danth

Ha! So I tried out the multiplayer last night. Starting your own game and inviting a friend is no problem, but joining a team game with a friend usually takes three attempts. Two out of three tries, one of us gets disconnected. And there's no lobby, so after any little snafu, one of us would go back to multiplayer mode all alone, and the other would get sent back to single-player campaign (and therefore has to go through two load screens to get back to multiplayer). It really makes it no fun. And, if you do successfully get into, say, team deathmatch, it only lasts for one game, because in the next game the host can (and will) change the gametype. So, my friend and I just gave up because it was not fun at all.

I finally hit that point last night around 12:30 where I was totally sucked into the game and didn't want to stop. I forced myself to put down the controller at around 3am. A big factor in the addiction, for me, was when I got to buy a nice three-piece suit and some two-toned dress shoes for Niko. It was just so pimp. Dress for success, man. Oh yeah, does anyone else here just love Brucie? He's f*cking hilarious because I've totally known guys like him.

I'd personally rather have fun than realism, but I am getting the hang of turning. It's just different than the past GTA games. Also, the disc read error hasn't happened for a while.

I got GTA4 for the 360. I've only played a few missions and now I get a "disc unreadable" error whenever I try to play. Only happens with GTA4 and no other 360 games. It's definitely the game and not my 360; this problem is all over the internet and it's happening on 360 and PS3. As for the actual gameplay: I hate driving now, it's impossible to turn. I also wish Niko wasn't such a lousy fighter.

Roadbuster! Damn, the Beagle just looks better n' better. And it comes with two Gallants! Sweet. Surprises with the Megahouse, too -- who knew the Blowsuperior stored red Lego bricks under those hatches?

I want a Hikky 1J with GBP Armor.

I love dubs when the voice acting and script are good. But they almost never are, so for me it's mostly subs. Yeah, but Nintendo is an awesome company that doesn't, er, hate its non-Japanese customers.

Exactly, that's my main concern.

Damn, I kinda want these, even though the new 1/60 should blow them away in terms of aesthetics. The old school chunky charm calls out to me.

Well, this kinda confirms some stuff we knew all along: Bandai Visual wants all of us to pay Japanese prices for anime, and doesn't want Japanese customers reverse importing discs (probably why they screw up so many US releases). This could be a good thing if we start seeing Japanese-quality discs of good shows (DYRL, Gunbuster) with English subs, even if we have to pay a bit more. But I predict the worst: Engrish subs at ungodly prices, and fewer licenses to US companies.

I was just looking at the pictures at amiami.com. I don't care if this thing is expensive. It's as perfect as any valkyrie toy is ever going to get in my opinion. I skipped on the 1/48s though (fat canopy and low-hanging arms/shoulders in fighter mode), so obviously I'm coming from a different perspective than most. But damn, the new 1/60 VF-1 is gorgeous. I must be the opposite of everyone here, because I prefer the new 1/60 over the 1/48 based on the fighter mode. Furthermore, I prefer the smaller scale. Does that make me a weirdo? Okay, so regarding the price. I think 12000 yen is fair for a fully decked-out new 1/60 VF-1 with fast packs. The problem is the import shipping. We've got to do a group buy on this thing, guys.

You know what would be a brilliant and super-easy way to please everyone regarding the nose-cone? Include two nose-cone tips. A long one and a stubbier one. I mean, it's a separate piece anyway. It might take a screwdiver to replace, or they could make it snap in and out. I'm wondering if they actually are doing this already. Think about it, the last one was removeable. How big of a step would it be to include two? Also, I swear the nosecone was longer in some previous pics. And if Yamato doesn't include a longer tip, I'm sure one of us will create one.

Dude. Genius. I'm stealing that one.

I like Scimitar, Fenris, Paladin, and Aether. I suggest: VF-25 Tempest VF-25 Zephyr VF-25 Starchild VF-25 Kirin Just for fun: VF-25 Teabagger

The more I see of the 1/60, the more it looks freaking perfect. It's just gorgeous. I love the sleek legs, the Gerwalk mode, and the proportions of the nose and canopy. Come out already, dang it! I'm glad to see news on this thing after so long. I'd hate for it to become vaporware. I normally don't get excited about expensive, non transforming toys, but the destroid looks hot. I might have to get it.

Thanks for this. I hope you can revive your blog and add this to it.

What are you hobos talking about? $600 is more than fair. Kidding, obviously. I just wanted to quote Renato's wording because I liked it so much.

Me too! Alternative models can really sell Lego sets, I think.

I always thought it was really good synth orchestra crap. Reba West ruined the Minmei stuff, but the BGM was wonderful.

I know big companies like Takara and Bandai might have pretty consistently good QC, but I don't follow Transformers or Gundams. Second-tier toymakers, who concentrate on niche toys like Mospeada or Megazone or even Macross, seem to be plagued with QC issues. Sometimes it's just "minor" stuff like looseness and parts that don't fit or that break too easily, or major problems like the ones I listed previously. My Takatoku and Gakken toys attest to the quality of old-school niche toymakers. But they either went under or left the toy business, so maybe that kinda quality is not profitable.

No, it's true, at least for all the toys I'm interested in. There is no "aside from the windshield on the CM," because that's huge. And the Megahouse and it's visors breaking or wrong parts. Or the Aoshima and Toynami Legioss. How about Yamato's shoulder problems, on the VF-0 or Garland? Yeah, Eriku can pretend it's only a Toynami thing and others can just downplay the extent of the problems, but it's pretty much industry wide, and while companies like Yamato fix the problems by the second run, any first run toy these days is likely to be problem-ridden.

Obviously the Beagle blows the competition out of the water in the looks department, but we all know this is a modern day Japanese toy and will therefore have pretty sh!tty QC and crappy materials. So I just hope it doesn't break out of the box or have wrong pieces or any other problems like that. I know it'll have loose joints and pieces that fall off, because that's par for the course, but man, if it's not broken and is correctly assembled when I get it, I'll consider myself lucky. Yeah, I'm getting pretty cynical about this stuff. But it's damn true!

Wow, sometimes sarcasm just falls flat. Jenius, that's a great idea. I'm sure someone will do it. Makes me wonder if any of the Japanese hobby mags have already done a customized Imai Legioss. There was a sweet custom Ride Armor in June 2007 Hobby Japan.

And the term hobo is cruel to the homeless. Seriously, "Mega-Studmuffin" is the only moniker that is as politically correct as it is accurate.

I never noticed how much nicer the Imai kit looked in the nose/cockpit/canard section. However, the Toynami made a lot of improvements in my opinion: bigger wings, angled tailfins, and a flush airframe (lots of gaps in the model).