JB0

I don't see why we have to have that explanation at all. A malignant, alien force has come in great numbers to besiege the Earth. It doesn't matter if our lead spaceship is an import or a domestic. And since when does a malignant, alien warrior force need a reason to attack a planet? Finally, in DYRL Earth was mentioned to have been bombarded by the attacking fleet sometime during the SDF-1's narrow escape. But after 12 dozen times in 90% of all sci-fi video games and movies, it's high time the aliens started explaining this irrational obsession they ahve with Earth.

I dunno about that. The new Revolution controller is looking mighty innovative to mine uneducated eyes. 378921[/snapback] Remains to be seen if it will be accepted. I'm hoping it will. Perhaps if I get more playtime on it my opinion will change. As is, I'm suitably unimpressed. Disagree. An extra set of shoulder buttons is preferable to six face buttons. The only thing six face buttons has ever been good for is Street Fighter. The black and white buttons had some uses, but on both the large and the small, they were kind of in the way. Moving them to the shoulders gets them out of the way. And, I'm sure David would agree with me on this one, four shoulder buttons is essential for games like Ace Combat and would have really helped on Air Force Delta Storm. Plus, retaining the analog triggers strikes a balance between having shoulder buttons and having the triggers. There are some games, like fighting games, where I'd rather have buttons than triggers. Microsoft managed to design a pad where both the triggers and the buttons are in easy reach without having getting in the way of each other. I've seen a FEW uses for dual triggers. Most would have been better accomodated on face buttons that weren't there, or a right analog stick that the developers were afraid to touch. The ONLY game I've played where I thought dual shoulder buttons was actually beneficial was Robot Alchemic Drive. Personally speaking, I've found the 6-button layout is just better most of the time. The buttons are more tightly-spaced so I'm not reaching as far, and high-button control setups usually feel more intuitive. Even within a 4-button limitation, there's better things to do than the diamond. See the GameCube layout(which is, perhaps coincidentally, the 3/3 layout with missing corners). *sarcasm* Ah, yes, it was so much better craning my thumb at an odd angle to reach the start button on the S. And while it was hard to miss the giant start button of the three button Genesis pad, it was back in the middle on the six button pad. I never said the XBox pad was perfect. Just that it was on the right track. And believe me, I'm WELL aware that Sega moved start back to the center. It's part of why I have a 3-button pad hooked up(the other being that the larger one fits my hands better). So you're out of the action less time than usual. You still have to take your thumb off the action buttons. It's just stupid. The XBox S pad had you lifting off the directionals, which is usually a lesser evil. But as you said, it's hard to hit. ... IDEA! Wire up a motion sensor, so you just shake the pad really hard to pause! I think my favorite DualShock replacement was an Interact "Dual Impact." Horribly designed pad from an internal standpoint(I popped it open when it died, hoping I could fix it), but it fit my hands comfortably and played nicely until it failed(not perfectly, though. Thumbsticks had too much play, and fell to rest outside dead zones in some games). I'll have to grab the Logitech pad some time. I'd still have rather seen MS try to fix the XBox S pad than hack the XBox triggers onto a generic DualShock layout.

A few major faults here... 1. Mass is still an issue. While not, strictly speaking, weight, it's closely related. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. To accelerate a 10-ton mass at a given rate takes 10x the energy that it requires to accelerate a 1-ton mass at the same rate. Practical application to the situation: The more stuff is on your fighter, the more mass it has, and the more reaction mass it has to carry(which in itself makes the ship more massive). What this means, in short, is that yes, how "heavy" your plane is DOES matter. In fact, since you lack any way of maneuvering without thrusting, this is even worse in space. In an atmospheric situation, you have all sorts of nifty control surfaces that enable you to change direction without engines. When you run out of fuel in space, you're dead in the water. You'll just coast in your last direction until you're captured by a gravity well or the slight effect of solar/interstellar wind affects you emough to cause a signifigant velocity change. 2. No gravity does NOT elminate drag or air friction. Lack of atmosphere does that. Lack of gravity DOES eliminate lift-weight ratios. But lift-mass ratios are still an issue(more lift for a given mass = greater ascent speed. Though you can never be too heavy to fly, you CAN be too slow to be worth it).

Excellent I went through like ten game pads for the pc over the years before I decided with the one Im with now. Guess I'm lucky to only go through 4. Gravis Gamepad Pro(complete and umitigated crap), Microsoft Sidewinder, Logitech Action, and my P880. I still have it collecting dust in my closet of ancient things. While its really small for my hands now but when I was realy young it was the perfect size. If you never used one, I never take anyones word who uses most on any product. Too easy to that like for example most people think ps2 sucks or most people say macs are less powerfull than pcs in graphics applications, ect... 378866[/snapback] *nods* I have my own share of things I like that wind up to the side of mainstream. Was just surprsied to see Max pop up on the list.

Wouldn't this actually increase the piracy? You know, like everything else digital that's ever been released? 378829[/snapback] A. Everything else digital hasn't increased piracy. That's a patently absurd statement, and you'd do well to stop listening to the RIAA so much.B. They can at least implement copy protection on digital releases. Might not mean a lot, but it certainly can't HURT.

