mikeszekely

That reminds me. I saw an ancient thread from 2003 bumped recently on another board. A "most anticipated games" discussion. Perfect Dark Zero came up, which was "coming out for the XBox in 2004." Needless to say, I laughed when I saw it again. It's actually funny that, in the article, they were talking about that. They started for Gamecube, but they quit because of Nintendo's lack of online planes (so they say). After being bought by Microsoft, they went back to work, because Microsoft had Live. But the current Xbox lacked the power to do the very large maps with the 50+ people (they're aiming for 64) they want in multiplayer, so they quit again (again, so they say). So they switched to the 360. Hopefully, they don't come up with anything like, "The 360 doesn't include support for players to control the game with their minds, so we're going to move this to development for the Xbox 720." As far as I know, our association with Rogue Squadron and Nintendo just comes from the fact that the last three games turned up on Nintendo consoles. LucastArts should own the rights, though, so another Rogue Squadron could happen easily enough. It'd just be for PS3. On that note, if they do another Rogue Squadron, I really hope they include some form of threat indicator and targeting, instead of forcing me to squint into the blackness of space to look for TIEs. I mean, and I really to believe that a starfighter with the ability to travel at faster than light speeds has less advanced targeting than an F-15?

F-91 was supposed to be the pilot for a TV series that just never happened.

Did anyone catch the Xbox 360 article in the new EGM? Hardware-wise, it's nothing that hasn't already been covered elsewhere, but they did offer a pretty good look at the new Perfect Dark. Graphically, as has been said, it's not all that... but there's still plenty of time to fix that now that the final dev kits are going out. But the features sound pretty good, remind me of the good old days with the orignal PD (guns still have two functions, when unarmed you can steal another player's weapon, etc), and definately have me looking forward to the game.

Of the four of that particular style (Sympony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow), I found all but Circle to be on the easy side. Especially Symphony... only Galamoth provided any real challenge, but he was optional. And Dracula himself was a joke. At least in Aria, Death puts up a good fight. Can you argue differently for the other three? Even if it was a little obvious, at least Aria tried to have a plot twist. Again, of the four, none of them had great endings. So, to my way of thinking, your gripes with Aria are pretty much par for the course. But I think what made Aria good, to me and perhaps the others that have chimed in their affection for the game, was that more than Circle or Harmony, the gameplay was more like Symphony.

OMG! That comes in a cereal box?! *runs off to the grocery store* I don't know what's nerdier... the fact that I post regularly in a forum for a 20+ year old Japanese cartoon, or the fact that I'm willing to buy and eat cereal to get the Star Wars spoon...

He did specify his question based on an inmovie quote, so we gave him an in universe explanation It's cool, and your explainations do make sense.

Actually, the reply from Lucas was the scene where Bai Ling got cut also featured Lucas' daughter, as the scene in general was regarding the formation of the Rebellion. There is far too much cut from this film. I love it to death, yes, and I know what got cut and what got let in. Perhaps due to my enjoyment of Ep1 and 2, plus knowing what got cut from Ep3, made me enjoy it even more, and make perfect sense of the film. Well, here's hoping for a special 2-disc extended version on DVD, then. Especially since I thought the pacing was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY off in the movie. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it was like they were trying to cram too much movie into too short an edit. A lot of the coversation in the book that went into more detail about Anakin's feelings and Palpatine's manipulations were non-existant, and a lot of scenes that were really detailed, like Obi-wan's fight with Greivous, played out in just a few moments on screen. In a way, Revenge of the Sith is like a two hour montage, showing the highlights of what could have been a great three+ hour long movie. And you know, for all the relevant stuff they did cut, like Senators petitioning Palpatine to give up some of his power or the beginnings of the Rebellion, they just had to show the Wookies fighting the droid army on Kashyyyk, even though it was the most worthless scene in the whole movie. Aside from getting Yoda off Coruscant whenever Anakin joined the Sith and attacked the Jedi Temple, it had no relevence to the story whatsoever. It was more fan service than anything else... like Lucas sat around and though, "You know, the fans love the Wookies, especially Chewie. I'll work them into the movie somehow... hell, I'll even show their homeworld!"

It's funny that you guys are coming up with so many in-universe explainations for why they don't really reference the older Gundam material, but no one's brought up the main explaination... Gundam was getting big and old. Bandai wanted to attract a newer audience without forcing them to go back and watch all of the older Gundam shows/OVAs/movies. Both F-91 and Victory are set in the UC timeline, but they're both set well enough after Char's Counterattack that the various factions, mobile suits, and previous events aren't really relevant. It was this desire on Bandai's part to "re-launch" Gundam that led to the alternate universe Gundams (G Gundam, Gundam W, Gundam X, Turn A Gundam, and Gundam SEED/Destiny).

