Ah man, that sounds rough, I'm sorry to hear that. I know what your going through. You've always got people who will listen to your problems here. Your the man Mittenz, there's barely a soul on here that hasn't looked up to you in one way or another over the years. Remember that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cziRRBlTuRQ

Man, I never got all that love here. That's f'ed up.

That's because your not Mittenz. Mittz is the type of dude to pull strings to try and get you a job out in Portugal if your living rough, and he might not even know the first thing about Portugal, but he'll still do it. You get mad love from me too though Joka. Your story is the story of the underdog, you used to get mad unreasonable hate for the off kilter threads you would start and stuff (I miss those threads bro, that cat story still makes me well up), but now you just breeze though every now and again and drop calm bombs of knowledge every time. #dojomyths

I rarely have any internet. Plus I am proper travelling in Australia. Don't know the people who's house I am crashing tonight, and supposed to start doing a job which I don't know how to do, for people I've never met before, on Wednesday lol. Fun adventures!

I'm trying to find someone who has played Armored Core: Last Raven. Apparently the developers thought it would be amusing to give no sound directions in a game that should require a Master's Degree.

I'm a huge AC fan, but I haven't played through all of the games yet.
Even so, I have heard that Last Raven, in particular, is hard as fuck if you don't have an AC already built and ready to transfer over from the earlier games (AC3, Silent Line, Nexus, or Nine Breaker), so don't feel too bad if it's proving difficult. It's one of those where the devs expect that you've played everything before. Armored Core is funny like that.

You're just getting older and interpreting your not giving a shit about the new generations of stuff as meaning its not good or doesn't have merit. It happens almost everyone.

Believe it or not the shit from when we were teenagers was just as crappy and the people were just as dumb as they are now. Everything just seemed more fun and interesting because it was new and let's face it, we were dumb. Same goes for the previous generations.

A lot of us are born when our parents are in the type of mindset you seem to be in. Angry about the "current state" of the world of art, they tell tall tales of the good old days and hype up the era they grew up in to a mythological status at a time when your mind is most vulnerable to that kind of malarkey. Then the grandparents jump in and tell you your parents are wrong and what youth should really be like.

I'm not saying we shouldn't respect the past. I love the past, all of my life took place there. I just want everyone one to realize that we're looking at it from Inception-like layers of nostalgia. Starting with the haze of newness and nostalgia for your own youth and then adding another layer of thick illogical fondness for every generation of nostalgic ancestors relating the stories of their generation to wide eyed descendants before us.

It has created an over emphasis on past triumphs and a weird deification of any person or thing from a previous era.
Great things are accomplished during every generation. Its just this weird nostalgia-ception thing we call history that tries to make us think only great things happened during the time of our predecessors. And that our achievements are somehow not as great. Ok now I'm really rambling. What I meant to say was:

No matter what anyone tells you, whatever time it is right now is the very best time to be alive.

4 months till I leave back to Japan.
Got my degree awhile ago. Just quit my job. Sold 60% of possessions.
Back on the Japanese learning grind. Really going to try and go all balls out from now until.. well really forever.
That kanji tho.. Found a great app for stroke order. Can stroke it on the go now.

Axm wrote:Can stroke it on the go now.

lel

You're just getting older and interpreting your not giving a shit about the new generations of stuff as meaning its not good or doesn't have merit. It happens almost everyone.

Believe it or not the shit from when we were teenagers was just as crappy and the people were just as dumb as they are now. Everything just seemed more fun and interesting because it was new and let's face it, we were dumb. Same goes for the previous generations.
I understand your point and it's true that nostalgia can make people talk about the "good old days". Texts from ancient Rome/Greece already talked about dumb, younger generations.

