Speaking as someone who likes the first season of the show (don't get me started on the mediocrity of the second season): What the **** is wrong with the anime fanbase in Japan? There are far better written, far deeper and, hell, even far better animated shows that people could be watching. Hell, Beck is a great example of a better written, better animated and far deeper music anime, but yet, K-On, the show the moe anti-fanbase uses as the ultimate example of suck, is the first show to sell that much? I expect a sizable flood of bad moe shows thanks to K-On's success.
As one of those people who play Rock Band and Guitar Hero on expert, yeah, it really takes a serious interest in the genre to get to that level, but its not worth bragging about. So you're good at a game? Big whoop. I really only practiced to get to expert entirely because I see Rock Band as a great way to enjoy music.
Playing devil's advocate here, but since when has story mode been important to fighting games, easy controls are generally a good thing and don't automatically mean more spamming, "strange" graphics were inevitable considering that its a crossover of multiple franchises and would you mind elaborating on the game modes and DLC complaints? Anywho, when was it that the gaming populace declared that any score lower than 9.5 is not worth playing? Hell, a few years back, the "average" score was said to be about 7.5. Games have been getting rated at a 4 point scale for years now and I'm sick of it. 8.5 is a great score, but yet, we have people *****ing and moaning about it not being higher. The reason for this is simple, the scoring scale is this: 9.5/10: Must own 9.0: Great 8.0/8.5: Average 7.5 and lower: bad Do you see the problem here? The scale should look like this: 10: Must own. 9: Amazing, but not necessarily must own. 8: Great, worth the money to buy. 7: Above average, try it before deciding on it. 6: Average, might be worth it at a discount if you like the genre. 5: Below average, worth messing around with, but nothing to call home about. 4: Mediocre, avoid. 3: Bad, really avoid. 2: Terrible, don't touch with a ten foot pole. 1: Makes you wish you were dead. Notice that I don't include decimals as that's just pointlessly making the system more complicated. There's a reason a lot of reviewers have abandoned the scoring system. EGM has used an A-F grading system for years (though their at least used to be quite good, I don't know how they've been since they relaunched), Kotaku doesn't even score things anymore. The only reviewer I know that still uses a score system that actually uses it how its supposed to be used is Blistered Thumbs, who few people know about since they've only been around since October. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a four point scale if its used properly and presented honestly. I mean, movies tend to be rated like this: Four stars: Must see. Three stars: Above average to great, still worth seeing. Two stars: Average, nothing to go out of the way to watch. One star: Mediocre to bad, not worth playing money for. The difference here to the "10 point" scale I posted earlier is that the four star system tends to be presented accurately and honestly, as opposed to leaving over half the scale under the same category of "bad."
Let's look at the history of the Guitar Hero series since Activision took over in 2007: 2007: Guitar Hero II for 360, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s and Guitar Hero III. OK, not bad. A port, an expantion to the previous game (quality of said contractual obligations expansion not withstanding) and a main series game. A main game and expansion is not a bad business model. 2008: Guitar Hero: On Tour, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades, Guitar Hero Aerosmith, Guitar Hero World Tour. Here we see the beginning of the end. While they continue the model of one main game and one expansion, they released two DS games in the same six month period. 2009: Guitar Hero Metallica, Guitar Hero: On Tour Modern Hits, Guitar Hero Smash Hits, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and Guitar Hero Van Halen. Six games in one year. That's three World Tour (Van Halen was released after GH5, but was based on World Tour) expansions, one handheld game, one main series game and one GH5 expansion. It doesn't help that the only two of these six games worth playing were Metallica and GH5. 2010: Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock. Activision appeared to have learned their lesson, but, really, Warriors of Rock was only made to test the market to see if more Guitar Hero would be a viable option, especially when you take note of how they were planning to release three times more games than in 2009. Remind me of who in the hell would want 18 Guitar Hero games in one year? That's a total of 14 games (13 if you don't count the 360 port of Guitar Hero II) in 4 years. I'm not surprised that the ridiculous oversaturation has effectively killed the franchise. The thing that pisses me off though is that it most likely has taken Rock Band (which has been better made since the first damn game and the only Guitar Hero that is argualby better than even Rock Band 1 was Guitar Hero II, which was made by the same team as Rock Band) with it. As for True Crime, its sucked since day 1, so it was mostly just a walking zombie.
