Ben-DutkaI just can't believe that both Final Fantasy XIII and God of War III are only weeks away… Time flies.
Who will follow in Quantic Dream's footsteps?
When I heard David Cage say Quantic Dream's latest masterpiece was the final entry in his own "personal trilogy," , I felt a little disheartened. The team has said they wish to experiment with other technologies, like 3D and the new motion sensing systems coming this year, and that sort of implies they may leave the "interactive drama" behind. We already know they have absolutely no intention of making a sequel to Heavy Rain – which I certainly respect – but they pushed the industry so far forward with this latest one, it seems tragic to abandon the path they've blazed. At the same time, though, I also have to recognize that for this game to be a true storytelling revolution for gaming, other designers need to build upon it. The only problem I have with that is, who ? The first person that springs to mind is Hideo Kojima, of course, but I'm not so sure he's interested in the idea of an "interactive drama."
I'm afraid that the new intellectually-driven genre forged by Heavy Rain will die out before it ever really gets going. It's great that the game has received such fantastic reviews (even Cage admitted he didn't expect it; he thought the critics would be more split, as I anticipated) and the pre-order numbers continue to rise, but what about the future…? Who will carry the torch now? Why do I get the feeling Quantic Dream can't really give me the same experience with anything that centers on motion sensing or 3D? I'd hate to see Heavy Rain become a "first and last" type thing…
If you don't want to make a FFVII remake, just SAY so
Really. Nobody buys your ridiculous explanation as to why such a project is out of the question. There's no way on earth any game project would take that long; gamers and journalists aren't totally ignorant, you know. I'll believe you if you simply say you don't have the time and/or resources; I'll believe you if you say you don't believe there's enough interest; I will not believe that a HD remake of Final Fantasy VII will somehow take "3-4 times as long" as it took to make Final Fantasy XIII . I think it's abundantly clear that Square-Enix simply has no intention of undertaking such a project, so why not just say that? Why make up insanely illogical and irrational estimates? You know, through all the years when this rumor survived, S-E never once said, "nah, we don't feel like doing that." No, it's always some vague, obscure, "well, maybe…who knows…it's hard to say…" blah blah blah. And now, they're quite literally inventing excuses. What is so hard about coming clean?
You don't want to do it. Fine. Just come out and say so. Please .
Personal gaming update
I'm playing Bioshock 2 now, which is great. There's no better word to describe it. The review will be up soon but I'll say this: if you enjoyed the original, I can't think of a reason why you wouldn't like the sequel. I've also played a lot of Aliens vs. Predator ; you'll be seeing that review late Monday night (I think), and although it's a fun game, I wouldn't expect too much in the way of overwhelming praise. I've had to put aside Heavy Rain while I've moved on with work, but I'll go back and finish my fourth play-through well before FFXIII gets here. Oh, and Sony sent me the actual retail copy, too, so I don't have to buy it; that silly silver test disk for the review comes in a clear plastic case and looks like hell in my collection. I needed the actual game so I'm glad I got it. I didn't really need to know that the real-life Madison was quite that hot, but oh well, gotta take the bad with the good.
I'm almost happy Gran Turismo 5 is a long ways off. March is crazy with those two huge games and in all honesty, the games have been coming hard since January. I need a break. LOL
When I'm 29, I'll expect a FF7 remake to be around the corner… Lol.
I'm 28 and I'm still patient about the whole thing. I've always been a fan of keeping original works as is. If it happens I'll buy it, if not oh well FFVII hasn't aged one bit since the day I bought it. I do get rather annoyed by SE's continued decision to bring the subject up in vague ways.
Didn't know we were the same age Vertigo.
You're a few months older than me, ha!
I have no clue about how long a development process would take but do you think assuming they did a remake, they would do it entirely in 3D? maybe that can cause it to take that long?
I still don't think one is coming but would that seem to be reasonable?
I think the real reason you won't see a FF VII remake is due to the fact that yes it will take substancial resources, but they don't think they will make return on investment. Diehards will buy it, but are their ENOUGH diehards to sell this game somewhere at least in the 3 million range?
That is probably what SE is thinking, but don't want to make that public.
Anybody who is looking at the FF series from the outside just thinks FF WTF.
