Charles

Okay, I have edited the official thread with an entry on kuja, penned by myself. I think it's pretty comprehensive. If anyone would like to add or correct anything, let me know. I have also included Roxie's Digimon entry, with some minor tweaks of my own (plus I've included the Digipeeps that Shy brought up). And finally, I've included Sara's updates in the "Notable Members" section.

[quote name='James][font=arial']I am loving the whole thing and I think it's something we can continually add to - it would be great to have a comprehensive history of OB. As you know, this probably covers less than a per cent of OB's history right now...there are literally a million things we could add.[/font][/quote] Thanks, that's really my goal. Right now we're adding a lot of cool OtakuBoards history that I don't really want to have disappear as time goes on, but if really if any newer members are reading this, feel free to contribute with what's going on right now or fairly recently that's important. [quote][font=arial]I was even thinking that once this gets bigger, we can think about creating a full web page for it at its own address (perhaps [url]www.otakuboards.com/otakupedia[/url]). It's up to you, Charles, but I think it might be a cool idea - we could even put a permanent OB link to it. [/font][/QUOTE] If this keeps buidling up then that'd be a really cool idea. I really can't contribute in making a sensible-looking website myself, but if any of you want to undertake that then it'd be super awesome. I'd love that.

Okay, I have added the AE Boards entry. Thanks for that Shy. I also edited it a bit and fleshed it out based on my own memories of AE Boards and Kevin, since they are pretty extensive. I also added your My Otaku entry, James only revising it slightly so that it would be told from a third person perspective. Sadly, I couldn't fit in the compliments about the FAQ, although my ego desperately tried to. With the laptopsr I have access to right now, I cannot take screen caps (since there is no art program on here) but here are links to the only two remaining iterations of the site that I can acesss via the Internet Archive, which can be found [URL=http://www.archive.org/index.php]here[/URL]. [url]http://web.archive.org/web/20030124192450/http://www.otakuboards.com/[/url] [url]http://web.archive.org/web/20021128045934/http://www.otakuboards.com/[/url] In one of these, you can actually see My Otaku, so that should be pretty helpful. If no one can get screen caps of these, I should be able to do it sometime tomorrow. I'll try to have one on kuja done up sometime soon; I think it's pretty necessary. :cool: Also, if anyone has any criticism for me on the actual layout/organization of Otakupedia and would like to make some suggestions, let me know. If anyone would like to make images to make it prettier, then that'd be fine too. :p

[quote name='Kazuko][SIZE=1']Anyone else think Sony has already dug a grave for themselves?[/SIZE][/quote] I wouldn't pronounce it dead yet, not even close. The hype machine surrounding the console is inredibly strong and in the longrun it will do fine.

