Anicon 2008: Soul Calibur 4 Special

Last Sunday, the Anicon 2008 event was held at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 3. This is my first time to enter a Anime related convention. Me and my friend Hero(Mario)are the only ones from my friends in SM Fairview that are able to attend the event. But what makes me interested in going on this convention is the PinoyXbox's Soul Calibur 4 tournament. I haven't played SC4 since the event so I don't expect to win (So I'll rely on what I'ved read from the Internet and from my experience on playing Soul Calibur 3).

When we finally got there, there were so many cosplayers on the entrance of Megatrade Hall 3. My friend's hype got up. This is also his first time to enter this kind of event. At the entrance, we were given a free Yakult and a free HighStreet5 CD Installer with a poster (HighStreet5 is a new online dancing-socializing game). The next thing that got to my mind is the PinoyXbox booth so we searched for it. Luckily, the event area is small so we didn't have a hard time finding it. They made a good effort bringing those consoles and big LCDs. We saw a crowded place on a part of the booth, and there was the Soul Calibur 4 game. We got there and we were suprised that our friend, Dennis, was there (One of the best Sc3 players). Luckily the tournament hasn't started yet, what we saw is only free play. Unluckily, the registration is over. But the organizers told us not to go because we might allow to enter the tourney if some of the players don't show up.

While the tournament has not yet started, we practice playing Sc4. Unluckily, my first game is a mess. I played with a great player named Jemecats. I have no match for his Hilde. I was just trying to learn the new moves and mechanics of Sc4. I also played with Coke, one of the best Cassandra users. After some time, I played with my friend Hero so we got a chance to learn the game. Unluckily again, The rollcall for the players started. Luckily again, many players didn't show up, so we got the chance to enter the tournament. I entered the tournament as "Litton Raysoul". My friends said "WTF is that name?? Pwedeng namang Raysoul nalang." There were 24 players on the tournament. Minutes later, tension builded as the tournament starts.

The Round 1 Single Eliminations started. It was best of 5 rounds. I was on the 11th bracket so I got the chance to watch who are the players which I should be careful. One of them is Jemecats. There is also Don Regis, a good Talim player. There are some mashers on the tournament, but who cares. I used Nightmare because most of his moves from SC3 retain. I also know some of that the new Nightmare can do based on what I'ved read on the Internet. My first match is with a Sophitia user, which luckily, is not that quite skilled (At least not a button masher and knows how to play). My friend Hero, also advances to the second round.

The Round 2 Single Eliminations. Unluckily, my next match is my friend Hero. He said he'll do his best in our match. What happened is he used Ivy, which is it is his first time to use. I lost my guard on some rounds because I was too confident on defeating his Ivy, but still won the match. Some joked "Niluto yung laban nila!! Magkaibigan eh!!" After the Second Round Eliminations, there were six who advances to the Semi-finals, namely Coke (Rey), Don Regis, Red Ollero, Jemecats, Dennis, and me. Since there were six remaining players, the organizers changed the rules. The match is best of 5 rounds, but the player with least losses will automatically be seated on the Finals and the remaining two will fight for the next seat to the finals.

The Semi-Finals started. The first match, Coke vs Don, is won by Coke 3-1. The next match, Red vs Jemecats, is won by Jemecats 3-1. The next match is the critical match of the semis, me vs Dennis. That time, the only thing in my mind is give my best to defeat Dennis, not knowing that if I won 3-0, I would be seated on the finals, and if I won 3-2, I would be eliminated. So neither of us shall lose by 2 rounds. I was so nervous because I remembered Dennis having a good match against Jemecats before the tournament. I still used Nightmare and Dennis used Sophitia. The battle is full of tension. What I did was a miracle, I used most of Nightmare soul charge set-ups and frametraps, that made me won the match 3-0, giving me the guaranteed seat for the finals. That would guarantee me the 2nd place. I was very happy and contented for what I'ved reached considering it is my first time to play SC4. The deciding match for the finals, Coke (Rey) vs Jemecats is next. The rules is best of 3 matches, and they cannot change their characters. I want to see this match because the winner will be my match for finals. These two are very great players from what I'ved saw. The match is good but Coke defeated Jemecats 2-0. Jemecats is the 3rd placer, and the finals would be me vs Coke.

