James

[color=#707875]B7104ZA remained silent for a moment. As the limosine quietly drifted through the wide city streets of the capital, past dozens and dozens of uniformly-designed buildings, neither B7104ZA nor Luyii spoke. But finally, B7104ZA broke the silence. "If your escort intended to murder you before your arrival, is there any real purpose for your visit?" he asked, still gazing out the window. Luyii paused and then spoke softly. "I don't know...the whole situation is a big mess. I just...", Luyii paused to take a sharp breath and then continued, "...I just feel so sorry for you. I wish there was something I could do, but none of them want to listen." B7104ZA turned to face Luyii. "I understand. My colleagues within The Grid are convinced that we are under great threat from mankind...I am trying to convince them to slow down on military developments." Luyii shook her head briskly. "No, don't do that. You [i]are[/i] in great danger, Mr. Smith. Everyone here is." B7104ZA did not know how to respond. Here was a human female, sitting beside him, practically pleading with him not to hold off on military advancements. "But...what about your family? Don't you care about what may happen in a war between man and machine?" asked B7104ZA, with some sense of hope in his voice. Luyii produced a small, lace handkerchief from her pocket and gently dabbed the corners of her eyes. "Of course I care, Mr. Smith. I care about my family a great deal. I care about all humanity. But now...we have done so many foolish things. Maybe we deserve to be punished..." B7104ZA had not expected this kind of response from a human being. He didn't understand Luyii's feelings at all; he didn't understand the concept of [i]guilt[/i]. All he had ever wanted to do was to change the future of man/machine relations -- he'd never thought about actively punishing humans for past crimes. The limosine continued to drift between tall, greyscale shapes, as the rain began to fall again. Thousands of water droplets beaded against the windows and distorted the world outside. Finally, the vehicle came to a complete stop. B7104ZA stepped outside and opened Luyii's door for her. Her tears had dried; she seemed to be feeling better, though B7104ZA could not be sure. The pair were standing in the center of a very large warehouse. On one side, thousands of large cubes were stacked many stories high. On the other side, a single assembly line was in progress, with thousands of Versatran vehicle shells snaking their way through the complex, while various robots periodically added new pieces. "This is our largest Versatran facility," said B7104ZA, as he gestured toward the conveyor belt. "Very impressive," said Luyii, as she arched her neck up toward the enormous robots that were looming above. B7104ZA nodded and began walking toward the building's southern end, with Luyii in tow. But not long after they'd begun walking, they noticed several machine workers nearby, who were pushing a very large metallic crate. It was covered with a large white sheet. B7104ZA paused and waved at the machines. "What are you doing?" he asked politely. The machines stopped and waved in return. One of them piped up, "We're taking a delivery to Warehouse 07, sir". "What delivery?" "A new machine..." said the worker, with some reluctance in his voice. B7104ZA smiled briefly at Luyii. "Please excuse me for one moment," he said cheerfully. Luyii nodded and waited in place. B7104ZA approached the cube and sat his hands on his hips. "Do you have permission to move this thing through here? I hope you realize that this area is not for loading." The machine workers nodded in unison. "Yes, sir...but we have orders to bring it through here. It's a sensitive piece of equipment. Outside this warehouse, there is too much electromagnetic interference; this is as close as we can get to a sterile loading bay right now." B7104ZA approached the cube and tugged the sheet off it. Luyii noticed that it seemed as though he hadn't been filled in on the goins on. Luyii had to double take, though. The machine inside the semi-transparent cube was like none she had ever seen. It had what looked like an enormous head, with dozens of large portals covering its face. Behind the head, several dozen tendrils were attached. The metallic tendrils were partially wrapped around the head and they covered the bottom half of the cube. Underneath the head, Luyii noticed several pincer-type extensions, with what looked like sharp cutting tools and hydraulics. The machine looked quite frightening to Luyii; almost as it if were some kind of giant insect. What followed was difficult for Luyii to comprehend. B7104ZA had quite a spirited discussion with the worker machines, but Luyii could not understand a word of what was said; the sound was quite high-pitched and no particular words seemed to form. Within moments, the workers flung the sheet back over the cube and quickly pushed it toward the exit. B7104ZA approached Luyii once more and bowed. "My apologies for that interruption. These workers were a little confused." Luyii smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's fine. I was just admiring the facilities here." B7104ZA smiled broader than Luyii had yet seen. "We are very proud of this facility. It requires very little power and we manage to construct up to 6,700 models per day. The manufacturing cycle is really very impressive." Luyii and B7104ZA continued to walk along the length of the facility, by the enormous conveyor belt. Luyii had almost completely forgotten about the attempt on her life; just being here in this place, observing the machines' advanced technology, was so wonderous that it seemed to make up for much more than she'd originally thought.[/color]

