James

[color=#707875]Correct! ^_^;; Mm...another question. Name two of Yamauchi's "ideas" for revitalizing Nintendo during the 1950's. Note: Yamauchi attempted different business ventures during this period. Name two. ^_^[/color]

[color=#52488F][i]Blue and pink smoke swirled past my eyes, only a few feet away. I reached out to touch it, but suddenly I was miles from it. I didn't know whether to be scared or euphoric. It was a gentle feeling, like a soft current sweeping over my body. But there was also a feeling of nothingness; no boundaries, nothing concrete to hold onto. So much of it was uncertain. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the sensation changed into something else entirely. The feeling of being weightless and breathless subsided and now, there was a definite feeling of balance. A feeling of warm air and a sound of crashing waves and the laughter of children. And finally, my eyes opened to the brightest sunlight that I'd seen in a long time. My eyes adjusted and there I was, laying on the familiar wooden boardwalk. I stood up and checked myself over, to make sure that nothing was missing (and thankfully nothing was). Immediately, though, I noticed changes. No Youth Union flags. And the buildings looked a little older...was it just me? Had I bumped my head so hard that I didn't remember? Had I even bumped my head at all?[/i][/color] [color=#707875]Sorry about the relatively short post. Zidargh is right; first posts are hard. X_X My character is in Kilika by the way, incase someone wants to meet up with 'im.[/color]

[color=#707875]C'mon, guys. A little calm on all sides wouldn't hurt. We have to take into account the different skill levels of all players here and we have to try to be inclusive, rather than blocking people out of the discussion. Altron, please pull back a little. If you want to debate/discuss the issue, it can definitely be done in a respectful manner -- if the other person's view isn't logical, it's fine to explain [i]why[/i]. But once again, try to do it in a respectful manner. Domon, try to keep your posts on topic. That last post was quite irrelevant to the discussion. If you want to bring up issues like that with Altron, I recommend using the PM system. Now, please...don't make me have to post in here again. I find these card games confusing enough as it is! :laugh: [/color]

[color=#707875]Yeah, if the topic's been dead for a while, it's okay to start up a new one. Anyway...my first anime was probably Teknoman. At least, it was the first "series" that I watched entirely. One of the series that sticks out in my mind is Samurai Pizza Cats. Was that even an anime? lol. Someone here mentioned it recently...and all these memories flooded back to me. I'd [i]totally[/i] forgotten about it up until now. Now I want to buy it on DVD. lol Actually, before Teknoman, there was a Wizard of Oz anime series on TV that I used to watch. It was very good actually...kind of like a warped take on the traditional story.[/color]

[color=#707875]Well, McDonald's should be responsible for producing food that isn't actually [i]dangerous[/i]. And you can argue that very highly fatty food is dangerous to one's health. Then maybe you can question whether or not standards need to exist to restrict food that is so fatty that it becomes quite dangerous to the body -- even in moderation. Having said that, sueing McDonald's for making you fat isn't the right way of going about it. McDonald's will only make big changes to their menu if people actually stop eating there -- if they discover that people don't want that kind of food anymore. But since people [i]are[/i] continuing to eat that kind of food, McDonald's has little reason to change the ingredients. I'm kind of wondering if the end justifies the means though. lol If McDonald's and Kraft substantially remove a lot of fat from their food so that they avoid lawsuits...that's a good outcome, even though I might completely disagree with the guy who sued them in the first place.[/color]

[color=#707875]Nope. You're close, but not quite there. ~_^[/color]

[color=#707875]It's a difficult issue, because you try to walk the lines between religious freedoms and anti-discrimination. I think I've stated my feeling on this before, in regard to what Dan just said. I feel that if one specific church wishes to approve of gay unions, then they should not be pressured by anyone to avoid doing it. If people dislike that, they can go to another church. Know what I mean? In Australia, the Uniting Church (I think it was them, anyway) recently voted overwhelmingly to approve of homosexual relationships. It's a big step forward for human rights and they're very proud of it. Some of their members (a small minority) said that they didn't accept it and that they'd start their own church...as if it was some kind of threat. My message to them would be "That's okay, you can start your own church and administer your own beliefs". Despite what some have said, I'm not actually here to tell anyone that they [i]must[/i] conform to my views. I believe that the church's disregard of homosexual relationships is morally wrong -- and that's my personal view. However, I'm not going to stifle their ability to practice that idea. I think that Dan's message is a good one overall. Accepting gay people as part of society -- recognizing that they exist and that they [i]do[/i] enter into lifetime, loving relationships -- but also retaining core principles with regard to the religion as a whole. To me, that seems like the fair and moderate way to go. It's a shame that more within the church are not as moderate. Though, as long as the bible's view of homosexuality isn't brought into public legislation and imposed, I honestly have no problem with it. And thankfully, it seems as though public policy is always improving in favor of human and civil rights. Whether individual or groups of churches as a whole go along with that is entirely their optional choice. And I think that Dan's idea strikes a comfortable middle ground for most people.[/color]

