Josh - 8:19 EST

Woo! Finally finished with my computer! All built, everything runs well, and nothing went explodie. A net victory for me! Of course, now comes the annoying part where I have to restart 30 times, as well as to click -every single checkbox- asking whether or not I want to view an encrypted page, whether to make Firefox my default browser, etc...gotta make sure those never pop up again. ^^;;

But, let's round out the weekend with another batch of letters, shall we?

Hi Matt. It seems everyone's up in arms about Sony and the PS3 lately, so here's my two cents. Many posts I've read here and elsewhere seem to indicate that gamers are outraged by what the PS3 will cost, and some are predicting the end of Sony's gaming dominance as a result of the console being unaffordable. Yes, the PS3 is going to be expensive, and not everyone will rush out and buy one. Or will they? When the PS2 was released, many, if not most retailers sold it as a bundle at launch. These bundles often included a second controller, memory card, and game, etc. I bought a PS2 on release day in a bundle, and it cost over $700 Cdn! The PS3 will be $650 Cdn, and will include technical elements that for the PS2 had to be bought separately including the hard drive, and the hardware for online connectivity. My point is that consumers will be getting a lot of bang-for-their-buck when you look at the PS3 hardware. Above that, though, I also make the point that five years ago people seemed more that willing to shell out big money for the PS2 (recall the shortages of PS2's at launch). This time around the cost is higher, but not prohibitively higher, and when you consider the hardware, not unjustified either. Also, if you take a look at the current RPGamer poll asking what console gamers are going to buy, the PS3 is cited by over 70% of respondents, either on its own, or with other consoles. So, I don't think Sony has to worry about gamers abandoning the system due to cost, and consequently, neither will developers.

Next topic, regarding some observers' reactions to Final Fantasy XIII. Many people seem to be lamenting the loss of traditional Final Fantasy gameplay elements that they don't see in the trailer presented at E3. First of all, we're probably so far out from release of FFXIII that what we see now may be very different in the finished product. And it seems people have jumped to some far-reaching conclusions about the gameplay. I read that someone was devastated that their appeared to be only one playable character in the game. It is way too early to assume much at all about gameplay or characters or anything for that matter. The apparent battle system has been criticized as well for seeming too "actiony". If you watch the trailer closely, it looks as though the female protagonist carries out a series of consecutive actions input by the player. The bottom of the screen shows commands such as "V-Strike", "Shoot", and "Lightning" in a row, which are then performed consecutively, resulting in a very fast, dramatic action sequence in actual gameplay. I consider this to be very promising. The chaining of commands set by the player, and then carried out onscreen using the graphical power of the PS3 is very exciting, I think. Those who have said that this and other recent Final Fantasy games aren't what they used to be are right, FF has changed over the years. But these changes should not be looked at so negatively. After all, if they didn't change anything, why make thirteen of the same game? All this is coming from an old school Final Fantasy fan, by the way (VI is my favourite). Anyway, it's also too early to judge XIII, but I think we should be excited by what we've seen so far, not concerned. Thanks for reading that long rant!

Robert

What all would you like to see added to the FFIII remake and to the FFV and FFVI ports? Do you just want characters with names on FFIII or do you want them to tweak the story as well? FFV is scheduled to have new jobs, so is that enough to make you happy? Do you want to have more playable characters in FFVI or what? There is so much that could be done, where should they start?

- Macstorm

Relaying message signal to Ouro... come in, Ouro... Ouro, do you copy? Over.

E3 sure was full of a lot of surprises and cool-looking games. But was there a game that, prior to E3, you were sure you were going to get, but after E3, you now feel less inclined to get? I ask because, for me, that game would be the Phantom Hourglass. I'm still anticipating it, but just not as much now. There's just something about the touching with the stylus on the touch screen to move and fight that seems, for lack of a better word, "untraditional." Don't get me wrong, I love Zelda, and I also love Diablo, but I feel iffy about combining the two games' mechanics into one. It's kind of like chocolate and cheese. I like the taste of both flavors individually, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they taste really good together. (note: no offense to Phantom Hourglass fans or chocolate cheese cake lovers!

Also, for you, was there a disappointing "no-show" at this E3? Was there a game that you were looking forward to seeing more of, only to find it MIA? My most disappointing no-shows were Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., ASH, and Resident Evil 5... oh, sweet Resident Evil 5, where art thou?

Alan

awhile back on a japendomonium or something along those lines i saw shining wind introduced, and ive looked countlessly for more information about it then presented but i cant find anything. Would you happen to know anything about the game, or websites, or release dates at all?

Yargh...that was a good one. Methinks it's time to test out this computer. I've been playing WoW again for a bit, since my roommate is moving and he's getting into it. But don't get me wrong. Guild Wars still rocks! :)

Take care guys, see you next weekend!

***Josh apologizes for his french yesterday.