mikeszekely

You mean you didn't notice that when I posted a pic of the truck? That picture's so blurry, it'd be hard to notice much of anything... Yeah, I just thought it was one freakish looking cab. I mean, the cab of any good crime-fighting truck that isn't Optimus would have to be freakishly modified.

Loaded with weapons or not, a big rig just seems too big, too slow to accelerate, to difficult to brake, to likely to jackknife and tip when turning at high speeds, and too unable to get under certain overpasses to be an effective crime fighter. Unless it's Optimus. Well... yeah. But the helicopter merged with the truck.... that has to count for something... Well, not really. I grew up in the good ol' days of the 70's when big rigs were used for far more practical purposes, such as racing beer from Texas to Atlanta with help from the mighty Burt Reynolds. Or it was just a pleasant way to spend time with your monkey, like BJ and the Bear. Whoa, hold the phone here... the helicopter merges with the truck? Egads! The mind boggles at the possibilities!

Try to be fair to your GS employees, though. The situation, on our end of the counter, is this. About two years ago, there were MAJOR changes in the upper levels of the company. The current people are now idiots who lack business sense and care nothing for the company, as long as they can make their fortune before they drive it under, and the yes-men who'll do anything they say. They're the kind of people who honestly think that the way to make more money is to raise prices. The only instance where they're on the right track is that they know that repeat business is important. Unfortunately, they've no concept of customer service and what that can do for a business. Instead, they seem to think that reserves and subs are more important, because they think those will force people to come back. The sub doesn't... I've seen people come in two years later and ask what that discount card is for. Reserves don't either... I can't tell you how many people bought GT4 at Wal-Mart, then came in and cancelled their reserve at Gamestop. So anyway, you have a company that's obsessed with reserves and subs... now add to that a District Manager who knows little about business, nothing about videogames, has never actually worked in a store, but who's year-end bonus is tied to the percentage per transaction of reserves and subs the stores in his district get. What you end up with is a store full of employees who, technically, are supposed to ask every customer ALL of the following: 1.) If they want to reserve any games. 2.) If they are interested in the Game Informer subscription deal. 3.) If they have any games they'd like to trade in. If the DM observes an employee who fails to ask all three of seriously every single person who walks in the door, they can be written up. Reguardless if they do or not, some DM's (like mine) have started to create required percentages. Failure to do so will result in associates being terminated. And the original percentage (17%) was ridiculous... no one in my store has ever made a combined percentage of 17. (He later lowered it to 13%, which is still tough, but at least possible. Percentages in general are dumb... if one guy gets one reserve, and that's his only transaction for the week, he's at 100%. If another guy gets 5 reserves, but does 100 transactions, he's only got 5%, and can be fired.) So next time you're at Gamestop, remember, they're not getting any commissions or bonuses for getting you to reserve stuff or selling you that sub... they're just trying to keep their jobs. And if you're cool with some of those guys, do them the favor... if you know you're going to end up buying a game there anyway, just reserve it first.

Loaded with weapons or not, a big rig just seems too big, too slow to accelerate, to difficult to brake, to likely to jackknife and tip when turning at high speeds, and too unable to get under certain overpasses to be an effective crime fighter. Unless it's Optimus.

Learning to throw cards as weapons is something I'd imagine would be cool to do. But, checking out the excerpts from the book, it looks drier than that one macroeconomics class I took... As for X3, I'm taking a wait and see approach. Singer did an excellent job with the first two, but I'm not going to say that he's the only one that can direct and X-Men movie until others try their hands and fail. Also, Cyclops being a minor character doesn't mean that he can't be in a big scene with Jean (he was a minor character in X2, and still had a nice scene with Jean at the end). And just because the movie will take elemenst from the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix sagas, I don't expect them to be spot-on. The fact that Beast and Angel (although I liked him better as Archangel) are going to be major characters is good to hear. Hopefully, this will mean the movie will be more "X-Men" and less "Wolverine and Some X-Men."

