mikeszekely

There's nothing wrong with console loyalty, if you don't buy consoles for the games. Most people that buy consoles do it so they can be cool, just like everyone else on their block. Unfortunately, this does hurt the videogame industry for those that actually do like videogames and want the best videogames the industry has to offer. Look at the PS2, everyone bit into the hype, even when it was revealed that Sony was lying about the abilities of the PS2, people still hailed it as the best of the next gen consoles. Sega saw that everyone was going to drop their Dreamcast like a bad habit, and they rolled over and died. PS2 hits the stores, no games really worth mentioning until about a year or TWO after it launches. It's still the most popular console, not because it has the best games or the best technology, but is considered the coolest console. PSX at least had better 3D hardware than the Saturn, and more texture mapping space, RAM, and 3rd party support than the N64, so even though it didn't have all the best games, even though some of it's games were better on the other systems. Even though most of the 2D games of that generation were better than the 3D games and the PSX couldn't do 2D for crap, you can still point at it and explain the merits it did have that brought it to the top. PS2 just rides the wave of brand loyalty. While the PS2 is technically the most inferior system, it still has some pretty sweet games. It'd be nice if it were a little less jaggy, and it's got some awful load times, though. Criterion's Renderware engine helps a bit, though. Some of my favorite series on the PS2 include Onimusha, Zone of the Enders, and Ace Combat. I also lean toward PS2 for racers and fighters if they're not Live enabled, and if a Megaman game is released for PS2 and Gamecube like the Anniversary Collection and Command Mission were, I get it for PS2. Gamecube... well, I got Soul Calibur for the Cube, because Link is cooler than Spawn or Heihachi. And it's got Megaman Network Transmission... as a Megaman fan, my collection wouldn't be complete without it. I love the Gameboy Player, too, because sometimes it's nice to play Megaman Zero on the big TV. Mostly it just collects dust, though. I'm not really into Nintendo's first party stuff. Xbox... rapidly becoming my system of choice. Xbox Live makes it easier to keep track of friends and set up matches online. The Xbox controller is also great for shooters (unless you're a PC elitist... then I realize that nothing works for you but a mouse and keyboard), although not so good for air combat games like Ace Combat. The hard drive also kicks bootie for sports games... no more needing to buy extra memory cards just because the new Madden takes up half of one! More games on the Xbox support Dolby Digital surround sound, which is a wonderful thing, and games that are designed specifically for Xbox instead of being developed for PS2 and ported to Xbox are often things of beauty... most notably the Dead of Alive series and Ninja Gaiden. When a game comes out on mulitple systems, I usually buy the Xbox version, especially if it's Live enabled. The Xbox doesn't get much love in Japan, though, and consequently, not enough good Japanese games, especially RPGs. All in all, I don't think the PS2 is top dog because "it's the cool system." I think careful marketing, backwards compatibility, and the PlayStation brand helped to get it out and in people's homes before the Xbox and Gamecube were even released. And while it's taken awhile, the PS2 has filled out its library with more variety than the other consoles offer. Much as I loved the Dreamcast, Sega built it as a console to compete with the N64 and the original PlayStation. They released to early and were too shortsighted, and never really stood a chance. While Xbox has gained a lot of steam, there's not enough family friendly games, and they've failed to capture the Japanese market, and thus not get enough attention from that crowd of people that gravitate less toward games like Halo or Need for Speed Underground and more toward Final Fantasy and Katamari Damacy. Nintendo, on the other hand, had definately got the attention of that crowd with games like Tales of Symphonia and Pikmin, and Nintendo's got a reputation for being kid-friendly. Unfortunately, they've also got a reputation for being too kid-friendly, and there's really not enough "mainstream" content on the Cube.

Not a big deal, since it doesn't change the ship date, but Ace Combat 5 officially went gold. For those not in the know, when a game "goes gold," it means that it's 100% complete, and the masters are shipped to the factory for pressing. I guess the masters used to be gold discs, although I understand that today the masters are usually digital tapes.