An average punter will just ignore a VII remake thinking it is older than XIII and leave it on the shelf, or out of their virtual shopping basket.
which will arrive first FFVII in HD or DNF?
I think FF7 HD will arrive before Ben gives away that Blue PS3. Does the thing even exist?
I don't think it does.
I thought it was just a PS3 with Ben's porn collection on it.
hey ben.
have you seen anything about david jaffe at the DICE conference? where a guy yelled as jaffe walked on stage "wheres twisted metal?" and jaffe replied "soon b*tch, 8 or 9 months". ? sorry its so off topic but i trust you more than any gaming journalist. i had just read it somewhere and wanted to see if there was any truth to it.
P.S. let me get that silver disc off ya? j/k
Um no, that's news to me. I wonder if we'll hear anything official soon…
i read it on a site called cheatcc . com in the latest news category. i dont know n e thing about the site or if their credible. check it out see what ya find out.
Yup, though kind of random, and silly, that was pretty much official. Read it in a couple places, too.
It did happen, hell Jaffe would do something like that lmao. And also he posted an explanation on his blog about it. He wasn't being mean at all…they were just throwing words at each other and having a little fun.
Oh and Jaffe actually thinks the guy who shouted for Twisted Metal was a very drunk Michael Pacther – ROFLMAO!!!
Jaffe's awesome.
Any idea when you are getting a test copy of GoW3, Ben? I'm really anxious to hear your thoughts on it. Other than GT5 its the game i've wanted most since i bought my ps3.
Even if I did have it, I wouldn't be able to talk about it.
We expect to see it soon, though.
Being a game reviewer is sort of like Fight Club. Ben and Arnold are the same person!
Ben, you make a very good point about the Quantic Dreamers… I think Heavy Rain is very unique, even though similar mechanics have been tried before, but never like this…
Regarding if we will ever see titles that are similar in size and scope of Heavy Rain… it really depends on the overall sales numbers and what the gamers think and feel about the game… not so much the reviewers in this case… it is very much a personal experience… how the controls work, the fluidity of the game and the way the story ties together…
The experience of playing this game will be different to every person simply because it is an emotionally charged and driven story, it is not simply a "platforming" game or the like… it supposed to hit you where it hurts… and that needs to be done realistically, needs to be engaging and there cannot be instances where a badly done segment/scene or clumsy controls suddenly take you out of the experience… if you lose it there, you lost your customer for a HR2 purchase in the future…
My worry is that this is "new" (for this generation anyway), therefore people are inclined to want to try this, want to experiment with their own gaming personae to some extent; i.e. I will give it a go, what the heck… however generally it may have never been a game that they would have normally gone for. So a good portion of the games sales could be people new to the genre, wanting to try this out… but question is… will this game genre stick?Therefore, if a HR2 (or something similar) where ever to be released, would the same level of interest be there, or would sales numbers for this type of game begin to diminish if there was nothing more compelling to look forward to.
To get more developers on this bandwagon, the story, characters and technology needs to get better and better, and the game mechanic needs to continue to evolve the immersive component of the product.
I can only imagine an Avatar type game based on the HR engine… but in 3D, high definition visuals, enormous scenes and vistas, large big budget Hollywood type environments and effects… now that is where we need to go, with the possibility if mixing a game style or two… so maybe at some points you are in a "first person" type game play mechanic – once that part of the game is complete, you are back in the HR mechanic for example… I guess it needs to be engaging at multi-levels, mixing traditional game play mechanics with HR cinematic play throughs of certain scenes and situations…
I think overall sales numbers, cost of producing of such a title and time to market will dictate whether or not we see more games like Heavy Rain… if not, I still think HR is a game changer to some degree… game designers and development houses will look at both HR and Uncharted (the cinematic execution specifically) to help plot the course for future game production… leading us to areas where no gamer has gone before…
…now, let's go to warp…
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 2/20/2010 10:47:29 PM
Yeah, this is a business, of course. If Heavy Rain can be considered a success at every possible level, I would like to think other developers would give it a try.
