Strider Hiryu

*resurrects dead topic* Finally got to watch this as I finally got around to buying the BD. This movie was freaking amazing and I loved every minute of it. All I have to say to those fine gentlemen who made this movie is well done. I'll agree with Dubie it wasn't as funny as Hot Fuzz but it had it's moments, mostly toward the end but they were there.

I got invited yet again. Don't think I'll play this time though, the last one wasn't all that special and I've gotten extremely addicted to TOR again. If anyone wants a code and can't get one from vg247 let me know, I can invite one person to join. Just let me know with a PM, first come first served.

OH DEAR GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! I warned you all, I told you he would release them again. But no, you didn't believe me. You called me crazy. Said I was being paranoid but look, look what has befallen us. Who's the crazy one now? *smacks the two chibis that come at him to the side with his Cypher and opens up portal with hundreds of black silhouettes standing at the ready* At least I prepared for this coming atrocity. Go my minions, go and do what you were trained to do. *Chibi Striders come pouring out of the portal heading straight for the Chibi Eppys* I only hope their training was enough.

Not going to quote everything but I’ll cover each point GG mentioned. Never-ending games: This is something I’ve found myself struggling with accepting lately. Much like you I prefer my games to be played and done when I get to the end, not end and be told that to find out the rest I need to buy the next installment. This has always bugged me, more so because I know it’s a ploy by the developer and the publisher just to get more money by forcing people to buy sequels to get the rest of the story (which is why I hate the expansion dominated MMO market yet still love it (it’s a sordid relationship)). However, I make exceptions for certain IP’s (Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect, Halo (story only), Starcraft, and a few others) because they stand out as great games that make you want to play them instead of forcing you to play them just to get the rest of the story (though 343, imo, dropped the ball with Halo 4). Multi-player is its own beast and much like Yahtzee I believe a game should be able to stand on its own based entirely off the single-player aspect. A game solely bought for multi-player is the biggest waste of money. Arcades: Growing up I never had access to arcade games like most people I know. We never had one in my hometown and the only arcade games were at Pizza Hut and the bowling alley (which to this day I still hold all the top scores on all arcade games at the bowling alley) so for me it was always about console games. Sadly the arcade fad died in the 90’s (unlike in Japan) and actually finding one in my area is a slim to none chance, kinda sucks as I like the arcade scene. Sadly though it’s cheaper for me to play consoles, I’ve dropped more money in arcade games then I have console wise over the years (in one sitting at a motel I dropped more than $40 playing arcade games. Sad I know). Limited-lives: For certain games this works and works well but sadly those type of games aren’t as popular as they were in the past (Contra for example). Now-a-days limiting the lives of a player is paramount to shooting yourself in the foot as you’ll lose all your potential sales. Gaming has evolved to almost be a solely multi-player dominated genre now and limiting lives in a multi-player game is retarded as the game wouldn’t be fun. Certain games still do it but it’ll never be a major thing again. I point you to Sledge’s post for more in-depth coverage on this because I really don’t want to rehash what he already said. I honestly don’t mind either way as I play mostly RPG’s and when you die you have to reload from your last save point (which sometimes can mean three hours back if you forgot to save recently). If I was limited on how many times I could do this I would just quit gaming. I’ve grown spoiled in my old age, sue me. I do still enjoy me some Contra though, if only to get pissed because I ran out of lives at a very critical point. Multiple buttons: I turn you to Sledge’s post again. I actually enjoy having a lot of buttons to press, makes me feel like I’m actually playing instead of hitting 6 different buttons to do anything. Plus I’m a huge MMO player so pushing multiple buttons is an everyday thing for me so it doesn’t bug me when I switch over to a controller to play a game. War/Zombie Games: I tend to stick away from these games. Zombie games for me are boring. Where’s the challenge in killing an enemy who can’t think for themselves? There is none. Plus the Zombie thing isn’t that interesting, it’s been overdone so much I cry everytime I read about another one being made. Let’s stop beating the dead horse with the stick guys because the genre isn’t getting any better. War games I only play if I have friends playing them because honestly the SP campaigns for CoD and BF are extremely boring and in most cases extremely bad as the company’s focus more on multi-player aspects which I’m not really into (though I will be buying BF4 when I get my PS4, only if to play with DX and Sledge). Honestly the War game genre is much like the Zombie genre, it’s not getting any better so let’s just let it die (only in the FPS aspect, I still enjoy modern day/past war based RTS games). Price: I point you to DX’s post on this. Games cost basically the same as they did back then when you count inflation into it. Honestly I buy maybe 2-3 games a year now unless something really wows me. Believe me I understand you on the spending $60 on a game and not playing it, I have a stack of about 10 games I bought brand new and still haven’t played (some of which are for the PSX and PS2). I ran out of free time to play them when I bought them and just haven’t found time to go back and play them. *looks at his copies of Remember Me, Halo Anniversary, and FFXIII* OST’s: They’ve gotten nothing but better over the years. Hell I have every FF soundtrack there is and listen to them constantly when I’m in work mode. Sadly though this only for most genres except for FPS’s (though the Gears soundtrack was rather amazing). Most of the time when I play multi-player games I usually have my own music running in the background (especially for games like BF and CoD, puts me in the zone). Haven’t really run into many games that I have not enjoyed the soundtrack to. Then again as I stated earlier I play mostly RPG’s which always have amazing soundtracks (like FFXIV, yes it’s an MMO but its soundtrack is freaking amazing. Can’t wait for March to hit so I can actually buy the CD when it’s released). That's just ole crazy Strider's thoughts on the subject.

