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JB0

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  1. JB0
    To be perfectly honest, I think most of the appeal of the FF series in the west stems from FF7 being a LOT of people's first RPG, and most of the REST of the RPG folks starting with FF6(3US) or FF's close relative, Chrono Trigger. As for why Japan loves it... I don't know. These are the same people that kept buying Dragon Quest games that made you open a menu to climb stairs well into the 90s, so I can't even begin to fathom what they want out of a game(as fully-manual staircases is high on my list of things I don't want). I think that's more a case of "what's wrong with JRPGs" than "what's wrong with Final Fantasy" Especially the battle engine part. Somewhere along the line, (late-SNES, early PS1), the developers started missing the point and viewing new battle engine as a bullet point they needed to have. I'm actually surprised that ATB survived the PS1 largely unscathed(though I think that was a mistake and it should've been spruced up into something more compelling, at least it was consistent). So now instead of polishing a servicable battle engine, or updating them as technology allows them to do cooler things, they throw it out entirely every time. And tone the rest of the gameplay down because they want the game to be easily beatable to avoid turning anyone away with difficulty. And the cliches are viewed as GOOD because they let people know where they stand with the party members right off("Oh, it's the gruff ne'er-do-well with the heart of gold, I always like that kind of character, so this dude is someone I shall enjoy playing. I shall keep him and large-breasted wizard in my party all the time!").
  2. JB0
    They've long since gotten out of the hardware business at this point. Besides, the NGPC is pretty dated now, so relaunchng it would just be a sign they have no idea what they're doing.
  3. JB0
    Odd.... maybe that's just a really tight joint on mine. I seriously didn't know he had a shoulder joint.
  4. JB0
    But WHICH manual? It came with SIX of them! Dude, the epic plot of the FIRST Biomotor moved me deeply! ... Well, okay, the part where you can ally with the final boss and get a different ending moved me to "hell yeah". And sad to say I HAVEN'T played Dive Alert. I actually got my NGPC stuff right before it all got shipped back to Japan, so I missed a bunch of it.
  5. JB0
    The internet is a wretched hive of scum and villainy. And most gaming sites are just plain dumb, sad to say. The clicking as you move it around is enough to tell you it's digital. It's definitely a great thumbstick, though. And one of my favorite non-joystick controllers ever. Makes me think I need one of those NeoGeo gamepads. But, but... the PLOT, man! Think of the plot! Naw, I'm just kinda miffed that they closed the US division mere days after they started hyping it.
  6. JB0
    No, the fact that it's an 80s robot toy does that all by itself. (Seriously, he can't even hold his gun parallel to the ground. Prime can only shoot Decepticons in the feet.)
  7. JB0
    Indeed, it USED to be the best. But it's not near it anymore, and it has problems with a lot of games(so does Dolphin, for that matter). From what I gather, SNES9x HAS improved a lot. Though it seems fair to note that for a long time, there was a good deal of back and forth. While some games that ran in ZSNES didn't in SNES9x, the reverse was also true(And most of the popular stuff ran equally well in both of them). I originally went with ZSNES because it was faster on my old K6-2, and stuck with it due to aesthetics and better sound emulation for my purposes(ironically, SNES9x now has almost-perfect sound hardware emulation). I do miss ZSNES' DOS-holdover GUI, though. Stock Windows menu bars are lame(moreso on Mac? I dunno the state of Mac emulation). bzsnes just doesn't cut it.
  8. JB0
    Digital stick. NGP has no analog inputs. And this is true, it's a very nice little unit all-around. But I don't have a flash cart, and SNK closed shop up before Card Fighters 2 and Biomotor Unitron 2 came out in America.
  9. JB0
    *rubs forehead* And how would grabbing Cyberverse Roadbuster alleviate the fact that you cannot get the ENTIRE TEAM battle-ready in a single scale?
