Semjaza

I don't know if I'd call Ikaruga a Gradius pretender... I mean, there's a lot of shooters leading up to this point and obviously something as primal as Gradius is an influence, but the games are rather different. I can't say I'd make direct comparions considering they're from different companies and not related in any way lol. Besides, Treasure made Ikaruga and they were originally a part of Konami. Getting a guy from Treasure to work on it shouldn't be too far from where they started, I'd say. If anything, I think it would be a benefit. Konami hasn't exactly been whipping out great shooters any time recently. In any case, it's a good time for fans of the genre with this and R-Type Final on PS2. Luckily, I have one to use heh.

Well, the point is there is still obviously trash talking lol. You just have to come up with new, original ways to do it I guess heh.

Well, regardless of whether or not you want it... the online portion is really what this game has going for it. Obviously, most any fighter can be abused online in some form... But DOA already has an easy pick up and play system going for it which just makes it a good candidate for this stuff. It's not super deep, but it's not super shallow either. It's good material for most people who just want to get some matches in online and that's that lol. Plus the Xbox has voice chat as a standard. You could call people anything you felt like on there.

The best concert of my life was Apocalypse Hoboken at the Metro in Chicago. They broke up a few years ago... but came out of retirement to play one last reunion/benefit show. The Bollweevils and Traitors also reunited to play sets as well. The Traitors have disbanded a few times though, so eh lol. I didn't stay for the Bollweevils. The Traitors had their own little fanbase that knew all the songs. The crowd for AH was way bigger than The Traitors crowd though, I can say that much. I've read since then that the show topped at 1,100 people... which isn't bad for a local punk band playing a rather small venue. In any case, it was just an amazing experience. I never thought they'd get back together. It was great screaming the songs along with other people who actually knew all the words. It's quite a big deal, considering I don't have any personal friends that care for AH. I came out soaked in other people's sweat and had some beer in my eye (the singer spit a whole bunch of it out over the crowd lol)... but it was just amazing. Plus I came away with an awesome poster and a really cool Traitors shirt (It says bring me the head of Matt Skiba on it -- which is their upcoming 7" that I preordered -- Skiba is in Alkaline Trio, but was originally part of The Traitors). There are only a few shows that have the possibility of topping that... Pixies, Bowie, Manson or NIN. I always seem to miss Manson and NIN and Bowie is ultra-expensive... so it will probably be the Pixies. Anyway, I don't have a worst. It probably would have been that Creed show my dad had free tickets to, if I bothered to go.

All you need to do is check the beginning checkbox in a section. It checks everything under it. Then pick delete from the menu. It's a couple extra steps, but hardly a big deal.

I'm not sure about hinduism... but with Buddhism, I really don't know how you'd reach englightenment without a solid karma. You need to settle your karmic debts through its teachings. It's not even possible to reach Nirvana otherwise. It's all intertwined.

Meh. Time to kill it. ss3-brolly, you really need to improve on your post quality. In addition to this, favorites threads are frowned upon on OB. Particularly those that really offer no discussion from the start. You could have at least stated why you like DMX or Jay-Z or something to that effect.

[QUOTE=Takuya]Wrong on both counts. True, he is a Magikoopa, but I didn't ask what he is. His name is Kamek, and he first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He was the one on the broom who made normal enemies into bosses. As for the current question, I have no idea.[/QUOTE] I think you should have specified a little more lol. Asking the name of an enemy in a game that is basically generic and appears in other titles with no actual first name is kind of a trick question in my eyes. Anyway, I still was wrong so I'm just being annoying lol. The hero has the Soul Eater rune in the Suikoden games. The first two, anyway. You can name him whatever you want... but otherwise his name is Tir McDohl. Jowy has the Black Sword rune. Anyway, I think that is it.

I've never been a fan of random abstract backgrounds with a picture on top, but this turned out rather well. Nice job. As for the blur thing Kinetic mentioned... If you use Photoshop, Smart Blur is your best friend. I've fixed a lot of cartoon/drawn images thanks to that. Saves time over doing it manually heh.

