Death Note

A mate of mine introduced me to a manga series called Death Note. Apparently it has been taking the world by storm. Even my young sister is into it religiously. After reading the first volume I have to agree, there has been nothing like this before (at least not the books that I have read). The style of the drawing reminds me of those "hell vs heaven" mangas I read when I was in Malaysia (can't remember the author or name of the manga unfortunately). It is also intelligently written. Check it out.

Final Fantasy month

With Final Fantasy VI Advance (GBA) just gettin a release in North America and the PAL version of Final Fantasy XII (PS2) being released soon over here, I thought I would change the header a little bit. The above header is a combat scene from the Final Fantasy VI remake. Nice huh? Until I can find a better one (probably with a comical Kefka in it) it would stay there for quite some time. I am just too busy to boot up an emulator with a copy of the original SNES ROM just to get a direct-feed screengrab.


Square-Enix is lying when they say that this is only for the GBA. Expect a remake on future platforms.

Since GBA games and systems are region free it makes sense to import the game as Square-Enix Europe has yet to announce a date for a European release. It will be much cheaper too. Anyone thinking of getting Final Fantasy XII should get it from Shopto.net. At £26, you get to save 35% off the retail price, which isn't too bad.

Steve Jobs says DRM is wrong...

I say fix your bloody software first. Christ, isn't Itunes one of the largest music based stores that sells DRM'ed low quality audio files? Get your house in order first before lecturing others with your reality distortion spin.

Didn't France proposed a law last year that companies like Apple must allow interoperability within different players? Did anyone remember what Apple replied? I did. Apple effectively accused France's proposal to allow people to break DRM as 'state-sponsored piracy'. I seem to also remember RealNetwork's attempt to break Apple's Fairplay protection, which was greeted with scornful faces by Apple, Inc. and their fanboys who wanted to protect the Itunes-Ipod monopoly.

Not that I care though (since I do not use either), but imagine consumers being told that their legally purchased music cannot be used on another player. DRM is bad as far as music distribution goes. People will either continue purchasing CDs (which are dirt cheap now, even cheaper than buying lower quality audio date through Itunes) or pirating them.

via BBC

Technorati tags: Apple Itunes DRM

Duck tongue

Yesterday we had dim sum in a Chinese restaurant with a couple of Jenni's colleagues and mates. To keep a short story shorter I will get straight to the gist of this post. Someone had the cheek to order a dish of duck tongues. Not even Jennifer, an expert of eating weird stuff (like frogs, chicken feet and sea cucumber) would dare touch it.

Anyway I had me a little nibble, if only to serve as warning to future dum sum-goers. The tongues, served in black bean sauce (I believe), have bones in them. It isn't as disgusting as I thought it would be. It certainly was edible (if you really have no choice) but due to the weird texture and the fact that it felt more tasteless rubbery chicken, I decided to stop after two tongues. Not something I would order voluntarily, and neither should you!

At least we had fun with Brain Age after the massive meal.

Technorati tags: Duck tongue Chinese food Dim Sum

Pictures of dirty bikes

We went mountaing biking today on the South Downs Way. Weather was simply stunning with the sun out the whole time and not a single speck of cloud in the way. Did roughly 22 miles, about 12 miles which were off-road. Elevation data as provided by Memory Map.













Technorati tags: South Downs Way MTB Cycling

Film Review: DOA: Dead or Alive

I watched DOA: Dead or Alive DVD last night. Do not worry, I got it through my 3 month trial of LoveFilm, so no money went to the film-makers, at least I hope not. Anyway, I would stop short of naming this the worst film I have ever seen in recent times (that honour goes to Casino Royale, Fearless and Borat).


Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball makes a cameo appearance

I knew it was going to be an awful film so I lowered my expectations to that of crapfest like Jason X. I even rented it specifically so I could see how bad it was and blog about how bad it was (I am that sad, but just so you know I am also renting the fantastic Little Miss Sunshine). It's also an excellent excuse not to blog about a Christian mate of mine whose embarrassing performance of trying to proof how 'holy' and 'innocent' his religion is and how literal the bible is, while trying to discredit my (lack-of) beliefs and other religions (e.g. Muslims are terrorists); deserves cyber lynching (but I am nice and he is a friend after all).


Ayane and Kasumi squares off. With the purple hair the film-makers almost had us believing she is actually Ayane until you realised that Ayane is supposed to be Japanese.

Sorry I digress. Truth is Holly Valance is in this, and despite her fake British accent, she is still the hot babe she was when she left Neighbors and released that music video. DOA: Dead or Alive, however, is so crappy it has a knack of making film adaptations of other video-games franchise, such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Resident Evil: Apocalypse, worthy of Oscar recognition.


Sadly with clever editing you don't really get to see much.

Seriously though unlike most other crappy films (like the one I mentioned in the first paragraph), at least DOA: Dead or Alive does not even come close to pretending or trying to be good/clever. It is as if the film-makers set out to deliver an extremely corny and cheesy film (which director Corey Yuen seems capable of, as evident of his other chick martial art flick So Close indicates), and they succeeded brilliantly. I give this film two years for it to achieve legendary cult status on par of Showgirls. DOA: Dead or Alive is the ultimate switch off your brain and enjoy the fight scenes (which are pretty good). It's like plugging an actual Dead or Alive 2 game onto your Dreamcast and enjoying kicking your friend's arse. It may lack a Tolkien-like plot, but it is equally as fun.


Hollywood should release more films with exploding Buddha heads. Really.