On the other hand, I've read about a measured decline in intelligence worldwide that has been documented for quite a while. As one of the researchers said : why should we expect things to always go forward? Even progress can slow down or even reverse temporarily. Looking at schools they could see a huge difference in level/results and it seems to have slowly declined for a long time with a faster pace around 2000.
This can be extended to art. Researchers compared current pop with older and noticed that the new one literally contained less music and compositional sofistication compared to the 80'ies and earlier. Over here the radio still plays 60'ies to 80'ies songs. Less from the 90'ies and almost never stuff from 2000 and later (except current hits of course).

There are several papers detailing possible causes. Society being too nice so crap art is as valid as a masterpiece. Laziness. Globalization/capitalism (looking for infinite profit) dumbing down. Internet facilitating the spread of dumb ideas faster than ever. Or several controversial studies about "the dumb outbreeding the smart". Modern society leads to educated women having less children, while less educated in general often have more kids and can do so with support from the state.

I think it's laziness plus science/art budgets getting smaller. People marvel at a new smartphone update but just check how fast humanity went from the first flight to standing on the moon. As Neil Degrasse Tyson said : back then people dreamt about the frontier.

By the way, the last possible cause seemed to be quite controversial :P

Edit : Administration/business types infiltrating music, art, games and science have made these fields more corporate-like than before. This leads to less risk which results in mainstream work. Science needs to produce fast results (it doesn't work like that) or it doesn't get funded. The same for music and games where marketing often wins over art etc.

I don't think I agree with Marsalis' theory exactly. Although I'm not entirely sure what it is, although, like him I come from a classical background

Maybe to him a music hater was a bit harsh, but he's an uber-traditionalist, he was a vocal critic of Miles Davis more experimental latter day work, and he completely dismisses hip hop altogether. I do actually love his love for old music, but the man got trapped in the past.

When we look at rap, I laugh at the thought that it's going someplace. I've been in that industry and watched the fall. The 1 or 2 actual great artists out today aren't from today. You can cling to Kendrick Lamar as some new savior, but the truth is the only thing they lyrics today contain is vulgarity and basic word play. To even compare the content to the standard of the 90's is crazy flat out.

All this talk of the "fall" of rap is exactly the kind of hyperbole I think is total nonsense. For example there's some old conspiracy theory I read a while back that goes along lines of "In 1990 a group of country's most powerful music execs had a large meeting, and decided on a vision for the future in which they all bought stocks in private prisons while simultaneously pushing Gangsta rap to the forefront of popular culture, thus more young black men than ever will get sent to the private prisons and they're profits would be through the roof, while rap turned to vulgar shit". This is unlikely to have ever happened (at least that way), but what I'm trying to show you, is that for a previous generation rap had already "fallen" in the 90s that you laud as the peak of rap. Your no different from those guys. I'm not exactly keen on the majority of current mainstream stuff either, but guys like this make music I find exciting http://mellomusicgroup.bandcamp.com/album/niggas-is-men

Maybe not as prefect on a technical level as your KRS 1s or BDKs in their primes, but then, that's already been done, you can't get any better on that level, why not try something new, and more impressionistic? That's what many of these new cats seem to be doing. And if you do want that 90s style boom bap with a new flavour, there's still good new stuff on that tip out there too, such as people like Rac Marci, Action Bronson, Ka, even Danny Brown, and of course Joey Bada$$. So really, right now there is something out there to please everyone, basically.

the industry today tends to kill it- in the name of progress.

Stop looking towards the "industry" then. Look in more left-field sources, and you'll find plenty of what you want.

Time to dust off my SEGA Saturn and get playing.

Wachenröder & Die Hard Arcade

http://i.imgur.com/rLkTCK7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/owq23OO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0wAIk0M.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/cy4ZVhC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Ba69HVO.jpg

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/sega/wachenroder/screens/wachenroder4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MgQj3ZA.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/51vHEi2.jpg

http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/247285-die-hard-arcade-sega-saturn-screenshot-not-alan-rickmans.jpg

http://leviathyn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/dynamite_cop_cover.jpg

Planescape Torment // Black isle Studios // 1999

7/10

"A very well written game, spooling with creativity marred by rather dour combat gameplay"

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/Matrix5904/ps_arm1.png [/url]


Many gamers regard this as one of the best games ever made and to be fair I can understand why: the setting, ambience, writing and original soundtrack all hit the mark but it is the crude representation of the D&D ruleset which hinders this game from being truly special.

