pocoGRANDE

just a bit curious: i've had no trouble loading FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX and Chrono Trigger on to my vita (sidebar: FUCK YES FINALLY!) but i've been unable to load Grandia. i'm guessing since content manager doesn't see the install data that it's a problem with the emulation? maybe? does anyone know a workaround to this? i'd figured there would be hiccups with the emulation, but instead was surprised that all my other games seemed to work great. and CowboyPoet, yes, loading a cart the first time creates an icon that stays on your homescreen permanently. you can move it the same way you move any other icons, and when you put the cart in again the homesceen will automatically find it and make it 'bounce' to tell you its ready to play.

saw it last night, and i think i'd agree with TheCowboyPoet in that it was closer to Batman Begins than The Dark Knight. while i had a few problems with it, it still had quite a lot to recommend (and i honestly doubt we'll ever get a better movie incarnation of Batman than this, so for that i'm grateful.) so yeah, those are my thoughts.

i'm far from a hardcore fighting gamer, but i thought i'd relate something that happened to me while playing online recently. SF3: third strike is by far the SF game i am best at. i like using Shaun. the kid's got some great moves. anyways, so my friend who's usually way better (seriously, waaay better) than me at these games lost to me a couple of times in a row. "wow," i thought, "maybe i'm actually good at this." so i did what anyone would do: went online to have my confidence shattered. so, it's my first online SF3 fight ever. and who does it match me up with? a player at level 12. so i'm bracing myself for the worst. surprisingly, my opponent immediately goes for Shaun. i do too. we fight 2 rounds. obviously i lose both of them, but not embarassingly so. the rounds were rather close, with my opponent pulling out a victory in the last 25% of his health bar each time. i'm feeling pretty good about myself, even though i lost. then i see my opponent's sent a message to my inbox. "great," i think, "time to get called a fag." my opponent's message reads like this: "hey, good fight. i like it when ppl play as shaun. hes my favorite character cuz hes an underdog." i message back: "thank you! shaun's my favorite too. i am pretty bad at this game but i've gotten better playing as him." he messages back: "yo, use his fierce punch more." and now we're friends. THE END.

you better eat that cookie yourself. i haven't played a MK since MK3 came out. and i sucked pretty bad at that one too.

seems to me like Sony could incorporate game vouchers into ps+, as right now there's literally no reason for a vita owner to sign up. even if it was as simple as "PS+ members get discounted downloads on already-purchased games" that would be awesome, and probably quite successful. unrelated, but my copy of Mortal Kombat for my vita is arriving today! can't wait to get home and spill some blood.

my girlfriend and i have been watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. i'd watched it back when the new episodes were airing on hulu, so this is the 2nd time for me and i'm right back into it. truly one of the great animes. i'm blown away by how fast the story moves despite the show's ridiculous length. right now we're on episode 51. i guess since i'm new to these forums and this thread, i'll list off some of my favorite animes and maybe y'all can throw me some suggestions too. -Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood -Paranoia Agent -Gurren Laggan -Monster -Samurai Champloo -Cowboy Bebop -Ghost in the Shell: SAC -Sgt. Frog making lists feels good. i guess that's why the internet's full of 'em.

just dropping by to say i picked up Mortal Kombat for my vita this weekend. it was on sale online at gamestop for $10! very excited, as i haven't played the console version at all. MK was always the fighting game i was worst at (though, come to think of it, i was really awful at KoF too) but i've heard such good things about this new one that i had to go for it.

it's kind of the obvious choice (haven't checked the early thread to see if you've already mentioned it) but Deadwood is one of my absolute favorite tv shows of all time. this is largely unrelated but the two shows that have been killing it recently for me are the Ricky Gervais Show (season 3 just wrapped up) and this new show Gravity Falls on the disney channel. Gravity Falls is really one of the best animated shows i've seen and it's only on the 4th episode. i think if it catches on it could be the next Adventure Time.

to be more specific, it was the fact that you can switch between characters on that radial menu that really made the system click for me. i may have just missed that particular instruction but once i realized it everything just sort of fell into place. and yeah, my mage has healing and physical spells but a backup healer does sound very useful. we'll see how it goes. here's a quick gameplay question: do you have to worry about leveling up characters you don't use? am i gonna be forced to use one of them at some point, only to discover that they suck? i've been trying to give them all a bit of an opportunity, but my core team is very effective.

oh boy, i just started this game. i've got several other games going, but i'd bought this Ultimate Edition a couple weeks back and hadn't really given it a chance. i'm about 4 or 5 hours in, with an elven lady mage (i usually make sneaky rogues but i thought i'd branch out for this game) and having a ton of fun. i'd popped the disc in back when i first bought it, but something about the combat system totally didn't click for me so i put it away til now. honestly, just learning that you can pause the game via the radial menu and set up attacks that way was a revelation, and something the game should probably have tried to teach me about. anyways, needless to say this time it clicked and i'm already having a ball. i think i'm gonna toss Morrigan out of my party, even though i've heard great things about her character. there's only room for one sexy lady mage and it's ME.