[CENTER][SIZE=6]O[/SIZE][SIZE=5]TAKUPEDI[/SIZE][SIZE=6]A[/SIZE] [/CENTER] [CENTER][B][I]Your Official Source of OtakuBoards Culture, Past and Present.[/I][/B][/CENTER] [CENTER][IMG]http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1200/otakupediacopyqc0.gif[/IMG][/CENTER] [COLOR=Blue][U][B]Table of Contents[/B][/U][/COLOR] [B]I[/B]. [COLOR=RoyalBlue] Site History[/COLOR] [B]II[/B]. [COLOR=RoyalBlue]Disabled Members[/COLOR] [B]III[/B]. [COLOR=RoyalBlue]Otakubot[/COLOR] [B]IV[/B]. [COLOR=RoyalBlue]Notable Members Worth Noting[/COLOR][list=a][*]Aaryana [*]Alexander[*]Altron Gundam [*]Babygirl[*]Brasil[*]cancer[*]Charles[*]DeadSeraphim[*]Desert Shadow[*]di.fm[*]Dragonballzman[*]Dragon Warrior[*]Generic NPC #3[*]GinnyLyn[*]IM_GENGAR[*]James[*][font=Century gothic][color=crimson]kuja[/color][/font][*]masterfork[*]N-Man[*]Renee[*]Safer Sephiroth[*]Shinje[*]Shinmaru[*]SunfallE[*]thimoc[*]Vookookanaka[*]will2x [/list] [B]V[/B]. [COLOR=RoyalBlue]OtakuBoards Spinoffs[/COLOR][list=a][*]AE Boards [*]Group Sounds[*]Scorpion Corporation [/list] [B]VI[/B]. [COLOR=RoyalBlue] My Otaku[/COLOR] [b]VII[/b]. [color=royalblue]Forums[/color][list=a][*]The Digimon Forum[*]The Newbie Lounge[*]The Spriting Forum[*]Manga Workshop[*]Pokemon[/list] [b]VIII[/b]. [color=RoyalBlue]Notable Threads[/color][list=a][*]Enter the Net[*]Kill Adam[*]Adam Makes Fun of COPPA[*]What's Your Favourite Sock?[*]n00b Hunter[*]The OtakuBoards Graphic Worm[*]The Rise and Fall of the Padded Room Party[*]OtakuBoards Survivor Triliogy[*]Dragonball - Battle Field: End of the Universe[*]The Daily Otaku (2001)[*]The DailyOtaku (2004)[*]The Reanimatrix[/list] [B]IX[/B]. [COLOR=RoyalBlue] OtakuBoards Cliques[/COLOR][list=a][*]MAMA[*]The OtakuBoards League Of Not-So-Extrodinary Gentlemen And Stuff[*]The Otaku Triad[/list] [B]X[/B]. [COLOR=RoyalBlue] Community Events[/COLOR][list=a][*]Otaku Idol 2[/list] [b]XI[/b]. [color=royalblue]Otaku Miscellaneous[/color][list=a][*]Plushies[/list] [b]I[/b] [COLOR=Blue][U][B]Site History[/B][/U][/COLOR] OtakuBoards initially began as the "theOtaku.com: Forums" and it was contained in a folder under theOtaku. It was powered by Ultimate Bulletin Board (UBB). In early 2001, the site moved to theOtaku Forums v2, which was renamed "OtakuBoards" and given its own domain. Version 2 continued to use UBB, although it was modified in the transition from theOtaku to OtakuBoards. The v2 iteration of OtakuBoards was very active but benefited very little in terms of moderation or quality control; there were numerous moderators and administrators, but very few of them were actually active. Members often partook in flame wars that would last as long as a week before any action was taken. The site's quality began to improve as active staff members, such as Safer Sephiroth, James, and Transtic Nerve emerged. [CENTER][URL=http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=obversion2dc0.gif][IMG]http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4921/obversion2dc0.th.gif[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]OtakuBoards as it appeared during the Version 2 era.[/SIZE][/CENTER] In August 2001, Shinji and another member, Gendo, who had both previously been staff members, acquired Adam's password and did various things (banned people, deleted people, de-modded staff, modded friends, etc). James, kuja, and Justin all worked together to curb the damage these members were doing to the site. It was salvagable, but James recommended to Adam that they start from scratch. So they deleted OtakuBoards and re-created it as OtakuBoards Version 3.0, using Virtual Bulletin 2.0 software (vB for short). At the same time OB re-opened, James gained greater control of the site, becoming its primary administrator, or Site Director (he was previously an Administrator and Moderator, back when the site had about ten administrators). [CENTER][URL=http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=obversion3ar3.gif][IMG]http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/3738/obversion3ar3.th.gif[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]OtakuBoards version 3, powered by the stronger vBulletin software.[/SIZE][/CENTER] What happened to OtakuBoards Version 2.0 was like a wake-up call for the site. Shinji and Gendo's attack actually had an effect opposite to what they intended. The older, inactive staff was removed. Meanwhile, James immediately sought to establish a tangible set of rules and hire an active staff to enforce these rules. A demand for quality, in addition to recreation was instituted. OtakuBoards, as we know it today, evolved from this framework. [b]II[/b] [COLOR=Blue][U][B]Disabled Members[/B][/U][/COLOR] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=8762][COLOR=Red]Retribution[/COLOR][/URL], who serves as the moderator of the OtakuBoards Art Studio, is the first blind member to ever earn a spot, not only on the OtakuBoards staff, but as an authority on art. He is well-respected for overcoming his handicap. [b]III [/b][COLOR=Blue][b][u]OtakuBot[/b][/u][/COLOR] OtakuBot was a mascot for the OtakuBoards Community created in August 2002 by Generic NPC #3 and James. This was the first, and most noteworthy of a series of failed projects coinciding with a site-wide initiative then known only as "My Otaku," (this My Otaku had no relation to the current myOtaku companion site.) The idea was that site announcements, rules threads and "How to" guides could be more effective and more fun if they were posted by a cute, fictional mascot rather than an established member. OtakuBot was based on an original, Japanese Famicon disk, which served as a point of controversy and confusion for many. From the beginning, many had problems with OtakuBot's appearance, likening it to a bathroom scale or a razor blade. Ironically, it was its? cutesy appearance which made it difficult for members to take OtakuBot, and the "My Otaku" initiative seriously. This My Otaku was supposed to have featured an interactive guide to OtakuBoards, containing various tutorials and rules threads written by the site's staff. In a dedicated forum, "The Otaku Information Center," OtakuBot "posted" two rules threads, its? only posts on the boards. That forum laid abandoned for nearly a year due to a lack of staff involvement before being removed entirely. It wasn't until much later that OtakuBot's member account was deleted unexpectedly. OtakuBot lives on as an inside joke between elder board members, and was given a significant cameo in Solo Tremaine's "Enter the Net" fan-fiction story. ##[b]IV[/b] [COLOR=Blue][U][B]Notable Members Worth Noting[/B][/U][/COLOR] [u][color=royalblue]Aaryanna[/color][/u] [b]Category:[/b] OtakuBoards Staff, Desbreko Fangirls [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=19869][color=red]Aaryanna[/color][/url] is a member unashamed of her obsession, and her obsession is with her dog. Her member account is named after the dog; her dog gets mentioned in her posts; she has never displayed an avatar/banner set that has [i]not[/i] featured the dog, a Bichon Frise. Her avatars and banners have featured the dog in straight photgraphic portrait, brushstroke-filtered art-deco style and dressed up in silly costumes with the slogan "my owner is an idiot". Moving off the dog for a few moments, it is worth noting that Aaryanna is one of the youngest Moderators of the Boards, and certainly the youngest hired by Desbreko since he became Site Administrator. She was one of the 'inexperienced' Mods that came under attack in MAMA's "The Complaint" thread, but many non-MAMA members spoke out against what was seen as an unjustified personal attack on a young but highly competent Moderator. [color=royalblue]Notable Trivia:[/color] Aaryanna is the first member known to have persuaded a parent to join the community. Her mother, easily recognizable, goes by the username "[URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=27884][COLOR=Red]Aaryanna_Mom[/COLOR][/URL]". [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Alexander[/COLOR][/U] [B]Category[/B]: Old members [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=445][COLOR=Red]Alexander[/COLOR][/URL] was one of the most active spriters in the former Spriting Forum. Apart from posting his own sheets of sprites, he also liked to help beginning spriters improve by making tutorials. These tutorials explained the basics of spriting. Outside of the Spriting Forum he was known as someone with a big Megaman fan and he also made some fan fics to reinforce that image. Retribution harbours a semi-serious grudge against Alexander for preventing him from following the trend amongst established members of changing their username to their actual name. [COLOR=royalBlue][U]Altron Gundam[/U][/COLOR] Altron Gundam was a prominent staff member in the anime forums who originally joined as Flame of Recca during v2. As FOR he made attacks on the boards, and attempted to flame the early boards in what was known as the "Flame of Recca War." As a result his account was deleted, but he eventually returned to the boards as SSJ4 Gokou. His name then changed to Recca Hanabishi, Rurouni Kenshin, Altron-Gundam and then his final moniker stood as Altron Gundam from here on in. Very soon after the Boards' rejuvination in v3 he was made a Moderator of the General Anime forum, despite allegations that he had been involved with various [url="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=667"]spamming incidents[/url] Altron found himself unhappy with moderating the spam-filled General Anime forum, and would eventually be transferred to Dragonball, Gundam and eventually Yu-Gi-Oh. At the same time he also wrote theOtaku.com's expansive [url="http://archives.theotaku.com/yugioh/"]Yu-Gi-Oh section[/url], which included an incredibly detailed episode guide, card database, reviews, rules, restrictions and a thorough deck-building guide. He was widely regarded as an authority on the subject, albeit a rather forceful, elitist one. He was usually associated with Kenshin, from the Rurouni Kenshin anime series, which frequently appeared in his avatar. [COLOR=Blue][u]Later Years[/u][/COLOR] However, once theOtaku v4 rolled around and OtakuBoards' traffic increased, places like the Yu-Gi-Oh forum started to generate more posts, and it appeared that this in particular became the problem area of the site's main anime sections. When Solo Tremaine was recruited to Staff and overtook his position at the head of the Yu-Gi-Oh forum to moderate it, he took it rather personally, perhaps because he viewed himself as the chief authority of the subject on the Boards. His reactions to how little he thought of [url="http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=428666&postcount=454"]other people's criticisms of his own deck[/url] were well-documented, as well as his tendency to resort to personal insults to criticise people's Decks that weren't up to his standard. Most of his criticisms stemmed from the fact that most players on the site were using cards released by UpperDeck in the English translation of the game; with his knowledge of future Japanese card releases, he always knew which cards were going to be useful ahead of the game and could adjust his allegedly 'invincible' Decks accordingly. While still able to provide intelligent and constructive criticisms of other people's Yu-Gi-Oh playing ability, during this time he seemed to develop particular rivalries against Domon and DeathBug, with posts often descending into flame spats in various Yu-Gi-Oh threads. Altron was also prone to be terribly inactive at times, and criticiscm of him and his position quickly caused a rivalry with Shy, newly appointed as Super Moderator of the anime forums. It was the final escalation in his comments to out-and-out flaming that removed him from his Staff position and resulted in him being banned... again. He later returned as the user Tyrant Dragon, where his [url="http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=522617&postcount=774"]penchant for personal insults continued[/url]. This was quickly banned, as were his other subsequent usernames, including ArgolisDragon, G-Unit, Sanosuke9480, Asheron, Red Inferno, Alucardfire and Athos, who was allegedly a 'friend' of Altron who registered to the OtakuBoards to accuse Domon of [url="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=37903"]plagarising some fictitious cards[/url] used in an OtakuBoards RPG. Once the Yu-Gi-Oh forum had been moved to the Anime Archives, making it a read-only series of threads, and given the diminshing interest in Yu-Gi-Oh on the forums as a whole, he has since disappeared. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]BabyGirl[/COLOR][/U] [B]Category[/B]: Old members, Adam's Angels, OtakuBoards Staff [CENTER][IMG]http://img332.imageshack.us/img332/884/babygirl04gc2.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]Babygirl quickly found a fanbase of horny teenage anime fans once she made the mistake of posting her pic on OtakuBoards.[/SIZE][/CENTER] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=59][COLOR=Red]BabyGirl[/COLOR][/URL] (registered 2001, real name Jenna) was a long-time popular member of OtakuBoards. She quickly (within a month or two of registering) became a moderator of the General Discussion forum, and she was later appointed a "Goddess" (then the equivalent of a Category Moderator). Babygirl was an enthusiastic Star Wars fan, and participated with [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=616][COLOR=Red]Justin[/COLOR][/URL] (who became one of her closest OB friends) in the story [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=12175][COLOR=Red]Star Wars Our Way[/COLOR][/url], one of OB's early dramatic RPG/collaborative storytelling efforts. She was also notable for her love of dance and photography, as well as being popularly considered one of the most attractive members of the boards. Along with [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=1409][COLOR=Red]Queen Asuka [/COLOR] [/URL] and [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=949][COLOR=red]Lady Macaiodh[/COLOR][/URL], Babygirl was one of the three "Adam's Angels." She was largely identified with [URL=http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2558/fayevalentineyg5.jpg][COLOR=Red]Faye Valentine[/COLOR][/URL], as many of her avatars featured the character. Babygirl would later serve as the moderator of the "Movies, Music and Television" forum before becoming dissatisfied and politely resigning from her position. Babygirl still contributed as a regular member of the boards until she decided to abandon them altogether in 2004. From time to time she still still goes under her account, but never posts. [u][color=royalblue]Brasil[/color][/u] [b]Category:[/b] Old members, Banned members [b]Also known as:[/b] PoisonTongue, Amine*Fangurl*441, Bean, Siren, Papa Smurf [u][color=royalblue]The Beginning[/color][/u] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?userid=4905][color=red]Brasil[/color][/url], better known as PoisonTongue, was a member of OtakuBoards from 2003. Brasil was lured to OtakuBoards by his friend Charles by the prospect of good video game discussions, and Rick Hunter's false success with Rage of the Inferno. Thus his reputation for biting critique and take-no-nonsense attitude first came to prominence in the community when he was the first to openly question the validity of Rick Hunter's movie script being picked up. His first avatar was one of Simon Cowell from American Idol. This led to some members asking if he actually was Simon, given their personalities matched quite well. Brasil was arguably at his most dangerous in the Anthology area, where he gave prospective writers feedback and critique,which was commonly harsher than the usual feedback given in response to creative works in anthology. This often led to the OP feeling personally insulted, although Brasil would argue that his critiques were aimed solely at the work in question and helping the OP improve at their game. Brasil also fatured a number of his works in anthology, writing essays on modern pop culture and science fiction movies such as [B]The Terminator[/B] and [B]Star Wars[/B]. His essays were usually noted for going against the grain of popular thinking (eg, Star Wars' rebellion is actually the antagonist) and making his points and thesis convincing. [u][color=royalblue]Feud with Mitch and Subsequent Ban[/color][/u] [CENTER][URL=http://img67.