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By Ishaan . February 16, 2011 . 4:31pm
The week of February 7th – 15th saw yet another Tales game published by Namco Bandai in Japan, in the form of Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3, which debuted at the top of the weekly sales chart at 222,000 units.
Following closely behind it was Samurai Warriors 3Z, the enhanced port of Samurai Warriors 3 on PlayStation 3 at 208,000 units. The Wii version of the same game debuted at far lower numbers at the #6 position.
Meanwhile, Ace Attorney Investigations 2 dropped from its #1 position the week prior, but managed to stay in the top 5, just below Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, which saw a nice boost in sales, which we assume was due to the release of Sony's new PSP bundles for the game.
The top-20 chart for the week is as follows:
|Weekly Sales
|Total Sales
|Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3
|Namco Bandai
|Samurai Warriors 3Z
|Tecmo Koei
|Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
|Ace Attorney Investigations 2
|LittleBigPlanet 2
|Samurai Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends
|Tecmo Koei
|Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
|Donkey Kong Country Returns
|Kenka Bancho 5
|White Knight Chronicles Episode.Portable: Dogma Wars
|Pokémon Black/White
|Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butouden
|Namco Bandai
|Wii Party
|The Last Story
|Macross Triangle Frontier
|Namco Bandai
|Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
|Valkyria Chronicles 3
|Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
|Ni no Kuni: The Jet-Black Sorcerer
|Level 5
|Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Sales data sourced from 4Gamer and Media-Create.
Wohooaa! Nice! Good for the tales of games, i guess this means there will be a 4th soon >_>, that game will be just way too full of characters. That's the power of a franchise >8O!!
And Emil+Marta <3
Emil with Luca and Marta with Iria make some of the best skits this game have. Hmm, I wonder if I can find them on youtube.
I personaly find Marta amuzing but annoying, kinda like Trist, but Trist's amuzingness(is this a word?) fairly outrank most of his annoying tendencies(IE is the best web browser!!!!) and he's got a lot better, while Marta is kind of the opposite. Of course, bad AI, a confusing fighting style and Rie Kugimiya just worsen it. I liked her relationship with Emil and how finnaly a Tales game tried to actaully handle romance, but it could have been executed better. Also, Richter had far more chemistry with Emil, wich made me wonder whether he would be catchable when Emil started having his Stupid Sexy Flander moments, but the kissing scene was cute, so I'll let this one slide. Of course, playing the game acting like Emil was sexually confused, Marta was a post op trans and Tenebrae was a pedophile while everyone else wanted Lloyd pants made the game much better in my opnion. Not that half of that wasn't true.
I found weird that Rie made her voice (Marta's) in japanese, still, i like her voice so i was cool with it, but i really liked english voices xD
And haha yeah, i never found Marta annoying but a lot of friends did so i guess that is just me, but i did found Emil at the beginning annoying, specially with all the OMG RITCHER, [email protected]!!! OMFG thing >_>, but i just loved how everything finished at the end.
Emil and Luca become the best friends xD (did you see the opening btw? they appear and is pretty funny). Ohh but Luca, that is one annoying MC >_>
I'm also the only one of my friends who never found Marta to be annoying lol.
Haha, scene with Luca and Emil was pretty funny, but you should check out the Tales of Chat Drama BEFORE they become friends. =P
All the way at 8:10
Yeah!! ive seen all of those before xD they are all so freaking funny, i love them all xD
Wow, we sent the same video. That shows great minds think alike.
damn it Marina Inoue is sooo cute :P
hopefully we also get Radiant Mythology 3 in the future
Saw a stream of it and the opening is already on my iPod in both video and full version for almost a week. I personaly like Luca, it's just Spada and Iria that bring the annoying from him with their sadistic tendencies, they are my OT3 for this series anyway. Like I said somewhere before, the game would have been so much much simpler if Emil just acepted his gay for Richter and went to date him. There would be no Nifelidontknowhoetospellitheim business and the everything would have just gone fine and dandy. Hmm, now I noticed the Symphonia Team games always have a lot of HoYay in them. Lloyd and Zelos(even more on the japanese version), Luke and Guy, Jade and Peon, Ion(I love telling people he's a boy after they played the game), Rita and Estelle, Judith and anyone, Karol and Raven(yes, there's such a thing), and the most obvious, Yuri and Flynn. Not that team Destiny loose on that aspect, LeonStahn(wich is bad wording, because the closest Leon is ever going to come with topping is on his ice cream) is classsic and AsbelRichard is quite trown on your face the whole game.
Wait, how did this end up on this? Anyway…
Watch this from 7:07 onwards for the part with Luca and Emil, and make sure to watch until the end. They are just too alike for their own good.
Oh, also, watch this if you haven't before. It contains pedoNatalia on part two, and pedoNatalia is always woth it.
Lol just fiished watching the first one lol xD, i think i could have liked Luca better if it wasnt for his way too girly voice T_T
Just in case you want to know the full roster. You should check out the Abyss section.
Choosing your party in this game is like choosing if you want to get married or not, you will take days deciding…
I'd pick Van, Richter, and Celsius just because they aren't protagonists in their original games.
Haha, i guess what i said only applies to me xD, im sure i would be using Emil and Marta every time i can, and will have trouble selecting the last spot (because the character you create have to be in the party) Maybe Senel…
I pick Reid, Senel, and Lloyd. Can't be anymore epic than that. The Best 3 main charas out of all the TALES I've played in order (Best to Least)too I like to add. :P
Who will heal? xD
@WildArms HA! Healing is for wimps with such an awesome party we won't need Healing. Heheheheheheheh
I can alraedy see your party wiped out :3
@WildArms Nooooooo!!!! Don't sell my dream team so short. We may be limited on healing powers but our BURNING PASSION will get us through till the end. That and hording gels/gummies. Oh the hording that we'll have. But yeah passion and all that jazz because we're awesome.
He can play as a Monk(Farah type) or Paladin(Veigue+Healing).
Do they get stuff that heals all the party? because that is a must later on the game xD
No Yuri Lowell? Seriously, guys?! What is wrong with you all?! >:|
I dont have a xbox SO I WONT EVER KNOW HOW VESPERIA IS T_T!!!! Unless i somday import the ps3 ver.
Besides, Yuri was already in rm2 and Emil, Marta are new on rm3 so, that's another reason xD
@WildArms Neither of them can, but the Monk's healing artes don't have any charge/cast time since their physical artes.
@Yui The best part about crossover games is that you get to play as characters that normally wouldn't be in your (final) party in the original games. With that said, I'm replacing Richter with Lilith. A party based on my favorites would actually be Yuri, Jade, and Estelle.
So RM3 has all the Symphonia cast except for Regal. Was he unpopular in Japan or something? Aww he was my favourite from the original ToS. T_T
He is too busy with his company (or maybe the person that made his voice is too expensive xD)
Wow, they even have charas from Tales of the Tempest? I thought Namco wanted people to forget about that one.
Both of them has been appearing since rm2, and i actually find the girl funny xD, i wonder what sucked of that game? Main story? battles? the opening already looks kinda crappy haha, at least it has some parts with anime
Someday I'll have to import it, and see what all the fuss is about.
Apparently it was too short(est. 10 hrs) and too easy. I'm not sure about the actual story though.
Hm looks like Ni No Kuni may vanish from the charts next week….will 600K be its maxima.
LBP2 go!!!! Such a phenomenal game deserves the unit sells!!!!!
Wow, LPB2 sales were really low. Hang in there buddy, I don't particulary like you, but my brother and childhood friend would hang me if I said otherwise.
Dude, how can you not like LBP2?!
lbp in general rocks! its one of the games that might make the psp2/ngp an awesome system to buy at launch(if it is a launch title ^^;)
I'm generally bad at platformers, and I dislike games that focus too much on user created content. Even though the single player is well crafted and can be fun, I don't find the game compeling. Jump fisics and layers aside, the game is every single platform I ever played without anything different. Not a bad game by any way, but it's just not my cup of tea. What I played from the first game on my neighbor's PS3 didn't strike me much, and I quit my brother's PSP version on the second level. The only platform I can play for more than ten minutes are Sonic games(mostly because of nostalgia, Sonic The Hedgehog was my first game ever, both played and owned) and 'sometimes' 3D Mario games.
Besides, I don't find Sackboy cute. THERE, I SAID IT!
i totally want tales of rm3 in English >.<
Emil is awesome!
Sadly, the first one did pretty badly here T_T, i already lost my hope for the 2 and i couldnt even think about the 3rd one coming here
I loved how he was like two totally different people, his badass personality was great. Marta was quite funny herself. xd
Though, whatever, I agree I want it in English too, but it probably won't happen as I think the second one was never released here.
