Matt Demers - 23:58 EST

THIS CONFERENCE IS almost worse than I expected. While today wasn't quite as bad as yesterday was, sitting for nine hours listening to people tell you about things you're (usually) not interested in is enough to make one go mad with boredom. I kept shifting my gaze outdoors today, thinking how nice it would be to not be trapped inside, and wishing I had the freedom to just, I dunno, leave.

I guess it isn't all bad, though. There are the occasional refreshment breaks, and they've had good chewy cookies each day so far...

My biggest announcement today can be found in the SOCK question, as you might suspect. I can't wait!

Hey Matt – it’s me again. I decided to make this QnA thing a weekly affair.

Sean News:

I started playing Final Fantasy XI again. A gift from my little brother. I guess he just wants to play again... I also finally finished off Metroid Prime Hunters and Makai Kingdom (not as bad as you made it sound!). Phantasy Star 2 still eludes me. For some reason this treasure chest guy one shots my party. Level up time for me I guess.

Which brings me to a question: do you ever multi-task when playing games? I find it very common that when playing a game something else is being done at the same time. I usually have the tv on when playing any sort of PC game and usually pop a DVD in if playing a console game. I bring this up since tonight I will be playing Phantasy Star 2 while also playing Final Fantasy XI.

Heh, someone mentioned the *old* Dungeon Siege 2 – it came out in like November. Its expansion was just announced! I am waiting for a bundle to be released that contains both… for a reasonable price... The same would go for Age of Empires 3, but I have no clue when it will come out… This is another bonus that PC games have compared to console ones...

Anyways, I am still toying with the idea of what I should become in Final Fantasy XI. Maybe the QnA readers can help me decide? Let me run through the jobs that I am interested in taking… I haven’t really played any of them, so any feedback would be nice!

1 - Red Mage – mp refresher

2 – Black Mage – nuker

3 – Ninja – blink tank

4 – Paladin – brawn tank

5 – Blue Mage – new and seems cool

I do plan on becoming a Summoner, but not as a primary job. Without Fenrir and Diabolos to start... I am not really interested.

Anyways, I find myself going to EB a lot more often these days, but never walk out with anything. This is some drought we are in! Nothing of real interest! I guess it is a great time for us backlogged players! My backlog is at 32 games (down from 37). How’s yours doing?

Talk to you later, Mattyboy!

~~Sean~

Yes, it is a bit of a dry spell in video game land, though the PSP has had a bit of sunshine lately, especially with the release of the kooky Locoroco and, of course, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. The fall will be the end of the world, though, I swear. My poor bank account...

My backlog is not shrinking, Sean, and it's helped by the fact that I discovered Fire Emblem, and because I've had such a busy summer with my grad school studies. Right now, I'm working primarily on Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, as you well know, but soon after that Radiata Stories will be completed, I swear. I wanted to jump back into the original Shadow Hearts before the end of the summer, but it looks less and less like that will be a reality. I just need a good, month-long break!

Hey Matt

First off, I just wanted to say that it is indeed unfortunate that you didn't manage to get a few more support conversations during Sacred Stones as they really do add a lot to the game (and they're easy to collect if you just have your characters hang around in Valni Tower, without triggering the monsters at the other end of the room, and park them until they finally talk to each other). Some of the better conversations add backstory to characters, offer background information about the plot, or create a bond between characters that affects the game's ending-- well the blurb you get about the characters in question anyway. With the support conversations I got when I finally had the chance to finish the game last weekend I was amused to find about half my cast got married. The impact of support conversations is something I miss in Path of Radiance; I found its ending rather bland because of that. You can get support conversations but they don't change anything nor can you re-watch them after you finish the game the way you can in the two GBA games.

Here's something I was wondering, though. In your year or so as Q&A host, what are some of the most interesting discoveries you've made on the RPG front, since surely you've learned some stuff you didn't know before? I was curious about this because it occurred to me when Castlevania came up recently in the column that, as far as I can remember, I've never played a Castlevania game. Ever. In seventeen years of gaming. In fact, until recently, I had no idea that the series even had RPG elements. The series simply wasn't on my radar. Of course now I'm taking steps to remedy the situation (because, you know, my backlog's not huge enough as it is), though it might be a little while still as I've dedicated the weekend to finally putting a dent in Suikoden V, which, by the looks of it will be a time-consuming (though hopefully enjoyable) endeavour.