Even the companions, whilst initially very interesting devolve into typical fantasy blather as the game progresses. It really is quite bizarre! Each character is given a great premise or high concept but then nothing ever comes of it, they are characters by way of the back of a very creative cereal box, scissored into the game with charm but little substance.

But don't let that dissuade you as this is one of the most creative games ever made, we see street performing mimes doing their stuck-in-the-box routine -- except here, they are actually stuck in an invisible box set by a facetiously bored mage. Or a stolen head that you find in a box who wishes to be taken back to his body! You can really tell the developers had a good time in envisioning this world. And it is a world, so vivid in its conception that you could perhaps even envision it as an actual extension of our own. It's multi-verse setting encouraging the imagination that Earth could be but one faint strand of its entourage.


Overall, this is a game which regularly touches upon greatness but it is it's baseline game play and mechanics which have either aged rather badly, or indeed weren't very great to begin with...

Tis a shame, but in a game successfully meditating upon themes of identity, memories and mortality, I can proffer that this is a game worth playing before we ourselves face our mortality... Tooth, arm and nail.

I've only just thought about it, but it's kind of strange that I can really like an actor and think they're amazing in their job, but not be all that enthusiastic about their movies.
I'm just thinking about that because I just watched the 1995 movie French Kiss. It's just your average Meg Ryan romantic comedy drivel; enough to crack a smile here and there, but overall nothing that could even qualify as "good." Despite that, I think Kevin Kline is fucking excellent in it. I think Kevin Kline is fucking excellent in just about everything I've seen him in. And yet... I don't actually like most of the movies he's made.
Weird.

Deadfall Adventures.

It's incredibly cheesy. And there are some minor annoyances with the checkpoint system. But overall I really enjoyed my time with it. Great puzzles/level design, and fun multiplayer. My video review:

Asura. A very grim and sad movie. If you want to watch something unique and just out of the norm. This is it!

http://kissanime.com/Anime/Asura

Bambi wrote:

The bank settled for an undisclosed amount before it went to court.

Having worked at a bank, this is so unbelievably BOSS.

If you want to include data and audio on the same disc look into mixed mode CDs or "enhanced" CDs. I don't have much experience with them so i can't tell you a lot beyond that.

edit: did a quick google search and got this tut

http://forums.support.roxio.com/topic/70869-creating-mixed-mode-cd-data-and-audio-files/

These guys say "enhanced" is the way you wanna go, but I don't know. Do a bit of research first. Good luck.

I had one but had to get rid of it shortly after.

You're right it was ahead of it's time but that's not the only reason it sunk. The price compared to the current PSP was ludicrous, and the software, the small selection actually available digitally at the time, was also too expensive. I don't think Sony even knew what to do with it at the time. After they stopped producing it they even noted it as an experiment.

Though I'm sure if they hadn't of done it, the Vita could of been very different..

The Vita came along at the perfect time, to utilize the new age tech with, digital game storage, apps and touch screen, and still cater to the old school purist- thus bridging the gap. But I feel it just doesn't deliver to me yet. I don't know a lot about the system, but I do see that they require you to buy physical game cards at the store to stick inside the console. I really think this is the appropriate time for systems to be completely digital, at least as an option. It feels weird to consider selling my GO to buy a Vita and go back to carrying destructible game discs around, 2 at a time.
going completely digital with the vita is an option, if you want you can purchase all your games off PSN and have them stored. only problem is that it's more expensive than purchasing them physically most of the time and the propriety memory cards are way too overpriced. though I guess I do have to give props to sony for PS+ that gives you 2 free vita games a month, that combined with physical copies is as good as it gets imo

Eeh, well I'm in one of those phases in life where you make difficult choices but you have to stick to them.

