FF ramblings

[ria_oaks]

I happened to check Rpgamer.com a few minutes ago and noticed that FFIII:DS comes out today (I haven't really been keeping track...). I'm probably just being too over-emotional, but this day feels rather historic in the RPG world - the last Final Fantasy that wasn't released in the US is finally here. I checked, and it's been approximately 16.5 years since FFIII was released in Japan - well, better late than never, I guess. XD I mean sure, I played it years ago on a translated ROM and I won't be buying this version anytime soon (lack of a DS... and lack of time to play. woe.), but it's still cool to think that it's here. It's sort of a pity that the original version of the game will never make it here, most likely (how hard would it have been to include the orignal version in the new game, really...?), but the new version looks pretty spiffy. Hopefully I'll get to play it someday.

3 FF games in the past 2 weeks, 2 of which are new to the US (FFXII and FFIII:DS) and one of which only ever made it here in a mangled fashion (FFV Advance) - makes me miss the days when I could play all the time... I haven't really been into gaming as much the last few years, largely because of a. lack of time during school, b. other interests take up my free time, and c. i'm lazy., but I still get excited hearing about games and still want to play when I get the chance. I'm way behind on all the games I'm playing, but I still plan to ask for either FFXII or Disgaea 2 for Christmas (leaning towards the latter - FFXII will be easy enough to find for years to come, and it'll get cheap fairly quickly, whereas Disgaea 2 will start disappearing soon...). I am sorely tempted by FFXII, though - it's been getting fantastic reviews, and hell, it's FFXII! We've been waiting for this game for years, and it's finally here... and I really can't justify the time or money to get it. Part of me, too, is still a bit uncertain about it - but most of the reviews have said that the game is nothing like (and much better than) anything we've seen of it to this point, including the demo. I plan to give it a chance eventually, but can't do it yet.

And... I'm procrastinating. Back to my Farscape paper... it's due tomorrow at 9, so I need to get moving. Up to 5 pages, need about 12 - and I'm still blathering on about the context, haven't even gotten to analysing the series itself! Ehehehe. baaack to work.

Comments

[bk635.livejournal.com]

I'm only 15 minutes into Supernatural, but it's already overflowing with win. This season has a much stronger start than last.

All three of my shows are exceptional this time around.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Why can't Supernatural premieres be 2 hours long? D:

Also, we no longer receive the feed from The CW for these two shows. Instead we get them from a network called Joytv 10. Comes on channel 10 and 14 in this area now. Nice thing about it is that the shitty CW watermarks are gone.

And it's over. D:

Thoughts. Spoilers. Read after watching.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Holy shit that was awesome. Everything about the episode eerie (especially since there was no background music). It established future plot threads and introduced some interesting characters.

Point-form thoughts:

-Dean having a sense of humor after just digging himself out of his grave.

-Finding Sam at a fuck motel with a hot chick, who happens to be Ruby in a new body (though Dean doesn't know, yet).

-Bobby winning all around.

-The Barracuda being outfitted with an iPod jack and pissing Dean off.

-Confrontation with demons in the cafe, and the black humor after.

-Sad that the psychic died. She was a total sexpot who would've been fun to have around for the dialogue.

-The eyes burning out all over the place..Fucking creepy.

-Sam exorcising demons with the powers of his mind. Also win.

-The angel being less accustomed to humans than the demons. Meh. Been done before. Also the confirmation that God exists doesn't sit level with me. I don't mind the concept being introduced to the show, but I'm concerned about how the writers will handle it. I have confidence in them, though. Although the angel is all kinds of broken, what with being able to steamroll through a horde of demons and being (so far) invincible.

-The episode hinted that Dean and Sam will respectively be representative of good and evil in the final battle, as evidenced by Dean being approached by an angel (the good side) and Sam training his demonic powers that were granted to him by the YED (the bad side). Though knowing Supernatural, it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that the demons were more good than the angels, or some twist like that.