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Yeah, I'm guessing it'll be about 3 to 5 hours in actual usage. Consider that they haven't nailed down the ideal life themselves yet, just a target length. Not to mention that actual usage tends to be a bit shorter than their projected ideal by multiple factors and variables.
First, buying games at retail might actually mean that you can buy vouchers to download the games, like we have for the PSP Go. Second for multiple types of storage, it could mean that you can use a memory stick and something else like an SD card. Third, I agree that would be a stupid idea to not have game cards in favor of digital distribution only. Fourth, I'm fairly certain that there will be game cards considering the more or less failure of the PSP Go. Fifth, I'm not a fan of digital only distribution as it is impossible to completely own the game if you can't get a physical copy, which is why I would flat out not buy the thing if I can't buy physical copies of games. Sixth, got a source for the battery life thing? I mean, the PSP 3000 has, what? A 3-5 hour battery? Considering that I have to charge my PSP 2000 after just about every single time I use it and I'm already pissed about probably having to do the same for the 3DS, that length is not much. Also, any word on whether or not the thing will hold a charge for more than a week of inactivity (which is downright stupid considering that I can leave my DS sitting around for literally months with no major charge loss)?
There's one thing that will be a deal breaker for me: Download only games. While they did mention flash memory for games, I get the feeling that it might mean memory built into the device, like there is for the PSP Go. However, the thing is damn impressive looking. Not to mention price point and battery life. I have serious doubts that this thing will be the same price or cheaper than the 3DS. Still, I'll probably buy one after the 3DS so long as digital distribution isn't the only way to get the games.
How was Tron Legacy not nominated for art direction? No surprise that it was nominated for sound design, it does have arguably the best soundtrack of the year thanks to Daft Punk, but still, I can't think of any movie that looks like it with the exception of the original Tron.
Why in the hell would you want to see someone who can't sing without autotune live?
Its actually quite easy to jump into Final Fantasy. Choose a main series game for a platform you have and go! At least, as long as its not Final Fantasy II or Final Fantasy VIII. To get specific, it shouldn't be too terribly hard to find copies of Final Fantasy IV for either GBA or DS (or just download the original English translation under Final Fantasy II on Virtual Console, though I'd go for the DS version, personally) as that's probably the best place to start since you really only have access to the first half of the series (if you had access to the PS1 games, I'd have said FFIX is the way to go.) Other than that, however, I'd recommend FFVI for the story (nothing against the Esper system, but it makes character diversity pointless), the GBA version of FFV for the job system and the hilarious script, FFIII for, again, the job system, though not as much for the story and FFI for showing where the series began as a surprisingly good unlicensed video game adaptation of Dungeons and Dragons. That said, the GBA version is the way I'd go for FFI, its easier, has a more coherent storyline and looks nicer than the NES version. EDIT: Also, I always forget about this, but there are PC versions of FFVII and FFVIII, though I imagine that they're pretty tough to find now. Availability breakdown of the whole main series: Recommended for first time players: FFI: NES, GBA (with FFII,) Virtual Console, PS1 (with FFI,) PSP (Great story for its time, but really just the best damn unlicensed video game adaptation of Dungeons and Dragons ever) FFIII: DS (Relatively simple story, but expanded job system from the first game that lets you change jobs as you see fit) FFIV: SNES (as FFII,) GBA, DS, Virtual Console (as FFII) (Epic storyline that is one of the best in the series, but job system has jobs locked to characters and, at least for the SNES/Virtual Console versions, you will be forced to use the party the game wants you to) FFV: GBA, PS1 (with FFVI) (Somewhat boring story, but the GBA version's translation is quite possibly one of the funniest things you'll ever find in a video game, plus an expanded version of FFIII's job system) FFVI: SNES (as FFIII,) GBA, PS1 (with FFV) (Great story, but the Esper system eliminates almost any real character diversity) FFVII: PS1, PC, PSN (Overrated, but still has a great story, though the Materia system is even worse about eliminating character diversity than the Esper system) FFIX: PS1, PSN (Arguably the best title in the whole series with arguably the best storyline, jobs are locked to the characters, but you're not forced to use a specific party this time around) Not recommended for first time players: FFII: GBA (with FFI,) PS1 (with FFI,) PSP (Not a bad storyline, but it has a horrible and completely broken leveling system) FFVIII: PS1, PC, PSN (Awful storyline with less plot holes and more plot craters and the arbitrarily complex Junction system that has to be broken into pieces for it be any more than a pain in the ass) FFX: PS2 (While it is a fan favorite, the story doesn't sit well with everyone, the battle system kicks ass, though) FFXI: PS2, PC, XBox 360 (MMO, not even recommened in the realm of MMOs with stuff like World of Warcraft and DCU Online on the market) FFXII: PS2 (Controversial due to the subtle storyline that was more political warfare in the background than epic quest in the foreground, plus the western RPG style battle system that a lot of people flat out hate) FFXIII: PS3, XBox 360 (Controversial due to the ridiculously character driven narrative, the arguably overly simple battle system that almost plays itself and the fact that it is by far the most linear game in the series and that's saying something) FFXIV: PC (MMO, probably the worst one on the market right now, too)
Welcome to the club.