In between prepping for my films and working, I may have to move to another place. Plus this weekend, I need to work on a design for a monster and ship it around for quotes. Then from there, fund the development for it. Once I have that monster, everything else will fall into place.

Zavvi accidentally ship the Vita bundle for Tearaway to customers (which normally costs £169.99), when those customers only bought the game itself (at £20), they then threaten legal action against those same customers who don't send back the Vita. El oh el.

http://i.imgur.com/pqbgqet.jpg

http://darkzero.co.uk/game-news/zavvi-threatening-customers-with-legal-action-after-tearaway-mix-up/

At least you have a smile on your face.

After 15 years, I finally beat Breath of Fire 1 today. I remember getting frustrated and stuck at the next to last boss back when I was 13 years old. He would get so close to death and then use an instant-kill T.Bolt spell and drop the whole party. He kept doing it until I lost my temper and sold the game after days of frustration. I didn't get it back again until all these years later. Completing it is quite a moment for me. Childhood memories....

My experience with Wonder Boy in Monster World was much like that. Loved the game to bits, but could never beat the last boss until I played through it again a few years ago. Felt freakin grand . Like I'd finally accomplished this crazy goal I'd been holding on to my whole life.
Yeah, great memories.

EDIT: So just watching a video or two of the new Thief game, and I'm starting to be a little more pleased with what I see, especially after hearing the new actor's voice a little more. It's still not as good as the old voice for Garret, but I did notice that the new guy has gone out of his way to pick up some of the nuances of how the old Garret spoke. It's not perfect, but he's done a good job of adapting to it a little more. Almost sounds like a younger version of Garret, even though that makes no sense in-context.

Well, I cant stop playing skyrim... Playing this game on PC on max settings with the xbox 360 controller is pretty dern awesome I must say. Its really gotten its hooks into me and its better than I had imagined, the world is rather pretty, which I was expecting a bit more bland so thats good, it does lack color but it what it lacks in that aspect, it makes up for in other visual areas, the art direction is actually pretty darn good and aesthetically sound. It seems like a great explanation of western RPG, the definition of it really, im getting sucked in.

Hwoarang is really good if you know how to use him, but so can any character if you can get a good handle on them. I've seen characters like Jack, Kuma, Dr. B, Leo, and Roger/Alex rise to the occasion and play in tournament matches. Even my main Jin, who most people would write off, is used by Hao who is one of the best Tekken players in the world.

The key to winning Tekken is to understand the character's fighting style and the player's playing style. You can go above and beyond studying frames and all that, but knowing all characters especially your mains is the difference between success and getting your ass kicked. I found out the higher level players tend to poke alot in order to pressure you to do something stupid, then they lay it all down with power moves and long juggles once your guard is down.

TTT2 and Rev are much more refined and polished than the earlier games though. I find it hard to go back to T5 now, especially since Jin is REALLY slow in that game. They totally improved him big time after 6.

^I wouldn't say the vita is hulkish size, I have no problem carrying it around with me on my travels. And it has quite a big library of good games already http://vsrecommendedgames.wikia.com/wiki/PlayStation_Vita add to that list a few more games like assassins creed liberation and also soon to be released borderlands 2 and minecraft not to mention backwards compability with PSP and PS1 digital titles and you've got enough games to keep you going for ages

There was this idea I've had for awhile that dealt with human trafficking and a balls-to-the-wall revenge storyline akin to Kill Bill and Taken (and virtually any other Luc Besson movie). I put it off initially since I only had fragments in my head, but moments ago I just woke up...and everything suddenly started to fall into place. I just came up with enough components to justify making it into a more structured action/thriller storyline.

Unfortunately I already have way too many projects now to pursuit it, but i'm finishing up the outline and tucking it away for later. It's going to be another one of those fun projects to do, I can tell already. But I also intend on making it my first ever attempt at a serious drama in between all the action since human trafficking is no joke.

