Aegis:
Hey hey hey. First off, shame on you for avoiding RPGuides. It may not be as well-known and illustrious a section as this, but it's still cool... it is... it really is...

Well, after a good five minutes of weeping in the corner, I'll start on your first question. As far as RPGs go, Lunar 2 and Valkyrie Profile are both great starting choices. They're both still on my to-play list, so I can't personally comment on either, but I'm shooting for VP first. As far as other recent RPGs go (and I'm assuming PlayStation only), Breath of Fire IV was supposed to be pretty good, Enix's Torneko: the Last Hope I've heard is a quirky yet cool game, you could check out Natsume's Harvest Moon: Back to Nature if you want some farming action, and dependent on how far back you mean by "recent," Chrono Cross, Legend of Mana, and Vanguard Bandits are some pretty cool games if you haven't gotten to them yet. If none of those sound like your kinda thing, check our release list for past PSX games to help you decide.

Yeah, as far as your broken PSX goes, Sony really makes crappy hardware. You've heard Goog complain about it, and now you'll hear me complain about it. I bought a 7001 model, which was the first version of the system that came with the Dual Shock, back when it first came out in 1998 or so. The CD drive started literally falling apart last year, and things have just been going downhill since.

As far as the PS2 being a good choice to get... I'm personally not too hot on it, but it really depends on your taste in games, etc. However, either way, I would personally wait on it for a bit, at least until after E3 this May. You see, most people can only afford one of the three big-time next-gen systems, so I'd advise you to wait and see just what Nintendo and Microsoft have up their consecutive sleeves before you plunk down your cash on a new system. Plus, the longer you wait, the better the chance of a price drop!

Aegis:
First off, just to clarify for everyone: PSO ships today (January 30), but it most probably won't be in stores til tomorrow. With that said, good choice in wanting to become a hunter. After trying out all the types on the import, that's what I stuck with. I'll tell you first off, don't use the HUcast. Androids can't use magic/techniques, and from my personal standpoint, you want them. I wouldn't want to go through the game without a healing spell... then again, that's more of a moot issue if you play online with people, but still. Considering that, I'd recommend to you what I chose myself: HUmar. The human hunters are stronger than the HUnewearl, but they can still use some magic.

Truthfully, I haven't really played any of the DW/DQ games. I bought a used copy of the original Dragon Warrior last semester at Babbages for $4, but I've yet to really play it. I do have quite a bit of respect for the series, though, and I'd love to see it come back to its feet in North America.

Aegis:
I'll let the next letter answer the majority of your first question, cause it's right on subject. However, as far as Square releasing the PlayStation versions of Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger here in North America, that's not for certain yet. As our news guys (who kick major rear, by the way) covered back in December, there's a good chance of the remakes coming out here, but Square has not made any official announcements yet as far as I know.

Aegis:
Okay, here's the background info: At a business conference on January 22, Square had implied plans to rerelease Final Fantasy games IV, V, and VI (4, 5, and 6 for you non-Romans) on Nintendo's upcoming Game Boy Advance.

However, hopes of the many were crushed earlier today by an interview with Nintendo's president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who stated "We do not have a contract with Square, and do not plan to even consider a contract in the future." He may not be president of the Big N for too much longer, but while he is, he's not gonna help RPGamers see a Final Fantasy on the GBA.

Aegis:
This is why I believe in fate, folks, because of all sorts of creepy coincidences. As far as you scaring the "hell" out of me, no, you didn't really, but it was a really weird coincidence that I had actually met your ex on a campus of about 16,000. As far as me dating her, nope, that never happened... but one of my ex-roommates was seeing her for a bit last year, so go figure, eh?

Actually, while I'm from Missouri, I don't live in St. Louis or its "Greater Area." I live about an hour east of Springfield, where I go to college, and I went to the horribly small yet not-really-that-bad Bradleyville High School.

I just now realized that this didn't have to do anything with RPGs, and I could have just as easily replied to you by mail, but I'm not going to delete this after already writing it, and plus, you're a regular. I guess hindsight really is 20/20, like they say. For all you other readers, you can view this as a very toned down wacky reunion like you might see on Springer or something... just minus most of the guests. So enjoy and don't cry. Please.

