Hello Drew,

While I know I may be just one of many to say this, I would still like to offer applause on yesterdays article. I do not claim to know why the whole hardcore gamer thing came about, or why, because you can't stereotype everyone to have the same reason, but it's very dissapointing indeed.

Further more, I have a friend who gave away his 2 year EGM subscription due to things such as this(well, stuff like this and constant sexual innuendos). I find it very sad that professional editors have stooped down to this level. It is my personal belief that games should be reviewed on their own merit, not in constant comparison to personal favorites.

Lastly, there is one small note I'd like to make regarding the years of FMV bashing. First, I agree whole-heartedly that people seem to not mind anime FMV in comparison to CG FMV, which *does* seem hypocritical to me. However, don't people realize that in one way or another, FMV has always existed in RPGs? While not neccisarrily in FMV format, RPGs have always had non-interactive moments. Before saying that FFVIII is a bad game in comparison to FFVI because it has FMV, and that takes away gameplay, take the time to remember that long-arse scene in FFVI that involved the Espers world. Remember how long and non-interactive that was? Oh well, it was 2d, so that apparently makes it acceptible. Bah. Bah I say, bah.

No particular kind of gamer,

-JeremyS / LC3

You ever turn on the TV and look at who the actors and actresses are? Attractive people. Nobody wants to look at ugly things, they wanna be entertained in some form or another, not disgusted. Games get more and more attractive. I don't give a damn if gamers are 'hardcore' and they loved the SNES and NES games, I enjoyed them as they were released. Some of the stories and concepts remain excellent. But fans can't tell me that if FF4-6 had original releases alongside Chrono Cross, that you'd enjoy them more than beautifully engineered polygons. Story and gameplay aren't all it's about. The biggest reason 'hardcore' gamers piss about graphics and polygons is because they're scared. Scared that the games they only really like out of nostalgia and memory are disappearing. You know what they can do? Stop buyin' new games, it won't hurt the industry. Play with the old sprites, because all you're bitchin isn't gonna stop anyone from makin games bigger and prettier. I played FF7 when it first came out and was dazzled by the FMVs, and beautiful battle graphics of the time. It was a lot of fun, but I still think FF6 was a better game. Graphically? Hell, no. It's outdated, and if FF6 were remade 3D, gamers would still gripe that all companies care about is graphics, even if the storyline were excellent. You know it's true, it's all preconceptions. Lunar: SSSC kicked ass. I thought it had an excellent story and good enough graphics, but I would've like it more if it had had better gameplay images. And I read reviews from the same people who put down FF8 for it's graphics, they said that Lunar could've looked better. People don't tend to get satisfied. I suggest any of the following three things for close-minded arses:

--Killing yourself--

--Locking yourself away with an NES and SNES--

--Or rollin with change, cause it's not gonna stop for you.--

Alright then. People piss me off. And so do gamers.

Bite me. I'm like Shaft. Only white.

Hey Drew. How's things? Really? I'm sorry to hear that. No, I don't think it'll grow back.

But enough about your unfortunate gardening accident, Drew, I'm here to talk about the virulent outbreak of "Hardcore Gamers" threatening the sanity of reasonable humans everywhere.

We're surrounded by snobs, trainspotters, and pathetic, pretentious bastards. You know the sort. They snort at you whenever you try and watch a movie that's in color, in English, or (gasp) both. They turn up their noses at any music made after 1967 (or 1667, depending on the quality and vintage of moron.) They've always just seen "the most STIMULATING program on PBS."

There used to be somewhere we could go to to avoid these miserable toffs: gaming. No pretentiousness, no posturing: just you, your TV, and pure gaming bliss.

No longer the case. Not content with ruining film, music, and television for everyone, the snob scourge has cast its vile sights on our unspoilt paradise. FMV and 3D, apparently, are tools of the corporate monolithic all-destroying devil. Sequels aren't any good unless they follow the originals to the letter. Gamers today, apparently, "just don't get it." In short, if anyone, anywhere, is actually having any fun playing a videogame, they'll be sure to show up and ruin it. They've taken the internet. They've taken the magazines. And pretty soon every thirteen year old kid in the country will be spouting tripe about games that came out before they were born.

Is there any way to stop them? I applaud your efforts, Drew, but probably not. They're more committed than we are, and their numbers grow by the day. At least we can take pleasure in the fact that they never have any fun or any sex ever. Ever. And there's always the statistical fact that they have (on average) 700% more acne than normal human beings. So enjoy FFVIII, approach Chrono Chross with an open mind, and the next time you hear some stringy-haired otaku moron giving 13-year olds a lecture about Bard's Tale or something in your local Electronics Boutique, give him a swift kick to the groin and run away.

