Dan Birlew is the author of several strategy guides for BradyGames, including Resident Evil 3 and Vagrant Story, and has been assigned to the SquareSoft roster of games. He has and is covering new Square titles like Parasite Eve II, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy IX. Birlew has a reputation for high quality work, and a distinct dedication to his craft. GamesFirst!, represented by yours truly, was lucky enough to sit in on a press roundtable discussion with Birlew and Detra Perry, PR Representative for BradyGames. Also in attendance were correspondants from Just Adventure, GameSpin, GameWeek, and The Computer Show. We all had a really nice, and quite long, discussion, ranging in topics from the nitty-gritty construction of a strategy guide, to linquistic and style considerations, to the future of strategy guides and gaming. It was all so fascinating that I followed up the interview with a few more questions, nagging Birlew about some of the deeper issues involved in gaming in general. You can find the GF! Exclusive Followup to the Dan Birlew Interview here, and keep reading to get the rest.

It only took a span of minutes before http://www.finalfantasy.com ˜s servers experienced an increase in traffic (no, not a DDoS attack, though it might have felt like it) that ground them to a crawl earlier this week with the release of the first Final Fantasy movie trailers, information on the storyline, et cetera. One of the downfalls of the site is that it doesn't go into greater detail of what exactly we can expect from the storyline. What we do know: This will not be a retelling of any of the previous games; It's set on Earth in the year 2065 ( when Square will be releasing Final Fantasy XXXXI ) where "cities are deserted, the population is decimated, and the precious few humans who remain must find a way to survive"; the voice actors: Ming-Na, Alec Baldwin (no relation), James Wood, Donald Sutherland (we all loved him in Invasion of the Body-Snatchers), Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi (Mr. Pink) and Peri Gilpin.

Lorne Lanning is the President and Creative Director of Oddworld Inhabitants, undoubtedly one of the most interesting and exciting development houses in the gaming industry. Their first two titles, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee and Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, have raised the bar for games to come. The award-winning and best-selling titles incorporate an amazing storyline, insanely innovative gameplay, stellar production values, and a whole bagfull of originality. With two new titles in development for the PlayStation 2, Munch's Oddysee (due Fall of 2000) and Hand of Odd (due sometime after that), the folks at Oddworld look ready to create an all-out revolution in electronic entertainment. We got the chance to ask Lorne a few questions that we've been itching to hear the answers to. Here's what he had to say:

Today is the day. They are calling it "the biggest day in entertainment history." Why? The release of Sega's Dreamcast and Final Fantasy VIII. These momentous events, coupled with MTV's Video Music Awards, whose viewers will be barraged with Dreamcast advertisements, make it a pretty good day. With perhaps the largest cult following of any current series, Final Fantasy VIII is already blowing the minds of faithful denizens. The success of the latest FF installment was never in doubt. Sales will rise exponentially as the holiday season approaches. In fact, schoolyard gossip could spark a remarkable rise in sales this weekend. But what about Sega?