Movin' On Up

Well, Blogger has served me well for 638 posts. However, I find I don't have as much time to post and format things properly lately. Instead of bailing out entirely, I'm going to move the blog to Tumblr. It's cool because they mean it when they say "one button publishing". I'm still figuring things out over there but so far it's really cut down blog formatting time. Anyway, please come by to see the new digs. I hope to polish it and figure out the sidebar functionality soon.

http://electricgoldfish.tumblr.com/

Who knows? Maybe it's too barebones for what I want and I'll move back to Blogger, but I'll burn that bridge when I come to it. XD

Some interesting stuff on the interbutts these days.

Newsarama interviewed Greg Rucka about Batwoman thus far. Apparently it was supposed to end a little vague. Now I feel less stupid.

zomg, Guile hacks! But a funny almost comeback nonetheless.

Cinderella Super Spy Fables Spinoff - YES PLEASE

"Twisted" Disney Princesses - kinda creepy.
via Ryan Paul Thompson's twitter feed

Artsy Fartsy

Some interesting posts about ART.

Ogiue Maniax has an interesting theory about The Colors of Modern Fanservice.

Newsarama has an article about Greg Horn's new art style. It's as great as his old one I think.

Mozart - On Shamisen. 0_0

FF: Crystal Bearers

Still want.



source: Kotaku

source: Japan Probe.

New Samurai Shodown Video

Now, I care about this but I was there when the first ones came out. :) Am I alone in my love? (still gotta say it looks a bit rough and I worry about the online)




source: Kotaku

Ganguro Tutorial

This was popular in Japan. Truly.

Truth.

click image to enlarge.

found at Graph Jam

It Has Begun!

After a long time in licensing limbo, Sgt Frog finally has invaded!

Get it on the cheap, or watch online for freezies.

An Explosion of Awesome, maybe.

Pics of Frank West in Tatsunoko vs Capcom
source: Geraldo Beedog (JOURNALISM!)

Yuri on the Chalkboard. (this story rules)
source: Moritheil

Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes! Awesome Sauce! (Woo! Masamune Date!)
source: Nintendo Life

Wait, what?

Amazing!
source: OliviaMunn.com

Terrifying!
X-Men 4 to come BEFORE X-Men First Class. Let's get this straight. X3 should have ended it all.
source: Superhero 411

A Foody Post. Kinda.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Marvel Super Hero Squad Game. It's like Marvel Ult. Alliance, with chibis. Kind of.
source :Marvel, duh.

Del Rey swanks up their birthday with an Ace of Cakes (Charm City Cakes)...uh...cake. (I just wanted to say cake again.
source: I lost it. ;_;

Burger Time is Creepy.
source: Tiny Cartridge

CTS footage

via SD Tekken

Kitteh vs Domo

Mario Kart: The Movie

This is...amazing. *_*

Picking on Morning Musume

It's hard not to laugh, really. Poor MoMuSu.

Gnus for Gnerds (titles are hard)

...almost.

Spider Woman motion comic available on iTunes for a limited time at .99 cents. After that two bucks. Too small to read on the Nano, if that's even an option (doubt it)
via Marvel Comics

Best Cinderella recaption ever.
via LoL Celebs

Galge that isn't an H game is still banned from XBLA. Hrm. Japan MEANS it with these new eroge restrictions. Odd thing is, it was never an H game.
via Canned Dogs

Tatsunoko vs Capcom Artwork
via Mognet Central

Sgt Frog in Tales of Vesperia (via DLC). If I had this game I would just stay as Sgt Frog the entire time.
via Kotaku

GIANT ROBOT BEETLE.
Are American otaku this cool? Probably not.
via Japan Sugoi

Bummer, man.

Dude! Where did the week go?! 0_0!

Digsby is being super sketchy and that makes me sad.

Insert Credit is dead. The end of an era.

Tosh.O had a popcorn challenge, and it makes me laugh. Makes the horrible news less horrible.

