Jamba

Ummm sorry guys, why are we trusting Cube now? We grilled chairdriver and now we aren't going to with him? Or are we just going to wait till we kill Haggis and see what the outcome is?

OK I'll be a bit more specific. How do you see Asylum Seekers fitting into the welfare model? I wonder if supporting these people does add more strain to the system which is already overloaded.

You see, this is another thing that I don't understand. How can people judge the Tories now about what happened during Major and most likely Thatchers time in power? Sure the Thatcher days were a complete shambles and I'm not going to excuse them in any way but politics has changed since then, the parties have changed since then. "History doesn't like" would be a wonderful phrase to use if, firstly, it wasn't a perception rather but a fact and secondly if it even applied in this scenario. @Any Pro Labour people - Anybody got any particular views on imigration? I'd like to understand how that fits into the Labour picture.

@ Jonnas, there are 2 possible double votes (i'm not definite on the players that hold them). I know that there are 3 double voting players for sure. I'm guessing one from each team as it were.

If you can do a names list Jonnas then I might be able to tell you if we have any. I have a pretty good idea of the people who have double votes. Know one of them for definite.

Hey guys, I was having a chat with my flatmate about WiiFit and the reaction of the population to the phenomenon, her being a psychology student who does stuff like sociology. She came up with a really interesting point. A lot of people have said about how Wii Fit has helped them to actually look at themselves get some perspective on how much exercise they do and how fit they are. But could this self-awareness be detrimental? The population already has quite a large personal self-image problem and disorders like anorexia are rife so could Wii Fit actually feed this growing problem? Could this game be another way of the world telling you to be thing? Now, neither of us have actually played the game and obviously I know more about it then she does but that still isn't really hands on. What do you people think?

Yeah that's right... go and vote for the person who told us about Moogle Sorry dude, your story doesn't sound vey plausible and chairdriver is right. We need to find out if these notes are trust worthy. Vote: Harper

Harper maybe you got misdirected and the info given to chairdriver is right. You might not have meant to target Esequiel but ended up doing it through misdirection.

OK, fair point, to some extent I was judging you as your smearing judgements of all those with above average wealth led me to think that you were doing so out of ignorance. But actually my point still stands, you fail to understand what it is like for that group of people, even if you are from within. If you look closely, I actually used the words "people like you" at a point with which I was referring to people who share your political views. I tried to word this carefully but you have obviously misunderstood. Also I haven't accused you or indeed any socio economic group of being a parasite. I'm fully away that there are decent hard working people in every group and there are lazy uncooperative selfish people too but you seem quite comfortable in smearing anyone with an above average income of being "greedy, selfish and selve serving". And this is why you are arrogant and presumptious. I'm personally fine with you having that view but you don't understand that people dont share those views. Your system forces everyone to charity (yes it is charity) their money irregardless of of their own personal views. To me, if a person earns their money then it is their choice with what to do with it. In my system, you still have the choice to help the needy which you could but in your system you would facelessly tear the money off everyone without even asking. Oh and congratulations on totally avoiding actually having any kind of discussion about the points which I put forward concerning your political views. Maybe politics is your game.

I think it looks rubbish. Don;t understand why people like it....

Wow predicting the future? That's a new one. Seriously, I understand the all of the parties lie but how do you know this? Honestly? The Tory suggested scheme of working for your benefits is a good idea. Are you basing your claims on how the Tories were when they were in power? I've heard this crap before. It's the same hard-done-to talk that people pull when they don't actually have any reason to argue against the fact that hard working people on average earn more than people who don't. You angry resentment for people with money totally disgusts me. You have no inclination to actually understand what it is like for those who have earned what they have (which is the majority of the wealth in this country now). People like you judge how the wealthy earn their money even though they have done so by hard work. Many will use it to educate their children to give them better opportunities in their lives and you resent the fact that they have that due to their own actions and work. Labour have raised inherritance tax to a disturbing level now. It is getting increasingly pointless for people to earn large amounts of money over their lifetime as they cannot use it to help their families after they pass. There is no such thing as a family inheritted home now. So if I can't do that, why should I bother earning at all? Why should I get up and go get a job? I can live, earn and have a house by doing absolutely nothing. I don't need a job, suggests Labour.

