$80.00 (before shipping) is the cheapest I have seen, after a lot of work looking, so I guess I will have to put off getting one until I get a bit further in paying down my debts.
And, given that this is the Random Thoughts thread, I will now jump to a completely different topic!
The story of the Final Fantasy VII character, Zack Fair, is an incredibly powerful story, with at least some really compelling characters-- and is told in one of the most messy, and difficult manners I have ever struggled with! If it hadn't been so difficult, I would more tempted to try to figure out the story for the character, from the original game, Cloud Strife, since it also sounds interesting!
Anyway, why I think that the story is so powerful is that, ultimately, it becomes a story about What Is Worth Dying For? It is a story of a young man who, upon every occasion he must make a choice, tries to determine what the Right Thing To Do is, and does it. He stays true to his dreams and honor, even at the cost of his own life. (And doesn't even whine about it-- he gets very frustrated at times, but does not wallow in self-pity. Heck, when he sees the odds which are stacked up against him when he goes into what he probably realized would be his last battle, he only comments on how steep the price of freedom is!) Hell, this is a character who spent most of his story trying to save and protect his friends! Dying while defending a helpless friend, prevented from reuniting with his love only because of his death!
And, if a person really wants to make sense of the whole thing, it is scattered across various game systems, a short animated feature, and a full length film. Most of the story is in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, but essential information (that is, "little" things like, well, what just happened and why?) are in the other games and formats. Hampered by the lack of even one video games system and other resources, I finally managed to put the story together only by spending an excessive amount of time on YouTube, and other web sites.
Ultimately, what kept me going working on ferreting out the story was that I am attempting to write some fiction and I felt that studying the story would be worthwhile (it is). Part of me wants to contact Square Enix and try to persuade them to retell the story (or, stories for the whole of FFVII) in a more accessible manner-- but I probably won't. First, I have no idea how to go about it, and, second..., well, actually, mostly it is that I have no idea how to go about it. Maybe a little is that I fear both failing and the unknown of what would happen if I succeeded.
But, things like the contrast between Zack when, in the very beginning, when his reply to his mentor's telling him to take the mission seriously, and he replies "Serious-- oh, yeah!" and when, after a friend of his defies orders and, instead of taking him prisoner warns him that he can't go home to see his parents, he asks after their well being and concludes that learning about their well being was what was really important, after all, is something I think will be lost when the thing finally becomes too obsolete for people to bother with. Not to mention that, based on what I saw on YouTube, the combat system actually seems to work against the storytelling aspect! Phooey!
(Well, I don't know if this rant helped or not. I guess it is the author in me which got upset, mostly.)
"Nothing is withheld from us which we have conceived to do.
Do things that have never been done."
--Russell Kirsch
Why are kilts so expensive?!? I want one for Lakes of Fire and, eventually, Burning Man-- but the cheapest I have found is around US$80.00, and I am still running chronically short on cash... 
