F-ZeroOne

"You must... think... in Russian... "...?

I seem to recall that scene made more sense in the novelisation, where Leias termination is put on hold because she might still be of some use or something. Also, David Prowse, the "body" of Darth Vader, is from Bristol. He goes "Oo-aar" not "Och aye the noo"... (to be fair, I also seem to recall on one of the DVDs someone describing Prowses accent as a "Yorkshire" accent...!)

From the series that was tailor-made for those like me whose shelves bend in the middle from the weight of books piled upon them...

Probably not the same series, but there was a Predator comic story about a female scientist who somehow got "in" with a bunch of Predators and studied their ways. There was what can only be described as really hardcore Predator cos-play on her part in some scenes.

Thanks! For the record, I forget the company behind it, and I believe it was originally a UFO Catcher game prize (though I bought it from a shop). The reason its not a full body shot is that the figure has a bit of a balance problem, you can't see the counterweight I had to use on the base! (guess it leans because we all know Matusmotos characters like the booze!).

One of the worst I've read recently was a fantasy/SF mix by, I think, John Ringo. It had our hero surprised whilst nekkid and fighting off assassins with an axe, after which he made jokes about the size of his "chopper".

I never got to play 4, so I think 5 is my favourite overall but 0 has my all-time favourite Ace Combat level, where theres this massive furball taking place that you just dive right into and end virtually single-handedly because you are just that awesome. The thing about the Ace Combat combat series is that if you don't get it, you probably never will. But if you do... they bear as much resemblance to real air combat as Star Wars did to actual space flight, but they also do what what Star Wars did - they just feel right.

Mmm, interesting they're going with real world environments this time. Does this mean we might see an unlockable blue Police box as a flyable craft...?

I remember reading that the Crossbone Vanguard manga is quite well regarded and shows the possible potential of F-91. Also, F-91 gave us Cecily Fairchild. That makes up for a lot.

As Aladdin Sane states, its long been rumoured that one of new series episodes will be set in World War II. I can think of a number of reasons why a Dalek would be wearing that gear, but don't want to mention them for fear of accidentally spoiling story elements if by some miracle I turn out to be right. As to the hammer - it might be a little homage to a scene in "Remembrance of the Daleks" when Ace famously takes out a Dalek with a baseball bat... Edit - oh, sorry, Aladdin, didn't notice you'd mentioned it already...! Detail spotters may also wish to look out for the TARDIS interior in the preview - the decorators have been in...

"GERONIMO!"

The final words spoken by a certain visitor from Gallifrey on BBC TV last night. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

Or, always the first choice where Nagano is concerned, the man is nuttier than an explosion in a peanut butter factory.

"Get OUT!"...

If I remember correctly, FASA publicity claimed that the art style for the early Tech Readouts was inspired by Syd Mead, which probably explains the rather sketchy lines.

That might be a little unfair, the Alien only had to be seen mostly briefly in one movie. Farscapes major cast puppets had to be seen in most episodes of, what, a five season show? Also, character can go a long way to making even a bright green sock with ping-pong balls for eyes into a great personality...

The missile models on some of the planes specifically were. Or at least very, very close copies.

Ace Combat games get realism upgrade as now you actually can use Sidewinders against ground targets: http://defensetech.org/2009/12/14/sidewinder-ground-missile/ (of course, really early Sidewinders also had this capability - accidentally. "Heat-seeking" back then meant "Including the sunlight reflecting off your tin roof - sorry 'bout the shack, sir... ")

I always find that kind of story amusing, as one criticism often thrown at fans of mecha shows is that such series they're just designed to sell toys...

I always feel a little bit ashamed about liking the Speedbird 206 story, but it makes me smile every time. I'm not sure if this exchange, by a SR-71 crew listening in to radio chatter, was posted here before; possibly I read it on another forum: "Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed in Beech. “I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed.” Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. “Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check.” Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: “Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.” And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it - the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: “Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?” There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. “Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground.” I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: “Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.” For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A. came back with, “Roger that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.” It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed... " Full version here: http://www.fromtheinside.us/thinking/Groundspeed_Check.htm

So, who is going to sue Richard Branson first, Paramount Pictures or the US Navy? Nice to see it has proper "nose" art, though!

The British gaming magazine "Edge", which has always been the grown-up cool kid wearing the shades and who was listening to The Smiths when all the other UK gaming magazines still thought Bucks Fizz was the epitome of music, once defined a hardcore gamer as "Someone who has owned a piece of gaming hardware with the SNK logo on it - that wasn't a Neo-Geo Pocket"...

"Come get some!":

I had some trouble with that part but got them to sit right eventually. As far as I can tell from that shot, you seem to have it lined up right, so I'm not sure where the problem is... is one side, as seen from above, "crooked", i.e. not as straight as the other side?