WAIT!!!!

In response to Tess's letter in Andrew's column yesterday, they DID release a game where you must win battles by "talking about your feelings and making a good compromise"...that game, is called Persona 2. (never played the first one)

In battle such as those, you can converse with the enemy, in an attempt for him to become friends with you and give you certai cards to make your magic stronger and such...unfortunately, if you fail, and say something to piss them off, you don't get a NEW FRIEND, and are forced to beat the hell out of the furry critter.

Ok, that's all...heheh

Ourobolus

Hey.

I just finished playing through Symphony of the Night for the first time, and something is puzzling me: there is a sprite of Richter Belmont that I've seen here and there on the internet that matches the SOTN art style--long hair and an overcoat as opposed to a headband and sleeveless shirt. Throughout the game, I was waiting for Richter to make an appearance in his updated clothes, but was disappointed to find him in his recycled Dracula X incarnation in every scene, as well as in the second-time-through playing as Richter.

I did see the sprite once, though, in a conversation between Alucard and Maria. Richter appears in Maria's thought bubble, followed by the 8-bit Simon Belmont's appearance in Alucard's thought bubble.

Was this sprite created especially for a thought bubble, or is there some branch of the story that I didn't see? I'm somewhat of a Castlevania afficionado, and I'm pretty sure that this sprite wasn't taken from another game.

Also, Alucard sounds suspiciously like the animated Batman. Is this just a coincidence?

Your help would be appreciated.

-Matt

Googlshng,

I can offer an opinion for Mr. Feep, who was questioning the English ability of Japanese people since I've been living and working in the land of the rising sun for a few years now.

Most children in Japan will take English classes from Junior High School on up. Though they take English classes, that doesn't change the fact that they are still students and therefore don't don't like to study and don't want to learn much English.

For those who do want to study, Japanese students must take entrance exams to get into most High Schools, Universities, and sometimes Junior High Schools. The tests are almost always focused on grammer, so though they know some English words, they probably can't speak or understand those same words. After the've achieved the test score they need, then they'll never use their English again.

And to make a note for Feep, not all Japanese know the alphabet. I have many students that can't even write their own names using the alphabet when they come into my class (at senior high school).

As for playing games- when I came into Japan, I really couldn't understand much Japanese, but I found that I could still play games. All you have to do is either A)experiment with buttons B) watch the demo to learn or C) watch other people. It didn't matter that it said 'insert coin to start' in Japanese, I've played enough English games to know what to do. The same goes for English in Japan. The players don't need to know it, they can still play the game and it's cool for them to see English words.

Also, I'm also guessing that if companies can use English in the games, it's less work/time/money translating if they bring it to the U.S.

But it could just be the cool factor. After all, Kanji tattoos are pretty popular in the U.S., but would those same people think it's cool to get that same word in English? Probably not. (also, a lot of those tattoos are wrong to begin with, but that's another explanation) Hope that answers a few of the questions about English in Japan.

Till next time,

benhur

In recent years, haberdasher has come to mean anyone who sells accesories for men. While hats are still the main ware sold, they aren't the only one. There are also belts, jaunty driving scarves, and Command Crests.

Surely it's quibbling over a fine point, but I can make it up to you if you'll be so kind as to view a picture hosted to on a Geocities site.

It involves slimes and a fez.

It can be found here:
http://www.geocities.com/bumbershoot42/haberdasheryslime.jpg

Zach.

• SotN
• CotM
• HoD

• AoS