VT 1010

I don't know what happened, but I can now access Macross World from home without a proxy! Out of curiosity and desperation, I checked this evening. I don't know how, but it's finally working again. I guess it's a Christmas miracle...

Blu-ray dead? I say BS! Blu-ray may not have been as successful as DVD, but it has certainly been successful. In two years, it's already surpassed the sale of Laserdisc in it's first ten. The player and movies are still selling quite well (Iron Man broke records, IIRC). The main problem with Blu-ray at the moment is the economy. It's kind of hard to justify $400 dollars for a PS3 when you can't pay the mortgage. I hear the studios are going to be pushing Blu-ray a lot more in 2009. There are supposed to be big plans, but we will see.

It could be your router. I have a similar problem as well (I started a thread about it a while back). I can access the site when I'm connected directly to my cable modem. I have problems, however, when I'm hooked up to my router (Linksys WRT54GS v.7) I only have this problem with Macross World. I've yet to get a new router, so I have to use a web proxy to access MW when I'm at home.

I am a hardcore Virtual Boy supporter too. I loved the Virtual Boy so much, I have three of them (Of course, only one of them works properly! There were some good games on it. I even think the launch line up was better than that of the PS2 or PS3. I still believe Virtual Boy Warioland is one of the best 2D (or could it be considered 3D ) platformers of all time. I loved the controller as well. It is easily the most underrated console/handheld of all time. BTW, am I the only one that didn't experience a lot of headaches and eye strain?

That's what pretty much what I'm saying. It's hard enough to convince J6P to buy Blu-ray. Toshiba pulling something like this doesn't help things.

I read about this months ago. It's just some fancy upscaling player. It may be an improvement over some of the cheaper upscaling players, but it's still upscaling. I don't think Toshiba wants Blu-ray to succeed. This player would only cause even more confusion to the uninformed masses, who might think, "This will make my DVDs High Definition". This was exactly one of the reasons why HD DVD lost. Too many people couldn't tell the difference between an HD DVD player and an "HD Upconverting DVD player". It seems to me that Toshiba is a sore loser. I hope this thing dies quicker than DIVX.

If you chose Linksys, be careful about which model you choose. My WRT54GS has acted rather strangely. For some odd reason, I can't seem to access Macross World at all through my router. It's the ONLY website that I can't access. I now have to use a web proxy to get on here (and it doesn't work perfectly either). I'll probably have to get a new wireless router myself, when I get the funds.

I thought I would let all of you know I posted my review of the Blu-ray in the HD media thread. Macross on Blu-ray. It's Deculture!

I just received Macross Frontier vol. 1 on Blu-ray from amazon.co.jp. Here's a quick little review: The Main Feature It's been a while since I have seen either Deculture or broadcast versions, so I can't currently compare them all to each other. I will say that it certainly seems a bit more "cinematic" than the other versions. As far as I can tell, it's primarily just the two previous editions combined into one longer episode. I'll have to watch them all again and pick out the differences later. Video This BD is certainly an improvement over the previous HD raws found on the internet. "Close Encounter" has been encoded in high-bitrate AVC. Everything looks sharp and clear. I didn't notice any banding or compression artifacts, which are so common with the raws. The color is so beautifully rendered in High Definition. Watching Macross Frontier on Blu-ray is just pure eye candy. That said, I did find some issues with the picture. I noticed some aliasing at different times throughout the episode. Certain shots showed minor jaggies here and there. It was most noticeable with thin, black, diagonal lines. There was some shimmering as well (probably due to the aliasing). The shimmering was most noticeable with certain CG shots. I don't believe it is a display issue as I'm pretty sure my HDTV can display the purely progressive 1920x1080p image. I don't have a BD drive for my PC, so I can't take screen captures (I hope to have one in a couple of months). It could be my TV or it could be a mastering error. If I had screen caps, I could rule out display or player issues, but until then, I can't say for certain. I did see some ringing as well, but that is probably due to my display (I certainly hope so anyway). My HDTV ( 2007 model 73" Mitsubishi 1080p DLP. I can't remember the exact model) unfortunately adds artificial sharpening to everything, causing some ringing (I have yet to figure out how to turn it off). One way or the other, it's quite minor and doesn't really detract from the picture. All in all the picture does look very good and it definitely looks better than the raws. Audio The sound is presented in two-channel uncompressed LPCM at 48khz (I would assume it's 16-bit). I know what many of you are thinking: "Stereo?! NNNOOOOOOOOO!!!". However, it still sounds great, despite it being 2.0 stereo. This is a well mixed soundtrack. It is very dynamic and immersive. The stereo effects are nice and not too distracting. You can focus on conversations in the background and yet still clearly hear the main character speaking in the center. The bass is nice, deep, and articulate without sounding boomy or murky. Everything is well balanced. I was quite impressed throughout. The sound is an excellent compliment to the otherwise nice video. Supplemental Material There really not much of anything here. Inside the case in addition to some adds and Nyan Nyan stickers, there is a small booklet with some text and line art. There is also a small card with a code on it and a URL (http://sp.p4you.net/macross/). I don't know enough Japanese to translate any of it though. The disc has a some still Macross adds and a Code Geass trailer. There is also commentary with (I think) Megumi Nakajima, Yuichi Nakamura, and Shoji Kawamori. If only I could understand what there saying. I'm sorry to say there no subtitles at all (English or otherwise) for the episodes and commentary. The Bottom Line I admit I'm a little biased here. Sure, there may be some issues with the video. Sure, there isn't much in the way of special features. But it's Macross in High Definition for the first time ever. Of course I'm going to recommend it. It's Deculture!