Yeah, man. Think of the shipping cost alone! Yeah, I just saw that. Actually I live 3 hr away from there, but event then I think I'd need a U-Haul to get all that mess (including 12 grand apparently) But what's this thing against console loyalty? I understand to some extent what you're saying, but it does account for something I believe. I've had about 6 Nintendo systems(not including every manifestation of Gameboy), and man have those things been durable(except the infamous NES starting rituals ). Everything from high-altitude falls to anti-brother-warheads to standing water hasn't phased my Nintendoes. I think the only cou-de-ta has been setting a GB game on top of a toaster oven and melting it alitlle. That's why I think the DS will be able to take some punishment. But I guess you're talking about the games more. I've never really had to worry about picking up a Nintendo game and not having fun with it. Most people are casual gamers if anything, right? Seeing as I have no real time for games now, GC has done me quite well with what it's offering, but of course I had to get the PS2 for Macross if nothing else. btw, Panzer, YOU WEN AT TEH INTERW3B!!! Yeah, but can a Nintendo system take a bullet like the Xbox can? Man, I wish I could still find a link to that story.

My gawd... Thanking for expressing in so many words how I have always felt about Gamestop/Funcoland/Babbages. They are so abd that they are the one store that if I could rob them blind or simply burn down each chain store I would in a heart beat. But then my friends who all worked there did rob them blind. lol I once was going to trade in a GBA X-men game by activision. The thing wasn't even played. They were going to give me $12 for it yet resell it for $45 as brand new.... F'n crooks! Well, that's your problem, guys. You have weird Gamestops. Out here, Gamestop, Best Buy, Target, EB, K-Mart... they all sell most new console games at $49.99. Wal-Mart might sell it for four cents less, KB Toys for $5 more. If your Gamestops are selling new games for more than $49.99, write to corporate and complain. I work tomorrow, I'll get the address then. Oh, and like I said, we don't have any tiny stores like Starland that sell the games for... a whole whopping $5 less. It's true that we'll still only give you $12 for that GBA game, but out here, it'd be sold used at no more than $25. Yes, that's still kind of a high mark up, but they do that so there's wiggle room for discounts and sales.

You gotta love Believe Your Justice's plot, though. If it comes out stateside, and is reviewed well, I might check it out. I'll probably import Another Century Episode, though.

Sure, the PSP's graphics are great. It doesn't change the fact that they're mostly PS2 games, and I'm not buying the same game twice. It doesn't change the fact that the PSP is going to be over-priced due to the fact that Sony wants to cram in features we don't want/don't need and don't really care to pay more for. It doesn't change the fact that to use those features, you need to buy more stuff, like Memory Sticks or UMD copies of movies you already bought once on DVD. And it sure as heck doesn't make up for the PSP's ridiculously short battery life.

SHAME ON YOU! I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE BASH NINTENDO! Sometimes you gotta call it like it is. Nintendo shot themselves in the foot with the N64 being cart based... a $50 game for PlayStation would go for $70 on the N64. Plus, perhaps living in the glory days when developers knew the money was with Nintendo's system, high licesnsing fees means it's harder to make money making Gamecube games that it is to make PS2 or Xbox games. Nintendo fans are loyal to Nintendo for one big reason... Nintendo caters to them with the Zeldas, Marios, Pikmins, etc. That's not even entirely true as Nintendo doesn't even release a good majority of it "best" titles to the states. Look how many years it took for Fire Emblem as just one example to make it over. "Console Loyalty" is a very retarded concept in itself an only retards with no understanding about economics or marketing are "console loyalist". However, Panzer's comment about a the GC having a "gay" design is rather ignorant and entirely stupid on many levels (especially if he can actually compare it to a purse). What I've said about Nintendo loyalists, the problems with using carts and propietary media, the problem with Nintendo's kid-centric image, and the problem with liscensing is all absolutely true, hence the lack of content on the Gamecube. One of the reasons Nintendo hired Reggie was to smooth over relations with 3rd party developers and to give Nintendo a more aggressive image. If many of Nintendo's "best" games, as you put it, are not making it stateside, then it's just another example of how Nintendo is shooting themselves in the foot, because the videogame market in Japan is on the decline, and most of the money to be made in the industry is in the US, which is why games like Shadow of Rome and Metal Gear Solid are developed with the American audience in mind.

I did. It's a decent game, but NOT worth $50. Especially when that same $50 will buy you MK Deception, which is a lot more fun.

