Charles

Okay, I went back into the article and removed Rick Hunter's full real name. Currently, the cartoon image at the bottom of the article is a sticking point for me. On one hand, I feel that the prudent thing to do would be to just save myself a lot of pointless complaining and aggrevation by just removing the damn thing. On the other hand, the caricature is harmless, fun, and creatively speaking, it adds character to the article. I think that, to come back after so long and be offended by such a silly image is not really a fault on my part, but a sign of insecurity on the original poster's part. I feel that I have addressed whatever legitimate complaints there were here. I will give the removal of the image further consideration after talking to James about it. Also, I would like to point out three things: 1) In the original post, you (Rick Hunter) said that Otakupedia focused too much on the banning of members. I need to address your assertation by pointing out that the "banned members" category is only one of [i]many[/i] categories featured on Otakupedia. Of course bannings of established members are big stories here on OtakuBoards. We do not focus on the banning of any member as something to be proud of or exemplify. However, some of the bannings occur under such wild circumstances that they are worth documenting and poking fun at. 2) I understand that you were getting impatient and wanted your situation to be dealt with. However, you should have exercised more patience simply because drawing everyone's attention to a year-old article that most people probably aren't even thinking about anymore is counterproductive to what you are trying to accomplish. 3) There were never legal remifications here (as if I even need to go there). I will not pick apart every aspect of this argument because the problems there are obvious. However, I will say this: Even if I did not create the AE Boards logo, the use of a copyrighted Square Enix property (Aeris) in advertising Ae Boards, would certainly hinder any legal standing you may think you have. The use of a Cowboy Bebop character in AE Boards image in your signature would face much the same problem in a courtroom. I'll just stop there. heh

Raiha, I hope you have your lawyers ready for using my name without permission.

[quote name='Rick Hunter']In using my images such as the AE Boards logo, without my consent you violate the copyright of Anime Explosion. You did not seek permission from the owner to use that image, the owner is naturally myself. .[/QUOTE] Problem. As you should know, I made that image when I worked for AE Boards. As such, I have the image saved in several formats on my PC (which I still own from that time). That is, I have the individual layers that I used to make the image. Where do you think I got it for the article in the first place? heh Technically, I am the owner and if you are using that image without providing me royalties, then it is I who have a problem with you. I will remove your picture from the article though. That is a fair request that I always honor for anyone who asks (not because of legal ramifications but out of common courtesy).

I have to agree with Raiha, based on firsthand experience. Once you have to go into the city on a regular basis and deal with a bevy of homeless people harrassing you and trying to hustle you for money, you learn that about 99 percent of them are not worth helping at all. Your fairy tale outlook on helping those in need becomes refined by street smarts and common sense. After a while, you start to see how the homeless operate. Instead of going to the local shelter and abiding by the shelter's rules, they will opt to work the streets and con people. They'll start low, asking you for a quarter. Should you make the foolish mistake of producing a quarter, they'll really only need fifty cents and then you know, it'd be [i]great[/i] if you had a dollar. I also love when it's freezing out and I want to get a hot chocolate at the donut shop, but cannot because a wall of homeless people are standing in front of the door accosting customers for money. Very rarely will I give a stranger money that I have worked for. My gut has to tell me that they are sincere. Working in a soup kitchen, as Japan suggested, is a better alternative to helping homeless people. Giving scum money to waste on drugs and alcohol is not really helping anyone as much as it is contributing to a bigger problem.

For our next Community Event, I suggest that we send Premonition over to Iraq in order to help rescue the country. In this small way, OtakuBoards can save the US government the trouble of wasting money on needless causes. A journal of Premonition's progress will be posted and updated here. Let's get more use out of this thread than initially planned.

