mikeszekely

Old news.

To address a couple of points that have been brought up... Sony doesn't license games that don't show off the graphical power of the system? Is this another Sony doesn't do 2D argument? Because last I checked, the PS2 is getting the Street Figther Anniversary Collection, SNK vs. Capcom Chaos, Metal Slug 4 & 5, Capcom All-Stars, KoF 2002/2003, Viewtiful Joe, and Viewtiful Joe 2, plus Megaman X8 is shaping up to be 2D again. The fact is, Sony has helped to open up the market incredibly since the PSone came out. Now, if you're looking for the real culprit for the declining game industry and the reason for why four out of five games suck today, blame the developers. Fact is, in Japan, the industry is in a slump... that's why there are fewer of those great Japanese games coming out, and more American, Canadian, and European games on the market. The other thing is that, because Sony and some others have helped to open the market so much, everyone wants in. Everyone and their mother are making games for the PS2, because there's money there. As for the PSP's UMD, they are in fact a great idea for portables. As previously mentioned, the disks are cheaper to produce and generally allow for more info, better sound, and better image quality that carts. The UMD is not as fragile as a CD or DVD, though, because they don't come out of those plastic cases. The fact that you might need a memory stick to save dampens it, sure, but I've heard rumors that UMDs might be re-writable. Mind, you, I'm just trying to clear up the errors. The fact of the matter is, at this point in time, I have ZERO interest in the PSP. Fact of the matter is gamers want new toys to play games on. Adding a bunch of features no one really wants (I kinda wonder where they get their marketing research taht says we do) drives up the price and lowers demand. If the PSP was simply a $150 game deck, I might consider it. But they had to throw in a movie feature I'm never gonna use, since I'm not buying my favorite movies on DVD AND UMD, mp3 playback I'm never gonna use, etc, until the price is now to be between $250 and $300... far too much for a portable system... especially since I think it was Kutaragi himself that said that the PSP isn't really intended to be a portable system. Yeah, we could tell with that battery life (it is supposed to be better for games, since the disc motor doesn't have to work constantly, but still). So, gee, I can buy a $300 handheld, buy the PSP version of Gran Turismo 4, and it won't really be portable because the of the shoddy battery life, but it's okay because I was meant to play the PSP at home with it plugged in? Yeah, right... I think I'll just buy the PSP version of Gran Turismo 4 and be done with it. As for the DS... the price is right. I like that it plays my old GBA games (I don't really play my old 8-bit Gameboy games anymore anyway), and the New Super Mario Bros (the 2D, cartoony yet classic looking game, not Super Mario 64x4), the fact that Konami announced a new Castlevania for it, and the fact that Capcom announced a new Megaman for it tell me that there will be good DS games. Wireless multi-player is certainly a plus. The dual screens and touch sensitivity might be gimmicky, but so what? It's still shaping up to be a decent handheld system.

Advance games only, as far as anyone knows. And I think it's another damn proprietary LiIon pack. Definately only GBA and DS games. No older GameBoy games. Reason is, as far as I know, the GBA has a seperate processor for older Gameboy games, and Nintendo I guess just didn't feel like cramming three processors into the DS. Oh, and yeah... lithium ion battery.

While you're waiting for Ace Combat 5, do yourself a favor and just play Ace Combat 4 again. Maybe bust out the old PSone copies of Ace Combat 2 or 3. If you're really desperate, try Air Force Delta Strike (but be warned that the developers seem to be trying to go out of their way to make overly frustrating missions). But, for the love of Kawamori, stay as far away from the Lethal Skies games as possible. I made the mistake of playing the first one... and then, because IGN reviewed it pretty good, I made the mistake of playing the second one, too. And let's put it this way... it would have been more fun to sit in the hamper out on the front porch and make airplane noises.

The suit looks good, the movie looks good... but what the hell is wrong with the batmobile?

Palmtop? Uh, well, rumor on the street is that the thing is going to retail for $149.99-179.99.

New Super Mario Bros looks cool, and it's official that Konami is making a new Castlevania for it. Seeing as how it plays GBA games, if the price is right, I'll snag one. It's looking a heck of a lot better than the PSP, anyway.

I gotta second Keith on Uso's mom. I mean, her head pops off... AFTER she was crushed by a capital ship. Yeah, that, and Optimus' death makes me cry. Still. It was pretty sad when Bernie bit it in War in the Pocket, too.

Navi. I know Ocarina of Time isn't really anime, it's just a ridiculously over-rated game. But still, all that, "Hey... litthen!" Damn lisping fairy...

