Update on Situation and Anime

Well Howdy there!
I miss Y'all!!!! Where Y'all at?
Ya Straight!?
Let us make babies....
Wait... Ye checked? Ye want some? Ye got some? Where ye at!?
Let's do it.

Ok, For starters, I won't officially have my internet up till this Monday at eight o' clock PM. So if any certain trolls are still waiting for me, wait longer. I'll be there. Also, when the internet does come up, and after I finish my homework OF COURSE!!!!! I will hopefully be able to broadcast as well. Problem is, since the internet hasn't been working, haven't been able to test out my whole broadcasting POWER!!!... yet.

But the time I have had has not been wasted. In this week I have been doing something CRAZY AND PRODUCTIVE!!!
Playing games and watching Anime.
Don't get me wrong, this is my life, just as of late I have really been unable to dedicate any time to a certain Anime and/or Video game.
So, because of my sudden surge of anime... I just finished 50 episodes of Bleach, Koi Kaze, Started Basilisk and Elfen Lied and Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien, I will now be creating my TOP TEN ANIME OF ALL TIME.
And that time is now.

Number Ten!


A slow Anime, I will give it that. But the world it presents is so interesting... that it is honestly hard to turn away once you have started. This anime is a beautiful interpretation of an online gaming world where a player is stuck in the program, while their body is unconcious in the real world. At this point in time the program begins to... not necessarily glitch, but to change, forcing all to fight for the main characters life, and possibly their own. Damn good music as well.

Number NINE!!!!

OK, I know there is a lot of... "OMFG WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE THAT ANIME!!?!?!?!?!!! YOU IS NOOB AT ANIME YOU KNOWS NOTHING!!?!?!?!"
Well to you I say shut the fuck up, you are an ignorant teenager who knows nothing about what an anime is, nor what it can represent as a whole.
Now.... don't get me wrong, the fillers in this anime are shit, but lets go ahead and say the first.... 120 episodes?
I can't remember the exact number, basically until Sasuke runs away. They were amazing. It has it's flaws, but this anime does wonders in character creation, Creativity and design. The story is very entertaining, and at time, a little sad. I don't remember tears flowing from this anime, but I do remember saying such things as "... Aw"
This anime was my first anime that I ever downloaded via Torrent, Back in 2004. If you want to watch this anime... NEVER watch it dubbed. Subbed only.


Number EIGHT!!!!


I doubt many of you know what this anime is. This is called Bokura Ga Ita. It is the simple story of High school romance. But, I like to think it takes a slight turn at boring and steers straight into pretty damn interesting.
Basically, this girl, likes this guy, this guy like this girl...
blah blah blah blah.
This guy had ex-Girlfriend, Ex-girlfriend died, He would never love again, She aims to change that.
Unfortunetly I can not give much away without ruining the story completely, but trust me on this....
There is one scene in this anime that just fucking does you in. It is simple Heart Wrenching.


Number.... SEVEN!?!?!!?!?


Enough said. Part of my childhood. First anime. Couldn't of been better.















..... Number... seex?
Once again... Enough said.
If they had ended this anime when Rukia was saved...
Could have been my number one.
But once again, a good anime ruined by fillers.










Number Five,
Not entirely sure how popular Elfen Lied got, but one thing for sure... It is a spectacular anime. Involving a new race of humans, Breasticles, voilence, intense psychological pain. This anime really has it all.
But, that is hopefully the draw for viewers that I don't respect, This anime really is an amazing Romance triangle. For obvious reasons, the main woman in this anime can not ever be normal, making this triangle very abnormal. The story of love is handled very carefully in this and it never fully lets on what happens. It is one of those, let you wander, sorts of animes. Very well written, very well produced, very exciting and dimming. This is no happy anime, this is an anime for those who want to sink a little lower.


Number Four!


