Chaos

Or, the 3-day Weekend Sale. It starts today and ends on Sunday, which just hits on a payday, which pretty much guarantees a flood of humanity to gush into the Bermuda Triangle of shopping, Ortigas Center. I don't want to waste any time- gotta make a beeline for home after work, and then sequester myself for the duration as I try to do all I can in the space of two days or so to finish my quota for Project Hero. I truly haven't been able to accomplish anything during the week- which means I have to double-triple-quadruple my efforts on Saturday and Sunday to finish 14 pages of comic book fun.

If I do manage to pull it off though, it'll mean I got my comic book groove again.

I can do it. No problem. Right. I guess. Hmmm. Whatever. Gonna be busy-busy-busy.

Tech Lust


The Video-capable I-Pod. DAMN.

Okay, hang onto those bonuses and Christmas pay, people.

The new I-Pod will be coming with VIDEO. Og! Yep, Apple just announced that the latest incarnation of the widly-popular music player will finally have the ability to play movies and videos on a 2.5-inch color screen. The new video pod will come in 30 or 60 gig-variants, which is a HELL of a lot more than any SD card or portable mobile hard drive (the recently announced HD for PSP clocks in at 4 gigs) can give. Wow. 60 gigs. 60 FRICKING GIGABYTES of video and music. My Gosh. And given the long-life of I-Pod batteries, you may actually enjoy a good number of these vids before needing to recharge.

And the kicker is, the new video-pod will be thinner and lighter than past models. It's designed like the recently-released I-Pod Nano, thinner than a box of light cigarettes, and can load 150 hours of video. MY GOSH!

Am I impressed? Yes. Am I interested? Yes. Still, the loveliness of having a phone that plays video is that it IS a phone, and you carry it along with you as a matter of course. An I-Pod is a wholly separate device, something you have to bring along because you want to play the stuff you have in it. But darn... this is awesome.

It's a toss-up now. Xbox360 or I-pod Video. Heh. Why not both? We'll see. We'll see. HOHO!

Fembot

Here's an update on the Dead or Alive-HALO connection. Remember when I reported that there will be a character from the Halo universe guest-starring in DOA4? We were all expecting hologram-babe Cortana to be the one, but it appears we were all wrong (goes to show that the most obvious choice is seldom the right choice).

Nope. According to the latest Game Informer magazine, complete with pics, the Halo guest character is none other than a Spartan, or Spartan 458 to be specific, which is, as Halo gamers would know, a female version of the game's main character, Master Chief. From afar it's kinda hard to distinguish that the bulky battle-armored borg is actually a babe, but that's the fact. Now, while it's not likely that the Spartan will have a bounce, I'm actually looking forward to seeing this cyborg in action against the rest of the DOA ladies.

Dead or Alive 4 is slated for release later this year along with the launch of the new Xbox360.

Aaaaaaawwwww...



Darn, isn't she so cute? The Japanese just do cute so well. This is actually from the anime Basilisk, a pretty violent and action-oriented ninja anime along the flavor of Ninja Scroll. The cutie is a kiddie version of the show's female lead, Oboro. Basilisk is one of the latest anime by Gonzo (Hellsing, Gatekeepers, Samurai 7), and is about a war between two ninja clans and the love of their two leaders caught in between.

Gah! She's so cute! Musn't... look... into... eyes...

Board Games

Zathura is the story of two young brothers who, along with their entire house, get transported into space when they start playing a mysterious, retro-scifi boardgame named Zathura. If this whole thing sounds suspiciously similar to Jumanji, wonder no more- it's written by the same author. Anyway, substitute aliens and meteor storms for lions and flash floods and that's pretty much what Zathura is. Still, it looks interesting so I'll probably check it out when it shows in theaters this November.
So what's next? How about a CLUE boardgame murder mystery movie? Or a Dungeons and Dragons-type game? Or RISK?

Silent Hill


Tough ladies battle spooks to rescue a little girl in the Silent Hill movie.

