David Hingtgen

Yeah, I was ticked, I think seriously 1 more attack would have taken it down. Anyways---I feel stupid. I only just now recognized Lightning's voice actress. And I really should have figured it out pretty early on. PS--I'm in the "normal enemies are a major threat now, until you figure out exactly what paradigms you need" section of the game I think... Certain groups of enemies are tougher than most boss fights.

More heavy weapons are the least of what we need/want IMHO. Armor, PLANETS, characters, MISSIONS.

I actually like the combat so far---it's surprisingly "smart" but possibly because the options are limited. When there's multiple enemies clustered together, it's actually smart enough to auto-select "Blitz" for me---it does what I'd do often enough that I find myself just hitting "auto-battle". Of course, I suspect later on when there's a lot more options/abilites, and enemies tend to have more complicated defenses I'll need to do it manually a lot more often. Also--very, very fast. But easy so far. Only died once, against the first serious boss. (and I was being stupid by going directly against what the tutorial said in an effort to beat it quickly--almost worked)

FF13 is like if Mass Effect put all the plot in the codex. You've GOT to read the "Datalog". Or really, the Datalog seems to just be the little "current summary" they give you when you load a save. Except that, most people aren't going to stop, quit, then load at EVERY plot point to see them. So you miss out on a lot--or at least, you need to read it to make sense of what you just heard the characters discussing. It's almost like they made the plot "optional reading". All you get to actually see is the character interaction. Only a few hours in, but I still feel like "there's a good, epic story in this world--we just don't really get to see it". Quite a few FF games "throw you in the middle of it" at the start but this one takes it to an extreme, and seems to rarely explain any of it.

Why is the flower girl in that pic?

Anyways, the armed T-bird was because a general asked them to "prove it" when it comes to their oft-stated explanation that a T-bird can be war-ready in 72 hours. Well, they technically didn't make it---it's supposed to include repainting into camoflage but there wasn't time.

A330's have a lot more wingspan than a DC-10. Plus 20ft or so in length. Now, a 762 is bigger in all dimensions than a KC-135, and approaches the KC-10 in wingspan---but it will easily fit in any KC-10 space, and is still small enough that very few "accomodations" are needed to take it. An A330 is big---just check any airport that gets it--they're always restricted to just a few gates, when 762/DC-10's fit most anywhere except "narrowbody-only" spaces.

Short/funny summary I just saw of the tanker situation: (I don't think anyone here has mentioned that Northrop/EADS just withdrew) The USAF has tankers that are size A. The USAF wants to replace tankers of size A with new tankers that are size A. The infrastructure supports tanker size A. The RFP goes out for tanker size A. Boeing offers tanker size A. Airbus offers tanker size B. The govt picks tanker size B. Boeing complains that tanker size B was not what the RFP requested and therefore the process was flawed (this is correct) The govt. reissues the RFP for tanker size A. Boeing offers tanker size A. Airbus says we're taking our ball home ... it's unfair ...

Praise be to the alternate source, for he hath provided in our time of need through his emissary, Graham. (I got my hinges too) Also, inspecting them, the smooth-ended ones actually work how the knurled ones were intended to---the pins are immobile, only the "inner" hinge plastic piece rotates. The knurled ones were supposed to work like that, but they don't and the pin itself rotated--which is what stresses the ends. Interestingly, that actually means the knurling was never needed in the first place.

Actually I had already placed an order with a different group before you put up yours, sorry.

Not buying Brera's makes it much easier to afford Grace's.

Technically, FF13 is out now on the east coast. So, will FF13 be discussed here, or do we put it all in the PS3 thread, despite there'll be at least a few people who'll buy the 360 version? (unless nobody here buys the 360 version)

Hey, I blame Disney for lots of things...

Correct. They went up for ordering along with Grace's VF-27.

Escaflowne is exceedingly good, but I agree that it may be a bit much for 13-going-on-14. 16 is better I'd say. Saw the suggestion for Gundam 0080. What about 08th MS team? Much "grittier" and more violent IMHO but has little romance, if you're trying to base "appropriateness" on that aspect.

The problem is that the basic story is now inherently "tainted" by the Disney version. It SHOULD be allowed to be a dark, scary tale, but no matter what, even if they made it R---there'd be 50 million parents who'd take their 4-year-olds to it just because they think "Alice=Disney", then loudly publically complain how scary a "kid's" movie was---it'd be on every news report how you shouldn't take families to see it. Just like Jurassic Park. It was PG-13 for a reason. Dinosaurs are not inherently kid-friendly. They eat people. Messily. But parents still brought their kids because "kids love dinosaurs", then were horrified when they saw what the movie was actually about. PS---story that suffers the most from having a famous, kid-friendly movie? The Tin Woodsman. Yes, the Wizard of Oz one. Try to find the real, original stories of him. Very sad when it's all said and done.

Pry, then slide. It'll come off in one piece. The nubs holding the shoulder armor only poke out by 1mm or so. (Honestly I suspect we're going to see a lot of requests for new shoulder armor or ball joints by the end of the month...) Hint to everybody: "yanking hard" is rarely the correct procedure for a Yamato. (except the feet).

Despite generally being a Burton/Depp fan, I'm really not looking forward to the movie and probably won't even go. It really looks like "an excuse for actors to have crazy makeup and costumes and act crazy on a crazy set, with a big budget". That said, Edward Scissorhands is probably my all-time fave movie--because of the STORY, and Edward's character. Not his look or costume or the neo-retro-50's set designs. (late 80's/early 90's Burton is the best Burton)

Frontier is the 2nd-best Macross there is. Only Plus is better.

IMHO the only plane the F-35 is replacing that it is unquestionably a worthwhile "upgrade" from, is the Harrier.

Looks 'shopped.

I have an illogical dislike for the JSOW. Also--4 more Shocker squadrons? That's good.

If it's like Sonic 1, not so good. If it's like 2 or 3, awesome.

If you want to take out a bunch of modern SAM sites using HARMs, I see a few issues: 1. F-35 can't carry it internally----first day high-risk missions are where stealth is needed the most. 2. F-16's only carry 2, and aren't stealthy in the slightest. 3. Super Hornets can carry 4, but will seriously lack loiter time, which is often required for HARM deployment as the SAM sites aren't going to be active 24/7. A quick check at F-16.net on this very issue suggested F-22's at high speed and high alt, using SDB's---and that actually sounds like a good idea--I doubt even the most advanced SAM will have much success trying to shoot down something going nearly Mach 2 at 60,000ft. Question is would the USAF risk them, especially in a "first day" situation Noyhauser---I *fully* read that Post article and found it very interesting, thanks.