Skull Leader

...so we take it and MAKE it right

Some of these movie idea think-tanks need to pull their heads out of their own asses and catch a nice fresh whiff of air. I think they should be punished and forced to stare at Agent One while he flexes for about an hour. That ought to set them straight.

ARRRRAGH! Why didn't you tell me!?!? There were a number of early issues of Nintendo Power that I had but lost in a move that I've been trying to replace (the Zelda II issue, the Castlevania II issue, the Batman issue, and a few others) I SOOO would've taken those off your hands....

well, Bandai HAS been kind of on the up and up with their later gundam game excursions (although they're far from what I would like). I will say that Microsoft has a serious leg-up on the market when it comes to their online-gameplay. However, I suspect that Sony has seen the error of their ways in not (whole-heartedly at least) supporting online gameplay. I'd be willing to bet that we see a more firm sony-online setup with the PS3 (more cross-console gaming would be pleasant to see, but I'm not holding out for that)

LOL F*$K the man! You use all the quotes you want! And I'd add an extra Zero to your name just to spite him!

It's the man trying to keep you down, JBO.

Here is something I did not expect... Bandai throwing their lot in with Xbox? While I doubt they've given up their very profitable relationship with Sony (at least, I don't see any mention of exclusive releases on the Xbox 360 info) I never figured Bandai would spend much time concerning themselves with the US system.

I can remember most of the different arcade machines our local pizza hut (in the town I grew up in) had... in fact, last time I checked (about a month ago), they still had the same machines there they've had for the past 7 years or so ("Carrier Airwing", and "Area 51") I bought my Neo Geo secondhand (I think I paid about $80 for the machine and "Samurai Showdown" and one of the "King of Fighters" games.). I've long since gotten rid of it though. To my knowledge, the regular Neo Geo had shut down around the time PS1 and Saturn took off (like JB0 said), but the Super CD system was probably in production until 1999 or so... that or a LOT of stock just went missing for long periods of time only to be re-discovered years later and sold (or, my favorite consipiracy theory, bootleg versions were produced in Hong Kong, which attributed to the gigantic aftermarket sale of packaged Neo Geo systems online)

I'll believe it once I see a toy prototype They made it further than this with the 1/100 version before shitcanning that. I'm hopeful though!

That was exactly what I paid for FFIII (one of the first games I bought with my own money, and it completely pwned my wallet). It was worth every penny though. At that point, consoles didn't have awesome graphics to rely upon to make up for mediocre stories. JBO, it would appear that we're pretty much in the same age group (I'm 26). Likewise I can recall in hindsight that after paying for my subscriptions to EGM, Gamepro, and Nintendo Power (Until about 1996, I had been a subscriber since it was still the "Nintendo Fun Club" or whatever back in the mid-80s), I could've easily doubled my game library over the course of about 3 years.

LOL, it's pretty scary that I'm not the only one that thinks that way... maybe I'm (we) on to something for once...

That's probably the case, because except for a few select games, the N64 drowned pretty quickly in the sea made by it's competitors (the Saturn and the Playstation). The system certainly held on (how I don't know), but I think they lost some of their spark somewhere in there. Wasn't Nintendo sorta going through an identity crisis at that point anyway? I really don't recall (Nintendo lost me after the SNES), but I seem to remember that they pretty much decided their target audience was the younger kids and released games accordingly (I know games for older crowds were released, but not to the frequency the other systems were). Anyone recall this better?

I wanted to speak a little more on this also. I think the Harry/Ginny thing was pretty much a definate ever since Cho Chang stepped away. At that age, Harry almost HAS to have a love interest, and no one else fits the bill like Ginny Weasley. If the 7th book goes to a "happily ever after" ending, They'll in all likelyhood get married (after all, it's been foreshadowed in almost every way that Harry is considered part of the Weasley family... why not make it more concrete?). If things get REAL gritty in the 7th book, you could have everything from Ginny sacrificing herself to give Harry some needed opportunity, to Harry developing a SERIOUS "burning sense of justice" attitude and finding himself unable to love again, to Harry dying in her arms after the final conflict. It really could go any number of ways.

(Max, I will write this under the assumption that you haven't read any of the books... if you have, I appologize. Just skip ahead to the stuff that pertains specifically to the book) Well, if you don't read the books, you may not know that Severus Snape used to be one of Lord Voldemort's followers (the "death eaters"). After Voldemort dissapeared several years ago, Snape appeared to correct his ways and went to work as a professor under Headmaster Dumbledore. Dumbledore, acknowledged in the HP series as pretty much one of the wisest wizards around, never once doubted his loyalty to the school. Draco Malfoy, one of the students, recently took on a mission from Lord Voldemort that he was to try and kill Dumbledore. Draco's mom thought this was pretty much an instant death sentence (since no mere kid would be able to open a can on the greatest wizard alive), so she pleaded with Snape to find a way to get Draco out of this mission and save him. So later on, a much weakened Dumbledore finds himself at the hands of Draco Malfoy and a number of other death eaters. Draco cannot bring himself to kill Dumbledore, so Snape pushes him out of the way and kills Dumbledore himself. While it is entirely possible that Dumbledore (who so far as we know is just as human as everyone else) made a mistake in trusting Snape, most of us believe it's probably not that simple. What follows is probably one of the biggest conspiracy theories and cockamamie tales of clarivoyance ever to be attached to a children's book: As I've said previously, I think Snape killed Dumbledore because ultimately he wanted to save Draco Malfoy from ever having to have a murder on his head. Save the boy's soul and there is ultimately a possibility (however small), that Malfoy might actually do some good. Snape, on the other hand, already had a tainted history. Ultimately I believe he was fulfilling his oath to Dumbledore by sacrificing himself and protecting Draco's innocence.

That's probably because she's trying to appeal herself to the conservative vote, since rumor has it she's gonna try and run in 2008. Yet ANOTHER reason why Arkansas was not so sad to see Hillary go. She'll change her philosophies like some people change underwear.

OMFGWTF!!!!1!1!... IT'S ALIVE!!! (man, what is UP with thread ressurection these days?) just kidding, lol...

*sigh* often imitated, never duplicated...

I like tities.

1) Max vs. Milia in DYRL... simply the greatest (and way too short) 2) Norris Packard in the Gouf Custom vs. the entire 08th MS team (complete pwnage) Best two I can think of.

wow, I never would've thought that Gamestop would go so far as to yank the console versions (to my knowledge, the mod doesn't work on those, does it?)

a pointy-eared alien once commented that the Human race was anything but logical

Something else to consider about that... why would he set Harry's scar has a Horcrux if he planned on killing him?

Now THERE is something I hadn't considered... and while it's an interesting idea, doesn't that kind of nullify the whole prophecy thing? (That in order for one to live, the other must die). Seems to me that removing a scar like that would probably not be as simple as a little cosmetic surgery.

It has more to do with the war and national security I think. Many bases throughout the midwest have most of their active personnel deployed to either Afghanistan or Iraq, and there aren't many people still at the bases that are willing to take up the reins and be the airshow director. (Although I will say airshows sponsored by ANG groups tend to be more exciting than ones sponsored by active-duty people). I still have plans to attend the Offutt AFB airshow in Omaha in August, the Little Rock AFB airshow in early september, and the NAS Oceana airshow in Virginia Beach in mid-september. That's about it though.

I can't speak to the Harry/Ginny issue, although I WILL say by breaking them up by the end of the book, Rowling leaves Harry with no attachments and is perfectly free to die (not that I think this will happen). I knew the moment they first showed Dumbledore and his injured hand that he would be the one to bite it. It's a very sad moment in the book, but I think it was necessary in order to make Harry truly come out in the open and fend for himself (expect all three kids to become full fledged members of the Order before too much longer) Also, I don't think Snape is as bad as he seems... Dumbledore was GOING to die there... if not by Malfoy's hands, then by some other death eater there on the roof. I think Snape was obeying his promise to Draco's mom by taking the responsibility... in doing so he's really kept Draco from becoming a murderer, basically saving the kid's soul from evil. I think he HAD to do it, and what's more I think Dumbledore knew it too. Dumbledore always had implicit faith in Snape, and the reasons for that faith have yet to be explained. It will be interesting to see that tidbit explained in the final book.