Josh - 8:32 EST

Ok, listen up, kids. Make sure you figure out what your game is soon...or else you may lose money at the casino. ^^; So, $140 lighter, I now know that I suck at Blackjack and Roulette (though my friend made $500 in roulette today), and that I should probably stick to what I do best: Poker. Sigh. Turns out that I really should stick to games that require a -tad- bit of skill rather than practically all luck. Yargh!

Hey Ouro,

First, continuing the topic from last weekend's columns on hybrid RPGs, I would actually like to see more fusions of RPG gameplay in more RPGs these days. What I mean by this is seeing two different types of gameplay from two radically different RPGs play out in one game. My thought/example of this idea would be seeing the PASSIVE style of gameplay from a Harvest Moon RPG combined with the ACTIVE style of gameplay from an action-RPG like Brave Fencer Musashi, and seeing both styles play out in an RPG where one main character has passive gamplay for his story while the other main character has active gameplay for her story. The closest I can come to seeing something could be Atelier Iris Two where the heroine has to combine items using alchemy while the hero travels the world using the items the heroine created to help further the story of the game. Just to be clear, I've never played Atelier Iris Two, but I'm just using that as an example. What are your thoughts on my idea?

Second, just out of curiosity, how is the word Ouro supposed to be pronounced? Is it supposed to sound similar to the word EURO or to sound more clsoely similar to EARL? Or am I wrong on both counts, and a third pronounciation exists I never thought of before?

That's all I got, so handle with care, ok?

This end down,
BLG

So Ouro the great Weekend host.

What moment in any RPG you've played as made you say. "Damn I never would have expected that". You know like you helping Ness in Earthbound, or a boss battle appearing out of nowhere!

Also how much wood could a woodchuck, chuck. If a wood chuck could start chucking wood at 5 pieces per 30 seconds and slow down to 3 pieces per 30 seconds in 1 hour?

Bainick wishes the good ol' cartoons would come back!

What is your all-time favorite spell in an RPG? I really like Mother Ocean from Suikoden I. It bascially let you restart the battle by resurrecting everyone, giving them full health, and curing all their status ailments. They toned the spell down for future Suikoden installments, but it was sweet while it lasted.

Vicissitude

Overlord Ourobolus,

Hmm, free dental eh? Not bad, not bad. I suppose I can understand your desire to simply take over and kill all those that oppose your new rule. It worked in the olden days and in numerous RPGs after all. Oh wait, no it didn't. The good guys always rise up and destroy the tyrant. To quote something I forget, the tighter you make your grasp, the more will slip through. How do you intend to escape the fate of those that came before you?

-Roku

Hi there Ouro,

I don't remember if I wrote you yet so here it goes, I forgot to mention it in my letters to Matt and Xlash but here are my thoughts on the in game advertising by Square-Enix

I really don't see the big deal take FF7 Cid cleary smokes some kind of ciggarette why not just say they are a certain brand and get some extra money from it, maybe that wasn't the best example but you know what I mean, also I think in FF7 they had an unpaid advertisement for some CD My Bloody Valentine I think been along time since I read that somewhere so it's not like it is a new idea, and if they replace potions with Mountain Dew I highly doubt it will make gamers drink more Dew than they already dew ha ha puntastic so yeah I don't really mind unless one of your party members is the mascot for whatever company they are advertising for I can just see it now

Ronald of the house of McDonald uses big mac attack, causing 500 damage and clogging everyone's arteries for the next turn Though that would be entertaining, fighting the forces of the King, clogging arteries as you go o.o,

Anyway enough of my nonsensical weirdness and onto a question

Question: What kind of products do you think they'll advertise?

Also the only S-E franchise that might do well with in-game advertising would be Star Ocean, instead of random off the wall brickabrack you could now make name brand brickabrack, look at Fayt stylin and profilin in his Nikes he made on an underdeveloped planet

Arros Raikou
*Must kill Lincoln* Sorry just the ad talk made me remember that ^^;;

Wow! The first person to reach the Trivia Tile is Arros Raikou. Congratulations! Remember, you cannot attack him until he answers the question, regardless of if he's right or wrong. From the moment he chooses who he wants to answer the question, you will have 2 days (Weekend Q&A days) to provide a question. I'll send you an email regarding it.

In other news, it looks like some decent RPGs are coming out for PSP! VP:Lenneth is sure to garner my attention, and I may give Blade Dancer a looksie, too. What do you think, is the PSP finally shaping up to be a system that can hold its own in the RPG world? Obviously, we need more examples, but just what is stopping the PSP from being a powerhouse in this genre?

See you all tomorrow!

***Josh has a slightly lighter wallet.