James

[color=#507AAC][size=1]They do use the C stick for items. But that's a good thing -- for the fairy bow, it allows for analogue control. Targeting is done with the L trigger and shielding is still done with R.[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]*giggles* One question: How is man-on-man action unmanly? I'd have thought it'd be the most testosterone-driven stuff you could ever see. LOL Anyway, er...that section won't be going public [i]or[/i] private. It doesn't exist, even though various people have petitioned to have it created. Frankly, I don't think the demand exists for a yaoi forum (in all seriousness). But I am aware that some members (male, female, bi, gay...all types) enjoy it. Still, I doubt we'll have it on here anytime soon. Anyway...I think I need to regain some sanity after that. o_O;;[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]Done. Now novels, comics/manga can be discussed there as well. Enjoy. ^.^[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]Would anyone object if I modified the Poetry/Fan Fiction forum to allow for discussions on literature that you read...? So you can both write stuff for others to see and also discuss books you've read. Sound good?[/color][/size]

[size=1][color=#507AAC]CWB, why did you have to ruin our secret? Ssh. I don't want everyone requesting all that cool manly stuff. Ahem. It's not thanksgiving here, but I'm definitely thankful for my health...my family and my friends. And I'm really thankful for this community too. ^_^[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]Ugh, yeah. I'll say it again: [b]I won't accept anything that isn't emailed to me.[/b] There's no reason why avatars can't be emailed. lol Anyway, some of you have made some simply brilliant stuff. Amibasuki, your avatars were particularly noteworthy for being high quality. So yeah, the more good ones I see...the more I'll put up. ^.^[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]Well, let's not get into a debate about the damaging effects of suicide on family and friends. We've been there and done that. I guess I hope that at least for this Thanksgiving weekend...and over Christmas, people who are having problems will feel free to talk to other members. I know that a simple message board won't do much. But the community here is very strong. Sure, these threads are depressing. But it takes a level of trust to tell the entire community your deepest thoughts and feelings. It's not easy. And I think that at the very least, we need to be understanding of people and what they are going through. Of course, if anyone has any problems they want to talk about...feel free to IM me any time. Many of you don't talk to me regularly, but you'll find that I'm a pretty approachable person on AIM. :)[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]You know, maybe you should actually [i]visit[/i] theOtaku.com and see. ~.^[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]Cloricus, Daily Otaku was an ill-fated thread that was created on OB. It was basically a newspaper that included the latest thread updates (which was kind of pointless anyway, considering that members can subscribe to forums/threads directly). This is an actual anime news resource on theOtaku.com, which will be updated every single day. ^.^[/color][/size]

[size=1][color=#507AAC]As many of you will already know, preorders for The Legend of Zelda: Kaze No Takuto (the new GameCube Zelda in Japan) are well and truly underway. Interestingly, Japanese gamers receive two special discs if they preorder. The first disc includes various new gameplay footage (including games such as Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, F-Zero: GC and more). The second disc includes both Ocarina of Time ported directly to GameCube (not bad considering it's 100% free), and Ura Zelda. Ura Zelda was originally destined for the 64DD -- it was to become one of the key games that Nintendo would use to sell the add-on. However, the 64DD failed in Japan and was not released elsewhere. It didn't receive enough support from Nintendo, simply because it became unnecessary (by the time it released, N64 standard cartridges could hold just as much memory if not more). Ura Zelda was essentially an expansion pack for Ocarina of Time. Whilst I'm not sure on the exact changes, I am aware that Ura Zelda's dungeons are slightly different from those of OoT. And apparently there are some other new secrets and puzzles. Ura Zelda literally means "Another Zelda" in Japanese. The coolest thing is that Ura Zelda was never released, despite being in a near-complete stage for 64DD. So Nintendo is taking this opportunity to release it for [i]free[/i] to Japanese fans. Hopefully these two discs will arrive in North America, Australia and Europe as well. But only time will tell. For now, I thought I'd share some screens of Ura Zelda with you. Enjoy! ^.^[/color][/size] [center] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk3.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk10.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk4.