mikeszekely

Seriously. I was playing Ace Combat 5 in my PS3 last night. I remember playing it when it came out thinking it looked pretty good. In the interim, I'd bought a 52" 1080i DLP, an Xbox 360, and Ace Combat 6. When I played 5 again, I actually thought it looked worse after 6 than 2 did after 4.

It's the Scarface F/A-18. When you fire up the game, it's advertising that the new content will hit on 11-22, and the F/A-18's free.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if only 12-14 Galaxy-class ships were built. They were large, ostentatious ships that, if the Enterprise D was any indication, were used mostly for diplomatic and humanitarian missions. The Excelsior looks like it was probably still the fleet's main workhorse until the late 2360's. After Wolf-359, I'm sure they'd want to use any existing frames to quickly rebuild the fleet, but I don't really see them building more when newer ships were more practical and probably cheaper. I mean, the Sovereign-class is longer, but it has something like half the total decks than the Galaxy.

Did you buy it? I haven't been looking, but mostly because my Christmas shopping is just about done. If I need something like groceries, I'm doing it at 2:00 in the morning. I thought, as this is my first Christmas in like 10 years, that I might actually enjoy it this year, but I just can't stand the way everyone seems to forget how to drive in their desperate rush to buy junk for everyone they're remotely acquainted with. It doesn't help that there's construction going on on just about every freaking road in Western PA, either.

No, great, I'll look for those programs later and I'll see what I can do with them. EDIT: Well, it's a bit round about to download a file, convert it to avi, rip the subs, then convert the subs... ...but it works smashingly! Thanks a million!

Absolutely. While the F-22 is my all-time favorite so I'm not as sorry that the YF-23 lost as you are, the YF-23 was my second favorite, so I was bummed that the Navy couldn't use it. Also, I know everyone bags on it, but I kinda missed the F-35C from AC5. I used it more than the Rafale. And you can't really talk about Europe's next generation of fighters and only mention the Rafale and the Eurofighter. Where's the Gripen?

Memory Alpha's Sovereign-class article. Enterprise-E article at Memory Alpha. Interesting article about the designing of the Enterprise-E. Fleet chart showing the sizes of different Federation ships in relation to each other. The Sovereign is included. I'm sure not every size given is accepted as canon, but their are articles on the rest of Ex Astris Scientia website to justify the lengths given. Something about standard warp drives causing subspace distortions, and the variable geometry of the nacelles compensates for it, allowing for faster speeds, I guess. Supposedly the newer design of the nacelles on the Sovereign correct the issue without the need for variable geometry, which is why ships newer than the Intrepid don't have VG nacelles.

I don't mind the Defiant having more firepower than a Galaxy. The Defiant was designed to be a warship; the Galaxy wasn't. The Defiant just seemed a little over the top at times... taking out Jem Hadar ships with a few pulse phaser blasts when that Galaxy-class whose name I'm too lazy to remember/look up went down like a little batty. I think the difference between the Galaxy and Nebula classes and later ships like the Defiant, Prometheus, and Sovereign is the mentality in the design. By the start of TNG, the Federation was on good terms with the Klingons and the Romulans had been mostly quiet. Space wasn't the unexplored frontier that it was in Kirk's day. Instead of an efficient design with enough weapons to defend itself from the great unknown, the Galaxy was like a cruise ship. It had accommodations for a huge crew AND their families, complete with a school for children. And a lot of the Enterprise's missions were diplomatic rather than exploratory. The weapons were kept minimal because battle was probably the last thing the designers had in mind for it. As the series went on (and as Deep Space Nine added to the story), the Romulans started acting up, there was the threat of Borg invasion, and there was war with the Dominion. The Defiant, the Prometheus, and the Sovereign were all designed to be less the fat cruise ship that the Galaxy was and closer to serious warship.

I knew it was announced then, but this was the first I'd heard of an official release date.

I have the Phillips 5960. I don't know if it takes str files or not, but I guess if the 642 does, it might. But I still haven't figured out how to get an str file from the mkv's subtitle stream. I've been messing around with Video Cleaner Pro. Can you suggest a software I should try?

Half agree. I do really like the Excelsior, but that's ultimately why I like the Sovereign best. It had the same long, sleek design with the long nacelles and the saucer section sitting on a short, thick "neck," but in a more advanced design. John Eaves and Rick Sternbach have even cited the Excelsior as an inspiration for the Sovereign and an intention that the Sovereign would serve as the Excelsior's successor within the Trek universe.

