I know its NVGR, but I also know a lot people here are Browncoats, so I felt it was my duty to inform you of this Firefly sale.
The Firefly BluRay version is Amazon's deal of the day in the gold box. Its down to $40 from $90.
Heck I don't even own a BluRay player and I bought it (Hope to get a PS3 by Christmas), but I felt the deal was too good to pass by, especially as a loyal Firefly supporter.

Here's the link. Enjoy!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=cs_top_nav_gb27

Despite all the hoopla surrounding the NATAL announcement at E3, apparently MS had unintentionally announced it back in 2005. Behold, the fight scene from the movie "The Island" where its clearly NATAL at work:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUAWp3q6-VI


PS: I tried to BBcode embed it, but couldnt get it to work. Fail.

I currently do not have a PS3, but I plan to get one in the near future (probably for Christmas). Because of this, I am faced with a dilemna. Chad and a lot of people on Destructoid are raving about Valkyria Chronnicles the game. However, I just started watching the anime and I find it highly entertaining. So now I am faced with a moral dilemna: do I wait to get my PS3 and play the game to bask in its awesomeness, or watch the anime and have the story ruined for me once I play the game? (This might be a question for Japanator, but since they have no C-blogs, I'm out of luck)

P.S: Watch Eden of the East.
.
P.P.S: Who else saw Lost tonight and thought it was awesome?

Prologue: Wall of text incoming.

I am just here to write about how great the game is and how remarkably addicting it can be. I believe that is as hardcore as an RPG can get. There are dozens of different stats and possible attributes across all characters which determine your fighting statistics and skill probabilities. The trick is, there are enough odd-man-out numbers in there to boggle the mind. For example, every character has the base Strength/Defense/Magic set of stats; just like any other RPG. But then, they all have a 4th attribute which can be randomly generated. Some have Charisma, Leadership, Friendliness (could be making this one up as hyperbole)… etc. And you don’t get any explanation for any of them!

The point is how do you compare characters when they have all these stats which don’t overlap??!! “Well, this one is obviously better as he has Responsiveness:20 while this one only has Instinct: 18”.!!!!!!!

The craziest thing is, these all determine the types of attacks available to you at each turn. If your union (you fight in groups of 1-5 called unions, and can have up to 5 unions) has so and so attribute at X distance from Y enemy union who has Z number enemies in it, with their own set of atrributes, you get these attack choices.

It is the most mathematically beautifully complex game I have ever played. And I love it!!

Not only that, it is the most daunting gaming challenge I have ever faced. As in most RPGs I play, I am all about finding the rare and exotic optional bosses and killing them. I feel that is the point of all the grinding that I do. But some of them that I’ve read up on are so ridiculously overpowered that I pale when I think of them. I estimate that I’ve been playing for around 80-100 hours (the game doesn’t keep track) and currently my entire army (all unions I have) averages about 40,000-50,000 in damage per turn. I’ve read on forums about guys who do 200,000-300,000 for individual characters (not unions, characters!!) and still get destroyed. Now, if that doesn’t make your dick shrivel when you see what’s in store for you, I don’t know what will.

But despite that, every night after work, the first thing I do when I get home, is boot up my 360 and get back to it. Go fight that one special monster that might drop that special weapon or item; go do that one side-quest which will unlock a stronger character to hire; go kill a few monsters to increase my “Attractiveness” by 2 points.

I’ve read in a lot of places that the game has serious frame-rate issues and whatnot, but I’ve had it installed since the very beginning and I have yet to run into any problems with it. So if you don’t have it, or are curious about it, I highly highly recommend it. Best Buy and Amazon occasionally do deals where it drops to $30 or something like that, and I saw that’s more than a bargain for the amount of enjoyment that this game provides.


P.S.: BSG on Friday!!!!!!

I know this post is NVGR, and a long wall of text, but I figured there are enough Science Fiction fans here to appreciate what I am about to say:

I have just finished reading Peter Hamilton’s “The Temporal Void” and I have to say, it is quite possibly the single best piece of “entertainment” I have ever experienced. I consider myself an avid reader, TV watcher, movie watcher, anime watcher, and video game player. I have probably read around 75 novels (I’m only 23), currently watch around 10-15 currently airing TV shows, in addition to another 10 anime shows, have probably played close to 100 games (recently mostly RPGs), and the hundreds of movies I have seen. So, please appreciate that I would never simply claim that something is the most fulfilling experience I’ve had if I didn’t firmly believe it.

What I believe makes the book so fascinating is the complete gamut of emotions that it is capable of evoking. I recall the deep sadness I felt as a child when I read “Where the Red Fern Grows”, as Old Dan and Little Ann die; (Shadow of the Colossus spoiler)* the despair I felt as Agro fell off the cliff before the last colossi*; the empathy I felt with Zoe as she saw Wash die in Serenity; the joy of simply observing the life of everyone in Honey and Clover. Yet, all these now seem trivial in comparison to what I experienced with “The Temporal Void”.

