mikeszekely

I've never been to a Quizno's... I don't even know where one is in my area. But between the fact that I actually prefer my subs untoasted, and the fact that those spokes-rat thingies are just disturbing, I don't imagine I'd go even if there was one in my back yard. Subway's not great or anything, but my local Subway has a special where you can get any two foot-long subs for $7.99 on Sundays, plus you still get the stamps. But if you REALLY want a good sub (well, meatball anyway... they're so good I've never tried any of their other subs...) see if you have a Blimpie in your area.

According to what I read, the USAF brass in charge didn't believe that stealth would really work, so they insisted that the Nighthawk be painted black so as to force it to be used only for night ops.

It takes more than a few polygons to make a 3D game. R-Type Final and Gradius V are still 2D games. Has it ever occured to anyone that the new Metal Slug might just suck? Personally, I never cared for the series. To use your argument, the Dreamcast should have been on top, because it beat the PS2 out of the box by over a year... and the DC had a kick-ass launch to boot. And yet, the DC burned out rather quickly. No, trust me on this one... the PS2 won this round of the console wars due to the tremendous success of the PSX, and the PS3 is likely to stay on top for the same reason. As long as Sony's console carries Madden and Grand Theft Auto, expect everyone and their mother to end up with a PS3. I wouldn't worry too much about the Blu-Ray thing. When the PS2 was being developed, DVDs were a new technology, and the games are still $50. If at some point Sony decides to use Blu-Ray in addition to DVD as a format for the PS3 (just as they used both CD and DVD for PS2), expect the games to still be around $50. Nintendo certainly won't beat Sony. Although Nintendo still carries a lot of respect with the hardcore gamers and the Japanese, the Madden crowd still has the notion that Nintendo is for kids. Combine that with the way they've alienated third party developers, and you can start to understand why there are rumors of Nintendo pulling a Sega (It won't happen, though, as long as Nintendo is raking in the green with the Gameboy). Microsoft, I feel, would be Sony's closest competition. In America, the third party lineup for the PS2 and the Xbox is becoming awfully similar, right down the the Madden and (eventually) the Grand Theft Auto. Microsoft just needs to get more bigger exclusive games than just Halo, and they need to work harder to break into the Japanese market. A few RPGs wouldn't hurt either (although I do think that Knights of the Old Republic was probably the best RPG of the current console generation). And as for the PSP, I feel it will probably fail too. Remember, I said they're aiming at a different market than Nintendo is with the GBA... the same market that Nokia was shooting for with the N-Gage. And yes, that does involve marketing it as more than a game player, just as Nokia did (and just as they successfully did with the PS2... it was due to the PS2 that DVDs caught on in Japan). But it's my thought that this market really isn't interested in a high-tech portable game player/multimedia device. They've already got their mp3 players, their portable DVD players, their cell phones, their digital cameras, their PDAs, etc. If they need a portable game to play on the crapper, they're more likely to play a GBA, in my opinion. And no, the design everyone's seen on the net and in the magazines is NOT the final design for the PSP. They haven't even settled on the specs, yet.

Why is it that every time a game may not come out for the PS2 in America, everyone blames it on SCEA's "policy" against 2D games? As far as I know, SFIII, Gradius V, and Megaman Anniversary Collection are all go for a North American release, not to mention that we just had R-Type Final and a King of Fighters... and they're all 2D. As for the next round of console wars, the reality is that the PS3 will probably remain on top. It's not so much about launch or who comes out first/last (PS2 actually came out second, after Dreamcast, and the PS2 probably had the worst launch ever until the N-Gage came along)... it's simply marketing + installed base. Consumers have the perception that Nintendo is for kiddies. Meanwhile, PSX had a large installed base, PS2 has a huge installed base, and as long as there'll be Madden and GTA on PS3, a lot of people are going to buy the PS3 even if it's absolute crap. As for the PSP, I'd almost go so far as to say they have a different market than the GBA. The GBA SP is a mere $99, and is solid as a rock. I'll be the first to admit that I love mine, but I'll also testify that younger children play with Gameboys more than any other system, including the home consoles. With at least a $250 price tag, the PSP isn't going to get into that market anytime soon. They hope to get the same audience that the N-Gage failed to grab... and unless they price the PSP carefully, are more selective with the design and features, and have the right balance between processor and battery life, the PSP will probably fail at it too, at least in North America. The situation in Japan, were almost everyone is spending ridiculous ammounts of time riding public transportation, is somewhat different, but in America I think we prefer high-end games on PCs or home consoles, and just need a handheld on the crapper... and the GBA fits that role nicely. The only things I can think of that the PSP will have going for it are the fact that the PS3 will supposedly play PSP games out of the box, and a rumored remake of Symphony of the Night.

