1. "Awesome" Fan Flash: I do not want to see anyone but Egoraptor making these. While many of the ones he made are funny (except for the Awesome Center and Crossing remakes); the fan made ones are boring, cheap, and unfunny (e.g. Awesome's Creed, Irod Bad, and both of the Brawl Taunts shorts). I don't mind video game parodies, but only when they're inventive or well-thought out.
Worst Offenders: the aforementioned Awesome's Creed, Irod Bad, and both of the Brawl Taunts shorts.

2. Sketch comedy collabs: It's true that these have great animation, but that cannot compensate for crappy jokes. This only worked for Blamformers, The Metal Gear Funnies, Skittles & shits, and Skittles & Dicks.
Worst Offenders: Nin10Doh! and The MGS Flash Collab.

3. Flash that relies on internet fads: Ugh, I don't like it when people use fad jokes as flash material. Those who use "Shoop-da-whoop", The "O Face" Smiley, or anything they got from 4Chan (which I avoid like Chlamydia), YTMND, YouTube, or whatnot have creativity as bad as the latest MadTV/SNL episodes and should be treated as such.
Worst Offenders: Super Mario Hyadain & anything Kirbopher did after Mario RPG: Rawest Forest.

4. Parody Videos: While I did like Konquest of the Kamidogu and Knox's Mortal Kombat; I steer clear of these simply because they aren't very funny. Plus, ]{ombat, Knox, and Bezo knew when to quit.
Worst Offenders: Transformers Bastardized & Naruto Super Dub

5. Excessive use of Filters: As I said in a previous rant called Thoughts on my Mind, I don't like it when a Flash cartoon has so much effects to the point where you need a PC that has the power of Six X-Box 360s in order to watch it in high quality. I understand that you want to wow the audience, but sometimes dumping assloads of effects is not necissary. Besides, nobody cares about special effects when your content is dog shit.
Worst Offenders: SMBZ Episodes 5 and 6.

6. Flash that has voices done by members of the Voice Acting Club/Alliance: While the likes of Egoraptor, Kirbopher15, Baron Von Brunk, The Reel Splatter crew, Cailen Denton, RTil (even though his profession is animation/art), the Zirbes bros., Chris Zito, and the NG Staff are worthy of the professional title; the vast majority of the voice actors on those forums aren't good when compared to the aforementioned guys, or the likes of Ian Corlett, Bernard Eckhardt, Scatman Crothers, Buster Jones, Susan Blu, and Jessica Calvello for that matter. I think Rtil was right when he said "Good Mic =/= Good voice actor."
Worst Offenders: Both of the Brawl Taunts shorts.

No, I am not supporting either Obama nor McCain. I think that Obama is a clueless dipshit who will just be like Ray Nagin on a bigger scale; while McCain is a warmonger. And here's some things about the two that you Don't know:
I. Barack Obama voted for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and said in one interview that he supported military action in Iran. Apparently, his dipshit supporters are in denial.
II. Sarah Palin, McCain's VP, supported Tax Hikes on Oil and gas; and tried to fire her in-laws.
III. John McCain is opposed to the use of Torture on Prisoners of War (not that's a bad thing), and voted on the recent bailout (which is really bad).
With that out of the way, I'll tell you my reasons for Supporting Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party:
1. They Support Tax Cuts and Fiscal Responcibility.
2. They are opposed to the use of torture.
3. They oppose the PATRIOT Act, FISA, and any legislation that violates the US Constitution.
4. They support ending the Iraq war and are for free trade.
5. They are opposed to sealing the US-Mexico border.
6. They are opposed to the welfare system, which should be called the unfair system.
7. They have supported Social Security reform (read: optoin to opt out).
8. They have Supported Legal gun ownership. (You should see what the National Rifle Association has to say about McCain, it will surprise you.)

Here's the link: http://www.lp.org

The hurricane hasn't done much to my part of Louisiana, except for an oak tree that got blown over. Not to mention my connection was out for at least six hours. To all of my fellow NG Users from Louisiana, my condolences go out to you regardless if your home was destroyed or not.

I've already mentioned this before, but now I'm going to go into detail on the topic of independent games. As much as I like some of the mainstream stuff, there's a fair share of games made by smaller companies (Grasshopper Manufacture, G.Rev, Wayforward Interactive, etc.) that depending on the situation; get noticed or left behind. After reading Egoraptor's review of Braid for X-Box Live; I decided to do something similar to other little-known games.

