Gavin

[quote name='Heaven's Cloud' date='27 July 2010 - 09:15 PM' timestamp='1280261710' post='698033'] [color=indigo]I could see how playing [b]Assassin's Creed[/b] after playing [b]Assassin's Creed 2[/b] would be frustrating. The sequel was so superior to the original it is almost sad. [/color] [/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Indeed, I want to finish the game and complete as much of it as possible but doing exactly the same things over and over again really drains any sense of achievement out of the game.[/size][/font]

[quote name='Sangome' date='28 July 2010 - 08:38 PM' timestamp='1280345917' post='698124'] [color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"][color="#9932CC"]"THIS MAN HAS ACTED IN A HIGH-GROSSING, FANGIRL-SQUEE-INDUCING MOVIE THAT I DISLIKE! THAT MEANS HE'S NEVER ALLOWED TO ACT IN ANYTHING ELSE EVER AGAIN!!!!!" [/color][/font][/color] [/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]I'm glad you understand 'Gome, like the horrible neurologically-degenerative social virus that it is, anything related to Twilight must be first carefully contained and then utterly destroyed with fire, lots and lots of fire. [/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]I think I got fortune cookies for the first time when I was in Australia with my cousins, for some reason Chinese restaurants over here just give you those prawl-flavour crackers. As far as I remember the fortune was something like "Good fortune is coming your way" and later that night I got polluted drunk and slept with one of my cousin's friends.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Naruto's...interesting art-style for major fights has always raised consternation with fans, having waited God only knows how long to actually see Naruto vs Pain the animated product felt like a considerable let-down. I still wouldn't put Naruto into my "worst anime" category but I do understand people's reasoning for viewing it with derision. [/size][/font]

[quote name='Sangome' date='28 July 2010 - 08:52 PM' timestamp='1280346734' post='698126'] [color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]Sorry, I wasn't trying to imply that all anime/manga fans are in the U.S. I was just speaking as an American anime fan, since the mass majority of complainers I've seen are [I assume] American and are absolutely stubborn when it comes to this sort of thing [i.e. claiming to love the industry but not raising a finger to support it financially]. I'm also not saying that people that don't buy them don't have their reasons [what you described being what I had in mind], but I'm just a bit jaded/jetlagged from the people that have the means, but they're just THAT cheap.[/font][/color][/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Oh I absolutely understand that a lot of people who can financially afford manga (or even just have it available to them to buy) are too stingy to actually pay for it, as a fairly savvy consumer I just hate being taken for a ride by manga importers (and a lot of other entertainment retailers) over here who think they can rip people off, although there's a reason why Ireland is derisively referred to as the Rip-Off Republic by consumers here. Basically if I had the option to pay â?¬6.99 a month to read my legally translated copy of WSJ every week I'd happily shell out for it.[/size][/font] [quote name='Sangome' date='28 July 2010 - 08:52 PM' timestamp='1280346734' post='698126'][color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]While I understand your point, I just need to point out that OneManga was [i]not[/i] issued a C&D -- they did this of their own accord. Granted, it was because of the looming threat of legal action, but still. But that's just me being nitpicky.[/font][/color][/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]I'd swore in the original link Kei provided it said something about them being issued a C&D, oh well.[/size][/font]

