mikeszekely

I've never cared much for j-rock. Mostly when I hear j-rock, it just sounds like a cheesy immitation of 80's hair bands, or worse, 90's grunge. In my opinion, the best two CD's to come out of Japan this year was M-Flo's "Astromantic" and Ryohei Yamamoto's "Take Over." I think you can sample both of those albums at Asian Music Network.

It doesn't really matter in this case.. Yes, the license still need to be purchased/ issued, but in this case Bandai US and Bandai JP will just have a nominal transaction to satisfy the legal requirements. For all practical purposes, it's Bandai all the way, so they have a vested interest from the start to go for the fan subbers -- every fan sub copy out there will cut into their profit margin. The point is, American (any independent really) companies wishing to sub and distribute anime are not likely to take any serious actions against fan subbers, because the fan subbers are providing a FOC service. So long the Japanese animation houses have no interest in distributing their works in the US markets, there is no vested interest for them to take action against the fan subbers, and the current status will remain. But when the Japanese animation houses have intention to distribute in the US, they will start protecting their IP rights from day 1. That is expected and is really the worrisome thing for the "free" anime community. If the trend is for Japanese firms to start producing direct-to-America content, then fan subbing is likely to be hit. How badly depends on how aggressive the Japanese firms push. But that's EXACTLY my point. A Japanese animation house doesn't intend to market their product directly in America... they intend for another company to license it from them. And in this case, it's not actually a group of studios who are involved in this... it's one specific studio, Media Factory, that's sending out the cease and desist letters, and it's apparently because Akane Maniax was realeased on fansubs before the R2's. Even if fansubs are intended for Westerners, Japanese fans would still have access to them. And if Japanese are downloading fansubs instead of buying the R2 DVDs, then one could argue that the fansubs are cutting into the Japanese market.

Napster killed nothing. The recording industry killed themselves by oversaturating the market with me too's and then charging damn near $20 for a CD that cost them next to nothing to make. CD sales were on the way down, file sharing or not. Actually, it WAS Napster. Sort of. When the RIAA attacked Napster, it started a boycott of CDs. Most of the Napster users were using it as a preview system, and actually buying CDs. So the users felt that it was an attack on legitimate purchasers. And legitimate studies up to that point had connected INCREASED CD sales to file-sharing. After that firstl lawsuit, it was all downhill. Boycott starts, CD sales fall, RIAA cites hard #s as evidence of file-sharing damage instead of just preaching their pet theory, RIAA is unable to shut down modern sharing programs due to their decentralized nature, so they commit PR suicide and directly attack the consumer, causing further reduced sales as they alienate their purchasers even more, reduced sales cause more lawsuits, lather, rinse, repeat. Which further emphasizes that it WAS the recording industry, not Napster/file sharing. Blaming Napster in that case is like blaming the knife for killing a stabbing victim instead of the knife-wielder.

So if they re-made Terminator without Ah-nold but there was far more gore and violence, it would rule? BLASPHEMY May CROM tear out your eyes! You cannot compare the two... Terminator is already a movie, Doom is a game. You still haven't answered the question... Though if you need for me to clarify, the point of that question is that Doom without Hell is like Terminator without Ah-nold. It's just wrong no matter what. Yeah, Agent... we're not trying to compare Terminator and Doom. What we're saying is that if you take Mars, Hell, demons, and Space Marines out of Doom, then you're stripping it of everything that defines Doom. Just like if you took Arnold out of Terminator, it strip the movie of everything that made it Terminator. Action-packed gorefest entertainment it might be, but Doom it is NOT.

But as far as I know, even when a company has international branches, the products created by one still have to be licsenced for distrubition in other territories by the other branches. I mean, take Gundam Seed Destiny, for example. Seed's been reletively successful both in Japan and in America, do it's innevitable that Bandai America will release it here. But, until Bandai America has to liscense it from Bandai Japan. Until they do, it's considered unlicsensed.

Napster killed nothing. The recording industry killed themselves by oversaturating the market with me too's and then charging damn near $20 for a CD that cost them next to nothing to make. CD sales were on the way down, file sharing or not.