Aegis:
Hoorah for you. I love my Dreamcast, and the Smash Pack disc, which will be included in a special DC hardware package, contains Phantasy Star 2, Shining Force, Streets of Rage 2, and a lot of other cool Genesis games and more. The disc hasn't been announced for individual sale yet, but I imagine it will be in a matter of time.

As far as Samba de Amigo being comparable to Bust-a-Groove, I haven't played BaG so I can't really make a good comment. I can, however, say that if you like music games at all, you're almost guaranteed to love Samba. I've played Parappa and Space Channel 5, and I love them both, but Samba is my god. It's most definitely worth getting if you ask me... for a bit more info, go read my mini-review that I put up in a past RPGuides (Info Station at the time) update.

The game is certainly playable and enjoyable without the maracas, but the maracas really do make the game just that much better. However, to those who haven't purchased the game yet and would like to, I might recommend that you wait until the next version of the game, Samba de Amigo 2001 as it will be called in North America, is released this spring. It has a new mode, all the original songs and more, and all you lose from the first game is a set of mini-games. Plus, word on the grapevine is that Sega will release more maracas at a friendlier price than $80 a set, so keep your hopes up.

Aegis:
I must say I haven't kept up much on the whole Suikoden III situation, however I can tell you with all certainty that it won't come to Dreamcast. I'm sure all of you have heard the rumors/news lately, and software support for the Dreamcast is going to dwindle as the year goes on, most especially third-party support. Things may change if some sort of miraculous Xbox/Dreamcast compatibility announcement is made, but even that wouldn't convince Konami to bring out a Suikoden on the DC.

As far as the GameCube goes, its just too early to tell, considering that Nintendo hasn't even announced their own games yet, but I would really doubt seeing Suikoden III on the GC. Suikoden IV, maybe, if the Cube does well enough, but only time will tell.

Honestly, if it goes anywhere other than the PS2, it would be the Xbox, as much as it probably upsets you to accept that. The Big M is putting 500 million smackeroos behind advertising the system's launch this fall, and for that and many other substantial reasons, I see the Xbox doing pretty well. Then again, though, noone can predict the future, and I may very well be proven wrong.

Aegis:
Greetings oh one that is called Barry. As I told you in person, nice little arrangement of questions. Now, on with the answering.

1) I'm wit'chu. No, I mean it. I'm wit'chu. In saying that, of course, I'm saying that I'm also partial to Cecil. I usually get attached to the "hero," for some reason or another. I'm sure there's some deep psychological methodology behind that, but let's ignore it and move on.

2) Favorite piece of video game music, eh? Oh, gosh, I'm gonna give you a few, cause I really can't decide. The tower theme from the original Phantasy Star, "One Winged Angel" from FF7, the Legend of Zelda theme, the FF4 boss battle theme, and many more that I have to be forgetting fall under my "all-time favorites" category.

3) Yep, that's where I go... SMSU: the college of champions... riiiight. Seriously, though, I do like SMS a lot. I'm here, living every young boy's dream: majoring in computer science, on my way to becoming a video game programmer. The only bad part about the major is the fact that you have to minor in math and nearly minor in physics (only 2 credit hours away from the physics minor), so there's a lot of math and, uh, physics involved... at least I'm almost done with the math; only one more math class and I'm done forever!

Okay, you wanna hear about the shirt, eh? After flying to LA for E3 last year, getting lost at the monstrous LAX airport, and taking a 60 dollar taxi to our hotel, I finally end up meeting many of the RPGamer staff for the first time. As it happened, I was wearing a bright orange and blue, flamboyantly Hawaiian tourist-esque shirt, and I've never heard the end of it.

The BlasTech DL-44 heavy Blaster Pistol is, for those who don't know, the weapon of choice of one Han Solo.

--scifantasy "RTF*."

<insert pointless yet funny quickie here>

Hey, check out this cool site - I discovered it by accident, but wow are the comics funny! http://www.fuzzyfur.net/DSOS/adv/index.shtml

Rock on,
JK

I've played the GBA. For three days. Jealous yet? O:>

Mikel Tidwell, Resident Dragon and Overlord of RPGamer

The Last Laugh: