mikeszekely

Agent, you know, you're kinda like Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Some people find you offensive, but since I don't take any of you too serously, I find you humorous.

I was all freaked out today... my 360 seemed to be taking a long time to boot, and when it finally did, a red light came on in the bottom right quadrant of the ring of light, and I got a freaky error message in a dozen or so languages. But I took the Xbox game out (it was Xbox 1, Megaman Anniversary Collection), unplugged the USB keyboard, took out the memory card, shut it off, and turned it back on, and it was fine.

Your assumption is based on Blu-Ray adoption via PS3. I think I've already explained why many PS3 users won't give a rat's ass, and why even if they did, they're still going to be a market minority. Does the PS3 give Blu-Ray some advantage? Sure. Does it give Blu-Ray the win? Not yet. Not at all. In fact, I'm not even arguing against Blu-Ray... if the BRG announce that they will allow HD signals over component video, then Blu-Ray actually has my vote, since HD-DVD already said they're only outputting HD via HDMI. What I am arguing against is calling the race before it's finished, especially if the PS3 is your best argument. If HD-DVD was as beaten as you seem to think, they would have thrown in the towel by now. I wouldn't be, and I doubt they would be either. Joe Walmart might not know jack about a decent home theater set up, but it won't take him long to figure out that those new "high def" discs don't look any better on his standard def TV than a DVD. And as for me, I'd be criticizing Microsoft for jumping the gun while waiting for the format war to have a definative victor before going out to buy a decent stand alone player. Didn't do DVD on my PS2, and I'm not looking at a game console to make up my mind about HD players, either. And my argument is that Average Joe isn't going to shell out extra for something new when he realizes he doesn't have to. Because even if Joe really is too stupid to figure out you need an HDTV to watch an HD movie (although if he's that thick, he might not even realize that the PS3 plays something other than DVDs), it'll only take one Blu-Ray movie on a standard definintion TV for him to figure that DVDs were fine for him. And the win is still inconclusive. Comparing UMDs to DVD/next-gen DVD is like comparing your living room furniture to your lawn furniture. Going back to average Joe, he knows UMD is different because it's portable. But he's not going to go for a more expensive couch when the cheaper one looks the same in his living room. And besides, the success of UMDs is relative. UMD movies sold better than expected. UMDs outsell PSP games. But UMD sales don't even touch on DVD sales. I disagree. Because I don't think the PS3 will have the impact you expect it to. I don't think the format war will be decided by Joe Walmarts buying up PS3 for all the reasons I've already stated. It'll be decided by people with enough tech knowledge to have invested in a good HDTV and home theater set up. And while some of them might be gamers, some of them won't be. And even some of the gamers, like myself, will prefer a dedicated stand alone unit, be it Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. It's only ironic if you think I'm arguing for HD-DVD. If you read everything I've written again, you can see that I'm not... I'm just arguing that the matter isn't settled yet. Like I said, if Blu-Ray allows HD over component, then I'm all for Blu-Ray. Did I ever say that $499 was an insane price? No, I said that the PS3 MIGHT launch at an insane price. $499 was your number, not mine. And did I ever say that I was interested in the HD DVD add on? Not once. I applauded Microsoft's decision to keep the software on DVD-9s, and left it at that. I would love to see how awesome a movie in HD will look on my 52" DLP... but 360 or PS3, I'm not looking at a game console for the solution. I'm serious about waiting for the format war to be settled first, and then buying a stand alone player. I have no idea what Sony is thinking at this point. I would like to believe that, reguardless of Ken Kutaragi's comments about how the PS3 will be "expensive," "not for home use," and that he wants "people to think, 'I will work extra hours to buy that,'" that somebody at SCEI realizes the need to keep the PS3 priced competetively. But at the same time, you have to consider the facts. Microsoft loses tons of money from the Xbox division; they make it back from Windows. Sony loses tons of money of their consumer electronics; they make it back from PlayStation. Sony may be confident enough to take a hit on the PS3, but they simply cannot afford to lose the kind of money on it that Microsoft throws away on the Xbox family. I would like to see Sony launch the PS3 under $500, but the numbers floating around in the industry weren't pulled out of a hat. Honestly, the PS3 could launch anywhere from $400-$600 and not suprise me. Anything lower strikes me as a pipe dream, and anything higher is insanity. But then, this is Kutaragi's division we're talking about...