Blu-ray gets slimed this October. Ghostbusters is coming out in HD! http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Son..._Comic-Con/1931

It's certainly a possibility, but I can't say for sure.

If that's the case, then I would check your warranty. It's probably an issue with the HDTV itself. I wish I could be more helpful, but that's all I can suggest.

I'm assuming you have tried all of the inputs using different sources. If so, it's probably the display itself. Do you have a picture of the "purple splotches". If you purchased a warranty with it, I'd suggest calling for a service technician or exchanging it for a new one.

It depends on the display and the game, but yes, 720p would probably be a better choice. The refresh rate shouldn't change, so there probably isn't going to be any difference between a 720p and 1080p picture other than resolution. Most games are rendered at 720p or lower anyway. If your HDTV didn't do the scaling, then the 360 (or occasionally the PS3) would. I'd choose the progressive signal. When I got a new HDTV, the difference between 1080i and 1080p was surprisingly noticeable for me. There were fewer jaggies and a higher framerate, resulting in a clean, smooth picture. Halo 3 went from being a dull, blurry, jaggy mess to eye candy. I think the constant complaining of severe aliasing might have been from people playing in 1080i (I know I stopped when I went progressive).

EDIT: Oops! Forgot spoiler tags.

I'm a little hesitant to install custom firmware on my router. I think I'm just going to try getting a new one, when I have the spare cash. That is what's so weird about it. MW is the only site with which I have had this problem.

I just finished it! Apparently, I'm a Tarantula. That was one of the best games I have played in quite a while. It had a long and satisfying ending too. The last couple of cut scenes were lengthy, but they didn't last 90-minutes. I'll try multiplayer in the next couple of days.

If you think the there was a huge difference between the first and second act, wait till the third. And fourth adds even more variety. There have been multiple 30-minute cut scenes. I have yet to see a cut scene last 90-minutes, though I suspect one was over 30. At least a few of them allow you to save in the middle. That certainly helps along with the pause function. Many are interactive to a degree as well BTW, I thought I heard this was supposed to be close to a thirty hour game or something. I seem to be averaging about three hours per act. There can't possibly be ten acts. So far, it seems to me that many of the various previews and reviews have exaggerated some things.

I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I got a too little excited. And so the wait continues...

There's a raw out!

Maybe, we could build a fire. Sing a couple of songs, huh? Why don't we try that?

I just checked the wikipedia entry and it says:

According to my research, it has always been up to the studios whether or not they want to utilize region coding. Unlike DVD, it isn't mandatory (currently, anyway). There have been major studio releases without region coding as well.