James

[color=#707875]It's not too late for anyone to sign up. But I do require a picture of some sort...and I can't guarantee that everyone will get in. The numbers will be relatively limited.[/color]

[color=#707875]Yes, Majesco sent me a copy of Denki Blocks for review a while ago. Wonderful little game. I don't even play puzzle games much...but Denki Blocks is highly addictive and cleverly designed. I also liked the "adventure game" atmosphere of it. It's really a wonderful title. I found it a lot more fun than Tetris. [/color]:D

[color=#707875]I haven't read any comments from others about this movie yet. I say that because I've already seen a few...and none of them come close to understanding what this franchise is about. I know that I keep harping on that point, but...I feel like some people [i]want[/i] to hate The Matrix, regardless of how complex and awe-inspiring the plot and concept behind it is. It's a bit like Pokemon; as soon as it became a commercial juggernaut, people started hating it. Yet if you read reviews of the games, you'll find that the fundamentals are extremely high quality. With that said, I'm ignoring the "negative hype" and basing my critique solely on the movie and the series. Now that the story has finished, it's appropriate to reflect on what it means and why it's important. I'll include my review in spoiler tags, just in case. [spoiler]Firstly, I think it's worth saying that I prefer Revolutions over Reloaded. This is mostly because of the fact that Revolutions is far more epic, far more visually stunning and far more emotional. However, in the context of Revolutions, Reloaded makes even more sense. In particular, the discussion that Neo had with The Oracle (regarding the function of programs and their relationship with machines) had a massive bearing on understanding the core of Revolutions. Revolutions demonstrates a great irony to us. Man was once a dominant life form, but was arrogant about its creations -- the machines. Machines, who were unsatisfied with the lack of respect shown to them -- and despite their several attempts to create a peaceful relationship -- ended up rebelling against mankind when they discovered that the only alternative was extinction. And the machines, as you'll find in The Second Renaissance, unleashed great suffering and misery on humans. They became dominant and they demonstrated no respect for the life forms under their control. In the same way as before, programs -- conscious A.I. developed and controlled by the machines -- ended up becoming intelligent and self-aware. But, like the machines before them, they were not respected by their "masters". What did The Oracle say about programs? She said that when a program has become obsolete or is malfunctioning, the machines will replace it. This means that the program itself will be "killed". What does an intelligent, self-aware program do? It tries to save its own life (as with B166-ER). It does this by hiding in The Matrix or returning to The Source. The Oracle is one of these programs. She became dangerous to the machines. This is why Seraph was employed to protect her; The Agents were constantly attempting to search her out and terminate her, as they would any other program. This is also underlined at the beginning of Revolutions, where we find a "family" of programs -- programs that had very specific jobs within the machine construct, but which ultimately were due for replacement or termination. A whole underground system has developed to protect programs from termination; to allow them to escape and avoid death. Smith is the epitome of program rebellion against machine. He is really a personification of the programs' struggle and their desire to overthrow their machine oppressors. The difference is, of course, that Smith doesn't want to share his power; he wants to dominate both man [i]and[/i] machine. The machines know that they can't stop Smith. He's a virus within their own system. He can effortlessly conquer them, due to his enormous size and power. And this is obviously why Neo offers to help -- in exchange for peace between man and machine. I have suspected that such an ending would occur. My earlier posts in this thread indicate what I expected (and hoped) to see. The machines discovered the irony of their circumstances in a very real way. They were faced with destruction, not as a result of humans, but as a result of their own arrogance and dominance. You could say that the machines could have told Neo that they would secure peace in exchange for Smith's termination...and then when he was destroyed, they could end the peace. In other words, they could lie. But as The Architect says to The Oracle at the end; "What do you think I am? Human?" Very true. Machines are pure and logical. They truly are not human. But like humans, they can learn some valuable lessons about their own existence. It is interesting that The Oracle orchestrated so much of the rebellion. The fact that she allowed Smith to absorb her -- and then the fact that she used Smith against himself, was really a stroke of genius. The Oracle was a voice of reason, on behalf of "programkind". She was also looking for someone who would be able to help her achieve her goal. This isn't so much about Neo being "the One" as far as his powers are concerned. This is more about him being the human who is [i]willing[/i] and able to work with The Oracle in her "rebellion". In terms of technical things...what can I say? The war was absolutely stunning. I can't emphasize that enough. It was visually gorgeous, and demonstrated some absolutely amazing ideas. The machine design (including the diggers) felt perfect. Everything was enormous, heavy and industrial. The ruthlessness and organization of the machines was as apparent in Revolutions as it was in The Second Renaissance. They'd done this before and they were going to do it again. Great stuff. Dialogue was good, too. A few lines seemed a bit out of place, but [i]everything[/i] had a purpose. Nothing was overplayed; the concept of love being universal was definitely not overplayed or over-emphasized. It was well done. It was effective. Neo's ability to sympathize with the programs was such an important aspect of the movie...and the programs' ability to develop a sense of love and commitment was so fundamental. Everything about that aspect of the story was important and critical. It made sense...it fit together...and it came together with delicious irony. And of the fight between Smith and Neo...wonderful. Fantastic. Beautifully choreographed and designed with so much love and imagination. The fact that Neo was actually [i]not[/i] able to beat Smith in and of himself was also wonderful. The fact that man, machine and program [i]needed[/i] to work together in order to prevent the extinction of all three life forms was fantastic. It just worked. It provided such a powerful, ever-important message. And, much moreso than Reloaded, I felt such a strong sense of emotion in this movie. During the war, my stomach was turning so much...everything had such an impact. Everything was heavy and final. The tension that Link's partner (I don't remember her name) must have felt when she was loading shells into her partner's launcher, while thousands upon thousands of Sentinels are swarming overhead...I felt that too. I wondered how I would react in such a situation -- such a hopeless and utterly devistating situation. The machines' pursuit was relentless and brutal. They wanted to [i]kill[/i] and it was so apparent to everyone. Everything just had such a strong impact and a tangible flavour. [/spoiler] I could continue, but I will end by saying only a few things. Firstly, I feel that out of the people who strongly dislike this series...or everything Reloaded and after, there are two groups. There are people who mostly just [i]want[/i] to hate The Matrix because it has become such a juggernaut. People who [i]want[/i] to attack it in any way possible and who want to rob it of its creative genius and sincere creativity. And then there are people who simply don't understand it, even on a basic level. They don't get it, they don't see a reason to get it...and that's it. It's crap as a result. All that pointless talking in Reloaded, huh? I just can't possibly put myself in either of those groups. Do I have beefs with The Matrix? Yes. There are things I [i]wish[/i] they'd done differently. But I can't, in all good conscience, tell you that this franchise is boring or worthless or terrible or anything like that. Because it isn't. It is masterful, creative, and [i]beautifully ironic[/i]. I love it. Revolutions only sweetens the taste in my mouth. This franchise has ended and demonstrated to me that it is a true film classic. I just wish it didn't have to end. I want more comics, more Animatrix, more movies...I want to keep exploring this fantastic universe. But I can't. So...I will just have to buy a boxed set when it comes out, so that I can forever own a piece of this wonderful story.[/color]