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sspx0053pl9.jpg][IMG]http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/6894/sspx0053pl9.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]Papa Smurf had no problem arguing until he turned blue in the face.[/SIZE][/CENTER] Brasil came to feud with former Anthology moderator Mitch. Originally this feud was restricted to Mitch's threads that Brasil decided to critique, but eventually spread out to any thread where the two found themselves on opposite sides of the specturm. This led to the spectacular demise of both members memberships here in the 2005 Lounge thread "[URL=http://otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=51646][COLOR=Red]So I'm going to run away from home[/COLOR][/URL]." The thread itself revolved around a troll's threat to run away from home until Brasil and Mitch started opposing each other and ended up taking the thread down into farcical one-image-post-war against each other, in an obvious attempt by both parties to be, or at least look like, Charles. The thread ended up being closed and bothe members got whacked with a ban courtesy of Shy. Charles remains king of the one-image-post. [u][color=royalblue]Later Life[/color][/u] Brasil continued to post for a few months on his MyOtaku before ceasing to update it. He re-registered ofr OtakuBoards in 2006 under the name [color=red][url=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=25912]Papa Smurf[/url][/color], simply because "the name was too good to pass up." Initially Papa Smurf kept a low profile until he was attacked for his criticism in The Boss's [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=54269&highlight=Otaku+Fiction][COLOR=Red]Otaku Fiction[/COLOR][/URL]. The general attitude was that Papa Smurf was a new member and didn't know what he was talking about. Papa Smurf's posts became increasingly hostile over the next several months. For example, he thoroughly flamed Fasteriskhead in the the thread entitled "[URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=54940&highlight=tree][COLOR=Red]Tree[/COLOR][/URL]." Once Papa Smurf flamed Retribution over his views on public execution, the staff as a whole began to realize his true identity and take him to task for his actions, citing that he should know better. Papa Smurfwas re-banned recently for disregarding James' warnings in the [color=red][thread=39540]Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess[/thread][/color] thread and making "personal attacks" against him. He continues to write articles for SomeFantastic, a web based pop culture 'Zine. [COLOR=royalBlue][U]cancer [/U] [/COLOR] [CENTER][IMG]http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m55/pravusart/Miscellaneous/DSCF4526small.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][size=1]cancer's art is smokin'[/size][/CENTER] [COLOR=royalBlue][U]Background[/u][/color] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=24648][COLOR=red]cancer[/COLOR][/URL] is a member from the United States that has been involved with OtakuBoards since early 2002. Unfortunately, he?s changed his name numerous times, so people probably don?t remember who he used to be, if that makes any sense. In his early days he was very active in the Adventure Square participating in RP?s and displaying artwork in the Art Studio. In those days, cancer was known as Ares. [U][color=royalblue]Art of cancer[/color][/U] The one thing that cancer believes he should be noted for is his artwork. He has displayed artwork in the Art Studio often; he has participated in art contests, and in major threads such as "Draw My Character." He has helped to make tutorials for the thread Art Studio Tutorials. Once he tried to create a tutorial on anime-style drawing titled Art of OtakuBoards, but that never went through, because he lacked the time needed to give the piece the effort it needed. It is a project that could one day be revived, however. cancer has been creating artwork for most of his life, ever since he can remember. He had been drawing in the anime style since 2000, but recently has moved on to more realistic drawings and has begun to get more into graphic design. cancer won the title of "Dude of Doodles" for the year of 2006 by winning first place in an art contest held by Dragon Warrior. Below are two pieces of artwork created by cancer: [/COLOR] [CENTER][IMG]http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e389/xliquidousx/miscellaneous/Denysssmall.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][IMG]http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e389/xliquidousx/miscellaneous/bornforslaughtersmall.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [COLOR=royalBlue][U]cancer in the Now[/U][/color] cancer had his username changed to cancer in early 2006. He actually created a new account in the year of 2005, because for much of 2003 and 2004 he was not active on the boards. cancer is currently planning on creating more tutorials for the Art Studio and creating a new thread in which to display all of his artwork. By the way, cancer can do one hell of a Christopher Walken impersonation. Also, his real name is Jeremy. [u][color=royalblue]Charles[/color][/u] [b]CATegory:[/b] OtakuBoards Staff [center][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/Japan_86/necklace18ut.jpg?t=1164912056[/img] [size=1]Charles' trademark pictures are enough to leave the most hardened debater speechless.[/size][/center] May, 2001. A high school student looking for Dragon Ball Z pictures for a school project stumbles across OtakuBoards. He decides to join to spam, going under the most random name he could think of; The Great White Frying Pan Man. This, of course, is the story of [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=101][COLOR=Red]Charles[/COLOR][/URL]. He quickly grew attached to OtakuBoards. When the forum went down to upgrade to v3, he changed his name to Crazy White Boy as the character limit wouldn?t allow TGWFPM anymore. He was the instigator of the petition that closed the Newbie Lounge, and, in March of 2003, Crazy White Boy became Site Administrator and changed his screen name to Charles. He was Site Administrator up until early 2005, when he retired due to inactivity, handing the position over to Desbreko and Dagger. However, May 21st, 2006, he was begged to rejoin the staff as Moderator of Play It and deigned to accept. He later became CATegory Moderator (possibly through nefarious methods) and remains in that position right now. The capitalised letters refer to a group called cAttitude, begun by Charles. [center][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/Japan_86/cattitude.jpg[/img] [size=1]As this old signature shows, not just anyone was worthy of Cattitude membership.[/size][/center] Charlie is not only known for his work on staff but also by his unique writing style and witty sense of humor. His poems are some of the best and his stories never cease to amaze. One of his most prized works is his RPG titled Project Gamer which had two major installments: Project Gamer and its sequel Project Gamer 2, arguably two of the best RPGs OtakuBoards has ever seen. PG was based on video games, not anime. Each person played a video game character in a very large world made up by the members. There was a website for the RP (which still exists) that had a store, character biographies, and the like. When the Battle forum was still around, Charles and fellow member Heaven?s Cloud started the rap battle trend. Ever since then, rap battle threads popped up all over the place and Charlie put many of them to shame with his skill. Charles' trademark is the 'one-picture post', a tradition that began in his Site Administrator days, when he would close threads with a picture of a gavel. He and Mitch would call themselves "The Hammer Brothers" and the gavel became their signature. Sometimes the picture he posts has words, but whether it does or not, it?s always hilarious. Many people have tried to copy this style of humor from Charles, but in the end they usually fail. In addition to the one-picture post, Charles is well know for making short animated banners for various uses. From closing threads as can been seen here: [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=54642][COLOR=Red]Super Smash Bros. Melee[/COLOR][/URL] to poking fun at his own unique sense of humor: [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=55034][COLOR=Red]Charles Goes To Court [/COLOR] [PG] (56K no)[/URL] This along with his clever use of one-picture posts has earned Charles the nickname ?God of Internet pictures? among fellow members of OtakuBoards. Charles also proved how influential he was when he ran a successful campaign to eliminate the dreaded Newbie Lounge. Charles has many interests. First and foremost, cats. Nothing puts a bigger smile on his face other than catching sight of a feline friend with all of their cuteness. He enjoys playing video games as well as watching pro wrestling. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]DeadSeraphim[/COLOR][/U] [b]Category:[/b] Smartass, Fanfiction Authors (whoo-ee, he'll hate me for that one) [CENTER][URL=http://img485.imageshack.us/my.php?image=photo3zg2.jpg][IMG]http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/1566/photo3zg2.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]Alan will troll you in his signature, the equivalent of a virtual "teabag." [/SIZE][/CENTER] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?userid=7699][COLOR=Red]DeadSeraphim[/COLOR][/URL] (aka Alan, aka Completely Random Hero, CrH, Alan, Aiyisha and René) is a popular member, renown throughout the boards for both his cynicism and technical ability. More often than not DeadSeraphim?s posts are controversial for their blunt honestly and sharp criticism of other members (and occasionally, the boards themselves.) He is usually thrown into the same category as members like PoisonTongue or wrist_cutter, but in reality his criticism is much more constructive and less personal in nature. His contributions to the community go beyond simply posting: he has served as collaborator and confidant to various OtakuBoards staff members throughout the years. This reputation was most likely formed as a result of his popular ?[thread=44102][COLOR=Red]n00b Hunter[/COLOR][/thread]? fan-fictions. These stories, inspired by Solo Tremaine?s ?[thread=33457]OtakuBoards: Enter the Net[/thread],? featured Alan as a cold-blooded killer, hunting out members who continued to spam up the boards and exacting violent revenge on them. Much more adult and violent than other OB fan-fiction up to that point, n00b Hunter?;s success helped to cement OB fan-fiction as a genre on the boards, and spawned countless imitators. Despite his own personal opinion of it, he continues to be one of the strongest writers on the boards, and has contributed to various high-profile RPGs such as The Legionnaires. Through OtakuBoards, DeadSeraphim found love in and eventually became engaged to[URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=11869] [COLOR=Red]Hevn[/COLOR][/URL]. Although the wedding never came to pass, it remains the first and only online courtship and real-life engagement in OtakuBoards history. Deadseraphim also broke ground in the creation of Crappy Club for Jerks, a blogroll for members who have left the myOtaku community to post elsewhere He continues to remain active on the boards in discussion threads, always looking for ways to exploit the weakness in other?s intelligence, logic and humanity. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Desert Shadow[/COLOR] [/U] [B]Category[/B]: Old members, artists, writers [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=11][COLOR=Red]Desert Shadow[/COLOR][/URL] (registered 2000/2001) was a popular member of the OB many years ago. He was an artist, occasionally posting drawings or sketches (notably of buckets). He also occasionally posted poetry in the General Discussion (now Otaku Lounge) forum, one of the first to do so. (This was well before there was a designated forum for written works.) One of his poems was posted on theOtaku's main page in 2001 or 2002. Desert Shadow (also "DS") frequently used the phrase "silly bucket" and at one point became head of the Silly Bucket Brigade, an early signature club. This became a long-running and popular inside joke among people who were members of the club or participated in his threads. His favorite number was 72, and he threw a 72nd Post Party to celebrate when his post count reached that number. [SIZE=3][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Notable trivia[/COLOR][/SIZE]: DS always posted in [B]plain bold text[/B]. This was before custom font size/colors were available, so he was the first person to have a "signature" posting style. [COLOR=RoyalBlue][U]di.fm[/U][/COLOR] [CENTER][IMG]http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/2224/1040653273lvc9.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]He rules. You don't. Take off from work on his birthday because he saved your forum.[/SIZE][/CENTER] MAMA? No way. According to himself, it was all [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=5812][COLOR=Red]di.fm[/COLOR][/URL]. He ran that show ['that show' being his uprising] and he called out the biggest names there were to call out, including thirteen-year old Aaryanna. MAMA's cause might've been "'secret" and people may have gotten a laugh out of it but he believes that his rant actually impacted the OB and since then he's seen all kinds of change and reform. New staff, better discipline and so on and so forth. He claims to have gone through torture from moderators and people just looking for a flame but he feels that at least he ruled enough to get things stirred up; even if it really wasn't his cause to begin with. di.fm claims to have saved the boards from Armageddon and equates himself to " more or less a Site Director." [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Dragonballzman[/COLOR][/U] [b]Category:[/b] Old members [CENTER][IMG]http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/9719/dragonballzman2rt2.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]Dragonballzman stood out mostly because of his creative user name. Or not. At least it was better than goku204004, though.[/SIZE][/CENTER] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=96][COLOR=Red]Dragonballzman[/COLOR][/URL] , often DBZman for short, was a member, hailing from England, who became noteworthy due to his spriting prowess. He was known for his love of Metal Gear, Megaman EX and [B]Bob and George[/B]. Some of his first accomplishments include [I]Die[/I], a minor edit/recolor of Megaman, who was known to have a fictional rivalry with Final Flash's creation. After some time was spent by both parties in the sprite forum, [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=127][COLOR=Red]Kazuko[/COLOR][/URL] asked DBZman if he would be interested in doing a dual-author sprite comic. DBZman complied and the two began "Random Comics That No One Cares About", aka RCTNCA. Unfortunately, it almost completely disappeared after the deletion of the sprite forum. After a short-lived stint of spriting in the [B]Art & Design forum[/B], DBZman's contributions and posts became sparse. His last known activity on OB was in September of 2004, though he is still occasionally seen on his on AIM handle "BnGRampage.? [color=royalBlue][u] Dragon Warrior[/u][/color] [B]Category[/B]: Notable members worth mentioning [CENTER][IMG]http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/5391/scarfgavin2ml2.jpg[/IMG] [/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]Dragon Warrior's sexy stare has him fighting off more ladies than dragons recently. It's just too bad that the dragons look better than the ladies.