First off, this post is NOT about whether Final Fantasy VII is a good or bad game. I'm not a fan of it, and I'm not going to deny that that fact might affect my view on the hype surrounding the game, but that's not what this is about. I'm not attacking the game, so please don't comment to "educate" me on how awesome it is.
See that disclaimer right there, which you probably read right before this sentence? That's real, it's not for demonstration purposes. At the same time, think about it. If I didn't have that disclaimer, I'd be getting emails and phone calls and whatnot about how terrible I am, and how wrong this post is. They probably still will. Would I need such a disclaimer if I was talking about other games? Not at all. Not even if I was talking about equally or more popular games, like Ocarina of Time or even Super Mario Bros.
Many (not all, but many) Final Fantasy VII fans are just way too full of righteous indignation. It's the most cosplayed, fanarted, fanfic'd, and religiously-devoted game out there. If you say one bad thing about the game, people will hunt you down. People see it as the pinnacle of gaming perfection. It's not the best-selling game ever (Wii Sports, Super Mario Bros. 3, or Pokemon R/B depending on who you ask) or even the highest reviewed (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), but FFVII worshippers insist that those stats are meaningless. The fact is, everyone has different taste in games, and you can't get angry when people disagree with you.
It is a lot like a religion. Its superiority is treated as fact without evidence, its presence is fought for, and if anyone attacks it, people get severely angry.
Again, it's not whether it's a good or a bad game. It's that it isn't as good as many act like it is. NO game is as good as these people act like FF VII is. The characters, while compelling, are stereotypical; Aeris' death, while emotional, is part of a cutscene and thus no more of a milestone as a character dying in a movie. The gameplay is pretty much the same as any other turn-based RPG. Because of the perspective used, the fact that it was 3D didn't make a significant difference. These facts don't make it a bad game, or even a worse game, but they make it just as imperfect as any other game, and doesn't deserve to be treated better than any other imperfect game. No game is immune from criticism.
"That's easy to say about a game you hate," you may say, "so why don't you point out any flaws in YOUR favorite game?" Well, I will. Even for when it came out, Ocarina of Time's graphics weren't great. The storyline was basically the same as the previous game, Link to the Past. The characters were not all that compelling. See where I'm going with this? If someone posts in a blog that the storyline in Ocarina of Time was completely unoriginal, I'm not going to go ballistic on them. If someone says it's a bad game and genuinely believes that after having actually played it, I can respectfully disagree. If they say it's a bad game in retaliation for me not liking a game they like without actually giving it a chance, it's a different story.
I say this because the obsessive FF VII fans tend to do just that. Because they're so worried about FF VII being knocked off its pedestal, they'll go on sites like metacritic and give 0 out of 10 reviews to excellent games that are often compared to FFVII. That's how a game like Ocarina of Time, posessing equal critical and fan acclaim as FFVII, can have a fan review that says it's the worst game ever.
I bring up Ocarina of Time specifically because it's the game FFVII uberfans always put down to make FFVII seem better. You may not love the game, but giving it a 0 review is just ridiculous. Games like E.T. deserve 0 reviews, not games like OoT. It's because Ocarina of Time came out around the same general time period, and was on the opposite console. Nobody can honestly say that either game deserves to be called terrible, but people will do it to put the other on a pedestal. It's ridiculous.
Some of these morons are just people who like the game a bit too much and fail to see anything wrong with it, much like a mother with her baby. Others are rabid Sony fanboys who want to believe it is proof of Sony's superiority, and in order to be proof of that, it has to be the #1 perfect game. This doesn't make a lot of sense, considering the game was made by Square-Enix, but it seems to happen anyway.
Now, I'm no psychologist; I'm not sure about the reasons I've listed here. But after a lot of observation, they seem to be correct.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Advertising Woes
A rule of thumb I keep in mind when I read or see advertisements or official statements from companies: if you focus on attacking another company, it probably means you have nothing good to say about your own products. That's why Apple's pathetically inaccurate Mac commercials only make me dislike Macs even more; by telling lies to make the competition look bad, you only make yourself look bad.
