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mikeszekely

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  1. mikeszekely
    Thanks for the help. I tried routing my connection through an Indian one, and it didn't help. Nor did Canadian, Japanese, Chinese, or British connections. I'm starting to think that Gundam.Info uploaded the episodes for a limited-time streaming, and rather than take them down from Youtube it was easier to block everyone from the videos, especially if they might want to make them available again.
  2. mikeszekely
    So, GundamInfo has the episodes on YouTube for streaming, like they did with Gundam Build Fighters. Except that, unlike Build Fighters, it's coming up as "The uploader has not made this video available in your country." Any ideas which countries can watch?
  3. mikeszekely
    Yeah, sketches aren't selling me on Space Brick. At this point, I doubt that color photos of the finished toy could sell me on Space Brick. He's aesthetically unappealing, and I have zero attachment to the character.
  4. mikeszekely
    Yep. In fact, I re-did my entertainment center. My TV stand has two drawers down the middle (controllers and cables go there), and a pair of shelves on either side of the drawers. The Sony consoles are on the left, the Microsoft ones on the right. Everything else is on a separate tower to the side.So far, I've bought a lot more games for the PS4. It's a lot easier to set up splitscreen multiplayer on the PS4, and non-exclusives seem to run a bit better on the PS4. Microsoft always manages to have a few exclusives, though (the two games I have are Forza and Dead Rising, and a friend of mine is giving me his copy of Ryse when I see him next month). Plus, going forward I think I'd buy racing games for the Xbox One over the PS4, because of the One controller's better triggers.
  5. mikeszekely
    Well, it's on my list... In a few weeks, when I'm done unlocking everything in GBU...
  6. mikeszekely
    Fine by me! Although I never got around to playing Infamous 2, I played the first one for a long time... and never finished it. At some point, I just decided that I'd had enough of it.
  7. mikeszekely
    I have Infamous and MLB 14 The Show for PS4 sitting untouched right now. After leafing through my Valkyrie Master Files books, I was really in the mood to play a Macross game. I didn't feel like digging out my old PSP, so I decided to look at the emulation scene (which wasn't so hot for PSP last time I checked). I was absolutely ticked to find that one emulator, PPSSPP, runs great on both my laptop and my desktop, has a fantastic interface, automatically detects and maps the PSP's buttons to an Xbox 360 controller, and runs Macross Triangle Frontier almost perfectly. The only two issues I've run into are transparent boxes around your VF's exhaust, and nothing but the HUD is visible on the two Battroid Attack levels. The first issue is pretty easy to ignore. The Battroid Attack levels are a little trickier. Fortunately, the HUD tells you if you're in Battroid, Gerwalk, or Fighter mode, as well as the direction and distance from a target. The map shows what direction you're facing in relation to that target. It's not ideal, but you can get through those missions (and even S-rank them) without actually seeing what's going on. Even better, for me at least, is that it also plays Gundam Battle Universe absolutely perfectly. Between those to games, I've blown probably 90% of my free time for the last week. The Macross Frontier and Gundam Battle games really made the PSP for me, and while it's a shame that they're not available for the Vita on PSN, it's nice to be able to play them with a better controller on a bigger screen. I haven't tried any of the other Gundam and Macross games on PPSSPP yet, but I doubt there would be any problems. The only other game I've played on the emulator is Mega Man Powered Up, and it runs flawlessly. My opinion remains the same, it's a better experience than playing on an actual PSP, and it's another game I wish was available on PSN for the Vita. Depending on how you feel about the ethics of emulation (I own all the games I've emulated... so far, anyway), I'd say give it a try. Yes... but not now, and not preordering it. I kind of didn't like Doom 3, so I could care less about the beta. I did like the last Wolfenstein, but I don't know if I liked it $60 worth. Since I have a few games in my backlog, I'll play those first and wait for Wolfenstein to turn up on a Steam sale.
  8. mikeszekely
    Gimmick or not, it's good enough that I can play Mega Man. What more do you want in a PC controller? Like I said, the PS3 controller has a better d-pad, but it has worse ergonomics, worse sticks, worse triggers, and (arguably) worse build quality. It's not even cheaper than the Xbox controller! So I stand by what I said, if you already have a PS3 go for it, but if you're looking to buy a dedicated PC controller for all the great variety of gaming that PC has to offer, you should buy an Xbox 360 controller.**Unless Microsoft releases PC drivers for the Xbox One controller like they've been swearing they will. Someday. **If you're mostly playing emulators and don't need analog sticks, a controller with a better d-pad than the PS3 is the SNES controller, which is readily available in a USB model these days. I don't think that'd work for frothymug, whose already displayed a taste for twin stick shooters.
