Goodbye, Face

[quote name='Bombu][color=darkred']I honestly can't think of a better feeling than the moment when you're pre-ordering a games console before its release. Pre-ordering a Wii and flunking my exams would be worth getting that feeling.[/color][/quote] [quote name='John']And if worst comes to worst he can always activate the mall fire alarm and then pop in first in line when the customers are allowed back in. [/quote] [font=arial][size=1]Wii + Felony = best feeling in the world? I mean, if you're going to get into legal trouble, you should at least murder all the people in front of you. Maybe the media will give you a funny name, like the Wii Whacker. :bdance: [/font][/size]

[QUOTE=Charles]Hey, to each their own. But, for the record I never said that the game is "bad." It's ho-hum. For whatever reason, Okami just doesn't click with me; once I finish it I will probably never touch it again. When I think of Okami, I think of a bunch of cool concepts than never really pan out into anything especially entertaining. Although the game has picked up a little since I last made that post, and I really appreciate certain aspects of the game such as the witty dialogue, and bringing beauty back to a desolate world, I just find the game rather boring. Sometimes it's not exactly clear where you're supposed to go or what you're supposed to be doing. Furthermore, many of the tasks you're asked to perform appear multiple times throughout the game within a short span of time. It becomes repetitive. [spoiler]How many peoples' lost dogs do I have to find? Why do I have to keep digging underground tunnels for people? Why are there so many fetch quests? Why do I have to keep performing brush strokes for ceremonial dances? There's nothing worse than sometimes unresponsive brush strokes resulting in me having to restart an interactive cutscene either.[/spoiler] While the brush concept is a cool idea, it just never really seems to amount to anything. Although I have encountered a clever puzzle or two, most of what you're asked to do with the brush is overly simplistic and reminiscent of a first generation DS game. Even worse, characters hit you over the head with the answers to nearly all the game's riddles, and the answers are highlighted in red; this is just during the course of the game's normal dialogue. The game is okay and it has its moments but I'd rather just finish it and get a higher trade-in value for it while I can, unless I decide to lend it out.[/QUOTE] [size=1][font=arial]Yes I agree with you about the red words, they made things a little too obvious. Also, I really disliked when Issun would tell you something, and then you'd talk to an important person and they'd say it again. Even better is when they make you start a conversation with someone for more information after you've already talked with them and they repeat half of what they just told you back again, I really disliked that. There's not much of a point in knowing where exactly you need to be next, because there's usually scores of things to do in each area. The [spoiler]Canine Warriors[/spoiler] quest led you back into Kamiki Villiage for the festival. You never [i]need[/i] to do any of the minigames you mentioned more than twice, but you do have to [spoiler]fight Orochi like three times[/spoiler], which is stupid. Anyway, the gameplay was incredibly varied to the point where you're complaining about doing a minigame twice. In other games it's usually a little worse than that. In my Ratchet & Clank experience, I did not like the parts where you play as Clank, and they come up somewhat often. I mean, if you don't like [spoiler]digging tunnels[/spoiler] after the two times you have to do it, you don't ever need to do it again, however there's always the option to do it for a quick buck/yen later. The brush command is unique, and even if you think they didn't get it right the first time, they have plenty of room to improve. I was kind of saddened, for example, that by the end of the game, you [spoiler]never get the big ice attack that Ninetails uses against you[/spoiler]. I also liked the GTA aspect of the game where you could run through a city spilling ink on and burning people if you're bored. It's a shame that they don't react much. And yeah, just to put a penny or two into the topic, my most recent game purchase was... Okami. I'll just mention the second-recent one, Guilty Gear Isuka. It was my first GG game and I was hoping there'd be more to it, but I read later that it's basically the black sheep of the series that no one likes. Heh. I enjoy playing it with friends, since I'm not amazing at it yet (I have an innate talent for fighting games and my friends pretty much refuse to play me in Soul Calibur and Tekken now). So yeah, I never played the game by myself beyond the second day.[/size][/font]

