Matt Demers - 15:19 EST

WHY IS IT THAT I can't stop talking about food? I had two different conversations with two different people last night about various food-related topics, including restaurants, favourite desserts, and "What would you make if you knew the Prime Minister would be coming over for dinner?" I went to bed starving as a result, and I'm sure that if someone asked me to go to a restaurant with them sometime soon, I'd end up spending twice as much as I'd need to. Appetizers? Absolutely. Dessert? Sure! Second dessert...? Maybe that's pushing it. Nah, maybe not. Food is *@%#ing good.

Last week was a bit of a heated debate, but I think we'll start this week out with some nice, short, sweet questions to lighten up the tone just a bit. We don't want people to kill each other over this column, after all. Well, I don't want that, anyway. I'd feel so responsible!

And so we begin:

My question: How many games do you have in your backlog right now, and how long do you think it would take to clear them all if you didn't buy any new games? Are you still going to pick up a new console this holiday season, or will you be holding off until you've exhausted the current generation's offerings?

Eakin

Well, Eakin, if I stuck it out until I finished everything from the current generation, I'd never get to play next generation's, and probably the one after that, too! To me, practical RPGaming requires some sort of pick-and-choose process. You just can't play absolutely everything and have time for work and play. I generally like to pick a couple of series I know I like and follow them through, though lately, I've been trying to acquire tastes for new experiences. This led me to play games like Wild Arms: Alter Code F and Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana. Sure, I didn't really like either one in the end, but at least I have a bit of knowledge for what other series are like.

I think that if I don't get a Wii for Christmas, I'll buy one for myself soon afterwards. The PS3 will be just too expensive, I'm afraid, so I might have to wait a couple of years before investing in one. Hopefully I don't miss the boat, but a man must live within his means!

What is my backlog right now? Let's see. I just finished Riviera, so Radiata Stories is a bit of a primary focus, though it's difficult to stay primarily focused on that game, thanks to the unique way it's put together. After that, I'll be really on track to dig back into some older stuff; Shadow Hearts will be first up, since I really should never have put that game on back burner to begin with, and this elusive copy of Shadow Hearts 2, if it ever gets here, should be the one to follow that! If I ever make it through both of those I just don't know what I'll do with myself! A Final Fantasy VIII replay, maybe? I figure that it'll take me easily a few months to work through the things I have planned, though, and with many new games on the way, I'm not sure I'll ever get to be "finished" my backlog. Ever. Waaaaahhh~

Hey Matt!

Okay, I'm off my Nintendo kick for the time being. Now I'm curious about the Sony controller. I haven't gotten the chance to dig through all of the E3 editorials, but I was curious about who got their hands on the Playstation 3 controller. Is it really as awkward as it looks? The thing is shaped like a freakin' boomerang. Now that would be a motion sensitive controller!

Is it odd that I'm more interested in the controllers than the actual systems? It really has to eat at Sony and Microsoft's minds. And it probably would make Nintendo very, very happy. Just what they were planning.

On to Sock!

198) D. C sharp minor
199) E. Hungry

Thanks!

Let's just hope that Nintendo's controller lives up to the hype in the end! The ones that I played with were comfortable and very nice, not to mention nice-looking. Actually using them in games will be an experience, and hopefully a really good one, as long as developers put play control at the forefront of the list of priorities.

You may be pleased to learn that Sony took the negative sentiments about their previous design and brought back the old controller; I really couldn't tell the difference between it and a PS2 controller from a few feet away on the floor of E3. Apparently, there's some sort of motion sensor involved, as we all know, but the word on the street is that they took the rumble out. Surprised? I'm glad they got rid of the huge Spock-eyebrow handlebars, too... I have no idea where I'd store a controller shaped like that. Really.

Anyway, the controller is a very important part of a console, so it should come as no surprise to companies that such emphasis is placed on them. Hopefully, the next-generational gamble taken by Nintendo turns out to be a goodie, too.

Now that we have that out of the way, I also would like to share my thoughts on E3 and a few other subjects. First of all I agree that Nintendo had the best showing by far. For the first time in quite a while I am considering buying the Wii when it is released if it isn't too expensive. Though Nintendo has not released the price yet, I read somewhere that they said it will be significantly lower than the PS3, and not too significantly higher than the Gamecube on its release. So that makes me happy.

Also, the price on that PS3 sucker, I totally agree with you in that it is a huge slap in the face. Does Sony even realise who their target market is? 'Cause it doesn't seem like it. And in response to Flamethrower, your right. I don't have to buy it! And I'm not going to. At least not until the price drops to 250 at least, however long that will take. Another reason I'm not even thinking about buying it right now is its current line-up. The only thing that looks good (all worries as to the direction of the series aside) is FF13, but the price of buying the console and then buying the game is not worth it.