But this blog isn't about computers, though I could do an entire post about why I don't like Apple if it was. This is a blog about video games, and on that note I will focus on Sony. As you may know, on the eve of the US release of the Nintendo DSi, Sony sent out a statement to developers (or possibly retailers; either way, it was an official statement) basically explaining that the DS has a terribly limited audience and just generally isn't a worthwhile system, so people should focus on the PSP instead. Like the sudden reveal of motion sensing controllers at E3 2006, shortly after Nintendo announced the exact same thing, this backfired for Sony. Gaming news sites and blogs blasted the obviously desperate, underhanded technique, and nobody fell for it.
But somehow I doubt that will stop them from doing the same thing again, given that all their statements have been about the same. Sony constantly puts out statements about how amazing their products are doing, and how bad their competitors are. Clearly, nobody is being fooled; the DS has sold over 100 million units, more than twice the PSP. As for the PS3, it has sold about 8 million units fewer than the 360, and less than half as much as the Wii. This is not an attempt to suggest that better sales = better consoles, as "better console" is a matter of opinion, but when you say that everyone prefers or should prefer your console, you better have some data to back it up.
If your products are good, people will buy them. If people aren't buying them, maybe you need to fix the product instead of trying to convince everyone that they want something they clearly don't want. You would think Sony would have learned from this by now. When the PS3 was first announced, people were angry as hell about the $600 price tag. Sony dropped the price, and people started buying it. Perhaps another price drop is in the works. Either way, stop telling people they want it and actually make them want it.
Not to say Sony and Apple are the only companies who trash talk, but they are BY FAR the worst offenders.
But this blog isn't about computers, though I could do an entire post about why I don't like Apple if it was. This is a blog about video games, and on that note I will focus on Sony. As you may know, on the eve of the US release of the Nintendo DSi, Sony sent out a statement to developers (or possibly retailers; either way, it was an official statement) basically explaining that the DS has a terribly limited audience and just generally isn't a worthwhile system, so people should focus on the PSP instead. Like the sudden reveal of motion sensing controllers at E3 2006, shortly after Nintendo announced the exact same thing, this backfired for Sony. Gaming news sites and blogs blasted the obviously desperate, underhanded technique, and nobody fell for it.
But somehow I doubt that will stop them from doing the same thing again, given that all their statements have been about the same. Sony constantly puts out statements about how amazing their products are doing, and how bad their competitors are. Clearly, nobody is being fooled; the DS has sold over 100 million units, more than twice the PSP. As for the PS3, it has sold about 8 million units fewer than the 360, and less than half as much as the Wii. This is not an attempt to suggest that better sales = better consoles, as "better console" is a matter of opinion, but when you say that everyone prefers or should prefer your console, you better have some data to back it up.
If your products are good, people will buy them. If people aren't buying them, maybe you need to fix the product instead of trying to convince everyone that they want something they clearly don't want. You would think Sony would have learned from this by now. When the PS3 was first announced, people were angry as hell about the $600 price tag. Sony dropped the price, and people started buying it. Perhaps another price drop is in the works. Either way, stop telling people they want it and actually make them want it.
Not to say Sony and Apple are the only companies who trash talk, but they are BY FAR the worst offenders.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Gripes and Praise for Nintendo
It's well known that I'm a Type-B Nintendo fanboy. For the record, that's more based on software than hardware, though I do love my Wii and DS. If you want to know what I think about the company and its practices, here's a brief rundown based on recent and continuing things.
GRIPES
-No Fatal Frame 4 outside Japan? (Still want confirmation from Nintendo on this one)
-New Zelda for DS, but not for Wii
-No new upcoming Mario, Star Fox, or Metroid games announced (though let's see what's at E3)
GOOD THINGS
-New Punch-Out! and Sin and Punishment games coming out (why do so many people forget these two games?)
