href="mailto:mailbag@planetgamecube.com">Feed the Mailbag!

NGCfan asks, Since Square has acquired Quest

and the rights to the Ogre Battle series, does this mean that they're developing

an Ogre Battle title? This series has traditionally drifted towards Nintendo

consoles; if Square developed one, would it possibly be an exclusive title since

Nintendo wants Square to do one?

Rize Says: I think

you've already surmised just about everything that can be in this situation.

Square wouldn't have bought the OB franchise and acquired the team that made the

game if they didn't plan on continuing the series. The questions are when and

what console(s).

It stands to reason that since the games in the series have always debuted on

Nintendo systems that if it isn't, at the very least, a simultaneously released

multiplatform game a lot of people are going to be angry.

Approx asks, have you guys heard any thing on that damn keyboard

controller that I want hella bad?

Rick Says: What's to

hear? It's a keyboard. It's not going to be released until there's a game that

needs it. That means PSO.

WindyMan Says: It's

going to be on the expensive side, I can tell you that much. I heard it was

going to cost $80 after E3 wrapped up.

It's also going to be licensed, because there's no way Nintendo would allow any

third party to manufacture a controller of any type that matches Nintendo's

buttons perfectly. At least you'll be getting what you pay for.

TYP Says: Technically,

the Keyboard Controller is already out in Japan thanks to the PSO Trial Edition,

but only in special bundles. I found the product's keys to be too small for my

tastes though--I'm sure another 3rd party will come out with a separate GC

Keyboard or PS2/USB->GC adapter, which will probably be more economical and

comfortable, as long as you don't mind putting down the GC controller to type.

Windy brings up a good point: the "Keytroller" is licensed, which means

Nintendo's online offerings will likely support keyboards as well!

Devilsgrin asks, this might be the stupidest question, but I'm a big

fan of the Powerpuff Girls and yes, I did go see the movie although I think I

was the only guy there over 20 who didn't bring a small child. Heh. I just

wanted to know if there was any info on the Powerpuff game coming to GameCube.

It was announced a few months ago, then absolutely nothing since then! I thought

for sure that it would be planned for a release around the time of the movie,

but I guess not.

Mike H. Says: Someone

going by the name of Devilsgrin is a Powerpuff Girls fan. I think that's

hilarious.

Mike O. Says: I actually spoke to a representative of

whatever company is developing the next Powerpuff Girls game yesterday. We both

laughed at people like you. Nice lady. Thanks for reading!

TYP Says: I thought no

one hated the Power Puff Girls more than Him. Ah well... I don't know anything

about the GameCube Powerpuff Girls game, but BAM!'s previous attempts with the

franchise were very ho-hum anyway.

CyberStud asks, What are the chances an Eternal Darkness movie will

be made?? I know they have only made one game, but I think it would rock if they

made a movie after it?

WindyMan Says:

That would be nice. The story line would

make an awesome movie.* You know, Nintendo did ask all those filmmakers to

create those short films for that

contest they held, so hopefully it's got something else in mind for the big

picture (pardon the pun).

*We say that about all videogames, don't we? Too

bad they all come up sucking.

Mike O. Says: If they

did make an ED movie, that would mean that Too Human would be delayed so that

Denis and the staff could give some creative ideas for the movie's premise. The

movie would be made within 6 months and feature Mandy Moore jumping off a wall

to kick a mutant dog in the head.

Now think to yourself, do we REALLY want that?

Yes.

Adam Says: Video game

movies always suck. It's because Hollywood doesn't play video games. They NEVER

have the charm of the game. I've many times thought of writing a script based on

a game as I consider myself a pretty big gamer, as well as a screenwriter. We'll

see...

But yeah, we don't want to pull Denis away from his already "considerable" game

development time. LOL. 4 years. Come ON MAN!!!

(You know we love ya man...)

Airhoppz asks, Is it just me or are other players getting a little tired of

the overuse of the phrase "SHINE GET!" on the internet? We all know Mario

Sunshine should be a great game, so let's get some different phrase or

something? Speaking of that phrase, does Nintendo plan to have it more

Americanized for the US release of Mario Sunshine? Cause I can tell you right

now I'd get PRETTY sick of seeing "SHINE GET!" every time I complete a stage.