I also wanted to comment about Sony's track record for products that fall to pieces upon plugging it in. The interesting thing is that this has never happened to me. The only reason that my current PS2 is my second is because my first one was stolen out of the trunk of my car along with FFVIII around Christmas time two years ago. To this day I don't see how that could have happened seeing as my trunk and car was locked. However, to this day I have never met anyone who owned the original NES that worked perfectly after a couple of years after it was purchased, and Nintendo has always been known to have made their systems rock solid. Furthermore, my first gamecube quite reading disks after a little over a year. However, Nintendo will always have my vote as a fan and here's why. I called Nintendo's tech support about my problem and the guy told me to take my Gamecube over to them (as I've mentioned before I only live a half hour away from the Nintendo of America headquarters in Redmond, WA) and exchange it for a brand new one free of charge. And I'd like to think that with that kind of service, they would have sent me a new one if I lived far enough away. Kudos for Nintendo on that one.

One thing I do have to disagree about is what you said about the graphics at E3 being the worst. Remember the old saying: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I wouldn't say that they had the worst graphics, but the best. Of course, that is just one Nintendo lover's opinion. I love the cartoony graphics of most Nintendo games, and especially the ones coming out on the Wii. I could care less about the realistic, mind-blowing graphics for the PS3. In fact, I think It's quite rediculous that the graphics technology in the new PS3 is way over the top if a 600 dollar price tag comes with it. Don't get me wrong, I do think that the PS3's graphics are really cool, but if you think about it in the terms of the kind of games Nintendo comes out with, the Wii's graphics capabilities work the best. It would be very hard to play a Mario game that had real-life graphics, don't you think?

Anyway, you have my best regards. You have been doing an awsome job on this collumn, so don't go anywhere anytime soon.

All the best,
KnightTrain

I guess I have to say "to each their own" here, but up close and personal, I really did find the graphics for the other consoles to be breathtaking. The problem with saying "I don't care about realistic" is that the graphics don't have to be realistic, right? You could easily have an incredible-looking cel-shaded cartoon-styled game for the PS3 or Xbox 360, too... it's just not too likely to happen, since developers for those systems tend to favour guns 'n' blood instead. What you could say is "the graphical style of Wii games is much more attractive!" Better graphics, though? Nah. Give credit where credit is due, especially if it's the one area where Sony and Microsoft really do shine. In the end, I don't really disagree or agree with you; realism in games really depends on the game itself. It can be good sometimes, and not so good at other times.

Anyway, thanks very much for your kind words; I'm glad you hold me and my little guinea pig section here in such high esteem! I only aim to do as well as I can, because if I did any better than that, I'd have to be possessed by something scary (do you remember what things used "Possess" in Final Fantasy VI?? That's right! ?????!)

I hope to hear from you again sometime soon!

Hey Matt, time for some RPG goodness today!

So what is your opinion on how the Wii will utilise both the Wii controllers and the Gamecube controllers with the next generation of RPG's. Does the fact that the Wii can use the gamecube controller mean that those who have complained about the 3rd party titles playabillity with the Wii controller no longer have a leg to stand on?

With Crystal Chronicles coming to WiI, will they make it so you don't have to have four Gameboy DS's to play multiplayer this time, not that I know to many people that have ever played FFCC with multiple players!

Finally, do you think with next gen systems no longer being area discrimiimate will countries like Australia, England and other non NTSC but mainly English speaking countries will be able to get their game releases sooner?

Bainick, who has had a haircut, and this time not by his sister!

Absolutely! I think that this really promotes a big opportunity for especially European and Australian gamers, since you'll now have the ability to import anything you don't get without the worry of having to modify your system in any semi-suspicious manner. This promise is a nice, and very welcome leap forward in gaming... one that I think is long overdue, personally.

Thanks, Bainick, for your letter!

Matt,

Hello again from Clarksville. With all the hubbub about this year’s E3, I thought I’d throw some coin into the community chest.

First, the Playstation 3. Wow, that’s expensive. We all can agree on this. But the hateful words seem a bit too much to me. With all of that hardware inside, it’s really not a surprise at all. I expected it to be higher, actually. Can I afford it? No, of course not. But that doesn’t mean I won’t eventually get one when its price lowers. And I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of people who claim they won’t will when all is said and done. Even taking a look at RPGamer’s own poll shows the Playstation 3 in the lead of “what system will you own?”