Well obviously you're going to find a bunch of Code Breaker codes on a site that has nothing but Code Breaker codes in the first place lol. It's what it specializes in. There's 39 codes for Monster Rancher 4 on the Datel website (the makers of Pro Action Replay)... so obviously there's just as much success on that side. I've found even more by looking around heh. Anyway there's a page on the site you listed for Monster Rancher 4 ([url]http://www.cmgsccc.com/ps2/index.php%3Fgame=504[/url]) that has codes on it. I don't know if any do what you want though.

I know Cursive. I assume you're talking about The Ugly Organ? heh When I think of organ I think of very specific bands. The first one that always comes to mind is The Doors. They don't have like a massive church organ obviously, but the organ sound is very prominant in a lot of their songs. Cello is nice too. I like strings in general, mostly to accentuate choruses. There's a rock-ish band called Rasputina that is just really a three girls playing cellos and singing about weird things. They're pretty cool and worth checking out if you want something offbeat.

You're probably going to have a rather hard time because the Codebreaker series have pretty much been decimated by the Pro Action Reply line. I hate to say it, but you're probably best off investing in a Pro Action Replay considering that.

It's almost as arbitrary as the word emo, in my mind. There is no traceable emo scene. It kind of just appeared. I used to figure indie just meant independent, although it used to seem to skew mostly towards rock. Now I really can't even answer that anymore lol. Menomena and Neutral Milk Hotel rock though. Always nice to see people mention them.

When I was growing up, I always wanted to be involved with video games somehow. After my dad died, the rest of my family never really pushed me to play sports or anything else... so I fell back on them as my main source of entertainment throughout the years. Years later I stopped even considering it. I didn't want to do something I enjoy like that for a career. I figured all the fun would be dragged out of it. I'd rather keep games as a hobby and leave it at that.

[quote name='AzureWolf][font=Georgia][color=blue]In this forum, I've been noticing quite a few bogus statistics, so I'm just wondering: is that from personal experience or an actual fact?[/color'][/font][/quote] Judging from how she worded it, I'm sure it was just a jab in the dark. There's obviously a sect of the population that it is an issue for, but I'm sure most people could do it. It's mostly just a matter laziness it seems.

Try not to focus on FF too much if you want this to go somewhere. There's already a FF Quiz thread for that. If this becomes too FF-oriented, I'll have to close this and link you to the old FF Quiz. Anyway, Magikoopa and he first appears in Super Mario World. In Skies of Arcadia, what is the name of the people/race that Fina belongs to?

I'm mixed on this subject. I have no problem with subtitles, especially with anime because they usually seem to be a more literal translation than with the dubs. Usually I stick with the subs just because that's how the anime was created and, in my mind, meant to be seen. It's the same approach I have with live action foreign films. At the same time, I usually find myself watching anime at odd hours in an attempt to relax. I don't feel like reading, so I put the dub on. Most of them are rather acceptable. I've heard a few that are almost vomit enducing though (one with a name like Gryzor's Wing or something is the main culprit). In terms of what Azurewolf said... I don't know what people think anymore. Dubbing is just the process of putting different voices and sounds over the originals. Anything else is a matter of localization, really. I'm not sure if this thread is trying to concentrate on both, or one or the other though. In terms of actual sound preference, I don't know. The main issue with dubbing is that they often throw in some accent that just shouldn't be present. It's totally bizarre for a woman in an anime to use Japanese terms with a southern US accent, for example. On the other hand, I don't know or understand Japanese. For all I know, a Japanese voice actor that I think sounds good might be considered horrible in Japan. For the most part, though, I just stick with the subs for the few reasons I mentioned.

