FaceDancer

This reminds me oh so much of the PS3 v. 360 threads.

Well aren't we the grumpy one :( I thought maybe I had written it in a way that was different from what I thought. lol Ok so I skipped a paragraph, but still, I think you're underestimating the abilities of the eye. Differentiating colors in peripheral vision isn't impossible (in fact, I'd go so far as to say you can do it). It's not like I train my eyes for this shit. And back to your dashboard example, I must look forward, side to side, and up into a mirror so that I may see my surroundings. When I'm watching shows, my eyes are focused in a single area with the subtitles conveniently placed below. I'm not straining anything by reading and then watching at the same time, so I say again that trying to compare driving a car and watching anime with subtitles (in regards to peripheral vision) is not very good.

So far I'm 15 chapters into FE7. Does the plot thicken considerably after a certain point? Because all I'm seeing is quite standard in terms of a fantasy-type plot :/

Ahh, I see you think I'm talking about watching the action while reading through peripheral vision. I do the opposite, because it's much easier. I read the text while simultaneously watching the action through my peripheral vision. To liken it to driving is hardly appropriate, as I am doing everything within my head and not my head, hands, and feet (I'm trying to say that driving takes more things at once whereas watching a show does not, so to try and relate the two is silly). Maybe it does to you, but not for me. I've been watching shows subbed for a long time now and I've been able to recall shows I haven't watched in 7-8 years, shows I watched in subs. I watched the action and read the text in acceptable times, and my understanding has not been hindered as a result. I read on upwards of 700 wpm, so what little time I spend reading isn't long enough for something drastic to happen in the show. If there were to be a climactic scene, it would not last for a second and then disappear with no way of gathering what had happened beforehand. Does that make sense? And no lol I'm not trying to say "Japanese VA are better than everyone else," but rather that I can understand a subbed show just as well as a dubbed and not sacrifice visual enjoyment.

I would try and sort through this shitstorm, but I don't want to. So, I'll try and explain myself. When watching a dub, your focus on vision, hearing the sound effects, and hearing the dialogue (I differentiate the two for a reason, because one ear may dominate in phonetical sounds while the other focuses on non-phonetical sounds). You claim that it is better for watching the show because you do not miss anything. When watching a sub, your focus is in vision (both action and reading) and aural stimulation (in this case, mostly non-phonetical). You say we lose something when we are forced to read the subtitles, as if doing so drags us away from the action in the same way a wall takes away my vision of a person on the other side. This is most definitely not the case. I'm not trying to say one is better than the other, but rather both are the same. Also, er, Red Fox of Fire, have you ever heard of peripheral vision?

This pretty sums up what I believe. At first I was Protestant, a horribly lazy Protestant, that believed in God but didn't feel comfortable adhering to all of his supposed rules. Then I asked myself, "Why do I believe in God?" The answer was simple, "Because my parents told me to." "Who told them God was real?" "Their parents." "Well, who told our grandparents he was real?" "Their parents." This sort of regression made me realize that everyone in my family blindly believes in God because their parents told them he was real as children. Sure, they would claim to have out of body experiences with God and angels and whatnot, miracles and such, but I had never experienced them. I've been open to him (God) in the past, but no matter how much I tried (and no matter how hard my preachers prayed), God never spoke to me or did anything amazing for me. So, I just stopped caring. I guess it's what the Catholics call "acedia" in that I became unconcerned about where I was and what would happen if I died. I mean, if you've been praying to a deity for years and not once has He spoken to you or helped you in some way, wouldn't you get bored? Would you continue to pray to no avail? I saw no need for it. Shortly after that I began to notice how some Christians liked to use the excuse that "God works in mysterious ways" whenever something (seemingly) inexplicable happened. "Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans because of their sodomizing and worldliness" or "Haiti was devastated by God for their belief in witchcraft" or some shit. Such attitude towards humanity is disgusting no matter how vile the act may be. I began to question whether God even existed, because if I were him I would have killed some people for screwing up my name. Thus, I am an atheist, though if a higher power does in fact present itself, I do not believe people are capable of understanding it.

I wish I could grow a beard like you, Sheogorath-kun :3

I agree, this has more to do with your reading speed than anything, so I can't take the "subtitles take away from the experience because you have to read" generalizing argument seriously if you are a slow reader. I read well above the average speed, so it's not a problem for me. I failed to take that into consideration when I posted ^^; Though it would be nice for companies to have enough money to do that on every game. Like others have said before, this depends on reading speed more so than how much is on the screen. Sure, you can be distracted if you read at a slower level, but not everyone reads that slow. Also, no one is forcing you to proceed in the show if you missed something in the subs. The pause button can work wonders if you see the subs before the speaker has a chance to say them.

I don't understand why, with the advent of Blu-Ray discs, not all games created in a foreign country come standard with that option to switch between the languages. Is it really that hard to do? Too costly?

Many of the dubs I have watched have been older shows, I should have mentioned that. And the meaning of a conversation can in fact change if the translation is done incorrectly. Most dubbing companies do a good job nowadays with that, but a long time ago dubbing sucked. Especially when it comes to cultural references and historical allusions, changing the way things are said may have a different meaning than the original. This is something I've studied in school, so it's not like I'm pulling this scenario out of my ass :D

I've been wearing glasses since the 3rd grade, presumably because myopia is a curse in my family :(

I agree to the last statement. Some dubbing companies in the US feel the need to alter the dialogue ever so slightly and interject a joke better suited to the American public when in reality they could be drastically changing the meaning of the conversation. I can understand the need, but really, Japanese culture (along with any other culture belonging to a rich country) is becoming more widespread, so the need to take out the old, Japanese jokes and replace them with stupid, American or other cultural jokes is no longer necessary. And besides, what's the harm in leaving them in? Kids may just look up the joke online and learn something. :)

Yes, yes you should. It's one of the best, and I've not seen many manga that can illustrate a message as well as it. Miyazaki really outdid himself.

I'm not sure because I've never heard of that type of jacket before. Everywhere I looked had pictures similar to this one along with the history behind them or something. I simply Googled everything :(

I'm excited about this game too though I may not pick it up immediately :o Yeah, the Djinn may be used to, I dunno, levitate yourself up to a ledge, push blocks around for a pressure-plate puzzle. I imagine it won't be too far from the likes of Zelda.

But I still love you :(

Maybe?

Could the same be said about Marcus, the pally at the beginning of Eliwood's story? Because everyone says he sucks. When I used him, he raped people in 1 or 2 shots, the 2 hits mostly in succession.

Wheat

Grain

I sleep on the floor. Have fun down there buddy.