Magus

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]I recently went back to play [b]Ninja Gaiden 2[/b] again. Decided to try and play through on the [i]Path of the Warrior[/i] difficulty instead of the easier one. (Even though I've yet to beat the game at all.) It's more intense seeing how my health gets lower more than usual, and I find myself relying a lot more on actual skills (and items) than the usual Flying Swallow technique. I've finally gotten use to doing OLC's (on-land charges, for those who haven't played NG or don't know about it), somewhat. The test of Valors are even more crazy now, too. That's where most of my items will disappear at. The last TOV I did wasn't so bad though, but the two before this one was crazy because I had to fight wolves and these flying dragon-like monsters that shoot fireballs (I might have them mixed up.), and my health was decreasing drastically since I'm still trying to master certain weapons and still trying to utilize the OLC perfectly. I've also been using ninpo a lot more as well since I keep finding myself in a lot of tight situations. I'm currently on chapter 6 getting ready to fight Volf. I wonder if the lunar staff would make the battle as easy as it was when I was fighting that boned dinosaur. I'll be switching between Ninja Gaiden 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3 for the time being.[/FONT]

[quote name='Zombie_Nosh'][B]Arkham Asylum[/B][/QUOTE] [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]I'm also excited about Arkham Asylum. It has a similar approach that Batman Begins has with the stealth aspect (which looks quite nice now) of the game (And it looks more polished here), and has The Dark Knight feel to it in some ways. Hopefully combat will be better this time around because it was horrible in BB.[/FONT]

[quote name='Geno3945'][LIST=1] [*]What does Otaku mean? [*]What do Otaku do to be an Otaku? [*]What does it mean to you to be an Otaku? [*]How do you think other fan communities (e.g., sports fans, gamers, etc). view Otaku? [*]What differentiates Otaku from other types of fans? [*]Do you think there is a difference between Otaku that cosplay, as opposed to fans that paint their bodies and stand out in zero-degree weather to support their favorite team? [*]How are Otaku portrayed by mass media? [*]What do your family and friends say about your Otaku activities? [/LIST][/QUOTE] [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]1. Dictionary. 2. I have no idea. Become rabid-like? 3. Become rabid-like? and blood suckin tics that bite your head off in some weird way of talking.. "shrugs" 4. How do I view Otaku.. Hmm... unreas..., too obses..., rabid-like.. I don't know. 5. ???? 6. No. I find both can be pretty idiotic. (Don't let that stop you from doing what you do though. Heh) 7. "shrugs" I don't really pay attention to Otaku's nor the media. 8. Other than watching anime and reading manga, I don't do those other things "Otaku's" do. (Don't collect anything and I don't cosplay.)[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][b]Sportscenter[/b]. Detroit Pistons is number 8 so far for the playoffs. Idiots. I still can't get over why Joe Dumars decided to trade Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. That trade makes no sense to me.[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Good topic. Well at the moment cooking is a hassle for me since I don't really like cooking for others simply because I can't cook. But I'd like to learn how. (My mom keeps nagging me to cook something) I can make the basic meats here and there, but when it comes down to it, I mainly overcook it until the meat is all dried up. I don't mind it, but I don't need people whining about it either. (I didn't ask them to eat it in the first place.) However, once I get my associates at ITT, I think I might enroll in a cooking school to get a bit more comfortable and whatnot. God knows that while I'm watching these cooking shows, I have no idea what they talk about. 1 tablespoon of whatever looks like a cup when they poor it from a bottle, and I'm like "huh". So, yeah, I should probably make that another goal :).[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]BUMP. [b]Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2[/b] - I'm a NG fan, and hearing about this one just convinced me to get a PS3. [quote=IGN][size=1]Obviously Ryu's story mode will be available in the PS3 version, [b]but Ayane -- a fan-favorite from the Dead or Alive franchise -- will also be playable in her own story mode and she sports a flashy set of moves that are reminiscent of her move set from the Dead or Alive fighters. The other character introduced was the beautiful Momiji, a character originally found in Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS[/b]. Wielding an impressive lance and some elaborate aerial combos, Momiji will add yet another layer of gameplay to Sigma 2 that elevates the experience beyond the 360 version. With all this new content, the news is made even sweeter when Team Ninja announced that -- for the first time in the franchise -- [b]online co-op will be available in Sigma 2.[/b] That's right, players will be able to take both Ryu and one of the new characters into the online landscape and battle the endless hordes of evil together. Sounds like a hot date to me.[/size][/quote] Ayane gets her own storyline, and that Momiji person is a playable character. I've never played NGDS, but I'm curious to find out what she's like. And while I'm not a fan online play, however, I don't mind co-op at all. Take some stress away from getting mauled by them cheap ninja dogs. [url]http://ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/775527/tecmo-ps3-action-adventure-untitled/videos/ngs2_trl_032409.html[/url] (video footage) There's another Call of Duty: Modern Warfare coming. While I've yet to play the 1st modern warfare, I did think that it looked amazing.[/FONT]

