mikeszekely

Absolutely. Oh, absolutely. (Which is why, to David, I say you don't know what you're missing.) I mean, even in a game like Neverwinter Nights that's got the D&D label on the box, there's only so much you can do. Trolls, for example. In D&D, Trolls regenerate unless they're hit with they're weakness. For 25 years, players have been burning run of the mill trolls with fire. In a videogame, either you kill it with fire or it kills you, or maybe they ignore that whole bit about having to use fire as long as you can bring its hit points to zero. Our DM thought he'd throw us a curve, and pulled some kind of crystalline trolls from outside the standard Monster Manual. We took them down, but we didn't know how to kill them, and we'd only have a round or two before they started regenerating. Our solution? We had our rogue poke at them to keep their HP down, while the rest of us dug holes, then we buried the trolls. DM allowed it, rationalizing that yeah, the trolls would regenerate, but by the time they regenerated enough and dug themselves out, we'd be long gone. Oh, and it was sonic, by the way. Sonic energy breaks crystalline trolls.

Agreed. Even big JRPGs like Final Fantasy began as little more than videogame versions of D&D. And even though it's been a long time since he's worked on it, he's still more or less the father of D&D. Considering that I play D&D, I've been playing videogames influenced by D&D, and hell I even watched the D&D cartoon as a kid, Gygax's passing is about as sad as when I found out there's no Santa.

From my time at Gamestop, I'll tell you nothing ships on Sundays. And Nintendo is the only one who likes to use Sundays as a street date (most companies use Tuesdays, same day as new release movies). No, your store of choice will receive the game sometime this week. It might be in their stock room right now (although tomorrow afternoon is more likely), just waiting for Sunday to roll around.

Oooh, that'd be nice. Maybe a new ZOE game too. Preferably one that I don't finish in one four hour sitting, though.

I reserved mine from one of my few remaining contacts from my old Gamestop days. I just have to figure out how I'm going to pay it off...

Does the Media Manager do anything besides move files to/from the Memory Stick, like convert avi to mp4 and auto rename the files or anything? What's the advantage of using this Media Manager software over Windows Explorer?

See, I kinda grew up with parents and friends who were largely of the opinion that toys were for children, and expected that I would stop playing with them. For the most part, I did. Even though I've been a member of Macross World now for nearly a decade, I've never bought a Macross toy although the fact that they rarely seem to be under three figures might have something to do with it, too). I did a very brief stint with a few of the Gundam model kits that turned up around the time Wing was really popular, but that was pretty much it from middle school until Transformers Classics. So, even now, I find it difficult to buy toys. In fact, I pretty much only have all of the Deluxe and bigger Transformers Classics, a handful of movie Transformers, an assortment of various other Optimus Primes, Wal-Mart MP Starscream, 20th anniversary Prime, MP Megatron, and my solitary Revoltech Type Zero. That said, I'm finding myself surprisingly drawn to these Revoltech figures. At some point, I'm pretty much guaranteed to get the Transformers, a few other Patlabor figures, Roy's VF-1S, and now I see they're coming out with the YF-19 and YF-21. I don't know if I'll get any others though. If they sold them in America, maybe I'd pick up a few others as an impulse buy. I kinda like the Dante figure, but I kinda like older Dante better.

That... would be AWESOME.

Anyone else catch the new episode of TFA? I think it was one of the best so far. Aside from Blitzwing and Lugnut, it .

There was a period when I was playing DoA2 Hardcore a lot, and Ayane wound up being my best character. Despite that, I've always had a softer spot for Kasumi. The Kaiyodo figure looks to be one of the better Kasumi figures out there, but I'd rather see her in the Revoltech Fraülein line.

My bad, David. There's a Kaiyodo Kasumi, but it's not Revoltech. It's Bome Volume. That's what I get for searching Kaiyodo instead of Revoltech.

Thanks for the advice. I'll play with the Type Zero a little bit more. I need to figure out its shoulders a little better, but I'm starting to get it. I'll pick up the other Patlabor toys at that store I found them at (I've always liked the Patlabor designs, but I never got a chance to watch the show, so no strong attachments there). I'm definitely inclined to get the Transformer ones though. Are the human toys any good? I see they made Kasumi from Dead or Alive, and Dante from Devil May Cry 3. *Crosses fingers and hopes for Dante and Nero figs from Devil May Cry 4*

I got my first Revoltech figure at a used toy store, the Patlabor AV-X0 Type Zero. I've been curious about Revoltechs for awhile (I really want the Transformers ones), and for $13 sealed in box I figured it was worth a shot. Are the later ones any better? I couldn't get it into any of the slick poses on the box (I got it into a sort of ninja crouch). The owner had three other Patlabors (Type J-9 Griffon, and two AV-98 Ingrams, units 1 & 2). I might pick them up so my Type Zero isn't lonely, but I don't see myself spending the usual $25-$30 plus shipping on many of the imported ones (again, maybe just the Transformers).

Is there a different Wal-Mart exclusive Starscream than MP Starscream? 'Cause I thought he meant MP Starscream, and that started turning up in stores in like November. Speaking of, I decided to re-pose some of the Transformers on my desk. While I was moving him, Wal-Mart MP Starscream's right wing busted. The gray plastic that holds it to the metal pin that runs through the black part that connects his wing to his back fell apart on both sides of the pin, like it just disintegrated. Oddly enough, I checked the other wing, and it's fine. Well, even busted it sits fine on him in jet mode, but I'm worried that it's not going to stay on in bot mode. ...I'm not having a good day.

