Patience - October 24, 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. Miniblinds. Don't say we didn't warn you.
In honor of the people that hate me doing non-game related things in this column, I'm going
to do something non-game related. Send a band name suggestion to
andrewk@thegia.com. I may or may not use one of your suggestions, and this isn't a contest.
Well, OK, let's make it a contest. If there's a winner, the winner will get a copy of our first
CD, if we ever get organized enough to make one.
Sorry about the lack of columns the past couple of days, but the server being down kinda
messed with our schedules.
| Just a little more guitar talk... |
|
Hey AK, check http://www.kontek.net/vgjam/ out. Do you know about that? Video Game music tabs. Is there anything cooler than that? Good luck playing the most awesome melody by far though. (Tristam) Freaking need a mandolin and 12 stringed acoustic guitars and several of them; crap like that. But uh I've got breezy down pat baby! ^_^
-Nick Herman
|
Wow, that's a very cool site. It has Terra's Theme properly tabbed, which is a first. Some
of the tabs are a bit perfunctory, but most are really cool. What a great site! Thanks!
| Blame Canada |
|
Do you know how many PS2s there will be in Quebec? 10 000? hahaha, no...
2500!!!! Only 2500!!! Take a look at a world map and look at how big Quebec
is. Sure we are only 7 to 8 million here but still it sucks not to have
more PS2s than that.. And only Toys'R'Us will have them too. At one of the
best videogame stores in Montreal they have 90 PS2 preorders, which
includes my cousin and two friends. Of course they won't have even ONE PS2
to sell. So they have to wait a week to know how many they will receive the
next week. You guys are really lucky.
As for the whole DQVII deal, I think that again people complain without
trying to see if what they complain about makes much sense. I didn't see
ANY coverage of DQVII at IGN, videogames.com or RPGamer, or any other
website. Why? Go fiure, but there's no reason whyt he GIA should have any
more than anyone else. There is simply nothing to say except "the game is
out". If they want so much info on it then they could import it and send
the pictures to you, if not then quit whinning. There will be DQVII review
whenever it will be released in the US.
-Phil
|
2500 isn't many. Man, Canada gets the major shaft again. Maybe it's time
to move south of the border!
DQ7 seems to be flawed, but I'm not ready to pass judgement just yet. I hear
it really does have a good plot.
| Lucky man |
|
The Yanks win game one and I have a front row
center ticket for the Smashing Pumpkins next to last
show ever. Life is good. Now if only I could pick
up one of those PS2s...
JT3
|
I'm jealous. I'm decidedly anti-Yankees and have no Smashing Pumpkins tickets. Want
to sell yours? I have... $7...
|
|
Hey AK... Do you ever get days when you just can't be bothered to read the
letters you get? I really hate reading long letters in DA. You must get
like a billion of them! Anyway.. er... rage against the machine split up,
what do you think of that? erm....
*cough*
erm.....
Oh I made up a joke!
What happend to the solider who couldn't restart his computer
He had to go to reboot camp!
ho ho ho ho
!
!
-- Fragmental
|
Yeah, I have to admit, sometimes I'm a bit tired and not in the mood
to read letters. But hey, it happens, it's all good. That's a, uh,
good joke, I'm sure it'll really brighten the day of everyone upset
by Rage breaking up. I'm not a big Rage fan, so I'll shed no tears,
but the joke brightened my day nonetheless!
| Cartoons |
|
He-man was for selling toys. But so is every other cartoon, when you think
about it. He-man just didn't try and lie to you and tell you they were
different.
It was the same with G.I. Joe and Transformers, and Thundercats and
Silverhawks, and Tigersharks (noticing a trend?)
But, really, who cares? I loved all of those shows. I couldn't wait to buy
the dolls--
no, wait, action figures! I meant to say action figures!
--and the castles, the creatures, the vehicles. It was one of my favorite
past times. I'd watch the shows and then go re-enact some of the scenes,
sometimes changing them and inventing new ones. I suppose that's where I
got my start as a writer, making up scenes for the Silver Hawks.
I was about nine or ten when they took He-man off the air. I can't
remember how old I was when they put out that extremely stupid movie. Why,
Dolf, why!? You were really good in "I Come In Peace"! Why couldn't you
have left well enough alone!!
I keep wondering why they don't have He-man or G.I. Joe on the Cartoon
Network. They have Thundercats and Silverhawks, even though those two were
pretty bad. Why not get the two that were actually pretty good?
I know, this makes me look a little immature, talking this long about
cartoons, but I never really found cartoons to be immature. I've heard
countless times that the Cartoon Network audience is comprised mostly of 18
to 30 year olds.
That's interesting. So's the serial killer population. Connection...?
-Banjax
P.S. no matter how hard anyone tries, my favorite will always be
Asteroids. I could sit and blast away at those rocks for hours.
|
I hated He-Man, he irritated me. Voltron, on the other hand, was totally
where it's at. I bought all of those action figures and accessories. I
believe that the Cartoon Network is watched by older folks, I love the channel.
They need to show M.A.S.K...
