Imagist

I'm pretty sure that was Sakurai's intention.

Then you live alone in a cave. Also, how are you going to disagree with him stating that he hasn't enjoyed recent Mario Kart games? That just seems... well, there isn't a word, because retarded isn't strong enough.

<3 my brotha lets be ct playin niggas togetha oh yeah i am SO black right now

So freaking high quality that it made me start playing through Chrono Trigger again. Played all day and just killed Dalton's Golem in the first encounter. Oddly enough, the strategy I had to adopt for the Golem in Prophet's Guile helped me out in the original game...

I don't think there's anyone here who doesn't "support" ranked online wi-fi (herro redundancy??) play. It's just that for most of us, "support" doesn't translate to "bitch about the lack of in a venue like an OCR thread where it does nothing but offend some fanboys and piss some others off." But see, if any of you knew wtf was going on, you would most certainly know that we came to terms with this over 100 years ago and appropriately either ignored atma or at least anything he says on certain subjects, so... um yeah, /agree with Arek. gtfo.

Anyone else find the first boss a real bitch to beat, simply because of the scarcity of healing items?

That song is my favorite. Especially in the context of that YouTube video where they perform it live, and then afterward discuss "issues." "We want to kind of turn it from an 'ewww, AIDS' to an 'oooh, fun monkey disease!'"

if by flood of people you mean RD

So here's what I'm thinking for the new voting system: Those with current submissions will get 6 points to distribute among the entries as they choose. They can only place 1 point on their own submission, but it is up to them if they would like to do so or not. All 6 points may not be used on the same entry (even if it's just a 1/5 division, they should still be split up between two entries). Those who have submitted in the past will get 3 points to distribute as they choose. No restrictions. Currently not working in votes for outsiders. What do you guys think? If you want to question the reasoning behind any one of these stipulations, feel free to do so. If you'd like to suggest something else, please provide your reasoning when you do. I know it's short notice--the contest is set to begin tomorrow at midnight PST, and then it won't be long before we need to be voting--but any feedback would be appreciated.

I really like the idea of tags, even in the context of genres. Since pretty much no song ever fits squarely into one genre, as the epitomal and exclusive example of said genre, it would make sense to allow people to tag songs with multiple genres, and that end users could then come to expect that each song has some elements of each genre within it. I think if you want to compromise the ideas of genres and tags, that would be the way to do it.

The Knife really are refreshing. "We Share Our Mothers' Health" is also a good track to check out. It should be noted that they're only as pop as electropop, though, and should probably be considered more dance or general electronica or... dancetronica. Also from Sweden and also refreshing are The Field and Shout Out Louds. The Field is just plain well-crafted house/techno with a minimalist tint that just hits the spot, and Shout Out Louds are a beautiful indie pop group who this year released what I feel is the most underrated album of 2007, and one of my favorites overall. Check out "Tonight I Have to Leave It" and "Impossible," both found on the myspace link (along with "Very Loud," the single and best track off their 2003/2005 debut). Interestingly enough, both The Knife and Shout Out Louds have been covered/remixed by Ratatat, and both of these tracks are bloody awesome as all get out. Where Ratatat may be awesome and other bands may be awesome, Ratatat + other bands = more awesome. Compare and Big Slippa Remix.

Automated Mario is awesome. They really do abuse the physics in their hack, though.

But Mustangs are lame. (DJP, can you change my name?...)

I'd just like to clarify that these guys don't really fit into the category given. They're more post-rock (like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Do Make Say Think, and their ilk) than ambient. That said, though, they are amazing, and their recent film (a documentary of their free, unannounced tour through their home country of Iceland) is beautiful and breathtaking. On the subject of post-rock, everyone please investigate Explosions in the Sky as soon as possible. All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone still gets me every time I listen to it, and you can even download their EP The Rescue from their website for free (http://www.explosionsinthesky.com/the_rescue.html).

Ratatat is great (and I think you did as fine describing them as anyone could, really). To all those who check out these links and are interested but not quite hooked yet, be sure to get a hold of and listen to "Loud Pipes" and "Wildcat", both from Classics. If you're not sure by the time the sample of an actual freaking wildcat roar comes in during the latter, you'll never be sure.

If we're going to touch some areas of music, such as, say, indie or garage rock, then we're likely to be delving into low-caliber vocals and relatively poor production values regardless. Personally, I don't think it's a matter of guidelines for music quality, but rather guidelines for recommendations--i.e., don't advertise a band as something it's not, and don't gloss over aspects of their sound that are key to the audience. The easiest way to guard against this would be to suggest that posters include, as ChloroPhil did, a link so people can listen first-hand.

Air's released five studio albums, actually, including the soundtrack to a film called The Virgin Suicides. They're all pretty good, although I haven't heard Pocket Symphony yet. For those interested in them, Zero 7 is well worth checking out. They are in many respects similar to Air (enough so that many refer to them as "the Air of the other side of the Channel", although there are enough differences that such a claim is unfair).

The latest competition is over. However, the competition runs bi-monthly, so you can come back for the next round, which should begin... oh my. Next weekend it looks like. That's fast approaching indeed. While I'm thinking about it, I might as well work out the dates for the next competition and put them up now.

um xcuse me who r u callin a goon

And yet for some reason I couldn't just stop laughing and close out the tab.

Those videos are hilarious. My favorite parts so far are when the player gets stuck past the pole at the end of the first video, when he has to use the mushroom on the spike-headed enemy in the second video, and when there's an invisible cloud that attacks him when he tries to go on top of the blocks in the second level. New favorite: the secret area in the clouds at the beggining of the third level.

I don't know who told you Creative's smaller players have problems. In fact, I don't know who told you any of Creative's players have problems. But let me point you in the right direction: http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Zen-16-GB-Black/dp/B000UVBDRS/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1198641607&sr=8-3 I bought it before it went on sale and it's worth the money. At $200, you should act now. Really no problems with this little beauty, and a far better option than and iPod nano. That said, I searched around for the Zune and damn does it look good right now. The only problem is I couldn't figure out if there is such a thing as a 2nd generation 30GB model, which would really hit the spot for the needs you've described before. If so (or if there's a firmware update that makes the 1st generations behave like 2nd generations), get a Zune, dude.

Happy Christmas everybody! Here's a present for our latest winners from Doulifee.

Check again--Pros have been coming with built-in HDMI ports for a few months now. So far I got a new 8.2 MP camera, a few movies and books, and Creative EP-630s (which are about as good as I can ask for given the use I want out of them). I bought myself quite a present--a Creative ZEN--a month ago.

too bad no one cared