Depends on how you look at them. Either way, they're violent, stupid and inbred (sort of), just like the American stereotypical redneck. Some people who take the Space Redneck interpretation actually paint Confederate flags on their vehicles. However, to be fair, as Games Workshop is a British company, they weren't thinking of American stereotypes when developing the Orks. Yeah, sounds about right. Copied from TV Tropes, but a great way to sum things up. Also, a good point to bring up that the Space Marine codex isn't specifically meant for Ultramarines, but for any chapter without their own codex, already established or otherwise. Personally, I'd probably paint a standard Marine force as either Salamanders or White Scars.
Excuse the double post, but I've got a couple more reviews to add here: Demon Knights: If you like sword and sorcery and Arthurian lore, buy this book. If you don't buy it, you'll be missing out since the chances of this book being canceled are very high due to it not being what most comic readers are looking for in a DC book. Even though a lot doesn't happen (mostly set up, really), you get to see Jason Blood/Etrigan, Vandal Savage (surprisingly, as a hero at this point of continuity) and Shining Knight be awesome. Mister Terrific: This book is awesome. I already thought it was cool that he was getting another shot (along with fellow B-listers Blue Beetle and Static Shock), but initially chose to skip it because I'm not familiar with the character. I am so, so glad I changed my mind. This is easily the best book of the reboot so far. BUY IT. It features a superhero that is a fan of Doctor Who. BUY IT.
If you really want to break things down to how the factions parallel to real life groups: Ultramarines: Space Romans Grey Knights: Space Paladins White Scars (war bike focused Marine chapter): Space Monguls Black Templars (another Marine chapter) and Sisters of Battle (closest thing there is to female Space Marines): Space Crusaders Tau: Space Communists Necrons: Space Zombies Orks: Space Rednecks Blood Angels: Space Vampires Space Wolves: Space Vikings Eldar: Space Elves Dark Eldar: Space Dark Elves/Space Pirates Tyranids: Space Locusts Chaos Marines: Space Satanists
Well, I will warn you that a lot of people say that standard Marines are boring precisely because of just how generalized they are. Most people would say to play a specialized chapter for this reason. My suggestion would be Space Wolves because Space Wolves are some of the biggest badasses in the 40k setting and this is the setting with characters like the Imperial Guard's Commisar Yarrick (who lost an arm to an Ork warboss, but killed the warboss and took his power claw for a prosthetic, then replaced his lost eye with a prosthetic that shoots lasers. He's also the only normal human that the Black Templar Space Marines have ever willingly worked with. Not to mention that he's almost 70 years old) and the Tau's Commander Shadowsun (the most talented Fire Warrior in the entire Tau Empire and the only one entrusted to test the experimental XV22 Stealth Armor). As for Blood Angels, they have a few special units that can only be used by them, plus almost every unit in their list can be given extra special rules and extra equipment such as Feels No Pain, Invulnerable Saves (an alternative to the Armor Save that can stop even Instant Death, but it is only available at 5+) and Terminator armor (grants higher Toughness and Armor Save, plus an Invulnerable Save, though to be fair, any Marine chapter can pass out Terminator armor as they see fit), plus, if I remember correctly, their psykers are considerably more powerful than regular Marine psykers. I would be lying if I said that they're unbalanced because they're not. Its just that they've got a lot more special rules and units than any other Marine chapter (except for maybe Space Wolves, but, as Wolves were introduced in 2nd Edition, they were intentionally as different from standard Marines as possible). Also, go to Games Workshop's website and check the "Getting Started" subsections of any faction you're interested in to get a basic idea on how Games Workshop expects each faction to work.