Best,
Erika

Erika! What a fantastic question.

You honestly have no idea at all how quickly you learn an incredible amount of information when you have a job like mine. I can't believe how much I've picked up since last October, and I'm sure that despite that, I have a whole lot more to learn.

I guess that chiefly, I am so much more acutely aware of RPG news, including release dates across all platforms. Back before I got involved with RPGamer, I found myself just skimming over things trying to find bits of information about the couple of games that I knew I was interested in. Now, however, I really amaze my friends when I'm able to rattle off up-to-date information on command about many different upcoming titles. I think it's mostly because I need to know; I simply don't have time to go surfing every single time someone asks me a question about Suikoden or Kingdom Hearts, just because I haven't played either series much!

Another interesting thing is that I used to know next to nothing about video game companies, and specifically, who produces and develops which games. Sure, I always knew Nintendo and Square Enix, and I knew what games belonged to them, but beyond that, my knowledge was extremely limited! Over the months, though, I've become quite familiar with them all, and E3 really helped to cement a lot of that in my mind.

It's truly amazing, upon thinking about it, how my understanding of the RPG world has changed since last summer. I'm sure too, though, that I have a long way to go! Thanks, Erika, for the really excellent question!

hey there matt,

ctrl + c, ctrl + v (stuff about reading never written stuff)

i'm from australia
which makes me part of european pal (which doesn't make any sense)
i saw bainick co-host a few times and i thought "hey!!! an aussie! awesome! someone i can whinge with"
so i'm gonna whinge ^_^

i know us ntsc people whinge about game xxx not arrving in the US
"what happened to all the previous aterlier iris?"

hell...i didn't even know atelier was a series until googled it

but anyways
what really peeves me in the way that only staples in carpet can,

is that SOOOOOOOO many games don't come out in Australia that have come out in the US
things like...xenogears, valkyrie profile, chrono cross, SMT something or other (although we got lucifer's call/nocturne)

now xenogears, vp and chrono cross aren't that rare are they?

alright anyways...the real question i wanted to ask was

how difficult is it to convert a game from US ntsc to european PAL?
i'm not talking about translation, i mean with all the different frame rates and refresh thingies.

sometimes the conversion from US ntsc to PAL is well worth it i.e kingdom hearts (where we got extra features which was awesome)

but the wait really peeved me (damn staples in the carpet)
hell...kh2 out in august! or september...or...quarter 3?

the other thing that bugs me is how we get screwed out of features i.e widescreen or progressive scan
i bought magna carta
i like magna carta
apparently magna carta has a 480p feature if you hold down x + triangle during bootup well...i've tried it so many times my x-button doesn't quite work as well meaning i get misses on combos in the game now

apparently a lot of other games lost their widescreen / progressive scan capabillities i also heard that nippon ichi games like disgaea, atelier iris had features removed so it'd fit onto a cd

have you ever had something like that happen to you that really bugged you like a lil sister that wanted to play tea party?

and the final question thingy
when new features are added from the jap version to like the us/euro version who does the adding?

for example square (back then) of kingdom hearts
who added the extra stuff to the european pal version?

was it the square euro branch or the jap branch?

if it's the original creators....then why can't they keep everything? and not take out stuff re previous question

oh...did i mention xenosaga?
it's a trilogy right?
i think they forgot to bring one over...the first one

they cut out a game in the trilogy!!!!
how can you watch all the back to the futures without watching the first?
how can you watch start wars without watching the...yeah ok...but they still came back to MAKE THEM!!!!

(the plots might have sucked and looked like holey cheese but the lightsabre battles were cool)
what hurts more is that apparently xenosaga 2 starts about 30 seconds after the end of xenosaga 1

so yes
i've finished whinging
hope you guys have a nice day
whilst i try to avoid being spoiled on kh2
for another month or so

cheers
vash

Thanks, Vash! I guess I beat you to the punch about Xenosaga, and I think that it's quite a shame. Being ignored for one game but being thrown its direct sequel seems like a big disappointment, and I can understand why PAL gamers would be upset! You can take solace in the fact that there is apparently a bunch of extras packaged with the PAL version of Episode II, including movies from the first game and more.

