technoblue

It is. Get ready for more mecha/multinational harem action.

Fantastic! Thank you.

^Indeed.

^Well said. Armin is the voice of reason.

Marzan! You might have just persuaded me to get my first PVC figure (yeah not too hard with Yamamoto, one of my favorite characters in the reboot). Was there a prototype of Melda Dietz posted a few pages back? I think these two pilots would be a nice pair and then I'll have something cool to display alongside the blus.

Edit: Oops, I'm too late for the cdjapan order, so I paid up at amiami. I also corrected my misspelling of Melda's full name.

^^ Yeah, Well said. The Steambox/Steamachine will draw in those people who are looking for another convenient way to game. The controller is a cool bonus. For those of us who already have PCs in the living/family room it certainly adds value, which is why I am anxious to see it in action. I'm not expecting miracles this early, but if that controller can allow my to play a game like X-Com: Enemy Unknown then that would be really neat.

It looks like Yamamoto is up again at amiami for those still looking for her.

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIG-MOE-9072

I don't collect PVC figures, but even I must admit that these Yamato girls are hard to resist...

I'm watching Infinite Stratos. i hate Harem anime. I like Mecha anime.

This is a greatly conflicting show.

One the harem front, he should just bang Charlotte. Shes not weird, is hot, and gets him. The rest are all horrible people.

On the mecha Front, u can tell this is the Frontier guys, and that's pretty cool

Infinite Stratos was good, and I wasn't bothered by the harem cliches. If I read antibiotictab's table correctly, I think it is due for a new season?

Yeah, I can see how it is a compromise. And there are genres (like flight/space simulation) where it might still fall short. I also play more PC games on the big screen thanks to the XBox 360 controller. If this new gadget allows me to play even more PC games in a comfy chair in front of the TV, then that would be pretty neat.

How do you win a war with titans using other titans? Do you turn on the titans that helped you and obliterate them after?

I think that could be one path the story could take, unless Eren can figure out his own personal mysteries and find a way to control the Titan/Hulk rage. Having one Annie was bad enough. If Eren went rogue and started swatting at everyone like he did at Mikasa earlier in the season, then Humanity would lose its only gamble.

DuelGundam, it's called foreshadowing...there is more going on than the black and white Titans vs Humanity stuff. Given all the anime you watch, I'm surprised you missed it. As a character, Armin is stating that explicitly for those viewers who didn't catch on. You could criticize that that is too much hand-holding by the writers, but I don't think precociousness is out-of-line for Armin.

Myself, I have been good about not reading the manga. I think Bleach taught me to stop doing that and to treat anime as a separate entity, even when it follows the manga closely.

I read on Rock Paper Shotgun that the controller's unique construction is supposed to somehow allow players to use older mouse/keyboard only games. That would be something that I would like to see demonstrated, especially for a PC in the family room connected to an HDTV.

I already bought one straight from Maketoys' website for slightly less than TFSource, and it arrived fairly quickly. I'd love to tinker around with it and take pics, but I'm still on vacation. My initial impression is that it looks exactly like the promo shots and it feels solid. What surprised me is that there is actually a "core" bot which is essentially a retooled RTS Prime. When I get back, I'll have to take some pics.

Nice! I look forward to your photos.

I haven't kept up with the comics as much as I should have, but I really like the design of this figure.

Hase anyone picked up Maketoys' Hyper Novae (not-Nova Prime)? I wonder if I should start a collection of Primes? This figure looks nice and it seems TFSource is also starting a pre-order for the limited edition release.

I have to echo what a few people already wrote about the armored version shown above: It reminds me of a Gundam.

yeah, since you got one i guess you don't need to spend another 300 and can save for the yf-19

i never owned one so i have to get one.

I'm in the same boat. I think it is nice that everyone is getting the coin in addition to the stand, although I don't collect the coins either.

And now that I have had both the Hasbro and Takara MP-10 in front of me I can say that I don't think either score perfect color accuracy. However, I find there is more to like with Takara's MP-10. I like having more paint on the figure and the trailer, I like having a silver Roller, I like the extra shading on the windows, and I actually prefer the eyes. I also find the dark blue accents (legs and such) match my G1 Optimus and I do not see any purple in that mix.

I know I am part of the minority on the eyes, but with good lighting they do shine. It's just too bad that the head didn't have some light piping included, then I don't think anyone would have complained about them. With paint, you lose the effect altogether and even the painted style is hard to see in shadow.

Alas, my Hasbro Masterpiece will be heading off to its new owner on Monday. I couldn't justify keeping both of them.

And...UPS delivered MP-10 today...