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk5.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk6.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk7.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/urazeldagcngurk8.jpg[/IMG] [/center]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]Ahh, finally our news service is up! That's great to see. ^.^ I think it'll be a really valuable resource for anime fans and really add to theOtaku.com's overall appeal. I hope people enjoy all the work that went into it. Oh...and happy Thanksgiving to the North Americans on the boards ~.^[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]I guess I got into anime mainly because of Teknoman. That was on more than a decade ago...so I was very young when I saw it. But I became a big fan at that time. And then I started watching other animes. There was a Wizard of Oz anime series actually...very childish, but I watched that when I was little. I saw nearly the entire series. And like Teknoman, that drew me in. Since then I haven't watched much anime. A few movies...one or two episodes here and there. I'm hoping to get back into it though, if I have the money that is. ^_^;;;[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]That's happened to me a few times. Sometimes I'll talk to someone occasionally and never really think much of it (especially when I was at school). One day I got talking to a guy at school and he ended up having almost identical interests to me. So that was really cool -- we'd seen each other so many times but never really [i]knew[/i] each other. You might be surprised how much you have in common with people who you may think nothing of. ^.^;;[/color][/size]

OOC: Okay, this isn't too confusing. Let me very briefly explain. EVERYONE apart from Warlock and Iota are currently in the Alpha. Those who are injured are receiving treatment and the others are doing whatever they do on the way home from a big mission like this (presumably being very reflective lol). That's basically how it is so far. Now for my latest post... ^.^;;;; [color=#507AAC][i]After only a few minutes, the missile streaked its way back into the atmosphere, leaving a white trail in the sky behind it. Now was Proteus' chance. Once again, he attempted to communicate with Hunter HQ...[/i][/color] [color=green][b]Enter Connection Destination:[/b] Maverick Hunter HQ [b]Password:[/b] ********* Checking... .............. .................done. [b]Welcome to Maverick Hunter HQ, [/b]Proteus[b]. Please select your destination from the following options: [u]Information Center Recruitment & Training Department Weapons Systems Department HQ Security Diagnostics & Repairs Department Education & Higher Learning Center Maverick Hunter Library Used Parts & Storage Transportation Department Political Sciences Center (Now merged with Foreign Relations Dept.) Maverick Hunter Administration[/u][/b] ... ...... .........[b]You have selected:[/b][u] Weapons Systems Department[/u][b]. Please choose a sub-section from the following menu:[u] Heavy Weapons Department Missile & Ballistics Laboratory Laser-Based Weapon Systems General Firearms Development Shield Production Environmental Integration Adaptive Cellular Modulation Laboratory Anti-Gravity Devices Center Missile Testing Range 1-50 Missile Testing Range 50-100 Satellite-Guided Technologies AIWS (Artificially Intelligent Weapons Systems) Materials Center[/b][/u] ... ...... .........[b]You have selected:[/b] [u]Active Cellular Modulation Laboratory[/u][b].[/b][/color][color=#507AAC][i] Proteus was moving as fast as he could. He used his eyes to scroll through the listings on his HUD. And finally, he found it! The ACM Program was called "Advanced Cellular Reconstruction Device". It was still in development -- Proteus had no idea if it'd work. But he knew he didn't have much choice. He closed his eyes and concentrated, activating the program inside his internal computer systems. He looked down over himself and found his arms and legs shrinking; they were receeding into their sockets. The titanium was warm and the cells in his limbs were retracting into his body, in preparation for redistribution. Suddenly, Proteus fell away from the missile. His limbs slipped out of the steel bars as they dissappeared. He looked up and saw the missile proceed ahead on a slightly negative angle. But something was wrong. The missile wasn't simply moving out toward the ocean, like Proteus had expected based on its prior course. It was slowly turning around in mid-flight...and heading back towards Maverick Hunter HQ. All at once, Proteus became extremely alarmed. He expected the missile to blow itself up somewhere in the ocean! And now here it was, aiming itself at the Hunter HQ! This was Dr. Karman's plan all along, it seemed; send the missile in some arbitrary direction to give the Hunters a false sense of security. And then send it spiralling into the HQ compound with Proteus attached. What a grand plan -- one which now seemed almost inevitable. Proteus closed his eyes. He wanted to give up right now. How on Earth could he stop this missile? And suddenly he remembered. "Advanced Cellular Reconstruction Device". Proteus searched back through the program internally and found the following dialogue:[/color][/i] [color=green][b]Process Complete. Please designate reconstruction destination.