-New actress for Ruby is so much better than the last one. Looks better, too. >.>

Re: Thoughts. Spoilers. Read after watching.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Okay, time for more detailed thoughts... the place we're at now has more dependable wi-fi and it works inside, so I can spend more time online... just what I should be doing while in the south of France, eh? God I'm an addict.

Anyway.

-Dean having a sense of humor after just digging himself out of his grave.

Lol, yeah, the Playboy magazine... ahh classic Dean. ^^

-Finding Sam at a fuck motel with a hot chick, who happens to be Ruby in a new body (though Dean doesn't know, yet).

Indeed... intriguing. And eek. Wonder if he's actually sleeping with her...? o.o But lol at the scene originally, before we find out it's Ruby. And awwww at their reunion, as least once Sam believed it was really him. They hugged for like almost

Re: Thoughts. Spoilers. Read after watching.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Bah, stupid computer, I hit post too early.

To continue...

They hugged for like almost a minute. And LOL at another "are they a couple?" joke..


-Bobby winning all around

As always. :) Lol-ed when he threw holy water in Dean's face and then shrugged and said "just checking". Love Bobby. Jim Beaver's going to be in Harper's Island coming up, along with Katie Cassidy, and it's filming a lot on Bowen (biggest happening in the community in awhile, heh...). New CBS show, premiering mid-season. Hoping to catch a glimpse of them (esp Jim) on the island...

-The Barracuda being outfitted with an iPod jack and pissing Dean off.

Impala, you mean? And yeah, that cracked me the hell up. He looked so utterly scandalized to see it, and when he turned it on and heard Sam's music... LOL.

-Sam exorcising demons with the powers of his mind. Also win.

DUDE I know. Omg. Scary as hell, and also awesome. Sam is totally starting to master his psychic abilities. He's on his way to becoming the anti-Christ. :) (still laugh over that comment from last year, I think it was)


-The angel being less accustomed to humans than the demons. Meh. Been done before. Also the confirmation that God exists doesn't sit level with me. I don't mind the concept being introduced to the show, but I'm concerned about how the writers will handle it. I have confidence in them, though. Although the angel is all kinds of broken, what with being able to steamroll through a horde of demons and being (so far) invincible.

I'm intrigued but also a bit nervous by the angel thing... Castiel def has an agenda, though, and is pretty darned creepy actually. And it looked like he had black wings... shadows I guess, but still gotta wonder. Maybe he's actually a fallen angel? Hmm. :) Anyway, will have to wait and see where they go with it... hope it works.

-The episode hinted that Dean and Sam will respectively be representative of good and evil in the final battle, as evidenced by Dean being approached by an angel (the good side) and Sam training his demonic powers that were granted to him by the YED (the bad side). Though knowing Supernatural, it wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that the demons were more good than the angels, or some twist like that.

This comment totally inspired in me an utterly absurd drawing... well, the comment combined with having gone to the Louvre earlier that day and seeing lots of angels and people with wings and shit. Will post it when I get home... its pretty silly, but it amuses me. ;)

New ep tonight! Hopefully will get to see it tomorrow evening online. Right now, about to watch the Heroes s3 premiere... *bounce*

Re: Thoughts. Spoilers. Read after watching.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Wonder if he's actually sleeping with her...? o.o But lol at the scene originally, before we find out it's Ruby. And awwww at their reunion, as least once Sam believed it was really him.

I think it's likely. She was wearing panties in that scene, I think. Plus they spent like 4 months together, training Sam's powers. Lastly there was the hotel.. I mean, it doesn't necessarily add up to sex, but.. Anyway, it'd make Sam a whole lot darker to be sleeping around with a demon, no?

As always. :) Lol-ed when he threw holy water in Dean's face and then shrugged and said "just checking". Love Bobby. Jim Beaver's going to be in Harper's Island coming up, along with Katie Cassidy, and it's filming a lot on Bowen (biggest happening in the community in awhile, heh...). New CBS show, premiering mid-season. Hoping to catch a glimpse of them (esp Jim) on the island...

Get his autograph. Although I hope that him being in another show doesn't mean that his character dies sometime down the road in Supernatural...

I'm intrigued but also a bit nervous by the angel thing... Castiel def has an agenda, though, and is pretty darned creepy actually. And it looked like he had black wings... shadows I guess, but still gotta wonder. Maybe he's actually a fallen angel? Hmm. :) Anyway, will have to wait and see where they go with it... hope it works.

Yeah, there's something definitely not right with him. Having black wings basically guarantees that he's a fallen angel. But like you said, the wings may have been shadows.

In general I'm fine with the whole God/angel thing now. There can be episodes where Dean mulls over his faith and whatnot, even. Basically, it's alright with me as long as it doesn't get preachy.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

YAY I can watch it online, but boo I can only do so on Mom's computer and Kat and I aren't staying with them... we're at their apartment right now for lunch, but about to head out to the Louvre. And I don't know what it says about me that I'd rather stay here and watch SPN than go to the greatest art gallery in the world, but.. SNIFF.

Actually, it's the Canadian feed that's different - we still get it on the CW, but as in the past the Canadian feed goes over it. Can't recall last year - did SPN have the CW logo? Shouldn't have because CityTV's feed should've gone over it. But CityTV no longer airs sci-fi TV (because they "want to appeal more to women" *EYEROLL*), so a new Canadian network picked it up. Evidently it's a local (Vancouver and Victoria) network, so not sure bout the rest of the country...

[bk635.livejournal.com]

No, Joytv 10 has no annoying overlays, or watermarks whatsoever. It does have a watermark (they all do nowadays), but it's transparent. It's very bare, which is why I said it was nice.

Oh yeah you should definitely watch it when you find the time. Torrent it while you sleep or watch it online.

The premiere was pretty damn cool; it seems to be getting great feedback online. (Though some people are iffy about one thing--you'll know it when you see it.)

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

That's good... CityTV's was pretty big (though not as big as the CW's... but, we didn't actually have the CW logo on first run SPN eps, did we? Cuz we'd have got the Canadian feed. Anyway, this one sounds nice and unobtrusive. I'm still rather bitter over CityTV's whole "no more sci-fi cuz we need to appeal to women by having lots of makeover shows!!" bullshit. -___-

I'm trying to avoid actually download eps, just cuz this computer has a tiny harddrive (it's a little baby computer... pretty nifty, really), and also I don't want to use the wireless at my the apartment my parents are renting or at any hotels. But anyway, online streaming video works well enough - quality isn't great, but oh well...

Anyway. Good ep. :) Def an improvement over last year's premiere. I got all wibbly when Sam and Dean were reunited... oh boys. <3 Forgot how much I love you, in spite of some of my issues with the show... they make up for it. :) I can see that the whole angel/Castiel thing is iffy for some people... I suppose I'll wait and see. I don't trust him, so I think there's more to it. :) Plus, it looked like he had black wings... suppose it was just supposed to be shadows, but still!

anyway, gotta run - will write more bout it later.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

It's a completely retarded move. Women (and men for that matter) have entire networks devoted to them. Global, on the other hand, didn't appeal to either sex, but by doing so, they probably axe their viewership by around half; that is, the women go away, because really, who do shows like America's Next Top Model appeal to the most? Yeah..

Furthermore, with regards to Supernatural--I suppose Global was completely oblivious to the rabid (and creepy) female fanbase that show has, right?

Anyway, I should look at their schedule, because I don't really know what they show now.


Those 'lil computers? I see them around from time to time. They seem pretty convenient, but it would probably be a nightmare for me to try typing on one. -_-

Ah so you saw the episode? What else did you think about it?


