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Post by Solana on Jul 5, 2009 9:53:09 GMT -5
Sometimes I wonder if it's possible for sound waves to Tira hole in someone's ear drums. I'm not really a fan of loud noises myself, and think my level of hearing is to make up for the lousy vision. If that's the case, don't work in retail if you can avoid it, especially one that sells things for kids. I love those in my family, but after fifteen minutes of strange kids bawling and the parents ignoring it or just jiggling the stroller a bit... yeah. You know, considering how many generations rebel compared to the previous, maybe it will go in completely the opposite direction. Maybe kids will be playing quiet classical and new age music to aid them as they study, and it will be the parents coming in to Talim to turn it up, or put something 'decent' on. I wonder what games will look like by the end of the next generation. Maybe it will be all virtual reality literally dropping us into the middle of it. The graphics will be 360 degrees, as will be the music, and we'll have to actually try and perform the special sword attacks in RPGs or acquire a fascimile of the other skills. It'd be good for our phyiscal fitness levels. (Characters in Soul Calibur IV.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Jul 7, 2009 23:09:27 GMT -5
I have a whole range of responses to kids crying, depending on the intensity, duration, genuiness of distress vs. temper, etc. It's amazing how often that you think that The World Ends With You at that young an age. I doubt parents will ever ask their kids to turn the music up unless it's something that they really like. They might be glad for the peace and quiet. On the other hand, if kids were too quiet you might have to wonder what they were up to. It might be difficult to fully immerse someone in a true RPG. I mean, people whine enough about random encounter rates and repetetive movements as it is. Combine the two with an active format, and I see muscle cramps in the future. But then, the thought of getting them to do stamina training for the purpose of beating a difficult boss makes me smile. And can you imagine some kid explaining how they accidentally Omnislashed a lampshade or something breakable and valuable because they couldn't see the outside world in their passionate gameplay? (DS game, FF7 move)
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Post by Solana on Jul 8, 2009 9:21:44 GMT -5
What amazes me is how much energy they have at that age. My niece will be four next month, and she'll tire four of us out in one afternoon of baby-sitting. Especially when you want to go to sleep, she'll want you to Rise & Shine to pop in another movie or go outside and pick apples off of the tree. Still, since it shows how thoroughly the leukemia is in recession, I consider it an Angel Blessing. Now the little sweetie is in karate, which will make things very interesting in the years to come. Ooh, it would take some stamina to last a whole boss battle, especially some of the multi-parters like Zophar or the ones in Final Fantasy. And those come after plowing through a long dungeon filled with the toughest monsters in the game. It would make DDR look like a cakewalk. It'd probably be a bad idea to put any fighting games on that kind of system, especially the ones that let you use weaponry. Soul Calibur could let people cause a lot of damage to each other with the variety they use, or the grappling in Dead or Alive could also lead to many problems. Still, it could be useful for things like learning martial arts or different dances if one lives in an area where good teachers are hard to find. Especially if you could use the internet and actually have feedback from instructors. If there was a translation program, you could even learn from the masters of the home countries and meet new people overseas. (Spell in Wild Arms 2, weapon in FFIX.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Jul 8, 2009 13:25:26 GMT -5
It's really too bad that they don't have something like a CD changer for DVDs. Then, if you nodded off, the movies would keep playing whether or not you were awake. Some parents would probably use it as an even longer substitute babysitter, though. ...Of course, knowing kids, even if you packed a DVD changer full, they'd want one that wasn't in there. Even if you had a Donut Resuscitate order on your chest, they'd still wake you up. Speaking of donuts, I heard it takes 15 minutes on one of the higher difficulty settings of DDR to work off one of them. So, imagine the potential payoff from an entire 40-60 hour game. Or better yet, from what would happen if you collected all items and maxed the stats on all of your characters in a Disgaea game. I just... had an image of Etna as a spokesperson for the method. Sure, she never needed such a plan, but that wouldn't stop her from making a killing off of it. (One of many different types of food in Bubble Bobble)