The Finals. All eyes are on us. I know I don't have a chance against Coke, but still I'ved gived my best on our game. The rules are best of 5 matches, players cannot change the characters. I chose Nightmare and Coke chooses Cassandra, and yes it is a bad matchup in terms of tiering. Our game was fun, no pressure. I enjoyed it because I know I'm not gonna win because of the lack of experience. There was a time I accidentally pressed the start button and Coke joked "disqualified na yan" and I replied "Warning palang!!" and we continue in our game. Coke won 3-1 making him the champion.

We were suprised that there will be an awarding ceremony on the stage. When I asked what are the prices, they said the 2nd placer will have a "Too Human" Xbox 360 Game. The problem is I don't have a Xbox 360 console. But I said that's okay, I'll just sell it or keep it as a remembrance. When the organizers are on the stage, they really enjoyed the tournament and said, "Pag nakita nyo yung tatlong ito sa Arcade, wag nyo lalabanan kasi ang gagaling talaga nila." They even pronounced my name as Sitton Raysoul.

Here is the recap of the tournament results.





After that we continue to play Sc4 on the PinoyXbox Booth. Me and Hero walked around the venue and took pictures with the cosplayers, and returning to the Xbox booth when we want to play Sc4. All in all, the day was great and we are hoping to go to another event like this.

Here are the picture we've taken on the event. Credits to the PinoyXbox Community for some of the pictures. Watch out for more pictures soon. :)

Hiniram namin yung ispada

Me and Schoolgirl

Me and Haruhi

2nd Price (Too Human)

Di ko kilala..

Xbox Booth

Soul Calibur 4 Finals

Coke and Jemecats

Crush ni Mario na School Girl

Top 3

Bakit di namin nakita to!??? T___T

2008 Beijing Olympics

I'ved watch the opening ceremony today and what is the best word to describe it?

Fantastic.

The synchronization of the performers are awesome. The music are very good. The fireworks are much beautiful than I expect. The special effects of the presentation is very wonderful. Some of the effects they used makes me think it is really a magic.

I stopped watching after waiting for the Philippine team to come out, yet I was annoyed when several commercials are shown, making me think the Philippines had just finished their march. I hope they can win the gold in this year's event.

And by the way, the Olympic Mascots are way too cute for it not to be included in my post. :)

Versailles

Versailles is a Japanese Visual Kei Band. The band is composed of Kamijo on vocals(Lareine), Hizaki on guitar(Sulfuric Acid), Jasmine You on Bass(Jyakura), Teru on guitar(Aikaryu) and Yuki on the drums(Sugar Trip). Surprisingly, they are all males. At first thought that some of the members are really girls. I'm not really a fan of J-Rock or Visual Kei until recently, when the emo bandwagon(No, I'm not emo -_- ) brought me to the Japanese Rock scene.

The band are slowly gaining popularity around the globe. Recently, the band performed around Europe and some parts of America. Surprisingly, their concert at Los Angeles were completely sold out.

This video is the cut version of their first DVD single, "The Revenant Choir", released on June 24, 2007. The lyrics are below the video.



"The Revenant Choir"
Versailles

I'm proud of them.
Pleasure like fear.
It's a night when the moon laughs at lover.
The time has came for you.
I will resurge and shouts and bites.
Stay away!
do you want to go with me?

They called it...
"The red carpet day"
The floor covered by delicious looking roses.
The time has came for me.
I will resurge. no control!
Poured crimson adomiration into...

Our clan's blood will not stop forever.
If you wish, I would become a rose.
Our clan's blood is a lifetime lover.
stay,choir of sorrow and pains.

My dearest descendant,Please stab my belly.
oh so again
Please stab my heart.
The time has came for me.
I will resurge. no control!
Poured crimson adomiration into Holy Grail.

