Dervish

I hear ya on that one ... You know what did have a really REALLY good ending, though? (even though it wasn't from the same year as Abenobashi, I don't think) PlanetES. That was an all-around good show with an incredibly satisfying ending.

Abenobashi was pretty good ... until the last 10 minutes of the show just ruined it.

p.s: You should post all the rest of the images too, so we can all make sure we can recognize them too

The first looks kinda like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and the third kinda looks like Ico. No idea on the middle ... maybe Psychonauts?

So my roomie and I have accounts on West, but I'd like your guys' opinions on this: We just traded for a Ber rune (finally!), but we're unsure on whether we want to make CoH or save up for a Jah and make a 'nigma. The CoH would make uber-killing a bit easier, but Enigma makes our hammerdin truly godly (we made a perfect Hoto ). What would you guys do in our situation? Also, is the economy more stable over on East? I keep hearing it is, but I don't know for sure. The economy over on West is retarded. =P

I went to the show at Red Rocks in Denver ... absolutely INSANE. I'd seen videos from their 2006 tour and everything, but they don't even BEGIN to do the show justice live. If they are coming through your town, GO SEE THEM! <--there's a video my buddy took while we were there. He got about 3/4 of the show recorded before his camera battery ran out. We were 4th row, right at eye level with Daft Punk (stadium seating at Red Rocks). Sorry about the sound quality, but there's not much you can do when you have like 2 enormous speaker walls like 20 feet away from you!

I've worked retail for quite a few years now; some of the more notable locations that may be relevant being Gamestop, Target, and Best Buy. First off, to the person who mentioned the shoes - YES. Get. Good. Shoes. Get used to standing and standing and standing. If you're looking for a job that doesn't require any thought and just earns you a paycheck, I recommend Target or a store of that ilk. My personal preference was being a cart attendant, because you got to go outside and wander around the store, and you really didn't have to deal with customers at all. Cashier gets really mind-numbing, REALLY quickly. Sales floor can be okay, but frustrating when dealing with customers (and customers' messes). Working at Gamestop was probably my most fun retail job because I actually had an interest in what I was doing and meeting the meager quotas we had was not a problem for me. Because I cared about the job, I rose to the manager's position. It was fun for a while, but it was a lot *more* fun being assistant manager. You didn't have to deal with district people. Only problem working there was the pay SUCKED. However, the benefits were pretty cool. Good discount, first crack at used games, a good game "borrowing" policy (don't know if they still have that), fun people to work with, the benefit of working in a small, intimate location, and if you have a cool manager you get all sorts of free goodies passed along to you. Pre-order material you don't unload before the game comes out (or even just stuff you take), as well as goodies the manager gets and then has the choice to pass along to his employees. They have managers conferences every year where each store manager gets hundreds of dollars of free games, systems and accessories that are theirs to do with as they will. Thankfully I was in a store where the manager was cool and passed the goodies down to his employees. I know this is not always the case. But the pay ... hoo boy. $9-$10 as an assistant manager, no benefits. That number could go up or down depending, but either way it takes a while to even get up to that level (unless you have an in already). Best Buy is my current job, and I just work full-time in the media department. Mostly in video games because of my experience, but also with CDs/DVDs. It's a good, easy job that as long as you are good at self-promotion and can sell people stuff, you'll do well at regardless. Most of the employees are really cool there, and because of BB's hiring policies it rewards people to get their friends to work there - the result is a close-knit group who generally are already friends. Whether you'll have fun or not greatly depends on whether your store is hitting budget or not; if you are, everything is cool. If you're not (our store has recently fallen into the 'not' category) then management will ride everyone's asses into the ground, preferring to fire half their employees and revert to strict "do this company behavior and nothing else or you're canned" attitudes. Thankfully I work in one of the non-high-volume departments, so management generally overlooks us. Getting a job at Best Buy if you don't know anybody in there already can be a challenge, since it takes roughly 3-4 weeks to go through the interview process. Also, the pay scale varies GREATLY from department to department. If you work in computers, home theater or appliances, you will get paid a very good wage (as long as you put a high $ value in your "minimum pay range" box on the application). If you work in any other department, you will get paid (and possibly treated like) shite. Just a warning. Regardless, put down a high but reasonable number in the "minimum pay range" box, as that's generally how your starting pay is determined. The managers just look at that box and go, "Okay, we'll pay you this." If somebody puts down they want to start at $10/hr in a department, they'll just pay them that ... too bad for the person in that same department who's been working there for 3 years only getting paid $9.15/hr after a few raises. Management just doesn't bother themselves with such trivial matters - that's also why they don't like people discussing their pay. Because it's completely unfair to many, many employees. On the good side of things, though, as long as you like your department it's a fun job selling to people, the discount is awesome, and the benefits are amazing for full-time employees and above. If you don't mind working early in the morning, try to be part of the merchandizing or back-room team. Fun job. Also, if you're into computers and fixing them ... I do NOT recomment Best Buy's Geek Squad or Circuit City's Firedog. They pay you SHITE for what you're doing. Seriously, if you've got the desire to do any sort of IT stuff, get a couple certs and go find a REAL tech job, don't work for a big-box retailer. $11-$15/hr might seem like good pay, until you go out and find out what REAL IT people can make with a few certs and some rudimentary IT knowledge.

