I can not believe the amazing turnout I had for letters this time around! I am thoroughly impressed guys! And don't worry, I will not vegitate into Cloud Strife's state of mind just because you were all so nice to me. I commend all of you, and you may receive your complimentary cookies at the front when you leave.

I had many responses that asked the questions: What is your favorite game? RPG? RPG characters? How old are you? Are you the first female Q & A staffer? Can I have a pair of your underwear? *thwap!* All that good stuff.
I do this for you, dear readers who sent very few flames yesterday. :)

It's great to see the female perspective in the Q&A. I have a quick question. Could you please clear up all my confusion about all these new systems? I have no plans to purchase Dreamcast, but I'd like to know what is being offered on Nintendo's "Dolphin" and this Playstaion 2. I'd appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks!

--Zack, with a K

Veronica:
Well, as I'm sure you know, hardly any information has been released concerning Dolphin...although rumors are the console's release might not be until 2001. But you're very fortunate, because I've got major specs on the Playstation 2. :-)

The Playstation 2 is slated for a release in Japan on March 4th, 2000 for 39,800 yen. (That's about $375.00) The new look of it is very sleek; black with blue futuristic lettering that reads "PS2" appropriately enough. Memory Cards on the PS2 will be a joy, with a capacity of 8 MB. *cheer* The console will still only have 2 controller capacity so they can keep production costs down there. (You would've thought Sony would learn its lesson by now. -_-)

The Playstation 2 sports some complex hardware that includes two USB connectors and an i.Link IEEE1394 on the front for future expansion. The back of the console also sports a Type III PCMCIA card slot that will be able to house modems and ethernet cards, which brings the on-line gaming possibility with the PS2.

Software CD's for the PS2 will either be in CD-ROM format (signified by a blue disc instead of black) or DVD-ROM format (signified by a silver disc). The PS2 will be able to read CD-ROMs at 24x speed, and DVD-ROMs at 4x speed. Although the system is backwards compatible with the PlayStation, old PS games will not run any faster than they do on the current system.

Will that information suffice for now? ;>

-Myrddin "you can call me Sherlock Holmes" Emrys

Veronica:
I spilled coffee on Mike's Aeris silk tie. From what I've heard...Thor stayed so long because he admitted that he watched Full House religiously. We consider that one of the 7 deadly sins.

JD was in Q & A because he didn't register with the county as a criminal sex offender.

Brad's doing time for that one date he took with Anna Nicole Smith and woke up in a.. *ahem* "interesting" place. He also said that he fantasizes of Janet Reno in a bikini, which he is being severly chastized for.

Here's a little quote from a CNET news story that I found interesting:

'Maruyama said he was unsure if Square, the maker of the Final Destiny series, would agree to make games for a Microsoft console. The company has had difficulties converting its PlayStation software into games, which can be played on a PC.'

I did not know that Square made the Final Destiny series, but since it's a news story, it must be true. Where is this Final Destiny series? How come I never saw it? Man, is the NA market getting the shaft again?

Happy Hacking,
Devon "Tongue Firmly in Cheek" Smith

Veronica:
Look carefully where you got this information at: "CNET." Now repeat 5 times. CNET. CNET. CNET. CNET. CNET. Isn't it clear? They're full of crap. They're part of the Republican console conspiracy too! Driving gamers mad, those bastards! To arms, to arms! Stay faithful to your consoles, fellow RPGamers!

Hmmmmm my scanner is picking up something here......it identifies as a "gurl"....interesting. Anyway, here's my question......is it possible to get a critical hit with a spell in FF8? I ask this because once for apparently no reason a spell that usually does around 3000 damage did 9999 to everyone. One more question....how old are you?
BI
PS. If you don't post this I will unleash the monkeys...and you don't want to see that happen.

Veronica:
From what I know, it is not possible to get a critical hit with a spell or magic. Did you scan the enemy and see if it had a particular weakness to the magic you were using? That's the simplest explanation. Or you can make yourself look cool and say, "Hey! My game has a bug that gives me critical hits with magic! Aren't I just sooo cool?!" Your choice.
By the way, I've visited the Temple of the Monkeys in the Far East...so let the little monkeys come to me. They're cute and I don't have to feed them bananas for them to appreciate me.

I have a few questions for you.

1) Yesterday, after telling everybody to play RPG's for life and to keep coming rpgamer, you said you had gottenjob security for six months. I'm wondering why this is and have developed two theories. One is that you plan to retire from Q&A after six months (it'd be longer than a lot of the old Q&A guys), or you expect the great RPG cult to commit mass suicide six months from now in order to join with the great RPG mothership that will be passing by the earth hidden behind some meteor or something.