Alright, to start off, let's go into the actual questions you asked: Overall game flow: At the start of the game, you will roll 1d6 and your opponent will roll another 1d6 to determine game type and deployment type. Gametypes are Annihilation (where the goal is to eliminate the opponent's army), Capture and Control (essentially capture the flag) and Seize Ground (where you battle to control at least 4 objectives). Deployment types are Dawn of War (where most of your army is required to start in reserves, only your HQ (commander) and two troops choices are allowed to start on the board at the start of the game), Spearhead (where the table is divided into quarters and both players start on opposite corners) and Pitched Battle (similar to spearhead, only you start on the sides of the table instead of the corners). As I play Tau, I personally always try for Spearhead to maximize the distance between myself and my opponent. Each turn is divided into phases, where you are allowed to make certain actions. The Movement Phase is when you position your units. Each infantry unit can move 6" per turn, while jump infantry for most factions can move 12" (the exception is Tau, whose jump infantry, except for Vespid Stingwings, are equipped with jet packs, letting them move only 6" in the movement phase, but an additional 6" during the Assualt Phase). Vehicles vary on type. At the beginning of each Movement Phase after the first, you may choose to attempt to bring units in from your reserves, assuming that you have any (in Dawn of War, you will be allowed to bring reserves in on the first turn). The Shooting Phase is where you, well, shoot things. The rules on what you can shoot depends on weapon type and whether or not you moved during the Movement Phase. A unit equipped with Assault weapons can move and shoot freely, but a unit equipped with Rapid Fire weapons must choose to either stand still and fire once at full range or twice at 12" Rapid Fire range or can move and shoot twice at Rapid Fire range. Heavy weapons can only be fired on the same turn that a unit moves in special circumstances (for example, a Tau Broadside Battlesuit can move and shoot its Heavy Railgun if equipped with an Advanced Stabilization System, but must choose use the Slow and Purposeful special rule (moves on the roll of 1d6) if the player wishes to do so). If a unit does not shoot, if they have not declared an attempt to shoot, they can Run, which lets them move on the roll of 1d6. The Assault Phase is where close combat is dealt with. A unit within 6" of another can choose to Assault and bring the fight in close. As this is a basic explanation of the rules, I'll let you do the research on the close combat system as, while not overly complex, is easily the most complex part of the game. The Assault Phase must be resolved in a specific order. Special rules involving the Assault Phase (such as the aforementioned Tau Battlesuit Assault movement) are first, followed by Assault declarations and moves, followed by close combat, which follows its own procedure. The game will last at least five turns, at this point, you roll 1d6. On a 4 or higher, the game will continue into turn 6, after which the game will continue on a 5+. The game will always end after turn 7. Keep in mind that this is a very basic explanation of the game flow and the best way to figure out how it works is to play a few games yourself. Die rolls: Dice will be rolled for pretty much everything. For example, the dice rolls in the Shooting Phase is as follows: You declare the shot, check range, then roll for every unit in range to hit their targets (the hit roll is based on your unit's Ballistics Skill, with a BS of 3 hitting on a 4+). Then, you will take the rolls you hit with and roll them again to see if they wound their targets (the wound roll is the weapon's Strength vs. the target's Toughness, for example, a Tau Pulse Rifle with Strength 5 will wound a Toughness 4 Space Marine on a 3+). Then your opponent will take any saving throws available to them (Armor Saves are most common. To take an Armor Save, the shooter's weapon must have a higher Armor Penetration than the target's Armor Save, for example, a Pulse Rifle's AP 5 will not penetrate a Space Marine's 3+ Armor Save, but a Tau Plasma Rifle, with AP 2, will). Dice will also be used when resolving close combat in a similar, but distinct, manner to shooting. The key difference is that in order to determine if you hit, you take your unit's Weapon Skill vs. their target's Weapon Skill. Unfortunately, the To Hit chart for close combat is needlessly complex and I still haven't figured it out completely. Reserves will enter the game on a 5+ on 1d6 on turn 2 with the chances increasing on every turn until they are free on turn 5. If your unit takes 25% casualties in one turn, that unit will have to take a Leadership test. If they are forced to take a Leadership test, you take the highest Leadership stat in the unit (IE, team leaders such as a Space Marine Sargeant of a Tau Fire Warrior Shas'ui will have slightly higher Leadership than the rest of the unit) and roll 2d6 and try to roll under that number. Close combat rules, as always, are much more complex. Leadership tests are also taken for certain special rules, most commonly psyker powers. Some special units have psyker powers and they can use one of their powers once per turn with varying rules between units (for example, while Eldar psykers can always choose which power they can use, Ork Weird Boys use a random power on 1d6). Keep in mind that Tau