Comics Thoughts

It's the new year and a new beginning for me in comics. I know that I've been very much into gaming these past several months... and I still am. But once I get the gaming juice out of my system- or at least, sate the raging beast within for a while- I'll be looking to return to the gutter... comic gutters, that is.

As I've mentioned in the past, I've decided against closing the book on Angel Ace. I'm still deciding on whether I should go into the BIG BATTLE story sooner or later. But even after that, I am seeing Angel's adventures continue- whatever form it takes, she'll always be around. I've realized that Angel isn't just one of my comic characters- she's my Muse. So whatever happens, I'll always keep Angel around.
Then there's my dark favorite. Kai will continue to stalk and sneak around in her adventures, though I am thinking to jump-start the title to make it easy to jump into. Perhaps shorter stories, smaller releases instead of big little anthologies is better. Short but sweet stuff in the vein of the recent Afro Samurai anime or the older Spawn cartoon from HBO. I want a continuing plotline but also individual little stories of mayhem, martial arts and fan service. That'll go down soon. A webcomic is also a possibility. We'll just have to see.

Kunoichi Boy continues as well, and I want to see it go through. I'm targetting the next Komikon for the next major release, so I'll have to keep chipping away at the pages of the next issues.

And finally, there's a new project I am aiming for. Nothing solid yet. It's totally new and I have just the smallest kernels of ideas for it. We'll see what happens as I nurture that little grain of rice.

More on this soon. Stay tuned for the next episode...

Feeling Blu

Last night, I tried out my first Blu-ray movie. Blu-ray is Sony's latest try at a digital medium- kinda like DVD but not, it has many times the storage space of regular dvds, with a single-sided BD-rom having 25GBs of space. The Blu-ray disc is the medium being used for PS3 games, and for Hi-definition movies coming from, of course, Sony. Well, since I had a Blu-ray player in the form of my new PS3, I decided to see what all the fuss was about. Instead of getting some expensive but mediocre PS3 game, I'd be better off getting a Blu-ray disc of a good movie and seeing the loveliness of HD cinema.

Well, I got X-Men: The Last Stand or X3, the final chapter of the Marvel Mutants series of films. I had originally planned on getting Underworld Evolution, but the store didn't have it on stock. Well, naked Rebecca Romjin is just as good as a naked Kate Beckinsale, so why not. The movie, as expected, looks incredible... there is crisp detail in everything, more so on a fine HD TV. Scenes seemed to be more 'alive' than on regular TV or even on the DVD version of the film, with deeper colors and finer detail in stuff like hair and characters' skin. The movie still ends the same though. Unfortunately, the pounding bass of the soundtrack was lost on my non-5.1 speaker TV... hopefully I'll be able to hook up my components to take full advantage of the multi-channel sounds. Someday.

Disappointingly, the 25 Gigs of Blu-ray space wasn't taken up by any extras that weren't in the DVD version... a couple of commentaries and a gaggle of deleted/alternate scenes was pretty much it. But well, it's a fine film to show off great visuals and really, X3 is a pretty cool movie to have a HD copy of.

Will BD take over the world, or will it fall to HD-DVD and go the way of Beta? Only time and the PS3 will tell.

Return to Rome



When last we saw the toga-wearing cast of HBO's swords and sandals mini-series Rome, Julius Caesar (Ciaran Hinds) was being turned into a bloody pincushion by Brutus (Tobias Menzies) and his fellow senators as his friend Marc Antony (James Purefoy) was but yards away. A betrayed Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) watches his wife Niobe commit suicide for deceiving him, while Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) finds a little piece of heaven with his slavegirl, Eirene (Chiara Mistalli).
The first episode of the series' second and final season starts just mere moments after the last blow has felled the great Caesar. From here on, those loyal to the deceased tyrant and those who murdered him are set on a bloody war to the finish. Meanwhile, Titus Pullo tries desperately to help Vorenus recover from his grief. The episode has two funeral pyres, quite a bit of sex, politicking, conspiring and quite a few bloody corpses before the credits roll. Most of the loose ends from the earlier season seem wrapped up (and thrown in to the river...) and a couple of characters bite the dust in this one.

As interesting and gripping to watch as ever, Rome continues to keep me entertained with it's exceptional cast and the gratuitous violence, sex and language we've come to expect from this HBO title (Italy DID spawn the Mafia, after all). Historical correctness be damned, it all makes for entertaining television. As always, the duo of Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus are fun to follow, and once again prove in armor or out, they're the two most bad-ass legionaries ever to swing a gladius. What their part will be in the bloody chaos that will surely come in this season remains to be seen. For now, I give the first episode of Rome's Season Two a hearty (and bloody) thumbs up.

Who Got Game

Not me, apparently. Well, I do have ONE game for my PS3, Fight Night Round 3. To be fair, the game's got great graphics, intuitive and intriguing gameplay and depth, lots of modes and tons of real-life boxing greats to bash heads with. Unfortunately, none of that is worth jack cheese to me. Geh. What's the use of incredible and detailed graphics if they all just portray sweaty, pug-faced, bleedy boxers? What's the use of depth and technique when it's all about swaying and hitting people in the face with your fists (now, hitting people with your fist after you lock their head with your left leg and twisting them into the air with the other leg- now THAT is cool). What's the use of tons of modes when the fundamental game just doesn't do it for you?

Thanks to the PS3's online capability, I've been able to download three (count 'em) demos which give me a couple of levels to play with. One is Genji: Days of the Blade, the samurai fantasy hack-and-slash adventure; next is Gran Turismo HD Concept, the latest version of the popular driving game, and finally there's Resistance: Fall of Man, the 'best' game available right now on PS3- a WWII-meets-aliens FPS. Now I'm pretty glad that I was able to download these demos- while I do like to be able to play a bit of Genji and Resistance, I don't see myself playing the whole game (I especially don't see myself plunking down almost 4K for EACH game), and at least now I know how they play and am secure that I won't be missing much by not getting them.

But now, aside from the demo games, I have looked over the rest of the available PS3 games locally, and NONE of them interest me. One that does, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, is unfortunately a generic swords-and-sorcery action game that is not worth the price for the repetitive gameplay. After that- NOTHING. There IS a possibility of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection becoming available for download soon, but that's all conjecture for now. I find myself aching to buy Blu-ray discs instead so I have a use for the PS3 aside from playing jaggy PS2 and PS1 games. But I guess I'll do a bit more research before delving into that.

Virtua Fighter 5 can't come soon enough. It's still three weeks away, but darn... once I have it, I need little else. Next Gen is here, but the best is still a ways off. Oh well.

Stark Raving Fantasy

Whoa! It seems that HBO is on the way to adapting the very popular fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by author George R.R. Martin. The projected series, which will be co-produced by Martin himself, is intended to adapt one novel per season, starting of course with 1996's Game of Thrones. Seeing as how HBO did such bloody fine work on Rome, I'm pretty intrigued at how this will turn out.

A high-stakes play of power, conspiracies, sex, love, betrayal, politics, war, old magic and very flawed heroes and villains, the Song of Ice and Fire should make for a very long and colorful piece of mature fantasy television viewing. Just don't ask how long it will take to finish the whole damn series (Martin has estimated 18 movies would be required to tell his whole tale). I might well be in my forties before the war between the Starks and the Lannisters and the whomevers finally ends. Oh well... something to look forward to, I guess.

On a related note, the second season of HBO's Rome has started, and the blood runs freely in the first installment. Set moments after the end of the first season (which ended with Caesar's murder), the stage is set for a final battle between the opposing factions in the embattled empire. Meanwhile, former legionnaires Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus continue their travails in between the pages of history. Good, bloody fascinating stuff. Don't know when local cable will show this though... thank goodness for the internet. Hoho!

Who You Gonna Play?

There's a rumor going about online (and quite a few videos on Youtube as well) about a Ghostbusters videogame in the works. There's been no official announcement from anyone- it's all coming from some 'leaked' videos showing what seems to be a GB-themed shooter, complete with Gears of War-type handheld cam-POV shots as your character is running across open ground in a ghost-ravaged New York. Like a shooter, the Ghostbusters use their proton packs to take down ghosts, which is pretty different from the movies/cartoon (the proton streams paralyze ghosts but can't actually destroy them). Aside from shooter gameplay, a clip shows the iconic Ecto-1 zooming down a street, and yet another shows a CG-rendered Peter Venkman (Billy Murray) delivering the classic Ghostbuster pitch.

It's unknown if this is a real game in the works or just an elaborate hoax, or perhaps a sign of an upcoming sequel to the beloved movie franchise. If it's a trick, someone had a LOT of free time on their hands and quite a bit of programming skillz. Still, a comedic supernatural shooter would be something fun. We'll just have to wait and see if this proves to be legit or not.

UPDATE
Well, it seems that the rumor WAS indeed true... a Ghostbusters game was in production. Unfortunately, the operative word is 'was'... the title has been indefinitely delayed due to licensing issues. So I wouldn't hold my breath for this one. Whether it actually rises from the game purgatory it's in right now or stays in limbo remains to be seen.

The Circle is now Complete.


Impressive. Most impressive.

Today, out of the blue, I finally got the last piece of the ongoing puzzle that is The Sanctum... a shiny, black, Darth Vader-like Sony Playstation 3. I got the console from a different seller, since my previous source had backed out on me. I had to rush a bit to beat any other prospective buyers, but otherwise it was an easy buy at the best price I could get at this point in time for the still-hard-to-find gaming device- 28K, which is about the same amount I paid for the Xbox360.

I lugged the thing home- DAMN it's heavy- and it was out of the box in no time. Looking sleek and shiny with the jet-black casing, the PS3 does indeed look as expensive as it is. On the plus side, it's actually a pretty simple thing to put together, as all of Sony's consoles have been. Installing it is as easy as plugging in the power cord and TV connections, and that's that.