Me too xD, Tales of symphonia Dawn of a new world became one of my favorites only because of Emil and Marta combo (and tenebrae xD)
Emil was cool. I liked him. His split personalty reminded me of Yu-Gi-Oh and to be honest I atcually like wimpy main charas. I HATE whiny ones like some recent Final Fantasy charas but I don't mind wimpy. In fact it's a nice contrast to all the [email protected] out there in Video Games. :) I think Emil does skate on that fine line between wimpy and whiny and your mileage may vary but he never pushed it for me. Maybe it's because when ever he got too annoying his [email protected] side got some screen time. BUT there's no way anyone can argue against Emil and Marta. They were so cute together. Especially when you get the good ending. Brought tears to my eyes. :D
Wait…Emil actually has fans?!
Emil is annoying at the beginning but he gets pretty cool later on, and he has Marta :3, besides, Emil on ratatosk mode is awesome.
Oh and i love Emil's/Ratatosk's fighting style, is my favorite fighting style of all the "Tales of" Characters i've seen
Shut up, Hope fan. Emil is great!
Nice :0!
a main character who is actually 3 people? what isn't to like about it!
(emil, the amnesia made persona, ratatosk the guardian, and the corpse of the final bosses friend.)
i liked how much he changed in the game. he was almost useless at the beginning, and by the end of the game he was pretty much leading the way.
A pretty good tales main character indeed! ^^
Emil: Ha… Hahahaha! Darkness Devours! Ain… Soph… AUR!!!
lets not forget that its counter-able!
Yes but TS can't counter it since he's from KHR!
Wait…Vaan actually has fans?!
Yes, I thought Emil was the most real and relatable Tales character to me on a personal level. A very memorable character, with great development as the game went on. He'd be in my Top 3 favourite Tales characters.
Agreed. I really liked both Emil and Marta and they're definitely among my favourites in the Tales series. Both of them felt much more human to me flaws and all and not just designed to be 'likeable'.
Maaaan,MH and Pokemon are like two titans opposing each other in sales,of course Pokemon still has better numbers,but still they are sooo close.
The power of the Tales Of… Saga compells you!!! :3 SO MANY CHARACTERS!!! ;D A must for any fan!
The Last Story looks like its floundering
That worries me too….
You still have to consider the fact that it outsold Monado, their previous game so its not a total loss. Besides, over 100k is pretty good.
agreed, nis tries to hit the 50k mark with there games(higher when its something like disgaea)
yes but NIS is considerably smaller than the company that made this game, just compare their finances and we can easily see why NIS would enjoy 50K sales and more…
What? I think 100K is good only if its a small company…100K for a Wii game..well, thats really nothing to write home about considering say its lifetime sales were beat out in one week by the a psp non mainline tales of game and a ps3make of a wii game…
The Last Story being a new ip says hi.
You make it sound like its an IP in the sense that they will start a "last story" series after it. I cant even imagine they made much money off of selling so few copies.
Don't even begin to use that defense. It's creator is only the creator of one of the biggest franchises in RPG history.
Not to mention, I could bring up a list of new IP's this gen that sold more than 200k in Japan, but on the PS3/360. End of Eternity (Resonance of Fate), Bayonetta, etc… I honestly think that the only thing that held Last Story back was the console it was released for. Otherwise, there is NO reason for it to sell that poorly. Sakaguchi is a well respected creator whose previous games have sold millions. I mean Blue Dragon sold 210k on a system that no one in Japan buys (the 360). Saying Last Story is a new franchise is no excuse, whatsoever.
And when I say this, I say it with sadness, only because whether I can play it or not, everyone can see how much love and care Sakaguchi puts into his games. And it makes me a bit sad to see one wasted like that.
Also, if Xenoblade is any indication (Media Create revealed that from 06/10/2010 until 01/02/2011 that it had sold 161,161), The Last Story will probably reach around 200k for it's LTD.
Which is pretty good considering it is a new ip.
Is it even going to outsell Blue Dragon?
Isshan, I just wanted to point out that the tag for "This Week in Sales" seems to be missing.
Also, comparing Samurai Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends to 3Z isn't really a fair comparison, when XL is an "expansion pack" to SW3 and the other is not.
Ahh, thanks for pointing out the missing tag! I'll add it in. As for 3Z/Xtreme Legends, I wasn't implying that the Wii version was inferior in any way if that's what you were thinking. :)
Ni no Kuni is still sticking around! I'm so proud to see that game doing so well.
If only the first Radiant Mythology sold so well in NA. Maybe then we could've had 2 and then 3. =(
Those Last Story sales are sad. I know Wii third party titles don't sell particularly well, as a rule, but I figured with it pedigree, it'd be Nintendo's Final Fantasy.
And actually, I could've sworn it actually was a first party title, but it says Konami there.
The Konami thing has got to be a mistake. It was published by Nintendo in Japan.
I thought it was. I was very confused when I saw the Konami thing.
I commented on this too. I think it's basically that no one cares about the pedigree, other than a set group of fans (all of whom bought the game). And speaking from my own feelings, The Last Story isn't really such a good game as to deserve mindblowing sales: it came across (to me) as a total let down of years of hard work and effort.
Well it looks like everyone's fears about The Last Story are indeed true…as satisfying as Sakaguchi must feel in being free of Square, I can't but help he is also somewhat upset as you know TLS would have sold better were it a Square[Enix] game…
On a side note, it appears that table has an error as Nintendo published TLS, not Konami.
As for Tales of the World 3…I'm surprised it did so well as stores have already started to lower its price.
Gooch would have been better off releasing his games on the PS3. I guess he goes where the highest bidder is which has limited his sales.
I think it might be more about financing actually. It's probable that Nintendo contributed money or something to the project. And of course it took responsibility for all of the marketing and distribution.
Mistwalker has yet to produce anything for the PS3 whatsoever, something I think might also be a result of the company's inability to hire a programming team that can adequately work with the PS3 resources: making a game for the Wii is a LOT easier.
Just to clarify — Mistwalker don't do the actual hands-on programming work themselves; they're simply a design studio. The technical aspect has always been outsourced to AQ Interactive studios like Artoon (Blue Dragon, Last Story) or FeelPlus (Lost Odyssey).
That said, the cost of development is definitely a factor, regardless of whether they're outsourcing or not. Having stable publishers like Microsoft and Nintendo fund their games is far more important than making giant sales at the moment given that Mistwalker aren't a giant company.
Buuut yea. Last Story definitely deserved more than the numbers on that chart. The question is, how much did they expect it to sell. I'm certain Nintendo had realistic expectations in mind for it…they're well aware what a wasteland the Wii market is in Japan right now.
What I am saying is Mistwalkers games have been funded by game companies trying to gain a stake in japans hardcore gaming community, but his big games have not gone naturally to where they would have had the biggest sales or the biggest impact with an established target market. Doesn't it makes sense that the FF userbase might be the most receptive to his games?
I would say that description only applies to the Microsoft of three years ago. Nintendo are the most single most global publisher in the games industry right now, and they take worldwide sales into account any time they fund a big-budget title, whether it's first-party or not.
Also, while the FF audience in Japan might have been more receptive of the game, you've also got to take a game's budget into account. The Last Story is as content-rich as it is because it isn't a PS3 game, and because the system they developed it for is cheaper/easier to work with.
@Ishan Content rich? Isn't Last Story a 30 hour game? Nier, Star Ocean, Ar Tonelico 3, resonance of Fate and Tales of Vesperia say hi.
Plus it is clear Nintendo was trying to use Last Story to get more hardcore gamers on the system. They have admitted the problem in the past.
This is something that I have personally argued on many occasions as well. Why exactly, did he make Lost Odyssey for the 360? The console was doomed to fail here and yet he still went ahead and made the choice. (Again though, I suspect financing was a key issue, especially when you look at all the studios MS paid in the early days, to make games for it).
It's sad, because Lost Odyssey would have been the first "real" RPG for the PS3 at the time, and thus could have potentially sold far, far more. And personally, I think LO was the best game produced by Mistwalker and should have been the start of a full-blown series.
And you know that Sony (or whomever would have published the game on the PS3) would have put something like "From the Creator of Final Fantasy" on the box or something to immediately get attention from the consumer.
The thing is that TLS is designed to be a very replayable game, rather than an overly long one. The focus was on making it not long to complete, but a game that you could come back to and still discover new quests, weapons, dungeons etc. I'd say "streamlined" is probably a suitable word to use.
And I agree that Japan is definitely a part of the overall picture, but it's not the only market in the world. Nintendo are still funding core Wii games in Japan (Fatal Frame, that Tower game that people think is by Monlith etc.), and they're very well aware of how those will probably sell.
I'm just saying, the global picture is important to keep in mind, before we start to say the game should've been on a different platform (which is a moot point anyway, because the game wouldn't have existed without its publisher). After all, look at Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter…both of those series benefited from being published on new platforms overseas.
The same could be said for Final Fantasy, back when Square moved it from N64 to PS1. Sony weren't a big game industry player at the time, so you could likely have argued that Squaresoft moved the game to the "wrong" system, and that's precisely what a lot of people said back in those days. Another example is Atlus publishing Persona 3/4 on the PS2. Budgets/sales/global reach are all factors.
Yes, thanks for that; I was actually going to say the same thing in the previous post. My thinking was alluding more to the overhead costs, and that perhaps Nintendo contributed something to the project overall, or may have secretly commissioned it or whatnot. With respect to the programming, I was not sure which AQ studio made the game, and therefore if they had experience with PS3 development. (Actually part of me was thinking Nintendo itself had made the game).
Putting aside the conflicting opinions of if TLS is a great game or not, I think it's clear that both Mistwalker and Nintendo should seek to find the root cause of this consumer malaise. It's quite possible that interest in the Wii is so depressed at this point in time, that only the most hard-core gamers would buy TLS. It's possible that the core audience who would have bought the game simply doesn't have a Wii, and weren't prepared to buy one specifically for it. It's also conceivable that the RPG demographic has changed so radically as to be outright disinterested in anything not MMORPG/Monster Hunter-like. (And yet Sakaguchi even tried to target this by allowing Online Co-Op).
And let's not forget the talent involved with this game on the whole: creatively, musically, even visually. Again, putting aside opinions on quality and content, just looking at how something like Dirge of Cerberus sold based on the fan community's interest (i.e. without knowing how bad the game was) it's all the more astonishing…
Then again, maybe it's just that no one really cares about Hironobu Sakaguchi. Perhaps the real issue is that his name carries very little value among the mainstream gamer and thus people don't care what he makes. All they have cared about is the title, and because he doesn't make Final Fantasy anything now, they don't move from SquareEnix support.
I'm sure any of us could go on for days debating the cause of this situation really, but there is something to be said for a game like Xenoblade selling so well (comparatively) and this one faring so poorly. As there are/were FAR more fans of Final Fantasy than there were Xeno-anything, I would find it hard to believe that XB achieved higher sales simply because it came from Monolith Software.
I agree fully…it is rather disturbing to see a game like TLS (subjective quality aside, like you said) being ignored by such a large portion of the market. It's also safe to assume that far more gamers that would be interested in a game like Last Story own Wiis than people who actually bought the game. Monster Hunter Tri sold very well, and well…there are a lot of Wii owners in Japan.
I'm starting to wonder if it isn't simply a question of perception. One factor is definitely the general quality of software on the Wii. Owners of that system are likely used to the garbage that most publishers choose to release on it, so it could simply be that they don't trust anything other than a known I.P. at this point. Disasters like FF Crystal Chronicles and Tales of Graces probably did little to help, too.
The other possibility I can think of (also related to perception) is that the Wii doesn't really have stellar RPG on it to convince people that there's a future for those games on the platform. If I think back to the DS, I recall that the RPG support for it REALLY took off in full force after Square announced Dragon Quest IX would be a DS game.
By the time DQX releases, obviously, it'll be too late for it to be any sort of leading example. I don't know if there's anything Nintendo can really do about the core Wii market in Japan right now.
And finally, it could also just be how the Japanese market is at the moment, where the average consumer is reluctant to invest in any sort of new I.P unless it's on a portable system.
update: Just wanted to add — your theory on Sakaguchi's name carrying little weight is entirely plausible, too. It would be very ironic if more people bought the game on account of it being "by the creator of Final Fantasy" overseas than in Japan.
Ishaan, there is no space left to reply to your comments below so I will type them here.
Perception is a good topic to point out, as indeed when one looks at the sheer number of games available for the Wii and then considers their overall quality, it's quite alarming. Along with Crystal Chronicles and Tales of Graces, I would also add games like Sengoku Musou 3Z which, according to The Magic Box, has sold more than 9X more than the Wii version.
I find it a bit ironic that Nintendo seems to be annoyed by this, yet it doesn't want to accept the fact that its business model and decisions are what caused the problem in the first place. Why doesn't the PS3 have as much crap? Simply because of how much money it costs to make a game for it. The Wii is making use of hardware from almost a decade ago and thus any developer with a decent sum of money can churn out a modern Gamecube game. This makes it all the more sad when you have a developer who DOES put in as much effort into a Wii title as one would a PS3 title, and it "flops".
In addition, through Nintendo's courting the "non-gamer" to its ranks, it has facilitated the "need" for all this garbage software. Before the game consoles were always for gamers/kids, and thus the software would still be crap but on a more limited scale, but the appeal of the Wii has blown the roof off the box. Grandparents and housewives aren't going to buy a racing game regardless of its quality. They might, however, be interested in some kind of gimmicky sport or leisure game.
Nintendo's management needs to make a decision as to where it's going. When you look at someone like Howard Stringer, he has a clear goal for Sony and plans to get it there, despite the fact that said course of action all but eliminates any semblance of uniqueness and creativity that once defined the company. He was, essentially, called in as a rescue plan.
I don't see where Iwata is taking Nintendo. Was his goal to appeal to the widest audience possible? If so then he succeeded. But if that was in fact his goal, he can't then turn around and get angry that the core gamer has deserted him. Was his goal to ensure strong support for the Wii by making development very easy? If so then he succeeded, but he can't turn around and complain about all the crap that was also made in the process.
As things are right now, it really seems like a total fluke that resulted in the current success, and that Nintendo has no clue whatsoever how to deal with it other than try to offer direct branding and whatnot. But this of course doesn't work because the entire situation has been turned on its head and thus real strategy and planning is necessary less more and more 3rd party developers jump ship.
Hehe, that's one thing we'll always disagree on. I think Iwata's a brilliant man, and I think he knows what he's doing. Howard Stringer is, too, no doubt…but I don't think Sony have had much to be proud of from a business perspective over the last 4 years at all, and we'll see how Stringer's rescue mission works out in a while.
I think the situation with the Wii can be rectified with their next console. The situation with third-parties is very much a learning process, and as long as Nintendo continue to keep trying new things, it's just something they'll have to account for right from the start. I think the 3DS already shows that they understand this to a great extent.
I don't think Iwata has ever complained, honestly. He points out facts, sure, but I've never seen him complain about a situation and do nothing to address it. I don't understand your dislike for him, haha…in my opinion, he's the best president they've had, since he's an ex-developer turned manager and he clearly understands Nintendo's shortcomings and is trying to fix them. :p
Again, there is no room to reply to your previous message, so I will post it here.
My opinion of Iwata is linked with my comments that Nintendo doesn't seem to have any goal for its future. The success of the Wii and DS weren't really anticipated, rather they happened by sheer "accident" and thus while it's great financially, it doesn't really say much about Nintendo's future prospects. Various business management consultants I've spoken with have pointed out a number of problems/faults with the company's management and performance as well, with profitability being one of them.
From a gamer perspective, I can easily see why people would love Iwata, so I am in no way trying to claim my dislike of him is "correct" or even "warranted". Like with my opinion of SquareEnix, much of my thinking has been "tainted", so to speak, in this context, by that of consultants and whatnot.
With respect to your other point, Nintendo didn't used to have problems with 3rd parties. Think back to the Famicom and Super Famicom days. How many games released for those two consoles, and yet the 3rd party offerings really stood out. Square comes to mind, as does Enix, Capcom, Konami…and Nintendo has never really had a problem with its portable consoles as much as it has the home consoles, since the N64 era. Feel free to dispute me on this if you think I'm wrong BTW.
Anyway, IMHO the problem is very much tied to the users: the Wii has "failed" the hardcore gamer that once constituted almost all of Nintendo's consumers, and as a result when you have "hardcore gamer games" like The Last Story, they don't respond. I think you have a good point about Dragon Quest X, because that would immediately awaken a substantial portion of the core gamer market, but also like you said, too little too late. The game doesn't even have a release date; it may very well be pushed to the next Nintendo platform for all we know, or even moved to the 3DS. I would actually question the logic behind SE releasing DQX as a Wii game in 2012 given that the console is almost dead now. I very much saw XB and TLS as indicative of the final arc in the lifespan.
Sorry I took a while to reply to this…I was exhausted yesterday. But now I'm glad I waited!
