GR Mailbag: The Proverbial Bag!

From: "Jon" (***@37.com)
Subject: why you hate capcom.
Hello to one of the great site,
Well in the new preview of resident evil I was amazed
that you guys did not include that the game is 70% 
change from original & there are three playable 
characters Jill, Chris AND Rebecca chamber. I am sure
you guys did not like resident evil and mostly Capcom 
that’s why you guys never give a good review to any of 
Capcom’s games like (maximo, devil may cry, onimusa & 
resident evil remake) to come. Maximo was not that bad 
that you guys have shown it & devil may cry was not 
less than from metal gear solid in graphics, sounds & 
specially playability. So I do not know what you guys 
are up to & why you hate Capcom so much may be because 
you like some thing else.

Hi Jon,

Y'know, any time you're looking at something that doesn't exist, you can always expect to find missing pieces. We could give you a whole list of omitted features from our Resident Evil Gamecube preview...such as the preview itself. We haven't previewed the game, dude.

We've never given good reviews to Capcom games? Are you sure?

Maximo = B. Devil May Cry = A-. Onimusha = B+. Resident Evil: Code Veronica X = B+.

Look out 3DO - there's a new stinker in town!

- GR

From: "erik" (***@hotmail.com)

Subject: spill the blood of my enemies
mwat lafiga shabbadaa!!!! Sorry, this was my first 
reaction after reading Robert NOYB's letter in the 
2/19 mailbag. In this letter he went on to tell why 
FFX was a crappy game and how it should have gotten 
a lower grade. In simple words: he should be shot. 
He also went on to state that FFX shouldn't even be 
called an RPG! How the hell isn't FFX an RPG? It's 
the only game that's ever gone to a tenth edition. 
And as I recall all of the Final Fantasy's before 
it were RPGs. Anyway I had to write this, and why 
don't you print their e-mail addresses, or for 
that matter their home addresses for us enraged 
readers? Thanks P.S. Baldric, don't think I haven't 
forgot about FFVII. B+ my ass!

Good day Erik,

We think he meant that the Final Fantasy games aren't RPGs in the classic D&D sense where you get to totally customize your character.

Most video game RPG characters and personalities are already prescribed and there is usually very little deviation other than obtaining items and magic spells. Compared to PC RPG's like Baldur's Gate, there isn't nearly as much unique character development.
The highly anticipated Neverwinter Nights is the closest thing we've seen to a classic pen and paper RPG.

But yeah, we agree. The FF series is as much a RPG as any other, and the fact that it's been around for so long attests to its quality. We're not about to shoot Robert, though. Maybe instead we'll make him roll a saving throw against Turned to Stone...

-GR

From: "d bk" (***@hotmail.com)
Subject: CS is still good? You're f*cking with me, right?
Right?"
Er... I don't know about your experiences, but I've found 
that while most official magazines/sites/whatever still 
praise Counter-Strike, a vast majority of players have 
grown to hate the sh*t out of it. There is too little 
teamwork, too many lamers, and far too many hacks. What 
servers do you f*cking play on? You just described 
Counter-Strike before 1.0! Most who still play it have 
admitted that the only reason they play it is because of 
addiction. For some reason people can't let go of it, 
undoubtedly because they hope the next version can somehow 
redeem it. But some people (me included) have managed to 
move on and find a game worth playing, such as Day Of 
Defeat, Action Half-Life, and Front Line Force.  So, I 
do believe you're shooting the crap a bit when you say 
stuff like that. But, if I happen to be completely 
wrong... WHAT SERVERS DO YOU PLAY ON?
P.S. Operation Flashpoint deserved an A. It f*cking rocks. 
But, that's just my opinion.

Greetings d,

Well, you sort of mentioned why we still like CS...

"Most who still play it have admitted that the only reason they play it is because of addiction."

Is there something wrong with this? Isn't addiction the sign of a great game? You don't get addicted to things that don't make you feel good. That's why people get addicted to crack instead of, say, getting whacked on the head.

We'll leave CS for a while to concentrate on other things, but we always come back to it. It's the only FPS that we still play regularly, and that's worth a ton.

We've tried all these other mods, and while we had some fun with Front Line Force and DoD, neither gave us the genuine strategic thrill we get playing CS. We just think it's a better game.

However, we are excited about the Tactical Ops retail version and Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. Both look very promising.

While the hacking issue is indeed out of control, there are tens of thousands of servers out there. Many have server client cheat detection that flashes the name of the cheater, what cheat they are using and proceeds to kick and ban them.

You just need to be on the right server.

- Lords of Death
- Creamery CS
- any GX server
- HomeLAN servers
- Seattle servers
- Merlin Web

The list goes on and on.