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Post by Solana on Jul 8, 2009 23:45:32 GMT -5
That's assuming that the kids will want to watch that particular DVD all the way through. My sweetie is in- Kline-d to pick out one, watch about five minutes, then start looking for the next one. She also likes someone to sit and watch with her, which is better than leaving them alone. Well, if physical fitness isn't enough of a goal, maybe the gameplay could generate the power it uses. Like the bicycles that will power little generators to watch TV for a certain amount of time or the blenders I saw on a travel show. I'm not sure if only the cyclical movement is needed for turbines or if they could find a way around that, but it would be fascinating to find out. So, if Etna was the spokeswoman, would she be willing to demonstrate herself or would she make one of the prinnies do it? (Character in Alundra.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Jul 9, 2009 14:55:56 GMT -5
I'm sure that the actual 'work' would be left up to the prinnies. Can you really see it any other way? ...Unless she's extolling the virtues of using them as soccer balls. Of course, the goalies would have to be equipped with appropriate armor. It might slow them down enough that they'd have a hard time catching the ball, but... if you were without the armor and fast enough, you wouldn't want to catch it anyway. If the little angel's got that short of an attention span (for now), maybe you should see if you can get your hands on episodes of Square One. After all, they hardly ever stay on anything for very long..., but you can learn plenty of stuff, too. Along with snickering at the sagas of General Mathpital, Mathnet, and a certain Pac-man ripoff that sometimes gets eaten even if it wins. Ah, they just don't make kids' shows like they used to anymore. (This character was born the same year I was, funny enough. ;D)
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Post by Solana on Jul 9, 2009 21:16:20 GMT -5
Oh, dear, could you see all the uses that Fiona in BN would have for those little guys? It would give her already impeccable skills quite an Edge to have sentient creatures that can explode if tossed. (Incidentally, does this finish them off, like most bee stings?) It might make her C4 collection look like as dangerous as a pop gun in comparison. Or worse, to put them together. I'd like to see Fiona and Etna go head to head in a battle of wits and explosions. It'd be quite entertaining. No, they don't make kids shows quite the same. (Though it's good to put the end to ones like Barney after all of this time.) Yesterday on youtube I found a priceless video that incorporated the delightfully nostalgic Inspector Gadget theme song- a bellydancer was using it to dance to. The crowd went wild when they recognized it, and the dancer was awesome- I'd never seen anyone do a full backbend with shoulder shimmies at the same time. I love that it truly can be used with ANYTHING. (Character in Suikoden III, character in Suikodens I-III.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Jul 10, 2009 1:34:40 GMT -5
Do you mean that it's finally safe to turn on the TV again without the risk of hearing that accursed song? The dinosaur is finally extinct? I know, I shouldn't be cheering at the death of a Red Data Animal, but this one simply wasn't natural.
As far as the prinnies go, they're kind of like explosive balloons (or tires). It does kill them, but a trip to the hospital to patch up the holes and refill it with air, er... the soul, puts them back pretty much as good as new. Except for the lousy stitching. They're capable of raising people from the dead, but they can't sew any better than I can. Or do they just not care enough to make the effort on the creature that was voted the Netherworlds' Most Disposable Lifeform?
I'm betting on the latter. After all, according to the back of the Prinny game, Every life is precious... except his.
(Tokyo Mew Mew's Japanese-style reference to animals on the endangered species list)
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Post by Solana on Jul 10, 2009 22:08:02 GMT -5
Shoot, I guess I wasn't completely accurate- PBS still plays reruns. We should really just borrow Dr. Grant from the Jurassic Park game and let him take care of things. We also get haunted by the books and videos that keep pouring in.
Oh, that's why the prinnies have the unusual stitching patterns on them. No wonder they can be ill-tempered, between being on the bottom rung of the Underworld and being killed and resurrected just to blow things up. Has there ever been a Prinny Liberation Front of some kind formed?