OtakuBoards Tetris. There would be two teams--the "shapes" and the "blockers." The shapes would be the offensive team, and the blockers would be defensive. Here's how the game would work: The "shapes" team would use conventional Tetris shapes as their avatars. Within the game thread, a list of questions will be posted based off of Otakupedia entries, forum trivia, and other assorted OtakuBoards subjects (sort of like Jeopordy). Both sides would be responsible for answering these same questions. However, it wouldn't necessarily be how [i]fast[/i] each team could find the answers. Each team would live or die based on communication and coordination. You see, the goal of the "shapes" team would be for each player to post in an order that allows them to make one or more straight lines, just like in Tetris. The correct players would have to do answer the questions successively without interruption. The job of the blockers would be to interrupt the posting string by answering the questions in-between the posts of the "shape" players. Each side would altnerate between offense and defense--that is, once the "shape" side either makes a line or is blocked, they would become the "blockers' and the "blockers" would become the "shapes." What do you think, Justin?

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]I've said already that when a particular activity threatens the health of many citizens of a country then the government has a right to intervene with a certain level of control, the particular level of which is up to the ministers themselves to decide.[/SIZE][/QUOTE] I suppose they had better close down the fast food industry ASAP then.

Why don't you two go smoke a joint and chill out? :animeswea

I hate marijuana. I have never tried the stuff, but I've been around it before and it smells disgusting--absolutely repulsive--perhaps as bad as or worse than cigars. So, my reasons for not wanting marijuana legalized are probably superficial to that point. I would never want marijuana to be legalized because it's bad enough as iwhen I have to walk through a wall of cigarette smoke to get into a building--I do not want to have to deal with the smell of marijuana on top of that. Otherwise, I would not like to see marijuana legalized for moral reasons. I am not offended by others' decision to smoke marijuana and I am pretty laid back in general, but like Rachmaninoff, I do not believe that people need drugs or alcohol to have a good time. Those who believe that they need a drug to mellow out really aren't doing themselves any favors because they are not relaxing in an authentic or meaningful way--they are being maniuplated by a substance. I also think that smoking in general is a little passe' and is being phased out. People have realized that smoking is pretty disgusting and have instead chosen to gorge themselves into obesity.

I would just like to say that it's nice to see some good sense return to this thread. Otherwise, I'll comment on the difficulty by saying that although I never found the game very difficult, I did end up dying quite a bit during the later half of the game (especially if I tried to rush through a level). Some of the platforming in the boss stages, in particular, really impressed me. Like Super Mario Bros. 3, the boss stages became events that I looked forward to. And yes, as far as linearity goes, sure the level design is not as ambiguous as other Mario games, but I find it much more dynamic. Revisiting the same level over and over and finding stars is not as fun as jumping into oftentimes drastic variations of a level (in my opinion). Plus, the way I look at it, the old school Mario games were never really about going off in every direction exploring. The levels were very straightforward with little nooks and crannies you could find secrets in. Most of my enjoyment of older Mario games was gleaned from the genius that was the level design. Mario Galaxy is sort of rooted in that oldschool concept, except now the player is free to explore every surface of most objects. I never felt as if there was nothing to see--especially with how varied the level designs were. All in all, still my favorite Mario game and hopefully a blueprint for other Wii developers. to follow. It's nice that anyone who actually doesn't have a vendetta against Nintendo, finally has a killer app to be happy with (although Metroid was quite good too).

