Have you read the newest Freeplay column here on GameSpot? If not, read it before going on. It can be found here: http://www.gamespot.com/features/freeplay/index.html?story=6141178 Okay, now that you've read it, allow me to grab it and totally rip into the underlying foundation: that the RPG genre has been in a rut since Final Fantasy VII. While the genre most certainly is in a rut, it dates back much, much further. The truth is that the RPG genre, save for standout titles like Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and Arc the Lad II, has been in a rut since Final Fantasy IV. If anyone's played Final Fantasy IV, every single piece of the RPG formula is spelled out in painstaking detail. (By the way, if you HAVEN'T played Final Fantasy IV, you're missing out big time. Pick up Final Fantasy Chronicles for the PSOne - which also comes with Chrono Trigger - or Final Fantasy IV Advance for the GBA). Let's look at the cliches one by one. Warning! Spoilers for Final Fantasy IV ahead. As if you couldn't figure that out on your own. Cliche number 1 - Angsty hero. While the angsty hero has in many a case gotten younger in more recent titles, they mostly follow the template of Dark Knight Cecil, who has serious misgivings about the assignments that his King sets out for him. Thoughout the first half of the game, he whines and cries about honor, nobility and redemption. At the time, Cecil was one of the most emotionally moving characters in the game. However, I can't help but wonder if someone playing the game for the very first time on the GBA won't find themselves throwing up all over their handheld at how much he sounds like every other RPG character in the last decade. It's not Cecil's fault, however. It's simply that the RPG genre hasn't learned to move on. Cliche number 2 - Frail, innocent, healing love interest. Rosa. Everyone's favorite White Mage. Head over heels in love with Cecil, she wanders the desert in search of her man, willing to betray her nation at the drop of a hat because he said they were bad, and never once straying from the Japanese ideal of the perfect woman. However, she is strong enough to be Cecil's pillar throughout the dark times, and her concern for him is heartfelt. It's just too bad that she's been copied a million times. I rather liked her. If anyone hasn't figured it out, this is where Aeris comes from. Cliche number 3 - The "cute" character. This game actually had two. The magical twins Palom and Porom were bouncy, wisecracking kids that were worth a few giggles from time to time. They provided a moment of comic relief midway through the game that was needed after the angst and death that Cecil had been experiencing prior. However, it is from them that many of the other "cute" characters come, and quite frankly, they don't come close. Cliche number 4 - The taciturn badass. The martial artist Yang stood proud and tall, exhibiting an honor much like Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation and the fighting skills to match. He was stoic, never boasting while he went about kicking ass mercilessly. Again, this has been copied to death, with that old guy from Legend of Dragoon (I forgot his name) being a prime example. Again, the original could kick all his copies' asses and not bat an eyelash. Cliche number 5 - The suprising villian. No, I'm not talking about Zeromus. He just came out of nowhere and was an extra battle. I'm talking about Golbez. Cecil's long lost brother, who brings with him the news that both he and Cecil are Lunarian (meaning, from the moon). We've seen this played out multiple times, be it brothers, combat buddies, or whatever else, but they'll never be as cool as Golbez. I'm sure I could go on for eternity if I wanted to, but my point has been made. The RPG genre hasn't really evolved much since Final Fantasy IV. The only reason Final Fantasy VII gets all the credit (blame?) is because it's infinitely more popular. Perhaps if people learned to look further back and with a bit more of an analytical eye, there'd be some recognition of the true problem... And see the possibility that the RPG genre is perhaps beyond saving.

There are many things that irk me about the Gamespot community. I don't really know what's the worst, but the one that's on my mind at the moment is the rampant system wars that go on here. You all know what I'm talking about. The "Xbox sucks!" "PS2 is gay!" "Cube's too kiddy!" crap that goes around. Now I'm not going to go on about how you should own all three systems. However, I'm going to raise a question: Why do you care? It's no secret I love the GameCube. But I also love the Xbox and the PS2. I've been playing Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King pretty much nonstop, and I still get in many sessions of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness and Blitz: The League. Yes, when someone buys one console and sticks to it exclusively, there is some sacrifice. A PS2-only gamer can't play Zelda or Mario, a Cube gamer can't play Killzone or Dragon Quest VIII, and only Xbox players can experience Halo and Ninja Gaiden. However, such sacrifices shouldn't lead to the insecurity that is routine around here on Gamespot. Instead of shouting unfounded, baseless insults at the systems you don't own (and the owners of said systems), people should celebrate their system for what it has. Each system has plenty to trumpet, to be proud of. So instead of trying to make people who own a system you don't feel worse, join people like you and enjoy what your system has. And if nothing else fails, the systems are cheaper now with the coming of the next generation...