The eerie survival-horror videogame series Silent Hill from Konami bucked the trend started by Capcom's Resident Evil. From gory monster mashes, SH instead went to more visceral, more psychological sources for it's scares. Well, after several games, the franchise has finally spawned a movie. The film version of Silent Hill stars Radha Mitchell (Man on Fire, Finding Neverland), Sean Bean (Boromir from LOTR) and Laurie Holden (Fantastic Four).
The story revolves around Rose (Mitchell), young mother who is desperate to find a cure for her dying daughter. She finally resolves to take the girl to a faith healer, and this leads her through a portal that sends her to the spooky town of Silent Hill. The half-abandoned, mist-shrouded town is inhabited by strange creatures and a mysterious darkness that twists and corrupts all that it touches. The only other humans in Silent Hill are fighting a losing battle against the darkness.

Soon Rose, joined by a female copy named Cybil, must make a pact with a demon to save her daughter's life. How far will these hapless prisoners go to survive? And will they be able to escape the twisted borders of Silent Hill?

Unlike other videogame movies, SH has a good chance of being a stand-alone feature that can cook up its own scares and chills without having to resort to cheezy videogame effects or out-of-place action sequences. This should be something to look forward to when it creeps into theaters in 2006.

Coming: The P990


Sony Ericsson's upcoming communicator.

No, it's not the P1000 gadget whores have been lusting for, but it's almost as good. In fact, it's just ten points away. The upcoming Sony Ericsson P990, which has just been scooped by Infosyncworld, is a long-awaited update to SE's communicator series (of which the latest, the P910i, has pretty much been overtaken by most other superphones as of late).
Incredibly enough, the P990 looks very similar to previous models, however there are significant changes. The thumbboard is now integrated into the main body of the phone, instead of on the keyboard flap. As before, you can open up the phone to use the lovely, large touchscreen (this time with 262,000 colors). A true communicator, the P990 will come with everything- texting, calling, Bluetooth, WiFi and even 3G for videocalling (it comes with a front-mounted camera just for that purpose). Furthermore, it comes equipped with a 2-Megapixel camera that's just as good as the K750 (and comes with photolight, natch). The hefty 80MB onboard memory can be upgraded by Memory Stick Pros which will go up to 4 Gigabytes (WHOA).

You'd think that I'd be excited. Not really- it's a Symbian phone (and supposedly will not run any apps made for previous P-series phones) and I just can't see myself leaving my Pocket PC for it. Still, it's a cool device and a sign of things to come... perhaps the first great phone of the next generation of superphones. We'll just have to see (as well as how much this monster will be). The P990 is due out in 2006.

Remote Control

The one really good thing I happened early today- I managed to figure out how to program the VCR in my room, so now I can set it to record shows even when I'm away at work (which is pretty much all the time). Now I can tape episodes of X-Play and FINALLY learn if indeed Jack TV has only four episodes or if they're showing new stuff on Tuesdays. Ah. This tech stuff if pretty cool.

Security

Yesterday night, I rushed over to Megamall's Cyber Zone to find myself a new holster/beltcase for my mobile. Wouldn't you know it... almost every single holster in the shop has that crappy 'clip' attachment. You know... the kind that tends to let go from your belt when you sit down, leaving your nice, shiny cellphone behind without you knowing. Why aren't there more of the standard 'loop' beltcase, which neatly fits through your belt and STAYS there until you take off your belt to remove it, or if someone either cuts it, or your belt, off. THAT'S Security. THAT is how a beltcase for equipment worth several thousand should be.
You know, I'm pretty convinced that the damn beltcase makers are doing this on purpose- the whole transition to clips and the apparent 'phasing out' of reliable loop beltcases. They do it so people will LOSE their phones and cases more often, so they buy more cases. It's a conspiracy, I tell you. It probably has the involvement of some Cellphone Beltcase Mafia and goes up into the Leather Products Industry, the Telecoms themselves and perhaps even into our black-souled government. Yes. It's true. Laugh if you will, but I believe this is so. Nothing about how evil and greedy people can be surprises me anymore.

