TravisPennington

Final Fantasy Tactics is an awesome game. I wouldn't even call the ability to achieve max level and master every job class at the beginning of the game an exploit, either. Just because you can do it does not mean that you have to. Try going through the game without leveling up at all. It's a real challenge. Beating the Galgorand Execution Site at Level 15 as a Squire is very hard, for instance. What's great about Tactics is that you level up and advance your classes so that you can conquer the story battles of the game. The monsters themselves however, level up along with you. There are obvious ways to make the game "easier", and I tend to take that path nearly every time I play the game for some reason. The beginning of the game, I buy some phoenix downs and head in to sweegy woods. A phoenix down will kill the undead there. Kill everything then just leave one goblin. Accumulate over, and over, and over, and over, and over. Use potions. Heal up. Rinse repeat. It's still difficult for some classes because you cannot access a large portion of the equipment for that class at that part in the game. You cannot obtain Katana for Samurai, for instances, even at Level 99, if you haven't passed a certain part of the game. You can remedy that by putting a "Use Swords" support or ability or something, but then you lose Gained JP Up and it's going to take you twice as long to level up. It isn't that easy, and it still takes a great deal of time to do it. What do you expect? It's an RPG at heart. In Fallout 2 you can go and get Power Armor at the beginning of the game with a bit of luck outdoors. From then on the majority of the game is a breeze. Does that make it a bad game? No. All the bugs and crappy towns like NCR do. (Sorry F2 guys! A lot of it was great! ). FFTactics really is one of the best games out there. It's pure fun, through and through. As for FFXII...I'm off to pick that up tomorrow. It looks great.

Bad PR doesn't mean a bad console. The PS3 is expensive, but all in all I would still like to have one. I don't know why you feel the need to question the decisions of others. My purchase of a PS3, for whatever reason, doesn't really affect you lol. How did this go from discussing the Wii to PS3 bashing so fast? :/ I think I'm contributing to the neverending argument and debate, so I'll try to shift the direction back to the Wii. Anyone know the date for Super Mario Galaxy? I saw a video of it and it looks like it'd be a lot of fun to play. I know it's not a launch title but is there a definitive release date for it yet?

$250 is a bit more expensive than I was hoping for, but it's still a very reasonable price. I'll be going after a PS3 first and foremost, but I do have plans to pickup a Wii as well. The launch date, I think, will both hurt and help Nintendo. I think Sony will probably steal a lot of their thunder with pre-launch ads and what not, but as someone else here already stated...you go to the store to get a PS3 and there aren't any in due to a limited amount of systems available at launch, you might see the new Nintendo and think, "Hey, Nintendo I remember these guys. The SNES was great. Only $250...screw it, I'll buy that then." ;P Still though, I was really expecting a price tag no greater than $200. Ah well.

This doesn't really affect me all that much as I live in the US, and the US is getting more consoles at launch (400,000) than we did with the 360 at launch. The majority of people I've talked to said they were going to wait to buy a PS3 anyways so I don't see how a March 07 release in Europe is a big deal. I don't know why people in the US care about whether or not the rest of the world gets a PS3 this year or not either. If you worked in the games industry and it put a hole in some of your plans I might understand someone in the US getting worked up over it. In other other instances though, I would personally call it trolling. If you can't get a PS3, there are other console options. Pickup a Wii, or the 360, or both. Get a PS3 later on. What's the big deal? Production issues happen. It sucks for Sony, but again it doesn't really affect me in any way. I feel sorry for all of those Europeans who wanted to get a PS3 this year, and rest assured that you will have my sympathy when I'm playing my PS3 in November. And hey, you Euros can still get a PS3, technically. Remember that it's Region free, so you can try and import it. Good luck. You'll need it. *Waits for November*

