Should Microsoft Consider Purchasing Atlus? (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Congratulations to SEGA, whose bid was accepted and who are now the parent company behind Atlus.

Shin Megami Tensei. Persona. Etrian Odyssey. Trauma Center. Catherine. With these titles/entries into these series' Atlus, a long-standing Japanese video game development studio has finally made a name for itself in the West in recent years and now that this niche company is poised to make broader waves in the industry their parent company, Index, is doing everything it can to completely screw them over. They are losing money in every single division other than games (thanks to Atlus' success) and so amidst rumours of money laundering (yes, it's that bad) Index announced earlier this summer that they were filing for the Japanese equivalent (well, economics experts would take dispute the use of the term equivalence here as their version of bankruptcy (called civil rehabilitation) is very similar but not exactly equivalent) to bankruptcy protection as it is understood here in the West. Along with this announcement came a secondary announcement: Part of this process would be the selling off of their subsidiaries, the biggest of course being Atlus.

 And so starting, if I am not mistaken, at the end of July, Atlus has had a metaphorical for sale sign up in their (also metaphorical) window. This sale has attracted bids from more than 20 different companies, one of them being SEGA's parent company SEGA Sammy, who bid somewhere around $200 million U.S. If SEGA is successful in the attempted acquisition they will have immediately bolstered their suite of intellectual properties with the popular, critically acclaimed and diverse Atlus library. This is something that SEGA could really use, as their in house development has been stagnant for many years and while they have been publishing a decent amount of games this generation, they have not had any serious success. In fact, there have been more than one failures, both financially and in terms of public relations (PR). Having Atlus under their ownership would be of great benefit to them. 

Thinking about this one may wonder who else would benefit from acquiring Atlus?

Forum Discussion on Weak/Strong Atheism, Agnosticism, etc

Note: This is an old post that was was sitting in my drafts yet was never published. It's probably from 2011 but I thought I'd throw it up to have some new content on the blog in the interim between now and my next (newly composed, not an old draft) entry.

This is an excerpt of a discussion I had on a forum recently regarding religion/atheism, etc. (Italics is the other people, magx is in normal font.)

I just wanted to set you straight that not all atheists have the belief that there is no god.


If we're going further wax semantics, I suggest you look into agnosticism, because the above......


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism


....doesn't really help your case that you're some authority on the matter, here to keep me informed.

Left Trigger to Dodge and Customizable Controls

I have a gripe that I need to let out. This gripe is with the developers of hack n slash games. Actually, I have another gripe that just came to mind, which I will get to in a few minutes. The second gripe is with ALL developers. Let's get to the first one.

Gripe Number One

Hack n Slash developers, let me point something out to you: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) was released in 2004. Almost six years ago to the day. And yet, almost none of you seemed to have received the very simple message: The right stick is not for dodging. Map that shit to the left stick! It's really easy: Left trigger is block, and the left stick is dodge. Simple, no? Here's why it's way better this way:

Speed

Think about it:

I'm in the middle of a combo. It's a four hit combo and I am just inputting the command for the fourth hit when I see one of my enemies initiate an attack. What do I do? I dodge, of course (or parry if that mechanic is built into the game) (and yes, you could also utilize a move with frame advantage and offset their attack (depending on the game) but shut up and bear with me here lol). So, where are my fingers at the moment I want to initiate the dodge? One is on the left stick, the other is on a face button, inputting the combo command. So, if the dodge command is mapped to the left stick, I can immediately dodge as soon as I see the enemy begin their attack animation, with absolutely no delay, correct?

