mikeszekely

Utter rubbish. If they couldn't fit the whole package into 1.5 gigabytes, they are not worthy of their dev kit. Just beause you port an NES game to a GameCube doesn't mean it suddenly takes massive amounts of space. Your sprites are still 8*16*2bpp, if I recall. Your screen resolution, and thus background resolution, is still only 256*240. The NES ROM iamges are an accurate representation of how much space things should take. Again, Atomic Planet didn't emulate. So, the original NES ROM dumps are NOT an accurate measure. A closer approximation is if you look at the Japanese PlayStation "Rockman: The Complete Works" series. Here's the size of those games: PS1 –Rockman Original Image size: 273mb PS1 – Rockman 2 Original Image Size: 384mb PS1 – Rockman 3 Original Image Size: 466mb PS1 – Rockman 4 Original Image Size: 591mb PS1 – Rockman 5 Original Image Size: 584mb PS1 – Rockman 6 Original Image Size: 488mb PS1 – Megaman 8 Original Image Size: 318mb Total for MM1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 = 3.03gb Now throw in Megaman 7, the two arcade games, and all the bonus stuff, and you're WAY over the Gamecube's 1.5 GB limit.

Under options, set the difficulty to Easy, then go and start a new game in Megaman 2. Oh, and play it straight through, because if you save and quit, you'll lose your E-Tanks.

By now, most game retailers should have the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for PS2 and Gamecube. At a measly $29.99, it'd be worth it if it just emulated the games in their original form, but developer Atomic Planet actually went and re-wrote the games, so each one plays beautifully, not to mention they crammed the game with extras. The PS2 version is simply amazing. The controls were a perfect fit on the Dual Shock 2, the remixed music is cool, and little tweaks like adding an auto fire button and allowing the L1 and R1 buttons to switch weapons are nice touches. Not to mention that you can play the NES versions in the original format you remember, or in the cool "Navi Mode" from the Rockman: The Complete Works series that came out for PSone in Japan. Another nice touch for those who remember getting their rear ends handed to them is that you can set the number of starting lives from 3-5, and you can select either "Normal" or "Easy" difficulty for Mega Man 1-7. Since the old pause trick is gone, I think a lot of people are going to be playing Mega Man 1 on easy to keep from breaking controllers on the Yellow Devil (aka Rock Monster), but I don't reccomend playing all the games in easy, because it makes the rest of the games almost comically easy. Oh, another thing is that the game autosaves. Everytime you beat a level, it automatically saves it. That's handy if you don't feel like writing down passwords (and REALLY handy for Mega Man 1, since you originally had to play it straight through). But, if you're like me and have a notebook somewhere that you wrote down all the passwords from when you played it back in the day, good news! Those passwords still work! Nintendo fans are kinda mad right now, because the PS2 version is clearly the better version. Since the games aren't emulated, some of the cooler stuff like the remixed music coulding fit on the smaller Gamecube media. Also, for reasons that boggle the mind, Atomic Planet decided to use the A button for fire, and the B button for jump on the Cube version. If you have a choice, go for the PS2 version, but if you only have a Cube (or a Cube and an Xbox), the Cube version is still worth it. Okay, I'm outta here! I got Robot Masters to take care of...

I'd like to see Tarantino stop making movies all together, since he clearly has no talent.

Yup, and again there's a readymade technological solution that's been largely ignored by the studios. It's called "seamless branching". Eh, Seemless Branching has caused a problem in more than few DVD players out there. Ironically one of the first T2 discs used it. The Lord of the Rings discs have been anything but "milked" franchise thus far. They've released 2 versions of each movie. One is a 2-disc theatrical cut. The second is a lavish 4 disc set with a longer cut of the movie, and tons of bonus features. It usually costs a cheap $30 to boot. The big difference here is that they've announced, from the beginning, that they would be releasing 2 versions of each movie. They've announced both release dates each time. Who's getting fooled? What's tricky about this? But that's just a more clever way of milking it. Take Robocop. First the Criterion version, then the cheaper ordinary version, now the boxed set. I bought the Criterion version, then had no interest in any of the other versions. Now with LotR, they make it really clear that there's going to be the theatrical release with the usual extras, then later a special extended edition. Now fans know from the get-go that if they want the theatrical version, they will buy one version, then to get all the extras, they'll have to buy the extended version. Well, fortunately for the fanboys and girls, they spaced them out, so they have time to save up for both versions. Besides, how many people here really doubt that sometime in 2005, you'll be seeing a boxed set with all three films, plus some other extra exclusive bonus material?

