Matthew Demers - 19:58 EST

SO AH... I'm not going to beat around the bush. What about those new Dragon Quest IX screens?!? Holy crap, could it be a turn-based RPG after all? Or is there some hybridization of the traditional with the more actiony stuff we saw in the first trailers? I'm SO excited for this game, but it's soooo far off yet. Waah!

On another note, Pokémon is so wonderfully great. The games are so slow, but more addictive than cigarettes that have been laced with heroin. Plus, I played a couple of battles with my brother on Wi-Fi. The voice chat feature is quite unbelievable! I was taken aback by the quality/clarity of the transmission. Who'd have thought?

In conclusion, the DS rocks my world, which we all knew to begin with. Why are we wasting our time up here in the intro, then? Don't ask me... let's move on to les lettres.

Matt:

So, this is what I'm reduced to. My brother demanded that I return our shared PS2 to him so that he can play Tiger Woods on it ("Hope you have fun with that sub-par graphical simulation of a game that nearly qualifies as a sport"). At first I thought I'd have to go out and buy a new PS2 with my very next paycheck, as I couldn't imagine being without one. But I'm trying to be philosophickal about this: having my system count reduced by one means that I might actually finish a game.

Unfortunately, I have been feeling a desperate urge to play me some Kingdom Hearts, and, without a PS2, the only option is (shudder) Chain of Memories.

Which brings me to the question of heroines. I have said it before (repeatedly), but a Kingdom Hearts with Kairi as lead character would completely rock my face off. I'd love for her to step forward and take an active role, as a sign of her growing empowerment (she IS one of the Princesses of Heart, after all). Will it happen? I can only hope. It would be especially cool if it happened to be calleld something like, oh, I don't know, Kingdom Hearts DS.

So, a few questions for you: if (when) you get Puzzle Quest, which version are you going to get? I've never heard you mention owning a PSP, but I think now's a great time to get one, what with the price drop and some of the announced titles for the system. So, which version intrigues you more: the PSP with its "no-companion" bug, or the DS with its higher crash rate and wonky controls?

And, with just a few days left until P-Day, I have to ask: which starter are you going with? I think Piplup seems to be pretty universally popular, but I did read that it would be important to have a strong grass-type early on. So, what is your choice?

-Jeffrey

Yesh, it's always important to have a grass-type handy from the start. However, I went with a grass type when I played Pokémon Blue, the Water type when I played Ruby, and so this time, I had no choice! Chimchar is mine. I also forgot to give him a nickname, so unlike all of my other critters, he still appears as CHIMCHAR, as if he's some godzilla-like creature. I'm sure I'll find a way to change it... sometime. Besides, the game could use a boost in difficulty anyway.

That's all, Jeffrey-o-awesomeness. Take care!

Hey Matt, You may not remember me but i wrote in a couple months ago whining about how my original DS's charger broke. Doesn't matter is you don't, but I found out when I bought myself an SP (so I could finally play Dragon Warrior 3 again) that the SP and the Original (fat) DS use the same charger, so yay! ^__^

Also, I'd like to respond to something a writer said regarding Grandia 2. I can't remember off the top of my head what he said, but was something about Grandia 2 on PS2 being really bad. Now I'd like to make something clear, there are 3 versions of Grandia 2. The original Dreamcast one, a PC port (which I own), and the PS2 port. I've played the PC and PS2 versions, and whats weird is that even though they're the same game, the PS2 version sucks ass (we can say ass here right? <_<). The graphics are grittier, and for some reason they changed the end battle voice clips into what sound like horrible outtakes. So if your going to get Grandia 2, get the original or the PC version.

I'd also like the oppurtunity to brag about my soon to be new job. I'm going to end up working at a local game store. ^_^ And not like an Ebgames store, I mean one of those local stores that carry things from NES games to Saturn to imported japanese stuff. Hell, they even have the Earthbound collectors edition box with game, manual, and player's guide in it's original packaging! O_O (240$ canadian btw) And I get to work there!!! The owner even told me that he was planning on closing down for a week and taking his employees to the tokyo game show next year!!! I was practically in shock!!!

Oh and Matt, they also have the first 4 Dragon Warrior for the NES as well, so if your in the Edmonton area look for a place called Nexwave Games.

Neo Turbo

Wowee! That is exciting. There are a couple of places like that in Toronto and Montréal, but nothing around here. I love browsing, though, and seeing the incredible markups. When I went to Montréal last year (anybody remember anything special about "La Piazzetta"?), I was just playing through Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, which my friend Sean had lended to me. I saw a boxed copy there for $250. That's one four-thousandth of a million!

I've never, in any case, seen all the Dragon Warrior games. I own the Dragon Warrior IV cartridge, and my grandma has II. Seeing the original isn't uncommon, but its sequels are quite a bit rarer (sadly).