[/size][/CENTER] [COLOR=Blue][U]Background[/U][/COLOR] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=657][COLOR=Red]Dragon Warrior[/COLOR][/URL] is a member perhaps best known for his comical genius, and is quite a common contrbutor to Anthology, where he writes satirical stories that often involve OtakuBoards' member personalities in movie or TV parodies. [COLOR=Blue][U]Humor used in Dragon Warrior skits[/U][/COLOR] Dragon Warrior uses a random style of humor, often imitated, but never beaten. For example, in a western-set parody of his, a coupe of characters speed away in a Ferrari, then realise that Ferraris didn't exist in this time, which causes the Ferrari to spontaneously combust. [COLOR=Blue][U] Lore of DW[/U][/COLOR] To be included in a Dragon Warrior skit, even in a one line cameo role, is considered an honour indeed, and is clear proof that you have "made it" on OtakuBoards. [COLOR=Blue][U]Other nefarious activities[/U][/COLOR] Sometimes, Dragon Warrior takes his ideas to the Art Studio, where he throws them together in a crude animation sequence. All of Dragon Warrior's animations havebeen a huge success. Recently, Dragon Warrior has penned the hugely successful "Slackers in Slacks" webcomic, which was one of the most sucessful web comics ever posted in the Art Studio. Dragon Warriors success in these areas have spawned numerous imitators, none of which have got the random style of humor Dragon Warrior uses down right, and have subsequently paled in comparison. [COLOR=Blue][U] The Dancing Black Mage[/U][/COLOR] [img]http://www.otakuboards.com/customavatars/avatar657_3.gif[/img] Dragon Warrior still uses the same dancing Black Mage avatar he used in his early days, and it is perhaps the longest running avatar in OtakuBoard's history. Occasionally, Dragon Warrior has tried something different, avatar wise, only to revert to his trusty dancing mage. The Black mage may sport alterations depending on the time of year. For instance, Christmas usually sees Mage sporting a santa hat and red garments as opposed to the regular yellow hat and blue garments. Dragon Warrior also briefly used a line of dancing mage's in his signature, though this sig was short-lived. Dancing mage is, as a result, immediately identified with Dragon Warrior. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Generic NPC #3[/COLOR] [/U] [b]Category:[/b] OtakuBoards Staff, Secretary of Keeping it Real [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=2663][COLOR=Red]Generic NPC #3[/COLOR][/URL] is a slave to OtakuBoards. He consistently claims he doesn't enjoy the place, yet follows up these wild accusations with posts in Play It that show a whole lot of forethought for someone who isn't having the time of their life. He originally came to OB as Gr3ymalkin at the urging of James, and went on to make an amazing 24 posts before getting bored and leaving again. However, OB had already started to cast it's evil magic on him, and he eventually returned - this time as Semjaza Azazel. As Semjaza, GNPC#3 quickly rose through the ranks of mod-dom, first as a mod of the long-dead 'Mario' forum, then 'GameCube/GameBoy', before finally finding himself the SuperMod of the 'Otaku Gamer' section in its entirety (this could probably be all put down to black magic, as he is a known listener of Marilyn Manson and this therefore makes him a warlock). Here he stayed, wandering over the entire site like a dry-humoured (possibly chromosome) cowboy, casting everyone under his thrall. When v7 dragged itself painfully around the corner of progress, he was still the all-powerful figure of authority he had always been, this time ruling over v7's version of Otaku Gamer, 'Hardwired'. This proved too much for him however, and in 2004 he resigned, saying it felt too much like a job and some other things to the effect of "I liked it better in the old days". He stuck around for a while, then disappeared entirely, as is his habit. This wasn't the last we would see of him, however. Every so often he would reappear, making posts that thoroughly pwned whoever was the target of his attack, until finally he made a triumphant, low-key return as who we now now as Generic NPC #3. As GNPC#3 he posts mainly in Play It and occasionally in other forums when the mood takes him, all the while quietly plugging his own forum, Group Sounds (which is where ALL the cool kids go - all of them, every last one). He still doesn't find OB enjoyable, but that's okay, cause he still posts anyway. You know, because he just hates the place so much. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]GinnyLyn [/COLOR][/U] [B]Categories[/B]: theOtaku Staff, OtakuBoards Staff, Artists, Fanfiction Authors, Digipeeps, Digimods [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=2][COLOR=Red]GinnyLyn[/COLOR][/URL] was an early (ca 2001) contributor to the old theOtaku digimon site. Her work included writing character descriptions and episode summaries, as well as extensive work on theOtaku's "Digidex." Under her, theOtaku's digimon site was transformed from being nearly nonexistant to being one of the most thorough available on the internet. She was a prolific digimon artist, submitting dozens of pictures at a time when it was rare for an artist to submit more than two or three. Prominently featured in her drawings were Ken Ichijoji/The Digimon Emperor (her favorite character) and her many FMDs (fan-made digimon). At one point, she created a new, nameless FMD (or "ficdigi"), and a naming contest was held on the main page of theOtaku, wherein visitors could send name suggestions to her via email. The winning name was "Nekomon." Aside from her artistic contributions, GinnyLyn was also in charge of Digimon fanfiction submissions. She herself wrote the two longest-running Digimon fanfics available at theOtaku at the time. On OtakuBoards, GinnyLyn was a long-time moderator of the Digimon forum (styled "Digimod"), and an avid roleplayer. She later became the first "Goddess" (female supermod) of the boards. A strong Christian, Ginny often found herself to be in conflict with other members over this point, and this eventually led to her resignation. She disappeared completely from the theO scene shortly after the launch of myOtaku.com. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]IM_GENGAR[/COLOR] [/U] [B]Category[/B]: Old members IM_GENGAR was the first member of OtakuBoards to reach a post count of 1000. [u][color=royalblue]James[/color][/u] [B]Category[/B]: Notable members worth mentioning [CENTER][IMG]http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/1040/jamesburns1ca1.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]Aside from his work on OtakuBoards, James is a valuable asset to n-sider.[/SIZE][/CENTER] [COLOR=Blue][U]Beginnings and Earlier Activity[/U][/COLOR]: [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?userid=6][COLOR=Red]James[/COLOR][/URL] first joined the forums in late 1999 when the forums had only just changed to "theOtaku.com: Forums" from Absolute Gameboy forums. When he first joined, James was a Moderator on the forums but he was also the editor of Absolute GameCube (the GameCube-centric channel on theOtaku) and he was a contributor to Absolute Gameboy and Absolute Xbox. The editor of Absolute Gameboy was Frank (which was then theOtaku.com'sr largest gaming site - the only site to compare in size was theirr Dragon Ball Z site). Frank was not only the editor of that site (and probably the very first editor on theOtaku.com), but he was also theOtaku.com: Forums' first Administrator. Frank was essentially the chief admin at the time (in other words, he basically had the same job that James has now). Adam was the network owner, but Frank ran/owned the forums. After OtakuBoards V2 went down and OB re-opened, James had gained greater control of the site, becoming its primary administrator, or Site Director. There were no longer multiple administrators. Under James' guidance, OB became more organized and a greater premium was placed on the quality of discussion taking place on the boards. The forum's membership population and content grew to an admirable size and was only superceeded by myOtaku with its launch in 2003. James has taken the site through various iterations, almost reinventing OtakuBoards across seven different versions and creating a unique interface for each of them. Perhaps the most memborable of these versions in the current version 7. Version 7 was a radical departure from other OB layouts, with the interface being drastically changed. James, dissatisfied with VBulletins restrictions, collaborated with jblessing, the technical staff member, to come up with a layout that was truly unique to OtakuBoards. Among the changes introduced in V7 is the navigation panel that sits on the left side of the page providing improved accessibility to user options, and a horizontal post bit. V7 is the longest serving version in the history of the forum. In 2003, James decided to step down as site administrator to take on a more limited role, wanting to create more space to devote to his studies and education. The position of Site Director was created, with the administrator position going to Charles. James took up the position of Site Director, allowing him to remain a key player in the development of the forum. [COLOR=Blue][U]Later and Current Activity[/U][/COLOR] James has gone on to helm other projects on the OB, the most recognizable of these is the popular myOtaku.com, which added a blogging service to the ever-expanding theOtaku.com and its affiliated sites. He also designed layouts for several theOtaku.com iterations as well as drawing up the mascot for theotaku.com's Guru, the online quiz section of the Otaku network. James is currently working on a new update of OtakuBoards. There is no expectation that there will be a major departure from V7, with James himself describing it as more of an evolution than a revolution. In fact, OB's next version is code-named "OB Evolution" and is not set to arrive until 2007. [U][font=century gothic][COLOR=crimson]kuja[/COLOR][/font] [/U] [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]The Beginning[/COLOR] [/U] [font=century gothic][color=crimson]Although kuja was once a significant contributor to OtakuBoards, he is remembered sort of as somewhat of a joke. kuja was an early member of the boards; his initial handle was osu_waterpolo, before he adopted the name of Final Fantasy IX's antagonist. kuja is best known for his crimson century gothic font, borderline incoherent posting style, lecherous attitude towards almost any female member and his tactful use of the wink smiley. Despite his unusually poor post quality, kuja was not renowned as ?stupid? per se. In fact, during the OtakuBoards Version 2 incident when Gendo and Shinji ?hacked? the forums, kuja was one of the members who worked alongside James to correct their damage. When OtakuBoards Version 3 launched kuja had become a moderator of a number of forums. In fact, kuja had more responsibility than any normal moderator. The Tenchi, Sony, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Test Board, and Suggestions forums were all under his jurisdiction. [CENTER][IMG]http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/9346/kuja3ap8.gif[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1][COLOR=Black]kuja's avatar reflected him perfectly. Watch him kiss his account goodbye and disappear.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER] When OtakuBoards moved to its fourth iteration, kuja had become today?s equivalent of a Category Moderator, a Super Moderator. Unfortunately, however good the promotion looked for him on the outside, there was a bit of turmoil behind the scenes. kuja had been lobbying for the promotion, ultimately demanding it. James reluctantly gave in and made kuja a Super Moderator. However, James insisted that moderators do not simply have a ?right? to their position and politely asked to kuja improve his post quality to reflect his position of authority on the boards. kuja?s post quality saw no improvement. James? patience were tried further over the coming weeks when he would repeat his request several more times, only to be answered back with sarcasm and very little in the way of improvement. [/color][/font] [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]The Downfall[/COLOR] [/U] [font=century gothic][color=crimson]kuja?s downfall began on April 4th, 2002, when Babygirl brought a serious issue to the staff?s attention: Someone was editing thread titles, changing them to things like ?hi i?m a moron.? Although Babygirl knew who the culprit was, she did not specifically accuse anyone. Instead, she implored that the guilty party exercise more maturity and simply close or delete the thread. James wanted to hear more but Babygirl had deleted the threads, thus destroying any evidence. James did not expect anyone to admit to transgression. James had a good idea who was responsible, but if he knew for sure, they would lose their staff position. In an intelligent move, kuja then made a patronizing post admitting his guilt, playing down what he did as good fun, and almost daring James to ?fire? him. James had finally snapped and was all too willing to comply. After enduring kuja?s bad attitude on a personal level, James was not willing to allow kuja to toy with regular members as he saw fit. He knew that kuja had the brains to understand what was tolerable and what was not. So, James gave kuja an option. kuja could either remain a moderator in all of the current forums he occupied or he could become a regular member. James told kuja that he liked him personally but at the same time he had a site to run. kuja was never given the opportunity to take James up on his alternative; James decided that it would be best just to dismiss kuja once and for all. James knew that kuja would probably flame him, nevertheless, he did allow kuja to view the staff forum the day following his dismissal so that he could talk to any other staff members if necessary and give a resignation message. kuja never posted his resignation message. At this point, kuja became a regular member. However, when his status was changed, his forum permissions were all screwed up and he could neither view nor post in any of the forums. kuja went around giving numerous staff members his password and accusing James of banning him. Apparently, he did not approach James himself about the issue. When the issue was brought to James? attention, he fixed kuja?s forum permissions and kuja had all the privileges of a normal member. But not for long.[/color][/font] [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]The Attack of the Kuja[/COLOR] [/U] [font=century gothic][color=crimson]On May 10th, 2002 Adam brought to the staff?s attention, that kuja and his ?lawyers? were planning to sue him in order to get everything shut down. Everyone had a good laugh. James wanted to ban kuja since he was also causing trouble on the forums but was concerned that the overall staff was sympathetic towards kuja and thus kuja would use their sympathy to portray himself as a victim. However, the staff had grown tired of kuja?s antics and threw their support behind James. On May 11th, 2002, kuja was finally banned in the ?[URL=http://otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=11179][COLOR=Black]Adam Makes Fun of COPPA[/COLOR][/URL]? thread when he went on a further tirade about suing Adam. The undertones of his post suggested that he was using this thread as leverage to regain his Super Moderator status. kuja also made the mistake of assuming that Adam and James were part of a company, bound under corporate law. James told kuja how stupid he was and finally banned him. kuja would go on to AE Boards as an Administrator and get banned there as well.[/color][/font] [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]masterfork[/COLOR][/U] [b]Category:[/b] Old members [CENTER][IMG]http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7176/masterfork1ky9.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]masterfork only looks like a serial killer when in reality he is covered in slime and eats infants.