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“All Out” = Reference to Persona 3: Portable (PSP) new group attack.

Back in 2009, Persona, which had several versions was finally ported over to PSP.  Included was the “Snow Queen” quest deleted from the North American previous versions.

Later on, Persona 3 ported to PSP as Persona 3: Portable, including the rate option as having the Protagonist as female.  This included story lines from Persona 3 and not Person 3: FES (Aegis quests).

Now Persona 2: Innocent Sin has been release for the first time in North America.  Atlus has apparently not said if Persona 2: Eternal Punishment will also get the new console treatment.

Persona 4, now enjoying a new fame with an anime series, will be ported to the new PS Vita.  Other Persona 4 spin offs may appear for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Persona 5 is rumored to be under development for PS3 and Xbox 360.

So, what are next gen console fans missing in Persona?  If Persona 2: Innocent Sin does well, perhaps Atlus will consider making Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.  Persona 3: FES could be made as a download add on for P3P, especially since the Protagonist does not really appear except for some battles.  Maybe even cut the female option here, and just port the original version.

Making Persona 4 for PS Vita could be a mistake.  It depends on whether PS Vita will get the same negative treatment as the 3DS.  Atlus could have made a version for PSP.  Consider Devil Survivor, remade for 3DS.  It’s sequel is DS only.

Sources
Amazon

Megami Tensei Wiki

http://www.hulu.com/persona-4

Of all things to complain of, some fans have complained about the Protagonist getting a name (Narukami Yu – meaning something like to reach out to a god).  SO WHAT?  You can always get out your copy of Persona 4 and play it with whatever name you want to give the Protagonist.

For anyone who knows anything about the series, his name makes sense.  His Persona (initially at least, considering he has the Wild Card) is Izanagi, the sort of Japanese male creation god (like “Adam”).  He first appears in the rather twisted Shin Megami Tensei series along with his female counterpart.  He later appears in Persona 2: Innocent Sin.

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To a creature this old, death would be a blessing.

Has the Oncoming Storm met his match?

The (11th) Doctor and Crew (Amy and Rory) appear in an old Earth style hotel and are almost attacked by other “guests.”

Some unknown being has been getting into people’s minds and eating them whole.

Several times The Doctor tries — to no avail — to save the people.

Analysis:

Rory is again an anomaly.  The “hotel” keeps trying to send him away.  He fears nothing — after traveling with The Doctor, what was left to fear.  The Doctor points out he said it in past tense — what was the significance?

God Complex.  Rita points it out to The Doctor and once again guilt about all his companions and usually their deaths set in.

The Doors.  Everyone but Rory has a door.  Everyone but Rory has a fear.  Amy’s door is number 7.  Significance?  Maybe none.  The Doctor’s door is number 11.  Obvious Significance – he is the Eleventh Doctor.  He sees into the room with an “of course” and leaves a do not disturb sign.

What does the Doctor see?

• Dead Companions
• Rose/Rose Bad Wolf (Nine)
• Donna (Ten)
• Amy
• Does he see himself?

The audience does not get to find out.  He realizes too late that the people are shown their fear so that they can expose their faith and faith can be converted to faith in the Minotaur creature.

It seems all is lost when they find young Amy in a room.  Was this room 11?  The Doctor knows Amy’s faith in him will kill her and convinces her to stop believing in him, calling her for the first time Amy Williams.

The Doctor returns his companions to Earth, with keys to a house and Rory’s favorite type of car.  The Doctor leaves.  Amy is sad to see him go but understands, asking him to tell her daughter (Melody/River) to come by and see her.

Overall thoughts:

A good episode.  Much better than the little alien boy one.  Worth watching.

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A very important factor to consider when buying any iOS game is there is NO SEPARATE GAME SAVE. If your iOS device crashes and you cannot successfully restore, you will be starting from scratch.  If you want to remove the game and put it back on later, you will be starting from scratch.

An iOS device can be more portable than a PSP, but I’d rather download a game to PSP where I can back up the game save myself.

Yes, apparently a game save in iOS can be salvaged through the “jail break” system.  That is about the only solution anyone will currently find other than a handful of “Cloud” back up type games.  And even though you literally OWN your iOS device, it may actually be illegal to jail break it.  I don’t know for certain.  But why should consumers have to “break” their devices to have them function properly (i.e.: separate game save, a function which SHOULD be STANDARD).  As for “Cloud,” that issue by itself raises many privacy concerns.

Perhaps Apple may some day catch on and DO SOMETHING about this problem.  iOS 5 is supposed to have a “Cloud” feature, but I am talking about something you have ON YOUR OWN to separate save/custom data from program data.  Do you iOS users REALLY want your personal data floating out there in cyberspace?

Even non-game programs have the same issue.  If you “bookmark,” make notes, or do other changes within other apps, those go away upon a crash or deletion.  The custom data is not sufficiently separate from general program data.  Maybe it is, but not to the same consumer friendly degree as being able to move or copy game saves in console or other consumer friendly portable game devices.

Backstory

According to the Ayuta/Theiya scene at the beginning, this is not the first Ark Arena.  Yet it is the backstory of Olgar a.k.a. Vieg and Vahti.  Vahti is pregnant with the son who will Escher (Chaos Rings) will remind them of.  Vahti’s parents, Olgar (“Dante”) and Rachel are also there.  Olgar and Vieg search for sets of rings and let Vahti and Rachel stay behind.

The first tournament is announced and Vieg and Vahti must battle Olgar and Rachel.

The Progenitor’s WHAT?