1. Rosenkreuz Stilette (German for "Rose-Crossed")
When compared to Mario clones, Mega Man clones are few and far between. Then came a company called ERKA:ES with this game which combines Mega Man gameplay, CastleVania Aesthetics, and Germanic themes (as in most of the game's characters have German names). You play as Spiritia Rosenberg, a magical girl with a different wardrobe than most, to stop Count Michael Sepperin and his daughter Iris.
2. No More Heroes
This may be somewhat of a mainstream game, but damn it, it's a blast to play. Sure, there's GTA 4, but the concept behind that has been run into the ground by now.
3. Cho Aniki Mura
Ghosts 'n Goblins meets the homoerotic space shooter Cho Aniki (Japanese for "Super Big Brother"), with a ninja who resembles Naruto's Kakashi.
4. Thunder Force 6
It took forever, but at least Technosoft let Sega work on it. Thunder Force started in 1983 as a free-roaming Xevious-clone, and was then followed by three Sega Genesis sequels. The last official release of the series was first released on the Sega Saturn, and then followed by the PS port in 1998. Then there's Broken Thunder, but that was incomplete when that was released.
5. Kamui
This can be summed up as a Rayforce clone with some pretty inventive boss fights of any vertical shooter out there. Rather than move your ship's reticle over the enemies on the ground, you hold down the thunder key (X is the default) then release when you have enough energy. Unlike most shooters, you have both a lifebar and ship stock. However, even on easy, you will still get plastered by enemy fire if you aren't careful.
6. Ether Vapor
Ether Vapor can be summed up as Axelay with more perspectives and plot development (even though there's no English translation at the moment). Not to mention it's the only space shooter with gamepad stick support.
7. Es
Here's one game that's intense, fun-looking, and also cool-looking. I can't wait for the completed version.

There are lots more out there, but It would be impossible to cover them all.

*Note: This is nowhere near complete at the moment, but I'll continue when I can.

Datatrack two: http://fightingseraph.newgrounds.com/n ews/post/148489

1. The independent gaming scene: Here's one part of video gaming that I'd like people to try out sometime. Why? Because there is stuff that is pretty damn inventive when you really think about it. This is not saying that mainstream games aren't creative, but take some time to think outside the box and surf the internet a bit to see what I mean. After all, this is why Ikaruga became popular.

2. Parody vs. Satire: I personally think that this debate is pointless, unnecissary, and a waste of time. Isn't parody a form of Satire, since they share one thing in common: they poke fun at things. One is not better nor worse than the other.

3. Carlos Mencia: I know that many of you hate him and his show. However, I seldom see anyone refuting the points in many of his sketches without using the Argumentum Ad Hominem (Arguments to the Person). The only reasons people hate him that I can think of are his "Dee dee dee" catchphrase and the fact that his show is an SNL/Chappelle's Show knockoff.

4. Anime: Most of the anime I have see is either boring (Ghost in the Shell, anything by Hayao Miyazaki) or just sucks (F-Zero: GP Legend, Chrono Crusade). However, there are those rare flukes such as Fist of the North Star, Dragon Half, New Cutie Honey, Angel Sanctuary, and Rozen Maiden. Plus, I think of anime culture the same way as David Cross thinks of Marijuana culture: "Juvenile and uncreative." Seriously, while the costumes that cosplayers have made are often well-done, sometimes the person's body doesn't match the character they're trying to be. Then, there's the character voices in anime. While they were well done in the original Japanese; they tend to meld together after seeing so many of them in the original language with English subtitles. On the other hand, Dubbing depends on who they cast. Truth is, some of these dub VAs are terrific (Kevin M. Conolly from FMA; Jessica Calvello from Dirty Pair), whereas others are dull to shitty (Crispin Freeman from Angel Sanctuary; Robert Kraft from Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge). The reasons why many dubbing companies avoid the likes of Ron "Drag Strip" Gans, Rob "Air Raid" Paulsen, or Ian James Corlett is because they either require shitloads of money; hate having to match the lipsync of the characters; or have a distaste of anime.

