| PS2 Makes You Study, Sort Of
We've all heard the basic story of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 before: An unsuspecting orphan is pulled from the comfort of his boring life into an adventure that will eventually lead to saving the world from a vast source of evil. Been there, done that. But Persona 3, released on Aug. 14 for the PlayStation 2, is far from a run-of-the-mill PS2 role-playing game, and not just because of the techno and rap that make up its soundtrack. Despite the cliché story (albeit with a modern twist), the gameplay mechanics are so quirky and innovative that one can't help but overlook Persona 3's many similarities to every other RPG ever. Persona 3's originality stems from the fact that it doesn't fit comfortably into just one genre. Half of the game is composed of traditional dungeon-crawling RPG fare, but the other half is a high school simulation, complete with gossipy girls, extracurricular activities, dating, and tests.
Columbia Business School and Parsons School of Design Students Develop ...
NEW YORK, Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- From forward-looking concepts for the Chanel shopping experience in 2012 to a luxury internet site for Bulgari, students from Columbia Business School and Parsons The New School of Design recently marked a semester-long seminar in which teams examined case studies to develop concepts for some of the world's leading luxury goods companies. The course, "Design and Marketing of Luxury Goods," featured projects for Faber-Castell, Lladro, LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics, and Saks Fifth Avenue, in addition to Bulgari and Chanel. The class functions as an incubator for new ideas for participating companies, not solely for product development but also for enhancing their customer base. This year's projects included increasing brand visibility in the U.S.
Les Savy Fav: indiedom's best-kept secret
A visit to Les Savy Fav's Web site reveals this proud motto: "Missing out on cashing in for over a decade." It's been the Brooklyn-based band's curse–or blessing–to be slightly ahead of the curve without ever quite benefiting from it. "We're not really a career band," acknowledges bassist Syd Butler, reached in Washington, D.C., where he and his family are visiting his mom for Thanksgiving weekend. "We never signed to a major label, we never took advantage of the Brooklyn hype or whatever the trend was. We just kept putting along, like the Little Engine That Could. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Liars, they're amazing bands, but signing to a major label wasn't something Les Savy Fav was interested in." Known for singer Tim Harrington's unpredictable live shenanigans–kissing audience members, dangling from the rafters–as much as for clever art-rock records like The Cat and the Cobra, Les Savy Fav has been one of indiedom's best-kept secrets for over 10 years.
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