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Ask JD |
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FF 8 Commercials Air |
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Ask
JD - Tuesday | September 7 '99 - 4:30 pm EST
My burger is burning!
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Multiple |
Ok, ok, I've seen that mostly people give you multiple
questions to answer, so I guess I'll go with the "in" crowd this
time...
1. What do you think of spoilers, you know, movies or things to
read that would spoil a game, cause I try and do anything to avoid
them.
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JD:
Spoilers suck.
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2. What do you think makes a game an RPG?
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If it says RPG genre on the sticker.
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3. I haven't met with much hype about FF8 except on
the internet, does this mean people aren't as excited about FF8
as they were about FF7?
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Your right, there isn't the hype surrounding FF8 that FF7 had.
Why? Well FF7's graphics were revolutionary, jaw dropping even.
And people expected it to be like FF 4/6 gameplay wise...Obviously
something happened on the way, the evolution of the Final Fantasy
series. People are expecting FF8 to be more in the line as FF7,
less gameplay/ more robust storyline. While I personally like this
many don't. While the hype certainly isn't here for FF8, most will
still get FF8...in the end FF8 looks to be the biggest RPG seller
regardless of what the nay sayers say or do. I'm excited, that's
all that counts doesn't it?
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4. What do you think will win the great video game
battle of 9/9/99?
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Gamewise on 9/9/99 probably FF8.
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5. If FF8 beats Dreamcast, is this the end of the
legend of sega?
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I don't know where this question is headed, games of FF calibur
usually sell more than systems at least for a long period of time.
Dreamcast will have an incredible start, the question is how long
will it last. Sega is far from its demise, the Dreamcast preorders
prove that.
Comparing game and system sales is apples and oranges. Hmm Mario
sold more than PSX consoles in so and so given time, is the end
of Sony? Another thought provoking analogy brought to you folks
from blamo.
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6. Who died and made you boss? Thanks for listening
to my random thoughts....
-SephirothBasher (Soon to be renamed EdeaBasher)
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Uhm, Fate?
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Caribbean
dude |
Greetings, JD.
I've been keeping track of RPGamer for some time now, and I humbly
think that all the changes you've made are for the better, as all
the info and the format of the site is more rich in all aspects.
Just a compliment for keeping up the good work. =)
Well, here's my situation. I've liked RPGs since my childhood, my
first RPGs were FF I, DW I and Zelda I and II. Since then I've tried
to define the concept of RPG, and as I see it, I somehow relate
RPGs with Adventure/Exploring, with at the same time a story told,
where, as the name implies, you fulfill a role in it. There could
be a few different cattegories for battling, such as real time battling
(Secret of Mana, Zelda), or turn-based (FF series, Lufia series,
BoF series, among others). I guess that's the "essence" that any
RPG should have to fit in the game genre. As for the storyline,
it also has different molds, but right now, IMHO, these are the
most typical: an epic adventure of swords, castles, dungeons and
wizardry; a futuristic approach with a mix of weaponry and magic;
and the fulfillment of the search for something that comes from
the main characters (their past, their "role" in their world, and
so on). Again, these aren't the only ones, but are the most commonly
found in the games released up to date. (and probably look at this
as a humble contribution to try to establish a concrete definition
on RPGs...)
Now, down to bussiness. According to what I read in your last column,
you want the emails to be focused on the latest that's happening
in the RPGworld, namely FF8 and -in the videogaming world- the Dreamcast,
(I guess I could drop in also FFA)... So, here are my questions:
1- I live outside the US (specifically, in the Caribbean, more specifically,
in the Dominican Republic). FF8 is supposed to be released the 8th.
Does that mean that the same 8th it'll reach the international market
in the Americas?
2- Is there a good and justified reason for FF IV -not- to be released
in the American FFA? In case it would have been the dreaded Porno
Book in the secret Programmers room, I think that reason is not
good enough (it could have been simply left out). Bad translation?
