"Did FFX define a generation of gamers? No."

er... FF7 you mean?


Indeed. I feel that I adressed many of Big D's concerns about the game becomming mainstream and the fact generational experience was marginal. The main point I wished to focus on was how much impact FF7 actually made on the gaming world, as did Street Fighter 2 before it. The earlier titles FF 1-6 and Street Fighter (1987) laid the foundations for a reinnovation for these games that appealed to wider audiences. Both RPG and Fighter existed in 1985, yet it was not untill 10 years past that these games became the norm in Japan and America (except for sports games the Yankies love the sports titles).

On the experience of gamers, allow me to proceed with this analogy - Did you grow up listening to Madonna? Did you collect the merchandise? Or do you have a ticket to the tour of 1984? Clearly, I do not! However, does participating in a retro binge of 80's mania warrant an individual to become a Madonna fan? Certainly not! Put simply, how can a person in retrospect possibly understand or experience the whole scene that was Madonna. This rule applies to games also. Merely playing a download is a world apart from having played the game in its premier days... Besides the Kazaar generation just sees FF7 as a crappy version of FF10, and alarmingly, as Big D pointed out,the PS2 generation is rising to dominance. These new leaders of Eoff never played FF7 when it was released and at best they probably only watched as their older siblings clock FF7 in 1997.

"Now, superfans...that's a whole 'nother story ."

Good point. "Super Fans" are a worry... I was simply looking for those who played FF7 when the game was a premier title "back in the day".
Besides, Super fans are generally endemic and there is not much we can do about them! Just allow them to collect the Tidus Doll with matching blitz ball...