The weather's sucked pretty hard these past few days, and I've been doing a lot of reading, so I'm afraid there's little in the way of witty anecdotes to share with all of you today. Sorry. I have, however, spent most of my day listening to disco, so be very, very afraid. I may break into I Will Survive at any moment. The only thing worth noting, I guess, is Tony Patino's excellent Deep Thoughts, which lives up the "intelligence" in the banner of this site. Very good stuff. I expect you guys will supply responses, perhaps indignant, perhaps agreeing, but hell, say something, would you? Don't leave the Deep Thoughts to linger in limbo, people. They're good reading. Respond. | What do you do, huh? | Umm, what banners? Ever since you started talking about how GIA had gonebannered, I can't seem to find them. It's bothering me cuz GIA is such arulin site and I wanna help support you guys (how much time can it take toclick on a banner once a day?) so umm, are they in popup form or hiding onthe page somewhere? Anyways, I'm NOT gonna tell you my secret passions.Hypothetical situation: YOu find out that Chrono Trigger 2 has been underwraps for years and is secretly in development for the PSX, being releasedin the next week. This is an official announcement from Square to thegeneral public. What do you do? Do you: a. Soil yourself b. Dance in the streets nude until arrested c. not care and be beaten to death by every RPG player wanting CT2 d. worship Square and be forever thankful I'm done. --Kawaii_Cabbit[BOTF], Video Games Editor at http://www.AnimeOtaku.com |
Um, the banners are on each and every page, right under the masthead. They're the only animated part of the page, so I'm a little lost on how you failed to notice them, honestly. Basic rule of thumb: if you load up a GIA page, and something moves or flashes, click on it. As for CT2, well, l'd probably forego any celebration until I had some media and information to post up on GIA regarding it. I'm crazy that way. :) | I sat on these Qs for too long | Hello, 1. If an old game that lots of people liked, was remade so that the longtalking sequences were replaced by FMVs, the graphics were made betterwith 3d graphics, and the game contained the EXACT same text that younormally get, would it be a worse game? |
Not for my money. I mean, you specifically note that the graphics are better, and the text is the same. Assuming you can keep loading times down, and you have the option to skip/fast-forward through the FMV sequences, it wouldn't be worse. It'd be outright superior. Hence "better." 2. Do game companies make FMVs so that it looks nice and it will attractmore people to buy the game to make more money? Do you think that theycare about the people who buy their games as long as they are buyingthem? |
While companies do care about fans to some extent, it's the prospect of selling product that is paramount. FMV has been proven to be an element in games that people are interested in seeing, by making FMV-using games a success (Parasite Eve, FF7, et al.), ergo they continue to produce games with FMV in it. So long as FMV is an element of games that attract attention, and are tired with commercial success, we'll continue seeing it. | Fan service for the gay porn crowd | Dear D.A. I was thrilled to hear that a new Ecco the dolphin game was in the worksrecently. Especially since it was being given the whole 9 volumetric yards(i.e. 3D) treatment. I downloaded a video or two, and it looked great inmotion. I had always felt that the Ecoo games were somewhat stifled bytheir 2D nature, so I was even more interested. However I was reallyshocked when I finally found out the developer of this promising title. NotSega or one of their 2nd parties, but APPALOOSA! Yes, the very sameAppaloosa who were responsible for such...ahem...'gems' as 'Contra: Legacyof war' and 'C: The Contra Adventure'! My heart sank at the prospect of one of my favourite classic games beingturned into a less than spectacular adventure romp. So I was wondering ifany of you out there think this title has a chance to even rise aboveaverage? Can Appaloosa mend their ways and finally give us an AAA game? I'dsure like to know. Regarding the new Final Fantasy sketches, I too have developed a gutfeeling about it not being Tactics II. Either that or I'm really hungry.However, Square have changed design styles radically sometimes. Eg: FinalFantasy VIII's lack of super deformed characters. But, I think that arguingover what these sketches are for is a bit too premature. Tantalisinglytempting, but premature none the less. O.K. folks, that's your social message for today. Let me leave by quotingthat famous literary authority, Yuffie Kisaragi: "C'ya!" Vishal 'The Savant' Bharadwaj (Hey, it was either that or 'The hairless raging homo carpenter and hisfunkyfresh rap group from the city of the trailer park') P.S. What does "Eludis Delectatio" actually mean? |
