CoryHolmes

I'm quite pleased with my two Alphas. Nice toys, nothing falling off or broken yet, and I have transformed it a few times. It's a very solid toy with a good deal of metal, though I'm not sure how much good that metal actually does. The sculpt is really quite amazing, but the QC and construction issues do bog it down a bit. I hope that Toynami is able to pull the QC up for subsiquent releases and put out a good toy like they promised.

I remember waking up early on Sunday morning to watch the first episode to see if the show was any good. I wound up making three six-hour tapes of the show, but they never repeated the first freakin' episode! As for the show itself, I was very impressed by the wild-west-in-space idea. Very original for the time and it came across well. I've always been less than impressed with the Super Sentai bits of the show, such as the ship and the Monster of the Week syndrome. I always felt they dragged the show down. EDIT: On the plus side, those screenies look very impressive. The colours are bright and vibrant, and it looks pretty crisp. How is the DVD itself?

That's exactly what they did in SDF Macross, using Minmay's song. Only in DYRL and later shows was that changed. I'd say it was a little of both in SDF-M. True enough. Use the music to distract the Zentradi during the Biggest of Big Fights , thus making it easier to blow them to bits. Later on, the music (and the whole idea of culture) was able to pacify some of the Zentradi (as seen during Minmay's private concert. Millia is a good example, too). It's just that DYRL, Mac7, and now Macross Zero, have all discarded that first idea and gone straight with the mind-altering affects of music, taking it to an almost mystical level (Basara's singing is a good example of this, same thing with Sara's singing and the flowers).

Actually, I was just thinking that that "fighter" mode looked a helluva lot like the Beta Fighter. I like the Invid "scout" mode, though. Really neat. And am I the only here that actually likes Guppy in the game? I think she's hilarious

We already have that. It's called the Koing Monster and I really, really hate it. But this claw and the VF-mounted drones are just rediculous.

What was the formula, in Escaflowne? FV Right there.

That's exactly what they did in SDF Macross, using Minmay's song. Only in DYRL and later shows was that changed.

Didn't Kawamori conceive and direct Escaflowne? IMO that anime was a "hit" or at the very least a minor success. The music and animation were great and the story was really enjoyable. There was a love triangle as usual, a big brother mentor character (Folken), and even the lead Zaibach guy reminded me of Bodolza with his body consisting of huge machinery and being long lived. As Lone Wolf said, very formulaic.

Pfft. Wussie

That's what I meant, the FPS games you listed don't come with transforming mecha stock, coded in already. So yeah, it'd be a serious mod project do to that, and pull it off even remotely well. Still, that is something I'd enjoy seeing, but based more on Halo that Half-Life. Cyclone special forces taking on Covenant Elites... THAT would be fun

Says who? Lots of FPS games now let you interact with vehicles, so you're not "just a grunt in CVR-3." And I don't see the problems with transforming mecha, either. What makes you think it's so far out of the realm of possibility? I say that because none of the FPS engines are designed to allow for a transformable mecha. Sure, you could use them in one mode or another, but to actually transform on the fly like you can in the Robotech games and the Macross PS2 game? Not without some *serious* changes to the game itself, I'd think.

Not really, since you wouldn't be able to use ANY transformable mecha, and would be stuck in a Battloid-only Cyclone or just as a grunt in CVR-3 armour. Either way, you get even farther away from the appeal of New Generation/MOSPEADA.

Wha? These aren't JUST carriers? Oh this I've GOT to see..... Check this site out, then: Steel Falcon RPG page. Sure, it's an RPG page, so you can ignore all the little stat blocks, but it also serves as a decent enough description of the ships and their capabilities, in all their hand-having, gun-pod wielding glory *shudder*.

So, when are you going to do the write-ups for the rest of Robotech?

I'm actually rather enjoying the game right now. A bit annoyed at the lack of Robotech music, but still having a fun time. As for not flying the Alphas, I couldn't care less. I've always been more partial to the Cyclones, anyway. And I've always felt that the main draw to Mospeada/New Gen was the Cyclones, not the Alphas.

Invasion is based around the Cyclone mecha, so no, there are no Alpha's. And to that, I say this: Alpha Schmalpha.

Heh, the govenment wouldn't go for it considering that the oil companies pretty much ARE the government! Actually, that's one thing that the Governator is trying to do. Create a system of hydrogen "gas stations" up and down the California coast, trying to encourage people to use that as a means of travel. There's some talk (and even a little action) of bringing that chain all the way up the West Coast to Vancouver, BC as a means of promoting "cleaner" ways to travel.

Bah, Soccer Moms have NOTHING compared to Hockey Moms up here in Canuckistan. Every Canadian has at least one horror story to tell about those abominations of sports *shudder*.

Warning, that demo is of the pre-E3 build, which dates it from waaaay back in May. Just a reminder.

Comparitivly speaking, Keith, Macross 7 comes across as just that, a parady of SDF Macross, considering how the "message" is packaged. I see no problems with using Star Wars and Spaceballs as an allegory to SDF Macross and Macross 7. It might not be a perfect match, but the idea is still the same. Heck, if I could watch Macross 7 on its own, then it would be a perfect comedic parady of SDF: Macross, just the same way that I enjoy Spaceballs, Men in Tights, and other paradies. Unfortunatly, Macross 7 has been made an official part of the storyline, so I'm just not able to dissociate it from the rest of the Macross universe and enjoy it on its own merits. When I compare it to Plus and SDF, it always falls way, way short.

To give another example of why Macross 7 is poorly recieved by those who speak against it, think of it this way: Star Wars is released to the theathers and creates a HUGE impact and fan following. People flock to see it and competitors are quick to snap up any idea that they think they can get away with. George Lucas, following this wave of success and fame, decides to continue the story he created. Thus he releases to the theathers... Spaceballs! It has all the same ideas and themes as Star Wars, such as love, friendship, and pushing on in the face of certain death, just packaged in a slightly different manner. Despite what fans say, Lucas insists that Spaceballs is THE true sequel to Star Wars and it is forever written into the canon storyline. Now think about it for a moment. Does that not sound exactly like what happend with Macross?

I kind of understand what you really ment. However, fact is both Yammies and Toynami items are made in China. The toy companies HQ are located in different contries. I think Toynami Alpha has many QC problem. However, Yammi is not far superior either. Tab B, VF-11 exploding out of the box, 1/60 legs-don't-want-to-stay-on...

The Rock?

While I greatly adore the movies, I just can't stand the TV series. Maybe it's because I saw the movies first, but the off-beat humour and just sheer sillyness of the TV series doesn't do anything for me.

Am I the only one getting tired of all the car-based Alternators using (more or less) the same transformation sequence? I mean, that was one of the really cool things about the G1 toys, how each of them had to be handled differently to get the alt-mode.