I'm short on cash at the moment. Rather they completely blowing my game budget on one new GC game I figure I'd get a couple cheap PS1 games from EB. (Those idiots gave me 15$ for a Tomb Raider game worth like 3$ *chuckle*)

lay siege to the fortresses of this forum!! *His chimp shock troops begin shelling the borders of Tendo Cty*

Yup, I have a livejournal. Dosn't that make me cool? Of course it dosn't, my striking good looks and swift moves are what make me cool. Anyways, if you've got it, flaunt it. If you don't, then feel free to blabber on how blogs suck and how you want to kick me in the jug. Go ahead, I dare ya!

http://www.livejournal.com/users/knife_puppet/

How come nobody's made a thread on this yet? You lazy bunch of... *mumbles*

Here are out two new heroes, the sexy Ashe and the uh... the sexy... Vaan, who appears to be a man. I think. I'm confused.

The game is also going to take place in Ivalice, the world from FF Tactics. Cool, huh?

Anyone else besides me get it yet? I haven't had a chance to play it since I picked it up right before work, but when I get home I'll pop it in my GB Player. IGN gave it a 9.0 and called it a worthy successor to Paper Mario, so I'm anxiously anticipating going home tonight.

Yeesh, I've gotten more good games in the past month alone then I got in the entire first half of this year. It's crazy, I tell ya!

Writing has always been something I wanted to do, unless it's an essay, which I hate btw. I've had a few false starts with some storylines that sounded really good, but they just never got anywhere. However...this time seems different! I think I've finally found the story I've been looking for! And since you guys are so cool...I'll share what I've wrote so far. If anyone else has written anything share it with us that we may gaze upon it's wordiness.

Quote:The Dangerous Quest of the Magical Super-Sword And the Events That Followed