Except that it still doesn't. I might be generalizing here, but PC FPS players tend to play their games A LOT. I know guys who still play Tribes religiously, and that game is how old now? On the flip side, I imagine that a lot of the DC Quake guys were like me and my two buddies... sure, we'd go online and play every now and then... but we spent a lot more time playing Sonic Adventure, Daytona USA, Samba de Amigo, Seaman, Soul Calibur, DoA 2, etc. The online thing was pretty much a novelty for the DC. Well, someone who golfs five or six times a week is going to be alot better than the guy who goes maybe five or six times a year. Same deal here. And, unlike the Xbox, there was definately an official mouse and keyboard for the DC. My best friend had one.

But where does opinion end and fact begin? You could be of the opinion that Matt Groening is a better at drawing than Leonardo DaVinci. You could be of the opinion that SDF Macross is better animation than DYRL?. I would argue that the facts of the matter are quite the opposite. Except that, aside from you, Sundown, and Max, no one has strongly argued that the mouse and keyboard is definatively better than a gamepad. And I haven't even been arguing that the gamepad is better... just that PC gamers seem unwilling to accpet that their choice is an opinion based on a matter of personal preference, and continue to work with the assumption that they are in fact working with the best equipment. When does opinion become fact? It can never actually become fact... anyone who says that he thinks Groening is a better artist than DaVinci is actually entitled to that belief. The closest thing an opinion can become to fact is when it is excepted by an overwhelming majority... which goes back to the point that I was trying to make earlier that Sundown seemed to miss when I said that the Xbox version of Doom 3 will outsell the PC version. It is true that my point said nothing about controller effectivness... I'm not trying to claim one is better than the other, nor was I claiming that sales figures decide that one is better than the other. My point about sales figures is that PC gamers have become the vast minority. Most gamers out there will buy Doom for the Xbox, because that's what they use for their games. Most gamers out there will use the gamepad, because that's what they're used to (and no, there is NOT a mouse for the Xbox- at least, not one sold outside of internet stores like Lik Sang). The majority of gamers, given a mouse and keyboard setup, wouldn't even know what to do with it. Sundown is right to say that says nothing about which is truly the better setup, but what I'm saying is that mouse and keyboard PC gamers are the minority, and yet they're convinced that the majority is wrong, and that their mouse and keyboard preference should be taken as factual evidence of the gamepad's inferiority. Hence, the stereotype (I'll admit that it's a stereotype, since most of the PC gamers I know don't fit the bill) that PC gamers are elitists. And hence, why people like Druna are leaving the thread. Any argument against the mouse and keyboard as factually superior is taken as a personal insult, and automatic siding with the gamepad, and a comment of profound stupidity by a few people who are normally very rational, intelligent people in other threads that just can't get over the fact that their opinion is nothing more than their personal preference, and the preferences of the minority. (Truthfully, gamers who prefer the gamepad are a minority as well... the majority actually wouldn't have a preference, having possibly recognized that there are people who play games on PCs, but have never actually considered playing with one themselves.)

I think it also says something when mouse users don't need to point to a specific group of gamers who have become uncannily good with one in order to prove that the control device is viable. The mouse is simply that good and that easy to use for FPSs, as long as a modicum of hand-eye coordination is possessed. -Al You're right, I haven't proven any of those things... but you haven't disproven them either. For all we know, the best gamepad user might destroy the best mouse user. Fact is, we don't know. Mouse users didn't need to point to a specific group to validate their belief that their control device is viable... but joypad users don't either. Sales for games like Halo, and the fact that I can pretty much promise that the Xbox version of Doom 3 will outsell the PC version. All mentioning it does say is that, for some odd reason, PC gamers don't get that there are a lot of people who prefer to play their FPS on consoles and with joypads. And Max, it's not a challenge to to get someone to refute your arguments when you're using the PA forums as your source of support, because it's really not an accurate sampling of the real world. Most forum goers are more PC inclined. That's just a fact of life. Asking the people at PA whether they prefer FPS on PC or console is like going to the Democratic National Convention and asking whether they prefer Kerry or Bush. And that's actually where the whole elitist thing comes into play. The only reason why I feel like arguing is because, while I play both PC and console, I do prefer my FPS on Xbox. This is a matter of my personal preference. I recognize that I that it's my personal preference, and that I'm actually most likely in the majority. It's a fact that console sales are the bulk of the market, after all. PC gamers DO NOT prefer a mouse and keyboard because a mouse and keyboard is definatively a better choice... it's just their personal preference. But whereas an average console gamer really doesn't have a problem with the idea that people play games on PCs, PC gamers seem to think that console gamers are nuts, and that the only "hardcore" gamers are PC gamers, and that a mouse and keyboard has been factually proven to be superior to a gamepad.