I think the downgraded version would be too difficult for you to understand <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The downgraded version is just the good version without the memory card reader, wi-fi, a 20 GB hard drive instead of a 60, and no HDMI interface. In other words, no point in getting it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Of course there's a point in getting it. You don't need HDMI if you don't have an HDTV with HDMI cable connectivity (which most HDTV owners do not have). You don't need WiFi connectivity if you don't have wireless internet. You don't need the memory card slots if you don't want to upload pictures to your PS3 (it's that type of memory card, not the type consoles typically use, I'm pretty sure). You also don't need a harddrive bigger than 20 gigs on a console if all you really want to do is play games and watch movies. Personally I'm getting the $599 PS3, but the $499 version is still a viable alternative. It still contains a harddrive, wireless controllers, online connectivity, and the ability to watch Blu-Ray movies. As for the interface, yeah it does look nice. Apparently the PS3 will be running Linux as an OS, so the ability to browse the Internet and whatnot is absolutely possible. Can't wait for November. (w00t)

Chris... ROFLMAO! That was an awesome read.

"Please play through Ninja Gaiden's first level on Normal Difficulty and then return here to tell me of "button mashing"." lol, you rule Josh. I'm really excited about this. I've been wanting a new *good* Gauntlet game since I played Gauntlet 2 on the NES. For some reason, I did actually enjoy Gauntlet Legends on the 64. The game wasn't very good, but a friend and I would sit there and play it for hours. So far it sounds pretty killer. I for one can't wait.

I'd love to work at Obsidian Entertainment, inXile Entertainment, Neversoft, and judging from the games beta (which is getting better and better), *definitely* ArenaNet. I checked out the new area they added this Beta Weekend, and I can't help but appreciate all the little details they put in to every little corner. Really though, pretty much anywhere lol, just to get my foot in the door.

He said memory not hard drive space. A gig is more than enough for any game. Even 512 is sufficient providing you have a decent processor and graphics card. But then again I'm of the opinion you could never have enough RAM. If you have the money to stick another gig of ram in there, go for it.

Hm, I've never really gone that in-depth with Pen and Paper RPGs. Never really used props of any sort. Character sheets, books, a game master, a minimum of 3 players, some dice and an imagination is pretty much all I've played with. Not that I wouldn't be willing to do any of that. I just haven't found a group of people willing enough to be that dorky.

AD&D 1'st, 2'nd, and 3'rd Editions. Although I haven't really played for a couple years. I also thoroughly enjoyed Vampire: The Dark Ages. Really the only one of White Wolf Studios' RPGs that I liked, although Werewolf seemed cool. I just didn't dig the Masquerade...I guess I don't enjoy modern day RPG's when it comes to pen and paper. I like stuff that takes place in old times with swords and armor, etc. Although I'd probably play a Fallout pen and paper RPG if it used SPECIAL and was done right (ie. if the entire original Fallout 1 / 2 crew got together and came up with it. Fat chance but one can hope).

Right now I'm just playing in the Guild Wars Beta Weekends as they come up. I was playing Resident Evil 4 up until about a day ago, though.

ysezs mod like it yes is no yo Seriously though... ...come again? No offense, but I absolutely cannot decipher whatever encryption methods you were using in your post. Make it more legible and you might get an answer to your question.

English is a good start. Seriously though, it depends on what you want to do. It sounds like Math is an area you're strong in, so keep working with C++ a bit, maybe you'll make a good programmer someday. 3D Studio Max and Maya are great tools for 3d Modeling, Photoshop is great for texturing, and since it's the most available and popular editor available for the modding communities (to my knowledge), check out Q3Radiant. Practice level design. *shrug* Maybe someone who knows more than I (admittedly, not much atm ) will stop by and give you a more detailed list of things you could learn that will benefit ya.

Well I took two loans, one had to be in my name, which is 12% interest. Another is in my mothers name which I co-signed, that way it's only a 4% interest rate. The bigger loan is the higher one. The one I co-signed on would only give me so much cash. Once the four years are up we can do some consolidation and whatnot, but it's still going to rip me a new one. And to me, getting my degree isn't just to help me get into a career that I want to, it's a personal challenge...that and everyone I know has really given me a lot more respect since I started going to college. If you look at it in terms of "I still have over 3 years left", you kind of lose motivation. That's why I just take it one quarter at a time. One things for sure though, College Math sucks

I'll get it if it's good (renting first), but I don't have high hopes really. I was very dissapointed in Pandemics last batch of games, such as Battlefront. If the gameplay seems like it will stay solid and fun, and not become stale in a month, then I'll pick it up. Pandemics games just don't have the replayability as other ones do. They're a blast at first, but after a few weeks they're just boring and not fun at all. Maybe this game will be different.

