Links of the Day: 2.12.2009

I'm very under the weather today, so I didn't get the chance to write a something that I was thinking about yesterday. Since my "starred" items are stacking up in Google Reader, here's a few random links from the past week I found interesting.

Legitimacy for Video Games?
Top 10 Lesser-Known Romantic Couples in Video Games
If Halo looked like Final Fantasy it would look like this.

Here's hoping I can actually sit upright for more than a few minutes tomorrow.

Posts of the Day: 2.5.2009

Interesting posts are starting to pile up again, so here's a couple about Star Ocean: The Last Hope. The second one, a video preview on GameSpot, is so incredibly drool-worthy you might need to carry around a bucket.

Star Ocean 4 Kiosks (in Japan), New Faceplate (which we'll probably never see here)
GameSpot Video Preview of English Star Ocean: The Last Hope

FFXIII Trailer is Drool-Worthy

Japanese Games are "Interesting" (NSFW)

I'm not really talking about JRPGs, or really all Japanese games in general. However, you don't see any games like this developed or distributed in Western markets. Of course, the difference in Eastern and Western games is about as different as walking through Time's Square in New York compared to walking down Champs Elysée in Paris. (If you didn't get that, the billboards and advertisements are much, much more sexually explicit in Paris than anywhere in America.)

I wouldn't necessarily import this game, given the chance, but I've been seeing so much about it on various blogs that I read that I just had to make a post about it. I have no idea what the point of this game is, but I do know that Doki Doki Majo Shinpan Duo (the second game in the series) has you "poking" young ladies with the Nintendo DS stylus in rather provocative ways.

You can see some screens of the game here, and a (rather sloppy) video of the game play here. I'll have to give a NSFW warning for these links, even though its animated and the subjects are fully clothed. You'll see why.

"New Worlds are Waiting"

That's the tag line for Star Ocean 4. Below is the video preview that came with pre-ordered copies of the second Star Ocean re-release for the PSP in Japan. It looks awesome. Of course, would we expect anything other than awesomeness from Square-Enix?

What Music Does a Gamer Listen To?

Well, it depends on the gamer. ;) When I'm playing WoW - which is probably the game I spend the most time engrossed in - I usually prefer more background music. You know, its the type you really don't want to have to pay attention to, and its usually there just to fill the void. Add that to the fact that I'm usually on Ventrilo trying to listen to people talk. So, for WoW playing I don't need loud or complicated music. Therefore I usually turn to Kawaii Radio (and, of course, its apparently down at the moment), which is a JPop/anime/game music Internet radio station. Its actually pretty darn good. I really enjoy it when I remember to turn it on.

Outside of gaming, I'm currently enjoying Taylor Swift (yeah, laugh it up) and Paramore. Since my wife stole my iPod, I have those CDs on my trusty PSP. There, they serve a dual purpose - I can listen to them straight up or I can play them on Beats. ;) Needless to say, Paramore is pretty awesome.

Star Ocean 4 Trailer

Speaking of Japanese RPGs...the first Star Ocean 4 trailer hit the Interwebs yesterday...and it is definitely drool-worthy. I couldn't resist posting a link to it. ;)

Video Game Tribute Halftime Show

Stargate Atlantis Q & A

So, I was bumming around the Sci-Fi Channel web site today and was reminded of something I had seen before, but never got around to watching. They have a series of short videos with Atlantis cast members answering questions that were asked on the message boards. These videos are fraking hilarious. I laughed out loud watching every one of them.

So, if you're an Atlantis junkie like myself, go check them out, starting with this one with Amanda Tapping (apparently affectionately referred to by her cast mates as "The Tappinator").

"Rain"

I absolutely love the song "Rain" by Angela Aki. I just saw the a video of her playing it on a piano and singing and it made me like the song even more. I don't understand a word of Japanese, but you don't really need to understand the language to appreciate the song.

Some might also recognize her song "Kiss Me Goodbye" (live Japanese piano version and in-game English version) from the Final Fantasy XII soundtrack; also a very emotionally gripping song.

I really, really love the solo piano in these live performances, it almost makes me want to start playing again.

STFU n00b!

I found this blog post last night about how an Irish study concluded that text messaging is to blame for bad spelling. I didn't read it last night, but the post struck me as interesting, so I did a quick post to my Google notebook to come back to today.

However, I did mention it to my wife last night before we went to bed. She knew exactly what I was going to say as soon as I said "I found a blog post about how text messaging...". She finished my sentence with "is the cause of bad spelling". Immediately following that, out of the blue she rattled off something out of a Cingular commercial (to get the full effect, say each letter in the acronyms individually).

Transcript:

Mother: Beth Anne!
Daughter: WU?
Mother: Your cell phone bill is what's up. All this texting.
Daughter: OMG, INBD.
Mother: It is a big deal. Who are you texting 50 times a day?
Daughter: IDK, my BFF Jill.
Mother: Tell your BFF Jill that I'm taking away your phone.
Daughter: TISNF!
Mother: Me paying this bill, that's what's S.. N.. F.
Voice-over: Now too much texting is no BD. Cingular brings you unlimited texting. Just five dollars more a month.

She just e-mailed me this morning and said the funniest line in that commercial is "OMG, INBD!" I have yet to see this commercial, but when I get the chance today I'm going to watch it and see what all the fuss is about.

[For those of you not leet-speak-savvy, here's the translation: WU = what's up, IDK = I don't know, BFF = best friends forever, TISNF = that is so not fair, OMG = oh my god, INBD = its no big deal, STFU = shut the f$@% up, n00b = someone new to something, actually not an acronym.]

That commercial does illustrate the point of that blog post I linked above though. Its annoying to me to have people talk like that outside of text messaging. I realize many of those acronyms were created because text messages usually have limited space, but when you start going off like that in instant messages, e-mails, web forums and even blog posts, it gets real annoying real fast.

Kitteh!

This is why I love cats. So don't give me any lip.