We're all entitled to our opinions, of course, but I do think it's a little odd that people still think the Wii/DS were both entirely a fluke. While it's true that their success was unexpected, Nintendo have been very careful about not tiring those successful massively-mainstream games out by reiterating on them repeatedly (see: Guitar Hero).
So, I do feel like they've adapted very quickly to this new market that they've carved out for themselves, and that it's been a very significant learning experience for them. I understand third-parties were a different matter back in the Famicom days, but the market was very different in those days, there was less competition, and they had a very different kind of president running the show.
As for Sony…I kind of feel about them the exact same way you feel about Nintendo. Don't get me wrong; I love Sony. I adore my PSP and I'm very fond of a lot of Sony's first-party stuff like Wipeout and Motorstorm. The thing is, if there's any company lacking direction at this point, in my eyes, it's them.
Apple announces smartphone that can play games? Here's Xperia play! Nintendo has motion controls? Here's SIXAXIS/Move! iPad market is doing well? Here's our very own tablet! Do you see what I mean? It's like they're being dragged around by everyone else. :p
If I could, my main team would be Yuri, Yuri, Yuri. You can NEVER get too much Yuri Lowell. Period.
But, seeing as that's probably not possible, I'm going to go with Yuri, Luca, and either Raine, Zelos or Sheena. :D
Don't give up so fast! Everything is possible as long as it is Yuri! xO
No really I love him and that as a dude. <3
But I like your team. :D
You're right! Nothing can stop Yuri, greatest of the unsung heroes! >:D
I swear, if I was a woman, I'd have Yuri's kids. Seeing as I'm not, all I can do is offer my body. XD
What's your team? Is it as good as Yuri, Yuri, Yuri, or Yuri, Luca, Kohak? (I decided I'd probably pick Kohak. If she's not available, then Raine. :D)
Agreed, it's all I can do too. xD
Nothing is as good as Yuri, Yuri, Yuri..actually I always have a hard time deciding when it comes to something like this, Yuri, is a no-brainer, but the rest..Rutee, Sheena, Spada, Asch, Estelle, Judith, Rita, Shing, Kohak, Hisui, Asbel, Cheria, Emil, Marta etc. they're all so great for me. Argh I can't~ xD
See, I know there are a ton of other characters I love. Spada, Iria, Nanaly, Senel, Reid, Lloyd, Judith, Chloe, and god knows who else. Too many to list, which is why it's nice that we can switch around. But…there has to be a main party, and I can't pick either!!! XD
Exactly, argh I just stop to think about it, the game will tell me which group will be my main, this way it's easier for me. :P
Though honestly if Repede would have been playable, I would be one happy panda. xD
Oh god, the idea of putting Repede and Yuri together in a party would just blow everything else out of the water. What would I do with Luca then?! I love Luca!! ;_;
You know what? I agree with you! We should just let the game pick for us, and hope that at some point we get to play it in English too. :D
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (PS3 version) does well.
No surpurises for Tales of the World getting the #1 and a strong position as well. And maybe, just maybe, Monster Hunter 3rd Portable hit the 5 million spot.


text:
As we've stated time and again, securing the perimeter is not the way to go. Rather, you should concentrate on securing your most important assets. We made the case for asset-based security in January and February of this year. Securing the perimeter is about closing off all incoming connections. Congratulations, you've solved ... nothing. Perimeter security doesn't guard against Internet Explorer exploits, e-mail exploits via Outlook, internal attacks or socially engineered attacks. Firewalls aren't mystical boxes that magically keep out the bad people. The perimeter is huge and full of entry points. Remote laptop users can bring a virus or worm into an organization behind the firewall next time they come into the office or connect over a VPN. Securing the perimeter is helpful, and educating users on how to do it is noble, but Microsoft should focus on making its products secure and bug-free.
The move to monthly patch releases is intriguing. I know many will argue against it, but monthly releases will be easier for enterprises to work with, assuming that people actively patch and the vulnerability isn't disclosed until a week or two after the patches are available.
We welcome your comments on this topic on our social media channels, or [contact us directly] with questions about the site.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Ok, so my favorite thing in this game and most other MMO's has always been healing. I used to love nothing more than playing my resto druid in Wrath, miss the Rejuv blanketing and not worrying about mana. Then in cata with the loss of tree form I nearly deleted him and couldn't stand the new healing style. I leveled a shammy and enjoyed them but now with the loss of totems they are not nearly as fun either. I played The secret world a lot this summer and loved the spam style healing there where you had no resource to manage, but rather combo points for 2 weapons, I fell in love with the Assault Rifle style of DPS healing.
Now OT I am looking for opinions on which of the "DPS" healers is more fun/ Better Monk or Disc priest? I have a lvl 45ish disc priest and I love playing him, but want to know if the monk is more fun or even better as I prefer melee dps? Any help or opinions are appreciated.


text:
SANTA CLARITA — On almost any Wednesday night for the past two years, JoKema Du Bois, 15, and her 14-year-old sister, Barbara, would either call their pastor for a ride, or get their grandmother to drop them off for youth night at a local church.
The girls were too young to drive.
But on Wednesday, JoKema hopped in the driver's seat of her grandma's gold-colored 1986 Chrysler LeBaron anyway. Piling in behind her were Barbara and several friends, Gena Watkinson, 15; Alicia Acevedo, 14, and 3 1/2-year-old Jesica Noell, who lived with a boarder in the Du Bois home.
Someone put seat belts around Jesica in the back seat, but she was not restrained in a child safety seat, authorities said.
Family members said it was the first time JoKema had taken the car.
A few hours later, after the girls had listened to a sermon on eternal life, police said JoKema lost control of the car, sideswiped a pickup truck, and then slammed head-on into a second truck.


text:
Award-winning poet and novelist Simon Armitage has been commissioned by Channel Five to write a poem for a documentary to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The poem, which will be narrated by actor Rufus Sewell, will be told from the viewpoint of a fictional trader who worked inside one of New York's Twin Towers and will tell the stories of the workers who lost their lives.
Armitage's poem will form the basis of a documentary, 9:11 - Out of the Blue, which will be interwoven with eyewitness accounts, interviews with survivors and personal stories from those affected.
The programme is being made by independent production company Silver River and will air on the anniversary of the attacks.
Daisy Goodwin, the executive producer and founder of Silver River, said she hoped Armitage's "salty, unflinching poem" would offer a new way of understanding the "incomprehensible" attacks.
The poem is Armitage's second collaboration with Five and the same Silver River production team. Last year he wrote a poem to commemorate VE Day.
Both pieces were commissioned by the Five controller of history, Alex Sutherland.
· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email email@example.com or phone 020 7239 9857
· If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".


text:
The day regular season football came to London
Well we were there. 21 years after the Cowboys and Bears played an exhibition game in London, the Dolphins and Giants played a regular season game at the new Wembley Stadium. And I thought it only right I should add my two-penneth to the many comments that have been written on the event.
I was lucky enough to have media access thanks to
The Tampa Tribune
so was able to go down on the field before the game, go anywhere in the stadium during it, and then get some good locker room quotes afterwards.
Down on the field were a combination of regular American TV and radio crews doing their thing, and a couple of Sky Sports News clowns who didn't know one team from the other. Tony Siragusa was walking round bitching about the conditions to anyone in earshot, and Daryl "Moose" Johnston was trying to impress everyone with his flash suit.
Then up bounds Mike Carlson, absolutely full of himself after a couple of people apparently kept calling out "that you and Channel Five are much better than Sky". That's all I need - the Red Sox have won the World Series and Mr C thinking he's top of the ratings!
During the game
Everyone, and I mean everyone, in the press box was checking out all the other game scores for fantasy league purposes. The biggest cheer of the day came from a guy from
Stars and Stripes
, the American forces' paper, when Eli Manning ran 10 yards for a score as he had just put him in as a starter.
And hearing grief from a Scottish guy from the Associated Press when Lawrence Tynes scored was only retaliated when he missed a field-goal later in the game. It then took us 10 minutes to explain the England-Scotland rivalry thing to the rest of the American media around us.
The facilities for the press are second to none. Network cables, enough power leads and individual TV screens are a hell of a change from the old stadium. All of the staff were incredibly helpful - if only I could have avoided walking about three miles round and up and down the stadium during the day.
The Five Live and Jon Cusack story
The row behind me in the press area was being used by Five Live for their in-game commentary on the game. Arlo White was taking a major career change from Test Match Special to call the game and did a really admirable job in only his third NFL game on the microphone. He certainly appreciated the feedback at half-time.