Tosh.0	Thurs, 10pm / 9c
Viewer’s Popcorn Challenge Response
www.comedycentral.com
Daniel Tosh Miss Teen South Carolina Demi Moore Picture

Spyborgs trailer

Looks good to me. :) (and it's on the Wii!)

a couple things I forgot

Penny Arcade is doing a Tekken comic (Kangaroooooos!)
via TekkenBob

and my girl crush, Anna Paquin got engaged to her co star in True Blood, Stephen Moyer. Guess the sex scenes worked in his favor eh?
source: WR Beta

ps, the tourney is over, casuals are happening. Final rankings c/o Slasher
God's Garden Japanese #SF4 Tourney - Mago (SA) champion, Uryo (VI) 2nd, Daigo (RY) 3rd

Twitter Friday

Hey all, (all 10 of you, hahah!) I finally got the Cannonball achievement a couple nights ago! Good times! Shaving that time from 6 min to 4 mins is going to be very difficult for me. I feel plenty fast now. Moving on, GIJoe: Rise of Cobra opens tonight, you going? I am :)




In comics news, seems Bill Willingham had some issues with his Fables panel at SDCC. I really appreciate what he tried to do for his fans. Fabletown vs San Diego

God's Garden Japanese #SF4 Tourney LIVE - Daigo (Ryu) vs Tetsu (ELF) - Live Stream: http://bit.ly/bfnBS
running now, don't know how long it will last. (215pm EST)
Source: Slasher's Twitter Stream

RT @schnuth: RT @lawmune: Asuka (from Evangelion) illustrated by Yoshitoshi ABe: http://bit.ly/103yAO
source: Benu's Twitter Stream

Cool Arcade

Poking around the intertubes and I've discoved the web site for an arcade that I'd love to visit. Too bad it's in California. (the last stand for arcades in the US, mainly because of the big fighting game scene) Check out the games list for Denjin Arcade. They even have Japanese style sit down cabinets. So swank.

Barring a couple around here and in Orlando, the arcade scene is properly dead in Florida.

It's a day ending in "y". Time for random news bits.

Hi, how's it going? I'm currently obsessing over the "Cannonball" achivement in KoF 12. I had no problem ripping through arcade mode in 10 minutes, or 8 even. In fact, I think I did that the first time I played. (there's a reason I have characters in City of Heroes/Villains named Mucho Aggro and Muchacha Aggro) ANYWAY, 6 minutes flat is giving me problems. I've come within a second of doing it. I shall keep on keepin' on with my boy Joe Higashi. I need more combos like these.



There's a Batman demo coming on Aug 7th for the 360 and PS3.
source: ConsoleMonster.com

Want to play Champions Online FOREVAR? Well, you can, for the low, low cost of 200 dollars.
source: Destructoid

Anyone playing Tetris Online? It seems fun.
source: TetrisFriends.com

Someone from Japanator.com was at Anime Festival Orlando this weekend (I was there on Saturday, myself!) and got some good cosplay pics.

In an unrelated note, they also found a webiste where cute Japanese girls hold up signs that tell you what time it is. Oddly fascinating.

Also, holy crap, 4kids is for sale!
via AICN's Twitter Feed.

More Fish'em All Info

BWAHAHAHAHA! The banjo guy in this amuses me for some reason.

A Little KoF 12 gameplay

very nice, good play by both players. Match could have gone either way at the end. (although it kind of proves that a your best defense is a good offence.)

Jimmy Fallon @ Comic Con

Truly Villainous.

Fightan Gaems

EVO was this weekend and I was mesmerized with the live stream. Well, the parts of it that were watchable. MvC2 was not one of those. But it's okay, I've seen Magneto, Storm, Capt Commando and Sentinel fight before.