Going into the episode, I knew that this season would involve angels because of a prior interview I read. But I wasn't expecting them to immediately jump on the the whole "God's work/lack of faith" thing. I don't completely trust him either; angels can be pretty ruthless depending on the religion. So we'll just have to wait and see where the writers go with this; hopefully the show won't become preachy.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Am slightly confused by your first point - how does Global cut its viewership by not appealing to one sex over the other? Wouldn't it be the other way around? ^^ After all, networks like The Women's Network and SpikeTV have a pretty narrow viewership in that both are pretty stereotypical representations of their respective audiences and frankly probably dont appeal to a lot of people as a result (pretty much the only thing I ever watch on TWN is the occasional ep of Friends - everything else is makeover shows and sappy movies. bah.). Anyway, networks like Global, CTV, and originally CityTV have lots of shows that appeal to everyone (regular network dramas and whatnot - most of the major ones have cross-gender appeal, at least to some extent).

Anyway. Yes, it's a stupidly annoying move for CityTV (and it's CityTV, not Global. ^^) - why ditch half you viewership? and why the fuck do they assume that becoming more female-oriented has to mean getting rid of the sci-fi and "masculine" shows and replacing them with fucking stupid shows about people getting makeovers?? *grumblesigh*

And yes, its also stupid because according to the Nielsen ratings for SPN 4.01 the female demographic was a point HIGHER than the male. Case in point.

It's hard to type on, yeah... you get used to it, but I sitll find it a bit difficult. Great for travelling, though, because it's so small and light. Also, pretty cheap ($500-600, less for some I think).

Twas good. I keep meaning to respond to your review, and I will... wi-fi at our b&b here in Provence is a bit iffy (only works outside, and it's surprisingly not that warm. waaaaah.). i too hope it doesn't become preachy - thats my main fear. Though I thought they did a decent job back in Houses of the Holy of showing the possibilities of faith withou becoming too preachy. Always liked that line about how Sam prays every night...

Don't really trust Castiel, anyway. ^^ Rather intrigued... he def has his own agenda. and excited to see what will happen with Sam's storyline.

More later, hopefully. ^^ We're heading out now to drive through a few towns (it's so damned beautiful here - now I remember why we almost bought a place here. Part of me just wants to say fuck it and up and move here, lol.)) then back here in the afternoon. Hopefully itll be warmer then (a tad chilly now, in the morning) and we're going to hang out here by the pool (though too cold to swim) and I can use the Internet. :)

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm confused by my first point too now. I think I was trying to say that Global appealed to everyone, but by purposefully appealing to only half, their viewership should take a dive. Networks like TWN, Oxygen, and Spike don't get very good viewership (I think, anyway), so they serve as examples of what you shouldn't do. (Though Spike actually has good movies from time to time.)

Anyway, most of CityTV's lineup seems to be shifted to glitzy/Hollywoodish serialized programs starring female characters. There seem to only be two reality shows, none of which are on America's Next Top Model-level. I'd say that the target isn't women, but young girls. Young adults. I honestly can't say I see men being interested in their lineup (save for Curb your Enthusiasm! Though it's probably censored.), so I'd say that they succeeded. Now the only thing left to see if it actually draws girls/women in. If it doesn't, CityTV is fucked.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Looking at their lineup, there are a few cross-gender shows, but yeah, lots of female oriented ones. Though yay for Curb Your Enthusiasm! That was unexpected... prob censored, though, yeah, which is a pity because I really want to see more of it.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Yeah I'm still bitter that Showcase lost or didn't renew the rights to that show. I'll check it out on Monday and see what they did to it, but if they cut the swears and nudity then it's not worth watching. It's like watching the censored versions of Trailer Park Boys or Kenny vs Spenny--it just doesn't work.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear it's good. :) Also, jealous... *pouts*

3 shows - has Eureka started in Canada, then?

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Eureka started two weeks ago. I forgot how much I love that show. Great characters and it's so campy and snarky.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yay. :) I'll have to check it out someday...

[bk635.livejournal.com]

You'd never expect a show like this to have such emotional and sad episodes..

But damn does it ever surprise..