Willow - NEW! 6 songs (which finally gives me something for the "W" page).
My life's gotten ridiculously busy lately. I have to work a lot of overtime now and I hate to keep promising reviews when they never seem to come. So I'm going to declare a temporary hiatus from review writing as of now and I don't have any real ETA for when I'll get back to it. I'll continue to update sections that are easier for now.
UPDATE: 12/17/06
Final update for today: I added another sketch to The RAU Gallery, but be fair-warned that it's really long. It's actually a remake of a sketch I wrote for the forums awhile ago, but even if you saw it there already, I had to change it quite a bit to make it work.
EDIT: I also did as I promised for the Game Ending Songs article - I went through and labeled whether or not they were on the original Top 50 and if I would still agree with having them on there now.
UPDATE: 12/16/06
Mystery of the hidden initials in The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants solved! Although I normally don't update the Cameos Database anymore, I did for this special occasion. You can read about it here. (You'll have to scroll down a bit or search for "Simpsons" in the text.)
UPDATE: 12/15/06
The further adventures of Dr. Calzoun in a new sketch for The RAU Gallery today!
Sidenote: I'm also going to eventually list the Switched at Birth? section in the sidebar again, too, but I have to write up submission guidelines first. Right now you can still find it in the Museum.
UPDATE: 12/14/06
I've linked the Game Ending Songs article in the table to the left. I had relegated it to the Rec Room, but I keep getting people emailing me to ask where it went. Since it's been one of this site's most popular articles, I just decided to make it easier to find again. Others have told me they wished I had some indication of what the original Top 50 were (as I have expanded and changed the article, doing away with the Top 50 format). What I might do eventually is go through the article and label (somehow) all the ones that made the original Top 50. I'll have to do that when I get more time...my life's been rather busy lately.
Blast Corps - NEW! 3 songs
Final Fantasy 4 - NEW! 19 songs
UPDATE: 12/8/06
Thanks go to Crawl and 1000 for pointing out that the dialogue on the RAU sketches messes up on certain screen resolutions, and while I haven't fixed it on the existing pages yet, I was inspired to write a new one as a result.
Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse - NEW! 11 songs
Final Fantasy Tactics - NEW! 2 songs
Terranigma - NEW! 2 songs
EDIT: Holy crap! I just added another Image Arcane SAB! Throw another one on the "I Can't Believe I Didn't See it Before" pile.
I have three updates today.
First off is an addition to the Arc the Lad Switched at Birth?. I think I may have inadvertantly discovered what inspired Bebedora's crazy design.
Next is an addition to the Image Arcane Switched at Birth?. It seems the kitties of Image Arcane are constantly being reunited with their long-lost kin on that page.
Finally, I added to Documentation of Game Glitches screenshots of the Albert Odyssey Read Error Glitch, and also a section on Little Ninja Brothers (NES), which isn't really a glitch, but is yet another discovery of an unused object.
I'll have more music updates soon. I also apologize for the lack of reviews lately. I like to keep the last one I wrote in the recent updates, but I realize that Rockin' Kats review link has been up there for seemingly forever. Hopefully, it'll get replaced by Killer7 and/or Legend of Mana soon.
UPDATE: 12/3/06
I have two awesome updates today. First of all, I added the following to the Game Music MP3 Downloads:
Super Mario World - NEW! 4 songs
I also added a Kirby's Dream Land 3 Heart-Star FAQ to the Game Guides section. I wrote a guide on this long ago on a sheet of notebook paper, but I think it might have been lost in the apartment fire/flood. I redid it as a visual guide.
Kirby's Dream Land 3 - NEW! 3 songs
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - NEW! 10 songs
Mega Man X - NEW! 5 songs.
I've actually been sitting on the Zelda 3 songs for awhile now because they were originally intended for a Rec Room article that's still sitting about 1/4 finished on my harddrive. I also added the KDL3 and MMX endings to the my Game Ending Songs Article.
I also now have a Site Directory under the Miscellaneous section in the table to the left. I used to have a site directory before, but I got rid of it because it was too disorganized (which caused some confusion), and because I hadn't kept up with it after I moved to my own domain.
UPDATE: 11/30/06
I moved my Game Music MP3 Downloads Pages and split them up by letter. That section was getting too large and unmanageable the way it was. I reserved pages for "J", "U", and "W", even though I have nothing on those pages right now, because eventually I will. I didn't reserve a page for "Q" because I can't think of any games that begin with "Q" that have music I'd want to put up. The following was also added:
Breath of Fire 2 - NEW! 9 songs
Chrono Trigger - NEW! 8 songs
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja - NEW! 5 songs
Yoshi's Island - NEW! 4 songs
There's also a brand-new sketch in The RAU Gallery, so be sure to check it out!
UPDATE: 11/28/06
I made some changes to Adventures in Site Tracking. It's been renamed "The RAU Gallery", and I've decided to use it for better things than just poking lighthearted fun at goofy internet stuff. The first four sketches are based on some that I originally wrote for the forums, but even if you saw them there, I had to change quite a bit to make them work as stand-alone sketches, so there's a lot of new stuff.
UPDATE: 11/26/06
More musical updates:
Brutal: Paws of Fury - NEW! 3 songs
Final Fantasy 5 - NEW! 2 songs
HyperZone - NEW! 2 songs
Legend of Mana - Added "Calmly Traveling", "Cliff Town Gato", "Legend of Mana", and "Song of Mana". Note: Those last two are streamed and I ripped them directly from the game. So if you already have the PSF, you might want to download them to make your soundtrack complete. Also, "Irwin on Reflection" had some distortion in it, so I converted another mp3 with no distortion and replaced the old one.
UPDATE: 11/21/06
A few more musical updates:
Abadox - NEW! 3 songs
Legend of Mana - Added "Memory of Running", "Mystic City Geo", "Leading into Prosperity", and "The Excitement of Both of Us". Cleaned up some more of the descriptions.
Added StarBLaSt.org to the Links page.
UPDATE: 11/19/06
I had said earlier that I was stopping music updates so that I could work on my reviews, but lately I've been putting reviews on hold in favor of playing Legend of Mana. I'll say right up front that it's not that good of a game, but it has an addictive quality simply because of how much crap there is you can do in it. I've been sort of working on-and-off with a review of Killer7, but I'm thinking now I'd like to review Legend of Mana first. However, there are times when I don't want to get into playing it because I know I have to leave or do something else in a half an hour or so, and it seems the easiest thing to do in that time is to make some more mp3s and upload them. So, that's why I have these available for today's update:
Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei - NEW! 1 song
Legend of Mana - fixed some of the song descriptions (I'll have more stuff available here soon).
Metroid - NEW! 3 songs
Pocky & Rocky - NEW! 2 songs
Secret of Mana - Added "Eight Ringing Bells" and "The Oracle"
Stunt Race FX - NEW! 4 songs
UPDATE: 11/17/06
There seems to be some confusion over who actually wrote "Fighting of the Spirit" from Tales of Phantasia. I wrote that it was my favorite Motoi Sakuraba song, but I'm being told it's actually a Shinji Tamura composition. Well, I decided to credit both composers' names to the music for that section, which I should have done in the first place, but didn't because for some reason I never noticed that the game had two different composers before. I also added an mp3 of "Desolate Road" there.
Legend of Mana - Added "Nostalgic Song", "Pastoral", and "Those Who Are Shining"
I might hold off on music updates for awhile because I want to try getting some reviews done for this site. I'm about halfway through a couple of them and I've been spending all my spare time ripping and uploading music instead of working on those reviews.
I'd also like to officially announce that FlyingOmelette.com's forums will be moving off of ezboard in several months. Although I've been reluctant to move from ezboard for many reasons, I am not happy at all about being forced onto this new Yuku service. I have actually already installed new forums right here at FlyingOmelette.com (some who peruse the forums already know of its whereabouts), but they are not ready to become public. Another reason for the move is that these forums come with the domain, so I don't have to pay anything extra for them and they're ad-free (unlike ezboard, which can easily cost over $100 for the renewal of the ad-free service).
When will the change happen? I have CSC service on the ezboard until May 2007. I would like to hold out at least until then. But if we get forced onto Yuku sooner, the change may occur sooner. Right now, count on May 2007. That will give me plenty of time to "learn the ropes" of the new forums, change the design to match the site, add forums, appoint moderators, etc.
This is a huge change for this site and community. We are one of the oldest ezboard communities that is still thriving (I wouldn't be surprised if we are THE oldest one). We were there practically since ezboard was first created, the Game Pond played a role in the explosion of its popularity, and we've survived through many changes and events, such as the departure of ezboard's original creator, Vanchau Nguyen, and the 2005 hacker attack. But I and many other members of the community feel this change is for the best and is perhaps a bit overdue.
Legend of Mana - I fixed some of the descriptions for the songs and modified the intro paragraph. Since having finally played a little of the game, I was able to identify where some of the songs occur.
Puss n Boots - I replaced the "Game Over" MP3 with a MUCH better version. The previous version had some problems due to poor emulation, but they've all been fixed. If you already downloaded it, I strongly recommending replacing it with the new one.
