mikeszekely

You do realize that you've pretty much described Sony's newer Hi-MD players? Hi-MD player 1GB Hi-MD disc

Its not if they can its if they want. theres lots of technology that isnt made for the public. For sony is it worth to lose some companies from making psp games if they release a burner and blanks, is it worth it being they could be fined by riaa/miaa/diarrhea or what ever group they are. And speaking of Sony, they're going through some major changes. Anything is possible from them at this point.

Maybe it'll be about Delta Squad. If that's the case, that'd kick ass. Personally, I'm tired of Jedi and crap.

Except that Malak isn't the big boss. (And Malak isn't Nihilus, either, if that's what you're thinking.) Hell, while I'm at it... SPOILERS! Nihilus isn't the big boss either. In fact, he's almost like a waste of space. He's on the cover, there's cut scenes in the game that make him seem like a huge threat, etc, but you fight him and kill him pretty quick. The actual big boss in the game is Kreia, that old Jedi hag who's with you for most of the game.

Actually, IM software for the PSP (real IM software, not the DS's Pictochat crap) wouldn't be so farfetched. The PSP's wireless functions are built on 802.11b... in theory, it should be able to communicate wirelessly (for games, but why not for messaging?) over the net with other PSPs, provided that you're in a wireless hotspot, or you have a wireless router at home. Don't forget that the DS has both Wi-Fi (802.11b) and blue tooth. The picocat is really nice especially when it comes with it. The DS has the advantage over the PSP with IM because of the touch screen. Typing on those tiny keyboard really blows ( I have problems typing on Laptop keyboards let alone a tiny one ) Nintendo is using their Wi-fi at stores now "Nintendo has started the Nintendo DS download service in Japan on February 26, at major game retailers across Japan. Users can bring in their Nintendo DS to download new content. Available downloads are playable demos of Chokkan Hitofude and Meteos; plus 6 bonus songs for Daigassou! Band Bros" Which would be fine, except Nintendo hasn't set up the DS to communicate with another DS via a network (believe me, if it could, me and my bro in DC would be using it) for Pictochat, only with other DS's within 50 or so feet. Fine for friends riding the Shinkansen in Japan, useless outside of major metro areas in the US. Not to mention the fact that four months after launch, and the DS's strongest title is Warioware. For me, if I'm going to buy a handheld system, games have to be top priority, since gaming is pretty much my thing. The only reasons I'm not selling my DS is Castlevania, Pokemon, and Final Fantasy III. Meanwhile, I'm picking up six launch games (maybe 7, if Ape Escape turns out pretty good... I never played the original, so it's new to me, but I loved Ape Escape 2) for the PSP. Having already established that the PSP looks like a solid gaming device, I'm curious to see what else it can do. Oh, and BTW, I think the Sony Rep that visits our store said that, like the newer PS2s, the PSP will have a full year warranty, instead of just 90 days, if that helps allieviate QC conncerns. I'll let you guys know for sure later, though.

Sony is supposed to be making both free and for sale software to do just that, and I wouldn't be suprised to see other people start turning out freeware for it. If puzzle games are your thing, check out Lumines or Mercury. The PSP is also going to get Puyo Pop Fever. (For more info on that, check out the Gamecube version.) If you want a solid 2D fighting game, how about Darkstalkers Chronicle, from the people who brought you Street Fighter? A couple of companies have started making regular Memory Sticks, but the Memory Stick Duo that the PSP uses is smaller than a regular Memory Stick. As far as I know, only Sony and SanDisk make them at the moment. If the PSP helps the format catch on, I wouldn't be suprised to see other companies start making them.

I have an Australian/Euro SCPH-39002 PS2 with a DMS3 modchip installed. I have yet to find a PS, PS2 or DVD media that it can't run. It runs my original import R2 DVDs, PS and PS2 backups, JP original games etc. I highly recommend this method of modding. Using a HD sounds intriguing because I use my PS2 for everything! I don't own a stand alone DVD player and I'm worried I'll wear my PS2 out soon enough with all this talk about shoddy manufacturing Andy, it is true that PS2 online will block you if you have a modchip installed (It can detect it in your system). However the DMS3 is so awesome it even has a stealth mode to avoid this detection when playing online (the system will revert to its original capabilities). The stealth feature is also useful when installing utilitilies like the DVD player disc etc. which won't install on a normal modded system. Wait, you have a PAL PS2, and it plays NTSC games/DVDs? I also have a DMS3, but an NTSC unit... I wonder if I can play PAL games? Lame as it sounds, I kind of wanted the Knight Rider games for PS2...

