matt@playstationpro2.com

February 19, 2003 Update

Matt: I just got my server bill today -- it is $99.99. I received a check from one of my sponsors and it was for $50 and I sold some crap on Ebay, so all I need is $40. I have $40 but I am going off to college soon so I need to save my money -- every dollar counts especially with todays gas prices. As a result, I am asking for PayPal donations to help pay my server bill. If you could spare sending me $1.50 for the site, that would be great. Thank you for reading. Now on to the letters:

Contra

matt, i have been playing alot of contra shattered soldier lately and i can't seem to save my game correctly. i save my game and when i got back to load it i have to start all the way at the beginning! please help me out. thanks.

Matt: When you save your game in Contra, it only stores your playing time and the number of battles you have done onto the memory card. It doesn't save the last level you have beaten. So you have to beat the game all at once. There is no way to save your progress.

I was reading about your thoughts about the 1930's era version of GTA. This sounds awsome. I was wondering though. With so many games going online now, is a GTA:Online in the works or maybe a rumor? That would be SWEET to tear up a city with some friends or some people from across the Country.

Matt: Yeah, I am sure that the next GTA game will have some kind of online gameplay. If not online multiplayer, downloadable content would be cool too.

Do you have a list of what routers work or don't work with the ps2. I'm in the market for a router but I don't want to buy one that will not work.

Matt: Almost all well-known routers will work (such as Linksys, Netgear and Zyxel). However, I recommend that you don't get one with an internal firewall or NAT or you will have to find out the ports for each game. Once you find the proper ports to forward, the games should work fine, but finding the proper ports for each game can be a hassle.

I was watching that channel G4 one day, and something on there said that a sequel to Final Fantasy VII may be in the works. Do you know if this is true?

Matt: I doubt Square is currently working on another game based on Final Fantasy 7 at this moment. That doesn't mean it will never happen -- it is just unlikely right now.

yippee i got a hooker but it was a guy!

Matt: If you are wondering, this guy is talking about Vice City. Or at least I hope he is...

what the hey! yuna's not supposed to be this slut! and what about tidus?!!? and no more summons? guns? like tomb raider? YUNA?!!? that's all wrong! and tidus! where is he?! does yuna get with some other guy or something??!!?

Matt: Apparently you didn't read my Final Fantasy X-2 preview. Tidus is supposed to be trapped in some kind of sphere. Yuna is going to go out looking for him and her "slutty" appearance is supposed to be a disguise. Doesn't make any sense but I sure as hell ain't complaining.

I, like all other gamers, wish to add to the Gaming World to help creators make better games. Howevr, I have noticed that gaming companies do not seem to want help to make better games. I am not asking them to let me make them, only that they take the opinions of gamers more seriously.

It seems as though they are not trying to give us what we want, but that they are giving us the scraps appealing enough for us to take. I am a harsh critic of games, but it is not as though I am comparing them to FIG. I am just comparing them to the games I have played in the past.

How can we gamers be taken seriously by the gaming companies, and do not say by quality assurance testing. Companies do not allow every gamer to test, only a small portion get that privalege.

Matt: Ah, finally. An interesting rant for me to read. First off, you must realize that bad games are usually made due to lack of funding, lack of time, or lack of experience. Bad games are rarely made because gaming companies didn't ask for more opinions from outside gamers. (As for 989 Studios, I am sure they work hard and all but it must be lack of talent because I am sure SCEA gives them plenty of funding and time). Publishers are always pressuring the developers to get the game done. Also, the developers are gamers themselves, so they have a basic idea to what you guys want to see in a game.

Have you ever played a game and thought to yourself, "Man, what were they thinking? They should have added [insert feature here] to this game!". Most likely they considered it but didn't have time to add the features you want. If the developers of The Getaway asked 200 people about their opinions on removing all on-screen indicators from the game, most of them probably would have said that they hated the idea. However, Sony probably would have went ahead and took out all the indicators anyway since it is their product -- it is their vision and they want it to be as much like a movie as possible.

As for the quality assurance thing, it wouldn't be reasonable to allow everyone to test a game. Rory, our review editor, got to beta test EverQuest Online Adventures for Sony Online Entertainment. Now imagine if everyone who applied got to test the game. That would be a disaster. Finally, game companies are shy about taking game ideas from regular gamers due to legal reasons. If the company uses their idea, the gamer could sue their pants off. I agree that game companies should take more outside opinions, but you have to see things from their point of view. BTW, game designers pay attention to your opinions more often than you realize. Some of them visit the company message boards and they read threads to see what people like and dislike about their products. They just don't reply all that often. Thanks for sending in your interesting e-mail.

I'm just curious as to WHY YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MESSAGE BOARDS! I think that they would be a great addition to your site.

Matt: You really want to know? Okay. Please read this Penny Arcade comic. It's funny because it's true.