[color=#707875]Okay...I've just bought Mario Kart today. So far, I've played through the 50cc Mushroom Cup. Right now, it's a bit too early for me to form some kind of definitive opinion. So I'll just tell you my feelings at this point. First and foremost, Double Dash feels different to Mario Kart 64. It's a lot more like Diddy Kong Racing, in terms of how the vehicles handle; it feels more "slippery" when you turn. But this isn't a bad thing. In particular, I noticed that there's a much greater emphasis on power sliding -- power slides are much easier to perform and you can do them again and again. In fact, it's quite easy to turn [i]every[/i] corner with a slide. It's a lot of fun just getting that part of it right, because it really increases your times a great deal. In terms of the two character thing, I think that it's something I still have to get used to. If you use both characters carefully, you will find that it changes the game a great deal; you can use one character to block an incoming attack from behind, and then switch and attack someone in front, for example. It's a lot harder to block though, because you get very little warning of an incoming attack. But it seems pretty balanced, as your opponents won't always hit you. Sometimes they accidentally miss. I noticed that Double Dash can be just as hectic as previous games in the series. Even though Baby Park is probably the most simple track, I also found it to be pretty hectic; everything is closer together and there's a lot of action on screen. It's a lot of fun; shells fly around everywhere, explosions go off, giant bananas get laid down and all sorts of awesome things go on in the background. Baby Park has rollercoasters zipping past, just above the track, for example. It's pretty cool. Visually, I'd say that Double Dash is about on par with Super Mario Sunshine...but it's nicer again. Everything is very smooth, animation is gorgeous (as you'd expect from an NCL game) and textures are, on the whole, very smooth. It's nice; everything runs very well, there's no slowdown at all. I am also really enjoying the weapons in the game. Not only do they work beautifully and seem very balanced against each other, but they do some pretty fantastic things. Mario and Luigi's fireball, for instance, looks very cool when you use it. It splashes out in front of them and splits up everywhere -- hitting everything in sight. It has a very "whispy" look...again, very smooth. But, again, this is all that I've tried. So I guess there's not a whole lot more to say at this point, until I play some more. Nonetheless, I'm pretty happy with the game. Track design is pretty strong (about the same size as the tracks on the SNES version), control and movement is nice and easy and weapons are varied and effective. EDIT: I forgot to mention speed. The game [i]does[/i] feel appropriately fast; it's probably speedier than Mario Kart 64. I think it could do with a little more speed, to be honest. But...I don't know how there can be any complaints about this, given that this is probably the fastest Mario Kart yet. Also, the interactive track elements are really great. The Peach Beach track has those enemies from Super Mario Sunshine running around everywhere (you know, the ones that bounce you up into the air). It's pretty hectic when you're trying to weave through them [i]and[/i] attack opponents. Fun. ^_^ EDIT 2: I've played some more (including all the battle modes, cooperative and all cups). Some of the tracks in this game are really impressive; I don't know what IGN is talking about. The DK Mountain track is [i]insanely[/i] good fun. I was really surprised by how good it turned out to be. Battle modes are all fantastic. The balloon mode is good, but it's really the same as what you've seen before; there isn't any significant change or difference here. However, the other two modes are wonderful. Shine Thief is surprisingly good fun; I really enjoyed it. It feels very fast and frantic. And Bob-Omb Battle is really insane. lol I've only played Bob-Omb Battle with two players, and already it was really nutty. I can't imagine it with four. The beauty of that mode is that you don't just pick up one bomb per player on the kart. Instead, each character can pick up maybe a dozen or so; they literally try to balance the whole dozen on one hand. It's pretty funny. And it works to great effect, because you can lay a trail of bombs out behind you if you're being pursued -- either the other guy will run into them and blow himself up, or they'll blow up in a couple of seconds and he'll be caught in the blast radius. The explosions also look pretty darn cool. And I don't know what IGN is saying about it being too slow in battle...it's literally about the same. Any difference is very marginal and not even worth mentioning. For me, Cooperative play was the biggest surprise. I thought that it'd be somewhat boring...and that it would just be a token throw-in effort. I mean, how much fun can the second person have if they're only throwing items? At least, IGN gave me this impression. They either didn't try the mode very much, or they're just stupid. lol Firstly, the use of two players on one kart works very well and becomes strategically important to the game. The pair of you can switch at any time, to take advantage of your individual weapons. And the driver can quickly pass weapons to the passenger. This is useful for a variety of reasons. For example, as the driver, you might want to keep a green shell in your posession the whole time. Your passenger can continue to use various items regardless. But, if they happen to have no item and you're being chased by a red shell, you can quickly pass your item to your passenger...and they can block the incoming shell. It's very quick and it relies on both players being able to coordinate their skills well. In addition, your passenger is vital to your ability to boost around corners. I'm not sure if you can boost up on your own in cooperative mode, but, when your passenger moves their stick while you're charging up, your boost comes into effect [i]very[/i] quickly. Within a split second. So, if you're on a windy course and you boost on every corner, both players have to work together frequently in order to time things correctly. It's a great deal of fun. Not to mention that your passenger can punch other players from the back of the kart. When they do this, your kart slides one way or the other a little -- this is useful, because if you just miss an item box, the passenger can kind of reach out and grab it as you pass. It also means that if you're being chased by a homing shell, your passenger can quickly pull the kart across slightly to avoid being hit. It works surprisingly well. So, I'm enjoying the game far more now that I've begun to really explore it in multiplayer. I can see this game lasting me a long time; and if you can set up LAN, I imagine that you'll get even more time out of it. [/color]

