mikeszekely

Where do you live? If you're in Maryland or Virginia (around the DC area), I think Starland fixes them. Not sure, though, and not sure what they'd charge.

Although, for the time being, my money's on Blu-Ray (both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players are supposed to be backward compatible with regular DVD, so why not go with the one that holds more?), I'm going to hold out and wait for HVD. I mean, you figure 4 eps per Animeigo disc (they were single layer) means, well, let's round it off to 1GB per episode. The first round of HVDs, then, could hold every episode of say, Dragon Ball Z, or every episode of Macross, Macross II, Macross Plus (movie and OVA), DYRL, Macross 7, and Macross Zero (with some bonus material like the Macross 7 Plus bits and all of the material from the 20th Anniversary DVD), or every bit of UC Gundam, on a single disc. Later, they're talking about 1TB HVDs... you could put your entire anime collection on one disc then. Of course, the idea behind using higher capacity discs is so that they can use higher quality video... in the short run, I wouldn't expect to see more episode per Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD)... just true high-def video. Although if this HVD takes off, the sky's the limit.

Nintendo said that the NDS will not play GB and GBC on it. PS: I still have Operation Contra GB with its box and manual Emulate. There's not that many GB and GBC games that have stood the test of time, anyway. Hell, if software can be run off the Memory Stick, I wouldn't be suprised to see at least NES and GBC emulators for the PSP in the near future. we would be really lucky to have a full function emulator. lately handheld emulation like snes advance has really slowed down. the trend of that plus translation patches has declined over the years. I don't know. The GBA had some nice NES emulators. I think the reason a SNES emulator never really worked out for the GBA was a lack of buttons, and the fact that the SNES seems a little tough to emulate properly. For years, a lot of PC SNES emulators had sound issues, as does SNES Station for the PS2 (which can't emulate some SNES games at all) and the SNES emulators for Dreamcast. NES, GB/C, and Genesis/Megadrive seem likely canidates for emulation on the PSP, as long as the PSP can run software directly off the Memory Stick.

For around 9.99 they have a fliptop face that can attach to the PSP.

There are definately no Trans Ams in GT4. GT4 Car List. PONTIAC: 2004 : GTO 5.7 Coupe 2002 : Solstice Coupe Concept 2002 : Sunfire GXP Concept 1964 : Tempest LeMans GTO 2003 : Vibe GT

I don't know about that. I mean, licensing explains why we don't have Ferrari or Porsche etc, but it doesn't explain why we have like every car Honda has made for the last 30 or 40 years, including all the shitty ones no one would ever want to even own in real life, let alone race in a game against tuned 3000GTs, Skylines, etc, but we have only a handful of brand new or classic American cars. And it doesn't explain why they obviously have a licensing deal with GM (and specifically Pontiac), yet the only Pontiacs they could manage was some ugly concept, a G6, a Sunfire, and a classic GTO. No Firebirds, no Trans Ams.

Nintendo said that the NDS will not play GB and GBC on it. PS: I still have Operation Contra GB with its box and manual Emulate. There's not that many GB and GBC games that have stood the test of time, anyway. Hell, if software can be run off the Memory Stick, I wouldn't be suprised to see at least NES and GBC emulators for the PSP in the near future.

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.