and Necrons are the only two factions in the game that have no playable psykers (even though the Tau Empire includes a race that is just as psychic as the Eldar, the strongest playable psykers in the game, they hide that race's existence from the Imperium of Man for fear that the Imperium would wage all out war against them). There are other die rolls, such as the afformentioned Slow and Purposeful special rule, but they are usually on a case by case basis. Factions: Let's keep this simple, so I'll give a list and the general overview on how they're played as far as I can tell. The basic Space Marines are probably the best starter army as they're versatile enough to do anything, even though they will be outclassed by any unit that specializes in one area. There are also several sub factions of Space Marines that I will go over later on this list. The Orks are very unpredictable and also very versatile in a completely different way than the Marines. You can play them as a swarm army, flooding the board with a lot of weak units intended to either swarm their opponent's lines with as many close combat units as possible or out shooting the opponent through sheer numbers instead of shooting skill (Orks, statistically, will only hit every 1 out of 3 shots). Alternatively, you can play a slightly smaller list of stronger units that will also try to swarm the opponent in close combat (I played against this kind of list the first time I played against Orks. I lost. On turn 2.) Imperial Guard, the front line forces of the Imperium of Man, are a swarm army, but don't try to get them in close combat. They WILL lose.... except against Tau. They have the cheapest units in the game, equipped with weakest guns in the game (the Lasgun, a Strength 3 peashooter with no AP). They make up for this by having decent vehicles and numbers. There's a reason they say that Lasguns are only useful in bulk. On the opposite side of the Imperial Guard, there are the Tyranids, AKA, the things that the Zerg are based on. While the Imperial Guard is a shooting swarm, the Tyranids are, in theory, a close combat swarm. They also have the advantage of having a LOT of Monstrous Creatures. These Monstrous Creatures tend to have insanely high Toughness to the point where they're immune to Instant Death (the strongest guns in the game have Strength 10, Instant Death can only be achieved if a unit has half the Toughness of the fired weapon's Strength, most Tyranid Monstrous Creatures have 6 Toughness) and several Wounds. Personally, I hate dealing with Tyranids. Space Wolves are a specific chapter of Space Marines that can be summed up with two words: Space Vikings. They're similar to regular Marines, except that they are more focused on close combat. Blood Angels, I have little experience with, but I can tell you that they are, like Wolves, an assault based chapter of Space Marines. Plus, they're the pet army of the lead writer, so don't be surprised if people say "if there's a bullshit rule, Blood Angels have it." Grey Knights are the newest army in the game. They're the elite of the elite Space Marines. While they won't field as many units, their strength will more than make up for it, especially with their Grey Knight specific units like Dreadknights. Not to mention that every single close combat weapon in the Grey Knights list is a power weapon that will ignore ALL armor saves, even the dreaded 2+ save of Marine Terminators and Tau Broadside Battlesuits. Chaos Space Marines are very similar to regular Marines except that they have a lot of Chaos specific units that have different strengths, such as the close combat exclusive Khorne Berserkers or the Plague Marines, who, due to be so infect by Chaos, are effectively zombies who ALWAYS get a Feels No Pain saving throw of 4+ on anything other than Instant Death. These special units come at the cost of not being able to field as many units as loyalist Marines. However, it is currently rumored that the Chaos Marine codex will be replaced with the Chaos Legions codex that contains three "mini-codices" that will restrict what units can be fielded together. The Tau Empire's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness: Their only strength is ranged combat. With the exception of their Kroot and Vespid allies, Tau cannot handle close combat in any circumstances. They make up for this by having some of the best guns in the game. Their basic gun (Pulse Rifle with 30" Range, S5, AP5, Rapid Fire) outclasses any other basic weapon in terms of range, Strength and AP. Not to mention that they mount a S10, AP1 Railgun on infantry with Broadside Battlesuits. However, as of now, due to how ridiculously outdated their codex is, they're probably the most underpowered army (as well as the second most limited army) in the game and will continue to be until they get their 6th edition codex next year. Necrons are like slightly weaker Space Marines that have a 50% chance of standing right back up after you kill them, then shooting at that nice heavy tank you've got and wrecking it with their basic gun. This comes at the cost of their units being relatively expensive and the fact that their army list is more limited and outdated than the Tau list (Tau have a 4th Edition codex, Necrons are still playing with a 3rd Edition codex) and will continue to be outdated until they get THEIR 6th Edition codex next year, though they are next in line for a new codex. Eldar are an army that I have yet to figure out completely. However, I have heard them described as this: If Space Marines are