Apollo Leader

Whether it be RCS, IR, etc., no stealth aircraft is "invisible". Under the right circumstances (position and distance from the radar, the type of radar used, etc.) an aircraft will stand out more. In the 1993 book "Stealth Fighter Pilot", the opening narrative was from a former Iraqi SA-3 radar operator (Dessert Storm) who was able to pick up and detect the F-117 to a limited degree. One night he thought he got a good enough of a bead and took a shot with an SA-3. (At this point the perspective went to the Nighthawk pilot's perspective). The F-117's alarms went off that it had been fired on by a radar guided SAM. The F-117 stayed the course and the RCS of the F-117 was not good enough for the SA-3 to lock on. In the case of Serbia, from what I've gathered, the F-117's were operating in the same as airspace as a lot of the other conventional aircraft and were even flying from the same base in Italy, too. Since the radar operators in Serbia knew were all the aircraft were coming from, that made things easier for them to look for the F-117. (The B-2's used were flying from Missouri, so they were operating differently). So ultimately an F-117 was lost because of operational misuse. Not to mention the Russians and possibly others now have the remains of this Nighthawk...

Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 was at the bottom of the Atlantic right off of Florida, 13,000 feet down or so, and for 38 years and most of the paint on the outside of the Mercury capsule (including the painted on crack) was pretty intact and has been preserved on the capsule since it was recovered in 1999.

I'm so incredibly giddy right now. 398576[/snapback] I was trying to figure out what you guys were talking about, but then I saw the news that Solid Snake will be in the Wii Super Smash Brothers games... Hell has indeed froze over...

We are and when did Nintendo stop making Zelda games, any and all mario related games, Metroid games, & etc??? Oh that's right they haven't. So please save the Sony's Sequels rhetoric. 398674[/snapback] In Nintendo's defense, direct sequels to Nintendo's key titles on its home console systems (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc.) typically come every 3 years or even more. Mario Galaxy will be out well over 4 years after Mario Sunshine came out in the summer of 2002; Mario Sunshine came out SIX years after Mario 64! Metroid Prime 2 came out about 3 years after the first Pime; Metroid Prime was the first Metroid game since Super Metroid SEVEN years ealier. One of the most popular Nintendo series, Mario Kart, seems to go through 5 to 6 year gaps between console sequels. The Zelda games seem to be at least three years (there was the six year gap between Link's Awakening and The Ocarina of Time). And of course 20 years later, there are still some gamers who hold out hope that Nintendo will do a Kid Icarus sequel. Granted games like Super Smash Brothers and Mario Party see more frequent followups, but those are the exception.

Maybe I missed it, but has it been stated who this "Graham" and those other guys with him are?

Simple answer, if you don't want them, DON'T BUY THEM. In the case of Halo 3, Bungie is saying that Halo 3 is suppose to be the last game "in the trilogy" so at least you might be getting your wish when it comes to Halo. But both series are immensely popular and continue to put out highly acclaimed sequels (in Halo's case, there's only been two games in the series and there is basically a three year cap between each title so it is far from wearing out its welcome), so why shouldn't the publishers continue to put out sequels. Though some titles eventually wear out their welcome with one too many constant sequels that continue to decline in quality. I am looking forward to some of the newer franchises such as Gears of War, Lost Planet, and Too Human. Besides all the preexisting franchises coming to the 360, looks like there's plenty of fresh material, too.

The Halo 3 trailer was shown at the very end of Microsoft's conference. Coming in 2007... guess we'll see if it comes out before or after the movie. At least I can get some of my Xbox 1, Halo 2 playing friends to start saving up for a 360! Looks like MS had a pretty solid showing. 398115[/snapback] Halo 3 Announcement at Bungie.net. Has the trailer there, too... downloading as I speak. 398118[/snapback] Just watched it. Looks great. Can't wait to play it next year!

The Halo 3 trailer was shown at the very end of Microsoft's conference. Coming in 2007... guess we'll see if it comes out before or after the movie. At least I can get some of my Xbox 1, Halo 2 playing friends to start saving up for a 360! Looks like MS had a pretty solid showing. 398115[/snapback] Halo 3 Announcement at Bungie.net. Has the trailer there, too... downloading as I speak.

The Halo 3 trailer was shown at the very end of Microsoft's conference. Coming in 2007... guess we'll see if it comes out before or after the movie. At least I can get some of my Xbox 1, Halo 2 playing friends to start saving up for a 360! Looks like MS had a pretty solid showing.

More about GTAIV on the 360, it will be FIRST on the 360 before the PS3.

Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360! Scroll all the way to the botom (yeah I'm watching Gamestop and that other site suimultaneously). Besides Halo 3, Microsoft has definitely made a coup here with getting GTA IV with exclusive downloadable episodic materials. (I reread things again and I think its just some of the download stuff that will be exclusive, but still its cool )

Looks like a crossbreed between the SNES and Dual Shock controllers.

HALO 3 ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILER ON XBOX LIVE MARKETPLACE! I wish I were home right now to download it...