For those of you who’ve read the first in the trilogy, “The Dreaming Void”, I’m not talking about the overall Commonwealth plotline, but of the life of Edeard, as narrated by Inigo’s dreams. I won’t be so crass as to spoil anything, but each chapter I just kept waiting for the Commonwealth parts to end, just to get back to Edeard’s life.

If you’ve read this far, I’m assuming you’re one of the people that care about the characters in whatever medium you’re experiencing; that you are fully capable of empathizing with them throughout whatever they experience. And therein lays the beauty of “The Temporal Void”. Through the life of Edeard, I was able to experience great joy, laughter, eagerness, sorrow, despair, anger, and complete and utter rage. And it wasn’t merely reading that that was the sentiment the characters were experiencing. I literally laughed out loud at some of the situations that presented themselves; sat at the edge of my seat with eager anticipation as to what the characters would find as they turned a corner; experienced a betrayal so deep that it chilled me to my core as it dawned on me; and complete rage, as if someone was killing a member of my family inches away while I was powerless to stop it.

I literally can’t think of what other recommendation to give for the book than what I have just said. Sadly, you probably won’t understand much about Edeard’s life unless you read the first book in the trilogy, “The Dreaming Void”. Currently, “The Temporal Void” is only available in the UK, so I had to use AbeBooks to purchase it. It turns out being quite expensive with the shipping, but I would have paid tenfold if I knew what was in store for me. The sequel and conclusion to the trilogy isn’t expected until 2010 at least. I’m afraid the wait will be unbearable.

I know this was a lot of text, but I felt I had to write something about it; that I had to tell other people so that they could appreciate it as much as I did

Umm… have a nice day?

Everybody else was doing it, so who am I to not jump on a bandwagon.





First pic is just the whole thing from afar. I really like the table in the center. Those blue things on the side are actually drawers, so I can put all sort of crap in them and nobody will know.





Next is a closeup of my stand.
Sadly enough I'm out space. I have a Gamecube too, just don't have anywhere to put it. I have the connections plugged and waiting to be used when I get the urge for some Symphonia or Mario Tennis.

Also, don't know where I'm gonna put the PS3 once I eventually get it. My original plan was to get rid of my Divx DVD player that's there under the keyboard, put the PS3 there, and also get rid of the PS2 and get a Popcorn Hour media player. Since those damn things play anything and I;m currently in the process of transferring all my *ahem* legal backups of movies and TV shows to some externals I got, it seemed like a good idea. But now that backwards compatibility is gone from all versions, that puts me in a conundrum.

That gargantuan beast on the lower left side is the receiver for my 7.1 system. I raise the volume to only 35% of max ad Call of Duty 4 already feels like a real frickin war. Can't wait to move out of the apartment so I can max out the volume without worrying about the other tenants.





Here's a view from another angle. That monolith looking object in the corner is actually my DVD /book/random-shit rack.





Thats the tower thingy when its actually open. I really like it. It blends in well when its closed, and hangs of the floor. And most people don't realize it opens, so if I get robbed, they'll probably overlook it. Also, it's roomy enough to hide a body in there (should the need ever arise).





This pic shows most of my PS2 collection. I've really gotten into RPGs in the past 3 or so years, so I pretty mich have to buy them when they come out (good ones, and Atlus ones).





Here's the rest of my PS2 collection as well as my limited Gamecube and PS1 collections, and slowly but surely expanding DS one (Chrono Trigger and Rythm Heaven, here I come!!). Yes I know, I have 2 copies of SMT: Nocturne. I just couldn't resist it when Play-Asia restocked them. And yes, I also have both the English and Japanese versions of Final Fantasy 4 DS. I haven't even opened the Japanese one. I just pick it up and stare at its beauty from time to time. It soothes me.





Next is my X360 collection. It's grown quite well considering I've only had it for little over a year, and I hardly have time to play many games with my 60-hr a week job, and probably 20-30 hr a week TV/anime schedule, and massive-drinking/massive-hangover routine. Currently I'm chugging through Infinite Undiscovery and hope to get to Vesperia before Last Remnant comes out.





Finally, that's where I keep my Gamecube in hibernation until such a time as drunken Mario Tennis is called for. Also some books. (Seriously awesome books, you should read them if you haven't)

Well, that's it for my setup. I don't really have a gaming PC, just a 1-year old laptop with many many external drives. Also, thank god my Good Old Games trial came in. Playin through some Freespace 2 again in my free time (pretty much only when my Ramen is heating up).

Off to watch The Office.

Oh, and for the Chuck fans out there that don't know, it starts next Monday, but the new episode has been up on Hulu since this past Monday and also on Xbox Marketplace. It was awesome by the way.