mikeszekely

I'm thinking about it. I mean, the price seems reasonable, the newer DS games like New Super Mario Bros look pretty good, confirmed titles in development like the new Castlevania should be promising, and it plays all my GBA games, so I might very well trade my SP for it. That said, though, I'm thinking I'm gonna hold off for a little bit. There's too many console games coming out right now, and I can't afford everything.

LOL, isn't that just sick??? another case of a 30 year old aircraft out burning some of the newest kids on the block... (although, the Tornado isn't really NEW, per say) ...and neither is the Hornet. In fact, if all was right and just in the world, the Hornet would be phased out as planned with the F-35B, but no larger "Super" Hornets would be replacing the F-14. Instead, the F-14 would be replaced with either the Super Tomcat, or a plane that kicks ass the way the F-14 does, like maybe a Navy variant F-23. I just ran through Ace Combat 2 last night and Ace Combat 3 today. Aside from the lack of real-world planes (including the F-14) and the inclusion of some freaky-looking fictional birds, I think the thing that turns most people off about it is the fact that it doesn't really seem to fit with 2 or 4. In those ones, it's straight up military. You have military style briefings, fly real-world military planes, and take part in a campaign against a foreign military. Ace Combat 3 is far more sci-fi... more so, if you've played the Japanese one (the "rogue AI" piloting the Aurora used to be someone named Keith... and was also the the pilot of the F-15 in "Joint Maneuvers"). You get your briefings via a computer, you fly some fictional craft against other fictional craft, in fictional settings like Geofront and Megafloat, seemingly all by yourself. It's true that AC3's soundtrack was a little dull at times, but it fit it's unique atmosphere better than Ace Combat 2's rock soundtrack. Overall, though, I'd still say it's a damn fine game. Anyway, I digress. I didn't pay enough attention during the briefings in Ace Combat 2, so I didn't catch much in the way of names. And Ace Combat 3 takes place around a lot of artificial places like Megafloat and Geofront. I did manage to pick up a few names, though: Waiapolo Mountains, Port Edwards, and Expo City. Now, if anyone can remember if any of those are in AC2 or AC4...?

I looked but couldn't find it. Link? Did find this though, very interesting and cool: <<<Unlocking new aircraft is a bit more complex than simply beating a mission and getting a new plane. Instead, the game totals up a record of how many kills you've earned with each aircraft -- once the kill meter is full, it unlocks a new plane that descends from the first plane. Racking up kills with a vanilla F-16, for instance, might unlock the improved Block 60 variant. Focusing on a particular plane you like, then, will unlock more planes like it, but at the same time, you'll have to develop skills with a wide variety of aircraft types to unlock the complete selection of 50+ planes. >>> That'll rock. Start with F-14A, then you can get the B, then the D, as you gain more experience. Which also explains the many F-16's we've seen. Hmmmn, wonder if the Super Hornet comes from the Legacy Hornet, or is considered its own line. And it also means you won't get a dozen different Flankers unless you want to spend time doing it. I think this is a great idea---if you really like a plane, you can get better versions of it. Wonder if you still have to save up money to pay for them, or buy weapons like in AFDS? That's sounds like it could be a good idea, as long as it's F-15 to F-15S/MTD, and not F-15 to F-22. I mean, I'm cool with the F-15, but I'd rather fly other planes. My favorite planes, though, are the two ATF. I'd love to see more X-planes, like the X-44, or even concepts like the VG wing F-22 and F-117 that were being considered for the Navy. David, while I understand that someone who loves real planes as much as you do would be really turned off by the fruity totally fiction designs in Ace Combat 3, it's really a shame that you couldn't have kicked back with a fictionally upgraded real-world fighter and gotten into it. I was actually dissapointed a little with Ace Combat 4, because while I liked the gorgeous visuals, real-world fighters, and more military less sci-fi story, the fact that it was half as long and filled with mostly ho-hum average missions after a game as long and with as much variety in missions as Ace Combat 3.