MGS3 is NOT a dual layer DVD. Nor is GTA: San Andreas. I can't speak for sure on MGS2, but I highly doubt it. So far, I have only come across 3 dual layer games: Gran Turismo 4, Champions of Norrath (but not Return to Arms), and Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille Zur Macht (but again, both discs for Xenosaga Episode II are single layer).

That's XBox. PS2 lacks a coherent online system. Assuming you can tell from the outside world, it's up to the individual game servr maintainers to block or not. I haven't connected my PS2 online before so I don't know first hand but my DMS3 instruction sheet says its stealth mode is for this purpose. ie. it is possible for servers to detect the chip in your system and block you. Okay. Some games detect and block it, then. The XBox is well-known for this, though. MS' XBox Live service looks for mod chips when you log on, and permanently bans your 'Box if it sees one. When you first want to go online with the PS2, you have to run the startup CD to create a network configuration (that later gets saved to a Memory Card). If the mod chip is not in stealth mode, you'll get errors if you try to auto detect your network settings. One your network configuration is complete, it's up to the individual game servers.

You got that right. Damned things were better shielded than the destroyers, and just would not go down. You practically had to regroup your squad and retrograde to a position where you could snipe at them from a distance or lay an ambush. This was one of the most annoying things when you got further into the game. They were everywhere. And who noticed the battle droids and slavers picking up your grenades and throwing them back at you, only to have your squad mates throwing them back? Well, I thought that whole thing with enemies and squad mates picking up thrown grenades and lobbing them back was pretty cool, actually. I also noticed that several enemies that liked to use melee attacks would circle you once they got close instead of just standing in front of you and stabbing at you. The AI used for this game was rather clever... the only case of real stupidity that I recall was that SBDs tended to leave me alone while I placed charges on their droid dispensers... but thank god for that!

You could just do what I intend to do... rip the movies off the DVD, reencode the video to MPEG-4, and smash it down to fit on the 1GB memory stick I intend to buy. Actually, what I really want to do is watch the fansubs I've been grabbing with Bittorrent on my PSP.

Yeah, the actual stuff in the ending wouldn't do to appear in another game. I was refering more to what G0-T0 was doing to Bao Dur's remote, and the HK Factory.

Well, seeing as how the game is supposed to lead directly into Episode III, I would say the game's ending would piss some people off. I was a little shocked to see how it ended also, but after the release of the new movie, who knows? Maybe Delta will be used as a Jedi extermination squad? I seriously doubt that Delta will have anything to do with Episode III. I mean, Episode III was far enough along for the developers to include characters and environments from Episode III. But if you checked out the demo that came with KOTOR II, you can see that Delta was still wearing all white. The decision to give them splashes of color came almost at the end of RC's development cycle. That said, the only way we're going to see more of Delta is in sequels, expansions/downloadable content, or novels. And from the description of the novel given in the game's instruction manual, I wonder if it picks up where RC left off? That'd be one hell of a crappy marketing gimmick, though. It'd be like playing Zelda, but the game ends right when you get to Ganon, with an ad for a book about Link's fight with Ganon at the back of the instruction manual. In any case, if they can work on a few things (more/better levels, better squad commands, more enemy types, and tone down SBDs... they were tougher than Droidekas) , I'd definately be interested in playing a sequel.

Well, rumor has it that Obsidian is working on KOTOR III, and that some of the content culled from KOTOR II will be in KOTOR III. Let's just hope they don't cut stuff from that one for whatever reason (although leaving games hanging worse than Halo seems to be Lucasarts' MO lately... check out Republic Commando and see what I mean).

I just finished Republic Commando this morning, if that's what you mean by "new Star Wars game." It's a solid single-player game if a bit short (and the ending is more abrupt and leaves you hanging way worse than Halo 2's), but the multiplayer is just sort of tacked on. If FPS is your thing, stick with Halo 2 for Live.

