JB0

You missed the obvious. Or if Will Smith is in it. I believe I. Robot did okay as well, and it was at least based on a hard sci-fi premise. But apparently "Oh, hell no." makes such a thing watchable. 381532[/snapback] I, Robot was also a better movie. And they got the action hook in fast and sustained it. The violent robots promised by the ad team showed up early and sustained their presence through to the end. The Island had no promises of action in the ads(that I recall) and the first ... third, I believe, of the movie had none. For a nation of explision addicts and adrenaline junkies, it was doomed from the start.

More like a slow news month. I can only pull so many contradictory HG quotes for a while until it gets old. 381093[/snapback] Have you made a hard-hitting documentary about the tuna abduction? People need to know about the plight of the fish head!

It's the same reason why when the Transformers movie came out, people who don't know who all the robots are can see that it was obviously aimed at an audience who were already familiar/attached to/knew who all the characters were, so it is hard for a fan of the franchise to see it from a non-fan perspective as a critic of the movie on it's own merits. They are too busy going: "That looks so cool who cares about details" there are many good points brought up here about why the transformers movie sucks for someone who doesn't know or is not attached to any of the characers in the show: http://members.tripod.com/~repowers/manic/s-movie.html A non fan can see the flaws in a movie that a fan might not be able to. And fans can see flaws that a non-fan can't. Like "THEY KILLED PRIME WTF?!?!?!" Of course, the Transformers TV series wasn't exactly a glorious symbol of all that is good in script-writing either. The series existed to sell toys. The movie existed to sell new toys by "killing" the old ones.

Caught this one as it was leaving theaters(yay cheap tickets). Was an interesting idea, but poorly executed. As you pointed out, it just snaps at the half-way point and becomes a totally diffrent movie. AND CLONES DON'T HAVE MEMORIES! STOP IT, HOLLYWOOD! ... Actually, that point wasn't really dealt with. The only real alternative was clones with a psychic link to their genetic donor, though. And that's not really an improvement. As for why it didn't do well... The fact that it "started slow" undoubtedly drove audiences away. The average moviegoer doesn't want to think. They want an explosion or gunfight in the first 15 minutes, and at regularly-scheduled intervals through the rest of the film. Yes, I have a dim view of the average. So yeah. Good for a rental. But don't buy it.

Because its a challenge getting them out of it? XD 381299[/snapback] Depends how good you are with a blowtorch.

A completely undestandable viewpoint. Honestly, the only one of the Macross arcade games I give any playtime to is the DYRL one.

Wgoops, double-post.

Not as I understand it. What I've heard is it works JUST like modern CSS does. There's X number of decryption keys defined. All manufacturers are issued one. The key has to be on the disk AND player to work. If a device is found to not comply with the Blu-Ray Disk... group-thingie's rules, they can revoke that company's decryption key. Future disks won't contain that key on them, and thus those disks won't work on offending hardware. That's acutally how CSS was cracked. They shipped ... I believe it was a player with both sets of keys in the ROM. Once they had keys, it was easier for the hackers to work out the algorythm. More relvantly, no one's CSS keys were ever revoked. They were THREATENED, but never actualyl revoked. 380852[/snapback] For AACS schemes and HD DVD yes, what you mentioned. BD+ adds more security for Blu Ray which was what Fox really pushed for and got. And BD+ is implemented in Blu Ray movies in which it adds dynamic encryption to prevent what happened with CSS. Blu-ray also adds a ROM mark on production ROM discs to prevent mass piracy. Yes, no one had revocation during the DVD era...this time around, the stakes are a little higher. 380855[/snapback] Ah. Not to put too fine a point on it, but NONE of the things being done are going to actually slow down piracy. Encrypting the data doesn't do jack squat if someone just does a 1:1 copy of the disk. The copy protection on the PS1, Saturn, PS2, GC, and XBox worked because it was a non-standard use of the format(and in some cases a whole new format, sharing only the media layer with conventional DVD-ROMs). So they did things that most copier software wasn't equipped to recognize and most burners weren't equipped to reproduce. The same thing goes for copy-protected audioCDs(which also breaks them in some actual CD players). When you make it part of a comprehensive standard like BluRay and DVD, it ceases to affect piracy, regardless of whether the disk image is stamped onto another disk and sold or passed around "teh intarweb" via BitTorrent. The MPAA isn't actually TRYING to stop piracy. They're trying to place limits on what law-abiding consumers can use their movies for. Cracking CSS didn't matter to pirates. They could, and did, pirate DVDs before the encryption was cracked. It mattered to people that wanted to use the content of their own DVDs. Watching the movies in Linux, editing the video for AMVs, fast-forwarding through the corporate logos before the actual program, stuff like that. Things that were, and still are, legal under US copyright law. Of course, the DMCA adds kinks into things as it makes it illegal to break encryption, even for "fair use."

Beyond a certain level, no. But up to their maximum, they do light-years better than the other options. I'd assume by slight letter-boxing. Also possible that they cover the edges of the panel with the frame. ... Or just screw everyone by upsampling it, so that it provides a perfect image at no DTV resolution.

Now, be fair. Outside of projectors, CRT burn-in hasn't been a real concern since the Atari days. Yes, it happens in business settings. But they leave the same image up for YEARS. It happens in projectors too. But that's because the brightness is cranked WAY the heck up to get a strong enough image to project. CRTs are HORRIBLE projection devices.