Hey dude you think you could do some research on Driver 3 and put it on your web site. I'm eager to see more info on the web about the game but I can't find any. Give the wheelman another chance, part two was a sad game, but part three looks like a winner.Sincerly,A big PS2 Fan

Matt: Thanks for your suggestion. Your wish has come true. I just finished a Driver 3 preview. Took me three hours to write.

i have a problem with a person on THPS4 online on PS2 and i'd like to know if you know where i could contact some one about this person who won't stop acting as the leader of my clan and recruiting people when he isn't supposed to and acting as the leader. plz tell me where i can get help it's getting out of hand

Matt: I hate people like that. Unfortunately, I don't think Activision will do anything about it unless he is actually harassing or stalking people. However, he is not allowed to impersonate other people, so maybe you can use that to your defense? Anyway, please head on down to this page to request help from Activision: https://activision.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/activision.cfg/php/enduser/home.php

i don't get it. why doesm't square bring out final fantasy origins on ps2 than the psx?

Matt: I can hear all of you rolling your eyes right now. Answer: because the PS2 is backwards compatible and there are still people out there who do not own PS2's and they still enjoy their original PlayStations. Hence, more sales for the game is possible.

matt, im sure you get this alot but please, please, please, please, plase, please, please send me nude screenshots from bmx xxx. i am not going to lie i am only 16 but please help a brother out!

Matt: Okay, this is getting out of hand, so I am just going to post one stupid nude screenshot from BMX XXX. It's not pornographic in any way so I am sure it will be okay and everything. When you see it, you're gonna think, "Wow, I got excited over this??". Trust me, the real FMV's aren't all that much better than the screenshot either.

been playing a lot of ps2 online games. people have been saying 1337 a lot. they say that they are 1337. what the hell does that mean?

Matt: Look at it closely. 1=L, 3=E, and 7=T. It spells leet, as in elite.

I was looking at a Xbox Live ad and Splinter Cell is one of the games listed that can go online! What the helL! I thought it was a 1 player game? Will the PS2 version go online?

Matt: I don't always keep up with the Xbox stuff, but if I remember correctly, you can download new levels or weapons to the Xbox hard-drive and use them in the game. The PS2 does not have a HDD yet, so it appears that Splinter Cell won't go online for us. We still get new levels though.

hey in vice city, how come I cant buy any properties?

Matt: AH! Why do people keep asking me the same questions that are already answered on the site?! I try to organize everything so it is super simple to find what you are looking for, but it doesn't appear to be working. Is my site difficult to navigate or are some people just retarded? Please send me your feedback. I have spoken to other webmasters and some of them have the same problem, so I am hoping that people are just too stupid for their own good.

Hey Matt! I got the Zone of the Enders 2 demo and it is a really sweet game but I hate all the stupid movies every 30 seconds. I just wanna battle without interuptions! Is the whole game like this or just the beginning? Thanks.

Matt: Hideo Kojima produced the game. What did you expect? Anyway, much of the game is like that but it gets a little better later on.

Sup Matt. I know that there aren't all that many PS2 games with nudity but is Hitman 2 one of them? Heard that it was. Just curious. Thx

Matt: You bet, but it involves a really fat guy laying in a hot tub. If you drag him out, you'll notice that he isn't wearing any swim trunks. You'll also notice that his valuables are only 1 inch long. I am not making this up.

Matt, any word on a sequel to Syphon Filter 3? I really loved that game and would really like to see it in PS2 form!

Matt: Crap, I hope not. But if you really must know, a sequel appears to be on the way. No official word yet though.

Is it just me, or does Sony and Sega seem to have a habit of bring over crappy ass games to the US and leaving all the cool ones in Japan?

Matt: True dat. But the thing I don't understand is why Sony insists on pumping out a new NFL Gameday title every year with Madden on the market.

Dear Matt, I got word that a sequel to Ico is being made in Japan right now but Sony refuses to bring it to America. I live in Canada, so this means that it won't come out here either. Am I wrong or is the game really not coming here? Thanks for your time.

Matt: Too early to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't come out here. I think the first game sold less than 100,000 copies in the States.

I am not going to tell you my life story but I'm a huge Gran Turismo freak and I'm one of the few people who has actually gotten 100% in that game. Yeah I'm cool, I know. Anyways, where the hell is the sequel?! I'd even be happy with just the simple add-on, GT Concept! Anyways, please repsond when you get a chance. Thanks.

Matt: Good question. I am not sure what Polyphony Digital is up to, but not even one screenshot has leaked out yet. They must be rebuilding the entire game from the ground up. As usual, I'll post crap on the game when it becomes available.

thanks for replying to my e-mail but what the hell took you so long! also where do you get your news? what about the release dates?

Matt: Don't let the mailbag fool you. Sometimes I get really long or complex questions and I don't feel like answering them right away. Then the mail really starts to pile up and I lose track of stuff and I end up not replying or it takes me like a week to finally get around to answering. I get the news in my e-mail inbox. As for the release dates, I check game company web sites and I visit online game stores to see when a game is gonna be shipped. Usually takes me an hour to go through every single title. It's a pain but I do it cuz I love you guys.

IN your driver preview, you say that the cars are not licensed, yet I can swear that I've seen those old cars in real life before. Are you sure you ddidn't make a mistake? Also you say that Reflections has a lot of experience... well what about Stuntman! That game was barely average! Finally, when does the gamge take place? What year? Thanks-Fernie

Matt: They are modeled after real life cars, but they have been modified just enough so the manufactures don't become angry. As for Stuntman, well, I have to keep a positive outlook on games when I write previews for them. Anyway, I didn't Stuntman was all that bad. My review score of '7.6' is way above average. I think Driver 3 takes place a couple years after Driver 2. Not sure.