Forum - View topicThe X Button - Stretching Ahead
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EnigmaticSky
Posts: 750 |
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Eh, it's gaining momentum. Patience young grasshopper. Also at least it has something unique. Xbox One and PS4 (and I'll throw in not brandest newest PC's too. Yeah, I'll go there) are practically the same console at the moment, so it at least has that.
I can't imagine it doing quite that poorly; I think at the very worst it will be another Gamecube, which I personally think deserves more love. 3DS everyone said was dead on arrival, met with the same criticism, but is now perfectly respectable. It may not be the same, but if it ends up like the GCN there are worse things to be. They've also been courting more third party support than then, so who knows. Off topic but I do need to pick up a Dreamcast at some point if just for Shenmu, and the Wii's library is too easily discounted. I agree on both points. I actually have pretty much equal numbers of Wii and PS3 games, so yeah. And the Vita does have a handful of games, but little that is "I have to play this and will spend hundreds to do so." What you listed I would like to have, but won't go rushing out to buy a vita to play. I'll probably get one eventually, I do want it, but it'll be a long while. As far as ports go, they have their place. I just personally usually would rather play it on the big screen at home and have an original title for when I'm on the go. How is One Piece Unlimited Adventure thus far? |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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For 2015, the video game I am most looking forward to playing is Rodea. Ivy the Kiwi and Monster Manor/StreetPass Mansion show that he still knows how to make a very fun game, and it'll be interesting to see what his next attempt at a mascot will play out after Sonic the Hedgehog and NiGHTS.
As far as electronic gaming, however, some of you know I keep my ear pressed to the ground with pinball, and I think 2015 will be a fabulous year for pinball. America's Most Haunted has already been released, and 2015 will also see the Medieval Madness remake, The Big Lebowski, Full Throttle, Aliens 35th Anniversary, The Hobbit, and possibly Predator and Experts of Dangerous. Also WWE Wrestlemania, but I don't really care for that one much. Nor do I care much for Lexy Lightspeed: Galaxy Girl or Cosmic Kart Racing, but the Multimorphic platform they're on does show much promise if 3rd-party teams work on it. As much I'd like to see Magic Girl and Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland released in 2015, they seem to be stuck in development hell due to John Popadiuk's perfectionism. He is the George Broussard of pinball, though he does have a lot of talent.
I noticed this sort of thing died down a lot around when Jack Thompson was disbarred. Such a controversy will be much harder to reach the mainstream news without his help. But calling Senran Kagura as "Sin-Run Caligula" would be awesome. Wait, wasn't that already done with EA's Dante's Inferno? Come to think of it, I wonder if that also stopped video game protests for a while because its protest was found out to be fake.
Depends on where you look, really. I think what's going on is more with age than with popularity. Video games are no longer the new thing kids are spending all their time with that causes parents and church groups to feel uncomfortable. I think there's also greater awareness of ratings systems and what they're for, so there are more people who understand that games with this sort of controversial content are meant for "Mature" gamers (well, that's what the ESRB calls it). At its core, the intent would be that the only people who should be playing these games are the people, well, mature enough to not be overly influenced by such content. And, of course, we have the rise of mobile gaming, which the public considers video gaming too. The people who once criticized video gaming for having inappropriate content and calling for the medium's entire removal are now playing Bubble Witch Saga and such. We still have a long way to go though. I still see a lot of video games as babysitters due to lazy and/or bad parenting, but even without video games, these parents would've found something else.
His point is that no new Metroid game was released in 2014.
The one that came to mind for me was the Gizmondo (not to be confused with Gizmodo), since it was found out to be a product of the Swedish Mafia and a part of a ponzi scheme, though aimed at developers more so than gamers. That's the only game system to my knowledge that deserved to fail, and it did.
I remember hearing about how the PS3 was quick out of the gate, but its sales were mainly going to home video theater fans who found the PS3 was, back then, the cheapest Blu-Ray player on the market. Considering I was hanging out with people at my university's film department back then, this was practically all I was hearing about the PS3. Last edited by leafy sea dragon on Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:37 am; edited 1 time in total |
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ikillchicken
Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Todd, I like your column, I generally agree with you, but I gotta say this might be the most wrongheaded thing I've ever seen you write. The last thing we need is more "real controversy". Years of "real controversy" from the likes of Fox News or earlier incarnations are one of the major factors in turning the gaming fandom into such a collection of reactionary shitbirds to begin with. I mean, there's a lot of factors at play of course, but easily one of the biggest is just how much legitimate crap games have taken in the past. It was precisely that which fostered this mentality too many gamers have where everyone is out to get them. To them it was gamers against the world and anyone who criticized them was just a clueless, ignorant fear-monger who didn't understand them. Except, that's not actually true anymore by and large. I mean sure, it still happens from time to time, especially when news outlets want to spin the latest school shooting. But we're miles away from where we were in the mid '00s (let alone the 90s). There are no real serious campaigns beyond maybe fringe groups against games anymore. And meanwhile, a whole new generation of people, people who actually know and like games themselves have emerged seeking to analyze and criticize games as a serious medium (just like every other medium). The trouble is, a ton of gamers still kept the old attitude and pretty much adopted it universally. What was at one time a valid reaction to unfair stigma and attack became the reflexive amorphous hate mob we see today that thinks critical analysis is evil, any and all criticism is censorship, and anyone supporting it is "not a real gamer". It's this attitude that creates precisely the gamer v gamer controversy you're opining. And it exists predominately because of past "real controversy". So yeah, real controversy can fudge right the hell off. The absolute last thing we need is for a real controversy to come along and affirm these people's attitudes. And for that matter, screw uniting too. I have no desire to be united with these shitbags. I'd rater be against them than have to grudgingly agree with them because they happen to be right for once in response to Fox or who the hell ever.
