TheLoneWolf

I know your frustration. It's so ironic that my least favorite game in the Ace Combat series is also the only one to feature Macross content.

For anyone who regretted buying Ace Combat Assault Horizon for the 360, you might want to think twice before trading it in to GameStop. Macross_Fanboy discovered that US gamers can indeed download the Macross skins for this game. I've confirmed this and wrote up thorough tutorial here: http://www.macrossworld.com/1648/confirmed-usa-xbox-360-gamers-can-download-macross-vf-1-skins-for-ace-combat-assault-horizon/ A huge thanks to Macross_Fanboy for being the Guinea Pig!

Sundown, good to see you again! That gallery of Rob Liefeld art was absolute gold. It's good to know that Liefeld is still around for a good laugh. But I honestly can't begrudge the man. If someone was dumb enough to pay me big bucks to draw super heroes with elephant legs and fairy feet, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Great interview, Tochiro! Lots of interesting nuggets of information behind his work process.

Never work? It's already happening, unfortunately. Whenever we buy a downloadable game off XBL, the game is locked to our console. I haven't seen anyone refuse to buy a downloadable game simply because they can't resell it, or that they can't buy it used; it's a situation that gamers have accepted. While downloadable games and physical games involve two different mediums, the concept is still the same. While I personally hope that the industry doesn't try to quash the used-game market, it's a situation that I think is inevitable. If not in the next console generation, then in the one following that.

I've also heard those rumors about next-gen consoles only playing brand new games, thereby quashing used game sales. So far, they're only rumors. But personally, I do believe that this will happen. And I think that Microsoft will be the first company to do so. Publishers have always viewed used game sales as eating into their bottom lines, but with development costs now skyrocketing, they've got good reason to be concerned. Development costs for this current generation of consoles are also very high, but publishers were able to offset some of those increased costs with an increased MSRP and a greater push on DLC content. When the next generation of consoles rolls around, I think publishers are at a loss for how they'll deal with an ever greater increased cost. Which is why I think they'll go ahead and lock out used games from their systems. The only question is whether companies will have the technological ability to do so. Coding an unique serial number or code onto each disc will be very expensive. And packing a written serial number with each game would have to contend with pirate key generators. The reason I think Microsoft will be the first company to do so is that they have a history of making controversial moves, and usually prevailing. When the original Xbox came out, MS completely eschewed dial-up networking and forced players to use broadband to play online. Critics assailed MS for limiting their players' options. At that time, every other console gave players the option to choose between dial-up and broadband. As it would turn out, players embraced broadband-only gaming because it wasn't knee-capped by dial-up restrictions. Score one for MS. When the 360 came out, its backwards compatibility for its Xbox1 titles was a complete joke because MS took a piss on nvidia and didn't want to spend too much money on software emulation. Meanwhile, the Wii and PS3 (at that time) retained full backwards compatibility. Despite what critics said, it turned out most gamers didn't care about backwards compatibility. Score another one for MS. Now MS finds itself at a crossroads as to whether they should block out used games from their next system. I have a feeling that they'll make yet another gutsy decision.

Nice work, good job on Lisa's face. On the Logans pic, I take it the red one is damaged?

Such tragic news. Thank you for all your wonderful contributions to anime, Mr. Ishiguro.

Considering that Bandai Namco's Macross PSP and Trial games have sold well in Japan, I think it's safe to say that Namco and Big West currently share a very profitable relationship. It wouldn't be in Namco's best interest to test Big West's patience. Besides, I'm pretty sure that Namco's DLC license with Big West specifically forbids Namco from cutting side-deals with third parties.

Thanks for saving me a few bucks.

I knew setting a Japanese 360 account would pay off someday. Now to find a cheap used copy of AH...

I've seen those on eBay before. Personally, I think they look really crappy. They're missing engraved panel lines, ridges, and other basic details. Honestly, it looks like someone threw Bandai's and Yamato's small gashapons into a 3D scanner and then printed out large versions of them in wood. Considering that the going rate for them is around $70 and higher on Ebay, I'd say it's a ripoff at best. At worst, it's possible piracy.