We're all learning, and I think that no RPG has a flawless English
translation (unless of course, the game was originally produced
in English). And as for me, FF IV is one of (not -the-) greatest
game I've played up to date (the music is my 10 in this game). So,
anyway, if there's a good reason that would solve that somehow strange
"mystery", if possible, I'd like to hear it.
3- As for the Dreamcast, I guess my inquiries concerning it have
been answered so far, so no questions about it.
4- Here's a rather interesting question: what's your approach on
games Strategy Guides? I for one don't look at them as spoilers,
bur rather, as their name state, as guides that help you take the
"correct" paths and do the "right" things in the game. I know for
some people this is an unacceptable approach (NOOOO! These things
will spoil the game for me!), but there are a few of us (but mostly,
I'm speaking for myself), that because of other chores one has to
do during the day, such as the studies, the job, etc., one has too
little spare time to be walking aimlessly and abroad in such big
worlds like the ones in RPGs, so I use them as mere tools that in
a point that I'm stuck, or don't know what to do, simply look for
the solution and the next step to take in it. I know that half of
the fun of an RPG is exploration, but unfortunately, some of us
can't explore and explore and explore without a time limit (I guess
it would come in handy a Time materia orb or to learn the Time Mage
abilities on situations like that. =) So, that's my approach, I'd
like to know what's yours.
Thank you for taking your time to read this letter. I hope it's
posted, as I think the answers would illuminate many of us RPGamers.
Till next time.
Yours truly,
-Francis Alma
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JD:
Thanks for the props, here at RPGamer we strive for excellence and
all that stuff.
1. Probably not, the date more or less is for the North American
market, at least as far as I know.
2. Not really, Square's excuse is quite dumb. This might be pondered
on for the coming centuries.
3. Gee, one less question to answer is never a good thing.
4. This can be summed up in one comment. I don't buy them or look
at them, with the exception of FF7. I got it just for the purpose
of having it.
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FF
8 Commercials Impressions |
D,
Commercial. FF8. MTV. Today. TRL. Wonderful. Translated this means:
The commercial for FF8 aired today during the TRL end of Summer
Countdown. It was so cool. It had Liberi Fatali playing in the background
while showing clips from movies with Squall and Rinoa and everyone
else. There was also a person takling in the background talking.
Once he's done talking, the clips fade to the FF8 logo. It took
awhile but the commercial came and it's better than FF7's. Next
time it comes on, I'm recording it.
-Travis
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JD:
I liked FF7's commercial more.
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Hey JD!!!!!
I was just watching The Real World hoping to see the new FF8 commercial
(Man is that show dumb!!!!) and, I saw it!!! The new FF8 commercial
is now on the air!! And I'll tell you this, even the commercial's
awesome!!! The game is gonna be way cooler!!!
-Dan
Please post this letter, I finally got some hot information and
this is just once in a lifetime. (Man does Ruthie like to drink!!!!!)
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JD:
Poor poor, ruthie!
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Hail JD
the Almighty, Today I saw the FF8 comercial for the first time
(on MTV no less). The commercial was great but there was one thing
that bothered me, they said FF8 was a Action-Adventure Epic. Why
is that are Action-Adventure epics the same as RPG's or is Square
just trying to line their pockets some more by staying away from
calling FF8 a RPG in the mainstream?
-Natron the not so Almighty
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JD:
It's all about marketing isn't it, and getting to that all elusive
mainstream niche? I saw the commercial twice thus far. My thoughts
of it are somewhat mixed, I have to say. The visuals (ALL FMV CGs)
were incredible to say the least and make FF7's look pale in comparison.