[quote name='Flyvapnet']Characters interest me much more than themes and plots. I don't look at Yoko as a "fan service" character but rather as a gifted young woman who took up arms against a genocidal occupying military force and fought that enemy with considerable courage and intelligence. Sure, she's got a cute figure; but how is that a bad thing? Her persona -- concern for others, coolness under fire, dedication to prosecuting the war of liberation, savvy circumspection, valorous actions, wise counsel -- is one I find fascinating. Her critics seem to believe the ocean is only knee deep, as they refuse to look past their fixation on superficialities.[/QUOTE] [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Agreed, in terms of characters over themes and plots. (I'm action first and foremost though :)) As far as Yoko and fanservice goes, as I've stated before, while I don't have a problem with it, but too much of it is a turn off. (for me anyway, and I admit that I judged this way too harshly the first time around.) I've only seen the first 4 episodes so I'd have to get back to you about her character in general, but from what I've seen so far, yes, she's decent, once you get pass the scantily dress attire. (And the booty shots of her posing with her gun.) Whether you believe it or not, I do prefer women fully dressed "coughs" You know what I mean. :D But those sound like solid points, nevertheless.[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][quote name='videotube']"This video is not available in your country or domain"..[/quote] Well, [spoiler]FU, too[/spoiler]. (Make it sound as if it's Miciganist) "Facepalm" This stuff is so corny that it's funny. (Is that possible?) Kamina is real silly with this manly-ness. So I can literally skip the episode when the boy goes through his depression stage? I understand that it might be a jab and all, but I really hate depression episodes. Seeing people mope around and sulking for an entire episode get on my nerves with a passion. I rather watch random episodes of something girly than watch more depressed series.[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Apparently fighting enemies with a giant keyblade makes me a bad$$$. >_>[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Perhaps, "the most" I shouldn't have used, but in the words of [spoiler]Byakuya[/spoiler], thinking himself to be able to achieve the greatest rank is a sign of arrogance... "cough" I'm done trippin now. :) Y'all should know by now that anything I say about Naruto is bias-based.[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]I should've posted here sooner since I watch a lot of tv. (TV is almost my life lol) [b]Avatar the Last Airbender[/b] - I can never grow tired of this series. I don't like Aang or Katara that much. Zuko and Sokka tends to get on my nerves from time to time, but I like everyone else. (Except Long Feng.. That guy is an idiot for some of the words that came out of his mouth lol) I say this a lot, but I can't help it. Me being the animation/artwork freak that I am, I always seem to be amazed at the amount of detailed artwork/animation that's put into this series.. [spoiler]The giant turtle-lion is just too good[/spoiler]. More importantly though, it's consistent. And overall, it just has a peaceful feeling to it. I don't get that feeling in much. (Moribito was the last series that gave me that sense of feeling, and Shenmue was the first to give me that feeling.) [b]24[/b] - I regret missing the final episode of the last season because it feels as if I'm missed something. [spoiler]The disband of CTU[/spoiler]?? Um.. when did that happen? While this season is good, I don't really like it compared to the other seasons. Everyone that should have a backbone to do anything are the wimps of this season, and it's just "meh". All these wimpy people are taking away that "oomph" that packed a punch (at least for me anyway) the other seasons