Skull Leader

Actually, I would not at all be surprised if a swing-wing capable stealth fighter found it's way into the navy arsenal. The performance and carrier-storage benefits speak for themselves. The SH may be all well and good for doing many different things *reasonably* well, but eventually they're going to want something that can stay on station longer without having to hit the tanker so many times. A swing-wing stealth fighter has been conceptualized in many different forms, it could be possible that one or two have gone back to the drawing board for further refinement. The DoD never stops worrying about tomorrow (despite the catchphrase of "Tomorrow's military defending today with yesterday's equipment") What's more, there's still plenty of time for a Naval variant of the F-35 to tank out(and given all the problems it's had on every other front, it's very well possible), so it wouldn't surprise me if DoD is looking for alternatives there also. The F-117 isn't too big, I've seen 3 in person and I was actually expecting them to be bigger still... just my observation though.

Thanks for the update, Shin... it saves me the pain of having to watch the movies to figure out what happened. As similar as the 25 was to the Arrow (from the sound of things), I'm guessing more info probably wouldn't have changed the design TOO much, I can't figure on it being much different from the MiG-25 we know now. Damn those things have big engines... and they're as loud as the day is long from what I hear.

Mari Iijima for the dubbed macross project= Good. The thought of having to listen to Tony Oliver's voice again would make me want to nuke a gay whale. Seriously... Tony Oliver blows dead bears. I will reiterate my statement that about the only members of the original cast that DESERVE to be recalled are Dan Warren (for the role of Roy Focker), and Cam Clarke (but NOT as Max Jenius, only Quamzin)

All the more reason for me to roundly despise FFVII Still, I won't pass judgement on this particular FF incarnation until I've played it although I'm not holding out much hope... as much eye-candy as Square-Enix has managed to produce in 3D FF games, (many of the cutscenes in FFX and X-2 are absolutely gorgeous...), they've managed to sh!t out horrible story after horrible story ever since VII. Certainly not among the worst the video game world has ever seen, but certainly nothing to write home about. There was an interesting article in the last game-informer about whether or not videogames could make you cry.... it was mentioned that during the polling, many people brought up Aerith's death as a defining moment in video-game pathos. Supposedly the beauty of the graphics had a way of projecting the moment with total emotion... I fail to see why??? She was a piss-poor character from the beginning, and 3D polygon graphics had a LONG way to go before becoming what we see today. As I recall, Aerith's facial expression didn't even change when Sephiroth ran her worthless ass through (he should've beheaded her... THAT would've been dynamic!). It's all just more proof that just because we CAN do something (make a 3D videogame), we shouldn't always do so. I await this new FF game with cautious enthusiasm.

I never got a chance to play Prime (I don't own a Gamecube), and I only briefly got to mess with Fusion, so I can't really speak to that. I have, however, played the demo for Metroid Prime: Hunters... it came with my DS, and found the controls to be nearly maddening to get used to. I would have to play Metroid Prime before I could pass an honest judgement, but until then, Super Metroid reigns king of the Metroid franchise for me. It will be folly for me to try and compare Super Metroid to MP: Hunters simply because the way the controls are laid out, for all I know it could be completely different on a gamecube (someone who's played both, is it?) I will agree that 3D has done wonders for many games, The Zelda franchise (which was as close to 3D as the NES/SNES would allow beforehand) is a good example. I've heard nothing but good about "Ocarina of Time" and "Majora's Mask", and although people have issues on a stylistic basis, "Wind Waker" seems to rank high in the gameplay department. Another franchise that I think suffered from 3D was Super Mario Brothers. It is just my opinion, but Mario 64 has been my least favorite game in the series so far. I'm sure there are plenty who would disagree with me, and that's cool. I just always thought Mario was best as a 2D platformer. gonna go play with the DS now... I have a hard time putting it down

As much as I am looking forward to the new FFIII, I am *not* an advocate of "3D makes everything better", because quite simply, it doesn't. All one has to do is look at the Castlevania franchise to see that. While the PS2 entries (Lament of Innocence, and the one that is coming out soon) Look and play very well (at least in LoI's case, for the time being, I'll assume the new one isn't much different), the side-scrolling entries seen on the GBA and the newest one on DS are much more pleasant to play. No wonky camera control, menus are easy to navigate and don't require that you get your ass kicked while you're trying to use them. "Dawn of Sorrow" is 2D and still manages to land in the top 2-3 games of the year. Not a rant at any one person, per-say, but there are a lot of weak-minded fools out there that assume "if it isn't 3D, it's not worth playing". Konami, thank you once again for proving them wrong

