Ben-DutkaA new year, a new generation. What more could you ask for?
So, whatever happened to PlayStation Move?
The instant it happened on the Wii, everyone viewed it as the next big innovation in video games. I saw it as nothing more than a gimmick, and gimmicks have life spans. The problem is that inherently, gamers do not want to move when playing their games; an additional problem arises when you're talking about depth and accuracy. In no way will ever moving my arm about be a fraction as precise as pressing a button. It's not a technological limitation; it's just comparing room for error. With the press of a button, there is no error. It's logical. All motion sensing has really done is make most core games more awkward and in my estimation, not half as immersive. It's great for certain things, but not for core games .
With PlayStation Move, Sony tried to prove that hardcore gamers will embrace that gimmick. They didn't. One could argue that Move never really got a killer app but let's face it, what could they have made specifically for Move that would've resonated with core gamers? Nothing would've worked, I think. And lo and behold, just a few years later, and the Move basically feels like an afterthought; Sony hasn't mentioned in a long time, if you haven't noticed. Kinect is perhaps a bit more important for Microsoft just because it's seen as "cooler" with no physical instruments necessary, and – I'll repeat it again – Xbox has a much larger casual following.
By the way, a perfect example of why Move doesn't work with core gaming is BioWare's obvious reluctance to implement motion control in Dragon Age: Inquisition . Nobody wants it in that game. What's that tell you?
What if Final Fantasy XV really had been – and remained – a PS4 exclusive?
The latest hot rumor is that FFXV was initially exclusive to PS4 . I don't know if that's true or not, but if FFXV sprang from the ashes of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the latter was always intended to be a PS3 exclusive, why not? Well, because the main franchise has since become multiplatform and I can't see Square Enix reverting to exclusivity. No publisher in their right minds would do such a thing these days. But just for the sake of argument, what if Final Fantasy XV was only coming to Sony's new console? Many fans blame Microsoft (indirectly, I imagine) for contributing to the fall of FF; i.e., Square Enix wanted to appeal to the West, the West loved the Xbox, so S-E felt compelled to make a significantly different product.
However, gaming is definitely global now. Things have changed. It's just interesting to consider such an impact; the return to exclusivity of one of PlayStation's greatest exclusive franchises. Yes, it was only on Nintendo before that, but those old enough remember the fallout over FF going to Sony. Going back to Sony would be huge news, but that doesn't mean the developers would bring the old Final Fantasy back, too. No, tragically, that FF is dead and it's never coming back.
Personal gaming update
Gran Turismo 6 is really starting to annoy me, but I'll see if I can finish up. Then it's back to my big games on the back burner, which have been sitting there for way too long. The good news is that January seems mostly bare; I might want to grab that Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition at some point, but it's hardly a necessity. I already reached 100% and I probably wouldn't play through it again; I just tend to want the best version of any game in my library. Maybe it can be a birthday present later on, or something.
Things get much tougher in February; that's when inFamous: Second Son and Thief arrive. The bad thing about inFamous is that it's another giant open-world game, guaranteed loaded with tons of stuff to do. 'sigh' This is one of the biggest reasons why, as I get more pressed for time, I want linear adventures . Thief should be awesome, by the way.