seemed to have. [spoiler]Poor Bill... I liked him[/spoiler]. Another thing that this series can do without are these idiotic characters. Each season had at least 2 stupid people that just asked for something to happen to them, and this season is no different, and I wish they get rid of it altogether for once. [b]Food Network channel[/b] - I practically leave my tv on this channel when I can't find anything on tv. (Eventually I plan to enroll in a cooking school) Right now some show about healthy foods is on. Some of the shows that I watch is [i]Iron Chef of America, Everyday Italian (that lady is hawt... sorry), Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Rachel Ray (forgot the name of her show), Guy's Big Bite (I think), Emeril, etc.[/i][/FONT]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]Personally I'd rather Ichigo not continue to make gigantic leaps in terms of power until he's the strongest character to make it to the end. One of the big problems that accompanies the "My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours " trope is that newer, stronger enemies need to be constantly added in order to make the story challenging for the hero and it becomes almost dull to just wait for the next villains to show up. I'd rather he stay roughly where he is (and all power-levels in addition to his) and he just learn to use his skills more effectively, or pick up a few new ones (sensing Reiatsu would probably be handy) rather than just "ph34r mah new h0ll0w p0w4s lolrolfwtfpwnagelol!!" [/size][/QUOTE] [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]As I've stated, powerups can be fun as long as it's not for the same character over and over. I agree, it just grows old and tiring. I blame Goku XD. I also think Ichigo don't need anymore powerups. I'd rather see him learn kido, even if it's a shortcut where he don't need to learn the incantation or something... (those things are stupid anyway) Speaking of story, what is this story about? I probably could've told you what the story was about when Ichigo inc took a stroll in Soul Society. But ever since stepping foot into Hueco Mundo I lost track of it. You can only go so far with a damsel getting kidnapped and being useless. At least with Naruto (even though it's presented horribly) and One Piece, you can tell what the overall plot is. Sure it's simplistic, but it's there. [/rant] Edit: As nice as Ichigo getting the upperhand on Ulquiorra sounds, I still have the "meh" feeling towards it.[/FONT]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]I don't think it's in his character to become selfish and [b]arrogant[/b] like Sasuke, even if he were to know he had the potential to become the most powerful ninja the village had ever produced.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Hehe. I have him pegged as the most arrogant ninja in this series. (Perhaps even moreso than Kabuto.. Can't stand him either.) Even though he knows his boundaries and whatnot, I still say he's the most arrogant. [quote name='Gavin][size=1']As for Naruto gut-punching his father (it's confirmed by the way) I have to admit it's fairly reasonable.[/quote][/size] No doubt it's reasonable. I was just saying if I'd ever punch my old man, I wouldn't live to see another day :) Reasonable or not lol.[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Ah, Spirit. I'll try to remember that from now on. (Watch me forget 2 days later) Anyway, first annoying character. Excalibur. When Blackstar and Death the Kid went to go see him I wasn't annoyed so much because I was laughing quite a bit, and it was funny the first time. Now that Oxford went to go see him, and pretty much repeated everything from the earlier episode, I just found it annoying. Then again, it's probably because I hate episodes that tend to be light-hearted and slow things down. Pure episodes that're made to just be comedic w/o action are the ones I really try to stay away from.[/FONT]

