David Hingtgen

I haven't bought a Gundam in years, but if that Unicorn Gundam actually does transform like it looks to, *and* has LED's I am so buying it. Clear parts like that are worthless if they don't actually light up----pink chrome or your basic "transparent paint over silver paint" would have looked better in that case. LED's are so common in MG/PG, and with the new itty-bitty semiconductor ones being cheaper and more popular than just a few years ago, it could have tons of them everywhere. (of course, wiring is still an issue--maybe it'll have wires throughout the skeleton, like a nervous system) Still---if it lit up, wouldn't they have shown that by now?

I believe it says "Super Mario Bros 4" (in small white letters under the main Super Mario World title). Or maybe it says Mario BROTHERS, or possibly "Bros.". I'll see if my camera can photograph a TV screen well enough tomorrow. (Assuming I find all my SNES cables to hook it up---pretty sure I know where the cartridge is)

Sorry I can't screen cap from my SNES. But I'm pretty darn sure of what I typed. JBO found Metroid 3, now I just need ones to prove Mario 4 and Zelda 3. I said intro/title screen. As in, anything shown in the first 60 secs or so. And that's not even Mario 4's title screen, that's the little demo that will end up at the title screen if you let it run. Or in Metroid, it might actually be in the opening prologue technically... Regardless, my point is the games themselves have their "true" numbers clearly shown.

Zelda 3, Mario 4, and Metroid 3 all had their actual numbers in the intro/title screen though. It's clear what they were, regardless of how they were marketed, name-wise.

If Hasbro does do a metallic Jazz like the BB Megs and Ratchet, he'll look amazing. PS--saw the metallic BB figs today. Megs looks very nice with all the silver, I just don't like the design. But metallic Ratchet looks horrible in person. Puke-yellow-green-olive. Needs to be more green. Or more neon. Just not the color he is. The regular toy is kind of a weird color, but doesn't look as bad. Question---what exact color is the 'real' Ratchet? Doesn't look like standard rescue/fire neon lime at all. Is there a more dull, olive-yellow color used by some cities that Ratchet matches?

I never had freezing, but I did have blocks/artifacting a few times. But that's because I was using the JVC player--it does that on some movies. But it'll play some discs that my Sony won't play at all. (I know of no DVD player that'll do everything perfectly) Dialogue came in and out--fine in some scenes, way too quiet in others. That's a common DVD problem, but it's usually evenly problematic--this movie was fine early, but really bad later. As if different scenes were recorded/mastered at very different levels. Also, any cool "robot weapon sound effect" seemed almost gone. Now, I certainly don't expect bass/power out of the TV speakers--but I should at least hear SOMETHING when Blackout EMP's the entire base. I distinctly remember Blackout's weapon having a very cool sound--but it wasn't simply "not as intense" at home--it was just "gone".

Ahh, the infamous "competition bars". Personally, I think everyone mis-interprets them: It's not a grading/ranking. It's merely "amount of testing done in this category". Based on the YF-22 vs YF-23, and X-32 vs X-35. Planes aren't graded A-B-C-D or "100, 90, 80 etc. They are simply tested in many ways in many categories. There's many specific tests to do, and they either pass or fail---you have to complete X number of prescribed tests, then it's over. I mean look---why would the bars move AT ALL if it was a grading system? If the second line simply measured "high alpha performance at Mach .8"--it should get the grade it does, and be done with with. But it keeps moving up--because they keep testing it under more and more conditions. The lines (all of them) keep moving up, because each plane keeps getting closer and closer to having all the required tests completed. When the bar is full, they will have finished that portion/category of the testing program as the UN Spacy requires for new planes. That scene isn't showing us the plane's relative capabilities, it's showing us that the competition is coming to an end, and that both planes are nearing the end of the testing. It's showing us that one plane may be be closer to finishing than another, or that the testing is going unevenly--which REALLY makes sense. The YF-21 has an early lead due to the YF-19 crash, and its progress is steady. The YF-19 starts out behind, but then leaps ahead---but only in certain categories. You can bet that Guld does everything by the book and never "skips ahead" but you can bet Isamu would ignore missiles for a week and just explore high-speed flight. Overall, the entire point of that scene is to show the passage of time as indicated by "testing to be completed" bars filling up--it's not a contest for CAPABILITY but a contest of getting done first. That is often the end-all-be-all of testing---being first and getting all the testing done. Doesn't matter if you were twice as good, if you took longer or didn't get that part of the test program done by the deadline. (And that IS how the JSF program was graded---being able to go 500mph faster than required isn't considered any better than going 10mph faster than required---you either did or did not meet the requirement, and proved it in testing by the deadline)