Authored by Jonathan Garrett

It was warm sunny summer day. The kind of day where people would be extra kind to their neighbors and, if it had not already been said several times that morning alone, say “This is a perfect day!” But it had many times already, so they didn’t. This particular day however had one large flaw, though. Well…only one location with a large flaw, anyway. For you see this location contained in it what was quite possibly the worst attempt at whistling that has ever been heard, and there are people who claim to have heard whistling that could peal paint off of houses. It was that bad.
Several small forest animals skittered away to avoid the screeching sound. A young boy crested a small rise. He was the source of the noise. It should be noted that although many people told him otherwise he himself believed that his whistling was actually very good. His mother always claimed that deafness was inherent in her bloodline. He carried in his hand a bag of bread that he had just recently purchased. He swung it back and forth as he walked and, if one could call it that, whistled. As he walked through the grass he was not paying any particular attention where he was going, which is why he failed to notice the lump that protruded from the ground directly in his path. He fell to the ground with muffled thump. He jumped up angrily ready to punch whoever had just tripped him up. No one was around, for obvious reasons. He looked down at the ground. He noticed what he believed to be a somewhat middle-sized rock sticking out of the ground. He glared at it. It failed to notice his glaring.
“Stupid rock” he growled as he kicked out at it. The “rock” didn’t budge. He yelped in pain and grabbed his foot, which hurt very much at this point. After his foot stopped hurting he brushed aside the grass. The “rock” was actually, as best he could tell, the hilt of a sword.
“Why would someone stick a sword in the ground?” He wondered aloud. He remembered a while back when a traveling merchant had come to his town. Among his wares were some very handsome looking swords, although it probably would have broken instantly in two had someone actually tried to use it in battle. The boy [His name is Steven, by the way] remembered also that the swords had cost at least 300 cavels. Which, for those who are not native to this land, translates to tons of cash money.
He grabbed the sword and pulled as hard as he could, but the sword didn’t budge an inch. He tried again, but to no avail. Finally, he decided, since brute strength wasn’t working, to use his psychic powers to remove the sword. He had no psychic powers, so this attempt failed as well. In a fit of sheer rage he kicked the sword again, which for no reason anyone has been able to tell, immediately flung itself out of the ground and into the air. It fell to the ground with a clatter. Steven stared at. It didn’t move. He tentatively touched it with his foot and then quickly withdrew it. The sword remained where it was. He bent down and examined it. It was a rather nice looking sword and unlike others Steven had seen this one actually looked like it could be used in battle. He picked the sword up and held it aloft. This is the point where, had this been a movie, you would have seen a gleam of light run up the sword. It would have looked very impressive, but sadly this is only a book so you’ll just have to imagine that it happened.
There was a small rock attached to the end of the sword. Steven looked at it, not sure what to make of it. A figure off in the distance, out of the range of Steven’s whistling, who had just moments ago been staring intently at a ruby-throated warbler, noticed Steven noticing the rock at the end of the sword. The figure quickly got up and began, quite briskly, toward where Steven was.
“What is this? Who’d put a stupid rock on the end of a sword anyway?” He angrily shook the sword. The rock stayed put. He shook harder this time and the rock became dislodged and flew directly at the forehead of the figure that was coming toward him. Steven looked around when he heard the “thunk” and subsequent scream, but saw nothing due to the tall grass. He shrugged and went back to admiring the now rock-on-the-tipless sword.
“I bet this thing is worth at least 500 cavels! I boy, today is definitely my lucky day!” Steven exclaimed as he waved the sword around. The figure, which had now picked himself up, came up behind Steven. He stretched out his hands as if to grab the boy. He loomed closer. He put his hand down on Steven’s shoulders. Suspenseful, isn’t it?
“HELLOOOOO!!” The figure exclaimed loudly. Steven shrieked and narrowly missed cutting of the figures arm, who quickly jumped away from the wildly flailing boy.
“What’s the big idea sneaking up on people like that, you crazy old man? Steven fumed.
“Hey!” The man exclaimed, “I’m only 45!”
“Yeah…and that’s old. You’re probably crazy too”
The man looked about to make some retort, but then thought better of it.
“What if I were to tell you that you are the chosen one who will save this land from the clutches of evil and all that stuff?” The man asked.
“I’d say you were crazy, except that I’ve already established that to be the case.” Steven said. The man looked speculatively at the boy. He rubbed his chin. He looked upward for a few seconds. He decided to revise his line of approaching.
“Well, what if I were to tell you that I’m the powerful wizard Milragh, who has searched for years to find the mighty hero he can wield that sword you have and you hand and save the world from the evil Lord Calistan.” He looked down at the boy after finishing. The boy stared at him for a moment.
“Are you?” Steven asked.
“Am I what?” the man sputtered, unprepared for the question.
“Are you really the wizard Milragh?”
“Of course I am!” Milragh exclaimed.
“You don’t look it”
“Why you little…” he started, but then decided against going further in that direction. “Umm…what if I were to tell you that with that sword you can defeat this guy and if you do that you’ll get lots and lots of gold, jewels, and other valuables?” He could see a glimmer of interest in the boy’s eye so he added one last part. “And get the attention of lots of adoring fans…female for the most part. If you get my drift.” The boy evidently did get the drift or else the prospects of loads of treasure took a moment to finally sink into his brain.
“That sounds like fun! What do I have to do? Is this guy very far away? Should I tell my mom? And can’t we hurry up, please?” Steven shot out in rapid succession. Milragh stared at him for a second trying to decide which question to answer first.
“Why don’t we go talk to your mother?” The wizard replied.
The two set out at a brisk pace. The slightly unkempt wizard discovered then just why very few animals had been in the area. He quickly asked the boy about where he lived to head off anymore whistling.
“My mom and I live in a little village about two or three leagues from here. It’s a small village only about 200 people live there and it’s awfully boring. Would you believe that I had to walk all the way to the next town just to buy some bread? I tell our village could use a few strip markets.” Steven’s narrative went.
“Strip market?” asked Milragh, not quite comprehending the correct definition of the words.
“A strip market’s a long row of stalls where they sell all kind of great things. Krichtan has several, but our village doesn’t even have one. It’s a shame really; I’d go there all the time.
“Oh…right.” The wizard muttered, somewhat disappointedly. The two topped a rise and could see the boy’s village about a mile in the distance. It was neither large nor particularly impressive. Unless you compared to an anthill, and most people didn’t.
“Well, that’s it. Not much to look at, but it’s home all the same.”
The walked the last mile as the sun was sinking behind the hills to the west. A reddish tint colored the surrounding fields.
“That’s my house.” Steven said pointing to a small cottage near the town center. It was not exactly what one would call the “town center” since it was nothing more than the point where the two roads in the village met. It would be more accurate to say, “That’s the town’s center”. Which it was. Several chickens flapped away squawking as the two crossed the town’s center to the boy’s house.
“I’m finally home mom.” Steven yelled to an interior room as he pushed open the door. His mother poked her head through the kitchen doorway.
“It’s about time, I figured you’d be home hours ago.” His mother chided him.
“I got a bit side-tracked, but I think it was actually a good thing that I was a little late.”
“Really?” His mother said skeptical to the fact that it was. She smiled and waved to Milragh. “Who’s your friend, Steven?”
“Oh this is Milragh, he’s a famous musician or something like that.” Steven said absentmindedly as he flipped through a magazine that was sitting on a table in the middle in the living room table.
“That’s ‘magician’, not ‘musician’.” Milragh explained to the boy’s mother.
“Well that’s nice. You still haven’t explained why it was a good thing that you were late.”
“Oh…yeah. You explain to her, Milragh.” Steven said still flipping through the magazine.
“You see, madam, your son found a particularly rare and powerful sword. Also, there’s a prophecy that states whoever finds the sword is the chosen one who will face the evil Lord Calistan in a battle that will decide the fate of this world!” Milragh explained as extravagantly as he could. Which wasn’t very, but he tried all the same.
“Well, that’s nice.” The boy’s mother said, either not realizing the gravity of the situation or else events like this were just so commonplace that they lacked the importance that they might otherwise have.
“Umm…I don’t think you quite understand the situation. Your son must go on a perilous quest. You know, dungeons, monsters, fatal traps, that sort of thing.” The wizard attempted to explain but the boy’s mother seemed to him not to understand.
“Well, as long as he’s not gone to long.” She said. The wizard was obviously baffled. He had thought that at the very least she would offer some sort of resistance to that idea. He had worked for some time on the correct replies to things like “My son is too young for face such difficulties” and even gone so far as “I’ll never let my son go on such a quest, especially with some one as disreputable as yourself”, but he had no experience with how Steven’s mother was handling the situation.
“Aha!” Steven shouted, who had suddenly stopped flipping through his magazine. “I found it!”
“Found what, dear?” his mother asked.
“It’s the Magical Super-Sword! That’s the one I found today!” Steven shouted, jumping up and down gleefully. “It says in the April issue of ‘The Treasure Hunter’s Companion’ that the Magical Super-Sword is one of the rarest magic weapons in the whole word! They estimate it’s value at no less than ONE THOUSAND CAVELS!!”
“That’s wonderful!” his mother congratulated him.
Milragh was nearly dumbstruck. These people must be insane! The boy was more concerned with how much the sword was worth and him mother only cared about hot long he might be gone and whether or not he had plenty of clean underwear! He gaped as he watched Steven bounce around the room waving his magazine while his mother looked appraisingly at their newly acquired sword.
Milragh finally grabbed the boy by the arm to stop him, but Steven was moving too fast and flailing quite crazily and the somewhat middle-aged wizard fell unceremoniously on to the floor.
“Steven!” he called from the floor.
“Yes, what is it?” Steven asked still running around.
“Could you stop for a minute, please?” the wizard all but pleaded.
“What’s up?”
“I was just wondering, what exactly do you plan to do with sword?”
“I think I’ll sell it.” He said simply.
“You’ll WHAT?!”
“Sell it. That quest thing of yours sounded kind of cool, but don’t you think it would be much easier to just sell than to poke around in old dungeons trying to find money?”
Milragh had never thought of it that way before. He briefly considered it, but in the end decided that he should at least try to convince Steven to go on the quest. And if that failed, well, at least he would have something else to fall back on.

