This is a blog about the things I love *points at title*. I have two dreams: Work for a video game company and become a comedian. What's better than that? Having them both. In here I'll be talking about video games, anime, movies, TV shows, and a dash of my personal life.
Over the past few days I've been lurking around other blogs (and commenting of course) and have found a few things that I'd like to see in my own blog. So I've been teaching myself (through trial and error) on how to do such things. I'd like to mention the things that are new/have changed/been updated (because who doesn't like a little recognition from time to time, eh?). I'll start off with the minor things, and work my way up:
-My profile, and boy did it need it. There were a few songs, and movies that I just had to get rid of.
-New webcomics that I've found recently, and I'm thinking of doing a "Webcomic Collection 2" in the future (when the comics have developed more plot to the story if they have any).
-New blogs to my "favorite blogs". While surfing through the blogs, I've found a few that were quite interesting. Some people I've made friends with, and others that I've lost contact for awhile (and brought them back up).
-New section; the Favorite Deviant Artists. Recently I've found myself browsing through Deviant Art for the longest times, and there are a few artists out there that I think that deserved some extra attention. So not only did I pick out my favorite artists, I also pointed out my favorite piece of art that they have created.
-New Title. I thought "Video Games, Anime, and much more..." was too long of a title. At first it was something to place until I could think of something better, and now I have (for the moment). Yes, I know Entertainment Central is a T.V. broadcasting corporation, but I honestly don't care.
-New Member Profile. This sorta goes along with the "My profile" bit, but I wanted it separate simply because I figured out how to be restrained by what blogger.com gave me, and just hold onto a larger version of the picture I had (plus, you no longer see the introduction of my profile. If you want to know a little bit about me, just click on the link).
-Music: If you haven't noticed (because you have no speakers/headphones, ears, or you're deaf) I've placed a song to play while you read my blog. I found this very nice free music site called IMEEM, and I've already started making a collection. Earlier I did have a larger playlist, but that was too much for my blog I suppose.
-New color text: White...simply white..it goes well to contrast with the new background, something I'll be talking about next.
-New background layout: The most obvious change I've made. I wish I could take credit for the picture, but I got it from the Prince of Persia website. Now as for how did I make the picture "float" while you scroll down? Well I found another blog that had the same thing, looked at their page source, and after about a half an hour I've figured out how to do it on my own. It's something I'm quite proud of at the moment.
If you ever need any assistance in making your blog stand out a little bit, don't be afraid to ask. But of course, it's more gratifying when you figure it out on your own :D
Now I know this isn't a spiritual or controversial discussion, but you have to admit that the question has come up before many times in the past. Well earlier I was watching a T.V. show talking about the "Curse of the Lottery" and how money corrupts people. So I began to think "What would I do if I won the lottery?". Well after watching the show, I noticed three things that occurred a lot in each story: Gambling, Drugs, and Spending Sprees. I have never done drugs (and afraid of doing them...heck, I'm afraid of the drugs doctors would give me for surgery), and I'm not much of a gambling man (the most I've spent on gambling would be two scratching tickets that cost $5 each). Spending sprees won't be a problem since there really isn't much that I really want (I'm quite a simple person, and because of that, I'm quite a cautious person as well). So I've created a list of what I'd do with my lottery winnings:
1. Pay off all family debts: When I mean family, I mean immediate family (meaning no extended family members like cousins, in-laws, and friends), and what debts that need to be paid off? Student loans, bank loans, credit card bills, mortgage, my sister's wedding and any other things we'd need to pay off (maybe like hiring/paying lawyers).
2. Build an apartment in the D.R.: My parents have started building an apartment so with my money I could finish their project. All I'd have to do is pay the contractors and have one of my parents watch over them until the job is done. You know, this little chunk of change would keep my parents happy when they retire.
3. Buy ZeldaUniverse.net: Now why would I want to buy an online community? Well for a few reasons. I've been a part of that community for the longest time now, and a lot could be done if an actual ZU member became full owner (and I'd become Webmaster). Plus I want to give something back and make it even more successful. What would I do? Pretty simple. Buy a new server for it, hire Scott & James as part-time employees of ZU (to get the ball really rolling), and sell ZU memorabilia like T-shirts, Hooded Sweaters, and treasure chests full of rupees.
4. Hired Help work-out-trainer/dietitian: Well to be honest, I'm afraid of going under the scalpel, so I'd rather lose my weight the old fashioned way. Not much said about this one...I just want to live a healthy life. Sure it's possible by myself, but I don't have that kind of will-power plus I'd need somebody watching over my back every single day (since I won't be working).
Chef: I want a part-time chef who will work with my work-out-trainer/dietitian so I'll have a healthy appetite as well as a healthy body.
Security: Now I don't know how far the security would have to go, but hopefully it will only have to be one body guard. And I'd want my body guard to be somebody I can easily be friends with (same goes with dietitian and chef)
Secretary: I have one of the worst memory in the world, and I'd like a secretary who follows me wherever I go to remind me of some important tasks and names of people.
5. Buy Condos in Boston and Hawaii: Why condos? Because I honestly don't need soo much room to live in (I honestly don't see the point in mansions). Why those locations? Because I love Boston (live in it right now) and I've always wanted a summer house in a tropical island. Sure I could have said the D.R. (my homeland), but I wanted a place where I could get away from it all.
