Semjaza

Hmm. A starting point. I kind of wish that greatest hits promo was actually releasing to stores, because then I'd recommend that. But since it isn't... Odelay is generally considered his best work and probably the best thing to grab as of right now. I'd honestly say a good starting point would also be Guero, once it comes out. I've listened to the entire thing and it's really good stuff. Sea Change is also excellent, but it's better for when you're in a more sad/down state of mind.

Cousin love? Eeeeeeeeeew. :D I never really had crushes growing up. Everyone was kind of gender neutral as far as I was concerned. I didn't want a girlfriend for most of my life, serious or not. They always seemed like far more trouble than they were worth. My first actual girlfriend confirmed that. The only reason I went out with her was because she wouldn't lay off at all. I just conceded. Bad idea. The first girl I actually loved was way in Ohio. About a seven hour drive. I got to visit her a few times, but for the most part it was incredibly difficult. She didn't have a car, we were both in college and etc etc. It kind of just had to fall apart.

I love Beck. I don't know about anyone else. The more I listen to his work, the higher he gets on my list of best musicians. He's probably forced him way into the top five at this point, which is quite an accomplishment. I remember in the 90s he had a slew of successful radio singles. I don't know exactly how that translated into record sales, but it seems like a lot of people I know personally know [i]of[/i] him and can name a few songs... but no one really seems to have any albums or be is into him as I am. The internet is the only place I ever seem to find other Beck fans lol. Anyway, his new album, Guero is set to be released very soon (the retail version has already leaked onto the internet). What I've played of it is really great. I feel it's even better than his last album, Sea Change, which is quite an accomplishment. Sea Change was incredibly depressing and melancholy... Guero still has some melancholy qualities, but it's far more upbeat overall. I just think it's far easier to listen to. I was sending that Hell Yes EP around to people in hopes of getting them interested in his upcoming album. I know at least several people have heard it by this point and some of those people have sent it to even more people. Hell Yes isn't totally indicative of Guero's sound since they're all remixes... but the Nintendo sound effects do appear on the main album as well. Anyway, hopefully people will want to pick that up or have something else to say in here.

Well, I won't disagree with most of that, but I'm going to stick by the idea of what is presented online isn't largely indicative of what I see in actual daily life (and from talking to my friends, neither have they). Highschool or afterwards. I went to a largely black school, but no one differentiated between hip hop kids or rock kids or whatever else like things I read here would make it seem. A lot of what I read online from people is very location specific. That much is obvious if someone makes a post saying that they don't think Nirvana was ever popular because no one in their general vicinity is a big fan. That's hardly reflecting the mass populace (Nirvana was obviously HUGE) and I think that carries over into a lot of things discussed here and on most forums involving that general age group. A lot of it is "here and now" and that's the end of it. I really think the internet exaggerates a lot of things, particularly because everyone can be far more vocal on it due to the relative anonymity. Obviously there are labels here and a lot of them are very, very strongly defined and utilized way too much. I guess it just depends on the person. I'd rather live in Australia and avoid them entirely if what you and Baron say is true lol. That's just my conclusions on it though. I have no statistical proof, obviously lol.

[quote name='Baron Samedi][size=1] Yeah, but I'd wager that the whole 'goth' stereotype probably started in America. And spread. As things from America usually do. I admitted in my post that the stereotypical American kid was a stereotype in itself, but I stand by the fact that [stereotypically'] Americans take it to the extremes, full on discriminating against people not in their own special, tiny niche.[/size][/quote] You have no proof either way of where it started. Assumptions are hardly any better than stereotypes. I find it extremely hard to believe that people in Europe, for example, stereotype to a far less degree than people within the US. The only reason I can see the US being more of a "stereotype haven" is because of what a large melting pot the country is compared to most others. I am finding it extremely strange that the people claiming this is largely an American idea and issue are all from outside of the US in the first place. Thrusting this on a nation one has no firsthand experience with is likely a conclusion reached through stereotypes and generalizations in the first place. I, personally, know very few people who are constantly applying these stereotypes to anything around here in any serious connotation (and if they do, they're not really people I'd consider knowledgable on the subject). The general attitude of random members on this forum is not nearly indicative of real life ratios. People from all over the world obviously think of a certain sort of image when they think of a "goth" person. Whether or not that image is even a realistic one is up for debate, but thrusting it all on one nation as if it is our own singular problem is incredibly ridiculous and over-generalizing. Using stereotypes to prove other stereotypes hardly seems effective. It seems exceptionally useless, actually. A lot of current ideas on goth music, fashion and development stem from the groups that had founded the style such as Bauhaus and Siouxie and The Banshees, neither of which are from the US in the first place. If the idea didn't stem from the US, I find it unlikely that the stereotype is only at the forefront here. The idea that people that fit into these stereotypes one way or another are not "contributing" in some way is also incredibly offensive. As for the word itself, it doesn't simply describe architecture anyway and that's obviously not what people into gothic music and fashion are relating it to.

