Ben-DutkaI'm actually not home right now; giving you the Week in Review from a remote location. 🙂
Still unsure about Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Okay, so on the surface, it's a positive update: Square-Enix says they're developing Versus XIII with only the PlayStation 3 in mind . That's currently how they're progressing in the creation and design process. Hence, even if they do end up bringing it over to the Xbox 360, it'll have to be a port, which means we can all assume the PS3 version will be superior. As a rule, ports tend to fall well short. However, they also aren't saying the game will be a PS3 exclusive, and it probably wouldn't come as a huge shock to learn they're considering going multi…after all, it's sort of what they do now. This being the case, I just have to ask: they may not be developing it for the 360 but might they be considering that angle, if only vaguely…? In other words, might the designers be thinking to themselves, "gee, we might have to bring this to the 360 at some point so maybe we need to keep that in mind…?"
Get what I'm saying? When it comes to Uncharted 2 or MGS4 or whatever, those developers never once had the thought enter their minds. They did whatever they could to bring out the best of the PS3's hardware, and it showed. Maybe I'm just being overly nervous but the whole situation still sort of irritates me…
Okay, I have some faith in Itagaki…
Yeah, the guy always talks big. Having the "bad boy" image, it's sort of a requirement. Besides, the Ninja Gaiden titles have been pretty amazing over the years and Itagaki was part of a team that routinely produced top-notch presentations. I'm not saying the guy is a stone-cold perfectionist but I think our expectations should be high for Devil's Third . Itagaki's introduction of a "new gaming paradigm" may fly or stumble but for now, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. A game that looks like a cross between a fast-paced hack 'n slash and an over-the-top third-person shooter has a lot of promise; the premise alone is enough to gain attention. We'll have to see more media and gameplay before passing initial judgment, of course, but I believe the game could surprise a lot of people when it finally arrives in 2012.
Personal gaming update
I didn't quite finish Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions but I had plenty of fun with it, and I've also been playing Cladun: This is an RPG for the PSP. It's obviously geared towards veteran, old-school role-playing aficionados; all I can say right now is that if you enjoyed 3D Dot Game Heroes , you'll probably like this. It's more of a straight-up dungeon crawler but the intended audience is obvious. Beyond that, I'll be getting Halo: Reach in a bit, and I still have to review Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 . Oh, and I should have Quantum Theory right around the time it comes out – if not a bit before – so stay tuned for that later this month.
Okay, that's all for now. Long day, so I'm heading off to bed.
I rather liked the demo for Quantum Theory. However, it does not seem quite up to par with the others on my schedule but if it's decent enough I'll probably consider it. Fantasy Versus XIII, well I hope it turns out well, and Devils Third looks pretty bad a** if I may say so. I was rather disappointed with the H.A.W.X 2 demo. Hopefully, Ace Combat will be able to deliver a bit more..
What did you like in that demo for Quantum Theory? It was the worst demo I've ever played.
Last edited by Kangasfwa on 9/11/2010 10:45:05 PM
Charles, Charles, Charles, can I call you Chuck?
You did not like the QT demo. A joke, right?
I'm sorry, it's not possible for anyone to like that demo. A hundred red flags gets raised for a number of things including dang-near game plagiarism.
yeh that demo was baddddddddd
hehe, there's no shot of me getting the game. The only thing I actually liked about the demo is the fact that the enemy's explode lol and no.. you may not call me chuck…
the textures in that game looked so bad it made me cry haha
Charles it is =)
Just tried and deleted after a semi play through of demo was not much I liked about it
I have nothing but faith in Nomura for FFv13.
As do I.
Well considering how helpful faith was for the people in the Spanish inquisition…
Sorry I just had to say it… I do have high hopes for FFvXIII though. I believe this is going to be a wait and see kind of deal. Hopefully TGS will enlighten us to some gameplay and set the negativity positive again. Here's hoping
Last edited by Fatcat3788 on 9/12/2010 1:32:50 AM
I thought I heard something about Versus's online spec-requirements not being allowed on Live, which rather firmly squashed any chances of it reaching the 360.
That's FF14 bro.
True story, it is for 14 and Versus will make the jump to the 360…but lets hope that they use the PS3 to its full potential! Fingers crossed for a great Final Fantasy…
Last edited by Stabs88 on 9/11/2010 10:54:58 PM
Thanks, man. My bad.
It's a shame, isn't it?
MS Live's structure actually inhibits gamers from getting the most out of their online experience; this includes full games being bared from release.