[quote name='Charles']The last game I bought is Okami. The next game I will trade in is Okami. Overrated.[/quote] [font=arial][size=1]You make it sound like it's a bad game or something, which it's not. It got hype that nearly no game could live up to, and yes, it failed my expectations a little as well, but it was still a great game. It had unique graphics, even if it was just Viewtiful Joe's graphics done more elegantly. As both a nature lover and an artist, the game's graphics and story appealed to me. It was just the right length, the difficulty adjusts itself if you suck, etc. I just found nothing that was wrong with the game, but it wasn't the absolute best game I've ever played either. [quote name='Dagger']I didn't realize that Shadow of the Colossus had the same option until I had already started playing it on my 4:3 TV. Since it's a fairly short game, though, I guess I can always play it again at home if I end up really digging it. It does kind of irk me to know that I could experience the colossi in widescreen glory if I just waited a little longer, but the only other games I have on hand are Jak II and Okami, as mentioned above, and I'm not in the mood for either of them at this point.[/quote] Didn't I mention Shadow of the Colossus when I helped you out with your TV purchase? You know, I probably didn't. Well, SOTC and Jak II look beautiful on my TV, but Okami didn't look like I thought it should.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]So yeah, apparently people have dreams, but I don't think I've ever had one. I blink and then it's 8-9 hours later. What's up with that? I'm seriously interested in like, finding a solution or a cure to this. Maybe it's a good thing though...[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]Soda doesn't affect me much, it makes me a bit on the hyper side sometimes. However, candy gets me really sick if it's anything more than a small amount. Icing on cake makes me... well, want to pray to the toilet. I'm not a big snacker and I usually just make a small meal-ish thing when I can. I can eat some fattening foods, but I usually don't eat much in one sitting. I'm really finicky about food in general, but yeah... Candy makes me sick. :-/ [b]EDIT:[/b] I agree with Indifference with Ranch dressing, that stuff is good on anything. I use it for pizza mainly. I hate it on salads, ironically.[/font][/size]

[quote name='Shinmaru][b]David McCormack and the Polaroids[/b']: Kind of surprised that Kevin hasn't already mentioned them.[/quote] [font=arial][size=1]Yeah, I always forget about them. I'm a horrible #1 biggest fan ([URL=http://www.last.fm/music/David+McCormack+and+the+Polaroids]click![/URL]). I mean, finidng their music is a lost cause anyway unless you're in our little circle, lol. And it's good to see a hardcore band on your list, but where's the Neil Perry love?[/size][/font]

[font=arial][size=1]Well, anyone who has seen my older posts in this forum should know by now that my favorite band is Circle Takes the Square, they're a nice screamo outfit from Savannah, Georgia. Well, I had never gotten to see them, still haven't. Well, on my birthday last year, they were set to play a show within walking distance of my house (!). So yeah, I go there, and there's a sign on the door of the venue saying that CTTS wouldn't be able to make it tonight, their van broke down just after they left the Georgia border and they couldn't get another ride going and still make it to the show. Still the show was awesome, it introduced me to I Would Set Myself On Fire For You, my new second-favorite. I just wish CTTS could have been there to make it even better. So, I didn't miss a concert, but it felt like I did. It's the most significant concert loss to me, haha.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]So yeah, two years ago I had a girlfriend who led a secret life away from me. I found her other boyfriend, her other girlfriend, and I walked in on her doing whatever it is you do with bongs, with a bunch of people I didn't even know. It was over. I was a wreck for about a year, and I shunned everyone out of my life except a few people, and then I broke out of it after I found some true friends who I really felt I could trust. It's taken me this long to feel happy about myself, and I've basically become a new man because of what she did to me. I could write a lot more about it, but it'd seem out of place and it's just unimportant.[/size][/font]

[quote name='Billy Shears][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1]I have also heard good things about [B]the Sound of Animals Fighting[/B] from that Matt feller. Very cool name, by the way. If they are anything like [B]the Mars Volta[/B], I will like it. [B]TMV[/B] is my favorite band besides [B]the Beatles[/B]. I will check them out tonight, along with more [B]Cinemechanica[/B].[/SIZE][/COLOR'] ;)[/quote] [font=arial][size=1]Just as a small warning thing, TSOAF sound nothing like TMV, I put them together because it's a combination of electronica, ambience, and rock music. The progressive element isn't always present in TSOAF, and none of the 10-or-so vocalists sound anything like Omar (I think he's the vocalist, anyway) of TMV. However, yeah, they're a good recommendation for anyone openminded enough to seriously love The Mars Volta, lol.[/size][/font]

[QUOTE=Billy Shears][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1] Oh yeah, baby, oh yeah. \m/ [B]RiflesAtRecess[/B], since you like grindcore, check out [B]Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza[/B]. Saw them live and they were insane and a half. The guitarists are so technical and fast. I really couldn't believe my eyes. Listen to the beginning of "Mad Max Beyond the Superdome", and get back to me![/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] [font=arial][size=1]Yes, I definitely know of The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. I saw them play here like three years ago and I've seen them about four times since then. They're incredible, but really, they're just a more frenzied clone of Burnt By the Sun with random references to Guns N' Roses thrown in. While we're on the subject of Grindcore, you should check out another (dead) local band, The Sawtooth Grin, who have moved on to form the cybergrind band, Cloacal Kiss. Both are pretty stellar, but so far I like the sound of The Sawtooth Grin better. Also, The Great Redneck Hope are fun, as well. They're probably worth checking out. What I really want you to hear are The Fall of Troy (whom I'm sure you've at least heard of already) and Hot Cross. Don't expect to find anything good by Hot Cross on MySpace or Purevolume, though. Feel free to IM me and I'll take care of you. ^_- Another random band that I feel needs more attention (especially by some of you folks who are into Mars Volta) are The Sound of Animals Fighting. They're a supergroup of about 15 musicians from other bands who come together to make music that lies outside of what their regular bands play. Their first album was straight-up screamo and electronica, but their latest album [u]Lover, the Lord Has Left Us[/u] is a weird and beautiful mixture of diffent types of rock music put over electronica. There's also several different languages being sung in the duration of the album. I love it.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]When I have a bad day and don't want to deal with the parents very much, I call up a friend and we go into town to one of two places. 1. Greene Street Club. We really only go here if a show is playing, depending on who is playing (if I know the band well enough, etc) I can usually get me and a friend in for free. If no one's playing, we usually wouldn't go here unless we wanted to play pool or something. 2. Solaris Tapas Bar and Club. Basically, it's a lounge where you order appetizers for a table, instead of a meal for yourself, then you basically split all the food amongst your company. There's always good music playing, and depending on the time, there's usually a couch in the lounge area open. I've spun records there once and my friend sometimes DJ's there. The people there are really nice and you get into deep conversations a lot with people who are a lot older than you. Haha, it's an awesome place, very relaxing atmosphere, nice people. It's my favorite place on the planet. Otherwise, there's always videogames, yeah?[/font][/size]

[quote name='Billy Shears][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1]For any instrumental bands, you must look up [B]Volta do Mar, Oxes, , Unwed Sailor, and Russian Circles[/B]. [B]Volta do Mar[/B] is probably the best one out of the group, so I suggest going [URL=www.myspace.com/voltadomar]right here[/URL] and listening to "Breaking Ribs for Tom Thayer". When I first heard this song, I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever heard. Please, click the link and listen.[/SIZE'][/COLOR][/quote] [size=1][font=arial]I listened to a few of Volta Do Mar's songs and they're sexcellent, they remind me a lot of Cinemechanica, who do vocals, but not on all their songs. Your turn to click a [u][url=http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=8312705]link[/url][/u]. I'll check out the rest later, but you've made me a fan of Volta Do Mar. XD And also, Tony, I wasn't saying that Bloc Party were undeserving of this thread or anything like that. I just mentioned that they weren't Punk or Emo. I don't know if you were pointing your post at me or not.[/font][/size]