VANISHING RAY. All of you.

Anyway, I found ONE loop-equipped beltcase and luckily, it fit my phone perfectly. Joy, joy! I'm back in business.

National Angst

I didn't get up on the right side of the bed this morning in terms of National Pride.

I hate Filipinos. We're a horrible race. Half of us are soulless plundering bastards, while the other half don't even care. Yeah, most of us who blog are part of that uncaring half. We don't care since we believe nothing we can do will help anyway. Not unless EVERYONE picks up and bodily ejects the crap from our political system.

On the radio, it's all about the government going for that 'State of Emergency' nonsense. Meanwhile, some wise guy is proposing the formation of a Railway Academy so we will never be lacking for educated train operators. WHAT THE FOCK? So how many untold millions and kickbacks will be bandied around this time for a whole school for people to operate our rotting trains?

GOD DAMN IT. I hate Filipinos. GOD DAMN IT We are so screwed. FEH.

Liability

These past few months ever since I got my O2 Mini, I've been using the leather case included with the box. The case fit with a belt clip and up to yesterday had been working pretty well. However, the clip has suddenly gone iffy on me. For some reason, the case seems to 'let go' from the belt clip pretty easily now- it's already dropped to the ground about twice, once yesterday and once today (alarmingly on the street!)- good thing the thick protective leather has kept my mobile safe and unblemished.
Then, right after we had lunch at a nearby resto, my heart pretty much leapt into my throat when I felt for my phone at my waist and found NOTHING. Again, the case clip had disengaged, but luckily my Mini was just sitting there next to me on the seat.

I have to get a new beltcase- I just don't like putting my phone in a pocket; I'm too far familiar with the skill of local pickpockets. Preferably I'll get a case with a loop- one that fits around a belt and does not 'let go' with the click of a button. The chances that I could leave my lovely mobile behind on a cab, bus or car, or worse, drop it onto the road unknowingly, are just too great. I'm headed for the phone accessory shop first thing after work.

Birthday Bash and Book Binge

Yesterday my friend and ol' college bud Pot had his birthday and the UP gang got together at Super Bowl in Greenhills to celebrate with fried rice, crispy chicken, noodles, spicy shrimp, beef n' broccoli and other Chinese food staples aplenty. Afterwards, we ranged about the Promenade mall to cap the night.

Passing by Fully Booked, I surprised myself by picking up a couple of books: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Thousand Orcs by R.A. Salvatore. I have always seemed to make it a point to read the actual book before watching a Harry Potter movie translation, and I don't want to break that tradition now, even as it's only a month to go to the showing of the fourth HP movie in theaters. The latest trailer was pretty exciting, so I'm pretty stoked on seeing perhaps the final movie to feature the movie series' original leads (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint) before they turn into blooming adults.
Meanwhile, it's been quite a while since I've read the adventures of dark elf adventurer Drizz't Do'Urden, but for some reason I just felt like picking up the first chapter of the latest trilogy featuring Drizz't and his comrades. As the title suggests, the main antagonists are orcs, the footsoldiers and grunts of evil... so how formidable will these low-level baddies be against heroes who have faced drow armies, demon lords and high-level assassins and come out smiling? Well, it will be interesting to see.

I will have to try and resist pouring into these new volumes since I have to finish my stuff for Project: Hero (of which I have finished the pencilling for Nikki Alfar's story) within the week in time for Saturday's deadline. Then there's the Komikon the week after that and... AAARGGHHH...

