On the subject of Japanese stuff, the song to the left is from the opening of Gunslinger Girl a series which is about to air it's sequel in January. I just finished the first series yesterday and if you want to check it out you can grab a direct download here or stream it from here.
One thing that got me was 1) the opening is awesome and 2) this series was very surprising. I wasn't expecting such an emotional roller-coaster as this 13-part animé tells the story of "Fratello" (Italian for Sibling). Girls from the point of death are brought to an organisation, memories wiped and bodies rebuild with cyborg technology. They all have a "big brother" which they learn and dedicate their life to as their perform various assassinations. If you want something a bit different I really recommended you check this series out!
Other news? I am not writing for Gaming Target! Check them out if you have time :-)
I got my application form for London Met today! I'm really excited about it and now I'm fumbling around thinking of a personal statement most people have months to write and I have to submit this before February! I'm going to go for a BA in Games Studies and Marketing, 2 things I'm really passionate about and I think I will do well.
Most of my friends from school have nearly finished Uni but I am happy I had a couple of years gap. Mainly because if I went to uni straight from school I would not of appreciated it as much as I will today. I probably wouldn't of studied or did half of my course work, would of been too busy drinking every night! I also would of gone off and spent half of my student loan on a new TV etc. I've learnt a lot about the value of money and I think it will reflect how I do. Now the only problem is that I didn't do to well at College and so I'm applying as a Mature student, hoping I'll get in on interview alone. Hopefully my passion for the subjects will carry me forward enough to get a place.
So yeah I'm really excited. This is a boost from the bad news I got yesterday, I don't want it on a public journal so if you want to talk to me you got my IM's.
I'm turning 21 tomorrow too!
So it's all very exciting at the moment! hahaha!
I have 3 domains;
I never use any of them but I think I am going to try update them now and do something with them. So today I went and updated each page; they are all identical portals now. That's until I can think of something to do with them. I might make a small review web site and I'll keep Fran of Viera up, seeing that it still gets plenty of hits. Apart from that though I don't know!
Last year I had all my shopping finished by September, this year I started in December! I'm useless. I have my mum to think of, my sister, my granddad and Kazz! Shit! I turn 21 on the 19th as well as my mum's birthday on the 23rd - so it's always really manic at this time of year.
So as I was saying, I went into the loft today - found an old friend. The 'Commodore Amiga 500 plus'! Lemmings and Captain Planet are found memories when I think about the younger years! The console was my brothers and he had hundreds of disc's for it! I vividly remember this paint program that would make this cool kaleidoscope style art! So awesome!
Apart from that not much has been going on apart from me looking for a job. I've been browsing around on the internets a lot. One thing I did was create an animé/manga list at Myanimelist.com! If you want a really organised place to check out how much animé you've seen, get recommendation's to other animé etc it's really fun!
Another good place to check out is Japanator.com which is part of the Destructoid Network. They have recently opened forums too so check them out.
Settlers DS has also taken up my evenings, I loved Settlers on the PC it was so fun! When it was released on the DS I really enjoy it! No idea why? Anyway I'm bored, what can I do!?
Gears Of War Bag I brought the other day for £14.99 at Gamestation. I went shopping with my friend Mike and I couldn't resist! They had some Nintendo one's but you know what.. I'm kind of fed up with the amount of Nintendo fan boys/girls there is and felt the need to get something different. Plus this reminds me of the countless 5am finishes and 2 hours sleep before work when I first got GoW.
Disgaea PSP is a present from my friend Kazz kind of like a early birthday present. I've never played Disgaea before so I thought I'd give it a try. So far its adorable, over-rated I feel but adorable non the less!
Happy Mania Vol. 9 though I can't read it yet because I am waiting for volume 8 to come in the mail. Happy Mania is hard to come by and I saw volumes 10 and 11 in the store the other day. Went onto Waterstones and got 8 & 9 and 9 game before 8 (ironically). I'm a huge Moyoco Anno fan and read Hataraki Man in Japanese when I was living over there.
Tomb Raider: Lara Croft Figure which I'm really disappointed with. I ordered from playasia.com where the picture is a lot different to the real thing. I emailed them asking for a return which they denied on the excuse of "it's not our fault the image is a promotional image.". I don't see why they can't return it since it was un-opened and I was happy to go for a gift card to shop with them again. Bastards.
The Princess is a Cockteasing Bitch Destructoid T-shirt is the best thing ever! Sadly I ordered a medium instead of a small and it's swamping me. Oh well, in the dryer it goes! This shirt is adorable and I really recommend you get yourself one.
That concludes this weeks the.GETS. What else has been going on? I've gotten back into Settlers DS! Oh man, it's so silly but I love it.
For those who didn't know, I've recently moved back in with my mum. So surreal. I've been away for a few years and now moving in and not being able to do what I like when I like is taking its toll, haha. It's simple stuff like not being able to scream on xbl late at night and no chatting in ventrillo late because the noise will wake her. Frustrating.
