Short but sweet this week with questions concerning Phantasy Star Online, Starcraft:
Ghost, and more. Remember to send in your questions to qa@n-sider.com.
Blokes, I need assistance in getting PSO online. You see, I've had PSO since it came out last freaking year. I have played it
for about 20 minutes, and it has just sat there. The problem is that I have AOL. And I am lazy. And I have no idea how to set
it up. I know I need to get rid of AOL, but once I do that, how do I go about setting PSO up? Because I've suddenly got an
itching to do just that. Thanks.
Josh: Head on over to this handy GameFAQs guide, Widfara -- you'll find out everything you need to know. Good luck!
I know I am sure you guys are pissed too about this year's "Christmas Lineup", or should i say, lack thereof. I remember back
in late august, i was looking at Nintendo's lineup for the upcoming Christmas if 2003 and was thinking , "damn, Nintendo is
gonna own this Christmas!". Then, the unthinkable happened, the sequel to my favorite Gamecube game got delayed, Pikmin 2!
Next came yet another blow to the stomach, Square Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles got delayed too. Now, at this point
i am thinking, "ok, at least we are still getting MGS: TT and Mario Kart, but then the final blow came in late september,
Metal Gear Solid, was delayed also...*sniffle* I don't understand Nintendo sometimes, I know the delays were only to make the
game hit that perfection mark, but those delays are really gonna hurt Nintendo in the long run. But to look on the bright
side, the recent price drop is helping sell systms, and all the PS2 has this Christmas is Castlevania: Lament Of innocence,
and all the Xbox has is Ninja Gaiden.( which i will be getting)
Josh: Delays are always a frustrating thing, Bobby, even when we know it's to (hopefully) ensure a game meets
expectations of high quality. Luckily, since this is Nintendo we're talking about, I'm sure the delays will be put to good
use. In addition, there are other titles to look forward to this Christmas besides Mario Kart -- how about Star Wars: Rogue
Squadron III, Prince Of Persia, and Mario Party 5? In addition, don't forget recently-released stellar titles that you may
have missed, such as Viewtiful Joe, Soul Calibur II, and F-Zero GX.
The last article I read about StarCraft:Ghost said the game wasn't even
running on GC hardware. I thought the whole point of the hardware for
Nintendo this generation was how easy it was to program for it. I was under
the impression Nintendo was sort of saying "Even if a game isn't going to
sell 500,000 copies, you can still make a profit porting it over to 'cube,
heck, you've already made it for the other system..." What's the deal? We
see multi-platform games dropping GC support almost every week. Is Ghost
going to be one of those titles?
Josh: First off, though the GameCube is reportedly easy to program for, it's also apparently the most expensive to
develop for according to recently-published developer surveys. In addition, third-party multiconsole titles often sell worst
on the GameCube. These factors are combining with the potrayal of the GameCube by some in the media as a "losing" console
(despite the fact that it remains 2nd in worldwide sales behind the PS2 and ahead of the Xbox) to form a serious bad taste in
the mouths of some third parties.
As far as Starcraft: Ghost, it is officially still scheduled to hit all three platforms. There have been rumours brewing for
several months now that Microsoft has paid off Blizzard to bring the title exclusively to the Xbox, or, barring that, a
time-exclusivity deal (think Splinter Cell), but so far these have not been confirmed. Unofficially, however, I would not be
surprised to find the game cancelled for GameCube, Microsoft deal or not. Hopefully, my hunch is wrong.
Do you guys have any idea who gets the benefit when one buys pre-owned games from some place like Electronics Boutique. Is
any of that cash going to developers, or is it a loss, like if you download ROMs? If so, how come there's no capitalist
activist groups crawling up their collective poop chutes? Love,
Josh: Preowned games have been purchased once already at full price, thus giving the developer and publisher their
expected royalites. Any further sales of the game are private, and the seller receives any profit from the sell of the game.
This is much different than illegal ROM downloading, where the game is never purchased brand-new, thus robbing
developers and publishers of their royalties.
Q&A By: Josh Righter.
Send your questions for next week's Q&A!PSO setup.
-Widfara
Delays.
~Bobby~
Starcraft Ghost MIA?
-Lee Baldwin
Preowned games: who gets the cash?
-Steven