Out of the box, the PS3 can get connected online via a LAN cable, so you can play online (gaming is free) or conduct business at the online Playstation Store (download demos and videos, buy games, etc). But once again the current weird internet situation struck, preventing me from updating the System Firmware (required to get online, apparently). Hopefully I'll be able to remedy that soon. But even without my wanted game and just sitting there beneath the TV, the PS3 just impresses. It's one impressive bit of kit. That much I'll give the thing.

After about an hour of using the thing and getting acquainted, I can give some remarks about it.

The Sixaxis controller ROCKS. No, there's no rumble or vibration function, but the ultra-light, wireless controller otherwise looks like the Dual Shock we've come to know and love. You can connect it to the main unit via USB2 cables in order to charge up the power source. From the controller you can do everything including turning off the system, which is just too cool.

The PS3 buttons are touch-sensitive; no more pressing deep. Just pass your finger over the button to turn it on or off, or to eject a disc. It just feels so... futuristic. The future is here, now! Whooo.

The Blu-Ray disc looks just like a DVD, but supposedly houses many times more storage space- like, up to 50 Gigs. That's a lot of space to put in lots of game. It's supposedly slower than DVD though, but working along with the PS3's Hard Drive should alleviate these concerns.

The packed-in game I got, Fight Night Round 3, initially didn't interest me. I mean, come on... BOXING?? No slick martial arts, no wild characters, no hot babes... nothing but battered guys in trunks punching each others' faces to bloody pulps. I wanted to sell or trade this off at first. But after playing a couple of rounds with Filipino champion Manny Pacquiao, I changed my mind. There was technique and depth to the gameplay, and this would be an awesome 2-player game. So, I guess, it's staying in the PS3 library. Okay, Library-to-be.

I tried some of my old discs. Japanese PS1 and PS2 games play, but as I've read and heard, the graphics are less than perfect with jaggies aplenty. I won't be throwing away my PS2. But still, it's pretty cool to see the PSOne Dead or Alive playing on the PS3. Heh. All-region DVDs play fine, but once again, the region-protected discs are useless... once again, I cannot play my LOTR Extended Version discs... DAAAAAMN.

So, now, I guess, my ride into the Next Generation of Gaming is indeed here. All that's left is a suitable Destination. Virtua Fighter 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, Final Fantasy XIII... The future beckons. See you there!

May 'K'



When I first heard about the much-talked about Krispy Kreme donut shop finally opening its doors in the Philippines, I was excited to say the least. I've been hearing of the delicious, addictive hole-pastries for years, from friends who've actually tasted the things in the US to movies. Gonuts Donuts was touted as being a 'Filipinized' version of the original KK, though for a while I was actually sated with the substitute. Anyway, it took me several weeks but I finally got my chance to grab a couple of boxes.
I made my way to the Megamall branch, and despite it being several weeks open, the store is still serving lines of customers who take out boxes of the sweet donuts. I got a dozen of the 'nuts, two boxes with 6 glazed and 6 of other variants.


The basic Glazed Donut.

So, how was it? Was it all that? Did it cause me to hallucinate heavenly visions ala Cooking Master Boy? Well, nope. But I have to say, my first bite of the basic glazed donut was impressive. The dough was soft and chewy, the donut light, slightly spongy and sweet with the light layer of glaze. Compared to Gonuts Donuts, the glazed donut of Krispy Kreme tastes better, but is also a lot lighter. Another donut, a chocolate iced donut with custard filling, was good but a bit too sweet (the local Bavarian or Boston Creme is preferable). I stopped eating after the second... have to stop...


Small, spongy and light. A bit too small and too light for the 30-peso price. But darn, it does taste pretty good.

Well, at about 30+ pesos per donut, a Krispy Kreme is pretty pricey- perhaps the priciest donut yet, and it's not that big or filling. It tastes so good though, I could probably quaff six glazed donuts before realizing what I had done in horror.

Anyway, I was just happy to finally taste the popular pastry. I won't be buying this regularly... perhaps a box of glazed donuts every month or a bunch of assorted do's to the occasional party would be swell.

Well, with that over, it's time to move onto other things. So, when is Whitecastle coming to Manila? Eh?

iPHone Video

Feeding the flames of gadget lust... here's a CBS report on the upcoming iPhone... I want it... Must haves it... My Preciousssss...

iWant.


The Next Big Thing?

Apple has no doubt rocked the online world today with their announcement on their website of their upcoming new iPhone. A slim, sleek and oh, so gorgeous-looking combination of iPod Video/Touchscreen Phone/Internet Browser/Pocket Mac, without a doubt this gadget already has Mac addicts all over salivating. With almost exclusive touchscreen operation, the iPhone's fascia looks quite minimal and elegant (much like the iPod). There will be hi-tech features up the wazoo in the thing, and it will come with the Mac OSX to get things moving. As for storage space, there won't be a 30 or 60 GB iPhone out just yet... the phone will come with a Nano-esque 4 or 8 GB storage capacity for your videos, music, photos and files.

Am I interested? To be honest, I am. It's a gorgeous-looking device, and Apple makes great gear. But basically, it does things I already enjoy on my own Pocket PC phone right now, only with the Apple style and flourish. And of course, the Ooh Aah factor. I have to admit, I'll probably queu up along with the Mac Addicts for this one, when it becomes available.

Which won't be for a while... the phone's slated for release in US/Europe in late 2007, while Asia gets it 2008. So there's more than enough time to start saving up. You can check out the phone, it's specs and capabilities at the Apple Website.

Early Signs

An intriguing bit of news passed onto me by Jamie Bautista, that is now circulating.
It seems that Paramount Pictures and director M. Night Shyamalan have signed a deal with Nickelodeon to produce three live-action films based on the critically-acclaimed and mega-popular animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not much information yet other than this. There's no telling how deeply Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino will be involved in this venture. At the very least, it's pretty intriguing. With the series as far along as it is right now, perhaps these films will tell the further adventures of the Avatar? Let the speculation begin, I guess. Will the Avatar films be slightly spooky or have a big twist at the end? Will M. Night do another one of his infamous cameos?

For now though, I'm on an Avatar fast... no word yet on the Third Season. I'm keeping my eyes, ears and fingers peeled on the Web for any sign. We'll just have to see.

Eye Candy Dispenser



In case you didn't take the time to read through the entire previous post/novella, here's the short version. I was able to save a bundle of money last year since I stopped going out Saturdays, so I bought a kick-ass HD-ready LCD TV. Unfortunately, I had to go through the proverbial wringer before I got it. But all's well that ends well. It'll take time to get used to the functions and fix up how my whole setup will settle in (I'll have to wait for the PS3 before setting things permanently). But right now, I'm feeling tingly all over. I tested several Xbox360 games and seeing them in HD resolution in widescreen pretty much got me giggling like a school girl. Can't wait to see PS3 graphics on this monster.

The Home Theater setup (DVD, speakers, sub-woofer) is pretty sweet too... the player has some regional limitations, which disallows me from playing ANY of my original LOTR DVDs (Damn), but it does play DIVX files, which is awesome since I've got a ton of those ready for playing.

All the coolest game consoles, a DSL connection and now an HDTV. Okay, all I need is a cache of rations and ammo, and I never need leave The Sanctum ever again. HOHO!

Caveat

As I've mentioned before, I've been itching to leap into the HD Era for some time now, seeing as how the Next-Generation consoles like the Playstation 3 and even the Xbox360 can only be truly appreciated and enjoyed through the use of HD or High Definition TVs. And so, with a purchase of a Playstation 3 looming, I decided to finally bite the bullet and shell out the hard cash for an LCD TV. With my savings from the past year, I finally had the moolah.

I'd love to give a nice, happy and problem-free account of how I bought my soon-to-be darling at The Sanctum, but that would be lying. To be honest, my experience with purchasing my HD-ready LCD TV was an infuriating encounter with crappy, unscrupulous salespeople and a sobering parable of the need for consumers to look before they leap.

Last Friday after work, I found myself in Cubao, at about a quarter before 9PM. I had just gotten off a bus and entered the seedy structure known as Farmer's Plaza. I had previously been looking over HDTVs over at Megamall, and of course was turned off by the high prices in the relatively posh SM establishment. Perhaps here in the bodega that was Farmer's, I would get something cheaper. I passed by one shop, where a no-name brand LCD widescreen TV beckoned to me. It was the right size, and the right price- I just had to know one thing about it. But as I headed for the door, the security guard stopped me, giving me a brusque "We're Closed, Sir." So I turned the heel and left. YOUR LOSS.
The dim corridors of Farmer's soon gave way to the more brightly-lit, fancier environs of Gateway Mall. This new shopping center had one branch of Automatic Centre near the top floor which had a gallery of HD TVs on display. I made a beeline for the shop to continue my search. There, a couple of items caught my eye. One was a Philips 32-inch Widescreen LCD TV which was in my price range. It basically had everything I needed, including HD-readiness up to the sublime 720p and 1080p resolutions (translation: Kick Ass visuals). But I really just needed to know one thing. Did it have a Video Out?
As I've mentioned, I require a Video or AV-Out in my TVs since that's the way I can capture video (through devices like VCRs or my trusty Archos AV700.

I asked one of the salesmen the question. He looked at the Philips TV and said, to my relief, that YES, it did have a Video Out. I was hopeful. Was this the one? But at about 80K, this was pushing my funds to the limit. Perhaps I should look to something cheaper. My eyes wandered to another, albeit smaller (26") LCD TV with the brand Syntax. I looked over the Syntax catalog and found that they had a 32-inch model which was at a comparatively cheaper 70+K price. I called back the salesman and asked if they had the 32-inch Syntax in stock. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), they didn't- it had to be ordered. The impatient git that I am, I balked. The salesman, who introduced himself as Manuel, then went on to sell me on getting the Philips TV instead. I then found out that if I got the Philips, I'd be getting a Home Theater System free along with it. This was pretty slick- it was the whole package; DVD player with DIVX capability, Sub-woofer and 5-piece Speaker system and all the wires. Nice! Manuel then went on to sell me instead to another Philips model.