[QUOTE=DeathKnight][color=crimson][b]Godspeed You! Black Emperor[/b]- A post-rock outfit from Quebec. Each and every one of their CDs I found to be absolutely fantastic. Their music ranges from ambient, softer tones to cacophonies of instruments to depressing, spoken word pieces and everything in between. They build most of their tracks like symphonies, each one having multiple movements and changing sounds within. It is all very artistic and, if I can be so bold, much more musical and emotional than any other rock or metal that I've ever heard. It is worth your while to look them up.[/color][/QUOTE] [font=arial][size=1]I quite agree with everything you just said. GY!BE is nothing short of amazing, and everyone should hear them. While it's not something I would necessarily sit down for an hour and listen to, it makes great background music. I usually do homework and paint to them or bands like them. I have to say though, I like the bands Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky just a tad more, their songs are shorter and there's just more stuff going on in them. There's also A Silver Mt. Zion, but I'm not a huge fan of what I heard, really. The live recordings I have of them are pretty good though. As far as instrumental music is concerned, there's a local band here called Canvas Solaris who started as a Death Metal band, but their singer quit and the musicians wanted to break out of the genre and use many different instruments. What came out of this were three cd's (so far) of pure Tech Metal. The metal tag might throw people off, so I should mention that these guys aren't a heavy band in the least, they just use a lot of really technical and distorted guitarwork in most of their songs. I strongly suggest that any metal or post-rock fans check Canvas Solaris out, their cd's are on Amazon and they have a great set of songs on MySpace.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]While it's not exactly geeky, I have an extreme love for a local record company, [url=http://tribunalrecords.net]Tribunal Records[/url]. If you didn't know, Atreyu got their start on that label. Well, a band from that label, Swift, sort of saved my life in a sense, to where I would not be the person I am today had I not heard that cd. So yeah, I decided to look up the label one day and I ordered some cd's that sounded interesting to me and I loved every single one of them. While, not all of their bands are in good taste, I haven't been dissappointed in any of them. So yeah, out of over 70 releases, I have 40+ of them. For real. I also have about $100 of apparel from their bands, and a lot of the stuff was actually given to me. The founder of the company knows me by name and he randomly likes to surprise me with free stuff because I'm one of his best customers. So yeah, I have a rather badass geeky purchase.[/font][/size]

[quote name='darkisMINE][COLOR=SeaGreen][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode]I think it's one of those bands that's special, and doesn't really have a specific genre... It's like, indie-techno-alternative-punk-emo-rock. Which makes them even awesomer.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote] [font=arial][size=1]Nononono. Bloc Party certainly are not emo. For a definition of emo, check out Rites of Spring, Moss Icon, Portrait, Saetia, Neil Perry, or Orchid. If you were able to find songs/albums from Apocalypse Hoboken to have an opinion on them, you should be able to find something from at least one of those bands. Also, they are not punk in the least. Again, check out bands like Apocalypse Hoboken, Gorilla Biscuits, Black Flag, Propagandhi, etc. From what I heard from Bloc Party (which is basically the portion of Silent Alarm that I listened to before giving up on trying to like them), they sound nothing like any of those bands. We'll leave it as Alternative Rock. :) I mean, at least they're in the same group as Audioslave, they're pretty sweet. [quote name='darkfactor']all my obscure bands got huge in the U.S. last year, like Death From Above 1979, and A Trillion Barnacle Lapse. So I've had to find some actually underground music. I like Show Bread, Versus The Mirror, and Rose of Sharon. And for stuff other than screamo and hardcore.... I would have to say Blood Brothers are awomse... but their new album is about to make them huge cuz I just so them on the home page of myspace today... friggan myspace... [/quote] Yeah, I tend to notice that a lot of bands that had like 50 fans on MySpace when I first started liking them now have like 15,000 or something like that. A good example would be HeavyHeavyLowLow, they've been getting a lot of attention lately. Also, I'm not familiar with A Trillion Barnacle Lapse or Rose of Sharon, so as far as I know, they could be exempt from this. However, the only other band you mentioned that's anything close to emo is The Blood Brothers, which is ironic considering what you said about them, lol. I have no problem with The Blood Brothers getting big, I love them. I hated their last cd, [u]Crimes[/u], though. They've gotten a huge popularity boost (at least here) with that cd though. For a long time a lot of my friends had the "________ Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck" display name on MySpace. So yeah, I'm assuming that a lot of people have heard "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck." I've heard the ten song leak of the new Blood Brothers album and I'm very excited about buying it soon. It's the first cd by them where I absolutely love every song on it (and [u]...Burn, Piano Island, Burn[/u] was hard to top). If you like The Blood Brothers, I suggest looking up The Jonbenet, they sound very similar and have a harder edge to their music. "Eating Lightning, Part I" is especially an awesome song by them.[/font][/size]

