JB0

Ummm, no. Altair 8800: 1975. Apple 1: 1976. Apple 2: 1977. IBM PC 5150: 1981. IBM invented the IBM PC ARCHITECTURE, which is the basis for the mdoern IBM-compatible PC. They did NOT invent the personal computer.

From what I'd heard, the Itanium was a quite nice processor... when running in native mode. It totally sucked for x86 code, unarguably, but I'd heard Itanium code kicked ass. I do feel obliged to point out that just because Apple uses an x86 doesn't necessarily mean it will use an IBM-compatible architecture. At this point I couldn't possibly venture a guess as to whether they will, though. Jobs leaves that responsibility to the developers hands since the OSX is "processor independent" as Steve would put it. Since OSX's incarnation 5 years ago they developed the OSX to run on either processor. It is left for the developers to write code for either the PowerPC and/or Intel architecture in a move that Jobs has stated as "universal binaries" on Xcode. Is that directed to the IA64 part or the IBM-compatible architecture part?

From what I'd heard, the Itanium was a quite nice processor... when running in native mode. It totally sucked for x86 code, unarguably, but I'd heard Itanium code kicked ass. I do feel obliged to point out that just because Apple uses an x86 doesn't necessarily mean it will use an IBM-compatible architecture. At this point I couldn't possibly venture a guess as to whether they will, though.

YEAH! Take me for example. I've got a nice collection of lesbian orgy Sailor Moon pics. I don't know why anyone would be that interested in Hentai stuff, but it's not for me to judge anyone. I for myself like big-boobed anime chicks......annnnd real women too. (whew.. that was a close one) SUUUURE you like real women... we believe you.

And it's official, they're changing architectures. Making my chatter meaningless. ... But it doesn't say if it's x86 or IA64! GO ITANIUM! </hopeless_dream>

More along the lines of whatever's "best". The original Macs used 68000s. And they blew the doors off of anything in the x86 family at the time. When they moved to PowerPC, it was a similar situation. PPC blew the 68k away, as well as the competing x86 chips. Modern x86 chips are roughly equal to the G5s Apple uses, which is why I don't think they're going for another architecture swap. But the x86 chips are cheaper...

How? MacOS is compiled to run on a PowerPC, which is non-x86. Before that, it was compiled to run on a 68000, which is ALSO non-x86. If you stuff an Athlon 64 into a G5 tower, you get... a big non-fuctional cheese-grater. If you stuff a MacOS X disk into a IBM-compatible PC you get... a big non-functional beige box. It's like expecting Playstation 2 sofware and GameCube software to work in the same system. Most likely theory I've seen is that IBM's failed to meet promised deliveries lately, so they're gonna have Intel manufacturing their processors, but they'll still use the PowerPC family. Less likely, but far juicier, is Itanium-based Macs. I seriously doubt they're moving to x86.

It's beta from when they move out of alpha until it's finalized. Beta covers a VERY wide range of products. I'd bet people DID burn some copies. And public betas aren't anything new. Among other things, it gets a wider variety of testers. In-house testing only gets you so far, eventually you have to turn it loose to the masses and see what they can find. Not that I know of. Odds are good that the data's compressed. You'd need to be able to identify what compression scheme is being used, which requires a fair bit of technical knowledge(I don't have it).

YEAH! Take me for example. I've got a nice collection of lesbian orgy Sailor Moon pics.

NO! Try not! Do. Or do not. There is no try.