an army of generalists, Eldar are an army of specialists. From what I understand their strength and weakness lie in making their specialized units work in harmony. Dark Eldar are very precise and very fast, but they are also very fragile. They're focused very much on close combat, but even they don't want to stay in close combat for too long. Chaos Daemons are unique in that they're the only army that's cross compatible between Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy. That said, DON'T start with a Chaos Daemons army. At least half of their army is required to start the game in reserves, though they will Deep Strike (teleporting or dropping into the battlefield with a chance of the unit being completely destroyed if they land in terrain) in starting on turn 2. Personally, I'd recommend starting with any army that sound interesting to you (though do further research as I am by no means an expert), but Tau and Necrons aren't recommended for how outdated they are (coming from a Tau player), Chaos Marines aren't recommended due to the chances of them getting a complete overhaul and Dark Eldar and Chaos Daemons aren't recommended out of sheer difficulty of playing them. If you want to start with Space Marines/Blood Angels or Orks, then I'd recommend the Assault on Black Reach starter kit that comes with a small force of Space Marines and a small force of Orks. If for some bizarre reason you want to start with Tau, Tau are unique in that they're the only army with a fully playable Battleforce (each army has a Battleforce set that comes with two troops units, one or two other units and a transport vehicle. Basic Tau Battlesuits (the Tau Battleforce comes with one Battlesuit and a 3 man Stealthsuit team) can be legally used as Battlesuit Commanders). Otherwise, head up to your local game store and ask for advice from players there.
Well, first of all, by "copying their rivals," I assume you're referring to the Ultimate line of Marvel comics, but here's the thing about that, the reboot is in no way like Ultimate Marvel. Ultimate Marvel is a side continuity from the main line of Marvel books. This reboot is much more akin to the post Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot from the 80s.... only Flashpoint was NOT a good event to reboot off of. Still, so far, things are looking good for the reboot despite the rough start (IE, Flashpoint being a bad choice of an event to reboot off of and Justice League being a bad choice for flagship book). The All Star and Earth One lines are much better comparisons to Ultimate Marvel, IE, they're new stories meant to introduce the characters to new readers without worries of continuity..... even if All Star Batman and Robin was awful (though it was HILARIOUS) enough to kill the All Star line and Earth One never really got off the ground after Superman (which I don't want to touch with a ten foot pole, JMS has not done ANYTHING lately to make me want to read his work). Also, I probably already answered your question, but Justice League came out on August 31st, so we're actually on week 3 of the reboot. Still, it shouldn't be too hard to find the issues at a local comic store or, if a comic store isn't an efficient option, you can just get the digital versions. Anywho, here's some brief reviews of the last two weeks worth of books I picked up: Justice League International: This is how I think you should do a team book of this kind. Justice League International has always been about putting B-list international heroes on display and this one does that very well..... even if Guy Gardner (the entire reason I picked it up to be completely honest) doesn't play as big a role as the cover suggests. Oh well, at least the other characters are displayed very well, especially Booster Gold, who I've always been amused by. I'd recommend it. Green Arrow: I bought this one on the recommendation of Linkara (of That Guy with the Glasses), who said the book was surprisingly good. I have to say, I agree. Outside of some serious continuity issues that I'm sure will be explained later, it was a very good book. At the very least, it was MUCH better than the last 15 issues that existed entirely for the sake of Brightest Day (and even then, it didn't really get actually bad until near the end of Brightest Day, let alone after Brightest Day ended). Another recommendation. Static Shock: In a 3 for 3 for last week's pulls, Static Shock is very good. Of course, it isn't perfect as I feel that it tries to do too much with too little space, causing the pages to be very cluttered, but if you can ignore the clutter, the action is good, the story is good and you definitely get a feel for Static as a character. One more recommendation. Batwoman: Here's where things get a bit..... hit or miss. I picked up Batwoman because I heard how awesome she was in 52, but, as I have yet to read 52, I was pretty much lost here. I'm sure it would have been fine if it had come out when it was supposed to, but the delays that pushed it back to the reboot have done it no favors. If this is supposed to target new readers, it will completely lose them and this coming from a Green Lantern reader (trust me, Green Lantern is probably the most continuity heavy book(s) DC's got). That said, the story itself is good where it doesn't rely so much on continuity and the art, while not my cup of tea due to the style, is quite good. Recommended to fans of Batwoman. Personally, as per my usual policy, I'll be giving it three more issues to see if the rest of the storyline makes me change