Your Mom Wants You Playing Final Fantasy

I know she doesn’t say it directly, mom’s are tricky like that, but take it from me, it’s all just an elaborate psychology game she’s playing with your feeble childish mind. Why? Because that’s what moms do, they throw their invisible psychological strings of guilt and weird motivations, playing you against yourself to turn you into who they want you to be, who, if your mom is like any other mother will simultaneously never be good enough, and always will be better than she’d be happy with.

Your mom wants you to play Final Fantasy.

Do I know your mom? Not as well as I’d probably like to (she hasn’t gotten back to me about that seafood dinner), but I know moms (lots of ‘em, oh yeah), and they all want the same thing. Have they ever said so to me directly? Of course not, how often do mothers ever say anything directly? No, just the same way she wants you tuck your shirt in, and gets you to do so by asking sly questions like “Don’t girls appreciate cleaner boys?” she’s trying to spin your psyche to get you to play Final Fantasy and is hoping it’ll someday work.

Maybe all the hype leading up to XIII’s release next year is working on you, but God forbid you’re one of those anti-marketing cats who gets turned off by that kind of hype. Shame on you. You really should make your momma proud and get ready to spin this disc in your PS3 or 360 (depending on how you roll).

Why? Well let’s see: your mom probably wants you to be a good little (nerdy) boy and stay home rather than getting into trouble. Even if she doesn’t approve of video games in general, Final Fantasy is a lesser of all the other evils, and comes with some unique benefits:

Morals

Final Fantasy always has a  love story at its epicenter, and this sort of thing gives us the example of fealty and lasting love that we should work to find and honor in our lifetimes. Whether you’re Cloud, pursuing the preservation of the memory and mission of the girl you lost, or Squall, finding himself and becoming a true hero for Rinoa, or Tidus, willing to face his own mortality and being for the sake of his love, you’re finding a powerful story about heroes and their devotion to their loves and how far they’re willing to go to honor and protect it.

The game’s most recent trailer from TGS (which you can view here at IGN) shows the love story between Snow and the main character’s sister. It’s clear that this will function as a major pliant and motivator for Snow throughout the conflict and fight for their world.

Even beyond love though, you’re given examples of honor, friendship, and integrity. Every Final Fantasy has had their role models and everyone who has played a Final Fantasy game has a character they, in some way, look up to. That’s just your mom trying to slip some role models your way.

Intellectual Stimulation

Yes, the games can be played by little kids, but there’s a lot of depth in any Final Fantasy for people to pick up on. From the strongly Marxist overtones of VII’s story, to the commentary on religion and political conflict therein of X, all the Final Fantasy’s bring a narrative with deep themes that, strangely enough, allow for a good amount of intellectualizing in themselves, but also for an interesting commentary on the world we know.

Shinra’s capital control of the world and Midgar specifically, even over the Mayor Domino is a frightening example of the capitalist system gone unchecked. X’s Al Bhed vs. Yevon conflict bears evident parallel between Christian and Islamic cultural and societal conflicts, but also bears a fascinating ethical commentary on the associations of ignorance with religious practice, as well as allowing religion to dictate ethics and policies in society with regards to useful technology and other advancements.

Aesthetic Appreciation

Finally, all mother’s want their children to have a touch of class and taste for the finer things about them. From good writing and plot structure (compared to a lot of movies and especially among video games), to production value, artistic style and even music, Final Fantasy brings a lot to the table, and does so superlatively.

Nobuo Uematsu’s musical contributions to the series are timeless classics that regularly sell out concert halls when orchestral concerts are put on for them. The art styles for character designs are directly influenced by artistic periods and movements that, if you take a stroll through your local art museum(s) may strike a chord with certain artists and movements.

Creativity and Imagination

Every mother wants her boy to be a beautiful and creative snowflake, and sure, there’s nothing unique about playing a game that millions of other people are bound to play, but these are the kinds of games that inspire people. Some in more poignant ways that others, but there’s nothing to deride about someone’s imagination being enlivened by something like this (even if it leads to hordes of poorly written Fan Fiction).

Trust me, make your mom happy and put Final Fantasy XIII on your little wish list. That way I can tell her what a good influence I’ve been on you over that seafood dinner.