  10. JB0
    Actually, most PS1 and later emulators WILL use your PC's graphics hardware to speed up graphics emulation. It's not a best practice, but with system speeds being what they are... it's kind of a necessity for the XCube 2cast. Sadly, Dolphin has serious sound glitches in PN03. As in the music dies and won't come back. And that's all I wanted it for, was huge-resolution PN03(the minimal nature of the game's graphics means it renders REALLY well at high resolutions). Gotta disagree here. ePSXe is many years dead and hopelessly obsolete. It should be left to rot in favor of newer and much more accurate emulators. I can get full speed with pSX on a Core 2 Duo. bsnes is the way to go. Unfortunately, byuu has made certain decisions that make it unviable for some purposes(though it is nowhere NEAR as slow as public opinion makes it out to be). It is by far the most accurate emulator, though. And does hold claim as the ONLY emulator to properly emulate Air Strike Patrol, not that anyone cares. ZSNES is actually the worst of the three "current" SNES emulators. I hate to say it, as it was my first emu, but... right now it's in Nesticle/ePSXe territory, and the next major revision has been "in development" for a few years now with nothing to show for it(but the developers have not yet disappeared off the face of the Earth). It's got some serious glitches, needs to die, and people keep recommending it anyways. If bsnes isn't workable for whatever reason, use SNES9x. PS2 is gonna be PCSX2. http://pcsx2.net/ XBox doesn't have any viable emulators, for some reason. You'd think, what with it BEING an IBM PC, that emulation would be easier than everything else. DS ... you can give DeSmuME a try. I make no promises. http://sourceforge.net/projects/desmume/ I can't speak to your Apple II or N64 recommendations, as I've never cared to mess with emulation on either one, but the rest all look like the ones I'd recommend. You might try Turbo Engine for PCEngine/TurboGrafX, and Regen for SegaCartridge. And all this talk has led me to looking around and making a shocking realization: Mednafen emulates the NeoGeo Pocket Color! Now to play the english hack of SNK/Capcom Card Fighters Clash 2! ... What? It can't be worse than Card Fighters Clash DS was. If nothing else, I won't hit a game-ending glitch at the 3/4s point mere days after the exchange program ended I hate you SNK now give me Biomotor Unitron 2.
  11. JB0
    Not cooler, XTREME. The PSOne revision of the PS1 makes me want to hurt someone. Or is that some1? For the 'Cube, I think Dolphin is the ONLY option. It is not perfect, but for most games it is good enough. And yes, they advertise it as a Wii emulator these days, but it does both. PS1-wise... pSX is pretty good. I'm told Xebra is significantly more accurate, but haven't tested it personally. Dreamcast... try nullDC. As with the GameCube, there's not a lot of options. http://dolphin-emulator.com/ http://psxemulator.gazaxian.com/ http://code.google.com/p/nulldc/ http://forums.ngemu.com/showthread.php?t=140824 Only place I know to get Xebra right now.
  12. JB0
    Honestly, I think the weird part is more that it's designed around this dual-battery design. There's a cut-in to make room for the adapter, and they use abnormal contacts to create the second path so they can mount those button cells sideways. Also, on closer inspection, my original stock button batteries were leaking. Sound box still worked with them, but battery goop is a Bad Thing, so out they go! Copyright 1992, so they had a good long run.
  13. JB0
    PS-X was ALSO a codename for Sony's version of the SNESCD, meant to be released under the name Play Station(mind the space). Personally, I just abbreviate PlayStation to PS or PS1. Saves some confusion, and I really hate the PSX pseudo-abbreviation anyways.
  14. JB0
    Amusing note: I have the Generation 2 reissue of Optimus Prime. His sound box has a pair of button-cell batteries in it. Button cells that were mounted in an adapter to make them functional in a battery pack designed primarily for AAs. It is... interesting. (No, I've never removed the store demo batteries from it. I really ought to go through and pull batteries out of all my light&sound TFs before they start leaking). So I am assuming that button cells are not inherently more expensive than AA cells, at least not at a volume-purchase level.
