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Delayed for three years
feels like I’m running down halls
at least it’s pretty.
TeamXbox have withdrawn their recent Final Fantasy XIII review after overwhelming reader response at their controversial 5/10. Despite stating clearly in the original review, (available cached for limited time here: page 1 and 2 [thanks Shane of Sarcastic Gamer]) that the reviewer was rating his experience up to a game breaking debug glitch on the third disc of their press copy, the score and subsequent public furore led the site to censor their own output.
In a recent note, Andy Eddy, editor in chief, attempted to “clear up” the reason for the article’s removal and editorial “step back”, citing “[sensitivity] to the potential for disappointment by readers who may have had high hopes for a title, but have those hopes dashed by a critical review”. Although the about turn was no doubt painful for the journalistic integrity of both the website and Andrew Fitch’s original critique, Eddy stands firm in asserting that:
For the record, we were confident that the review we put up earlier critiqued the elements of the game fairly and adequately, but the result of this process will be a review that’s complete beyond the shadow of a doubt and a full assessment of Final Fantasy XIII for Xbox 360.
Back at E3, everyone was shocked when at the Sony Keynote a new Online Final Fantasy game was announced. “We already have Final Fantasy XI, and that sucks!” was one of the things that I heard fairly often. Nothing other than a trailer and the E3 announcement has come out, so details are fairly scant. But hey, the Beta is open for applications!
I played FF XI for about a month, in a brief World of Warcraft hiatus, while a group of my friends that played were trying to find a new game to replace WoW with. Needless to say, I went back to the comforting, dumbed-down numbness that I got when playing WoW over the complex, slow, and bland-looking starting areas of FF XI.
Hopefully FF XIV is more accessible, and more of what I’m looking for. My only gripe with this game is that it’s part of the numerical Final Fantasy — much like FF XI. Hopefully, they can either fix what I didn’t like about their first MMO, or they’ll just rehash what they’ve already done with prettier graphics and new names and assets for the characters. I’d prefer the former.
Via: Joystiq
So word on the street is that Square Enix is about to make another big announcement. How do we know this? Well, yet another of these ridiculous countdown clocks has appeared on their website. Is anyone else tired of these things?
I think this is only the 5th or 6th clock that I’ve heard about this year, but even still, I’m tired of them. They don’t serve any purpose other than remind us how the company that’s holding the countdown likes to tease us with little tidbits of information. Oh, we’re going to make an announcement on this day! That sort of PR stunt really irks me. To be honest, the last few times that the countdowns have been seen, I’ve either been underwhelmed, or it was for an event that everyone knew was already taking place (Kojima’s clock ended during the E3 press conference). If you want someone to be excited about something, don’t tell us about FF XIII 4 years before it’s released, delay it five times, and announce another game in the series before the one we’ve been waiting on is released!
Hooray, another countdown for a video game announcement has arrived. Teasers as of late have been disappointing, but this page does say “New Game”. For a lot of companies this would be exciting, but it’s Square Enix. Based on what they’ve released recently, on top of the Final Fantasy FOURTEEN announcement, I’m not excited. Square Enix have been plodding the same continuous path in their games, with bad stories, acting and characters. Final Fantasy 13 hasn’t even come out yet, slow down there.
As Jim Sterling said, “Either just announce the bloody things or shut up forever.” Teasers have been getting old recently. I still have no idea what Metal Gear Solid: Rising is about other than the silly “Lighting Bolt Action” phrasing. On top of that, we have teasers for teasers in Modern Warfare 2, and now announcements for “new” games that will turn out to be typical run of the mill boring done to death RPGs.
How about satisfying people with the announcement, rather than dragging out a silly timer? Pompous enough having it coming from Square Enix. Is anyone really that excited for anything that Square Enix has to make nowadays?
Via: Destructoid
Well it looks like our good old buddy Jack Tretton at Sony was telling us fibs during the announcement of Final Fantasy XIV when he claimed it was going to be a PS3 exclusive. New information has surfaced from the Q&A held by Square Enix today, revealing that the latest iteration in the online FF franchise will be coming to at least one more platform (Windows PC) and they are considering others (Xbox 360).
Another possibility to emerge was that the original unveiling of FFXIV was due to take place as a separate press conference in place of the Q&A that was put on. This does seem rather plausible to me as the Q&A basically gave no new information and Sony did lose what was sure to be their biggest announcement to a leak. It kind of makes sense for them to try and bolster their line-up, but taking as large an announcement as a new Final Fantasy title, albeit an online one and also claiming exclusivity for it when none exists is a bit embarrassing to say the least.