Xenogears - NEW! 5 songs
Zanac - Added "Area 8", "Area 12", and "Game Over"
Zelda 2 - NEW! 1 song
UPDATE: 11/06/06
Rally's Checker's Rapcat
I didn't upload that video to YouTube, but it's about time SOMEONE did.
Secret of Mana - Added "The Dark Star", "The Wind Never Ceases", "Prophecy", and "Into the Thick of It"
Tactics Ogre - NEW! 2 songs
Donkey Kong Country - NEW! 2 songs
Plok - NEW! 2 songs
I added a Glitch FAQ to the Knights of Justice Shrine.
UPDATE: 11/04/06
I've got several updates in store for you today:
Thanks to a note forum moderator CB007, I realized I had neglected to upload the Illusion of Gaia "Memories" mp3 on the MP3 Downloads page. I have no idea how I missed it, but it's been fixed.
We have a new SAB article entitled "Son of Switched at Birth?" It's a little shorter than a typical SAB installment, but I don't want it to just sit around on my hard drive forever.
I made several updates to the Knights of Justice Shrine. First of all, Guide Part 5 and Oddities were updated with information on the Staff of Life mystery. Oddities was also updated with a new SAB submission. Finally, even though I earlier said I wouldn't, I added the Ogre's Lair music to the Downloads Page, but just don't say I didn't warn you that it wasn't much of a song. Note: If you'd rather just have the SPC of that song, you can now get it from SNESmusic.org. Yesterday, I informed them it was missing from the SPC set and gave instructions on how to find it, and they graciously dumped it and added it to the set. (My disturbing amount of knowledge of this game actually came in handy for something.)
Finally, I updated the Favorite Game Ending Songs Tribute article with some information on the discrepancy in the Ys 3: Wanderers From Ys staff roll ending credits song and a new mp3.
UPDATE: 11/03/06
The Super Nintendo Super Shire has become CodieKitty.com and I changed all the links accordingly.
Alundra - Added "Jess's Theme", which I promised to do a long time ago in the Q&A.
Final Fantasy 6 - NEW! 9 songs.
Mega Man 2 - NEW! 3 songs.
Secret of Mana - NEW! 5 songs.
Super Metroid - NEW! 5 songs.
Tin Star - NEW! 2 songs.
UPDATE: 10/31/06
I'm still working on that SAB page, but I'm hoping I'll get a few more things I can add to it before I put it up. In the meantime, I added some more stuff to the Image Arcane SAB. Yeah, I know everyone's probably less interested in seeing my own dumb coincidences and more interested in seeing everyone else's, but I want to hold out on that SAB page just a little longer. Of course, once I put it up, that's when I'll suddenly find a bunch more. That's how it always works, doesn't it?
Made the following changes/additions to the MP3 Downloads Pages:
ActRaiser - Made a section for this on Page 1, but all the mp3s were carried over from the ActRaiser Rec Room Feature. Since I have no idea when I'll ever update the Rec Room again, I thought I should move the MP3s to the main downloads page.
Batman - NEW! 2 songs
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest - Added "Battle 3"
Illusion of Gaia - NEW! 3 songs
Ironsword - NEW! 1 song
Thunder Force 3 - NEW! 2 songs (this marks the first time I've put Sega Genesis music in that section).
UPDATE: 10/30/06
The link to the Level 5 Theme of Axelay ("Burning") was incorrect. The mp3 was there, but I had the link going to the Level 3 Theme instead. It's been fixed.
I also added the following to the downloads pages:
Mischief Makers - NEW! 1 song
Puss n Boots - NEW! 1 song
Skies of Arcadia - NEW! 1 song
More movie capsules:
The Emperor's New Groove - Um...this was like the movie version of the Laws of Cartoons topic from our forums. No, really, the entire plot is one long string of cartoon cliches. To be fair, about half the times it actually uses the cliches to make fun of them (ie, when David Spade mocks the "crumbling canyon wall" or when the villains arrive before the heroes and they acknowledge that it makes no sense). Those scenes provide some of the funniest moments in the movie, but other times it feels like it's just using them for the hell of it or because the writers couldn't think of anything else to use. The bottom line is, it's good to see once, has some laughs and nice animation, but I still feel there's room for the definitive great animated film. (PS. The scene where Pacha swings by the pumas on the vine left me in stitches.)
The Graduate - Okay, the AFI waaayyyyy overrated this movie by placing it at #7 on their Top 100. It's not that it isn't a good movie and deserving to be somewhere on the list, but in the Top 10? Geez! The plot is basically this: Kid comes home from college, loafs around, has an affair with an older woman, and eventually wants to marry the older woman's daughter. That's it. And I've gotta love how in so many of these movies, people get married after one date and they only barely know each other. There are some funny lines of dialogue and the ending is downright hilarious, but it seems like an awful lot of buildup just for that moment. I also found the directing to be a bit confusing: Sometimes it's hard to tell where the current scene is taking place because some of the sets look very similar and the camera is always zoomed in so close to the actors, you can't really see the details of the rooms. Bottom line: It's good, but not one of the Top 10 Greatest Movies of All Time, at least not in my book.
UPDATE: 10/28/06
As promised, I updated the third page of the Videogame Music Downloads with the following additions:
R-Type 3 - NEW! Four songs
Rygar - NEW! Five songs
Secret of Evermore - Added "Dog Maze" and "Flying"
Ys Book 1 & 2 - I changed the titles to match those in the PSF set and added "Noble District of Toal"
Arcana - Added "Dark Castle Bintel" & "Shrine for the Worship of Chaos"
Axelay - NEW! Five songs
Gradius 3 - NEW! Four songs
I'll soon be updating pages 2 and 3 with a barrel of great stuff. Ever since I first got on the internet, it had been a dream of mine to have a site that would showcase all of my favorite videogame music and I'm finally making that a reality.
And now, another movie capsule:
Rear Window - Great performances, great story, action, drama, intrigue, mystery, and even some humor (Hitchcock was really good at the romantic comedy angle, even though it's not what he's often given the most credit for). It's a close call between this and Psycho for title of "My Favorite Alfred Hitchcock Movie". The mystery is presented in such a way that you can easily imagine that maybe something is going on, or maybe it's nothing, even all the way up to the final moment of reveal, which I'm glad I never had spoiled for me despite the number of times I've seen this movie parodied. It also gets pretty damn suspenseful towards the end. The set, despite being basically just an apartment complex, is simply amazing, and you literally find yourself wanting to look in those windows as much as Jimmy Stewart's character does, because it's so easy to get caught up in what's going on behind each one. Highly recommended.
Poltergeist - I liked this more than A Nightmare on Elm Street, and I think it's a fair comparison because they're similar movies (both even have a scene of a woman getting tossed around her bedroom by an invisible force and another scene where a woman gets a grey streak through her hair). There was more tension, better acting, and a better payoff at the end. Some scenes are a little confusing and perhaps drawn out a bit too long (like that whole "Go into the light...no DON'T go into the light!...Go into the light!...No, you said DON'T go into the light!" bit), but overall the story moves along at a pace in which you never know what's going to happen next, but you keep wanting to know. And the special effects, before the era of CGI, are pretty damn good.
Resident Evil - Holy smokes, this movie was bad, and there's no way for me to go through everything that was wrong with it because then this capsule would threaten to turn into a full-length review. Let's just say it's not particularly faithful to the games (who are all these people? Where's Jill Valentine? Where are S.T.A.R.S.?), it's slow-paced, it's painfully obvious how they did the special effects with the zombie dogs, and the main monster (a Licker) was so badly CG-animated it looked cartoonish. The movie is not scary in any sense of the word, but what's far worse is that it's actually quite boring. Mostly because none of the characters are developed at all and therefore, I just didn't care what happened to any of them. In fact, this movie is so similar to director Paul W.S. Anderson's Alien vs. Predator that it felt like I was watching the same exact movie, only with zombies in place of aliens. Resident Evil Zero has a plot involving a crossdresser who sings faux-opera to leeches, and it still manages to be better than this movie.
UPDATE: 10/21/06
I realized I had forgotten to put "Return to Podunk" under the Secret of Evermore section of the Videogame Music Downloads Page, even though I already had it on the Ending Songs Tribute article. I took care of that, and I also put up four new songs for that game: "Dark Castle", "Pirate Theme", "Queen Bluegarden", and "White Castle Town". I also put up a new song for Ys Book 1 & 2, listed as "Ys Voice" in that section (MP3 courtesy of Crawl and 1000).
I actually started working on another SAB page, but I don't have quite enough material yet for a full article. But if I don't find or get sent anything else within the next few weeks, maybe I'll just put it up as is.
Ninja Gaiden 2 - 3 songs (this marks the first time I've put NES music in that section).
Secret of Evermore - 8 songs.
UPDATE: 10/16/06
I've added a 60th Scrapbook Page, featuring both new sketches and old stuff.
I also added Dion Falkor and Preston Abirok to the Image Arcane Who's Who section, and I completely changed Lizaki's description because I FINALLY figured out the perfect place to put him in the future version of the series where he'll fit right in and won't undermine anyone else's role.