Gabe Newell recently blasted MS for their closed, non-negotiable policies regarding Live; Team Fortress 2 players suffer because of it. FF14 has been put on indefinite hold with S-E claiming that it was because of MS's rigid Live policies that prevents the game from coming over– hear that guys? you're paying for it and are getting less. Epic games wanted to bring the UT3 Titan_pack free to 360 users, but once again, rigid policies prevented them from doing so.
@Sony_Only
The fact that it's even a possiblilty Versus XIII will be ported insures they will not use the PS3 to it's max. When you use the PS3 to it's max you get games like Uncharted 2, God of War III, Killzone 2 and 3 etc. These games wouldn't work on the 360. Versus XIII will have to be designed in the end with the 360 in mind. There for the game will not use the PS3 to the max.
Last edited by Jawknee on 9/12/2010 1:04:49 PM
You're at a girlfriend's place aren't you Ben? You sly devil 😛
I hadn't really contemplated that idea about the devs of Versus XIII gimping the game because of a possible port, rather than something that's already been determined. That's actually quite annoying. I sincerely hope that that isn't what they're doing.
I never got around to watching the Devil's Third trailer, but I did watch a ton of others. Erm, I don't really know about it. Ask me closer to release. I want to know who assigned Itagaki as being the 'badass of games'. I mean seriously, he could just deflate his ego a tad, or maybe pass a bit of it to Kojima. Hmm Ita-jima. Wait, what?
Personal Update:
Where do I start? Alright, I bought R&C: ACiT and plan on playing the Future arc after I finish the two PS3 GTAs. Also bought Bioshock 2. It was really cool because it was sitting on the shelf at JB HiFi for $59. I picked it up, then kept looking, only to see Bioshock 2: Rapture Edition on the shelf for… you got it, $59. So, I got the Rapture Edition with all sorts of slick artwork. So, I'll get to that series after R&C, or maybe before, I haven't decided yet.
I'm about halfway through Part Two of Anna Karenina, but I forgot to take it with me when I headed to the city, and of course while I was down there I went on a book-buying crusade and wound up with: Inferno – Dante Alighieri; Possession – A.S. Byatt; Middlemarch – George Eliot; and the one I read on the way back home Cat's Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut. If you like Vonnegut's dry humour, you'll love it. Many of his jokes make you feel guilty about laughing at them though, so, it's probably not for everyone. Great story though.
I have also decided that I want to get a real internet connection hooked up here, so I'm going to try to broach that subkect with Dad tonight. Wish me luck and persuasion skills.
I could go on, but that's enough for now.
Peace.
P.S. Again I ask, when will we be getting those interviews?
IMO play r&c before bioshock. Both are AMAZING games but for me r&c has a special place in my heart.
Yeah, I have faith in Itagaki, too. He's directed two of my favorite gaming franchises, DOA and NG. Please, Tecmo, before you guys go out of business, bring DOA to PS3 so I can easily say good-bye to paying for xbox LIVE.
Hopefully, Square-Enix makes FFversus without making concessions for lesser storage space and different hardware. It is peculiar that FFXIII had exactly 6.8GB of game data(the max capacity of one 360 DVD). Maybe "all that content" that had to be cut out wasn't for time constraints alone =/
I finished up on Assassin's Creed 2. A great game. I'm not usually a big open-world gamer, but Ubi-soft did well blending stealth into an open-world design. But please don't milk it to death, Ubi!
I've been working on NGS2. I lost my save months ago and I'm working my way back to where I was–Master Ninja will be mine!
Halo: Reach, I don't know anymore. I'm beginning to be ideologically at odds with MS and Xbox. I think they've made some poor choices on the second half of this systems tenure. Nearly giving up on quality in-house games, and hedging their money on buying out timed-exclusitivity deals with third-parties, MS isn't doing much for me these days–Alan Wake may be good, but not my style. Sony said all along(a few years ago, actually) they weren't going to do third-party exclusivity deals. Instead, they've placed that money into quality in-house games that propel the PS brand. Now we have Uncharted, Infamous, Heavy Rain, LBP and other high quality games. MS has started and scrapped so many of their in-house franchises it's beginning to look like all they can do is buy out third-party deals because their in-house stuff isn't doing it. Look at Japan. They put real effort in the early days of 360 to capture Japanese interests (Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon) with no success.
So basically, I'm tempted to break ties with MS and Halo and realize that until MS gets their act together and can become trust-worthy as a leader and not a third-party contract dealer my time is better invested somewhere else.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 9/11/2010 10:50:43 PM
That's pretty much why i sold my 360. I had it for NG2, then when NGS2 was released, i said i'd keep it for ME and Gears. When Gears 2 didn't do much for me (the story felt lame, the gameplay felt monotonous, but the visuals were certainly impressive for the most part), I found ME2 was great, but ME alone wasn't reason enough for my 360 taking up space. So I got rid of it.