[color=#707875]Eh...I don't think that Conker's was terribly funny. Ironically, most of the game's humor was very "kiddie", in the sense that I'd laugh hysterically if I were ten years old. Funny, considering that it was supposed to be an "adult" game. Silly toilet humor aside, Conker's was still a pretty fun game. I think that for Rare, it was their most finely-tuned platformer to date. Much tigher than Banjo-Tooie and much more focused and interesting than Star Fox Adventures. So, I did enjoy it. But in terms of theme, I think I enjoyed Banjo-Kazooie more. Banjo-Kazooie is still one of my favourite platformers, despite the item collecting. It wasn't as rampant as in Donkey Kong 64, but the game also felt a lot more focused than Banjo-Tooie. So I'd say that for me, Conker's comes in a close second to B-K. [/color]

[color=#707875]Dock 375 had been empty for three weeks. Other nations had not been permitted to export raw materials to 01, as a result of strict UN sanctions. This did not place a burden on machines, in terms of their daily lives; most of the materials that they imported were used to manufacture goods for export. The lack of imports had dented the 01 economy, but the machines had quickly replaced material losses by developing their own unique alternatives. Exports still took place, however. The machines were still producing [i]Versatran[/i] model vehicles for human nations. Ironically, many of the engines were being reconfigured for military purposes by humans. B7104ZA stood in the center of Dock 375. Although it had been empty for three weeks, the machines were awaiting a unique arrival. Luyii Megelani, a UN Special Ambassador, was due to touch down on the dock in a matter of minutes. She had been given permission to clear the military blockade and enter 01 directly. The machines had avoided many traditional formalities for Ms. Megelani's arrival, as they were eager to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis. B7104ZA checked his internal clock. It was 1:49pm. Ms. Megelani was late, by exactly 19 minutes. But finallly, B7104ZA saw a small object on the horizon. It was a UN military helicopter. The crude thrashing of its rotors sounded out of place on the Dock, as none of the machine vehicles emitted very much sound from their fusion engines. The helicopter buzzed over the horizon and settled on the tarmac in front of B7104ZA. He had been assigned to meet with Ms. Megelani on the Dock, but he was not in charge of meeting with her. She was due to spend the evening in 01 and meet with Delegate Prime itself the next day. Significant effort had to be made for her arrival -- including the preparation of food and appropriate living quarters -- to ensure that she was comfortable. As Ms. Megelani stepped off the helicopter, carrying her briefcase and wearing thin-rimmed sunglasses, B7104ZA noticed that she did not seem to be particularly confused or afraid. However, the helicopter's pilot was quite different; his eyes were darting around rapidly and he kept talking to himself in frustrated tones, no doubt urging Ms. Megelani to walk a little more quickly, so that he might lift off sooner. Almost as soon as the pilot could confirm that Ms. Megelani was clear, the helicopter launched from the tarmac and lurched sideways, back toward the Dock's entrance. Ms. Megelani was now standing on her own, in the center of the enormous Dock. B7104ZA approached her with a hand outstretched and a smile as genuine as he could make it. Ms. Megelani shook his hand absently. She had removed her sunglasses with one hand and was staring at the buildings surrounding the Dock. She seemed mesmerised by the enormous transport vehicles, which were floating overhead, eerily silent in their movement. "Welcome, Ms. Megelani," said B7104ZA politely, "I am unit B7104ZA. You may call me Smith, if you please." Ms. Megelani's attention returned to B7104ZA. A thin smile emerged across her lips. "My name is Luyii Megelani. Feel free to call me Luyii." B7104ZA nodded. "Luyii, welcome to 01. I sincerely hope that your trip was comfortable." "Oh, yes," said Luyii somewhat absently, "it was quite comfortable, thank you. I was summoned by my superiors at relatively short notice, so I hope that this hasn't been inconvenient for you." Luyii seemed to now be accutely aware of the fact that only one machine individual had been sent to greet her at the Dock. Perhaps she'd expected a diplomatic entourage, B7104ZA thought. B7104ZA waved his hand in the air as he spoke. "No, not at all. No problem. We are quite pleased to have you here." B7104ZA and Luyii began walking toward a long, thin vehicle at the edge of the Dock. It was a limosine, hovering silently several feet over the tarmac. "As you are no doubt aware, we are interested in a prompt diplomatic solution to the military blockade," said B7104ZA as they walked. "Oh? My superiors had painted your government as quite hostile. You [i]do[/i] have a government, don't you?" Luyii felt somewhat embarassed by her obvious ignorance of the machine society. Of course, she'd been provided with very little briefing before her departure. B7104ZA shook his head slowly. "No, we have no hostile intentions, Ms. Megelani." "Please, call me Luyii." "Yes, Luyii. My apologies. We do have a national government; The Grid. It is run by Delegate Prime, our national representative." Luyii rubbed her chin thoughtfully as the pair approached the limosine. "I was not briefed very thoroughly on the situation here, Mr. Smith. Please forgive my ignorance of your country." "It is understandable, Ms. Mege-- Luyii. Since the blockade began, we have had very little contact with the United Nations. Our attempt to send Ambassadors to the General Assembly was quite flatly rejected, as you are no doubt aware," said B7104ZA. Luyii nodded. "Yes...I don't know what to say about that, Mr. Smith. I wish that the circumstances were different. Unfortunately, I am only here as a representative. But I can tell you that I am sympathetic to your situation. I will try to communicate your intentions to my superiors as clearly as possible." B7104ZA opened the limosine's rear door and gestured for Luyii to enter. "I trust that you will, Luyii. Before you are taken to your hotel room, I would like to show you some examples of our most cutting-edge industries. I'm sure that you will be impressed; we would very much like to offer some of these technologies to our neighbours." Luyii stepped into the limosine, followed by B7104ZA. Their first destination was 01's largest Versatran manufacturing facility. It was only 15 minutes from the Dock. B7104ZA was interested in learning more about Luyii and her intentions on the trip.[/color]