my mind. Red Lanterns: Was this supposed to be a #0 before it was delayed to make it part of the reboot? So far, it feels like the books that were delayed to be made part of the reboot are the ones that don't work as well as they should. I'm curious if Swamp Thing fell under this same curse (anyone who's reading Swamp Thing, let me know). Anyway, Red Lanterns just doesn't work as a #1. Its entirely a prologue that was obviously partially rewritten so that it would set up a story arc. That said, it is always awesome to see Dex-Star being Rage Cat and Atrocitus continues to be an interesting character. Still not recommended, though. Likewise with Batwoman, I will be giving it another three issues to see if it can turn things around. Green Lantern: Similar to Red Lanterns, this was clearly not meant to be a #1, however, its main problem is the same one that Batwoman falls under: it relies way too much on continuity because it was obviously meant to be the next issue of the last volume of Green Lantern.... Even if it does feel like a few things were rewritten and sped up to get this story finished (seriously, the pacing is just awful if you take it as the next issue of the last series, but I can't get into why without spoilers) I get that Green Lantern is Geoff Johns' pet, thus why nothing even remotely significant to ever happen in the history of Green Lantern has been removed from continuity, but would it kill Johns to try to NOT alienate new readers, ESPECIALLY considering that many of them probably picked up the book because of the movie (though, to be fair, the timing of the movie was just not compatible with the rather good War of the Green Lanterns)? Anyway, despite the continuity problems, it was a well written book, as per Geoff Johns' other work and worth checking out if you don't mind doing a bit too much homework on the recent history of Green Lantern. Cautiously recommended. So that's the six books I picked up tonight and, with Justice League (that I talked about earlier in the thread), seven books total I've picked up. Next week has the main book I'm looking forward to (Green Lantern Corps), though, so I'll probably forgo my usual biweekly comic buying for now.
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From what I can tell, its not a remake, just an HD update like we've gotten for plenty of other games lately. Either way, this just seems odd to me. If they're going to do something for a Final Fantasy anniversary, they should wait until next year (25th anniversary of FFI) and do something like a compilation of the first 9 games. Its gives a shitload more content and makes far more sense because it doesn't alienate fans of the other games.
I've got Justice League #1 and this week's pulls (that I will pick up next week as I tend to go to the comic store every other week) are Justice League International #1 and Static Shock #1. Though I may see if he's got a copy of Green Arrow #1 left over when I head out there next week (also, next week's pulls are Batwoman #1, Green Lantern #1 and Red Lanterns #1). EDIT: Actually, here's a list of what I'll be following for the next four months before I drop the books I don't like: Green Lantern (because I'm a Green Lantern fan) Green Lantern Corps (because I'm a Green Lantern fan) Green Lantern: The New Guardians (because I'm a Green Lantern fan) Red Lanterns (because I'm a Green Lantern fan) Blue Beetle (because I keep hearing great things about the character) Justice League (because its the flagship book) Justice League International (because I like the team) Justice League Dark (because I'm morbidly curious about how they're going to handle putting John Constantine on a superhero team) Aquaman (because Geoff Johns is writing and I like how Johns does Aquaman) Static Shock (nostalgia for the cartoon) Superman (because he's Superman and NOT written by JMS) Supergirl (because I like how they're describing the premise) Batwoman (because I keep hearing how awesome she is) The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men (because Gail Simone is writing and Gail Simone was responsible for what was my favorite book before the reboot (Birds of Prey, which was AAA stuff up to the last two issues, which Simone didn't write)) EDIT 2: I should probably say what I thought of Justice League. I liked it, but I don't think it should be the flagship book due to Geoff Johns overly decompressed style. Sure it sets up a few things for the books that take place at the early part of the DCnU, such as superheroes being a new phenomenon, superheroes being hunted by the government and superheroes being seen as both awe inspiring and terrifying to the people, but it doesn't introduce new readers to who the characters are outside of Batman and Green Lantern. Hell, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and The Flash don't even appear while Cyborg only appears as he was before becoming Cyborg and Superman appears on one page. Really, they would have been best waiting a bit before doing the secret origin of sorts that they're doing. Give people a chance to see who the characters are before showing how they came to be. Its a matter of them going with the wrong strategy to introduce the new universe. EDIT 3: He's actually only wearing that costume for Action Comics as it takes place five years before the rest of the books (outside of Justice League (where he is wearing his actual costume) and maybe Detective Comics, I can't remember if that's a prequel) before he switches to the costume he wears in Superman and Justice League.
