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Finally a solution to a problem we could have easily solved by now if it weren’t for society’s double standards and ridiculous rules like decency and respect. No I’m not talking about solving unemployment through slavery, I’m talking about cold boobs.

The Japanese have taken it upon themselves to create the Bust Beauty Pad, a USB-powered bust warmer. Just plug it in to a USB port and insert the warming pads under your bra and soon the twins will be all cozied up. It probably also works on man-boobs too but… let’s not go there. Talk about trying to invent a better mousetrap, though! Last time I checked us men still had hands! And maybe you don’t know it Japan, but here in the western world some men are even willing to pay good money to solve this problem with this hands-on approach.

There’s supply, there’s demand. I don’t know, it seems like the free market could have solved this problem ages ago. Perhaps a cop and trade system is in order, see what I did there? Yeah I’m witty like that.

[Bust Beauty Pad / Via Tokyomango]

With every gaming generation that passes we continue to strive for better and better graphics, photorealism isn’t that far away from us, so perhaps it’s only natural that retro graphics are making a comeback. The folks at design group Alaskan Military School took it to the extreme though. They set out to represent classic games with just a 15 pixel grid. As ridiculous as it may seem, they achieved amazing results with a few, such as the video above which, if you haven’t deciphered it yet, is Street Fighter’s Ken Masters v. Blanka. Check out their website for the complete collection.

[Alaskan Military School / Via Boing Boing]

According to a Nintendo marketing employee, Wii is set to have a successor as soon as next year! Some info on the system are as follows…

• Wii 2 will feature a blu-Ray disc drive in a bid to prevent piracy.
• Support for 1080p resolution for both blu-ray movies and games.
• Due to release in the third quarter of 2010, in a worldwide same day release.
• Trade-in scheme for existing Wii owners to receive a discount on the new hardware.
• An announcement would come a month before release date, riding on the back of viral marketing to build hype.

If Wii 2 had the same specs as a GameCube or a Wii (they’re both the damn same anyway) then blu-ray space would be wasted. It could be telling that there is nothing what-so-ever in these key Wii 2 details regarding the systems’ graphical capabilities. Could you imagine if the Wii 2 was exactly the same as the original Wii, but with a blu-ray drive, HD support and nothing else!? That sounds like some shit that could actually fly at Nintendo. Just look at the evolutionary steps from the DS, to DSi, to the the DSi LL. Nintendo aren’t ones to fully embrace current technology. They always prefer to creep 5 years behind everybody else.

And as for the trade-in scheme? I cannot see Nintendo going for that. They made no effort to offer such a scheme for DS lite owners who would like to upgrade to a DSi, so I can’t see them doing it for their consoles. Nintendo are all about printing their own money. Not helping others save it.

A new Nintendo system with a blu-ray drive would be really cool. Even though Nintendo probably wouldn’t allow it to play blu-ray movies without a 16-digit blu-ray movie code.

It’s all speculation, but it’s rather exciting. A new Nintendo console with full HD output and a blu-ray drive would certainly make sense given the current games-scape – which is why I’m inclined to not believe it could happen. Because it sounds like way too much sense for Nintendo to actually go along with. I hope I’m wrong.

[Max console]

Our first night in Asakusa was pretty disheartening. Filled with the pains of leaving ‘our home’ and then wandering around for hours lost in the rain looking for our place of stay – it’s safe to say Asakusa wasn’t winning us over much. Thoughts that tended to fill our minds consisted of “This is shit”, “It’s raining”, “I wanna go back to Osaka” and “This is it?!”. But our first day in Asakusa was a turn around a corner for us all. The sky was clear, it was a damn nice day and the niceness of the locals shone through every person we came across. Asakusa is a pretty old town. Much like the kind of place where you might want to retire to, or a place you’d like to vacate to when you’re in your 60’s. Lots of convenience stores, cheap 99 yen stores, markets, Onsen’s, cheap restaurants, temples and no chronic hustle and bustle.

It’s easy to see the attraction to Asakusa when you truly open your eyes and look beneath the lack of neon signs, girls in knee high socks, arcades and electronics stores. There’s something really nice and warm about Asakusa that feels inviting, non-threatening and homely. The only problem with Asakusa, is that at times it can feel so warm and sedate that you tend to get complacent and forget you’re on a holiday, and that you’re in Tokyo at all!

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D’ya know that Australian sounding chick in the last epic to the eye balls trailer of Final Fantasy XIII? Well, she goes by the name of Oerba Yun Fang. And as you can see, Oerba is a bit of a looker. Sexy in a mysteriously exotic kinda way. But the name is a weird one. It sounds like a Korean delicacy! I honestly would’ve preferred her name to have been Oerba Kimchee (seeing as I touched on the subject of Korean delicacies and all). Her name certainly gives licence for Final Fantasy XIII’s black dude Sazh to drop a corny line like “So, your name’s Oerba Yun Fang? Woooo, you a young thang!” and then give a reassuring look to himself like he just dropped the funniest and slickest line ever. I actually wouldn’t mind that…

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In the never ending attempt to cut down cable costs I found a nice, and free, app called Boxee. It essentially aggregates all the video feeds (Netflix, Hulu, friends’ personal feeds) I’d typically watch in my browser and provide a platform to nicely display them on my TV.