The plot is simple enough. A number of hotties are invited to an island to join a tournament called DOA. They are required to fight each other in matches, with the winner progressing to the next round. Sadly not Battle Royale 'to the death' style. Eric Roberts, you know Julia Roberts brother (whose okay performance in ABC's comedy Less Than Perfect dampens the whole evil guy persona) stars as DOA's creator, whose motives is questioned by the stellar cast of sexy fighters.


A miscasted Devon Aoki as an expression-less Kasumi.

They (the film-makers) did mess up by deviating wildly from the games, so anybody who treats this film as canonical material is a moron. I will discuss some of said deviation here. For example, one obvious and frankly stupid flaw was the miscasting of Natassia Malthe as Ayane (who is supposed to be Japanese), half-sister to Hayate in the game series. In the film Hayate is the love interest of Ayane, which would make DOA: Dead or Alive one of the very few mainstream films to condone inter-family sex.


Insert bad-taste butt-related joke here.

Another flaw (although feminists may disagree) is the film auteurs decision to, how can I say it politely, disregard the 'breasts physics' as laid down by series creator Tomonobu Itagaki since Dead or Alive 2, and more recently in Dead or Alive Xtreme 2. A live action film, based on a series which (partly) gained notoriety for its boob engines, with less 'realistic' bounces; surely not? The expression-less and flat chested Devon Aoki looks awfully out of place as Kasumi, especially in the volleyball scene. This is probably a critique on the game series anyway as Itagaki (good luck with the sexual harassment lawsuit) should spend more time worrying about the actual fighting mechanism than whether boobs are meant to bounce independently! But I digress again. While opponents in the film are still scantily clad, the filmmakers seems to prefer focusing on their female hero peachy bums more than anything else, which is fine by me. ;)


DOA: Dead or Alive is filled with martial art cliches, such as this.

Anyway I thought I would let you guys suffer/enjoy by uploading tons of screengrabs from the DVD, you know, to kill your 56k modems. At any rate, the DVD transfer seems to be of a good quality. It may be a bad movie, but DOA: Dead or Alive is actually a fun and entertaining film for Friday night switch-offs.


Urr...What!?? WTF???!


Itagaki's Dead or Alive 10, coming soon on Xbox 720.

Technorati tags: DOA Dead or Alive Devon Aoki Holly Valance Jaime Pressly

Gyakuten Saiban 4 first case (flash demo) impressions

Those who read my blog would probably know that I am a massive fan of the point and click Gyakuten Saiban series (localised in the UK as part of the Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney series). Capcom Japan has decided to host the part of the first case from the new Gyakuten Saiban 4 online as part of a flash game. Because the game is in Japanese (and I am crap at the language), I didn't attempt to play the whole game, least to avoid getting a migraine. But it is there for you guys to peruse if you fancy.

>> spoilers below <<

A quick play (with a dictionary) through reveals some returning characters including lame prosecutor Winston Payne. The judge doesn't seem to have aged despite GS4 looking exactly the same as he was back in GS1. You will role-play as the new protagonist, 22 year old rookie player Housuke Odoroki, with a new mentor Kirihito Garyuu (the long-haired blonde). The mysterious hobo defendant happens to be Naruhodou Ryuuchi (Phoenix Wright - the protagonist of the first three GS games), who is makes a living as a pianist in a Russian restaurant. He is accused of murder (not his first).

Gameplay wise GS4 (at least the first case) is again based on the DS remake of the first Gyakuten Saiban game (released here as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney). Conversation (and most likely investigation) takes place on the top screen whereas the touchscreen houses the GUI (and the occasional item examining). Tap the top right button to access the inventory. Once there you can tap on the items to view them in more detail. You can view character informations, again through tapping the upper right button. It is very simple and intuitive. I myself actually prefer to play using the face and shoulder buttons.

Graphically it is still 2D. The new game sports new background sprites such as the court house, which now has a much more cleaner and detailed look. The new character sprites seems to be more detailed than before and better animated too. Soundtrack wise, it sounds fantastic. It could even match or surpass the standard set by GS3.

Gyakuten Saiban 4 is due out this April in Japan. Let's hope, as with the first two DS remakes, Capcom includes an English translation.

Screenshots:

New protagonist Housuke Odoroki:



Your new mentor, the effeminate Kirihito Garyuu:



Cross examining Phoenix. Notice the life bar that was introduced in GS2:

The New York Times crosswords on Nintendo DS

I grew bored with Brain Age after about 2 months of repetitive and voluntary maths (it's still a great game when I am time-wasting). I have no idea how those geezers in Japan can continue with it daily, but I digress. At any rate, Majesco's recent announcement that they would be releasing a game based on The New York Times crosswords on the DS platform, makes me glee with joy. I can't wait. Here's hoping that one of the quality papers in the UK releases a British style crossword game.

Copied & pasted from their press release:

The New York Times Crosswords features more than 1,000 real crossword puzzles and the unique ability to write in answers with the stylus or use a Touch Screen keyboard to enter letters. Various modes of play include Puzzle Me Quick for a fast word fix; Puzzle Week for extended play with progressive difficulty; or Challenge mode with adjustable time and difficulty settings. In addition, the game includes both cooperative and competitive 2-player play so puzzle fanatics can work together or face off in wireless challenges.

Even if it is American based, it beats playing Sudoku.

Via 4CR

Pocket PC owners may want to check out Crossword Puzzles.

Technorati tags: Crosswords New York Times Nintedo DS Majesco