JsARCLIGHT

It's good news for me as well because now someone will rip the radio stations from the PS2 disc and I'll be able to complete my collection of GTA radio MP3's.

I guess I heard wrong... someone told me Rockstar claimed it was PSP only and was not going to release it on PS2.

From what I have seen it is going to be for the PS3, XBOX 360 and PC only. It's probably going to be a "forced upgrade" title, meaning people are probably going to buy PS3's, XBOX 360's and have to upgrade their PC's just to play it. Anyone else notice how Rockstar yanked the port of Vice City Stories to the PS2?

Worst thing to happen to 4 Non Blonds since DJ Miko.

Well, the original GTA took place in Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas (and subsequent titles GTA3, GTA Advance, Vice City, Vice City Stories, Liberty City and Liberty City Stories) while GTA 1 expansion packs took place in London and Grand Theft Auto 2 took place outside of what people consider "GTA Canon" in a magical future city called "Anywhere". So far the only city mentioned in a GTA franchise that has not been directly shown in the GTA format (but was shown in another Rockstar game "Manhunt") is "Carcer City". All rumors I have seen claim GTA 4 is "the entire United States". But that sounds like internet fan boy wet dreams rather than an actually accomplishable game play setting.

Rumor mill has been churning that this is going to be a "different" GTA than past games, hence their decision to finally go to "4" (rather than simply putting a name behind the title, implying a "tier sequel" rather than an "advancement"). The two words most associated with all the rumors I've seen re: this game are "HD" and "Multiplayer". My guess would be a burly online mode for the main game, something like Test Drive Unlimited where players all play at the same time but can choose to "intermingle" or hermit out and play by themselves.

Oh wait those where the Matchbox joke machine boxes I sold to you... I remember now, I sold those at the same time I sold my set of these. Can't remember who bought these... hopefully he is not looking for me to beat his purchase price out of my ass for selling him those garbage toys.

Now, that's 27 days until the trailer is made public, right? The game itself is supposed to come out holidays 07 last I heard...

I had a set of those years ago... if memory serves I sold them to DA. From what I could tell the ones I had were official toys as they had the little foil Tatsunoko stickers on them. Watch out though, while those things are Mospeada they are reaaaaaaaaally low quality. Think banpresto.

As I originally said, I don't have any problems with it outside of my usual thrust against marketing in general being used as "entertainment". I work in marketing and have designed and scoped many campaigns and point of sale spreads. I guess as an insider I have a slanted look on things like this, they just don't strike me as "entertainment"... I lump them in the same group as captain midnight decoder rings and burger king xbox games, it's all to sell product. I voiced my opinion and as usual I seem to be the only one who feels this way. Rather than continue to ruin the thread I'll just wander back out.

Tool is not pretentious because they DON'T do all this crazy ninja marketing stuff. Music is about music, playing it, listening to it and enjoying it. To "market" a good album all you should have to do is play the people a snippet of the music, let them say "cool" and watch them buy it. I feel that most people are like me, all they need is to hear a few pieces of a few songs from an album and they can usually say "that's great! I'll take it!" or they'll say "hmmm... not really what I want to hear, sorry!" and they don't really need all these website games and other subversive "pre release" marketing mumbo jumbo. THAT stuff is standard SOP of big corporate music trying to sell you something before you even know what it is. The bulk of the pretentiousness I am talking about comes from the galactic success of bands. When they are small, unrecognized indie acts they have to work for their money... they have to turn good albums that sell on the strength of the music... but when some of them get so big and popular they get sucked into the music biz mentality and it becomes more about that sizzle than the steak, more about the "sell" and ramping up interest in the music than it is about the actual music.

Well, don't take this the wrong way but you must not get around. There are tons of good albums being released all the time in every genre... you just have to look for them. It's not an artist's fault if their perfectly good album is lost in a sea of crap generated by an out of control music industry... and all this zany commando advertising stuff only serves to muddle and confuse the whole "getting the album exposed" thing. Hell, the albums that I listen to the most right now where all released in the last 4 years... and this is from someone who also used to think "the last good albums came out in the '80s".

Whatever happened to just making a good album and hoping it sells on those merits? I guess if video killed the radio star in my teen years then you could say that slick multimedia marketing campaigns killed the video star today. I used to sort of like NIN back when they just where another angry rock act in the early '90s but nowadays like most of the acts that survived from that time period I find they have become too pretentious for my tastes... then again it could just be a sign of the times. Good for them for being "original" and "edgy" but I guess I must be too old for this kind of marketing to work on me... I'm not really all that interested.

Why do I find it strange that something as "important" to national defense as a Regan era SDI satellite is legal for a private party to own let alone sell in an open forum? Wouldn't that be like me prying a guidance computer out of a cruise missile or pulling the avionics package out of a F117 and trying to sell those on eBay? I know for a fact that the .gov strictly cracks down on current and former "government property" sales. I mean, you can't legally sell a carton of gov issue MRE's anywhere, but you CAN sell "Fake" civilian market ones. If uncle sam is touchy about people selling meals in bags I wonder how he feels about some yahoo selling one of their prized projects from the '80s out of his backyard? And even more confusing is if that satellite IS real, just how did this guy come into possession of it? You didn't just walk into McDonnell Douglas or even a museum and waltz out with a chunk of military hardware.

It could just be me, but doesn't this thing look BIGGER when it's in a video rather than photos? Must be that rumor that cameras add ten pounds.

