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. The sky above the harbor was the color of a TV set tuned to a dead channel: bright blue. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Nintendo fans got punched in the gut today, as the big N announced that although the Dolphin system will be revealed at Space World this month, there will be no playable games at the show. While it's true that Nintendo has all of three months to pull things together for a Japanese holiday launch, I'm starting to get some bad flashbacks to when the N64 launched with only one really great game in Japan.

Onward.

Sounds good, but I think what you're proposing might ultimately get just as old as you find fighters themselves. A really great fighting game has an engine deep enough to be the source of endless experimentation, like Soul Calibur or Virtual Fighter 3, regardless of what the tacked-on story elements might be. A good RPG propels you along with its plot, and only rarely (FFT) have I found an RPG with an engine I actually wanted to keep playing after the game was over. I think the end goals of the two genres may be too dissimilar, but The Bouncer may prove me wrong.

I gotta disagree with you somewhat here - I think everything RPGs currently are, and everything they might become, was latent within FF1. Certain aspects get played up or played down, but it's all there, implicit within the original.

To my mind, FF1 is a lot like Quake III, in that it's the first demonstration of a new type of engine, and in some respects it's not even worthy of the title "game" at all. Both titles focus heavily on the actual play mechanics (and, in Q3's case, visuals) that their games can provide. Both titles lack much in the way of characterization and dialog, not so much because the designers couldn't fit it in, but because the first time out they wanted the focus to be on the actual gameplay. And both games were the precursors for later titles using modified engines from the original that highlighted plot and theme more than the original.

In FF's case (although a lot of credit really goes back to DQ1) the focus was on exploring a world that was huge, relative to what was available in side scrollers and platformers at the time, on having NPCs that you could talk to rather than just kill, and on the relatively deep combat that menus provided compared to the attack and jump buttons in an action game. The backstory in DQ and FF is the precursor for today's epics, and FF even had the opening bridge sequence, which kinda looks like FMV if you squint really hard. And if you keep in mind that both DQ and FF came out in Japan years before they were released in the States, the graphics are actually pretty damn good.

Great, and now some deeply disturbed kid is going to be inspired to send me a picture of said Chu Chu figure impaled on a... WAIT! NO! I did NOT say that! Never mind! Forget it! PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN! JUST KEEP MOVING PEOPLE, THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE HERE!

...my God, what have I done?

Since for the most part Europeans are even more impoverished than the US when it comes to games (Vib Ribbon and Terranigma aside) importing PAL games really doesn't come up that much, kinda like you don't see many people asking Lyle Lovett for hair care advice. Still, I'm pretty sure that an SCART adapter will move a NTSC signal to PAL and vice versa. The only problem here is figuring out why Anson's TV didn't have any problems playing a European game.

Again, I'm gonna have to disagree here. The primary point of rhythm games is that they are so simple - adding a deep plot and complexity into the game would take away from the simple joy of getting those button pushes down just right. Games like UJL or Space Channel 5 may provide extras that can be enjoyed along with the rest of the game, like interesting graphics or a humorous backstory, but  the game probably wouldn't work as well if the player had to do more than remember the right sequence of steps.

Strangely enough, I haven't really gotten into Harry Potter, mostly because Rowling seems to be getting a lot of credit for ideas that other writers came up with first (like Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones). Also I've heard the later books end on some pretty abrupt cliffhangers, and I'd just as soon read the whole thing in one go once the whole series is out and the hype has died down some.

P.S. I hate you too, sugarpie.

If that's your desire, System Shock 2 on the Dreamcast is your cure. I've seen some of this on the PC, and it's quite well done - not only does it have a fair amount of strategy and story, but it actually has three different character classes with wildly differing abilities to spend exp points on. Think of it as a first person real time version of FFT. Aside from the usual guy-with-lots-of-guns, you can play through as a computer hacker or psychic adept, which means you approach different problems in different ways. It's certainly not a new idea, but it's executed fairly well and should be a real eye-opener to some when it comes out on a console.

Rare gems like Bionic Commando, RCR and Super Dodgeball aside, I can't see playing much on the NES, since most of the great games for the system have a later generation equivalent with better graphics and improved gameplay. Likewise there are only a few PSX games that I'll likely come back to once the next gen systems are out, but if you can get more use out of your Playstation, more power to you. I guess your only concern would be how long the box will actually last you, since even models released in the middle of the system's life cycle have been somewhat fragile.

Very simple, Mr. Mfciswadds. At the top of any beanstalk (the one in level 4-2 leading up to the World 6 - 8 warp zones comes to mind, but there are plenty of others) you can, instead of getting off, keep climbing. When Mario reaches the very top of the vine, he'll rise up a bit, fall back down because there's no vine to hang on to, and then repeat the process as long as you keep pressing up. The jiggling and swinging arms make it look like he's dancing very badly. And now you know.

You should also be aware that I had to delete the name of my 9th grade algebra teacher to remember that little factoid (and she was pretty darn cute) so I hope you appreciate it.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Way back when the term "multimedia" was coined, guys like Nicholas Negroponte spent a lot of time talking about how giving traditional stories more interactivity with end users would create a brilliant new artform, and tons of money was dumped into companies like Rocket Science to realize said vision. But they forgot what any halfway decent writer could have told them - that the power of narrative comes from the author's singular vision and the message they bring to the work. When a participant in the story is allowed to rewrite things to their whim, a lot of delicate plot construction gets tossed out the window. Hamlet's just not Hamlet if the audience can request that the lead character get a shrink and a Prozac prescription.

It's true that certain games have managed to pull of multiple plotlines very successfully (yeah, I'm lookin' at you, Tactics Ogre) but by and large the story portion of the game gets weakened if the user gets to decide who lives and who dies. That's not to say that a game can't be great without a strong story, but it is a reason why I'm glad Sakaguchi's shown himself firmly in control of the last few FFs by limiting the plot decisions the player can make. It's also why I'm a but nervous about FF11, although PSO's "team up to go on a quest" approach seems reasonable.

Once more the girl has tricked me! Get out of my head, woman! Stop playing with my mind before you drive me completely insane! Insane, I tell you, insane! Aaahahahaha!

Closing Comments:

After taking some Prozac myself, I feel much better. There are no floating fish people anywhere, and there are no spiders crawling up and down my arms and legs. At least, that's what the doctors tell me.

Free topic day tomorrow, so make 'em interesting. I'll see you when they let me out of my cell. Later.

-Chris Jones, living better through industry pharmaceuticals