Rendclaw

The Spurs won in 99 and 03, and a lot of people can say that was because of David Robinson, but I don;t think that they win without players like Sean Elliott and Mario Elie. And Rip, thats cool. You have your thoughts, I have mine... In my world I have to give Jordan his props, even though I think Magic did more things. If Jordan is #1, Magic is #1a. As far as the building around the big man, the problem is now that there are not enough players in the league that are fundamentally sound enough for that formula to work very well. And the big man cannot have any glaring weaknesses (like Shaq's, Chamberlain's and now Duncan's bad free throw shooting) My problem with Reggie was that he was just a bit too one-dimensional. He did the other things just well enough to get by for most of his career. He was a good defender, but anyone with enough ability and perseverance could do what they wanted against him.

Pippen/Jordan is the mirror image of Shaq/Kobe. One could not have risen to the heights they attained without the other. Neither one of them accomplished as much without each other as they did with each other. The argument is moot, because while we can speculate about what *MIGHT* have happened if Jordan didn;t have Pippen or Shaq didn't have Kobe, that's exactly what it is: SPECULATION. Jordan was the best player in history, no doubt, but he would not have enjoyed as much success in the league without Pippen. Their relationship was symbiotic, just like Magic/Kareem, Bird/McHale/Parrish, Olajuwon/Drexler. Every great player needs a second one to compliment his skills and quite honestly, take some of the defensive pressure away from the greater player. Pippen was above average, definitely, but think of the "Silent Assassin" Nike commercial that showcased him. Nuff Said. And from the start of reading the thread, I understood that this was about ability, not championships. Straight up ability, and the awards that come from that ability. The list wouldn;t even make 50 if championships were included in the equation. Hell, I doubt it would make 20.

Don't base your willingness to play FF X based on X-2. Completely different games with completely different attitudes. I don't even count X-2 as a real FF game, more like a weird expansion of X that you had to pay full price for. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Oh I know, at this point its the investment of time that concerns me the most, as I know people who still play it to this day because of blitzball. You're not alone Dames, I played Mario 64 back in the days of selling those systems, and had less interest in it than in Zelda. I think the only game that made me even remotely interested in buying an N64 was Rogue Squadron.

I've been into RPGs since the age of 12 and I had no interest in Zelda. I still don't. I have been really hesitant about playing FFX, even though my roommate gave it to me. X-2, I;ve already gave my opinion based on what I saw, no need ro regurgitate it here. The only Fire Pro Wrestling game I liked was the one where they have the sickest, physically impossible moves. I think that came out in 96, as the guys in the video gaming store my then roommate worked at used to make feds. The character I had nothing but martial arts kicks and suplexes.

That's hilarious.

This is just sad. I hope most of it is not true. I thought that Halle Berry was overkill, particularly for the role that Storm has. For something like X-Men, everyone has to have a chance in the spotlight during points in the movie. I think the only thing they really did in X2 was develop Wolverine some more, and show just how much of an evil badass Magneto was. Everything else was just filler, IMO. And Lushus my brother, don;t even get me started on Daredevil. I went on a big enough rant on it after I saw it.

Which one is the beat-em-up packaged inside the game?

I remember as plain as day when my mother finally got me an Atari 2600, though it was the Sears licensed Telegames console. I had already been into pinball and arcade games dating back to 1975, and this was heaven to me. Of course there were disappointing games like Pac-Man, but there were games, like Defender, Stargate, Star Raiders, and the much-improved Ms. Pac Man. then I conned my mother is getting me an Atari 5200. The only game for it I had was Pac-Man, but that was enough... by then I was on the next thing; a Commodore 64c. Those were the "glory years" for me, because I could play games, do word processing and go online to BBSes. I never got an NES, and I did own a SNES for a time before I had to sell it for food. Shortly after that I met my then-roommate and she had everything.... NES, SNES, Genesis, 5200, 7800, and a 2600 collection that put most collectors to shame. Hell as much of a gamer as I was, I should have married the girl, and would have if things had turned out differently. I bought a PS1 in 96, I think.

I would have to say Need for Speed Underground 2. Perfect mix of customization and competition. I just wish I could start over on a harder level with the cars I have.

In the novelization of ANH, there were four squadrons of fighters, with Red and Blue Squadrons (later changed to Gold and Red for the movie) doing the trench run while Green and Yellow Squadrons kept the gun emplacements and extra TIEs busy. Naturally the technology of 1976-77 could no support all of that.

I couldn't agree more. In my world, the Yuuzhan Vong invasion never happened.

I read the second and third books of the New Jedi Order series only because it was Stackpole writing them. After the very first book, where Chewie gets killed, I had a sour taste in my mouth from that point forward.

Of course with novels that is slower pacing. I have yet to read a book that can match the pacing of a wel--done action movie. What I meant is that by capturing the "flavor" of the Star Wars universe, even though it could be different authors writing different stories, there is a certain method to it that will just grab me and put me right there, almost as if I am watching it as a movie. Zahn, Stackpole, Allston and Crispin each did a wonderful job in doing just that.