This is me raising an eyebrow: This is like mini wheats with me... the kid in me is excited that there is a chance I can own a Legioss / Tread combo that is not a piece of crap. Then again the adult in me is skeptical that this will be any better than the Toynami offering. Count me as a "Wait and see".

In case folks are wondering, this is the actual verbiage of the federal law. (this is going to be long, so if you are not interested just scroll past) Translation for those who don't speak legaleze: Megatron must have the orange markings to be legal to import or sell inside the US. Anyone importing or selling this Megatron toy without federally approved orange markings is in violation of Section 4 of the Federal Energy Management Improvement Act § 1150.2, which is a federal crime. If you manage to get a Megatron in the country without the markings is big Daddy Fed going to come to your house, kick in your door and go Waco on you? Hell no. Will he confiscate your toy if he catches it in customs? Yes. As I said earlier, those who wish to "run the blockade" are better off buying from a US seller who already has the non-marked Megatrons inside the country. Let them take the risks, not you.

Ditto. I guess Glory Road finally got the green light. Give that girl an autogyro.

It may be a moot point what mode they actually package him in, if they display a "gun" on the package that is not obviously a small scale "prop" for the action figure that will prompt Customs agents to open the box looking for the "gun" that they cannot readily "see" in the package. Never underestimate the pickiness of US Customs... and at the same time don't underestimate the fear of importers of being caught. Big places like Hobby Link Japan would be facing multiple charges if they tried to ship these toys unmarked en masse into the US and got caught. We also have to wonder if the US Customs has not been "tipped off" about these toys and will be actively looking for them. I know in the past, especially during the "boom" of airsoft, US Customs was getting weekly white papers notifying them of specific "toys" to keep an eye out for and certain "features" to look for in items coming into the US. These guys are in place mostly to find the real illegal items like actual firearms, drugs, contraband and the like but they usually end up seizing things like this Megatron toy because most criminals are generally too smart to mail controlled substances through the postal system across boarders.

US DOT law specifies that the orange marking must be "permanent" and that it cannot be simply "removed". This usually means the use of orange paint or an orange plastic piece glued on or in the muzzle of the barrel. Basically this toy is getting "airsofted". All the airsoft you see with orange markings on the barrels are what you can expect for this toy. Some of them are painted, others have an orange "barrel plug" and some have an extra cylinder piece glued on the end of the barrel. Any way you shake it it will take some doing to remove or "cover up" the orange barrel markings. From what I have seen of airsoft most companies will opt for paint as it is cheapest... some glue the extra piece on the end but it is usually not the cheapest option to do. The REAL kick in the balls that I'm not reading on any of these sites is the possible inclusion of "trademarked" markings on Megatron. If he is marked with any "Walther" markings some jumpy Customs agents demand that those are removed or blocked to conform to US copyright and trademark law... same thing that happens to airsoft every now and then. Sucks to be a toy gun in the USA these days.

Just a word of caution to those ordering non-DOT approved orange tipped Megatrons from overseas, be aware that if your package is opened by customs and they don't find that orange tip they can seize your toy. Admittedly it is a one in a hundred chance but still it is a "risk" if you catch my meaning. DOT Orange marking law states that once you the consumer own the product you can legally remove that orange marking but it must be in place to sell or resell it and transfer it across state lines. It would be wiser IMHO to buy from a middle man who already has the non-DOT orange tipped Megatrons inside the US, that way you the buyer are not taking a risk on having your toy confiscated and it is the seller who has the "risk" on them.

I was going to get an Xbox 360, then I wasn't... now with all this f'ing snow in my area and frigid temps abounding for the past month out of sheer boredom I bought an Xbox 360. Been playing by myself for a few weeks but finally chucked up the cash for an online gold membership. I have yet to play an online game but here is my "gamer card" for those who want to include me in their shenanigans: I have to warn you though, I suck at almost all the games I own and I tend to cuss a lot. I only own Gears of War, Tony Hawk and Dead Rising... as well as some of the cheapie download games.

I just got back from my local Best Buy and I saw the RT:SC DVD's in the anime isle. All I can say is wow, they really know how to make packaging. I was expecting a normal DVD case with some normal "splashy" cover art but this thing comes in a cardboard slipcase with openable front, chrome foil stampings and the works. They really want this thing to leap off the shelf and into your cart. Then again the anime isle at Beast Buy looks like someone ate a bunch of neon and foil candy and then barfed it all up into a store media isle... all that garish, flashy packaging... outside of a few rare exceptions anime DVD design is like a Ringling Brother's & Barnum and Bailey Circus came into town.

[Cal Naughton Jr.] I like to imagine Solid Snake as a mischievous badger. [/Cal Naughton Jr.]

That is one thing that makes no sense to me. Why is it Yamato or other toy companies always are brought in as some kind of metering stick when folks are complaining about Toynami? It's like people talking about new Ford vehicles and someone says how they had problems with Ford vehicles in the past and they no longer wish to purchase Ford products because of their past problems they had and then all of a sudden someone just blurts out "Well, Chevy makes pieces of crap too!". Uh... ok... yeah, they do... what does that have to do with this POS Ford Truck I have in the garage? It's kind of a strange way to steer a topic, don't you think? And with that, I'll take my leave of this thread. People know me and my thoughts on this matter. Further remarks are only going to get more feathers ruffled on both sides of a simple difference of opinion.