JB0

Of the four of that particular style (Sympony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow), I found all but Circle to be on the easy side. Especially Symphony... only Galamoth provided any real challenge, but he was optional. And Dracula himself was a joke. At least in Aria, Death puts up a good fight. That's my take on it too, really. Only if I recall my Death battle correctly, I just slapped him with the Valkyrie PokeSoul untill he died. Honestly, though, I thought SotN put up more of a fight, at least during the starting phase, than Aria did. Just as a note, I never played Harmony of Dissonance. Can you argue differently for the other three? Even if it was a little obvious, at least Aria tried to have a plot twist. True. I just found myself not really giving a crap about anything they said in Aria. It seemed worse than usual. Again, of the four, none of them had great endings. So, to my way of thinking, your gripes with Aria are pretty much par for the course. But none of the others I've played inspired just plain old hatred like Aria. ... Or maybe it was just because the "bad" ending was too interesting. I tend to get a kick out of that sort of thing(exception: Vanguard Bandits. ARGH!) I think they lost me totally when I spent the entire game wanting a dash ability, and I got it right at the end of the stinking game. It was like they were actively mocking me at that point.

I opt to speak up for the opposing viewpoint again. I hated Aria of Sorrow. It was too easy, fairly dull writing, and the only decent ending was the "bad" one.

*blinks* I'm not sure how to take this. I HOPE it's a joke... But if it isn't... Yes. All the Metal Slug games to date, with the exception of the 2 NGPC and 1 GBA game, have started in the arcades, on SNK'S NeoGeo hardware. Never seen em. I've just seen 1, 2, 3 and X. Then I heard SNK was going under and stopped paying attention. Ah. They came back. They're like a pheonix, they always rise again from their ashes.

They're both.

I hope SNK buys Sony. But it won't happen. Oh hell no. I like SNK on multiplatforms. That woudl be if Sony bought SNK. If SNK buys Sony we'll get Metal Slug movies.

Funny thing is that when I was a kid I never noticed how choppy some parts were animated. I just resaw that episode today after who knows how many years and that fight was... Yah. When I was a kid it was "WOW! MOVING PICTURES! Now where's the transforming jets that blow stuff up?" But now? It's just hideous. I REALLY want to like that episode too, but ithurts to watch.

I hope SNK buys Sony. But it won't happen.

*blinks* I'm not sure how to take this. I HOPE it's a joke... But if it isn't... Yes. All the Metal Slug games to date, with the exception of the 2 NGPC and 1 GBA game, have started in the arcades, on SNK'S NeoGeo hardware.

PS3 pad looks like... well, like Sony stole the GameCube handles and welded them to the DualShock. Personally, I think it's a massive improvement, as the 'Cube pad is the most comfortable one I've used since... well, ever, and I've always hated the handles Sony uses. For me the standard DualShock design is a study in discomfort. I've never been ble to hold the thing in a way that made my hands NOT hurt after a while. The PS3 pads might turn out to be comfy like that (I'll agree that the Cube's pads are comfier than they look), but rather than adding comfier grips to the current dual shock, it looks more like they took a U-shaped tube and threw some buttons on it. Perhaps comfy to hold, but it doesn't appear to be comfy to hold and push buttons/work the sticks. And you gotta admit... the 360's controllers do look pretty comfy. The preview/review that IGN posted was extremely favorable, too. Believe it or not, I'm being my usual optimistic self. I expect the worst of Sony(and usually proven right, as in the other thread), but keep holding out hope that they'll do something to prove me wrong. The fact that they're even partially abandoning the standard dual shock layout encourages me to no end Though I AM dismayed that the thumbsticks are still down low and there's still only 4 face buttons, they seem to have brought start and select out from the center, so there'll be less stick interference there. Without a shot of the underside, I can only hope that L2 and R2 have been stepped back farther than L1/R1 for a change.

You're almost making me wish MGREXX was still around to read this! Kind of odd though, if the GPU doesn't exist how can they have dev kits already out? Something smells real fishy in all this. The way I understand it is that there are different levels of dev kits, with the earliest kits being little more than PCs with approximate hardware and tools that they can use to get started. As the hardware gets closer to release, finalized dev kits are sent out so the developers can finish tweeking their stuff and finalize it for the actual hardware. This is, incidentally, the reason why a lot of the 360 games looked so unimpressive. The final dev kits were late shipping, and the demos weren't designed with the final hardware in mind. Well without a solid GPU an early dev kit could be completly different from what the system is actually going to be. Isn't that sort of irresponsible to ship it with a "your guess is as good as mine" metality? It's standard practice. The first SNES dev kits were Apple 2GS computers, because they shared a CPU. Later, of course, the SNES hardware was finalized, and they shipped REAL dev kits. But the early "dev kit" let programmers start getting used to the processor. And they can make educated guesses about how the system will interface with it's peripherals. The fact that most developers nowadays use a high-level language like C++ makes it easier. Sony can have the graphics libraries ready to go before the hardware is. The libraries can be updated as the hardware changes, thereby ensuring that code generated on the old kit is still good. On the other hand, it's nice to see nVidia confirm what I was already pretty sure of. That wasn't real PS3 footage, and the only indication we have that it's indicative of what the PS3 can do is Sony's word. But then, Sony said it was all real PS3 footage, so how much can they be trusted?

I wish I was that lucky. My spam is more along the lines of "cum gallons all over her" and "viagra without a perscription." ... Sadly, this e-mail account was recieving spam before I ever used it.

PS3 pad looks like... well, like Sony stole the GameCube handles and welded them to the DualShock. Personally, I think it's a massive improvement, as the 'Cube pad is the most comfortable one I've used since... well, ever, and I've always hated the handles Sony uses. For me the standard DualShock design is a study in discomfort. I've never been ble to hold the thing in a way that made my hands NOT hurt after a while.

Mmmmm, 5200... The VCS/2600 has all standard parts. You can get everything you need to set it up out of Radio Shack. 5200 is a bit more complex. Most notably, there's 2 diffrent designs, and one has the power coming in through the antenna cable. This version uses a proprietary auto-switchbox.

All this talk about video cards reminds me that I have a Quadro FX sitting on a shelf. Would be a nice change of pace from the GeForce2 I'm running right now. I laugh at all your girlie men with your single-slot graphics cards. I always liked combat on the 2600 better than pong. Should I point out that "Pong" isn't available on the Atari? Just Video Olympics. And personally, I say Warlords is the best. Particularly if you get 3 friends crowded around the console. Dude, I still have my original Atari system from back in the late 70's. Pong was the first game made for it. No, it wasn't. The pack-in for the original 1977 "heavy sixer" decks was Combat, as it was with all VCS/2600s until PacMan replaced it in 1983. And you will NEVER find a cartridge called simply "Pong." The closest you will get is a TeleGames cart labelled "Pong Sports," which is the Sears-branded version of "Video Olympics." You ARE half-right, however. Pong is present in Pong Sports, and PS/VO was one of the original nine games available at launch. I'm getting my consoles mixed up. I have the stand alone deck which played only pong. My goof. I stand corrected. No prob. I just find it amusing how many people remember owning Pong for their 2600 when no such beast exists.

It's a certain point of view. We remember things depending on how we see it from our point view. For example, from ym point of view, M7 was a good show. From A1's POV, it was an abomination. And from our point of view a door is an entryway. From AgentONE's point of view, it's a place for sexual release.

Hey, I always wanted to see a jedi running around with a gun. That woulda been freaking awesome. They DO have an excuse for their swords, though. Being able to deflect incoming fire is pretty useful. And it's a great general-purpose tool. Entry tool, light source, can opener... the list is endless.

Like Max's first battle? Where Hikaru just sat there stunned as Max blasted things, and flipping into battroid mode just because it was a better-looking kill? And then blamed his slow performance on the fact that he was having to protect his new charges? Hikaru was a respectable pilot(don't get the impression I'm trying to say otherwise). And by the time he got Vermillion team, he'd grown into a respectable combat pilot too. Furthermore, he'd seen Roy in action, who was most certainly an even more skilled combat pilot. And he was STILL stopped dead in his tracks by Max's performance, despite his own familiarty with good combat pilots. He didn't just go "Wow, he's good for a newbie" and keep on fighting. He stopped and stared until he was berated by his superiors for it. Max was good enough to leave a close friend of Focker sitting there slack-jawed and dumbfounded. That has to count for something. Right. I can just see the radio traffic. Hikaru: Hey Max, you seee the guy in the Glaug? Max: Yeah, he's pretty good. Hikaru: That's why I want YOU to go chase him down. He'll just SHOOT me. Max: Wha? But you're the leader. Doesn't that mean you're BETTER than me? Hikaru: I know that's what the papers say, but let's face it, I suck. You're some sort of freaking god of the battlefield. Max: But I'm not... I'm just a raw recruit with no real experience. Misa: Vermillion leader, quit trying to use your wingmates as shields! Go deal with the problem yourself, you big chicken! Hikaru was team leader. He got credit for his team's work as well as his own. And if I recall, Hikaru and Max got promoted at roughly the same time. And in their conversation after the fact, they acknowledged that neither of them was really due a promotion yet and that only got them because there weren't enough pilots on the ship. Hikaru got shot down in that battle. Max didn't. Enough said.