Mike Suzuki Says: Well, considering the cover of the PGC DVD, I

don't think you're going to get many people agreeing with you here. And if you

take a look at the current quote in

my

profile, you can probably guess where I stand on this. I thought about

changing the quote, but I still haven't gotten sick of Shine Get! at all. It's a

classic Engrish videogame quote that I look forward to seeing on my TV many

times in the near future. Add to that, many happy memories associated with the

phrase at E3, and I think it's going to be awhile before Shine Get gets old.

Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get!

Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get! Shine Get!

Shine Get!

...nope still not old.

Daniel Says: Heh, well

I think we're overusing it a lot. It was more fun when no one knew what the heck

we were talking about and we were screaming it out in karaoke bars, but now I

guess it's just a part of PGC lingo like "Word."

The anthem of E3. The anthem of Mario. Shine Get! will probably be with us until

September or October, like it or not.

Rick Says: If something like that is bothering you, then

you're probably just going to have to get the hell off the Internet. Things

always get beaten to death on the Information Superhighway... remember when it

was "All your base are belong to us?" If something like that is going to annoy

you, you'd be better off just isolating yourself, because it isn't going

anywhere any time soon.

WindyMan Says:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/news2002-07-23.html

Gabe seems to have caught the bug too.

SHINE GET!

Rize Says: I'm just

wondering what it's going to be in the America version. Get Shine?

Adam Says: Nah, it's

just plain old "Shine" for the US version. WEAK.

Yes, we're happily running "Shine Get" into the ground. What the hell good is a

quirky Japanese catch phrase if you can't say it 1,000 times?

Mike O. Says: I went

into a Japanese restaurant wearing slacks and green suspenders. I slowly walked

up to the karaoke microphone, nudged my thick rimmed glasses up to ample viewing

height, and calmly whispered "Shine Get" into the microphone. Within seconds I

have at least a couple dozen Japanese women crawling all over me, and a few men

too. True story.

Andrew asks, This isn't really a question,

more an opinion that I need. Was wondering what you all thought about the "this

game is so-and-so long" issue. I just read someone question/complain Metroid

Prime's (for heaven's sake) time play, and I thought it was kind of stupid when

the game isn't even out yet. Time play all comes down to yourself I believe...

it took me almost two months to complete Ocarina of Time, only because I wanted

to take my time. But yeah, what do you all think of the whole time issue? Or are

people just being too negative about certain characteristics in games?

TYP Says: When I wrote

my Luigi's Mansion review, I made it clear that I really didn't care too much

about game length when reviewing a title, as long as what was there was fun.

I'll admit that I now give it a little more weight, but not a whole lot. I

believe any development team that can provide ten hours of pure fun should be

respected, and a game should not be scoffed at only because it is short.

Game Length isn't the real issue anyway, which is why PGC's game reviews have a

"Lastability" rating. Some games have extras that keep you playing, and others

are just fun to revisit once a year. Sonic Advance is a VERY short game, yet

I've probably spent most of my GBA hours on that title. On the other hand, I

can't get myself to start a new game of Golden Sun--but one time through was

30-40 hours (for me). Game length can have everything to do with lastability or

next to nothing, depending on the game.

So if you're going to focus on game length, look at lastability instead. But if

you do find the lastability to be low, do yourself a favor and consider the

game's other aspects before making a general opinion.

Mike Suzuki Says: Good

set up for a rant, Andrew. Unfortunately, this is the Mailbag, so I'll try to be

concise and to-the-point as possible.

Many gamers seem to associate game length with game value. Ideally, a long game

would be consistently fun from beginning to end. Reality is a different matter,

though, and game length is not the best way to judge game value. A game that

plays a long time because of some tedious game mechanism usually stops being fun

(e.g. collecting items ad nauseam, traveling back and forth repeatedly over

large distances, or repeatedly playing large parts of a game because of poor

save system). If the fun is gone, how much value are you really getting out of a

game? Game length is only a part of game value. The level of fun throughout that

play time is an even more significant part of determining a game’s value as is

the amount of fun to be had replaying the game.