To save trouble, we're getting a box, and as my PSP stuff comes in, it's all going in the box. God of War is one of those games that I'd probably hate if there was someone bugging me to reserve it the whole time I was playing the demo, too. In truth, though, I enjoy a solid action/platformer every so often (actually, I enjoy the best of almost every genre, but when I dislike a game, I'll tear it to pieces). And once you really start to settle into it, GoW is good just because it does everything right. You can button mash and still feel like you're doing the most awesome moves, or you can learn combos that let you do the really awesome stuff. The platforming is just right and not out of place like it is in some games. There's some sequences that involve timed button presses that really make you feel bad-ass. And most of all, you get a certain sense of morbid satisfaction when you finally get to the perch where that archer has been pegging you from, and you literally pick him up and rip him in half for it. It might not be your thing, but it's the only game that I can think of that's coming out for awhile that's good enough that I'll still be playing with my PS2 even after I have my PSP. Speaking of action platformers, to kill time until Thursday, I've "rented" Devil May Cry 3, and I've decided to go to see the Ring Two on Wednesday before work.

Walmart and Target have been undercutting their prices for quite some time now, especially during the holiday shopping season. It's not just their toys. They'll do it with a lot of stuff, figuring they might take a loss on something, but you'll probably buy more stuff while you're there. That's why used stuff is such a big part of Gamestop and EB... if they only sold new, they couldn't compete, especially with Target's habit of releasing new games for $37.77. If we (Gamestop) price match, we take a loss, and if we don't, we lose a sale.

Ah, to me, Children's Palace was where the real memories were, and Toys R' Us as always been the upstart newcomer. In any case, I didn't shop there often. They did have a nice selection, but I'm really not that into toys (I prefer Best Buy for my toys), and they really weren't priced all that competetively (aside from when they dropped the prices on GBA games... I got Sword of Mana for $10.98, and Aria of Sorrow for $14.98, brand new!). That said, though, I never buy toys at Wal-Mart. Their selection is, and always has been crap at best. Who cares if it's cheap, it's still crap. I guess I'll buy most of my toys at Target now. They at least have fair prices and a decent selection.

You know, I didn't actually care much for Shinobi, and I've been resisting buying Nightshade... but Hibana... she calls to me like a siren everytime I see the game at work...

It's a cool team message, but thematically inconsistant with the original Knight Rider. KR was always about, "One man can make a difference." TKR was more like, "One man might screw up, so six is better."

I don't know about the GS in your area, but we're expecting the first PSP games to trickle in today (17th). As for shipping ground, well, it makes sense... why pay extra to get software faster for a system that's still a week away? The games should be there by the 24th, that's all that matters to me, since I've got EIGHT of them preordered now. My time is still dragging. I wish I had just one kick-ass game that I could finish in about a week (in other words, I wish God of War cam out today instead of next week). But the good thing for me is I work on Wednesday night (set aside all my PSP stuff right after we close) and Thursday morning (buy it before we actually open the door to the public, then charge it in the back room so it's ready to go when I am).

Agree or disagree with reviewers, reviews for Red Ninja are starting to come in. Game Informer magazine gave it a 3 and a 3.5 (out of 10). I guess, if you want that "try to get through the game without being seen" or "stealth kills for everything except bosses" genre, you might be interested in this, if you're tired of Tenchu. I'm going for action, though, so I think I'll grab God of War instead.

Well to pass my 8 days, I'm watching Battlestar Galatica on my computer, AIR, Ah My Goddess, and numerous other things. I've also got BSG for my PS2 yesterday and wanna play it when I get home, but I also got a playdate with a friend of mine cause he wants to learn some of the Halo2 maps to play in a tournament, the last one he went too he got 4th place and was REALLY mad...but he took first in CS with a few of his gamer pals and got a big batch of colored balls : / wha kind of a prize is that? I don't know, but he seemed happy there. Then you mention Halo2 and you get a furious expression from his face. I don't have Battlestar Galactica. Or a Halo 2 tournament. And the Iggle Video where I live closed so they could build a drive-though pharmacy, so I can't rent anything... Damn Republic Commando for being so short!

A common misconception from the fact that movies are almost always street dated, and do always seem to come out on Tuesdays. Fact is, and I can tell you this from working at Gamestop, games come in Tuesday, Wednesday, AND Thursday, with probably 75% of it coming in on Wednesday. Games that come out on Tuesday are usually released by big American companies like EA, and just happen to ship on Monday.

He's a car. He takes it up the tail pipe of course! Graham *cries* Oh yeah? Well the VF-1A has a penis on it's head! Ooh, that would have to suck at the beach. *hot girl with revealing swimsuit approaches A* "Were you checking me out?" *A desperately trying to cover head-laser with a towel, even as it points skyward* "N-no..."