[/color][/b] [i][color=#507AAC]Proteus knew it would hurt, but he had to do it. Once again, he closed his eyes and concentrated hard on the program. Two lumps appeared on his back, underneath his armor. The lumps grew and stretched downards over his back. They were pushing hard at the armor; crushing Proteus' synthetic spine inwards against his silicon organs. Proteus clenched his teeth. Normally he didn't feel pain, but this time, he could feel everything in his body being forced forward by the cellular growth. And then, relief; the two lumps tore verticle strips in the back of Proteus' armor. As the curved surfaces slowly emerged from underneath his armor and began to unfurl, Proteus knew it had worked. There he was, falling through the sky with two large metallic blades protruding from his back. But they weren't blades; they were wings. At first Proteus found it difficult to move the wings. His body wasn't used to them -- it had only just reconstructed the cells from his arms and legs. But with great effort, Proteus began moving the wings slowly -- guiding them to catch the wind and subsequently sending himself higher in the air...toward the missile. But how to destroy it? Proteus had an idea. Once more, he accessed the reconstruction program. This time, he instructed it to remove some of the cells from his wings and distribute those cells to his right arm socket. Within moments, the program responded -- the wings slowly receeded and he felt his right arm socket open; his right arm rebuilding itself from within the socket. And now he could fix the problem. Proteus reached down and ran his fingers over his right thigh. The titanium skin on his armor recognized his fingerprints and his thigh split in two, revealing a small chamber with various cubes locked inside. Proteus took a cube and as he removed his hand, his thigh closed itself once more. Proteus angled his wings downward slightly and gave chase to the missile. He was above it and falling at a similar speed -- it was now a matter of catching up. Proteus pushed himself forward through the air. He used his anti-gravity feet to provide extra boost, whilst also angling his wings aggressively in an effort to reach the missile. He sped up rapidly and almost felt as though he was going to completely bypass it. But as he passed, he took the cube and slammed it hard onto the side of the missile's hull. Quickly, Proteus opened his wings and immediately rose several hundred metres above the missile (almost getting burnt on the way past its engine -- it was at a 90 degree angle at this point, right above Hunter HQ). Proteus utilized his HUD hastily, sending a detonate command to the tiny cube. Proteus continued to rise in the air. Now he was further away...he still couldn't operate his wings properly. And he had no idea where they would take him. All he knew now was that he'd done all he possibly could. He sighed and floated through the clouds...his destination and fate were unknown...[/i][center] [/color][b]Back at the Missile...[/b] [/center] [i][color=#507AAC] For a few moments, the tiny cube did not respond. It was struggling to receive the incoming communication from Proteus. But finally it did. The top half of the cube began to glow bright red -- a warning light. And then it twisted counter-clockwise...then it stopped. It beeped once and twisted in the other direction. And suddenly, the sky was filled with fire. Pieces of sharp metal and rubber wiring were sent spewing in all directions. The thunderous boom of the actual explosion came half a second after the initial visual blast -- the resulting boom was so loud that it shattered windows in the streets of the city below. Large fuel pumps and torn steel belts were screaming through the sky, setting off hundreds of smaller explosions around them. It had ended in what amounted to nothing more than a fireworks display for the residents of the city. Little did they know how close they had come to death...[/color][/i]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]No that's [i]not[/i] okay. lol How many times do I have to say "read the first post"? I won't accept anything but what is submitted in the right way. Sorry, but otherwise it takes way too long -- I don't have time to rename avatars and work out where they come from. Some of you are emailing me avatars with either the wrong names...or you're not attaching them to a file, you're hosting them online. They need to be attached to the email and they need to have the correct filenames. Anyway, I've started uploading them. Right now I need more anime avatars. Dragonball, Gundam, Yu-Gi-Oh, Tenchi, Cowboy Bebop -- that's what I need. Animes that theOtaku.com/OB covers (and others too, if you feel like it). Amibasuki sent in some particularly great ones -- so keep 'em coming! I'll make the first batch public tomorrow or the next day. Then you'll be able to see what has gone online. And hopefully that'll encourage people to send more avatars! ^.