[color=#707875]Yep, four. Fusajiro Yamauchi founded the company, though I can't remember what relation he was to Hiroshi Yamauchi. I say that because it was Hiroshi Yamauchi's grandfather who offered the business to him in 1949. I've not actually heard mention of who was "in between", interestingly enough. And then, Satoru Iwata in 2002. So yeah, four presidents. Not bad, considering the age of the company. o_O; I think I'm almost running out of interesting questions here. Hehe Umm, why is 2003 a significant year for Nintendo, historically speaking?[/color]

[color=#707875]Super Mario Bros. 3 ^_^;; Umm...let's see. I'll try to think of another one... Okay. How many presidents has NCL had so far?[/color]

[color=#707875]Chou Long Kai, you could very well be right about that. I'd check with Adam, but he's probably forgotten about it himself! lol. Anyway, you're hosted now anyway aren't you, Taylor? You're being hosted for free...so for now, that's probably enough. It'll be enough until you establish more users and then you will really need to look at other hosting solutions. The domain is a minor thing, but it can be so helpful.[/color]

[color=#707875]I'll only say one thing here. Well, two. First, I agree with what most of you are saying -- sueing McDonald's is ridiculous, especially based on something like this. [i]However[/i] the threat of more lawsuits is having a beneficial impact. Kraft announced that it will be cutting transfat from several products (including Oreos) and that it will be investing funds to find healthier alternative ingredients for some of its most popular junk-foods. Sure, they were scared into it (wrongly so), but hey...if they get rid of transfat from Oreos (and you don't want to know how bad transfat is for you), that's a really good step. I wish more food companies would use healthier ingredients in foods like that -- it's certainly possible, but often it's just a matter of being too costly for these companies. So yeah, I guess that's a good thing to come out of a crazy lawsuit.[/color]

[color=#707875]Mirai is right - NoA has a "No Suit & Tie Friday" policy. All staff wear jeans, t-shirts and sneakers on Friday. ~_^[/color]

[color=#707875]I don't know why there is a misinterpretation about this rule. I believe the rules are quite clear. If you post a [i]thread[/i] to advertise your site or any other site, you're spamming. Simple. But if you're talking about Nintendo for example, and you have screenshots/info on your personal homepage that is relevant to the discussion...sure, you can go ahead and post a link. No worries there. If the link is in context with the discussion and if you aren't linking to porn or something, you're quite free to provide links in posts. But as I said, we only ask that you do not create actual threads that contain advertising/links to other sites. Pretty clear cut, I hope.[/color]

[color=#707875]Well, this gets back to what I was saying a long time ago, about belief being largely a subjective thing. I mean, it's why there are many different religions/political ideologies/management styles/etc etc Everyone has their own view on how something is, basically. From my point of view...I don't know if I'd [i]want[/i] to know what happens when I die. Because that way, I think I'd be focusing myself too much on death. I'd rather concentrate on life and focus on the moment, rather than think about the afterlife/non-afterlife, depending on your point of view. I must say though, it's interesting to see the variety of views here. I don't really have a specific view though.[/color]

[color=#707875]Well, that's okay. That's you. That isn't necessarily everyone else, you know? It goes back to what Semji said earlier, I guess. I'm personally hoping that when I die, I'll wake up in a field of cookies...or, I'll be magically transported to a Nintendo game. Bah. That's what I [i]wish[/i] would happen. ~_^ Actually, I've had dreams about afterlife and such. Anyone else have something like that? Those dreams are terribly weird. Though I haven't had a dream like that in a long time. Hm.[/color]

[color=#707875]I agree with Semji. I can't say that I think a whole lot about death, much less what happens afterward. If I die and totally lose my consciousness, then it won't matter. I won't be aware that I'm dead...I won't be aware of anything. So nothing will matter (woo, no taxes!) As for an afterlife...I don't know. I've always thought that the idea of an afterlife was an idea that mankind created, to make death easier to deal with (or to make it more attractive or something, as with ancient Egypt). *shrug* I've never met a dead person, or a ghost, or a goblin, or a gremlin, or anything that floats through walls and so on. So I really don't know. I'm not in a position to say -- I won't be until I die. And then it'll be too late. So yeah. There you go. lol[/color]