[quote name='Raiyuu']Basically by the end of this series Ichigo is going to have All The Powers (TM) - Shikai, Bankai, Vizard mask, Arrancar Resurreccion, Royal Guard powers...[/QUOTE] [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]It would kill me (I'd crack up) if, by the time we come to the end of this series that Ichigo still ain't the strongest character in the series. I don't know which fan crowd gets on my nerves more. Hitsugaya supporters or Orihime supporters. This whole thing about Toushiro beating Halibel would already cause me to stop reading Bleach if that were to happen, but now people are behind the idea of Orihime snapping and beating Ulquiorra.... Seriously, both of those fights would be like Hinamori beating Aizen.... >_

[font=franklin gothic medium]Just some silliness that some people have pointed out at TZ. When a member of Akatsuki is about to die the coat comes off. Now that I think about it, that's actually true. I hear that Pein came out his coat, so I'm wondering if he's gonna kick the bucket now..? There's some spoiler floating around showing Naruto punching Minato in the gut for sealing the ninetails in him... If I'd punch my father, I wouldn't live to see another day. "Just noticed who the person in Gavin's avy/sig is" (One of the bestest characters nowdays)[/font]

[quote name='silpheedpilot'][SIZE="1"][COLOR="SlateGray"]Really, awesome. Anything remotely like Guilty Gear is okay in my book. Even if it's not as technical-oh-my-god-c-c-c-combo-crazy as Guilty Gear X2 was it's still the spiritual successor in my book. I mean, come on, look at it. LOOK AT IT! Identical game is identical.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/QUOTE] [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Agreed. As I've stated, imo, it's makeup for the garbage that was overture. (It was needed) I'm still giddy at how that 3rd screenshot looks. (That's Ky and Sol btw, XD) The bed of roses and the background looks really good.[/FONT]

[quote name='The Man']GBA for sure brother. You'll like it alot.[/QUOTE] [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]That's not really telling me anything. Thanks though. Boo, you're probably the third to say get VI over IV. It's still a hard choice for me, so I think I just might get FF Chronicles and Anthology again because of the cheap prices. Can't escape being cheap :)[/FONT]

[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"][b]Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence[/b] - Well, truthfully it's the essential collection, but hey, who cares, right? Figure I'd try and work on my CQC skills since I suck at it so much, especially when [spoiler]facing off against The Boss[/spoiler]. I just started recently so I'm no where just yet. 2nd area of the virtuous mission. I do miss seeing all these clips though. I just might buy Subsistence to get the theatre.[/FONT]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']Exactly. One of my friends tried that, using NGE, even though he knew I'm not into depressing psychological trips. His reasoning being since it was his favorite I would like it too. And then he couldn't and wouldn't understand why I didn't like it. Where [COLOR="Indigo"]Indi[/COLOR] started me out of stuff she was pretty sure I would like. I shudder to think of what my impression of anime would have been if NGE was my first real exposure. It's tempting to want to use your favorite shows, but better to try and use something that they're more likely to enjoy. ^^[/QUOTE] [font=comic sans ms]Same here. One thing I truly hate is seeing people suggest NGE to people simply because it "defines" anime, and yet it's completely different from that persons taste. I can understand if they wanted to try out new genres or something, but good grief... My exposure to NGE was pretty much a disaster. No warning about the characters, depression, or psychological trips. Just a straight up "Aw you will enjoy this".... right... >_< I know when suggesting anime to people, I try very little as possible to suggest my favorites especially since they're all on the action side... XD (I'm a mindless brute with a soft side for animals :D)[/font]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][b]Gurren Lagann[/b] - It's not the best thing as people are making it out to be, and it's not as bad as I made it out to be either. It's pretty decent from what I've seen of the first two episodes. I'm still on the fence a little bit about the fanservice. Kamina is an idiot. [spoiler]Hands-off-my-beloved-little-brother PUNCH!!![/spoiler] I laughed and "face palmed" at the same time, because of how corny that was. Might as well've just said JUSTICE PUNCH since they have the same voice actor. I swear Kamina is definately the GREAT SAIYAMAN! [b]Hajime no Ippo[/b] - I haven't watched it recently. Last episode I believe I saw was episode 8 or 9... I remember [spoiler]Ippo being down because Miyata (sp?) wasn't showning up at the gym anymore, and saw what the other guy was going through and whatnot. Saw him Box. Miyata made a challenge.[/spoiler] And that was all I remember. [strike][b]Rave Master[/b] - Well, 10 minutes of it anyway. That was really horrible. Why Sci-Fi decided to pick that up is beyond me.[/strike] That's all. I should probably try collecting some Gundam dvd's since it's not on demand anymore... I was hoping that Sci-Fi would air those... "shrugs" oh well.[/FONT]