-Not backing down from games like Madworld
-Not forcing DS owners to upgrade to Lite or DSi
-Virtual Console releases
A quick word on the issue of Fatal Frame 4. The problem here is not Nintendo, but Nintendo of America. People seem to forget that there is a difference. Nintendo in general has no problems with the game, but NOA seems to. For the record, this really pisses me off. I'm not even sure what the problem is. Many people think it's Nintendo's aversion to mature audience titles, but then what about Madworld, The Conduit, Manhunt 2, Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, etc? Others say it's because Nintendo themselves don't want to publish such games, but what about Sin and Punishment 2? While it's certainly not as mature as Fatal Frame 4, it's still a game not meant for kids. No, I think the real problem is that NOA doesn't realize the series is so popular in the US. So maybe we need to tell them that.
GRIPES
-No Fatal Frame 4 outside Japan? (Still want confirmation from Nintendo on this one)
-New Zelda for DS, but not for Wii
-No new upcoming Mario, Star Fox, or Metroid games announced (though let's see what's at E3)
GOOD THINGS
-New Punch-Out! and Sin and Punishment games coming out (why do so many people forget these two games?)
-Not backing down from games like Madworld
-Not forcing DS owners to upgrade to Lite or DSi
-Virtual Console releases
A quick word on the issue of Fatal Frame 4. The problem here is not Nintendo, but Nintendo of America. People seem to forget that there is a difference. Nintendo in general has no problems with the game, but NOA seems to. For the record, this really pisses me off. I'm not even sure what the problem is. Many people think it's Nintendo's aversion to mature audience titles, but then what about Madworld, The Conduit, Manhunt 2, Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, etc? Others say it's because Nintendo themselves don't want to publish such games, but what about Sin and Punishment 2? While it's certainly not as mature as Fatal Frame 4, it's still a game not meant for kids. No, I think the real problem is that NOA doesn't realize the series is so popular in the US. So maybe we need to tell them that.
Most Awesome Characters
Here we go, the first post of the new and improved Press Start blog. These are all characters that I consider awesome for a variety of reasons. I'll warn you now, many (although not all) of those reasons aren't particularly deep, so if you judge characters by their storylines, you probably won't agree with most of my choices. Like all of my lists, this one is not in any particular order.
1. Blanka (Street Fighter)
Despite being big and green, Blanka is 100% naturally human. But look at him, especially in SF4, and you can tell he's all sorts of awesome. He can probably beat Zangief in brute strength by the look of him, he's got orange hair (a mohawk and specific patches on his body), and he growls a lot. Plus, how many people do you know who can learn to use electricity-based attacks...just by training with electric eels? Blanka's had a hard life, growing up in the jungle alone. He made some friends (particularly my second favorite Street Fighter character, Dan), but he was pretty lonely. And his Street Fighter 2 ending is heartwarming. In Street Fighter 4, he comes across as a boy who loves his mama and wants to make her proud. Never mind that he's at least 6 feet tall, unnaturally muscular, orange-haired, and green; he's a mama's boy at heart, and that's freakin' adorable.
2. Link (Legend of Zelda)
There have been many Links in the history of Hyrule, all young heroes who come out of pretty much nowhere to save the world from evil. All his incarnations have the same basic green tunic and elf-hat look, with the traditional pointy ears. The Twilight Princess version manages to pull off blue earrings quite well. You can't look at Link, especially newer versions, and not think he just looks cool. He's got the swords, the shields, the ocarina, bombs, arrows, boomerangs, boots, armor, hookshot...he carries around a lot of stuff. He's also one of the most popular characters ever, judging by the popularity of the Zelda games and his repeated victories in GameFAQs.com's character battles.