The music well you really can't go wrong using the Liberi music
as the background accompaniment...While the music was good I didn't
feel it had the same power of the FF7 commercial music, which seemed
more of a sense of urgency/dramaticism. My main nitpick however
is the voice of the narrator, can you say yawn? FF7's was delivered
by that famed Movie commercial voice person, whose name escapes
me at the moment. I just felt the commercial as a whole didn't deliver
the high drama FF7's did. The commercial certainly won't change
my mind regarding purchasing FF8. I'll be first in line tomorrow
to pick up my copy. Perhaps you'll see me there. I'll be the blonde
dude, wearing shades and a brown trench coat, so I can somehow escape
the hoarding fans.
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FF8
wont suck |
Greetings Jeffrey Dahmer,
I've read quite a bit of letters, message board messages, etc.
. .stating that FF8 is going to suck because it has flashy graphics
and won't match FF6, like the way FF7 supposively didn't. Well,
let's suppose for a minute that these people are right, and that
FF8 isn't as good as FF6, even though the majority of them haven't
even played it. Let's assume that FF6 is the better game.
. . .so? Why does it have to be better? Granted, Squaresoft should
try to surpass each game in succession, but they are only human
(unless what I've heard is true. . .), and if what they come out
with doesn't strike someone as better, too bad. It shouldn't matter
if a game is better than another, as long as the game itself is
good. We don't put non-related rpg's on such a pedestal, (ex: not
bothering to play Lunar because someone doesn't think it's as good
as Chrono Trigger), so why do it with FF games? Well, I had better
quit before the great JD decides to make a snack of my leg. . .
-Watcher
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JD:
Good thinking.
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Something
about Debating |
Hey John Donne
It now seems that Square and FMV will be inseperable, at least
in the Final Fantasy series. But even with the awesome and realistic-looking
FMV, I think something's still missing. Even though I'm sure entire
hordes of people would disagree with me, I think sometime in the
future they should try actual voice acting in FF. I mean, back in
the day before all this fancy-shmancy FMV, no one expected to hear
the 2d sprites talk, even in the automatic sequences of the game.
They still had the dialogue boxes. But now with FMV, it looks kinda
cheap. Like in the ending of FF7 (no, this is not a spoiler!) It
shows the character's lips move, and a little subtitle at the bottom
of the screen tells what they're saying. But there's no sound. It
looks cheap. FFVII for the hearing impaired. I've snuck a peek at
some of the FMV from FF8, and places where you would at least expect
a gasp, a sigh, or a scream, rather than any dialogue in the fmv,
it's still just silence. Now I don't think I'd want voice acting
throughout the entire game. That'd get irritating. Ideally, it should
be done like Lunar, where they only speak at key moments, usually
preceding cutscenes. And voice acting is pretty good, if not done
totally incompetently (a la Resident Evil 1). The only problem would
be synching the voice to the lip movements. But I think that with
the new systems that can render in real time, they actually can
match the lips with actual spoken dialogue (at least that's what
it looked like on that Japanese version of Soul Caliber I played
at the mall). So while I wouldn't expect Square to do anything like
that for a psx game, it might be pretty cool in a PSX2 game. I'm
sure we could trust them not to screw it up. I mean, look at some
of the voice talent they got lined up for the Final Fantasy Movie.
I don't think they could go wrong (unless they did something stupid
like make the FF movie into an actual game. That never seems to
work well. Almost as bad as making a movie based on a video game.
Street Fighter, anyone?) Anyway, sorry for the long letter. It's
such a long read that I won't bother threatening you with bodily
harm if you don't post it. Thanks for your time
-Dias Diem
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JD:
More food for thought.
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No
Adoption |
Well,well, my letter sure did bring comments! See, I told you I
really am 32, and really do come to this site. I am glad you printed
my letter. I would like to add some comments, first, yes, us OLD
folks do buy the games for the kids. No, they don't have to work
it off. We play with the kids during the day, then at 9:00, we stay
up till the WEE hours and play. To the 14 year old boy who wanted
me to adopt him: Sorry, but we have 3, and that's fine for me..You
know, I should write in this column, too. What about it JD, I could
open up the OLDFOLKS FORUM.
-Julie
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JD:
Hmm, would you have any openings to adopt a cool Q&A personality?