I agree... the original Famicom FFIII was pretty damn cool

Well, I finally went and bought a DS... with all the store credit I already had racked up at Game Stop, plus what was added after I brought back "Darkwatch" (an "ok" game, but way too short for my tastes), I got nearly $40 off the price of a used, like-new DS. I also purchased the new Castlevania. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with it all. The new Castlevania ("Dawn of Sorrow") plays pretty damn well. I can't quite put it above SotN, but then, I'm only about 30 minutes into the game... time will tell ultimately. Question about the DS: Is there some way I can install a planner function in it? It seems strange that it has such an elaborate clock setup and everything else, but no planner. Maybe one is out and I've just missed it, I dunno but it would be cool to have. I don't have any problems with the size or brightness level of the screens on my DS... maybe it's just "new owner contentness", but everything seems pretty hoss.

I've played the demo and found it pretty damn difficult... I have to wonder how I'd enjoy the real game

*shrugs* I just got sick of bickering the Rev maybe a week after the controller was unveiled. 338391[/snapback] ahh. I wasn't so much trying to rag on it, rather to announce my "wait and see" stance on it... sorry if it came across as harsh

figured I was probably behind the curve on this one, but admittedly I haven't paid much attention to this thread in a couple of weeks... that's what I get I suppose.

Reading through my newest gamestop, I'm not sure I'm so impressed with Nintendos "revolutionary" new controller... if I owned one, I could see myself automatically buying the "regular" controller shell or whatever it is and sticking with that. The possibilities ARE endless, but as with any other new media, the chances of it being employed to it's fullest capbability (or something remotely close to approaching that), are seriously open to question. I shall watch and see how this works out.

Nah, that was Agent One moonlighting as a videogame character before he got his current job

Eyecandy of the first rate. I won't argue with that.

Sephiroth, ANY piece of animation (regardless of it's function) should be able to stand alone without needing outside help to complete a story. This is what kept Macross DYRL from being a GREAT anime instead of just a pretty good one (you almost HAD to have had the TV series to really understand what's going on) That said, AC didn't even accomplish that. It raised more questions than it answered. People go on and on about how BIG the ending to FFVII (the game) is and how despite the fact that it doesn't give any closure, it's still some kind of great ending.... I'm sorry, this is so much of what the bull leaves behind him on the road... That's a piss-poor explination for bad storytelling plain and simple. You build these characters to epic levels and then don't even explain what happened (It's a FUNDAMENTAL of good storytelling to provide closure). I know AC was originally conceived as basically an extended ending for FFVII... it shouldn't even have been needed in that context. The game should've told you everything you needed to know. As a result, AC is spent filling a kind of double-duty as a resolution to the first story while trying to provide something new. the AC story unto itself isn't bad (minus the fact that Kadaj and his gang aren't really explained very well), but it tries to do too much in too little time, as a result it suffered.

drink a 5th of jack when you do... the movie probably makes more sense like that....

Hear Hear! It could've been FAR worse (I remember the scene where sub-zero first faced off against that cannon-fodder ninja thinking "ok, he's gonna freeze him, that's fine... if he stays in mid-air, I'm leaving"... fortunately it didn't work out like that). That said, the ending blows dead bears. Not bad for an action film, and the soundtrack really doesn't get much better. The second film left a great deal to be desired though, in virtually every respect.

the only thing I know to say about that movie is "f-ed up, man". That's a far better guess than I could've ever come up with.

The overall atmosphere, maybe... I could give it that, but otherwise I can't see any real connections. Actually, if one looks at the cover of the original Metal Gear (both the MSX and NES/Famicom version), Snake very much looks like Michael Biehn ("Hicks") as he was seen in "Aliens". Meanwhile, in the second Metal Gear, the in-game picture of Snake in the radio screen looks very much like Rambo.

Not really... at no point during the whole final scene does Ripley seem to be in much of a hurry (except to find the girl). Where is Ripley in "Metroid"? There's a "Ridley", but I never much saw the connection.

How do you see that to be so? Let's analyze this: You see the problem? Not only is neither related, one spends the entire time RUNNING from the problem only to be forced to deal with it when there is no other choice, while the other goes out SEEKING the problem because she's a badass bounty hunter that is gonna open a keg-sized can of whoopass on a silly-as-fu(k looking giant brain.

and how! lol.... at least they looked pretty?

You're SO fired, David! Did you ever decide on one of those 1/72 Diecast Tomcat models we discussed a short while back?

I'll third it and drink to it!

I never watched the movie, but I saw it on the shelf once.. I had to laugh, because unless I'm mistaken, Doug Masters DIED at the beginning of the second movie (maybe he was just shot down, I don't recall... but I remember his wingmate, Cooper being pretty broken up about the matter)