If Looks Could Kill - Graphic Art & Design

Wii’s Virtual Console leaves MUCH to be desired. To date, there are only 20 Nintendo titles available, contrary to the vast library of retro Nintendo classics that were to be at our beck and call.

I can’t even imagine how they are determining what to release - it’s certainly not based on the title’s popularity, as they’ve released some mediocre, played-out titles.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the innnovation of the system and that it forces the player to be active and work up a sweat - it’s a great system that I definitely recommend. I just don’t understand Nintendo’s strategy, or lack thereof.

Another area they’ve missed the next generation boat lies in what compels people to play. Based on this report, motivators include “sense of independence, achievement and connectedness to others.” Xbox Live excels in this area from their unlockable achievements that add to your gamer points and bragging rights, to the social aspect - notifications when friends come online, voice chat and messaging, collaborative gaming.

In my opinion, the Xbox 360 is the best overall, since quantity and quality of available games are more important than the systems themselves. I will not even consider the PS3 based on its high price - there are no games that can justify that expense for a gaming console. More Wii’s have sold than any other next generation console, if they want to keep up the momentum, Nintendo had better make with the quality games, and lots of ‘em, both in stores and on its Virtual Console.

Plan on this:

I occasionally swap my images around to prevent the gang of Lichtenstein hotlinkers who display images from my server on their MySpace profiles.

While I enjoy Lichtenstein’s work, I still question his ethics, since he took his images directly from retro comics. How appropriate that many of his fans are secondhanders as well, leeching off of my server’s bandwidth. >;)

Dear Image Surfers,
SAVE IMAGES TO YOUR OWN SERVER, LINK BACK - OTHERWISE, PREPARE FOR PUBLIC HUMILIATION!
Love,
Amy

Far be it from me to discern what animals are Ok for wearing, since I own leather that’s also inhumanely bred for dying, but crossing out the word “Raccoon” from the label of clothing lined in DOG HAIR hardly makes a jacket more palatable for consumers.

Naturally, they are trying to downplay the domesticated animal aspect here, and fair enough, these dogs aren’t typically domestic and are one of the few that actually hibernate, but “Asiatic raccoons” are canines, not even related to raccoons by species.

What makes it shady, is labeling it as something other than what it truly is, a half-truth - lying by omission. I don’t know what it is that makes me feel Ok about slinging cowhide over my body, but simultaneously repulsed by fur.

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Do you know who this woman is?

Since the early days of the internet *shakes cane* I have searched for a decent image of the face behind the voice of my favorite cartoon character ever…

Denise Poirier, voice of Aeon Flux! Aeon Flux has the most expressive and melodious voice of any female cartoon character - low, sultry, antagonistic. Denise nailed this character and I was pleasantly surprised to see a visage as lovely as her voice. :)

The monosyllabic grunts, sighs and other Aeon sounds were actually done by Drew Neumann’s (the soundtrack creator’s) wife. Might I recommend that Drew Neumann’s EyeSpy Ears Only: Confidential while I’m at it? I bought this some time back and it’s actually the soundtrack to the Aeon Flux cartoons, just with no specific reference to it for legal reasons. It’s a hypnotizing listen.

Might I add that I am especially fascinated with creator of the Aeon Flux series, Peter Chung. He is able to imply incredible intricacy with the simplest of lines, his unusual perspectives and mannerist style proportions (elongated limbs and spindly creatures) - you know when you are watching something that is his. I love it.

I’ve not seen this one before but this painting was based on the photograph and supposedly a string of unfortunate consequences begat those with the misfortune to possess it. Read the rest here.

Shown at left is a close-up on the area of interest from the painting. Click on it to see the entire painting. At right, the original photo of the Headless Man taken in Arizona. Click on it to visit the site, essentially it’s a double exposure with an inexplicable human-like image in it.

See the other infamous haunted painting here.

This irritates the hell out of me, but it would appear that Namco Bandai intends to release Soul Calibur IV on PS3 only - which we have no intent on buying at this point.

They had to slash projected income over 50% earlier this year after an underperformance from Soul Calibur III, which I might add, was released on PS2 only. You would think it would be in their best interest to be as cross-platform as possible while the console wars play out.

I don’t predict the PS3 coming out on top this time. Xbox 360 rawks ass graphically and the Nintendo Wii is highly innovative. What do you have to offer Sony? A grossly overpriced system that you are still losing money on per unit with nothing to offer that the other systems don’t have.

When shit was cheaper, yeah, a person might buy one just for a particular game - as an example, we purchased the Sega Dreamcast because of Soul Calibur II. With Sony’s blasphemously priced system, there’s no way I would buy it just to play one game.

Something to think about, Namco. Might I add that Tekken Dark Resurrection being available only on the overpriced PSP handheld is a sore spot as well.