The idea of a typical "goth" is a pretty global stereotype. I don't know why people are continuously pinning it simply on American youth. There are just as many stereotypes in ever single area of the world, even if they happen to be different ones. The idea of a majority of American teens buying into these ideas unquestionably is an assumed stereotype itself.

From what I've played of that demo, it's just a really cheap substitute. It looked pretty bad, the combos weren't implemented properly and just a host of other issues. The real thing is obviously fifty times more polished and such, but it just seems so much better produced in every aspect that I can can't really farily compare them lol. The basic idea was in the demo, but definitely doesn't have a lot of the things going on that I saw in the game... even just in terms of basic gameplay. I've read a lot of English impressions recently and they all seem incredibly positive. Even more glowing than ones I've read of Lumines on the PSP, which are both from the same guy.

I'm not sure how much everyone knows about this game. It was recently released in Japan I believe, but the US release is still somewhat up in the air (although I think Nintendo's site has it listed for April). It's a new puzzle game. Different colored blocks fall from the sky and you have to drag them around vertically (horizontally isn't allowed) to match groups of three or more. When you match a group, little rockets appear and push the matched blocks and everything on top of them up and off the screen. However, if there's too many blocks on top of the rockets, they won't make it all the way... you'll have to make combos. It's hard to explain, but I think videos show off the idea pretty well. This one is just a bunch of short clips of different levels put together: [url]http://media.gba.gamespy.com/media/695/695613/vids_1.html[/url] (follow the instuctions on the page to get it) I really like the graphics, personally. I think they're more than adequate for a puzzle game and the speed is pretty insane at times. Sound is hard to judge from a crappy video, but from all I've read it's some of the more impressive quality stuff on the system. The game seems to have a variety of modes and supports up to four players through linking. Famitsu gave it a 38/40, so I think we're in for a pretty great game. [IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2005/069/reviews/922233_20050311_screen001.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2005/069/reviews/922233_20050311_screen005.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2005/069/reviews/922233_20050311_screen014.jpg[/IMG]

I'm likely going to have a pretty good time reading responses to this thread as I'm sure 95% of them won't even mention a game that's from the Enix side of the company. I'm under the impression that we're allowed to mention games from before their merger, thanks to the appearance of some older games thus far. I don't know what my single favorite game is from both of these companies, but my favorite series is likely Dragon Warrior. It's had some poorer games as time has gone on, but for the most part I think it's quality. Certainly is appeals to more of a "hardcore" or "traditional" audience than something such as Final Fantasy, but I tend to enjoy those types of RPGs more. It's a shame we didn't get the SNES sequels in the series as they're really quite excellent (I've played the fan translations). We did get 7, at least, which I enjoyed despite its largely archaic appearance and really heavy reliance on the past. It did get a bit old and repetitive compared to even the earlier titles, though. I'm greatly looking forward to the US release of 8. It's gorgeous and really sounds like its a nice progression of the series that still stays true to its roots.

[quote name='Dielover]Best Album? Vulgar :catgirl: [B']I will never listen to english music. Dir en grey owns all the bands in the u.s.a[/B][/quote] I tried forumlating a decent, well thought out response to this. Nothing was coming to mind that could truly capture what needs to be said, although this does it well: [CENTER] [IMG]http://img63.exs.cx/img63/9831/megarolleyes9gg.gif[/IMG][/CENTER] Liking a Japanese band more is fine by me, but your obvious bias is very unfounded... besides, many of the best albums each year aren't even US in origin. [QUOTE=Omar Harris]My favorite albums of 2004 are Outkast's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below"- Innovative, with fresh music that transcends genres and exposes the true talents of both members of the group. Undoubtably my favorite song on the album(s) is Andre 3000's "Hey Ya" with "Roses" coming in a close second. Also, I love the Andre 3000/Fonzworth Bentley interlude. [/QUOTE] That's from 2003, although I won't argue that it's great. Kanye West definitely deserves a mention, though.

Using the touch pad is actually easy and far better, in my opinion. The game is not made for digital control, plain and simple. The D-pad is absolutely awful for it. I use the stylus, although I can see why someone would want to use the thumb pad. When you press down on the screen it makes this sort of bull's eye target. That acts as basically your guide for how far to move your stylus/thumb pad. Different colors on the bull's eye show how fast your character will run. Once I got that down, I had no real problems. It's no stick replacement, but it's definitely far better than using the d-pad.

[QUOTE=Mouse][size=1][color=slategray]I also realized something: someone should start changing the definitions of the labels. I mean, no one fits the descriptions anymore. I mean, a friend of mine: skater girl without a skateboard. But she doesn't ACT like a skatergirl. I don't fit a stereotype; I'm sometimes like a stupidly-silly-sweet person, but I am also very intelligent. Seriously though: no one fits stereotypes anymore.[/size][/color][/QUOTE] There really is no reason to change them. They simply just should not be used. They're stereotypes for a reason, they embody the most extreme example and most people have [i]never[/i] fit neatly into them.

