My cubemate and I were having a conversation today about reserve tanks on motorcycles. I told him that it wasn't the reserve tank that bothered me, it was the fact that most bikes without a reserve tank do not have a low-fuel indicator light; you just start to hear the engine choking. I went on to mention it was probably an issue for me because my first two motorcycles did not have reserve tanks and had low-fuel indicator lights, so when my third bike operated on a reserve tank, it was a good bit bothersome.

My point was that with guys, at least, and our hobbies, particularly ones requiring a specific skill-set, we tend to be permanently acclimated to whatever environment we initially trained in. I started diving in cold water, so it doesn't bother me as much. Ditto for riding motorcycles in cold weather...I'm willing to ride (within the city, not the highway) down to 18 degrees...because those were the conditions when I was first learning to ride.

At the time, I did not think that there was any correlation to the digital aspects of my life**** In another conversation earlier today, a buddy stopped by to tell me how much he was looking forward to Blue Dragon. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had just never understood westerners who liked Japanese ****RPG's.

I though about it a little later tonight. Manga, anime, and artforms in that vein seem to be far and away from Tolkien-based fantasy. As a kid, I fell in with the D&D crowd...a bad influence to be sure. Most fans believe that the D&D world is firmly generated from and rooted in the writings of Tolkien, a Brit by birth, as the basis for their central themes. It was the environment that I was first exposed to when I was really being introduced to gaming. I think that "comfort zone" has pervaded into my adult years, and the **** that I tend toward when deciding what to get into.

Even now, I'm trying to play through Zelda for the Wii and it is a trudge. I reckon that there are some good, perhaps even great titles out there, but I just do not think I'll ever walk those paths. I've never played one Final Fantasy Title. If Square Enix imploded and took other developers of that ****of RPG with them, it would not make any difference to me, or my take on the market.

I guess this trend of mine is somehwhat dichotomous, since I am a huge fan of Asian history, the concepts of Bushido and Zen, and many other aspects of Asian, and specifically Oriental, culture. But when it comes to the games that they play, I just don't get it.