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. I'm all alone and it's cold and dark, and no one comes to save me. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Let's just get this over with.

No offense, but I was prepared just to write you off as I read the beginning of your letter. But it kept nagging me, and I don't think I can just give this one a flip reply and move on to the next letter.

Why do I work for the site? Well, to educate and inform the non-entrenched/hardcore population of interesting games they might be missing out on. Not to prostelytize, although it can come off that way sometimes, but to say "Hey, these games are pretty neat. Give them a try; they don't cost any more money than the other ones and you could really like them." I do it to inject a little bit of thoughtfulness and consideration into the gaming scene, and boy could it ever use a little.

But your letter troubles me in other ways. Why are devoted athletes different from devoted gamers? No real reason, unless you count the part about us staying inside and eating enough to die of heart attacks at 40 while they're outside having productive lives. Let's face it, it's not an "accompanying lifestyle" to be proud of. Maybe by our own standards, but I don't believe in relativism; playing games and staring at video screens all day every day just isn't healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

The most worrying thing, though is the remark about "devoting yourself to [gaming] fully." Athletes devote themselves to their sport fully because they have to make a living at it someday, and they need to be as good as they can. Businessmen devote themselves to their jobs fully so they can earn enough money to retire early and lead a life of leisure. Devoting yourself to games fully, letting them blot out everything else in life, is not good. Because one day you're going to hit the pause button, look around, and realize you have nothing else.

I'm not just talking to you here--I speak to everyone who's living this way, and I speak from experience. I lost friends earlier in life because I wouldn't ever talk about anything except games, and they weren't as interested. And later in life, I found it hard to start conversations and make friends because I just didn't know how to deal with other, real people. I'm much better about it now (thanks for asking) but I improved because I lost the silly idea that I shouldn't ever have to question my lifestyle and the effect it was having. As the Buddha said, "Moderation in all things." It'll help your social life, it'll give you better perspective on some issues, and it might even help you enjoy your hobby more when you're not playing every game just because it's hardcore.

I had an annoying neighbor in the dorm a couple years ago who, when he found out I enjoyed games and worked for a website, proceeded to put me through the MK wringer. He showed me every single ending in MK4 (which were even sillier than I'd expected, and that's saying something) and later, when I bought a Dreamcast, asked me if I ever planned to get MK Gold. Every week during my brief stint freelancing for Official PlayStation Magazine, he reminded me "Hey, if you ever get a Mortal Kombat game to review, let me know." So there's at least one out there.

I did say yesterday that my statements were based not in fact but on my limited personal experience? Didn't I? I guess I should have gone further and added that I was 99.44% guaranteed to be wrong, as well as acknowledged in advance that I would receive five or six emails from women gamers who'd serve as eager counterexamples. Which is how it goes basically every time anyone in this col brings up any sort of generalization about women in gaming, so more fool me for trying in the first place.

You enjoy RPGs? You prefer Soul Reaver to Carmageddon? You'd rather watch Cowboy Bebop than Friends? I'm sorry, but I think we already agreed yesterday when I said "girls like good games."

And now, on to what this column was supposed to be about.

Wouldn't we all. I had a friend get Soul Hackers for me today at an import shop, but like many other people I'd prefer to play a translated version. Maybe we'll get some more of the PS2 incarnations in the series over here, like the in-development Shin Megami Tensei III.

I know Xenosaga seems like a given for Stateside release, but I've been wondering lately about that. Tetsuya Takahashi has stated several times in interviews that the game will contain cutscenes and voice acting equivalent to a 13-episode OVA. Now, licensing, translating, and dubbing an OVA series is a really big deal, even for companies like Bandai or ADV who do it for a living. It usually takes a long time for an entire 13-episode series to reach the States, and that's doing it in installments so that each volume finances work on the next. Now consider Namco, who has relatively little experience in this area, and would be required to put everything on the line at once. I'm not saying Xenosaga definitely won't be released in the States. I'm saying if it's not, keep in mind that there might be a good reason.

Wow, another creative spelling of Nick. Welcome! Your questions/arguments/statements, in order of appearance:

I don't think Sonic Team's willingness to finish Samba 2001 (which is not a third game in the series, in case anyone is confused; Samba 2001 would have been the American release of Samba 2000) had anything to do with it. It was probably just the fact that it didn't make any money in the U.S. and Sega wanted to take a break from bleeding money.

Yes, Koei is indeed doing an American Gitaroo-Man release. It's tentatively due out this November. I can hardly wait, either.

It's perfectly okay to be just a small-g gamer, indeed this is what I'd classify myself as and several other people I know. And as for athletes somehow being less suitable protagonists, everyone should go read Infinite Jest immediately. It puts a big smile on my face to know that there are other people who can enjoy games and still lead a healthy lifestyle. Not as cool as doing both simultaneously, the way I do, but then we can't all be as cool as I am. (For which you should thank your lucky stars, incidentally--my idea of high fashion is a t-shirt with no words on it.)

I'm actually surprised that no one has picked this up yet, given how huge a hit it was in Japan. Am I the only one who thinks this could be the next big thing? People like flight sims, people like quirky games, this is both in one bloodsucking package.

Funny, I could have sworn Sony already had committed to Legend of Legaia II. Then again, I haven't really been keeping track. Ah well, I wouldn't worry about it. Sony seems intent on bringing most of its RPGs out here--even Okage is getting a release (although Tsugunai is a Sony RPG, come to think of it). The first game came over here and while it wasn't a big hit, it's moderately well known. No reason why Sony wouldn't capitalize on something like that.

Closing Comments:

I'm still in a little bit of a funk over that first letter. So tomorrow, tell Chris why you play games.

It's not because they have a good story, books have better stories. It's not because they have pretty graphics, movies are just as good-looking. It's not because you like Japanese pop art, we have anime and manga for that already. What is it? Why do you keep playing these things when there are ostensibly better ways to spend your time? I'm not doing the column tomorrow, but I will be watching your answers--for some reason, this is a subject I'm more than usually interested in.

-Nich Maragos, pondering the meaning of it all