Sony's saying March... but remember, this is the same Sony that said that Gran Turismo 4 would be out like a year ago...

Do you think they should remove the word "portable" then? Sure there are many place that have power outlet, but carrying that thing and a power plug everywhere you go? Battery life and size are both important in portables. Sure, many places have outlets, but in most cases they can be difficult or even impossible to get to. Also, the PSP is already larger than the DS by itself, and people complain the DS is too large, having to carry around an external battery and a bunch of plugs can make it a hassle to take anywhere with you. I had that problem with my Game Gear. The PSP is really almost useless as a movie player, considering the battery life in movie mode. As a portable... I think 4-6 hours is alright. I mean, if you're flying out of the US, the battery life is probably too short for the plane ride. But for the most part, I've never played a videogame for more than an hour or two oustide of my home. Even if you find yourself playing for four hours in one day, you go home and charge it, and you're good to go for the next day.

Now just a cotton-picking minute here! I'm a Republican, and I use a PC. But I wouldn't be caught dead driving a Ford. I'm talking, I'd rather walk than drive a Ford (of couse, if I was driving a Ford, I'd end up walking most of the time anyway, but at least if I'd planned to just walk instead, I wouldn't have to worry about having to have the damn Ford towed...). Not a big fan of Chevy, either. In my eyes, almost as unreliable as Ford. I only drive Japanese cars.

Well-spoken, Mr. March.

I've been bitten by Sony, but not too bad. I didn't get a PS1 until about a year after it released, and that one had overheating issues, but the one I got after it lived up until modern times. As for my PS2, I had one at launch day, and it was fine until recently. This past summer, it was playing MOST things fine, but it'd occasionaly have problems with CD-ROM PS2 games (it was still fine with PS1 games). I wasn't taking any chances, though. I dumped that thing and bought a pre-modded one. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I'd like to believe that Sony's had enough headaches over QC issues in their computer entertainment division, and that they're working harder to insure that newer PS2 (the slim one comes with a one year warranty instead of the old 90 days), PSP, and PS3 will all be less... fragile. Anyway, before the DS came out, I had no interest in the PSP. It's a slick-looking handheld that mostly plays games I already have for PS2 and movies I don't feel like buying again on UMD, all on a ridiculously short batterly life. But now that I have a DS, and while I'm still far more interested in the DS than the PSP, I am a little more curious about Sony's handheld. I think that, for the most part, the DS will have better and more innovative games... but there are some games (like racing games, for example) that the PSP will just do better. The difference is in my picks for launch games... Feel the Magic for DS, and (I know it's going to miss launch in Japan, but I think it'll make launch here) Need for Speed Underground Rivals for PSP.

Is there anything... radio dramas, manga, novels, anything at all... that gives any details about what happened to Char? I mean, Amuro was starting to get his fighting spirit back, and it's not suprising that he, Astionage, and Bright wound up in Londo Bell (since Londo Bell looks like it was probably comprised mostly of former members of Karaba and the AEUG). But Char... Char vanished mysteriously at the close of Z Gundam, and was probably presumed dead. And Neo Zeon was defeated at the end of ZZ Gundam. So, where was Char during the years between his dissapearance and the events of Char's Counterattack? How'd he go from fighting a corrupt government to head of a military dictatorship? Where/when did he get Sazabi? How'd he wind up with Axis?

I actually didn't care for Stardust Memory. Sure, the animation was great, the mecha were slick, and the battle scenes were fantastic. But it's schizophrenic in terms of story, and it creates more plot holes than it fills. IMHO, a much better Gundam OVA was War in the Pocket. Sure, Alex is the most boringly generic Gundam, the Kaempfer looks like it belongs in another series, and the animation is slightly above TV quality. But it's got one of the most human stories to be found in Gundam. As far as Gundam goes, Z Gundam is by far my favorite, but if you're going to watch it, at least check out the Gundam movie trilogy (although I think the pacing in the TV series is a lot better). I'll second any votes for Escaflowne. And again, as for Evangelion... I'm probably being a little to hard on it. Fact is, I really enjoyed the first 3/4th of the show. The ending(s) are just horrible, though, and even if someone came and did a really spectacular ending, it's still only a decent series. It definately doesn't live up to its own advertising as "the greatest anime of all time." I don't watch a whole lot of anime anymore, though, so I can't really come out and reccomend any other mecha/sci-fi shows. When I do watch anime, it's usually fansubbed comedies.