OMGBBQ!! His researching the feasibility of the 360-degree wrap around view cockpit for use in the development of Mobile Suits. Very soon now we will be seeing countries fighting one another with MK. IIs, Rick Diases, Hi Zacks, Marasais, etc., etc., Whoops, sorry about that, just had a little to much to drink last night. Anyways according to the article, the guy/gal who did this is a researcher. But if so why is he researching on Quake III? 381126[/snapback] I believe the technical term for that is "feasability of multi-monitor interfaces as affecting the immersiveness of first-person entertainment software." A very primitive form of that was actually implemented in some versions of Doom. It had a LAN feature where you could set 2 computers up to play "ghosts" of the primary. And set them to look to your left and right. So you'd have a monitor in front and to either side of you, and just look to the side to see what was to the side.

The really awesome part about this? That's his JOB.

I'd put my SXRD (Sony's LCOS) against any CRT out there. I was hardcore CRT for years and swore I'd never go rear projection... I use whatever I can scrounge up. The BEST TV I have access to is a 32" NTSC tube. Not even progressive scan. Having helped put it in, I KNOW why tube TVs are dying. Thing weighs a QBerting ton. I've got an AVphile buddy that uses an SXRD set. Also uses an XBR960, which is Sony's high-end tube HDTV. He says the XBR is the best set in his house, but the SXRD is close(as well as bigger and lighter). XBR960's also been discontinued. It's replacement can't even display 1080 lines. Basically, once the 960 stock is cleared out, there won't be any more large tube HDTVs. They're gradually being squeezed out. Soon it'll only be the bargin-bin. Then... nothing.

I like 'em too. But modern ones are designed, however unintentionally, to scare newbies away. I own it. Beat it on the easier difficulty levels. It's a really neat game, but it suffers massive slowdown in places that it really shouldn't. Also generates my traditional unholy love/hatered for irem. Which basically means in part that it has a reasonably good difficulty curve. Starts friendly for the novice, and after a few levels it gets pretty hostile. It ALSO means that it focuses too heavily on pattern memorization, which is a gameplay paradigm I dislike. Yes. The genre still lives. Even makes it to America from time to time. Ikaruga would be a notable recent release. As well as a notably over-rated one. Chaos Field had a US release too, but it was in very small quantities.

Videophile in training, are we? LCoS sets are supposed to be nearly as good as CRT, for what it's worth. Get a set that AT LEAST supports progressive scan. Personally, I'd prod you to upgrading the nightstand and getting a 30-ish" HD set. Well, you can adjust it to bring it back in-line, for the most part. But tubes are indeed becoming a non-option. There's a few high-end tube sets, but they're dying fast.

Not as I understand it. What I've heard is it works JUST like modern CSS does. There's X number of decryption keys defined. All manufacturers are issued one. The key has to be on the disk AND player to work. If a device is found to not comply with the Blu-Ray Disk... group-thingie's rules, they can revoke that company's decryption key. Future disks won't contain that key on them, and thus those disks won't work on offending hardware. That's acutally how CSS was cracked. They shipped ... I believe it was a player with both sets of keys in the ROM. Once they had keys, it was easier for the hackers to work out the algorythm. More relvantly, no one's CSS keys were ever revoked. They were THREATENED, but never actualyl revoked.

Where did you get the $425 price? I know the main numbers going around has been the alleged $700-$900 manufacturing cost for the system. My guess is that the version with the hard drive will be sold at $499 or higher. I just wonder how big of a hit Sony is willing to take during the PS3's first few years of life to get it out to as big of a market possible? 380780[/snapback] That 7-900 price tag is a joke. Merill-Lynch's analyst for that one is totally incompetent and should be shot. Especially since htey quoted manufacture price as 900, but all their BS numbers only added up to 8. Anyways, Sony and MS have both been launching systems with below-cost retail prices, so it won't be anything new either way. Not necessarily. There's HDMI-DVI adapters.

Just remember, the PS and Saturn were both around 800 at Japanese launch. 380717[/snapback] My launch Saturn was just under 35,000 yen 2 days after launch in Japan back in '94. I don't recall the PSX launch price but I don't recall it was that much in Japan either. 380739[/snapback] Maybe I have bad information. I don't recall any of the retarded shenanigans that've marked the current generation's launches. Could be wrong.

Seconded.

VF-1 and VF-11 FAST packs. All others... dunno, really. Haven't seen 'em often in both configurations to form an opinion.

http://mgrsti3030s.seamlesstech.biz/templa...subFolderID=155 Damn you Squeenix, I may get into the trading figure market yet.

Just remember, the PS and Saturn were both around 800 at Japanese launch.

The problem with scrolling shooters is they've gotten incestuous. Macross Plus shows this particularly well. The genre has a small but loyal following. That loyal following doesn't WANT a game that's easy. So they cater to that following and make mean f'ers that fill the entire screen with bullets early on and never let up. UNFORTUNATELY, that difficulty serves as a deterrent to newcomers, ensuring that the genre doesn't grow.

New-school shooters are even worse. Pull down Mars Matrix. *evil grin* Space Harrier is emulated. Dunno about Splatterhouse. Join the anti-MAME32 club. Though hitting F5 forces a list refresh. And I DO understand why they don't refresh every time you load by default(I( suspect there's an option somewhere to enable that behavior). The more games you have, the longer it takes, and MAME supports a couple thousand ROM image sets(somewhat less in terms of real games since there's multiple clones and revisions of many games and many gmaes that just won't run). A refresh with 2000 zips in the rom image directory would take a LONG time.

I use the EmuLoader frontend, personally. http://www.mameworld.net/emuloader/ Me and MAME32 have a long and elaborate history of hatred. That and the MAME32 GUI sucks super monkey balls.