We've probably had a thread like this before...but never in an anime forum! So...anyway.

Whole series:
1. Trigun
2. Cowboy Bebop
3. Excel Saga

Partial series:
1. Kino's Journey
2. Rahxephon
3. Dai-Guard

So get to posting because I'm not going to pull all the weight around here myself!!

Anime discussion might not be a huge thing at TC, but I thought "Hey! Let's have an anime forum anyway!" so barring Weltall deleting the forum because no one posts in it an anime forum we shall have!!

Quote:Al-Qaeda says Canada deserves bombing
Jihad spokesman says Canadians were mean to Khadrs

Stewart Bell
National Post

Saturday, May 15, 2004

ISLAMABAD - The Al-Qaeda terror network views Canada as a legitimate target because it is a "selfish" nation committing "terrorism" against Muslims around the world, an unofficial spokesman for jihadists waging holy war against the West said Friday.

Khalid Khawaja, a friend of Osama bin Laden's who calls the Saudi terrorist and his followers "the most wonderful people of the world," told the National Post that Canadians should not be surprised if suicide bombers want to strike their country.

"It is very simple," he said. "As Bush says, either you are a friend or you are an enemy. So if you are not my friend, you are our enemy. So it is very simple. When you are supporting the enemy [the United States] then you are a target."

He also said Canada was hated because of its military presence in Afghanistan and its treatment of the Khadr family, notably Abdul Karim, the teen who set off a public outcry when he returned to Toronto for medical treatment after he was wounded in a shootout in Pakistan that left his al-Qaeda father dead.

"Look at these Canadians. They have millions and millions of dollars to fight against Muslims, to send their troops, to send their weapons, and all of them put together, they have objections to giving treatment to this 14 year-old-boy who has been a victim of your terrorism."

Bin Laden first publicly encouraged attacks against Canada in a statement broadcast on Nov. 12, 2002. In March, 2004, an al-Qaeda manual posted on the Internet ranked Canadians as the fifth most important targets.

But al-Qaeda and its ideological theorists have provided little explanation as to why. Canada did not send troops to Iraq, its foreign policy is not particularly pro-Israel and Ottawa has not been overly aggressive in fighting terror.

A top Canadian terrorism expert said Mr. Khawaja's comments were typical of the way al-Qaeda followers view the world, as divided between two conflicting religious and cultural camps: Dar ul-Islam, the perfect Muslim world, and Dar ul-Harb, the immoral rest of the world.

"Canada, as a secular democratic society, is by definition assigned to Dar ul-Harb. From the perspective of al-Qaeda and associated Islamic militants, it is incumbent upon Muslims to wage a jihad, a holy war, against Dar ul-Harb in order to destroy its perceived evils and transform those societies into Dar ul-Islam," said Professor Martin Rudner.

"According to this doctrine, Canada is a religiously sanctioned target for terrorism, suicide bombing and political violence," said Prof. Rudner, Director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

A Canadian intelligence report written shortly after bin Laden first urged attacks against Canada said the country was singled out "in view of its support of the U.S." The more recent al-Qaeda manual explains only that Canada is a "Christian" country.

According to a translation of an article written by Abu Ayman al-Hilali, a senior al-Qaeda leader and ideologist, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany, and Australia are "enemies" and attacks against their civilians are justified. Since Western governments are engaged in a war against Islam, he argued, the civilian voters who elect those governments cannot be considered non-combatants and are legitimate targets for terrorists.

In an interview in Islamabad yesterday, Mr. Khawaja, who fought with bin Laden in Afghanistan and openly admits he supports jihad activities, provided a rare explanation of why terrorists wish to bring violence to Canada.

Suicide bombers are simply fighting back against the Western assault on their faith and Canadians should just learn to "take it," he said.

"Today you have the power in your hand. The other day the suicide bomber also has power. So you use your cruise missiles and atom bombs and all that, so he uses his power. So why do you cry at that time? When you say we are fighting a war against you, so better take it then.