This newer, more advanced model, he told me, had a value of 95K (and came with all kinds of perks including Philips' much-vanted Pixel Plus feature and everything AND the Kitchen Sink), but he would be willing to sell the LAST STOCK they had of it to me for only 79K. That would come with the Theater System, as well. Though I was awash with glee, the first thing off my lips was of course, "Did it have a Video Out?" Manuel nodded, saying that the outputs and inputs of the newer TV was identical to the other TV. So, it had an AV Out. Coolness! So I readily said "Sold!" and made ready. Even better, the price was further reduced since I was paying in cash. I made the downpayment, signed the papers and the deal was done. I was so happy. It was like Christmas except it was January and the first week of work.

The next day was a blur of anticipation. On the dot, the deliverers came and brought my new LCD TV just after lunch. But I had some doubts. By checking online the stats of the model I was given, I failed to find a Video Out in the specs of the model being delivered. But perhaps it was just a mistake. Manuel assured me that the TV had a Video Out... he wouldn't LIE to me, right? I looked at the box of my new acquisition and checked the diagram of the TV's input panel.

There was NO VIDEO OUT. Maybe it was a mistake on the box. I unsealed the TV and brought it out, then looked at the actual TV's panel myself.

THERE WAS NO VIDEO OUT.

What the eff? What was going on? I got on the phone and called Automatic Centre. I asked Manuel about my problem. Almost palpably, his aura had changed from being an ingratiatingly helpful seller to someone who sounded irritated that you were still bothering him after he had already gotten what he needed from you. "I'm sorry..." he said, "I guess I misunderstood that when you said you wanted a 'Video Out', I thought you meant 'Audio Out'. (WTF?) He then went on to say that 'all the new and latest TVs DO NOT HAVE A VIDEO OUT anymore.

All this was nonsense, obviously. The guy was making every excuse to make me give up on the feature that I had specifically asked for up front from what I was getting with my hard-earned money. Eventually, he told me to wait for the Philips technician who was going to install the TV... HE would know how to get past my problem about recording video from the video out-less TV. Oh-kay.
When the Philips Technician, a nice guy named Gio, arrived, I told him my problem. Immediately, he made a rueful smile and pretty much said what a BASTARD that salesman was, for promising me stuff that was beyond his capability. There was no way he could magic the output-less TV to be compatible with my Archos. And that stuff Manuel said about new TVs having no Video Outs? Nonsense, according to Gio, whose job it is to examine and service thousands of these TVs. Wonderful.

Apparently, this very salesman, Manuel, has caused some problems before of this nature- taking advantage of customers and placing his want to sell something over the specific need of the customer. Wow. Did I pick a lemon or what?

So I had him call back the Automatic Centre to try and get Manuel to fix the problem. I thought, since the other TV had a Video Out, maybe we can just return the TV I had and exchange it for that other model. But Manuel was stone-walling us; obviously, he didn't want me to return the other TV since he would look bad. So he was doing everything in his power to make me give up on getting the TV I wanted. "Sir, if you return that TV and exchange it, you will probably have to forfeit the Home Theater System." he said. I bristled at the veiled threat and was basically shouting now. I would NOT be returning the Home Theater System and he had to give me the TV I required OR ELSE I would storm back to Automatic Centre dragging the fricking TV and demand the model I require.

Unfortunately for the stubborn bastard, this whole sad affair reached the Philips' Head of Engineering, who was positively PISSED OFF at this salesman who was giving his customer a hard time and his products a bad name. After some words with him, I finally persuaded them to get Automatic Centre to swap the TVs, let me keep my Theater System and have it all sorted out in a day or two. All of this reached only after I got myself worked up with raised voices, threats and borderline expletive language. Sigh. WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING TO ME? I paid what was due. What I wanted was pretty simple and clear. WHY was I almost screaming at people I hardly knew when I should have been enjoying the pleasures of High Definition gaming and cinematic enjoyment? Well, it was simply because there are some salesmen out there who put themselves before their customers.
In the end, I got the TV model with the Video Out I needed, and this Manuel guy would be getting his ass kicked (if not outright kicked off his job for being either a deceiving son of a bitch or an incompetent who doesn't know his products' features) since his hard-headedness forced the issue to reach not only the head of Philips but the head of his branch of Automatic Centre. Unfortunately, I would have to wait a bit before the proper TV reaches The Sanctum- as I type this, it has already been delivered to the house and will be installed tonight when I go home.

The moral of the story is, curb your excitement when buying big expensive things. Try to shop with a sober friend who has experience or at least a good opinion. Don't pay in cash- if possible, pay with a check so you can cancel it if you get a lemon. Ask to see and test the product as much as possible. And always be on the lookout- smiling faces and welcoming salesmen are really just there to sell stuff to you- they're NOT your friends. Oh, and BE CAREFUL IF YOU HAVE TO SHOP AT AUTOMATIC CENTRE. Not recommended that you buy stuff there. Cut-throat bastards. On the other hand though, I have to say that the guys from Philips- Technician Gio to his boss (whom I yelled at over a cellphone... sorry)- were totally sympathetic to me and invaluably helpful in solving my dilemma. Gio is even a gamer himself and an apparent kindred enthusiast in Hi-Def TVs (I mean, you have to being a technician of these sweet gadgets).

I did a dozen things wrong in this instance, from withdrawing thousands and thousands in cash from an ATM to paying in cash to trusting someone I didn't know completely. But somehow, perhaps with help in a higher power and a bit of luck, I was able to come through and get what was due to me in the end. I may not be shop-savvy, but damn... don't make me angry. You just don't want to see me when I'm angry.

Well, hopefully with this whole sordid affair behind me, I can finally start talking about how happy I am with my new TV and how sweet watching movies and gaming will be. That is, when I actually get to watch stuff or play games on it. Whatever happens, it should be fricking sweet. And well that it should... considering what I had to go through to get to this point. Oh well. Moving on. Moving on...


The Light at the End of the Tunnel.

One Bad Mutha of an Anime


Samuel Jackson makes his animated debut in Afro Samurai.

Last night, I was able to acquire and watch the first episode of Afro Samurai. Originally a manga by Takashi Okazaki, the title has now been adapted into a 5-episode anime featuring the voice of Samuel "Bad Mutha" Jackson as the titular big-haired hero. Also lending their voices to the show are Kelly Hu (Deathstrike in X2) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy). Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender may also recognize the voice of Grey DeLisle(Princess Azula) in the cast. The musical score was produced by Wu-Tang Clan member RZA.

The story is simple, seemingly. A legend states that there are two headbands in contention by all the greatest warriors; one is marked with the symbol for 'Number One', and whomever wears this can rule as a god. The only one who can challenge the Number One is the wearer of the cloth headband with the symbol "Number Two"... the problem is, ANYONE can challenge Number Two. The titular character, Afro Samurai, is the current bearer of the Number Two headband, and he's on a mission to avenge his father's murder at the hands of the current Number One- a demonic gunslinger named Justice. Of course, he has to face hordes of rogue bandits, mercenaries and other unsavoury dudes along the way, many of which are packing some serious firepower. All Afro has on his side is a very talkative tag-along named Ninja-Ninja (also voiced by Jackson) and his trusty sword.

As to be expected, Afro Samurai is a pretty bad-ass piece of animated action, featuring some graphic violence in the form of lethal swordfights and skirmishes aplenty, with lots of the red stuff flying around (which gives a bit more color to the often black-and-white or dull general grey tones of the visuals), along with decapitated heads, severed limbs and what not. It's very much like the anime portion of Kill Bill, very stylized violence which is at least quick enough to be artistic and not totally gruesome. Aside from the blood, there's a wee bit of titillation, some colorful language and quite a bit of smoking done by several characters of what suspiciously looks like pot. Well, at least Afro only drinks lemonade, it seems.

The first episode of Afro Samurai ends with a cliffhanger, and generally this leaves me wanting to see more. I'm still hoping for the story to get deeper, more intriguing characters to be introduced (at least give us a hot babe fighter) and funnier (or more colorful) Sam Jackson lines in the next episodes. For now, you can try to find your Afro Samurai online or at your favorite anime dealers.

Tekken Defection?

Akira and the Virtua Fighter 5 crew have already defected to Microsoft's Xbox360, but now an even heavier hit to Sony's Playstation 3 is supposedly in the works. Rumor has it that the next King of Iron Fist Tournament game, Tekken 6, is yet another title to break out of the usual exclusivity contract with Sony to make it out onto Microsoft's uber-console.

Given that Namco has already announced that they need to sell like, a gazillion copies of their games if they expect to make a profit. With PS3's about as rare as honest politicians, it's only natural that they go for the console that already has a large installed user base... the Xbox360.
The same source has also stated that even before any announcement of Tekken 360 comes to light, we'll probably be hearing about Soul Calibur IV coming out on the Microsoft box. WHOA. Now THAT is good news. More Soul Calibur is happy-happy-joy-joy for me.

This is great news and a rousing start of the year for fighting game enthusiasts like me. And this is just the first round. WOOHOO!!!

Happy New Year!

HELLO 2007!!!

2006 wasn't the worst of years, but I am, for one, glad it's over and done with.

Now we can all look forward to better things. For me, I can look forward to another year of Salt Mining, a renewed spirit of Comic Book Making, a colorful new era of Anime Watching and Frustrated Movie Reviewing, a Hi-Def entrance into the World of Next-Gen Gaming and of course, even more MAD Blogging.

May you all be with your Loved Ones and Family as the first seconds of 2007 roar in a hail of fireworks and food. Just remember... the year you start off with all your fingers intact is a GOOD Year. Stay safe, stay healthy and stay happy, everyone!

It's all about the Money... Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb...

