Rebecca Rudeen - 2:15 AM EST

I am feeling Ultra Relax.  A wonderful, invincible Relax.  A one-step-above kind of Deluxe.  Okay, yeah, I'm a bit ticked off that FUNimation wasn't able to get the rights to the first opening theme of Kodomo no Omocha, but they did what they could.  It's a catchy song nonetheless.

I've got the windows open in my room and I can hear the crickets over the hum of my CPU's cooling fan and the constant clackety clack of my fingers on my keyboard.  I'd go into more description but you'll probably fall asleep and you don't want to hear all the details anyways.

Anyways, we've got a nice crop of letters here for you today.  Let us begin, shall we?

Look at Nintendogs. In that game, you can use the voice recognition feature to teach a dog its name, so that when it hears you call its name, it will give you its attention. If you use your voice to associate certain phrases with actions, you can teach the dog commands, making it feel like you're speaking to a real dog. So while Lunar: Dragon Song just puts the voice recognition feature to a tacked-on use for the hell of it, Nintendogs puts it to brilliant use. The later exemplifies how you can use the DS's features in creative ways. It's a shame that most games make you think that those feautres "shouldn't be there in the first place" becuase they use those features so poorly. I'm hoping that once the DS gets past it's infancy stage, third party developers will figure out how to make creative games for it and put those features to legitimately good use.

With that said, here's a question. How much of a future do you think RPG's have in the next console generation? Judging by trailers, it looks like we'll have plenty of first-person and racing games to chose from (people seem to prefer those genres the most), and they look like they'll be a lot more immersive. But how do you think console RPG's can evolve with the increased horsepower, besides just looking better?

BUCKET

For one thing, I'm sure that with the increasing number of households getting high speed internet connections, we'll be seeing a lot more MMORPGs, and not just of the fantasy type.  One of the things I've mentioned in the past to Heath on his column is the fact that I'd really like to see the CLAMP manga/anime Angelic Layer as an MMORPG, or maybe more of an MMOFG--Massive Multiplayer Online Fighting Game.  (The premise of Angelic Layer was that in the future, people could design action figures that they could control using mental telepathy through special headsets.)  Developers just have to find that special niche market that appeals not just to the mainstream, though--I believe that there's a very good golf-related MMORPG out there.

In response to Angel0886's letter yesterday re: how much they hate new handhelds for no solid reason, I say this: Would you rather they include new features in the system (i.e. voice input, touchpad, etc.) and not use it? How dare they try and innovate! Damn them! "Why won't they just up the graphics capability and call it a day! Two buttons is all I need!". I really don't understand how someone can "bash" a new tech for being.....uhhh....improved? Yah, it's gonna cost more, but how much did a friggin ten pound original gameboy cost when it came out. Don't whine about innovation, or that it's "useless" or "shouldn't be there". If that were the case, we'd be without a lot of staples we all enjoy....

But, my question is this: Do you feel "UMD", the PSP movie format will catch on? I appreciate having the ability to play movies on the PSP, but do I really want to invest in something I can only watch on said PSP, especially when I already own a DVD player.. Now for those that want to point and shout "hypocrite!", I'm not complaining about the feature, rather the way Sony opted to introduce a new standard in order to rake in more cash. I can see this being a lot more acceptable if they introduced some sort of converter whereby you could insert the UMD into some sort of DVD shell, and then place that in the standard DVD to playback. Kind of like really old school CD-ROM drives, where you had to put the CD in a really bulked up jewel case lookin' thing, and insert that into the drive. Thoughts?

Hale

BUCKET

From what I've been hearing about the PSP, there's a lot of negative points about it.  The size of the screen, the battery life...things like that that lend it to be more of a gaming machine than something you can watch a three hour movie on.  I know a lot of anime companies (and Squeenix with their dear little pet project) are releasing UMD's of some of their series, but rather stripped down from their DVD forms.  It makes me feel like the UMD turns the PSP into some glorified big kid's Video Now or Game Boy Advance Video player.  Sony always seems to be introducing new standards.  A lot of their CD players come with software to create ATRAC files, which I think are like the Betamax of digital music, and then there's the whole thing with mini discs and how they never really seemed to catch on in America.  (If you've never seen a mini disc: imagine a small compact disc, about the size of a UMD, in a clear plastic casing hinged like a 3.5" diskette.)  As for a converter, correct me if I'm wrong, but does the PSP have a video-out jack, whereby you can connect a yellow RCA cable from it to your TV?  (Of course, the picture quality is going to most likely be somewhat lacking...)