"They are also fighting a war against you. They are fighting their way, you are fighting your way. So let's be happy. But only thing is, your faces are pulled down, you are scared, sitting in America and Canada. You are scared of a man sitting in the cave."

"We are not scared of you."

He described life as a "cage" and a "prison" from which he hoped to escape. "We love it like we want to live in a toilet, and we just want to get out of it." And the best way to leave life is in jihad, he said. "So how can you fight with us?"

Mr. Khawaja would not say when he last spoke with bin Laden but his recent activities include helping the families of al-Qaeda members killed in a 1998 U.S. cruise missile strike on a terror training camp in Afghanistan, and helping the Khadr family of Ontario.

The return of Mrs. Khadr and her youngest son Abdul Karim to Canada, and the broadcast of comments in which the mother and her daughter praised suicide bombings, outraged many Canadians. Thousands signed a petition calling for the deportation of the family.

"You have paralyzed [Abdul Karim], your system has paralyzed him -- although of course he's been paralyzed by Pakistan Army, but it was under order of this coalition. To me I call them governments of terrorists, the coalition of terrorists.

"So you paralyzed this boy with no thought, you paralyzed his father with no thought, now the whole Canadian nation put together, they are bothered about taxpayers' money, that this boy should not be treated with this money.

"You have all the money to kill the people, you have all the billions of dollars to make the people slaves, you have billions of dollars to torture the people, you have billions of dollars to put up in the media to create false enemies and you have no money to give treatment to one of your victims. So what treatment do you deserve?

"Your civilization is selfish and self-centred. Just you want to live and enjoy yourselves and that is all, you don't give."

He said terrorist attacks would end only when the West stopped trying to dominate the Muslim world.

"We don't believe in killing innocent people but we would certainly like to send you into the Stone Age the same way you have sent us into the Stone Age."
© National Post 2004

http://gaming-age.com/event/2004/e3/13-102

You know, I've always hated this guy, but this recent GA interview makes him look like an even bigger asshole than he was before, and most importantly an extremely immature, cry-baby asshole.

Quote:On the morning of the first day of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Gaming Age had an unexpected opportunity to conduct a short interview with Tecmo’s Tomonobu Itagaki, the lead designer of the Dead or Alive series and the recently released Ninja Gaiden.

It was soon discovered that Mr. Itagaki is a personal reader of Gaming Age; he immediately brought up the issue of the critical review of Ninja Gaiden run on the site several months back before a single question was asked. At this point, I realized this was not going to be like any other interview I’d ever been apart of. How often does a Japanese developer who doesn’t take criticism well personally chastise you?

The following is a mostly complete transcript (some of the introduction is missing due to a malfunctioning tape recorder) of the conversation between Patrick Klepek (me), John Inada (Tecmo’s General Manager, Sales & Marketing Director and translator for Mr. Itagaki) and Tomonobu Itagaki.

John Inada: [In reference to Gaming Age’s critical review of Ninja Gaiden] You know, we don’t care. Honest review, that’s fine. But it seemed like a gimmick to me to try and get people’s attention.

Patrick Klepek: Well, no, it definitely wasn’t that. It was just a totally different opinion and as you can probably see, most people are pretty much on the other side of the spectrum.

Inada: (laughs)

Patrick: It was really just one guy who was the odd man out. We would never do that to try and attract attention or try to cash-in.

Inada: (translates for Mr. Itagaki)

Inada: Well, let’s talk about DoA: U. Just fire away.

Patrick: Basically, this isn’t quite Dead or Alive 4, but you’re bringing it up to speed past Dead or Alive 3?

Tomonobu Itagaki: DoA 4 is going to be on the next Xbox; the next generation consoles. Have you played Dead or Alive 3?

Patrick: Yes, I have.

Itagaki: It’s going to be a completely different game on a different system.

Patrick: Are you incorporating the move sets from Dead or Alive 3 into DoA: U or just the move sets from Dead or Alive 2 and 1?

Itagaki: Two.