UFC 164 Results and Poll Question (Regarding Co Main Event) (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT) *UPDATED* Frank Mir Speaks

Here are the results from UFC 164:

Anthony Pettis def. Benson Henderson via submission (armbar)
Josh Barnett def. Frank Mir via first-round TKO
Chad Mendes def. Clay Guida via third-round TKO
Ben Rothwell def. Brandon Vera via third-round TKO
Dustin Poirier def. Erik Koch via unanimous decision
Gleison Tibau def. Jamie Varner via split decision
Tim Elliott def. Louis Gaudinot via unanimous decision
Hyun Gyu Lim def. Pascal Krauss via first-round TKO
Chico Camus def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision
Soa Palelei def. Nikita Krylov via third-round TKO
Al Iaquinta def. Ryan Couture via unanimous decision
Magnus Cedenblad def. Jared Hamman via submission (guillotine)

And now the poll question:

Was The Co Main Event Stopped Early?

In my mind, yes, it absolutely was stopped early. Fights usually get stopped on a fall from one big hit if the fighter is visibly knocked out or if they had been taking sustained/heavy damage prior to being knocked down . Neither of those two was the case here, imo.

UPDATE: Frank Mir had this to say about the stoppage when asked about it at the post fight press conference:

"Obviously I thought it was a bad stoppage," Mir said in the post-fight press conference. "We're fighters. If every fight was stopped on any kind of a flash shot or anything like that — actually, I took the knee, and I remember going, 's--- I'm in a bad position.' And that's why I dropped my other knee out from underneath me so that could fall to the ground and make sure I didn't take a second one. I didn't belly out, I didn't flatten out, and I actually tried to redig my underhook so that i could get a single. And I actually looked at the referee stopping it.

"And then at first I thought, maybe I was out? Did I take a bunch of shots that didn't see? And then after watching it, I was conscious the whole time. Even when I stood up I wasn't wobbled, I was completely coherent. So at best your argument is it was a flash knock down. I didn't know fights stopped on that. If that was the case I never would have beaten [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira, I don't think we would have seen Travis Browne knock out [Alistair] Overeem last week. There are too many fights in our sport that are exciting, and you've got to let us fight. I didn't sign up for a tennis match. It's nothing against Josh, he's a great fighter and he did what he had to do."

Well that certainly is interesting, isn't it? On the one hand the fact that he (at least claims to have) dropped down by choice to avoid further damage and attempt to initiate a takedown makes this stoppage all the more annoying for the fans and seemingly unfair for the fighter but on the other it actually lends the referee in this case a little bit of a sympathetic light in which he can be viewed- I mean, if fighters are going to be dropping to the mat on purpose and this looks indistinguishable from a knockdown, well, I'd hate to be a referee in a main event. 

Texas Church Causes Measles Outbreak

http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2013/08/24/measles-outbreak-traces-to-vaccine-refusing-megachurch/

This is the type of story that in the past would have caused me to rant both in writing and aloud, but at this point my outrage has been blanketed by a nonstop torrent of stories like this (by this I mean stories in which ignorance causes measurable (and avoidable) harm) so for now I find it sufficient to merely link to the story for anyone who may have missed it (this story broke a few days ago).

At this point all I can do is sigh and shake my head.

The PS Vita Might Just Be Portable Heaven

Check out this snapshot of my PS Vita home screen (this is just the first panel, there are actually several of them but this one alone makes my point):

If you ask me, this is pretty badass. Sure, it could be argued that the 5 Vita titles shown are rehashes, and I can't disagree. I can only add the caveat that it's still early in the handheld's life cycle, and there are many titles for the Vita that are not rehashes/ports etc. I just REALLY happen to love Ninja Gaiden, DOA, EDF and Muramasa.

Speaking of Muramasa, if you've played the Wii game and enjoyed it (if you didn't you're dead inside, because the game is fantastic) (I'm only half serious), you should check out the upgraded port on the Vita if you ever get the chance. Yes, that's right, I said upgraded. The Vita is not only capable of playing a Wii game, it's capable of playing an upgraded version of a Wii game. The game POPS on the Vita screen. Simply gorgeous to look at and it now features fully customizable controls, so if you hated having to use up on the stick to jump, well, you can now change that. Personally, I still rock that method, but I also enabled the x button to act as a jump, so I have the best of both worlds.