Our clan's blood will not stop forever.
If you wish, I would become a rose.
Our clan's blood is a lifetime lover.
stay,choir of sorrow and pains.

kioku no naka no kurenai chi wo bara ni kaeteita
hibiku her shout and Choir

Our clan's blood will not stop forever.
If you wish, I would become a rose.
Our clan's blood is a lifetime lover.
stay,choir of sorrow and pains.

kioku no naka no kurenai chi wo bara ni kaeteita
hibiku her shout and Choir

The time has came for us.
long time sleep passed.
The world turns in hand of descendant of the rose.
Our clan's blood will not stop forever.
stay,choir of sorrow and pains.
Our clan's blood is a lifetime lover.
Without you,would be gone Far away...

How Does the Mouse Work?

http://www.1-click.jp/

click to find out.

Pinoy Calibur Gathering Videos

Here are some of the battles that happened last July 29, at Robinsons Galleria. Special thanks to Stilslizer for the videos.

Raysoul Vs Facjoe


Dennis Vs Ices


Dennis Vs Ardjas


Alarau Vs Stils part 1


Alarau Vs Stils part 2


Raysoul Vs ??


Raysoul Vs Facjoe


Neodent Vs Ardjas


Dennis Vs Coke


Alarau Vs Ardjas


Revin Vs Coke


Revin Vs Alarau


Raysoul Vs Coke


Raysoul Vs ???


Raysoul Vs Jagler


Dennis Vs Stils


I'll edit my post for more videos and names updates.

Jollibee is Crazy!

Remember the Jollibee scandal? If Jollibee is not a mascot, people could have been saying "Hey! that bee is crazy. #@&%!!!"

Well, heres a video that shows Jollibee is indeed crazy.


Ever wonder why Jollibee turned crazy? Here's the story.

It started on a boring day...
When Jollibee decided to take a stroll outside...
The he goes to Western Union to get his monthly allowance sent by his mother.
He then decided to take a walk on the mall.
He goes window shopping at the department store.
Then he played arcade.

He then visited his Arch-rival Ronald McDonalds. Ronald offered Jollibee a tempting job at Mcdonalds. Jollibee made a deal with Ronald.But it is only a propaganda to lower the sales of Jollibee.
Homeless and jobless, Jollibee then became crazy.

So that's the whole story why Jollibee scandals are scattered all over the net. Later, Jollibee's sales went up again because Jollibee found descent a job.

He became a drummer.

--
Credits to ~M@LignO~ of Rb for the pics. :)

My New Blog Banner

It's been a while since I updated my blog's design. Well, the most notable change in my blog is the color design. From plain, to black, to colorful, to white, and now back to a black motif.

But one thing that you'll notice is that my original banner stays the same.


Then I decided to change it.

I've been thinking what motif should I use? What banner design should I make.

The first idea is that I'll make a banner similar to this video. It is entitled "Akai Suzu" by Asaki.



I researched for the words "Ray" and "Soul" in Japanese. I used Babelfish to convert the words. I got some japanese characters (I don't know if it is accurate, some say babelfish is unreliable) and used it for my banner.
I then discarded the concept of sketch-like drawing on the "Akai Suzu" video. So what picture should I put in my banner?

I came up with a picture of mine, blurred and in low quality. I edited it using photoshop, add some effects, then, viola! It came out perfect for the banner.

The fonts used in the banner are just additional fonts from MS Office 2003, so it's nothing so special (Yet it is still an eye candy for me).

Then I finished my latest blog banner.


The banner is not my final banner for my blog. I still want to incorporate the "Akai Suzu" feel in my blog.

May The Best Typist Wins!

Typing games. Ah, brings back old memories. I remember when I was in grade school I used to play Mario Typing and TypingTutor games. Typing those falling words before it destroys the city.

Recently I found two typing games that I'ved enjoyed playing. We'll I'm not a good typist, but still these web typing games are still good to kill some time.

TyperRacer

The mechanics are simple, all you have to do is type the paragraph to reach the finish line. Sounds boring but hey, the game is has some features you might enjoy.

TyperRacer's strength is its multiplayer capabilities. You can join random opponents or call your friends for a race. The fastest typist wins. The game has a single player practice mode to exercise those fingers. The game also records your average words-per-minute and your skill level.