[/SIZE][/CENTER] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=9][COLOR=Red]masterfork[/COLOR][/URL] was the first member to earn a custom title. The strange title read "IT TO SCARE BABIES." This title came from a comment Adam had made when he met him in New York City. Adam made some comment that Masterfork looked so intimidating and somewhere along the line the idea came around that Masterfork ate babies on the side. Here is an actual account of their meeting, by Adam himself: [quote=Adam]A few days ago I decided to meet one of theOtaku's long time fans, a kid that goes by the name "Masterfork" (you might know him from the forums). His one wish, he told me, was to talk to the famous "Adam" in person. Well, yesterday we met like we were supposed to. We were waiting for one another in the local Software, Etc. I got there a little early and was waiting, waiting... All I knew about what he looked like was 1) he was Russian and 2) he had on an America Eagle T-shirt. I waited a bit, then suddenly, exploding through the doorway came a hugely ripped guy that looked maybe 6-7 feet tall. He was dripping from head to toe in an oozing substance of sorts. "Please don't be masterfork" I kept repeating to myself. When he extended his dripping hands to me to say 'hi', I sighed and extended my own. "What's with the goo?" I asked him. He replied in a thick Russian accent "IT TO SCARE BABIES". I sighed again. We then drew our attention to the local video game system (a PS2) playing some biking game. There was an 11-year old kid on a wheelchair struggling to handle its controls. "This game looks alright, how about we play it after the tike's done?" I suggested. Within moments, masterfork lifted the 12-year old (wheelchair and all) off of the floor and rolled him out the door. "ME WANT PLAY" he roured. At this point the guy at the counter made us leave. I kept shaking my head. "I need to buy some stamps" I then said. So we went off to a place that sold stamps. Unfortunately the machine ripped me off about $10 (I put in a $20 and it didn't give me enough change back). I went to the front desk to complain and the guard sympathized with me and was reaching into his pocket to give me a refund when... "GIVE ADAM BACK MONEY NOW OR I BEAT YOU WITH PINKY AND EAT YOUR BABIES. HE IS FROM THEOBWAKU.COM, HE IS IMPORTANT PERSON." The guard then made us leave. I didn't get my refund. After that I suggested that we go eat. He readily agreed. "I'll pay for your food" I offered. He happily shook his head in an excited fashion. Well... We get to the cafeteria and I buy a small wrap with a drink and a salad. I go to pay for it when I see masterfork lumbering toward me with not one, but three trays stacked with various food items. He must have had like six meals there! "Dude, there's no way I can afford all that". Like a hurt child, he gave me a little puppy dog face, put the food down, then retreated to a corner to (presumably) shed some tears. He eventually recovered and we sat down. "Did you bring the GB Advance with your games?" I asked. "NO, BUT I BRING THIS". He then reached into his backpack and pulled out a portable TV and placed it right on top of the cafeteria table. He then took out a (I'm not kidding) Dreamcast system and set it up right there. EVERYONE was staring at us. He then took out a CD wallet filled with Russian DC bootlegs. "Cool", I said, "What games do you have?" He responded, "THEY ALL ONE GAME. THEY ALL SONIC. I HAVE FIFTY COPIES OF SONIC. SONIC YUM YUM." He then put in the disk and sat staring at the intro movie. He didn't play, just kept watching the intro... THIS MY FAVORITE PART! He'd yell on occasion. I didn't stay around, I got the hell out of there right when he started licking the scream, "SONIC YUM YUM". The moral of the story is, people are a lot different in person than online[/quote] [u][color=royalblue]N-Man[/color][/u] [CENTER][IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25948[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][size=1]Nerdsy's net handle does not reflect him at all.[/size][/CENTER] [b]Category:[/b] OtakuBoards Staff [url=http://otakuboards.com/member.php?userid=148][color=red]N-Man[/color][/url] (currently Nerdsy) is a popular member of OtakuBoards who on joined March 31, 2001. He is famous for being the self-proclaimed ?King of the Nerds,? and for his vast knowledge of Otaku history and culture. N-Man once served as a moderator, ruling over the Pokemon forum, and is a member of The Otaku Triads clique along with Sara and Shy. He was incredibly active throughout v2 and v3, posting as much as 100 times a day. Due to his activity in the Pokemon forum, N-Man became its moderator during v2. N-Man?s status as a moderator was not renewed after the switch to v3, although he would get the position back in later versions (and ultimately resign from the position.) He was also active in the Digimon forum, where he formed friendships with the tight-knit community there. Widely respected for his history with the forums, N-Man is sometimes referred to as the ?Otaku Historian.? Members also know him for his love of ?Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,? and the signature [color=deeppink]deeppink[/color] he has been writing with for years. N-Man remains semi-active on the boards to this day. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Renee[/COLOR][/U] [B]Category[/B]: Old members, OtakuBoards Staff, Digimods, Digipeeps [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=130][COLOR=Red]Renee[/COLOR][/URL] (registered 2000) was a member of the close-knit Digimon forum, as well as a moderator there. She sported a Palmon avatar, and was known for her habit of *sipping tea* in her posts. She was the first (possibly second) female moderator of OtakuBoards, and the first female member to reach the 1000 post mark. She was also one of the youngest moderators, at eleven (later twelve) years old during the time she held her staff position. Although she largely disappeared after the switch to OB V3 in August 2001, Renee continued to lurk and post for several years. Her last post was in 2004. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Safer Sephiroth[/COLOR] [/U] [B]Category[/B]: Old members, OtakuBoards Staff [CENTER][IMG]http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/3461/sephiroth1zw0.gif[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]Sephiroth wasn't necessarily "Safer" when he passed out with all of his mates up and about.[/SIZE][/CENTER] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=3]Safer Sephiroth[/URL] (registered 2001, username later changed to simply Sephiroth; also called "Safer" or "Sephy") was an early legendary figure in OtakuBoards history. Safter Sephiroth, an avid [B]Tekken [/B] player, rose to fame during the "Recca War" and the "Hump War" in which he stood up to mass spammers/flamers. He became a moderator soon after registering and was later appointed an administrator for OtakuBoards version 2 in what was considered by the general populace of OB to be "record time." He was also one of the first members to break the 1000 post mark. Sephiroth was generally friendly to everyone and was the first member to emotionally support Transtic Nerve when he revealed to the forum that he was homosexual. Transtic Nerve was the first OtakuBoards member to "come out of the closet" and the tolerance/maturity of OtakuBoards members, back then, was not nearly what it is presently. So, Sephiroth's compassion and understanding really helped pave the way for homosexual members to feel comfortable with themselves and make OtakuBoards a more accepting community as a whole. Safer Sephiroth was the first notable member of OtakuBoards to get married. Members offered their warm congratulations when he and his wife Gemma, had their first daughter, June. During mid-2002, Safer Sephiroth's jealous cousin who went first by various handles (Ragnarok, Proud Clod, [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=3318][COLOR=Red]Sensei-San[/COLOR][/URL]) hacked Sephiroth's account numerous times and impersonated Sephiroth on AIM in an attempt to sabotage his status on OtakuBoards. Sensei-San's posts were generally cruel and psychotic; eventually he was banned and Safer Sephiroth remained on the staff. Sephiroth retired from OtakuBoards staff in September 2002. He reamined fairly active for a short while after and even served as an AE Boards administrator, but slowly disappeared altogether. He will be remembered as one of the first significant staff members in the site's history and as a kindhearted person in general. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Shinje[/COLOR][/U] [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?userid=4082][COLOR=Red]Shinje[/COLOR][/URL] is a long-time member of OB who is almost universally overlooked. He originally came to OB as Ginyu_Frogz, a reference to Captain Ginyu becoming a frog in Dragonball Z, but he soon grew to actually hate the name. Without a name change option, he decided to leave. He then re-registered a new account in the V4 days under the name Saiyangohan2002. At first, he wanted the name GOHAN, but soon discovered there was already a well-established member called Gohan. He also found out that all caps were considered yelling, and his first choice for the new name, he feared, would have been considered a violation of the rules. He then used the name, Nuchlear, which was intentionally misspelled so he could get a Hotmail account without random numbers at the end. When he made the mistake of "n00bifying" his name when the first official name change requests began, by choosing "SunRiZe", he abandoned the account altogether, which served a dual purpose in the "Post Count" thread at the time, that of course being he didn't care about post status of how many times he had posted. He then re-registered as 's@bretooth', continuing his trend of poor user names, but quickly settled into a pattern of 'Shinji' related names, which initially caused him no end of trouble, due to 'Shinji' being the name of one of the people who brought down version 2 of OtakuBoards. He spent a good portion of his early years at OB escaping this stigma. Shinje has been a quiet contributor to OB, rarely embarking on anything large (and, sadly, when trying to, being ignored), and often being mistaken as new member. He changes his avatar and sig themes almost often as he changes his usernames, and references to obscure pop culture have almost become a trademark of his sig/av sets. Despite his lowkey presence, however, Shinje has always watched quietly from the sideline, and his in-depth Otakupedia articles about very early OB phenomena are testament to this. Shinje is from New Zealand and thus pretty awesome. He looks nothing like Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion. This is all we know about his personal life. [u][color=royalblue]Shinmaru[/color][/u] [b]Category:[/b] OtakuBoards Staff [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=5277][COLOR=Red]Shinmaru[/COLOR] [/URL] (also known as Shin, Mick, and biatch) is a popular member who is renowned for his exceptional writing skill. He originally came to OB as mirai_torankusu, but quickly changed his name when he realised everyone thought he was a n00b. He was promoted to mod of Nintendo almost instantly after de-n00bifying himself, but did very little modding as Nintendo was a ghost town at the time. Despite this, his Nintendo mod status was mocked heavily in the opening chapters of Enter the Net, despite the fact that Shinmaru actually owned and appreciated other consoles. When v7 came around, Shin became a mod of Play It, and stayed there for many months until college gave him a Stone Cold Stunner hard enough to destroy his ability to mod for months, if not years (this is because, unlike other college age OB members, Shin actually cares about his grades enough to study and do homework instead of mod). He continues to post at OB though, all over the boards like a wandering samurai. Apart from his modding, Shin is perhaps best known for making Syk3 sammiches, being Desbreko's biatch (for nad-kicking), knowing more about wrestling than a hip Californian should, and posting complex and deep stories in OB Anthology. Though some might not, Shin considers this a legacy to be proud of. [u][color=royalblue]SunfallE[/color][/u] [b]Category:[/b] OtakuBoards Staff, Desbreko Fangirls, theOtaku Staff [URL=http://www.otakuboards.com/member.php?u=17833][COLOR=Red]SunfallE[/COLOR][/URL] joined the OtakuBoards on February the 28th in the year 2005. She is most visible at the Otaku Lounge, which she began to moderate on March the 7th, 2006, at the same time that Aaryanna started patrolling Anime Lounge. Although she?s not the one to spam the boards with new threads, her posts are often thorough (an example could be her thread about [thread=49709][color=red]Seasons[/color][/thread]), and she is genuinely concerned about the well-being of the forums, even before she joined the staff, as her [thread=47360][color=red]several[/color][/thread] [thread=49410][color=red]threads[/color][/thread] to the Suggestions & Feedback show. Her attitude towards members of old and new is kind and respectful, and her patience is admirable. In real life her legal name is Elizabeth, though she prefers to be called Beth. She lives in Provo, Utah. She?s 36 years old, which is notably over the average age of OB members. But that is only a good thing, as she brings a lot of mature thoughts and arguments into discussion while retaining a youthful attitude. Another quirky detail about her private life is that she used to drive a semi truck along the west coast of the US. She has also said that although she doesn?t know much about websites or html, she knows how to build a computer, thanks to her father having worked with computers and bringing his job home. As for hobbies, she mentions videogames like Zelda and Tales of Symphonia though recently (she fell for Star Ocean 3), science-fiction (especially Dr. Who) and fantasy literature, as well as keeping a scrap book on Yellowstone National Park. Her current staple font is [color=royalblue]royal blue[/color], although she has ventured into trying colors such as [color=darkolivegreen]dark olive green[/color] in the past. Notable Trivia: SunfallE also joined myOtaku on February the 28th in the year 2005 and she began to moderate over at theOtaku on March the 24th, 2006. She takes care of submission reports and helps out with submission approvals from time to time. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]thimoc[/COLOR][/U] [B]Category:[/B] Old members thimoc was one of the most notable early members of the boards. Having joined during the early months of V1, he quickly made a name for himself with his offbeat (and often nonsensical) humor. After IM_GENGAR had left the board, thimoc found himself with no competition for top poster and subsequently hit nearly every posting milestone during the V1/V2 era. He was the first to reach 2000, 3000, and 4000 posts, and was the only member to hit 4000 before the post counts were reset. It should also be noted that most, if not all, of his posts would be considered spam today. Like most of the prominent members during V1, thimoc eventually turned on the very boards he frequented. Fed up with the sudden enforcement of rules brought about by the wave of new moderators, thimoc began rebuking all authority and mass-spammed the forums. This caused his account to be deleted, effectively giving the status of top poster to another would-be spammer, Ulitmia. thimoc returned briefly in the v7 era under the name "Mad Acer". He was more inclined to behave in this incarnation. [U][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Voodookanaka[/COLOR] [/U] [B]Category:[/B] Old members [CENTER][IMG]http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/7331/voodookanaka1hl0.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] [CENTER][SIZE=1]Voodookanaka bore an uncanny resemblence to his "Cloud" avatar.[/SIZE][/CENTER] Voodookanaka (registered 2000) was a popular member of the OB many years ago. [SIZE=3][COLOR=RoyalBlue]Notable trivia[/COLOR][/SIZE]: He looked alarmingly like his FF7 Cloud avatar. [COLOR=RoyalBlue][U]will2x[/U][/COLOR] Among the first to have registered at Otakuboards, will2x was a controversial figure during his entire tenure. Known for his crude humor and spouting praise for "The Cycle," will2x was a regular poster during V1 and V2. As the months passed (and shortly after his one-year anniversary), will2x somehow became a mod of Games and Stories, the role-playing forum at the time. Despite this, the G&S did not immidiately collapes into chaos, or rather more chaotic chaos, since that forum was not known for its standards. During the Gendo/Shinji incident, will2x was the only moderator to support their actions, and thus was one of the few mods to lose his or her postion after the switch to V3. After the incident, he continued to post semi-regularly until mid-2003.