A sandbag? Really? Mario isn't acrobatic enough? Huh? I'm going to lay the cards on the table here. You're clearly biased against Nintendo, and every time a big game from them comes out, you find something weird to complain about. I wish that more people would chime in here about the camera because I'm so sick of arguing this nonsense up and down. I don't know what game you're playing, but the camera is absolutely fine most of the time. In fact, when you consider the quality of camera work in this genre, and factor in the nature of the platforming in Mario Galaxy (where you're constantly switching gravity, surfaces and viewpoints), the camera is as good as any game's camera out there. Better than most. I have played the game, beaten it and the camera has never been an issue. I have no motive to simply make things up here. Now, one might say "Buuut Chaaarles, that's for [i]you[/i]." But no. The camera is just fine. This is not a matter of arguing difficulty or ability. We're talking about visibility and the player will be able to see Mario and his surroundings just fine for the vast majority of the game. When there are hiccups, they're not nearly as severe as you're making them out to be. The camera is smartly zoomed out most of the time and is a blessing compared to manual cameras that one constantly has to stop and readjust. Quite frankly, I'd rather spend my time controlling my character instead of wrestling with a camera. After all, quick pacing is what makes Mario Galaxy such an old school platforming experience. The thing I must repeat is, I do acknowledge that sometimes the camera is placed in an awkward spot, or I might find a situation in which I wish I could have a bit more control over the view, but it's such a minor, minor issue. I do think that you're trolling when you claim that the game has one of the "worse camea systems in years" because this is no an opinion---not even a very bad one--it's just a flat-out falsity that can be disproved by anyone with the ability to even watch a video of the game in motion. Where preference comes in is my attitude toward the level design. I can respect your opinion in relation to how the levels are designed. You obviously preferred being dropped in the middle of a huge world and just finding your way to a star. And you know, that had an appeal of its own. However, I can appreciate Mario Galaxy's approach. Even if you're guided through the levels in a more linear manner, the sheer diversity and design of the different planetoids lends the game a magical feel that makes the player want to see what's coming up next. Also, there are branching paths in the levels where you can find secret planets and discover hidden stars when you're not looking for them. Also there are different planet surfaces and pipes and hidden nooks you can easily miss. A player could blow through a level if he or she chose, or they could explore every surface. Just like how in the old Mario games, I could run straight through, or take the time to hold down on every pipe. So, I didn't mind and I argue that not everyone will find Galaxy's approach to be horrible. At any rate, I think you're being treated too liberally here, so I'm establishing the Mario Nation and making this thread a military state. Once you've turned your back on the Nation, you're done. So, I'm going to ask you, no, [I]command [/I] you, to pay homage to Mario Galaxy or suffer the consequences. As for the direction the series should take---I'd like to see a Little Big Planet kind of approach with user generated content.

I move that we include in the rules, bannings for heresy. I refuse to overanalyze this Mario game and pick apart every detail. I liked the streamlined setup. I find the game easy to jump into and play and I still think that the game rewards exploration quite well. There are still a bevy of secrets in store for those who explore the levels carefully. Personally, I find the system to be a perfect marriage between Mario 64 and the classic sidescrollers. Although the mission structure is more linear than Mario 64's, I prefer the more focused approach. I dislike obscure goals, but that's me. I also think the fact that you're free to explore many of these worlds as you choose, aids in helping the game to feel open-ended. The fact that each goal makes the worlds slightly different makes them more enjoyable to revisit for me too. If I had to revisit the same world and just explore its every nook to find Stars, I wouldn't have as much fun. If I wanted to do something like that, I would play Tomb Raider. Again, that's me. Also, the thing is, if you look at the original Mario games, you could choose to explore the levels at your own leisure or blow through them in [i]seconds[/i]. The levels in Mario Galaxy are often set up in a similar way. I could spend a couple minutes on any one stage or up to ten minutes. This is among the, if not [i]the[/i] best platformer to ever grace a console and I'm sad that you're in such a position where you can't just sit back and enjoy it. You know, Zelda was one thing, because I didn't really care about that game too much, but now you're knocking on a dangerous door. Leave it alone, man. Leave it alone.