[color=#707875]Nope. Hehe. NoA has a policy about Fridays. ~_^[/color]

[color=#707875]It looks fine to me. You'll want to design your own skin to help attract visitors. And, if possible, you'll want to get a .com address. They're dirt cheap these days, and really helpful when it comes to promoting a forum.[/color]

[color=#707875]I would have to vote for Sara's earlier siggy as well. [i]Oh mercy![/i] *wipes away a tear* [/color]

[color=#707875]It's really hard to say, because I haven't been in that position myself. It depends. If your friends have their own sites, you can think about a banner exchange program (whereby you agree to host someone's banner, and they host yours). That way, you don't pay to advertise...you just enter into an equal ad partnership. I've done that before on other sites of mine (non-Otaku related) and it's been quite successful. Also, do your best to avoid annoyances. Pop-ups are one of the worst things on the Internet -- if you can avoid them, do so. I would almost say that it's not worth launching a site if you're going to have pop-ups. A big commercial site can get away with it, because of their large userbase. But a smaller start-up really can't -- it can make the difference between someone staying and someone leaving. [/color]

[color=#707875]Had we not experienced problems during v2, we would definitely be up around 8,000 - 9,000 members today. Although, I think that we have better quality control now than we did previously. But yeah, OtakuBoards did begin as an attachment to absolutegb.com (which eventually became theOtaku.com). The first iteration of OtakuBoards launched during 1999. However, we didn't establish the name "OtakuBoards" until April of 2001. At that point, we also became a seperate entity -- [url]www.otakuboards.com[/url] as opposed to [url]www.theotaku.com/forums[/url] Today, OtakuBoards is very much an independent site. However, we are still owned by theOtaku.com and we still maintain very strong links with that site, no questions there. Basically, we've never advertised. OtakuBoards has never invested in advertising, because it was simply never necessary. We have been able to draw on theOtaku.com's sizeable visitor numbers (averaging more than 30,000 unique visitors per day) and in the last year, word of mouth has been more than enough to sustain growth. OtakuBoards' userbase is now large enough that we can grow at an acceptable rate without actually reaching out and promoting ourselves. And that works for us, because I like to maintain control over our growth. I wouldn't want to receive 1,000 members in a single month or something, because the influx would be too great to handle in a short period of time. At least, it'd be too great to handle without double the staff or something. Part of the reason we're successful is because we aren't [i]just[/i] a forum. Yes, we provide basic discussion. But we also provide some very unique elements -- Otaku Arena is a prime example of that. And more recently, the Greeting Card Workshop is an example of how we can link theOtaku.com and OtakuBoards in innovative and interesting ways. With Adam running theOtaku and me running OtakuBoards, we've been able to coordinate things very well. I talk to Adam every single day -- it's rare that I miss a day without speaking to him. And as such, our communication is very open and frequent. So we always understand what the other person is doing, and we're aware of how each person works. So we work well together and that's a big plus. One thing that both of us believe in, is encouraging member participation as much as possible. Rather than making theOtaku.com a static anime news site or something, we've worked hard to include interactive sections where visitors can display their talents. We want to give kids constructive things to do when they're online. And we believe we can do it [i]without[/i] resorting to porn banners, pop-ups and foul language, basically. People have said that OtakuBoards is strict, yet this place continues to grow. And for every five or six members that we lose based on our rules, we keep one or two really high quality members. In other words, we keep people who stick around for the long haul...and who support the site in many areas all at once. That's what we're looking for. And...having a great staff lineup also helps too. I'm very satisfied with our staff a whole, and I feel that the current mix is pretty darn good. Dedicated staff and responsible members help to make OB inviting. I could go a lot further and get into more detail, but I won't. I hope I've basically answered your question. ^_^[/color]