And as RPGamer’s, I think we all need to take a step back and realize that the games we love will end up on it. The major Japanese developers have been with Sony for two generations now, and I don’t see that changing. Square-Enix, Konami, Capcom, Namco. They’re going to put a lot of major releases on this machine, and if we want them. We’re going to have to buy the console. It will sell. I have no doubts about it. Six hundred dollars isn’t a lot to some people. Hell, how many people lined up for hours to buy an Xbox 360, or even a Playstation 2 at outrageous launch prices? And most of them were casual players, to boot. A serious gamer won’t have any qualms about laying down that kind of money, especially one who has no other hobbies. They exist. I know my local stores have sign-up lists for a phone call when they’re available for preorder. And they’re long lists.

The thing to remember is that most people aren’t buying these things just for video games. Home consoles have become media centers. With all of the online services, picture sharing, music, and movies, it’s not about the games anymore, and I think Sony realizes that.

___

Moving on to happier things, the Wii sure had a nice showing, with a lot of titles that have Nintendo fans salivating. While I don’t care for most of the games shown, I am very interested in seeing how the new Dragon Quests Swords game ends up. Add that to a Final Fantasy and a Zelda title at launch, and it’s looking mighty sexy.

I really hope they can get some developers behind them, though. Many of them seem to be very interested in the new technology, so I suppose that’s a good sign.

What kind of things would you like to see here? And do you think it’s wise to buy a system at launch? I’ve always waited a few years for some price drops and a large library to accumulate, but it’s really tempting.

Finally, I thank Nintendo for making a direct sequel to The Wind Waker, the best Zelda title since A Link to the Past.

___

Square is really pushing out the Final Fantasy titles. With that many games on display, I can already feel my wallet cracking. I’m happy XII is being released on my birth month, however. Thanks, Square!

I’m shocked at the number of people already hating on XIII. A minute clip is shown and the game is suddenly n action franchise that deserves scorn from the gaming community? Come on, people. It had menus. It was just flashy. It was also probably a pre-rendered video that we can’t judge actual gameplay on. To say that because the trailer features flashy action automatically makes it an action game is jumping the gun a little bit. Take a look at the trailers for Final Fantasy X or Knights of the Old Republic. They don’t look like old-fashioned RPGs, either.

I will say, however, that I am disappointed about the high-tech setting it seems to sport. When I saw that Amano was supposed to be involved, my hopes for a high-fantasy setting were sparked. I’d love to see a strong Celtic influence.

On to the classics, did they have the Advanced remakes of V and VI on display? If so, what did you think of them? Were there any truly awesome new features that you saw? I heard that they’ve added new job classes?

How about III? I haven’t heard any new news coming out of the show for that one, save for a few VERY nice looking screen shots. Did you get any face time with that one?

___

And I suppose it’d be rude of me to ignore Microsoft, but they didn’t have any games on display this year that I actually care about. I suppose it’ll be a couple of years or so until we have something solid from Mistwalker. So, for now, I’ll just quietly ignore them.

___

And finally, the short and sweet version, in answer to this morning’s questions...

Wow. That was long-winded. Anyway, thanks for time, as always (Provided this gets printied, anyway.), and keep up the smashing good job.

- Joshua

No problem at all, Joshua! Thanks for taking the time to write such a broadly-based letter! I hope that I was able to reply semi-usefully, anyway. A lot of the answers really won't be made clear until these next-generation systems actually make their debut. Scarily enough, their debut is really not that far away, either.

Ah, so we got into a few more serious letters in the end, but it's obvious that you all have a lot to say about the future of video games. You should, too, because it does indeed look like the next generation holds a lot of promise for RPGamers. Whether you want to take Sony's side or Nintendo's side, there are plenty of reasons to be very optimistic. If you're taking Microsoft's side over the other two, well, write in and tell me so I can smack you.

***Answers to May 19th's Questions***

#198. c) D minor- 315 points (I figured it out on my keyboard while listening to the music by recognizing that the only major accidentals in the song are the B flat and C sharp; others did it by looking up the actual sheet music, something I never thought to do)

#199. e) Hungry - 250 points (Earthbound makes me happy)

***Today's New Questions***

#200: The priest of rebirth is which of the following? (325 points)

a) below Yumel in lightning
b) below Xenon in ice
c) above Xenon in fire
d) above Yumel in lightning
e) named Askus

How about we turn our focus towards the titles we haven't heard about yet for the next generation? I'd like to see some letters from people with suggestions on what next-generation games SHOULD be unveiled that haven't been already. I'd love to see Capcom get back on track with a sixth Breath of Fire game, for instance; whether it'll happen or not is definitely in the stars. What are your thoughts on the matter? I'd love to know!

***Matt only wishes he could win second prize in a beauty contest...