I contain multitudes. No, that doesn't mean I'm fat. - July 6th, 1999 - Allan Milligan
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. I once killed a man with his own earlobe because he looked at me funny. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Some people say I'm a hypocrite. Granted, they only say it once, and then I slam down the ice pick into the soft flesh on the back of their skull, but they say it. And it hurts me inside. Sure, I contradict myself. I claim that everyone has a right to hold an opinion, then horrible brutalize them and their opinions for expressing said opinions. And I question some peoples' rights to hold the opinions that they do. What the hell's with that? In the first case, it's simply a case of my having an equal right to have a present opinions. You can present your opinion, I'll usually print it, but nobody said anything about my being nice about disagreeing. As for the hypocrisy issue, I'll simply fall back on good old Walt Whitman. Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself. I contain multitudes. I am not even-handed. I am not consistent. C'est la vie. | The Devil speaks | Hey Agent, EddyJ is absoluley correct that FFV is one of the great works of outtime Yes didn't we all feel the need to grab a beer when the pirates went tothe bar yelling Beer. Did we all not feel for Faris when she was found out to be a girl somethingshe had desperately tried to hide. We all felt shocked when we went to get the crystals but we were to late(Didn't that happen in FF4) Yes I think everyone was on the edge of thereseat during that final battle which was filled with emotion as you Finallyhad the chance to do away with the most evil of foes yes the Giant treeExdeath Yes this game is definetly the pinnacle of storytelling why It's rightup there with any Dr.Seuss Book but without the cool rhymes. - Mephisto |
There's something very, very amusing about the brightest, funniest part of a discussion being contributed by the Devil himself. Well done, Mephisto. | Prize packages | Re FFVIII Car Giveaway: I'd rather have a t-shirt, seeing as I never got adrivers' licence, the odds are innumerable, and it's only open to USresidents. - Kenshin (Jacob Rens) http://www.the-nextlevel.com |
I polled the GIA staff to see what they'd like to have as their prize. I am annoyed that it's only open to US residents, for bloody obvious reasons, and for that reason, I'm leaving out responses from myself and Brian Glick, since as Canadians, we don't matter to Square. Hooray. Oh, and Ed was at work, so he couldn't comment. As for the rest, the prize suggestions were... eclectic... Andrew Kaufmann: "I want a lotus so I can EAT IT! I AM EATING THE LOTUS!" Andrew Vestal: "I want ten minutes alone with the designer of Chocobo Racing in a locked room, with a crowbar." Fritz Fraundorf: "I want the time I spent playing Xenogears back." Andrea Hartmann: "I want a special edition of FF8 with a good translation." Tamzen Marie Baker: "I want to be granted total control over all the people of this pathetic dimension, who will serve as my mewling love slaves for all time." Drew Cosner: "I want you to stop putting words in my mouth, you asshole." | SaGa Frontier Vault gripes | Allan, I have to congratulate you and the rest of the GIA cast forputting SaGa Frontier in the Vault. I read the feature and then went toplay SaGa with an open mind and heart. "It can't be all that bad," Isaid, "maybe the other quests besides T260G's are better." Two gamplayhours into Asellus' quest was when I threw my controller in utterdisgust. "Not all that bad," you (GIA) said. IT'S STILL HORRIBLE! Thegame has only been a paperweight and a coaster since around April '98.It's a rotting mule turd on the trail of gaming existence! The onlyredeeming factor that I have seen in the game is the first gay couple inan RPG, and that's not much of an achievement. If you do decide toprint this (which I doubt) you won't get many letters flaming me. It'sa good Vault game, but the day SaGa Frontier is considered "good" is theday I gouge hot pokers into my eyes. While I've been rambling overemail I forgot the point. The point is: Is it worth it toil throughthe game for Asellus' quest? My answer is no since the poor characterdevolopment and non-linearity defeats the entire originality of thestory in the first place. To dispel all questionable doubts to why I played the game forAsellus' quest, it was mere curiosity since I haven't heard a thing"special" about her quest until now. Please answer by emailing me backor printing it or something. P.S. If you print this I won't ridicule your face when you post itWednesday (like you seem to care). Enough incoherency for today Sewer Rat (little brother of King Rat) |
Sewer Rat sent me three letters today, all of them pretty durn good, so I picked my fave of the three, above. Persistence pays off. Sometimes. Anyhow, this would be a good time to mention that while we stand behind the quality of the Vault and reviews we post at GIA, the opinions expressed don't necessarily carry over. This is a perfect example. Fritz likes SaGa Frontier. When I read the final draft of the Vault, I had one main comment: "You forgot to mention that SaGa Frontier sucks monkey turds through a straw and then launches them at passerby." Or something to the effect. I think it's a well-written Vault, and am proud to have it on our site, but neither I, nor anyone else on staff, are obligated to agree with the opinions in it. The same principle applies to any Vault we'll ever post. Author of a signed piece != the GIA as a whole. Remember that. | Musical machine | On the whole subject of adding voice to FF, I