The fun never stops in the MADman's world. MAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

PSP Trojan

According to Malware Specialist Symantec, there now exists a trojan (a malicious program) that specifically targets Playstation Portables (PSPs). The trojan takes advantage of recent entrances to the PSP which allow users to run non-signed code (programs and apps not sanctioned by Sony). The trojan, dubbed Trojan.PSPBrick, masquaerades as a download which offers to enable additional capabilities to users. But instead of letting PSP owners execute 'homebrew" codes, the trojan deletes four vital system files required for the PSP to boot its OS, causing the device to become, literally, a useless brick.
Judging from how the trojan does not contain the means to spread to other users from affected PSP units, Symantec reports that the malware isn't causing big damage as of yet- PSP owners who refrain from using unsigned code will be safe.

WHICH leads the conspiracy theorist in me to believe that this 'trojan' may be something that could have been engineered intentionally FOR Sony's interest in punishing users who want to bend the rules a bit to get more out of their PSPs. Hmm? If players get scared of free downloads, they'll stay and use Sony's regulated software. Far-fetched? Maybe. Maybe not. Hmmm.

Now, if Sony got their act together on their portable and provided support for encoding video, internet browsing and other cool stuff, then maybe hacking or getting homebrew software won't be necessary. And maybe (but not likely given how crappy the game lineup is) I'd consider getting myself one of these bricks-er, I mean, PSPs.

Soul-searing Demo


Taking Soul Calibur III for a spin.

I managed to get my hands on a demo for the upcoming uber-fighting game Soul Calibur III for the PS2. It cost a pretty penny (the dvd comes with a copy of Official Playstation Magazine, which is pretty pricey) but it was worth it to play a bit of the game and get a taste of the sword-swinging goodness that's sure to come.

The Demo itself is kinda minimal- there's a mini-intro movie/trailer that has a bit of CG (though none of the awesome footage seen in the latest online videos) and ingame fighting. Pass that and you'll have options for Single Player play and VS Combat. For VS, there are only two characters playable- old foagie samurai Mitsurugi and newcomer psycho-cutie Tira. You'll have access to both of the characters' alternate costumes. There aren't any move lists, so playing with Tira will be kinda touchy-feely, though she looks quite cool as she moves- sexy and impish, and that razor hula-hoop looks scary. However, I've heard that it's going to take a bit of skill to make her an effective player.
The meat of the Demo is in the Single Player modes, of which there are two usable in the demo. There's the Story Mode which gives you control of Kilik, the staff-swinging hero. The Story Mode is pretty cool, with text telling you actually what happens and there are points where you are prompted to choose from one of two directions to go. Unfortunately, the Demo only gives a tantalizing taste of what's to come. Namco are such teases...

The best fun to be had on the Demo is the Character Creation Mode, of course. As expected though, the stuff you can do is pretty limited. While you can make either male or female characters, you have only two occupations to choose from- Ninja (basically like Taki) and Dancer armed with tambourines. There are quite a few items of clothing to put on and layer on your created fighter, or of course you can just strip them down to their cloth-wrap skivvies (heh). The character models aren't as detailed as I would like (they seem even less detailed than those in SC2), but they animate quite well and are quite hi-res so that's no big. Once all the options are unlocked in the final game, you should be able to come up with quite a few interesting created fighters, including some familiar faces from other games (Dante from Devil May Cry and even Cloud from FFVII are favorites among Create-a-Fighter enthusiasts).

The fighting is slightly different and faster from previous installments, but old hands at Soul Calibur should be able to jump right in with no problem. Tira seems very interesting, though I have to say I'm most interested in trying out killer geisha Setsuka. I can't wait to have the whole game- there's bound to be a mind-boggling amount of extras, playability and fun to be had with this, the latest and greatest chapter in the popular series. The finished game should be arriving in the next several weeks.

Project: Hero


United Against... GOOMBA the Three-Eyed!

Here's a scan of the pencilled initial study for the cover of Project: Hero. Comic fans will no doubt notice the resemblance to the classic Fantastic Four cover. The heroes include characters from six of the eight featured titles in the superhero anthology- including Yaya Cadabra by Andrew Drilon, main man Awesome and members of The Craft Century by Dean Alfar, Nikki Alfar's Channel, Vin Simbulan's Kid Continuum, the battle armored Tri-tech by Jamie Bautista and Elbert Or's Jet Titanium the Space Ranger. I'll be adding several more characters before this artwork goes to ink, if it's approved by the almighty editors.