You can play the game at http://play.typeracer.com/.

P.S. - If you happen to find a player named Raysoul, that might be me. ;)

TypingMania 4
Love anime? Then this is a great game for you. The game is a combination of typing, music and anime.

The game is similar to a videoke, but you'll not singing the lyrics, you'll be typing it (But still, you can sing while typing).

The only annoying thing about the game is that most lyrics are in Japanese. You can also use a Japanese keyboard if you like.

You can play the game at http://somoe.org/typing/.

Credits to Redkinoko for the link. :3

Soul Calibur 4 Japanese Box Art

Looks like a Starwars VS Soul Calibur game... hehehe.

Source: www.videogaming247.com

The Deadly Harddisk Corruption

June 2, 2008. I've been in a not so good mood. Then suddenly a unexpected event happened to my computer. It hanged, and then I can't even enter on the OS (even on safe mode).

I tried to re-install my OS to prevent file loss. Before, re-installing saved me from computer crashes, but now is different. My computer is in a state of major slowdown, about it takes so many minutes to enter the OS, many minutes to execute a program. One of my problems is that I can't even run my CD burner program because of the slowdown, so I can't backup my files (luckily I've recently saved our pictures on a CD). Tried running it on safe mode, but it also won't work. My only hope is my 256mb Mp3 player turned flash drive (The Mp3 won't work, but still can save files). I tried to compress many files as much as I can, and had saved some important files.

Sadly, I lost many files. Downloaded games, pictures and documents.

As I try to find a solution, I realized that there is only one solution that can save me from this problem. Reformat.

After hours of formatting and installation, my computer is now back at It's normal state.

So what are the signs that your hard drive is corrupted. Here is what I've noticed before the crash.

1. Slowdown. It could be slowdown of the programs, the games, the startup, etc.

2. Application Crashes.

3. Brownouts, causing in improper shutdowns.

So what are the solutions and preventive measures that you should do if you have those symptoms?

1. Backup your files. Specially the most important files. You'll never know when your disk may come corrupt.

2. Perform Scandisk. Don't skip scandisk if your computer goes into improper shutdown.

3. Virus Scan. Maybe, a virus is the cause of the slowdown.

4. Delete unnecessary files and programs. They are just waste in your drive.

You don't have to be an IT expert to do this preventive measures. Better prevent the crash rather than fixing it.

Soul Calibur 4: New Trailer

This is so far the best trailer I had seen.

The video introduces a new character (no name so far) that might be a antagonist for this game. The trailer also shows new gameplay mechanics like Critical Finishers and Armor Break.

Voldo, Ivy and Kilik showed their critical finishers. Kilik's finisher is so damn sexy. :)

The video also shows Maxi and Sophitia wielding the Soul Edge and Raphael wielding the Soul Calibur.

I still can't wait to play this game.

Iputok mo sa labas: The Funniest Radio Drama

Always thought that radio dramas are boring, think again. This is the funniest radio drama. First heard at The Brewrats Show, this drama had received positive reviews from the internet people.

The story is starts with Carding (Ramon Bautista), who is chased by Efren Reynes III (Tado) because of a very silly reason. Angel Rivero, also known as Erning, plays as Neknek, Carding's Lover.

Just listen and prepare yourself for the laughter the story will bring to you. Definitely a 5-star story.

Music Feature: Sanagi by Asaki

I'm also a casual DrumMania player (Casual 'cause I'm not very good at it). One of my favorite artist in that game is Asaki. He is notable for his songs like Gekkou Chou, Sanagi, Hotaru, Akai Suzu and many more. The songs he composed were incorporated with Japanese Visual Kei, Classical Japanese, Classical European and Jazz. Most of his songs are very difficult to play.

The song above is the full version of Sanagi which is included in his album Shinkyoku.

Kingdom Hero Red: Official Demo

Way back on the year 2006, i've learned a programming language called GameMaker. I made several games but this is the most outstanding (at least for my games) on all of my creation.

You can download it here.