Which would be totally true, except your making a few assumptions. The reason Sony went with Blu-Ray is to push Blu-Ray. The reason Microsoft went with DVD is both because the tech wasn't ready, and to avoid picking the wrong side in a format war. (Peter Moore already conceded that if Blu-Ray should win the format war, then a Blu-Ray add-on could be made for the 360). DVDs should be fine for gaming, even into the next generation, but Sony jumped on the chance to criticize the competition for not being "next-gen" enough. Cost of the console wasn't a motivating decision for Microsoft... although it might be for the consumer. But again, you're assuming that the the PS3 launches at $499, which might not be an unreasonable guess, and that the 360 HD-DVD add-on will be, what, more than $200? Because, if all you care about is HD movies, you could in theory buy a core system for $300, so an add-on would have to be at least $200. But what if it's not? What if Microsoft works it out to be $100? What if the PS3 launches at the $800 that's been floating around at retail? That's true about the digital thing. That's why, when I saw a 4' DVI to HDMI cable at Wal-Mart for just $40, I snatched it up. But I don't do eBay. More assumptions. You're assuming that Joe Walmart won't shell out, say, $200 for a new stand alone player, but he will shell out whatever obscene price that Sony asks for the PS3. Nevermind that there are a lot of Joe Walmarts who are just getting around to buying a PS2 because "they're too expensive." But then you also have to assume that Joe Walmart is going to buy movies on Blu-Ray simply because, if he owns a PS3, he could play them back. Nevermind the fact that, unless he has an HDTV, he's not going ot really benefit from Blu-Ray over just picking up the same movie out of a bargain bin on DVD. So, should we assume that Joe Walmart has an HDTV? And assume that Joe Walmart can blow money on an HDTV and a PS3, but is too cheap to buy a stand alone player? Let's be realistic. Joe Walmart isn't going to buy any of it, at least not for the time being. And again, just because the PS3 can play Blu-Ray movies doesn't mean it's going to move Blu-Ray movies. People caught on with DVDs because they had the audio cassette to CD model to look at. People are going to ask what the difference is between a DVD and a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD, find out that HD is the only difference, and buy the DVD because they don't have an HDTV and plain jane DVDs will be cheaper. Even if we did allow that the PS3 could move some Blu-Rays... hell, lets assume that everyone who owns a PS2 buys a PS3, and all PS3 owners buy Blu-Ray movies... you still only have a fraction of the potential market. Remember, there's like 250,000,000 people in America alone, and Sony's only sold maybe 30,000,000 PS2s worldwide. Blu-Ray can't count on the boost that the PS2 gave to DVDs unless HDTVs really take off in the next year. In that sense, both formats have a fighting chance. Although, I think someone on another message board said it best whenever they said "whoever allows component out wins the format war."

Blu-Ray players announced. That's certainly the way to win the format wars! Have players that cost double the competition! Well, if stand-alone players are going to retail for that much, it really has you wondering about the PS3? Will it be close to that price range? If not, then the PS3 would instantly be the cheapest Blu-Ray player on the market and an attractive choice for even non-gamers. However, that assumes that Sony sells the PS3 at a loss, and I don't Pioneer is looking to sell their Blu-Ray players at a loss. Could that drive more manufacturers to make HD-DVD players instead? I didn't know that, and that totally sucks. HDMI cables are expensive, plus I only have one HDMI input, and I'm using it for my PC! I wonder how this affects Microsoft's planned HD-DVD attachment for the 360, since the 360 doesn't have an HDMI output? Frankly, I think it's a pretty stupid reason not to allow HD video over component cables. It's not like a lot of people were using component as a "copy-protection loophole" for DVDs... not when it was so much easier to toss a DVD into a PC with DVD decryption software (and I'd be a little suprised if, once BD-ROM and HD-DVD-ROM drives start showing up in PCs if that isn't the prefered method for pirating those, too).

Exactly! No, wait... If a game as massive and detailed as Oblivion is can fit on a single DVD, I'm thinking that games that would spill over onto two DVDs would be rare (you'd be suprised how much space you can save by having cutscenes in-engine instead of pre-rendered). So while I'm all for a new HD format for movies, I really think that criticism of the Xbox 360 for not using one of the next-gen formats doesn't hold water.

Ooh, sorry bro, but me and the 360 are kinda... exclusive. I'm thinking about popping the question. It really sucks that your unit died. And so suddenly! Well, the good news is that Microsoft's service is supposed to be pretty good about everything. One of my coworkers sent his back, and recieved a brand new one five days later. Which reminds me... if you got the $400 model, get a memory card, and back up your saves before you send your 360 to MS! Or if you got the $300, remind to pop the HDD off before you put your 360 in the box. When my coworker got his back, we could tell it was a brand new one by the factory mint HD. In theory. And that's where the theory falls apart.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is only a single disc. We need 50GB discs for what now?

