Kizyr

Ok, I just donated. A day late but it's still April! I'm gonna go ahead and update my sig in a moment. KF

'mono' just implies a physical, tangible object. By itself it'd more likely refer to something plural, but since it's preceded by 'the best []' then the context implies it's singular. However, it's more likely they're going for something intangible anyway, in which case, yeah, 'koto' would be more appropriate for that reason. (However, using 'saikou no wa' and letting context imply 'thing' is the most appropriate of the three, if you ask me.) If I were just saying it in regular conversation, I'd say it more or less how Fenrir put it. But there're some adjustments for putting it in a song. The 'ka' particle is sometimes dropped in conversation, so it's not necessary to keep; though if it's a song, it's sort of hard to imply a question by tone alone without it. Also, pronouns are rarely used in regular conversation, but they are more prevalent in songs. As Fenrir said, 'kimi' is more common in pop songs and ballads (though 'anata' is as well - cf. Ayumi Hamasaki or Utada Hikaru); rock songs are more likely to use 'omae' (cf. X-Japan and L'arc-en-Ciel). Y'know, this is one of the reasons I'm generally against inserting Japanese in song lyrics. There are exceptions, but very few of them. KF

First, I think you mean to say "saikou" (best/most/top) rather than "saikyo(u)" (no meaning?). Otherwise, there're a few different ways you can try this that come to mind, though it's tough to cram it into six syllables. Here goes (hyphens placed to delimit where you could place syllables--using a loose English, not Japanese, definition of syllable): 最高のは、知っている？　Sai-kou no wa, shittei-ru? [gloss over the "i" in the "shittei" part to make it sound like six syllables] - leaves it ambiguous what you're referring to 最高の事 理解／知っている？ Sai-kou no ko-to ri-kai / shittei-ru? - implies a non-tangible thing. 'rikai' sounds more stiff to me 最高のもの 理解／知っている？ Sai-kou no mo-no ri-kai / shittei-ru? - implies a tangible thing. Again, 'rikai' sounds more stiff to me What context is this used in? There might be ways of restating what you're going for in fewer words by letting context fill the gaps. Oh, and there're a few other people on here that come to mind that're a bit better with colloquial Japanese than I am (Chipp Damage comes to mind). KF

Pretty amazing! Have you gotten any recognition outside of OCR (and maybe OurStage) for this? KF

One of my favorite Mega Man tracks... There's a tremendous amount of energy here--y'all did an amazing job. Though you know it's going to turn out impressive if Sixto and zircon are working together on something. KF

Objectively, it sounds pretty good. It's rough around the edges, but considering the style, it works well that way. Subjectively, though, I'm not much of a fan of metal, so I can't say I enjoy this one a lot (that subjectivity may tamper my assessment of the lyrics). Don't get me wrong, though. I'm definitely a fan of Game Over (Cataclysmic Clash and Little Mac's Confession are some of my favorites here), and I really hope to see a lot more come out of them. Have you guys played / considered playing at MAGFest any time? It's a trek, but... it could be worth it. I picture Transylvanian Temptation as something that'd be pretty sweet live. KF

Man, didn't know PayPal had those kind of restrictions. Though it doesn't really surprise me... Good to hear it's restored at last. I'll donate some this evening. KF

I went to DisneyQuest like I mentioned that Friday. ...it was like four floors of heaven. They even had a Marble Madness machine, and a bunch of classic games, and pinball (though a rather limited selection). Many of the racing games were a bit broken, unfortunately. It was fun though. I could definitely spend an entire day there without getting bored. Sort of wore myself out on DDR though--didn't realize I'd atrophied so much at that. KF

What are you looking for, exactly? As far as VG music goes, there are sufficient fan communities for a lot of older or popular games (particularly series) to where you can often find a good supply of transcribed MIDIs--RPG series in particular. KF

Oh man, I remember London Hearts now! That was one of my favorite shows, but I haven't seen it in years. I understand Japanese, but I don't get all the references you make (sounds like a lot of pop culture refs that'd be much funnier if I knew what they were all from). Nevertheless, from what I do get, it's hilarious. KF

E. Definitely. Getting an MP3 player and just downloading the torrent to random play all of OCR was probably the best decision I ever made music-wise. Before then, I'd usually go from a game I knew, to the remixer, and possibly to other games I knew, but I'd never really branch out that much. Now, though, I know how much I missed by doing that. KF

The best arcades I've seen have been in Tokyo, naturally. Besides that, I've seen some great ones in Las Vegas (in casinos or on their own) and Orlando. Oh, and I'm going to DisneyQuest this Friday. Looking forward to it already. There were a few arcades that I liked growing up in part for nostalgia's sake. There were the skating rinks I went to when I was in middle school, and Tilt (which was at a now-closed mall in Nashville) that I went to a lot in high school. I don't like Dave & Busters or anything that uses a card system. Unfortunately, it seems that every arcade has moved to a card system, so I suppose I'll just have to deal with it. But, the cards are just an ingenious way of gradually upping the price to where you're paying $1.25 per game without realizing it. Hell, Japanese arcades are still generally 100yen a game (unless the price has gone up in the last 4 years?). Oh, the one main thing I miss about arcades in general is the lack of pinball machines. You almost never find them anymore, and (until DDR) they were my favorite games at any arcade. KF

Am I missing something? I don't see anything that indicates what the game is like, other than that it involves time travel. And that they'll likely expect everyone to upgrade to a $3000 system to play this when it's released. KF

Two exceptions come to mind. First is Marble Madness (arcade). Oh, I had much fun playing this at Katsucon last month... But that's sort of a unique case, since the game was designed for the trackball. Second, only one person I know ever used a trackball for gaming--mostly for MMOs (Guild Wars and WoW). Apparently, they're useful if (a) you're fine with the learning curve for getting used to the trackball over the mouse, and ( you hate moving your hand and/or lifting up the mouse constantly. I can see the utility in FPSs also (where the mouse is just used to aim and shoot), or anywhere where the mouse is used for movement more than for clicking in specific places. But, that guy was the only exception. I've tried and I've just found trackballs way too cumbersome. KF

My favorite thing about the video is how it looks like Dev Patel clearly doesn't do much dancing. That one progression stands out the most, and the bit where it's used is the first part that comes to mind when I think of the song, too. Didn't really realize it 'til having it pointed out, either. KF

Trying to follow up on Dragon Song? Nah, but seriously, this theme is really catchy. I'm liking the style, the lightheartedness, all that. The lyrics really fit the mood, also. KF

Finally! I hope this was worth the wait. I've listened to discs 1-3 so far, once through. I'd need to reserve my comments until I've had a little time longer to listen to it. But so far, I really like it. There are a couple of tracks here and there that aren't so memorable, and some that are outstanding. And, like with any album, I like seeing both new and old names on this one. The occasional vocal tracks are a nice bonus. I'll probably be more biased towards the first two discs, since I've only played Tales of Phantasia (and I don't even have Tales of Symphonia). KF

Bookmarked. I suppose zirc hasn't posted it here yet; it's the first I've seen the link. Thanks! KF

This just came on my MP3 player. First thought was "I didn't know I had Under the Bridge on... wait, that's the SM3 warp theme..." Looks like I wasn't the only one catching a Red Hot Chili Peppers vibe from it. (Under the Bridge is probably my favorite song of theirs--slight aside.) It's good. I really don't think it needs a re-record; it already sounds pretty solid. My thought is that mellow tracks work well with a minimalist approach, and so the simplicity works in its favor for this track. Additional instruments would change its flavor. Anyway, rather than worry about redoing this track, why not go for another one entirely? There're plenty of other themes that could do with a little mellow treatment, and a new track could provide some fresh perspective if you're looking to mix things up a bit more. KF

I always liked the look on his face when you tricked him into eating a ketchup jellybean. This looks even better than I expected. A few nice things: - you can jump finally (though not unreasonable Mario levels, so the ladder is still necessary) - the music sounds good, particularly the remixed night world theme in the second video - you don't have to 'aim' to throw the jellybean anymore Still not entirely sure about the 'offensive' items, but so far it looks good. KF

Oh nice... I was just playing this the other day. Not sure how I'd feel about the addition of "offensive weapon" jellybeans. It sounds like it'd detract from the puzzle-solving aspect of it. But, I'd have to see how it was pulled off first. KF

Happy birthday! Come to think of it, a birthday duet would be pretty awesome... KF

That definitely looks like the inner harbor! I'd be surprised if it wasn't Baltimore. Oh, and just to add another one: Name: Thekla Album: The World from Outer Space Fitting since Thekla is apparently an asteroid. KF

Aww... I wish there were more comics like this back in the Genesis vs. SNES and Sega vs. Sony vs. Nintendo days. I mean, how can you get upset when someone posts a comic like this in response? KF

Huh. It worked out pretty well. Though the name sounds like a generic Eurobeat group. KF