5. AOL Instant Messenger: I don't know why people still use this outside of personal preference, but there are better IM programs out there (WinLive and Yahoo! to be exact). Seriously, they've stagnated since 2002 and the competition has taken a huge lead over them. Plus, the net slang that it was responsible for irritates the hell out of me.

6. Game Music Remixes: As much as I like these; I'd wish people would remix music from lesser-known games (examples: Darius, Rendering Ranger R2, Cho Aniki) instead of the usual stuff. It gets repetitive and old really fast; and the ironic thing is that many of those remixes I actually like (if they put a lot of work in it). And this is from someone who makes music with Acid 6.0.

7. Insult Flash: When someone makes an insult flash, they usually have a good reason why. Maybe they hate seeing the same fads/memes/etc. over and over again; maybe they hate a certain celeb/TV show/game series/ etc. and its fanbase; and/or maybe they think a certain cartoonist either sucks or got annoying really fast. If that someone makes an insult flash, it's their right to do so; and those who are offended by it need to leave them alone. This, in other words, is how freedom of speech works. Besides, Assassin needs to be revitalized, and I know several people who should be subjected to it.

8. The Presidential Elections: I'm not supporting Obama or McCain. That's because I consider Obama clueless, while McCain tends to put himself in situations where he can't really escape. This is why I'm supporting Bob Barr this year, and yes I know about his voting record during his time in congress. However, at least he realized what a dumb son-of-a-bitch he was when he was voted out of congress back in 2002. The other two losers on the other hand, don't give a damn about the damage they do. Besides, I'm smarter than both of McCain and Obama's supporters combined.

I enjoyed it, and more games like this need to be made. The graphics are excellent, gameplay's creative, and the music is astonishing. Plus, I found a documentary:

Not Evil Just Wrong

I found this while taking a gander at Steve Milloy's Junk Science website.

Oh, here's my friend code if you want to challenge me one-on-one:

356632-465067

One of the few PS3/X360 games I am actually looking foward to (I prefer the Wii to those).
All I know about this game is that it involves a witch reborn in modern times fighting angels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzMf652 o_L0

For those who didn't know about the first one, here it is: http://fightingseraph.newgrounds.com/n ews/post/136781

1. Wall-E: I stopped watching Disney/Pixar films after The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Toy Story; and with the bad things about it, I'd doubt I would watch it in theaters. If you are going to put in enviromentalist propaganda regardless of how subtle it is; someone will find out no matter what. Plus, making all the humans fat and stupid isn't as creative as those who liked it say it is (remember Homer Simpson?). Besides, if it wasn't for the two Short Circuit films; this would not exist.

2. Beast Machines, James and the Giant Peach, and the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon:
It sucks that they aren't getting the credit and praise they deserve. I've seen people saying that the aforementioned Wall-E is proof that animation isn't just for kids; yet they obviously never heard or seen any of these (or MTV's cartoons for that matter). I don't see why people hate BM so much; I enjoyed it a lot. Plus, Marv Wolfman and Bob Skir said that if they used the original characters over and over again, the viewers will get bored with it. As for James and the Giant Peach, even though it's twelve years old; it's still enjoyable for me to watch over and over. In other words, my words can't describe how great it is. I haven't seen D&D, but I heard it was great.

3. Doug TenNapel: We all know that he created EarthWorm Jim; but how many people know of his other stuff such as Klaymen, Project Geeker, and Sockbaby? It saddens me that they aren't getting the attention they deserve. Seriously, this man deserves an award or ten. Hell, Andrew Dickman patterns his work after his stuff (much to AWD's annoyance).

4. Tomamoto: Like Rina-Chan, he too is stale and overexposed to the point of annoyance. When compared to Egoraptor, he isn't very talented and his videos aren't very creative. The only voices can do well are middle-eastern accents and Snakeman/Cobra Commander.

5. 2D vs 3D: One is not better than the other, and I'd wish people would stop this pointless debate. It's not the medium that matters, but the content. Is it wrong to mix the two together? While I do think that 3d programs are convoluted and frustrating as hell to use; but I won't stop someone from implementing it in their movies. Then there's claymation and Stop-Motion animation, which are the original forms of 3D. It sucks that there aren't enough of these kinds of movies on Newgrounds, and I'd wish that someone would work on some for this site.

