Ben-DutkaIt almost seems as if the big news has a holiday tinge to it, even when Christmas is still five months off. 😉
Woah…what's this about a 2-hour FFXIII demo?
Nobody was more upset than I when Square-Enix disappointed all Final Fantasy VII adorers for the umpteenth time last month. They failed to announce any sort of FFVII remake or sequel for the PlayStation 3, and because our hopes were dashed (yet again), it was hard to be excited about a little ol' FFXIII demo in the Blu-Ray "Advent Children" Collection. First of all, it's not even coming out until March of next year, and second of all, we get demos all the time these days. It's not like when Dragon Quest VIII came out and Square-Enix gave us a demo of FFXII; it was more of a novelty back then. But with the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace, demos are popping up on a continuous basis, many next-gen gamers are playing demos almost every week. But hey, we're not talking about a 10 or 20-minute demo, here; apparently, we're talking about a two hour demo! We're not sure if that's 100% accurate, but Famitsu claims it's longer than Advent Children , and that movie is 101 minutes in length. The demo also comes on a separate Blu-Ray disc…
Now, if that's not enough to excite you, then you can't consider yourself a fan of the series. I still remember playing through the FFXII demo and being extremely excited…the visuals didn't even seem possible for the PS2, for one thing, and the gameplay was fresh and new. I thought I'd hate it (I will always love turn-based), but I didn't, because FF always rules. This is why a demo just became my most anticipated release of early 2009. 😉
Will the disc format really die?
Now that we've learned Burnout Paradise is headed to the PlayStation Store , many analysts are starting to wonder: does this relatively small occurrence signify the imminent death of the disc format in the video game world? Will it all be downloadable in five or ten years time? Some will argue the size of such downloads would be far too massive, but I think that's an irrelevant argument…not many using a default 24k modem connection back in the '90s would've considered this new cable/DSL speed to be possible. A computer used to take up an entire room, and it could barely play tic-tac-toe. So there's no telling how many more technological leaps we'll make in the coming years, which is why digital downloads for games aren't impossible in that way. They're talking about the same fate for movies. But is this something the consumer wants? Personally, I like the idea of having a nice case and instruction booklet, and furthermore, I like the idea of a physical video game collection. Something tangible; something I can see and touch.
I guess my point is, it just wouldn't feel the same if I downloaded Final Fantasy XIV rather than doing what I've done for 15 years. Head on down to the store, all excited, pick up my shiny new box with RPG goodness inside, get more excited, go home, unpack it with even more excitement, and when it's all over, place it carefully amongst my collection as the prized possession it is. Maybe other people don't care about this, but I always will.
Personal gaming update
Okay, so I knew Soul Calibur IV wouldn't hold my attention for too long. It really is a lot of fun, but after a few weeks, I've concluded that's enough. So I figured it was long past time to start on MGS4, which I just recently did. I played through the first few hours, and as expected, the game is absolutely fantastic in just about every possible way. I was wondering if I might find something that would contrast with Arnold's review (he gave the game a perfect 10, as did many other sources), but so far, I can't drop the game below a 10, either. Of course, I haven't played it for very long, but damn… The production values are just absolutely insane, and everything about the gameplay is just so streamlined; Konami did all this and still managed to provide some freedom on surprisingly large maps, plus tons of cool gadgets, so I can't find anything wrong so far. Yeah, GTAIV is more my bag, but I will always say that MGS3 had one of the greatest video game stories in history (and probably the greatest ending), and I'm sure MGS4 will deliver as well.
As for the end of the year, when we have to determine a GoY, it's gonna be tough. Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet will probably get into the mix, too, so I have this feeling there's going to be a lot of debate over this year's choice. And we ain't gonna complain about that. 😉
Ben, if you thought that MGS3's ending was the best, you ain't seen nothin' yet! I wont spoil anything, but just you wait once you finally complete it. It will blow your mind! And I too value my physical collection of games. And digital downloads would end gamestop, and would cause lots of other stores to close down, resulting in a ton of unemployed Americans. Which in turn would make our already poor economy suck even more. I dont see it taking over completely, but it will be significantly bigger down the road.