6. Save money in Swedish Bank Account: Pretty much self explanatory. I want to save money for my future kids and/or if for some reason money gets into a tight spot.
7. Buy Condos/Apartments/Houses, renovate them, and sell/rent them: With all the spending I've been doing, I need to make money so I would never go bankrupt. I sorta got this idea from two things: my parent's apartment business and my sister's love for all those renovation T.V. shows she watches (I'd make her my interior designer). So pretty simple, buy multiple houses throughout the U.S., hire contractors and interior designers to renovate them, and then sell/rent them. Who knows, if this goes well, I may even start a business from this and go world wide.
8. Buy a Yacht and Jet Plane: Now I'm not big on buying a mansion or cars, but I am interested in having my own transportation (it would help me going from different house to house to see the progression on my renovation business). Plus I'd want to have a party on said Yacht and invite some family members, friends, ZU members, and celebrities.
9. Start Video Game Company: They say if you do what you love in life, you'll never have to work a single day. Well with this, I love video games, and I would start up a video game company. Sure it would be stressful at first, but hopefully it will work out in the end (this is the only thing I'm really taking a chance in).
10. Charity: After all is said and done, I'd donate some money to various charities throughout the world.
It looks like in the long run I'd like to be a Real Estate Mogul, Internet Webmaster, and Company President. My mother/sisters would really be helpful in the real estate department, my internet friends would be great about my webmaster business, and my personal friends and I can take a hold of the company.
So, I ask you my faithful readers, what would you spend on if you won the lottery.
Not much of a real post, I just wanted to guess how many players will be on the Wii version (and possibly who), how many tracks would there be (and possibly which versions), what multiplayer games would there be, and would it have two characters per cart (ala Double Dash)?
Well I did a little research and what I've found out was this: -The Average amount of players is roughly 10 (Double Dash, there were 10 pairs of 20 characters) -Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Yoshi, Toad, Donkey Kong, and Wario have all at least been in 6 out of the 7 Kart games. Ammount in games: -Circuits, Beaches, Public Roads, Deserts, Jungles, Haunted Tracks, Stadiums, Bowser's Castle, Ice Tracks, and Rainbow road have been the reoccurring theme for the majority of the tracks throughout the series
Reoccurring Items: Diversions: Blooper Regular Hit: Green Shells, Triple Green Shells, Fireballs Heat Seeking Missiles: Red Shells, Egg, Triple Red Shells, Large Explosives: Bo-omb, Bowser's Shell, Spikey Shells Increased Speed: Mushrooms, Triple Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms Roadside Obstacles: Fake Item Box, Banana, Triple Bananas, Giant Banana Effects All (but the user): Thunderbolt Power House: Stars, Bullet Bill, Chain Chomp Other: Hearts, Boo hoo
It's obvious that Feathers and Coins won't be introduced in the MKWii because they've only been used 1-2 times before in the past (and didn't come up with the most satisfying results, so that's why I didn't even bother to place them in the list). Blooper is a new-comer from the DS, so who knows if that would be in play for the Wii. Boo-hoo, Shells, Mushrooms, Bananas, Thunderbolt, and Stars have been there since the beginning so there's no use to take them out. Bo-ombs have appeared in the most popular recent games so I wouldn't be surprised to see him again. Bullet Bill (DS) and Chain Chomp (GC) are both the exact same thing. If the babies make a return, I predict that so will the Chain Chomp.
Now the special items are the ones that are questionable: Like the fireballs, eggs, hearts, chain chomp, Bowser Shell, and Giant Banana. Will it really have a purpose for the Wii installment?
Let's take a look at the occurring theme of the Karts used in each game.
Is it just me, or are the karts improving? First they looked like regular carts, then they started to look like Doonbugies, and in the DS installment, some of them look like Drag Raceing/Street Racing cars. Now with the Wii graphics, is it possible that Mario Kart may turn a little bit more serious (have my highest doubts)? Will they look like advanced versions of the DS cars? Will the game finally implement flying and boating (or will that be too similar to Diddie Kong Racing?)
Just imagine if you will...have a few carts that can go in multiple places: There's on land, in the sky, on the water, and in the water. I say that some karts should be that way (with the combination of land of course).
Land/Sky: An Airplane. Bowser already has one. Land/On Water: A Hovercraft or boat/car Land/Under Water: Submarine/Car.
One thing that's for sure (or should I say obvious) the game will be (or really should be) Wifi accessible. Why? Well not only because Mario Kart DS was online, just imagine if MKWii had two characters per kart (just like in Dash), then players throughout the whole entire world would have to pay a little bit more attention to their carts, other than just relying on one person to do all the heavy lifting. And who knows, maybe some microphone communication could be at hand (for the driver to tell the thrower who to throw to, and the thrower to tell the driver where to go); If not as an extra assembly for the Wii, then via the Wifi communication through the DS (and headset that's only been used for Metroid Prime: Hunters).
On June 20, 2006, Namco announced an official OVA (anime) for Tales of Symphonia, divided into four episodes. The first episode is planned to come out in stores in Japan on June 8, 2007, the second on August 10; the release dates of the third and fourth episodes have yet to be announced. It will be directed by Haruo Tonosaki (director of 2x2=Shinobuden) and feature character designs by Akira Matsushima (Rurouni Kenshin OVAs.)