What? Switch Evangelion to RahXephon and RahXephon to Evangelion in that entire paragraph, and then it would be a true statement I concur. I dissent. Evangelion was a mildy interesting anime about characters that were all mental (but only Shinji in a way that makes you care about him), mecha so lame they had to physically plugged in, and a confusing plot that to this very day lacks any kind of ending that even approaches something that makes sense. Not a bad series, but by far the most over-rated work in the history of the entire universe.

Seriously? Anyone got a screengrab of that?

Without reguards to veritech or Robotech, it's important to realize that there IS a VT in the Macross universe, and VF-1 is NOT a VT. As previously mentioned, VF is variable fighter, and that applies to everything from the VF-1 Valkyrie to the VF-22 Sturmvogel II. VT is variable trainer. So far, there's only one, and that's the VT-1 Ostrich from DYRL. (Yes, I know about the VT-1C civillian variant in Macross Dynamite 7, but a VT-1 is still a VT-1).

What, aside from the addition of ZZ Gundam (and I think Quebely in campaign mode), is the difference between Gundam vs. Z Gundam and AEUG vs. Titans? I loved Feddie vs. Zeon, and I really loved AEUG vs. Titans. If there's a major change here (or a US release), I'd be inclined to pick this up... but if it's a re-release of AEUG vs. Titans with relatively minor tweaks, I'll have to pass in favor of A.C.E.

I heard a rumor (can't remember where) that Half-Life 2 won't make it to the Xbox, but probably the Xbox Next (or Xbox 2 or Xenon or whatever they want to call it). Hopefully, that means that console gamers (like me) can enjoy it without it being hacked down to ugly but without all the bugs and Steam issues some of you guys are running into.

I'm waiting to see if I actually do get raped before I cry rape. I was afraid for the Transformers movie, but then I saw a certain Citroen commercial... now I'm pretty psyched for the Transformers movie, and if Tomino is more involved with the new Gundam movie, then it could be pretty good too.

Too bad in America, we're stuck with "Battle Assault 3 Featuring Gundam SEED." On a side note, does anyone know anything about the SEED game they're making for the DS?

The dollar to yen rate affects it some, sure. But as a rule, videogame consoles are always cheaper in the US. Part of that is because some of the R&D costs have already been absorbed by the Japanese market. Part of it seems to be due to a higher cost-of-living in general in Japan and the willingness of the Japanese consumer to pay equivalently higher prices than we in America would. If I recall correctly, around the time the PS2 dropped to $199.99, it was still selling for the equivalent of $270 in Japan. So anyway, trust me, when the PSP launches in the US, it will definately be cheaper than in Japan.

I'm still not sure I get that. Sears was advertising it for $4.99?

How'd you pull that off?

Well everyone already knows that Sony has games more oriented towards adults whereas Nintendo tends to cater more twards kid friendly games. The DS follows this trend, though it is nice to see they are trying to branch out with games like Sprung, but honestly the PSP is still going to follow the Sony trend to have more adult oriented games. Vostok 7 Nintendo believes in family-friendly games... there's nothing wrong with Nintendo wanting to do than Animal Crossing DS. But that doesn't mean there can't be mature titles on the DS as well. And again, the DS has innovation. Feel the Magic might be short and sweet, but it's also the first game I've ever played where you have to tap, rub, and blow to play. Meanwhile, what's the PSP got? Dynasty Warriors, WipeOut, Gran Turismo, and other games I've already beat on my PS2. Oh, and a Metal Gear card battle game. Whoop-dee-frickin'-do.

Actually, the price I saw for the PSP was $150, just like the DS. nope... in Japan, basic PSP package is 19,800 Yen, the complete PSP package is 24,800 Yen and NDS is only 15,000 Yen. The complete PSP package is about $250US. The PSP bundle deal is just that... a bundle deal. The 19,800 yen price is closer to US $185. So, my bet is that the PSP will launch in the US for $179.99.