From NHL.com

Quote:Every hockey player can remember where their love affair with the sport started.

For most, the spark was struck on the nearest body of water to their homes. As soon as the cold descended and the pond, lake, river or even cow pasture froze solid, the neighborhood kids drifted over with skates and sticks thrown over their shoulders looking for some action. They were rarely disappointed, finding legions of like-minded souls strapping on the blades and gliding around the ice waiting for a game of shinny to break out.

It was there -- on those frozen expanses -- that the players became hooked on the speed, grace and excitement of the game, chasing pucks all over the frozen surface.

There were no boards to constrain their enthusiasm, no coaches to dampen their creativity, no stats to feed their ego. Rules were a matter of efficiency, not a stringent set of decrees laid out in a technical rulebook. All of that, not always for the better, would come later for those that moved on to organized hockey

Allan Watt, the vice president of marketing and communications for the Edmonton Oilers, remembers those early hockey-playing days fondly despite being more than a half-decade removed from such simple pleasures.

That's why he is not surprised that Saturday's Heritage Classic at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium -- the first outdoor game in the League's 86-year history -- has become the biggest story of the 2003-04 NHL regular season. The game will pit the host Edmonton Oilers against the Montreal Canadiens in a type of atmosphere that each of the 56,169 fans will intuitively understand, having experienced a similar scenario in their own childhoods. As a result, there were more than 70,000 requests made for the 7,000 tickets available to the general public.