UPDATE: 10/14/06
I added Garfield: Permanent Monday to the Links Page.
I don't review movies, so what I'll do instead is post some thoughts on the movies I've recently seen in the site blog:
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - This movie was a lot funnier than I thought it would be, especially considering that I've never liked Will Ferrell too much in anything else I've seen him in (particularly Saturday Night Live). Like many absurd comedies of its type, some jokes just don't work, but it moves past them pretty quickly, and when it is funny, it's very funny, with the scene of all the anchormen having a street brawl easily being the best part.
Mean Streets - I sort of liked this movie, but it's not Martin Scorsese's best work (that would be either Goodfellas or Taxi Driver), and it was a weird experience watching it. The problem is that I found Johnny Boy to be completely unlikable (although Robert Deniro was great in the role - the character is clearly intended to be unlikable and he made me REALLY dislike him), but I started getting annoyed with Charlie (Harvey Keitel) about halfway through the movie, too, for continuing to put up with all of Johnny Boy's crap. I wanted to slap Johnny Boy for being a jerk and slap Charlie to make him wake up, dump that loser, and stand up for himself. And the ending was so abrupt that it leaves you not knowing what's going to happen - will Charlie see the error of his ways or will he just keep allowing Johnny to take advantage of him? For that matter, does Johnny die or what? Don't get me wrong, it still has a lot of splendid performances and great scenes (especially the "mook" part), but it's weird watching a movie when you want to punch both main characters the entire time.
A Nightmare on Elm Street - I might have to agree with Crawl on this one when he said that it's more effective if you see it when you're younger. Well, I suppose I can't say for sure because I didn't see it when I was younger, but I can imagine it might've been more effective then. It was okay, and Tina's death scene was the best/scariest part, but I thought the ending was really cheesy.
Wow. Been awhile since I've updated. I'm working on a few things but lately I've needed a break from this place. I haven't done this in awhile either, but...
Another update to the Downloads Page. I added a section for Killer7 with 5 mp3s.
UPDATE: 09/23/06
This week on FlyingOmelette.com, I've added 10 new MP3s for Ogre Battle to the Downloads Page. I've had the PS1 version of Neo-Overture available on the Favorite Game Ending Songs article for some time, but I ripped and uploaded a better version. (I think the old one was ripped at only 80 kbps, so the quality wasn't as good as the newer one.)
In gaming news, I just finished Killer7. I beat the normal mode, the Killer8 mode, and the Hopper7 bonus round. I'll probably be reviewing it soon.
I'll probably add another Scrapbook page soon seeing as how I have a few new drawings to add to it, as well as a handful of older things...
UPDATE: 09/19/06
You know the danger level is RED and approaching DEFCON 5 when there's a 90%-naked guy hanging on the wall and the floor is covered in flowers.
(Should it even be mentioned that DEFCON 5 is normal peacetime?)
UPDATE: 09/18/06
The problem with the four new Albert Odyssey mp3s that was mentioned here earlier has been fixed. Feel free to download and be amazed.
UPDATE: 09/17/06
I actually got it done. I added some Albert Odyssey mp3s to the Downloads Page The new songs are Balan's Fortress, Dragonmen Shrine, and Graveyard of Ages, and I replaced the mono Radoria's Castle mp3 with a stereo version. If you already got the mono version, I highly recommend replacing it with the stereo version because it sounds much better. The difference will astound you.
I might have some more updates later today, but I make no guarantees. I'm thinking of finally putting up some more Albert Odyssey mp3s, but I'll need to find my copy of the game and find the cables I use to record game music to my PC directly from consoles. I also need to play through part of the game so that I can get two of the songs I want. Somewhere I have a save file at Valerian's Castle, so I need to play past that part and get to Balan's Fortress so I can get the music from that area, and then continue playing past that to Radoria's Castle to get the music from that area (at which point I can finally replace that terrible mono mp3 with a sparkling new stereo version). There are a few other areas' music I'd like to add, too, but those won't be as difficult to get. Albert Odyssey is a pretty fast-paced RPG, but the loading delays between battles slow it down a bit so I don't know if I'll get this all done today, especially since I have a few errands to run first.
UPDATE: 09/16/06
Okay, so mine's actually red in color, but I just bought one of those. I made an announcement awhile ago saying that I wouldn't be buying any of the next-gen consoles. Now I REALLY mean it, because most of my "leisure" money will go to making payments on my new ride.
But as I had originally said in that announcement, it won't affect this site since I have enough games in my collection to last a lifetime. Of course, if you come here expecting reviews or information on games for the XBOX360, Wii, or PS3, you won't find them. I know most visitors of this site already realize and accept that I mostly cover games for older consoles, so I'm not trying to be redundant or condescending, but occasionally, I still do get people wanting to know why I don't cover newer consoles, and now more than ever I have a solid reason.
Speaking of updates, I have a small one for today. I added some new songs to the SaGa Frontier section of the Downloads Page. The new ones are Battle 3, Last Battle Red, Margmel in Ruin, Opening Theme, and Shingrow. Eventually, I'll have some more stuff for that section...
Updated information for many characters. Some information was either outdated, incorrect, or too vague. I'm also trying to jot down new ideas for the characters as I think of them so that I don't eventually forget them (anyone who's actually read through any of the IA-related pages should have a pretty good idea of just how good I am at remembering details about my characters.)
I also added a few new pictures here and there, too, so that the tables would look better for characters with longer descriptions.
Removed some characters whose names I could not find, such as the bullfrog and the light mage. I do not want every single creature and unused character design I've ever drawn put in the Who's Who; only those that had names and specific roles.
The "penguin" was renamed to "Kog" and moved to the "JKL" section. (I found out what his name was when I discovered a pog with him and his name depicted on it.)
Added some characters that were missing (like Salvus Lidsun, Gaelia, Max Komodo, Hermes, Rex Cardinal, and Torque).
I removed some questions from the Q&A that weren't necessary and updated some of the others. I removed Dragonia from the list of continents because I decided to drop that part of the storyline. I actually had decided that a long time ago, so I don't know why Dragonia was even mentioned.
Also, the description of the RAU was inaccurate. I actually created that series BEFORE Image Arcane, not after it, although until IA characters were added to the roster, the strip was not named and it was even more random in nature. Essentially, before IA came along, the RAU was a collection of random, unrelated comic strips I wrote all throughout elementary school. In fact, one sketch I recall debated the meaning of "RAU" - it officially stood for "Rare and Uncensored", but someone else argued it could just as easily be "Random and Unrelated".
Added a document that explains the differences between the preliminary episodes of Image Arcane and the main series.
Revamped the color-coding system. Some characters are now more neatly classified by their group affiliations.
I've changed the name of the Dark Mage School of Grimmora to "Mage University of Grimmora". Uh, it really made so sense that it was called "Dark" Mage School when it was founded by a Wind Mage and a Fire Mage. This change also makes it more clear that the school is treated more like a college than a high school or elementary school, even though many students begin their education there when they're still quite young.
I'm trying to clean up all incidents of where I referred to Chance as "Chancey". Although occasionally sometimes his friends call him that to tease him, I've kind of grown to dislike that nickname almost as much as he does and would prefer if his standard canonical nomenclature could simply be "Chance".
UPDATE: 09/09/06
I updated the Game Ending Songs Tribute pages. The following songs were added that previously existed elsewhere on the site:
Indiana Jones & the Infernal Machine
Little Ninja Brothers (converted midi)
Metroid (converted midi)
Radical Dreamers (converted midi)
Ys Book 2
The following additions are completely new to the site:
Ganbare Goemon Mononoke Sugoroku
Terranigma
I added a 59th Scrapbook Page . As promised, the first half contains a bunch of pictures that I had drawn for an advanced cartoon class that I took sometime around 1995. Just don't say I didn't warn you about how frightening some of it is. The second half contains more old storyboard stuff from my archives, but I also went into a little in-depth explanation of the history of Nucleo and Cory.
UPDATE: 09/06/06
I added a section for SaGa Frontier with 15 songs to the Downloads Page. I also slightly reorganized that section and gave it a new look.
Page 57 contains all of the most recent sketches I've done, and a handful of stuff from my older archives.
Page 58 focuses primarily on unused or abandoned character designs. There are lots of weird monsters and cartoon animals here.
I'll be adding a third Scrapbook page soon. I have a stash of artwork from my Advanced Cartooning Class that I took many, many years ago that I've been reluctant to post because I think most of it is hideous, but eh, might as well bite the bullet. After all, few things are more hideous than that "Ninja Nucleo" and I posted that.
I updated the Links Page. I added AnimevsGames.com and updated the descriptions for sites whose content had changed, outdating my previous descriptions.
I also added Last Sunset to the Poetry Preserve. I don't write poems/songs too much anymore, but every once in awhile, inspiration hits me. It was hard not to be inspired with all the crap I've put up with over the past few years at my job, which is sort of what that song's about.
