F-ZeroOne

I've had a chance to play the game a bit; initial observations: Controls in realistic seem a touch twitchy; if a real Spitfire stalled as much as that the Luftwaffe would probably just have needed to buzz an airfield and watch an entire RAF squadron spin into the ground. Mind you, I'm not a real Spitfire pilot, so who knows, but from the many accounts I've read of people who were, "tendency to drop nose at slightest provocation" doesn't appear to be one of its features. Strict historical accuracy takes an early beating; its possible Hurricanes strafed German destroyers during the Battle of Britain but I doubt they dropped bombs on them. Also, 12 gun Hurricanes in 1940? Hmm... I wish certain aspects were selectable rather than limited to one reality setting or the other; I would much prefer the "Realistic" damage setting in Arcade, for example. Having said that, the game does a great job of making you feel like Ace McAce of the RAFs McAce squadron as you plunge through a flight of He-111s and scream past a bunch of falling, flaming wings. The oil on your windshield is a beautiful touch. Only tried the bomber tutorial once, but its increased my respect for real bomber veterans tenfold, especially those who flew the real thing, in daylight, in 1940, against Me 109s.

I don't think the landing gear has been shot off in the cover image, I think its actually missing to start with for whatever reason - the Ju-87s landing gear was fixed and non-retractable, and although the one in in the image is obviously distressed it doesn't look like the landing gear has been blown completely away.

A "fagot" as opposed to a "happy person" is apparently a bundle of sticks or similar (or metal pieces) tied together. Its worth bearing in mind that in Britain at least, "happy person" can also refer to a type of meat-ball, something that has caused some embarrassing confusion throughout the ages.

Curious. Whats missing from this picture? http://www.amazon.co.uk/IL-2-Sturmovik-Bir...4529&sr=8-2 The aircraft being shot down *appears* to be a Ju-87 Stuka. Except someone has nicked its landing gear... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuka The actual game cover is exactly the same as that image, at least in Europe.

Unfortunately it seems Sunrises legal department wants to get justice.

I see the US Navy finally found an affordable replacement for the Hornet... and those aren't explosives, its people ears detonating from those who stood too close to the Harrier...!

"Worldwide" includes the UK as well, right? Right?! Interesting the report mentions the Gundam "franchise" - they couldn't? Could they? Wheres my 'tache...?! I need to be ready!

I don't know how true this is, but someone once told me thats something to do with the compression DVD uses. Its noticeable that when I play a DVD, its quieter than what I might have been watching on TV before...

I should have known you'd know better!

Ah, I'd heard that there was a private collector somewhere who had one, but I'd always assumed it was the earlier FRS1 version - it was the radome on this one that threw me for a loop, it appears to be one of the later variants with the Blue Vixen radar. Also, David, you must be tired - otherwise you'd have remembered the Indian Navys Sea Harriers...

Tell me about it. I had Samba de Amigo for the Dreamcast, with the maracas and everything. I sold it them for a lot less than they go for now...

Where the heck did that Sea Harrier come from?! I didn't think there any left in FAA service, and the only Harriers the UK used were ground attack types without a radar...?

I had one of the original Rio 500 MP3 players. It could hold about an albums worth of tracks and I never actually got it to work until just before I got rid of it, when a patch came out. I also had a DVD/LD combo player, which seemed like a good idea at the time. I still have half of Kimagure Orange Road on LD and the other half on VHS... Regards the Amiga (and the Atari ST), I'm not sure I'd say they went "nowhere", exactly. I always got the impression that the 16-bit computers were much more popular here in Europe, whereas the US tended to be more focussed on consoles like the NES at the time. The Amiga and ST are regarded with some of the same fondness here that the NES is... Edit: sorry, re-reading the original post I see that you mention the Amiga 500 specifically rather than Amigas generally...

Russias building a Legioss fighter?!

Full Metal Panic?

That could be good and help avoid the fate that befell F-91. This is unrelated to Unicorn but seems the best place to put it; someones back: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-...undam-previewed Start making arrangements for the will, Mobile SUIT pilots; Death is coming...

You can imagine the GMs calls to his agent, can't you? "Whats this about a new Universal Century series set on Earth during the One Year War? You've got to get me this gig, baby! Theres no way Bandai will make a series solely about GunTanks, and Amuro wossname will be off fighting Zakurellos in space! Its my time! Its what we've been waiting for! I'll finally be able to get that swimming pool Mrs. GMs been nagging me ab - - what do you mean, 'RX-79[G] Gundam Ground Type'...?!!" Apparently the Ground Type Gundams were made out of spares produced for the RX-78. There are precedents for this - the Bristol Beaufighter used parts from the Blenheim bomber to speed up production - but its yet another twang in the elastic fabric of Gundam continuity...

Currently watching Cutey Honey, the original series. Its a blast, Sailor Moon as written by Ian Fleming.

Yes, 8th MS Team wasn't quite what I was expecting - its a decent series, and it features some of the finest ret-con designs in the franchise, but going by the opening sequence you're sort of led to expect Apocalypse Gundam and what you get is a bit more like M.A.S.H. Gundam. Having said that, the final episode is one of the best things Gundams ever done. Also, in one episode and for about thirty seconds, a GM gets to be unquestionably, completely, utterly awesome. Of course, shortly after that its ordered to commit a major war crime but then GMs never get the love...

At this point Turn-A Gundam sticks its 'tache in the door and compels you to get 'tache too.

Okay...! T.V. never lies, it just omits information sometimes.

Er... I thought it did have a time limit? According to the book "First Quarter", Bushnell set up a new games company called Sente in about 1984, having been prevented from doing so by the clause before that. However, Sente did not replicate the success of Atari...

Currently alternating between VOTOMS: The Pailsen Files (for those who weren't looking forward to the CGI, I have to say that although at times it tends took like a last generation video game they actually use it pretty well generally), Getter Robo (original series), Great Mazinger (ditto), L-Gaim, Galaxy Express 999 movie, Panzer World Galient and the just awesome Aura Battler Dunbine OAV. Yes, I happen to like the old stuff. How could you tell?

I think no-one wants to admit having watched it... A friend who has seen it (ahem!) tells me that its basically a pr0n version of Project A-Ko or Kimagure Orange Road, in terms of artistic style. Basically about 10 minutes of plot and twenty minutes of relatively mild hentai. Or so I'm informed. cough!

Oh, its real all right. Here in the UK I used to be able to receive some German channels through an analogue satellite receiver and Sailor Moon would be broadcast about the time I got home from work. At the time, anime in any language was a bit of a scarce commodity so I would watch it whilst having lunch (and no, I don't speak German). I can still find myself - to my horror - humming that theme when I'm distracted...