Here's a list of some of the games coming to Xbox Live Arcade! Pac-Man, Contra, Galaga, Contra, Sonic, Defender, SF II Hyper Fighting, Time Pilot, Ultra Mortal Kombat 3, Scramble. Track and Field, Time Pilot, Contra, Super Contra, Paperboy, Rally-X, Frogger I wonder if Contra and Super Contra are the arcade versions? That would be so sweat! BTW, take the link below and keep hitting refresh for updates. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/09/engadget...xbox-360-e3-ev/

I missed about 30 minutes of the Nintendo conference (between the Twighlight and tennis demos), but overall I liked what I saw. Scouring around Gamespot and 1up.com, I get the impression that there is more enthusiasm for this system then the PS3. If I end up getting this system, this means I'll have to out and rebuy a copy of Ikarugu and Mario Kart Double Dash! In about 40 minutes, we'll see what Microsoft has on its plate... hopefully the much rumored 2 minute trailer for the next Halo!

Miyamoto started off Nintendo's conference dressed up like an orchestra conductor using the Wii controller to conduct a virtual band. Then him and another guy started playing the Steel Talon game and a racing game. A few games briefly shown include a new Mario game, a new pilotwings game, and a new Metroid game. Still watching the video live right now.

Are we talking about Buttons now?..,.. of all thing, Button? First of all there was always a center button the the PS dual shocks controllers it was call the Analog on and off button, They just figure it's best to use that button for somethig else instead. And their R2 and L2 button was just reshaped to look more like a trigger,, They were already pressure sensitive ever since Dual Shock 2 for PS2. I can understand you saying Sony copying Nintendo, but copying Mircosoft hardware? come on here, you joking me? Out of all of them Mirosoft is copying the most,, since they were the late commers in the Console market. DVD-drive from PS2, DVD for games from Ps2, able to play DVD video from Ps2, having a remote control from Ps2, Backward compablity from PS2, usb slot from Ps2 ,, flipping the Console sideways from Ps2, twin analog sticks from Ps2, built in rumble from Ps2 and Ps1, Trigger buttons from DC, shoulder buttons from Nintendo/Sony/Sega, internet/network from Sega. now Microsoft is plainn a HD-DVD add-on for their Xbox360, so is that from Ps3 similar to Blu ray or similar to a DVD drive add-on planned for Dreamcast, or perhaps the CD-rom drive for old Sega? Should I add in the color Black from Sega/Sony , and the color offwhile from Sega DC?,, poo, the list can go on and on. Oh,, maybe Mirosoft copy my username too sine it has 360 at the end 398030[/snapback] But the 360 guide button was something unique and innovative that had never been done on a console controller before and undoubtedly Sony's engineers were inspired to incorporate such a feature on the final PS3 controller. The "Boomerang" did not have this feature.

Thank you.

There's been a lot of criticism of the PS3 (much of it deserved), but one thing that Sony might need some slack on is the motion sensitive controller. If this article is correct, motion sensitivity for the PS3 was announced almost 3 years ago! Though the sensitivity wasn't necessarily built into the control, you can see Sony was looking in that direction. But if Sony had indeed been thinking about doing this for awhile, I think they should have mention this at the last E3 and beat Nintendo to the punch. http://sony.gamerfeed.com/gf/news/4815/

***Quickly hides thumbs*** I for the most part have liked Sony's family of controllers going back to the original 1994 design. The one thing I think they could change is the shoulder button arrangement so that R2 and L2 become triggers like on the Xbox1 and 360 controllers... after 5 months of heavy use, the 360 controller has become my most favorite controller of any system. BTW, has anyone notice all the features that are left out of the $499 package?

Though I got the PS1 and 2 at their launches, I will pass up on the PS3 at launch. But in a few years after the system has really come down in price, I might get one then. For now, I am very happy with my 360 as my primary gaming console. Wii with its unique gameplay and possibly HUGE library of console game classics will likely be my second system in the year ahead. Ever since the beginning of this year, I was pretty certain that the PS3 was going to be a minimum of $499 because of its Blu-Ray disc drive. Unfortunately Sony has forgoton that the PlayStation is suppose to primarily be a video game console. And Sony is at the disadvantage of trying to bash Blu-Ray over everyone's head instead of helping pass the ball along of an already existing, unifying standard (DVD). The PS3 looks like this generation's 3DO, though with a much bigger and better line up of games and developers. I foresee the 360 packages being cut by $50 to $100 this fall. Wii will very likely be announced at a launch price of $199 tomorrow. Nintendo and Microsoft are going to wrestle a larger chunk of the gaming market this time around. As for the controller, I haven't seen the pictures yet, but I will give a thumbs up to Sony for keeping the Dual Shock intact. But I wonder if it's true that the rumble feature has been removed to accomidate its motion sensitive features.

I am hyped about the E3 starting up this week and of course things are starting off with the PS3. But don't get me wrong, I am still very skeptical on what is going to happen with the PS3 and even if it's going to make it out this year... the first Blu-Ray DVD's and players aren't hitting the US market until next month! And Sony thinks they can base a gaming system on a storage format which hasn't been released yet.

Just less then 24 hours to Sony's big press conference at the E3! Though Nintendo's big conference isn't until Tuesday word has come out about the additional Wii capabilities for Twighlight Princess. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6149308.html

Has the first wing or squadron of Raptors at Langley gone operational yet? Seems pretty soon for them to be ready for a big combat deployment...

The big show (E3) is next week! Sony is to have their PS3 press conference on Monday with Nintendo (Wii) and Microsoft (360) doing their thing on Tuesday. Figured it was about time to bump this thread back up. It will be interesting to see what Sony and Nintendo does/does not show for their new systems.