*shrugs* I guess people just walked a long way to get out onto the arms after they landed. if I was stuck inside a space ship for a year I would walk/drive a long way to get to that sweet fresh air. This is true. And I guess a 2-3 mile drive isn't that far, though parking'd be a real pain.

I've used a few of the clones before. Neat for what they are, really. Not impressive by any standards, though. As I understand things, 480 is the official # of image lines in a standard NTSC signal.From there, 640*480 is nice, standard, and easy to work with(being 4*3, your pixels are square, which makes it easier to concieve how things will be viewed). ... 720*480 likely is used for games that support anamorphic widescreen. I was thinking of strict NTSC, which defines a 4*3 image ratio. It's important to note that, as far as analog displays are concerned, that there's only a "real" resolution for the vertical axis. Horizontal is analog. While there is a max resolution for horizontal designated by wavelength, it's messy as well as diffrent for chroma and luma. Also worht noting that in practice, very few sets display the full "visible image" portion of the signal. There's usually an "overscan" that drives the top and bottom scanlines off the top and bottom edges of the screen, and the endpoints of teh scanlines off the left and right edges. This is less pronounced than it used to be, but still happens. Visible effect of this: If you've ever played an NES on a nice TV, you've probably seen garbage data on the edges of the screen. Some clever NES programmers back in the day realized that since all 240(NES used each half-frame as a full frame) lines weren't showing up on-screen, they could "steal" a row of tiles(each NES graphics "tile" is 8* from the beginning and end of the frame buffer and use them just like any other area of RAM with no visible effects. At this point, it helps to remind people that in the NES days you only had one set of RAM, and all that distinguished video RAM from main RAM was that the graphics chip was looking at it, much the same way as when you look out at the world from a specific window of your house you always see a specific part of the world. So they stole those 16 lines, it worked, and everyone that needed a little more RAM copied them. And the NES rapidly became a system with a 256*224 resolution instead of the spec'ed 256*240(not 4*3, but 256 is a far more convenient # than 320, especially for an 8-bit machine).

Heh. Apparently it trains people to track moving objects well(like cars and pedestrians) and keep their eyes on the dash and the road at the same time. I'd have to dig the study up again. Surely Millia considered this. ... Of course, she may also have assumed that anyone skilled enough to draw her attention WOULD have risen thorugh the ranks, and so not worried about it. Would've hurt even worse when she found out Max wasn't even high-ranking. You know, if she hadn't fallen madly in love. *shrugs* I guess people just walked a long way to get out onto the arms after they landed. Maybe... I really need to rewatch the show sometime soon. I dunno. She seemed pretty serious about inflicting sharp stabbity wounds upon him. ... I still hate AnimeFiend for that episode.

I always liked combat on the 2600 better than pong. Should I point out that "Pong" isn't available on the Atari? Just Video Olympics. And personally, I say Warlords is the best. Particularly if you get 3 friends crowded around the console. Dude, I still have my original Atari system from back in the late 70's. Pong was the first game made for it. No, it wasn't. The pack-in for the original 1977 "heavy sixer" decks was Combat, as it was with all VCS/2600s until PacMan replaced it in 1983. And you will NEVER find a cartridge called simply "Pong." The closest you will get is a TeleGames cart labelled "Pong Sports," which is the Sears-branded version of "Video Olympics." You ARE half-right, however. Pong is present in Pong Sports, and PS/VO was one of the original nine games available at launch.

A noob in need is a noob indeed.

But, but... I LIKE cartoony graphics. That was one of Robotech: Battlecry's best features, IMO.

GE fakes their lumen outputs. Runs a bank of halogen spotlights and claims it's their newest incandescent design. They've NEVER gotten anywhere near the brightness they claim that they'll get.

I always liked combat on the 2600 better than pong. Should I point out that "Pong" isn't available on the Atari? Just Video Olympics. And personally, I say Warlords is the best. Particularly if you get 3 friends crowded around the console.