James: We've just talked about reliving the past, now we're moving on to the future. Of all the RPGs coming out in the approaching months, what are you as gamers and as media members most looking forward to?

Mikel: I still have to go with .hack, even though I'm wary of its multiple parts.

Shawn: I'm going for Suikoden 3, it was the only game I saw at E3 this year that sucked me in.

Henry: I really want to check out some of these new GBA games. Hopefully the GBA Fire Emblem will come out this year; that series looks interesting.

Mikel: Henry, I wouldn't hold my breath, as my question about that game came up empty at E3.

Henry: Was it on display at E3?

Shawn: Sadly, no.

Michael: I loved Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. Harmony of Dissonance looks to be even better, so that's high on my list. RPGaming on the GBA is cheap, and those of us with little money to spend love the little thing.

James: I'm turning into a big dumb softy for old game styles myself. So Harmony of Dissonance and a backlight are what I'm looking forward to.

Henry: By the way, does anybody know what's going on with Magical Vacation?

Doug: I think Nintendo didn't want to over-saturate the market, so they're saving it for early next year. That's just an educated guess, though.

Mikel: I think it's more that they didn't want to overwork their staff. The RPG market has been dry for weeks now.

Doug: I love .hack and Suikoden III, and I think Grandia Xtreme is quite underrated. Also, I'm excited about many of the PC releases, especially MMORPGs. (Yes, I'm a MMO nut.)

Mikel: Yes, I'm totally entranced by Grandia Xtreme's battle system.

Michael: Grandia Xtreme is high on my PS2 want list, and having voiceover talent from Lisa Loeb, Dean Cain, and Mark Hamill doesn't hurt the game at all.

Doug: Side note: Lisa Loeb is hot. I love women who play the guitar. ^_^

James: Though most MMORPGs give me little excitement, I am strangely intrigued by Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Thinking back to one of our previous topics, maybe it's just the sequel bug that's bitten me. I can see a lot of potential for that series' world though.

Doug: You realize that won't hit the market until at least 2004, right? And after playing the E3 demo, that's a very good thing.

James: Well yes, but I did say future. I'm a patient gamer.

Mikel: I'm highly anticipating the Skies port to the Gamecube.

Henry: It's too bad it didn't have a wider release on the Dreamcast.

Mikel: Pretty much the underlying fault of the Dreamcast, though.

Henry: I'm waiting for some more good Playstation 2 RPGs, myself. So far there have only been a few. I think it's been a pretty slow year for gaming. There haven't been any big RPGs since Final Fantasy X. Console wise, anyway.

Doug: This fall should change that. After E3, I'm actually quite excited about three future Xbox RPGs: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Phantasy Star Online, and Project Ego.

Mikel: Doug, having already logged over 135 hours for Phantasy Star Online, I'm not really looking forward to seeing that start up again. The Dreamcast had a very small market and PSO was still plagued with server problems. With the higher sales of the Gamecube, I can't imagine the upcoming server headaches.

Doug: As I have yet to log an hour on PSO, I can't really argue with that. What I can say is that the headset for PSO Xbox works a lot better than that tiny keyboard controller for PSO Gamecube.

Mikel: True, Xbox Live is going to be a major advantage to Microsoft, but that didn't refute my previous point.

James: Things have been pretty slow lately, though. Final Fantasy X was really the last thing that excited me.

Michael: I've only purchased one RPG in the past few months, Tactics Ogre for GBA.

Michael: It will be great to see some high profile releases again.

Mikel: Uhm, are we all forgetting Neverwinter Nights and Morrowind? Talk about high profile releases.

Henry: Is it just me, or has Square been pretty inactive as of late?

Shawn: They may have been publicly inactive, but I think they're cooking up something behind that magical Public Relations curtain.

Henry: During the PSX era, Square was releasing games every month or two, but they've slowed down. I think they'll speed up again later in the PS2's life cycle.

Mikel: They only did that for 5 months, and honestly, half of what they released was bad.

James: The one thing that I am looking forward to is when all of these planned online games and networks finally come "online." I'm still very skeptical as to whether or not all of this hype about online gaming becoming the next big thing really has any truth to it.

Henry: I honestly don't want to pay monthly to play online, that's my gripe.

Doug: I'd agree, but I find it hard to pull myself away from the Earth and Beyond beta test.

Michael: If the games are good, and the networks they rely on are reliable, I see online gaming finally becoming a staple in the console world.

James: But will Gamers really pay, Mikel?

Henry: I know I won't.

Mikel: I paid for three months of PSO version 2.

Shawn: I attended the Workshops at E3, and Richard Garriott (aka Lord British) spoke at one, saying that he believed only two out of the seventy online games coming up will succeed.

Doug: He said something along those lines when I spoke to him as well.

Henry: There are that many online games coming up?

Mikel: Depends on your time frame, and if you count the Koreans.

Henry: It's going to be survival of the fittest, apparently. Or survival of whomever has the Star Wars license.

Doug: Note: Garriott works FOR a Korean company. We're still pretty early in this round of console systems, and just getting started on the 'true' online console revolution, so there are many good things coming. However, in the meantime, I'm going to settle for a few original titles and a lot of solid sequels.

Henry: I'm not seeing much in 2002, so I'm waiting for 2003. But that might change later in the year.

Shawn: I think that this generation of 3D RPGs is the beginning of the "Refinement cycle." 2D RPGs experienced their own refinement cycle on the SNES, and many of us are looking forward to the results in the 3D generation.

Michael: All that really matters is the quality of the games, the stability of the network, and the overall value of playing the game. If all three elements are there, online gaming will no doubt take off.

Mikel: This holiday season is going to be as busy as previous years. Don't let the slow summer fool you, there's plenty yet to come this year. Finding a good RPG will be easy.

Shawn: Hopefully the process of finding the right game this fall won't burn our pocketbooks dry.

James: Well, that concludes this installment of the Round Table. Let me assure you all that with its passing, so passes my reign of terror. Justin Weiss will be back next time as always. So keep those opinions flowing, won't you?

Michael: Well, I've seen another excellent Roundtable discussion come and go. Until next time, this is Michael telling all of you to be cool and stay in school.

Doug: This is Doug saying: Goodbye RPGamer readers!

Henry: Well, it's been great being in this discussion, and with any luck, I'll be invited back for another one. Anyway, Adios!

Mikel: This is Mikel, saying thanks for your continued reading of the site, and especially this roundtable.

Shawn: Shawn Covington signing out, reminding you to tune in next time for another exciting and hectic roundtable.

James: Thanks for reading our latest Roundtable, and goodnight!