HG has used all the valks currently in the game (VF-4 included) in some sort of RT product, with the execption of the Ostrich and Elintseeker. With the super posable figures, they've already tried milking the original version of the macross TV series and DYRL. They released the un RT'd series and I wouldn't be suprised if they tried to release DYRL in the future. There could have been some discussion about releasing it in the US. This game was already being made by someone else, so all HG would have to do is get someone to "translate" it for the US. Somebody else does all the work, while they exploit it (sound familiar). HG might have made the demand that those valks had to be taken out in order to be released here (due to Manga having the rights to M+ and BW having M0). Bandai would've likely done the localization in-house. And as they very likely got the original source code from Sega, it'd be easy to "dummy out" the planes they weren't going to be using for the US release WITHOUT crippling the Japanese version. Better yet, they could replace the "offending" VFs with suitable Robotech vehicles. Why NOT add a Alpha and a Beta into the game? It'd be fairly easy if you already HAD some secret mechs programmed in. Obviously, they wouldn't be dockable, as there's no code in the game for mating fighters, but other than that you could do a fully-functional version of either one. Though there may be some scale issues(aren't Alphas/Legiosses like half the size of the VF-1?). The aforementioned reasons are actually kind of silly and most assuredly NOT the reason they're missing. No offense. Actually, this conversation HAS left me with a half-formed idea. The VF-0 and MacPlus YFs are a fair bit larger than the VF-1 and VF-4. There may've been a few points in the game where they had some gameplay issues due to the bigger models, which would've made them undesirable to leave active. Not familiar enough with the game to offer it as a concrete theory, though it sounds plausable enough. If nothing else, it would enlarge your hit area, making the game harder than it was designed to be. Indeed. Though you may have to hunt down someone a bit more knowledgable than me to verify it. I don't really expect anything in there to be readable without specialized software, but it HAS been known to happen. Nope. Not that I expect they'd answer anyways. Alphas and betas(in the sense of pre-release revisions of software, not the Robotech versions of MOSPEADA mechs) HAVE been known to surface from time to time. Odds are there IS a copy or 2 out there, but good luck figuring out who has them. ... Actually, members of the dev team are most likely to have copies. Several pre-release revisions have surfaced that way(the "perfect" build of Sinistar being a notable one), or while unreleased to the public are known to exist(a late beta of the N64 Robotech game being an example this board would recognize). A copy of PS2 Macross with the VF-0 and YF-* enabled would be EXACTLY the kind of thing a dev team member would be likely to burn a copy of for their private collection.

No, I'm pretty sure it's from the Star Wars Christmas Special.

Ok, so I just scan the data files...How would I do that? That depends on exactly how they're formatted. The first, and least likely to work, thing would be to open them in a plain text editor like Windows Notepad, and search for the proper string. This is the only one that's really EASY to do. Beyond that you need some knowledge of how exactly it works. I wouldn't really know were to begin with that either... Still the easiest way to replace a fighter. Find the RAM address that stores your current fighter, and stuff in a value that corresponds to one of the "hidden" mechs with an Action Replay or similar. That's exactly what I was thinking. My theory is that they were considering releasing it in the U.S. under the Robotech title (there were rumors about this too). But since HG didn't own the rights to Plus or Zero, they had to take the valks out at the last minute. Even though the bastardiza-er, I mean "importation" of the game never happen, they didn't bother to fix it for the Japanese release. *shakes head* If they wanted to release it as a Robotech game, they'd dummy the non-RT mechs out of the US release, but leave the JP ones in there. Regional changes are nothing new. Personal bet: PARTS of the missing VFs are there. But not enough to fly them.

Keep his origins in mind too. He got in in the early days, when a video game was a single-screen test of skill, and the only measures of progress were how long your quarter lasted and how big your score got. And the sentiment he expresses is one you see a lot in the retro-gaming community. Not just that games are too long, but that a lotof them just aren't that interesting, or are too complex for their own good, or substitute flashy graphics and 2 dozen guns for quality gameplay. Overall, I get more play time out of the small quick games than I do the large expansive ones, paradoxically. Sure, a huge RPG like Star Ocean 2(a personal favorite, as well as what I think is currently the holder of my longest single run, with a 120+-hour save) may take ages to beat, but I'm not likely to come back to it very often. On the other hand, RType Final(my current preferred game) can be beaten in a half-hour, but there's something about the simplicity and challenge that lends itself well to extended play(damn stage 5 boss... I HATE YOU!). ... That and I somehow got drawn into the whole PokeMon aspect with the ship unlocking business. ANYWAYS... I think the current tendancy to make ALL games long and involved is bad. But by the same token, I think the occasional over-zealous retro-gamer's insistence that ALL games should be short violent affairs with no plot or objective is equally bad. I think that's more what Miyamoto means. Not that all games need to be quick 1st-era arcade-type affairs(though the implication is that's most of what he plays), but there needs to SOME quick&dirty games in the market. ... Speaking of which... let's get Miyamoto to tell us if there's gonna be any arcade games on the Revolution's download network! Let's see the ORIGINAL Donkey Kong and DK Jr for a change instead of the scaled-back NES versions! </hopeless dream>

Free downloadable games is such a bad idea and its going to spell doom for Nintendo. I doubt that. It's only going to be the NES, SNES, and N64 games...that's the rumor anyway. So it's not like they're going to be giving away free GameCube and Revolution games. Hell...if you really can d/l N64 on that thing, I'll definitely be d/l-ing Conker's Bad Furday. Most people dun have the bandwidth to download 'Cube and Revolution games. ... Though having smaller games that were ONLY available online... that'd be neat. Except as I recall, MS already does that with XBox Live Arcade...

AFAIK, Nintendo owned them before or during the development of Prime 1. I was under the impression they were an independent 3rd party developer before Prime 1 hit the shelves. The way I see it, Retro as it exists now is just another Nintendo development team. ... As is evidenced by the fact that Prime 2's suitless Samus was that danged Zero Mission character design instead of an extension of the beauty they created for Prime 1's helmetless shot. Last time I looked, the Xbox was second worldwide, with solid 2nd place showings in the US and Europe. Nintendo was only second in Japan. Maybe I missed something. Last I'd seen Nintendo was slightly ahead worldwide. Like I said, they're so close it doesn't matter. I think it was more casual gamers than non-gamers. I think about it like this... what's the point of making a car for a non-driver? Because if you can convince them they need to drive, then you've got more sales. Sports gamers were already on the Genesis. PS1 did a lot better than the Genny did. It expanded the market greatly, by making a lot of non-gamers into casual gamers. Luigi's Mansion, sure. But Mario Sunshine? Take out the over-sized squirt gun, and it was nearly identical. I thought the squirt gun was generally considered as having a major impact on game play. My mistake. Except they forced Windwaker out incomplete, and delayed Ocarina of Time untill it was ready. ... Well, it's true. And Rare did the one before that. Of course, as Nintendo owned Rare, they could be considered a Nintendo dev team. Speaking of Star Fox Assaut... whatever happened to the arcade version? Speaking of that, saw some screen shots of a new 2D gameplay Mario a while back. I WANTS IT! That's partly true. But the DS has been out for a good six months now. And Feel the Magic and WarioWare are still the best games on it. Yah. I really think it was launched too early. ... Wait, where's Mr. Driller? DRILLA-SAN AM OWN!111 Meh. That sums up my thoguhts about the PSP nicely. I'll tell you when I see something interesting enough to justify the price tag. Capcom is actually one my favorite, if not the favorite developer. I like Capcom a good bit of the time too. But PN3 is still a decidedly bargin-bin title. I've seen some stores that've been trying to unload it for over a year now with little success. Vanessa deserves better than that, even if she is decidedly lacking in anti-aliasing. GO NINTENDO GO! PROVE HIM WRONG! I'm rooting FOR you. Really.

A. Higher cost. B. At this point, it'd be one of 2 standards, neither of which is guaranteed to be the winner. It'll suck for MS if they use HD-DVD, BluRay wins, and they start having trouble finding HD-DVD plants to stamp their disks. But not a full DVD. People were filling CDs on the PS1. And the SegaCD. And the *insert CD-based system/add-on here*. CDs were maxed out pretty fast. DVD is still running half-empty. Actually, FMV is dying off again. The real-time graphics are getting good enough that there's no advantage over the in-game models. There were a few 2-disk GD-ROM games. I think 3 of them. It CAN hurt if you pick the wrong drive. Sony didn't even have tech demos. Well, not PS3 tech demos. They had demos running on A nVidia chipset, but not the one going in the PS3. It was a pair of nVidia's next PC chipset, running in SLI mode. Fair bit more power than the PS3 will have, if for no other reason than the PS3 only has 1 chip.