The main reason for me to move back was to save up for future America's! I had it all set out - the money was coming into my account soon. I was going to apply for the college, when accepted apply for student loan and then return the money to my mum. The plan has fallen through: the money my mum spoke of apparently went a few years ago and she completely forgot. I told her it was okay but.. well it's not. My next 3 years have been shaken up by this news. Now I have to make new plans...
It's just one of those things I guess but what really gets me is the fact that the main reason I moved back was to save for America. That job with Sony I applied for had opened a week after I left and my friend who recommended me got a call about it, she has to recommended someone else. I could of still been in London where things happen, possibly working for Sony as forum community manager and testing out new games and such and not living in Portsmouth - the very place I tried to escape from. Also I don't think my mum even wants me here. She keeps reminding me how I'm doing things wrong and I haven't got a job yet and this and that.
So I'm trying to sort out what to do next. Well University I suppose, I've already looked at a course 'Games Culture and Marketing' which would be held at the London Met. I miss London, as much as I hate to admit it. Stuff is a walk away, the people are not as rough and generally it's more catered for what I need.
Another story for xleague.tv
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The latest hot topic in gaming has been violence, and if gaming is a direct cause. Manhunt 2 has been hitting recent headlines with AO ratings and banning in several countries including the UK. Are we being protected from the violence? Or are they only limiting what we can and can’t play?
knil92 posts;
“There have always been violence in games from the start, the kid napping of Mario's girl friend in Donkey Kong the killing of Mario when he dies, but there was never this problem with these games as the graphics are only 18-32 bit but even when we get to the Nintendo 64 with golden eye, there was guns and head shots in there and there was never any, 'oh games make people kill other people' so were has this come from its come from the advancement in the graphic technology as a lot of people were saying GTA is violent but isn’t throwing a molotove cocktail kind of the same as throwing a fire ball, they both unleash fiery death except for one you get coins which is even more violent as it is saying you get money for killing things.”
Realism can generally be the cause of worry. If you can handle seeing a very realistic body being battered and killed in game, can you handle seeing and possibly doing the same in reality? From a personal stand point, I find this utterly ridicules. At what part does the player change from a controller to an actual weapon? I am sure that the majority of us know how we can and can’t behave to our fellow man and media such as games, music and movies are only an entertainment form for which we are not to act upon events taken in game.
Monkey;
“It’s come to the fact that they do/don’t cause violent behaviour depending on the person’s physiological condition. You cannot say that if I person goes out and kills people it’s because of a video game. People who blame it on that are just very narrow minded not thinking about other issues. If a man goes out and kills in the name of god, is religion then put under attack by the media and said to be a bad influence? Is it hell, and why is this? That is because our country was based on religion from the foundation. That is why when games come out with sex and violence they are attacked by media and other groups of been catalysts for violence.”
He goes on to say if you kill someone because of a video game then it’s their own psychological problem. Most people who have killed or committed suicide ‘because’ of a video game have psychological problems. People who kill themselves over MMO’s, going out to kill after playing GTA, the game is not making them to do that, it’s something in their head. Hundreds of thousands of gamers never seem to be phased by violence in gaming yet a select few are having the industry put under scrutiny because of small special cases.
The majority of gamers who replied in the thread said that gaming had no real influence on violent behaviour in their day to day life. Actually from what research has found; gaming tends to relax and lower stress levels reducing violence. Gaming for me, has become a good stress ball to squeeze on, as well as an entertaining media.
The future of gaming is becoming bleak and if bans on games continue, I feel that original and interesting games for adults will be hard to come by. We as gamers should choose what we play.
The original thread is here: http://www.xleague.tv/XForum/forum_posts.asp?TID=748 it would be interesting to see people’s views.
<img src="http://www.destructoid.com/elephant//ul/user/1/1562-33200-achievementintrojpg-550x.jpg">
Everyone loves to <a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/133865411_9fd520a3bb.jpg">achieve something. After I got my 360 and received my first achievement on Gears of War, I felt excited. Fair enough I got an achievement for passing the prison section which takes. 3 minutes at most.. But that's not the point! I got points for it. That means it was http://members.aol.com/Ian Wade/Waste/monstera.jpg">worth while doing, right?
Browsing the <a href="http://www.xleague.tv">xleague.tv</a> forums I found a post that was turning into a debate about Achievement points.
prtofdacrowd;
⿿ Why did we bother playing games after we completed them ever before?
⿿ Wait why did we bother!?