At least ours get a nice freezer and the chance to take the time-traveling bathroom out for a few spins in return for their service. Is health care also included in their contract, I hope?
(Explained.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Jul 11, 2009 0:30:36 GMT -5
The closest they ever came to attempting a coup (outside of Baal, which doesn't really count since he's a demon and not your average human originated one) was during Laharl's challenge in the first game that was designed to draw out all the major players after his throne. Among the attemptees were the prinnies which, since they were smart enough to know they couldn't win in a straight-up fight, tried to stage another type of match, instead.
Unfortunately, they lacked the foresight to realize that their opponents were under no obligation to agree to it. That's the key flaw in all their bright ideas, really. They don't think things through. Which is why you wouldn't want to give them any ideas about trying to start a liberation movement. Unless someone else was the brains behind the operation and kept things together, it would be doomed to failure.
Yes, the Shrine prinnies are certainly treated better, on the whole, than the Netherworld ones, but not as good as Celestian prinnies. The ones in Celestia don't need to look both ways for Roas before venturing out into the hallway. As to whether there's any health care plan, it might be too expensive or impossible to get, because of the above-mentioned risk factor.
Psst... You know all those books and videos of the abominable creature that come in to the store? They could all have mysterious accidents. Like getting left out in the rain. Or in direct sunlight. Even the perennial favorite, spilled coffee, could claim a few victims. Or, you could just bite the bullet and buy a few to incinerate later so that they can never infect another impressionable youth.
(The optional, hard challenge in Disgaea games that makes the normal last boss look like a weakling.)
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Post by Solana on Jul 11, 2009 18:55:02 GMT -5
Well, if they's not Abels to carry the liberation plans out, we'll just take good care of them. (Sorry for the horrible grammar, but I wanted to make it fit.) At least they get vacation time. It sounds like they can be really useful to help a person out on plans, especially ones that need explosions. And it's not like we don't have enough people around here coming up with evil plans. > How do the prinnies get in Celestia? I had thought that they were damned souls. Oh, I wish you were Neira-nough to come work at our store for a day. I think you'd find it quite entertaining, between all of the crazy people we have and some of the crazy things our customers come up with. We have a guy who likes to sing Weird Al Yankovic songs and does a good job, a number of musicians in a local group, plenty of writers, and a few hardcore gamers. The customers can also be crazy, either the good kind that you can BS with or the kind when they wonder why a dirty, dead insect-filled box of torn books is only worth a few bucks. I like the idea of incinerating the Barney books. We do donations, but it doesn't feel right to keep those things in circulation. Or we recycle them to be reincarnated into something more useful, like the Art of War. (Characters in Dragon Force 2.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Jul 14, 2009 0:39:44 GMT -5
Well, they're certainly the souls of sinners, mostly human ones. However, for whatever reason, some of them end up in Celestia. There's no answer for the why in game, but it could have to do with the severity of their crimes. All that's certain is that the prinnies up there get their way to redemption through good deeds while the ones below generally have to save up enough money to buy their way to a Red Moon (all but impossible, kind of like modern day slave labor). I'd imagine that we pay them better than the netherworlds do. It wouldn't be very hard, since even minimum wage would be a pay upgrade. And, if we give them more than four hours of sleep, even without a Bolster, we're practically saints just for that. The next time they ask why the dead bug box of books is only worth that much, tell them that it's because the books are obviously so boring that even the bugs died trying to read and/or eat them. Or that you suspect the bugs may have been poisoned in a fashion similar to that book/movie The Name of the Rose and have to cut into your profit margin by giving them a thorough detox. Other useful things the accursed books could be reincarnated as: wrapping paper for a Fish n' Chips combo, the sheets used to wipe windshields off with at a gas station, and instruction manuals for blenders. (Item from Breath of Fire that allows people to enter another person's dream world)
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Post by Solana on Jul 14, 2009 8:48:15 GMT -5
Oh, dear, are we going to have to keep up a Virtuous Guard against anyone in the Underworld for giving them those rights? Like Sharmista said in Suikoden V, "No one wants to believe that anyone anywhere else is better off than they are, so they start rumors about them." Especially when trying to hide the fact from our Sheriff that they're here in the first place.