Yesterday I spent the day at Cedar Point. I still think the Raptor is the best ride they have there. Unfortunately, they took out one of the water rides (Whitewater Landings) to work on a new rollercoaster. I only hope it's as good as the Raptor, otherwise, what's the point? I wonder if the upkeep on water rides costs more than normal coasters...
I also saw Toy Story 2 recently. (Now the only Pixar movie I haven't seen is A Bug's Life). I can see why IGN called it the #1 animated movie of all-time - not because I agree with it, but most likely because it contains numerous videogame-related jokes and references, as well as other jokes that gamers can appreciate (like that "Mint in Box" thing). And it's one of the few times I've seen videogame-related material in a movie that didn't use them to make an anti-videogame sentiment. However, I didn't think the movie came close to topping the first Toy Story, but that one just had SO many advantages in being Pixar's first film.
Oh, numbnuts! I was going to finish my Rockin' Kats review tonight but I was so tired, I came home from work, ate dinner, lied down on the bed for a few minutes and completely conked out. I'd finish it now that I'm awake again, but I don't want to write it while feeling half-asleep.
A few days ago, I came down with a really terrible head cold. I had a fever and a sore throat for a couple of days and it seems likely to be a sinus infection. I have no idea how I got it. Crawl and I visited a zoo right before it happened, so I'm guessing that I got it from someone there somehow. I later found out that a lot of people at work have been sick with it, but I was on vacation so it couldn't have come from there. Must be something going around town. I am starting to get over it now and I took all kinds of precautions to keep it from traveling into my bronchial tubes. That ALWAYS happens when I get sick, but through the magic of Google I learned a few things to help prevent that and it seems to have worked so far.
Because I've been sick, I haven't been able to do much. I started playing Killer 7, but haven't gotten far and it's a difficult game to understand. Therefore, I didn't want to play it while being sick because I wouldn't be able to concentrate on it. I started that Rockin' Kats review, but likewise, it's hard to stay focused on it.
So basically, I turned to my other hobbies for awhile. One is goofing around with old save files from games I've beaten before. I discovered that Azalea's name is corrupted on my copy of Might & Magic:
It looks like two Japanese letters have replaced the "AL" in her name. Weird.
The other hobby is drawing IA stuff. I didn't think I'd be able to stay focused on drawing anything at all for very long, but I surprised myself and did quite a few new sketches. For anyone who's interested...
Now that I'm starting to feel better, I'll probably pick up the pace here again, but aside from that Rockin' Kats review, I'm not sure what to work on next. Crawl's been playing the NES Might & Magic, and that's sort of got me wanting to play that game again, but I had wanted to make a shrine for it the next time I did that, and I was planning a different game shrine first. I guess we'll see how I feel about things in a little while.
Oh, and I also saw the Steve McQueen movie Bullit for the first time. Good movie with some great chase scenes, but I thought that all the scenes with his girlfriend were pointless and they could have been excised without affecting much at all.
UPDATE: 8/15/2006
The Midi Conversions Page has been updated again. I've given the page a complete makeover and updated with the following stuff:
Doom Castle for Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Battle, Map, Shop, and Title Themes for Might & Magic
3 new Snake Rattle n Roll midis
SNES version of Ballacetine Castle for Wanderers From Ys
UPDATE: 8/13/2006
Added the Chapter 5 Maps to the THE MAGIC OF SCHEHERAZADE SHRINE. I also added a link to a website containing an MOS Manga to the Art Page, courtesy of forum moderator SethraShnoo. The Shrine is pretty much complete. Sethra also submitted some glitches and oddities that I'll eventually post, but I need to try them out first.
Future plans for this site include an upcoming review of Rockin' Kats (which I recently finished) and farther off into the future, another game shrine. I need to take a break from shrine-building for a little while. It's really fun doing them, but after two in a row, I feel burnt out on it.
I'm also going to start working on the character profile pages for Image Arcane. I think there are only four up on the site right now (Aurora, Eddy, Kin-Liu, and Tomi), but without even looking at them, I know they'll need to be completely redone. I'm constantly brainstorming new ideas for the characters as well as slowly remembering old details I had forgotten, so I'm guessing the descriptions will be outdated already. I'm also working on redesigning and refining the characters so that they won't look as bad as they do in a lot of the scrapbook pages. I'd also like for the profile pages to be more "complete". Instead of just explaining a little bit about the modern versions of the characters, I'd like to include their history in the series. (I tried this once before, but it was so sloppily put together, that it got really confusing. I'll try much harder to organize it this time.)
Still working on the midis...I'll have some more stuff available later...
UPDATE: 8/9/2006
Thank you so much, forum moderator James FP, for sending me the link to a website that has the Little Ninja Brothers NSF! Awhile ago, I had requested that if anyone knew where to get it, to please send it to me or email the link, and thankfully, James remembered. If I wasn't already in a relationship with someone, I would kiss both you and the person who made that site. A virtual hug will have to do. You've made my day.
You know what that means...Little Ninja Brothers midis will be on the way soon...(And I'm still working on those Chapter 5 MOS maps.)
I also reorganized the section slightly to make it easier to read.
UPDATE: 8/5/2006
THE MAGIC OF SCHEHERAZADE SHRINE is almost complete. Pretty much everything is done except the Chapter 5 maps. Here's a rundown of everything that's new:
Added new spells and updated existing information for Spells.
Oddities has a lot of new information. Added three new references, a section for glitches and weirdness, and updated the information on the reference for "Mooroon".
Added Chapter 5 of the Guide. The Guide link on the index of the shrine now goes to a Chapter Listing Page.
Fixed the information under Counselor's Corner Screw-Up #2 on the Art Page. Okay, so I got it slightly wrong, too. I forgot that the Fire Palace and Yufla Palace are two different places. I was still more right than they were, though, because neither palace is under the lava cape. And I didn't leave out the entire step of getting Rainy to join, either.
Once I get the maps done, the shrine will be complete.
I didn't mention it yesterday but I updated Q&A. I will not be including Q&A amongst the updated articles at the top since I update it once or twice a week anyway (so long as I actually get emails to reply to).
UPDATE: 8/2/2006
In the last blog entry, I had mentioned my thoughts on the differences between a "professional" Top 100 list and personal lists. I've been told otherwise - that there is no difference, no matter how you try to defend it. Well, just to illustrate that I'm not the only one who feels that way, I happened to notice the July 31st entry in film critic James Berardinelli's Reelthoughts, and even though he's specifically talking about movie lists, everything he says there could just as easily be applied to game-related lists, too. I personally agree with pretty much everything he said, especially the part about "safe choices" because I was going to say something very similar to that before I even read his article. That's another problem with "professional" lists is that you're never going to learn anything from them. It's futile to read a professional Top 100 with hopes of finding some rare gem you may have missed out on, because it's always the same games, the same ones you hear about all the time, and in the rare cases that something quirky is included, they usually fall into one of two categories: (1) Games that are so rare that they go for exhorbitant auction prices, few people have played them as a result, and the lore surrounding them has elevated them to a "legendary" status that they don't necessarily deserve. (2) Games whose only redeeming quality is the quirkiness and once you get past that, there's no substantial gameplay or challenge to remain interested in.
Anyway, I usually don't clean up the blog until the end of the month, but since this one ran extremely long, I'm going to clean it up in a few days.
I've updated my Links Page. I'm generally quite bad about keeping that thing updated, but I've tried getting around to returning links to all sites who have done the same for this one. I also added a few links to sites I've heavily relied upon for resources, such as Zophar's Domain and SNESmusic.org.
Another thing of note is that I decided to re-link Roger Ebert's site. You might know that awhile ago I had a small tirade against him going on here, mainly because I couldn't visit his site without it annoying me in some way, but all things considered, removing the link was probably going a step too far. (And then of course, right after that, he ends up in the hospital, so now I really feel like a jerk.) But it seemed like every other game-related site on the internet had something to say about that videogame controversy, and it felt odd to me that no one else brought up the points that I did. Regardless, I don't think Ebert's entirely to blame. I certainly know how some gamers can get if you say something they don't agree with and some of his comments were likely a knee-jerk reaction, something which almost anyone can fall victim to, including myself, which brings me to my next subject:
I've temporarily removed the Message Board Rules and Site FAQ. Note that in the case of the forums, this is not an invitation to a free-for-all. I just need time to rewrite both of those sections so that I don't sound so cynical and mean-spirited in them. The particular things I had complaints about that I wanted to address. This is gonna get kind of long, so bail out now if you don't like long-winded blog entries...3...2...1
1. In the Site FAQ section, I was told that I was being a jackass about the "Top 50 Ending Songs" issue. It was a combination of a knee-jerk reaction to some backlash I had received for that article and a general frustration with the arbitrary nature of what becomes popular on the internet. I threw that article together as quickly as I possibly could just for fun and never particularly thought of it as being one of my best. I was completely unprepared for the attention it would receive, and thus got a bit annoyed by things I probably should have just ignored. I was reminded of a few times when certain articles on other sites would get posted on every single message board and blog in existence and the only thought that could go through my mind was, "I know someone who wrote an article just like this years ago, and it was better. Why didn't it get this kind of attention?"