2) All of the old Q&A guys had varying attitudes towards the great white north. And so, I'm wondering, what do you think of Canada?

3) Here's the game related question. Why do you think that In Lufia 1, Maxim had to face several monsters in the Fortress of Doom, but he only had the Sinistrals to face there in Lufia 2?

And finally, 4) What's happened to the invisible text? I can't see it anymore!

Insanely yours,
     The Canuck with the mini 'fro.

Veronica:
1) Damn it, how did you know?! You see...I was late for my Heaven's Gate monthly meeting, and when I got there everyone had already "left." I'm kinda pissed they left me behind...but I'll be with them soon enough...and so will all of you! MWHAHAH!

2) Canadians are great! I've got lots of o/l acquaintances that are Canucks, and they're good people.

3) The programers had a deadline to make, and they just decided to go, "Aww, screw it."

4) HAHAH! I'm invisible. You can't see me you idiot! Hahah!

Well, tis nice to finally see a fellow female person doing Q 'n A! Tis spiffy. ^^ Have any advice on how to get Diablos and Odin? I have failed many a times and lost many an hour trying to gain their spiffyness.

~Aorah "I still love FFVII!" Nolastnamegiven

Veronica:
Ah, a Final Fantasy 8 question without major spoilers. 'Tis a good thing, indeed! ^_^
Diablos: To get Diablos, you need to have the Magical Lamp in your inventory. (You get it by speaking with Headmaster Cid before you leave for Timber in the very beginning of the game.) Use the lamp, and your party will be transported into a battle with the Guardian Force Diablos. You must defeat him before he will join your party.

Odin: To get Odin in your party, you will need to go on a side quest. (The side quest becomes accessible in Disc Two, after Balamb Garden is mobile) Around the Centra Crater in the southern part of the world, there is a large tower where the Guardian Force Odin lives. He will join your party if you can climb his tower (called the Centra Ruins) and defeat him in 20 minutes. Not easy... :P

A quick tip: Get Diablos before you even attempt to go after Odin. Diablos carries the skill Enc-None, which lets you avoid all random battles. Learn this skill before embarking into the tower. The Centra Ruins are the home of Tonberrys and Forbiddens, who both have one-hit kill attacks, and a considerable amount of HP. With a 20:00 minute time limit, you don't want to be fighting these guys.

1. Will it be necessary to know Suikoden 1's plot to understand Suikoden2's plot without getting really confused?

2. Should I be a mooch and borrow my friend's ff8 discs when they et through with them or go out, get a job, and buy it myself?

3. Which magic system of the Ff's did you like best? As most people choose, I'd have to go with ff6/4.

4. Does PE2 look at all good to you? I'm still trying to not get freaked out by *possible pe spoiler* the ultimate being chasing after me...*end spoiler* *shudder* But PE2 just doesn't ring my bell yet.

Methinks that is all for now. Danke, if you answer these! ^_^
-Engil

Veronica:
1) From what I understand, the two games are very closely related to each other, and take place in a slightly different time frame from the first Suikoden. I think you can Suikoden 2 without previously playing the original Suikoden.

2) Be a mooch. I'm the only one of my friends with Final Fantasy VIII (They're waiting for Wild ARMs 2 and Suikoden 2), and I'm giving my friend the first disc to borrow as soon as I'm done with it. Oh! I am done! Heh. Looks like Di (pronounced Dee) is getting the first disc Monday!

3) I can tell you straight off the bat that I HATED Materia. Ick.
With that said, I'm fond of the Esper system used in Final Fantasy 6. It was customizable enough and required strategy, but wasn't as complicated as the Junction system in Final Fantasy 8.

4) I didn't play through a lot of PE, but what I did play was very cool. The movies of PE 2 battles from the fall Tokyo Game Show '99 looked very nice, and I'm liking what I've seen of the screens. If PE 2 is a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait, then I'm liking what I see on the outside. I'm apprehensive of the "taste". Catch my analogy? ^_^

-Rydel
p.s. wuh? no hidden text? uh, not that it actually exists *wink, wink*

Veronica:
Watch out! Veronica's on a serious streak right now! What is the world coming to?!

I don't have a definitive textbook answer, but consider this. What you say is true; it is not piracy to import Japanese video games into the U.S. But consider that the profits of your purchase of say...the Japanese Final Fantasy Collection, go directly back to Japan, and that they profit from your purchase. What are North American game publishers going to do when they bring the same game over here? You already have the Japanese game, and you have no need for their business. North American game publishers lose your valuable cash, and Japan profits. Publishers of course want to make money, so they put in those codings into their games. In a sense, they don't get their money when you import.

But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. =)