BUCKET

I got two letters with pretty much exactly the same question, so I'm answering the one with a little more substance in it.  Nothing personal.

Due to that wonderful thingy we call the International Date Line, yes, North America and Japan will be getting FF7:AC at the same time, however not on the same DAY.  We will get it the 13th of September while they will already be in the 14th.

As for voice actors, the Anime News Network lists the Japanese voice cast, AND two actors for an English dub.  They are the only two voices listed as of yet, so I guess there is going to be a dubbed version.  One of the actors is Michelle Ruff, who is listed as Elena (huh!?) and she's actually a voice actress with more than several roles under her belt (one of them being Fujiko Mine from Lupin III.)  So it sounds like they might be seasoned voice actors rather than "Let's get Billy Bob Thornton to do a Buddhist monk with that charming Southern drawl of his!" (oh gawd I hated that role.)  Hopefully (and this is a very big hopefully) we will be getting a bilingual version which will please the purists on both ends.

By the way, the reason why I can't watch Nurse Angel Ririka SOS in the same way again is that the actor who voices Ririka's daddy plays Reno. ^^;;

Rebecca, or at least I hope this goes to Rebecca and not one of the others....

BUCKET

The thing is, the video game market is always going to be dominated by guys, and guys want their guns and their T&A, and they want them both BIGGER than humanly possible, and they want to SEE as much of them as possible without pissing off Jack Thompson.  One of the very first things I learned about in journalism was "sex sells."  Atlus apparently tried to reach girls with Rhapsody: Cornet's Musical Adventure.  I remember seeing some release notes on the preorder sheets at a gaming store: "Great for girls who are into anime," I believe they read.  Looking at the reviews that RPGamer has for it makes me come to the conclusion that it's not only extremely sappy, it's also extremely easy.  

I have to admit, I like cute, but I also like a little maturity and a little challenge.  While guiding a bunch of super-deformed sprites with big, expressive eyes around a landscape, I want them to be fighting for something, and if I lose and have to restart a few times in that battle, then it's just going to make everything worth it in the end.

Mostly all the RPG's with female leads and female-oriented themes that I know of are usually based on shoujo anime that made it big time in Japan--for example, Sailor Moon: Another Story (Google it yourself, please, I'm too tired to do the work for you.)  If you've got a Dreamcast, then it may be worth it to check out Magic Knight Rayearth, if it can still be found.  I'm a big fan of the manga and the anime, and even with all the cuteness its still an action packed story.  (Plus, Working Designs did the translation, so there's some brownie points there.)

As for an RPG released in English with a female lead heroine, I should give Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town a mention.  However, there is one thing that I find seriously wrong with that game: It is actually somewhat easier than its predecessor, considering that there's been an important feature added that significantly ups your money making power.  I haven't played Another Wonderful Life (and I don't currently have any intention to) but from what I've heard the bachelors are somewhat lacking.

Also, I just can't stand the fact that after the girl farmer in HM:MFoMT becomes pregnant, she still has to work.  Until the day she delivers her baby.  That is just so wrong.

BUCKET

You're welcome so much.

Here's my take on it: Square-Enix has had a lot of other stuff on their hands, what with their current affliction of acute sequelitis and all, so I guess you've got a good point in claiming withdrawal.  Some people have even gone so far to suggest that they're running out of money making ideas, so they're going back to what made them (or is mak-ING them) the most money.  Then there's the obvious conclusion: you're beating the games faster, resulting in a longer wait between titles.  (Take your time!  Enjoy the scenery!  Play that minigame a couple dozen times more!)  Then again, with the way technology is improving in leaps and bounds, they'll probably say that FF XII will be made on the PS3 or something because they want the graphics and game play to be just so, which will push it even further down the line.

BUCKET

I guess maybe it's because gaming companies don't want to lull people into a false sense of security by saying "Awesome Cool RPG LXV is going to be released on the 32nd of Octember and it's going to be so totally perfect!" There could be any number of things wrong with a game that need to be fixed before its release, and giving a blanket period of time lets a gaming company narrow down to a specific date that they think will have the most impact on sales.

My first column ever as part of RPGamer is finished, and I'm one step closer to fulfilling my dreams.  I hope you were well entertained (heck, I had a ton of fun doing this) and I hope you return that favor by giving me the pleasure of your vote this Friday.

Enjoy the rest of RPGamer Idol and have a good rest of the week.  Yoroshiku onegai shimasu dechu!

Rebecca Rudeen was brought to you by Mr. and Mrs. Rudeen.

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