WHAAAAAAT? The 360 is the best looking console on the market, not to mention it sports the best 3D controller ever. 378811[/snapback] Gotta disagree. I'd call the PS2 a nicer-looking machine. As for best 3D controller... that was claimed by Sega in 1996 with the "Nights" gamepad. Though there have been challengers, none have yet dethroned it. Which is really, really sad. The 360 pad is nothing more than MS taking a generally decent controller with some remarkably good ideas(the gamepad has been stangnant for so long that ANY real change is remarkable) and then throwing a a hard-won decade of controller evolution away because some dumb-expletive kiddies can't accept that the pinancle of perfection is NOT in fact an SNES pad with extra bits glued on at random. I'm actually surprised they kept the analog triggers. The 360 has 2 major sins, relative to XBox1 pads: 1. Double shoulder buttons. ALWAYS a bad idea. Period. End of story. I hate you, Sony. 2. Orphaning start in the middle of the controller. Pause should always be readily accessible, and the only controllers to get this right in the modern era are the Genesis and XBox1. This is, perhaps, the greatest crime perpetrated by the NES*. While they never really worked out the kinks of the original XBox layout(6 face buttons was strangely confusing for MS), I firmly believe that the XBox S pad was a better controller than the 360 pad. *Not to say the NES was a bad system. In fact it was a rather nice one. I can't hate any system with standard output connectors. But it had some very BAD ideas in it. Most died rather swiftly(hell, hardwired controllers were nixed before the FamiCom was ever exported). A few... didn't. The NES brickpad is still setting controller standards twenty years later, and it was a horrible input device to start with. About the only things done right were the physical construction of the d-pad and action buttons. Those were just glued onto a rectangular box with no thought to playability. Pause wasn't even considered a possible feature when the pad was designed(for proof, look at the complete lack of start and select on the Famicom's player 2 pad). Controller evolution essentially stopped dead in its tracks with the SNES. Any new changes are either haphazardly glued-on extensions of the SNES pad or mocked by the market until they are abandoned.

Not that I know of, and I'm betting it would actually be worse with the mouse. I found a pad I liked and stuck with it. Interesting list. I actually haven't put a lot of time in on an SP, so my impressions may change if I ever muck with it much. Surprised you like the Max, really. Never used one, but most people absolutely loathe it. It's tab.

I'm using a Saitek P880. It's fairly decent. They use the same d-pad across their entire product line, as far as I know. Previous pads have been a Gravis Gamepad Pro(pure fecal matter) and a Logitech Action(was poo, but they've redesigned their pads twice since then so my experience isn't valid anymore). Adaptors are hit and miss. Some companies make really good ones, others make crappy ones. Given I can find a native PC pad that I like better than any console pad anyways... why bother? Thrustmaster's pads have been highly recommended before, but they don't feel right in my hands. 378249[/snapback] I like the logitech dual action for mame. The d-pad bit bugs me at times (I think the best d-pad is from nintendo products) but its easy to get used to it. 378732[/snapback] Nintendo's recent offerings are pretty bad. The 'Cube and GBA both have horrible d-pads. The DS and SP are better, but not exactly great. I haven't tried the DSLite/GBMicro pad. I had a Logitech, but it was about 2 designs back, so it's not relevant to a new purchase. One of Logitech's finer points, they fix their problems. But if you buy used, avoid the angular controllers with the clear blue d-pads.

Heh, I was doing OK, up until this part. For some reason when I tried to run MAME, the command prompt window wouldn't let me type anything and kept closing on me automatically!!!!!!!! Surely somebody must have made some more user friendly software by now.........sigh. Graham 378489[/snapback] That's commandline MAME. MAME32 has an integrated GUI. Sounds like you have an older version of MAME too. The recent ones throw up a dialog box if you run it without commandline arguments.

Um what's a VF-1AR, VF-1JR, and a VF-1SR? Does anybody have pics? Wait isn't a VF-1AR that but ugly robotech thing? 378722[/snapback] The "R series" were VF-1 redesigns crated for hte PCEngine(TurboGrafx) Macross 2036 game. Aside from redesigned heads, the big aesthetic diffrence is the FAST pack "backpack" modules are permanent parts of the VF. And the nozzles can pivot, so they face back in all modes, instead of down in battroid mode http://mahq.net/mecha/macross/macross2036/index.htm if you're curious. They only have fighter and GERWALK modes for the VF-1SR.