Man, what a pain it is to stick a bunch of images with decriptions into here. [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/futurama1.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Television - Futurama [B]Name:[/B] Angry Bender [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/futurama2.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Television - Futurama [B]Name:[/B] Beach Bums [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/futurama3.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Television - Futurama [B]Name:[/B] Nibbler [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/futurama4.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Television - Futurama [B]Name:[/B] Fry Screams [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/furturama5.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Television - Futurama [B]Name:[/B] Dr. Zoidberg [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/furturama6.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Television - Futurama [B]Name:[/B] Trio Silhouettes [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/furturama7.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Television - Futurama [B]Name:[/B] Boo! -------------------------- [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/bowie1.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - David Bowie [B]Name:[/B] Earthling [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/bowie2.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - David Bowie [B]Name:[/B] Heathen [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/bowie3.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - David Bowie [B]Name:[/B] Aladdin Sane [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/bowie4.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - David Bowie [B]Name:[/B] Ziggy Stardust [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/bowie5.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - David Bowie [B]Name:[/B] Handout [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/mm1.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Marilyn Manson [B]Name:[/B] Logo [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/mm2.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Marilyn Manson [B]Name:[/B] Twiggy/Manson Bound [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/mm3.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Marilyn Manson [B]Name:[/B] Mickey Propaganda [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/modestmouse1.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Modest Mouse [B]Name:[/B] Guitarwork [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/modestmouse2.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Modest Mouse [B]Name:[/B] Group Shot [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/nin1.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Nine Inch Nails [B]Name:[/B] Darkness [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/nin2.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Nine Inch Nails [B]Name:[/B] The Perfect Drug [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/nin3.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Nine Inch Nails [B]Name:[/B] And All That Could Have Been [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/nin4.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Nine Inch Nails [B]Name:[/B] Live Lineup [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/oingo.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Oingo Boingo [B]Name:[/B] Logo [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/ratedr.gif[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Queens of the Stone Age [B]Name:[/B] Rated R [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/ratm1.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Rage Against the Machine [B]Name:[/B] Cover Blast [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/ratm2.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Rage Against the Machine [B]Name:[/B] Band Sprint [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/scarling.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Scarling [B]Name:[/B] Logo [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/scarling2.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Scarling [B]Name:[/B] Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/scarling3.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Scarling [B]Name:[/B] Group Shot [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/scarling4.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Scarling [B]Name:[/B] Pinks [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/toadies1.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Toadies [B]Name:[/B] Superhero Force [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/toadies2.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Toadies [B]Name:[/B] Clap [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/toadies3.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Toadies [B]Name:[/B] The Band [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/tool1.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Tool [B]Name:[/B] The Band [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/tool2.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Tool [B]Name:[/B] Candid [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/tool3.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Tool [B]Name:[/B] Live [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/tool4.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Tool [B]Name:[/B] Maynard [IMG]http://www.slownerveaction.org/interweb/obavatars/new/ween.jpg[/IMG] [B]Category:[/B] Music - Ween [B]Name:[/B] The Logo

First, Mikkado, you've double posted a few times in this thread. Please refrain from doing so in the future. Second, I'd appreciate it if everyone would do me a favor and stop the senseless bickering before I have to bother closing this thread. If you have nothing nice or constructive to say, just back out of here.If you wish to keep adding to an argument that's really just going to run in circles, then just step back, remember this is just a pointless messageboard and do something else. It's gotten far too negative and that's exactly why these threads have been frowned upon in the past. It's one thing to post a disagreement, it's another to take this as far as it has gone. And no, I don't want any direct quotes of this post or to discuss it any further. Just relax and let this thread be civil like it was in the first place.