Okay, this is actually the most elitist PC argument ever. "You just CAN'T play a FPS without a mouse!" Hey, look, my four year old niece plays Dora the Explorer point-and-click games... and with a mouse, let's be honest, you're just pointing and clicking. And believe it or not, there's a whole group of gamers who learned to play FPS with Goldeneye. They're got ridiculous talent for aiming their crosshairs as well as any PC gamer, only they do it with a pair of analog sticks. I wish I was as good as them, but I'm with them on one thing... I feel more comfortable with an Xbox controller in my hand than a mouse and a keyboard.

There IS a middle option. The thread is more about the first two options though, meaning I am looking to see if people feel like I do, that Predator is important to a genre, or not. No, Agent, you definately needed one more choice. I didn't vote, but basically, I'll say this- Predator did NOT define the sci-fi genre for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not really a huge Star Wars fan, but I think that Star Wars has made more of an impact than Predator. However, it definately did make a mark on the sci-fi industry. How many other shows have you seen, from South Park to Simpsons to fan-made movies galore, that have a character in one of the Predator's stealth invisible things? Or the heat-vision with strange alien characters? Besides, it was a kick-ass movie to boot.

For that to work, you have to make sure the enemies stay in the skies. If the aliens make it to ground, and you haven't got an adequate ground defence, you're pooched. See, that's where these walking behemoths called "Destroids" come into play and promptly stop all advancing Zennie forces into itty bitty alien bits The Destroids have always gotten the shaft and never really been given their due, always being passed over for the more marketable transforming mecha. Heck, the only Destroid to get any love had to be reengineered into a transforming mecha before it got its time in the limelight. The Destroids would probably get their due if they made a show/movie/ova about the UN Army. But we've basically just seen the Spacy (maybe the Navy in M0)... as in Space Forces. The Destroids are fine for ground combat, but, they don't really work for space combat.

Eh. At least you don't have to go out and buy a new video card that costs more than an Xbox in the first place. It's all irrelevant anyway. The only FPS I want between now and the end of the year is Halo 2. Oh there they go. There they go, every time I start talkin 'bout gaming, a console man got to pull Halo out their ass. That's their one, that's their one. Halo. Halo. Let me tell you something once and for all. Halo was good, but compared to Half Life, Halo ain't poo. Nah, I'm a gamer... I'll play games on both console and pc. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but its an undeniable truth that pcs are better for intense processing/graphics. And while you can say graphics aren't everything, they're a part. Actually, Half Life 2 is one of the FPS that I'm looking forward to on Xbox, once they get around to setting a release date... of course, HL2 will have to go gold for PC first... and my grandkids could be having grandkids before that happens. Other that that, I'm really looking forward to Star Wars: Republic Commando and Perfect Dark Zero (although PD0 is looking like an Xbox next launch game, at this rate). I only mentioned Halo 2 because I'm not really interested in Doom, Medal of Honor, or Rainbow Six... Halo's the only FPS I want this year (SW:RC was pushed back to Feb). The reason console gamers keep bring up Halo (opr Goldeneye) is because PC elitists seem to have this notion that the only way to enjoy a FPS is on a PC, preferably one that costs a ridiculous ammount of money, even though they're only going to turn around and spend another fortune to upgrade it when the next big PC FPS comes out. And yet, console gamers have found plenty of enjoyment out of the FPS made for Xbox or PS2 (although it'd be kinda weird on PS2... I mean, the Xbox, like the N64, has triggers... for your triggers...). Halo, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark were all highly acclaimed, Nightfire, Unreal Championship, and Medal of Honor were respectable, and some people even enjoyed stuff like Timesplitters and Red Faction. And, aside from the hardcore PC gamers, most people don't feel like spending fortunes on their PCs. They don't feel like downloading patches because their sound card wasn't supported. A lot of people, from casual gamers to hardcore console gamers (personally, I like to think of myself as a casual PC gamer, hardcore console gamer) prefer the ease of dropping the game in their console and playing... especially on the high def 54'' widescreen TV with the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround (it's a shame more games don't support more high def resolutions). And it's nice to have a buddy over and just ask him to bring an extra controller, rather than having him drag his whole PC out for a LAN. (Mind you, Xbox LIVE is leveling the online playing field between consoles and PC.) Fact of the matter is, for 99.99% of the games out there, I'd rather play it on console. It might look prettier on PC, but that doesn't mean that I'll have more fun with it there (of course, I speak for myself... I know I have friends who are insanely good players on PC, but suck on console). When I do play games on my PC, I tend to go for stuff like Morrowind or Neverwinter Nights. Oh, and by the way, some other company handled the porting of Halo to PC, not Bungie themselves, and they've got a reputation for butchering it. So just remember, if you thought Halo was fun on PC, you should know that the PC version sucked compared to the Xbox version.