Hey, for once in like the last two years, something actually popped out at me with HunterXHunter and a new series of Last Exile.... even if I have yet to see the original series. Other than that, I would probably be interested in Fate/Zero as I rather liked Fate/Stay Night, but after watching Madoka Magica, I don't think I want to watch anything even remotely depressing for a while. Well, the original Last Exile is said to arguably be the definitive example of steampunk in anime (if not Last Exile, then Steamboy or Steam Detectives). I still need to see Last Exile, Steamboy and Steam Detectives (though the fact that I can't find volumes of the Steam Detective manga anywhere doesn't help), so I'm just going off word of mouth. That said, now that I have Netflix, I have no excuse to not watch Last Exile.
Oh, great, another movie that proves that the ****ing 3D trend won't die for at least another several years. First Star Wars, now this. **** 3D. It doesn't add anything to the experience and looks god awful when they convert a 2D movie to 3D, which is the case for Star Wars and The Lion King.
Oddly enough, while Japanese music appears to be most known for their pop nowadays, I can't figure out for the life of me why everyone thinks its so much better than other Japanese music, especially now that I've noticed that plenty of Japanese pop singers have adopted Autotune almost to the extent of American pop stars. Granted, they're still a step above the ****** hip hop inspired club pop. Personally, I find that Japanese metal bands tend to be more inspired when it comes to song writing (as opposed to the more or less identical and endless waves of bubble pop) to the point where they created their own style of power metal in only a few years.... Even if Japanese power metal is a rather blatant offshoot of European power metal. For example, take bands like Concerto Moon and (early) Galneryus, both of which are strongly inspired by European bands like Stratovarius and Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, but have similar influence from early Japanese metal bands like Loudness or X Japan, causing a mix of sorts between European neo-classical and power metal with the progy traditional metal that Japanese 80s metal bands were famous for and creating something uniquely Japanese. Its a similar phenomenon to the differences between the thrashier and more aggressive American power metal and the proggier and more melodic European power metal. Even bands that don't follow Stratovarius' example (such as Versailles and (late) Galneryus) still have the influence from Loudness and X Japan that makes them "feel" Japanese. For some real irony, however, is that every one of Loudness' and X Japan's key influences are American and European bands. Hell, Loudness took it the logical conclusion by actually hiring Michael Vescera, an American, when they found themselves without a vocalist in 1989. Similarly, outside of X Japan and their contemporaries, Japanese power metal is just as influenced by western music as the older bands. Despite this irony, I have to say that it makes sense. Japanese pop culture is very much like this. Even though it seems alien and strange to the outside observer, when you break it all down, you realize just how westernized Japanese pop culture is. Its simply a matter of the context they put it in, or, in some cases, fail to put it in. That said, with this long winded rambling out of the way, here's a small list of Japanese metal bands I would wholeheartedly recommend: X Japan (should be quite obvious as they're the definitive Japanese 80s metal band) Loudness (though more popular in the west than X (to the point of having three albums managing to chart in America, a feat even the otherwise legendary X Japan failed to accomplish), they're not really as definitive as X, but I'd still say they're a very important part of Japanese metal) Versailles (not only did they manage to make some damn good music, they did so despite being a BLATANT marketing vehicle with their insane amount of media coverage, even outside of Japan (their debut album charted at 42, a year after they formed) and a ****ing TV show based on them, even though they've only been active for four years) (early) Galneryus (Galneryus' first three albums are some of the best neo-classical metal albums I've ever heard. Specifically, Beyond the End of Despair continues to be among my favorite power metal albums of all time. Unfortunately, their guitarist, Syu, wanted to go in a different direction and abandoned neo-classical power metal for a softer form of power metal) (current) Galneryus (I can't recommend their last three albums nearly as much as I could the first three, especially with Yama-B's absence from Reincarnation, but they are by no means bad albums)
I used to like them when I was big into Christian music, but now? They're kinda meh. I will give them the fact that they're rather goofy.
Oh, so its the idiots of her fanbase that label her as punk. That actually doesn't really surprise me.
