Josh - 5:18 EST

Well, in preparation for this internship this summer, I've had a million things to do. One of the strangest would be that of buying my first wedding present to someone. It's an odd sensation to actually realize that your friends are up and getting married. Now I have to look for rings on the girls' hands whom I hit on! Argh, that's an extra step that I'm sure to forget here and there.

However, I did end up giving that girl a call, and had two simply awesome dates. I won't see her for another 10 weeks until I return, but...eh...que sera, sera. Here's hoping, though :)

Enough reminiscence! Letters!

Hi there Ouro or Matt, or Matt's co-hosts

First off I finished my Shadow Hearts/Koudelka binge yesterday morning, so while I'm puking Emigre manuscript and Harmonixer chunks it feels good to force your way through an entire series of games and it makes the stories more enjoyable as well as making combat easier to grasp, my next one shall be either the Tales of games I have access to or the Suikoden series

But right now I'm taking a trip back in time to the ancestor of one of my favorite games, while it's fun seeing how the battle systems and such evolved from the earlier games it's bit disgusting hearing random singing...

Can you guess which game I'm currently slogging through?

And which series should I binge on next?

Arros Raikou

Hi Matt

Its Singh righting from the UK again. Thanks for your honest opinions in my last email. I see from the lastest "ask matt", you seem to have a "FFVII for the PC" loyalist quite upset. As you might be aware in the gaming community PC gamers have more luxuries compared to console gamers. I mean in terms of Game modifiocation released by dedicated fans and FFVII is no exemption. As you mentioned in my last email, that you also bought a pc port for FFVII and hopefully you still have it.

I am here to tell you all fine gamers whom were disappointed with FF7 for the pc port (Firstly I wasn't, my parents never bought me a playstaion so no comparison available). Well no longer, there are patches out there which replace the midi files with the music files from the PSX release and I have to agree with Matt, they definetley sound much better.

If you go to this forum you can find all the ingrediants for a fun couple of days with revisiting the FF7 game. http://forums.qhimm.com. You can also get patches to pay at FF7 at a higher resolition say at 1280 X 960, increase the game difficulty from the start, change the scene texts, etc...

However it doesn't stop there, a very dedicated fan, has released a Field model Conversion mod. for FF7 to more realistic models, called the reunion patch. I hope Matt can show you the very cool screenshots to show how much work has gone into this patch.
http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=4045.0.

Its no PS3 remake of FF7, buts its bloody good, after playing it myself. If anyone does have the FF7 pc port, go here for a list for some patches to update your game http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=4351.0, and then download the reunion file to play the game where "CLOUD HAS HANDS!!" and some excellent music.

Kind Regards

Singh

Hello Q&A Master,

Long time reader first time poster....er emailer?....anyway.

What if Sony's PS3 price is nothing more that a ruse. Here me out..

*dons conspiracy theory tinfoil hat*

What if Sony announced the incredibly high price so everyone will talk about. Remember how much everyone ripped the the Wii when its officail name was finally annouced. Who was it that said "Bad Publicity is better than No Publicity" Im not really sure but I think he was famous. Anyway as the price stands MS doesnt even have to drop the price of the 360 when the PS3 launches its already a lot cheaper. But what if shortly before launch, maybe even after MS says they wont drop the price of the 360, Sony comes out and says "Ya know, your right $600 is crazy, so we are really gonna charge $450" or something like that still expensive yes but at only 50 dollars more the the 360 people may decide its worth picking up.

*removes conspiracy theory tinfoil hat*

Now that said I think the price will be $500 and $600 but stranger things have happened.

Just my 2 gil...
Methos

I own both FFVII versions (psx and pc), and I'm fairly sure I never had problems with the PC version. Actually, since my computer was very advanced at the time of the game's release, it ran smoothly and the music sounds WAY better than the PSX version. But...I guess that was exchanged for some different dialogue (was the translation team different or something?).

Anyways, I'll definitely be purchasing a Wii first, and will attempt to get a ps3 through illegal means...but I sure as hell will never even look towards the xbox 360. Everybody I know with an xbox has failed to entertain me with it for longer than...never! I've seriously never laid eyes on such a shoddy game collection in my life. Not only that, but the bulky controller sucks (yes, I know you can get a slim one...but that's extra money I'm not willing to spend), most of the games worth playing are on multiple systems, many of the Microsoft games are eventually released for the PC, and the 'xbox exclusive' games are nothing special, but somehow gain huge popularity simply because they're so...well...easy. Why is Halo so popular? Because of it's ridiculously easy campaign, learning curve, and most of all, online setup (ever noticed how sometimes you'll hear CHILDREN on their headsets)? Sure, these are all nice things, but the game's CONCEPT is so old (see Doom and Wolfenstein 3D) that it loses its appeal after a good thirty minutes, and brings nothing new to the table.

And now for the most unforgivable offense Microsoft has committed...
*drum roll*
THEY RUINED THE PERFECTLY GOOD RAREWARE!!!!

Doesn't anybody remember how every game they released on the SNES and N64 was flawless? Let me count the Rare games on the Xbox...of the TWO, one was a Luigi's Mansion rip off and the other was a remake of Conker's Bad Fur Day. It's good to see the creativity flowing.

Yikes...this is turning into a scary rant! Sorry, but Xbox 360 will never have a chance with me. I'd sooner pay 1000 dollars for a ps3 than 10 dollars for an Xbox 360. Microsoft has done nothing for any genre, and instead has sucked away gamers into feeling more 'mature.' Did I mention they totally !@#%ed Rare in the bad place?

Yeah, I'm sad to see Mistwalker and even Square-Enix piddle some games onto the 360. Though I'm a very devoted follower of SE, I will not tread that ground. I'm starting to go in circles, so I'll finish up.

Did you get a chance to mess with Persona 3 at E3 (ha)? That's one of the titles I'm most excited about, and am curious to learn anything about it. Have you played Persona 2: Eternal Punishment?

Sorry for crapping on the Xbox all you fans...NOT!

Dad's visiting, so I'm off to get some bonding time in. See you guys tomorrow!!

***Josh is going to have an...'interesting' night.