Couldn't tell you but it looks beautiful on the 360. Totally had a fanboy moment the minute I loaded the game up and heard the music, safe to say I needed a new change of pants. Not to far in it but I'm loving every minute of it so far (though I've noticed it has a bit of a steep learning curve, plays a lot different then the first two games (then again those are old as hell) so I think that's what is throwing me off). Gah, I'm having a fanboy moment just thinking about the game. I'm just so happy the series finally got another game and it was completely worth the wait. *passes out from over excitement again*

Meh, the only game I want is Dust out of this bundle. I don't want the other games and sadly won't drop a dollar on it for one game I want and 3 I don't want. Plus I'm already blowing money on Strider (not really blowing, I really want it) and I bought the Sid Meier pack last time around (and paid $15, only because it was cheaper to get the Brave New World expansion that way then buying it out right (yes I had already bought Civ 5 and the Gods and Kings expansion well before). I don't honestly know how long an actual scenario take to play but playing just a random set-up game with 12 other AI civs takes roughly 5-6 hours to play (shorter then that in BNW with the new Culture Victory (I can usually win in 3 hours and before the 1900's, however this is playing a mod Civ called the Ancients that are OP)) if you know what your doing. The first game I played took 9 hours total to beat as I had to learn all the new crap they added (I never played 4, reason why I bought the pack was so I could get it and play it) since Civ 3. A great game and it's not like you have to invest more then your willing to in a match (you can save). Definitely not for those who don't have the patience for long-term strategy games or politics.

I'll be buying it on 360 since I need to wait another month before I can go get my PS4 (which I'll buy it on that too). I can hardly contain myself. *is very, very excited*

Exactly what I was afraid of happening, they were going to water down what made the first one so damn awesome and replace everything with a more relevant story to whats going on today. Good thing I have no plans to spend $10-$12 to go see this in theaters.

Don't get me started on dysentery, I don't know how many times I died to that and starvation. God damn people getting sick , I remember Dictator Sledge. Gah, such fun times. I don't even know what brought about the talk to takeover AC, I just remember being in an AIM chat with Veggie and Cloud and all of a sudden we started talking about a takeover (which is funny because at this time I don't even think I was a member for more than 6 months). , that was one of the main problems I was having. If I underpowered them too much it wouldn't be SICD but if I left them as is the game would be over in 5 minutes. There just wasn't any way to find a middle ground, was pulling my hair out in frustration

