Hi Andrew !

Not really questions, but mostly reactions :

1) “Did you know we actually stole chocobos from Nausicaa, Valley of Wind? Lucky we’re so powerful now that no one can stop us! Hahaha!”

LOL !

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that, I was starting to wonder if I was just seeing way too much similarities that weren't there.

But the FFT intro FMV really looked like it was ripped right out from Nausicaa, wasn't it ? (well, I'm not complaining, I love both)

And what about airships ? Not just in Nausicaa, but in Laputa, too.

Speaking of Laputa (Castle in the Sky. Should be released in North America pretty soon, now, if that isn't already done. Go see it. That is all), to me it feel like the most RPG-like of all Miyazaki's anime, and, considering the initial release date (1986), I think that, not only other anime (such as Nadia : the Secret of Blue Water), but also many, many RPG (Final Fantasy included) that went out during the 8-bits and 16-bits eras (and even in the earliest 32-bits days : Grandia, Wild Arms...) draw much of their inspiration from that movie.

Agreed, some emblematic elements can have been inspired from other sources : such are airships, which look like concepts from the industrial revolution in late 19th/early 20th century (and the pre-Science-Fiction-esque Jules Verne's novels), when artists tried to picture what year 2000 would look like. Such is also the "mysterious highly-scientifically-advanced ancient civilization that disappeared in a cataclysm" stereotype, mainly rooted in the Atlantide's myth. But I think Laputa, by re-inventing some kind of an occidental folklore, initially played a large role in making those westerly elements popular (if not "mythical") in Japan... To the point some of them became clichés since then :

// WARNING ! POSSIBLE LAPUTA'S SPOILER !

Who could doubt, nowadays, when seeing a mysterious girl wearing a not-any-less-mysterious-pendant, that she is the last heir of an ancient-but-now-supposedly-extinct-powerful-civilization ? ^_^;

// END OF SPOILER

What do you think ? Would FF and other Japanese RPGs still have been the same if Miyazaki's movies hadn't been there ?

2) "Does anyone else feel like Square is completely missing how badly we want anime and movies actually based on the game?"

Indeed (Well, the FF OAV were based on FF5, though. And their pink chocobo on an early Amano's design ^_^; )

I'm glad doujinshis exist, but a fan-manga is nothing in comparison to what a Square-made anime based on the actual games could (should! Their in-game cinematics are awesome, how come they mess up their anime that much ?) be. Heck, I'm even convinced many fans would be ready to sell their soul (if they hadn't already sold it to buy pretty useless goodies) to get their hands on an anime that would merely re-tell an existing FF story without adding anything new to it.

3) Concerning RPG related goodies and such, well... I'm afraid I'm already a compulsive buyer (Ebay = evil) when it comes to OST (and remix CD), artbooks (and postcards sets and illustrated guide books when there is no artbook), music sheets books, and... well, that's about all (OK, a few statues, action figures, key holders, doujinshi and wall-scrolls, once in a while, when I love the game -uh, XG, CT, get out of my head ! ^^;- and the character featured, and my wallet allows it. But it's more a cool idea for a little gift to or from someone else, than something I'd buy myself for myself and collect frantically) : I'm more into the basic artistic material (which constitute convenient references when you wish to wander into the fan-art or fan-music field).

However, there might be a few exceptions to this I-only-really-care-for-the-original-art-and-music (especially when there is Amano, Mistuda or Uematsu written on it) rule. I'd love to decorate my room with mecha and other vehicles' plastic models from the FF and Xeno games, for instance : Magitech Armors, Gears, Airships...

Or maybe some huge wallscroll featuring some detailed Amano's art (ex : Terra in her Magitek Armor, gazing over Vector. Or some huge, impressive summon like Odin or Alexander. Or just some eerie town or landscape from any FF game).

