mikeszekely

Not so sure about that. While the Logitech Wheel is the best I've tried (with almost no dead zone and a 900 degree turning radius), none of them have enough force feedback to truly recreate the feeling of driving car. And since I'm already used to the standard controller, switching to a wheel or stick causes a drastic reduction in skill for me.

I know a few other people that liked the original 'Box controller, but I just never saw it. It was too big... like holding a loaf of bread with two analog sticks poking out. The d-pad was one of the worst ever (at least the S has a cross on the circle), and while the white/black button placement might have been better (and that's debateable... I got used to having them near the bottom real fast), the X/Y/B/A buttons were clustered way too close together. I remember playing DoA3 and constantly had the problem of pushing the wrong buttons. I should mention that the Logitech Wireless controller for the Xbox is great, but not as good as the one for PS2, and unless you have a wireless headset, it's useless for voicechat on Live.

Hella worth it. Granted, I haven't tried it online yet. And the new version of SFII is still more or less a Super Nintendo game... but SFIII is easily one of the best 2D fighting games I've played. I think the only one I might like better is Street Fighter Alpha 3, and that's only because of the enormous number of characters and kick-ass world tour mode. Besides, it's only $30. Man I have been playing the crap outta this. I bought the import(wcode and region free) and played it back in November but there werent alot of players. Now with the US release I can play everyday! Definaley one of the best LIVE titles yet. bought it, got the crap beat out of me online. Question, how do u watch the movie? Go to Street Fighter II, then go to the Gallery Mode. It's in there.

Understanding that, if I recall correctly, the DMCA legally gives you the right to make ONE copy per DVD/CD/game that you own for backup purposes, I would suggest that if you have a DVD burner in your computer, that you do just that- back up your Macross DVDs. The Animeigo Macross DVDs are NOT copy-protected and are very easy to copy.

They don't let you race some classic cars, like the Model-T, or some of the concepts, like Mitsubishi i. And for all the classic American muscle cars they crammed into the game like the Charger and the Cuda, how come there's no Trans Ams? It'd kick ass to have a black early 80's Trans Am, then pretend its KITT...

Hella worth it. Granted, I haven't tried it online yet. And the new version of SFII is still more or less a Super Nintendo game... but SFIII is easily one of the best 2D fighting games I've played. I think the only one I might like better is Street Fighter Alpha 3, and that's only because of the enormous number of characters and kick-ass world tour mode. Besides, it's only $30.

You capped him? I figured that'd be a waste of bullets, so I went with the dynamite/bait route.

You have to use a Kei car. That means things like Suzuki Cappucino, Daihatsu Midget and other cars, the little Suzuki, Honda Fit, etc. Thanks, I wound up using a Daihatsu Copen.

61. I wonder what areas we screwed up on? Did any of you stop to rescue anyone? I sure as hell didn't.

Uhh, define "serious"... People that play lots of 2D games like fighter and shooters and don't need a craptastic D-pad messing you up. The round shape makes it easier to pull off diagonal moves, and the Saturn is the best 2D system anyways, so it kind of goes hand in hand. I've been playing Street Fighter since it came out on the SNES, personaly I've always preffered the cross shaped D-pad over the Genesis style circular pad. I fact I always had the problem of inadvertly hitting a diagonal when I mean to hit one of the "main" directions. When I think craptastic d-pad I think those circular d-pads, and yes I can also play Street Fighter with the arcade stick. I'm with Druna on this one. Too me, the SNES pad is still the most responsive and accurate for fighting games, and I played fighters with my friends all the time then. We mostly played the three Mortal Kombats, the three versions of Street Fighter II, the first two Fatal Fury games, and Samurai Showdown. Super Street Fighter II really stands out... I played that until I got blisters. Saturn was the best 2D system? Not likely. That crown belongs to the SNES. The Saturn had a handful of good titles and the RAM expansion made for better ports of Capcom's early Vs games, but it's more of a 3D system, like the orignal PlayStation. Besides, the Dreamcast was Sega's best system. I'd love to see a sequel to Samba de Amigo or Seaman.