That's apparently what's in with the Filipino audience these days as the masa fantasy comedy Enteng Kabisote 3 won Best Picture in this year's Metro Manila Film Festival. Quality isn't so important these days in Filipino films as box office receipts. On a related note, sadly the comic adaptation Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah didn't fare too well, coming in only at 7th place in terms of ticket sales. Director Quark Henares' superhero team flick Super Noypi did better at 5th place.

Yeah, the movie moguls are happy, but this basically sends a message to filmmakers and directors... stick to what sells. What a blow to creativity and innovation.

What can you expect? The masa are the audience for our local film industry. Those expecting or wanting high quality films and movies go for foreign movies or are limited to niche releases like plays or experimental film. Does this mean that anyone wanting to tell stories above the usual sordid dramas, cheap scare tactics or usual tired comedy veins is fighting a futile battle? That there's no room for anything new or different in Juan the Streetwalker's brain? Hopefully not. Perhaps it's just knowing your venue and your market better. Perhaps it's about marketing your stuff better. Or maybe, yeah, the Pinoy just doesn't want anything new or different. He just wants something dumb and easy.

Oh well.

HDTV a.k.a. Hassle and Disappointment TV

As I've probably mentioned before, I'm thinking of getting a big-screen HDTV to go with my upcoming Playstation 3. Well, today I actually got a step closer to my 1080p dream, but then suddenly jumped three steps back. While affordable LCD monitors are available now, I discovered a distressing property of the Samsung Widescreen LCDs I am eyeing for The Sanctum... THEY HAVE NO VIDEO OUT.

This is a pretty big turn-off for me, considering that I love to record video with my lovely Archos AV700. Is there a way at all to capture video on the Samsung sets? Or must I look to other brands? I guess I have to do more research into this before I take the leap into the HDTV pond. For now though, I guess my ol' Sony Wega will stay for a while longer for my viewing pleasures. Oh well.

PS3 Bound

I've more or less committed myself to getting a Playstation 3. I've decided on getting the 20GB version- the 60 GB version is considerably more expensive for simply having 40 more Gigs of HD space, built-in card reader slots, WiFi and a spiffy chrome trim.
I can always upgrade the Hard Drive myself and use a separate USB card reader, plus I don't really need the WiFi. Not having the chrome trim hurts though...

Considering that PS3s go for upwards of 40 to 50K in malls these days, I'm getting my console quite cheaply. At least I maintain my record of keeping console purchases under 30K.
My shiny new console will hopefully arrive just after the New Year's. No hurry in any case, since my main reason for getting a PS3 is still due in February. Still, I can't say I'm not pleased... I already have the spot dusted off and ready for the new console in The Sanctum. Everything comes to him who waits. Even one who hates waiting.

Roll Out!



Here's a good look at Optimus Prime from the upcoming Transformers movie from director Michael Bay, courtesy of Empire Magazine (issue out this January). Looks a lot more complex and spiky than the Optimus we knew in our childhood, but at least the shape of his head is recognizable... and he'll sound right since voice actor Peter Cullen will once again be voicing the Autobot leader.

I've seen the trailer, and it looks more horror movie/ID4-esque alien invasion drama than action-scifi with giant transforming robots. Early impression has me thinking it's going to delve a lot more into the human characters and how they deal with the gigantic metal warriors rather than the way the cartoons presented the Cybertronians. Still, color me curious and intrigued. Of course, since it's from Michael Bay, expect lots of explosions, bad-ass slow motion walks towards the camera and monumental pans of the heroes. Heh.

Transformers, along with a shipload of other cool flicks, will be out in mid-2007.

Playing it Safe

It's about a day after Christmas and already, it looks grim on the nightly news. During dinner we watched TV Patrol report on multiple fires all around the country and several hold-ups in the Metro. It's both saddening and infuriating that quite a few Filipinos will be homeless just after the Holidays, and that there will always be degenerate individuals who are willing to knife you in the ribs just to get themselves money for a frickin' DRINK. BASTARDS. The Vanishing Ray is too good for these turds. A rusty axe would be better. A DULL rusty axe. Feh.

It's a good thing I've become more of a homebody now... It's far better to stay indoors and to keep your eyes on your home and loved ones, than to go out in crowded malls where predators are likely to be on the lookout for hapless people loaded with Christmas money. Still, I'll try to catch Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah and perhaps Super Noypi before the vacation ends. Let's try to make each hour of our break count for something other than getting back lost sleep.

An Epic Fantasy Adventure in 11 Parts



If you're a regular reader of SRM, you probably know that I absolutely LOVE the RPG series Suikoden from Konami. I love it even more than that OTHER big RPG from Square. Even if the structure will usually be the same (hero must find and bring together the 108 Stars of Destiny to defeat a great evil), the telling of the epic adventures has always been full of great stuff- conspiracies, political maneuverings, personal and large-scale conflicts and lots of great characters. With the exception of Suikoden IV, I've loved pretty much every one of the games, with Suikoden II and V topping my list.
A close third is, interestingly enough, Suikoden III. While I admit I have not finished the game, I really have fond memories of this game thanks to the great characters and the cool story. And so, I committed to collecting the manga that re-tells the story of the RPG. It's been several years but FINALLY, finally, the manga adaptation of Suikoden III is complete.

Manga-ka Aki Shimizu has done an admirable job of translating the complex story of a war between various factions and nations within the embattled Grasslands, a conflict whose viewpoint is seen through not one, not two or even three sides of the story. While the main characters of Hugo, Chris and Geddoe are retained as the leads, you still find yourself caring for their comrades and families, who are themselves given good exposure. In fact, Shimizu tries and pretty much succeeds to give pretty much every 108 Star of Destiny some role in the manga... not an easy feat.
The story is complex but not that hard to follow thanks to extensive notes and recaps in every book. The art as well is quite excellent, capturing for the most part the style of the source material and even expounding on the characters. The action scenes and battles are exceptionally well done as well, with lots of cool magic and clashing weapons making for much drama.

I've not seen any other RPG given such detailed and faithful adaptation as with Suikoden III, perhaps due to the difficulty of adapting the often twisting stories in such games. Shimizu however succeeds in bringing a work that not only captures the plot and feel of the game but stands on it's own as a wonderful fantasy adventure enjoyable not only by fans of the game, but by manga lovers in general looking for great art and story.

Suikoden III manga is an 11-volume series from Tokyo Pop. Look for it at Comic Quest and other good comic book specialty stores or shops.

After reading the manga, I suddenly have the urge to bring out the old PS2 disc and start playing again. Vinay Del Zexay, here I come. Heh.

Merry Christmas to One and All

This year wasn't the best of times. The country has had its share of devastating natural calamities and the continued depradations of corrupt politicians. Somehow though, the Filipino people have to keep the faith, stay the line and keep walking on. Stronger storms and even more corrupt politicians will come, without a doubt, but we'll manage, somehow, with God's help and mercy. The strength of the Pinoy probably is in their resilience to keep finding humor and happiness even in the most dire situations. And in no other time does the Pilipino shine than at Christmas.

Hopefully we all find pause tonight with the people we love and have, for one night, peace and happiness.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

A Howling Good Time

Last night, I got together at Vin's place for the yearly Christmas party with the Quest gang. It was a simple affair with good, solid food (KFC, Christmas Ham and really good Tapa from Andrew's Lola) that was made incredibly entertaining by the company. Dean and Nikki of course had us laughing to tears with their amazing stories about their... interesting relatives. Meanwhile, Jamie and fiancee Iyay made it even after getting lost... on EDSA (That's a neat trick).

After the anecdotes and fables, the group eventually settled on a rip-roaring game of Werewolf; that kind of whodunit-mystery group game that can only be entertaining and fun with the right people- and in this case, it was pretty awesome what with Dino "IT'S DEAN!!!" Yu and Iyay the Hysterical Woman giving voluminous performances in stereo (they were seated on opposite sides of the room). Just good, clean, LOUD fun.

It's that kind of party that you just remember for years to come. Next year again, Quest Gang. Seeya then! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

"Holy 180 Degrees, Batman!"


Akira goes multi-platform in 2007.

As I've previously posted (a lot), my prime reason for wanting a PS3 is the uber-fighting game Virtua Fighter 5, which you can only get on Sony's next-gen black monolith. Well, that was then. This is now. Sega announced yesterday that their flagship fighting game will be coming to the Xbox360 in late Summer 2007.

Hordes of Sony loyalists no doubt went ballistic on the news that another 'exclusive' game has slipped out of the cracks to Microsoft's console.(previous defectors include Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto IV). It was inevitable though- with the PS3 being woefully undersupplied to the populace, any videogame publisher would be out of their minds to ignore the potentially lucrative and large installed base of Xbox360s.

It remains to be seen just how good a port the Xbox360 version of VF5 will be- obviously, it will look great, if not arcade perfect, and it will have all 17 characters, all the moves and the customization options from the arcade version. Some articles have mentioned that the 360 version will be based on an upcoming 'Version C' of VF5 (the PS3 version is based on the current Version B). With the 360 having comparable graphics to the PS3, I have no doubt that the game will look great- I just hope it comes with all the trimmings.

I'll probably STILL get a PS3, since I HATE waiting and at the earliest VF5 360 will arrive in late July or August... the PS3 game arrives February. In any case, I'm happy with this bit of news. More Virtua Fighter makes the world a better place. Heh.

Mines Closed

Yesterday was our last day of work at The Salt Mines for the year.

True to form, we were busy to our eyeballs to the last minute, but the day ended with the crew heading off south to a mates' posh home to celebrate a second phase to our Christmas party. LOTS of good food, drink and good company... and it all ended with me screaming out Bohemian Rhapsody at the every end. What a way to end the year.

Salt production continues in January. For now, it's time to rest, vegetate and enjoy a time of pause. Merry Christmas!

Blood, Bikinis and Babes


Sexy girls in bikinis against the Undead. Best. Idea. Ever.