Final Fantasy XIV Online – XI’s Redemption and Why Now’s the Time for It

There have been mixed reactions to the announcement (and premiere video) of FF XIV Online. Announced at Sony’s E3 Press Conference, it’s been promised to be PS3 exclusive. Why did this announcement not send the kind of ripples of excitement through the underground that FF XIII’s lost exclusivity did last year? Undoubtedly the last word in XIV’s title.

Memories are still fresh of Square’s endeavor in FF XI Online back on the PS2 and original XBOX in 2004. The game never attracted the kind of numbers that mainline FF games did, and it certainly never achieved the kind of following or infamy that World of Warcraft today boasts. However, there is a pocket group of players who bought into the game and found something worthwhile in it, and who still play in the epic world to this day. Certainly, to those who tried it, the game was a gem worth exploring.

However, the underwhelming success haunts the wait for FF XIV today. People worry that XIV will be another disaster, but how could it be? FF XI was limited back in its own time because high speed internet connectivity was much less widespread. I, myself, Final Fantasy fan that I am, passed on XI if only because I did not have high speed internet in my home. From my experiences and knowledge, the same could be said of the many other people who were on board for X and XII: the average consumer wasn’t technologically positioned to take advantage of the system Square was pushing (in America anyway).

Today, however, we stand in the right depth of the pool of connectivity. With so many millions of people subscribed to the PSN, it’s evident that Square can count on better potential numbers for its upcoming hit. As much as the numbers have been getting high, the series hasn’t lost its heart. I’m only sorry that I was right in anticipating FF XIII’s delay to 2010 (banners hung from a building near the Convention Center for E3 promised the game’s release in 2010).

E3 2009

Where to begin? Ever since I first read about it in the pages of PSM, going to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has been a dream of mine. This summer, I finally managed to get in, and it was just about everything I’d dreamt it was. Booth babes smiled brightly at most (if not every) booth and setup, there were hundreds of game demos to play on site, swag galore and announcements that actually stopped my breath.

First off the big names: Microsoft & Sony. Both unveiled their own adaptations of the juggernaut, Nintendo’s Wii motion controls, to varying effects and intents. Microsoft’s “Project Natal” is purely camera based, and reads player motions to control the onscreen Microsoft Avatar. As of right now, it can make you XBOX Live avatar dance. It would seem that Microsoft aims to tackle and sup from Nintendo’s casual market with their similar colored (at least on the low end models) box.

Sony, on the other hand, did it right. The developers demoed their own motion control, a wii-mote like prototype that works in conjunction with the PS Eye. While this technology does not read one’s entire body, it does offer truly 1:1 motion reading. From basic hokey ideas, like “throwing spells” in an RPG, the developers moved onto showing the more extensive capabilities of the device’s precision. The best example was the use of a sword in a virtual arena against a dummy avatar. The developer using the controller was able to be so precise as to call specific parts of the enemy to hit, even going so far as to poke the enemy in the eye.

Some other highlights?

The incredibly snug feeling PSP Go. If you ever hold the PSP and wonder why it’s as wide as it is (which I do), the PSP Go solves that. I am throughly inclined to imagine that the lack of a disc drive (the thing boasts a 16GB flash memory standard), will only help the battery life. if the Go functioned as a phone, I may have fallen out of love with my iPhone on the spot.

Final Fantasy XIII unveiled a new and much more robust trailer than any yet seen. I’ll be devoting a full article to just that video alone, but the big news came when everyone’s jaw was still on the floor from the FFXIII video: an announcement video of FF XIV Online (14 for those of you unfamiliar with roman numerals). Yes, it is going to be another Online iteration of the series (possibly in the same world/universe as XI since the video had the world “friends must once again join hands”). The biggest bit of this surprise? PS3 Exclusive. In a world where the trend has begun to look like what Sony has, Microsoft has (but not vice versa), Sony unveiled this news in the same week it released its mega hit, Infamous (expect a forthcoming, glowing review of the game from yours truly as well).

The last news I’ll address in this article is Beatles Rock Band. I first heard the news of Beatles Rock Band back when it was a rumbling rumor and I immediately thought it was a cash cow whoreson of a piece of crap that would make me rue having paid Harmonix for even the original Rock Band. I eat those words today. The Harmonix developers presented their latest game with such reverence of their source material and aplomb that I can’t help but humble myself and admire them. They’ve recreated historic venues of Beatles performances (Shea Stadium, the Ed Sullivan Show, the rooftop performance, etc) to stunning accuracy. They’ve filled the game with an incredible showing of the Beatles’ most beloved hits and some other tracks you probably forgot you loved (they demoed Get Back, Tax Man and I Am the Walrus), and presented some of the more unique aspects of the game that made me love it even more.

