Matt - 15:35 EST

I'M SO HAPPY! I managed to make a little bit of headway in my research computer program today, so I feel slightly accomplished, being a little closer to being finished my current project at hand (I'm about halfway done now, until the next step occurs). Now if I could only find the time for coursework and a good social life on the side! We all do our best in the balancing act, I s'pose.

Oh, something I wanted to report yesterday: As much as I absolutely love Dragon Quest VIII, as you should all know quite well, I think that the final boss was an utter disappointment. Sure, the music was kick-ass, but big deal. After such a wonderfully challenging game, it was way too easy; I realized this when I watched my sister beat it without any problem whatsoever last weekend. Sadly, I think that the last boss only uses his biggest attacks if and only if you happen to possess the spell of Omniheal. It's just a hypothesis at this point, but it's held true so far, and if it IS true, that would mark a disturbing watering-down of challenge that I'm not fond of. Anyway... end random gripe. ^_^

I'm so pumped to buy the New Super Mario Brothers; if I don't do it today, I'm going to do it tomorrow. It looks so sweet, I've been aching inside to play it; the only other DS game I've looked forward to this much is Final Fantasy III, but since that's not due in stores for a few months yet, I've got to pounce on this one to satisfy my Mario hunger! And boy, am I hungry. Super Princess Peach was a great game, but this platformer should really deliver.

Anyhow, I'll quit my unabashed Nintendo fanboying and get to a column filled with a few good letters! Ready? Heeeere we go:

Hey Matt!

Welcome back from glorious Los Angelos, the cause of half of Phoenix's pollution, most of our recent real estate surge, and the occasional half decent movie (not that I don't like the place or anything). Like everyone else, I've got some E3 questions, so I'll fire away.

With the ridiculous price of the PS3, it's very apparent to me that I won't be buying one for at least two price drops, maybe three. Thus, I've suddenly become even more interested in the Wii (having more actual info about it helps, too). I'm kind of curious, how durable is the new controller? With as much waving and pointing, it seems more likely than most controllers to be dropped, banged, or otherwise damaged. Plus, with that nunchuck attachment, I can see myself yanking one or the other right out of my hand. I wonder how sturdy the gyroscopes are, too.

I saw that you took a look at the Namco area, and said Xenosaga Ep3 was your favorite in the area. Was that just because you've enjoyed the series, or was there something tangibly good? While I've enjoyed them, the first two parts have had their ups and downs, so I'm hoping this one wraps it all up with a bang.

Lastly, have you heard the latest news about the terrific Phantom, a disappointing no-show at E3? Their CEO just got charged with artificially inflating the price of the stock so he could sell at a greater price (aka, the pump and dump). Plus, he violated some other SEC rules, like not disclosing the sales (as required as an officer of the company) and paying off a promoter for the stock publicity. This seems like the perfect end to such a great story, what else do you think they could do to top it?

BigWook

Wow! I'm sorry, I didn't hear about that story at all! With a name like Phantom, maybe they didn't actually have any games in development at all, in order to provide a grand illusion to stage this whole affair! Of course, whoever was in charge must not be that grand in the first place, because I sure as hell haven't heard of him. Poor guy... did he wind up in jail? Oh well!

Ouro Guru or Master Matt,

Last week was an exciting week for gaming all around. Not so exciting for the bank accounts of some gamers, but nonetheless a very promising future for gamers of the console persuasion. I can name at least 8 or 9 games I can't wait to purchase. That list is dominated mostly by Nintendo titles or titles coming out for Nintendo systems because of one simple reason: the Wii will be enough for me.

If one of my previous letters didn't already indicate it, I won't be buying another Sony console for the rest of my life -- I have zero faith in their hardware longevity. If it has good games, I'll play them at a friend's house because surely one of my friends will be gutsy enough to invest in it, but no more of my hard-earned money will be going to Sony after my PS1 abruptly kicked the bucket and my fat-model PS2 died a slow-motion dramatic death. I'm already predicting the demise of my slim PS2, and I'm taking requests on what to carve for the epitaph.