Unless they're so low on the ladder that no one really cares one way or the other.
(Laughs) Oh, if only one day we could tell the truth. But that wouldn't be fitting with our caring image, oh no, and we'd be Doom Bringers to our buys by losing other customers that could bring in good stuff because of them. (Like one of the reasons that evil could be allowed in the world, because this person who's a warlord might have a descendent that will cure all disease or something.)
No, the best we can do at this point is 'code phrases.'
We say- I'm afraid these have been too well-loved to put out again.
We mean- This almost fell apart just looking at it.
We say- I'm afraid most of this stuff is older than what we've been getting in.
We mean- Ten years older, and it could go in nostalgia. But it's in the 'we don't care' middle range.
We say- There was a little mold in here, which tends to spread to other books.
We mean- WHERE'S THE DISINFECTANT??!! OH, CRAP, THEY'RE COLONIZING MY LUNGS!!
We say- We get this author in very frequently, and have to clearance it.
We mean- Don't you people read anything but Tom Clancy and Danielle Steel? Honestly, go try some decent fantasy or something!
But then we get the fun ones too. Probably the funniest guy was my first year right before Christmastime, who was buying a book on chess.
Guy- See, my little brother and I would always play chess, and he would sit there and laugh everytime I tried to make a move. Every time, he'd have a counter ready. So then I would say to him, 'Come on to the wrestling ring you little (looks around and lowers his voice) son of a bitch and we'll see who's laughing then'.
Or the guy who tried to sell us a paper bag FULL of porn on Christmas Eve. I LIKE to think he wanted to clean up his life and go buy presents.
(Armor and weapon in Wild Arms 4.)
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Post by Ambrienne on Jul 16, 2009 17:06:24 GMT -5
Unless a netherworld's entire workforce of prinnies, or at least a sizable majority, defected to us en masse, they probably wouldn't be very concerned about where they'd gone. Demons in power would have to see them as individuals before they got too upset about where any particular one had run off to. ...Would you believe that I've never read Tom Clancy or Danielle Steel? The same goes for a lot of popular children's authors, because when I was at that age, I was reading stuff like Tolkien, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie. And when I wasn't reading that, it was fairy tales. Murder and epic fantasy. Can't imagine how that could have possibly had any effect whatsoever on my ability to relate to other kids. Nope, not at all. Though it would explain why I was very interested on just where in the USA, World, and Time Carmen Sandiego happened to be. I still wanted to let her keep Havana's cigars, though. Bleh. (Spans the days of the Commodore 64 'til more modern PCs)
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Post by Solana on Jul 18, 2009 16:59:35 GMT -5
Well, it's good to know that they won't bother us or will get Ober it really fast. We don't really need any MORE enemies at this point, and those little guys are kind of cute and fun to have around. Plus, who knows when the exploding tactic will come in handy? Yeah, I can believe it. I've read only one Nora Roberts, and that was the one called The Reef. Sometimes the mainstream works out, since I really enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha (despite not being historically accurate) and Eat, Pray, Love. Variety is the spice of life, so that means that you'd be able to connect to other kids who shared your taste, the ones that solely mainstream people would not be able to. I loved the Carmen Sandiego games, for the educational value. Really, it was like being on a quiz show for trivia. Amazon Trail was also good times, especially taking pictures of all the flora and fauna, as well as a fun one called Opening Night that let us write and make our own plays with speech and everything. We had some cool stuff available back in the day. It's not always about the fancy new graphics. (BTW, our Internet connection is blown and I'm in the library one for now, so my updates will be sporadic at best. Just a warning, since I'm not sure which day next week the new box will arrive.) (Japanese version of kingdom in Suikoden IV.)
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