In a proper application of “casual gaming inclusion” the Easy difficulty now has an automatic no-fail characteristic so that “noobs” don’t ruin play sessions. In a further effort to bring casual gamers to the fold who may be in it just for their love of the Beatles, Quickplay has every song unlocked from the get go. The coolest thing, that really got to me in terms of Video Game artistry, was based on the Beatles’ later career. While the Beatles started off as a major touring band, the later part of their career was spent in the studio crafting some of their most important tracks. While the Harmonix people recognized that those tracks, and the studios are important settings to recreate, they took the opportunity for something grander. So the studios become “dreamscapes.” As you play through, say, I am the Walrus, the setting warps and becomes a fantastical visual journey representing the song’s tone and message (even sober the visuals were a lot to cope with). Needless to say, I’m excited and psyched.

I have two more days of this to go through, so more will come, but for now, Be very excited for what all platforms have to offer in the coming months. To the people of High Voltage games, I’ll devote a more full bodied preview of your games (which I was impressed by) in a focused preview/impression article. The Nintendo people, although absent from this article, also had their own games that caught my eye, but today was just shy of too much for me to handle and I need to rest up for the next two days of this extravaganza. Stay cool, keep gaming.

For continued E3 coverage, check back here each night of the event. For more up to the minute tidbits, follow me on twitter: abuballoo

Year in Review (Because it Always Looks Better in Retrospect)

I’m a bit obsessive compulsive and love 3’s and 7’s. In order to keep this relatively brief for your sakes, I’ll be keeping this to groups of three. 2008 was an awesome year in many ways for video games and I think a look back would be a wonderful way to go into the new year:

3 Biggest Bits of News

I – Final Fantasy XIII goes Multi-console

This is big news in a lot of ways. The first thing is the overall importance of this news and what it means for the video game industry. The FF series has, until now, been exclusive to its given console. The sharing of a console for an FF installment on its release is heretofore unheard of and the change shows Square-Enix’s appraisal of a new market and era for videogames. How? Because in the old days, figuring out which console was truly king was an easy matter, and a console being king in the SNES days was a simple matter of it having better out of the box appeal. Thanks to instantaneous dissemination of information and news (this crazy interweb thing), consumer opinion and responses are extremely organic. As such, even if the 360 has a lead on the PS3 in console sales right now, there’s no telling which console will get the better pull when FFXIII is released, or which one will hold onto the lead in the long run (whereas in previous console generations the winner was usually clear after the first full year on the market). Square responded to the new market and showed that multi-platform releases are the best way to do business, and that is what Square is first and foremost.

The other important part of this news was the collective brick shat by gamers around the globe in response to the news. Immediately arguments ensued and discussions about multi-disc format versus the single disc blu ray PS3 owners will have. Longtime Sony stalwarts can attest to multi-disc format not being a big deal (since it was standard in PSone days) and therefore doesn’t really matter. The major bit to emerge in the face of this news is what no one seemed to pay any attention to: the sister game, Versus XIII, remains PS3 exclusive. In all honesty, based on the story and trailers that have been released, I’m more excited for Versus, and can’t wait to see more.

II – PS3 Begins to Best 360 in monthly sales, 360 takes November though

The PS3 finally began overtaking the 360 from Spring onward, and this generated very little buzz beyond the usual numbers spinning that Microsoft PR is wont to do and generated little fanboy buzz by the way of anything more than the reality: the PS3 was finally hitting stride and catching up to the 360.

What was absurd about the year’s NPDs was the November numbers being spun out of proportion to the point where people were claiming the PS3 was a sinking ship and that even sparked rumors of Sony canceling the PS3. The PS3 sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 275,000 units in the US in November, which is not a bad number by any means, just a slip down from their prior month and a decrease from November 2007. These kinds of small facts get blown up until people extrapolate these kinds of absurd notions and it just goes to show that while the masses may have immediate access to all kinds of information thanks to the internet, the masses are still shityourpants dumb sometimes.

Oh, and in addition to this back and forth between the PS3 and the 360, the Wii jerked itself off month after month on both Sony and Microsoft. I hope every Nintendard waggles themselves to a Mii induced seizure.