You, my friend, are the target audience for this movie. However, one or two of us actually prefer a film to have a bit of substance now and then. Hey, I'm not claiming that I never like a movie with substance. I'm just saying that only movies with substance are worth watching, and that sometimes a cheesy action flick can be fun.

I know JSA and Mechamaniac already made up, but I still wanted to toss my two cents in... Anyway, every man and woman who joins any of the US military, I feel, deserves respect from those of us who do not serve. Every one of them, even the box pitchers, are providing a needed service, functioning as part of a whole... and that whole is looking out for us so guys like me can think about picking up the Megaman Anniversary Collection instead of wondering if an foreign militants are going to crash a busload of explosives into my Mitsubishi on the way to Gamestop. Now, every man and woman in the military does get to wear something very special, to let us civillians know that they're military and deserve our respect. And that something is their uniform. Within that groups of respected men and women, there are the cream of the crop. Everyone works hard, but they worked harder, and did the tougher and often more dangerous jobs. They've earned the right to stand out from their peers, hence the berets. Now, does giving everyone a beret make everyone elite? Nope. Instead of raising morale and making everyone feel like an elite, all it does is make the elite look the standard look. The box pitchers, vital though they are, are still pitching boxes. And the elites are still doing the elite stuff, only without the symbol of recognition.

When I first saw this set, I was was like "Holy S#^T!" But then I remembered that Robocop 2 was kinda mediocre, and Robocop 3 outright sucked. And I already have the Criterion version of Robocop. So, I think I kinda have all the Robocop I want. Unless they put the TV show on DVD... although I don't remember if the TV show was any good or not...

Yeah guys, okay, whatever. First, to address the Will Smith issue... yeah, he does usually play the wise-ass urban yadda yadda yadda... but he's still a fairly good actor. Even if most of his roles are similar, he's never struck me as anything less than convincing, which puts him a step ahead of a lot of the other flavor-of-the-month actors out there (Colin Farrel, Vin Diesl, Orlando Bloom, the entire cast of the Matrix save Hugo Weaving, etc). Also, for all the bad-mouthing he's getting, I don't think I've seen him in a movie I haven't liked. Granted, I don't consider any of his movies to be masterpieces of literature... but 99.99% of movies aren't, and aren't supposed to be. Which brings me to my second point. While movies sometimes have thoughtful points are clever writing, most movies are intended to be simply an hour and half of fun. I enjoy a good car chase or explosions that make me glad for my 5.1 surround setup when the DVD comes out. If every movie was a "Memento" or a "Fight Club" I'd probably stop going to the theater, even though I loved Fight Club. And just because a movie is loosely based on the book, I don't expect it to be the book. Books are longer and allow for more detail. Besides, if a movie and the book are identical, and I've consumed one, what's the point of checking out the other? That said, taking the movie for what it is, I, Robot looks like a vapid action movie. And vapid action movies are usually good times, so I'm planning to check it out.

I don't know about older air superiority fighters, like the F-14 and earlier incarnations of the F-15, but it seems to me that newer fighters are designed for (or at least intended for) multirole from the get go. F/A-18, F-16, F-35, F/A-22... I mean, I don't wanna knock the A-10 or anything, because it does it's job and it has it's fans... I'm just not one of them. I got no interest in Hummers - I drive a sports car. And I guess I like my planes the same way... I don't want the hulking brute, I want the one with super cruise.

I you disliked Pitch Black (as I did) do not go and see this film. My friend convinced me to go see Chronicles of Riddick because he had four free passes. Chronicles is actually worse than PB. The horrible lines will kill you and if they don't, the heavy-handed grandstanding of the main character will. Avoid it if you want some advice. Thanks for the advice! So instead, I went and saw Harry Potter today. It was the best of the three. Good times.

It's amazing how many people are telling me they liked this movie. Then again, it's amazing how many people told me they liked "Pitch Black," which is on my list of top ten dumbest movies of all time. I think I'm going to see either Shrek or Harry Potter today, then I'm probably done until Spider-Man.