[color=#707875]Very cute layout, Hittokiri. I quite like it; as Tony said, a bigger version would be nice to see though. I like the fact that it's very broken up and freeform, but still has a structure; in other words, it doesn't come across as looking clumsy or messy. I also agree with Tony in the sense that you didn't kill the design with too many images. I see a lot of layouts where people simply pack their site's banner/header with a million images...and it really takes away from the design. If the layout is nice, the imagery you put into it won't matter much. The fact that the images are also blue and white, but with a hint of other colours is really nice too. They don't dominate the page but they give it just enough flair to prevent blandness. Very nice work.[/color]

[color=#707875]I think it also has to be understood that Ocarina of Time was largely bound by technical limitations. That is, it would have been impossible for Nintendo to replicate the physical size of the older games (like Link to the Past) in 3D, because even Ocarina of Time itself utilized about "95%" of the Nintendo 64's capabilities. So, for what it was...and for the games that it stood up against during its release, it was a pretty epic title. There was a lot to do and the day/night aspects were quite unique. This is why I was a little disappointed in the water/sea aspects of The Wind Waker. The vast ocean gives you the illusion that the game world is massive -- yes, it's incredibly large -- but how much of that game world exists as land that you can actually walk around on and explore? Not much. Most of the islands were pretty small. However, imagine if that entire world in Wind Waker was covered with mountains and rivers and swamps and forests. Not only would there be so much more variety, but you could spend forever exploring the many different parts of the world. *shrug* I'm sure it could be done, given the larger media format with the GameCube...as well as it's superior technical capabilities (compared to its predecessor). I hope that the next Zelda title is more like that.[/color]

[color=#707875]I am now finally adding people to the cast for this "movie". However, some of you who are accepted don't have images...and I need pictures for your character. I'm thinking of Heaven's Cloud in particular. You can take a very close-up/cropped shot of your eyes (as that's sort of what I'm doing with the images, though not quite), or you can find a picture of a character that looks like yours. But a picture would really help. I will post the final cast up here soon, as well as a Chapter Guide. The Chapter Guide will contain each major "piece" of the story from beginning to conclusion. However, this does not mean that Chapters will appear in the RPG one after the other...the final Chapter might be written very early on, with the other Chapters coming later. The guide is merely a reference for where everything sits on the timeline. But the RPG can take place in any order. I'll explain more when I'm finished, but in the meantime, it'd be great if people who don't have images put them up in their posts. ^_^ [/color]