Daigo "the Beast" Umehara won the Street Fighter 4 championships and was classy as usual. Justin Wong needlessly showboated as usual. Here's an interview with Daigo.
source: Slasher, Kotaku & Me watching the stream.

A French gentleman by the name of Malek (profile in French here with unflattering pic) won the Soul Calibur 4 tournament with Ivy. Generally, I am not a fan of Ivy but I was definitely rooting for him to win against the hoards of (broke ass combo) Hilde. Also, his mastery of the command throws was simply amazing. Well done, Malek!
profile source: Kotaku comments & Evo stream

I didn't get the details on the Blaz Blue winner, other than that they won with Noel and that they only play rushdown characters and girl characters. Well, me too. More details if I can dig them up.

KOF12's Twitter feed has finally linked to some high resolution KoF 12 footage! Yay! I love the flashing bulbs that twinkle in the BG of this stage.

Warp Technology

see more dog and puppy pictures

Splooooosh

don't blink, this vid is pretty short!

Random News Bits

King of Fighters XI FINALLY gets an official release date! July 28, 1009!

source: KOF12 Twitter feed.

Sagat and Seth "overpowered"in SF4. Internet responds with a mighty "NO SH**!!"

source: Slasher's Twitter feed.

PopCap Games coming to the Wii & DSi. Good times! I would like some PvZ in WiiWare (or something)

source: Nintendo Life

Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool AND Hal Jordan. Meh. I would have preferred Jared Leto as Kyle Rayner.

Cool alt costume for Lars in Tekken 6. En Espanol.

Garou: Mark of the Wolves (Rock / B Jenet match)

Garou: Mark of the Wolves got released on Xbox Live Arcade last week. I got to play it today.

In the following video, Rock gets obliterated for the most part. Huge props to the B Jenet fighter for being able to pull of that Madmoiselle Ennui (B's Super Counter) in the last round. It's a pain.

• Tap A, then B, then C during Just Defend
• This is a P. Power super.
• You must tap the buttons very quickly when Jenet Just Defends.

Move info from Shoryuken Wiki

Water Warfare

This is a new WiiWare title, and it's a FPS, with a watergun twist. I think with the Wii controls I could actually be less crap at this genre. It's only 800 points. Oh so tempting... I will probably cave in and pick it up soon.



video source: ArakniD

Beetle Sumo

Japan Probe found a cute article & video about Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle Sumo wrestling. Click the link for the video and how exactly one DQ's a beetle from the championship.

Blaz Blue Launch Trailer

Got to play this last night at a friend's house and while I can't comment on the game play after only a few rounds, I can definitely say that it's a beautiful game with well done sprites and gorgeous backgrounds.



Litchi and Taokaka seem to be characters that call out to me.

SF4 Tourney Play

Sportsmanship, they lack it.
I'm calling this guy the next "Pringles" / "Curleh Mustache"
Good C Viper player if you can handle the vomit-cam.



source: Iplaywinner.com

Oujosama Kitty?

or just Wilford Brimly cat in drag?



via Kevin Periera's twitter feed.

diabeetus.

Thriller - Chiptune version

If you like chip tunes, you will like this.
Thriller VRC6 cover

Source: Nobuooo's twitter feed.

City of Heroes: 5th Anniversary Commemorative Video

Ah, this is a nice retrospective of how the game has changed an evolved over the years. I missed a good number of these events, but that doesn't make the video any less cool to me.

Ponyo, DC comics and other news

There's an American Ponyo trailer! I got goosebumps!

Some good books from DC dropping tomorrow. Wonder Woman 33 (continues the Rise of the Olympian (incredibly long) story arc) and Gotham City Sirens. GCS seems to be like Birds of Prey, but eeeevil. Catwoman, Harley and Ivy team up to kick some ass. Written by the amazing Paul Dini.

Play Asia has got a "new" Fushigi Yuugi [Limited Edition] DS game, which seems to be two previous Fushigi Yuugi games rebundled into one. $79.90 + shipping is a little too rich for my blood, but maybe not yours.