OVA Stands for Original Video Animation and it is sometimes used, perhaps inappropriately, to refer to any extremely short anime series or special regardless of its release format. So this would explain the Ultimate Hellsing OVAs and the four episodes of ToS (how long are these episodes? I hope one hour each).
I do wonder if the original director and artist who did the video game intro will have any part in the four episodes. I'll be honest, when I first played that game, I thought that all the cutscenes were going to be in anime...but sadly I only ended up with 2-3 pure anime cutscenes (the rest were CGI). So without any further adieu, here's the first trailer to Tales of Symphonia OVA
Now after doing a little snooping around on their official website, I've found out something: The cast only consists five out of the original nine characters. It seems that only Lloyd, Collet, Genius, Raine, and Kratos will be the main cast. Any news about the remaining four characters (Sheena, Zelos, Presea, Regal) being a part of the anime have yet to be said, but I think everyone would appreciate it if they made at least one small cameo. If you truly think about it, in the game, the remaining four really didn't make a big difference the the game's storyline after all. Sheena was an antagonist in the beginning and near the end she was the one who made a pact with the spirits. Zelos was the Chosen One from Tethe'alla, so he's somewhat important, but if the anime decides Kratos to be a good guy to the very end (and have Zelos be the one who double crosses the team) then there really won't be a problem, but just strong chances of seeing a cameo. Presea and Regal are side quest storyline characters really and weren't really necessary in the very end.
Can any one of you people think of how not introducing any one of those characters truly change the storyline? Of course we have to take into account that they've only introduced those five characters because those are the only ones going to be shown in the first two episodes. The third and fourth? Who knows what happens. But considering they are calling these four entries as episodes and not movies, all we can really can expect/assume is have them be 60 minutes or less. But I also have to think "How can they cram a video game that took dozens of hours to complete down to four?" I think it's quite obvious that some characters and storylines will be lost in the way (there will be a lot of fast forwards like "3 weeks later"). Of course, that may be the case unless the company is secretly making an actual Tales of Symphonia OVA series that takes place after the four episodes/movies (that is if these four videos don't explain everything that happens in the game). I think that would be an excellent idea indeed!
One more question to pose to all of you ToS fans: Are there certain scenes that you'd love to see in the videos? Give me your ideas, thoughts, and opinions on the whole matter. Speaking of scenes, please enjoy this pictures from scenes taken from the trailer.
The synopsis seems quite simple; "After the defeat of their old arch nemesis, The Shredder, the Turtles have grown apart as a family. Struggling to keep them together, their rat sensei, Splinter, becomes worried when strange things begin to brew in New York City. Tech-industrialist Maximillian J. Winters is raising up an army of ancient monsters, and only one super-ninja fighting team can stop them -- Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael!
With the help of old allies April O'Neil and Casey Jones, the Turtles are in for the fight of their lives as they once again must face the mysterious Foot Clan, who have put their own ninja skills behind Winters' endeavors."
From the synopsis, it sorta reminded me of the online manga Mutant Ninja Turtles Gaiden in the way that after a death, the family grew apart. Now I don't know if it's just a good coincidence or if the manga writer is just well in tune with his ninjas, but it seems to me that both are similar. In the manga, Raphael goes solo but it seems to me that he's still training (in the movie it's the same but more with his motorcycle), Donatello stays secluded in his own sewer apartment doing scientific research (in the movie he's seen in front of his super computer), and Mikey was shown wearing a "turtle mask" and fake zipper in order to entertain children for cash in the movie (and in the manga he became a famous author...who wore a mask...to earn some cash. Now as for Leonardo and Splinter, my best bet is they stayed together (well he's the best pupil and he's the master) because in the movie it was shown that Raph and Leo was about to fight...my guess this was Leo's way to recruit Raph back to the family from what dark energy their Master feels happening in New York City. As for what happened to those two in the manga, well I won't spoil it, because you'll have to read it for yourself.
Now back to the movie, at first I honestly thought that the movie was going to revamp the TMNT movie series (just like Batman Begins), but I was wrong when I read "After the defeat of their old arch nemesis, The Shredder...", so it's a sequel...with no subtitle (no "IV" or anything). But as TMNT fans have learned, the Shredder is never dead for long, he'll always make a return. But there is one thing that has happened in the manga (and on a live action TV show) but not in the movie series: Introduction of a fifth turtle. In the Manga we have Renoir, and in the TV show we had Venus. Who's to say that a fifth will never be introduced? Who knows? Maybe there will be a slight hint at it in the end of the movie (or even a sequel revolving around the return of Shredder). As for how Shredder could return? I have an idea. In the comics (and the recent cartoon), it's been said that Shredder is actually an alien (Utram) inside a mechanical body. Well, in the movie aliens are introduced, so does this mean that the Utrams will also be introduced in the TMNT movie universe?
I've recently added a new link to my collection that gives any online user free access to online movies at Daily Motion Movie Vids. Though they show many movies in their list, I took the time to go through every single one, and found out these are the only ones that are working so far...