Most of my money will be going to Nintendo on the console side of things. The Wii will be my primary gaming system of choice because of the unique, new playing styles it promises. I'm much more interested in that than what the "standard" controller can do. I know how a standard controller works and frankly I've grown tired of it. This generation of console graphics were A.O.K. by my eyes; that said, I cannot justify dropping $600+ on a console that has nothing else to offer me when I can get a much less expensive console and a handful of games AND peripherals for that same amount. My bank account agrees. If I buy a 360 at all, I won't be buying it for at least a year and a half after the Wii is released, and that's fine with me. Other expenses and financial obligations will prevent me from making a big splash in the next generation of consoles, anyway. For RPGs I'll stick with my existing PS1 and PS2 libraries (while purchasing a few used games that escaped my grasp); I'll keep my PC updated for the newest RTS and MMORPG games. For everything else, I'll have the Wii.

I'm trying to think of innovative ways to use the Wii controller to apply to the RPG genre, since this is a RPG-centric website, but I'm not sure how to slice it without being too gimmicky. I'm sure there are a good number of ways smart developers can utilize the features in the Wii controller. Any ideas on your end? How else could the Wii revitalize the RPG genre apart from visual appeal? Or any console, for that matter? What about isolated online elements for a mostly off-line RPG? It may work, though it may not be a new concept. I guess the Wii's 24 hour connectivity thing can organize something in that regard as well as X-Box Live. It'd be like a mini-game that has the capability of playing against other gamers around the world along with the option of playing against game AI if internet is not available. Sort of like an online Blitzball or Triple Triad only not those games, obviously. Just my two cents. I'll ponder more later.

-- Kaz (Next Gen hits Bank Account for 9999 damage. Bank Account dies.)

Obviously, the controller is going to make a world of difference in gameplay, and some games could easily feel really gimmicky. So, I really hope that developers are careful to pick and choose carefully which elements will use motion sensing and which will not, because just inserting it everywhere will certainly make games feel stupid and perhaps overcomplicated. This is why Nintendo opted to make Zelda: Twilight Princess' sword slashes to be carried out using the A button instead of by swinging the remote about. While it might seem cool at first, it would probably get tiring really quickly.

I could see the controller playing a really strong element in a "Turn-based Action RPG" like the Paper Mario series, where by shaking the controller at the right time, you can dodge or add special effects to attacks, etc. In mainstream RPGs, it's a difficult call. The first ideas that come to mind are definitely sword slashes and spell-symbol-drawing in midair, but those seem pretty "boring". I'm sure some company will do it, but hopefully, over time, some really neat ideas evolve out of the first steps (and missteps) to occur. And yes... the omni-connectivity thing really opens the doors for some awesome possibilities for RPGs. It's all in the hands of the developers at this point!

Good to see ya Matt,

I'm glad to see you enjoyed yourself at E3. Now, on to business.

Don't you think we are all, myself included, being a little hard on Sony. The PS3 is expensive but not overpriced. Of the three "next generation" consoles, the PS3 is the only one actually using new technology in its media, read system, and processors, particularly in the graphics processors which may be the best on the planet. New technology is always expensive. The fact is the PS3 specs far exceed both the X-Box 360 and the Wii by a WIDE margin, and the price unfortunately has to reflect that. I still won't buy the damn thing but I'm going to stop bashing them.

Along this same vein. All companies steal a little, and Sony has a long track record of theft. So, I don't know why everyone was shocked and dismayed when Sony ripped off Nintendo's idea for a motion sensing in a controller. That's just Sony being evil which is what they do best. You can't fault a snake for biting you, after all.

Speaking of the Wiimote, I'm starting to get a little hesistant in that regard. It seems as though the controller is a little unweildy, but that may just be a side-effect of extreme novelty. I hope it turns out to be functional and not just a gimmick. I will be buying the Wii. Will you?

Microsoft has continued to fail to impress me. Not only are they continuing to cater to FPS games, which I loathe, but I still don't see much that makes the 360 a better buy over the PS2 much less the PS3. Oblivion is ok, but I can play it easire on my PC, while the technology in the PS3 is superior to most PCs bought in the past year.

I'm going to buy FFXII, of course, but am more looking forward to 'Tales of the Abyss' and 'Valkery Profile: Silmera'. Those two games look to be fun and well executed unlike FFXII which looks dark and unintuitive. In general I was fairly disappointed FFXII's showing at E3. I was hoping more of the major issues surrounding the game would be resolved before the show.

