Final Dragon Warrior Quest Fantasy - July 16, 2000 - Andrew Kaufmann
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of
the participants and the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the GIA. There
is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. Frank. Don't say we didn't warn you.
If you missed the big news, Chris is going to be gone for the next week. And I'm going to be taking his place.
Wooha! Let us celebrate with a column.
| Movies |
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AK,
The recent PS editions of Final Fantasy only had 60 minutes of FMV in each.
I can only assume FF9 has the same amount, being on four discs, and
according to Mr. "In defense of DQ" that makes it an interactive movie.
C'mon. The FFs have never been interactive movies. Those FMV cutscenes are
only about 1/40th or 1/50th of the game time.
-John Mora
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I'd agree. FMVs are just great embelishments to a game. Square is moving toward interactive
movies, in certain regards, but is not there right now. And won't be in the forseeable future.
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Andrew,
Chrono Cross is coming. Many small children are - right as I'm typing this
- screaming at Japan from the Californian coasts, asking: "Why, papa? Why
you no complete sooner?" And having imported it, I can safely say who the
coolest character is. HINT: It's not Lucky 'MOJO' Dan.
Shiitake.
Shiitake is a tasty, tasty Japanese mushroom, used in many soups and dishes.
Shiitake in Chrono Cross is a mushroom. A mushroom with a BIG FORKING
AXE. I saw him in J. Parish's amazing game guide, and I immediately started
screwing around near the Northern Termina/Royal Manor area during the second
half of the game.
HOW TO GET SHIITAKE:
1) GO INTO HOME TERMINA FOREST CAVE
2) PUNCH LITTLE BUG-THING HIDING ON ROCK UNDER WATER
3) TALK TO NEARBY OLD MAN, HE WILL BE GIVING MUSHROOM
4) GIVEST MUSHROOM TO HOMELY-LOOKING FELLOW IN OTHER CAVE OUTSIDE
Belive me: You will not regret your actions, misguided as they may be.
Drunk on Mushroom Mystery,
-Cedric "Lobstaboy" Henry
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I'm one of those people looking over toward Japan, begging for Chrono Cross to arrive on our
happy American shores. I have trouble believing that Lucky Dan isn't the coolest character,
though. Who else could it possibly be? Lucky Dan is about as cool as they get. He's a
monument to coolness, sort of like Willie Aames (Buddy Lembeck from Charles in Charge).
Speaking of Willie, a recent issue of People Magazine did a "Where Are They Now?" story on
stars from 80s sitcoms. Good stuff. They caught up on what Willie has been up to, and I'm
pleased to report he's off of the drug thing and is now into teaching kids the teachings
of the Bible. Now if they'd only do a Charles in Charge reunion show...
| Semantics, or something more insidious? |
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This whole FF9/DQ7 thing isn't advancing anymore. So I won't talk about it.
Instead, I'll just ask one question. Why did Enix choose to call it Dragon
Warrior in America? Quest, Warrior, what's the difference?
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Supposedly, there's some sort of copyright confliction with the name. I don't know the details,
however. Anyone out there able to fill in the gaps?
| Meandering a bit off topic |
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AK,
For anyone who thinks that DQVII will be crappy
because of outdated graphics, take a look at another
game that was in development for a long time: Diablo
2. I know that this is a console gaming forum, but
this is a prime example that missing cutting edge
graphics doesn't make a game unbearable or crappy.
Abazagaroth
P.S. Oh yeah, in this vein of thought, I replayed
Dragon Warrior 1 and Destiny of an Emperor a few
months ago and enjoyed them far more than I enjoyed
Grandia, FFXIII, and other PSX games. So looking
atthose games with graphical filters, which were
better games?
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I've stayed away from Diablo 2, because friends say it's far too addictive
to be legal. The last thing I need is something that saps even more of my
time... even though it does sound fun. I'll take your word on the comparison.
I think that putting on "graphical filters" when comparing games is a bit
unfair, because graphics are an important part of a game. Not the most
important part, but a significant part nonetheless. Graphics add to the
storytelling experience. When I pick my favorite games, I consider all the
factors. I call Final Fantasy IV my favorite Final Fantasy, even when
considering FF8's graphics. I don't think FF8's graphics were so magical that
it turned it into a better game than FF4, I just think that it helped make the
two closer.