* 13 Going On 30 * 6 Days 7 Nights * Big Daddy * Boondock Saints * Brothers Grimm * Bruce Almighty * CKY 3K * CKY 4K * Cowboy Bebop * Crank * Death Of A President * Demetri Martin. Person * Employee of the Month * Friday * Friday After Next * G.I. Joe The Movie * Hercules: Amazon Woman * Hercules: The Lost Kingdom * Hercules: The Circle of Fire * Hercules: The Underworld * Hollow Man 2 * Hoodwinked * I, Robot * Inside the Chicken Man * Juice * Kangaroo Jack * Kids * Kung Pow * Lee Evans XI Tour * Longest Yard * Miami Vice * MST3K: The Touch of Satan * MST3K: The Movie * Red Eye * Santa Fe Trail (1940) * Season 8 * Shadow Of The Sword * Slaves To The Underground * Talladega Knights * The Art of Seduction * The Black Arrow * The Butterfly Effect * The Covenant * The Last of the Mohicans * The Road To Guantanamo * The Transformers * The Wonderland Experience * Trainspotting * White Chicks * Why Me, Sweetie?! * Withnail & I
So please, feel free to use that site and watch some free online movies, and give me your opinions on them.
There are a few cool things about this Wii/DS game, it's going to start off in the new fourth season, and not start from the beginning like other video games based off of another source. Well, I've said this once, and I'll say it again, Code Lyoko is a kid friendly/watered down version of The Matrix, does anybody else agree? Well in the TV show, we constantly see the game go from 2D anime action to 3D computer animated action. Just like in the show, the same thing will be shown in the game. I'm just curious how the control mechanics work out for each character (the Wii version seems quite obvious, but it's the DS version I'm curious about). But what interests me the most about this fourth season fiasco is the introduction to the newest character William Dunbar. In the anime, he became the newest Lyoko Warrior but was soon taken over control by Xana and destroyed Lyoko's core. So what does this mean for the warriors, the future of Lyoko, and William? Well I honestly don't know, well nobody does but we all still have our speculations. The only speculation I have is William Dunbar will be a Xana Warrior (and creating mischief and hinder the Lyoko Warriors from completing any more missions) until Jeremie can solve this problem. The only other real question I have is: Will the game answer these questions before the new season comes out?
Well here are some things we do know about the Wii game: • Battle through the 2D real world, and 3D world. • Interact with their favourite characters – Odd, Yumi, Ulrich, Aelita and Jeremy • Explore 40+ different locations with a storyline based on the fourth season of the popular animated series • Battle using a range of skills including shooting, fighting, puzzle solving and exploration. • Delve into the digital sea with the new season 4 vehicle, in search of the mysterious creature which infected their world • Discover a new 3D territory • Fight new bosses
Hmmm the warriors will be able to go underwater with new vehicles (my guess is via submarine-like vehicles) and discover a new territory. Well let's see, there's already the mountain, forest, ice, desert, and carthage sectors, what else could be new?
And when it comes to the DS, I have some photos that you can see here and there.
Tell me what do you think (about the game or even about the anime).
**Update** I have found a game-play video of the DS game, and might I say, I'm quite impressed.
Now here's a video game that I just learned about (though it's been announced for quite a few months), and it really caught my attention in quite a few ways. Now at first glance it sorta reminded me of an updated version of Monster Rancher. How so? Well throughout the game you'll need to excavate, raise, train, evolve, and battle with these monsters called Spectrobes. Excavating is a big part of the game (created by Disney and Buena Vista). You'll have many tools to use (along with the microphone...possibly to blow away any dust), however, if you damage the fossil too much, there won't be a Spectrobe to revive. What's another reason that it caught my attention? It's an action RPG game...and not many of those come by...the last time I saw/played on was for Tales of Symphonia (correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most Tales of... games action RPG?).
What's the plot of the game? Well here's what the Wikipedia article had to say about it: "Out on a routine mission, Planetary Patrol Officers Rallen and Jeena respond to a strange distress signal and discover the wreckage of an escape capsule in which an old man has been in a cryogenic sleep for decades. Once conscious, the man, whose name is Aldous, relays an unbelievable tale of the attack on his home planet by a vicious horde of creatures known as the Krawl. As a scientist, he was able to identify an extinct species of creatures called Spectrobes as the natural enemy of the Krawl, and developed a device based on the technology of the Ancients that could harness the power of the Spectrobes. Armed with this knowledge and the device he calls a Prizmod, Aldous sets out to gather as many Spectrobes as he can to stop the Krawl from destroying the universe.
Fearing the Krawl will soon migrate to their galaxy, Rallen and Jeena join forces with Aldous to seek out the Spectrobes and defeat the Krawl."
One cool thing about this (from what I've observed) is you get to control the Spectobes via voice control such as "Go!" and "Attack" as you are fighting as the main protagonist, Rallen with a sword that's quite reminiscent to the one Megaman uses. I know that a few other games have done this, but I have a feeling that this game will have more controls than a few.
There are quite a few cool Webisodes of the plot I talked about above (I've heard it just may be downloadable onto your DS...more on that later), trailers, and the intro. You can view the six webisodes at the Spectrobes Mainsite.
Ok, so I've covered excavating and how the microphone would be used. Ah, yes, online play! Each game will come with four code input cards. With these cards (and inputing the data into the game at the right moment) you'll be able to unlock additional things such as more videos, creatures, custom parts, and minerals. As expected from a company, you'll be able to purchase more code input cards later on after the game has been released (which was yesterday by the way, and I'm thinking about picking it up).