Speaking of Square-Enix...FFXIII looked amazing if those are actual gameplay. I think someone somewhere mentioned that it looked like a FPS which I didn't see at all. Did you see anything at E3 that would give you a feel for the style of gameplay it may use?

Good to have you back, Cap

I think I mentioned "shooter" a little while ago because part of the gameplay that is shown involves one of the characters shooting an enemy from afar in real-time jaw-dropping graphical goodness. The game looks incredibly, incredibly action-oriented, and really does not bear much semblance at all to an RPG, from what I saw of the trailer. Gameplay-wise, it's really difficult to say for sure, based on such preliminary footage, but it looks like Final Fantasy XII with more freedom, less organization, and, well, more action. It makes me ache inside, a little bit, because it's really cementing the fact that the old days of traditional Final Fantasy really are gone. As great as the final product might end up being, I feel like I got married to Square a long time ago, but that we've grown apart recently, with FFX being less than my favourite, FFXI being unplayed by me, FFXII being unattractive at this point, and FFXIII looking like an even greater step away from what I used to love. On the other hand, though, I'm sure that the new Final Fantasies have attracted a whole new crop of gamers at the same time.

Matt! Welcome back! You have no idea how hard it's been in the time you've been gone. But that's all in the past. I'll try to keep this short, but I have a LOT to say about E3 2006. So...let us begin. I shall order my comments in a somewhat chronological order.

To start it off... Final Fantasy XIII. At the Square Enix Press Conference. Considering how skeptical you are on FFXII, I can only imagine your thoughts on this upcoming gun-heavy adventure. My thoughts? Well, if you look at the screenshots, there are still menus in-battle, therefore the combat in FF13 must be menu-based, just like every other game in the series. This means that you will most likely NOT be aiming and tapping the R1 button FPS-style. There will still be an ATB bar, and all that turn-based jazz. Basically, it looks to me that FF13 is using a steroid-infused version of FF12's battle system. This makes sense, considering all the critical acclaim that FF12 is receiving. (Yes, however bland and stupid it may seem in the demos we see, the many reviews I've read for the import version of FF12 actually PRAISE the battle system. Go to GameRankings.com and read Gamebrink's review. Read ANY review.)

Now I understand that not everyone can endure change. But people need to stop and consider what makes a Final Fantasy game. Is it really the aesthetics? Were FF1-10 good because the characters and enemies arranged themselves in a line, while you strategically selected "attack"? And will FF12 and 13 both be bad since this doesn't happen? Almost every RPG has turn-based battles, huge swords, spikey-haired protaganists, and airships. What sets Final Fantasy apart is the high production values poured into each and every iteration. The little traditions that people are used to seeing are not, in the end, what define the game. So try to keep an open mind. FFXII, according to every review I've read, is a high-quality title. Just like every other Final Fantasy game before it. And somehow, I don't see FF13 breaking that tradition.

Enough preaching. Anyways, one thing I did think was strange was the announcement of Final Fantasy Versus XIII at the same time of FF13. Apparently, Square is skipping the part where FF13 becomes massively popular, and going straight to the spin-offs. Now, I didn't mind the Compilation of FF7. But with this FF13 stuff, Square might be getting ahead of themselves. In the past, it's been shown that a Final Fantasy title doesn't necessarily have to sell well. (FF9, for instance.) I'm not saying FF13 will bomb, but Square is definitely making quite an assumption when they predict that the FF13 name will become popular enough to sell a bunch of sequels, prequels, and whatever-quels.

Another thing to consider is this. Not only are they assuming that FF13 will be a hit, they are also assuming that the PS3 will be a hit. And that brings me to the discussion of the PS3. $599. Five Hundred and Ninety-Nine dollars. (Forget about the stripped-down $499 version). As if I really need to say it, that is an absolutely insane price for a video game console. Listen as I offer these concise, and inarguable words of wisdom: Final Fantasy XIII will NOT sell well at all if NOBODY owns a PS3. And I am inclined to believe that very few people will be willing to shell out $599, or hell, even $499, for a PS3.

The PS3 is a big, fat ditch that Sony dug themselves. Sickeningly enough, $599 is CHEAP for a blu-ray player. Sony will, in fact, lose money for every console they sell. Now, I know that this is standard strategy, (Microsoft did the same with their 360,) but it just adds to the insanity. The PS3 is, in fact, underpriced. But this raises the question: Did Sony really need to included blu-ray technology? The 360 launched with a standard DVD drive, and so will the Wii. Was it worth the insane price to include a Blu-Ray drive? Hell no.