-pko

I read your article on hardcore gamers, and frankly, you couldn't be more right. For the past two years, I have heard every aspect of Square's games criticized from "the graphics are 3D, the game is sci-fi, the characters lacked depth (what BS)." Before I start, I would like to note that I would consider myself a "hardcore" Square gamer who has played every SNES Square game except Secret of Evermore and FF Mystic Quest. I have enjoyed all of Square's RPGs INCLUDING FF7.

What most hardcore RPG gamers remind me of are those seniors who whine about everything. They talk about "the good ol' days" of the depression, say how great movies were in black in white, and refuse to use computers. They hate young people for they never experienced the life they did. Just like these seniors, RPG gamers refuse to accept that life, technology, and time move on. RPG gamers yearn for "the good ol' days" of the past, when the graphics were bad, the story was simple and contrite, and all of the characters had blue, green, or pink hair as opposed to having realistic characters. Both "hardcore" gamers and seniors hate change. They want everything to stay the same as it always has been.

Don't get me wrong, I loved games like FFIV; but when I played it back then, I was about eight or nine years old. I loved the simple fairy tale plot. But now, I'm nearly seventeen. I'm sick and tired of such bland games as FFIV or Lunar. I want something with more substance and more character behind it, like FFVII or Xenogears. Those are games I can have a feeling for, and when I turn off the game, I can have interesting thoughts or critical analysis questions about various characters or themes. These games are up to my educational level as they are more emotional, more thought provoking, and more complex. Games like FFIV or Lunar were great. . . but they belong back where they were five to ten years ago.

FFIV had poor NES style graphics, a terrible translation, and a weak plot: and that's the game that's supposed to be the quintessential RPG for today?! It's not that it's a bad game. It WAS a great game. I sometimes play it to relieve my childhood. But now its time for something more original which will challenge the creators at Square, and other companies to the limit. I find it sad that RPG gamers hail Lunar as the greatest RPG for the year, or that reviewers in Gamefan say FFIV or V is the greatest game for 1999, because it sends a message to game makers and it and says something about us RPGamers. For those three to be the best RPGs for 1999 would tell game makers that all they need in games are poor, simple plots made for little children, flat characters, and bad graphics. It tells game makers that gamers don't want to be challenged mentally with excellent plots, and that gamers have not matured one bit in ten years.

It's time for hardcore gamers to get over the fact that they need to live up to their age and play something up to their level. If "hardcore" gamers cannot accept newer, more profound games, with deep plots such as Xenogears, that means that they are stuck in the past and still have the maturity level of an eight year old. RPG gamers need to stop whining and grow up.

-D. Harpen

Drew, You gotta remember that these critics are only people like you and me. The only difference between us is that their views are put in a magazine, while ours aren't. My opinion is as good as theirs, and what else would you expect from an industry that is only respected by a select few. Nobody really takes games seriously except for the gamers, and all the critics are 20 year old college students who are computer science majors, writing there columns, in between beer runs and their class work. They aren't gaming gods.

The problem is that everyone takes critics too seriously. Who cares what a critic thinks; if you like a game, you like it, and someone else may have a different opion from yours. Everyone is different and has different tastes. I'm sorry that these guys couldn't deliver their opinions that was suitable for your level of critique, but thats how it is, and you have a very small chance of ever being able to change it. Another thing is that these people probably had to play the japanese version of the game, and if they are not fluent in japanese, it probably lessened their gaming experience. While it is sad that people are actually going to listen to these critics, instead of trying the game for themselves, it happens. Just look at the new Star Wars movie: I though it was really good and a lot of the critics think that it was bad. Neither of us is wrong considering that we have our own opinions, and opinions can never be wrong, no matter how strongly you feel about a subject.

My opinion is as good as thiers. Why I can even go as far as to say that I think that they wrote a good column and I think you are the one who is wrong, but I won't go into that. I'm not saying that they did write a good column, and I can't say whether or not the column is good or bad, because, I haven't read the column myself.