But, I'll humor you, and answer your question as told. I haven't played Destiny
of an Emperor, and it's been ages since I played Dragon Warrior 1, but I'd have
to say I think FF8 is a better game. I may have had more fun playing Dragon Warrior
1, but that's a reflection of the way gaming has changed since I was in elementary
school, and a reflection of the changes in myself, personally; not necessarily a
reflection of the quality of the game. To properly answer your question, I'd have
to replay Dragon Warrior 1. What do the rest of you think?
| Will anyone buy DQ7? |
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AK,
Your right I forgot about the internet, when I wrote my last letter to you. So, I'll update my message.
Would anyone who reads this column bet money that DQVII, will sell better than FFIX? Any takers? I thought not. The truth is that even with amazon.com and ebworld, nothing will stop FFIX from selling more copies DQVII. Know why? It's not that FFIX is better or that DQVII is "old style", it's the fact that the general population will buy FFIX and not DQVII. Don't believe me? What was the reason that FFVII sold more copies than any other RPG in the US at that time? The general population, wowed by the graphics, decided to pick it up, and the RPG genere exploded. People who usually play fighters, sports games, and racers picked up FFVII and learned to like RPGs. Then they bought FFVIII, and liked it. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going to happen next. But why won't they pick up DQVII also? The answer lies in popularity. Square advertised FFVII on MTV and other popular TV channels, thereby leading the sheep that are people to believe that it was "cool" or "in". And the sheep all followed Square the shepherd, and turned in money for copies of FFVII. But most of these people have never heard of the Dragon Quest series. And since the graphics are what hooked them in the first place, why would they want less "eye candy" they already have? The masses are looking for what the media tells them is a good game, namely graphics. The media turned the masses into sheep, the sheep follow the shepherd, and hopefully the shepherd leads them into the pastures of gaming goodness, and not off the cliff of unoriginality and boring rehashed sequels. I realize not everyone is a sheep, but some people are and unfortunately, what one sheep does the others will copy. Maybe the first sheep will by DQVII.
Rayeth,
Praying that the sheep don't follow the shepherd too closely
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Now this is a fun little twist on the rather old topic of DQ7 vs. FF9. I think that in Japan, DQ7 will
sell just fine. Maybe not as much as FF9, but a happy sum of sales nonetheless. North America is more of a
question mark, I think, though. I'll be buying DQ7. Will you?
| Off topic again |
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AK,
Just wanted to quickly write in and say that, according to what I read, David
"Solid Snake" Hayter didn't actually have as much to do with writing the
script of "X-Men" as you think. I read a report on Daily Radar that the
script was written and re-written so many times and by so many people, that
deciding on who to give the writing credits to so many times was extremely
tough. And according to this report, Hayter's role was to simply dictate
exactly what the actors said so they could get a "final" script. So
technically, he "wrote" the whole movie, he just didn't create it. But,
since I read this article a few weeks or so ago, I wanted to re-read it
before I wrote this letter...but for the life of me, I cannot find it
ANYWHERE on dailyradar.com. Strange. Anyway, it could be innaccurate info,
or even totally wrong, but I'm just telling you what I read.
-Rydel
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I still don't know jack squat about X-Men, so I'll just print your letter and hope
you're not an idiot. You're not an idiot, Rydel, are you? Good. I didn't think so.
| Nuts |
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I'm offended.
Justin Cooper
Parliamentarian, The Peanut Butter Solidarity Association
"Jelly? Nah."
(est. 2000)
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I would like to offer a sincere apology to the members of the The Peanut Butter Solidarity
Association. In my offhand remark, I did not realize that I would be offending such a group
of people, as I had no idea they existed. I hope that I did not make a negative impression
on behalf of the GIA as a whole, as the comment was mine and mine alone.
The GIA will be sending you a bag of complimentary peanuts as a sign of peace.
| E Ludis Delectatio |
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I was just looking at the GIA's little logo and was wondering what the latin
on the bottom means (I'm assuming it's latin).
relsky
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The phrase is "E Ludis Delectatio." It's Latin for "From Games, Fun." The logo is a play off
of the CIA's logo, which can be viewed at www.cia.gov, of all places.
Closing Comments:
Normally I'd be saying something about having a good week in this space, but now I can't, so I don't
have anything to say, really. Catch yall tomorrow!
-Andrew Kaufmann
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