As for the other games on that screen, sure, they are PS1 games, but they are enhanced on the Vita and even if they weren't, you're still playing PS1 games on the go, as well as iterations of current console games, all on the same system with the best screen of any handheld ever. And I do mean ever. It's stunning how good games look on it.

Quick Thought- A Parody of Oneself

Mormonism is a religion featuring magic underwear started by a known con man and it is adhered to by droves of people in multiple countries. Scientology, a religion that deals with aliens and souls trapped in volcanoes was started by a science fiction author who is on record stating that the best way to get insanely rich is to start a religion- Religion seems to almost be satirizing itself at this point.

One Armed MMA Fighter Wins a Championship Belt

Lyoto Machida Got Robbed. MMA Judging Is Seriously Flawed

As soon as the third round ended at UFC 163's Phil Davis vs Lyoto Machida fight I felt certain that Davis was going to get the nod, and sure enough he did. In an ideal world, that would have been because Davis had clearly won the fight. In the world we inhabit, it was because, well, because he succeeded with 2 out of his 10 takedown attempts. 

Yes, you read that right. 

Phil Davis, an accomplished wrestler, was 20% successful at his main thing- the takedown. That means that Machida was 80% successful at doing his part- stuffing said takedowns. Well, then Davis must have significantly outstruck Machida on the feet, right? Nope. I think he landed a few more shots, but his accuracy was much worse than Machida's and Machida landed a lot more 'significant' strikes. All Davis did was land 2 takedowns, both near the end of the rounds in which they occurred. Machida, on the other hand, stopped an accomplished wrestler from taking him down 8 out of 10 times. That means He kept the fight where HE wanted it, and while he was there he did more damage. Yet for some reason, the judges don't seem to allocate points for stopping a takedown, which is INSANE. A takedown attempt is a fighter's attempt to establish Octagon control (placing the fight where you want it; one of the scoring criteria used by the inept judges). If the fighter in question is successful, the gain points (and rightfully so). However, if the opposing fighter fights against the takedown and is successful, he gets.....no credit? 

How the fuck is that fair, reasonable, or logical? 

Machida won that fight and I believe the UFC should award him a title fight. 

Some Unlikely Video Game Sequels I'd Love To See Made

Remember, these are more unlikely than not, so I am not listing stuff that will most likely be happening (Alan Wake 2, for example).

Just off of the top of my head, so to speak:

Ninja Gaiden (2D) (sequel/prequel, w/e)
Streets of Rage 4
Shadow Complex 2
Alpha Protocol 2 (Obsidian was onto something with that game man...stupid SEGA)
Geometry Wars 3
Psi Ops 2

Dynamite Cop 2 (please please please)
Road Rage 4 (?) (probably not as fun as we may like to think though)
Winback 3 (in the style of 1, not 2)
Shinobi (3DS one was great)
Final Fight 4 (?) 

NHL Hitz

Onimusha 4

Astro Boy: Omega Factor 2 (most people have no idea how good the GBA game was)
Jade Empire 2
Sudeki 2 (yes, seriously)
Altered Beast 3 (there was one on the GBA that many are unaware of- and it was actually good)
Chromehounds 2 (I am not into these types of games but I know many loved it)
Condemned 3 (in the style of 1, not 2)
Dead Space 4 (again, in the style of 1)
Amnesia 2 (consoles please!!!)
The Saboteur 2
Ninja Five-O 2
Tokyo Beat Down 2 (first had some potential)

How about you? 

Being Single Is Selfish....Sure, But Relationships Are Just As Selfish

Find that shocking? Ridiculous? Demeaning? Insulting, even? Okay, tell me: Why do YOU get into relationships then? Why does anyone?

(Note: This is a follow up of sorts to an earlier post I did regarding the selfishness of having kids. Click HERE if you want to read that one.)

 Here are some (arguably) selfless reasons (I say arguably given the selfish altruism theory popular in some psychology circles):

New Strider Game Announced!!!