Actor Jon Cusack was doing a guest spot during the third quarter although was spending as much time following the Chicago-Detroit game on my lap-top as he is a devoted Bears' fan. After he had finished on the radio, I went over to get a few quotes on the game from him. He proceeded to think I was after an autograph and tried to grab my notebook to sign it. The American guy on the commentary with Arlo was laughing so hard he could hardly speak. Perhaps I should have told Cusack that I thought he was crap in "Eight Men Out".
As Jocelyn Brown came out to sing the national anthem, David Croft of Five Live was desperately asking for the name of her biggest hit. "Somebody else's guy" came the answer from an 80s music buff like myself and David promptly says the same thing on air. It was of course the right answer, but I spent the rest of the game telling him I had made it up.
Good points
Seeing a lot of old friends and meeting a lot of new ones. Former FFL owners Rob Shaw, Rob Shaw Jr and Gareth James. Long-time Niners fan David Findlay, former Gridiron UK editor Ross Biddiscombe were just some of the familiar faces I kept bumping into.
Talking with Ian Allen of
Sky Sports
and finding out that he too, along with Neil Reynolds, Rob Hart, Scott Couper and myself, have fallen victim to Kev Cadle's habit of changing subjects just as you go live on air after a commercial. And he had thought it was just him.
Talking with Martin Johnson and finding out that he has almost, and I stress almost, forgiven me for winding him up live on Sky during a 2002 playoff game between the Bucs and 49ers.
Getting stuck in a lift for 10 minutes with former Miami Dolphin TE Joe Rose and hearing stories about him playing with Dan Marino and for Don Shula.
Bad points
The number of muppets and NFL dweebs who were there who actually thought they knew a lot about the game. Which pretty much included anyone wearing a Monarchs or Claymores jersey.
The person who went up to Ben Martin-Dye who was wearing a Bucs' 97 jersey and asked if "that was Jerry Rice's shirt".
The wet weather which put the total kybosh on a big Bucs UK get-together. Naturally when the game had finished, it stopped raining.
And who wasn't there ...
No sign of Andy Colvin, "former columnist of First Down" in the press box. Perhaps the local off license had an offer on cans of Special Brew and he found a couple of local tramps to bore with stories about a mate of his who plays for the Raiders. Then again, didn't see Keith Webster either which was a shame.
In the locker room
And a chance to catch up with Dolphins' kicker Jay Feely who I had spoken to during the practice session on the Friday. Naturally he was disappointed at having lost, and for missing a fieldgoal and having a bad onside kick attempt, but apart from that .... Feely is a really class act who took time to speak to several Dolphin fans during his time in London and refused to make excuses like many other players.
And then there was Lawrence Tynes, who decided to sport a Celtic football shirt during his post-game interview. "My Dad is a season ticket holder at Parkhead and came down to London today but couldn't get a ticket" said the Greenock-born Giants' kicker. "That's a ****ing shame" came a voice from behind me, causing all the British media to fall about laughing.
And the final words ...
Come from Ross Biddiscombe, the man who caused me to start this whole Bucs UK thing back in 1984. "Perhaps I'm too long in the tooth to get that excited today" he said whilst also pointing out that he is now playing off a nine handicap. "This just doesn't give me the same sense of history as 1986. It is history today, but it's all been done before."
The NFL will be back again next year and perhaps then, the American media might just realise that a lot of us here know a lot more about the game, than a lot of the people back in the States.


text:
Hello everyone! Today we have an special treat for all of you!
A few days ago we uploaded a couple outtakes of a photoshoot Leona did for The Times (UK). Well now the full set has appeared and we have it!! Unfortunately the photos have a huge tag in the middle of them, but they're so amazing that its worth seeing them! This set was taken by Chris McAndrew and Leona looks amazing! Love how happy she looks on some of the outtakes! Click on the thumbnails bellow to enjoy of this *EXCLUSIVE* photoshoot:
» Gallery Links:
• Photoshoot > 2010 > Chris McAndrew


text:
Can global rating - in addition to rating by checklists - effectively contribute to a more precise evaluation of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)?
Kann "Global rating" – in Ergänzung zur Bewertung der Prüflinge mit Hilfe von Checklisten – zu einer präziseren Auswertung einer OSCE-Prüfung beitragen?
Suche in Medline nach
|14. November 2007
Background: Within the curriculum at the medical faculty of Witten/Herdecke university OSCE examinations have a considerable significance. Together with the Modified Essay Questionnaires (MEQ) they replace the state medical examinations at this medical faculty.
Aims: We aimed at investigating during OSCE1 (internal medicine and orthopedic surgery) for the 2 years students if an additional global rating in two stations might be of useful for a more exact and more reliable assessment of students´ performance.
Methods: During winter term 2006/2007 OSCE 1 in two long stations additionally to checklist rating global rating by independent experts was implemented for the first time for experimental reasons. At that early stage of research global rating results were not integrated into the students´ official assessments and diplomas.
Results: Results obtained by global rating went partially in line with results obtained by checklist rating. In the foreseen presentation it is intended to demonstrate in detail results of global rating in comparison to conventional rating results obtained by using checklists.
Conclusions: We recommend additional global rating to improve the reliability of OSCE examinations. Global rating contributes to a more precise and more effective assessment and evaluation of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination.


text:
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On 21 August 2014, The Tax Institute held an event centred upon the ATO's current offshore voluntary disclosure initiative, Project DO IT (Disclose Offshore Income Today). The presenters for the event were:
- Adrian Abbott CTA (Crowe Horwath)
- Michael Cranston, Deputy Commissioner (ATO)
- Tom Lickess ATI (Deloitte)
- Jeff McAlister, Assistant Commissioner (ATO)
- Ken Schurgott CTA-Life (Schurgott Noolan Ardagna Lawyers).
Delegates who attended the event had an opportunity to gain a better understanding of why the ATO were undertaking this offshore disclosure initiative. Delegates had direct access to two senior ATO officers and Tax Institute members expert in this area.
Michael's presentation provided an overview of Project DO IT and outlined why taxpayers with undisclosed income or assets should come forward under this initiative. Michael emphasised the changing international tax environment and how the ATO was increasing its collaboration with international agencies to deal with tax evasion.
Tom's paper focused on the mechanics of the Project and raised important issues such as foreign exchange gains and losses, treatment of tax losses, options in the event of limited information and the requirement of a true and correct disclosure.
Ken's paper concentrated on the settlement deed and structuring for bringing offshore funds/entities onshore. The examples of a company structure with uncrystallised gains and a foreign trust with accumulated untaxed earnings provided food for thought. Ken highlighted the technical issues of onshoring.
The Q & A session focused on
- the four year disclosure period,- the exclusion of taxpayers who are persons of interest,
- the no names expressions of interest,
- disclosure of the offshore structure -- companies and trusts,
- the onshoring of entities and assets,
- disclosure of advisors- the settlement deed,
As a result of the open discussion the ATO plan to run a workshop to better understand some of the different types of offshore structures through which assets are held offshore and will then be providing additional guidance in response to the queries raised.
For members keen to find out more, Tom Lickess and Jeff McAlister will be presenting a webinar to be held on Tuesday 28 October 2014. Find out more about the Tax Amnesty – Project DO IT Webinar or Register for the webinar. (Can't make that date? Register now and receive the recording the day after the event to watch whenever you need it.)


text: Module Name: syssrc Committed By: thorpej Date: Thu Jul 15 23:18:43 UTC 1999 Modified Files: syssrc/sys/compat/linux/common: linux_misc.c syssrc/sys/kern: kern_exit.c syssrc/sys/sys: proc.h Log Message: A few things to make the Linux clone(2) emulation work a bit better: - When the exit signal is specified to be 0, don't just assume they meant SIGCHLD. In the Linux world, this appears to mean "don't deliver an exit signal at all". - Simplify P_EXITSIG(); don't check against initproc here, just change the exit signal to SIGCHLD if reparenting to initproc. A very simple clone(2) test program now works, and the MpegTV package starts, but doesn't run properly yet (I believe there is a separate bug which keeps it from working properly). To generate a diff of this commit: cvs rdiff -r1.58 -r1.59 syssrc/sys/compat/linux/common/linux_misc.c cvs rdiff -r1.69 -r1.70 syssrc/sys/kern/kern_exit.c cvs rdiff -r1.77 -r1.78 syssrc/sys/sys/proc.h Please note that diffs are not public domain; they are subject to the copyright notices on the relevant files.


text:
The foundation of MVB is a deep-rooted culture, where relationships matter most and there is a sincere belief that success is best achieved through building trusted partnerships.
- Larry F. Mazza, CEO & President, MVB Bank, Inc.