[color=#707875]I'm quite impressed with what you did with the FFXI logo there, 'breko-san. Very cool (and very painstaking, no doubt). I also like your new Republic of Bastok banner. I personally think that a more "classic" font would have been more suitable, rather than a contemporary font. Still, it works well -- the flag on the left is a nice touch.[/color]

[color=#707875]Okay everyone, I'm now adding to the movie's cast. Over the coming day or so, you'll see me add characters there. Some of you aren't being added yet though. There are two reasons why. 1) Being neutral. I should not have included this as an option -- so, it's my fault. I'd like you to either be a Southern Viper or one of the Adam's Angels. Bear in mind that if you work for Adam, you don't have to be female necessarily. 2) Inappropriate weapons. Again, I didn't mention this in the original sign-up. I would rather see melee weapons used; no guns. Obviously a gun will end a fight pretty darn quick. This RPG is based upon martial arts, so, old-fashioned/traditional weapons should be used. During this weekend, I will start the RPG proper. I will also explain [i]how[/i] it's going to work. Please note that all successful entrants will [b]need[/b] to read my explanation of the RPG very carefully. This RPG won't operate in the traditional manner -- it will be more like a game/movie than an actual RPG. You'll see what I mean when we start. Hopefully everyone will understand it and we'll be able to develop a really great story. So yeah, if any of you fit into my explanation above (in terms of your position/weapon), you may want to change that if you still want to be in the movie. If it's too much trouble, that's no problem...it probably means that you might not have enjoyed the RPG much anyway. [/color]

[color=#707875]Heh, I think that the biblical stuff is there as a kind of double symbolism...in the sense that The Matrix isn't really a religious story at all. I mean, the story is the story...it just happens to have a lot of religious overtones to it. In other words, I don't think they were sitting around saying "Okay, this guy is the anti-christ, this guy is Jesus, this guy is Satan", etc. It just happens that there are a lot of links between the two ideas. Don't get me wrong though; I do think that those links are deliberate and exist for a reason. But the actions of the story can't be compared to the actions of religious stories; it's more a question of there being similarities with the position of different characters. The problem with too much religious symbolism being thrust into the story is that people are trying to make The Matrix fit religion, when really, it's the other way around (in this case, anyway).[/color]