Finally, a friend was talking about video game series with great music. The Soul Edge/Calibur series has music that I have always enjoyed, even way back with this cheesy little number that is still one of my favorites to this day.

Oh snap, Garou!

Garou: Mark of the Wolves is coming to Xbox Live Arcade for a mere 800 M$ moonpoints! Awesome! (Lillien Knights represent!)
source: Kotaku

Metro and Munn

Hey, MetroCon is over and so life will get back to normal again! Yay! (I think...)
Anyway, here's some amusement from G4tv. It's Kevin and Olivia from Attack of the Show doing 'Blind Go Kart Racing'. I admit, Olivia's mom makes me laugh with her "guidance".

Video Games - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

gnus drop

King of Fighters article up on Kotaku. The "news" is that Ash Crimson is a male crossdresser. In other obvious news, the sky is blue. Hey Kotaku, can we just get some info on the game play rather than a gender/sexuality discussion? Please?

Mognet Central found a cool article on the weapons of Bayonetta.

Japanator and Japan Probe found an unintentionally funny video of Lady Gaga visiting Japan. (holy crap, racoon eyes!)

MESSATSU IS JAPANESE FOR "AUTOFIRE"

This was too good not to post. Good match, great commentary text. (also, I like that song too)



Source: Lord BBH's YouTube Channel

Misc News & FFIV: TAY

Tekken.com has relaunched - we need our Tekken 6 news, ya know. It looks swank has has some great quality video.
source: SD Tekken

Weird Asia News reports yet another oddly flavored soda out of Japan - Green Tea Coke. (bleargh)

There's too much E3 news that you're probably drowning in, but in case you missed it, Final Fantasy IV : The After Years has finally been released.

">

Video Games | Final Fantasy IV: The After Years | E3 09: Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

WiiWare! Now! Go!

Little Kabuki Kid

Japan Probe has found some great footage of a child Kabuki actor. Mini Lion Dance rules!

matsu moto
by gariisenab

Pirates Pirating Pirates

Wow, and the hackers ruin it for everyone else. Good job, jerks.

http://www.onepieceofficial.com/videos.aspx

As anime fans know, FUNimation Entertainment planned under the authorization of Toei Animation, Fuji Television, Shueisha for the first ever online simulcast of the series ‘One Piece’ tonight at 9:00 pm CDT., just one hour after its premiere on Japan’s Fuji Television. Unfortunately, in the last 24 hours we have determined that the FUNimation servers were compromised, even though we employ strict security standards. An unknown individual accessed and posted episode 403 online and as a direct result of this illegal act, all U.S. and Canadian fans will be deprived of access to this great anime series for the immediate future. We will use the full extent of our efforts to locate and prosecute the perpetrators and will provide updates in this most serious matter.

sources: Twitter accounts of @Funimation and @Benu

New KoF pre E3 video

Sweet!

source: Destructoid

Otaku Swap 2

see more dog and puppy pictures

Hello again, for a slightly earlier Otaku Swap post. Let's get down to business. For no particular reason there's an animal theme this week.

Manga

Tuxedo Gin
volumes 2-8 & 12 available at PaperbackSwap. Read volume 1 at Viz Media
From Viz: High school student Ginji Kusanagi is a tough, motorcycle-riding kid, who's about to make his debut as a professional boxer. He's also just met the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, Ginji is dead...and has been reincarnated into a penguin! (what Viz left out is that Gin goes to live with the girl of his dreams and is promised to be returned to a human if he does enough good tasks.)

Fruits Basket vol 1 & 3
Fruits Basket - the shoujo answer to Ranma 1/2!
The main character Tohru does not turn into an animal, but all of her male companions seem to. The guys transform into different animals from the Chinese zodiac when Tohru touches them. From Wikipedia: The story follows the lives of Tohru and the Sohma family, as they deal with each other and a society where neither quite fits in, as well as the feared Akito Soma, head of the Sohma family. Soon, after living with the Sohma family she began to like, then love, all of the Sohmas, and sets out to break the zodiac curse.