Online you'll be able to download additional content and fight others online (but I do wonder if you'll be able to fight with others online. Unlike most online DS games, the player will be given a "Personal Planetary Patrol Badge Number" in order for you to access your stats, game results, armor, weapons, and players' profiles will include information about their Spectrobe monsters (hmmm...learn a little bit about your opponent before fighting. Smart move) all on the Spectrobes website. In addition, a leader board on the web site will track the top scores from several special sequence battles in the game, allowing players to show their success to a global audience. Here's another thing that really surprised me: You can organize a wifi worldwide tournament that can support up to 16 players! Who wouldn't want to get a piece of that action!
Like most DS games, this will be sold for $29.99 (USD)
Believe it or not, but this movie is actually based off of historical events...well to be more precise this movie is based off of a comic book, that was based off of a movie, that was based off of historical events. Does that make sense? I hope it does, because I'm not explaining it...well I suppose I'll have to or I won't have much of an article here:P Well the movie takes place in 480 B.C.E. during the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to that moment. The protagonist of the movie is Leonidas the First, king of Sparta, who leads an army of 300 Spartans and 7,000 Greek Soldiers to fight up against 250,000 Persians under the command of King Xerxes (who thinks of hismelf as a God). Now that's all I can say about the movie, I don't want to ruin it for you all to watch it (I recommend it, I give it an 10 out of 10). If you don't take my word for it, maybe a glimpses from the movie (trailer) will convince you.
Last word about 300: From all the Blue/Green Screen movies there are out there (all three of them...the other two being Sin City and Sky Captain and the World of Tommarow), this one deffinentally is the best. The lighting, the script (the one liners), and the actors were all amazing. I'm amazed how much bad reviews it got from movie critics, but I found it up to par with the movie Braveheart (granted that Braveheart had more character developement, but the two are quite essentially the same). However, I've read that there were some controversy to this movie. Throughout the whole movie, the villains (Persian) were minorities (namely black), handicapped (there was one hunchback), and gay (there was a reference to the Athens' Philosophers being boy-lovers and a part of the movie where female belly dancers kissed...that's it).
I honestly think that people should loosen up. If all future movies were conscience about all the discriminatory remarks, then there won't be any true-to-life historical movies.
Anyways, that's the last of that. Now as for Frank Miller, I honestly hope that the next project he works on (other than sequels) would be a movie rendition of his comic Ronin. Simply put, Ronin is about a samurai who was sent to avenge the death of his master (with a magical bloodthirsty sword) from the demon that killed him; Agat. In their final battle, Agat sealed the souls of himself and the Samurai into a magical sword. Then later in the not so distant future (of our present), the seal is broken and Agat has escaped, while the samurai's soul gets reincarnated into the body of Billy, a boy with telekinetic abilities. Now the samurai fights in this new future and continues to avenge the death....
For some reason the premise of Ronin reminds me of Cartoon Network's Samurai Jack. There's a demon, a samurai, a magical sword, and a distant future involve. See the connection? But of course, Samurai Jack was created years after Ronin, so it's a possibility that it was based of of Frank Miller's piece.
Here's a question that has appeared in my mind more than once before, but fear not, it's nothing that you should ever worry about, it's just a good self reflecting excersize that makes you think about the other people who have been in your life.
Well here's one thing I can clearly say: My family would be more rich (come on, any family would be richer with one less kid...unless that kid comes with some inheritance money or became famous). No money wasted on partial high school/college education, medicine, rent, extra food, clothes, etc...(other excessories like toys, games, computers, haircuts, and other little things).
My sisters wouldn't have somebody to hang out with...but they're sisters, they have each other, they don't need a younger brother (the only good thing I've done was give them advice from a male's point of view).
My friends wouldn't have the "experience" to have an ethnic friend (considering my sisters and I were the only minorities through Grade School). But that's horrible to say...I guess a few of my friends would have never met because of me...
I'm sure I've broughten some laughs, but I just wanted to make this post to reflect, and for others to do the same. Believe me, these "What if..." questions aren't thoughts of suicide or something drastic like that, it's just a way to self reflect and make one feel insignificant compared to the whole universe. Maybe that should be one of my next questions
"What if...our universe is similar to the "Marble theory"? or "What if we truely are alone in the universe (this question could only be helpful if we've never had Alien/UFO sightings).
Today I turn the big TWO-ONE, and to commemorate this occasion I've shaven my head bald (sorry, don't have a picture of myself bald yet), but I don't feel any different than how I felt a few days ago (other than a colder chill). What am I doing for my birthday? Seriously, nothing exciting...apparently things have already been planned out: Tonight My sisters bought me Pizza, cake, soda, wine and beer (Corona all the way baby!) and gave me $55 combined (sweet!). My Parents are coming down this weekend to celebrate my birthday (we'll probably go out for dinner) and give me a gift (my best bet it will be a stereo along with a few dollars), and my father will give me his infamous speech his been giving me for the past five years: "You're getting older, and you're becoming a man. You'll need to take in more responsibilities and one day stand on your own two feet".
Oh no, my birthday doesn't end there. My sister and her fiance, Jamon, are taking me out to see the movie 300 at an I-Max theater (so expect to see a review on it later on during the week) and my sister wants to buy something/do something a little extra afterwards. She didn't know what to buy for me, so she feels bad, my best bet is we're going to go out to a bar.
