already had been at the moment! In my view, Alderaan was hiding something that could be very dire for their social and political interests if anyone caught wind of it. And I was very determined to follow the wind to my prize. "Hello, sir," a guard said to me, stopping me at the front door. "What business do you have here today?" "I'm a journalist," I said casually. "I'm here to speak with a few of the local political leaders about a few things, maybe get a tour of the complex. They should be expecting me." "Ah, I see," the guard nodded. "Let me contact my superiors, and then we will let you in." I smirked and took a moment to look around the planet; the rest of Alderaan was just as clean and peaceful as their buildings were. It was as if the entire planet was flaunting this fact to anyone who stepped foot onto Alderaan. I didn't like it, not a bit. After a few moments, the guard tapped my shoulder. "You can go in now, sir," the guard said. "The representatives are ready to take you around." "Thanks," I replied, walking into the large front hall. I glanced around the interior of the building - the inside was, if possible, cleaner and more subtly extravagant than the outside. The heels of my dress shoes clicked noisily on the white marble floors as I walked across the room, eager to meet up with the men who would be hopefully answering all of my questions. "Good afternoon, Mr. ...Madine, is it?" A tall, regal-looking old man asked me. "Yes, sir," I answered. "I'm the reporter from Coruscant. I'd like to ask you a few questions and perhaps take a tour of the building, if that's okay with you?" "Yes, yes, I have no issues with that," the old man said. "Today is not a very busy day here, as most of our major political players are abroad at the moment. I'm afraid you won't see very many people of influence today." He let out a small chuckle, as if he found this fact very amusing. I knew at once that I would not be very fond of this person, but I decided to put up with him for the sake of my story. "So, where do we start?" I asked. A few hours later, I was not any closer to where I wanted to be than when I had started. The old man had showed me nothing of major interest; I could've gone on any random tour beforehand and saved all of the time I had just wasted. Of course, I wasn't expecting anyone to show me stockpiles of weaponry or any really valuable information. Still, I was hoping to get a glimpse of something, perhaps catch them off guard for the one moment that would give me reason enough to continue on this chase of mine. When we finished with our tour, the old man led me back to the front of the building. He might as well have been grabbing onto my nose and pulling me along with him. I wasn't very fond of being led by the hand the entire time, but it just went to show just how sanctimonious the whole lot of them really were. I didn't trust them in the least. "I do hope that you enjoyed the tour of the building," the old man said, smiling graciously. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask them right now." I somehow drove back the urge to smile to myself, but I was pleased nonetheless at the opportunity. Perhaps I'd find something out right now. "Yes, I would like to ask a few questions, if you don't mind," I said, making sure to take out my datapad. "I'll be recording the conversation, of course, if you have no qualms against that." "Er," the old man said. "Of course I don't have any problems with that. Go right ahead." "The building is nice," I started. "How long have you been working here?" "I've been working here for many years," the old man replied. "I'm not sure of the exact number, though I would say that it's a bit over thirty." "I see," I said. "And you've been treated well during your time here? No grievances, nothing unfair ever happen to you?" "Oh no," the old man said. "Everyone here has been nothing but kind to me all these years. I feel I am among not just friends, but family." "And not once have you bared witness to any...strange activities?" I asked, taking a slight chance with this question. "That would depend on what you mean by 'strange activities'," the old man replied. His tone was a bit less wizened and bit more hard this time. I made note of this. "Never mind for now," I said. "You mentioned earlier that many important political figures would not be in today?" "That is correct, sir," the old man said. "Do you happen to know where Senator Bail Organa is?" I asked politely. "The Senator is in Coruscant, taking part in the Imperial Senate," the old man replied. "He rarely makes the journey back home to Alderaan." "I see," I said. "Understandable, I suppose. And where is Senator Leia Organa?" "I'm sorry but I cannot answer that question," the old man said. "That is classified information." "Classified information?" I asked. "Surely the Senator is on Coruscant...? Unless there is something that the rest of the galaxy is not aware of..." "I'm not privy to information of that sort," the old man said, backtracking slightly. "I cannot answer your question, young man." "Are you quite certain of that?" I asked innocently. "I'd hate to be led on by an important public figure such as yourself. I think that I deserve to hear the truth, don't you agree?" "The truth is what you are hearing, sir," the old man replied sharply. "I do not know what you are speaking of, thus, I cannot answer your question!" "So you are not aware of certain rumors floating around the galaxy?" I asked. "It would depend on what rumors you are speaking of," the old man answered. "I'm sure that you know what I'm talking about," I said. "More people would know what we're talking about if it weren't all just rumor." "[i]I[/i] don't know what you're talking about," the old man inisisted. "You do," I replied. "And I wish that you would stop dodging the questions, and give me a straight answer - unless, that is, the implications of those answers would be far too dire for anyone to comprehend." Apparently the old man did not know what to think of this, but I did not have very much time to dwell on my slight victory. "Guards!" the old man yelled. "Please take this man away! He is quickly becoming very disruptive to the environment of the building!" Before I knew it, guards swooped down upon me, grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me out of the building, throwing me out onto the ground. "I'm sorry, but you are no longer welcome here," the guard said. "Please leave this place." I got up, dusted myself off, and walked away of the building. There was definitely something up; I knew suspicions actions when I saw them. I also knew that I would have to dig, scratch and claw my way to any available information, because I knew that there was much more to this than meets the eye. I wanted the story, and I wanted the faithful citizens of the Empire to know the truth. through whatever means necessary.