Last edited by Reccaman18 on 8/16/2008 11:03:16 PM
Its great you finnaly started on MGS4 Ben….As for MGS3 having the best ending prepare to weep when you finish that game you wont,smile,smirk,or cry,YOU WILL WEEP OF JOY lol.
I feel the dame way about my game collection. I started laughing when you talked about geting a new game, because I do the same thing myself. As for MGS4, It's gonna blow your mind.
Ur gonna love mgs4 ben, hard to believe u lasted this long without playing such a masterpiece take in evry bit of goodness its all worth it
Disc wont die. Many country still use adsl and dial ups.
Like in asia, most people use 56k dial up / gprs / adsl.
But the adsl internet service is growing.
But its only 1Mbps adsl . . . With about 50KB.s download 8KB.s upload.
Too slow to download games. . .
Dial up and adsl growing in asia because the landlines telephone cables already have great coverage area.
And adsl only use normal telephone cable 😀
I own every FF since FFVII but I know too happy with this one.
The caracters aren't that amazing from what I've seen. Yes we've seen little to nothing, but on design alone they're looking very generic. Recycling looks and personalities.
What's worse is the fact that they're just doing this 'cause they know how far away the US /EU version of the game is.
What I'll probably do is wait for people to sell the demo online lol.
Ben you need to beat MGS IV man, you have NOT seeing what MGS IV is all about. The freaking game is insane, period. Best MGS, best Action-movie, best characters, storyline, gameplay, sound, enviorment and graphics on the PS3 right now! BEAT THE GAME!!
Agree agree agree!
Seriously I still can't believe he hasn't built a tent next to his ps3 just to play mgs4.
That game has been the most amazing experience in a v-game since probably God of War(the original).
I love having a 'collection' of movies, or games and all that. It's awesome. You can read about them in the booklets, and you have covers to store the games. I don't know, but I prefer to have a cover than just a downloaded game. What's the use of that! There's no excitement in it.
i like to collect to. i have big collection of movies, games, baseball cards etc.its pretty fun
yep, best you get MGS4 out the way.. Mercs2 is round the corner 😀 😀
mgs4 was amazing,i was a little bit disappointted by the online tho.but it's still a solid game.
as for the disc dying i dont think so ,mainly do to the space the dev's now hold.MGS4 wouldnt have been possible with-out it and wouldnt this mean a end to xbox360 because of the limts microsoft put on live they wouldnt be able to bring any titles on it,so i dont think microsoft will move this direction any time soon.
Just reserved LBP yesterday at Gamestop…Still a long wait
I think downloads are a nice idea but can't imagine they would ever replace an actual disk and the box it comes in. I take pride in my collection and as you mentioned having something tangible. That would be like getting rid of books because they can be downloaded. There's something about being able to hold the game and admire what you enjoy so much.
Hey,stop talkin bout downloadin takin over,not everyone has access to fast internet speed,am in Africa n we still need discs.Do you know how long it takes to download just a demo?Like 3 days.The whole world aint ready for downloadin of games yet.
Downloadin music n movies is better cause they are mostly in Megabytes n don't take long,games are in Gigabytes,no way i can sit n download games.I guess a full game would take me a MONTH! to download.
I luv to wake up n see my GTA IV casing with Niko n Jacob's face on it,with the manuals n ting NOT on my hard disk,some lil kid could show up n delete it.
BLU-RAY/DISKS AINT BOUT TO DIE N NEVER WILL,YEA SOME MIGHT DOWNLOAD BUT SOME WILL STILL USE DISKS.
disc format will die in another 50 years or so.
By that time they might have highspeed internet everywhere. But I don't see the disc dieing out til I'm long gone.
And my wife and I love our game collection to.
another thing that will keep us from downloading everything is all the special editions that are sold. If you favorite game is coming out it's not bad to drop another $20 and get some garb.