Ah, yes, the old "they're not emo, they're alternative" claim. Alternative is a term so horribly overused that it doesn't mean anything anymore. Just about every popular band nowadays is labeled as "emo" by their detractors and "alternative" by their fans. What is it the alternative to? Nothing, really. Of course, this isn't really a new thought. While at first the grunge movement would fit the "alternative" description, since it quickly became mainstream, it fell under the same problem. What was it alternative to? It WAS the mainstream!
Well, here's the thing about not agreeing with his views: The Nostalgia Critic is a character played by Doug Walker. He exagerates most of his oppinions. That said, while I like the Nostalgia Critic, I say Doug Walker is only a little bit better than the average on That Guy with the Glasses (which is to say that he's quite good, but not the best as the average is still pretty damn good). I actually prefer Paw, Linkara, Nash and Vangelus more.
Actually, depending on what part of 08 you got the XBox, yours might not be very prone to RRoD in the first place. After about August of 08, they implemented a number of hardware revisions to prevent the RRoD. Its not all of the hardware revisions as your XBox is most definitely missing the Jasper mother board, but still, while I don't have the exact numbers I wish I could find, the newer the XBox, the less likely it is to fail.
Honestly, I have nothing against the first song you posted. I just don't care for metalcore in general. The third song, however, is completely dirivitive of bands such as Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182. As for the use of "emo," note that emo has not always been the whiney wanna be punk kids screaching into a mic. Emo is originally derived from hardcore punk and basically a more emotionally driven form of it. Fans of emo as it is originally was hate what emo has become s its become nothing more than garbage along the lines of Fall Out Boy or My Chemical Romance. That said, those were the songs you presented. Its not my fault that you apparently didn't choose songs that represent what the band is all about.
Yeah, if Space Paranoids can get rid of literally every single Tron character except Sark, the MCP and Tron, none of whom are the main character (that would be Flynn, despite the fact that the film is titled Tron,) then Pixar films can work.
The problem isn't that they made the modified figure. The problem is that they sold the modified figure. I would agree that being arrested was a little much and am surprised anyone even knew, let alone cared, but, legally, they shouldn't have sold someone else's copyrighted material in the first place. EDIT: Since you mentioned it: Fansubbers are indirectly responsible for stagnant and reduced English anime sales, so, yeah, they're hurting the industry that they claim they're trying to help.
So where's the memorial of the people killed by religious terrorists in the name of God thanks to the decision? If all life is sacred, why is the majority of the religious right all for war and the death penalty as well as against anything that preserves the lives of those who have already been born? There is a lot of hypocrisy on the side of the "pro-life" crowd and I have yet to see any memorial of the victims of said hypocrisy. That said, I see abortion as a necessary evil and that there are reasons for it t be legal, not to mention the fact that banning it would be a breach of civil rights. At the same time however, with the exception of late term abortions, aborted fetuses are simply potential human lives. Until brain activity starts, its not human. Its just a parasite that will potentially become human.
Its actually a bit of laziness on the animators' part. All of the protoforms are Ironhide's protoform model with some variations. This makes sense from a technical standpoint as the scene in question is very short and only serves to show the Autobots landing on Earth. By doing this, they don't have to make it more difficult to animate than need be (e.g., in Revenge of the Fallen, Devatator actually melted one of Industrial Light and Magic's rendering computers.) This is why Ironhide has the one that focuses the most on the robot, they were trying to hide that Prime, Jazz and Ratchet used the same model. That said, I have to wonder, if they used a modified version of the same model for all four of them, why didn't they use Prime's? I mean, I know the character design exists for Prime's protoform as he and Starscream in protoform were the first two toys released in the toyline.
