James

[color=#808080]Wow, this piccy is awesome, Torisuki. ^_^ I'm loving it. I especially like Leggy. lol And yeah; happy birthday Juu![/color]

[color=#808080]If you're not, you should be. Go play Metroid Prime, my boy. ~_^ In any case, yes...that's what it means. "Nintendo GameCube". I thought it'd be nicer to have the "official" Japanese font for GameCube, rather than the traditional logo. And regardless of the text, I think it's a somewhat interesting design. I like the idea of smooth movement...you know, something you can stare at for a while without it hurting your eyes or something. That probably makes no sense, so I'll go back to eating these cookies that Juu gave me for my birthday. ^_^;[/color]

[color=#808080]Here I am again, with yet another banner. It's very different to my last one. This one is very simple, but I kinda like it. It's also animated. I don't use animation all that often, so my stuff tends to be relatively simple. In any case, the main thing I've tried to go for here is smoothness. With an animation this precise, it's really easy to see if any frames don't fit. So I've tried to keep it "clean", I guess you'd say. Anyway, what do you think? And can anyone guess what the text says? Hehe (Note: the little circle thing is my abstract tribute to Metroid Prime; yes, it's still consuming my pathetic soul. That might give you a hint as to what the text says too, if you don't read Japanese).[/color]

[color=#808080]All I can say is that you should enjoy high school while you can. I find myself missing those days now that they're over. ^_^[/color]

[color=#808080]Well, when you consider that many Metal Gear purists disliked MGS2...I don't think there is any danger of MGS: TTW being bad. And when you consider that you've got Miyamoto AND Kojima supervising the title, plus the absolutely awesome talent of Silicon Knights...I think that if anything, our expectations should be pretty high.[/color]

[color=#808080]The day was coming to a close. The sun in Summer Grove was setting and the trees on the hills were casting their tendril-like shadows over the field, as if clutching it in shadowy claws. Shizuko stopped walking and sat down on the grass delicately. Jet paused and turned to face her. "What's the matter?" he asked, with a confused expression. "Nothing," murmured Shizuko, "I feel that maybe it's too late to look for other players. If we spend our time looking for people, we may never find somebody." Jet rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But if we just go about our business, we might stumble across someone anyways?" Shizuko nodded. "Some of my favourite partners were found when I was least expecting it," she said with a silvery glint in her eye. Jet smiled and sat down opposite her. He looked up at the pale blue sky, which was darkening with every passing moment. Stars were beginning to form, like soft raindrops on some kind of enormous glass dome. "Beautiful, isn't it?" said Shizuko, who was also peering up at the limitless sky. Jet looked at Shizuko and smiled. "Yeah, it is." Several moments passed before anything else was said. Finally, Shizuko stood up. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Tomorrow, I will be at the Summer Grove gate in the morning. You can meet me there if you like," she said. "I'll add you to my buddy list!" said Jet excitedly. Shizuko smiled and nodded in agreement. "When I return here, let's explore this world a little more. Maybe tomorrow we will have more luck when it comes to finding a partner." "Sure," said Jet. "I'll be here."[/color]

[color=#808080]The idea that this game is in development is nothing particularly surprising. But the idea that Silicon Knights is developing it [i]is[/i] surprising. I don't think anyone saw that coming. o_O In any case, IGN's saying that it could potentially look better than MGS2, which would be pretty amazing. I feel sure that SK can do this game justice, especially when you consider their masterful storytelling ability and their knowledge of "cinematic elements" in games. I wonder how different it will be to the original though (ie: Resident Evil PSX compared with Resident Evil GCN).[/color]

[color=#808080]Thanks everyone. Those images are all fantastic! ^_^ I haven't spoken to Adam today, so I'm guessing that he's partying somewhere. My birthday was yesterday, on April 29 for you guys...but April 30 here in Australia. Weird, eh? o_O Adam and I are [i]both[/i] 20 this year, which further adds to the conjoined twins speculation. But which one of us is the evil twin? What an [i]easy[/i] question... *laughs evilly* ^_^;[/color]

[color=#808080]Don't worry; I have something in the works.[/color]