In my store personally (I work at Gamestop), we sold a few. Mostly to the anime/Gundam crowd. I hope the DX version is what we get here. I'd guess we probably will get it here, although when is anyone's guess. I think Bandai will push the Seed crap this year, and probably release AEUG vs. Titans when they release Zeta on DVD. Anyone know what the new Mobile Suits will be in the DX version? Seems they got most of the good ones already, and I was under the impression that they left them out because the Titans already had a ton more Mobile Suits than the AEUG. Vinny... I think the fact that it's basically the same as FvsZ with Z Gundam suits is exactly why some of us will enjoy AvsT. I mean, I loved the gameplay in FvsZ, but I thought there weren't enough MS in it, especially on the Feddie side, and that a lot of the MS in FvsZ were just... old and stupid, like the Gogg or the Ball. I loved the original Gundam series, but I loved Zeta a lot more, and Zeta had a ton more MS that I liked better, especially the Gundam Mk II. Motley... like Vinny said, space-combat is nearly identical, as it's basically the same engine. The only thing I can say about it is that for a show that really took place mostly in space, there are plenty of land battles, and I really do think that targeting is a little more smooth, especially for stuff like the head vulcans. I mean, in FvsZ, they were useless, in AvsT, I can't do without them.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see where you got the pre-modded PS2 anywhere in your posts. Could you let me know where you got it? I wanna play Macross! PM me please if you don't wanna leave it here. Thanks! H Oops, my bad! I got it from Modchipman.com. Also, I finally got a real Japanese PS2 game to play on it. I got Z Gundam: AEUG vs. Titans. Macross was backordered, but as far as I know, they're going to send it when the get it back in stock. You can check out my thoughts on AvsT here.

Got my first Japanese PS2 game today. They were out of Macross, but I got a used copy Z-Gundam: AEUG vs. Titans. Not a whole lot to say to review it. If you played Federation vs. Zeon DX, you're already intimately familiar with AEUG vs. Titans. For the most part, it's the same controls on the same game engine. Like FvsZ, AvsT basically has three modes... a port of the Arcade, a two player vs. mode, and a mission/campaign mode. There are both ground and space missions in Arcade and Mission, and the ground missions are still roped off with red lines. The screen looks basically the same as FvsZ, too, with the forces meter on the top left, armor and weapons info on the bottom right, etc. You can still issue commands to your teammate and the like. Gameplay improvements are minor. The only real addition is the useless transformation mode, which is essentially a kind of jumping dash, and a "Hyper Mode." Hyper Mode allows you to do team attacks with your teammate when the Combo bar fills up. Where AvsT really shines, I think, is the fact that it's Z Gundam. Sure, it's a plus because Z Gundam was my favorite series, sure, but I think it's also a plus because you have more mobile suits and usually cooler mobile suits. This means you don't have to play mission after mission as a GM in the Mission mode, like you did in FvsZ. As far as I'm concerned, Z Gundam also means slightly better music. For those of you who prefer the classic One Year War suits, take heart. Beating arcade as the AEUG unlocks all the Feddie suits, and beating it with the Titans unlocks all the Zeon suits. Also, although literally just started the Mission mode, I have a RX-79[G] in my aresenal, so it looks like the FvsZ suits are in Mission mode, too. Anyway, at the end of the day, if you liked FvsZ, you'll probably enjoy AvsT. If you hated FvsZ, you'll hate AvsT. I just happen to fall into that first group.

I got my pre-modded PS2! It arrived in its original box (which was packed in newspaper inside a larger box), with ATV Offroad Fury 2 (It was the Online Bundle), and all the controllers and cords were still wrapped. Looks like they basically opened a new PS2, took the console out, modded it, tested it, and stuffed it back in the box. At first it was kind of confusing, because you don't get any info on the modchip (aside from the fact that when you order it, you're told it's a DMS 3). It had no trouble reading American PS2 games and PSone games, but that's it. However, a quick check of the online manual for the DMS 3 tells you that if you're booting a non-legit, non-NTCS/UC PSone disc, you have to hold down the Circle button on the controller. After that, it booted my copies of Rockman Battle and Chase, Macross VF-X2, and Macross DYRL without any fuss. It also played my burned copies of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix. It's taken me awhile longer to test it with PS2 discs. I placed an order (Macross and Z-Gundam: AEUG vs. Titans) with Starland, and they shipped it already. But with the holiday, I don't expect to recieve it until probably middle to end of next week. In the meantime, my friend loaned me his copy of I-Ninja. And after a little messing around, I made myself a nice copy. All-in-all, I'd say a pre-modded PS2 isn't the cheapest route for imports, but by far the least hastle.

Yes yes... and it's also been shown that gaming improves hand-eye coordination, and reaction time, and that gamers are better at noticing more things around them. It's also been suggesting that gamers are better drivers. And one of the odder things I've read about the benefits of gaming - doctors were using Half-Life to treat patients with certain phobias.

