It's almost Christmas!

(I'm not really all that excited...same as celebrating Washington's or Lincoln's birthday...but different than MLK day because that actually has meaning to people. I'm not going to debate my feelings on Christmas, as for once, I agree (partially) with the religious nazis...as well as other Buddhists. If you really want to debate, bring facts)

The real purpose of this post was to get people into the spirit of Christmas...and promote [Dipdive], a media site owned by the Black Eyed Peas...if I'm correct, it's more specifically owned and run by will.i.am. So, enjoy this trailer of St. Nick and Kate plus 8 (which will run from 21-25 Dec.)!

Shale (Dragon Age)

This pretty much summarizes the character humor in Dragon Age: Origins. Shale has become my favorite playable character. Oh, and if I'm correct, the player-designed character (the one in the ugly hat) is wearing Tevinter robes and the Libertarian Cowl. This clip doesn't require any setup, except for the fact that this is right after you get Shale, when you're leaving the village she's been trapped in for 30 years. And yes, Shale is female.



And I'll leave this with a Shale conversation. It summarizes both Shale and Zevran simultaneously.

Shale: "Order me to do something."
Warden: "Give Zevran a hug."
Zevran: "Now, now. I don't care much for foreign objects invading my personal space. Well... usually."

Will Play for Souls

You know those games that with enough skill, time, and determination you can get through them without dying even once? Well, Demon's Souls is not that kind of game. If you don't want to read a long review, then I can leave you with this: You will die; you will die often, and you still won't be able to stop playing it.

For those of you still interested enough to listen to the rest, please continue reading. It's a long one, though, so I'll wait while you use the bathroom and get a snack.

Ready? Good. First, a small description of the plot (which I still don't really understand at this point). This is paraphrased from the Wikipedia article for the game. King Allant XII used the power of souls to guarantee the prosperity of his kingdom: Boletaria. However, King Allant had unleashed the Old One (I am in awe of their creativity), an ancient beast who had been slumbering beneath the Nexus. The Old One brought with it a fog that covered Boletaria, and infested it with demons who are after your soul. Many heroes have tried to free Boletaria from its curse, but none so far have succeeded.

Now to the good stuff. Automatic plus for the game: customizable character creation. The character's basic stats are chosen by class; you can choose from: Knight, Priest, Thief, Magician, Temple Knight, Soldier, Wanderer, Barbarian, Royalty, and Hunter. Different classes have different starting equipment; some will start with a spell or a bow, while some (i.e. the Barbarian) will start with no armor.In addition to basics such as age, gender, etc., you can make your character look anyway you want in a character creator that uses sliding scales to change pretty much every detail of your character's face. One odd thing in the character creation is a sliding scale for their gender where you can make them more masculine or feminine separate from their actual gender...well...I guess if that's what works for you...anyway...

You start off in a basic tutorial where you go around finding out how to attack, use your shield, and use items. However, you end this tutorial by dying at the hands of a giant demon that kills you in one hit (two if you're lucky). Now, it's obviously not game over when you die, because this is the first of many deaths, but a few things happen. You are sent to a place called the Nexus, a place for souls where you can also buy items, or deposit items that you've picked up for later use. It is here that you find that you have lost your physical body. Regaining your body only requires you to obtain a Demon's Soul, but your HP has been halved while in spirit form. The Demon's Soul can only be acquired from a boss-level demon, but you have to battle your way through lesser demons first. The souls you collect from them are used as currency throughout the game. You can then use one of the Archstones to be teleported to a place within Boletaria.

One of the most important things to remember is that you cannot pause while you're in the middle of a level. The only completely safe place in the game is the Nexus, but the game also auto-saves pretty much constantly. So before you start playing make sure you have a good amount of time, or someone to hand the controller off to. The aforementioned soul-craving demons like hiding around corners, behind things, and in dark rooms. They're armed with swords, bows, firebombs, and spears; some are wearing full armor, while others are wicked fast. No matter how quickly you can kill them, they can kill you just as fast. Even in the beginning stage you will die several times, and at least one path is blocked by a foe we have yet to beat. Every time you die, you lose all the souls you've earned, but if you can make it back to where you died you can pick those souls back up.