Another "No shit" anime. This anime has stood the test of time, it is in production yet again, and this anime still freaking sells.
This anime is what Brad would call, a Mind Fuck. There is no simple explanation to this story, seeing to how most of the essential story is taking place inside the personalities and mindsets of three adolecents. Covers various philosophies, Christianity, psychological aspects of the mind and, if you listen closely, raises questions.
Unfortunetly most of them are raised at the actual anime.... Such as... "What the fuck?"






Number THUHHHHHREEEE!!!!
Kimi Ga Nozumu Eien, or as of now, Rumbling Hearts.
When I first saw this anime, It looked like crap. The characters were shallow, the setting was idiotic, the reason for interaction between characters was so saddly immature.
But I gave it another go... And watched the second episode.
Same ol' bussiness.
Then then end of the anime comes... and a phenomena that has plagued men for centuries took control of me.
I Shit My Britches.
This Anime did a superb job at remaining realistic, hiding what is to come, taking romance to a new level. This anime keeps you guessing as to what will happen, this is not an ordinary anime, this is not a happy anime. This anime is all about pain, confusion, dishonesty, and really unfortunate people. But it is so fucking good.

Number Two.
A man with a God Complex....
What an interesting theory.
This anime... does something which I thought could never be done.
You know that chill you get when something... really damn cool happens?
Everyone experiences it.
I got this feeling... while he was simply writing in a book.
A death note, to be more specific.
This is the not so average story of a genius who finds death lying in his hands. He takes the opportunity to take out all those who are bad and evil in the world. He is God, for awhile.
And that is where it gets interesting..


Oh... number one?
I'll tell y'all later.
I got class now.
SEE YA.

Cover Art Comparison - Sega's attempt to appeal to David.

So is everyone excited for this insane collection? The list of included games is crazy, as this is like a supped up version of the Genesis Collection they released a couple of years ago. I remember buying a copy of that game in the hopes that me and David could play through Phantasy Star 4 and talk about it on the show. That game is often considered to be one of the greatest 16 bit RPGs ever made -- and neither of us had ever played it. It would have been great to see what was on the other, non Squaresoft side, of JRPGs back in the day. Maybe Phantasy Star 4 will make its way into a Revival Podcast one of these days. But I digress. Here is the list of included games:

Alien Storm
Altered Beast
Beyond Oasis
Bonanza Bros.
Columns
Comix Zone
Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
Dr. Robotnik's MBM
Dynamite Headdy
Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco II: The Tides of Time
E-SWAT
Fatal Labyrinth
Flicky
Gain Ground
Golden Axe I
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Kid Chameleon
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
Ristar
Shining in the Darkness
Shining Force
Shining Force 2
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic and Knuckles
Sonic Spinball
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Streets of Rage
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage 3
Super Thunder Blade
Vectorman
Vectorman 2

Unlockable:
Golden Axe Warrior (SEGA Master System)
Phantasy Star (SEGA Master System)
Alien Syndrome (Arcade)
Altered Beast (Arcade)
Congo Bongo (Arcade)
Fantasy Zone (Arcade)
Shinobi (Arcade)
Space Harrier (Arcade)
Zaxxon (Arcade)

All for 30 dollars! Fucking crazy. But wait...

Don't go looking for the box art you see at the top if you live in the United States. Thing is... Sega doesn't think we are mature enough to handle that adult cover. That is actually the cover for the UK release of the game. We get something much different. The contents are the same, but the cover and title are much different. I give you...

Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection!! !11!OMFGOKEMON!!1!TWOBBQRIBS!!

That's right, we Americans are fast and rude and will beat the shit out of Mario!!! Let's pretend nothing ever came out for Genesis worthy of mention except for motha fuckin Sonic!!! So grab some rings (at least one) and a fucking chili dog and run yo asses to the store on Feb 10th and steal a copy of this game!!!

In all seriousness... I think Sega has made it obvious where the audience is for the shitty Sonic games they keep releasing.

Brad

PS I'll be purchasing this if the Shining Force ports are good.