I an I luv fi collect games,downloadin ah bomboclaat!seen.
Huh???
im glad that u are starting it and u wont forget it at the end u will talk about it for weeks on end with every one that has played it and ya when mgs4 came out i was so exited about it i came home at 1am and played till my wife came home and got up and did all night again i dont like down loading anything because something happens u may and may not loss it i know u can all ways get back but its to much of a hassel i think
BEN, DO NOT PLAY MGS4 ON EASY!!!
I recall you mentioning something about playing it on easy awhile ago before you started playing it. Id suggest otherwise. The normal difficulty will be just fine, trust me. The only really hard mode is big boss extreme
For me i still luv my GTA IV,i enjoyed MGS 4 cutscenes n story but gameplay was really dull n slow.I still prefer GTA IV,i already sold my MGS 4
after completing once.
It is not for everyone.
But it is great for A LOT of people haha.
They'll always been those "rotten apples" who don't like something.
Love all the damn weapons you can get and getting through the game ain't no easy task. Can't wait to play it on Extreme.
i agree, i love my game collection. there is something about being able to see all your games in a row and seeing how much its grown over the years. if it all went digital downloads then i think the game industry would take a hit as well as the store chains that deal specifically with games. i like the drive to the store to buy a new game, its almost like an adventure yuh know?
i'm selling back about 6 or 7 ps3 games, the shitty ones:-
ninja gaiden — crap
oblivion — not worth on ps3, pc is better
jericho — garbage
unreal tournament — should have gotten it on pc
the darkness — beat the game, awesome story/characters, not worth having anymore
assassin's creed — where's the trash?
folklore — could NOT stand the interface, absolute crap
and selling 3 ps2 games:-
metal gear solid 2 — gonna get the MGS 1-3 collection set
driver 3 — …. uh
resident evil: outbreak — not worth having
i have like alot of SE's ps2 rpg games and some other ps2 games, no more than 20 titles on ps2 as well!
by selling these things, i can get money and dump it on the big list i am building on pre-order and stuff, i'm getting about 15 games, from ps3, psp, and 4 pc games.
Regarding digital formats, I agree completely. I've been saying the same thing about mp3s vs. CDs for a couple years now. I'd much rather go out and purchase the CD (or in some cases, vinyl LP) and copy it to my computer instead of download the album off of iTunes. I like actually having the physical package with liner notes. So of course I'll feel the same about the same thing happening to video games. I just don't like the idea of having my entire collection wiped out in a hard drive crash :S. In addition to that, you'd be limited on how many games to get due to your harddrive space. I'd much rather just stick to discs, no matter how "out-dated" and "old-fashioned" they may become.
Downloading everything online is a definite possiblitly cause well it's just sort of happening. But it wouldn't take over anytime soon because people love collections. But I do believe that the disc format is dying slowly. That's mostly because everything seems to be able to fit onto much cheaper and faster things. like flashdrives and memory sticks. But hey who knows. Good read Ben.
Thanks guys. Good comments as usual. I know there's a lot left to go in MGS4, and I can't wait. 🙂
Good to see a lot of people agree with me on rather having physical discs than digital downloads. But we'll ALL be considered "old-fashioned" by the time that day comes, though. Don't forget that! LOL
Wow…we're old school because we actually have the games. Can you imagine that?
aaron: Sorry, I did start on Naked Normal. Not the bottom easy one, but the easiest of the two normals. I told you; I'm not too great at games like this, but I'm not finding it even remotely difficult. I don't miss out on any story or anything else by playing on this mode, do I?
no ben its the same nothing changes i played it on easy and normal and my friend beat it on hard and he says nothing changes so your good and i love readying views on things the most i read is on here lmao thanks for that
Last edited by akiris on 8/17/2008 11:34:33 PM
You dont miss out on any of the story Ben it jus makes you feel as the AI is incompetent when they pass you 5 feet away in plain view on ALERT status in my opinion.(I know Im not aaron jus wanted to help give you the answer 🙂