I'm disappointed but not at all surprised that my prediction ended up pretty close to the mark. While I enjoyed the movie, it just wasn't something that could sell to a wide audience. It seems in America, movies sell mostly on star power or sequels to hit movies. Very few people will pay just to hear the actor's voice. For example, while pretty much everybody agrees that FF:TSW was a much better movie than TOMB RAIDER, quite a lot of people went to see the latter just because of Angelina Jolie, leading to much better box-office numbers.

In addition to this, of course, is the dreaded "mumbo-jumbo" factor I mentioned in my original prediction: "The plot, while pretty good, is filled with 'spiritual mumbo-jumbo,' which I think will turn off the audience the trailers seemed to be aimed at."

Of the 62 reviews that were still accessible to me today from the Rotten Tomatoes website, 8 specifically mentioned the words "mumbo-jumbo".

Examples:

"Her mentor, Dr. Sid (voice by Donald Sutherland) has some wacky, MUMBO-JUMBO idea about marshalling eight spirits to save the planet."

"It's more than a little frustrating to be so stimulated visually while being spoon-fed incongruous spiritual MUMBO JUMBO and force-fed incompatible summer action conventions."

"On the down side, Al Reinert and Jeff Vintar's script mixes standard videogame exploits with pseudoscience and superstitious MUMBO-JUMBO - something about the Eight Spirits and Gaia the soul of Mother Earth."

"The basic storyline is sort of a gloomy variant of "Starship Troopers" (or of the short-lived TV series "Space: Above and Beyond") gussied up (or, more properly, weighed down) with all kinds of mystical, New Agey MUMBO-JUMBO involving some sort of Neoplatonic World-Soul or "Gaia" and an effort by scientists to combat the alien powers by collecting eight spirits which, when brought together into a higher-consciousness union, will vanquish the threat."

"But while the `wow' factor remains consistently high -- there is a great set-piece as the heroes shoot their way past the phantom menace -- the level of interest begins to dissipate as the one-dimensional characters, mystical MUMBO-JUMBO and hokey plotting simply fail to take hold."

"This film's bleak and murky vision, and somewhat incomprehensible spiritual MUMBO-JUMBO storyline, just didn't do it for me."

"Unfortunately, the movie itself, based on a video game, is overlong and riddled with stiff dialogue and standard sci-fi MUMBO-JUMBO and scary aliens."

"It contains all of the cliched, maudlin suckiness of the animation sequences in a "Final Fantasy" game, and all of the overblown animistic MUMBO JUMBO and ostentatiously goofy special effects of an anime cartoon."

So, I'm disappointed that I ended up winning this contest, but I'm certainly happy to claim the prize, and hopefully the next time around (if there is one) Square will make a movie more tailored to the market it targets. And also, I'm sure the DVD and VHS will sell pretty well...this seems to be the sort of thing that will draw a lot of DVD sales, despite poor box-office numbers.

Also, let me be one of the first to say good-bye to Chris, and thanks for the many months of excellent and consistent work. I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates the time and effort you put into this site on a daily basis.

To sum up, Xenogears is not only the best game ever made, but the greatest story ever told in the history of humanity.

--
James Doyle

-Blackmoxa

What do I think will happen? I think it'll pretty much be a wash at first. The X-Box will not fail. For starters, it's an American product, which gives it a home-turf advantage here: games made for it will be out sooner, will not suffer from translation errors (a factor which is still regrettably present, though more in the sense of "wooden" translations), and there are always some people who equate "American" with "better." (Sometimes validly, sometimes not.) Plus, Microsoft is a marketing powerhouse. They have enough money and talent to hype this machine into a media frenzy. The fact that it seems to be the most technically powerful machine of the trio (in flat terms of clock speed, video memory, etc.) can't hurt. The price, on the other hand, might prevent some sales.

The Gamecube will also succeed. Coming in at a lower price is a sure bet for at least reasonable sales figures. Plus, Nintendo has the strongest name recognition when it comes to video games (both Sony & Microsoft have recognition, but not so much in that field). Add in the legacy of fans of previous Nintendo consoles, and the Gamecube will be doing all right. Maybe not great -- the lackluster career of the N64 may hurt it a bit -- but it won't be suffering. A GBA adaptor to play games on the TV while at home would surely boost sales as well.

The PS2 has the advantage of an early start. Granted, this didn't save the Dreamcast, but it looks as though the PS2 will just be hitting its stride when the other consoles come out. Its debut was weak, but its anniversary looks to be very strong with the games coming out between now and the end of the year. Factor in the first time buyers -- and people who've never bought a console before are likely to be a large portion of the buyers during the holiday season -- and the PS2 has another advantage. The backwards compatibility will likely draw many first-timers to it, simply because of the immense software library. (Plus, the PSX games will be cheaper, which parents will notice.) Again, the price of the console itself may be an issue. Let's face it, $300 is a lot of money, even before factoring in memory cards, a second controller, and at least one actual game. If Sony drops the price, the PS2 will do considerably better; I don't know if Sony will or not, but it wouldn't surprise me.

I don't expect any console to spectacularly or abysmally by the end of the year. I think that it will turn out much like the last console war, with the winners and losers being pretty much decided a few years into it.

--
Chaomancer Omega

Well, I've been a diligent reader of DA for several months, sad to see you go.