Turns out I may be getting a Vita after all. I won't jump the gun until things play out.

It comes highly recommended. You especially would enjoy it joka, get it, you wont regret it.

the psp is one hell of a little hand held too, thst son of a bitch can play multiple libraries of games via emulators (vita custom firmware is scarce and still in beta and not even worth getting cause no psn) and the psps library on its own would make getting one worth it, everything else it can do are just lots of added bonuses. I wonder if PS2/Dreamcast/Game Cube/Original Xbox emulators will one day be playable on the vita? :shock: *crosses fingers*

^i remember enjoying the bugs life game when i was a kid. I had ridiculously low standards back then so don't know if it was because it was actually good. The warriors is supposed to be a good game too though

does the triangle replacing the A in the name mean that the best version is on playstation?

Haha, yeah The Warriors game is ace. One of the best movie games ever. I remember playing that every night for a whole week while stoned out of my mind at a friend's house. I don't advocate drug use, but that is a fun game to play stoned.

I'mma get on it bro! I'm not signed up to soundcloud but I can still listen right?

http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/rupert-sanders-set-to-helm-ghost-in-the-shell-for-dreamworks/

Thought i'd put this here. Thoughts on this new Ghost in the Shell live action movie? im not familiar with the film makers so im not sure what exactly to think about it. The guy that directed Snow White and the Huntsman is directing it. Didnt see it so I cant comment.

Um, you know how to play squares right? It's all luck based, has nothing to do with someones intelligence. Everyone I work with is either an engineer, geophysicist or in the IT field lol.

What happened exactly? A glitch in a game that affected your album? I heard one of your tunes on sound cloud with the trumpet (I think), pretty slick man.

@Joka Listening to "Tech it Too Far" right now. I actually really like this one. On my second play already.

Got my hands on a rare Shenmue II Demo Disc brand new sealed and a never seen before cover sample. On top of that, got the chance to meet Takenobu Mitsuyoshi few days ago. We have talked about many things and of course Shenmue.

http://www.youtube.com/v/n_VjfYUcfXM

My signed items :

http://s20.postimg.org/v16tqi1kd/DSC_0163.jpg

http://s20.postimg.org/9st592n3h/DSC_0164.jpg

Just so happy, no words to describe my feelings. Next person i wanna meet : Yu Suzuki !

^^Yeah, I was kind of surprised when I looked up some videos after you mentioned the game before, and found that it was basically a Bullet Hell shooter (or at least the last boss looks that way). Rare to see a western-made one of those, much less one licensed from an existing property. I might not be one to judge it since I haven't played it for myself, but while it did look insanely difficult (seriously, I can never beat games like that, so kudos to you for it =D> ), I think I've seen others that look even more insane. Wouldn't recommend trying them. :lol:
Just an example:

Check right around 1:20, or 4:25:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrPLhATu9pU
I like one of the comments on the page, where someone likens it to dodging rain.
But again, it all comes down to how the games actually feel when you have the controller in your hands, so for all I know the Red Star might be more difficult. Games like that are all hard as hell, whatever the case.

Eurogamer "Yu Suzuki is out of touch with today's gaming industry"

Shenmue 3 confirmed, NOT to be an FPS.

Is it just me, or is youtube dead? I usually watch several channels, and each one has not had any notable activity for the past couple of weeks now. It's moments like this that I realize how condensed the internet has become. Years ago, when it first started, there were thousands of sites that one could frequent on any given day. Now, it's just youtube, facebook, and google.

The good thing, is this is forcing me to focus on finishing some games. Between training and job drama, I've actually been enjoying Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.

Could be the channels you're subscribed to.

The ones I'm on are still very active but a couple have dropped out (like =3).