[color=#707875]Interesting discussion. ^_^ My earliest experience with a video game was at the tender age of 4. It was a Game & Watch unit, though I forget the actual game now. In any case, it was a passing interest, but I didn't actually form a passion for games based on my experience with Game & Watch. Actually, when I was five, I went to a friend's birthday party. And she had a NES. I had no clue what a NES was, but I remember sitting down to play Super Mario Bros. because I was bored. And it completely sucked me in like nothing else ever has. I was so excited about it, that I did little else but talk about Mario for weeks on end afterwards. My parents saw my enthusiasm and purchased a NES for me on my own birthday. ~_^ I remember playing the first world in my room, and spending an entire night getting to World 1-4 (or what [i]seemed[/i] like an entire night -- it was probably only a couple of hours at the time lol). In any case, I remember that in the morning, I actually got to Level 2-1. I was utterly shocked that Mario was running around on trees! Everything was different! Mario was in a new world! I was so excited by reaching this milestone, that I woke my mother up and explained how cool it was. lol I actually owned more NES games than SNES games. I had about 50 NES games, and maybe about 40 SNES games. My dad used to buy a new NES game for me every Thursday. It was more feasable then, because the games were much cheaper than they are now...and my dad was getting a bit addicted too. Heh, it's funny. I vividly remember the day that my dad bought Super Mario Bros. 2 for me. I was really sick that day -- I couldn't eat or even walk. And so, my dad bought me the game as a surprise. You can imagine how quickly I got better. ~_^ Then, Super Mario Bros 3. My dad hadn't bought a game in a few weeks, and when my mother picked me up from school, I asked if dad had brought one home that day. She lied and said "No, I don't think so". But sure enough, Super Mario Bros. 3 was sitting on the kitchen bench at home. ^_^; And then there's the story of Super Mario World...I won't go through it all, but basically, I remember the Mario games very vividly. I was [i]always[/i] a huge Mario fan, from the very beginning. And to this day, I haven't lost the passion for the franchise. If it weren't for Mario, I don't know if I ever would have really gotten into Nintendo generally. There was something about Mario that attracted me in so many ways, when I look back on it. When my dad was away working, Mario was my company. There are many reasons why I have such strong feelings for that particular franchise. As far as the SNES/Genesis thing...I can't say that I ever really got into the "SNES vs Genesis" issue. Although I owned a SNES long before a Genesis, this was primarily due to Mario. The only other games that I actually became very fond of back then were Zelda and Castlevania. I'll never forget playing the first Castlevania on the NES. It was at my uncle's house...he had every single NES game ever released here (he was crazy lol). So going to his house was like visiting some bizarre parallel universe or something. o_O; Also, I remember playing Genesis (called Mega Drive in Australia) at a friend's house regularly. I also played Master System at his house too. And I became a pretty big Sonic fan. The early Sega games (like Shinobi and whatnot) were all pretty cool to me, though I never actually owned many of them. When I bought a Genesis eventually...I ended up buying a Mega CD and so on. And I discovered (at that time, anyway) that Sonic was a pretty big drawcard for me. Sonic CD was an absolutely brilliant game...and to this day I'm kicking myself that I ever traded that Mega CD in. What a massive mistake that was. X_X So yeah, Nintendo's always been number one for me, but that's largely because of my experiences with them as a child. Although I still feel that Nintendo produce the world's greatest video games, generally. But, now that I'm older...I definitely appreciate a far broader selection of games and publishers. And even though I'm a PlayStation 2 and Xbox fan, I still find that I have a slightly stronger attraction to consoles like GameCube and Dreamcast. I mean, I love "mature" games and so on, but I definitely have a child within me. And I love to indulge that side of myself, which is why I adore bright and colourful titles like Super Mario Sunshine. Hell, I was really excited about Yoshi's Story when it came out, although it ended up disappointing me due to its shortness/easiness. V_V These days, lots of different elements affect my thoughts on developers. Today, I'm much more interested in the business side than I used to be. In the case of Nintendo, I'm passionate about the company itself -- maybe even moreso than the games. When I did work experience there, my mind was made up -- [i]this[/i] is where I want to invest my career. Everything about the company's history, the innovation and the basic drive and professionalism of everyone who works there...it's such an amazing atmosphere to be a part of. And it really helped to colour my view of the industry today. Anyway, I guess that's a bit off the track, but it's all part of my "affiliation", I guess. ~_^[/color]

[color=#707875]Basically, we believe that OB threads should be related solely to appropriate discussion. And we've defined what we consider to be appropriate in our rules. So, while we don't allow advertising threads, we do allow people to advertise sites within their signatures. Of course, this is also somewhat restricted by our rules -- you can't link to a porn site, or a site where you can download full episodes of TV shows, etc etc. In other words, nothing illegal or inappropriate for young audiences.[/color]

[color=#707875]Very interesting idea. I had not thought of that. A game-show type dating event. ^_^ Hmm...[/color]

[color=#707875]Correct. Iwata was the man behind the very first Kirby game and he's played varying roles in the series ever since. *rubs chin* Hmm...what else. Ah, okay. I have a tough question for ye. ~_^ Why is Friday a unique day at Nintendo of America?[/color]