To protect your confidential information, please guard your cards closely. Should you lose or have your card stolen, we are here to ensure your personal information is protected.
Each member of Team MVB takes great pride in providing sound solutions for all your financial needs and we focus on what really matters - you.
The MVB Wealth Management Solutions group provides investment guidance and expertise in conjunction with the nationally-respected firm of Raymond James Financial Services. Including a team of seasoned professionals, our Wealth Management Solutions services create financial, investment, and wealth management results.
MVB Mortgage succeeds on a mission to provide a consumer experience which exceeds a clients' expectations. With a team of 85+ loan officers, loan officer assistants serving clients in four states and the District of Columbia, MVB Mortgage is considered a proactive mortgage origination resource in the industry.


text:
The photographs in the series, Natural Order, are about the complex, tenuous, and often contradictory relationships people have with the natural world. They express our fear of elemental chaos, alienation from nature, and our attempts to protect ourselves and put ourselves above the natural order. However, these images also reveal our fascination with natural beauty and wildness, and our reverence for the immutable forces of our planet.
Prints from Natural Order were exhibited in a solo show at Hudson Beach Glass in Philadelphia in the summer of 2009. The show was written up in the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia City Paper. The series was also featured on the popular arts blog BOOOOOOOM!
December 12, 2010


text:
Not the biggest fan of AT-ATs but the detail put into this set is truly something to admire. I would probably get one just alone on that fact.:) The question becomes, how much of that detail can be held when TLG takes out half the part count?
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!


text:
Garth Brooks, Kid Rock + More Set for George Jones' Final Show
Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:36:54
Garth Brooks Photos
Garth Brooks Videos
George Jones' send off continues to pull in some major, A-list names. The singer's final show, which is set for Friday, November 22, 2013 at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, is shaping up to be a seriously star-studded bash, as Garth Brooks, Kid Rock, Shelby Lynne, The Oak Ridge Boys and Sam Moore are the latest acts confirmed to appear at the historic event.
The celebrity-packed lineup also includes Dierks Bentley, Charlie Daniels, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Lorrie Morgan, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, Josh Turner and Gene Watson. More stars are expected to be announced as performers gear up to pay tribute to one of the world's most accomplished recording artists.
"Being joined by so many incredible singers while doing what I love will be truly heartwarming," says George Jones. "It's shaping up to be more than I expected or could have ever imagined," he adds.
George Jones, often referred to as the "the greatest living country singer" will mark the end of an era with 2013's farewell tour titled "The Grand Tour," The tour is expected to make approximately 44 stops this year. The icon's hits, "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair," "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes," "White Lightning" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today" will surely be part of each night's set list, along with plenty of guests and surprises.
Who is your favorite country act?
—Maggie Pannacione


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Grammy® Live: Gig of a Lifetime Contest
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Administrator, Sponsor & Prize Provider: CBS Interactive Inc. ("
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Contest Entities: CBSI; CBS Broadcasting Inc. ("
"), 51 West 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019; The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (the "
Recording Academy
"), 3402 Pico Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90405; Stuzio Inc and Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA, 98052.
Contest Description:
Each Participant (as defined below) entering the "
Grammy Live: Gig of a Lifetime
" contest (the "
") will nominate himself/herself and the music band he/she is a part of (the "
"), such Band cannot have more than four (4) members, for the opportunity to perform in a 2013 Grammy Live event and if selected by Microsoft, to appear on a Microsoft TV commercial/advertising. Participants must upload or have uploaded an audio-visual recording (the "
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Video Sites
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CBSI Service
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1. Acceptance of Official Rules. By entering the Contest operated on the CBSI Service, you Band member ("
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Official Rules
") of this Contest, and the decisions of the Administrator in connection with this Contest, whose decisions are final.
2. Eligibility. This Contest is offered and open to persons who are: (a) legal residents of one (1) of the United States, (b) who are at least 18 years old or age of majority, whichever is older in their state of residence, at the date of entry into this Contest, and are members of a Band. Employees, independent contractors and directors, and their immediate family members, of the Contest Entities and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies, advertising and promotion agencies and legal and financial advisors are not eligible to participate in this Contest. For purpose of the foregoing, "
immediate family
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"). In the event of a tie, the Judges will re-evaluate the Contest Finalists' Videos based on the criteria above; the Judge's decision will be the deciding factor in breaking the tie and will be final and binding in all respects. The Winner will be revealed online and/or on-air on or about January 29, 2013. In the event more than one Video of a Band is submitted, only the first Video received will be considered. All Videos must comply with the Terms of Use of the Video Site on which it is uploaded, such Video Sites Terms of Use are incorporated herein by reference. If the Video does not comply with the Terms of Use of such Video Site, Contest Entities, at their sole discretion may disqualify the Video from the Contest.
Videos submitted after the Entry Period deadline will not be entered into the Contest and will not be eligible for publication on the CBSI Service. Multiple nominations for the same Band will not increase their chances of winning.
6. Videos Requirements: Video(s) cannot be longer than 5 minutes and no less than thirty 30 seconds, in duration. Video(s) file(s) cannot exceed one (1) Gigabyte in size. The Video must be an original creation of the Participant/Band submitting the video and only show the Band performing. Any entry that does not meet the entry criteria described herein may be disqualified in Administrator's sole discretion. The Video entry must be in English and must not be disparaging, abusive, sexually explicit, sexually suggestive, offensive, illegal, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, offensive, indecent, in bad taste, reflect negatively on the Contest Entities, promote or incite violence, terrorism, or illegal acts, or be otherwise objectionable (all as determined by the Contest Entities in their sole discretion). Additionally, the Video must not: i) infringe any third party's rights, including, without limitation, copyright, trademark, right of publicity, right of privacy or trade secret and, must not in any way violate applicable laws and regulations; ii) contain libelous or otherwise defamatory statements (including but not limited to words or symbols that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic group); and iii) contain any commercial content that promotes any product or service or contain or reference any third party names, logos, service marks, trademarks, copyrights, trade names or trade dress. The determination of whether a Video violates any of the above prohibitions shall be within the Administrator's sole discretion. If a Video is deemed by the Administrator to violate any such prohibition(s), the Video may in the discretion of the Administrator be disqualified, removed from the CBSI Service and the Participant shall not be eligible to participate in the Contest and/or win the Grand Prize (as defined below). Administrator reserve the right to take down any Video at any time during or after the Promotion Period and for any or no reason at all in Administrator's sole discretion.
Further, each Promotion Video:
1. must be suitable for presentation in a public forum, in the sole determination of the Contest Entities;
2. must be delivered by uploading the url link connecting to the Video, to the CBSI Service;
3. must not include any person other than the Participant, unless Participants has written permission from any and all third parties appearing on the Video (Contest Entities, at their sole discretion, will decide the sufficiency of any permission presented);
4. must not include non-original lyrics, music, sound recordings, video works, audio-visual works or any third party creative element without permission of such third party; and
5. must satisfy all eligibility requirements set forth herein.
7. Grand Prize: The Contest will award one (1) grand prize (the "
") that consists of a 5-day/4-night trip to Los Angeles, California (or the city from which the 2013 Grammy Award Show is broadcasted) for the Band (up to 4 members, each a Prize Winner) to perform live at a Grammy Live event ("
Grammy Event Experience
") and the opportunity to appear in a Microsoft TV commercial/advertising (to be taped during the trip) to take place on or about the week of February 4, 2013, and one (1) Surface tablet (with an approximate retail value of Four Hundred Ninety-Nine Dollars (US$499.00) each) for each of the Band members (four (4) in total). Trip includes up to four (4) round-trip coach airline tickets for the Winners to Los Angeles, California from a single major U.S. gateway airport nearest Winner's home (as determined by Sponsor), double occupancy standard hotel accommodations for four (4) nights and ground transfers in Los Angeles from hotel to Grammy Event (including equipment transportation) and Five Hundred Dollars (US$500.00) spending cash. Approximate retail value of the Prize is Sixteen Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety-Six Dollars (US$16,996.00).
