yellowlightman

Exactly, remember all those horrible side-scrollers on the SNES? There's always been crappy games, it's not like the games industry is going "downhill" or anything.

That's really not true, there's still a lot of games out there with really solid gameplay. The last two games I bought (Halo2 and Outrun2) had fantastic gameplay, Outrun2 is probably one of the greatest arcade games of all time. I'm not a big graphics whore, I think the most beautiful games tend to be 2D, but some games are just unplayable because of their graphics. Tried going back and playing those N64, Playstation or 3D Saturn games? It's painful going back to those games. My bigger complaint with graphics comes from games like the GTA series, where the gameply is there but the graphics blow. If the games had been designed for the GC or XBox, they wouldn't look like the ass they look like. The same can be said for a lot of PS2 games. Does it ruin the game? No, it's just frustrating to know that it could be better. Given that the video games industry is bigger than the movie industry and growing, that won't be happening anytime soon. The three-company setup in the industry right now almost guarantees there won't be a repeated Atari fiasco as well, if one company messes up, there's two more to take it's place...

We also wouldn't have gotten X, W, Turn A, SEED. Gotta sacrifice something for the greater good.

Nope, that was Ron Howard. Lucas was the executive producer and is credited with the story (but not the screenplay).

Sakaguchi is waaaay past his prime. He hasn't done anything worthwhile lately. I no longer have my Gamecube, so I might pick it up simply to play my GC games. EDIT: Whatsup with the word censoring? Are we all six years old or something?

What makes it diffrent than the 2600, INTV, and Channel F? </nitpicky_bastage> Wireless controllers out of the box, an optical disc drive, digital/optical out for surround sound, most likely support for hi-def TVs... I was nitpicking the fact that it wasn't that diffrent from everything from the 5200 and up. Which is true, really. It's more and better hardware, but the fundamental concept hasn't really changed since the Channel F introduced the concept of a fully programmable game system. The same can be said for automobiles and people, whats your point?

He created three of the most beloved movies in American cinema history. I think that's "enough."

That still doesn't explain why it's $5 for those that don't pre-pay. What if somebody doesn't have (or doesnt wnat to use) Paypal? There's no logical reason for it being more if you don't prepay.

Yes. It will. And for the record, I've heard this exact argument three times now. N64 and GameCube were both Nintendo's last system. A few people said it in the SNES days, but they were all die-hard drooling idiot Sega fanboys, so their opinion can be dismissed. Time sure does tell. I remember hearing the same argument about Sega and the Dreamcast, and how if Sega didn't succeed with that one they'd be screwed. Which was almost correct. Just in case anyoen tries to pull up a comparison between Sega and Nintendo, it's important to realize that Sega was a creator-driven company. A lot of leeway was given within Sega to release games that wouldn't sell well. Which is why the Dreamcast had tons of games that didn't fit into the mainstream taste and thusly didn't sell to well. Sega was also losing money. The Sega hardware division got axed because it was an effort to make Sega profitable. I suppose that it ensures the longevity of the company, but we'll never see another game like Shenmue or a system liek the Dreamcast, which is a real shame. Bringing it back to the Xbox and Microsoft, MS has alot of money, a considerable amount more than Sony. MS wants to break into the console market and wants to be #1, they've thrown a lot of money at the Xbox and will continue to do so until it becomes #1. I'd expect MS to announce some new company aquisitions the sooner we get to the next Xbox's release date, much as they did with Bungie and Rare before the current XBox launched.

Why would their next be the last? They've made quite good money on the GameCube. So what if they aren't selling as much as the PS2? Nintendo still manages to make a profit. Nintendo executives have gone on record numerous times saying they'll continue to make video game systems. They have the most recognizeable icons in the industry, just because theyre not #1 doesnt mean theyre going to drop out of the business.

More importantly, who's to say it won't suck? Macross games don't exactly have the best record for quality, I sure wouldn't but a system solely for Macross.

I think we should have said goodbye to Gundam after Char's Counterattack. Since then it's been pretty... pointless.