OK, here's my situation. I've been downloading C&M's Gundam 00 fansubs, and I'm bored, so I figured I'd give Kissdum a try while I'm there (if it's holding up Frontier, might as well see what the fuss is). Now, apparently Kissdum is Vorbis audio and video in an mkv container, which for all Mastroka's grandiose posturing about how it's aiming to be the new standard in video, DivX (or Xvid) video in an avi container is still pretty much the default. Now, I'm not saying that DivX is better, but it is definitely more convenient. My DVD player has a DivX decoder, in fact, and the PS3 is getting one (I've heard rumors that DivX and Apple might even be playing nice, and the Apple TV and iPods may play DivX in the future... same goes for Microsoft and the Xbox 360). So, while I have everything necessary to play an mkv file on my Windows PC with VLC (haven't bothered to try on my Mac), I prefer to watch videos on my DVD player (it can even read from a USB flash drive), so I strongly prefer avi. And while Gundam 00 is delivered in both mkv and avi formats, Kissdum is mkv only. So I've spent the better part of the day trying to convert mkv to avi, and while I've had great success creating an avi file my DVD player likes, I cannot find a way to keep the subtitle track. I mean, an avi with an srt file still wouldn't help my DVD player, but I'm not even getting an srt file. Which brings me to why I'm posting in this thread: HELP! Does anyone know of any software I can use to convert an mkv with a video, audio, and subtitle stream to avi with subtitles that I can eventually watch on my DVD player?

OK, I'm either the last to know, or the first. But it seems the first volume of MS IGLOO, The Hidden One Year War, will be out on DVD in just over two weeks.

Ugh, my credit card's getting a bit of a workout lately... too many toys and games coming out. But I bit the bullet and preorded Megatron at LAF. I figure as long as I don't go too crazy, I can pay off the credit card after Christmas when the videogame situation reverts that barren period between March and September. In any case, another plus in LAF's favor is that they ship USPS Priority. The UPS driver that delivers to me is an incompetent lazy Tom Cruise; I've actually had so many problems with him that I've complained to his supervisor's boss. Needless to say, I avoid UPS whenever possible. And USPS priority was only about a buck more (and probably much faster) than UPS ground. Total for me ended up being about $106. Expensive (by my standards... one of the reasons why I think I'm the only one on these boards that doesn't buy Macross toys), but if he's as good as Prime and Starscream, totally worth it.

Well, I don't think it's that DDR players should go out and learn to dance for real. In fact, I've seen serious players who do dance when playing it. And good for them. And I'm not saying that people shouldn't play DDR, I just don't feel like defending it the way I do Rock Band or Guitar Hero. For me, it's more like a stomping game than dancing. I see an arrow, and I stomp on it. I don't get it. But I don't go around to DDR threads, post about how I don't get it, and go on to tell DDR fans that I'd rather dance for real. And yet, in Guitar Hero threads throughout the web, we get people posting about how they'd rather play a real guitar. Why? Do they feel a need to belittle a videogame because they see it as an inferior to the real thing? Are they coming with genuine hubris to try and understand why people like it? If it's the former, condensation isn't going to convert people who enjoy the game, and if it's the latter, nothing we say is going to help them get it. All they can do is play it and see for themselves, and if they still don't like it, then it's just not their thing. You can't please everyone, right?

After working for so many years in retail, I'm probably just going to sleep in on Black Friday. But if blackfriday.info proves accurate, I might drag myself out for the $100 Samsung color laser printer at Staples.

I gave the engine covers a quick wipe down, but I didn't scrub the silver off. And I didn't touch the nosecone. I mostly just wiped the carbon scoring off the wings and the conformal fuel tanks, then gave the airbrake panel a good cleaning. Mine's fine so far, and I've been playing with it a lot. And David, I know you're still as curious as I am as to where to shop, so I'll throw this info in. Action-HQ has Megatron up for preorder for a decent price without the plug, but Action-HQ is also in Hong Kong. It seems a lot of people like to order from Hobby Link Japan and Big Bad Toy Store. I'm ruling out HLJ, because the price after conversion isn't spectacular, it's plugged, and they ship from Japan. BBTS is also out for me, I think, because $5 is still $5, which is how much more they're listing it for. So I've heard a few positives about Lost and Found Toys, and I think I might order from them. Same $95 preorder that's going around everywhere else, and yeah, it's plugged, but they're in Dallas. Unless anyone else knows something I don't?

