Galacticly Microscopic

One of the most anticipated games out there that I have seen has to be spore. If you haven't herd of it you may want to simply crawl out from under that rock you've been under, rip you lips from the person you've been smooching, or simply take a look into the gaming media domain.
Spore is a game that blows away anything that has ever really been attempted in a simulation game before. All you really do is lead organisms from microscopic all the way to galaxy domination, experiencing every evolutionary step of the way.

Spore


Been waiting and still can't wait for this.
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I am SO sorry!

I'll be brief, while this video could be considered racist I think it's funny. At the least how many white guys do you see that can make jokes like this? He also gets laughs too so its not like no one thinks he's funny.

Christopher Titus Apologizes


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The Purple Pairs

So there are these two series that I've talked about before called Lucky Star and Clannad. I like them both in their own respect, as they are very different shows. However there is one thing that's strikingly similar about them that I can't really get out of my mind.

In Lucky star two of the main characters are twins named Tsukasa and Kagami. They have long and short lavender hair respectively so they're presumably identical save for that soul factor.

Now in Clannad there are a pair of sisters who are also twins named Ryō and Kyō. They have long and short hair respectively too. Presumably they are also identical twins.

These two pairs of girls look so similar in how they were designed it's uncanny. I really feel that they were created by the same person even though they weren't. It also feels like on had influence one the other (unlikely), but the two series have noting to do with each other... sort of.
While the origins of the two animes are very different the place where they were put in motion is very much the same. Kyoto animation is the studio that did the work for both Lucky Star and Clannad. I suppose that it's just coincidence that they were both made one right after the other, and both sets of twins had violet hair, one short one long, and fit in the same general age range.
The odd similarities are stacking, but they stop there. I just find it really surprising that they were both from the same studio and look alike. Oh but there's one more weird thing to mention. Fujibayashi Kyō sister to Ryō is voiced by Ryō Hirohashi.
The whole thing and all it's connections just struck me as weird.

Oh and on a total side note the other two main characters in Lucky Star are voiced by Hirano Aya and Endo Aya

The Fujibayashi sisters, Ryō (left) and Kyō (right)


The Hiiragi sisters, Kagami (left) and Tsukasa (right)

alternative image here.

Now if you don't see what I'm talking about you must be blind.

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Don't Loose It!

Life it just far to busy, even though I have had a lot of things I've wanted to blog about over the past few weeks I haven't had anywhere near enough time to do so.
Hopefully I'll have more time to type my way to nubs soon.

Anyway With the end of this week comes the end of the all infamous E3 08. A lot of things are out there and I'm excited for a lot of things I've seen. But I'll focus on something that really has caught my eye.

Xam'd:Lost Memories

That is the title of an anime series that was featured at E3. Yeah that's right an ANIME was FEATURED at E3! Hard to believe right? well it's just the same here and that's not even the shocking part. This anime series is a PSN (Play Station Network) exclusive! That's something I never expected to see happen, an entire anime series exclusive to a downloadable content console only network. Finally to top it off the series will début in America on the PSN before it dose on the PSN in Japan!

As far as the story goes it seems interesting at the least. I'm very interested to see where this series goes. After all I've never herd of a show being exclusive to a game console. If this succeeds it's going to bring a whole new idea to the idea of video content. After all youTube caused the writers strike, and the foretasted actors strike is more evidence. If exclusive series such as this work than I can only imagine what will happen to the television market again.

Ok enough here the kick ass trailer they published from E3. Mind you I saw this in HD so it was a whole lot more cool.

Xam'd: Lost Memories E3 08 Trailer


Hope to be back soon for another post.
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Extreme Devoution

The fact of the matter is that I am a rather large Evangelion fan. There's no getting around that fact. I'm large enough to be one of those people who bought the platinum edition of the anniversary set as the volumes came out. Not only did Evangelion change the way I viewed anime, but it was the series that made me realize just how deep and immersive anime could be over any show I had ever seen in America.

I'm very grateful for the fact that I have been able to experience such an amazing piece of work. So naturally I was just about ecstatic when I herd that they were going to do a rebuild project of the series in the form of four movies. I patiently bided my time till I could watch the project's first quarter. After having seen the creation not only am I pleased but I'm quite amazed at how much the video has been enhanced. I wasn't quite expecting them to do a virtual retrace and colouring improvement but that's what the package contains.

As much as the improvement is evident I decided to make a direct comparison. Here I've set up two screen shots from the theatrical release of the move and it's original TV counterpart. The TV shots come from my platinum edition DVDs and the movie from a 720p video. Note that I have scaled down the Movie screens to match the TV resolution (which was an odd rez) so that there is less of a size interruption.

Right from the start you can see that there has been a lot of colour correction.
Clearly the art style has improved and doesn't look as awkward.
This shot shows how much effort has gone into the backgrounds, this one is an incredible improvement.
Shading and lighting have become a day and night difference. No longer does it look like anything was over-layed.
Additional non-essential elements have also received a visual upgrade. (wink wink nudge nudge)
Here's and example of how some scenes received a near total reconstruction to the point of being unrecognizable.
No not the background; If you know this scene than you may notice Rei has a more determined look on her face aobut what she's ready to do.
Yes this is the same scene. This is one out of handfuls of examples where the entire design and presentation was reconstructed.
The mood and total feeling of the movie is much better because of so many of the above changes that can be seen in the alterations between these two shots.
Prime example here is that the characters are drawn to a more aesthetic degree. No longer dose Ayanami look like a disproportionate child in the midst of puberty, but a proportioned adult.

Can't wait for the next instalment of the movies.

(time spent on this gallery 3:36)
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My Clan

It's taken me some time but I realize now that I have a controversial addiction to anything that Key makes (dating sims). To be more specific I seem to be drawn to anything that they do that's turned into and anime. I remember that it started with reading another blog and the author mentioned waiting for AIR to be broadcast. I decided to look into it and I still think it's one of the best shows I've watched. After that I was attracted to the art style the the 02' anime Kanon used, not to long after that (actually it was long) I was anticipating the advent of the 06' remake (totally worth it).

Now I was not to long ago drawn to the show Clannad which to my surprise upon further investigation was also originally a game by key. All the related anime adaptations seem to be done by Kyoto animation nowadays which I'm grateful for (they have great quality). Anyhow I seem to be drawn to their initial art style and I haven't really been disappointed with any story. I suppose I'm a bit of a sucker for the emotionally charged finding true love type story.

I think that last line was to much info... I'll stop here.

Clannad Opening



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Patriotic Blast

MGS4:GotP (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) a game I've been waiting for, and one which is FAR beyond anything I expected.
Right now I'm on chapter three (no clue how many chapters there are) and enjoying almost every bit of it. There are a few things I really don't like but I cant really complain. the overall feel is more epic than any MGS they've made thus far. I'm looking forward to how everything turns out.

Theatrical Trailer
(does not depict how the game feels very well)


EDIT: 5:10 am 6/13/08

Well I've beaten the game and wow. By far one of the THE best games I have ever played. Not only did it feel epic and important but I could barely look away from the screen. The entire thing makes all the other MG installments feel like child's play in both game play and in story and grad scheme. It was amazing, there were five chapters (four being my favourite) as well as a prologue and epilogue.
Some people die, others you finally meet, and a few you thought couldn't appear showed face. In the end this game had one of the best feelings because of how it had six prior games leading up to it. It's like experiencing history (I played all the games when they came out) and seeing just how complex and big things could get. Nostalgia is the one largest feeling the game delivered but in a relevant and up-to-date sense.

I'll leave it here if I continue I'll start giving away spoilers.

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