[quote name='Narius][b]People who assume they know more about what you mean than you do.[/b'] Par example; When you say one thing and cut it off rather bluntly and don?t continue on the post, but leave it as a basic generalized statement that could technically mean a lot of different things, then people get pissed off at you for something you didn?t even say, but their pissed off because it sounded to them like that may have been the direction you were going in. That pisses me off. [/quote] You could easily bypass this by finishing your thoughts. I know it sounds crazy, but it works wonders lol. It's obviously easy for someone to misunderstand your point if you don't even finish it. Leaving some vague ending to your post, based on my experience, encourages people to make a fuss over it. They always will. Anyway, I don't like very many things at all. The things I do like, however, I'm very passionate about. In terms of people, I tire of many of them very quickly and the many others I dislike from the start. It takes a lot for someone to be on my good side. Not that I'm amazing or anything, but it's not like people have to like me either lol. In terms of specific things, I just dislike fake people. I don't pretend to like people I don't. I'm as nice to them as is necessary to get through my day. I don't like when people put on a front that makes it seem like someone is their new best friend, but then they talk badly of them behind their back. This also ties into people that lie about things in order to look "cooler" to others or say they don't like a something when, in fact, they know nothing about it. It happens a lot with bands. If you don't know a band, just say so. It's not that difficult. So either of those earn almost instant contempt from me. Of course, things can change... but first impressions are rather binding.

In terms of image, I'd definitely go for the extreme. I'm not interested in a band that just looks like a bunch of everyday guys playing a song out of their garage. I love the showmanship side and that can really be explored. Being in a band is one of the few professions where you can be absolutely bizarre and no one would think twice of it. Why would you not take advantage of that? I love bands with images. Marilyn Manson, for example. The problem with them, however, is that image has become such a big part of them that it often overshadows the music.Many people won't even attempt to listen to what they have to offer simply because they can't get past the image of the band or Marilyn Manson himself. I want to avoid that. Bowie managed to successfully make his image a focal point, but he never let it overshadow the music. It seems very hard to do. However, I don't really have any set plan in mind for the look. In terms of what wrist cutter said about genre, I agree. I think even if I describe a band I'd like to be in as hard rock, there's absolutely no reason why other genres wouldn't be mixed in and explored. I had said in my post that I'd like to seamlessly shift styles in the middle of a song and I'm sticking by it. There's a few bands like Mr. Bungle that pull that off really well at times... and while I don't want a band like that, it's one of the easier comparisons I can think of. I'm also very into synth in songs, something many straight out rock bands make almost no use of. I'm not talking just NIN style stuff or even just goofy new-age stuff. I think it could really accent the band. I think a good comparison of the idea I'm going for would be Curve or Massive Attack... in terms of synth, not the overall sound. Even the new Outkast CD has some good examples of what I'd be interested. I always thought it would be cool to work a church organ and choir into a rock song as well. I'm a big fan of the whole sound, but I just think the actual songs that utilize that are incredibly boring. I think this could be taken advantage of to good effect. I didn't really post about what sort of lyrical style the band would go for either. I want a dark sound. Angry... perhaps even some angst. However, not teenage angst. There's a huge difference heh. Mostly angry thoug, kind of like the Toadies. They're very dark minded and pissed off, but they don't really voice that in their songs by complaining about it constantly like so many other bands nowadays. I also love dark/morbid love songs. I'd like some straight forward ones, but I am much more into the deceptive ones. Meaning, something that seems like a normal love song on the surface, but if you pay attention to the lyrics you see how twisted it is. Again, The Toadies pull this off really well on songs like Possum Kingdom, Tyler and Jigsaw Girl. I have almost no interest in standard love songs.