The price argument might have held up before, but I really don't believe it does now. A 20GB Zen Sleek is $250. i-River's current 20GB model with photo support is $270. And the Philips 30GB GoGear Jukebox is $280. In Creative and i-River's cases, you pay $30-$50 more, and you get 10GB more storage. The Philips player has the same ammount of storage, but hell, for the extra $20, the iPod supports video... a feature that's certainly worth the extra $20 next time I'm waiting an hour for a table at the Olive Garden and killing time by watching Family Guy.

Heh... ressurecting a dead topic because I'm in the market for something like an iPod. Well, I haven't seen all the options... but it does seem like most alternatives are not much less for a lot less storage and or features. And by features, I mean I don't give a rat's ass if the new Creative players have a built in radio. If I liked what was on the radio, I'd be less interested in portable music. The gen five iPod's video playback speaks to me more... 30GB of storage means plenty of music AND every episode of Family Guy. Plus, they come in black now. But, it's the Xbox 360 that really has me looking at iPods. I hooked my dad's up to it without a hitch. Browsing the iPod's content is as easy on the 360 as it is on the iPod itself, plus you can use what's on your iPod to replace the in game music, which is a big plus in games like NFS: Most Wanted that only had maybe six or seven songs that I liked. And since my 360 is hooked up to my home theater, I won't have to dig out a CD to listen to music... just plug the iPod into the 360. I'll look into car audio solutions too, that way I don't have to worry about what CDs I have in my car, or if I'm driving my wife's car, or what not.

Scroll down to my first post on this page. I gave a nice little rundown already for data transfer rates, and how they affect load times.

I thought that they hadn't settled on a price for it? And really, how pricey is pricey, what with the first HD-DVD players retailing for $600-$800? If I had to guess, I'd say Itagaki is probably an Aerosmith fan, since the Aerosmith songs are never originals. I can't fault Ayane fans for their choice... I mean, she's fast and leathal. And she's got purple hair. She was always my second-best character... right after KASUMI! Preach on! What's purple hair compared to elegant beauty and a sweetly innocent personality?

Yeah, like 99% of Hollywood is liberal, communist, or religious nut. And the really irritating ones are the one who think that their fame automatically makes them an expert who's life mission is to dictate their beliefs at everyone else. Doesn't mean that they can't act, though. I'll even admit to liking some of Tom Cruise's recent works, like the Last Samurai and War of the Worlds, despite the fact that he's a freaking nutjob. Similarly, being a great human being doesn't equate to great acting skills. Ronald Reagan's one of my personal heroes, but you don't see me rushing out to pick up any of the Gipper's old flicks.

This reminds me of something else... WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL ... From a software point of view, it actually seems more like a 32x, but I had the SCD pic already. SCD actually DID bring a logical and high-demand advancement(though as an accessory, and an expensive one to boot, its market was severely limited). The leap from cartridge to CD drove publication costs down massively, while at the same time vastly increasing the space available for home games(since arcades were less concerned with cost, they could and did stuff a CD's worth of ROM on the boards sometimes). DVD came after games had started going multi-CD on a routine basis. There was a clear demand for more space. Games now are still coming almost exclusively on single-layer 4.smth GB DVDs DESPITE the availability of multi-disk and dual-layer options. I don't see how there's a demand for a quantum-leap in space at this point. Which brings us to the other side of expansions... the 32x was unwanted fluff that not even Sega took seriously(the damn thing didn't even have software available for the first week after launch). 357811[/snapback] 360's drive would be for films only...if they release games on HD DVD, then I say the 32X reference is spot on. 357813[/snapback] Yeah, a Gamespot article brought that and the Turbo Grafix CD thingy up, and said that Microsoft is concerned about fracturing the fanbase, and is offering it solely for movies. Sorry, neither. It's DOA Ultimate Ayane's C1. Her DOA3 C1 did rock, though, I'll give you that. In DOA4, though, she does have this costume that you might find agreable. Actually, a lot of the costumes, now that I think about it, are Ultimate's. It's like Ultimate was just the groundwork for DOA4.

Ultimate could get away with a few recolors and DOAX swimsuits, when Kasumi had 20 freaking costumes. In DOA4, the most costumes a character has is 8 (most have just six or seven), and you get a lot of recolors (Kokoro has three school girl outfits). And no swimsuits. You might be interested to know that Ayane does have an all purple ninja outfit. And, for the obscure reference, the body suit and helmet costume from the PSX version of the first DOA.

