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[TheAnarCHris]

Originally Posted by The Hag

You know, I'm gonna have to disagree. I can remember, maybe 10-12 years back standing in front of a rack of games and thinking, "I just don't see anything that looks worth $60." That is absolutely not a problem now. Also XBLA and PSN have really opened things up for smaller developers. Journey? Fez? Two of my favorite games this year. I don't play most of the big US franchises - your "Call of Madden Halo Warfare" - but I loved Mass Effect 3. ACIII is going in a new-ish direction. The new one from Quantic Dream the name of which I forget sounds interesting. Watch Dogs doesn't look like the kind of thing I'd like, but it does look different. IDK - I'm sure that I don't play as many games as most of you guys, but I don't have any problem finding new stuff to play that is actually new and not just part of my backlog.

Fair enough. I guess I should have states in mainstream gaming is kind of in a ghetto of sequels and annual rehashes, but the indie/pc scene is thriving to an extent. And like you said, there's been PLENTY of non-sequels from Japan that have delivered, ie, Catherine, Bayonetta, well anything from Platinum really, and a few gems I've missed.

[Zweihander]

Originally Posted by The Hag

For the record - I really don't have much loyalty to any publisher or developer. It's a business relationship. All a business owes me is to not lie to me about what their product is and state the total price. Then it's up to me to decide if it's worth my money or not. And this is something where I think the XIII haters may have a legitimate gripe. Full disclosure - the only FF game I have played is XIII. I tried a DS port of, er, IV? maybe? and lost interest after about 5 minutes. BUT - I heard a lot of complaints about the linearity and lack of towns in XIII and unless that was all widely publicized beforehand (which maybe it was? IDK) people have a right to be pissed. If you have played FFI-XII, I think you have the right to expect something similar from XIII or be given plenty of warning so you can decide whether or not you want to buy it.



I don't think that having three games in one universe is that big of a deal. Honestly, that's pretty standard. The more important thing is that a game is good. Or, well, let's say enjoyable. Like I said, I enjoyed XIII despite its problems. It just seems weird to me that here's one game we know almost nothing about - XIII-3 - and everyone's going IT SUCKS!!! Then there's another game that we know almost nothing about - Versus - and everyone is screaming because Square is refusing to release this AWESOME game. And yeah, the Versus graphics look great and it sounds amazing from what's been said, but so what? Talk is cheap. It could still suck.



Yeah, that's a drag. But what's the answer? "Shouldn't have to" doesn't even enter into it. If they thought they could make money with an official NA release they would. So they should localize these games, lose money and go out of business? Yeah - maybe they could try improving their marketing, but can they create demand where there is none? Maybe look at it this way - at least in the digital age you can get fan translations, emulators and mods. Who knows - maybe this is an opportunity for a smaller start-up company. Find a way to translate and digitally distribute niche titles. I don't know nearly enough about programming or the industry to know if that is financially feasible.





I think it was the guy who made Fez (too lazy to google) who stirred up a minor controversy by saying that the Japanese don't know how to make modern games. Since my two favorite games last year (Dark Souls and Catherine) were both from Japanese companies, I just shrugged it off. But you know, when I was playing XIII I thought, "Ohhhhhhh. Maybe this is what he means?" I'm not going to claim that I know a lot about game design, but in what world is 10 chapters of "walk forward and press X" followed by 1 chapter of ball-busting enemies in a giant open world, most of whom you're not supposed to fight yet, followed by 2 chapters of mostly walking forward and occasionally doing something other than press X, considered a good idea? I won't go into the whole laundry list of minor things that made no sense. IDK, it seemed to have a lot of the basics down - solid battle system, potentially interesting characters and story, snazzy graphics - but couldn't manage to put them all together and develop them in a coherent way.





Well, you know, nothing lasts forever. Even if it is nearing the end, 25 years is a good run.



You may be right, but either way, I've decided to stop caring. Announcing a game and then not delivering in a timely manner screams "problems". Even if it does end up getting made it's likely to be a mess. Out of curiosity - what are some games that were years in the making that people think were worth the wait?

Fucking 5-star post.

[Kildread]

Originally Posted by TheAnarCHris

Fair enough. I guess I should have states in mainstream gaming is kind of in a ghetto of sequels and annual rehashes, but the indie/pc scene is thriving to an extent. And like you said, there's been PLENTY of non-sequels from Japan that have delivered, ie, Catherine, Bayonetta, well anything from Platinum really, and a few gems I've missed.

Back in the time I couldn't really buy many games, there was incidentally not much coming out that got my eye. I've had several wanted games a month for most of the past years, it's only in 2012 that there's a strange slowdown on my purchases, as I watch the release schedules each week and realize there's nothing I want --- that I don't already have at times. (Last week was compilations of God of War and inFamous, both of which I already have all installments off. Did we need the package deal so early? Probably not, but it makes it easily purchasable for people who initially skipped out).

I *do* feel things are slower in 2012 than they were before. But I certainly don't think we have less good releases now than in the PSX-era or before. It's really just nostalgia acting on us.

There's also the thing that gaming is much more accessible for me now in terms of stores, I remember buying Quest 64 (Which was a load of crap) for 90$ with taxes and that was the regular price for games at that store (Which is long since closed).

[Mesoian]

Originally Posted by Kildread

There's also the thing that gaming is much more accessible for me now in terms of stores, I remember buying Quest 64 (Which was a load of crap) for 90$ with taxes and that was the regular price for games at that store (Which is long since closed).

There's a big part of me that loves Quest 64. That part of me is wrong and should be condemned.

[Michi]

Kicking this thread back up because there's ACTUALLY INFORMATION ON IT and to be honest, it looks really cool.

The gameplay in this trailer looks really cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=MOOassM6f0g

This report makes me excited: http://penny-arcade.com/report/edito...xiii-is-a-gran

Kinda glad I'm playing XIII-2 now, as a stepping stone to this (seemingly much more interesting) game!

[AJ the Collector]

13-3.

13-3. And yet still no DS remakes of 5 and 6.

No acknowledgement outside of Dissidia of 9 ever existing.

No remastered 10 or remade 7.

I swear, it's like they took their obsession with the Complication and transplanted it onto 13.

[Zweihander]

Originally Posted by AJ the Collector

13-3.

13-3. And yet still no DS remakes of 5 and 6.

No acknowledgement outside of Dissidia of 9 ever existing.

No remastered 10 or remade 7.

I swear, it's like they took their obsession with the Complication and transplanted it onto 13.

I like what you did there. Completely agreed, by the way. Screw 'em, Squeenix is dead to me unless they release Final Fantasy Versus XIII.