Patrick: Just two?

Itagaki: Yes. DoA: Ultimate has [sic] some new system as you’ve seen.

Patrick: What are you most proud about with DoA: Ultimate?

Itagaki: There’s no area in the game that I’m not proud of. I am proud of everything. You know, every component, every element of this game. There’s no one thing that I’m proud of. I’m proud of the whole thing.

Patrick: Have you had many problems brining the game online?

Itagaki: So far, we haven’t really had any problems. What we do is always perfect in our mind that we’re not gonna have any problems like that. We haven’t had any issues so far.

Patrick: You had said there would be new storyline elements to Dead or Alive: Ultimate? Can you elaborate on what those will be?

Itagaki: Of course, there’s going to be new story, but I want people to buy the game when it comes out to find out for themselves for the first time. So, I’m not going to reveal any of the story, because that’s why you’re getting that.

Patrick: Similar to Ninja Gaiden, do you plan to incorporate online tournaments and downloadable content?

Itagaki: So, technically, of course, we’re capable of doing many of those things. It’s up to our fans, and if I hear in a voice, if I sense that someone wants certain things, we [will] try to respond to that.

Patrick: This is not related to Code Cronos? That’s another project you have in development, right?

Itagaki: Of course it’s not.

Patrick: Do you have any idea when you might be announcing it, or is it far off?

Itagaki: I hold many secrets, and that’s one of the biggest secrets.

Patrick: With Namco’s Nina game, taking one of their fighting game characters and bringing it into another genre, is that something you’d be interested in doing in the future with one of your Dead or Alive games?

Itagaki: Well, you know, of course, DoA Xtreme Beach Volleyball is a good example of that, We basically took the characters to a different genre of game. But, of course, we’re very careful and conservative and we know what we’re doing, but if someone else were to try and do something like that, taking a character from a fighting game and taking to a different genre, I don’t think they can do a very good job at that.

Patrick: Do you mind if I ask a couple of Ninja Gaiden related questions?

Inada: Sure, go ahead.

Patrick: You mentioned you wanted to incorporate player response into upgrades for the Master Ninja Tournament, and wondered if you could go into some of the differences in the game that people will be downloading.

Inada: He [Itagaki] wants you to quote him accurately and exactly how he said, but he says that no matter what you write about Ninja Gaiden, he doesn't [sic] think your readers would trust what you say about Ninja Gaiden.

Patrick: You know, I can’t really tell you anything except that it was one guy’s opinion and that we strive to [express that opinion] – if someone has an opinion, to express it. And unfortunately with Ninja Gaiden, it wasn’t quite the one that maybe you were looking for, but unfortunately we have to maintain a certain standard or else we’d be doing a disservice to our readers. But it was never meant as an offense, it was simply his critique and he simply found a lot of problems with the camera that seemed to take it down for him. But as you’ve seen, a lot of the gamers didn’t have that problem, so, in the end, it almost doesn’t matter, but we strive to do what we can to be loyal to the games we’re trying to have our readers have information about, but there’s unfortunately not much I can do.

At this point, Mr. Itagaki's presence was requested at Tecmo's main stage, Patrick's explanation wasn't fully translated and our interview came to a close.

Quote:My name is Reggie, I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games.

Quote:Nintendo's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Reginald Fils-Aime, has been a hot topic among Nintendo fans this week following his presence at Nintendo's press conference and the now semi-famous opening line above. So hot a topic is Fils-Amie that the upcoming Revolution from Nintendo has been nicknamed the Reggie-lution, with even IGN Cube having a news story about Fils-Aime. You can read Nintendo's bio for Fils-Aime below.

<small>Reggie Fils-Aime
Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Nintendo of America Inc.
Redmond, Washington

Reggie Fils-Aime (pronounced FEES-oe-MEY) joined Nintendo of America Inc. in December 2003. Fils-Aime is responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Nintendo in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Nintendo products include Nintendo GameCube™, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo DS, as well as software and peripherals.