Prize Restrictions. Trip is subject to Sponsor's production schedules. If a production is canceled, rescheduled (or, if for any reason, Sponsor is unable to provide the Grammy Event Experience or if the Winners cannot take the trip to be in Los Angeles on a date specified by the Sponsor, the Sponsor shall have no further obligation to the Winners other than to supply the trip to Los Angeles as described, minus the Grammy Event Experience and transfers, no compensation or substitution will be provided for difference in Prize value. All other expenses relating to acceptance of the Prize not explicitly stated herein, including but not limited to taxes, meals, beverages, alcoholic beverages and gratuities are responsibility of Winners. Certain travel restrictions may apply. Actual value may vary based on departure city and dates of travel. Specifics of Prize travel package are subject to availability and Sponsor's sole discretion. Complete terms and conditions of Prize trip will be furnished with Prize notification. Travel must be made through Sponsor's agent on a carrier of Sponsor's choice. Winners must travel on the same itinerary and are responsible for obtaining all required travel documents. If Winners reside within a 100 mile radius of Los Angeles, ground transportation may be provided for Winner in lieu of air transportation and no compensation or substitution will be provided for difference in Prize value. Winners are required to have reached the age of majority in his/her state of residence and each will be required to execute and return a liability/publicity release prior to ticketing. Prize is nontransferable. All taxes, including but not limited to federal, state, local, income and other taxes are the sole responsibility of the Prize Winners. No assignment, transfer or substitution of the Prize is permitted, except that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute the Prize with a prize of comparable or greater value. Prize is solely for personal use and may not be used in conjunction with any other promotion. All other costs and expenses not specified herein, if any, are the responsibility of the Winners. Prizes' details are at the sole discretion of the Contest Entities.
8. Prize Taxes. All federal, state, local and other tax liabilities arising from this Contest, including, without limitation, winning the Prize, will be the sole responsibility of the Winner. The Winner will be issued an IRS 1099 tax form for the value of their Prize.
9. Winner Notification: The Winners will be notified at the end of the Promotion Period. In the event that there are, in the opinion of the Administrator, insufficient legitimate entries to post for the public to vote on, Administrator reserves the right to select a Prize Winner from among all entries received. The potential Winner will be notified by email and/or by phone. If the potential Winner cannot be reached after a reasonable effort has been made during three (3) business days from the first notification attempt, such person may be disqualified at the discretion of the Administrator, with alternate Winners selected in accordance with these Official Rules.
10. Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability Release and Publicity Release. In order to receive the Prize, the potential Winner will be required to complete, execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability Release, and where lawful, a Publicity Release (collectively, the "
Release Forms
") within three (3) days of notification of winning. Failure to properly execute and return Release Forms in a timely manner, or if the Prize notification or the Prize is returned as non-deliverable, or if the Winner is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, may result in disqualification with an alternate Winner selected in accordance with these Official Rules. In addition, , Winner acknowledges and agrees to participate (and execute standard talent contracts/releases) if required, at Contest Entities sole and exclusive discretion, on a Microsoft TV commercial to be taped during the trip described above and aired during the broadcast of the 2013 Grammy Award Show. The details of the taping of the TV commercial are to be furnished upon Winner's arrival in Los Angeles.
11. Publicity Release Terms. Except where prohibited by law, the Winners' acceptance of the Prize constitutes permission for the Contest Entities to use the Winners' name, video, photograph, likeness, statements, biographical information, voice, and address (city and state) worldwide and in all forms of media, in perpetuity, without further compensation solely in connection with the Contest and identifying the Winner.
12. Improper Conduct. Administrator, in its sole discretion, may disqualify any entrant from participation in or use of any or all portions of this Contest, and refuse to award the Prize, if entrant engages in any conduct Administrator deems to be improper, unfair or otherwise adverse to the operation of the Contest or detrimental to other entrants of the Contest. Such improper conduct includes, without limitation, falsifying personal information required during entrant registration or the Prize claim, violating any term or condition stated herein, accumulating entries through methods such as automated computer scripts or any other programming techniques, allowing others to use entrant's personal information for the purpose of accumulating entries, or intentionally trying to defraud, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise tamper with the computer programs in connection with this Contest. Entrants agree that Administrator may void any part of a Prize that entrant may have won and/or require the return of any part of a Prize that entrant may have won as a result of such improper conduct. Entrant further acknowledges that any forfeiture of the a Prize and/or return of the any part of a Prize shall in no way prevent Contest Entities from pursuing other avenues of recourse such as criminal or civil proceedings in connection with such conduct. WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, EACH OF THE CONTEST ENTITIES RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
13. Integrity of Contest. If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as planned by reason of infection by computer virus, worms, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which Administrator, in its sole opinion, believes could corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Contest, Administrator reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend this Contest and select the Prize Winner from entries received prior to the action taken or in such other manner as Administrator may deem fair and appropriate.
14. Lost or Corrupted Entries. The Contest Entities, and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising, marketing and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, lost, late, incomplete, corrupted, stolen, misdirected, illegible or postage due entries or mail, if applicable; or for any computer, telephone, cable, network, satellite, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, unauthorized human intervention, or the incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry or other information, or the failure to capture any such information. The Contest Entities, and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies, advertising, marketing and promotion agencies, are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by registration information submitted by end users or tampering, hacking, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this Contest, and assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to the Contest.
15. Damaged Property. Contest Entities, and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising, marketing and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, injury or damage to any entrants or to any other person's computer or property related to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading materials from this Contest.
16. Contest Errors. The Contest Entities, and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies and advertising, marketing and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you hereby forever waive any rights to any claim in connection with, errors and/or ambiguity: (a) in the Contest; (b) in any related advertising, marketing or promotions of this Contest; and/or (c) in these Official Rules. In the event of any ambiguity(s) or error(s) in these Official Rules, Administrator reserves the right to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes or to correct any such ambiguity or error(s) without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Contest.
17. Prize and Winner. The Contest Entities, and their parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies, dealers and advertising, marketing and promotion agencies, assume no liability and are not responsible for, and you/entrant hereby forever waive/s any rights to any claim in connection with, the selection and announcement of the Winner, the distribution of the Prize, the acceptance/possession and/or use/misuse of any part of the Prize and/or any injury or damage to any entrant's or third party's person (including death) or property related to or resulting from any part of the Prize or any part of this Contest.
18. Release and Indemnity. Each entrant in this Contest, including, without limitation, the Winner, hereby releases and agrees to hold harmless the Contest Entities and their parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, dealers, advertising, marketing and promotion agencies and their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives, agents and assigns from any and all liability for any injuries, loss or damage of any kind to person, including death, and property, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the Prize, participation in this Contest and participation in any activity related to this Contest.
19. Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT WILL THE CONTEST ENTITIES, THEIR PARENTS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, DEALERS AND RELATED COMPANIES, THEIR ADVERTISING, MARKETING OR PROMOTION AGENCIES OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, AGENTS AND ASSIGNS, BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE CONTEST, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE CONTEST OR THE DOWNLOADING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM THE CONTEST. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS.
20. Disclaimer of Warranties. THE CONTEST & PRIZE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
21. Identity Disputes. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be declared made by the Authorized Account Holder of the email address submitted at time of entry. For purposes of these Official Rules, "Authorized Account Holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational, institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address.
22. Binding Arbitration. The parties waive all rights to trial in any action or proceeding instituted in connection with these Official Rules and/or this Contest. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Official Rules and/or this Contest shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in the State of New York, in the City of New York, County of New York, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof.
23. Governing Law and Jurisdiction. This promotion is governed by U.S. law and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrant and Administrator in connection with this Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York, U.S.A., without giving effect to the conflict of laws rules thereof, and any matters or proceedings which are not subject to arbitration as set forth in Section 22 of these Official Rules and/or for entering any judgment on an arbitration award, shall take place in the State of New York, in the City of New York, County of New York.
25. Winner List/Official Rules: For the name of the Winner, send a self-addressed stamped envelope for receipt by January 31, 2013 to
Grammy Live: Gig of a Lifetime Contest
c/o CBS Interactive Inc., 1401 W. Cypress Creek Rd., Suite 200, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309. For Official Rules send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the above address marked "Official Rules:
Grammy Live: Gig of a Lifetime Contest
- Rules for receipt by January 24, 2013. Residents from VT may omit postage on the self-address envelope requesting a copy of the Official Rules. The name of the Prize Winner may, and Official Rules will, be posted on the CBSI Service.
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text:
Stimulating revolutionary science with mega-cash prizes.
"We argue that the most ambitious science is intrinsically riskier science, more likely to fail. It is almost always a safer career strategy for the best scientists to seek to extend knowledge more modestly and to build incrementally on existing ideas and methods. Therefore, higher rewards for success are a necessary incentive to encourage top scientists to work on the most important scientific problems, ones where the solution has potentially revolutionary implications. We suggest that mega-cash prizes (measured in tens of millions of dollars) are a suitable reward for those individuals (or institutions) whose work has triggered radically new directions in science."
As a bonus, here's a list of more awesome Charlton titles that we didn't have the space to include this week:
Why are women so intelligent? The effect of maternal IQ on childhood mortality may be a relevant evolutionary factor.