Capcom has announced that they are publishing a new Strider game for both current and next gen Microsoft/Sony consoles, as well as the PC. The game, which is being developed by Double Helix (the development studio currently working on the new Killer Instinct game for the Xbox One) will be released in "early 2014." Click HERE to read all about it, as well as to look at additional screenshots/video not posted below.

Here is a quick comparison between the old and new (click the link above to see several more screenshots of the game in action):

Strider For the Sega Genesis

Strider in 2014

Gameplay footage:

I cannot wait to jump back into the boots of the ninja Hiryu....2014 cannot come soon enough!

The Cell Phone And The Parent

The other day I was walking my dog through a park when I witnessed a scene that, far from being uncommon, is unfortunately repeated all across the world each and every day. A father (and I use that term loosely) was sitting on one of the park benches while his daughter, who seemed to be about 5 years of age, played on the playground. The entire time I was there the dad was on his cell phone (probably texting a girl), looking up only when his daughter would call out to him, asking him to watch whatever trick (in her mind they were tricks) she was about to do. And even then his glances were perfunctory; devoid of any emotion or attention.

Seeing this filled me with a potent mix of pity and anger. Pity for the girl (just imagine what kind of message her father's averted gaze sends her) and anger towards the man who is spending once in a lifetime moments with his daughter being distracted by his phone.

Those scenes sure would have made for an interesting home video. I should have offered to film it for him.

On Ghosts and Hauntings (the hottest extra-curricular activity in the ghostiverse)

Poll a random group of one hundred people and you'll probably find at least thirty who believe in ghosts/spirits. A further ten of those people will likely believe in hauntings. I do not count myself a member of this group of people. There are just too many problems with the idea for me to subscribe to it (aside from the obvious lack of evidence). For one thing, this planet has been home to roughly a thousand trillion deaths over billions of years. Yes, billions, not six thousand. Sorry, Jesus freaks. Yet there seem to be maybe a hundred and twenty seven ghosts in existence and for some reason most of them lived in the Victorian era. Where are the Neanderthal ghosts? The Viking ghosts? Or more importantly, the dinosaur ghosts? I mean, what, only humans come back as ghosts? Humans from the Victorian era? If ghosts were real  they would be everywhere.

Not only would they be everywhere, if they had the ability to haunt life would be absolutely fucking unbearable because everything would be haunted.

Get it together people. You can rest easy tonight, okay? There are no ghost pterodactyls flying around your bed.

UFC 162 Predictions

Mike Pierce  vs. David Mitchell

Pierce via submission in round 2.

Seth Baczynski vs. Brian Melancon

Baczynski via submission in round 1

Edson Barboza vs. Rafaello Oliveira

Oliveira via boring ass decision

Gabriel Gonzaga  vs. Dave Herman

Herman via TKO in round 2

Norman Parke  vs. Kazuki Tokudome

Parke via tko in round 1

Chris Leben vs. Andrew Craig

Craig via ko in round 3 cause Leben gasses

Cub Swanson vs. Dennis Siver

FOTN contender imo. Tough to call. Siver by decision? Siver's been rejuvenated as of late and Swanson is a dark horse imo. can't wait!

Mark Muñoz  vs. Tim Boetsch

Hmmm....Munoz by decision I guess

Tim Kennedy vs. Roger Gracie

Kennedy via knockout in round 2

Frankie Edgar vs. Charles Oliveira

Edgar via decision (unless I'm wrong about his TDD). Btw, I like Edgar as a fighter. I hate all of that "point fighter b.s." He's technical and fun to watch, imo

Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman

If Anderson doesn't come out more aggressive than usual and knock him out, then Weidman via submission or boring ass decision (it all depends on how much space he has to work with. If he gets Silva down (we'll find out) and doesn't smother him like Sonnen did I wouldn't be shocked if he submitted him during a scramble. Guillotine or a D'Arce or something. He just needs to have the balls to risk leaving that space. I just don't see him submitting him from within Silva's guard). If he doesn't nail his takedowns though....hahaha good luck. Or if he does but has no space to work with then it's going to decision (I doubt he'll get caught like Chael did).