You know why I hate them? The one string basslines, the utterly forgettable guitar riffs and drumming, the horribly stereotypical and generic emo vocals, the god awful lyrics that consist of almost nothing but bad puns and, last and least because the band can't help it, the crazy section of their fanbase that thinks they're gods of music. Also, the Pete Wentz signature Squire P-Bass is one of the worst instruments that Fender has ever put out.
WRONG!!! They cut out that extra content because they realized that it would just artificially pad out the game (and let's face it, regardless of if you liked the game or not, did you really want another 10 hours of hallways?). The reason the 360 version fits on 3 discs is because they rebuilt the engine from the ground up to be smaller with only minimal compression, not because they cut content out. Also, multiplatform really isn't that expensive. FFXIII is a bad example as they took a smart, but expensive approach to dealing with the space issues. Most games are built with space constraints in mind and, in fact, this is why most games are built on the 360, then ported over to the PS3 (as well as the fact that developers generally agree that the 360 is easier to work with). Yes, ported. It is very rare when a developer will rebuild a game's engine from the ground up for the other platform. Not to mention that the PS3 and the 360 are comparable in power (yes, I am aware that the PS3 is more powerful, but its really not by much) and the platforms that are actually in question, the DS, the PSP and the 3DS are not. However, your point about Square being a publisher is a good one as they are basically the Japanese equivalent of EA (or Activision, if you're feeling less generous). EDIT: However, to answer the OP, the reason why games like the Kingdom Hearts games aren't multiplatform is because the PS2 titles were released before Square decided to go multiplatform on such titles and the rest of the games are made for completely different systems with completely different capabilities. The DS is much less powerful than the PSP, which is much less powerful than the 3DS. Birth By Sleep would be outright impossible to do on the DS and 358/2 Days would be substandard on the PSP. Similarly, KH3D is beyond the PSP's capabilities and far below what would be even worth releasing on the Vita. You might make the argument of "why not just release a version with worse graphics on the DS?". There are a lot of reasons for this. Space constraints with the fact that DS game cards hold far less data than the UMD (the sole redeeming part of that god awful format), development styles as the differences between the DS and the PSP are like the differences between the Wii and the PS3, they're just not directly compatible and the fact that they'd have to build two completely different engines with completely different character models, animations, etc. Basically, its because the DS versions of the games would suffer and cost too much money to the point of not bothering.
A fanbase that has no taste and thinks awkward non-jokes are funny somehow.
UUUUUUUGH. That preview was ****ing awful. The movie was a bad, plotless and jokeless "comedy" already, I cannot imagine why anyone thought an animated series was a good idea.
There's a lot of possibilities. Like I said, I have FFXIII on the PS3 and, as the game was built on the PS3, I have to assume that I'm only noticing the slight choppiness because I'm not used to the 360 version. I'm still trying to figure out why they didn't just hire Uematsu like they did for FFXIV. That's my assumption based on the voice. Its kind of a hybrid. The battles are random, but you don't get forced into the battle. The monsters pop up on the field and you have to come into contact with them before you get sent to the battle screen. While they're infinitely better than the traditional instant jump to the battle, the point still stands that we're past the point where random battles are acceptable. One thing I forgot to mention is that the puzzles take you to a completely different screen (only time in the demo it went to a loading screen, as well), do a couple puzzles, then get sent back. They try to justify it by saying that you're "fixing the paradox," but it does little more than interrupt the game. However, it is possible that the puzzles are optional as the one in the demo was to activate a machine to make the boss easier. There are and it didn't. The monsters simply act as your third party member. I don't even mind the QTEs. I don't really think they're well implemented here (for well implemented ones, go play the Asura's Wrath demo), but they're not too terribly intrusive. In fact, I only mentioned them there because I was sure that some people would try to claim that they change the battle system somehow. I am looking forward to it, but I fear it might end up as the next Duke Nukem Forever. I might eventually pick it up used for less than $25 as I genuinely liked FFXIII's narrative and it seems that they learned their lesson after FFX-2 in terms of sequel storytelling, but I highly doubt that FFXIII-2 will be worth $60.