While Star Trek was initially a cult classic, it moved on to become a general science-fiction success in the 80's to mid 90's, thanks to a series of movies and TV sequels. Star Trek then became an overall success thanks to the 2009 movie. Mospeada, on the hand, hasn't moved past its status as a cult classic.

Thanks for putting this together, Tochiro! My questions would be: - How did you become involved with Macross? - Is there any particular piece of art that you're most proud of? - Do you remember what was the first robot that you ever drew?

Probably because Yamato doesn't like losing money. They saw what happened to Beagle's Ride Armor.

I don't believe that the mods have ever spelled out what type of information members can't disclose on the Blacklist. I think that's because, so far, our members have used good judgement as to what information should be disclosed here. And that information has been limited to information that's necessary to identify the alleged perpetrator online, such as a full name, mailing address, e-mail address(es), and online usernames/alias'. If you're asking if it's legal to disclose this information online, then I belive that the above information is okay. It's information that anyone can find in a public phonebook, e-Bay directory, or MW directory. Information that's considered illegal to post online are social security numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, etc. I'm inclined to agree with Berttt about nominating TSP to the Blacklist. Unless you two explicitly agreed that he would have to contact you with updates at specified intervals, or a specific deadline, then I personally don't think that two months is excessive. I've also commissioned customs from members here, and some, like Kurt, are great at touching base with their customers regularly. Another member I commissioned vanished for months at a time, but since he was a long time member, I cut him slack. In the end, the custom was completed to my satisfaction and returned to me. Commissioning customs is nothing like making a direct sale. I think some artists expect a lot of time and leeway when working on commission. In the future, definitely let the artist know what your expectations are regarding communications. Good luck on getting your situation worked out.

That would be a pretty cool accessory, but I don't see it happening. An accessory like that would primarily benefit GameStop's used PSP game sales and not Sony's online store.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/02/24/why-the-exploitation-of-gamers-is-our-own-damn-fault-2/ Here's a really well written article on today's state of DLC. The writer makes a good point as to when we can expect DLC to reach a plateau. Though, one area he neglected to mention was that DLC is a different product to different publishers. To publishing giants, like Namco Bandai and Capcom, DLC profit is the icing on the cake. But to a small publisher who gets by on a razor thin net profit, like SNK Playmore, DLC sales are a much needed shot in the arm. Especially in today's world of burgeoning development costs.

I'm pretty sure that the original MGS wasn't included because it's primitive textures would've looked crap if they were scaled up. And redoing the textures from scratch would've cost too much money and time. While MGS2 and MGS3 also feature old textures, theirs are of a good enough quality to benefit from being upscaled. A little tweaking might've been needed, but nothing too serious. And Twin Snakes wasn't included because Nintendo probably still has the rights to that one. If the Wii U ever gets a MGS Collection, you can bet that it'll be included on that one.

The problem is that the rule is hardly enforced, except in extreme situations. Rules that are inconsistently enforced are rules that are ignored.

As ridiculous as it sounds, I'd have to agree with you.

I remember those, they were definitely Toynami's most underrated toys. I had the Rook version and it had a nice sculpt, transformed easily, was very sturdy, and was sold at a low MSRP. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think these were ever reissued or given a v2 revision, which probably means that it didn't sell well.

LOL! That, or he'll be released as a Best Buy pre-order exclusive for Super Street Fighter vs Tekken Turbo, which will come out 12 months after the original.

Even if Harmony Gold's and Tatsunoko Production's rights reverted back to Big West, Macross the First still wouldn't be released in the USA. The US manga industry is in its death throes right now, the only genres that publishers are even willing to sniff are ninja, pirate, and moe manga. Not a niche license like Macross.

Thanks for the translation, Renato! I love reading production stories! On a somewhat unrelated note, I noticed that when an article gets autopublished off the main page, it gets these weird "Â" characters randomly inserted. For anyone reading, if these characters make it confusing to read, then go to MW's main page and read it off of there.