SO! i've been out of the loop these last few days but i just saw this news article saying psone support is forthcoming on the next firmware update! this is gonna be GREAT! when all the final fantasies went on sale a few months ago i used the opportunity to buy almost all of them (i got VI, VII, VIII, and IX) with the intention of loading them up on the vita when that got sorted out. needless to say i am happy about this news. BUT ALSO if you look at the bottom of that news item there's something kind of shocking. sony is talking about ps2 support on the ps3! i suppose it's not that shocking, as the ps4 is forthcoming, but it still seems surprising... earlier this year i spent 30 bucks on a ps2 at a thrift shop (and it WORKED) so i'd be a tiny bit disappointed if all of a sudden my ps3 did the same thing (only a tiny bit). i can only guess it's a strategy to give the ps3 a sales bump in the last year of it's life.

since no one on here has seen this old stuff of mine, here's another: Ode to Asimov (2008)

i actually have not heard that, though i'm always curious about that kind of stuff. can you paraphrase, or do you have a link? it was a bit more personal for me, a family friend when i was growing up was a Buddhist and i always loved going to her house because she had tons of animals there. at least 10 cats, several dogs, a whole wall of her living room devoted to a giant birdcage, a tank full of fish, you name it. i sent her the original drawing as a gift.

@Kau_Kau, @Strangelove: technical skills are great and everything but it's better to have a passion and desire to draw. obviously it's best to have both, but you can get by with either one independently. personally i prefer the passionate. here's one of my favorite drawings from a comics anthology i worked on, Funny Aminals 2. Buddhacat. i'll try to keep posting stuff. everyone else should keep it coming too!

thanks LittlePirate! i am a recent graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies. i'd absolutely love to draw for a living but it seems like it's gonna be a long time before that's feasible. right now i'm actually much more focused on comic writing (the android character you noticed is from an upcoming comic i'm working on with a friend), but i do draw every day in my sketchbook. and maybe once a month i'll like something enough to put it on the internet... maaaybe. i should also mention that most of the stuff on that page i linked to is old. i used to be exclusively a pencil artist, but i'm trying to branch out more. hence the Bob's Burgers fan art. i've been working my way through the back of this thread and see you all over it. i like your stuff! what kind of tools are you using?

hello drawing thread. hello, LittlePirate. i am a drawing fool and here's something i drawed. if anyone's interested to see more of my stuff check out here. I'm a cartoonist, by the way. all right? peace!

everyone's suggestions so far have been great. i'd chime in and say Gravity Rush, Rayman: Origins, and Lumines would make an awesome vita collection. i have all of those, as well as FIFA, UMvC3, Escape Plan and Super Stardust. and honestly, all of those games are great too. Escape Plan and Stardust will give you a lot of bang for your buck. FIFA plays pretty much as well as the console version, same with UMvC3 (although i was a bit disappointed with either's lack of cross-play). but if i had to recommend one vita game it would be Gravity Rush. so damn good!

oh, i'd forgotten about my villain on DCUO, Bezalel. boy, did i spend a weekend on that game and then never play it again. i'm not sure why, it was pretty fun. i think i'm about to pop in Dragon Quest VIII for some sweet JRPG action. although i've also got Heavy Rain, which i picked up in a buy-2-get-3 sale and haven't played yet. hrrrrmmmm... maybe it's time.

saw Moonrise Kingdom a few nights ago, and as a big fan of Wes Anderson's movies i gotta say this was yet another great one. however if you're not predisposed to like the guy, then i really don't see this being the movie to convince you (that'd be Fantastic Mr. Fox). i'll admit Anderson has some problems as a filmmaker, but what he always gets right (for me anyways) is the characters. they manage to be "real" to me while existing in that heightened reality his films like to use. Moonrise had some truly excellent performances across the board (maaybe not the kid actors, but realistically they could have been SO much worse). Ed Norton Bruce Willis and Frances McDormand all brought their A-game, and of course Bill Murray was a goddamn delight... you know what? as long as Wes Anderson keeps casting Bill Murray i don't think i'll ever stop seeing his movies.