InuYasha
28 listings available - various volumes
Inu Yasha is over, after a 12 YEAR manga run. Surely you want to see what the deal is with uber author Rumiko Takahashi's long running series. You want the manga because the anime ended without a conclusion. It's a long, complicated story, but it starts with the story of the Jewel of Four Souls. InuYasha wants it to become a full demon. However, it is shattered. Kagome falls though a well into Inu Yasha's time (Sengoku Period Japan). Together they travel to get all the shards back.

Anime
(at swapadvd.com)

Ranma 1/2
7 various volumes available currently
Rnama 1/2 - A Japanese Martial arts comedy / gender bending farce.
A classic. I love this series. It's a long show, with a huge cast. Just check the Wiki for the details.

Kimba
In truth, Disney swiped this story and turned it into the Lion King. See what it was really meant to be.

Wolf's Rain vol 1
Can't say much about the series as I have not personally seen it, but I know it's well loved by many. Check ANN for the details.

Okay, that's all for this week. Are you all enjoying these posts? Even if you are not on those sites, I think that anime and manga recommendations are always useful. Especially the older stuff you may find on sale at cons. Please leave a comment if you like these posts. If you don't like them, please let me know why. Kthx ~

Sphinx Cat Bath

Oh Japan Probe, you are the best for finding this.

Rabbids Go Home Trailer

Do want.



source: Kotaku

"High Level" SF4 play

You know, my bf was watching me play SF4 and he said "When King of Fighters gets released, I am never going to be able to get you to play this game again, am I?"
Me: "Probably not."

Enjoy this "high level" SF4 play. Just watch the word bubbles next to the button inputs, they really explain it all.




Also, Hadouken, Hadouken,Hadouken,
Hadouken,Hadouken,Hadouken,
Hadouken,Hadouken,Hadouken,
Hadouken,Hadouken, *gasp* Hadouken.

Boy Band + Roaches = ???

wow, an epic find by Japan Probe.

Otaku Swap - A Touch of Old School

I am an otaku.
However, being an otaku makes me low on cash all the time. How can I get my fix of anime and manga and not break the bank? My personal solution to this was signing up for PaperbackSwap.com and Swapadvd.com. I've had pretty good luck with both of the sites thus far. Some of my friends have had problems finding stuff they like. I find that if you're persistent and have an open mind (There are very few manga that I won't read) that you'll definitely find something that tickles your fancy. However, if you're still having problems, I am here to make some reccomendations. When I post links to these books/dvds they are available. However, if they're gone, you can always put them on your wish list. Oh by the way, unless noted, these are not books/dvds I have posted myself.


Manga:
All New Tenchi Muyo Vol 1 - Alien Nation
Why?- The Tenchi Muyo series is one of the all time anime classics (yeah I said it) and it would do you good to get some of the manga and get an idea of what the series was about and why it's so popular. It's one of the earlier harem anime before the market was utterly saturated. (with a dash of sci-fi)

Paradise Kiss vol 1
One of the best josei manga I have ever read. It's about fashion and relationships and love, and finding your way in life. I don't even care about fashion but Ai Yazawa's art is amazing. There are only 5 volumes total and it wouldn't kill you to read at least 1.

Real Bout High School vol 1
It's a fighting/battle manga with a little sci fi/fantasy flare to it. Far better than the anime turned out.

Anime
Cowboy Bebop 1st Session (posted by me)
Another classic series. Bebop not only has a wonderful soundtrack but a good mix of action, character development and science fiction. (with a little bit of a classic western feel)

Dragonball Z
I really don't need to explain this.
There is an ABSURD amount of DBZ on SwapaDvd. Right now there are 64 different dvds posted. Surely there's one in there that will fill a hole in your collection.