I find it ridiculous that people are claiming Sony and the PS3 are on life support or some crap like that. Oh no, the system doesn't have many games! Just ... like ... ANY brand new system in its first 6-9 months! Gasp! The 360 had that problem ... The PS2 had that problem ... The Xbox had that problem ... the DC had that problem ... Oh no! Those systems were all doomed! DOOOOOOOOOOOMED! (well okay, so the DC was, but the rest weren't) Were those companies or systems on "life support" because good titles didn't start rolling in until about 9 months after the system had been released? Idiot.

The only problem is that the majority of Best Buy's don't actually have any of those games. I work at one, I checked a good portion of the really good ones on that list to see if any of the stores in our state had them. Nobody had any of them. Just a warning for those thinking they're going to go and get some killer deals ... chances are the store won't actually *have* any of those titles.

GH3 needs Aqualung by Jethro Tull. Listen to it. You'll see.

Haha, kinda reminds me of Candlejack from Freakazoid!

Xbox 360 exclusive tracks to include: * "Hush" - Deep Purple * "Dead!" - My Chemical Romance * "Billion Dollar Babies" - Alice Cooper * "Salvation" - Rancid * "Possum Kingdom" - Toadies * "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" - Rick Derringer * "Life Wasted" - Pearl Jam * "The Trooper" - Iron Maiden * "Drink Up" - Ounce of Self * "Kicked to the Curb" by Noble Rot (as per Wikipedia) So looks like you get your wish on some Iron Maiden there, Guy In Rubber Suit. Also, MCR's "Dead!" and the Toadies' "Possum Kingdom" are two more master tracks. I am stoked about Dead!, myself. That's a good song, probably 6th or 7th tier.

I'm not missing any points here. I'm not trying to declare a winner in the system war, and I am not attempting to say that the PS3 has a better current value than the 360 (or even Wii, to a degree). I have simply been stating something that pisses me off - the comparison of the PS3 at launch to the 360 a full year after its release. I find it an unfair comparison in many respects, especially when people are unwilling to even CONSIDER that there are other methods of comparison between these two systems than "current value." And I DO have a right to compare the two launches, as I've purchased both systems at launch! And you know what I find, in retrospect? Microsoft Xbox 360's launch sucked ass in my opinion, while PS3's has been decent. Not great, but decent. I am impressed that PS3 game developers, when given an extra year to make their launch titles and despite a system architecture that NOBODY knows how to code effectively for, managed to release a selection of games which were gameplay-wise and graphically on par with a system which had been out for 1 year. I am also thankful that my PS3 did not break in the first week of me owning it, as my (and many other peoples') 360 did. I'm also pretty pleased that my copy of Madden '07 wasn't a ghost of its PS2 counterpart. There are, of course, things I'm not too happy about with my PS3, but when I think about it, compared with the 360's launch I much prefer Sony's release. I think it's better in *almost* every comparable category. Now this is not to say I think the PS3 is a better system *right now* from the current value standpoint. The 360 obviously is the leader in that department. I even applaud Microsoft's decision to launch their system before Sony and Nintendo's platforms, so as to gain a foothold on the market! I applaud them just the same as I applauded Sony for releasing the PS2 ahead of the GameCube and Xbox - it's a good strategy. On the same token I am not going to completely rag on the PS3 just because it's late to the party, just as I did not rag on the Xbox or GameCube when they released later than the PS2. I could've - both systems had flaws at launch. You know why I didn't? Because it was an unfair comparison then, just as it is an unfair comparison now. And guess what? I gave both systems time before I passed final judgment on them, and lo and behold! Xbox turned out to be an okay console! And GameCube ... well, GameCube had Smash Bros. When customers come into my store and I find out what gaming system fits their needs the best, I usually sell them either an Xbox 360 or a PS2. I don't offer the PS3 to customers usually, because for most of them it is not a good value yet. I did the same with the 360 last year - I sold PS2s instead, because at the time there was no value in a 360. That changed, however, just as it will change with the PS3. I just wish that instead of bitching about how much people think the PS3 sucks compared to the 360, they would stop to consider another method of comparison and realize that hey, the PS3's really not that bad.