^[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]Oh that's now brown nosing, Kevin. That's an interesting tidbit! I didn't even realize. ^.^ I will be receiving a full box-set of the Japanese version in a few days' time. So when I actually watch the series for myself, I'll be better qualified to discuss it. But before then, I thought it would be cool to bring it up with American fans in particular...as we've both mentioned, it will be arriving in the USA shortly. It will be interesting to see how well it performs. Adam predicts that it'll be big. Hehe[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]I think there are a couple of points to be made about this anime. First and foremost, it's true that there isn't a lot of combat. I would have liked to see more, but think about animes such as Ghost in the Shell for example. Ghost in the Shell really didn't have all that much combat, even though it did have some very fast-paced moments. .hack//SIGN has a few things going for it. For starters, it's very character-driven. I think that people who like to get right into a deep story will enjoy that side of it. Second, the animation is apparently superb -- very high quality stuff. Third, the soundtrack is generally considered to be the best part of the anime. One reviewer said that he left it playing for ages JUST to hear the soundtrack. And fourth, as mentioned, a game based on the series will be coming out. And that is looking quite good. I think that it's probably a situation where you have to take the game and the anime as one -- watch/play them both and experience the full effect. My article is up on theOtaku.com now anyway, so for those who want to learn more...that's a good place to start. ^.^[/color][/size]

[size=1][color=#507AAC]As I mentioned, .hack//SIGN is not available in the United States yet. I'm not sure when it will be released over there though (soon I assume). Actually, I'll be writing a feature that relates to it for theOtaku.com -- you'll get to see that within the next couple of days. So once it's up, you'll get a much better idea of what the hype is all about. ^.^ In the meantime, here's an image from the anime...[/size][/color] [center][IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=311195[/IMG][/center]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]I don't see any flaming here. There were no personal attacks. It's okay to have a strenuous debate over something. ^.^ Also, since the thread is about EVA...it's okay to discuss whether or not it's a ripoff, considering that the subject matter we're talking about is EVA. Anyway, regarding the topic at hand... I have only seen one episode of EVA, when it was on TV a while back. It's probably the one anime series that I'm really interested in -- I like mech animes but I found Gundam Wing to be a little uninteresting. I don't know, perhaps I didn't watch enough of it. Also, just out of interest...would anyone here like to see an EVA section on theOtaku.com? I find it a bit surprising that we don't yet have one. We actually [i]did[/i] have one in the works a while ago, but that unfortunately didn't move forward. Still, it's worth talking about I think...especially considering the massive popularity of the series. I think EVA will have to be on my shopping list for the holidays...[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]I'd [i]rather[/i] have anime/gaming avatars. ^.^ If you're naming your avatar after an object and not a character, you can just name it after the object (ie: GameCube.gif).[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]I guess primarily they should be based on series that we actually have here on the boards and on theOtaku.com. But generally, it doesn't matter. Any game/anime series is fine. ^.^[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]Please don't post avatars here. None of them will be used. They really must be emailed. All I can say is "refer to the first post". It contains all the necessary details. ^.^;;[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]That could very well be the case, Mnemolth. Especially considering that the lower bar doesn't flash if you receive a PM (due to the gradient used). Hopefully we can fix that though. ^.^;[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]How many accounts have you created, S@abretooth? Do you realize that creating multiple accounts is against our rules? You've basically just created two dead accounts that I will now have to remove. I hope this is the last time. -.-;;[/color][/size]

[color=#507AAC][size=1]It could even be something to do with your cookies. I really don't know. Some of the problems that arise on the boards are really bizarre -- and since I'm not a technical person, I really don't know how you can fix the problem. I would recommend sending a PM to Shift. He might be of more help to you.[/color][/size]