So I decided to give Gurren Lagann a more fairer chance this time around (reruns are on Sci-Fi now), and turned out that the series not as bad as I made it out to be. I had it pegged as one of those series that does nothing but show fanservice here, action, wacky, fanservice, fanservice, fanservice... I may have over exaggerated a bit on the fanservice bit. (I'm still skeptical about it though.) With that said though, obviously I'm not a fan of the artwork.. Wackiness, as most of you may know, has never been something I like when it comes to art. And that's still going to be a trait that I'd probably never lose. I will admit that it goes well with the wackiness of the characters (Much like One Piece) though, so it evens itself out in some weird way. Speaking of characters.... Kamina (Hey... It's Gohan XD). There seems to be this hype (bad choice of a word probably.. Bad, Magus, BAD XD) surrounding him and that's fine with me. I'm not really the sensitive type to care about brotherly/fatherly figures (blame Iruka fans lol) in anime. He has his good moments though, however, I find him to be more on the annoying side. He reminds me of Kazuma (Scryed) and Naruto.. somewhat, but mainly Kazuma. The determination and stupidity. Voices.... All I'm going to say is, what the hell, Steve Blum? I never imagined him to play this type of role. I don't know that character's name though.... More comic relief? (>_>) There seems to be enough action to keep me interested though. While I don't think it's the best ever (nor awesome), but it's pretty decent.

Like anime and games, I tend to stay away from movies I know I'm not going to like, let alone the genre. And I haven't seen too many movies because of my lack of interests in movies that's been coming out within the past 5-6 years. (That's a lot of movies I haven't seen. However, I got stupid and curious at one time and decided to check out [b]Superbad[/b]. I absolutely hate stupid funny. I find nothing comical when people do idiotic things. If anything, it just pisses me off about people being idiotic. Mind you, this is the only movie with this style of comedy that I've seen, but I have a general idea of what the others are like. (Stuff like American Pie, Clerks, Napolean Dynamite and Borat...) And with more movies like this coming out yearly, I'm beginning to lose interest in comedy as a whole.

[b]Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King[/b] - I've put in about a good 13-16 hours now, and I've just reached Ascantha with the full party. 17, 17, 15, 14 (Angelo might be at 15 as well.) I'm following someone's guide at gamefaqs (sorry, can't remember the name) so I've pretty much been using this persons character builds. Boomerangs and Spears for the silent hero. Axes for Yangus. Whips for Jessica. Swords for Angelo. It seems pretty basic so far. I've yet to receive a gameover, but at the same time, I've taken some massive damage too, mainly from that yellow dinosaur thingy. I barely have the time I really want to put into this game though, what, with school and whatnot. So my interest in the game has been dwindling here and there. Mainly when I'm going on a scavenger hunt for items.... Especially when the game is really huge. It's still one of my favorite RPGs though no doubt... (FF8 will probably have this spot for quite some time.) I should probably consider playing more games like Okami and Metal Gear Solid moreso than rpgs at the moment lol.

I'm generally not into the sports genre when it comes to anime, let alone boxing. But since I'm a fan of the UFC and MMA, I thought I'd give this a shot and see what's so special about it. I've only seen the first episode so far and I am impressed. Real impressed. Can't help but say that I want to see this dubbed since I really can't stand the thought of trying to read subtitles while trying to watch a fight. I noticed at ANN that Madhouse is behind the animation, and it shows, sorta. Characters look similar to the characters in Trigun. (Character models) That's one of the reasons why I was not willing to check it out. The old look made it seem like all the fighting will be on the corny side. Think Batman: TAS type corny fighting. But when it comes to the actual fights and whatnot. The movement is nice and crisp, and the blows are smooth and, like boxing, you can sort of feel/see the intensity/force behind each punch. (KO) This is the kind of animation I've been wanting to see in my sword fights dangit. (I'm looking at you Bleach animators) I'm not going to say I'm hooked just yet, but I will continue to watch this since that first episode was really interesting. I thought I was going to hate it because of the main character not having a backbone to do anything.