Yeah, I don't know... I'm probably the biggest Megaman/Rockman fan on the boards. I mean, I've been playing Megaman since it was first released on the NES. I'm trying to hunt down a PSone copy of Super Adventure Rockman, as it's pretty much the only Rockman/Megaman game I've never played (yes, I've even played Rockboard and the obscure Wonderswan Rockman games). But Rockman.EXE, aka Megaman Battle Network, is too kiddie... and I've got enough vices (I've bought Burnout 3, Demon Stone, SRS, ESPN NHL 2K5, ESPN NBA 25K, X-Men Legends, Star Wars Battlefront, Guilty Gear X2 Reloaded, Megaman X Command Mission, Pokemon Leaf Green, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, just in September). I'm not about to go buying into something like a collectable card game or anything else where I have to keep buying more packs of things like cards or battlechips, so while I'm likely to buy the next Megaman game, Battle Network or otherwise, even if it's as lame as Battle Chip Challenge, I can't say I have even a little interest in buying a PET.

Out of curiousity, David, what makes you say that Ace Combat 3 was crap? Granted, familiar planes like the Eurofighter were made less familiar, and the rest of the planes were totaly fictional... and yes, the story in the American version was a hack of the original Japanese version. But I don't recall playing Ace Combat for story... and two thirds of the planes were at least based on real aircraft. Aside from that, the gameplay is basically the same as Ace Combat 2 (or 4, or from what we can see, 5). And while Ace Combat 4 was mostly "blow stuff up until the time limit), Ace Combat 3 had some interesting missions. A couple that stand out in my mind still are the one where you chase the train, the one where you had to take out the smoke stacks so that the blimp wouldn't crash into them, the one where you take out the big virus facility, and the one where you fought the Night Raven inside Geofront. And 36 total missions! I mean, did Ace Combat 4 even break 20? I don't mean to sound like I'm knocking Ace Combat 4, because I loved it... but I liked Ace Combat 3, too. Maybe the Delphinus did look stupid. Sure, it would have been cooler to have an F-14. But to call a good game crap just because it's missing the F-14? C'mon. The only game in the series that was crap was Air Combat... and let's face it, Air Combat had nasty controls, ugly graphics, ridiculous paints, and lame missions.

We don't have any local independant chains around where I live. And I work at Gamestop. So, I know where I'm getting mine at... already have it preordered...

I mostly got it because my two best friends moved away after college, but we all have Live. Next best thing to them actually being in my living room. Ladic, I realize that with MMORPGs that you're paying for a service. I mean, they have to maintain a lot of servers, plus dish out patches and SMALL updates. But let's face it... $50 for a game you can't do jack with unless you pay their monthly fees is too much. And if you want the REAL updates, you have to buy the $30 expansion pack. And $15 a month to play a game I already paid $50 is borderline extortion, IMHO. Hell, $15 a month is more than I spend on TV. If the monthly fees were a little more reasonable, and if you got the game for free if you signed up to play (ala what Sony used to do with Everquest on the PS2), then I might think differently. But it really doesn't matter what I think... law of supply and demand. There are enough people willing to buy a game, then pay to play it, that it's profitable enough to justify that kind of business model.

You mean you are planning to miss all the time? Sorry, couldn't resist. Graham I'm actually decent with the Storm Trooper. Moreso than any other Imperial unit. The Storm Trooper is hella better than the standard Republic Trooper, although with that mini rocket launcher, I think the Super Battle Droid is my favorite. Yes yes, I've heard many a times now that the regular Rebel commando is supposed to be very good. But I never play as the Rebels. They're my absolute least favorite army.

Is it October 25th yet? Seriously, the more I see, the more I want.

Most of the earlier PS2 games were short... they wanted to hurry up and get stuff out for it, and they were focused on making the games look pretty. What you wound up with were games like ZOE, AC4, Onimusha, and the like... games that looked nice, were fun, but rather short. Ace Combat 5 is forutnately looking to be one of the biggest in the series, with a roster of planes that's rivaled only by Airforce Delta Strike (but once you weed out the early 50's fighters, and the Chinese/Israeli/Taiwanese fighters that no one's heard of, AC5 could actually have the better roster anyway. It absolutely kicks ass that the YF-23's going to be in it.

Wait a minute. You mean there's one "Story" mode where we follow the story of Blaze and his wingmates in the Wardog Squadron, and then there's another mode where we basically get to play a souped up AC4? Killer.

Close. It's Reiko Nagase, and she was the short-haired cutie in R4.