[size=1][font=arial]*agrees with Alan about Apocalypse Hoboken* I don't even consider Bloc Party a punk band at all. As far as my music tastes are concerned, I listen to really obscure emo and metal bands that no one has heard of at al, lol. My Last.fm page ([url]http://www.last.fm/user/RiflesAtRecess/[/url]) is plenty proof of that. I listen to everything from Italian emo bands to Japanese techno bands to Candian orchestras with punk overtones. XD I've yet to meet anyone in IRL who knows who The Assistant is and they're one of my favorite bands. I've pretty much burned their cd for everyone now, lol.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]So, Jake, I went and downloaded the cd with your recommendation and I'm probably going to go buy it soon. I've been seeing the band's name everywhere lately and I can see they deserve how many fans they have (or at least how much they've infected a few of my friends). I haven't listened to the whole cd yet, but I really love it so far. I don't really have anything specific to say about it yet, but I hate seeing your threads barren.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]My parents love going crazy for Halloween. I'm sure I told this story on OB before, but basically, we pick a theme and decorate the house with it every year. We do it so well that it makes the news nearly every year. People come from out of state to see us (they have relatives who told them about us or they've been here and moved out of state, you get the idea) and we also get to little brats grow up into college students. Even people too old to trick-or-treat (like aforementioned college guys) visit us to see what we did to the house, lol. Last year, we did kind of a chemical radiation theme, my dad parked his white SUV in the lawn, put a rotating light and siren on it, then we stuffed up some clothes and put them under blankets for patients. We even had a stretcher, lol. Here's some pictures I took during the day while my parents were still working on it: [URL=http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hallow1cs6.jpg][IMG]http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3847/hallow1cs6.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hallow2wr1.jpg][IMG]http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8519/hallow2wr1.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hallow3km9.jpg][IMG]http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/1764/hallow3km9.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]I have some crazy sleeping disorder that keeps coming and going randomly, and it keeps me up to where I can't sleep at all some nights. I usually hardly have enough energy for school, and this kind of prevents me from keeping a job. Also, I have a lot of homework this school year and it's like a job in itself (which is why you guys are hardly seeing me on here now). So how do I get paid? I mow lawns on the weekends. It's the Southeastern region of the US, people are frickin' lazy and were paying my parents 30bux for mowing their lawn. Now I'm doing about half of my parents' lawns in their stead. It's a great business and a great way to wake up and also a great workout when i can't get someone to go with me to the gym. Prior to that, I worked for like a month at a games store like half an hour away from my house right afterschool. I had to get a ride from school (this was ninth grade) to make it on time. With my arrival, I hosted tournaments at the place. However, after that month, my boss decided games weren't for him and he sold his store. The new manager comes in and fires all of the employees and hires his sons and I was jobless for the summer.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]My friend had a relationship where her boyfriend did not want anyone to know about their relationship. She could not see his parents or any of his friends, etc. To put it frankly, she wasn't incredibly pleasing to the eye and he liked her somewhat but he didn't want to be embarrassed by her. Maybe it's something similar here, because you're inexpereinced, he might feel that way. You know, [i]maybe[/i]. And yeah, I've never knocked teeth with a girl, lol. Don't press so hard.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]Man, I had Shadow of Destiny at one point but I somehow lost it. I got it used and it was just the disc in a small clear case. :-/ I remember I loved the game until I got stuck the first tiem you go into the past (like, the actual past, how confusing). Anyway, on the topic, I've only seen the videos of the game that were shown on Cinematech a little while ago. I thought that the game looked beautiful and interesting. I guess I'm a little dissappointed to hear that it's not so good. I'm compelled to rent it, though, since I know that most of Atlus's games do not remain on shelves long enough for a price drop. *glares at SMT: Nocturne and Disgaea* Also, wasn't there another survival/horror game a few years ago with a girl and a dog in it? EDIT: I looked it up, Haunting Ground. Apparently this game's canine AI is better, though. That's pretty good.[/size][/font]