For all my bashing, I don't see a need to boycott Sony, or do anything extreme. It may be a few years, but I'll probably end up purchasing a PS3 one day, and playing FF13. Better start saving my pennies.

Now for my thoughts on Nintendo. Well, I have to admit, they probably had the best showing at E3. (With the sheer amount of playable Wii games). However, their press conference seemed like a bunch of nothing. I became tired rather quickly of the "graphics don't matter" message that they insist on delivering over and over again. They'd better be banking on that assumption, because their Wii games look like high-end GameCube titles at best. I know that graphics don't completely define a game, and I admit that they aren't very high on my priority list, but to say that they don't matter is ludicrous. Graphics are a valuable aspect of a videogame. They help tell the story, and define the emotions the producers are trying to convey. (Go play a game like "Shadow of the Collossus" and tell me that the graphics didn't matter.) And also, while me and you are not among this category, you know the sheer number of foolish gamers in the world that will take one look at the Wii's dated graphics and turn up their noses. If Nintendo hopes to pull the same stunt they did with the DS, then they will fail. The PSP is losing out to the DS because of a lack of quality software on the PSP. Such a thing will probably not happen on the PS3 and 360.

Anyways, while Nintendo's strategy seems a little shaky to me, it can't be denied that the Wii looks really good. I love how Zelda plays on the Wii, (although I am somewhat pissed that is was delayed just so they could add those features), and everything really just looks great. Software will undoubtedly be good this time around. My only fear are the games that make heavy use of the motion-sensitivity, such as Red Steel. According the the impressions I read at GameSpot and IGN, Red Steel is quite awkward to control. Hopefully it will be tightened up before release, but I think Nintendo should avoid overly-heavy use of the motion-sensitivity.

Okay, I'll stop now. More later, perhaps, when all my thoughts are collected. I suggest you start catching up on all the sleep you inevitably lost.

-Oliver.

I'm working on the sleep, and I'm slowly catching up! It's a winning battle, albeit slowly.

Thanks for your letter, Oliver! It's going to be an interesting year in the video gaming world, and it'll be fun to see how things shake out in the end.

Hi Matt Since you deal with numbers so much, do you know the significance of 255? I've read that it appears in several FF games as the number for max stats. Since this number doesn't seem to be arbitrary, do you know how the designers have come to this number? I suspect it has to do with how numbers are represented in binary or some other technical reason but I thought I could get a more informed answer from you.

In the world of programming, it all boils down to billions of zeros and ones, zeros representing "off" connections and ones representing "on" connections. These are easily representable using binary (base 2) expansions of numbers rather than the more familiar (base 10) decimal representations. For example, in binary, you "count" using only two digits, so 1001 in binary is equal to 9 in decimal. Try it out.

The significance is that if eight binary digits are allocated to hold the information for any piece of data, the biggest number that can be stored would be 11111111, which is equal to 255 in decimal. Don't ask me why games tend to choose eight, though I suspect it's because eight is also a power of two. I'm not big on artificial limits, especially on stats in RPGs, myself, but that's more or less the reason why they exist. I hope that helps!

Phew! So many heartfelt opinions on the great next-generation battle, and I guarantee you that there will be many more to come. For now, let's move on to something we haven't touched in awhile, so I can give out a game or two eventually!

***Answers to May 5th's Questions***

#192. d) Eggplant - 300 points (that was from Adventure Island; for some odd reason, eggplant used to often be made the "evil" vegetable in old video games)

#193. b) Trauma Center: Under the Knife - 250 points/500 for Arros Raikou (thanks for the submission!)

***Today's New Questions***

#194: Which other video game featured evil eggplants? (225 points)

a) Kid Icarus
b) Yoshi's Story
c) Kiwi Craze
d) Kirby's Adventure
e) Joe and Mac

Well, you must have some thoughts rustling through your heads, so let me know what they are! Does Sony deserve the negative sentiments? Is Nintendo really that set to become a real player in the video game industry once again? How important are graphics in games? And most importantly, does RPGaming have a bright future among the next-generation consoles? That should be lots for you to play with, so I leave it to you to do so. For now, ta ta!

***Matt's favourite dark leafy green is spinach!