Anyway, I have a pretty good idea about what's going to happen with the consoles. I suspected, months ago, that the Dreamcast would end up like flopping Sega's consoles always have to varying degrees. I was kind of surprised to see Sega outright kill it, but, you know, better to go out in a blaze of glory than just fade away. Before year's end, the DC will unforunately be dead as a doornail, so that's a non-issue. Sony looks like the top candidate for the winner here. They have a bigger userbase than most people would think. I don't see Microsoft having the games or developer support necessary to beat Sony. Basically, they need exlusive titles. A lot of people have PS2s. If games are coming out for both the Xbox and the PS2 (and the PC, and...), people aren't really going to care if the Xbox makes it look better. Most people can't bothered. So MS either has to let developers release for multiple platforms, which would not be good for the Xbox, or strongarm them into being Xbox only (like with Bungie "We Love the Xbox. Can we go home now?" Software). So basically, I'd be surprised if MS is going to pull it off with the Xbox. It'll just be too hard to get REAL console-only games on it. Without that, it's just a scaled down PC, and everyone has a PC, right? (or a Mac, like me. Heh heh.)

Nintendo's Gamecube is lacking DVD-Video playback out of the box, which is a major drawback considering both Sony and MS have that as standard. The Gamecube also has a smaller capacity, and what with Nintendo still having trouble keeping 3rd party developers on board, it looks like the GC might suffer the same game shortage the N64 did. The big plus is the lower cost of the GC, which might help to put it out there and get some market share. That said, the GC probably looks much more enticing to developers than the N64 did, so I think it'll be close, closer than it was with the N64 vs. PSX, between Sony and Nintendo.

Really, though, I'm disappointed with the current state of consoles. Curse you, Square, for ditching Nintendo back in 1996. Curse you, Nintendo, for being dumb and for telling Square to get lost a few months ago. Curse you, Microsoft, for just getting in the way. And curse you, Sony, for having better marketing despite the inferior console. Regardless of who wins this "round", buying one console just won't get you the same wide variety of games anymore, like it did with the SNES. That, I really do lament.

- xmatt

I was disappointed that no one mentioned Michiko Naruke of Wild Arms I and II fame. Besides being quite the Japanese rose, her music in the two games were and are simply incredible, especially the orchestral remixes. Whenever I need to listen to some game music quickly, rather than searching through my 250 game music collection....Naruke's works are a pretty safe bet, well other than Falcom's of course! Her control over her various fusion styles of western and classical make her a one of a kind gem. As good as Shimomura is, another favorite of mine, Naruke's evocative style makes her tops in my book.

Oh, and I fully agree with the comments on Yoko Kanno. I don't think I've heard anyone that displays more knowledge of ethnic/world styles as she did in her KOEI Game music works album.

Jeff Davis, GIA Vaults

Now tell me, would the most stereotypical response from a pasty, out of shape geek be (a) to try to assert his feeble masculinity by challenging you to some sort of inane physical contest, made completely ridiculous by the fact that this is the Internet, (b) to curl up and cry in the corner while eating piles upon piles of delicious Pork Rinds, (c) to try to disprove the statement by differentiating certain aspects of his social life (that can't be proven anyway seeing as this is the Internet) from the accepted geek stereotype, (d) to write an angry, arrogant letter that actually supports and defends the stereotypical geek lifestyle, or (e) to simply type "U SUK DIQ LOSER!!!!!#@$#$"?

I could probably write a graduate thesis for sociology about this...

Sephiroth Katana
RPG Classics (http://www.rpgclassics.com)

- Chris Jones, June 16, 2000

No offense, but after that statement, exactly how many DA applications are you expecting?

That aside, you've done a great job and I for one will hate to see you go.

SonicPanda

With regard to the topic, however...I'm not sure when exactly it's coming out, but I expect DQ7 will be good but do poorly. And this leads back to my big dilemma...what IS coming out in that period of time? I have no idea. I am so out of the loop. Cry.

OK, after a quick glance at the release dates, I feel slightly more informed. Lufia will, I suspect, be a solid but unremarkable game with a small but devoted legion of fans, but won't hit the big time. Pokemon Crystal will sell a lot of copies because of dumb kids who want every Pokemon game ever produced, even if they already have Silver or Gold. It won't be a huge thing, though, more of an inevitability, like weary parents paying the biannual Pokemon Tax to Nintendo. Advance wars will be poopy and unremarkable. Super Monkey Ball will sell to all the GIA staffers and may have a little cult following among monkey fans and jaded nerds who think it's kitschy, but it won't outdo anything we've seen so far this year. Arc the Lad Collection, obviously, won't be out yet. Tales 2 won't get any more interest here than Tales did, but it WILL be a good game, possibly very good. Gitaroo Man will be the next Parappa, but won't be that big a thing this time next year unless it has a sequel to its name. Harvest Moon will rock your face off, but only eight people will buy it because it's a Harvest Moon game. MGS2 will be an unstoppable colossus, with gaming magazines stumbling over themselves to pour glowing adjectives on it at each new screenshot. Kids will knife each other in subways for copies of MGS2. It will be big.

I think, though, that the game to watch is Hoshigami. It won't be huge, but I think it has the potential to be a major critical success. In a few years it could be going for more than its store value on eBay. We'll see.

-AJ