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F-ZeroOne

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  1. F-ZeroOne
    Clearly we have been watching different Turn-As. I was swooning over Harry Ord. Oh, nuts, I just said that out loud again didn't I?!
  2. F-ZeroOne
    Tomino first earned that title working on the series that preceded Gundam, Zambot 3. That is a really schizophrenic show, on the one hand you have typical bright 70s giant robot fun, and on the other ten year olds getting killed by spine implanted bombs. Its almost as if his staff were working on the show most the week and Tomino was sneaking in at weekends to insert mayhem. Theres some evidence to suggest that Tomino, who famously suffers from depression, had "mood swings" throughout his career. Ideon, Zeta Gundam, Dunbine and V-Gundam are really his "genocide" shows. Xabungle, ZZ Gundam, L-Gaim (up to the point I've watched it) are his "happy pills" shows. Turn-A is the point where he reaches a balance (its also, by the way, perfectly enjoyable as a science-fiction adventure in its own right and prior Gundam knowledge isn't really required. Go watch!).
  3. F-ZeroOne
    The Gundam opening was penned by Yohiyuki Tomino, who has in his time provided the lyrics to some very catchy mecha show openings (Overman King Gainer and Aura Battler Dubine among them).
  4. F-ZeroOne
    Is that a remote or a tri-corder?!
  5. F-ZeroOne
    Concept-X-6-1-2. Otherwise known as Turn-X Gundam. I've never been overly keen on the design, right up until this figure arrived. One of the slight problems with Turn-A the series is that I suspect even the animators had trouble with some of the design concepts; in this scale, in the plastic, the Turn-X is suddenly a favourite. What really gets me is how "Halo" like it is, particularly the weapons rack at the back.
  6. F-ZeroOne
    Planetes is basically Patlabor on TV in Space. That basically means you should see it as soon as humanely possible. It should be okay for a 10 year old, theres no naughty bits that I can recall but possibly some swearing. It also deals with some quite grown-up themes about human mortality which might be a bit heavy going for a youngster.
  7. F-ZeroOne
    You can dial down the sensitivity of the controls in "Realistic" under options. This makes a big difference to the "Stalling every time I think about the stick" problem.
  8. F-ZeroOne
    No, in Europe we much prefer cricket bats, the elegant weapon of a more civilised age... or was that light sabres? I totally get where you're coming from - I was introduced to Hammer Horror films at quite a young age and first watched "Aliens" when I was several years under the British Board of Film Certification rating, but its always wise to be a little careful, people always have different levels of what they find acceptable.
  9. F-ZeroOne
    You don't mention how old your son is; some of the series listed will be unsuitable for younger children and possibly also for younger teens as well. Turn-A Gundam is currently not available through legal sources in the West (as also some of the shows also listed above won't be), but if you can find a source its well worth tracking down. "Gundam" carries a lot of connotations for a lot of people, and the genius of Turn-A is that avoids most of them whilst also being absolutely true to the name. Other personal picks: Gundam 8th MS Team, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket: have the advantage of being essentially encapsulated stories that can be enjoyed by themselves without needing too much foreknowledge of Gundam continuity (though it helps with 0083 to understand just what lead bad guy Gato is so annoyed about). Gundam SEED: essentially a 21st Century re-run of the original Gundam series for a modern audience, Gundam SEED is a little like a brilliantly packaged Easter egg: extremely pretty to look at and nice to eat, but as soon as its finished you'll still feel a bit empty. Its good for giving new audiences a flavour of Gundam without being weighed down by 30 years of back story, but as a great many will be the first to tell you - its the New Coke of Gundam. Martian Successor Nadesico: best enjoyed after you've put yourself through Evangelion, Nadesico is sort of not quite the "Meet The Spartans" to Evangelions "300". Its much better than that analogy would imply, though. Full Metal Panic! Mecha pilots are well known for being unable to handle normal everyday situations, so when one is put into a normal everyday Japanese high school on a body guard assignment, hi-jinks ensue. Armoured Trooper VOTOMs: a mecha show for grown-ups, VOTOMs somewhat dated animation is much offset by the magnetic attraction of lead character Chirico Cuvie, the Hardest Mecha Pilot of All Time. Essentially the Vietnam film of 80s mecha shows. The Vision of Escaflowne: Mecha and science fiction have often intertwined; mecha and fantasy is a less obvious mix that works astoundingly well in this well regarded series from many of the same creators of Macross Plus. Also features noses from the "ski down 'em" school of character design. Patlabor on TV: another one for the grown-ups, Patlabor is best short-hand described as Hill Street Blues in Japan with Giant Robots. Relies less on the flash-bang-pyrotechnics and more on clever, quiet wit, excellent writing and one of the best conceived cast of characters ever.
  10. F-ZeroOne
    I wasn't old enough to remember much about it, but we bought a relative a Kodak disc camera once. Anyone remember those? (the frames were stored on a disc instead of a film roll; to this day I'm still not entirely sure what the point was... ).