[color=#707875]By the way, OtakuBot is actually a Japanese Famicom disk from the 1980's. Japanese pop culture icon? You bet. ~_^ Very good stuff, Solo. Now if only I could get an OBuilding produced...[/color]

[color=#707875]To give you an example of the differing opinions...here are excerpts from the 1UP.com impressions of the Japanese version. You can find the full article here: [url]http://www.1up.com/article2/0,4364,1371346,00.asp[/url] [/color] [quote]The doubling-up of characters adds a nice layer of strategy to the game, because it dictates your choice of vehicle (two small characters can't control Bowser's kart while Donkey Kong can't fit into Baby Mario's kart) and what special attacks you'll have access to. Each character now has their very own special attack that they can randomly receive through the familiar question blocks. Some attacks are pretty standard -- the Princesses have a set of hearts that protect them (similar to how a trio of shells used to rotate around karts in Mario Kart 64) and Yoshi has a homing egg attack -- while others are far more over-the-top. Take Bowser's giant shell or the Chain Chomp that drags Baby Mario along the track before detaching to attack anyone in the vicinity. With two characters, you can mix and match your special attacks?or just pick two similar characters to maximize your chances of getting that one special you want (that Chain Chomp is incredibly useful). [/quote] [quote]That aforementioned defensive manoeuvre comes in the form of a little indicator that pops up whenever a homing weapon (be it a shell or an egg) closes in on the back of a kart. Unlike Mario Kart 64, you cannot "hold" a weapon behind your kart to block, and so you have to time the release of a weapon that can be laid behind you (like a green shell or a banana) to intercept the incoming homing weapon. It's not exactly difficult, but it's not an automatic defense like in Mario Kart 64 and can catch you if you don't time things right.[/quote] [color=#707875]As if these comments were not interesting enough, read the following about Mario Kart's tracks. It's the polar opposite to what Fran wrote:[/color] [quote]However, the real star of the show here are the tracks. Taking a cue from Super Mario Kart, there are shortcuts everywhere. Some involve the use of a mushroom, but all require absolute concentration and skill to spot and use. One of my favorites from the early tracks is the shortcut across the beach in the Super Mario Sunshine -inspired town, which is easy to spot but should only be attempted when you see the tide going out. Given that you have about a second or two to watch the tide and then pick a direction (shortcut or safe route), it can get hairy. There are a lot of other great shortcuts throughout the game though, and most are far more cleverly hidden (hmm, are those boost pads on the arch of the Mushroom Bridge?). And Rainbow Road needs to be seen to be believed. There's also a lot more interaction on the tracks. Goombas roam free. Piranha Plants and Chain Chomps snap away at cars that wander too close to the edge. One track even has a little pick-up truck with a stack of mushrooms in the rear racing along with normal traffic, and if you hit the truck you loosen the pile of mushrooms enough to put them all over the road. Run over one, and you've got an instant boost. [/quote] [color=#707875]I particularly like the comments abou how the tracks are so interactive, like with the mushroom truck. Again...I'm not sure who is more reliable here. But I suspect that 1UP.com will get a bit more respect from me, considering the jaded nature of IGNcube.[/color]

[color=#707875]As far as I know, The Oracle was created to study human psychology. That is her purpose as a program. The machines needed to study human psychology in order to develop a more palatable Matrix. So...I don't think the machines are concerned with balance in those terms. They are more concerned with balance in terms of dealing with everything mathematically...but not in this sense, I think. In terms of Neo and Smith...they weren't the same. Smith was a recent development; he was an unpredictable factor for the machines. If they'd known that he was going to duplicate himself and so on, he would never have been allowed to grow so powerful. And this is why the irony is so strong; the machines are having done to them what they did to mankind. [/color]

[color=#707875]I had originally thought that Microsoft was going to make a "smaller" Xbox 1.5 or whatever, before an actual Xbox 2. But I haven't followed the Xbox side of things much in the last few weeks. None of these things are confirmed, anyway. In regard to the thread...Microsoft won't be allowing people to update Xbox components in stores like that. It's almost a 100% chance that it won't happen. MS has been trying to bend over backwards to portray the Xbox as a game console -- which it is -- so, anything that makes it seem "PC-centric" is a big no-no for MS. In terms of whether or not I'm excited about it...I don't know. There's nothing for me to be excited about yet. It's like asking if I'm excited about Nintendo's next machine or the PS3. I'm sure that I will be more excited when I see the unit and read about the games. But...some kind of vague specification sheet isn't going to do it for me. That's not what consoles are about, really. Microsoft has gone out and heavily touted Xbox's hardware capabilities, but that hasn't really influenced gamers to a large degree. [/color]