I couldn't think of a good title. We're stuck with this one. We've had threads similiar to this in the past... where people named actual musicians they'd like to have in their band if they ever had one. What I'd like to do here, however, is have people talk about what sort of band they'd like to have in terms of style and sound. Not so much the actual people. Throwing a bunch of all-stars into a band is not really what I'm going for. Any sort of genre is fine. If you want to make comparisons of what you'd like in your band to other existing bands or musicians, that's cool. Just try and explain what you're going for and the reasoning behind it. If you'd be a solo artist, then talk about that. This doesn't have to reflect your actual talent at all. If you can't play anything, who cares. As long as you've thought about what sort of group you'd be a part of if you were the band leader, you should be good to go. Anyway. ------------------------------------------------ I mostly listen to variations of rock, so I'd stick with a rock-ish band. I think that there's a rather large void that's been left open thanks to the fact that there really aren't many big straight out hard rock bands around anymore. The problem here is that any harder rock band currently seems to fall into territory I'm not interested in... which would be nu-metal in most cases. I'm looking for more of a Queens of the Stone Age or Muse (Absolution era) or Toadies (Hell Below/Stars Above) era kind of sound. [U][B]Vocals[/B][/U] Something I've always been fond of in rock has been female vocals. Not so much as the lead, but definitely for the backup. If used properly, this can really accentuate a song. Many bands have made good use of it. However, I'm not looking for just a female singer... I'm looking for one that is capable of gospel. I don't think anything is better than a heavy, rocking song with a powerful gospel voice doing back up from time to time. This has made a lot of good songs really damn great, in my opinion. In terms of the lead, I'd be sticking with a guy. I've gotten to the point in my life where I have almost no interest in bands that scream and growl on a constant basis. I need someone with smooth vocals that can pull off a decent amount of octaves. That doesn't mean I want someone like Justin Hawkins from The Darkness that overuses high octaves whenever he can. I just want someone who is capable of them. However, sometimes screams are necessary in certain situations, so I would prefer that this guy was capable of those at well. Definitely nothing approaching hardcore bands where they do nothing but yell, but enough to accentuate the songs when need be. [U][B]Guitars[/B][/U] Obviously being in a hard rock band requires certain instruments. I'd prefer to have two guitar players and a bass player. For one guitar, I'd like that guy to mostly pull off the more aggressive riffs. This doesn't necessarily have to be anything complex. In fact, I'm mostly looking for a sound simiilar to the Misfits on Famous Monsters and American Psycho. The other guitarist would be mostly responsible for the more melodic aspects of this. This is mostly because I'm hoping to go for a rather specific sound that I think appeals to many people on a basic level, even if they're not conscious of it. This is something the Pixies did and many other bands duplicated since them, such as Nirvana. Basically, the idea of softer verses and faster, explosive choruses. Someone who was capable of more technical, solo-ish playing would definitely be a large asset to this idea. As for the bass, I just want someone who can get a nice groove going. My hope for this band is to be able to shift styles in the middle of songs seamlessly. Going from something heavy to something that sounds like sped up lounge music. Or from something soft into something brutal. The bass player would really be the backbone for all of this, because the bass carries a song more than people realize sometimes. I think for the most part, I'd have bass mostly going for a funk/blues type sound. [U][B]Percussion[/B][/U] This is incredibly important. In my mind, any drummer can go nuts on his kit and come out with something decent for a heavier band. That's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for control. Drummers instinctively want to be hitting things all the time, based on my experience. I need someone who would be capable of playing the drums at very uncommon points in a bar. However, I also would want this person to be aggressive when need be, while still showing that same amount of control. I'd probably wind up using drums to start off quite a bit of songs, honestly. In addition to that, I would like other types of drums and such worked into some songs. The drummer doesn't need to be capable of this, as you can always have guests help with certain songs. Some songs are just better accentuated with bongos or timpanis and other offbeat drums that normally wouldn't be used. I'd like to throw in some xylophone if I could, too. [U][B]Synth[/B][/U] A keyboardist is absolutely required. While they are not a member of the group I'd give crazy solos to, they are someone that is responsible for a good deal of the ambiance in a song. Keyboardists are often repsonsible for other work in the synth side of things such as programming drum loops and such. I defintely would like some sort of industrial/electronica tinge to the bands sound. However, it wouldn't overwhelm the rock side of things for the most part. Sometimes you just need the crunch that that sort of sound would provide. [U][B]Miscellaneous Sounds[/B][/U] Since the synth aspect is taken care of, I can't mention that here. There are a few other things to consider though. The first is actual grand piano. I'm sure the keyboardist can generally take care of this for the most part. I feel that grand piano really adds to the feeling of a lot of songs. I would not overuse it, but it would definitely play a part. Another thing to consider would be a horn section. I'm not going for a ska band type idea... but something more like the band Rocket From the Crypt, if anyone knows them. Basically, using horns at key moments to help drive the song. They would almost never be a focal point. [U][B]Image[/B][/U] While I'm not concerned with what people think of the band in general, I do consider the image. What sort of on-stage presentations would be done. What sort of costume work would be done. At the same time, I don't want to get into the situation where the image becomes a large part of the band. In those cases, band members often find themselves hiding behind some persona that they have to live up to even in basic social situations. I'll probably expand more on the image later, but I am not sure what to put there as of yet. ----------------------------------------- Obviously what I wrote was really long. I'm not expecting anyone else to write this much. Do what you like. Hopefully this will go somewhere and be interesting, but who knows. I divided mine up into a couple categories. I don't care if people use them or not... or make up their own. Go nuts.