Eh. At least you don't have to go out and buy a new video card that costs more than an Xbox in the first place. It's all irrelevant anyway. The only FPS I want between now and the end of the year is Halo 2.

One word for you, guys. Xbox.

Wait, wait... I got it. Let's make a Macross sequel where, after a time, the UN Spacy forces have grown complacent. In the meantime, a colony declares its independence from the UN, and is later take over by a facist family. The facist colony then begins cranking out new VF after new VF, and declares war on the UN. The UN gets their butts served to them on a plate for awhile, but a young ansty genius pilot turns the tide with an incredible new prototype VF. Oh, yeah, he has a mysterious arch-rival (you know he's mysterious because he wears a mask) who, even as he fights for the facists, has his own hidden agenda... ...no? Well, it was just a suggestion.

Still, not cool for those of us who prefered to by from Animeniacs instead of rolling the dice on eBay.

Graham, I kinda see your point... to a degree. I mean, I see your points about parody (G Gundam) and rehashing (X, Wing, and SEED). But the rehashes are mostly to attract a newer, younger audience. But the core of Gundam's fandom is in the original Gundam series, much like the core of the Macross fandom here on these boards are for the original. I'm not going to disagree with you that Macross had better music and mecha designs. I won't even argue that Macross had better characters, although Gundam had its share of notable characters. But Gundam had several other things going for it that made it stand out in its time. For starters, Gundam was the birth of the "real" robot shows. Sure, they're been mecha shows before it... but they were all what we'd later come to think of as the "super" robot shows. And sure, Gundam had its star hero robot, but Gundam was really the first to run with the idea of humans fighting humans with mass-produced robots in the hands of militaries. When Macross came onto the scene, it had great characters and mecha, but it wasn't breaking the same ground that Gundam did. Another big thing was that a lot of the technology and social issues being dealt with in Gundam were very much on the minds of people in the 70's. The design of the colonies, the notion of putting them at the Lagrange points were all figured out by scientists rather than the shows creators, as overpopulation was becoming an issue then and the idea of building space colonies was considered to be a very real solution. In fact, much of the science in Gundam is based more in actual science than the convenient blanket of "Overtechnology" reverse engineered from an advanced alien race. For more on that, do take a look at the very excellent site Mobile Suit Gundam: High Frontier.

Bust the kid in the lip. Bustin' lips is the fastest, most effective way to discipline a kid. Actually, I'm kinda thinkin' of the 'treatment' for A.D.D. in South Park...

Well, not really bitch slap him. You bust him in the lip. He asks to have something, you reply by busting him in the lip. He poos in your bathroom, you bust him in the lip. He starts to cry, you bust him in the lip again. Then, just to remind him who's in charge, you bust him in the lip later out of the blue for no good reason. I call for any kind of maintainance/repairs, and if anyone shows up with a kid, they're fired. They're not even gettin' in the front door.

Why should they? 20 years since the beginning of the series is one thing, but why would anyone celebrate 20 since DYRL? What's next, 20 since Macross Plus? 20 Since Macross Plus Movie Edition? Don't get me wrong, guys, I love Macross as much as the next. And 20 years of Macross was great. I hope they do something nice for Macross' 25th. But celebrating the anniversaries of Macross sequels?

Okay... the most important thing to remember about Lament is that, even though the Symphony crew worked on it, it's really NOTHING like Symphony. As was previously noted, it's more akin to Devil May Cry, although Lament has the block button that DMC was so sorely lacking. If that sounds appealing to you, then by all means pick it up... I think it's $30 tops at Gamestop (we might have even lowered it to $20). Okay... now that I've got that out of the way... yes, Symphony is also my favorite of the Castlevania games. But yes, it's far to easy... especially if you use the Shield Rod with the Alucard Shield on the last boss... but that doesn't mean it's the only good Castlevania, one_klump. If you have a GBA (or preferable an SP), the three GBA Castlevanias are all very excellent. Aria of Sorrow was especially close in flavor to Symphony, although Aria is kinda short. JB0, Rondo of Blood was a great game, too. Come to think of it, aside from the N64 Castlevania's and the original Gameboy Castlevania's, all the Castlevania games are good. Problem is, though, that the good ones fall into three very different catagories, which makes them hard to compare. Rondo of Blood falls in with Super Castlevania IV, Bloodlines (the suprisingly good Genesis one), and the original NES trio, in terms of gameplay (although many consider it to be the best of that batch, and certainly better than the SNES version). Symphony was the first of a new breed of Castlevania that includes the three GBA titles, while Lament makes up the third catagory on it's own.