Bullshit. The welfare state totally facilitates the problem and the fact that it is almost totally uncontrolled is the governments problem. Wake the fuck up. A big section of this country work hard and pay their tax and a screamingly large fraction of the population steal, yes steal that money from the government forcing them to increase income tax to compensate for the loss. Yes the theory of a welfare system is ok but the current welfare system is a shambles and Labour is making it worse. They have also taken no charge in the credit situation which is precipitated by bad mortgage agreements from the banks and scandolous projects from credit card companies. This puts the badly educated in huge debt which they cant pay off. It gives them seeming financial security and preys on the human nature of taking the easy way out. If the government had put a stop to this then that demographic wouldn't blow all their money on things that they think they can afford. Not to mention, the loans just make another safety net and absolve responsibility.

I understand the benefit of the welfare state but I think that it is something that should only be an assisstance. Many people with disabilties can work and many companies have a legal requirement to have them. I'm all for helping them to an extent as they obviously can't get jobs as easily. The problem with welfare is that it is a safety net for people. It takes away that pressure that means that people have to work and earn to survive. With the net there, they lose a sense of responsibility to help themselves. I live in the North East now and the abuse of the system that goes on here is at a gross level. Not to mention very few people understand that if you want money you have to earn and save it not spend it on getting pissed down the put 4 days a week or by buying an HD fucking tv.

Exaclty the reason why I don't like the idea of a welfare state. I believe strongly in the NHS (I'd be happier if they would be a bit more strict: "No... 50 abortions is too much" or "cosmetic surgery on your boobs will not solve you psychological problems") but I really think that the welfare system is totally over inflated. My friend is a paramedic in Sheffield and he did a talk in Bradford and he said that the kids have no aspirations and actually, genuinely wanted to become doll scum.

But didnt Hoody target the gang surely? From what he actually says, it sounds like he wasn't aiming for Esequiel.

I think this has potential but the basis of the original battle system is that in general most moves take 1 turn and therefore all take the same amount of time. Most of the tactics came from choosing an appropriate move depending on the affect not really the time it took to perform that move. I think it would be a good way of differentiating some of the very similar moves and add a lot of extra depth to the gameplay. Couple of specific proglems though. If you apply this to the RPG formula as it is right now, you could have a massive difference in size on screen between even your own Pokemon. This could make playing kind of difficult. Also, this still suffers from the "3D RPG please!" problem of too many pokemon and too much to animate. The work load would be horrendous, it takes up huge amounts of storage on the disc and it would need lots and lots more programming for 3D. Unfortunately, all this man power investment makes the title almost completely unfeasable.

Ah ok, thanks for the suggestions. I think I was just really surprised; Japanese animation is usually so completely rooted in expression and they come out with something like that. Bad form Sunrise... bad form.

Maybe that's because you've realised that on some level, even with the graphical differences that the game is EXACTLY THE SAME. Of course it's lost its charm.

Right, so someone who mocks the system and whose priorities are making funny comments and promoting his comedic image over actual politics is, in your opinion, someone who should be elected in the publics best interest?

From my understanding, every one of Shakespeares plays had some truth to speak of even in the comedies. This may not take the front seat, it's usually between the lines, but it is an essential part of what makes them great plays. Yeah, much of the animation was very good. It's just the facial and emotional animation, combined with mediocre character portrayal in general just really let it down.

