mikeszekely

The whole region lockout thing is especially stupid in terms of videogames. They're priced relatively the same here and in Japan... just slightly more over there. The average American gamer isn't usually going to spend a bit more to import a game that's going to be out in English a few months later. I think the proof in that is that GBA's have no regional lockout... and you don't here companies whining that they're not making money because people are importing the Japanese versions, do you? Mostly, the games that get imported are the games that never come out here, like Macross and what not.

But see, from a retail point a view, $19.99 is the regular price, not the sale price. Rain checks are usually only given if it's a sale. And, if either are like Ames, the associates in the store really don't have any idea when something will be in. They don't know what comes in until they open the box and put it on the shelf. At Ames, I used to just tell customers when the next truck was scheduled to come in, and told them to call them, warning them that the truck might not have the item they wanted. The probelm with stores like that is they have corporate warehouses, and the merchandise is sent to the stores at corporate discretion, with little or no input from the actual stores.

One of the biggest things you have to understand is that, for everyone one person who's actually remotely knowledgeable about the products that they intend to buy, there are 10-20 idiots (or at least, this is my experience from four years at Ames and two years at Gamestop). If the customer really is always right, then tons of stores would go out of business and the whole economy would collapse. With that in mind, if you really have a problem with a store, write to corporate or simply stop going there. Complaining to the manager on duty makes you look like one of the idiots, whether you actually are or not, and nine times out of ten management will, at best, say something nice to you, get you to out of the store, then talk about what an ass your were, and at worse, tell you to your face that you're an ass. And, in the case of the original post, they should have just canceled their sale and left. Sure, they might not really have been swearing, but by refusing to leave (when, at that point, they most likely weren't going to buy whatever they wanted anyway), and even going so far as to call 911 when the LP came to remove them... that IS causing a scene. And if they were in my store, I'd have had them thrown out too. Anyway... getting back on topic... I picked Wal-Mart, just because they don't have jack in their entire electronics department. As far as Best Buy goes, I've mostly had good experiences. I've even gone so far as to compliment some employees to their managers. Yeah, I've had people ask me to buy the waranties on a lot of stuff, but at my Best Buy anyway, I tell them no once, and that's the end of it. My only real gripe is that if I go in and I want to buy something, everyone is busy, but if I go in to browse, 12 people will ask me if I need help finding anything. Wait... there was this one time... I needed a fiber optic cable for my Xbox. I'd already grabbed the high defintion pack from another store, and I just wanted the fiber optic cable. The sales guy points me to the Xbox stuff, and tries to get me to buy the Monster Cable. I'm trying to tell the guy, I already have the HD pack, I just need the fiber optic cable. Then the guy's like "The Xbox isn't in digital, you don't need that." Finally, I told him he had no clue what he was talking about, and asked him to shut the hell up and just tell me where they kept the damn fiber optic cables. That was fun.

Mods, I'm sincerly sorry if this is OT or in the wrong forum. Right now, I have two ways to watch Macross Zero. I can watch the avi files on my computer, wonderfully subbed by ANBU & AonE. I liked to do that, because I can understand what's going on. Or, I can pop the DVD into my DVD player... no subs at all with R2, or in my case, crappy subs that make little or no sense. But, the Dolby Digital on the DVDs sounds incredible on my DVD player, which I also like. What I really want to know then... is it possible to rip the DVDs, splice in new subtitles, then reburn the DVDs? If so, what do I need, where can I find it, and how do I use it?

Macross 7, like it or not, fits. The Evils that became the Protodeviln were the next step in the same project that created the Zentraedi, and keeps very much with things that are mentioned in SDF Macross. The VF-11 returns from Macross Plus, and the VF-19 and VF-22 are simply the production models of the prototypes from Macross Plus. The Macross Fleets are the evolution of the Megaroad fleets, and one of the ships (the Maizuru, if I remember right) that's the next evolution of the ARMD series. The Varauta are actually members of Megaroad-13. Getting magic powers from music, while certainly bizzare, is a way of emphasizing that there was more to Minmei than simply culture shock, and not outside of Macross continuity. Macross II, like it or not, does not fit. You might have been able to make weak excuses for it before the official sequels, but now, forget it. For starters, after 80 years, they've only been able to get up to the VF-2? Come on, we already had the VF-4, now we're moving backward. Not to mention that, after the official sequels, the VF-2 is really backward, and decidedly low-tech. Then there's the Macross. What was the point of refitting it in 2012, if they were going to spend the next 78 years letting it fall into disrepair again? Even more odd when conisdering that the military was still using the Macross as of 2040 in Macross Plus... without randomly shooting energy bolts into the air. Also, how'd it get in the middle of "Culture Park?" Last I checked, even in SDF Macross, they'd built a city around the Macross... a damn big one by Macross Plus. Finally, who the hell are the Marduk? What do they have to do with Protoculture? If the answer is "nothing," then where'd they get Zentraedi at? I try to enjoy anything Macross. I liked 7 okay, and I take II for what it's worth... an alternate universe retelling of DYRL.