Total opposite. I like playing evil. One of the reasons I loved Jade Empire so much was that a lot of games playing good means side quests, and playing evil means killing people who might give you side quests, but Jade Empire had solid side quests for both. Sometimes, side quests could be completed by either good or evil, and the difference was in the methods.

Oh, I'm definitely going to get one. I just have to decide when and what method of payment. OK, so those of you who bought one, where'd you buy yours? Plug or no plug? What kind of service did you get?

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I played with Transformers growing up, watched the cartoon, collected the Marvel comic, got back into comics with the IDW Transformers, but never really thought of myself as a collector. I ignored all the post G1 toys right up until the Classics line. I wound up buying all the Deluxe and Voyager Classics because I loved how they captured the spirit of the toys I played with but better. I also bought the 20th Anniversary Prime, the Toys R Us Soundwave, and the Wal-Mart Devestator. My interest has waned a bit with the movie toys (I only bought the ones that had screen time in the movie), but I definitely knew I wanted Starscream. Basically, I've enjoyed the Masterpiece line enough that if they're priced reasonably in the US, I'd buy all of them, but not serious enough to import Ultra Magnus, Prime's trailer, or Skywarp. I really do want Megatron, though. I'm a little concerned that he might be a little fragile for playing with, but I love the way he looks, and I really want to put him with my Prime and Starscream. So I think I'm going to bite the bullet on it. Again, I'd like to ask, has anyone had any experience with Action-HQ? They have the December Reissue for $95 plus shipping available for preorder.

Is MP-05 worth the cash? I'm thinking about preordering one of the December/January restocks. I'm thinking about going through Action-HQ. Are they any good, or is there another place you guys reccommend?

I don't want you to wait for me since I can't get on until later, but if I get on tonight/tomorrow/Friday and you happen to be on, I'm in.

Did you play the NFS Pro Street demo? I loved NFS: Hot Pursuit 2 and NFS Underground, and I liked NFS Underground 2 and NFS Carbon, but the demo for Pro Street played more like a crappier Gran Turismo than NFS.

Oh, in game. I was using the powder blue SG, I think. The guitar one, not the controller one. I was really disappointed with the selection in GHIII. They replaced a lot of guitars and paints from GHII with shills like the Axe guitar. If only it were that easy. My dad's a guitarist, and I've tried to learn the guitar from him several times. I never managed to play more than scales, and slowly at that. Almost anybody can play Guitar Hero on Easy and pass a song on their first try. Even if you're blessed with more musical talent than I (and honestly, who isn't?) I think you'll find it takes a lot more time and effort to learn the guitar than Guitar Hero, and you might find that you're never any good at the real guitar (sigh). If you've never played a Guitar Hero game, I really do suggest that the next time you're at Best Buy or Wal-Mart or somewhere with a Guitar Hero demo, you give it a try. Harmonix are developers who are obviously deeply passionate about music, and they tried to bring us a music game that feels more like playing music than stomping on random arrows. I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but the first time I played Guitar Hero, I felt like I was actually playing music. When I tried the drums in Rock Band, I felt the same way. If you still don't like it, that's fine, heck, I don't like Ocarina of Time. But at least you gave the game a fair shake instead of writing it off. I'm not saying, BTW, that Guitar Hero is better than a real guitar, just that GH is easier to pick up and play and that I think it's a fun game. Learning a real instrument can be a wonderful and rewarding pass time.

As I said earlier in this thread, if you're blessed with the talent to play a real guitar, good for you. A lot of us aren't, but we still love music and wish that we could interact with it in some other way than singing along with the radio on the way to work. Harmonix is a studio comprised of people who love music, and unlike DDR (which feels more like stomping than dancing, if you ask me), as someone with zero actual musical talent, playing Guitar Hero (and later Rock Band) made me feel like I was playing music. What I don't get is why guitarists feel the need to go into threads about a game they won't/don't/haven't played to tell us they'd rather play a real guitar. You mean the SG that came with the original, right? I was using the SG, but I got a used Kramer (the wireless one that came with Guitar Hero III). And I was playing as Midori. Since I've got Rock Band reserved, I'll just need the wireless Les Paul that comes with the 360 versions to one of each guitar controller model.