I like Baron's idea--the thread would probably run a lot more smoothly that way. Since Stuart gave me his blessing, I'll go ahead and make the necessary adjustments. See, this is what Otakupedia is about--progressive thinking and constantly evolving the project. I will also edit in Shy's fantastic entry. Also, a newbie lounge update would be truly epic.

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']I don't get it... why don't you just post this up on Wikipedia?[/size][/quote] [B][QUOTE=Charles][size=6]See, that's my primary concern and why I would like to have it physically on the boards. I like the idea of giving everyone control, but not so much that someone can just easily ruin it for everyone. I also like the idea of having Otakupedia right here where everyone can easily see it. After it's built up on here and we have this as a decent back-up, I wouldn't mind creating a public account though to compliment it. For the time being, however, I don't mind moderating this thread and keeping it organized if/when people contribute.[/size][/QUOTE][/B] There you go. You know, just in case you missed my explanation the first time, champ.

[quote name='James][font=arial']Of course, if someone spammed under the account that would be the end of it, but regulating who can use it seems to go against the whole idea of an "Otakupedia" situation.[/font][/quote] See, that's my primary concern and why I would like to have it physically on the boards. I like the idea of giving everyone control, but not so much that someone can just easily ruin it for everyone. I also like the idea of having Otakupedia right here where everyone can easily see it. After it's built up on here and we have this as a decent back-up, I wouldn't mind creating a public account though to compliment it. For the time being, however, I don't mind moderating this thread and keeping it organized if/when people contribute.