Prior to joining the company, Fils-Aime most recently was senior vice president of marketing at VH1, part of the MTV networks.

A graduate of Cornell University, Fils-Aime began his career at Procter & Gamble, and later became senior vice president for Panda Management Co., the world's leading Chinese food-service company. He also served as senior director for national marketing at Pizza Hut, where he launched the Bigfoot Pizza.

As U.S. marketing chief for Guinness Import Co., Fils-Aime oversaw all brands, including Guinness stout, Bass ale, Harp lager and Pilsner Urquell, as well as managing brand relationships with third-party owners in the United Kingdom, Jamaica and the Czech Republic. As chief marketing officer for Derby Cycle Corp., he not only directed worldwide sales and marketing for eight separate brands, including Raleigh, Diamondback and Univega, but also was acting managing director of the company's United Kingdom operations.

During his tenure at VH1, Fils-Aime engineered the channel's redirection to young viewers that resulted in an overall 30 percent rating growth, and he created and executed the marketing plans for The Concert for New York City, which raised more than $35 million for disaster relief in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Fils-Aime's professional awards include a Clio, two Gold EFFIEs, an AICP award for advertising excellence and a Silver Edison from the American Marketing Institute. He also was named to the "Marketing 100" by Advertising Age in 1998.

Spoiler!




I dont know how many of you watched Angel through its 5 year run , I was desapointed and sad that the show was canceld despite its great ratings and fan base .I guess those corporate exes needed more money to wipe their asses with 100 dollar bills.

The last episode "fade away" will be apearing next wednesday, Angel ,Spike,Wes,Gun,Lorien,Illoria will be taking on the blackthorn order in the final cataclysmic episode of the series.

Quest characters

Lindsay
Connor

the order of Blackthorn.

http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/fin...676p1.html

Quote:Final Fantasy XII was the game I was looking forward to the most at E3 2004. Its development is being headed up by Yasumi Matsuno, the man behind Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Tactics Ogre, and most recently, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. While his games have an ardent following, he's never had the chance to work on anything as huge as a Final Fantasy game. After seeing it unveiled last November and getting to play it a bit today, it's clear that Matsuno and his team are working hard to make this the most successful title they've ever worked on.

GameSpy has already served information on the games world, art direction, and characters. What was unknown until now was how the game would play. The demo on the E3 show floor revealed a handful of scenes to give gamers an idea of what to expect in Final Fantasy XII.

The combat system is very different from previous Final Fantasy games. You won't see random enemy attacks or quick transitions from the level to combat. Skirmishes in FFXII are seamless. If you see an enemy, you can choose to run away like a coward or engage. Unlike past games, the environment plays a significant part of combat. Choosing the best place to attack and defend from can mean the difference between victory and defeat.


When you attack an enemy, a blue arc is displayed between you and your target. The same goes for your party, so you can see who your team is going after. As for your foes, red arcs represent their chosen prey. If you see four red lines pointed at you, then you sure as hell better run to a more advantageous spot in the environment.

Now, there are still some commonalities between the fighting system in this game and the ones found in its predecessors. Though you can let battles play out in real time, it's smarter to take pauses in the action to coordinate optimal strategies.

When you're not in battle, you can use the d-pad to select which character in your party you control, as well as any non-player characters you want to target for actions. Overall, the new navigation and fighting system took a few minutes to get used to, but felt quite natural after a short while.

At any given time, you can adventure with three characters. You can swap others from your roster. Control freaks can choose to select every single move their team members make. The more adventurous types can control the main character, while using "gambit" commands for the others. These are general orders, such as attack, heal, defend, etc. The characters AI kicks in under gambit mode and the character acts fairly independently. The system worked in the few battles I played, but how effective it is in the long haul has yet to be determined.

The display screen is relatively clean. The map is in the upper-right corner of the screen. The main character's menu is on the bottom-left corner. Basic commands occupy the top portion of the screen.

