I was thinking of only plugging Acapella Nintendo (which, btw, if you don’t like, you have no soul), but since Metafilter had the first honours, I thought I’d plug something that may have been missed and almost equally awesome: Jake Kaufman’s Arrangements, including video game tributes, and even acapella treatments.

Specifically, Michael (MP3), a rap acapella from Maniac Mansion. Jebus!

Thanks to easysay3k for pointing it out.

If somebody were to do it first, the Japanese are sure to be front in line. With all the advances in technology these days, it was only a matter of time until they (specifically Sakakibara Kikai) created a man-powered walking robot–mecha, if you will–seemingly plucked straight from anime and video games. This page has videos of the mecha walking/sliding/turning… it looks rather precarious. Then of course, a shooting example, as there is a machine gun in its left arm, but it only shoots those pink cushion balls, I do believe.

Anyway, I’m not a Japanese expert. I ran this page through my Japanese-speaking sister and she thinks it seems legit. It still could be CGI or just clever camera angles and simple robotics, but hey… it looks like the way of the future.

I don’t know whether to be frightened or think this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Like, ever.

Thanks, dirte, for the heads up.

This is blood for blood and by the gallons. This is the old days, the bad days, the all or nothing days. They’re back!
Marv, Sin City

Nothing better can sum up the premise of fan boy Robert Rodriguez’s latest film foray. Such is his devotion to this work that he gave up his Director’s Guild membership to have non-member Frank Miller co-direct. Rodriguez pal, Quentin Tarantino, also joins in the fun.

Frank Miller’s Sin City—and if there was any doubt of the source material, the opening credits makes no mistakes—is film noir revitalized. Busty broads, busted convicts, and busted heads all have their turn to shine, making this two-hour long movie seem like two minutes.

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Japanese fan artists are so amazing. I especially love seeing how they reimagine American cartoons into anime. So, look no further than these fun South Park fan arts.

First pic is an oekaki from here and the second is a classic one, I remember seeing these years ago, but it’s still good.

Namco X Capcom is a turn based RPG that features 200+ characters from both companies like Ryu, Jin, Arthur, and KOS-MOS. I don’t know about the system, but the game was originally meant to be a Namco all stars RPG to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. The game will also have an anime intro made by Production IG.

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So what is it—are video games harmful enough that game makers are liable for the violent actions of their players, or therapeutic enough for even hospitals to use?

A recent study in Adelaide is leaning towards the latter.

Compared with when their dressings were changed under the cover of painkiller drugs alone, the children reported much less pain when they were allowed to also play the computer game.

The average pain score with drugs alone was 4.1 out of 10, compared to 1.3 out of 10 with drugs and use of the computer game.

If this is the case, I wonder what it will mean to those anti-video game zealots who claim that video games lead to violent behaviour–I suppose now that these kids are still in the hospital, they can be easily restrained or treated for their erratic and abusive behaviour from playing these games. </sarcasm>

Microsoft has enlisted Hironobu Sakaguchi, credited with creating the legendary “Final Fantasy” series of role-playing video games, to make two games for the next Xbox game console, the company said Thursday.

Interesting news, especially around EA and 3DO founder Trip Hawkins’s recent prediction: My magic eight ball says [Nintendo] will be acquired by Microsoft within five years.” Of course, Nintendo officially denies any of these rumours.

Wow, I never thought I’d see the day. As a giant fan of the Final Fantasy series, and especially its beginnings in Nintendo, this news comes to be a little bit of a surprise. Sakaguchi is a legend and Microsoft seems determined to raise the stakes. And, well, might just get this non-Xbox fan to reconsider her position.

Hmm… the plot thickens.

I had reviewed the excellent Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life graphic novel here at FG back in late October. I knew it was magic when I read it, and apparently, Shaun of the Dead and Spaced director Edgar Wright Jr. seems to think so, too.

Comic Book Resources first spread the rumour, and O’Malley responded with an enigmatic statement:

“There are movie rumblings. It’s pure chance, the divine whimsy of Hollywood, and I’m sure you know I never wrote towards that, and I continue to write completely divorced from the idea of this possible movie process, but it does exist and I’m not resistant to it.”

Finally, Joe Nozemack of Oni Press, publishers of the graphic novel, makes the rumour official and points to this link.

To say I’m excited is an understatement. In the volatile world of movie making, the negotiations, deals, what-have-you, may fall through. But I’m crossing my fingers because enormously talented individuals are involved here.