I do feel like generalizing the audience and calling them idiots is a bit much. I'll agree with the point you made where Suzuki should keep his artistic integrity and stick to his own vision and not appeal to whats "popular" but I wouldn't go out and insult the entire demographic for those who like the popular games. Not everyone who plays them are "idiots"

Hello, fellow Shenmue fans. I know it's been awhile since I've posted, but I just couldn't resist after the last few posts. I can clearly see where both MiTT3NZ and Yokosuka Martian are coming from....and I think you both have some very valid points. I'm 32 years old. I grew up with the Atari 2600 and the original Nintendo Entertainment System, if anyone is interested. I have been a video game fan my entire life. Shenmue has and always will hold a special place in my heart and I eagerly await a conclusion like everyone else on here. While the insults of the younger generation aren't necessary, I do see where MiTT3NZ is coming from. It's frustrating, I know! Today's video gamer has a totally different perspective on video games than my generation. And they likely cannot and will not appreciate certain aspects of older games that I appreciate and cherish. They're not idiots....they simply cannot appreciate video games the way I do and people of my generation because they didn't grow up with video games the way we did. It's sad, but understandable. Shenmue caters to a certain fan base and generation. Would I be okay with Suzuki catering to this younger generation and ruining the feel of the first two games? Hell no! But let's face it....he will likely have to take this into consideration if he ever wants Shenmue 3 to be at least somewhat of a reality and success. The guy is obviously struggling financially in regards to a future installment of Shenmue. So we need to consider the possibility that he may have to make some sacrifices to make Shenmue 3 an eventual reality....if it even ever gets released. Personally speaking, I would much rather Shenmue 3 be in video game form than some novel or crap like that! A lot has changed in the years since Shenmue 1 and 2 were released. I'm not saying I'm down with that idea, but at the same time, I would much rather have Shenmue 3 released as a video game in some form than nothing at all! And although Yu Suzuki may have some sort of limitation to get what he fully wants if Shenmue 3 was to ever become a reality, I'm sure he wouldn't stray too far from his original vision. For all we know, maybe Shenmue 3 has been delayed all of these years for that reason alone....because he wants to release it when the time is right when he can at least retain somewhat of the vision he originally planned for the game. Let's be realistic....the guy obviously is passionate about the series and wants to release an eventual conclusion! Could he be doing more to make it a reality? Maybe, but then again, we also don't know the full scoop on what's going on and all of the circumstances and politics that are hindering a release of Shenmue 3. Suzuki has been very quiet and secretive on this issue for quite some time. I know we've been waiting for what seems like an eternity for Shenmue 3. But I think we need to be patient, continue to do what we've been doing to let Sega and Suzuki know that we haven't forgotten about Shenmue, and continue to demand a conclusion (in video game format). I could be way off here, but I'm willing to bet that Suzuki will not retire until a conclusion of Shenmue becomes a reality. And although the recent media and other exposure of Shenmue may seem like a tease to most fans, at least it's getting exposure like never before in the past few years! Let's be patient, continue to demand Shenmue 3, and have faith that eventually it will become a reality! I'm not saying it will happen for sure, but we have to keep trying, be persistant, keep the faith, and be open to all possibilities!

First episode of Fargo was pretty effed up. Funny though. I've never seen the movie, so I honestly don't know if it's supposed to be an adaptation or a thematically-similar riff on the same ideas, or what.
I'm actually surprised that some things happened as quickly as they did. I kind of thought Martin Freeman's character would go through a much more gradual "bubbling up" with his attitude (being the "repressed anger" character) throughout a season or something before he explodes and does something violent, but no, it's right there in the first episode. Curious to see where things go because of that. I'm always a little bit wary when things seem to happen too fast in a show, so I hope the writers have some inventive shit planned out.
Billy Bob Thornton's character is great though. The tricks he pulls on people were hilarious. He's already defaulted to being my favorite thing about the show, being the unfeeling hitman who delights in causing chaos in peoples' lives and all. So far the show is most entertaining and interesting when he's around. Of course, that's just based on the first episode, so we'll see how things go.
It's nice to have something to keep on watching, now that Justified is off-season. Have yet to form a proper opinion (hard to do that on one episode), but I'll keep watching.