WHy is it that I havent seen any talk of that new N64 RPG called Aidyn Cronicles: The First Mage? IS it because you all feel betrayed by Nintendo? (Hey, so do I!) ANd what's your feeling on Ogre Battle 3... or "64"?

-Gregwar

Stom:
Perhaps you haven't heard anything because you haven't looked at our swell Aidyn Chrnoicles: the First Mage game page? You'll also notice that there's a link to a chat transcript where two of the main producers and myself talked about the game.. for around two hours. Also, there was that nice conversation we had with the guys from THQ at E3. There is a lot of talk about this game. I played it at E3, and it rocks. However, it is true that there hasn't been much talk lately. I very recently checked in with THQ and they're just busy trying to finish it. There's just not much else to say right now. It should be out before the end of Fall. Nintendo hasn't abandoned us at all.

As far as Ogre Battle 64 goes.. I played that at E3 also, and what I played was fun. It's got a lot of what made the Ogre Battle series famous in it, and some improvements.

The Wandering God "Insert funny quote here"

Stom:
Looks like the Summon Slime spell won't be necessary, as here is someone who has already beaten both the NES and Game Boy versions of Crystalis. The Thunder Sword's bracelet can be found after you've beaten the fourth general, Karmine, who is at the very end of the Fortress within Goa. Beat him, get the fun bracelet. Oh, and if you get the opportunity, go play the game on NES, again if you already have, and marvel at the difference. Oh, and go put flowers at my grave. (If my body isn't still just sitting there..)

a) What'd happen if the major RPG sites got together (just like they do for music contests) and made some sort of "RPG of the year" awards, sorta like the oscars (no ceremony, of course, just results on a website), you know, with nominees and categories and stuff, to ask the public to vote, and publish the results around february? I mean, by then, you'd generate a lot of expectation to see if (and these are merely examples) Grandia 2 was console game of the year, FF9 got the graphics or music awards, and so on... I think if RPGamer and its sister sites got together, they'd pull it off easily, and it'd be very cool!

Stom: Other.. websites? Just kidding. As cool as that sounds, previous attempts by other websites to do anything like that have ended in squabbling and a serious waste of time, and we'd rather focus on giving you the best news, media, and fun interaction stuff we can. We'll have our own awards, though. The Oscars suck lately anyways. Zero nominations for Patch Adams, Eyes Wide Shut, OR Man on the Moon? Do they watch all the movies before they decide who to nominate?

b) You know, there's a chain of Ice-Cream/Dairy shops down here in Mexico where the uniform for female clerks is wicked similar to female Chemists from FFT. A friend of mine works there, but I never seem to find where to check her HP/MP numerals. Any suggestions? Ah, and what Level should I be when I go against Velius?

Stom: For Velius, the higher the better. I personally had to completely restart the game at that point because of a foolish error saving while inside the castle, and not having the levels due to blasting through without consideration that there might actually be an enormously huge challenge waiting around the corner. As for the friend, well, I know where you can check for her stats, but there's an important question to consider. How good of a friend is she? If she's not a close friend, don't even think about it.

c) Are you done with your TRPG yet?

Stom: You'll have to ask the slimy one later. I have no clue how his game progresses. Mine is in the planning stage, though. It's not a tactics RPG, though, but it's definitely not a traditional battle engine.

d) Are you bothered by the misportrayal of Slimes on most RPGs? No Slime has ever been a good character, and as evil characters, they're almost always low level enemies (not counting those terrible metal slimes from DQ2, which really caused childhood RPG related trauma on my impressionable 9 year old psyche, back when DQ2 was a novelty...)

Stom: Have you ever faced a level 40 slime in Dragon Warrior Monsters? It's a creature to be feared. It has a MegaMagic spell by that time which.. well, it hurts. It's got very high hit points, too. The entire slime family is actually one of the fiercest families in the game. Yes, there are dreaded metal slimes in it, called Metaly(ies?), and then there are their big brothers, Metabbles (Metal Babbles) and then the dreaded Metalkings, which are just Metal Slimekings, which are just pain inflicters.

e) Is this letter too long?

Stom: Nahh. Well, if I drag the right side over some.. there, now it's too long.

Well, hoping I didn't bother you too much, I thank you for your guru-like answers and witty androgynous slime-thing, or something like that, comments. See ya.

Xerdo "A certain young king who shall remain nameless" Pw‘rko

Stom:
Androgynous slime-thing? Goog needs to hurry back.. I think these guys are slimyphiles.

Stom:
Actually, I can help you sort this out a great deal. Final Fantasy IX is actually not expected now til November, so you can keep that towards the end. RPG Maker.. is an RPG maker. You don't really play through it. You make your own games. That's not something you can beat by playing it for fourty hours. It's quite a different beast. Aso for Pokemon Gold and Silver, well, I'd say just play them at work, but a lot of events are time-based, and will require you to play at certain times of day. I still have this image of 2pm hitting an elementry school classroom and the entire class turning on their Game Boys simultaneously, and the teacher freaking out. You know it'll happen, and it'll make the news. In other words, you'll be playing it for awhile trying to do everything if you played it like most Pokémaniacs played the originals.

