Warmaker

and no new Persona RPG taking advantage of the PS3 or 360? I'm a stickler for historical accuracy. But if you really want to get technical, in the field during the 30s and WWII, you wouldn't see German troops with big, red armbands and swastikas. The swastikas were there on all their military uniforms as parts of devices and emblems. But the big red armbands? No, definitely not on the field. Even their vehicles all had the "Balkenkreuz." Only their aircraft had swastikas on the vertical stabilizers. Even the Waffen SS utilized the Balkenkreuz to mark their vehicles. As far as Captain America, the recent movie really went out of its way to replace Nazi icons with Hydra, though I must admit not knowing much of Capt.America and Red Skull to begin with... it's just I remember seeing comics in the 80s that showed Red Skull with the familiar red armband & swastika. The movie did start with showing them, but drifted off into copout mode with Hydra and its emblems. It would've been more sinister if they kept it to the original icons.

I was wondering, "WTF is this guy talking about." Then Google and You Tube have enlightened me to this gem. You sir, are a man of fine tastes.

Funny you brought up Gog.com. I month ago I got from them Arcanum: Of Magicka and Steamworks. I loved that game back in '99/'00, but it's been more than a decade since I played it. I got it after another discussion about RPGs in another forum, then I remembered Arcanum and talked about it. When I get back into the USA, I still have my CDs for Lucasarts' X-Wing, TIE Fighter, X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, X-Wing: Alliance, along with their respective expansions. Think I'll dive back into 'em.

I'm probably in a tiny minority on this, but I think it'd be cool if the new series was set within the timeframe of the first ST movies. I always liked the advanced, yet classic TOS look to the ships. The uniforms were spiffy, too Also, you'd have classic standoffs with the Klingons, Romulans, etc. What I do foresee is a show set more into the future past the TNG/DS9 shows and movies. Alot of freedom to be had in showing that future's political landscape, levels of power, warship designs (old and new; expect existing designs from TNG/DS9/Dom.War era, Feds and Klingons like using proven hulls), new characters, etc. Going back to TNG timeframe is kinda iffy, IMO. You're treading on alot of established ST history and background, mostly established by all the shows and movies set in that era. 3 TV shows in this era already saturates it heavily. Hell, I'd think you'd have more freedom going back to TOS/TMP timeframe than you would with a TNG era show.

I dunno. No question TNG was good. DS9? Started off real slow and didn't get better until late in the show's existence, namely due to the outstanding backdrop the Dominion War provided. Voyager, I didn't like at all. Enterprise? It turned me away. For me, there's 2 clear misses and 1 near miss, with only 1 show being a solid hit, and it just so happened that the hit show was Rodenberry's last foray. For me, I felt the ST franchise losing steam by the time of the late 90s. TNG ended in '94. DS9 was finding its way up, but VOY was floundering. Because of that track record, I'd say no with Berman. Lastly, if ST should be shown on TV and/or the Big Screen, I don't see why it can't be done on both. Especially if the new series has already been made out story-wise. A TV show can let you go in depth.

Just finished watching season 1 in the last couple of days. I'm very impressed with the show's presentation and characters, regardless of faction and house. I'm surprised with what's been done with certain characters. Holy s**t! Season 2 can't start soon enough. For the first time in years I'm addicted to a show. When I get back into the US, I intend to hunt for the books to get the "original," more fleshed out view. Regardless, I love what the show itself has done.

Kinda funny Cuba Gooding Jr is in this film, since he was in another flick years ago with Laurence Fishburne in a Tuskegee Airmen movie. Curious to see how this pans out. I'm all for an air combat flick, but I wish it could look more real with the aircraft sequences. It's like a video game cutscene because it blatantly screams CGI.

I do have to agree with his comments on 1982 Conan the Barbarian, especially now that I'm older. Really, the plot is tacky. No going around it. But the way it presents itself, alongside the badass musical score, just made it gel together. At least for me.

You can't top it at all Just remember nothing is ever absolute! As far as the Clone Wars go, just leaving the military service is a very big stretch for the Clones. a. The army is all the Clones have been trained, indoctrinated... made for. It's been their life. There has been nothing else for them. b. The Republic Commando books also went a bit into the culture of the Clones. They sort of inherited it from their Mandalorian trainers. Also keep in mind that the troops in this war were all of the same type, Jango Fett's. Sure, they may have been designed different (standard compared to ARCs, Rep.Commandos), but they were all "brothers." How do you leave the brothers you've served with? It's also this brotherhood that had them from killing each other.

That kind of leaves us in a crossroads, really, if we're sitting here talking about Star Wars' background. I do have to tend to agree with you in a ways. The movies trump all else when it comes to "canon." For me, if anything contradicts the basic theme or feel of the movies, I sort of... "discard" it. Some things in the EU fit well with what's established by the movies, or compliment it nicely. The novelization of RotS is outstanding, IMO, and fleshes things out far more than the movie can do. The "Heir to the Empire" books, though set past RotJ, read like an extension of the original movies. But then you also have other things in the EU like the Star Wars Christmas Special (lol) and that Ewoks show. When we sit here and talk about "Star Wars," what's acceptable and what's not? Everything put out with the official license? Or what fans like us pick and choose? Nice post number, BTW I read "Dark Lord" also, was an okay read. The ones that questioned Order 66 and wanted reconfirmation were Republic Commandos. They, just like ARCs, were made to be more independent than mainline Clones. It was due to the nature of their tasks as Rep.Commandos. As for % of Stormtroopers being Clones, not sure, but again, going by some of the EU stuff, in the years past the death of Palpatine and the decline of the Empire, Clones were less and less in supply when the facilities to make them were overrun / lost. By the time of "Heir to the Empire" and with Grand Admiral Thrawn's return, Capt.Pallaeon lamented how much fewer Stormtroopers were. The seizing of the Spaarti Cloning Chambers in a secret cache of Palpatine's was a big factor in expanding the manpower of the now smaller Empire. But, as far as the movie timelines go, I'm wagering there's still a good % of Clones. They may not be the Clone Wars era "Jango Fett" template, but again, if you go by some of the EU stuff, there were other clone templates also. I'd also think that the internal security likes having the cloned Stormtroopers for the same exact reason why Palpatine brought them into the Republic's military to begin with: Unquestioning obedience to orders, loyal to the Chancellor / Emperor, the Republic / Empire. They didn't have ties to some homeworld or home system, or a group of people, from where ever they came from before. A life before the military. Their ties are with the Grand Army of the Republic / Imperial military, with the Republic / Empire.

I heard about that a while ago. Supposed to be something along those lines.

I may have a slightly different take compared to others. For what it's worth, here it goes. Clones for the Stormtroopers continue on into the days of the Empire. Non-clones of course enter service with the Stormtroopers. And if you want to go by the Imperial campaign in Star Wars Battlefront II, different Clone templates also, after the Kaminoans were discovered to secretly grow their own Clones for use against the Empire. As far as Order 66 goes, after reading around, esp. in the Republic Commando books, the Clones didn't kill the Jedi because of some program (a magic word to suddenly turn on longtime allies and hate them and kill them) or malice towards them. They killed the Jedi because the Clones were bred and trained to unquestioningly follow orders. The Jedi Order is quite powerful within the Republic. If you really look at it, they were a powerful organization that essentially could do what they wanted. But even though they were quite autonomous, there still was an established heirarchy of the Republic. A "Chain of Command" in every organization, any government especially. And in the Republic, the Supreme Chancellor is the head, which Palpatine just so happens to fill. Order 66 was merely one of a set of general set of orders that they've all been taught. A sort of... actions to carry out in the case of a specific circumstance that the order pertains to. Order 66 was merely (conveniently) a contingency order just in case the Jedi Order became a threat to the Republic. IRL, it's the same as militaries having contingency plans of war for different scenarios, including a "What If?" conflict against an ally. So, combine the contingency Orders taught and drilled to the Clones, and the fact that they were bred and trained to be unquestioning and obedient to orders, is it really a surprise that they were able to kill the "traitorous" Jedi across the galaxy? That they killed them with no feeling of malice or hatred against them, to a point that almost all the Jedi couldn't even detect from the Force any shift from any of their troops suddenly against them? The Clones killed the Jedi because they followed Order 66 just like they would follow orders to attack a Seperatist position.

Regarding the whole thing about Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, I'll play Devil's Advocate for a bit. Some years ago I posted some excerpts about this from the Revenge of the Sith novel.

Just as long as you don't talk about what's best in life.

Ugh, that's painful...

Only flyable original Fw190? Alongside a Bf109? Very nice work there.

When Catherine originally came out in Japan, I recall hearing about players complaining about the difficulty. This game is also a very different entry in the Persona franchise's world. Speaking of difficulty, I'm awaiting Dark Souls to hit on the PS3. I was a fan of its predecessor, Demon's Souls, but didn't think it would get a sequel. Well, surprise, surprise. I don't buy many console titles, but I'll pick this up.

Like the look they're going for so far. They're trying hard to reproduce the look and feel of the first flick's ship interiors. I have a bit more faith in this movie because of such faithfulness.

Can't be the Wampa. He's simply surviving all alone in the frozen world of Hoth. Surviving like any animal in the wild would do

I'm very late to this thread, but this is awesome

Even if you were old school gamer with the 8 & 16 bit days, it doesn't surprise me you didn't hear of the title. Didn't get that wide a release but I count myself lucky. - I loved the intro also. Gave that space war anime vibe like it was nobody's business The ending was short, but sweet and cool.

You do realize this is forum posting, right? This is what we do

I loved that game, bought the "Target Earth" US version after a friend of mine rented it. Friends said it was hard, but I played through it. I really did like the feel of being in a battle, especially the space ones with warships and other mecha flying around shooting and shooting at each other. I tried real hard to save NPCs (mecha or ships). Space and ground battles, base busting, and air/space-borne drops. The game had it all for a sci-fi & war "anime" feel to it. The nice part, from what I had with the US version, was that there really was no clear cut "badguys." Back in high school when this title came out, I did like the designs. Drew it all over my book covers along with tons of VF-1 Valks