In addition to using souls to buy items, repair weapons, or upgrade weapons you also use them to upgrade your character, which replaces a traditional level system. You choose one of your basic stats to upgrade, which then upgrades things like your physical/magic defense, HP, spell memory, etc. You have to know what your character needs to really make the most of this system.

Really, the only bad thing I can about this game is that sometimes playing the same level for the eleventh time gets a little frustrating, but for some reason you just keep playing.

On to a point break down:

• Battle System 10/10 - It's easy to switch between weapons, magic, and items, which is good when you're in the middle of fighting a demon that wants, and is completely able, to make you into a shishkebab.
• AI  9/10 - While you will encounter some enemies that are pretty dumb, many enemies are going to put up a good fight.
• Graphics  9/10 - The graphics are good; the characters and world are highly detailed. This game has a pretty stunning look.
• Storyline 8/10 - It's hard to get a real feel for the storyline when it takes you fifteen tries to get through the first level, but from what I've seen it looks good; it's better than most games' at least
• Difficulty 10/10 - This game is hard, sometimes bordering on impossible. Why is this a good thing? Most games try to coddle you by giving you lots of items, and easy enemies. This game all but tells you that you suck, and I think that's what makes you want to keep playing it.

So, final score: 46/50. I know I've said it before, but this game is hard. You're going to die, maybe at the hands of a basic, firebomb wielding demon; maybe at the hands of a boss that will kill you by looking at you. However, the bottom line is you're going to keep playing it. You're going to play it and beat it just to prove that you can.

And I think a picture to wrap up this very long review: this is what you're going to look like after playing for about half an hour (though hopefully not so...baby-like, but you never know)

Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Waldemart

What do you get when you combine Anti-Walmart propoganda, Harry Potter, and Thriller? Well...THIS. Also, it features a break dancing Dumbledore.

Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Waldemart

KevJumba

He is funny. That's all I have to say...oh, and this video is from March 2008...and I don't recommend watching this if you're not used to annoying internet sexual culture (the video isn't directly sexual, but when people ask you questions on the internet...well, that's how it goes). Oh, and watch all his videos a lot, especially on his JumbaFund account, as views of videos on that account count towards the "Jumba Fund", which is money that goes to a charity chosen by his viewers.



CHARMANDER!

OH, and on a side note, I've removed the Digsby widget as no one talks to me on it (not that I expect it, honestly). If you wish to contact me, you can email me (or IM me on MSN) at ikimasho@london.com. I do, of course, reserve the right to block people who send spam, chain letters, scam offers, or stupid email jokes (most of them). I'm also willing to do that to people who get too offensive or spammy on MSN, too.

America's Got Talent...Sometimes

So, I'm sure that a lot of you watched this past week's season premier of America's Got Talent. If you're like me, you mostly watch just to laugh at the people who don't have talent (and somehow don't realize it). While these do tend to be absolutely hilarious, every now and then someone who actually has talent manages to find their way into these otherwise talentless auditions. So, I've decided to share a few of videos of these rare talented acts.

While I think that there are way too many singing acts on the show, there are some that actually end up being pretty good. (Please ignore the disturbing first act the video shows)

Animal acts are also usually too numerous, without enough talent combined to fill

a thimble (best word that we could think of). This dog, however, is just really

amazing.

Impersonators are usually just plain horrible, but this one was hysterically funny

During this performance, the laws of physics were temporarily disabled

This last video...wow...that's all I can really say

Humor

Yeah, not really, but I try...time to get a song stuck in your head after listening to something ridiculous.





And something NOT from Death Note...it's an improvement to a song from the Little Mermaid (the way it SHOULD have been if you listen to all the words)