Now what would surprise me is if my family members bought me the following: Digital Camera, MP3 Player, or Nintendo Wii
If you haven't taken the time to read my first & second installments in Phantom Hourglass updates, then I'd suggest you please do so before reading onward keep yourself up with the news. There's much to be said about PH news, so listen up: Back in the day it was rumored to have been a Four Sword game and released in December 2006, then it was said to be a game called "Phantom Hourglass" and the date pushed back to March 2007, then finally it was said to be pushed back sometime in the Summer of 2007 (nobody complained considering everybody understands that Twilight Princess needed more time to be in it's own spotlight). Now (according to The Hylia.com) it is said that the date is undecided but rumors are stating an October 15th release date...does this sound like the workings of a second overhaul to you people? Of course, in the past, TP has extended it's deadline and it certainly didn't get an overhaul...well that is left to the matter than nobody outside of Nintendo had played both versions of the game.
Well today, we've received even more tidbits about PH. Apparently at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), a revised demo version of PH was playable to the public, but this time, it was the multiplayer mini-game that had the spotlight, not the main quest (where we saw Link going through the dungeon and fight that Wind Octorok). When it comes to the public, apparently it's quite obvious what has been revised would be how the game was controlled.
It has been announced that the multiplayer Pac-man esque Minigame will not be playable with one player (so one can not go up against the CPU), but it would have to be against another person. Nothing has been said about single cartridge or Wifi use when it comes to mulitplayer games, but so far, it's quite safe to say that only friends nearby can play. "There's a surprising amount of strategy involved in this mode. For example, the "Guard" player can always see Link on the map, but Link cannot see the guards on the map until he picks up a Triforce. The downside to carrying a Triforce is that it weighs Link down, and moreso as the Triforce pick-ups increase in size. Some Triforces are tiny and worth fewer points, but only slow down Link's movements a little bit. Huge Triforce pickups are worth more points but slow Link down to a crawl.
Almost as if the designers took a cue from Pac-Man, Link can hit escape tunnels at the top and bottom of the map, which are also surrounded by a "safe zone." While in these zones, Link cannot be touched by guards since the guards can't wander into them. Link also disappears from the guard player's map while in these zones...but if Link's carrying a Triforce, the Guard player can still see that Triforce move...giving away Link's location.
On top of all this, there will be power-ups scattered throughout the dungeon. Red power-ups can only be used by the red player, blue pick-ups by the blue player. Red players can run over blue power-ups to destroy them and take them out of play. Power ups include giving Link or the guards an extra boost in speed, or allowing Link to take a hit from the guard. Guards can activate power-ups that turn blowers on within the dungeon that will block Link's path with enormous gusts of wind.
At the end of three Link and three Guard turns for each of the competitors, the game calculates how many Triforce points each player earned within the battle and decides the winner...and in the demo it's a very uneventful "Win" or "Lose" screen."-IGN.com
There are a few things I have noticed...it seems that Link has the same items that he had in tWW. All of them? Who knows? Does he start off with all of them? Well that certainly would be something original (when it comes to a LoZ game...but not necessarily a Metroid game, which isn't the case here), but I wouldn't be surprised considering he's still the Hero of Winds (and with the power of the Microphone, I'm sure the player could to blow into the mic to make wind, while Link jumps off a ledge and uses his Deku Leaf, you see, there's an example, and it's not an original one considering in the upcoming Wario game for the DS, he has a similar item/suite that permits him to fly however long the player blows into the mic).
**UPDATE** New Trailer!
My new observations? -Though it's very hard to tell, it seems like there's a new kind of enemy. It's sorta large (maybe a bit taller than the average Moblin), wears a mask, and uses something that looks somewhat like a hammer as a weapon. -Fire keese make a return and shooting torches make a return from the Oracle games... -Seagulls are still around (will they provide any use?) -While on the ship, your stylus will act as the cannon's cursor to shoot at enemies. -I can't tell but I'm either looking at a large Deku Baba or a large Octorok... -The Telescope makes a return...I don't know if it will have any practical uses, or if it was just used for that cinematic sequence. -We see a ship that has a "woman" on the bow, and butterfly wings on the sail of the boat (making it look like the woman has wings). -We see Link going blade to blade against (what looks to be) a girl. Could this be a Gerudo? -We see our second Boss Battle, and it seems to be a gigantic Hermit Crab. Now I'm starting to believe that all the bosses will be sea/sky based. I mean, we already have a Octopus and a Hermit Crab, what else do we need? A Seagull, a turtle, and a Barracuda? Well to make note of the Hermit Crab, it grabs Link and shakes him (sorta like how Ghoma grabs a hold of Link and injures him in OoS), and with that huge red shell, I think it's easy to assume that we must either flip the boss onto it's back, or blast that shell off of him to expose his weak point. -We finally meet a few new characters. One is an old man carrying a red cane...my guess is he's possibly the captain of the steam boat you're riding on. And another man who if I had to judge by his clothing and his facial expression, I'd say he's some rich snob (main antagonist of the game? I don't think so. It's too early to note). And the rich snob (Who I shall call him "Count" for now on) shakes Link...for what reason, I haven't the faintest clue, but it seems that Navi put a stop to that.