I used to dread getting home from school and slogging through the pm "books" from you and Vyper and then having to read through 6 or 7 pages worth of RP material before I could even start formulating how I was going to respond to what had been going on. Then I had to pm you back with ideas, send a pm over to Vyper to find out a few things, and then go back through and reread the RP material then get around to actually writing my post in Word, reread that, and then finally post it hoping GRX or one of you guys didn't post in the meantime negating what I had just wrote. GRX did pretty well adapting to what we were doing, had to give him props for that since he wasn't in our little inner circle and didn't have prior knowledge of how things were going to go. Have to say he sure made the RP more interesting. Hell we probably had enough material to make a series of novels with all the crap we went through and it would of been a damn good read. During schooling for my degree I actually played around with the idea of adapting some of what we did with SICD into a game demo but after I reread all the material I gave up on that idea. Just too much material to even try to adapt it >.< (though I still think this makes for one hell of a game idea). Gah, what I wouldn't give to have the free time do another RPG on that scale. Such fun and epic times. Just talking about it makes me want to head over to the archive and reread the entire thing again.

Hmmm, big post to follow (you have been warned). Whether you think it’s sad or not technology is a very big part of my life, both social and personal. It always has been and I’m pretty sure it deals a lot with me being an only child in the city. Both of my parents worked full time so when I wasn’t at Daycare I was at home watching TV (or playing with Lego’s, boy did I love my Lego’s) with my dad or watching TV on my own. I had plenty of friends growing up (and by no means did I spend all my time indoors, I loved to ride bike and hang out at the park with friends) but I suffered from a lot of anxiety when in large groups of people so I tended to stay home more than hang out with friends (I still suffer from anxiety in large groups of people but I’ve learned to cope with it, I still prefer to be alone though). It was just more natural for me to sit home and watch TV so I went with it. I also did a lot of reading as a child so my hermit ways come from that as well (still do spend a lot of time reading from books to educational stuff, nothing is off limits anymore with the internet when it comes to reading). My gaming addiction was brought about by my first babysitter/daycare. The lady who ran it used to let me play her kids Nintendo and Atari 2600 whenever I wanted to so I spent a lot of time from when I was 5 until I was 8 playing a lot of Mario and Missile Command (she’s still a very good family friend). Ever since that day I spent almost all my time playing either my Gameboy or going over to friends places to play on their consoles (heck it was one of the main reasons I went over to their places to begin with). When I got my first Playstation for Christmas one year that was it, I spent almost all of my free time outside of school and Basketball practice playing on it. Hours upon hours were spent in front of that machine (even when friends came over). When I met my best friend in sixth grade our friendship was based primarily on playing video games (not anymore mind you, we did a lot of stuff together outside of gaming but that’s how we became friends). It progressively got worse from their as newer consoles came out and I fell deeper into my addiction. Now-a-days I don’t spend as much time gaming as I used to. Between working all night and sleeping all day I rarely have the chance to put in any serious gaming on my consoles (I do play a lot of MMO’s but that’s a different story altogether). When I was first introduced to the computer I instantly fell in love and it started an addiction that I still can’t pull myself away from. It started as a mild addiction at school, back when I rushed through computer work so I could play games like Oregon Trail and Number Munchers. As I got older and the computers starting to get better as I progressed further in school it just got worse, to the point I would rush through daily assignments just so I could get the chance to get on those spiffy new iMacs the library had so I could surf the internet. In high school my parents finally broke down and bought a desktop for the house with internet access and well my addiction spiraled out of control from there. Seeing as how I got my first computer around the time Toonami started airing I had two addictions to satisfy and I found my drug in message boards and chat rooms (like AF, AP, GF, SS, etc.). These are the places I met some of the greatest friends I have to this day, though I’ve fallen out of contact with a few of them due to them moving on from their internet days (like Veggie and Anime Pimp to name a few). I eventually found AC through Cloud on GF and found myself coming here every day, if not to chat with Cammy/DX/Eppy/Drak/Anime Pimp/aqu/etc or plot the takeover of AC with Veggie and Cloud (way back in the day here people, no current plans to try a takeover (does not want a railgun shot to the face)). Hell my addiction to the internet and anime got so bad it lead to my shut-in days back in 2007 (ask Epples, he knows full well what I’m talking about. We spent many a long hour talking about anime and manga during this time (hell he nicknamed me Hikki-chan because of it)). I’m proud to say I grew out of that when I moved to Arizona for college and actually rediscovered what the real world was like again. When it comes to social media I basically ignore or have nothing to do with it. Facebook is a waste of time and I only say this after having watched my Mom spend hours upon hours on the damn site. You want to talk to me call or text my damn phone (and if I wanted to talk to you I’d of given you my number). Twitter I just use to follow my favorite bands and actors, keep up with what’s going on with them and what not. Don’t actually tweet, mostly because I have nothing interesting to tweet about, live a pretty boring life. Anything else related to social media just hasn’t come to my attention or interested me (though I did use Livejournal for quite a long while, quit using it years ago though). Honestly I have no problem with people texting or surfing the web on their phones when they're around me because I’m generally doing it myself. When I get together with friends we spend a lot of time on our phones but we still keep conversations going, not that hard to multitask. However it is an unwritten rule to keep them out of site when we’re drinking (aka out getting plastered) or eating, just rude to be playing on your phone in that setting. The only real reason I got a cell phone was for emergencies so the only real thing I use it for now is to surf the web and play the random mobile game that currently has my attention. I probably wouldn’t even have a phone if I didn’t need it for emergencies (though it came in handy when I lived in Arizona). Honestly technology and I have had a rather sorted history of addiction. I can’t live without it but I’ve mostly come to the conclusion that outside of gaming and keeping in touch with you crazy people it’s mostly just around to provide me with a distraction from the problems I face out in the real world. That’s really all it is to me now since I’ve been setting more time aside lately to read my backlog of books and to start getting back into painting/drawing (oh how I miss sitting down for long periods of time with a pencil in my hand and a sketchbook in front of me) when I’m not playing FFXIV or STO.

