Top Eleven: Video Game Women Teenage Erik Would've Shelled Out Money For A Game Just To See Them In It

Damn you, C.P.  You know who you are.

In my last top eleven, I discussed female characters that I found to be great in video games.  Some had some issues (Juliet Starling is by no means perfect, I've said several times before), and some were quite solid, but I really thought each one had something that made them special in a form of media that can either leave a women to simply be so much eye candy, to be regulated to a maternal/healer type, or simply have it be the princess waiting to be rescued.

But apparently that's not enough for some people.  Some people apparently want to see just how low I can bring myself down and turn on that base part of the human brain that thought that USA Up All Night and late-night Cinemax were the greatest inventions mankind ever created.  The part of my brain that thought the picture of Teri Hatcher wearing nothing but a Superman cape wrapped around her was the pinnacle of art.  The part of my brain that was actually willing to give Melrose Place a chance because, the first time I accidentally channel surfed past it, Josie Bissett took her shirt off.

(That one didn't last long.  ...at least, not the first time I figured I'd try watching.  Now, when Laura Leighton joined the cast, I stuck around for a few more episodes)

In other words, they want me to act like a teenager again.  That sound you hear is teenage me trying to go Superboy Prime  and high-five me through time and space.

So here it is, the top eleven characters that, if I had the money at the time and/or could sneak it into the house, I probably would've bought the game just to see these women.

...I'm going to feel so dirty after this.

Ask Erik: Episode Sixteen

Here at Ask Erik, we've spent a lot of time reading books and comics, watching movies, and browsing through the Internet in the hopes of finding the answers to life's biggest mysteries.  What are the odds of a meteor strike on Earth?  Why can't food scientists ever agree on what's healthy and what isn't healthy?  Why hasn't The Philanthropist been put on DVD yet?

Having instead amassed a vault of useless knowledge stored in his head, Erik instead tackles your questions and tries to find the answers you care about (or a reasonable facsimile).  Or, if you don't care, he'll at least try to make you laugh and forget you just wasted time you could spend doing anything else.

Top Eleven: Interesting Video Game Women

If I had to think back to all the video games I've played (and there's a lot), I'd probably notice an interesting trend.  A lot of the games with a female lead (or optional lead) tend to be more fun than the games with male leads.  It might be simply that a game with a female lead might need tighter controls and game play to sell as many units as a game where a guy is the lead star, but I think it goes deeper than that.

I'm going to take a look at why I think this might be (just an initial impression, and one I'll probably touch on later once I have more hard data), and also present what I feel are eleven of the best female characters in video games.

Reviewing Is Magic: Episode Twenty

Acting on what was, in essence, the universe daring him to watch an episode, Erik sat down and started watching My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.  It is, by far, the most insane program he ever watched in his life.

Keep in mind, he used to watch a show about a young woman who lead a double life as the world's biggest rock star with the help of a supercomputer that could cast illusions.  It was the original Hannah Montana, except with an evil rock group who attempted to murder the lead character several times.

After the jump, he'll break down another episode and discuss what makes it good, what makes it bad, and what makes it just outright crazy.  This week's theme?  The backstabby world of professional modeling.

...yeah, hopefully we get another action episode soon.

Celtic Grooves (or "How I learned to stop a bheith buartha and love the remix")

Music's always been important in my life.  I grew up in a house that had "classic oldies" like Buddy Holly, Elvis (Presley and Costello), The Beach Boys, and Diana Ross playing in the house, and on the road I'd get to listen to the newer hits of the 80s.  In the 90s, I stuck with some pop music, but started to explore more classic rock and classical music, finding myself drifting from rock opera to classic opera.  I got my feet wet in the world of R&B and rap, but didn't really dig deep until the start of the 2000s, where I also spent some time looking for the gems in disco and discovering the fascinating world of electronic music and dance beats.  I started to explore international music, from the rhythms in Africa to lighter wind music from Ireland to the pop music and classic music from Japan to Latin soul.  I dove into new age music, listening to David Arkenstone non-stop.

In other words, my car radio presets will show you that I have some very varied tastes in music, and pretty much the only music I haven't spent much time listening to is deep redneck country and bluegrass, though I'm starting to discover the link that bluegrass has to many other music types.

So when I come upon something interesting in music that excites me, it's usually something special.  Such as a remix of classic Irish tunes involving fiddles and pan flutes.

Let's Talk: Kids, Science, and Punishments

Every now and again, I like to take a moment to discuss something that directly affects me.  It might be a post a friend makes on Facebook, it might be a comment I hear on the street, it might be something in the news.

Today, I read something in the news that, I don't know why, but it just really, really bothered me.  Here's the news story that triggered it.  My opinions follow after the cut.

Ask Erik: Episode Fifteen

Here at Ask Erik, we've spent a lot of time reading books and comics, watching movies, and browsing through the Internet in the hopes of finding the answers to life's biggest mysteries.  Is there such a thing as a perfect circle occurring in nature?  Why do certain colors influence our brains in certain ways?  What's the point of Delaware?

Having instead amassed a vault of useless knowledge stored in his head, Erik instead tackles your questions and tries to find the answers you care about (or a reasonable facsimile).  Or, if you don't care, he'll at least try to make you laugh and forget you just wasted time you could spend doing anything else.