The Gaming Lounge: Beyond - Part 5

[Nathan]

Does anyone else have trouble going online with their PS3?

 

[SpideyVille]

Does anyone else have trouble going online with their PS3?

I think I read something about that maintenance that was going on yesterday was still going on today, and they couldn't give a clear timeframe from when services can return.

 

[Havok83]

Does anyone else have trouble going online with their PS3?

Its down for maitenance

 

[Fading]

Final Fantasy has been dying for awhile. I loved the series, but it's just went downhill, and I've moved on to other RPG's.

I think it's Square's idea of what direction FF should head in that kills it. All of the characters look similar, the stories are getting wackier, and they about killed off the whole role-playing and exploration parts in XIII. Square simply needs to put an old school FF fan in charge.

I actually liked XIII's combat, and music so not everything was bad. Those two areas showed a willingness to grow and adapt to modern gaming. Making the map a narrow path was a problem, as was just about everything else though, sadly. The solution is simple, give the fans what they want. Go back to the large worlds, solid stories, character development, ect, of the past. Current Square just can't see that however, and seems to have a one track mind in how they want FF to be.

I also agree with the article that a large part of the problem is that Square sees FF as a cash cow. Rather than putting out quality titles, they're finding it far easier to just put anything out, slap on the FF logo, and watch the money roll in.

 

[zenith16]

They were too focused on the MMo and making it look good graphically and it did alot of damage to them and that's why XIII is a mess. I know alot of others don't like admitting to that part but that's what ruined every thing there. way to much obsession what the graphic/ look there.

 

[Soapy]

This article is always relevant when Final Fantasy discussion flares up.

Square Enix may be the master of self parody. Only a company completely lacking in shame would officially unveil the next entry in a videogame franchise before the previous entry had even been released -- yet Square Enix did exactly that with Final Fantasy XIV, months ahead of XIII's launch.

Final Fantasy VII, which I still proudly believe is a fantastic game, has been systematically torn apart by Square Enix with unwarranted sequels, prequels, spin-offs and narrative rewrites, and now the entire game is just a waffling, overwrought mess.

Then there are the names. Fabula Nova Crystalis, Versus XIII, Agito, Type 0 ... what does it mean!? What does any of this pretentious ****ing **** mean!? The names alone turn me off, as they give a clear indication as to just how up-their-own-arse the games are going to be. Anybody who hides behind bastardized Latin, made-up words, or the pointless rearrangement of sentences in order to appear clever and "deep" is a complete and utter dick.

Remember when Final Fantasy was an event? A real treat? Each game was a self-contained story lasting hours and hours, and they only came along once every few years. They were special, and they meant something. Their stories began and ended in one epic sitting, and each one was distinct and always brought something new. Contrast that to now, where the main entries in the series can't be separated from the huge amount of spin-offs and remakes and ****ing sub-sequels. Now the franchise is just a grey sludge, everything looking and sounding alike, and constantly in development with at least five games in production at any given time.

So when I see a trailer for Agito, or Type 0, or whatever inflated, grandiloquent name it's given itself this week, I can't even muster the strength to roll my eyes anymore. I already know what it's going to be like, because Square Enix seems incapable of pushing itself in any area other than graphics anymore. The game dialog is going to be a repeated stream of made-up words and brooding characters who have to learn to share their hearts, the graphics are going to be the same pseudo-futuristic stuff that we've seen already, and the gameplay will be another old idea re-purposed to look new, but will likely just be less interesting.

 

[zenith16]

yeah that's pretty much all that needs to be said unfortunately.

 

[Fading]

Personally, if I was Square, and my cash cow, trademark game was constantly being trashed in reviews (customer as well as magazine and online), I'd ask myself why. As long as Square heads down this road ignoring criticism, they'll continue down the path or irrelevancy. I wanted to buy FFXIV, I wanted to get back into medieval MMO's. Playing FFXIII, and FFXIV's horrid reviews changed that. Square could so easily have my cash, but their current strategy prevents that. Sad to see former greats have that happen, as Resident Evil is in the same boat as FF. In the past it would have bothered me more, but now there are so many new IP's out there I can live without FF, and RE.

 

[Soapy]

Yep. If Square makes it out of their current mess in one piece, they definitely need to take a long, hard look at their company, their franchises, and how they conduct their business. Hopefully they can regroup with a better strategy next generation.

