James

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Who would win a cage match: Mitch or PoisonTongue? [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I just saw Gorillaz live on Saturday night... it was [i]awesome![/i] Damon Albarn is a legend. But crazy people who bring glass bottles right to the front row are not...[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Definitely your best podcast yet, guys. It's funny, when I was in New York last time I really wanted to visit the Chrysler Building but I didn't get time. When I go to New York next, I'm sure I'll be having second thoughts about that... [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I've got Uncharted 2 and I must say, it's an absolutely stunning game. Incredibly beautiful graphics, [i]brilliant[/i] voice acting and fantastic characters. Combine that with fun puzzle solving and excellent game control...and you have a near-perfect game.... ...[i]but[/i], there's just one problem. In Uncharted 2 at least, you pretty much spend your entire time in the jungle. Yes, the locales vary somewhat and yes, the gameplay is also quite varied. But honestly, after hours and hours of jungle...you do want to see something else! It's just too repetitive in terms of environment. My hope is that they shake things up a bit with Uncharted 3. For the record, as much as I love Uncharted 2, I haven't finished it yet. And that is principally because of the repetitive nature of the environments. I think another factor that hurts the game a little bit is that the gunplay, while it's well-executed, is also quite repetitive. At least if they vary that a little more, the game will be even better.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]This was one craaazy podcast. I'm not sure what else there is to say, so I'll leave it there. (Actually, can you guys do a whole show with high-pitched voices? I know I might be alone in wanting that...) Also, you'll notice a new link under [b]Around the Network[/b] at the top of the page. Thanks for reminding me, guys. See, now you have real power.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I've been following Epic Mickey's progress for a while. From what I've read, the end result is [i]good[/i], but is ultimately hampered by a really poor and inconsistent camera system. I may pick this one up, but there are a couple of other games I want to get first, I think...[/font]

[quote name='John' date='22 November 2010 - 11:34 PM' timestamp='1290432842' post='702036'] And if I may, I'm gonna hijack my own thread here and ask whatever happened to plans for a karma system on OB. I can see there's a system in place for it right now, but it's not functional yet. Is that still in the works, or did the switch from vB nix that idea? Just curious. [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]Sorry for the late reply, John. My understanding is that the Reputation system is basically live but for some reason people aren't able to add rep points to posts. I'm not sure why this is. One of the reasons I haven't pushed for us to get this sorted out right now is because we are about to upgrade the IPB software. It may be that the upgrade resolves the problem or that, if we fix it now and then upgrade...it'll be another thing we have to re-fix later on. So I'd rather wait until the upgrade is finalised and then go ahead and try to fix this problem. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Yeah, although 1.11 is pretty much cosmetic change (or mostly cosmetic change), it's still really fun to watch - especially if you haven't seen the series in a while. As I mentioned earlier, the "remake" of Ramiel is absolutely insane; I honestly think the movie is worth watching almost entirely for that, haha. But literally everything is dripping with quality, as far as visuals go. And the 3D integration and compositing is very neatly done and seamless. Although my memory of the series is sketchy, it's no wonder I got confused seeing Kaworu at the very end of 1.11. o_O Anyway, I did begin watching the series again...via web streaming. After a couple of episodes I felt guilty, so I've ordered the entire box set. Also, the streams are just never as good. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Yeah, Sangome is right about the rebuild films. They are essentially a re-telling of the original series. The key difference is, of course, completely re-drawn animation (with subtle 3D effects added - again, note Ramiel, who is incredibly awesome in 1.11). However, there are also plot changes. From what I've read, the biggest changes are still forthcoming (particularly in 2.22 onwards). In the first film, I didn't notice any really huge plot changes. Mostly a few things are just rearranged. Apparently there are some fairly large changes with major characters like Asuka and Kaworu. The former has had a bit of a personality transplant and the latter supposedly has some major changes to the frequency of his appearances from 2.22 onwards (although he does appear at the end of 1.11... and my understanding is that this appearance doesn't happen in the series - but I don't remember, honestly). One key difference as well is that there are some big changes with the Angels; not just how they appear or the nature of their battles, but also the fact that several [i]don't[/i] appear at all in the rebuild. I think (just going from memory), Angels six through twelve don't appear at all in the rebuild. So it's fair to say that, in making a "film of the series", they have had to leave a great deal of detail out (as would happen with a novel to film adaption). As far as angst goes, I can say that it's very much the same in Evangelion 1.11, at least as far as Shinji is concerned. Not sure how that will play out going forward though. Edit: There, I've added a much-needed poll option. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Time to [i]rebuild[/i] this topic, no? (Okay, okay...sorry about the lameness...) I want to get this topic going again for a couple of reasons. First, I only recently purchased Evangelion 1.11 - I watched it on the weekend and all those great memories flooded back to me. I haven't watched Evangelion in years; not since buying Death & Rebirth when it came out. So after such a long time, I'd almost forgotten much of what I loved about the series in the first place. Partly because I haven't seen the series in ages, Evangelion 1.11 was like a breath of fresh air. It was difficult for me to make much of a comparison with the first six episodes of the original series, but in a way that was a good thing - I wasn't focusing my time on picking apart the differences, but rather, I could just enjoy the film (although I must admit, I much prefer the crazily revamped Ramiel in 1.11). After watching the movie, I decided to go back and watch the original series for a second time. And man, am I loving it. It's still as fresh today as it was more than a decade ago. And it's still probably the only anime series (or one of very few) that I am [i]really[/i] into on almost all levels. Also, Evangelion 2.22 won't be available (at least in Australia) until about March 2011. So I have a few months to wait, which means I can re-acquaint myself with the series in the meantime. So...first, is there anyone else here still watching the series? And what about the rebuilds? Anyone planning to grab 2.22? (By the way...the poll on this topic is missing an obvious option: Shinji & Kaworu - what happened there? ).[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I have the ultimate "What I Never Got" story. Although it happened so long ago that I can't really remember all the details. But basically, when I was around five or six years old, my aunt and uncle were planning to go to the U.S. with my cousins and take them to Disneyland. It was this really huge thing (especially for a kid living in Australia) and best of all, they told my parents that they were planning to take me as well! So I was really, really crazily excited for the trip. I'd even planned - at the age of five/six - what souvenirs I was going to buy on the plane. And then, at the last minute, it fell through. They went, but I didn't. I'm not entirely sure why - as far as I know, they were always going to be paying for it. As an adult I don't blame them at all (given that I now know how expensive it is), but can you imagine what that's like for a little kid? It [i]hurt[/i], man. [/font] [quote=Japan]I learned to not expect anything and appreciate what I do get. Afterall it is the thought that counts. [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]I agree and I was much the same as a child. But in my case, this vacation was [i]offered[/i] to me. And then taken back. Ouch. Edit: It is therefore appropriate that I now have Shinji as my avatar, haha. [/font]

[font="Century Gothic"][color=crimson]Kuja is so TOTALLY OtakuBoards.[/color][/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]One game I'm really looking forward to - and I hope it lives up to the hype - is Homefront. I've only read the one article about it so far though, haha. But it looks fantastic. As far as I know it's coming out on PS3 and Xbox 360 as well as PC. It's basically a FPS involving a North Korean invasion of America. Surely that's got to be good. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Just bumping this up. Sorry Phenom, I merged your two posts but I accidentally selected the previous post's "post date". So it's marked your post as being way older than it really is. Oops. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I mentioned something about this on my World at theO recently, but I'm attempting to dip my toe into the anime pool again at the moment. I've made two purchases this week. First is Ghost in the Shell: Special Edition. That one is apparently on back-order, which sucks. But anyway, it's one of my favourite anime films but somehow I don't own it. Crazy, no? So I figured I'd pick that one up. Also I used to be very much into NGE when it was actually airing on TV here, but again, the only DVD I own is Death & Rebirth (which is frustratingly incomplete anyway). So I've decided to buy Evangelion: 1.11. The Rebuild movies appeal to me for a few reasons, but primarily I think they'll be fun because I haven't watched the original series in such a long time. It'll be nice to re-visit it, albeit with the visual and plot variations. I can't wait 'till that one arrives! [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I only just watched Dead & Loving It the other day. We love you, Leslie. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Great podcast, guys. I think this is the only podcast series where everything from snow, crappy gaming levels, Dutch rhyming, member impersonations and internet memes come together. o_O The music you used during the Q&A session reminded me of Dr. Phil. And Boo's tears just added to the atmosphere. You guys are so versatile! (Oh, and the blooper idea was awesome...it's a little touch that works really, really well. Awesome stuff!!)[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I'm not a Kingdom Hearts fan at all, but I think you could also make this point: why should a player need to skip a level, in the first place? I mean, by all means, skip it if you don't like it...but if you're skipping it for any other reason (i.e. it's badly designed, or unbalanced in some way) then I think that's the developer's fault. Speaking of item collecting, I wasn't a huge fan of the Triforce pieces bit at the end of The Wind Waker. And that was frustrating in large part because it felt cheap - especially compared to the rest of the game. It almost felt like Rare had taken over development of this part of TWW. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Funnily enough though, I really loved the planes and choppers in San Andreas. I even loved that you could parachute out of the plane and stuff. But I really didn't like the RC 'copter stuff in Vice City - it just felt really awkward, in terms of controls. Yuck.[/font]