Yeah, but the 360 and the Wii both come with the controller you want. They don't give you a crappy controller and then give you the good one a year and a half later. As for player twos, I got a wired 360 controller and the Wiimote that comes with Wii Play, no nunchuck. And considering how cheap the SIXAXIS feels for $50, $40 for the Logitech Cordless Precision seemed like a steal. Semi-related note, the battery that came with my Play N' Charge kit wasn't really holding its charge anymore, so I bought a new one shortly after I bought Mass Effect. What happens when the SIXAXIS or Dual Shock 3 stops holding its charge? Do they make replacements, and do you have to pry apart your whole controller? Or does Sony expect you to buy a new controller every two years?

I like rumble, but I don't like it $55 worth. What's up with game controllers costing as much as games these days? I'm going to stick with the Logitech Cordless Precision I picked up instead. Yeah, it doesn't support the tilt functions, but I've turned tilt off in every game I've played, and it does support rumble, has a better overall feel, and doubles as a wireless PC controller.

Any reason Lost Odyssey is 5 discs? I'd defended Microsoft's decision to go with the proven DVD format over an unproven newer format, and that hadn't really seemed like a bad decision until I heard about all the discs for Lost Odyssey. But if Lost Odyssey has a lot of prerendered cutscenese, that could be the culprit, since cutscenes done with the game engine take up a lot less room on a disc. Oh, and I mentioned this in the PS3 thread, but Devil May Cry 4 is a great game, possibly the best in the series. There's no real difference between the PS3 and 360 versions; you do a 20 minute install on the PS3 to shave a second or two off the 360's four second load times. If you only have a PS3, get it for that. If you only have a 360, get it for that. If you have both, get it for whichever your like. Just get the game.

I'd say something like "fair enough" and shift my ire toward Takara, if it weren't for the fact that that still left us with all those repaints prior to these two. Or I'll just say they're both guilty of rampant repaints. Either way, maybe only Takara Tomy is reviving their Binaltech line, and maybe Hasbro's not going to bother. But if Hasbro IS going to bother, be it now or at some other point, I'm just saying they're going to need something more exciting than another blue WRX to get me interested. Like a red Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Cliffjumper. Or a Dodge Charger Gears.

Or, here's a wild suggestion, they could make a NEW FRICKIN' MOLD. I know, it's radical, but there are more cars out there than the few they used in the Alternators line, and I wouldn't mind seeing some of them as Transformers. Honestly, how could Hasbro say with a straight face that they didn't want to make all the Classics Seekers because they didn't want that many repaints on the shelves after a line like Alternators?

Okay, I FINALLY finished Ratchet & Clank. Yeah, it was a great game, I just got distracted with the HTPC I was building. Anyway, that allowed me to finally get around to Devil May Cry 4. I've only done the first four missions. I haven't noticed any graphical tearing or anything, and as for the load times, they're maybe three or four seconds from the mission screen to actual gameplay, and more or less nonexistant going from door to door. The worst is between gameplay and cutscenes. It's not that it's long, again, maybe four seconds. It's just noticeable then because it's four seconds out of action. All told, if you're buying the PS3 version because you generally prefer the PS3 to the 360, or you prefer the Dual Shock/SIXAXIS controller to the 360 controller for DMC games, or maybe because you have a 20, 60, or 80GB PS3 and you want to play all your DMC games on the same console, great. Maybe you're afraid of the RRoD, or maybe the PS3's you're only console. There are legitimate reasons to go with the PS3 version. But I don't think the load times are the deal breaker, as I don't see the 20 minute install worth shaving a second or two off your load times. Personally, I like the 360's Achievements, I prefer the 360's controller for everything but D-pad heavy games, and I admit that I think of the 360 more for gaming and the PS3 more as a media player, so I'm quite content with my decision to get it for the 360. I can't stress enough, though, there are legitimate reasons to get Devil May Cry 4 for either console. I really fail to see either version clearly superior, and I think ultimately which version you get comes down to personal preference. Regardless of the system, though, it's a game that should absolutely be played by everyone. The difficulty, as Gaijin said, is nicely between 2 and 3, and the Devil Bringer is a solid addition to the series that opens up some new moves and combos without really changing the overall feel of the game. Nero is very much like the young Dante from Devil May Cry 3, and not a disappointing alternative for a main character. Plus, I think having Nero for a main character makes DMC4 a good starting point for players who missed the first three.

Hooray! Even more repaints of that WRX mold. This would be, what, the fourth one? And the third RX8, right?

While not super satisfied with Soundwave's voice, I find myself happy that they bothered to modulate it at all. Megatron's, I agree, is perfect. I mean, Frank Welker's Megatron is hard not to associate with the character, but it's a little 80's cheesy villiany in hindsight. His voice in Animated is more sinister. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I could have sworn that at least one of the Prime toys had the mask as removable.

Good. Now if we could get a date for Transformers, I'd be good to go.

I'm hoping, but Val Kilmer being a last-minute addition when they pulled Will Arnett probably didn't leave him much time to get into the role. He came across as being a little too artificial. And he's certainly no William Daniels. Honestly, if/when they continue with the series, I hope they replace Kilmer.

DLC is fine for rentals, but it's impractical to build a collection of movies as HD DLC. Too large of files take up too much space and there's too many restrictions on where and when you can watch it. With HD-DVD dead, I'm hoping the studios will ramp up Blu-ray support and move the format from the expensive discs that no one buys to the $15 New This Week endcap.