[color=#808080]I guess I'll add my thoughts here. As I said to Semjaza over AIM, I do download MP3s on rare occasion. If I like the song, I buy it. I don't like the idea of downloading huge amounts of MP3s and burning them onto discs, without ever giving artists their due income. In a legal sense, it's stealing. And it's something that I personally would never do. The reason I like MP3s is because they allow me to sample new forms of music; and have access to music that I may never normally have. I use MP3s as a tool for discovering new artists and sampling new sounds. But that's all I use it for. If I find something I like, I will most likely buy the artist's album as soon as I can afford it. I find myself frequently buying CDs and then deleting the MP3s on my hard drive. I think it's the fair and honest thing to do. Forget any gripes you have with the recording industry. I think it's fair to say that many artists get a raw deal. But why compound that by stealing their music? I don't give a stuff about the industry executives and I accept the fact that I can do little to change the situation. But by stealing music, I am basically only enhancing the problem -- it makes CDs more expensive and it creates further hardship for our favourite music artists. So why add to the problem? Go out and buy some CDs with your hard earned cash and reward your favourite artists for their hard work. They produced a song that you like and you should pay for the privelege of owning their art.[/color]

[color=#808080]Well, I'm mostly wanting Saturn and Dreamcast games. There are a few that I missed out on that I'd really love to have. But I don't have the time or money to seek out games which may have inflated prices at this point (and be hard to find, too).[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by MillieFan [/i] [B]Better? [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#808080]Much. ^_^ Oh and uh...one word posts are against the rules. ^_^;;; Just thought I'd throw that in. Once you've been rule-whipped a few times initially, you'll find that OB is a pretty easy place to live. Hehe[/color]

[color=#808080]I haven't played DMC2, but the entire gaming media has totally canned it. However, I also felt that the gaming media largely praised DMC far too much; it wasn't as good as was made out. It [i]was[/i] good. But it wasn't [i]brilliant[/i] or anything, in my opinion. Still, I'm steering clear of DMC2. I don't want to spend my money unless I'm getting a really good game (especially with school costs eating into my wallet these days). As far as recommendations...well, I haven't bought a PS2 game in a while. I've been wrapped up in Metroid Prime too much to care about anything other than eating, sleeping and hygiene. o_O But anyway. TimeSplitters 2 is a pretty nice game. It's amazingly similar to Goldeneye (far moreso than I thought...even the bullet holes are the same), which actually makes it feel somewhat old and dated. Even the visuals are like Goldeneye, but cleaner...which means that everything has quite a uniform/basic look, yet is very clean. Hard to describe unless you play it. But certainly, it's a great game if you like FPSs. For adventure, I'd have to recommend ICO. It's really a wonderful little game. It deserves to be noticed. ^_^[/color]

[color=#808080]Ravenstorture...I don't know if you're being sarcastic or what, but I think your interpretation is a bit cynical to say the least. lol You have to remember the origins of this film (back when it was a Kubrick piece, before his death). I would say that the whole Ministry thing wasn't on Kubrick (or Spielberg's) minds until the core aspects of the movie were in place. To say that such a deep movie is merely a concert promotion is a bit far off the mark. [i]Especially[/i] if you understand and correctly interpret the movie's core messages.[/color]

[color=#808080]Yep, the main thing is to make sure that you read our rules. They're a bit out of date now, but the rules regarding banners in sigs are the same. And I'd say that 99.9% of the stuff we have there is still very relevant. ^_^[/color]

[color=#808080]Yep. And the demand for aftermarket services (particularly for Japanese cars) in this country means that it's widely available. Even companies like Mazda Australia and Nissan Australia offer some level of custom aftermarket modification. It's a big industry. Also, Japan is our closest trading partner in general. The automotive industry has some huge benefits from that relationship. I mean, the government recently passed special laws for low volume specialized imports -- the kind that you'd never normally be able to buy without personally importing them yourself (at a massively inflated cost). And as such, companies like Mitsubishi are now releasing limited production Japanese Evolutions and such. I hope the same will be true with the next Nissan GT-R. It's proven to be a really popular change in the trade law here...and it means that sometimes you'll see some of these really rare cars on the street. Good stuff. ^_^[/color]