Love Hina vol 1 - Moving In
Oh Love Hina, a series that everyones loves but it will completely polarize fans of the series as to whether main character Naru Narusegawa is a horrible human being or just THE ultimate tsundere. (my bf is in the first camp, I am in the second). If you want a romantic comedy harem anime with all the classic character types, Love Hina is it.

Street Fighter circa 1981

Block Tests 01 from Dylan Hayes on Vimeo.

source: Kotaku

Arkaham Asylum

Pamela "no pants" Isley in Arkham Asylum. 0_0~!



source: Kotaku

Utada + Seacrest? =Wut.

Heard about this on the radio last night. Utada has some video up on RyanSeacrest.com
Yeah, I know, it boggles my mind too, but it's clever marketing.



Some mini rants:
I am so tired of them calling her The Japanese *add pop star here*. Now it's Madonna, where it was formerly the Japanese Britney Spears. It would not surprise me if that offended Utada greatly. "Yeah, you're like the nutjob, drug addicted, head shaving pop star we all like to mock! Yeah!" Also, could Ryan have greeted her in a more offensive way? Crikey, just punch her in the eye next time and maybe we'll think you're less of a racist d-bag. She's from Japan, not outer space.

Muscle March

You want this.




Thanks to Emiko for the tip!

City of Heroes is Going Rogue

Trailer for the new expansion (which I believe will be boxed)



Remind anyone else of the Crime Syndicate?

Tekken 6 Preview

Video Games - E3 2009 - X-Play

source XPlay & SD Tekken

Utada In Store "Tour" Postponed

Quote from Utada.com

Utada, who is set to release her new album This Is The One on May 12th, has been forced to postpone her promotions to launch the album along with a series of in-store appearances. The 26 year-old artist, who had planned to arrive today May 11th to promote and drive the album release, has been diagnosed with an acute case of left relapsing peritonsillitis.

source: Zac Bentz and Utada.com

If you were wondering what peritonsillitis IS, The Free Dictionary says it is: Inflammation of the connective tissue above and behind the tonsil.

Zombie Energy Drink?

The Plants vs Zombies twitter feed has posted a pic of 'Brain Ooze'. Wonder what it tastes like? Probably better than the Final Fantasy potion (or so I hear)

Check it out on Twitpic.

D&D Dinner Set

Just thought I'd post this cool little geek-centric dinner set I saw on DeviantArt. User HauntedHouse667 made a D&D dice themed dinner set that she'll be selling at Supercon this June. How cool is that?



Original DA listing here.

I was lucky enough to commission some art from HauntedHouse at MetroCon a couple years back. She's great.

2 New KoF XII Characters Revealed!

Mognet Central reports that Elizabeth Brantorche (Blantorche) and Mature will be in home versions of KoF XII. Still no word on Mai.  Click here for the original Mognet Central post with a link to GPara and more pics.

My Life as a Dark Lord

Thought this deserved it's own post. Video of the upcoming WiiWare game, My Life as a Dark Lord. Apparently more of a tower sim than proper tower defense. Either way, the option to sic Marlboros and Tonberrys on adventurers is too good to pass up. Release date is TBA 2009. ;_;



originally found at Joystiq

By the way, if you're wondering why Mira (the main character) looks split in two, the original Japanese name is Hikari to Yami no Himegishi to Sekai Seifuku no Tō: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Subtitle translated as The Daughter of Light and Darkness, and the Tower of the World Conquest) - this makes her outfit make a little more sense. I guess they really want US gamers to associate it with My Life as King.

Japanese language information taken from Final Fantasy Wiki

Free Comic Book Day

HEY IT'S FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! GO GET YOUR BOOKS, NERD!

Beaker Wants a Webby

Winners announced May 5th at the Webby Awards

Wolverine Movie In Minutes

No spoilers as far as I know, the group filming it hasn't see the movie yet. Rogue bit has gotta be the best.



source: WRBeta mailing list.