Alright, I just played through the demo because, despite my naysaying, I was still willing to give Square the benefit of the doubt. I will start by saying that they have lost that benefit of the doubt through this completely underwhelming demo. This is a great example of how NOT to do a sequel. Perhaps I should start with the positives: The game is beautiful. Granted, this was expected as it is running on the FFXIII engine. There was some very minor framerate choppiness that I assume was caused by the (great looking) rain, but it is possible that I'm only noticing it because I'm used to seeing the PS3 version of FFXIII (played the 360 version of the demo) I like Noel. He seems like an interesting character and not a shoe-horned and pointless addition to the universe like Paine (FFX-2) was. On the same track, I'm curious to see what the story is, especially surrounding Valhalla and what's going on with Lightning. If they can balance the good character development FFXIII had and make the story more event driven, it could have a pretty good storyline. More on this when I get to the negatives. The Crystarium might actually allow for open ended character development. In FFXIII, it was an even more linear version of the Sphere Grid, but was advertised as open ended, just like the Sphere Grid. Both were more or less pointless. This is one thing that Square actually learned their lesson on. The game has much better freedom than FFXIII. Hopefully it won't fall into the same trap that FFX-2 fell into and give too much freedom. And of course, the negatives: First, the minor ones: The music ranges from bad (the initial battle music against Atlas' arm) to utterly forgettable (the normal boss music), you know, just like FFXIII. I expect that this is just a bad sample of music since even the other Final Fantasies without Uematsu had good music (yes, even a significant portion of FFXIII's music). Mog doesn't really add anything. She's clearly just fan service. Her actually saying "Kupo" is annoying (its supposed to be an onomatopoeia) and finding hidden chests does nothing more than make you waste time walking over to where she found one. Next, the not so minor ones: Random battles. Did we REALLY need to go back to these? I get not having battles on the same field as map navigation, but random battles? Those were outdated over a decade ago when Final Fantasy X came out. At the very least, they make preeminent strikes reliable and they're easy to avoid, though that's a mixed blessing since your characters can't progress without combat. The puzzles. The Cloister of Trials was the weakest part of FFX as they were boring and time consuming. Did we really need to revisit those kinds of puzzles? Granted, the puzzles in FFXIII-2 are considerably better than FFX's, but they just waste time and add nothing to the game. And, finally, the big one: The Paradigm System. The only thing they improved about this piece of **** battle system is that you don't have to pause your attacks for several seconds to switch paradigms, otherwise it is identical. I get the idea of "don't fix what's not broken," but that doesn't apply when the subject in question is ****ing broken in the first place. It still plays itself, it still has the same basic system of switching between a defensive, offensive and balanced Paradigm as needed with little need of actual strategy and enemies still take too ****ing long to kill without staggering. Oh, but what about the Cinematic Actions, you might say. The fact of the matter is that the Cinematic Actions are just quick time events and change a grand total of NOTHING about the battle system. Apparently Square, for all their talk about fixing everything the fans had problems with, missed the biggest thing people had problems with in the first place. The game's linearity would have been much more forgivable if the battle system wasn't so ****ing boring. The better part of your game should not be able to play itself. Like I said, I was willing to give them benefit of the doubt, but they've lost my sale here. I'll wait to see if Final Fantasy XV pulls an FFIX.
There are two main factors that caused this. The first and surprisingly lesser reason is the amount of piracy that's hurting everyone in the industry. However, since that is the lesser reason, I'm going to spare my usual anti-piracy rant. I will just leave it at saying that there are legal streaming options, DVD prices are improving (seriously, I've seen full series for $30-$35) and piracy is bad for the already small industry. The main reason is that Bandai Entertainment's parent company, Bandai Japan, expected Bandai Entertainment to bid on licenses like every other distributor. Just one big problem: Bandai Japan only sold licenses to Bandai Entertainment and forced them to outbid the competition, despite the fact that they had no intention of selling it to anyone else. This is just downright STUPID and was one of the factors in the high DVD prices and the need for high sales despite the high prices.
Cave Story 3D, which is a graphical remake of the greatest indie game of all time.
No More Heroes is generally considered a must-play, but No More Heroes 2 is a better game on its own since it fixed a lot of the problems the original had. Super Mario Galaxy is also considered one of the best games for the Wii. Mad World is fun, but its also the most violent console game ever released.
And I thought they were bad before. Now they sound like Flyleaf. Ah, the irony of the band Flyleaf ripped off recursively ripping off Flyleaf.
Considering the season, I think this and this are rather fitting.
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Nintendo used to use non-standard pricing. Anyone else remember $70 for Donkey Kong 64? The problem with non-standard pricing is that while a game that takes 20+ hours to complete would be worth $50-$60, games like Call of Duty that sell regardless of price, quality of content and quantity of content will likely creep up even higher than the $60 standard we currently have. Standard pricing, while still a money grab in many cases, still has a few advantages.
Jesus **** those are overpriced. God I hate Sony's insistence on using unnecessary and overpriced proprietary formats. Here's what Newegg asks for for an 8GB SD card. I can buy THREE 8GB SD cards for less than the price of one 8GB Vita memory card. Hell, I can buy two 32GB SD cards to less than the price of the same sized Vita memory card.
The main problem is that Link's Awakening is a direct sequel to A Link to the Past.
Huh, only 1 launch title that interests me. Can't say I didn't see this coming.
Where the hell have you been for the last 13 years?
Considering that Bonds Beyond Time was the 10th anniversary celebration, you've got at least 4 years waiting.
Yeah, I'd argue that Obsidian is worse.