Insert Credit ALSO used the potion to calculate the exchange rate on gil... "The Potion costs 200 yen. In the original Final Fantasy, a Potion was 60 Gil. This gives us our first-ever real-world exchange rate for classic Final Fantasy currency: .3 Gil to the yen. At the day's exchange rate, this makes $1 US equivalent to 35.3124 Gil. This means that the Silver Sword we saved up 4,000 Gil to buy in 1987 is worth only approximately $113.27. I would assume the silver is not real. "

Or maybe this one... http://mahq.net/mecha/macross/rememberme/sdp-1.htm

Well, yeah. I have a very low opinion of the average gamer. As they have been on every other system. The NES is as famous for Contra, Megaman, and Ninja Gaiden as it is for Mario, Metroid, and Zelda. Hence why I've been saying all along that Nintendo needs to expend more effort to draw in 3rd parties, and preferably to lock exclusives down. It was the N64's primary failing, and it was the 'Cube's primary failing. Of course, in the end they ARE turning more profit than anyone else, but if they could increase their market share they'd be rolling in dough. I waited for a while. I got my 'Cube as a Prime bundle. Was my first active current-gen system(I'd grabbed a DC and a few games on clearance before that). I knew it had less games, it just happened that it also had the games I wanted most.

The GC was a great little system with some very good games, but nintendo seriously needs more staunch third party support that's willing to make either more exclusive games for the system that can appeal to the masses or more ports of strong selling games from other systems. I think when RE:4 was announced for the PS2 less than a year after it came out for the GC as an exclusive (from the words of the series creator himself i think it was) it was just about the final nail in the coffin for the system... except for maybe LOZ: Twilight Princess. 378412[/snapback] Well, the 'Cube kept RE0. We saw how much attention that got it. I seem to recall it being branded a crappy kiddy-fied version of the series because it was a 'Cube game.

Insert Credit reviewed the potion. Not only did they not get an HP restoration, they actually LOST a hit point when the lid cut their finger. Final verdict on flavor was "grape aftershave."

Some still insist the DC looks worse than the PS2 and has "no good games" too.

Just to cut someone off... Front Mission Gunhazard is NOT the same thing as Front Mission 2. So anyone that says FM2 is a sidescroller is terribly confused. Having said that, I haven't played Front Mission 2.

Has any system in recent years? 378311[/snapback] The Dreamcast actually surpassed them. 378326[/snapback] Thinking post DC. Nothing released this decade really has. 378345[/snapback] GameCube might've. I didn't keep score on what Nintendo was promising. ... Well, it failed to deliver RE4 as an exclusive. That might count.

That's all personal aesthetics. I'll thank you to not push your personal opinion as representative of the whole world. Especially not since you presented the clownish monstrosity that is the VF-1SOL as a superior design. It's parallel evolution. The VF-0 and VF-1 were equivalent to jets of the 70s. The YF-19 and YF-21 are equivalent to jets of the 90s. Each era of Macross has VFs based on a similar era in reality, with the VF-1 and 2009 locked to it's 1980 real-world release. The VF-1 is intended to look like a modern 70s plane. Not a modern 90s plane(really 2010s by the time it all gets rolled out, as near as I can tell). Making it look more modern just breaks all continuity. "Unofficial variations" are even worse, as they have nothing to do with anything. They're just slapping random labels on things for the sake of making a quick buck. Depends who you ask. I think all 3 of the "R series" have far worse heads than the originals. The J got it's head bashed in. The S grew a massive tumor. And the A... got bootlegged by a Predator? It's sad that they CAN make the A worse.

Has any system in recent years? 378311[/snapback] The Dreamcast actually surpassed them.

That's only because it liquified and started dribbling out your ears.

Or just an angsty doofus with spikey hair. That's why you have to buy ALOT! 378290[/snapback] Yes. PReferably with a rapid-fire controller. Gogo NES.

Yeah myk's got a point. The same thing happened with the DC, which by the way even though it died a premature death was an awesome system with some great games. They had a one year head start on Sony's PS2, but they just couldn't maintain their lead after word got out about what Sony was offering and even more so when the PS2 actually hit. 378267[/snapback] Funny, since what Sony was claiming htey were offering to kill the DC wasn't what came out. 378268[/snapback] I'm not following you there? I know they announced they would have the ability to playback DVD's which was a large selling point for a lot of the people i talked to when i worked at TRU, but i don't remember anything else that they annouced (other than games) that they didn't follow through with. 378273[/snapback] They promised a system that massively outperformed the Dreamcast in every way. What came out was a system that had trouble EQUALING the Dreamcast. The PS2 has NEVER reached any of the performance claims Sony made. Yeah. The real screw-up was when they made the BIOS able to boot standard CD-ROMs. Was nice for the homebrew community, but once people started putting games on them(in some cases they recompressed the video, in others they stripped stuff out, in still others the game fit as-is), it FUBARed the DC's software sales.

Oooohhh, nice. 378257[/snapback] i just use the keyboard, wasd for movement and 8,4,6,2 for the "face buttens" 7913 for the LandR buttens and numpad enter and 0 for the start select butten things but i havent realy played any of the macross ps1 or 2 games 378266[/snapback] *shudders* AWAY FOUL BEAST! AND TAKE YOUR QWERTY WITY YOU!

Yeah myk's got a point. The same thing happened with the DC, which by the way even though it died a premature death was an awesome system with some great games. They had a one year head start on Sony's PS2, but they just couldn't maintain their lead after word got out about what Sony was offering and even more so when the PS2 actually hit. 378267[/snapback] Funny, since what Sony was claiming htey were offering to kill the DC wasn't what came out.