TF movie DVD audio-dialogue review: The first 30 mins or so was great. But when Prime did his little holo-explanation soon after he first appeared---things started getting weird. For much of the last half of the movie, your standard "I can't hear what they're saying" came and went with every scene---the levels were all over the place. Also, any cool weapons effect seemed almost "turned off". In the opening scene, Blackout's blue-EMP-pulse thing has a very cool, loud effect. At home---they were like silent. It also affected many of Prime's voiceovers---he'd yell, but it'd actually be quieter than his normal dialogue.

Semi-official mod statement: Try to put any news/new stuff/*Nora* comments in the new Nora-specific Sv-51 thread. This one is getting HUGE but it still needs to be open due to Graham's review still not out yet, and on-going tweaks/fixes for those who have their Ivanov. In other words--we'd like to keep this thread to "1st-release Ivanov" comments only from this point on to try to cut its growth.

I hate when sequels don't get a number if it's been more than one game system since the last. This should be Bionic Commando *2*. And let anyone under 20 wonder what happened to the first one... (Yes, Ninja Gaiden should have been NG 4)

I didn't see Isamu actually doing better than Guld in the competitions---he merely showed off. Flying upside down doesn't mean you or the plane is better, etc.

Anyone else miss the last 2 mins? Trying to determine if it's a NBC thing, or a local affiliate thing.

My headset is still sealed in its wrapper. There's really no need to talk to anyone, and 90% of what is said is just swear words anyways. Now, if AC6 really allows "squadron play" then I might need to hook it up if we have to really act in synch or something. Otherwise I plan to leave it where it is.

And people like me, who gladly spend money on video but use no-name splitters and the free cables the stereo came with to get the signal to 3 different things for audio....

I've never heard anything about accounts being "permanently locked as silver" due to simply not being gold any more. I mean, you can never play online for years, keep your tag as silver for all that time, then one day go on and be gold with no problems. But as soon as the first time you're ever gold, you have to keep using it to ever be allowed to use it again in the future? That really makes no sense.

Wha? MS can make accounts permanently silver simply for not playing? Because I downgraded to silver like 2 months ago. I don't want to have to keep buying 1 month cards every 3 months just to "keep the account active".

Quick review----so what stores delivered to MW'ers first? I need to pre-order my Nora, but I don't want to wait 2 months extra like I did for my -19...

Thing is--the whole "dialogue low" problem occurs with every TV, VCR, DVD player combo I've tried. I still blame the mixing/studio/factory. IMHO, I shouldn't have to buy extra stuff just to hear the dialogue normally. As I've said--I don't care much for audio. If people want to spend $$$$ on a receiver for multi-channel surround sound--go right ahead. But I shouldn't have to do the same to hear mono dialogue...

But then it'd be harder to have so much angst...

Never knew bitchy was in the filter...

I like it more for the "child-like wonder" at all the new gadgets to him we take for granted. All depends on how long that'll keep amusing me. But for his actual methodology of crime investigation---he keeps making me think "if Dr House was a detective".

But was it intentionally mixed so that I still haven't ever heard half the dialogue and have a hard time following it due to that? (I never saw it in the theater)

Quick Macross geeky note for those not aware: Sulu's first name is Hikaru.

Not IMHO. In both looks and acting, I think Jeri Ryan's far superior. I consistently found T'Pol to simply be bitchy, not cold/emotionless. Seven was a better Vulcan, ironically.

I've tried every option I can find--and as I said, they only ever seem to make it worse. On those few that offer a "stone-age" simple stereo 2.0 option it's a little bit "not as bad". I suspect part of it is intentional mastering---the studios want the sound effects pumped up, so that you buy it as a "audio show off" disc etc. (It also explains VHS with the same problem---Heat is probably the best example--darn near unwatchable (or unlistenable---you have to shake the walls with bass to have any chance at hearing people speak)