I'm pretty sure they'll make another sequel to Jedi Knight. I know that Raven right now are working on X-Men Legends 2 and Quake IV, but I remember reading somewhere that they always work as 3 Teams, and 3 Projects. Then again, maybe they cut that down. Who knows. I'd want the next JK sequel to be more true to Dark Forces 2's fast-paced multiplayer, but that's not going to happen. Jedi Knight at Force Level 8 was some of the fastest and most intense gameplay I've ever encountered (yes, it was faster than UT2k4. Your guy moved like 500000 MPH, it was awesome). The Singleplayer in the Jedi Knight series has stayed pretty stagnant over the past few years (meaning great), but in my personal opinion the Multiplayer in JO and JA leaves a bit to be desired. I like the updated Lightsaber combat, it's fantastic. But the force powers and guns seem kind of lame to me (Bring back the Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight Concussion Rifle. It was the most awesome weapon ever.) Then again, I am a little biased as I was a big fan of Dark Forces 2's Multiplayer. No FPSers Multiplayer has captivated me as much as that did, although Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Soldier of Fortune 2 both came close. BTW Raven Software fans, I'm not picking on them. I love all of their games very much, and they're some of the most talented guys around in the business. I just really, really, really like Dark Forces 2.

He couldn't add a command button in visual basic? How does he even manage to operate windows? Or do you have to do that for him too? I'm sure you were exaggerating a bit, and I know what you mean. Some people at my school are complete dolts, and I go to a Tech School. A couple of people in my programming class can't do much of anything in Visual Basic either. I mean, it's just an Introduction to Computer Programming Class, and the books provide the code for you. It's really just a matter of typing out what you see in the book (We just started the class, btw, I'm only in my first year), but they can't even manage that. I think it's all of those stupid ITT Tech commercials that are floating around...they attract some of the most..."underdeveloped" people around. Anyway, funds shouldn't be a reason not to get a college degree. I have no money, I'm getting a college degree. There's grants, scholarships, and student loans. I have to pay 15k a year to go here, at a 12% interest rate, for 4 years. That's a lot of money I'll have to pay off. Having a degree doesn't guarentee a job in the field, but I'm positive it's better to have one than not. Anyone can get a degree, nothings stopping you. You just have to have the drive to accomplish it.

Your art is pretty good, bro. There are many ways to get a degree if you don't have the funds. I'm not sure on what part of the United States you live in (or the world for that matter), but I live in Nevada. There's a lot of good colleges and universities around here that offer Associates Degrees and Bachelor's in various art forms. I'm 18 years old right now, and I'm currently attending ITT Technical Institute which is about 15k a year. Just an example, but they offer a Multimedia Degree here which is a 2 year program that covers various varieties of art. For the most part it's 3D Modeling and Animation, but they teach you some Audio / Video Techniques and some other cool stuff. Now I'm not here to promote my school or anything, but since I'm familiar with it... I have no money whatsoever to go towards college. There's LOTS of financial aid options available to you, though, regardless of which school you attend. Apply for every single kind of grant and scholarship that you can. Even if they get denied (like all mine did) you can still take Student Loans to pay your way through college. You'll have to pay them back at a later time (12% interest for me...4 years...15k a year...ouch), but if it's what you really want to do it's definitely worth it. I'm currently enrolled for a BCL in Digital Entertainment & Game Design here. I'll be pretty blunt and say that four years from now, the monthly payments are going to blow chunks, but as long as I'm persuing my dream it's not going to matter. Granted there's no guarentees in getting into the game development field in the first place, but I'm confident I'll land a job somewhere. Like I said though, your art is pretty good. With some formal schooling and a degree it could take you pretty far. Go for it and persue your dream man. EDIT: Sorry, I got so much into my reply that I got kind of off-topic. I'd love to be a Level / Environmental Artist at Obsidian. Granted I have no experience whatsoever in any form of level design outside the FPS genre, it'd be an awesome and very rewarding job.