Oh, and I’m hoping they may decide to shoot in Canada and that I somehow get to be an extra. As is the wish of his seemingly endless internet acquiantances, I’m sure, but I digress.

BTW, Scott Pilgrim, Volume 2 is available at the end of February. Check it out! It will be awesome.

How many times have you asked “I like [this series], what else would I like?” The Anime Recommendation Database will help answer your question, and give you anime recommendations.

Genius.

To keep with my video game themed posts lately, I’m going to plug the excellent OverClocked ReMix community site.

OverClocked ReMix is a website dedicated to reviving the video and computer game music of yesterday, and reinterpreting that of today, with new technology & capabilities. This site’s mission is to prove that this music is not disposable or merely just background, but is as intricate, innovative, and lasting as any other form.

It’s become one of my favourite sites on the internet of all time. I love listening to re-imagined pieces of video game music in original piano compositions or conversely, classical music turn into club dance tracks! If you’re a composer yourself, or a remixer, masher, or whatever kids call DJs and other music producers these days, you can definitely contribute to OCRemix. And it’s great for us happy listeners, too.

What self-respecting game geek has never heard of Squaresoft aka Square Enix’s Final Fantasy franchise? The game has already spawned several offshoots and its twelfth incarnation is already in progress, solidifying the oxymoron of the name.

Its movie spin-off, Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, was a box-office flop for its dead-eyed CG characters and flimsy story line. However, despite this set-back, it hasn’t stopped their master CG movie makers from trying their hand at more cinematic Final Fantasy.

Enter Final Fantasy: Advent Children, a sequel of sorts to the wildly popular Final Fantasy 7 game (which is arguably the best Final Fantasy in terms of game play, music and story, next to FF6). While it’s being slated to be direct-to-DVD, it’s generating the buzz of a fanboy hyped theatre release. The official website has a 4 minute trailer for us to drool on, and for those who don’t understand Japanese, there’s a bit-torrent link to a movie containing both the fan subtitled version of the trailer and the American-release trailer. IMDB also has an official listing of the movie which names all the Japanese voice actors. Let’s hope the American dubbed version is half-way decent, else just default to the English subtitled version.

Don’t forget to check out Adventchildren.net, a very thorough fan-run website all about the movie!

Does the Imperial system get you down? Does the metric system confuse you? Well, look no further than Convert, a free tool that even the likes of NASA uses.

It’s a neat little tool that converts all types of units in one little piece of software. Try it out!

Apparently, the government is in cahoots with your local colour laser printer. The program has been around since the mid-nineties to help the FBI track down the origins of counterfeit money. Though, the knowledge that such information hadn’t been released to the public until recently is cause for concern, as John Morris, a lawyer for The Center for Democracy and Technology, states in this PCWorld article.

From the article, Xerox openly talks about this technology, and Canon has also been cited but has been unavailable for comment.

It makes one wonder how many more secret government initiatives there are embedded in our office machines.

Thanks SEB.

Pricenoia should have been around ages ago. It does real-time comparisons of prices from all the different international merchants of Amazon.com along with shipping prices. This is a great tool that is sure to save a lot of people money. Sometimes, it pays to actually shop at a foreign store. :-)

via: waxy

Ah, Wikipedia. How wonderful are thee?

A small Internet phenomenon on Futaba Channel, the OS-tan (OS for Operating System, and -tan as an overly cute Japanese honorific for a person, specifically a child slurring “-chan”) or simply OS Girls are the personification of several OSes, most famously Windows, by various amateur Japanese artists. A pure fan creation, the appearance of each character is generally consistent across artists. OSes are almost always portrayed as women, the Windows girls usually as sisters, despite sometimes seeming the same age.

Wow.

Apparently, there’s also an entire sub-culture of this. I had thought that this picture was an isolated fan art incident, but apparently not.

Thanks, James

The internet is a strange, wonderful thing. I was in high school when I first heard of Bryan O’Malley–or Mal, as he’s most popularly known as. He was active online: he helped run various anime art communities like the now-defunct FAHQ and internet comic forrays like Impromanga, while continually honing his skills as a comic book artist and illustrator.

Back then, pursuing a career in comics seemed like a faraway fantasy–something you strive for, always hoping, but never thinking it would actually come true. I put down my pencil long ago and settled in the world of graphic and web design and never looked back.

But Bryan kept on drawing and making stories. Now, it’s finally paying off.

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