David Hingtgen

The Final Countdown gets BIG points for using real F-14's. Yes, a lot of Top Gun is fake, many scenes use large radio-controlled models.

I'll say it again: Lost Odyssey looks far more FF-like than any recent FF. If they call it FF 14, nobody'd know the difference. It has Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Nobuo Uematsu. FF 13 looks better than 11 and 12 IMHO, but LO I bet will be better. If you think FF has "lost its magic"---it's because it did and it's all been put into LO now. (Of course, all this is just based on early impressions of trailers etc)

AC6--of course, and one of the themes. I'm going to be playing DOA 4 tonight online anyways, so if you see "Xenogears Id" (likely with a C6 Ayane) that's me. I always have everything muted (too many idiots out there) so don't expect to chat, sorry.

One of the writers of KOTOR wrote a "female lightside" epilogue for Revan and posted it online. In it, she stopped the Ebon Hawk from leaving. That's why I said semi-canon. It's not in the game, but "the guy who made the characters" wrote it as a follow-up. :edit: Found it, here you go--- http://www.kotorfanmedia.com/?p=937

Have you revised/finalized your method on reducing the shoulder gap? I still want to do it to mine. (Also, a lot of the pics on the YF-19 mods thread is gone, so there's not as much reference as there used to be for what you did)

KITT vs KARR on Youtube:

Ok, that definitely qualifies. (Haven't seen trailer yet, been doing other things on Live) ::edit:: watched trailer. That IS too much. He should be able to take down Vader and Sidious simultaneously with that kind of power. If anyone could stop an ISD, it'd be Revan. And Revan can't. (Though semi-canonically, Revan stopped the Ebon Hawk from lifting off) I must admit I am very fond of the reverse-hold saber. Been wanting to see that for a long time. (Asajj Ventress only ever did it for parrying with two sabers really, not as a primary single-saber style)

With E3 going on and lots of new downloads, I figure there's a lot more people on Live than normal. I used one of my "1 month of Gold free" cards and so can play online for little while. Anyone want to try to schedule a MW XBL meeting? DOA 4?

Yeah, we all knew there'd be a "super weapon"---but I wasn't expecting it to be revealed in the demo. Also---don't forget to get the separate trailer download too. Mostly CG, but it's probably the most "epic-feeling" game trailer in a long time. Music is flat-out "heroic".

Yoda lifted an X-Wing, and stopped a 10-ton rock in mid-air. I've yet to see a game even meet those, much less surpass it.

Went to Target today, nada. Our Target is pretty "strict" about new stuff the past few months---it's on the shelves when the planogram says it MUST be, and not an hour before.

I seriously doubt I'll own a PS3 before they're all emu-only, but my slim PS2 is so tiny I'll probably just leave it hooked up. How heavy is a PS3? I currently have my slim PS2 on top of my DVD player, but I doubt my player will like a PS3 on top of it.

FYI, there are several gamer pics and themes up to download. There's no previews at xbox.com (not even listed), so you can only go by the tiny pics on Live. I downloaded theme #3, and the blade backgrounds are Su-33, Tornado GR.4, F-15E, F-16C. The guide background is basically silver, with small embossed squadron badges tiled across.

I want the new LED-backlit ones. That's what I'm waiting for. Whoever brings it out first in a size UNDER 37in gets my money. (My main movie/gaming TV sits about 4 feet from my eyes (I've measured), so most are WAY too big----but the smaller sizes always seem to be a year behind, tech-wise) I could move the TV back a foot or so to accomodate a bit bigger screen, but even 32in is pushing it---you run into "too wide for your field of view" issues, as well as "lighting evenness left-right". I'm BIG on "screen being evenly lit" from top to bottom and left to right---it's where a lot of even high-end LCD's fail miserably. I actually like the look of plasma better, but there are absolutely none under 42in---what's the reason?

You gotta admit how Nintendo integrated the Wiimote and nunchak into the zapper is nothing short of brilliant.

With most of the big announcements from E3 (presumably made) I have even less of a need for a PS3 or Wii than before. 95% of the PS3 games are coming to 360, and the Wii is still impossible to find, and there's only 1 exclusive I really want--Super Paper Mario. (Metroid Prime 3 is nice, but I'm not spending $250 to play it) I plan on buying the GC version of Zelda:Twilight soon. Every game I really want for the rest of the year is either 360 exclusive, or PS3+360. Not buying another system (or two) this year might allow me to get an HDTV.