I am very, very worried about Appaloosa handling Ecco 2. Very. As you say, their previous projects haven't exactly instilled me with a sense of wonder and awe. Will they do better with Ecco? I'd like to say yes, since I have fond memories of the original, but it's a very strange concept. One that could easily be totally screwed up. Myself, I'd just find a copy of Aquanaut's Holiday and play that instead. AH has its share of flaws, sure, but it has the same spirit as the original Ecco did. And "E ludis delictatio" roughly translates to "From games, fun." It's a Latin pun. Not speaking Latin, I've never gotten it, but I've also explained it enough to know it by heart. | Shiva and Kali | But on a bib Mr. Milligan for I have ?'s a plenty, 0)Don't you think that John Coltrane was absolutely wonderful? |
My all-time fave jazz artist is Monk, but Coltrane's no slouch. Energy, style... Coltrane is so alive when he's playing. 1)Why do characters in many older RPG's tend to endlessly walk in place? What the heck is wrong with these people? |
They're living examples of the old adage "all dressed up and no place to go." 2)How the heck does Barret control the weapon on his arm? |
He points it, and it shoots. Trying to rationalize its use any more than that leads only to madness, my friend. Do not travel that road. 3)I called up Electronic Botique the other day and the person that answered the phone said "Electronic Botique, this is X speaking(ok, I forgot hisname) we are now accepting pre-orders for the Dreamcast and FinalFantasy 8." What do you think of this? They mentioned a game thatisn't coming out till September (at least) and they mentioned itbesides a gaming system! Do you think it may have been anover-zealous FF fan, or what? |
Initially at least, FF8 is going to spank the Dreamcast, sales-wise. A highly hyped title for an established system, which costs a third less than the competition, is going to do gangbusters sales, and is therefore something well worth preordering, at least on par with a new system. New systems are always outsold by hot new software. 4)Do you really think that those pictures are from FFIX? I think no.Square has all but said that FFIX will be released for the PSX2. Whentalking about the next FF game they said they were unsure if they couldcall it FFIX, but they did say that FFIX will be for the PSX2. I tendto go along with the theory that it will be an FF title that will not benumbered along with the other "main" FF titles. Releasing thistitle as a "main" FF title may potentially hurt the fan base thatSquare has built with the new FF's such as VII. What are your opinionson this matter, along with Square saying that FFIX will be forthe PSX2. |
I'm pretty sure FFIX is going to be for PSX2. Sony's not giving Square an early-run development kit for their new system so they can produce Another Mind 2. I have absolute faith in the media we posted up, since I am privy to knowing who the source is, and wish I could reveal it, so I wouldn't get told I'm an idiot for perpetuating a hoax. Grrr. Be that as it may, I'm coming to suspect that those pictures are for more than one project, which may or may not be FFIX. 5)Also, were those pictures of Garland from the same batch? The newpictures don't really look that they could be from a re-vamped FFI, but the older pics did. |
This is what caught my attention. Maybe there's a major, major revamp of FF1 in the works, and FFIX is more like FFI-X, a very improved and dramatically revised version of the game that started it all. That would explain the retro design style, and the presence of Garland. 6)Kali is not really a feminine aspect of Siva. Kali is a terryfyingaspect of Siva's consort and Shakti Parvati, as well as the goddess ofDeath. Basically the consort of a Hindu God is a femininepersonification of a trait that accompanies what her husband presidesover, or his feminine "energy" Siva is the Supreme Ruler of theUniverse as well as God of Destruction and Parvati is the summation ofall his feminine traits but is a goddess in her own right. AccompanyingDestruction there will be death, thus Kali. Shiva however does have theArdhanaresvhara form where he is half woman-half man, but can also takea fully female form. It is true though that Square's Ice Queen issomething they pretty much created. P.S. There is no way that you can be the Buddha Mr. Milligan. It has beenknown in my dorm that _I_ am the Buddha for quite some time now. I evenhave proof. Robindra N. Deb (Paggledutas) |