Anymore, it seems the best way to keep a game exclusive is to buy the developer. In Capcom's case, I'm not sure how much of an arrangement it was. I don't think Nintendo offered Capcom anything, and I don't think any papers were signed. I'm pretty sure it really just began with RE creator Shinji Mikami being pissed off at Sony. He was even quoted as saying something along the lines of PS2 was selling the best because people had to buy two or three. But as influential as Mikami might be, he's not really the guy in charge, and Capcom, who'd been running in the red for awhile, just saw more money in the PS2. In Factor 5's case, I'm not 100% sure what their deal is, and why they'd developed almost exclusively for Nintendo. But their decision to work entirely with the PS3 seems personal... no paperwork, and they could change their minds later. I'd assume that decided to develop solely for one console has to do with focusing their resources and pushing the limits of one console. I could be wrong, though... and for some odd reason, I have a feeling that JB0 would know more than I do...

Actually, it's a little irritating that his daughters are still in it. Bai Ling was supposed to be in it, too, but they cut her scene. She claimed it was because she posed for Playboy, and Lucasfilm responded by saying, "No, it was just how the movie got edited. Lucas' daughter was supposed to be in it, and her scene got cut." And yet there they are.

Absolutely. The upcoming sequel is the only reason I haven't sold my DS.

For reals, yo? Doubt it, look at the date on the article... 4-1.

I guess it's easy to miss a few posts when you read through 14 pages... but if Factor 5 does another Rogue Squadron, it'll be for PS3, since Factor 5 announced they will be developing exclusively for PS3. I think Capcom hinted that they're working on an RE5, but someone how I don't see it turning up on the Revolution. The reason they went Nintendo exclusive in the first place is because of Shinji Mikami's displeasure with the qualilty of the PS2. Since then, though, almost every exlcusive that Capcom made for the Gamecube has or will have a PS2 version, due to the fact that Sony's much larger audience meant more profit. Now, especially if Sony's machine turns out to be as powerful as people are saying, I'd predict that an RE5 would turn up on the PS3 before any of the other next-gen consoles.

I'm the opposite. I can't remember to take my camera with me even if I know in advance I'll want to take pictures. But I don't go anywhere without my Samsung A670. Of course, I don't even have a home phone anymore... I agree whole heartedly. If I'm going out somewhere, and I know I'm going to have time to kill, I bring my GBA or my PSP. But I've often thought it'd be handy to have a little game in the phone for those times when I arrive somewhere early (especially the movie theater) and I wind up with unplanned time to kill. Now the thing to remember with Japan, sure, there are people with GBAs, DSs, or PSPs... but seriously EVERYONE has a cell phone in Japan. You could be the most handsome guy at school who's good at everything and a member of all the popular clubs, but never get a date because you phone's not cool enough. And Japan is a country full of people with time to kill. Everyone in at least Tokyo will spend a significant portion of their lives riding buses, trains, and subways. Games for cellphones are a market that was almost taylor made to fit that lifestyle. That's why their phones are so ahead.

Bioware is doing two for the Xbox 360. This is great news, as far as I'm concerned. Bioware is rapidly becoming one of my favorite developers.

Depends on your definition of "slightly." NCSX is selling it for $65. When it hits the States, it's only going to be $40. I don't know if it's a big deal to you or not, either, but I've had issues with UPS (not to mention that they're over-priced). To me, $65+ shipping to wait around two weeks to see if UPS is going to deliver or if I have to go down to their local distribution center and pick it up myself really can't compare with $40+ sales tax plus the ability to just walk into a store and buy it. I'm sure the dubbing will be just as bad as it's been for Gundam games/Gundam TV. But, unless UC mode is a huge change from campaign, the Vs. games haven't been the talkiest Gundam games. as a worker of UPS I can assure you we take exellent *snort* care *heehee* of all packages in our system. BTW we don't ship on weekends. It's not the care that concerned me. It's the fact that the driver for my area is a fat lazy bitch who thinks that if he reports that he made a delivery attempt, he can go home early and not deliver my packages.

Lucasbooks isn't George Lucas himself. Some Joe Schmoe at Lucasbooks may come up with some overarching plot, but unless it was Lucas' idea, it's Joe Schmoe's fanfiction. It's just official endorsed (yet non-canon) fanfiction.

But then you have to ask, what does Luke mean by "the good side"? The Rebels? The Jedi? People who don't abuse the Force? I'd feel confident to say that Luke meant to get Vader to join him in aiding the Rebels, and fight for the "good guys."