Now, just like what I've done before in the past, I'm going to analyze all the new photos that have come into fray:
Beetle's Back!: It seems that our favorite sea-faring merchant has made a return in the second installment of tWW. We've seen Link pick up arrows and bombs (they are, nor they will ever be limitless), so it's quite possible that is one of the few things he will sell. What else? My guess is as good as yours. A few other things to note down are the camera, natural borders, and islands. On the top screen there's a yellow marker near the boat indicating which direction the camera is facing. Very nice and clever, and since the Beetle icon is to the right of it, it's off camera. Unlike in tWW, it seems that Link has a limited amount of places to dock his boat, so that just may mean that if Link ever needs to get off the island, he needs to backtrack his way to the dock instead of anchoring it wherever he may please (I am curious about that very large crane that is seen in the camera's point of view...does that crane pick up Link's boat?). And finally about the natural borders. In tWW, there weren't any real borders. Mother/Child Island and the Lost Forrest (or whatever it was called) had natural borders from being very tall, but when it comes to overall boarders throughout the whole map, there weren't any. Apparently in PH, there are rocks that can be in the way. Will Link receive an item that can blast them all away? Who knows? Maybe.
Dungeon Map#1: One thing that's innovative about the stylus/touch screen that makes sense in the world of LoZ that didn't before would be the compass. In previous games, the compass located the whereabouts of all the keys, treasures, and boss rooms. Now it's up for the player to jot down that kind of important info like placing a "K" for key, "C" for Chest, "B" for Boss, "MB" for mini-boss, and other codes to not fill up the whole space.
Dungeon Map#2: Not much is said about this picture...maybe Keys appear on your map the moment you see one in the room (and an icon is automatically shown), unlike the past where one would have to write the note down. Plus, red chu-chus are back...
Outside World: Nothing special here, it just seems to me that Link is doing a little bit of bush whacking to make his way up to what seems would be the dungeon of the Island...speaking of Island, I wonder how many (main ones) are there?
Boomerang Target: This is the same map as the Dungeon Map#1 I showed earlier, and it's quite obvious it shows two things: The order in which Link had to have hit each crystal switch, and that the boomerang can hit at least 4 targets at the same time (will it still have the "7" limit it had before?).
De-neh!!: Miniblins are back. The previous dungeon seemed to be a fire dungeon (the flames and lava hinted at that) and now at the top of this screen we see a blue dungeon...could this mean it's a water dungeon? Will Link actually swim? Heck, is Link able to swim outside his boat? But what is that red block to the left? When you look to the map it looks like it's being represented by a black dot, and there's another one South East of the dungeon, so probably those two things are important.
Pegasus Boots: Hmmm Pegasus Boots make a return. They weren't shown in tWW, but certainly in the FS Saga. One thing to not in the FS Saga (most notably FS and FSA) is this; items are being used as temporary things now. Take a look at the Bombos/Ether medalions. You could only use them once. I truly hope this isn't something to look forward to for future LoZ installments in the series for Link to have limited space as to what he carries.
Safe Zone: Ah, so we see the safe zone for Link. But here's a question that comes to mind when I saw this picture: Ok, we see that the Darknuts are making their path/attacks, however, what indicates how far/long can they walk? In Star Fox Command there was a "Fuel Bar" to indicate how far one ship can fly, but not here.
Blue Link: Nothing special here...just that we see Blue Link. In FS and FSA games, we had different colored Links to make it easy for players to identify themselves...now what's the reason for this blue Link? There certainly aren't more than one Link on the field, so it could mean a variety of things: -There will be Tunic upgrades (maybe blue is for swimming) -There will be multiplayer via Wifi (to see which Link received the most points at the end) -The player can choose the color of his tunic for no real purpose at all.
Time is of the essence!: This game is called "Phantom Hourglass", and we haven't seen anything that's "Phantom" about anything (well I suppose that Ghost Ship Tetra gets lost in has something to do with it). As for Hourglass, we have our second viewing. At first we saw Link draw an hourglass on a door to make it open (maybe that's what those red things were from a few pictures back), and now we see the hourglass represent how much time he has in order to collect as many points as possible...)
In the end, if it does become, something has come to my attention for many years; every Hero goes through two adventures. The only heroes that have not gone through a second adventure would be tMC Link, TP Link, and tWW Link (PH would be his second adventure, but now I'm beginning to doubt myself). If you read the FS or FSA prologue it tells of a tale when a hero comes out and saves maidens from Vaati. I believe that hero is talking about tMC Link's second adventure (maybe that's what the overhaul will be on...who knows). I do have my highest doubts that the first Zelda DS game will be TP Link's second adventure considering word has already gone out about the second Zelda Wii game has already been in development for over a year now (though that doesn't confirm it's TP Link's second adventure, I think everybody would agree it would be a stupid idea if Nintendo didn't do that). Before it was confirmed that the "new zelda for ds" was PH, it was going to be a Four Swords game (created by the same development team who created FS, FSA, and tMC if my memory is correct), so I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the game makes some kind of timeline connection between tWW and the FS Saga.
When it comes to the villain of the story, here's what I'm thinking: Many people believe that PH will take place between tWW and tMC. So, if Vaati was introduced in tMC, the villain of PH can't be him (though it would be interesting to see the "Sorcerer of Winds" fight against the "Hero of Winds".). And since Ganondorf is stone cold underneath the Great Sea, he won't be making a return, so there are only three options: A completely new villain, the return of Zant, or the return of an old villain (that is neither Ganondorf or Zant and just may alter people's thought on the timeline.)
-Marco
PS: Credit of the picture goes to souldreamx of DeviantArt.com
Today certainly is a great day if you are a Prince of Persia fan, like myself. Not only did we receive tid-bits of news and official art from the upcoming Prince of Persia game, but we've also got news, rumors, and official concept art for the Prince of Persia movie!