I gotta give the edge to Capcom. I've always liked Fatal Fury, and Samurai Showdown almost paved the way for games like Battle Arena Toshinden and Soul Calibur, but at the same time they've always seemed kinda bland compared to the Street Fighter or Darkstalkers series. For the current crop, I haven't played Capcom vs. SNK 2, but I loved the first one on the Dreamcast. Now, I picked up SvC Chaos over the weekend, and I'm almost sorry I did. It almost plays as a checklist of why Capcom's games are better. The animations were poor, the graphics were ugly (although I did kinda like the old-school look for the Street Fighter characters), collision detection was spotty at best, and the characters were ridiculously unbalanced. Even with just 1/3rd of his health, Mr. Karate is OBSCENE. SNK Playmore should also note that, while throwing together a bare bones fighting game for the arcade is okay, you really need to beef up the single-player aspect before bringing it to the consoles... especially if you want to sell it for $50. That said, though, I do like that it's back to a one on one format, and as a huge Megaman fan, it was cool to see Zero on the Capcom roster. And online play is a wonderful thing (although I've had a hard time finding matches online, and playing someone who's really good when you're just fairly good only serves to make the spotty collision detection stand out worse). As far as the Marvel vs. Capcom series goes, I would definately LOVE to see another one of them, with online play for PS2 and Xbox, minus a few of the lame characters on both rosters (Marrow, Shuma-Gorath for Marvel; Son-Son, Tron Bonne, Servebot for Capcom) and update with more kick-ass characters (Phoenix, Havok, Mr. Sinister, or the Human Torch would be some suggestions for Marvel; Zero, Protoman, Dante, Samanosuke, Nemesis or the girl from PN03 might be some suggestions for the Capcom side). That said, though, I don't really want to compare the Marvel vs. Capcom series with Capcom vs. SNK or Street Fighter per se. One is all about being over-the-top with huge jumps, lightning speed, amazing super moves, etc, while the other is pure 2D fighting of the kind that hearkens back to my days with the original Street Fighter. Guilty Gear I don't mind comparing at all. Guilty Gear is a sack of poop. Like Marvel vs. Capcom, Guilty Gear goes for over-the-top flash. But where Marvel vs. Capcom is chock full of characters we all love, Guilty Gear is chock full of the worst, most rejected characters I've ever seen. I played the first Guilty Gear, and I hated it. I played the first Guilty Gear X, and I hated it. I let my friends talk me into GGX2 Reloaded, because I could play on Live with them, and I regret it. The only positive things I can say about it are that it does sport a rather deep fighting system, it was only $20, and while most of the characters suck beyond belief, there's something that just kicks ass about a midget with a giant sword who's ripped enough to blow his shirt off when he flexes that makes me like Clif.

While I do think that the free-roaming, take the game at your own pace and do what you want along the way gameplay was a big leap forward, am I the only one who isn't really impressed with GTA?

SHAME ON YOU! I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE BASH NINTENDO! Sometimes you gotta call it like it is. Nintendo shot themselves in the foot with the N64 being cart based... a $50 game for PlayStation would go for $70 on the N64. Plus, perhaps living in the glory days when developers knew the money was with Nintendo's system, high licesnsing fees means it's harder to make money making Gamecube games that it is to make PS2 or Xbox games. Nintendo fans are loyal to Nintendo for one big reason... Nintendo caters to them with the Zeldas, Marios, Pikmins, etc. But unfortanately, Nintendo fans aren't were the money is for 3rd party developers, so for the majority, the Gamecube isn't where the games are. Well, it's cheap enough to have as a second system if you already have a PS2 or Xbox, though. Props for that. For all of the (mostly marketing, some technical) flaws of the Gamecube and the N64, though, Nintendo owns the handheld market. I love the GBA SP, and I think the DS looks extremely promising. Just because Sony managed to become top dog in the console market after the PlayStation, they gotta realize that it's going to take a lot more than expensive all-in-wonder portables with poor battery life and little original content to unseat Nintendo in the handheld market.