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Stuart Smith
Posts: 1298 |
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I actually feel kind of sorry for Jack Thompson. If he'd have waited just a few more years he'd probably have tons of support behind his views rather than being run out the door. Now you see a lot of other people coming in and stealing his thing and getting credit and popular for it. He was before his time.
What's unfortunate is when you hear about games purposely nerfing one version of a multiplatform game so that it can be more inline with the weakest version of a game, usually the Xbone version. If companies are going to play middleground and not utilize the full power of a machine for the sake keeping on Microsoft's good side, then it begs the question why specs matter at the end if some companies will just aim for the middleground. I realized just how much of a third-party machine PlayStation is when I saw PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale's roster list. It was an attempt to copy Nintendo's Smash Bros, but most of the roster was filled with third party characters, or first-party characters that had very little personality outside gruff, angry white-guys like the guy from Killzone, the guy from Infamous, the guy from Dead Space, guy from Bioshock, and so forth. Definitely not as fun or varied as the cast of Smash Bros. I don't think the WiiU will ever match PS4, but then again the WiiU is not aiming for the PS4 market. The difference in specs and controller make it obvious it's doing it's own thing. And now with Amiibos making lots of money, game and console sales are not necessarily the only way to make money off the WiiU. I see the WiiU returning Nintendo to the N64 and Gamecube era where they weren't on top but we're very good at doing their own thing. -Stuart Smith |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Yeah, it's weird seeing a roster of what's supposed to be characters associated with the PlayStation line and not see Crash Bandicoot or Spyro the Dragon in there, for instance. That's because both of those franchises went multiplatform after a while despite them being the earliest faces of the PlayStation, with Crash intended as Sony's answer to Sonic the Hedgehog.
It's the problem a system manufacturer has when it relies much on 3rd-party support: It really doesn't have a solid identity of its own the way Nintendo or SEGA do. I would like to see more output from Sony in-house, since it's perfectly capable of good games, but I feel like Sony doesn't trust its own development teams. |
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Shippoyasha
Posts: 459 |
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Funny thing is, BBC did a yet another stupid hit piece on anime like the industry is selling child-porn equivalent in the mass market.
So this kind of witch hunting will simply not go away. It's really up to the fans to educate people.... CONSTANTLY. Also, whether people agree or disagree with sexual content in games, I do think that it should never come to a point of actual censorship, whether via government or even through game stores. I feel that people who like sexual nature in games often are put on the defensive and it's kind of unfair that they never get a fair shake whenever something becomes 'controversial'. Same for some people who have to stand up for violence and other heady topics in games. Having critique is all fine and good, but I hope everyone remembers that there's a fanbase for a lot of these things, and that's why they're being made in the first place. |
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DJStarstryker
Posts: 140 |
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Same. As a long time FF fan (VI was my first, during the actual SNES-era), I can say that every single FF has its flaws. The XIII trilogy was fun to me. Anyway, about the Wii U and Vita - I personally just bought both. They finally have enough games that I think I'll get my money's worth of fun. I no longer buy consoles at launch and hope stuff will come out in the future. There has to be a bunch of games out NOW that I want. I waited about 2 years for the Wii U and 3 years for the Vita. Even if they fail tomorrow, I'll be happy with my purchase just based on things out today. For the future though - I think the Wii U has a lot more potential for great games. Will it ever sell as well as the Wii? I don't think so. The Wii had a lot of people who had never touched video games before buying it because of Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and other titles like that. For those people, they are still happy with their original Wii or it was a fad for them and they've moved on. Despite buying the Vita though, I'm starting to think it's on life support, based on the game release schedule. I don't know if it'll be around for the longer term. Maybe another year or two. |
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mdo7
Posts: 6284 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Got a bit of bad new from Japan via IGN. The console and software sales in Japan has hit 24 years low.