He's right. I am a Tomb Raider fan. I brought Legend when I came out for the PS2 before I owned a 360. Played it through, 97% completed the game and felt pretty satisfiedhttp://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/02/95/23169502.jpg">satisfied</a>. Then I brought the game for the 360, played it nearly all the way through and now feel the need to do all the extra⿿s that I had already done with the PS2 version in the 360 version. Why? I've already seen the extra content beat most of the time trails and collected all the secrets. What is the point to do it all over again? Oh yeah, achievement points. I know I will be getting myself a 360 copy of Anniversary even though I have fully completed the PS2 version of the game. <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/warcraft-junkie-fools-tyra-banks-wife-and-sea-of-women-in-a-tv-intervention-29500.phtml">Sad really.
Apparently having a high score makes you a better gamer. I actually got attacked by someone via comment once because my achievement points were not that high and in conclusion I was not a gamer. I could of sworn gamers play on more than one'>http://www.gamerandy.com/archives/jack/2cb4_12.JPG.jpg">one console.
In response to Cerebral_Wolf, ROC E REDSKULL talks of how achievements have nothing to do with skill and are "bragging rights" . He goes on to say;
And if you ask me achievements are wrecking ~Xbox live. All you get is players wanting to get all the kills, no team work. Achievements are a good idea if they keep them to the single player game, on live they are a silly idea. And what if you don't have Xbox live. You can't 100% finish any game.
It is true; obtaining achievements sometimes blinds players from the point of the game itself. Fun. Epic didn⿿t want you to waste hours and hours tearing through hundreds of people with a chainsaw. They wanted to remind you that you've been playing this game so much that you turned 100 people into bloody stumps, you crazy <a href="http://www.filmsy.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/TexasChainsawMassacre1.jpg">freak</a>! Giving you achievement points for that is a thank you.
There are so many offline 360 gamers out there who cannot 100% complete their game because they don't online play. Is that fair to them? Is it some money making scheme by Microsoft to get everyone on silver to gold? Are achievements ruining Xbox live and are gamers playing games because they enjoy them or to get a social rank among their peers?
All I know is that when I get an achievement I do feel like I've done something and that I can prove to someone I have. Sure I am not on the leader board but I am enjoying the games that I play and scoring achievements are a good push to get you to explore 100% of the game. So many people rush through and if you truly explore the whole game maybe you can find a whole new love for it.
Add your thoughts in the comment below and check out the thread <a href="http://www.xleague.tv/XForum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1395&PN=1">here</a>.
We all get into a game, play it about 70% through and then for some reason.. just stop and never end up finishing. This has only happened to me twice but I am bewildered as to why it's happened in the first place.
So the games in question are Dark Chronicle (ie Dark Cloud 2) and Final Fantasy III (DS). Two good games worthy of completion! What went wrong?
Dark Chronicle was getting really good. I had finished all the map's and now I was having to go back to them and find the extra levels hidden under. This just so happened that I got accepted onto the scholarship program for High School in Japan. Not only was I desperately trying to finish the game before I left for the year but also to organise life issues, end a relationship with a guy I truly loved, resolve some old problems, earn some more money from my job and pass my A-Level Exams all at the same time! I never got time to finish DC and I jetted off to Japan for 5 months of confusing TV and social LOL's!
When I got back from Japan however, I was a free lady. No job, no college, nothing to worry about. Perfect gaming time, right? Ideally I wanted to get a job, save up and move out and/or go to university. The latter never happened however when I sat down and got ready to finish off Dark Chronicle it never happened... Well, it started to. I got through 2 levels and then stopped. Obviously I had to update everyone on my arrival back in the UK and I can play DC any time! It just so happened.. I couldn't get back into the game that I had abandoned for so long. Is it only me? I want to complete the game, oh hell I do. However as soon as I turn it on, I just think I could be playing something better! When did my enthusiasm for this game vanish!?
Same story with Final Fantasy III, I pre-ordered the north American copy! Ensuring I would not have to wait a year until it's arrival in the UK. First time I really got into my DS and I was only playing one other game on it, Kira Kira Music Hour... a girly pink music rhythm game based on the Pinky Street series. My friend Mike had lent it me and for some reason I wanted to collect all of those cute clothes. So time for FF3 was split in two. I spent a good 13 hour session one time on FF3, my hand was killing!
Then I went to do a gaming event, I took my DS but working 13 hour days makes you just want to drink & sleep after. Also during the event most people just pop onto pictochat and draw penis'. After returning back home I found out I was to move out of my place and find a new one. I had also received my American copy of FF12 so that went number one priority as I don't have an American PS2 but my room mate did. FF3 was put in a box with my DS and then moved off to my new place. Soon after moving in I got my 360 and pretty much left my DS to dust until Pokeman Pearl was unleashed onto the interwebbs!
I am flying to America in the next 2 months so maybe I'll play it on the plane but I really haven't had the energy or passion to get back into the game. But I really don't understand why with two games I have enjoyed from the start, I suddenly can't get back into! Maybe the arrival of social gaming with xbox live has destroyed my ability to get back into older 1 player games. I am playing through Tomb Raider Anniversary now though... I can't explain it!
So what games have you abandoned but wanted to complete?
[Original]
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