Uhh, define "serious"... Yeah... I'd consider myself to be one of the most serious gamers on the boards. I've owned in my days an Odyssey, a Commodore, an Atari, an NES, a SNES, a Gameboy, a Gameboy Pocket, a Gameboy Advance, two GBA SPs, an N64, a PlayStation, a Dreamcast, a PS2, a Gamecube, an Xbox, and a Nintendo DS, plus my PSP is paid off. I currently own over 200 games across several platforms, and that's not counting the stuff I've sold over the years. For just the d-pad, I've found the SNES pad to be the best, and believe me, I put that one through its paces. I've never really had a problem with the PS2 controller's design. Four shoulder buttons is kind unecessary for most games, but vital for games like Ace Combat. The thumbsticks are in easy reach, so I don't think it mattes that they didn't swap the left stick's place with the d-pad. However, I think the best and most comfortable controller is the Logitech cordless controller. Give the Xbox controller S a better d-pad, and I'd say that's probably the best controller design out there. Finally, I've never liked any of Sega's controllers. Six face buttons is no better than four shoulder buttons.

I don't have a problem with Jive Records charging $20 for a Britney Spears CD, either... but I don't want to hear them bitching that they're not making the kind of profits they want because the fans aren't buying enough copies or because some kid downloaded "Toxic" (because that was the only song out of lord knows how many singles that they liked) instead of wasting $20 for the album. Again, higher prices do not translate to more profits. If five people are willing to pay $20 for a CD, and 10 people are willing to pay $15, you're going to make more money selling the CD for $15. And that's still ignoring the fact that most record companies are flooding the market. Back in the 70's, you knew who most of the major artists were, and they'd be a year or two between albums. Today, as little as nine months go by between albums, and for every one mildly successful artist, you have a dozen mass produced clones. And while we're plugging our favorite lesser-known groups, do check out The Juliana Theory.

Oh, I just saw previews yesterday, when I went to see Constantine. Yeah, now that you point out all the similarities to Macross Plus, I can see it. But when I saw the previews, I was thinking of Ace Combat 3. It doesn't look like a bad movie, per se, but as a fighter buff, I'm a little dissapointed that all the aircraft in the movie are totally fictitious.

Hey, quick question to anyone else who's played this far... what's a good car to use in the Lightweight cup? Oddly enough, there's not a weight restriction, but a length restriction... the car has to be under 3400 whatever units they're measuring in (I'd guess cm). Closest I've got in my garage is the '97 Mirage Cyborg I used in the Mirage Cup... that's 3890. I've been shopping around, but even cars like the Toyota Vitz or little roadsters all seem to be a little bit too long.

The appearance customization thing bothers me too, but for different reasons. GT has been, more or less, about customizing things that actually affect the car's performance. They said once that it takes them a long time to render a car so accurately, and if they took the time to start rendering visual mods for the cars, they'd have less time to render more cars. I'm cool with that. And, let's face it... you buy a Civic, you pop open the hood, you tune and tweak to get the most hp out of that Civic as you can, and (until you start ripping stuff out to lighten the vehicle) for the most part, it still looks like a stock Civic. (Personally, I never cared for the full racing mod kits in GT1 and GT2... why take a perfectly gorgeous car and turn it into a hideous NASCAR reject?) But now, they're like, "You can make your car look awesome! You can put on a new wing... or rims!" So I can take the perfectly good spoiler off my Evo VIII and replace it with a god-awful fugly wing? Whoop-dee-frickin' doo. If they're going to start dabbling in visual mods, they shouldn't be so half-assed about it. They should go all-out, like NFSU, Midnight Club 3, SRS, etc, or if it really takes away from rendering that '97 Mirage we could all live without (hell, I have a Mirage, and even I don't really want to see them in racing games), then don't waste time with a handful of wings and rims, either.