There's racists everywhere and they all listen to different types of music, therefore pretty much any genre is going to have at least several artists that promote those ideas. Metal in general doesn't promote the idea in any sense, really. It's just something that happens to be out there and not much can be done about it. As long as people want to make it and others want to listen to it, music with that sort of theme is going to exist. Metal is already less accessible to the general public, especially the types of sounds that groups like this generally adopt. Combining abrasive music with racial or sexist lyrics just results in something that people wind up complaining about far more.

I enjoy Mindless Self Indulgence. I don't think they're particularly intelligent or important or even talented, but they're a great "I don't have to think about it" sort of band. I've planned to see them live in the past, but it never works out. They seem like they'd be absolutely insane in person. They have a new CD coming next month, actually.

This kind of just didn't excite me. It seemed like an evolution of what they already have. Obviously this is a good thing, but it's nothing to be blown away over. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a choice of color schemes though. Something that looks this simple seems like it could have that easily implemented... but as I said, that's assuming this is really the final look (and it very well could be considering they plan on launching this system this year). What was interesting is their whole marketplace concept. Like buying a new car for your game for a $1 or selling a car you made to someone else for a price. I think it's interesting, I don't necessarily think it's a good idea. Online RPGs have mostly condemned selling items for real money via sites such as eBay for a reason. I think MS will get into some really sticky situations thanks to this and I'm not sure how well it would go over if they do choose to do it.

[quote name='Baron Samedi][size=1']I only have one artist who I feel is unde : Robbie Williams. He has so many great songs, has released tons of albums, and his music can appeal to so many people, but you hardly ever hear about him. If you don't know and love at least Robbie Williams song, go and hang yourself, save the gene-pool, lol. He is an amazing artist, and I think he is genuinely unde by the vast majority of people. But, thats just the impression I get.[/size][/quote] That guy was [i]all over the place[/i] just a few years ago lol. His music doesn't appeal to me personally, but most people I know of that are my age know of him in some respect. That's not to say he's not unde , he just seems like he is rather well known.

Yeah, they showed this at the GDC. Somehow I doubt this is exactly how it will look when it's done, but who knows. It has a very Windows XP feel that I'm not very fond of.

[QUOTE=Zell2003][size=2]Hi all. first post.:D [/size] [size=2]I remember hearing that megaman X3 was released in japan on the PS1 with anime clips and some graphic tweaks. If this is true, which version will be on the Collection game??[/size][/QUOTE] I'm not sure if that happened or not, but it's hard to say what version would be on the compilation. Nothing has really been said. On the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, Capcom actually put the inferior Playstation version of Mega Man 8 on the disc instead of the far superior Saturn version. It wouldn't be unexpected for them to stick with the poorer versions.

[quote name='Heaven's Cloud][color=indigo]Jimi Hendrix covering Bob Dylan?s [b]All Along the Watch Tower[/b']?Dylan once said that he should never have performed the song, instead he should have just given the lyric to Jimi. Is that a compliment or what?[/color][/quote] I've also read that Dylan liked the manner in which the group covered his song so much that many times he basically does a version of their cover live instead of his original verison. Anyone that covered Goonies R Good Enough by Cyndi Lauper is automatically cool too.

[quote name='Morpheus']Also, XBOX2 will be inferior to PS3.[/quote] No one even knows either system's complete specs yet, let alone the full power of the GPU.

[url]http://gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=4507[/url] They have ridiculously high resolution versions of the trailer here. Downloads are incredibly slow, but I expect that less and less people will download over the coming days and speed that up.

[quote name='Charles'] In this day and age, that's simply not the case any more. I'm sure there are fitting voice actors out there.[/quote] In this day and age the ratio of games with good voice acting to bad voice acting is still ridiculously poor. I certainly cannot think of a voice that I would ever easily accept as Zelda, Ganondorf or really anyone else in the game. If they add it, whatever. I don't see it as a necessity in any sense.

I don't really see how it's any more "cinematic" than Wind Waker was. It looks different, that's all that can be judged from this video. I don't feel making it look less cartoony magically requires a vocal presence. I still don't really want one in general. The chance of them finding a fitting voice for anyone (not even including Link) seems really unlikely. [quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']HThere's no reticule for L-Targeting it doesn't look like, and Link doesn't flash red when he gets hit.[/color][/quote] That's hard to judge considering there's no display whatsoever in this entire video. I'm sure that will be in the verisons people can play. The only real thing I care about is that they've claimed several times that they're trying to go in different directions with the actual game itself. That's difficult to tell from the video obviously, but I hope that actually happens.

I don't know if it is the most versatile, but I've always been most happy with Jasc Animation Shop. It's incredibly easy to use and has a variety of effects built in. It also has the ability to convert video to GIF, which is very cool.

[quote name='Chabichou][COLOR=#004a6f']When you think about the Creation theory this way, it suddenly makes much more sense, doesn't it?[/COLOR][/quote] There's no way what you've written here will help explain or clear up anything to anyone that doesn't have the same faith based system you have. In order to accept most of the ideas you've presented (or really just reiterated because this is really the traditional argument here) you have to already believe in it. If you don't accept these ideas of faith, this simply just doesn't work and really doesn't bring either side any closer together. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your purpose in writing that, but I don't think what's there allows the idea to make any more sense than it ever has.