Apollo Leader

The Capcom developed Federation vs. Zeon and Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam are good and even the Bandai devloped games turn out fun every once in a while (I liked Encounters in Space for example). Pictures and movies of Crossfire go all the way back to the 2005 E3 when Bandai showed what they expected the first PS3 Gundam game to look like so I had some hope that all this development time would result in a decent game for the system launch.

Happy Birthday, Xbox 360! This first year's been a lot of fun and I can't wait to see what happens for year number 2 (Halo 3, Halo 3!!!).

The much hyped Small Arms comes out on XBLA tonight.

Haven't had the chance to try the Wii out yet, but I will have to say that it looks like things are looking up for Nintendo's new system. Congratulations goes to them for marketing their new machine (even though it's significantly less powerful then either the PS3 or Xbox360) and for having the right amount of supply at launch. For now, I'm satisfied with my 360 and really only have time to dedicate to one system, but it would be nice to have a system again that I could take to more social gatherings. Most definitely would like to play the Wii incarnation of Mario Kart, especially online.

If I got the PS3 at launch or maybe one day later, Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire was on my list of games I would get. Looks like I can be crossed off that list: http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/21/metarevi...sfire/#comments

Only 400,000 PS3's for the US through the end of 2006?

I had the chance to play the MotorStorm demo at a Target here in town yesterday. I don't recall if the whole controller was opaque, but I definitely remember the plastic surrounding the Sixaxis' d-pad and it's four buttons being somewhat clear and being able to see into those parts of the controllers. This was my first time to see a PS3 in person (I also saw one on display at a nearby Wal-Mart, too). Just a few thoughts: 1) Yep this system is big! The curves and its shape do help it make look smaller. 2) The flatscreen I was playing MotorStorm was set to at least 720P. Looked very nice and sharp. 3) The controller. Even on its supporting standing, you can tell it felt a lot lighter with out the force feedback gear and it just flet flimsy. Having no rumble/force feedback deinitely gimps gameplay. Didn't have the chance to try its motion sensitivity (hard to do with it secured to a display). 4) Besides the lacking rumble and what seemed like easy crashes, the game was fun and I think it will do well. ************* As for the rest of this weekend, I noticed last night that most eBay auctions now have the PS3 finishing out at $1000. Considering that there may only be 250,000+ shipped and sold worldwide (http://nexgenwars.com/ - I'm trying to find other sources, but it looks like Sony missed their 500,000 target by 50%, meaning they were off by over 80% of the original 2 million planned ship for the November launches, ouch!), lessening demand on eBay, the whole dibacle of the launch, public apathy towards the new DVD formats, etc. I feel things are not boding well for the PS3.

I was reading our newspaper (the Omaha World Herald) from a few days ago and it mentioned how one of the largest furniture and electronics stores here in town, the Nebraska Furniture Mart, was getting just an allocation of three PS3's. Instead of having to deal with rioting masses, they decided to donate the three systems to a local charity... they could either give the systems away or raise money by putting the systems on eBay or the like. When it became clear in the last few weeks that Sony could not even come close to 400,000 systems and in light of what happened with the Xbox 360 and PS2 launches (the PS2 had 500,000 for launch), the right thing would have been to postpone the launch to March. A few years ago, the PSP saw a Japan only launch prior to Christmas of 2004 while the US and the rest of the world didn't see it until March. Though there were acts of sleazyness, inhumanity, and incompetance at all levels (the consumer, the retailers, etc.), Sony should be held accountable for procceeding with this launch when they knew the kind of things that were going to happen, well, happened. The launch of the PS3 left a bad taste in my mouth and will play heavily on me ever getting a PS3. At least Nintendo obviously knew how to do things right for launching the Wii, though I guess tonight we'll find out how much the events of Friday the 17th will repeat themselves this Sunday...