Two screens. Yep, I can see how that's so freakish as to elicit comparisons to the Virtual Boy. Allowing for a touch screen and stylus as an OPTIONAL method of control, so that developers might be able to come up with some exciting and original new games... yeah, that really burns me. In all seriousness, you do know that the DS has four face buttons, two shoulder buttons, and a standard D-pad, right? And that games like Metroid Prime: Hunters have to option to play with our without the stylus? Now, when I think about how the DS allows for wireless multiplayer with just one copy of the game, plays all of my old GBA games, has interesting games like New Super Mario Bros and Feel the Magic at around the same price as current GBA software instead of just ports of the home console's games, and will only cost a $50 more than what a GBA SP cost until recently and probably half of what the PSP will go for, I think the DS is looking very interesting. Meanwhile, you can read my earlier post for why I think PSP might as well stand for Piece of poo Portable.

They have a system that plays PS2 games that you probably already own, but will have to buy again to play on the portable, which isn't really portable due the ridiculously short battery life, has little in the way of original content, that plays movies that you already own but will have to purchase again on the proprietary media, assuming that the movie ends before the battery runs out, has no protection for it's screen, plays mp3s, provided that you buy memory sticks for it and don't already have a better mp3 player like an iPod, will probably shatter the first time you accidentally drop it on the bus, and will most likely cost more than it would to buy a DS and three games for said DS. That sure sounds like a plan to get the number one spot in a market that Nintendo has all but monopolized for 18 years to me.

Hey, go easy, man. I work at a Gamestop. What's to pick on our prices for? You buy Mortal Kombat Deception from Gamestop, it's $49.99. You buy it from Wal-Mart, it's $49.94. While some places have their little local electronics stores that *MIGHT* sell them for a few dollars less, for the most part, I don't think six cents is that big a difference. And besides, Gamestop always drops prices first. We were selling Soul Calibur 2 for $20 weeks before anyone else. And not all Gamestop employees are the nerdliest of nerds. Granted, we get our share around the time we do seasonal hires, but for the most part, we don't discuss Star Wars and never do the "who would win..." thing. We talk about productive stuff, like the pros and cons of flinging cat crap off my balcony with a litter box scooper as a way to have a cat and still keep my apartment smelling fresh. As far as customers go, we do (especially on weekends, after they get their allowance) get the "Square is the greatest video game company ever simply because they made Final Fantasy VII" crowd, usually to buy the latest roleplaying or tactics game, or occasionally a Dragon Ball Z fighter. But at my store over here near Pittsburgh, PA, we also get plenty of rednecks looking for the new Cabela's Deer Hunt (did you know the new one is Live enabled? For what? Downloadable rosters updates?), fishing, or NASCAR game. But by far the bulk of our business, and EA's comes from the sports crowd that buys every EA sports game year after year. Oh, and we do get our fill of little kids. Mom's think that, because we have displays with demos in the front of th store, that we're some kind of day care or something. On Fridays evenings, we get more than our fair share of stoners, too. Sales pitch? Trust me, dude, we really don't care if you buy anything or not. They don't really pay SA's enough to care, although the store managers are mostly kiss-asses, so they might care. And trust me, we don't get comissioned. The only thing we might push is to reserve a game you're probably going to come back and buy the day it comes out at our store anyway, or to get one of those subscription/discount card deals. And again, it's not because we actually care about that stuff... believe me, if we had a choice, we wouldn't do either. But corporate thinks reserves are guaranteed sales (which, for all the cancels and no-shows, they really aren't) and that if you buy the sub with the discount card, you'll buy more used games from us (which, again, isn't true... you're not going to make special trips to Gamestop over a 10 lousy percent discount, and if you happen to be in the store, you'll either buy a used game or you won't. That little card isn't going to be the deciding factor), they force us to do it. SA's have actually lost their jobs because they didn't get enough reserves or sell enough subscriptions over a month's time. If you ever have an associate at Gamestop make a "sales pitch" at you, it's not so you'll buy something... it's either because his ass is on the line, or he wants you to hurry up and make up your mind already and get the hell out... or if they thought the kid was your son, more likely because they wanted the kid to get the hell out. We really don't like kids in our store. If you ever work on our side of the counter, you'd understand.

Yep. Supposedly, they used Protoculture cloning technology passed on from the Zentraedi to beef up the population for awhile, until cloning defects started to become too big of a problem.