[quote name='The Blue Jihad']Oh, the game wasn't unplayable for me. I was one-stocking most of those levels, even with the crappy camera. But be that as it may, the camera [I]is[/I] crap. Even if the crap camera didn't "ruin the game" for you, you still see and admit how crappy the camera is. Mario Galaxy doesn't revolutionize jackshit. Never said or implied it did or that it should have. But frankly, from the company who [I]did[/I] revolutionize chunks of the industry, I'd expect a camera system that wasn't two generations ago. By the way, go ahead and buy into all the negative press about Kane & Lynch. The general public is enjoying the game. The "professional" reviewers aren't because they're still sucking on the cocks of overhyped garbage like CoD4 and Halo 3. And I'll ram whatever I want down your throat, especially when I know you can see how terrible the camera is. Difference here is that you're much more forgiving than I am.[/QUOTE] You haven't even played COD4. Granted, I haven't played Kane & Lynch but man, I don't know how dozens and dozens of reviews can be wrong. Well, besides the fact that there's no online co-op even. :animenose Also, I don't see how just because Mario Galaxy doesn't completely revolutionize camera work in 3D platfomers, it's suddenly a poor game. I think that it keeps up with the action well for the most part--much better than most 3D adventure games, in fact. The creativity on hand, level design, wide degree of gameplay elements, awesome music, and great implementation of gravity outweigh some niggling camera issues in my opinion. I just find the game to be [i]fun[/i]. If you don't like that, I'm sorry dude! It just feels like the old Mario games to me and I like it a lot. Gonna cry about it?

I just personally had little problems with that camera that made the game unplayable for me. Again, I acknowledge that there are issues but none that ruined the game--[i]for me[/i]. Also, I don't know if Mario Galaxy completely revolutionizes the genre, but it does feel unique and it is the best 3D platformer that we will play until Nintendo makes a new Mario game. We all know what you're saying. You've made your opinion perfectly clear. I, on the other hand, am just providing an opposing opinion. No need to ram the same argument down peoples' throats. Now, go play Kane & Lynch.

And conversely, I felt that the camera was fine anywhere between 90-95% of the time. Of course, the camera is not perfect. On occasion, I would find myself inhibited by an awkward view that I wished I could change, or my view would be obscured by an environmental object. But, overall, the camera was a tremendous improvement over the system in Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine. For the most part, the camera is zoomed out and the views are pretty smartly laid out; I was glad that I did not have to wrestle with a clumsy manual camera. I also liked how the developers smartly regulated many of the more intensive platforming sections to a sideview, or put the camera directly behind Mario. Nicely done. In this kind of game, where the character is constantly jumping around at fast speeds, it is incredibly difficult to set up an effective camera that can keep up with the action. The new Sonic games are crippled by a terrible camera (among other things) and even Ninja Gaiden suffered from camera problems. Countless other 3D platformers and actions games, inclcuding Tomb Raider, have suffered from camera issues too. So, it is not unexpected that Mario Galaxy should suffer from its share of hiccups every now and then. After all, not only is the player running and jumping at quick speeds in Galaxy, they are also going through gravity and perspective changes on a constant basis. Would I have liked a more cooperative, manually controllable camera in some situations? Sure. Nevertheless, whatever camera issues there are, certainly are not game breaking or overly distracting. Any claims to the contrary are overreactions. I just beat the game today with 61 stars and I plan to go back and collect everything else as time permits. Mario Galaxy is my favorite Mario game, with Mario Bros. 3 and Mario 64 behind it. I did not complete Sunshine largely because of its camera issues. So, that is an alternative take for anyone on the fence who might be dissuaded by some of the negative opinions in this thread.

It's okay. He likes Kane & Lynch. :animeswea

[url]http://youtube.com/watch?v=90Rwz7JG2Vg[/url]

I actually liked the last case better than Justice for All's. What did you think, Shinmaru? [spoiler]I liked the pure fan service, like playing as Edgeworth. The ending with Godot was pretty emotional too and pushed him over the edge as one of my favovrite characters in the series. Little details, like when Godot saw Mia in Phoenix and when Phoenix drunk the coffee at the end, were particularly awesome.[/spoiler] Overall, I was very pleased.

I'm 100% lesbian, if that is okay with all of you.