[color=#707875]Turbo? You mean when you move the stick back and forth and boost out of a corner?[/color]

[color=#707875]IGNcube has become little more than a bitter and twisted "what if" site. Take their review of Kirby's Air Ride, for example. It was labeled as "kiddie" and pointless, because of its single-button layout. Yet, IGN's comments and assessment of the game can be completely discredited and contradicted by other sites who have provided extensive impressions of the title. One of two things happened there; either IGN played the game for five minutes and decided it was terrible, [i]or[/i], they are simply so sick of anything with a bit of colour in it, that they immediately attack it before it has a chance. In regard to Mario Kart: Double Dash, I don't know. IGN were the ones who complained about MK64 having tracks that were too long and boring -- yet they're complaining about tighter, more focused track design in Double Dash. So what will it be? One or the other? I mean, ultimately I'm going to save my full comments until I play the game and make my own choice. But lately, IGN has been getting me quite annoyed. Their recent reviews have been unfair to say the least. I'm hoping that this is the case with Double Dash, because I do want to enjoy it.[/color]

[color=#707875]I think that all of these religious theories are good (I liked Shy's the most so far), but the funny thing is that their viewpoint seems very machine-oriented. I find that interesting. And, Takuya... [spoiler]You could very well be right about that. My idea that Neo killed himself seems logical, however, I'd have to see the movie a second time to really form a final opinion. The same was true with Reloaded; it has to be more fresh and present in my mind for me to come to a conclusion about it. So, with that said, I think you're essentially saying the same thing as me; Neo was sacrificed for the good of human beings (amd machines and programs for that matter). So yes, I do agree with that. [/spoiler][/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Semjaza Azazel [/i] [B]If you cared for FT, you shouldn't be disappointed. That game was looking terrible and was apparently cancelled for good reason. Good riddance, in my opinion. I'll wait for them to make a good sequel... and if they don't, then fine. I don't want them to ruin my memories lol. [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]Absolutely. I didn't read up about FT2 at all, but based on what you're saying...yeah...I'd rather have no sequel than a bad one. It's such a shame; Full Throttle was such a cool game. Blah.[/color]