I (and I may be the vast minority here) would rather not see a remake of the original Macross. Why should Studio Nue and Big West waste their time and resources to create a story that's already been created? Why should I spend money to acquire said series, when I already spent good money on the Animeigo release of the original version? Just so the creators can revist some subplot they intended to include, but never got around to? Or maybe just to have prettier animation? No thanks. The animation might not be the best ever, but SDF Macross is fine the way it is. Besides, there's plenty of other unexplored areas of the Macross universe. If Studio Nue wants to make more Macross, let it be brand new.

Eurusian Autocratic States Alliance? Seriously, I don't know. I thought ISAF was Independant States Allied Forces, and the other side was simply Eurusia or the Eurusian Air Force. David, I thought that one paint was the default Mobius/ISAF color, one paint was the Eurusian, and the third was either unrelated to both or perhaps a paint for one of the countries that made up ISAF. Did you happen to notice any other markings?

Hey, they released Robotech, didn't they? To go you one further, they tried to release the Sentinels, didn't they? HG doesn't seem much like a company concerned with quality as whoring their only franchise for 15 years.

No, see, while that'd be cool, I can't afford to pay more for the planes than the game. Some nice little ones, around 2 bucks a piece, and maybe then I could slowly buy all 50 something planes from AC5.

Actually, aside from Ace Combat 5 and Megaman X8, I'm done with PS2. And mind you, Megaman X Command Mission was the last game I'd bought for the PS2 in months. I have a perfectly good, ordinary PS2 with a nice mod-chip inside, so I couldn't give a rat's behind about the new PS2 design. If I were to spend any money on a new system, it'd be the Nintendo DS, but even then, I'll probably wait and see how it's doing in the spring. Now Xbox... I've bought the entire ESPN 2K5 line, Guilty Gear X2, SNK vs. Capcom Chaos, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, Star Wars Battlefront, X-Men Legends, and Mortal Kombat Deception since August, and a good bit of that's on Live, so look for Pharaohman if you want to play me in any of those games. Also, between now and the end of the year, I'll definately be snagging Dead or Alive Ultimate, Halo 2, and Knights of the Old Republic 2.

It has moving parts, but I shouldn't imagine that'd it have more moving parts than a GBA SP. The DS still uses cartridges. And what's wrong with your Samsung phone? I've had a Samsung phone for nearly two years now. I want to get a new phone, but only because the technology in mine is so dated now. I've never actually had any problems with it.

Forget figures of the pilots. I'd like to see them release a line of Ace Combat aircraft miniatures, along the lines of the Hot Wings series.

Are you kidding me? While Chevy and Ford seem to have the truck market cornered still, seems that for every Ford car on the road, there's three Hondas, and for every Chevy car on the road, there's three Toyotas. I personally drive a Mitsubishi, and my wife's looking to buy a Toyota Echo. My best friend drives a Toyota Matrix. While the senior citizen crown may still prefer their Buicks, Japanese I-4s are in.

No one will ever embrace it? HAH! Toyota dealerships have waiting lists 6+ months long for the Prius, and demand will likely be just as big if not greater for their new hybrid Highlander SUV. Not to mention Ford's new hybrid SUV. Change will come eventually, hybrids are merely a stop-gap method of conservation until the technology and infrastructure for alternative fuels like hydrogen are fully figured out and implemented. Not to mention that SUV's are just plain dumb. Need the space? Get a (smaller) pickup. Too many kids? Wear a condom. The SUV is a frivolous egobooster that people drive around to make them feel like theit lives are bold and exciting. The vast majority of people don't need them. By 2006, a lot of dealers will have hybrid vehicles. I think Mitsubishi is even going to have a hybrid Eclipse that's supposed to get almost as much hp as the current GTS model (206 for the hybrid, 210 for the 2004 GTS).

My ass. Where do you people think electricity comes from? You think your electrical outlet is some gateway to another dimension where electricity abounds? I'm no expert on how generators work, but I do know that most of them burn oil for fuel. I think I read in Pop Sci that if every gasoline-burning car, truck, and SUV was replaced with a totally electric car, we'd actually consume MORE oil to meet the increased demand for electricity than we would if we refined it into gasoline and burned it in the engine. Now how about we all stop blaming Bush and the Republicans for stuff that's only their fault in the minds of the extreme left?