You want my rant?? I'm severly pissed that Sega somehow thinks it's profitable to release Shenmue 2 for the Dreamcast in Europe, but not in the U.S.A. Why is that? Shenmue sold a lot more copies in the States than it did in Europe, so why would they release it in an area where it historicly sells less copies? And the thing that really blows my mind is that if it's already coming out in Europe, there's already factories set up pressing the game onto the Dreamcast CD format. It would be so easy to run off some copies and sell them in the U.S. I know, I know, the Dreamcast is dead. Yeah, I know, I've moved on. Bought a PS2, have a GameCube pre-ordered, will get the X Box when I save up enough money. But I still love my Dreamcast, and was looking forward for a long time to play Shenmue 2. I have even kept all my save game data from the first game like every one told me to so I could use that data in Shenmue 2. I guess I didn't need to waste my VMU's memory on that, eh? So in sho!

I'm quite peeved that Sega refuses to release the game here, when they get it in Europe. Just do a few tweaks, and release it here. It's already dubbed in English, even.

Britton from Caro, Michigan USA [And ladies: he's available! -Ed.]

So cold.

~Ian P.

Dear God (thats the title you prefer, right?) -

Walking into my local Software Etc. to buy a new game used to give me a wonderful feeling of excitement. Here I am, surrounded by hundreds of games, about to feel a brand new shrinkwrapped copy of the latest video game in my calloused palm! What joy! I may be considered an adult by the law, but I was a giddy as a schoolboy walking into that store! Then they hired me.

And oh my brothers and sisters, where has all the magic gone? I mean seriously, working at that store has ruined like 90% of the shear joy that i used to have for gaming. When i pl... oh forget it drew. sorry i wasted ytour time. this letter is going absolutely nowhere and the premise is dumb. i accept your wrath. and i really do have two rather sizely callouses on my right hand courtesy of my dreamcast controller.

-action jackson.

Chris,

Yeah, I'm sure we'd all love to see Star Trek-style holodecks, where we could create any environment in which our games could be played, but the technology to create it would just be far too expensive, and much too bulky and hard to store. When we think of VR, we all think of a pair of futuristic shades, a pair of gloves, and some sort of unit to which we would "jack in" to the system, but the idea that we would be fully immersed with only these three items is ridiculous. You'd need a full body suit, one with sensors on every one of your muscles. The suit would have to be feather-light, and so comfortable, you'd never know it's there. Then the sensors would have to be able to respond to your movements instantaneously, while at the same time be able to send realistic sensations to your nerves, so that a soft pillow does not feel like a hard block of wood. You'd also need room enough so's you don't knock into things or people while you play your game, and you'd need some so! rt of safety cut-off switch, so's you don't kill yourself fighting a dragon.

And on the topic of combat: Let's assume that suit really can give you realistic sensations. That still doesn't account for the lack of physical presence. You could pick up a sword, and it would feel like a sword, but objects would just pass right through it, because it's not there in the real world. So you'd need a prop sword onto which the computer would overlay a picture of a real sword. Then there's the dragon (or whatever) that you'd be fighting. Sure, you could swing that prop sword at the dragon, but it would just pass right through the dragon, since that's not really there, either. So, you'd need a robot, onto which the computer would overlay a picture of a dragon. Now, I'm not sure, but I think we don't have robots that can move fast enough to simulate the action and reaction times of a living creature, mythical or not. Also, we would need a room the size of a hanger, so that you'd have enough space to move around in.

VR's a nice idea, but I just think that it would be too difficult to make on a scale of total immersion. No holodecks for us. But what do I know; this could all be a Matrix-like fantasy world, and I could be just a collection of coded instructions. Who knows.

-Banjax. VR5 was a really dumb show.

Hi Drew,

Ah, the rant. On the internet, it is the highest form of literature. Or something. >/pretentious<

Anywho, here's a rant about you! Can you do a column without referencing in it anywhere that a) you write bad intros, b) you can't think of a good response to a letter, and c) you're the epitome of sarcasm? Oh, you don't care? Fine then, be that way. I'll be over here thinking up new ways to publicly humiliate you.

Ok, serious bit. Given the recent topic about RPGamer, I must say I'm pleased that no one wrote in (or at least got printed) with the usual bashing of RPGamer's Q&A column that surfaces whenever that site is mentioned here. I am not trying to be an apologist or anything, but I would like to point out to those who haven't yet noticed that Q&A differs from DA mainly in the fact that RPGamer has an editorials section for the more "serious" debates, while the GIA does not. Also, Q&A rarely has topic days, which further adds to the difference between the two columns. (trivia time: the first editorial on RPGamer was written by Andrew Vestal*. Betcha didn't know that!)

Two monkeys are riding camels over a sand dune. The first one says "radio", the second one says "no soap." You have to ask me yes or no questions to figure out what's going on. And no fair looking up the answer online somewhere, if it's even on the net.