Darn. Gotta get working on the pages...

Heroes Unlimited



Years ago, I've always been a fan of the old Superfriends cartoons, and even more so of the more action-oriented Superfriends vs the Legion of Doom episodes. But while it was cool to have a direct hero vs. villain series back in the 80s, they were always a bit too simplified and kiddy. Now, since we were all kids at the time, that's really not something we could help. Now that a lot of comic fans these days are grown, it's really nice to see that some of our cartoons have grown with us.
Which is probably the best compliment I can give to Justice League Unlimited. I've always liked the original Justice League series (which comprised only of the core DC heroes). But when they added the 'Unlimited' to the title and turned the League into an army of superheroes, I just freaked. It was awesome to see characters like the female Doctor Light, Black Canary, The Creeper, Wildcat, Fire, Red Tornado and countless others appearing, even if just in cameos. Nobody had ever had the ambition to do this- certainly nothing from competitor Marvel Comics. It was incredible to just show off your Universe like this, and JLU arguably has made it's own mark as having a setting and back story that is as gripping as the actual comics.
Justice League Unlimited's best plots of course have to do with Project Cadmus, the shadowy government organization dedicated to creating solutions to the possibility that the Justice League may go rogue. Led by the no-nonsense Amanda Waller, having unlimited resources and influence, Cadmus is a great counter-group against the seemingly all-powerful League. The latter episode Panic In the Sky, where the Watchtower itself is attacked by an army of clone superhumans, is easily the single best superhero battle I've ever seen, animated or live-action.

But along with the action and multitude of superhero cameos, what surprised me is the maturity of the series. There are things taken up in JLU (and even in companion series like the Batman titles) that years ago could never have been thought of- among them, the topic of death. In the (unaired) JLU season finale "Epilogue", this is shown in a poignant scene between Batman and the young, dying supervillain Ace (of the Royal Flush Gang). The dialogue, the mood and Batman's actions (or non-action) is touching in a way I never thought I'd see in a superhero cartoon.

In terms of animation style (Bruce Timm's art style ROCKS!), voice acting (JLU regularly uses veteran actors among its vocal performers) and stories, JLU simply is the best comic to animation title I know today. I can only hope that the next season doesn't take too long in coming. That would be true injustice.

Addendum: Justice League Unlimited's FIFTH Season (or Season 3 as JLU) will continue to focus and give light to other heroes in the DC Universe, as well as signal the arrival of JLU's version of The Legion of Doom, led by Gorilla Grodd. Wowsers! It's gonna be awesome.

Halo goes DOA

It's not a joke... not just a rumor... and I've checked the calendar and it's nowhere NEAR April. And now Bungie themselves have confirmed it. So... it must be true!

Okay, rewind a bit. A story surfaced some time ago that there will be a non-Tecmo franchise character appearing in the upcoming Xbox 360 brawler Dead or Alive 4. Speculation grew but them one rumor proved stronger than most. The guest character will be from Halo, the best-selling sci-fi first person shooter. As mentioned, Bungie has already confirmed that they have met with Team Ninja and have actually 'seen the character in action'. And, they were blown away. So it seems to be a GO.
Now, who is the Halo character playable in DOA4? It has already been confirmed that Halo's main hero, bad-ass cyborg super-solder Master Chief won't be it. That leaves a gaggle of space marines and officers and Halo's menagerie of Covenant aliens... none of which conforms to DOA's overall theme. But then, there's also Cortana, the sexy hologram babe/A.I. that accompanies and guides Master Chief through the game. The only other human female character is a minor personality, the woman Cortana was based on... so, needless to say, our money is on Cortana to tussle along with the DOA girls later this year when DOA4 launches on Xbox360. According to Bungie, they actually supply the back story to how or why their character is appearing in the DOA Universe... though it will be tongue in cheek. Just who the character really is will just have to remain a titillating secret till we get our Xbox Next this holiday season.