  9. mikeszekely
    I dunno, first started playing fighting games with Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II on the SNES. When I actually went to an arcade, I thought it was hard to play, and I've never understood why people want arcade sticks for fighting games on home consoles.
  10. mikeszekely
    The PS3 controller does have a better d-pad, but not that much better that I'd recommend buying one for PC use over the Xbox controller, especially if you get an Xbox controller with the transforming d-pad. Take away the d-pads, and the PS3 controller is inferior in every other way. And I've had troubles with MotionInJoy. I have one laptop that's very light and portable, but perhaps due to its size only has one USB port. I wanted to play A Link to the Past after finishing A Link Between Worlds on the 3DS, and I didn't want to drag my big gaming laptop out, so I figured it'd be ok to use the little laptop. I tried MotionInJoy, because the laptop does have bluetooth, but for whatever reason I could get the computer to recognize that their was a bluetooth device and to sync to it, but I couldn't get MotionInJoy to recognize that it was a PS3 controller. I agree! I think that the PS4 controller got a lot more hype because it was such a huge improvement over the PS3 controller, while the Xbox One's controller is mostly little refinements to the Xbox 360's. Once you get over how much better the PS4 controller is than the PS3's, and just compare how the PS4 and Xbox One controllers feel in your hands, the Xbox One controller is, at least to me, noticeably more comfortable. PS4 does have the better d-pad again, though.
  11. mikeszekely
    Not sure why you'd want one... the D-pad looks terrible, and I've never been a fan of six face buttons. It bills itself as a controller for first-person shooters, which is one genre PC gamers definitely do NOT need a controller for. And if it doesn't support X-Input, it's effectively obsolete (although there are workarounds). People that own the P990 seem to like it, though. Saitek's a popular choice for flight sticks, too. Brand loyalty? IF you already have a PS3 controller and a mini-USB cable or Bluetooth adapter, and IF you don't mind setting up MotionInJoy, yes, this is a valid solution. If you don't have a PS3 controller, though, I still say go with a 360 controller. As much as we all love our PS3s here, even the most die-hard fans have to admit that the PS3's controller isn't the greatest. Plus, you don't have to futz with MotionInJoy if you use a 360 controller.
  12. mikeszekely
    Metal Slug 3 if you're into games like Contra, Waves if you like Geometry Wars, Castle Crashers if you like Golden Axe. Pac=Man Championship Edition DX if you're into Pac-Man. Kinda disappointed that Galaga Legions DX isn't on Steam. First, let's get this out of the way. If you're thinking of using a controller on PC, especially if you decide to branch out of the "arcade" sorts of games, then you're going to want a controller that supports X-Input. X-Input is a standard Microsoft created... oh, I guess with Windows Vista, around the time the Xbox 360 came out. Controllers that support X-Input have the same basic layout as the Xbox 360 controller... a d-pad, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons, two sticks, plus start and select/back. When a game supports X-Input, and most games from the last 5+ years do, you don't have to mess around in the controls options of your games to set up the controller (unless you want to). It's plug-and-play, with the buttons already mapped. A game like Stryder, for example, would have the same default controls as the console version. As for controllers that support X-Input, the best controller for PCs is the Xbox 360 controller. They are as close as PC has ever had to a "standard" first-party controller. You can either buy a wired one, buy the package for Windows that includes a wireless controller and the USB receiver, or buy a wireless receiver and wireless controller separately. Buying a wired controller is probably the cheapest way to go, but some of the special edition chrome controllers have the "transforming d-pad" that's a significant improvement over the non-transforming type. It's Microsoft's standard, and the controller that the handful of other X-Input supporting controllers are imitating. The Xbox 360 controller is pretty ergonomic, has good analog sticks, good trigger, and supports rumble. They're well-built, too... I bought a 360 and launch, and a wired controller to use as as spare, and both controllers are as good as the day I bought them 7 years ago. It's as plug-and-play as you could possibly want, since Windows 7 and 8 have drivers for it from the get go and can download updated drivers through Windows Update. It's biggest flaw is the d-pad, although as I said the ones with the "transforming" d-pads aren't as bad. The Logitech F310 and F710 both support X-Input, and as far as I can tell their biggest distinction from Microsoft's own controllers are that the Logitech ones are shaped more like PlayStation controllers. I personally haven't used them, but I use Logitech mice, keyboards, and speakers, and their stuff is usually good, although sometimes you-get-what-you-pay-for, that is, their cheaper products can feel pretty cheap, but their higher-end stuff is usually top quality. Not having used them, I can't say if their d-pads are better than the 360 pads. The face buttons look identical to the 360's, though, and the triggers are more like the PS3 controller's than the 360's. In other words, unless you really prefer the shape or the flipped stick/d-pad placement, they really don't offer any compelling reason to choose them over a 360 pad. Plus, although I'd take this with a grain of salt, but I've heard anecdotal stories of problems with them. They're not even really cheaper, if you watch sales from places like Amazon.
