Graham

I haven't owned a Nintendo since my Super Famicom back in the late 80s or early 90s. Still got the thing stuffed in the back of a closet somewhere with a whole load of cartridges . I've got so many PSX/PS2 games that it just doesn't make sense for me to consider another system. Not that I'm even planning to buy a next gen console though. Never really liked Nintendo that much. I'm not into Italian plumbers, cute dragons riding carts or little green elves Graham

Best X-Wing toy IMO would be the Kenner electronic FX X-wing from 1998. Best X-Wing collectible IMO is the Code-3 diecast X-Wing, if you have money to burn. Best X-Wing model kit IMO is the Fine Molds version. Graham

I too have never seen a single episode of Enterprise as it's never aired in HK, but I did catch a few minutes of it last time I was back in UK visiting family. It seemed really drab and boring though, so I turned off after about 10 minutes. I haven't liked any Trek since DS9. Tried a couple of episodes of Voyager, but hated it as well. Graham

That's what I do anyway, but there's very few games that get me excited enough to want to play for more than an hour at a time. I'm not a big gamer and usually only buy 3-4 games a year max. Graham

Going to see it at 6.45PM (HK time) Thursday 19th May, together with Blackaces, Neova & Valk009. Graham

I would have thought that piracy would have something to do with the high cost of games. Games publishers must lose so much money to pirates, that they have to bump up the cost in order to make a profit. I don't know about the situation in the rest of the world, but here in Hong Kong, piracy of PS2 games, PC software and DVD movies is a huge problem. Hardly anybody buys original games here, as it's so easy to buy bootleg disks for just a few bucks in virtually every part of Hong Kong. Graham

I'm gonna say none. I don't have much time for playing games these days, so I don't see the need to spend big bucks on a next gen console that's hardly going to be touched. Perhaps when my son is older and we can play games together, then I'll consider upgrading, but as my son is only 11 months old, there's still a while to wait. However, if I was going to buy one of the new consoles, it would be the PS3, mainly due to the backward compatibility with PSX and PS2 games. Graham

I buy them and pay other people to build them Graham

I think a possible reason that several test pilots were killed or injured during the testing of the YF-19 was perhaps beacuse the fly-by-wire (or is it fly-by-light) flight control software was still not perfected at that time. I'm sure by the time of the production VF-19A all the bugs would have been ironed out by Shinsei Industries, otherwise I doubt that the UN Spacy would have accepted it into service. Graham

Finally got around to trying out the game last night for about 40 minutes. Played on normal difficulty, up to level 4 where you encounter Dooku. Got tired and decided to stop there for the night. Gotta say the game is pretty easy so far. The battledroids are no challenge at all. It's pretty much just button mashing so far with little in the way of thinking or strategy required. One thing I don't like, is that the game does not seem to encourage you to try to solve problems by yourself. In fact if anything the opposite is true and you are constantly being told to 'stand here', 'press this button now' etc. Did IQ's just drop sharply while I was away? Surely today's generation of gameplayers can figure this sort of stuff out by themselves without having to be told what to do every step of the way. I'd have found the game far more intestingg had it allowed me to try to solve puzzles by myself. So far I'm not that impressed. Yes, the graphics are nice, but the gameplay is pretty unintersting so far. And I was surprised when I saw the movie footage of Grevious. Am I the only one who think he walks like a chiken, with his head bobbing back and forth like he's pecking at something? I nearly laughed out loud when I saw that. His 'Badness factor' has definitely dropped several notches after watching that. Graham

Glad this VF-0A will be getting some wing-mounted weapons as well. The poor Hasegawa VF-0 kits have been distinctly underarmed so far, compared to Hasegawa's SV-51 models. Graham

Hell, no! Graham

Cell phones are great, if like me you like to travel light and hate carrying around half a dozen different electronic gadgets at once, but do like to play a game occasionally, or listen to MP3s while travelling. My philosophy is why carry around a seperate portable game machine, a digital camera a PDA an MP3 player and a cell phone when you can have them all in one convenient package. I'm in love with my cell phone. I can play games on it, call people, listen to MP3s or the radio, use it as an organiser, take photos with it etc, etc. While it's true the phone doesn't do these applications as well as a dedicated device, the lower performance is more than made up for by the convenience, in my opinion. Anyway, I'm not a hardcore gamer and I'm quite happy with a simple game on my phone, like Tetris or Space Invaders. Although saying that, some of the phone games are pretty good, especially some of the Doom type games. If I want to play the latest and greatest games, I'll wait until I get home and play them on my PS2. The only things I like to carry with me are my wallet, my phone and a paperback novel in my back pocket. Oh, and what were we talking about again? Graham

