Ourobolus - 04:10 EST

HELLO, EVERYONE! WELL, this is a great start... soon...my plan will unfurl to dethrone Matt from his Q&A position, and then you can all be my subjects! Hahahaha...ha...hm?

Oh, hey, Matt. Yes, Matt, we've got some questions! Sorry, I'll get back to work! No, put the whip away, I don't need...OW! Hey! C'mon, this wasn't part of the...OW! OW! Ok, I'll stop wasting time!!!

Well, I'm a senior at Penn State, stupidly majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics. So, luckily, I'm able to ignore my impending exams for just long enough to answer some of you guys' questions. Let's get started!!

Heyo Person who holds this account.

I need to ask a few things about...Romancing SaGa.

Now, it hasn't been lined up for a European release as of yet. And since i dont have my sticky hands over the glossy PS2 cover i thought i should hold my head high and ask a actual american.

1.) Is it worth it at all? I know the music is good, but i ask about the game! Teh GAME!!

2.) D'ya think we peoples of the north deserve to even play this game?

3.) How much of it has been changed?

4.) Are you really the head of the Kwik-E-Mart?

Dankee and please write back soon,

Leo
[I'm a Cancer myself.]

Only on Tuesdays. The other times, I'm usually seen huddled in a corner, grasping my Classical Analysis and Numerical Analysis books in a vain attempt to actually learn something.

Dear Matt,

Ok. I've heard alot of people complain about the Final Fantasy XII demo, And id seems as I'm going to come out as the minority, I actually really really enjoyed the demo and am super excited for the american release on Aug 1st, 2006 (Tenative release date, of course.)

Though I am not alone, Everyone that I have talked to on this side (Brother, Cousin, many friends) has expressed the same sentement. I just wanted you to know that at least someone liked the demo and isn't worried about it at the least.Maybe I should take a second to explain where I'm coming from, Hmm?

I don't know if I'm a minority or if I'm part of a larger number that is unseen in this little slice of niceness we call Q&A that remains unheard. But Turn-based games are kind of archaic. Old-school. And while I still like them, I feel like I could put my time playing a battle to better use. Games like Star Ocean, Tales of ...(insert name here)..., Radiata Stories are great fun for me. The fact that you actually don't have to control what the whole party is doing at any given moment is nice for me. Micromanagment gets annoying at times. The new Final Fantasy is nice for me because it gives me the freedom to manage when I see fit and let the characters do what they do when I feel like they are doing a good job. The Wait system on FFXII in particular feels like a new way to do turn-based

Now this is not at all to say that I don't like Turn-based games. I have 4 (5?) turn-based games that I'm working on right now (Dragon Quest VIII [I'll talk on this one more later], Wild ARMs: Alter Code F, Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion, And I'm still winding my way to the end of Xenosaga II and Suikoden Tactics [Do these cound as turn-based?] ). Not to mention all the others that I'm playing via ROMs (I have one save on every DQ game that has come out and the ones that haven't, Via fan translation, All except VII) and the like. So turn-based doesn't bother in the least bit. Just sometimes I want something that's a little more actiony but with all the elements of the RPG games that I so adore.

Like I said. I'm more then likely the minority and I will accept my place as such. But I just thought you should know that not everyone hates the way FFXII is shaping up.

Now Dragon Quest VIII... That's a gem of a game. It feels incredibly like a DQ game. All the mechanics and what not are almost exactly the same. And I love it for that. I'm glad that I was able to experence that and the demo in the same package. Anyhow. Enough rambling from me. On to the Q for your A.

I have a couple. One - What RPG(s) that are not turn-based (Strategy RPG don't count, Since in essence they are turn-based.) do you like?

And one that is completely off subject - Do you like Aeon Flux at all? I'm going to see the movie tomorrow (friday, But by the time you read this, it will be a few days ago.). So I am curious if you like it or not. I think it'd actually a pretty snazzy sci-fi action RPG.

Anyhow, That's all for me. Thanks for listen to my little ranty rant. Have a good one

Regards,
J.L.Jones

I actually quite enjoyed Star Ocean: The Second Story, because the game didn't seem to pit itself against me at every possible moment. The battle system was slightly less button-mashy than Till the End of Time, and the storyline was executed with much more grace, in my humble opinion. Also, Secret of Mana remains one of my all-time favourite games, and Secret of Evermore was fun too. By and large, though, I'm a true, blue, turn-based fan; I must admit.

Also, I've never even heard of the movie, though I haven't really been on top of my cinema as of late. However, I'm not sure you know this or not, but game-versions have been talked about in the past: I found this after a super-quick search, if you're interested (it's pretty old for news): Check this out!

Anyway, thanks for the letter! You've given me much to talk and think about.