However, as you say, it's very difficult to produce a title that works completely. If any aspect of Heavy Rain was off – the plot, the characters, the voice acting, etc. – it would've fallen well short. It's only so good because everything comes together, and we'd need a studio that's willing to put THAT level of effort into it.
If this new genre is to survive, it must be tackled with the realization that each title will require a TON of effort.
10-12 years?
:flees!::
Yhea, I hear you Ben… it is pretty much as you say basically. No doubt it will be interesting to see how far the Quantic gameplay mechanic can go; and who adopts it similarly and maybe even improves upon it…
Q!
"i am home"
Every once in a while a game comes out that is not very "reviewer-friendly" but I end up loving it anyway, and this time that game is AvP. I've read many reviews reviews for it, all the complaints, but I simply DON'T CARE.
I loved the demo, it's a fun game to play, especially online using the Alien. I know the graphics aren' top notch, neither is the story for each species, but it's gameplay makes up for it, in my opinion. I'm sure PSXE won't give it a 9 or even an 8, but it won't bother me because in my book this game is "perfect".
That, ultimately my friend, is why you play games… to have fun… and if you enjoy it and have a good laugh with your buddies… then that should be enough to settle your mind, that in fact, it was a good purchase and worthy to be in your collection!
By the way, is the new "fixed" version of "AVP" downloadable from PSN? I still haven't managed to have a good go at it yet 🙁
Q!
"i am home"
Yea the new demo is working. They even added more features that weren't in the broken demo, I guess to please and as an apology to the Playstation community. I highly recommend you to download the new demo to give this game a try, It's really good 🙂
Last edited by Charger7302 on 2/20/2010 11:12:32 PM
for me i loved the .//hack games
yest they never score well
Well said Qubex.
Thx World 🙂
Q!
"i am home"
I felt that way about White Knight Chronicles.
*twitch twitch*
-Arvis
Am I the only one who cares about FF and KH as the only thing coming from SE?
I mean, SE has been a joke and aside from FF and KH I won't buy anything else from SE.
The end of this year should also be hectic with lots of potentially great games being released. GTA5, Agent, LA Noire, MGS Rising, Castlevania, Last Guardian hopefully, & the other side gets to play Halo: Reach which is guaranteed to set records sales-wise within that franchise. This might be the best year gaming has had in a while. & the Q1 onslaught of great games isn't even done yet.
@ carlosspicyweinr
There is also an article about that on Playstation Lifestyle. That website is a bit more legit, to me at least. & I know Ben's gotten info from there in the past, so it has to be somewhat trust-worthy.
Week in review time again…
Looking forwards to Heavy Rain greatly. But a purchase will have to wait for SO4 and WKC which are already queued up.
Square Enix has quite simply lost the plot (as they say in the UK). They have absolutely no idea who they are, where they are going or what they should do. Why bother with this BS about a FFVII remake taking more than a decade to do? It's be easier to say NO. I honestly think that SE has lost touch with who and what it used to be. So much so that they can't even stick to the well trodden formula of their own games.
With the exception of Crystal defenders (a nice, cheap game that needs more levels) I have been disappointed with SE this generation. But their slide began earlier. However accepting 30 pieces of silver from MS was the final step. SE has a lot to do to re-earn trust, and re-earn their place among the top-tier game developer/ publishers.
Personal gaming this week has been totally dominated by Star Ocean 4. I read a hillarious review of the game this week that talked about spending the first 10 hours of the game on Aeos fighting bugs. 10 Hours? OK, I admit I was insanely slow and missed the on-screen cue to 'jump'. that probably cost me a couple of hours at most, but 10 hours on that first planet? Are you nuts? No wonder it got a mediocre review. Perhaps next time they should have someone who can play an RPG do the reviewing.
As far as the game goes, it's pretty good. A couple of the voice actors are a bit so-so 'kay, but the dialog is no worse than anything I've seen elsewhere – and occasionally better. The Combat system is real-time, not turn based, but the addition of the 'Bonus Board' and blindside attacks adds some strategy to the fights. This additional element of strategy is very welcome. I like the item creation system, and the game has the usual shops villages/towns and so forth. It looks pretty good, although some of the textures are decidedly last generation in appearance.