[quote name='Boo' date='23 November 2010 - 07:50 AM' timestamp='1290462658' post='702050'] Especially the RC helicopter in Vice City. [/quote] [font=palatino linotype]Oh man.. *eye twitches* Most painfully annoying mission ever! I hate it when great games do stuff that [i]could[/i] be fun, but just ends up becoming incredibly annoying.[/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I know very little about physics, but the attempt to find the Higgs boson is exciting and it's absolutely relevant to everybody on Earth. I remember watching a video on YouTube a few months ago, which featured a talk by a famous American physicist (although right now I can't recall his name). He's a fascinating speaker, mostly because he can convey astrophysics into everyday layman language. He speaks about the kind of physics that really bends the mind - everything from discussing how black holes work (and how they can literally [i]bend light and time[/i]) to the very plausible theory as to the origins of mass. The latter is particularly important in regard to the Higgs boson. There are a number of theories that exist at the moment as to how mass could have appeared in the universe and it seems to me that many of these theories are consistent with current knowledge of advanced physics. Again, I refer to this talk - I really must try to remember the professor's name, it's well worth watching. At the crux of his very detailed - and incredibly interesting - talk, was the concept that mass can in fact come about "from nowhere". Even as I watched this fantastic talk, which guided me along relatively well, I still struggled to keep up. So of course, I'm definitely not going to remember very much of what was actually said. But I remember being absolutely stunned at a very plausible explanation for this idea that mass may very well have, quite literally, "originated from nothing". In such a discussion you literally get into the meaning of nothing - what exactly is "nothing", from a physics point of view? It was really fascinating. I guess that, from a layman point of view, the LHC is essentially trying to replicate conditions that were similar to - or present just after - the Big Bang. In doing so, scientists are attempting to learn something of how mass came into existence. And if that secret could be unlocked, then potentially we would know a great deal more about how exactly the Universe came into existence in the first place. Much of what happened [i]after[/i] this moment seems to be relatively well understood by physicists and evolutionary biologists. At any rate, very accurate theories can be derived from existing knowledge and observation. But to get some sort of glimpse - however fleeting - of the moment of creation (and to be able to physically replicate it with the LHC, even on a tiny scale) would be truly incredible. I think it could potentially change our view of existence forever. Or, at the very least, it will confirm what many scientists probably already think about the period at (or prior to) the initial growth of the Universe. I am sure that no matter what discoveries are made, there are many people who will not immediately - or maybe ever - appreciate the meaning of such discoveries (see evolution). I agree with The13thMan, in the sense that we are living in a very exciting time in terms of scientific discovery and yet so many people seem completely disinterested and disengaged from this. It [i]is[/i] sad, because those people are missing out on so much. I guess it's hard to convey - and to even understand - the implications of the LHC's research program. While I can form some kind of basic idea of what CERN is looking for, I really can't begin to understand the complex detail involved. But I absolutely think the research is exciting and potentially groundbreaking. I'm very much in support of it - even in the face of the occasional black hole. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]I've only just mentioned this in the Sonic Colors topic, but basically, I really disliked the non-Sonic levels in the Sonic Adventure series. In the first game, I'm referring mostly to the Amy and Big levels. Although I personally thought Big's levels were worse, but that's probably because they were even slower and more awkward. In the second game, I'm really referring to any levels that didn't involve Sonic or Shadow. It's a bit harder to define here, because I didn't mind the E-102 Gamma stages. At least, they weren't as frustrating as Rouge and Knuckles' levels. What bothered me the most about these deviations is that they were just so badly designed. It wasn't even so much that they were non-Sonic; if Sonic Team had found a way to create really amazing exploration elements in Sonic, I'd be happy with that. I don't really have such a nostalgic connection that I can't try something new. But they absolutely butchered these levels. And to make matters worse, these stages took up maybe 50% of the game itself. I'm not entirely sure when Sonic Team became so mediocre, but even with newer games like Sonic Colors - which admittedly was co-developed by DIMPS - you don't have to look far to find platformers that absolutely blow it out of the water. The latest DK game by Retro Studios just seems so many miles ahead, yet it's made by a developer that doesn't even really have much experience in the genre. Anyway, I guess even the really great games have frustrating or annoying stages. There were certainly some stages in Super Mario Galaxy that I didn't like, but not because they were bad per se - most likely it was either because I wasn't very good at them [i]or[/i] I just didn't find them terribly interesting. [/font]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]Great podcast, guys. Shin, you did really well - it was good to inject more review and news type stuff into this one. And Chibi, as always, your segment was a lot of fun and very well produced. I'm really proud of you guys. Overall, really impressed. It's only the second podcast and already the quality has really improved. Great job to everyone involved! And now, a drink for Gunter and Futer... [img]http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/7706/gunterfuter.jpg[/img] [/font]