Memory stick is no worse than the other half-dozen flash RAM form factors out there. Actually, I'd have to disagree on that. Memory Sticks are expensive, akwardly shaped, fragile, and relatively large. When you consider that you can get the same storage capacities from a postage stamp sized SD card, and for less money, MS loses a lot of its appeal. It was also doomed to failure simply due to being a proprietary format. I haven't found them to be any more fragile than any of the other formats. And as far as size, the regular ones are only slightly longer than a CF card, while being half the width. The newer Memory Stick Pro is half the length of the regular, and they come with the bridge to fit into regular Memory Stick slots. Personally, I wouldn't want then any smaller than that, because I really don't feel like losing them. I don't find them akwardly shaped at all, and I don't get why anyone else would. You hold it closer to the end that doesn't go into the device, then slide it in until it clicks. Push the button, and it pops right back out. What's so akward about that? As far as price, yeah, CF is the cheapest it gets. However, Memory Stick isn't really that much more, if you buy the Lexmark or Sandisk brands. I'm pretty sure that SD is more expensive. Only Sony's first party Memory Sticks are really over-priced... but then again, most Sony products are over priced. They haven't figured out that people just aren't willing to pay extra for the Sony name anymore. And as far as being proprietary... well, it is mostly Sony productst that use them, but almost all computers have built in readers for multiple formats, including Memory Stick, and so do many photo printers. Now I have a 4.0MP camera that uses Memory Stick, one desktop and a laptop that have built in Memory Stick readers, and one computer that has a removable USB Memory Stick Reader. All four of those devices read and write to the Memory Stick plenty fast enough.

Hey! I use Memory Stick!

Say what you want about Sony and the PS2, but it's pretty much a fact that the PS2's ability to play DVD movies was a huge boost to the DVD industry. At a press conference held by the Blu-Ray Disc Founders, Sony announced what everyone already knew: that the PS3 would use the Blu-Ray format. Now, I really don't care whatever special medium Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, or whoever want to use for their next-gen consoles. But where I see a problem is that Sony wants to use Blu-Ray for future home movie releases under Sony Pictures. They're hoping that the PS3 will do for Blu-Ray what the PS2 did for DVDs. Consoles come and consoles go, but the DVD format is only a few years old. Who really feels like buying a new, expensive player? What's more, it has NOT been confirmed that Blu-Ray players will play DVDs. Now sure, VHS was around for a long time, tapes were wearing, and people were ready for DVD. But who really wants to go out and buy their entire DVD collection over AGAIN on Blu-Ray? Do we really need a new format for movies? I think the 9GB on a standard dual-layer DVD is plenty for your average Hollywood movie. Even if it's not, HD-DVD is on the way, and a dual-layer HD-DVD is supposed to hold 30GB... and HD-DVD players WILL play the older DVDs.

Suppose the last song is the duet during the ending credits, is the song you seek the concert beginning with empty seats in an abandoned concert hall? Tenshi no Enogu Sung by Mari Iijima, but I also have an mp3 with the title and some name called Sakurai Tomo, it's a slightly different version, but also sung by Mari if my ears are not decieving me. The Sakurai Tomo (she's the speaking voice of Mylene, one of the Milky Dolls, and Canary Minmay) version of Tenshi no Enogu, if I'm not mistaken, is from the Macross Generations radio drama. In the Macross Universe, it's sung by Canary Minmay, a singer on the Macross 9 fleet who makes a living covering Minmay songs.

So... little boys try to get in girls' pants while plotting evil things?

Ugh. Quicktime... In any case, it goes back to what I said the first time. It's a Batman movie with a decent bat-suit, a potentially good plot with good atmosphere, and a Batmobile that looks like complete and utter ass.

This from the guy who just saw Anchorman? Me perosnally, I've always liked Trey and Matt's stuff, most especially South Park. They basically remind you not to take stuff too seriously.

Eric Bana is the new Bond. Apparently, Pierce Brosnan had it out with the producers, and he's officially out. Bana is tapped to be the new Bond, because apparently they wanted a younger, hipper Bond to compete against Spider-Man and Neo with the younger crowds. The negotiations haven't finished yet, but the producers are hopeful.

See? The action figure doesn't have man-boobs.