Clever sillies: why high IQ people tend to be deficient in common sense.
Knowledge first, critique later: Why it is a mistake for science education to encourage junior students to discuss, challenge and debate scientific knowledge.
Why it is 'better' to be reliable but dumb than smart but slapdash: are intelligence (IQ) and Conscientiousness best regarded as gifts or virtues.
Are you an honest scientist? Truthfulness in science should be an iron law, not a vague aspiration.
Medical Hypotheses 2006 impact factor rises to 1.3–a vindication of the 'editorial review' system for revolutionary science.
Thanks to Bruce for today's ROFL!
Replacing education with psychometrics: how learning about IQ almost-completely changed my mind about education.
"I myself am a prime example of the way in which ignorance of IQ leads to a distorted understanding of education (and many other matters). I have been writing on the subject of education–especially higher education, science and medical education–for about 20 years, but now believe that many of my earlier ideas were wrong for the simple reason that I did not know about IQ… Since IQ and personality are substantially hereditary and rankings (although not absolute levels) are highly stable throughout a persons adult life, this implies that differential educational attainment within a society is mostly determined by heredity and therefore not by differences in educational experience. This implies that education is about selection more than enhancement, and educational qualifications mainly serve to 'signal' or quantify a person's hereditary attributes. So education mostly functions as an extremely slow, inefficient and imprecise form of psychometric testing. It would therefore be easy to construct a modern educational system that was both more efficient and more effective than the current one. I now advocate a substantial reduction in the average amount of formal education and the proportion of the population attending higher education institutions. At the age of about sixteen each person could leave school with a set of knowledge-based examination results demonstrating their level of competence in a core knowledge curriculum; and with usefully precise and valid psychometric measurements of their general intelligence and personality (especially their age ranked degree of Conscientiousness). However, such change would result in a massive down-sizing of the educational system and this is a key underlying reason why IQ has become a taboo subject. Miller suggests that academics at the most expensive, elite, intelligence-screening universities tend to be sceptical of psychometric testing; precisely because they do not want to be undercut by cheaper, faster, more-reliable IQ and personality evaluations."
Despite their inevitable conflicts–science, religion and New Age spirituality are essentially compatible and complementary activities.
"Until recently it seemed that the continued expansion of scientific ways of thinking was destined to render religion extinct and spirituality unfeasible. But the example of the United States disproves this, since America is the most successful scientific nation of this era, church-going remains strong and New Age spiritualities are thriving. Therefore, despite the obvious conflicts; science, religion and spirituality are essentially compatible. Future science will continue to win territory from religion since its validation procedures are more objective and reliable. However, churches can survive and grow by dropping those aspects of doctrine which clash with science, and expanding their social functions. The fast-growing US 'mega-church' movement shows the way – since these organizations are minimally dogmatic but instead provide a family-orientated and morally-cohesive social milieu. Like organized religion, New Age spirituality comes into conflict with science when it makes incredible or bizarre factual claims. However, in practice modern spirituality is based on subjective evaluations which do not clash with the procedures of science. Indeed, the reliance upon individual, emotion-based evaluations (e.g., 'my truth', 'whatever works for you') renders New Age spirituality 'science-proof', and has enabled it to expand massively in an age of science. Science, religion and spirituality perform different functions in the modern world, and their relationship is therefore one of mutual-dependence. Borderline disputes will inevitably occur, but as part of a broader context of complementarity. Science, 'social' churches and New Age spirituality all have a bright future."
Scientific life should be measured in seven year units.
"Traditional wisdom and empirical observation unite in recommending a 7 year unit for measuring human life – including individual and institutional science. But, because of astronomy and the decimal system, things tend to be measured either in years, five years or in decades. A year is too short while a decade is too long to measure the trends and transitions of individual or institutional life. And the half decade, such as the 'five year plan' beloved by politicians and bureaucrats seems too short. Therefore, seven years should become the standard unit for tracking trends and measuring attainment. Precedents for using a seven year unit include the notorious Jesuit saying: 'Give me the child until he is seven, and I will show you the man'; and the 'ninth commandment' of Leo Szilard: 'Do your work for six years; but in the seventh, go into solitude or among strangers, so that the memory of your friends does not prevent you from being what you have become'. In a scientific career, seven years is approximately the time spent at high school, the time taken for a traditional basic scientific training of first degree and doctorate, and the period after the doctorate building the knowledge to become an expert specialist. There seems to be enough anecdotal evidence to support the idea that we should reconsider the universal but un-reflective use of decimal units in planning and evaluation. For instance, seven year fellowships and program grants might replace the current five year versions. A new – and previously unconsidered – field of research beckons."
Also, in case you missed his comment on our post from yesterday, Bruce loves us too:
"What an excellent idea! If only all bloggers shared your enthusiasm – ahem.
Anyway, for what it's worth, you have my blessing
(holds out large jewelled ring to be kissed…)
Bruce G Charlton"
Genospirituality: genetic engineering for spiritual and religious enhancement.
"The most frequently discussed role for genetic engineering is in relation to medicine, and a second area which provokes discussion is the use of genetic engineering as an enhancement technology. But one neglected area is the potential use of genetic engineering to increase human spiritual and religious experience – or genospirituality. If technologies are devised which can conveniently and safely engineer genes causal of spiritual and religious behaviours, then people may become able to choose their degree of religiosity or spiritual sensitivity. For instance, it may become possible to increase the likelihood of direct religious experience – i.e. 'revelation': the subjective experience of communication from the deity. Or, people may be able to engineer 'animistic' thinking, a mode of cognition in which the significant features of the world – such as large animals, trees, distinctive landscape features – are regarded as sentient and intentional beings; so that the individual experiences a personal relationship with the world. Another potentially popular spiritual ability would probably be shamanism; in which states of altered consciousness (e.g. trances, delirium or dreams) are induced and the shaman may undergo the experience of transformations, 'soul journeys' and contact with a spirit realm. Ideally, shamanistic consciousness could be modulated such that trances were self-induced only when wanted and when it was safe and convenient; and then switched-off again completely when full alertness and concentration are necessary. It seems likely that there will be trade-offs for increased spirituality; such as people becoming less 'driven' to seek status and monetary rewards – as a result of being more spiritually fulfilled people might work less hard and take more leisure. On the other hand, it is also possible that highly moral, altruistic, peaceable and principled behaviours might become more prevalent; and the energy and joyousness of the best churches might spread and be strengthened. Overall, genospirituality would probably be used by people who were unable to have the kind of spiritual or religious experiences which they wanted (or perhaps even needed) in order to lead the kind of life to which they aspired."
We love Bruce G. Charlton. His official title at the University of Buckingham is "Professor of Theoretical Medicine." He's got 164 articles in PubMed, many of which have awesome titles like "Why are modern scientists so dull? How science selects for perseverance and sociability at the expense of intelligence and creativity." Of those 164 articles, 62 are in the journal Medical Hypotheses. Oh, did we mention he's the editor-in-chief of that journal? Yeah, he is.
This guy's got stuff figured out. So this week is Charlton week on NCBI ROFL, and we'll be featuring some of his very best work. Enjoy!
~Mer & The Brontosaurus
p.s. Can't get enough of Charlton? He's got five–count 'em, FIVE–blogs:


text:
Rumors of our demise exaggerated, Van Hollen says
Representative Chris Van Hollen likes to paraphrase Mark Twain when talking about the Democratic chances in the November mid-term election.
"News of the Democratic demise is greatly exaggerated," the man in charge of the House Democrats' election effort told the Reuters Washington Summit. "I think the pundits have been wrong before and they'll be wrong again. Democrats will retain a majority in the Congress. I'm very confident of that."
Of course it's Van Hollen's job to be confident or at least project an image of confidence six weeks ahead of the election where Republicans and the conservative Tea Party movement are trying to convince Americans to vote Democrats out of office and take back Republican control of the Congress.
Van Hollen predicted a "tough, rough election" but believed his party would prevail in part because moderate Americans would be scared by possible Tea Party victories.
He said the "political energy deficit" was beginning to close, presumably meaning that Democrats were starting to get a bit more excited about the election, though polls don't seem to be showing that.
"You have a very energized group, obviously, on the right," he said about the Tea Party. "That is also having an impact on moderate and centrist voters who are waking up and saying 'I agree the economy's not where we want it to be but it's a little scary going to Bush economic policy on steroids.'"
"This election should be a wakeup call to the ordinary citizen," he said.
Republicans are saying the same thing, but predicting the opposite type of outcome. Guess we have to wait another six weeks to see which side is right.
(Photo credit: Reuters/Molly Reilly)
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/