[color=#707875]Uh...Mihyotto, you obviously haven't read the rules. Your posts make no sense whatsoever. Your spelling and grammar are terrible. And, frankly...I'm wondering whether or not the straps on your bed were a bit too loose. You were obviously able to untie yourself and get out. Ahem. Not to sound harsh, but...there are so many things wrong with your posts here. Do I really have the energy to point you to the rules and go through the motions? Hm...no.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by PoisonTongue [/i] [B] James tells me that Sam And Max is similar to what Whiplash is said to be, so I just might check that out... [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]Oh, no...I said that I didn't know much about Whiplash. I have no idea of Sam & Max is similar. Sam & Max is just one of those old games that I really enjoyed. I am so annoyed that Full Throttle 2 has been cancelled...I can't tell you how much that disappoints me. I think those games were probably underrated, if anything. ~_^[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Shinmaru [/i] [B] I agree that a [i]lot[/i] of the criticism put on the game was unfair, especially about the visuals. I believe that the game looked pretty good, even spectacular at certain points. My main beef with the game was that the difficulty was supremely unbalanced; certain parts were very easy, while others were extremely tough (I'm looking at you, bonus stages). [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]I also have one major beef with gamers; especially those who tried to compare Super Mario Sunshine with Super Mario 64 (by saying that it looks like a second generation N64 title). The biggest problem I have with these complaints isn't that people are saying that there aren't enough polygons or lighting effects or whatever. More specifically, I am annoyed that people worry [i]more[/i] about technical merits than aesthetic merits. If you go and look at some of the levels in SMS (particularly Noki Bay and even Isle Delfino), you'll see some very nice texture design. Forget whether or not these textures are ever blurry or pixelated; but consider their design and their theme. While I disliked the fact that ALL of Super Mario Sunshine took place in the one "tropical theme", I also found the aesthetic design to be very refreshing and appealing. It was truly a game that you could play on a lazy summer afternoon. It felt like a "summer game", because of the fantastic aesthetic design. So, that's one distinction that I'd make. My problem is that not enough people are prepared to make these distinctions.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Syk3 [/i] [B] [spoiler]First, why did Smith die? I have two theories to explain this; either the power from Neo was too strong for his program to handle, since Neo was the anomally that recorded information on humans, and one could assume that there was just too much information, lol. Or this could be another fabrication of the Architect, whereas everything must balance out, which is why when Neo became the One, Smith gained a large amount of power after Neo's code copied onto his, and that because Neo was now gone, Smith had to go. Both of these are questionable, however.[/spoiler][/b][/quote] [color=#707875]I'll see if I can answer for you. I apologize in advance if my post is a bit off; I'm extremely tired and it's very late here. [spoiler]When you ask why Smith died...are you asking why the machines sent Neo back into The Matrix to kill him? Or are you asking [i]how[/i] he died? In terms of why he was killed, he was simply killed because he was a threat to both man and machine. As a "virus" of sorts, he can easily travel through machine systems. The machines knew that he was a threat that they could not handle -- even their Agents could not delete him. He copied himself so many times and absorbed so much information, that he became far too powerful for the machines to remove. So of course, this is why Neo was able to bargain. That's the first answer, though as I said, I'm not sure if you were specifically asking about that. In terms of how he died...I'll see if I can explain without rambling on too long. ^_^; You remember that The Oracle allowed Smith to copy over her? This was, of course, deliberate. The Oracle knew what was going to happen. It is important to understand that The Oracle has no special powers in terms of seeing the future; she is a software program who is expert in human psychology. Her discussion with Neo in her kitchen is extremely important. She is telling him what he needs to hear -- and she is also telling him what [i]she[/i] needs him to hear. When Smith was standing over Neo and he said "Everything that has a beginning has an end," this was obviously The Oracle speaking through him. Or at least, it was a case of Smith not having completely overwritten The Oracle's code. This function of this line was to tip off Neo to what he had to do. Neo immediately realized what had happened with The Oracle. So, what does Neo do? Neo allows himself to be overwritten, essentially. But he is still somewhat alive within Smith. Smith is not powerful enough to completely overwrite Neo. Neo cannot defeat Smith as a seperate entity -- but when he's inside Smith, there's one important thing he can do; he can commit suicide. He can self-destruct. This seems to be what happened. Neo, as Smith, essentially committed suicide. It was the only way for Neo to destroy Smith and all of his duplicates. In terms of how Smith "detatched" from The Matrix...that's another story. Hopefully I can explain some of this in more detail when I have more time, if you'd like.[/color][/spoiler][quote][b][spoiler] Next, where are they at the end, anyway? Is it the 7th version of The Matrix, created even more peacefully than before after the machines brought Neo's body to the source? Or..well, I was going to say that it might have been the real world or something where the machines fixed it up because of the peace between them and the humans, but as I've been writing this, the first sounds a lot more practical, especially with all of those programs there, haha. Okay, I understand now. I was so busy in the movie trying to figure out that question that I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying.[/quote][/b][/spoiler] [color=#707875][spoiler]Yep, as far as I am aware, they were in The Matrix at the end. It's important to realize that all human beings cannot simply be "set free". To do so would be to cause such mental trauma to many that they would die. Instead, The Architect simply gives The Oracle his word that "all those who wish to be free" will be allowed to leave of their own accord. It's not perfect, but it's the most merciful thing that the machines can do. It would be unrealistic (for man and machine), for the machines to simply detatch everybody from The Matrix at once.[/color][/spoiler][quote][b][spoiler] Referring to what the peace with the humans and machines will bring, I think it's fairly obvious that the Matrix will be improved better than ever with the machines not having to worry so much about people finding out about the real world. I think they were talking about this at the end, but as I said, I wasn't listening.

[color=#707875]Well, I only partly agree with you there. While a discussion of what is over/underrated is somewhat subjective, there are some very objective benchmarks out there. I wouldn't say that Super Mario Sunshine is a "fantastic and supremely underrated game", but I [i]would[/i] say that much of the criticism placed upon it isn't particularly fair. That is, people who complain about the game's visuals are, in my view, looking at a shallow issue. I also believe that you have to compare the media response to the public response. Some games (ie: Enter the Matrix) receive a pretty lukewarm response from the media in general -- but receive amazing sales at the end of the day. You could say, based on that information, that Enter the Matrix is definitely "overrated". Unfortunately, not enough games sell based purely on good gameplay. I mean, Metroid Prime establishes so many new standards that other games will no doubt follow -- but a copycat game may sell better than MP itself. You know what I mean? There are objective elements to all of this. So, with SMS...I personally don't feel that I overrated it, because there were many aspects of it that I felt were pretty slack. However, when I see GameSpot attacking it primarily on its "shoddy FMV quality", I have to wonder what they are smoking. Since when does one judge a game based primarily on that standard? It's not even like there was much FMV in SMS in the first place. lol Again...a rambly post. But, I hope it made [i]some[/i] sense. ^_^;[/color]