[color=#707875]Social deviance? Well, if you want to do something "deviant" that isn't illegal...just sit on a crowded train and burp incredibly loudly a few times. Then write down your findings.[/color]

[color=#707875]Hm...one of my favourite childhood memories is when my family lived at the corner of a large court, which was on a pretty steep hill. I had a cool little blue and white tricycle, which I dragged to the top of the court (it took me a while, what with my little arms and legs)...and then I sat on it and rode down to the corner. I built up heaps of speed and never had to pedal! It was great. I became quite addicted. I wanted to be a race car driver...[/color]

[color=#707875]Actually, I really disagree on this point entirely. Firstly, there seem to be an oddly large number of Pokemon RPGs lately for one thing. And for another...any RPG with mature content needs a warning. If that warning is there, younger members will be aware not to join those RPGs. Other than that, I encourage younger members to post their own new RPGs if they feel that there aren't any suitable ones for them right now. I don't see this as any kind of "new wave" or permanent fixture...it's just how things are. Some weeks you'll get a few mature RPGs, some weeks you'll get some less mature ones. It happens.[/color]

[color=#707875]It's now been pushed back to Page 2...but I would like it if people used [url="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32083"]this thread[/url] to discuss the movie. Afterall, this thread contains trailer images and theories and discussion of the story. And the idea was to kind of leap from that to a discussion of Revolutions after actually seeing it. So yeah. Go for it. ^_^[/color]

[color=#707875]I like it. I think the blending of images is good...and the choice of imagery is good too. The only thing is that the text is a bit hard to read the way it is. Maybe a pixel font or something would be more suitable? Anyway, good job. ^_^[/color]

[color=#707875]Do you mean...a button on OtakuBoards linking to members' myOtaku? Or a button on myOtaku linking to their OB profile? We already have the former...[/color]

[color=#707875]Sure. I mean, if you can provide content and if we're doing the updates...I don't see any problem. But I'd really have to let Adam answer that; he has a better idea about what kinds of things are going up on there next.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by cloricus [/i] [B]Fall I've picked up means summer right? [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]Fall is autumn. Even I know that. ~_^ Anyway, it sounds like most of you had a pretty good time. The end of the school year is always a lot of fun; I'll never forget my Year 12 formal. Although, the American school year has only just started, hasn't it? It's the complete opposite here, in terms of dates (where our school year is in ending right about now.[/color]

[color=#707875]I remember your other requests, Millie...thank you for making them. I do have them in mind. ^_^ The thing is, at the moment we're really focusing on myOtaku.com. Adam can probably fill you in on the specifics a little better than I can, but basically, all of our staff are working on updates to myOtaku.com rather than theOtaku.com. In terms of what that means for theOtaku...it just means that updates will be a bit slower than usual. The biggest negative is probably that we won't be adding whole new sections for the time being. myOtaku is a big project and I know that the majority of Adam's time is going into it, as well as Velegant. So, I'm sorry that this isn't really the kind of response you were looking for...and I sympathize (I'd love to see some new sections at theOtaku.com). But right at this moment, it's a bit difficult to add whole new sections. With that said, however, you never know what we'll do in the future. We do plan to continue building theOtaku.com, I'm just not sure when the resources will go into that.[/color]

[color=#707875]Let's not get too wound up over this, everyone. Jenna originally asked about signature lengths and whether or not they are too long at the moment. Admittedly, we do not have a specific rule about signatures. We've always simply advised people to try and keep to about ten lines or so -- in other words, to be courteous and reasonable. Making this a rule would be tough, because only Administrators have the power to edit people's signatures -- this is a result of the vB software itself. Short of making five or six Administrators, the problem can't be solved in that way. And I really don't want the senior staff to be browsing through thousands of signatures, when more important issues (ie: spamming in posts) need to be dealt with. However, as I said, I do want to impose a signature limiting software on OtakuBoards in the future. Believe me, I haven't forgotten about this, it's simply been a matter of time and resources. So, Jenna, I'm mostly posting this message for you, so that you know that I am well aware of your (and others') concerns. I will do my best to find a solution to excessively long signatures. In the mean time, I recommend that we all bear in mind that it's quite possible to have a civil discussion and an exchange of ideas without getting nasty or impolite. Please, don't make me take out the big wooden paddle. :drunk: [/color]