"From the time when you're a kid in Canada -- wherever you live in North America where snow flies and you can make a rink, or you go for Christmas and your dad takes you out and he turns you loose and you're gliding on this thing, there's some magic in that," Watt said. "The thought of seeing multi-millionaire hockey players skating around outside playing for real points has captured something, and that's about as simple as I could put it."

In Edmonton, the sounds of skates scraping against the hard outdoor ice and the shrieks of excitement from kids -- and the not-so occasional adult, echoing across the prairie is the soundtrack of winter. It runs from the first freeze of late October until the ice finally melts well into the new year.

"Playing outside, playing hockey outside, you can do it at minus-20 Celsius, and you're still OK because you're outside and people do that here," said Watt. "People go to the lake and scrape it off and skate around on it and it's quite cold. We all grew up doing it and it was brought home again when the Oilers played in Montreal this past week.

"All of the Montreal Canadien players in their dressing room were saying we can't wait to get there because no matter where we're from, Kirkland Lake (Ontario) or Timmins (Ontario), we all did that.

"We all went home from school, put away our homework, lied to our parents and said we got it all done, and played hockey every chance we could. Despite the fact that we had never played an organized game outside, we still played it outside."

For sure, though, the stakes will be a little different come Saturday at Commonwealth stadium.

NHL players will be battling for NHL points. There will be referees and coaches keeping control of the game. The players will be decked out in snazzy uniforms instead of a motley assortment of sweaters and parkas. Millions of fans watching on television for the usual Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada telecast on CBC will join the sell-out crowd at Commonweath Stadium to watch the action -- by far trumping the knot of frozen parents usually on hand for the local outdoor contests.

But, the spirit of the undertaking remains unchanged despite the fancy trappings.

"It's the nostalgia of it all, the thought of playing outdoors," said Montreal defenseman Sheldon Souray, who grew up in Elk Point, Alberta, about 155 miles east of Edmonton. "It's like having an old car for some guys.

"I think the kids today get spoiled with so many indoor rinks and rec centers with four sheets of ice in one complex going up, but some of my best memories are playing on community-league rinks, with mitts on under my hockey gloves, scraping the ice every 10 minutes.

"I played a game on a little outdoor rink a couple of years ago for fun where it was 20 below. I loved it."

Souray's sentiments have been echoed by the Edmonton players for the last month.

"The fans and people throughout northern Alberta are all excited about the game," said Jason Smith, the Oilers' captain. "It's been in the media and a topic of conversation around here since the start of training camp.

"I haven't played outdoors since tyke hockey, you know 6 or 7 years old. But that doesn't mean anything, you know. This does mean something. It should be interesting, that's for sure."

Aside from surely being interesting as the novelty that it is, it will also provide a looking glass back into the game's roots, a reaffirmation of the love affair that for so many began on the frozen ponds of their childhood.

Quote:Makoto Yamashina, son of the founder of Bandai, has spoken out against the recent sale of Bandai stocks to Nintendo. According to Yamashina the sale caused significant friction at the Bandai board of directors. Yamashina was against the sale and refused requests from Bandai CEO, Takeo Takasu, that he sell a large portion of his own shares to Nintendo. He states that he argued against Takasu at Bandai board meetings and questioned the timing and motivation of the purchase.

In an interview with Japanese news magazine Sentaku, Yamashina voiced concerns that Nintendo's stake in Bandai may hurt Bandai's close working relationship with Playstation manufacturer Sony. Additionally, he claims that Bandai is currently considering a stock buy-back program and suggests that Bandai should merely have bought back the 2.7% instead of allowing Nintendo to purchase it.

Nintendo now owns 2.7% of Bandai, while Yamashina owns 5.2%. The UFJ Bank, with whom Nintendo worked to acquire its shares, owns a further 6% of Bandai's common stock. If Yamashina had agreed to sell the 2% that had been requested of him, Nintendo would have owned 4.7%. Already, Nintendo and UFJ's combined 8.7% is thought to be the largest single voting block of Bandai's widely dispersed shares. Despite only owning 2.7% of Bandai, if Nintendo is working with UFJ towards a strategic takeover of Bandai, they are actually in a very strong position to do so.

According to the article in Sentaku, "industry insiders" agree with Yamashina's suspicions that Nintendo and UFJ are in fact attempting a takeover of Bandai. It should be noted that Takeo Takasu moved to Bandai from UFJ in 1996. Unlike in North America, it is extremely rare for the heads of Japanese corporations to have not been with the companies for many many years first. Ironically, it was Yamashina, then CEO of Bandai, that recruited Takasu.