Itagaki is no doubt a talented designer and developer. I'll keep my eye open for Devil's 3rd, but won't hold my breathe (it holds a current release date for sometime in 2012 if i'm not mistaken).
I'm kinda waiting for buy 2, get 1 free at the local gamestop, so i can repurchase a bunch of games i sold in the past (p2p transactions)…GOW 3, inFamous, Killzone 2, MGS4, Ratchet&Clank:TOD. Currently, I want to finish off LBP before the sequel is released. I'm going to play some U2, Wipeout, Motorstorm 1 & 2. I loved Demon's Souls, but the idea of incessantly grinding deters me from picking up another rpg for a while (like FF13), though I am looking for a copy of Valkyria Chonicles.
Yeah, grinding games wear on me, too. There was just one spot I grinded for a while on FF13. It's in these mines while taking a tunnel away from Gran Pulse. The combat droids, Hoplites, gave good TP and they were quick to destroy.
Yeah, I'll keep my 360 around. I promised my wife I wouldn't sell it =)
Not that she likes it; I just have a bad habit of selling things and then re-buying them. DOA4, NG2, Orange Box, Mass Effect and Bayonetta will be it's purpose =)
I totally regret having sold my two Motorstorm games. I loved the first. I got golds on every event but two. While I thought PR was mostly better, I felt some of the visuals didn't wow me like the first game did. The original PSN demo level was nearly hideous. Maybe the PS3 just handles barren dessert land and rocks better than dense foliage (some bad draw-in).
I can't believe that I still don't own Uncharted 2. I actually haven't owned either Uncharted game. I loved them as rentals. I just haven't gotten around to buying them. And Uncharted 2 deserves a buy.
I think they made some sacrifices in MotorStorm:PR to keep the overall performance consistent with the 4 player-split-screen, which wasn't in the first (and was one of the complaints against the first). But overall, i liked the visuals of both games (and the soundtracks were raging, too).
And, S.Temujin, congrats for being married early. Marriage ages have been steadily increasing due to increasing school-loan debts and such, so it's a good thing that you're ahead of the pack (and didn't have to pick between a loving wife and the joy of gaming!)
U2 is really a keeper. I'm not a big shooter-fan, but between the well-crafted mp, and a sp campaign that even keeps me coming back to it, I don't plan on selling this gem. A couple games like KZ2 and R&C:TOD, i gave away to a young cousin and a good friend, but i plan on repurchasing them. I traded in inFamous and GOW3 after platinuming them, but find myself wanting to replay them even more, so i hear you about no wanting to have to sell and repurchase games.
Ah, well, I'm 31 years of age and I have two daughters so I don't feel like I married that early =)
I work full-time and go to school 3/4 time and I have a rather modest amount of loan debt, for now.
I really wish I stayed in school just after high-school, as I realize now how much I love learning–hear that kids, don't take time off of school to play video-games and fool around with friends; an education is more important.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 9/12/2010 5:32:36 PM
MS uses over a GB for security related data. So that only leaves 6gb plus room left on the DVD for the developer to use for their game.
Hes correct when he says theres only 6.5 or what ever it is left on the disc.
And keep in mind, FFrulez, that for the 360 version the game still isn't working with 3x 6.8GB capacity (20.4GB) like it would have on one disc. Character models and some environment data, music tracks etc., have to be re-written to every disc. Where as on a single disc those elements only need to be stored once. It really is inefficient to have to use multiple discs.
I finished Red Faction's story, but the hunt for the missing guerrilla missions continues. The trophy for doing all 104 is starting to look improbable. I'm stuck at 100.
I've fired up Mercenaries 2 as my next project…..what a piece of unfinished junk that is. I'm gonna need a real good game to play afterward as therapy.
Also this week in the "good times" department, I got a tooth crowned and my boy went for strabismus surgery. A thumbs up if you've had that done!
Last edited by Hezzron on 9/11/2010 11:06:01 PM
I know this is off topic but I really need some help with battlefield bad company 2. I need the trophy demolition man and I can't get it. Please help if you can. My psn is JimNasty03
There's forums for these kind of queries.
Announcement for 360 Versus is only a matter of time.
But I'm just itching to know how the game will play, if it's good then it's good.
As far as gaming goes, I've been moderating myself a lot more than usual. Normally, gaming takes up most of my free time (time not spent at work or with the gf and all that), but I have to get my book done as quickly as possible, so I've not been playing nearly as much as the norm. I've been playing God of War between writing sessions, and recently picked up Dead Space again (I have to replay everything after my harddrive was erased), and complementing those with more Super SFIV and Tekken 6. Outside of the actual gameplaying, I've been keeping up with my fighting game centric blog, http://round1fightblog.blogspot.com/, with some news and a write-up/review of Street Fighter: Eternal Challenge, and working as much as I can on the book — which I just restarted again today. Yuck. I don't know if my self-imposed deadline of the end of September is a reality any longer, haha.