Then whats the problem? If its crap, and ain't worth buying...don't buy it. If they can sell a shine up a turd to someone for whatever price...more power to them...it ain't hurting me none...no reason to demand they lower thier prices, cause if I think its crap...I ain't buying, couldn't even get me to take it for free... there is an old saying...Money talks, bullsh*t walks...no matter how much you voice your opinion on the DVD/CD priceing issue...its what you say with your money that gets thier attention. I just hate seeing the same ill formed arguments over and over again...you are on the internet, its a fantastic research tool...use it. But here's my main beef... these companies that are charging excessive ammounts for CDs and DVDs (actually, I'm okay for $20 for most DVDs, although I do believe that anime is too expensive). And many of us here aren't making idle threats... we aren't buying the crap they're shoveling at us. They're not pulling in the kind of dollars they want, so what do they do? They blame pirates, they blame consumers, they blame everyone except themselves, when basic economics tells them that just because you charge more, doesn't mean you make more profit. If the MPAA and the members of RIAA were charging unreasonable prices, then realizing that people aren't going to pay or just being content with what they're bringing it (which is still probably plenty), I'm sure most of us would be content to just not pay for their overpriced crap. It's their piss-poor attitude and willingness to blame everyone but themselves that I think most of us are really calling them on. Afterall, to continue to use your examples, you don't hear Nike bitching that they made $30 million less than they wanted because people who don't feel like paying $120 for a pair of shoes are buying K-Mart Kickers instead.

I picked it up, but I've failed to be hooked, per se. Mostly, I run through one cup, then quit for the day. Don't get me wrong... GT4 is probably the best version of Gran Turismo out there. The graphics have improved since the already impressive GT3, the new menus and world map look great, and there's a ridiculous number of new cars and new tracks. The list of cars is a little less impressive, though, once you realize that that there's not so many brands, it's just that every version of the Honda Civic since the late 70's is there. And as I'm playing, I can't quite shake the feeling of "been there, done that." I played the hell out of GT3, and the progression in GT4 is extremely similar, even with new tracks sprinkled in. So far, I've run through the Sunday Cup, the Clubman Cup, the FF Challenge, the Japan Championship, the Mirage Cup, and the Lancer Evolution Cup. Now I'm thinking to figure out if the 350Z I won is okay to use for the FR Challenge, but I know my 3000GT is good for the 4WD Challenge because it's the same car I've used for that Challenge in GT3 (actually, GT1 and 2 as well).

Okay, I think it's always morbidly amusing to see a white boy listening to rap... but when he starts dancing to C&C Music Factory, that's priceless. I'd take that guy clubbing just for laughs.

If you're talking about the 3000GT in NFSU2, that's a Mitsubishi, not a Suzuki.

Actually, if you're driving an SUV, you can race in some SUV only events. That's useful for someone like me who loves the sprints, circuits, and URLs, but really doesn't care for drift and drag. Anyway, regular NFS, NFSU, and GT all have their own merits. The arcade-style of racing in NFS and NFSU might not be realistic (according to the in-game stats in NFSU2, even after I put all the available mods on it, my Celica still outperformed the Supra), but it allows for straight-up fun regardless of the car you've chosen. NFS lets you play as cars you're not likely to see outside of SoCal or an autoshow, and NFSU lets you play with a car you might actually own. Meanwhile, GT has that ultra realism that forces me to play with my brake balance and VCS until I can get my 900HP 3000GT to turn the way I want... GT isn't just about the competition, but the sheer pleasure of test driving different cars and then working on the ones you want to keep. I think (and I'm looking at you, ~Duo~Trenten) that if you ignore games like NFS(U) just because the car stats and physics aren't perfectly realistic, you're doing yourself a disservice. Hell, if you overlook any solid racing game just because you like a different one, you're doing yourself a disservice. There's no law that says that you can't have fun with NFSU just because you liked Midnight Club II. Only time you really ought to pass on a game is if it's just plain boring, ala SRS.

Actually, according to what I read on IGN, they're just phasing out the current models of PSX, and they're likely to have newer models later. Well, the PSX wouldn't have been a bad idea... except for the fact that you can buy a PS2, a TV tuner card, and a DVD+/-RW drive for a hell of a lot less.

Gotta part company with you on this one, Mike. While the titles you mentioned are good, Ninja Gaiden deserves to be at the top of that list. Granted, the game is hard. But who wants to spend good money on a game with an overused engine (Dynasty/Samurai Warriors) or a title the can beat in practically one sitting (Demon Stone)? ps Fable would be a close second, followed by the Onimusha remix for the XBox. I'd rather spend the money on a game I'd beat in a day or that's wicked fun despite its over-used engine than spend money on game, plus money on multiple controllers, for a game that makes we swear at my TV until the neighbors call the cops because I'm stuck on the same boss for a week. A challenge is fun, but Ninja Gaiden isn't really challenging... it's hard for the sake of being hard. Too hard to actually be fun, in my opinion.