I'm not suggesting that you compare the mythical "Future PS3" to the current Xbox 360. I also think that comparing the current Xbox 360 to the current PS3 is unfair. What I am suggesting people do is compare the current brand new PS3 to the 360 of 1 year ago, when it launched. THEN you get a fair comparison from a system launch perspective. And in that sort of comparison, PS3 does pretty well! Of COURSE Xbox 360 has more value to it right now - it's been out a full year and is just starting to have some solid AAA titles drop. Its library of next-gen games dwarfs the PS3's. That's what an extra year will get you. I don't have a problem seeing the distinction between current value and the strength of a system launch; I DO have a problem with those who resolutely refuse to acknowledge that the Xbox 360 had a pretty terrible launch and then proceded to get better, just as the PS3 undoubtedly will. Instead they just shout, "ZOMG PS3 SUX 360 FTW HALO3 & GEARS ARGHALSENV;AOIER;ASLKD" and expect people to take their opinion seriously. From a retail standpoint, I'm happy to have PS3s in stock at my store for about a week after we get them. It means I have guaranteed revenue walking out the door every day. Instead of one huge day from a revenue standpoint, I have many great days where I kill my budgets simply because I have a $600 trump card ready to be played.

Personally I like my PS3 (got it first day to keep, not sell). I went into buying one knowing that it would be just like any other new console launch - there would be 1 or 2 games worth buying, and nothing new that's really great for at least 7-8 months. You know, just like the 360 last year. Or ... well ... ANY system launch in the past 10 years or so. Frankly I'm pleasantly surprised with the system's launch games - Resistance is a ton of fun, and pretty much all the sports games are also fun to play, and comparable to their 360 counterparts. What kinda irks me is that people almost universally are looking at the PS3 as it is FIRST LAUNCHED and comparing it to a system which has been out for MORE THAN A YEAR. As far as a launch is concerned, from a software and graphical standpoint, the PS3 launch has been pretty good! Much better than 360's, in fact. Yet people feel compelled for some reason to compare the two incorrectly, and then totally rag on Sony. I don't quite get it, to tell you the truth. Give the system a year of development and *then* compare the two, don't do it right off the bat. It's like when Xbox came out to challenge PS2. There was no contest at the time! Why? PS2 had many many months of development time under its belt by the time Xbox released! It's the same situation here, yet for some reason people this time are hating on Sony where they did not hate on Microsoft for the same issues in the last console launch. As a side note, I just installed Linux on my PS3 and am loving it. And boy howdy is that thing a BEAST! My buddy came over to help me set up the kernel and after some tweaking and testing we're pulling down like 256 gigaflops! My PC is lucky to pull down *2*. ~whistles~

More importantly, they better make this game feel different (other than the touch screen control; I want new concepts introduced). Minish Cap burned me out on Zelda because I felt like I played the same damned game for the umpteenth time. What the hell do you want? A FPS? A RTS? I mean, its zelda, if would not be zelda if there were no dungeons and items. What the hell do you want ? A flower aranging game? Pikmin... Viva Pinata ...

I actually don't really like this remix. I respect it in its complexity and masterful orchestration, and I certainly like certain parts of it, but overall I didn't really enjoy this mix. It's hard for me to specifically place why I didn't like it ... I think it's partly to do with the stylistic direction GL took in interpreting the original piece. Infusing Awakening with such a ... classical asian feel didn't really work for me. That's not to say it wasn't executed masterfully, just that I didn't really like it. I guess I also didn't like all the transitions. Not the transitions themselves, because they worked well. But the fact that there were so MANY of them ... it felt like every thirty seconds or so I was listening to an entirely new track. I think a few of those kinds of ... I don't know the official term for it, I'm not a musician or anything ... but a few shifts in the tone of a piece are fine, but this work utilized one or two too many. I did, however, especially like the percussion used and the ... I don't know, the *energy* I guess, in the mix. It never felt flat. So I guess this was a masterful work by GL, just one that didn't fit my tastes.