 

[craigdbfan]

Versus looks pretty cool. To bad its been in production for nearly a decade...

 

[Soapy]

For me Versus is the bright at the end of the long, dark tunnel that is Final Fantasy XIII. Realistically I know the final product probably won't be very good, but at the very least, for the time being, I think it looks super interesting. Which is a lot more than I can say about anything else Square has done this generation.

 

[Iceman]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/19/use-paypal-for-playstation-network-purchases

This would be good for me. I hope they use this for Xbox one day.

 

[Havok83]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/19/use-paypal-for-playstation-network-purchases

This would be good for me. I hope they use this for Xbox one day.

oh wow thats cool. The PS store is also coming to PCs this year so you can purchase and have things download to your PS3 from a PC, which is pretty cool

 

[Iceman]

oh wow thats cool. The PS store is also coming to PCs this year so you can purchase and have things download to your PS3 from a PC, which is pretty cool

Nice. Yeah I do that from XBox.com when there is new DLC coming out for a game & I'm not at home.

 

[jacobed]

Yeah I've been doing that for years. It's really great

 

[Nathan]

Too Human Wiped From Existence on Xbox Live

In November, a federal judge made the breathtaking order that all copies of Too Human had to be destroyed by its creator, Silicon Knights, as part of a $4 million judgment awarded to Epic Games in a nasty six-year suit-and-countersuit court battle between the two. We now see that this extended also to digital copies of the game, as anything associated with Too Human, an Xbox 360 exclusive, has been wiped from Xbox Live.

Eurogamer reports that it means not only the Too Human game itself has been purged from Xbox Live Games on Demand, but also its demo, any videos, pictures, themes, anything. Caput. According to the terms of the judgment, Silicon Knights had to recall all of this stock—paying the costs of doing so—and report to the court and to Epic on Dec. 21 and Feb. 21 that it had complied with the order.

Lest you think this was entirely Epic's doing, remember that Silicon Knights itself brought the lawsuit that resulted in this judgment, a Matlock-esque reversal of fortune. When it went to court, Silicon Knights had alleged that Epic failed to provide a working game engine for Too Human, resulting in the years-long production delay that made the title an object of ridicule. Silicon Knights also charged that Epic withheld an improved version of the Unreal engine, and used licensing fees to, in bad faith, fund its development of Gears of War and not improve Unreal.

Epic, in turn, claimed Silicon Knights breached its license agreement, misappropriated Epic's trade secrets, and infringed Epic's copyrights in using Unreal Engine 3 code in Too Human. Guess who won.

If this isn't the end of Silicon Knights, it is at least a brain-rattling knockdown counterpunch to the studio, whose president and public face, Denis Dyack, was well known for committing the unpardonable sin of blaming the audience when Too Human thudded after its long overdue 2008 launch. Since then Silicon Knights, which Dyack once proudly exclaimed was one of the oldest developers still around, laid an egg with X-Men: Destiny and pared its employment roster down to a skeleton crew.

Considering the sneering popular reaction to any mention of Too Human, if Silicon Knights has any hope of survival it may be a blessing that this albatross of a flop of a game is being KGB'd from existence by court order.

Source

 

[jacobed]

Good. Ever since all that news about Dydack came out, the more hurt on him the better. The guy is scum

 

[StrainedEyes]

[YT]C_tlMaE-ThU[/YT]

 

[Iceman]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/19/gas-powered-games-hit-hard-with-layoffs

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Source

I played the demo for Too Human and stayed far away from it after that. I wonder if I should just go track a copy down and play through it now, even if only out of some morbid sense of curiosity for where that thing actually went.

 

[Soapy]

I'm not going to link it for the excessive cursing, but Giant Bomb fans who weren't around for the beginning need to search for "2Human".

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I wonder if Jeff will make a shout out to that old video considering it sounds like they might end up playing Too Human next friday.

 

[Iceman]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/01/18/report-sony-retiring-dualshock-with-ps4

No more dualshock controller?!

 

[Spidey-Bat]

Its design is outdated and it's been long overdue for an ergonomic redesign.

 

[Iceman]

Will be interesting to see what they come up with. I always preferred dualshock for beat'em ups & XBox controller for shooters.