Professional testers will test exactly what the company wants them to test, hence why they use them. Plus they use an extremely rigid template as to what can be considered a bug, something your everyday average joe has no idea about. Open betas are the way to go but sadly companies want a true test, not just 1 million+ people to send them random reports about what they think is a bug (to be considered a bug in a professional setting the tester must be able to provide proof the bug exists and proof that said bug can be replicated, something not all open testers are willing to do). This is the reason there is a game tester job in most companies, they want a professional tester who's done this more then a few times to test and find these bugs. Open betas these days are used more as server stress tests then anything else hence why you only see open testing in the last 1-2 months before the game is released. The things you learn when you go to school for this. I'm with DX. I'm not really looking for a mind blowing experience. What I'm looking for is just to see if they are going to be giving us some of the stuff they promised on launch or not (like the public events) and I want to get my hands on each of the classes so I can learn how each plays and what one I like the most. Outside of that I'm already sold on everything else.

I was going to post something about it but decided not to. I watched this Wednesday night and must say it was well worth the almost 3 hours I spent watching it. Really informative and this debate just goes to prove why I love Bill Nye so much (outside of the fact that I watched his as a kid and he's the reason I loved science class so much), such passion for his chosen career. While I think Ham is a complete nutter for his view on science I must say his part of the debate was rather informative (at least on the view of creationism) though his continual reference to the Bible being the only proof he needs for his beliefs is absurd. Have to say I was rather impressed by how respectful both men were toward each other. Normally this type of debate brings out the worst in both sides. Then again Bill is a classy guy so he doesn't let this stuff get him down or bring out the worst in him.

If it's as good as they're promising and as good as it's been looking in gameplay videos I don't doubt it'll see that many sales. Look at WoW, at one time it had over 10 million subscribers plus who knows how many people outside of that actually bought the core game and all it's expansions (more then 10 million and it's been out for 10 years this Nov). The only thing, as I said, is if they can deliver what they promised. That will be the main deciding factor on whether it can move that many units (I know I'll be one of those 10 millions sales).

Meh, I got sidetracked with Neverwinter and Star Trek Online when my internet was crappy (only because they're F2P) and now I'm addicted to FFXIV: ARR so I rarely get the chance to get on and play it. Plus I honestly just don't see what I liked about the game to begin with anymore. It's fun and the single player story is awesome but after playing FFXIV I just can't bring myself to grind out those last 9 levels on my Assassin. I'll most likely be cancelling my sub this month, money's tight and the new Humble Bundle has me drooling so much I can't stand it (can use the money I save from cancelling the sub and buy me some Sid Meier goodness).