I bow to your superior knowledge, O Buddha. I remain your humble servant. | Lunar corrections | Here's what I can tell you about Lunar and Kadokawa Shoten. GameArts, along with the shadowy "Studio Alex," produced the first Lunar:TSS. When the time came to remake the game, I believe KS did thereprogramming and re-drawing of the anime, in association with GameArts. Kadokawa did NOT publish Lunar: SSS in Japan - Game Arts is partof a coalition of developers called ESP, which basically acts aspublisher for all its members. It's a good system, combining resourcesfrom each member company and not forcing them to unnecessarily drainthemselves or hire out to outside sources. Treasure is also a member ofESP, along with some others I can't remember. Now for some slightly older stuff: Almost nothing is known about Lunar 3 so far except for what littlehas been leaked by Victor Ireland, the one person who knows anythingabout it and has actually said so. (Vic doesn't release secrets he'sasked to keep, but he DOES enjoy making hints that he knows more than heshould let on.) A quick re-cap, from comments in interviews and the WDdiscussion board: ~Lunar 3 WILL be on PS2 (or whatever) in the US. The amount of licencingroyalties from WD sales in the US (not to mention WD's friendlyrelationship with Game Arts) make it worthwhile for the developers toport the game if it appears for Dreamcast first. Sega is legally unableto negotiate for US rights to the game without WD's approval, so rumoursthat they're trying to shouldn't be taken seriously. ~What's more, the game may very well debut on the PS2 in _Japan_. (Thisis the info I'm not too clear on, and Vic only hinted at it in the firstplace.) This goes back to the original mysterious "Studio Alex:"Apparantly, the art director, scenario writer, and one other key memberof the Lunar creative team are independent artists who don't actuallywork for Game Arts - GA only did the actual programming for the firstLunar, and the situation has been the same for all of the subsequentgames. Game Arts is pretty cozy with Sega, which is why all their gamesare published for Sega's current system first. However, it's quitepossible that the creative minds, as well as much of the additionalLunar staff, will bypass GA this time around and go with Kadokawa Shotenfrom the start of things. Depending on the goals and plans of the Lunarcore team, the current situation may end up placing the next Lunar on aSony system to start with. ~SOMEthing about Lunar 3 will be a surprise to longtime fans of theseries. No one knows what - graphics, story, characters, PoV, etc. Thisis a hint not even worth mentioning, but I had to round my points out tothree. ('Cause three is a magic number.) Just as a side note here, while talking to the voices in my head, I'vestarted to informally refer to the new game hinted at by the GIA'sdocuments as "Final Fantasy Departure." Appropriate, since it looksdrastically different from recent FFs. And considering that the name wasapparantly beamed straight into my head from outer space, pretty coolsounding. Usually, the aliens come up with something more banal.*wink* Till next time! ~Game Cat |
Thanks for the correction regarding the development of the Lunar games, and the Lunar 3 rumor consolidation. Personally, my guess is that the big surprise is that the characters will be big, well-animated, normally proportioned sprites, instead of the midgets we have in all the previous games. Okay, so this is more of a wish list. I love Lunar to death, but man, the character sprites could stand a LOT of improvement. We're getting into 128-bit, for chrissakes. I want all all the characters to look like Legend of Oasis characters, dammit. | Secret of the Stars blasphemy | You said you've played one oft-maligned game known as Secret of the Stars.I was wondering what you thought of it, as I'm the only one who I've everknown who's ever liked the thing. ^_^ I know people say it sucks, and I can somewhat see what they're saying,but I can't help loving that game... True, the graphics aren't what arereferred to as top-notch, and the story could use a little work. And thetranslation, but that goes with out saying. I just realized the other daythat I can only name two completely coherent, all the way through, rpgs forthe SNES. Or otherwise, but that's debatable. Anyways, some of the music inSotS is utterly gorgeous, and I have SPCs to prove it. And for those wholike either a challenge, or leveling up, it's a damn hard game. Or a gamewith a lot of leveling up. And it is a lot of fun. And the story could goplaces, if worked on a little more. So, anyways, what do you think of it? *-LS-* |