I did not mean to upset anyone who had linked the list for enjoyment or was just expressing their opinions on its content (including dissenting ones), and I apologize to anyone I offended. But know that it was not you I was aiming that tirade at anyway. It was the people who felt it necessary to write me things like "WORST. SONG. EVER!!", or "THIS game should have been #1!" I find the idea of telling someone what their opinions should be highly disturbing. I actually did listen to some of the things that I was told "should be #1" and they were nowhere near on par with what I had originally picked for that slot. I can't imagine someone who was being objective about it and not just wanting to see their favorite game win, (repeat, favorite game, not necessarily the one that has the best ending song), would honestly believe they were better, unless that person just has bizarre musical tastes. And if you have bizarre musical tastes, then you should probably understand why others might not agree with your #1 pick.
There were also the "professional" sites that were sensationalizing it as "The Top 50 Best Game Ending Song s of All Time!" when the title was clearly "Flying Omelette's Top 50 Favorite Game Ending Songs". Some people will argue there's no difference between a "Best of All Time" and a "Favorites" list, but I disagree, especially since I knew when I wrote the article that there were likely other great game ending songs I hadn't yet heard that would be more deserving of being on it. Indeed, within months of writing it, I discovered the ending songs of Radical Dreamers and Resident Evil Zero (ironically, neither of them had been suggested.) But if I waited to write the article before I've heard every game ending song in existence (or even just those that are well-known as being supposedly good), then I would never have been able to write it at all.
Suffice it to say, I'm really happy with the reworked version of the article. I think eliminating the "Top 50" format will clear up confusion, and it allows me to offer even more great ending songs for your listening pleasure without compromising existing entries. And, no, I don't feel it's a cop-out either since I'm still not shy about saying which ones I think are the very best. =)
2. In the Forum Rules section, some people felt I was being too "uptight" or "elitist" about certain things. The reason why I say I sometimes bend the rules for longtime regulars is not because "they're my friends and I favor them and therefore they can do whatever they want". It's because they've been around so long that they're experienced in knowing how and when to appropriately handle certain things. They know what's acceptable behavior and what's annoying or disruptive. Example: Posting a link to a topic on another message board that relates to the discussion is usually okay. But starting topic after topic (in the main forum, no less) with links to topics on other boards while saying, "OMG! Look at THIS!" and "LOL! This person got BANNED!" is not okay.
3. That "Mayflower" thing: This is in NO WAY implying that if you want to make a post about, oh, say Pit being in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, that you have to search every page of the forum, find a moldy old thread that relates to Kid Icarus or Super Smash Bros. in some way, and post about it in there. (Yes, there are message boards that are like that. Ours isn't.) But if we *just had* a 40-post discussion of "OMG! Pit in Super Smash Bros. Brawl!" and that topic is still on the first page of the forum, then there is no need to start a new one just yet. Otherwise, we'd have a million people starting new topics of "OMG! Pit in Super Smash Bros. Brawl!" Awhile ago, when Majora's Mask was first announced, the message board I used to frequent at that time actually got FOUR NEW TOPICS in one day announcing, "OMG! MAJORA'S MASK!!!!" After the fourth one, the admin kindly asked for people to please look over the forum once to make sure a topic with a similar subject to what you're about to post hasn't already been started, to which she was given replies of, "Well, excuse me! I don't READ every TOPIC!" No, of course not. And with that kind of attitude, we shouldn't have to read yours, either.
4. The "Welcome Me Back" issue: I clearly stated that you would not be disciplined or banned for making these kinds of posts. I simply requested (but perhaps not as kindly as I could have) that you not make them, and to instead reply to the ongoing "Game Progress" and/or "Life Progress" with an "I'm back" message and quick rundown of what you've been doing. I personally don't feel it's too much to ask. You don't know what it's like to have "Billy" screaming at you because "Johnny" got welcomed back by 20 people and "Billy" only got 2. But a suggestion for those who choose to ignore my request and post them anyway: If you don't get that many replies, try replying again and saying hello back to the people who welcomed you. I've consistently noticed that those who do that get more replies than those who post once and disappear again.
One other thing before I go. I realized that sometimes my recent updates can get lost amongst the blog entries, so in addition to announcing and listing them here, I'll also include the most recently-added or updated articles at the top of the page, too, just below the banner. That should make them more quickly and easily found.
All that's left now is Chapter 5. I'll begin work on that eventually but lately I was feeling a bit burnt out on shrine-building. Usually I'll throw together a Scrapbook page when I need a break from normal site updates, but I'm running low on usable material in my archives...
UPDATE: 7/30/2006
I took a break from working on the Magic of Scheherazade Shrine because I really needed to update the Top 50 Game Ending Songs Article. Actually, at the risk of sending my bandwidth through the roof, that article has been completely reworked into this:
New layout that I essentially copied from the Poetry Preserve (because I wasn't using it for anything else and it looks nice.)
Entries are no longer numbered. All games listed in alphabetical order by title. The reason for this change is so that I could update the list with new stuff without having to worry about removing old ones. And also so that I can add stuff any time I want as opposed to waiting until I have exactly 50 more things to expand it into a Top 100, or something like that.
31 new games complete with downloads and screenshots have been added.
All SPCs have been removed as I felt they were unnecessary.
Some existing entries were updated with new mp3s and/or midis.
Commentary updated and corrected. Added in some composer names that were missing.
Now that that's done, I'll continue work on those Chapter 4 maps of MOS and I'll get to covering the final Chapter 5 afterwards. I am also about 3/4 of the way through another game review, so that should be coming up shortly, too.
"I'm Crazy Hammer-Head! And I want some candy! I don't have a normal head, I got a damn hammer growing out of it! Now, give me some crazy candy, dammit! Ow-ooo, this hammer makes me crazy!"
I am busy working on the Chapter 2 Maps, but those always take a little longer.
UPDATE: 7/18/2006
I updated the SWITCHED AT BIRTH? WTF EDITION article with a couple of things that got omitted. This happens every single time I put one of these things together, but there was an entry that I added, but accidentally deleted somewhere along the way. I added it back in (it's the one with Sabaron), and I also added another update to the MOS/SMB2 Saga courtesy of forum moderator, CB007. Finally, as a bonus, I added...well, I don't want to spoil it, so just look at the next-to-last one.
Also added ONE new entry to the Image Arcane SAB courtesy of forum member, CataTonic9.
Also updated Oddities 23 with more information on the Chaz/Roddy comparison courtesy of forum moderator, Codie Martin, and I changed the picture of Chaz to a better one.
UPDATE: 7/16/2006
I added a few things to the MOS Oddities Page. I updated the part about Coronya's name, thanks to some additional information from forum member, Magical Yard Gnome. I also added information on two more references found in Little Ninja Brothers.
I had been talking about doing this for years. Even started the project once before a long, long time ago, but quit and lost the files when my Acer PC died. However, doing the KOJ Shrine got me back into the groove of things, and this I hope will be one of the most complete sites this overlooked NES RPG/Adventure hybrid gem will get.
For right now, most of the information in the Shrine, like the Guide, Maps, Items, Spells, Characters, NPCS, and Monsters, is only what's found in the first chapter of the game. As I continue my replay, I will add more as I complete each chapter, just as I did with the KOJ Shrine. I am simultaneously replaying this game on my NES and an emulator to be sure I don't miss anything.
***
I added scans of the Knights of Justice box art to the Downloads Page. Thankfully, my box for that game survived the apartment flood.
***
Completely proofread and fixed all typos I could find in the Knights of Justice Shrine. At one point, I had said to go east in Crownhorn Village, but I actually meant west. Thankfully, that was the only incident of reversed directions I could find. I also updated Part 7 of the Guide with information pertaining to the Staff Piece glitch.
UPDATE: 7/12/2006
I was proofreading my Knights of Justice Shrine and noticed I had forgotten to put the Gold Coins on the Items Page. Probably the reason I forgot it was because it's pretty much identical to the Cloak of Death in both the way you obtain it and what it's used for. I also fixed up some typos and inaccuracies on most of the pages except the guide. I'll be doing that later...
UPDATE: 7/9/2006
I brought this up a couple of times before, but now I've got something to add:
Am I the only person who thinks some kind of conspiracy is going on here? Same pose with the arms, same big open smile, and these are all time-traveling cats!!
Um, okay, apparently I was also bitten by the time-traveling cat phenomena. Look at this drawing of Harken I did about 20 or so years ago (before I would've known of the existence of any of the others):
Arms in almost the same pose, mouth is shaped a little differently but it's still wide open, and he not only travels through time, but he can manipulate it, too!
It's like that ending to Chrono Trigger where you screw around with time and everyone ends up being a frog...only someone screwed with time and now everyone's a large-mouthed cat.
I have begun work on another huge site project, but it's too early to make it public.
The remaining maps were added to the Maps Page, and a second page of Screenshots was added to the Gallery.
I may eventually add more to it if and when I find appropriate things to add, but for now I'll consider it done.
