HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

By the time it's Halloween, it seems like all the parties are already over!  Perhaps you're nursing a hangover or doing Sunday night homework, but here's a little treat for you nonetheless.

For those of us who grew up thriving on N64, Banjo Kazooie was a staple.  It came at a time when Rare and Nintendo still worked together to create highly original games and storylines... Not to mention the memorable musical scores.  Here's a Halloween-esque piece from BK's Mad Monster Mansion.  Enjoy!

Is it OK to call fictional characters "sexy"?

Sebastian Michaelis: Hot or Not?

I was talking to a friend recently, and my anime reviews came up in conversation.  My friend criticized my "The Gay" section as paraphrased here:

And when there's nothing specifically gay, you start talking about how attractive characters are, or you call them "sexy."  No - you're not allowed to say that.  Calling animated people "sexy" is not acceptable.  That's just creepy and wrong.

Now, I understand what he's saying, but I disagree with the premise of his argument.  Don't get me wrong - actually finding a cartoonish depiction of someone sexy, as in, "I am sexually attracted to and could find sexual gratification from said digitally-rendered or animated character" ... I agree - that is legitimately creepy.

However, that's not what I'm saying when I refer to an anime or video game character as sexy.

Sneak Peak at Sonic 4!

Our favorite hedgehog is back!

What's looking to be the first good sonic game in well over a decade (Sonic 3 was released in 1994 for Sega Genesis), I thought I'd write a little about Sonic's return as a side-scroller (Sega 4 will be 2D, using sprites from a pre-rendered 3D model).


As you may know, Sega announced in September 2009 that it would be creating an episodic sequel to Sonic 3.  Broken apart, it allows gamers to experience the game without the cost associated with purchasing a full game.  This seems to be a new trend amongst gaming studios (I'm looking at you, Blizzard).  I suspect it's purpose is twofold - a long, drawn out release keeps the game in the spotlight longer; and additionally, each game has a cost associated with it, which may not be comparable to releasing - say, all episodes together at once.  In other words, more $$$.

Game Review: "Metroid Prime: Trilogy"

This is an awesome game.
Buy it.. Now.

What do you get when you combine three of the top rated games spanning two separate platforms?  Well, if you read the title, you probably have a good clue...


Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes were ranked by IGN as #1 and #15, respectively, on the list of The Top 25 GameCube Games of All Time.  That speaks for itself.  Take those two highly successful games and put them on a disc with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (rated 9.5 out of 10 by IGN), and you've just set yourself up for one of the best gaming collections of all time.  No joke.

DUB versus SUB: Which is superior?

"Samurai Champloo" - Example
of good English dubbing

It's the age-old question... Ok, maybe it's not quite that epic, but it's definitely been debated since anime began its migration from East to West.

Obviously, most Americans do not speak Japanese.  Thus, the dilemma arises when distribution companies must decide how to market their product to American viewers.  Do you leave it as is, with the addition of subtitles (Henceforth referred to as "sub")?  Or, do you hire a whole cast of voice actors to perform the anime in English (Henceforth called "dub")?  Here are the pros and cons of each.

Anime Review: "Strait Jacket"

Not just for straight jackets...
(there's a pun here)

Synopsis

Strait Jacket is set an alternate history where magic was proven to exist in the year 1899. The use of sorcery spread throughout society and changed the social and technological development of the world.

It was quickly discovered that abuse/overuse of magic can lead to the sorcerer being turned into a hideous, crazed abomination, generally referred to as a Demon. Demons have the undesirable characteristic of slaughtering anyone and everyone in their vicinity. Seen as a tool, a terrorist group - the Ottoman Organization - starts using Demons to deliver coordinated mayhem.

Anime Review: "Aquarion"

A cast of interesting characters
makes Aquarion a fun story

Synopsis

Set sometime in the future, it is 11 years after "The Great Catastophe," a disaster of unknown origin that has destroyed much of the planet and its inhabitants. Following the destruction, an ancient race of technologically-advanced winged humanoids, called Shadow Angels, has been awakened after a 12,000 year slumber in their city of Atlandia. The Shadow Angels view humans ("The Wingless Ones") as cattle, harvesting them for their prana (life force). Prana serves as nutrition for the legendary Tree of Life. The Shadow Angels facilitate their harvesting via large vessels called Harvest Beasts, which are closely guarded by sentient mecha called Cherubim Soldiers. Ordinary weapons prove ineffective, and humanity quickly falls into chaos and fear.