The Raven Republic
This little mechanical buddy is now on the fore-front of robotics research by actually being able to read a users thoughts and respond to them in kind. Taku Ichikawa of the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo is credited with this remarkable innovation, which allowed him to successfully compete in the Robo-One amateur bi-pedal robotics league which includes events like robo-soccer and robo-battles.
The full length, non-profit, fan-made MGS movie is finally complete after over 3 years in production. MGS: Philanthropy takes place somewhere in between the events of MGS and MGS4 where Snake tries to rid the world of various Metal Gear variants. This isn’t just some regular CG movie;
After a month’s worth of rain was poured over the course of a day, an unprepared Philippines was brought to an absolute standstill. Water levels rose too quickly, which flooded major highways, schools, hospitals, and pretty much everything else. In some areas, the flood was several stories high.
Even with the subsiding rain, the calamity has not yet passed, as several people are still stuck in their own homes in areas where the flood waters have yet to recede. Many don’t have homes to go back to. And some don’t have families to go back to.
But the worst has a way of bringing out the best, as shown by the relief drives and rescue efforts currently being undertaken. If the weather continues to be cooperative, things should be better by the middle of the week.
For more information, see the links below.
– Forum Thread
– Inquirer.net News Updates
– Philippine Star
– BBC Report
– Pictures compiled by the BBC
A fan translation of Front Mission 5 is on its 4th iteration and is nearing completion. Front Mission 5 is the latest of the console versions of this mech-RPG, which sadly didn’t get a release outside Japan. Fortunately, a few hardworking fans of the series started translating it over a year and a half ago, and in its current state it is very close to completion.
As the FM5 translation project is drawing to a close, the translation team is moving to other Front Mission-related projects such as Front Mission 2 and Front Mission 2089: Border Madness, both of which never got an English release.
For more information and for the patch itself, please visit Frontmission.info. You’ll find other details on the project and how to apply the translation patch to your Front Mission 5. Note that the translation patch only works on the original version of Front Mission 5, and not the “Playstation Best” version which is a re-release of the original.
A Nest for Ravens
Armored Core has always been something of a niche catering to the already-niche genre of mecha simulation. The Armored Core trilogy for the PS1 provided mech fans everywhere with the rare chance to build and battle with their very own customized mechs. As players got to know the game better, their skills improved along with their ability to design ACs. It got to the point where bashing the AI rankers wasn’t enough any more and nothing other than an equally skilled human opponent would suffice for competition. But as most AC players surely realized, finding people to play against, let alone skilled ones, was just as challenging as learning to play Armored Core itself.
Ah, Japanese Curry. A popular dish in Japan common enough to be seen in most Japanese houses, Anime shows, and Manga. The aroma of this dish is mild compared to other curry variants making it appealing to a wide variety of tastes; it’s not too strong and not too bland and perfect for those who cannot stand the spicier variants of curry. It is an excellent balance of a variety of flavors mixed together that form a wonderful dish that is sometimes touted to be one of Japan’s national dishes.
A new science fiction CG anime simply titled “TO” is going to be released in Japan and will be directed by veteran director Fumihiko Sori, who also directed the science fiction CG film Vexille in 2007 and produced the Appleseed film in 2005.
TO is an adaptation of the manga “2001 ya Monogatari” (released as “2001 Nights” outside Japan), specifically the “Symbiotic Planet” and “Elliptical Orbit” chapters. The manga’s story revolves around mankind’s voyages into space, describing the possibilities we might face, and the challenges mankind may encounter during this undertaking. Some screencaps after the jump.
Thexder Neo, a re-make of the original Thexder game, which can be described as sort of a Macross platformer (Transformable mech in a platformer game) was announced by Squarenix to be released over PSN worldwide on 1st of October for the PSP platform. While a relatively obscure title these days, the original Thexder was apparently a huge hit for home consoles back in the mid-1980s which led to a sequel called Fire Hawk: Thexder the Second Contact, and remakes for the Windows 95 OS.