Now, as for Lunar 2, I highly recommend you enjoy this game very thoroughly. I played through Lunar and loved it, and played part of Lunar 2 at E3 and loved it. However, I refuse to play the demo that came with Vanguard Bandits simply because it would be torturous to have to wait that long just to finish. Your biggest problem will be the PlayStation 2. Albeit it is becoming obvious that the lineup of overall games will at first, well, SUCK, there are a few RPGs that are rather enticing. Dark Cloud, for one, might sound average, but I played a bit of at and it was awesome, and then I found out the version I played was only at twenty percent. I cannot wait to get my hands on that one. Also at launch is THQ's Summoner. It should be quite nice as well.

The one thing you seem to have forgotten, though, is that this is just now August, and there are quite a few more games that have been announced and haven't been announced for October. You forgot to throw Zelda: Majora's Mask and Ogre Battle 64 into the mix. Also, there might be a few other Game Boy RPGs in there too. It's hard to remember, and I'm not through updating the release lists. I've been too busy playing the RPGs that have already come out this summer.

(Whoa.. that was long..)

............................

Ah, well, they opened a new one on the other end of the mall.

-Rinoa the Resistance Fighter

Stom:
I just hope for their sake that they have ski ball. A lack of ski ball incurs the wrath of God herself!

Best Regards,
Dan Calderman
RPGamer.com
New Media Director
Lexcanium@rpgamer.com

Stom:
First, I apologize for what's about to happen. Danny-boy here knew all too well from our experience going to the Game Developers Conference together that I can talk all day about the systems wars. He knows I can because, well, I have, and he's endured it. Hey, it's kind of my job, and will hopefully be part of my job when I'm running a game company someday. I'll deal with each of the next-gen systems individually..

Sega Dreamcast, the system that I own and lo..like. It's got some very solid titles, but a lack of Japanese sales, future support, and promises of more hit titles will make this one very hard to stay afloat once the other systems are out. The internet deal seems inventive, but until most of North America has broadband, it's just not good enough. Going forward with it is almost a sign of desparation. This, however, has been rather obvious ever since the PS2's stats were announced well over a year ago, and even the successful North American launch won't be able to stop the inevitable. Sega is in over their heads.

Sony, the PlayStation 2, well, it's got all the same problems the Saturn had. It's hard to develop for and there's a huge company about to come in. Sony is nothing compared to Microsoft. It's true, it's true. The PS2 has yet to show any titles, save Metal Gear Solid 2 and the Final Fantasy games, that make the system any point of interest, and those are far from being released. Also, despite the power of the Emotion Engine, Dolphin and X-Box will both be able to match PS2, if not surpass it, in almost every area. Basically, unless a company can utilize the Emotion Engine to create games that are fresh, inventive, fun to play, AND impossible to make on the other systems, then Sony is in deep trouble. Luckily, it doubles as a DVD player, which explains the Japanese popularity, as other DVD players in Japan were nearly double the price, if not more, unlike the North American market.

Microsoft's X-Box. Watch out. Sure, the slimy one declares the evils of Microsoft, and it's also true that they are new. However, they're investing half a billion dollars in the launch alone. They've done their homework. I was in the room when Billy announced the system to the world in San Jose. Even with the Microsoft label, if the games are there, the gamers are there. Period. The only thing Microsoft doesn't have is franchises. No Marios, Pokémon, Sonics, Eccos, Crash Bandicoots.. they've bought a company or two that might develop some for them, but they don't have them yet, and as of right now any other company they bought that had a franchise would have to deal with the past games of that franchise being on other systems.

Nintendo's Dolphin. I won't hide it, as if I could try. I'm a Nintendo nut. They have both the franchises and the ability to make not only games, but some of the most original creations in gaming history. All Nintendo needs is a solid system and I assure you that everyone is rushing back. There's too much money to be made not to. Nintendo sells. Despite everything that's happened, Nintendo has the ability to sell systems and games. However, Nintendo isn't always that ruthless, which could be a problem with both Sony and Microsoft in the waters. I'm sure that Nintendo has a few Aces up its sleeve waiting for Spaceworld. (By the way, we will have a represenative there, so watch for some very nice coverage in late August.)

As RPGs go, who knows? Most companies who seemed to be commited to PS2 are already shifting attention to another platform if not multiple platforms. There's one thing that's for sure, we're going to get some good games out of this. They'll have to put up their best to draw us in. Well, I think that's long enough. Goog should have quite a migrane reading the responses to this one. =D

If you had something which was nothing would you end up having something or nothing at all?

-Hecubus

When is Chrono Cross coming out in America?
~darkridr

I tried so hard to write something interesting
Yakage "Quick! put your clothes on!" Mushima

You have the reflexes of a drunk yak!
Zeira

They always told me I was a slow learner, but I eat fast.

The Last Laugh: