In response to your reply to The Bloody Maniac yesterday, you incorrectly said that English and French had their roots in Latin. English is from the Germanic language tree. French, on the other hand, is derived from Latin.

Also, -SwordsmanXtreme- asked what the Secret Boots in Castlevania: SotN do. They don't do anything really special. Okay, so I lied. All they do is increase Alucard's height (albeit by a few pixels only).

As a regular reader of your column, I just wanna say that I really enjoy it. You do a great job. Only, I think you should have been a little more gracious in your response to The Vagrant, even if he/she didn't deserve it. Keep it up.

-d.

Brad:
To be perfectly correct, French, Spanish, Italian, and related languages are called "romantic" languages, which are Latin-based, whereas German(duh), English, Danish, and other languages are considered "germanic" languages. Germanic languages, however, are still rooted in Latin. Lots of English words are very Latinish. Of course, lots of Egnlish words are very Greek, too.. but that's a whole new ballgame.

Thanks for the good words!

[Note: Later, as I write this, I get conflicting reports, and may be incorrect.. I'll leave it up here as an example that even Oracle's aren't perfect :) But this may be inaccurate information, and well, I just might be wrong. :)]

Evan

Brad:
As far as I know, it is not out for the Macintosh, you might want to check with your software provider for more details on it, though. (They might be coming out with a Mac port sometime soon). As for Sysreqs, lemmie grab my box and read 'em off. Here they are, direct off the box:

• Multimedia PC with Pentium 166 MHz or higher processor
• Microsoft Windows 95 or 98 operating system with DirectX 6.1
• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.02 or later, or Netscape 4.0+
• 32MB of RAM
• 170MB of Hard drive space, additional 100MB of hard drive space recommended for system swap file.
• Quad-speed CD-ROM drive
• Super VGA (800x600) monitor
• Super VGA (800x600) video card supporting 16-bit color
• Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
• 28.8 Kbps modem
• Internet access
• Zone account (long paragraph, I didn't want to type it)

1. Now I know you like the Suikoden series. What do you think about the two new games announced? Suikoden III on the Playstation 2 is going to be awesome, but I'm reluctant about a supposed text adventure in Suikogaiden Vol. 1.

   I'm definitely excited about Suikoden3, and haven't read much information on Suikogaiden, at this time, and so decline to make a comment. :)

2. Is it possible to get Elza on your team? I read somewhere that after you finish Clive's subquest you get her. I couldn't finish it because I foolishly went for the 108 stars and McDohl again.

   Sources say "No", Elza will not become a member of your team, and that she is just a part of the sidequest, (Thanks, Xer)

3. Has anyone else been stuck in Mayor Gustav's house after Jess attack's Neclord or is it just my game? It does it only the first time though. Weird.

   I think it's just you... :) I never really got stuck anywhere, though I'm playing through Suikoden1 again right now.. whee!

4. Who's your favorite character from either game? For me it's Clive because he's got a gun and a cool story.

   Yup. Clive rules.. he's just so damn cool.

   Well it's been fun. So long.

   The Pepper Bandit

Do you have any idea how big(memory-wise) the carts for GBA will be when it comes out? I'm asking because I was wondering if there was a chance that the sorely missed Seiken Densetsu 3 would come to GBA. Goog said the reason it wasn't brought here was because it would take too much memory. If GBA is better than SNES, and capable of recreating the gamesfrom SNES, I see no reason that it should'nt come out here. What are your thoughts?

Locke_57

Brad:
I don't have any reliable information on what size the carts for GBA will be, (I'm honestly not a big Game boy fan... ) but I'd have to say that SD3 is probably not going to see a GBA release. Square has been bugged about releasing SD3 to the US for a long time now, and I would think that they'd do it a nice PSX or PS2 title before they released it on GameBoy. Not to say I'd complain if they decided to release it to GBA, but I just don't (in my Oracley wisdom) see it happening.

You lucky Brad, you... As one of the few living mortals in existence to have ever played DQVII (Outside of Enix's offices, anyway.) Did DQVII *feel* like a DQ game to you? Do you think the newest DQ game stands a chance against the almighty FFXI in North America? I know in Japan, it has a fanatical following and will most likely be a success there. I am worried that it may be overlooked by RPG gamers who have not had the fortune of playing the earlier DQ/DW games.

Also, Have you tried Dragon Warrior Monsters yet? If not, I highly suggest that you do so. Do not be put off by the fact that it is for the Gameboy Color. If you like DQ/DW games at all, then you will love this. (Gotta love that DWI classic overworld music!)

Erdrick

Brad:
To be honest, we didn't get much time to really play the game.. but it felt a bit different form the DW games I've played before.. mostly because it wasn't a NES game. :) It looks good, and I think Enix knows what DW fans want, and they're giving it to them.. I think DW7 is going to be a really big hit, and I was definitely impressed with the neat stuff all over Enix's booth. Of course, my favorite was Torneko. :) The intro to that game was hilarious. :)

[At this point, I honestly stopped reading it.. and I think I'll just let that close out the issue. No more about this.]

I greatly disapprove with your heartless bashing of Japanese culture. But, instead of simply offering criticism, I will aid you on your way to a more diverse column. I wrote a TRUE Japanese Haiku for you (complete with incorrect grammar, call it artistic license...or stupidity):

Japanese	Bad English Translation
haru kirei kigi wa midori da vagrant ni aki	spring beautiful the trees are green [and] fall on Vagrant

So there's a bit of culture. I hope we're all the wiser. For more gems of knowledge (most making more sense) just click the editorials link in the lefthand column ;)

-Joshua "Darien" Maciel

[Just as a note, I did not bash Japanese Culture.. just the blind worship of it.]

Your server is too frickin' slow, you buttmonkeys!

-Ion

Brad: It's mostly the dumb adserver being slow.. and well, it's not -just- the adserver, I'll agree.

Yesterday's Q&A host... any relation to a certain Confederate president? It's a conspiracy!

---Sage

Brad: Hehehe.. you should see the fun Civil War roleplaying sessions we have in the staff channel!

Have you ever noticed that the stained glass panel at Crono's trial is comparing apples to oranges on a standard scale?

Brad: ..but..but.. YOU CAN'T DO THAT! It's like comparing apples to oranges! It can't be done!

I was playing Radiant Silvergun with my bro and I said that the music sounds like Final Fantasy Tactics! Same guy! COOL! Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

-SuperGreen

Brad: Everyone repeat after me... "JD is my super-hero!" "JD is my super-hero!"... then go check out Audiophile

dude.

I can remember in some really old column, I think it was discovered that the Vandal Hearts song was in Croatian. That's just straight out of memory though.

-Ian

Brad: That's cool. :) I always kinda liked that song.

Hey Brad!

Nice Morning we're having isn't it? Gee...sure is hot though... very...very hot...ugh...why do I feel hot all of a sudden? Ughghhhh...b-b-burning...getting...hot...AHHHHHH!!!

*Burns up*

Rei(mitochodria)2

Brad: You know.. vampires only get to be forgetful once.. then it's all over. :)

Well, that's it.. it's weird starting on Saturday... (streeetch) .. hrmmm... long day of doing nothing, I think. Heather's off doing some Xbow quest in Asheron's Call... I even cleaned the bathroom at the apartment. :) I'm so domesticated. Nothin' like a little uber-random conglomerate of my stream of conciousness, right at the end of your column-reading experience, eh?

Brad "You can tell a lot about a woman by the way she eats a corndog" (said by Alex, a friend of mine) Lohr