I don't think it deserves the reputation as the absolute worst RPG of all time that it's usually saddled with, but I rank it on the lower side of mediocre. It's just so bloody unoriginal. There's no element of the game that makes it stick out, giving me any reason to recommend it over another title. Unoriginal use of the genre. Dry characters. Dull plot. Okay graphics. Pretty good music. There's no element of it that sticks out as truly excellent, and leaving us with a passable, but hopelessly unoriginal game. | Bursting your bubble | My driver's side air bag scares me. What should I do? |
Drive into a wall. Once you're out of the hospital, you'll be so thankful that you're still alive that you'll never fear air bags again. Alternately, you have died, in which case fear is kind of a moot point. | King's Field confusion | Double Agent Man, In the list of games you've played you asked if King's Field 3 was everreleased. I think that in the US the KF games skipped the first jap gameand called KFj2 KF. So KFj3 was released, only it was called KF2. (If you meant something else, like a KFj4 or something then disregardthis message! Also, I've never played any of the games, US or jap, so ifthis is wrong, blame whatever magazine I read this stuff in.) -The Bad Guy PS-Looking at your list, you are, like the term or not, definitelyhardcore! PPS-Banners, what banners? I haven't seen any stinking banners. (evilgrin) |
Ah. That sounds likely. I seem to recall hearing rumblings that there would be a King's Field 3 released in the US, but given how unpopular the series seems to be (half my friends don't even remember it at all), I wouldn't be surprised if plans to that end were just canned due to lack of consumer interest. | No more gay porn? | Hello Double Agent, I am very disturbed by some of the "art" that is being displayed in theSketch Artist section of your site. I'm referring to the sketches of nude RPG characters. I really cannot understand the mentality of a personwho would draw such a thing but let's not go there. I see these picturesas nothing more than pornography legal by technicality that you guys liketo call "art". Sure, it's not "real" but then what about "cyber-sex" orinternet porn? The images conjured in the readers mind are the same. Soif somebody wants to indulge their twisted fantasies dont go to thosexxx.com sites just go to gia...we'll do it and nobody will ever knowbecause it's just "art" and it's a video game site, right? I think Michael Jackson would be interested in this. ok, I've said my peace about the pictures themselves and will most likelyget alot of flack from your readers and that's ok because I understand that my views arent shared by many of your readers. But I do need to address one of their questions immediately..."If you dont like it, thenyou dont have to go to that section." Many of your pictures are very nice to see and capture really intense orquiet moments from the games, but the way your site is set up, if I wantto see those pictures I have to view smaller images of the "RPornG" aswell. I'd really appreciate a way for meto filter through the "porn" without having to look at it.Perhaps in the smaller images you can have a blurr coverup the questionable stuff...that way if a reader wants to see that stuffthey can click to get the larger image and there it is (gross)...but forsomebody like me I wont have to see it and can still appreciate the othermore traditional artwork that's in that section. Thanks for your consideration. Sincerely, Eric Collins (aka SGT PROTON) |
If it's any consolation, Brian Glick, a GIA staffer, is even less comfortable with the recent fan art pictures than you are. In any event, we've sort of wandered into dodgy territory here. By just about any account, we're not actually posting porn. There's no displays of genitalia or explicit sexual acts. A lot of skin, true, but that's not pornography, per se. And we, as a site, have no intention of ever posting up actual pornography on the site. For one thing, we'd lose our banners. :) Part of me wants to just say "lighten up, it's just a picture." As it stands, I think the whole point is going to be moot pretty soon in any event. I've heard about art submissions for Friday, and even if there is more cheesecake in future updates, it won't be as dominant, and more to the point, I'll ask Ell to mark it more clearly, just to be on the safe side. We won't be posting a 480x175 photorealistic watercolor of Squall's erect penis or anything, but it's not too hard to blur a picture a bit, and mention that it's kinda skin-heavy. | Wind in the Willows | Hey Allan, I noticed you mentioned Willow for NES as a game you've played before. I remember a special they had on it in Nintendo Power a loooong time ago, and it looked kind'a interesting. I was wondering if the game was any good, and if maybe I ought to try and find it. Also, don't be dubious about the monkeys. Everyone loves 'em! Videogames.com loves 'em, PSM loves 'em, almost everyone associate with games loves 'em! Though I've never played it, I'm already convinced it's a great game based on the sheer amount of positive testimonies. And it sounds fun to boot! ;) ~ Al 'David |