No way! Swordfish was awesome! Of course, the fact that you're arguing for Tarantino when I can't stand his stuff says we probably have different tastes anyway...

But he's failing miserably at that "entertain" part. The extent of my "entertainment" was being like 15 when From Dusk Til Dawn was in the theater, sneaking in to see it, and thinking to myself, "ooh, titties!" as horny 15-year olds are wont to do. I'm no film student. I can't comment on what Tarantino has or hasn't done for the industry, so I'm not going to knock him for anything more than the fact that I think his movies flat out sucked. I mean, you know it's bad when, if I died and went to hell and could only watch one movie for all of eternity, I'd choose Uwe Boll's Alone in the Dark over Kill Bill. For what it was, the TV version of the Shining wasn't that bad, and it was actually a lot closer to the book, which remains my favorite of King's works to this day.

If you consider Pulp Fiction or Resevoir Dogs classic, then I hate those. Well, I hate them even if you don't consider them classic. Frankly, I hate pretty much everything Tarantino's ever done, and I fail to see why he gets so much hype.

No it was actually more like the SUMO : http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/mead/turn...earlydesign.htm 354812[/snapback] Although that was one of Mead's early Turn A designs, it wasnt the first. There's a book called Mead Gundam containing all his designs. His very first design was indeed a typical Gundam. It was like a slim and sleek RX-78 - a bit different from what we usually see, but clearly in the Gundam style. Mead notes that Tomino looked at the design and rejected it because he wanted something completely non-Gundam like. 356770[/snapback] I also seem to recall a Turn A design by Hajime Katoki.

Sarcasm is a bit harder to detect online, you know. Ultimate did spoil me, but I don't think there's too few costumes. It's true that most of the men only have four, but what do I care about that? Kasumi has 7, Ayane has six, Hitomi has 8... And there is always the possibility that more will be available online, or perhaps DoAX2 will add a few... Okay, okay... you practice up a bit, then look me up. My tag is Pharaohman. Oh, and Hikuro, you're invited too. I didn't mean to exclude you before, but you mentioned that you weren't really into fighting games... and since I've been playing DoA since the first one came out on PSone (not to mention that I actually did play all three versions of DoA2), so I'm not sure how competetive you're feeling. And of course, I already have Apollo Leader on my list.

Turn excersizes on. It'll walk you through every move and combo for a given character. That's what sparring mode is really for.

Sissies. Okay, I'll admit it, this DoA is a lot harder than the previous 3 (or five, if you count each version of DoA2). Frustrating at times, even, especially since Alpha-152 has some extraordinarily damaging attacks. But, I'm glad that I'm not whipping through this game the way I breezed through DoA3. The AI can be cheap at times, but playing harder difficulties on DoA3 just mean the AI got perfect at counters. And, for the record, as of time of writing this, I've unlocked every character except Tengu. Instead of trying to unlock him, I'm going to go back and work on completing different characters' costume sets. And while some of the endings are just silly (Kasumi, Hitomi, Leifang, Zack...) some of them have endings that are both violent and more relevant to the story (Hayabusa, Ayane, Hayate, Helena). Oh, and myk? Not only does the calendar only have headshots, but it doesn't even have Hitomi in it. I can't complain too much, because it does feature my Kasumi... for the same month as my birthday, no less. One more thing, myk. Can I add you to my friend list? I'd love to wail on you online, if you're up for it.

No, it's that Robotech thing.

I know what you mean! The Enterprise always seemed to big on TNG. What's more, while I'd figured the Macross must have been pretty big for the citizens of South Ataria to rebuild their city inside it, it's a bit bigger than I'd thought. It dwarfs Star Trek's Galaxy class, and is just a tad smaller than an Imperial Star Destroyer. It's also fun to compare the Death Stars with Unicron or with the Zentraedi Fulbtzs Berrentzs and Bodolza command stations (with Earth's moon to scale in the background). The Death Stars aren't as big as you might think.

Frankly, I'm glad it was posted here. The problem with all these damn "Super Threads" is that suddenly everyone expects anything remotely related to the subject to be in there. But 99% of the TF thread is toy-related, and I gave up collecting toys years ago, so just like I never visit the Toys and Models section of the boards, I stopped checking the TF thread. If news of a Kawamori-designed Prime (which I'm more interested in the lineart than the toy) had been confined to the TF thread, I'd have missed it.