Hmmm... Now that would just ruin me ^_^;;. So maybe I'm fortunate such things don't exist ? (although I will probably try and construct my own airship-model, one day or another...) This raises a disturbing question, anyway : "do you own your games, or do your games own you ?" O_o;

Entr0pi3, scary fan-girl (bis) ? (At least, does share Meghan's disappointment of not finding much goodies related to her favorite Xenogears character : not psycho-schyzo-Id, but his manic-obsessive challenger, "Gebler's Mister Puniverse")

PS : I've met on a forum a girl who wants her marriage ceremony to be organized as an FF-themed wedding. OK, I've got nothing against cosplay parties, but now that just seems wrong O_o;;; (now then, the very idea of a themed wedding seems weird to me). What do you think ?

Andy,

I'm building an airship in my backyard. My best friend Cid and I plan to fly around North Dakota and see the sights. Unfortunately, we're having trouble getting the darn thing off the ground without any Mist to add bouyancy. I've tried to ramp up the horsepower by adding a Lindblum lift engine to the port and aft, but its really just creating instability (nevermind the high cost!). The loser neighbor kid across the street, Squall, says that we need to junction a quezacotl to the power grid, but he doesn't know what he's talking about - besides, what is a quezacotl?? No one at the synthesis shop in the market district knew what the hell it was. So, could you offer any ideas? We'd really appreciate the help.

T.J.

Hey there fellow Naruto fan!

I wish I could have seen that Naruto headband a few days ago, I would have told my mom to keep an eye out for one when she was in Tokyo 2 days ago. Not that I think she would have found one, since I rarely have any luck at anything whatsoever.

Let's see, topic of the week. Right. What I would really want is a Mana stone, from Seiken Densetsu 3. That would rock (tsk tsk). The only problem would be finding a place to put it, since they are quite large.

Is it OK that this e-mail doesn't contain any questions? Wait, now it does. Nevermind.

-Dain

Greetings from the ever-rainy state

hey I like Naruto too! what aspect do you like of it?

and I want a headband, i just done wanna have to hawk my pc for it

My question, I haven't bought a console game since FF9, and have been sticking to pc games, such as Neverwinter nights, Icewind dale 2, and Kohan. (technically not an rpg, but still has a good plot, if a bit clichéd). and I have some money coming to me soon.

should I bother getting a console to play rpgs I have missed such as kingdom hearts, and when it comes out xenosaga, or should I not even bother and just go with upgrading my computer. As it is I don't know of any non mmorpg rpgs coming out for the pc, but I have also been reading your column and have seen that nobody really likes the games that have came out for consoles... its quite a predicament, either sit through crappy rpgs to get the 1 or 2 good ones that come out on the system I choose, or suffer a rpg drought on my pc, and hope that Neverwinter nights holds my interest for a long long time.

I leave my question in your hands duffman,

Afkef

"I played 23 and a half hours to die like this?!?!"

Hey

If it's not too late to talk about a game that let you down, here's mine. Valkyrie Profile. I got it solely based on Googleshng's comments about it. And it turned out to be boring, have a stupid fighting system, and whiney characters. Of course my opinions of good games include Everquest and FF8, so there ya go.

FFIX Spoilers

Also, in FFIX, what the heck was up with Necron? Was he the nod to all the other end bosses who just pop up out of nowhere and say, "I'll kill everyone for no good reason. Because... I'M EVIL."

ChaztheMonk
http://www.nuklearpower.com "The power of evil compels you"

Hi

This is alist of some RPG memorabilia I'd like to get my hands on. 1. I'd like to have a Vivi doll. He seems like the perfect character to be made into a doll. 2. A Cloud on a motorcycle statue would be cool. 3. Black Materia! 4. Gotta have the Buster Sword. 5. The Golden Sickle from Harvest Moon. Now THAT would be worth buying! 6. A moogle plushie. This doesn't have anything to do with the topic, but I always thought it would be cool if there was materia in FF7 that could be equipped to your weapon and as it levelled up, upgraded the weapon's strength. This would be great since, to me, the only swords that really seemed to fit Cloud were the Buster Sword and, maybe, the Hardedge. Seymour (Butts) Guado P.S. Am I the only one that would buy a Komodo Dragon scale necklace from Chrono Cross?

• Winter!

• Melting human flesh!