I'm not super-familiar with the pen and paper stuff, since most of my RPG exploits have been either console or PC. However, some of the guys at work are really into D&D and Star Wars, and they started up a Star Wars game that I joined, with the d20 system. Mostly, it's fun. Sure, sometimes we gripe about things in the rules, but any system that isn't A.) really doing it, or B.) running totally off your imagination isn't going to be perfect. You need rules, and dice just happen to be a way to simulate probability. Of course, we make stuff up as we go along, and bend the rules whenever it suits us.

Pitch Black and T3 are on your top 10 dumbest movies of all time? Are you from the Bizzaro World? LoL I guess... if Bizarro World is a place where story and substance matter more than cheesy special effects and mindless violence. If it gives you a better idea of my tastes, movies that make my top 10 best movies list include The Ring, The Last Samurai, Fight Club, Swordfish, and Spider-Man. Movies that I've been known to enjoy, but wouldn't considered top 10 anything, include Mr. Deeds, Happy Gilmore, Robocop, Galaxy Quest, True Lies, Pirates of the Carribean, Transformers: the Movie, and the like. Oh, and anything with Jet Li. Finally, as opposed to Chronicles of Riddick, the next two movies I'm looking forward to are The Village and Spider-Man 2.

Except that Time Cop and Universal Soldier sucked. Come to think of it, Van Damme in general just sucks. A1, I expected better from an Arnold Fan...

I got nothing against Vin Diesel per se, but I'm suprised how many of you are claiming to have liked Pitch Black. Pitch Black is definately in my list of top 10 dumbest movies of all time. Which is why, even though the previews for Chronicles of Riddick look decent, I won't dare see it in the theater. Then again, Oihan, I thought Van Helsing was fine Not spectacular, but mindlessly entertaining. Meanwhile, I thought Terminator 3 was a mockery of a film that ignored... nay, spit on... the message in the first two Terminators... thus earning another spot on my top 10 dumbest movies ever list.

Seems quite a few of the characters in SDF Macross were taller than expected. Well, our generation is supposed to be taller than the WWII generation, right? Maybe they figured by 2009, people over 6' would be kinda average.

Starland

I'm kinda new into the import scene, but I try to stay away from eBay. I know a lot of people love it... and I know that a lot of people set up their e-businesses through eBay... but I've never really liked buying stuff from other people. I like to do my business with a real store, so I buy my imports from Starland. They have a bunch of stuff, and if you live around DC, they actually have three stores. I'm thinking about buying Macross and Z-Gundam from them sometime this week or next. I've heard of people having problems with slide cards and boot discs... not that they don't work, but that it's the fastest way to kill your PS2s DVD drive. Besides, I used to do disc-swapping with my old PSX, and it's really kind of a hassle after awhile. So, I decided to order a brand new PS2 online pack pre-modded with a DMS3 v9, so supposedly, I should be able to drop any US or Japanese (or backup) PSX or PS2 game in with no hassle. I think the price I got was just fair, nothing special, but the shipping was very reasonable, and the site was reviewed very highly. I'll let you guys know.

Pics are out there of Bail Organa and Mon Mothma, plus what's-his-name decked out as Vader. I would definately expect the Rebel Alliance to be up and running by the end of the film. As far as I know, Lucas' original Star Wars novel was published in '74. I don't know a whole heck of a lot about the EU stuff. I've read five of the six novels written by Zahn, and they were pretty good, but I have been told that most of the other EU novels boil down to "Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie fight the villian of the week and his/her ridiculously over-powered superweapon." It's a damn shame that they couldn't come up with new ideas and new characters. At least Zahn managed to avoid superweapons, and come up with Karrde, Mara, Thrawn, Pellaeon, and Bel Iblis. And let's not even get into the New Jedi Order crap. The only Jedi Knight game I played was Jedi Outcast. I've only played the first level or so, and I thought it was so-so (although, in fairness to the series, I heard that the first few levels of Outcast are the worst, and that I should stick to it). While I'm at it, the Rogue Squadron games are kinda overrated. I think that Starfighter and Jedi Starfighter had a much better engine (and you can actually lock on a target! Now you try it, Factor 5...). Too bad Starfighter and Jedi Starfighter had a limited ammount of lame ships, lame characters, and lame story. But hands down, the best Star Wars game has got to be Knights of the Old Republic. Many props also go to TIE Fighter.