I bought the game today, and I've been having a hell of a time with it. If the game remains as fun and hilarious as it was during my first playthrough today, then this game will easily become my favorite GameCube release of the year. Probably one of the top games on the system, as well. The graphics are great. Just like any other game with fantastic graphics, screens and even video don't do the game justice at all. You really have to see the game for yourself in person to see how fantastic they truly are. The moments where a ton of enemies are all on screen at once are very impressive, as well. The enemies will all be on screen, bouncing around like they're on speed or something, and the frame rate will not waver for even a moment. It's quite cool. Battle system is by and large the same as Paper Mario's thus far. I'm on Chapter Two, and I've not really seen any significant changes to it, but it's not like Paper Mario's battle system was a piece of junk. I'm assuming that some of the other characters you acquire later on in the game will bring some different styles of attacking to the battle system, though. The audience is pretty fun. I've not amassed that many people, myself (because I ran away from a few battles during one of the levels since I lacked the proper items needed to beat certain enemies lol), but I've gotten a couple of good crowds going. The crowds can get really loud if you get everything going well for you, especially if you're able to get three-in-a-row in the roulette parts of battles. Obviously, that helps quite a bit, heh. Levels have been good so far. Nothing amazingly difficult, but nothing really easy, either. The difficulty has been fairly balanced thus far. There were a couple of frustrating moments that diminished the amount of fun I was having a bit, but it's nothing too major. Lastly, I must mention that the game is simply hilarious. The dialogue is well-written, sharp and generally laugh out loud funny. I wish that there were more RPGs like this released, because I generally enjoy humor more than melodrama. I hope that's not just me. There are just several great, funny scenes I've seen in the game so far, and I'm not even that far into it (I haven't even started the third chapter yet). I think that my favorite moments so far are [spoiler]Luigi's bizarre stories about the adventure he's going on that mirror Mario's adventure, every single second of Bowser's scenes, Madame Flurrie kissing Mario, and the Pianta thugs beating people up while Mario talks to Toadsworth in the beginning of the game.[/spoiler] Those are by no means the only funny scenes in the game so far, though, because there's tons of great stuff. Nintendo simply rocks when it comes to releasing humorous RPGs (Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, in case you need proof of their track record :p). The game is definitely recommended, especially if you're starving for great RPGs on the GameCube. I've been looking forward to the game for months and so far the game has easily managed to live up to my mile-high expectations. Consider this: When I was playing the game today, the time flew by like nothing; I was extremely surprised to find out I'd played the game for seven and a half hours. That hasn't happened to me in a long while, heh.