It was a real blast putting that shrine together. I feel like I now know more about that game than anyone on the planet besides the people who actually worked on it (and I'm still trying to decide if that's a good or bad thing.)
I'm thinking of putting together another game shrine, but I won't announce anything until I'm sure...One advantage I had with Knights of Justice is that I actually started making the shrine years ago, but never finished it. Thankfully, even though I've gone through three computers since that time, I managed to keep all the files I created for it. I had already taken screenshots and had a lot of sprite images of everything up to the quest with the four elemental keys, so that was a huge part of the game done already, and I already had most of the front page design all done (including the background, title, and the section images.)
But if I start another shrine now, I'd have to start from scratch, so it'll take me a little longer to get going since I have to design everything from the bottom-up.
UPDATE: 7/4/2006
The Knights of Justice Shrine is ALMOST complete! The following was added/changed today:
1. To Characters: Added all remaining characters, including all the people in the Dark Forest, Morgana, and King Arthur.
2. To Downloads: Rearranged the section slighty. Added a section for external links and moved the link to the SPC site to that section. Also corrected the descriptions on some of the mp3s. "Quiet Forest Trail" was labeled as being the Dark Forest music, but that was incorrect. The Dark Forest reuses the Swamp of Zagar music.
3. To Enemies: Fixed the Green Knight's sprite and added the Ghost Knight and Morgana.
5. To Items: Added the remaining items, all of which are found in the Dark Forest.
6. To Oddities: Added lots of information on various things, including unusued dialogue and items hidden in the ROM, and the meanings of the names on the tombstones.
All I have left to update are the Screenshot Gallery and the Maps sections, but I am out of time for tonight.
UPDATE: 7/3/2006
I added in those missing Maps. We're getting down to the wire here. There's only one quest left to go and the shrine will be finished...
As usual, I'll add the new maps later. They always take a little more time and I hate to hold up the entire update until they're done.
***
I have awarded the Golden Ridely to two more extremely well-deserving videogame websites. They are Hardcore Gaming 101 and The Video Game Museum. Both excellent sites to check out if you haven't already (and if you haven't, what, are you living under a rock?) They are plentiful resources for information, screenshots, and downloads pertaining to a wide variety of games and game series, new and old.
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I added the missing maps for Quest #6 to the Maps Page for Knights of Justice.
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I cleaned up the Q&A section. I archived questions 61-80 and added one new one.
I fixed the map of Castle Vilor. I had forgotten to mark the direct route to the boss. I also fixed the note about the Blaise and the Crownhown Bakery in Part 5 of the Guide. (Apparently, his request for the Staff of Life is something from a quest that didn't make it into the final cut of the game.)
I am working on the maps for Quest #6, but I don't know if I'll have them done before the night is over...
***
To the Knights of Justice Shrine, I have added scans of the Nintendo Power Epic Center issues that covered the game to the Downloads Page, including both the interview and the walkthrough for the first half.
Other revisions to the Knights of Justice Shrine:
The Knights Page had some factual errors on it. The following was corrected:
I had said there was no real difference in the strength of the knights despite what their stats say. I have since learned that this isn't true. There are differences, but they are so subtle it can be hard to notice them. Trunk, for example, does have the best defense as he took far less damage from Warlord Viper's attacks than Arthur did.
I had said that the knights are often described as using projectile weapons they don't actually use. I had said their only projectiles are their shield attacks. Actually, the descriptions ARE of their shield attacks! I never actually noticed this before, but Lug does indeed fire a football when you use his shield attack, and Brick does indeed shoot a brick from his chest. In fact, it seems very few knights actually use the shield for the shield attack, as many of them fire it from their lance or their chest!
The following corrections were made to the Items Page:
I had said that when the knights gain both their key and their shield, they are granted unlimited shield attacks. This is actually only true for certain knights, like Breeze. For others, they gain something else, like higher defense or attack power.
I removed the note about the unlimited shield attacks being "useless game design" since even though you almost always are controlling Arthur, a simple method for using unlimited shield attacks is to take Breeze and switch to him when enemies are onscreen (this strategy was also added to the Knights page).
***
First of all, it was pointed out to me that Cartoon Corner appeared to have disappeared from the site. Actually, the index and the articles all still existed, but when I changed over to the new format, I neglected to link it in the table to the left. That's been done.
I fixed that problem that was causing a huge amount of nasty blank space at the bottom of the updates in this table.
Forum Rules has been slightly updated. I added a section on policies regarding the invitation of other people to the forums.
I also now have a brand new Site FAQ. I would like all visitors, new and old, to take some time to read through it, especially if there is anything that's been on your mind regarding this site lately. Maybe it'll be answered in there.
Work continues on the Knights of Justice Shrine, but I have no new updates at the moment.
UPDATE: 6/29/2006
Phew! Took me two nights to finish it all, but I added all the information pertaining to the 5th, and thus far the longest quest of Knights of Justice to the Shrine. New material has been added to Enemies, Characters, Items, Screenshots, Maps, and the Guide.
I decided to upgrade my Knights of Justice Guide to include more screenshots. I figured, that's the one major advantage I have here over most FAQ sites, and it worked really well for the Blinder's Way section, so I may as well go ahead and do it for the others. It also really helps if you're still having trouble finding an item, even with my directions and crude maps, if you have a screenshot of exactly what you're looking for.
Wow! I've noticed that if you search "Knights of Justice FAQ" on Google, mine is the first result that comes up...already. And it's not even finished! When it's all finished I will create an index page for the guide that will let you directly skip to any of its sections. I'd rather wait until it's all finished to make the index so that I can link all the pages to it at once, as opposed to updating it every single time a new one is added.
UPDATE: 6/24/2006
I'm too sick to work on the Knights of Justice Shrine for now, although I promise I will get back to it once my flu is gone. But I felt like updating today anyway, and even though I already got one update in, I felt like that was cheating because it was actually already done several days ago. All I had to do was upload it. So, since I've been drawing a lot more lately than usual, I put together a new Scrapbook Page. The first two sketches I did within the past two days, but the rest is all old stuff.
* * *
I added the mp3s to the Knights of Justice Downloads Page. I also decided to link the Knights of Justice guide, as well as the Kid Icarus level guide and the Arc the Lad 4 final boss FAQ to my Game Guides Page, because even though they're available elsewhere on the site, you'd have to dig through the shrines to find them. This way, if you're only looking for the guide, you can go right to it from there.
* * *
I finally fixed that problem that was causing the left table to drop down with the updates.
I've got a really bad flu goin' on here, so I'm taking a break from the Knights of Justice Shrine for now. I'll be uploading the mp3s soon since they're already made and that takes little effort on my part. I can just sleep while they're uploading.
This is a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier. 1. Gimmicky review technique that makes reading it a chore. 2. Seven paragraphs in before he actually starts talking about the movie. 3. Another instance of Ebert picking on another critic's opinion by completely dismissing it and not addressing it:
Quote:
"One of Roeper's complaints was that I was animated and all of the other characters in the movie were "real." Do you have any idea how a statement like that hurts an actor who has worked all of his life as a media cat? Yes, Richard Roeper, I was animated. Read my lips: I am a character in a comic strip. What Roeper should have done for perfect consistency is complain that Dennis was not animated in "Dennis the Menace."
Uh, dude...He's not complaining that Garfield is animated. He's complaining that he's the only thing that's animated. Garfield has always been a cartoon character in a world of cartoon characters, in both the comics and the TV shows. Why isn't the whole movie animated? What if Lightning McQueen was the only thing that was animated in Cars?
And of course, this movie ends up in the "recommendations" column. Remember, boys and girls, if you don't want to see Garfield 2, it's not because it could possibly be an awful movie. It's because you're an uncultured idiot who was raised on videogames.
UPDATE: 6/22/2006
Well, it's been a year. Everyone in the community knows what it means when someone says "It's been a year" without saying what it's been a year since. That's right!
I always hate posting this thing because I know it only gives attention to them, but what can you do? I'm outvoted.
I've come down with a flu, so work on the Knights of Justice Shrine might slow down for awhile. We'll see...
UPDATE: 6/21/2006
For the Knights of Justice Shrine, all information pertaining to the third quest has been added to Enemies, Maps, Screenshots, and the Guide. Yes, it took me two nights to do it, but I finally mapped Blinder's Way.
I also updated the KOJ Oddities with some mysteries involving the Blinder's Way map and the case of the missing Brick. I realized I had forgotten to put the Pendragon Shield on the Items page, so that's been added in. I also fixed the map of the Eastern Forest. I realized that the "unreachable gate" I was seeing was actually just the gates that surround the cellar door to Gruesome Keep.
UPDATE: 6/20/2006
I added some stuff to the Knights of Justice Oddities page. Some amazing SAB's and a strange French jewel.
UPDATE: 6/19/2006
The Knights of Justice Shrine has been updated with all the information pertaining to the second quest. There is now new stuff in the Characters, Enemies, Items, Maps, and Screenshots sections, as well as a new guide page that covers everything up to beating Warlord Bash.