When you are having troubles in the game, press F1.

I. Overview
Kingdom Hero is a platform game based on many platform games like Mario, Megaman, Sonic, and many other games. The game is inspired by the anime "Naruto" (The character is slightly inspired by the character Shino). You will play as Red, a ninja student who wants to save the kingdom by finding the Legendary Scroll. In this demo, you can go up to the first boss. This is not an ordinary platform game because it is a mix of Mario style game plus an increased difficulty, you'll have to use your mind. The rules are simple. You must avoid the enemies up to the end of stage. Sounds easy but be warned. A simple mistake leads to a FATAL end. Enjoy.


II. Features
-5 Chapters (Includes Tutorial)
-3 Kinds of Enemies
-1 Boss
-Autosave (Executes when you start a new chapter)
-Glitches...

III. Controls
Left and Right Arrow keys --- Movement
Up Arrow --- Climb a ladder
Down Arrow --- Fall through a platform
X --- Jump
Z --- Kawarimi Technique (Disguise yourself so you will not be caught by some enemies. It also has a technical crouch.)
C --- Shuriken Toss
Enter --- Pause
Esc --- Exit the game
Other controls --- Will be instructed in the game.

IV. Glitches (A.K.A. Bugs)
- some animation bugs
- the moving platform sometimes stop when character is on the edge, specially when in disguise form.
- some collision bugs (Jumping is a pretty good solution)

V. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q: When I jump over an enemy and fall on it, I can't move.
A: Where is the question?
Q: How can I move?
A: Check Red's feet. It may be stucked on the enemy's body. Try Jumping.
Q: When I was in disguise form, the cannonball killed me! Why is that?
A: Because you are only disguising, meaning it is still you.
Q: I am stuck at the edge of the moving platform. How can I get out?
A: This is a bug i'm working with. The first solution for this is jumping. Second is restarting the game.
Q: I can't finish the level.
A: Where is the question again?
Q: Do all levels here can be finished?
A: Yes. I've finished this several times.
Q: Why does the Orb color red?
A: You need to get all the fragmented orbs.
Q: At the credits, there is a music named Bent Down. Where is it in the game?
A: Secret! Clue: Red also needs some rest...
Q: Will the game be finished?
A: No.
Q: Why?
A: I lost the source code.

VI. Credits

All Sprites belongs to me, the creator.

Character sounds, effects and music from
WORMS WORLD PARTY DEMO

MEGAMAN X4

SUPER ROBOT WARS 3 ALPHA

SOUL CALIBUR II

BENT DOWN BY HALE

Parachute is inspired by Worms Parachute
Ninja's are inspired by Naruto

Project Raysoul is named after RaySoul, also it's me...

Soul Calibur 4: July 29, 2008

Yes. I am a Soul Calibur fan. Much more than Tekken or other 2D fighting games. I can't wait to play this one.

Star Wars Fans (which I'm not) will also enjoy this game. Yoda will appear as a guest character on the Xbox 360 while Darth Vader will appear on the PS3 Console.

Beautiful graphics, new gameplay and more guest characters (i'm not positive nor negative on this), and an online mode (I'm very positive at this).

Almost all of the main cast are confirmed to appear. Hwang and Li Long are still not confirmed.

Most guest characters (except the Star Wars Characters) are created by some Anime and Manga artist, so their designs differ from the main cast.

Here's another trailer video of the game.

My Youtube Channel

This is my first Music Video that I made a year ago. The song is "Sa Bingit ng Isang Paalam" by the band Sponge Cola.

For more of my videos, check out

www.youtube.com/raysoulhale

Currently, I have only 3 videos. Don't forget to rate and leave a comment. :)

Every Big Things Comes From Small Things

My name is Raysoul, and this is my official blogsite.

Asking what kind of blog is this?

My blog will talk about anything that goes inside my mind telling me to work those freaking fingers and type something interesting (at least for me) at this blog.

So my blog will be a hybrid one. Like a son of an imported Dalmatian and a Street Dog.

By the way, check out my friendster profile.

profiles.friendster.com/litton

Have fun!