[QUOTE=Lunox][color=dimgray]Another question from me. P: Do the component cables make that big a difference? Just wondering, mostly, because my TV is pretty old and only supports composite. >_> I wish my parents would get a new one already.[/color][/QUOTE] They make a HUGE difference. However, if you have an HDTV and run a game in standard definition, it looks far worse than it would on a standard definition television with composite cables. This is why the graphics are such an issue to me right now. They look far worse than they should. :animedepr

Hello all, and welcome to my latest Otaku Lounge thread! As a longtime member of the boards, I realize that this place has a rich, unique culture. Older members often reminisce over fond memories and as time goes on, we make new ones. With Otakupedia, we can create a catalogue of entries dedicated to the past and present of OB. Newer members and older members alike can contribute entries based on almost anything relevant to the forums--whether that entry happens to be about the old Digimon forum, a current member, OB marriages, staff history, kuja's banning, safer sephiroth, OB spinoffs (AE Boards), thimok, Enter the Net, Otaku Idol 2--it's all up to you! Here's how it works: We're sort of going to do this like Wikipedia. Although members cannot directly edit the main post at will, they may make their contribution as a post within the thread--whether it's a correction, new entry, or an elaboration over an existing entry. You can provide images, content, whatever. Either myself or another capable staff member will edit the official sticked thread to include your contribution. You can even provide direct links, if possible. We can also use this thread to discuss the entries, because some of them may be fun to talk about.

[QUOTE=di.fm][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=1] Honestly, I think I MAY...MAY like the Wii more than the 360. Only time will tell.[/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Personally, I don't think it's even close yet but that's another story. Wii Sports is awesome. I wish I had more control over my character in Tennis but I'm surprised that my inabilitiy to control my character didn't actually ruin the game. Tennis remained super fun. Bowling is probably my favorite because, along with Golf, it feels like the most complete game in the package. However, Bowling is much more accessible than Golf, giving it the edge. So yeah, I love Wii Bowling. Playing it with others is sure to be a blast. Boxing is okay in short doses. More than anything, Boxing is just a concept that shows you what's possible. In practice, the gameplay is too frantic and confusing. I found it difficult to tell exactly what was going on, if I was being hit, or if my own hits were connecting with my opponent. Much of the enjoyment simply comes from flailing my arms around with whoever I'm playing with. Baseball, like boxing, is sort of a concept. It's too limited and short to really get much out of. Overall, Wii Sports is a lot of fun and a great pack-in.

To each their own, but I just find your opinion a little weird. I don't think anyone expects Shakespeare going into Gears of War. Although several scenes represent missed opportunities to develop the plot, I do not think the game suffers as a result. GoW is a straight-up action title; the game is obviously gun porn and I am somewhat relieved that Epic did not try to force too much plot into the game because doing so would have disrupted the game's visceral pacing. To the game's credit, I did enjoy the dude speak and none of the characters actually got on my nerves. As for the enemies taking too much ammo to kill--you have to remember that this is intentional. You are not combating other humans. You are fighting incredibly tough monsters. Epic purposely made them hard to kill so that the gunfights would be more strategic and intense. This game isn't supposed to be a realistic shooter, like Rainbow Six, where enemies die after one or two gunshots. You're supposed to feel as if you're going up against a super-human enemy. Your comment about the game's visuals though, really has me scratching my head. I don't know if you're playing this on some sort of ancient black and white television, or if you simply need your eyes checked, but it's pretty much an undisputed fact that Gears of War is head-and-shoulders above any other console title currently on the market from a visual standpoint. There's nothing even close. So, saying that it's "on par" with everything else, and "nothing special" is a puzzling statement to make. The game's length felt just right. GoW isn't the kind of game that should go on for twenty hours. It hits you hard and fast and has a lot of replay value. Playing the game on Insane difficulty is easily one of the most rewarding experiences I have had playing a shooter. Playing the game with a friend on co-op only intensifies that enjoyment. The deathmatch is also painstakingly balanced; the experience is tight and the maps are perfectly designed to make each game almost like a game of chess. I haven't finished Zelda yet, but so far Gears of War is definitely a contender for game of the year, in my opinion.

Here is the definitive opinion, from the Godfather of Gaming on OtakuBoards. When I first booted up the game, I was somewhat disappointed. I had just finished several rounds of Wii sports, which was insanely enjoyable and the transition to Zelda was not easy. The game's opening is decidedly dull. Ocarina of Time opened with an intense prophetic vision of Ganon in pursuit of Zelda on horseback. WindWaker opened with a beautiful, albeit somber montage of stained-glass storyboards. Twilight Princess, on the other hand, puts Link in a rural setting where the player herds goats, chases a cat, and fishes. I also thought the game was pretty unimpressive from a visual standpoint--it looked like a Gamecube game that should have been released in 2005. The textures were blurry, the people looked ugly, and the animation was stiff. To compound the problem, component cables are not going to be available in stores until December. Even the ones on Nintendo's site are backordered. So, on my television, especially, the game looks pretty bad. Many of the textures look like vomit. I was (and still am) also disappointed that the music is not orchestrated. However, it should be noted that the actual composition of the music is still quite beautiful. Just imagining it fully orchestrated really leaves me wanting more. Anyway, after the boring opening, suddenly the game takes off and you see why the opening was so stale. This world you think you know, is suddenly going to get flipped upside down. The fabric of society is going to crumble and the feeling of terror is pervasive. I will not post spoilers, but once the plot gets going and Link enters the Twilight World, the game's genius becomes quickly apparent. This is a much darker, more stylish Zelda game than you're accustomed to; it's dark and serious in a way that Marjora's Mask is not. Suddenly, you get to meet the Midna character, who is simply fantastic. She has a malignant, yet playful edge to her that makes her immediately intriguing, and likable, if not trustworthy. I also like her design; her design reflects the two art styles going on at work within the game. You have the typical anime-inspired Zelda look, and a Tim Burton-esque style going on at the same time. There?s also an imposing sense of isolation and terror that surrounds Link. Since Link does not speak, this feeling is subtle, but it is there. His only companion has her own motives and you get the feeling that she could betray him at any time. The fact that Link remains silent, makes him even more stoic and sort of compliments that theme nicely. It quickly becomes apparent that Twilight Princess is the most cinematic Zelda game ever developed, but in a good way. As most of you have probably realized, I definitely want to see voice acting implemented in this series. However, the facial expressions of the characters almost sate that desire. Although the models are not the most technically advanced out there, the art direction goes a long way in establishing genuine emotion. Pain, joy, and sorry come across poignantly. I really found myself caring about the characters based on their facial expressions and how they moved. The actions scenes, on the other hand, are very epic and get my blood pumping. Very beautiful direction that I think anyone can appreciate. The gameplay is polished, as you?d expect from a Zelda title. At first, the gameplay seems a little too familiar. However, once you become the wolf, there?s suddenly a new dynamic that makes everything fresh again. The wolf segments easily put Okami to shame. Although you control the wolf much in the same way you would control Link, you have access to special inhuman abilities, such as senses, agility, and digging. Also, the wolf segments more prominently feature Midna as a side-character, which affects the gameplay. The Wiimote works really well. Just controlling Link with the analog stick feels great. The game really shines though, when you?re aiming with the slingshot or the boomerang. I could not imagine going back to the standard controller for these items. The combat is neither better nor worse than when using a traditional controller, for the most part. Only the spin attack feels better. The combat, overall feels better though. Once I acquire all of Link's abilities, I have a feeling that the combat wil be deeper and more rewarding than in past Zelda titles. I am currently in my second dungeon and so far, the dungeons seem better than OOT and Windwaker, comparatively. What I mean, is that the first dungeon in Twilight Princess is longer and more enjoyable to play through than the first dungeon in either of those two games. None of the puzzles in the first dungeon are particularly difficult, but they are clever. Thus far, this game is quickly shaping up to be my favorite Zelda game and I cannot wait to play it in 480p, so that I can appreciate it even more.