This would mean free rpgs for me right?
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Pikachu
Electric Shock |
Hey Jd!
In response to jarrod's quicky on Sunday, yes it was
Pokemon where the seizure incident happened, but they fixed that
here in the U.S. by slowing down all the scenes where any quick
flashing occurs. That's why Pikachu's electric shock scenes are
all strangely slow-motion.
-Sage
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JD:
Yeah I noticed the slow frame rate...
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One
Winged Angel Remix by Alpha |
"Very, very, horney sluts! Glory to sex! Very, very,
horny sluts! Glory to sex! Very, very, horny sluts! Glory to sex!
Very, very, horny sluts! Glory to sex! Sexyroth! Sexyroth! We are
Pinkinese, we got nailed at 17! Sexyroth! Sexyroth!"
-Alpha =D
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JD:
I can charge some of you readers for being idiotic at times (ok all the time :D), but
never for such inspired creativity. Can I? Alpha of course you do
know, if Square decides to use your remixed song for OWA for a future
game/album, I'll be taking 70% of the money. :)
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Enix
Nut |
I've decided to send a letter each day with the sole
purpose of promoting Enix and their godliness.
So, here goes: ENIX ROCKS! In future episodes of this
letter, I will give my many reasons as to why they rock so much.
Stay tuned!
-Josh a.k.a. Terry (you bastard)
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JD:
You Enix nut you.
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Hot
Dog boy returns |
Hehe.. nice update today! ;P Was the BBQ good? Really? Any hot
dogs there? Ate any? Good! Don't you feel better about yourself
now? Told you you would! Hey, are you planning on purchasing a Dreamcast
on 9.9? I'm just curious.. I have some retarded friends that are
frickin' teasing me by mailing me from their Dreamcasts!! Grr! Hehe...
Anyhow, laters, take care! See ya around!
-Dhenji
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JD:
Hot dog boy returns! Actually I did have a hotdog. As for Dreamcast,
that's a positive. Dreamcast/FF8 all this week, My oh my!
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Quickies - Buy a Dreamcast (subliminal message) |
Hey, JD, dude, That Bernie Stolar poem was frickin' funny! I laughed
my frickin' head off! Please print this frickin' letter!
-Xagam
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Ok, here
is your freakin letter printed. So stop freakin saying freakin. |
Why is the Dreamcast a spiral logo? IT'S HYPNOTISM!
-Sir Sanjiyan
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Right-o. |
Hey JD, Do you realize that Bernie Stolar's initials are "BS"? Just thought
I'd point that interesting little fact out.
-Chad
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Why is it
so easy to bash Stolar, even though I applaud some of his actions...Must
stop making fun of Stolar.... |
JD. Your Stolar update yesterday was genius. Now for a question. When
is Thousand Arms' release date.
-Lan
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I've been
called many things before and yes genius is one of them. :D
September 15 supposedly. |
JD, I just wanted to say that JB's opinion on FMV's and artistic development
was one of the most mature things ever written in this column.
-Quickbeam
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Yeah, I
print some thought provoking stuff. Hail me. |
Who the hell is Christina Aguirlera?! An actress? Singer?
-Jim
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Singer,
her new album/single is like on the top of the charts or something. |
JD, I have a new nick name for ya. PRIMETIME!
-Rick
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Me, Prime
Time? Isn't that Deione Sanders? You know what they say, like fine wine
you can't rush Prime Time. |
I've recently been having a cold spell for intros and conclusions
...With nice anecdotal tidbits like the LOG told me. I will
not bother you with all with trite excuses today. How about, FF8's release
has made me so excited that words are escaping me? Yeah that's right.
That's the ticket. Cya all tomorrow, hopefully with my copy of FF8 at hand.
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Jeff "FF8/Dreamcast is upon us -
so is something else" Davis
FF8 will be in da HOWSE.
Don't bother correcting my ebonics or I shall hit you with a LOG.
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