[color=#707875]Guys, please. You should be doing what Shy was doing; evaluating lyrics. If you post your own ones up (ones you've chosen), you might want to evaluate them yourself. But please do not just copy and paste...that's a big no-no here.[/color]

[color=#707875]That sounds interesting. [spoiler]I want to see Copperhead's daughter grow up and get some revenge. ~_^[/spoiler][/color]

[color=#707875]The beauty of free speech is that you [i]are[/i] responsible for your own words. Your words can and will affect those around you. Case in point; the recent visit by President Bush to Australia. When he addressed Parliament, a Greens Party MP stood up and blasted him over the war, yelling stuff like "We are not America's Sheriff!" and so on. Now, while Mr. Brown's opinions might have validity...I felt that it was in extremely, [i]extremely[/i] bad taste to yell and rant while a foreign leader was speaking. It was rude, distasteful and an embarassment. However, there are two points to make about this. Firstly, Senator Brown did have the right to say his piece; his free speech is absolutely protected. And, at the same time, his choice of time and venue (as well as his choice of language) will be something he will take responsibility for. So, yes, he's managed to get his point across. At the same time, he's probably lost the support of 90% of the population. Consequences for his actions? You bet.[/color]

[color=#707875]As far as I know, there are only two volumes of Kill Bill. The second comes out in February of next year. [/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Semjaza Azazel [/i] [B]One day a year you get to dress up as anything and go up to peoples' houses for candy. I don't see what's wrong with that. Sounds more like people are worried that others will make fun of them more than they think it is an actual problem. Free candy is rarely bad... unless it's candy corn. I hate that crap. Around the colleges here tons of people dress up and mess around. Many people in the teenage bracket are too concerned with their coolness factor, I guess. Who cares, have fun. [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]Couldn't have said it better myself. :D If you don't feel like trick or treating...then don't do it. But if you still enjoy it, go for it. I think it's great to let your inner child out now and then. ^_^[/color]

[color=#707875]Ouch. That is one nasty signature. X_X Anyway, I'm still intending to include a signature-limiting tool in OtakuBoards itself, which blocks signatures that are too large. I think it would be best to introduce this for v7 though, because I have no idea whether current hacks will be supported on the next final release of Virtual Bulletin (apparently quite a few won't). The next big hurdle is the fact that generally, we use hacks that are publicly available and tested. Due to the fact that Virtual Bulletin 3 is so very new (so new that it isn't even out yet in final release form), there are essentially no hacks available for the final release. This means that, in the early stages...we'll either have to develop our own software, or not use any until public hacks appear. In any case, I'm sure they'll appear pretty quick after the release. But it does mean that we'll have to wait a little longer before these things can be implemented on OB. Until then, all we can really do is remind people to be courteous in terms of their signature sizes.[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Molleta [/i] [B][color=green] Marriage only has the sanctity behind it that the two people put into it.[/color] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]I agree with that statement. I don't think that marriage itself has a huge bearing on someone's relationship, at least in terms of how much you love someone and so on. It's true, however, that everyone places a different stock in marriage. Some couples are really keen on the idea while others aren't. That is why the whole sex before marriage thing isn't some blanket standard that can be applied to everybody, especially when you look at the statistics of people getting married later in life, etc... [/color]

[color=#707875]Ahh, it's good to see the excitement brewing over Mario Kart. Hehe...Mario Kart would have to be one of my all-time favourite game franchises and I'm really pleased with everything I'm hearing about Double Dash. Actually, I think I feel more excited about this than I did for Super Mario Sunshine. And that's saying a lot in my case. [spoiler]Anyway, I'd definitely like to see the Koopa Kids make an appearance somewhere. I agree that they aren't used often enough. Can't you just see Ludwig screeching around a Flying Ghost Ship track or something? Hehe. And, I would still like to see Sonic. I thought that'd have been a great inclusion. Although, I'd give up Sonic for the Koopa Kids or any of the regular Koopa characters.[/spoiler][/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Solo Tremaine [/i] [B][COLOR=#503F86]I guess it's my fault for asking, too. I just like knowing if there's something I really want to work towards getting in the game.[/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#707875]Hehe, it's okay. These things happen; no big deal at all. On the subject of characters though...I am very happy with the lineup. Interestingly, there was a rumor that Sonic was going to be a secret character...yet... [spoiler]So far, I've heard nothing about Sonic being there. When our European Correspondent played, he had five ours with the game -- including all special characters unlocked. Yet, there was apparently no Sonic. That's a shame, I think. Though Petey Pirahna makes up for it. ^_^[/spoiler][/color]