I wouldn't worry about that Sledge, I'm the guy who pays to play the damn game and maybe gets on once a month (or whenever I actually remember I still play it). It's kinda sad really, should get around to cancelling my subscription

As far as I know Shia is done with the movies now. I believe he was only contracted to do the first three thats why Marky Mark is in this one. Plus I'm sure there will be some sort of recap at the beginning of this movie since it's supposed to take place 4 years after that horrible 3rd movie.

Optimus on Grimlock is the sweetest idea ever! This movie however is not. The only crowning achievement was that one part. Sigh, you'd think after how terrible the 2nd and 3rd movies were they would of just given up. Gah, my childhood continues to get raped.

Gah, I'm torn. After watching that trailer I really want to buy it but on the other hand I'm really not into the whole FPS type mech games out there (I believe that it's killing the mech genre, thats just me though (look at what it did to Armored Core 5, horrible game)). Plus I don't have $20 atm (noticed it's on sale, normally $30+).

Didn't think I'd like Melodic Death Metal either until my best friend introduced me to In Flames. Fell in love with them instantly (though I will admit they're last album was a little hit or miss, a lot of good songs but it just wasn't what I came to love from their earlier stuff). Not going to say I like all Melodic Death Metal, a lot of the bands in that sub-genre kinda suck (Trivium is the exception outside of In Flames). Power Metal I never really got into (outside of Iced Earth, though they've played just about every metal sub-genre there is). Yea I did notice Cradle of Filth has been getting worse (I own most of their albums and really only have enjoyed the first four, though I did enjoy a few songs off Nymphetamine), but really I've only been listening to their older stuff (as I said fell really out of touch with Death Metal over the years). Any recommendations on bands I should check out GG? Been looking into getting back into the music again and I really just don't know where to start (my first intro to death metal was Cradle of Filth and Children of Bodom).

I've fallen out of touch with Death Metal over the last couple of years, mostly due to my renewed interest in old school bands I used to listen to (Korn, Rob Zombie, Godsmack, etc (plus my obsession with Lacuna Coil (new album in April))) plus my renewed interest in other metal sub-genres. About the only real death metal bands I listen to anymore are In Flames, Cannibal Corpse, Cradle of Filth, and recently been getting into Trivium (they're more along the lines of In Flames (melodic death metal)). Outside of those I really don't even know whats going on in the death metal scene anymore.

Honestly not that surprising seeing as how Watch Dogs got pushed back as well, still not happy about it though.

Recommending music has never been my forte, mostly because people don't like the same music I like since I tend to listen to the darker shit out there (huge Death Metal Fan but I listen to just about anything as long as it's not country or rap (I make an exception for Eminem)). That said lately I've been listening to a lot of Korn, Rob Zombie, Scar the Martyr, In Flames, Lacuna Coil (my all time favorite band), Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, Cannibal Corpse (like I said, darker shit), old school Godsmack (don't like their new stuff), Staind, oddly enough Daft Punk, Eminem, and a few other bands. I highly recommend any of the bands I did mention, the ones you haven't heard of check out on Youtube (I will warn Cannibal Corpse is not for everyone, I blame my friend for getting me into them). I'm sure they might have one or two songs you might like. I do listen to a lot of anime soundtracks (and j-rock) but those are really hard to recommend, especially since it usually takes watching to show to determine whether you'll like the song or not (plus I have so many anime soundtracks on my harddrive I'd have no idea where to start recommending (though any Macross soundtrack is worth listening too, they always have great music (especially 7 and Frontier)).

Great freaking movie, I really need to watch it again. white black man, best concept ever (especially when he tries to talk to those gang bangers playing basketball, priceless).

He did it for those of us who are fans of the Riddick franchise. He believed he owed it to us for the considerable support we all gave him when he originally couldn't get the movie funded (and after procuring the rights from Universal), fans were more then willing to give him money if it could get this funded. I was happy with what I was given and I know plenty of fans who were happy with what they got. This wasn't made for the masses, it was made for the fans (thats something people seem to not be understanding).