  15. JB0
    I'm gonna go ahead and say it. Fast Action Battler Jetfire was a better transformer than Leader Jetfire. Also, that derail about how Valkyries are nothing but kibble is really interesting given the only valk that has a lot of robot kibble is the YF-21/VF-22(the rest of them all have parts that actually "transform"). And the solution to all that kibble is one that would be highly workable on the Transformers jets: there's doors that close over the kibble, giving it a jet bottom instead of a hang-gliding robot. Yes, the jets would be too thick, and there'd have to be SOMEWHERE to stash the folded-up doors lest we have another hip kibble drama-bomb like we did with Masterpiece Starscream(I still think the tail kibble looked far better hanging off his hips than off his ankles, but what do I know?). But it's still a lot better than hang-glider robots.
  16. JB0
    What sort of jerk designs toys for KIDS? The damn whipersnappers are RUINING my toys! ... Well, okay, they ARE ruining my toys. I WANTED to want Leader Jetfire, but the whole robot hang-glider thing was unignorable for me.
  17. JB0
    As someone that never saw the original movie as a kid, I have to say it's a far better movie than any of the live-action films. Because my primary reason for watching Transformers is to see giant robots blowing the hell out of each other. And TF:TM is basically 90 minutes of giant robots blowing the hell out of each other. I also confess to being more partial to the general aesthetic of the 80s movie, if not the characters. I hold no great love in my heart for the "new generation" characters like I do for folks like Optimus Prime, Shockwave, Megatron, Soundwave, Bumblebee, and Shockwave. But the overall look of the robots resonates better with me, and I'm always up for an interplanetary romp... yes, even one where robot squid eat robot fish in a sea full of robot seaweed.
  18. JB0
    From what I understand, that barely scratches the surface of the wholesale coupon fraud that takes place on that program.
  19. JB0
    This seems... abusable. Is there something I'm missing, or can you register a bunch of Facebook accounts JUST to get coupons? OBVIOUSLY it says limit one per customer, I'm sure, but... that certainly doesn't stop anyone. If the cashier tries to enforce it, you leave and come back some other time/day. Or go to a different store. So am I wrong, or do I need to say a little prayer for the poor souls working at Toys R Us right now?
  20. JB0
    But our statistical sampling is so small as to be completely meaningless, is the problem. It is, to be specific, ONE datum. A single datum is not adequate to base ANY theory on, nor to establish any form of statistical trend. It's not a statistical argument, or a scientific one. It's anthropocentrism masquerading as a proven theory. You're missing a few digits there. A few billion of them, at least. Application of logic trumps a complete absence of evidence for anthropocentrism. Certain subcases, however, seem reasonable. Two eyes, for example. Multiple eyes provides a comparison point for calculating depth. Or seeing your entire surroundings at once, if you're not a hunter. Two is the minimum required for both purposes. More demands more brain space spent on image processing, which is an exceptionally difficult task. Consequently, we can make a reasonable argument that alien life is likely, if it has eyes, to have two of them. And they will be in close proximity to the brain to minimize the length of the optic nerve, which must carry very large amounts of data very rapidly. A logical case can be laid out. The overall human form, however, is not a reasonable argument. We KNOW it's not the only form capable of manipulation of the environment. Octopi and cuttlefish being the most obviously "alien" contenders, as well as the closest runner-up. Those damned cephalopod tentacle monsters do more with their environment than monkeys and gorillas, which kind of puts a hole in the whole "primates are best" theory right off.