And to come full circle, this whole discussion might be a distant memory soon, if the next generation welcomes the era of region-free coding. Keep your fingers crossed!

Konbanwa, Matto-san

Ima ame ga furu koto ga yameru node, ii kanji ga arimasu! (Now that it's stopped raining, I am feeling good!)

Huzzah huzzah for the Japanese rainy season, which ended this week with a really massive finale, 60 hours of torrential rain in a 72 hour period. I now hate precipitation...

So, being nitpicky here, but you thought FFL3's storyline to be "fairly engaging", eh? Personally, that game was biggest letdown in the Saga series for me. The first two, they ran more like old-style D&D campaigns, with most of your story coming through NPCs, and that worked. I've even seen people philosophize on the ending of FFL, when your player characters take on the god who's essentially the DM for the entire game. FFL2 had an improved battle system, more monsters, a better-balanced monster change system, and ROBOTS! And a nice, simple story which did not detract from the main point of the game, which was gameplay.

FFL3, on the other hand, scrapped all which had gone before in favor of a bastardized knock-off of the Final Fantasy games and removed all points of individuality between characters. While it retained a monster change system, they linked it to the EXP level so that you HAD to change every time you leveled up, but only had a choice of 8 monsters total by the end of the game. And the story? I've downloaded RPG Maker-produced fanboy-drivel with better writing and execution. You could chuck an old, gray, clunker Game Boy through some of those plotholes. The previous two games had simpler stories, yes, but at least those stories were put together better... FFL3 had all the linearity of a FF title, and none of the plot to back it up.

I think, in the end though, it also comes down to a sense of accomplishment. In FFL 1 & 2, you had to plan ahead, conserve items, make serious choices as to how to customize your characters, and there was a wide variety of party types to choose from. At the end of FFL3, you could transform your base characters into one of 8 monster types for their level group, said monsters being mostly sub-par compared to the mains, and the best-damage solution for the last level involved swords, and only swords. Thus, my final FFL3 party was homogenous, while my FFL2 final party was interesting.

In fact, I can remember exactly when I got fed up with FFL3. I was cruising along in the airship, preparing for the final level, and trying to get the one particular battle which netted the most EXP (2 Joker robots), over and over and over and over.... wash, rinse, repeat.

So, for the guy who asked about them (whose name does not seem to appear in the column), I would recommend FFL2 as good road-trip fare, FFL if you like that, and to avoid FFL3.

OISA! OISA!
Gaijin Monogatari

Thanks, Gaijin, for your input and experienced words! And please, if anyone else has more to say about SaGa's early days, do so and write in to talk about it! You probably know a lot more than I do.

Hey Matt!

The saddest game by far that I have ever played was Alundra. There was something about the fact that as the game progresses, no matter what you do, people keep dying. As I played through the game, I really felt like I had failed them. Plus, I remember it as one of Working Design's best translations, with occasional humor, but avoiding the rampant laughs that the Lunar games had (and would have been completely out of place here). It was an outstanding game, just with a lot of sad moments. It did have one of the most unexpected implied one night stands I have ever seen at the end, though.

Other games have had very sad individual moments, but none of them have been "sad" as a whole. Obviously, FFVII (Aeris) and FFX (the ending) are going to get a lot of responses, but it doesn't make the games as a whole sad. The first two Shadow Hearts games had their sad moments, but I won't go into too much detail on those since you keep saying you want to play through them.

Meanwhile, Saga Frontier was a completely different kind of sad. Horrifyingly, pathetically, abysmally sad.

On another subject, I agree with you: Laurie has created a horribly evil question. I've got a agree with you: I'd have to give up my past games for the future games. In fact, I think that's pretty much a choice I have already made. I couldn't tell you the last time I went back and played one of my old games, particularly my really old games (circa NES, SNES, or Genesis/Sega CD). In fact, I don't even have my old Nintendo, and the other two reside in storage under my bed. I remember the games well, and I love them, but I never quite make it back to them. I'm not certain if that's a good or a bad thing, but I think I just love new experiences too much.