Why the hell didn't anybody tell me about Baten Kaitos?

I'm 30 hours in (no spoilers please :) and I'm really enjoying it. In fact, I'm enjoying it more than Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door and Skies of Arcadia Legends. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous, the music is phenomenal. I understand there are some differences that may put people off (the leveling up at save points and money system are different... but I like them!)

I saw G4TechTV's Reviews on the Run give it 4.5/10 because they didn't like the card system, which is pretty much what the whole game is based on. Well up their asses, because I love the card system. This is easily one of the best rpg's I've played in a long time :)

dollerz

ps-but not as good as chrono trigger

It would take quite the game to beat the likes of Chrono Trigger, agreed.

Dear matt

For the past year and a half I stopped playing console rpgs and turned to competitive games, still rpgs thou.

I read your column for a quick news flash, so I don’t feel left out of the community and i must say DQ8 has tempted me to go back. But then where will I find people to call "teh noop" from time to time?

You see in competitive games you get better, it shows. You lose you feel bad, you win it feels 10 times better then it dose on computer controlled foes.

I cant say i got a question to ask thou, it is more of a "thinking on paper" thing, and that led me to think of another thing. The reason I stopped was morrowind on Xbox, nothing tasted good after it, i just gave up.

thx for reading me out....
-the "al-burtgalh" orange

Don't forget about the RPGs! Also, don't become sour altogether; there are all sorts of interesting games you might want to give a try, and Dragon Quest VIII is just one of many. Good luck rekindling your fire!

Okay, so Final Fantasy 4 is supposed to be coming out in less than a week, but I've yet to hear anything about it. I'm starting to get worried. This is exactly what happened with the Megaman X Collection and that got delayed by two months ~_~

I've read the news you guys had on it and I see it on your list of upcoming games, but it just seems too good to be true. I mean... releasing it before the Japanese game? Doing a re-translation THAT fast? Usually they take forever on these things. And yet I hear nothing about it.

As for FFIV, a re-translation shouldn't have taken too long. All they're doing is cleaning up the ruggedness a bit (though, like many of you have pointed out, if they replace "You spoony bard!" I'm going to throw a midget strapped with dynamite at someone).

I suppose I'll go check EBGames's or Gamestop's (not that it matters either way, they're both the same store) websites. And if I don't see anything there, I'll just call. But I dunno, feeling weary... I'm really looking forward to this game, but it just seems odd that it's coming out so fast.

Oh, and I'm wondering if I should get Dragon Quest VIII in the near future or not. I've never played a DQ game before, but this one looks promising... Just don't know if I'd like it. There's virtually no rental stores that I know of on my campus (not that I have time right now), so I can't exactly try it out. I'm mostly an FF fan, but I enjoyed Star Ocean 1, 2, and Tales of Symphonia... so I'm just wondering if DQ VIII is worth playing.

~Souhazan

P.S. Was Star Ocean 3 really THAT bad? I'm planning to starting playing it during winter break...

I LIKED SO3. I even got my roommate to play it, and he pretty much hates console RPGs (the only other one I got him to play was FFX). Sure, the story is kinda lame, but the battle system was awesome, and I never encountered this "lame AI' problem that people seem to be having. It's definitely worth at least one playthrough.

Heya

Hopefully that exam went well for you. I really don't have any at all at the end of this semsester, which isn't surprising considering I currently go to a Technical College. Its kind of hard to give final exams in lab classes. Hehe.

Anyway. I have been playing DQ8 for about two days now, I think I've clocked right around 18 hours. I'm in love with it. Kind of as an answer to one of your letters in yesterday's column, I would have been pretty surprised if the main character *did* have a voice. I guess I'm pretty used to games where the hero doesn't talk aside from chosing "Yes" or "No". ^_~

Anyway. As for the Final Fantasy XII demo.. I didn't get much of a chance to really play it, because I was having my ear talked off on the phone at the time, but I am going to have to say I love the graphics.. the game looks "pretty". The music is wonderful in the demo at least. The battle system... will take some gettin g used to. I don't like the ATB at all. If they would have done without that, I would have been a happy angel. But overall, I'm still pretty excited about the game. I figure, once I've finished DQ8 in a few weeks, I'll stick the demo back in and see if I can't get used to the new battle system. I was already getting there by the time I finally got off the phone so I could put DQ8 in, but I'm not sure.

What is it about the demo that has you so upset?
-Angel0886

I tend to agree that the technical things are done beautifully. Obviously, the FMVs are setting up to be eye-poppingly gorgeous; enough to make even the most discriminating graphics-whores experience wave after wave of orgasmic delight, perhaps. The music was all right, but I still mourn the lack of a battle theme and the destruction of the victory theme. What has made me so upset, though? As I've said over the past couple of columns, the thing that makes me most upset is the transition to an action-RPG/online RPG style. Having to juggle gameplay with worrying about things like the camera and moving your character around takes the focus off of strategy, which isn't even necessary in the first place, judging from the difficulty of the demo (non-existent outside of the awkward controls) and the MP trickle, which is sacrilegious as far as I'm concerned.

While I'm upset, I remain optimistic; surely, there are several issues here that I've touched upon, and many of them are quite bothersome, but judging a game by a demo released months before its completion, to me, is like judging a movie by a trailer you see at the theatre months prior to the real thing. That's why I remain quite hopeful for the future!

what machine do you like the look of, the best - X-box 360, PS3 or Nintendo Revolution ? Also what one would you conisder buying of the three ?

from
Vampiric Lord

P.S
Final fantasy forever !!!

I was wondering if someone would ask this.
As far as aesthetics, I like the way to Nintendo Revolution looks, cause the XBox 360 looks like a diaper with a green light on it, and the PS3...well, I'm just not a fan of the color.

As for the controllers...Urgh. None of them are appealing to me. I think the PSX controller and its Dual Shock incarnation are the most comfortable controllers I've ever used. They're rather annoying for FPS games, but great for everything else. The XBox controller is perfect for FPS games, though.

I'm worried about the Nintendo Revolution controller. It has potential to be incredibly useful, but until I get a working unit to mess around with, I'm gonna reserve judgment.

I'll probably end up getting the PS3, simply because Sony has a long-standing history of outputting quality games in pretty much all genres, especially RPGs. Sure, I'll miss Metroid, Zelda, and Halo, but I can always mooch off of my friends :)

Oh yeah, it's me again! The true host! I hope you didn't enjoy Ouro's little funtime that much; you'll feed his ego to a breaking point whereupon my job will be jeopardized. Why? He's scheming, I tell you... conspiring! If anyone has undermineage on their minds, it's this guy.

In all seriousness, merci beacoup, Ourobolus (pronounce it frenchly!)... it's been an interesting column.

Oh ho ho... it's not over yet, though! You still have to endure yet another co-host granted question, and this'un isn't going to be an easy question either. You want some math? You got it. First things first, though...

Finally, I managed to stump even some of the heavy hitters with this one! In Chrono Trigger, you have to press Y, and then X, when fiddling with the controls on the Epoch, and thus, for 25 points, c) was the right answer.

Also, DDX, you'll be disappointed to learn that your question didn't stump very many people at all! I'd say a good nine-thirteenths of you got it right. No, that's not a precise figure... I got more than thirteen submissions yesterday. Anyway, the question was a rearrangement of a number of words whose letters had been jumbled. The question asked "What would someone who really hates word puzzles be most likely to say?" and so clearly the answer was e) I really hate word puzzles. 40 points?! What a ripoff...who allocates these points anyway?

The new questions will be the first NOT to include a "Follow Me" in quite some time, because I don't have access to Chrono Trigger while I'm here at home!! I'll be back in Guelph for awhile next week, though, so if this is a disturbing phenomenon to you, don't panic: They will be back soon!

Question #69: Ask Kanato!--> in the Q&A column "Raspberry Heaven", which of the following words appears most often? (55 points)

a) and
b) to
c) but
d) a
e) my

Question #70: Ask Ourobolus!--> With respect to the infinite normed vector space, a family of functions is Compact if it is Closed, Bounded, and which of the following? (35 points)

A. Complete
B. Uniformly Continuous
C. Uniformly Convergent
D. Uniformly Equicontinuous
E. Pointwise Convergent

We haven't had much movement among the top ten in the last little while, but that's set to change dramatically, as we have some grumblings from down below. At this rate, positions five through ten are in Jeopardy! Also, I've heard tell that Jbumi, the second-place contestant, will be taking a break from the competition after she co-hosts the column for next Tuesday! What does that mean? More chances are up for grabs for YOU to get in on the fun and join in this Spectacular Ongoing Contest of Knowledge!

Oooh, the auxiliary heat just kicked in. The digital thermometer now reads 3.2 degrees F (-16 Celsius, for those crazy Canadians out there... those...other than myself) making this the coldest night of the winter so far. My hands are really cold, because it's also very cold inside; I'm pretty sure that they forgot to include insulation when we renovated this place a couple of years back.

This isn't my blog, though, so enough with my random ramblings. I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed this week of columns, as well as our great guest hosts, DDX and Ourobolus! It's been really fun, and putting Q&A together has been an awesome pleasure, thanks to all of you readers.

Keep sending your questions in, though! We have another big week coming up as we get closer and closer to Christmas, and some more co-hosting will take place. Send a letter in to me, or Jbumi, or whomever you choose, and have fun reading!

***Matt has goosebumps on his goosebumps