Via 1UP
Well, wasn’t all of this very exciting. Sony really knocked the ball out of the park this year managing to strike a much better balance between stats and actual game announcements / footage than previous years. Between the 360 and the PS3 I can’t decide which system I’m more excited for over the coming months, and that’s a lot coming from a loyal xbot like myself.
The Sony conference opened with a “hip and with it” montage of the various Sony platforms and the games released for them. Jack Tretton then took the stage and proceeded to put my mind at ease that this wasn’t going to be as bad as Nintendo’s earlier press conference by making jokes at the expense of himself and Sony.
[Header Image lovingly stolen from Destructoid]
Well, the first press conference of the big three has ended and now we’re left to pick up the pieces. At least I can begin on a high note by saying the presentation this year was better than their last attempt, which consisted almost entirely of numbers and statements of how awesome Microsoft is. However the fact that every single live feed went down simultaneously as the show was about to start was just fantastic, even our multi-talented and humble editor-in-chief Wardrox could not get access himself until a good 15 minutes in.
The stage opened to Beatles Rock Band, announcing a few of the tracks available (Taxman, Day Tripper, I am the Walrus to name a few), along with revealing that several vocalists can participate at one time along with the guitar, bass and drums. Abbey Road will be the first full album in a wave of DLC, with the track “All You Need Is Love” being an Xbox exclusive.
The best part of the entire Beatles Rock Band announcement had to be watching them get Yoko Ono out on stage and thank her for her input to the game. You heard that right, Microsoft officially are indebted to the woman who destroyed The Beatles, AND they allowed her input into the game based around their music. Paul McCartney and Ringo Star were then dragged on stage for what I can only assume was one of the highest paid 30 seconds of their lives. Read more →
Though some of you may never guess it with the way I’m always obnoxiously negative regarding the Wii, I was a faithful believer in Nintendo for a long period of time. With my first console being the NES, I had no choice but to get an early start. The years passed. I enjoyed my Mario, my Pokémon, and my various Zeldas and Metroids, though I wasn’t by any means a Nintendo fangirl. I gave my paramours some love, as well, getting in some Sonic and Tempo and then later on even some Mystic Midway. Now, these days I’m more embarrassed than anything when I see the iconic logo.
Satoru Iwata’s keynote “rocked” some lucky attendees to GDC’s worlds, and I have to be honest here – there wasn’t a thing about any of the announcements that tickled my fancy whatsoever. Instead, I kept thinking – “This is what everyone’s been waiting for? These announcements are what everyone is scrambling to report?” Then again, if an image of Shigsy wiping his ass with the insane amounts of money he’s made were flashed onscreen to visitors, then I’m sure that would receive mondo coverage as well.
If you aren’t one of those overzealous gamers who researches every single little tidbit of news that surfaces regarding major conventions, let me sum some of the ZOMGHUEGANNOUNCEMENTS up for you. Brace yourselves – they’re freaking SWEET.
Poor English translations for Final Fantasy XII, Tales of Vesperia and Yakuza are good examples of an RPG’s kryptonite. Final Fantasy XII was a very good game, however the dialogue, story, and cut scenes were let down by the English voice acting. The good parts to these games are left as piles of ruin due to the unprofessional job of handling translations. I can play them for a few hours but I eventually leave the game and never come back.
Now fine translations like Final Fantasy X and Professor Layton have given me hope for localizations and have nailed to the coffin my memories of the dreaded dialogues of Chris, Jill, and Wesker from the first Resident Evil (watch the opening cinematic for that game, then you will see what I mean). Even though there has been progress, my issue here is about video games that don’t include an option for the original language, specifically for the Japanese RPGs. I’d like to see more upcoming international games that ship to the West have these options, like the Polish soundtrack in the next Witcher game, and especially the original language in Final Fantasy XIII, for people like me who are bit picky about how well the characters talk.
When we play our games we often have one or more supporting characters following us around giving us advice and aiding us in our quest/mission/attack. More often than not these characters are assigned personalities to make them feel more human. I thought that it would cheer us all up to think about some of the most depressing of these characters, the ones that bring us down and remind us of the misery of whatever post-apocalyptic war zone we happen to be romping through (depending on the game of choice of course).
Before I talk about some of my favourite (least favourite?) of these I think I should establish some rules. Firstly there should only be one character per franchise. Else I would just be listing City 17’s citizens. Secondly they should be of relative importance to the game be it gameplay or story-wise (“remember to reload, Mr Freeman” is not particularly important advice). Let’s begin.
iTunes