III – PS Home Release

It may have been released, but damn was it boring. That’s the first issue. I will say that Home has all kinds of potential, but they’re not utilizing it properly enough. The key is to provide additional content (the Uncharted Rooms for example were a big draw) whether it’s a new way to peruse add ons, explore games and get help, or maybe even download cheat patches (I know I’m not alone in missing my Gameshark).

In spite of these evident potentialities to solidify Home, the big news following Home’s release is the removal of voice chat so people can’t go up to little girls and inform them of what fellatio is.

3 Best Games

I – Metal Gear Solid 4

Kojima-San did it again. Up to his usual tricks with plenty fo fourth wall busting, over the top philosophical and societal commentary, and a magnum opus of a sendoff for Solid/Old Snake, Kojima’s game plays like pure poetry. I may have only played through it once, but that’s honestly because I haven’t had time to do a second play through proper justice, that, and I like sleeping.

II – LittleBigPlanet

This one surprised the hell out of me. I went alternately from being psyched out of my mind seeing the level creation potential of it, to subsequently being intimidated and then put off by the depth of level creation online aspect (I’m not much into online communities, although I do take them into consideration and applaud them). I got a copy anyway though, and was blown away. The whole game is a warm, cuddly and welcoming as the posterchild sackboy is. The online aspect a welcoming environment, the add-ons encourage continuous involvement and experimentation, and the game’s story mode was actually as captivating as it was original. I haven’t even busted opne the level creation in full force yet but the story mode has not left me unsatisfied.

III – Fallout 3

Just read my review in the previous posts. What a game, grandiose, visionary, and just so immersive you run the danger of forcing your friends to call an intervention and hide your console power cable so they can get you to shower and eat.

3 Biggest Disappointments

I – Delays, Delays, Delays

Prototype and InFamous were both delayed until next year. I was excited for both of these games, and it seems (based on the timing) that GTA IV’s release scared both developers into putting their noses to the grindstones for creating their open world settings for the games. While Prototype has been flying under the radar (although confirmed for an April release), inFamous was recently previewed with a hands on by ign.com and Greg Miller (a personal hero of mine), gave it nothing short of superb appraisals.

In the realm of delays, I’ll throw FFXIII in that bunch because we’re supposed to already be on our second and third playthroughs of it and since Square isn’t nailing down a date for it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it means very late 2009 or 2010 even. What we know for certain is that there’s a demo coming out (Ironically, the demo is PS3 exclusive) with FF VII: Advent Children Complete in March. If the demo is coming out in March, that means it’s at least 2 quarters until we can reasonably expect Square to finish it’s polish and sheen on the game, hence my prediction of late 2009 or early 2010. The upside that may allow me to err in the favor of earlier than later: The demo is already promised to have roughly five hours of gameplay, which can only mean that the full game will be near completion, and/or the game itself will be even more massive than previous titles. Square has, historically, revolutionized the RPG genre generation to generation, so hopefully FF’s tardiness this generation is not from lack of innovation but rather from surplus.

II – Spider-Man Web of Shadows

Yeah, I’m calling out specific games here. SMWoS, where did you go wrong? The gameplay was fun, the story utilized some unique mechanics peop
le had to love (the power of choice between classic Red n Blue or the Black suit) evil or good path choices in the game, and the most impressive array of Spider-Man canon characters to ever grace a spidey game. The game, unfortunately, suffered terribly repetitive missions and aggravating structure. There were also some clunky cutscenes that made even the vaguest of Spider-Man fans raise eyebrows (why, for example, was MJ constantly calling Spider-Man Peter in public?). While swinging and employing the new battle system was exhilirating, I couldn’t get over the fact that Luke Cage forced me to do a mission killing four thugs in sequence using a specific move on each one that was near impossible to time on its own, but far more difficult to execute on the four moving and shooting thugs. Spider-Man’s Brand New Day in the video game world should have slept in.

III – Resistance 2

What the hell did they do to Nathan Hale? The original game found its footing and appeal in the unique style of setting that it lodged in post would be WWII era that you believed. While the chimaera hideouts took you somewhere farout and truly “Resistance”-y, you never felt as if you had left the 1940’s alternate history Naughty Dog had crafted. This game, however, abandoned that and left you feeling as if you’d been jettisoned to whatever godawful year in the future Halo 3 takes place.