I've put about an hour or two into the game so far and I'm loving it. The best impression I can give of Mario Galaxy, is that it feels "magical." I never thought that I would be able to feel that way about a Mario game again, because I didn't really know where else they could go with the franchise. Like, when I first moved Mario with the D-pad, or got the Racoon cap, or moved Mario with the analog, it was just "magic." Mario Galaxy feels the same way to me; it feels more like the 2D platformers than any other 3D Mario game. And the music--oh my God. Best soundtrack of the year. As expected, Mario Galaxy is in the running for my game of the year. The only game that truly rivals it, for me, is Persona 3.

Ask her out, dude. All of your problems will be solved. It sounds like she was initially just flirting with you and then your insults got back to her and now she's upset with you. Also, you should be more sensitive with your language toward women.

I pre-ordered the game today. Next to Phoenix Wright 3, it's probably been my my anticipated game of the year, so here's hoping it turns out. Seeing as how much I loved Jungle Beat, I think everything will turn out. Question though, is it [i]really[/i] confirmed that the entire score is orchestrated? I saw a video on gametrailers that indicated it was, but after that horrible Twilight Princess soundtrack, I'm a bit cynical. Orchestrated Mario music throughout the entire game would bring the game up to an entirely new sphere. Ha, sphere! Get it?

[quote name='Shinmaru']I ordered the new Phoenix Wright off Amazon, but it's not going to arrive here until mid-November because I'm cheap and don't want to pay shipping. It'll be well worth the wait, though, I'm sure. :) I really want to see if any of the new cases approach the amazing final case in the second Phoenix Wright, though. Any word on whether one (or more!! :O) of the cases are that good, Charles?[/QUOTE] Well, I've only just started the final case in Trials and Tribulations and so far, it's [i]amazing.[/i] I haven't even made it to court yet and there have already been some incredible twists that have been built up across the whole game. I'll keep you updated but it's definitely starting out better than the last case in Justice for All. Having said that, so far I wouldn't say that I like any one case better than the last one in Justice for All, but I will say that all of the cases work together really well, to create one very strong plot that wasn't necessarily there before. This game does not feel very "episodic," I should say. So yeah, at the very least you're still looking at an overall narrative that's much stronger than before.

Of course, I picked up Phoenix Wright 3, day one. I don't want to spoil too much, but I'm up to the fourth case and as the resident PW fanatic on the board, I am qualified to tell everyone that this game is shaping up to be my favorite in the series. Although some criticize the game for being too familiar, using too many assets from previous games (which I don't entirely dispute), I find that the familiarity is sort of fitting for the finale of the trilogy. I will also note that the way the cases tie in to one another is extremely satisfying. The plot feels very cohesive and the new prosecutor is waaaaaaaaay better than Francesca von Karma. The way the game is paced and balanced is a significant improvement as well. Typically the evidence you have to present is more logically determined than it was before. So, once again, I urge everyone on this board to pick up the new Phoenix Wright. Unless you haven't played the other two. If not, pick up the first two games and then also buy the new one.

[quote name='The Blue Jihad']**** being a saint. I just don't like spyware. My computer is like a dolphin's butt. [B][I]Watertight[/I][/B].[/QUOTE] See, the thing is though, if you're computer-literate enough, you know how to avoid such pitfalls. And, in response to A_M-- you're exactly right. What I do is not something I am going to defend or debate on. I could sit here and qualify my decision based on money. I could argue that I do not download a lot of music so how bad can I be. I could insist that my good qualities outweigh my music downloading. I could argue that the government takes money out of my paycheck every week that I don't want them to and somehow try to intelligently tie that in to my actions. But, at the end of the day, I find that avenue a little redundant, insincere and, to be honest, unnecessary. People are people and we all have quirks that we cannot really justify or defend. But, that's what makes us people, I suppose. When people try to defend their loathsome quirks, not only are they denying what makes them, well, them, they just end up deluding no one but themselves. Downloading music easy, is convenient, it's free, it's wrong. I'll live with it. P.S. Sometimes I work, I steal time by taking breaks longer than I'm supposed to. I'll live with that to--unless, of course, anyone wants to debate about it.