Apollo Leader

I just saw the news about the Silent Eagle this morning. Looks nifty, but it's definitely no substitute for either the F-22 or F-35. But still would make an interesting upgrade for old F-15's and any others that come off the assembly line. If I can find the picture, McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) had a data sheet showing potential usages for the F-15's FAST Packs/CFT's all the way back in the 1980's and at least one of the proposals indicated the possibility of internal weponary. I know at least one proposal was for an internal gun and I think another was internal weapons carriage (bombs and missiles).

I bet for the 40th or 50th anniversary, someone's going to try to have an actual working Gundam by then. But one has to wonder how far out will Gundam, especially the original story, will remain in popularity in the decades ahead?

I downloaded the demo a few weeks back, but I've never gotten around to playing it. Right now it looks like my next two games I'm getting are the next Dynasty Warriors Gundam game and Guitar Hero Metallica.

I've decided to abandon my qwest to get Seriously on the original Gears. I've read too many horror stories over at the Xbox forums about some players going as high as 17,000 kills and never getting the Achievement. Epic really needs to patch something in the game. As it went I had around 7,000 kills in ranked gameplay from Warzone and Execution. The last few days I've just been playing music games. The Rock Band AC/DC pack was fun though I recommend getting it for $30 or less (like I did). Haven't tried doing my Brian Johnson impersonation in the game yet. So what's everyone else playing right now? Hope to fire up Halo Wars this weekend.

I saw it last month with a friend of mine (also a long time wrestling fan). I thought it was well done in what it was trying to convey about someone who is in a "meat market" of an industry who has clearly lived past his prime. Marisa Tomei's character, the aging stripper, was also a good parallel to the Ram. I liked the scene where the Ram is playing the fictional NES Wrestlefest game with this kid who's trying to convince him to go play Call of Duty 4. Still deciding if I'll pick it up on video, though.

One of the most popular mecha series of all time turns 30 next month; I believe April 7th, 1979 was the original air date for Gundam in Japan. To start off the celebration, a life sized Gundam is being built in Japan! I wonder what other good stuff will be going on? I guess it's time to go through my TV series DVD's (the US release that was missing an episode and was English only) and my Gundam movies (either my old VHS set or the DVD's with the redone audio). I may have to re-fly my Gundam rocket sometime this spring or summer.

I think the very first Wrestlemania I watched in part or whole was back in 1988 (Wrestlemania 4?). For several years, we would watch the major WWF pay-per-views either at my grandparents or at home. Also attended a fair number of WWF matches at the Omaha Civic Auditorium during that time of the late 80's/early 90's. I occasionally will watch Smackdown and will go watch Wrestlemania or a few of the other pay-per-views at some of the local sports bars or Buffalo Wild Wings. I still check out wrestlecrap.com frequently.

It's a crying shame that after a decade of all this non-sense that there's no progress in establishing some sort of an agreement or compromise that would make either parties happy and so that the ultimate victims in this, the fans, would finally be able to more fully enjoy their fandom of the Macross universe (whether it be watching any of the series, merchanice, etc.).

Didn't realize our old thread was locked. Some sad news to report. Wrestling legend Verne Gagne accused of body slamming fellow nursing home patient to death. Verne was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease a few years ago and his mind's been fading away. In other news, Wrestlemania 25 is a few weeks away. I can remember when the first ones took place in the 80's. Any matches (confirmed or rumored) that anyone is looking forward to?

Sad to say, its Big West who has become the bigger detriment to Macross fans in the US and worldwide then Harmony Gold. Not too surprising, but I'm not upset since I got more VF-1 toys (Bandai, Yamato, and Toynami) then I can shake a stick at. But it would have been nice if the cheaper US release would have taken place and that stuff like the Elint Seeker and Super Ostrich would have happened. Sales of the Origin of Valkyrie toys may have been low because some fans outside of Japan were waiting for the Toynami/Tamashii release.

BTW, were you able to get through all the new Horde related achievements? Let me know if you need help! Since I've been back to playing the first Gears for the last few days, I've got some comments about the experience: 1) The first Gears' graphics are definitely darker and loaded with more shadows then the second game. 2) The first game is tougher from the standpoint that you will be dropped by weapons quicker then in the second game. Taking cover is more crucial. 3) After being used to all the weapons, functions, using "meatshields", etc., the first game feels stripped down, but it's still tight, fun to play, and a visual feast. 4) One thing I like about Gears 1 over the second game is being able to select which match you want to join. Thus less lag issues then the second game. 5) A lot of people playing Gears 1 are definitely a more serious and hardcore bunch then those playing 2. People who are working on the Seriously achievement. Lots of clans. -------------------- After heavily playing both GOW 1 and 2, I will have to say I would chose 2 as the one I like most. It takes a lot of the good stuff from the first game and ramps it up. Better graphics, more gameplay types, more to the gameplay period, lots of attention to details, lots of humor from the guys at Epic, and the game seems more accessible then the first. But the first game is what got the franchise started and it will be something I will continue to visit as I gradually work to finish the Seriously achievement and will replay the story mode again someday. But I am moving on to some other games. Got Halo Wars a few nights ago. Will be spending time on other games that's for sure.

So did anybody see it? A friend of mine is pressuring me to go see it, but then again he gets some sort of sadistic plessure from watching the 1994 Van Damme movie. Sad to say it looks like this one sucks as well, but was anyone expecting otherwise?