A while back we broke news of Crunchyroll beginning to stream English subtitled anime shortly after airing in Japan. Now with an ever expanding lineup, Crunchyroll will be partnering with Boxee providing their feeds in the software. If you really like it, you can signup ($5/month) for the premium capability which will give you access to streams up to 720p with no advertisements. Try the 2 week trial.

Through Crunchyroll you are also able to access all the live action drama. I’ll also add you can save your favorite channels. So if one is, say in the mood for yaoi, you can get your fill with HD quality streams.

[Crunchyroll via Mashable]

*Little know fact, Boxee is the offspring of the XBMC project.

Back in 2006 Miyamoto let lose a few comments about how the next Zelda game after Twilight Princess would be completely different from any previous Zelda game. Allegedly they were aiming for some sort of first person Zelda game, which we kinda saw with that crossbow training minigame.

Now though, Miyamoto is saying the next Zelda will use the MotionPlus Wiimote accessory to “make you feel much more like you’re actually fighting while holding a sword in your hand”. Now at first this makes me think this might mean the next Zelda game will not be as different as previous ones since in the same Q&A session Miyamoto implied similarities in the game mechanics. However, as much as it’s been tried, even with Red Steel 2 using the MotionPlus, there’s yet to be a game that can adequately capture the act of waving a sword around in-game.

Also, knowing Nintendo, the MotionPlus will be a requirement for this next Zelda game, so you better get your hands on one as soon as you’re able, lest you be left swatting flies. Get it? Swatting flies? A reference to waggling the wiimote in games? Mario Paint? Ok, that was bad, I’m sorry.

[GameLife / Via Joystiq]

Japan is at it again, trying its best to have mecha out as soon as possible. This time they are not going the giant robot route, a la Gundam, but are once again pursuing the power suit, a la Patlabor. Engineers at Kyoto’s Activelink Co. have developed this little beauty you see above, called the Dual-Arm Power Amplification Robot, or DAPAR for short. Sure it needs a better name but it’s nearly fully movable and amplifies both arm and leg movement, enabling you to lift over 90 kg without a hitch.

Yeah, it cant hurl armored vehicles like pillows just yet but they are aiming to make it fully mobile and have it in practical use by 2015. Add a couple of extra years and they’ll have the DAPAR swinging an oversized sword and firing an enormous sub-machine gun.

[Boing Boing]

(Please excuse the  one-day-later post but this couldn’t wait another whole week). *Ahem*. . . Hello there, fellow Dark Diamond readers and friends, and welcome back to another one of my very well-received coverages about events that gather our one similar trait; that what makes us wake up early on a cloudy Saturday to be ready just in time to assist the one event you’ve been waiting all year long: The -anime- Halloween Party (because most of the other parties . . .just don’t cut it).

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As we wrap-up another hectic month, in true Halloween fashion, we had a scare of our own. Nahu and Velcor were down with a sickness by the H1N1 bug. Thankfully it was only temporary, but while they celebrate dia de los muertos, the rest of us get to don our favorite costume idea, eating candy and watching horror movies. What did you do for Halloween?

The posts this month seem be all across the board, but here’s what got you talking the most:

Modern Warfare 2: The Elusive Banned Video
When you’re guaranteed to sell a bagillion copies of a videogame, you have to up the ante. When does it go too far? rbk3ai tells it to us straight: can i say you all are a bunch of P***YS its a game.

Windows 7-tan: The Whole Nanami Madobe Voice Clips
Nahu provides us with with his take on the Nanami Madobe Window 7 theme: it turns errors into features and nerd rage into a moe-induced trance.

Kirsten Dunst’s Cosplay Was For A Movie: Akihabara Majokko Princes
While snaggletooth Dunst was playing dress-up for a music video, it seems part of a larger project highlighting the Akihabara culture. Thankfully the film is in the hands of Takashi Murakami. I’m sure we won’t be let down.

Did You Know: There’s A Triforce In The Dollar Bill
You know where you hear stories about the founding father’s being part of a secret society? You can find traces of the Illuminati in the pyramid, the seemingly insignificant spider in the corner, and now the Triforce hidden in the “e” of the $1 bill. Sleuthing fenixdown110 says: There’s Hyrulians among us and high up enough in the government to influence the printing of money. Conspiracy!!!

Movie Night: “The Dumbass Who Stumbled Through Time” Edition
The movie night for this month involved pudding, and lots of it. Pudding so good one would travel back to the moment after they ate it, just to eat some more…this was certainly a love story… Angelywind cries: OMG I can’t cry more TT.TT… oh wait… yes I can T^T so sad and so fun, that I love it.

Well, there you have it. We are looking ahead for what November will bring. You guys have any suggestions? After all we are here to serve the DDN community.