Well, it's the end of another hectic week in the academic world. Quarterly grades have come out and I'm safe from my mother's guillotine once again. Yes, that means I'll still be around to torture you or humor you, depending on the perspective you have.

While Brad is bumping elbows with the Japanese and riding smokeless camels in Egypt (all while wearing the exact same set of clothes every day. Hope he has a hefty supply of Right Guard...) I'm back in the U.S.A, living it up and enjoying the fact that I've never been outside of the country once to the fullest. Yeah, it's absolutely wonderful... < /sarcasm >

Hey, and in the spirit of Halloween..(okay, bad spirit and bad example...) I need you guys to do me a favor. Our very own Ryan Amos needs help with a project he's doing for school. If you could, please take time to fill out this quick survey. It deals with high school students and internet usage. He, and I, would really appreciate it. ^_^

Speaking of Halloween, because it's a holiday semi-recognized by the country I'm holding a contest that has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween. Appropriate, no?

That's right. Triple Triad. Entrants must design two Triple Triad cards of Brad and myself. Any medium or style is permitted, and creativity is a definate plus!
Judging will be based on quality, originality, and creativity.
All entries are due by November 4th. The winner will be announced on Saturday's Q & A, and will have a guest spot on the following Saturday's column. (November 13th.)
If you need reference pictures, here is a collage of all of my scanned photographs.
Oh yeah, and here are two of that other guy... ^_^ 1 - 2

Good luck, godspeed, and on to Q & A mayhem.

Yours Truly,
Chris Maguire,
The Dancing Blind Man With An Assualt Rifle.

Veronica:
Now, I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say that you've probably been a long time Sega supporter. That's fine. However, in all of your consideration of this question, did you really think?

Sega has greatly suffered under the glory of the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 for a very long time now, with the PlayStation being the true dominator. It's library of RPGs and wide developer support put the Saturn to shame, as did its technology. Thus Sony remained in the spotlight, and is still there.

You are right that the Dreamcast is fierce competition for the PlayStation. It has cleaned the dark stigma off of Sega's name considerably. Its RPGs can give the PlayStation a run for its money. However, the PlayStation 2 can give the Dreamcast a run for its money much more easily.

Sony has offered so much over Sega in terms of a quality gaming library and third-party support for the past few years that they have a wide market of supporters, many more than Sega ever had. (The 32x fiasco wasn't exactly a great help, either.) With the announcement of the PlayStation 2, Sony supporters have much to look forward to because of Sony's good reputation. It's true that not many RPGs have been announced for the Playstation 2, but the release of the system is still a ways off. Patience is a virtue that we'll have to live by.

You know, I didn't know you had access to a PlayStation 2, or anyone did for that matter. If you don't, you certainly must be God to know whether a game is good or bad without even playing 5 minutes of it. :)

1. You find yourself crouched ontop of your desk, during a boss battle, screaming at your television, "Lion Heart, goddammit! LION HEART!"

2. When Squall fails to pull off the Lionheart, you incessantly call him impotent for the next five minutes.

3. Your room looks like a disaster area because you were at 249 boosting, and hit it during the red X.

4. You join FMV's Anonynomous.

5. You end your sentences with "...ya know?"

6. Your friends respond by smacking you and screaming one word answers.

7.You find yourself chanting, "Renzokuken... Renzokuken" when Squall reaches limit.

8. You've perfected a little "Lion Heart celebration" dance.

9. You still ponder why Esthar just let you have the Ragnarok.

10. The Queen of Cards runs when she sees you whip out your deck.

11. You scream and bitch "Why doesn't he just pull out his Gunblade and take the damn thing!?" when you lose a card game (and subsequently your Squall card.)

12. Eden does so much damage that the game crashes.

13. You have real estate on The Island Closest to Hell.

14. The game erases the "Game Over" screen to make room for more saved games.

15. Squall falls over giggling when Seifer shows up.

16. Selfie falls over giggling when Seifer shows up.

17. Instead of "New Game" and "Continue", the choices are, "Haven't you Played Enough?" and "Please Shoot Me."

18. You manipulate code to defeat monsters.

19. The Attack command is replaced with the Win command.

20. When Final Fantasy 9 comes out, you're already on level 90.

Veronica:
Can you believe I'm guilty of # 1, 5, 6, and 7?

To see another RPG on yet another console: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. You all hath disgraced us, and cost Nintendo half a million; laughed at our losses against Tamagotchis, mocked at our titles on the Game Boy Color and N64, scorned our home, PokŽmon Island, thwarted our licensing deals, cooled our trainers, heated our enemies at Sony; and what's your reason? I am a PokŽmon. Hath not a PokŽmon experience points? hath not a PokŽmon maximum HP, agility, sprite dimensions, plot development, party micromanagement, turn-based battle-system? fed with the PokŽmon food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same potions and medicines, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a SeeD is? If you prick us, do we not pixelate? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not faint after several turns in battle? and if you wrong us, shall we not turn against you, regardless of your badges? If we are like other RPG characters in the rest, we will resemble them in that. If a PokŽmon wrongs a Gebler, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Mysidian casts Comet a PokŽmon, what should his sufferance be by Squaresoft's example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach us, we will execute (PokŽmon...Use your Meteo attack!...Go!), and it shall go harder than a Geodude in the deepest levels of Mount Moon.

Submitted by Cutriss@null.net

Veronica:
You know... if you can understand all of the Old English within the letter (hey, if it hurts too much to read, don't. I understand. ^_^) Mr. Pokémon has a very good point. It's true that the franchise may be a bit overplayed, but Pokémon is just like the Final Fantasy series, except your Illumina sword is replaced by the Ice Beam attack. Well said, Mr. Pokémon...
Now get back in the ball or no Full Restore for you!

Veronica:
Sorry, you missed your "Window" of opportunity.