this was fun! Super Mario Brothers 3 - what else can be said about this game? it was one of my firsts, and far and away the NES game i spent the most time with. Final Fantasy VI - didn't catch up with this until emulators began showing up when i was in high school. what an amazing game, and the gold standard i hold RPGs to this day. Disney's Duck Tales - another NES game i spent a lot of time on. this game had a lot of really fun mechanics, plus the option to travel to different worlds and levels ala megaman. apparently this game has alternate endings too, though i never was devoted enough to get them. Deus Ex - from my brief time as a PC gamer in high school i managed to pick this game up and loved every second of it. i recall playing the statue of liberty level at least 5 or 6 times just experimenting with different ways to go through it. as amazing as DE:HR was i've not seen a game since the original give you so many excellent ways to play it. Mario Tennis 64 - while the GC mario tennis may be superior, this was the one i spent most of my time with. i had the good fortune to live in a house with 3 roommates who were all as into this game as i was, and it made for the most fun multiplayer i've ever played, hands down. Dragon Quest VIII - there were a lot of games that could have taken this slot, but i'm going with DQ8 even though i'm still playing it. i absolutely love the design of this game. the mechanics are bread-and-butter JRPG, but with an awesome variety of monsters and a great (if a bit simple) leveling system. the humor and the character moments are what really make this game exceptional. but the great overworld and amazing combat don't hurt it either. Demon's Souls - here's another one that i'm still playing, but am enjoying so thoroughly that it's gotta go here. what a game. i've never been so brutally punished by a game and kept coming back for more. the level design and mechanics are great, and the boss fights are like the cherry on top. such an amazing game, i can imagine myself playing this one for years to come. The Orange Box - it took me a long time to come around to this due to availability. i don't know why i waited. HL2 was as amazing as everyone had told me, and Portal was quite simply one of the most perfectly designed games i've ever encountered. absolutely stunning experiences, both. TF2 is something that i've not gotten into simply because i'm not really an online gamer, but i appreciate it nonetheless. Journey - i've got to give it up to thatgamecompany. i was a huge fan of flower, and i had high hopes for this one. amazingly they exceeded them, delivering an unforgettable experience. the best implementation of online features i've seen in ANY game (that includes Demon's Souls) and the awe-inspiring graphics/design elevate this to the level of masterpiece in my mind. the low commitment aspect of it too (1.5 hours to beat it!) means i'll be dipping back into this one for a long time, and continuing to share it with friends. i'll probably look at this after posting and think "god! how could i have forgotten [insert awesome game here]" but i guess i should just let it go for now.

oh geez, that sucks. i'd heard people complaining specifically about Time Crisis before but i'd assumed it was a calibration issue. some sites recommend turning the magnetic sensor off completely, did you try that? i agree though, the move isn't really suited to light gun shooters. i wonder if it's just my setup that is making it work for me. when i rearranged my living room recently i specifically set it up so i have enough space for playing move games, and most of my calibration issues disappeared after that (with a few minor exceptions).

it took me a bit of tweaking to get it right, but once i got it it was surprisingly accurate. not actual-light-gun accurate but definitely good enough to play the games well. i've read something somewhere about the move's magnetic sensor. if you're getting persistent drift it probably needs to be recalibrated in the XMB menu. just a thought.

@fuchikoma: yeah, like i said it definitely wasn't enough to ruin my enjoyment of the game, which is a damn fine one (probably my favorite, or at the very least my most-played move game) but i'd maintain the designers made some... um, regrettable decisions when they designed those characters. @FredEffinChopin: that is pretty disappointing about online multiplayer. i guess they must be really pushing the local multiplayer, which, to be fair, was the best thing about wii sports too. but that stinks they could have done more. @DukeOfPwn: i was curious about that game... if i hadn't literally JUST gotten a light gun shooter for move (House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut) i would have bought that one for sure. with that i've got enough zombie-blasting to be satisfied for a while, but i'll definitely keep those games in mind. oh yeah, so i got to play some HotD:OEC last night and i had not expected it to be so hilarious. a lot of attempts at humor in games tend to fall flat for me (except for Portal) but this was an awesome treat, especially for people who like cheap-o 70's grindhouse style cinema (which i do). if you're familiar with the genre there's all sorts of great stuff in there, like bad match-cuts (someone gets their glasses slapped off and then is clearly wearing them again in the next shot), and terrible, redundant dialogue (narrator: "he'll rip your f***ing balls off!" character: "i'm gonna rip your f***ing balls off!"). all in service of some fun zombie-blasting. and if that sounds like something you'd like, then i'd totally recommend it.

@TheMightyEthan: oh geez, i was all ready to WTF this but then i got it... good one. @fuchikoma: i hadn't really noticed the overpowered Americans so much, just the fact that every single character is a stereotype. asian guy has spiky hair, asian girl is serious and focused and they both do kung-fu. white guy is a cowboy. other white guy is a footballer. i dunno... i actually would have much rather had even MORE bland characters, because all the character details (black guy's named Jackson! Brazilian girl just loves to dance!) just reinforced some incredibly played-out stereotypes. also, i'm sure it had something to do with trying not to be wii sports, but they definitely missed out by not letting you make your own avatar. luckily it seems SC2 is completely happy to do wii sports but better. that's all i REALLY want.