think there's oneadvantage to text that people are forgetting (or just never noticed).Because you're reading what the character is saying instead of having tohear it, the music in the game is allowed to be much more pronounced duringscenes of dialogue. In movies, the score is often mostly not-too-terribly-interesting"background music", because otherwise the music would drown out the voices.But in RPGs you can have a powerful, pronounced score proceedingsimultaneously with the dialogue. Take Grahf, and the way the music adds somuch to the feeling and atmosphere as he begins his familiar speech.Imagine if these themes always had to be drowned out and watered down so thecharacters could be heard. There are tons of examples of such scenes inRPGs. This is one of the aspects I always felt was beautiful and unique toRPGs over other forms of art/entertainment (I think they can be both^_-)...and I would hate to see it taken away like that.... And don't let the idiots get you down. Sometime I question how suchpeople could enjoy the same things I do, but you just have to remember allthe wonderful, and mostly sane (^_-) people who like RPGs too. Yourco-workers at GIA, for instance? :) ~ Al 'David |
As for the first point, I tried to communicate that idea yesterday, and failed utterly. I agree completely with your saying it, of course. Music as speech, in a sense. Great stuff. Although, I confess, I'd love to see an RPG musical. All the usual trappings, dungeons, monsters, yadda yadda, but once in a while, everyone would just stop in mid-dialogue and launch into a full-blown song and dance number. Sure, it sounds silly, but it'd certainly be memorable. They could bring Gilbert & Sullivan back to life to write the music. As for the latter, I see where you're coming from, but as time wears on, it's harder to ignore the idiots. They multiply like rabbits on Viagra, and really, they're a lot louder than anyone else. And they just don't stop. | A miracle | Hi, This is Eggman again. I was over at a friend's house, hoping to meet some spoony people at aparty, when he unleashed his old Super Nintendo and put in a game calledTetris Attack. It was nothing like the original, and at first thefrustration caused me to kick through an entire wall, wood and everything.I am an avid fan of martial arts, but have never been able to comprehend howpeople can actually break things like you see in movies and stuff. Holyshit! Whereas before I had difficulties even breaking a board of wood asthick as a slice of bread, Tetris "made" me kick through a wall about 4inches thick! I would like to revise a previous statement I made earlier. "All non-Tetris related video games suck." Eggman |
Hooray for Tetris Attack! Hip hip hooray! | Defending Kefka... and then some | Is he kidding? Kefka? He's the freakin' BOMBDEST VILLAIN OF ALL TIME AND SPACE!!! He could manipulate SEPHIROTH to join his cult!! (and that's no lie!) It's like someone on ffonline said about this--Sephiroth wanted to destroy the world. Kefka actually DID. Aha, but this is not the typical Kef. vs. Seph. debate. There are others. WELL, SCREW THE OTHERS!!!! I AM THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF THE FANATICS OF KEFKA AND I KNOW THAT HE CAN TAKE ANY VILLAIN YOU CAN PIT HIM AGAINST!!! However, it is acceptable to use the words "Kefka" and "joke" in the same sentence if you are refering to The Divine One's preference for dressing like a clown. Blackjack aka Amber (hey, a Game Girl!) |
Must... resist... urge... to start 'who'd win' thread... nnnn.... The goofiest part of Kefka isn't the clothes. It's the hair. It's like it was trapped in a bleach-soaked curling iron for a month and a half. Scary stuff. If it had any more bounce, we'd be handing it out to paratroopers as emergency equipment. | Trust not in Chips 'n Bits | Hey, I've got good news for everybody. I was browsing the 'net today, looking for game prices, when I found this shocking bit of text: Dragon Quest 7|PSX JAPANESE|09/99|$66.99 Dragon Valor|PLAYSTATION|09/99|$46.99 Dragon Warrior VII|PLAYSTATION|11/99|$46.99 Although your webiste claims differently, there IS going to be a Dragon Warrior 7 on our side of the Atlantic [or Pacific, depending on how you look at it.] Go check it out for yourself: http://www.cdmag.com/cgi-bin/online-stores/cbi_store/list.cbi_home |
See, if this was from another site, it'd be news. But the site this listing comes from is Chips 'n Bits. Chips 'n Bits is a running joke for game sales. At launch time for the N64, they had a price and a date listed for Street Fighter 64. I remember the time I ordered a copy of Dragon Warrior V from them, way back when. In short? They're full of it. DQVII might see US release yet, but don't believe news to that effect if it's coming from C 'n B. | Manly Ashley | Actually, if you watch the original Evil Dead, Ash's name isactually Ashley..and there aren't many men more manly than Ash. he's awalking testosterone factory. Thank You Drive Thru, Tedman |