I finally stopped being lazy, and decided to comment on the story. Yay! I like it a lot so far. I've always enjoyed your style of writing (I still have to finish the other story you sent me a while ago...), and I enjoy this quite a bit. There's a lot of humor that I like, and at the same time, it goes a bit deeper with insights into Winnie and Nobuhiro's characters. You blend everything together fairly well. I'm looking forward to the next part.

This is a short story that I've been working on for the past week and a half, though I did most of the work on it today. I think it's still a bit rough around the edges, but I also think that other people would be a better judge of that than I am. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy the story. I?d just seen the most beautiful woman that I could ever imagine seeing. She was tall, about the same height as me, with long brown hair, dazzling brown eyes and a perfect face. She walked very seductively, yet also with an air of detached calm. I was mesmerized by her. I knew that my chances of even slowing her down long enough to speak with her for a few seconds were slim to none, but I decided to throw caution into the wind and at least try catching up with her. I didn?t think that it would hurt at all, seeing as I had plenty of break time in between my classes. She walked through the library?s automatic doors and went off towards the elevators, which were a bit off to the right. I stopped before the mat in front of the automatic doors, and slowed down my breathing. After I was sufficiently calmed down, I raised my head, walked through the doors as they opened in front of me and stepped into the library. I was met with a fresh gust of cold air ? the school library was notorious for being much too cold and air conditioned for most people to handle. I saw that she was getting into the elevator, and I hurried over to them so that I could get on before she left. ?Hey, hold on!? I yelled. I got over to the elevator just as it was closing shut. She looked at me and threw me a sportive wink before allowing the elevator door to close in my face. I frowned and began pressing the up button maniacally, hoping that this would somehow make the elevator rise and fall faster. I hissed softly and paced in front of the elevator, waiting for the doors to open. I could hear people typing away on computers behind me, keys clicking up and down, chairs creaking loudly as people shifted around nervously in front of their computer screens. My eyes floated up towards the red digits in the black box hanging over the elevators. The numbers counted down slowly as the elevator descended towards the ground floor: Five?four?three?two?one. With the ring of a bell, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened slowly, ready to take me to my destination. I walked inside of the elevator, and waited a moment to see if anyone else would be joining me. Nobody came, so I pressed the fifth floor button and waited for the elevator to take me up. I didn?t really know that she was on the fifth floor, but I figured that it was a good enough assumption. I was pressed down slightly by the extra gravity brought on by the elevator?s upward ascent. That feeling always made me slightly uncomfortable, but I?d gotten a bit used to it over time. I leaned back against the silver bar on the wall, and I realized that my hands were quivering; I was used to that, too. I?m slightly claustrophobic, so I?m not too comfortable in tight spaces. However, my mind was on the prize, at the moment, so I wasn?t paying much attention to my shaking hands. The elevator slowed to a stop, and its doors opened. I stepped out into the fifth floor of the library, and took a look around the area. Bookshelves filled to the brim with books were lined all around the room. A few groups of tables were scattered on the far end of the floor, where several students were studying. The green carpet was hard, worn, and felt very tough under my shoes. The elevator doors closed shut behind me and I walked further into the room, craning my neck, hoping to catch a glimpse of the vision that I had seen earlier. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a blur of movement on the far left side of the room. A lock of shining brown hair disappeared behind the bookshelf, and I recognized it immediately. I could never forget hair as tantalizing as hers was. I hurried over to the bookshelf, hoping to catch her in time, but she was not there when I arrived. I frowned to myself, and decided to walk through the bookshelves; maybe I?d be lucky enough to spot her, and I would be able to move in for the kill, so to speak. I walked in between the shelves, glancing left and right every few seconds at the people hanging out on the outskirts of the room. There were a few people that I recognized strewn throughout the room, but none of them were the woman that I wanted to see. I continued walking, still glancing outward at people, when I realized that I had just passed by the same people I?d seen but a few minutes ago. I had not stopped walking, yet it seemed that I?d just walked in a circle. ?How strange,? I muttered to myself, still walking, but now turning my head in all directions, my eyes darting wildly from book to book. A few minutes later I was [i]still[/i] walking straight ahead, yet I?d made no forward progress at all. For every step I took, the hall of bookshelves seemed to get longer and longer, stretching on into infinity. Slightly unnerved, I looked up at the books I kept passing: There were economics textbooks, cookbooks, ideological books, biographies on people I?d never heard of, and more. There were so many useless books here that I knew that nobody would ever read in their life, and it got to me for some reason. I broke into a run, desperate to get out of this never ending hall of books. The faster I ran, though, the more the hall stretched on. After a few moments, it began closing in on me, as well. I ran further and further, hoping beyond all hope that dumb luck would see me through, but the hall kept on stretching and closing. At first the bookshelves had been inching towards me, a subtle movement that I had only noticed because my right foot accidentally clipped the shelf on my right side. Now their movement was more noticeable, more frightening. I barely had any room to move now, so I slowed down drastically until I came to a complete stop. The shelves were mere inches from my body now. I was afraid to move, unsure whether or not my next movement would cause the bookshelves to collapse upon me and crush my body. I was shaking all over, my irrational fear of enclosed spaces suddenly bursting into life. Although there were people still talking and going about their business as all this was going on, I felt utterly alone, caught in some bizarre trap fashioned by bookshelves. My fear nearly paralyzed me, but I somehow willed myself forward slightly. One small step was all it took to get me going again. I gained confidence with every movement, somehow overcoming my fears, and I realized as I kept moving forward, the path widened out once again. After a moment or two, I stepped out from the hall of bookshelves and back into the main area of the fifth floor. I had but a precious few seconds to wonder what had just happened when she appeared once again, popping out from behind a column and flashing a dazzling smile at me. Once she did that, I?d totally forgotten the ordeal I?d just been through and marched forward determinedly. I reached the column and peeked at where she?d just been, ready to cry out in triumph, but she was not there. I scratched the back of my head in confusion, and then heard a voice whispering from behind me. She was now leaning lazily against the front of one of the bookshelves, looking over her shoulder and grinning mischievously at me. Normally I would have questioned the logic of what had just happened, but my gut, among other body parts, told me to ignore it. I strode smoothly forward towards the end of the bookshelf, readying my most suave pick-up line possible. When I got there, however, she was gone again, without a trace. I thought this to be extremely peculiar, and glanced around quickly in all directions with a very agitated look on my face. I spotted her once again hanging around by the emergency exit, giggling excitedly at me. I grew very frustrated at this sight, and grew more determined to have her, knowing it would make my conquest that much sweeter. She turned her head away from me, her hair flinging gracefully through the air, and began skipping past each of the bookshelves. I walked along the path, marking her progress as she passed the open space between each bookshelf. We passed about five or so bookshelves before she failed to emerge past the fifth one. I knew that this was my last chance. If I didn?t get her this time, I?d just give up and try again another day. I jogged forward briskly determined to once and for all have my way. While I wasn?t paying attention, I smacked full-force into a shelf and fell onto the floor; a few books fell onto me that had been lodged loose from the impact. ?Ow,? I groaned to myself, rubbing the back of my head gingerly. I figured that I must have been really off to run head on into one of the bookshelves. Yet, when I looked upwards, I saw