Does Anyone Get This Game?

I went to Arcade UFO in Austin, Texas earlier this week. My game is Dance Dance Revolution and that's what I play. But next to the DDR machine, they have Mr. Driller machine. I've never played the arcade, Playstation, or Dreamcast versions, but I have played the DS one. I got pretty far into the game but never completely grasped the concept.



So I watched this video from the Arcade UFO blog. The only thing I can see that this person does differently from me is that they don't die. I can see some of the strategies he/she uses, but I can't see myself figuring it all out. I'm sure it's just a thing where I don't have enough experience playing the game, but I'm wondering if there's anyone out there that is really good at this game?

Thanks,
David

Preach it Brotha!

I saw this from earlier in the week and I think that it is something that really, really, really, really, really needs to be clarified.... so check it out people :)


Watch live video from 4PlayerPodcast on Justin.tv

-Nick

1st Revival Podcast to Include Email Interview w/ CEO of Oddworld Inhabitants

As you know, we are rapidly approaching the recording of our first Revival podcast at the end of January. We will be discussing the merit of "Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath" from "Oddworld Inhabitants", a game development company responsible for all of the Oddworld games. We were surprised and excited to be contacted by the CEO of the company, Sherry McKenna, upon the announcement of this podcast. As a result, we are pleased to announce that we will be conducting a brief email interview with her and will be reading and discussing the interview on the show!

If anyone has a question for Sherry, please let us know and we will try to work it into the interview. You guys are a huge part of what makes this blog successful so we would love to let our listeners get involved! Please email your questions to me at: Nickhenderson@4playerpodcast.com

With that said ... please try to word your questions carefully to prevent extensive editing on our parts. Please keep the questions relevant to the Oddworld games or her company as a whole. Also, keep in mind that there are certain questions that she simply can't answer due to legal reasons so try to think of questions that she can actually answer.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Sherry and everyone at "Oddworld Inhabitants" on behalf of 4-Player Podcast and our listeners for being kind enough to agree to this interview! I think I speak for everyone when I say that this means the world to us. It's a huge step for the staff here and we thank you for making this possible.

-Nick

Yes, Even I Need Help Sometimes

I'm not sure if you guys noticed, but I am a mortal man. Living, breathing, human just like any of you. Even I am flawed. There are things that slip through my fingers.

For instance last night in chat, while I was playing idolm@ster videos, I noticed you guys (Sorry I can't recall who) talking about a im@s song in Beautiful Katamari. Having only played a few levels into the game, I never came across it, but it makes total sense seeing as they are both Namco titles.

So today, listen to my words. Don't be afraid to share the love. Don't be afraid to offer up something. It may not be the best to try to bug me in chat during a broadcast because I'll probably not see it. But feel free to email me anything you think I would like. Worst case scenario, I'll probably not watch it. There are a few like invader_random, darknezz, and raccoonboi who email me all sorts of stuff. I always appreciate finding new music or funny videos to watch and share. I'll even post them on the blog if it's appropriate.

Incase you guys didn't know, you're a huge part of this blog. Not just because you read it. You guys are always contributing by posting replys, by adding to the forums, by sending stuff in. You think the handful of people at any of the major gaming blogs get all the information all by themselves. Heck no. The internet is way to massive for any of us to search it alone. It's a collective effort and we rely on you guys for inspiration.

So for those of you who are second guessing wondering if you should let me know about something,

Hi, My name is David. Nice to meet you. What kind of things are you into? Japanese Music? Anime? Video games? I love all three. We can talk if you email me. davidliao@4playerpodcast.com.

Thanks.

Also, for any cute Japanese Girls, デート を しますか?