To go along with what Aegis first said, I've noticed that there are a lot of people on these boards who like Macross but not it sequels, like the Matrix but not its sequels, like the original Star Wars trilogy but not the Special Editions or Episode I or II, etc. It's like once upon a time, they saw something that they thought was incredible, and now they love their originals and wish for more of the exact same, but any attempts to expand upon the originals are rejected. It's almost as if, as fans, we at some point have to make a decision to go all out with the original product that so captivated us and reject the sequels, or embrace the creator's overall vision and possibly be forced to rethink our ideas about the original. I'm not saying that either way is right, because everyone is indeed entitled to their own opinions, but they definately seem to be born out of different mentalities. Now for me, I've basically liked all of the Kawamori's Macross series, and Zero is no exception. But what I liked in each series isn't always the same. I liked the characters and story from the original Macross, I liked the action and mecha in Plus, and I liked the mecha and story in 7. For Zero, I think the complaints against the characters are valid, but you could complain about the characters in Plus almost as much, and people here still seem to like Plus. I also kind of dislike the mecha. I think the SV-51 is kind of interesting, but the VF-0, far from looking "more advanced" than the VF-1, looks like a VF-1 that was thrown together from spare parts. What keeps me interested in Zero is the story. The "magic" doesn't bother me, but nor does it concern me. I am interested in the mysteries of Aiphos and the Protoculture, though. Each episode drops a few more hints... first there was something in the water, then they pulled it up, now there's another part in the water, and it's still active somehow. I admit, it's hard to watch a series when you only get to see thirty minutes every six months, and when I watch all five parts back to back, I may not like it as much. Everything could fall apart at the end. But for now, Zero has been one of those series that has me going, "and then what happens?"

Oh, I'm with you. Sure, there were some really weird designs (Delphinius), but a lot of the planes were heavily based on existing aircraft. The control isn't exactly light years behind AC4... I think they have very similar control. And besides, AC3 had some really interesting missions, like the one where you're chasing the train or the one where you're bombing the virus. AC4 ends up being better overall, sure, but AC3 was definately the best on the PSone.

Keep in mind, you're addressing the same group that loves the OT, but hates the SE's and Episodes I and II, loves the original Matrix but hates Reloaded and Revolutions, then loves SDF Macross and DYRL but hates 7 and will claim to hate Zero later.

Well, let's see... of all the combat aircraft fans on these boards, I'd say David is the one I respect the most (for the ridiculous ammounts of knowledge on the subject he's got plus the modest way he applies said knowledge). And he's obviously played at least Ace Combat 2 and Ace Combat 4. And he seems to looking forward to Ace Combat 5, doesn't he? And this PC-elitest attitude has got to stop. Personally, I play games on all the systems... PC, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, and GBA. There are different games I like for each, and different genres I prefer on different platforms. Your comments aren't going to keep me or others from picking up Ace Combat 5. I'm not going to say "Gee, you're right!" and run out to my local Gamestop so I can trade in all my consoles and buy more PC games that I have to patch for an hour before I can even play. You're not hurting me any. In fact, the only one who suffers from your narrow-minding attitude is yourself, for all the great games you're missing out on. But I digress. This topic is for discussing Ace Combat 5. This topic isn't for debating PC vs. consoles, or realistic flight sims vs. arcade flight sims. Should you like discuss the PC vs. console or realistic vs. arcade debates, feel free to click on that button marked "New Topic."

I don't think that it's been confirmed one way or the other yet, but considering the licensing from Lockheed, I would be willing to bet on the F-117, the F/A-22, and the F-35 all being included, plus the F-16 having that funny looking stick-figurish Lockheed symbol.

While most of the links on the page are set up to go to the corresponding mahq.com pages, do click on the MRI link.

I couldn't have said it better myself, David. Besides, at least Ace Combat usually has a nice selection of planes... the PC sims seem to fall into two groups- the WWII sims and the more modern ones that have something like three planes to choose from. As far as I'm concerned, I think some vairants of the F/A-22, F-16, F/A-18, F-15, F-14, F-117, F-35, Su-37, Eurofighter, Mirage, Rafale, and the Su-43 (or whatever they're calling the plane formerly known as S-37) are basically givens. I hope they don't do too many variants of the same fighters... I'd rather see more fighters.

Opening movies, pre-renders, whatever... the final product should be a step up from Ace Combat 4, and waaaaaaaaaaaay better than Air Force Delta Strike.

Gamespot's updated coverage of Ace Combat 5.

Okay, I stared playing Asuka's disc yesterday at work (I didn't have time to play Ice, the other girl's disc). And I have to go on record as saying a ridiculous control scheme ruins any change Cy Girls had of being a good game. Basically what it boils down to is that, instead of pushing the analog stick in a direction and having Asuka move in that direction, you move a cursor with the analog stick, and Asuka moves toward the cursor. Add to that counter-intuitive mapping of the face buttons, and you have a game that's kinda like the N-Gage... looks good on paper, but fails terribly on the execution.