I think that has more to do with Retro Studios, an American company, than Nintendo, or more specifically, Satoru Iwata. Thought Nintendo bought Retro Studios up after Prime 1. I don't think it is. Making games for non-gamers seems to me like making TVs for the Amish. If Nintendo were really concerned about expaning their market, they'd go after the casual gamer, the mainstream that Sony and Microsoft have been after. Sony got where they are now by pursuing the casual gamers and non-gamers. The key to the PS1's success wasn't hardcore stuff. It was sports games and FMV eyecandy. True. Sega is awesome. And I wish they still made hardware. Was nice to see a system with 1st-party arcade sticks and exotic peripherals(TWIN STICKS YAY!). I guess Nintendo's "hardcore" appeal depends on how you look at things. I like that they keep trying new stuff. For all their faults, Mario Sunshine and Luigi's Mansion WEREN'T straight copies of Mario 64(I have no desire to own any of the 3, though). ... On the other hand, they refuse to do a proper port of arcade Donkey Kong(prefering instead to keep feeding the same 1st-gen NES game back out), and are pretending DK Jr. and non-Super Mario Brothers never happened. Heck, their entire retro lineup has been lacking. One aspect-borked NES game on your GBA for 20$! YAY! At least they're doing the retro console stuff right on the Revolution. Still curious as to what all 3rd-party software's gonna be there. One can only hope that they'll score some of the "cult classics" as well as the big name hits. Metal Storm, Blaster Master, and Crystalis are every bit as good as Gradius, Contra, and Ninja Gaiden. And if that happens... PLEASE let it be the NES Crystalis, not the GBC version! I definately don't have a problem with parents getting involved with what their children are doing, or even trying to play their children's games. And while I admit that I do like games like WarioWare, I like them like I enjoy an appetizer before I get to the main course. And while you're right to say that games like that aren't all they do, they're all they have been doing for the DS, which I see as the first victim of Iwata's "simplification" kick. So, yeah, I think that this simplification thing is like dumbing down games to make them more appealing to non-gamers, and I see that coming at the expense of a truly engaging game. Fair enough. Personally, I think the DS is still picking up steam. We're seeing the simple games because they're the first ones done. ... Freaking HELL! ANOTHER damned Silver Star Story remake? STOP RAPING THE LICENSE, GAME ARTS! At least they can't touch my SegaCD. On a positive note, it looks like Metroid DS is coming out in October. Only a year after they turned the demo loose on everyone. And with luck, Nintendo will make a larger effort to get 3rd party developers this time. That makes 2 of us. I own TWO Virtual Boys. ... But one was knocked out of alignment when someone broke into the house. Hence the second unit, as it was cheaper to replace than fix at the time. SNES was my first modern console. Hopping from a Vectrex, 99/4a computer, and 3rd-hand 2600 to SNES was an amazing leap. Even if the 99/4a DID have a lot of speech. Someday I'll get an N64. There's a few titles on that I want pretty bad(Blast Corps, Mischief Makers). And as I've said before, I really like my 'Cube. It was my first current gen console because it had the stuff I most wanted to play. Even if one of the big reasons was Capcom's perpetual bargin-bin title PN03. WHICH KICKS ASS, SO THERE! *PBBBTH* Second worldwide! (Never mind this is largely because Japan treats the XBox worse than the GBA-nonSP, which sadly isn't even in manufacture anymore.) Really, though, with second so far from first, it doesn't matter. It's like complaining because the Atari 7800 didn't outsell the Sega Master System. ... Okay, it's not THAT bad. But both companies are still pretty close to each other, and pretty far from Sony.