3. Yellow LocoRocos (LocoRoco)
They're gooey, yellow, vaguely fruit-shaped balls of happiness...and they sing. They're cheerful and adorable. What exaclty is there not to like about these creatures? Sure, some of the other types are creepy, but the default yellow ones are just plain awesome.
4. Ryu Hyabusa (Ninja Gaiden)
First off, there's the whole modern day ninja thing. Ryu Hyabusa can use any weapon you hand him, and based on the Dead or Alive series, he's pretty good at hand-to-hand combat as well. In that shiny black ninja gear, you just know he's going to kick your butt. He faces any challenge with cool calmness; always important for a ninja. He'll hack people apart if they get too close, and generally get a lot of them with one slash. He's known for the Dragon Sword, but he's also used a staff with MACES AT EACH END, among other things.
5. Jack (Madworld)
I haven't finished Madworld yet, but I've done enough to know that Jack isn't quite what he seems. Still, you gotta hand it to a guy that has a chainsaw attached to his arm and continues to make short work of every other contestant in this twisted murderous game show. He only kills people in the most badass ways, from repeatedly shoving them into spikes, to throwing them into a meat grinder. His finishing moves, particularly on the bosses, are unbelievably brutal. Here's an example. The second boss is a cowboy. Jack steals his guns and shoots him over and over until there's nothing left but a skeleton. Then jacks shoots him one more time, facing backwards, and knocks his skull off (cowboy hat intact). This is a man you don't want to mess with.
6. Motaro and Kintaro(Mortal Kombat)
Motaro is a centaur with a metal tail. Who kicks people halfway across the stage. Kintaro is a four-armed tiger creature. Moving on.
7. Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear)
Psycho Mantis is so freakin' powerful, he can read into other dimensions. Which is just a fancy way of saying he uses his psychic powers to break the fourth wall. The game actually looks at your memory card so that Psycho Mantis can say things like, "I see you enjoy playing...Crash Bandicoot!" or something like that. Heck, in order to defeat him you actually have to unplug your controller and plug it in elsewhere. That's right; not only does Snake need to be smart to beat this guy, so does the player. Any character who can mess with the player's mind deserves to be on this list. Which brings us to...
8. Pious Augustus (Eternal Darkness)
Poor Pious. He was a Roman centurion, minding his own, until he was lured into the dark depths of a Cthulhu-like mythos. He became a zombie type thing, and is the main antagonist in the game. He works behind the scenes throughout centuries, putting things in place for the Ancients. He manipulates characters and tricks them into going on quests that will drive them insane, all to help his new masters.
9. Lan and Megaman (Megaman Battle Network)
When an kid in elementary school and his computerized brother save the world no fewer than 6 times, and do so using computers, they've got to be pretty awesome. They also show that brotherly love can transcend physical borders; Megaman may be a computer program now, but he's still Lan's brother, and they act like it. Considering Lan had Megaman as a net navi long before learning he was his dead brother recreated in net navi form, it would be easy for Lan to keep treating Megaman like just another program. But he doesn't, and that shows character. For his part, Megaman is just as awesome as all his other incarnations, except that this one's a cyber-robot who fights viruses and in my opinion has the coolest armor and attacks.
10. Lark (Pilotwings)
I know what you're thinking: who the heck is that? But for early adopters of the N64, as I was, this is probably a familiar character. See, only two games came out at launch for the N64 in the US (and Japan only had one more). These games were Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64. Needless to say, Mario flew off the shelves and is still considered one of the best games ever made. But that made it really hard to find, so a lot of us were left with Pilotwings. Pilotwings is an awesome game, and the character I usually play as is named Lark. What makes him awesome though is his power of disguise. I'm guessing most of you who have played the game didn't know that "Lark" as he calls himself is in disguise. That's right; he fooled all of us. In reality, this "Lark" is none other than Nester, the former mascot for Nintendo Power magazine. If you look at pictures comparing them, it's easy to tell, and Nintendo has confirmed it. Nester's pretty awesome; he started off as a kid, having imagined video game adventures, and later got a bit older. Each major anniversary, Nintendo Power features a new comic starring their old mascot, trying to get used to Nintendo's latest innovations (rumble, motion-based games, etc). He also starred in "Nester's Funky Bowling" for the Virtual Boy, and the latest anniversary comic reveals that he buys a new copy of that game as a gift for his son every single year. Poor kid.