To be perfectly clear, this part of the site is a Work-in-Progress. I'm currently replaying the game on both an SNES and an emulator at the same time. As I complete the quests, I will add more to the shrine. Right now, the Shrine's content pretty much only reflects what's in the very first quest as far as enemies, maps, items, characters, and the walkthrough go. To reiterate, it is NOT finished, but I will continue to work on it as I play the game.
Other than that review of the Midway Arcade Classics Collection I promised, I won't be working on too much else for the site until this project is finished, and as you can see, it's a huge project.
Well, that's weird...if I have too many updates visible, it forces the table to the left down...Why is nothing in this world ever perfect?
UPDATE: 6/14/2006
Um, oops. Top 50 Game Ending Songs Part 2 was missing the Japanese version of the Arc the Lad 4 ending song. When I changed over from WMAs to MP3s on the downloads page awhile ago I forgot to fix that. It's taken care of. I also updated Q&A.
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I centered the tables here so that the page would look better on higher resolutions.
My site got throttled last night due to the fact that my bandwidth limit was never increased to reflect my total limit. In other words, I have a limit of about 2100 GB per month, but my throttling was still set to the old limit at 274. What's causing the sudden spike?
Yep. Another newsfeed service picked up that Top 50 Game Ending Songs article. I thought the entire internet got their fill of it already the last time that happened (and it's in need of being updated now!!), but here we go again. I'll have to keep an eye on my bandwidth totals until the hype dies down again.
UPDATE: 6/13/2006
FlyingOmelette.com now has a new design. I was getting tired of scrolling up and down or having to click the links at the top to reach the site sections, especially when the blog entries ran long. However, the old design gave me more freedom with the blog, so I'm not sure what I can do to compensate for that. I might just have to post smaller pictures. We'll see...
I moved the Top 50 Favorite Game Songs article to the Rec Room. I moved all old updates to the Update Log. I'm not going to be applying this design to any other existing pages, but I might apply it to future pages.
Update: 6/12/06
I updated Q&A and added a 54th Scrapbook Page. I don't have that many pictures on this page because a lot of them are really large and I compensated for the loading times by including fewer this round. I mainly wanted to get some better scans of pre-existing images up now that I have a better scanner.
Update: 6/11/06
Battlezone on ZSNES:
Uh yeah...the other 5 games on the Midway collection run fine, but that one's just messed up. The game itself actually works, but it's rather cumbersome to play with those lines all over the screen. I'll have to use my capture card and my SNES to get a screenshot for that one.
I still think Missile Command has the best single "Game Over" screen. Few things are scarier than those giant block letters telling you in no uncertain terms that all of humanity has just come to an end.
That's all I'm going to be adding for now. DoDonPachi was a little difficult to do. With the exception of the Final Boss Intro Theme, the tracks run for about 6-7 minutes each. Despite how good the music is, it's a little tiresome to listen to them for that long. So, I cut them down to two loops in Sound Recorder and added in fadeouts with Encounter2003.
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Okay, I didn't quite get my updates done yesterday because I'm still on dialup and it took all day to upload the mp3s. Here's everything I got done:
Added "The Day of Departure" to the Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits section.
Added a section for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night with FIVE songs.
Replaced the wmas for the two Eternal Darkness songs with mp3s, courtesy of Codie Martin. "The Gift of Forever" now also contains the "Ram Dao" music at the end.
Added a section for Legend of Mana with NINE songs. (Highly recommended!)
Added "I am Impact!" to the Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon section.
Added a section for Radical Dreamers with TWO songs.
Added a section for Tales of Phantasia with ONE song.
Added the Ys Shrine music and the Ys 2 Canal music to the Ys Book 1 & 2 section.
Mad Leader Mystery solved by site reader Rey Calavera! It appears our masked Marvel villain is the Grim Reaper from The Avengers. That certainly looks like him. But he doesn't have green skin, so maybe the artist did copy it from the drawing book after all. I still wish I could find a picture of Lor (who does supposedly have green skin) for comparison, but for now I'll say the book is closed on this. I'll have some more updates later today, including Q&A, more game music downloads, and possibly some Image Arcane stuff. I'm also going to begin work on a feature for the Midway Arcade Classics Collection (SNES) soon.
Update: 6/9/06
One more update on the Mad Leader situation (sorry that this is borderlining on "obsession" at this point.) I found another picture of that same character in the same "How to Draw Marvel Characters" book:
(And I thought I sometimes drew my characters in ridiculous poses...)
Anyway, he has a skull and crossbones on his chest. I Google searched Marvel characters that fit that description, but the only two I found pictures of (Black Terror and Crossbones) don't look anything like this guy. However, this website has a description of a character named "Lor" from Mystic Comics #4:
"Lor (Mystic #4; Blue Blaze foe) - green-skinned hangman with a
skull-and-crossbones-laden tunic; works for Dr. Vortex."
I couldn't find any pictures on-line of this "Lor", but that certainly sounds like our "mad leader". But if that's the case, then the Infiltrator artist must have copied the face from that comic book because you can't tell from the B&W images in the drawing book that he has green skin. Mystery solved? I hope...
Update: 6/8/06
The Infiltrator saga continues...Deathamster provided a screencap of the Mad Leader from the Commodore 64 version of Infiltrator 2 (which is actually the same game as Infiltrator for the NES. The "real" Infiltrator 1 was never ported to the NES, apparently.) This picture looks even closer to the mystery Marvel villain because, as DH pointed out, it's not squished over as much:
We've definitely ruled out the possibility of this being coincidence. Either the person who did the artwork of the Mad Leader owned that Marvel Book or he/she owned the original comic that it came from (assuming that it came from a comic book and wasn't just a generic design done specifically for the drawing book.)
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Um, okay, WTF is going on here? Did every NES artist own this same damn book?? Look at this guy from Wrath of the Black Manta and another mystery Marvel villain who was located on the opposite page as the Mad Leader dude:
I'm going to have to scrutinize this book more carefully...there could be more SAB material waiting in there...
Update: 6/7/06
I've got a major WTF on my hands here. I don't have enough material to post another full page yet, but I've found what I think might be the most bizarre case of SAB I've ever seen...anywhere. Awhile ago, on this oddities page, I was making fun of a game called "Infiltrator" for the NES. In particular, I was poking fun at how ridiculous the game's main villain looks and his goofy name ("Mad Leader").
I'll get back to this in a moment...
Now, I have a bunch of old drawing books, and I was going through some of them tonight. One of them is a Marvel Comics book, which I've never really used that much since I don't draw in that style, but anyway...I thumbed through it for the heck of it, and...found this...
I don't have a clue who he is, but he appears to be the Mad Leader...
I don't see anything in the copyright information for Infiltrator that indicates it's a Marvel product. Likewise, I've run Google searches on "Infiltrator", "McGibbits", "Mad Leader" and tried to find any association with Marvel Comics and found nothing. Does anyone know anything about this? This is really weird...
Update: 6/6/06
I added a 53rd Scrapbook page, and I added ONE new entry to the Image Arcane SAB page, courtesy of site reader and forum moderator, Deathamster. (Thank you for that one, DH, that made my day.)
I think Puttycat should become the official mascot of FlyingOmelette.com. What do you think?
Puttycat has been added to the Image Arcane Who's Who section, and I also added a picture for Sol.
Changed Christopher Pigeon's name to Blooper, since that's more appropriate, and moved him to the "A-B" section.
Added a picture for Droma's entry.
Fixed the color-coding for some entries.
Added new entries for Cynoss, Emmel, Feline 9, Ghestov Sal-Yun, Hirochi Tomasaro, Ninja Starling, Ogrin Dovekie, Skiva (no picture), and Victor Markino.
Three scrumptious new entries from myself (okay, actually, two, since one of mine was duplicated from the Image Arcane page), and a ton of reader and forum member submissions. These are all pretty good, imo. I didn't post every submission I got because the page was running long, but I might include some of the omissions in a future update.
Speaking of which, if you posted something in the submissons forum awhile ago that never got posted to the site, it might have been wiped out in the hacker attack. Also, if you emailed me something awhile ago that never got posted to the site, I might have lost it when the motherboard on my Dell PC blew up. Therefore, if you'd like to submit it again, feel free to do so. I can't guarantee that it will absolutely make it onto a future page, but I'll at least re-review all submissions.
Update: 6/2/06
I added TWO more entries to the Image Arcane SAB page. I couldn't help it. These were staring me in the face when I was making the last few scrapbook pages.
And speaking of my SAB curse, I'll be working on another normal SAB page soon.
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I added a 51st Scrapbook page, which I was actually going to do last night, but ran out of time. I also eliminated those sentences about not posting older stuff from the first scrapbook page, because I pretty much broke that vow long ago.
Update: 6/1/06
I added a 49th Scrapbook page and a 50th Scrapbook page. The 49th page is a little different. It explains the Great Elemental Spirits of Phainein and their links to the world's different species. The 50th page goes back to the traditional type.
I also added some more game ideas to the archives, but I don't remember which ones they were. I'll try to keep better track next time.