Even though I just got my brand, spankin' new copy of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, I'm not playing it. That's cause I got another game soon after that made me forget about the Further Adventures of Big Boss. I mean, how can Naked Snake compare against Half-naked Babes slashing Zombies to smithereens?

Oneechanbara Vortex for the Xbox360 is from the infamous publisher D3 of Japan, a videogame company known for their 'Simple' series of games- fan service-heavy videogame titles that pretty much always star scantily-clad anime girls in various activities (from wrestling to mahjong to water sports). The title is a combination of the words 'Oneechan', which means 'Sister', and 'Chanbara', or 'Swordplay'. So it could conceivably be titled "Sisters with Swords" if ever this title makes it across the pond to the US market.
Oneechanbara Vortex is an epic tale of drama, betrayal, sisterly love and... okay, it's actually all about sexy underaged and under-dressed girls slashing zombies and various evil creatures apart with samurai swords. While it may sound pretty hokey to some (I find it... interesting), the game has been popular enough to see multiple sequels. Vortex is actually the third in the series, and the first on a next-gen console.

As I mentioned before, Oneechanbara stars two super-powered zombie-fighting sisters. Aya is the elder sister whose chosen attire for battling evil undead is a bikini, cowboy hat and feather boa. Saki is a jailbait little urchin who wears the ubiquitous school uniform. Both have their own signature styles; Aya can switch between using one or two swords, while Saki seems to favor a quickdraw-one hit, one kill technique. Early into the adventure when the battle against the zombies gets underway, Saki gets kidnapped by some Agents (like, from The Matrix Agents). She's rescued (or at least, aided in escape) by Anna, a female officer in the Zombie Protection Force (who do NOT protect zombies at all). Anna and Saki soon meet up again with Aya, and all three girls join up to fight the menace behind the zombie plague. Thereafter, Anna becomes a playable character and she's quite cool- instead of swords, she comes with guns and lays waste to her enemies from afar... she can make it literally rain with bullets.

All three girls can lay waste to throngs of zombies with their attacks, causing blood to spray in all direction in ridiculous splashes of red stuff. The blood isn't just for show though- it actually affects gameplay. The more Aya and Saki slash, the more blood gets stuck on their swords. If a meter on the side fills up totally with red, their swords become sticky and will then get stuck into the next zombie or enemy they hit- causing them to be vulnerable to attack as they try to wrench their weapons free. A quick press of a button will shake off the blood, so you have to make sure you keep an eye on it at all times. In Anna's case, she just needs to reload her guns whenever they run dry (she has unlimited ammo).

Killing enemies yields yellow orbs which you collect for points (like a bloody version of Kingdom Hearts) that you can use to upgrade your character's skills. This opens up more attacks and combos which make dispatching the undead a lot easier and flashier. Along the way, you also need to collect items like healing crystals, holy fragments which keep Aya and Saki's dark sides under control, and other helpful knick-knacks.

The game comes with a Story Mode, a Free Play Mode (which lets you play stages of the Story Mode you've already finished again and again), Survival Mode and DressesUp Mode. The last one lets you outfit your character with various pieces of clothing- different hats or hairstyles, tops, bottoms, arm accessories and footwear- that you unlock as you play. Horny players will be glad to know that the girls start off just in their undies from the get-go... so that means you actually have to work to get them dressed. What a concept. Hehe. Of course, you can save your costume configurations (or lack of) to use in the other modes.

Even with all the gratuitous gore and fan service, if Oneechanbara Vortex was a crap game, it wouldn't fly. But interestingly enough, it's quite a playable and enjoyable game- I mean, chopping up crowds of gibbering undead is such great stress relief! The whole thing has this offbeat feel like one of those cool live-action Japanese chick-action flicks ( You know... those with the incestuous innuendo and intense glares), which is quite appealing. The story is told mostly through text-screens, but there are several very nicely-done CG cutscenes which are quite slick and cool to watch. The graphics are hi-res and easy on the eyes, with good animation (but not great though) and no slowdown even in scenes with large numbers of enemies onscreen. The controls are pretty responsive and easy, though the camera can get testy in some closed-off areas... this is the trade-off for having a player-controllable camera for appreciating the game's eye candy.

Even so, while I like the game a lot, I can't really recommend it for everyone. For one thing, it's a Japanese import and thus the english is very limited to the main menus. It's not impenetrable though... most of the kanji is in story text which are pretty much unnecessary to the basic enjoyment of the game... you can pretty much understand what's going on anyway even if a detail or two is missed in the meantime.

There ARE some rumors that Oneechanbara Vortex may make it Stateside eventually... no details yet though. For now, this title is only for the Xbox360 owner who loves fan service a lot and can afford the costly import. In that case, this game is a rare gem. It's no Dead Rising in terms of detail and gameplay depth, but darn... I'd rather stare at someone slashing zombies for hours on end, I'd rather it be a hot, scantily-clad babe than some sweaty, hairy guy. Hoho!

Oneechanbara Vortex is now available for the Xbox 360. Check your local import game shop or online game website if you're interested in this bloody fun slasher.

Snake in my Pocket



No, I'm not talking about anything lewd... I'm talking about the latest PSP blockbuster title, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Finally a true stealth-action strategy title, instead of the card battle-based Metal Gear Acid PSP games in the past, MGS PO is a true sequel to the last MGS adventure, MGS3: Snake Eater for the PS2. It's kind of odd that Konami would put such a high-profile game onto a handheld when it would no doubt have been a more complete game on a home console... but still, MGS PO has it's own flavor and gameplay elements which translate well to the handheld.

Set a couple of years after the events in MGS3, PO sees Naked Snake AKA Big Boss captured by some mysterious new faction looking for something called "The Legacy". Unfortunately, Snake doesn't know what the heck the Legacy is (and if he did, he probably still wouldn't talk anyway), so instead of waiting around for the next torture session, he breaks out of Dodge with the help of a fellow prisoner named Roy Campbell. It is soon revealed through communication with old friend Paramedic that Snake has been taken prisoner by the now-renegade Fox Unit, and is even suspected by the US of treason. Now on his own, our lone wolf decides that going solo isn't going to cut it this time. With Campbell in tow, he sets out to form his own army, prove his innocence, take down the Fox Unit and save the world from Nuclear Holocaust. Again. And you're going to do it on commutes, between meetings and during downtime on your PSP. Impossible? Not so.

What makes things a bit hard though from the get-go is the PSP itself. The limited controls/buttons available on the handheld makes for some changes in the way you control your Naked Snake. Movement is done via the analog nub (the joystick), while the d-pad controls the camera. Every button is used for Snake's arsenal of moves, from sneaking to crouching to hand-to-hand combat to shooting weapons. The learning curve is a bit steep, but a few hours of play should have you moving like a pro. Still, it can get pretty frustrating to walk into an area when it's impossible to see if an enemy is nearby or staring at the door you're coming through. The game gives you a bit of leeway to keep from being too deadly, so hopefully you won't be throwing your PSP into orbit after a few deaths.

As mentioned earlier, MGS PO requires you to recruit your own army, which basically entails that you sneak up to individual soldiers, knock them unconscious and drag them to your truck for... convincing. These new recruits can be tech specialists, spies, operatives or grunts, and you can send them off to do missions. Instead of the linear storyline of previous MGS games, PO is mission-based, with key elements of the plot appearing as you do certain missions. These jobs are often short bursts of action, which are perfect for short play sessions on the PSP. There are online multiplayer options and modes where you can pit your soldiers against those of other PSP owners, putting at stake your hard-won recruits should you lose.

Despite the control issues, MGS PO is a must-play for fans of this iconic videogame series. The production qualities are high, though the cinematics are done this time mostly with animated comic book panels, instead of the full-on cinematics from the console games. The story, of course, is complex but gripping, and will easily keep you playing to the bitter, bloody end. At the very least, this should tide us all over till the next REAL MGS game- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots- finally comes out of hiding on the PS3.

Out of the Box

Today I made a big step and gave away a part of The Sanctum. Specifically, my Xbox and a whole bunch of games. The original Microsoft black box had become redundant- I was no longer playing any of its games, and the two games that were indispensable to me on it- namely Dead or Alive 3 and Dead or Alive Ultimate- are now playable on my new Xbox360 (thanks to an update for backwards compatibility). So it was with mixed feelings that I gave away the big ol' black box as a Christmas present to my nephews. On the bright side, they'll probably bring it to Canada when they leave next year, so at least part of The Sanctum will be going places.

I'll miss Ninja Gaiden (though I can get a new version on the PS3), Halo 1 and 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire... I never knew you, but I'll miss the possibility of playing you. Kakuto Chojin, Tao Feng and Stake... I won't miss you too much.

The original Xbox was a cool console. It was big and bulky and heavy, but I liked it. There were a lot of great games, but was just eclipsed into the background by it's younger brother. Still, there are tons of titles out there now available for it, so it's not like I gave my nephews a dead console (the Dreamcast is still in my cabinets, in storage). I hope they enjoy it for a long time to come.

Okay. I'm ready for my PS3 now. Heh.

Old War Stories


Friendship, betrayal, love, war... in the palm of your hand.

Back in the days of the original Playstation, several games held players' attentions like no other. One such classic title was Final Fantasy Tactics. A spin-off strategy title from the best-selling RPG line from Squaresoft, FFT is still revered today as one of the very best turn-based strategy war games ever released on the Playstation.
I originally got into it simply because I had just come off Final Fantasy VII, and learned that FFVII heroes Cloud and Aerith would be appearing in the game. But while I came for the cameos, I stayed for the war. Set in Ivalice (yes, the same place where the current FFXII is set), FFT chronicles a complex tale of royal ascension, demonic invasion, high-level conspiracy and a long friendship betrayed by ambition, FFT drove players to keep fighting seemingly hopeless battles in order to see how this epic tale ended. Granted, the storytelling was a bit too complex often, but it didn't matter. I played this one hours and hours on end, trying to make my small army into the deadliest collection of killers in Ivalice. It was bliss, to say the least.