My bet: It'll be DVD-ROM for it's entire life, estimated at 5 years. No big deal, really. Most current games aren't using half the capacity of DVDs anyways. Why use a more expensive disk and then HOPE that it's the one that becomes standard? And upgrades tend to not go over very well. Even when they ARE commercial successes, people look back and talk about how horrible an idea it was. Often the same people that were, at the time, complaining because the competition wasn't releasing similar upgrades.

Nah. It was a select few games that had issues. Was Atari's idea first. 7800 ran 2600 titles. As far as mainstream systems go, the Genesis was backwards-compatible with the Master System, as was the GameGear. And the GameBoy family was backwards compatible all down the line(GBA>GBC>GBO). Sony was just the first company to have one mainstream home system be compatible with another mainstream home system.

I'm betting that it's built-in emulation, and while it will accept all games, they're just only GUARANTEEING it will run the best-sellers(to avoid the sort of complaints that dinged the PS2 early because some games didn't run and others ran but had sever glitches).

Funny, that's how I feel about Nintendo. Nintendo is starting to develop an undeserved reputation for being the choice for the "hardcore" gamer, simply because they refuse to go after the mainstream the way Sony and Microsoft have, and because unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo is only in videogames. I'm going by what I see. Even idiotic stuff, like putting a deathmatch mode into Metroid Prime 2 because so many people complained that Prime 1 didn't have one. It's a logical move. I still think Nintendo wants the hardcore market too, though. Is that necessarily a bad thing? But that's NOT all they do. And I LIKE WarioWare. Admittedly it's not 30$ worth of like, but...

I do have serious issues with Iwata. It's like if he keeps saying that Nintendo is about fun and innovation, maybe people will start to believe it. And now they're on this "simplifcation" kick... Hey, simplification can be a good thing. Take, for example, Mars Matrix(mainly because it's a damn fun game). The arcade game has exactly one fire button. This one button controls 3 seperate and distinct actions. Biggest problem: If your finger lingers down too long, you accidentally activate your shields. The Dreamcast port added a rapid fire and charge-beam rapid fire button, greatly simplifying the game and reducing accidental shield activation. That's also something that kept me from getting into fighting games back when Street Fighter 2 was the biggest thing in the industry. There's just too much there to memorize. I play them every now and then, but quite bluntly, I suck. I know a few basic moves, but extended combo chains, counter-combos, etc. are beyond me. Of course, it all depends on WHAT you simplify. Dumbing down an RPG or strategy title is generally a Bad Thing. Cleaning up an action game can generally only improve it. It's almost like Iwata wants to screw the serious gamers in favor of delivering dog-petting sims for non-gamers. There's a lot of serious gamers that are interested in Nintendogs, actually. Either way, though... it's among the the best-selling games in Japan currently, so the plan is sound. I'll skip it, mainly because I've done the virtual pet thing already. My sister did Dogz and Catz on the PC for a long time, and I tried it then. While I'm SURE Nintendogs is better-implemented than those were, I'm strongly of the opinion that real dogs are more interesting. I like the fact that Nintendo is trying diffrent things. Even if some of them stink. He doesn't sound dumb to me, just really arrogant. His comments on the PS3 can be basically boiled down to, "We can do what we want, and charge what we want for it, and you will all buy it, because it's PlayStation." See, he DOES sound arrogant. But the whole PS1/SNES comparison makes him sound dumb too. Funny, that's how I feel about Nintendo.

Yah. I'm starting to take a perverse joy in seeing him issue statements. First the "PSP IS A WORK OF ART, IT'S NOT BROKE, WE WON'T CHANGE IT! Oh, my bad. We did change it." speil, now this. He's a stage away from being a stand-up comedian.

Yah. And the fact that the software wasn't ready didn't help either. It was one error after another after another. Largely because Sega Japan was pissed that Sega America made the Genesis a success, which Sega Japan failed to do with the MegaDrive. Everything Sega America tried to do was over-riden by Sega Japan.