Free Comic Book Day on Saturday

My good buddy Kitsune Rei reminded me that FCBD is this Saturday and linked to this site, with this woooonderful video of (my future ex-husband) Hugh Jackman promoting the event.

New Tekken 6 Trailers

at SDTekken.com

Have Some Media

Lots of new stuff for you to see and hear these days. As everyone and their grandma already knows, Marvel vs Capcom 2 is being ported to XBLA and PSN. All of the obligatory 'Take you for a ride', Mahvel Baybee and Curleh Mustache (audio NSFW on that link) jokes have already been made.



I'm more excited about Garou coming out on the 360 myself. Hope it makes it to the US.
source: Mognet Central

Trent Reznor's Twitter feed shows us "Dr. Mario and The Perfect Drug"


source: Agent M's Twitter Feed.

And some good news for your ears. AnimeVice now has a podcast (called a Squadcast)
So far, short eps, but hey, we've all got too many dang podcasts

Azumanga Daioh Arcana

Found this at the Wakachan Imageboard Network. Good times. Check out all the major arcana here.

Atlus Hacked

Ugh, bad news for fan favorite Atlus (and everyone that's logged into their site in the past couple of days). Got this warning in my email box.

Dearest fans of Atlus,

Today (4/24/2009), our web domain (atlus.com) was hacked and compromised. A third-party entity embedded malicious code into the script, and regretfully, for a period of a few hours (from roughly 9:00am PST until 2:30pm PST), this malicious software (which we believe we have identified as a Trojan) may have made its way onto your systems.

The faith and trust of our fans is of the utmost importance to us, a responsibility we don't take lightly. As such, we are deeply troubled by this development, and we are now working to repair and restore the website.

We advise any and all of our fans, whether they visited our website or not in the past day or two, to protect their computers with anti-virus software and to run malware removal software on their systems to ensure that their security is not compromised.

As we work quickly to restore the Atlus website and to investigate the nature of this security breach, we ask for your understanding and patience.

Sincerely,
Atlus

5 Years of Pulling Mad Agg

Kotaku reports that City of Heroes is celebrating it's 5th anniversary. (because I needed another reason to feel old, haha) Lots of events are going down and for the avid badge hunters (like me!), there will be a 5th Anniversary Badge awarded

Beginning at 11am EST on Wednesday, April 29th and continuing until 11:59pm EST on Sunday, May 31st, we will be issuing each individual character you log into the game with

From City of Heroes.com -
In-Game Events

We're not going to ruin the surprise...but suffice it to say that all CHAOS is going to break loose in-game on our anniversary date and you're not going to want to miss it! From 11am EDT on April 28th to 12am EDT on April 29th, get ready to re-experience some of the things that have made City of Heroes® the great game that it is over the past five years! The festivities will be more fun than you can shake a stick at, and will include plenty of opportunities to earn merits, badges and XP.

But that's not all...

Some familiar faces will be hanging out on the Training Room Test Server throughout the day--ready to wish you a happy anniversary. They could be anywhere, but you're definitely going to want to check out Pocket D! So copy a character over and pay them a visit!
---------------

In addition to all of the above, expired accounts will be reactivated for 2 weeks so there's no reason not to pop in.

Ristorante Paradiso

I've been a busy little fish lately with lots of good intentions but little time to post. So! Here's a trailer for Ristorante Paradiso. I watched eps 1 & 2 (late) last night on Crunchyroll. Oh man, what a refreshing change of pace. Details later, trailer now. :)

#90sday on Twitter

Jim Sterling (of destructoid.com fame) has declared it 90s day on Twitter.com. So far it's been a really fun thing to read and participate in. So, if you're on Twitter and feeling nostalgic, post memories, you tube links or whatever with the hash tag #90sday

(like this)

AMV - Various - Van Halen - Right Now

Harley Quinn in Arkham Asylum

dang, busy news day.



source: Kotaku

Saki - trailer 2

I have many and varied thoughts on this series. I intend to post about the first episode (or two!) soon. Until then, enjoy this new trailer.

