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. Fender or Marshall? Don't say we didn't warn you.

Prepared statement from Ed.

Hey everybody, I hope you enjoy this wonderfully thought-out guest prepared statement of mine.

The next guy who insults our hard working Japanese correspondent (and does such a bad job of it) just because JT tells it like it is about Dragon Quest; they earn a swift kick in the ass. Of course DQ is still massively popular, but the idea that scant details of Final Fantasy X challenge the hoopla of DQVII for Famitsu's most wanted tell you which series currently has the greatest strength. I'm truly honored that Mark Cantrell -- "The Knight in Tanrished Armor" -- came down from upon high to grace us mere mortals with "the only reason Final Fantasy 9 hit the number 1 spot," but his interpretation of market factors is simple-minded, backwards, and typical of someone who fills in facts only in the blanks that support what they want to be true. DQVII on top of the charts for "many many months?"

Okay, that's enough for today, enjoy AK's columny goodness!

There's an explanation that makes sense. Unfortunately, no one could agree on an explanation...

Again, a logical thing for it to say... but there's a third version.

All three are good stories. I just wish I knew which, if any, were true...

I too remember those days. In fact, in a not-too-interesting story, I met Mr. Andrew Vestal back as a freshman in high school because of a floppy disk he had with MIDIs. I had just invested in a Wave Blaster add-on to my Sound Blaster, and I wanted some MIDIs. We were at the same table at lunch, acquaintances but nothing more, and I mentioned I want a MIDI of the main theme from Final Fantasy II. He heard me, and got all excited that someone else was a big FF fan. He gave me a disk with that and some movie soundtrack MIDIs the next day.

That was one of the first FF-related files he had, and the first time he had given one to someone... so, by my calculations, that was the incarnation of the UnOfficial Squaresoft Home Page. Great little peice of history, eh?

Today, I prefer MP3, simply because I refuse to use the Internet without broadband, and CD writers and multiple-gigabyte hard drives are common. Times have changed.

I grow a bit tired of this debate, but it seems to attract letters, so I guess I'll let the horse be beaten. I see things the way you do, but I won't claim to be an expert on Japanese society. The next letter is the opposite opinion.

I won't argue with the past, but I will with the future. I don't know that the past adequately reflects where the series stand today. I've heard a lot of numbers tossed around during the debate... does anyone have exact numbers, with a source they can name? I'm getting tired of the vague numbers people are quoting. I'm not saying they're not true, but memories are untrustworthy things, you know? Thanks for the input, though, Jeff!

Well, I guess just printing the letter won't do anybody any harm. So here you go. I haven't had the chance to play a Shining game -- I'd like to sometime, though. Good luck with your quest!

Don't worry about being off topic, I like off topic. There is no such thing as on topic, around here! Anyway, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath... done barbershop-style... frightening. I think Jimmy Page might just leave the Black Crowes tour just to whack you upside the head.

I'm against labeling us as a specific type of band, because we play various styles, but because it helps people identify with a sound, I guess we'd have to be modern rock / alternative. Some hard rock songs, some poppy little ditties, and some stuff in between.

Good luck with your group, hope you find a singer!

If guitar talk bores you, you might want to skip this bit. But anyway, I love a good ole' Fender Strat with good pickups (not a cheapo Squier, preferably), but they are pretty common. What's nice about them, though, is that you can get a really wide range of tones from them -- they've been used for everything from hard rock to to teeny-bopper pop. Props to that.

I too like Gibsons more than Fenders, though. I think they handle the high end a bit better, and can get some awesome screaming sustain. I hope to get an SG or Les Paul (or Les Paul Jr.) somewhat soon, but my income is low, so I won't get my hopes up. Besides, I can't complain about my current rig. I would like to have a second guitar just in case something goes wrong at an inopportune time, but I do like the sound I currently get. For guitar techies out there, here's my full setup:

Rickenbacker 330 (single coil pickups, Ernie Ball .10 strings) -> Sustain Punch Creamy Dreamer -> Ernie Ball Volume Pedal -> Marshall VS100 combo -> (effects loop) Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi -> Boss DD5 Digital Delay -> Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus.

I've found myself addicted to effects. I had a Digitech RP-21D, but a lot of the effects were pretty cheap sounding, so I got rid of it and am now working on building a small to medium-sized army of pedals (without screwing up my signal too badly). If anyone has a phaser (preferably Electro-Harmonix Small Stone or Boss Phaser) or noise gate (preferably Boss) they don't need, talk to me! For clean sounds, though, I just run the Rickenbacker straight into my Vox AC15. I also have a Martin acoustic with a cheapo Dan Markey soundhole pickup and a cheapo Yamaha bass that I use to noodle around with sometimes.

I'm sure that was far too much information about my guitar setup, but I just started going and couldn't stop. Sorry about that!

We have one finished song, one more that's almost finished (need words for one more verse), and about 8 more that are just guitar and bass. Nothing recorded in a releasable state, though. Also, since our lineup is in flux, a song recorded today might sound drastically different a month from now. Like, right now, I'm lead singer. That's a scary thing in and of itself.

Ah yes, the typical problem. I have it often. Mmm hmm. Yup, yup, yup. Good luck, I hope Elizabeth Hurley says yes to you, now that she finally got around to ditching Hugh Grant!

Closing Comments:

I apologize for printing so many letters not even remotely relevant to video games. But, as boss of this here column, I can do that! What power. Anyway, take care!

-Andrew Kaufmann