Got the demo, it's clearly for 16:9 HD. Can barely read the HUD. Sure hope there's other options in the full version. Anyways, for what is there: Awe-inspiring. There are dozens and dozens of planes in the air. By far the biggest dogfight ever. In the demo you've got 99 AIM-9 and like 44 AIM-120. (F-16C, thought it looked like a bigmouth one, will check again) And I ran out of AMRAAMs. Zillions of planes all fighting it out over a big city on the coast. I was taking down F-4E's, Kfir's, Mirage 2000's, Su-33's, F-18F's. In the upper left corner is a "camera view" of your target, done in "green night-vision" etc. Similar situation in the upper right corner, only it's for communications---so you can actually see your wingman talking, etc. The afterburner effect is amazing, it's just perfect. White-hot/orange turbine, orange glow, purple tint around the edges. Missiles actually have rocket motors now that ignite and burn, no longer just a simple white smoke trail. Also, it is just generally amazing graphically. The first couple seconds I thought were CG, but they're in-game. Music is as "AC-ish" as always. PS---you probably want to switch "Yaw/throttle" to "reverse". It's set up backwards from all the other AC games. The triggers on a 360 controller just aren't as good as a PS2's shoulder buttons for flying, but I'd rather have yaw on the triggers. And I've spent many an hour holding down R1 for afterburner, so I want that as RB.

Gah, MS permanently (and they mean permanently) link your Windows Live ID/Passport.net account to your gamertag, even if the Live account is cancelled. So I'm swapping around email addresses and working around that to get a new Live ID and setting it up so I can get my Xenogears gamertag on THAT one, yet still retain all my IM settings etc with people. Yeesh. They really need to make a warning saying "don't try to reserve a gamertag, you can't really---just wait until you are actually trying to go online"

Went online with 360 for the first time, got some trailers and demos. I really hope AC6 has different screen options for the full version----the demo is clearly meant for 16:9 HDTV only. Can't see a thing on the HUD. But it is gorgeous, and there's SO many planes in the air simultaneously. Anyways---encountered a problem online. I simply used "David" as my gamertag when I got my 360, and there were no problems since I never took it online. I did however snag my Xenogears gamertag at Xbox.com a little while ago in preparation for going online, as well as greatly simplifying the repair process (since they then already had my name/email/serial number all linked) However----it won't merge/reconcile the accounts. Yes, I can access my Xenogears account, but it won't "accept" that "David's" accomplishments/preferences should go with it. Checking around, it seems that there is a solution: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemus...lineprofile.htm But---that costs 10 bucks, just to change the name of the account temporarily, to then never use the account again. Which I really don't want to do. I've emailed MS to see if they can just delete the account outright, which should then open up the name for the "David" account to then snag. (Assuming no one else snags it) If worse comes to worse, I'll just get a new gamertag all together, and delete my Xenogears one regardless. I fall into the apparently rare category of making an account at Xbox.com with my desired gamertag prior to actually going online with the system.

Yup, which is why its trailer is mentioned first. (Also, we know a lot more about ME than Lost Odyssey----KOTOR is one of my all-time fave games, and ME is the spiritual successor) PS---D-pad mod wasn't enough. What REALLY fixed it was gluing small plastic shims under the directions that didn't respond well. Now it works PERFECTLY. I think the shims alone probably would have worked and is a lot easier/quicker than the "sanding the ring" everyone does. PS--both the Ace Combat 6 and Blue Dragon demos are up at marketplace as of last night. Going to try downloading them today (marketplace has slowed to a crawl due to E3)

Much of the discussion centers on licensing issues with the Trans Am name. If there is to be a new Firebird, the top of the line will probably be the Formula. (Firehawk's not known well enough AFAIK, even though it is the next step above Trans Am) New GTO based on new Camaro is considered much more likely. There's little chance of two new muscle car Pontiacs, so it'll be one or the other.

All that and you didn't mention Mass Effect? For shame. Go see the trailer in high-res here: http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/games/viewer.asp...=2&shotId=2 And here's Lost Odyssey, which has quickly shot up to my 2nd-most-wanted RPG: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/viewer.asp...=2&shotId=0

There are reports that the most recent batches of PS3's make a whining sound: http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars...h-pitched-whine

I just did the 360 D-pad mod/fix. Thumbs are sore from all the tight sanding, and I had to rinse out all the sanding dust, so it'll be a little while before I can report if it worked. But I do have a useful tip: Even if you have the correct T8H bit for the screws, the bottom 2 screws are so recessed even that bit won't fit. But, I found that your standard basic 2.0mm slotted screwdriver, which is always one of the ones in that cheap "blue plastic with a clear cover" set of 6 "precision screwdrivers" fits PERFECTLY. Just put it in diagonally, and it'll just clear the center post. Worked wonderfully. It's the 2nd-smallest one if yours aren't labeled.

I've gotta ask--RichterX, did you read the instructions, or simply try transforming it yourself the first time? (I don't have one yet, but have seen many horror stories, so I'm worried/paranoid)