I was talking to a friend of mine on ICQ not too long after having read an interesting column by The Miami Herald's Leonard Pitts (Which you too can read by going to http://www.herald.com and registering for free). What we were talking about was of the trend of abusing "net speak" in every day life, fueled by the popularity of text messaging on cell phones. The reason I'm thinking about this right now is because I've noticed an alarming number of posts here on Gamespot that use netspeak almost exclusively. You all know what I'm talking about. Even the simplest words in the language, such as "you" are abbreviated (to "u" in this example). An entire dictionary of phrases have been created out of our laziness. Shall I list a few of them? BBIAB = Be back in a bit. BRB = Be right back LOL = Laughing out loud ROFL = Rolling on the floor laughing a/s/l? = Age, sex, location? r u their = Are you there? I could probably go on for hours, but I'll spare you the trouble. The point is that with the convenience of the internet and of instant messaging, people have gotten profoundly lazy. Even typos such as "teh" (the) are not looked at. And I can't even begin to count the number of times that the wrong version of "there" "their" or "they're" has been used here on Gamespot. It's enough to drive me off the wall. I mean, is it impossible to look at what you're typing to make sure you're using English that a human being would be able to understand without a guide to internet abbreviation? I'll stop this rant right now, lest I lose my mind. However, I will leave with this parting note. 1f u c4n r34d th15, u n33d 2 g3t l41d

Having seen the allegation by Mr. Thompson against a 16-year-old boy from Texas, I must admit I'm flabbergasted. Not that someone made a "threatening" call to Mr. Thompson (what he considers threatening is very different from what we would consider threatening ourselves). What I'm surprised about is how GameSpot editors and readers give a man who will likely vanish from the mainstream news in a month or so (assuming they pay attention to him anymore as is) this much time. It's worth remembering that he's not a politician. He has no power in this country whatsoever, other than the ability to file frivolous lawsuits. Why the man matters to anyone is beyond my ability to comprehend. Rather than wasting your breath on Mr. Thompson, perhaps you in the GameSpot community can start writing polite, non-threatening letters to your local, state and federal government officials. They're the ones we should be concerned about, not Thompson. And, to anyone who thinks that threatening these officials will do any good, please don't. The feds will likely have you strung up silently, unlike Thompson.

The day of the Xbox 360 launch, a woman in the state of Georgia (right above my own state, Florida) was robbed at gunpoint for her Xbox 360, which she had spent nine hours in line to buy as a Christmas gift for her son. This is, unfortunately, one of quite a few examples of senseless violence motivated by the sudden urgent need to have an Xbox 360 under the tree this Christmas (or handed out during Chaunika [sp?], or whatever). Now I could go on a tirade about Microsoft's idiotic decision to try to launch worldwide in a span of three weeks, or fan the fires one way or the other on the debate as to whether Microsoft is deliberately holding back units to artificially inflate demand. But I'm not going to do that, because people losing their minds during the holidays isn't a phenmonenon that started this year. It seems that over the years people have forgotten what Christmas is supposed to be about. Year after year, people crowd into cramped shopping malls, pushing and shoving, trampling one another for the gift of the moment. Whatever's the hyped item of the year, be it Tickle Me Elmo, Furby, the PS2 or the Xbox 360, people are suddenly unable to live without it. Heck, the day after thanksgiving, a 72-year-old woman was trampled by insane shoppers down in Miami. This is why I absolutely refuse to do my Christmas shopping any later than the first week of December. I LIKE being able to shop without fear of my life, thank you very much. What has happened is that Christmas has been, for lack of a better term, commercialized. Instead of families getting together, talking about the good times and maybe watching the football game or a movie, people just rip open their presents and go on like nothing happened. This of course has led to the need to get the biggest and best presents possible. It's unfortunate, really, because the hyped crap goes out of style eventually, or breaks, or is sold to a pawn shop for a hundreth of its value. What matters is family, friends, and faith. So instead of whining to your parents/siblings/significant other/etc about not getting an Xbox 360 this year, spend some time to realize just how lucky you are. Christmas isn't bought in a store. It's around you in the eyes of the ones you love.

The problem with a whole lot of the people here on Gamespot is that, being mostly men 15-24, they seem to be hung up on violence and sex. Not that I don't like a good shooter or a skimpy heroine (Like the character my username comes from), but these are not what make a good game. However, these seem to be the end-all be-all for many of the gamers here at Gamespot and throughout North America (I make no claim to know what European and Japanese gamers believe). And this is the apparent reason for the large anti-Nintendo sentiment here on Gamespot. As everyone knows, the Nintendo name has always been synonymous with a more family-friendly brand of gaming. Zelda, Mario, Pikmin, Animal Crossing, F-Zero, these are all wonderful series of games that have endured on the back of solid design, creativity and plain old fun. What Nintnedo has never been able and/or willing to do is make a game that capitalizes on the cheap, offensive violence and sexual exploitation that has made Take-Two Games (Rockstar Games' parent company) second only to EA in the videogame software industry. Nintendo doesn't take the easy route of putting busty, half-naked women, guns, swear words and buckets of blood into their games. Instead, they of their offerings will present players with an easily accessable good time that will stir at emotional triggers, generate real, lasting excitement, and linger in the hearts of gamers long after the nameless space marine has put down his plasma gun. However, with that commitment to lasting fun over cheap thrills, Nintendo has become villified by "mainstream" gamers. More than once, I've seen people here accusing the Gamecube (and the DS, and the GBA) of being "for children." Am I to believe that somehow being a "grown-up" gamer means having to embrace garbage like Rockstar's upcoming Bully, or Konami's Crime Life? Sorry, but I come from a time when gameplay and story mattered more than having the girl with the biggest breasts and the guy with the foulest mouth. Not that I don't like violent games. I love Halo and Resident Evil and all that. However, I see a disturbing trend of gaming becoming more and more lurid, more willing to let gameplay take a backseat to violence and sexual exploitation, and only Nintendo and a few other software companies like Natsume seem to be willing to do anything about it. It baffles me that Nintendo's efforts have earned them derision rather than praise here on Gamespot. Of course, I don't expect to change anyone's mind. Everyone else can have their Grand Theft Autos and their Condemneds. I'll travel with Mario and Link down the road less traveled any day.