This is true with almost every entertainment medium (film, novel, song, etc.) so

why should games be that different? Think about this, an average game costs

about $50. If that game is only played for 10 hours, you’re paying $5 per hour

of entertainment. This is the rough equivalent of a movie ticket nowadays (a bit

under $10 for 1.5 to 2 hours of entertainment). Which would you rather spend

your money on? Game or movie. Movie or game. What’s that? It depends on the

movie/game? Sounds like the worth of a game (or movie) isn’t dependent on the

length after all. The overall quality of experience supercedes the cost per hour

of playing when determining the value of a game.

Rick Says: Honestly, I

think the main problem is power-gamers who get every new release, play it

through without breathing, then bitch about the length. And don't get me started

on the clownboats who complain about the length of a game that isn't even out

yet.

For me, it's getting so rare that I get to

finish a game these days, that I actually look forward to shorter games that I

can finish in a few days. I actually find that those games have ADDED value for

me, but that certainly isn't for everyone.

I think you'll find that if a game doesn't have at least 20 hours of gameplay,

people are going to complain. More than that, and people will complain anyway,

but that's because they've cheated themselves.

WindyMan Says:

Personally, how long a game lasts is a very important point to me when I buy a

game. Can short games be good? Hell yes. Kirby on the N64 is a perfect example

of this. One of the better platformers to come around in a very long time, just

way too short. I didn't buy the game, but I did rent it a few times. Buying a

game that short, in my opinion, is a waste of $40 or so (when you can get the

same experience with $10 in rentals).

There's a difference between long games that you play once and short games that

you play over and over again. Rick prefers the short games, some prefer long

games; it's all personal preference. If you want to get the most bang for your

gaming buck, though, you should always rent first. That way, you can gauge how

much a game has to offer for you, and if it's clear that you're not going to

clean out a game in that first rental or a second, you've found a game that you

might consider owning.

Of course, if you have a few friends around, any game with a solid multiplayer

offering never gets old.

Rize Says: I don't

think I've ever found a game that was of the perfect length. They're always too

long or too short. If I finish the game, then it's too short. If I don't finish

the game, it's too long. If I finish a game and it felt really long, then it was

too boring.

Adam Says: Luigi's

Mansion is a friggin' joke because of the game length. Period. It's an absolute

travesty that I RENTED a Nintendo launch title. Game Length is very, very

important to me. I have very little expendable income to put towards gaming.

That being said, of course a long SUCKY game is even more sucky. That goes

without saying really. But a one-player adventure/platformer/action type game

needs to be over 20 hours. Period. It may not have been that way back in the

80's, but guess what - it's that way now. Yup, I loved the incredibly short

"Contra" when I had my NES, but I was a retarded 12 year old. Now I'm just a

mildly "challenged" 26 year old, and you better gimme more. Realize, I mean 20

hours to FULLY complete a game. Even if it's a "Rare" type of extending the game

by going back through things. That's not the best way to prolong it, but hell -

at least it's more bang for the buck.

Mike O. Says: I bought

ICO the day it came out, and after playing it for a total of 7 hours or so, I

got stuck on a hard spot. I'm still stuck. Therefore, ICO has roughly 7+ months

of play time.

Seriously, some games require a certain amount of length to be worthwhile

(Eternal Darkness did this well, Luigi's Mansion did not), but they're mainly

either adventure games or RPG's. To me, though, how long a game is from start to

finish doesn't matter, as long as it has replay value. And if it doesn't have

replay value, I want around 20 hours of playing the game (thus to differentiate

it from a rental). Games such as the two Zelda N64 titles achieved this to near

perfection.

But if there's one thing you must learn from your question, it's this. Do not

listen to developers' estimations regarding the amount of time it will take the

average gamer to complete their game. Honestly, if it took any of you 20 hours

to beat Luigi's Mansion, I'll bet you a dollar that you're wearing a special

helmet right now.