Some movie clips from some stores (a Best Buy in Ames, Iowa and the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Wal-Mart where some poor schmuck ran his face into a flag pole). Clearly, someone at these stores should have realized the chaos that was about to transpire... http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/video/10339676/index.html http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/17/violence...ing-ps3-launch/

Just on a side note, the last time a new PlayStation system came out (PS2 in October 2000), the original Macross World Forum was a little over a month away from being launched. Boy has time flown...

I still hold steadfast to the notion that Penny Arcade's Gabe and Tycho are based off of Hikaru and Roy! Penny Arcade aka "The Further Adventures of Hikaru Ichijo and Roy Focker"!

eBay PS3 auctions. Beware the auctions where people are actually selling E-MAIL addresses like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/PS3-prerelese-new_W0QQ...1QQcmdZViewItem I wonder how many people are going to be duped into spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get an e-mail address instead of the system they thought they won?

At least it was BB's, but BB's have killed in rare cases and of course could blind someone ("you'll shoot your eye out, kid!"). Earlier this year, some people were projecting that the PS3 would ost about $800 to make. They were close - $840+ price tag for manufacturing 60GB PS3. The 20GB version is like $805 to make thus Sony is losing over $300 making and selling that version. A year ago, Microsoft was losing like a $125 on each Premium 360; now they appear to be making a profit (now just about $325 to make). I predict a $50-$100 cut in both 360's by next spring.

Some poor guy here in Omaha actually broke his knee while playing Guitar Hero! http://www.guitarherobrokemyknee.com/index.cfm I bought Guitar Hero back in Septemeber, but haven't had the chance to play it yet and it's still in the box. Wonder if I should take it back?

Of course there is extended coverage of Halo 3 by EGM and 1up. http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3154510

Digital shots of the Halo 3 pictures used in EGM. For those thinking this game looks only marginally better then Halo 2, see the picture I attached below? Go to this link to see the much higher rez version. Nice! http://media.1up.com/media?id=3089631

Actually never heard of that before. Ouch! BTW, Next Generation has it review on what it thinks of the PS3. http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=c...16&Itemid=2

The number of PS3's for Taiwan's launch for Friday has been announced. Drum roll please... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 whopping units. If that guy from Japan who bought 100 PS3's pays a visit to Taiwan this week, he may stand a chance of buying every system in that one country. Obviously, a very token launch (for Taiwan) and a waste in my book.

Yeah it will probably be up on the Bungie website availble in Windows Media or Quicktime formats as well. Either way, can't wait to see it.

I knew that the retirement of the F-117 wasn't too far away in the future, but I didn't realize that it was that close. Considering it was suppose to be a "silver bullet" aircraft with just a production run of 20 aircraft early on in its development, the F-117 definitely has left its mark on both the aviation world and history.

Today (November 15) marks the 5 year anniversary for Halo Combat Evolved... and there is some great news. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3155273 1. A public beta demo will come out next spring for Halo 3. Will it be available through XBL or on DVD is unknown for now. 2. Another reason for Halo 2 players to dump their original Xboxes and go 360... new maps for Halo 2 next spring though the catch is that they will only be available to 360 owners (through Marketplace I presume). 3. A teaser trailer for Halo 3 will air one time on ESPN Monday Night Football on December 4th. Will be available for download from XBL Marketplace. Had been hoping for the original Halo off of Marketplace with XBL capability, but all this news is good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtgS6J4VSxU...ted&search= A Hornet carrier landing mishap from almost 10 years ago.

This is where 100 Japanese PS3's went. I wonder if anyone here in the US will come close?

Wouldn't have happened to a Tomcat! At the 1990 Offutt air show, an RF-4C Phantom II from Lincoln had a main gear tire blow out resulting in lot of sparks and fire. This resulted in the air show being onhold for hours until the plane could be moved and a thorough inspection was made to look fo debris on the runway.

F-117's days numbered? With the F-117 celebrating 25 years of flight and service this year, it sounds like the F-117's responsibilities will be handed off to the Raptor and i would also guess the Lightning II. Has anyone heard on an exact date or time frame for the Nighthawk's retirement?