- GR

From: "josh breese" (***@yahoo.com)
Subject: Zombienetics

I am doing a report for my Anthropology class on
Zombification, and I have a few questions, so I
decided to go to the experts. 
I've noticed that in video games and movies, whenever
the "Zombie disease" is present (i.e. the dead are
rising from the grave, or the street, and have an
obsessive tendency to eat human flesh) the protagonist
in the movie and/or video game does everything
possible to not get eaten. Now in most cases, mainly
in games, if the protagonist is consumed by another
zombie, he is dead, and doesn't come back as a zombie,
is that correct (are there games that allow you to
play as a zombie after you are turned into one)? If
the zombies eat the whole protagonist, then there is
nothing left to come back, but what happens if the
zombies just eat the brains? Then can the protagonist
come back as a zombie? Or do you just need to be
bitten to become a zombie (and in that case, does the
bite have to be fatal?) I guess the core questions
I'm leading to are these: What does it take to become
a zombie - especially after being killed by one? What
does the protagonist's fear come from - fear of the
zombies chasing him, fear of becoming a zombie, or
fear of death? (And why should one fear becoming a
zombie?) What, exactly, is the science of
zombification?
-Josh

Dhony,

Well for starters, most zombie movies wind up with the main star becoming a zombie. From Romero's classic Day of the Dead to Michael Jackson's classic Thriller, the good guy often winds up looking for some brains...or glittery handwear.

Indeed, video games rarely let you play as a zombie. The original Daggerfall for the PC allowed you to be bitten by a werewolf or vampire and you would have to continue the game as these altered characters. Very cool.

Zombie Revenge for the Dreamcast allowed its protagonists to transform into the walking-dead after being bitten, though you didn't really get to wander around as them anymore.

The fact of the matter is while we respect zombies immensely, they aren't that fun to play as. They're very one dimensional. You're just looking for brains, you have a severe speech impediment, and you shuffle around like a paraplegic.

I mean, we can get that after a few drinks.

-GR

From: "???" (***@@cs.com)
Subject: WOW version 2
I need to get this offa my back. It's on the subject 
of video-game violence. If your a gamer, you've at 
read an article on it. This really pisses me and many 
other gamers off. Especially when you've been buying 
video games for 8-9 years, and then all of a sudden, 
you have to have a valid drivers license to buy them. 
THE SAME GAMES YOU HAVE BEEN BUYING FOR 9 YEARS!!! 
This is my personal expereince. I've been buying 
games for 8-9 years(duh). I go to my local Wal-Mart 
store to buy Record of Lodoss War for DC. I go to 
the counter, and the cashier is the person who has 
sold me Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, and 
many other M-rated games. THE SAME EXACT PERSON!! 
I go to the counter, take out my money, look at 
the little thing that shows you wut you've bought 
and how much it's gonna cost ya, and the message 
pops up, IS CONSUMER OVER 18? Those little, evil 
green words, shoved in my face. "uhh, you gotta 
driver's license?" DAMMIT! Now, onto my main 
point. They are trying to ban videogames because 
it influences minors and such. THIS IS NOT TRUE!! 
I don't see anyone who plays GTA going around on 
killing sprees stealing cars and finding mob bosses 
to do jobs for. Wut they are trying to get into the 
parents heads is it's bad for the kids. But, in turn, 
it is actually good. Many of the kids who play, it 
actually keeps them OUT of trouble. Columbine. 
Those kids played video games. But, movies or video 
games had nothing to with what they did. Not the 
Matrix, not Grand Theft Auto, no of'em. But, the 
main thing is, they played video games, so they were 
bad. I read an article in SPIN magazine about these 
kids that got accused of calling ina bomb-threat at 
a school. One of the determining factors of this 
accuastion? "They played videogames." They played 
EverQuest. CMON PPL!! EverQuest does not turn you 
into a homicidal maniac. Or even a bad person, for 
that matter. I just needed to get this offa my back, 
and who better to put the wieght on than the Einstein's 
who work for GR. Thank you for listening.
Whew, I feel better.

To One Thoroughly Pissed-Off Guy,

Yes, we too think it's enough! Thousands of innocent geeks are standing by helplessly as officials point the political finger at their favorite pasttime.

Video games don't kill people. Stupid, ignorant wackos kill people! And it's time we stop looking for scapegoats.

While we agree with most of your rant, we must say the bit about Everquest's influence on gamers is not altogether true. Just this weekend Shawn was robbed by a naked mage from the South Side of Britania named n][Nja TuP@c OWnZj00. He stole his Tomb Raider Rolex and all his Zenny.

-GR