[font=arial][size=1]I've been following this thread for a while and I figured I'd post. I agree with James, but I can also understand why Papa Smurf is upset (to say the least, lol) about the controls. We, as regular ol' gamers, have no idea what it's actually going to feel like when we swing the sword in the game. I mean, Nintendo obviously tested it out and they wouldn't have gone through with it if they weren't satisfied with how it felt. If they like it enough to make it a reality on the Wii, it's fine with me and I'm happy to try it out. What I'd like to see is the option to say, toggle the use of the remote as the sword, just to appease people like Smurf. I dont' see how that could really be hard, considering that they had basically the whole game done without that feature. I mean, all they'd really have to do is flip a switch in the game to make the sword go back to the A button, right?[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]I can see where they're going with the system and as a TCG player myself, I like the idea. I'd just rather see it implemented as say... an add-on for an existing console... than as a seperate thing for $100 run by people I don't know anything about. Personally, I'd love to play a Magic: the Gathering game with my own cards, not having to re-purchase my collection in virtual form. That'd be nice to see, if it were possible.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]*has been playing this game all weekend and is now about 50 hours in* No, I haven't played Viewtiful Joe on the DS, but I really wanted it a while back and I'm just getting some of my own money, as I paid off the debt with the parents. Thank you for reminding me about the game, I might go buy it after FFXII and New SMB. Graphically, the guardian sapling moments are probably the best parts of the game. Too bad there's so few of them. However, the big "wow" moments for me were the humor put in the deities who give you new brush techniques. There's one that drinks a whole bunch of Saki until it gets drunk and then starts talking. There's also a cat god that bats around Issun with its paws. XD Also, I'm sure you've reached a boss battle by now. Some of them are really intense, such as [spoiler]Ninetails, which can also use brush techniques against you. You have to burn its tails with the torches above and then it raises a sword and you have to make lightning strike it, the fox then separates into a pixie for each one of its remaining tails and you have to kill them in various ways.[/spoiler] Another main thing I love about the game is that there's all these false endings, in a sense. You start off thinking that a certain enemy further up the road is the end goal, but it keeps surprising you. They make these bosses that you thought were a really big deal at the time look so small in retrospect. I mean, you eventually go on to fight [spoiler]the root of all evil itself[/spoiler]! Well, that's what I'm assuming anyway, as the game basically said that after I beat the boss I mentioned above. >_> So yeah, this game really likes to surprise you, and I think that's the best think about it. I also love all the Viewtiful Joe references, there's also a character who exclaims "Let's rock, baby!" as a homage to Devil May Cry. Fun stuff.[/font][/size]

[font=arial][size=1]I alos agree that the stylus would've been a better choice, however I can surely understand that the graphics were made for the PS2's capabilities and would not translate well elsewhere. I'm now 17[COLOR=SlateGray]![/COLOR] hours into the game. Granted, there've been a few wasted hours where I've had the game on and had to walk away or something, but I'm now exploring the whole area I've been able to unlock and just figuring out what I should do next. There's seemlingly a million different ways to get through all the events.[/size][/font]