  11. F-ZeroOne
    Ah, found a cure on-line to the "goes into spin if you even so much as breathe at the stick" problem - turn the sensitivity of the aerilons and elevators right down. You'll find "realistic" much less of an exercise in masochism that way. Another undocumented feature in realistic mode is that it appears you can stop your engine by applying too much emergency power for too long. This is realistic, it just would have been nice to have been told...!
  12. F-ZeroOne
    Yes, cigarettes are "fags" in the UK; its also a slightly out-of-date term for a junior who does dogsbody work for a senior, usually in a school environment. This is why visitors to the UK should make very clear what they are asking for.
  13. F-ZeroOne
    I've had a chance to play the game a bit; initial observations: Controls in realistic seem a touch twitchy; if a real Spitfire stalled as much as that the Luftwaffe would probably just have needed to buzz an airfield and watch an entire RAF squadron spin into the ground. Mind you, I'm not a real Spitfire pilot, so who knows, but from the many accounts I've read of people who were, "tendency to drop nose at slightest provocation" doesn't appear to be one of its features. Strict historical accuracy takes an early beating; its possible Hurricanes strafed German destroyers during the Battle of Britain but I doubt they dropped bombs on them. Also, 12 gun Hurricanes in 1940? Hmm... I wish certain aspects were selectable rather than limited to one reality setting or the other; I would much prefer the "Realistic" damage setting in Arcade, for example. Having said that, the game does a great job of making you feel like Ace McAce of the RAFs McAce squadron as you plunge through a flight of He-111s and scream past a bunch of falling, flaming wings. The oil on your windshield is a beautiful touch. Only tried the bomber tutorial once, but its increased my respect for real bomber veterans tenfold, especially those who flew the real thing, in daylight, in 1940, against Me 109s.
  14. F-ZeroOne
    I don't think the landing gear has been shot off in the cover image, I think its actually missing to start with for whatever reason - the Ju-87s landing gear was fixed and non-retractable, and although the one in in the image is obviously distressed it doesn't look like the landing gear has been blown completely away.
  15. F-ZeroOne
    A "fagot" as opposed to a "happy person" is apparently a bundle of sticks or similar (or metal pieces) tied together. Its worth bearing in mind that in Britain at least, "happy person" can also refer to a type of meat-ball, something that has caused some embarrassing confusion throughout the ages.
  16. F-ZeroOne
    Curious. Whats missing from this picture? http://www.amazon.co.uk/IL-2-Sturmovik-Bir...4529&sr=8-2 The aircraft being shot down *appears* to be a Ju-87 Stuka. Except someone has nicked its landing gear... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuka The actual game cover is exactly the same as that image, at least in Europe.
  17. F-ZeroOne
    Unfortunately it seems Sunrises legal department wants to get justice.
  18. F-ZeroOne
    I see the US Navy finally found an affordable replacement for the Hornet... and those aren't explosives, its people ears detonating from those who stood too close to the Harrier...!
  19. F-ZeroOne
    "Worldwide" includes the UK as well, right? Right?! Interesting the report mentions the Gundam "franchise" - they couldn't? Could they? Wheres my 'tache...?! I need to be ready!
  20. F-ZeroOne
    I don't know how true this is, but someone once told me thats something to do with the compression DVD uses. Its noticeable that when I play a DVD, its quieter than what I might have been watching on TV before...
  21. F-ZeroOne
    I should have known you'd know better!
  22. F-ZeroOne
    Ah, I'd heard that there was a private collector somewhere who had one, but I'd always assumed it was the earlier FRS1 version - it was the radome on this one that threw me for a loop, it appears to be one of the later variants with the Blue Vixen radar. Also, David, you must be tired - otherwise you'd have remembered the Indian Navys Sea Harriers...
  23. F-ZeroOne
    Tell me about it. I had Samba de Amigo for the Dreamcast, with the maracas and everything. I sold it them for a lot less than they go for now...
  24. F-ZeroOne
    Where the heck did that Sea Harrier come from?! I didn't think there any left in FAA service, and the only Harriers the UK used were ground attack types without a radar...?
  25. F-ZeroOne
    I had one of the original Rio 500 MP3 players. It could hold about an albums worth of tracks and I never actually got it to work until just before I got rid of it, when a patch came out. I also had a DVD/LD combo player, which seemed like a good idea at the time. I still have half of Kimagure Orange Road on LD and the other half on VHS... Regards the Amiga (and the Atari ST), I'm not sure I'd say they went "nowhere", exactly. I always got the impression that the 16-bit computers were much more popular here in Europe, whereas the US tended to be more focussed on consoles like the NES at the time. The Amiga and ST are regarded with some of the same fondness here that the NES is... Edit: sorry, re-reading the original post I see that you mention the Amiga 500 specifically rather than Amigas generally...
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