  13. mikeszekely
    Hope it's more Far Cry 3 than Far Cry 2. I couldn't get into Far Cry 2 at all, but Far Cry 3 was one of my favorite games in 2012. Even though I hate Uplay, and even though I've been console gaming a lot because of my shiny new next-gen consoles, I think I'll grab this on PC.
  14. mikeszekely
    I think Prowl's the exception, not the rule. For Soundwave and Prime, it was running $50-$100 more to import, after shipping.
  15. mikeszekely
    Aside from all the crap on his back, Bee doesn't look bad at all. The cost of importing the Takara toy isn't really worth his tiny size, and Exo Suit Spike isn't making up for it for me. I'll pass, even though I know Volkswagen will never let him come to the States. As for Ultra Magnus... I like that the cab is designed to look like MP-10, and that it's detachable. Too bad it can't turn into a white MP-10, though, because the look of the cab and the fact that it's detachable is pretty much all it's got going for it. In pretty much every other way, Citizen Stack beats the heck out of him. Even with the way the cab folds on Stack, he doesn't look nearly as bad from behind as Magnus. If I knew for sure there'd be a Hasbro version for under $130, I might bite, but as it stands I think I'd rather buy Citizen Stack.
  16. mikeszekely
    40 seconds isn't too bad. Granted, I suppose it's on the slow side for an SSD, but sometimes the motherboard's POST plays an issue. My previous desktop takes over two minutes to boot, and I blame the fact that it takes 10-15 seconds just to get to the screen that says to hit DEL to go to the BIOS. I'd estimate my computers with SSDs to clock in around 20-30 seconds.
  17. mikeszekely
    Is that 6.8 overall to 7.1 overall? What was the actual change in hard drive? I've never had a mechanical drive score higher than 5.9 on WEI. Both the computers I use an SSD in have 7.9s for the hard drive, and it's something else that drags them down. In my desktop, it's the CPU and RAM (7.7). In my laptop, the GTX 660M only managed a 7.2. In any case, using an SSD for the secondary drive wouldn't affect WEI, as it only measures the performance of the primary drive. Personally, 120GB SSDs had to come down under $100 before I advocated their use at all. Now, since using an SSD for a primary drive can really make a computer seem fast by cutting boot times to a quarter of a mechanical drive's, I like to use them as boot drives. But I still think their too expensive for mass storage. I'm too lazy to go to Newegg, check prices, and do math, but I'd ballpark the cost per GB on an SSD to be around 10x the cost on a mechanical drive. It's been years since I started hearing that SSDs would replace mechanical drives, but until that cost difference is no more than 1.5-2x/GB, it's just not worth it. The performance gains you get loading one file one program you'd install on the secondary drive aren't as dramatic as the boost loading all the crap Windows does.
  18. mikeszekely
    Not particularly. Take my box, for example. The Windows Experience Index rates my graphics at a 7.9, which is the maximum value allowed in Windows 7. I have a GTX 660 ti. If I get Watch Dogs for PC, it'll certainly be playable, but if I want to stay at or above 30fps I probably won't be able to use Ultra graphics settings. Now, supposed I upgraded my GPU to a GTX 790. I'm going to have a much easier time getting that game to look good on my system, right? But as long as I'm using Windows 7, WEI is still going to rate my graphics at a 7.9. Another thing about WEI is that your overall score is the lowest value. In that case, it's my CPU and RAM, which are tied at 7.7. Now suppose that instead of upgrading my rig with a GTX 790, it was a buddy of mine who did. To afford such a powerful GPU, he skimped a little on the CPU and went with a mid-range Core i5. Let's say Windows scored that CPU a 6.5. So, if we both just opened up our system properties, without expanding our WEI scores, my box is a 7.7, and his box is a 6.5. Based on a single number showing on system properties, a layperson might assume that my computer is better, but I'm the one who'd actually be more in need of an upgrade. The expanded numbers are sometimes a fun way to see that, yes, your computer really did get a boost from an upgrade (assuming you weren't already at the max on that number). But they're not a substitute for benchmarking tools to measure actual performance.
  19. mikeszekely
    Do they still have the deal where you can get Forza for free, too?