Hmmm, As You Like It is still my favourite Shakespeare. Funny, silly and yet amazingly dark in some places. So much can be said for how we relate to one another and that, quite often, we allow ourselves to be quite awful to each other but not out of any kind of mallice. By the by. I watched Steamboy last night. Totally mediocre in almost every respect. Voice acting wasn't awful but the way the characters were animated was pretty bad. No real emotional connection was able to be made with the characters or the situation due to poor facial animation and very unsophisticated lip animation. Storyline was ok but I felt that it really missed the message that it was trying to say. Characters were mostly irritating and plain stupid but I think this was due to bad expression through writing and animating. On the flip side it is at many points a very visually stimulating experience. The detail, design and feel are brilliant and there are some set scenes that really make you go "wow". Visual effects animation was also very good. This film is a victim of a poor ability to communicate through the medium. Entertaining to an extent yet totally flawed in many respects. 4/10

I find it hard to think of reasons why people would want to elect Boris. Can someone give me a serious reason or evidence as to why he's a good candidate (you konw something that would actually lead to him making good decisions)? No "he's funny!" responses pls.

Liking this idea a lot and it's what I had in mind but it seemed a bit like the idea for the Mystery Dungeon (which I haven't played though). So feeling your pain. If people want to make suggestions to improve the RPG then I'm all ears but please try to fully understand the game that you are trying to tinker-with and the technical limitation that go with it. Think of something that could actually be made please. Aren't you contradicting the game design you just talked about Also, I'm not sure if this is the case. As long as the relationship is there and is clear and present, then I don't think that controlling the Pokemon instead of the Human character is a problem. But you have given me a new idea though... ... Pokemon manager type game anyone (like a football manager game)? You play as the trainer, and you get to train your Pokemon, get their individual moves stronger and prepare them for the battle. After that it's pretty much well up to them. You can watch the battle unleash in front of you allowing you to only control the use of power ups. You could also shout out tactics which would change how your little AI Pokemon fights but this would be indirect control. Shout out encouragement or try and get your Pokemon to pace itself. This could introduce factors that are long overdue in Pokemon, like fatigue and morale. I think that this would really express that combination that trainers feel between being vitally important and emotionally invested yet completely powerless to actually act in battle.

Glad to see that you have both read and understood what Jonnas and I have been talking about Hmmm, so what you are saying is that every fighting game ever made is Smash Bros? That there isn't room for expansions into that genre as it's all been done before? I'm talking about re-creating the visually spectacular experience of Pokemon battling, while using a dynamic gameplay system that works off the environment and combines both defensive, offensive and status affecting moves. [sarcasm] Yeah... sounds just like Smash Bros... [/sarcasm] And that's the kind of thinking that will kill the industry. Fancy a job at a publishers? Well lets think now... maybe this hasn't happened because it is both financially and technically impossible. Just creating a Stadium game is hard enough due to the fact that they have to animate at least 40 moves per character and they have to design lots of different animation rigs for all the types of Pokemon. Doing what you're asking is pretty much well impossible. And that game would still not reach a wider audience. It would still appeal to the same people and maybe, just maybe you could convince the ex-pokemon players to come back for one more title. But that would be it. The next title after that would just be more crap recycled, putting off a whole new generation of players. What you are looking into is how to improve the already existing title in a way that is both impossible and will make you poke-fan wet dreams come to reality. Also, they are fairly obvious ideas (i.e. "let's make an interactive version of the anime! Even better, just an interactive version of the entire pokemon universe!"). Making games is about having to make as little as possible while delivering that same experience. The game from Jonnas and me could run along parallel with the RPG titles and help expand the experience of the pokemon world. It could be a stand alone, long running series that could actually generate a lot of new ideas and depth.

No, I'm not silenced... but then it's someone else who is playing as me, not actually me. Yeah as Eeunuh says, Vicar seems to make a paper model replica of the person that he targets (bloody helpful power if you ask me!) So I don't think that the Nintendo idea will work because the it just dopelgangers the person and I doubt the power would only work if he targetted characters with a Nintendo themed name. Plus Vicar makes otehr papercraft apart from Nintendo... like Sonic and Solid Snake...