On the controller issue, did you have the chance to try out the Wii controller that looks like the old SNES controller? Having pulled out my Super Nintendo for a couple of the recent Sock questions, I was struck by how flimsly the controllers felt in my hands. Admittedly, I was younger and smaller (smaller being a relative term at my size) back then, but they just don't feel that solid to me. The GameCube controller is all well and good, but the Dual Shock controller fits my hand like a glove. I was terribly disappointed to see the boomerang looking disaster, but pleased to see them roll out a new, Dual Shocky version.

Well, glad I decided on tonight to throw out the longest letter I've ever sent in. Either JuMeSyn is contagious, or I felt like contributing further to the letter backlog you've had lately.

266) C. Edward Chris von Muir (which I had no clue of until tonight...)
267) B. Burke and Wills

Thanks!

BigWook

Ah, it wasn't so long. I'm just glad you thought to write in, BigWook! Just wait until you see the latest that JuMeSyn has to offer...watch tomorrow or Thursday.

*dies*

Gragh, I'm tired! Fatigued! In need of sleep! Any way you want to cut it, I'll be much more human once this horrible week is finished with. In the meantime...

***Answers to July 21st's Questions***

#266. c) Edward Chris von Muir - 335 points/670 for Donovan (I knew this somehow, beforehand, though I'm not really sure how. If you don't believe this, check it out at Wikipedia and other places on the web. Thanks, Donovan, for the submission!)

#267. a) Christopher Columbus - 450 points (Excellent question, Bainick! This wasn't actually a history question; it referred to Terranigma, an RPG that didn't make it to North America but DID get released in PAL territories once upon a time! Thanks, Bainick, for the great co-hosting job!)

***Today's New Questions***

DMJewelle casts Blind! The questions were obscured!

Reader-Submitted #268: Whi*# -.rking y(ur waT tH...gh TEh @orld -. Ebe-mor# wiTH -our .rusTU dOg coM)nIpn qt Y.-. ...e, ^ou MEER up with a cHtfcTwr f4.m an0.heR game seLL*n. armpr. From whhhh G... -* $#*! -.e.ial Gue*t sTAR/ (375 points)

a) Wecret o. -aNa
b) FiN** FAnytsu *V
c) FhrIno ^..gg.r
d) Breat. or FIRE
e) --.al F-nt.-! V*

BigWook has used an Apocalypse Spell. I couldn't notify everyone, especially those who haven't been actively participating; those people have been included in the following list.

FinalDelerium: You've lost 1000 points at the hands of a Thundara spell and wasted a Point Tripler.
Colabottle: You've lost your Esuna spell because of someone else's Sneak Glove, and Drained 589 points from Alexander.
Kyre7lar: You wasted a Quick spell, and had your Blind Spell stolen from you.

And now, the big announcement. Final Fantasy XII is now on the SOCK shop's item list!! If you can accumulate the points, the game is as good as yours; I'll have it and mail it to you on launch day if at all possible. I'm so excited, I could just burst! If you want to get into the game, it's really simple! Just start sending in your answers to questions, and you'll quickly rack up points that you can spend! Gain enough, and Final Fantasy XII may be yours. It's easier to ascend through the ranks than you might, think, too. Check out the complete rules for more!

I've also heard tell that Ouro has some big news as well. You'll have to stay tuned for this weekend to see exactly what he's up to, but I'll give you a hint: It has to do with spectacular new prizes as well!

• none to speak of!

Wow, I'm totally zonked! I know that there's a lot of e-mail left in the inbox, but I have to get to bed, or I'm going to be a dead man in the morning.

Until then, what are your thoughts on Square Enix and their recent announcements concerning Mognet and Final Fantasy III? What about the assertion that they are not working on a Final Fantasy XI sequel? Let me know what is burning, burning, burning, in your fiery little minds!!

***Matt can't believe how much work an Apocalypse spell takes...