I think it's worth mentioning, that, IIRC, the terms "Light Side" or "Light Side of the Force" never actually appear in the movies. It's certainly tempting to see the typical good vs. evil conflict in the Force, but I'd speculate that that's not really the case. The Force itself may not have an aspect that is "light" that represents all the things we value as good, and an aspect that is "dark" that represents the things we condemn as evil. As chrono suggested, the Force just is. The Jedi manipulate the Force in a way that is natural and in harmony with the Force. They are mindful of the will of the Force. They have very strict rules and codes to ensure that they are focused on the higher purpose. The Dark Side of the Force, then, might represent the temptation to misuse the Force, to act against nature and the harmony of the Force, to forsake the will of the Force and use it for one's own will, for baser purposes. You can see some hint of this when Palpatine tells Anakin in Episode III that the Force can be used in ways that some would consider unnatural. This is expanded a bit in the novelization, when he tells Anakin that he doesn't believe in the will of the Force, he believes in the will of the individual, and later, when Palpatine tells Anakin that he can have anything he wants if he allows himself to do whatever he wants.

Factor 5 developing exclusively for PS3 I guess whether or not you consider that a big plus for Sony's new console depends on how good you thought the Rogue Squardron games were... I personally liked Starfighter and Jedi Starfighter better, myself, as the Rogue Squadron games lacked even basic targeting functions.

Depends on your definition of "slightly." NCSX is selling it for $65. When it hits the States, it's only going to be $40. I don't know if it's a big deal to you or not, either, but I've had issues with UPS (not to mention that they're over-priced). To me, $65+ shipping to wait around two weeks to see if UPS is going to deliver or if I have to go down to their local distribution center and pick it up myself really can't compare with $40+ sales tax plus the ability to just walk into a store and buy it. I'm sure the dubbing will be just as bad as it's been for Gundam games/Gundam TV. But, unless UC mode is a huge change from campaign, the Vs. games haven't been the talkiest Gundam games.

Ah, thanks for the info. The UC mode sounds like a lot of fun, and I can't wait to play it, but I also really enjoy the campaigns in FvsZ and AvsT. So, now I know to hang on to them!

You're almost making me wish MGREXX was still around to read this! Kind of odd though, if the GPU doesn't exist how can they have dev kits already out? Something smells real fishy in all this. The way I understand it is that there are different levels of dev kits, with the earliest kits being little more than PCs with approximate hardware and tools that they can use to get started. As the hardware gets closer to release, finalized dev kits are sent out so the developers can finish tweeking their stuff and finalize it for the actual hardware. This is, incidentally, the reason why a lot of the 360 games looked so unimpressive. The final dev kits were late shipping, and the demos weren't designed with the final hardware in mind. Well without a solid GPU an early dev kit could be completly different from what the system is actually going to be. Isn't that sort of irresponsible to ship it with a "your guess is as good as mine" metality? I suppose you could look at it that way. But I'd say think of it more like making and outline before you write a research paper. When a developer starts working with a dev kit that's "close" to what the expected final hardware will be, they're really just setting up the framework and getting a headstart, and then they can clean, tweek, and finalize after they get the final kits. I guess it takes too long to make a game to wait for the final dev kit before starting if you want to have something for launch. EDIT: JB0 beat me to it.

PS3 pad looks like... well, like Sony stole the GameCube handles and welded them to the DualShock. Personally, I think it's a massive improvement, as the 'Cube pad is the most comfortable one I've used since... well, ever, and I've always hated the handles Sony uses. For me the standard DualShock design is a study in discomfort. I've never been ble to hold the thing in a way that made my hands NOT hurt after a while. The PS3 pads might turn out to be comfy like that (I'll agree that the Cube's pads are comfier than they look), but rather than adding comfier grips to the current dual shock, it looks more like they took a U-shaped tube and threw some buttons on it. Perhaps comfy to hold, but it doesn't appear to be comfy to hold and push buttons/work the sticks. And you gotta admit... the 360's controllers do look pretty comfy. The preview/review that IGN posted was extremely favorable, too.

Now I have to ask... when you play as particular pilots, are you limited in mobile suit selection? Because when I played the campaign in AEUG vs. Titans, I'd use, say, the Nemo or the Rick Dias for the average missions, and if a mission had a hard or very hard rating, then it'd be time to bust out the MkII, Z Gundam, or Hyaku Shiki. Does this mode where you play as ace pilots replace the campaign mode from AEUG vs. Titans, or do we still have something like that? From the demo, it seems that the Arcade mode is still present, and an amalgamation of the arcade modes from both FvsZ and AvsT. Is ZZ only available in the "Ace" mode? Quebely was available in the demo, but not ZZ.