  20. mikeszekely
    Unless you find that it feels "off", the default settings are probably fine. But if it helps, I looked at my G700's settings, and I have it to 1600dpi and 200 reports per second. That's the second lowest polling setting, and a DPI that's probably double a generic mouse, but much lower than than the 5700dpi setting that the mouse maxes on.
  21. mikeszekely
    It's not exactly common in laptop drives, no. They mostly pop up in gaming laptops, and yeah, you pay a premium for them. More accurately, the platters spin about 33% faster. What that means, in terms of actual performance, is a lot more complicated, as Az goes on to explain. It's not just the number of platters, but how fragmented the drive is as well, and for programs how much can be cached in RAM once it's in use. Take it from someone with four laptops currently laying around the house... I won't go so far as to say that the difference isn't noticeable, but I will say it's not something you pay attention to. If I were in your shoes, I'd just buy a 5400rpm drive and save myself what I'd guess to be around $30. No chance. Oh, it's feasible. Once the drive is mounted, Windows doesn't care weather it's USB, SATA, PCIe, or whatever. But yeah, IIRC USB 3.0 is still maybe a third the data speed of SATA II (which itself is half of SATA III). And as Az mentioned, you'll have issues if the drive is disconnected. Just because you won't need it for gaming doesn't mean you have to shelve it. For one thing, Macs hold their value pretty well, so you can always sell it. But if you're kind of attached to it (hey, you don't get to have four laptops laying around by getting rid of stuff), you can always find other uses for it. Like for me, I have my gaming laptop that I take to friends' houses or when I got on vacation. It's in my backpack when I'm not using it. But my gaming laptop was kind of big, so I've got a 11" little guy with amazing battery life that I took to coffee shops when I felt like a change of scenery when I was doing my grad school work. Now, I leave it laying around in the living room for those surprisingly frequent occasions when an iPad won't cut it, but I don't feel like going to the man cave to get on my desktop or dragging my good laptop out. The third laptop serves kind of the same purpose as the little one, except it's a 17" Dell, so I'm not lugging it to coffee shops. I keep that one in my bedroom, and I mostly use it when I'm sick and don't feel like getting out of bed or looking for my good laptop. Some other ideas... you could keep it in the kitchen, and use it for calling up recipes or watching Netflix while you're cooking. And of course, there's always the ol' look up stuff on Gamefaqs on one computer for the game you're playing on the other computer... I'm sure that there are hardcore gamers out there who care about that stuff very much. All I can say there is that fussing with DPI settings has never made much difference to me, and I've used pretty much everything from el-cheapo mice to a Logitech G700. I've come to the conclusion that the only two things that really matter to me are that the mouse must have at least two buttons I can hit with my thumb (I map them to G and V keystrokes, then use G for grenades and V for melee in shooters), and I prefer that the mouse wheel can be set to clicky when I'm in game, but free rolling when I'm not. Aside from the piss-poor battery life, I've liked my G700, but I've got Logitech Marathon Mice I use with the bigger laptops (including the gaming one). It's all good. Side note, I use a small Microsoft mouse on the little laptop... I can't remember the model. Wouldn't use it for gaming, because it's only got one thumb button, but it's smaller than the Marathon Mice, so it goes with the smaller computer.
  22. mikeszekely
    This. I bought a 120GB drive for my current box, with Windows 7, Office 2013 Pro, Visio 2013 Pro, Project 2013 Pro, Expression, Visual Studio, Firefox, Chrome, MSE, Nero 9, iTunes, and more all on it. After over a year, it's still sitting on only about 90GB used. Just stick with my tips and install bigger programs you don't use often and all your games on the big drive, and set up your Libraries to use folders on the bigger drive, and you'll be fine. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot... if you play games on your laptop, you probably have Steam, Origin, Uplay, or some combination thereof. Steam installs games the Steam folder, so be sure to install Steam on your larger drive. You can install Origin on that drive to. However, I found out the hard way that Uplay is a piece of garbage, so if you have Uplay for some reason, it has to be installed on the C: drive, or the games won't launch. It's not all bad news, though. Unlike Steam, you can pick where to install the games in Uplay, so you can make a folder on the bigger drive and tell Uplay to install the games there. It's just Uplay itself that has to be on C.
  23. mikeszekely
    Hmm. I'm not really interested in modeling, but that one does look like it has some nice photos...
  24. mikeszekely
    Thanks. Sounds like, until the VF-22 volume comes out, that I'm just missing the Squadrons of the SDF-1.
  25. mikeszekely
    Alright, I've officially lost count. How many VF Master File books are there? I have two for VF-1, and one each for VF-19, VF-25, and VF-0. It sounds like there's a third VF-1, and a VF-22 is coming out sometime? Am I missing any others?
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