[quote name='Sangome' date='27 July 2010 - 08:30 PM' timestamp='1280259047' post='698029'] [color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]Y'know, while I sympathize with those that went to the site for unlicensed material, what do you think the [i]majority[/i] of people went there for? They went there for the newest chapters of Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, and Fullmetal Alchemist [when it was running], all of which are licensed, and the first three, if I'm not mistaken, are actually pretty cheap by manga standards [$8-$9 USD, though I dunno if that's changed or not].[/font][/color][/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Again I point out that not all manga fans outside of Japan are American, buying a single volume of any popular shounen manga, not to mention some of the seinen ones I read are a minimum of £10/�12.50, which is roughly $15 or so dollars. I don't have any objections to supporting the industry financially, but I refuse to be ripped off doing so. [/size][/font] [quote name='Sangome' date='27 July 2010 - 08:30 PM' timestamp='1280259047' post='698029'][color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]I doubt anyone honestly thinks that this will stamp out piracy singlehandedly. If I remember correctly, it's not just the American distributors behind this, but the original Japanese publishers, as well. I don't know how Japanese copyright works [if doujinshi being commonly sold is any indication, then it's probably not very strict], but obviously, they find a problem with it, too. So...take that as you will. And who says that manga companies [i]aren't[/i] planning something along the lines of Funimation or Crunchyroll? These "morons" could have something planned, and are simply not mentioning it yet. Whether that's a good strategy is up for debate, but until then, give it time.[/font][/color][/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Because it's exactly the same as the music industry, they're going to have to be pushed to their very limits by pirates/fansubbers before they acknowledge there are better ways to supply their customers and even then the entertainment industry in inherently lazy and always want someone else to do their distribution for them. This is why fan companies like Crunchyroll have to be the driving force behind acquiring licensed media for broadcast, there seems to be very little interest in the production/distribution companies to try to supply their product otuside their native regions/outside the normal channels. Personally rather than issuing a cease and desist order to OneManga I truly wish one company had had the sense to attempt to go into legal partnership to supply the manga to an obviously very popular site with fans. Even if only a fraction of OM's previous visitors actually start a subscription (as I did with Crunchyroll) it's new income where previously they had none.[/font][/size] [quote name='Sangome' date='27 July 2010 - 08:30 PM' timestamp='1280259047' post='698029'][color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]In addition to what Kei said, don't you think that might be [i]why[/i] they're doing this? They're smaller, and therefore, the risk of losing ton of money is a very real possibility for them.[/font][/color][/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Risk of financial losses does not justify poor business strategy, if anything the modern business environment is specifically structured to destroy companies that refuse to innovate when new markets are available to them. In the same way I had no pity for record companies who failed because they refused to upgrade to digital distribution I will have no pity for manga companies who act in the same manner (and that extends to apply to all media producers). To qualify that previous statement, the modern supply and demand market extends the entire globe, long gone are the days where companies could sit secure and charge particular prices in particular regions for their goods and customers were pretty much out of luck if their regions price was disproportionately large. Now if a customer in say the U.K. sees that the product he wants is considerably cheaper in the U.S., all he has to do is eBay it, or Amazon it, or any other online producer. Almost the exact same thing happened when Europe switched over the the Euro, with price transparency between member states it became very clear, very quickly whether or not you were getting ripped off for something (overnight video games dropped 20% in Ireland, basically going from say £40 to �40).[/size][/font]

[quote name='Lady Shy' date='27 July 2010 - 02:33 PM' timestamp='1280237580' post='698008'] Word. THUS: [IMG]http://theglamourouslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/rray.jpg[/IMG] Still SFW. [/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Nicely done.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Picked up the original Assassin's Creed, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on the Dark Athena and Dead Space with my new 360 slim, about half way through AC and I have to admit compared to it's sequel it's very, very repetitive and kind of boring, style over substance as it were. It's not terrible but certainly having killed my first three targets there doesn't feel like there's anything new to happen.[/size][/font]

[quote name='Miss Anonymous' date='27 July 2010 - 08:08 AM' timestamp='1280214534' post='697988'] Oh hay I thought of another one: [b]Pokemon Snap[/b]. Come oooon, Nintendo! You [i]know[/i] a sequel to that would be awesome! Especially with all the new Pokemon that have been made since the first (and only ) game came out. [/quote] [center][img]http://web.mit.edu/ryangray/Public/Gnus/thumbs_up.jpg[/img][/center]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Well apparently it's had the desired effect as OneManga have announced their intention to close, I'm still sticking with my belief all this will do is push another fan-translation site into number one position and the only way for the industry to properly combat their problem is legalised downloads/online-readers as CR and other sites do for anime. I'm not going to lie, I'm still going to get my manga fixes each week even with OneManga gone, just going to go somewhere else like most other people.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]lolwut ? I see they've finally got tired of email scamming, pity I can't see this bold new attempt to secure finance working out very well.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]...God damn it, I demand a rule against adding the word "Porn" to thread titles if it does not involve nekkid ladies in some capacity!! *Storms out in a huff* I will settle for pictures of females holding the food if they are sufficiently disrobed.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"][b]Lucky Star[/b], Indi and the rest of Team Utah bugged me for ages to watch it but the concept behind the series didn't exactly engender me towards it. Suffice to say when I actually sat down and watched it I was hooked very, very quickly.[/size][/font]