Okay finished the game. No spoilers, but I will say that even Halo 2 had a better ending...

But they can afford $120+ Nike shoes and designer clothes, $50 video games, cell phones, SUV car payments, cable, satellite and TIVO TV packages, even Yamato toys...If they don't want a CD... fine...but if they can afford any of that stuff...they sure as hell can afford a CD they want. Its called money management, setting priorities, goals...a skill that seems to be vanishing as evidenced by the growth rate of personnel debt... Simply put, if you haven't the willpower, money management skills, foresight to save enough money to buy a CD you really want. Then you have far bigger problems to deal with then whineing about CD prices. The reason I think everyone's arguing your points, MSW, is that your arguments seem to come down to the price is what it is, no use complaining, and that we should either not buy the product in question or save up, budget, then bend over and take it quietly. The issue isn't about buying or not buying. The issue is about the record companies selling mass-produced teeny-pop at premium prices, then blaming their customers for not generating the kind of sales they wanted instead of understanding that lower prices can mean higher profits. I, for one, learned about supply in demand in business class. But I sure as hell don't recall anything about blaming (and possibly suing) customers for poor sales as a way to artificially inflate the demand for a shoddy product.

Yeah, the Xbox version has all of the same stuff. I'd say that, aside from controls and Xbox Live, the versions are probably identical. I should beat it soon... I'm at... SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED ...Kashyyyk, just after the part where you had to use a rocket to blow up the bridge after the explosive charge was a dud.

I'd be of the opinion that, rather than replace the slang with something more literal ("fruit salesman" to "liar"), you'd be better to replace the foreign slang with a more familiar one ("fruit salesman" to "used car salesman"). Using either "liar/fraud" or "used car salesman" would both be innaccurate as far as literal translations go, but both convey the same idea in modern English. "Used car salesman," though, would retain more of the flavor of the original dialogue. That may just be my opinion, though.

Somehow, I think you've hit on an argument for mandating that certain movies should be designed so as to require the viewer to operate a treadmill continuously in order to watch them. Oh, c'mon, go easy. I enjoy swimming and golf (no carts), but when I sit down to watch a movie, I sure as hell don't want to get up in the middle either. Of course, I may be the one person on earth who didn't care for the Lord of the Rings movies, so I can't say I've actually run into that problem. Still, the idea of using HVD to cram a lot more episodes/series/movies on a single disc is nice. Even if you had to do the work yourself (that is, buy a recordable 200GB HVD, then convert your entire Macross collection to one disc with a PC).

I'm playing it on Xbox. I'd say it's pretty solid, and the visor is pretty cool. I give the developers a lot of credit for making a game that's Star Wars, but gritty and militaristic at the same time. I also give them a lot of credit for creating squad mates that act as more than just cannon-fodder, and have unique personalities. I'm at a point where I get pissed when someone brings down one of my men, and I'm letting them get at the bacta before I do. Scorch is especially endearing... more so when he's playing off Sev (okay, Fixer is a little dull). My only gripe with the game is that it's WAY too short. I picked it up Thursday night, didn't really start playing until Friday... and I've gotta be close to the end. The levels are pretty long by themselves, but it kind of sucks that there's only 3. Well... there's always hope for downloadable content.

Actually, IM software for the PSP (real IM software, not the DS's Pictochat crap) wouldn't be so farfetched. The PSP's wireless functions are built on 802.11b... in theory, it should be able to communicate wirelessly (for games, but why not for messaging?) over the net with other PSPs, provided that you're in a wireless hotspot, or you have a wireless router at home.

Sorry, bro, I'm not familiar with that area. Maybe it's time to make a trip to the National Air and Space Museum (or think of some other excuse to make a trip to DC).

Man, I own a Mirage (looks similar to the '97 Mirage Cyborg in the game, save mine's a coupe, not a hatchback), and I sure as hell wouldn't want to drive it in the game. If I drove a car worth racing, then I'd probably care... but then again, cars worth racing usually turn up in racing games.

That'd be cool... if there was a use for it.