that the bookshelf was standing on the very path I?d been taking just now. I had not wavered from my path at all, the shelf had placed itself onto my path! I was understandably freaked out by this and staggered to my feet, eyes wide and mouth agape. I started to back away slowly, but then I bumped back first into yet another bookshelf. I whirled around in a panic, desperately trying not to believe what was happening to me at the moment. ?Okay,? I said to myself. ?Don?t worry about a thing, this is all just some kind of crazy hallucination?just close your eyes for a few moments, open them again, and everything will be all better.? I closed my eyes, waited a few moments, and then opened them again. Each shelf was now closer to me than ever, though I couldn?t tell at first, because the area was completely darkened now; some sort of lid had been put onto the area, blocking off all outside light. I groped around with my hands, trying against my will to not completely lose my cool. I pushed and shoved with all of my might against the shelves, but they did not budge even an inch. I tried everything I could to get them to move: I slammed them with my fists, I kicked them as hard as I could, I threw all of my weight into them with as much momentum as I could muster in the small amount of space that I had. The bookshelves still stood pat, however. I slumped towards the floor and curled myself up in frustration. Everything was now hitting me all at once ? I didn?t want the girl anymore, I didn?t want to be in this library anymore, and I certainly did not want to be in this closed-up, darkened room anymore. I tried not to think these thoughts for very long, because I knew that they would make me go mad when I realized what I might not ever see again. I couldn?t help it when I finally snapped, however. Tears began streaming softly down my face, thoughts of my wide-open comfortable home began flooding into my mind, and I pounded the floor in anger and fright. I got colder and colder as each second ran by, my breaths grew sharper and shorter every time I breathed, and I convulsed madly with fright. I couldn?t see a damn thing that was going on and my imagination ran wild ? I could just see the bookshelves closing in on me slowly, crushing me centimeter by centimeter in a slow, unforgiving torture session. I could feel my spinal column collapsing and shattering into the rest of my body as the bookshelves compressed me like an accordion. My heart stopped and started up again every few moments, and I found myself praying to God, apologizing for each and every misdeed I?d ever done in my life. And then I was back in the light. A crowd of people stood around me, gawking down at my curled up body, obviously wondering what was wrong with me. I was still shivering and sniffling with fear, and I jumped up nervously when someone reached out with their hand to help me back up. The man who tried to help me up threw up his hands in self-defense, likely afraid that I would snap at any moment. I looked around the room wildly. Everything was as it had been when I first emerged from the elevator. All of the shelves were in the right spots, all of the tables were still scattered everywhere, and the green carpet was still rough and hard. I turned tail and ran for the elevator. I wanted to get out of the library as soon as possible and forget everything that had happened to me just now. I pressed the elevator button frantically, consciously willing it to rise faster so that I could finally leave this place. The red digits rose as the elevator rose along with them; one?two?three?four. I was thanking the Lord by the time the elevator reached the fifth floor. I closed my eyes as the elevator opened, taking in a deep breath, and letting it out slowly in order to calm my nerves. I opened my eyes and began to step forward into the elevator, but I stopped suddenly. She was waiting for me in the elevator. She stood alone, grinning innocently and leaning against the bar on the wall. She beckoned me forward with a slow curling of her right index finger, but all I could do was fall flat on my *** as I backed away in fright. Everyone stared at me as I scrambled hastily to my feet, but I didn?t care. All I was concerned about was leaving the library with my life intact. I rushed over to the door leading to the stairs, and ran down them not caring who I bumped into or ran over on the way down. I reached the bottom floor nearly tired out, but I forced myself to go on. I limped comically through the exit, and ran hastily outside of the library towards my next class. I never saw her again. Questions, comments, critique, anything would be appreciated.