This is just my personal thought, but why should a game with multiplayer online be considered so hot? Project Gotham Racing 2 was the same way... a lot of magazines even gave it higher review scores than Need for Speed Underground, because they loved the frickin' online mode, nevermind the sloppy engine PGR2 uses, or the fact that NFSU was a lot prettier. As far as I'm concered, a game could have the most brilliant online multiplayer mode ever, but if it sucks in the single player area, it just sucks.

I would only consider playing Splinter Cell 2 if they give you a lot more ammo. Sure, I get that it's supposed to be about stealth and not killing, but the original Splinter Cell had me wasting what little ammo I had on lightbulbs. Not cool. The hottest game on the Xbox until Halo 2? Try Fable. And for a really hot Xbox game that came out awhile ago, try Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I skipped that game for awhile, since I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but my friends eventually talked me into playing it. Man, was it good!

It was sorta like Burton said "Hey, I'm going to make a Batman movie that's like the comic books!" It does well, spawns a weird sequel and a good cartoon, so WB Pictures is like, "Hey, let's make another Batman movie! If Burton doesn't want to do it, we'll give it to someone else." And they (the people who did Forever and Batman and Robin, sorry, I don't remember their names) were like "Batman? Oh, you mean that old show with Adam West!" The name on the list that catches my attention the most there, though, is Ken Watanabe as Ra's Al Ghul. I thought he was the real star in The Last Samurai, and if Batman Begins does well, Watanabe could be the next Asian start to make it big here in the US.

Oh, get off it already. Sure, she's a slurmty skanky hoe. But if she wasn't, most of you guys would think she's hot as hell. The only reason you want to call her ugly or what not is because of her slurmness. Having made that point, I'll go on record as saying that all the soap in the world couldn't get me to touch something that dirty... but I can think of a lot of so-called "attractive" celebs that are a lot less attractive.

First, I really enjoyed both the book and the original 50's movie. Second, I would like to see a well-made remake. Moreso than a sequel to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Third, Hollywood churns out a busload of movies every month. I'm sure the number of those movies that are remakes of older movies is actually a low percent... much lower, in fact, than the percentage that is all the low-brow toilet-humor "comedies" targeted at the teenage audience. Fourth, Minority Report was a good film, so we don't need to start going "Aw man, Speilburg and Cruise?!" Moreover, Minority Report was an adaptation of a short story by Philip K. Dick, so we don't need to go "Aw, man, a movie based on a book?" either.

Extremely so, since FFXI is the only game that supports it. Unlike the Xbox hard drive, the HDD that comes bundled with FFXI cannot be used for saving games, because the software is only programmed to recognized the memory card.

It's not possible. The hospital ship going down is a scripted event.

Seems like it had the reverse effect then.... A0 seems to be more pissed at the ppl who made the commercial then the ppl who file share. I think most people will have that reaction.

Kunio Okawara designed many more G Gundam mechs than that. Katoki designed the Nobel Gundam (a girlified version of his Gundam ver Ka.), the Master Gundam, the Devil Gundam, and a bunch of those Death Army guys, if I recall. Please note that I never said Okawara didn't design more than the hero mecha. Actually, the only reason why I mentioned that he did the hero mecha was to point out that he probably did a lot more that Katoki, but that it was Katoki who designed the particular MS in question.

Real commercials I didn't mind so much. Some of the Coke commercials (I'm thinking of the one where the terrorists come out because they're hot and thirsty) were kind of funny. But having the grunts whine at me that people are stealing movies that I paid to see is ridiculous. It's more ridiculous when you figure that, even with piracy, movies still probably make a lot for the studio, and definately make a lot for the no-talent hacks that pass for actors and actresses today (I'm looking your way, Keanu). So you're not convincing me that Joe Stunt Guy is going to be out of work because some nerd fanboy downloaded Lord of the Rings a the day before it's theatrical release (because he'll probably see it three or four times in the theater anyway, then buy the regular and special editions of the DVDs, and the boxed set if that comes out too). Putting the grunts out of work would mean an end to the film industry (which is probably what they want you to think will happen if you download a movie), which means an end to money for the big wigs and and burger flipping for Keanu. But what's more likely to happen if the studio really is loosing that much money is that the studio wants to pay Keanu less, he refuses, they get one of those kids on the WB, pay them half what they'd pay Keanu, and make the film anyway.

Who designed the mobile fighters of G Gundam? Gonna love that guy.... Kunio Okawara did the hero mecha (Shining and God Gundams), but Katoki designed your Nobel Gundam.