irresponsible-pictures

For as long as I can remember I’ve been an avid reader of PC ZONE. After the Future Network bought PC ZONE from Dennis Publishing in the latter portion of 2004, the quality of the publication fell sharply as a number of popular writers and figure heads jumped ship.

Unable to gratify the cost associated with a new PC, I moved away from PC games in favour of a number of games consoles. With the PS2 being my favourite console from the last generation, the PS3, at present, just doesn’t have enough quality titles to justify the £400+ price tag. With no real interest in next generation optical storage medium and with the imminent release of: Eternal Sonata, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, Mass Effect and Bioshock, the decision to by an XBOX 360 (regardless of the three red rings of death) was reached without too much indecision.

Using NEO Magazine as a stepping stone, Stu Taylor demonstrated the necessary skills to move into his preferred area of interest. As the Group Editor for Uncooked Media and the current Editor for XBOX 360 Gamer, this three weekly publication is a little weak on editorial content but each issues lead feature is worthy of the reasonable £2.99 price point. With all magazines in this particular area, if you frequent internet sites such as MAXCONSOLE and Joystiq, for your daily industry news, the majority of news content is outdated and in some cases factually inaccurate due to publishing restrictions.

With a number of titles released weeks and even months in advance of Europe, sites such as IGN and Gamespot had become invaluable for reviews of fresh titles. Unfortunately due to the inherent failings of using a number of freelancers that have little or no direct communication with one another and militant deadlines, a degree of inconsistencies are inevitable. While I had resolved myself to the fact that this is unavoidable, advancements in technology and the increased popularity of video streaming sites such as Youtube has brought about a new era of games journalism that thankfully doesn’t involve the ramblings of a pre pubescent emotionally challenged fucktards.

Realised by the creative mind of Marcus ‘djWHEAT’ Graham whilst enjoying a game of Pokemon on the toilet, internet gaming show Epileptic Gaming debuted in late 2006. Airing every weekday at 19:00 EST (00:00 GMT), Epileptic Gaming blows away the common conventions of videogame journalism and chips away at the misconceptions encompassing videogame enthusiasts.

Priding themselves on a show by gamers for gamers, Marcus ‘djWHEAT’ Graham, Rance ‘djRoME’ Costa, Robert Summa, Mike ‘Force’ Dettman and Hogan ‘Kam-Ra’ Carter are five eclectic guys with the financial dependencies of everyday modern life. With backgrounds in a number of related areas, Epileptic Gaming captures one of the most appealing aspects of PC ZONE when it was in the competent hands of Dennis Publishing. Wanting to give something back to the industry that has kept their young minds mesmerised for many years, Epileptic Gaming never loses sight of the people that make the show possible – the community. With a strong presense on the shows forum, each of the hosts genuinely want to participate in online games alongside their ever growing community.

After trawling through their video archive I’ve since delved deep into my pockets to purchase The Darkness and Project Sylpheed (”If you liked Wing Commander, you will fucking love this game!”) on the back of their insightful and comprehensive reviews. Helping to confirm my fears of the negative industry impact associated with the Wii, their frequent berating of NINTENDO’s current generation console has helped me to finally decide to part with the aforementioned console. The accumulated funds from the sale of said console and the litter of Gamecube games and accessories will be put towards SONY’s current generation offering - the Playstation 3. Epileptic Gaming’s general admiration of the PS3, and on the back of their review of Warhawk, has me dying to get my hands on SONY’s box to participate in the Epileptic Gaming Warhawk clan in addition to being able to play TECMO’s remake of the XBOX classic, Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

If you’re a keen gamer or someone who just wants an unorthodox approach to games journalism, Epileptic Gaming is one of those rare shows that genuinely deliver on its promises. Not only is Epileptic Gaming a show by gamers for gamers but a show that deserves unparalleled recognition and mainstream success.

P.S. Summa is ghey ;)

Once again the UK division of ADV Films is running a clearance sale on their website that features: Aquarian Age, Cromartie High School and Magical Shopping Arcade Abonobashi for as little as two sterling pounds per volume.

Praise should be directed towards ADV Films for, once again, giving fans easy accessibility to a number of their older licenses.

EDIT: I didn’t get my goodies this time around.

As some of you may already know, I’m renowned for my love of animals: favouring cats over dogs. Bella, my silver tabby chinchilla Persian, is my achilles heel.

Adoringly laid out in my window or flounced across my desk, attacking my hands as they scurry across the keyboard, Bella never lets her presence go unnoticed. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) users who lurk in similar channels will know that when I’m kicked due to an excessive, ambiguous flood, it’s due to the fact that Bella has become tired of clawing my hands and has progressed onto jumping up and down on my keyboard.

Bella’s monopolisation of my time has meant that friends feel I’m under the pad. On reflection, this isn’t far from the truth. In all honestly, no one could resist the cute attention seeking tactics of my grey, three legged fur ball.

It seems that Bella’s attention seeking tactics have a reach that I couldn’t have ever envisaged. A collaboration between two of my good friends, John “Muu Puklip” Wilkinson and James “evamonkey” Gammell, resulted in a forty second animation that quite literally had me crying with laughter. Not only was genuinely touched but I was overwhelmed by the effort that had gone into this short production. I hope others will take the time to enjoy this animated short.

Anyone familiar with retail strategies will know that the majority of anime publishers maximise profit by way of a single volume release strategy. Knowing this, I do my best to support the UK industry by following release strategies of this kind. As fans have begun to express their desire for further value packed box sets, Manga Entertainment has taken notice whilst at the same time putting the boot into anime enthusiasts who follow their single volume release strategies.

With two of three single volumes of Tokko and three of six volumes of Noein on store shelves at the time of writing, The Associates (film and video publicity specialists for Manga Entertainment, MVM Entertainment and Optimum) have confirmed that further single volumes of the two aforementioned titles have been shelved in favour of budget box sets. While this offers more anime for your hard earned pound, anime enthusiasts who have been following the single release are left with numerous volumes that serve as little more of a reminder of Manga Entertainment’s disregard for this niche industries fan base.

With the industries fan base still up in arms over the recent move to dubtitles, the merger of the Starz Entertainment Group with IDT Entertainment on August 2006 has seen Manga Entertainment reach its lowest point in the company’s history. This move just catalyses the already volatile situation and only helps to confirm fears that Bleach will fall foul of these recent acts of lunacy.

At present the ten disc (no 5.1 DTS discs for episodes seventeen through twenty-four?) box set for Noein is scheduled for release on the twenty-second of October and the five disc (no 5.1 DTS disc for episodes ten through thirteen?) Tokko box set is due for release on the first of October.

The UK division of ADV Films is currently running a clearance sale on their website that consists of titles that have seen limited retail success in high street stores. Titles such as: Angelic Layer, Boogiepop and Others, Gun Crazy, MADLAX, Mazinkaiser and Peacemaker can be had for as little as one sterling pound per volume.

This is an encouraging move by ADV Films as the US division is renowned for their value packed sales. With ADV bringing anime to television with the Anime Network and mantaining an impeccable attention to detail, ADV is setting the standard for other UK publishers.