As for simple games, I'm a big fan of Worms these days. It's in my cell phone,
it's quite the diversion.
| Video game jobs |
|
Are there graphic design jobs in the video game business? If so, what kinds
of jobs do graphic artists preform or do relating to video games? Do you
know the name of the job that creates stories for videogames, or the name of
the job that actually creates videogames?
-Timmy McGibblet
|
I'm sure there are graphics design jobs, anywhere from drawing backgrounds
to animating characters. I'm not sure the best way to go about getting these
jobs, though, but I imagine a degree in a related field would be a good start.
www.videogames.com had a good feature story once on getting into the videogame
industry in various positions, I'd go there and take a look for that article.
| Rock climbing |
|
AK
Rock climbing...so sore...hardly type...
-Agent X "...sucky letter..."
|
Rock climbing! Good fun. But it does make the body sore. It's good exercise,
I recommend it.
For those of you wondering why I printed this letter, I couldn't really tell you.
I'm in the mood for mindless letters before some good-thinking Chris letters,
so Agent X makes the cut. Go figure.
| FFXI, again |
|
Just thought I'd add a few comments on the game that
some are drooling over but most are having heart
attacks about.
Mainly, the game is doing anything but exciting me.
The first time I saw Everquest I thought it would be
kind of cool until I discovered that there was NO
ENDING to the game. You go around, get swords, get
armor, kill things, gain levels, pay your monthly
fee...wow, fun. No story, a key element in RPG's.
And that is the main problem with online RPG's. No
ending. No grand conclusion to strive for. I play my
RPG's mostly for the story, and part of the story is
that grand finale final boss and the ending that ties
it all together. Without that, you just have boring
gameplay and stupid monthly fees. Whee.
Which brings me to my next point and all the claims
that XI will ruin the series. I don't know if it can
single handedly destroy Square as we know it, but I
don't think it should be part of the main FF series.
I think it should be a standalone. We got Mystic
Quest, Tactics, why not "FF Online?"
The one thing I can say that could be good about XI is
if they would incorporate Squares notorious Job system
into the game. Just make it harder to obtain every
single job, and balance all the abilities out
(nothing's more unbalanced than beating Queklain in
Tactics with one flare...).
-The Alley-Viper
|
These anti-FFXI letters start to irritate me a little bit. Mainly because
each one assumes that the problems with Everquest will be repeated in FFXI,
while the game is still in early development.
Now, FFXI might end up being a terrible and horrible excuse for a Final
Fantasy, but it's simply far too early to write it off. Comparisons to
Everquest are ridiculous, in my opinion. If Square repeats all the
problems in Everquest, then you can write back and call me an idiot. But
let's focus on FF9 talk for now. It's coming soon!
| A better plan |
|
Yesterday "~Jason" mentioned that you could get a PS2 early by going to a large chain like Walmart or Kmart. I work at a Super Kmart, and we received 12 PS2's on the 23rd (6 of which are going to be bought by employees. And if we sold them before the 26th not only would it be breaking the contract, but it is also breaking the law and grounds for the employee being fired AND the manager if they are put out on the floor. In other words, no you cant get them early at a big retail store.
Solution.... go to Kmart at 11pm on the 25th (our store is open 24-7)and wait for them to bring out the eletronics boxes and remover the pretty blue boxes, then grab one and run from all the mothers there trying to get it for there sons for Christmas.
~Fear Factory
"aka Beer Boy"
|
Ah, yes. Realism rears its head. This is a far better solution than the previous letter.
And legal! Just beware of those mothers, they trained hard and have the Elmo-Experience...
| A fascinating, yet probably untrue, story |
|
Hello Andrew, a small statement was brought up yesterday concerning the
PlayStation 2, and it took me back. Back in 1996, I had a Nintendo 64
on hold at Toys-R-Us. On September 29th, the system was to be
released. Myself, an uninformed lad of 12, entered the store on the
morning of the 28th, due to bad information I received. The clerks were
helpful and uncaring, and they sold me my system on that morning. Now,
four years later, I encounter a new problem. I didn't reserve a
PlayStation 2, and I planned to wait at my local Wal-Mart for close to
nine hours tomorrow the 25th. I walked into Wal-Mart this morning, the
23rd, and talked to the sales rep about PlayStation 2. The conversation
went something like this:
Me: So, do you guys already have the PlayStation 2 systems in the back.
Him: Yep, and I already have mine.
Me: Really! Can I get mine today?
Me: Great! I have just that, and the money for five games, an extra
controller, and a memory card!
Him: Follow me, sir.
So the long and the short of it is that I have my PlayStation 2 due to
the illegal early selling made by an employee. He even gift wrapped it
so no one saw what it was as I left the store. Hahahaha.
-Some arrogant jackass who could be lying for all you know and just
wishes that he had done this. Or maybe he did do this....
|
I doubt this story is true, but, in theory, it could be. But again, I
highly doubt it. It's theft on the part of the sales employee, I think...
even though it could be on the part of the purchaser, too, especially since
he was aware of what was going on. I don't recommend this, remember,
winners never cheat and cheaters never win! Not only that, it can get the
whole store in trouble.
But it's pretty safe to assume this is just wishful thinking. Fear not guys,
and patience! PS2 day is nearly here!
Closing Comments:
Chris returns tomorrow. Have fun!
-Andrew Kaufmann
|
| |
| |
