Frances Penfold quote: "Not all controllers are born equally, and they sure as hell are altered naturally by use. Does that make Medusa's times invalid? Should she sell her PSP to the highest bidder at WOZ because it's an unmod'd controller that behaves like an outlawed mod'd one? That's why simple controller mods are almost always allowed for time trials and speed runs-- it is impossible to level the playing field."

Ah, it's too late for me to profit, Frances, I cleaned the sticky button ages ago, and I've already sold it anyway. Not that anyone here would be looking for a PSP to make them go slower.

The thing that has always been precious to me about WipEout is that although it is impossible to level the playing field, it is possible to keep the playing field fair. The trick with that is to use a playing field where all the participants follow the same rules - the WipeoutZone.

Lunar quote: "I`d also support a new and explicit "no custom firmware" and "no controller mods" rule. I think the times have changed and something new is needed, so it`s totally clear and it leaves no room for people to interpret the rules in their own way. Also, in the future, people may not have read this thread before they submit times and it would be easier not to have to have these arguments again!"

Hear, hear. I agree.

This is a small community, and although I've not been here that long, I can easily guess why that's so, and why there are so few records on the site. Everyone who stays with WipeoutZone is here because they truly love the WipEout genre - more than being number one, more than beating others' times, more than bragging all over the place about how great they are - they love WipEout more than they love themselves.

Nearly everyone who's replied in this thread is really fired up about it, and with good reason. Especially the top pilots, but others too, have spent a lot of time, a lot of their life, trying to be faster in Pure and Pulse.

I have to say it is sad to see so much tension here, so I have to give my advice to everybody - Love the game, and relax! It's not such a hardship to have set rules for everyone here, is it? It's better to know how all the pilots here on the site are racing, because then we can all respect one another evenly.

Besides, the only true way to know who is the fastest is to race one another live, which is possible with Pure and Pulse, and if people want to race their way, away from the record tables, than they can.

We will see better times ahead with HD, right?

*please, SL, no more of this nose-down crap in HD*