[quote name='Mimmi][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1][COLOR=Sienna]Picky ? Us ? *dodges Shin's glaring* ;p[/COLOR][/SIZE'][/FONT][/quote] Well, I know that she wasn't talking about me ^_~ I think that the revision helped, especially the revisions to the ending. I think that this new ending works better, and works more with getting across just how much that she has changed and evolved as a person. She's still a strong woman, yet she doesn't have to assert herself in every single aspect of life to prove this to herself anymore. Like Mimmi mentioned, it also ties together the story very well. Great work ^_^

Excellent story. I think the flashback transitions are fine as they are now. I couldn't really think of any way to make them any smoother than they already are, at any rate. Maybe Alex has a suggestion up his sleeve, heh. Anyway, I liked the story. The description was good, and you didn't have an overabundance of description, which seems to be a fault of mine. The dialogue is very natural, and the characters feel realistic. I'd be proud if I wrote a story like this.

Welcome to OtakuBoards. Anyway, there's only one thread allowed per game, because we want to keep down the clutter in the forum. If you'd like to post about Star Wars: Battle front, [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=39834][b]this[/url][/b] is the thread to do it in. Next time just do a quick search of the forums before starting a thread, and we'll be dandy. Thread Closed

I was mostly referring to... [quote name='AnujSuper9']Yeah, I totally ignored it...it's too much to read.[/quote] and [quote=AnujSuper9]I have a bunch of Link pictures I can give you. And yeah, it's next Saturday. I think it's gonna be pretty cool, so it sucks that you'll miss it.[/quote] He could have easily told you over PM that he had Link pictures to give to you, and about the competition, as well. I'm not trying to be a dick here, just saying that he didn't have to make those posts. Anyway, I haven't heard about any really good Bowser players, myself. I'll admit that I'm pretty sorry with Bowser, and I'd probably get thumped pretty well by anyone who's at least decent at Smash Bros. I guess he's just not my type of fighter, heh.

Okay, guys, let's get back on topic here. Posts should only relate to Super Smash Bros. Melee, if you have other things to discuss, then take it to PM.

There's already a thread on Kingdom Hearts 2 [b][url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=41879]here[/url][/b], so feel free to venture over there if you wish to post about the game. Thread Closed

No Mercy is today. The build for it has been rather awful, considering that it's been months since the last Smackdown-exclusive Pay Per View. Funny that the match with the best build (Paul London vs. Billy Kidman) came about by accident. Oh well, there's the WWE for you. Anyway, here's a rundown of the announced matches and my predictions. Spike Dudley vs. Nunzio: This could be a great match if the WWE lets Nunzio do his thing, which I'm sure that they won't. I really doubt that the average fan is really into this match, considering that Nunzio only became the #1 contender for the Cruiserweight Championship this past week on Smackdown. Anyway, though I think that Nunzio would make a good CW champ, I think that the WWE would be wise to keep the belt on Spike, since his character has really hit its stride right now. Winner: Spike Dudley Paul London vs. Billy Kidman: This has the potential to be the sleeper match of the night. If you've seen him in Ring of Honor, you know that Paul London is an [i]amazing[/i] talent, and especially good as a face. Billy Kidman's heel character is pretty darn interesting, and if he's motivated for this match, then it could be great. I'm hoping that the WWE will keep this feud going for a while, culminating with Paul London getting the blowoff victory at Survivor Series or something. With that in mind, Billy Kidman should be winning this match. Winner: Billy Kidman Rey Mysterio/Rob Van Dam vs. Rene Dupree/Kenzo Suzuki: As hilarious as both Dupree and Suzuki are, they're both bad in the ring, though Dupree is young and can learn. Mysterio and Van Dam actually compliment each other very well as a tag team, and I'd like to see them have a good run with the tag titles. I'm hoping very much that the reign of Dupree and Suzuki ends at No Mercy. Winners: Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam Eddy Guerrero vs. Luther Reigns: Luther is good on the mic, and his finisher is cool looking, but he hasn't impressed me in the ring as much as I'd like. Eddy has been kind of "eh" lately, most likely stemming from the rumors that he's been a nervous wreck as of late, and really needs a nice rest. This should be a decent match, as Reigns isn't bad, and Eddy is awesome. Eddy's going over here. Winner: Eddy Guerrero Booker T vs. John Cena: Even though Cena is over like crazy, I couldn't give less of a crap about him right now. I really, really hate his face character because his raps are so damned boring and pandering as a face. I get mixed signals from Booker T, since one week he looks great and motivated, and the next he looks apathetic in the ring. I'm hoping that the motivated Booker T comes out here. Cena's going to be working on a movie, so the WWE would be crazy to keep the U.S. Title on him. Winner: Booker T Kurt Angle vs. Big Show: I like the way that Big Show's been booked since he came back from his injury. He's looked strong and they've emphasized the fact that it would take an army to take him down. Things like that make victories over him much more meaningful. This feud's been built up pretty nicely (in fact, I should probably take back my earlier statement about Paul London/Billy Kidman being the best built match on this PPV), and Big Show and Kurt Angle have great chemistry together. If London/Kidman isn't the match of the night, this will be, mark my words. Big Show takes the win here, unless there's some kind of No DQ stipulation added in the end. Winner: Big Show JBL vs. The Undertaker: Undertaker gets a lot of flak, but he's still a decent worker, even if his character is stale as all hell. JBL is the opposite - I've [i]loved[/i] his character since he turned heel, but he's still not much of a wrestler. This match has the potential to be decent (I thought their Summerslam match was actually okay), but more likely than not, it won't be. JBL takes the victory here. Winner: JBL

Weird Al is awesome. He's the first musician I really got into, so he'll always have a special place with me lol. Sadly, I only own two of his albums, In 3-D and Running With Scissors, both of which are awesome. Between the two I prefer In 3-D, though Running With Scissors has what is probably the funniest and most sadistic (not to mention [i]longest[/i]) of Weird Al's songs, "Albuquerque". The song is just one long head trip.

[url]http://cube.ign.com/articles/533/533580p1.html[/url] According to this artcile, Paper Mario 2 has undergone a name change. It's now known as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Personally, Paper Mario 2 would have sufficed for me, but this isn't really a bad name. I'm just glad it's not Paper Mario: Attack of the Clones. [url]http://media.cube.ign.com/media/573/573664/vids_1.html[/url] A new video was also uploaded onto IGN's site. It's a decent enough opportunity to see more of the game in action. --- I just want to make sure that everyone knows that Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door's American release is October 11th. I'm really anticipating this game, and I know that I'll be picking it up right away.

Actually, Des, I'm going to go ahead and close this thread. I remembered that I made a Fatal Frame II thread before, and it's not in the archives, either, so it's still open for discussion. Anyone who wishes to post about Fatal Frame II may do so in [b][url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=32945]this thread[/b][/url]. Thread Closed

We already have a thread on GTA San Andreas [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=38009][b]here[/b][/url]. Go there if you would like to post about the game. Thread Closed

[spoiler]Once you press the switch, you have to move through the room. Touching any of the "pots" that are lit up at the time (with the blue light) will put you into a battle. You can touch pots that are not lit up without any penalty. The room is annoying, but you should be able to get through it after a few tries.[/spoiler] EDIT: Oh, and no worries about reviving the thread. We'd much rather you post in a currently existing thread than make a new one, especially if your post is relevant. Makes it easier on us :)

Heh, we should just use this thread for posting about the WWE instead of making a new one for each PPV every month. lol Anyway, I'm a fan of the WWE, have been for a long time. I won't go into great detail, but I started watching about 1992 or 1993, I think. Not entirely sure on that, heh. I watched throughout the 90's, my favorite moments of course coming from the glory years of 1997 and 1998, where Stone Cold Steve Austin, Degeneration-X, and to a lesser extent, the Hart Foundation ruled the WWE (then the WWF, of course). Those were awesome, awesome times. For whatever reason, I grew a bit disinterested and stopped watching the WWE when I entered high school in 2000. And, of course, that just happens to be the year that the WWE went through a huge resurgence and put on really high quality stuff. I didn't start watching it again until 2003, where Raw sucked and Smackdown was pretty good. I'm slowly catching up, though, as I'm getting a hold of some major shows from that era; I'm watching WrestleMania X-7 right now, which is often referred to as the greatest PPV of all time, and I can definitely see it. Awesome, awesome show, and I've still got Steve Austin vs. The Rock left to watch. As for my favorite wrestler...currently, it's Chris Jericho, with Kurt Angle not too far behind. Since I started watching wrestling again, both of these guys have been top-notch performers. All time, though, I'll agree with you and say Shawn Michaels. The impact he's had on pro wrestling is unquestionable, with the combination of his excellent character work throughout his career and the ungodly amount of amazing matches he's had in his career. To think that he's still capable of being one of the best wrestlers in the WWE is truly amazing. And to steer this in a bit of a different direction...how many of you guys are satisfied with the product right now? I think Raw is stagnating a bit right now (though it has been picking up some steam as of late), and Smackdown has recovered nicely from the god awful shows it was putting on only a few months ago. Both shows are about equal in quality right now, in my eyes, and if both can somehow make the jump to putting on above average shows each week, then the WWE will have some more glory years yet to come.

We already have a thread for the next GameCube edition of The Legend of Zelda [b][url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=39540]here[/url][/b]. If you'd like to post about the game do so in that thread.

[quote name='Queen Asuka][color=hotpink][size=1]I have no idea how much I'm going to like the improved sound and graphics quality. I always thought the cheesy old-time feel to it was what made it such a good movie. That's a lot of the reason why I don't like the prequels because they have too much of that stupid "21th Century America" feel to them that every other movie that comes out nowadays has. I guess I could always spend some MORE money and buy the originals on VHS, something I never made myself do in life because I would always just go watch them at my aunt and uncle's, but eh. I'm sure my kids will be watching DVDs and not VHS when that time comes, and I'm definately looking out for the kids.[/color'][/size][/quote] Well, most of that has to do with just making the picture quality much sharper and sound a lot clearer, and I think it definitely benefits the film a lot. In the Special Editions, one thing I didn't like is that too much computer-generated stuff was added in and it looked pretty terrible, in my opinion. Like with the prequels, all the computer generated stuff looks too new and pristine, and that look just doesn't fit Star Wars at all. [i]However[/i], even with that in mind, I still feel that cleaning up the image and sound quality is only to each of the film's benefit.

[QUOTE=Dragon Warrior]Hm. I'm not sure which set I'll get. I know I can't afford both so it's a matter if I wanna go [b]classic style[/b] or [b]new agey[/b]. Hmm... decisions, decisions. I only saw two of the three special editions in the theatres and they weren't all that great. Or maybe I did see all three. Yes, I did :^O They still weren't amazing. Wee! A new scene. Yay! I can live without it ;) EDIT: Wow, I waffled a lot in this post =^/[/QUOTE] I don't know what you're talking about, seeing as only the Special Editions are available on DVD lol. The original movies aren't being released on DVD, heh. If you're going to get Star Wars on DVD, you're stuck with the Special Edition movies.

Maybe you should start out by giving out your opinions on the Mega Man series? Or is that too much to ask? :rolleyes: Anyway, I like the Mega Man games. I'm not a huge, huge fan of them, but they're good fun, albeit a bit frustrating at times. I wish that the series would have evolved a bit over the years, but the gameplay is still solid, even though the games that have been released the past few years are up and down in terms of quality. It's been a while since I've played any of the older Mega Man games, so my opinion on them is probably a bit diluted by now, heh.

To be honest, I've never been interested in entering a gaming tournament, and I doubt I ever will be. I'm probably good enough at certain games to do decently in a tournament (though I hold no doubts that I would be trounced eventually in any tournament that I enter), but playing against strangers has never appealed to me. If it were a tournament with a few of my friends, I'd be all over it, because it's more fun, for me. I will admit that I've been drawn in by the lure of beating my own and other people's high scores, and getting obscenely frustrated when I've failed at it, but most of that was when I was younger lol. I still like going for high scores, but when it gets to the point of me being really pissed off and frustrated, I like to take a step back and let myself cool down, haha. I think that I was a bit more competitive when I was younger, actually. I'd play with my brother (and beat him :p ) a lot, and I was just really competitive in general when it came to gaming; too bad I never had anyone to play with, haha. Now, I'm just more concerned with having a good time when I game. High scores can be fun, but I see them more as a last resort to have fun with a game now. Tournaments, when played with friends, can be good fun, in my opinion.