Halo on the PC must suck. Either that, or you were expecting a frag-fest game, ala Unreal. Personally, I can't stand those kind of games. I need large, open environments where I can stalk someone before I kill them, instead of just getting the biggest gun I can find and fragging the hordes around me. And anyway, there is no month fee to play games on Xbox Live. There is a $50 per year fee for the Xbox Live service, which is worth it. Much easier to find your friends and host private matches. Once you have your Xbox Live service, the games are free to play online.

Live isn't $70 then $50 a year. Live is $50 a year. The $70 package is a starter kit that gives you the headset, a game, and a year of Live. Don't get me wrong, I think it's ridiculous to pay to play a game you already paid for. I those MMORPGs are more or less robbery, given that you pay $50 for a game and then have to pay $15 a month to play it, plus another $30 for any and all expansion packs. But with Xbox Live, you're not really paying to play the game. You're paying for a service, and I think (now that games are finally coming out that I really want to play online) you get your money's worth. I mean, if it was some kind of monthly gig, I could see some complaining, but it's just a once a year thing. I buy two or three games a month, I think once a year I can buy one fewer game and renew my Live subscription.

You think driving an AT-ST is fun, try driving an AT-AT. You feel positively omnipotent, blasting mortals on the ground, blasting turrets, blasting just about everything as you slowly meander toward your goal. Occasionally, you get hit by turret fire, but seeing how little damage it does adds to your omnipotence. And you'll really get a kick out of the first time a snow speeder tries to tie you up, and you nail it as it circles around the front, watching it spin away in a firey wreck.

Argh, i don't know how to explain... I would like to know which are the VFs that have the most accurate proportion in all modes, imean those Valk in wich the proportions of the parts don't change or don't change too much from fighter to Gerwalk/Battroid, example: in battroid it have smaller wings and a bigger head that in fighter, so, its porportions are wrong from fighter to battroid. In another words if it help: The VFs in wich there is less anime magic in the trasformation porportions. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the VF-22 would be it, because almost everything folds into the inside. From the toys, I'd say the VF-11 doesn't seem to require much anime magic from fighter to Battroid, but I can't say much on Gerwalk. The VF-19 is probably the worst... in going from fighter to Battroid, limbs get bulkier, and the torso gets shorter.

Third Strike will be part of the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. Although it's out for PS2, it won't be out for Xbox until January... I suppose because they're adding more Live features. And don't forget, SNK vs. Capcom Chaos is the end of this month (September, for anyone who reads this in October and thinks they have a month of waiting).

You mean like "Legacy"? You'll be happy to know that in the final Xbox version, you can set the left stick to Turn/Move, and the right stick to strafe/look.

Have you tried the Super Battle Droid on the CIS side? It's missile launcher makes it a little easier to take out turrets, but it's blaster is just as effective as the Rebel Solider/Storm Trooper/Regular Republic Soldier.

Um, you do know that the Star Wars Trilogy is out on DVD?

Spoken like a true console lover. PC > Consoles Spoken like a true PC fanatic. I like my PC. I'm having fun downloading fan-made modules for Neverwinter Nights and playing those. But for the most part, I'd rather play on the 27" (soon to be 54" widescreen) TV with the home theater, so I went with the Xbox version. Yeah, the missions do repeat, yes, the game is monotonous... but there's something to be said for mindlessly slaughtering hordes of enemies. I mean, it worked for Dynasty Warriors.

I like the regular Storm Trooper. I'm more evil empire than righteous rebel anyway. Is anyone actually going to bother to play as the Republic or Seperatists? Oh, and is anyone playing this on Xbox Live? I will be, my gamertag's PharaohMan.

Three words, guys: Star Wars Battlefront. I am so being a Storm Trooper.

Except that 90% of the PS2's online games require broadband anyway, and even though I have a network adaptor, the only game I'd consider playing online with a PS2 is Champions of Norrath.

I got Xbox Live over the summer, after I they finally rewired my building and I got cable internet. I'd considered asking then, but there weren't a lot of Live games I was interested in. This fall, though, there's going to be a ton of Live enabled games I'm going to be playing, so I figured now's the time to see who else on the boards is on Live. My gamertag is PharaohMan (all the other good Megaman names were taken), and I'm mostly in for the fighters (DoA Ultimate, MK Deception, and SNK vs Capcom Chaos), but I'll also be doing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, Halo 2, and the entire ESPN 2K5 lineup.