I saw it today, definately liked it. It definately wasn't scary at all. Signs was more tense. But it was still very enjoyable. Also, expecting a plot twist, Shyamalan still managed to pull one over on me. Oh, bonus points if you caught Shyamalan's cameo in the movie.

If you follow David's link, I'm really liking that blue and gray one on the bottom.

Aside from the man-boobs rolling over the gut. Maybe they should just get AgentOne to play Batman and be done with it.

Old news.

To address a couple of points that have been brought up... Sony doesn't license games that don't show off the graphical power of the system? Is this another Sony doesn't do 2D argument? Because last I checked, the PS2 is getting the Street Figther Anniversary Collection, SNK vs. Capcom Chaos, Metal Slug 4 & 5, Capcom All-Stars, KoF 2002/2003, Viewtiful Joe, and Viewtiful Joe 2, plus Megaman X8 is shaping up to be 2D again. The fact is, Sony has helped to open up the market incredibly since the PSone came out. Now, if you're looking for the real culprit for the declining game industry and the reason for why four out of five games suck today, blame the developers. Fact is, in Japan, the industry is in a slump... that's why there are fewer of those great Japanese games coming out, and more American, Canadian, and European games on the market. The other thing is that, because Sony and some others have helped to open the market so much, everyone wants in. Everyone and their mother are making games for the PS2, because there's money there. As for the PSP's UMD, they are in fact a great idea for portables. As previously mentioned, the disks are cheaper to produce and generally allow for more info, better sound, and better image quality that carts. The UMD is not as fragile as a CD or DVD, though, because they don't come out of those plastic cases. The fact that you might need a memory stick to save dampens it, sure, but I've heard rumors that UMDs might be re-writable. Mind, you, I'm just trying to clear up the errors. The fact of the matter is, at this point in time, I have ZERO interest in the PSP. Fact of the matter is gamers want new toys to play games on. Adding a bunch of features no one really wants (I kinda wonder where they get their marketing research taht says we do) drives up the price and lowers demand. If the PSP was simply a $150 game deck, I might consider it. But they had to throw in a movie feature I'm never gonna use, since I'm not buying my favorite movies on DVD AND UMD, mp3 playback I'm never gonna use, etc, until the price is now to be between $250 and $300... far too much for a portable system... especially since I think it was Kutaragi himself that said that the PSP isn't really intended to be a portable system. Yeah, we could tell with that battery life (it is supposed to be better for games, since the disc motor doesn't have to work constantly, but still). So, gee, I can buy a $300 handheld, buy the PSP version of Gran Turismo 4, and it won't really be portable because the of the shoddy battery life, but it's okay because I was meant to play the PSP at home with it plugged in? Yeah, right... I think I'll just buy the PSP version of Gran Turismo 4 and be done with it. As for the DS... the price is right. I like that it plays my old GBA games (I don't really play my old 8-bit Gameboy games anymore anyway), and the New Super Mario Bros (the 2D, cartoony yet classic looking game, not Super Mario 64x4), the fact that Konami announced a new Castlevania for it, and the fact that Capcom announced a new Megaman for it tell me that there will be good DS games. Wireless multi-player is certainly a plus. The dual screens and touch sensitivity might be gimmicky, but so what? It's still shaping up to be a decent handheld system.

Advance games only, as far as anyone knows. And I think it's another damn proprietary LiIon pack. Definately only GBA and DS games. No older GameBoy games. Reason is, as far as I know, the GBA has a seperate processor for older Gameboy games, and Nintendo I guess just didn't feel like cramming three processors into the DS. Oh, and yeah... lithium ion battery.

While you're waiting for Ace Combat 5, do yourself a favor and just play Ace Combat 4 again. Maybe bust out the old PSone copies of Ace Combat 2 or 3. If you're really desperate, try Air Force Delta Strike (but be warned that the developers seem to be trying to go out of their way to make overly frustrating missions). But, for the love of Kawamori, stay as far away from the Lethal Skies games as possible. I made the mistake of playing the first one... and then, because IGN reviewed it pretty good, I made the mistake of playing the second one, too. And let's put it this way... it would have been more fun to sit in the hamper out on the front porch and make airplane noises.

The suit looks good, the movie looks good... but what the hell is wrong with the batmobile?

Palmtop? Uh, well, rumor on the street is that the thing is going to retail for $149.99-179.99.

New Super Mario Bros looks cool, and it's official that Konami is making a new Castlevania for it. Seeing as how it plays GBA games, if the price is right, I'll snag one. It's looking a heck of a lot better than the PSP, anyway.

I gotta second Keith on Uso's mom. I mean, her head pops off... AFTER she was crushed by a capital ship. Yeah, that, and Optimus' death makes me cry. Still. It was pretty sad when Bernie bit it in War in the Pocket, too.