The Good: According to my sources at JimHillMedia.com & QJ.net, it seems that Walt Disney Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer will take on in creating the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time trilogy movies, starting with the first one which has been said to come out in the summer of 2008. Although the pictures in this part of the article are official concept art-pieces from Disney, it has been said that they may not be seen in the final adaptations of the films (meaning, don't feel too attached to them).
The Bad: There have been a few rumors flying around saying that the movie will not have the same storyline as the video games. What makes the rumors bad is this: It seems that this is true; "after much digging around for more news on this rumor, we found a lot of claims, and Jerry Bruckheimer says that the game story is a no-go...but will emphasize on creating a starting point where new stories can be told. ". As they say, "Every cloud as it's silver lining", and I can see it in this news as well. With the video game storyline being scrapped this will leave Disney to choose a different way so that it won't be similar to Aladdin (another one of their characters that shockingly have a close background story. Not about time, but about a boy, a princess, and an evil man with a ceptar), as well as have their own version of a video game that's based off of the movie (which is based off of a video game. Seriously, if that happened, it would be the first time to my knowledge). The Ugly:I'm surprised and yet, not surprised at the same time. Why I'm surprised is because of the whole Prince of Persia attribute...it sorta reminds me of Aladdin (another one of Disney's characters). How so, you may ask? Well in Aladdin, he's "Prince Ali" who tries to win over the Princess' heart before it's too late while the Suntan's adviser Jafar uses his dark magic to make himself powerful. In PoP we have a Prince who has one hour to escape from the dungeon before it's too late to save the Princess and defeat the wizard Jafar (yes, same name, however I'd like to add that the PoP franchise was created before the Disney Movie ever came out...so who is copying whom?).
But of course, that's the original PoP I was talking about. The PoP that Disney has their eye on is the slightly updated version that talks about the Sands of Time Saga. And according to my source, Disney plans to make this film into a full-fledged franchise of it's own...I do wonder how people will try to differentiate between the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Agrababa?
Ok so we have most of the little facts down, however, the most anticipated question is: Who is going to play the Prince? "Well that has been debated a lot. Apparently, even after they searched for a relatively unknown Persian actor to play the part, they settled with Aussie TV actor Charlie Clausen (of "Mcleod's Daughters" and "Blue Heels" fame). We're not sure if he could pull some serious moves on the temple pillars, but as long as Bruckheimer calls the shots, there's a big chance he'd have to take some trapeze lessons."-QJ.net
Now that we have that taken care of, why don't we talk a little bit about video games, eh? According to my sources at QJ.net , it seems that Ubisoft will once again take up the crown of the PoP series again and start a new chapter in the Prince's life. Not much of the storyline is known, heck, we don't even know what the subtitle of the game will be. All we know is this: "it seems that the prince will have a new love interest in the new game. OK, that and a magic gauntlet. It is yet unclear how this magic gauntlet will be used, but it will most likely have something to do with the weapon system of the game (for example, having different weapon configurations).". As for what I think the gauntlet controls...maybe it can control elements. I mean, the essence of time has been used in pretty much every game nowadays, and so has elements (like earth, wind, water, and fire) however it hasn't been used in PoP yet.
It has been said that the game will be released for the PS3 and the 360, however, no word about the Wii. I honestly think it would be a dumb move not to place it in all three systems, but that's just me. For now, you can enjoy the official art and please give me your two cents on what you think about the recent movie and game news... **Update** It's been said that the full title of the video game is Prince of Persia: Ghost of the Past. Well it seems to me that "Ghost of the Past", may not have something to do with time travel, but it will have something to do with the Prince's life before the effects of Sands of Time.
This past Sunday I saw Jim Carrey's latest movie, "Number 23". Ever since 1997, Jim Carrey has been heading towards the more serious route to movies (1997 being the last time I considered him being in a funny movie: Liar Liar), as well as a few children's movies. But when it comes to pure comedy, the only ones he's done would be Me, Myself & Irene, Bruce Almighty, and Fun with Dick & Jane (and the only actual funny one from those three would be Bruce Almighty, and even that had a semi-serious tone in it). When push comes to shove, this would have to be one of my favorite "serious Carrey roles", and the movie was done pretty well. I know this isn't much of a review, however, if you're into thriller movies that keep you guessing until the very end (where the director gives you flashbacks of previous events and new information so all will make sense ala any M.Night movie, "The Illusionist", and "Inside Man", which are other movies I'd like to recommend if you haven't seen them already), then I'd recommend this one as well. I can't give away the ending (ok, I suppose I could considering this is my blog, but that wouldn't be nice to my reader(s)), but I will say this: Just think of the 6th Sense, and you may figure out everything before the credits roll...
Let's see, what can I say about myself? My name is Marco Antonío, I was born in the Dominican Republic and raised here in the U.S. I'm a single 23 year old latino that's 5'10", and I'd like to study in the fields of computer tech/ graphics.
Over the past few days I've been lurking around other blogs (and commenting of course) and have found a few things that I'd like to see in my own blog. So I've been teaching myself (through trial and error) on how to do such things. I'd like to mention the things that are new/have changed/been updated (because who doesn't like a little recognition from time to time, eh?). I'll start off with the minor things, and work my way up:
