Just an addendum to the Dolby Digital / Dolby Surround stuff floating around the Double Agent column, AK - it seems Square at some point or another has the Dolby Digital 5.1 standard in mind - its a great thing for DVD.

Anybody who managed to spend some time at Creative Lab's E3 booth would have surely discovered CL's new Playstation 2 ready speaker system, and better yet, the DVD containing all of the CG sequences from Final Fantasy 8. They had a Digital 5.1 decoder there, which probably helped the sound output a little, but nonetheless, it was very cool to sit back on a leather couch and watch/listen to that beautiful CG. The sound logo's popped up every-time the DVD went on repeat play.

The sad thing, of course, is that you do so much standing/walking at the show, that the couch is far more important than anything else!

Richard "KZ" Knight

Hey AK

Drew was the one who said this, but I'm gonna harass you about it ok? I don't think all games will seem outdated one day, just the most gimmicy and experimental ones. I still love Ninja Gaiden, River City Ransom is still the best street brawler game out there (in my opinion), and most people still enjoy Pac Man quite a bit. I think that when a game does something really new, that's just barely in reach of the hardware, it will eventually seem dated. Like Metal Gear Solid wukk still be fun when MGS2 comes out, but the way that the bodies flash and disappear, and the fact that you don't have the opportunity avoid a simple ambush (after the sniper wolf fight) will be laughable (ha!).

And since I mentioned Ninja Gaiden, why do the henchmen just wander back and forth, hunched over in pain, hoping to hit you? See that's a typical old school thing, but doesn't quite affect the gameplay significantly.

Gilbert

Sorry, but Chris was wrong regarding his theory on why abnormal hair colours ended with the start of the PSX era of Final Fantasy. He even recalls that Amano portrayed characters like Terra with blonde hair, yet never considers why the programmers would make them differently in-game. Yet, it should also be noted that the menu screen is also different from the character graphics. The simple reason was to make it easier for players to distinguish the small pixelicious graphics apart from each other. Unless you have a good imagination, those tiny sprites can be difficult to make out at all; 3 similiar looking ones all with same hair colour makes it that much more annoying. With the onset of 3D graphics, characters could be distinguished by obvious differences in body shape, their clothing, skin colour and whatnot, so there was no need to alter their hair colour. That being said, Amano's art and the menu portraits are the true depictions. Yes, Rydia DOES have green hair. Until there is another party member in the series that returns from time compressed monster ruled world, they will probably continue to have natural hair colours.

- ^Deusfaux^

AK,

What do you think of Legend of Dragoon getting a perfect score from Dailyradar and a 4/5 from NextGen? Are people stupid, or just blind? Cause you'd have to be either of those things to give Legend of Dragoon more than it deserves: a big, fat zero. (this only based on the wretched dialogue)

Bravo to the GIA for doing what's right.

---Anthony James Larrea

Frankly, I think people need to worry less about what's wrong with gaming and just game. The world is a horrible place where the most evil and corrupt people always win, anyone can be put down with a bullet from a gun easily obtainable illegally on any street corner, the law is corrupt, the people are hateful and stupid, half the population of the planet lives in squalor, and nobody cares. We the gaming community are among the absolute luckiest people on Earth. We have wealth beyond the wildest imagination of most, and the innate horror and corruption of humanity is somewhat hidden from us living in the upper tiers of society as we do. Is it really...REALLY...that hard to just enjoy something for a change, instead of nitpicking? We're fragile beings, and life is inherently bad. The time we have now is fleeting, and soon we will all have turned into the dust beneath the feet of the uncaring world. In the end, the happiness we have now may be the only glimmer of worth in our miserable lives. So why, WHY, do people have to turn EVERYTHING into an opportunity to complain and bitch? JUST ENJOY YOUR FREAKING VIDEO GAMES AND BE HAPPY YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, PEOPLE! Eesh.

-AJ

AK,

I did a Good Thing today. I was in Software Etc. today, and a man and his young son were looking for a new PlayStation game. The man turned to me and said (no kidding) "You look like an expert on video games. What's new, what would you recommend?"

So I handed him Vagrant Story.

Jon

AK,

If Rayeth decides not to play another story-oriented game until a truly original story comes out, he'll be deprived of games for the rest of his life. Hell, he could do the same thing for movies and he'll be better off locked in his basement. Pretty much most stories are "unoriginal". Just look at American Beauty. If you really think about it, it's just a bunch of horny people looking for sex. It's how the story is done that makes it enjoyable. And yes, I loved American Beauty, so you don't have to convince me that it's good.

The problem with many game stories (especially recent RPGs) is that they try to make them this totaly original story by filling it with "plot twists" and a lot of contrived crap not unlike the whole X-Files mythology arc. "Characterization" is limited to some quest in the middle of the game where the character solves some problem with his family or finds out something about his past or something. Unfortunately, when an RPG finally does away with this and has actual characterization (Final Fantasy 8), it's largely not liked by the RPG community. Oh well, what do I know, I watch X-Files for the stories and characters, not the mythology and all that other crap about viral apocalypses. Thank God he finally found his damn sister, I'm sick of all the fake ones..

As for your concerns towards "unoriginal" gameplay, just because genres aren't being created every week doesn't mean there isn't anything original out there. Just look at movies. What other genre of movies can you make? And yet decades after their invention we still get cool stuff. Whether you liked it or not, you have to admit Blair Witch was a nice experiment.

I'm probably stretching your letter to much more than what you meant, but why the hell not, ya know? Oh, and I only their famous songs, but I can tell REM rocks. And this is from a man whose favorite band is Metallica.

-Clyde Hudman