Bart, can't think of a real rant right now

*Ok, so it was still Square Net back when he wrote it, but take your facts and logic and go play with someone who cares

I'm annoyed with people who are graphics whores. Especially with people who refuse to try Dragon Warrior VII solely based on it's outdated graphics. I mean if you don't like the game because you can't stand random encounters or a first person battle perspective, fine, but if you are so unimaginative that you just can't get past the fact that the graphics aren't l33t than IMO your a moron. It's similar to the same kind of idiots that can't read any modern novel because, "duh, this don't have pwetty pictures!" Should DWVII have better graphics than it does? Yeah. Does Dragon Quest 6 look better than this game in too many instances? Unfortunately. Should graphics be such a deciding factor that it takes so much away from the gaming experience that it should make you refuse to try it out and possibly like it? God I hope not if you are any bit of an intelligent gamer.

-Pendy head webmaster of the Dragon Quest Dragon Warrior News Network

Drew,

The X-Box.

The X-Box pisses me off to no end. Now, it's not because of the saturated, craptastic line-up, or the fact that I could fit inside one, or that the controller is gigantic, or the fact that it weighs more than me, or that most stores only sell it in a bundle that costs more than the GNP of most third world countries. No, what pisses me off about the X-Box is how Microsoft and retailers is making it sound. Now, I'm not one to be cynical, but I have to be a tad suspicious when I read interviews with Microsoft engineers that more or less read like "Who's a good console? You are! Yes, you are! You're a good console! Yeeeesss...that's a good console!"

Every commercial I see for the X-Box shows a little green sphere with people talking about how the clothes look like real clothes and the sweat looks like real sweat. I'm not told how good the games are. I'm not told how the design will allow game designers to make better experiences. I'm told that people look real in the games. Whoopdie shit.

Retailers make it sound as if this thing is the greatest invention in man's existence. Fuck, the way the make it sound, you'd think it cures cancer, stops war, ends racial bigotry, cleans your house, and impresses members of the opposite sex into becoming full fledged love-slaves. I don't care what it's got in it. I don't care who develops for it (because, really, even the best companies churn out some really crappy games every year). I don't care what Helena's breasts bounce like in Dead or Alive 3. I want to know what games are good, and what games present me with experiences I have never had before with other games. In addition, the in-store demos suck. I see adds all over the damn store for the thing, and I walk up to it. One playable demo. One. There are about fifteen video demos, some of which of games I would've really like to have tried. Instead they have only one interactive demo. And of what game? Munch's Oddysee, a game that more than requires reading of the manual, or at least, a tutorial.

Drew, I'm not saying the X-Box isn't a good system. Hell, it could turn out to be great down the line, but it seriously pisses me off when a company doesn't just tell me a system is good, but that the system is the pinnacle of mankind's tens of thousands of years of achievement.

-Mike Drucker

P.S.: And for God's sake, when did game advertisements stop selling games and start becoming artsy, abstract, and/or asinine?

...well OK, it needs quite a lot of room to sit in front of your TV, but at the same time I think that the GIA staff and readers have been a bit too unfair in slagging off the Xbox. Yes, I'll agree that at launch there don't seem to be very many games that will appeal to hardcore RPG/puzzle fans, who in theory are meant to constitute the GIA's readerbase. But then can you honestly say that the PS2 or the Dreamcast had any worthwhile RPGs on or shortly after launch, or that the GameCube will?

As far as I'm concerned, there are a good few interesting games in the Xbox's launch line-up. Halo is of course the most stand-out one - I don't know how much the GIA staff or readers in general like first-person shooters, but it seems to be a very well-executed and innovative example of one that appeals a lot to me (and after all, don't I count? RPGs are my favourite games, too, but I still enjoy a good FPS now and then). Munch's Oddyssee is the kind of platform/puzzle game along the lines of Ico which I would think would appeal to a lot of the GIA staff and readers. And though there is nothing particularly stand-out about the rest of the launch games, there doesn't need to be. They're simply the usual bunch of sports/action/whatever games that give fans of these genres something to play.

It seemed to me that no-one at the GIA is actually looking at what really matters relating to the Xbox, i.e. the games, instead harping on about how they don't like MS and the risk that some of the consoles could be faulty or fall through their furniture. To an extent I share these same concerns, but the bottom line is that if I see enough good games being released on the Xbox I'll seriously consider one regardless. And there, really, is my bottom line - I don't personally think the Xbox, or the Gamecube, will have enough good games at launch to tempt me into buying one. But the same applied to the DC and PS2 at launch - I don't think people should judge the launch line-up as harshly as all the silly fanboys insist on doing - but realize that many, if not most, of the great games for any console have always come out halfway through, or towards the end of, their life cycle.

Scrolling down the GIA's recent news stories, what do I see? Gamecube, PS2 and GBA games. Yeah, further down you have a few Xbox previews, but the bottom line is that the Xbox is about to launch. How about some updated previews of 1 or 2 of the launch games? Munch's Oddyssee, maybe?

Paulo

Hello, I have a few confessions to make,

I don't like Dr. Pepper, Jay Leno, Pink Floyds "The Wall", Beer, harsh drugs or rapists. What I do like is root beer, Blues Traveler, Ry Cooder, Doritos (Who doesn't?), big sandwiches and holding hands while taking long walks on the beach at sunset. I know that that has nothing to do with games, but it's something I've been meaning to get off my chest.

-Gilbert