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2093 |
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I didn't mean necessarily in sales, but that it's a system that only so many people own but years later it's looked by fondly for those who recognize it did have a solid library even if it wasn't the largest. Persona 4 Golden (which does have PLENTY of content added) and Gravity Rush were the ones that made the system a must-buy for me, but I've enjoyed most of the other games I've gotten for it too. I also really need to get around to getting Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward (multi-plat, but I've heard the Vita version looks much nicer), one of the guys I follow on Youtube actually had it as his Best Game of 2012. Haven't played One Piece yet, and lord knows how long it will be when I do get around to it. I have countless games in my backlog. Heck, I still find myself buying PS2 games I don't have (have probably close to 100, and still there's plenty to get. Man that library was incredible) so I doubt I'll ever fully catch up. |
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AiddonValentine
Posts: 2234 |
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That's why it just baffles me even more; there's nothing about it that is very enticing from a features standpoint. |
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Ultimatum
Posts: 162 |
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Funnily enough, I just finished playing FF13-2 the other day. I really, really enjoyed it, for the most part, even though I'd never played FF13 (FF12 kind of put me off the series, since I felt while it was well-done, the characters were pretty bland and cities and quests were organized in an irritating/overly complicated way). The towns in FF13-2 were much more fun, with most NPCs chattering out loud with maybe 5 interactible ones per area. It made finding quests easier.
I liked Serah a lot, and Noel was pretty engaging, but wow, that "ending." I knew beforehand that spoiler[Serah was going to die] because of Lightning Returns spoilers, but wow was the way they did it insulting. In the last 3 minutes of the game, with a "To be continued," at that! I'd heard Toriyama was a trolling creator, but that isn't trolling, it's incompetence. He gets much too much credit. When you pull a "twist" like that, you either end the story there and call it a spoiler[tragedy], or continue the story within that game to find a way to explain and possibly solve the problem. You don't cash-grab at the last second when the story could have so easily been ended with barely any loose ends. How could anyone think it was a good idea? I just...wow. I was neutral on Squeenix before but now I'm just disappointed. Wonder how many fans decided to pretend the last 3 minutes never happened and that the FF13 series ended there? I know I have. And that turned into a rant. Sorry! In conclusion, Toriyama's successfully leveled up and earned the title of "Hack." |
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Fedora-san
Posts: 464 |
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That's an interesting way of looking at things. Do you consider Fellowship of the Ring a cash grab because it ends with a main character dying and the heroes on the run? Is Empire Strikes Back a cashgrab because it ends with the heroes defeated and on the run? That's kind of how trilogies are, especially middle entries. They have no real beginnings and no real endings, they bridge the beginning part and the ending part. Just seems a bit odd to criticize the second entry in a trilogy for ending on a cliffhanger, especially if you never played the first game to begin with. |
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Ultimatum
Posts: 162 |
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Was it announced as a trilogy when it first came out, though? I don't know if it was or not, since I wasn't interested in FF news back then, but from what I've read about it after the fact (tvtropes, mainly, so not like it's a great source, but hey) it seems like a lot fans didn't really expect or need the sequel to FF13 in the first place. Also, this is a JRPG, not a western novel series or movie series. I've never played a JRPG that ended with "to be continued" after something like that. Heck, I don't think I've played a game that ever ended like that. Moreover, my main issue is in the way it was presented. It seemed like everything it great, everything is fine, and then they drop that sequel hook (in the last 3 minutes, as I've been saying) after what could have been a perfectly satisfying ending. It's not simply that it was a sequel hook--it's that it was a sequel hook when there was absolutely, positively, no reason to do so. It was a sequel hook when they took 40 hours of my time and could have easily ended it there. They didn't need another 40 hours to do this. The characters were fleshed out enough, the world had been exploited enough for the player to understand it (so no more worldbuilding needed) and the plot had been mainly resolved. And then you get the kind of twist that should be used to start off the act 3 plot or something, the typical spoiler["Nothing you did really mattered, things suck"] plot twist. It isn't original, it isn't trolling, and it isn't needed. So, yeah, that's why it's different from Tolkien, at least--he needed thousands of pages to flesh out his world and characters. The story wasn't finished. My problem wasn't with spoiler[her death, though I was still pissed because I liked her as a character--I knew it was coming]. My problem is with how blatant and unneeded it was. |
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2093 |
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Actually, I just pretend only the first game happened. That ending was totally conclusive and didn't need any follow-up IMHO. Unlike FF X where they actually had a scene that suggested a sequel. |
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AiddonValentine
Posts: 2234 |
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FF13 was never intended as a trilogy; at worst, it had a few spinoffs planned with FF vs XIII and FF Agito XIII. However, it goes to show how wrong trying to make FF13 its own series failed when vs XIII became FFXV and Agito became Type Zero. No one was craving an FFXIII sequel and especially not a second one. The FFXIII series can best be described as Toriyama trying to convince an increasingly hostile audience that he's not the worst writer in Square's entire history only to fail at every turn. Seriously, someone needs to boot him downstairs because he's just not doing anything but damage |
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