Other than that, I'm quite looking forward to fall's line up through the rest of the year. My eyes are on Spider-Man, Dead Rising 2, Castlevania, Force Unleashed II, and Black Ops. My brain's a bit scattered, so I can't remember what else is coming out. LittleBigPlanet 2, I think. Maybe some others.
As long as they don't go nuts with versus 13 as far as changes I'll give it a try. I am really liking 13 though I will admit some of the classic stuff missing would make it ten times easier and probably more fun.13 is beyond a doubt the hardest one period with nothing coming close to it as far as difficulty. Picking the wrong paradigm at wrong moment can prove to be fatal and I think I have died more times so far in this than in every other FF combined. Bet it being very linear for a long period of time has a lot to do with it. Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers for versus and praying it's not too far off the path we've grown accustomed to.
Lets see:
First off my computer is back from the blue so I can finally type on a key board than trying to manage the PS3 web browser thing.
Recently I have been trying to grind my way through Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. I got this game a while back so I'm trying to finish it up. Story is meh, but the game play is different. I might of accidentally deleted my R&C: ACIT file so it will be a while before I get the heart to go back and try to get the last 2 trophies.
Anyways I will be looking forward to what happens with versus.
Lets just hope Square-Enix has some loyalty left for Sony.
Ha…that ship has sailed.
Only fear I have in regards to FFvXIII is that when it does get announced for Xbox… Are they going to pull that crap they did with XIII and make the Americans wait for the Xbox version again… I am going to have to go break someone if they decide to do it again.
I think your right about Versus XIII Ben. Even the idea that it might go multiplat will force Square to make sacrafices. In the end the game will not be what it could have been because of this.
Yes I know but $$$ keeps talking, its sad.
What would you guys do if in TGS they announced that they decided to change FFv13's battle system to turn-based? xD
i'll be as happy as a 12 year old girl in a justin bieber concert
I'm waiting on a PSXExtreme review of FFVsXIII before making a decision to buy. If it's anything like XIII, it'll be a definite pass for me.
I watched the QVC Sony Move advertisement and I was surprised by how much is actually in the bundle. I was equally surprised to see the navigation controller missing from this bundle as well. Although I think it's an awesome deal, I'm sticking with Amazon. If I had missed the warranty extension on my slim, I would've considered it.
I haven't played much of anything lately, because of an injury to my thumb, but it's better now.
Haha Versus XIII is at least a Nomura game so it will be better than XIII in that regard. But I do know what you mean. If it stays exclusive it will be a day one pick up for me. If it goes multiplat, it goes bargain bin.
im really looking forward to devils third not only because he made my favorite game NG, it also is something new, fresh and original, something that has not been done 15 million times yet! cough COD, cough MoH, cough halo.
nice to see some originality, i mean i can only play the same games so many times before i get bored shitless!
as for quantum theroy its exactly what i was expecting it to be as soon as they announced it going MP.
i was so excited for it, especially since its so much like gears and im a massive gears fan i thought it would be gears of war for the ps3.
o, how wrong i was!
oh well, serves those selfish bastard sellouts right!
fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!
As i type this it's cloudy and rainy outside looks like its a perfect day for football and videogames (go JETS beat thos Ravens).
Well frist off i hope every thing is alright Ben….or are you at/on the way to the T.G.S or am i to early for that. I believe that Final Fantasy Versus XIII will stay a PS3 exclusive. I need more info on Devils Third before i get to hyped.
personal gaming update/plans
frist off i have not been playing much this week except for a game or two of Madden NFL 11 and NCAA Football 11. This weeks games i plan on playing are besides daily helpings of Madden and NCAA Football 11 i will be playing Bioshock 2, God of War Collection, Grand Theft Auto IV, and of course come Tuesday over on my 360 Halo:Reach. Can't wait for tuesday at Midnight :).
Last edited by n/a on 9/12/2010 6:32:15 AM
I thought you "never heard of halo because you didnt play shooters"?
::facepalm::
You related to Anonymous Cowherd?
@Jawknee: NO. and i will try any thing frist before i cross it off my list shooter or not
Haha ever heard of consistency?
@Jawknee: have u ever heard of variety i am not in to one type of like some people *cough* shooters *cough* fighters *cough* RPGs. i like to mix it up a bit.
I got some vicks if you want.
You don't think maybe he was just being facetious with his previous comment about Halo?
Stop heckling the new guy.