Dynasty Warriors 3 Dynasty Warriors 4 Samurai Warriors Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II Fable The Bard's Tale: Song of the Bard Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Demon Stone I'm going to vote against Ninja Gaiden. I'll give it all the credit in the world for the stunning visuals and incredible production values, but who the hell came up with hard = old school = fun, and therefore, the harder a game is, the more fun it must be? Don't get me wrong, I like a challenge, but Ninja Gaiden was a game where the regular enemies were on equal footing as you, they outnumbered you like 8 to 1 most of the time, and the bosses were ridiculously hard. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but I'd go as far as to say that Ninja Gaiden was too hard to be fun. Oh, and Sudeki fits the genre of fantasy hack'n'slash, I suppose, but it sucked. And they're making a new Gauntlet.

Which is still quite a bit, considering that 1GB CF and SD go for around $60 nowadays. Isn't proprietary media grand? Don't worry, there's always 3rd party support. Er, or not. The problem with the Sony Memory Sticks is that Sony (as far as I know) is the only company that makes them, meaning that they'll always be more expensive. Okay, let's not make stuff up just to bash Sony. PNY Compact Flash 1GB - $179.99 SanDisk CF 1GB - $109.99 SanDisk SD 1GB - $109.99 And while Sony is often the seen as the driving force behind the Memory Stick... it's actually SanDisk's baby. SanDisk 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo - $149.99. So, CF and SD look to run anywhere from $110-$180 for a GB, not $60. And that puts $149.99 in the same ballpark for a 1GB Memory Stick Duo. And yes, I am pretty sure that you could, if you search, find SD or CF cheaper, but you'd probably find Memory Sticks cheaper at the same store/website. I just picked for my links big retailers where your average Joe-Schmoe might go to buy their stuff. And while we're at it, I'd point out that DVDs weren't really taking off, especially in Japan, until Sony decided to use it for the PS2. If the PSP takes off, it'll give the Memory Stick a slight edge in the flash media format wars, increase the demand, and likely bring prices down further. umm think they said the psp can only use duo mem sticks and not anything else. Yes, but the point of my post wasn't to show alternatives to Memory Stick Duo, but to show that the prices between Memory Stick Duo and other popular formats like CF and SD are comparable. And akt_m, I'd already mentioned that you could probably find cheaper cards online... not just for SD, but for CF and Memory Stick too. But 99% of the people going out to buy memory for their cameras (and later, their PSPs) aren't going to shop for the cheapest deals online, they're going to go to their local Gamestop, EB, Best Buy, Fry's, Wal-Mart, etc. I'll admit that Memory Stick Duo cards are usually slighty more than CF or SD, but not a ridiculous $80 gap that you get by comparing a generic SD card you see on the net and a name brand Memory Stick PRO Duo from a retail store. Gunbuster, according to Gamespot, the square button problem only deals with PSPs manufactured in 2004 and shouldn't affect the US launch. I'd say they rushed the Japanese units, and hopefully the first US batch will be of higher quality in general.

Which is still quite a bit, considering that 1GB CF and SD go for around $60 nowadays. Isn't proprietary media grand? Don't worry, there's always 3rd party support. Er, or not. The problem with the Sony Memory Sticks is that Sony (as far as I know) is the only company that makes them, meaning that they'll always be more expensive. Okay, let's not make stuff up just to bash Sony. PNY Compact Flash 1GB - $179.99 SanDisk CF 1GB - $109.99 SanDisk SD 1GB - $109.99 And while Sony is often the seen as the driving force behind the Memory Stick... it's actually SanDisk's baby. SanDisk 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo - $149.99. So, CF and SD look to run anywhere from $110-$180 for a GB, not $60. And that puts $149.99 in the same ballpark for a 1GB Memory Stick Duo. And yes, I am pretty sure that you could, if you search, find SD or CF cheaper, but you'd probably find Memory Sticks cheaper at the same store/website. I just picked for my links big retailers where your average Joe-Schmoe might go to buy their stuff. And while we're at it, I'd point out that DVDs weren't really taking off, especially in Japan, until Sony decided to use it for the PS2. If the PSP takes off, it'll give the Memory Stick a slight edge in the flash media format wars, increase the demand, and likely bring prices down further.