Graphically the game suffers from being ann Xbox 360 game, I think Xbox 360 developers use a more limited color palette than PS3 devs. they use fewer colors with higher contrast ranges. I wonder if this is to save space by gaining better compression? Either way, the result is a game that has very bright and stark graphics. They are good though, and the snow environments on Lemuris are quite well done.
My biggest issue with the game 'kay, is that it crashes – a lot. there seems to be this weird bug in the game such that any time there is a transition from the current scene of action into a battle, another scene or a cut scene you need to be careful not to press any buttons on the controller. I've found that if you do you stand a pretty good chance of the game locking up.
Apart from the lockups and the fact that it's real-time not turn based, this is a good JRPG that will keep you busy. The story got going a bit slowly, but is toddling along quite well now. I like it. WKC is next up, and after than Heavy Rain will beckon.
Agreed about the high contrast observation in 360 multis. The only exception I've seen is in NG2/NGS2. The extra time spent on the ps3 version definitely shows in that the colors and textures are much more vibrant or popping, when usually it's the other way around. I only appreciated the difference when I popped both of them on at the same time, and was able to switch back and forth.
I was having fun with SO until about 25 or 30 hours in. At about that point, the battles start to become intensely annoying. Not only do you spend the vast majority of your life in battles but enemies seem to have unfair advantages; they can attack quickly and pin your characters in corners, maul you incessantly without giving you a chance to retaliate, etc.
The combat just got far too annoying; the inconsistencies and erratic nature of that system doesn't show up until much later. But it could just be me. I know plenty of people who finished without seeming to run into this problem.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 2/21/2010 12:54:22 AM
Ah, thanks for the reminder Ben, I was going to mention the frequency of battle in this game, it's ridiculous. You can't move 20 yards without another fight.
I've noticed the arbitrary nature of the combat system when attempting to re-build a broken bonus board. Sometimes enemies that should be wiped out in a single attack turn out to be super-hero versions of the original and instead wipe the floor with you, thus destroying any chance of rebuilding that broken bonus board…
I'm gonna try to slog through this one though, I've leveled the characters pretty well so far, and am picking up additional crew as I go. Of course I'm playing this for pleasure, not a living, so I can perhaps be more lenient about the frequency and repetitive nature of combat.
@Shams,
I don't have a 360 to do a comparison, but I am wondering whether the reduced color palette and increased contrast on the 360 vs the PS3 with a greater color depth is what makes the PS3 look washed our or faded in side by side comparisons? Is it fair to say that when the gamma correction/brightness and/or contrast of the PS3 display has been adjusted properly, the PS3 offers deeper colors?
Last edited by TheHighlander on 2/21/2010 12:43:25 AM
Oh, I was playing it for leisure purposes, too. It was only on the 360 then, remember? 😉
I just loved Star Ocean: The 2nd Story on the PS1 (still one of my favorite RPGs ever) and although I wasn't really taken with 'Til the End of Time, I just had to give The Last Hope a chance. And it was plenty of fun…for a while. I liked most everything about it, in general.
Ooops, forgot that!
I'm playing SO2 on PSP still…
To Highlander:
I've heard that argument as well, but what I heard about the graphics cards is that the 360's does brighter whites, and the ps3's does blacker blacks. Though, from that explanation, one would think the ps3 would be capable of higher contrast, while the 360 is capable of more vibrant colors…Kind of like LCD vs Plasma.
Other differences include better AA and upscaling in 360 (it's a hardwired feature in the graphics card and upscaling is done through a seperate chip where as it is done through software side on ps3), but longer draw distance and polygon count in the ps3 (due to Cell architecture).
I've tried adjusting my TV video settings, but frankly speaking, I haven't compared enough cross-platform titles to give a fair assessment. But, I have played enough games on both systems to see nothing comes close to U2. So, mind over hardware, if you will.
Til the end of time had that same issue, you had to slog through some of the crappiest most horrible constantly impossible fights to get to the meat of the great story. And this only happened later on of course. AFTER all that, I loved it. The key is to take breaks often so you don't get too pissed or run out of patience.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 2/21/2010 2:05:15 AM
@Shams
The AA in the 360 isn't as free as they suggest, but it makes a difference. However both 360 and PS3 GPUs and video hardware display using the standard RGB values. The PS3 has the capability to display either a limited or full range of RGB values. This is useful for most TVs where the TV can't actually display the full RGB range of color. When the TV can't display all the colors at the bright and dark ends, what happens is that some subtle shades that are very bright or very dark are lost and displayed as either black or white. The reason this is done is generally to improve contrast.