By the time I got to the second boss, “The Progenitor’s Pelvis,” I said “WHAT?“  I now realized that all the bosses — well, up until whatever plot turn perhaps — will be “The Progenitor’s -Body Part-”

Same Maps

The terrain maps appear to be the same as Chaos Rings’ maps.  The room and puzzle maps may be different.  It appears to have at least the same area maps in areas 3 and 4.

Genes

The gene sets (aside from human ones) appear the same.  I have yet to get the “boost” mouse gene.  In Chaos Rings, I got that gene sometime before level 10.   It was either an MP or HP booster, which is pretty good for level building.

Final Thoughts and Verdict

The Chaos Rings series games are expensive for iphone games.  It’s best to get some type of app miner that looks out for prices and lets you know when it’s on sale.  Chaos Rings was worth its original price tag – there were 4 sets of games – one for each pairing – and a grand finale ending.  Maybe it would get a bit boring on replay as a different pair, but at least the story was a bit different each time.  Chaos Rings Omega appears to only follow one story.  It seems set up like its predecessor to choose a different pair, but it is currently not an option.  There is some type of bonus game after completing the main story.

If choosing between Chaos Rings and Chaos Rings Omega, Chaos Rings is a better buy.  Even getting it on sale, I have not decided if I will be getting my money’s worth on this game.

Always consider The iOS Fatal Flaw

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Persona 2: Innocent Sin will finally be getting a US release later this month on the PSP.  This is its first English language release.   No word on if its direct sequel, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, will be getting a new release (former PS1 title).

Persona 4 (of PS2 fame) will be getting a port to the new Playstation Vita.  Still not enough of a reason to get any of these pricey next gen devices.

There will be a possible Persona 5 for PS3.

To date:

• Persona 1 (PS1, PSP)
• Persona 2 (Innocent Sin) (PS1, PSP)
• Persona 2 (Eternal Punishment) (PS2)
• Persona 3 (PS2)
• Persona 3 FES (PS2)
• Persona 3 Portable (PSP – Persona 3 version port + female character)
• Persona 4 (PS2, PS Vita)
• Persona 5 (Maybe? PS3)

Sources:

Amazon
Gamesradar
Megami Tensei Wiki

This book is no show stopper, but certainly better than the trash Michal.  It’s a funny and light read.  I warn the American audience now that this is a British book, so some of you may find some references confusing.

Millie’s Fling by Jill Mansell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book starts with our hero, Millie having a typical boring ride with her current boyfriend. She finds a woman romance writer ready to kill herself, saves her, befriends her, and loses her boyfriend in the process. We should all feel sad for Millie at the moment, because there is no more getting laid for her.

Eventually Millie and her roommate will learn the value of a man who is more than just good at sex, but that’s not the heart of the novel.

The novel focus on Millie’s interactions with Hugh, a widowed man so unable to get over his wife’s death, he’s racked too full of guilt to pursue a relationship with Millie. In one sense, the audience can’t really blame him at first, since his wife had not been dead for very long. Yet finally, Hugh succumbs to his desires and he has sex with Millie. Hugh declares it a one-night stand, is a complete jerk to Millie after the fact, and blames it all on his guilt over his dead wife. The audience probably does not feel sorry for him anymore.

Millie is disappointing in herself and she keeps this fling to herself, not telling her roommate (they took a bet of celibacy) or the romance author who is making a book based on her life.

The Funny

The author. She’s so stupid as to try and kill herself over her husband’s cheating (in other books, isn’t that she would have killed him?). She’s an author so she is sure she knows everything, but she is completely blind. Examples: her husband having the affair the first and second time, not catching on to Millie’s relationship with Hugh, even setting her up with a man she didn’t realize is homosexual. At least she told Millie that Hugh was a bad idea (true) Who she ends up with at the end was brilliant.

The Millie/Hugh interactions besides the sex, particularly the prank phone calls.

Mille’s boss.

Millie as an Ape (kissogram).

The verdict:

There is much more to this book than the brief review. It’s worth a read. As an author, I can’t agree with Millie getting together with Hugh. Hugh is a loser. He blames too much on his wife’s death and uses this as an excuse for a lot of things in the book. That could be realistic for some people, but it is not someone I would set my own characters up with.

View all my reviews

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While watching Jinks in Season 3′s “Don’t Hate the Player,” I have to say how incredibly stupid this character is.  Perhaps “naive” is better.  He’s giving out all the info to the nefarious FBI agent that the audience knows is the proverbial bad guy.

How can a person this character’s age and experience be that stupid?  Yeah, it’s a tv show, but it seems a little unrealistic.  Well, every “good guy” needs a weak link.  I suppose Jinks will be the death of our beloved agents.  Perhaps this is the direction SyFy will go, but probably it will at least cancel the show with a “waste of your time” ending like it did with Battlestar Galactica.

Related articles

• Artie and Jinks Try to Steal Van Gogh’s ‘Stormy Night’ on ‘Warehouse 13′ (VIDEO) (aoltv.com)
• Agent Steve Jinks Knows When Artie and Claudia Lie on ‘Warehouse 13′ (VIDEO) (aoltv.com)
• TV Review: Warehouse 13 – “The New Guy” (blogcritics.org)

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Eureka is getting cancelled.  No surprise.  SyFy is good at that.  It’s good at sabotaging the success of good series by moving it to bad time slots.

No thanks, SyFy.  I no longer have a reason to subscribe to cable plan that includes you.  I really liked the Eureka reboot since the new timeline.  But now that is soon over.  The only other SyFy show I like is Warehouse 13.  I’m sure SyFy will be cancelling that one in short order.  ATTENTION ALL SYFY ACTORS/CREW: Perhaps it would be a very good idea to keep a lookout for new jobs.

Read more on Eureka’s cancellation on EW Online