[quote name='Aaryanna' date='20 July 2010 - 08:35 PM' timestamp='1279654553' post='697535'] [color="#006400"][font="Century Gothic"]It's not like either one of you would have to use it so... Or maybe a page out of [color="#4B0082"]Indi[/color]'s book with using Yaoi might do the trick. [/font][/color] [/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]It even being there is enough to warrant the death of its creator.[/size][/font] [quote name='Sangome' date='20 July 2010 - 09:22 PM' timestamp='1279657365' post='697538'] [color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]They have. I thought I was going crazy for awhile. [/font][/color] [/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Ah good, I was feeling the same. Shame though, I actually preferred the larger sized text.[/size][/font]

[quote name='Aaryanna' date='20 July 2010 - 05:08 PM' timestamp='1279642081' post='697524'] [color="#006400"][font="Century Gothic"]Bring it on! I want my pink back and if you interfere... I'll send a hoard of rabid poodles to rip you to shreds. [b][color="#FF00FF"]LONG LIVE THE PINK![/color][/b] [size="1"]*shot*[/size] Seriously though, I miss it. [/font][/color] [/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]I've heard you can do some pretty tasty things with dog meat. Also, were the font sizes on the main index page changed in the last while, swear everything looks smaller.[/size][/font]

[quote name='Blue' date='20 July 2010 - 05:06 PM' timestamp='1279641987' post='697523'] I watched the whole series. It had an interesting premise but its quite mediocre. However it wouldn't be too bad for a change of pace from the crap that have been aired for the last few seasons. Its doesn't get you excited but at least it doesn't leaving you facepalming yourself until you have a dent in your head like with Bleach or Naruto. [/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Hmm, well I'm more so just looking for a new anime series to get into, and as I've subbed to Crunchyroll that was the first one which kind of caught my attention. Really must finish Gunbuster too.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Given the power-jump between the first stage of his resurreccion and second stage I'd be pretty confident in pushing Ulquiorra into the Top 2, maybe even tip-top as far as the Espada go. As Magus said, Yammy has power but evidently it's quite similar to Ikkaku in that seems very offensively-focused without any defence to back it up, hence [spoiler]Kenpachi was able to cleave straight through his limbs with single-handed blows, and Byakuya and Ichigo were both able to inflict damage[/spoiler]. Given his size and speed post-release, I just can't see Yammy being able to get around faster opponents like Ulquiorra or Stark who are capable of inflicting damage at speed. Even weakened Ichigo was able to dodge anything Yammy threw at him with ease. That said HC, trying to set up powerlevels or judge release stages like DBZ is an effort in futility, Kubo just changes it too often to be sure outside of Aizen and Yamamoto being the two biggest hitters.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]I wouldn't be too certain about power rankings for the minute HC, but suffice to say Soifon and Hitsugaya's fights most certainly do not put them above Kyouraku and Ukitake. As for Yammy, he pretty much explains it himself, to release he has to consume a large amount of energy (hence why Chad says he's much bigger than before) so unreleased he's the weakest Espada and after getting enough energy to release he jumps to being the strongest (although truth be told I doubt that being the case).[/size][/font]

[quote name='Heaven's Cloud' date='20 July 2010 - 03:41 AM' timestamp='1279593703' post='697473'] [color=indigo]Has anyone made it through this series yet? If so, what are your opinions?[/color][/quote] [font="Tahoma"][size="2"]*Raises hand* I enjoyed it actually, it's a fun and funky kind of show with a good balance between drama and comedy. Pacing is decent, better than some, worse than others but quite watchable. Even the most obnoxious characters are still quite fun to watch.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Debating whether or not to watch BLASSREITER, sounds vaguely interesting.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Hmm, three hours to the new Red vs Blue episodes, possibly worth staying up for.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Oh wonderful, Irish-style summer with rain pissing down outside.[/size][/font]

[font="Tahoma"][size="2"]Easy Lover (Live) - Phil Collins Don't ask me why, but I've always really liked this song and finally managed to get my hands on it.[/size][/font]