The Lion's Eye
December 6, 2001
Tactical Analysis Complete:
The Final Fantasy Is Here
By DAN ZACHER
Assistant editor
The smell of winter
-1s in the air and the only thing
on some people's minds is the
up-and-coming holiday sea-
son. These people already
have their shopping complet-
ed, but others, such as myself,
have not started. For those not
quite done their shopping, I
offer this sage advice:
Square's Masterpiece Final
Fantasy Tactics: The Zodiac
Brave Story. It's one of the
best video games, re-released
this year for the PlayStation
Game console. For the first
time in four years Final
Fantasy Tactics has been
available for sale, now as a
part of Sony's Greatest Hits
Collection. Final Fantasy
Tactics starts with Alazlam, a
historian, who has stumbled
upon scriptures, known as the
Duray Report, which proves
‘history wrong. History states
that a commoner known as
Delita Hryle .had climbed
among the aristocracy and
uncovered a mischievous plot
and ended the Lion War single
handily. What Alazlam has
discovered is that a heretic
known Ramza Beoulve was
the actual hero of the war and
saved the entire world from
utter destruction. Throughout
Final Fantasy Tactics you
control Ramza in an attempt
not only save your sister,
Alma, but also to uncover the
true history by finding all 13
Zodiac Stones. Yes that's right
13 Zodiac Stones.
Final Fantasy Tactics
only has a mere 70 levels, but
uses high artificial intelli-
gence that a player may lose
in the first battle of the game
or lose in the last few battles
just the same. There are mil-
lions of combinations of char-
acters because of the game's
Character Jobs. Some of these
characters are unique charac-
ters including Ramza, Delita,
and Final Fantasy 7's Cloud
Strife. Because of this, every
time through the game is a
different adventure. Though
my experiences with the game
I have reached the overall
conclusion that the game is
even smart enough to cheat (it
hates to lose).
This game is worth
the $19.99 price tag and is the
reason that I
PlayStation One in the first
place. Because of its intense
plot, difficulty, and a different
adventure every time, I rate
Final Fantasy Tactics with
five out of five stars and a
must play for any RPG fan.
bought a
ne to el on 5 4 ng second
~ annual food drive,
Donations are being decepiel
now through Dec. 14. Red boxes
“have been set up in every build-
ing to collect donations. Or, you
can drop of f items in the Lion's
Eye office in the Lion's Den.
And please, don't forget the
To ys for Tots drive. Help bright-
en a child's holiday by donating a
new ‘unwrapped toy. Toys can be
dropped off in the SGA office | in
the Lion's Den. :
Computer gift ideas from our resident computer guy
By JONATHAN LEONHARD
Staff writer
This issue of the Computer Comer is ded-
icated to the holidays. May it bring you happiness
and good cheer....and an empty bank account. In
the spirit of the holidays, I have decided to give
the readers a buying guide for geeks, techies, or
people that just like cool stuff.
PDA / PIM (Personal Digital Assistant /
Personal Information Manager)
‘One word: Palm Pilot. The Palm Pilot
was the father of the modern PDA, and may be on
the top of your techie's wish list. They have
become somewhat of a phenomenon over the last
few years, and it all started with the Apple Newton
(now almost extinct). It has since then progressed -
to the Palm OS and Windows CE. The Palm OS
runs on PDA's such as Palm Inc's Palm V, Palm
VII, or Palm m305, and Handspring's Visor and
Edge. Windows CE runs on PDA's such as
Compagq's Ipaq. The only difference between the
two is style. You can liken it to using a PC or a
Mac....both get the job done, just in different
ways. The device itself (the hardware, or the solid
thing you hold) is a different story. Handspring
PDA's have a Springboard slot for expansion
hardware such as digital cameras, MP3 players,
and GPS devices. Palm Inc. PDA's have eBooks
(m305) and pluggable wireless modems. On the
other hand, you have the option of buying a .
Microsoft CE based PDA such as the Ipaq. The
Ipaq has support for Microdrives (very small hard
drives), plays MP3's, and even supports PCMCIA
devices (those that also work in a laptop) through
an adapter sleeve. All models come with or with-
out color, but just keep in mind that functionality
has a direct relationship to price, and an inverse
relationship to bank account.
MP3 Players
There are two types: Solid State and CD-
RW. Solid state means that there are no moving
parts. There are many manufacturers of solid state
MP3 players (Rio, Nike, etc.) and they range in
price and amount of music they can store. Keep in
mind that 32 MB of memory can store about 1
hour of music, and most players can be upgraded
with the addition of additional Flash Memory.
Most connect to your PC through USB, so make
sure your PC has a USB port (small almost flat
rectangle plug with NO little pins). The new Apple
"MP3 player is an exception to the rule. Apple's
product is actually a small hard drive that inter-
faces with the PC through firewire. The plus to
that is you can store files and other stuff on the
drive instead of just MP3's. The alternative is a
MP3 CD player. This device uses regular CD-R's
and has the advantage of storing up to 720MB of
music (many hours), but the disadvantage. of hav-
ing moving parts. For those of you who don't need
a high-impact device, the MP3 CD player may be -
the best choice. And even for light bumps, most
have a 30-60 second memory for the occasional
pot-hole or speed bump. I own a solid state MP3
player because 1 can run and exercise without
skipping in my music.
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)
This is a lesser asked for item, but still a
good choice for a techie that doesn't have one.
Basically, it's a big battery. The UPS plugs into the
wall (for a normal power source and to charge the
battery), and your PC and monitor plug into the
UPS (for power in case of an outage).
This provides power to your computer and mon-
itor for about 5 minutes during a power outage so
the computer can save the stuff you're working on
and shut down properly. APC is a well know man-
ufacturer of UPS's, and you can usually find deals
for $40-$100 depending on the amount of back-up
‘time they provide (rated in VA's). Just ask the
store rep for help in choosing the right one for
you. Keep in mind that most home use UPS's are
300 VA's.
Well, whatever you choose for your
techie, make it a good one...and have a happy hol-
iday! See you on January 7th...
Vol. XXXIll, No. 4
THE LION’S EYE
Penn State University Delaware County
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Anteia Consorto
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Shawn Pettit and Dan Zacher
COPY EDITOR: Adam Wojciechowicz
STAFF:
Meredith Becker, Jennifer Rufo, Garrett Treer, Eric Mayer,
Gerry Dungan, Christine Conron, Jonathan Leonhard
December 6, 2001
ADVISORS: Lyn A.E. McCafferty and Rob Coyle
The Lion's Eye is published monthly during the academic year by the
students of the Delaware County Campus.
Submissions are welcome from all students, faculty and staff.
Material must be typed, double spaced, and submitted in the LION'S EYE
mailbox on the first floor of the Main building.
The Lion’s Eye is funded by the SGA and Student Activity. Fee.