Er, what the hell? Why is it more at the door? Bad enough you're charging $25 and you don't even have the food situation figured out, c'mon man.

I think even the newer Japanese version of it have those scenes cut out. I found the pages randomly on a Shirow website... you aren't mising much.

Was the GitS 2 graphic novel supposed to be censored or uncensored? I assume uncensored, based on the fact it has a sticker on the front saying it's for 18+. Haven't had a chance to look yet. There were a couple different versions of GiTS2 from what I remember, I don't think we ever got the completely uncensored version. The original version had a couple scenes of very graphic sex that Shirow cut out. Far more graphic than the stuff cut out from the original GiTS, we're talking hardcore porno kind of graphic.

Either way, I'd preffer not to see a monopoly on the gaming market. Especialy not by Microsoft. I don't want a monopoly either, but as it is the market is really unbalanced in Sony's favor. Nothing like having multi-platform games that look like ass just so they can run on the PS2.

You mean the Silver State Classic? I've heard CBS is going to (or already has begun) to show F1 again, which is nice. Maybe put it on at a decent hour and make an attempt to introduce Americans to proper racing...

Kind of like how the SNES guaranteed the N64's success, eh? Sony won't be on top forever, they might not get overthrown this generation but I suspect Microsoft (and maybe Nintendo) will take some of Sony's market share. Sony is getting fat and lazy, only a matter of time.

Last I heard it was being brought over to the States...

Don't worry about it, just wanted to provide a warning. I don't get too upset about spoilers but some people really do, just something to watch out for. What I've seen of 2nd Gig (up to episode 14 or so) definately blows away the original season. Not as much action which probably disapoints some people, but the story is really good and they've done a good job with the character development, as you said. I liked the original GiTS movie because I thought it was a really beautiful movie. Character development blew and the storyline was confusing but the designs and pacing of the movie I really enjoyed. The second one had too much CG and was way too 'red,' but it had something of a comprehensible plot, which is pretty extraordinary for an Oshii film.

My problem with the Major in SAC is that she's protrayed as too perfect; she's too good at everything and has the personality of a block of ice. The other guys in Section 9 have a lot more character, although most don't start getting fleshed out until 2nd Gig I've found. Well, as of now, in 2nd GIG, Major has her ice busted open like a barrel of monkeys. We see someone who we thought was uncrackable, cracked, and that's the real kicker lately. That's a pretty vague comment, but you might want to be careful and at least give a spoiler warning. I'm still working my way through 2nd Gig and I'm guessing I'm not alone in not wanting anything spoiled.

My problem with the Major in SAC is that she's protrayed as too perfect; she's too good at everything and has the personality of a block of ice. The other guys in Section 9 have a lot more character, although most don't start getting fleshed out until 2nd Gig I've found.

I hear you on that, it seems like Americans have a hard time accepting any racing that isn't NASCAR or NCRA drag racing, and both of those are just about the two most broing and uninteresting forms of motorsports I can think of.

Believe me, I have no great love for Microsoft. I've always been a pretty diehard Apple user, and only recently got my first windows machine (a 1/2 size Victor notebook, bought entirely on the merits of it's small size-- not it's OS). I find Microsoft to be not only lacking in creativity but also possessing absolutely no design sense. That said, I love my Xbox because it has the games I want to play. I could probably be happy for the rest of my life with just Halo2 on Live and Outrun 2. It gets way more action than my PS2, and would get more action than my Gamecube had my GC not been stolen last year.

As long as it has Halo3 and xbox live I couldn't give a poo about what it looks like, or if it's the size of a microwave oven. Used to have a serious fanboy hatred of MS and the XBox, but after getting addicted to Halo2 and XBox live, the next Xbox is the only next-gen system I'm really interested in. Sony is too full of itself and will no doubt turn out crap like they did with the PS2 simply because they're #1. Nintendo is too self-absorbed into thinking they know what gamers they want and are seemingly okay with being 3rd. Microsoft is the only company I see really caring and trying; the XBox has a lot of faults but it does a lot of things better than either of it's competitors and I think with refinements the next one should be killer.