6. Nostalgia: I'm all for nostalgic things from time to time, but sometimes too much is too much. I'm pretty much torn between the two sides and there is no reason to be for one and against the other. Thank the upcoming Rockman 9 for why I'm writing this piece.

7. Neurotically Yours: Even though quite a few of the cartoons make some solid points, but wouldn't it be better if IllWillpress put the series on the backburner and created something original? (Seeing that Foamy has stopped being funny).

8. The Energy crisis and Climate Change: My solution to the energy crisis is just drill for oil and gas, build more refineries, and get governments out of the resource extraction business. All the things that the enviromental movement is saying about climate change is bullshit. Climate change has been around since there was water on the Earth 3.9 billion years ago and has never caused any disasters. Carbon Dioxide is what plants breathe and has a logarithmic effect on climate (as in the more of it there is, the less of an effect it has). I love making climate alamists shit their pants when I point out the obvious, and I am Neither Liberal nor Conservative.

Here it is, but it has a mix of my old, poorly-drawn pieces and new, properly-drawn stuff. That's all there is to it, and nothing more. And no, I don't use DA or SheezyArt.

1. Passwords: Don't you hate it when you forget your password and the recover password function fails? I do, and it bugs the hell out of me.

2. Internet Memes: I hate the damn things. The "Shoop-da-Whoop" Cell pic, the 50x50 smileys with the retarded grin, lol cats, etc. What's worse is that various flash cartoonists are using them as actual jokes as if they were the next Tex Avery. Well, if they keep it up; they'll join the other uncreative, one-joke losers in any future AFD collab.

3. Rina-Chan: No offense, but she's become stale and overexposed to the point of annoyance. While her voice skills are viable for flash cartoons, but for cartoons on the tv screen and the movie projector; she can't match the the talent of Susan Blu, Jessica Calvello, Marilyn Lightstone, and others who were in the business since the late '60s to the '90s. Just because she won a few awards in various anime conventions doesn't mean she's a voice-acting saint or demigoddess. Take a look at Cristina Vee; she was cast as Kanaria & Barasuishou in Rozen Maiden Traumend and I heard from various desuchan users that her takes on the characters are horrible. However, I haven't seen the english-dubbed Traumend, so I can't really comment. RTil said it the best: "Good Mic =/= Good voice actor." However, we do agree on certain things (I lurk on her forum from time to time).

4. Buzz-words and buzz-phrases: I'm with Maddox on this one because his article on these is so true. Is it so hard to spell "web log?" That is all "blogging" is; typing words with your keyboard on a website, which doesn't sound as cool when you call it what it really is. Don't get me started on all of those iPod related words, either.

5. Metal Gear: It (as in MGS4) just came out and the hype is pissing me off already. I don't care if it turned David Hayter from a shitty actor to a decent one, I don't care if it has Rob "Airraid & Slingshot" Paulsen & Paul "Peceptor" Eiding, and I don't care that Hideo Kojima is a great character designer. I never found any of the MGS games interesting or fun (Sons of Liberty was a boring-ass snooze-fest). Hopefully, the mega-collab would be fun to watch and not an overproduced, overhyped, poorly-thought-out, haphazarldly-planned disappointment that Nin10doh! was. It's time for Konami to let Hide-chan work on CastleVania and Gradius for once.

6. Space Invaders Extreme: It's sad to see a true work of digital art like this get overlooked, underrated, and damned to obscurity. Taito Corporation put their heart and soul into programming, drawing, composing, and designing this Nintendo DS masterpiece. It shows that they know that games should try to stay out the shadows of literature and film unless necissary.

7. Overused effects: Is there a good reason to overindulge in blur, bloom, or anything that requires a custom pc that has the power of six X-Box 360s? I understand that you want to wow the audience, but there are instances that it's completely unnecissary and reduces accessability (even on low quality). Blur effects in flash are starting to get dull; And when overused, at best it seems ludicrous and at worst, inaccessable and lag-prone on old machines like mine. I prefer to use frame-by-frame effects over filters because not only is it easier for me, but doesn't require the aforementioned custom pc to run it.

8. Iragination: It bothers me that he hasn't submitted anything since Fire Man: Incoming Storm, and that was a few years ago. After seeing his Bass Abyss game on his site; his programming skills are a welcome addition to those looking for one. I hope that he didn't forget his password...