-Evil Genius

P.S.- ZEPPELIN RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Declarations of an RPG Purist

Hi. I'm an RPG/FF PURIST. The FF series is going down the drain and the RPG community is degrading at an unbelievable rate. Graphics have taken precedence over story and gameplay. The old medieval/fantasy settings are being replaced by more futuristic/industrial ones. Don't you see? BLASPHEMY! HERESY! This is NOT the way RPG's are supposed to be! I yearn for the days of old school graphics and good story... FF6, now there was a game! FF7? Pffft, it's not even a Final Fantasy! Just look at it! All flash and FMV... Alas, society has corrupted what used to be a magical genre, and it may never be the same again. *sigh*

What the RPG Purist is really saying

Hi. I'm a stuck-up, insecure geek with a lot of welled-up anger. I've been playing RPG's for more than 5 years and therefore deserve the pompous, self-proclaimed title of "purist". Ever since FF7 was released, the FF series has become suddenly very popular, and now everyone and their brother has a copy of the game, despite the fact that most had never even heard of the series before FF7. My quarrel actually has nothing to with the graphics or the game-play of the newer games, and I know that the older games weren't really anymore "special" than the newer ones are. But I was special... In the early 90's I was looked upon as the intellectual geek and when I talked Final Fantasy with my other "intellectual-geek" friends, we could laugh at people who were playing Mario on their SNES and Wolfenstein 3d on their pre-pentium PC's. We were secure in the illusion that we played "real" games... RPG's... and that others were either too dumb to play them or too immature to understand them.

Then, technology grew in leaps and bounds, FF7 was released and over the course of the next year, the RPG market multiplied and multiplied. Everyone saw through the illusion... The RPG market was getting attention and people saw that not only was the genre fun, but that you didn't need to be a rocket scientist to play games from the FF series. I was no longer "special" and the RPG genre was no longer limited to people with a haughty attitude and an incredible amount of spare time. People don't think of me as the intellectual geek anymore... now I'm just a geek. In light of this catastrophe, my geek friends and I have come up with a plan: whenever someone admires the newest RPG's (especially when they comment on how good the graphics are) we will all nod solemnly in unison and start talking about how much we miss the "old school" graphics (another dumb little title we came up with) and declare that the storyline has been damaged by the addition of better graphics. We realize that this is a vain attempt to establish nonexistent credibility and to make ourselves feel more secure and seem like superior gamers. Some of us even realize how arrogant and stuck-up we sound. But... I am what I am, and I would rather die a thousand horrible deaths than admit I am wrong. Hopefully, someday, if we stick to our guns long enough... everyone will "see the light"... that RPG's are suppose to have shitty graphics... that all RPG's must have a Dungeons and Dragons theme... and that my opinion, as a "purist", is always "right".

What I'm saying

1. To everyone out there that says FF7 isn't a real Final Fantasy:

Hey, jackass... guess what? The company that made the game is "Squaresoft" and the title of the game is "Final Fantasy VII"... You know what that means? It means that it's a Final Fantasy whether you like it or not, and your opinion is pretty damn insignificant on the matter.

2. To everyone out there who thinks "real" RPG's have a medieval/fantasy setting:

Hey, dork... yeah you again, RPG's are just that... role-playing games... as in, designed to make you play a role, to explore a world/storyline with characters and plot. The setting of a game does not determine its genre, gameplay determines genre. Nobody gives a rat's ass whether YOU RECOGNIZE IT as an RPG or not. The fact remains that it is an RPG whether it has a medieval setting or not.

3. To everyone who thinks story and gameplay are being sacrificed for graphics:

BULLSHIT! Whether or not the storylines of the newer games are better or worse than the old ones is a matter of opinion, but game designers like Squaresoft certainly aren't spending less time on the storylines just because the graphics work is more advanced. I bought and played FF6 when it came out in the US and enjoyed it just as much as any of you "purists", but I enjoyed FF7 even more, and having already beaten FF8, I can honestly say that in my opinion, it's the best of the series. Your assertion that gameplay and story are being sacrificed to graphics is no more than a resistance to change in the RPG community and a self defense mechanism for your battered egos.

This is to all you "purists" out there.

Get a clue. Get a life. And get lost. You're not fooling anyone, especially not me.

- Cyber Pox

Forgive me, Drew, For I have sinned...

I have displayed many partial symptoms to being a Hardcore Gamer...I, I don't know what to do...Help me, please, before my family and friends find out!

~Ia-er, Anonymous

Drew,

Here are some other ways to tell a hard-core gamer by what he says or does. (from my experience):

1. You complain about CG when sprite-based cutscenes took up just as much time.

2. If anyone likes Final Fantasy VII or VIII, they must have never played an older Final Fantasy.

3. Anytime you see a word misspelled, you write a three page editorial about when RPGs where completely grammatically correct.

4. You think Square is evil because Square is now successful in the U.S.

5. You hate it when companies censor a game, saying it's not about the style but the substance. Yet you bitch at Nintendo for having games being extremely fun, but too cute.

6. You smack any person who mispronounces 'Chocobo'.

If you see a hard-core gamer, do not try to apprehend. If he or she sees you with a game made past 1993 in your hands, say you bought if for someone else. And run fast.

-Mike Drucker