Author: Lee Baxley

  • Mid-Week Mid-Boss News Report 01.07.04

    Welcome to the first Mid-Week Mid-Boss of the New Year! This year feels so much different than last year! I’m serious! Oh, who am I kidding?? This week, I was prepared to bring the anime section back to this column. Why? Because at the time I started writing the column, the anime column on 411Black…

  • Kuroi Kin-youbi Anime 01.06.04

    The column, “Kuroi Kin-youbi Anime”, means simply “Black Friday Anime”. Every Friday, I’ll take a look at the world of Japanese animation and comics (anime and manga) in hopes of getting more people to love it the way I do. ~Introduction~ Hello, and welcome back to the ONLY anime column on 411Mania. I’m your host,…

  • Mid-Week Mid-Boss News Report 12.31.03

    Ok, it’s the last day of the year, and we all know what that means. No, not “It’s time to get wasted.” That means that another great year has passed and we can look forward to the next one. Ok, in all seriousness, last year wasn’t all that great. Our president started a war with…

  • Mid-Week Mid-Boss News Report 12.24.03

    Welcome to the Christmas Eve edition of the Mid-Week Mid-Boss. No, you’re not in the wrong place. I’m still Lee Baxley, and this is still the best place to come for RPG news and views of the week. This is the new name I decided on after splitting the column into two separate parts. For…

  • Burakku Kin’youbi Anime 12.19.03

    The column, “Burakku Kin’youbi Anime”, means simply “Black Friday Anime”. Every Friday, I’ll take a look at the world of Japanese animation and comics (anime and manga) in hopes of getting more people to love it the way I do. ~Introduction~ Before I begin the column itself, I wanted to apologize for the quality of…

  • Hump Day Otaku News Report 12.17.03

    It’s another week, which means another one of these stupid columns! Yes, that’s right, it’s the column you love to hate and the column to hate to love. The one, the only, HUMP DAY OTA- *BLAMMM* What the f*ck? The Hump Day Otaku is dead! Somebody killed it! Who killed the f*cking Otaku? Oh yea,…

  • Burakku Kin’youbi Anime 12.12.03

    The column, “Burakku Kin’youbi Anime”, means simply “Black Friday Anime”. Every Friday, I’ll take a look at the world of Japanese animation in hopes of getting more people to love it the way I do. Introduction ~intorodakushon~ Welcome to a brand new column here on 411Black! In case you don’t know me, I’m Lee Baxley…

  • Hump Day Otaku News Report 12.10.03

    Hello everyone, and welcome back to the grandest adventure on Wednesdays! (Yes, I’m exaggerating, but work with me here, ok?) It’s another week here, another boring week of no job and no money. I’m still in the desperation stages, and as of writing this, I still haven’t applied at some of the places I had…

  • Hump Day Otaku News Report 12.03.03

    Hola! Welcome back for another week of fun exciting adventurous happy fun time! I’m starting to sound like Chuck, aren’t I? Oy. Did everyone have a good Thanksgiving? Mine was the same ole same ole. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sause and rolls. And I surprisingly didn’t eat myself sick! Anyway, since I’ve been keeping everyone updated…

  • Review: Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)

    Final Fantasy X-2 Genre: Traditional RPG Platform: Playstation 2 ESRB Rating: Teen (Suggestive Themes, Violence) Publisher: Square Enix Release Date: 11/18/03 Official Home Page: FFX-2 @ Square Enix USA In 1987, a Japanese man by the name of Hironobu Sakaguchi was given the task of saving the failing company known as Square. He had one…

  • Review: Gladius (PS2)

    Gladius Genre: Strategy RPG Platform: Playstation 2 ESRB Rating: Teen (Blood and Gore, Comic Mischief, Violence) Publisher: Lucasarts Release Date: 10/28/03 Official Home Page: Gladius @ Lucasarts Over the years, the Strategy RPG genre hasn’t been all that popular with the mainstream. Even amongst RPG fans, many prefer traditional RPGs to strategy RPGs. But as…

  • Hump Day Otaku News Report 11.19.03

    This will probably be a tad bit late, and because of that, I am sorry. I rented Gladius, and got very involved in it, not to mention that my wife was using the computer, and we all know how that goes. The womens get priority. Anyway, it’s time for a job update. Yesterday, I applied…

  • Hump Day Otaku News Report 11.12.03

    I’m gonna do a quickie intro this week, since I don’t have much to say. I still haven’t found a job, and I’m considering trying to get rehired at the company I quit. I don’t want to, but I’m getting really desperate, so I may have to. Other than that, when not job hunting, I’m…

  • Review: True Crime: Streets Of LA (PS2)

    True Crime: Streets of LA Genre: Mission Based Action Adventure Platform: Playstation 2 ESRB Rating: Mature (Blood and Gore, Mature Sexual Themes, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Violence) Developer: Luxoflux Publisher: Activision Release Date: 11/03/03 Official Home Page: True Crime LA Comparisons. To some developers, it is the bane of creating games. To others, it is…

  • Hump Day Otaku News Report 11.05.03

    Welcome to the epitome of fun and excitement! Well, it’s exciting to me anyway. I have to keep myself entertained lately, or I’ll go crazy. To answer the question of no one, I am still unemployed. I’ve applied and submitted resumes to several places, but none has called me back, which sucks. I’m worried I…

  • Review: Tony Hawk’s Underground (PS2)

    Tony Hawk’s Underground Genre: Extreme Sports (Skating) Platform: Playstation 2 ESRB Rating: Teen (Blood, Mild Violence, Strong Language) Developer: Neversoft Publisher: Activision Release Date: 10/27/03 Official Home Page: THUGonline When people think of professional skateboarders, they typically think of one man: Tony Hawk. And when people think of extreme sports games, they think of one…

  • Hump Day Otaku News Report 10.29.03

    Welcome to the first ever Halloween Edition of the Hump Day Otaku! What’s so special about this week’s report? Abso-f*ckin-lutely nothing. Except it’s me, and I’m special enough as it is. No, not in that way. Jackass. Anyway, it’s been an interesting week thus far. I rented and reviewed Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (which should…

  • Review: Castlevania: Lament Of Innocence (PS2)

    Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Genre: Action Adventure Platform: Playstation 2 ESRB Rating: Mature (Blood, Violence) Publisher: Konami Release Date: 10/21/03 Official Home Page: Lament of Innocence The Castlevania series has a very long and interesting history. Starting out as Vampire Killer on the MSX Computer System and progressing its way through more consoles than any…

  • Review: Demikids: Light (Game Boy Advance)

    Demikids: Light (White of Night) Genre: RPG Platform: Gameboy Advance ESRB Rating: Everyone (Cartoon Violence) Developer/Publisher: Atlus Release Date: 10/07/03 Official Home Page: Demikids @ Atlus.com If there is one series that Atlus is known for amongst major RPG fans, it is Shin Megami Tensei. A long running series in Japan, MegaTen is extremely popular…

  • Hump Day Otaku News Report 10.22.03

    My vacation went by too fast, and now I have to work again. But that’s where the green comes, and if I don’t have any green, then I can’t dig myself out of (or deeper into, which is more appropriate) debt. If anyone knows of a way for me to get money by doing nothing…