I guess this means I'm officially off hiatus, but non-Scrapbook, Q&A, and Game Ideas-related updates may still be slow coming. ~FO
Update: 5/28/06
I've added a new section to the Museum, it's an archive of game ideas from the Port Saiid forums. I basically took over my page from Deathamster's Nest and Crawl's page so I could keep them updated. I also added a "miscellaneous" page for game ideas from my forums that were never posted to DH's Nest. I'm not completely done with the archiving process yet. I still have quite a few things to add. But it's a lot of tedious work, so I'm taking a break for now and uploading what I've got so far. ~FO
Update: 5/26/06
Wow. It's been a few days. Still pretty much on hiatus, but here's what I did today:
I think I might end up combining the Sketch Gallery with the Scrapbook. My original intention for the sketch gallery was to use it for newer stuff and incomplete sketches that are too old to finish now. But I didn't really stick to that plan and I think it has too little content spread out over too many pages.
In gaming news I just finished D for the 3DO. I would post comments on it, but I want to review it, and because the game is so short, I think that posting about it here would just make the review seem redundant. Once that review is posted, I'll officially be off hiatus. ~FO
Update: 5/21/06
I added a 46th Scrapbook Page. I really want to start getting back into gaming soon...
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The following updates were made to the site today:
Congratulations to all winners! Keep up the excellent work! ~FO
Update: 5/19/06
I removed the Admiral Ackbar thing from yesterday's update. I only put that one there as a joke entry, but it was suggested to me that the IA scene I was poking fun at was too serious for it to be funny. Maybe I should take that as a compliment. I pretty much thought that all my old scripts and artwork were too goofy to take seriously and that "It's a trap!" dialogue made it seem even more unintentionally funny, but eh, I sometimes have a cruel sense of humor and laugh at the most tasteless things, but I can't expect everyone to be the same way. I can certainly understand why someone might look at that picture and think it wasn't funny.
Edit: I just replaced it with TWO much better entries! ~FO
Update: 5/18/06
Still on hiatus from the gaming front, although I only have a few boxes left to unpack at our new place. In the meantime, I added THREE new entries to the Image Arcane SAB Page. (Have no idea what the heck it is with Professor McRaven.) ~FO
Update: 5/17/06
I'll try to keep Q&A updated even during the hiatus because it's rather easy, especially since I do have home internet access now. Another reason I have to keep up on that is because that email address deletes messages after so many days and I don't have it set to archive them to a folder first.
Also, Crawl's site has moved to http://crawl.flyingomelette.com. It is now a subdomain of FlyingOmelette.com, so I changed the link below. (I'll change it on the links page later.) ~FO
I decided to take a break from unpacking and organizing the house tonight because I'm going to have a big day at work tomorrow and I don't want to be thoroughly exhausted. So I put together a 45th Scrapbook Page. It's mostly really old stuff, so it isn't drawn very well, but some of it's really hilarious.
I also found that infamous picture of me holding the Burmese python around my shoulders and re-scanned it. I added it to the About FO Page with a short explanation of the event that transpired.
If you've read through my Image Arcane stuff, you may be aware that the characters Christopher Pigeon (aka Blooper) and Christopher Paladin were based on a real-life pet pigeon that we owned, also named Christopher. While unpacking stuff I inadvertantly stumbled across a photograph of him taken several years ago:
Unfortunately, since this was taken after his legs had gone almost completely bad, you can't see the feathers that made it look like he was wearing baggy pants. You can, however, sort of see his blue "overalls". I also apologize that he's cut off at the edge of the photo, but every time my mother takes a picture of something, that's what happens.
Unfortunately, the real Christopher Pigeon passed away sometime in 2005, but he was about 20 years old when he did. Quite remarkable considering the problems he had with his legs. Like the desert elf prince, Christopher was funny and mischievous. And like Blooper, he sat around a lot. Although I gave one origin for Blooper's name already, there was actually another reason for it: The real pigeon made noises that sounded like "bloop". And he would bloop whenever you walked past his cage. It didn't matter what time of the day or night. If you walked past him in pitch darkness at 3 AM, he'd start blooping. Christopher Pigeon may be gone, but his memory will always live on in Image Arcane and the R.A.U.
Update: 5/14/06
Just an update on what's going on with us. We finally have internet access at home, but it will still be awhile before I can begin regular updates again. Our new HP computer is fine, although that Dell that blew up on me awhile ago was on the floor and got soaked. I'm not real concerned about it though as its hard drive needed to be restored anyway.
Our XBOX just passed the test and the information stored on the hard drive seems to be intact. I just purchased a replacement for the Turbo Duo. I also bought my Arc the Lad: TOTS guide off of Amazon.com again since they still had new copies. I'll probably get my Super Mario 64 and SaGa Frontier guides from there, too. The other ones, I'm not sure what I'll do at this point. Unless someone has a copy of the Super Metroid and the Link's Awakening guides they're willing to part with and would like to strike a deal with me for them, I might have to forget about them.
I'm not sure exactly how many people feel about me using this place for my Image Arcane stuff (although I used to have a note in the About FO section that said I'd eventually start doing that, but I doubt few people read or remembered that anyway), but right now I'm glad I did. One of my archive boxes took a soaking. Only the stuff on the very bottom of the box got wet, so I was extremely lucky I didn't lose more. There were only about five things at the most that got wet that I really cared about, but they were all scanned. I don't think anything was too badly "ruined". Most of it was still in black and white, and those things didn't get ruined so much as they turned blue. Some of the stuff that was in color simply had its color washed away.
As for our new place...I like it more than the old place because its bigger and we really desperately needed more room. Our old apartment had pretty much become a shoebox. There are a few things, though, that annoy me, and just because I like to complain:
We can't just walk out the back door and go for a walk in the park anymore. We'll have to drive to the parks now.
Whoever designed the kitchen needs to take more lessons. We had to push the refrigerator back because you couldn't open the dishwasher. Every time you open the oven door, it bangs into one of the drawer handles.
The one and only downstairs phone jack is in the single worst spot I can think of to possibly put a phone jack. We have to run the cable up over the downstairs bathroom door frame.
The laundry machines are a quarter more each here, but at least the walk to the laundry room from our place is nowhere near as long as it was at the old apartment. I don't care about the expense so much as the difficulty in obtaining that many quarters, especially since they STILL don't have a change machine here!
We had a convenience store and a mailbox right across the street from our old place. Now we have to drive a ways to get to either.
The good things about this place are:
It is much bigger and we really needed the space.
We have two bathrooms. Thank goodness.
We have our own private little fenced-in patio.
There are lots of birds and animals around here. I'm always seeing and hearing mourning doves and robins. And this morning I opened the door to take out some garbage and there were chipmunks running around our patio. I also saw a bunny under a tree.
Even though I'm slightly farther away from my workplace now, for some reason it now takes less time to get there. I think it has something to do with the traffic that was on the road we lived off of before.
We're closer to a gas station than we were before. I hated it when my car needed gas and I had to figure out where the closest place to go was.
The dishwasher is bigger. The problem with our old dishwasher is that it would fill up about halfway through the week. I hated that.
That's about all I can think of for now. I estimate at least a month before regular updates will begin again, but right now I'm making no guarantees. ~FO
Update: 5/9/06
Those of you who peruse the forums already know this, but for those who don't, FlyingOmelette.com is on hiatus right now and I have no ETA for when I'll start updating again. The apartment complex that Crawl and I lived in caught fire and we were forced to move out to another place. Although the fire did not reach our apartment, we had massive flooding and water damage. We lived in a basement apartment, so when the fire fighters doused the flames, that's where all the water ended up. We are in our new place now, but it's going to take time to unpack everything and get settled in. Luckily, most of our possessions were salvageable. So far, it seems the only casualties are my slimline Playstation2 (I'm thinking of buying a PS2 that's premodded to play imports as a replacement), the battery in my copy of Secret of Mana, the battery in Crawl's copy of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (GBC), and possibly Crawl's TurboDuo (the HuCards might still work, but the CD player doesn't run.) I also lost some strategy guides and I'm hoping to get replacements. They include:
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits Official Guide
SaGa Frontier Official Guide
Super Metroid Official Nintendo Player's Guide
Super Mario 64 Official Nintendo Player's Guide
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Official Nintendo Player's Guide
Street Fighter 2 Turbo Official Nintendo Player's Guide
I lost a few others but I don't care about those ones. I think the Arc the Lad and SaGa Frontier guides will be easy to replace, but I have a feeling those official Nintendo Player's Guides will be much harder. ~FO
Update: 4/27/06
Q&A was updated. And, yuppers, I put together another Scrapbook Page. Lots of old storyboards featuring Christopher and Nucleo in these last two installments.
I put together another Scrapbook Page. I haven't abandoned the Q&A. I'll try to get to it within the next few days. ~FO
Update: 4/25/06
Every time I put together an oddities article, this always happens. One of the Rambo pictures and paragraphs was missing from that section, although I know I had put it there earlier. I must have accidentally deleted it somehow. It's been fixed. I also got rid of the "OWNED" in the animated gif. ~FO
Update: 4/24/06
I finished up that new Oddities Article. I apologize in advance to everyone that will offend. ~FO.