[quote name='Transtic Nerve']I never understood role playing games.... and then after meeting the dorks at cons who play RPGs, I'm glad I don't.[/quote] Let's face it... if you go to cons, you're a dork in the first place lol. I've never played any of these pencil and paper RPGs. My uncle tried to get me to play GURPs with him and his friends once, but it never got going. In all honesty, it just seems like a lot of work... plus I doubt it's easy to find a decent Dungeon Master (or whatever it might be called in other games). I do actually own some old copies of AD&D monster and god books. Someone was throwing them out, so I took them when I was younger. They're pretty interesting and I enjoy the pictures lol.

I didn't know Shinji was linking to my site. Thanks :) Images don't magically just become less clear when they are uploaded or moved around. They stay how they were when they were saved. When you save it, you have to do as Shinji says... put it at a higher quality. All of the decent images programs allow this. The image itself is fine. It suffers from compression, like was said, but I feel it was a good choice. I do not know how much of the compression articfacts are because of the source material and how much are because of how you saved it. Obviously, the artifacts (the dots) around the text are because of how you saved it though heh. I think the main issue with this banner is the border. It's overly thick and. The black might work if it were thinner, but definitely not at this thickness. Plus, you threw some bevel on it (it's possible you made the bevel in such a way that this black resulted, I'm not sure). It's best to avoid plain old bevels in most situations. It looks cheesy. The text needs some smoothing out too. I think once you took care of those few things, it'd be fine. I'm not sure what program you are using... but if you told us, I'm sure someone would be able to give you a bit more help with the subject. If you're using Photoshop, I could tell you what things to mess with to improve this... but until then, that's all I can say lol. Good job for an early try though. Much better than some I've seen heh.

That would be a really interesting idea, if it could be pulled off. The spec sheet gives the impression that there will be actual buttons on the system, so I assume nothing that complex would be needed on the touch screen. However, the good thing about that is that it opens up the screen for more interesting/proprietary control systems. The developer wouldn't be bogged down by having to stick a d-pad and basic action buttons on the screen. However, even if it were the case... they could easily make the screen context sensitive, which would take care of any space issues, I'd think. Meaning, that in situations where you don't need the d-pad or certain commands, they could be replaced with other commands on the touch screen. I figure that would easily rectify issues where a developer would want or need many commands on the touch screen... that way it wouldn't be too crowded. Hopefully I'm being clear enough lol. Honestly, if random people not involved with Nintendo can come up with ways to use it that interest me... than I assume Nintendo itself would have no problem. This doesn't really seem to have the same basic flaws in its design like the GBA to GCN connectivity did. With that, I really cannot think of any feasible things that could be done with it past what Four Swords or Roll-a-Rama are attempting to do. I've not come across many people who can come up with really interesting and innovative ways to work with the GBA connection and the developer response seems to be the same based on connectivity capable games I've played. This seems to much more open. There's more freedom. I hope most developers take advantage of that. Some of the bigger Japanese developers seem overly excited, so I'm optimistic.