Cool, I knew it was only a matter of time. Graham

From my experience with real sword fighting, including Foil and Sabre fencing many years ago and more recently Philippine stick fighting (Arnis) and medieval European swordsmanship, I've found that occasionally a begginer or untrained person can be more dangerous than a trained and experienced fighter due to their unpredictability. When two trained fighters fight, especially when using the same style and weapon type, each one has a good knowledge of the set attacks that the other will be using and will respond with a specific set parry and counterattack. However, a beginner will sometimes do a completly unexpected move not included in the normal repertoire of attacks which will just sail straight through the guard of the defender. I've had that happen to me more than once when facing newbs, which is why it pays to learn multiple styles and weapon types to increase your flexibility of response. Graham

Best anime series I've watched recently (within the last 3 months) would be GITS SAC 2nd GIG and Planetes (sp?). Most overated series IMO was Samurai Champloo. I know many people here liked it, but I found it just average. I've been watching more live series recently than anime. Just finished both old and new Battlestar Galactica TV series and soon to start rewatching Babylon 5 seasons 4 & 5. Graham

That's they way I'd see it. Graham

It's just a common term for an over-sized book with large pictures that is commonly placed in a living room or a sitting room to entertain guests. It's not a novel. . . it's a picture-heavy book meant to simply give you something to look at (with some light reading). Ya mean it's not like a big book with holes in the corners so you can screw in legs and turn it into a makeshift coffee table? Shucks I've been under that misapprehension for years! Graham

A bribe usually does the trick. I'll accept payment in either cash, women or beer Graham

I've always prefered realism in RPGs, especially in combat, as long as it doesn't slow the gameplay down to unacceptable levels. This is the main reason why back when I was RPGing in the mid-80s to early 90s I prefered the Runequest rules over D&D as they have features like hit locations, armour which absorbs damage and the ability to parry (block) attacks. Graham

I think Scott is a good director most of the time and occasionally subject to flashes of brilliance, when he becomes a great director. As mentioned above, he has had his fair share of flops as well as successes. Personally, there are only 4 of his movies that I like enough to buy the DVD or watch them more than once, these being: - 1) Blade Runner. 2) Alien. 3) The Duellists. 4) Blackhawk Down. Although his swords n' sandals epic Gladiator was pretty good, despite a very dodgy CGI Rome, I didn't like it enough to go out and buy the DVD. I haven't seen Heaven & Earth yet and don't intend to see it at the cinema, although I may rent it later. Although I don't normally put too much faith in reviews, I've been hearing a lot of negative feedback that this movie is far too politically correct. Graham

There are many different hobby shows in Japan each year, the most common ones being the Summer & Winter Wonder Fests, Tokyo Toy Show, Shizuoka Hobby Show & C3 (Cultural Convention of Characters). The next hobby show on the calender is the 44th annual Shizuoka Hobby Show, which takes place on 12th-15th May (14th & 15th are open to the public). IIRC, the 1/48 Low Vis was originally sold (or announced) by Yamato at the Shizuoka Hobby show. Graham

That's not entierly true. Hobby Base Retppu did a 1/72 VF-11B battroid. B-Club released 1/100 scale (IIRC) YF-19 & YF-21 battroids. And TECT released 1 1/144 scale YF-19 battroid. Graham

They are spare magazines for the gunpod. In the opening fight scene in ep # 1 of the mac Plus OVA, where the VF-11B squadron is fighting the renegade powered armor, you can see Isamu ejects the spent magazine from his gunpod and then attaches a new magazine from the shield. Graham

Is it the one where Harvey Keitel(sp?) is a Napoleonic officer hell bent on killing Keith Carradine? If so, I remember it being pretty good. Yep, that's the one. Graham