Looking at it up close, I have to say that I am even more of a fan of Takara's paint scheme. The eyes are not an issue for me, either. Although better light piping would have improved the natural blue glow tremendously, I think the eyes still do a good job of catching light at various angles. Most of the photographs I've seen are not showing the effect very well. Mm, it's a small criticism.

Like jenius, I also received the stand separately and a collector's coin. Maybe both items are standard for the renewal release? My MP-10 pre-order was from BBTS.

The box reminds me of Yamato's packaging for the 1/48 series: squarish. I like it. I may have more time to mess around with it this weekend. For now, I just opened the box and checked everything out. At the moment, since I am selling Hasbro's MP-10, the only Transformer I have out of its box in this scale is FT-03 Quakewave.

My other pending pre-orders are renewal MP-13 Soundwave, MP-17 Prowl, and the third-party PE-DX02 Aranea (not Blackarachnia).

^^A Gotham without Batman is NYPD Blue without Denniz Franz, you mean?

I'm cauitiously optimistic regarding Gotham. I actually do not mind focusing on Gordon and his department. That could make for some good stories and I expect they weren't always turning to that Bat Signal to solve crimes.

But I also keep getting tricked by these shows. I watched the first two seasons of Smallville before it started to wear on me. I actually liked the first season, but the premise was executed better in Lowis and Clark, an older show where Clark was actually allowed to be Superman. If Gotham keeps Batman out for good and never alludes to him at all, then I'll be sad.

Heh. Well put. That's more or less what I was trying to write. The definition of enthusiast is so skewed toward this notion of expensive materials, cut windows, LED bling, or whathaveyou. Most of the enthusiasts I know try to build something useful with spare parts, a little bit of time, and elbow greese. I think if the Steam Box can leverage that it would be a good thing by helping to produce real data for what a gaming PC is. At least, the idea of PC ambiguity will be less of a talking point in the press when real numbers are available for system configurations. And I think this might help to get that kind of data. Whether software developers use it to make better PC games is another thing altogether.

Hm. The term enthusiast PC has become ambiguous.

As a DIY enthusiast, I think those of my ilk build PCs to a particular need. Not necessarily to eek out every last bit or byte of gaming performance, but to complete whatever project or task is at hand. That task could be gaming, but it could also be silence or streaming media, it could be arcade or console emulation,it may be ripping and playing back hi-def movies, or it might simply be to build an efficient number cruncher or e-mail box for friends and family.

Enthusiasts build PCs because it is fun to build PCs. People who prefer convenience turn to other things. I don't think one way is better than the other, mind you. However, both roads do eventually lead to the same destination. If Valve creates a common denominator in PC Land that allows developers to create more content in the entertainment space because new reliable configuration data comes out of this exercise--data that allows developers to start coding proper PC games efficiently then that is good for everyone.

At least, that's what I think.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/09/25/steam-machines-valve-announce-hardware/#more-170306

It seems Valve hasn't abandoned the Steam Hardware option. Both the OS and Hardware announcements are very interesting. I wonder if this is a plan to get some community involvement to optimize a final, preferred configuration?

My guess is probably Dec.

I would agree with this. A four- to five-month window makes sense with Arcadia's recent pre-orders.

I've learned not to judge a show by its first episode. Plenty of curisoities are there to get me watching again, but overall It was an okay beginning. There are elements that remind me of Fringe and then there are things that remind me of Heroes. Hopefully, this show will be able to match the success of the former and avoid the superdark fantastic crash of the latter.

I missed out on the VF-4G because I was in a situation where couldn't afford this stuff at the time. The YF-19 is one of my favorite designs and so I'm glad my situation is reversed this time around.

You get what you can and when you cannot, you admire the rest from afar.

Welcome to Valkyrie Users Anonymous. It is a mult-step program.

First, there is joy

Next, there is bitterness.

Then, there is fear.

Finally, there is acceptance.

Mine is sitting at my feet.

Very cool. Will there be pics or is it staying in the box?

Phew! I like the April release. The price (although top-tier) isn't horrible, considering everything that will come with the figure. I plan to buy one only, and that will make saving up for this easier too.

Unlike the Bandais, plenty of these will be available for months, if not a year after release, so anyone can easily save up for one or more (especially when there are HLJ sales). The price is a lot lower than what was predicted here, and seems somewhat reasonable, considering the average price of these things, and the tons of accessories that come with this.

Over the course of next year I’ll definitely pick up 3.

Wait. I thought Arcadia was adopting something similar to Bandai's limited release model? Has that already changed or is the YF-19 v.2 special and getting a Yamato-style release? That seems expensive, if true.

That was one dark and ominous chapter. Specially that beginning.

The season has certainly taken a sudden turn.