I imagine some of you are ready to chase after me with torches and pitchforks for leaving certain characters off the list. Keep in mind, this is only my opinion; it's not presented as fact. For those wondering, I didn't include Sephiroth or Kratos because honestly, I just don't find them all that cool. As for Solid Snake, I haven't played enough Metal Gear to really tell.
1. Blanka (Street Fighter)
Despite being big and green, Blanka is 100% naturally human. But look at him, especially in SF4, and you can tell he's all sorts of awesome. He can probably beat Zangief in brute strength by the look of him, he's got orange hair (a mohawk and specific patches on his body), and he growls a lot. Plus, how many people do you know who can learn to use electricity-based attacks...just by training with electric eels? Blanka's had a hard life, growing up in the jungle alone. He made some friends (particularly my second favorite Street Fighter character, Dan), but he was pretty lonely. And his Street Fighter 2 ending is heartwarming. In Street Fighter 4, he comes across as a boy who loves his mama and wants to make her proud. Never mind that he's at least 6 feet tall, unnaturally muscular, orange-haired, and green; he's a mama's boy at heart, and that's freakin' adorable.
2. Link (Legend of Zelda)
There have been many Links in the history of Hyrule, all young heroes who come out of pretty much nowhere to save the world from evil. All his incarnations have the same basic green tunic and elf-hat look, with the traditional pointy ears. The Twilight Princess version manages to pull off blue earrings quite well. You can't look at Link, especially newer versions, and not think he just looks cool. He's got the swords, the shields, the ocarina, bombs, arrows, boomerangs, boots, armor, hookshot...he carries around a lot of stuff. He's also one of the most popular characters ever, judging by the popularity of the Zelda games and his repeated victories in GameFAQs.com's character battles.
3. Yellow LocoRocos (LocoRoco)
They're gooey, yellow, vaguely fruit-shaped balls of happiness...and they sing. They're cheerful and adorable. What exaclty is there not to like about these creatures? Sure, some of the other types are creepy, but the default yellow ones are just plain awesome.
4. Ryu Hyabusa (Ninja Gaiden)
First off, there's the whole modern day ninja thing. Ryu Hyabusa can use any weapon you hand him, and based on the Dead or Alive series, he's pretty good at hand-to-hand combat as well. In that shiny black ninja gear, you just know he's going to kick your butt. He faces any challenge with cool calmness; always important for a ninja. He'll hack people apart if they get too close, and generally get a lot of them with one slash. He's known for the Dragon Sword, but he's also used a staff with MACES AT EACH END, among other things.
5. Jack (Madworld)
I haven't finished Madworld yet, but I've done enough to know that Jack isn't quite what he seems. Still, you gotta hand it to a guy that has a chainsaw attached to his arm and continues to make short work of every other contestant in this twisted murderous game show. He only kills people in the most badass ways, from repeatedly shoving them into spikes, to throwing them into a meat grinder. His finishing moves, particularly on the bosses, are unbelievably brutal. Here's an example. The second boss is a cowboy. Jack steals his guns and shoots him over and over until there's nothing left but a skeleton. Then jacks shoots him one more time, facing backwards, and knocks his skull off (cowboy hat intact). This is a man you don't want to mess with.
6. Motaro and Kintaro(Mortal Kombat)
Motaro is a centaur with a metal tail. Who kicks people halfway across the stage. Kintaro is a four-armed tiger creature. Moving on.
7. Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear)
Psycho Mantis is so freakin' powerful, he can read into other dimensions. Which is just a fancy way of saying he uses his psychic powers to break the fourth wall. The game actually looks at your memory card so that Psycho Mantis can say things like, "I see you enjoy playing...Crash Bandicoot!" or something like that. Heck, in order to defeat him you actually have to unplug your controller and plug it in elsewhere. That's right; not only does Snake need to be smart to beat this guy, so does the player. Any character who can mess with the player's mind deserves to be on this list. Which brings us to...
8. Pious Augustus (Eternal Darkness)
Poor Pious. He was a Roman centurion, minding his own, until he was lured into the dark depths of a Cthulhu-like mythos. He became a zombie type thing, and is the main antagonist in the game. He works behind the scenes throughout centuries, putting things in place for the Ancients. He manipulates characters and tricks them into going on quests that will drive them insane, all to help his new masters.
9. Lan and Megaman (Megaman Battle Network)
When an kid in elementary school and his computerized brother save the world no fewer than 6 times, and do so using computers, they've got to be pretty awesome. They also show that brotherly love can transcend physical borders; Megaman may be a computer program now, but he's still Lan's brother, and they act like it. Considering Lan had Megaman as a net navi long before learning he was his dead brother recreated in net navi form, it would be easy for Lan to keep treating Megaman like just another program. But he doesn't, and that shows character. For his part, Megaman is just as awesome as all his other incarnations, except that this one's a cyber-robot who fights viruses and in my opinion has the coolest armor and attacks.
10. Lark (Pilotwings)
I know what you're thinking: who the heck is that? But for early adopters of the N64, as I was, this is probably a familiar character. See, only two games came out at launch for the N64 in the US (and Japan only had one more). These games were Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64. Needless to say, Mario flew off the shelves and is still considered one of the best games ever made. But that made it really hard to find, so a lot of us were left with Pilotwings. Pilotwings is an awesome game, and the character I usually play as is named Lark. What makes him awesome though is his power of disguise. I'm guessing most of you who have played the game didn't know that "Lark" as he calls himself is in disguise. That's right; he fooled all of us. In reality, this "Lark" is none other than Nester, the former mascot for Nintendo Power magazine. If you look at pictures comparing them, it's easy to tell, and Nintendo has confirmed it. Nester's pretty awesome; he started off as a kid, having imagined video game adventures, and later got a bit older. Each major anniversary, Nintendo Power features a new comic starring their old mascot, trying to get used to Nintendo's latest innovations (rumble, motion-based games, etc). He also starred in "Nester's Funky Bowling" for the Virtual Boy, and the latest anniversary comic reveals that he buys a new copy of that game as a gift for his son every single year. Poor kid.
I imagine some of you are ready to chase after me with torches and pitchforks for leaving certain characters off the list. Keep in mind, this is only my opinion; it's not presented as fact. For those wondering, I didn't include Sephiroth or Kratos because honestly, I just don't find them all that cool. As for Solid Snake, I haven't played enough Metal Gear to really tell.
We're Back...Again!
I'm not sure why, but every one of my attempts to keep versions of this blog going have failed miserably. But no more! I've got a lot to say, and I'm going to say it. On the radio show (which will soon be ending until next semester, but can be listened to for now at kdic.grinnell.edu on Saturdays from 12 to 1) has returned to using custom-written content, so there's plenty of new stuff to share on this blog. You can find this same blog on PWNED (where I'm still called DJ Komali), 1UP (http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5851478), and Blogger (uknownwarrior33.blogspot.com).
The point of this blog is, as always, to give you not just reviews and such, but discussion relating to deeper elements of the gamer community. So, if you're up for it, let's roll!
Also, I know my name is ever-changing, but you can call me Gryff. Hopefully it'll stick this time.
The point of this blog is, as always, to give you not just reviews and such, but discussion relating to deeper elements of the gamer community. So, if you're up for it, let's roll!
Also, I know my name is ever-changing, but you can call me Gryff. Hopefully it'll stick this time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