[color=#808080]This is basically like the RPG system that you find on many boards. And it's usually based on your post count/points being intertwined and such. I don't like the idea that your level of activity equals your ability to "purchase" new items. If such items (such as name change) are to be used, they should be available to everybody. The last thing I want to do is give the impression that post count is important. Because it's not. It's just a number; it bears no relationship to your quality as a member, the quality of your threads/posts, etc... If anything, we're going to be moving away from point/post-based systems in the future. I don't think OtakuBoards will ever be involved in those widespread systems.[/color]

[color=#808080]If depressing threads worry you, don't read them. It's as simple as that. And if you're annoyed by depressing threads, counter them with your own positive threads. That's the beauty of OtakuBoards; you have a choice.[/color]

[color=#808080]It's best to report this stuff to Adam, because OtakuBoards is not responsible for theOtaku.com content. If you want to email him, use this address: [email][email protected][/email][/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Transtic Nerve [/i] [B]That Supra is so sooped up it's not even funny. You'll never see that version of a Supra on the road. [/B][/QUOTE] [color=#808080]Ahh! That's another great thing about Australia. Lots and lots of cars like that one. But not as ugly. I'm talking about really tasteful Japanese cars. But also really aggressive after-market additions. For instance, if you go to the local train station where I live...it is not uncommon for you to see three Toyota Supras roll past within five minutes, each with an insanely wild bodykit (and an obviously highly tuned engine -- at least based on the throaty growl). The kit in that image is pretty tame compared to what you will see in Australia and Japan. Have you seen the Japanese Auto Salon? They do some really wild kits -- many of them sanctioned by the car companies themselves. And funnily enough, quite a few of those cars make it to the roads in some form. Especially in inner city Melbourne, you'll see a [i]lot[/i] of heavily modified Japanese cars. It's really common to see an "aftermarket" Lancer Evolution (in other words, a base model Lancer which has been modified to the point of insanity), with the full-on RalliArt decals running along the sides and such. The great thing is, it's not some guy's crappy plastic sticker...it's full racing decals. I remember that a Japanese motorist wrote to an Aussie car magazine a few years ago, saying how he wishes he lived on the Gold Coast. When he was visiting, he saw a huge number of classic Japanese racing cars which were lovingly restored and modified with new parts. He was saying that even in Japan, it's not done as much. So I found that interesting. And it's one thing I really love about the local car market here. And in Melbourne in particular, with the relatively high Japanese population, you'll find a lot of Japanese car enthusiasts. I'd certainly be very happy with a RalliArt Lancer. ~_^[/color]

[color=#808080]I don't think that A.I. was showing that the human race's accomplishments were in vain. Quite the contrary, actually. You have to remember the discussion that the alien had with David in his bedroom. We are given the impression that mankind's legacy was one of a truly great civilization, which perhaps ended during its peak. David is like a personification of mankind's achievements, which is why the aliens are so interested in him (apart from the whole "we can learn about the past through him" situation). [/color]

[color=#808080]It does have a similar shape, but I'd say it's a less radical design than the Z. The Skyline is a bit more conservative, which is probably a logical decision considering that it's such an icon. I don't think Nissan wanted to shock too many people. I also like the NSX, but it's fast becoming a waste of money. You can get a Porche 911 for about half the price (or maybe even less) and still get significantly better performance and luxury. So I think the NSX is starting to show its age in a major way. But I guess it'll always be a legendary Japanese supercar.[/color]

[color=#808080]Olga, you were depressed by A.I.'s ending? A.I. actually had a positive ending, you know. It was designed to send a positive final message. You didn't pick up on that? ~_^ But yes, it was still sad. I think the ending to A.I. is the best ending for any movie that I've ever seen -- I think the ending was the pinnacle of the movie.[/color]

[color=#808080]goramathemole, please read our rules. You've double posted [i]twice[/i] and your post quality is pretty poor. In addition, it's pretty redundant to create a thread asking people to ask you questions...you should wait until people post a thread with a specific question so that you can answer. Prompting people to ask is generally not the way it's handled. That's not a rule, it's just a general "rule of thumb", I suppose.[/color]

[color=#808080]The car I'm most looking forward to now is the [url="http://www2.nissan.co.jp/SKYLINE/V35/0301/EXTER/index.html"]new Skyline[/url]. *drool* And the Nissan Z is pretty cool, too. If I could buy any car in the world right now, it'd either be an R34-GTR or a Z.[/color]