[color=#707875]I don't think that Gran Turismo is overrated at all. It would have to be one of the most lifelike and accurate games, in terms of what it seeks to portray. [i]You[/i] may not care for it, but that doesn't make the game itself overrated. It achieves what it wants to achieve -- realistic driving -- and simultaneously blows every other "realistic racer" into the water. Even if you're not a racing game fan, it's hard not to be utterly blown away by the incredible attention to detail; Gran Turismo 4 in particular has some really insane detail when it comes to vehicle physics. I don't think that GT has the same creativity as most of NCL's games, but at the same time...you can't compare them. They're apples and oranges. Where Nintendo's games are creative in concept and ease of play, Polyphony's games are creative in terms of the way they solve physical problems through extremely solid technical design.[/color]

[color=#707875]When people talk about a "sixth sense" though, they are [i]usually[/i] referring to a connection with the supernatural. So I don't think that a realistic discussion of what the brain is capable of even factors into that.[/color]

[color=#707875]To me, a "sixth sense" implies the ability of the brain to connect to some kind of outside source of information. And then when you talk about a sixth sense being used to read the future or something...that goes even further into being unbelievable. So, I don't buy the idea that we simply "don't know everything" about the brain and therefore, all of these far-out things are possible. There are already established explanations for many brain-related phenomenon and such. I tend to agree with wrist cutter about the sixth sense question. [/color]

[color=#707875]The points about MK are well made here, I think. I used to be a big MK addict (MK to MK3). I also really enjoyed Ultimate MK3, but only because of the extra characters. MK Trilogy was good; but [i]only[/i] if you didn't own MK3. Afterall, it was simply MK3 with double the characters or something. And I really disliked all of the console ports...none of them felt right to me. They were messy. MK4 was a terrible, terrible game. It was poor quality by most standards -- I think any positive rating of this game would be an overstatement of how good it is. lol To give you an idea of how much I dislike it, I bought the game for PlayStation...played for [i]five minutes[/i] and said "No, I'm taking this back right now." It was [i]that[/i] bad. I've never done that before in my life; but I wasn't even willing to give MK4 more of a chance. It was a shoddy, clumsy game. On the other hand, Deadly Alliance has really revived the series. It should not be overlooked. Even though there are design issues that I think are silly (character models are pretty laughable for example), the fundamental gameplay is very strong. The different fighting styles work really well; they're not a gimmick. All-in-all, I think that DA stands up against other major fighters quite well. It [i]isn't[/i] a Tekken or a Soul Calibur. But it isn't far behind, honestly. I think it's good that Midway learned some lessons with the lukewarm MK4. Deadly Alliance isn't a rehash and it demonstrates some great ideas. I would really like to see another MK again in the future; a further improvement on Deadly Alliance would be fantastic. In regard to MK3...I think it was far better than the other 2D MK titles. I say that for a variety of reasons, but primarily, I say it because MK3 was so much smoother; it was more fluid, it felt more natural and it had a stronger emphasis on combos (and thus, felt like a more complex fighter). Pulling off large combos in MK3 isn't the easiest thing in the world, but it's [i]incredibly[/i] good fun if you can do it well. It's so much fun to pull off a 12-hit combo with Sub Zero in MK3. Everything about the connection between each move is completely seamless and painless. It just feels good. I ended up getting to a point where I learned all the moves of most MK3 characters; I became very skilled at that game, perhaps more than most others. I was even able to achieve a 99-hit combo with Shiva (although there is a "cheat" way of doing the same thing). And...the run feature. Very important part of MK3. Definitely not a gimmick, either; it was the one thing that made the battles quite insane and intense. It also added a lot of strategy; if you could lunge at your opponent and begin a combo chain, you were in a good position. But if your opponent blocked when you lunged, they'd have the upper hand. The timing played a big role in that. In any case...MK does frustrate me somewhat, beause I think there are things they could be doing that they aren't. MK always had a relatively strong plot for a fighting game and in my view, MKDA's plot is really boring. It just feels thrown together. But if you look at the instruction manual to the very first game, you get a stronger sense of story and character. I don't know, it just had a more interesting vibe about it. Anyway, that's my somewhat-rambly take on it. ~_^[/color]

[color=#707875]I think Charles is exactly right here. How could you want to be this guy's friend at all? You said yourself that his behavior was scaring you. That's terrible; you should never feel that uncomfortable around your own friends. If you are unable to be really direct with this guy (ie: stop groping me, you pervert!), then you should definitely go to your teachers/parents and you should totally avoid this guy. This could become quite a serious problem (though I think it's serious already). I don't know what else to say without really repeating the other advice in this thread; it seems obvious as to what you should do now.[/color]