  21. JB0
    That first clause is a pretty big assumption, though. We already know that silicon can form molecules in long complex chains similar to carbon, just not in Earth-like environments. That's why sci-fi often has silicon-based life. And even on Earth, we've found life in every kind of inhospitably sterile hellhole we can think of. There's life in the boiling water around volcanic vents and inside geysers. Life in the incredible pressure at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Life in the intense cold of Antarctica. Even life in "poisonous" environments of pure arsenic, totally starved of phosphorous. Less than a year ago, phosphorous was considered mandatory for any carbon-based life, and arsenic universally toxic. Much of this life is fundamentally "alien" to us. But it exists. Everywhere there is water. In every shape imaginable, and many that defy all imagination. The assumption that a primate will become the dominant life-form is even more anthropocentric than the assumption that circumstances humans find comfortable are the only circumstances under which life can thrive. This is certainly the case in one known instance. It is HARDLY indicative of a trend. Other than it's never been seen on Earth, what makes something like Niven's Puppeteers particularly implausable? Or even something as "normal" as a smart wolf or elephant? Maybe even a dolphin? To take that argument to it's logical conclusion, to claim that any world but Earth can harbor life in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary(7 dead planets and numerous dead non-planetary bodies) would be such a crime. The evidence to date indicates that NOWHERE IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE but the Earth can life originate, in any form. I find this a truly absurd stance to take. We know so close to nothing of the universe as to make no difference. It is roughly akin to plucking a single grain of sand from the beach, placing it under a microscope and examining it in excruciating detail, then claiming to know not merely the beach, but the Earth as a whole from this exhaustive study of a single grain of sand. We as a species continue to find the "impossible" happening on our very own planet, despite some hundred millenia of experience with it. In light of that, it seems fair to assume that anything is possible in the vast infinite canvas of the universe... perhaps even naturally-occurring sentient humanoid robots.
  22. JB0
    I was not intending to get involved in the whole Evolution of Transformers VS Evolution of Man debate. I'm just saying they don't look alien. And as robots, they have no need to look or function at all like humans. If you have wheels, why do you need legs? They're more complex to build, maintain, and operate. If you don't breathe, why do you have a nose? And related to breathing... why would a race of robots need speech when they can communicate through radio waves faster and more efficiently, as well as in environments where speech is impossible, such as the vacuum of space. Even the basics like binocular vision for depth perception are questionable. It's EASY to bounce a laser off an object and time how long it takes to return. AND it avoids the many ambiguities present in the human implementation of depth perception, which is HEAVILY dependent on environmental assumptions. But they ARE mechanical humans. Because it's more marketable that way. Fair enough. Wikipedia sez "A law differs from a scientific theory in that it does not posit a mechanism or explanation of phenomena: it is merely a distillation of the results of repeated observation." So the same general rules apply. A law can be overturned, just as a theory can, if you can produce evidence contrary to the law/theory. But were there no evidence supporting it, it wouldn't be more than a hypothesis in the first place. In any case, a scientific theory is still something that has been proven. It may not actually be a correct interpretation of the evidence, but were it untested, it would be a hypothesis, not a theory. To continue beating on gravity... the gravity waves hypothesized by relativity have now been observed, and that is now theory. And to make me look like a fool, there's string theory, which has made no testable predictions. I'd argue it should be string hypothesis, but it's theoretical physics, which is a whole different kind of weird. It's interesting, however, to note that special relativity and general relativity also originated in theoretical physics. But many of their predictions are now tested and verified, so large parts reside in the realm of "real" physics.
  23. JB0
    This! Personal peeve, but scientific theory is not the same thing as a theory in general use. What in general use is referred to as a theory, science calls a HYPOTHESIS. Hence we have things like the THEORY of gravity.
  24. JB0
    EXO's right. That's always the best way to conduct an interview.
  25. JB0
    To be perfectly honest, my problem is that I came to the movie for one thing, and one thing only: giant robots shooting at each other. Aside from a very low robo-gunplay tally in the first film(my favorite example being the one use of Ironhide's much bragged-about guns... for a rocket-jump), all the jumpcuts made it impossible to tell what was going on. From THAT perspective... Revenge of the Fallen got some hot robot-on-robot action in for more than just the final scenes, had gunfire, and the fight scenes that didn't rely on jumpcuts every 2 seconds. Both, however, are far too long(or far too short if you edit out all the parts that don't have giant robot violence in them) Dark of the Moon I would consider rewatching, though. And it's the only one of the three I can say that about.
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