Roddy Piper circa 1985 was the best heel of them all, and Don Muraco was about the most sadistic heel of that era. I mean, Piper wearing a T-shirt saying "I Broke Jimmy Snuka's neck" is about the most heelish thing you can do, considering how beloved Snuka was after his face turn.

I thought the media like Rasheed? I'm gonna say Detroit in 7 and there will only be one game in this series that will go over 85 points. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The only time they like Rasheed is when he gets techs and ejections. Nuff Said. This is an almost even matchup, even though the Spurs will get the nod from the media. It all comes down to coaching (which is almost a wash there too) and mental toughness. The Pistons have been know to go through horrendous dry spells where they couldn't thorw the ball into the ocean if they were hanging off the end of the pier, and the Spurs have been known to fold like an accordian in the face of true adversity (see Western Conference Finals, 2003). Its going to come down to heart and desire, I think. Pistons in 7. No way this series goes less than six games. No way in hell.

Nice picture of Ackbar. I dunno about the TV series. They really should go back to the Rebellion Era and do some stories there... if they adapted the Han Solo Trilogy and did it well, they would make a killing.

There comes a point where someone is just so far gone you have to do what you can to stop him. That was Obi-Wan's stance, as Anakin showed during that duel that anything they had as friends was long gone when Anakin turned to the dark side. I think that Obi-Wan should have killed him, but that would have destroyed the reason for the Trilogy in the first place. And the Jedi Academy was pure, unmitigated garbage. Stackpole writing I, Jedi made it only slightly more palatable. Understand that there are really crappy EU novels. And do NOT get me started on the New Jedi Order series. That was a horrible idea the whole way around, from the concept to the execution. I refused to read any more of it after the first three novels. Its your opinion, Kaertos, but I think Zahn captured the Star Wars atmosphere almost perfectly.

Definitely the X-Wing series. Of the two authors, I prefer Allston to Stackpole as his characters have more flair and he makes better use of humour. Corran Horn who features prominently in the Stackpole books is pretty bland compared to the heroes in Wraith Squadron. Some of them are borderline insane. Another good series is the Han Solo Trilogy by AC Crispin which includes alot of the early stuff about Han's career, from his entrance/expulsion with the Imperial Academy to the final flameout with Lando that is touched upon in ESB. Most of the big events are in there (meeting with Chewie, winning the Millenium Falcon, signing up with Jabba, etc.) Probably the most interesting part of the books is the Godfather-esque relationships between the various Hutt families. Jabba is actually given a real character here. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Agreed. I always laud the Han Solo Trilogy to a great degree. Next to Zahn's trilogy its the best one out there. If Zahn's trilogy is #1, then the Han Solo Trilogy is #1a. I liked Corran Horn from the jump, though yes, Wraith Squadron is more entertaining. The X-Wing series is 9 books long, but it is worht every page.

I liked that they had another Mandalorian in the Marvel Comic (Fenn Shysa). Basically he was an ally who was a minor romantic rival of Han's for Leia's attention, but it was cool nonetheless. thank goodness for the EU, because it took the ball that was Star Wars and ran with it. Thank goodness Lucas did that, even if he was doing it to line his own pockets.

So did Obi-Wan, when you think about it.... I think he was in his late thirties - early forties at the end of ROTS, so he would be in his late fifties to mid sixties by the time ANH comes around. I think its more of a reflection of the harsh conditions of Tatooine than anything else. With Owen and Beru being moisture farmers, thats an even harder existence than the seclusion that Obi-Wan put himself in. And most people view droids as we view PCs in this day and age; a tool, nothing more. I think thats why Owen did not recognize the droids, aside from Artoo and Threepio being very common droid models. The clones were undoubtedly created with these "Imperial" orders in mind, to be carried out at a moment's notice. Cody's personality changed drastically from the moment the order was given.

Artoo knew the value of discretion, so he kept a lot of things to himself.

Palpatine's subjugation of other races stems from the fact that almost all of the high-level officers, governors and moffs in the Empire were male and human... it was expanded on in the books, and that a lot of the key alien worlds were either subjugated or outright destroyed. And Essa, you were absolutely right. I always felt that way from the first movie on as well.

I have to agree with that, they didn;t have a lot of chemistry in either Clones or Sith, but since when was any of the Star Wars movies aside from ESB about dialogue?? If the thrid trilogy gets made, I just hope that a director is hired who is able to pull something out of his actors.

Is it any surprise, as the WWE wrestling style is to minimize to chance of injury, which translates into minimal risk? I agree that he should have a full-out Exploder, but thats not gonna happen. Personally I am surprised that they allow Shelton to do as much as he does. That corner-jump clothesline is pretty risky, though I love it. They need more of what he does, and less of the slowed-down, play-it-safe style they have been using over the years.

I'm ordering it as we speak. Hands down, the Road Warriors were my favorite tag team.