Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. Have you ever eaten American cheese wrapped around a banana? Don't say we didn't warn you.

snow.

*looks up at the gray sky*

SNOW.

*checks the thermometer*

It's cold enough...so SNOW already!!

*checks calendar*

I have to go back to Miami in a week!!

*throws a fit, stomping her feet on the ground and pounding on the walls of the Geosynchronous satellite.*

This is just one of the reasons why they never let me anywhere near this column.

Well, since I really have no idea, I'll just have to call on my gang and use them to conduct research.

*claps her hands twice and Bastian, JigglyPuff, Pikachu and Flikbot come running*

*hands each one an unwrapped tootsie roll pop*

"I need you to lick this and tell me how many licks it takes to get to the center. Work on that while I finish this column."

I've heard both positive and negative opinions of PE2 so far...people are already whining about the graphics they've seen put up, or declaring that "sequels suk."

The only thing I can really offer is that I always wait to judge a game until after I've played a lot of it...even if it's a sequel. After all, I feel that Konami pulled off a really awesome sequel with Suikoden 2 and I've heard a lot of praise concerning Chrono Cross, but we've also seens sequels be nothing but disastrous and pointless rehashes.

Have I mentioned how much I like Suikoden's Flik?

Oh dear...From a stereotypical American standpoint I'd have hold up my arms and make a cross chanting "sex bad! gay people evil! therefore, FFVIII = terrible, horrible, no good, very bad satan-worshipping game!"

Then again, since I'm not your stereotypical American...nor your stereotypical girl...and considering the fact that that was but a rumor thus proved to be false, I'd have to shrug and reply "At least we finally have something more entertaining than Aeris resurrection rumors."

Lastly, if you ever call me Tamster again, I will have to kill you. Going through life with a name like Tamzen was difficult enough - being called Tasmin, Tamizia, Tazmanian Devil, Tamzara and other such variations...and, if I said "call me Tami" people spelled it Tammy, or better yet, Tammie...I rather gave up hope of ever having it spelled right.

Of course, my brother thinks we should just rename me "Pikachu" and leave it at that...which might actually make sense if Pikachu was a hamster instead of a mouse. Uh...then again, maybe not...

Last I heard the world was supposed to end about a week ago and it didn't, so I'm gonna have to go with the Lufia bit. Then again, that's not so promising either, eh?

My favorite games...well, that seems to get tougher and tougher to decide the more games that are produced. I've always been a Final Fantasy fan, with my favorites of the series being VI, VIII and Tactics. Beyond that I really adored the remake of Lunar SSS, and I worship the Suikoden series, which IMHO are two of the most over-looked games out there. And if you haven't figured it out already, I'm a Pokémon freak.

I have noticed that I can't fall for a game totally and completely unless it has awesome music and both a winning story and endearing characters.

Aya Brea...hmm...she may not be the best looking girl around, but she's certainly better looking than Lara Croft, eh? Of course, if I had to pick a character to swoon over, it would be Suikoden's Flik. *dreamy sigh*

I'm afraid I don't have the knowledge to answer this one, so I'm going to pass it off to someone who does:

Bastian the Royal Turtle: *ahem* Considering that "overwhelmed" is generally used when people feel they have too much to do, too great a weight upon them, and underwhelmed is the opposite, would not "whelmed", without the prefix, have to be neither? Therefore, in my most humble of opinions, "whelmed" would be the perfect state of balance in one's life, true harmony and satisfaction in all things. Upon coming to this conclusion, it should be obvious why the word has become obsolete.

"Why do I have the feeling we've picked up another pathetic lifeform?"

Never. I will never allow the monkeys to have their own school.

Not until all the worlds dogs and cats, birds and elephants, llamas and giraffes, sheep and goats, turtles and frogs, especially FROGS get to have schools to!!

How dare you come to me with such a request when you know just how many others are waiting for the same privilege! Shame on you!

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I play games to get away from reality and have some fun. Some people (I won't mention names) find their fun simply in mocking games, which doesn't bother me since I'm amused reading their websites... "To each his own?"

I find that loving a game for its good points is more satisfying than droning endlessly about its bad ones, but everyone's different. Perhaps this is a question for all of you to answer.

Should gamers stop bitching and start enjoying games more? Just because we have so many more games to choose from, does that give us the justification to bash them more than we used to?

oh yeah, Bulbasaur is cool, I'll admit, but no way in hell does he top JigglyPuff.

no.

But I'd like to kick your butt for typing like that.

You remind me of how irritating I find Thousand Arms to be at 7 hours into the game.

Oh bother...This column is about done and my entourage is still licking away...I'm afraid we'll have to get back to you on this one tomorrow, McPherson!

Closing Comments:

I have something very important to ask, dear readers. I have this ongoing argument with my next door neighbor, who is twelve and also a Pokémon addict. Recently he brought Super Smash Brothers to my house, and the only character I could beat him with was JigglyPuff. I could beat him at any character as long as I was JigglyPuff, but I would fail every single time if I was anyone else. He found this extremely absurd and I protested that it was simply because JigglyPuff is the best. He refused to listen to all my reasoning, so instead I am turning to you for help.

Who is the best and worst character in Super Smash Brothers, and can you please explain why? I would be eternally grateful!

JigglyPuff Forever,

~Tami~