So uh, yeah. I'll swing by next time I'm in Edmonton (I've never been) and we'll do lunch or something.

Hi Matt!

I wouldn't mind playing FF Tactics on the PSP if I already had one, but as much as I love the game (probably my 3rd favorite all time), I really can't justify buying one just for that. I wrote off the system for a while due to it's somewhat prohibitive price and the fact that my portable gaming time was easily filled by my DS and GBA. Thus I haven't followed the PSP's releases as closely as much as the other systems. But I think I still have plenty of time to change my mind and look into it more seriously. Just guessing, I would think both the DS and PSP have at the very least 4 years of life ahead of them. Portable systems seem to stay "current" for a longer time than home consoles do. Maybe it's because there's less competition (none until recently), or there's less of a graphical/tech push. What do you think?

Bad games I like...hmmm I'm probably one of about 7 people that liked Unlimited SaGa. The artwork really drew me in and the open ended gameplay sounded pretty appealing. I asked for it for my birthday. I started playing it and...yeah it was a pretty rude awakening. Instructions were next to worthless, it took me a REALLY long time to learn what was going on.

If it weren't for some VERY helpful people on gamefaqs, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten it. I wanted to stick with it though since I had in fact asked for it specifically. I certainly recognize it's flaws (steepest learning curve ever, badly designed menus, plot/character development is minimal/nonexistant). But it grew on me a lot and I enjoyed it for what it was, enough to beat the game with each of the 7 main characters. I thought that having HP serve as a buffer for LP worked out really well. The battle system was a lot of fun once you learn how to start chaining attacks and magic together effectively. I can't explain how characters "level up" and gain skills concisely here, but once you learn how it's done (no easy task), the ways to set up your party are almost limitless. And even people who hated the game agreed that it has an awesome soundtrack.

I'm not really embarrassed by any particular game per say, but certain situations can be uncomfortable. Being on break at work I'll often play some Fire Emblem or something, every once in a while some other employee's kid will come running up to me in the employee lounge, practically shouting "OH IS THAT A GAMEBOY?? WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING, CAN I WATCH? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHO IS THAT? CAN I PLAY???" Normally I can't take it for more than a few seconds and end up cutting my break short. Not that I dislike kids or anything, but how do you explain Fire Emblem to some 7 year old that, chances are, plays mostly Spongebob, etc. Perhaps I'm just being grouchy but I value my breaks and my privacy. And games that have atrocious voice acting have a way of making me play them with nobody around either.

That's all I've got for now, I'm going to be buying Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime for DS soon, so I'll let you know how that goes!

Seeya
Jeremy V

Do! It's a fun, fun game. Even if it's easy, easy, easy. Take care!

Hey Matt,

I have to say, as part of this generation that used to have all the time in the world (well, compared to today anyway!) to sit around in front of the TV playing video games as a kid, I really appreciate the shift in focus to handhelds. Quicksave functions are the ultimate convenience, even if I occasionally forget what on earth I was doing the last time I picked up a game.

I bring it up because I worry that I'll never make it through the bonus dungeon in FFVI Advance. I made it through the original game much as always, but then I started playing around with it after the fact, and I am totally exploiting Cactuar's +2 speed bonus with level up. Locke's speed is in the triple digits and it beyond amuses me. Do you know if his steal success rate is attributed to his speed? I just sort of steal or mug constantly with the guy (and have Miracle Shoes equipped to boot, so he's lightning fast), so I don't know if I'm more successful because I can steal so often, or what.

I also have two Lightbringers (I still call them Illuminas... stuck in the past, what can I say) now that I finished the game and stole a Ragnarok in the final battle. I was amused to discover I still had it after the credits rolled and I got to save it. At first, I wondered if I was being ridiculous by exploiting the game this way, but I suppose I already played the game fair and square a decade ago, so I'm entitled to do whatever I want this time around. What do you think? Do you try to play your remade games markedly differently than you played the first time around, if you can?

Finally, another SOCK tangent! I was wondering about the spell if you have the experience thing, so thanks for clearing that up. Unfortunately, it confirms my fears that the black mages among us will be able to abuse us all early on in the game, once they have two experience points to cast Fire, inflicting 10-15 points of damage and killing someone starting out instantly, obtaining half their experience to do the same thing the next day. Tell me there's a way to defend ourselves!

That's all I've got. 'Til next time!

Josh

Don't worry, Josh. Things will work out. I'm the guy in charge here, and I'm going to make sure that this thing plays out as fairly as possible. Of course, if it becomes apparent that one class has an advantage over another, there's nothing stopping anyone from gaining levels in other classes at any time!

Thanks Josh! Until next time...