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. You know, the Supreme Court Justices sound a lot more... ordinary... than I thought they would. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Ok, time for me to rant a bit... or perhaps not rant so much as propose an interesting question: is DQ7 ever going to see a US release?

Hear me out on this. DQ7 was released in Japan nearly 3 months ago, and although its sales have been stalled as of late, 3.7 million-odd copies is nothing to sneeze at. While I don't personally think the game will do FF-level numbers over here in the US, I do want to see it come out, and I think Enix would more than break even on the deal. But if it was going to happen at all, wouldn't it have happened by now? By the end of the year I think the PSX will be a virtually dead system, as the PS2 begins to become firmly established, so shouldn't Enix at least be announcing the release by now?

All we've seen so far is that snafu announcement by Famitsu.com that the game would be released censored in the US, and while I saw plenty of email reminding me that EoA said that they'd release the game uncut, should they choose to release DQ7, very few people paid attention to that qualifier at the end. Should they choose to release DQ7.

So I'll admit it's possible that EoA's still biding their time... perhaps they're hoping Torneko will serve as a barometer of people's interest in the DQ name, or at least get them all warm and fuzzy for the good old days. Still, I gotta wonder... is DQ7 gonna be another one of those "amazing" games that most US gamers can't be "amazed" at first hand?

Onward.

First off, we should probably make the distinction here that we're talking about online console gaming, not online PC gaming. There was some confusion last time this point was raised: while the latter is quite solidly established, the viability of the former is completely unproven.

That said, it really is gonna come down to the games. On the surface, the PlayOnline plan sounds overly expensive... but this is Square we're talking about. I've got to give them the benefit of the doubt as to if they can make an online experience that'll make me gladly pay out 20, 30, 40 bucks a month. The punchline here is that we're not simply talking about a playing game, we're talking about access to an ongoing virtual world, complete with other (hopefully) interesting people running around inside it. But let's see how PSO turns out before we get too heavily into this.

No argument here. I would like to point out that maybe, just maybe, there's the possibility here that some parents really do know what's best for their kids... but far be it from me to drag out such a heretical opinion in this forum.

Surprisingly enough, there were only 3 inquiries, including this one, about the famous RPG playing sisters. Perhaps the rare species of female gamer is not as rare, or at least, desirable, as previously thought. More for me, I guess.

And I've got no problem with Chrises in general, just on my personal turf. Perhaps if I just addressed you by your last name things would work better... yeah, I think I'll do that, Kohler.

One of my long term goals here has been to overthrow Ian P.'s evil reign of terror, and although this summer saw solid reductions in Ian's requisite specificity, he seems to have returned to near nominal power levels. Thus, I welcome this trend of so-called "fake" Ian's, because anything that further dilutes Mr. P.'s ex post facto is, by definition, good.

Madame, I must say that this is a bit cruel to my readers. You portray yourself as an interesting, desirable woman with an interest in level building and other such otaku pastimes... and then yank the rug out by declaring that you're already spoken for. Only I and my fellow columnists have such a right to toy with their tiny minds, thanks all the same.

Yet another casualty of 2000's RPG deluge, I suppose... although I'm fairly certain we've got a review cooking, somewhere. Meantime, if anyone has any opinions on the game, send 'em this way.

I'm feeling generous today, so here's a shooter letter for you, just to round out the genre exposure we get here at Double Agent. On the other hand, I think there's a halfway decent topic here... but more on that below.

Hmm... the funny thing is, I remember some rumors a few months ago (almost certainly fraudulent, however) that Square would be releasing a "Final Fantasy Eternal" or "FF Infinity" or some such thing on the PS2, as a complete collection of every FF between 1 and 9. Who knows, perhaps Sakaguchi's just messing with our heads, the bastard.

If you haven't seen the PSOne yet, I suggest you do so - it's an extremely cool little machine. Still, I gotta wonder about how well the LCD screen'll really suit games. I'm gonna be away from my home setup for a lot of December, but I've decided not to take my PSX and FF9 along with me, because I think the game deserves to be played on a decent TV and a good sound system. Portable PSX power is attractive, but can you really do justice to a cinematic RPG on a tiny little LCD screen?

Somebody else sent a letter today pointing out that, for good or ill, private business do have a right to refuse service as they choose to. If Blockbuster or whoever wants to limit games based on the ratings system, that's their call. Of course, this does lead to the interesting irony of being able to pick up an actual shotgun at WalMart, but not Quake III. But, as you say, when the cyberdemons start invading, then and only then will society perceive the error of its ways.

Closing Comments:

I think Drew would appreciate a topic for tomorrow, so here's one of them things: as lowtech pointed out, shooters, and indeed, many games have veered away as of late from anything that might be considered really challenging. So what's your take - is this a good thing, or a bad thing? Do you really want to have to make a button press with .2 second accuracy to finish FF9, and does that add or subtract to the game? Just remember, don't tell me, tell Drew.

-Chris Jones, imagined Rehnquist as having a Shakespearean accent, for some reason