Avril Lavigne is an untalented hack who writes nothing more than generic, lifeless pop while pretending to be a punk rocker just to make herself seem "cool" and "edgy."
Ah, yes, MaSu, one of the bands I discovered when I first got into metal and a band that remains among my favorites. I have just a few things to say about them: 1) They have about four albums worth of free music on their website. Some of these free songs are among the best they've ever done, special mention goes to "Cryosleep," "Missing Link" and "Loot, Burn, Rape, Kill, Repeat." One batch of this free music is the soundtrack they did for the game Jets N Guns. 2) They really don't care if you buy their albums or not. They're more interested in people listening to and enjoying their music and have stated in interviews and in concert that if you can't afford it, can't find it of just don't want to spend your money on it, to feel free to download it. 3) They're very, VERY strongly liberal to the point where they slam the RIAA nearly constantly. "Legion of Stoopid," meanwhile, contains the lines "This is your brain/This is your brain on Fox News" and "Don't vote for Bush." Not to mention that a few of their songs blatantly call people who are religious to the point of bigotry hateful sheep. 4) They are tied for the nerdiest band I've ever heard of with Blind Guardian. Not only do they use the SID chip to create their style, many of their songs are based on or reference nerdy subjects, including, but not limited to Half-Life ("Nova Prospekt"), He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ("Return to Snake Mountain"), Death Note ("Shinigami"), World of Warcraft ("Loot, Burn, Rape, Kill, Repeat"), The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ("Missing Link") and Earthbound ("Earthbound"). They've also used voice samples from Futurama (the webography version of "Attack Music"), the Matrix and Lord of the Rings ("Hybrid") and Ghost in the Shell and Pitch Black ("Cryosleep"). 5) Their name is pronouced "Machine Supremacy." No, I don't know what's with the extra "a." 6) Go to their website, click on the background and put in the Konami Code, replacing Start with Enter.
Its sold about 4 million units. The problems the 3DS has is not the amount already sold, in that regard, it is very successful. The problem is the lack of continuous sales and the lack of games. I still say Nintendo dropped the ball by not having at least Ocarina of Time as a launch title and really should have waited a few months before releasing the system itself.
How does one associate Maiden with ACDC? One's a metal band that helped lay the foundation for several sub-genres, especially power metal, the other's an arena hard rock band whose songs are all so similar that they tend to run together.
Well, that's punk rock in a nutshell. Punk tends to be a very bluntly political genre. Because of this, Rise Against's only view that bugs me is their support of PETA for various reasons that have nothing to do with sane animal rights activists. That said, I just saw Rise Against at Summerfest the other day as they're one of two bands I like enough to see live at Summerfest this year (the other one is Sevendust, who will be playing on Friday) and they were pretty damn good.
Way to miss the point. The point is that you're stealing something and trying to justify it by saying that its ok because you don't have the money. Copyright law is still the law, regardless of how easy it is to break. Don't try to justify piracy with "I don't have the money to buy." That's not an excuse and until you can prove that manga is a right or a need, it won't be an excuse. The anime/manga industry accounts for less than 2% of all entertainment in North America and its not growing. For every Funimation, there are three Geneons. Companies are shutting down left and right with Tokyopop's American division and Del Rey's manga division being the latest to close down. If anything, the industry is dying and it is because of rampant piracy. It is because of fansubbers and scanlators continuing after their projects are licensed that fans think that they can just take without giving in return. Quite the contrary. I like scanlations and fansubs, I just don't like the ones that don't care what happens to the industry they claim to be fans of. While it is still illegal due to Japanese copyright laws, I have no problem with scanlations and fansubs of unlicensed works as it is not only free advertising to the point where there are numerous titles that are only licensed because of scanlations and fansubs (Haruhi Suzumiya for the most prominent example), but it is oftentimes the only way to see or read the many titles that will never be released outside Japan. Not to mention that the only reason Japanese copyright holders tolerate scanlations and fansubs in the first place is because of the fact that its free advertising. Besides, there are legal ways to watch anime (and, as of now, one legal way to read scanlations currently in development, which is great) for free with Viz and Funimation streaming many titles (including Naruto, Bleach and One Piece simulcast with the Japanese versions) in both English and Japanese and Crunchyroll working directly with the Japanese distributors to simulcast several titles. Now, get some real arguments before coming back with the same strawman.
