Chi Ming Hung (cmhung@INSTI.PHYSICS.SUNYSB.EDU)
Thu, 14 Jan 1999 16:48:49 -0500
X-Mailer: Z-Mail (3.2.0 26oct94 MediaMail) Message-ID: <9901141648.ZM13432@insti.physics.sunysb.edu> Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 16:48:49 -0500 From: Chi Ming Hung <cmhung@INSTI.PHYSICS.SUNYSB.EDU> Subject: Re: Traffic!
On Jan 14, 3:02pm, Paul Chi wrote:
> Subject: Traffic!
> OK, I had a nightmare last night that half of the ML members
> unsubscribed because there's been no traffic at all recently! So now I feel
> compelled to send this lame message.
Don't worry Paul, periods of silence are not unusual at all for low-traffic
ML's like this one. e.g. I'm also on the LoGH (Legend of Galactic Heroes)
ML, and the traffic there is also pretty sporadic.
> I noticed that a lot of subscribers have joined recently, and I guess I
> have Ming to thanks for that. Thanks, Ming!
No need to thank me Paul, just doing my part to promote ST. Sorry I haven't
done it earlier.
> So, do any new subscribers care to introduce themselves?
Being one of the "newbies" =) I guess I should introduce myself... But
then a website is worth 1000 words, so why not see for yourself: =)
http://looney.physics.sunysb.edu/~daffy/
http://pei.physics.sunysb.edu/~ming/anime/sakura.html
> Or does
> anybody have a topic they want to discuss?
If anybody's interested, here's an impression of my recent visit to the
only official Sakura Taisen speciality store in the world (I think).
The name of the store is "Taisho Roman Dou" (Hall of Taisho Romance).
It's located in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo, on the fifth floor of
the Sega GIGO game center. The tiny floor area in each level of GIGO
is packed with all kinds Sega arcade machines. I didn't have time to
check the other levels of GIGO, but on the fifth floor they have a
bunch of those cute "photo machines" which allow you to take tiny
self-sticking digital pictures of yourself, with selectable background
images. There's even one photo machine with Sakura Taisen characters
as background! Assuming you don't get lost in the labyrinth of photo
machines, Taisho Roman Dou is inconspicuously located at one corner of
the fifth floor. The interior of the store is not very large but is
well-decorated with decors of the Taisho period. The salespersons
were all dressed in the familiar Tsubaki-style "uniform" from the
game, quite kawaii. =) All kinds of ST goodies grace the shelves in
the store: art books, strategy guides, trading cards, models,
etc. etc. Prices are generally from reasonable to pricy. I only
picked up the Sega strategy guide to ST2, but wish I had more cash to
have picked up everything else =) One corner of the store has a kind
of tiny "stage" which looks like it may be a spot for taking photos,
but when I asked a salesperson whether I could take pictures he said I
could not. (*shrug*) While I was browsing and drooling over all the
fabulous ST goodies, the female salesperson (who has a slight
resemblance to Tsubaki BTW =) launched into an animated sales pitch
towards the several Japanese customers who were in the store.
Unfortunately I couldn't make out what she was saying, but she was
cute ^_^;
My overall impression of the Taisho Roman Dou is that of a cute little
ST store choke full of ST goodies, a must-see for any ST fan visiting
Japan, and the perfect place for ST fans to empty their wallets fast =)
The only regret is the fact that no photos are allowed...
> How about this one:
>
> What do you dislike most about Sakura Taisen?
Nothing... maybe except that there's no English support ;)
BTW, anybody got more news about ST3 on Dreamcast?
> I've only played ST1 twice, so the best I can come up with is that the
> battle system was a bit too lightweight for my taste. For me, there wasn't
> really much sense that my pilots were improving from battle to battle,
> which is important in a Strategy-RPG. (So I got really excited when the
> Jinbu were developed! ^_^)
Oh talking about the Jinbu, I was half expecting something different
when I got to the point where the Koubu proved inadequate in ST1 battles.
Since they've been talking about the growing psychic power of the girls, I
thought the next natural battle "improvement" would be for them to fight
bare-handed with those baddies =) so I was sorta disappointed when it
turned out to be just an improved version of the Koubu =)
> I hear that ST2 has more tactical features, so I'm looking forward to
> playing that during my spring vacation. ^_^
ST2 has more of everything I guess. It just feels like a longer better
game. I'm still at episode 3 of the game. Wanted to do the translation
and frame grabs etc. as I went along , but it took on average more than
10 hours to finish one episode this way... Need to find a more efficient
way or I'll never find the time to finish the game =)
jaa mata ne,
Ming.