Revival Podcast Reminder: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath

Don't forget guys, we will be recording our first "Game Club" or "4PP Revival" Podcast at the end of January. For our first episode, we will be discussing the merit of "Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath" for the original Xbox. If you would like to take part in the discussion, I encourage everyone to go out and pick up the game and play it (keeping in mind that the game is not backwards compatible). I will be accepting emails and forum responses regarding any thoughts about the game to be read on the show. The show will be in the last few days of January so there is still some time to pick it up and play.

On that note, we are currently brainstorming which games we would like to play through for future episodes of our "Revival" podcast. We need your help. Which games would you like us to take into consideration? There are a few guidelines though. The games we play need to be:

- Relatively accessible
- Can be on any console, but PS1 and later are more likely to be picked.
- The game needs to have some merit. We wont be playing Spongebob Squarepants... We want to consider games that are good and sometimes, under appreciated.
- Needs to be more than a year old

With that said, give us some ideas! Let us know what you want to hear. If you have any questions or thoughts regarding this new podcast or "Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath", send them to: Nickhenderson@4playerpodcast.com.

Or, check out the forum thread at: Official "Oddworld: Strangers Wrath" Thread

Thanks,
Nick

The only problem with my PSP ...is me.

So I was in my local used game shop today, and as I was standing in front of the PSP section with a 7 dollar Ratchet and Clank game in my hand when I suddenly realized something. I already have a ton of great games for my PSP and I have never beaten a single one. I have pretty much started every game that I have for the handheld, but most of them wouldn't even qualify as surface scratches. With that said, I do love my Lumines device, but I realize now that I'm actually missing out on plenty of great opportunities that I already have.

This is a list of games I would love to get through this year on my PSP:

Crisis Core
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Metal Gear Acid 1
Metal Gear Acid 2
Crush
Field Commander (aka Advance Wars PSP)
Phantasy Star 4 (Genesis Collection)
Jeanne D'Arc
Valkyrie Profile
Patapon
Daxter
Monster Hunter Freedom 2
Final Fantasy Tactics: WotL
Echochrome
Puzzle Quest
Wipeout Pure
Burnout Legends
Castlevania Chronicles and other PS1 downloads.


edit: Ok I did beat Dracula X Chronicles

Am I just a jaded moron? These are actually good games. Anyway, expect to see some PSP play on the feed in the coming weeks. It's time to stop the neglect.


Brad

New Dinner Time Podcast

017 - Travis and I sat down before he left for college and recorded a Dinner Time Podcast. [download]

Thanks for listening,
David

Women I Gave My Heart To

I once met a girl who was absolutely captivating. She was youthful and exuberant, always darting around from place to place. She was really athletic. All her friends from the sports clubs were always trying to recruit her. She was into all sorts of stuff. She was into professional wrestling and this one time I remember she was even involved in a hot dog eating contest. Myself, like everyone else, just seemed to be drawn to her. She had that power, people just wanted to be near her. They wanted to see the world as she saw it, full of hope with that "you can do anything attitude."

One of the best things about her, she was always quick to stick up for her friends and what was right. She never backed down, although sometimes she should have. She practiced martial arts and although she never had a sensei, she was amazing considering she was self-taught. But again she was always a hero, whether it be her protecting some one from a pack of thugs or just rescuing a kitten from a tree. She did it all with this half proud half embarrassed smile that to this day, still lightens my mood.

So if things had worked out, I wouldn't be writing about her in the past tense. I'd probably still be following her around getting into all sorts of crazy adventures. But alas, she always had something going on. It was far too hectic for me to keep up with her. She had a female rival always coming around to challenge her. She had this one guy in a red karate outfit always trying to be her sensei. And then she was always searching for this one guy in a white karate gi. I think that was the person she really wanted to be with. She said it was just because she wanted to train with a proper instructor, but when she talked about him, I could see the glow in her eyes. Broke my heart.

Anyways, I heard she's doing really well. Recently I saw her on some websites, she was promoting a new dish for a restaurant in Japan. Sweet and salty chicken and potatos. Crazy, right? I told you she was awesome.

Thanks Kasugano Sakura

Love,
David