[QUOTE=Sandy]I don't think I agree with what you said in your MyOtaku page, Charles, about Labyrinth not standing out if it was transferred to Adventure Square. In my opinion it has many elements that common OB RPGs don't have, such as being a contest and the possibility to die in the game (hence the mature rating). [/QUOTE] To be fair, that's just my observation at this point and this is not my full judgement. I think it would be impossible to fairly say it's like an RPG until everyone sees how you run it. So, I don't mean to sound too damning or anything.

[quote name='neomonkey']Is all of this neccesary for video games?[/quote] No. Thread closed.

I'll basically sum up what I said in my myotaku. A lot of thought and effort went into the events, but I think that some of you were going so far out of your way to stand out and be impressive, that you overcomplicated things. When I think of events, I think of fun activities that reflect the culture of the boards and bring the entire community together. It's also cool if they serve the community in some way. I don't think that an event should have a limited roster, lengthy sign-up process, or be mature rated. I realize that some may disagree with my criticism of mature rated events, but understand that it's just my personal preference.

[quote name='Venge']They're making sequels? DOOD! I gotta get them when they come out, that is for sure. [/quote] Well, keep in mind that these games have already been made. The Phoenix Wright games are ports of already-existing Japanese Gameboy Advance titles. The series is actually reaching its fourth installment in Japan where [spoiler]Phoenix Wright is no longer the main character. He is retired and plays piano at a hotel. He is also the first client that you will defend in that game.[/spoiler]

Man, this is insane: [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-PLAYSTATION-3-PS3-60-GB-TRUE-BUNDLE-PACK-REALLY_W0QQitemZ160050434898QQihZ006QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] Also, I found this sort of funny: [url]http://www.startribune.com/462/story/816150.html[/url] I've seen a few stories like this: [url]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,230182,00.html[/url] And, here's a pretty decent Penny Arcade: [CENTER][IMG]http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2006/20061117.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]

For anyone interested, I took a pic of the campers yesterday. It's pretty crappy since it's my camera phone and I was walking, so there's sort of a slant, but I guess it's worth showing. [url]http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/9850/sspx0075yo4.jpg[/url]

[quote name='black rurouni']the playstion 3 will be manly for teen (13+), i beleve that the PS3 will sell out more then the 360 did. Also the PS3 will have the best graphic and vision effect ( with HDTV). But the only downfall is the price of 600 or 500 dollars depending on the 60gb and the 20gb.[/quote] [quote]The pipelines go idle because the pixel pipes aren't able to help the vertex pipes accomplish a task or vice versa. Whats even more impressive about this GPU is it by itself determines the balance of how many pipelines to dedicate to vertex or pixel shader operations at any given time a programmer is NOT needed to handle any of this the GPU takes care of all this itself in the quickest most efficient way possible. 1080p is not a smart resolution to target in any form this generation, but if 360 developers wanted to get serious about 1080p, thanks to Xenos, could actually outperform the ps3 in 1080p. (The less efficient GPU always shows its weaknesses against the competition in higher resolutions so the best way for the rsx to be competitive is to stick to 720P) In vertex shader limited situations the 360?s gpu will literally be 6 times faster than RSX. With a unified shader architecture things are much more efficient than previous architectures allowed (which is extremely important). The 360?s GPU for example is 95-99% efficient with 4XAA enabled.[/quote] Source: [url]http://dpad.gotfrag.com/portal/story/35372/?spage=9[/url]

Honestly, they better be scalpers. I can't imagine anyone going through this effort just to play the thing.

The insanity has begun. Today at 11:30am, I noticed a line of people with tents camping out in front of Best Buy located near my job. By the end of the day, there were at least sixteen tents outside and someone even had a pet tent alongside their setup! It's supposed to rain pretty badly tomorrow, so they're in for a tough camp. I just can't believe that these people live such carefree lives that they can camp out 48 hours in advance. Don't they have jobs? :animeshy: It's a shame that the store is only getting three or four units according to the Best Buy employee I spoke with.

[quote name='Papa Smurf'] Duke Nukem would disagree with you.[/quote] I think we're well past that now--especially with the cost of console titles. I highly doubt that people are going to happily spend sixty bucks for incomplete games. 2006DigitalBoy--I'm pretty sure that you do not have to pay for demos or trailers unless there's some kind of new turn of events that I'm unaware of. Every demo and trailer I have run across on the Xbox Live Marketplace has been for free. I don't think that companies will charge you for advertising a game to you. If a company does do that, it will probably be EA. Also, you do not have to buy an Xbox Live Gold account to play Phantasy Star Universe from what I understand. Silver works just fine.

[CENTER][IMG]http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/4179/marioxblmpg4.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] Downloadable in-game content is going to be a big deal across all next generation platforms. In theory, microtransactions can contribute to video games. The developer can go back and expand on their product by adding new content for a nominal fee. Bungie, for example, seemed to have the right idea when they released moderately priced map packs for Halo 2, each of which became free later on. Hardcore players would immediately fork out the cash to get the content early, while those who wanted to wait until it was free--waited. Either way, the map packs, in addition to downloadable gameplay tweaks actually improved Halo 2 in a meaningful way. Microtransactions on the next generation systems, on the other hand, are leaving me a little jaded. While I enjoy downloading Xbox Live Arcade games, I can't help but to notice the influx of developers simply abusing microtransactions. The first really notable example was Bethesda's horse armor pack for Oblivion; the file added some protection for characters' mounts--for $2.50. I love Oblivion, but there was no way I would spend $2.50 on a trivial download when PC owners could get the same thing for free. Lately, EA has been the worst offender by selling "consumables"; EA has essentially removed the cheat codes from their games, instead opting to put them online as priced downloads. I remember reading about one download for The Godfather in which the player can pay so that they could buy certain guns in the game. So, you'll be [I]paying[/I] just so that shopkeepers will carry the gun, but you will not have it. EA also has microtransactions up where you can pay for in-game money. Need For Speed: Carbon has $50 worth of downloadable content--most of which is already on the disc and can be unlocked for free. Obviously anyone with a brain should know better than to purchase EA's crap, but it's just a shame that they're allowed to put up such lazy offerings. The worst part is that since there is no regulation and developers are allowed to put up whatever they want at no cost. Lumines was troublesome too because you pay $15 for the game, and many of the options are unselectable unless you purchase additional packs. My problem with this is that this is not clarified on the download description. The same abuse will undoubtedly carry over to the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 as well. One bit that already bothers me is that Sega Genesis games are going to [B]start[/B] at $8. The Super Nintendo games are also $8, so it seems to make sense, but the fact that Genesis games may cost even more is absurd. On the whole, I do not see why anyone would bother downloading twelve year old games with no enhancements for eight dollars or more. So, what are your opinions on this issue? Do you think that microtransactions will ruin gaming? At this point, I could see developers eventually making role-playing games entirely episodic, forcing the player to pay for each new addition to the story. Or, I could see developers just forcing half-complete products on the shelves and charging the gamer for the rest. Maybe I'm overreacting though. :animenose

[quote name='dragonlover666']YOUR RIGHT FFVII IS A GREAT GAME AND IT DOES SET THE MOOD RIGHT WHEN IT IS SUPPOSED TO SO ANY BODY ELSE A FFVII LOVER. :animesmil[/quote] WHY ARE YOU YELLING? TURN THE CAPS LOCK OFF! ALSO YOUR POST IS TOO CONCISE WITHOUT ANY REAL INSIGHT. PLZ FIX THAT. THNX! Yeah, anyway, I love the original Lumines soundtrack. The developers did a wonderful job of integrating the soundtrack into the actual gameplay, which obviously made it a significant component of the game. The music wasn't just there; the soundtrack was not just something pleasant to listen to--the rhythm was incorporated into the visuals and the gameplay perfectly. I also loved how the blocks made various sounds that fit in with each level's music. And man, I still love "Shinin'." I was disappointed when I heard that the US version of Lumines 2 would feature songs like "Holla Back Girl" and **** like that, but the inclusion of songs like "Heavenly Star" somewhat makes up for that travesty: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL2od1AF_Cs[/url]