Josh - 10:52 EST

Well my vacation is coming to a close, sadly. I'll be driving up to NY around noon, and it'll take me about 5 hours or so to get there. The sad part is that I'll be missing the Germany/Italy game. GO GERMANY!

I saw Superman Returns today, and I must say that it was certainly done well. I've only seen bits and pieces of the original Superman movies, so I can't compare, but as a standalone movie, I thought it was good. The spitcurl drove me nuts, and the Christ imagery was blatant, but...go see it. ^^

Hiya again,

Just read your topic about the music in games. One of the few times I can be remember being moved by music in a game was that moment in marjoras mask when you first reach the end of the three days and the music starts to get...darker. The earths trembling and you get genuinely upset for the people around you, as they are about to die, and they know it. I reckon it was about the only time I ever REALLY wanted to save everyone. But that game was cool. But I'm not actually sure if the topic you mentioned actually applied to that moment as it was really a culmination of things that gave it that emotional charge. Marjora's Mask was definately the best Zelda so far, whatever anyone says, as Ocarina was kind of too... flimsy. Yes yes, i know i don't make sense, but do i really have too? after all, i'm writing here so i can say what i want to. Petulantly, even.

Have a nice day
- Genjuu

PS. What was that last letter in yesterday's column about? It sounded like total nonsense.

Ouro,

Two brief examples of music that's inspired and annoyed me..

Inspiration: Final Fantasy VI's Opera Suite. Although tinny by today's standards, I remember the music as the key element that immersed me into the entire scene of Maria, Draco, and the war between East and West. At the same time, when Ultros came on the scene and everything literally came crashing down, the music transitioned well and gave you the impulse to make Ultros into lots of sushi.

Annoyance: Final Fantasy IX's final boss battle. Not only was the battle itself annoying, but the abject moans (perhaps from spirits wondering just where the final boss came from?) made me want to get the battle over with, so they'd silence themselves.

May I begin participating in the THONG contest (albeit at a distinct disadvantage)?

Sincerely,
Eric

In response to your question, I probably won't be the first to say this, but the BGM in FF7 during the death scene of you-know-who. Not the actual killing, but afterwards, in the bit after the Jenova battle. What makes it for me is the combination of the music and the actions of the non-Cloud PCs who were with you in the party; Yuffie breaking down crying, Tifa gently pushing you-know-whose hair out of her eyes, Red XIII howling, Cait Sith futilely trying to cheer Cloud up. It was a very good move to have that particular BGM piece playing throughout that sequence, especially during the Jenova battle.

Leaper

Dear Ouro

I have a question about silent heroes in RPGs. I recognize them as simply main characters who don't talk, but what about those who still communicate? For example, take Star Wars KOTOR. You never hear your character utter a word, but throughout the game, you still make tons of dialogue decisions for you character to say to various people, and those people will react to your choice. Sure, you don't actually HEAR your character say those things, but it is still IMPLIED that your character does talk. So does this still count as a silent hero? Is a silent hero simply anyone who doesn't talk, or specifically someone who doesn't communicate?

Alan

Hello ouro this is my first letter and was just wondering if u could give me a hand with a problem. Recently a friend of mine convinced me that final fantasy vii is a game worth buying a console to play so i hurried onto to ebay and managed to het myself a copy of the game and a ps one for only £5. Unfortunately the game happens to be in french ( a small fact he left out of the product description) so i was wondering could u tell me if there is any way to change the language to english? I dont really fancy playing the game without a clue to whats going on or trying to translate every dialogue box and id like to know if im going to have to start scouring ebay again for another copy of this magnificent game.

Thank you
Patrick Dougan

Hope that worked out well. For simplicity, the only spells that counted were the ones you ultimately ended up on. Sorry, but it would have been a real pain in the ass to try to get all of you to cast stuff mid-turn. ^^;;

I think you all are ready for a nice week with Matt, and from the looks of things, you all are getting close to being a guest host with moi! Can't wait to try this out with some of you! See ya!

***Josh doesn't want to drive tomorrow...