Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. You can be my head, 'cuz I've ruined this one. Don't say we didn't warn you.

You know, considering some games of late, I'm having a bit of a problem. See, I've admittedly never been a fan of games that use "role playing" as an excuse to stick players with a complete blank for a character. I like my protagonists to have their own personalities and motives for their actions, as that's what drives any decent story forward, drawing me into the game.

However, I find that when the protagonist's personality type and motives differ too much from what I'd consider to be my own, I'm also removed from the game. Take games like Xenogears and Zone of the Enders as examples. Whereas the main characters are sniveling pansies that "don't like mechs or fighting," I want to blow some shit up. There's a level of disagreement with the character that I think ultimately makes the game less enjoyable for me.

And in retrospect, this probable would have made a better conclusion. Rather than changing this around, which would require work, I'll just bring it up again in the closing comments, launching into tomorrow's topic. How's that sound?

Yeah, I think that as long as an RPG is given enough acclaim, hardcore fans really don't care what the graphics look like or what system it's for. However, as has so often been said in this column, hardcore fans alone do not a profitable game make. I think that as long as an RPG comes out within these next few months, and is given enough of a marketing push to call attention away from the buzz surrounding the big new machines on the block, it could do okay where sales are concerned. However, we're talking a pretty small window here; I think after this Christmas season, the old consoles are effectively as dead as doornails.

Then again, it's going to be kind of funny when Enix releases Dragon Quest VII in the twilight of the PSX's existence, thus dooming it to poor sales, using that as an excuse to shun the North American market.

No. See, we have tons of info on the game, but we're not going to post it. I know the GIA is a news site, but we get off on hording news stories that would be of interest to our readers. We love hanging on to important information until it's no longer relevant, just to screw our readers.

And yes, I'm being sarcastic. This is a cumulative reply to all of the people who write in demanding to know if we have info we aren't posting, and if so to send it to him or her. Kelvin and Larissa say, "Don't be retarded!"

I'll agree that there's more PSXs out there than PS2s at this point, but you have to keep in mind where the market focus is right now. It will take some serious marketing cash to get any kind of attention for last-generation system titles at this point, and most of the companies that have that kind of green have already moved their developing efforts to the new machines.

And, like I've said before, while the PS2's backwards compatibility can't hurt, I doubt you're going to find too many mainstream gamers shelling out 50 bucks for a last-generation game to play on their new console. Quite simply, people have a new toy, and they want games that show it off, quality be damned.

And just to start another paragraph with the word "and," I have to object to your insinuation that RPG players are somehow more intellectual than other types of gamers. I really get tired of that sort of sentiment because it's totally, totally untrue. Now, I realize that I'm not exactly backing that statement up with any sort of fact, but I'm tired, and if you want to draw this discussion out, just sent in a letter letting me know how wrong I am. I always appreciate debate.

Yes, I, too, think Konami weaves just as good a yarn as any other gaming company. Agreeing sure makes for lame replies. Moving along.

Closing comments:

Okay, as I brought up in the introduction, characters with strong personalities tend to make for a better storyline. Then again, it's possible that a character's personality will clash with the player's to such an extent that the gamer won't get any enjoyment out of the game. Witness the number of people who disliked FFVIII because they thought Squall was an ass, or people such as myself that spent more time wishing somebody would beat the hell out of Fei's wussy ass than actually enjoying Xenogears.

So, my question to you is this: how different from your own person does a game character have to be before you'll become exasperated with said character? In what manner does this hypothetical character need to rub you the wrong way? Give me your thoughts, okay? This column is usually best with letters in it.

-Drew Cosner, antagonizing asshole