Ummm........ YES! I can really be obsessive compulsive about certain things and with both Gears games I've really enjoyed them and have been set on fully beating them both. When it comes to most things in life, I do best when just focused on one or two things, ditto with video games. But because I do have quite a few untouched and unplayed games in my collection, I'm at the point of stop buying anything new. Back during 2005-6 I sold off virtually my entire video game collection because I realized that much of it was never going to be played or replayed again. Now I'm getting to a similar point with my Xbox 360 games.

Wow, once again I'm really out of the loop on things since I'm posting about this a week later. For the last 10 years since Yamato/Toycom first announced they were getting into making Macross toys (it was 10 years ago this year that the Macross Plus toys were announced) I had been really hoping they would do a large SDF-1, especially its DYRL incarnetion. I am definitely impressed. But I will have to see how much it costs since I pretty much am not buying any individual toy (US or import) that runs over $100 these days. But maybe I'll make an exception for this...

Sad to say, I bought the special edition metalic case version of Lost Planet two years ago and I still haven't opened it. Lost Planet 2 looks great, but I better make sure to play the first one. Well after a few long weeks of work I've managed to get all 57 achievements to Gears of War 2. For those wanting to make a run a Seriously 2.0, use the last stage where you start off on the Brumack. Take out all the enemies going up to the first door you break through. Take out the 20 or so Locusts on the ground and the Boomer in the tower. At this point pause and start the chapter over. If you are playing consistantly you will probably take out 110-120 enemies in about 1:30 - 1:40 meaning you will take out about 3,000 to 3,600 in an hour. Now to get back working on the original Seriously in Gears 1. Besides that, I'm trying to decide what other games to work on next. Halo Wars comes out this week and since I planned on getting the special edition, I will have the new maps for Halo 3 giving me an excuse to start playing that again. Other games I'm thinking of tackling right now are Tomb Raider Legend, the first Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Ace Combat 6, and Dead Rising. Still got to finish COD WAW so I can fight Nazi Zombies!

Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce returns tonight!

I know, I'm a horrible person. When I snatched a copy of it, I was really engrossed with EDF 2017 and Call of Duty 4. Right now I'm obsessed with completing Gears of War 2 in its entirety. I'm almost to 50,000 kills and I should have the remaining multiplayer achievements done in the next few weeks.

I would chose DYRL. A more mature storyline, getting rid of the more goofy elements of the TV series (ie. having an aircraft carrier and a troop/cargo transport mounted to the SDF-1 - the Gundam "movies" got rid of some of the more silly aspects/mechanical designs of its TV series as well), killer artwork and animation (that is also consistant), a great soundtrack, a better refinement of the Hikaru/Misa/Minmay love traingle, etc., etc., etc. The biggest flaw of DYRL is that in order to get the best appreciation of the film in helps to have seen the TV series first; I saw Attack of the Bionoids before I saw either Macross or Robotech The Macross Saga and I was a bit confused on what was going on. Of course with a 2 hour movie it can't possibly flesh things out like a full series. The Macross TV series comes out on top in that it has 36 episodes to flesh things out. But the horrible inconsistancies in the artwork and animation and that the last 9 episodes were quite clearly tacked on (Episode 27 was clearly suppose to be the last episode and that Hikaru had clearly had picked Misa over Minmay at that point) are definitely its biggest flaws. But regardless, both are classics in their own right.

Here's from rockband.com: How do I transfer my songs? Insert your validly purchased original Rock Band disc and update your title. This will add an “export disc” option to the Extras tab on the Main Menu of the original Rock Band. Click this option and follow the onscreen instructions. **Note: there is a charge of 400 Microsoft Points to re-license the songs for use in Rock Band 2. You will need to be online to purchase the license key for these tracks** As for the AC/DC disc, the game is suppose to come with a code where you can download the songs to your hard drive. As for the other "Track Packs", are you talking about the ones that come on an actual disc? Speaking of AC/DC, Wal-mart has recently dropped all the AC/DC Live track packs down $10. The special box sets that come with the extra DVD and Black Ice t-shirts have also been dropped to $29. I almost picked up the special box set for my 360, but I'm hesitant just because all the tracks are from the Live album of the same name (I had the tape many years ago) and I would rather have the original album versions. But I might change my mind.

I was at the Toys R Us over in Council Bluffs, IA last night. They had a copy of Mass Effect and several copies of The Orange Box (360 and PS3 versions) on clearance for $9.98 each. Wow... (Goes into the corner and starts hitting head on wall for buying Mass Effect for $39.95 in September and I still haven't even opened it) A few weeks ago I took advantage of that awesome 360 sale at Best Buy and got Ninja Gaiden II and Turok for $9.95 each and Unreal Tournament III for $19.95.

Is it just because there's no Ahnuld in it?

I think with the launch systems or those bought within the first year or so of the 360 launch it was something like 3 years. I think you also had to have turned your warranty slip in, too. Call them if you got any questions. So far my refurbished system has lasted me about two-and-a-half years, and I have probably put several times the use into it then any other system I've had (except for maybe the SNES).

Well I contributed to GHIII's success once again last week. The bundle with the wireless Les Paul and a copy of the game were on sale at Best Buy for $50. One of my wired Xplorer's finally went bad on me the week before. I'll probably sell this extra copy of GHIII to a friend or trade in for store credit. Anybody looking for a new copy of GHIII for the 360???

Looks like the self destruction of attention starved Megan Fox continues.

Kind of like a hypothetical USS Jimmy Carter which would have a white flag on the island all of the time!!! The mission was "accomplied" in that Saddam's government was overthrown and that his military was defeated.