If a game is using the full range of RGB values and the TV clips the range in this way it could end up washing out the image. I wonder if the TVs with dynamic contrast can switch to a mode with less contrast to allow the complete RGB range? If so, that could explain why PS3 versions of multi-platform games generally look better if you manually adjust your contrast higher and brightness lower.
Great info, Highlander. I forgot about that option on the ps3 and will give it a test. And thanks also for the info about RGB clipping. I wonder if it is particular to LCD's, because I've seen a huge difference in how the colors "pop" on my plasma, and how muted they look on our family's lcd.
Yeah, I believe it is different on Plasma screens, they don't have to sacrifice color depth for contrast. The newest LCDs with LED edge-lights or LED back-lights with local dimming make things better for the LCDs. the multi-LED back-lights with local dimming are -I believe – particularly good, but expensive.
Did the heavy rain demo also have a problem. Downloaded it a few days and it wont install. frustration! esp after reading Bens masterful review. And i am downloading the AvP demo, how do i know if its the fixed one or not?
worked fine for me, but sometimes a demo can get busted if you are disconnected during the download.
@Day_v,
I had no trouble DL'ing HR, although it took long, long, time to download (took my DSL 1&3/4 hours).
But If you're still having problems with it, unfortunately you're probably going to have to delete it & then re-install the DL again.
Hopefully it will work, but if not, then you'll know it's not the DL itself that's the problem, but maybe your machine's doing something goofy to the DL as it either DL's, or when it's installing.
i dont think david cage meant by heavy rain being his last game based on personal experiences to be his last "interactive drama" game.
thats what they do, and it seems thats what they want to do and they really enjoy it, and well there quite good, and have been very successful.
if you enjoy doing something and make some serious cash off it your certainly not going to stop.
im 100% positive quantic dreams next game will be another "interactive drama" game just the way it should be.
as for bioshock 2 its a BRILLIANT! game, better than the first in every way except storyline.
bioshock had a massive twister that fell onto like 100 tuns of bricks.
never saw that coming, and thats what i loved about it, everything was a massive shock.
bioshock 2s story is great it gives you more insight to what happened to rapture.
why it turned into a hole.
how little sisters became little sisters.
how big dadies became big daddies.
and introduces you to some of the people who had a massive impact on the creation and mold of rapture, more so than andrew ryan.
but it lacks that punch, that wow i did not see that coming.
and its actually quite suspenseful, there are some parts i was constantly shifting behind me yelling WHAT WAS THAT!
and the big sisters are a sure recepie for soiled pants.
all in all bioshock 2 was a brilliant game, its just a shame they skimped on the story.
as for AVP well the less said about that the better.
ill keep it short.
AVP is THE biggest disappointment of my entire life!
imagine being promised a Ferrari enzo for your Bday than getting a sack of potato instead.
AVP is more disappointing than that.
cant say its the worst game of all time, but its not far and its certainly the most disappointing.
i seriously can not believe PSM3 gave it a 9.1
WTF????????????????????????????????
case in point that is EXACTLY! why i never trust reviews.
I almost forgot about you! … your words!:
https://temp.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/6369.html
it would be nice, since both TLATD and TBOGT are both better than GTAIV, which is kinda sad.
but its a little late now, id like to think R* has moved on to other projects and so have i.
besides this is not the first time this has sprung up, i remember reading a few articles saying the DLC was a 6 month exclusive deal, thats confirmed 100%.
well its been more than 6 months since TLATD came out and still nothing announced, so looks like that 100% confirmed was a utter load of BS.
so i wont be surprised if this is to.
in fact if either TLATD or TBOGT comes to the ps3 i will dye my hair pink and take ballet lessons.
Last edited by Oxvial on 2/21/2010 11:56:43 AM
what?
all the GTAIV DLC is coming to ps3.
it was announced last month, release date is march 30th.