I semi-agree. I mean, the '82 Trans Am is a car that's held up amazingly well over the last 22 years, but KITT's gotta get with the times at some point. Now, that said, I don't think they should bastardize some car until they end up with a fugly red thing with no lights... Just like the Trans Am, a newer KITT should be black, and it should look stock, save for the LED in the front and a high-tech dash for the interior. I kinda think KITT would look good as a Mitsubishi 3000GT (especially if a movie staring said 3000GT as KITT meant Mitsubishi would bring back the line...) And in anyway, KITT's not gay. As far as I know (and pardon my ignorance if you happen to be from the UK), most educated British men are naturally effeminate and condescending. Personally, I blame tea time. And in any case, talking cars... especially nigh-indestructable talking cars that can drive themselves kick ass. Anyone who says KITT is gay is just jealous because their car doesn't talk. Or make that cool "Whoo whoo" when the LED lights up.

Must... be... patient... 8 and a half more days... 8 and half more days. Man, am I bored. What the hell am I supposed to do for 8 and half more days?

Usually, if Gamespot, IGN, or anywhere else says a game comes out on the 15th, that means it shipped on the 15th, to arrive in stores on the morning of the 16th. Very few games are actually what we call "street-dated," meaning that they arrive in the stores well before the release date. As for reserving Gran Turismo 4 Mobile for the PSP, you can try Gamestop. If the clerk knows what he's doing, he can take your reserve as a generic sku until a proper GT4M reserve sku is given. Just be advised that we don't expect it until September. Oh, BTW, I agree with you for the most part, about third party stuff. Mad Catz, Pelican, Hip Gear... they all make crap. But I do have to give much love for the Logitech stuff...there's a reason why it's more expensive... it's actually worth it.

One man can make a difference, and that man is you, Michael! Woo-hoo! When do I get my talking car?

No, it's not coming with a car charger, but they sell seperately for $9.99 (I won't get one anyway, since if I'm in a car, I must be driving it). I never thought about the USB thing, though, since my VAIO reads Memory Sticks (and Duo, with the adaptor). As for the case, yeah, it just holds the PSP. The games themselves will come in plastic cases like DVD boxes, only slightly smaller. I'm the kind of guy that really only plays one game at a time, so it's not pressing that I have extra games to play when I'm outside. If I was, I'd just put them, plastic boxes and all, into a backpack. The Logitech case is supposed to be protective enough to keep the PSP from being damaged if you drop it, and has a folding design that allows the PSP to be played while still in the case. Not to mention that Logitech is one of the few third party manufacturers that make really good stuff... their wireless controller for the PS2 is actually better than a Dual Shock.

You mean the DVD sets, right? Not actual production costs? Paramount likes ripping Trekkies off. Always has. Yeah, I meant the DVD sets. Something like $105 per season. Granted, there's a lot of hours of entertainment there, but I'm used to paying $30-$50 for a season of a TV show I like (which, to date, hasn't been much... South Park, Family Guy, and Knight Rider). Sucks for me, because, while not really a Trekkie, I did like TNG. But I sure as hell didn't like it THAT much.

How could you forget Wipeout Pure? Wipeout XL is still one of my all-time faves for the PSone, and the previews are paiting Pure as one of the best launch games for the PSP. I'm definately getting all of the following Wipeout Pure Ridge Racer Dynasty Warriors Untold Legends Need For Speed Underground Rivals Lumines Ape Escape Tiger Woods PGA Tour Haven't made up my mind, but I might go for Darkstalkers, too. I liked Darkstalkers 3 a lot, but I can't see paying $40 for a 2D fighting game in this day and age. Considering that it looks more like Dynasty Warriors 3 or 4, and considering that I like some of the features they've incorporated into the PSP version, and most of all because I love Dynasty Warriors mindless hack and slash gameplay (now in a portable unit!), I'm sticking with it. And as for Ac!d, I absolutely can't stand card battle games. Not Baten Kaitos, not Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and not Ac!d.

I doubt they'll make you pick them up this week. I know at Gamestop, we're in a contest with other Gamestops to sell the most extra stuff to the people who pick up their PSPs, so I know we'll be holding all the games for the customers through the 26th at least.

Not to mention that the PSP comes with most of that stuff. I'm holding out for the Logitech case.

Whatever. I rented the Season 1 DVD, but only had time to watch the first episode. I don't care what Hasselhoff went on to do, Knight Rider did and still does kick ass, and I still wish I had a talking '82 Trans Am.