City of Architects

Issue 14 (update) has been released for City of Heroes/Villians which allows players to make their own story arcs. Did anyone do it? Well, yes. Users have created over 20,000 missions. Awesome.
Read more details at Kotaku.

Arcana Heart 2 - Lag video

Yeah, that's pretty bad... :(



Link originally found on Gaia in the official Arcana Heart thread.

Final Fantasy XIII Demo Videos

Last night, some lucky guy in Japan played the FFXIII demo (packaged with the Blu Ray version of Final Fantasy: Advent Children) and was kind enough to stream it for the rest of the world. Last I checked, he played through it at least 4 times. If you were unlucky enough to miss it, it's been posted on youtube. Destructoid has all of them gathered for you here.

Yammering About Comics (pt 3)

Still yammering, but a bit abbreviated, as I have a lot to get through.

Wonder Woman #30
(Rise of the Olympian pt 5)
Diana has had enough of Cheetah's bs and is going to get to Genocide, no matter what. More talk of 'manazons' and Zeus, like the classical version, seems to be a bit of a jerk.
Final Thought: Awesome sauce.

Street Fighter II Turbo #5
Back stories of Cammy & E Honda, continue. Extra insert of C. Viper in the back. Much like Street Fighter Legends, Udon continues their great work. A must for any SF fan.
Final Thought: Love it.

X-Force/ Cable Messiah War parts 1&2
Good art, okay story. It's likely that I'm biased against this one because I'm not a fan of time travel OR Cable. Appearance by a crazed Deadpool lightens things up.
Final Thought: Meh.

The Flash: Rebirth #1
This was loaned to me by a friend. The only Flash I am even remotely familiar is Wally. They gave as much backstory as they could buuut I still have no idea who the villians are in the series. I am sure that if I knew more about the Flash, that I'd likely be peeing my pants.
Final Thought: Need more info.

X-Men Legacy #222
Danger is going batty and Rogue continues on her Danger-induced pilgrimage. Hard to take Shi'ar pirates seriously.
Implications that Rogue's quest was an accident. This irritates me.
Final Thought: Waiting to see how this continues.

Uncanny X-Men #507 (Manifest Destiny)
Manifest Destiny is still going on? Oh. Right. ?_?
Eeeeverybody is getting attacked by something or another. Good battle issue. I sometimes prefer these over a wall of text. A nod to Dark Reign and the Uncanny Annual as well as the return of a huge villian at the end. (no I am not saying who)
Final Thought: 'Snot bad at all, eagerly awaiting Madelyne Pryor & Spiral next issue.

Phew, got done in time for this week's books. I hope to get to the shop more often than I do thus far. :P

on tap: more of the same and probably a smidge of manga.

More Yammering About Comics (opinion)

Street Fighter Legends: Chun Li #2
Ah, the beautiful art of the Udon crew. It still stands strong. Chun Li's origin tale continues with some new characters and a little more characterization of her father. Also starring Sagat (boo) and Dan (yay!) (and a mystery guest at the end – no spoilers!)
Dear Udon crew: You continue to rock. Please proceed.
Final Thought: A great telling of Chun Li's origin, with some really moving scenes.

X-Force #13 (Messiah War 'prequel')
Always solid art and a strong storyline as well. THIS is how you end a book with a serious cliffhanger (which is apparently not addressed in the Messiah War “One Shot”.
Dear Kyle & Yost – Please keep on keepin on. I have high hopes that the Wolfsbane story goes somewhere, because it didn't go into Messiah War and I feel like that's a good thing.
Final Thought: Great book, wish it didn't force the crossover issues on me.

Got through a giant mass of comics last night as well. Will post on those later. :)