"A DOA Girl? Me?"

Paint it Black

Over the weekend I got Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox. This is basically a souped-up, everything-on-it version of last year's uber-action game starring Tecmo's superninja, Ryu Hayabusa. The original NG got top marks, often cited by gaming websites as 'the best action game ever', and I would concur that it's pretty awesome. The graphics and animation are DOA3-quality, Ryu is so incredibly bad-ass with an arsenal of killer ninja moves, enemies are killer and the barely-there-plot serviceable thanks to some cool cinematics. NG was also HARD AS FRICKING HELL- even the first enemies you face are dangerous and can kill you if you're not careful, and it only gets harder into the long game. From apprentice ninja you move onto samurai horsemen, assorted monsters, heavily armed commandos, elite assassins, demons and oodles more adversaries just ready to cut down your life bar to zero. The good thing is that Ryu has all the skillz- defeating any of the enemies in the game is never impossible, never unfair... you just have to know what to do.

Well, that doesn't make it any easier. Superninja or no, you shouldn't have to face a fully-loaded TANK on foot. Well, not without a tank-busting RPG. Or a man-portable particle disruptor cannon. Or a Vanishing Ray.

Anyway, NG Black adds in a ton of stuff, including all the recent add-on packs, or Hurricane Packs, that were made available off Xbox Live after the original game was released. Black also adds in new missions- in fact, about 60 of them- which basically concentrate on what Ninja Gaiden does best- combat. Add in some new cinematics for the story mode and you indeed have an even better version of the best ninja action game yet released on a console. And best of all, there's a new 'Easy' mode for all us who failed to start playing videogames when we were three. Heh. Anyway, action fans should check out Ninja Gaiden Black asap for pure ninja-fighting fun.

On the Way to a Smile

Attention FFVII fans! If you haven't already, I really recommend reading On the Way to A Smile, a series of FFVII novellas. While stuff like this is usually never seen outside Japan, english speakers like us are fortunate that some talented dudes and dudettes took the time to translate the multi-chapter stories for all to enjoy.

On the Way to A Smile comes in several chapters, all of which bridge the gap between Final Fantasy VII and its movie sequel, Advent Children. So far, four chapters have been released and translated.

The first three chapters center on Denzel, the orphaned boy who lives with Cloud, Tifa and Marlene Wallace in Advent Children. While not starring any of the popular FFVII heroes (though Reeve appears in the story with a surprising revelation), it's an interesting read and shows the world of Midgar through the eyes of 'normal' people.

The most interesting chapter of course for fans will be Chapter Four, or Tifa's Chapter, which basically fills in the gap between the end of the FFVII game right up to the start of Advent Children. It explains just what happened after Meteor got swallowed up by the Lifestream, how the heroes separate, how they cope with their losses from the war and how they all try to get their 'normal' lives back together again. It's a great read and shows in great detail the relationship between mopey Cloud and his long-standing martyr childhood friend/maybe-maybe not girlfriend Tifa. I highly recommend it. And best of all- it's canon, not some fanfic. This is the real deal, people.

You can check out the chapters of On the Way to A Smile at Advent Children.net. You can check out the Tifa Chapter here. Enjoy!

Immortal MTV Version 2



Here's a new edit of my Final Fantasy VII My Immortal MTV. This new and final version uses better-quality video sans subtitles. While the scenes used are mostly the same, there are a few changes particularly towards the end and in the ending itself (which I think is a lot better than the original edit). This edit gives the ending a bit more of a happy, hopeful bent than before... at least as happy as you can get with FFVII. Heh.

You can download either this WMV Version, or this AVI Version specially made for Pocket PCs (Betaplayer) but also playable on updated Quicktime players. Enjoy!