Now that you've got more of on understanding on how the game actually plays, I'll fill you in on more background information on the Final Fantasy XII's version of Ivalice. Matsuno said that even though there are races like Viera and Bangaa in Ivalice, the racial tensions are more cultural. He equated it to America, where there are people of all different ethnic make ups and skin colors, but the conflicts are often economic or religious.


Matsuno also shed some information on Vann and Pennelo. He said they have a very close relationship that isn't necessarily romantic. Both characters have lost their families to war and have turned to each for survival and support. He used the war children in Afghanistan as an example. In that country there are bands of kids that have grouped up to survive.

Overall, he said that the main theme of the game is about a young boy growing up to be a man. Vaan will get caught up in events and experiences that are much larger than his dreams of becoming a sky pirate. His adventure becomes one that could change the fate of the world.

Final Fantasy XII looks like it will be one of the most distinct games in the series. I love the art and story direction Matsuno's team is taking the game in. That said, I doubt it will measure up to how insanely popular FFVII was, but artistically the game might mean more for the series. The graphics look fantastic and the developers are trying several new things in the game. Whether they succeed or not, it's cool to see Square giving the new kids a chance to take its key franchise in a new direction.

IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN THE UNITED STATES DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES. AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES. THEREFORE MAY 19TH HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED THE DAY THAT PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF GASOLINE. THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT. WAITING ON THIS ADMINISTRATION TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL IN PRICES THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO? REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT THE SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE MAY 19TH A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"

Quote: General
- The game is more serious than the others, but the elements of comedy are still there.
- A full staff of reasearch personnel at Rockstar have been studying Las Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles for months to ensure that they truly capture the feelings of these cities.


Location
- The game will not take place in Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Las Vegas. It will take place IN ALL THREE as well as the countryside in between.
- Los Angeles will be called Los Santos, San Francisco will be called San Fieero, and Las Vegas will be called Las Venturra.
- Each city is about the same size as Vice City.
- Not all cities will be open at the start of the game.
- The entire game will be about four to six times as large as Vice City.
- San Fierro (San Francisco) will have hills. This city is more driving based.
- You can drive from LA, through the countryside, up a mountain, into San Fran, and onto Las Vegas.
- Driving through the desert won’t be empty and plain with a couple cacti...it will be vibrant and alive with weird things to see.
- There will be a lot more buildings with open interiors.


Graphics
- The graphics engine has been tweaked. Smog will be present in LA, and real-time reflections on cars, windows, and mirrors, as well as new techniques like radial lighting, which allows for more realistic shadowing, and soft-shadow lighting for interior levels will be present.
- Everything in the game now has independent models for day and night to give better lighting and shadowing.
- The game will have ragdoll physics, or “impact animation” in Rockstar’s words.


Vehicles
- As for vehicles, there will be pimped-out lowriders, and 90’s versions of some GTA3/VC cars will return.
- There will be bicycles.


Story
- Characters from the past will return.


Gameplay
- In the Las Vegas city, you will be able to buy and build a casino - and then run it.
- You can then gamble your money in the casino.
- Your character can dual wield pistols and potentially other weapons.
- You need to eat to retain your stamina. If you eat too much fast food, you become fat and pedestrians mock you for being fat. You also run slower. To remedy this, you can go to a gym to exercise.
- You can now rob homes. The robberies will require skill and planning, however.
- You can recruit gang members and use them to do four person drive-by’s. (seen here)


Weapons
- The choice of weapons will match the time in which the era of the early 90's.


Artificial Intelligence
- Enemy/pedestrian AI will be greatly revamped and they will think more logically. You can't beat someone to death in broad daylight and not have people notice and react.
- Your enemies will be smarter, which will make robbing houses take a lot of skill.


Music
- There will be a rap station, but there will be a variety of other stations as always.

The screens look pretty good, just not "the best-looking XBox game ever" like Ken Lobb said.

However... this new video is absolutely stunning. They show the single-player mode at the end of the video and it rivals even Halo 2 in terms of graphical prowess. See for yourself by right-clicking here.