A sequel came a few years ago on the Gameboy Advance, but I didn't get into the somewhat more kiddy title. I've been waiting for the next bit of news for quite a while.



Squaresoft has announced the release of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lions War on the Playstation Portable. This is basically a port of the original PS1 Tactics, now spiced up with slick, cel-shaded cut scenes showing the story unfold. Additionally, new job classes will make their debut, including the oddly-named Onion Knight. So... do they make the enemy cry or something? We'll just have to wait to find out.

The PSP Tactics will be coming to Japan sometime in 2007. No news yet on a US release, but seeing as how this is one of the hotter FF titles, such a thing would be inevitable. At least, I hope it is. It'll be good to go to the REAL Ivalice once more. Mmm. Final Fantasy Tactics. Good times.

Fatal Fantasy

I'm sorry. I tried. I really did. But I just couldn't do it. I have to quit.

It's over for me.

I'm not playing Final Fantasy XII anymore.

No matter that some say that it's the next step in the series. No matter that quite a few gaming sites are calling it the coolest thing since sliced bread. This offline MMO-wannabee just doesn't grab me. The characters and the Episode One-ish story about their warring countries are uninteresting and boring and the game system just stymies me with how it throws nigh-invincible enemies at you along with regular monster encounters. The huge but often empty arenas of play are tiresome to explore, and the music just has no soul.

Call me a FFVII Loyalist, an Anime-RPG fanatic or just plain old-fashioned. But I feel that even with all the ruffles, wild hair, anime cliches and archetypes of FF's past, at least the previous games made me care. FFXII just leaves me... dry.

Moving on...

Oscar Night



Here's The Salt Mines Crew at our spiffiest during our very early office Christmas Party last week (the only one missing is our Head Honcho-ness, who's taking the picture).

There was quite a few things to be thankful for this year- we've filled up our formerly bare lobby area display with award statuettes and won a couple of hard-fought pitches. It's pretty cool I think to realize how far we've come after several years, from being a very low-profile ad agency to a company that's getting noticed quite a bit in the industry. We're lean and mean, and we can only get better. I'm glad to have these guys and gals to work with day to day.

A MADman couldn't ask for a crazier bunch to keep one's insanity intact. Here's to another year of producing salt!

WiiTF?!

On other console news, seems that the current rage among gamers who got the Nintendo Wii these days is getting people hurt. Apparently, quite a few 'energetic' gamers are gratuitously over-exerting themselves and expending far too much energy into some swings with the console's movement-sensitive controller. While waving the remote like a tennis racket or golf club, some gamers have apparently thrown the controller at their TVs, at pets or even family members. There have been quite a few bruises and broken TV screens as a result.

No matter that the remote comes with a wrist strap or that you really don't need to swing it that hard... some pretty hardheaded and homicidally clumsy individuals with a bit too much energy still manage to wreck stuff or do harm.

I think it's pretty fricking' ridiculous- no, IDIOTIC- to swing a teeny controller with enough force to crack a skull. Like, come on now. How stupid can you get? Seriously.

My First PS3 Game



The image above is the box art for the Japanese version of Virtua Fighter 5. Reported to be a pretty much perfect port of the arcade game that's been out in Japan since July 2006, the latest installment of Sega's flagship fighting game is due to impress at home on the PS3.

Aside from the usual stuff- like next-gen character models, blazing fast 60 FPS animation, character customization features, more martial arts styles and moves than a Bloodsport tournament and 17 unique fighters- VF5 for the PS3 will feature no doubt home-only features such as VS and Training Modes (as seen in the screenshot below) and supposedly, a playable End Boss.

Sega has already announced a firm release date of February 8, 2007 for the Japanese version. The game will be a bit pricier than the usual Playstation game, but will come with a nice little extra- a copy of Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary Edition- which basically is the old-style Virtua Fighter (with 90s style blocky polygon graphics... talk about retro) but updated with VF4 moves and characters. But let's face it... I probably won't play this at all once I get VF5.



With my reason for getting a PS3 arriving in February, I guess I can consider myself lucky I'm single. Heh.

To Be Continued

A little introspection break in between the random posts about videogames, Avatar and gutter-dreaming.

Looking back on this year, I have to say that 2006 was a year of transition. It was a year of change and leaving behind things. There were things I thought would last for a while but ended up abruptly fading into little more than fond memory.

One casualty of the year was my drive for comics. A lot of what kept me going was having people around whom you could draw strength from and inspiration... and unfortunately, that drifted away like cigarette smoke in a strong wind some time ago. Once that was gone, so was the drive to tell stories and create dreams about flying superheroes and magical worlds. Simply put, it all went away. For the past few months I haven't touched a single page, haven't put a pen to paper or even thought of any story to commit to bringing to life. Who cares? Perhaps one of the, oh, dozen faithful readers might, but I really didn't know any of them. And so, I just kept living life day to day, immersing myself in work, keeping busy with the bothers at The Salt Mines and generally just being a very comfy homebody (which was easy given The Sanctum's DSL connection- easily the best thing I got this year). After a few months, I got used to staying in on Saturdays, seldom bothering to go to the crowded malls in the weekend unless my college bud Pot comes a-calling.

It doesn't help that it's so fricking EASY to just lay down and sleep. It's so fricking easy to just be mundane and watch others do stuff while you just mutter "I can do that too... If I wanted to." It's so easy to just say I earn well, I have good stuff. I don't need anything else.

Thankfully, the past Komikon re-ignited the spark of the Comicka in me. Seeing young artists with bright new stories, newbies with their xerox-copied first issues and the huge community of indie artists and writers made me realize how I love doing this stuff. I wasn't doing this just as a way to make or keep friends... I was writing and drawing and creating because I CAN. And I frickin' love doing it. And that's why, despite seemingly laying down to die these past few months, I have made it my goal to keep on drawing panels and comics. I want to see another Angel Ace story. I want to continue seeing Agent K kick butt. I want to see what happens next to Kunoichi Boy. I want to see what else is lurking in the mind of one Stark Raving MADman.

For this year, it's over. Chalked up to experience. I don't think this year was wasted, nor do I regret going through it. Change happens, as I've written before. I'll consider it a vacation at best, withdrawal period at worst. It's going back to basics and learning to do comics for the love of comics and nothing more, nothing less. I'll enjoy the Christmas season as much as I can and dream of getting new toys for the New Year to blog and rave about and complain about and keep myself occupied in the down time.

Next year is going to be hard. Next year, my family splits up as my sister takes her brood to Canada. Next year though is also the year I get a PS3 and enter the wonderful world of High Definition Gaming. Next year I have put on to somehow continue telling stories and making indie comics despite having steadily-growing costs of living and having to keep on working doubly hard in the fickle world of Advertising. Next year, our government will surely be even more crooked than this year... or it will be gone, God Willing.

Can I do it? Maybe. Maybe not. But at least there's one thing I can keep doing.

Stark Raving MAD goes on. Where will it go? Well, you'll all just have to keep on tuning in to find out.

And now, back to our regular scheduled remorseless mad blogging.

The Next Generation of Beating People Up

The Playstation 3 may not have had a Launch to End All Launches, nor is the initial software lineup anything to scream about (at least, not in a good way), but I'm still pretty much locked into getting myself one. It's inevitable, simply because for the near future, the best fighting games of the next generation are headed for Sony's black monolith.


Delicate but deadly, Aiki-jutsu expert Aoi Umenokouji is but one of the fighters in the PS3's first big fighting game.

The first and obvious title of course is Virtua Fighter 5. The latest installment of Sega's flagship fighting game has been out for almost a year in Japan, while the rest of the world can only drool at the literally hundreds of hi-res videos uploaded on the internet by VF5 players (the Japanese arcade units allow recording of matches- awesome). Suffice to say, even after watching several hundred match videos, I'm still pumped.
This game has more martial arts moves than an entire video shop's worth of martial arts movies, oodles of gameplay depth that other fighters can only dream of attaining and graphical goodness that makes for the most detailed and gorgeous character models yet. The characters in motion are pretty amazing, with the VF fighters designed to look more realistic than, say, in rival games like Dead or Alive. The animation is unreal, and so far all I've seen are videos- I can only imagine at how this game actually looks and moves running on a on a PS3 with a really nice TV. With 17 unique characters to master and kick butt with, I'll probably be playing this game even when the PS4 comes out. Unbeatable.


Tekken 5's Asuka Kazama and Lili have gotten wider since the last time... about 1080p wider.

The second game fighting game fans will be checking out on PS3 is the next-gen version of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. This is basically the same game as the original arcade upgrade to Tekken 5, albeit now in High Definition. There looks to be some new aspects to arenas (the stage above was formerly only seen burning and at night) and a playable Boss character. Instead of releasing this rehash as an actual disc, Sony and Namco are apparently putting it out as a download on the PS Online Network. No word yet if us players outside of Japan or the US can get this though. In any case, I already have this game on PSP, so no big loss if I can't. Still, seeing Asuka and Nina in HD sounds cool, so I'll get this if I can.

2007 should be a great year for fighting gamers, whose genre has suffered a bit of decline in recent times. But with VF5 and Tekken 5 DR coming soon and the inevitable Tekken 6 and DOA5 on the horizon, the future looks bright for beat 'em ups.

Early Christmas



The Salt Mines had it's Christmas Party yesterday, which was a nice little shindig with good music (care of the Madrigal Singers Choir), good food and lots of lovely people. Everyone was in their formal wear, given the party's theme of "Hollywood Glam". It was, incidentally, my first time to ever wear a suit (at least, the jacket) to an occasion. Aside from the eating and the singing and some dancing (or attempts to dance, on my part), there was lots of mingling with our clients into the night. A raffle held later didn't yield anything for me, which is nothing new. Heh.