Okay, okay, by popular request, I will do my best to play Ape Escape as soon as it's humanly possible. I will give the monkeys my best. As for Willow, it's sort of a cult classic NES action/RPG. It's vastly better than the movie, not that *that* is much of a distinction. I have fond memories of the game, but it basically just an okay entry into the Zelda rip-off genre, with especially good music. It's fun in a retro sort of way, but don't expect a classic. Not like, say, Crystalis or the like. | Everybody loves Raymond, or they're never seen again | Heya, Seb! The strange and sad-but-true article you posted last week about the kidwho got expelled for wearing the "vegan" T-shirt reminded me of anincident I had in a supermarket about six years ago. I was in the frozenfood section looking at the flavored tofu ice-cream subsitutes. Icouldn't imagine anyone except perhaps the lactose-intolerant, and maybenot even them, wanting to eat this, as some of the flavors were pretty farout. I was pointing out some of the weirder ones to my mom when a womanwalks up out of nowhere and says, in an offended tone, "Some people can'teat that, you know." She then walks away, leaving me in extremely puzzledsilence. To this day, I can't figure it out. Was this woman a formertofu-lover who recently discovered she was allergic to soybeans? Did sheworry about my mention of that wonderful non-dairy treat causing offenseand distress in the non-tofu-friendly denizens of this Giant? The worldmay never know. Oh, um, yeah, game questions. Right. Now that E3 has come and gone, andNamco has made no mention of a North American release of the PSX remake ofTales of Phantasia, can we pretty much kiss that possibility goodbye? Those new FF design documents have got me quite intrigued. Although youavow that there's pretty much no way they're for FFT2, do you think thatthere is a possibility of a Tactics sequel in the future? I heard itdidn't do so well as Square would have liked. Would it be Square or Questwho would take the initiative in making FFT2 a reality? Oh, and as for fanfics, I would like to see you guys add a section.You're a really good writer (don't be modest!), BSM was good (though he'snow gone), and I liked Tamzen's story over at RPGamer. In fact, I washolding out on sending them stuff in hopes that you would start one up,though I did send them one. You could always hire me, though that wouldmean you'd see an update maybe once a year, twice if I'm being ratherindustrious. ;) Rambling on, MasaMune P.S. I'm a female with an engineering degree who likes RPGs with FMV andvery strong plots and well-developed characters. By Stephen Gohan'sstandards, I'm headed straight for hell, aren't I? ^_^ |
Kate, if you're going to Hell, can you even *imagine* how utterly screwed I am? Sure, you're all that Gohan hates in gamers, but hell, it's not like you make a tidy living actively slamming people in public. You may be Gohan-Wrong, but I'm the bad person here. Anyhow, I suspect that Tales of Phantasia's odds of seeing US release are fairly slim. It wasn't seen at E3. It's not 100% never seeing the light of day, but my gut feeling is, if it wasn't on display at this year's E3, and given Namco's lack of eagerness, the lack of confirmation either way is eventually going to lead to a solid No. Five bucks says that FFT2 will be development within the year, if it already hasn't begun. I have no basis for this assertion, but hell, they're not dumb enough to can a worldwide commercial success like FFT. It's a lot more clear-cut a case of Instant Sequel than, say, Chrono Trigger, which sold pretty well, but not nearly as well as FFT. Ahem. Anyhow, thanks for the compliment on my writing. Check's in the mail, babe. :D For those that were asking, yes, I really did write a 7th Saga fanfic. The basic premise is that Kamil is the guy who ended up completing the game, disappearing in order to complete the stupid-ass time loop/paradox thing that the ending hinges on. Anyhow, my story is set about two years later, and primarily consists of the remaining characters getting together at a bar, bitching about what a horrible, shitty quest they were on, and getting badly sloshed. I'm told it's horribly mean-spirited and evil. I'm proud of it, and assuming we do put up fanfics, it'll be there for public consumption right quick. Closing Comments I've babbled enough for one day. Have a good night, everyone. - Allan Milligan | | | |
