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. How to turn off a PS2, for advanced students. Don't say we didn't warn you.

So I'm tired, sick, and did I mention tired? Can't wait for next year!

With all due respect, I think complaining about yesterday's column being unprofessional is missing the point a little bit. It was meant to be entertaining or offensive, depending on how you felt about the guest host.

As for Dragon Quest VII, just call me unprofessional, I suppose. I didn't like what I played of it at the show, although it's really impossible to say whether that's due to any problems with the game. RPGs don't lend themselves to show-floor demos, unless they're either a very specific portion of the game created especially as a demo, as in Final Fantasy X's case; or if you know the game so well it doesn't matter where you pick it up, like Final Fantasy Chronicles. With Dragon Warrior VII, I started out in a dungeon I knew nothing about with party members I had never spent any time with and never got to any dialogue scenes in the twenty minutes or so that I played. Wandering around helplessly in the E3 demo was far too similar an experience to my take on the Japanese import, and so it did nothing to change my opinion.

Plus, let's face it, the graphics are really, really terrible. I know that they're not the only part of the game, or even a very important one ... but if I was a casual showgoer instead of an RPG-centric journalist and I saw that while walking past Enix's booth, would you blame me for moving on without a second look? Chastising people for not seeing past DWVII's graphics reminds me of the infamous line about Wagner: "His music is much better than it sounds!"

And come on, don't take our opinions so seriously. It so happens that the letters columnists dislike the game, but you should know that neither of the usual letters guys have the review, and neither do I. None of this is meant to be taken as any kind of official GIA stance, that's why we have the disclaimer up there. Don't worry about it.

I can't help but marvel at the logic that says the PlayStation 2 has too few RPGs, so we should look to the GameCube, which so far has two: PSO version 2, and Retro's secret project.

And to answer your real question, I doubt Suikoden III is far enough along to get a showing. Usually you get a bit of publicity for the Japanese version before the game shows at all in America, although this is changing--high-profile stuff like the Gamecube lineup and Metal Gear Solid 2 were both unveiled for the first time in America. Still, I expect it wasn't on display because it's not ready to be displayed yet. All I can tell you is to keep your fingers crossed for the fall Tokyo Game Show.

Interesting. I myself just spent a year learning Japanese from Rinoa Heartilly.

In yet another non-answer, we're not in the habit of sitting on news once we get it. If we knew anything more than what we've already posted about Phantasy Star, then we'd post that too. As it is, the only recent developments in the series have been Phantasy Star Online ver. 2 and talk of PSO on GameCube. Sorry to burst your bubble.

The $200 price point seems spurious to me. The PS2 is currently $300, and the launch price of the Xbox was also announced at E3 as $300. Nintendo didn't list a price, which means they don't know if it's going to be full hundred dollars less than the competition--if they did, it would be one of the biggest selling points. It may be possible, albeit extremely unlikely, that they'll manage to bring it in at $150-$200, but you can bet it's not that low currently.

The swag seemed weaker to me this year than last, although that may be because I'm not one of the PR guys and didn't get nifty things from company meetings. However, I did get some nice stuff. My personal highlights were the Persona 2 shot glass, the Hoshigami shirt, and the super-spiffy GameCube bags, which I think I'll start using at school. A comprehensive list of stuff we got will go up with our E3 photo album, as always.

By the way, I also got one of those plush Game Boy Advances at the contest after waiting in line for two hours ... which would have been a little more satisfying if I wasn't literally one inch away from winning the real thing. Curses!

Well, as of this writing, it is over and has been for about 30 hours. And I have to agree with you. There didn't seem to be anything showstopping this year the way that MGS2 was last year. On the other hand, there were a lot of very good games. Final Fantasy X, Silent Hill 2, Mega Man Battle Network, Smash Brothers Melee, Gitaroo-Man, and on and on. Even Kingdom Hearts looked good when you saw the footage at Square's booth, instead of the isolated screenshots and character art. I can't tell you what my "Game of Show" was (unless you want to discuss Tomak: Save the Earth) but there were plenty of great games anyway.

Closing Comments:

Judging by the amount of email I got, general questions about E3 are wearing pretty thin for you guys. So for tomorrow, tell me what you think of the Xbox after its first major outing.

-Nich Maragos, impressionable