The worst thing though about celebrating your office Christmas party early is, as our boss mentioned, that NO ONE wants to work anymore afterwards. Well, there's still a couple of weeks to go before closing the door on the Salt Mines for the year, so we're going to have to cope. Somehow. Oh well.

Tekken for the PS3...

... is Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection???

Just hot off the news press of Famitsu Weekly in Japan is this somewhat irritating bit of news. Apparently, since obviously Namco is nowhere near ready to announce anything about the phantom sequel, Tekken 6, they're putting up this little hold-over to keep fighting fanatics busy. Based off the arcade version of Tekken DR, which powered the excellent PSP version, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection for the PS3 will be available for download from the Playstation Network in the near future.
The PS3 version will feature full 1080p visuals and have a playable Boss (the ultra-cheap Jinpachi with his man-high fireballs... yay) as an extra. The various game modes will be updated to the PS3.

Okay. This is just... nothing. I already have the PSP version, which is already great and upgraded from the barebones arcade game. The PS2 version still works just fine. Now, what else can they do with this oldie for the PS3? CG-quality updated skins? New costumes? The playable cheapo boss does NOTHING for me. While arguably the best Tekken in years, this game is old news. I want Tekken 6. If I am going to get a PS3 fighting game with a title that ends with '5', it's going to have to start with the words 'Virtua Fighter'. Damn straight.

This is just a delay tactic, a stop-gap gimmick, all I can say. I don't even know if we non-Japanese or non-US people can download the thing (hopefully we will be able to drink from the PS Network pool as well). In any case, this reeks of 'Tekken 6 is still in Limbo, chew on this for a while'. Feh.

But if they give us bikini outfits for the girls, I'll bite. Hahaha.

Season Shocker



I just watched the Second Season Finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and all I can say is... Whoa.

Once again, this TV kid's cartoon demonstrates why its fans are dedicated to the extreme. No other show is this mature, this deep and unconventional. Going into the Finale, no doubt countless fans thought they knew where the story was heading, what certain characters would do or wouldn't do, where black was black and white was white. Well. That was pretty much wrong. The Book of Earth ends with a truly shocking cliffhanger... by the end of the 40th episode, the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se is under enemy control and Aang the Avatar himself is barely alive.

If there's one thing that threw viewers for a loop, it was the choice a certain character made which was opposite to the direction that had been the apparent obvious choice to make. However, the unexpected (or perhaps undesired) happened and that was that.
It's a gutsy move, but then again, Avatar has always been a gutsy show- once again demonstrating this in one of the finale's most striking moments; when an opponent starts charging up for a super-duper power attack, one does not just stop and stare... You strike first. And strike hard. Ouch.

Unfortunately, while the action-packed finale was certainly intense (perhaps the most intense yet), it does not satisfy. There are plot threads left flying free all over, and the enemy has swept the board but for a couple of pieces. It's the proverbial "Empire Strikes Back" chapter for Avatar, and it just leaves me craving more. I need to see the next episode NOW. I want to know what happens next NOW.

NOWNOWNOWNOWNOWNOWNOWNOWNOW.

Damn it all. It's going to be a long frickin' wait till Season 3. Damn it.cas

Time Flies

Days seem to fly by fast these days... either it's a sign that the earth is spinning faster as it steadily builds towards it's inevitable cosmic end... or I'm just getting older and sleeping longer. In any case, I'm glad that the hours seem to tick away faster. There are things I want to come quicker and sooner, and my hatred of waiting flares unabated.

With this coming weekend comes as well the END of the Second Season of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Book of Earth ends with a one-hour special (2 episodes back-to-back) that airs in the US on Nickelodeon this Friday, December 1. The buildup towards this climactic finale has been nothing short of phenomenal, and I can very well assure you that every single Avatar fan will be perched like vultures on TVs and computers everywhere come this weekend. Thank goodness for the Internet that I have access to this incomparable show. After this, one more season of Avatar Awesomeness to go. Fans willing though, this series should go on indefinitely. Sigh.

Just a couple more days. I can wait a couple more days. Darn it.

Toys for the Big Boys

Yesterday, me and my college bud Pot went over to Megamall to check out a couple of things. One was the Playstation 3, which we speculated was already available at the mall's Toy Kingdom. Well, it was... for a frickin' 59K for the deluxe 60 GB version (the 20GB version is available as well for a slightly less scandalous 45K). Luckily, I was pretty prepared to just shrug the thing off, though deep inside a voice was screaming for me to bust out my ATM card and blow all my savings on this expensive black toaster. Nah... the only games that were available were a two Gundam titles (zzzz), Ridge Racer 7 (zzzzzz) and Tales of Genji 2 (zzzz). Hardly compelling games. And so, after a slight longing glance, I turned from the temptation and resolved to return when the games were better and the price cheaper.

Right next to the PS3 on display was a Nintendo Wii, starkly contrasting to the black PS3 box with its white packaging. Although much cheaper than the PS3 at 30K (which is quite affordable for a brand-new console), I wasn't really interested in it since I didn't like NIntendo's game lineup, or their 'kiddie' mentality when it comes to their general gaming content. Still, it was interesting to note. But I didn't fall for the Gamecube, so I probably won't go with this one either.

After that, we headed off to the fourth floor to the Megatrade Hall, where a Gun Show was being held. Pot is a total gun freak and sad to say, it was catching. Of course, I have always been fascinated with guns (you can't be a gamer with all these shooters and war games without at least being curious about the real thing), and in this case I was kind of interested to acquire a fire arm, but strictly for home defense. The Gun Show was packed- it was crowded to the extreme with all kinds of people, all united by one thing- they were all gun owners. Guns were on display, and available for browsing (though safely neutered), and I couldn't resist taking one up and feeling the weight. So... that's how heavy a human life is. I walked down the aisles and looked to the booths, the sight of bullets in big bottles reminding me of candy in a candy shop. Everyone was looking over guns, buying guns, handling guns. Honestly, I felt like I was in some kind of foreign nation, deep in some weird culture. Still, it was something that one couldn't totally dismiss in these dangerous times.

Despite a slight gnawing which was the Impulse Buyer in me, I decided to put off getting a weapon for now... perhaps someday, if I really feel the need for it, or when I can afford spending several thousand and hope to never use it.

Afterwards, we were off back to home, dinner and winding down to the next work week. That was different, to say the least.

A Day at the Beach

Yes, I went ahead and took a day off after about three days of intensive pitch work. But no, I didn't actually go to the beach. My copy of Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 arrived today, and I gave it the once over. I paid for a so-called 'Limited Edition' copy of the game, and it came in packed in a nice box with those cute little foam biscuits, along with a limited edition pack of DOAX2 Playing Cards. Well, I don't really play cards so I'll just keep the pack in storage and maybe sell it on eBay someday... anyway, on to the game.
Thankfully, despite being a Japanese version, DOAX2 has both english and Japanese language tracks, as well as subtitles. The english-dub is satisfactory; I didn't find myself turning to the regular Japanese voices, though I have to admit I initially winced at hearing Helena speak english with a French accent.

As with the first game, DOAX2 puts you onto a resurfaced, resurrected Zack Island, a tropical vacationer's paradise created by the easy-going Muay Thai expert from the DOA fighting game. Once again, the DOA girls are lured into the island on various pretenses, but in the end it's all the same. Your chosen girl for the game spends 2 weeks on the island, relaxing at the poolside, engaging in various diversions like minigames and the title's two main activities (volleyball and jetski races) and using the proceeds earned to purchase tons of items and sexy swimsuits.

Once again, instrumental to the game is making and keeping relationships with other characters through gift-giving and doing well in volleyball games. The friendlier your team is with each other, the better they play and the more rewards you'll get in terms of gifts from your partner and in some little extra bits. The sexy Gravure Scenes have returned ranging from the girls frolicking on the beach to looking a bit too interested in some large trees, to a scandalously hot pole dancing scene you have to unlock. These scenes are a lot sexier than in the previous game, and there are even two-girl scenes if you're good enough. Fan service, T&A and lots of bouncy boobs are the name of the game here, and if you enjoy anime and videogame babes, this is one slick title.

So far, I've played through the 2-week Vacation mode three times- getting money is hard at first, but gets easier once you get the hang of the slightly revised volleyball game- which is still let down a bit by an occasionally restrictive camera. The camera for taking snaps in the Gravure Scenes will also take getting used to, even going as far as having detailed camera settings if you want to take in-game photos of your virtual models.

The game, of course, looks incredible- virtual skin never looked so nice. Next generation graphics right there. Heheh. This is a nice fun title for anyone who owns an Xbox360 and loves virtual vixens- those looking for serious sports or deep gameplay will probably be disappointed. It's all just shallow, depthless but quite fetchingly gorgeous fun here. A nice getaway every now and then, and that's all I can ask for these days.
Now, if you'll excuse me... I have to go buy some bikinis.

Back from the Salt Mines

I haven't been able to post lately thanks to a big pitch at the Salt Mines which had me and everyone else in the Creative Department working overtime every day since last week. A pitch basically entails intensive brainstorming and group work for hours and hours on end, seeing us all wail away the night and early morning in the office, sustained only by our sense of teamwork, professional duty and bottles and bottles of caffeine-heavy beverages. Work piles on and things get re-worked again and again until the last second when no more modifications or adjustments can be made. Then, we go and sell the stuff to the client... and hope our stuff is better than, oh, some of the sharpest ad agencies in the country.

But even though there's a dull pain in the back of my head and in the area of my face just between by eyes and hair line (due to lack of sleep... I probably had less than eight hours total sleep in the past three days), I feel content and happy. Happy that I was able to work alongside a great team and give the job at hand our darndest best. That's what matters, really. Though bagging a multi-million peso account would be fricking sweet too.

Gonna take a rest though. A little break and a pause to stop and smell the flowers, enjoy a game or two and just catch up on Z's.

Break starts... NOW.