Well, I feel like an idiot now. How could I not make the Ash-Ashley connection? I just don't understand my thought processes sometimes. Sigh. Anyhow, yes, the Evil Dead movies are the quintessential example of a uber-manly guy named Ashley. | A different take on Redbook audio | Hi diddly doo... I was interested by your comment that "Redbook is about to become a viableoption for games again." I suppose that is true, but I strongly suspectwe'll be seeing more and more games *without* redbook audio in the future.The reason is that Redbook audio sounds great, but it's not at all dynamic.Er, well, dynamic is a vague kinda word... better to say, it's not at allinteractive. An increasingly common feature in games is to match the soundtrack to theaction onscreen. This dates back to Tetris, when the music would speed upas your blocks grew higher into the danger area... actually, come to thinkof it, Pac-Man did the same thing with those accursed sirens. It's morerecently been seen in games like Abe's Oddysee, where it was used toexcellent effect, as well as in Dark Forces, Banjo-Kazooie, and, finally,in Ape Escape. Each of these games uses dynamic/interactive music in adifferent fashion, but in each case I've seen it really adds to theexperience. But honestly, you can't create that sort of connection betweenaction onscreen and music with Redbook audio. Maybe as technology advances, developers will be able to incorporateRedbook and PCM music together, to create an overdub effect or quick trakjumps. Even more likely is that PCM quality will increase to the pointwhere, but for nuance, it's practically indistinguishable from prerecordedmusic. Listen to soundtracks like Final Fantasy Tactics, Symphony of the Night,and Final Fantasy VIII (which has some of the absolute best guitar samplesI've ever heard - Uematsu's getting funky on his shiny new Fender) andcompare to previous generations of games. The PSX's sound capabilities area vast improvement over the SNES' chip; which was in turn a vastimprovement over the NES' chip (let's ignore the N64, since it stupidlydoesn't HAVE a sound chip). I imagine the next generation of consoles will feature greatly improvedlive audio processing (Dreamcast sounds pretty good from what I've heard,although I wish they had hired someone other than an 80's hair metal bandto record Sonic Adventure's tunes). So it seems that as prerecordedmaterial becomes more accessible, it will also be less desirable in games,when they could just as easily be streaming near-Redbook quality audio thatresponds to your actions. The same could be expected for FMV - no moreend-of-FFVII fiascos ("Hey, where did Vincent and Yuffie go?"). As thestorage capacity for FMV increases, the need for it will diminish as manycutscenes will be renderable in real-time to impressive and variable effect. Well, anyway, this has turned out to be rather verbose. Sorry. It may beboring for you, but for me it definitely beats working. Ta now, J. Parish |
This is an angle to the redbook audio issue I hadn't really considered. Good call. Yeah, with increasing quality of sound chips, I guess it WOULD be better to have more changeable, interactive music, and that very well might be the new Big Thing among game music composers in the coming years. Alternately, they may all decide to set all RPGs to Ricky Martin's Living La Vida Loca. Which would excite Glick, but I'm not sure the rest of us would be too happy about it. | Clarifying things | Sorry, should've been more clear with the language. Hehe... Somewhere out there can be found a fan translation of Parasite Eve, thenovel. The novel was indeed turned into a movie, with modification, and thegame is based on that movie, with modification. Unless you can find the illegal book translation or you have a greatknowledge of Japanese, you're lost, I'm afraid. From my understanding, thebook was far superior to the movie, with the movie and game being at aroundthe same level of awfulness. Mind you, you can't take this at face value. I've only read a synopsis ofthe novel and I've never seen the movie. Since I started the debate, I feltI should clarify. --The Professor, Tom Lillis |
Well, that kinda sucks the wind out of my Parasite Eve feature idea. Damn. Back to my Calista Flockhart in Kartia code, I guess... | A different tack | Dear Double Agent: I want to add my voice to the voice acting issue. I wouldn't mind voice acting if, and only if, they still include text, or the ability to turn text on. My reason is that there is a segment of the gaming community that everyone seems to forget. The deaf. Yes, deaf people do play video games. My good friend, Chaana, is profoundly deaf. If Square and other game makers were to eliminate text from their products, she could no longer play the games. After all, how can you really play a game in which you have no idea of what's going on. Already she's had a little trouble with Lunar (because of the anime sequences) but fortunately the normal game provides all the information she needs to play the game. I help her out as much as I can but I can't translate an entire game for her. As long as text is an available option, sort of like turning on closed captioning, it would be great. Remember, Castlevania:Symphony (Greatest Game In the Universe, IMHO!!!!) provided both and it didn't interfere with game play. Total elimination of text in favour of voice acting would effectively cut off the entire deaf community. That's unfair and unneccessary. R.P. |
This is the second letter today that introduces angles to an issue I hadn't considered. Good stuff. Your point is well-taken, R.P., and I agree that the total elimination of text is a Bad Thing. Close-captioning should most certainly be an available option. I wonder how difficult it would be to implement that option... hmm... you might want to consider writing to Working Designs about this. They do a substantial amount of voice acting in their games, but have taken player suggestions in the past, so it's worth a shot.
Closing Comments After the train wreck that yesterday's letters ended up being, today was quite a relief. JP and R.P.'s letters in particular were really excellent stuff, and much appreciated. All that said, I'm holding down two jobs now, so I think I'll get some sleep while I can, thank ye kindly. - Allan Milligan
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