Just thought you'd like to know...I recently graduated from Tufts University in Medford, MA (Go Jumbos!), and would you believe it if I told you that one of the last courses of my college career was the History of Videogames? That's right, my friend; I received CREDIT for learning about my favorite hobby! Our midterms involved writing a sample review of a videogame of our choice, and for my final project I chose to write a 10-page paper on the evolution of game music. We were able to play games in class, as well - on every system from the VCS to the Dreamcast.

I'm giving a skewed view, though. The class was completely legit; I learned a great deal about videogame history, the game industry, and those who comprise it. The class was taught by a fellow underclassman named Chris Kohler (who also does some freelance writing for game mags). He took the class quite seriously, facilitated some pretty decent (and intelligent - gender and videogames, for instance) game discussions, all the while conveying his love for the art of videogames. So, indeed, Chris - though I understand your point was directed toward a class on Xenogears - we don't have to wait for grandkids to see the legitimization of videogames in higher learning environments.

J. Jarvis

I think the Dreamcast is going to do just fine all around the world. People who think it's between Sony and Nintendo or Sony and Microsoft are very mistaken indeed! They shouldn't count out Sega just yet.

The Dreamcast is only $150 and its graphics rival anything we've seen from the other guys so far. Some people might say that this is because developers have had longer to work with Dreamcast than PS2, and that's true to an extent. Developers will become more skilled at working with Dreamcast just as fast as they become more skilled at working with the PS2. The Dreamcast's graphical capabilities haven't come close to their peak yet. Shen Mue only uses 60% of the system's power, so we can look forward to a lot of graphical improvements in Dreamcast games that will keep the graphics competitive for a long time to come, much longer than the naysayers expect.

People aren't as excited about Dreamcast right now as Sega would've hoped, but that's because people are anticipating other systems. Nobody gave Saturn or PSX even a passing glance when Nintendo was still hyping their Ultra 64. No actual product can compete with hype.

But eventually all the hype in the world won't matter. PS2, Dolphin, and Xbox have to come out eventually, and when they do they'll be judged solely on their merits. No way can these systems deliver everything everyone expects them to, so people are bound to feel a little let down. Now Dreamcast has a fighting chance... it's not as weak as everyone perceived it to be compared to the other consoles. Suddenly people won't feel like they're wasting their money buying one, since no more "ultimate consoles that will make Dreamcast obsolete" will be slated for release in the near future.

Dreamcast has Grandia II, Eternal Arcadia, Shen Mue, and Sakura Taisen 3 to appeal to the Japanese mainstream. It has Sega Sports, Sonic Adventure, and Ecco the Dolphin to appeal to the US mainstream. And it has Metropolis Street Racer, Sega GT, and Yu Suzuki's Ferarri sim (I forget the exact title) to appeal to the European mainstream. It's also got its share of games that will appeal to niche markets.

Will this be enough to make Sega the undisputed champion of gaming? Hell no! But since they have the first 128-bit console on the market, and a much lower price than their competitors, it's probably enough for them to capture a third of the market in a battle where all the competitors will have solid consoles on the market. Now what do you have to say about THAT, Sega bashers?

NOOOOOOOO!!!!. I just read that there are talks going on that may lead to the possible buyout of Eidos by EA. Will this mean the end of Eidos' support for the DC? I hope not for the sake of the DC and my gaming enjoyment. Those poo-nannys at EA are refusing to support the DC and Eidos has made some of the best games for the DC yet. I want the sequel to Soul Reaver on DC, damn it. Please let Eidos keep making games for DC, please!

SC

P.S. Although no more Tomb Raider on DC wouldn't be such a loss, or no more TR period for that matter.

I just got back from the movie theater. I've got two words for you (Well, one word and an abbreviation): Shaft RPG.

Micheal Drucker

I just thought I'd offer my personal reasons for loving FF6, including the World of Ruin, since I didn't see them reperesented in the last few night's columns. I've always felt that FF6 had the strongest balance of all the FFs. Gameplay-wise, there was a good mix of individuality and customisation availaible, since though each characters had his or her own abilites and class of avaible weapons, any character customized with the proper Relics and Espers. Plot wise, the game, as noted by others, has little in the way of a central character, letting the player focus of whoever he or she pleases.

The reason I loved the World of Ruin, even more than the World of Balance is it's freedom of exploration. Both plot and powerful items in the World of Ruin were rewards for exploration, and were effectively non-linear as well. While the central story was temporarily put aside, if one explored thouroughly, one could gain insight into the characters that they had met during the earlier part of the game. Though I suppose more central plot, say a fetch quest, could have been used to force the player to see the scenes in Cyan's dream or the aftermath of the Phoenix Cave, I was quite comfortable simply exploring and uncovering each tidbit as I stumbled upon it. I suppose that's not for everone, but it worked for me.

On that note, I'll leave you with two thoughts: why does eveyone think that FF7 gave RPGs the boost to being a popular genre in NA when FF6 sold over a million copies here and topped our sales charts for months? And why should anyone feel they need to justify not liking FF6? It may be that it simply didn't appeal to that some people, just as FF4,5,7, and 8 don't appeal to everyone.

Davon Alder

I don't agree with anyone on this whole Squaresoft "selling-out" crap. I think that it is a good thing that they expand a little bit. If they are able to make more profit they will have a bigger budget for the RPGs. If they can keep a clear sight on the quality of their games everything should work out just fine. About the pre-rendered backgrounds, wasn't all the first ones basiclly the same just with tiles; they basically didn't move except for doors and things like that.

-Cyber_Ant