Going Elemental



Here's some awesome elemental action from my favorite series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. The current episode, The Earth King, sees Aang and friends racing to warn the mysterious leader of the vast Earth Kingdom of the threat being posed by the Fire Nation outside Ba Sing Se's walls, and the danger of the ruthless Dai Li within. Unfortunately, one doesn't just "pop in" to see the Earth King, and now they have to go through an army to reach their quarry. Air, Earth and Water join in the young heroes' hands as their rush into battle.

Action this good isn't the only reason why I love Avatar, but darn it's one of the better ones. Enjoy!

Two weeks to the Season Finale of Avatar's second season... darn... it's going to be a long wait.

The Dark Side of Gaming

The Playstation 3 is out in both Japan and the US, and already there have been some less-than-savoury incidents. There have been reports of armed robbers breaking into stores and carting away the valuable consoles, and even of some guy getting shot when he refused to give up his newly-purchased Sony console. Ouch! Don't die for your PS3, gamers... you can always get a new PS3, but unlike videogame characters, we don't come with extra lives or continues.
No doubt stolen PS3s are destined to be resold at astronomical prices for desperate gamers. I really don't see these thieves actually going through all that trouble just to play Resistance: Fall of Man.
Anyway, I haven't seen PS3s locally, but I'll be standing off getting one until games like the super-slick Virtua Fighter 5 show up on it. That's still a ways off- perhaps some time in the first quarter of 2007. Hopefully the price will have gone down from the 50K+ amount it is now. Well, I have the Christmas break to mull things over, but gaming should be good in the New Year. Though I may have to make allowances for a gun to go with a new PS3 for my own protection... Sigh.

All that Jiggles isn't Gold

Tecmo's sexy sequel, Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 is out in the US, and gaming sites have so far been uniformly blasting the fan service title with low review scores. Reasons cited include the game not addressing issues from the previous game, and in some cases worsening the already scant amount of actual gameplay. The newly-added minigames are described as one-shot ponies and the new main game of Jetskiing didn't live up to the hype. The volleyball, which returns from the first release, has been made a bit harder- in the views of several reviewers, more frustrating.
Still, the reviews all still concede that if you're looking for digital divas to ogle as they cavort about in bikinis, this is THE game to have. I'll see it myself though, when my own copy arrives. Oh well.

The Adventure Continues...

Work is going well on the 2nd issue of Kunoichi Boy. I'm on the pencilling stage, with more than half of the pages done. I'm targetting the issue to finish by mid-December, so I can release copies of both Issue 1 and 2 back in Comic Quest and other comic shops, hopefully. I'm thinking of finishing at least 4 issues before working on compiling them all into one trade paperback release that should be in time for the next Kon.
Kunoichi Boy follows the journey of Jin, a travelling artist, and his reluctant bodyguard and companion Mikoto, a buff female brawler, through the strife-ridden land of Tao. Along the way, they cross paths with the mysterious Pink Ninja, who may or may not be Jin in drag...

Issue 2 has Jin and Mikoto entering a quiet little village... which would be kinda boring if not for the band of bandits and rogue ninja who are holding the whole place hostage. Expect the new issue of KBoy out by mid-to-late December. Just keep on tuned to the blog for further developments.

Go, Go, Gadget!



Thanks to a sudden windfall, I got a new gadget. It's the Sony Ericsson W700i, the latest itineration of Walkman Phone. The lovely little mobile comes with 2 Megapixel camera with flash, all the Walkman music features, Memory Stick Pro Duo support (up to 4 Gigs), FM radio and lots of other perkies. Plus, it comes in Titanium Gold. WOOHOO!

Okay, you'll probably say, why downgrade? Yeah, it's a downgrade from my present O2 XDA IIi. But hey... no problem! It's not for me... it's for my Mom, a sort of early Christmas gift. I give her this, and I basically give her a new phone, an mp3 player and a nice digicam- three gadgets that she has expressed interest for.
The phone looks quite slick, with the metallic exterior being a world away from the candy-white and orange colors of the original W800i Walkman Phone (which I learned is by now being 'phased out' at the legit cellphone shops). Placing the Sim card and setting up the phone was pretty easy, but then it's my Mom who has to come to grips with the thing, not me. This is her first phone with a joystick, so she'll have to get used to that. Still, even this early she is really enjoying hearing her tunes and being able to get her favorite radio station with her phone.

I really like the phone myself, but really, it's not for me. I tried putting a video on it, and the viewing experience is... not good. The 3GP video isn't at all nice to look at, and the dinky screen is just far too small. I'd miss all my Pocket PC perks if I downgrade to a 'normal' phone, even a smartphone like the Nokia N73 (which caught my eye a bit) or the Sony Ericsson P990i. I guess I should be happy that I have at present everything I need in a mobile. Still, it was nice to feel the aura of newness with a new device... even if it isn't mine. Heh.

The Price of Gaming


Are you ready for the PS3? More importantly, is your wallet?

The Death Star of Gaming, Sony's Playstation 3 is on the horizon- literally just a week away. Online, some gaming shops already have it in their inventory for pre-order. How much is the uber-gaming console? Well, according to Play-Asia.com, the Japanese version PS3 with a 60GB hard drive can be yours for a paltry 990 dollars. That amounts to about 50,228 pesos. Got that? FIFTY THOUSAND PETOTS.
What else can you buy with 50K? Well, you can probably buy the most expensive PDA phone, like the O2 XDA Exec, or a cheap laptop. You can buy a pretty souped-up Desktop PC with a lot of trimmings like Mega-sound, big monitor, 200+GB HDs, DVD writer drives and a nifty table. Or you can buy an Xbox 360 and several legit games. Or you can live vicariously for a week or two.
Also according to Play Asia, the PS3 20GB version sells for a slightly lesser $899, or Php45,200. Still quite a price. 40+ was the most expensive price I saw for an original Xbox a couple of years ago.

Games for the PS3 at launch, however, are hardly must haves. There will probably be a Ridge Racer title, and the shooter/action title Resistance: Fall of Man. Bigger titles like FFXIII, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Virtua Fighter 5 aren't due out until next year, while some like Tekken 6 are still... shudder... TBA. Not exactly a lineup that will drive me into the game store with my life savings.

Even with the prospects of a happy end of the year, I don't think I'll be getting a PS3 anytime soon. Give me a lower price and next-gen fighters and Solid Snake and I'll bite. But thankfully, that won't be for a while. Still, if anyone has 50K to throw away, I'll be happy to come over and test the unit for you, absolutely for free. Heheh.

Vengeance Online

Lately, the anime series Girl from Hell or Jigoku Shoujo has started showing on Animax. This supernatural/drama series is based on the overall idea that there is a website which allows the wronged, the bullied and the oppressed to send their tormentors to HELL. The website, which can only be accessed at midnight (and only once by any person) has a very simple interface- all you need to is input the name of the guilty party in the blank space. In a flash, the titular Girl from Hell, Enma Ai, will appear and give the 'client' a small straw doll with a red string wound around its neck. To seal the contract, the client must untie the string. Immediately after, the tormentor will be sent to hell.

Unfortunately, all isn't wine and roses. As Enma Ai says, "Whenever a person is condemned, two graves are dug." That means that while the accused is immediately consigned to Hell, the accuser him/herself will follow as well, once he or she dies. To mark their inevitable fate, a black mark appears on the breast of the person who contracted the services of the Jigoku Shoujo. Better think before you act, I guess.

Animax has been promoting the... well, the hell out of this series, and perhaps the hype was a bit too much as when I finally got to watch an episode or two, I was kinda disappointed. The episodes are all stand-alone stories of some person being wronged and how his or her plight escalates to the point where they can't stands no more... and the only recourse is to contract the services of Enma Ai.
After that, like the Lazer Sword of Voltez V, it's all academic as Enma and her cohorts- which include a young man, a geisha girl and an old geezer- give a little payback by confronting the guilty party with their sins. In the end, Ai takes the condemned person to hell on a boat, and that's that. After a few episodes it all gets kinda repetitious, and I can't say that I am particularly impressed by how the 'punishments' are dished out. The guilty don't seem to ever reach the point where they are overly terrorized or are driven to repent or remorse, which makes the part where they are being confronted kind of empty and hollow- or just unsatisfying. Plus, I don't find it clear- what happens to these people? Do they disappear as if they are physically dragged into Hell? Or do their physical bodies die? The series seems a bit vague on these points.
I have to say as well that some of the situations make me angry more at the ones being tormented, rather than the tormentors. There simply HAS to be other ways to resolve some of these problems, without condemning yourself to a hellish afterlife, right?

It doesn't help either that the viewings of GFH have so far been with Animax's less-than-excellent english dubs (ah, Animax and their vast complement of five voices). The stories are very Japanese and perhaps would benefit from more authentic vocal performances.

Still, lovers of drama anime (dranime?) will probably get absorbed in the masochistic pleasure of watching poor saps get hammered before lashing out in revenge with supernatural aid. The series already has proven popular enough for a Second Season, as well as a live-action series. For me, this kind of vengeance doesn't really cut it. I'll hire Golgo 13 over Enma Ai any day of the week. Beats going to Hell, I think.

Fighting Fire with Fire



If you've been reading my blog for the past couple of months, you'll probably remember me posting some videos showing off the awesome elemental action from Avatar. Well, I've already posted for earth and water... here's a video showing off Firebenders in action. The video is from the Season 1 episode, "The Southern Air Temple", and has the show's anti-hero Prince Zuko squaring off with Season 1's eventual main baddie, Admiral Zhao. Many Avatar fans consider this fight one of the best in the whole series. Don't try this at home, kids.

Chit Chat

Thanks to our one-and-only Webmistress, Cynthia, the DEAD tagboard has finally been removed and replaced with a nice little Chatterbox for short messages and notes. Thanks, Cyn! But of course, as always, any SPAMMING or TROLLING is prohibited and will be deleted on sight. So keep your chatter nice, people!